ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Napster is an online music store that was developed as an online file sharing service. Originally, Napster concentrated on sharing of music files coded in MP3 format. This service was pioneered by Shawn Fanning, and it was aimed at sharing music files among users. This marked a revolution in the music industry, thereby forming a platform on which online music services are based. It emerged as a powerful promotion tool for various artists and bands including the Dispatch band. Dispatch band is an American independent band that was formed in 1996. Previously, the band had neither experienced formal promotion nor radio play. Through Napster’s peer to peer file sharing services, the band promoted its music to higher levels. As a result, the Dispatch band toured and performed in many cities, which they had never imagined before (Biagi, 2012). The most significant aspect of Napster file sharing services is the active involvement of the audience. In this respect, many users or audiences were actively involved in receiving and sharing information. Napster technology facilitated easy sharing of music files in MP3 format among the users. In regards to Dispatch band, display of their music in Napster enabled the band’s music to reach many audiences. This was attributed to Napster’s interface that was user friendly. This allowed easy downloading of music copies that could have been hard to get. This included old songs, concert songs, and even the recordings that had not been released. In addition, the majority of users enjoyed downloading and trading music at no extra costs. In addition, Napster allowed users to create their music profiles where they could compile their own albums. However, users chose the music on the basis of their values, beliefs, culture, background, experiences, interest, and education. Through this strategy, users could develop their social constraints of reality (Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan, 2012). On the contrary, the influence of the active audience on media can lead to harm. First, it can lead to the users narrowing and limiting themselves to certain dimensions. For example, users may isolate themselves and relate with only those whom they like. Through Napster, users may isolate themselves in sharing music to certain people or groups like the Dispatch band. Secondly, group polarization can be a common occurrence. This takes shape where a group with views attracting much attention tends to absorb even the minority. The Dispatch band’s popularity amongst the majority triggered its influence to the minority (Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan, 2012). As far as isolation of individual users is concer
Introduction Poverty as all know is an imperative issue in today’s world. In order to define poverty; it can be defined as a state in which individuals do not have enough money for the food, shelter and clothing they need” and suffer from terrible circumstances. The United States of America is considered to be one of the more stable economies in the world today and yet it too has a number of citizens suffering from the above defined state of poverty. Discussion In the year 2002 alone, the number of people living in a state defined as poverty was around thirty five million. In order to understand, the issue of poverty, how it has come about in an economy like that of the states and what could be a possible solution to this issue –the following paper would carry out the following analysis. For the people living in America, the state of poverty exists when the family does not have access to a reasonable form of shelter, proper food and life’s amenities. However, while are cases where this state can exist the severity of the above happening is quite limited in its scope. The “poor” in America on average are from being undernourished, have better living standards than most of the average people in the European Union countries, own amenities such as microwave, colored television etc. However, there are still scenarios where the state of poverty can result in food shortages. According to a survey carried out by the Department of Agriculture in the states, about thirteen percent of poor families and 2.6 percent of poor children experience hunger (Johnson, 2004). The living conditions of the average poor American might be better than that of a poor person living in some other county, but at the same time there is a range of people who live in conditions that are quite deplorable. A third of people suffer from overcrowding, temporary hunger and difficulties in paying rents, getting medical care etc. The reasons behind such an occurrence can be attributed to tow major social causes; the lack of work done by the parents and the people themselves, and the absenteeism of the father figure resulting in rising poverty levels in single parent houses. The typical poor family’s work record is only that of 800 hours of work over a year, translating into merely 16 hours of work in a week. If the same amount was to rise to 40 hours of work in a week, than the people currently labeled as “poor” would be shifted to the middle class region of classification. The major issue that is faced by these people is that of non-payment of bills regarding their rent and utilities. Around 22 percent of people falling in this income group bracket suffered from this issue (Johnson, 2004). By increasing the number of hours worked, this issue of non-payment would be tackled quite effectively. The other issue of poverty in single parent houses has been alleviated by a number of anti-poverty polices such as making it a mandatory for single mothers to get jobs or prepare for work in order to received financial assistance. As a result, the poverty rates amongst the single parent houses dropped majorly from 53.1 percent to
The play Oedipus Rex portrays human relations and the importance of friendship and love between people. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is constructed so that readers will become analysts of the cause in the past for a present malaise; they become priests examining the entrails of a story to discover the cause. Sophocles dramatizes the plot and unveils human blindness and egoism. Thesis Using the themes of arrogance and blindness, Sophocles unveils the importance of self-identity and the warmth of the heart. In Oedipus Rex, the protagonist is oblivious to a disaster about to overtake him. The principal character is obsessed with one future, his objective, for instance–while the audience anticipates another. But a still more compelling interest for readers in the future of Oedipus is relishing in the gulling of fools for their wealth, especially because Oedipus uses his own venality to pull their strings and even more especially because readers enjoy the irony that he is only a more cunning version of his victims. Following Green (1993) “Sophocles’ treatment of blindness … has far greater meaning than that of a symbolically achieved sexual act. Spiritual blindness is equated with obduracy and arrogance–hubris–and towards the end of Oedipus Rex , the physical blinding is already encouraging new insight, awareness, and compassion” (2). There is little if any prospective force to these motives for readers. Even pleasure in Oedipus’s power to manipulate others has little sustaining power; these gratifications and the prospect of their repetition have no overarching compelling value. Oedipus’s specific desires are not ours; but the fact that our pleasure in him is a guilty one, which readers instinctively want to be reproved and which Nassaar (1997) makes sure becomes increasingly so, creates an increasingly inelastic tension: a countdown clock toward failure. As Oedipus overcomes one test of his wit and ingenuity after the other, at first easily but with greater and greater difficulty, what we most fundamentally anticipate with hope and fear, and he does not, is when Oedipus will overreach himself. The themes of arrogance and blindness help Sophocles to create an atmosphere of solitude and loneliness. The protagonists are made to search for the cause of the current state of affairs, and it is in their characters that they will persevere until they find the cause in themselves. In the play, the progress of the action is matched by a systematic rediscovery of the past (for Oedipus there is new information from the past) as the forwarding of events in the present makes their past decisions important to them and exciting discoveries for readers. Following Nassar “Oedipus himself stresses that his daughters always sat beside him at a table and ate from every dish that he ate from, whereas the sons, presumably, sat at a distance and were neglected” (187). The fictional past of a character enters a play dramatically only when its appearance creates perception shifts. More typically, the forward strategies of a play point readers’ engaged anticipation toward an event that is in the future of the fic
Executive Summary This paper analyses the conditions and terms of the contract between ADCO and Emirates Transport for the provision of light transport services coming into effect on the first April of 2014. The contract terms influence the distribution of coercive and expert power in a positive way for ADCO by introducing effective consumer protection mechanisms, such as the system of disciplinary actions and the right to make final decisions on issues involving substitutions and vehicle acceptability. Also, the contract is beneficial to the service receiver in terms of knowledge power since it grants ADCO the right to access and audit the contractor’s facilities and information (HR, financial operations) peculiar to the provided services. The contract terms allow ADCO to effectively reduce different types of risks, such as poor performance, delays resulting from the contractor’s fault, waste mismanagement, or the contractor’s purchasing of goods from ADCO’s competitors. To sum up, ADCO is recommended to continue the mutually beneficial relationships and consider implementing communication strategies suitable for low-power and high-interest stakeholders. Introduction The readiness to agree to concessions and make compromises does not remove the significance of contractors’ interest in conducting highly profitable activities while minimizing obligations and risks as much as possible. This paper contributes to the discussion of the issues of power and risk distribution by evaluating the contract for the provision of light transport services. The sides to the contract are Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) and the Emirates General Transport and Services Corporation (Emirates Transport). Background Information ADCO’s contractor is one of the largest providers of public transportation and logistics services in all seven emirates making up the country. The contractor’s transportation services are mainly utilized by educational institutions and various organizations in the government sector (Emirates Transport, “Who We Are”). The service provider collaborates with multiple public sector organizations, including the UAE Ministry of Education, the Emirates National Oil Company, the Union Railway, the Emirates Post Group, and other clients (Emirates Transport, “Who We Are”). ADCO, a part of the ADNOC Company Group, is a leading onshore gas and oil producer in the Emirate of Abu-Dhabi that operates eleven gas and oil fields (ADNOC Onshore). In the contract with Emirates Transport, this organization goes under the name ADCO, but its present brand name is ADNOC Onshore. The Five Forces Framework proposed by Michael Porter is widely used to analyze factors contributing to competition in particular industries, thus informing businesses’ decision-making peculiar to strategic development. Regarding its additional uses, the analytical framework applies to much more specific units of analysis, such as particular opportunities for making contacts with orga
Introduction The fable is about an older man who was running a firm with poor communication and leadership styles. The Walruses were not free with the older man hence denying them a chance to discuss things affecting their organization with their boss. This led to the collapse of his empire and losing his Walruses to his new competitor. This paper is going to focus on the factors or carriers of communication evident in the older man’s leadership, lessons learned from the fable, similar challenges evident in my organization, and various measures put in place by my manager in order to deal with these challenges (Harris, 2002). Barriers of communication evident in the case study From the story, it is clear that there was a great communication barrier between the older man and his junior Basil, who could not openly tell him the problem that was growing up in the firm. The walruses also had no link with an older man. This made it hard for them to discuss their issues openly with the older man and sort things out (Sharma, 2008). Whatever the older man wanted to hear was not actually what was happening on the ground or instead what he was supposed to know. One of the barriers present was a lack of trust. There wasn’t any trust between all the concerned parties, and great fear is evident in the fable. The second barrier was poor connection or link between the older man and the people on the ground, and the only person who could report to the boss was Basil. The older man’s reaction and way of dealing with issues created the communication barrier because the Walruses could not approach him with problems affecting either them or the organization (Harris, 2002). Lessons learned from the fable The fables teach us that every organization is built on good communication skills that will make every party in the organization feel free to relate with each other. The organization’s leader or manager should be ready to listen in order to know the real situation on the ground. He should appreciate his/her juniors as well as being approachable. One should learn that poor communication will lead to a loss of all your employees to your competitors (Harris, 2002). Communication challenges in my organization In my organization, there is good communication though slow. There is a high formality in dealing with issues because one has to follow the line of command hence delaying the message that is intended to meet the boss. The message is delayed, and by the time it gets to the recipient, it is late. The manager is not approachable, keeping the fact that even the people on the ground have not interacted with him well to know his reactions, likes, and dislikes. The chain of command needs to be broken up, and a shorter route to the manager created (Harris, 2002). Efforts put in place to minimize communication challenges The organization has
Corporate Social Responsibility Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) and National Australia Bank (NAB) are the largest Australian banks that focus on meeting the needs of the society and the environment. The strategies accepted by the mentioned banks are similar to those that are pursued by UK Barclays Bank. In particular, all of them are the members of the United Nations Global Compact (that is an initiative of the United Nations aimed at introducing the principles of corporate social responsibility into the activities of organizations around the world. These principles cover such issues as protection of human rights, work relations, anti-corruption initiatives, and environmental control. These banks strive to promote CSR and sustainable development, examining the best practices, and ensuring their dissemination to participants in the financial sector as well as participating in the formation of the global environmental policy. The increase of transparency of business practices, measuring and demonstrating the positive impact of the organizations on the social sphere and the environment are the core principles (Slack 180). More to the point, they create innovative products and business models for sustainable development and pay attention to projects in the field of sustainable development and social responsibility at a strategic level to maintain competitiveness, effective reputation, and risk management. By improving the quality of management in the sphere of CSR in terms of a consistent approach, banks organize the process of planning activities, increasing cost-effectiveness for its implementation. The creation of mechanisms for determining and taking into account the interests of stakeholders in banks’ activities as well as informing the stakeholders about the results of activities in the field of CSR corresponds to the international practice. Throughout the history of the mentioned banks, the success of their development has been associated with active participation in the life of the country and society through performing functions both as an economic and as a social institution. Products The largest bank in the UK Barclays Bank contains several subsidiaries, which is typical for large corporations. For example, Barclays Merchant Co., Ltd. with 1,650 branches in 50 countries, Barclays Insurance Services Company Ltd., and the Barclays Bank Trust Company present the specter of spheres that are embraced by this organization. It is also worth mentioning Barclays Export and Finance Company Ltd., which carries out leasing, export financing, and factoring operations. Among the key operations of this bank, there are the acceptance of deposits and the issuance of loans. As the clearing bank, it makes payments for large, medium, and small industrial enterprises as well as for the population. The payment turnover here occurs within the framework of the clearing agreement, which impl
A stakeholder in a firm is any individual or entity that can either be affected or affect the operations of an organization. The theory tries to redefine the concept in a different way in order to understand its contemporary meaning. In real terms, it is about the nature of the organization in relation to its functioning as well as the way a firm ought to be understood. Scholars argue that the firm must be perceived as a collection of stakeholders. The main objective is therefore to fulfill their wishes, demands and perspectives (Walker, Bourne & Rowlinson 2008, p. 75). Managers are directly responsible for accomplishing the needs and interests of stakeholders. In this regard, each shareholder’s decision or viewpoint should be respected and fulfilled appropriately. The organizational management acts as the representative of the stakeholder by guaranteeing continued existence of the firm and securing its long-term goals. In both conceptual and theoretical literature, there is no universal consensus over the role of stakeholders, objective and the nature of the firm and the position of administrators. Contemporary researches define stakeholder theory as groups or persons with key roles in the organization. Such entities ensure survival and success of the firm. Normative stakeholder assumption consists of postulations on how administrators should behave and perceive the objectives of the firm based on particular moral standards (Rowlinson 2008, p. 204). A part from normative conjecture, there is another viewpoint of stakeholder theory called descriptive stakeholder. The theory digs deeper into how administrators and stakeholders act in reality and how they perceive their behaviors and functions. The instrumental stakeholder premise talks about the way managers ought to behave in case they desire to fulfill their own interests. Own interest can as well be understood as organizational interest, which is normally to increase income or maximize investor value (Ting-Toomey & Kurogi 1998, p. 188). This implies that when directors relate with stakeholders according to stakeholder concept, the organization will succeed at the end. In the modern business environment, organizations are embracing the normative principle. Policy makers are advocating for company visions and the functions of administrators, whose aim is largely to increase shareholder value in order to facilitate self-sufficiency. This means that an organization has an extensive role to play. The issue of stakeholder ship is contestable due to a number of reasons. One of t
Admittedly, Calvino could choose any setting for a story of a personal rebel. However, his novel is not much of a personal rebel. It is rather a reflection of the history of humanity. Calvino’s choice is far from being accidental. The author chose one of the most significant periods in the history of humanity. This period was marked by really great changes in societies and in people’s minds. Calvino makes his protagonist go up the tree to make him see the world clearly. Basically, Cosimo becomes a man of vision as he can alienate himself from various unimportant things to notice what is really essential. In fact, even the story of Cosimo’s family is a kind of reflection of the world history. The family had specific order. They lived their lives. However, one day “on the fifteenth of June, 1767” one member of the family decided to break the order (Calvino 3). He could not live the old life, and he chose his own way and he created his own state. The protagonist’s words are very suggestive: “In fact, all the causes of the French Revolution were present among us too” (Calvino 194). French people decided to change their lives in the end of the eighteenth century as well. Apart from particular parallelism, the author makes his protagonist understand many important things. Cosimo’s views on Napoleon’s wars, revolutions, new orders differ from opinions which ruled at that period of time. Cosimo can see everything more clearly. One of the most interesting ideas revealed in the novel is that “armies always loot, whatever the ideas they bring” (Calvino 212). Cosimo can see that in many cases all those great events had one vicious aim, i.e. some people wanted to become richer. Interestingly, the specific setting enables Calvino to express his viewpoints on various historical events, but at the same time to avoid preaching which is a characteristic feature of any historical novel where the author evaluates events on the basis of several centuries of human experience. Calvino’s evaluation is made by the participant of events who simply has a clearer vision. Works Cited Calvino, Italo. The Baron in the Trees . New York: Mariner Books, 1977. Print.