Diversity and Ethics in Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diversity and Ethics in Leadership - Essay Example Likewise, workplace has become increasingly diverse. Diversity not only means a variation of visible traits like age, gender and color, but also involves the underlying varying factors as religion, nationality, education, perspectives and interests (Burrows, 2007). Employees tend to indulge in dysfunctional conflicts with their colleagues over matters of no organizational relevance or significance. Their conflicting notions generate repulsive forces and they fall apart. This causes them to work for individualistic interests. The ultimate sufferer is the organization for whom they are supposed to work. Employees satisfy their personal egos on the cost of work. This has exposed the business entrepreneurs to new challenges in the workplace. Leaders, therefore, assume huge responsibility of making their decisions compliant with the ethical standards in all respects. Compliance with the demands of justice and integrity have always been considered a fundamental trait of transformational leadership (Hood, 2003, p. 264). Ethics are the cardinal basis of distinction between right and wrong. However, organizations often tend to overlook the ethical concerns of their proceedings in an attempt to maximize monetary benefits. â€Å"The pressure to succeed is driving some leaders to explore ways to shortcircuit the system, but the temporary gains of such deception generally are outweighed by the long-lasting damage† (Hermond, 2006, p. 2). The conventional cost benefit analysis business entrepreneurs make in order to make important business decisions is often ignorant of their ethical implications on the society. The question arises, â€Å"Ethics is a vast subject. How can a businessman decide what minimum ethical level to respect?† The empirical answer lies in respecting the individual’s religious beliefs on the least, though the subject is actually too vast and debatable to be generalized. Diversity that matters is

Sources of finance for British Airways

Sources of finance for British Airways British Airways Plc is an international schedule airline. The main activities of British Airways Plc are the operation of international and domestic scheduled air services for the carriage of the passengers, freight and mail and the provision of ancillary services. The Companys principal place of business is London with presence at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airport. The Company also operates a worldwide air cargo services. The Company flies more than 300 destinations worldwide. The Company supports the United Kingdom economy by providing vital leisure travel for holidays and family reunion. Outcome 1: Sources of Finance: Lack of cash is one of the biggest problems facing a business. Business would not be able to survive without cash. There are various sources of finance to activate the company. Different sources of finance apply to different circumstances. Funds are available from internal as well as external sources of finance. But each source has some advantages and disadvantages. Figure: 1 Internal sources Internal sources of finance usually have the advantage that they are flexible. They may also be obtained quickly and need not require the compliance of the other parties. Retained Profit: According to Gitman (2008)The accumulated net income that has been retained for reinvestment in the business rather than paid out in the dividends to stock holders. The amount of profit which left in the business after paying tax and distribution to stock holders that is retained profit. This money can be used for the expansion or investment of the business. When a company makes profit it does not spend it, it keeps it to use for company development or the owner can think to keep it for any future difficulties. BA had been making lots of profit for long time, it did not spend all the profits. BA has lots of Retained profit which it can use now as the company is not doing well at present. Sale of New Shares: New shares or ordinary shares form the backbone of the financial structure of a business. When BA needs fund then BA can sell their shares to the public. To sell new shares BA needs the services of agency, normally Merchant Bank. There are some problems with this source of finance like the existing shareholders might object to sale the shares to the outsiders. Right Issues: According to Atrill (2008) New stock (share) issue offered to existing stockholders (shareholders) in promotion to their current stock/shareholding, for a specific period and at a specified (usually discounted) price. Rather than taking debt, BA can ask its existing shareholders to buy some new shares to provide extra capital. This type of issue gives the shareholders the right to purchase new shares at a discount price to the market and give the existing shareholders the opportunity to increase their stock. When the companies are in trouble, especially when the companies are unable to borrow more money they usually use right issue to pay the debt. But there are some problems of right issue, such as -the value of share will be deducted so that the numbers of share can be increased. Secondly it is not certain that shareholders always getting a bargain as there is no opportunity to compare the market value. External Sources: Leasing: Leasing is like renting a piece of equipment or machinery. The business pays a regular amount for a period of time, but the item belongs to the leasing company. Leasing is cheaper than buying equipment but it is good for the short term. It also useful when the technology changes very quickly, so that it can be regularly updated and replaced. It also makes the cash flow management easy because the payment is done regularly. There are some disadvantages of leasing; it becomes very expensive for the long term because the leasing company charge fees which makes the total cost of the company greater than the original cost. Hire purchase: Business hires machineries or equipments for a period of time for which the company makes some fixed regular payments. When the fixed payment is finished the company becomes the owner of that equipment or machinery. The difference between the hire purchase and leasing is that in case of hire purchase after finishing the fixed payment the company becomes the owner of the equipment but in case of leasing the company never becomes owner, Burton and Brown (2009). Preference Share: Preference shares offer investor a lower risk than ordinary shares, provided there are sufficient profit available. Preference shares normally give a fixed rate of dividend each year and when there is any payment of dividend then the preference shareholders will be paid first. Recommendations: The most appropriate source of finance to fund the expansion and other operating activities of British Airways Plc depends on whether it is for short-term or long-term, and also on the cost and speed of arranging the finance. The internal sources of finance can be obtained quickly particularly from working capital source- and need not require the compliance of other parties, so for example, if British Airways needs to arrange fund within sort time then internal sources are appropriate, if the company needs funds for short term then the bank overdraft or loans are appropriate. However it is advisable that the company should always think about a mixture of sources. Outcome 2 Investment appraisal: One of the most important long-term decisions for any business relates to investment. According to Ennew and Waite (2007) Investment is the purchase or creation of assets with the objective of making gain in the future. Typically investment involves using financial sources to purchase machine/building or other assets for the purpose of getting returns over a period of time. The six stages of investment appraisal: Figure: 1 Project identification: British Airways need to find new opportunities for investment, generating ideas for new business development to survive and to grow the company wider. Screening for strategic fit: A lot of project could create value for a company but not for other. For selecting a particular project British airways must have to be aware of whether they need more capital and whether they have experience and skill for service Analysing in detail the implication of accepting the project: British Airways need to concern about the incriminated cash flows that could be generated by the project. For this process they need to consider the capital assets, cost, time, scale of operation and so on. Project evaluation: For this process British airways need to calculate various number of appraisal from the cash flows forecasts. Accept/ reject decision: Sometimes British airways take decision in the first stage then evaluate the project, otherwise after evaluation they decide whether to accept or reject the project. Ex-post decision review: British airways should draw lessons from the project that goes wrong and the project that goes right. Common appraisal measures which are used in British airways are as follows: Payback Period (PP) Average Rate of Return (ARR) Net Present Value (NPV) Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Payback Period: According to Gitman (2008) Literally Payback is the amount of time required for the cash inflows from a capital investment in a project to equal the cash outflows. Payback periods are commonly used to estimate proposed investment and often used as an initial screening method. Payback period = Initial payment / annual cash flow So, if  £500 m is invested with the aim of earning  £700 m per year (net cash earnings), the payback period is calculated thus: P =  £500 m = 5years The shorter the payback period the better the investment. If there are two or more competing projects that are both shorter than the maximum payback period requirement then the decision maker should select the project with shorter payback period. Because using that project managers can recoup their cost within short time. Payback is perhaps the simplest method of looking at one or more investment project or ideas. Payback is popular because it is simply understandable and easy to calculate Payback uses cash flow not the profit and therefore it is difficult to manipulate. Average Rate of Return (ARR): According to Glautier (2001) The rate of earning obtained on the average capital investment over the life of a capital project; computed as average annual profits divided by average investment; not based on case flow. The average rate of return expresses the profits arising from a project as a percentage of the initial capital cost. The ARR method takes the average accounting profit; the investment will generate and expresses it as a percentage of the average investment met over the life of the process. Average annual profit ARR = ÃÆ'- 100 Average investment For example, British airways invested  £25m and expected to generate total revenues of  £50m for 5 years over the project. So  £50m à · 5 ARR = ÃÆ'- 100  £25 ARR = 40% Like payback method, ARR is also simple to understand and easy to calculate. There is also a link with some accounting measure that is commonly used. The Average Rate of Return is similar to the return of capital Employed in its construction; this may make the ARR easier for business planners to understand. The ARR is expressed in percentage terms and this also the manager easy to use. The ARR doesnt take into account of the project duration or the timing of cash flows over the course of the project. The concept of profit is very subjective and there is variation in accounting practice thats why ARR calculation would likely be different for identical project. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR): According to Shapiro (2003) The IRR is the annual percentage return achieved by a project, at which the sum of discounted cash flows over the life of the project is equal to the sum of the capital invested. Another way is that the IRR is the rate of interest that reduces the NPV to zero. Net Present Value (NPV): According to Dunn and Kilgour (2009) The Net Present Value (NPV) is an investment (project) is the difference between the sums of the discounted cash flows which are expected from the investment and the amount which is initially invested. It is the first traditional valuation method used in the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) measurement methodology. NPV is calculated by using a discount rate equivalent to the interest which would be received, or interest to be paid by the firm. Rt NPV = (1+i)t Here, Rt = net cash Flow i = interest rate t = time NPV technique is mostly used by the managers because it is very easy to calculate. When the NPV is positive it means the project is worthwhile. So if there are more than one appraisal then the project should be selected which produces the highest NPV. But the biggest problem for NPV is that a project may have more than one IRR, if the company adopt IRR similar project and invest based on previous IRR which may not be appropriate. Outcome 3: Performance analysis for British Airways: After completing the proposed investment project it is the time to evaluate the performance analysis of British Airways: Figure:1 Non-financial: Balanced score-card: According to Norton and Kaplan (2009) The balance scorecard is a strategic and management system that is used extensively in business industry, government and non-profit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications and monitor or organize performance against strategic goals. The balanced scorecard has evolved from its early use as simple performance measurement framework to a full strategic planning and management system. 12manage.com Financial Ratio analysis: British Airways produces annual and monthly financial statements to comply with record keeping requirement of the company. According to Gitman (2008) Financial ratio analysis and balanced sheet analysis ids incorporate in the financial scorecard tool, to provide a unique picture of a companys financial position 12manage.com Profitability ratio: The Profitability ratio is used to check that the company is generating an acceptable return for its owners. Gross profit margin: Gross profit represents the difference between sales value and the cost of the sales. Therefore it is a measure of profitability in buying and selling goods. Net profit margin: The net profit ratio represents the profit from trading operation before any cost of servicing long term finances are taken into account. ROCE: ROCE is considered to be a primary measure of profitability. It compares inputs (capital invested) with outputs (profit). Profitability of British Airways is growing every year that means the company is doing well and the profitability is better than Rayne Air in 2008. Liquidity Ratio: It is important for a business to be profitable, but profit is not sufficient on its own to guarantee survival. There must be sufficient liquid assets available to be forced into liquidation. Current Ratio: The current ratio is a measure of companys ability to meet its short time debts. This is important because the company could run out of cash and can be forced into liquidation even if it was making profit. Quick Assets Ratio (Acid Test Ratio): This ratio concentrates on those current assets which are immediately available to pay the creditors as and when they fall due. Total current assets are more than liabilities for British Airways in every year that means company doing well in compare to Rayne Air British Air is in better position. Efficiency Ratio: The efficiency Ratio gives an insight into the effectiveness of the companys management of the components of working capital. In year 2006 British Airways received payment within 30 days but the company made payment within 34 days, which is good for the company because the company made payment 4 days after receiving payment, other years also same situation. This is also comparatively better than Rayne Air.

Cold War :: essays research papers

There are two boys at school who really hate each other. One just can’t stand the other’s existence. The odd thing is that they don’t know why they hate each other. Another odd thing is that they have never fought. They have come pretty close, standing toe-to-toe; staring at each other, but one of them always backs off. Whenever they face off, each of them has his own squad of cronies, ready to jump in at the twitch of an eye. What started as two guys accidentally bumping into each other could quickly escalate into an all out brawl at the drop of a dime. The silence is deafening. The two boys’ stares are cold and alarmingly deep. Their fists are clenched and their jaws are tightly closed. Their breathing becomes rapid. Rage wells up and fills their eyes. Onlookers hold their breath in anticipation of the carnage that is to come. The whole school knows that if these two actually threw down, there would be no holding back. Hearing the lack of noise and seeing the circle of kids, teachers, coaches, and the school resource officers come rushing to the scene. The two boys slowly back away from each other, neither one taking his eyes off the other. Everyone goes back to what they were doing, but the cloud of tension still hangs thick in the air. Other kids wonder why these two never actually fight. With so much hate for one another it seems as though they should have clashed by now. The answer is simple. Each one knows that his hatred for the other is so intense, so fierce, and so pent up that if it were ever unleashed on the other, there would be no way to save his life. Each one also realizes that there is a slight chance that the other is stronger, quicker, more agile, and a better fighter. He may actually lose, which would mean certain death, as the rage in the other’s heart is just as fierce as his. They don’t fight because they know the consequences would be severe, no matter how the conflict turned out. Imagine what would happen if one of the boys decided to throw a punch. Another would surely follow. They would have continued beating each other until one of them was annihilated. The friends of the defeated one would retaliate, and the friends of the victor would defend.

American Aid Policy

The United States is the leading developed nation in foreign aid that considers both the interest of its own citizens and industries and those of beneficiary countries. Billions of people all over the world have benefited and appreciated the role of United States in both foreign and food aid. This research paper looks deeply into the overall effectiveness of US foreign aid policy, the need to effect any changes in policy framework or continue to handle affairs in their current form and finally examine the need to increase or decrease the amount in foreign aid.Aid and Millennium Development Goals The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in third world countries and specifically the African continent cannot be realized when foreign aid to these nations is not fully availed. Human development has been ignored by international donor community notably the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, instead putting more focus on biased economic parameters. Poverty levels in these nations thus cannot be eradicated. Africa alone needs a total of 72 billion dollars in foreign aid per year to achieve its Millennium Development Goals by 2015.This is meager fraction in comparison to the $ 362 billion in subsidiaries developed countries paid to its home based agricultural sectors in 2006. Commitment by developed countries to increase amounts in foreign aid to 0. 7% of their national income has not been realized (Marr, Gunatilaka & Killick, 1998). United States has faired poorly in its rating with only 0. 16% and appears at the bottom of the list. Eradicating poverty and improving human life demand increase in foreign aid to developing nations and failure to honor these commitments means that the present status in terms of poverty levels will remain for a long time.Effectiveness of Foreign Aid The close relationship that exists between foreign aid effectiveness and conditions attached to it has always been a thorny issue. Important development agendas such as the balancing of existing relationship between recipient and donor, considering first support to priorities sectors by the government, deter cases of aid programmes duplications and providing means for undertaking transparency assessment on aid performance are factors that must be put into consideration to ensure aid effectiveness.Furthermore, donor support harmonization in aid programmes that undertake development projects in more than one country demands mutual accountability. Direct budget subsidy contributed by donor countries which still stands at 5% of aid given to developing nations should be viewed by the recipient countries as domestic; hence, implemented vividly on development agendas rather than being accountable to the donors.Though this may be the best way of implementing aid as it create an opportunity for strong economic principles and political willingness to avoid bureaucracy, donors do not yet willing to adopt this model because of their institutionalized channel o f aid flow which do onto conform with the developing countries political structures. In essence, increased direct budget support by donors and good government structure of the recipient countries will increase aid effectiveness (Guillaumont & Chauvet, 2001)Need For Change in Aid Policy Critics have always advocated for foreign aid policy reforms. While United States foreign programme has noted high levels of success, it cannot be without a list of problems. The original aim of American aid policy was to generate and improve its economic sub-sectors such as the shipping industry, dump surpluses and promote trade. A clear example is the food aid policy in which food aid is no longer about providing a meal for the hungry but takes care of a multitude of objectives.A half of every dollar spent on food aid goes into the related costs such as processing and shipping. This reveals that policy changes must be put in place to make food aid perform to its fullest. This is because the current food aid policy strives to accomplish very many objectives, most of which are obsolete. It takes a very long time to transport food from a farmer to its final destination and at times this period takes up to five months. Such delay in delivery leads to added costs such as insurance and crew wages.Furthermore delay is the delivery in food aid cost lives in disaster situations. Money should be used to purchase food closer to their destination and reduce costs of transportation. A drastic shift must be made towards of food aid procuring, with purchase in the beneficiary nation and in the United States. Purchasing goods in countries closer to the beneficiary nations would strengthen agricultural market in these nations (Hansen & Tarp, 2000). The main objective here is local procurement of goods, not aid with conditions.America must move away from tied aid to make its foreign aid policy effective. The global economic crisis has led to questions about the general effectiveness of foreign aid. Questions as to how aid can be sustained continuously in times of economic recessions must be answered to achieve high performance. At the moment, American legislation demands that 50% of aid commodities must be processed and packed at home before shipment. Furthermore, 75% of food aid is managed by the USAID and 50% is under the management of US department of agriculture (Guillaumont & Chauvet, 2001).These commodities must be shipped in vessels flying US flags. Such conditions must be constantly reviewed to do away with long procedures of aid handling and delivery. While there are efforts to reform the aid policy, it is expected to take time before full effectiveness is achieved. The 1961 Foreign Assistance Act and the Farm Bill under President George Bush are some efforts to restructure United States foreign aid policy. An examination into different types of foreign aid reveals a complex scenario on how effective its overall objectives are.The reconstruction of countries reel ing from effects of war such as Iraq and Afghanistan are always controversial in nature. Given the overlap in time due to security related issues, it is almost impossible to accurately determine how much and to what level of effectiveness these aid constitute (Dalgaard & Hansen, 2007). Another area that requires total change is the technical cooperation. This is poorly defined due to its ambiguity and thus hard to measure. They are always under criticism due to the huge amounts involved but often not properly accounted for.Technical cooperation always means transfer of skills and knowledge from the donor country to the beneficiary country but always become controversial when they involve military aid assistance such as generous packages to Israel and Egypt. The so-called aid for national interest always attracts huge aid packages than moral areas such as poverty and disease alleviation. Pakistan is a major recipient of United States aid due to its influence and geographical location with Afghanistan and receives this foreign aid to maintain stability and peace in the region. America must do away with some aid conditionality.The imbalance in aid contracts creates conditions which translate into donor demands for change in social, political and economic affairs (Burns, 1984). One of the most absurd conditions from the western donors is the system of state control over all sectors of the economy. The demand for democratic states and good governance, free and fair elections, constitute to some of these conditions. Considering achievement of these conditions a yardstick to receiving foreign aid undermines its role and objects and thus makes it a political tool to control affairs of other countries.Reforms must be made on how aid is channeled to the beneficiary countries. Multilateral aid is always channeled through World Bank and other regional development banks while bilateral aid is paid direct to the beneficiary countries (Miyashita, 2003). Multilateral aid has so far recorded greater success than bilateral aid since it is not selective and undertakes its programmes on neutral basis. These aids are in the form of grants that ensure maximum utilization for the set objectives. Reforming policies in these sectors to ensure maximum transparency and reduce levels of political interference would definitely improve its performance.Conclusion Bilateral aid must not be used to hood-wink political leaders. It is obvious that some developing countries whose economic performances are poor depend mainly on foreign aid to support their programmes. Application of selective strategies and tough conditions driven by greed to control the smaller nations will eventually render the foreign aid ineffective. The way to go in improving the performance is forging a close alliance with the beneficiaries and improving levels of transparency (Toye, Harrigan & Mosley, 1995).The handling of foreign food must take into consideration the overall improvement of agricultu re and provision of close markets for agricultural markets to regions close to the beneficiary country. Foreign aid must therefore seek to improve the level of human development. References: Burns, W. J. , (1984), Economic Aid and American Policy towards Egypt. Sunny Press Dalgaard, C. J. & Hansen, H. , (2007), On Aid, Growth and Good Policies, The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), 17-41. Guillaumont, P. & Chauvet, L., (2001), Aid and Performance: A Reassessment, The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), pages 66-92 Hansen, H. & Tarp, F. , (2000), Aid effectiveness disputed, Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. , vol. 12(3), pages 375-398. Marr, A. , Gunatilaka, R. & Killick, T. , (1998), Aid and the Political Economy of policy change, Routledge. Miyashita, A. (2003), Limits to Power: Asymmetric dependence and Japanese foreign aid policy, Lexington Books. Toye, J. F. Y, Harrigan, J. J. & Mosley, P. (1995), Aid and power; The World Bank and Policy–Based Lending, Routledge.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

IntroductionDialectical Behavioral Therapy is a cognitive behavioral model of psychotherapy used primarily to treat individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The treatment was manualized in 1993 (Linehan, 1993a; Linehan, 1993b) and met criteria as an empirically validated, well-established treatment for BPD in 2001 (Koons et al, 2001). DBT has also been found to be effective in a range of treatment settings with a variety of populations.The empirically based treatment of DBT is a series of cognitive behavioral strategies that are applied to BPD populations. The approach provides psycho-social skills training to encourage development of effective cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills. Learning DBT skills increases a client's ability to achieve positive outcomes by systematically developing effective coping mechanisms, and facilitating the decrease of maladaptive behaviors (Linehan, 1993a; Linehan, 1993b).The characteristics that distinguish DBT are: (1) t he immediate focus on acceptance and validation; (2) the emphasis on treating behavior that interferes with therapy; (3) the emphasis on the therapeutic relationship; (4) the focus on dialectics, synthesis, and process (Linehan, 1993a).DBT Theoretical FrameworkDBT is based upon a dialectal view of human behavior consisting of three primary principles. The first principle is one of interrelatedness and wholeness: a system must be analyzed as a totality, as the parts are temporary and only exist in relation to the whole. The second principle is polarity: reality is not static but is made up of opposing forces, that when integrated, create a new set of opposing forces.The third principle is continuous change: the tension between oppositional yet connected parts produces a process of change, rather than a structure, which is an underlying condition of human nature (Linehan, 1993a).In the DBT process, change occurs in the midst of dialectical tension. This tension is a process created by the client's attempt to maintain homeostasis, while the therapist uses persuasion techniques to support the client's process of self-transformation. The therapist overcomes the client's resistance by on-going dialogue with the client that is both encouraging and directive (Linehan, 1993a).One of the core components of DBT is increasing the capacity to regulate emotions (Linehan, 1993a). Among persons suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder, the inability to regulate emotions results in emotional vulnerability and maladaptive strategies for coping. Emotional vulnerability is defined by (1) high sensitivity to emotional stimuli, (2) intense response to emotional sensitivity, and (3) difficulty reducing the sensitivity and returning to a normal emotional baseline.Similar to Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), DBT also includes ongoing self-monitoring of behaviors, realistic treatment goals, a strong therapeutic alliance, and treatment compliance. Client agreement in the manualize d treatment includes, but is not limited to the following: (1) A commitment to a one year, renewable agreement, (2) Compliance to the weekly meetings and attendance, (3) Notification to the therapist in advance if they are unable to attend scheduled therapy sessions, (4) Confidentiality in group settings, (5) Willingness to work on any and all problems that interfere with therapy, (6) Agreement in group treatment settings to not form personal or sexual relationships with other group members, (8) Commitment to not come to therapy under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and (9) Willingness to participate in both individual and group treatment if appropriate (Linehan, 1993a; Linehan, 1993b).Therapist agreements in the manualized treatment include but are not limited to: (1) Professional and reasonable effort to conduct therapy with client, (2) Adherence to ethical guidelines, (3) Attendance at all scheduled sessions, and if unable, agreement to reschedule with advance notice, (4) Agre ement to respect the autonomy and integrity of the client, and (5) Confidentiality within the confines of the law (Linehan, 1993a).DBT PhilosophyIn order to truly examine DBT, it is first important to examine how Marsha Linehan designed DBT to treat BPD. In her book Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, Linehan (1993 a) described DBT as the application of cognitive and behavioral therapy strategies to help work through problems.DBT is based on a dialectical philosophy that emphasizes reality as an interrelated system composed of opposing forces that are continuously changing. At the core of this philosophy is accepting the client as they are while assisting to promote healthy change. Linehan (1993a) further described DBT as:The emphasis on assessment; data collection on current behaviors; precise operational definition of treatment targets' a collaborative working relationship between therapist and patient, including attention to orienting the patient to the therapy program and mutual commitment to treatment goals; application of standard cognitive and behavior therapy techniques, (p. 19)DBT therapists use treatment procedures such as problem solving, exposure techniques, skill training, contingency management, and cognitive modification to help clients find new ways of working through the problems that brought them into therapy. DBT â€Å"requires that the therapist balance change and acceptance in each interaction with the patient† (Linehan, 1993a, p. 19).This treatment philosophy along with the application of problem-solving and validation strategies becomes the DBT process (Linehan, 1993a). DBT â€Å"blends a matter of fact, somewhat irreverent, and at times outrageous attitude about current and previous parasuicidal and other dysfunctional behaviors with therapist warmth, flexibility, responsiveness to the client, and strategic self-disclosure† (Linehan, 1993a, p. 19).DBT works to reframe suicidal and other dysfu nctional behaviors that had previously been part of the clients learned problem solving patterns. Therapy focuses on active problem solving and is balanced with a corresponding emphasis on validating the client's current emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses as they are in that moment. Focus on dialectics and the balance of acceptance and change are crucial elements of the DBT process (Linehan, 1993b).DialecticsAlthough DBT has similarities to standard cognitive and behavioral techniques, it also has many defining characteristics that make it a unique treatment. It is important to review the key elements of DBT in order to extend its application to a population such as BPD. For example, DBT emphasizes dialectics. Dialectics can be described as the â€Å"reconciliation of opposites in a continual process of synthesis† (Linehan, 1993a, p. 19). It stresses â€Å"interrelatedness and wholeness, parts of a system is of limited value unless the analysis clearly relates th e part to the whole† (Linehan, 1993a, p. 19).DBT therapists work with clients to examine a more global meaning to what had previously been polarized as extreme ideas or thoughts. Linehan stated that the most fundamental dialectic is the necessity of accepting patients as they are within a context of trying to teach them to change. Linehan continued by stating that â€Å"reality is not static, but is comprised of internal opposing forces, thesis and antithesis, out of whose integration (synthesis) evolves a new set of opposing forces† (Linehan, 1993a, p. 19).Linehan described how although dialectics focus on the whole, they also emphasize how complex the whole can be, including the oppositions they contain. With this notion in mind, DBT places an emphasis on acceptance as a balance to change (Linehan, 1993a). DBT therefore focuses on accepting the client for who he or she is in the moment, while also working toward more effective behaviors and ways of interacting with on e's present experience and the environment.In addition, DBT emphasizes the necessity of teaching clients to accept themselves and their world as they are in the moment. Linehan discussed how this unique strategy works well with BPD because it provides the validating environment so crucial to those with injured self-esteems. She also discussed the importance of providing a structured setting to learn and practice new skills.DBT includes both acceptance of the patient's experiences including validation of their emotional pain and suffering, and offering new psychological coping strategies that include a refocus on meaning and substance in their life, exposure to previously ‘intolerated' emotions, prevention of emotional escape, and introduction of a behavior focus. (Marra, 2005, p. 7) This behavior focus includes â€Å"goal orientation and new solution-based strategies to replace maladaptive coping skills† (Marra, 2005, p. 7).An important caveat to remember as treatment p rogresses is that there is a natural process of change that occurs as treatment progresses. Linehan discussed how DBT assumes that reality is a process full of movement and change. Therefore, immediate client stability and consistency are not a focus. Conversely, acceptance and movement with change are key elements of this process. The therapist and client work together in a changing relationship and a changing environment (Linehan, 1993 a).In her work with individuals who struggled with self-injurious and suicidality, Linehan utilized dialectics and the philosophy of balancing acceptance with change to enhance treatment effectiveness. She also observed that most of her clients presented with BPD characteristics. As such, she incorporated dialectical philosophy as the bedrock of her treatment when designing DBT for individuals with BPD characteristics.

Greek City state and the Roman Empire

Greek City state and the Roman Empire The Americans and the Western nations’ political systems and ideologies are in a way based on the ancient Greece and the Romans’ ideas. These countries are not the only ones that were affected. However, most of the ideas that are being used by governments in the world were originally borrowed from Greece (Wolin, 1960).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Greek City state and the Roman Empire specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Issues of Democracy and republican governments are some of the major political ideologies that were adopted from these two ancient states. People’s participation in political constitutions and content has its origins in these societies. Changes that occurred in Greek city-states and Roman Empire that explain the emergence of specific understanding of politics Firstly, the ancient Greece was once never a unified state but a conjugant of different nations. The large geographic bound aries that resulted in travel and communication difficulties brought the need for communities to adopt their own governing bodies and councils. These political units were known as city-states. These city-states, being separated by large geographical terrains, adopted different political systems. For example, the Corinth adopted the oligarchy system of government. Other city-states such as Sparta established mixed forms of government, which constituted both oligarchy and monarchial systems of government. This is how these aspects of politics emerged. Athens developed a democratic form of government that allowed the citizens to participate in the drafting of the constitution and the governance of their city-states. They purposefully did this to quell the long periods of unrest and conflicts in the city-state. These reforms transferred power from the hands of a few nobles to the citizens thus ensuring political participation. This is also known as democracy. Democracy is undeniably the most practiced form of governance in the civilized world. The Athenian government was made up of three major segments. These included the assembly, the council and the people’s court. They consisted of juries made up of the citizens. This was in order to oversee cases involving fellow citizens. Different from the Athenian form of government, the Romans adopted a Republic structure of governance. In this form of government, the elected persons (apart from just governing) were also expected to be responsible and responsive to their voters (Augustine, 1961).Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Romans were the first to draw up a constitution, which was a tool that was later adopted by a majority of governments around the globe. These countries exhibited republican tendencies. These sets of laws written down by the Roman government were, at the time, collectively kn own as the Laws of the Twelve Tablets. Nations later came to realize that having the laws written down protected the rights of the citizens and shielded them from unfounded prosecutions. Another important political aspect that was exhibited by these ancient societies was eligibility for political participation. For example, in Athens, the issues of eligibility for political rights and citizenship were seriously upheld. Therefore, in order to fully participate in politics, one had to be a mature male whose parents were both Athenians. The modern world states and nations that came thereafter came up with various qualifications. For one to be able to participate in politics or to be declared a citizen of the respective nation, he or she had to meet those qualifications. Philosophers were concerned about the issue of human action since they were greatly engaged in differentiating between activity, passivity, involuntarism and culpable actions. Action became a major philosophical topic i n the early 1960s and is slowly becoming a major sub-discipline in modern philosophy. A causalist school of thought postulates that an individual’s reason for acting is the cause of his or her action. It can be accurately argued that reasons lead to actions. Some philosophers like Harry Frankfurt have tried to explain the concept of human action and has tried to determine its compatibility with the large concept of determinism. Philosophers argued that political revolutions experienced in the governments of the world were as a result of human action. People are never satisfied with their constitution. They are always grumbling, never quiet and always require that some changes be made on the constitution. Under the concept of human action was another topic of humanism. Humanism marries the concepts of history and human actions. The concept of eligibility for political rights and citizenship were greatly focused upon and qualifications were set for individuals to meet. The mode rn world states and states that came thereafter came up with various qualifications for one to be able to participate in politics. Apart from politics, it was also necessary that one met the set standards before being granted complete citizenship of a city-state (Sayers, 1999). The citizens were the only ones who were allowed to own and keep slaves together with all other forms of property.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Greek City state and the Roman Empire specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In Sparta, for example, women were afforded the opportunity and privilege of being literate. This was a different ethical dimension compared to what was the norm in previous years. This was quite different from what other city-states like Athens did to their womenfolk. The liberation of women in Athens, for example, became an inspiration to the contemporary states and societies to recognize the position of women in the society. Another important issue was the payment of taxes. The ancient Greek, Roman and Greek states lay much emphasis on tax payment. These changes in ethical dimensions formed the economic background of a majority of the states that came thereafter. References Augustine, C. (1961). Confessions. Baltimore: Penguin Books. Sayers, S. (1999). Plato’s Republic: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Wolin, S. (1960). Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political thought. Boston: Brown Co.

Emission Spectrum Essays

Emission Spectrum Essays Emission Spectrum Essay Emission Spectrum Essay The purpose of this lab on Emission Spectroscopy was to see that when elements are heated, they may enter and excited state. We proved this by doing a flame test. During Part A, we used a spectroscope where all of the colors are arranged for you; whereas in Part B, we could see and make the colors ourselves and get a more accurate reading of the flames. We had specific elements we were told to put on the wire loop, and when we did that we saw different color flames come out of the Bunsen burner. That enabled out group to see the element in an excited state. The unknown element was lithium. This is known because if the color of the flame produced. The group I was in got mainly all the correct colored flames, but the few that were incorrect happened because the wire loop wasnt completely clean and there was still residue from the other elements. Overall, our group learned what it meant for an element to enter an excited state. Emission Spectroscopy excited state.