Danger and Hope in the Information Age :: Philosophy Religion Essays

Danger and Hope in the Information Age Where can we find hope in today’s information age? To answer this question satisfactorily one must be clear as to its presupposition. To find hope in the information society means that there appears to be something wrong with it, so that one needs to search for hope in such a society. In this paper I would like to outline some of the perils of today's information society and to point out that, though the perils are real and very strong, we nonetheless can overcome them through concerted action which I shall outline in the sections to follow. In short, I would like to show that there is a realistic, practicable hope in today’s information society, but such a hope can never come into fruit without effort. Hope does not come through a total negation of the technology, nor does it come through a blind adherence to it. Rather realistic hope can obtain only through concerted effort to understand the implications and impact of the technology. As for the cultures of the Third Word, where the potential dangers of the technology appear grave, hope can come through strengthening of local resources and searches for ways to co-opt the technology and to adapt it into the cultures’ particular life-world. Human society is increasingly characterized by an increasingly pervasive use of technologies, notably among which are the information and communication technologies (ICT’s). Today in Bangkok one could hardly fail to be giant billboards exhorting commuters to log on the Internet and visit one web site or another. Name cards increasingly carry email addresses as well as personal web sites. In Thailand, new Internet cafà ©s spring up everyday like mushrooms in rainy season. Nowadays it is estimated that there are around four million people on the Internet in the country, up from just one or two million just a few months ago. These events and numbers are just superficial indicators of a deep change that is going on throughout the world. Technologies are obviously becoming more and more important, or at least they are becoming ubiquitous. Since there is no time in human history that this kind of profound pervasiveness of technologies, especially those connected with information and communication, occurs, human beings need to reflect and think hard about what kind of life, what kind of society we as a species are creating. This thinking calls for a bold vision and an imaginative construction of possible scenarios more than ever before, since the situation we are facing is totally new and we cannot rely solely on lessons of the past. We cannot just compare the current situation to a historical event in order to

Influence Of The Media In Forming Negative Body Image Among Females

We set out in this paper to explore the influence of the media in forming negative body image among females. In the course of the research, we also looked at the influence of media—primarily TV watching—on males just to compare the two groups and their responses to media images. Our findings reveal that although distortions in body image are growing among both males and females, females are especially vulnerable to body-image messages and respond to them with distorted behaviors around dieting and with lowered self-esteem or self-image.These conclusions are supported further by some of the work of Garner, Garfinkel, and Olmstead (1983) who claim that media exposure to stereotypes of very thin women models and reinforces the association between thinness and the characteristics such as physical attractiveness, desirability, personal self-worth, and success. This can lead to internalization of a thin ideal stereotype by females, which can result in distortion of the mental image of themselves (Downs & Harrison, 1985; Ogletree, S.M. , Williams, S. W. , Raffeld, P. , Mason, B. , & Fricke, K. , 1990; Salmons, Lewis, Rogers, Gotherer, & Booth, 1988). Indeed, Myers and Biocca (1992) claim that only 30 minutes of TV watch a day can alter a young woman’s perception of body shape. Why is this important? First, of all the effect of pervasive media influence, such as extensive TV watching and the reading of women’s magazine which are full of diet programs, are distorting the image of females’ perceptions of their ideal body image.Whereas, in some eras in history a â€Å"Rubenesque† or plump figure was considered a favorable body type, in this period of time the ideal type is an emaciated look. This distortion can lead to behaviors that create unhealthy dieting and exercise patterns that have the potential to seriously affect a young woman’s long-term health outlook and can lead to diseases such as Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia . A second consideration is the role of self-image. It appears as something of a chicken-and-egg issue. That is, do media images cause lowered self-esteem and lead to unhealthy dieting and exercise behavior.Or does the practice of consistently unhealthy behaviors that don’t lead to the distorted image that is imagined by some women cause lowered self-esteem? In an article on the Media Awareness Network, it is claimed that all this media barrage leaves the message that women are always in need of adjustment so that whether it starts with the chicken or the egg the woman is going after a mostly unattainable goal of extreme thinness and thus can’t win and will ultimately end up with a lowered self-image.The third point is that the media benefit from the constant message that women are inadequate. The article on the Media Awareness Network cites the fact that the diet, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industries are direct beneficiaries of women’s feelings that their b ody images are inadequate. They state that, â€Å"By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. And it’s no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty.Such women are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, diet aids, and memberships to health clubs. Obviously, this is a situation where a need is created, a consumer is convinced of the need, and services and products are introduced to fill the need. What are some of the considerations that exist that are trying to address and disrupt this unhealthy contract? The article on the Media Awareness Network states that â€Å"There have been efforts in the magazine industry to buck the trend.For several years the Quebec magazine Coup de Pouce has consistently included full-sized women in their fashion pages and Chà ¢telaine has pledged not to touch up photos and not to include models less than 25 years of age. † There was also significant attention to the models for Dove cosmetic products, who were average-sized women. These ads appeared in magazines and on TV. An informal scan of TV ads and programs might show some average-sized women, but they are still few and far between. Our unfortunate conclusion is that the fantasy image of a super-thin woman still sells products.

Strategic Management - Final Exam - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1380 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Seminar Strategic Management â€Å"Final Exam† 12th April 2014 You have been assigned the task of developing a strategic plan for your organization. You have set out to develop an organizational profile. What will you include in this process? What information will you include and where will you get your information? How will you utilize the information? Response: An important plan arrangement includes every individuals contribution. The essential thing that we have to deal with is the vision and mission and things which are associated. The profile could be seen from the company site. Similarly we can get the obliged staff knowing past goals. The information like past strategies, realized targets, and the systems that made the affiliation achieve those end result is needed. Also on analyzing over the yearly reports, we can research where we are falling behind, so we can move beyond of it by progressing new systems for that. The profits of association incorporate: Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Strategic Management Final Exam" essay for you Create order Information on method and courses of action makes integration Good decisions could be realized a change understanding and improvisation. Experience makes the change of new methods. Better usage systems are made. Can be never going to budge how far the vision is related. Decisions could be made which relates to the targets. Also knows the techniques of the contenders. Can be generated extraordinary parts and commitments. Can be made healthy relations with people associated within the organizations. 4. As the leader who has responsibility for moving the organization ahead, you have been assigned the task of developing the vision for the future. How would you do this? Who would be included in the process? What criteria will you use to select members for the committee? What type of training would you need to ensure the team is the most effective possible? Response: The Leader of an organization expect an essential part to receive from other fellow members and as well participation of his own performance for developing the company. Its particularly trying for them to launch the essential planned methodology. For making a plan, he should inspect the present status of cooperation. In like manner, its superior must know the external regular components and examples. The leader should have a clarity regarding the vision and mission of the organization, and the thing executed in the past and to be completed in future. Moreover, he should acknowledge what made him enhance the visi on and mission. Key organizing should incorporate those people, and low and medium level bosses where a chain could be confined successfully and organizing could be suitable from beginning to end and base to top correspondence. The leader should be prepared for knowing the minor issues and enlighten them. This could be acknowledged by him simply on the off chance that he takes care of an incredible correspondence with everyone who fits in with the piece of a key planning methodology and the guidance. Hence the leader should not to carelessness any line directors in the organizing procedure. Leader is a person who likes the whole assembly for achieving its goals. Strategic planning and implementation cant be completed overnight. It takes some months or sometimes years to make a complete one. Unique planning additionally takes number of years for good leaders to execute its crucial plan and make it extraordinary. The Leader should recognize the people inside and remotely who have view towards the organization change and join them in the plan. He should moreover aggregate the benefits required for the plan, and by recalling this, he should keep more than the enough stakes in light of the fact that no one can need whats to come situation. For a productive correspondence, the steps should be: 1. Most perfect methodology to illuminate vision and mission by making a logo. 2. Circulated compact summation about course of action with yearly reports makes available the game plan to each and every individual 3. Gathering the people and every interesting makes correspondence feasible and further form steps could be discussed. 4. Recognizing and engaging the totals that achieved goals. Part 2 – Provide 10 concepts, issues, philosophies, or practices in the areas of strategic planning that you can utilize in your workplace. Name the aspect, describe it, and explain the implication for your workplace. This does not have to be in essay form bu t can be in bullet form. 1) Vision and Mission: These are the explanations that give the vision and mission of a company. Vision description must state that what it have to be some time to come, i.e., propelling certain years. Statement of purpose of reason states the system to be endeavoured to accomplish its vision. These are created in such a way, to the point that they spur everyone in the organization to attain the destinations. The enhancing of these both illustrations makes everyone get clarity on what they are relied upon to be and decrease the mixed up presumptions that are by and large event in the most natures turf. Furthermore these declarations should be delineated in a motivational way. 2) Evaluation: The heading dare to be done before making plans for anything in the acquaintanceship is the necessities examination that should be completed like SWOT examination. This illuminates both inner part and external condition of the company. This is encapsulated ins ide things like qualities and shortcomings, and the external environment like chances and dangers of a organization. 3) Improving structure of organization: This expects a basic part in making a fitting need to finish its targets and similarly takes care of an extraordinary correspondence between everyone. Furthermore, it is used to review the existing plans and operations that assistance in propelling the new frameworks. Keeping an eye on its methods, guidelines, and makes specialists to consider the new one to be completed. Its greatly troublesome to development a remarkable administration structure. 4) Recognizing important aspects like customer satisfaction: This expect a principal part in light of the way that the standard proposition of any business must be the satisfaction of customers since without this, any business cant make due in the business segment. This could be accomplished simply by outfitting the quality things and headway of new things as the time chan ges. Moreover altering the things or stock in chance to the customer makes customer feel satisfaction. This extends the characteristics of the organization, and this must be offered need to the company methodologies while moving forward. 5) Strategic planning and implementation: Basically propelling the plan is not imperative; it should be understood by everyone who expect a part in it. Gave that a peculiar having a spot with the game plan doesnt grasp it, then it may assist the dissatisfaction in utilization. Moreover, there should be extraordinary correspondence took care of between each one level, which speeds up the path for success. 6) Rundown on goals to be achieved: There should be given the need between the destinations since this prompts clearly what targets to be touched base from the beginning and after that next with the objective that the success could be landed at organized. 7) Implementing the plans to achieve goals as per importance: Action arrangem ents could be made since they are viewed as the fleeting targets and combining of these makes the cooperation achieve its mission. So we have to enhance these, and focus on touching base at them one after interchange makes to attain mission easily. 8) Distinguishing and enhancing the individuals strength areas: The key some piece of a leader is to distinguish the people who are suitable to enhance and execute the key arrangement. This cant be done on simply certain criteria, and needs to distinguish a significant measure and study them out and out to pick them. 9) Implementation and checking: This is exceptionally troublesome on the grounds that if the execution is not successful, then there is a loss of investment, time, and in all others ways, and the organization is going to endure a considerable measure. A legitimate overseeing is to be carried out in specific interims and should make any progressions if needed. Likewise, making reviews and having reactions helps in creating the progressions in the arrangement. 10) Customers needs: It is a champion around the most basic practices in the key needing to have a customer focus that assists in knowing the headway of the course of action to customer at despite seemingly any conditions. 1 of 7