How might a Christian apply Essay Example for Free

How might a Christian apply Essay Through out Jesus teaching we see that justice, forgiveness and reconciliation are all the most important features of keeping the peace of the world. However war and conflict are two of the most significant issues in todays world and will be for many years to come therefore it is hard for a Christian to ignore this and know what is right or wrong. A current example of this is the international conflict in Iraq between many of the western countries. Blessed are peacemakers for they will be called the children of God. (Mt 5:9) This quotation is showing that a person who forgives and makes peace with any enemies will be rewarded by God although Christians have to live in a world where people often make war against each other. Therefore they have to develop an attitude to war campaigning against war and violence in various ways, using different examples from the scriptures to explain their position and different church teachings to help them through. Christians recognise that war is not compatible with the teachings of Jesus, as they believe in peace, and peace is essential for forgiveness to work. Jesus taught his follower to always love and respect, no matter how hard it may be they should forgive their enemies, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The principle being that although good does not come from evil, destroying evil allows us to repair the damage and do well. For example, the catastrophic bombs were dropped on Japan and killed thousands, the disaster will never be forgotten but we see that Japan is now one of the most powerful countries in the world and there is peace. Iraq and the Allies were and still are at war. Christians are divided over this war; some believe that there is a moral case for war against Iraq to free the Iraqi people from evil whilst others feel that the people of Iraq are the most affected and something else could have been done to prevent war to reconcile the countries instead. The Pope declared that war is a defeat for humanity and no the way to solve the Iraqi situation, his diplomatic efforts accord with Catholic teachings as a war should be the last resort. However Gaudium et Spes contradicts the Pope, teaching that the war is just to protect the people of Iraq. S and C Danes once stated that, Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is the effect of righteousness. A just war is one that must be fought but is conducted to certain conditions, they are designed to prevent a war and to limit its effect on people. Christians agree that anyone who engages in war should do so only after every other means have been worn out. In the past there have been many occasions when Christians have fought wars and when Christians countries have fought each other. We see this is wrong because Jesus taught this; A new commandment I give you; to love one another. As I have loved you. Pacifists believe that all war is wrong and support that; for example, Jesus called the Kingdom of God the peaceful solution. Also Lord Donald Sopers pacifism led him to being banned from broadcasting during the Second World War showing that his beliefs and feelings were very strong and he would stand up to what he believed was right, Violence is always wrong and doesnt always create new beginnings and solve problems. In 1980 there was a conflict that arose between Iraq and Iran, America and the West came to the aid of Saddam Hussein in this war, supporting a moderate bulwark against Islam. This war lasted until 1988 and the Iraqi government expected the war debts to be written off as they had justifiably defended the entire Middle East against Islamic radicalism. The Christian response should have been to help aid CAFOD and other Catholic organisations. However, Bishop David Konstant argues No war is just and reconciliation and justice are the only two grounds for true and lasting peace. To be reconciled with God , Christians must be able to forgive and to be reconciled with each other, as there is no peace with out justice and no justice without forgiveness.

Attachment and Monogamy as Studied in People and Rodents :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Attachment and Monogamy as Studied in People and Rodents "It had to be you, it had to be you I wandered around, and finally found - the somebody who Could make me be true, and could make me be blue And even be glad, just to be sad - thinking of you." -Written by Gus Kahn and Isham Jones (10) The mystery of monogamy has puzzled the human race for a long time. Monogamy is usually reasoned to be the result of an attachment that is strong enough to make someone be true to their loved one. Writers, artists, great lovers, the broken-hearted, and many other people, have entertained the question: if there is such a thing as monogamy, what is responsible for it? Recently scientists have started to seriously ponder the same question. Within the past few years exciting studies and experiments have been done with the intent to delve into this complicated question, which ultimately pertains to love. In 1999, scientists at Emory University led experiments with voles and mice to study monogamy. (1) In 2000, scientists from the University College of London studied the brain activity in a group of people who were "truly, deeply and madly in love" entitled The Neural Basis of Romantic Love. (2) Although no conclusions can be reached, many interesting observations are being made about mono gamy and romantic attachment. Prairie voles are monogamous creatures, so much that eighty percent of the time males refuse to mate with any vole other than their first mate, and both parents tend to their offspring. (3) Montane voles, who are a very closely related species to prairie voles, are polygamous. (4) Both female and male montane voles leave each other and their offspring after mating. "Prairie voles spend more than 50% of the time in close physical contact with each other, whereas montane voles spend less than 5% of the time in close proximity to other individuals." (5) After studying the social patters of other species of voles, like pine and meadow voles, it is apparent that two neuropeptides are responsible for the difference in social interaction. (4) Oxytocin, in females, and vasopressin, in males are the two chemicals which help prairie voles to be monogamous. (4) These same chemicals are present in montane voles, but do not have the same effect. (5) Oxytocin and vasopressin are released after the prairie voles mate, so that they form an "attachment." (1)

Bellboy Case

It is essential to first have general understanding of the Terms Bellboy. This name is generally associated with a person whose task is to run errands and sometimes help guests with baggage in hotels. The Bellboy often connected with question; what happened to the dollar, is a case that has been used by scholars to explain and make their ideas more sellable and attractive to their readers and scholars in their scopes of study.Three men of Italian decent also referred to as farmers by profession are said to have visited a foreign country and in the process the need to procure boarding facilities arose.It was in that way that these three gentlemen found themselves in a hotel where they wanted to hire sleeping rooms. After a $30 agreement for the three men they agree amongst themselves that each should give $10. And so they did. Later the hotelier decides to charge twenty five dollars. It is here that we here the bellboy mentioned first as the story continues. The issues arise when the hotelier decides to refund back the excess five dollars back to the three gentlemen. Not knowing how to divide five dollars among three men he decides to keep two dollars for himself and give each-gentle man a dollar as a refund.This is where after reading the story one notices the trick. One,after careful analysis of the story notices that a dollar will end-up being un-accounted for-thus posing the question of what happened to the dollar? The survey as presented is good since it provides readers with deep explanations of the field’s theory populated with daily cases. The case study here presents research marketing, the process of it and also explains the problem in its expository chapters. The general research work design is well reviewed, another plus for the use of the designed data collection forms and methodologies.The authors employ Data collection and exemplary designs in their conclusion of the case-study besides conducting a clear interpretation of facts and analysis . Churchill and Dawn chose to concentrate abstractly on objective support systems and information operations and more specifically to helping information seekers recognize a task easily, put it in order and ask for the opinion of those empowered to make judgments. The appropriateness of the Bell boy case cannot be overemphasized in the way it is used by the authors as a central influence point on the report and generally all over the books.Seemingly intended for grounding the foundations of marketing research, the Bellboy case-study encourages readers to think creatively beyond the scope. Maybe the greatest achievement by both Churchill Gilbert and Dawn Lacobucci lies in the simplicity of the case-study. Being a widely comprehended story, its understandability goes unquestioned. With good understanding, the interpretation follows with ease. On the same note the authors provide readers with a wide variety of professionalism which is exemplified using the Bellboy case-study.In the aut hor’s view, this is the best case scenario to give a reader a full comprehension of the subjects under discussion. Through the use of a highly comprehensible case-study, the authors take readers through nearly all stages of successful marketing and even more conveniently how to make them all work in practical marketing. Gilbert Churchill and Dawn Lucobbaci provide the reader with both theoretical and analytical works. The simplistic case-study, the Bell boy clearly indicates how the study gives basic ideas in some areas.Here too, the marketing researcher is provided with all insight with the requirements of the mathematical skills for the market researcher. By being thorough in explanations of concepts and ideas-both simple and complex, the student or learner is saved from extremes of abstract assumptions and misleading generalizations. The Bellboy case though simplistic in appearance helps the learner to develop creativity and analytical skills which are greatly essential to a marketing research both academic and corporate.Through the case-study the Bellboy the authors bring to focus articles across a broad range of marketing specialties, including consumer behavior, others such as retail tracking, merchandising, retailers and even analytics. The case study The Bellboy brings into clear focus high quality, theoretical and applied research in the areas of marketing and market research. The case study highlights academically oriented research work often focusing in on market orientation and even counter analysis.The analysis provided by the authors provides tips which would provide marketing research-based debates on market topics such as customer retention methods, product comparison and customer satisfaction. The importance of this case study; the Bellboy, cannot be overemphasized as put across by the authors. In a general view, this case provides us with information, intelligence on competition and market research as well as industry trends. Therefore , this is a most appropriate case-study in terms of relevance and objectivity.The text has undergone too much transition that some of original ideas may have acquired new dimensions. To a reader who is new, the case-study may be limiting in the sense that the additional ideas may not have existed in earlier editions. Across all the nine editions, there is a noticeable variation in the way the Bellboy Case is evaluated. This means therefore that a first time reader of a particular edition would miss out on ideas in another edition which he/she is not acquainted with. The Bellboy Case does not look very convincing with regard to some specific topics dealt with in the text.There lacks direct relevance between the topic Role of Marketing and the selected case-study Bellboy. This particular limitation can be cited in several other sub-topics including: Problem Formulation, in the introductory part one. Descriptive and Causal Research Designs in Part two, Standardized Marketing Informatio n in part three. Designing the Questionnaire or Observation Form and The Basics of Measurements all from part three. The simultaneous analysis of multiple variables in part five reveals some remote relevance to the Bellboy case study in part six of the text.Other limitation besides the one of relevance is the overuse of the particular case-study. Though creative and at the same time entertainment, this particular problem of overuse leads to an adventurous reader to a limitation of scope when it comes variety. A good reader no doubt feels limited in the choice of examples used. To some readers the Bellboy Case of what happened to the dollar as given by Churchill and Dawn may appear frivolities and therefore fail to exude the necessary seriousness intended by the authors of the text.In his review of the text, (Brown, 2005) is lf the opinion That being too specific in the use of the Bellboy Case Study limits the number of professionals who can use the book to mostly only trained resear chers are opposed to a general readership or the business community. A reader may question the up-to-date coverage of topics intended by the authors with regards to the Bellboy Case Study. The new or later editions of the text which have expounded information on topic which include sample size issues, forecasted sales and the usefulness of the use of internet may end up confusing the readers as opposed to giving them guidelines.Realizing the Bellboy Case as presented here one at guiltily feels the authors ought to have given several other case studies as a way of justifying their arguments on these topics. As it is a reader and especially one with market research background often feels grieved to only on idea of reference; Bellboy Case Study. At the beginning of the case study, makes a general assumption that most readers are acquainted with Bellboy story. This is generally a wrong assumption since quite to the contrary a good number of marketing research readers may have a problem getting acquainted with the case study.Though this may seem like an easy to overcome limitation, as good authors they should have taken the trouble of classifying to the readers the over told story. Lacking in direct connection too is the relevance of the Bellboy Case to one of the topics given much emphasis. One generally get the opinion that the bellboy case being too general was put out of reference for some extensively covered references such as the use of the intensive in marketing research. The Bellboy Case Study as used in the text leaves the reader and especially a marketing research professional with some unclarified ideas about several of the covered topics.For instance in the topics theoretical applied research in marketing and other areas such as consumer behavior. On the same note discussions on consumer profiles purchasers and retail consolidation effects should have benefited more from the Bellboy case study since one can almost draw direct connection after clearly an alyzing the story. The problem here is that the authors delegated more emphasis on the expository parts of the discussion, leaving this latter one which is equally important shallowly covered. The same problem can be cited on other topics.Such as the discussion on exhaling and analyzing product and market before action taking in market leadership. Weighing both the limitations and strengths of the Bellboy case as used by authors Gilbert A. Churchill and Dawn Lacobucci, one comes to the conclusion that only a good book can exude such a variation of opinionated reviews. Given that the Bellboy case is a fairly well comprehended story the world over, it becomes appropriate in the sense that the business community has a fallback reference point from which views and opinions can be drawn on practical market ideas and opinions.Clearly, the role of marketing research is investigated extensively by the authors leaving a marketing researcher and especially a beginning on with little to grappl e with if any. From tutors point of view the Bellboy case study provides a great teaching aid and resource in explaining marketing research and methodological foundations. The extensive treatment presents a high level in discussion professional codes of conduct and ethics on the part of both authors.All the topics handled in the book presents on acceptable level of relevance to practical marketing an more so the manner in which the authors bring in the Bellboy case study to act as a fall back point of reference for the entire coverage. Most noticeable however are questions one cannot avoid after deciphering the case study especially as used to expound on the usefulness of the internet as a tool of marketing. The question of whether or not the product or service will work online is inevitable. The question of the type and volume of market (product and service) information to include also arises.Coupled with this, the best venue for a product also poses an appropriate question to a ma rket researcher. Finally on this topic the issue of how one should collect the returns – monetary or otherwise becomes paramount. The internet as such becomes an important tool of marketing according to Churchill and Dawn. Here, emphasis is mostly laid on marketing research and information intelligence and sourcing in the internet as tools of marketing. As to the limitations cited here about this particular text, they only remain weaknesses as far as the bellboy case-study is concerned.Viewed in the light of another angle or perspective they could be strengths. It is also important to note here that both Churchill and Dawn have given marketing research and methodological foundations a new dimension and freshness often lacking in many other such texts dealing with especially marketing research. It is finally important to note that every thing has two sides and the strength or weakness only comes in when the pointer is focused on only one of the two sides. Reference Churchill/A . G. Locaabucci, D. (2004). Marketing Research: Methodological Foundation. London, Mason Publishers.

The relevance of the International Financial Crisis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1633 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The financial disasters of the late 2008 and the period since can be attributed to a false understanding of risk by the institutions because they forgot to apply it. Management of risk is one of the canons of their business but rather than apply it in their dealings, they allowed greed for more profit to becloud their judgement. Banks and other financial institutions are indeed in business to make profit and add to shareholders value. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The relevance of the International Financial Crisis" essay for you Create order By so doing, they confront all manner of potential risks all firms must face in order to achieve the goal of profit maximization and shareholders added value. It is in the pursuit of these twin objectives, that banks and other financial institutions ignored risks inherent in the various transactions that took place during the financial crisis of 2008. There were so many risk factors the financial institutions failed to take into consideration in their quest for profit maximisation. Outlined below are some of the relevant risk issues associated with the financial crises which they failed to consider and apply. 1] Concentration risk 2] Portfolio risk 3] Default risk 4] Liquidity risk 5] Systematic risk Concentration risk Most of the banks and other financial institutions in that period failed to diversify their loan portfolio. They became heavily involved in mortgage lending because of its high yielding returns and because they were fully secured by the underlying tangible asset. It is well known that concentration in one product market is dangerous hence, the massive downward adjustment in global real estate market prices that led to massive losses. Had the institutions diversified their portfolio, the losses would have drastically reduced. Portfolio risk Asset Based Lending During the period, most of the financial institutions were encouraged to be involved in mortgage lending and other complex collateralised debt obligations forgetting that collateralised assets do not pay debts except cash flow and the ability of the debtor customers to pay their debt obligations when they fall due. Moreover, in a period of crisis and defaults, collateral values tend to decline and that calls for lenders to seek additional collateral with a view to correcting the collateral deficiency of the debt or demand to be repaid or seize and sell the collateral pledged. During the crisis, wave of foreclosures forced down prices of all manners of collaterals. The repercussion was that, the foreclosure of the properties drove down liquidity. According to Davis (2008 p.15) in his explanation in his DIIS working paper, unsecured lenders saw that money was being lost by secured lenders (when their properties were put on sale) and began to withdraw their often short-term funding too thereby creating liquidity problem. Another was the Collateralised Debt Obligations: Banks involvement with CDO raised so many questions as to if the CDOs were what caused the crisis, although it served as a good reason for the banks to keep on lending along with investors who also saw a positive way of increasing returns in events of a drop in interest rates (Marinescu, 2010 p.1). These CDOs were categorised under three segments which were; Junior, Mezzanine and Senior. The Junior level involved high risks and returns, along with mezzanine which stood in the middle, while the Senior level was regarded as the safest with low risks and returns. This however did not stop the investors from wanting to gain higher returns especially in the year, 2002 and 2003, which made banks create what Tett (2009 p. 110) referred to as a CDO of CDOs (meaning) instead of the company purchasing a bundle of loans, it would possess pieces of debt issued by other CDOs and then issue new CDO notes, all with the main purpose of making bigger profits. Liquidity Risk Liquidity was another major risk that the banks and other institutions faced which later became a critical issue in 2008. They took it for granted and were attracted by the fees available in a high-churn business of extending new loans, selling them on and lending again. They also presumed continually that rising asset values would protect them against any borrower difficulties. With what was known as the Structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs) not being able to sell their commercial notes, in addition to the leverage of the banks, default of payments on the part of the customers, investors being too afraid to invest anymore in what they were not sure of and a bank-run on the part of the customers, all if not more contributed to a decrease in liquidity in the process. Also the Collateralised mortgage obligations contributed to this because they were assets and generally not cash at hand which made them somewhat difficult to be sold on a quicker pace and led to the problem of liqui dity which pushed the unfortunate banks to insolvency. Default Risk This risk later became a reality when the customers defaulted in payment which may have come about because of a crash in house prices and not wanting to end up paying back the loans they took, or as a result of the unemployment and the increase in interest rates, the average rate on an adjustable mortgage rose from 3.5% in late 2005 to 5% by autumn of 2007 (Tett 2009, p. 226). Tett (2009) also mentions the unkempt nature in which some of the houses were left by the defaulters who moved out, making it difficult for the institutions to sell them for a good price- which was also impossible because of the fall in prices as mentioned above. Systematic Risk The Financial Institutions were interested in moving assets from their portfolios by spreading them out that they failed to look at what might happen in the future concerning those risks. They were focused solely on idiosyncratic risk and were blind to the record build up of systematic risk that had happened right in front of their eyes, partly with their permission (Kapoor, 2010 p.31) CONCLUDING REMARKS Operational risk played a major role in showing how some of the Financial Institutions took the coming of a crisis for granted. Majority of the banks were not prepared for the shock, which brings us to the question of asking if no careful attention was put in place to reduce these levels of risk. At first, the banks felt they were diversifying their risks by embarking on projects they considered safe which were indeed not, although some rating agencies declared them safe, it was later observed that there was no transparency on the part of these agencies which meant there was a high rate of information asymmetry which served as a disaster to Lehman Brothers who invested in these bad assets (Stiglitz, 2009). The Mortgage assets held by Lehman Brothers and their involvement in sub-prime mortgage lending, along with the belief that they could earn high returns on investment with the continuous rise in house prices, took a turn-about when the prices fell and they were highly leverage d. In an attempt to move assets off its balance sheet, Lehman brothers before its collapse transferred assets worth 5 billion dollars (Merced and Sorkin, 2010 p.1). Never the less, no one was able to come to its rescue, mainly because institutions didnt trust each other anymore. Another risk which was misunderstood was the default risk. The diversification of the risks were held under the notion that because they were being spread out, the risk of one defaulting would not affect the others, but the diversification was not going as planned in the sub-prime mortgage sector, and since these asset backed securities (ABS) were somewhat grouped together even though spread around, a default in one simultaneously led to a default in the other. SIVs were believed to be safe, but the Institutions did not take into consideration that since SIVs were completely off the rules of the regulators, the central banks were in no position to bail them out in the event of a crisis which eventually ar ose when SIVs were no longer able to sell their commercial notes. The leverage of Financial Institutions and the dependence on ABS, particularly mortgage backed securities caused so much havoc which pushed some of them on the verge of bankruptcy, For example; Bear Stearns the company was involved in mortgage backed securities, paid for by debts with short maturities and these mortgage backed securities were difficult for them to sell at a fast pace (Tett 2009, pp. 203- 236). Roles of Regulators There have been several debates as to whether the bank regulators could have contributed more in terms of monitoring the banks, supervising and scrutinizing these financial institutions in order to detect any illegal devices. Epstein (2008) commented on the fact that supervisors should have gone the extra mile in monitoring the risk of banks. He further went on to point that majority of the problems associated with the financial crisis originated from not paying full attention to the operational risk. The lackadaisical attitude in the financial system arose as a result of how the system regained balance after the Internet bubble and the collapse of Enron and Amaranth in 2006. By 2007, the dominant creed at the Washington Federal and US Treasury was that credit risk had been so widely dispersed via credit derivatives and CDOs, that any blows would be absorbed (Tett, 2009, p. 179). Again the regulators relied solely on the risk assessment techniques of the financial institution s which were not exactly error free. The banks on the other hand, felt they were doing a good job at managing their risks through rating agencies, diversification and many more, so also, risk assessment models and these mathematical models approved to be safe were indeed not because they failed to look at all other underlying factors associated with risk and could not clearly see the implications of excessive leverage, default risk on the part of the customers, the risk of sub-prime mortgage loans, the general misguided opinion of a constant rise in the house prices and the greed to earn higher returns on investment.