Truth in Superstitions Essay Example for Free

Truth in Superstitions Essay There are some people who believe in superstitions. They would follow certain â€Å"rules† that most of the time may make no sense. They’ll just say you that it is bad luck to do certain things. So what is the basis of these beliefs? Superstitions are beliefs that one event leads to the cause of another event without any physical process linking them. Oftentimes these were just based on events that happened by chance or coincidence. Others may just happen to be repetitious. Yet still others are just made by some people just for the heck of it, concluding something that isn’t scientifically proven. Though superstitions do have a basis, most of the reasons are forgotten but are still followed just because it became a tradition or it became customary. Some superstitions are linked with religion. A good example would be that it isn’t good to walk under a ladder. This may have an obvious reason that it might cause an accident: hitting yourself with the ladder or that something might fall on you. Aside from this, it also came from the ladder forming a triangle with the wall and ground. This triangle represents the Trinity and by crossing the space in between may mean violating the Trinity. Also, the belief of breaking a mirror would yield bad luck. This may be based on the belief of spiritualism. It was once believed that mirrors reflect one’s soul and that breaking it may mean destroying one’s soul. Other superstitions may be reasonable in the olden times and impractical at the present. Some examples would include the prohibition of cutting one’s nails at night. Before, there was no electricity and people only rely on the moonlight. Cutting one’s nails during that time would have a risk in cutting one’s fingers, especially when using a knife or blade as they don’t have those fancy nail cutters that we have now today. Some of the real reasons of derivation are also forgotten. The old would give random reasons that when you think about it, doesn’t give a cause-effect relationship. Some would even say because it was said by the elders and was passed from generation to generation. So knowing these origins, now what are the advantages and disadvantages of being superstitious or following the traditions? First, the advantages or the good points at least would be that one would have a sort of tradition or ritual to follow. It may also add colour to life. As what Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, â€Å"Superstition is the poetry of life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Believing other superstitions like wearing a lucky charm will not necessarily give you good luck but it somehow conditions your mind that you ar e lucky and everything will be fine. By conditioning your mind to this thinking, it will boost your confidence as this is what most people lack. They are capable of doing something but they doubt they are able. Also, some may also avoid accidents to happen as the case of crossing the ladder. They also organize one’s life as they create certain patterns. Some superstitions were made from experience and may be practical to us still. Disadvantage may include that it gives a kind of restriction to those who really observed them. They also waste time. Some of the superstition would also let you miss an opportunity to help others. An example would be the tale that one shouldn’t bring out money once it’s already nighttime. With all these superstitions, knowing them all and following them is impossible. Some superstitions may be beneficial but most are just impractical in the modern times. They may even limit and restrict us when we could have done more.

elasticity of the airline industry Essay -- essays research papers

INTRODUCTION In 1973 Peter Drucker wrote that â€Å"mission and philosophy is the key starting point in business† and claimed that the lack of thought and attention given to them as the cause of many frustrations and failures in business. Subsequently Pearce (1982), David (1989), Campbell and Tawadey (1990) and others developed a body of knowledge on mission statements as a strategic tool essential for good management practice. The Ashridge model: MAINTAINING A CORPORATE FOCUS mission statement is a powerful instrument which can significantly influence the actions of an organisation Campbell and Tawadey (1990) put the mission statement into the context of a mission model, entitled "The Ashridge Mission Model", which comprises four elements: *Purpose describes why the organisation exists *Strategy focuses on how the purpose might be achieved *Values are what the organisation cherishes and believes in *Behaviour standards are the policies and patterns existing within the organisation which guide and colour how it operates *key issues are whether such elements have been addressed and whether the organisation's stance is clearly understood by all employees * Strong links between the four elements will result in a strong mission During the 1990s attitudes to company mission statements were generally positive with more companies using them and academics and consultants engaged in defining and evaluating them. Most of this was within the context of strategic management since mission and vision form a â€Å"framework within which strategising takes place† (Eden and Ackerman 1998) leading to the mission as a statement of strategic intent. Leading management authors advised that corporate headquarters draw up business plans which include broad statements of mission and strategy (Kotler 1991, Kay 1993, Lynch 2000, Thompson 2001). There were numerous definitions and categorisations of mission statements (Jauch and Glueck 1988, Johnson and Scholes 1999, De Wit and Meyer 1994, Barrow et al. 2001), but little discussion, still less empirical evidence, of how mission statements are used, by whom and their impact on performance. Research since 2000 has attempted to remedy the deficiency in the mission statement literature and to establish a link between mission statements and performance. Bart and Baetz’s (1998) in-depth study showed that the prese... ... 10-13. Campbell, A., & Yeung, S. (1991). Creating a sense of mission. Long Range Planning, 24(4), 10-20 David, F. R. (1989, February). How companies define their mission. Long Range Planning, 221 (113), 90. Drucker, P. (1973). Management tasks, responsibilities, and practices. New York: Harper Row. Eden, C. and Ackerman, F. (1998) The Journey of Strategic Management, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Krohe, J. Jr, ‘Do you really need a mission statement?’ Across the Board, Jul/Aug95, Issue 7, p16, 5p, 1c, 1bw. Klemm, M., Sanderson, S. and Luffman, G. (1991) ‘Mission statements: selling corporate values to employees’, Long Range Planning, 24(3): 73-78. Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (2002) Exploring Corporate Strategy, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall Europe. 6th edition Olins, W. (1990) Corporate Identity: Making Business Strategy Visible Through Design, London: Thames and Hudson. Pearce, J. (1982). The company mission as a strategic tool. Sloan Management Review, 23(3), 15-24. – Mary Klemm & John Redfearn Mission Statements: Do They Still Have a Role? Rigby, R. (1998) ‘Mission statements: the good, the bad and the ugly’, Management Today, March: 56-9.

Microbiology and Unknown Bacteria Lab

Unknown Bacteria Lab Report Introduction The purpose to this lab was to identify an unknown bacteria from a mixed culture provided to us by our instructor. This study was done by applying all of the methods that have been instructed on thus far in microbiology laboratory class. Each test performed, provided us with some key information about the unknown organism in question and how the bacteria function. Over a two week period, eight prepared types of test media were provided to identify the assigned unknown mixed cultures. Not all of these tests were performed on every culture, as some were used only for gram positive or gram negative bacteria. The tests performed and what constituted a positive or negative test are as follows: Lab day 1; today in lab we obtained the unknown mixed culture â€Å"041†and one brain-heart infusion agar (BHIA). The first step was the preparation of the medium, the bottom of the BHIA dish was labeled with the bacterium number, initials, and section; then divided into four quadrants. The second step, we used the septic technique to transfer a small amount of culture with a flame-sterilized inoculating loop to the first quadrant, flamed and cooled the loop again then transferred a small amount of the culture from the first quadrant to the second using the quadrant streaking method as illustrated on page 18 of the lab manual, repeating this process until all four quadrants were properly streaked. Lab day 2; we collected our BHIA medium and began by identifying the morphology and cell-to cell arrangements of the colonies. Two different colonies were observed, the first colony was yellow in color and larger in size and the white colored colony was slightly smaller in size. As instructed, each colony was prepared for gram staining, one slide for the large yellow colony and one for the smaller white colony. After properly gram staining the slides as directed in chapter six of the lab manual, the smears were examined under†¦

Analysis Of Porter s Five Forces - 2000 Words

Porter’s Five Forces The Treat of Entry The children’s-products and services industry is one of the highly profitable sectors in the UK because the total UK children’s wear market alone worth around  £5.91billion in 2011 with a 6.5% growth from the previous years (keynote 2011). This shows that markets such as these are highly profitable and they can attract new firms easily; on the other hand it can decreases the profitability for all firms within the market and then creates a higher level of competition. the threat of entry is largely dependent of the barriers to entry within the market itself. Generally when volume of production increases, the average cost per unit decreases with economies of scale. One of the barriers of entry for Mothercare and its competitors is the economies of scale which they can exploit in order to provide lower prices to consumers or generate higher profits. Therefore, in order for a company to compete directly with Mothercare, it would need to have enough capital to produce goo ds at near the same volume than the market leaders. But Tesco PLC and other large supermarkets were able to penetrate and become strong competitors in the market because of the large capital they have. Also, In 1990 ASDA launched its ‘George’ (Brand republic 2006) range and was instantly able to provide quality clothing at cheap and affordable price because they had many outlet and capital which gave them advantage of large economies of scale. The Bargaining Power ofShow MoreRelatedPorter s Five Force Analysis1465 Words   |  6 PagesMichael Porter s five force analysis of Starbucks coffee shows the intensity of the five strengths of the firm, and the bases of these powers. Starbucks coffee s prosperity shows its viability in tending to these outside elements in its industrial surroundings. 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