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6 Stages of Rational Choice Decision Process 1. Identify the Problem or Opportunity. Defining the problem correctly is critical to arriving at an appropriate solution. 2. Choose the best decision process. Different problems require different approaches for arriving at a solution. In some cases, brainstorming is an appropriate process, for example, but not in all situations. 3. Develop alternative solutions. By putting various solutions "under consideration," more creative and appropriate solutions can be implemented. 4. Choose the best alternative. Select from the alternatives, or a combination of the alternatives using the criteria defined earlier. 5. Implement the selected alternative. This may include training staff on the solution, purchasing new equipment, or implementing new procedures. 6. Evaluate decision outcomes. The decision should be evaluated and modified as necessary to ensure that the desired outcomes are achi

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Introduction The current global financial crisis frequently is presented by many apologists as an unprecedented, unexpected, and unpredictable chain of events and outcomes that developed rapidly. Other members of the culpable apologist flock paint the current global financial crisis as an aberration, an event at the polar extreme of outcomes associated with the functioning of the business cycle, or as a chain of events and outcomes resulting from irresponsible consumers and home-buyers that were spurred on by governmental policies. All of these portrayals of the current global financial crisis put forward by the apologists for the actual casual agents of the chain of events are designed to attain specific objectives (Bayne, 2008; Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2008). These objectives are to deflect responsibility and accountability from the perpetrators, prevent the implementation of policies that will prevent rec

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Introduction In the 2008 American Presidential Election the conceptualizations of class offered by Barack Obama and John McCain respectively roughly aligns with the liberal and conservative views of social issues. From a distributional approach, conservatives accept the natural inequality that free market capitalism produces which manifests itself in different social classes. From a cultural approach, liberals reject inequality, viewing social classes as arising from systemic bias in social institutions that prevent certain groups having access to opportunities for upward mobility. John McCain's conceptualization of social class during the 2008 Presidential Election is akin to the distributional and conservative framework, while Barack Obama's conceptualization adheres to the liberal and cultural framework. These models of social class adopted by the respective presidential candidates will be the focus of this analysis. The role of class-based interest groups in

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An idea I have had about math that I find intellectually engaging is that math does not just help people weigh and measure things. Most people think of math as enabling them to find the area or volume of a geometric shape or determine how many miles to the gallon an automobile gets, but math actually describes relationships between things as well. For example, in a triangle, two of the three angles added together determine how big the third angle can be. The three angles a

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Defining justice is a task which requires one to simultaneously define a moral perspective in which one identifies not only the difference that which is right and that which is wrong but the ways in which a society or an individual should address that which is wrong. Dictionary definitions of justice refer to codes of conduct put forward by a society or another group that are meant to serve as norms for behavior (What justice means to me, 2009). Other definitions include reference to the idea that acts have consequences and that these consequences should reflect the significance of the acts that foreshadow them. Defining justice from the perspective of a professional working within the criminal justice field not only requires a personal understanding of morality but also an understanding of legal approaches to the nature of justice. As a person planning a career in the field of criminal justice as an investigator, I have spent a great deal of time defining the term "justice" i

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Amy Tan's story "Two Kinds" reflects the aspirations of a Chinese-American mother for her daughter, as well as aspects of the Chinese-American culture. Tan's mother had lost everything before coming to America-her parents, her home, her husband, and her baby girls, and her daughter Amy was now her only child. Tan describes the relationship she had with her mother and how her mother tried to help her get her piece of the American dream, an effort that failed. Through her account of her life with her mother, however, Tan brought out three major ideas-the reason behind the mother's treatment of her daughter, the aspects of Chinese-American culture woven into the story, and the question of whether the mother was successful in teaching her daughter. The reason behind the mothe

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Admissions Essay I intend to pursue a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue University because I believe that this degree will enable me to achieve my personal and professional goals. My interest in a college degree stems in large part from watching my parents struggle in their business because neither of them attended college, and therefore many of the things they learned were based on trial and error. I am not interested in taking over the family business, but I am convinced that an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue will help me to be successful in my chosen profession in several ways. First, it will prepare me for a career with one of the major aerospace companies. Second, a degree fro

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Teen steroid abuse is a dangerous trend that high school coaches may be able to offer solutions for. Known as "roids," "juice," "hype," or "pump," anabolic steroids are man-made substances that act like the male sex hormone testosterone ("Teens and Steroids"). Although steroids are only available legally by a doctor's prescription to treat certain conditions, they are available on the black market and are taken by some teens to "enhance performance and also to improve physical appearance" ("Teens and Steroids"). Teens that take steroids may exhibit a variety of signs and symptoms, such as rapid weight and muscle gain, "aggressiveness and combativeness," jaundice, purple spots, swollen feet and legs, trembling, skin darkening, bad breath, and severe acne ("Teens and Steroids"). More than 70 side effects can occur due to steroid use, including liver cancer, psychological effects such as "roid rage," and depression ("Teens and Steroids"). Males can have "reduced sperm producti

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W.E.B. Du Bois was a black man and civil rights leader who wrote much about the black experience. In his essay "Of Training of Black Men," Du Bois discusses the education and economic prosperity of the black man, emphasizing three streams of thought. The first stream of thought is the unity of all men. Du Bois points out that "the multiplying of human wants in culture-lands calls for the world-wide cooperation of men in satisfying them," creating a need for "a new human unity" that "pull[s] the ends of the earth nearer, and all men, black, yellow, and white." The second stream of thought is that the Negro is "somewhere between men and cattle," a "clownish, simple creature" that might someday become a man (Du Bois). Du Bois's sarcasm in describing this perspective is palpable, and he adds that the chances of the Negro breaking through to become men are slim because "we build about them walls so high, and hang between them and the light a veil so thick, that they

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Introduction Outsourcing in accounting and finance refers to the contracting of independent entities to perform accounting and transactional activities that otherwise would be performed by in-house staff. Outsourced activities and functions within the realm of accounting and finance can run the gamut from relatively unsophisticated operations to highly complex processes (Michael, 2008). There are benefits that are associated with the outsourcing of finance and accounting activities, not the least of which are lower costs. There also are risks involved; however, as the ultimate accountability and the responsibility for the quality, legality, and ethical character of the output remains with the company, not with the outsourced contracting entity (Duganier, 2005). Relevance to Global Companies With respect to the quality, legality, and ethical character of financial and accounting records, reports, transactions, and other outputs, the situation becomes ev

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Introduction The purpose of this paper is to explore gender differences in life expectancy. Specifically, the exploration will attempt to answer the following question: Why, on average, do men die at younger ages than do women? Fraser (2003) attributed increased longevity to a vegetarian diet. He reported, however, that even among vegetarians the gender difference favoring women still applies. Di Giilio (2007) noted that the differences in longevity between men and women are attributable to a mix of "biological factors" and to "behavioral factors" (p. 31). With respect to the many hypotheses that have been advanced to determine where the primary causes lie, however, Di Giilio (2007) reported that no "firm conclusions" have been drawn (p. 31). Statistical data support the conventional wisdom that women live longer than men do (Watkins, 2006). The validation of causal factors that explain this phenomenon, however, is a less than certain process (Emslie & Hunt, 2008).

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Solar energy is nothing more than "the light and heat provided by the sun" (Dunn). However, solar energy has some pretty amazing advantages. For one thing, it's a totally free all-natural energy source. For another, the entire earth is like a giant solar collector, because the earth "receives and collects solar energy in the atmosphere, oceans, and plant life" ("How Solar Energy Works" 1). After the earth absorbs half of the sun's energy and makes heat from it, the other half bounces back out into space ("How Solar Energy Works" 1). The half that is absorbed is responsible for the process of photosynthesis that converts the chlorophyll in plants into fuel that the plants can use. Through the use of photovoltaic cells and panels, solar energy can be used to generate electricity ("How Solar Energy Works" 2). Another major advantage of solar energy is that "there is so much of it...way more solar energy available than the world will ever need"-a total solar energy load avail

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Rosemary's Baby Roman Polanski's tale of modern Satan worshippers in New York City in Rosemary's Baby is generally considered one of the better horror films ever made, though the horror is all in the imagination and not from blood and gore. Most reviews of the film comment on the innocence factor of its initial setting or in the characterization of its title character, Rosemary, a woman who loves her new husband but as she experiences pregnancy with him must come to think the most sinister things about him. Time Grierson (2008) is one critic who refers to the innocence factor in the film in his one sentence summary of the film's plot: "An innocent woman whose career-conscious husband arranges to have her impregnated by Satan and is then forced to suffer at the hands of patronizing neighbors who secretly view her as little more than a baby incubator" (p. 1). In the film, Rosemary makes the transition from innocent young woman to experience young adult who learns t

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Overview of the Paradox of Categorization The Paradox of Categorization was identified by Lisa F. Barrett (2006) as the paradox which occurs because people believe that they know an emotion when they see it and, consequently, tend to assume that emotions are nothing more than discrete events that can be recognized with some degree of accuracy. Scientists have yet to produce, said Barrett (2006), a set of clear and (most significantly, perhaps) consistent criteria for indicating when an emotion is present and when it is not. However, in reality, emotions often are somewhat blurred; observations of emotions are often categorized as revealing anger, sadness, joy, fear, and so forth, but in actuality emotions are elusive and tend to defy clear definition. The categorization of affect, therefore, is often guided by knowledge about emotion acquired from prior experience, then tailored to the presenting situation, and designed as Barrett (2006) commented, for action. Categorizing affect places a

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I posed one of Dr. Weiner's questions to a friend of mine, a father of two boys and a daughter. The question I posed was the first: "You are on a boat that overturns. It contains your 5 year old and 1 year old children, both of the same sex. The boat sinks and you can save only one. Whom do you choose to save?" My friend pondered this question for several long moments. "I don't really know," he responded. "I guess the youngest, and hope that the older could somehow save himself." Later that evening, he called me at home. He had been thinking about the question ever since I asked it, and he had a new respo

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Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also known as therapeutic cloning, is a form of scientific research that has the potential to lead to cures and treatments for serious, chronic diseases; SCNT involves the removal of the nucleus of an unfertilized egg cell, replacing it with the material from the nucleus of a "somatic cell" (a skin, heart, or nerve cell, for example), and stimulating this cell to begin dividing. As differentiated from reproductive cloning, SCNT does not aim to create human beings by cloning human embryos; human "Dollies" are not the goal of SCNT, which focuses instead on generating new cellular tissue that can replaces diseased or damaged human tissues and foster improvements in the quality and even the length of human life (Korobkin & Munzer, 2007). SCNT is controversial, however, because it involves the use of human embryonic tissue. At issue in this analysis is the question of whether embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are a better medium than adult stem cells (

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The Green for Grades research being implemented in urban inner-city school districts in cities like New York and Chicago is designed to resolve the high drop-out rates and subpar academic performance of urban city teens. Developed by Harvard Economics professor Roland Fryer, the program is funded through private donations and the Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University (Vargas, 2008). The program targets only freshman and sophomore high school students, offering them payment for performance, with every A worth $50, every B worth $35, and every C worth $20 (Vargas, 2008). The program has proven successful in the eyes of teachers, parents, and students. A student with straight A's could earn $5,000 potentially. The program is aimed at freshman and sophomores because of their critical stage of academic development. The Green for Grades research is based on the theory that if freshmen and sophomores get off to a great start academically, they will do well in later years and graduate. As Chicago Board of Education President Rufus Williams maintains, "The first year of high school is

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Memorandum To: President From: Date: Re: Replacement of company computers ABC Company has not upgraded its computer system since the year 1996. As a result, the company is sustaining extremely slow processing times and a substantial loss of efficiency and productivity. Moreover, our marketing and sales staff, which uses the Internet for market research, reports frequent lost connections and long wait times while information comes up on the screen. Our present computer systems cannot accommodate the newer software, which would provide more capabilities and greater speed. In addition, because our business partners' computers are upgraded, our computers are no longer capable of interfacing with theirs to exchange files because our software is outdated and is incompatible with theirs. The company needs to replace all of its computers. We need the efficiency and the ability to access the Internet quickly, as well as the ability to interface wi

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Introduction The romantic poets typically were inspired by emotion and imagination. As Dr. Salah Mahajna (1) writes, "The key word for romanticism is freedom to give reign to one's emotions and dreams." Romanticism is associated with powerful emotions. In his famous "Preface," William Wordsworth wrote that "all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Mahajna 1). Few feelings create as powerful emotions as the fact of human mortality or death. Death and reaction to the inevitable condition of human beings was one of the main themes to occupy the romantic poets from Wordsworth and John Keats to William Blake and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Romanticists also viewed nature as the ultimately expression of life and emotion. In romantic poems that focus on death, death is typically viewed with bitter lament as an end of life for human beings despite nature's eternal condition, or it is viewed as a reconnection to nature, a form of returning

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In Mayan Visions: The Quest for Autonomy in the Age of Globalization, anthropologist June C. Nash (2001) provides an account of the Maya people of Chiapas as they struggle to forge a place in the rapidly emerging global marketplace. Within the Mayan drive for cultural autonomy, the Zapatista Movement is explored; one that shows the wide scope of social movements that includes indigenous, grassroots, national, and global activism in Chiapas. Nash's current study of the Maya people is informed by her years spent as an anthropologist in Chiapas during the 1950s. After an interim period in which she produced work on Bolivia, she returned to Chiapas and observed and was involved in events before and after the 1994 insurrection. In doing so she has located Amantenango del Valle, "a community that had declared [itself] autonomous, within Chiapas, Mexico and the global environment" (Nash, 2001, p. 206). The dominance of finance capital, Western ideologies of community and

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Chinese painting evolved from the fourth to the fourteenth centuries as technological sophistication, coupled with cultural transformations, affected the creative arts. Helen Gardner (380) sees these changes as linked, at least in part, to the growing significance of Zen Buddhism that emerged in Sung painting as of the late tenth century. This brief essay will examine a small selection of Chinese paintings to trace these changes. The five traditional colors employed in China are white, black, red, yellow, and blue-green - which correspond to metal, water, fire, earth, and wood ("Some Landscapes" 1). An early example of Chinese painting from the late fourth or early fifth century is Lady Feng and the Bear, attributed to Ku K'ai-Chih. This artist is considered one of the greatest early Chinese painters. He took his subject for this scroll from a Chinese writer who explains the principles that an instructor in the royal palace would teach to the princesses under her care. Gardner (219) says that the secular subjec

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Introduction E-commerce is no longer a luxury for companies; it is a business imperative. Yet with the convenience of being able to reach suppliers, customers and investors over the Web comes the burden of maintaining data security. This analysis considers the importance of security to protect an organization in an e-commerce environment. Analysis Firewalls are most commonly gateway computers that isolate local users from the outside world. Files that are accessed for downloading are not loaded directly onto the system, but reside within a quarantine site until they are scanned for viruses and other software threats. Only those files that are deemed to be safe are passed through the firewall (Epper Hoffman, 2003). There are three technologies closely associated with most firewalls: packet filters, application gateways, and stateful inspection. The type, or types, of technology that are appropriate to a particular firewall is based on the layer at which it operates. The t

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The goals of trade unions are to protect the jobs and the wages of union members. When a union negotiates a wage and benefit package with a company under a collective bargaining agreement, both the union and the employer recognize that the outcome of the negotiation not only affects the parties to the negotiation. The outcome of the negotiation over a collective bargaining agreement can become a standard against which similar contract negotiations are conducted. Strikes and other work actions such as slowdowns and sick-outs can be symbolic or they can be an effective tool to remind management about the importance of exercising good judgment, restraint and discretion in discussions and negotiations with union representatives. Sometimes, and in particular when contract negotiations not progressing or negotiations are becoming contentious, union workers can express their concern and displeasure in a variety of ways. For example, the union itself or union members can organize

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Scanning some of the 1920s headlines, one can see the hectic pace- good and bad- of the decade of the Twenties: Women's vote is legal! Booze isn't! Jolson talks! Millions mourn Rudolph Valentino Senate turns back on League of Nations! Wilson dies a broken man! Stock market creates millionaires! Bankers jump as market crashes! While women rejoiced over finally gaining suffrage, their victory was politically overshadowed by the Senate's dec

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Changes for America in the 1920s, included the unfortunate political decision to remain aloof from Western Europe, despite the country's contribution in ending World War I. America was tardy in entering the war, because Woodrow Wilson felt the reasons for the war had little to do with America's interests. Yet, while many Americans agreed with keeping out of war (in fact, it was a campaign slogan in 1916 for Wilson's reelection, st

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