The Impact of a Call Centre on Communication

Question: Discuss about the The Impact of a Call Centre on Communicationn in a Programme. Answer: Introduction The scenario is based on the multinational payment card company located in the suburb of Brisbane is planning to outsource with the help of telephone marketing. The telemarketing service providers having call centers in Singapore and Suva requires a large number of numbers of the customers and the details of the payment card. The call center is responsible for storing the required information about the customers and need to update headquarter about all the updated information. The payment card company wants security strategies, policies and the standards from the call center to ensure that the security provided to the confidential details about the customer to the call center is secured. The need for strategy regarding the security of the customer details is a sensitive area for the payment card company as the reputation of the company is dependent on the way it handles the payment of customer in a secured way (Regina M. Hechanova 2013). Therefore, when the payment card company is giving the details of the payment information of a customer to the call center they required a security strategy of the details and the policies the call center company is acquiring for keeping the information secured. Security Strategies The strategies like recording call and data, customer relationship management, voice over Internet protocols and customer tracking solutions are the significant strategies that the call center can follow for adhering with the payment card company. The call center should optimize the workforce providers for ensuring the solutions that are been provided have the exact security protocols as well as the operation is done in a network having high level of security (Guedes, Furtado and Pequeno 2014). The solution might differ with the different level of automated devices that are been used for protecting the sensitive data of the clients. The best strategies that could be applied by call centers to convince card payment company is by facilitating controls of automated controls of pause/resume system for the voice as well as screen recorder. The other option that could be used is Interactive Voice Response, end-to-end encryption, password management and audit trail (Martin 2015). Strategies and its prospects and consequences Capability/ Strategies Description Pros Cons Pause/Resume (Manual) The agents follow the manual pause/resume strategies. At the time, customers started sharing data, which is confidential and sensitive the agent can manually operate with help of a button that pause the recording and aging press the button for the second time for resuming recording. The sensitive data is protected from recording. The manual operation depends on the agent who is operating the system, as he might not pause the recording when the customer is sharing confidential data (Xiaosong et al. 2016). This step might affect the experience of the customer. Pause/Resume (Automated) API helps in integrating the recording with servicing application. At the time of accessing the sensitive field in application servicing, the recording is paused automatically and it is resumed automatically (Mao et al. 2016). The sensitive data is prevented from recording. The risk of having human error is eliminated. The process is clear and transparent. The resources regarding the Information Technology from the call center or the enterprise is needed at the time of implementing the solution. The customer might share the sensitive data ahead of the trigging of the automatic pause button. Desktop Analysis It helps in pausing as well as resuming the record automatically. This process is an automatic process and is transparent to the customers. The changes regarding code level is not required. The application has to be purchased and resources are required for the implementation of the Desktop Analysis (Barros, Pickering and Gudes 2015). Analytics of Real-time speech This strategy is used to spot information that is sensitive in real time. Application pauses automatically as soon as it get certain commands and recording is resumed when after a definite time delay or when other word is said by the customers (Deshpande 2014). The application minimizes the risk like recording and storing significant data of the customers. High skilled operators are needed for implementing and managing the system. Interactive Voice Response process of payment It is significantly used for recording information regarding the credit or debit card of the customer (Saylor 2014). The time when customer makes payment, the operator is responsible for transferring the customer to IVR. IVR only see or hear the information of credit card. The process of payment by credit card is fully secured. The call handling time is increased. The customer could have a negative impact as the call is transferred to the IVR. Adapting Cloud Computing as Strategy The implementation of cloud computing has bring a revolutionized period for the call center. The cloud computing technology has eliminated the huge capital expenditure and the investment done on the upgradation and maintenance. The call center when taking the responsibility of the payment card company needs to implement this technology (Al-Ayyoub et al. 2015). This helps in the update of the regulation, which is done by the software provider. Security strategies as required by Payment card company The call center should developed a strategy according to the requirement of the payment card company. The strategies include the following steps: Constructing and Maintaining a Secure Network- A configured firewall should be construct and maintain for preventing the data of the cardholder. The call center should not use any parameter of security supplied by the vendor. Protecting the data of the cardholder: The data of the cardholder should be prevented and stored in an appropriate manner. The data should be encrypted before transmission in the public network (Paulsen 2014). The management program should be vulnerable: Antivirus should be updated regularly and developed as well as secure systems should be maintained. Access control implementation: The access to data of cardholder should be restricted and should only be use for the needs of business. Each person should be assigned with a new ID for accessing the system (Ye et al. 2014). The physical access to the data of the cardholder should be restricted. Monitoring and testing networks regularly: Tracking and monitoring the access to the resources of the network and the data of the cardholder should be implemented (Ferdoush and Li 2014). The processes and the system of the security should be tested regularly. Policies Adopted by the Call Center The call centers should convince the payment card company about implementation of the suitable retention policies. The policies are stated below: The policy should ensure that data of the payment card is stored when it is necessary. The disposal procedure should be implemented in the policy. The time limit should be restricted on keeping the information of card in Quality assurance, recording server as well as in the database of customer relationship management. The corporate governance and the department of Quality Assurance needs to work on the requirements of call center for adhering the payment card company compliance (Filnov et al. 2015). The card validation code like CAV2, CID, CVC2 and CVV2 should not be stored in the format of digital audio or in the format of video (Boutcher et al. 2014). If the Quality assurance or the recording solution fails in blocking the audio and video from storing then the code should be deleted from the stored recording. The full access to PAN should be provided based on the need to k now requirement. The call center operation should be segmented for minimizing the number of operators having access to the data of the payment card (Long, Shelhamer and Darrell 2015). Considering an example of this policy is the information could be entered by the sales operator but the executive of the customer service must only have the access to for masking PAN. Call center should encrypted the data The call center should be adhering the policy of implementing the strong protocols of encryption. These protocols include Secure Socket Layer, Internet Protocol Security, and Secure Shell (Puzio et al. 2014) for transmitting the data of the cardholder in the public network. The transmission includes the Voice and streaming of data through Voice over IP systems of telephone (De Pessemier et al. 2015), as the data is sent over the public network. The necessity of strong cryptography is also requires for the Voice over IP system. If the Voice over IP systems fails to provide strong cryptography, the call center company needs to use the analog telephone system. The information regarding the payment card details should not be send through an unencrypted code and the end user receiving medium should not be inform of chat, email, simple messaging system (Ozkaynak et al. 2014)and other channels of non-encrypted communications. The best policy is to ensure that the play back of the stored recording is restricted if the recording includes the data regarding the information of the card details. Policy of Authentication Implemented among Staff The policies should be clear about the appropriate user authentication implementation among the staff, administrators and operators. The policies include the following steps: The access to the Quality Assurance, recording solutions and Customer Relationship Management should be restricted to the data containing information about the details of the payment card. The implementation of policies like providing recording of the screen with interfaces of playback and the information about the payment card details is visualized only to the managers and masking the information to the other supervisors and Quality Assurance specialists (Milstein et al. 2015). The operations of the call center should be segmented in such a way that a minimum number of operators should have access to the information regarding the details of the card. The supervisors and the operators should not share passwords and the user id. Information Security Policy Implemented in Call Center. The understated policies should be implemented by the call centers in order to adhere with the payment card company. The policies are stated below: The operational security procedures should be developed on a daily basis. The procedures should be consisting of all the requirements of the payment card company (Peltier 2016). The procedure should also define the responsibilities assigned to all the personnel. The policies should be developed for using the technologies that are critical and the policies should also be well defined with the appropriate use of the technologies so that the personnel should not face any problem to understand the use of the technologies. The policies should be implemented in such a way that every individual and every specific team should have the responsibilities for providing the security. The awareness program regarding the formal security should be implemented. This helps the personnel to be conscious and aware of the importance of the payment card security (Murdoch and Anderson 2014). The personnel should be trained well so that they can acquire the knowledge regarding the procedures and policies of security. The reviewing of all the procedures as well as the security policies should be done annually. The reviewing requires the presence of in house and remote operators. The operator should acknowledge all the requirements of the security and implement them as a daily sign in process. This is the best practice as well as the best policies that the company could implement. The potential employees should be screened before hiring for the process. The mentoring of both remote agents as well as the in house agent is the best practice and policy. It reduces the risks of being attacks from the internal sources. The call center manager should have the control on the compliance of monitor policy. The policies should be developed that will restricted the unauthorized copying, storing and moving the data of the card holder in to the hard drives as well as electronic media at the time of accessing the data of the card holder with the help of remote technologies. Call Center implementing the policies regarding Media The policy should be developed for giving attention to the specific authentication data. The storage of those data should be strictly prohibited. The access of the media both by physically and logically to records the call must be prohibited. The interactions regarding the recording must be logged in the accounts for future use. The back up and the storage of the recorded solutions should not follow a back door solution. The policy of destruction should be formulated for destroying the records that are not needed for keeping for a longer span of time. An innovative policy of tracking the product of call recording should be formulated. It helps in tracking all the logical and the physical access that the media have regarding the contents of the data of information. The features like encryption, authentication, logging and detailed reporting are provided by this policy. Standards The call center needs to provide certain standards to the payment card company for meeting the global standards. The standards are stated below: The call center should exercise an effective authentication control for all the operators who have the access of recording the call. The standards should be set such that there should be no direct connections between the internet and the system that is storing the audio. The standard should be set such that the system is able to maintain the secure configuration standards and the vulnerabilities should be checked on a regular basis. The sales operator and the supervisors should have installed the personal firewall and the operations. The global standard includes the installation of the latest updated version of the corporate software from the protection of the virus and other malwares that are harmful for the confidential information. The personal computers of the sales operator and the supervisors shall install this software (Deryugin et al. 2015). The personal computers of the supervisor and the operators should install the security patches. The goal of setting the standard to meet the global requirements is enhancing the security of the payment account with the help of awareness, knowledge and the various standards that helps in increasing the standard of the security of card payment. The major card payment companies like American Express, JCB International, Visa Inc and Discover Financial service follows the rule like PIN Transaction Security, Payment Application Data Security Standard (Ammons 2014) could be implemented by the call centers for adhering with the payment company card. Assumption of Challenges for Payment Company Card The concept of outsourcing implemented by the payment company card is great but there are certain challenges that are been assumed that the company might face while giving the work to the call center for storing the information and updating the stored data. The call center might store in the important card details of the customer in the audio recordings of the voice. The call center could overcome these challenges and convince the payment card company by the security strategies that are stated above in the report (Bond-Barnard, Steyn and Fabris-Rotelli 2013.). The call center could also convince the payment card company by which the recording of the important information data could be restricted so that no fraud or forgery could happen. Conclusion The recent survey shows that the customers in UK are giving a second thought before making payments through the call center. The card payment company might face this as a big barrier. The research done by Syntec Telecom shows that 30% of the Great Britain Population does not agree to pay through the call centers. The customers and the clients steel felt that a lot of thing is need to be improved for keeping the data securely in the call center. The call center could only convince the card payment company if they earn the trust of the customers. The call centers should also try to eliminate the fraud trademark that they carries and should maintain the security policies and strategies for their development. Recommendations The call center managers have to take initiative for regaining the trust of the clients. The regaining of trust is only possible if the call center starts applying the following steps in their company for customer satisfaction. The steps include: Technology Usage: The use of technology for hiding the important information regarding the details of the credit and debit card should be implemented by the call centers. Audit: The regular audit on the calls should be done for monitoring the fraud and forgery cases. Training of Employees: The employees should be trained and the extreme measures should be formulated if any of the employees violated the rules of the company by committing fraud and forgery with the customers. Monitoring: The monitoring of external and internal fraud should be done appropriately. Strategy: The security strategy should be formulated by the organizations that should be technically sound. Improvement: The manager should monitor the requirement of the operation for improving the programs of the security. Elimination of Failings: The basic failings of the operations should be deleted like storing of important information. Trusted partners: The trusted secure partners should be chosen for the security areas of the company. References Al-Ayyoub, M., Wardat, M., Jararweh, Y. and Khreishah, A.A., 2015. Optimizing expansion strategies for ultrascale cloud computing data centers.Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory,58, pp.15-29. Ammons, D., 2014.Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Perfomance and Establishing Community Standards. Routledge. Barros, A., Pickering, C. and Gudes, O., 2015. Desktop analysis of potential impacts of visitor use: A case study for the highest park in the Southern Hemisphere.Journal of environmental management,150, pp.179-195. Bond-Barnard, T.J., Steyn, H. and Fabris-Rotelli, I., 2013. The impact of a call centre on communication in a programme and its projects.International Journal of Project Management,31(7), pp.1006-1016. Boutcher, D.C., Harney, R.K., Munroe, S.J. and Scheel, J.J., International Business Machines Corporation, 2014.Real-time security verification for banking cards. U.S. Patent 8,632,002. De Pessemier, T., Stevens, I., De Marez, L., Martens, L. and Joseph, W., 2015. Analysis of the quality of experience of a commercial voice-over-IP service.Multimedia Tools and Applications,74(15), pp.5873-5895. Deryugin, V.N., Giacomini, P., Makagon, P., Ryabchun, A. and Anisimov, N., Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., 2015.Method and apparatus for extended management of state and interaction of a remote knowledge worker from a contact center. U.S. Patent 9,002,920. Deshpande, M.V., Marifet, K., Matthews, J.B., Wogulis, J.L. and Chou, L.P., Google Inc., 2014.System for displaying a web page with real time analytics data overlay. U.S. Patent 8,775,611. Ferdoush, S. and Li, X., 2014. Wireless sensor network system design using Raspberry Pi and Arduino for environmental monitoring applications.Procedia Computer Science,34, pp.103-110. Filonov, V., Lum, H., Culbert, J., Blander, D., Subramaniam, S., Cicchitto, A. and Gvildys, P., Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., 2015.Call event tagging and call recording stitching for contact center call recordings. U.S. Patent 9,178,989. Guedes, R., Furtado, V. and Pequeno, T., 2014, September. Multiagent models for police resource allocation and dispatch. InIntelligence and Security Informatics Conference (JISIC), 2014 IEEE Joint(pp. 288-291). IEEE. Long, J., Shelhamer, E. and Darrell, T., 2015. Fully convolutional networks for semantic segmentation. InProceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition(pp. 3431-3440). Mao, C., Yu, H., Shi, J., Cai, T. and Yang, B., 2016, January. Automated Interactive Visualization on Abstract Concepts in Computer Science. InInternational Conference on Computer Science Education Innovation Technology (CSEIT). Proceedings(p. 121). Global Science and Technology Forum. Martin, L., 2015. Noncitizen detention: Spatial strategies of migrant precarity in US immigration and border control. InAnnales de gographie(No. 2, pp. 231-247). Armand Colin. Milstein, D., Odinak, G. and Lee, H.M., Intellisist, Inc., 2015.Computer-Implemented System And Method For Protecting Sensitive Information Within A Call Center In Real Time. U.S. Patent Application 14/667,603. Murdoch, S.J. and Anderson, R., 2014, March. Security protocols and evidence: Where many payment systems fail. InInternational Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security(pp. 21-32). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Ozkaynak, M., Johnson, S., Shimada, S., Petrakis, B.A., Tulu, B., Archambeault, C., Fix, G., Schwartz, E. and Woods, S., 2014. Examining the Multi-level Fit between Work and Technology in a Secure Messaging Implementation. InAMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings(Vol. 2014, p. 954). American Medical Informatics Association. Paulsen, K.L., Cirque Corporation, 2014.Method for protecting cardholder data in a mobile device that performs secure payment transactions and which enables the mobile device to function as a secure payment terminal. U.S. Patent Application 14/150,313. Peltier, T.R., 2016.Information Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards: guidelines for effective information security management. CRC Press. Puzio, P., Molva, R., nen, M. and Loureiro, S., 2014. Block-level de-duplication with encrypted data.Open Journal of Cloud Computing (OJCC),1(1), pp.10-18. Regina M. Hechanova, M., 2013. The call center as a revolving door: a Philippine perspective.Personnel Review,42(3), pp.349-365. Saylor, M.J., Bouzid, A.T., Durgani, P.B., Rennyson, D.J. and Perera, P.S.N., Angel. Com Incorporated, 2014.Multimodal interactive voice response system. U.S. Patent 8,654,934. Xiaosong, Z.H.O.U., Wu, H.J., Chung, C.Y., Normile, J.O., Abuan, J.S., Jeong, H., Yang, Y., Johar, G. and Jansen, T., Apple Inc., 2016.Dynamic detection of pause and resume for video communications. U.S. Patent 9,232,187. Ye, N., Zhu, Y., Wang, R.C. and Lin, Q.M., 2014. An efficient authentication and access control scheme for perception layer of internet of things.

A Literary Analysis of Margaret Atwoods Happy Endings free essay sample

In the story â€Å"Happy Endings† the author Margaret Atwood gives 6 scenarios in alphabetical order from A to F of how a couples life could play out over the span of their lives. In these six scenarios Atwood uses satire to emphasize how interchangeable and simple each couples life is. In this story Atwood uses character, style, and point of view to chastise the desire for the everyday common life and the concern for only the â€Å"whats† in life and not â€Å"how or why†. The use of flat characters in â€Å"Happy Endings† is one of the ways Atwood’s satirical tone is especially emphasized. The first characters introduced, Mary and John, are barely developed and we only learn simple details about their life that appears to be happy and comfortable. For example, we learn that they both have jobs but not what they do for these jobs. The narrator describes them as â€Å"worth while and remunerative jobs, which they find stimulating and challenging. We will write a custom essay sample on A Literary Analysis of Margaret Atwoods Happy Endings or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † We also learn that they continue to enjoy their lives but are still not given any exciting details. For example, all the important aspects of their life are described by the narrator as â€Å"they buy a charming house†, â€Å"when they can afford live in help, they have two children. They turn out well. † â€Å"They go on vacations together. They retire† , â€Å"They both have hobbies they find stimulating and challenging. † Atwood uses this lack of detail to emphasize how flat and dull the characters are, building the idea that the main desire in life is focused on the â€Å"whats†. Throughout the different scenarios Atwood continues to use the writing style of repetition to make the point that the root of each story is the same. For example, almost everything in the characters lives throughout the six scenarios are described as â€Å"stimulating and challenging†, all the houses in the story are described as â€Å"charming†, and the real estate market is always mentioned. The most important thing that is repeated at the end of every story is that they all die, no matter what happened in their life, they all eventually die. Death is key to this story because regardless of the â€Å"whats† the characters have in life, Atwood wants to emphasize that death will always equal us out. For example, in scenario F these exact ideas are mentioned by the author â€Å"you’ll have to face it, the endings are always the same however you slice it† and â€Å"the only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die. † The third person objective point of view that this story is written in is what makes the characters so flat, the repetition so empty, and the story so simple. For example, a much more descriptive story in B is emotionally detached and flat because of how the author purposely lacks passion by writing, â€Å"Mary falls in love with John but John doesn’t fall in love with Mary. He merely uses her body for selfish pleasure and ego gratification of a tepid kind. † This statement is so emotionally loaded and could be very upsetting but the way its delivered, so fat and blunt, takes away the emotional attachment. The death as well in story B is a dark and heart breaking part but is also told so bluntly to remind you of death being the equalizer. For example, the author writes so easily about the death â€Å"Mary collects all the sleeping pills and aspirin she can find, and takes them and a half bottle of sherry. You can see what kind of woman she is by the fact that its not even whiskey. She leaves a note for John. She hopes he’ll discover her and get her to the hospital in time and repent and then they can get married, but this fails to happen and she dies. † The non-emotional way her death is described is an indicator of the flatness. The use of character, style, and point of view that Atwood uses to write this story gives you a real feeling of pity for these characters, only having horrible lows or average highs in their relationships. It appears that there is no great place to be in her story. Reading this story for the first time, the reader could assume Atwood has an obsession with bad relationships, boring average marriages, and death. The key to understanding what the author is trying to convey is realizing how the stories all link together and how they all lack the essence of excitement and desire. The author brings the idea that without focusing on the â€Å"how and why† of life and only focusing on the â€Å"what, what, what† will leave you with an average life. Reference Endings, and Margaret Atwood. 2016. Happy Endings. Goodreads. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28673445-happy-endings. Topics, Sample Papers Articles Online for Free. (2016). Happy Endings – Margaret Atwood. [online] Available at: http://studymoose.com/an-analysis-of-margaret-atwoods-happy-endings-essay [Accessed 21 Nov. 2016]. Happy Endings Summary. 2016. Www.Bookrags.Com. http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-happyendings/chapanal001.html.

Who Is Hmong People Sample Essay? An Answer You Should Know

Who Is Hmong People Sample Essay? An Answer You Should KnowIf you want to know who are Hmong people sample essay then read this article. If you are interested in studying abroad in Hmong country then it is the best time to select a school for yourself.Who are Hmong people sample essay? It is a question most often asked by students who want to find out about the culture and history of a country where they will be studying for some time. This way, they will be able to find out what the country is like before they start their education.If you study in a country where the majority of the population is from a particular background then it would be an excellent idea to do a short research about that country. You may not like the country but it is a fact that most of the people there have one thing in common. They all speak the same language.Hmong people sample essay is a simple and short question that has many answers. The first thing to understand is that in Hmong country the language use d in everyday conversations is only known by the people living in that area. Most of the people speak another language in the rest of the world which they know only on a very basic level.To fully understand who are Hmong people sample essay you need to understand the differences between the languages spoken by the people of that country. There are more than 200 languages spoken in the country, so you can never assume that only one language is being used in everyday life.Another simple question to answer is who are Hmong people sample essay. To get the answers you have to know where to look. First of all, if you know nothing about the country where you want to study then there is no point to doing research.If you are having trouble finding information about the country where you want to study then a little research will be enough. You will be able to find a list of schools that offer courses in a particular country.A further problem with who are Hmong people sample essay is that if y ou want to find information about a particular school then you have to travel. If you don't have money to travel then the Internet will be a good option.

Why an existentialist might prefer to speak of finitude rather than death Essay Example

Why an existentialist might prefer to speak of finitude rather than death Paper We often recognise human beings as being distinct from other species for the ability to anticipate death. But death can simply mean ones biological termination and therefore not capture fully the philosophical questions which we associate with human existence. Critically discuss why an existentialist might prefer to speak of finitude rather than death. Mans ability to recognise death is a fundamental part of his existence; it can be said that this is what separates us from animals or mere things. The subject of death can be viewed and understood in different ways. Some may see death as the end of a story, and chose to ignore or fight against it. An Existentialist however, would prefer to incorporate death as part of their whole existence. In this essay I will discuss how an Existentialist would prefer to speak of finitude rather than death. I will look at how his understanding of existence differentiates from that of somebody who thinks of death as something to be shunned. I will attempt to analyse how this Existential outlook on human existence helps them to deal with philosophical questions of morality, guilt, and ultimately authentic existence. I will endeavour to evaluate the problems that may arise from such a view on existence, and ascertain how death factors in to the Existentialist view. Humans are finite beings. Finitude in itself enables us to account for what is creative in the capacities of the finite human creature. Heidegger calls fate the association of the two senses of finitude: as project of being and as dependence upon pregiven being. (Kerszberg 1997, p238) It can be said that there is no absolute freedom for humans, and this encompasses the tragedy of existence. We will write a custom essay sample on Why an existentialist might prefer to speak of finitude rather than death specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Why an existentialist might prefer to speak of finitude rather than death specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Why an existentialist might prefer to speak of finitude rather than death specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer One way of defining this tragedy may be seen as a clash between the aspirations of human freedom and creativity with a cosmic order that is stronger and defeats man (Macquarrie 1972, p189). Its this limitation of man combined with the tragedy that makes us human. When an Existentialist is speaking of finitude, he means that we have simply been thrown into existence and we must accept our inward awareness of our very own being. Each individual persons existence is characterised by facticity in that we have not chosen to be, but rather, we are just here. We are stuck with our particular being; our genetic and hereditary selves, our place and moment in history and society etc. We do have possibilities in life, but they are confined by the external forces acting upon us. In this sense facticity can be seen as an opposite to possibility, or rather Existence never escapes from the tension between possibility and facticity. On the one side man is open and projects his possibilities; on the other side he is closed by the factual situation in which he already finds himself. (Macquarrie 1972, p192). It may be difficult for us to view death as anything other than a simple end to ones life. This biological death may be seen as an interruption of life, but if we accept this we cannot experience existence as a whole. Martin Heidegger believed that one way of overcoming this difficulty was to shift attention from death as the once-for-all observable fact at the end of life to the existents inward awareness that his being is a being-towards-death. (Macquarrie 1973, p195). So death is something that is already possible, in fact, the most possible thing in ones existence. Heidegger relates death to care, and this incorporates the everyday being of the Dasein (my beingness). It arises from the tension between the forward thrust of possibility into the future and the facticity of the situation into which the existent is already thrown, together with falling into the world and the they. (Macquarrie 1972, p196). One aspect of this is that death can be viewed upon as a supreme possibility of human existence. All the possibilities that we see before us are laid out before death one after the other. We can only experience one thing at a time and each of these things comes before the ultimate possibility of death still a possibility even though it can be an end to others. For Heidegger, he asks that we should anticipate death and that it should be an included factor into the way we experience certain events. For this reason the Existentialist will prefer to speak of finitude rather than the basic concept of death as it allows them to become aware that existence has boundaries and thus can contemplate it as a finite whole. There is a great difference in existential attitude between the man who lives in the face of an end and the man who systematically excludes the thought of death, or seeks to do so. Macquarrie 1972, p197). This relation of death to facticity is that the possibility of death is aimed at the future; facticity involves things that have already happened this possibility of death, to the Existentialist, is a current consideration. Nobody believes that death is something that can be stopped or is something that they would want to stop living forever may be a monstrosity. Another aspect of care is the falling. This entails becoming absorb ed into the world and being overwhelmed by external forces, thus becoming a part of the they. The people who are falling have shunned the notion of death and will try to avoid it where possible. People create institutions to deal with the subject of death; funerals are big business and delay the onset of decomposition with methods such as embalming. These people try to ignore and forget about death. Heidegger claims that death, honestly accepted and anticipated, can become an integrating factor in an authentic existence. (Macquarrie 1972, p198). For some Existentialists, death is the final absurdity, just as absurd as life itself. Camus states Human insurrection is a prolonged protest against death (Macquarrie 1972, p198) So death can be viewed as the ultimate symbol of the finitude of mans existence. There are some problems that arise for the Existentialist when an existence has a lack of wholeness. As humans relate differently to time than animals or things, there are a number of tensions that arise and it is almost improbably for there not to be. A human projects himself into the future For the thing or animal, the present only is real; the past is no longer and the future is not yet, and this means in effect that they are unreal. Macquarrie 1972, p200). For humans we should try to gather the past, present and future together in a quest for wholeness. With these Existential ideas in place, we can examine the difficulties involved when discussing finitude. If somebody were to dwell on the future exclusively, then they may be in danger of being overcome by fantasy and have a fear of the past. A preoccupation with the past is just as damaging, as we may paralyse our genuine willingness. We could deny ourselves exposure to new things and changes because of our routines we have adopted. Another common imbalance would be that of the present. In this sense man can become akin to an animal or a thing because of circumstances determined for him possibly institutionalised code for example and have thus, fallen into the they. Its questions and considerations like these, which arise from speaking of finitude rather than death. The problem of guilt arises for the Existentialist where the disorder of human existence is noted. Existing is projecting oneself into the future, but there is a flaw between this and where we currently are in the present. For the Existentialist this may be seen as a flaw that allows for morality. It is similar to the idea of falling set out by Heidegger. Nietzsche described this flaw of man as the thing that makes it possible for one to become super-man, but at the same time the deterioration of man. As humans we must take responsibility for our being; we must attempt to strive for authentic experience and true self-hood. Existentialists will not agree that there is a blueprint for such an ambition. Man must decide who he will be, and more than this, each individual must decide the question for himself. In contrary to this an inauthentic existence would be one where external forces limited your creativity and ability to find ones true self. Sartre said You are free, therefore choose that is to say, invent. No rule of general morality can show you what you ought to do; no signs are vouchsafed in this world (Macquarrie 1972, p207). Some may critique this idea however as surely we would be abandoning true humanity if everybody just did their own thing. It is possible that we may already be comfortable in our current situation but we must not let our existence stagnate because of it. So, an Existentialist would prefer to speak of finitude rather than death, as it focuses on human existence as a whole, and as such, allows them to obtain authentic experience. It allows us to preserve the autonomy of existence. In striving to realise values that are truly our own we can avoid the downfalls of an inauthentic experience such as falling or our lives becoming stagnated. To ignore death or to think of it as a bad thing that should be fought against is detrimental to humanity in the eyes of an existentialist, and destroys our chances at being able to ask some of the most fundamental philosophical questions of our existence.

Learn About the Life and Death of Activist Chico Mendes

Learn About the Life and Death of Activist Chico Mendes Environmental activist Chico Mendes (1944-1988) spent his entire life living in and fighting for, the rainforests of his native Brazil and its inhabitants. But his commitment to preserving a sustainable way of life cost Mendes his own life.   Chico Mendes: Early Life Chico Mendes was born Francisco Alves Mendes Filho on December 15, 1944 in the small Brazilian village of Seringal Santa Fà ©, outside of Xapuri. His was a family of rubber tappers, people who make their living sustainably by tapping the sap of local rubber trees. Like many rural people, his family also supplemented their income by harvesting nuts and fruits from the rainforest. Mendes started working when he was nine years old, and never received any formal schooling until late in life; by some accounts, Mendes never learned to read until he was about 20 years old. Some of his education was influenced by Euclides Fernandes Tavora, described as a middle-class Communist who, in the 60s, was on the run from Brazils military. Tavora introduced Mendes to books, newspapers and labor unions. Mendes and Organized Labor Mendes began to organize rubber tappers in the region, and he was soon elected president of the Xapuri Rubber Tappers Union. Mendes was also instrumental in organizing Brazils National Council of Rubber Tappers in the mid-1980s; he was soon elected leader of the group. There was (and still is) immense economic pressure, however, to clear the rainforest for cattle grazing. Despite evidence that harvesting the forests rubber, fruits, nuts and other commodities is a more sustainable practice that creates more income over a longer period of time, clear-cutting the rainforest was occurring at an accelerating rate in the 1980s. When 130 ranchers expelled some 100,000 tappers from the rainforest, Mendes and his laborers fought back, rallying whole families to stand in front of chainsaws and block bulldozers. Their efforts met with some success and attracted the attention of the international environmental community. Mendes was placed on the United Nations Environmental Program Global 500 Roll of Honor Award in 1987; he also won the National Wildlife Federations National Conservation Achievement Award in 1988. Mendes vs. Ranchers and Loggers When rancher Darly Alves da Silva attempted to clear-cut an area of rainforest that was planned as a nature preserve in 1988, Mendes succeeded in stopping the planned logging and created the preserve. Mendes also gained a warrant for da Silvas arrest for a murder he had committed in another state. For his efforts, Chico Mendes and his family received constant death threats in 1988, Mendes himself predicted he wouldnt live past Christmas. And on the night of December 22, 1988, Chico Mendes was shot to death by a single shotgun blast outside his familys house. Mendes was the 19th activist to be murdered in Brazil that year. Mendes murder sparked international outrage and massive protests in Brazil, eventually resulting in the arrest and conviction of Darly Alves da Silva, his son Darly Alves da Silva Jr., and a ranch hand, Jerdeir Pereia. The Legacy of Chico Mendes Partly as a result of Mendes murder, the Brazilian government stopped subsidizing logging and ranching operations and established many rubber preserves and nature reserves, including one named after the activist, Parque Chico Mendes. The World Bank, which once financed development in the rainforest, is now financing nature reserves that function as sustainable rubber plantations. But all is not well in the Brazilian rainforest, by most accounts. Clear-cutting continues, and according to some reports, fighting development in the rainforests of Brazil has cost some 1,000 activists their lives since 1988. Much work remains to be done to honor the legacy of Chico Mendes.

Networking and Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Networking and Public Relations - Essay Example Its role in enhancing awareness of an organization’s public image is normally magnified when used in concurrence with public relations. In this regard, the objective of the essay is to explain how networking is used in conjunction with public relations. Likewise, the discourse would provide at least two (2) examples of how successful entrepreneurs have used public relations and networking to their business advantage. An organization and its products or services can come to the attention of the public through being newsworthy. The public is a general market that deserves to receive facts and information on what the organization offers and thus, further spreads the information to others who were not initially recipients of relevant corporate information. Public relations are thus a critical communications tool that organizations use to enhance their corporate image. According to Lancaster, public relations was defined by the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) as â€Å"the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and it’s public’† (n.d., par. 8). Networking is an instrument used in conjunction with public relations to ensure the swift development of contacts and expand the reach of information to more people at a shorted amount of time. In an exhibit, for example, an organization can present a new product offer which would be launched in the market. The product could be an innovative health drink which would significantly lower blood sugar and cholesterol at the same time. It invites various stakeholders, customers, suppliers, media, and local or state representatives to view the product and to hear testimonies of those who benefitted from it . As emphasized by Lancaster, â€Å"there is often a strong ‘entertainment’ component to exhibitions with stands offering complementary

Comparative essay on the North, South, and West from 1865 to 1900 A.D

Comparative on the North, South, and West from 1865 to 1900 A.D - Essay Example At the end of the Civil War in 1865, America was not yet the 50-state nation it is now. It was but an adolescent alliance of 35 tension-filled states of 24 victorious and predominantly northern Union States and 11 Southern states that failed to secede as the Confederate States of America. After the war, a combination of events fuelled an economic boom that pushed the population of the country from the North-South axis on the Eastern end towards the West. The Civil War had been a battle that pitted the rich industrial North allied to the seat of government in the East, against the agricultural South. The expansion to the West, however, helped temper the nation’s simmering post-War energies. Specific events in these regions during the period shaped the U.S. geographically, socially, economically, and politically and prepared the ground for our ascent to worldwide supremacy (Sobel 188-89). The powerful North grew on the backs of tough, hard-working European immigrants who industrialized and enriched their way to economic dominance. Perhaps the harsh climate helped, but it was really geography that made the region the seat of U.S. industrial production and wealth by the late 19th century: Pennsylvania oil, steel mills in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, manufacturing and mining in Wisconsin and Minnesota – all bonded with the financial might of New York under the expert, at times misguided and corrupt, governance by elected officials in D.C., the nation’s capital (Carnegie 653-657). Civil War victory and Reconstruction made an already strong region even stronger as industrialists, bankers, and businessmen took advantage of opportunities to reconstruct a devastated South. Victory also entrenched the north-based Republican Party as a political power that dominated American politics, producing two-thirds of post-Civil War Presidents (Sobel 201-7). The