Leadership and Human Behavior Essay

As a leader, you need to interact with your followers, peers, seniors, and others; whose support you need in order to accomplish your goals. To gain their support, you must be able to understand and motivate them. To understand and motivate people, you must know human nature. Human nature is the common qualities of all human beings. People behave according to certain principles of human nature. Human needs are an important part of human nature. Values, beliefs, and customs differ from country to country and even within group to group, but in general, all people have a few basic needs. As a leader you must understand these needs because they can be powerful motivators. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Unlike others researchers in the earlier days of psychology, Abraham Maslow’s based his theory of human needs on creative people who used all their talents, potential, and capabilities (Bootzin, Loftus, Zajonc, Hall, 1983). His methodology differed from most other psychological researchers at the time in that these researchers mainly observed mentally unhealthy people. Maslow (1970) felt that human needs were arranged in a hierarchical order that could be divided into two major groups: basic needs and metaneeds (higher order needs): * Basic Needs are physiological, such as food, water, and sleep; and psychological, such as affection, security, and self-esteem. These basic needs are also called â€Å"deficiency needs† because if they are not met by an individual, then that person will strive to make up the deficiency. * Metaneeds or being needs (growth needs). These include justice, goodness, beauty, order, unity, etc. Basic needs normally take priority over these meta needs.

Cherish the Children’s Thinking Essay

Do you think teachers should cherish the children’ s thinking? Most people think the teachers should treasure the children’s thinking and give the children a space to think freely. It is important for children to cherish their chance to think freely, because they may lose the imagination when they grow up. If all people in the world do not have imagination, this world would not have some new technology products and this society won’t progress. This world needs to keep the pace of progress because no progress is backwards, for example the gasoline is less and less in the world, if scientists can’t create a new energy, then gasoline will disappear. So, this world need to progress by imagination and creativity. The teachers should train and treasure the children’s imagination in order to develop this world and keep progressing. Nowadays, most people have lost the ability of imagining because they had seen too many real things, for example they can†™t believe there are some aliens in this world. However, the children believe that the aliens are real in the world because the children are naà ¯ve and willing to trust anything. Thus, teachers should cherish the children’s freedom to think and make their thinking positive in order to develop their own better, earn more academic knowledge and change their lives in the future. Firstly, in order to get a better development of children, the teacher should make children’s thinking more positive. Ho (2007) argues that the American education is not advanced, but it is better in other ways than other countries from the article called â€Å"We Should Cherish Our Children’s Freedom to Think†. (page112) He compares the education of him and his son and discovers they are very different. He had to memorize something about academic knowledge, for example the main cities in the world, lines for Hamlet and a number of math formulas. In contrast, his son studied ever ything by some experiences, for example he drew a map from his home to school and label every street and building he passed when he was six years old. (Ho, 2007, page112) He agrees this learning method because this kind of education can help the children develop their ideas and creativity. The children are the hope of world, so the teacher must use current and suitable methods to educate the children in order that children develop better. Secondly, if the teachers make students study in the process of playing games and answer the questions actively, the children will earn more academic knowledge. If the children’s ideas are accepted by their teachers and their teacher praise them, the children will keep their thinking and want to get more praise. In this case, the teachers should praise the positive ideas of the children and veto the negative thinking. Ho’s teachers answered the question and gave them a correct answer only when they asked, and he didn’t have a chance to make a decision in many cases. However, his son got a good laugh and an A grade from his teacher when he asked his teacher question and told his teacher his ideas. (Ho) And Ho’s son learned the knowledge of history through play the role. (Ho) Those are good ways to educate, b ecause this way can make the student more confidence, more interested in study and study more industriously. Thus, they will get more academic knowledge. Finally, the people will be able to change their life through some original ideas if they keep their imagination and creativity. Nowadays, this world needs more new products that can attract your eyeballs. If you have the abilities of imagination and creativity, you can change the world. For example Steve Jobs, who is a legend in the world, changed the whole world. Because of his ideas, he created many technology products called iPhone, iPod, iMac and so on. Those products all changed the habits of people, for example many people always put the iPhone in the hand and watch it. Thereforeï ¼Å'the people of the whole world are fond of his product designed by him. Then he had become a rich and excellent man. Thus, we should treasure the thinking of childrenï ¼Å'either kill the imagination in order that they can get a better life in t he future and change this world. In conclusion, American education can make children think freely. For example Ho’s son drew a map when he was six years ago. Special method that is to praise children and play the role can make children earn more knowledge. Keeping the children’s thinking may make them get better life and become a person who can change the world such as Jobs. I think most countries can change their system of education and the teacher should use other ways to educate children. They should respect the children’s ideas and do not kill their imagination and creativity in order that children develop better, earn more knowledge and change their lives and world.

Analysis of Vampire Scene in Chapter 3 Dracula Essay

Freud suggests that fear is â€Å"linked in some way to an earlier emotional response that has been repressed.† In chapter 3 Hawker experiences a great amount of fear when he is attacked by the Brides of Dracula, in a dramatic, highly sexual scene. Hawker’s submission and confusion as to whether he is experiencing pleasure of pain could, to follow Freud’s theory, be linked to a past memory in which he repressed his sexual desires. In the prudent society in which Stoker was writing, the rampant, overt eroticism of the Brides would have been shocking, and in some ways liberating. Stoker writes: â€Å"There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.† The Brides are wholly sexual beings, who are guided solely by their desires, and this need contrasts completely against the typical 19th century men and women- John, Lucy and Mina. This liberation from repression would and did terrify and shock society, making vampires seem more like animals, monsters. Freud wrote about the Superego, Ego and Id, the three parts of the human psyche. The Id is natural, animalistic desires, such as sex and hunger and it is the Ego’s job to ensure that these desires are controlled, in order for a human to live in an ordered society. This links well with the idea that repression leads to fear. Freud also wrote about the ‘uncanny’ which in German translates to ‘unheimlich,’ which means un-homely. The idea of uncanny is that â€Å"within the concept of the homely is the notion of concealment itself,† that where we feel safest may not be that safe at all, and that â€Å"home is a place of secrets.† In Chapter three Harker seeks comfort in a room â€Å"where, of old, ladies had sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.† He seeks safety and comfort in familiarity, however within the place where he appears to be safest in the castle the Brides of Dracula descend on him. Stoker writes that: â€Å"The room was the same, unchanged in any way since I came into it,† however the Brides have appeared and suddenly the atmosphere changes from that of safety and sleep to sexually charged domination. At the climax of the scene, the vampires are just about to bite Hawker’s neck, and Hawker completely and utterly submits: â€Å"I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the super sensitive skin of my throat, and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there. I closed my eyes in languorous ecstasy and waited, waited with beating heart.† It is this uninhibited pleasure that Hawker experiences that makes the scene so significant, almost as if his unconscious Id has completely taken over his Superego. The Brides do not think, they act, they are, according to Freud, the complete opposite to how normal human beings think they should behave.

Claude Monet Painting The Regatta at Sainte-Adresse Research Paper

Claude Monet Painting The Regatta at Sainte-Adresse - Research Paper Example Monet was raised in Normandy and Eugene Boudin introduced him to painting. He joined Charles Gleyre’s Paris studio where he was the academic history painter; Monet was twenty-two at that time and he studied with other painters who became impressionists later. He got limited success in his early career and had just a few landscapes, portraits, and seascapes which were accepted at the annual Salons for exhibition in 1860s. He faced rejection and a lot of criticism that he took as a motivation to move forward. The subjects for Monet’s paintings were found in his surroundings such as people and places that he knew the best. His models were his first and second wife frequently. The landscapes he painted were the north of France to London which covered his journeys of moving. He often painted his home gardens and gathering places. His paintings had a unique objective that would always catch the eye such as signs of domestic relations. Monet followed the path of the Barbizon p ainters and adopted their commitment towards naturalistic representation and close observation. He extended that commitment and created his own style which included painting on large-scale canvases outdoors then completing the work in studio. He captured nature accurately and rejected the European conventions that governed composition, perspective, and colour. He enhances his work using vibrant brightness and unmediated colours; he adds a variety of colour tones for shadows and for traditional landscapes he uses light coloured primers.

Infrastructure Issues in India Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Infrastructure Issues in India - Term Paper Example This paper attempts to evaluate existing infrastructural issues in India and how they affect the country’s overall economic prospects. India’s poor infrastructure is a huge obstacle towards the country’s overall economic growth prospects. In essence, India is among the fastest growing economies in Asia and the world in general though its huge growth projects have been hindered by the extremely poor infrastructure found in the subcontinent. The paper further examines the relevant frailties in India’s infrastructure evaluating the available options for improvement and better performance. To underscore the infrastructural issues of India and its needs, the paper will conduct a comparative analysis between India and China as regards infrastructure. Conceivably Indian infrastructural planning has been below the standards resulting into substandard infrastructures. Economic growth requires adequate and quality infrastructure, which serves as a huge aid towards d evelopment and economic activity. Poor infrastructure, on the other hand, hinders basic economic activities and dilutes government’s attention on crucial economic matters. For better economic performance, it is essential to have an infrastructure that can support the economy and its business activities. Therefore, it is of great importance that India elevates its infrastructure to an advanced level that can support its economic and growth perspectives. In essence, India needs to consider the investment in power, energy, healthcare, water/waste management and address policies supporting the development of infrastructure. Such an approach will go along way in boosting the country’s infrastructural levels providing it with the necessary impetus to pursue its ambitious economic endeavors. Statistically, more than half of India’s shipment and 80 percent of traveler traffic moves on the freeway network, which largely comprises two-lane roads. The country has 700 kilom eters of thruways, mostly reserved for cars, buses and trucks. Most of the expressways with four lanes run through Ahmedabad and Vadodara as well as between Pune and Mumbai. China, on the other hand, has 74,000 kilometers of superhighways up from 147 kilometers in 1989 (Huang 3). Therefore, is far much behind China in the road network and though India’s has ambitious infrastructural projects it will take a long time for the subcontinent to catch up with China. In August 2009, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh developed a goal of constructing 20 kilometers of new highways a day as a fraction of efforts to advance infrastructure graded below Kazakhstan’s and Guatemala’s, according to the World Economic Forum. The daily standard was 4.5 kilometers in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. India endeavors to expend as much as $1 trillion in five years on power plants, roads, and ports (Sundaram 1). India may use $5.3 billion tripling the span of its expre ssway network to reduce traffic jams that are slowing commerce, wasting fuel, in addition to sapping economic growth. The country proposes to add approximately 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) of highways with at least six lanes. In an interview, Raghav Chandra -who is the joint secretary at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways- confirmed that India has great plans to refurbish its road network so as to create an enabling environment for trade and overall economic

What were the main lessons from the Falklands for joint capability, Essay

What were the main lessons from the Falklands for joint capability, and were they successfully incorporated into defence policy during the 1980s - Essay Example Specifically, the superpowers – the Soviet Union and the United States – displayed keen interest and the war and subsequently used the lessons from this experience in order to realign their own military strategy, doctrine, logistics and weapons system. The Falkland War had, in the days after its end, would be fundamental in the reform of the whole spectrum of conventional war during the modern times. There are several schools that posit the importance of the conflict. For military reformers, the Falkland underscored the need for inexpensive and even less expensive ships. On the other hand, the traditionalists argue in favor of an increase funding for more supercarriers – high-technology ships that would strengthen the capability command and control. Out of all the differences in this debate, however, there lies the fact that discourse is already focused on the value of amphibious war capability to gain advantage in armed conflict. Alexander and Bartlett observed: Indeed, the Falklands War seemed to revalidate all components of naval warfare. Even before the Royal Marines stormed ashore near San Carlos, thoughtful observers had begun to reappraise the utility of naval armed suasion.2 This reference to contemporary analysis can be read from the newspaper column of George Will in the Washington Post in April 25, 1982. He expressed the following statement in regard to the then on-going war further south: This is the moment to explode the belief that the use of naval forces for political objectives – gunboat diplomacy is the preferred epithet – is an anachronism. And it is time for renewed appreciation of the role of naval forces in the US – Soviet balance.3 To further illustrate the British victory during the Falkland War, the British military situation prior to the conflict would be outlined. Then, a brief account of the conflict would be provided. After this, an investigation on the impact of the

Retirement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Retirement - Assignment Example A number of people venture into different fields of work because they desire extra engagement. Reconciliation is the final stage. Ages of individuals at this stage range from the late 70s to early 80s (Schieber, 2012). The imagination stage is core because it dictates the stability of life after retirement in light of finances. In the midst of contemplating retirement, it is important to consider the amount of service credit earned for the total fiscal years of service. Age is another factor of consideration. From the age of 50 to 63 years, for every quarterly of a year there is an increase in retirement benefit (PLANNING YOUR RETIREMENT: Your Retirement Checklist). After the age of 63, the benefit remains constant. The average salary earned is the third factor to consider before retirement. The highest twelve months of salary earning determine the latter factor. Well-being of an individual, that is, health condition greatly influences retirement. An individual ailing from a life threatening illness is unlikely to encounter the five stages of retirement. Retrenchment is another factor that influences retirement in that there is an interruption to a person’s retirement planning. The role one plays in the structure of an organization is a factor that affects retirement in light of benefits earned from service. As mentioned above the average salary of an individual dictates the retirement benefit. The government funding of an employee’s retirement plan guarantees one a particular benefit every month while on retirement. The plan is a defined benefit plan (What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan). Benefit computation at retirement considers average salary, duration of service to the organization and age. The current level of the planning process is working on full time and on the imagination stage of retirement. In planning retirement, it is

Place Bio Los Angeles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Place Bio Los Angeles - Essay Example Davis and McWilliams alerted visitors to the existence of Los Angeles's deep division and hidden history of conflict but they did not specifically tell where the evidence was prominent, where one could go to actually see it. The guide brilliantly produced listings of many historic sites of struggle with themed tours of the city from Latino, Native American and the African American. A People’s Guide to Los Angeles is a socio-political look at the West Coast’s occasionally explosive cultural reservation that do not turn up in the usual tourist guides. There are several sites highlighted in the site including Biddy Mason Park which is located less than 50 yards south of the Bradburry. Dalores Hayden created the sculpture, mural dedicated to the lie of Biddy Mason. She was born a slave in Georgia, 1818; however, she went to San Bernardino in 1851 with Rebeca Smith. California was a free state and a judge declared Mason set free. (Robert, 2003). Kashu Reality is another site in â€Å"A people’s Guide to Los Angeles†. Kazuo Inouye was propelled towards the success by his experiences with discrimination. He worked hard to open up all-white neighborhoods to the white people. He worked with Japanese Americans and African Americans to purchase homes often from Jewish homeowners or others who were sympathetic to racial integration. He helped to change the face of several Los Angeles neighborhoods. When he found a Japanese American buyer, a rival white estate agent broke all the windows in the home. Inouye confronted him directly and threatened to shoot the white real estate agent if he dared to interfere with the property again. Through similar tactic, he managed to sell a number of homes in the Crenshaw district during the 1950s and 1960s (Chaz & Mitchell, 2005). He advertised regularly in the Black Press and facilitated the area’s demographic shift from an all-white to a multiethnic African, American, Japanese and Latino place. Another location of great importance is the southern California Library for social studies and research on Vermont. It is well known for their extensive collection of books, posters, political pamphlets and other memorabilia in connection with struggle in Los Angeles. Philips who is a Los Angeles native, author of many in his fiction uses geography to discuss race, class and social fabric of Los Angeles. He touches on Downtown gentrification, Japanese in the Crenshaw District, the Library Tower among others. City of Quartz is another site evident in the â€Å"A people’s Guide to Los Angeles†. Davis took it as his responsibility in correcting of Banham's refusal to look into Los Angeles's shadows and alleyways. City of Quartz is the closest that could be used to giving Los Angeles the noir sociological treatment that it deserves. Davis lays bare the structures of power, inequality, and violence that diminished the Californian dream. He also highlights a cast of villains that i ncludes the real estate and railway barons who carved the place up in the twentieth century. Davis produced affecting chapters such as the ones on the militarization of the city through initiatives designed to keep out homeless people, and his account of the creation of the new downtown. He tells

Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences Research Paper

Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences - Research Paper Example But when it comes to business, the intelligent person can easily detect commercial opportunities, or is good in mastering or avoiding business risks and keep the books balanced. At the advent of the twenty-first century, there is a new intellectual virtuoso: the symbol analyst or the master of change. This is the one who can read numbers and words in the computer screen and make reliable and useful projects. Through the information from the computer, the analyst can solve problems, communicate to other people and adjust easily to the changing times. Francis Galton, one of the founders of the modern psychological measurement in the late nineteenth century, believed that intelligence is hereditary, and so searched for offspring of the leaders of British society. But Galton also believed that intelligence is not confined to hereditary lineages. He devised means to test intelligence. The first intelligence measurements tested the person’s sensory acuity, i.e. an intelligent person can easily distinguish sounds of different loudness, or the brightness of lightness, and objects of different weights. (Gardner, 1999, p. 2) Gardner (1999) presented evidence that individuals have a range of capacities and potentials, and he called this phenomenon multiple intelligences. Individuals can use these intelligences in the different roles in society. An individual with multiple intelligences can perform multiple tasks. Gardner presented his argument on the question scholars and students of intelligence have been arguing about: Is intelligence singular? Or, is there such a thing as multiple intelligences? There is also another question Gardner would like to address: Is intelligence predominantly inherited? Darwin wrote in his time that men did not differ much in intelligence except in their efforts and hard work. The Western notion remains that intelligence is innate in a person. (Armstrong, 2009, p.

An Objective Way of thinking using mathematical principles Article - 1

An Objective Way of thinking using mathematical principles - Article Example Then one should seek to establish for each class of experience, what classes of knowledge are required for that class. For the Visual class of Experience one realises that all that can be acquired are those classes of knowledge that the individual’s senses can receive without any interpretation. This reasoning can be set out in the form of a series or SET of equations 3/ One of these classes is the ‘visual experience’ e.g. viewing the world that surrounds us for which the ONLY class of knowledge one requires to satisfy this class of experience, is that which can be gathered through the specific human’s senses e.g. for the sight sense, ‘colours that form shapes’. This applies to all the members of reality that make up the world that surrounds us. No further interpretation is required or can be made through the ‘visual experience‘. [See also the solution to Big Question 2 which details how the personal TEMPLATE works. For it includes what classes of knowledge the senses can detect and those that cannot be detected I.e. complete SET that can be used to represent any human.] 4/ Thus by adopting this thinking strategy of accepting what one receives through the senses without personal interpretation I.e. subjectivity [perceptions], everyone would be able to see the same / real world rather than seeking to create their own world. My appreciation for Roger Penroses essay asking "What is reality?" was diminished because he gave no clear-cut definition of what he means by "reality" (18 November, p 32). As a result, the discussion seemed like nothing so much as an overview of the implicit etymology and current range of English-language meanings of that word. One can easily imagine dictionary definitions that either include or exclude physical events at the quantum scale, or human mental events such as unexpressed thoughts. I am not a linguist, but I suspect that the words for "reality" in other languages may not exactly

President Kennedy as the person who saved the west from nuclear war Essay Example for Free

President Kennedy as the person who saved the west from nuclear war Essay Section 1 The Cold war, which existed between the Soviet Union and the United States following World War ll, and the constant threat of nuclear devastation, which it presented, evolved throughout its history. The relationship between these two super powers was strained at the best, at its worst; it was hostile and came near the unleashing of the devastating nuclear arsenal both countries possessed. The term cold war was used first by an American banker relating to the tension between the U. S.S.R and the USA, when he said cold he was referring to the fact that both countries were doing there best to stop direct fighting and for it to become a hot war. The reason these two super powers fought were over their ideologies on how to live in each others country where as America was run by Capitalism, this was the system that gave common civilians the right to vote for which ever government party they wanted to run the country it also gave the press freedom of speech where government scandals were hardly censored, unlike The Soviets who ran a one party state consisting of only the Communist party called Soviets, but because most of the soviets were Communist the government was really run by the one party. Also there was mass government run industries like the media as this was run by them, the news was censored strictly throughout covering up any government scandal. The other major difference was the distribution of wealth and the line between the rich and the poor as this was very low in Russia however in the U.S average living standards where much higher as wealth was dispersed more unevenly throughout business Tycoons and their estate s. All these factors lead to nuclear war and the cold war between Russia and America, America was the first to release a nuclear attack and used, the first nuclear atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, on 6th August 1945 showing the world what lengths America would go to, to win a war. Source 1a A concluding sentence The relationship also evolved over time, and the emergence of Fidel Castro in Cuba was a catalyst for a change in the relationship between these powers. The threat he and his Communist party presented to his American neighbours would change the way the Americans dealt with their Cold War enemies. In the same way, Castros Communists also gave Nikita Khrushchev and the Soviets an entrance into North and Central American affairs. Section two Prior to the revolution in Cuba, during Batistas brutal regime there was a period of time describes as an easing of tensions in relationships between the East and the West. These tensions were eased because many of the potential conflicts between Eastern and western sides had been resolved, such as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. During Batistas regime as dictator over Cuba the Americans had been its main customer of Cubas main resource, Sugar cane, this made relationships between Cuba an America quite friendly and Cuba was full of American influence with Gentlemens Clubs, Brothels and Casinos it was nick named the rich Americans playground, also on the island were strong Mafia connections, yet the police did little to stop them as they could easily be bribed and were often dealing themselves. The easing of tensions and the apparent lack of interest from either of the two cold war powers in aggression against one another would be brought to an end following Castro taking over Cuba in early 1959, but at this time the relationship between Fidel Castro and the Cuban Communist was not entirely clear. During the Cuban revolution that saw Fulgencio Batistas brutal regime overthrown and come to an end, Castro had been at the fore of the uprising. He sold all the American owned businesss the mere presence of a Communist island within 100 miles of the United States drew much attention to Cuba, both to the Soviet Union and their American rivals. The real cold war evolution did not have its beginnings in the working relationship, which was to be established between Havana and Moscow, but rather in the deteriorating relationship between the Cuban capital and Washington. American business interests in Cuba were being threatened by Castros policy of nationalisation of lands, and the U.S. was begging to feel that they could not do business with Castros government this feeling was the reason for the beginnings of an action against the Castro Regime approved by President Eisenhower, and late adopted by John Fitzgerald Kennedy when he was elected to office in November 1960. This program consisted of political action, propaganda and military operations and was behind the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, although this program was directed against Cuba it may also have sent another message to the soviet Communists that the Americans were not prepared to tolerate communism so near their own borders. In any case, Source 2b Concluding sentence This policy, a direct reaction to Fidel Castro himself and the communist regime, which he had brought to power, could not have any positive effect on relations between the Capitalist Americans and the communists. The real advantage of Cuba to the Soviets was in the form of gaining leverage in negotiations over Berlin, which was of far more importance to the communist than the small, poor island ruled by Castro. Tensions over Berlin came about after Khrushchev demanded the western powers, which occupied Berlin, evacuate the city. Khrushchev, alarmed at the growing military and economic strength of West Germany otherwise, the soviets would turn the administration of Berlin to the East German government, with which the west had no agreements and under the rule of which the western powers would have no access whatsoever to Berlin. By removing the western influences from the area, Khrushchev hoped to Weaken ties between the United States and West Germany and provoke disunity among NATO allies The NATO powers however did not back down, however there came to be a dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tente over the question of administration of Berlin. This still existed in 1962, and Fidel Castro would prove to be a willing pawn in a move by Khrushchev to gain the upper hand in the negotiations over the administration of Berlin. Prior to the events of 1962, which made up the Cuban missile crisis came the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, this great American failure showed to which lengths the Americans were prepared to go to remove the influence of Castro and communism from the island of Cuba. On 16th April 1961, 1,300 CIA- trained Cuban exiles in American-surplus planes and boats left to invade Cuba and liberate their countrymen this so called liberation was unsuccessful the Cuban people had been prepared for such an invasion and in fact the Cuban Military forces and Castro himself also knew of the plans of the invasion. One hundred and fifty invaders were killed, the rest taken prisoner and the American attempt to overthrow Castro and his regime had failed. There were several crucial outcomes to this invasion however, all affecting the relationship between the eastern and western powers. The soviets, due to the ability of the island nation to withstand the invasion, became convinced of the value of Cuba in gaining the upper hand over the U.S. enough so that the Castros regime would now be worthy of a major military and diploma. But while the Soviet Union now considered Cuba a worthy ally, it became evident to Castro that he also needed to pursue a relationship with the Soviet Union for protection because his island was very much within the U.S. sphere of influence. The invasion, while unsuccessful, showed that the Americans were willing to go to great lengths to remove him from office, and at this point, the best solution for Castro appeared to be the pursuit of an alliance with Moscow, directed against his American neighbours. The strengthening of ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union, as a result of this Bay of Pigs invasion, led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis. As much as that conflict resulted from Khrushchevs design to take advantage of Cubas proximity to the U.S. to install missile sites, it was the American policy towards Cuba, that which sought, by any means necessary, to remove Fidel Castros influence over Cuba, which pushed the new Communist allies into each others arms. The mere presence of Fidel Castro was responsible for the heightening of tensions between the Soviet Union and John F. Kennedys United States leading up to the crisis. There was a strong Soviet presence in Cuba prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The sanctions, which followed Castros rise to power placed a large burden on the Cuban economy, as the U.S., naturally, had been the islands primary trading partner. This burden was eased by the Soviets who, in 1960, agreed to buy out Cubas U.S. sugar share, and later made the promise to provide necessary aid in the case of armed intervention. In fact, United States sanctions against Fidel Castro and his government provided the rationale and the catalytic action which accelerate close economic, military and political relations between Cuba and the USSR. But the gravity of the Soviets economic pursuits in Cuba is far less than the deal made which allowed the Soviets to build missile sites on the island. Due to the deadlock over the Berlin question, Khrushchev felt he needed to gain the upper hand in military might to have his way. Because the USSR was falling behind in the arms race, a creative solution was needed which would achieve equality and the cheapest and fastest way was to install shorter-range missiles on Cuba. The role of Castro in this affair was to accept the missiles from the USSR, but for his own set of reasons. Castro felt that some protection was needed from the threat of any more American invasions, and the addition of missile sites to his island would strengthen his position considerably. The military installations instilled confidence and would be a tremendous asset given any aggression by the Americans or their Western allies. In any case, both nations had interests in the missiles being installed in Cuba, so Castro gave the plan his blessing. By this time, it had become clear to the Soviets that their high expectations of Castro were warranted, as this revolutionary leader had given them the opportunity they thought they needed to tip the scale in their favour where there real interests lay, Berlin. For someone who had so critical a role in bringing about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Fidel Castro played only the smallest role once it began. When an American U-2 first spotted evidence of the construction of a missile site in Cuba on 14 October 1962, the crisis began. While negotiations to end the crisis were underway between Kennedy and Khrushchev, Castro was left out and did not take the exclusion lightly Castro even went so far as to make a speech, on 23 October 1962, denying that either the Cubans or the Soviets would ever consider withdrawing their missiles While the Soviets and the Americans were negotiating a peace, while still on the brink of launching an all-out nuclear attack, Castro was still trying to extract some political gain from the conflict. He imposed a set of conditions on the removal of missiles from his island, which called for the end of the U.S. blockade of the island, which had resulted when the crisis began, and for the end of subversive acts on the part of the U.S. against Cuba. All of these were ignored when a final agreement was hammered out between the U.S. and the USSR. Castros stubborn refusal to admit that he had been the real loser in the entire crisis was brought into focus when he refused entrance into Cuba to UN observers who were to assure that the missiles were dismantled, as had been agreed upon by Kennedy and Khrushchev. Castros reaction to his personal failure in the affair would signal the lesson he learned, as he made it known that never again in the chess game of power would his country play the docile pawn While Castro was involved in conflicts in Africa in the 1960s, and supported the communism of Vietnam, his involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis left the greatest of marks upon relations between the Cold War powers. What Castro may not have realized in all his bitterness over the results of the crisis is that, unwittingly, he had the effect of easing tensions between the U.S. and the USSR. His mere presence and his part in bringing about the crisis were instrumental in beginning a new era in the relationship between East and West. Prior to this point, any move by one side was met by an equally strong move by the other. Under such a system, no peaceful end could be sought to any conflict, only the escalating of tensions to a breaking point. The breaking point in the Cold War was the most undesirable, nuclear conflict, the implications of which were most destructive and grave. Indeed, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, while Castro was dreaming of power and prestige for his native Cuba, the Americans were reportedly minutes away for launching their nuclear arsenal against Russia, and likely the Soviets were in a similar position. But the diplomatic resolution to the problem, in spite of Castros designs, represented a turning point in the way problems were dealt with between the United States and their nuclear rivals. In a game of such high stakes, no longer could move be met with countermove because in such a case both would be losers. The value of diplomacy was realized and, in a way, Fidel Castro and his regime were facilitators for this lesson. After the crisis, relations once again eased into detente between the U.S. and the USSR and Castro, standing by his assertion that he would no longer be the pawn for any other, no longer wielded much influence in Cold War politics. And the relations between the two powers eased, that existing between Castros Cuba and the USSR grew more strained. These were restored somewhat later, but no longer were they of particular military or international significance. Cuba has continued to be a source of frustration to the United States, but this mainly from an ideological or philosophical point of view. While Cuba gradually began to pursue a pro-Moscow course their alliance with Moscow no longer posed any real threat to America in the way of future military aggression. Through the Cold War, the Americans had developed a great hostility towards anything perceived as being communist, Marxist, or socialist and Cuba has retained this aspect, but to have had any great fear of Castro and what he mig ht do after the resolution of the missile crisis would not have been warranted. Castros role in the relationship between East and West, therefore, was played out over a short period of a few years, but on the largest of stages. His initial contribution to the evolution of this relationship was to cause it a large degree of strain. When the revolution of Castro became successful, he infuriated the Americans whose businesses and lands were being revoked by Castros policy of nationalization. The U.S. would accept this treatment at the hands of so insignificant a neighbour and launched the Bay of Pigs invasion. The reaction of the Cubans to this was the strengthening of ties with the USSR and inevitably the tensions between the USSR and the U.S. were raised as well. The USSR had one foot in the door, intolerably close to the American border and when the Soviets but this played this strategic card but installing the missile sites, the tensions were raised further. Castros role in the evolution of East/West relations ended soon after this point as both the Americans and Russians began to ignore him and pursue their own solutions to the conflict Castro brought about. Because of this exclusion, Castro no longer wielded any influence and faded into the background. Nevertheless, the Americans had been humiliated by seeing an island nation, which they had once dominated fall under the influence of the Russian communists, and this was Castros own accomplishment. It brought the prominence and importance to his country, which he desired and did fulfil some of the more immediate goals such as removing the economic stresses placed on his country by the U.S. sanctions. While the new tensions he brought about between the Soviet Union and the U.S. were alleviated following the crisis, Castro undeniably brought the world one step closer to witnessing nuclear war. It could therefore be said of Castro that his role and influence in Cold War politics was twofold. Firstly, it was largely his doing that the two powers came closer to clashing than they had ever come before, and it was largely in spite of him that this clash never took place. Instead, what followed was a detente, which, while still filled with suspicion and mistrust of one another, never again came so close to a boiling point as during the early days of Castros regime in Cuba.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel Essay Example for Free

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel Essay The Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman was praised by The Economist (2006) as â€Å"the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century†¦possibly of all of it. In 1970, he published an essay on the social responsibility of business in the New York Times Magazine. In his article, he explains in complex detail about the notion of â€Å"social responsibility† of businessmen within a corporate environment and their goal to increase profits. Indeed, at first glance, this quote seems to capture the mentality of many of the actors in the financial sector in our era. Banks and financial institutions are accused of acting unethically and only in their self-interest to increase profits along with brokers and investment bankers who are accused of primarily aiming high incentives and bonuses by selling unconscionably high-default assets. Scholars argued that corporate governance failings and lack of ethical behaviour were significant causes of the financial crisis of autumn 2008 (Skypala, 2008). This essay discusses the question whether the above statement made by famous economist Milton Friedman is still relevant in the context of business today and to what extent it is relating to the financial sector and in particular to the financial crisis of autumn 2008. In order to address this problem, it is important to discuss the fundamental view behind Friedman’s idea since it needs to be fully understood and interpreted. He stated that the social responsibility of business was to maximize profits and to create value for stockholders within the bounds of the law. Furthermore, he thought that using corporate resources for purely altruistic purposes would be socialism. Moreover, corporations had no social responsibility other than to spend its resources to increase the profits of its investors since only investors as individuals could decide to engage in social contributions. Thus, he believed that the corporate executives, who were appointed by investors to make profits on investments, could not engage in social contributions using the corporate money. As a result, they could only do so as a private individual on their own behalf. Friedman devoted â€Å"social responsibility† to violating the interest of the manager’s employers. In other words, if managers invest in â€Å"social responsible† projects, they will harm the business since these investments will result in inefficiency and lost production leading to a reduction in shareholder’s wealth. His idea and the logic behind it have proven unconvincing to many scholars (Mulligan, 1986; Feldman, 2007; Wilcke, 2004). Indeed, several arguments can be shown which offset his idea. Firstly, his theory does not allow for the possibility that profits and social responsibility can ever exist together. It is necessary to consider the constraint noted by Jensen (2002) who indicated that it is â€Å"logically impossible to maximize in more than one dimension at the same time unless the dimensions are monotone transformations of one another†. This constraint implies that profits and social performance cannot be maximized simultaneously. That is why there is a trade-off between profits and social performance. Still, it does not mean that profit maximization and social performance cannot be congruent. In reality, there are many examples which show that both can coexist. Several reasons are to be mentioned here. Nowadays, banks and financial institutions are more aware of their role towards the society since they realize that they are an integral part of it. Furthermore, they notice that they can contribute positively to the environment and society with a positive effect on their reputation, creating a higher firm value. Furthermore, since numerous scandals of firms violating morality and ethics in the late 1990s and early 2000s (e. g. WorldCom and Enron) the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasing tremendously and included in the business culture of most of the financial institutions today. The concept of CSR means that â€Å"corporations have ethical and moral responsibilities in addition to their responsibilities to earn a fair return for investors and comply with the law† (Munstermann, 2007). So, almost every large corporation is increasingly investing to improve its performance on sustainability assets. Banks and financial institutions know that society is always enlightened when it sees that a firm is engaged in charity and donating projects. While it is true that engagement in â€Å"social responsible† projects, for example donating for orphans of the developing countries means explicitly higher expenses and hence, reducing the profit, it has a long term profit as well. Engagement in donating projects has a positive effect on the reputation of firms, thus, affecting positively the consumer behavior of customers who will buy more products of firm, thus creating profit. Friedman also never considers the very real possibility that companies engaging in â€Å"social responsible† projects gain the support from the community and polity that might, otherwise, eventually turn against them. Nowadays, almost all companies working in the financial sector are in some kind of way socially engaged. Looking at websites of famous big banks like Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, one can find headings of Corporate Social Responsibility throughout the pages. Deutsche Bank has its own report on CSR for each year which reports engagement in AIDS projects in South Africa and support of education for children in India. JP Morgan reported an annual donation amount of $110 million for organization in 33 different countries and Goldman Sachs is actively involved in environmental projects. This shows that almost 4 decades after the famous essay of Friedman, companies do not follow his sole idea anymore but are or are forced to act socially responsible. On the other hand, a business should try to make profit since it is inherent in its nature and by definition (except for non-profit organization). According to the Business Dictionary, a business is an â€Å"economic system in which goods and services are exchanged for one another or money. Every business requires some form of investment and a sufficient number of customers to whom its output can be sold at profit on a consistent basis. † If a company does not make profit on a consistent and long-term basis, it will face financial distress and bankruptcy. Then, employees and workers will become unemployed which will affect the society negatively. For example, all the employees of banks going bankrupt in the financial crisis like Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae and Lehman Brothers were facing hardship. Hence, it is true that businesses are to a certain extent socially responsible to make profit in order to ensure job security and to create more jobs. This helps the society and improves the economy of the society. But Friedman does not consider the fact that if companies’ sole interest would be profit making, they can harm people and the surrounding environment. What if firms poison the water by disposing chemicals in rivers and sea disposing toxic that leads to illnesses and death of animals and human beings? Friedman also fails to argue whether profit-generating actions like selling nuclear bombs to terror organizations, or knowingly manufacturing and selling defective, health-threatening products count as social responsibility as long as the company makes profit. Evidently, in the financial sector there are not activities such as producing bombs or life-threatening drugs. Even though this sector cannot produce life-threatening products, it can create a value chain of unethical and careless activities that can damage the whole world as well. One example is the Asian financial crisis in 1997 where moral hazards were mentioned as a major cause. Moral hazards are â€Å"negligent and fraudulent insureds† (Baker, 2000). It also refers to situation that tempted otherwise good people. The problem with moral hazards in the Asian financial crisis was that Asian banks thought that they would receive implicit guarantees that they would be bailed out if they encountered financial distress. Hence, these banks and companies were much more speculative in their investments and kept investing increasingly. If the investments fail, they will not have to bear the cost since it will be picked up by the government. They were playing with people’s money and did not act in the social interest of their customers. Instead, they were only focussing on making as much profit as possible. The result is known to everybody: In 1997 the nations of East Asia experienced the worst economic crisis they have never seen before. Obviously, the latest and most discussed topic on morality in the two recent years has been the culpability of shareholders and banks along with board directors for failings that led to the financial crisis of 2008. On the one hand, the crisis can be blamed on mortgage brokers, investment bankers and banks’ executives. Skewed incentives and greed contributed too much of the crisis. For example, mortgage brokers generate sub-prime mortgages but were paid regardless of the outcome. That is why they were selling unscrupulously assets with high default risk to clueless customers in order to receive high commissions. Not to mention â€Å"Wall Street Executives† who were focusing solely on how to increase their bonuses and remuneration packages. Also, Banks who took on these mortgages were accused of shoddy risk management and unethical behaviour, since they knew from the beginning that these subprime mortgages would eventually be securitized and removed from the bank’s balance sheet. Again, the originating banks got paid up front for processing the mortgages without having to retain part of the risk. Another factor is the misleading ratings of financial instruments credit agencies that were by far from independent. Arrangers of the secured assets were allowed to manipulate the creation of secured assets by mixing good assets with high risk assets to the point of getting a triple A-rating. If they did not get this rating, the assets were withdrawn, reconfigured and resubmitted. Since agencies are owned by banks, they were subjected to give best ratings to these dangerous assets and mortgage brokers knowing the risky idea behind those assets sold them to unsuspecting investors. According to Friedman, every party involved in the actions mentioned above showed â€Å"social responsibility† since they did not care about their social responsibility to the world but only about maximizing their profits. Evidently, the aftermath of the American financial crisis has shown that the social responsibility of business is definitely not only to increase their profits. If banks, brokers and lenders, accountants, the government and important financial organization did not incorrectly assessed or even ignored the magnitude of the risks mentioned above, if managers and investment bankers were not greedy and showed herd investment behavior, it can be argued that the crisis could have been prevented. But the various parties acted immorally and socially irresponsible not caring about the social consequences of their actions. Consequently, the Asian crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008 are two memorable examples that offset Friedman’s idea. In conclusion, this paper has shown that Friedman’s request of being socially responsible by focusing solely on increasing profits is nowadays theoretically not accepted by banks and financial institutions. In contrast, in the 21st century social responsible corresponds to the alignment of business operations with social and ethical values. It is seen as the key to beat the competitor and to ensure sustainable growth. But the latest financial crisis has shown that even though CSR is part of the business culture of the large corporations, the key players in the large corporations do not practice social responsibility in a proper manner. It seems that CSR and corporate governance are a compilation of words and rules that adds only little value to the everyday businesses. Money has made everybody blind. Everybody wanted to have a piece of the big cake leading them to lower their inhibition threshold. The â€Å"social responsibility† of businesses should not be increasing profit but focusing on what it really means in practice to encourage stewardship. As a matter of fact, banks and financial institutions first need to show social and ethical manner in order to prevent another disaster like the financial crisis of 2008. All in all, businesses need to focus on environmental and social issues in the arena of corporate responsibility since the society expects and demands responsibility of organizations. In fact, the law expects it as well. Banks and financial institutions are challenged after the aftermath of the financial crisis they have to find a way how to act in the best interest of stakeholders, society, the government and the environment, still being able to make sustainable profit. It is now a request from the society. ? References Baker, T. (2000). Insuring Morality. Business Dictionary. Definition of business. Homepage: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/business. html [1. 2. 2010]. Feldman, G. (2007). Putting Uncle Milton Friedman To Bed: Reexamining Milton Friedmans Essay on the Social Responsibility of Business. Labor Studies Journal (32), 125-141. Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2002 (12), 404-437. Milton Friedman, a giant among economist. The Economist. Verfugbar unter: http://www. economist. com/business/displaystory. cfm? story_id=8313925 [28. 1. 2010]. Mulligan, T. (1986). A Critique of Milton Friedmans Essay The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. Journal of Business Ethics (5), 265-269. Munstermann, T. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility: Gabler. Skypala, P. (2008, 17. November). Time to reward good corporate governance. Financial Times, S. 6. [28. 1. 2010]. Wilcke, R. W. (2004). An Appropriate Ethical Model for Business and a Critique of Milton Friedmans Thesis. The Independent Review (2), 187-209. The Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman was praised by The Economist (2006) as â€Å"the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century†¦possibly of all of it. In 1970, he published an essay on the social responsibility of business in the New York Times Magazine. In his article, he explains in complex detail about the notion of â€Å"social responsibility† of businessmen within a corporate environment and their goal to increase profits. Indeed, at first glance, this quote seems to capture the mentality of many of the actors in the financial sector in our era. Banks and financial institutions are accused of acting unethically and only in their self-interest to increase profits along with brokers and investment bankers who are accused of primarily aiming high incentives and bonuses by selling unconscionably high-default assets. Scholars argued that corporate governance failings and lack of ethical behaviour were significant causes of the financial crisis of autumn 2008 (Skypala, 2008). This essay discusses the question whether the above statement made by famous economist Milton Friedman is still relevant in the context of business today and to what extent it is relating to the financial sector and in particular to the financial crisis of autumn 2008. In order to address this problem, it is important to discuss the fundamental view behind Friedman’s idea since it needs to be fully understood and interpreted. He stated that the social responsibility of business was to maximize profits and to create value for stockholders within the bounds of the law. Furthermore, he thought that using corporate resources for purely altruistic purposes would be socialism. Moreover, corporations had no social responsibility other than to spend its resources to increase the profits of its investors since only investors as individuals could decide to engage in social contributions. Thus, he believed that the corporate executives, who were appointed by investors to make profits on investments, could not engage in social contributions using the corporate money. As a result, they could only do so as a private individual on their own behalf. Friedman devoted â€Å"social responsibility† to violating the interest of the manager’s employers. In other words, if managers invest in â€Å"social responsible† projects, they will harm the business since these investments will result in inefficiency and lost production leading to a reduction in shareholder’s wealth. His idea and the logic behind it have proven unconvincing to many scholars (Mulligan, 1986; Feldman, 2007; Wilcke, 2004). Indeed, several arguments can be shown which offset his idea. Firstly, his theory does not allow for the possibility that profits and social responsibility can ever exist together. It is necessary to consider the constraint noted by Jensen (2002) who indicated that it is â€Å"logically impossible to maximize in more than one dimension at the same time unless the dimensions are monotone transformations of one another†. This constraint implies that profits and social performance cannot be maximized simultaneously. That is why there is a trade-off between profits and social performance. Still, it does not mean that profit maximization and social performance cannot be congruent. In reality, there are many examples which show that both can coexist. Several reasons are to be mentioned here. Nowadays, banks and financial institutions are more aware of their role towards the society since they realize that they are an integral part of it. Furthermore, they notice that they can contribute positively to the environment and society with a positive effect on their reputation, creating a higher firm value. Furthermore, since numerous scandals of firms violating morality and ethics in the late 1990s and early 2000s (e. g. WorldCom and Enron) the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasing tremendously and included in the business culture of most of the financial institutions today. The concept of CSR means that â€Å"corporations have ethical and moral responsibilities in addition to their responsibilities to earn a fair return for investors and comply with the law† (Munstermann, 2007). So, almost every large corporation is increasingly investing to improve its performance on sustainability assets. Banks and financial institutions know that society is always enlightened when it sees that a firm is engaged in charity and donating projects. While it is true that engagement in â€Å"social responsible† projects, for example donating for orphans of the developing countries means explicitly higher expenses and hence, reducing the profit, it has a long term profit as well. Engagement in donating projects has a positive effect on the reputation of firms, thus, affecting positively the consumer behavior of customers who will buy more products of firm, thus creating profit. Friedman also never considers the very real possibility that companies engaging in â€Å"social responsible† projects gain the support from the community and polity that might, otherwise, eventually turn against them. Nowadays, almost all companies working in the financial sector are in some kind of way socially engaged. Looking at websites of famous big banks like Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, one can find headings of Corporate Social Responsibility throughout the pages. Deutsche Bank has its own report on CSR for each year which reports engagement in AIDS projects in South Africa and support of education for children in India. JP Morgan reported an annual donation amount of $110 million for organization in 33 different countries and Goldman Sachs is actively involved in environmental projects. This shows that almost 4 decades after the famous essay of Friedman, companies do not follow his sole idea anymore but are or are forced to act socially responsible. On the other hand, a business should try to make profit since it is inherent in its nature and by definition (except for non-profit organization). According to the Business Dictionary, a business is an â€Å"economic system in which goods and services are exchanged for one another or money. Every business requires some form of investment and a sufficient number of customers to whom its output can be sold at profit on a consistent basis. † If a company does not make profit on a consistent and long-term basis, it will face financial distress and bankruptcy. Then, employees and workers will become unemployed which will affect the society negatively. For example, all the employees of banks going bankrupt in the financial crisis like Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae and Lehman Brothers were facing hardship. Hence, it is true that businesses are to a certain extent socially responsible to make profit in order to ensure job security and to create more jobs. This helps the society and improves the economy of the society. But Friedman does not consider the fact that if companies’ sole interest would be profit making, they can harm people and the surrounding environment. What if firms poison the water by disposing chemicals in rivers and sea disposing toxic that leads to illnesses and death of animals and human beings? Friedman also fails to argue whether profit-generating actions like selling nuclear bombs to terror organizations, or knowingly manufacturing and selling defective, health-threatening products count as social responsibility as long as the company makes profit. Evidently, in the financial sector there are not activities such as producing bombs or life-threatening drugs. Even though this sector cannot produce life-threatening products, it can create a value chain of unethical and careless activities that can damage the whole world as well. One example is the Asian financial crisis in 1997 where moral hazards were mentioned as a major cause. Moral hazards are â€Å"negligent and fraudulent insureds† (Baker, 2000). It also refers to situation that tempted otherwise good people. The problem with moral hazards in the Asian financial crisis was that Asian banks thought that they would receive implicit guarantees that they would be bailed out if they encountered financial distress. Hence, these banks and companies were much more speculative in their investments and kept investing increasingly. If the investments fail, they will not have to bear the cost since it will be picked up by the government. They were playing with people’s money and did not act in the social interest of their customers. Instead, they were only focussing on making as much profit as possible. The result is known to everybody: In 1997 the nations of East Asia experienced the worst economic crisis they have never seen before. Obviously, the latest and most discussed topic on morality in the two recent years has been the culpability of shareholders and banks along with board directors for failings that led to the financial crisis of 2008. On the one hand, the crisis can be blamed on mortgage brokers, investment bankers and banks’ executives. Skewed incentives and greed contributed too much of the crisis. For example, mortgage brokers generate sub-prime mortgages but were paid regardless of the outcome. That is why they were selling unscrupulously assets with high default risk to clueless customers in order to receive high commissions. Not to mention â€Å"Wall Street Executives† who were focusing solely on how to increase their bonuses and remuneration packages. Also, Banks who took on these mortgages were accused of shoddy risk management and unethical behaviour, since they knew from the beginning that these subprime mortgages would eventually be securitized and removed from the bank’s balance sheet. Again, the originating banks got paid up front for processing the mortgages without having to retain part of the risk. Another factor is the misleading ratings of financial instruments credit agencies that were by far from independent. Arrangers of the secured assets were allowed to manipulate the creation of secured assets by mixing good assets with high risk assets to the point of getting a triple A-rating. If they did not get this rating, the assets were withdrawn, reconfigured and resubmitted. Since agencies are owned by banks, they were subjected to give best ratings to these dangerous assets and mortgage brokers knowing the risky idea behind those assets sold them to unsuspecting investors. According to Friedman, every party involved in the actions mentioned above showed â€Å"social responsibility† since they did not care about their social responsibility to the world but only about maximizing their profits. Evidently, the aftermath of the American financial crisis has shown that the social responsibility of business is definitely not only to increase their profits. If banks, brokers and lenders, accountants, the government and important financial organization did not incorrectly assessed or even ignored the magnitude of the risks mentioned above, if managers and investment bankers were not greedy and showed herd investment behavior, it can be argued that the crisis could have been prevented. But the various parties acted immorally and socially irresponsible not caring about the social consequences of their actions. Consequently, the Asian crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008 are two memorable examples that offset Friedman’s idea. In conclusion, this paper has shown that Friedman’s request of being socially responsible by focusing solely on increasing profits is nowadays theoretically not accepted by banks and financial institutions. In contrast, in the 21st century social responsible corresponds to the alignment of business operations with social and ethical values. It is seen as the key to beat the competitor and to ensure sustainable growth. But the latest financial crisis has shown that even though CSR is part of the business culture of the large corporations, the key players in the large corporations do not practice social responsibility in a proper manner. It seems that CSR and corporate governance are a compilation of words and rules that adds only little value to the everyday businesses. Money has made everybody blind. Everybody wanted to have a piece of the big cake leading them to lower their inhibition threshold. The â€Å"social responsibility† of businesses should not be increasing profit but focusing on what it really means in practice to encourage stewardship. As a matter of fact, banks and financial institutions first need to show social and ethical manner in order to prevent another disaster like the financial crisis of 2008. All in all, businesses need to focus on environmental and social issues in the arena of corporate responsibility since the society expects and demands responsibility of organizations. In fact, the law expects it as well. Banks and financial institutions are challenged after the aftermath of the financial crisis they have to find a way how to act in the best interest of stakeholders, society, the government and the environment, still being able to make sustainable profit. It is now a request from the society. ? References Baker, T. (2000). Insuring Morality.Business Dictionary. Definition of business. Homepage: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/business. html [1. 2. 2010]. Feldman, G. (2007). Putting Uncle Milton Friedman To Bed: Reexamining Milton Friedmans Essay on the Social Responsibility of Business. Labor Studies Journal (32), 125-141. Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2002 (12), 404-437. Milton Friedman, a giant among economist. The Economist. Verfugbar unter: http://www. economist. com/business/displaystory. cfm? story_id=8313925 [28. 1. 2010]. Mulligan, T. (1986). A Critique of Milton Friedmans Essay The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. Journal of Business Ethics (5), 265-269. Munstermann, T. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility: Gabler. Skypala, P. (2008, 17. November). Time to reward good corporate governance. Financial Times, S. 6. [28. 1. 2010]. Wilcke, R. W. (2004). An Appropriate Ethical Model for Business and a Critique of Milton Friedmans Thesis. The Independent Review (2), 187-209.

Definition Of Physical Fitness Physical Education Essay

Definition Of Physical Fitness Physical Education Essay Health related physical fitness can be defines a set of measurement of physiological characteristic and physical level that associate with premature of non-communicable disease that is associates with sedentary life behavior (Vanhees et al. 2005). There are two component of physical fitness which is, health related fitness and skill related fitness. Health related fitness is composed by aerobic fitness, muscle strength and endurance, flexibility and body composition (Huang, 2002), while skill related fitness associate with agility, balance, power, static strength and coordination (Miller et al. 2008).Even thought skill related fitness is not importance as health related fitness but skill related fitness is importance to athlete and military. Physical fitness are influence by many factor such as, age, gender, body mass index or body type and as well as level of physical activity, therefore each individual need to maintained physical fitness level in order to cope with daily activity a nd stay healthy. According to Chung (2008), physical fitness level of school children are being influence by physical education and physical activity. Each individual need to retain at least basic physical fitness prior to sense the benefit of adequate fitness. Recently research has showed that more children are getting fat and less fit and more prone to expose to chronic diseases. It is importance to keep in mind that maintaining physical fit in early age can contribute to decreases risk mortality and morbidity from chronic diseases (Malton, 2006). Non communicable diseases (NCDs) such as, overweight, obese, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and related condition are the major health burden to this country (Zainal Ariffn, 2012). Alarmingly, a non-communicable disease in Malaysia, prevalent among children has increase rapidly past few decades (NMM, 2012) and it will continue to be rising (Tee, 2012). One of the major causes lead to this rising is, sedentary life behavior that lead to low physical fitness (Mokdad et al. 2004). The studies on health related fitness on non-communicable diseases has been reported widely in all age (Jonker et al. 2006). Numerous healthy benefit can be achieve through engagement of regular and vigorous level exercise that lead to increase physical fitness (Ruiz et al. 2006). There are a lot of studies that has been done, mainly focusing in growing concern on physical fitness component among children in determining harmful effect of unfitness that can lead to adulthood (Dumith et al. 2008). Most of physical fitness that has been diagnosed showed that poor physical fitness level lead to potential strategy in early detecting metabolic disorder (Anderson et al. 2009). Despite of growing concern and its importance to physical health in life, in Malaysia physical fitness study on children is still no well established. According to (Shabeshan, 2006) the prevalence of level physical fitness among school children is not very satisfactory. Furthermore, there a lot of variable associates with physical fitness level, such as cardiovascular, muscular strength/resistance and flexibility. Other association variable, that may contribute in identify factor predicted for fitness level are such anthropometric measurements, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) that associate with muscular strength or resistance (Brunet et al. 2007), and cardiorespiratory fitness (Eisenmann, et al. 2005). 1.2 Problem Statement Low physical fitness among school-going children may decline physiological capability. According to Rowland (1999) deterioration of physiological capability is due to low physical fitness that will lead to decreases in physical function and muscle strength. Furthermore, there was a lack data have been reported on physical fitness level among school-going children, taken into consideration that physical fitness testing, anthropometric and body composition measurement assessment are foundation steps for changing intervention life style or sedentary behavior, this present study is carried out to investigate the association between health related physical fitness with anthropometric indicator and body composition in primary school children in Beruas, Perak. 1.3 Significance of Study It is a well know that there are association between health related fitness with cardiovascular disease, overweight and obese among primary school children. This study will determined to what extend current growth of school growing children respected to their physical fitness. The data being obtained in this study will work as a platform for intervention on healthy life style and increase awareness among parent and teacher. This study is expected to provide a baseline data on physical fitness and other health parameters among school children. Furthermore, teacher, health department, and relevant agencies could develop program and help them making decision for obesity prevention among school children. Objective To determine the anthropometry of the primary school children. To determine body composition of the primary school children. To determine physical fitness level of the primary school children. To determine relationship between anthropometric measurement, body composition with health related physical fitness among school children. 1.5 Hypotheses Ho: there are no significant relationships between anthropometric measurements, body composition to health related physical fitness. Assumption Fitness test instruction were presented in this study to primary school children, therefore each participant understood the instruction. Each participant five full commitment to the fitness measurement. Each participant was involved are free from any injury Each participants guardian understood the research study and give permission to their children in taking part in this research by fill up the inform consent. Limitations The limitations of the study are stated below: Study population Participants were involved in this study came from rural area located in Beruas, Perak. This study not take participant from other area, thus limited geographical presented of the population. Limited time Participant has limited time because they need to participant in education class, thus the test has to be done in one day only. Instrument The skinfold measurement (harpenden) may not accurate as Dual Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA), thus limited study finding. Operational Definition The studys operational definitions are as below: 1.8.4 Flexibility According to William et al. (2003) flexibility is ability of joint to move in full range of motion and allows freedom of movement around the joint. 1.8.5 Muscle strength Muscle strength refer as external forced (work express in newtons, kilograms or pounds) that can be generated by specific muscle or muscle size also been called resistance lift (William et al. 2003). 1.8.6 Body composition Body composition is a distribution of body fat to lean body mass (Pangrazi, 1991). 1.8.7 Obesity Obesity is known as a condition of excess body fat and it is associated with a large number of debilitating and life-threatening disorders, such as major increase in associated cardiovascular, metabolic and other no communicable diseases (Must et al., 1999). 1.8.8 Waist circumferences A waist circumference is measured using nan- elastic tape by placing on the trunk between iliac crest and lower costal margin (NCCFN, 2005). CHAPTER 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction Health can be described in variety approach the term itself can be used to describe how a persons feeling, shape or appearance and peoples fitness. However according WHO, (2003), the term health, is not simply the lack of disease or medical condition but it is a state of complete mental, physical, and social well-being or medical condition. Health related fitness is a sub scale of healthy well being the health related fitness major focusing in maintaining human bodys system to endure or to sustain human daily life activity, does not affect surplus fatigue, stress or illness by maintaining basic functioning of bodys system (Brunetto et al. 2009). Furthermore, as humans body can maintaining basic function of bodys system that focusing in health related fitness it can cause or reduce chronic disease such as non-communicable disease and help faster in recovery on what they should occur. According to Jonatan et al. (2006), in order to persuade the healthy development of bodys system, human need to create regular workload demand on their body such as regular exercise, so that humans body can adjusts to the demand workload to perform, and living an active lifestyle. However, if human live as sedentary behavior lifestyles their physical workload may reduce and doing beyond sitting or walking about may become a struggle, moreover body also not functioning effectively as a result may contribute to health conditions. 2.2 Definition of Physical fitness Physical fitness can be defines in many ways, according to Kamil et al. (2012), physical fitness being defines as competence to adjust and recovery from extraneous exercise. Furthermore, physical fitness being defined as a condition that granted human to carry their daily activity without fatigue and have enough energy to enjoy leisure activity (Malina et al. 2004). According to Miller (2006) physical fitness can ne defined in various point view such as, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength or muscular endurance. Other definition for physical fitness is when body function at optimum efficiency thought capacity of the heart, blood vessels, lungs and the muscle (Pate, 1993). All definition above has cover performance related fitness, but according to McGlynn, (1993) health relate fitness is focusing on protection against cardio disease, illness that associate with overweight, a diversity of joint and muscle problem and physiological complication that lead to further stress. Example of components of health related fitness is cardio respiratory endurance, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance and body composition. 2.3 Health related fitness 2.3.1 Cardiovascular fitness Cardiovascular fitness is closely related to ability exercise in prolonged period with involve large and dynamic muscle size and intensity of exercise from moderate to high capacity (ACSM, 2010). Performance of exercise is depending to efficiency of skeletal muscle system, cardiovascular and respiratory state. In order to improve cardiovascular fitness, body must receive sufficient oxygen supply to the working muscle and these will increase necessary enzymes activity for production energy in the working muscle. The general method in increasing or develop cardiorespiratory fitness is by increase intensity, duration and frequency of exercise (William et al. 2003). Example of general exercise for young children to achieve the fitness level is at least 130-150 beats per minutes maintain it for 20 to 30 minutes for optimal benefit. According to ACSM (2010), cardiovascular fitness is health related fitness because decreased in cardiovascular it has been connected with premature death associated to cardio disease. Second reduction of death from various causes has been associated with increased cardio fitness and lastly high physical activity level associated with high cardiovascular fitness in turn has many associations with health benefit. The cardiovascular fitness test is an importance assessment in preventive program 2.3.2 Flexibility According to William et al. (2003) flexibility is ability of joint to move in full range of motion and allows freedom of movement around the joint. In order to have a good health lifestyle, individual need some definite amount of flexibility to cope with their daily life routine. Muscle viscosity, adequate warming up and distensible joint capsule are importance or specific variable that affect flexibility of individual (ACSM, 2010). Furthermore, ligament and tendon also associated with flexibility. Stretching or 10 to 30 second and stretch beyond normal length have been recommended to increase the flexibility. Example of stretch being recommended is static trenching where it allows rapidly increased in strength reflex to a point of discomfort zone. 2.3.3 Muscle strength and muscle endurance Muscle strength refer as external forced (work express in newtons, kilograms or pounds) that can be generated by specific muscle or muscle size also been called resistance lift (William et al. 2003). According to ASCM (2010) strength can be test out using two ways the first method is using static, refer to no movement and muscular and limb movement. Second method is using dynamic refer as muscle change in length caused by external forced. Muscle endurance is ability of muscle group to repeatedly contract over period of time and enough to caused muscular fatigue or ability to maintain specific percentages of muscular contraction (ACSM, 2010). To develop both muscular strength and endurance the basic principle need to be master is overload, progression, specificity and intensity of load (William et al. 2003). Method can be used to develop muscular strength is, exercise at maximum or near maximum resistance and this will lead to physiological adaptation where muscle increased in strength. For muscular endurance development, method can be used is low intensity but with high repetition. 2.3.4 Body composition Body composition is a distribution of body fat to lean body mass (Pangrazi, 1991). The balance proportions of body fat in human body is one factor contribute to individuals fitness level. Essential fat and storage fat are two classification of fat in humans body (Macardle, 1986), where essential fat being stored in the liver , the lungs, kidney, spleen, lipid rich tissues in the central nervous system and intestine muscles. Second the storage fat is being stored in adipose tissue for nutritional and also for internal protection function. According to NIH (1996) stated that excess body fat especially that located surrounding abdominal, will associated with metabolic syndrome, hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia and coronary artery diseases. Other related illness may contribute caused of excess body fat is problem on muscle and joint where extra weight being stress on these two part, heart disease and high cholesterol. Understanding this problem is essential in order to counter back the problem being faced by many children right now. 2.4 Benefit Health Related Fitness To increased health among school children or youth, component health related fitness play a vital role in improving individual fitness level. If student or youth involved in regular physical activity that involved proper or specific frequency, intensity, time, and duration of exercise they may develop good healthy fitness level. A strength or improve in health fitness will avoid such many chronic diseases or in other word non-communicable diseases. Second by improving health related fitness especially muscular strength and endurance it will help in resistance to fatigue. Thus it also will help increasing in the quality of life and help enjoy leisure activity. Student should be told or expose to the benefit of all packages of health related fitness, most of health problem occur in early part of life. In Malaysia it has being diagnosed, children under 12 years old, being overweight is 12.6% while 13.5% is obese caused of low physical activity that lead to low physical fitness level (Yeevon, 2011). The increasing health problems among children now are very alarming where most of cased will associated with failure metabolic rate and heart disease. The knowledge of health related fitness is very importance for the student to master it for early development health lifestyle, by understanding the importance, student will created attitude to value the fitness and the will knowledge that the fitness need some effort of regular exercise with a correct intensity and this will be the best preventive medicine for their life. 2.5 Current Health related fitness in school children According to Tee, (2012) he stated that, the rate of mortality for local and abroad is very alarming where most of problem associated with cardiovascular death. One conclusion from the local data showed or stated that health related physical fitness among student and adult are not at satisfactory target or level. According to Frederick et al. (2010) electronic devices and automation that came from modern technology has made people less active as a result low physical fitness level among children and adults. Second, current status of Malaysia growings children right now is very alarming where now Malaysia facing double burden problem such as increase in number of overweight and obese children and also increased in number of thinness or in other word undernourished children. The problem should be given full attention because the growing numbers are increase tremendously and Malaysian country is the leading country in Asian pacific in obesity rate (Tummy, 2011). On the other hand, other health problem being faced by the Malaysia country is low bone mass and anemia this due to low body weight. Body images perception being faced by young adult and teenagers lead to eating disorder such as bulimia and anorexia (MASO, 2005). In nut shell it is importance for Malaysia people maintain their health status. Furthermore, available data showed that, the prevalence of obesity among children in Malaysia has equal match on developed country (NCCFN, 2005). Two cross-sectional surveys has being carry out in year 2007 and 2008 (Ismail et al., 2009) on children age 6 until 12 years old in Peninsular Malaysia. The data showed that, increase overweight and obese children from 11.0% to 12.8% and 9.7% to 13.7% respectively (figure 2.1). Figure 2.1: Prevalence overweight and obese in children age 6 to 12 years old in Peninsular Malaysia Waist circumference has strongly associated with abdominal fat (NCCFN, 2005). According to Zhou, (2002) he pointed out, in large epidemiology studies, there are strong significant and independently correlated with dyslipideamia, blood pressure, 2 hours plasma glucose or diabetes. Based on the finding, waist circumference is one major importance test in determining individual at risk of chronic diseases. Being inactive or low physical activity has not only associated with heart illness but many other related illnesses. Diabetes, obesity, failure of metabolic rate is some sort of low physical fitness level. In order to overcome the problem is by increase the awareness among children the benefit having physical fitness level. CHAPTER 3 Methodology 3.1 Research Design The study was a cross sectional study. All subjects male and female were enrolled in physical fitness test. This study tends to investigate the relationship between physical fitness, anthropometric and body composition among obese children. All subjects were recruited voluntarily and with consent from parents/guardian. The subjects were briefed verbally during the meeting. The protocol and potential advantages were explained to the subjects before they were given the consent form filled by their parents or guardian. Approval was obtained from the State Education Department as well as school authority prior to data collection. 3.2 Subject selection Two hundred and eleven subjects were randomly sampled in eight primary schools in Beruas area. Subjects include male and female age 10-11 years old. Multistage sampling technique was used to to select all 211 subjects. The Multistage sampling technique was ensure equal reresentation of the subject. 3.3 Data collection The data collection was carried out in primary schools. Data on anthropometry and body composition was collected before the subjects undergo the fitness tests. Standard fitness measurements were used to assess the fitness tests which were Queens College step test, hand grip test, partial curl-up, and sit-and-reach test. Obtained ethical clearance and approval from Research Management Institute (RMI) and Ministry of education Malaysia Exclusion criteria Has medical condition No approval from parent or guardian Inclusion criteria Male and female Age of 10 and 11 years old Screening and recruitment of the subjects SK Gelung Gajah SK Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Pei Ching SK Kampung Kota SK Gangga Subjects were recruited randomly N=246 Informed written consent was obtained from each subject and parent /guardian Data collection: Anthropometry, body composition, physical activity and fitness tests Statistic was analysis Figure 3.1. Research Approach 3.4 Sampling Calculation A total two hundred and four six subject were enrolled in this study. Sample size is determined using table prevalence population. (Krejce and Margan, 1970). The internal confident is 90 percent (confident level) and population percentages not more than .05. Table 3.1 Determining sample size from given population N S* 480 214 500 217 550 226 Note: N = is population size; S = sample size; *sample size for 90% confident that the difference in the population and p There are 8 primary school located at Beruas perak. The population of all school children in Beruas is about 550 students and based on the determining sample size table, the sample size been required is about 217 subject. In order to avoid drop out the required sample size is being multiple by 10% . The calculation as followed: N = sample size = 226 x 10% (drop out) = 22 subject = 22 + 227 = 248 subject. 3.5 Data Collection 3.5 1 Antropometry measurement Anthropometry which includes body weight and height measurements were used in determining the subjects Body Mass Index (BMI) by dividing the weight (kg) by height (m ²). The height was measured using a body meter, SECA, 208 (Germany) to the nearest 0.5 cm and the weight was measured using a digital weighing scale, Tanita (Japan). Procedures are as below: For measuring height: The equipment was mounted on the wall and the subject was bare footed. Both feet were closed together with the heels in contact with the wall, same as the shoulder, back and the buttocks. With the head facing forward the height of the subjects were then measured. For measuring weight: The body weight was being measured in kilograms to the nearest 0.5 kg using the digital weighing scale with the subjects shoes off and light clothing. Then, they were asked to step onto the equipment and stand straight with both hands placed on their side. The measurement appeared on the screen of equipment and was recorded. Waist circumference With participant standing and arm at the sides. Feet together and abdominal relax, a horizontal measurement is taken at narrowest part of the torso (above the umbilicus and below the xiphoid process) Hip circumference With the subject standing, leg slishtly apart (10 cm), a horizontal measurement is taken at the maximal circumference of the hip/proximal thigh, just below the gluteal fold. http://healthfreedoms.org/files/2012/07/Waist-to-Hip-Ratio-%E2%80%93-How-can-measure-Waist-and-Hip-Ratio.jpg Figure 3.2 Figure of waist and hip circumference measurement 3.6 Waist-to-Hip Ratio Waist-to-hip ratio compares circumferences of the waist to the circumference of the hip. WHR was expressed as a ratio, using the formula: WHR = Hip Circumference à · Waist Circumference Where: WHR = waist-to-hip ratio WC = waist circumference HC = hip circumference 3.6 Body Mass Index Measurement (BMI) The BMI (kg/m2) value of body mass index was calculated using WHO, (2007). It was used to analyze and differentiate subjects according to the underweight, normal, overweight and obese category. Table 3.2 Classification of Body Mass Index (kg/m ²) for male by age Age Underweight Normal weight Overweight Obese 10 17.1 18.5 18.6 21.5 > 21.5 11 17.1 19 19.1 22.5 > 22.5 Note. From World health organization, (2007). Retrieved September 20, 2012, from:  http://www.who.int/growthref/who2007_bmi_for_age/en/index.html Table 3.3 Classification of Body Mass Index (kg/m ²) for female Age Underweight Normal weight Overweight Obese 10 16.6 19 19.1 22.5 > 22.5 11 17.4 19.9 20 23.7 > 23.7 Note. From World health organization, (2007). Retrieved September 20, 2012, from:  http://www.who.int/growthref/who2007_bmi_for_age/en/index.html 3.7 Skinfold Measurement Skinfold measurement was made on the right side of the body with subject standing upright. The clipper was placed directly on the skin surface, 1 cm away from the thumb and finger, perpendicular to the skinfold, and halfway between the crest and the base of the fold. A pinch was maintained while reading the clipper. Wait 1 to 2 second (not longer) before reading caliper. Take duplicate measurement at each site, and retest if duplication measurement are not within 1 to 2 mm. Rotate through measurement sites to regain normal texture and thickness calculation based on ACSM (2010), 4 site formula (triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac). Instrument: Skinfol clipper: SFCH80 Harpenden UK range 80mm Procedures are as below: Triceps: vertical fold: on the posterior midline of the upper arms, halfway between the acromion and olecranon processes, with the arms held freely to the side of the body. Biceps: vertical fold: on the anterior aspects of the arms over the belly of the biceps muscle, 1 cm above the level used to mark the triceps site. Subscapula: diagonal fold (at a 45-degree angle); 1 to 2 cm below the inferior angle axillary line immediately superior to the iliac crest. Suprailiac: diagonal fold; in line with the natural angle of the iliac crest taken in the anterior axillary line immediately superior to the iliac crest. Calculation: Equation developed by Durnin and Rahama (1967) to predict percentage total body fat (%TBF) as follows: Formula density: Equation for boy = 1.1533 0.0643 (x) Equation for girl = 1.1549 0.0678 (x) (x) = log of sum of skinfold at 4 sites (triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac) Formula total body fat (TBF%) = (4.95 / Dencity 4.5) x 100 3.8 Body fat percentage The body fat percentage was taken using Bio-impedance Analyzer, Karada (810), (Omron, Japan). It measures the body fat percentage in relation to lean body mass. A normal balance of body fat to lean body mass is associated with good health and longevity. Procedures are explained as below; In straight standing position, subjects were to hold the equipment, grab the handle, and with the hand extend 90 ° from their body. Measurement was appeared on the screen of equipment and was recorded. Physical Fitness Test Queen college step test (cardiovascular) The Queen College Step test had been used to measure the cardio respiratory or aerobic fitness. According to Bolboli et al. (2008), it was quoted to predict maximum oxygen consumption and the reliability of the 3-minute step test was investigated with a specific rhythm. The procedures suggested are explained as below: Subject was ask to step up and down on the step box height 30.5 cm at 24 cycles (up-up-down-down) a minute (metronome setting of 96) for 3 minutes. Immediately after 3 minutes of stepping, the subjects were required to sit down. A 60 second heart rate will be taken starting 5 seconds after the completion of stepping. If the subject does not complete the test, they have to restart again. The subject score is total 60 second pulse rate following 3 minutes of stepping. Table 3.4 Queen Step test norms Score Age 5 4 3 2 1 Male 10 71 92 93 113 118 142 >143 11 76 99 100 124 125 148 >150 12 24 -34 12 23 1 11 >0 Female 10 74 95 96 123 125 148 >150 11 83 99 100 -129 130 153 >154 12 78 107 108 137 138 167 >168 Note. From Measurement by the physical educator: Why and how (5th ed), by David K. Miller, 2006, Boston: McGraw-Hill Humanities Social. Copyright 2006 by David K. Miller. Adapted with permission. 3.9.2 Hand Grip Test (upper body Strength) A muscular strength refer to the external force that can be generate by a specific muscle group and it can be express either statically or dynamically and isometric strength can be measured using hand grip dynamometer (ACSM, 2010). The hand grip test was measured using Digital Hand Grip Dynamometer (Takei A5401). Procedures are explained as below; A maximum voluntary grip is performed on a pair of short parallel bars held between the flexed fingers and the palm, with counter-pressure being applied by the thumb. The subject is verbally encouraged to produce a maximum effort by squeezing the bars as hard as possible and maintaining the maximal effort for 2-3 seconds. Reset the dynamometer to zero before use. Adjust the handgrip dynamometer to fit the size of the subjects hand. The distance between the base and the handle of the dynamometer should approximate the distance between the base of the thumb and the base of the first digit. The subject stands with the heels, buttocks and back resting against a wall. Set the pointer reading to zero. Have the subject grip the dynamometer closely to their side of the body. When ready the subject grips as hard as possible to the count of three. Record the score in the data entry screen and repeat for the other hand (Clerke, 2005). Table 3.5. Norms for hand grip test Male Female Age Wea