AIDS :: Free AIDS Essays

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was initially recognized in the first half of the twentieth century and has since become a major worldwide epidemic (â€Å"Discovery Health†). Debate about the origin of AIDS has enticed considerable concern and controversy since the advent of the epidemic. It is has been proven that AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by stimulating the destruction and functional impairment of cells in the immune system, potentially destroying the human body’s ability to fight infection (â€Å"CDC†). While there is no cure for the AIDS epidemic, a combination of historical studies and expanding medical technology enable it to be controlled in the course of the future. Knowing where the disease came from and the development of HIV is essential in creating a vaccine and more efficient treatment against the virus. Evidence that the AIDS disease is caused by the HIV virus include numerous international studies indicating that virtually all patients diagnosed with AIDS are HIV seropositive; they carry antibodies that depict HIV - infection. Also, modern techniques have allowed the isolation of HIV in all AIDS patients, as well as in nearly all HIV seropositive individuals with both early and late stage disease. Furthermore, a 1999 case reported to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accounted three laboratory employees as infected with AIDS after accidental exposure of concentrated replicas of HIV in the laboratory; in all three instances, HIV was insulated and attest to be the infecting cause of disease (â€Å"CDC†). Such examples, demonstrating HIV as the cause of AIDS, satisfy nineteenth century physician’s, Robert Koch’s, accredited postulates of disease stating that: â€Å"one, the suspected cause [HIV] must be strongly associated with the disease [AIDS] ; two, the suspected agent can be isolated and propagated outside the host, and three, the transfer of the agent to an uninfected host, man, or animal, produces the disease in that host† (â€Å"Koch’s Postulate†). Thus, to find the genesis of AIDS, scientists must find the source of the HIV virus. HIV is subdivision of a group of viruses classified as lentiviruses. Lentiviruses excluding HIV have been discovered in a broad range of nonhuman primates, scientifically referred to as simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV); it has been universally accepted that HIV is a descendant of SIV since certain simian immunodeficiency viruses share a mutual resemblance to HIV - 1 and HIV - 2, the two types of HIV.

Culture, Ethnocentrism and Schindler’s List Essay

Culture is made up of values, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics customary to the individuals who are a part of a certain group or society. It is how we define and mold ourselves to our society’s shared principles, enabling us to contribute to our society. But until we experience another culture different from our own, we are not even aware of what characteristics make up ours. In most cases, we do not acknowledge our culture until another individual breaches one or our traditions, or we disregard someone else’s. If a person takes into consideration another culture’s standards and behaviors and understands that there is no right or wrong between the two cultures, then that person has reached cultural relativism. However, this is difficult to do as it is common for all people everywhere to place their own culture patterns at the center of things, no matter which culture he or she is a part of. When people do this, cultural conflicts are initiated, as seen in the movie Schindler’s List, which portrays a nearly textbook example of extreme ethnocentrism. One of the features of any culture, ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture based on the standards of one’s own culture (Macionis & Plummer, 2010). When a person evaluates another culture, that culture’s traditions, customs, language, and other racial practices are compared to his or her own, and finds those people to be inferior or lower to themselves. This can lead to vanity, false pride, and a superiority complex, in regard to one’s own ethnicity, resulting in condescending and sometimes violent behavior towards the other culture. If the people of one culture refuse or cannot understand or adjust to the other people’s culture, disastrous consequences arise, that include war and genocide. This is the basis of the Nazi and Jewish cultures seen in Schindler’s List. A movie by Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List is the true story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, a womanizer, a war profiteer, and the savior of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust of WWII (Spielberg, 1993). The movie opens in Krakow, Germany during WWII, with the initial persecution of the Jewish people living there. Any businesses and jobs the Jewish people had were taken away by the German military, and they now are being forced into the Ghetto to be crammed together without their possessions and very little clothing and food. As the movie progresses, the Jewish people face ever-increasing cruelty at the hands of German soldiers. In the middle of all of this is Oskar Schindler who is looking for a way to make a tremendous profit from the war. He starts a factory making pots and pans, using the Jewish people living in the Ghetto as laborers. The story is about Schindler’s cultural attitude (very German Nazi) that changes as he sees the horrible and unwarranted torture and murder of the Jews that work for him. After questioning his Nazi values, he realizes how very wrong the Nazi opinions are of the Jewish culture, and ends up using his own money buying 1,100 Jews from a Nazi commander, in order to save them from the Auschwitz death camp. His â€Å"list† contains the names of his workers, whom he buys to start another factory in the Chez Republic. After watching the movie, there was very little that this writer did not find culturally shocking. The attitudes of the Germans towards the Jewish people were one’s of disgust, hatred, and complete indifference to any pain, suffering, or fear the Jewish people were experiencing. The movie was filmed entirely in black and white (except for the little girl’s red coat), leaving the viewer to concentrate and absorb the Nazi’s attitudes of cultural superiority over anyone not like them, without the distractions of the colors surrounding these two conflicting cultures. The red coat is extremely important as it symbolizes Schindler’s awakening; first, as the little girl runs through the Ghetto looking for a place to hide as her people are massacred by German soldiers (witnessed by Oskar); and second, when Schindler witnesses the burning of 10,000 dead Jewish bodies heaped on giant burning piles, he sees the dead body of the little girl still wearing the red coat. One cultural difference between the American culture and the Nazi culture is the forcing of an entire race into one central location, stripping away rights, property, and employment. American culture would not do this, but the Nazi culture considered it their duty to round up and exterminate the â€Å"vermin† living in their country. The Jewish people did not rebel or protest against their treatment from the German soldiers, even when one Jewish man was dragged out of a line by a soldier and shot in the head in front of family and friends, for no reason or cause. In another scene of random shooting, a German commander used the working Jews inside his camp as target practice. Although the people were working hard and were nearly starved, this Nazi viewed them as nothing more than rats and killed them. A person doing this in America would be arrested, put in jail, and most likely be given a death sentence after his trial. Another cultural difference (and one difficult to watch) was the burning of dead bodies in huge piles out in a field. Because the Nazi culture did not consider Jewish people to be human, it was perfectly acceptable to burn the â€Å"garbage†, as it was the quickest and easiest method of eliminating waste. There is no comparison for this to American culture, and the only other justified instance of these vast quantities of burning bodies happening in history was during the plagues that hit Europe. It was a major culture shock to this writer to see half burned bodies being pulled out of ash piles, then carted to another burning pile, all done by the Jewish people imprisoned in the camp. Ethnocentrism promotes inequality because the culture who believes it is superior can be the larger or dominant culture compared to other cultures, giving it the power to create laws that discriminate against anyone that is different. Having supreme power, this culture can change the social and financial status of individuals or ethnic groups, without any concerns or remorse for stripping the very humanity from another culture. The dominant culture increases inequality by segregating any person (or group) judged to be inferior to its own, or force the inferior cultures to give up their values, beliefs, and practices and adopt the dominant culture’s beliefs. In extreme ethnocentrism, genocide occurs because the dominant culture believes that other inferior cultures need to be wiped from the face of the Earth, thus ridding the planet of filth and ignorance. Business is not conducted the same way between cultures, so conflicts can happen when the two different cultures are locked to ethnocentrism. One factor is the communication process in which each culture assumes that business will be conducted in its own native language, say English and Japanese. Correct translation is crucial to success if neither culture is willing to do business in a different language other than its own. Certain accents may also reinforce ethnocentrism, creating a negative stereo-type and possibly reinforcing prejudices (Cross-cultural, 2011). A culture’s social organization can also have ethnocentrism conflicts. For example, one culture believes in gender equality while another believes women are inferior to men, and so they have different or no rights compared to the men of that culture. Another conflict between two businesses from different cultures is the use of child labor. Western cultures find these practices horrible and exploitive, but those cultures that allow children to work do not put the value of educating their children above the family’s survival. A working child can bring the family the much needed finances to provide survival necessities, such as food, clothing, and shelter for the entire family. As we have seen, culture is very complex and can influence every aspect of our lives. Ethnocentrism is a universal human reaction that is seen in all known societies or groups, and in nearly every individual. Ethnocentrism may seem to encourage solidarity of a group and strengthen loyalty, but it also hinders any understanding of a different group or culture. Because one culture believes their way is the best way, there is no incentive to interact with another culture decided inferior. Positively, this sort of conflict often leads to social change, but negatively, it discourages changes and promotes discrimination, wars, or the genocide of another culture.

Strategic Plan Of Coca Cola Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1008 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Once sufficient information and awareness is gained about the environment Coca Cola is operating in, the next viable thing to do is to decide on a strategic response to adapt the existing strategy or develop a new one. In our case, it is required of us to determine what we would change in the Coca Cola strategy and how we will go about doing that. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Strategic Plan Of Coca Cola Business Essay" essay for you Create order Customers: What we would change: One of the strategies that I would change would be Coca Colas distribution system. It is important for any business to have a personal relationship with their customer- the individual who purchases the product for their own personal use. At the moment the distribution channel that Coca Cola is using is from the manufacturer to the retailer (consumer) and then to the customer. In this channel there is no direct communication with Coca Cola and its customers, and in this way there is no personal interaction between the two parties. Coca Cola could be losing out on a competitive advantage. The customer doesnt know anything more about Coca Cola other than its product that it offers. There is no service involved, nor is there personal leisure or personal satisfaction involved. How: Strategies on how to get directly to the customer is to at least go beyond giving the customer the product. It goes beyond that especially from a customers point of view whereby customers purchase a product when they feel that they are getting value for money. By adapting this strategy Coca Cola could gain more customers, especially the customers who are not only attracted by the product but also the personal experience gained from the business. Another strategy Coca Cola could use would be to have a Coca Cola retail store, and have product development whereby Coke improves its existing products and have other products; this will assist Coke to recognize ways in which they can satisfy their customers. Why: By getting the customer involved makes us aware of the things that they are feeling and what they want from the company as a whole. Having a direct link to the final consumer of the product creates more awareness about some of the consumers of the coca cola product. For example if the company directly hears the complaints of their various consumers they will be able to improve on something immediately. This will make customers feel more connected to the brand. Coca-Cola System: It is evident that Coca Colas business model is driven to maximizing profits and to deliver strong returns from all parties involved- which are the customer, suppliers and consumers. What would we change? In increasing profits, Coca Cola should invest in labour more than capital- this in its operations and this will in turn have a great positive impact to South Africas economy. How: By creating more jobs that is labour intensive, reducing machinery and Coca Cola being more dependent on peoples skills and knowledge which is sustainable. Why: South Africas unemployment rates are high and this can in a small way alleviate poverty in certain instances. By providing and securing more jobs for the citizens of the country help the economy become more stable and this contributes positively to the overall GDP of South Africa. Coca-Cola People (staff) The Coca Cola Company takes note of the value of its associates, they remain focused on making sure that they have the most talented, creative and motivated people throughout the world. What would we change? As much as Coca Cola is looking for staff that is competent, it will be even more advantageous that Coca Cola take individuals and train them into being well equipped individuals. How? By training individuals to the best of their ability. Why? When one person becomes educated and empowered it has an effect on the working capabilities of that person. It is also seen as an encouragement to the other employees, therefore one would want to perform better than the other. Social Environment: What would we change? Coca Cola is doing very well in CSI projects; however one of their major downfalls is that Coke does it at a larger scale. They do not focus on smaller scales such as communities, and on individuals. How? Coke can start by going in communities like the well-known townships and invest in there. It is evident that Coke is found in every corner of every shop in the communities, so the community knows about Coke as a brand and for its product. Aspects that Coca Cola can get into are aspects such as: Education, training, development and sports in the community. Why? This stirs awareness for the company. The company should not only be seen as a million dollar company. It should be seen as one that cares for the people of South Africa or the smaller communities. Coca Cola is advertised and promoted on a huge scale therefore when bursaries and things get given away the most deserving township people do not even know about all these opportunities. This company should take note of the smaller struggles in the country that contribute greatly to the big problems in the country. Health and nutrition What would we change? Coca Cola should accommodate customers that are health conscious. Customers who are not keen in indulging in gas and high sugar level beverages. It would be advantageous for Coca Cola to find a product that will fulfill these customers needs and adapt to what satisfies these customers. How: Coca Cola can capitalize in producing products that are lighter on gas and lower in sugar levels such as juice. In this way Coca Cola wont lose out on customers but will be covering a larger market and take advantage of this opportunity to maximize profits. Why: The world is going green and Coca Cola can contribute to this positively. This will attract more potential customers and will ast as an advantage for the company. Many people in this day and age are health conscious so this would be a great opportunity for the company.