Management Across Cultures free essay sample

What are some current issues facing Poland? What is the climate for doing business in Poland today? According to the Poland segment coined â€Å"In the International Spotlight†, Poland has been seeking economic liberation for an extensive number of years which could be a hindrance because they are considered a country with a transitioning economy. Government and legislation have held Poland back and thus are some of the current issues facing Poland. Poland is a positive climate however, for Poland is very attractive to MNCs. With Poland being centralized amongst the other European countries, MNCs have greater access to competitive nearby markets. In addition, productivity will need to increase in order for Poland to truly compete with Western European nations. Question #2: Is the Canadian manufacturing firm using an economic, political or quality imperative approach to strategy? I would say that the Canadian manufacturing firm is utilizing an economic strategy. They are making an attempt to take advantage of the economic situation in Poland via renovation at a plant near Warsaw so as to build power tools. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Across Cultures or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Question #3: How should the firm carry out the environmental scanning process? Would the process be of any practical value? All businesses are affected by external factors and therefore monitoring must be done in an effort to maintain heightened awareness of these factors; environmental scanning is a process where various relevant data is collected in order to make business decisions – these two go hand in hand. When entering a new market, like the Canadian firm plans to do in Poland, environmental scanning is essential and can contain practical value. They need to be focused on the external factors in addition to economic growth, income levels and/or employment rates as it relates to their market. Environmental scanning assists in making decisions related to expansion, innovation, and entering or leaving a market. Question #4: What are two key factors for success that will be important if this project is to be successful? The two key factors include the use of small power tools and the competitive nature of the industry. Poland needs to be able to be competitive and increase productivity. It is to the advantage of the Canadian firm that there is little to no competition since there is very low demand for power tools in the area. Hofstede  Dimension: Information I read in our textbook revealed that Poland is a hierarchical society where everyone seems to have a place in the order whereas in the United States hierarchy is established for convenience. The difference between the two in reference to the power distance revolves around the US being subordinate and recognizing their place in the hierarchy of Poland. Both Poland and the United States are defined as individualistic societies, but the Unites States exhibits a much stronger individualistic culture over Poland but because of the need for a hierarchy, a manager or business partner from the United States may have to utilize a second method of communication via a personal contact with everyone in the structure so as not to offend and stress the equality amongst the organization. Another factor to consider is the uncertainty of Poland per the Hofstede score. Poland seems to have very specific rules whereas the Unites States are a little more lax; therefore the need to follow the Poland based rules is essential to a successful business relationship.

Whya

Whya do many highly trained people from developing nations seek employment in advanced countries? Why are these highly educated people apparently more productive and highly paid in these advanced countries than they are in their home countries? Over the years the United States has been called a nation of immigrants. The fact that it is a melting pot for so many different cultures, races, and religions makes the nation quite unique in the world. Asian Americans, Cuban-Americans, European-Americans, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans all of different backgrounds, and different cultures, but still all united by the fact that when the hyphen is eliminated they are all considered Americans. For more than 300 years, various ethnic, cultural, and social groups have come to the shores of the United States for a multiplicity of reasons. Some have come to reunite with their loved ones, others to seek economic opportunity, and still many more to find a haven from religious and political persecution. With them, they bring their hopes, their dreams, and, in turn, contribute, enrich, and energize America. Less than one million immigrants arrive in the United States each year. Of these, 700,000 enter as lawful permanent residents and another 100,000 to 150,000 enter legally as refugees or others fleeing persecution. Undocumented immigrants constitute only 1% of the total U.S. population and, contrary to popular belief, most of these immigrants do not enter the United States illegally by crossing our border with Canada or Mexico. Instead, most immigrants here illegally, 6 out of 10, enter the U.S. legally with a student, tourist, or business visa and become illegal when they stay in the United States after their visas expire. Most legal immigrants, about 8 out of 11, come to join close family members. Family-sponsored immigrants enter as either immediate relatives-spouses, unmarried minor children, parents- of United States' citizens...

Chekhov the Fox and Visions of Transcendent Humanity

Chekhov the Fox and Visions of Transcendent Humanity Anton Chekhov might look like a hedgehog when he returns time and again to the theme of universal humanity and its future path. But Chekhov as ‘the humanist writer’ does not really work towards a unified concept of mankind’s ultimate fate. Rather, the thinking men in his stories and plays present their own diverging and overlapping visions of human purpose. In a most Chekhovian manner, these perspectives are often frustrated or denied by the essential incommunicability of each man’s point of view. It then seems that Chekov’s narrative voice is more suited to the fox’s role, as it presents a polyphonic and individually refutable set of perspectives on a common theme. For some of Chekhov’s characters, the fate of man is fixed and predetermined, for others it is the uncertain product of generations’ toil. For some there is a religious drive to improving the current lot of humanity, and for others it is a biological or social imperat ive. Chekhov’s restless exploration of what humanity’s future means to different people proves that he would rather celebrate the philosophical diversity of his zeitgeist than constrain the intellectual developments of his age to a single framework. Perhaps the most tellingly individualized view of humanity’s future in a Chekhov text is found in The Seagull. Kostya’s notion of the â€Å"World Soul† is an abstracted and dramatized vision of the standard Western theological and philosophical trope of mankind’s convergent destiny. Whether expressed in the biblical model of the rapture, in the political ideal of manifest destiny, or in the latest theories of a technological singularity, there has been a throughline in Western thought that structures humanity’s future as a unified turn to the greater good. Kostya’s play-within-a-play defines his version of this fateful unity as the â€Å"dreams of what will be two hundred thousand years from now† (99). Nina’s character introduces herself as an allegorical projection of unified life in a lifeless world: â€Å"The bodies of all living things having turned to dust, eternal matter has transformed them into stones, water, clouds, and all their souls have merged into one. That great world soul – is I† (100). Then she speaks of the predestined action of this unified force: â€Å"in the cruel, persistent struggle with the devil, the principle of the forces of matter, I am destined to be victorious; then matter and spirit shall merge in glorious harmony† (101). However muddled or phantasmagorically contrived it comes across to his fictional audience, Kostya’s authorial voice tells Chekhov’s audience that the ultimate goal of humanity is to religiously transcend the physical realm. Whether or not Kostya himself literally believes in such a goal does not matter, his writing nevertheless produces that individual view of human transcendence. Kostya introduces this transcendence as inevitable and out of the influence of currently living humans, in contrast with the views of some other Chekhov characters. Doctor Astrov, in Uncle Vanya, expresses the opposing opinion most strongly, taking personal responsibility for the future of the environment and, by extension, human happiness: â€Å"Man is endowed with reason and creative powers . . . I realize that the climate is somewhat in my power, and that if, a thousand years from now, mankind is happy, I shall be responsible for that too, in a small way† (175), Likewise, Vershinin in The Three Sisters, argues that his â€Å"dream . . . of the life that will come after us† in â€Å"a thousand years – the time doesn’t matter† will arise because humans are â€Å"living for it now, working . . . suffering, and creating it† (264). This argument is against Tuzenbach’s assertion that there will be no such transcendent future, regardless o f whether modern man works for it or not: â€Å"Not only in two or three hundred years, but in a million years, life will be just the same as it always was† (265). The fox-like attributes of Chekhov’s oeuvre are evident in the way his characters’ conflicting opinions contribute to an intertextual argument on a specific strand of philosophy. If Chekhov were a hedgehog, his dramas might then guide this argument towards one triumphant vision of human destiny. Instead, the armchair philosophers in The Three Sisters give no finality to the subject, with Vershinin concluding that â€Å"in any case, it’s a pity youth is over† and Tuzenbach saying â€Å"It’s difficult arguing with you, friends! Well, let it go† (266). Astrov becomes disillusioned with his own argument, telling Elena that is that â€Å"there’s nothing to understand, it’s simply uninteresting† (201). And most disappointingly, Kostya’s play is seen only as â€Å"decadent ravings† by his audience of family members (102). Chekhov’s great dramas define him as a fox because they not only develop many angles of his philosophical theme, but also present each distinct approach to the subject in the utterly fallible voice of a fictional character. As with many Chekhovian short story characters, the thin kers in these plays find that their lofty opinions count for naught when they cannot be properly communicated to another person. This trend denies the ultimate validity of each fictional viewpoint, such that even if there were consensus between all characters in different plays on the subject of humanity’s common future, it would still be impossible to pinpoint a singular perspective running through Chekhov’s theatrical work. The short stories that introduce variant perspectives on universal humanity are even more telling of Chekhov’s ‘foxiness.’ Their third-person narrative forms allow the author to more explicitly point out the incomprehensibility, and hence illegitimacy, of a character’s opinion to anyone outside of his personal perspective. The Black Monk features the most exaggerated instance of this narrative technique. Kovrin’s apparition descends upon him to explain that he is a divinely chosen genius whose work will lead manki nd â€Å"some thousands of years earlier into the kingdom of eternal truth† (35). Combining Kostya’s vision of religious transcendence with Astrov’s belief in the necessity of individual labor, the Black Monk’s divine mandate represents yet another strain of â€Å"the immortality of man† that is pursued literally and as a symbol of mortal progress throughout much of Chekhov’s fiction (35). The narrative, however, makes it clear that this belief is not to be taken at face value, because it originates, exists, and is expressible solely in the mind of its one believer. After accepting the mantle of genius, Kovrin questions the man that he knows to be a hallucination, â€Å"What do you mean by eternal truth?† and the third-person narrator proclaims that â€Å"the monk did not answer. Kovrin looked at him and could not distinguish his face. His features grew blurred and misty. Then the monk’s head and arms disappeared; his body seemed merged into the seat and the evening twilight, and he vanished altogether† (36). We see here that Kovrin’s vision of universal humanity is not even fully formed, because his ghostly guide disappears without revealing to him its entire meaning, thus introducing doubt to the reader that Kovrin is capable of pursuing such a vision. Throughout the story of The Black Monk, Kovrin and the narrator both acknowledge that th e titular spirit exists only in the mind of the overworked philosopher. That narrative position, combined with the fevered, imperfect nature of Kovrin’s convictions, connotes the incommunicability of a personal belief in human transcendence. Whereas theatre allows characters to say aloud thoughts with which the audience or the author are clearly intended to disagree, narrative fiction enables the reader to see a viewpoint that is invalidated even further by its deviation from consensus reality. The incommunicability of transcendental belief can also be found in the thematic subtext of two earlier Chekhov stories, Dreams and Gusev. It’s interesting to note that in Dreams Chekhov’s characters locate the impossible, shared vision of perfected humanity in the distant past rather than the future: â€Å"have these visions of a life of liberty come down to them . . . as an inheritance from their remote, wild ancestors? God only knows!† (48). Here is another testament to Chekhov’s foxiness; between texts, he radically varies the specifics of their common philosophical theme. Dreams features the focalized ponderings of an odd tramp who sets the tone for the story when he says of the inexplicable motives of his mother: â€Å"She was a godly woman, but who can say? The soul of another is a dark forest† (45). As he is escorted through a literal dark forest, the tramp quixotically attempts to communicate to his soldier captors the vision of freedom and brotherhood that has taken root in his own soul. But, being in a Chekhov story, he travels one step forward and two steps back in pursuit of this merging of perspectives. The tramp succeeds at first in getting the soldiers’ imaginations to join his in â€Å"painting for them pictures of a free life which they have never lived† (48). But then, because â€Å"perhaps he is jealous of the vagrant’s visionary happiness† one of the â€Å"evil-boding fellow travelers† starts to argue against the realism of the tramp’s utopian escape (48). The shared vision fails because the soldiers cannot â€Å"force their minds to grasp what perhaps God alone can conceive of: the terrible expanse that lies between them and that land of freedom† (48). Here, Chekhov suggests another possibility for why these dreams of human transcendence are impossible to uphold – besides the madness, disillusionment, or indifference of the dreamer. It may simply be out of the scope of human cognition to share an understanding of the struggle needed to reach a perfect world. Gusev contains no explicit reference to a vision of mankind’s ultimate goal, but it does share with the other texts a humanist message that is denied by miscommunication. Pavel Ivanych, a righteous dying man, attempts to impress upon the titular soldier that his conscription is inhumane, for â€Å"it is not plans that matter but human life. You have only one life to live and it musn’t be wronged† (256). Gusev fails to grasp the metaphysical implications of the injustice pointed out by Pavel Ivanych and seeks only to argue that the specific duties of his conscription are not too harsh. This intellectual disconnect between the two men is established earlier in the story, when in response to Pavel Ivanych’s diatribes against those he sees responsible for human suffering, it can only be said that â€Å"Gusev does not understand Pavel Ivanych; thinking that he is being reprimanded, he [responds] in self-justification† (255). Pavel Ivanych, like the tramp before him, and Kovrin and the dramatic figures after him, is a true Chekhovian humanist. All his attempts to share his belief in the proper way of living are frustrated by the uniqueness of his way of thinking. Chekhov the fox shows yet another way for a humanist vision to be denied: it is the surrounding environment of petty minds and morals that makes Pavel Ivanych’s quest for common humanity a self-defeating one.

John Locke's Notion of Money Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

John Locke's Notion of Money - Essay Example He bases this idea on the definition of labor. According to Locke, â€Å"The labor of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his† (V.27). This means that if one labors for something, that something naturally becomes his property. Therefore, labor determines property. This property then is assumed to be useful and â€Å"the intrinsic value of things†¦depends only on their usefulness to the life of man† (V.37). Therefore, property has value, and this value can only be represented by money. Therefore, if one has money, even if the property is gone, its value stays with its rightful owner. Furthermore, this means that since money does not decay, then it does not lose its value. In fact, money does not only have value but it also serves as a pledge or an agreement among people that they will honor its value through â€Å"mutual consent† (V.47). Lastly, according to Locke, money is a means to â€Å"enlarge† man’s possessions or property (V.48). Since money became a means to exchange useful goods and since different industries developed to give man different amounts of possessions, money became a means to own larger and larger property. ... If we rely on barter, we cannot exactly know how much of one thing can be justly or rightfully exchanged with another. Therefore, for Aristotle, â€Å"all good must†¦be measured by some one thing† and that only money can serve as a standard or it can provide the means to an equal exchange of goods (V.3). The idea of equal exchange is based on Aristotle’s idea of justice, which is the topic of the whole Chapter 5 of the Nicomachean Ethics. For Aristotle, the reason why money should be used as a basis of equality is that it is fixed and more stable than other criteria. For example, nobody can exactly say who is virtuous and whether virtuous people must receive more that those who are not. Money, however, is fixed and will give its owner the same value whether he is â€Å"more virtuous† than another person. Aristotle also states that money is â€Å"not always worth the same; yet it tends to be steadier† (V.3). This means that the value of money may chang e but it is still a better mode of exchange because it is not perishable. Moreover, money is â€Å"our surety,† which means that money is a guarantee or a pledge that its value will be honored by all men as it is â€Å"fixed by agreement† (V.3). This also means that even if now we do not need to use a product that money can buy, the fact that we have money means that we can still use this product in the future when we need it. Aristotle and John Locke on Money Aristotle and John Locke both have similar and different opinions on money. Nevertheless, Aristotle’s views seem more viable. Both philosophers believe that money is more or less a practical mode of exchange. According to John Locke, money does not decay like perishable goods such as corn and

Evidence Based Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Evidence Based - Assignment Example Critical appraisal is currently a key component included in the training and continuing professional development of all health professionals like nurses in various settings (Burls, 2009). Critical appraisal allows a nurse to judge the validity, reliability and applicability of results of any clinical research while applying it to practice (Burls, 2009). This is because, the process includes intrinsic factors of research like study design, methods, results, etc,to analyze the value of the study. Critical appraisal is a very essential component of evidence based practice which is gaining momentum. The process of critical appraisal involves identifying the appropriateness of the study for the purpose of evidence based practice, ascertaining whether the studies have been conducted in a way which makes the results sensible, making sense of the results by analyzing the methodology of analysis and also understanding the meaning of the results in the context of decision making (Burls, 2009). One of the main challenges to implementation of critical appraisal for evidence based practice is lack of evidence seeking behaviour amongst many clinicians, poor attitude towards evidence based practice, need for appropriate technical knowledge of research design and statistics which are difficult to acquire and lack of time (Brice and Booth, 2005). Brice, A., and Booth, A. (2005). Fusion or confusion?: challenges in applying critical appraisal methods to the health library literature. EAHIL Workshop: Implementation of quality systems and certification of biomedical libraries, Palermo, June 23-25, 2005. Retrieved on 2nd Feb, 2010 from http://www.eahil.net/conferences/palermo_2005/eahil_oral_docs/pdfcd/Brice-doc.pdf Burls, A. (2009). What is Critical Appraisal? Evidence Based Medicane Second Edition. Retrieved on 2nd Feb, 2010 from

Biodiversity Lab Essay Example for Free

Biodiversity Lab Essay 1. Explain how the ecosystem was affected by the missing species for each round of the demonstration. a. Round 1 = white bead representing lichens. Our laboratory reading for the experiment stated that lichens are instrumental in the development and needs for all species. The text stated, â€Å"Lichens play a part in the creation of soils from which plants can obtain nutrients. Like all living organisms, lichens need nutrients and energy to grow. Nutrients may be obtained from the air including dust, water, and from the substrate organisms grows on obtaining energy through photosynthesis, which is the role of the algal partner. They may also be incidentally fertilized hybrid and insect dung† (Bottcher Rex, 2012, p. 43). With the information obtained from the reading, without lichens, bees, trees, flowers, and humans will all have negative repercussions. b. Round 2 = Yellow bead, representing bees. No bees and lichens the trees will not be pollenated, which will result in a loss of a food source  for humans since bees pollenate trees and flowers for food. Without bees to pollenating, the ecosystems takes another dramatic step towards extinction. One study stated, â€Å"Deduction from floral structure indicates that the flowers of many crops and wild plants are adapted for bee pollination. Further experimental studies of pollination are much needed, to see whether inadequate pollination limits seed set, and which insect species are potential or actual pollinators. The adequacy of pollination of a given plant species will vary regionally with climate, habitat and the nature and density of the local pollinator community† (Corbet, Williams, Osborne, 1991, para. 3). Minus the bees, the results for all other species will be negatively impacted. c. Round 3 = Orange bead, representing trees. The trees are dependent on lichens and with lichens removed. The trees will not have enriched soil to keep living. This is the reason for loss of oxygen for all species who require it and without bees, the fruit that some trees produce will cease to exist, causing food shortages and lack of shade and protection for flowers and humans (Bottcher Rex, 2012). d. Round 4 = Red bead, representing flowers. Lichens removed the soil could not adequately support nutrients required to keep alive. The flowers needs protection and shade from trees to sustain life and the trees were removed due to soil composition and loss of lichens from ecosystem. 2. Provide one action we as humans engage in that leads to the extinction of each of these components. Action affecting Lichens = The use of pesticides, chemicals, other pollutants, and people cause damage to this component that can lead to the irreversible impact on the lichens. Action affecting Trees = The destruction of soil and pollution, a major area where humans are impacting trees is through the removal of forests for trees to support human projects and constructions. â€Å"Ninety-three percent of the forestland in the United States is Privately owned† (Hazel baker, 2008, para. 1). Action affecting Flowers = Even though our chemicals are killing these flowers and making the soil contaminated and resistant to flower species. The use of pesticides and other chemicals, flowers are not engineered like crop seed to survive these chemicals. Action affecting Bees = Due to several human factors, bees are being threatened and destruction of their habitat is the number one reason. For a habitat to remain successful and sustain populations it must provide nesting sites and a seasonal succession of forage, and humans are depleting these areas through population growth and industrialization (Corbet, Williams, Osborne, 1991). 3. Provide three specific actions that humans can take to minimize our impact on the ecosystem and ensure the survival of lichens, trees, flowers, and bees. Action 1 = Bees are a critical part of the ecosystem. Humans need to ensure habitat sustainment to sustain bee populations do not deteriorate to levels that cannot be corrected. â€Å"Bees need food (nectar, pollen) provided by insect-pollinated plants in order to reproduce and produce more bees† (Corbet, Williams, Osborne, 1991, p 2). By creating hives and environments that are conducive to bee sustainment, it is possible that strides can be to reverse the downward trend in populations. This is critical as one study showed. It stated that the loss of bees was a domino effect to other species. It stated, â€Å"If bee pollinated flowers  do not seed, the integrity of Europe’s remaining semi natural vegetation will be destroyed and the colorful flowers of the countryside will be lost. This in turn will deprive many other herbivorous or seed-eating insects, birds and small mammals of their host plants and/or food,  with consequent further loss of species diversity†(Corbet, Williams, Osborne,1991, p 2). Through the saving of the bees, the increase of pollinated of other species helps ensure survival of flowers Action 2 = Humans can stop polluting the soil and surface of lands through illegal dumping, spills, etc. that contaminate and kill lichens that are critical in soil creation and providing nutrients to other plants and trees. With the help of government agencies and through stricter enforcement, creation of neutral pesticides and chemicals, and other products to eliminate harm to the environment and providing a healthier ecosystem for all life to thrive. Action 3 = The best way to save our tree populations is to protect the public lands from forest harvesting and ensure there environmental regulations for commercial logging businesses. â€Å"93% of the forestland in the United States is privately owned† (Hazelbaker, 2008, para. 1). That means that there are plenty of lands available for harvesting and ensuring forests do not die off and leave the negative impacts and loss of a precious resource. Due to the benefits that can be found in the national and state forests, such as clean air, fresh water, etc. I feel it is a good practice to prevent commercial access on these lands. These lands serve as a refuge to wildlife and often provide unique opportunities to the citizens who rarely get an opportunity to experience nature and these environments. POST LAB QUESTIONS 1. Develop a hypothesis on which pot you believe will contain the highest biodiversity. Hypothesis = One pot has direct exposure to sunlight it will have the highest level of biodiversity 2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept the hypothesis that you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this. Accept/Reject = Reject. Table 2 of this experiment, the pot that was placed from all windows had a greater diversity of growth from the random seeds planted in it, versus the one with direct sunlight. The pot that had direct sunlight yielded smaller totals in each of the five plants planted in each pot as well as a smaller overall plant yield. While some individual plants had close results, there was a total difference of the total plants of 48. 3. If each pot was a sample you found in a group of wildflowers, would you determine based on the diversity of flowers that the ecosystem is healthy? Why or why not. Answer = I would say that each sample would yield results of a healthy ecosystem based on the diversity in each sample. Each plant has samples of  all five seeded plants planted and yielded results in two weeks. While both specimens yielded results, I would say the ecosystem sample that was not in direct sunlight did show signs of a healthier ecosystem and believe that the temperature and light changes the other sample was exposed to could have played a part in the results. Example, living in Arizona my residence has low humidity and low temperatures at night and moderate temperatures in the mid-morning through sundown that affected the sample with sunlight exposure. The other sample, the one away from the windows, sat in the middle of my apartment on a shelf in the laundry room, with no direct exposure to sunlight, but not completely in the dark, had more stable temperatures and had constant ambient light exposure through the day and did not suffer cold drafts from the windows that could have made the other specimens plants yield lower results. 4. How does biodiversity contribute to the overall health of an ecosystem? Provide specific examples and utilize at least one scholarly resource to back your answer. Answer = Biodiversity contributes to all levels of an ecosystem. â€Å"Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, includes the genetic variation between all organisms, species, and populations, and all of their complex communities and ecosystems. It also reflects to the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems and their interactions with the environment† (Bottcher Rex, 2012, p. 39). The experiment with the two pots is similar to that of a forest ecosystem. â€Å"A functioning forest ecosystem, for example, exhibits rates of plant production, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling that are characteristic of most forests† (Chapin, Costanza, Ehrlich, Golley, Hooper, Lawton, Tilman, 1999, para. 9). The five seeds that grew in each pot were sharing nutrients from the soil and the evidence showed that certain species thrived in numbers over the others that grew. As one research analysis on biodiversity, there are always species interactions that have impact on the other species. The study stated, â€Å"Ecosystem functioning results from interactions among and within different levels of the biota, which ecologists describe as a nested hierarchy. Example, green  plant production on land is the end product of interactions of individual plants nested within populations; interactions among populations nested within a single species; interactions among a variety of species nested within a group of functionally similar species; and so on up to the level of interactions between different types of ecosystems nested within landscapes† (Chapin, Costanza, Ehrlich, Golley, Hooper, Lawton, Tilman, 1999, para. 11). While some ecosystems continue to exist, some thrive, the harm being done to, and overall health of the ecosystem is dependent on the actions we as humans take. Our society has destroyed ecosystems, species, etc. and pollution, air quality, and other factors have seen many ecosystems destroyed and become extinct. â€Å"From current research, we have identified the following impacts on ecosystem functioning that often result from loss of biodiversity: -Plant production may decline as regional and local diversity declines; -Ecosystem resistance to environmental perturbations, such as drought, may be lessened as biodiversity is reduced. -Ecosystem processes such as soil nitrogen levels, water use, plant productivity, and pest and disease cycles may become more variable as diversity declines† (Chapin, Costanza, Ehrlich, Golley, Hooper, Lawton, Tilman, 1999, para. 11). In the end, if action is not taken soon, the devastation created through our industrialization, over population in countries across the world, etc. can lead to consequences that can see more devastation and harm that may not be able to be undone if our society fails to take the necessary action to sustain life of all ecosystems. References Hilmo, O., Sà ¥stad, S. M. (2001). Colonization of old-forest lichens in a young and an old boreal i Picea abies forest: an experimental approach. Biological Conservation, 102 (3), 251-259. Chapin III, F. S., Costanza, R., Ehrlich, P. R., Golley, F. B., Hooper, D. U., Lawton, J. H., Tilman, D. (1999). Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: maintaining natural life support processes. Washington, DC: Ecological Society of America. Hazelbaker, J. (2008). Logging on national forests national forest management zero cut – no. Retrieved from: http://www.worldissues360.com/index.php/logging-on-national-forests-national-forest-management-zero-cut-no-26744/. Corbet, S. A., Williams, I. H., Osborne, J. L. (1991). Bees and the pollination of crops and wild flowers in the European Community. Bee World 7 (2), 47-59.

The Challenge of Diversity Essay -- Society Diversity

When America was founded, it was established on freedom and equality for all people. At first it was just religious freedom, but eventually freedom of speech, press, petition, and more. In time, America began to be known as a â€Å"melting pot† of cultures as more and more people came because they wanted this freedom; the more people who came though, the more problems America had. There were too many cultural discrepancies between people, and ultimately America, the country based on freedom and equality, faced challenges concerning diversity. So, why do we need diversity? As America grows, the differences in cultures among individuals become colossal. People are becoming closed-minded about others who are disparate from themselves, which creates tautness and naivetà © about other cultures. â€Å"For all societies at all times have their particular blind spots, groups within their culture and also groups abroad that are especially likely to be dealt with ignorance and obtusely† (Nussbaum). Since we live in a nation that is always growing and will always have diversity, we need to become more conscious of others. If we solely live life only coming in contact with those who are similar to us, no one will benefit. But â€Å"if we have more contact with people of other ethnic and racial backgrounds (or at least more contact in the right circumstances), we will begin to trust one another more† (Putnam 141). We need to become more socially engaged with those who are dissimilar from us so that we can becom e cognizant of other cultures around us. Becoming acquainted with other cultures is more than just coming into contact with others though. We need to assent them and recognize where they are coming from so that we can strengthen our com... ...violent Resistance." King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: New York Harper, 1958. 240. Loewen, James. "Down the Memory Holw." Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: Touchstone, 1995. 384. Nussbaum, Martha. "Cultivating Imaginations: Literature and the Arts." Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1990. Putnam, Robert. "E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty First Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture." Scandinavian Political Studies 30.2 (2007): 137-174. St. John, Warren. Outcasts United. New York: Random House, Inc. , 2009. The Lost Boys of Sudan. Dirs. Jon Shenk and Megan Mylan. 2003.