Mexican American War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mexican American War - Essay Example D. Eisenhower, Frederick Merk, and David M. Pletcher in three important works on the Mexican American war. These works are, respectively: So Far From God: The U.S. War With Mexico, Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History, and The Diplomacy of Annexation. The paper begins by discussing each author's thesis, arguments and evidence provided to support the thesis one at a time. It then discusses the works in a comparative fashion. While this author agrees most strongly with Merk's argument that U.S. expansionism-Manifest Destiny was not some unique strategy that was only pursued by Americans, there are merits to the arguments presented in the two other works. The paper ends with a conclusion summarizing the major points covered. John S. D. Eisenhower's book, So Far From God: The U.S. War With Mexico is a narrative history of the Mexican American war. Eisenhower has a distinctly "top down" militaristic, traditional historgraphy approach. It is one that emphasizes the VIPs of the war such as presidents and generals - essentially a "great men" view of history. The book is peppered with military details such as battle actions and tactics. One of Eisenhower's contentions is that the great military man, Santa Anna y Perez de Lebron (Santa Anna), who fought for Mexican independence from Spain was just an indiscreet popular figure. Eisenhower argues that these indiscretions in his pleasures and private life of Santa Anna's effectively barred him from belonging to the elite of Mexican society.2 However, Eisenhower doesn't discuss the possibility of a person being able to be both a populist and a member of this elite at the same time. Eisenhower used primarily books as his sources, though some of the books contain collections of primary resources such as letters and official government documents of the day.3 He also used newspapers and periodicals, though again, the majority of these are not primary or contemporary sources4. This is perhaps a reflection of his preference for traditional, "great men" history, in respecting the opinions of other already published historic works. First hand anecdotes are frequently used when Eisenhower discusses the details of events from the battlefields. There are maps included both assist the reader in following and understanding the text, as well as serve to emphasize the author's "headquarter's history" approach.5 The full title of the book So Far From God: The U.S. War With Mexico 1846-1848 suggests that the book is from the U.S. Side of the war. Substantial sections are written based on earlier writing by North American historians. The breath of research is limited to English sources and, with the exception of three sources, all of non-Mexican origin.6 One of the 'non-Mexican sources is of Fanny Caldern de la Barca's memoirs and de la Barca was born in Scotland7. Eisenhower attempts to be unbiased towards Mexico and Mexicans. This is especially evident in his references to Mexican soldiers who, he concludes, had to fight an unbalanced war just to maintain their national pride. Eisenhower frequently draws attention to their courage as well, especially in reference to the poor, rough leadership they were under. It is rare that a work is completely unbiased, however, and that is the case for So Far From God. Eisenhower's biasis is revealed through the language he uses to refer

Case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case analysis - Essay Example So mergers take place when two or more existing companies decide to wipe out their business identities and activities and assumes a new identity jointly as a single entity. The topic of current discussion is the merger of two companies, that is England’s Royal Biscuit Company and Germany’s Edeling. According to Sir John Callaghan, Chairman of the London based, Royal Biscuit Company, there is no evidence available to suggest that both these executives, Mr. Michael Brighton, Head of HR of Royal Biscuits Ltd., and Mr. Dieter Wallach, his counterpart of Edeling worked together on this leadership development plan. The new company ‘Royal Edeling’ which would amicably blend both those existing companies, that is the merger of equals. By taking the two sides-one which is an entrepreneurial Powerhouse that had veritably single- handedly transformed British Snack food industry, and the other, a 120- year old, Munich based family, with a German brand. In this particular Case Study, it is the Royal Biscuits’ proposed merger with German Biscuit-maker major. The major problem for mergers are of integration planning, which was dreadfully behind schedule and merger of the leadership between the two Companies. Seven out of the 10 seats in the new Company’s Management Board of Directors would be held by Royal Biscuits. Regarding the composition of the executives, less than half of the positions on the Supervisory Board would go to Edelings stockholder. However, it was felt that in a merger of equals, leadership assignments should be shared equally. Should the merger take place, according to laws in Germany, the new company would be managed by a Management Board, that would look after operations and also by a Supervisory Board that would supervise the management and would represent all stakeholders Then, the national differences between both British and German

Leadership - Bill Russell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership - Bill Russell - Essay Example However, the mentioned accolades do not exonerate the fact that just likes any other leader and human, he had his failures too. The only difference is that he did not turn his neck off his goals. In this regard, several leadership attributes can be identified from the splendid career of Russell as derived from his book the second wind. From his strengths and weaknesses, four outstanding leadership attributes can be emulated from Brussels lessons and experiences (Russell 67). These include team work and collaboration, managing change, communication, readiness to learn or agility and growth mindset and finally judgment. In addition, personal integrity, commitment and success are also captured in Brussels splendid career span. Russell’s accomplishments and failures are captured in his rules of success. His first rule is on life mission and daily learning experiences. For example he says that â€Å"we work to become, not acquire†Leardership entails learning and he recommend s that the more a person learns the more, the more he realizes that he still has a lot to learn. This rule is evident in his basketball career after he made several attempts to be included in the junior team with no success. He gives the example that he improved on his skills by regularly watching the past matches that he played. Watching the films made him identify his weakness and improve on them on subsequent matches. Some of his failures he attributed to lack of practice which sometimes fails miserably in some matches. The concept of team work is also one of his major accomplishments (Falkner and Russell 51-55). In a broader sense, he says that whenever he played well, it helped his team mates to even get better results. His key interest was not on personal achievements but using individual skills to uplift team performance. The driving factor behind his commitment he says was not to emerge the best in the entire country but to become astute to their best. Symbolically and to dr ive his message home, he explains that the basketball was his laboratory, workroom and classroom. Among the activities he cites and which formed the major aspects of his accomplishments included shooting at a rebound angle. Russell (78) notes that learning on the probability of player behavior in certain situations on how they are likely to respond are some of the things they greatly learnt. Commenting on his various awards, he says that quality and craftsmanship never happen by accident. He attributes his success in his entire basketball stint to principled intentions, intelligent directions, skillfull execution and sincere effort. He summarizes that craftsmanship in itself represents the best choice out of several alternatives. On the other hand, he cites his failures to several misjudgments and assumptions that he made during his career as a player and a coach. For example he registered several failures during his academic stint which he attributes to lack of commitment. Most of leadership strengths and weaknesses of Russell are intertwined and inclined to his accomplishment and failures. For example one his lessons outlines that craftsmanship is contagious and those players of any great team should always learn from one another. This was contrary to his personality which seemed to be so much introverted. He rarely took time to talk to his teammates and was always withdrawn (Russell 91). Despite being a great asset to

HR Competencies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HR Competencies - Assignment Example Secondly, the competence of data interpretation skills helps to take the assessment process to a step further as it ensures that the HR professional makes decisions based on the assessment outcomes (Becker, Huselid & Ulrich, 2001). Based on the discussion above, there are several values that the competencies can be said to bring to the organization. Most importantly, the competences help in making the idea of strategic partnership feasible. Meanwhile, when the HR professional becomes a strategic partner, it can be expected that the organization’s strategy will be applied in a more efficient manner to make the achievement of the HR goals easier. Again, as part of the strategic partnership that will be created, the concepts of shared responsibility and cross-functional teams are expected to be formed. Meanwhile when these concepts are made practical in the organization, they ensure that all parties and entities within different departments of the organization are aided in the performance of their roles so that there can be a form of effectiveness that betters the value created within the organization. For future purposes, it is expected that the competence of intrinsic motivation will be developed. This c ompetence will help employees fuel their personal commitment towards organization growth in general and strategic partnership in

History of Special Education Essay Example for Free

History of Special Education Essay Special education has changed in many different ways throughout the last century. The views of they way students with differences should be taught and treated have changed as people have become more open minded. The education laws have also seen a turn about. One major area of education was in a desperate need of changed opinions and beliefs. Education for children with learning problems has emerged from no education to special funding and programs especially for those individuals with learning problems. The first phase of special education is the largest span of time. The Foundation Phase was from 1800 to  1930, children who had any sign of learning problems were labeled as dumb, retarded, and even brain injured. The reason students would have been labeled as brain injured is because of studies done on war victims and soldiers of war. Many soldiers had head injuries and the way they acted related very similarly to the way brain injured students acted. At this time period researchers and doctors located the area of the brain related to language, or the language function of the brain. The Transition Phase began in 1930 and lasted until 1960. This phase had some turning points in the way brain injured children were taught. Researchers developed instruments for assessment, analyzed specific Atwell 2 types of learning problems and also presented a plan for teaching brain injured children. At this stage the labeling of the children with learning problems was not as harsh as brain injured. The students were called children with minimal brain dysfunction. The turning phase for the education of students with learning problems was the Integration Phase, 1960 to 1980. There was a man by the name of Samuel Kirk, who came up with the name learning disabled. After this term took the place of brain injured and minimal  brain dysfunction, it seemed like there was hope for children with learning problems. Schools started establishing programs for the learning disabled. Funding was provided for teachers to be trained in learning disabilities. The most important part of the Integration Phase is the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) in 1975. This act was to ensure that all students no matter what type of problem would receive a free and appropriate public education. The last phase is the Current Phase, from 1980 to the present. One of the major aspects of this phase is inclusion. Inclusion is educating students with disabilities in regular classrooms in their neighborhood schools, with collaborative support services as needed. Another aspect of the Current Phase is when the EMA of 1975 was rewritten as IDEA in 1990. IDEA, Individuals Atwell 3 with Disabilities Education Act, made it hard to suspend or expel students with learning disabilities because of their behavior. IDEA also required that each learning disabled child have an IEP, Individualized Education Program. An IEP is a document that must include current performance of the student, the annual goals the studen  needs to achieve, special education and related services the child needs, participation, if any, with nondisabled children, modifications needed to take state tests, dates and places of when and where special services will be provided and the measuring progress of the child. Before a student can have an IEP, they first must be labeled as a student with a learning disability. There are stages to figure out whether or not a child has a learning disability. The first stage is noticing if a student is having difficulty in one or more subject areas. The next step is to evaluate the childs  suspected disability area, but before this can take place, the school must receive permission from the parents to evaluate their child. Then the eligibility is decided by a group of qualified professionals along with the parents to determine if the child has a disability defined by IDEA. If found eligible, the IEP team must meet and write an IEP for the child within 30 days of the student being identified as disabled. The IEP team meeting is held and the IEP is written. Atwell 4 Services are then provided for the student. At the end of the year, progress is measured and IEP is reviewed. After this process takes place, every three years after that, the student is reevaluated. By law certain individuals must be involved in the writing of a childs Individualized Education Program. Parents must be involved because they know their child and what their child may need. Regular education teachers, if the student will be placed in regular classrooms some time during the day, are a need on the team, because they know the general curriculum. They also have knowledge of how to handle behavior problems. The next member of an IEP team should be a special education teacher. This  person will be able to contribute their knowledge in how to modify general curriculum and testing to help the special needs child learn and show what they have learned. The special education teacher also has the responsibility to teach the student and carry out the IEP. The individuals involved in the IEP team are individuals who can interpret evaluation results, represent the school system, individuals with knowledge or special expertise about the child, representatives from transition service agencies and the student who the IEP is being written for. Atwell 5 Education has gone through many stages of the way a  child should be taught. The law has made a path for those with learning problems and now there is no stopping them. Children with learning disabilities finally have a chance to excel in school and gives them the opportunity to have a normal life. Atwell 6 Works Cited A Guide to the Individualized Education Program. U. S. Department of Education. 20 Feb. 2001. . Lerner, Janet W. Learning Disabilities: Theories, Diagnosis, andTeaching Strategies. 8th ed. Boston: Ally Bacon Publishers, 2000. Levine, Daniel U. , Allan C. Ornstein. Foundations of Education. 6th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.

Overview Of The Hotel Industry Tourism Essay

Overview Of The Hotel Industry Tourism Essay The hotel industry is any types or forms of business relating to the provision of accommodation in lodging, food and drinks and various types of other services that are interconnected and which are intended for public service, both of which use the lodging facilities or who simply use the services or the production of certain of the hotel. Hotels offer enormous range of guests services such as banqueting, conference and fitness, sport and facilities, beauty spas, bars, sophisticated restaurant, casinos, night clubs and casinos. The Hotel sector consists of more than 15% of all the people who worked in the hospitality sector. Hotels falls into a number of different categories which includes the glamorous five-star resort international luxury chains, trendy boutiques, country house, conference, leisure or guest houses. Many are owner run which offer personalised service to guests. This very dynamic sector offers good quality accommodation, great variety of food and beverage, together with other services for all types of customers. With offering every kind of accommodation catering for every type of taste, the hotel sector is undeniably constantly growing and evolving, while refining its offering, improving its experience and creating new products to serve and satisfy customer on a local and global level. The hotel sector is always striving to offer excellent customer service throughout its operations. History of the Hotel Industry The history of the hospitality industry dates all the way back to the Colonial Period in the late 1700s. The hotel industry has been the subject of important development and growth over the years as it has faced World Wars, The Depression and various social changes. However, the hotel industry as seen today takes form in the early 1950s and 60s, leading the way for growth in to the dynamic industry. This had led to more and more people traveling not only for business but also for leisure reasons, leading to the development which can be seen nowadays. The idea of renting an accommodation to visitors appeared since ancient times, and the modern concept of a hotel as we know derives from 1794, when the  City Hotel opened in New York City; the City Hotel was claimed to be the first building designed exclusively to  hotel operations. The City hotel back then possessed 73 rooms and offered different types of service. Similar operations soon appeared in such nearby cities as Baltimore, Boston in 1809 and Philadelphia.   The  industrial revolution, which started in the 1760s, facilitated the construction of hotels everywhere, in mainland Europe, in England and in America. The advent of new ways of transportations, hotels and resorts outside of major cities were built in the countryside and began promoting their scenery and other attractions. The concept of the vacation was developed and available to more and more of the population. In the 1920s, hotel building entered a boom phase and many famous hotels were opened, From there a surge of hotels flooded American and the rest of the world with prominent names such as Radisson, Marriot, Hilton and more others. Organisations representing hotels worldwide The growth and expansion of the Tourism industry all over the world have been beyond expectation, whereby this have generated billions for recipient countries, hence making the tourism industry one of the most successful sector in international trade in services, while being for some economies their major exports. However, the hotel industry is a very dynamic sector which often faced economically difficult times reason why there has been the creation of several world organisations to monitor progress, promote and developed sustainable tourism in the hotel industry. The following are some of the world leading organisations representing the tourism and travel, and hotel industry throughout the world: i) World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) The (UNWTO) is one of the United Nations agencies, which is accountable for the advancement of responsible and sustainable tourism. Being the Word leading organization in the tourism sector, UNWTO promotes tourism as a mean for economic growth, development and environmental sustainability and offers the monitoring and assistance to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. The UNWTO also encourages the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, to maximize tourisms socio-economic contribution, and is committed to promoting tourism as a tool in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aims is towards poverty alleviation and encouraging sustainable development. Moreover, the UNWTO plays also major roles in creating market knowledge, promotes competitive and sustainable tourism policies and instruments, fosters tourism education and training ii) International Hotel Restaurant Association (IHRA) The  IHRA is an international trade association representing the interests of the  hotel  and  restaurant industries. IHRA members are national hotel and restaurant associations throughout the world, and international and national hotel and restaurant chains representing some 50 brands. Officially recognized by the  United Nations, IHRA monitors international agencies on behalf of the industry, estimated to comprise 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants, employs 60 million people and contributes 950 billion USD annually to the global economy. iii) HSMAI Hospitality Sales Marketing Association International The Hospitality Sales Marketing Association International is the largest international association of travel sales and marketing professionals. The association have over 4,000 members from different travel and tourism organisations including hotels, resorts, airlines, cruise lines, car rental agencies, and others in 31 countries worldwide, with the purpose of improving sales and marketing, education and management skills in the hospitality organisations worldwide. iv) The  World Travel Tourism Council  (WTTC) The World Travel Tourism Council is the global authority on the economic and social contribution of Travel Tourism. It promotes sustainable growth for the industry, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity. It is the only body representing the private sector in all parts of the Travel Tourism industry worldwide. The WTTC activities attempt to settle the Travel Tourism industrys private and public sector affairs in order to bring forward sustainable change. Growth of Hotel Industry Worldwide . The rise in levels of  income  and standard of living  but also coupled with an increase in  leisure time has been especially beneficial to the tourism industry. The advent of  technological progress particularly through higher capacity cruise ships and aircrafts,  computerized reservation systems, better road transport facilities have played key roles in the global growth of hotel industry. Moreover, enhanced productivity have been favourable to the industry by helping to cut costs and making travel and tourism products more affordable without ignoring the fact that travel and tourism is now more  safe and secure  despite the terrorist attack which threatens the industry. As competition in the industry increases worldwide, the customers have reap great benefits in terms of   lower prices  coupled from a wider choice  as the organizations have to  differentiate their products  from the crowd to appeal to specific market segments but also strive to enhance the quality of their services.   More and more innovative approaches to marketing and promotion and creation  of new products are pulling the demand to the destinations. The  governments as a facilitator, fund provider and legislator  have also had played its part on the development of the industry.   New consumer needs and attitudes  have also fuelled the growth of specific segments for instance ecotourism is booming. One other factor but not the least is the increased  level of economic activity  which has led to an increase in business travel and also the growing trend of international mobility. Despite global economic challenges, hotel developments continue to progress, with new rooms injected into global supply by both independent hotels and group. Statistics According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide was at only 25 million in 1950 is now set to reach 1 billion in 2012 and 1.8 billion by 2020 In an update of forecasts made at the beginning of the year, the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts growth for the Travel Tourism globally of 2.7%, only slightly downgraded from the 2.8% that was expected for the industry at the beginning of the year. The main reasons for the adverse trends are that WTTC expects world GDP growth to be 2.3% in 2012; down 0.2% from the beginning of the year. The trend for Travel Tourism figures has been positive for the beginning of 2012 and has surpassed expectations from the start of the year. International tourist arrivals have grown 4.9% in the year from January to June, airline passenger traffic is up 6.8%, and hotel occupancy rates are up in many markets. In 2011 Travel Tourism accounted for 255 million jobs globally generating 9 per cent of world GDP while generating billions for host economies; explaining why the sector is a key driver for investment and economic growth. According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), in 2008 an estimated 924 million international tourist arrivals, an increase of 1.76% compared to 2007. According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), in 2008 international tourist arrivals amounted to 917 million visitors, representing an increase of 1.76% compared to 2007. In 2009, international tourist arrivals fell to 882 million, representing a worldwide decline of 4.4% over 2008. The worldwide destinations recorded a total of 600 million arrivals, International tourist arrivals in the whole world fell by 7% between January and August 2009, but the rate of decline has eased in recent months. These results and recent economic data, confirms UNWTOs initial forecast a 5% decrease in international tourist arrivals during the year 2009. Specifically, the global tourism in 2011 grew by 4.4 per cent, reaching $980 million international tourist arrivals. And the forecast for 2012 has just started, UNWTO expects grow that a somewhat lower rate, but allows to reach 1,000 million international tourists.

Maurice Agulhons The Republican Experiment :: essays research papers

Maurice Agulhon. The Republican Experiment, 1848-1852. London and New York: Cambridge University Press. 1983.Pp195.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This books main objective was to describe how France was in the process of becoming a democratic Republic. The book gave a full evolution and fulfillment that France made by the first four years of its first trial run at becoming a democratic Republic. The book gave in detail from start to finish how France finally prevailed during the 18707’s. The Republic was reborn when the Second Empire had made itself impossible: too aggressive for the alarmed Europe of the time and too authoritarian for an awakened society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Second Republic was not completely credited simply to the combination of government which held power during those four years. The powers were attributable to the Republic that tried to succeed from February to June 1848 and then survive from June 1848 to January 1849, and were above all due to the ideal Republic defined and desired between 1949 and 1851 by the only true republicans of all the time, those who were in opposition. The textbook as compared to the book chosen was alike in many aspects. Not only did the two books contain a lot of information but also the book compared very similarly with the classroom notes. Many of the ideas that were briefly discussed in class were given in much more detail in the book. The book information really did not differ in the views that were depicted in the textbook. Both sources were good detailed accounts of history during the republican era. The importance and purpose of this book was to give the audience or the reader complete and detailed accounts of the French Revolution. The author’s purpose was to tell from begging to end how the French went through many trials and failures before becoming a true form of democratic government. “However, the overall impact of these individual memories would not have been sufficiently strong had not literature evoked a collective memory. If the Republic was better know during the forties and able to win supporters from beyond the restricted circle of republican survivors and their immediate, this was the achievement of History.