Monday, September 30, 2019

Sensory Perceptions

They will also hear words, and sounds and will not understand or know what the sounds may be. But not until they are taught they will not know or understand how important these senses will be in life and how these senses will affect them and their learning experiences. Now as we grow into adults our senses will have become interwoven with the way we think and use our minds. When we read a book or even read a recipe to cook we are using eyes as tool. When we listen to music, hear the bird's chirp, our children laughing we are using another sense which Is our ears to sites to these wonderful sounds that we enjoy.Our ears also hear sounds that we do not want to hear as well. We have to think when we are using our hands to fix a car, play a guitar. We are even thinking and using some of our senses when we have decided to jump out of an airplane for no good reason at all. But no matter what we may be doing we use our senses for some reason or another. Now it is true that â€Å"there Is n othing in our mind unless it is first senses†. (Aquinas, 2007, peg. 53) Why Is this? In order for our senses to work properly our brain Is Involved with our senses ether the Information for our senses to work. Hen we read we are using our eyes to gather the information and it is being put into our minds for reference. We all count on all of our senses to be accurate, and there certain factors that do influence the accuracy of this information that is received by a person's senses and how it affects their perception of the world. On the other hand there are weaknesses to the amount of knowledge our senses can give. The best way to look at all this our brain Is almost Like a computer, It will only be effective If our brain Is able to process the information correctly and there are no conflicts.Accuracy is defined as the degree of agreement between the sensory information and the environment and the feedback required to determine the accuracy of the senses. What has been done and used as a sensory exercise is that several people are asked to do a blind fold test, they are then given objects and have to determine what they are by only touching and smelling. Each one Is from a different able to distinguish what the object is by feel. But you have a manager who is given the same object; he or she may not be able to distinguish what the object is.Why is this? It is because they do not work with bricks, this is not their trade. They have to think and guess and what the object maybe, if they have never worked with bricks they will not be able to distinguish the object, but on the other hand they will if they have had a background then they will be able to identify the object. Now our senses do have what you call check and balances in place. For example what you may be feeling when you touch the object it may be negated or influence if you smell the object.The sense of sight is very important, because we depend on this to confirm what e see is real or not real, to distinguished between colors, such as white vs.. Black. Take a person who has been blind all his or her life. They first have learned to use their other senses and they are more keen then others who can see. A blind person knows his or her limitation and is equipped to act more wisely in certain situations. But then you take the person who use to see, but became blind because of an accident, or disease, they keep pretending that they can see and can do things they use to, but because of the blindness they are not able to.But without being able to e we could get run over by a car, trip over hazard objects that could cause us to get hurt. Hearing is another sense that is very important for human survival such as hearing Look out! A rock is about to fall on your head! † to hearing music that we like, to hearing an emergency vehicle coming your way and you need to pull over, to hear the words I love you from your child, But as one knows a person hearing deteriorates through age, so one has to have the aid of a hearing aid to help with the hearing.Then you have the people who have gone deaf or were born deaf and they have to alkali with their hands by learning and using sign language to speak. Touch is very important because one must be able to feel pain, feel if they are being burn, to protect one from dangers. But touch is important to feel a hug, someone holding your hand, touch on your face, this is how once learns. This is also how a blind person describes a person as well. People use the sense of touch such has having diabetes. Identify and describe at least three (3) factors contributing to the accuracy of sensory data.Source of data and cognitive ability: â€Å"To obtain accurate sensory ATA, the source of data must be received through the senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch acutely sensitive to act like lenses, amplifiers, particle detectors and pressure and gauges to feed the brain to produce accurate sensory perception of the data obtained. † Reliability of facts observed: â€Å"The reception of solid sensory data through the accurate observations would provide facts and data that is vital for sensing -thinking connection or accurate sensory perception. The brain and interpretation of data received: â€Å"Cognitive Ability to analyze sensory data is based on lethal brain. The power of the senses is manifested when information is received in the brain. Inaccurate data sent to the brain will be interpreted falsely. On the other hand, an unhealthy brain will affect the accuracy of messages sent by the senses. Hence, accuracy of sensory data is based on data received and perceived through the senses and the cognitive interpretation of the information. (Papers/ Sensory-perceptions) Our senses have a lot due with our brain and our learning. That his or her senses are not perfect than they can try to take steps to improve on he accuracy and look at the changes that need to be made to adapt to the situation. Discuss t he roles of â€Å"nature† and â€Å"nurture† with regard to the interpretation and evaluation of sensory data. Nature and Nurture can be traced back to the 13th century known as a catch- phrase for the roles of heredity and environment in human development.For many centuries some scientist from then and even still today believes that when a person behaves or acts a certain way it is genetic which is known as â€Å"the nature theory of human behavior. But on the other hand you have some scientists who believe that cause the way one behaves or thinks that this is a taught and obtained overtime which is known as â€Å"This is known as the â€Å"nurture† theory of human behavior. Scientist are right, but scientist should be asking what information is one born with and if they have this information, is it through nurture or nature.Where the proof lies is where a child already has a lot of knowledge at a very early age before he or she starts school such as playing the piano and reading, and this many lend some credence to the idea that we are actually born with some information already, it Just as to be brought out and used, and it depends how the child learns. In conclusion no matter how one make look at sensory perception they have to know it can be very deceiving as well.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

45 and 47 Stella Street and Everything that Happened

The children's novel '45 and 47 Stella Street and everything that happened' (Honey, 1995) written by Elizabeth Honey is a novel aimed at pre-adolescent girls. However in saying that boys around the same age would also find this book enjoyable. The story Is told from the perspective of Hinni who Is an 11 year old girl. It Is about her and her ‘Gang, which includes her best friend Zev, Her sister Danielle and Frank, Zev's 6- year-old next-door neighbour who resides at 47 Stella Street.The book tells of their efforts to expose the â€Å"Phonies† and their secret life. It Is evident through analysis of he book that there are sly Implications toward enforcing the concepts of mascullnlty and femininity on young readers using the strategies of narrative theory. Narrative theory consists of three key strategies, the point of vlew/focallsatlon, reader positioning and closure. The point of view or focalisation Is always biased. When watching a film or reading a book you are always watching or reading it from someone or something's perspective.In Stella Street it is Henni who is telling us what is happening, you only see things from her perspective and therefore you tend to ide with her. Reader positioning is very important and very similar to that of point of view and focalisation. Readers or viewers are positioned so that they have a positive response toward some characters and a negative response toward others even though both parties may be both in the wrong on some occasions. The readers of 45 and 47 Stella Street are positioned so that they hope for the Stella Street's gang to succeed over the Phonies.Closure is how the story concludes, who ends up succeeding in the end and who doesn't. Once again in 45 and 47 Stella Street it is the Stella Street gang who triumph over the Phonies. It is evident that the men in 45 and 47 Stella Street hold masculine qualities whilst the women hold feminine traits. In terms of power it is the men that hold this control a s decision making is all about power and throughout the book it is apparent that the men make majority of the decisions.For example it is ZeVs father that makes the Initial decision to move to New Zealand. When Rob and Donna are having trouble with Briquette escaping from the yard it is Rob who decides that they will do nothing† and when the gang are coming up with ideas on how to tackle a problem it seems as though at the end of the deliberation all members of the gang seek Zev's agreement or approval. The male figures also seem to come up with the good Ideas or ask relevant questions more so that the female characters.Throughout the book there are a number of characters that come and go that hold a form of power. For Instance the lawyers, Robert Smeeton, Mr J. D Perry, the Ombudsman Robert Cooper and Detective Sergeant Dave Watson are all very powerful In the positions they hold within society. From this you can see that a female represents none of these highly powerful char acters. I ne 000K Is Tocallsea tnrougn Hennl, sne explalns to readers wnat t I Is sne Ilkes ana what she doesn't like.Everything that she sees happening she interprets and it is all told from her perspective. In one particular part of the novel Henni is explaining how Donna has put up with numerous changes with the building, design and cost of the new fence that is to be erected between 45 and 47 Stella Street. Henni makes the statement that, â€Å"Donna never lost her temper. That's probably how she got the Job he has. She never loses her temper. Rob would have told the Phonies to take a long walk off a short pier. Mum would have gone quiet.She Just buttons up. Dad would have lost his temper, for sure, and called them inconsiderate pea brains. But not Donna. She Just keeps on keeping on. † (Honey, E 1995, pp 38) The way in which the characters mentioned compose themselves is interesting. Traditional gender roles cast men as rational, strong, protective and decisive, whilst o n the other hand women are cast as emotional, irrational, weak, nurturing and submissive. Within the tatement that Henni makes it is evident that parts of the traditional gender roles exist.For example the way in which Henni's mum would have gone quiet illustrates a form of sumbissiveness. In Stella Street there is not a particularly strong sense of patriarchy. However there is some evidence of Patriarchy in some sections of the book for example when they are building the fence between 45 and 47 Stella Street Mr Nic and Zev carry the old posts to Henni's dad who is on the footpath cutting them up with a chainsaw. Danielle and Frank do the running around and fetching of stuff and there is no ention as to what the others are doing.The males are very affirmative and this is shown by Henni's dad and the way in which he says â€Å"right† she knows by the way in which he says it that something is going to happen there's no questioning or buts. The females show their more conservati ve side especially Donna with the way in which she potters around her gardens before she has to go to work. Elizabeth Honey has used strategies of narrative theory throughout her book 45 and 47 Stella Street. Many young readers would not be aware of the ideologies implied hrough this book.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Strategic Alliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Alliances - Essay Example Risk taking is ubiquitous feature among the organizational managers these days. Strategic alliance is a kind of concept in which risk is an integral factor while developing such decisions. Strategic Alliance is an â€Å"an agreement between firms to do business together in ways that go beyond normal company–to–company dealings , but fall short of a merger or a full partnership† (Khurana & Singhal 2010). Any business decision involves planning and there is always a threat of failure of the plan. The move taken even after knowing the risks and evaluating their effects can be termed as risk. Similarly, strategic alliance is a kind of business decision which would involve amalgamation with outside companies not on a full partnership basis but a little different from daily intercompany dealings (Das & Teng, 1999). There may be a number of situations at risk as a result of the strategic alliance between two companies. The performance of the partner company, cooperation among the companies and the opportunistic approach of the companies involved among others could be the probable circumstances rendering risk to the decision in practice (Alders, Van Liere, Berendsen, & Pieters 2010). However, largely the risk situations can be categorized into four categories namely; the contextual risk, the transactional risk, the relational risk, and the performance risk. The contextual risk involves the risk influenced by the market scenario like meeting of the demand in the market, the competition faced by the company and also the technological and the regulatory influences. Thus, this can be also referred to as the external risk (Alders, Van Liere, Berendsen, & Pieters 2010). The transactional risk involves the importance of cooperation between the partners involved in the alliance. A proper cooperation and sharing of mutual trust can pay off to minimize risk to a great extent. Therefore, this may be referred as internal risk (Alders, Van Liere, Berendsen, & Pieters

Friday, September 27, 2019

Assignment Listening SKILLS Video Project Essay

Assignment Listening SKILLS Video Project - Essay Example I ventured to analyze myself in the video critically through four key listening skills of Non-verbal Communication, Verbal Communication, Questioning for Understanding, and Paraphrasing. The very first quality of an effective listener is to create a comfortable environment for the speaker. In this context, I employed non-verbal elements such as body posture, body language, and facial expressions in many ways. In the journal ("Developing Effective Communication Skills", the author states how important it is for the speaker and listener to be in the same posture, that is, sitting or standing (2009). I use this strategy by ensuring both of us were sitting and facing each other and my eyes were at the same level with him. I also made sure there was the right amount of space between us with no tangible barriers like furniture, and my hands were not crossed or clasped behind my neck . All these conveyed to Jimmy a sense of comfort and ease rather than a feeling of hostility or guarded behavior from my side. However, it would have been more ideal to have a warmer environment. I constantly made eye contact and at 1:57, I leaned forward to represent understanding and interes t through my body posture. In order to avoid blank expressions, at points 00:58 and 1:09, I smiled at Jimmy or changed my facial or physical expressions as he did. This is as known as the mirroring technique where I match his physical gestures. Dr. Walker says â€Å"Mirroring someone’s expressions and gestures indicates that you are in step with them† (2009). Another effective skill I used is to nod and emit vocal sounds such as ‘mmm’ and ‘ahan’ during the first minute to demonstrate I was listening and to help him on overcome his hesitation. I took care to not move around too much so as not to distract Jimmy. I kept in mind to smile and laugh at the right time such as at 1:25

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Parent's Use of Physical Punishment Increases Violent Behavior Essay

Parent's Use of Physical Punishment Increases Violent Behavior - Essay Example Also, children may develop depression and asocial behavior as they grow old. While some psychologists argue that physical punishments may lead to disciplined children, there are various risks associated with it. By evaluating the risks of physical punishments, I wish to assess the various alternatives to physical punishments so as to bring out a positive upbringing in children. Physical punishment has been associated with adverse consequences in children including aggression, psychopathology, and criminal involvement (Boutwell, Franklin, Barnes & Beaver, 559). Research has proved the positive relationship between physical punishment and aggressive behavior among children (Kandel, n.pag.). Statistical studies have shown a positive correlation between the two variables with a stronger correlation among males. Among children older than five years of age, physical punishment is one of the critical variables that contribute to aggressive or violent behavior. According to Kandel, the terms ‘violence’ and ‘aggression’ are used interchangeably which limits the scope of the study (n.pag.). Aggression among children is calculated on a series of aggressive actions which is then totaled to provide a sum score. However, such methods of coming up with an aggression score lacks consistency and results would be more reliable if there was a standardized methodology. Another important variable that may affect the relationship between physical punishments and aggressive behavior is abuse. While abuse is divided into three categories of low, moderate, and high abuse, its correlation may provide useful information regarding the relationship. Nonetheless, research has provided an important finding pertaining to the relationship between physical punishments and the development of aggressive behavior among children. The development of aggressive behavior is affected by the severity and the frequency of physical punishments. Thus, not all physical punishments are similar and hence not all such punishments lead to aggressive behavior. Physical punishments vary in their intensity as some parents might carry out abusive violence while others may exercise mild physical punishments (Kandel, n.pag.). A study was conducted on a sample containing 3 year old children and the risk of physical punishments was analyzed. Using the spanking frequency at age 3, the aggressive behavior was measured at age 5. The research showed that children who were spanked 2 or 3 times within the same month showed symptoms of aggressive behavior developing at age 5 (Lee, Taylor, Altschul & Rice, 1476). A greater risk of negative outcomes was posed when parents used physical punishment more than twice a month. The early years of an individual’s life are central to their growth and development and that is why physical punishments at a young age expose children to several adverse outcomes. Antisocial behavior is among other adverse consequences of physical punishm ents. However, not all children develop antisocial behavior as a result of spanking although enough evidence is present of the positive relationship between the two variables. It is suggested that a third variable seems to be involved in the aggressive behavior of children. It is also important to consider that not all physical punishments may have the same intensity or frequency. Furthermore, genetic risk factors have been found to be impacting antisocial behavior (Boutwell, Franklin, Barnes & Beaver, 559). But since physical punishme

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example strive to achieve within the workplace from a customer service perspective, as well as approaching the problem solving (and conflict handling) with customers on a creative basis when dealing with potentially "damaging" situations with respect to the image of the company. The basis of approaching situations on a more proactive and suitable problem approaches to these situations leads me to believe that I have a higher internal locus of control, based upon the fact of such proactive approach within the organizational setting, as well as my personal belief in handling events, and thereby my own development within the direction I wish it to move in or progress. Ones personal development and skills can never really be viewed as perfect and the ongoing commitment to personal, and professional, growth development allows for one to make the necessary efforts and initiatives within this process. Although at times the achievement drive requires attention, due to negative influences within both personal and professional capacities, the main hindrance here is often the influence of personal factors that spill over into the workplace, which is seen as perhaps one of the main areas of focus required for improvement. My current employer does not really encourage the talent aspect within employees, however more so on a management level, whereby authority is granted to management to make specific business and customer service related decisions within the normal course of a working day. This allows for management to make suitable decisions, as well as the related autonomy that accompanies this authority within their capacity as a manager, the organization furthermore encourages this decision-making process with adequate recognition in the case of correct and suitable decisions, however within the case of a decision that they do not agree with the company is very accommodating and encouraging in terms of developing the necessary skills to make the right decisions in line with the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

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

Job - Assignment Example The advertising sales agents perform several tasks in their job description. First, the advertising agents should prepare and deliver sales presentation to new and existing customers about the company’s products and services. Secondly, liaise with the company officials, sales departmental heads, and the advertising agencies to develop the promotional plans. Third, to identify new advertising markets and propose products that will suit the customers and in turn generate revenue to the company. The advertising agents attend sales meeting, trade shows and training seminars in order to gather information, promote the company products and services, expand network of contacts and increase knowledge due to exposure (United States Department of Labor, 2014). The agents also organize the commercial tapping sessions together with coordinating bidding and contract approval. In addition, the advertising sales agents determine the best advertising method to use and prepare sample advertisements to present to target customers using the proposed medium of advertising. Other tasks include providing clients with the estimates of the cost of the products and services, maintaining assigned account basis explaining to customers how specific types of advertising will help promote their products and services in the most effective way possible. The sales agents need a lot of confidence since not everyone will listen to them and so they have to learn to be strong when facing rejection (United States Department of Labor, 2014). For this job, a high school diploma is usually sufficient. However, some employers prefer the applicants to possess a bachelor’s degree as an added advantage together with excellent communication skills and a two or three years’ experience. Previous work related knowledge and skills increase the opportunity of an applicant or serves as an added advantage. Before embarking on the job, many employees need some few months of training

Monday, September 23, 2019

Film Analysis 500 Days Of Summer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Analysis 500 Days Of Summer - Essay Example Tom thought of love at first sight but Summer seems to have other ideas of her own regarding romantic relationships. They became more than just friends but the two did not get married as somehow their fates were different. â€Å"500 Days of Summer† is produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures in cooperation with Watermark and Dune Entertainment. Its production cost was budgeted at US$7.5 million but it grossed about US$32.0 million worldwide. It was released in August 2009 and nominated for Golden Globe awards for best film as a comedy or musical (IMDb 1). But it still won another award for the best original screenplay for its two screenwriters. The film shatters preconceived notions of what love is on how people think. People have preconceived notions of what love means for them. There are people who believe love at first sight is the true or real love but there are others who think otherwise, like Summer Finn. Many preconceived notions are hard to dispose of because these values and attitudes toward love have been embedded into their consciousness since childhood or due to family upbringing, growing-up environment, and learned behaviors from watching others. An example of preconceived notions is the current discussion on the so-called â€Å"chick flicks† or films featuring young middle-class women. â€Å"Chick† is the colloquial term to refer to a young woman (like a chick) who is carefree or with no worries whatsoever. Summer is the quintessential example of a â€Å"modern chick† who believes in love but not in any long-term relationships because she thinks relationships are messy and bound to hurt people. In the book authored by Professors Ferriss and Young, they contend the explosion of chick flicks today is a part of the growing chick cultural phenomenon that includes â€Å"chick literature and chick TV† series depicting young women who are mostly college-educated to be

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Obesity - Essay Example Advances in technology and processes in the last decade for transforming health food (e.g. corn and potatoes) have improved output in food manufacturing. One critical author identifies the manufacturing processes of infusing unnatural flavors into the common potato as a means of enhancing taste for customers. Schlosser offers, â€Å"taste is a method of differentiating food which is good for us from foods that are not† (Schlosser, 122). Thus, the food manufacturing industries recognize that their products are more likely to sell if different artificial flavors are infused into relatively common health agriculture. With more efficiency in these design and process systems, companies are able to add these flavors, consisting of unhealthy artificial ingredients and added fats, at a much cheaper price with faster distribution to retail shelves and fast food restaurants. Such changes in cheaper and more efficient product modification are a marketing tactic which creates a perceived better quality of food over the unmodified health agriculture, such as with the potato processing example. Businesses have learned that such additions of flavor and added fats provide much better profit margins and, in the process, longer shelf and freezer life of these enhanced products over the original agricultural output. It is because of the cheaper production processes and the higher profit by essentially fooling consumers into believing modified foods are a better alternative that enhanced and unhealthy products continue to flood many different food markets. There is also a significant over-reliance on economic models in the food system that leads to obesity problems in the United States. Food producers and agricultural industries do not have the ability to perform their systems autonomous of broader macro-economic conditions. Rising gasoline prices, higher increases in base salaries for manufacturing workers, rising costs of insurance, and other economic circumstances contin ue to raise the price of healthy agricultural output. The Consumer Price Index, a measure of consumer incomes as compared to product pricing, estimates that food inflation will continue at a pace of approximately 2.5 to 3.5 percent through the end of 2012 (Bloomberg, 1). In 2011, it was estimated that food inflation increased by 0.4 percent each month, representing a total food inflation in 2011 at 4.8 percent (Hauser, 1). In total, this represents an increase of approximately 8.3 percent in just two years. These inflationary costs are dictated by all of the aforementioned economic conditions that do not allow businesses to create healthy agricultural output without influence of multiple economic situations. What happens in this over-reliance is that fast food and other processed foods that are able to be distributed at a lower cost actually become more appealing to the strapped consumer in terms of price (Stacey, 1). As one example, the McDonald’s Extra Value Menu priced at $1 significantly outperforms the pricing of healthy grocery store substitutes by nearly 300 percent (or more). The costs of producing a home-cooked meal using health products, such as starches, proteins and vitamin rich vegetables are highly superior to the cheaper and much less healthy fast food alternative. This is why

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Labor Relations Essay Example for Free

Labor Relations Essay In reviewing information pertaining to labor unions, there is a plethora of information about unions in the transportation industry. One of the most widely known unions is the teamster unions, which deals with truckers. Labor unions and issues with automotive industry are often seen in the media. The newest transportation industry in American history is the airline industry. As the newest transportation industry that is still vital to American comfort, convenience, and commercial, the airline industry is ripe for workers to organize and demand a greater piece of the profits from operations. In this essay, an effort will be made to review this company in regards to labor relations. Company’s stance toward Labor Delta Airlines was founded by C. E. Woolman, an agriculture extension agent (Anthony, Kacmar, Perrewe, 2010). C. E Woolman was not a banker, venture capitalist or war pilot, as many of the competing airlines were. He didn’t have the aggressive military style that many of the other airline founders had. What C. E. Woolman instilled within the employees at all levels of the organization is that people matter and should be treated fairly and equitably. This philosophy led Delta Airlines to be the leader in customer service from the company’s inception through the many mergers over the years. Through the difficult financial times when other airlines were laying off employees and filing for bankruptcy, Delta continued to pay their people well and keep them employed. There was an exception during the Ronald Allen CEO era of 1987 thru 1997. Human relations took a significant down turn during his tenure as CEO, especially during 1993 and 1994, but Delta decided to part ways with Allen and began repairing those fragile relationships with its employees. Delta Airlines still focuses on the human relations factor and has been able to repair the relationship with its employees; they believe it is their key to success. Despite the corporate culture to take care of its employees, a number of Delta employee departments are unionizing. They feel as though that piece is not being distributed justly. Formulate a strategy for negotiating a labor agreement Human behavior dictates that there will be problems. As a company starts making money, there is always a desire by the employees to acquire more of the profit. On the other hand, management has a desire to retain as much of the profit to be provided to investors and to receive bonuses for their â€Å"supposedly† wise business practices. When one group wants more and another wants to retain, there will be conflict. And this is precisely what is happening at Delta Airline, as well as among many industries in the transportation arena. Employees, seeking to gain an upper hand threaten to strike; however, management must be willing to address the matter through negotiation. The Negotiation Process Fisher and Ury recommend conducting negotiations according to the process of principled negotiation. Their method has four main tenets: 1. Separate the people from the problem. The idea should be for both sides to work together to attack a problem, rather than attacking each other. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to overcome emotional responses and set aside egos. 2. Focus on interests rather than positions. The natural tendency in many negotiations—for example, dickering over the price to be paid for an antique—is for both sides to state a position and then move toward middle ground. Fisher and Ury warn against confusing peoples stated positions with their underlying interests, and claim that positions often tend to obscure what people truly hope to gain through negotiation. 3. Generate a variety of options before deciding what to do. The pressure involved in any type of negotiation tends to narrow peoples vision and inhibit their creativity, making it difficult to find optimal solutions to problems. Instead, Fisher and Ury suggest developing a wide range of possible solutions as part of the negotiating process. These possible solutions should attempt to advance shared interests and reconcile differences. 4. Base the result on objective criteria. No one will be happy with the result of a negotiation if they feel that they have been taken advantage of. The solution is to find and apply some fair standard to the problem in order to guarantee a mutually beneficial result. Fisher and Urys principles provide a good overall guide for the actual negotiation process. In his book, Nierenberg offered a number of other tips and strategies that may be effective in promoting successful negotiations. For example, it may be helpful to ask questions in order to form a better understanding of the needs and interests of the other side. The questions must be phrased diplomatically and timed correctly in order to avoid an antagonistic response. The idea is to gain information and uncover basic assumptions without immediately taking positions. Nierenberg stressed the importance of listening carefully to the other sides responses, as well as studying their facial expressions and body language, in order to gain quality information. Nierenberg noted that good negotiators will employ a variety of means to accomplish their objectives. Small business owners should be aware of some of the more common strategies and techniques that they may see others apply or may wish to apply themselves. One common strategy is forbearance, or patience pays, which covers any sort of wait or delay in negotiations. If one side wishes to confer in private, or adjourn briefly, they are employing a strategy of forbearance. Another common strategy is to present a fait accompli, or come to a final offer and leave it up to the other side to decide whether to accept it. In a simple example, a small business owner may scratch out one provision in a contract that he or she finds unacceptable, then sign it and send it back. The other party to the contract then must decide whether to accept the revised agreement. Nierenberg warns that this strategy can be risky, and encourages those who employ it to carefully appraise the consequences first. Another possible negotiating strategy is reversal, which involves taking a position that seems opposed to the original one. Similarly, feinting involves apparently moving in one direction in order to ivert attention from the true goal. For example, a negotiator may give in on a point that is not very important in order to make the real objective more attainable. Another strategy involves setting limits on the negotiation, whether with regards to time, the people involved, or other factors. It is also possible to change the participation in the negotiation if it seems to be at an impasse. For example, a neutral third party may be enlisted to help, or one or two people from each side may be sent off to continue the negotiation separately. It may also be helpful to break down the problem into small pieces and tackle them one by one. Another strategy might be to trade sides for a short time and try to view the situation from each others perspective. All of these techniques may be applied either to gain advantage or to push forward a negotiation that has apparently reached an impasse. Analyze the principle economic and administrative issues The airline industry is a fast growing sector demonstrating a very strong growth rate. It is associated with a number of social and economic benefits and is a growing contributor to the global inventory (Whitelegg, 2000). Business cycles have a wide reaching impact on the airline industry; during recession, air travel was considered a luxury and therefore spending is cut which leads to reduced prices. The industry creates its impact not just by providing direct employment, but also through the creation of opportunities throughout the travel and hospitality sector of the economy. Jobs in hotels, resorts, restaurants and car rental agencies are all impacted by the airline industry (Global Airline Industry Program, 2011). The airline industry itself is a major economic force, both in terms of its own operations and its impacts on related industries such as aircraft manufacturing and tourism. There are few industries that create the amount and intensity of attention that airlines receive, not only among its participants but from government policy makers and the media as well. The crucial issues on the table vary depending on whether the person is in management or is a worker. For management, the key to retain as much money as possible, while for the workers the goal is to obtain more of the profit. Thus, in management, the argument would be made to show how much money is used to provide employee insurances and benefits, reinvest in equipment and aircraft, general property and liability. On top of that, investors must be repaid. For the employee or worker, this is a stressful environment where the employee needs to be compensated for his work-related stress. Employee paid benefits continues to decrease, and the employee is forced to pay a disproportionate share. Thus, the employee needs more money just to live at a sustainable level. Recommend policies and procedures to administer a labor contract and resolve disputes. It is of utmost importance to resolve conflict expeditiously and justly for all parties involved. Thus, I would recommend the following policies as a means to resolve disputes: When a team oversteps the mark of healthy difference of opinion, resolving conflict requires respect and patience. The human experience of conflict involves our emotions, perceptions, and actions; we experience it on all three levels, and we need to address all three levels to resolve it. We must replace the negative experiences with positive ones. Acknowledge the conflict – The conflict has to be acknowledged before it can be managed and resolved. The tendency is for people to ignore the first signs of conflict, perhaps as it seems trivial, or is difficult to differentiate from the normal, healthy debate that teams can thrive on. If you are concerned about the conflict in your team, discuss it with other members. Once the team recognizes the issue, it can start the process of resolution. †¢ Discuss the impact – As a team, discuss the impact the conflict is having on team dynamics and performance. Agree to a cooperative process – Everyone involved must agree to cooperate in to resolve the conflict. This means putting the team first, and may involve setting aside your opinion or ideas for the time being. If someone wants to win more than he or she wants to resolve the conflict, you may find yourself at a stalemate. †¢ Agree to communicate – The most important thing throughout the resolution process is for everyone to keep communications open. The people involved need to talk about the issue and discuss their strong feelings. Active listening is essential here because to move on you eed to really understand where the other person is coming from. Determine the most likely interest dispute and determine how you could leverage economic pressure to help resolve that dispute. â€Å"There is no way to overstate the role â€Å"leverage† plays when it comes to achieving favorable settlements. Leverage is defined as: â€Å"positional advantage; the power to act effectively; strategic advantage†. Stated more simply, your leverage is whatever power you have† (Cory, 2011). Leverage is usually more about situational advantage than objective strength or power. For example, a single individual or small business may have few resources relative to a large corporation but still have situational advantage by virtue of being able to compel the larger corporation to appear and answer in a favorable venue. Likewise even when there is a legitimate claim which could result in a significant loss to the defendant, if the plaintiff does not have the resources or the fortitude to stay the course, then the defendant has the situational advantage by virtue of being able to delay and wait the plaintiff out. Leverage can be real or imagined. Your actual leverage at any point in time is based only on the other side’s perception of your leverage (which can obviously differ significantly from the actual facts). There are obviously situations where you have an information advantage, such as when you know about a weakness in your case that is not yet known by the other side. In such a situation you will, perhaps only briefly, appear to have more leverage than you actually do. Likewise, you can be at an information disadvantage such as when you mistakenly think that the other side has a stronger case than they actually do. There are also situations where you mistakenly think that your case is stronger than it actually is which occurs when for one reason or another you don’t have all the facts, or when the facts have not been accurately relayed to you. But regardless of your actual leverage, if there is no fear on the other side, you have little if any effective leverage (Cory, 2011).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Empirical Analysis of Firing Disputes

Empirical Analysis of Firing Disputes Are Common Perceptions on Termination Cases in Mexico Supported by Empirical Data Abstract Using a random sample of cases from the Federal Labor Court in Mexico, this research analyzes firing disputes in Mexico from an empirical perspective. In particular, it focuses on presenting evidence in regard to the following three common perceptions on termination cases: (i) that they are often terminated by an adjudicated decision; (ii) that they are extremely delayed; and (iii) that the final payments obtained by the workers are extremely high. The statistical evidence suggests that an emphasis in the literature and media on a particular subsample of cases with extreme characteristics (e.g. adjudicated or appealed processes) produces these conceptions. The study concludes with a brief comment regarding the importance of empirical studies as a way of better understanding legal phenomena in Mexico. Table of contents I. Federal labor tribunals in Mexico II. Methodology and Data III. Results and Discussion A. Termination payments are extremely high B. Termination cases are extremely delayed C. Termination cases normally go to trial IV. Conclusion Although the analysis of the law in Mexico has changed slightly in the last years, Pounds vision effectively reflects the atmosphere of pure law of the Mexican mainstream. The analysis of labor law in Mexico—the general topic of this research—reflects this analytical path. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the literature related to labor justice has been doctrinal and normative. These studies often ignore factual evidence of how the legal framework affects the legal reality; and if some evidence is presented, it is merely indicative or anecdotal. This doctrinal research figures prominently in public policy debates. This study departs completely from the Mexican mainstream insofar as it is an empirical study based on case file analysis. The research results are based on a random sample of 3,203 files selected from the Junta Federal de Conciliacià ³n y Arbitraje (JFCA) archive. These files correspond to termination cases presented before the Tribunal 15 of the JFCA (Tribunal 15), a labor tribunal (Junta Especial) whose jurisdiction includes the pharmaceutical, chemical, automotive, and paper industries; and the Tribunal 6 and 8 of the JFCA (Tribunal 6 8), the labor tribunals whose jurisdiction includes the textile industry. The period studied extends from 1991 to 1998. Note that case file analysis has been used extensively in other countries with fruitful results. The objective of this research is to characterize empirically the termination disputes in Mexico in the context of the tribunals analyzed. In particular, it focuses on presenting evidence in regard to the following three common perceptions on termination cases: (i) that they are often terminated by an adjudicated decision; (ii) that they are extremely delayed; and (iii) that the final payments obtained by the workers are extremely high. This article is divided into three sections. The first section explains the operation of the federal labor tribunal in Mexico. The second section describes the data and the methodology. The third section examines the above mentioned perceptions on termination cases. I. Federal labor tribunals in Mexico The JFCA is an administrative court that belongs to the executive branch. Because of this dependency, Mexican legal authors have questioned its degree of judicial independence. The JFCA consists of 61 labor tribunals, called Juntas Especiales. Sixteen tribunals are located in Mexico City, and the remainders are dispersed throughout Mexico. Labor tribunals have the legal power to conciliate and adjudicate. In fact, the LFT mandates at least one conciliation hearing before trial. Among the labor tribunals, jurisdiction is determined by industry. Although the labor law openly promotes settlement of disputes, it does not permit the settlement terms to remain confidential. The relevant tribunal must ratify the settlement for it to become binding. An employee cannot credibly forfeit the right to sue his employer unless and until the court approves his settlement. Employers and workers very often submit a settlement jointly to the labor court simply to obtain ratification, which then makes the agreement binding. The approval of settlements primarily serves as a mechanism for confirming that the worker has not renounced some legal benefit and for making the agreement binding at law. Tribunals must record details about the settlement, such as the date of the settlement and the amount paid. Once a lawsuit is filed, the tribunal with jurisdiction over the dispute must schedule at least one conciliatory hearing. At the conclusion of that hearing, the tribunal schedules subsequent hearings for the presentation of evidence and for trial. At any point during the process, however, the suit can be terminated by a settlement. The tribunal must approve this settlement. In fact, the parties can agree to defer hearings if they think they need more time to negotiate the terms of the agreement. If no agreement is reached, a tripartite commission composed of an employer representative, an employee representative, and a government representative may issue an award deciding the dispute. Note that the employee may also drop the complaint at any point during the lawsuit. As noted in the tables below, dropped lawsuits are not uncommon. An appeal mechanism, the juicio de amparo, is available to challenge the resolutions of the tribunal. Note that the parties cannot only challenge the final decision issued by the tribunal, but also other decisions that could potentially affect the outcome of the case, for instance, the fact that the tribunal notified the employer about the workers complaint in an incorrect manner. It is fair to state that the scope of review of the juicio de amparo in labor cases is limited to protect the due process rights of the parties. II. Methodology and Data Clermont Eisenberg divide legal studies based on statistical research into three groups depending on the way in which the data is assembled. Studies of published judicial decisions, studies based on data produced by experimental work or by archival research, and studies involving analyses of publicly available, and usually governmental, databases. The present study fits into the second category, legal research based on archival data. The logic behind analyzing archival cases is simple: random samples of large dockets can provide us with useful information to analyze the patterns of litigation in a particular tribunal. This is particularly relevant when there is no information available—or only very incomplete information—on how certain type of legal dispute is resolved. In particular, information regarding labor disputes is extremely general and imprecise. The data used for this research was obtained through a public information request under the Ley Federal de Transparencia y Acceso a la Informacion Publica Gubernamental, the law that regulates the access to public governmental information. While some of the variables used in this study are considered public information under this law, other variables are not public information, and have been obtained under a confidentiality agreement. The confidentiality agreement was negotiated with the authorities of the JFCA, who only authorized to review those cases that complied with the following characteristics: (1) closed cases that cannot be reopened by the parties anymore, (2) and cases that had been initiated in 1998 at most. Given these constraints, I was able to assemble a random sample of cases initiated between 1991 and 1998 in Tribunal 15 and Tribunal 6 8. Note that these years refer to the dates in which the cases were presented before the labor tribunals, and not to the dates in wh ich the cases were actually solved. There are two main types of cases observed in the sample: filed settlements and litigated cases. In filed settlements, the employer and employee file a jointly agreement, which is merely ratified by the tribunal. In litigated cases, the parties usually present and produce several documents, such as the employees initial petition, the employers response (if any), the terms of agreement reached if the case is settled, the final award issued by the tribunal if the case is not settled, and the appeals carried out by the parties. Note that litigated cases have three possible outcomes: dropped suits, settlements, and trials leading to a final decision issued by a tripartite commission. As mentioned before, the final decision is known as an award (laudo). Using the information from the documents mentioned in this paragraph, I calculated the duration and the final payment of the cases handled by Tribunal 15 and Tribunal 6 8. These calculations will be presented in further tables. A comment should be made on the validity and usefulness of the results coming from the data analyzed. First, the LFT has not been substantially modified since its enactment in 1970. Second, and based on five interviews with representatives of the government from five federal labor courts that handle similar disputes, it is reasonable to state that the solving pattern of the termination disputes here portrayed is accurate and reflects the current situation. III. Results and Discussion A. Termination payments are extremely high Some Mexican authors have analyzed the LFT from an economic perspective. Basically, their argument is that the LFT should be modified to eliminate all those provisions that create restrictions on hiring, mobility, and termination of employees. These legal restrictions, originally designed to protect the worker, generate a higher social cost than benefit. In particular, these authors claim that the LFT raises termination costs, diminishing the quantity of labor that an employer hires below the socially efficient level. This argument assumes that most of the termination payments are paid according to the LFT and are thus extremely high. No empirical evidence concerning this assumption has been produced. Before presenting the empirical evidence, the rules regarding termination payments should be explained. These rules, provided in the LFT, mainly refer to the provision of fringe benefits, overtime, and the mechanics of termination. Fringe benefits are mainly composed of vacation pay and year end bonuses. Each employee is entitled to a certain number of days of paid vacation depending on his or her tenure at the firm. Also, every employee has the right to receive an end of the year bonus equal to at least 15 days wages. A normal workweek cannot exceed 48 hours. If an employee works more than 48 hours in a single week, he is entitled to overtime pay. The law mandates double pay for up to 9 hours of overtime, and triple pay for any hours above 57 per week. Terminations are classified under the law as justified or unjustified. Justified termination is limited to wrongdoing on the part of the worker, such as three continuous unjustified absences. Termination for any other reason, such as low employee productivity, is considered unjustified and it often implies higher termination cost. For either type of termination, the firm must cover all payments owed to the worker up to the termination date, including overtime and the prorated proportion of fringe benefits until the termination date. Additionally, the worker is entitled to severance pay equivalent to 12 days wages for each year worked, with the wage rate capped at twice the minimum wage. At the time of termination the firm must issue the worker a written document explaining the exact cause of termination as defined by the LFT. Workers have the right to challenge the grounds for termination. According to the LFT, the firm carries the burden of proving that it fired the worker for just cause. Workers terminated in an unjust manner have the right to receive two additional payments. Back pay from the termination date through the date when judgment is issued (including not only the salary, but also the fringe benefits), plus three months salary with benefits. Also, those workers who are denied reinstatement are enti tled to 20 days wages plus benefits for each year worked, without any cap on the wage rate. Note that a worker who proves he was fired without justification can request to be reinstated in his job. The firm may refuse reinstatement for certain categories of workers, such as temporary workers, those with less than one years tenure, and those considered to be at will employees. A firm may also avoid having to reinstate workers it fires in the case of justified layoffs. Table 1 presents the average final payments obtained by workers depending on the form in which the cases concluded. Both absolute and relative amounts are shown. Relative amounts correspond to the amount that workers win as a percentage of the amount they claimed. The data demonstrate that fired workers who initiated a lawsuit usually claimed considerable amounts of money that seldom obtained. Also, note that workers who resolved the case through a filed settlement or a settlement reached during the lawsuit had better final payments. Interestingly, in cases solved by an award, the decision of the parties to appeal increased the amount received by the worker. As the tables portray, most of the termination cases do not receive an extremely high final payment, which contradicts the widely held assumption of the Mexican media and Mexican academic literature. Although this section only presents a descriptive analysis of the data, these results deserve much more attention and analysis in future research. B. Termination cases are extremely delayed This section presents empirical evidence that supports the idea that the duration of termination cases is not necessarily extremely delayed, but it actually depends on characteristics of the dispute like the termination mode, the decision of the parties to challenge the tribunal decisions, or to defer the case. Many Mexican legal scholars have criticized the fact that labor procedures are extremely formal and complicated. According to this view, procedure is the main source of delay in labor disputes. Proposals for diminishing delays in labor disputes include: improving the conciliation system , hiring more legal clerks , replacing the old technology in the JFCA (i.e. principally computers) , and, of course, changing the law to eliminate procedural complexities. The LFT procedures do not limit the time period for case resolution; rather they establish a term in which each action in the process should be completed. The goal of establishing such terms is to create a fast labor procedure (article 685). The labor statute requires different types of procedures depending on the case at issue. The procedure by which termination cases are solved is known as ordinary procedure (article 871). The ordinary procedure starts when the employee files a claim before the JFCA (article 871). After this claim is admitted, the parties are scheduled for a hearing (article 873). The hearing has three stages: the conciliation stage; the claims and exceptions state; and finally, the stage of submission and admission of the evidence (article 875). Each one of these stages has particular time and form characteristics according to which it operates. Article 876 governs the conciliation stage. The goal is for the parties to reach a conciliation agreement through the intermediation of the tribunal. If the parties reach an agreement, the disputed is terminated and the tribunal endorses the corresponding agreement. This agreement, like an award, is enforceable. If the parties do not reach a conciliation agreement, the hearing proceeds to the claims and exceptions stage. Article 878 also governs this stage. The worker presents his claim, and the employer answer him. After this stage, the submission and admission of the evidence stage occurs, which article 880 governs. Next, the evidence is presented before the tribunal in another hearing governed by Article 884. When all these stages have been completed, a legal clerk creates a draft of the final ruling. This draft has to be approved by members of the tripartite panel (the representative of the employees, the employers, and the government). This process follows the rules established in articles 887, 888, and 889. After approval, and if no corrections are proposed, the draft is turned into the award. According to the terms established in the statute for each one of these proceedings, an ordinary procedure should be resolved in 75 effective court days. As table 2 portrays, the average duration of an ordinary procedure (i.e. case solved by an award without being appealed or being deferred) in Tribunal 15 is 440.76 effective court days, and in Tribunal 6 8 is 419.89 effective court days. Several things should be clarified with regard to the description of the ordinary procedure. First, although the labor statute speaks of one hearing divided into different stages; in fact, there are different hearings in which all these stages are completed. Therefore, if the parties cannot reach an agreement after a conciliation hearing, the conciliation continues in the next hearing, and the subsequent stage is postponed and so on. Second, the statute permits the parties to defer the hearings if both sides agree. In other words, if the parties are in the process of negotiating a conciliation agreement, they can ask the labor tribunal for more time. According to table 2, this is not unusual. Third, although the statute specifies that the conciliation stage should be performed at the beginning of the case, the parties can reach a conciliation agreement at any time during the ordinary procedure, even after the conciliation stage has passed. Fourth, the description portrayed for the or dinary procedure does not account for whether the parties (either the employee or the employer) decide to appeal the award or not. If the parties decide to appeal the award issued by the judge, the procedure should be extended by no more than 45 days until the appeal sentence is rendered. Table 2 portrays that the duration of the case increases considerably when the parties decided to appeal the rulings of the labor tribunal. While cases concluding through an award that was not appealed took 450.45 effective court days to be solved in Tribunal 15 and 442.69 effective court days in Tribunal 6 8, cases concluding through an award that was appeal took longer: 904.79 effective court days to be solved in Tribunal 15 and 790.28 effective court days in Tribunal 6 8. The ordinary procedure requirements suggest the excessive formality of the process for resolving termination cases. The real question is how many cases actually pass through all these complicated stages. Table 2 shows the average duration of cases in court effective days depending on certain decisions of the parties, particularly, their decision to appeal the tribunals rulings and to defer the case. Note that 56.97% of the total cases from Tribunal 15 and 23.48% of the total cases from Tribunal 6 8 were filed settlements. These cases were resolved without passing through any of the above mentioned stages of an ordinary procedure and went to the court as a mere formality. The situation is different for litigated cases. Litigation cases are divided between those cases in which the parties deferred the case at least once and those in which the parties never deferred the case. As noted in the tables, the average duration is regularly higher when the parties decided to defer the case tha n when they chose not to defer it. Observe that the difference in duration of a lawsuit also depends on the parties decision to settle, drop, or go to trial seeking an adjudicated award. Finally, the duration of the case depends on whether the parties chose to appeal the rulings of the tribunal or not (including the award). Therefore, it is clear that when an award is issued to resolve a labor dispute or when the parties challenged the tribunals decision, the case was more delayed. However, the real question is how frequently this situation actually occurred. According to the evidence presented here, termination cases were rarely solved through an award (6.09% in Tribunal 15 and 9.76% in Tribunal 6 8), and even more rarely through an award issued after an appeal (1.88% in Tribunal 15 and 2.55% in Tribunal 6 8). Adjudicated awards and appeals appear to be more the exception than the rule. Short settled cases (i.e. filed settlements and settled lawsuits without appeal) instead of long disputes seem to be the typical termination case. Finally, and given the results presented in table 2, it is reasonable to believe that the substantial length of the adjudication process could be itself a contributing factor to the settlement of most cases. Although a profound analysis of such idea goes beyond the scope of this work, it should definitely be considered in further empirical studies. C. Termination cases normally go to trial The media and legal scholars in Mexico have portrayed Mexican labor justice as complicated, corrupted, delayed, and costly. This vision has deeply shaped the perception of the labor justice system. Cases reflecting the view of delayed justice and low final payments appear in the random sample of cases analyzed in this study. Although these cases exist in the data set, they do not at all reflect the typical case. First, case 1/1991 , which began in 1991. In this case, a 26 year old man filed a claim of unjustified termination. He worked in the state of Oaxaca, in a paper factory. He had worked for almost five years receiving a daily wage of $78 pesos and claimed $191,900 pesos. A public defender represented him. In 1995, after four years, an award issued by the judge determined that the termination had been lawful. Thus, the claim was dismissed without any payment to the worker. Second, case 2/1994, which began in 1994. In this lawsuit, a 32 year old man also claimed an unjustified termination. He worked in the state of Chihuahua for a pharmaceutical firm. He had worked for six years and received a daily wage of $307 pesos. A private lawyer represented him, and the amount at stake was $922,429 pesos. The lawyer appealed the first award, which had favored the employer. The final decision, rendered near the end of 1997, favored the worker, but only granted him $7,894 pesos. The case took slightly more than three years of effective court time; and interestingly, the parties decided to defer the case once during the process. At the end of the day, the worker waited three years and received only a small fraction of his original claim (less than 10%). Although the cases portrayed above match the descriptions provided in the news for termination cases that reach the trial stage, it is not clear that these cases are representative of the typical termination case with which the tribunal commonly deals. Other cases in the sample reflect a completely different result. In other words, high payments and little court time. For example, case 3/1994 began in 1994 when a 50 year old man from Mexico City claimed an unjustified dismissal after more than thirteen years of work at a well known pharmaceutical company. The case did not reach judicial evaluation of the merits, and was settled only three months after filing. Interestingly, the parties decided to defer the hearings twice, and a private lawyer represented the employee. The employee, who claimed $267,115 pesos, received $214,959, 80% of his original claim. In another termination case, 4/1997, a 57 year old man filed a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company asking for $1,364,927 pesos. The employee had a 22 year tenure and a daily wage of $2,472 pesos daily salary. The case was settled after ten months, and the employee obtained $1,001,167 pesos, 73% of his original petition. Again, a private lawyer took the case, and the parties deferred the hearings twice. Note two relevant commonalities in the two cases presented: both settled before reaching the trial stage, and the parties decided to defer the hearings at some point in the process. This study finds that settled cases more accurately reflect the resolution of Mexican labor disputes than the cases highlighted in the media, which typically cover cases that go to trial and terminate with an adjudicated award. In other words, the media emphasize cases that usually take a long time to resolve; and in particular, cases in which workers obtain outlying results (very low or high payments). Although these cases eventually come up in labor tribunals, they are rare. A bias for highlighting cases that go to trial has been identified several times in the literature. Laurence Ross and Alfred Conrad showed, in 1970 and 1964 respectively, that only a very small fraction of disputes go to trial and an even smaller fraction are appealed. Consequently, an analysis based only on those cases that go to trial is not representative of the influence of legal rules on social affairs. The conclusions of doctrinal studies based on trials or appealed cases disclose very little about how legal rules affect the behavior of those subject to them or affect the generation of legal disputes themselves. Mexican literature concerning labor law in general, and particularly termination cases, has followed this pattern. The methodological problem in studying only final decisions, like appeals or awards, is that the: simple extrapolation from a sample of litigated cases to the population of all cases is valid only if the sample is random. If cases are not randomly selected for litigation, then a researcher who uses litigated cases is necessarily studying both the selection mechanism and the underlying population of cases simultaneously. The particular set of data gathered for this research avoids this problem to a great extent. First, as explained earlier, the labor statute requires parties to ratify terminations before the labor tribunal for the termination to become legally binding. If an employer fires an employee and wants to have a legal document verifying that the employee was fired without any violation of the provisions of the law, he needs to ratify his dismissal agreement before the labor tribunal. Therefore, termination cases (the underlying dispute) should pass by the court, at least for ratification. Second, cases sampled not only include filed settlements, but also cases that starte d as lawsuits and were later settled, dropped, or decided by an adjudicated award. In short, the random sample of cases studied accurately represents the solving pattern of termination cases because the cases analyzed are a random sample of the underlying disputes, not a random sample from a particular biased sub sample. Table 1 and 2 portray the solving pattern of termination cases in Mexico. Statistics from these tables suggest that the typical termination case is settled in some fashion, and that awards are issued occasionally. A brief survey of the Mexican literature shows that one of the main concerns for labor reformers in Mexico is the long delay in solving disputes. Table 1 and 2 show that this perspective is imprecise. Most of the disputes went to court merely seeking a ratification of the parties agreement and were solved the same day they were presented. On the other hand, if the dispute was not a mere ratification but litigation, duration varied greatly according to the way of solving the dispute and to the parties decision to appeal the tribunals decision (particularly the award). Therefore, it appears that when studies and news refer to delay in labor justice, they actually refer to a sub sample of cases with certain characteristics, in particular, to those cases that finish with an adj udicated award, are appealed, or both. Many analyses of Mexican labor justice in general, and of termination cases in particular, have not seen the whole picture, but only a small fraction of cases with extreme characteristics. These works, though somewhat useful, tend to be biased in their conclusions, and they definitely do not appear to be the best guide for implementing public policy measures or legislative changes. Interestingly, according to the tables, a final judgment (i.e. award) was issued only in 6.09% of the total cases sampled in Tribunal 15 and in 9.76% of the total cases sampled in Tribunal 6 8. Alexander reports that fewer than 5% of litigated cases are tried to judgment in the U.S. Trubek et al. state that approximately 8% of civil suits filed in state or federal court went to trial. Also, Resnik notes that 85% to 90% of all federal civil suits end up settling. Note that 86.14% of the sampled cases were settled in some manner in Tribunal 15 and 77.80% in Tribunal 6 8. Therefore, the results of the present study are consistent in supporting the conclusion that cases that go to trial provide only a distorted window into peoples behavior in response to legal rules. IV. Conclusions This article seeks to analyze termination using empirical evidence. Using a random sample of cases from three Mexican labor tribunals, this work has analyzed three widely held perceptions on termination cases, which are commonly supported by the Mexican media and some Mexican legal scholars. The conclusion is straightforward: the perception of termination cases in private industry has been biased by a sub sample of cases with extreme characteristics, cases that go to a final judgment or are appealed. Interestingly, this biased has not been detected by research on labor law produced by Mexican scholars who study the law from a doctrinal perspective, proving that limiting the study of the legal system to doctrinal analyses of legal norms could lead to erroneous conclusions. Approaching research questions from an empirical perspective is necessary, and it will eventually reveal new features of the Mexican legal system.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Rebuttal Essay on Needed: A License to Drink -- Alcohol Drinking Essay

Rebuttal Essay on â€Å"Needed: A License to Drink† â€Å"Needed: A License to Drink† is an essay written by Mike Brake. In this essay, Brake explains why he thinks people need a license to drink. He has had family members die from alcohol related events and believes they might still be alive if a license was required to drink. Alcohol is related to many deaths and alcoholism is a disease that affects many people. â€Å"It causes more than 19,000 auto fatalities each year, it is responsible for more than a third of deaths from drowning and fire† (Brake135). Brake mentions that doctors have to report certain sexually transmitted diseases. He think they should have to report alcoholism as well. Also, licenses for hunting, guns, and driving are required, so Brake believes a license for drinking should also be required. Brake believes, â€Å"licensing would act as a screen—preventing a small percentage of the misery up-front† (136). If there was a way to carry out his plan successfully, I wo uld agree with his essay. However, it would be impossible to use Brake’s licensing plan and expect it to be successful. Brakes plan has flaws that have failed before. Doctors should not have to report alcoholism, and licenses would not prevent alcoholics from getting alcohol. Brake’s Plan First, people who want a license would have to study a written manual with facts about alcohol and the law (Brake 136). Next, they would have to be able to pass a written test. If someone gets in alcohol related trouble, the license would be taken away. If they do not have a license, they will have to receive treatment along with attending Alcoholics Anonymous (136). Problems with the Plan If everyone was willing to... ...etting it. Conclusion Doctors should not have to report alcoholism because it is different from other diseases. Also, licenses would not prevent people from drinking because underage people and those without a license would still have ways to acquire alcohol. Brake’s plan would be great if everyone was to abide by it, but unfortunately it would be almost undoubtedly impossible to create a plan like his and expect it to be successful. Works Cited â€Å"Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure.† Cato Institute. 2004 Cato Institute. 15 April 2004 http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html >. Brake, Mike. â€Å"Needed: A License to Drink† The Genre of Argument. Ed. Irene L. Clark. Boston: Thomson-Heinle, 1998. â€Å"Minors and Alcoholic Beverages.† State of Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division. 2003 15 April 2004< http://www.iowaabd.com/index.asp >. Rebuttal Essay on Needed: A License to Drink -- Alcohol Drinking Essay Rebuttal Essay on â€Å"Needed: A License to Drink† â€Å"Needed: A License to Drink† is an essay written by Mike Brake. In this essay, Brake explains why he thinks people need a license to drink. He has had family members die from alcohol related events and believes they might still be alive if a license was required to drink. Alcohol is related to many deaths and alcoholism is a disease that affects many people. â€Å"It causes more than 19,000 auto fatalities each year, it is responsible for more than a third of deaths from drowning and fire† (Brake135). Brake mentions that doctors have to report certain sexually transmitted diseases. He think they should have to report alcoholism as well. Also, licenses for hunting, guns, and driving are required, so Brake believes a license for drinking should also be required. Brake believes, â€Å"licensing would act as a screen—preventing a small percentage of the misery up-front† (136). If there was a way to carry out his plan successfully, I wo uld agree with his essay. However, it would be impossible to use Brake’s licensing plan and expect it to be successful. Brakes plan has flaws that have failed before. Doctors should not have to report alcoholism, and licenses would not prevent alcoholics from getting alcohol. Brake’s Plan First, people who want a license would have to study a written manual with facts about alcohol and the law (Brake 136). Next, they would have to be able to pass a written test. If someone gets in alcohol related trouble, the license would be taken away. If they do not have a license, they will have to receive treatment along with attending Alcoholics Anonymous (136). Problems with the Plan If everyone was willing to... ...etting it. Conclusion Doctors should not have to report alcoholism because it is different from other diseases. Also, licenses would not prevent people from drinking because underage people and those without a license would still have ways to acquire alcohol. Brake’s plan would be great if everyone was to abide by it, but unfortunately it would be almost undoubtedly impossible to create a plan like his and expect it to be successful. Works Cited â€Å"Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure.† Cato Institute. 2004 Cato Institute. 15 April 2004 http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html >. Brake, Mike. â€Å"Needed: A License to Drink† The Genre of Argument. Ed. Irene L. Clark. Boston: Thomson-Heinle, 1998. â€Å"Minors and Alcoholic Beverages.† State of Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division. 2003 15 April 2004< http://www.iowaabd.com/index.asp >.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Hamlet or the Epic of Son-Jara - The Biggest Influence on The Lion King

The Lion King is Disney's most successful movie to date. Many believe that the Lion King is Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. In fact, The Lion King is in on based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Disney writers conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. On the other hand William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on the Epic of Son-Jara or Sundiata. This lead to the debate is the Lion King based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet or the West African story, the Epic of Son-Jara. Simba, Hamlet, and Son-Jara are all heroes in their own story. All of them must take on a villain that knew very well, but who does Simba’s journey resemble the most Does Simba represent Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, or Son-Jara, the lion king. The characters in The Lion King closely resemble the characters in Hamlet. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, embodies Hamlet. Simba and Hamlet are the son of kings and both are the rightful heirs to the throne. â€Å"By pairing the play Hamlet with the Disney movie, The Lion King, students discover that both Hamlet and Simba represent the mythical archetype of exiled child whose role is to restore world order and who has a heroic task. Students also realize that they too are unique individuals on heroic journeys.†(Gavin 55) Hamlet and Simba, when he was a lion cub, were banished from their homes. Simba exiled himself because he believed that he killed his own father but, it was in fact his uncle scar that killed him. Hamlet, on the under hand, was sent off to college by his uncle Claudius. Claudius became the king of Denmark after death of Hamlet’s father. Claudius believed that Hamlet played a ha... .... Dir. Roger Allers. Walt Disney Pictures, 1994. Flim. Simon, Peter Ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Shorter second edition, Vol.I. New York: W.W. Norton + Company, 2009 Nobumitsu .The Epic of Son-Jara. Simon 1552-1587 William Shakespeare. Hamlet. Simon 1782-1872 Gavin, Rosemarie. The Lion King" and "Hamlet": A Homecoming for the Exiled Child. The English Journal 3rd ser. 85 (1996): 55-57. Print. Paterno, Domenica R. "The True Lion King of Africa: The Epic History of Sundiata, King of Old Mali." Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English. Orlando. 16-21 Nov. 1994. Speech. "Q&A WITH THE DIRECTORS OF DISNEY'S THE LION KING!" Interview by Victor Medina. Q&A WITH THE DIRECTORS OF DISNEY'S THE LION KING! Web. 3 Apr. 2012. Hamlet or the Epic of Son-Jara - The Biggest Influence on The Lion King The Lion King is Disney's most successful movie to date. Many believe that the Lion King is Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. In fact, The Lion King is in on based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Disney writers conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. On the other hand William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on the Epic of Son-Jara or Sundiata. This lead to the debate is the Lion King based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet or the West African story, the Epic of Son-Jara. Simba, Hamlet, and Son-Jara are all heroes in their own story. All of them must take on a villain that knew very well, but who does Simba’s journey resemble the most Does Simba represent Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, or Son-Jara, the lion king. The characters in The Lion King closely resemble the characters in Hamlet. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, embodies Hamlet. Simba and Hamlet are the son of kings and both are the rightful heirs to the throne. â€Å"By pairing the play Hamlet with the Disney movie, The Lion King, students discover that both Hamlet and Simba represent the mythical archetype of exiled child whose role is to restore world order and who has a heroic task. Students also realize that they too are unique individuals on heroic journeys.†(Gavin 55) Hamlet and Simba, when he was a lion cub, were banished from their homes. Simba exiled himself because he believed that he killed his own father but, it was in fact his uncle scar that killed him. Hamlet, on the under hand, was sent off to college by his uncle Claudius. Claudius became the king of Denmark after death of Hamlet’s father. Claudius believed that Hamlet played a ha... .... Dir. Roger Allers. Walt Disney Pictures, 1994. Flim. Simon, Peter Ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Shorter second edition, Vol.I. New York: W.W. Norton + Company, 2009 Nobumitsu .The Epic of Son-Jara. Simon 1552-1587 William Shakespeare. Hamlet. Simon 1782-1872 Gavin, Rosemarie. The Lion King" and "Hamlet": A Homecoming for the Exiled Child. The English Journal 3rd ser. 85 (1996): 55-57. Print. Paterno, Domenica R. "The True Lion King of Africa: The Epic History of Sundiata, King of Old Mali." Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English. Orlando. 16-21 Nov. 1994. Speech. "Q&A WITH THE DIRECTORS OF DISNEY'S THE LION KING!" Interview by Victor Medina. Q&A WITH THE DIRECTORS OF DISNEY'S THE LION KING! Web. 3 Apr. 2012.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

I loved the book To Dance With The White Dog, by Terry Kay. When I firs

I loved the book To Dance With The White Dog, by Terry Kay. When I first started reading, I was afraid this was going to be another depressing book about old people and I wasn't looking forward to reading it. I loved the book To Dance With The White Dog, by Terry Kay. When I first started reading, I was afraid this was going to be another depressing book about old people and I wasn't looking forward to reading it. However, I was soon taken in by the sweet, humorous Sam Peek and couldn't put down the book. I was moved by the strong love he had for his beloved wife Cora and even more so by his strength to carry on after her death. I think it was wonderful how Sam's family came together, even in the days after Cora's death, to look after him. I thought it was funny how his daughters worried about him and questioned his sanity at times while the whole time Sam knew exactly what they were thinking of him and how they fretted. I really enjoyed Neelie and even though she seemed to get on the children's nerves you could tell that having her there helped ease their minds. The children knew Neelie had their father's best interest at heart even if she did tend to nit pick and talk too much. I really envied the closeness of the Peek family and their love and concern, even if they did go a bit overboard at times. It was not only heartwarming, but truly amusing as well, in the way that Sam Peek dealt with them. He would play into their worries and concerns. Sam Peek went from being a pretty independent man to what appeared to his children as fragile, senile and helpless overnight with the death of Cora. From the moment his wife died Sam's ability to take care of himself immediately came into question, at least by ... ...of their lives. Unfortunately, that is not always possible due to financial reasons, failing health or lack of family to help out. Sam was lucky that his family lived close by and could look out for him. This enabled him to stay home until the very end and in essence probably prolonged his life. He was also lucky that he stayed pretty healthy for as long as he did. Many elderly people aren't so lucky and must totally rely on someone else to help them with their daily needs much like a toddler needs their mother. It is sad for many to lose their independence and even harder to have to rely on their children for care when they are the parent, but that's what families are for, to be there for one another. Our parents raised us to be who were are today and the least we can do in return is to be sure that they are given the best care possible in their old age.

Doomsday Speech Essay

Military virologist Robert Neville id the last health human in New York City, a genetically-engineered variant of the measles virus that is meant as a cure for cancer had mutated in a lethal strain, it spread throughout the world killing 90% of humanity. The survivors became predatory beings refereed to as the â€Å"dark seekers† and killed those immune to the virus. Ever heard or seen that from somewhere? The movie I AM LEGENED is one of the thousand of movies linked to the conspiracy of doomsday. Ever thought the world would ever come to an end? Today†¦? Tomorrow†¦? Maybe in 2 minutes†¦? Are you anxious that we may be at the eve of the end of the world as we may know it? Do you believe doomsday is a hoax, created to exploit the gullible masses, or do you truly believe we are on the brink of the exterminations of the human race and the end of the world? It is the purpose of this paper to attempt to prove that doomsday is a myth that has created a fascination with destruction of the world that is being promoted by scamming artist after money and fame. People love to make things up, to sound important and to feel in control which is why 2012 is the year on everybody’s lips. There have been many variations of what will happen when the world does end. The sun will dry out, magnetic poles will shift, planet X will nock earth of it axis, planetary collision, and apparently black holes will appear. It is said this will all happen on December 21st, 2012 at 11:11 am universal time. Despite the fact that all theses predications will lead to the end of the world, i do not agree and therefore the public have been sucked into this lie. NASA states that there have been many doomsday predictions that NEVER happened. There are actually 242 dates up to now. Some of those dates were many days in 1843 and 1844, March 10th 1382, June 6th 2008, also every year on January 1st but look, were still here. Will the world end just like the calendar? Most of you have probably heard about the Mayen calendar or prophecy. The Mayens were astronomers that watched the skies and predicted earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and solar eclipses. They uses past research o determine future events. They Mayens forecasted in to the future so far and the calendar stopped on December 21ss. 2012. But if you really think about it, calendars keep track of the passage of time, they don’t predict the future. The calendar has to end somewhere not only does it end; it begins a new cycle. The Mayen prophecy is just another hoax propagated by the internet, TVs, documentaries, movies and music. The most famous prophet was Nostradamus. Nostradamus predicted a great comet â€Å"Nirbu† AKA â€Å"Planet X† would impact the Mediterranean on December 21, 2012 causing great destruction worldwide. But NASA states that Nostradamus and the Sumerians knew very little astronomy and most certainly didn’t know of the existence of Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune. So, discovering a twelfth body in the solar system is well off. Nostradamus just wrote his writings to make a quick buck. In Mathew 24:36; its states, â€Å"However know one knows the day or hours these things may happen, not even the angles in heaven or the son himself, but the father alone.† Writings are unintelligible things that are vague and the faiths of millions of believers in Nostradamus are still intact as they follow his path to hell. A lot of people think that the world will fall into a perfect alignment on Doomsday. According to NASA, there are no planetary alignments in the next few decades. Scientists believe that the next planetary alignment will occur on 2854. One calculation of alignments within around thirty degrees shows that the last such alignment was in 561 BC. The earth and sun do align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, but that has never created any effects on the earth and neither will it on 2012. 2012 is just going to be another year that we will live through. But however, people have been taken this too far even with proof given. During September 2008, a young woman in India became traumatized and depressed after watching well make but over hyped reports about the Large Hadron Collider. She believed these shows when they stated that the Large Hadron Colliderwill cause a miniature big bang or create a black hole and destroy the world. Terrified of these accusations she decided to take her own life. Don’t let the media fool you. Our lives didn’t end 2008†¦ But hers did.

Monday, September 16, 2019

The sport that I am working to improve is hockey as it is the main sport that I play

The sport that I am working to improve is hockey as it is the main sport that I play. I currently play for my school 1st XI and also for a club team. I play about five times a week, which includes the matches of about two a week on average plus training sessions. During each week I have one fitness session in order to maintain the level that I have reached so far. I am confident with all aspects of my game but all of them require ongoing improvement. Hockey requires many different skills and abilities. During a game of hockey the players are required to do movements such as stretching, fast responses to different actions of the opponents, and to maintain a high level of activity throughout the match / game. Firstly, speed and agility in a match are vital to allow the player to contribute fully to his role in the game whether it be defending or attacking. They are needed whether trying to catch up with a player or move away from them. Flexibility gives the player a wider range of movement, which would help in both attacking and defensive scenarios. Players must be able to maintain a high level of cardio-vascular and muscular endurance throughout the game so that it does not have an effect on their overall performance. My current activity levels are high with myself playing hockey (whether it is a match or training) on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Each session lasts for approximately one and a half to two hours. The sessions are not always at the same time of day with them varying from early morning to late evening. In addition to this I play other sports at the weekend including matches and coaching sessions. Whenever possible during the week I have one fitness session consisting of about 30minutes. This allows me to maintain the level of fitness I have already achieved in the season. I play in a defensive position in a game of hockey and therefore I must have quick reactions in order to be able to respond to the movements of my opponents. Also I need to be able to stay with the opponent when marking them and this requires both speed and endurance. Speed is needed so that I can keep up with the attacker, which gives me a chance of tackling him, and endurance is needed so that I can stay with the person for long periods of time. I know from my own experience that I have definite strengths and weaknesses. My endurance is one of my strengths although it can still be improved dramatically which would have huge improvements on my overall game play. The weaknesses are in the form of agility and sprints and these are both extremely important also. In the sprints, it is the beginning of the running that is slow, which allows the attacker to get away from me in a game. Agility has no specific area to concentrate on so the entire area needs to be improved. By improving my sprint speed it would put me at more of an advantage against other opponents than I had before. It would allow me to stay with them and keep put pressure on them rather than me always trying to catch up with them which does not put as much pressure on. They would not have as much time to prepare themselves as I would be there in a much shorter time. Agility would have an improvement on every aspect of my game whether it is defensive or attacking. It would improve my time it takes to change direction and also allow me to work better at different levels whether it be up or down. Endurance would improve my game all round also especially in the last quarter of the matches. I would be less fatigued and therefore less likely to make a rash decision or to play a bad pass which normally happens when a player begins to get fatigued. This would put me at an advantage against most other players, as I would be able to react to different situations more appropriately.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Amazon.com – the world’s biggest e-commerce retailer

Amazon is the world’s biggest e-commerce retailer. They were founded in 1994, being the first online retailer to secure one million customers in 1997. They are based out of Seattle, Washington but have locations in 18 U. S states and 14 international locations. They currently have over 88,000 employees and are still growing. Amazon sells pretty much anything you want on their website, from DVDs and video games to shoes and sports equipment. When Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. com, started Amazon all he was selling was books and now they have their own tablet, called the Kindle, which is a virtual book. Amazon’s mission statement is â€Å"Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online. † The way that Amazon does their business isn’t rushed, just wanting to earn a profit. Jeff Bezos business plan was a slow-growing business, and he didn’t even turn a profit until 2001, after the â€Å"dot-com boom† of the late 1990s couldn’t even stop then when a lot of other online companies had to file for bankruptcy. But they survived and made 97 million just in the last quartered of 2012. Amazon has a code of business conduct and ethics, with their main statement being â€Å"Amazon. com employees should always act lawfully, ethically, and in the best interests of Amazon. com. This Code of Business Conduct and Ethics sets out basic guiding principles. Employees who are unsure whether their conduct or the conduct of their coworkers complies with the Code of Conduct should contact their manager or the Legal Department. † The type of system that they are using is virtue ethics, which is where morals are internal. They are trying to internalize moral behavior, making sure that everyone is aware that they are there to benefit the company and do so in a lawful way. Amazon was built on making their customers happy, and by doing that they need to make sure that all of there employees are performing to the best of their ability, making sure they are making the right decisions for the company. Amazon has strict rules on conflicts of interest, insider trading, harassment, record keeping and many other things. They also give their employees the opportunity’s to submit ideas that they believe will not only better the company, but also the world called the Kaizen program. The Kaizen program is where Amazon employees work together to implement environmental and energy initiatives across all parts of the company. They have done everything from figuring out a new way to package trucks, for less shipments and saving fuel to figuring out how to install lights that are on motion sensors to help reduce energy costs.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Of mice and men theme power Essay

By examining the relationship between the protagonist geroge and lennie , and the relationship between curly and his wife, this response will attempt to argue that indeed the only power others have over us , is the power we give them. this response will also attempt to examine techniques and description to make and shape meaning in the world of this novel. How Power is Presented in Of Mice and Men The theme of power in Of Mice and Men is presented by Steinbeck in a variety of ways, including characterisation, dialogue and imagery. The main themes of power in the novella include physical power, seduction and the power of hierarchy. The theme of physical power is mainly represented through the character Lennie. The power of seduction is shown through Curley’s wife. Whereas the power of hierarchy is portrayed through the Boss, Slim and Curly. In the novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck presents physical power through the character Lennie Small. Lennie is a huge character, with immense physical strength. We can deduce this, from the opening description â€Å"A huge man† . The description here has foreshadowed Lennie’s physical stature and strength. His physical power, is a recurring theme throughout the novella. It is again shown, when George talks to Slim about his previous life with Lennie, â€Å"coulda bust every bone in my body†. Here through the use of dialogue, the reader is shown the physical power Lennie has over George. It is ironic, that even though Lennie has the advantage of physical power. George is the more dominant one. We can see this, by the way George reprimands Lennie for disobeying instructions, â€Å"you wasn’t gonna say a word†. This dialogue, foreshadows Lennie’s lack of mental power, to follow George’s instructions. Curley, The Boss and George are all connected because they have power over someone. In the Novella, The boss is in control of everything. Also he answers to no one. â€Å"Hey, what’s your stake in this guy†. This dialogue is between George and The Boss, he is questioning George on his power over Lennie. This quote shows that he can control who works for him and who doesn’t. He can fire someone just be cause he doesn’t  like them.