Christianity in Medievel Times Essay Example

Christianity in Medievel Times Essay 1. Considering the entire period of the Middle Ages (500-1500), which was mightier, the word or the sword? In other words, did wars and violence or ideas, including religious, philosophical, literary ideas, have greater influence on the development of this time period. The history of mankind has been plagued with death and violence. Power seems to be the goal for all man. Since the beginning of the age of man, there had to exist a form of government and control to somewhat subdue the human race. Power was the method of choice for most ruling men of glory. Religion when fueled y superstition, which took hold thousands of years ago was indeed a great instrument for power and control of mankind. Christianity in its prime during the Middle Ages or medieval period gave the papacy and its popes such a means of power and self-glorification to control and subdue the surrounding communities even in times of war. Such was the case in the Christian crusades. The Christian Catholic Church played an enormous role in rule and government as it did in marriage and family. It went as far as to incorporate the practices and traditions of the pagans for the purpose of conversion, changing life as we know it even to this ay. The reality is that no matter a person may go through in life, we carrying our beliefs and thoughts with us wherever we go and we dont simply let go of what we believe in. The same is evident in the period of the Middle Ages. The question at hand is which is truly mightier the word or the sword? We will write a custom essay sample on Christianity in Medievel Times specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Christianity in Medievel Times specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Christianity in Medievel Times specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Wars, violence, and forceful oppression may break down a peoples optimistic outlook temporarily but as can be seen in the Middle Ages people never lose hope and prove without a doubt that the beliefs, thoughts and ideas carried a bigger influence on the development of the period in time we call the Middle Ages. Moral values and traditions almost always begin in the home and then spread out to the community. This was one form of control that Christianity had on its followers. This same principal or concept was observed in one of the teachings of Jesus Christ that stated treat others as you would want to be treated. It is clear that the Christian Catholic church had a strong moral hold on marriage and family. Even when the violence of war was all around the influence of a persons faith and religion gave new meaning to the marriage. It was what a person believed in that gave made binding a man and a woman into a ype of contract between the two. It was expected that the women would submi t to the mans authority as head of the household. The man was also expected to be true and loyal to his wife although that was not always the case. Marriage was also instituted for the purpose of reproduction. The marriage was expected to yield children. As all things are naked in Gods eyes so everything is exposed to the church. Nothing was kept secret. Even the marriage bed was to be blessed and observed by the Christian priest because once again it too had a purpose. The church would now et its own rule for the governance of a marriage and would have its lawyers also set the legal terms of marriage. With the Christian church having such control on the marriage and family unit it had an even bigger role to play in politics. In the early political crusades as one might call it, consider the role of the Catholic papacy. Popes not only had authority over the church but also had the means of controlling armies in Rome. They could bless both the king and his men. In the calling of such political campaigns, popes feared that the spread and dominance of heresy in certain parts f Europe might undermine the Catholic faith so much that, when authorizing crusades against their political enemies, papal anxiety was focused on the survival and growth of the papal states. The Pope was seen as not only a spiritual leader but the head of all Christian societies during the Middle Ages. Nicholas II who ruled from 1058-1061 took particular interest in the power and influence of the papacy. During this time period he recognized that the Normans had come to stay in southern Italy and had deliberately south them out as protectors of the papacy the papal states, herefore allowed popes to assert themselves as temporal lords in their own right, with all that entailed in terms of revenues and land. These terms not only increased the popes power over providence but also gave the papacy stronger bargaining power with temporal princes and magnates, who respected them as powerful lords as well as spiritual leaders. The Middle Ages were a period of strong decisive action where military might have had the final say so. However , more true was the influence of the Catholic Church. The papacy was having more and more of an influence in olitical and military factors. To ensure that this political power would remain with the papacy, popes had to be seen as legitimate enforcers and r ulers capable of taking command of armies and carry out acts of war. One important thing note is that when the Hundred Year started no kings were involved. It is also important to note that England won all the great battles, but it was France that ultimately won the war. Often popes used the so called theory of the Two Swords as an instrument against their enemies during the crusades. This theory connected both spiritual and emporal power propounded by Pope Gelasius I during the fifth century and in the twelfth century by Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard believed that Gelasian decree meant that the temporal sword was wielded for the good of the Catholic Church and translated therefore in this way: Both swords, that is, the spiritual and the material, belong to the Church, however, the latter is to be drawn for the Church and the former by the Church. The Spiritual Sword should be drawn by the hand of the priest; the material sword by the hand of the knight, but clearly at the bidding of the priest and at the command of the emperor. Once again the influence of religious beliefs here was eminent in medieval times. Calls for crusading were prominent in the latter stages which gave Christian believers hope of attaining salvation with their personal efforts in the crusades. The cross became the official symbol of Christianity and therefore was used in leading the Christian crusaders into battle and also used by the priest and bishops to bless those going into battle. The impact that thoughts and ideas had on the Middle Ages is obvious. Spiritual and religious beliefs were dominant over physical force and oppression because eople kept there faith and believed in a higher authority. There were wars and power changed hands from the Pope to the King. Popes were not only seen as divine but also held on high and viewed as a force to be reckoned with in terms of military power and bargaining strategy. The marriage bond and the family unit were all controlled and examined by the church. These concepts and ancient philosophies have survived and been carried through the centuries. The Christian church has survived because of its ability to both control and adapt. It has adapted by ncorporating other rituals and traditions, especially those of pagan origin into its own as can clearly be seen in such holidays as Christmas and Easter. It control can also be seen its ability to bless and manipulate those in power. Christianity today has an ever growing following with over five hundred denominations and it main political and religious fgures are still seen as divine by most Christian believers. Bibliography Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Confucious, last modified March 31 , 2013, accessed October 1, 2013, http://plato. stanford. du/entries/confucius/ Lansing, Carol nd Edward D. English, Editors. A Companion to the Medieval World Malden: Wiley- Blackwell Publishing Ltd. , 2009, Rist, Rebecca. The Papacy and Crusading in Europe, 1198-1245New York: contnuum Books, 2009 Norman Housley, Fighting for the Cross: Crusading to the Holy Land (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008, 53-55. Bernard of Clairvaux, De consideratione, PL 182, col s 776-7. See Bernard of Clairvaux Five Books on Consideration. Advice to the Pope, trans. J. D. Anderson and E. T. Kennan (Kalamazoo, MI. 197), Book 4, 3. 7. P. 118. Luke 6:31, Holy Bible

All The Kings Men essays

All The King's Men essays ?In the novel, "All the Kings Men" by Robert Penn Warren, Jack Burden and Willie Stark are paired as the two main characters. "All the Kings Men" is a unique novel because both Jack Burden and Willie Stark are considered dynamic characters, with each of them undergoing a significant change in their personalities as the story progresses. Over the years there have been controversy over which character is the most important. Although Willie Stark is a more commanding and domineering character, I feel that Jack Burden is the most important character because he is the narrator of the novel and the character we learn the most about. "All the Kings Men" is the story of Willie Stark told by Jack Burden. Jack Burden also tells his story as it goes along with Willie Starks. Both Jack Burden and Willie Stark need one another for the story to be told. Without Willie Stark, Jack Burden's story would be insignificant and without Jack Burden, Willie Stark's life would have little shape or meaning. Because Willie Starks story is told by Jack Burden, it is seen through Jack Burdens eyes with Jack Burdens own thoughts and opinions clouding Willie Starks story. I believe this is one of the reasons as to why Jack Burden is the more important character because it makes it clear that his interpretation of the story is the one that counts. Jack Burden puts his spin on every aspect of Willie Starks life from his political beliefs to Willie Starks relationships with his mistresses demonstrating, in my opinion, the authors way of making Jack Burden the main character over Willie Stark. I would describe Jack Burdens personality as stiff. The majority of Jack Burdens reactions and attitudes regarding his situation stem from his experiences as a six year old. When Jack Burdens believed father, better known as the Scholarly Attorney left his family, Jac...

Auditing-Purchasing and Inventory Cycles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Auditing-Purchasing and Inventory Cycles - Essay Example Populations of documents are used to sample whether activities are authorized, production was completed and placed in inventory or written off as scrap and that finished goods inventory was produced and properly costed. Examples include; stock records, purchases ledger, goods returned note, goods produced note and check for the signature authorization by the responsible authority. The auditor examines the travel and expense accounts to verify the supporting documents to determine whether the transactions are correctly stated. The higher authority might abuse the travel and entertainment expenses for personal benefits. The auditor determines whether the expenses were incurred for business purposes and not for personal benefits (Ricchuite, 2005). The poor controls regarding executive reimbursement hinders the purpose of evaluating and reporting on internal control. The evaluation of the internal control will lead to the disclosure of the weak areas in the reimbursement of the top managers. The auditor can use various auditing procedures for auditing various expense accounts including miscellaneous expenses. This assists the auditor in verifying whether the expenses recorded were incurred and that they were accurately recorded in the correct accounting period. The procedures include obtaining all the relevant receipts and documents and checking for authorization and accuracy in recording as explained by Bragg (2009). The purchasing manager can use their position to defraud the company in multiple ways and the company should install a strong ICS to detect such activities (Kumar and Sharma, 2009). The purchasing managers can collude with third parties (buyers and sellers) to defraud the company. The managers can include unusual purchases that are not included in the operating budget. They can vary the purchase order proficiency

Processing Theory of Consumer Choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Processing Theory of Consumer Choice - Essay Example The following argument will establish a correlation between ecolabelling and consumer behavior and argue for the regulation of these labels by governmental institutions. According to the Green Gauge Report, which is published annually by Roperstarch Worldwide, society's concern about environmental issues is currently at, or near, historically high levels (Green Gauge Report, 2002). As a result, in the last 20 to 30 years the concept of environmental marketing has materialized. This concept is defined as satisfying consumer wants and needs, but doing so in a way that minimizes impacts on the natural environment. This form of marketing has been popularized in both the marketing literature and by companies seeking a strategy that enables them to market their products in a socially responsible, sustainable manner (Esty and Wilson, 2006). Australia has embraced ecolabelling, in direct response to consumer demands. Indeed, studies on ecolabelling indicate that Australia leads all other countries in the provision of environment-related information on its products (Case Study). The rationale for doing so directly emanates from the very concept of consumer ma rket demands and consumer behavior therein. Accordingly, in order to establish a correlation between ecolabelling and consumer behavior, the latter will be briefly overviewed. Consumer behavior (CB) may be defined as the scientific study of the processes consumers use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products and services that satisfy their needs (Esty and Wilson, 2006). Its development is linked to both psychology and sociology. For example, concepts such as attitude, values, motivation, personality, perception, cognition, social influence, and cultural influence have all played a major role in explaining consumer behavior (Esty and Wilson, 2006).

Business strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business strategy - Assignment Example Indian restaurant owners would already have a solid customer base from which to work from, and there is also the possibility of picking up some other ethnicities too. Cheap Indian food could be offered by encouraging Indian to be spoken within the restaurant, thus attracting the target market. c) The video rental firm market segment is not as attractive as it used to be. This is because more and more young people are using other means to watch their favorite movies. This type of business could possibly work if it was attached to some other kind of product, most likely televisions or DVD players. Special promotions could even be used to encourage people to rent a video along with another kind of purchase. 2) I do not agree that the appropriate positioning is obvious once you have identified the right segment. This is because once the right segment has been discovered further research must be done to narrow down the target customer market. This could be done through surveys of focus groups. Also, the market is always evolving and changing, so it is impossible to automatically know where to position a product in the market. 3) An organization’s competitive stance is the segment of the target market that a company chooses to pursue: low-cost supplier, differentiation, or niche marketing. The functional strategy of marketing activity depends on what the competitive stance is. For example, a company that chooses a low-cost strategy must produce its products for as cheaply as possible in order to offer low prices. Also, this company would need to produce far more products than its competitors in order to make any kind of profit. In a well-designed strategy, an organization’s competitive stance and marketing activity can work well together as long as when one changes, the other one changes to reflect that change. 6) Apple has a competitive advantage over its competitors

Leadership in project management.

Leadership in project management. 1: Introduction: Project Management is increasingly becoming an essential element in every organization due to the increase in the need for responding to the changes in the business environment with stiff competition as argued by K. G. Lockyer (2005). This is mainly because of the fact that an organization through the deployment of projects can easily respond to the competition and quickly accomplish the target to achieve competitive advantage in its area of business. Apparently this increases the need for an efficient Project Manager who not only has efficient project management skills but mainly effective leadership skills to lead the team comprising the project to accomplish the set tasks. In this essay the leadership essentials for a Project Manager are critically evaluated with examples in order to create profound understanding among the readers on the need for leadership and its effectiveness in Project Management. 2.0: Leadership in Project Management A project as defined by K. G. Lockyer (2005) has a specific time frame with defined start and end points and is expected to achieve an agreed set of targets with the deployment of resources both men and materials. This makes it clear that the project management not only requires efficient project manager but mainly an efficient project leader who can lead the team effectively. K. G. Lockyer (2005) further argues that the defined duration of the projects which by its very nature makes the project life cycle comparatively over a short period of time to the organization’s overall business process makes it clear that the leadership within a project management environment should not only be spontaneous but mainly focused towards the project and motivate the members of the team to achieve the targets within the agreed framework. The major traits for effective leadership in a project management environment expected out of a project manager are Motivation: Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2001) argue that the motivation is a critical factor for the success of any projects irrespective of the size of investment. This is mainly because of the fact that the project in itself is of a defined duration and within this time frame the co-ordination and management of people with various skills at one place to achieve a common goal requires the project manager to motivate the members continuously. Alongside, it is also interesting to note that in case of projects, the personnel involved who work for the project manager possess measurable experience and have exceptional skills in their field of expertise. Hence motivation in this case is not the interest to work but to create a feeling of responsibility among the team members in order to encourage them to achieve the goals of the project. Jill Goski et al (2002) argues that the project manager will not only face the issue of motivating a team of highly skilled personnel but above all to enable th em work together towards the goal of the project where the issues of power and equity will sprout without having effective motivation skills by the project manager. The success of the Eden project in the UK to provide a variety of enlightening elements to the visitors in order to increase the visitors and raise funds for the Eden charity is a classical example for the success of motivation based leadership of the project managers in the project. Performance Appraisal Performance is an essential element to motivate the staff members in a project as argued by Gail Blackstone (2003). From the case study it is clear that the project involves the use of skilled architects whose performance in the project is the key element for the successful completion of the project itself. This makes it clear that in order to effectively motivate the architects it is essential to conduct regular performance review on a periodical basis by the project manager, which should reflect upon their contribution to the project and add value to their overall performance. Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2001) further argue that the performance review is not only essential for the overall performance of an organization but for each individual segment of the organization especially the projects under progress within the organization. Hence not only the project manager should conduct performance review within the project but provide constructive review to the personnel embracing both the project goals and the organization’s vision. This makes it clear that he performance appraisal within the project management is not only necessary to motivate the personnel within the project but also to contribute to the overall success of the organization. Resource Allocation and management Bennet F. Lawrence (2003) argues that the project managers especially involved in the construction business should consider resource allocation as part of their leadership skills. This is because of the fact that due to the defined life cycle of a project, the resources deployed within the project should not only be accurate but also provide ample support to accomplish the goals of the project. The fact that the project treats the human resource as a refreshable resource (i.e.) a resource that can be shuffled and reshuffled within the project teams as per the requirement makes it clear that the leadership is essential in terms of resource allocation in order to effectively allocate the human resource without the issues of discrimination and de-motivation. This is mainly because of the fact that the frequent changes, which are integral to any project, could affect the nature of work of the people involved in the project, which sometimes may not be appreciated by the members. In order to overcome this issue of resource allocation and establish smooth transition of human resource within the project, it is thus essential for the project manager to effectively lead the members of the team. From the case study it is also clear that the allocation of the architects itself is considered as resource allocation which justifies the above arguments on leadership for resource allocation. Apart from the human resource factor, another major element of the resource allocation from a leadership perspective is the fact that the project when utilising common resources, it is the duty of the project manager to provide effective resource allocation that balances the sharing of resources as well as increases the effectiveness of the project. Furthermore, the fact that the resource allocation should not introduce conflict of interest among the members and also maintain optimum usage of the resources makes it clear that the leadership skills are essential in this area of management for the project manager on top of efficient planning and implementation. Planning Planning is an integral part of any project as argued by K. G. Lockyer (2005) who says that the project leadership embraces the effective planning. This is because, planning is essential not only to efficiently manage the project but also execute the stages of the project efficiently using the resources and the work force available. The fact that the transition of the project from one stage to another is possible only through the effective leadership of the project manager to identify the appropriate personnel for performing a specific role in a given stage and also effectively manage the transition of the leadership and power between leaders of the teams within the project, makes it clear that the planning and control of the plan is an essential leadership factor that should be possessed by the project manager. It is further interesting to note that in an organizational scenario, the term planning is mainly used different from leadership whilst in a project management scenario plann ing embraces leadership. This makes it clear that the planning and control of the plan is not only essential to effectively lead the project members but also deploy the optimum use of the resources within the project itself thus eliminating the wastage of resources. The increase in the use of parallel process and serial process techniques through the Gant charts further makes it clear that the effective planning is an essential leadership quality in order o effectively manage the processes and co-ordinate them together at appropriate points. 3: Conclusion and Recommendations From the above arguments it is clear that the leadership in the project management scenario requires the management tactics to embrace the leadership skills of the project manager. It is also established that the leadership within the project management environment is different to the trivial management environment since the changes accompanied in the project management environment is at a faster rate than in the traditional organization scenario. Hence it is recommended that the leadership in a project management scenario should be treated different to the traditional leadership training and that the managers are provided with the ample support to effectively lead their team to achieve the agreed target for the project. References: Books: Bennet F. Lawrence (2003), The management of construction : a project life cycle approach , UK: Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2001), Personnel Management HRM in Action, UK: Prentice Financial times Journals Gail Blackstone (2003), Performance Management in Project Management, UK: Journal of Personnel Management Goski et al (2002), A Model of Leadership Development, Public Personnel Management, Winter2002, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p517, 6p; (AN 9004393) K. G. Lockyer, (2005), Project management and project network techniques, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times URL(s) http://www.edenproject.com/

Case Study of Market for Tuna Company :: Business Analysis

PRICING To be able to understand how the four types of market affect pricing decisions we must first look at the factors considered when setting prices. As per discussion in class, competitors; consumer perception of price and values; market and demand all together contribute to the pricing decisions. According to the study of Economics these factors are present in the four types of market: Monopoly, Oligopoly, Perfect competition and Monopolistic competition. In monopoly, where there is only one provider of a product or service, the company controls the pricing decision. Seeing that there is none, if not limited, existing competition in the market proves that the company is not dependent on the pricing decision of other electricity service suppliers. A common local example would be Meralco, although there are other electricity providers outside Mega Manila, Meralco is still considered the largest and the most income generating electricity supplier in the country. Being the largest assumes a big bulk of the population demanding and relying on the services it provides, there is not much choice left for the consumers but to patronize Meralco, in effect the charges that the company asserts (under the government’s approval) will always be assimilated by the consumers. The unavailability of other options gave them the position to take control of the pricing of charges. In oligopoly the market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers. Since it is dominated by a small number of sellers, each one is mindful on the act of the other and decisions of each other firms influence one another. There is a concern on the reactions or responses of the other sellers in the markets thus the pricing decision is thought of carefully against the competitor’s pricing decisions, it now becomes dependent on the other participants in the market. The local examples are the prominent landline telecommunication service suppliers such as PLDT, Bayantel, Digitel and Globelines. Based from observations on ads and promotions every time one seller initiates a call charge reduction the other sellers automatically follows the trend. The whole idea in this kind of market is that firms are actually after price decrease, with the hope of gaining a bigger share of the market. Either pricing decision indicates a decrease or increase all actions will create a price wa r response with other sellers. A perfect competition market describes a market setting wherein the buyers and sellers are so numerous that the market price of commodity is no longer in control of either the buyers or the sellers.