The Roman Catholic beliefs and teachings about the sacrament of marriage Essay Example for Free

The Roman Catholic beliefs and teachings about the sacrament of marriage Essay The bible teaches that marriage is scared and that God intended men and women to become one through marriage. Genesis 2:21-24 In the eyes of Catholics, marriage is a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace. When Catholics marry they believe that God ratifies their union. Jesus constantly reminded us that it is through loving that we live life to the full. The more we love, the more we live and accept Gods gift of life. In the love they share in marriage, a man and woman are called to help each other to live and love. They see it as something in which God is deeply involved in and which also involves the whole community. That is why a wedding takes place in a church. Roman Catholics believe that marriage is a covenant. The words contract and covenant are very different. In a contract a person gives in order to receive, a sort of 50 50 deal. To think about marriage as a contract is not good, because if one partner does not give the 50% for one reason or another, the relationship rests on a weak basis and more likely to fail. Marriage is a partnership between two people based on mutual Trust. A covenant is a much richer way to describe marriage, it asks for 100% effort by both partners. The word covenant goes back to the Old Testament times, when God made his promises to various people, e.g. Abraham and Moses. I will be your God and you will be my people. God was faithful to his promise of love even though the Jews often turned away from him. In the New Testament Jesus blood shed for us on the cross is described as the blood of the New Covenant. Marriage as a covenant is creative and is to be open to the procreation of Children. A Christian marriage reflects God who is love. A Christian marriage helps Christians realise that the bond of love between a married couple has not only brought them closer to each other but also brought them closer to Christ. The love of God is shown in the life of Jesus who gave his life to Gods people. Roman Catholics believe that through marriage Gods love is reflected in the love that the husband and wife have for each other. Couples share in an exclusive love like that which God showed to us in the life of his son. St. Paul made the comparison of how a married couple should love each other like Christ loves his followers. Husbands love your wives, just as much as Christ loves the church and gave his life for it.(Ephesians) St. Paul also tells us what this love is like in a letter to the Corinthians Love is always kind, patient, never jealous, it is never rude. The sacrament of marriage gives us an active insight into Gods love for us and how deeply it really is. St. Johns letter shows us a further insight into this love. God is love, and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him Roman Catholics believe marriage is a sacrament, a sign for all to see. In celebrating the sacrament of marriage the couple invite Jesus to be with them in their love and in their married life. The marriage is a sign of Gods love for his people. In the married couple we can see a reflection of Gods unconditional love, therefore marriage is a public sign of love the couple have for each other. My children, our love is not meant to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active. Love is something that is to be lived out though each other and through the eyes of god. In the service and at the time of the sacrament the couple profess their love for each other in-front of God. We promise to love each other truly, for better, for worse, for richer In the Book of Genesis we learn more about the sacrament of marriage, It is not good for the man to be alone, I will give him a help mate. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. Marriage is only made holy in the sacrament and it is a celebration shared with a community. Roman Catholics believe marriage is exclusive. To live out the sacrament of marriage to the full the couple must be prepared to love each other exclusively and their commitment of unconditional love and fidelity for the rest of their lives. Thou shall not commit adultery is the sixth commandment and adultery is a betrayal of the permanent commitment of love that a person has made. That commitment is will you love and honour each other for life. In taking this commitment it should not be broken, trust can be lost and a parent who commits adultery betrays the children of the marriage by putting at risk the stability and secure love a family should provide. Every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband. A man should fulfil the duty as a husband and a woman should fulfil her duty as a wife. (Corinthians 7:10-11) Marriage in the Christian tradition is a lifelong commitment of one partner to the other, and is based on the teaching of Jesus on the permance of marriage. Roman Catholics believe that marriage is life giving and should be open to the transmission of new life. Marriage is life giving and it involves responsible parenthood. The love exchanged in sex creative and should always be open. Every marriage should remain open to the transmission of life. Humanae Vitae. Families develop from the loving relationship of a married couple. Will you accept children lovingly from God. The love, which is shared, is not for the couple alone instead love is always creative. In Gods plan for the world the union of man and wife was designed not only for mutual happiness but so that through their love, God could continue his creative work. Christians understand that marriage is usually an invitation from God to co-operate with him in bringing new life into the world. Roman Catholics believe that marriage is permanent. Marriage in the Christian tradition is a life long commitment. In the beginning, at the time of creation God made male and female for this reason, a man will leave his mother and father and the two will become one. Jesus underlines in these words the permanence of marriage. Catholics believe a marriage between Christians can never be dissolved so although for legal reasons a catholic may get a civil divorce the church still considers them to be married and they can not remarry in the church all the days of our lives until death do us part This shows the couples commitment to each other is for life and is emphasised in their vows. Marriage is an exclusive relationship in that married people remain faithful to each other Will you love and honour each other for life In the Catholic church only annulment or death of one partner frees a person to remarry in the church. In the Church of England they teach that marriage is for life but accepts there may be circumstances where the vows cant be kept. The church prays for forgiveness and acknowledges for some divorce and remarriage. The Orthodox Church teaches wedding vows are taken with every intention of being kept but there are times this doesnt happen thus the couple should be realised from their vows. Some free churches say it is not the death of one of the spouses that end a marriage but the death of the love between the couple, so it is better to divorce than to live a lie. All denominations teach that marriage is for life; it is when things go wrong they take a different attitude. When things go wrong separation is not the only option, there is help groups such as RELATE and ACCORD who offer guidance for the couples who are finding married life difficult, these groups try to keep the marriage permanent by solving the problems that are causing the marriage to be difficult instead of avoiding the problem which can end in divorce.

Nocardia Isolation by Paraffin Baiting Technique

Nocardia Isolation by Paraffin Baiting Technique Nocardia isolation from clinical samples with paraffin baiting technique Abstract Background: The genus Nocardia is cause infection in lung, skin, brain, cerebrospinal, eyes, joints and kidneys. This bacterium is slow-growing and it is difficult to isolate of polymicrobial specimens. Several methods have been reported for Nocardia isolation from clinical samples. In current study, we used of three methods such as paraffin baiting technique, paraffin agar, and conventional media for Nocardia isolation of various clinical specimens from Iranian patients. Methods: In this study, we collected five hundred and seventeen from various clinical specimens including sputum of patients with suspected tuberculosis, bronchoalveolar lavage, sputum of patients withcystic fibrosis, trachea, cutaneous and subcutaneous abscess, cerebrospinal fluid, dental abscess, mycetoma, wound, bone marrow biopsy, and gastric lavage. Smears of all clinical specimens were investigated with Gram stain, partially acid fast and kinyoun stain. All collected specimens were cultured on to carbon free broth tube (paraffin baiting technique), paraffin agar, sabouraud dextrose agar, sabouraud dextrose agar with cycloheximide and incubated at 35 °C. Results: In direct microscopy, partially acid fast and Gram staining were seen positive for five and three clinical specimens respectively and the kinyoun stain were negative for all isolates. Seven isolates of clinical specimens were isolated with paraffin baiting technique. In our study, paraffin baiting technique is more effective than conventional media and paraffin agar for Nocardia isolation. Conclusions: In the present study, shown that use of paraffin baiting technique is more effective of other methods for Nocardia isolation of various clinical specimens. Key words: Nocardia, Paraffin baiting technique, Paraffin agar, Sabouraud dextrose agar Introduction Nocardia spp. are group aerobic actinomycetes, gram positive rods, partially acid fast, non-motile, filamentous branches, catalase positive and methenamine silver-positive [1-3]. The genus Nocardia is opportunistic pathogens [2] that are found around the natural environments. This bacterium is not part of normal microbialflora in human body and animals [1, 4, 5] as well as, there is no report of person to person transmission [5]. This microorganism first introduced by Edmond in 1888 [1, 6]. Nocardia species are cause serious infections in different parts of the body especially lung and skin [6]. Nocardial infections acquired via inhalation of aerosolsor skin damage [7]. In recent years, nocardiosis increased in immune disorder diseases such as Pemphigus disorder, Behà §et’s disease, malignancy, organ transplantation [8-10]. Todate, isolation and identification of Nocardia is improved from clinical specimens [11, 12]. Clinical diagnosis in nocardiosis is controversial and clin ical signs are not specific for this bacterium. Standard tool in Nocardia infections identification are including: isolation and pure culture, Gram stain and partially acid-fast [12, 13]. Nocardia species are slow growing bacteria and isolation this bacterium of polymicrobial specimens is difficult in clinical microbiology laboratory [14]. Decontamination of pulmonary specimens such as sputum is toxic for the genus Nocardia. Paraffin baiting technique was reported for Nocardia and mycobacteria isolation of soil [15]. Paraffin baiting technique was reported that is successfully for Nocardia isolation of various clinical specimens especially poly microbial specimens such as sputum [3,14, 16]. The aim of this study is unique for two reasons: The first aim of this study were comparison of paraffin baiting technique with other methods such as conventional media including sabouraud dextrose agar, sabouraud dextrose agar with cycloheximide and paraffin agar to isolate Nocardia from various clinical specimens such as bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), sputum of patients with suspected tuberculosis, sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis, cutaneous abscess, cerebrospinal fluid(CSF), dental abscess, mycetoma, trachea, wound, bone marrow biopsy and gastric lavage. The second aim was to estimate the prevalence of Nocardia infection in Iranian patients. There are few numbers of case reports of Nocardia infection and there is no comprehensive database of nocardiosis, therefore, it is essential to better assess the prevalence of this bacteria. Methods Sample collection Five hundred and seventeen various clinical specimens such as sputum of patients with suspected tuberculosis, sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis, BAL, cutaneous and subcutaneous abscess, CSF, dental abscess, mycetoma, wound, bone marrow biopsy, gastric lavage and trachea were collected between February 28, 2011 through March 8, 2013 (Table 1). Direct microscopy All clinical specimens were examined with direct microscopy. The first, clinical specimens were homogenized and were centrifuged in 10000 rpm for 10 minutes and the supernatant was discarded. The smears were prepared from the sediments and were stained with Gram stain, partially acid fast and Kinyoun stain. Culture on different media Sediment of specimens were inoculated on sabouraud dextrose agar (Merck- Germany), sabouraud dextrose agar with cycloheximide(cycloheximide-Sigma-Aldrich-USA), paraffin agar (KH2PO4, K2HPO4, NH4Cl, NH4NO3, MgSO4 .7H20, ZnSO4, FeSO4, MnSO4, Bacto- Agar and Distilled water) and McClungs carbon-free broth tube (MgSO4 7H2O: 0.5 g, ZnSO4: 2 mg, FeCl3: 10 mg, MnCl2. 4H2O: 8 mg, K2HPO4: 0.8 g, NaNO3: 2 g, Distilled water: 1lit, pH 7.2) with paraffin coated glass rod placed. Tubes were incubated at 35 °C for one month with daily controlled [14, 17]. Results Examination of stained smears in direct microscopic, were detected three specimens with Gram staining and five specimens with partially acid fast staining and all smears were negative for Kinyoun stain. In McClungs carbon-free broth, colonies similar cream to white-colored appearing on the paraffin-coated glass rod (Figure 1). Colonies similar to the genus Nocardia were cultured on nutrient agar and were purified (Figure 2). Colonies were stained with Gram positive and partially acid fast and were negative for Kinyoun stain. All clinical isolates were grown in lysozyme broth medium. Seven specimens were positive for the genus Nocardia (1.3%) with paraffin baiting technique as compared with sabouraud dextrose agar and sabouraud dextrose agar with cycloheximide and paraffin agar (Table 1). In comparative to various media, paraffin baiting technique was better in the isolation Nocardia, so this technique is effective and specific for Nocardia isolation of various clinical specimens espe cially poly microbial samples (Table 1). Prevalence of nocardiosis in sputum (238 specimens), BAL (143 specimens) and cutaneous abscess (45 specimens) were 1.6%, 1.3%, 2.2%, respectively. In our study, we isolated one Nocardia spp. from cutaneous abscess of patient with Pemphigus disorder. Discussion In scientific resource, recommended the use of paraffin baiting technique for isolation Nocardia from polymicrobial flora such as sputum [18]. Nocardia spp. utilized of paraffin wax as the sole carbon source [15, 19]. It has been reported different medium containing antibiotic for isolation this organism such as chloramphenicol with sabouraud dextrose agar. Some species of the genus Nocardia are susceptible to chloramphenicol [16]. A wide range of nocardiosis occurs in Immunocompromised and immunosuppressive patients [8-10]. Mycobacterium tuberculosis mimicking pulmonary nocardiosis so isolation and identification Nocardia is very important because treatment in two organisms is difficult. In a study by Mishra and colleagues in 1969, they investigated 555 clinical specimens such as sputum, BAL and Gastric lavage and were positive respectively 10, 1 and 1 about Nocardia spp. [19]. Singh et al surveyed 1510 sputum specimens and results showed paraffin baiting method has higher efficacy of sabouraud dextrose agar [17]. Another study by Venugopal et al were examined 350 sputum, BAL, pleural fluid, pus , biopsy specimens and isolated 15 strains of Nocardia [20]. A study in 2001 from Iran, Eshraghi et al surveyed 142 sputum specimens and was positive 1 isolate (0.7%) but in our study was positive 4 isolates (1.3%) of 291 sputum of patients with suspected tuberculosis. The results show that Nocardia infection is increasing in Iranian patients. The reports showed paraffin baiting technique is more selective and effective than usual medium and paraffin agar. Conclusions We recommended that the be used of paraffin baiting technique for Nocardia isolation in clinical laboratories. due to aging and autoimmune or immune disorders in Iranian patients, isolation Nocardia spp is very necessary for treatment. Acknowledgments This study was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Deputy of Research. References 1.Eshraghi SS Molecular typing of Nocardia species. J Med Bacteriol 2012; 1(1): 38-45. 2.Budzik JM, Hosseini M, Mackinnon AC Jr, et al. Disseminated Nocardia farcinica: literature review and fatal outcome in an immunocompetent patient. Surg. Infect 2012; 13(3): 163-170. 3.Hollick GE. Nocardiosis. clinical microbiology newsletter 1988; 10(14): 105-109. 4.Eshraghi S, Amin M. Nocardia asteroides complex in patient with symptomatic pulmonary nocardiosis in a patient with bronchiectasis. Iran J Public Health 2001(3-4); 30: 99-102. 5.Stevens DA, Pier AC, Beaman BL, et al. Laboratory evaluation of an outbreak of nocardiosis in immunocompromised hosts. Am J Med 1981; 71(6): 928-934. 6.Brown-Elliott BA, Brown JM, Conville PS, et al. Clinical and laboratory features of the Nocardia spp. based on current molecular taxonomy. Clin Microbiol Rev 2006; 19(2): 259-282. 7.Patel MP, Kute VB, Gumber MR, , et al. Successful treatment of Nocardia pneumonia with cytomegalovirus retinitis coinfection in a renal transplant recipient. Int Urol Nephrol 2012; 45: 581-5. 8.Poonwan N, Kusum M, Mikami Y, , et al. Pathogenic Nocardia isolated from clinical specimens including those of AIDS patients in Thailand. Eur J Epidemiol 1995; 11(5): 507-512. 9.Srifuengfung S, Poonwan N, Tribuddharat C, et al. Prevalence of Nocardia species isolated from patients with respiratory tract infections at siriraj hospital, Thailand. J Infect Dis Antimicrob Agents 2007; 24: 1-6. 10.Sahathevan M, Harvey FA, Forbes G, et al. Epidemiology, bacteriology and control of an outbreak of Nocardia asteroides infection on a liver unit. J Hosp 1991; 18: 473-480. 11.Das D. Actinomycosis in fine needle aspiration cytology. Cytopathology 1994;5(4): 243-250. 12.Wada R., Itabashi C, Nakayama Y, et al. Chronic granulomatous pleuritis caused by Nocardia: PCR based diagnosis by nocardial 16S rDNA in pathological specimens. J Clin Pathol 2003; 56(12): 966-969. 13.Gupta N, Srinivasan R, Kumar R, et al. Two cases of nocardiosis diagnosed by fineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ needle aspiration cytology: Role of special stains. Diagn Cytopathol 2011; 39(5): 363-364. 14.Shawar RM, Moore DG, LaRocco MT. Cultivation of Nocardia spp. on chemically defined media for selective recovery of isolates from clinical specimens. J Clin Microbio l 1990; 28(3): 508-512. 15.Narang P, Dey S, Mendiratta D. Paraffin slide culture technique for Baiting Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria. Indian. J. Tuberc 2000; 47(4): 219-222. 16.Garrett M, Holmes H, Nolte F. Selective buffered charcoal-yeast extract medium for isolation of Nocardiae from mixed cultures. J Clin Microbiol 1992; 30(7): 1891-1892. 17.Singh M, Sandhu RS, Randhawa HS. Comparison of paraffin baiting and conventional culture techniques for isolation of Nocardia asteroides from sputum. J Clin Microbiol 1987; 25(1): 176-177. 18.  Yu C T, Chua JA. Nocardiosis. PJMID 2001; 30: 56-61. 19.Mishra S, Randhawa H. Application of paraffin bait technique to the isolation of Nocardia asteroides from clinical specimens. Appl Microbiol 1969; 18(4): 686-687. 20.Venugopal PV, Taralakshmi VV, Subramanian S, , et al. Nocardia species from bronchopulmonary infections and mycetomas. Sabouraudia 1980; 18(1): 11-18. Figure 1. Isolation and growth Nocardia on paraffin coated glass rod Figure 2. Nocardia grown on nutrient agar medium 1

Strategic Decisions for Sustainable Competitive Advanatage

Strategic Decisions for Sustainable Competitive Advanatage Introduction Competitive Advantage According to Daft, strategy is the plan of action that allocates resources and activities and aims at dealing with the environment, achieving a competitive advantage and attaining the organisations goals. Competitive advantage refers to what sets the organisation apart from others and provides it with a distinctive edge for meeting customer needs in the marketplace (Daft 2006, p.274). The choice that will make the organisation different is the essence of formulating strategy (Porter 1996). In order to remain competitive, companies need to focus on core competencies, develop synergy and create value. According to Kotler, competitive advantage is a companys ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match (Kotler 2006, p.150). A competitive advantage is said to be sustainable when it has the means to edge out rivals when competing for the favours of customers (Porter 1980). Although sustainability is the ideal case for advantages, the most common competitive advantages are leverageable, which means that a company can use them as a catalyst to new ones. The competitive advantages that companies develop will fail if the costumers do not value them as important. Therefore companies must focus on building customer advantages. Porter argues that competitive advantage results from a organisations ability to perform the required activities at a collectively lower cost than rivals, or perform some activities in unique ways that create buyer value and hence allow the organisations to command a premium price (Porter 1991, p.102). This report will try to investigate the strategic decisions to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Four different theories will be examined: The SCP paradigm, Porters generic strategies, the resource-based approach and the core competences model. These theories, along with the the compliance and choice paradox will be tested through application in practice at the industry of gaming consoles. The SCP framework In the structure conduct performance (SCP) framework (Anonymous 2007), the way in which the organisation acts is determined by external forces in the industry (market or industrial structure). This school of thought argues that the structure of an industry will determine the strategies (conduct) and that this in turn will determine performance. Market structure: the degree of market concentration, product differentiation, barriers to entry and exit, vertical integration and diversification. Conduct: goals of the organisations, strategies, anti-competitive practices, research and innovation, advertising etc. Performance: a number of performance indicators, output growth, sales revenue growth, profitability, technical progress, employment, efficiency, added shareholder value, added economic value. Therefore, the structure of the industry is the key parameter in the formation of strategy. Not all strategies are appropriate for all industries, Successful strategies may fail (not produce the intended outcome) if applied as-is in a different environment. However, this linear paradigm proves itself too deterministic. When strategic managers apply this approach, they take the industrial structure as a given. In this way, their job is to respond to the external forces and plan their strategies in an automated way by analysing the competitive environment. However in many industries the environment follows turbulence change. Strategists tend to change the environment by designing strategies that will shape it to their needs and their advantage, instead of being spectators to the change. In these cases, the industry structure is being shaped by the strategies, and not the other way round as the SCP paradigm argues. Five Forces and Generic Strategies Michael Porters (Porter 1980) work is organisationally rooted in the SCP paradigm. According to his approach, two factors underlie the choice of competitive strategy. Industry attractiveness and the factors that determine it. The determinants of relative competitive position within an industry. In order to analyse the industry attractiveness, Porter developed the Five Forces model. According to that, in any industry competition is mutually influenced by five forces: The entry of new competitors, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers and the rivalry amongst the competitors. Although the Five forces model roots within the SCP approach, Porter differentiates in that he argues that an organisation is not a prisoner of its industry structure. Through their strategies, organisations can shape industry by influencing the competitive forces. For example, industry leaders can influence buyers, suppliers and other competitors, and subsequently shape the underlying industry structure. Competitive strategy is also influenced by the specific relative position within the industry. Through positioning, organisations can possess two basic types of competitive advantage: low cost and differentiation. These types of competitive advantage result from the ability to cope with the industrial forces better than the competitors. Porter introduces three generic competitive strategies for achieving above-average performance in an industry. Cost leadership, when the organisation tries to become the low-cost producer or operator of the industry. Risks associated with cost leadership include: Changes in technology allow new entrants to become themselves the cost leaders. This risk is minimised by constant research and development, but obviously such investments require rise of costs. Margins fall when costs rise (by internal or external factors). In such scenarios, the differentiation advantage may overcome the cost leadership one. Differentiation, when the organisation seeks to be unique within the industry along some dimensions that are valued by buyers (higher quality, more functions etc). If it succeeds, it is then rewarded for its uniqueness with a premium price. However, when choosing to differentiate, companies should seek appropriate ways that lead to a price premium greater than the cost of differentiating. Risks of this strategy include: Costumers may choose another differentiated product which they value more, or their needs change over time. Costumers may choose the low-cost products, especially when the price difference tends to be high. Other competitors may imitate the chosen differentiation. Focus, which rests on the choice of a narrow competitive scope within an industry and the optimisation of the strategy for the target segment. In cost focus an organisation seeks a cost advantage in the target segment. In differentiation focus, the organisation seeks differentiation in the narrow segment. Risks associated with focus are: The focus strategy is imitated. In order for this to be avoided, entry barriers are required (e.g. assets valued by the costumers such as customer care services, reputation, etc). The target segment becomes unattractive. Broadly targeted competitors dominate the segment. Again, entry barriers will sustain the competitive advantage experienced. Organisations that try to position on more than one generic strategy but fail to achieve any of them are stuck in the middle. Not only they do not possess a competitive advantage, but they are in a disadvantage situation, since the cost-leader, the differentiators or the focusers are already better positioned. Although Porters positioning framework is an industry standard for more than twenty years, Mintzberg (1998) argues that it constrains creative thought. Strategists do not think outside the box and the given options (cost leadership, differentiation and focus) tend to minimise the process of strategic thinking. Resource-based view According to Barney (1991), the environmental models of competitive advantage have assumed that organisations within an industry are identical in terms of the resources they control and the strategy they pursue. Further, they assume that if resource heterogeneity develops within an industry, it will not last long since strategic resources are highly mobile (they can be bought and sold). The proposed resource-based view substitutes these assumptions. The model assumes that strategic resources can be heterogeneous and that these resources may not be perfectly mobile. Organisations resources include all assets, capabilities, processes, attributes, information, knowledge, etc, controlled by an organisation that enable it to implement strategies that promote efficiency. In order for a resource to hold the potential of sustained competitive advantage, it must have four attributes. It must be valuable, exploiting opportunities and neutralising threats. It must be rare among existing and potential competitors. A valuable resource cannot be considered as a source of competitive advantage if it is shared amongst a large number of organisations, because all organisations will have the capability to exploit it and will be lead to a common strategy It must be imperfectly imitable. Valuable and rare resources can only be sources of sustained competitive advantage if competitors that do not possess them cannot obtain them. There cannot be strategically equivalent substitutes. Organisation resources are strategically equivalent when they can be exploited separately to implement the same strategy. That is, an organisation may be able to substitute a similar resource that enables it to conceive and implement the same strategy. Further, very different resources may also be strategic substitutes. The proposed framework reasons that resources heterogeneity and immobility within an industry allow organisation resources to be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and not easily substitutable. Such resources will then lead to exploiting opportunities and neutralising threats, in order for sustained competitive advantage to be achieved. It should be noted that a distinction is drawn in the literature between resources (tangible) and capabilities (less tangible) (Anonymous 2007). The framework of Barney unites both resources and capabilities under the umbrella of resources. Core competences There are some capabilities that are much less visible and they are more difficult to imitate and establish competitive advantage. These are referred to as core competences (Anonymous 2007). Phahalad and Hamel (1990) take the resource-based approach one step further, through the notion of core competencies. They argue that in the long run, competitive advantage depends on the ability to build core competencies at lower cost and more speedily. Management should consolidate corporate-wide technologies and production skills into competencies that empower individual businesses to adapt promptly to environmental changes. Three criteria are being used in order to categorise a capability as a core competence. A core competence should provide potential access to a wide variety of markets. It should make a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end-product. Finally, it should be difficult for competitors to imitate. Examples of core competencies include Apples ability to create from scratch and innovate and Sonys ability to miniature. According to this framework, the common mistake that companies do is to outsource and finally lose their core competences, led to this by the strict perception of competitiveness in terms of price/performance. Although a more competitive product may result, competitiveness cannot be sustained as core competences will be surrendered. Another common mistake is that companies often miss opportunities to establish competences that are evolving in existing business. At the Strategic Business Unit level, existing core competencies are often being sabotaged by underinvestment and improper allocation, which may result in atrophy and missing opportunities. Case study: Seventh Generation of video gaming consoles The seventh generation of video gaming consoles is a competition between Sonys Playstation 3, Microsofts Xbox 360 and Nintendos Wii and started on November 2005 with the release of Xbox 360. Although gaming is the main characteristic and attribute of these products, the war of High-Definition (HD) video formats between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, two incompatible formats that tried to improve and replace the DVD standard, affected the industry (ref: wikipedia HD war). Microsoft and Sony approached the market with cutting-edge graphics and expensive technology as well as HD video capabilities. Both consoles target hard-core and casual gamers. Microsoft, being a member of the HD-DVD alliance chose to offer the HD-DVD option as a peripheral for its device, while Sony, a founding member of the Bly-ray alliance chose to integrate the Blu-ray player within PS3. On the other hand, Nintendo chose to differentiate. Nintendo did not take any sides at the format war. Wii targets a broader demographic than that of Microsofts Xbox 360 and Sonys PlayStation 3, as Nintendo planned to attract current hard-core and casual gamers, non-gamers, and lapsed gamers by focusing on new gameplay experiences and new forms of interaction with games. The differentiating feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect acceleration and orientation in three dimensions. Positioning of the rivals Competitive Scope: As analysed before, Microsoft and Sony both targeted the hard-core and the casual gamers. Nintendo on the other hand targeted broader demographic including non-gamers and lapsed gamers. According to Porters framework, the generic strategies can be divided into two categories in terms of the competitive scope: Broad Target and Narrow Target. Therefore, in the console industry Nintendo can be positioned within the Broad Target while Microsoft and Sony are positioned within the Narrow Target. Cost: The choices of the competitors regarding their hardware shaped their manufacturing costs to a great extent. Indeed, Sony chose to compete using a new cpu processor (Cell) with a high production cost as well as by integrating the newly arrived Blu-Ray technology. Thus, Sony became the high-cost producer of the industry, with each console costing around $800 to produce (ref:Joystiq). Microsoft utilised industry standard high-end CPUs and GPUs and although they strongly supported the success of the HD-DVD format, they decided to offer the HD-Dvd option as a peripheral component. This resulted in Microsoft being the low-cost producer of the Narrow Market (Cost Focus). Nintendo managed to keep the manufacturing costs very low by not following the path of high-end graphics. Wii (ref: Kotaku) is not only the console with the less production cost, but it is the only one that has an actual profit from every unit sold (Cost leadership). Differentiation: In the Narrow Target, Sony is the company that differentiates its products with the integration of the Blu-Ray drive, which enables the consumers to enter the High Definition video era (Differentiation Focus). In the Broad Target, Nintendo differentiates the whole idea of gaming experience and fun by installing the Wii Remote (Broad Differentiation). The success on the Nintendos case is that the company differentiated the attributes but the costs did not rise. What is clear from this table in combination with the actual sales numbers is that Nintendo managed well in positioning in more than one generic strategy. That of course was a risk, as Porter (1985) claims that achieving cost leadership and differentiation is usually inconsistent, and may lead to stuck in the middle situations. Also, it should be pointed out that the type of Differentiation that Sony chose (Blu-Ray integration) involved high risks. At the time of the launch the battle for the domination of a new HD format had just started. In the case of a possible win of the HD DVD format, it is obvious that Sony would lose that differentiation competitive advantage and would need to re-plan its strategy. On February 2008 Toshiba, HD DVDs creator, announced plans to cease development, manufacturing and marketing of HD DVD players and recorders, giving an end to this war and announcing Blu-Ray as the winner (ref:wikipedia HD war). Its obvious that Sonys differentiation policy will start to pay-off from now on, but until Toshibas announcement the differentiation policy was not valued highly by the consumers, thus not constituting a competitive advantage. Compliance and Choice: The Nintendo case A question is raised on whether or not an organisation should attempt to shape its industry. If an organisation can lead industry developments, the results will be attractive. If the industry norms that are being questioned prove themselves immutable, the attempt might prove suicidal. When the structure of the industry cannot be influenced, compliance to the industry norms is the strategic rule and managers should adapt the organisations to the industry context. On the other hand, when they have the ability to influence the industry structure they should break industry norms by exercising their freedom of choice. In this case managers efforts should be on the direction of changing the terms of competition on their own advantage (De Wit 2004). Up to the seventh generation of video gaming consoles, the industry rules dictated that the consoles should compete in a range of different characteristics such as graphics power, cpu power and exclusive game titles. If a company could top these characteristics, their console would dominate the industry. Sony dominated the sixth generation taking advantage of their ability to have a wide variety of anticipated exclusive game titles. At the seventh generation, Sony and Microsoft compete by following the industry recipe of cutting-edge graphics and exclusive titles. Nintendo tried to shape the rules, by choosing not to compete on the graphics war, but instead pushed the industry to another direction. The Wii Remote controller makes games more fun and gamers experience new forms of interaction (ref: wikipedia 7th generation). The reception of the console by the press was a great success. The console received many different awards, including an Emmy for Game Controller Innovation by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a Golden Joystick for Innovation of the Year 2007 at the Golden Joystick Awards and the award in breakthrough technology by Spike TVs Video Games. The reception by the market was even greater. Wii is the best selling 7th generation console worldwide. It even outsold Microsofts 360, which launched a year earlier (ref:wikipedia Wii). Nintendos choice of not following the industry recipe paid off. This move granted a competitive advantage because consumers valued the industry shift. If Nintendos estimations regarding the perception of the value were wrong, the company would have failed in this generation. But since they proved correct, they can claim that they are the 7th generation industry leaders. Microsofts Resources and Core Competences Microsoft decided to seek competitive advantage in the industry by utilising their capabilities and competences. One of the main capabilities of Microsoft is creating operating systems and software. Therefore, they developed the Xbox Live service (ref: wikipedia Xbox Live), a unified online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service which integrated many different features that added value to the console, including Friends list and Recent player list Windows Live messenger integration Voice and Video Chat Video Chat Multiplayer online gameplay Parental controls, limiting childrens exposure to other users (Family Settings) This capability of Microsoft is a core competence because it fits the description: It provides potential access to a wide variety of markets (software market, services market, gaming industry). It makes a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end-product. Finally, it is difficult for competitors to imitate, since neither Sony nor Nintendo have software expertise. They both developed online services through outsourcing but they still have not managed to make them as unified and full of features as the Xbox Live. Competing with Sony for the hard-core and casual gamers, Microsoft used its core competences and resources and finally managed to gain competitive advantage. The task was not so easy because the brand name of Playstation was almost a synonym for gaming console in the previous generations. However, the sales numbers indicate that Sony is far behind Microsoft in the 7th generation consoles war. Conclusion The search for competitive advantage is of great importance for every organisation. This report investigated the strategic decisions to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through the examination of four different theories. The SCP framework is a deterministic approach. It is argued that the structure of an industry will determine the strategies and that these in turn will determine performance. Porter, although routed in the SCP framework, recognises that an organisation is not imprisoned by the structure. He introduces the Five Forces framework to analyse the industry attractiveness which plays an important role, but also argues that an organisations competitive success depends on the competitive position within the industry through three generic strategies: Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. However, Mintzberg criticises in that the given options of generic strategies minimise strategic thinking. The resource-based view and the core competences models argue that sustained competitive advantage resides on the development and usage of resources, capabilities and competences. In the 7th generation of video gaming consoles the three competitors tried to gain competitive advantage through different ways. Microsoft utilised its core competences (software development) and resources and established an online environment to support its Xbox 360 console. On the other hand, Nintendo achieved competitive advantage by positioning at both Cost Leadership and Differentiation. In addition to that, Nintendo risked by choosing not to comply with the industry norms of high-end graphics but to try to shape the industry towards innovative gameplay experience. As the numbers indicate the competitive strategies chosen by both Nintendo and Microsoft have paid-off. Sony risked by choosing to differentiate with the integration of the Blu-Ray optical drive. If the format war had ended in favour of HD DVD, Sonys differentiation would have been vanished. In addition, the differentiation introduced by Sony was not highly valued by the consumers while the war was in progress, and th e numbers indicate that Sony has already fallen behind. The application of the theories in practice revealed that differentiation strategies involve high risks. However, if successful, the rewards can be enormous. Not following the industry norms is again risky, but managing to finally shape the industry will show the way to the market leader position. References Anonymous (2007), Strategic Analysis and Choice Module Book Edition 12, Management Centre, University of Leicester Barney, J. B. (1991), Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 99-120. Daft, R. L. (2006), The new era of management, International Edition, South-Western, London De Wit, B. and Meyer, R. (2004), Strategy: Process, Content Context 3rd edition, Thomson Learning, London Joystiq, http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/18/playstation-3-estimated-to-cost-900-per-unit/, [25 February 2008] Kotaku, http://kotaku.com/gaming/wii/wii-autopsy-discovers-manufacturing-cost-221736.php, [25 February 2008] Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. (2006), Marketing Management 12e, Pearson Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (1998), Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Strategic Management, Simon Schuster, New York, NY, 1998, p. 119. Phahalad, C. K. and Hamel, G. (1990), The core competence of the corporation, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, No. 3, May-June, pp. 79-91 Porter, M. E. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, Free Press, New York Porter, M. E. (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance, Free Press, New York Porter, M. E. (1991), Towards a Dynamic Theory of Strategy, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12, 1991, pp.95-117 Porter, M. E. (1996), What is Strategy?, Harvard Business Review, November December 1996, pp.61-78 Seekingalpha, http://seekingalpha.com/article/34357-game-console-wars-ii-nintendo-shaves-off-profits-leaving-competition-scruffy, [25 February 2008] Wikipedia 7th generation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28seventh_generation%29, [25 February 2008] Wikipedia HD war, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats [25 February 2008] Wikipedia Xbox Live, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live, [25 February 2008] Wikipedia Wii, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii, [25 February 2008]

hmos takes the care out of health care Essay -- essays research papers

HMOs Take The ‘Care’ Out Of Health Care.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1990s insurance companies, in attempt to control spiraling medical costs, created what would be termed â€Å"health maintenance organizations†, also known as HMOs. What HMOs do is create a team of physicians and medical personnel that the patients agrees to use. Within the contracts both the patient and the doctor sign, limits and restrictions are put on what the hospital will reimburse and what they will or will not provide in order to keep the costs down. At the beginning, these organizations were successful in bringing medical costs down and has made health insurance more affordable than ever. However, the contracts that the HMOs have you sign basically limits the doctor on how he or she can treat their patients, thus putting their job as the physician in the hands of the HMO. As profits began to go up and down these organizations have put more effort into keeping their costs down and have lost sight of actually caring fir the patients they are insuring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To prove my thesis in this paper I will discuss how our senior citizens and the chronically ill have been hurt by recent cuts their HMOs have made. I will discuss the many reports of HMO negligence and the issues concerning the patient doctor relationship. I will also go into what actions, or lack thereof, our government has taken in response to HMO woes. All of these points will show that HMOs have lost the concept for caring for their patients including our elders who are one genre that are being hit hard by the actions these HMOs have taken.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In January of 2001, nearly one million senior citizens were kicked out of their Medicare health plan (â€Å"What’s Behind† 1). Why have so many HMOs dropped these health plans? The reason why is because these Medicare programs are for the elderly only and simply were not profitting, and in response, the insurance companies shut them down. The HMOs claim that federal reimbursement levels were not keeping up with the medical cost inflation forcing them to cut these programs. For instance, in 2001, the government’s reimbursement to the HMOs went up only 2 percent while the insurance company’s costs went up between 11 and 13 percent (par.3). Though the reimbursement level issues may have contributed to the HMOs decision to cut these pro... ...ted high levels of stress associated with dealing the multiple agencies and healthcare providers. Since managed care’s beginning, the way medical care has been provided and delivered as drastically changed, and this trend is more than likely to continue. No one is going to be hit harder by these changes than the families who have children with complex chronic medical conditions. Work Cited Alleger, Irene. â€Å"HMO’s- Business Masquerading as Medical Care.† Towsned Letter for Doctors and Patients 215 (2002): 135. par. 9. Almanac of Policy Issues. â€Å"Universal Health Care Coverage.† March 29, 2005. American Medical Student Association. â€Å"Myths & Facts About Single-Payer Universal Coverage.† Marc.h 29, 2005 Canadian Health Care . â€Å"Canadian Health Care.† March 29,2005. â€Å"HHS:HMO’s Ignore Medical Incompotence.† International Council fpr Health & Human Services 5.21 (2001): 1-2 par. 17. Tuleya, R.J. â€Å"The HMO Dilema.† Nutrition Health Review: The Consumer’s Medical Journal 79 (1999): 3. par. 22. â€Å"What’s Behind the Medicare Woes?† People’s Medical Society Newsletter 19.6 (2001): 1-2 par. 7. Universal Health Care. â€Å"Summary of recommendations Poor Health and Homeless. March 29, 2005.

The Little Prince :: essays research papers

THE LITTLE PRINCE The Little Prince was one of the first books that got me interested in reading. I got it as a present from my mother when I was nine together with Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Since then, I have gotten it as gift four times and read it at least ten times. After each reading, I seem to come away with different insights from the book depending on what stage of my life I was in or what my situation was. It strikes me that this book, first published in 1943, holds timeless truths on many different levels. It tells the truth of love, the truth of perspective, and the truth of childhood innocence, to name just a few. Of all the people who teach us about life’s meaning it is not the Socrates or the Platos of the world that we find truly touching or moving. Instead, we find that simple naà ¯ve people can offer us the most profound insights into life because of this very simplicity. They offer us a new perspective on things that we take for granted or things that we fail to even stop to look at. The beauty of a flower or a friendship can be easily overlooked unless it is brought to light through the eyes of a child or character possessing the same qualities of untainted observation that children so often have. It is this innocence and simplicity that sticks to my mind and that impacts me the most. It reminds me to go back to basics and to re-learn to relax and to appreciate the simple pleasures that life brings. Sometimes I get too caught up in everyday realities that I forget what is really important to me – my family and friends. How many times do we miss the message of love that people send to us because we are too busy? How many times have we missed the signs that people around us are seeking desperately for a simple gesture of love - a smile, a wave, a kind touch on the hands or shoulders or simply a gentle look? I sometimes forget how these simple gestures can change or affect lives of people around me. I do not have to knock myself out to help others; I simply have to show I care. The Little Prince is a good novel, in great part, because it has very entertaining characters.

A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

This work of art is set in pre-independent Kenya as the struggle between the colonizers and the Africans escalate. It gives a clear picture of colonial Kenya as it were and as the Africans tried to resist British rule through the Mau Mau guerillas.A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a novel that illustrates the people of Kenya and each of their personal journeys as they all struggled for independence through the use of a few characters.   According to Nadine Gordimer, ‘it is an extremely interesting piece of work because it brings a new theme to African literature-the effects on a people of the changes brought about in themselves by the demands of a bloody and bitter struggle for independence’ p 226Mugo is depicted in the novel as one of the major characters. He is seen as an introvert and mostly keeps to himself. In the British reserve camps where the Africans lived and worked. He is seen as a hero as he led a hunger strike and came to the defence of a pre gnant woman who was to be beaten to death by a village guard. Ironically Mugo is the one who betrayed Kihika to the British and because of this, he is now the introvert he is and broods a lot.Apparently Mugo is also jealous of Kihika; this is evident when he thinks to himself ‘what right has such a boy †¦to talk like that? What arrogance?†¦I hate him, he heard himself say’. He resents Kihika that he should be able to command such respect from everyone as he does, including his elders who all listen when he talks. ‘their eyes were fixed on Kihika; their lives seemed dependent on his falling words.Kihika who is undoubtedly the hero in the novel is portrayed as a martyr. This is because he is seen to sacrifice himself for the good of the country. On the other hand, he alludes himself to Christ in the sense that he died for the good of the people. ‘Watch ye and pray†¦calling on his audience to remember the great Swahili proverb kikulacho kiko nguo ni mwako. Meaning, those who betray you are usually your closest allies. This further alludes to him as Jesus and Mugo as Judas Iscariot.Mumbi is Kihika’s sister and Gikonyo’s wife. She is said to be the most beautiful woman in the area. Although not voluntary, she betrays her husband with his rival Karanja when he forces her to sleep with him. This causes great resentment from her husband when he returns from prison. Mumbi sees herself as the biblical Ester in trying to bring in justice for the people.Karanja although an African, is a collaborator. In this sense, he betrays his people by siding with the white man and betraying his people. He is suspected by the people as being the one who sold out Kihika but ironically it wasn’t him. He is jealous of   gikonyo but at the same time refuses to consider him a serious rival for Mumbi.

Abigail Williams in Act I of the Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay

We are first introduced to the ‘strikingly beautiful’ Abigail Williams in Act I of one of Arthur Miller’s most acclaimed works The Crucible. She is a dominant figure in the play who is both malicious and manipulative. She is astute and knows how to use power to her own advantage by all means possible. She is a marvellous antagonist with vengeful desires and vehicle for the mass hysteria which becomes a key theme later in the play. Abigail’s dominance as a character is apparent from the opening scene when poor Betty Parris lies in bed overcome by a mysterious trance with both Tituba and Reverend Parris also present in the somewhat dull, ‘unmellowed’ room. The setting set by Miller is typical of the furnishings of Puritans; simple and functional with only ‘a chest, a chair and a small table’. As Abigail Williams enters the room Miller describes her as being ‘strikingly beautiful’. This is a particularly strong image as the room she has entered has nothing particular of interest yet Abigail is striking. This suggests that Abigail has a strong presence and foregrounds her role in the play. Throughout the first act, we learn more about Abigail’s dominance and authority over other characters within the play. We see the power that Abigail has over Betty Parris where she commands for Betty to ‘sit up now!’ and ‘stop!’, whilst shaking her. These short, snappy commands make Abigail appear to have authority. The way in which she orders Betty to ‘stop’ is almost like she is more of a surrogate mother angrily shouting her child, which in this case is Betty. Although we know that she is Betty’s cousin, some audiences may see Abigail as this mother figure involuntarily and subconsciously – giving Abigail a more dominant role and higher status. Progressing through the opening act, we learn that Abigail possesses a shrewd insight, as she is presented with a sharp awareness, as being astute and quick minded. We also see that Abigail has the capacity for strategy, this can be seen when Abigail quickly points the finger to â€Å"watch her own back† at Tituba – something she easily got away with as in such times being a black slave was probably one of the lowest status’ to stand at. In possessing these strengths, Abigail can be seen to be beyond other characters, and really does set her apart giving her an advantage over many other characters in the play. As a result of Abigail’s dominance in the play, she holds great power over other characters- however she abuses this power and can be seen as a typical bully. She can be seen as fearful, intimidating and persuasive. She presents images of fear such as when she talks about seeing her own parents heads ‘smash’ on the pillow next to her – possibly scare the younger, more vulnerable characters. She presents malicious and domineering behaviour throughout the act and as a result of this behaviour she can be seen as the vehicle behind the mass hysteria as she knows that her fellow characters will do as she says; creating a snowball effect of hysteria. Her selfishness is another aspect to consider, this is a quality something many bullies posses. We can see this clearly when Abigail is threatening Betty after she screams out ‘Mama, Mama!’ – she says ‘I’ again and again, which really emphasizes her self- centred personality. Throughout the act she then takes the opportunities to look after herself and uses situations to her advantage also , which can be seen in the case where she blames Tituba despite Abigail being the one encouraging the chanting in the first place – to save her own neck. She then uses her allegations against Tituba to her advantage obtaining somewhat recognition from those of a much higher status in the courts. Abigail’s bullying behaviour can be seen most clearly when she threatens Betty Parris after her hysterical outburst. She is harsh with her words and seems to be both commanding and imperative in the way that she speaks. When she is threatening Betty, she uses dark and oppressive imagery such as her parent’s heads being smashed against a pillow, ‘reddish work’ which could also mean murders and something ‘terrible’ that could just happen to the girls’ in the black of some terrible night’. Her bullying behaviour can also be seen when she says ‘I can make you wish’ – a term often associated with bullies in other books and films alike. Minor sentences are used almost in a staccato which makes her dark oppressing words seem even more threatening, going also in line with Millers stage directions for Abigail to shake Betty roughly. Another quality bullies seem to have is to be manipulative. When Miller introduces Abigail he makes a point in saying that she has an ‘endless capacity for dissembling’. This means that Abigail is able to act, she is able to transform into various characters yet still be Abigail Williams. It is important to note that Miller uses the word ‘endlessly’ when he says this; this means that Abigail wasn’t at all limited by the number of times or the different acts that she could perform. By having this ability, Abigail’s character within the play can be seen as almost metamorphic – able to change form as and when necessary. Being able to change form and act, Abigail is able to be manipulative and throughout the act an eerie sense of manipulating by Abigail can be seen. She quickly identifies peoples flaws, weaknesses and prejudices to gain control over them. With this knowledge, she then becomes mercilessly manipulating and uses this to her advantage. Abigail’s talent for manipulating and changing forms can clearly be seen upon her encounter with John Proctor. In a short space of time Abigail is presented to be ‘softening’ and gentle to then be bitterly ‘angry’ to then be ‘in tears’. Here we see Abigail playing the part, something she seems very comfortable in doing. An important thing to remember about the way in which Abigail acts is the fact that Abigail seems quite dauntless in what she is doing, she appears to be fearless of the consequences some of her actions might have, nor does she seem to be very intimidated by other characters so much that she backs down. An example of this is Abigail’s fantasy of Proctor’s love and her vengeful desire to eliminate Elizabeth so that she may have Proctor to herself. She even ‘drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor, this would’ve been completely against Puritan beliefs. Her willingness to discard Puritans social restrictions sets her apart from other characters and suggests that nothing is impossible for Abigail, nothing is beyond her grasp, not even God’s word. Due to the context of the play; a time of deeply religious Puritan surroundings in New England Massachusetts, Miller includes lots of religious connotations and often uses Biblical language. With such strong Biblical links, Abigail Williams’ character can be seen to be similar to that of Jezebel in the Bible. In Christian lore, a comparison to Jezebel suggested that a person was a pagan or an apostate masquerading as a servant of God. By manipulation and/or seduction she misled the saints of God into sins of idolatry and sexual immorality. In particular Jezebel has come to be associated with promiscuity and in modern usage; the name of Jezebel is sometimes used as a synonym for sexually promiscuous and sometimes controlling women. The idea of Abigail being similar to Jezebel, links in as she is in fact manipulative and within the first act, we are told of Abigail’s affair with the married John Proctor, years her senior. As manipulative and malicious Abigail is, one must ask whether she is completely bad? As we are told when we are introduced to Abigail’s character, she is an ‘orphan’ she is also unmarried, which at the time would mean that she was low rung on the Puritan Salem social ladder, with only social outcasts and slaves like Tituba below her. This leaves Abigail in a vulnerable position. We must question whether declaring witchcraft was really a malicious act or whether it was a cry for attention and some power? Declaring witchcraft in such times would result in instant status and recognition which later could lead to power. Another cry attention that should be considered is the idea of Abigail’s fantasy for Proctor’s love. Being a young girl, perhaps this reflects on her age? As well as considering if Abigail is completely bad, one must try to understand why Abigail behaves like this. The idea of Abigail being vulnerable is possibly a reason for why she is so manipulative and dauntless. As we are introduced to Abigail we are made award that she is an ‘orphan’, Abigail later goes on to talk about seeing ‘Indians smash’ her ‘dear parent’s heads on the pillow’. As she has seen the worst, it may mean that Abigail feels the need to be self sufficient and strong as she has grown up with little or no love and lonely; typical of Puritan’s nature -and being a hard faced independent is in fact Abigail’s only option. As a conclusion, we learn in the opening scene of The Crucible that Abigail holds an authority as a character within the play who is presented by Arthur Miller to be a typical bully; who presents threatening, selfish, intimidating and manipulative behaviour. We learn that Abigail has a capacity for strategy and an ‘endless capacity for dissembling’ making Abigail quite an intriguing character, a character to certainly watch throughout the later acts, as we are left to ponder, what exactly will Abigail do next?