Kant and Nietzsche on Morality an Example by

Kant and Nietzsche on Morality by Expert Prof Nelly | 05 Dec 2016 Two modern day thinkers have deeply influenced major world leaders that helped shaped our history. These thinkers are Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche. We will assess the thoughts of these two, identify their similarities, and finally, discern their differences. This is to help us gain insights on how certain world leaders viewed morality and made major decisions and actions based on the thoughts of these two thinkers. Need essay sample on "Kant and Nietzsche on Morality" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed In Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals, Kant evaluates morality from a metaphysical plane. This is analysis that considers many views to explain what should happen in one central idea (3, 4). Kant also expounds that an empirical plane is a study of what have happened (1) while intelligent common sense usually jumbles what happened with what should have (2). Kant prefers metaphysics as a method of analysis for the simple reason that a philosopher specializes in a carefully mastered area of knowledge (2). On the other hand, the ideas of empiricists are prone to corruption because these may fail to explain other things. Meanwhile, those with intelligent common sense are jack-of-all-trades (2). College Students Usually Tell EssayLab specialists: Who wants to write assignment for me? Specialists propose: Essay Writing Help Company Get Paid To Write Essays For Students Website That Writes Your Essay Custom Essay Writing Service Reviews For example, a manufacturer of bio-chemical weapons sets up a factory in a small town. Let us call this town, SmallVille. Of course, the residents of SmallVille will have different opinions on the benefits and disadvantages of the plant. Likewise, SmallVille will have different stakeholders, each with their own point of view. How will Kant evaluate the morality of setting up this facility? Kant will start with one point of view, say, from a farmer who has no idea that people will use bio-chemicals as weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, the era is in the 1750s. We have no televisions or national newspapers. Moreover, only a few highly-specialized scientists know that bio-chemicals are now useful as weapons. Under these conditions, the farmer will naturally conclude that the factory is good if he derives a direct benefit from it. Like say, the plant manager offers to buy tons of the farmer's cow dung for the breeding of Anthrax. Let us assume that only one person, the in-house scientist, knows what Anthrax will do to an entire population. Next, Kant will evaluate the point of view of the plant manager. The plant manager's circumstance, in this case, is unstable. He used to live in New York City. His stockbroker wife is about to divorce him because he accepted the job and she has been left out all alone in New York pursuing her career. He greatly loves his wife. Moreover, he is not used to the inconveniences of rural life. Yet, he chooses to take the job. His reasons are: a) the factory creates new jobs that the U.S. economy needs; and b) the U.S. President personally told him that the factory will help in the country's war effort with Spain. Finally, Kant will evaluate the point of view of the in-house scientist. The scientist's situation is that: a) He is now working on his dream job; b) The company president charged him with quality control in the production of Anthrax and the design of various delivery systems for the virus; and c) He is fully aware that his work will make the U.S. a superpower. In this case, the scientist thinks that he has made a good moral decision and is working diligently in perfecting the most efficient weapon of mass destruction. Working on the three points of view, Kant will prescribe that the good that we do is essentially valuable based on our motivations or will (7). When we do a certain action and accidentally benefit from it as in the case of the farmer, we are not exactly moral because we have done something good that would benefit ourselves or our family (8). When we do our duty, even though we don't like doing it, we are morally good (8). In the theoretical scenario we have presented, the case of the plant manager is the ideal. In the case of the scientist, Kant will say that the scientist is amorally evil. This is simply because he is doing something that basically fulfills his desires yet is fully aware of the negative implications of what he is doing (8). Thus, Kant prescribes that it is our moral duty to do something that will be good to certain groups of people, even though we don't like doing such duties (9). Kant suggests standards for the evaluation of our moral duties. These standards are: a) We must consider several theoretical perspectives (4); b) We must consider the benefits and costs of certain theoretical decisions that we must make (7); and c) We must consider our motivations before acting on a particular decision (9). In the First Essay On the Genealogy of Morals, A Polemical Tract, Nietzsche evaluates morality based on the origin of words, or etymology, with support from historical events and biblical references (Section 4). This is analysis that considers how certain words evolved to describe the concepts of good and evil. Nietzsche supports this analysis with historical facts (Sec. 5) and certain references from the bible (Sec. 7). Nietzsche's method is revolutionary in the sense that while empiricists only study what has happened, Nietzsche studies the evolution of the human language to explain what is happening. He suggests that certain concepts or word meanings change at different time periods (Sec. 7). For example, the present day moral concepts of good, evil, guilt and punishment took a 360 degree turn at a certain point in human history. Nietzsche asserts that what was thought to be good in ancient times is now perceived as evil. He supports this assertion by analyzing the meaning of the word good which means noble. Nietzsche then evaluates the meaning of the word noble and ascribes its meaning to the concept of the nobility, aristocracy or ruling class. From here, based on some examples from Roman history, Nietzsche asserts that good at a certain point in human history denotes strength, action and the will to accomplish things or succeed (Sec. 6., Sec. 10). Through time and because of the rapid proliferation of Christianity, the word good presently denotes weakness' through the biblical concepts of loving your enemies and Jewish resentment or guilt against its neighboring conquerors, inaction' by leaving things to fate or God and pity' for failure to accomplish noble things or failure to take revenge by leaving punishment of the evil man, or the noble class, to God (Sec. 13). Nietzsche suggests a re-evaluation of our morals precisely because of this 360 degree turn in our concepts of morality. Kant's and Nietzsche's thoughts on morality are similar in the sense that both have realized the limitations of studying concepts on morality solely on the basis of things that have happenedhistorical facts. The same historical facts can both positively and/or negatively support a concept. For instance, what is thought to be good in ancient Rome will now be presently considered evil. By supplying a Nietzschean explanation to a Kantian argument on the proneness to error of empirical conclusions, we find a strong similarity in the line of thinking of these two great thinkers. Another similarity is the desire of both thinkers to find explanations beyond the surface of established thinking or norms. Kant and Nietzsche have been brave enough to present arguments that presented ideas and answered problems differently. In fact, the two gave mankind two methods of highly sophisticated critical thinking that are now often taken for granted in the Internet Age. Many will be surprised that what is often thought to be the superiority of empirical research over other methods of research that are academically acceptable has already been challenged by both Kant and Nietzsche. Both thinkers are revolutionary. Kant gave us the foundations for Cost-Benefit Analysis,' the concept of the moral imperative,' and a clearer exposition on the concept of political will' while Nietzsche gave us the concept of the political correctness' of words and a sophisticated awareness that language, like humans, adapt and evolve. In his Prologue, Nietzsche literally disagreed with Kant in how Kant places a low value on the morality of pity (Sec. 5). For Kant, pity has a low value if it just serves as a means in doing a moral duty. It achieves a higher value when the same moral duty is done with self-sacrifice (8). For Nietzsche on the other hand, pity is a desirable quality of the noble for it connotes the strength of being good. Another disagreement or difference is on the concept of self-sacrifice. Kant places a high value on self-sacrifice. Kant based his ideal on the concept of moral duty around this. Without self-sacrifice, Kant's principle on the evaluation of morality does not hold water (8). Meanwhile, Nietzsche suggests in his First Essay that Jesus Christ's ultimate self-sacrifice by being nailed on the cross strengthened the present day concepts of good and evil. Self-sacrifice became a tool of the weak, resentful Jewish against the strong rulers and conquerors surrounding Israel or Judea who made Jewish life miserable in Biblical times. Christ's self-sacrifice serves as a turning point in the drastic change in what is formerly known to be good and evil (Sec. 15). This way Nietzsche positioned Kant's concept of self-sacrifice as an invention of the weak, common people which ultimately displaced the ancient Roman concept of what is good based on nobility, strength and the drive to succeed. Finally, both thinkers differ in the method they use to analyze and evaluate morality. Kant uses metaphysics while Nietzsche uses genealogy through the careful mix of etymology, historical analysis and biblical references. Kant's method essentially involves theoretical thinking to balance a variety of perspectives. Meanwhile, Nietzsche's method appears to be an empirical variant which creatively uses the origin of words to explain the present day concept of morality. Kant would basically describe Nietzsche's method as that of intelligent common sense where theoretical and practical concepts are primitively jumbled. However, Nietzsche method is far from being primitive in the sense that he provides a revolutionary variation by offering an alternative form of analysis by assessing the evolution of words against history. Nietzsche method only becomes primitive in the sense that some biblical references that he uses to support his ideas are the simple opinions and musings of persons that cannot be considered events in fact. Looking back in history circa World War II, we will find how two major world leaders made their decisions based on the methods and thinking of Kant and Nietzsche. Imagine President Harry Truman as he weighs his options before deciding on authorizing the development of the atomic bomb and practically dropping it in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman would have theoretically weighed the costs and benefits of his decision for a bomb that has never been made or dropped in earlier history. That would have been a hard decision that Truman did not like to make but has to be made because it was Truman's moral duty to do so. Moreover, recent films on similar scenarios have already been made and authors like Tom Clancy have created stories leveraging on Kant's method of metaphysics yet we would have not imagined that such story lines were based on the thoughts and ideas of Kant. Imagine Adolph Hitler's moral judgments as he decides on annihilating the Jews, thinking that it was his moral duty to do so to cleanse the world of this weak race. We would have thought that this idea is repulsive and morally evil but scheming beyond the surface, we would have seen an alternate point of view that seems to be reasonable, yet disturbing. Imagine the word kill and its politically correct' 21st Century equivalent, neutralize. Better yet, imagine the sentence She provides excellent leadership, and its plain translation to: She gives good head. This example suggests some naughty sexual connotation but in world diplomacy, a failure to understand Kant's or Nietzsche's concepts on morality, metaphysics and/or genealogy would not simply turn into trivial jokes but would likely result in world changing events, like war yet hopefully, we would always want to shape this world through peace. Works Cited Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals. Trans. Jonathan Bennet. July 2005. Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morals, A Polemical Tract. Ian Johnston. British Columbia: Malaspina University-College. 21 December 2001.

Different Cultures

Different Cultures DIFFERENT CULTURES, SAME REALITIES I realize that no matter what a persons background may be, each an everyone of us is made up of the same thing. We all have problems. We all have emotions and feelings. The conflict comes in when opposite lifestyles, and beliefs come in effect. Sometimes this comes along with racism. All of the stories had real life characters with some kind of complication(s) in their life."My Sweet Sixteenth"  is about a African American girl named Monique. She was faced with a complications that many teenage girls are faced with...teenage pregnancy. She hid her pregnancy from everyone in hopes of having an abortion as soon as she received her birthday money for her coming up birthday. Instead of getting the money and getting an abortion she didn't quite make it past her birthday. The baby was born on her 16th birthday. Yet another complication Monique faced, she was asked not to tell anyone that she had a child because of their family beliefs on this matter.Co mplication (song)The complication in "Eagle Cloud Fawn" , was dealing more with beliefs. Eagle Cloud, a native American waiter, liked an Anglo girl Fawn. His family's beliefs were against this. Eagle Cloud liked her so much he looked at it this way, "What happened yesterday has nothing to do with what you will do today."  "No Win Phuong"  was about a Vietnamese kid called Phuong.He started a new school with a different cultured student body.Phuong felt very much out of place and at unease. He didn't want to play baseball, in the end he had improved greatly and was more comfortable with his surroundings. This must be a tough to deal with a change like that, but he was strong and things turned out rather...

10 top places to work in 2018

10 top places to work in 2018 When you’re looking for a job, where you land can be every bit as important as what job you’ll be doing. Knowing what employers are leading your field right now can help you shape your job search and figure out what you want your next step to be. Let’s look at some of the best companies to work this year, in some of the fastest-growing fields: tech, food service, retail, healthcare, and travel. Tech CompaniesIf you’re interested in being right on the innovative edge of things, there’s no place like the tech industry. There are always openings for engineers and IT whizzes, but these are also large companies that have massive infrastructure in place as well- so that means administrative jobs, marketing jobs, sales jobs, and other â€Å"non-techie† jobs as well. They also have offices around the country, so you may not even need to pack up and move to Silicon Valley to get the cutting edge tech job of your dreams.FacebookLike millions of America ns, you’re probably on Facebook. In fact, you may have clicked on this article from Facebook. Facebook is a force of nature in the tech and social media fields, continually shaping how we interact with the world and with each other. And as a company, they came up tops on Glassdoor’s annual survey of the best places to work, primarily for the opportunities it affords employees, plus solid benefits.Sample review: â€Å"Fast paced company with high expectations, but incredibly fair. You won’t a place that cares more about its people.† - Anonymous Facebook employeeGoogleThis is kind of the gold standard of working in the tech world, isn’t it? We’ve all heard the rumors of lavish cafeterias and super-casual offices at Google, but the company just might be worth the hype. In employee surveys, Google tends to get great marks for employee culture and work-life balance, but be warned- a â€Å"challenging† workload is a frequently commented-upo n characteristic of working here, particularly in software engineering roles.Sample review: â€Å"[A] huge diversity of work ranging from defending independent journalism worldwide (Google Project Shield) to crisis response during disasters (see Maps during Hurricane Sandy or Tsunamis), to the best machine learning experts and projects in the world.† - Software Engineer at GoogleHubSpotHubSpot may not be as visible as other companies, but in the tech field it’s well-known for creating sales and marketing software. Employees cite the company’s focus on employee development and well-being, as well as its great employee benefits and perks, as a major reason for its continued success in top company rankings.Sample review: â€Å"There’s a reason HubSpot keeps winning best place to work awards. It really is a great place to be. The company truly cares about the wellbeing of their employees and shows that through great benefits and perks, transparency with empl oyees on the direction of the company, and a strong management team.† - Customer Success Manager at HubSpotFood Service CompaniesFood service is an industry that’s perennially growing, no matter what. But if you’ve ever worked in food service (or heard the horror stories), you know that it’s not always the greatest field to work in. Luckily, there are companies that make food service a solid place to work on your career path or your right-now job.In-N-Out BurgerAsk five of your friends for their opinions on In-N-Out Burger- chances are they have strong ones. The menu inspires cult-like loyalty, but did you know it’s also a pretty good place to work behind the counter as well? As a fast food chain that bucks the stereotypes of, well, fast food chains, In-N-Out gets high marks for flexible scheduling and excellent pay and benefits.Sample review: â€Å"Extremely flexible with scheduling, you work with similar personalities so everyone tends to get alo ng, you move up quickly, you genuinely feel appreciated 9 times out 10, free meal every day that you work, great pay and excellent benefits for a rewarding job!† - Anonymous In-N-Out employeeRetail CompaniesIf you’re in the retail field, you know that the quality of the employee experience can vary pretty widely. That’s why when there are rockstar companies that can make your retail career more fulfilling, it’s good to know where those opportunities are.CostcoWhenever there’s a survey of great companies to work for (no matter what the industry), Costco usually pulls in plenty of praise. The wholesale retail giant offers highly competitive salaries and full benefits like vacation time, sick time, retirement plans, childcare assistance, and tuition reimbursement, among others. Costco is also one of the few large retailers that remain closed on holidays, giving employees paid time off.Sample review: â€Å"Costco takes care of its employees.† - A dministrative Clerk at CostcoLululemonFor a company that pins its public image on health, fitness and well-being, it’s good to hear that Lululemon is a popular place to work as well. Employees cite the company’s focus on employee progress and development as one of the top features of working for this athletic apparel retailer.Sample review: â€Å"Above average pay for retail. Great benefits. Opportunity for great bonuses. Doesn’t feel like working retail.† - Assistant Manager at LululemonHealthcare CompaniesIf you’re looking to pick a hot field right now, healthcare is it. Healthcare jobs consistently rank among the fastest-growing jobs according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it’s such a varied industry that pretty much anyone can find a niche, from working with patients to technology to administration.St. Jude Children’s Research HospitalSt. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital is one of the nation’s leading pediatric research hospitals, helping children who have cancer and other chronic or life-threatening diseases. It scores high marks among employees for its focus on innovative research, and the teamwork atmosphere it cultivates.Sample review: â€Å"The people here are fantastic and welcoming! It feels more like a family career than just a job. The researchers and facilities are top notch, and everything is collaborative.† - Associate Scientist at St. Jude’sTexas Health ResourcesIf you’re a Texan or thinking about relocating to one of its bustling metro areas, and you’re seeking a new job in the health industry, consider Texas Health Resources. This faith-based, nonprofit health system consistently ranks in Glassdoor’s top 50 places to work, primarily due to its generous benefits and collaborative atmosphere for allied health professionals.Sample review: â€Å"Good patient-nurse ratios, great benefits, tuition reimbursement, overall positi ve work environment, diverse staff and patient population, good communication.† - Registered Nurse at Texas Health ResourcesTravel and Hospitality CompaniesAlthough some segments of the travel and tourism industry have been slowing down, air travel-related jobs have been rebounding. But not all airlines are created the same, and the ones that rank high in employee satisfaction are leading the industry.DeltaWhether on planes or working behind the scenes at the airport, Delta employees receive a strong benefits package and participate in a profit-sharing program that encourages good performance all around.Sample review: â€Å"Delta as an airline is top-notch, as all rankings indicate, increasing job security and profit sharing. Safety is a top-tier focus in all facets of the company. Employees have a vested interest in improving reliability and performance of the airline, so teamwork among all departments is standard.† - Department Manager at DeltaSouthwestâ€Å"Companie s that care† may sound like a clichà ©, but according to many Southwest Airlines employees, it’s true for their own company. The low-cost airline provides comprehensive benefits, and focuses on employee development and well-being. Plus, employees get travel perks.Sample review: â€Å"Company with a heart, great working environment, fun teams, fast paced work, leaders who care about employee development, excellent benefits, and an all around enjoyment to go to work each day for the company!† - Business Operations Analyst at Southwest AirlinesNo matter what industry you’re considering (or already working in), the ultimate goal is to find a workplace that checks off a number of boxes: career development, job satisfaction, decent compensation, and a positive environment, among other qualities. If you’re interested in overall employee satisfaction and positive career opportunities, you might want to follow the advice of people who’ve been there a nd check out one of these companies for your own career goals.

Stakeholder Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stakeholder Theory - Essay Example Stakeholders include shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which the firm operates-a collection that Freeman terms the "big five." The very purpose of the firm, according to this view, is to serve and coordinate the interests of its various stakeholders. It is the moral obligation of the firm's managers to strike an appropriate balance among the five interests in directing the activities of the firm. This understanding of the firm's purpose and its management's obligations diverges sharply from the understanding advanced in the shareholder theory of the firm. According to shareholder theorists such as Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, managers ought to serve the interests of the firm's owners, the shareholders. Social obligations of the firm are limited to making good on contracts, obeying the law, and adhering to ordinary moral expectations. In short, obligations to nonshareholders stand as side constraints on the pursuit of shareholder interests. This is the view that informs American corporate law and that Friedman defends in his 1970 New York Times Magazine essay, "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits." (Thomas. J. Donaldson, 1994) Stakeholder theory seeks to overthrow the shareholder orientation of the firm.

Hot Melt Extrusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hot Melt Extrusion - Essay Example HME technique does not require time consuming drying step and compressing step; and therefore, the processing steps are significantly reduced. Due to fewer unit operations involved in HME operation, production time is greatly enhanced. During the HME process, the polymer-melt itself act as a thermal binder. HME eliminates problems arising from poorly compactible materials. An extruded rod obtained from HME procedure can be directly incorporated into tablets after cutting. Uniform dispersion of fine particles is obtained due to vigorous mixing and agitation conditions of HME operation. The energy requirements in HME process are low as compared to high shear granulation. The HME process requires lower investment for equipment as against other processes. HME technique also provides new strategies to increase dissolution rates for sparingly water soluble drugs, enhance bioavailability of the active ingredient, improve content uniformity of dosage formulation, modify drug release, and als o helps to mask the unpleasant taste of the drug (Repka et al. 1043; Crowley et al. 909). A single- or twin-screw extruders are used for HME process. The extruder is composed of a feeding hopper, barrels, single or twin screws, die, screw-driving unit, heating/cooling device for the barrels, conveyer belt to cool down the product, and solvent delivery pump. The monitoring devices on the equipment include temperature gauges, a screw-speed controller, an extrusion torque monitor and pressure gauges. During the HME process, first a dry powder blend of drug, polymer, and other adjuvants/additives is prepared. Then, this soild mixture is fed into the feeding section of the extruder. The material is transferred to the melting section. The heat is applied to the material in the melting section to form the polymer-melt. This molten mass is transferred in the metering section which is then

Salt Concentration Effect on Reaction Rates

Salt Concentration Effect on Reaction Rates Enzymes are proteins that catalysis chemical reaction to its highest speed. They do so by lowering the activation energy. Enzymes contain an active site where a substrate, in this case, the hydrogen peroxide binds to it and breaks into water and oxygen. Salt concentration denatures the structure of the protein, therefore, causing the rate of the reaction to decrease. The main purpose of this study was to discover whether the salt concentration affects the rate of reaction. Turnip Peroxidases were used, known as enzymes which are found in plants and animals. The hypothesis was that as the salt concentration increases, the absorbance rate decreases. This study was completed by running test of four different percent salt concentrations, 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. Using 0.5ml of peroxidase, .02 ml Guaiacol, 0.2 ml hydrogen peroxide, and a pH 7 buffer. Perform two tests per tube for accuracy. Each tube was put in the spectrophotometer at 500nm. According to the data 15% salt concentration yiel d the highest absorbance. Introduction Plants and animals contain enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that are not consumed in the chemical reactions, but rather it can speed up the reaction. Catalysis is an enzyme which is found almost in all living cells especially in eukaryote cells (Cummings, 2005). It main function is to break down the hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is just produce naturally in chemical reactions, but the cells have to get rid of it before it builds up in a large amount. A cell uses catalysis to break down the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide will going to feed into the catalysis and it is going to break that down into two products (Cummings, 2005). It does that at very incredible rate. Basically, an enzyme contains an active site. This active site is part of an enzyme where there has a hole in it. The substrate will than fit into it. The substrate is hydrogen peroxide. The enzyme basically tugs on substrate and breaks it down. Enzymes are very important in the chemical reac tions, without them the reaction will occur at the lower rate. There are two types of inhibition. Inhibition can either be competitive, that is where a chemical is blocking an active site or the allosteric, where the enzyme is actually changing the shape of its active site, unable the reaction to take place (Hosoya, 1960). An enzyme itself never changes its shape, only the active site does. However, its unique structure of protein under specific circumstances can easily be denatured. An enzyme needs to be in certain atmosphere to be more affective. One of the factors that can effect the enzyme reaction is salt concentration (Cummings, 2005). Salt concentration has to be in its intermediate state for an enzyme to work properly. For instance, if the salt concentration is too high, then the enzyme site will be blocked by the salt ions (Huystee, (1987). Therefore, it will lower the reaction activity rate. The main intention of this experiment was to figure out the salt concentration and its effect on enzymes. To perform this experiment, use the turnip peroxidases. Peroxidases are an enzymes found in plant and animal cells (Gjesing, 1985). Because salt concentration denatures the enzyme we did an experiment to see how the salt concentration would effect the reaction. It is believed that the increase in salt concentration will lower the absorbance rate of turnip peroxidases. Materials In this experiment, the solution materials that are needed to perform this lab are: Enzyme Solution: 5 g turnip blended into 500mL water (1% solution) and then filtered through a p2 filter, Substrate Solution: NaCl (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%), Indicator Solution: Guaiacol, Buffer Solution: pH 7 buffer (distilled water), and Hydrogen peroxides. The list of supplies that are need is follows: a spectrophotometer, cuvette tubes, and micropipette. Methods Prepare a control test tube (called the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“blankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ), containing all of the ingredients: 0.5 ml of turnip peroxidase, 0.5ml pH buffer, .02 Guaiacol, and put 0.2 hydrogen peroxide last, except the NaCl. Then, obtain the four additional cuvette tubes and start adding 0.5 ml (0 to 15%) of NaCl in each tube plus the same solution that control tube contains. Mix and put these tubes one by one in the spectrophotometer at 500 nm and record the absorbance every 15 seconds for 3 minutes. Repeat the trial for two times for each tube, then take the mean average. Results The peak absorbance was at 15% concentrate (See Figure 2). After the concentration passed 15% the reaction slowed gradually. Discussion As higher percent of salt concentration was added the absorbance increased. This happened because the salt concentration did not denature the enzyme (peroxidase), therefore, causing the enzyme to work its way out throughout until there was not enough enzymes to work with hydrogen peroxide. The data collected did not support the hypothesis because the absorbance peak was at 15% salt concentration. As assumed that the higher the salt concentration, the lower the absorbance would be. But that was not the case in this experiment. Salt concentration at 5 and 10% showed the lower peak, meaning that the presence of salt concentration actually lowered the reaction rate. It is the only 15% of salt concentration, where the peak was its highest. This could have happened because of the human error, miscalculation in finding the mean average, misreading the spectrophotometer or not having enough solution. If this experiment is to be repeated one of the question that should be addressed is what wo uld happen if the higher than 15% of salt concentration was added, what would be the result? Figure Legends and Figures Figure 1. The Effects of Salt Concentration on Turnip Peroxidase Activity. Enzyme activity was measured using a spectrophotometer by recording the change in coloration of guaiacol to brown, indicating that hydrogen peroxide is complete. Figure 2. The Effects of Salt Concentration on Turnip Peroxidase Activity. Enzyme activity was measured at the high peak of 15% salt concentration. Literature Cited: Campbell, Neil., Jane Reece (2005). Biology, 7th ed. Beth Wilbur. Benjamin Cummings,  Publishing Menlo Park, California. pp. 150-157. Gjesing, K.W( 1987). Plant peroxidases. The Febs Journal. 151: 497-504. Hosoya, Toichiro (1960). Turnip peroxidase: Purification and physicochemical properties of  multiple components in turnip peroxidase. The Journal of Biochemistry. Vol. 47, No. 3. Huystee, R. B (1987). Some molecular aspects of plant peroxidase biosynthetic studies. The  Journal of Plant Physiology. 38: 205-219.

Classical Model of Decision Making

International Journal of Business and Management June, 2008 The Classical Model of Decision Making Has Been Accepted as not providing an Accurate Account of How People Typically Make Decisions Bin Li Foreign Languages Department, Guang Dong University of Finance Guangzhou, 510521, China E-mail: [email  protected] com Abstract Decision making is an accepted part of everyday human life. People all make varying importance decisions every day, thus the idea that decision making can be a rather difficult action may seem so strange and unbelievable. However, a large number of empirical studies have shown that most people in organizations are much poorer at decision making. Therefore, people began to pay more attention to understand hot to make a suitable decision. Keywords: Decision making, Rational decision-making, Demonstrate classical decision making 1. Introduction Decision making is one of the most central processes in organizations and a basic task of management at all levels. According to Cole (2004:151), decision making is â€Å"a process of identifying a problem, evaluating alternatives, and selecting one alternative. During the whole process, people are making the best choice from among several option based on the current situation. Additionally, Rollinson (2002) considered that decision making is the process of producing a solution to a recognized problem. There are three basic activities involved in decision making: intelligence activity, design activity and choice activity. Although all the decisions are made based on these three main activities, not all decisions are the same (www. bized. ac. uk). Some are relatively simple and others involve a more complex range of considerations. Consequently, people need an approach to understand decisions making. Good decision making is an essential skill for career success generally, and effective leadership particularly. 2. The classical decision making model The traditional approach to understanding individual decision making is based upon classical decision making theory or the rational economic model (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2001). The classical view of decision making has always integrated the concept of rationality and rational decisions within the whole process of discussions and prescriptions. Obviously, a rational decision-making process is often suggested as the way in which decisions should be made trough those three activities, and it involves the following strictly defined sequential process shown in Chart 1 (Heracleous, 1994). It begins with seeking to ask the right questions, continues by discovering creative answers and finishes by making sure that the chosen solution is valuable and useful. According to Hucaynski & Buchanan (2002:740), â€Å"rationality is equated with scientific reasoning, empiricism and positivism and with the use of decision criteria of evidence, logical argument and reasoning†. And the rational decisions are decisions which are based on the rationality. The advantage of the classical model is to indicate a rational approach that can be applied to the business of reaching decisions in organizations. On the other hand, Lee et, al. (1999:18) considered that â€Å"classical decision theory views the decision maker as acting in a world of complete certainty. † It assumes that â€Å"decision makers are objective, have complete information and consider all possible alternatives and their consequences before selecting the optimal solution. (Huczynski 2001:738) Based on the definition above, it is clear that classical decision making theory is derived from several assumptions. However, all those assumptions are not reality within this modern information age. Herbert (1981) agreed that this process is underlain by certain assumptions and characteristics, which are highly unrealistic in practice and are widely argued among managerial field. In the managerial f ield, how to make a suitable decision is very important. Faulty strategic and operational decisions can and must seriously weaken companies’ competitiveness. It is possible misleading to a completely wrong developing direction. According to the research by Robbins (2003), he considered that classical model of decision making could not fully represent how people make decisions in organizations, because people do not know how accurate the data is used to make decisions, how reliable are the estimates of the probabilities and how useful the data is related to the event. 151 Vol. 3, No. 6 International Journal of Business and Management Besides all above reasons, there are others evidence to challenge classical assumptions, which to demonstrate classical decision making model is not providing an accurate account of how people typically make decisions. In general, based on the research by Robbins (2003), he summarized all the assumptions of classical decision making model illustrated in Chart 2. Robbins (2003) considered that all these assumptions are subjective and can not represent the real situation in the practice. Cole (2004) also agreed with that all these assumptions would be correct as people in a completely perfect world where does not exist. Moreover, all these assumptions would be disadvantages as people could not discover this model entirely relies on the accuracy of the data used and must require qualitative input to give complete picture. Based on the disadvantages of classical model of decision making, in the following section, it is going to stick to the sequence of classical model of decision making to challenge its assumptions in details one by one. 3. Further analysis in the decision making model In the first step of classical model of decision making, people have to identify what problem they face or deal with. And the model assumes that all the problems are easy to be defined and discovered. In fact, there are two types of problem. One is bounded problems, which means that â€Å"problems that can be more easily defined and treated as separate from the context in which they exist† (Rollinson, 2002:254). Under this situation, people can easily define the problem, because the problem is usually small, less important and is not complex without limitation by time or cost. Obviously, these kinds of problems will have actual solutions in practical experience; people have enough knowledge to define the nature of the problem, such as an organization makes a decision to purchase a new machine to replace the old one, which is an easy decision to make without more limitation by others factors. Thus people can continue to make decisions through the classical model. However, there is another kind of problem which is unbounded problems. In general, these kinds of problem are much more complex then ounded problems in terms of scale, implications or time of problem. It is necessary to recognize the nature of the problem before identification. Rollinson (2002) defined that unbounded problems are â€Å"ambiguous problems that are harder to define and which cannot easily be separated from the context in which they exist† (Rollinson, 2002:254). Therefore, in the first step of the classical decision making process, people are hard to clearly define the nature o f every problem, so that there is a trap within the first step, because there are many unknown factors surrounding the problem. People in any organizations who make decisions have to be care about the real nature of the problem and various factors which influence the development of the whole problem before defining. Moreover, unbounded problems may be new problems which people do not have any kinds of knowledge and solutions. Under this situation, people are lacking knowledge to handle the problem leading to making wrong decisions. To illustrate an unbounded problem in organization, Koran electric giant Samsung Electronics has some worries about its ageing product line in the early stage of its development. This scale of the problem is much larger and has potentially serious implications for the whole organization, which has strong influence in the future. However, although Samsung has noticed about the age of its products, there is little clarity about whether a problem actually exists or what its nature might be. Also, management team did not find out a clear solution at that time, hence a replacement range of products cannot be selected, because the cost, sales and production implications are not known. In the case of this example, it is proved that the nature of problem is quite different. Only under the situation, which people can easily define the actual nature of the problem, people can apply the first step of classical decision making. Through discussing the bounded problem and unbounded problem, it is clear that the nature of each of those problems is different. It is not just the size of the issue that is significant. Consequently, the first assumption of classical model, which problem is clear and unambiguous, did not come into existence. As to the third stage of the classical model, that comprehensive search for alternative courses of action and their consequences is feasible and is carried out is completely wrong. It assumes that the decision maker have entire information about the consequences of alternatives. This assumption is the most serious mistake in decision making theory. To illustrate its mistake, there are several aspects to challenge decision makers’ abilities and awareness. One is that some alternatives will not have occurred to the decision maker, since there are too many. Cole (2004) suggested that everything in the world is changed all the time. Decision makers can not catch all the information by his or her ability. When decision makers intend to legitimize their chosen courses of action, by the appearance of rationality, â€Å"empirical studies show that memory search is the initial tactic followed, and only if the problem persists is a more extensive search undertaken†(Heracleous1994:18). This statement indicated that most people making decision depend on their brain. And this kind of search for possible solutions and their consequences is largely informal, qualitative and conditioned by the organizational nature and regulations. 152 International Journal of Business and Management June, 2008 However, the brain is not a stable and mature tool to process all the information. In fact, it is totally out of ability to process information that is related to decision maker. Morse (2006:42) indicated that â€Å"the primitive, emotional parts of people’s brains have a power influence on the choices people make†. Decision makers are not rational beings, because individuals are lacking of the mental capacity to store and process all the information related to the decision (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2001). Additionally, personal background will drive decision maker from clear objective to confused objective due to their desire, because they do not know how to deal with personal preference when it has conflict with decision. On the other hand, every decision is made within a decision environment, which is defined as a sequence of collecting information, alternatives, values, and preferences available within the time of the decision (Daft 2001). However, both the development of alternatives and the selection of an optimum solution will be limited by organizational objective and polices, and by the attitudes of managers and other employees, even by the external environment. This statement indicated that fail to bring the right approach to collect information leading to overlooking information hey are not expecting and obeying others regulations. 4. Conclusion In short, in terms of people’s abilities, it is impractical to collect all the information due to many external and internal factors around the organizations (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2001). As to people’s awareness, it still has limitations. The emotional parts of people’s brain still have strong influence on decision makers’ behaviour and choices (http://cogsci. uwaterloo. ca). Thus making a practical decision is not just collect as much as information which is impractical to estimate many of the consequences considered. It is considered that most people are not aware that the approaches they used are limited within their awareness. References (2008). http://cogsci. uwaterloo. ca/Articles/Pages/Emot. Decis. htm [Accessed 27 January 2008] Bazerman. M. H. (2006). Judgment in Managerial Decision Making; 6th ed. , New York; Chichester: Wiley. Belmonte, Joe. Circuits Assembly. (2006). What Do We Control? Vol. 17 Issue 4, p20-21, 2p Cole, G. A. (2004). Management Theory and Practice 6th ed. , London: Thomson Corbett. J. M. (1994). Critical Cases in Organisational Behaviour; Basingstoke: Macmillan Daft . R. L. (2001). Organization Theory and Design; 7th ed. , Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College Publishing Heracleous. L. T. (1994). Management Development Review, Vol. 7. No. 4. p 15-17 MBC University Press Herbert. T. T. (1981). Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour; 2nd ed. , London; New York: Macmillan: Collier Macmillan Huczynski, A & David Buchanan. (2001). Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text. 4th ed. , Financial Times, Prentice Hall Lee, D. ; Philip, Newman. ; and Robert, Price. 1999). Decision Making In Organizations; Financial Times, Prentice Hall Luthans. F. (1995). Organizational Behaviour. 7th ed. , London; New York: McGraw-Hill Morse. K. l. (2006). Introduce Organizational behaviour. 5th ed. , London: Thomson Robbins, S. P (2003). Management 7th ed. N. J. : Prentice-Hall Simon, H. A. (1978). The New Science of Management Decision; Revised ed. , London (etc. ); Englewood Cliffs: Prentice -Hall, 153 Vol. 3, No. 6 International Journal of Business and Management Figure 1. Classical decision model Figure 2. Classical model of decision making 154