Cafe Expresso And Sustained Competitive Advantage

Cafe Expresso And Sustained Competitive Advantage The purpose of this report was to critically analyse the Human Resource and Performance management systems of Cafe Expresso as a source of sustained competitive advantage. Specific objectives were to discuss the Human Resource, as a source of sustained competitive advantage (under RBV) in a company. In addition, the implications of RBV (Resource Based View) on SHRM (Strategic Human Resource Management) of an organization were discussed and how performance management systems are put in place to multiply its efficiency. The role of managers in this regard was also analysed to certain extent. In the end, threat posed to Cafà © Expresso was identified and recommendations were offered. One of the challenges faced by the company was the sustainability of its competitive advantage. The report recommends an extensive use of innovation and creativity at all levels of management in the company and futuristic approach in all its strategies and decision-making process. Table of Contents Introduction The case study on which this report is based, deals with one of the renowned players of the coffee house industry, called the Cafà © Expresso. After reining the coffee industry for almost 15 years, they lost their market share at the hand of rival competitors. As their key staff was poached and business model imitated. The new leadership in the form of charismatic chief executive, Ben Thomson, identified the problem in companys human resource and appointed, Kam Patel as a new global HR director to sort it out. Kam Patel worked on the new HR strategy to achieve Bens vision of becoming the number one coffee house across the globe. She revolutionised the role of HR and introduced functions of Partner Resources, where all employees were termed as partners in the business. Other key areas on which she focused were, resourcing and retention, learning and development, talent management, employee involvement and communication, and compensation and benefits. Her efforts reaped results and Cafà © Expresso moved to number two in the industry. The service had improved considerably and there was an increased level of staff and customer retention. However, they were now concerned about sustaining and developing this competitive advantage, which they achieved through superior strategy and innovative HR practices (Harzing and pinnington, 2011). Objectives of the report The main objectives of the report are to discuss the Human Resource Management strategy of cafà © expresso in light of Resource Based Theory presented by Barney (1991). Followed by key recommendations, as to how it can further develop or maintain its competitive advantage, based on this perspective. Purpose of the report The purpose of this report is to put forward an inductive theoretical discussion, where by, the human resource in an organization can be viewed as a source of sustained competitive advantage. In order to accomplish our mission, we will focus on the need to introduce the Strategic Human resource Management and the summary of Resource Based View of an organization, as well as, cursory touching upon the old and new conflicting theories in the process. We will then identify the circumstances, under which the human resource is actually valuable, rear, inimitable and non-substantial (VRIO framework). We will draw an end to literature review by discussing the implications of RBV on basic SHRM and example case study. Finally, we will discuss the inferences and put forward recommendations, as to how human resources can provide sustained competitive advantage and analyzing the role of HR practices in creating this advantage. Limitations Due to word limit, this report only discusses the theoretical research carried in the field of SHRM development and not the empirical research. Literature Review Strategic Human Resource Management and Transformation Armstrong (2008:5) defines Human Resource Management as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most valued assets- the people working there, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives. Therefore, strategic HRM can be termed as those HR policies and practices, which will help an organisation in achieving its long-term goals and objectives through its people. Purcell (1999) defines strategic HRM as those actions, which differentiate an organsiation from its competitors in the market. HR policies and practices are no longer being formulated in isolation, as in the past. In the last half a century, HR functions have transformed from personnel in 1970s to employee welfare (unions) in 1990s to a strategic business partners in 21st century (Holbeche, 2009; Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005). The current period of HR transformation has been greatly influenced by Dave Ulrichs thinking (Holbeche, 2009). Strategic Management Framework Strategic management has seen remarkable advancement in the past half a century. Ever since the realisation of strategy into management, both academic researchers and practitioners have shown great interest in this field (Wright, et al, 1994). The business strategy encompasses the organisations strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats-SWOT (Chanda, 2009). The strategists have relied extensively on this single framework (SWOT) to structure their work (Barney, 1991). Other contribution in this framework is Porters- 5 Force Model in Fig.1.1, which emphasizes on the external environmental factors affecting firms performance. Porters model did receive a wide range of acceptability by the practitioners, but it does not cater for the determinants, on which a companys manager has influence (Wright, et al, 1994). Keeping in view the above mentioned strategic management theories, based on external factors determining the competitive advantage of an organization, let us now narrow down to strategic human resource management. In this regard, the most relative one is the Outside-in (Michigan HRM Model) theory, first published by Tichy, et al., 1982) According to them, People are recruited in to the organisations to do the jobs defined, by the division of labour. Performance must be monitored and rewards must be given to keep individuals productive (Devanna, et, al, 1984). In their model, Fig.2.2 Strategic management and environmental pressures they present the basic elements as interrelated systems, that are surrounded in the work related environment. C:UsersShahrukhDesktopR0801E_A.gif Fig.2.1 The five competitive forces that shape strategy Source: Harvard Business review, 2008 However, critics suggest that this model has harder, less humanistic approach to HRM, holding the employees as a resource, in the same manner as any other business resource. People can be obtained as cheap as possible, used sparingly, developed and exploited to organizations benefit (Price, 2011). Another limitation to this model is that, it cannot fit into dynamic and globalized economic conditions, where innovation and learning is the key to sustained competitive advantage. One of the upcoming and current theoretical discussions on strategic management is the Resource Based View of an organization (Barney, 1991; Wright, 1993). This theory of strategic management is different from environmentally-focused and externally motivated theories (e.g., Poter, 1980; Tichy, et al, 1982; Devanna, et al, 1984). It mainly focuses on the inside out view of the organization (Barney, 1991), its strategy and its performance (Hill and Jones, 2007). Furthermore, the Resource Based model of competitive advantage is mainly organisation- focused as compared to strategic management analysis by Porter and Devanna, which are industry environment- focused (Mc Williams and Smart cited in Wright, 1994). Resource Based View of an organisation Resource based view of a company as described above, emphasizes upon the internal resources of the company as a major factor in competitive success and sustainability (Wright, et al, 1994). It is therefore, imperative to briefly focus on the definitions of resources, competitive advantage and sustained competitive advantage. Resources within Resource Based Theory According to Barney(1991:101) the resources in a firm are all assets, capabilities, organizational processes, firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc. controlled by a firm that enable a firm to conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness. Barney also classifies these resources in to three categories, such as, physical capital resources, human capital resources and organizational capital resources (Wright, et al, 1994). Since our focus is on human capital resources, therefore, according to Barney, it includes such things as experience, intelligence of both managers and workers in an organisation. Competitive and sustained competitive advantage When discussing the RBV of a firm, the above mentioned resources are in fact the source of competitive advantage. Barney (1991:102) believes competitive advantage is being achieved when a firm is implementing a value creating strategy, not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential competitors. In contrast, in the environmentally motivated strategic models (e.g. Porters 1980; Devanna1984), the resources are considered to be mobile and that companies can create or purchase, resources held by the other firms (Wright, et al, 2001). The second definition is the sustained competitive advantage. Some authors have suggested that a sustained competitive advantage is simply a competitive advantage that lasts long period of calendar time (e.g. Jacobson 1988; Porter1985) (Barney, 1991). Whereas, the new theory is that sustained competitive advantage occurs only when the competitors are unable to copy the benefits of a competitor advantage at the first place (Wright, et al, 1994). Therefore, the criteria chalked down by Barney (1991) for sustained competitive advantage in his resource based theory is VRIO: Value should be created through resource There should be an element of uniqueness or rarity in the resource as compared to its competitors in the market The resource should not be imitable The resource of an organisation should not be substitutable with resources from other competitors Human Resource under VRIO Framework We have established that human resource is one of the components of sustained competitive advantage. Let us now further discuss it under the resource based (VRIO) framework (Barney Wright: 1997). Human Resource as Valuable As mentioned above, in order for human resource to become the source of sustained competitive advantage, it needs to add value to the firm (Elliot, 2003). According to Barney (1991), resources must possess additional characteristics, in order for them to add value to the organization. Other researchers believe that because of the variable level of skills and abilities of employees, there is a variance in individual contribution to the firm, consequently adding to the ability of human capital to provide value. (Wright, et al, 1994). In addition, value can also be created within the organisation for its human resource through regular training and development activities (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005). Human Resource as Rare In contrast to the idea of rarity of human resources, it can be argued that labor pool is in fact homogenous due to existence of fairly high levels of unemployment, leading to an excess of supply of labor (Elliot, 2003). However, it is widely believed amongst the HR strategists that rarity in a human resource is derived from their variable levels of competencies and skills. For example, cognitive is an ability which is rarely found in all levels of human resource (Wright, et al, 1994). Since these rare competencies are distributed uniformly amongst the talent pool, therefore, quality human resource is rare (Lado and Wilson 1994). Human Resource as inimitable According to Wright et al (1994), If the competitive advantage gained through having a high quality skilled worker is easily imitable, then it not possible for human resource to constitute as a source of sustained competitive advantage. According to the RBV of competitive advantage, SHRM researches argue that the high quality workers can be imperfectly imitable, if they possess pre-requisites such as, unique historical background, casual ambiguity and social intricacy (Elliot, 2003). Furthermore, to sustain a competitive advantage, the human resource must also be imperfectly mobile i.e. that cannot be traded as regularly as possible (Amit Shoemaker; Grant; Peteraf, cited in Elliot 2003). However, William (1992) argues that nothing lasts forever and no matter what the organisation does, its competitive advantage will eventually be copied by its competitors. Therefore, he purposes the idea of First mover advantage- how fast an organization can maneuver across a range of competitive co nditions. Human Resource as non-substitutable Not able to be substituted mean that there must be no strategically equivalent valuable resources that are themselves either not rare or imitable (Barney 1991:111). Alternatively, if the resources are not rare and imitable, the other firms will be able to easily create and implement same business model and strategies, thus, invalidating the benefits of competitive advantage (Barney, 1991). However, it is widely argued that the biggest advantage to human resource is the fact that every person is genetically unique in a way that no two people are exactly identical, thus they are heterogeneous resource (Barney Wright, 1997; Wright et al, 1994; Pfeffer, 1995). In addition, human resources is the only source in an organisation, which has the potential to not to grow obsolete and can be easily introduced to new technologies, products and markets (Wright, et a, 1994). Furthermore, the time human resource spends in an oragnisation, adds to the experience which in turn adds to the total valu e of the organisation (Barney Wright, 1997). Applying RBV to SHRM and sustained competitive advantage As it is mentioned in para.2.1 that SHRM is a set of those HR policies and practices, which are designed to achieve long-term organizational goals. Though field of SHRM has not directly born of the RBV, it has clearly been instrumental to its development (Wright; Dunford; Snell: 2001). It was largely due to the fact that RBV shifted the view from external (environmental) factors to internal firm resources as a source of competitive advantage (Hoskisson: 1999). Therefore, amalgamation of RBV into SHRM should come as no surprise to the practitioners around the world. HR practices and sustained competitive advantage The potential of HR practices to establish a source of sustained competitive advantage has been argued greatly amongst academic researchers (Wright, et al: 2001). Two arguments came in quick succession in 1994. Wright et al (1994) suggested that HR practices (tools used to manage human pool), when studied under the RBV, VRIO framework (Barney and Wright: 1997), does not form the basis of sustained competitive advantage. As, individual HR practices can easily be imitated by competitors. Alternatively, they proposed that only the human resource capital (highly skilled and highly motivated workforce) has the potential to become the source of sustained competitive advantage for a firm (Elliot: 2003).In contrast, Lado and Wilson (1994) argued that HR practices are in fact the source of sustained competitive advantage for firm because HR systems (opposite to individual practices) can be unique, informally ambiguous and synergetic in way they develop firm competencies. Thus, HR practices wi th all its complementariness and interdependencies would be impossible to be copied by another competitor. This argument seems valid in the current SHRM paradigm (Wright, et al: 2001). Development and performance management The constant development in the field of SHRM has rendered RBV to achieve some consensus on the role of human resource in achieving sustained competitive advantage (Wright et al: 2001). These factors are illustrated in Fig.2.5. Fig.2.5: A model of basic strategic HRM components C:UsersShahrukhDesktop1-s2.0-S0149206301001209-gr1.gif Source: Journal of Management (2001) The components depicted in Fig.2.5 are only the levers by which a pool of human capital can be developed (Wright et al, 1994). The role of managers in a firm is inherently limited, when it comes to defining the sources of sustained competitive advantage under VRIO framework (wright et al 2001). However, Wright et al (1994) argues that the managers can play a vital role in developing a pool human capital (highly skilled and motivated workers) by superior HR practices such as: Extensive selection and recruitment process Systems to attract, identify and retain high quality employees Training programs aimed at increasing and developing individual skills and competencies Attractive wages and compensation packages Based on Wright et als(1994) model, Elliot(2003) suggests that the next aim of an HR manager is to affect the individual behavior of employees by introducing Performance Management Systems supportive of firms competitive strategy. For example, Reward systems, Appraisal systems, communication systems and socialization systems and encourage employees to improve their individual performance, where by, they can deliver and act in the best interest of the organization (Wright et al, 1994). Link between theory practice- Cafà © Expresso Here, we will link theory to practice, by practically, adding the example from the case-study on Cafà © Expresso. After Ben Thomson (CEO) decided to re-launch Cafà © Expressos business strategy, the main emphasis of his program was the refurbishment of HR department. As, this discussion focuses on modern HRM theories and practices in light of RBV, it is evident that the new HR director, Kam patel, applied almost the same strategy. For example: To start with, they set aside the external (outside-in) environment (Michigan model by Devanna et al (1984) and Porters forces model (1985)) and focused on the firms internal (Inside-out) HRM strategy and practices (RBV of the firm by Barney (1991) and Wright et al (1994)). Due to high turn-over of employees in the industry and weak retention, they identified the key human capital of the company, as a source of competitive advantage (based on Wright et al, 1994). Kam Patel, with her futuristic and modern approach, transformed the HR function as Partner Resources (based on Holbeche, 2009; Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005). She introduced performance management systems, for example, objective and development needs, in relation to knowledge, technical skills and behavioral skills. Performance appraisal was conducted bi-annually and feedback from customers and peers were included in the process. (Based on Wright et al, 1994; Elliot, 2003). Under the VRIO framework (Barney, 1991), Cafà © Expresso did manage to create Value, Rarity, Inimitability and non-substitutability through their superior HR practices. Value and Rarity by introducing learning and development feature in their HR practice, for example, new recruits were encouraged to spend time on the floor. They spent a day in Cafà © Expresso development Centre, learning the company history and coffee industry. They were made Cafà © expresso ambassador by taking part in the coffee master program. They were groomed through mentor system, where both baristas and managers were provided with a buddy, who would support and provide assistance in their job. In addition, the new resourcing technique (window advertsing and word of mouth) meant that most of their selected partners were actually loyal customers in the past, which is a rare human resource pool in a firm (Harzing Pinnington, 2011). In-imitability and non-substitutability is measured by the fact that cafà © expresso possessed a unique team of partners (mostly former customers) with the same love and passion for coffee house experience amongst them. Furthermore, the retention strategy offered was of high quality and included wide range of benefits, for example, share option scheme and discount of 30% was offered to partners on all cafà © expresso stores. In addition, they empowered their partners to provide suggestions and ideas. Partner Voice a company magazine was introduced, by which all employees were kept aware of all the activities of the company (Harzing Pinnington, 2011). Conclusion One of the objectives, set in the introduction part of this paper was to analyse the HRM strategy of Cafà © Expresso in light of Barneys (1991) Resource Based Theory. It is proven from the discussion that Cafà © Expresso did work on its HR policies and practices based on the reigning Resource Based Theory by Barney and Wright. The link between Cafà © Expressos HR practices and companys performance has been established through the above mentioned theory. For example, when Ben Thomson did not find any solution in the external (industrial) environment, he turned his focus inside the company and immediately discovered problems in the internal resources; out of which the most important one was the HR function. With RBV of the firm he added value to the firm by employing an experienced HR director Kam Patel. She in turn added more value and rarity to the firm by introducing empirical HR strategies and unparalleled performance management systems. The result was that Cafà © Expresso star ted to grow and moved to second place in the industry (Harzing Pinnington, 2011). It has been established that human resource can become a source of competitive advantage in the industry, as well as, a possible source of sustained competitive advantage when scrutinized under VRIO framework (Wright et al, 1994). Furthermore, Cafà © Expresso did achieve the competitive advantage they hoped for, but the true test of the robustness of their strategy is in fact sustainability and development of the same. Finally, is it enough for Cafà © Expresso to not to worry any more about their current competitive advantage, as, they have fulfilled all the prerequisites of the Resource Based Theory of competitive advantage laid down in the paper? The answer will be discussed in the Recommendations part. Recommendations Despite the debate amongst strategists and scholars continue, regarding the effectiveness of RBV, there is no denying the fact that sustainability is the function of companys key resources and their immobility (Brahma Chakraborty, 2011). Undoubtedly, the question is what makes these resources absolutely, valuable? Petraf and Barney (2003:312) state that, Resource Based Theory (RBT) is not the only or a best substitute for industrial level analytical tools, such as five-force analysis (Porter, 1980) or for group analysis or analysis of macro environment. It is relatively an additional tool to complement all these tools, where by, one can search for possible causes of sustained competitive advantage. In view of the above, I have come up with following recommendations for cafà © expresso and their issue of sustained competitive advantage: Aphorism: Innovate or Die is a famous saying these days, which warns companies to innovate or face the consequences of being driven out of the market for good (Barney, Ketchen Wright, 2011). Rapid advancement in the field of Information sharing technologies, Globalisation and dynamic economic environment are some of the factors, which pose an existent threat to any companys competitive advantage in the market. Companies, such as Cafà © Expresso, should not only rely on one successful strategy for long but should constantly revise and develop new ideas to develop and maintain their competitive advantage. How time affects strategy? The common denominator is time; this approach helps managers become proactive in creating change- in policies, in practices and in processes. Williams (1992) suggested this theory for sustained competitive advantage, which I believe holds much valid in todays fierce business environment. The success in this theory is embedded in the managers ability to change the rules of the game so entirely that the competitors are left behind in the chase. The management of cafà © expresso should keep their options open and avoid fixation. Futuristic leadership at all levels in the organisation is one of the key factors to sustained competitive advantage. A visionary team of managers will push the organization towards innovation and creativity, avoiding stagnation in the process. Ben Thomson (current CEO) should constantly monitor market for new avenues and trends in the coffee house industry. He should also develop and train his key managers to become visionary and creative. Capacity for change is an all-time important element of a sustained competitive advantage. Due to highly fluid business environment, where new technologies and features enter the market every day, a company should possess a capacity to change its internal business ethos accordingly. Human resource in an organization has a great capacity to change and being exposed to new environments. Being Customer focused is last but not the least of worries for a company such as, cafà © expresso. The kind of industry in which it operates is directly involved in customer service and satisfaction. Much study has been done on customer service and retention in the past two decades or so, because the focuses of almost all the businesses have now shifted in the direction of its customers. The future of entire coffee house business is embedded in this single aspect.

Intertestament Period

Exploring the Bible 3 October, 2011 Inter-Biblical Period: 400 Years The Old Testament focuses on God’s covenant with his people and the stories of men of great faith and also men of prophecy, foretelling Christ coming. The New Testament, however, focuses on the redemption side. The Redemption side is Christ’s story here on Earth and his ministry to other people. Malachi, the last book written in the Old Testament, was written around 424 B. C. Then 418 years after, the book of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, was written.The Intertestamental Period is the period of history between the two testaments. Since God did not speak to his people directly through prophets, this period is also known as the 400 years of silence. Now, what happened in those four hundred years? The Intertestamental Period was a time where many empires came along, new religious groups formed, and where theological and literature pieces were developed that molded Israel going into the tim e of Christ. Politics in a nation help dictate and run the people, in Israel’s case, they had to deal with many empires coming in.During the Intertestamental Period, they had five key periods of leaders and kingdoms. The Persian Empire arrived around 430 B. C. and they ruled until 332 B. C. The Persian rule was recorded as being mild and tolerant. (Scott, 1783) The Persians were taken over by the Greeks. The Greek period went from 331 B. C. to 167 B. C. (Scott, 1783) Alexander the Great, son of King Philip of Macedonia, was given the control of the Greek army around the age of 20. (Halley, 402) With the control of the army, he was able to sweep over and take over Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia.Alexander the Great was very compassionate towards the Jews and he spared the city of Jerusalem. He established Greek cities in his conquered places and he did it with the plan to spread Greek culture and language throughout the world including Israel. After Alexander’s deat h, his empire was separated to his four generals. (Halley, 402) Egypt and Palestine was given to Ptolemy and under him the conditions of the Jews were at a peaceful state. In Egypt, Alexandria was the influential center of Judaism. In 167 B. C. was the beginning of the Period of Independence also known as the Maccabean period.Mattathias was a priest and he was upset at Antiochus motivation to destroy the Jews, so he gathered Jews and raised a revolt. Mattathias had five sons, Judas, Jonathan, Simon, John, and Elezar. (Halley, 404) The Maccabean period lasted until 63 B. C. and the Romans followed after. Palestine was conquered by the Romans under Pompey. Idumean was the first to be appointed ruler of Judea. His son, Herod the Great, succeeded him. (Halley, 404) Herod was a shrewd politician who wanted to get good with the Jews. He was very cruel and brutal towards his people.Politics and leaders are key roles in establishing a nation. In this case, these five empires helped develop rules and guidelines that led the people and that eventually grew and prepared Israel for the coming of Christ. During the 400 years of silence, religion was another area that grew in Israel. During this time, the religion was not set up was polytheistic or monotheistic but instead it was groups of people. For example the four main groups of the religions groups or parties are Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Herodians.These four groups followed what they believed and chose to do whatever they wanted to do. The Pharisees is the group most people probably know because of their role in the Gospels and the fact Paul was one. They took the Law and believed it was their job to take it and to put into new conditions. (Hester, 325-326) The accepted both the Torah and tradition. The Pharisees rejected anyone who didn’t live by the standards they did. On the opposite side were the Sadducees. They were the second main group and they had more power than the Pharisees until 70 A.D. whe n their temple was destroyed. (Hester, 325-326) The Sadducees consisted of the wealthy priests. They were a conservative group and they didn’t try to take the Law and put into a new situation but they instead took and limited themselves to the five books of Moses. After 70 A. D, the Pharisees were the leaders of the Jewish people by giving them a religious life aside from the temple. The other two parties were more political than religious groups. The Zealots were a nationalist group that opposed the Romans.Simon, one of Jesus’ disciples, was a Zealot. The other group, the Herodians, basically supported Herod and his dynasty and supported what he did for the nation. These four groups are the religious groups that developed the main teachings and guidelines people believe until Christ’s ministry began. Even though religion and politics are a big part of a civilization, another key role is the literature and writing of a nation. Literature and writing in Israel or any nation is an influential part because it is what the people follow and speak.In Israel, Hebrew was the language of the Old Testament. This was the main language of religion. Latin was the language of Roman and it was commonly spoken among the people. Greek was another language and it was the language that tied the Roman Empire together. The most common language of Palestine in Jesus’ day was Aramaic. (Halley, 410) Most writings are believed to have been written in Aramaic and translated into Greek. (Halley, 410) The Old Testament was written in Hebrew but was spoken in Greek. Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament into Greek.The Torah was translated first. It was called the Septuagint because of the 70 translators and Septuagint means 70 in Greek. (Halley, 409) Another type of translation was Targums and they are translations of the Old Testament into Aramaic. They were first oral translations, paraphrases, and interpretations these types of languages and writi ng were influential in the development of the social status during the Intertestamental Period. Even though writing is important the question is what was the theology being taught during this period?Theology is important because it is what the people studied and how they viewed God. The Apocrypha, is writings which the writer assumed the name of a hero long since dead, and rewrote history in terms of prophecy. (Halley, 406) Some of this included, Books of Enoch, Assumption of Moses, Ascension of Isaiah, Book of Jubilees, Psalms of Solomon, and more. These books are the books that were written by people in the period of the 400 years of silence, and they preached about the prophecies that the prophets spoke and also the birth of Christ and the end times.This theology is the closest literature that the people had to connect to God and the prophecies that was spoken. All of these books spoke of Christ coming and his ministry that he will live for and preach. The Intertestamental Period consisted of political powers overtaking each other, religious groups, and theological books and literature that preached Christ coming and that developed the nation of Israel. The political side consisted of Persian, Greek, Egyptian, the Maccabees, and the Romans. The eligious side had the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Herodians and they all had different views and theories. And the language part consisted of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. The theology piece was the Apocrypha, which re-emphasized the prophets foretelling. All these pieces and parts put together made up the Intertestamental Period and it formed Israel and it carried over into the ministry of Jesus. The 400 years of silence at last was broken, and God sent his son Jesus Christ to testify the truth and overcome the world.Work Cited Scott, J. Julius Jr. â€Å"Time Between the Testaments. † ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 2008. 1783-1789. Print. Halley, Dr. Henry H. Halley’s Bible Handbook: with New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan Publishing House. 2000. 402-412. Print. Hester, H. I. The Heart of Hebrew History: A Study of the Old Testestament. Liberty, Missouri, The Quality Press, Inc. 1962. 313-330. Print.

Honestly is the Best Policy

â€Å"Honestly is the best policy† is the best way to live life. This aphorism is something that my parents were constantly telling me when I was younger. All throughout life you are told to tell the truth and not lie. Lying about something will only make the problem worse. In my experience prolonging the truth from your parents just creates a bigger problem then you were trying to keep covered in the beginning. Once you start lying you then need to keep up with all the lies you told and make sure you remember them so you don't get caught. Sometimes depending on the gravity of what type of situation you lied in you can cause yourself a lot of stress trying to cover up the truth. When the truth comes which it almost always does you will disappoint the people around you. Most parents mine especially don't get mad at me rather they just tell me how disappointed they are. Sometimes hearing your parents say they are disappointed in you hurts more then them screaming at you. When you lie to your parents and they find out, they may feel like you are breaking their trust. Once you have broken that trust it will take a long time for you to rebuild it. You can also feel very guilty after you have lied to someone that holds an important place in your life. No matter how many times you tell them how sorry you are it won't change what you did. If you choose to live by â€Å"honesty is the best policy† and not lie you will feel no guilt or disappointment. Without all of the guilt and disappointment that lying brings you can live a happier and less stressful life. You also will not sever the sometimes very little trust that your parents have put in you. This will allow you have strong relationships with your parents and even give you the opportunity to strengthen them. Family is super important to me, so having a healthy and genuine relationship with my parents is what I would like. You won't have to deal with all of the stress that keeping up with your lies requires. Instead of causing yourself so much heartbreak just remember honesty is the best policy.

Fallacies of Internet Censorship Essay - 1116 Words

Fallacies of Internet Censorship Laws, enforcements, and censorship have been developed since the beginning of civilization. With freedom, comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes common sense. In a society or nation of few, laws and restriction tend to be smaller, and less complex. This is contributed by the fact that in small groups, their will be less diversity amongst them. In larger society ranging in millions to billions, the need for a more complex, organized government begins to form. No human is in fact alike, each person possess their own form of will, and much their own point-of-view. In a large mass society, it becomes tedious, and complex to try and rule by anarchy. The need for a common law amongst this†¦show more content†¦Being able to censor a website based off of content is another fallacy. Putting aside morals of right or wrong of content, the simple fact of what one country considers legal, is not always considered legal in another. However, this site is still available to be browsed by one citizen or resident of one country to another as part of being interconnected through the world wide web, in order to truly consider censoring this information, the other country would have to either disengage a form of connections (which is nearly impossible without disabling all connections), and or, have to go into said country and destroy the computer and or, data that is housing and sharing the information. This act is commonly thought as intrusion and can create wars between the two nations. Not to mention the fact of the said country having to literally probe into the other country’s database and locate the person’s location. The cost of trying to censor the internet, would be so incredibly expensive, time consuming, and problematic, that it would take decades, trillions of dollars, and may even cause wars. The internet itself uses things called ports. Ports are short term for portals, gaps between one connections of information to another. The numerical number of ports possible for a person to gain access from one computer to another is near infinite in possibilities. To be able to fully censor, or block accessShow MoreRelatedThe World Is Connected Like Never Before2449 Words   |  10 Pagesnature of the internet and thus human communication. In this paper I intend to show that the internet, and thus humanity, is being undercut for the bizarre promise of security that shows no connection to the real world. Even in the parts of this world that are backward, the power of the internet connects them with the outside world thus making it a fundamental matter of human communication. So, for the sake of being succinct at least once, the regulation and attempted control of the internet not onlyRead MoreRevised Research Argument Essay3608 Words   |  15 Pagesinformation on a vast variety of topics. 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