Hard Rock Café

Hard Rock Cafà © Hard Rock Cafà © is a chain of restaurants that was founded by Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett in 1971. Though they were Americans, the first Hard Rock Cafà © was in London, England and it was a theme restaurant that had it walls covered with rock and roll memorabilia. However, it started to expand in 1982 into other countries like Canada France and the US. In 1995 it ventured into the hotel and casino business with their first casino in Las Vegas (Grushkin, Selvin, Routhier, 2001).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hard Rock Cafà © specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hard Rock Cafà © has invested heavily in its product design process. This is because customer preferences and needs are constantly changing and they have had to address these changing preferences to maintain a competitive edge in the restaurant and hotel market. Due to its global network the company is in a better position to adapt quickly in response to the changing tastes and preferences, especially due to their theme venture. Their strategic managers have had to incorporate technology in the restaurant’s service delivery, such as the use of the internet in advertising and also in making orders and reservations for their high end products. This has boosted them in maximizing customer satisfaction, as convenience is key in customer service (Heizer Render,1996). The company has adopted the differentiation, cost leadership and rapid response strategies in their product development. This is to make sure that it stays relevant in the market by being different from other restaurants, being cost sensitive and incorporating customer needs into their products as soon as they arise. The decision makers have always taken pride in having close relationships with both their suppliers and customers hence the need to consult with them during product design. The Hard Rock Cafà © managers have a strict policy on the observation of safety , health and hygiene regulations in their decision making, and therefore, all products that they design are in line with these product principles. Hard rock cafà © products lifecycle is greatly influenced by customer preferences. They start by consultation to identify the prevailing customer needs in the market and the cycles end when the sales of the particular product plummet such that it is no longer profitable to continue producing it (Blythe, 2008). Their products go through four stages in their lifecycles, which are; introduction, growth, maturity, and the decline stage. When a need is identified in the market and a product is designed it is introduced in the companys restaurants and if customers like it, it is further popularized to boost its markets growth. With a stable market at maturity, the restaurants reap maximum profits, but these reduce as the product goes through the decline stage where sales plummet.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let 's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hard Rock Cafà © considers different issues in its product development to ensure that it maintains a competitive advantage in the market. For instance, the decision makers have been forced to modify their menu from the basic burgers, beverages and fries, to other high end items that increase customer satisfaction. Also, with the current trend of healthy eating they have had to come up with diet meals for the section of the market that is health sensitive. As noted by Blythe, (2008), the company has always ensured that it conditions its product design process according to the customers needs. To ensure that they maintain customer loyalty the company has also tailored their product design in a way that ensures maximum efficiency in service delivery. Their products have to take the shortest time possible to produce so as to quickly meet customer needs especially at peak hours. The management has ob served that certain peak periods generate a lot of customer orders, and in their bid to maximize on customer loyalty, they have to conveniently serve these peak time orders efficiently. For instance there are more rock and roll enthusiasts during the holidays hence an in influx of customers during this time. References Blythe, J. (2008). Consumer behavior. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Grushkin, P., Selvin, J. and Routhier, S. (2001). Treasures of the Hard Rock Cafe: The Official Guide to the Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia Collection. Winnetka, Illinois: Rare Air Media, Heizer, J. and Render, B. (1996). Production operations management. Prentice Hall series in decision sciences. New York: Prentice Hall.

The 7 Best Places to Find High Paying Ghostwriting Jobs

The 7 Best Places to Find High Paying Ghostwriting Jobs After my first article about earning big as a ghostwriter on FundsforWriters, the next obvious question so many writers asked was where to find clients that pay well for ghostwriting jobs. Following you’ll find seven high-paying markets for ghostwriters. While there are plenty of websites and portals that offer ghostwriting gigs, most of these do not pay well. It seems counterproductive to give away your hard work for a pittance and not even have the right to claim it as yours. The good news is that not all websites are created equal, and places exist with well-paying projects with the potential for long-term work. Dig beyond the usual freelance websites like Upwork, Freelancer or Fiverr. The average gigs here are short term and in the low-to-mid range. Moreover, stiff competition drives down the on-going rates further. Upwork features an Enterprise Program for selected freelancers while Fiverr offers you to apply for Fiverr Pro if you meet their criteria. The gigs there are well-priced, but unfortunately, they are not open to all. Seven Better Places to Find Profitable Ghostwriting Jobs 1.  Ã‚     LinkedIn ProFinder– This is a new service launched 2.  Ã‚     Working Nomads– Working Nomads is one of the best places to find remote working jobs including ghostwriting. The site was set up to connect freelance professionals with scouting companies. Only the best jobs are posted here as each job post costs the employer $149. Digital nomads often take home five- to six-figure earnings. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freelancewriting– Open since 1997, Freelancewriting is a job board hosting both full-time as well as part-time gigs for ghostwriters. Most jobs are in the five-figure range (for full-time work). 4.  Ã‚     Scripted– Scripted sets very high standards for its writers and has an impressive portfolio of clients, with a strict recruiting process. Once you are in, you gain access to some of the best ghostwriting gigs available. There is a minimum prescribed rate for each writing category. This ensures a minimum payout for each gig and undercutting is not allowed. 5.  Ã‚     Writers.work– A freelance writing job aggregator, this site sifts through the internet to pick out the best gigs and delivers them as a digest to your dashboard. It is a pay-for-membership service but totally worth the expense. 6.  Ã‚     Remote As the name suggests, remote features only remote jobs. They are all well-paid, too. No wonder it has over 2.5 million professionals, including ghostwriters, connected. And the number is growing every day. Remote uses an intelligent AI-based matching system to predict a high probability for job success. 7.  Ã‚     ProBlogger Job Board Established in 2004 as a learning guide on making money as a blogger, Problogger has now become a freelancer’s go-to site for its job board. Clients have to pay to advertise their requirements to its vast database of writers. That’s why the jobs advertised are much better paid than those on content mills. Joining freelance job aggregators like  Periodix  or subscribing with  Freedom with Writing  can also make the search easier without you having to spend hours each day scouring the net. Additionally, joining the  Association of Ghostwriters  or  Nonfiction Authors Association  will not only help you build your credibility as a ghostwriter, it will help you get quality job leads.

Management & Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management & Organisation - Essay Example eatures and functions which are in line with the market consideration, clients responses, technological developments, innovation, supply chain procedural methods functioning and many more factors of relevant importance that are vital to be taken into account in order to derive maximum out of a business enterprise on international level. M& S services and activities are driven by organized philosophy which has enabled effective growth and development in the market in comparison to the rivals. The philosophy of mark and Spencer is based on the basic idea of â€Å" production and manufacturing of products of top most quality with due consideration of the costs but at the same time ensuring that the costs do not come down to a very low level which would ultimately compromise the quality. The bottom line of philosophy is that of quality retention which in other words is the clients’ satisfaction. Mark & Spencer has a rich history of productive market performance, however it has had share of low phases as well. One major turn of similar events was seen around the end of last century when during 1999 when the company performance graph in terms of the sales made went extremely low, and considerable stock market shares were lost to other rivals as well which resulted in loss of trust of the customers and overall net loss to the company both in terms of financial means and clients trust. The stocks dip by a good over 30 percent was a deep blow to the company (Bevan 2007). This came along in contrast to the outstanding figures and outputs achieved by the company in yester years when the company had over 18 percent of the clients captured in terms of the garments market, 30 percent of the undergarments of women were covered through Marks and Spencer(Alon 2000). Human resource management and domain is of high importance to any organization and its performance, M&S is no exception and there is always margin for improvement, enhancing the overall HR services and customers’

Critical thinking-onion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical thinking-onion - Coursework Example Furthermore, the website also provides video backup for the existing written texts. Some of the videos are automatic such that they start as soon as one clicks into the link. The website has various headlines. For instance, New Study Finds Therapy, Antidepressants Equally Effective At Monetizing Depression, Grandchild, Grandfather Equally Dreading Collaborating For School Interview Project among others. The satirical source conveys a partisan bias in the manner in which it delivers information. For example, the satirical source address success in finding an antidepressant that has great effectiveness at depression monetization (Norman 1). However, new turn of events comes when the author diverts attention into its financial benefits to its dealers. Norman, Ok. New Study Finds Therapy, Antidepressants Equally Effective At Monetizing Depression. New York: The Onion, February 17, 2015. Accessed on February 18, 2015 from

Ben n Jerry's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ben n Jerry's - Essay Example The decision by Cohen and Greenfield not to always adhere to traditional investor-relations practices such as strategic planning raises concerns on just how committed the company is at giving the best returns to investors. The company’s lack of a strategic plan is demonstrated in the interview with Cohen when he portrayed his ignorance of the company’s future plans with regards to earnings and spending (Schill et al. 4). The basing of Ben and Jerry’s corporate operating decisions on the company’s community welfare interests sends a strong message concerning the importance of the company’s social obligations over the other obligations (5). Moreover, the willingness of the company’s management to make decisions that favor social gains at the expense of profitability also confirms the company’s preference for satisfying its social responsibilities over maximizing returns for shareholders (6). 2. Even though the case of Ben and Jerry’s Homemade demonstrates the difficulty in embracing corporate social responsibility (CSR) while working to maximize share holder value, it is possible to balance the two if the company finds a way of benefiting from its CSR obligations. Given that corporate investors expect profitable returns within a certain period of time for every dollar they invest in a business, organizational leaders need to evaluate every program that they invest in so as to determine the potential value of the investment not only to the shareholders but to the organization as a whole. In order to satisfy social obligations while maximizing shareholder returns, an organization should focus on investing in social programs that have the potential of increasing the overall performance of the company improving its market share and profitability, and therefore increasing investors’ return on investments. For instance, an organization could take advantage of

Media Violence Causing Social Violence Sociology Essay

Media Violence Causing Social Violence Sociology Essay The above statistics alone should immediately indicate that the negative effects of media violence on the minds of young people cannot help but be substantial, and may in fact lead to social violence on the part of those exposed. However, the fact is that even after decades of ongoing research, there remains a debate as to whether media violence substantially contributes to social violence (Haugen Musser, 2008). To provide context to the ongoing debate, it is helpful to first define the two key terms discussed in this essay, namely media violence and social violence. As noted by North, Wallis and Weingast (2009), the term social violence technically refers to violent activities engaged in by people as a group. This would include violence associated with riots, revolutions, and gang warfare. However, for the purposes of this essay, the term is defined far more broadly as behavior that is aggressive and/or abusive and which results in, or has the potential to result in, some form of injury to one or more others. This is the definition used in most of the existing studies of media violence and social violence. Haugen and Musser (2008) note that there are differing views as to what precisely is meant by the term media violence, but that typically it refers to various gradations of violence presented by differing forms of electronic or film media such as television programs, computer games, and movies. The gradations considered to be within the domain of media violence can and do differ from research study to research study. However, the authors inform that a good deal of the decades long debate over media violence and social violence is more political than scientific. Specifically, Haugen and Musser (2008) state that there are two schools of sociopolitical thought as to whether or not media violence actually causes real-life violenceand these are both trying to use research on media violence to advance their particular perspective. One school of thought blames media violence for social violence and wants to censor certain content in order to protect children. The other side views censorship, even if relatively weak in scope, as a slippery slope to increasingly levels of censorship not only of violence but many other types of expressions within society. It is important to keep this in mind when evaluating the existing research. It can be noted here that the central thesis of this paper is that there is sufficient evidence of a substantial relationship between media violence and social violence; however, social violence is multi-causal and media violence is likely to exert maximal effects if additional causal and contributory factors are operative. This thesis is supported in this paper by an extensive review of the existing research on media violence demonstrating exposure to be followed by engagement in antisocial behavior and aggression. The Connection Between Media Violence and Social Violence Effects on Children and Adolescents Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005) compiled a comprehensive review of the literature on the effects of media violence on the social violence and aggression of both children and adolescents using the findings of five meta-analytic reviews and one quasi-systematic review, all of which were from North America. The studies covered television violence, film violence, and video and computer game violence. Some of the most important of their findings were: 1. In the average home, childrens television programming exposes a child to 20 to 25 violent actions each hour; moreover, violent offenders in childrens programming sometimes go without punishment and the offenders themselves seldom show any remorse for the violence. 2. During both childhood and adolescence, the amount of time watching television violence is positively related to several antisocial behaviors such as threatening aggression, assault or physical fights resulting in injury, and to robbery. In general, the review presented by Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005) led the authors to conclude that violent images in the media can substantially affect children and adolescents thoughts and emotions in a manner that makes them both more fearful and more aggressive. Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis also reported that several other factors figure into the commission of social violence which makes the link between social violence and media violence significant but small. However, they point out that the effect sizes observed in meta-analytic studies of media violence and subsequent social violence show that even this small relationship exerts a substantial effect on the general public health in terms of the consequences of social violence to the victim and to the families of both the victim and the perpetrator of the violence. Regarding the point made by Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005), it is helpful to briefly look at the statistics associated with social violence. In this regard, Santamour (2008) reports that acts of violence are associated with heavy human and economic costs. In his study, Santamour examined violence-related hospitalizations in the United States. He observed that hospital costs as a result of social violence totaled $2.3 billion dollars per year and were primarily the result of assaults and/or physical and emotional abuse. A clear gender difference was also noted which Santamour reports as follows: Boys and men accounted for 82.4 percent of hospital stays resulting from assaults; girls and women accounted for 63.9 percent related to maltreatment and 58.5 percent resulting from self-inflicted violence. Young adults, 18 to 44 years old, made up 68.3 percent of assault-related stays and 62 percent associated with self-inflicted violence. (p. 1) When considering that media violence contributes to statistics such as these, it is difficult to think of any connection between it and social violence is weak. In another study of media violence and social violence, Bushman and Huesmann (2006) found that exposure to media violence was positively related to aggressive behavior, anger, and aggressive ideas in children, teens, and adults. It was also found that media violence had a negative effect on the helping behaviors of all groups, making them far less likely to help others in need. However, it was also found that the group most vulnerable to the effects of media violence were young children. This was said to be because young children were more easily impressionable; also, they had a harder time telling the difference between fantasy and reality. In addition, young children learn best by observing and then imitating behavior, making them more apt to engage in violent behavior. Adding to the idea that media violence is directly related to social violence, Haugen and Musser (2008) report that the connection between media violence and social violence has already been accepted as fairly substantial by six major medical groups. These groups are the: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association. Further, the authors also noted that each of these medical organizations hold that media violence leads children to increase their levels of antisocial behavior and to become less sensitive to violence as well as victims of violence. Haugen and Musser (2008) also states that these medical groups warn that children exposed to long-term and frequent media violence are likely to develop a view of the world as violent and mean and to become more fearful of being a victim of the worlds violence than children who are not exposed to frequent/long-term media violence. Even more alarming is that the children who are exposed to frequent media violence over a lengthy period of time often show a desire to see yet more violence in their entertainment as well as in real life, and they come to see violence as a legitimate way to settle conflicts. These desires and attitudes, in turn, make them more likely to engage in social violence both as children and as adolescents and, in some cases, even as adults. The foregoing literature provides fairly strong support for the idea that even a weak causal contribution between media violence and social violence can be viewed as substantial in terms of its costs and its escalating effects on people over time. However, this effect does have to be considered in light of all of the factors that drive people to commit violent acts against others. The next section of this essay considers the effects of media violence in relation to the other contributors of social violence. Multifactorial Nature of Social Violence and Contribution of Media Violence Kirsh (2006) reports that many factors are involved in the commission of social violence and as just demonstrated in the above review, one of these factors is media violence. However, its effects can vary depending upon the manner in which the violence is presented. If the violence presented in the media lacks consequences and/or is justified, and/or is associated with reward, it can have a very negative effect on children and teens, making them more likely to engage in such behavior. However, if the presented media violence shows that the offender is punished for the violence, then it can lessen childrens tendencies toward aggressive behavior. In addition, the type of character or personality that engages in the presented violence can also have an effect. According to Kirsh (2006), if the violence is undertaken by an attractive person or by a charismatic heroand the child or adolescent identifies with the perpetratorthen it is likely that the negative effect of the violence will be stronger, making the viewer more likely to engage in similar behavior. Furthermore, Kirsh reports that if the childs full attention is focused on the screen presenting the violence with minimal or no distractions breaking this focus, the impact will be greater. Finally, if the child views the show and its violence as realistic and reflective of real life, then the effects will be stronger. In what is now considered a seminal study of media violence, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General (2001) concluded that there is a relationship between media violence and some social violence including homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. However, it was also noted that there is a problem with the research that makes knowing whether there is a causal connection between media violence and social violence difficult to scientifically report. Regarding the nature of the problem, it is stated that: Although there is clear scientific evidence of a correlation between exposure to media violence and some violent behaviors, randomized experiments-the research methodology best suited to determining causality-cannot ethically be used in studies of violent behavior. (p. 1) It was stated that the best that could be done is to study the effects of media violence and how it affects certain aggressive behaviors in children and adolescence. These studies were said to provide at least indirect evidence of causality. For example, the Surgeon General (2001) reports that longitudinal studies reliably show that if children are exposed to media violence, as they grow older they become more likely to exhibit aggressiveness due to the increase in the amount of media violence exposure. This connection makes it seem very reasonable to believe that there is also some causal contribution of media violence to social violence in various forms of violent antisocial behavior and crime. But if there is a causal connection, how strong is it and what other factors also contribute to social violence? According to the Surgeon Generals (2001) early study of youth violence, as well as a more recent study by Coyne (2007), what makes media violence likely to impact on any given child is its relationship to a host of several social violence risk factors. These risk factors include: individual risk factors; family risk factors; school risk factors; peer group risk factors; and neighborhood and community risk factors. Specifically, to the extent that one or more of these factors is present in a childs life, they are likely to make the child more prone to both violent behavior as well as the negative effects of media violence. The social violence risk factors discussed by both the Surgeon General (2001) and Coyne (2007) can be delineated as follows: 1. Individual factors A child and/or adolescent is most likely to be at risk for the negative effects of media violence and social violence if the child is male, if there is substance use, if the childs personality or temperament is already somewhat aggressive possibly as a result of a health condition such as hyperactivity, if the IQ is low, and if the child is generally antisocial in attitudes and beliefs. One point that can be noted here is that the Council on Communications and Media (2009) states that individual factors can also protect a child from the negative effects of media violence. These protective factors include the child having a high IQ, and a positive social orientation. Further, if the child shows a low tolerance for deviance and views transgressions as usually punished, this also would reduce or even eradicate any negative effects of media violence. 2. Neighborhood and Community Factors Living in a deteriorating community or neighborhood can put a child or adolescent more at risk for the negative effects of media violence. For example, poor neighborhoods where drugs and gangs are present increase the risk. High crime areas also place a child at risk for social violence that is exacerbated by exposure to media violence. 3. Family Risk Factors If the childs family is poor, he or she is more at risk for the negative effects of media violence. If his/her parents are antisocial and/or have a poor relationship with the child, these factors can also increase the risk. Other family factors that place children at risk for the negative effects of media violence include: parental separation (broken home), abusive parents, neglect, harsh discipline and/or a lack of discipline, poor mental health of parents, and the presence of a good deal of conflict in the home. As with individual factors, there are some familial/parental factors that can give the child some protection from the negative effects of media violence (as well as other forms of violence). According to Ferguson, San Miguel and Hartley (2009), these protective family factors include having good relationships with parents, and positive evaluations from peers. Steady and consistent, but not overly harsh, parental monitoring and discipline can also be protective. 4. School Factors How a child feels about school can also affect the impact of media violence on the child. If his or her attitude is positive, the child will be less likely to be impacted; but if the attitude is negative, the risk is increased. Academic performance operates in a similar manner. School failure and low grades make a child more vulnerable to the negative effects of media violence, while good school performance has the opposite effects. Lee and Kim (2004) points out that one of the strongest school risk factors is bullying. If a child is bullied, he becomes very vulnerable to seeing some form of retributive violence as the answer to his problem and this tendency can be strongly exacerbated by media violence. 5. Peer Risk Factors The nature of a child or adolescents peers can have a significant impact on the effects of media violence. If the child has strong ties to antisocial peers, then the impact is more negative. However, if most of the childs friends behave in prosocial ways, then this will act as a protective factor. Media Violence and Crime The foregoing section of the review indicated that media violence operates conjointly with other factors to elevate a childs risk for social violence. However, there are many forms of social violence, one of which is violent crime. This section of the essay examines the question: Is media violence directly related to the commission of violent crime? According to Coyne (2007), while many studies of media violence and violent crime do show at least a weak connection, they suffer from the fact that they are, in large part, laboratory-based investigations. Furthermore, such studies primarily rest on studies of aggressive urges or tendencies rather than examining real criminal behavior to see if those engaging in it have a history of watching violence in the media. Coyne (2007) attempted to remedy the forgoing problem by examining longitudinal research with offender populations. It was stated that, When integrated with other long-term studies on the development of crime, it is concluded that the link between media violence and crime is weak after other environmental factors are taken into account. However, the fact remains that until there can be some good control for other contributors to criminal violence, it will remain difficult to know the extent to which there is a direct causal relationship between media violence and criminal violence. Failure to definitively establish a causal link is due to the fact that in studies which are significant statistically, these other factors often act as confounding variables. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to state that the ongoing, now decades long, findings of elevations in aggressiveness in relation to media violence strongly suggest that there may be more than a weak connection. Conclusions The central thesis of this essay was that media violence substantially contributes to social violence where social violence was defined in the broad sense of aggressive and/or antisocial behavior that results in or can result in injury to one or more others. The key question that must be asked is whether the reviewed literature on media violence supported this thesis? The answer to the above question is somewhat complex. The literature clearly indicated that media violence can lead to children and adolescents engaging in aggression and violent behavior. Moreover, it also showed that the degree to which said behavior is engaged in can differ depending on length of media violence exposure. The reviewed literature also demonstrated that the nature of the violence presentation and the strength of distracted focus can both operate to make it more likely that social violence will be engaged in by children and/or adolescents. This indicates that there is a real effect being exerted by media violence on children. However this conclusion needs some modification. Social violence, as defined in this essay, is multi-determined which means that there are many contributors which, taken together or in part, operate to make a child and/or adolescent engage in social violence. Media violence is one of these and indications are that it can substantially contribute to social violence in the sense that it exacerbates the effects on social violence caused by other factors such as having conflict in the family, living in a gang ridden and poor neighborhood, doing poorly in school, and so forth. Media violence not only exerts a substantial contribution to social violence in this manner, it also exerts an effect in terms of the negative outcomes of social violence on the lives of the people who are involved in it. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that based on all of the reviewed findings, media violence does exert a substantial effect on social violence even though it is not the only contributor.

Buddhism Essay -- essays research papers fc

High in the mountains of the Himalayas chants ring out from the Tibetan monastery. For most this is a dream-like vacation to a far away land. For some of the people who live in Tibet and India this is everyday life as a Buddhist. Buddhism revolves around a strict code of daily rituals and meditations. To an outsider they can seem mystical or even odd, but these are the paths to enlightenment and spiritual salvation. Throughout the centuries, Buddhism has evolved into a major religion in Asia and other parts of the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The mystical roots of Buddhism can be traced back to the first century BCE. Buddhism began with the birth of Siddhartha Gautama. When Siddhartha was born he was noticed as having â€Å"the 32 auspicious signs of an enlightened one† (Clark and Brown 3). His father, fearing Siddhartha would shun his inheritance, confined him to the walls of the palace, never allowing his son to experience want or suffering. However, Siddhartha on several occasions ventured outside the confines of the palace. On one of his visits into the city â€Å"he saw an ascetic begging for alms in the city square. It was then that he realized that there was meaning beyond physical existence† (Clark and Brown 3). Siddhartha then gave up his possessions to search for enlightenment. He discovers that by following the path of moderation, one can become enlightened (Clark and Brown 3). And so, he attained Buddhahood. Afterwards Buddha, the name given to an enlightened one, travels thro ugh India â€Å"preaching and educating others about the middle path† (Clark and Brown 3). From this, Buddhism was born.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The religion of Buddhism is not entirely in a sphere of its own. In fact, it combines several influences born in and around the Asian continent. The first religious influence is Taoism. Taoism embraces the belief in the fluid like spirit that flows throughout everyone and everything. The primary belief of Taoists is that the universe is in constant change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Taoists believe that nature and the earth is constantly in flux. Simply, the only constant in the world is change. When individuals learn that growth and movement are natural and necessary, they can become balanced (Clark and Brown 7). Taoism teaches self-control and the importance of meditation in searching for enlightenment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  &nbs... ...ver which the imperial family presided, had been largely eclipsed by Buddhism† (Ralph et al 34). Aspects of the religion have also moved into the U.S., Growing interest in Asian culture and spiritual values in the West has led to the development of a number of societies devoted to the study and practice of Buddhism. Zen has grown in the United States to encompass more than a dozen meditation centers and a number of actual monasteries (McDermott 2). The Buddhist religion encompasses a large spectrum of people all diverse but united under the words and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. Works Cited Clark, Laura, and Suzanne Brown. Vietnamese Buddhism. 18 Jan. 2000. . Dharma Haven. Healing, Relaxing and Awakening: Tibetan Buddhist Methods. 16 Jan. 2000. . 18 May 1999. Hansen, Jytte. Mandala. 17 Jan 2000. . 1 March 1997 McDermott, James Paul. Buddhism Today. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99. Ralph, Phillip Lee, et al. World Civilizations: Their History and Culture. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 1997.