System and Change in Industrial Relations Analysis

As a student of industrial relations, I am often bombarded with conflicting theories and reasons for the emergence and importance of this field. Edmond Heery outlines and analyses the justaposition of two different views of modeling this vast and often debated area of industrial relations. His article looks at two types of model building in IR. First, the traditional model of systems-thinking set forth by John Dunlop, one of the pioneers of IR theory. Introduced in 1958, Dunlop’s system theory of IR tries to provide tools to understand the widest possible range of IR activities and explains why particular rules are established in particular contexts. Dunlop argues that IR can be studied as an independent field in an industrial society (much like economics). The systems theory makes use of four related elements: Actors- workers and their institutions, management, government institutions; Contexts- technical characteristics of workplace, budgetary constraints, locus and distribution of power in society; Rules- procedural and substantive; Functional ideology- integration, ie. IR regulates conflict by playing by the rules. The relationship between these elements is twofold- not only does the IR context influence the IR actors and the rules they creat, the actors’ shared acceptance of the common idealogy (the IR game played by the rules) helps bind the system as a whole. Heery goes on to outline several criticisms of Dunl op’s rather classic and still widely studied systems theory. A starting criticism of the systems theory is that it views IR as an independent field with an inherent theory. Critics want to push back this boundary and argue that IR was and is deeply connected with and determined by economics, politics, social, domestic, and familial relationships of the time and place in history. Another criticism is that Dunlop has over simplified his description of actors. For example, critics argue that actors’ roles are often changing with new business environments and the emergence of new actors- such as customers and community. Critics also argue that actors make different strategic choices at different levels (eg. Kochan’s model), but Dunlop’s model does not take his into account. The model places a lot of emphasis on roles as opposed to people, thus ignoring behavioural aspects like human motivations and preferences. Other criticisms of Dunlop go on to disagree with his premise that the function of IR is ideological- to regulate conflict and integrate actors. These criticisms range from those who argue that the ideology within IR is not integ rative, but rather reconciliatory (reconcile with the dominant ideology), to those who argue that the ideology in IR is to delegitimize all actors except for workers (thus undermining employers’ authority). Others also argue that IR is non-ideological and unstable, thanks to rapid modernization and high competition. The most loudly uttered criticism of all is that the systems theory does not explain change in the field. This leads to Heery’s second type of IR model building- the models of change. This type of model has a historical perspective and looks at how change occurs in IR over time. The models also examine the pattern of change and whether it is cyclical or directional, gradual, or catastrophic, and its origin- endogenous (from within the employment relationship) or exogenous (from the wider economy and society). Heery looks at six different types of change models that are broadly divided into exogenous and endogenous. Both exogenous and endogenous models have two subdivisions each of directional (gradual and disjunctive) and cyclical change. In the exogenous-gradual model, IR change occurs due to gradual, cumulative change that is driven by forces beyond the employment control. An example is globalization. In the exogenous-disjunctive model, episodes of change are interspersed with periods of stability. The change itself is triggered into the employment relationship by some external event, like a war. In the exogenous-cyclical model, change follows a repeating cycle of decline and renewal as IR adapts to cyclical pressures in the external environment, such as election pressures and the economy. In the endogenous-cyclical model, change occurs because of the competing drives of the actors. For example, IR is said to be both adversarial (due to the competing interests) and cooperative (due to interdependence of the parties). Thus IR will oscillate between adversarial and cooperative mindsets depending on the context as the limitations of each approach become apparent to both management and workers. In the endogenous-disjunctive model, change occurs as a result of strategic choices of the actors within the employment relations. For example, as a result of unions’ traditional marginalization of women’s and minorities’ issues, there has been an increased mobilization of women and minorities within unions. In the endogenous-gradual model, change is gradually driven by forces internal to IR. This model stresses the maturing of IR institutions over time, as they become more complex and start to pursue differentiated goals- this is a model of union revitalization as a result of knowledge transfer and networking within the labour movement. Heery’s review of the two types of models of looking at IR is comprehensive in looking at the criticism of the systems theory, but does not analyze the change models with the same depth. As a relatively new student in the field, I would have benefitted from a more detailed description of the change model before dwelling into its critique. However, I felt that Heery’s description of the change models was very streamlined and organized in a logical manner. I found his inclusion of a short discussion on the ‘new actors’ that have interests in IR, such as consumers or identity groups particularly interesting and worth considering. In the end, I do agree with Heery, and think that IR is a dynamic and complex field and it is certainly useful to have more than one perspective of studying and thinking about how these relationships are formed, changed, and managed.

Facilitate Continuous Improvement Essay

Assessment Activity 1 1. You work for an organisation that does not actively encourage its employees to participate in decision-making processes, and to assume responsibility and exercise initiative as appropriate. What would you say to convince the organisation’s management that they should actively encourage employees to assume responsibility and initiative? Write a transcript of what you would say. â€Å"Although not encouraged, recently I decided to let our ICT Support Specialist head up the roll out of our new Antivirus solution. I presented him with the project and advised that he will be managing it and will need to source the resources required and also the process. The only information I provided was a deadline of 4 weeks to complete the project/rollout Firstly the feedback I got from the Support Specialist was incredibly positive. He was excited to run his own project and make his own decisions on how to complete it. It brought out a different side to an employee whom sometimes finds it hard to stay motivated. The project is in its final stages now and has ran very smoothly and is well ahead of schedule. I believe encouraging employees to make their own decisions does boost initiative and this is one example of how extra responsibility and the opportunity for a non-management employee to work autonomously brings in very positive results. This is something I would like to encourage to my department more often as I believe I can get excellent outcomes on upcoming projects. 2. Do you consider group decision-making to be a valuable tool that will aid in encouraging employees to participate in decision-making processes, and to assume responsibility and exercise initiative? Explain. I strongly believe any decision making process privileges that one can grant to employees can be very beneficial as stated above in the example. This shows trust in employees, and I believe giving employees extra responsibilities can have a very positive effect. In a group decision making environment, this also promotes team work. Having a department making decisions together is a great way to encourage this. Assessment Activity 2 1. Your organisation has changed the way it accepts payments from customers/clients to make the process easier for clients/customers. What would you do to ensure that the organisations continuous improvement processes are communicated to all stakeholders? I believe this is something the whole organisation should be aware of, this way any client facing employees can better explain this to customers/clients in the event questions or queries are raised. Stakeholders would include clients/customers so I believe a communication in the form of a letter/email should be sent out to all the client base explaining how the new payment process works and how it will benefit them. The most important part is to promote it as a positive change for the client/customers. Assessment Activity 3 1. Define sustainability and outline why organisations should develop workplace sustainability policies. Sustainability in a business sense is the management the impact the organisation has in it’s environment. The impact can cover areas that not only include the â€Å"environment† but also the staff, client base and even the finances of the organisation. Developing Sustainability policies is very important in a number of ways. It can be promoted by the organisation that they follow this policy in order to achieve a smaller carbon footprint, however at the same time this could be saving the organisation money. For example, the organisation decides to implement double sided printing, now this is reducing paper usage which is fantastic to the environment, however it is also reducing the amount of paper the organisation is purchasing, therefor reducing expenditure. 2. Research environmental management issues for the workplace and state why these issues should be taken into consideration when planning and managing an organisation’s operations. The main issue as with most organisations is their impact to the environment and their footprint. This can effect a number of areas within the organisation, including reputation to their clients/customers, general publics views/opinions, employees and even the companies finances. In an office environment such as Status Industries. The main concerns are overuse of paper and printing products, lighting usage and power consumption. These can all be addressed. See table on next page how Status Industries has engaged these issues with policies. Environmental Issue Impact Resolution Result Over Usage of Paper in printing Environment, Cost of Paper, Paper Wastage Double Sided Printing forced on all Xerox devices within organisation Dramatic reduction in paper usage. Cost of paper saved. Colour Printing Usage in office High usage of colour toners where not needed, cost impact as colour prints more expensive than black and white. Force default Black and White printing. Requiring staff to have to select colour printing if they require it. All Staff email sent explaining cost of colour printing over black and white Black and White printing increased. Less colour toner usage. Cost savings. Lighting Lighting currently on 24 hours a day. Expensive power bills and waste of electricity Timers installed on lights to switch off at 8pm every night and to be off over weekend periods Dramatic cost saving and less usage of power. Cost saving on replacing globes. Electricity Wasting Computers and monitors switched on 24/7, wasted electricity usage, expensive electricity bills Email sent out by management detailing a new policy to switch off PC’s at night when finished. Exclusions from this are staff whom like Reduction in power. Reputation from general public boosted as windows are on main road and public can see Monitors are left on at night time. Assessment Activity 6 You have been asked to develop strategies to ensure that systems and processes are used to monitor operational progress and to identify ways in which planning and operations could be improved. In particular, your organisation wants you to determine whether processes currently carried out by employees are as efficient as possible. How would you go about doing this? Firstly you could perform an audit of the current processes. Let’s look at a new employee process and how this is setup from at an IT viewpoint. The current process below Now there have been several flaws in this process. Mainly the communication breakdown with Human Resource and IT which has resulted in accounts not been created in time. There are ways to alter the current process and instil new procedures to ensure the process is more successful. The proposed changes are below: A timeframe of at least 10 days for Human Resource to allow for the completion of IT’s account creation and asset allocation (PC/Laptop, Mobile Phone) Accountability to one staff member in Human Resources to communicate with an IT staff member regarding any change to the process and vice versa. A written and ISO approved document on the procedure. This is from the beginning stages with HR to the finishing touches on the IT stages. This is to be given to all staff members in both departments and signed by each staff member. So it is on record as being understood by each employee in case further action/education/disciplinary discussion is required. Assessment Activity 7 You have determined that adjustments should be made in your work team. Changes need to be made to the way customer complaints are recorded and dealt with. How would you go about communicating the need for change to strategies to relevant stakeholders? Relevant stakeholders internally are first and foremost the executive team, they are the ones that make the organisational impact decisions. Changing the way customer complaints are dealt with is something they will need to provide input for. Once they have approved the said solution this should be communicated in several forms to the customer base. This can be done by posting letters, emails and on the main page of a website. In the planning stages communicating three different alternative solutions to Executive Management would be a good first step. Explaining and selling the reasons why this should be changed. The main goal in mind for making a change that effects customers, is to ensure it is a â€Å"better solution† A good example of this is a large organisation such as Telstra. They have a reputation for having less than satisfactory customer service via phone. Customers have complained about being transferred multiple times and not getting a solution. Telstra has made large steps to improve customer service and have introduced a â€Å"Chat† service. This is ideal for people who have a desk job and don’t have the time to be on a phone. You speak to one representative and can explain information a lot easier. This is a very positive step that other organisations in the industry have followed. Selling the vision to relevant stakeholders, explaining how it will benefit the customer base. Remembering please customers not only retains a base, it can increase reputation and perhaps even allow for expansion of customer base. Assessment Activity 9 2. Give examples of aids/tools that can be used to document the data from a checklist Several graphs and tables can aid the recording of this data and also to report on the data collected. Such Graphs that could be used in this instance are Pie Graph to show the amount of a certain defect on a certain shift to compare where most of the errors are occurring Line Graph to show where the peak period of errors occur Histograms to show similar to the above Example of a Pie Graph for the above table 3. Why do graphs and charts provide a good representation of data? Graphs and charts provide a graphical view of the overall picture. As shown above in the Table of Data and also the Pie Graph. Straight away by looking at the Pie Graph you can see the trend. When analysing data Graphs are the best way to do this instead of tables. It can be a quick reference guide compared to sifting through a large amount of numbers. On the subject of trends. Line Graphs can show this better than most methods in some cases where using a line graph is applicable. For example. To see how many defects over a 24 hour period took place in a factory environment. Here you can see where defects dipped and were at a minimum and also peaked and showed a maximum. From this data you can easily see where pain points are in a situation and then provide a possible resolution. Assessment Tool 2 1. How can an organisations continuous improvement processes be communicated to all stakeholders and how can individuals and teams be encouraged and supported to embrace it? Communicating change in any organisation is important. Stakeholders in certain situations depending on the scale of change could include almost every employee. Best practice is to have a seminar or training session to highlight the need for certain changes or continuous improvement. For example if the organisation wants to be ISO accredited in a certain area, then it becomes vital for all employees to play a part. Explaining the positives the improvement will entail will certainly sell the vision. 2. Having made a decision about what to do to improve an organisations processes, what should you do to plan for the implementation of that change? A Project Plan is always a good start. This can outline the schedule and resources required, identify the tasks and objectives associated. Communication again is very important with any change, to ensure all of the organisation (if applicable) is aware of the change. The key thing to remember is, people don’t like change if they haven’t been advised. 3. Explain the difference between Feedback and feed forward control. Feed-Forward Control is a measure that regulates inputs. This can be resources such as human resource, financial and material. This is a proactive measure to allow management to prevent issues instead of having to resolve them later. This is known to be a time consuming exercise, 4. What processes might be used to ensure that team members are informed of outcomes of continuous improvement efforts? Why is this necessary and how will this contribute toward further improvements? Reports can be sent to team members on a set time frame (monthly, quarterly) this could include data and graphs/tables. Graphs are a great way to visually see trends and also to gauge whether there has been improvement in  a certain area. It also determines where there are possible issues. It allows the team to strategize where and how they can improve. 5. What is continuous improvement? Continuous improvement is an infinite process to improve a service, product or process. Depending on the type of industry the organisation is in will determine what areas of will utilize this type of method. Let’s look at an IT department, who has an inbuilt database every employee uses for the day to day tasks. A prototype has been created of this software, and it is in production. However there will always be room for improvement for any software, so constant updating is done on the software, the applications team within the IT Department work each day on add-ons or improvements. What started out as version 1.00 has now turned into 2.34 in the space of 3 years. 6. What can you do to support improvements now and in the future? Improvement in an organisation comes with ideas from the team. This can be suggestions raised in meetings, feedback and communication. The only way to improve processes, products or services is to communicate with departments and key members of staff. Having evidence in front of employees such as graphs is a great way to visually demonstrate where improvement is needed in certain areas. Concentrating on weak points in the organisation is the key to improvement. Assessment Tool 3: Project Continuous improvement is common in most organisations in some degree. This is an exercise that can cover a number of areas. Usually the three areas are as follows Process Products Service Process in the context of continuous improvement can look at ways to improve the said process. Let’s look at the example of a crucial process in a majority of organisations. A login is required for every employee who starts with the company. This is for them to login to their desktop and perform day  to day functions. The process is as follows. The problem is with this process is communication is relied upon. There is no official area where data can be obtained. IT need to wait for HR to provide information, then HR have to wait for IT, The manager of a new employee has to wait for IT and HR. There has been several flaws with this. Improvement can be done is a number of ways. 1. Have a meeting with HR and IT to establish procedures and timeframes 2. Look at a more centralised system where details can be accessed. It was later decided a shared calendar on Sharepoint with email alerts when entries are created to be sent to all HR and IT staff. HR would enter a new starter on this calendar, IT would see the details and create the account. They would then add the relevant login details to the calendar and notify the manager. This is seen as a better process, but one that can still be improved upon. There can be a period of trial over a set timeframe to see if it can be improved even further. Taking as much manual labour out of the equation will reduce the amount of errors, oversights etc. Now looking at service. Customer Service or Service Delivery (in an internal environment) is extremely important in any industry. Good customer service means happy clients, more clients which leads to a successful organisation. Let’s look at the example of an ISP. They have 3 core call centre departments, a Sales, Billing and Technical Support area. How can we gauge what customers impressions are of the level of customer service? A good way is after a phone call to have a rating system where a customer can rate the level of service is received from 1-5. 5 being exceptional and 1 being appalling. This is the first step in continuous improvement in customer service. The survey could be on going or could be over a set period. Either way reporting could be sent on the results to managers/team leaders. There might be a number of trends identified. Staff with exceptional consistent ratings could be rewarded. Staff with lower or appalling ratings could be trained to improve their skill. Reporting for this survey could be time stamped, so graphs could be created when staff aren’t providing a good level of customer service. You may see a trend like Monday being the worst performing day or  Friday afternoon. Education, Training are a number ways to continue the improvement of customer service. As well as awards or rewards as stated above. The final area is products. If an organisation is in the business of developing and distributing products, their main concern with continuous improvement will be developing this product to ensure it is the best in their market. If in a mass production environment, quality control would be paramount to ensure product defects are at a minimum or non existent. Earlier in this document a graph was created showing defect levels over certain shifts. This is a great way to isolate where improvement is needed. Why did a certain shift have so many defects? Is there something wrong with the team who is assigned to these shifts? This may involve further staff training, disciplinary action or new staff members involved. Sometimes it could be as simple as making a clearly defined process to get a product complete without issues. Let’s look at the example of Microsoft. They are the pioneers of operating systems. According to data for the years 2004 – 2009, Microsoft on average has covered around 90% of the market across the globe. (see graph on next page) This is an extraordinary number and one that comes with pressure and responsibility to ensure its product is up to an elite standard. Microsoft will release Operating Systems every 4 years on average, however after the release they will continue to build on the operating system. Adding features, fixing bugs, improving the overall experience. Also it offers support to customers with forums such as Technet and the obvious customer support. The updating is the main part of continuous improvement. This builds towards the next version of the Operating System which in some cases not all, will be an absolute improvement over the predecessor. Example being Windows 8, they have received overwhelming feedback that consumers are not favourable of the start menu being removed. They listened and implemented a start menu of some description in Windows 8.1 and it will return in Windows 10. Risk Management comes into play with most decisions or implementation of a new process. With the three examples shown above a Risk Management assessment of some degree/scale would be included. For the example. Microsoft would need to investigate whether continuing support for an operating system would be viable. They will usually release a statement to  the public explaining how long their support and updates will be created for Operating System. Microsoft also would have weighed the pro’s and cons for implementing a start menu feature into 8.1. Customer satisfaction is a high priority, however if it isn’t feasible it would be a risk to implement it. As you’re using resources and time to implement something rather major. Wouldn’t this be better spent developing on the next version. How does continuous improvement affect employees? This question is very important. As employees are a major part of how well an organisation succeeds. An example of this would be an entrepreneurial firm which is small. Employees are driven to succeed because a sense of ownership due to it being only around 20 staff members, each is aware of their responsibilities and are directly accountable for certain roles. However the firm’s hierarchy believe the best way moving forward is to grow. As the growth takes place the sense of ownership has decreased. The culture will understandably change. Therefor it is incredibly important in the early stages prior to making major changes such as growth, that the organisation creates a culture that values accountability and to provide for accountability in organizational design. Communication in a small company will be different to a larger one. There would be little need for formal communication and any sort of reporting as they are all in th e same small location. They also understand what is important to communicate due to the scale of workload. The change here as it grows would need to be subtle. Explaining to current staff the need/requirement to implement different ways we must communicate. It is logistically going to be impossible to have a general talk with another colleague about something critical when they are in the East coast of the United States and you are based at Head Office in Sydney Australia. If this is educated earlier, it will provide a better understanding from long standing employees on how it will benefit the organisation, this once again comes back to the culture created. The employee will see this will a positive for the organisation. Attitude towards change can vary dependent on factors such as the average age and tenure with the organisation as well. Why do organisations feel the need to incorporate continuous improvement sometimes is dependent on the type of industry. The pressures of certain industries almost forces organisation to  implement continuous improvement. The Business Environment refers to the factors that affect an organisation’s ability to be competitive in their market. Kodak for example, were a leader in photographic/camera film. However the environment changed around them dramatically in recent years with digital photography taking over the market. Film was no longer the medium used. It saw a decline in revenue ($14.5bn in 1995 to $2.35bn in 2013) A lot of companies would not of survived something this dramatic. Kodak revolutionised and changed their way of thinking. Kodak had to shrink in size and effectively start again, go back to basics. It kept the best minds they had to brainstorm how to continue. Kodak is now a leader in photo print paper, packaging, commercial film and speciality chemicals. Although Kodak isn’t a good example of â€Å"improvement† there is an argument for continuity. Not many companies have survived when hit with a change of the scale photography went through over 10 years ago. It is a credit to Kodak they were able to adapt to change and strive to succeed with improvement to the way they work in their industry.

Comparing and contrasting any two characters in Lorraine Hansberry's A Essay

Comparing and contrasting any two characters in Lorraine Hansberry's A raisin in the Sun - Essay Example Son- I just tried to find the nicest place for the best amount of money for my family.† Her frustration comes as a result of her family’s inability to appreciate her efforts. [Act 2, Scene 1] Mama’s carriage is noble and precise; on the other hand, her speech is somewhat careless. She intends to slur everything, but her voice is soft. She loves plants and gardening; however, her gardening is limited to just one plant due to lack of space in the place where the family lives. Walter: â€Å"Anybody who talks to me has got to be a good-for-nothing, aint he? Charlie Atkins was just a good for nothing loud mouth too, wasn’t he? When he wanted me to go in the dry cleaning business with him. And now- he’s grossing a hundred thousand a year.† [Act One , Scene 1] Ruth (turning on him): â€Å"Oh, no he ain’t going to be up no earlier no such thing! It ain’t his fault he can’t go to bed no earlier nights cause he got a bunch of crazy good-for-nothing clowns sitting up running their mouths is what is supposed to be his bedroom after ten o’clock at night †¦. Mama (quietly): â€Å"I don’t ‘low no yelling in this house, Walter Lee and you know it! (Walter stares at them in frustration and tends to speak several times. And there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor stores. I don’t aim to have to speak in that again† Walter is also a jealous man. He is jealous of the affection vested on his wife and sister by Mama. Speaking to Ruth, he says: â€Å"Mama would listen to you and Beneatha. She think more of you. All you have to do is just sit down with her whey you drinking your coffee one morning and talking bout things like you do and---â€Å" Walter: (bitterly): â€Å"Now ain’t that fine! You just got our mother’s interest at heart, ain’t you, girl? You such a nice girl – but if Mama got that money, she can always take a few thousand and help you through school too ---can’t she?† Mama is furious in response to Beneatha’s

Apple Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Apple - Case Study Example In fact, the first Apple computer, the Apple I was late for its much anticipated launch due to improvements that were deemed to assist the end-user but were eventually costly. Apple Inc. dropped its computer name to embrace the new consumer electronic market the Company was indulging in. Since 2007, the company’s business model has shifted from a computer manufacturer to include other electronic consumers’ products. Such products include: the iPod, which was first, launched in 2001. The name change was then realized in 2007 when Apple launched the iPhone. The iPhone combined the iPod and a phone and thus marked a transition period for the Company. Over the years, Apple Inc has come up with more products besides the computers. These include the iPad and most recently, the Company just launched the latest version of iPhone 5. The Company’s strategy revolves around Apple’s ability to design and develop its own operating system, software and hardware that are user friendly (Marino, Hattaway and Jackson 150). What are the economic segments and characteristics of the PC industry? According to porter’s five forces, the competitive rivalry within an industry proves to be the most restrictive economic force in the PC industry. On the other hand, the threat of new entrants may be the weakest force due to the large amount of capital required for investment in the industry. The other three forces include: the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of consumers and threat of substitute products. What is the competition like in the PC industry? The PC industry is an attractive industry due to the huge sums of marks realized however, a Company has to invest a lot of capital and has to be innovative to survive. For Apple’s case, the PC industry is an attractive industry for the firm due to their continuous innovation and massive revenue. As of the year 2008, Apple Inc was the

Economics Forecast Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economics Forecast Paper - Essay Example Adjustable home loan rates have attracted more consumers. The risk involved in the possibility of increases in interest / repayment obligations which was not realized by the consumers, is now being driven home literally. The crisis got deepened due to the unregulated growth of derivative markets for mortgage loans, which has now impacted everyone – the consumers, the financial institutions, the industry and the national economy as a whole. As can be seen, the rates remained high during 1995 – 2000 and started declining from 2001 to 2004 but again started firming up from 2005 onwards. Increase/decrease in the bank prime rate has corresponding impact on commercial lending in the economy. This period coincided with the decline in the number of housing starts both nationally and in California, which in the later area reduced from 1 million plus to just about 200,000 during the above period. In view of the serious crisis in the mortgage and financial industries, and in order to avoid the lurking fears of recession, one can forecast that the bank rates across the sectors will soften in the short to medium term period, as already confirmed by the 25 basis points cut announced by the FED this week. This policy approach will help to stabilize the home loan industry and at the same time impact the national economy positively. Budget deficit is the gap between the planned spending and revenues of the government for a given financial year (It becomes a surplus if the revenue exceeds the spending). The higher the government spending, the higher is the economic activity and vice versa. However, pumping too much money into the system, without creating corresponding products or services, will stoke inflationary trends and can lead to a decline in consumer spending and hence, a decline in the demand. A delicate balance is maintained to help economic growth without raising

The cause(s) of the Civil War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The cause(s) of the Civil War - Research Paper Example This meant a reduction in human labor. On the hand, cotton became very profitable, and many of the southern agricultural areas shifted from other crops to cotton farming, almost making the states a one crop economy, and thus requiring a lot of cheap human labor to meet the great demand and to maximize on profits. This cheap labor was readily available to the landowners in the south in the form of slaves while the north did not require them due to industrialization.2 These differences made the two areas to assume different economic ways of life, with the northern economy becoming city based while the southern continued to be plantation based. This meant that the people in the north evolved into a culture where people of different cultures could work together while those in the south continued to hold unto slavery since they needed the slave labor. The people in the north started to condemn slavery as immoral while the south embraced the same due to their need of massive slave labor, c ausing friction between the north and south. The political leaders of the southern states such as Robert Barnwell and William Lowndes realized that if the slave ownership was abolished in the south, then the southern economy would probably collapse if the slaves were to be paid the high wages that white workers were being paid and thus, they vehemently opposed the idea. Leaders in the north, some of whom were also religious personalities or newspaper personalities opposed the idea of slave ownership on the grounds of morality. Some of these personalities were like William L Garrison who was powerful crusaders for the abolition of the practice. The other issue that was instrumental in causing the civil war was the States versus federal Government’s rights issue. From the time of the American Revolution while states sought autonomy, there emerged two sides, one that advocated for states to have greater rights and the other that the federal government be granted more control.3 T hose that felt that the states should have greater rights like Thomas Jefferson and others agitated for the idea, resulting into the nullification idea, where the states sought to be allowed to have the rights to rule some federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government refused to cede to this demand, which led to the cessation of 11 states from the union of the states leading into the war.4 There also was the fighting between states that approved slavery and those who did not in newly acquired lands as one of the causes of the war. America started to expand after the Louisiana Purchase whereby America purchased 800000 square miles of land at a cost of 15million dollars during the tenure of former president Thomas Jefferson, and also after the Mexican war.5 There arose conflict after this as to whether the new areas admitted to the union, would have slavery or would be granted freedom. Problems arose, for example, when those who advocated for slavery in Missouri known as †Å"border Ruffians† started to come into the state to assist in forcing the state to become a slavery zone. Conflict also occurred in Kansas which made the place be called â€Å"bleeding Kansas† because of the magnitude of the bloodshed in the quest to have this area embrace slavery. The fighting

Defining my Leadership Direction (Three leadership goals) Essay

Defining my Leadership Direction (Three leadership goals) - Essay Example My perspective as a leader borrows from my short stints of work experience, and has intellect from emerging topics such how to cope with emotional intelligence, to lead virtual teams, and even open up innovations. That is the leader I see myself as informed through Daft in his leadership experience. In my leadership path, I am proud of what I believe in and endeavor to seize opportunities (Daft & Lane, 2008). My personal leadership goals in architect engineering include increasing influence and leading others, increasing my knowledge, and improving my skills and interpersonal skills. A good leader never stops learning hence increasing my knowledge in architect engineering traces back to my experiences. I have gained my experience through community service, architect engineering, financial services and business, and administrative assistant position (Daft & Lane, 2008). All these are avenues where I have taken to known the sort of leader I can be. The path of experience has helped in identifying the areas I want to improve on, such as acquisition of specific skill set or my personal innate abilities. These have contributed into being a well-rounded and valuable leader. It is very important to learn from the past and harnessing all the knowledge and experience for my successful future. I never stop learning, which means I am always excited for every task and opportunity. I believe that optimistic is one of the most important aspect for work and for my life in general. Therefore, every valuable contribution and effective work I do needs to start from inside me at t he first place. According to Daft, attending to industry relevant experiences like my time in Mabnya for Contracting is my path to acquiring effective competence (Daft & Lane, 2008). I have also found myself attached to other valuable activities all in the pursuit to improve my knowledge as a goal in leadership role. For example, I have had a hand in business process analysis and reporting, work time

Performance Evaluation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Performance Evaluation - Case Study Example Lastly, the current evaluation form rates an employee on a scale that is not clearly defined. The use of ‘medium’ and ‘low-medium’ ratings can have different meanings and can form different perceptions on raters and cannot be quantified as well as some other rating scales might do. These ratings are also relative to the performance of others and thus might not accurate portray the performance of the employee and his commitment to the organization. A1. Some of the most commonly used sets of criteria used to evaluate the performance of an individual on the job are skill set, contribution towards the overall mission and goals of the company, and an employee’s work ethic. B. Evaluating based on overall contributions can be done based on criteria like sales figures, number of contracts negotiated and won and other task-related criteria. This set is perhaps most valuable because it sends a message to the employees that they shall be evaluated based on what they achieve for the company. Thus employees shall be more inclined to meet targets. In situations where an employee’s contributions can be quantified, this set of criteria can prove to be quite useful. When evaluating based on work ethic, an employee’s punctuality, friendliness, honesty, motivation and absenteeism are all taken into account. This set is valuable to an evaluator because in working environments that require low absenteeism and group harmony, the employee will be judged on how he fares across these dimensions. This set of criteria can of course be modified according to the needs of the organization and the individual. Lastly, examining an employee’s skill set is also an integral part of evaluations. It helps understand an employee’s strengths and weaknesses and provides a broader view of an employee’s performance. C. Advantages: There are many advantages of getting feedback from supervisor, subordinates and peers. A 360-degree evalua tion provides a more rounded feedback to the employee. It helps the employee in understanding the areas he needs to improve upon in order to develop as one of the leaders in the organization. This type of feedback provides the employee with more detailed information which can be useful in developing the employee’s career. D. Disadvantages: Personal issues may affect the accuracy of evaluations as some subordinates, supervisors and peers may give biased or dishonest opinions. Secondly, supervisors may deliberately give lower ratings so as to protect their own jobs and avoid the risk of being surpassed by their subordinates. If a particular employee is a favorite of the supervisors, he/she may be rated higher than others and have their contributions recognized quicker than others. Lastly, each rater can have a different viewpoint of performance so consistency will be lacking across different raters’ evaluation E. Three data analysis tools for performance appraisal are pa ired evaluation, graphic rating scale and management by objective (MBO). The paired comparison style is used when a lot of relevant options are present. Each option is compared to the others in the list and given a score and the option with the highest score is selected at the end. The paired comparison style is useful in situations when there are plenty of options available and where priorities are not clear. However, it is not

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 7

HRM - Essay Example What’s more, the productive handling of conflicts provides the chance for all the parties to understand the diverse nature of people working within a specific environment (Pardey, 2007). This enables them to improve their methods of working and build a solid team that reflects the mission and vision of the organization. As inevitable as the conflicts between the employees are, organizations must strive to implement a sustainable conflict resolution program. The dominance of conflict often disrupts the departmental productivity, increases the rate at which good employees quit the organization, and reduces the morale of the company. Therefore, effective resolution of the conflicts within the workplace presents a chance for the organization to capitalize on the diversity of the employees and attain a comprehensive employee retention program. The first step towards logical resolution of workplace conflicts as Mrs. R.O states, involves the identification of the cause of the conflicts. The general distinctions of the conflicts at the workplace include the constructive and destructive conflicts. The constructive conflicts constitute disputes that have more benefits over costs. Such conflicts often translate into productivity to benefit the parties that are involved in the conflict. The constructive conflicts enable the team members to come together under the basic benefits from the conflict and strengthen their relationship. On the other hand, destructive conflicts present an opposite of the constructive conflicts. Such conflicts offer more harm and destruction to the organization and often bring no growth to the company. The major contributor to this conflict is unacceptable actions by two or more participants who perform actions that elicit resentment amongst the larger workforce. The continued actions by these parties

Perception Towards Successful Brand Essay Example for Free

Perception Towards Successful Brand Essay Rev. of â€Å"Building Brands Without Mass Media.† Joachimsthaler, Erich, and David A. Aaker. Harvard Business Review 3 March 2009: 4-6. Print. In this article, the authors emphasize that a company must have a clear brand identity with depth and texture so it will not convey confuse messages to customers. Also, they provide some marketing strategies for the brands to set up a clear and effective brand identity. Besides, they illustrate six companies that have a strong and clear brand identity in which The Body Shop and Haggen-Dazs are examined in detail. Apart from these, they use various examples to demonstrate the operations of The Body Shop and Haggen-Dazs. Last but not least, they have compared The Body Shop and Haggen-Dazs with their competitors. Lastly, they discuss the advertising methods of Haggen-Dazs in which they think the Farggi strategy that can confuse the customers the most. (Melanie) Hartman, Cathy L., and Caryn L. Beck-Dudley. â€Å"Marketing Strategies and the Search for Virtue: A Case Analysis of The Body Shop, International.† Journal of Business Ethics 20.3 (1999): 253-257. Print. In this journal, the authors use some historical examples to discuss three organizational virtues—excellence, integrity and judgment in which they think that the virtues are now defined and extended to community, membership and holism. Most importantly, they believe that the virtues are now widely applied in the companies. However, they agree with the researchers that it is difficult to theorize the concept of community. Besides, they use the founder of The Body Shop—Anita Roddick as the main example to illustrate the virtues can be utilized in a big company in multifarious aspects. (Melanie) Salver, Jessica. Brand Management in the Hotel Industry and its Potential for Achieving Customer Loyalty. Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Print. In this book, the author mainly discusses some product requirements for a brand to become successful. Although it is not her intention to suggest that a brand will not become successful without the listed requirements, she examines numerous factors that can build up a successful brand in detail, such as high and differentiated demand for product class, the product is easy to identify and product quality is easy to maintain. Also, she has used The Body Shop and McDonald as the examples to explain her factors in detail. Besides, she believes that if the brand offers a reasonable price for the customers, they will certainly buy the products. Rev. of Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service. Moon, Youngme, and John Quelch. Harvard Business Review 10 July 2006: 3-4. Print. In this book, the authors have used Starbucks as an example to evaluate the value proposition and they use â€Å"live coffee† to describe the national coffee culture of it. Also, they use three components to illustrate the branding strategy of it. For example, it imports the best coffee beans from the world, develops a close intimacy with the customer and creates a good atmosphere. Besides, they discuss the locations of the Starbucks in which they are usually located in high-traffic and high-visibility places, such as commercial centers and universities. In addition, they investigate different products and the welfares of the employees in the Starbucks. Adubato, Steve. You Are the Brand. Canada: Rutgers University Press, 2011. Print. In this book, the author uses his personal experience to show Starbucks is not an accidental brand and it does not really keep a connection with customers. However, he agrees that Starbucks has built on â€Å"comfortable† and â€Å"familiar† for him in the end of the chapter. Besides, he believes Starbucks’ reputations are built on the word of mouth from the customers and excellent services from the employees. In addition, he has cited the book from the original chairman and CEO of Starbucks to demonstrate the objectives of the company and the reasons that it starts to lose customers. Lastly, although he laments the Starbucks has become more commercial, he still enjoys his leisure time in it.

Purpose Of Different Camera Angles

Purpose Of Different Camera Angles A long shot shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. It has been suggested that long-shot ranges usually correspond to approximately what would be the distance between the front row of the audience and the stage in live theatre. It is now common to refer to a long shot as a wide shot because it often requires the use of a wide-angle lens. A related notion is that of an extreme long shot. This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an exterior, e.g. the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action e.g. in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, as it is meant to give a general impression rather than specific information. Medium Shot A medium shot is a camera shot from a medium distance. In some standard texts and professional references, a full-length view of a human subject is called a medium shot; in this terminology, a shot of the person from the knees up or the waist up is a close-up shot. In other texts, these partial views are called medium shots. Medium shots are relatively good in showing facial expressions but work well to show body language. Depending where the characters are placed in the shot, a medium shot is used to represent importance and power. Close-Up A close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups display more detail than a medium or long shot, but they do not include the broader scene. Moving in to a close-up or away from a close-up is a common type of zooming. Close-ups are used in many ways, for many reasons. Close-ups are often used as cutaways from a more distant shot to show detail, such as characters emotions, or some intricate activity with their hands. Close cuts to characters faces are used far more often in television than in movies; they are especially common in soap operas. For a director to deliberately avoid close-ups may create in the audience an emotional distance from the subject matter. Close-ups are used for distinguishing main characters. Major characters are often given a close-up when they are introduced as a way of indicating their importance. Leading characters will have multiple close-ups. Close-up shots do not show the subject in the broad context of its surroundings. If overused, close-ups may leave viewers uncertain as to what they are seeing. Close-ups are rarely done with wide angle lenses, because perspective causes objects in the center of the picture to be unnaturally enlarged. Certain times, different directors will use wide angle lenses, because they can convey the message of confusion, and bring life to certain characters. Aerial Shot Aerial shots are usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes. A good area to do this shot would be a scene that takes place on a building. If the aerial shot is of a character it can make them seem insignificant or vulnerable. Birds Eye Shot A birds eye shot refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject. The perspective is very foreshortened, making the subject appear short and squat. This shot can be used to give an overall establishing shot of a scene, or to emphasise the smallness or insignificance of the subjects. These shots are normally used for battle scenes or establishing where the character is. Low-Angle Shot A low-angle shot is a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. Over the Shoulder Shot An over the shoulder shot is a shot of someone or something taken over the shoulder of another person. The back of the shoulder and head of this person is used to frame the image of whatever (or whomever) the camera is pointing toward. This type of shot is very common when two characters are having a discussion and will usually follow an establishing shot which helps the audience place the characters in their setting. Point of View Shot A point of view (POV) shot is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the characters reaction. A POV shot need not be the strict point-of-view of an actual single character in a film. Sometimes the point-of-view shot is taken over the shoulder of the character (third person), who remains visible on the screen. Sometimes a POV shot is shared (dual or triple), i.e. it represents the joint POV of two (or more) characters. There is also the nobody POV, where a shot is taken from the POV of a non-existent character. This often occurs when an actual POV shot is implied, but the character is removed. Sometimes the character is never present at all, despite a clear POV shot. A POV shot need not be established by strictly visual means. The manipulation of diegetic sounds can be used to emphasize a particular characters POV. It makes little sense to say that a shot is inherently POV; it is the editing of the POV shot within a sequence of shots that determines POV. Nor can the establishment of a POV shot be isolated from other elements of filmmaking mise en scene, acting, camera placement, editing, and special effects can all contribute to the establishment of POV. With some POV shots when an animal is the chosen character, the shot will look distorted or black and white. Reverse Shot Shot reverse shot is a film technique wherein one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. Shot reverse shot is a feature of the classical Hollywood style of continuity editing, which deemphasizes transitions between shots such that the audience perceives one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically, and logically. It is in fact an example of an eye line match. Two Shot A Two shot is a type of shot where the frame encompasses a view of two people (the subjects). The subjects do not have to be next to each other, and there are many common two-shots which have one subject in the foreground and the other subject in the background. The shots are also used to show the emotional reactions between the subjects. An American two shot shows the two heads facing each other in profile to the camera. Establishing Shot An establishing shot sets up, or establishes, a scenes setting and/or its participants. Typically it is a shot at the beginning (or, occasionally, end) of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place. Establishing shots may use famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty to identify a city. Alternatively, an establishing shot might just be a long shot of a room that shows all the characters from a particular scene. A close-up shot can also be used at the beginning of a scene to establish the setting. Establishing shots were more common during the classical era of filmmaking than they are now. Todays filmmakers tend to skip the establishing shot in order to move the scene along more quickly. In addition, scenes in mysteries and the like often wish to obscure the setting and its participants and thus avoid clarifying them with an establishing shot. An establishing shot may also establish a concept, rather than a location. For example, opening with a martial arts drill visually establishes the theme of martial arts. Master Shot A master shot is a film recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view. It is often a long shot and can sometimes perform a double function as an establishing shot. Usually, the master shot is the first shot checked off during the shooting of a scene-it is the foundation of what is called camera coverage, other shots that reveal different aspects of the action, groupings of two or three of the actors at crucial moments, close-ups of individuals, insert shots of various props, and so on. Freeze Frame Shot A freeze frame shot is used when one shot is printed in a single frame several times, in order to make an interesting illusion of a still photograph. Freeze frame is also a drama medium term used in which, during a live performance, the actors/actresses will freeze at a particular, pre-meditated time, to enhance a particular scene, or to show an important moment in the play/production. The image can then be further enhanced by spoken word, in which each character tells their personal thoughts regarding the situation, giving the audience further insight into the meaning, plot or hidden story of the play/production/scene. This is known as thought tracking, another Drama Medium. Insert Shot An insert is a shot of part of a scene as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot. Inserts cover action already covered in the master shot, but emphasize a different aspect of that action due to the different framing. An insert is different from a cutaway in that the cutaway is of action not covered in the master shot. There are more exact terms to use when the new, inserted shot is another view of actors: close-up, head shot, knee shot, two shot. So the term insert is often confined to views of objectsand body parts, other than the head. Thus: CLOSE-UP of the gunfighter, INSERT of his hand quivering above the holster, TWO SHOT of his friends watching anxiously, INSERT of the clock ticking. Often inserts of this sort are done separately from the main action, by a second-unit director using stand-ins. Inserts and cutaways can both be vexatious for directors, as care must be taken to preserve continuity by keeping the objects in the same relative position as in the main take, and having the lighting the same. Special Effects used in Martial Art Films Bluescreen/Chroma Key Chroma keying is a technique for mixing two images or frames together in which a colour (or a small colour range) from one image is removed (or made transparent), revealing another image behind it. This technique is also referred to as colour keying, colour-separation overlay (CSO; primarily by the BBC), greenscreen, and bluescreen. It is commonly used for weather forecast broadcasts, wherein the presenter appears to be standing in front of a large map, but in the studio it is actually a large blue or green background. The meteorologist stands in front of a bluescreen, and then different weather maps are added on those parts in the image where the colour is blue. If the meteorologist himself wears blue clothes, his clothes will become replaced with the background video. This also works for greenscreens, since blue and green are considered the colours least like skin tone. This technique is also used in the entertainment industry, the iconic theatre shots in Mystery Science Theater 3000, for example. Describe Relate Bullet Time Bullet Time refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable speed (i.e. slow motion, time-lapseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) photography used in films, broadcast advertisements and video games. It is characterized both by its extreme transformation of time (slow enough to show normally imperceptible and un-filmable events, such as flying bullets) and space (by way of the ability of the camera angle-the audiences point-of-view-to move around the scene at a normal speed while events are slowed). The first movie to use the Bullet Time technique was Blade in 1998, where bullets were computer-generated and digitally implemented. However, the actual term Bullet Time is a registered trademark of Warner Bros., the distributor of The Matrix. It was formerly a trademark of 3D Realms, producer of the Max Payne games. This is almost impossible with conventional slow-motion, as the physical camera would have to move impossibly fast; the concept implies that only a virtual camera, often illustrated within the confines of a computer-generated environment such as a game or virtual reality, would be capable of filming bullet-time types of moments. Technical and historical variations of this effect have been referred to as time slicing, view morphing, slow-mo, temps mort and virtual cinematography. Describe Relate Computer-generated Imagery Computer-generated imagery (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. Video games usually use real-time computer graphics (rarely referred to as CGI), but may also include pre-rendered cut scenes and intro movies that would be typical CGI applications. These are sometimes referred to as FMV (Full motion video). CGI is used for visual effects because computer generated effects are more controllable than other more physically based processes, such as constructing miniatures for effects shots or hiring extras for crowd scenes, and because it allows the creation of images that would not be feasible using any other technology. It can also allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces, or props. 3D computer graphics software is used to make computer-generated imagery for movies, etc. Recent availability of CGI software and increased computer speeds have allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional grade films, games, and fine art from their home computers. This has brought about an Internet subculture with its own set of global celebrities, clichà ©s, and technical vocabulary. Simulators, particularly flight simulators, and simulation generally, make extensive use of CGI techniques for representing the Outside World. Describe Relate Digital Compositing Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display. It is the evolution into the digital realm of optical film compositing. Describe Relate Stop Trick A stop trick is a film special effect. It occurs when an object is filmed, then while the camera is off, the object is moved out of sight of the camera, and then the camera is turned back on. When the film is watched it thus seems to the viewer that object disappears. Georges Mà ©lià ¨s accidentally developed the stop trick while filming street traffic in Paris. The gate mechanism of his camera jammed; the traffic continued moving normally but Mà ©lià ¨ss camera stopped filming until he could free the gate mechanism. Later, when he screened the printed footage of the street traffic, he was astonished to see an omnibus suddenly turn into a hearse. What actually happened is that the omnibus moved out of frame after the camera jammed, to be replaced by the hearse before the camera continued filming. Mà ©lià ¨s used this technique to do magical tricks. For example, he would film a magician and a girl; the magician would make a gesture and Melies stopped the camera. He told the girl to go out of sight and started the camera again. When viewing the finished film, it looked like the girl disappeared suddenly after the magicians gesture. This technique is not to be confused with the stop motion technique, in which the entire shot is created frame-by-frame. The television series Bewitched made frequent usage of the stop-trick technique. Describe Relate Stop Motion Stop-motion (also known as stop-action or frame-by-frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Clay figures are often used in stop-motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop-motion animation using clay is described as clay animation or clay-mation. Describe Relate Camera Techniques used in fight scenes Long Lens Stunt The most basic approach to shooting a violent punch is one of the most effective. The very first punch thrown in Fight Club was shot this way, and its used again throughout the film, so it cant be bad. Speed Punch Wf Matching Motion Wf Knock Down Wf Cutting For Impact Wf Down on the Floor Wf Off-Screen Violence Wf The Moment of Defeat Wf

Odyssey, Learning About Himself :: essays research papers

In the Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus learned a lot about himself and what he had to do to become a better overall human. The adventures he goes on, I think, opens his eyes to a world in which he thought he was invincible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the Odyssey, Odysseus learned a big lesson in humility. The greatest example of this is in the last five books or so within the story. He has to dress, act, and live like a beggar in order to regain everything he had lost. While he was a beggar, the suitors treated him horribly. Antinous, leader of the suitors, was the worst of them all. He was the first to mistreat Odysseus and planned to kill Telemachus. He was also the one that would abuse him physically and verbally for some time to come. Also, if that weren’t enough, he planned a boxing match for Odysseus to be in to watch him get beat up. All this was happening and the other suitors were most likely following their leader in whatever he was doing. Odysseus had to control himself the whole time this was happening. If he had lost his temper, the suitors would have killed him, his son, and most likely taken over the kingdom. That didn’t happen though. Odysseus learned self -control and humility. He may not be perfect at it, but going through all the humility made him a better man. Along the same topic, he was a king going through this humility. It would be one thing for a peasant to go through it, but a king? This made it even harder for Odysseus. He had rank above all the suitors and could rightly kick them out of his kingdom. Instead he waits for the right time and kills them all. The â€Å"pre-journey† Odysseus would of thought of himself invincible and probably would have died trying to get his kingdom back.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Along the same line as humility comes pride. Odysseus had more pride and cockiness than any of the characters I have read about this semester. He didn’t seem as bad in the Iliad, but the Odyssey really showed him in a different light. He had to swallow his pride when he had to come back to his home and get it back. Just in the fact that he came back at all was pride swallowing. He lost all of his men.

Interviewing the Local Police Essay -- essays research papers

Interviewing the Local Police My independent project was done on a whimsical basis. It's thanksgiving eve and my family and I are all gathered around watching football. The Redskins and Cowboy's are all tied up, and my uncle is on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. A diehard Cowboys fan, who can't even remember when was the last time he didn't bet on a game. Mom and dad are still eating, while my aunt recites a thanksgiving song for all the uninvited guests. The door bell rings, and what do you know it's the local Police. Officers Bob Jacob and William Gould stop by on their neighbor-hood patrol. My aunt invities them in for some coffee, and they end up eating the rest of our thanksgiving dinner. For some strange reason I think of Sociology.( Do you think they'll arrest me if I ask...

Americas Zoos: Entertainment To Conservation Essay -- essays research

America's Zoos: Entertainment to Conservation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The children run ahead, squealing with delight. Their parents lag behind holding the children's brightly colored balloons and carrying the remnants of the half-eaten cotton candy. The family stops to let the children ride the minitrain and take pictures together under the tree. They walk hand- in-hand toward the exit, stopping first at the gift shop where they each splurge on a treat to remind them of the day's adventure. Although this may sound like a typical scene from the local amusement park, it's actually the city zoo. All that forgotten was walking from cage to cage watching the anxious animals pace back and forth in their closed-in prisons (Hope, 1994). Their cages feel cold and desolate. The concrete floor provides no warmth and the atmosphere is sterile. The animals do not appear very happy in this closed-in environment. Just who are these anxious animals? They are the common everyday animals any child could name: the bears, the tigers, the elephants and the monkeys. What about the rest of the world's unique creatures? Hundreds of species are endanger of becoming extinct, and conservation is in need. Extinction is a permanent issue. The treatment of all our animals and their rights is important as well. As concern for the world's animals becomes more prominent in the news, our zoos rise up to meet the challenge. Animal's rights and their treatment, regardless of species, have been brought to attention and positive movements made. While the number of endangered species grows, zoos attempt to do their part in conservation. Both in and out of the park, zoos and their scientist do their best to help these species. Efforts out in the field within the United States as well as other countries are currently in progress. The question lies in the worthiness of these efforts. Is the conservation successful? Are these efforts being done for the right reasons? Will zoos remain as a form of family entertainment or will the enjoyment of the patrons become unimportant? While it is obvious that things are changing, the eventual goals might not be so clear. As the concern shifts from entertainment to conservation, the zoo's efforts are examined, both in the park and beyond, and their motives judged.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As cities became more and more urbanized, it was harder to st... ...zations on my own, imagine how much more knowledgeable the public will be as a whole on these matters. Both education and species conservation are gained. Honestly, many members of the human population may not realize what life is truly like out in the wild. Nature has been difficult for many animals and these scientists are trying to rebuild what Mother Nature, in combination with the human race, has almost destroyed. The role has shifted, but I believe that the motives have also changed considerably. The concern of the patrons will always be a factor, but with so many people worried about the animals, they are not forgotten. Perhaps if the general public, meaning those who do not have the privilege of visiting these zoos becomes more informed about the work, less questions will be raised about this transition. Personally, I cannot differentiate the one who suffers in this arrangement. The animals' rights are looked after, the public becomes more aware and the endangered numbers of many species are strengthened. If the children still squeal, the animals are safe and measures are being taken to help Earth's creatures, I would consider the venture successful and applaud it as well.

Deterioration of the environment Essay

The world hunger problem is characterized by an imbalance or inadequate distribution of people and food, and has both immediate and long-run features that threaten the welfare of millions. Instances of hunger and malnutrition occur when people are unable to obtain an adequate share of the world’s supply of food. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) estimates that as many as 500 million people suffer from hunger and the effects of malnutrition. The Overseas Development Council (ODC) estimates that in 1980, as many as 400 million people in developing nations lived in absolute poverty. The Hunger Project estimates that 13 to 18 million people die each year from hunger. For the most part, these conditions are chronic. They are a daily fact of life. All African countries in are considered as third world countries and that is very true that they encounter all the above problems that environmental degradation, political representation and poverty which to a larger extent are interrelated hence rendering the fact that one’s cause leads to another’s effect. Before we go further into this discussion it always important to know deeply the meanings of the key words being discussed. In a day man’s language environmental degradation is to disgrace or debase or reduce the value of the environment (in this case). It can be reducing its value for instance through soil erosion, air pollution by chemicals from industries, water pollution by direct sewerage linked to a nearby river and many more. For sure this happens in most third world countries not only in Africa. Literature review Poverty Poverty simply means a state of want or lacking means or inadequacy especially in terms of the basic needs. It is the inability of people to meet their basic needs in life. In developing countries people encounter both Primary poverty and secondary poverty. Primary poverty in this case is where families’ total incomes are insufficient to enable them purchase or maintain the minimum necessities of life. Secondary poverty is whereby individuals or families can earn adequate income but spend it on useless items and as a result lack the basic necessities of life for example by alcohol, poor budgeting. People in these three named countries mostly live under poverty line. Poverty line means the minimum level of income or standard of living in a society depending on the cost of availability of basic necessities. United Nations has defined poverty as â€Å"is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and cloth a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation† (UNICEF, 2005) Periodically, conditions worsen dramatically and people in famine-affected regions are thrown into a food crisis that subjects them to starvation and the increased threat of immediate death. These short-run crises are usually precipitated by political unrest, drought, or floods that create even greater disequilibrium between food supplies and people. Food crises are part of the anatomy of the world hunger problem, but while they are most often the outgrowth of chronic conditions made worse, they are not the essence of the long-term problem that confronts the less fortunate people of the world. That problem is typified by the insidious advance of malnutrition and hunger into the lives of millions of people, subjecting them to rampant disease, excessive infant mortality, limited life expectancy, and a truly substandard quality of life. Food shortages, inadequate food distribution, and other conditions that are often dramatized to focus on the world hunger problem are merely symptomatic expressions of more fundamental causes of world hunger, the principal one of which is poverty. People are chronically hungry and malnourished because they are poor. In Less Developed Countries, poverty first limits the ability of people to purchase food. (Poor people have little, if any, money to spend on food. ) At the same time, people in LDCs also lack the money and energy to invest in learning and applying production-increasing technology to produce food for their families. The hunger problem is thus a poverty-induced dilemma with two horns: too little money-backed demand (people need food but cannot buy enough) and too little supply. Combine aggregate poverty with unprogressive agriculture; soaring population growth; poor income distribution; and inadequate social, political, and economic systems and policies, and the result is a dilemma of staggering complexity. At its apex, however, is the inability of people to purchase and produce adequate amounts of food.

Services Oriented Architecture Is the Future

Services Oriented Architecture is the Future The current buzz word in the Information Technology world is Service-oriented Architecture, also known as SO. Businesses are increasingly becoming interested in implementing SO but are reluctant to adopt what might appear to be a silver bullet due to the complexities involved in this hot new business model. Granted, SO is a new complex approach to building IT systems but it takes advantage of the companies existing assets making it an attractive option that will improve their current software architecture.SO has many benefits for businesses and if the inundation is implemented properly it represents huge cost savings in the software life cycle. Software architects should understand the concepts of SO along with the recommended best practices and standards for implementing a well structured architecture model to determine if SO is the right solution for their business. â€Å"A thoughtful, organized approach to enterprise SO enables compani es to implement, adapt and reuse business processes with unprecedented speed and ease.To enjoy the opportunities that enterprise SO delivers, companies need an open, flexible technology platform to integrate best practices and third-party solutions. In addition, they need business-focused, reusable enterprise services. When companies can design services that are reusable across the enterprise, as well as in different regional organizations and across departmental lines, they achieve an increased efficiency and productivity that in turn results in the ability to rapidly innovate with differentiating services to drive additional business success. (SAP accelerates the path to SO for customers, 2008) Many solutions are available to companies that handle complex network services which use well known standards and technologies hat have been working in the business for a long time so business leaders may discount SO as a new fad without understanding exactly what SO really is. Taking time to learn about this new method of doing business is strongly advised to the architects responsible for companies IT infrastructure so they can make an informed decision regarding how they will do business in the future and if SO would be a good option for them.Service-oriented Architecture is an infrastructure that hosts web services to support software requirements. Legacy applications and services are dad available as a web service that can be accessed using a common application interface. These service oriented concepts can be applied to business, software and other types of legacy systems. SO uses an easy to implement approach to developing IT systems that enables application interoperability and reuse of IT assets. As such, it enables business to offer services with existing applications that are supported by new technology rather than constrained by old legacy technology.SO is the framework that enables a business to change, adapt, partner, and reinvent it itself easily by dec oupling systems making them independent of their peer reverie. Many businesses have an infrastructure that consists of various applications offering services that run on a wide variety of technology which don't all work together. Global enterprises tend to suffer the most from this blend of various platforms such as UNIX, Linux, Windows, or mainframe systems that use different languages like . NET, JOKE, Java, C/C++, or COBOL..IT managers are concerned about the cost and time needed to remodel these services onto a common platform is to much and are hesitant to introduce a new business model that will require restructuring the foundation architecture. Fortunately with SO each application doesn't have to change the current platform they are working on, rather they would create Web Services that are allowed access to the current systems and then publish the web service so other applications can consume the service using a common interface. Web services provide a standard meaner of int erpretation between different software applications, running on a variety of platforms and/or frameworks. A Web service is a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to- machine interaction over a network. It has an interface described in a machine- resalable format (specifically WSDL). Other systems interact with the Web service in a manner prescribed by its description using SOAP messages, typically conveyed by using HTTP with an XML serialization in conjunction with other Web-related standards. (Zane & Abaca, 2006) In a SO implementation, Web Services act like building blocks where each block is a service that is linked to a business task, business object, or workflow. Because all of the building blocks fit together, you can assemble and reassemble them on the fly. Managing data across disparate systems is a constant challenge for all systems but SO tends to highlight the robbers related to duplicated or undefined data that isn't standardized, making data mapping very difficult and time consuming.In order to have a reliable infrastructure model, resources must be dedicated to the task of defining, standardizing, and maintaining the data that is used in all of the services that are offered. SO uses a standard business object model to easily define the data for services called a Business Object Document (SOD). A BODY is a business document that is exchanged between software components and provides a common messaging architecture. It provides the document structure and naming standards that are used o define and map meta-data to the XML documents which ensures both the publisher and subscriber can understand the content.By understanding the concepts behind SO and how web services and data management are used software architects are able to analyze their current systems and make an informed decision on the value SO would have for the business. Many benefits exist to companies that implement a well planned Service-oriented Infrastructure. Intero perability can be found throughout the enterprise, multiple user groups, multiple business processes, multiple application styles, and multiple delivery channels with the use of SO. Flexibility is greatly increased to adapt to business operation changes increasing the time to implement new services.Web Services reuse low-level components as well as high-level business services decreasing the cost of system management. Integrating disparate systems with a solution that is platform independent reduces the need to restructure the current infrastructure while still allowing the systems to work together in harmony. Service-oriented Architecture's good reputation in the information technology industry is growing at a rapid rate making it the software architects best choice when faced with the task of implementing business integration technology and is highly recommended for companies that need to streamline their business workflow.

Word Order in a Noun Phrase and English Anaphors

WORD ORDER IN NP AND ENGLISH ANAPHORS Tereza Stifnerova The purpose of this essay is firstly to show the word order of a noun phrase (NP) and how the head noun of the NP can be post- and pre-modified, and secondly to focus on meaning of some examples of English anaphors and the distinctions between them and their Czech translations. The first part is going to aim on the internal structure of NPs. Complex nominal phrase consists of the pre-modifying elements, the head noun and the post-modifying elements.The so-called pre-modifiers can be divided into two groups: determiners and prenominals. We have to say that „determiners are obligatory and uniqueâ€Å" (Veselovska:86), and they have a specific place in the noun phrase – they are at the beginning. Among determiners we arrange also the possesives (my, your, etc. ). These two (determiners and possesives) are shown in (1). (1) a/the/my/mum’s mug Prenominals are the adjectives and secondary adjectives between the de terminers and the head noun.They are optional, which means they do not have to be in the NP, and they are recursive – it means they are not lined up in a very strict order, but there are some semantic features which affect the order. (2) a. the small old blue wooden box b. ? the wooden blue old small box c. small the old blue wooden box Post-modifiers, or postnominals, can also have a fixed or a relatively free order. Among elements of these category belong multiple prepositional phrases (3-4), verbs with infinitive or in the –ing form (5-6), clauses (relative clause) (7), complex adjectival phrases (8) and of-phrases (9). 3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) the gift for Jane from Peter ? the gift from Peter to Jane a girl to watch the lector teaching history the gift which you gave me a girl [AP more beautiful than me ] the student of philology Except the last one, the others can be lined up after the head noun in a relatively free order. (10) a book of fairytales tied with a blue ribbon for my daughter As I said, the of-phrase has a fixed place in a word order of a NP – it has to follow the head noun immediately because it is adjacent to the noun. 11) a. an office of the teacher with the white door b. * an office with the white door of the teacher In the second part I am going to translate some examples of English anaphors into Czech and then discuss the meanings of them and I will also try to show the distinctions between English and Czech forms. Here are the examples in English: (a1) Theyi killed themk. (b1) Theyi killed themselvesi. (c1) Theyi killed each otheri. And the translation into Czech: (a2) Oni je zabili. (b2) Oni se zabili. (c2) Oni se zabili (navzajem).The example (a1) has the index i with the pronoun they and the index k with the accusative case of the pronoun they, which means that the pronoun they have a meaning of „peopleâ€Å", which are NOT the people included in the meaning of them, i. e. them has the so-called disjoin ed refference. The following examples (12), (13) and (14) show that in English the nominative and accusative cases of the pronoun they are used to mark different (groups of) people. (12) (13) (14) The thievesi killed themk. The thievesi killed the thievesk. *The thievesi killed the thievesi. the thieves ? them > they are not the same thieves so they cannot have the same index The example (b1) has the index i in both cases – it means that they and themselves includes the same people. Because themselves is a reflexive pronoun, we know that the group of people indicated in they is the same group of people as in themselves. In the example (c1) is shown the same as in the example (b1), although in this case the second pronoun is reciprocal so we know that the group of people included in they consists – in this case – of two people.It means that the first one killed the second one and conversely the second one killed the first one. It means that the reciprocals  ¾require the antecedent to be plural (the action or relation takes place between the members of the set, reciprocally). â€Å" (Veselovska:104) These anaphors in (b1) and (c1) are also called syntactic anaphors. „Syntactic anaphors have a hierarchically higher antecedent, which means they must be bound in the same clause, usually in the position of Subject or Agentâ€Å" (Veselovska:104) as in (15) and (16). (15) (16) We saw ourselves in the mirror. To educate oneself is a choice of every person. urselves > Subject oneself > Agent (of educating) In Czech it is different. The first example (a2) is very simple – the pronouns clearly state who killed whom. Oni killed je, which means one group of people killed the other one. The examples (b2) and (c2) are in Czech similar in form but different in meaning. Nevertheless, in the second case we can optionally add the word navzajem, so it would be more clear who killed whom but basically, the reflexive pronoun se is universal in Czech. BIBLIOGRAPHY Veselovska, Ludmila. A Course In English Morpho-Syntax. UP Olomouc, 2009

Lil Wayne vs Drake Essay

Music is something that everyone loves and some people go to music to calm themselves down when their stressed, angry, sad, or happy just in general. Personally, I listen to a lot of music, so I’m choosing Lil Wayne vs. Drake. Lil Wayne thinks of himself as the â€Å"Best rapper alive†; & yet he is known to be one of the best rappers according to magazines, record sales, and etc. Lil Wayne is also in charge of Young Money Entertainment which is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Drake is also rising to the top very quickly, but Drake is a part of Young Money Entertainment also. They both are featured in each other’s song and a lot of people love them rapping together. They both rap about similar things such as, fame, drugs, money, cars, and women; however even though they rap about similar things. They have completely different ways of saying it. Wayne is more outspoken I’d say and he is more straight forward with whatever message he’s trying to prove to you. Drake makes you think a little more about whatever message he’s trying to deliver. I actually like how drake phrases some of the things he says. Wayne focuses on his analogies more I believe when he raps, verses drake focuses on more just getting the message out. Wayne uses his imagination when he raps, but drake actually paints the picture. I’d say that Drake has 2 sides to him; he has the rap side and he has the singing side. Drake is known for connecting with women through his songs, words, his real life problems, and his voice that almost every girl loves. Drake is more open when he raps and he explains to you how girls have broke his heart, how he’s had people doubt him in life and his music career, and he isn’t afraid to admit that sometimes life hurts. He makes you feel like he too has been in the same situation like he’s actually felt pain like normal people without millions of dollars do. Lil Wayne will talk about something seriously hearting him in maybe about 3 or 4 songs, but other than that Wayne gives you the image that everything in his world is perfect. He makes you want to feel what it’s like to have millions of dollars, and cars, clothes, women and etc. , but in reality it’s not really like that for the average person. That’s why more people feel like they can relate more to Drake, because he talks about real life situations and pain in a lot of his songs. Both, Drake and Wayne have been nominated for plenty of different awards on the different shows, and they have also won quite a few of those nominations, especially Lil Wayne. Wayne helped Drake get to the where he was at, he showed him a way and now Drake is so popular he probably would be okay on his own; but they all work together as a team, that’s why they’re all apart of Young Money Entertainment. In conclusion, we could keep comparing and contrasting both Drake and Lil Wayne all day, but in the end all that matters is that they both make great music, and they are both listened to and enjoyed by millions and millions of people. There so much alike in the end to where it would balance out anyways. They are a great team together and they are both very successful. However if I had to chose which one I preferred to listen to more, I think I’d have to chose Lil Wayne, â€Å"The best rapper alive†.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana - Essay Example In addition to this, she mobilizes her community to stand against the Taliban who had taken control of Kabul City where she lived. This book is therefore her personal story and her buoyancy to keep her family intact at a time when there is chaos in Afghanistan and women are not allowed to go to any public places and particularly to schools. My paper will look into the two major issues of distributive injustice as well as cultural imperialism that Kamila and her community faced once the Taliban entered their city of Kabul. Deutsch defines distributive injustice as having four different kinds of capital which includes investment, consumption, social and skill (Deutsch, 2005). In Kamila’s example they face skill capital especially when Kamila who has completed her teaching degree is denied the chance to get a teaching job and is forced to stay at home. There is also the social capital whereby kamila her sisters and the women in the neighborhood get together to grow the dressmakin g business. Cultural imperialism on the other hand according to Deutsch â€Å"involves the universalization of a dominant group's experience and culture and establishing it as the norm.". For example in Kamila’s story the women have to wear the chadri as mandated by the Taliban’s, something that they were not used to. When it comes to growth mindset Dweck states that is helpful to people’s growth as they look forward to a successful future however there is always a risk of failure (Dweck, 2006). For instance Kamila did not despair when she found out she could not get work, instead she started her own business in dressmaking and made it her priority to see it through to the end. Her business was however facing a lot of challenges particularly from the Taliban’s. This example shows that there is a risk element in growth mindset since despite the fact the Kamila was hopeful of succeeding her businesses she could she did not see the challenges ahead of her w hich would have affected the businesses growth. History of Afghanistan Afghanistan’s history dates back to 500BC at the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The meaning of Afghanistan translates to â€Å"land of Afghans†. Some of the most powerful kingdoms came because of Afghanistan state with the inclusion of Kushans, Ghurids, Hotakis, Mauryas and many others. When it comes to how women in Afghanistan are treated, this is whole different story especially compared to western societies. Women in Afghanistan are denied the privilege to many essential things with examples of education, work and even power. It is believed that women’s role is to stay at home while the men go out to fend for the family. Women are also not allowed to speak in public as they are only to be seen and not heard. Should they go out they have to be escorted by a man from their own home. Once the Taliban gained power in the year 1995, girls and women were automatically discriminated upon as well as their human rights being undermined. As a result, this led to the social and economic standards of women getting worse. Women who had previously been having good jobs as doctors, teachers found themselves jobless. This is why prostitution increased at a very alarming rate. In the year 2001, the Taliban has later prohibited women from even driving their own cars. Worse still, they would be humiliated and hammered in public. Another Taliban rule was that women had to go out fully covered from head to toe with the

Globalization and it's effects on Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Globalization and it's effects on Hawaii - Essay Example Being an island nation, Hawaii has always attracted tourists from among all regions of the world and it has remained their main source of revenue. Globalization has also facilitated transnational â€Å"capital flow, transportation, tourism† and other kinds of alliances amongst nations, which played a major role in boosting Hawaii’s economy (15). Thus, the phenomenon of globalization, on the one hand, has accelerated economic and technological developments in Hawaii, but, on the other hand, it has had devastating effects on its environment and ecological balance as well as reduces the employment opportunities of local population. The capitalist philosophy that the elimination of national boundaries and the â€Å"rational operation of the free market† nourish prosperity does reflect on the economic growth of the island nation (Sheppard 308). In early days, agriculture has been one of the main resources of Hawaii but â€Å"sugar transformed† the nation initially as an industry based economy (Firth 183). Subsequently, falling in tandem with the trends of globalization, the Hawaiian outlook further changed from an agricultural society to a service based community primarily gaining strength from the exponential growth in tourism and allied industries. This transition, characterized by the emergence of â€Å"new market forces† coupled with the â€Å"new technologies of transport† has further accelerated the economic development of Hawaii (179). Similarly, â€Å"economic globalization† can have several positive outcomes for countries, in terms of enhanced quality of life, as can be evidenced from the progress that Hawaii has made in various aspects (Globalization and Environmental Sustainability 259). In addition, the liberalized policies of immigration, and the ease with which it can be processed as a consequence of globalization,