Sample Papers

US immigration

2010-08-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

If Immigrants want to stay here, They must adapt to us!
I do not hold anything against immigrants who are seeking a better life by coming to America. Descendents of immigrants make up much of our population today. Immigrants that come to our country need to understand a few things things. The idea of America being a multicultural community has only taken away from our national identity. We have our own culture, our own language and our own lifestyle just like any other country.

Many immigrants come to america to succeed but have a low education and don’t know where to start. This greatly increases the poverty level. The immigrant welfare level is 43% greater than the native welfare level. People like you and me pay for immigrants with taxes. This puts a Drain on economy because it costs anywhere from 67 – 87 billion dollars a year. PRUCOL, Permanently Residing Under The Color Of Law allows both leagal and illegal immigrants to stay in America for us to pay for.

There are some things that immigrants don’t understand when they come to america. First off, we speak ENGLISH! Not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian and they must learn the language if they want to become a part of our society. “IN GOD WE TRUST” is our national motto because this nation was founded by Christian men and women . I along with many other people, don’t want to have to worry about whether we are offending another culture or individual because we have patriotism for our country. I think it is certainly appropriate to display this message in our pledge and on the walls of our office buildings and schools. God is a part of our culture and our culture is not going to change.

Since a lot of Immigrants come to this country unstable, they are turned down from jobs. This forces them to commit crimes for money because they have nothing else to do. Roughly 54% of jail inmates are criminal illegal Aliens. Over the past 5 years 72,000 were arrested for drugs alone. In 1999, one prison claimed to be holding over 68,000 criminal illegal immigrants. Because there is an insufficient amount of space in our jails Many illegal aliens were released back into society to harm again. According to the Illinois governors office, Our state Alone spends over 40 million dollars on jailing criminal immigrants.

Many jobs for hard working Americans are taken because immigrants are such cheap labor. A lot of immigrants are low skilled, in 2000 69% of immigrants had no occupation or profession. The average adult had only a 9th grade education and more than 1/3 of immigrants over the age of 25 have no high school education whatsoever. Illegal immigrants displace about 730,000 Americans a year. Employers would rather hire a bunch of cheap immigrant workers than legal Americans because it saves them so much money.

Our government has to do its job and keep illegal immigrants out of our country. There are currently 6,900 agents guarding the southern border and I think they need to raise that number to somewhere around 10,000 agents. Our government needs to start doing a better job of tracking the immigrants that say they are coming in on vacation as well because much of the time they just stay in the country and never leave. Immigrants do little to nothing for our country so we need to slow down the progress of legal immigration so America doesn’t become over crowded.

This is our America. When that small group immigrants are done complaining about our language, our flag, our national motto and our life habits, they should try finding a country that satifies them because its not here. It doesn’t matter how they used to do things because if they don’t like it, They have the right to leave.

The Purpose of Written Communication

2009-07-30T04:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought what life would be like without written communication? If we could only communicate verbally, what would our society be like now? Some have thought about what the purpose of written communication is besides communication needs. From the earliest forms of writings to the more complex forms over the years, we have seen and felt the tremendous impact, especially in the evolution of newspapers, books, and the internet. During this time, some people have questioned what the primary purpose of written communication really is. One man, named Claude Levi-Strauss, believes that the primary purpose of written communication is to facilitate slavery of the mind by controlling the way an individual thinks. While there have been times in history in which this appears to be true, I still strongly believe that the primary purpose of written communication is to enable us to communicate efficiently.

Thousands of years ago, the only form of written communication was in drawings. One of the first forms of writing was cuneiform, using symbols to represent objects. The Chinese written language began in a similar way. People needed written communication because oral communication by itself is an inadequate means of communication. The human brain simply cannot remember every bit of oral information presented, as demonstrated in English class.

In our English class, we played a game called Telephone. We scattered around the room and each person would whisper a message heard from the person in front of them. The message would travel through everyone until it got to the last person. Since our professor had the message written on a slip of paper, he knew exactly what it is. The first person would be presented the slip of paper and whisper the message without showing the slip. The message travels around until everyone hears something whispered. By the time the last person hears the message, the message he or she hears is usually distorted so much from the original one that it is no longer even relevant. I learned that the brain both stores information briefly and allows manipulation and use of the stored information. Although information can be retained by continually rehearsing it, one little distraction removes it permanently. When information is written on paper, it can always be referred to if it is temporarily forgotten. This is clearly one reason why written communication is necessary.

Written communication has played a major role in historic events throughout the last several centuries. When the Pilgrims left England to settle in America, they had to write out the Indentured Servant Contract. The Indentured Servant Contract established the system by which indentured servants agreed to work for their masters without wages for a certain number of years. An indentured servant is one who works without wages for a period of time in exchange for passage to the American Colonies. This agreement was written on paper because words said orally are not always kept. The contract would then be signed. How would it be possible to create such an agreement without have it written? There would be no way of doing this.

When America declared independence from Britain, the Declaration of Independence was written out. If there was no need for written communication, why would anyone want to bother writing on paper? The Continental Congress met for months to decide on a final copy of the Declaration of Independence. The actual text of the Declaration is very important. Printing a copy of the Declaration of Independence takes up four pages. Can you imagine having it spoken verbally? Who would be able to remember all the information from grievances to rights? If all that mattered is getting independence, why is the text such a big deal? Why did the Continental Congress spend so much time? Verbal communication would definitely not have been as effective. I know that I would not be able to remember everything spoken verbally. I need to see everything written down.

Everyday, people use written contracts to take care of most business transactions. For example, when one buys a house or a car, he signs contracts. If no contracts were signed in a sale, how does he know what each individual’s obligations are? We could mutually make verbal promises to each other. However, there is no way of enforcing actions. Either one of us could easily change our mind. With a written contract and means of written communication, every term is laid out on paper. During the process of a sale of a house, the seller of a house can track down the buyer if anything goes wrong and the funds are not received for the house. In some cases, past and present, people decide to go against an agreed-upon contract. However, because all the terms have been put down in writing, the court has legal ways to deal with such situations as disclosed in writing. Life certainly would not be the same without written communications.

Technology has moved at an amazing speed over the last century with the evolution of computers. The idea of computers and internet started when people needed ways to communicate other than verbal means because of its limitations. People started using the computer to type up articles and papers. Eventually the internet became the way to present information to a large number of people. At any given point, many people could be accessing a site on the web and reading articles. It is not possible to reach a large number of people through the telephone. Now, thanks to technology, we can find almost any information we need on the internet. This is definitely a new form of written communication. Without written communication, the internet wouldn’t exist even though technology allows.

Written communication has, without a doubt, been misused in the past and present. Adolph Hitler took advantage of written communication and spread a lot of racist ideas everywhere, enslaving the German minds and being a bad influence. People took his ideas to heart and went along with what he had to say. As a result, many Jews and other innocent people lost their lives. Hitler’s major work consisted of his two volumes of Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In these two volumes, he talks about his basic ideas and foundations. One passage from Chapter X: Causes of the Collapse from Mein Kampf states “The superior Ayran race, centered in Germany, would be the final victor and would rule the world. However, Germany would have to be ruled by a dictator and would have to be racially aware. It takes truly a Jewish effrontery to attribute the blame solely to the military defeat when the central organ of all traitors to the nation, the Berlin Vorwarts, wrote that this time the German people must not bring its banner home victorious!” This is an excellent example of how written communication is misused. In this case, slavery was facilitated because people were letting their minds be filled with racism.

In Levi-Strauss’ essay, he uses the inaccuracies of the travel literature as support for his argument that written communication facilitates slavery. In his case, the travel literature didn’t help him get by as he thought it would. He read that if he is lost, he is to fire a shot into the air so that the other people could hear it and find him. At another time, he was on an expedition with the Nambikwara tribe. However, only the men were there, each armed with bow and arrows. According to the book, this was a sign that indicated that an attack is eminent. However, the nervousness was unnecessary. Sometimes people make mistakes. Humans are all prone to error. This clearly shows that the purpose of written communication is a necessary means of communication. In this situation, there are always unique times when the typical strategy fails. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen, as it did.

After considering all the facts, it is clear to me that written communication is not meant to facilitate slavery. Rather, it is a very important means of communication necessary for survival. From the early days when America was first settled to the modern era with booming technology, written communication has always been necessary for us to communicate efficiently. The Internet became an efficient way to reach a large number of people. If writing is only to facilitate the slavery of the mind, our society wouldn’t have gotten this far now.

Essay on Surviving Culture

2009-07-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

“Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?,” an essay wrote by Marilyn Manson and published in “Rolling Stone” magazine, addresses the problem of Columbine through the eyes of Manson himself. Through the use of pathos and ethos, Manson forces the reader to interpret his views from many different angles. Manson implements exotic word choice and imagery into his essay and creates a different feel for the reader because of his “hard rocker” status, but the effectiveness of these techniques varies greatly.

After Columbine occurred, the media pointed their finger at Manson. They suggested that his music and image played a key role is causing the tragedy at Columbine. Manson wrote this essay in response to those accusations. Manson presents the idea that the media, as well as society as a whole, is just as responsible as he is for causing the shootings in Columbine. The essay is very straightforward and direct in expressing Manson’s views of why the shootings in Littleton, Colorado occurred.

Manson states in the second line of his essay,“The day that Cain bashed his brother Abel’s brains in, the only motivation he needed was his own human disposition to violence,” this alerts the reader immediately to Manson’s unique rhetorical angle. By comparing past and present, Manson offers the reader with the logical question, “What makes Cain and Abel’s incident any different from that of Columbine?” This is an effective technique because the Cain and Abel example corresponds with that of Columbine, but didn’t involve the influence of movies, TV, or the music of Marilyn Manson. In turn, it provides a valid reason why Manson should not be blamed and that there are a number of other causes for violent actions.
Manson contends whether or not today’s media influences actually differ from that of the bible. This is a bold statement because he is putting blame on the bible, but it’s effective because it is a view that would not normally be looked at. Through ethos, Manson doesn’t use his authority, but the authority of the bible. He questions whether or not the bible is always right in the lessons that it teaches. Who would think of comparing, or evening blaming, such an act of violence with the book that so many people live their life by?

One of the obvious differences in Manson’s essay, compared to a “normally written essay,” is his unique word choice. His word choice is vulgar and, in some cases, borderline. This rhetorical tool is evident beginning with the quote mentioned in the previous paragraph. It illustrates Manson’s unique view of the situation at Columbine very appropriately because the Cain and Abel example is known by everyone, but no one has ever heard it described as a “brain bashing.” By depicting the story of Cain and Abel in that way, it forces the reader to analyze the story in a different context, just as Manson did with the shootings in Columbine.

His word choice creates an attitude that Manson is going to say what he wants, and not feel it necessary to write in a so called “politically correct” form. By writing this way, Manson challenges the “norm”because there is definitely a limited number of essays addressing Columbine that would refer to Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris as “dipshits,” like Manson did. This type of word choice attracts the readers attention throughout the whole essay. Not only do the different words attract attention, but the unusual combinations of words. For example, Manson used the phrase, “gruesome entertainment,” which the phrase by itself is some what contradicting. Most people would say entertainment is enjoyable and generally a good thing, but the use of the word gruesome right before entertainment changes the meaning completely. This illustrates Manson’s main point of his essay in that, entertainment can be gruesome, in terms of the media and news, and eventually contribute to violence.

Manson uses pathos in a very unorthodox way as well. Pathos is used many times to touch a person so that they feel good about the media being interpreted. Manson uses pathos in an alternative form. He touches on many things that are emotionally hard to deal with and talks about them very vulgarly. For example, Manson states, “...watching our president’s brains splattered all over Texas,” which if read by a certain person, could be very offensive and create a blow to the overall effect of the essay. On the contrary, that statement also has the potential of making an impression on the reader. It could be effective, not in a sense of making the reader feel good about something, but instead challenge the thought of the reader and possibly make he or she realize how truly unacceptable things like letting kids watch JFK footage really is. It could be that describing it in such an “in your face” way, makes Manson’s point that much more effective.

Through ethos, Manson uses humor and sarcasm to create a bond with the reader. A reader would not expect a Marilyn Manson essay to be cut and dry with no humor involved, so by doing this he earns the trust of the reader because he is being himself. By Manson saying “...Clinton shooting off his prick...,” he appeals to his own authority of being the “bad boy of hard rock,” where as, if someone like E.B. White used those words, it wouldn’t be effective because he is not the type of person who would use that phrase in their writing. It makes Manson appeal on more of a personal level to the reader because, like stated earlier, it reinforces who he is by writing in his own style.

Although Manson provides a nice change up in the way he uses rhetorical tools, it may be to no avail because Marilyn Manson himself wrote the essay. Manson states many times throughout the essay how not only was he being blamed for Columbine, but also the fact that he is not well liked by adults because as he states, “...most adults hate people who go against the grain,” and he willingly admits to being one of those people. This is a very valid point and could mean a major drop off of potential readers. With his tarnished image, his essay becomes less effective as it can not relate to as people as an essay written by an author who is well thought of in our society. If a person holds Manson highly responsible for what happened in Columbine, what would make that person take Manson seriously? Even if this person does read the essay, who is to say that he or she would not just assume, “sure, he is going to defend himself.”

The same rhetorical tools that were described as being effective could also be detrimental to expressing Manson’s views. The use of profanity, as well as gruesome description, could persuade the reader to only thinking worse of Manson. The fact that he is being blamed for Columbine because of his vulgar lyrics and word choice, using that same vulgarity could just render the essay even more ineffective. Half of Manson’s potential readers could respect him for who he is and the other half could despise him for the same reasons.

The Manson essay is indeed unique in its use of word choice and the variations of pathos, and ethos. The essay is effective because it forces the reader to look at the situation from a different angle. By looking back at the Cain and Abel example, and Manson’s description of the event, the reader has to use the story in a whole new context because of how it is presented. This type of critical thinking is provoked throughout the whole essay. Manson does an accurate job of giving practical examples to back up his belief that the media and society are just as responsible for this tragedy as anyone else. Manson’s essay is rhetorically successful, but even through all of this, the essay may only be accessed by few. Not everyone in this world subscribes to “Rolling Stone,” and some might not for the same reasons they don’t like Marilyn Manson, it promotes sexuality and controversial music. The Manson essay was effective if read and willingly interpreted, but that could be a hard task to perform if you were a mother of one of the victims from Littleton, Colorado.

Thesis on Oedipus

2009-07-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

In the Oedipus Plays of Sochocles, Oedipus is a victim of destiny by the gods. In Ancient Greece, there was a lot that was not understood, so they used gods to explain why things happened. In Greek and Roman mythology fate is depicted by three goddesses, the Destinies, who determine the course of human life. These gods were able to control man’s behavior, which was shown very well in Oedipus the King. Fate played a huge part during this time. It showed the Greek’s idea that no matter how hard someone struggles to change their destiny it has already been predetermined.

Destined to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus was guided by fate. As a baby, his parents learned of his destiny and gave him to a shepherd to be killed. Since he had to carry out this destiny, however, Oedipus survived and was adopted by the king and queen of Corinth, Thebes’s neighboring city. Unaware those were not his real parents, Oedipus learned of his destiny and thought he could change it by running away from Corinth. Unfortunately, his prophecy, as warned by the Oracle at Delphi, was absolute and would inevitably come true.

On his was to Thebes, Oedipus, began fulfilling his destiny. He gets in a fight with some men in a carriage and in self-defense kills all except one. One of the dead men was Laius, king of Thebes and Oedipus’ father. The only survivor was the shepherd, who 20 years before was the one who was supposed to have killed Oedipus. “Shepherd- Then… from Laius’ house… that’s where it’s from. They say it was… actually his own. But the queen inside could probably explain.”

“Oedipus- She, she gave it to you?”

“Shepherd- Just that, my lord.”

“Oedipus- With what intention?”

“Shepherd- To do away with it.”

“Oedipus- The child’s own mother?”

“Shepherd- To escape a prophecy too horrible.”

Meanwhile, the city of Thebes was beginning to fall apart. A sphinx had come into town, and everyone coming in had to answer her riddle. If they didn’t answer it, she would eat them. Destined to solve the ancient riddle and free Thebes, Oedipus became a hero. The citizens made him king and he marries Jocasta, the widowed queen and Oedipus’ mother. Here he unknowingly fulfilled another part of his destiny.

Twenty years pass as Oedipus and Jocasta rule Thebes. The gods were disgusted that Oedipus, having killed his natural father, was not exiled or killed due to bloodguilt, and strike a plague on the city. The citizens go straight to their king thinking he will save them as he did before. Oedipus says he will work day and night until he finds the man who killed the former king Laius and seek revenge upon him. “Oedipus- For who knows, tomorrow this selfsame murderer may turn his bloody hands on me. The cause of Laius therefore is my own… I am resolute, and shall not stop till with Apollo’s help all-blessed we emerge, or else we are lost-beyond all purge.” After much talking with the messenger and shepherd, Jocasta and Oedipus both realize the truth... they weren’t able to escape their fate. “Oedipus- Lost! Ah lost! At last it’s blazing clear. Light of my days, go dark. I want to gaze no more. My birth all sprung revealed from those it never should, Myself entwined with those I never could. And I the killer of those I never would.” Jocasta realizes everything she has done, and so she hangs herself. Oedipus was so disgusted with everything that he takes pins and pokes out his eyes so that he is blind. When he goes to Hades he doesn’t want to be able to see his mother and woman he married, or all the deformed children they had together.

Oedipus’ downfall was primarily the result of king Laius’ and his own actions and attempts to defy the gods. After all everyone went through to try and change the fate of Oedipus told by the Oracle, everything still played out as it was supposed too. The Greeks believed strongly in their gods and that nothing could be done to change what was already destined to happen. This idea of fate has existed for a long time and still exists even today in our minds and lives.

Essay on Death of a Salesman

2009-07-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a tragic play about an aging and struggling salesman, Willy Loman, and his family’s misguided perception of success. In Willy’s mind, being well-liked is more important than anything else, and is the means to achieving success. He teaches this flawed idea to his sons, Biff and Happy, and is faithfully supported by his wife Linda. Linda sympathizes with Willy’s situation, knowing that his time as an important salesman has passed. Biff and Happy hold their father to impossibly high standards, and he tries his best to live up to them. This causes Willy to deny the painful reality that he has not achieved anything of real value. Willy’s obsession with a false dream results in his losing touch with reality and with himself.

Many times during the play, Willy drifts in and out of flashbacks. Most of these occur during the period when Biff was in high school, and foreshadow the events of the present. For instance, in one of the flashbacks, Biff “borrows” a football from the locker room, and is told by Willy, “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative.” Obviously, Willy rationalizes Biff’s behavior in addition to his own. In the same flashback, Willy asks Biff, “What do they say about you in school, now that they made you captain?” Willy proudly hears that Biff has a crowd of followers in the halls between classes, and is well on his way to becoming well-liked and successful. The reason Willy tries to maintain the guise of success is to not disappoint his boys who admire him. He wants the best for Biff and Happy; deep down, he hopes that their lives will be better than his.

During the play, Willy loses touch with himself, evidenced by his numerous contradictions. In one scene, he mentions that Chevrolet is “the greatest car ever built,” only to say later that “they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car.” Willy is an elderly man, his mind is slowing, and he has trouble remembering what he truly believes. When he does have moments of heartbreaking clarity, Linda does her best to buoy his spirits. Willy painfully realizes that people do not seem to like him very much, but Linda reassures that he will do better next time. Later, Linda calls Willy “the handsomest man in the world.” While Linda probably thinks that she is helping Willy by comforting him, she is actually enabling him to continue his self-delusions. Willy needs someone to stir him from his illusion, not someone to reaffirm his beliefs. The idea of the American dream is a significant part of the play. Unfortunately, Willy sees only a portion of the picture- the superficial part. Personality and charisma are important, but hard work, determination, and ethics are more essential. Willy views his life as a childish popularity contest; the one with the most friends wins. His immaturity is most clearly demonstrated in a flashback in which Bernard warns that Biff had better study so he doesn’t flunk math, and Willy dismisses Bernard a nerd. However, as Willy finds out, the quest of being liked by everyone is futile and will never bring true happiness. One of the most humiliating insults was that Willy was fired from his job by his boss, Howard- whom Willy had named when Howard was an infant. Because appearance and popularity are so vital to Willy, he feels utterly disgraced when he is dismissed by a man half his age.

Willy’s sons, Biff and Happy, are also failures. Biff is a thirty-four-year-old man whose favorite memories are from his days as a high school football player. He inexplicably ignored a football scholarship from the University of Virginia, and has not been able to find himself since. Willy cannot understand how everything could have gone so wrong for Biff, who had just come back from a ranch in the West. Willy believes that he has taught him the way to be successful, when really he did nothing but rationalize and condone harmful activities. “I never told him anything but decent things,” Willy laments. Like his brother, Happy is also misguided. He grew up in the shadow of his brother, and attempts to mask his self-esteem issues by surrounding himself with women. He has sordid sexual affairs with the wives of executives at his company, and hates himself for it. After his father commits suicide, he tries to carry on Willy’s unrealistic notions of success.

Reality, in the play, is represented by the character of Charley, the Loman’s neighbor. He is Willy’s only friend, and offers him a job when the old salesman is fired. Willy’s egotism gets in the way, however, and he cannot bring himself to work for Charley, since this would be admitting failure. Charley symbolizes reality- a reality that Willy never acknowledges.

Death of a Salesman is one of America’s most tragic plays, because it tells of disappointment, failure, and death. Ultimately, Willy wastes his adult years trying- unsuccessfully- to prove his worth. He has a misguided philosophy that he passes on to his two children, and can no longer distinguish between reality and illusion. The story of Willy Loman will remain popular because it serves as a warning to all: the question to be asked upon retiring from an occupation is not, “What does the person know?” but rather, “What has the person become?”

Essay on Strategic Human Resource Management

2009-07-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

Schuler and Walker define Human Resource Strategy (HRS) as “a set of processes and activities jointly shared by human resources and line managers to solve business-related problems”. I believe this definition assists on tackling the above question. However, Bamberger and Meshoulam “Conceptualise human resource strategy as an outcome: the pattern of decisions regarding the policies and practices associated with the HR system”. In my view, HRS is a set of ‘processes and activities’ that when implemented, result in an outcome.

In aim to justify this statement by discussing the topic of human resource strategy in relation to the sub-headings listed above. By examining the reasons or ‘rationale’ for the emergence of human resource strategies in the modern business environment, the value, various strategy approaches, types and the concept of fit, I believe I can underline the importance of a well devised HRS to any overall business strategy or plan.

Modern businesses and the economic environments in which they operate are very different from the organizations and economies examined by Chandler in his studies of ‘managerial capitalism’ (late 19th Century through to the 1970s). The development of technology, and the creation of global economies have resulted in a significant increase in efficient and effective competition within all industries operating in market economies. Firms con longer rely on competing aggressively simply on the reliable favorites of achieving economies of scale and creating ‘barriers to entry’ within their markets etc.

Firms have become more market orientated as opposed to production focused (as highlighted by our recent study of Waterford), and this is part of the growth of the tertiary sector in modern business.

The growth of tertiary sector activity in the global dynamic environment has resulted in people (staff) or human resources, as a factor of production, becoming the most important part of this ‘production’ process. However managing people or ‘human resources’ is much more complicated than managing equipment for example, however does allow for much more scope and varying ideologies and techniques.

It is for these reasons that organisations are focusing on human resources as “Companies everywhere are changing the way they manage in order to be competitive”. These firms need to find a new competitive advantage, and the implementation of a HRS that is beneficial and supportive in achieving the overall strategic plan is a means of doing so, or put differently, achieving a desirable outcome through a set of processes and activities.

In this new business culture of ‘strategic management’, fitting every ‘division’s’ strategy in to the overall strategy has become the norm. Human resource management has developed and ‘integrated’ its processes and activities in strategic management, ‘through the new discipline’ of strategic human resource management.

Associated to this point is Barney’s assertion that “Managers must look inside their firms for valuable rare resources and exploit these resources through their organization”.

The emergence of HR strategies can therefore be explained by the development of corporate strategies that firms began to implement as a means of gaining that desired competitive advantage, and creating a clear and effective plan in which to operate the business. In the current environment, good strategic management of human resources by developing a competent set of processes and activities will assist in formulating a desired outcome: a fit between HR strategy and the organisation’s overall strategy.

A significant value of human resource strategies, as opposed to human resource management, is that a HRS ties in with the overall organizational strategy. Employees and all divisions of management must be aware of the firm’s business strategy. Once the human resource departments are directed to devise a strategy to complement and ‘fit’ this overall plan, the lines of communication between staff and the HR department are opened up. The practices and activities implemented by the HR department are recognized by staff as part of a company goal and in effect these practices are given ‘legitimacy’ as the staff realize they part of the long-term goal, and presumably are accepted by top level management.

Miles and Snow refer to the importance of a HRS that fits with the overall organizational plan. They refer to the existence of a ‘corporate human resources group’ who “Should develop its ability to provide assistance to operating divisions to ensure that…these units have human resources programmes that fit their business strategies”.

The lack of a HR strategy, whereby the HR department simply manages according to their specific goals and interpretations of the firms’ needs can conflict with company’s goal and possibly result in the workforce viewing the HR department as peripheral and a nuisance (or certainly as obstructing company objectives). Therefore no careful planning of the activities and processes undertaken by the department can result in an unwanted outcome.

Walker himself intimates this by stating “Only by addressing human resource issues in the context of overall strategic management will managers and human resource staff together achieve the results needed to sustain and develop a business”.

In fact, I believe that the authors I have read on this course so far have all discussed HR strategies not in terms of their value but their necessity. The idea of the HR department conducting itself independent of an overall plan is a non-runner (within efficient and effective organizations of course). Possibly while examining ‘what is HR strategy,’ we should not discuss it in terms of a strategy’s value but the hazard created by not implementing a HR strategy within a firm.

It is generally accepted there are two significant approaches to strategic human resource management. I will attempt to outline these various approaches and how they fit with the view that HRS is a ‘set of processes and activities’ which provide an outcome.

The Universalistic approach, (or sometimes referred to as ‘best practice’ model of HRS) contends that there is a single, ‘universal’ approach and direction that should be adopted by human resources strategy developers. This approach should therefore be introduced regardless of the economic or corporate situation facing an organization or indeed the long term goals of the firm in question. It places an emphasis on communication, teamwork, and the utilization of individual talents (part of ‘soft’ strategic types, to be discussed later in this essay).

This approach, by asserting that one direction should be implemented on organizations regardless of their differing situations, would appear that as part of HRS, it is an ‘outcome’. However, Beardwell and Holden believe it is more flexible than the contingency model, (which I will discuss next). Yet I would question the value of this model or approach in the modern dynamic business world, especially as a global downturn possesses many threats for organizations large and small.

This approach appears to be applicable to successful firms, with a clear long term plan where this approach coincidently fits strategically. Stace and Dunphy declare “Universalist solutions in HR Strategy and practice are probably inappropriate”.

The contingency or ‘situationally-based’ approach is a development of the universalistic approach where one solution or approach be adopted in organizations to deal with different situations. Stace and Dunphy regard this approach as much more useful, “What is needed is a contingency framework of the management process, to help in matching managing processes to the changing business needs of the organization”. In their paper, Stace and Dunphy apply their framework to the changes in Waterford, and stresses from the start the firm must undertake a situationally-based approach opposed to universalistic.

In our discussion of ‘what is HR strategy’, I believe this approach is much more relevant. The underpinning argument of the approach is that the HRM policies and practices (or processes and activities) adopted by organizations reflect their overall competitive strategies. In this sense, HRS is set of processes and activities, which with implementation will bring about an outcome, exemplified by Waterford’s implementation and return to efficiency and profitability.

Storey has stated that human resource management has ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ dimensions. These dimensions of HRM have been adopted in HR strategy, and are part of the processes and activities introduced as part of a HR strategy. Through development of the practices, the various types introduced as part of a HR strategy can define the company’s goals and means of achieving them.

The soft ‘type’ practices views the employee as a valuable resource with emphasis placed on the individual and their development. The worker is seen as a source of competitive advantage and the HR department must focus on ‘people management’. This type certainly has its merits and is adopted in many firms and can be particularly helpful in highly service based businesses.

The ‘hard’ type differs radically. The organizations performance is most important and the firm’s human resource strategy must fit with the overall strategy. Under this view, the individual’s interests may be in conflict with the organizations interests. Strong and effective managerial control must be asserted over staff if long term strategy is to be achieved. This approach is very much ‘outcome’ focused in relation to the question. The hard approach is concerned with the organizations success in the long run, where and effective HRS plays its role.

This would appear to be in contrast to my explanation of the ‘emergence’ of HR strategies, of how firms look to make their staff the ‘competitive advantage’ (familiar to the soft type) etc. Yet, Stace and Dunphy’s article relating to Waterford exemplified the need for hard approaches to HRS, pending on the situation.

Yet the above authors, as well as Catherine Truss in Gratton’s book, found that most firms rarely adopted a ‘pure’ soft or ‘pure’ hard strategy, more a combination of both which aimed to be beneficial to the organisation’s and the individual’s performance. Yet, as one would expect, the organisation’s performance is obviously more important. “Even if the rhetoric of human resource management is soft the reality is almost always hard, with the interest of the organization prevailing over those of the individual”.

As mentioned above, the soft type is often related to the universalistic approach, while the hard type associated to the contingency approach. This does not mean however that either approach or type is defined by the other.

The adoption of either type in a HRS is an example of the set of processes or activities implemented in a HRS, which aims to achieve a successful outcome.

Strategic HRM focuses on the “The pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable the firm to achieve its goals”. The authors then claim that two types of congruence or fit exist.

First is ‘vertical fit’ which involves the “Alignment of HRM practices and the strategic management processes of the firm. “Vertical fit is viewed as directing human resources toward the primary initiatives of the organization”.

The second congruence, ‘horizontal fit’ “Implies congruence among the various HRM practices”. “Horizontal fit is viewed as instrumental for efficiently allocating” the resources.

Vertical fit is the main objective of a HRS, and is linked to a contingency based approach whereby creating an overall fit or congruence of the various management strategies (including HRS) is the long term goal. This, in relation to our question, is again assessing HRS as an ‘outcome’.
The horizontal fit is concerned as to how the processes and activities devised by the HR department, and their management of the resources available to them, are implemented within the organization and complementing the ‘vertical’ fit.

Similar as to decision facing firms whether to concentrate on hard or soft strategy types, organizations will obviously place greater emphasis on achieving a vertical fit.

Wright and Snell’s article deals with ‘exploring fit’ and ‘flexibility’ within strategic human resource management. They maintain that simply achieving the two types of congruence will not necessarily mean that an organization is flexible enough, which it requires to be in the modern ‘complex and dynamic environment’.
While at ‘first glance’ these objectives may appear to conflict they “Propose that fit and flexibility are complementary because they focus on different aspects of the organization”. They argue, quite correctly in my opinion, that fit is temporary and dynamic, as it relates to a ‘focus on an interface of two different variables’, ‘internal (HR aspects) and external (strategy) components’, while flexibility is not temporary but a ‘characteristic of an organisation’.

Again, the flexibility of an organization is an outcome of the organizational structure that is in part (but not solely) achieved by horizontal and vertical fit, and incorporating the correct approach to the HR strategy.

The authors do continue to say however, that despite the importance of HRS in developing a ‘flexible firm’, the “Primary role of strategic HRM should be to promote a fit with the demands of the competitive environment”.

While my discussion of ‘fit’ has relied on this one article by Wright and Snell, I felt they best dealt with the ‘concept’, while in their article critiques many other HR authors’ work on the subject.

My aim as stated in the introduction was to explain my rationale for outlining (and loosely defining) HR strategy as a ‘set of processes and activities that when implemented, result in an outcome.

I asserted that the real value of HR strategies lay in their significant input into the firms overall long term objectives or plan. By reviewing the various aspects of the approaches, the types and the different ‘fits’ and flexibility concerning HR strategies, I attempted stress the importance of achieving alignment between HR strategies and the organizations overall plan.

I believe the contingency approach to HRM strategies, with ‘fundamentally hard’ practices will enable an organization to achieve Wright and Snell’s ‘vertical fit’, which integrates strategic human resource management “toward the primary initiatives of the organization”. I believe this to be basis for HR strategy’s existence, and therefore the answer of ‘what is HR strategy’?

However, the implementation of the above strategy, cannot be successful without reference, understanding and often inclusion of the other HR practices and approaches such as the universalistic approach, soft types of HR strategy, and effective horizontal fit. In fact, these are very much part of the HR processes and activities that help create the outcome HR strategies aim to achieve.

What is Human Resource Strategy? HRS is careful selection and implementing of various human resource processes, sets of activities and practices as part of a long term plan by the HR department, which achieves an effective fit with the organisation’s long-term strategy.

Essay on Human Resource Management

2009-07-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

It can be said that the term ‘human resources management’ became popular in the UK at the latter half of the eighties and at the beginning of the nineties. It has been applied to a diverse range of management strategies and has sometimes been used simply as a more modern term for personnel, employee or industrial relations.

It’s importance lies in its association with a strategic, integrated and highly distinctive managerial approach to the management of the people. The distinctiveness lies in labour being seen as an asset and resource and not as a cost. The strategy is to try to develop this resource to it’s maximum so that emphasis is on the individual employee and on his/her motivation, training and development.

Human Resources Management is defined as proactive rather than reactive, system-wide rather than fragmentary, treats labour as social capital rather than as a variable cost, is goal-oriented rather than relationship oriented, and ultimately is based on commitment rather than compliance.

The key themes upon which Human Resources Management is based include Human Relations psychology, Strategic Management theory, and the doctrines of quality and flexibility. The relative emphasis that is accorded to each of these themes can give rise to different ‘variants’ of Human Resources Management. In particular, it is possible to identify two extreme positions. These are Instrumental and Humanistic. Instrumental approaches draw upon the rational-outcome model of strategic management to view Human Resources Management as something which is driven by and derived directly from corporate, divisional or business level strategy, and geared almost exclusively to enhancing competitive advantage. Humanistic approaches, on the other hand, utilise ‘process’ theory to emphasise the reciprocal nature of the relationship between strategic management and Human Resources Management and the latter’s role in ensuring that competitive advantage is achieved through people but not necessarily at their expense.

One positive consequence of several new approaches to human resourcing has been to force managers to address the basic concepts and values that they routinely use in the evaluation of personnel processes, thereby encouraging a clearer understanding of the overall human resource system. Such an understanding is closely linked to the success with which the performance of human resources can be evaluated. Such evaluation has tended to take two forms: a concern with systems of performance management, and the use of flexible working patterns and organisational structures.

However Human Resources Management is not perfect when you ponder on the point of view of the business goals and interests. It’s extremely hard for a company to achieve maximum profits and efficiency if it takes too much at heart the wellbeing and interests of its employees. This problem can be defined as an ‘integration’ issue where we distinguish the external fit of Human Resources Management with the organisation’s broader business view and the internal consistency of the policy goals of Human Resources Management itself. This is particularly problematic in highly competitive or recessionary conditions where the needs of the business are likely to undermine any internal Human Resources Management issues. For example, if shedding of labour should occur this would challenge, if not destroy, an organisation’s Human Resources Management image of caring for the needs and security of it’s employees.

The fundamental problem with Human Resources Management is that in most cases Human Resources issues are subordinate and secondary to business strategy. It is not simply that the search for profit overrides the policy goals of Human Resources Management, but arguably that Human Resources Management is pursued only in the belief that by raising employee’s commitment, flexibility and quality of their work the bottom line will be improved.

The contradictions within Human Resources Management are most apparent at the level of actual practices, with simultaneous advocacy of workforce attributes such as individualism and teamwork, commitment to a job and flexibility and development of a strong culture and adaptability. In identifying the tension between individualism and teamwork, for example, what these cases demonstrate is the need for a redefinition of Human Resources Management, for despite any surface similarity with the textbook checklists of Human Resources Management policies these cases could certainly not be described as operating a form of ‘development humanism’. The internal contradictions, which plagued Human Resources Management, are well illustrated by the issue of employee commitment. For proponents of Human Resources Management, commitment represents a key dimension because it’s sometimes assumed that highly committed workers are more productive.

Conflicts are apparent too where organisations have attempted to introduce more flexible working arrangements and performance-related pay. The problems with flexibility began partly from the tensions between different sources of flexibility. While soft forms of Human Resources Management encourage employee development through the learning of a broader range of skills, hard forms of Human Resources Management advocate the securing of greater variability in the volume of labour, therefore providing management with greater scope to match labour input to demand fluctuations. In addition, however, conflicts exist within each of the major sources of flexibility. For example, the danger exists of securing high levels of functional flexibility at the cost of other organisational objectives such as stability, continuity and cohesion. Likewise forms of numerical flexibility potentially clash not only with the objective of securing employee commitment but also with establishing and sustaining high quality output and group cohesion.

Performance-related pay, to emphasise the more purposeful and ‘object achieving’ focus of Human Resources Management, would seem not only to have failed to yield high levels of commitment in many organisations, but also to have perpetuated a longstanding tradition in wage and salary administration of ‘muddling through’. While a strategy for reward may need to be part of a wider human resources development strategy, reward in itself is not sufficient to promote human resource contributions to corporate improvement. More importantly, however, individual reward systems could well act to undermine co-operation, teamwork and even individual motivation. And these are all key elements of Human Resources Management.

These and other conflicts and contradictions evidenced by the different contributions underline the problematic status of Human Resources Management as a coherent concept. Rather than seeing this as an excuse for abandoning the notion of Human Resources Management altogether, however, the evidence presented would seem to support a more careful circumscribing of Human Resources Management, and a clearer definition of its status as a set of management practices. In doing so, the relationship between Human Resources Management and the longstanding core issues of labour management like issues of power, control, conflict, resistance, dependence, consent, etc. Human Resources Management is one of a series of approaches management may take to secure the levels of compliance and co-operation it requires. Different sets of circumstances will influence the adoption of one approach over others, while changing circumstances will encourage a shift from one to another and possibly the creation of new practices and approaches.

The central objective of Human Resources Management policy is to secure the commitment of employees to innovation and commitment of employees to innovation and continual improvement of product quality. Some measures of employment security and considerable investment in training and development are seen as essential supports for management effort in this area. Equally, the recruitment and retention of competent and committed staff is supported by competitive pay and reward structures which are perceived as fair. At the level of the workplace, these strategies require significant change in management behaviour. The crude assertion of managerial prerogative, associated with short-term low-cost approaches, is eschewed in favour of employee involvement in problem solving and fostering of a climate of operation and trust.

Human Resources Management has been dependent upon the changing economic circumstances of the past decade. It grew in the boom of the last half of the past decade, when attachment, commitment and development were the watchwords. It faced it’s sternest test in the severe recession of the first half of the nineties with its emphasis on restructuring, downsizing and a big reduction in both employee and managerial confidence in the prospects for renewed growth. For this reason Human Resources Management is now tinged with suspicion and a certain hostility as to its role in organisations. The difficulty for Human Resources Management is to establish its credentials as a central part of employee management in economic conditions that make the expansionary and development aspects of the approach extremely difficult to sustain.

While Human Resources Management has proved possible for traditionally conceived industrial relations and personnel management procedures to have endured economic cycles, even though the managerial strategies underlying them reflected the realities of the labour market, Human Resources Management has still to demonstrate that it has the robustness to move beyond generalised managerial prescriptions as a sustainable model of management. In this sense, this decade will be the testing ground for the idea of Human Resources Management as a consistent and integrated approach, as opposed to a fragmented and opportunistic set of interventions.

Essay on MacBeth

2009-07-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

The play Macbeth takes place in the overcast country of Scotland. This layer of fog never seems to ever leave the country or its surrounding horizon. The green country side has many hills but barely any trees. The hills throughout the country side girdle the green valleys any way you look. From one end of Scotland to the other many little lakes and ponds rest upon the land in the humid atmosphere. The unruffled sand that lies by these lakes and ponds speculate an appealing image of a quiet unruffled body of water. All through the land there are a few slender dirt path ways that men use to ride there horses on their ways to another city or just to go hunting. In addition, atop the land and in the hills are many large boulders that give the dull setting an even blunter look.

The castles displayed in this play are made of huge grey stone that range in sizes, depending on their location in the castle. The big stoned grey castle was on a large hill and was hard to get to. There was a tower at each corner of the castle, with cone shaped brown wooden roofs. At the entrance of the castle there was a massive portcullis that was made of iron. There were many designs made out of the black iron, and the portcullis was opened by pulling down a lever that pulled it up. Directly behind the portcullis was a huge wooden door that has many colorful decorations on it. This was opened by pulling the sliding doors back. The stone around the entrance way was small pieces of grey stone that was set in a repetitive pattern. On either side of the entrance way was big stone walls that piled up a lot higher than the portcullis. As you walk into the castle there is a big empty square that is enclosed by the four outer parts of the castle. In the castle square there are many wagons filled with wood, animals, servants, carriages, and other castle items. There are many entrances to the castle from the castle square. The entrance to where the king goes has a ramp with a wooden railing, and grey stone steps that get smaller as they go up. The stairs and ramp lead to a archway with heavy lip grey rock.

The archway leads into the castle, and the ceiling appears to be decorated in astonishing white marble, cut into smaller pieces to form designs. The main entrance arch is enormous compared to the king’s archway, with huge grey stones that are about two meters long and a half meter thick. A successive wooden balcony surrounds the inside square walls with blue banners hanging over the wooden railing. This balcony is what connects the rooms, and people can access each room connected by the balcony. In the dining room, long wooden tables were set up so the king was at the head of the table and the other noble men along side the other tables. A big clean white table
cloth lies upon each table with a great amount of food atop of it. Banners hang from the grey stone walls of the dining hall.

The witches cave is very secretive and mysterious. As you walk into the cave it is poorly lit, and is very dark. A big chamber pot lies in the middle of the cave where the witches usually stand making magical potions. A vast quantity of smoke is real eased from the pot and is carried thought the whole cave. In addition, a slight green light is given off from the potions and reflects off the smoke giving the cave and eerie look. The witches cave and all other settings in the play Macbeth give the play its own unique environment.

Hamlet Foils

2009-07-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

1) Reading Hamlet reminded me of a humorous moment in my life. I was a young soldier in the US Army's Airborne School, preparing to make my first jump out of an airplane. Every logical and rational thought I had was telling me not to do it, but there was also a raw urge pushing me to do it. There was no reason for me to jump, except that it was what I just had to do. Compared to life, this decision was very minor. Many of us are faced with much larger decisions, with very real and permanent consequences. So why do some of us back away from them, while others seem to just plunge right into them? The answer is not as simple as some would believe.

(2) Hamlet was faced with a decision upon learning that Claudius murdered his father. Should he believe the ghost, and avenge his father's murder? Or is the ghost evil, trying to coerce him into killing Claudius? Throughout the play, we see Hamlet's struggle with this issue. Many opportunities arise for him to kill Claudius, but he is unable to act because he cannot convince himself to believe the Ghost. Shakespeare uses Laertes and Fortinbras as foils to Hamlet, in order to help us understand why Hamlet acts the way he does.

(3) Foils are used in plays so that the readers are better able to understand the major character (Hamlet). In a foil, the minor character is similar in many ways to the main character so that we will compare the two. However, it is through these similarities that we are able to see the more important differences between the two. [Short paragraph]

(4) The major foil for Hamlet is Laertes, the son of Polonius. The most obvious similarity is that they are both young men. They also come from relatively similar backgrounds, a Danish aristocratic upbringing. They also both have some college education. This leads us to another similarity; [Semicolons vs. colons] they both have the ability to use logical and rational reasoning. However, they do differ on their applications of logical reasoning.

(5) We see this logical and rational reasoning in Hamlet, in Acts 1& 2 when he sets up the "mouse trap" for Claudius, in order to determine if he is guilty of murdering his father. Hamlet's ability to think many moves ahead and predict what the king's reaction will be if he is guilty, shows a type of reasoning beyond a normal person. [Hmmm] In Laertes we see a logical and rational reasoning process when he decides not to kill Claudius, but rather join the king in a plot to kill Hamlet. Laertes is smart enough to listen to the king. However, he could not have known that the king was being deceitful. We can see that both Hamlet and Laertes try to use their wits to solve problems.
(6) There is also another similarity between the two; [Semicolons vs. colons] they both are very concerned about the significant female in their lives. Hamlet is very concerned about his mother's relationship with Claudius, and he obsesses over it. For example in the closet scene in Act 3, Hamlet tells his mother not to sleep with Claudius anymore. He wants his mother to be virtuous, and he forcefully urges her to do so. Laertes is also concerned about a female character, his sister Ophelia. He expresses his concern over her relationship with Hamlet. He makes a point of telling this to her before he leaves for France. He warns her that Hamlet will just hurt her in the long run, because he most likely will not marry a woman of her rank. He also makes a point that she too should remain virtuous and not loose [sic; a dangerous error here -- some readers will wander off track thinking about the connotations of "loose" in this context.] her virginity to Hamlet.
(7) A less obvious similarity between the Hamlet and Laertes is the scrutiny that they are under from their parents. Hamlet is being watched carefully by Claudius and his mother, through his childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The king and queen have asked them to determine Hamlet's state of mind. Polonius also sends his man, Reynaldo, to France in order to determine what Leartes’s habits and behaviors are. Booth sets of parents do this under less than honest conditions. Instead of asking directly, they use deceit in order to find out the truth.

[As you examine other essays in this set, note how some writers simply state that Hamlet and Laertes are similar without stating any similarities. This paper is much stronger in that it devotes four distinct paragraphs to establishing the similarities. Whereas in many essays I ask for evidence or examples, no one can say that this writer does not have reasons for comparing Laertes to Hamlet. A major focus of this course is to improve your ability to make a statement and support it. This writer demonstrates here that he or she knows how to do this.]

(8) All of these similarities help us to see the more important differences between Hamlet and Laertes. The major difference is that Laertes takes his family honor seriously. Unlike Hamlet[,] he does not do it in a selfish way. He takes immediate action, rather than waiting and playing games. We see Laertes storm the palace with an angry mob when he hears of his father[']s murder, and he calls the king "vile" to his face. Hamlet, upon learning that his father was murdered, just talks and contemplates what to do, rather than move to action and avenge his death. He clearly had many opportunities to act, but he was unable to bring himself to action. Secondly, Laertes is up front with his sister about her relationship with Hamlet, while Hamlet waits until late into the play to confront his mother about her marriage to Claudius. We will clearly see that Hamlet's inability to act quickly is a major problem for him in this play.

(9) What this foil between Laertes and Hamlet shows us is that they are similar in some of their concerns. However, the differences show us the motivation behind their concerns and actions. Hamlet thinks mostly about himself, and how his consequences will affect him and his world. [Here I would like to see more evidence.] Laertes is genuinely concerned with his family honor. We see this when he argues with the priest over his sister's burial rites. He honors his sister, rather than worrying about the consequences of yelling at a priest. [Nice] Hamlet most likely would have said nothing because he would have analyzed the consequences. There is a definite pattern in how they both act, Laertes with force and emotion[,] and Hamlet with reserve and fear. ["fear?" I want evidence.]
(10) Finally, the most important interaction between Laertes and Hamlet is in the duel in the last seen. ["scene"] It is only at this time that Hamlet takes a stand. However, after Laertes reveals the king's plot to him, Hamlet finally seizes the opportunity to avenge his father's murder. Laertes lays ["lies"] dying, as Hamlet finally ends the conflict. Without the obvious truth from Laertes, Hamlet might never have taken action. It seems ironic[,] however, that Hamlet only acted after he knew he would die. More ironic is that he did not kill Claudius for revenge of his father, but more out of anger and hatred. Some may also note that Hamlet only acted after his mother had died, leaving us with the another question. Did Hamlet kill Claudius to avenge his mother's death? [The ideas in this paragraph are very nice.]

(11) A second foil to Hamlet is Fortinbras, the young prince from Norway. The similarities are quite obvious. [*1] Fortinbras is a son of a king, as is Hamlet. Also, military defeat and sickness have weakened Fortinbras['] father. Hamlet[']s father has been murdered, and his stepfather is a morally weak and deceitful man. More importantly, Fortinbras and Hamlet seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. Fortinbras does this by attempting to mount an army against Poland, and to regain respect for his father. This is where the differences come into play. [Very nice details]

(12) Fortinbras actually takes action to seek revenge for his father's defeat. Hamlet does not. He is unable to bring himself to action, and spends most of his time in a state of madness. The only time he acts decisively is when he kills Polonius, and again that was from a moment of anger. Another notable difference is the respect they show their fathers. Upon hearing of Fortinbras['] plan to attack Denmark, his father [uncle] orders him to cease, and Fortinbras obeys. Hamlet does not obey his father's command to avenge his murder, and to leave his mother alone. Instead he doubts his father (the ghost), rather than accept his request. [In spite of the error, this is still nice detail.]

(13) What this foil shows us is that Hamlet is not a character that displays the ability to act as a king. He was unable to act decisively, and he constantly questioned the world. He sought a truth, in a world that is not always truthful. He could not act until the truth was laid out in front of him. Fortinbras and Hamlet never exchanged words, but Fortinbras thought that Hamlet would have made a good king. Perhaps in death he seemed like a good king, [;] however most readers would know that wouldn't be true. [The main idea of this paragraph is excellent, but be careful in making claims about what other people will or will not do.]

(14) Through the use of Laertes and Fortinbras as foils for Hamlet we are able to understand why Hamlet was unable to act quickly in avenging his father[']s death. He was indecisive due to his selfishness and quest for the truth. He would not let family honor be the reason for acting quickly to avenge his father's death. Fortinbras enabled us to see what Hamlet could not be, a true king. Some may ask why did he not act sooner? Hamlet couldn't, [--] his own ideas kept him from acting. He believed that the world held some special truth that would reveal itself to him if he looked hard enough. The tragedy is that the truth was revealed after he was already sentenced to death.

Child Abuse Essay

2009-07-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

Each day in the United States more than three children die as a result of child abuse. There are over five million cases of child abuse made to the child protection agencies each year, and it is estimates that there is three times this many incidents of abuse happening and not being reported. Child abuse doesn’t nessarsarlly have to be physical. There are four main types of child abuse: neglect, physical, sexual and emotional.

Neglect is defined as a type of abuse that refers to the failure to provide needed age-appropriate care, such as shelter, food, clothing, education, supervision, medical care and other basic necessities needed for development of physical, intellectual and emotional capacities. Child neglect makes up 63% of all child abuse cases and is the most common form of child abuse reported to child protective services. Neglect can rage from not paying attention to the child to not providing adequate medical care. Boys are twice more likely to be neglected then girls. Some of the most common forms of neglect are: not having enough food to eat, not having medical care, not having appropriate clothing for the weather and never receiving compliment or told that you matter. Neglect usually begin at a young age and goes on until the pre-teen years. Children who are neglected tend to be very dependent and take care of themselves. They also tend to have low self-esteem and confidence and have bad relationships with peers. Unlike physical and sexual abuse, neglect is usually characterize by an ongoing pattern of insufficient care and is usually noticed by people in close contact with the child. Physicians, nurses, day care, relatives and neighbors are frequently the ones to suspect and report neglected infants, toddlers and preschool children.

Physical abuse is defined as any act which results in a non-accidental trauma or physical injury. Physical abuse makes up 19% of all child abuse cases and is the most visible form of abuse. Approximately 54% of children death is traced back to some kind of physical abuse. One of the most common kinds of physical abuse is SBS ( Shaken Baby Syndrome). This involves violent shaking of a small child, which causes the brain to bruise and the eyes to bleed. Seizures, partial or total blindness, paralysis, mental retardation, and death are results of this abuse. The main reason why this happen is because the parents become frustrated from baby crying and they don’t want to hit the child so they shake it to stop it from crying. Other types of physical abuse are one that cause physical injury that occur from punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning or otherwise harming a child. Some sign that show a child has been abused include: being shy of adult contact, lack of trust, aggressive behavior and even suicide attempts. It is good to be able to notice signs of abuse because the longer the abuse continues the more serious the injuries become and then it becomes difficult to eliminate the abusive behavior.

Sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children in sexual activities that they do not fully comprehend and therefore to which they are unable to give informed consent and/or which violates the taboos of society. Sexual abuse makes up 10% of all child abuse cases. It is usually very difficult for people to talk about sexual abuse and it is even more difficult for society to recognize that the sexual abuse of children of all ages, including infants, happens everyday in the United States. Girls are sexually abused three times more often than boys. Sexual abuse is any mistreatment of a child for sexual pleasure or gratification. Sexual abuse interferes with a child's normal development, both emotionally and physically. Most sexually abused children experience severe emotional problem from their own feelings of guilt and shame, as well as the feelings society has on them. There are three types of sexual abuse, non-touching, touching and sexual exploitation. Non-touching abuse includes, exposing children to pornographic material, purposely exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse and masturbating in front of a child. Touching abuse includes fondling, making a child touch an adult's sexual organs and any penetration of a child's vagina or anus by an object that doesn't have a medical purpose. Sexual exploitation includes engaging a child for the purposes of prostitution and using a child to film, photograph or model pornography. All of these types of sexual abuse are extremely damaging to a child. The effect that sexual abuse can have on a child will last for a life time.

Emotional abuse is defined as the regular tearing down of another human being. Emotional abuse make up 8% of all child abuse cases. Emotional abuse is probably the least understood of all child abuse, yet it is the most common, and can be the cruelest and most destructive of all types of abuse. Emotional abuse attacks the child's mind and self-concept, this causes the child to see him or herself as unworthy of love and affection. Children who are constantly shamed, humiliated, terrorized or rejected suffer at least as much than if they had been physically assaulted. Most of the time an emotionally abused child will show no signs of abuse. Insecurity, low self-esteem, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide and anger are some future problems that develop form emotional abuse.

Every day there are million of children who are being abused physically, emotionally, sexually and neglected. Child abuse is one of the major problem in the United states. This is a very sad subject but people need to realize and be aware that it is really happening. It can affect children in many different ways and even effect there whole life. No child deserves to go through any type of abuse.

Sin in Lady MacBeth

2009-05-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

In the early stages of civilization there was a small city-state called Babylon in what is now called Mesopotamia that developed the first set of written laws. These laws were based on the idea of an eye for an eye, meaning that a crime was punishable by an infliction of the effect of the crime on its perpetrator. The adage is still visible today, although in a different context, through the idea that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This idea of an equal and opposite reaction is very prevalent in the short story Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov, in regards to the actions of the stories central figure, Katerina Izmailova. In Lady MacBeth Katerina is guilty of committing a number of sins, some of which she initially gets away with. Katerina is not allowed however, to put her misdeeds behind her as she is punished in the end, both by the state and the author, in a way that provides an equal and opposite reaction to those of her actions that went against the prevailing religious and moral standards of her day, most of which Leskov had a wholehearted faith in.

In Lady MacBeth the main character and woman alluded to in the title of the story is Katerina Lvovna Izmailova. Katerina is the bored housewife of a wealthy merchant who owns a large estate with his father. To work this estate Katerina’s husband employed a number of men who came from a low rank of Russian society. While these serfs worked the land of the estate, Katerina’s husband, Zinovy Izmailov, and her father-in-law, Boris Izmailov, were often away on business, leaving Katerina alone on the estate with the serfs. It was while Zinovy and his father were on such a trip that the troubles of the story begin. Being bored Katerina took to wandering around the estate in order to pass the time when her husband was away. On one such walk Katerina met a man named Sergei who worked on her husband’s estate. Sergei was a handsome and charming man and because of this and the loneliness she felt while her husband was away, Katerina was drawn to Sergei.

From this chance encounter an improper relationship developed between the two of them that saw Katerina break her marital covenant and Sergei follow the path that had gotten him fired from his previous job. Their fulfillment of lustful desires through their improper relationship was soon discovered by Katerina’s father-in-law, who locked Sergei up and planned on informing his son of his wife’s infidelity upon Zinovy’s arrival back at the estate. This development of her father-in-law’s awareness left Katerina with the option to end her relationship with Sergei and go back to being the bored housewife or take drastic measures and maintain her enjoyable relationship with Sergei. Katerina chose to take drastic measures in hopes of being able to continue her relationship with Sergei. These drastic measures Katerina took put her on a path that would end with an ironic twist, as Katerina would suffer through the same pains she put her victims through. These pains, in keeping with theme of an equal and opposite reaction, differed for each of the sins she committed to reflect what it was that she was guilty of.

The first sin she committed was the breaking of her marital covenant. For this she was punished much as she punished her husband after he learned of her affair. When Zinovy returned from his trip he confronted his wife about her affair with Sergei. At this accusation Katerina initially became indignant and denied the whole encounter. But once it was obvious there was no denying their relationship, Katerina began to flaunt the intimacy of the relationship to Zinovy and even called Sergei into the room. This display had a devastating emotional affect on Zinovy, but Katerina was not done with attacking her husband. She then began a physical assault, in addition to the emotional assault she had cast upon Zinovy. This physical assault left Zinovy dead and with Katerina having committed another sin in addition to the sin of adultery. Unfortunately for Katerina the punishment she was to receive for these sins very closely mirror the abuse she directed upon her husband.Critical essay

The punishment took place after Katerina was sent with Sergei to Siberia for their murderous crimes. During their imprisonment Sergei lost all desire for Katerina and started a relationship with another female convict. Sergei initially tried to keep this new relationship a secret but realized it was useless, so instead of hiding the relationship he began to flaunt it. This act by Sergei seems to have caused Katerina emotional damage very similar to that which she inflicted on her husband that night in their bedroom. So at the hands of Sergei, Katerina was punished, by the author, for the breaking of her marital covenant in a manner very similar to the way in which she caused her husband emotional pain. Katerina also murdered her husband that night, and in keeping with the pattern of the book, deserved some sort of punishment that fit that crime. For murder the only equal reaction would be for death to embrace Katerina, and ironically it does in much the same way it did her husband. Katerina’s physical attack on her husband was fueled by her relationship with Sergei and ironically the actions that led to her own death were fueled by her desire to not let Sergei at any price. So instead of dealing with the loss of Sergei she took her own life and balanced the equation she began with the murder of her husband.

The above sequence is an ironic twist that fits the equal and opposite reaction idea discussed in the introduction. This idea of an equal and opposite reaction was however, not used only in response to Katerina’s actions in her bedroom on the night she killed her husband. It was also used to punish Katerina for the greed she exhibited after her husband’s death. This greed was centered on Katerina’s young nephew Fyodor, and the fortune she believed she was entitled to after her husband’s death. Fyodor laid claim to Zinovy’s fortune because Zinovy’s father had borrowed money from young Fyodor to finance some of the estate’s business. This enraged Katerina because without anyone knowing what she had done to Boris and Zinovy, everyone thought Katerina was entitled to take over the estate. But with Fyodor she and Sergei would have to share, and this did not sit well with Katerina. So like before when she killed her husband to keep her relationship with Sergei alive, Katerina was again willing to do whatever it took to satisfy her desires, this time for wealth. For the sin Katerina would commit to keep her hold on her husband’s estate Katerina was sent to jail, but this was only punishment for the act of killing young Fyodor. The punishment the author sentenced Katerina to for her greed was delivered again at the hands of Sergei, the same man who instigated her to commit all her sins. This punishment, which again occurred during Katerina’s imprisonment in Siberia, was based on a pair of stockings. Sergei requested the stockings from Katerina saying that he needed them to protect his ankles and Katerina, in a bid to win him back, obliged his request. But the stockings requested were not for Sergei, they were for his new love interest. Here Katerina’s greed and lust for the man drove her to try everything and sacrifice everything she had in order to get what she wanted. She obviously failed and now not only had to deal with the emotional pain that Sergei had inflicted on her through the knowledge that he had abused her for his own gain, much as she had abused Fyodor for her own gain. But also with the physical pain that came from the sores and blisters she would develop without the proper foot protection.

In each of the situations described above Katerina’s lover Sergei was both the inspiration for the sin and the deliverer of the punishment the author saw fit to be delivered as a result of the sin. This ironic twist was a blow to Katerina that came in addition to the punishment she received based on her breaking of the state’s legal code. With each punishment Katerina received, the idea of an equal and opposite reaction was enforced. Leaving Katerina a broken woman that in the end favored death over the pain associated with seeing the one she risked so much for taken from her.

Cuban Economy

2009-05-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

The centrally planning policy started in Cuba many years ago. When Fidel Castro in July of 1953 started the revolution with Ernesto “Che” Guevara they started what in a few years will become a centrally planned country. This revolutions itself was an “attacked planned revolution” and for this we can see that the signs of a centrally planned system started to appear. In this investigations we will see the characteristics of Cuba when emerging as a socialist country with a very clear economic system and also the development of the main policies carried until now.

When Fidel Castro assumed the leadership of the Revolutionary Government it was clear that a new socialist system was going to implanted in Cuba. The Revolutionary Government (1959-1963) confirmed the first signs of going towards a centrally planned system when their first action during their government was to redistribute much of the land and material wealth of the country. For many people in the lower class they was being seen a sign of improving but nevertheless the middle and upper classes suffer due to this new economic policy. Heavy subsidies and monetary injections from the Soviet Union led the Cuban people to experience a per capita average growth rate of 2.8%. Also more than 2.25 million acres once owned by United States investors were turned into large state-owned farms. With the nationalization, the nature of the Cuban economy was fundamentally altered. Today, Cuba continues to lag far behind the rest of Latin America in economic performance.

A clear characteristic that tells us about the existence of the centrally planned system in Cuba were the first reforms that Castro applied during the revolutionary government. Most of them were quite successful due to the intervention of the USSR and the great strategy settled up by Castro. In economic terms, the first reform that shows us the centrally planned economy was to buy heavy machinery for the state ( this new technology was bought from the USSR) This new machinery helped the Cuban economy due to the dependence on the sugar production was reduced.

Another sign of the centrally planned system were the following steps taken by the leader of the Cuba. After buying new machinery, in course of the years 1960 and 1961 he nationalized foreign enterprises. Although he offered long terms bonds in return he didn’t respect the human right of ownership (a clear sign of the idea that the government should be the organizer of the economy) After sometime this brought problems with the United States of America due to many American sugar mills were also nationalized.

In April of 1961, Castro announced that the revolution was officially a socialist one. Then he took the model of the Soviet Union to be applied it into Cuba. Castro shows us that he applied a centrally planned economy due to he first started a heavy national educational program which involve giving free education for all the potential students in Cuba ( the majority of the Curriculum was analyzed by the government) Also in the year 1962 he improved the health system in Cuba and increased the quality of life of the lower classes at that time.

Another sign that shows us the centrally planned system in Cuba was its relation to the United States of America. As usual this two economical system were confronted because of the different characteristics of their economies. President Kennedy (after a failed invasion to Cuba) got a lot popularity for taking a “strong stand against Communism” . In the other hand the international relations that Cuba had with other communist system are also a prove that this system was applied in this country. Castro improved the relations with China (also a centrally planned country) and therefore adopted many of the reforms that were applied by the Chinese government in that country.

In the mid 1960 Cuba increased it sugar production by the reform of the government that decided to set up an specific target. As any other centrally planned country, Cuba set up its target and the sugar production increase to 8.5 tons in 1970. Because of this Cuba started to assume a leadership role among Third World countries.

Other characteristics of the Cuban economy that can show us the centrally planned systems are the way in which Castro reformed the centrally planned economy in the 1970s. He noticed that the Cuban economy was weak and decide to look up for improvements in the centrally planned economy. The signs of this improvements in the economy are when decided to direct the system to the masses. As in any centrally planned economy the population was brought into a more important level. Castro emphasized the incentives to the workers and introduced practical ideas such as giving memberships to the population to form part of “government-controlled mass organizations”. During these year Castro stretched his relations with the Soviet block and this help him to improved the economy by reducing the shortages in the markets.

Castro showed a lot of preoccupation for the educations of the children towards building into them socialist values. He encouraged many policies to build up new schools and published books that focused on the loyalty towards the revolution. Despite this, in the 1980, Castro decide to open a little bit and experiment with economic liberalism. This is going to start a slow transition to a mixture of a centrally planned economy and a free market one.

In the 1990’s , after the dissolution of the USSR and the unfavorable policy against Cuba settled up by Bush , Castro knew that he had to set up really hard centrally planned policies if he wanted to maintain the Cuban economy in good conditions. He applied many restrictions towards food, energy and public services ( main characteristics in a centrally planned country). Moreover he added a little of economic liberalism in the economy by re-opening the enterprise of tourism and also the international trade between the state-controlled enterprises. Despite the good intentions of this measures they didn’t work and resentment started to growth against the government.

By 1995, the Cuban economy had begun a process of recovery but I has been un-even and the economy has not returned to the pre-crisis level. Cuba’s economy has suffered due to the economic slowdown of 2001. Castro has said that in order to strengthen again the Cuba’s economy human development has to be emphasized , expanding and diversifying exports should also be carried out.

In conclusion , we can see that Cuba is a very clear example of how the centrally planned economy is carried out. We can see that the government itself it’s the one that manages all the resources and impose laws. Fidel Castro’s government had had many advantages for the Cuban economy but as we have seen after loosing the support of the Soviet Union he had to introduce some liberalism to the economy. Despite this we could say that the economic system right now in Cuba is a mixed one. Another conclusion that we can arrive is that a centrally planned economy suffers a lot if others factors in the economy of other countries change drastically as in the economic slowdown of 2001.

Time, Suspense, and Desire in Mbeth and Sir Patrick Spenseac

2009-04-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the traditional ballad Sir Patrick Spence, two very different literary works in terms of format, story, and style, have common threads in their usage of story time to create suspense and narrative desire. Each piece provides the reader with am idea of what’s to come in the rest of the plot, but doesn’t give away enough to cause the reader’s curiosity to be fulfilled. By the middle of each text, we are given what seems to be the end, and yet some how we still want to read on to see for ourselves. The two texts rely on their seemingly immediate action and desire for hindsight to drive their stories forward.
Both texts place a huge emphasis on the present tense. Traditional ballads, by nature, push the language as much in to the present as possible, even if it is something that has already happened. For instance, in Sir Patrick Spence, the line to describe how the king wrote a letter goes “The king has written a letter”. In normal language today we would say “the king wrote a letter” but the traditional ballad keeps as much as possible in the here and now.
By keeping the events of the story so immediate, the traditional ballad brings it’s audience in to the action. It is not a story that happened and is being looked back upon, but a story that is happening as they speak it (since they would have originally been passed along orally). The present tense format also allowed storytellers and bards to put in small enactments of the actions being described so that the audience would visually see the characters’ actions. Since the audience was in a loose sense watching the action as well as listening to it, present tense was more suitable.

Ballads also used scene (dialogue) as much as possible to describe the events, which kept things in real time as much as possible. When dialogue wasn’t present, a summary would occur to fill the audience in and then progress to the next scene. As dialogue in a story is the closest you can get in the written world to actual time, dialogue keeps the story in the present, giving the audience or the reader the feeling that the story is unfolding right as it is read or performed.

The lack of the exposition also emphasizes the seeming present tense of the story. There is no introduction or back ground information of past events with the king, or with Sir Patrick Spence and his journeys to explain why he is the best sailor. In the first two lines of the poem we are informed the king is sitting and drinking in “Dumferling toune”, and immediately after he speaks.

Traditional ballads also tend to focus on a small amount of time. Unlike epic ballads such as The Odyssey in which Homer covers arguably the entirety of Odysseus’ life, Sir Patrick Spence only covers one specific moment in time. The small amount of time covered leaves little time for digression and the story is kept hurtling forward to its, and Sir Patrick Spence’s, untimely end.
Macbeth does of course dwell mainly in the present as well as it is in play format and therefore all of the action is revealed through scene. Macbeth has no ordained narrator as some plays do, so all information presented to the audience is done so through conversation or by monologues and soliloquies.

However, Macbeth is pushed into the future many times, since much of the action either depends or is at least catalyzed by the Witches’ predictions of what the future holds for Macbeth. We are greeted in a sense with the future in the first scene, since the witches seem to be our window into it. The Witches, or Weird Sisters, speak mainly in riddles of the future. Their representation as three woman is symbolic of their dealings with time as well. In Shakespeare’s time, references to “weird sisters” were not indicating stereotypical hocus-pocus witch craft, but referring to Greek mythology and the three fates. Each sister of the Fates represented or ruled over one of the three domains of time: past present and future. Later, however, they became more of a symbol of future knowledge. Humans know what happened in the past, and they are already experiencing the present, so the sisters were called upon to reveal the future. In mythology they rarely did so, as revealing a man’s coming fortune was supposed to bring on disaster. In Macbeth’s case, perhaps this is an accurate conclusion.

The play begins with the Weird Sisters. It does not open with the battle that is later describe to the audience, or with Macbeth himself, even though he is the title role of the story. In stead we are greeted with three women who speak of the future. We see this of course in present tense, as it is very hard to present a play in any other tense, but they speak in terms of what will, not what is. Shakespeare even starts off the sisters’ dialogue with a question about future time, "When shall we three meet again?". Our desire as either audience members or readers of this play is sparked already, since by human nature we are always thinking ahead and waiting for the future to become the present. The sisters’ frequent use of future tense verbs and forecasts of what’s to come pulls that to the forefront of our minds.

Within three scenes we know that Macbeth will be king of Scotland. Some would argue that giving away key events of the plot wrecks the suspense of the story as it takes away the necessary resistance in order to create narrative desire, but I would argue that it adds more suspense, as you do not know the means by which each event comes to pass. It is not like a friend telling you the end to a movie you are about to see. In the case of the movies, you would know the end whilst the characters wouldn’t. In the case of Macbeth, you are no smarter than Macbeth himself. The audience may have ideas as to the true meaning of each of the witches’ riddles, but so may Macbeth, although he does he doesn’t seem to acknowledge them if he does.

Sir Patrick, on the other hand, does seem to know of his coming doom. “O quha is this has don this deid, this ill deid don to me?” he asks, wondering why he should be sent out to see by the king at a bad time of the year. If he is worried, the best sailor that sails upon the sea, than the audience will probably become concerned as well, keeping their attention and their wonder as to what is next. Soon after, one of his sailors announces a storm. This foreshadowing of impending fate keeps up the desire to see what happens.

In Macbeth, foreshadowing is one of the key dramatic devices that is used to ignite suspense, but not only in the prolepsis in the Witches’ speeches to Macbeth. They state at the very end of their first appearance, the first scene of the play, “Fair is foul and foul is fair”. That line sets the tone for the entire play. Every single foretelling is true and yet false. The Weird Sisters’ themselves are often presented on stage as foreboding and even hideous creatures, creating even more of a sense of evil doings a foot.

The revealing early on of Macbeth’s destined royalty early in the show fuels into the narrative seduction of the plot. Whether it is because you do not have faith that they prediction will be fulfilled or if you are intensely curious as to how and what it causes, or both, The reader is pulled into the story by Macbeth’s providence, and needs an explanation or elaboration. The wish to know the entire story, and not just the apparent end (Macbeth is king of Scotland and dies before producing an heir) keeps the reader’s attention. You could say that the narrative seduction leads into the narrative desire. You are seduced in by Macbeth’s seeming good fortune, and the desire to see the fortune occur propels the story.

Phyllis Rackin views Macbeth's reign at king as a pause in time, at which moment the sun ceases to rise and darkness engulfs Scotland. It is an interesting dynamic to grasp when you factor in the fact that most readers are in great anticipation of what will happen by the end. To think of the majority of the story as a pause of time pushes against all the desire to see the end through. This creates part of the necessary resistance that goes part and parcel with narrative desire. If there is no resistance, tension and suspense cannot build up. Interestingly enough, Macbeth actually creates more resistance by trying to remove his. The more he killed to remove anyone and anything that stood in his way, the more people tried to stop him. The delay of final destiny, the resistance, makes the final ending more tragic; delay is not just a condition of narrative, but also a condition of meaning. At the death of Macbeth and the end of his sovereignty, Macduff actually pronounces, "time is free". The resistance is released and the show is over.

The desire to see the first prediction fulfilled is cut short, since the murder of Duncan occurs quite early in the play. However, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are hosting other quests, and the next object of desire within the plot is to know whether accusations of treason and murder are heard from the guests. Soon after that, Macbeth visits the Weird Sisters again, and they give us the final end to the show. It is the same system as the first prediction, and much of the rest of the play is fuelled by the desire to know whether or not the Witches’ prophecies are true. The first one is, so why not the second? Why not just close the book right there and assume you know Macbeth gets away with everything since the weird sisters got it right the first time. The second prediction doesn’t seem to make sense however (Macbeth can not be killed by any man of woman born) and so there is reason to read on and see what the sisters might mean.

The wonder cause by these prophecies is what Peter Brooks calls "the motor forces that drive the text forward, of the desires that connect narrative ends and beginnings, and make of the textual middle a highly charged field of force. Because narrative desire is ultimately desire for the end, reading practices have often looked to closure for narrative meaning. In investigating the inevitable relationship between the sense of a beginning and the sense of an ending, Brooks finds in the primacy given to endings an "apparent paradox".

In contrast to the generous gifts of foretelling and foreshadowing in both stories, there are also abundant summaries and ellipsis’s. In both pieces, many crucial events in the plot are not actually shown or at least not shown through scene but summary. Duncan’s death is not staged in Macbeth, but Macbeth does describe the deed to Lady Macbeth. In both cases the focus for the reader or audience becomes not the event of murder or tragedy that is the point of the story, but rather the consequences and after math. The lack of bloodshed shown onstage in Macbeth also aids in the build up or tragedy. Though the action of the story is no less bloody in the beginning than the end, it is only shown progressively towards the end. The first bloodshed shown on stage isn’t until Banquo is killed, and the play is increasingly bloody after giving a greater sense to the mounting disaster.

Sir Patrick Spence also uses a lack of fully disclosed information to bring tragedy to the forefront. It takes one line to say indirectly that the ship sunk, “Thair hats they swam aboone”, but spends three stanzas afterward describing the scene of aftermath. We do not know if the ship is struck by lightning from the “deadlie storme” of if they were bashed on they rocks or any other possible untimely end. We do know, however of the ladies of the lords are described, waiting for the ship to return with gold combs in their hair. The ship’s position fifty fathoms under the surface of the coast is disclosed, but the actual scene of the ship sinking is completely left out.

It’s very cinematic, as you can almost imagine those described events as camera shots; hats floating on the water, ladies waiting by the window perhaps looking out to sea, and then a shot of the coast, and perhaps then down under the water’s surface down to the ship wreck. The rapid flashes of images and scenes occur throughout the poem, such as the jump from the king and his court to Sir Patrick walking along the sand.

Considering traditional ballads are characteristically economic in language and discourse, there must be a reason for the disproportion of the climax and the consequences, or for the “leaping and lingering” as it is now referred to in literary terms.

One reason for the summary of many key events in ballads is to add to the mystery, a common theme found in traditional ballads. In The Carpenter’s wife, as in Sir Patrick Spence, the exact cause of the final tragedy is left unknown. “He’s tane her by the milk-white hand and he’s thrown her in the main; and full five and twenty hundred shifts Perished on the coast of Spain”. How exactly did all those ships meet their end? As a storyteller myself, I believe those details were (and still are) often left a mystery so that the audience would leave full of wonder. If all the loose ends were tied up, there is not as much reason to keeping thinking about the story afterward. That still does not explain the extra lingering found in Sir Patrick Spence. The intent to create mystery justifies the leap, but not the linger.
Leaping through what can be considered the climax of the poem and lingering on the repercussions of the event causes the audience to see more of the tragedy in what the event triggered. The consequences of any tragedy are what make the event of story tragic and giving more discourse time to those consequential events puts that in the forefront of the reader’s mind. Tragedies are mainly about the chain reaction of events that is caused by one awful incident. The lingering is where the true tragedy comes to light.

In Macbeth, not as much time is given to the aftermath of Macbeth’s end as in Sir Patrick Spence. But I would argue that the leaping of the plot occurs in Act scene when Macbeth announces to his wife he has murdered Duncan. They play, especially by Shakespeare’s standards, has barely begun and already the King is dead. The rest of the play deals with the spiralling results of that one deed. It is of course not the same cinematic concept as the leaping and lingering displayed in Sir Patrick Spence, but merely a similar pattern.
Although neither stories really touch on hindsight within the context of the plot, hindsight is still a highly significant concept within these suspenseful narratives. It is our desire as audience members and readers to be able to look back and understand the story as a whole that keeps us going. Our “anticipation of retrospection” as Peter Brooks puts it is the momentum behind the two stories.

In Macbeth, we wish to see what the Sisters’ prophecies mean, like how no “man of woman born” can kill Macbeth. As it does not makes sense to us when it is first disclosed, our need to arrive at the end of the story and look back at everything when all the pieces can fall into place is more apparent. In Sir Patrick Spence we are wondering what it means when Sir Patrick laughs at the kings letter, and whether or not the best sailor around can withstand going to sea during the stormiest season of the year, but in Sir Patrick Spence our desire to understand what exactly is going is not fulfilled, which is often the case. The story in a sense is left in perpetual linger since each time you read it you will still be left with a mystery that leaves you wondering.

The manipulation of the story and time passage within the story provides the resistance necessary for a story to create suspense, the resistance that is necessary also to give us a sense at the end that the narrative has reached a proper closure—that feeling of "ah yes, of course!". The simple chronological progression of our lives, by contrast, rarely affords us the same feeling of proper fullness or correctness, which may be one reason we feel compelled to keep telling stories that re-order events in more satisfying narrative ways. "The sense of a beginning, then, must in some important way be determined by the sense of an ending. We might say that we are able to read present moments—in literature and, by extension, in life—as endowed with narrative meaning only because we read them in anticipation of the structuring power of those endings that will retrospectively give them the order and significance of plot".

Macbeth and Sir Patrick Spence are both manipulations of story time by prolepsis and ellipsis so that we know what is going to happen and yet since certain seemingly pedantic details are left out we race through the story in desire to understand it as a whole. Their strong hold in present tense brings out that extra desire to move forward that is constantly present in our own everyday lives, but is not so urgent. Their climaxes and conclusions come abruptly, and immediately cause the audience to look back to begin their process of understand, a natural human reaction in both the world of literature and the world of real life.

Shakespeare's Macbeth Major Theme

2009-04-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth guilt is a major theme that I found through research. Guilt shows up in the play in many forms blood, mental status of the Macbeth’s, and Lady Macbeth’s role in the play.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth don’t seem so strong in the beginning, and their mental status is obvious. Lady Macbeth is the strongest; Macbeth is timid before the murder of Duncan. Macbeth wants to be king, but he feels like there are other ways of getting what you want besides murder. He is faced with the struggle within Macbeth between his ambition and his sense of right and wrong. In the play it is shown that lady Macbeth is a strong woman. She uses Macbeths manhood against him to give him ambition to kill Duncan. Right after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth washes his hands, even after the blood is obviously gone from sight he continues to wash his hands from guilt, in his mind the blood is still there. As the play progresses Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking and washes her hands because she has all the guilt inside of her, it is overwhelming her and she’s keeping it all inside. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he is remorseless, and Lady Macbeth is the one with the guilty conscious. So starting out Lady Macbeth pressured Macbeth to kill Duncan so he could become king, and now that Duncan has been murdered the roles have changed. Macbeth now, has become obsessed with murder and anybody who comes in his way, is going to die. Next, Macbeth murders his best friend, Banquo. In Macbeths mind, murdering the people that are threatening to him leaves him threat less in the end. After Macbeth murders Banquo, he hallucinates that he sees him at the banquet. Macbeth is obviously trying to deal with his own guilt, and the hallucination is just his guilty conscience.

Blood is the symbol used to show guilt in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Before the murder of Duncan takes place Lady Macbeth is talking to the spirits and asks “make thick my blood”, which is Lady Macbeths plead that she will be remorseless for taking part in killing Duncan. After killing Duncan, Macbeth continues to see blood all over his hands, although the blood is washed away. “will great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood of my hands” he keeps washing his hands and in his mind he still sees them covered in blood. Lady Macbeth later has an obsession with bloodstains on her hands. She washes them continuously and talks about how the stains won’t go away, through sleepwalking. When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at the banquet, the ghost is bloody, which is a symbol of the guilt Macbeth feels for killing his best friend, and also shows that Macbeth is going insane.

Lady Macbeth greatly shows her guilt. Towards the end Lady Macbeth becomes a vent, through which Macbeth’s guilt is shown. Which only makes Macbeth more relentless. Throughout the play Lady Macbeth gets worse as the play progresses, and the murders are taken place. A doctor diagnoses her mentally ill, though Macbeth knows that she is washing her hands clearly from the overwhelming guilt. After killing Duncan, while Macbeth was washing his hands and telling her he couldn’t wash the blood off, Lady Macbeth said “a little water clears us of this deed”. If that was true then why did her guilty conscience lead her to sleepwalking and washing her hands of the blood? Lady Macbeth’s guilt later leads her to committing suicide.

In trying to acquire everything, the Macbeth’s tragically lose everything instead. Shakespeare showed the power of murder and guilt very well in the tragedy of Macbeth. Blood, Murder and guilt are all obvious signs of guilt, and result from guilt. Without the obvious reoccurrences of guilt in this play, it would have turned out very differently. Which is why after research, guilt is the major theme I found in the tragedy of Macbeth. Although there are many other themes, and people that have read Macbeth will argue that other themes were more important.

Visual Analysis of Vincent van Gogh’s Vineyards at Auvers

2009-04-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Through most of his life Vincent van Gogh suffered greatly from some form of mental illness, according to writer Philip Vickers the illness “was probably epilepsy.” Because of this illness van Gogh lived in the small French village of Auvers where he spent the last months of his life, while creating some his most monumental works that include Starry Night, Wheat Fields Under Clouded Ski, Wheat Field with Crows, The Church at Auvers, and Vineyards at Auvers. Vincent stayed in Auvers at the Ravoux Inn until his suicide in July of 1890.

Vincent had the unique ability to paint things as he they were viewed through his psyche. He had an emphasis on what was relative to his mind although not so to others who viewed these paintings. Many images of van Gogh are inanimate objects that possess characteristics normally not associated with a church, cypress tree, or night sky.

Vineyards at Auvers an oil on canvas is a Post-Impressionistic work measuring about 16 X 22 inches, and like many of van Gogh’s works it gives a remarkable look at the French countryside; however, this image is conveyed in less than traditional style. The passionate use of the brush creates an extremely rough and unfinished look while viewing the work closely. Beautiful greens and browns are used to accent the foreground of grasses and pastures while a meandering picket fence seems to stroll across the countryside like a weary traveler seeking refuge from the elements.

The fence gives both dimension and motion to the work. It begins in the foreground near heraldic left of the painting angling toward the center and then taking a subtle line toward the heraldic left once again before disappearing off the canvas. Another fence or stonewall crosses the center of the panting again breaking up the different crops and grasses of the landscape. This wall does have character, but does not possess the human emotion conveyed thru the picket fence.

The greens and browns used to signify the vineyards look more like a series of dots and dashes not dissimilar to those used in Morse code. Other examples of brushwork bear a striking resemblance to the “axe cut strokes” used in different forms of Asian Art.

Along the heraldic right of this painting is a very tall area of underbrush or some sort of living fence frames this portion off from the winding road trailing off into the city of Auvers. Cottages with thatch roofs dominate this portion of the work before following the road into the background where cottages and other buildings take hold of the work while improving its depth of field. Southern Frances rolling hills are visible in the distance. This has two possible influences, perhaps has a reminder of where this work was painting is staged and the influence southern France had on van Gogh’s life, or a less personalized influence from the Monumental painting style.

Many art historians have shown interest in the area of France near Auvers because of its historical significance to the life and death of van Gogh. Over one hundred years after van Gogh painted Vineyards at Auvers Philip Vickers wanted to see if the subject of this as well as the sites painted in other works by van Gogh from 1889-1890 were still in existence. Upon his arrival to this area Vickers discovered that almost nothing had changed in the last century in Auvers. The church that van Gogh painted with a “living thing, pulsating with spiritual life” still exists, but has one addition. A tiny sign with an arrow reads: Tomveau de Vincent van Gogh leads one behind the church to the cemetery where sits the ivy covered last resting place of Vincent van Gogh. How fitting that a man with such passion for his works can now have immortality thru one of his most popular images.

Vineyards at Auvers is a unique van Gogh because it does not show distorted people working the land as in so many other landscapes he painted. It also does not contain the crows Vincent often painted thought his life. Incidentally, this work does show the masterful craft of van Gogh during a time of his life where his pain was very clear in his works. Vincent thought he had lived has a failure; however the images of the demons that haunted him will never be cloaked in failure again because of his legacy as an innovator in the world of art.

Biography Pablo Picasso

2009-04-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso was a child prodigy and a rebel teenager born in Malaga, Spain on October 25, 1881. He has come to be known as the most influential artist of the twentieth century. In his career as an artist, lasting more than 75 years, Picasso went through many different periods, the major ones being the “blue period,” the “rose period,” and the cubism period. Picasso was also a sculptor, a printer, and ceramist who worked in realism, caricature, cubism, and many other styles. Critic Hughes states, "There was scarcely a 20th century movement that he didn't inspire, contribute to or--in the case of Cubism, which, in one of art history's great collaborations, he co-invented with Georges Braque--beget".

The blue and rose periods of Picasso’s career were named that because of, obviously, the colors he used in his works. During the “blue period,” which lasted from 1901 to 1904, all of his painting had a bluish tone. These works of art were painted during Picasso’s repeated location changes between Barcelona and Paris, and were focused on outcasts, beggars, and prostitutes. La Vie, created in 1903, was Picasso’s most moving “blue period” piece. What started as a self-portrait transformed into a portrait of his childhood friend, Casagemas, who had committed suicide. In 1905 and 1906, Picasso’s color tone changed. Influenced by the circus’ acrobats and clowns, he started painting in pinks and grays, often highlighted with even brighter colors. This was known as the “rose period.” In 1907, Picasso met Georges Braque, and together, they created Cubism. Picasso and Braque stayed in contact. Picasso, in 1917, painted the set and made the costume design for a ballet titled “Parade.” During the 20’s, Picasso continued his work in theater sets, Cubism, Classical, and Surrealism, and worked in iron sculpture. His famous painting, Guernica, was done in 1937 in response to the bombing in Guernica, Spain. During World War II, Picasso turned to ceramics and print-making to release his energy. In the 1950’s, he painted many variations of older successful paintings. In the 60’s, Picasso created a towering, 50-foot sculpture for the Chicago Civic Center. He also donated over 800 pieces of his work to the Berenguer de Aguilar Palace Museum in Barcelona in the 70’s. The masterminded, famous, and talented, Pablo Picasso, died on April 8, 1973 in Antibes, France at the age of 93.

Pablo Picasso was born into a family that greatly influenced him. His parents’ names were Don Jose Ruiz Blasco and Dona Maria Picasso y Lopez. Picasso was always interested in painting over learning, starting at an early age. His teachers knew not to put too much effort into teaching him. Pablo and his father often compromised, for he never liked receiving instructions. As an art teacher and painter, Jose Ruiz realized Picasso’s talent in painting. Picasso worked on drawing skills and went to work in his father’s art studio frequently. However, Picasso painted what he wanted to paint, already showing his seditious side.

Spanish heritage also greatly influenced Picasso’s art. He studied the famous artists Diego Valequez and El Greco and kept up with current events in Spain. His Spanish culture is evident in many of his works with cultural symbols like bulls and bullfighting. Picasso attended a few art schools before the age of nineteen. He studied in La Coruna, at the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, briefly, in 1897, and in Corundona’s studio. He was also accepted into Barcelona’s La Llonja Art School’s advanced classes, under his father, while he was fifteen.

After his studies, Picasso went to France in 1900. There, he met and befriended Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Fernand Leger. He was also influenced by artists such as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Paul Gauguin. Many of Picasso’s paintings from around this time resemble works from these artists, however, they all have a unique “Picasso look” as well.

You always seem to hear about famous people, in particular, artists, who had a very hard childhood and bad parents. Both Pablo’s mom and dad were big influences on him and his artwork. Maria Picasso was not an artist herself, but she was always present in Picasso’s emotional maturity. And Jose Ruiz, as I have already said, realized Picasso’s talent and encouraged him to paint. I am so glad that his parents helped him along the way to success. Without them, he might have not made it as an artist because possibly no one would have realized his gift as his father did.

Pablo Picasso’s L’Italienne, in my opinion, is an extremely creative piece. He used his cubist style to create an image that leaves the observer confused and with many questions.

Picasso’s use of color and shape is extraordinary in this piece. However, the people are confusing and indefinitely people. When I first glanced at the piece, I only saw one person, a shocked lady, it seemed. However, when I studied the painting, I noticed three more figures which are, quite possibly, people. The second one is in the main focus’ arms, most likely a baby. The third person is a small figure, coming up to about the woman’s middle. The fourth is a tall, dark figure behind the woman. This figure gives off the appearance that he is doing something bad behind the woman by the way he is portrayed in all black, and also by the expression on the woman’s face.

When I look at a picture like this, I notice depth and creativity. It is not easy to create a piece that may leave different ideas in minds about what the picture means or what it is of. I see four people when I look at L’Italienne, however, I do not know what other people see. The picture is very balanced in colors, shapes, and sizes. The use of the greens, reds, and black are equally distributed throughout the whole piece. Also, because the style of the painting is cubism, mostly the whole piece has cube-like shapes, giving the painting even more of a balanced look.

L’Italienne and the Three Musicians are two of Picasso’s famous pieces. The Three Musicians was created in 1921. There are many variations to this piece, but in doing research, one in particular variation of the piece always was shown, so that is the piece that I am using. The painting’s focus, made quite obvious by the title of the artwork, is three musicians. They are so artistically created that only someone as imaginatively successful as Picasso could ever create such a fabulous work of art. Even though Picasso used the cubist style to create both of the pieces, there are many ways that the painting can still differ. One way is color. However, one of the reasons that I chose these two pieces to compare is because they are both so alike in color. Both L’Italienne and Three Musicians use green, red, and black. Nevertheless, Three Musicians also uses a lot of white throughout the piece. I think this is successful because the red on the floor and green on the ceiling balance each other, and the white and black both interspersed throughout the painting balance each other. The absence of blue in both of the paintings is very noticeable.

Another element of the paintings that could be different is the focus. Yet, the focuses in both of the paintings are people. The difference in that could be the amount of people, what they are doing, or how they are arranged in the picture. In Three Musicians, there are three people in comparison to L’Italienne’s four. Also, in the Three Musicians, all of the men are holding, working with, or doing something with an instrument. The musicians are standing next to each other, as opposed to in L’Italienne, how they are all mounted on top of one another.

Based on design, I have to say that I like Three Musicians just a little bit more than I like L’Italienne. The picture, to me, is just all around more interesting to look at than L’Italienne. Three Musicians is actually one of the Picasso pieces that I could have named right off the bat as Picasso’s work before starting on this report. Maybe it’s the way the people are created or something else, but something has just always interested me about this piece.

Honestly, the reason I chose Picasso as my artist was because I was more familiar with his work than with work of another artist. I’ve seen artist’s work such as Georgia O’Keefe’s, Frida Kahlo’s, and Salvador Dali’s, but I definitely knew more about Picasso and his work than any of the others. Picasso, I feel, is just one of those artists that people always tend to use as an example, and also one that you just know about from basic knowledge. For my final project, I know I am going to work in cubism like Picasso did. I think I may want to work in more than one medium as well. I am thinking about drawing something that Picasso would have drawn in the “rose period,” like clowns or the circus, but giving it cubist features. I also want to give it a blue wash so it connects to Picasso’s “blue period” as well as his “rose period” and cubism stage.

The Economic Legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt

2009-04-16T03:40:00.000-07:00

The Great Depression had a devastating impact on the American economy and the American people. President Hoover’s inactivity and belief in waiting things out left the United States in economic turmoil and in search of a new more dynamic leader. That leader was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who took over the presidency on January 20, 1933. This was without a doubt one of the most difficult and critical times to assume that office. The depression had hit its peak, our economy was in total collapse, unemployment rose to 30%, inflation was high, and GDP was down by 50%. But, inspired by optimism and hope, FDR brought a new plan into light. Contraire to Hoover’s classic economic beliefs, Roosevelt focused on “pump priming” economics, based in the Keynesian economic philosophy. President Roosevelt felt it was crucial to invest in the people and to instate government programs in order to boost the economy. In accordance with this philosophy, he added that the economy had to be built from the bottom up and not the top down. Roosevelt would achieve economic growth and stability through submitting large quantities of legislation which came to be known as the New Deal.

When FDR took over the presidency in 1933, there was much controversy about which type of economic intervention he should pursue in order to combat the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover and many of the presidents that came before him followed the laws of classic economics. Hoover’s ideas were largely based on Say’s Law or supply creates its own demand. For this reason, Hoover was very slow to use any government intervention when the nation’s economy fell into a depression. It was his belief that in time the economy would recover on its own; by simply generating goods and services, the willingness to consume those and other goods and services would be generated. Franklin D. Roosevelt was of a much different thinking of that of his predecessors. In 1933, the United States was in urgent need of coordinating supply and demand. FDR had a new economic vision which ultimately generated governmental responsibility in the performance of the economy. The president would achieve this goal by requiring the federal government to formally accept responsibility for promoting maximum employment, production, and purchasing power. By passing legislation that allowed government intervention in the economy; And, in the true form of Keynesian economics, Roosevelt was able to increase aggregate spending without raising the price level.

In 1932, while still campaigning for the presidency, FDR noted, “These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest on the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power . . . that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.” At the time of this speech, America was still in the midst of the Great Depression and a time leading up to the New Deal, government had often been the handmaiden of business, and many presidents had shared the values of businessmen. Roosevelt, on the other hand, made it clear that he did not share those same values. FDR believed that big business was not what would save the country from the Great Depression. It was much more important for the United States to focus on the lower classes of society and start rebuilding the economy from the bottom. In his inaugural speech, given on March 4, 1933, President Roosevelt said, “Our greatest primary task is to put people to work.” In saying this, he was not referring to America’s businessmen; rather he was talking about the farmers, the industrial workers, and the simple man. The president went on to add that definite efforts to raise the values of agriculture products would, in turn, increase the power to purchase the output of our cities. This would be the economy basis for the “New Deal” that he would use to stimulate and rebuild the American economy.

During the first 100 days of his presidency, FDR pushed numerous pieces of “New Deal” legislation through Congress. These economic measures were taken in order to attack the problems of the Great Depression on three separate levels. First, emergency measures, such as social relief programs and make-work programs of all kinds were instated. This would give urgently needed jobs to millions of Americans and prevent them from literally starving. For the first time, the United States had established a concept of minimum wage, insurance for the unemployed, healthcare for all classes of society, abolished child labor, and allowed for work unions to be established. Secondly, the president and Congress passed legislation focused on reconstructing and developing the country’s totally ruined infrastructure. Most noted is the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), an agency created to build dams in the Tennessee River valley, creating jobs, more stable irrigation, and cheap hydroelectric power. Lastly, reform measures were taken to avoid another depression and insure citizens against returning economic disasters. With this, FDR set up permanent agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), designed to monitor stock market activity and ensure against fraud, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), intended to insure depositors money. More widely known is the Social Security Act, which allows for the elderly of our society to always be provided enough money to survive.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered the presidency at an extremely trying time for the American economy. It was up to him to turn this nation around and bring it out of the Great Depression. FDR did exactly that, and he did it at a dizzying pace with economic policies that paid no respect to standard rules or previous economic wisdom. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” along with Keynes’ “pump priming” economics led this country out of the Great Depression and into a new era for the economy and society. Today, we have come to the realization that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. President Roosevelt gave this country that economic security and independence with the New Deal. In doing so, he armed the American people with a right to a job, a right to minimum wage, a right for every family to live in a descent home, a right to adequate medical care, a right to a good education, and most importantly a right to protection against the economic fears of old age and unemployment. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s economic legacy lives on. He delivered this nation from the Great Depression and gave the American people a “New Deal”, a deal which allows us to live under the economic “freedoms” we still enjoy today.

Banning Genetic Engineering

2009-04-16T03:38:00.000-07:00

Genetic engineering provides ways of altering these genes to make them function differently in some way. There are those who believe that genetic engineering is morally and ethically wrong, others believe that it can be used as a great tool for the benefit of mankind. Genetic engineering is already being used in providing treatments for certain types of illnesses. The food industry is also utilizing genetic engineering in the production of food, making more nutritious foods that are resistant to herbicides. Other industries like mining and waste management use genetically engineered bacteria. Therefore, genetic engineering should not be banned because it has many practical uses in medicine, food production, and industry.

Genetic engineering was first experimented with in the early 1970’s. The first to do experiments of this sort was scientist Paul berg. Berg found that by chemical means he could take a gene from a monkey virus that has the ability to cause cancer in mice and insert it into an entirely different strand of DNA. Later, there were other scientists who found means of doing this on a mass scale. With experimenting in genetic engineering, it came to be known that any kind of DNA could be inserted into any other kind of DNA, even plant DNA with animal DNA. From these experiments is where today’s genetic engineering evolved.

The main reason not to ban genetic engineering is because of the possible advancements that can be made in the field of medicine. Genetic engineering has already been used to treat and prevent certain illnesses, and many more many have the potential to be cured in the future. Genetic engineering has the possibility to eliminating most all human diseases that have genetic origin, like cancer and AIDS. And many others that don’t have genetic roots may be cured in the future. If genetic engineering were to be banned, then it would be closing the door to so many advances that can be made in medicine to save people’s lives.

Right now there are several diseases being targeted by genetic engineering to hopefully one day find a potential cure for them. The disease PKU is one that many people are afflicted with. With PKU, there is a lack of a certain chemical that aids in the breaking down of the amino acid phenylalanine. Without this chemical, phenylalanine can begin to build up in the body. As of now, there is no know cure for the disease, and over time it can lead to mental retardation. People can however live with PKU if it is detected early in life. There are special diets that can be used that are low in phenylalanine. This will allow people to live a normal life, but a much easier solution may be available with genetic engineering.

Scientists are now looking at genetic engineering as a treatment for PKU. By using genetic engineering to switch out the defective genes in the cells that should produce the proper chemicals, with genes that function normally, relief may finally be possible for those coping with the illness. Therapy, such as this, can be dangerous if not first properly tested. But, with the implication of certain regulations and guidelines, genetic engineering does not have to put the public health at risk.

Another disease hoping to be cured by genetic engineering is cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that causes thick mucus to obstruct breathing passages in the lungs as well as the digestive track. The disease causes difficulties with breathing as well as repeated infections of the lungs. Many people afflicted with the disease often die during the early years of adulthood. By using techniques in genetic engineering, physicians administer inhaled particles to patients with cystic fibrosis, that carry the corrected gene that is not present causing the disease. The gene then implants itself into the cells of the lungs that produce the excess mucus. This technique has allowed for some relief for patients who are suffering from the disease. With more time and research, new methods can be developed that might be even more effective and lead to a life long cure of the disease.

The field of medicine has many other uses for genetic engineering. T-PA is an expensive substance that is used to aid with heart attack victims. Since it is so expensive and hard to produce, the amounts of it are scarce. New methods in genetic engineering allow for it to be produced in large amounts at only a fraction of the cost. These methods have allowed for T-PA to be more readily available when it is needed. Vaccines are also being produced by genetic engineering that purer and more effective.

Scientists are working also on developing edible vaccines. Certain genes will be spliced into the cells of plants to allow them to function as vaccines. These vaccines could be introduced into countries that have low economies. They could be used to cheaply vaccinate large numbers of people. Other substances such as insulin could be genetically engineered. The gene that produces insulin in humans can be spliced into the DNA of a goat or a pig to produce the insulin necessary to treat diabetic patients. Insulin such as this would be better because there would be less chance of allergic reactions than there are with synthetic insulin.

The banning of genetic engineering would also end the studies being done with the use of genetic engineering in food production. Already, many advances have been made with genetic engineering concerning food production. For a while, selective breeding has been used to breed in desired traits into plants and animals. But with selective breeding, the traits that may have taken several seasons of breeding before they would take hold. Genetic engineering has presented an alternative to selective breeding.

Genetic engineering, as opposed to selective breeding, is more convenient because instead of several seasons for traits to take effect, they can take effect in as little as one season. When using selective breeding, only traits from the same species could be bred. With genetic engineering, traits from any species could be interchanged with one another. Not only that, but the DNA of plants and animals can be spliced together to get the traits that are desired.

Genetic engineering is being used now to increase the yields of crops. Also, plants are being engineered to have more protein and more nutritional value. More plants are being produced that will last longer without spoiling, and are better tasting. Plants are being genetically engineered to be resistant to disease and freezing, and to grow much faster. Animals, such as cows, can be made to gain weight faster and to grow larger. Most all of the foods that have been genetically engineered have been approved and labeled as safe for human consumption.

Another development from genetic engineering is the ability for plants to produce their own pesticide. A certain gene has been spliced into the DNA of a potato allowing the potato to produce a chemical that would act as a biopesticide. If techniques such as this could be perfected, then it would greatly reduce the need for chemical pesticides to be used. Other plants are being engineered to be resistant to herbicides. This would allow for less herbicides to be used to avoid harming the environment.

Other techniques are used to produce cooking oils with less fat. Others are allowing coffee beans to bean grown without caffeine to eliminate the need to decaffeinate them. Also, plants can be produced to recycle nitrogen to produce their own fertilizers. Cheeses are also being made using genetic engineering. An enzyme known as rennin is necessary for the production of cheese. Rennin is also very hard and expensive to obtain because it had to be extracted from the stomachs of cows. Scientist spliced a gene from a cow that would produce rennin, into bacteria. The bacteria would produce the rennin and it was exactly the same. This has way lead to a quick and cheap way to produce rennin.

Other industry also has applications for genetic engineering. Microorganisms have already been produced through genetic engineering that have an appetite for oil. These organisms have been use to remove oil from the oceans after major oil spills. This technique is easier and cheaper to use than traditional techniques. Other organisms have been engineered that have appetites for metals. These organisms would be especially helpful in the mining industry to remove metals from rocks.

Other organisms could be produced that would consume waste materials and produce energy. The organisms would consume the garbage and produce a gas from it. This gas can then be burned to produce energy. If properly perfected, this technique would be especially helpful due to the oils wells that are rapidly being drained. This technique would enable people to produce energy while keeping our waste under control.

The writer has shown that genetic engineering should not be banned for its applications in medicine, food production, and industry. If genetic engineering were to be banned, the doors for breakthroughs in medicine would be closed. There are so many diseases that have the potential to be cured. Many vaccines could be developed so that many diseases would never be contracted. Later research could lead to the discovery of a cure for cancer. People would no longer have to fear dying of cancer, as so many do today. Other diseases such as diabetes, that may have genetic roots, may one day be cured through means of genetic engineering.

Other breakthroughs have been made with genetic engineering, and many more can potentially be made. The food industry has utilized this tool extensively to produce more nutritional, longer lasting foods. Industry as well is using genetic engineering to develop alternate energy sources. Genetic engineering is a very helpful branch of science that can be used for the benefit of mankind.

There are, as there is with most everything, certain risks involved when using genetic engineering. But it is believed by the writer that certain standards can be set up to monitor genetic engineering. Regulations can be set to ensure the public’s safety in the matter of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering should not be banned because it does not have to be a safety issue if used properly. So much is yet to be discovered that could potential eliminate most all life threatening illnesses. The writer believes that genetic engineering is a very valuable tool, and therefore, should not be banned.

Media Analysis

2009-04-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

The United States of America advanced a sporting event into worldwide media frenzy. On January 26, 2003 individuals worldwide received information and entertainment for Super Bowl XXXVII. The setting was Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego; the teams playing are insignificant to the true capital venture of the game. From Super Bowl I to Super Bowl XXXVII the actual victor of the game has been lost in the sea of media that surrounds the venue.

Super Bowl XXXVII saw every form of mediation used to attract, inform, advertise and entertain people throughout the world. The game can be separated into three categories, the pre-game, actual competition and post-game. The pre-game and post-game are covered by all forms of media, from television, radio, internet, newspaper, magazine, fliers, word-of-mouth and all other imaginable forms of media. These two categories surround the actual game and are produced by agencies that hire credible authors, broadcasters and analysts to narrate. The information provided in the pre-game consist of predictions, along with information surrounding the teams and entertainment during the game, such as, half time shows and advertisements. The post-game media simply recaps the event and in some areas discussing how the audience and the economy will be affected by corporate advertisement that took place during the game. The game is the reason for media hype and publication. During the event media is narrowed to real-time forms of mediation, including television, radio, attendance and Internet. The event itself is portrayed to the largest audience through means of television broadcast.

The American Broadcast Channel had the sole rights to Super Bowl XXXVII broadcast. The American Broadcast Channel (ABC) outbid the big broadcasting companies such as FOX, NBC and CBS to earn these rights from the National Football League. ABC puts on a huge production, with a production crew of over 300 individuals working during the game. The agency reserves the right to view to their audience based on the notion of making profit: by showing game clips, fans, commercials and half-time shows. The large price tag for the venue is derived from the estimated 800 million television viewers worldwide. The audience in the United States alone shows an average of 88.6 million viewers and 136 million total viewers.

With large portions of television viewers watching Super Bowl XXXVII, ABC takes full opportunity to make profit on advertisement. For the event sixty-one commercial advertisement spots during the game lasting 30 seconds had a price tag of $US2-2.2 Million. This does not include the pre-game that starts four hours prior to kickoff and a post-game presentation following the game. It is considered to be the biggest day of the year for football as well as for marketers, spending an average of over $US200 Million on ads before, during and after the game. From Media Life Magazine, “A 1999 study cited in the Journal of Marketing Communications found that 68 percent of Super Bowl viewers say they pay attention to the commercials and, suggesting a high level of recall, more than half say they discuss the ads the following day”. This statistic clearly shows that the American Broadcast Channel is clearly marketing to a demographic audience who is motivated by the advertising more than the actual event. This is why the agency chooses to view a large amount of commercials during the game. ABC has the ability to use unlimited television timeouts when there is complete stoppage in the game in order to fulfill the contracts to advertised commercials. In many cases killing the momentum of the game being played on the field. American Broadcast Channel uncovers motives for broadcasting in what material they choose to be viewed by the audience. The football game is not the main concern for the televised media, it is purely advertising products and services.

With any live event broadcasted on television we as the audience only view what the agency wants. In this case ABC works very hard to sensor or represent only the glamorous and non-controversial issues that surround the event. An editor for PC Magazine writes about interviews with athletes prior to the game, “lots of canned questions with reporters told in advance what not to ask. They assiduously oblige, lest they lose their privileges”. Before the event we see great effort by the ABC to give the audience only the basic questions and stay away from controversial issues that may draw away from commercial advertisements. Evidence is seen in the representation of the missing all-pro center for the Raiders who vanished one-day before the game. The audience had little understanding of why the athlete was not participating in the competition. Dvork writes about the skewed commentary of ABC, “Most obvious was the poor job done by Al "OJ is Innocent" Michaels, who had John Madden right next to him in the broadcast booth, but never once asked the ex-Raider coach what he might know about Robbins”. A showing of how the broadcasting agency wanted to focus the audience on the drama on the field and the material goods running through the commercial instead of an emotional story about an individual. The agency does sensor what is projected to the people, although the visual stimulus viewed by the audience inevitably keeps attention.

Super Bowl XXXVII was the first sporting event to use High Definition television for their entire broadcast. From sound to sight it was crisper and more realistic to enhance the experience for the audience. Tim Cuprisim of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quotes,
“From beads of sweat glistening on Warren Sapp's forehead to blades of grass being stomped on at Qualcomm Park, football has never before been as intimate a viewing experience… the overall broadcast was stunning, especially the sprinkling of high-def ads that were aired in the format with booming CD-quality sound.”

The American Broadcast Channel represented the event to the audience as if the game took place in your living room or pub. The agency for the first time planted microphones on several of the athletes on the field to get the sounds of the game. All the technological extras to entice the audience to stay tuned during the entire event.

The profit-making ploy is covered by dramatic representation of the game. Commentary depicts the event as an emotional war between two well traveled teams. By showing heroic visual clips accompanied by music that inspires the audience. ABC wants people to view the athletes as valiant heroes, an icon every individual strives to become. The audience becomes emotionally attached through representations to these individuals. The American Broadcast Channel has accomplished their goal of ratings and inevitably a large profit from the event.

The biggest event for football occurs year after year. The audience grows with each passing year to view the event and more importantly become amused by the new and intriguing advertisements. All forms of media are used surrounding the game, but television is the main attraction, by use of technology, innovation and entertainment it captures the largest audience.

Microeconomics Analysis

2009-04-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Unions play an important role in many businesses, such as airlines, and often aid in decision-making. Such is the case in the article “United Machinists’ Union Approves Pay Concessions”, by Edward Wong from the May 1, 2003 New York Times. Since the airline is in danger of bankruptcy, the union “members are providing United Airlines with the means and opportunity to successfully restructure and avoid liquidation.” In order to do so, the machinists’ union voted to give the company a total of $794 million a year in wage and benefit concessions over the next six years. As a result, wage cuts range from nine percent for flight attendants, thirteen percent for machinists, and thirty percent for pilots.

Airlines are an oligopoly in the United States. Oligopolies are market structures where a few firms distribute a product, either standardized or differentiated. Entry into this market is often difficult, and a firm has limited control over product price because of mutual interdependence, and there is typically non-price competition. There are a few large airlines that get most of the traveling business, and differentiation is limited. Since September 11 however, business has been slow, with most people opting not to travel by airplane. As a result, many airlines, including United Airlines, have been close to bankruptcy.

Airlines have tried lowering prices to get business. Price leadership, one firm announcing a change in price, resulting in other firms announcing similar changes, is prominent however, and it was difficult to get business. As a result, United Airlines and United Machinists’ Union has decided to cut wages. As the article explains, other airlines such as Delta, recently proposed cost cuts. This move is similar to price leadership, except dealing with wages.
United Airlines recently had the highest unit-labor costs of all airlines. Since United won concessions from workers however, Delta Air Lines, who now has the highest unit-labor costs, topped them. Unit-labor cost or the cost per unit of output effects how much the business spends and as a result, the amount of revenue they bring in. United Airlines is not presently in the position to spend a lot, and as a result, needed to bring down their unit-labor costs.
United Machinists’ Union is a craft union, organized on the basis of occupations and skills. A union’s main goal is to increase wages for union members, however United Machinists’ Union’s goals do not end there. For example, they want to raise the standards of and increase recognition of all their members. Also, they work for better benefits, working conditions, and respect for all members. While voting for the concessions, 70% supported them. Although the union members do not want wage cuts, etc, they know that they must help out the business for job security.

Many of the union members also voted for the concessions because of the present threat of a representation takeover by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Organization. This union is similar to the United Machinists’ Union, and there will be a vote for all union members at United to choose which union they would like to be in.

The United Machinists’ Union has greatly aided United Airlines by agreeing to wage concessions. As Glenn F. Tilton, chief executive of United said in a written statement following the voting, he “appreciates the tough choices and sacrifices all” the “employees are making to help ensure United emerges from bankruptcy and succeeds for the long term.” Unions do not only seek benefits for themselves, but also consider what is best for the business.

Being Successful as an Incoming College Student

2009-04-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

In today’s society a college education is a must. Unfortunately, when you arrive at college you may find that you are vastly unprepared to undertake the future educational prospects ahead of you. In fact, you may find that other college students that you’ve talked to have informed you that college is primarily a place for fun and games. Many students who fall into this trap normally come to the realization that they’ve been caught in it when they find out that they are either failing multiple classes or just plainly doing horrible in them. There are many expectations imposed upon college students, and everyone generally expects you to know and understand them. Even though they have never actually came out and told you what they are and how to succeed at them, they still expect you to excel.

To succeed in college you first need to learn your primary responsibilities as a student. The main responsibility you should hold in this area is complete whatever homework is assigned to you. In college, teachers no longer assign “busy work,” they assign homework that is relevant to what will be discussed in class. A good majority of what will you do and what you will read in your homework assignments will show up on your tests and quizzes.

Another one of your primary responsibilities in college is attending your classes. Most students initially marvel at the idea that they do not need to attend their classes if they do not want to. Hopefully you will not fall into this dire trap also! In class, you will learn a plethora of information that you don’t already know. If you miss those critical hours of instruction can make a detrimental impact on your grade, and could mean the difference between passing and failing that course. College teachers also tend to spend a lot of time in class on topics they believe are important, which means the information presented will most likely make an appearance on a test or quiz that you will eventually take.

Now that we’re done taking a look at the educational aspect of school, we must take a look at the social aspect. The most important thing after education in college is making new friends. It may not seem all that important to you, but it prepares you for the working world where you get ahead by making connections.

One of the most important things you can do to facilitate the social process is maintaining a recognizable “style.” Having a specific style makes it easier for other people to distinguish you in a crowd. There are also fewer restrictions on what other classmates will find acceptable about your appearance than there were in high school. One example of something others would dislike is a person who wears the same clothing day in and day out. Most people would not want to be around them because it gives them an aura of not caring.

Another major factor in your social growth is the ability to pick the correct friends. As much as we downplay cliques in college, some very basic groups will still exist and it would help you immensely if you could find friends who shared similar interests. Once you’ve found a set of friends you feel comfortable with to fall back on, it will be easier to make friends with people that you normally wouldn’t have talked to in high school.

Now that you have an idea of what college is really all about, you can go out and rule the campus. If you excel in your schoolwork and find that you feel like you’re on the set of Cheers because everyone knows your name then you can say you’ve been successful and have accomplished the primary goals that all college students should complete.

I chose this topic because I felt that many college students could potentially benefit from it. Not many people come straight out and tell you how it is, and for some people it could take a semester or two just to start to fit in or to start to accomplish the goals they had set forth for themselves. I was misled into believe a lot of things about college that aren’t true, and I felt a need to prevent others from falling into the same potential trap. My only saving grace was that I had somebody set me on the right path before the consequences could have had the potential to become devastating.

Within the paper, I realize, I left a lot of information about college out. Most of the experience you gather becomes a form of tacit knowledge and most students should understand the basic functioning of what the college life should be like. Most people just need to be gently nudged onto the right path again so they’ll perform the way they’re supposed too. I also left out a lot of information that I believe could’ve been intrinsically detrimental to the student reading this. If I would’ve included information about how much fun you can have at parties and how there’s always a way to obtain an alcoholic beverage, the student would have the potential to actually consider that track more intensely and would have a chance of being grabbed by the misfortune of most students.

The information that I chose to include about the academic side of school is prevalent to me because most students are misled into believing that you don’t have to do homework in college and that you don’t have to go to class in college. The other information about school I included (the social aspect) was to appeal to the quieter and shyer students coming out of high school. Most of those students would tend to be the same in college as they were in high school, but if they could receive a reaffirming nudge, they’d be able to become a “social butterfly” and talk to more people.

All-in-all, this paper was meant to appeal to whatever student might be coming into college and give them an understanding of what’s to come. The one thing that keeps ringing in my mind, though, is that I’m not a junior or a senior, so I’m not sure how much I’d actually recommend this paper be read by other students. We will all make mistakes, but we will try to keep them as small and few in number as possible.

Society Views

2009-04-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

Scientists play a major role in society today, in that they are trying to find solutions that will eventually help out the society and improve the worth of living. It has been this way since the idea of science was started, and science will most likely continue having a major affect on the society as new ideas and discoveries are made. Society is directly affected by science because as new ideas are being thought up and tested it can bring negative or positive outcomes to the people they were discovered for. As science evolves and gets more and more complicated, so does the society and it can bring major drawbacks along with it.

Galileo was a scientist who had a lot of trouble dealing with his society. His society was very uneducated and did not want to hear anything about change or advancements. The society back then was stubborn and would not even care to listen to Galileo. Galileo was looked at as a tyrant and a bad man, for putting ideas in people’s heads that were originally thought of as crazy. His findings, we know now, cannot be any truer, but because of the way of the society his comrades did not accept his ideas and discoveries. In Galileo’s case, the society merely just delayed the advancement of science and made Galileo’s life much harder than it should have been. In one of the letters from his daughter it is shown how awfully he was punished for his ideas.

“Just as suddenly and unexpectedly as word of your new torment reached me, Sire, so intensely did it pierce my soul with pain to hear the judgment that has finally been passed, denouncing your person as harshly as your book.”

As you can see he was not only denounced for his discoveries, but also for himself as a person. He did not do anything that would give reason for the society to ridicule him as a person, but because they did not agree with his work they found him to be a radical person altogether.

As science has advanced, so has the relationship between it and the society. The society is no longer able to ignore the fact that we are evolving and can no longer disagree with a discovery that has been proven. A major issue that science directly affects nowadays is the issue of genetic engineering to help aid world hunger. World hunger is a major issue in the society, but many people feel science is taking advantage of the problem and using it towards their benefit. The potential benefits of genetically engineered foods, like expanding food supply and helping to alleviate world hunger, are exciting, but at the same time of some concern. There are real concerns on biodiversity, the ecosystem, and people’s safety if such food has not been tested properly and guaranteed to be safe. The reason that we still question if genetically engineered food could be dangerous is because there has been no adequate testing to ensure that extracting genes that perform an apparently useful function as part of a plant or animal is going to have the same effects if inserted in totally unrelated species. It may be that in the long term, genetically engineered food could provide us with benefits and be a safe alternative, but the society feels we cannot know at this time due to lack of testing.

Genetically engineered food could be a great resource in the future, but as of right now the society looks at it as a danger. They feel it is just providing people who can already afford food more food. The poor people who cannot afford food would still not be able to afford the food even though there is more. They also feel that the health risks are unknown due to a lack of testing, and do not feel safe with the product.

As you can see, society is nervous about the advancement of science because they feel it could be very harmful to them as well as others. Scientists do not really take the time anymore to explain everything to the society. This angers the society and just creates more questioning and problems when testing is started. The main affect society has on science is slowing it down. If the society just went along with their everyday lives and ignored the science part of life, science would be able to move at a more rapid pace.

Nabakov is another scientist who was affected by the society. Many people disagreed with his form of research and still do not agree with what he did. They did not like how he took live specimens of animals and used them as guinea pigs. The society had a major problem with this because of the chance of extinction. Nabakov was capturing very rare types of species and using them for his benefit. Society looked badly towards him and slowed his work down mightily.

The difference between Nabakov and genetic engineering is that Nabakov was not affecting the society directly. His form of work did not hurt the lives of any individual human person, it mainly just affected animals and human morals. The reason society had a problem with it was because of the way it feels towards all matters of life. Also, the entire society was not against Nabakov. Some people had no problem with his research and this made for controversy. With genetic engineering the affect is directly on the society, and there is much more concern towards it. People feel that if there is a risk issue, the testing should not go on. The thing the people don’t realize is that there is always a risk factor involved.

The society not only affects what scientists are able to do, but it also encourages people to enter the profession of being a scientist. Barbara McClintock, Oliver Sacks, and Don Asher are three scientists who entered the profession of science because of the people around them. The three were raised in environments that were full of science. They had family members who were part of the profession and therefore they decided to do something in their lives that related to science. The society in this case was the families of the three scientists. Without their society being science based as they grew up they would most likely not be in the science profession.

Science and society work hand in hand together. Whether the society has a positive or a negative enforcement on science is totally up to what is being tested or created. Society today is much more apt to accepting what scientists do because it has seen what wonders it can do towards improving conditions in life. A few hundred years ago society was more obtuse and did not want anything new to come along. They did not want change in the society, but as has been proven it cannot happen. As science zooms off into the unknown, society holds on to the tail of it and tries to help steer it in the right direction. Society should be looked on as a good affect to the advancement of science because it helps make sure the danger is taken into account. It sometimes gets too involved with the logistics of the science, but most people feel it is for the better of the world. Science needs society to keep them on track with what they are doing, and in the same respect, society needs science to help them have a better condition of life to live with. Science is a wonderful thing that helps our society in so many ways. Without the two of them working together the world would be a less entertaining place to live in. It gives people something to do with their lives and increases the quality of life just as well.

Violence and Media

2009-04-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

At birth, a baby's brain has approximately 100 billion nerve cells. These cells are not yet fully mature and lack the critical connections that determine an individual's emotional, social, and intellectual make-up. Most of these gaps disappear by the time the child is six years old, but the brain remains greatly impressionable well into teen years. By the age three, a child's brain has twice as many synapses as an adult's brain. This suggests that children are biologically primed to learn in the early stages of life. The material and environment children are exposed to during this crucial stage builds the standards of right and wrong. If a child lives in an environment where violence appears to be acceptable, the child will form a connection and often accept the behavior as appropriate.

When a child establishes a connection, and the connection is reinforced in the early years, it becomes permanent. A connection that is used rarely, or not at all, is unlikely to survive. For example, studies show that a child who is rarely spoken to or read to in the early years may have difficulty mastering language skills later in life. Similarly, a child who is exposed to violent acts on a regular basis often experiences a wide range of side effects as a child, and also as an adult.

Violence has always made an impression on children. The Academy of Pediatrics Media Violence Policy states, “The strength of the correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior is greater than the correlation between calcium intake and bone mass”.

Before the days of advanced video games, television, and movies different forms of violence impacted children. It is documented that Hawaiian teachers perceived an extreme increase in violent play after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

With advances in technology, children can now watch the destruction of Pearl Harbor on DVD on a daily basis. The media has become a major influence on the minds of children. Profits from a single movie reach well into the multi-million dollar range. Over 219 million televisions, and 144 million computers are owned within the United States alone (CIA Factbook). The media has become increasingly available to children in recent years. Television, movies, and video games are produced and marketed to appeal exclusively to children. In order to maximize profits, this specialized media is often interlaced with violence.
The movie industry alone creates a large amount of violence-saturated films. These films are then marketed to appeal to youth. Dartmouth University conducted a study in which they asked if 5,456 children and teenagers had seen 50 selected top box office movies. These movies had been identified to contain the most violence out of the top 600 box office films. They contained scenes of sadistic rape, sodomy, brutal or ritualistic murders, and cannibalism. On average, each subject had seen 28% of the violent rich movies. The lead Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School stated, “Demand for seeing violent movies is spurred by the adverting practices of the media industry. Through movies adolescents are being exposed to brutal and often sexualized violence”.

This sort of violence is presented to children not only in movies, but on a daily basis through television. Violence is no longer isolated to post bedtime hours but floods prime time television. Ladies Home Journal estimated that the average American child observes the destruction of 13,000 human beings between the hours of 4 and 9. It is estimated that 3-5 acts of violence are shown in ever hour of prime time television. This number grows dramatically to 25-30 acts of violence when viewing a full hour of children’s cartoons. These cartoons, which are often seen as harmless, can produce long-term problems. Children who watched the popular cartoons “Road Runner” and “Starsky and Hutch” on a regular basis were found to be more violent in adulthood nearly 15 years later. Similar results exist for children who were exposed to a variety of television programs for extended periods of time. A recent study analyzed data of 707 people over a period of 17 years measuring television viewing habits and aggression at various times. The study went on to find the 6% of the 14 year olds who watched less than one hour of television a day went on to engage in threats and violent acts, in comparison to 29% who watched more than three hours a day. The average American child watches between 4.5 – 5 hours of television per day.

The daily consumption of violent media is also boosted by the prevalence of video games. Approximately 70 % of children from third to twelfth grade own a video game player. Of the 70%, 45% state they play the games in their room the majority of the time. Video games are the newest and possibly most dangerous wave of media violence. Games with violent images gross large profits. “Streetfighter” made 1.3 billion dollars in 1993. Furthermore, the bloodier Sega version outsold the less gruesome Nintendo version 7 to 1. Video games such as “Streetfighter” are considered a greater threat to the mental health of children because children take an active part in the violence being demonstrated. A study at the University of Utrecht was conducted on students while they watched a violent 10-minute excerpt from “Rambo.” Results of students who held a remote were compared to those who did not. The gory scenes much less affected the subjects who held the remote. The ones who controlled the violence taking place in front of them were numbed to it (Leeds). Practices like these are comparable to what it used to desensitize soldiers in preparation for combat. David Grossman, an army psychologist stated, “One of the most effective and widely used simulators developed by the US Army in recent years us nothing more than a modified Super Nintendo game. In fact it closely resembles the game Duck Hunt”. The desensitization video games create has been measured in a recent study. Researchers in Indiana measured the effects of “WWF Smackdown” on the players brain. The study monitored the parts of the brain involved in emotional control and inhibition of behavior. The anger portion of the brain showed amplified readings, while the buffer, or restraint part of the brain became less active.

The effects of video games have been linked to crimes such as the Colombine and Jonesboro shootings. In both cases gunman were owners and devoted players of violent video games. Dozens of other cases have been connected with video games. In Flint, Michigan a 6 year old boy shot a 6 year old peer. The boy learned gunmanship from point and shoot video games.

The effects of violent media has on children are measurable and long lasting. A joint statement made by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychological Association states that there are well over a thousand studies based on over 30 years of research proving the harmful effects of exposing children to violence. It is important that the intake of television, movie, video game and other forms of violent and potentially violent media are monitored in order to foster the development of youth.

At birth, a baby's brain has approximately 100 billion nerve cells. These cells are not yet fully mature and lack the critical connections that determine an individual's emotional, social, and intellectual make-up. Most of these gaps disappear by the time the child is six years old, but the brain remains greatly impressionable well into teen years. By the age three, a child's brain has twice as many synapses as an adult's brain. This suggests that children are biologically primed to learn in the early stages of life. The material and environment children are exposed to during this crucial stage builds the standards of right and wrong. If a child lives in an environment where violence appears to be acceptable, the child will form a connection and often accept the behavior as appropriate.

Violence has always made an impression on children. The Academy of Pediatrics Media Violence Policy states, “The strength of the correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior is greater than the correlation between calcium intake and bone mass”.

Before the days of advanced video games, television, and movies different forms of violence impacted children. It is documented that Hawaiian teachers perceived an extreme increase in violent play after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

With advances in technology, children can now watch the destruction of Pearl Harbor on DVD on a daily basis. The media has become a major influence on the minds of children. Profits from a single movie reach well into the multi-million dollar range. Over 219 million televisions, and 144 million computers are owned within the United States alone. The media has become increasingly available to children in recent years. Television, movies, and video games are produced and marketed to appeal exclusively to children. In order to maximize profits, this specialized media is often interlaced with violence.

The movie industry alone creates a large amount of violence-saturated films. These films are then marketed to appeal to youth. Dartmouth University conducted a study in which they asked if 5,456 children and teenagers had seen 50 selected top box office movies. These movies had been identified to contain the most violence out of the top 600 box office films. They contained scenes of sadistic rape, sodomy, brutal or ritualistic murders, and cannibalism. On average, each subject had seen 28% of the violent rich movies. The lead Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School stated, “Demand for seeing violent movies is spurred by the adverting practices of the media industry. Through movies adolescents are being exposed to brutal and often sexualized violence ”.

This sort of violence is presented to children not only in movies, but on a daily basis through television. Violence is no longer isolated to post bedtime hours but floods prime time television. Ladies Home Journal estimated that the average American child observes the destruction of 13,000 human beings between the hours of 4 and 9. It is estimated that 3-5 acts of violence are shown in ever hour of prime time television This number grows dramatically to 25-30 acts of violence when viewing a full hour of children’s cartoons. These cartoons, which are often seen as harmless, can produce long-term problems. Children who watched the popular cartoons “Road Runner” and “Starsky and Hutch” on a regular basis were found to be more violent in adulthood nearly 15 years later. Similar results exist for children who were exposed to a variety of television programs for extended periods of time. A recent study analyzed data of 707 people over a period of 17 years measuring television viewing habits and aggression at various times. The study went on to find the 6% of the 14 year olds who watched less than one hour of television a day went on to engage in threats and violent acts, in comparison to 29% who watched more than three hours a day The average American child watches between 4.5 – 5 hours of television per day.

The daily consumption of violent media is also boosted by the prevalence of video games. Approximately 70 % of children from third to twelfth grade own a video game player. Of the 70%, 45% state they play the games in their room the majority of the time. Video games are the newest and possibly most dangerous wave of media violence. Games with violent images gross large profits. “Streetfighter” made 1.3 billion dollars in 1993. Furthermore, the bloodier Sega version outsold the less gruesome Nintendo version 7 to 1. Video games such as “Streetfighter” are considered a greater threat to the mental health of children because children take an active part in the violence being demonstrated. A study at the University of Utrecht was conducted on students while they watched a violent 10-minute excerpt from “Rambo.” Results of students who held a remote were compared to those who did not. The gory scenes much less affected the subjects who held the remote. The ones who controlled the violence taking place in front of them were numbed to it. Practices like these are comparable to what it used to desensitize soldiers in preparation for combat. David Grossman, an army psychologist stated, “One of the most effective and widely used simulators developed by the US Army in recent years us nothing more than a modified Super Nintendo game. In fact it closely resembles the game Duck Hunt”.

The desensitization video games create has been measured in a recent study. Researchers in Indiana measured the effects of “WWF Smackdown” on the players brain. The study monitored the parts of the brain involved in emotional control and inhibition of behavior. The anger portion of the brain showed amplified readings, while the buffer, or restraint part of the brain became less active.

The effects of video games have been linked to crimes such as the Colombine and Jonesboro shootings. In both cases gunman were owners and devoted players of violent video games. Dozens of other cases have been connected with video games. In Flint, Michigan a 6 year old boy shot a 6 year old peer. The boy learned gunmanship from point and shoot video games.

The effects of violent media has on children are measurable and long lasting. A joint statement made by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychological Association states that there are well over a thousand studies based on over 30 years of research proving the harmful effects of exposing children to violence. It is important that the intake of television, movie, video game and other forms of violent and potentially violent media are monitored in order to foster the development of youth.

Media and Democracy

2009-04-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

The public sphere or what can often be termed the public domain can be characterized as the images that are presented by the mass media through advertising, television, popular newspapers, magazines, photography and the Internet. Whilst all of these are important instruments of the media, for the purpose of clarity and word limitations most will only be acknowledged not addressed “The popular media of the modern world is the place where and the means by which the public is created and has its being.”

Throughout this essay it will be shown that the mass media are not only beneficial to a democratic public sphere but at times can also be characterized as detrimental to that public domain. However within any democracy the mass media are definitely a fundamental component in the process of governmental accountability.

The right to public communication and debate lies at the centre of all democratic processes and is an essential element of all democracies. Citizens of a democracy not only require but also demand access to all sources of information and all opportunities to participate in debates from which political decisions ultimately flow.

This can be illustrated by the way in which major campaigns are fought for the political support of the general public during both State and Federal elections. Australian politics is often influenced by the way in which the news media corporations present issues to the Australian public.

Politics as we know it is inconceivable without the news media. They are the central channel of communication between governors and the governed, the most important link between the actions of the state and the citizenry, the major arena in battles between political groups for public support.

Governmental accountability, freedom of speech and informed public opinion are issues, which are considered to be crucial to the public sphere and in what ultimately constitutes a truly democratic state. The American Constitution can be seen as the clearest example of a document that truly enshrines citizen’s rights and liberties in such a clear and precise manner. In the First Amendment, of the Bill Rights there is an indisputable right to free press often characterized as an extension of the right to freedom of speech. However, this right is undoubtedly “an enforceable limitation on government, when that government infringes upon a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.”

There is no such equivalent affirmation within the Australian Constitution, however the concepts of governmental accountability, freedom of speech, and informed public opinion are to a greater extent taken for granted. Through classic liberal ideologies that argue that “the primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog, overseeing the state.” This can often be characterized by revealing abuses conducted at the hands of government authority, or by facilitating a general debate regarding the function and accountability of government.

The classic liberal ideology of having the media as an ultimate watchdog is often said to prevail over the importance of all other functions of the media. It is perceived that influential empires with strong political affiliations for example: the Murdoch and Packer empires that control a substantial proportion of the Australian mass media industry should not monopolize the press as is often the case within Australia.

In recent decades the media have demonstrated that they possess the ability to extract policy favours from both major arms of government. It is interesting to note that governments believe that by curtailing to the media empires, their electoral interests will be represented at the next election with favourable coverage and ultimately political success.

The next election is in two years… I’m sure Howard will need some help then from a media proprietor… Every election cycle costs the government in respect of free and tangible gifts to media proprietors, half a billion dollars per election cycle.

However according to classic liberal ideology it is preferred that the mass media should be secured within the free market thereby ensuring the media’s complete independence from government. Consequently as can be illustrated above a “press that is licensed, franchised, or regulated is subject to political pressures when it deals with issues affecting the interests of those in power.”

However the huge establishing costs, the concentrated supply, distribution expenses, and the advertising revenue have all contributed to oligopoly that is established within the media empires of Australia. It has been decades since a successful daily newspaper not linked to a major media chain has been established with Australia, this only reiterates that the mass media industry is a monopoly dominated by those that can afford to play. “The outstanding feature of the contemporary media is not just its commercial nature but its sheer size and concentration.”

Whilst the media in Australia may be instrumental in the democratic process, and may be crucial in upholding the traditional foundations of what a democracy is said to represent that does not always mean that their corporate interests always coincide or are beneficial to the major public interest.

The news media is the only quasi-institutional check in a representative democracy, whose achievements are measured by commercial success. Its head is in politics while its feet are grounded in commerce.

The influence that the media has over the government does not represent a truly democratic model that is beneficial for the public sphere.

A significant illustration of the mass media being influenced and subsequently driven by governmental agenda is the ongoing controversy surrounding the events of September 11 2001. The ‘war against terror’ crisis as it has become known has been sensationalized by the mass media to create a wave of hysteria within the public domain. “Television has long been established as the primary source of news for the Australian public.” It has been television that has been used to deliver explosive headlines and short television frames of planes flying into buildings, thereby the media have created and developed a devotion to the ‘war against terror’.

The events surrounding September 11 2001 have continuously been reiterated over a space of time by the mass media for the public domain. This has been a concerted effort to gain wide spread support in Australia for the Howard government’s decision to support America by committing the people of Australia in the fight against terrorism. It would be naпve to assume that the mass media during this period would not push the government’s agenda or deliver a truly unbiased opinion.

It became clear in the 1970’s that a new form of terrorism was emerging, characterized as “media-orientated terror.” Since the events of September 11 2001 it has become apparent that the mass media have been used as an effective tool in driving fear into the hearts of the Western world. This could not of been more successful than through the use of the Western worlds own source: the mass media.

Terrorist attacks are often carefully choreographed to attract the attention of the electronic media and the international press… Terrorism is aimed at the people watching, not at the actual victims…

In most terrorist cases the media serve as the sole source of information and interpretation for the public domain, therefore by redefining the images of September 11 2001 the public become dependent on the mass media for information and interpretation.

Before September 11 2001 it would be correct to assume that the majority of the public domain within the western world did not have any form of established or informed opinion of terrorism. However in the months following September 11 2001 through television presentation and continuous coverage of dramatic features of the event, people within the public domain have become easily influenced into believing what the mass media is continuously generating.

As has been illustrated above the type of power that the mass media wields over international and even national affairs is specific. In recent decades this power has been used to dominate what the public thinks about and what the prescribed popular opinion is. Thereby setting the agenda for public discussion regarding public affairs instead of determining public opinion. “the media influence what the people think about more than what they think.” September 11 2001 illustrates that the media have significantly contributed to the public opinion that unrestricted revenge against those responsible for September 11 2001 is justified.

In the months following September 2001 the public discussion centered around the events and activities of September 11 2001. Whether that discussion was precipitated by the events, or the mass hysteria that was sensationalized by the media is irrelevant. The mass media used their power to create the public hysteria surrounding September 11 2001 and the events that are the direct consequences of that day have become the ultimate news of the new millennium.

A more recent example of the mass media using their power to influence public opinion at the bequest of governmental agenda has been through the current ‘refugee crisis’ currently encapsulating Australia.

The mass media have again sensationalized the issues surrounding the arrival of refugees in Australia. This has been consistently achieved by dramatizing the figures surrounding the actual number of arriving refugees within Australia. During the recent months September 11 2001 has been used as the catalyst for statements by both arms of the Australian government that the refugees that are arriving do not have a checkable backgrounds which is essential for the granting of refugee status.

Thereby the scenario has been created and established by the government with the assistance of the mass media that the events of September 11 2001 could occur within Australia if the government accepts all refugees that arrive.

The images of planes flying into buildings are again depicted across television screens and newspapers and the discreet undertone of the ‘west verses the rest’ is reiterated for the masses. This consistently reinforces the opinion that by allowing and accepting refugees from war torn states, Australia is opening the floodgates to terrorist attacks on the same scale of events that occurred on September 11 2001.

As has been shown the mass media within Australia contribute enormously to the process of political socialization through influencing and often setting the agenda for public discussion regarding public affairs. The media’s potential to influence and shape cultural and political attitudes, reiterates the power and influence that is concealed within the everyday functioning and running of the public sphere.

However within the confines of the mass media there is the incentive to be responsive and responsible to the public domain. It is true that Australians in recent years have become significantly better informed regarding political agendas and policies that were ever available to the public in the preceding decades.

Overall the mass media are a fundamental element of democracy allowing for greater accountability of government, and freedom of speech thereby establishing that mass media is ultimately beneficial to the public sphere. The mass media have ultimately ensured that the government of the day is to a greater extent accountable for the formulation of policies and innovations affecting everyday Australians.

However what must ultimately be determined is are the mass media truly providing a informed and unbiased opinion that is considered essential for a true democracy, or are the media simply just another player in the government game of convincing the public domain?

Evolution in Anthropology

2009-04-09T23:58:00.001-07:00

Fossils representing the precursors of the primates may go back before the extinction of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. There are some primate-like teeth and bones found in Montana and Wyoming, dated from 60 to 65 maya. But the first undisputed primates appear about 55 maya. These early primates, despite the modern primate arboreal theme, may not themselves have been arboreal. As these primates continue to evolve, these basic traits prove a useful adaptive response to a more generalized life in the trees. Later the eastern and western hemispheres became completely separate, dividing the early primates into two geographical groups. The early new world primates were apparently replaced by more advanced monkey like primates that migrated from Africa to the Americas when the two continents were closer together by “island hopping” over a chain of volcanic islands or by rafting. Apes appear in the fossil record about 23 maya. With the evolution of larger bodies and larger brains, they became a successful group of primates.

Bipedalism was the first hominid feature to evolve millions of years before our big brains and flat faces. Each new fossil or new date or new interpretation of ancient environments changes the outlook slightly. Early hominid fossils found in eastern and southern Africa have long been linked to the Savannas that began expanding because of climate changes about 5 maya. It freed the forelimbs to carry things, including offspring and food. The vertical orientation helped cool the body by exposing a smaller surface area to the intense equatorial rays of the sun, and by placing more of the body above the ground to catch cooling air currents. It was very efficient and required less energy for long periods of steady walking.

Beginning with the first evidence of habitual bipedalism a little over 4 maya, the hominid fossil record becomes more complete and more complex. The hominid fossil record begins with an enigmatic set of specimens from Ethiopia dated at 4.4 maya. At present place in a separate genus, Ardipithecus, these fossils have been described as belonging to a forest dwelling, very ape-like biped. The earliest well established hominid fossils are placed in genus Australopithecus and are often divided into as many as three or four species. Their bones show full upright walking, but their faces are ape-like, their brain sizes approximate those of chimpanzees, their bodies average about 105 pounds, and their arms are long and heavily muscled. They were probably well adapted to both arboreal and terrestrial environments, and microscopic analysis of their teeth indicates a mixed vegetable diet of fruits and leaves. Early hominids made tools from stone as far back as 2.6 maya. Stone tools last for millions of years and provide evidence that were tools. Tools were used for such as: sharpening branching for crude spears or sticks for digging up roots, or cutting up plant materials for food or other purposes. It appears that stone tools allowed early homo to better exploit a source of food that was no doubt exploited before but would have entailed difficulty and danger - the scavenging of meat and bones from the carcasses of dead animals.

Evidently the adaptation of early homo proved so successful that hominid evolution seems to accelerate every 2 maya. Within about 800,000 years of the first evidence of stone tools in Africa, fossils of homo are found as far away as Georgia, China, and Java. Homo sapiens are seen as a 2 million year old species that displays a great deal of variation over time, but has always maintained enough to remain a single species.

Beginning about 1.8 maya, we find fossils representing what looks like a fairly sudden jump in our evolution. Body size is now within the modern human range and is essentially modern in shape. From the neck up, the bones reveal the retention of primitive features with one notable exception. Brain size has now evolved to an average of 960 ml and a maximum of 1250 ml. This is the Homo erectus stage named because when the first of these fossils were found in Java around the time of the 20th century, they were thought to be the first humans to walk upright. Fossils belonging to the Homo erectus stage are dated from 1.8 maya to perhaps as recently 100,000 years ago. Homo erectus members were expanding their range, they were coming into contact with the changeable environments of the ice age. This period was from 1.6 maya to around 10,000 years ago, when a decrease in the earths average temperature caused great sheets of ice, glaciers, to advance in the polar regions and out of higher elevations.

The brain size, and some other detailed features associated with modern humans, appears to have been achieved by some fossils from Spain dated at 780,000 years ago and from Tanzania and Ethiopia at 700,000 and 600,000 years ago. An early achievement of the stage dated to around 200, 000 years ago and appearing first in Africa, was a new tool marking technique. It’s called Levallois, or prepared-core, technique and essentially allows for the production of a number of predictably shaped flakes off a single core – historys’ first example of mass production. Although the Neanderthals are sometimes considered a separate species, we will here include them in Archaic Homo sapiens because of their modern size brains and retention of primitive cranial features. The bones of the Neanderthals, even the finger bones, were sturdier with heavier muscle markings than those of modern humans or for the matter, other archaics. They were stocky, muscular, powerful people, and these traits are even seen in Neanderthal children, so they are assumed to be the result of inheritance, not simply a hard working lifestyle. Based on features of fossils, as well as genetic analysis, some authorities feel Neanderthals are a separate species that made no contribution to the modern gene pool. According to them, the Neanderthal set of physical features died out when the species was replaced by more modern humans. Neanderthals were certainly a long lived group who were successful in adapting to some harsh and demanding climatic conditions, and who were clearly intelligent and sentient beings.

Beginning perhaps as early as 300,000 years ago, fossils with near modern features appear, earliest in Africa and later in other parts of the old world. We call these fossils anatomically modern because they lack some features characteristic of earlier hominids and possessive features common to humans today. Stone tools now show a great deal of craftsmanship. Some are so thin and delicate they must not have been made for a utilitarian purpose. There is clear evidence of big game hunting. And art makes an appearance in the form of carvings, and starting about 32,000 years ago, paintings in caves that rival art produced today.

A missing skull was discovered in England 40 years later proven to be a fraud. It was considered a missing link because it possessed traits that were a perfect mix between those of human and ape. Its cranium was the shape and size of a modern human and its lower jaw was decidedly apelike. For much of the history of evolutionary though, evolution was conceived of as a ladder or chain progressing from primitive to modern. We can recognize today that living species are not leftover primitive links on an evolutionary chain but rather contemporary products of evolution. A missing link in the traditional sense an intermediate between modern humans and modern apes simply does not exist. What does exist is a common ancestor of humans and our closest relatives the chimpanzees and bonobos, and we have reason to think that the common ancestor resembles a bonobo or chimp more than a modern human. This is because evolution happens to have taken place at a more rapid pace in hominids than in apes are still modern species.

Engineering The Future

2009-04-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

Did you know that over 1.2 million Africans have died within the last two years due to the lack of food? As this problem continues, many world leaders are trying to come across methods that will reduce this problem. Although donations are commonly granted, many of these donations can only cope with a small percent of this problem. However, scientists have found an alternative source that will greatly assist this immense concern. As a result of their long, extensive research, scientists have discovered a way to genetically alter seeds, thus possibly solving the food shortage. Imagine increasing the size of a grain of rice by 50% and multiplying that increase by a million pounds. This clearly shows one of the possible options that genetic engineering has to offer. Genetic engineering is a new medical breakthrough that will play a tremendous role in improving world issues, our farming and medical technology.

Genetic engineering is an excellent step toward improving the quality of food that is donated to third world countries. Many third world countries today are not getting a good amount of nutrition due to the low amount of food they receive. For instance, organizations are compelled to limit their food donation due to the high demand of food assistance. With this limitation, people do not have the option to discard any food donation that has inferior quality. As a result of this, people are not only dying of food starvation but also from food intoxication. With genetic engineering, food cannot only be increased in size but also engineered to reduce common spoilage as well as increase the nutrition of the food. Genetic engineering will also improve the quantity of food. If we continue to destroy land, our primary food source, who knows what the future has in store for us. For example, as a result of World War II and Vietnam, land has been considered non-farmable because of the infection left by nuclear and chemical use. To make matters worse, countries are now experimenting with biological weapons. If a war were to break out now, the after affect will be greatly devastating on not only humans but also on our crops. With its ability to increase food greatly, genetic engineering can help restore our lost crops. As it clearly shows, genetic engineering is a great tool for improving world hunger as well as future problems.

Genetic engineering can also be a great asset in improving ours farming. First, genetic engineering can help our crop defend itself from pesky insects. For instance, Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly known as Bt, is a bacterium that kills certain insects. When insects eat the protein produced by Bt, it will disrupt their digestive system and cause death. If we were to genetically engineer seeds to have this bacterium, the chance of insects destroying our crop will reduce. Second, genetic engineering has the ability to help us enhance our soil. For hundreds of years we have been trying to come up with ways to improve our soil. Although some people were successful, the methods they have created consist of long, extensive planning. With genetic engineering, improving soil can be as easy as planting a seed. For instance, when a seed is genetically altered, the seed is given genes that will be helpful in improving the soil. When a seed is fully altered, the seed will have a greater adaptation to the soil. Due to the seed’s ability to adapt more, the relationship between the seed and soil will be enhanced. Experiencing the hassle of farming can be moderately minimized, when applying the method of genetic engineering.

Medical technology will be given a powerful edge when using genetic engineering. Many scientists believe that genetic engineering will significantly reduce our tendency to become sick. With a new medical technique called Human Germline Engineering, a person can be immune to certain diseases from the moment of conception. For instance, at the moment a female egg is fertilized, the disease resistant gene will be microscopically injected into the egg, so when the person is fully grown, their body will able to resist certain diseases.

Although the process is not entirely complete, scientists believe that this medical technique will be the icebreaker for eliminating common diseases. Second, genetic engineering can be critical in helping people with their genetic setbacks. There are some people who are born with genetic flaws or some sort of genetic setback that gives them a disadvantage in life. The fear of inheriting a genetic flaw can be eliminated with help of genetic engineering. For instance, gene therapy, another form of genetic engineering, was found to help treat certain cancers such as melanoma and neuroblastoma. Scientists were able to eliminate a genetic defect, such as hemophilia, from an entire family line with a single procedure. With new medical advancement today, genetic engineering demonstrates significant potential.

In summary, genetic engineering is a newly discovered medical technique that will be essential for solving global issues. Many of today’s issues are becoming too great to handle. With genetic engineering, problems such as world hunger can be significantly improved. With a couple of genetically altered seeds, the rate of farming can be greatly increased. As it was not enough to improve world hunger, genetic engineering will also have a crucial effect on our medical technology. With all the vital possibilities genetic engineering has to offer, it will be mind-boggling to hear that this medical treatment has been discarded. Science is not only our means of explaining effects; it is our means of existences.

History of Marijuana

2009-04-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Known as the gateway drug marijuana has caused much debate about its medical use and harmfulness. Known as early as 3,000 B.C, marijuana was used as a folk medicine by the inhabitants of central Asia and was also used by the Native Americans for peace pipes. Even though marijuana was known as early as 3,000 B.C its wide spread use did not begin until between 1960 and 1970. Marijuana became, after alchol , the second most popular drug used. Marijuana has not been proven physically addicting and no withdrawl symptoms occurs when use is discontinued but a physcoligical dependance can occur and it can harm the lungs. Medical reasearch on marijuana has indicated that the drug is effective in alleviating some of the symptoms of glaucoma and treating the nausea induced by chemotherarpy. The legal issues dealing with marijuana first started, in 1915, in the state of Utah. In Utah, after a pilgrimage to Mexico, the followers of the mormon religion returned to Utah with marijuana. The Mormon Church has always been opposed to the use of euphoriants, and in August of 1915 the Church decreed the use of marijuana contrary to the Mormon religion. In October of 1915, the state legislature met and enacted every religious prohibition as a criminal law and that is how the first criminal law in this country's history against the use of marijuana came to be.

Marijuana , nationally, has been only ileagal since 1937 as a part of laws passed during the new deal era. In the congress hearing to discuss marijuana Harry Anslinger, the newly named Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics said, “Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death,” wich was a totally false stament given on behalf of the Government of the united states of america. At the hearing there was not enough evidence proving marijuana non-leathal and with little opposition the laws against marijuana was passed. Until 1951, most of the information on marijuana was false and had no medical backing . between 1938 and 1951 many acts and taxes were passed starting with the marijuana tax act, which made marijuana illegal in the united states of america. Many of the acts that were passed increassed the penalties for narcotic use, possesion, and sale.

Marijuana was not only used as a recreational drug it also used to treat patients who had undergone chemotherapy. Many marijuana researchers have found that the drug has useful properties and that contrary to Henry Anslinger the drug was not leathal, did not cause insanity, and criminality in fact the drug aided glaucoma patients, helped cancer patients with the nauesa acocaited with chemotherapy, and caused passivity in its users. In some states the used of marijuana for medicine has been made legal even though marijuana is still ileagal nationally.

Effects of Global Economy

2009-04-09T07:47:00.000-07:00

Global economy is affecting work in the Unites States and worldwide. In a sense, the U.S. economy has always been international because world trade has always linked United States to other countries. The globalization of the economy affects much more than trade however. The concept of global economy acknowledges that all dimensions of the economy now cross national borders, including investment, production, management, markets, labor, information, and technology. Economic events in one nation now can have major reverberations throughout the world, so when the economy in Brazil, Japan, China, or Russia is unstable, the effects are felt worldwide. This all leads to global stratification, in which I will be discussing in this paper. Global stratification is a very important topic in society that raises several negative questions that vary from morality to economic problems and economic power over the world.

Global stratification is a system of inequality of the distribution of resources and opportunities between countries. A particular country’s position is determined by its relationship to other countries in the world and its position in the world market and power over it. The distribution of wealth, and thus power, among nations is extremely unequal. We still have a tendency to call those with the least in terms of economic resources and power the “Third World,” a term first applied to them when they were not formally aligned with either of the two great industrialized blocs of nations. The First World, i.e., the western industrial democracies including US, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe, and the Second World, i.e., the communist industrial nations including the former Soviet Union and the nations of Eastern Europe. The nations of this so-called "Third World" are primarily agrarian countries with relatively little industrialization. Most of the people in them are poor--extremely so by our standards, generally with per capita incomes of less than $1000 per year. Some of these societies, indeed most of them, were largely hunter-gatherer societies until quite recently. Most were colonies of First World nations during most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

I want to discuss just briefly two major theories of global stratification. The two main theories the text covers are modernization theory and dependency theory. Modernization theory, rather predictably, rests on the assumption that newer and highly sophisticated technologies are better than older and simpler technologies. It is, without question, the kind of theory that people in First World nations are more likely to create than people in less well developed countries. Modernization theory asserts that pre-industrial societies are in a "traditional" stage--"traditional" being a sort of shorthand term for a whole host of features including reliance on kinship and other non-contractual bonds for authority and support, reliance on traditional modes of adaptation such as migration as mechanisms for dealing with environmental problems causing lack of food production, etc.

These societies, through exposure to Western technologies, are then said to enter a "take-off" stage in which they begin to develop national, rather than local or regional economies and basic industries, such as a steel industry, which produce products from which other products can be made. Ideally this would begin a "drive to technological maturity" during which more and more of the economy becomes technology-driven and begins to produce a wide variety of consumer goods. As more and more of the work force are employed in industry, the population becomes more urban and also begins to consume more and more manufactured products. This theory assumes that rich modern nations help the under-developed nations with controlling fast-growing populations, increasing their food production through modernization of agriculture, and increasing their productivity by introducing industrial technology, etc. The major mechanisms for such "help" are the foreign aid programs sponsored by the wealthier nations.

The other theory, dependency theory, is more Marxist in its interpretations. It assumes that rich nations got rich for the most part by exploiting the resources of their colonies, most of whom were prevented, while they were colonies, from developing their own industries at their own pace when those industries would have competed with the industries of the mother country. Dependency theory further assumes that profit-seeking multi-national corporations of the rich nations continued that pattern of economic exploitation by using their economic influence to get the leaders of governments to keep their nations' economies from diversifying and producing goods for the consumers in their own countries. What the multi-national corporations want is for the leaders of Third World countries to focus their nations' economic development plans on producing products for export, generally raw materials for export to countries which would turn them into finished goods. There is evidence that some Third World leaders have personally profited from doing what the multinationals wanted. Neocolonialism is a term that applies to the economic relationship between these poor nations, which export raw materials, and the rich nations with their multi-national corporations. The problem essentially is that the raw materials exported are worth less than the manufactured goods imported, thus giving the poor nation a negative balance of trade, that is, a net outflow of money. The only way for these nations to cover the difference is to borrow money from the banks of the rich nations. But this soon leads to high national debts, and a large portion of the poor nation's budget then goes to pay the interest on the debt rather than being spent on the internal development of the poor nation's building, maintaining roads and railroads, building schools and hospitals, etc. As dependency theorists see it, wealthy people in rich nations profit from this arrangement in two ways, by getting cheaper raw materials for the multi-national corporations they own and by making money on the loans their banks make to the poor nations. The people of the poor nations are the losers in this arrangement.

The simplest way to explain what causes global stratification is money. Everyone wants a piece of it but there isn’t enough to go around, and those [countries] who have control over the economy will get most of it. Money is what makes the rich countries richer and makes the poor countries poorer. Money is proportionally related to power; power comes to those with the most money in their possession. In this case its not people, rather countries. Richer countries exploit poor countries and the ones who suffer are the people in the poor countries. Up to this day, global stratification is still increasing at an alarming rate and living conditions for poor countries are getting worse than ever, while people in wealthy countries are enjoying the high life at their expense.
Global stratification comes with its consequences however. Richer countries are well better off in every way possible than the poorer countries. Third world countries experience much higher birthrates and mortality rates than first and second world countries. In third world countries, women have an average of five children throughout their lifetime. Because of this, the populations of the poor countries are growing at a much faster rate than the population of the wealthy countries, most of which are rural. Most of the people in wealthy countries have clean water and access to adequate sanitation. People born in these countries are expected to live an average of seventy-seven years. In the poorest countries the situation is completely different in a negative aspect. Many children die within the first five years of life, people live significantly shorter lives, and fewer people have clean water and access to adequate sanitation.

Education varies extremely between wealthy and poor countries. In wealthy nations education is expected and necessary for a person to do well in life. Literacy and school enrollment are now largely taken for granted in high-income nations. Those who are not well educated stand little chance of success. People in poor nations lack a good education. They only learn what’s necessary for them to live day by day in their technology-lacking society. The disadvantage of this informal and traditional education is that, although it prepares people for their traditional lives, it often does not give them the skills and knowledge needed to operate in the modern world. Therefore, as these poor countries and the people within them are confronted by the developing world, they often do not have the skills and knowledge to survive in these new environments. As a result, their low educational level limits their ability to adjust to changing world situations, particularly in an increasingly technological world, and it perpetuates their underdeveloped status. However, education is improving greatly in the world, even in the poor areas. Only six percent of the nations report a school enrollment rate below fifty percent.

In some areas of the world, particularly East Asia, but also in Latin America, many countries have shown rapid growth and have emerged as developed countries. These countries are the newly industrialized countries (NICs), which include Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand. In these countries, individuals have saved and invested, and the governments have invested in social and economic development. However, other countries appear to be taking a dive into poverty and position in the global stratification system. In some of these cases, their governments have collapsed or are functioning only at minimal levels, the economy is bankrupted, the standard of living has plunged, and people are starving. I wish I could believe that all of these countries are going to pull it off and make and economic progress soon, but we all have to be realistic about this situation. It is near impossible to have every single nation above the poverty line and have a technology-driven economy. I believe that while the wealthy nations will soon realize that there are countries that aren’t making it, they will try to help them build up their economy, but there is only so much we can do. We have to face reality and realize that a perfect world is not possible, only the strong survive and those not strong enough simply weren’t cut for it, unless everyone does drastic changes in this world and fast.

Communication Imagery

2009-04-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

This paper is written based around the communication scene observed in the daytime Soap Opera One Life to Live. The soap opera is based in a city called Landview. The scene takes place inside a local restaurant/bar, where people come to relax, hang out, drink, read the newspaper, listen to music, or do paper work. The characters in the scene are AJ (the restaurant’s owner), Zeth (an employee at the restaurant), and Al (a customer). In the scene Interpersonal and Mass communication are observed. Two functions that occurred in the scene are Instruction and Persuasion. This paper will show how these levels of communication, and functions, were played out in the scene. The Berlo’s Model of Communication will also be used to show how the characters act according to the model.
When communicating with other people we tend to have different ways to express ourselves. It is a complicated procedure that has several levels in which people express themselves. The scene observed gave outstanding examples of Interpersonal communication. Interpersonal Communication is the basic form of communication between two people. Most people deal with Interpersonal communication on a daily basis. Zeth and AJ converse about the newspaper. Their conversation has no real point; it is just an informal exchange. Most people have several informal exchanges each day. It might be a hello to the mailman or a five-minute conversation with an old friend. Zeth talks to one of the customers in the restaurant (Al) saying, “Can I get you something to drink?”. Al responds saying, “Yes a soda, a large soda, a large large soda”. The men converse back in forth taking about drinks, and then turn their conversation to the topic of Al’s writing. The conversation facilitates to them achieving a common ground; they both are going to take classes at Landview U. Zeth talks about how he is interested in sitting in on a couple of classes. From their conversation they start to form a relationship. They plan to take classes together, and study in groups in the near future.

Mass communication is the second level of communication observed in the scene. Mass communication is a source of message that communicates through print or electronic medium. AJ is observed reading the newspaper and he tells Zeth what he is reading about. A newspaper is a source of message intended for a mass population, rather than for only a small number of individuals. Mass communication is an expensive form of communication. In order to get ideas across or to get people to buy a product. “Television advertisements during the Super Bowl each January will cost millions of dollars per minute”. The radio (form of Mass communication) was playing in the restaurant during the entire scene. The radio is meant for a large public audience, anonymous to the source. The radio communicates to people on an intimate level and dictates which of many different moods people should be in. The broadcasts might say, “It’s time to dance,” and put people in a partying mood. Soft relaxing music might convey a message it is time to relax not work. Most mass communication has limited opportunities for feedback. For examples, television is a form of mass communication in which it is hard to give feedback. You watch TV and you both digest and remember the information or you simply dismiss and forget the information. You cannot talk back to the television.

There is several functions in communication, in which people try to express themselves. The scene observed clearly showed two functions. The first function is Instruction. Instruction gives the information plus the explanation of how to do something. Instructions also show or teach skills for a particular topic. Zeth and Al both talked about, and read a course catalog for Landview College. The college catalog gave general information about the college and which classes to take for each major. It also gave a basic social understanding of in which classes one should register. Zeth and Al both were interested in reading the daily newspaper “The Sun.” The newspaper gives people a good social understanding of what is going on in their community. The newspaper can also be classified in another major function of communication, Persuasion. Newspapers persuade and attempt to change people’s minds by writing with a selected bias. Persuasion is the attempt to influence and change people’s opinions on certain topics. The newspaper like other persuading items has a clear understanding of values and makes sure it stays within those values.

Berlo’s Model stresses the role of the relationship between the source and the receiver as an important variable in the communication process. The source and the receiver both have communication skills, attitudes, knowledge, social systems, and culture. All characters in the scene observed used communication skills. AJ spoke to Zeth about the newspaper (a form of mass communication) and Zeth listened to what he had to say. Al, after reading the course catalog, wrote down notes on which classes he wanted to take at Landview U. Al is using a communication skill (reading) while looking over the course catalog (a form of mass communication). Zeth thought about Landview U and told Al he was interested in sitting in on classes. Zeth and Al were using communication skills (hearing, talking) while having an interpersonal relationship. Communication skills are used throughout the scene. When Zeth asked about the trial, AJ was tense and had an attitude with Zeth. The model helps to describe the scene, but falls short when it comes to giving the viewer background information. We do not know if Al and Zeth have meet before or why AJ has an attitude with Zeth. We have no knowledge of AJ’s past experiences. AJ acted as if he knew more about the trial than he was telling everyone. Without background information the viewer has to guess why characters communicate the way they do. Zeth’s role is affected by the social system and culture he lives in. He is working at a restaurant so he has to be polite and friendly to the costumers no what they do. The people in his culture expect him to act according to his job title.

In the middle of Berlo’s Model there is two important features; message and channel. The message consists of elements, content, treatment, and structure. When observing the scene you can see how the message is conveyed through different levels of communication. When Zeth and Al were talking (Interpersonal communication) a message was conveyed. Al talked about the content of the course catalog. The catalog was made with great attention (treatment) of the contents. In other words, it was written with the idea that thousands of people would be reading it. The authors of the catalog structured it so the average person could read it and get basic information about classes. The message conveys several important things to us throughout the scene, but falls short when giving us or letting us know the importance of what is being expressed. For example, when Zeth mentions the trial we do not know what the trial is about or its importance to AJ. Without knowing the importance of something, we have to guess why the characters act the way they do and why they stress certain things. After the message is conveyed we look into the channel, which consists of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. AJ held (touching) the newspaper as he read (seeing) it. Zeth is observed hearing AJ talk to him about the newspaper.

In order to better represent my scene I would add importance to the Message stage of Berlo’s Model. In order to better understand what is going on in a scene and why characters act the way they do, you have to understand the importance of the hidden looks, any object or thing that has special importance to the scene. For example, if you are watching a scene from a series you might need to know what happened in earlier scenes in order to get a better understanding of the characters actions or prized possessions. Maybe one character has a special watch and she explained how special it was to her in a previous episode. If we did not watch the previous episode then we would not know why she cried over the lost watch. The Source and the Receiver also need an element of history. This ties in with importance, because if you do not know the history of the scene or the characters, then you will not know the importance of an object or a saying. The history gives you a bit of background information, which helps you to better understand the scene.

Overall we can see how interpersonal communication, mass communication, Instruction, and Persuasion tie in with Berlo’s Model to explain how a scene is bursting with communication. At first you do not notice the levels or the functions, but after close scrutiny it is easy to see that almost everything we do has to do with or is affected by some form of communication. With the changes on Berlo’s Model the scene is completely explained and understood.

Social Philosophy

2009-04-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

Michel Foucault, a master-mind behind the social philosophy, is considered to be
one of the most deceptive philosophers of all time. His main focus on social
philosophy is its affect on the economical power. Foucault’s ideas about bio-power
have changed the way society views the world. Bio-power is the idea of power
over life which means that the source of power emerged from all levels of society.
In earlier times rulers and different forms of government have controlled all aspects
of its citizens and gave them no leeways on how to lead their own lives. Then in
the beginning of the nineteenth century things changed and people fought back
against the controlling governments and gave themselves power. This means that
the society started to have more control and direction over their own lives instead
of being controlled by a ruler or by some form of a government.

Bio-power is a new form of power that gives us a place in social structure. It
unconsciously tries to control the whole population. Bio-power makes us mark
ourselves according to what normalization is. It forces us to use self-surveillance
in order to see how others see you as.

According to Foucault there are two subdivisions of bio-power,
administration of the social body in activities such as human reproduction and the
manipulation of human bodies. The state wants to exploit the human body for their
own purposes. During the seventeenth century, the states exercised their power
by visually marking the bodies through torture as well as using other types of
visible punishment. By the nineteenth century though the states have changed
their ways of exerting their power over its people by techniques of surveillance.
This technique contains a lot of power over people and makes them think twice
before acting on their own instincts because they know in their head that their
actions and words are being watched and followed. This gives a person the sense
of self-surveillance, which denies him of any freedoms that he had before.
Over time the state changed its ways of torture to behavioral control by
discipline. Foucault wanted to show us how the effects of modern power
relationships on the body have changed over time. He finds the origin of
disciplinary technology to be in the penal systems eventhough many other
establishments of society like schools or hospitals have used it in different
proportions. The way that disciplinary technology works is that the criminals in
those penal systems are classified according to crime, and will be forced to
recuperate from thinking about repeating its crimes. The goal of disciplinary
technology is to have control of a person’s behavior through systems of
normalization and self-surveillance. How this goal is trying to be reached is that
the penal system creates the workday for all its prisoners and surveillance
procedures are used to show them how their every day behaviors are different
from the social norms. The authorities of prisons try to indoctrinate the prisoners
and turn them into docile bodies who will then be ready to become useful members
of society. The prisoner’s body is dominated behind closed doors until
brainwashed completely and changed so that they could be let out and used by the
society for economic production and growth. Nietzsche, who I find to be very
perplexed, is also a philosopher who has many ideas on the social philosophy
based on the individuals not as a group. Foucault’s idea of bio-power does help
understand Nietzsche’s social theory. His social theory was that there are two
types of humans, the master-type and the slave-type. The master type is good at
getting what he wants, doesn’t bother to judge others because he’s not insecure
about himself, always goes for it when he sees an opportunity, never holds back, is
not afraid of pain and knows that you will have to endure it at some point, and
always has that drive for will to power. The slave-type can’t get what he wants,
blames others for not being able to do so, creates a new system of valuation, uses
concepts like humble and honest, uses self-deception by deciding in his mind that
the master-types are evil and that they themselves are good, and has no drive for
will to power. Nietzsche believes that these two types of humans exists in each
and one of us but that it varies in the amounts of each for everyone. The more of
one type you contain the more it controls a part of you. He believes that there is
always a self-battle within ourselves between the two types. If you contain more of
the master-type in you than you will not be subjective to the self-surveillance that
bio-power forces you to do. A predominant slave-type will end up being controlled
by a form of government or by a master-type because of his self-punishment and
lack of drive for a will to power.

Nietzsche and Foucault are both concerned with the dangers of conformity.
They both want the society to vary in morals and not be so narrow minded about
the ethics. They believe that what contributes to conformity is that we are
rewarded form early in our lives when inside the boundaries of morals and
normalization. We do have moral duties for future generations to not introduce
them to normalization but to make their own standards. The two philosophers are
very concerned with the impact that the present will have on the future.
Nietzsche criticizes democracy because he believes that it is a form of
death for man as well as the death of political organizations. He believes it makes
man mediocre and lowers his value. He clarifies democracy as an unnecessary
system, a system that borders with the socialist formula. Democracy is based on
protecting the right of those who are not equal to others. Its goal is to create a
world where everybody’s equal yet once all are equal there will be no more need
for protection of rights that are the basis of a democratic system. This is why
democracy won’t let that happen. Another reason why Nietzsche dislikes the
democratic system is because he himself believes that there are weak people and
that there are strong people, therefore the concept of all being equal is impossible
to grasp for him.

Both Nietzsche and Foucault go in depth on the concept of truth and the
search for truth. Nietzsche has his idea of the will to truth, which is a psychological
faculty, and Foucault has the regime of truth, which is an intersubjective concept of
truth. Foucault believes that when a regime creates its own truth it hides the
power reality behind it that makes the people believe that truth and start following it
giving the regime immense power over them. Its almost as the regime said, this is
the way it is, this is how you have to act, and don’t question us. If you were to
substitute the truth of one regime to the truth of another regime no freedom would
be gained from that because you would still be under the power of a different
regime-based truth. Nietzsche and Foucault believe that we need to revisit our
nature of thinking. This means that everything we’ve been taught is wrong and
should be changed. They both agree on the fact that traditional ethnics have been
based on the will to truth, which doesn’t say much about the ethics since the truth
is based on personal gains and will to power. How than can we find the real truth?

Health and Environmental Protection

2009-04-07T22:52:00.001-07:00

The environment, a place in which we live, and a cradle of all lives on earth, is the most precious gift that God created for the human kind. And health, a priceless possession of human life, and the one which we cannot live without, keeps us physically in good conditions. Since our health and the environment are closely beside us and so important to us, we can imagine how our lives would be if both of them were ruined. Yet we are now doing many things that destroy the beautiful environment, and as a result our health deteriorates.

The environment, which sustains human life, is a profound source of ill health for many of the world's population. In the least developed countries, one in five children don't live to see their fifth birthday -- mostly because of avoidable environmental threats to health. Hundreds of millions of others, children and adults, suffer ill health and disability that undermine their quality of life and hopes for the future. These environmental health threats include lack of clean food and water, sanitation, adequate housing, and protection from mosquitoes and other insect and animal disease vectors. The people often suffer from diseases such as malaria, typhoid and cholera. Even those curable diseases can cause many deaths in the undeveloped countries because they lack proper medical treatment and public hygiene.

However, not only the poor suffer, the habitants in developing and even rich countries have also become victims of environmental pollution. The improper treatment of chemicals and disposal of refuse, the burning of fossil fuels, the emission of poisonous gases and the overcrowding and stuffy air in urban areas are the major components of environment pollutions resultant from industrialization and modernization. This damages the organs of human and animals and the genetic formation of all living organisms and cause illnesses like cancers, respiratory sickness, weakening of human immune system, and the large amount of unusual deaths of plants and animals due to abnormal climatic changes such as the greenhouse effect.

Health and environment have a subtle correlation with each other. So if we want to be healthier, we have to contribute more on environmental protection. We have to maintain the balance of the ecosystem and lessen the production of waste materials. The government should implement careful plans for urban development, restrain the use of fossil fuels and hazardous chemicals, relieve congestion, and help the undeveloped areas to improve their sanitary system. We should also support recycling and keep our environment clean so as to create a healthy environment for ourselves as well as our descendents to live in, or else it will be too late.

Terrorism in the United States

2009-04-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Terrorism has been a growing threat in the United States over the past eight to ten years. However, the government has always seemed to be able to protect United States citizens from harm caused by terrorists. Yet, on September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by a group of Islamic terrorists, lead by Osama bin Laden, known as Al-Qaeda. The terrorist group hijacked and crashed two airplanes into The World Trade Center in New York City. They also hijacked and crashed a plane into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The last attempt on an attack was a plane that was hijacked and it was apparently headed to the White House. Fortunately, the people on the airplane tried their hardest to fight the hijackers and the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Many innocent people were killed in America and its people have done nothing to deserve this attack on our country.

Osama bin Laden is one of the one of America’s most wanted criminals. He has said that everything bad that falls upon the United States is a blessing. He has also stated that the end of the United States is drawing much nearer. As previously stated, he is the man behind all of the attacks that occurred on September 11. After the attacks on America, the government retaliated and attacked bin Laden’s homeland of Afghanistan. America bombed Afghanistan continuously and then proceeded to help the citizens by spending many tax dollars to repair and rebuild everything the innocent citizens had lost in all of the bombings throughout the night.

It seems that when you look back in history, the United States has always been involved with other countries, trying to make peace and show them that they can have freedom in their homeland. At the time of the attacks on September 11, the United States government had approximately five thousand troops in Saudi Arabia. The reason that the troops were there in the first place was to stand guard and make sure that Iraq was following the rules and not entering Saudi Arabia and flying in the no-fly zones, which is off limits to them. Apparently, Osama Bin Laden, who is the leader of the Al-Qaeda network, did not think this was a legitimate reason for the United States to be in Saudi Arabia. He absolutely despises America and wants his revenge on it.

The Al-Qaeda network looks at the United States Foreign Policy as being part of a campaign to repress the Muslim world. Supporters believe that the Muslim people are the victims of international terrorism lead and caused by America and the United Nations.

America has always supported repressive Arab regimes. Osama bin Laden believes that these regimes are oppressive and corrupt. He has said that the regimes are completely the opposite of humanity, justice, and peace. Because of these reasons, he also hates the United States, the American Armed Forces, and the American Government. America in no way wants to be in wars with other countries, but the government also does not want to sit by and watch terrible things happen to innocent people in other countries because of horrific leaders who like to kill, rape, and dictate.

Although it was said that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the terrible attacks, there is always suspicion that Hussein was involved. Hussein hates America for many reasons, beginning with the Gulf War. In August 1990, the United States has put many economic sanctions on Iraq including: trade on all goods except medicine and humanitarian food aid, banning all international flights to and from Iraq, and most other financial transactions. Then in April 1991, the Security Council passed Resolution 687, which stated that the United States would keep all the sanctions active until Iraq met conditions that the American government had set. Since then, America has watched closely over Iraq and Hussein. It was said that he might have had chemical weapons hidden in his country that he planned to use against America. Hussein has always been wrong to the people in his country. He dictates over them in a rude manner. All America has ever wanted to do is to try to help the Iraqi people to understand freedom and democracy, because America believes that all countries should be under that sort of government.

Many people believe that America always interferes with other countries problems. It is said that the United States is always brought into someone else’s civil war because of its help to foreigners. It seems that the government is always spending millions of dollars in aiding other countries with things such as medicine, medical aid, and food. For example, hours after we first attacked and bombed Iraq, the United States government was already sending over rations of food and medicine to help aid the Iraqi citizens. It is under no circumstances that the United States government wants to deliberately injure innocent people, but when America is in danger of being attacked, the government has to react in a way to keep all of its citizens safe and feeling secure. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden both threatened America’s safety as a nation and President George Bush went with the only option that seemed possible, which was to bomb Iraq and Afghanistan where it was believed that Hussein and bin Laden were staying. As of now, the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are unknown. America is helping to provide a democratic government in Iraq at the present time.

World poverty has always an underlying problem to the entire world. Many people believe that poverty all over the world contributed somewhat to the attacks. Because bin Laden comes from a very wealthy family, which is rare in the Middle East, he can easily have influence over other people with money. He tried and succeeded in making people believe that all America wants to do is plunder the riches of other countries, including the Arabian Peninsula. It is also said that the United Nations economic sanctions are the cause of such low living standards and civilian misery in Iraq. For a very long time, many people in the Middle East believed that it was America’s fault and no blame was pointed in the direction of Hussein, who had continuously robbed many people in his country of freedom, money and other important necessities in life.

In conclusion, September 11, was a very sad day in American history. It will always be remembered and the innocent people who were murdered in such a horrible way will always be in the hearts and pride of the United States. America did not deserve this attack and the future of the United States lies in the patriotic pride of its citizens.

Importance of Employment Relations

2009-04-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Employment or human relations covers all types of interactions among employees such as cooperative efforts, interpersonal and group relationships. The purpose of employment relations it to deal with the people the business employs and the issues arising from their employment. Acquiring, developing, maintaining and motivating staff are all aspects that are covered by the employment relations area. Employment relations are necessary as the employee is the most important part of a business and any troubles that affect them in turn effect the business.

Realising the potential effect that employees have on the business, Companies are providing incentives and programs to keep their employees happy and productive. ‘A happy worker will work twice as hard and more efficient than an unhappy worker.’ Incentives provided for e.g. are (case study) Coca Cola providing twice the amount of shares in their company that the employee purchases, (case study) McDonalds providing employees discount purchases from companies that are connected to McDonalds.

Programs such as employee dinners, lunch, Christmas parties, weekends away are all effective in keeping the employee happy and to build relationships with fellow employees so to work better as a team.

Business managers have come to recognize that their employees are the most important part of a business and through effective management a business can gain the competitive advantage. The skills, knowledge and creativeness of employees is the main potential that a business has over it competitors and thus the realisation that the employee has the most influence over important aspects such as its profitability, competitiveness and adaptability has led to the idea that managing these human resources to develop their maximum capabilities. Human resource management or employee relations is the process of finding the people the business needs, developing their skills, knowledge, talents, careers. Motivating and maintaining their commitment to the business.

The relationship between the employee and the business will vary depending on the businesses culture (How things are done around here) and must be determined wisely as to produce maximum efficiency and effectiveness. E.g. (case study) Shelf packers at the local grocery market packing shelves in groups of two to three people. While packing shelves workers would chat and not concentrate on task at hand. By splitting workers up into each istle each worker could work more efficiently but was unhappy at not being able to talk to fellow employees which led to poor work ethic.

The way in which a business communicates this ‘culture’ to all employees is extremely important as employees must know what the business is about and where it is heading if the business it to be successful in achieving its prime goal.

After WWII and the influx of younger people to the workforce new approaches in human resources were made. The younger workers valued their jobs and were more motivated. Education of employees was considered and came to recognise that a workforce is better educated and skilled.

Completing in secondary schooling and tertiary courses increased thus showing that the workforce was looking for more challenging jobs.
Women’s role in the workforce soon grew with higher divorce rates, women’s rights and laws removing discrimination toward women. Managers soon had to give more consideration towards discrimination and child rearing.

In its simplest form employment relations is described as the effective management of the formal relationship between the employer and the employee. With management realising the potential of this many businesses have created approaches to enhance that factor. Acquisition and selection, development and training, maintenance and motivating, separation of staff. These are all approaches which can be taken.

Acquisition and selection is the gathering of information about each applicant for the position and then using that information to choose the most appropriate person for that position. The chosen applicant must be able to do the job perfectly and thus management must first identify staffing needs.

Training and development is needed for employees as to teach staff to work efficiently and effectively. Training must be continual so skills are not lost and to provide maximum efficiency.

Maintenance and motivating of staff is to keep staff within the business and to work to the best of their ability. A relaxing and friendly work environment, decent wages and benefits are all needed. Without this staff will leave the business and thus require new employees, resulting in more training, poorer efficiency and decreased workload, in result the business wastes needed resources and becomes less productive. Motivating employees is highly important as motivated employees result in increased productivity. The carrot and stick approach in which the carrot is the reward (money/pay rise) and the stick being punishment (demotion/fired) has been widely relied on as a motivator.

Money is seen to be the biggest motivator but in recent years this has been found not to always be the case. Work conditions, time of work, fellow employees all affect motivation.
Separation is the ending of an employment relationship and this comes in many ways. Dismissal is when the employee contract with the business has been suspended due to the employee not doing their job properly or behaving unacceptably.

Redundancy is when the employee is no longer needed and leaves on their own will or not. Retrenchment is when a business is unable to pay their employee and thus they must leave.

Employment relations is a key function in which business must manage to improve their employees and thus lead to improving their business. With good human resource management a business can gain the edge they need. Without good human resource management a business will probably not succeed.

Human Resource Management

2009-04-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

Human Resource Management (HRM) is now a term which is now widely used, yet loosely defined. So, what is HRM? Derived from this and certain theories addressed later in this research, HRM in the field of organisational behaviour engages a set of policies designed to maximise organisational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work. With this perspective, and rapidly changing trends, it is no surprise and even merit that Industrial Relations (IR) are starting to play a minor role in organisations today.

Yet how can one define such a broad area of an organisation? There is no one theory on Human resource management, and certainly not enough ‘evidence’ to suggest its benefits within a competitive market force, especially gaining competitive advantage for a specific company. This must be done through analysis and evaluation that may be conducted through various forms of communication, for example; confidential employee questionnaires that don’t disclose the employee’s name for a true indication of staff morale, or cross team meetings to analyse certain aspects of staff outlook for their company. Ultimately, a harmonious and ‘happy’ workplace whereby staff actually are excited in a sense to actually go to work and sit down at their desk.

The term ‘Human Resource Management’ is certainly not new in the workforce, but in recent years has been addressed in depth and with new trends there has been a shift to focus on the staff, and thus is becoming almost ‘fashionable’. Many believe that this open approach to HRM can increase competitive advantage for a firm. There are beliefs that competitive advantage can best be achieved as Guest put it “by seeking improvements in the management of people and organisational structures; in other words, through better utilisation of human resources.”

Bearing this in mind, there are two functions that are necessary to note when describing HRM. These are the ‘legal’ and ethical compliances within an organisational structure that the firm, including managers and staff, must adhere to. It is essential that HR managers have a basic understanding of the law of employment and what is considered ‘illegal’ as opposed to ‘legal’. In any legal relationship, there are mutual obligations for both parties, and the arena of employment is certainly no exception. It is only when these mutual duties integrate successfully with the objectives and mission of the company that productivity levels will supposedly improve.

There are many things that must be considered when entering into a discussion on legal matters within HRM, ranging from contracts between certain parties, to Occupational Health and Safety requirements which must be fulfilled as preventative measures must be taken for health and well being of employees in any field. For example, Ghetto shoes implement a strategy that involves using a specific type of ladder with strong ground support when looking for boxes on high shelves, preventing any damage that may ultimately be quite harmful to employees. Another may be safety gear and helmets when working in a construction site where there may be falling debris that could injure someone quite badly, and thus have implemented signs allowing employees to realise the importance of such matters.

One major issue in the law is that of ‘awards’. These are certain contracts with employees, set by state and federal industrial relations, outlining the minimum terms and conditions that an employer must provide for the employee, this includes conditions such as: rates of pay, hours of work, types of leave (holiday, sick) and termination. Yet, it is at the employer’s discretion whether they would use these minimums or decide to increase that standard. Note that employees may have a specific contract designed for their specific job, which would exceed the award in various ways, and are to be discussed confidentially between the parties involved.

Discrimination is also a huge factor in the legal aspect of HRM today. According to Stone discrimination involves “making a distinction between individuals or groups so as to disadvantage some and advantage others.” This may be direct or indirect. Direct being an obvious form whereby a woman may be terminated purely on the basis of her gender. Indirect is more when a company makes a promotion dependant upon five years continuous service, which is discriminating against women who take time off to handle newly born babies, therefore being unable to stay at work consecutively. A terrific example derived from Stone was O’Neill whereby the plaintiff had undergone a medical examination just before he received the title of ‘purchasing officer’. He was unable to have the job, as he had an acute back condition due to gardening in his younger years. Yet, under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 this act was found discriminatory as refusing to employ the man had meant he was treated less favourably than someone who did not have a stiff back. As it is shown here, along with millions of other similar examples, there is a fine line between what is seen as ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’.

This is just one of the many legal aspects within human resource management, and certainly more legal aspects will be covered, yet the ethical factors are also extremely important as well. These mainly include cultural differences within the workforce, and differences in race, gender, religion, etc. Although these heavily comply with legal aspects, it is recognisable that regardless of this, there is still that responsibility of managers and employees alike to be ‘ethically correct’ which may involve hiring a person of a certain race, despite their particular beliefs. Furthermore, hiring someone that is suited for the job, with the qualifications to exceed levels expected, even though they may have a wheelchair or a different colour skin. In the rapid movement towards equal opportunity for all, this is an absolute must for firm’s today, and the managers should have open minds to all, as it may actually be more effective for the company hiring this person over another. There is limited amount of information concerning the ethical practices of HRM, and it is found that it is more a direct objective by the company, and the employees within that company that determine what is ‘ethically correct'.

There are many functions within HRM that may determine structures, morale and overall competitive advantage within the specific industry. These include; HR planning, Job Analysis, Job Design, Recruitment, Selection Career Planning and Training and Development. Specifically, the selection process and training and development activities will be focused on within the retail industry in Australia. Yet, what is selection? What is training and development?

Selection is the ‘hiring and retention of key human resources’, and strategically an organisation’s ultimate success depends on the best applicants being selected. Jobs and people must be matched to ensure employee satisfaction and effectiveness. Some issues surrounding the selection policy are that of the EEO, the quality of the people, the source of people, the manager’s roles and selection techniques implemented to gain all the positives out of employees. The costs of poor selection are direct, whereby an employee may not compare probationary period, and indirect, which involves disruption of work routines, loss of investment and difference in performance levels, all of which affect a firms’ competitive advantage. Many tests can be taken by potential employees at a company in the selection process, which include employment tests, where the company asses’ the match between applicants and the job’s requirements. Interest tests, where there is a comparison in the applicant’s interest patterns with successful people in a particular job. Aptitude tests measure special abilities that are required in specific jobs, alongside intelligence tests, which measure applicants IQ. Last but not least, personality tests which measure the basic aspects of personality, all of which are reliable, yet only an indication of the persons ability, and if done correctly can influence a firm’s competitive advantage.

Once this is assembled, one must bear in mind the question types that adhere to the law, and are ethically correct. An interviewer must not be vague and ambiguous, too direct, or use trick questions to ‘catch’ the interviewee out on a limb. Certain models have been implemented to determine who is right for the job, including the most commonly used model - the compensatory approach where the manager considers all of the selection data for the candidates who have successfully passed the initial screening. Thus, allowing a better overall impression of the applicant. Another model is the Person-Job match, where the company matches the whole person with the whole job. These models along with others can be successful, if used in the correct manner, and will be outlined with a specific company for a more in depth analysis.

Yet, training and development is also extremely important when assessing the firm’s competitive advantage in their specific industry. So, what is training and development? It is the development of existing employees, the induction and orientation of new employees, the training of existing employees to teach new methods within and organisation and the education of employees to ensure overall competence, and thus achieve competitive advantage. Theories have been applied when dealing with training and development, three of which are applicable in every situation. Firstly, the Neo Human Capital Theory, whereby the company will train to develop worker flexibility and responsiveness. Secondly the HRM Theory, where training is used to increase employee commitment, and thirdly, the Learning Companies Theory. This is said to promote individual and organisational learning to make them more adaptable to change. Benefits of these mindframes are huge for firms. As it increases performance improves flexibility and adaptability within the workforce, allows career development, which entails promotion, and allows the company an all round better skilled workforce Sisson, 1994. Programs may be implemented to gain a wide variety of training and development, which may be on the job, such as job rotation or traineeship, or on site which may entail interactive video training. McDonalds actually implement this for all new staff with the first shift solely based on videos and front counter training. Off site training where employees may attend a seminar or formal course to enhance knowledge of the industry is also another form. Yet just like any other activity, it must have a plan, where the company outlines objectives of training schedule, implements them, assesses them, them if need be, adds to the already existing format.

Inspirational Leadership

2009-04-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

In the grand scheme of things, corporate America is running about with a single vision in mind. The greatest assets to any organization are the employees and yet, the bottom lie figures are all that is considered. Granted there are those in position that helps and aid employees through personal satisfaction and assistance. On the other hand, there are those that operate with any means necessary to meet organizational goals knowing employees are an expendable commodity. What is truly needed is a change, something both beneficial to the organization and the employee. What is needed is “Transformational Leadership”- changing the organization’s strategies and culture so that they have a better fit within the surrounding environment and are change agents who energies and direct employees to a new set of corporate values and behaviors.

One such person that views people and organizations as having equal souls is no other than Lance Secretan. An inspiring person that motivates his work force and build his people like his would build a company.

In my lifetime, I came across one individual that exudes the presence of motivating personal to perform their jobs in an effective manner. Never have I felt so inspired to work harder than to work for one individual. Although our time was short lived, I grew to admire and vowed to carry on the traditions of this special friend. At the time, I was not able to relate all the doings to specific items, whether it was a wholesome case of many things. For a time, I felt that what I have learned from one person might be unmatched to the corporate leaders of today. That is, until I started to read about Lance Secretan. Through his readings, I found that in depth warmth that I once had many years ago. In researching, I discovered Lance Secretan classified his people as the same identity as a working soul. Which in hindsight, contributes to why he has become an influential, inspiring individual that built and managed Manpower Limited into one of the largest corporation in the world.

At age 40, in the early 1990’s, Lance Secretan retired and created the Secretan Center, devoting himself to teaching higher ground Leadership full-time. Higher Ground Leadership is a breakthrough leadership practice that questions, deepens and enriches conventional leadership thinking with a new wisdom based on ancient teachings brilliantly adapted to the needs of modern organization. Higher Ground Leadership is a company looking at individuals as personal growth to an organization. After all, most of what you hear from people is the attitudes of how important they are to the organization, and yet corporate values today are more about the bottom line. Higher Ground Leadership seeks to transform organizations through individual growth, inspire people to create inspired teams, to inspired communities, to inspire the world. A bottom up mentality that allows personal to work harder without the feelings of being a number, but that of a human being that is truly worth something to the organization.

We are experiencing a leadership paradox of staggering proportions: corporate leaders struggle to find ways to increase organizational effectiveness in times of wrenching change, while those they lead are disconnecting from them in growing numbers. Corporate America is struggling to find ways to solve the every day problems within their organizations. For myself, I have experienced many different forms of corporate programs and restructuring over the past 18yrs. Lance Secretan, ideology mainly strives to gain the importance of the individual sprit and have that catapult the business in a positive direction. Those who come to work, come to be inspired, to create friendships, to learn, to have fun – in short, they yearn for an uplifting experience. Interesting concept for all supervisors, managers, presidents and CEO’s can speak of this and yet, loose sight of the individual as it relates to business progress.

In the grand scheme of things, and without discovering the specific writing in any of Lance’s books, I am quite sure that work is not a place in which we can come and not perform. In fact, the opposite is illustrated through yielding an internal strength of others to feel good and as a result to perform well for the company. One of the world’s most respected management theorists wrote recently in the Harvard Business Review, “Organizations need to remember that their ultimate goal is performance, not employee satisfaction and morale. This statement is the millennium in which corporate America works in throughout each passing day. We will get ourselves out of the managerial hock only when we embrace values that are good for our people and our planet.

A change in culture and values is a main emphasis if you were to seek the advice of Lance Secretan. For example, Higher Ground Leadership begins with an eight-day, intensive residential retreat led by Lance and a team of four senior Secretan Faculty. The program invites participants to be authentic, to undertake deep reflection, connect with others, let go of obstructing beliefs, and arrive at new and transforming insights. These retreats allow an atmosphere for one to explore the individual possibilities without being in an environment we all are accustomed to in an office. In short, they learn to experience and practice the purity of everyday life and work.

In reviewing material from Lance, one aspect struck me particularly hard, and that was when I came across a section discussing, “Truth Telling and Promise Keeping.” For most of my adult life, I have been consumed and caught up in the way businesses have defied this very aspect. Truth telling can easily constitute as, honesty within and organization, where as, promise keeping, can uphold the core values and beliefs for an individual. Personally, I have dealt with these false expectations and because of some actions my mood, temperament and overall attitude declined substantially. Without getting into specifics, it was apparent these organizations were viewing something much more important than the greatest asset they have, there employee. Lance sums most of this up in a visual perspective and exemplifies his teachings of higher ground. If you were standing on top of a higher ground built on trust and integrity and you look down the hill into the valley of despair. Each time a promise is broken, a step is taken down, creating distance from the higher ground of trust and integrity, and it is very hard, sometimes impossible, to climb back. Should there become several steps down the hill; others will begin to discredit you with no real hope of ever climbing back. Interestingly enough, because people who give up the higher ground and find it difficult to reclaim, find themselves moving to a new team where they can safely start again. For myself, I personally witnessed this transaction many different times.

Most of what Lance Secretan presents seems to correlate with most motivational models of today. For example, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs defines four different needs before one can achieve self-actualization. These needs are: physiological, safety, social, and esteem. Self actualization is the drive to become what ones is capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving one’s potential, and self-fulfillment.

The Hierarchy of needs is known by most as a pyramid in which after one tier is fulfilled the next tier can be addressed. Lance Secretan has his own model that is also easily visualized; it is a basic bicycle. A traditional bike is driven forward by peddling and having the rear wheel propel the bike forward and the front wheel goes for the ride. From the back wheel, we derive the values that are the life skills that energize individuals, teams, and organizations. The back wheel known for power has three spokes that yield the wheel together and they are: Learning, placing high value on the importance of knowledge, Empathizing, identifying with the thoughts, feelings and perspectives of others, Listening, possessing a high level of attentiveness devoted to understanding the communications of others. As the power is driven the front wheel shifts direction and the spokes of that wheel are: you, love, people, and strengths. This simplified process works hand in hand, as the bike is peddled, the front wheel will surely move in the direction any organization wants in to meet their goals. Typically, mechanical organizations develop financial yardsticks and performance measures, strategic planning models, organization charts, PERT diagrams, and elaborate systems – all means of gathering information in order to control. Although these are forms of measurements to assure certain directions are met, total concentration on these items will loose sight of their number one factor. Applying simple human basics can assure most organizations the outcome can be positive.

Lance Secretan, has discovered ways to motivate people by motivating their souls.
Our soul Gives instructions that are derived from sacredness, reverence, integrity, love, meaning compassion, and values. The basic treatment of treating others the way you want to be treated. In the grand scheme of things managers, supervisors CEO’s and owners need to rely on an important asset simply by affording employees to enjoy themselves and where they work. Interesting concept of morality to others and because of these caring efforts is an organization prone to generate creativity and growth. The instructions and advice we receive from the personality tend to be driven by the need to gratify our egos: material, comforts, personal worth, career progress, approval status, power, control, and reputation. Just as a special friend has taught me, ideas and values such as these can lead to wonderful things within and organization. As quoted by Lance Secretan, “Leadership is the process of influencing people and providing an environment from them to achieve team or organizational objectives.”

Insurance Planning

2009-04-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

In the ever evolving business world there are many choices for a consumer to choose from when it comes time to consider future plans. When it comes to life insurance a customer has an abundance of plans one can select that best suits their needs and families needs. Has one grows older the choices out there seem to diminish as does the time to for decision making. It is important to address these situation early and life and have a plan for the future, whether it before saving for retirement or taking a plan out for an untimely death, it is vital to know ones options and be as best prepared as one can be.

With the ever growing expense to bury someone nowadays it is important to be prepared to lessen the burden on family members that have to not only morn ones death, but in some cases pay and arm and a leg to get one six feet under. Selling life insurance to someone today and can be very hard to decide what type a policies can fit ones needs and wants. In making a educated decision on buying a policy it is important to consider ones status in life and obligations that one might have.

When I started to research on life insurance policies I noticed that I am at a premium for companies and they are more than willing to work with me setting up a policy. I first looked into types of insurance that I would need and noticed I had an over whelming number to choose from. I looked into three different types term, whole life, and group insurance.

I first looked at term insurance, which basically put covers one for a certain period of time. I had many choices when it came to term insurance. I could get one with a renewable that gave me an option after the term came up. I had one that could give me the same premium for a certain amount of years that appealed to me. Also, I found a policy called a conversion policies that would allow me to convert to whole life insurance with a higher premium, it would be good since I can’t afford the higher premium at this point in my life.

At looking at whole life insurance I noticed that I couldn’t really find a policy that could fit my current situation. I had many to choose from, but since I don’t really know what kind of situation I will be in 5 years it was not to my benefit to take a plan until my future was a little more stable. I did notice it is important to start early if I wanted to take out a whole life policy, since the payments would be lower and I could receive a better premium.

The third type of life insurance I looked into was group life insurance, which can be best put as an insurance that one can get through a company they work for. The problem with this insurance is sometime the one can get a better premium with an outside agency and these plans are not as flexible as other term or whole life plans. These plans are best for certain person who is limited in what they can do and or are not able to financially make a decision at the time.

Ad it came time to decide on a plan that best suited me I brought into consideration my needs. Since, I am a full time student that still lives at home, with two working parents that both have insurance policies that still cover me till I am 25. I also, have no dependents of my own, I think it was best for me to not take a plan out at this time. But upon graduation in 2 years it would be to my greatest benefit to begin my own insurance policy and at that time I would begin an adjustable whole life plan that can increase or decrease my coverage as my life and outcome changes.

Value of a College Education

2009-04-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

More and more people everyday are graduating from college because they know how important it is to have a degree. Deciding to go to college is an expensive investment, but will pay off in the long run. Nowadays, jobs are much more demanding with having a college degree and that it makes it very difficult, for one without a college degree, to receive a good paying position within the company. Our society is always in competition with each other that if you don’t have a college degree it’s going to be very difficult to get your foot in the door versus someone with a college degree. There are many advantages to having a college degree. One is that you will earn more money versus someone that doesn’t have a college degree. You will also have a better opportunity to find and keep a better job. Also, college graduates develop knowledge and experiences that you wouldn’t develop otherwise if you didn’t go to college.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock stated, “College graduates took home an average of $45,678 per year as compared to the $24,572 average salary of those who only completed high school.” There is a remarkable difference in salary for those that graduate from college versus those who do not. Most people are going to college because they know that once they graduate they will have a better paying job. When I worked for a company back in Chicago I noticed that most of the resumes that were kept for review were for people who had college experience or a college degree. Company’s first look at the educational background an applicant has because that shows them the knowledge and experience they carry for that position. I believe that the value of a college education shows the most when you see the difference in pay compared to the pay you were receiving before you even had a college education.

The world changes so much these days that it is crucial that you continue to update yourself with the latest knowledge that is out there. People that carry a college education have a better opportunity to find and keep a job. People who have a better understanding of the business world, because of a college, education are replacing so many more jobs. Companies know that by going to college you learn what is required to work in a business environment. Companies also know that you carry skills and attributes that a non-college graduate wouldn’t have. By having a college education a company will see you as an asset to the company and would not let you go as easily as someone who didn’t have a college education. Also, by having a college education you will have a wider range of jobs to choose from.

Unemployment

2009-04-03T00:49:00.000-07:00

In every society there will always be a number of people who are unemployed. Unemployment is when there are people in our society who desire work but are unable to obtain it because of the fact that there are not enough jobs for everyone. This is bad for the Australian economy because there are lots of fit and healthy people out there who have the ability work but have to stay home and as a result they have to go on the doll.

There are five different types of unemployment: seasonal, frictional, hard-core, structural and cyclical.

Seasonal unemployment is when people are unemployed due to the changing of seasons because in some seasons there are certain occupations that have a greater demand for work then others. For example, fruit pickers and sheep Shearer’s can work only at certain times of the year and will spend part of each year unemployed unless they can find work. People affected by seasonal unemployment often work very long hours during their working season to make up for the time that they will be unemployed.

Frictional unemployment is caused bye people changing jobs constantly. A person who is unhappy with his or her job may quit their job in order to find something more suitable. A high quality secretary might leave her job because she is required to do minimal tasks like making coffee or washing plates and cups, or a factory worker may quit because his employer might not give him time off to attend a carpentry course that will improve his skills and qualifications. It will take both people some time to find new satisfactory positions and during this time they will be unemployed.

Hard-core unemployment is when people do not desire work, or who are willing to work but are unable because they are chronically ill, physically disabled or have some serious psychological problems.

Structural unemployment is the result of structural changes in the economy. This means that what the economy produces, and the is caused by the way it produces it, changes over time. The main factor of these changes is because our technology’s advancing, peoples taste in things change or industries change location. Computers may have eliminated jobs, but they also opened up new positions for those who had the skills to operate the computers. These people who have lost there job must either obtain new skills and qualifications, or stay unemployed.

Cyclical unemployment is the result of a general depression in the economy resulting from the trade cycle. When companies do not have a high level of production or consumers don’t spend enough money on goods and services this will lead to many people becoming unemployed because there is no need for them in the economy. When companies increase production and consumers increase their purchases, the demand for workers will increase again and unemployment will decrease.

There are many factors that can cause unemployment but one of the biggest factors is lack of private investment. This is caused by private companies not expanding there activities fast or not expanding them fast enough. Another main factor of unemployment is the increase of labour costs. Labour costs are the wages and salaries businesses have to pay there employees. This is a bad thing because if there wages and salaries increase to fast or are already high then businesses won’t be able to afford to pay the employees so they have to fire them. One final cause of unemployment is when there is a depression in the world economy. This is when countries of the world are going bad in there economy and cannot afford to buy as many exports as they would be able to previously. This means that Australia will produce less goods and services and will be forced to dismiss there workers.

There are no positive aspects of unemployment and is really bad for the production of the economy. This means that we are wasting our resources because instead of producing goods and services with them we aren’t doing anything with them. But this isn’t the only effect of unemployment, people’s income will also change and it will cause more poverty. Unemployment also reduces the amount of tax paid to the government which means that the government will be loosing money because since less people are working the government is getting less income tax but with whatever money they get they have to pay all the unemployed people and this is how the government gets into a lot of debt.

Long-term unemployment is when people have been unemployed for 12 months or more. This is a very serious matter because when you have been unemployed for so long you have a high risk of poverty. Long term unemployment also places a strain on the government because they have to support without getting much tax revenue.

The Product and its Associated Concepts

2009-04-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

According to Kotler, a product can be defined as basically anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption with the possibility of satisfying a want or need. Within a product, there are three distinct levels, which outline the different levels of benefits or offerings from the product or company. Each level of offerings is focused closely around the needs and wants of the consumer, and are also used as a comparison to the offerings of competing products. The three mentioned levels include the core product level, the actual product level, and the augmented product level. Each concept level is significant to the final presentation of the product. This concept of the multi-level product is also an exceptional tool in attempting to meet all levels of consumer needs and wants. BMW motoring group are an exemplary company to illustrate this concept.

The core level of a product is described by Crawford & Di Benedetto as “the real purpose for which the product was created”. The core product is described by Moseley as being used to distinguish not what the product is, or how it functions, but is focused on what the product will result in or offer as a final result. In this regard, BMW have described their core product not as a luxurious form of transport, but as “an ultimate and superior driving experience”. From this, it can be proposed that this belief was the core benefit BMW believed they offered to the consumer. BMW’s ultimate goal was clear: “to be the leader in every premium segment
of the international automotive industry" and so in order to accomplish this distinct goal, BMW aligned their product, through use of the multi-level product concept, to best suit the needs and wants, in relations to goods and services on offer, to the “high-end of the industry”.

This level demonstrates the existent elements and attributes in which the product holds, such as the product’s parts, styling, features, brand name, packaging and other characteristics that combine to deliver core product benefits. This level is important in depicting the immediate benefits involved with the product, such as, in relation to BMW, free maintenance, or possibly the diverse range of options available in regard to luxury and styling to personalise the vehicle to best suit the consumer needs and wants, or, again, perhaps even the prestige and honourable image acquired in relation to owning such an eminent product. Other benefits or services that are considered actual products may be the 24-hour consumer hotlines, dealership locations, dealer uniform styling or the fact that all dealership layouts and designs are extremely similar. Benefits such as these are associated with this actual level of the product and complement the core benefits level.

The final product level is proclaimed as the augmented product level. Kotler claims that the augmented product level outlines the additional and complementary consumer services, offerings and benefits built around the core and actual products. In addition to this, King also claims that “..competitive effectiveness increasingly demands that the successful seller offer his prospect and his customer more than the generic product itself. He must surround his generic product with a cluster of value satisfactions that differentiates his total offering from his competitors”. This statement, again illustrates the need for additional benefits surrounding the core and actual benefits, to fulfil and satisfy the needs and wants of consumers, in an attempt to be perceived as a more appealing product than that of competitors. BMW offers such services as, obviously, warranties, finance and delivery but in addition also offers courtesy cars, 24 hour road side assistance, 12 months free maintenance, an airport shuttle service, a customer assurance program and even driver training programs to differentiate between themselves and competitors. By offering such a diverse range of additional services, BMW are perhaps enticing more consumers to their product than the competing companies are attracting.

The multi-level product concept is considered extremely advantageous to the marketing of products. This concept allows marketers to explore and research the many levels of needs, wants and desires of the numerous assorted markets. Thus, accordingly being able to decide on the most beneficial market to target, whilst also determining the most pertinent methods in which to advertise and market these products, in order to be most prosperous. Crane states that perhaps it is unlikely that the values of all consumers can be satisfied with any given products offerings, and so it is important to focus the product to a direct target market whilst still broadly catering for all other markets, in order to accomplish successful marketing. Moseley further added the concept of simply researching and focusing on the most beneficial target market and focus on repeat purchasing. BMW discusses their marketing strategy as “changing before the market forces us to change”. This idea forwarded by BMW, has been the key to their success in becoming the leading luxury car distributor in the world. Guyer introduces the supposition that business and social conditions have changed quite radically, in terms of competitive pressures, technological advances, safety and environmental regulations as well as consumer preferences, and so by BMW leading the way and pioneering the innovation sequence, they are controlling the market and generating the most appeal from consumers.

Crane noted that, “the attempt to positively augment a product into levels is likely to be a complex and time-consuming activity.” This statement complements the idea that indeed, a product is a complex concept, and adds the notion that there is an enduring and difficult process that follows when developing a product and the surrounding benefits the product offers. The multi-level product concept is an effective, efficient and widely used concept in the marketing arena. The distinct and prevalent outlines of each level assist marketers to better distinguish company strengths and weaknesses in certain areas, and also compare additional services and products offered by competing companies that may appear more appealing to consumers. BMW have successfully and strategically used this concept to advance up the luxury car rankings to their current position at number one.

The Marketing Game

2009-04-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

The Marketing Game is a high involvement learning experience designed to provide a focus on effective marketing strategy planning in a competitive environment. The game gives the participants the opportunity to analyze markets and target market needs. The purpose of the game is to equip the players with the information necessary to make decisions in a number of strategy decision areas including developing an integrated marketing plan to meet your target marketТs needs and earn a profit for you firm.

The first step in tackling The Marketing Game was to understand what the game was about, what we were supposed to be learning from the game and how to be successful at it. The Marketing Game basically places each participant in a Marketing Manager position with the task of developing the marketing plans for the future. The firm we now work for is currently developing a new type of voice recognition device (VRD) with advanced capabilities for controlling computer applications using spoken commands. It was our job to move that product to the top of the market and earn profit for our firm by understanding the market, competitors, and other trends in the external environment.

Although the product market was broad, there were only four companies that could develop the primary voice recognition device for personal computers. This gave us 3 competitors to analyze and position ourselves against yearly. We also needed to understand and monitor the product market segments and product features that directly affected the cost to build the product and in return what we charged for the product.

We decided to begin the game by clarifying what our goals would be. We quickly came to the conclusion that because The Marketing Game was such a crucial part of our semester taking Marketing Management, that a one-dimensional goal was not appropriate. Liz and I came up with three specific goals and the goals were defined based on our desired outcome for The Marketing Game experience, the product we developed (Commando), and the Marketing Management class as a whole. With respect to our VRD product, Commando, we wanted to skyrocket Commando to the number one selling VRD on the market. The game goal was to focus on learning the lessons that the exercises had to offer and personally leverage off Cheri's current sales position at Harris Corporation in a new technological product line.

In the beginning our strategies were simple: Spend the budget and Advertise. The first few weeks we actually found it very difficult to spend the budget and since we were holding on to the top spot with ease, we basically coasted along until we hit level 2. The first period of Level 2 is when we took our first hit. Upon reviewing the decreased revenue for this initial period we decided to refocus and change our strategy. The beginning of Level 2 found us scrutinizing our competitor's results more and trying to anticipate what their next move was going to be. We specifically focused on the following three areas when it came to the competition; Features, Price and Sales Commission. In Level 3, each company had the option of introducing a new product into the market. After careful review of our financial and market situation, Liz and I came to the conclusion that we had no choice but to introduce a product if we wanted to have any chance of keeping the revenue level we had throughout the game. We carefully distributed the budget between both products trying to give each of them a fighting chance. At this point in the game we found it difficult to spread the money to all necessary areas even when using our reserve fund.

When reviewing our strategies and the outcomes of each period we have a number of lessons learned which are very dependent on what level we were working at. As mentioned in the above paragraph that outlined our strategies, during level 1 our decisions were based on our net profit for each period. We basically used the strategy, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. In retrospect we should have immediately defined our target market and focused our decisions on marketing Commando to them. Our decisions for level 2 were based on what our competition was doing. We picked the reports apart trying to guess what each competitor was going to do next, and what we needed to do to get their first. Keeping up with the Jones is the best way to describe our decision making for level 2. We believe now that the right course of action for level 2 would have been to base our decisions on the acceptance or rejection of our the previous periods decisions from the target market we should have defined in level 1. Level 3 was the period where we were given the option of producing a new product. As you'll recall from above, we felt like we had no choice but to introduce a new product in order to keep making money. This is a very risky position to be in, and is not the recommended course of action. The decision to introduce a new product should be to either offer your current target market a specialized version of your product, or to reach a new target market all together.

When reviewing all the lessons learned we decided that the big downfall for us was downsizing. As soon as funds got tight we started massively decreasing our customer service and advertising budgets. This did not work out well for us and when studying the final results of the game it's easy to track the success of the firms who kept these two departments well funded. Some alternatives we should have considered include stabilizing the product for a period or two. Instead of constantly upgrading features, which increased our cost, we should have held steady for a period and focused on marketing to our target market from that point on. We also lacked the sales force motivation in our company. We gave small commission and sales promotion funding which no doubt affected the push of our product. Our sales staff was working at full capacity and the lack of motivation we provided only served to hurt their performance.

When asked what we would do if we had just one more round to complete, we concluded that it probably wouldn't be long enough to pull us back up to the number one position. It's necessary to keep in mind that our competitors were learning lessons just like us. If we all had one more round, the chance that they would make better choices is there as well. So we predict that there wouldn't be a drastic difference from period nine to period ten.
The final period of The Marketing Game left us in the following position (note we are depicted as New Zealand on the graph).

Given a few more rounds however, if we kept moving forward with our late breaking decisions we believe we could push Commando back into the number one selling VRD position by marketing and managing our product better than our competition.

In summary, The Marketing Game was very educational. Marketing is a complex subject that is too often simplified. The intricate decisions that go into marketing a product or a product line are fascinating and receiving this hands-on experience of what it might be like to manage a product was eye opening. The most surprising aspect of this game was the ripple effect that just one decision had on the entire program. The difficulty came because there were so many decisions to make each period that you didn't really have the time to weight the importance of each one until it was too late. It would be very interesting to play the game again, now that we know what we know. Would the knowledge we now have help us to do better the next time or would we just make new mistakes?

Relationship Marketing

2009-04-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Fantast Soup is a food express company which specializes in lunchbox and soup express business. Customers can place order to their office through fax, tel. The Office staff then call customers back to confirm order and finally call the relevant food express depot to deliver the food to customers.

The introduction of ordering through Internet has brought many benefits to the customers. Menu with all the varieties of lunchbox and soup is available at a glance on their webpage. Customers can easily check the most updated options available on a particular day which can save customers a lot of time and prevent misunderstanding. Unlike telephone or fax lines, Internet can serve multiple customers at the same time, which means easier access and time saving service for all customers. Finally the record of Internet orders can be stored easily in the computer which allows Fantast Soup to do sales analysis to look for popular or less popular soup/lunchbox. Therefore, the menu can be adjusted from time to time to meet the requirement of customers and special menu can be offered to those customers with special preference.

In order to better serve the need of customers, Fantast Soup has set up a Message Board webpage for customers to make comment on their food and service. Their management will spend 3 hours every day to reply to those customers and discuss how to improve their food and service. Moreover, Fantast Soup has also formulated a Whats New webpage to keep the customers informed of latest development of the company. News relevant to customers is announced on this webpage such as new service area, price adjustment and etc. In this way, customers feel they are being taken care, thus establishing a stronger relationship with the company.

This story tells us how Fantast Soup, through what be termed as relationship marketing strategy, shifts its traditional product focus to a customer-centric business model. Therefore, it is being encouraged to create a competitive advantage over its rivals to be successful in todayбпs competitive environment.

An example of this kind illustrates relationship marketing is not something new but a common phenomenon nowadays. Writers such as Christian Gronroos address that:
It is becoming increasingly important for marketers to understand the implication of how service components are developed and integrated into the overall marketing strategy. It is crucial to the customer relationship management process.

It suggests that the increasing market competition drives the firm to enhance value around the core product, create reliable service to accompany the product, and establish a trustworthy relationship with customers, suppliers, distributors, stakeholders, and etc.

In the following parts, I will first touch on a transition from a transaction marketing to a relationship marketing, and then a general introduction of relationship marketing and customer relationship marketing (CRM). After taking a look at cultivation of relationship marketing, I will move on to further examine the value creation process through implementation of CRM.

Product Annalysis

2009-04-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

The following is an analysis on the marketing of the breakfast cereal Crunchy Nut Cornflakes (CNC) made by the Kellogg’s company. The analysis will cover details on the products life cycle, what the actual product entails, whom it is being targeted for and the various strategies used to market the product. The purpose of this study is to analyse a company such as Kellogg’s on one of their products, determine what exactly is involved in the marketing strategy and the marketing process of a product.

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes is a well-established product of Kellogg’s as it has been around for some time it is truly in the maturity stage of its product life cycle. Having said that it does not appear that Kellogg’s is ready to discontinue the making of crunchy nut just yet, having only recently released another advertising campaign for the cereal. Due to the later stage of its life cycle it is evident that Kellogg’s are not promoting heavily as it would for say a launch of a new product, perhaps then the lack of toys or competitions associated with the product.
Kellogg’s class Crunchy Nut Cornflakes as a nutritional breakfast cereal, having no preservatives, artificial colours, flavours, high in carbohydrates, good source of iron and containing five vitamins including folate. However a report from Choice magazine produced in April found Crunchy Nut had less than 5% fibre and was high in sugar, rating poorly compared to other nutritional type cereals. This then would suggest that Crunchy Nut is more likely to be your average type breakfast cereal rather than a specifically nutritional cereal, although containing some healthy ingredients.

When actually purchasing Crunchy Nut Cornflakes the consumer is choosing a well established brand from a very well known company, in this case a cereal contained in bright golden 675g box. The packaging itself is labelled brightly and a picture has been placed to show what the product looks like when served as suggested, this in itself leaves little to be discovered once the box is opened. Except of course the taste, which is most assumingly the reason why any crunchy nut fan chooses said cereal.

Additional consumer services and benefits built in to CNC would be the nutritional tables printed on the packaging and details of numbers and addresses to contact for further information. These additions to the humble cereal box are now quite standard and give the consumer some piece of mind as to what it is they are actually eating. Kellogg’s take a step further by listing a website which offers various nutritional information and the importance of eating breakfast.

The market for breakfast cereals/meals is vast and varied in a word huge, so CNC has a great deal of competitors to fight against for survival. Starting with direct competitors would be in actual fact all cereals, as they all line up on the shelf found in the breakfast cereal isle very little separates them. Wether it be a healthy choice or a sweet taste sensation that may not be of great dietary benefit for you, they are all still competing for the consumer’s dollar and a long and healthy product life cycle. On an indirect note would be anything people will choose to eat for breakfast have be it bacon and eggs to a muesli snack bar, it is an alternative that will determine how much cereal if any is purchased and consumed. Generally eggs, bacon, toast or even fruit juice won’t be found in the cereal isle, but they are still in competition due to the time of day they are usually consumed breakfast.

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes latest media campaign has certainly taken on a new demographic segmentation and as a result become more specific as to which the target audience is. The latest television advertisements depict late twenty to thirty-year-old professionals who are just nuts about CNC, with the catch phrase ‘must be another crunchy nut’. Immediately this suggests the target for this campaign is professionals in this age bracket, who aren’t looking for a healthy choice or anything else but just CNC because they enjoy it so much. Looking at the way Kellogg’s have segmented this market it is fair to say that the consumer targeted is more of the every day type office worker of which there is a great many in present day society. They have not made any gender specific targets, have used humour to appeal to wider audience and made the commercials very short and simplistic. Although the characteristics of the demographic chosen are not typical of the family type scene having breakfast together the concept is appealing to a large part of the market through the relating situations used in the commercials.

The positioning of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes in the way it is defined by consumers is really a sweet tasting alternative form of cornflakes. It is usually priced higher than most other cereals, and therefore judged more as a treat more than a nutritional supplement. Despite the reassurance made by Kellogg’s on its website most of the consumer public as well as Choice magazine do not rate CNC as a nutritious cereal. Therefore CNC is really viewed as a good tasting cereal that is enjoyable to eat but not one that is crucial to maintaining a well balanced diet.

ProductPricePlacePromotionPeopleProcesses EconomicTechnologicalPoliticalCultural Buyercharacteristics BuyerDecisionprocess Product and serviceSelectionBrand selectionDealer choiceReseller selection Repurchase intervalsPurchase amount

Taking the model of consumer behaviour used in the lecture and also the text Marketing 5th edition Kotler, Brown, Adam, Armstrong, it illustrates the process the consumer or buyer takes to make a decision to purchase. Relating this to Crunchy Nut Cornflakes you have the marketing stimuli basically the cereal slightly higher priced, viewed as a small luxury promoted through the media in television and print. There is some slight cultural stimuli due to the targeting aimed at white collared workers. With just about any consumer decision the economic stimulus is considered so to breakfast cereal, “can I afford it or should I buy something less expensive?”. This all comes together in the Buyer’s black box this is where the Buyer’s response is formed and how the stimuli effected the buyer. As CNC is well established it is evident that Kellogg’s has established what works and what does not, such things as price, placement, promotions and the product itself has all been examined. Kellogg’s obviously knows that charging too much and aiming CNC at the wrong segmentation will harm sales, therefore this is then reflected in the conservative approach taken in marketing and promotion.

In conclusion the marketing of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes is specific meaning it is aimed at a certain type of consumer. Despite breakfast being eaten by almost anyone and everyone Kellogg’s have chosen to go to one type of consumer, this may seem to limit buyers but in actual fact it could possibly create a market not resourced by Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes in the past. The product is a simple cornflake with honey and nuts yet it is marketed as something only certain people crave. The breakfast market is crowded yet there are still a number of segments in which products can find their place and succeed in when marketed with purpose and with a definite target in mind.

Power in Negotiations

2009-03-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Power is a notion that is difficult to define yet it affects everything we do in our everyday lives whether we realise it or not. The understanding and use of various resources and sanctions is present in all our activities and shapes the way we act and react. The knowledge and use of power is especially important in industrial relations and the more we understand about the way power can be used the more successful our industrial relations encounters are likely to be.

There are three main frameworks that can be used to analyse the employment relationship (Kirkbride, 1985) but I believe that it would appear there are varying interests between management and employees and that conflict is an inevitable part of relationship. The way power can be used is demonstrated very clearly in times of industrial disputes when the various players in the employment relationship are negotiating aspects of employment. These different aspects of power and how they can affect negotiations were made very clear by the Metals: Anatomy of a Union video, Final Offer video and both the group and individual negotiation exercises completed in class.

Power is a concept that is greatly misunderstood. As noted by Keeney & Kelly (1998), no one person is powerful on their own, the power only becomes apparent when it is part of a relationship. Of course, once in this kind of social relationship, to possess power a person must have something that the other wants or needs (Martin, 1992). Each conflict is different with different parties having power resources that fluctuate in effectiveness with varying circumstances. This was clearly seen in the activities we completed in class as well as during both videos. In the group negotiation exercise for instance, despite the fact that we were all given the same case study, we all had very different results. I believe that one group came to a resolution whereas the group I was in didn’t even come close to resolving a couple of the larger issues. We needed the employees to keep the egg plant running and they needed wages from us and the management team and I expected that the workers couldn’t afford to strike for very long. Surprisingly, the union held its ground and was determined to strike until we had improved conditions dramatically which meant that our power was seriously lessened. The issue was not resolved apart from a decision to take the case to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) which was not the most productive outcome. I wonder however, if in real life the workers would have been so eager to sacrifice their wages to strike so easily. As discussed in Keeney & Kelly (1998), I went in to the negotiations believing that as management, our power was more legitimate and I think this may have influenced me negatively against the demands of the union. I felt like we were giving them so much and we were getting so little in return which was very frustrating. Each time we agreed to one of the demands it felt like they were asking for something else and the concessions we were making just weren’t good enough for them. Even though we explained the financial repercussions that would occur if we bowed to all their demands they didn’t lessen their expectations. I did feel that both sides were probably being very stubborn and that if we had more of an idea about the actual costs involved for activities such as striking the results may have been different. I think in the real world although it would have been a difficult negotiation, we could have come to some kind of agreement. Although in the end the workers and management probably had similar thoughts on where they would like to see the company end up, I think the way and speed at which the company would get to that point was very different.

The individual negotiation was far more productive than the group one. In my position as a waitress I felt that I had enough power through my fine dining experience and the family like relationship I shared with Stephanie (Julia) to achieve what I wanted. Having less people involved also made the situation feel far less confrontational and I think that Julia and I were able to discuss things more openly. Although I felt that I gained power from the family like feel to the relationship I think this was also a power resource for Julia because I felt that I didn’t want to stretch the company financially or expect anything ridiculous because I wanted to maintain the good relationship. My main power resource was my skill level and the knowledge of both parties that I could easily find a job elsewhere. I think Julia’s main power resource was the working environment which I was unlikely to find at another restaurant. I think in this situation we had relatively similar goals in mind, although there were a few points of conflict, and the power resources were fairly well balanced which is why we were able to resolve the issues though compromise and it didn’t take long to finalise the contract.

The players in the dispute in the Metals: Anatomy of a Union used similar power resources to those used in the group negotiations. Workers at the metal company Wamac were working for very low wages and were owed large sums of money in back pay. The workers at the plant were mainly migrant workers who were probably struggling for money and the management capitalised on this and gained power through the use of fear. However, once the premises was unionised, the power balance shifted greatly. Having someone that understood the law and their rights made the workers more confident and they made the decision to allow the union to conduct enterprise bargaining for them. Bargaining as one collective group with the support of the union gave the workers much more power because it wasn’t so easy for the company to use fear as a resource and the company couldn’t afford to have problems with all the workers. This was also very important for the union because it was at a time where membership was declining and if it continued the union would begin to lose its power resources. Management tried to stop the union coming in but the union relied on its legislative powers through the commission and gained the right to entry. Once management realised that its power was limited, it agreed to bargain in good faith and made a wage increase offer to the workers. After a round of negotiations, management decided to take a caucus and when the next round began they agreed to the altered wage increase but not the bonus structure. Unhappy with the decision, the union and the workers decide to use their collective power and take industrial action in the form of a strike as well as other measures. After assessing the situation, management realised that the workers were in a position of relative power because management could not afford the industrial action and the resultant loss in productivity. To prevent these costly losses, management agreed to the increase and the back pay because they had no more power resources to put into play. In this case, the power that the workers had through the ability to strike was greater than the power of management although in many cases, workers cannot afford to strike for a period long enough to ensure the balance of power remains in their favour.

Similarly, in the Final Offer video, conflict arose during renegotiation of agreements. In this case however, there were more parties involved and the relationships were far more complicated. Again, the workers want more than management are willing to give and despite union pressure, negotiations have reached a deadlock. In this case however, the union was not only in a power struggle with management, but was also experiencing problems from within. The Canadian branch of the union was in a power struggle with the head US branch of the union and this made it difficult for the union to push for the reforms that the workers wanted. General Motors (GM) was aware of this pressure and figured that if they were patient enough the Canadian union will fall under the pressure and they would sign the agreement that the workers are against. Management was offering the workers a profit sharing deal but this was not satisfactory to the workers due to a lack of trust. The head of the Canadian union decided to apply pressure on management in the form of a strike. Both the management and union remained steadfast in their positions, each believing they had enough power for the other side to give in. At this point, GM was relying on the US branch of the union to revoke the ban due to their fear of closures which would minimise the power that the Canadian workers had and force the signing of their proposal. As the strike deadline approached, wildcat strikes were starting to occur across Canada which was disastrous for the union because their power is based on them remaining as a collective force, rather than splintering in to various factions. Eventually, GM folded under the pressure from the collective strike and although the Canadian workers didn’t get exactly what they wanted it was a vast improvement on the original offer. It was interesting to see in this case how the internal politics and divisions of the union impacted on the results of the negotiations. Their power really is one of collectiveness and as the union fought internally their power seemed to diminish. It was only in the end when the union stuck together that they managed to come out on top of GM.

There are many different factors and circumstances that can affect power and it is for this reason that it is difficult to measure and predict power. To ensure that we are successful in the future when it comes to negotiations and maximising our power resources we must understand what factors can impact power and the best way to use the elements to our advantage. Having a thorough understanding of each situation is vital so that each decision made can eventuate in to what is best for the people involved. Negotiations will never be straightforward and neither will the workplace, but the greater the understanding of power and the situation, the more productive it will be for everyone involved. Conflict is inevitable in all workplaces despite management and workers heading in a similar direction, and for this reason power is something that everyone should understand.

Personell Barrier

2009-03-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

I was born in the Country of Panama, were the native language is Spanish. It is very common to find many Latin American countries trying to implement English language classes in many of their school programs. I had always wanted to learn the English language because of its popularity in all aspects, much seen in television, movies and all American Franchises around the world.

In my elementary school years, I was taught very Basic English that was taught to cover the very basics, which was helpful to get familiarized with the English Language. But unless practiced many of us students eventually forgot sixty percent that was taught. I went through junior high school and high school with some English classes that were very valuable to me for my any future employments. Little did I know that there were so many rules just like in the Spanish Language that applied in its entire context?

I assume that learning a new language is similar to any American that is trying to learn a new language that is not of his native tongue. Before joining the Army I lived in New York City for a couple of months, which is were I first got my experience hands on to put in practice my few English skills. New York City is a largely populated city in the United States but composed of a majority of Non-English speaking people that come from different cultural around the world.

At first, I felt that speaking English was not going to be a problem because everyone in my neighborhood spoke or understood Spanish. There is heavy population of Latin Americans living in New York City. I asked my sister how did she master her English skills, she informed attending the public school system taught her all skills required to both read and write in the English language. I did some research and finally enrolled in some weekend classes of English as a second Language.

It was like high school all over again trying to learn the basic survival phrases and words that would get you started in a simple conversation. It was an amazing how many people still live in the United States and still don’t speak much English. I feel that these classes helped me out some but being surrounded with many Latin Americans it was difficult to shake bad habits such as to continue to speak in my native tongue and pick up a new slang vocabulary like Spanglish, which is a mixture of Spanish, and English words to better communicate among Latinos. This a very bad habit that most Latinos encounter when growing up in largely Hispanic populated suburbs throughout the United States.

However, the way out of the low income jobs is to continue strive to seek for better paying jobs, and that process is not easy without a good education. After numerous applications for better jobs and many hours working in different mediocre type of employment, which paid the minimum wage salaries in some cases below the minimum wage because of lack of experience or other reasons.

After about 10 months, I wanted a change in my life and started to seek for new employment and talked to other successful business people that had decent paying jobs. It was then that after being mentored by family and good friends it was time for change in life. Education was the key element but how was I going to afford a college education without any type of financial backings.

These thoughts probably go through every normal High School Student in America that wants to continue his or her improvement in academic learning. I had to spend some of free time when I was off from work searching for organizations that could help me out in these areas, many of them turned me down for many of reasons but I found one that pretty much could do it in return that I serve a minimum of four years of military service which turned out to be the U.S. Army.

Even though, I had found such organization you still need to meet some prerequisites
before joining the Armed Forces. Some of the prerequisites are simple ones like medical screenings, background checks, and basic education testing to qualify you for assigned duties. I had past all the prerequisites and was on way for training to get my assigned Army Training and required skill to perform my duties. Before all this would start, I would have to attend an English as a Second Language Training School to learn all the basic military terminology that would help me out in Basic Training and Assigned Duties. I spent six weeks in Langley Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and learned all the basics that helped me out in my future training sessions.

Shortly, after graduating all my required training and receiving my certificates, I was officially in the U.S. Army. This was still one short step toward my ultimate goal, which was getting a College Degree. In my enlistment contract there were some incentives promised by the Government that were beneficial toward my education such as College Funds and many other Tuition Assistance Programs that help cover my College Education Costs.

The first couple of years it was difficult to find the time to go school because of all of the deployments that were required in my job position. I had to get smart and change jobs and job locations to better position myself to accomplish my educational goals.

Anyone that has served or is serving in the Military can tell you that finding the time to go to school comes with a big price and lots of sacrifices because I also had a family to attend too. I started with Central Texas College and got my two year degree program which got me closer to four year program which I’m currently attending The University Of Phoenix Internet Program.

I feel that I have come a long way since my earlier years in New York City but still need to stick with my game plan of finishing this ultimate goal of fulfilling my degree plan and continue building my resume for my future employment opportunities. I hope that I can complete these goals with little to no problems before the end of next year.

Partnership Sourcing

2009-03-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

There are many different types of sourcing that can be looked at when trying to buy a product or service from suppliers. However when an organisation is looking for a long-term involvement with one specific supplier a partnership is often looked to as being a step in the right direction. A partnership can be defined as “A commitment by customers/suppliers, regardless of size, to a long-term relationship based on clear mutually agreed objectives to strive for world-class capability and competitiveness”.

In the case, Alpha Products are looking to set up a partnership with a local company, called O’Connors, to carry out all on-site engineering and maintenance. This report will look at the advantages to both sides of this action and any potential problems or risks.

One of Alpha’s main problems is that they are currently using too many contractors, with a high amount of spend and rising problems with safety and accountability. A partnership with O’Connors would look to solve these problems with the two companies working together. The partnership would look to drive down the cost of ordering, allowing Alpha to make more profit and in turn re-invest in their out-of-date machinery. They are currently processing around 3,000 orders a year, and at Ј60 an order this is a massive strain on their budget. A partnership would allow them to reduce this significantly, possibly allowing them to place monthly or weekly orders and invoices. An idea like this would also make the purchasing process less clerical. This is key if the company wants their Purchasing department to add value to the business, as it would allow them to spend more time on strategic sourcing etc and less time on invoices and order processing. If all of this came into place, it is likely that the company would look at moving some of the 5 buyers that are dealing with all the contractors into different areas, either to working in different functions looking at the purchasing or simply getting rid of them to reduce labour costs.

With the large amount of orders that are currently being placed across a wide range of suppliers, Ruth Turner has already identified that Alpha are not optimising their bargaining power. Working within a partnership however should allow them to do this more effectively, as instead of putting their Ј2 million a year across 50 contractors, it would just be given to one single supplier. This should mean that Alpha would be able to use more leverage buying, and together they and O’Connors would be able to agree lower prices and reduce the total cost of the operation. This action would also hopefully bring any economies of scale that Alpha may be able to achieve to light, also allowing them to drop the cost of this high spend operation.

There are currently problems with the safety and accountability of the contractors that are on site at Alpha, due to the high amount of different people any accidents or incidents are becoming increasing difficult to report and look into. Setting up a partnership with O’Connors would mean that this problem would be virtually eradicated. It would enable them to set up procedures and reports and put them in place, knowing that only O’Connors would be on site. They would probably have a key point of contact to deal with safety issues and would know at any time who exactly was on site. A step further from this would be the possibility of setting up a Total Quality Management (TQM) group with O’Connors involved. This would not only look at the safety issues on site, but also able Alpha to look at improving the processes that are in place in the plants, improving quality and standards right across the plant.

Finally there is the possibility once in a partnership to share ideas or technology between suppliers and customers. This could take the form of ideas such as electronic ordering and invoicing of products or just simply better ways of doing tasks. O’Connors may already have an EDI system in place for their ordering and they could share this with Alpha, allowing them to push the cost of ordering down even further. One of the key ideas within a partnership agreement is that there is more formal and informal communication between the supplier and the organisation, not just contacting them when you need something. Alpha would be able to discuss ideas with O’Connors and get their opinion on matters, hopefully bringing an expert in on matters that Alpha perhaps did not have much knowledge about. O’Connors may also have technology that they use that would be of use to Alpha in their manufacturing lines, and so information could be shared in this way.

If there were to be a partnership between the two companies formed however, Alpha would not be the only ones to possibly benefit from it. O’Connors would also find that there were many advantages to this relationship. Firstly, it would be a guaranteed source of work and most importantly money for the business. At the present moment they are only getting some of the business from Alpha, even though they have been classed as one of the top 3 companies that Alpha spend at. A partnership for O’Connors would mean that they would be able to base their business on the fact that they would be working all the time at the plant; therefore earning the money that would have been agreed without having to wait for any offers. In addition to this, O’Connors would also be able to plan more for the future, as hopefully the partnership would mean that Alpha would communicate to them what their plans were for the coming months. This would mean that O’Connors would have the chance to also plan ahead using the data and information that Alpha gave them as a guideline.

As discussed previously, one of the advantages to both companies is the chance to share information. Not only would O’Connors be able to share information with Alpha, but that could also be returned in the other direction. It is possible that Alpha could pass onto O’Connors some ideas and processes that could better their operation. In that respect, Alpha may also be willing to provide some investment in new equipment, as it would allow O’Connors to work more effectively, thus reducing the total cost of the operation, which would be of benefit to both sides.

However the biggest potential benefit to O’Connors was mentioned when they said that they would look, if a partnership was agreed, to diversify and provide a ‘one-stop shop’ on-site for all of Alpha’s maintenance needs. This would be a massive step for O’Connors and would add, if successful, massive opportunities onto their existing business. They would be taking on new tasks with a company that already knew what needed to be done, therefore there would always be a helping word or advice for them if something wasn’t going quite right. O’Connors would not have to worry about going into unknown waters on their own, as they would have experience and also knowledge behind them every step of the way if the partnership was working correctly. In this respect it is the best time for them to do this, as there is every chance that Alpha would make sure that the diversification was a success, due to not wanting the partnership to fail and things to go back to the way they used to be.

Despite all the advantages that have just been outlined, both sides need to be careful when entering into a partnership for a number of reasons. Each partner needs to be sure that the other is committed to the agreement to the same level that they are. If not, the partnership can become resource consuming and become just another burden upon a budget already under stress.

In the case, the major risks come from either organisation’s reason for wanting to set up a partnership. If Alpha are just using the set up to drive down their costs with leverage buying and economies of scale, then the partnership will not work as they will become non-interested in the other factors that make partnerships successful. From the other side however, there would be a massive problem arising if O’Connors were just looking to gain guaranteed business from the venture. They may just agree that they will look to diversify and offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ for Alpha to gain the contract, but then fall away on that promise and only continue doing the current jobs they are doing. That would leave Alpha having to still get other contractors in but would also leave them in a long term contract with O’Connors, bringing them back to the same situation that they are currently in. Both sides need to make sure that they have clear goal congruence and that they both want to go in the same direction.

Once the partnership is set up, one of the risks for Alpha is that they may find themselves dependant upon O’Connors, especially if they manage to get their ‘one-stop-shop’ set up. Firstly they may find themselves tied by contract, which could mean that they would be unable to look elsewhere and use other contractors if O’Connors were not doing tasks to the desired standard. O’Connors may look at the situation once it is in place and become very aware of the lack of competition. This could lead to complacency, inertia and inefficiency as described by Bailey et all. Also, perhaps after the partnership has come to an end for whatever reason, even if it has just run its course, Alpha may struggle to find another supplier who would be willing to offer the same ‘all-in-one’ service that O’Connors are planning to offer, which may mean reverting back to the old ways of having a number of contractors for the same type of jobs.

A final potential problem of the partnership may arise when both sides try to get the other to adapt to their way of working. Both companies may have set ideas on how they want to work, and if the other does not accept these then both may struggle to agree on terms. O’Connors for example may deal with maintenance issues a certain way and Alpha may have seen them done a better way. This is a key area where communication will help build up a better working relationship and help both sides. However if this does not happen, then the two could become at loggerheads and not agree on anything, causing the partnership to become a failure. On Alpha’s side, there may be a problem with the purchasing commitment venture. The decision to take on O’Connors was Ruth Turners choice and although the senior managers at the site may have a good relationship with them, some of the other purchasing staff may have their own ‘favourite’ and see the choice of O’Connors as a mistake. They may also be worried about their future, as with the contractors being cut down to just one from 52, Ruth may not feel the need to have 5 different buyers working in the department. So Alpha will need to make sure that they have the commitment of all the staff involved as well as the senior management.

From Ruth Turner’s conclusions of the current purchasing issues, we can see that according to Kraljic’s model, the service that Alpha are looking for is stuck between a strategic and leverage area. The total spend on maintenance and engineering is high and it is certainly a critical service for the business, however there are many potential suppliers of this service, as seen in the 52 contractors that Alpha have already been using. Partnerships should happen mostly when there is a high spend from the business and also a high supply risk, of which there is not. Partnerships should only be considered for the right services and personally I do not feel that the area of maintenance and engineering is right for it unless Alpha were to vertically integrate O’Connors work into their own company. O’Connors have never tried some of these services, or indeed their ‘one-stop-shop’ and it is a large risk that Alpha would be taking. They may be better advised to reduce the number of contractors to just a few key ones and develop better working relationships with those, thus gaining some of the benefits of a partnership anyway.

One other mistake that Ruth Turner has made is that she has based the decision of picking O’Connors purely on a price basis. She has just looked at the companies with the biggest spend and taken the cheapest out of those. She really should have done some proper supplier sourcing, as there may be companies that they only spend small amounts with that are far better suited and capable of carrying out the tasks that Alpha need. Although these companies may be more expensive at the moment, the use of leverage buying and the idea that a partnership can bring down total costs of the operation may mean that they would be cheaper and more effective than O’Connors.

On the good side though, O’Connors is obviously a good contender for the partnership. Ruth has seen that they already have a good relationship with many of the senior staff, which is a key issue when trying to get their backing, something that is needed when starting a partnership. They are a local company that seem very willing to grow and make their diversification a bonus not only for them, but also for Alpha.

Ruth Turner’s next actions can be detailed in the approach given by Partnership Sourcing Limited. Once O’Connors have been decided upon, then both sides need to clearly decide what each need from the relationship. Alpha should get agreement from O’Connors that they will look to diversify and it is probably best that this is put in the form of a simple contract, as it is a key reason behind the partnership. They should both look at what cost benefits there are and what improvements in the service can be arranged. This contract should not be too binding however, as this may lead to problems in the future if things do not work out for either side.

After the initial partnership is set up, then constant refinement and development needs to take place. It is likely that the first few projects taken together will act as a learning curve for both sides, and Ruth Turner simply needs to make sure that there are frequent reviews and meetings with O’Connors, alongside the formal and informal communication, to discuss any issues that arise. Over time this should lead to both sides working together without their being major issues as they will have learnt together the best way of doing tasks. This will hopefully lead to a far better engineering service for Alpha, with them being able to re-invest the money saved into better and up-to-date machinery and technology.

Compensation and Benefits

2009-03-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Compensation and benefits is something each and every employee is concerned with. When going into an interview with a prospective company almost all people have the question of salary in their mind.

According to an article by Chris Howard, of the Canadian Business Magazine, “No one likes performance appraisals. But if you can’t avoid them, there are ways to get by.” By appraisal values he is speaking about what happens when employees are hired and then go through the appraisal for a chance of a rise.

Most companies do not even have annual evaluations, about 45% of workers. If employees are not appraised for their achievements then they will begin to resent the company in which they work. This type of act is being called the “vanishing performance appraisal” which states that either an appraisal gets done, or it does not get done properly.

Companies are also instilling a new type of appraisal which is done not solely from the past like appraisals usually are. This appraisal would be done together and the employee would set goals for the future with their supervisor. This appraisal would also assess observable behavior rather than abstracts.

With the economy in a recession more and more companies are less likely to give their employees any form of appraisal so they will be able to maintain a positive budget. A new way to the appraisal is by having the self-appraisal concept. This concept would make the supervisor’s job much easier. Staff would check with other coworkers to determine how their performance is being ranked. When time for appraisals comes around then the employee want be as shocked if there is something nasty to be said.

A lot of companies do not seem to take appraisals very seriously and base their rewards on other merit factors. Within the organization of Oakton performance appraisals are taken somewhat seriously, but it all depends on who is your supervisor. If you have a manager who is aware of the budget and the incoming amounts then the appraisal and compensation the employee gets may be a little more difficult. Employees usually get compensated nicely for their actions throughout the year. However most supervisors do not know or remember what happened throughout the year leading up to the review.

There is a lot of cynicism surrounding performance appraisals and most of it seems well deserved. Older executives seem to take these appraisals a lot more serious then younger employees. How can this be changed so that all employees are on the same page when it comes to appraisal time? Cleaver writes “it’s no wonder, then, that mangers don’t give the appraisals-or the employees being scored-the care they deserve: a thought to consider, the next time you pen flits down that tidy column of boxes, bouncing randomly between “very good” and “excellent.”

Behavior & Processes

2009-03-24T23:21:00.001-07:00

Learning teams will become high performance teams when an environment exists where team members can be creative, hardworking, dedicated, motivated, knowledgeable, and competent. Our learning team has developed these traits throughout the learning team meetings at University of Phoenix. For instance, one our team members offer her creativity when building the presentation for the group. Another team member is dedicated. After the homework is assigned, she sends an email reiterating what each team member’s tasks are. Each member is knowledgeable, competent, motivated and dedicated to complete the assignments on time. Other members offer their expertise and experiences to the rest of the group. Due to the diversity of our team, we process our assignments in a timely manner, therefore reaching our goals.

As leaders, we are committed to bring out the best in others while keeping them focused on the tasks at hand so they are not distracted causing delays in meeting deadlines. We must facilitate progression and develop stages in order to reach and maintain higher levels of performance. We understand our goal must be to strive to improve each individual team or team member’s performance, as well as the organizational performance.

Teams must prioritize roles and responsibilities when they meet for the first time and subsequently thereafter. By providing role and responsibilities, it makes clear to the other members what is expected and desired by the team. Our learning team determined the first class that we would share in the team responsibilities. Each week a different person completes the Learning Team Log. It provides an opportunity for those wanting to learn to write better a chance to complete the form as well as gives others a way to feel a part of the team. Sometimes, other team members review and comment which helps the individual that wrote it develop their writing skills. Roles are usually determined by volunteering and process of elimination. If you do not volunteer or pick an assignment to process, you are left completing whatever is left over. The role of each team member is to actively participate in group activities.

Along with the roles of each team member come responsibilities. Each team member is responsible to complete assigned tasks on time, cooperate with all team members, provide input on ideas and communicate if problems arise. It is the responsibility of each team member to inform the other members if they will not be able to partake in any of the weekly activities or if assignments can not be completed in a timely manner. In this instance, if someone where to advise me they could not complete the assignment, I would rearrange my scheduled to accommodate the team member who could not complete the task. Responsibilities come in all sizes and require different amounts of attention. It is the responsibility of each team member to decide how much time is required to accomplish such a task and to schedule accordingly.

Team members need to be instrumental in developing programs to improve the effectiveness of the department and overall operation of the organization. In order to manage and maximize effectiveness, teams must demonstrate a systematic approach in order to carry out assignments. By this, I mean, team members must methodically plan each assignment and task and then perform that task in the scheduled time allotted. This process is to administer time management skills.

Team members must be able to demonstrate a strong ability to identify, analyze and solve problems. Each team member needs to obtain and maintain a good standing with the other team members. In order to do this, they must make decision, handle problems, suggest optional solutions, and foresee the consequence of the decisions being made. And finally, the most important point is to communicate these decisions to the entire team. In making conscience decisions, team members must remember to avoid hasty decisions and carefully evaluate the alternative risks. Our team has provided each member with email addresses, phone numbers, cell numbers and our home number so we might be able to help if the need arises.

Team members must provide encouragement and support for each member. Conflicts between members will not provide an environment for teamwork and accomplishment of team goals and tasks. Members will struggle to constantly demonstrate strong interpersonal skills. Employees must focus on demonstrating the ability to relate to issues and ideas, while administering cooperativeness and providing constructive criticism. Each team member on our learning team provides adequate steps to maintain quality workmanship and assumes responsibility for mistakes and shortcomings of subordinates. If a team member does not understand the assignment, other team members explain what is expected. All team members devote appropriate attention to assigned responsibilities and accept new job assignments willingly. This type of team work and participation is the basis for a well-defined productive team.

Workplace Diversity

2009-03-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Pharmacia has many different types of organizational cultures. James Quick argued that culture begins with the values and beliefs that people hold. Pharmacia needs organization to keep their operation running smoothly.

Over the years Pharmacia’s organizational culture has changed in many ways. In the year of 1999 Upjohn which then Monsanto and Pharmacia had merged turning the name to Pharmacia bought out Monsanto. Pharmacia had received its name in June of 2000. The reason that Monsanto and Upjohn merged was because Monsanto was in a deep financial crisis. Once the merger took place the company decided to reorganize the company. Many employees were loosing jobs due to the merger.

Since the merger Pharmacia is currently bringing in contract employees for the first ninety days on a trial basis. This can be a good thing or it can be bad. One of the good ways to look at being a contract employee is to see if you really like working for the company. Many employers are doing this to see if the employee will be a good fit for the company. On the other hand Pharmacia has been abusing contract employees because employees start a position with high aspirations and expectations of becoming a permanent. In the past at the company that I work for, employees have been contractors for months at a time without getting a chance of becoming permanent. Currently that rule has changed to when you are a contract employee longer than three months Pharmacia must either decide to keep the employee permanent or end your contract.

This part of this organizational culture is inclusive. I am pretty fortunate for the job I have and the working condition that I work in. Because I am contract the company treats me as a regular employee. Everyone that I work with is friendly and is willing to help you with whatever task that needs to be done. You are able to work without someone breathing over your neck and be willing to work independently as long as you get your job done. No need to worry about getting an earful from your boss. In some cases if your not meeting up to your bosses expectations you have to reason with him or her. Let them hear you side of the story. Then ask what their expectations should be. In my working environment I feel that people interact on a professional level at Pharmacia. But you are still able to have fun at what you do. You can be your self and feel comfortable while you are working and not feel inferior. This is a professional environment and I do not have to worry about your fellow coworkers spreading roomers around the office.

The employee and employer relationship seems to be a pretty relaxed environment. You are able to feel comfortable around upper management. I can say what is on my mind without the fear of losing my job. My bosses are pretty diverse when it comes to new ideas. Any time I make a suggestion they are always up to listen. Sometimes they use my idea and sometimes they do not.

Pharmacia has to be the most enjoyable company to work for. Because when the company holds company functions, the contract employees are able to attend them as well. Contract employees do not have to feel that they are the minority. People that I work with are friendly and you feel uncomfortable. Everyone can be there self’s and work in a relaxed working environment. You are able to make mistakes without getting a prison sentence. I have had many jobs and I have found that this has been the most rewarding job I have ever had. I am able to come to work to do my job without anyone breathing over my neck and snooping in my business.

Every work place has something that is not so pleasant about the working environment. For instance I do not enjoy getting to work late which causes me to not find a parking spot. When I have a million things to do theirs people that I assist that expect me to take care of their needs before anyone else that was first priority? Noticing over the past few months I’ve realized that I had to change my way of thinking because I thought that I could go in their and make the company know my way of things and that wasn’t the case. Organizational culture has not really affected my work. Because by the way Pharmacia’s structure is it’s taught me to be better worker. Everyone has their own way of doing things and it is hard to go into a company and tell them that they need to change some things. People hate change because their comfortable with the way things has been. When one little change would occur the company thinks that it would be a bad idea for the company. In order to have companies be successful they have to have been diverse. More and more companies should listen to their employees about new ideas to make the company a better place to work.

Workplace Environment

2009-03-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

University of Phoenix Online employs in excess of 2000 employees. Without the acknowledgment of four main topics, University of Phoenix Online would not be the front-runner in online education. Communication, Culture, Conflict, and Technology are the backbone. These four topics work hand-in-hand with one another. In the following paper I will be covering how I perceive these in the workplace. I will attempt to identify their positive and negative affects.

Communication is the key to the overall performance of a company. Effective communication lends a helping hand to achieving the goals set forth and to help maintain a positive working atmosphere. At University of Phoenix Online the main component of communication is via email. We are constantly communicating with fellow employees, managers and students via email.

Reports are distributed daily outlining daily call logs, how many students are registered and what the weeks / months goals are. These are then followed up by emails from each team manager to each individual. Included in these emails will be specifics on how to better accomplish the goals set forth or important information such as team meetings, team building projects, or even just friendly gestures to keep each others motivation at a high level.

Culture is another important element within the walls at University of Phoenix Online. Each team consists of people from different races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. It is important to understand that each employee is different in his / her beliefs. When going through the interview process I remember getting asked numerous questions referring to working with people from different cultures, I now see why the importance on seeing what my opinion was.

Not only have I learned a great deal from each one of my team members, but I have also given them an opportunity to learn from me. We all differ in thinking a problem through and because of this our team has achieved the maximum level of output.

We couldn’t have obtained this level without a certain amount of conflict within the group. As I said before, we all bring a differing opinion to the floor each and every day. While we may not agree completely one a desired course of action, we have the patience and respectfulness of one another to hear and decide with “avenue” to take. We because of this we have constantly maintained at a level above University of Phoenix Online standards.
Without technology, University of Phoenix Online would not be where it is today. Because of our Customer Service Associates and Technical Support Team, we are constantly striving to put forth an advanced and user friendly product. Online learning is a non-traditional way of completing a college degree. But since our CSA’s and Tech Support team are also students, we are better able to identify and solve troubleshooting within our product.

Without these four cogs: Communication, Culture, Conflict, and Technology, University of Phoenix Online would not be the leader in online education. Because we are constantly striving to keep open the lines of communication, employ different types of persons with numerous cultural backgrounds, we openly accept conflict and technology is what turns the wheels, we will continue to become the pioneer and leader.

How important is management development?

2009-03-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

Organisational development has become increasingly important as companies face a world of generic uncertaintyт, resulting in new problems and new challenges. Traditionally, firms have relied upon scientific methods to resolve these problems, but these have been criticised for failing to deliver realistic, understandable and timely solutions. As a result, ction Research has emerged; defined as an inquiry into how human beings design and implement action in relation to one another. This program seeks to allow managers the ability to tackle problems which are complex, non-routine and for which no standard solution exists.

One technique which applies this approach is action learning. Developed since the 1920s, its progress is attributed to Revans, who suggests that there is no clear definition of the concept; rather, its form can vary according to the situation at the time. However, the basic principle revolves around real people tackling real problems in real time. Revans, after studying the coal industry and NHS in the 1950s and 1960s, believed that people had the ability to solve their own problems. Action learning seeks to encourage individuals to solve problems (that have no obvious solution) without the need for advice from senior management or external consultants.

The theoretical underpinnings of action learning lie in the work of Kolb and Revans. Revans describes action learning as a social process by which managers and workers come together to form sets. Pedler suggests that these sets represent a collective search where everyone contributes their problems and insights to achieve a shared understanding. In his work, Revans developed the formula: L = P + Q, i.e. learning equals programmed knowledge plus questioning insight. Revans states that a surfeit of P inhibits Q, and that experts, loaded with P, are the greatest menace to adaptation to change by questioning, Q. Beyond that, Revans, was keen to stress that without learning there was no effective action and without action there was no effective learning. This idea was also developed by Kolb, who suggested that learning was a cyclical process involving; concrete experience, observations and reflections, abstract concepts and generalisations, and testing implications of concepts in new situations. His principle premise was that learning through reflection that questions ones own insights and actions assumes that people can gain and create knowledge, as well as their own personal theory for a problem solving task, on the basis of their own concrete experience.

Zuber-Skerritt suggests that action learning can offer a number of advantages for companies. He argues that in action learning there is a high degree of personalisation of problems and solutions and thus participants will have more of an incentive to ensure its success. This approach can be compared to techniques such as the hiring of external consultants or of senior management who impose their own solutions which may not generate such a desire to succeed among participants. Also, in action learning, the participants will both gain and produce knowledge. When compare with the traditional form of learning i.e. knowledge is transmitted and received in the form of information, theories and research findings, the individuals may only absorb limited amounts of information and they may find it difficult to relate this to the work setting. As Zuber-Skerritt states action learners recognizes the possibility for learners to generate knowledge than merely absorbing passively the results of research produced by specialists.

Revans also notes that as a result of the individual personal growth, the organization will also benefit. As De Loo states, an organization will advance, learn something new, or get a competitive edge over its competitors only when its members advance, learn something new, or find out something that members of rival firms do not know. By using action learning, the organization will benefit by creating a competitive advantage not through better technology or economies of scale, but through the development of the individuals within the organisation.

Electronic Commerce

2009-03-21T05:27:00.001-07:00

Emerging technologies today are causing continuous changes in all areas of companies including structure, management control systems, and human resources. Technology presents a tremendous impact on changing business functions, they provides a means to improve there operations. Electronic Commerce is one of the newest emerging technologies, it is a web based interactive application that can manage business services. When an organization is introduced to a new technology, they need to examine the level of impact it will have on the company’s current IT structures. They need to determine the degree of required change and whether it even needs to be changed and why.

I am going to set the scene with me working in an office furniture and supply sales business, and my associate just recently attended a seminar about electronic commerce and was very excited about possibly reengineering a good portion of the company. The company consists of about 40 employees about 20 of them are in direct sales the other 20 are customer service, or administration. They’re sales functions mostly through outsourcing, a catalog, phone order, and walk-in sales. At this point the only type of electronic marketing strategy they have is a Web Page that tells a customer a little bit about the company, and allows them to view there catalog. Electronic commerce would provide another way of marketing and selling there companies products to the world. It would potentially increase sales revenue and attract new customers and give them a more flexible and convenient way to order their products over the web. To implement the new technology the company would have a lot of factors they would need to consider. To begin, a project planning and initiation would need to be assessed, by developing a project scope and feasibility analysis. Feasibility factors include economic, technical, operational, schedule, political, legal and contractual. These six factors validate the reasons for a business to expend their capital of resources on the project. The economic feasibility study identifies the financial benefits and costs that are affiliated with the development of the project. It is important to make a reasonable assessment and identify the potential benefits of the project. A feasibility study can identify both tangible and intangible costs and benefits. It also identifies the one-time costs that refer to the project initiation and development costs, and the recurring costs are the ongoing evolution expenses and use of the system. A break-even analysis needs to be performed to determine the point at which the benefits equal, costs.

The larger projects are riskier than smaller projects but any good project is going to have to have some risk involved in it. A system where the requirements are easily achieved and highly structured will be less risky than one in which the requirements are unstructured. Results of not assessing a projects potential risk could be: Failure to reap anticipated benefits from the project; Incorrect cost estimates; Project duration estimates inaccurate; System performance levels will not reach potential; The inability to integrate the new system with the existing organizational procedures.

For a company this small this project would be probably be a medium size project to participate in. If the company is familiar with the systems development procedures and applications then this helps reduce risk, but unfortunately the organization has no employees that have any knowledge of electronic commerce. They can also manage potential risk on a project by changing the plan, which will avoid risk factors. They could develop teams to be assigned within the company to manage the uncertain project contingencies. The development of a system should employ a standard technology, which is less risky, rather, then a non-standard technology. The organizations should analyze a project portfolio to determine the level of risk involved, which include high, medium and low risk percentages. A high level percentage of risk is going to cause a project to have difficulty, which a company can not sustain to much of. On the other hand a low-percentage is going to cause a company to be more assertive to discover more innovative uses of the system.

Companies can determine the likelihood that the project will reach its preferred objective by performing an operational feasibility study. The operational study determines the degree to which the proposed system will solve the organization problem or objective. They also need to assess schedule feasibility to determine the time frame and completion date for the project to be met and that meeting these dates will be compatible with the needs of the organization. They also need to assess legal and contractual feasibility, to help the company understand the ramification of legalities. Possible consideration could include labor laws, antitrust legislation, financial reporting standards, contractual obligations, etc. They need to perform a political feasibility, to obtain an understanding of how stakeholders view the designed system through an evaluation process.

The project initiation and planning is a very important part of the design strategy. Once the company has determined the system is feasible, the company will need to perform a study of the current operations to provide information for the system requirements, a detailed analysis of the actual information system activity, and recognize possible improvements of the old systems. The organization has to determine the proposed systems effects on the divisions and business functions. If they implement the new system in the company it would most likely directly effect the sales and customer service division of the company. Potential clients instead of calling up a sales representative or customer service for advice or to order a product could get information and details over the web for potential furniture or supplies to purchase. It would effect the amount of incoming calls. If they were to implement the project they will probably have to hire someone to maintain the new system or transfer someone from one of the departments, and get him/her trained to maintain the system.

The results of evaluating the companies processes and procedures provide the necessary information that is pertinent in the steps involved in the conversion of the additional system. All factors need to be considered when implementing a new technology including Data Storage, Data Transportation, and Data Transformation. The company will need to determine if the data will be stored in a centralized, decentralized, or distributed locations. They need to develop a communication plan by determining the type of equipment and standards they are going to use to transport data, and if any can use any from there current system. The company also has to determine what type of application software, development tools and maintenance will be needed to integrate into their system. Electronic commerce has a lot of alternative solutions for companies to use.

Once the company has reached this point they should have all the facts they need to execute the new information system. At this point they need to come up with a set of alternative design strategies. A Company should always have at least three good design strategies to build their new information system. Three alternatives represent the high end of the spectrum, it goes further than just solving the problem but finding the best solution to the problem. They need a baseline project plan in order to implement the design strategy one that leads to the most desirable outcome. The next thing is what method are they going to implement it through outsourcing, sources of software, or off the shelf software? Electronic commerce has a variety of hardware and software technologies available on the market today. The Office Equipment Company would need to seek a professional help to select the type of software and hardware they need to start their electronic commerce sales system. They would need to come up with the three technical solutions that they would want to implement into their system.

In order for the company to reengineer the business processes an understanding of the current business functions is very important. Business Process Reengineering is a fundamental redesign of the business processes, which the information systems are designed to support. Business transformation is an evolutionary process for all growing corporations in the market today if they want to survive. Information technologies have influenced the transformation of many companies and provide a means for a more flexible and manageable way to accomplish their business objectives. IT provides a widespread connectivity for individuals throughout an organization and beyond an organization boundaries. It helps to manage uncertainty, and is one of the key evolutions of company’s continuous process of change.

Economics and Engineering

2009-03-21T05:23:00.000-07:00

I believe the primary objective for the study of economics is in order for us to find more and more efficient ways to utilize resources. The undeniable fact that man has an almost infinite want, coupled with the finite resources Mother Nature could offer, has led man to resort to ingenious ways to find satisfaction. As this paper aims to highlight the relationship between the study of economics and engineering, much is to be said about solving the problem of limited resources. This would perhaps be the most obvious connection between engineering (specifically, electronics communications engineering) and economics.

As discussed in class, it is technological change that brought about increased in production output in every economy. Graphically, it is marked by a shift in the curve in the production function graph. Practically, it means more output produced by firms for the same amount of input.

Technological change is classified in to two; process innovation and product innovation. With the invention of computers, photocopiers, CD burners, microprocessors, robots and the like, production became faster and cheaper. The workplace has never been this safe; utility of inputs has never reached this level, until now. Efficiency rose all because of technological advancement.

Electronics and communications have also contributed to the improvements of various products such that new levels of satisfaction are reached. Satellite and cable broadcasts gave us more choices of better shows and GSM technology has brought Filipinos their favorite past time (texting). This field of engineering has, indeed, raised the living standards of many.

On top of what has been discussed, engineering has also changed the face of the market. Not very long ago, we had only one picture of a market, a noisy, crowded place in a town where wares and goods are bought and sold. E-bay and Value Vision have been common household names. Now good are showcased over the internet or in television broadcasts. Purchases, too, are made over the phone or the internet. There are, in fact, some firms who no longer have “real” stores and rely solely on their cyberspace stores.

Markets have not only got different but also a lot bigger. Globalization is, in fact, only possible through better communication networks. Satellite communications and fiber optic technology have made transactions to be possible between two people on the opposite sides of the globe. Communication is not only possible but also clearer and more different kinds of information could be exchanged between multiple parties. Teleconferencing, for example, is a big blessing especially for multinational companies. Growth of imports and exports and international mergers owes a lot to good and quality communications. Thus, we have seen local markets closely tied to the rise and fall of the international market.

It is not only the markets that went through a lot of change. The popular mode of exchange also was greatly affected by technological change. We once got tired of exchanging cows for sacks of rice so we had the brilliant idea of minting coins and then later on, paper money. Now, we are beginning to get tired of carrying money. And the solution? Electronics presents to mankind electronic cards with magnetic tapes or microchips that carries information of how much money value it is “loaded” with. ATM cards and credit cards are examples of this. Money flow has reached an all-time high. Purchases and exchange of goods was made easier and safer especially for large transactions. Not only was it bulky to bring along huge sums of money but it was also unsafe, that is why today, electronic cards are as good as cash.

A study of economy without taking into account the latest development in technology would prove to be inadequate. Without the basic understanding of what used to be just technicalities for engineers, one would not be able to completely grasps the workings of the modern economy.

After we have discussed how electronics and communications engineering has affected economics, we have yet to say a bit about the other way around. It is observed that economic growth leads to technological advancement. As firms are driven to find ways to increase profit, they are motivated to stimulate research and development in the field of engineering. With this in mind, the engineering sector should take advantage of the demands in the economy. In other words, the patrons of engineers are firms and thus the knowledge of current market activities will definitely help engineers. For example, the boom in the local telecommunication industry should prompt engineers to produce goods that the market wants. And indeed, we have seen the emergence of cell shops, and products like backlights for cell phones. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of economics, especially consumer demand patterns, would serve as a guide for innovations. After all, what good is innovation when no body is going to use it?

For a soon-to-be engineer like me, the concepts in economics are handy not only for everyday life. Economics and engineering together partake in an interplay towards the betterment of the lives of men. For millennia, we have tried and succeeded (in some degree) to do such. In the end, as what my previous teacher would use to say, it’s all about economics.

Office Automation

2009-03-19T23:51:00.000-07:00

In the fast paced world of today, anything that can make things easier or save someone time is a must have. We have four types of office automation and three group software programs that each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The first type is unified messaging. We utilize the conveniences of e-mail and voice mail. The main advantage of e-mail is saving money on long distance phone calls. Our company saves thousands of dollars in long distance charges because most of the time an e-mail can get the same message across that phone calls used to. One disadvantage of e-mail is it takes a little bit longer to type a message than to just call someone. Also, messages sent through e-mail may sometimes get misunderstood. Tone of voice and body language can be an indicator to the meaning of a comment, without those, it is sometimes hard to understand the person’s message. When using e-mail we need to remember that the other person cannot see or hear our thoughts.

The second type of office automation we use is facsimile. One advantage to the facsimile is that it is a time saver. Instead of mailing documents and waiting days, we use faxes to send them immediately. The obvious disadvantage is that we can only fax a copy of a document and cannot send the original. We still need mail to send originals. Another disadvantage of faxes is the lack of confidentiality. Faxes can get intercepted on either end and leave a person skeptical about using fax for anything classified.

The third type of office automation is electronic filing. Since we use computers for the majority of our work here, we need a place to save it all. We have numerous drives to save our work in and each employee has their own file to save their work. The advantage of having our own files on the hard drive is space.

There is much more space available than on CDs or floppy disks. The disadvantage of saving our data on the different drives is not being able to access that work from home or on the road. I guess this could be looked at an advantage to some people who don’t want to work from home. We also still have floppy disks to save documents on. They do not get used very much because any computer we log on to we can access the hard drives. The disadvantages to floppy disks are the space. They cannot hold as much data as a hard drive. The advantage of floppy disks is that we can take them anywhere.

The final type of office automation is image processing. Copy machines are probably used more than any other office equipment. When it comes to our aircraft paperwork and logbooks, we do not use electronic. The FAA still requires paper logbooks therefore most paperwork is copied and copied some more. The huge advantage of having copy machines is that a duplicate can be made quickly. Many times we are in a hurry to get an aircraft out the door and do not have time to enter data into our Computerized Maintenance Program so I make copies of all of the paperwork and enter it at a later time. Without copy machines our printers would get much more use than what they were made to handle. The only disadvantages I can see with copy machines are if they are jammed or broken. Sometimes I spend too much time trying to get a machine to work and end up reprinting it. In that way, I guess copy machines can be a headache to people who rely on them in a pinch.

The first of the three group collaborative software programs that we have here is Lotus Notes. Lotus Notes is our e-mail and organization software program. Besides e-mailing others, we also use it to schedule appointments, keep track of “to do” items, and organize addresses and phone numbers.

I rarely write anything down on a paper calendar because it is so much easier to schedule things in Lotus, which will eventually remind me of them. That is one advantage to using Lotus, another is having a central location for everything. I do not use a rolodex or have numbers scattered about, they are all in one place. A disadvantage to Lotus is that it runs on the “L” drive and if it is down so is our e-mail. We can always use our own accounts like Yahoo, etc. but for people that do not have any other e-mail, it can be a pain when it is down. The second group software program is our Intranet. Our Intranet can be accessed from any computer at any site. It gives our company a good way to communicate information across all our sites. A huge advantage of the Intranet is having one place to go to find information about the company. The disadvantage of the Intranet is that it is the only place to find some information so if it is down, we are left out in the cold.

The final group software program we have is our CD-ROM server. I used to work in the library so this one is near and dear to me. The CD-ROM server is a program that lets everyone see the publications we hold on CD-ROM in our library. It runs on a remote desktop so each user that logs in is seeing the same icons and data. The disadvantage to that is anyone can go on and change the settings and believe me they do. The advantage to having our CD-ROMs on a server is that the mechanics can look at the pub they want without having to go to the library and check them out.

Those are the main office automation and software programs we have that I know about and use. I am sure there are others that different departments use that I don’t know about.

Direct Marketing

2009-03-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

A direct marketing promotion that I recently responded to was an e-mail from the company Venus offering me free shipping on my next order if it was placed within a two-week time frame. The key message was that all of their swimwear was on clearance. The graphics in the e-mail included young beautiful models in the swimwear.

I was sent this promotion because I had recently ordered a swimsuit from their online site. I had not returned what I had ordered, so it could be assumed that I was pleased with the product. Due to the fact that I did like what I had ordered from them the first time, along with the clearance prices and free shipping, this offer was very attractive to me. My original order was also the first order I had ever placed with them. Consequently, this offer also prompted me to look at their other clothing lines and order a few other things as well. The company contacted me via e-mail because I had placed my order online and had provided them with my e-mail address to send confirmations and special offers to.

This promotion was good on Venus’ part for two reasons. First of all, they knew I was a new customer and if given the opportunity to have free shipping there was a good chance that I would browse around their website to see what other clothing they were selling. Secondly, I had recently purchased what they were now offering on clearance. They had no reason to believe that I was dissatisfied with my first purchase of this nature and figured that I would be open to ordering another swimsuit because of the clearance prices. The combination of these two characteristics prompted me to take them up on their offer and order another swimsuit along with additional clothing items.

A direct marketing item that I received, but did not respond to at this time was a money card for $15 if I spent over $50 at American Eagle Outfitters. I was given it in the store after making a purchase of over $100. The key message that they were sending was that if I spent over a certain amount I would be rewarded. The picture on the front of it was a snowy atmosphere picturing two people bundled up in their coats, scarves, and hats.

I was given this promotional item because I had spent a decent amount of money (over $100) and had put it on my American Eagle credit card. This shows that I shop their on a regular basis and usually buy several items when I do. It is reasonable for them to assume that I will buy there again and spend at least $50.

American Eagle’s offer was good, but the time peroid they placed on it prevented me from using it. The money card expired the day before Thanksgiving. Up until this date, they were carrying basically the same merchandise that they had for the past two months. Therefore, there was nothing new that I wanted to buy for myself. I would have had to find $50 worth of merchandise to even use the promotion. In addition, I do not usually get around to Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving when there are big sales or a few days before Christmas when the time crunch is on. Therefore, the time constraint on this particular offer caused me to disregard the offer. In the future, if I receive this same offer from American Eagle during a different time frame and they have newer merchandise that I have not fully exhausted, there is a good chance I will take advantage of it.

A direct marketing promotion that I received and did not even consider responding to was from The Limited. The offer was if I bought a pair of pants I would get the second pair $20 off. The key message was the variety of styles and lengths that they offered in their pant selection. The graphics included a beautiful woman modeling the pants. (See attached card mailing)

The direct marketer sent this to me because I had bought several pairs of pants from them earlier in the fall. I also have The Limited credit card and had accumulated enough style points from my pant purchases to receive a gift certificate. It could be assumed that I did like their pant collection. However, they did not take into account that I may only want so many pairs of pants. This offer would require me to buy an additional two pairs of pants on top of the several pairs I had purchased earlier in the fall. They should have also considered that they have the same basic colors and styles in stock as they did during the previous month and a half.

I did not respond to this offer or even consider it. The marketer could have considered the possibility that I was pretty much content with my pants purchases for the time being. The same offer would have been better had it been for dress shirts instead. Considering the fact that I had already purchased several pairs of pants from them, they could have offered a complimentary item with this promotion instead. I would have responded to an offer such as this.

Small Business

2009-03-19T10:54:00.001-07:00

In today’s world, small businesses dominate the economy. Out of all the business in the United States, small business accounts for 99% of it all. For a business to be a small business it must have under 500 employees, be locally owned and operated, dependent on the industry, and one or few owners. These owners receive a high amount of respect from all the employees and co-workers. Most of the time the owners have put forth a great amount of time and money in order for the company to be existent. Also, the owner will have more than just his or her money invested. He will have loans from the bank and also some of the family’s money invested into the business. Therefore, most of the owner’s life is spent running the business and making sure it stays on track. Many entrepreneurs start up a business because of a few advantages: they can be their own boss, make a lot of money, they have freedom and flexibility, and do what they love to do. On the flip side, it is a capital risk, long hours, high stress, and fluctuating sales. Therefore, many people start up a business hoping to make a lot of money not knowing all the details it takes to successfully run it. Some factors that cause a business to fail are; poor management, nepotism, taxes, miss-hires, too much overhead, and product to market failure. After taking all of these things into consideration, I went out and interviewed 3 business owners and collected information from all of them. Many of their answers were very similar and some were very different. Throughout the paper I will discuss the owner’s daily practices, the results from their surveys, findings from the internet article, and whether or not the business world has changed since they have been in it and how it affected them.

For my paper I interviewed three business owners or daily managers from three different business fields. First, I interviewed Gary Sims from Sims Insurance Agency. He got involved in the company about 10 years ago when he purchased the company. Next, I interviewed Tom Gallagher from Countrytyme, Inc. He is into real estate where he purchases land and resells it. Last, I interviewed Joshua Garey from Grainger. He is a daily customer service manager. He got started with Grainger through their management trainee program. Throughout the research packets, interviews, and other additional findings certain themes seemed to reappear in many different ways. There were some very significant similarities between the three research surveys. There were two major categories from the first question on the survey that three people I interviewed had very similar answers for their most important. It seemed that money and customers ranked higher than any other aspect on the survey. Specifically, overall growth in revenue seemed to be ranked the highest out of all of them. Next, would be to improve service to their customers. Followed by improve profits margin and increase success in retaining customers. Lastly, improve return on capital rounded up the similarities as most important. With these five answers continually repeating themselves throughout the surveys and answers, then there must be a catch to them. Well it is not to difficult to find the catch between customers and making money. If a company, such as these three, takes to heart what they feel is most important and lives by it then what they want to come true will happen. All three of these businesses are very successful in their own right. Therefore, improving customer service and then increased success in retaining customers, which they feel is very important for their business, helps them meet their financial goals. It is quite obvious why those answers were ranked among the top. If a company improves its customer service and then increases customers the rest will follow, such as growth in revenue, improved profit margin, and improved return on capital.
There also were some similarities between the answers ranking at the bottom of the question on the survey. First, ranking low on the survey was financially viable return on investment in new services and facilities. When I asked them why this was not so important to them as a business, the common answer I received was that their companies were pretty set in what services they offered, therefore they did not view new services as too important. There was an exception to the other part of the question though, investment in new facilities. Tom Gallagher, land buyer, obviously has to reinvest his money into buying new land. Other than that this answer ranked toward the bottom. Also, to go along with the other question, successful introduction of new services and facilities ranked at the bottom. Basically the same idea goes along with this question as it did with the question before. Most of these companies are either limited on what they do or they are satisfied with their services as they are. The next question that ranked at the bottom of the survey was collaboration with other companies in your industry. When I asked them about this they just simply answered that they do not feel any interest in joining or working together with anybody else. Ranking near the bottom of the survey in most of the surveys was improving the relationship with suppliers. Basically, if the relationship between the business and its supplier is manageable and there are no problems then there is no real need to make an effort to improve the relationship between the two of them.

During each of my interviews there were a few specific questions that I asked each business person. These questions were asked to aim at the daily decisions they make, the practices they go by, what problems they encounter, if the business world has changed since they have been involved, and etc. The first question that I asked them, “What is a typical day for you as an owner or daily manager?” Basically I got the response back that I expected to hear. There was nothing to out of the extraordinary just the basic everyday managerial duties one has as an owner or manager. Everyday tasks include such things as paperwork, dealing with customers, working with employees, checking inventory, and making sure the business runs smoothly and efficiently. All of these things must be done everyday for the business to stay on top of everything that is going on and to continue to make money, which is the bottom line. All of this work seems very time consuming and for the most part it is. One thing the owners mentioned is the fact that they are very busy during the day, but to make sure and save some time for yourself. This also goes along with the internet article I found on BusinessWeek. It simply states that people today are so concerned with making themselves available 24/7/365 to their customers that they have no time for themselves.

The next question I asked them, “What type of practices or guidelines do you work by in your business?” Once again there was a universal answer that I received from the people I talked to. A certain word kept coming up during the conversations with the business people and that word was ethics, the sense of right and wrong. When it comes to ethics some people tend to cringe up and not want to talk about them as if they are evil. Luckily the people I interviewed seemed to follow some type of ethical code when dealing with their business practices. Each of the business people I interviewed had a list of business ethics that all the employees had to go by and follow. They were all a little different based on the company, but the general principle was about the same for all the businesses. Also, the organizational ethics is only one of three branches which lead into the ethical dilemma. There are also personal factors that lead to the decision as well as opportunity. With opportunity a lot of times the reward must be a lot higher than the risk in order for a person to make the decision to do it. When I asked the business people what type of things they would or would not do for success in their business, it still lead back to personal and organizational ethics. If the consequence would hurt them as a person or the company as a whole, then the action was not worth taking. In order for a business to survive in today’s world, the business must be ethical, i.e. Enron. The lifeline of a business is repeat business, therefore if you unethically make a decision that makes a customer mad, the chances of getting them back as a customer are not very good. One advantage of carrying positive ethics that I learned is the reputation of your business, which is very important. Once your business is known for doing something illegal or unethical then that type of reputation will stick for a very long time. After news like that gets out the chances of the business staying in operation are not very good.

The next question I asked them, “What are the biggest problems you have to deal with as an owner or manager?” The number one problem that all business people have to deal with is the customers. No matter whom I talked to whether it was the owners, managers, salespeople, or secretaries they all said that dealing with customers is by far the biggest problem. No matter how hard a business tries there will be times when they mess up an order or whatever for a customer. What the customer does not realize is that they did not do it on purpose. These businesses deal with tons and tons of customers and with even more orders, therefore there are going to be times that the order is not right. The customer never understands that and they are so impatient, which they have the right to be to an extent. When I asked the owners how they deal with the customers they simply responded, “The customer is always right.” Even though 99% of the time they actually are not, the business still has to treat the customer as if they are right. Like I said earlier, the lifeline of a business is repeat business, meaning it is easier to get existing customers to buy more than to go out and find new customers, so in order to keep the existing customers you must treat them well.

Finally, I asked, “Has the business world changed since you have been in business, if so, how has it affected your business?” For some of them they have not really been in the business long enough to really notice much of a trend. For the others, the biggest change in the business world has been the economy. They mentioned the difference from when they just started back in the 1970’s and then in the 1990’s was the booming of the economy and all the technology that the business world has today. On the other hand they are starting to see the flip side of the economy. They are starting to get hurt a little bit with the recession and now the war starting. For some of them business is slowing up a little bit, but for others not much has changed. With Tom Gallagher, land buyer/real estate, he can definitely see a change in his business as of lately. Then with Gary Sims, Insurance agent, he has not seen a much of a drop in business. So depending on the type of business one is associated with the business world changes differently for each business.

In conclusion, this research project opened my eyes to a lot of different aspects that a business owner or daily manager has to encounter. A lot of things go into running a small business efficiently. As the owner or manager is it your job to make sure everything gets done the way you want it to. At the end of the day all the responsibilities are left for the owner to handle. No one else is to blame for the lack of revenue generated by a business other than the owner. Therefore, the owner must be able to deal with many different situations that he may have to encounter and solve them.

Leadership

2009-03-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Leadership in my world is the ability to convince a community of people to share in my vision and goals for my classroom and to inspire and motivate them to work together in order to accomplish these goals.

My leadership style uses my ability to demonstrate effective social skills that would maximize the efforts of the people I work with, while delegating responsibilities on an everyday basis in the capacity of supervisor. My ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, while making them feel comfortable enough to perform the job tasks that they are equipped to do is what makes my leadership style unique. It is giving orders without sounding like a dictator. It sometimes means expressing restraint with one’s tongue, when one prefers to say something.

In my capacity as a teacher, I have three teacher aides from diverse backgrounds that I work with on a daily basis. The task of delegating responsibilities, and dealing with each one on a personal and professional basis can sometimes be a monumental task. It takes a great deal of skill to deal with conflict resolution in order to keep harmony within the classroom. Touchy subjects and different views on things have to be handled very delicately. This necessitates taking the time to listen and answer questions that may arise. I have to show them that they are appreciated, and that their contribution to the daily running of the classroom is important. I try to build trust among us by treating them with respect, because I feel this is a necessary ingredient in creating effective teamwork. In our environment it is necessary to network our activities to maximize the potential of each student. This is the common goal of each one of us in the classroom.

I try to draw on the strength of each individual, to encourage him/her to be as creative as he/she can be with the kids. Sometimes this means being sympathetic, and showing a genuine interest in their concerns or apprehensions. The ultimate goal is to create a learning environment that maximizes on their individual strength, and maintains organization of materials to enhance this learning environment. To achieve this, it is necessary to maximize on each of their efforts.

In using my leadership style, I try to lead by example, listen with understanding, have confidence in the creativity of the people I work with, be open to ideas and communicate openly and honestly with them.

In my opinion, as a leader these are some of the main ingredients that constitute my leadership style. I believe to be a successful leader, it has to be a part of your personality. There will always be challenges when working with different people,but I try to create an environment where every feels as though they are part of a family group. This makes a big difference in the acceptance level of opinions in the classroom, and inspires my assistants to achieve more. You need to have a genuine interest in people and command the utmost respect by being an example yourself, and being open, honest and fair in your leadership decisions. I am always full of enthusiasm in what I do, and I noticed that this enthusiasm inspires and motivates people. I am very satisfied with my leadership style and try always to lead by example. A leader is a person that represents a purposes, and strives ever constantly for success and improvement of that purpose, and can encourage others to believe in that same purpose. I believe that I am that person.