Mistakes Managers Often Make

While working in a book bindery as a summer job, I came across a manager who broke one of the 101 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make.   The rule broken was: showing favoritism not based on performance. This bindery, worked in a factory like setting, and hired most people for minimum wage.   The salary offered attracted a range of people from students, to housewives, and foreign speaking Americans.   I accepted the position for minimum wage, and was happy to be busy for the summer months.   What I was not happy with was the favoritism that ran rampant throughout the bindery. My manager began showing signs of favoritism in very small ways, but as the summer wore on, the signs of favoritism began growing and growing.   It seemed that this particular bindery hired relatives, friends and anyone who knew anyone.   Obviously, this can be an asset as well as a negative.   In my case, it was a definite negative.   My manager had several relatives and friends working there that were her obvious favorites.   Since I was not related and had known her previously, I began to notice a pattern of more difficult jobs going to me, and the easier jobs going to those that she knew or liked better than me. When I brought this to her attention I was told that there was no favoritism going on and was making something out of nothing.   As this pattern continued, other workers began to take notice and become irritated.   They were reluctant to confront her due to the fact that they knew I had, and not only received no satisfaction, it seemed that I was no even more unpopular. The jobs that came my way now were ugly.   The books were extremely heavy to pack, messy to inspect and often scattered throughout the bindery so I had to go find them.   I noticed my workload and noticed the workload of the favorite ones was much, much different.   Theirs consisted of paperback books, that needed little to no inspecting and were light to pack and always on the same cart in the same place. I finally was able to convince a few people to come forward so that the issue could be resolved.   Unfortunately they did not receive satisfaction either.   In fact, they were labeled troublemakers and their workload drastically changed for the worse very quickly. At this point, I felt personally responsible for their unhappiness and difficulty at work so I decided to take the next step.   As professionally as I could be, I spoke to Human Resources about the situation.   I was assured that it would be addressed with the person immediately and I would not find any further unfairness.   I was sure that this was the end.   Work would return to normal and the workload would be evenly distributed again soon. What I did not expect was further unfairness.   This manager now truly detested me and her actions were completely obvious.   Now my jobs were piling up and all nightmare jobs.   My coworkers that had come forward now seemed to be getting a break.   All their bad jobs were coming my way instead.   I knew that this had gone from a professional disagreement to a personal one.   I didn’t know what to do.   I wanted to stand up for myself but feared future retaliation. This was just supposed to be an easy summer job.   I wasn’t sure if it was worth all the headaches.   Still, I knew what I had to do.   I made an appointment with the Vice President to discuss the matter.   He boasted of an open door policy and this time I was positive that it would be handled once and for all. My coworkers were nervous for me and still upset about what had transpired between them and her.   They were not interested in coming forward with me, and I didn’t blame them.   This was supposed to fun. Nevertheless to support me, they began taking frequent breaks, working slower, coming in late and caring less and less about the condition of the books that were being sent out.   I have to admit, although not intentional, my attitude had gotten worse which directly resulted in less care with the books.   Work in this part of the bindery was grinding to a slow halt.   Our division was getting further and further behind but nothing was done.   We were just instructed to work harder and faster. My meeting with the Vice President went well and the days after that went along much smoother.   Unfortunately by the time this meeting took place, the summer was almost over and we were still weeks behind in production. I left that summer wondering how this had happened at all.   It was a simple issue I had thought.   I had expected maturity and professionalism.   I didn’t know that people like this, with this type of mentality existed in upper management.   I learned that this type of person exists on all levels and what was a simple issue that could have been resolved in five minutes, dragged on for almost three months and resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars being lost or wasted. During my meeting with the Vice President I explained how simple this issue really was and the only reason it had gotten to him was because it had not been handled in the first place.   I let him know that employees need a person they can go to when issues arise. I suggested a non-bias person that could listen and act appropriately.   Having to go through the chain of command is a good way to start but when the problem isn’t resolved there has to be someone available, without the busy schedule of the Vice President.   The whole situation was an eye opener and taught me not only how to stand up for myself professionally but how to make suggestions that may help a company avoid these mistakes in the future.

Mexico Gulf of Mexico

Mexico is a beautiful country situated in North America, delimited on the on the east by the Gulf of Mexico, on the southeast by Guatemala, on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and north by the United States. The United Mexican States consist of a legitimate republican federation of thirty-one states and a central district, Mexico City, is considered to be one of the most densely inhabited cities on globe. The Mexican Revolution was an interlude of political, military and social conflict and mayhem that set in motion with the call over armaments made on November 20 1910 by Francisco I. Madero, a politician, author and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913, and lasted until 1921. It is anticipated that the war killed nine hundred thousand of the 1910 population of fifteen million. The preliminary epoch of armed conflict terminated in the removal from power of dictator Porfirio Dà ­az Mori, a Mexican-American War volunteer, French intrusion hero, and President   who ruled Mexico from 1876 to 1880 and from 1884 to 1911, and Madero's rise to presidency. Madero was thrown out in 1913 and the state was swallowed up in civil war, as more than a few political and armed groups raised war against each other for being in command of the nation. A most important stride towards the end of armed conflict caught up the dissemination of the current constitution of Mexico in 1917, the official end of the insurrection. On the other hand, conflict and political unrest such as the Cristero War continued up to the late 1920s. Factory or slaughterhouse worker in Mexico City had faced unacceptable obstacles before the Mexican revolution in 1910, in exercising their rights to join independent unions, bargain collectively, and hold strikes. By 1879, revolutionary thoughts had spread all through the budding Mexican labor movement La Social had sixty two provincial units and about five thousand people were present at its 1879 symposium. Its paper, La International, made social insurrection, social revolution, and the elimination of all governments and the formation of a â€Å"universal social republic† indispensable. That would put the last touches on all national boundaries. Many of the newspaper's articles from San Antonio narrate prejudice suffered by the rural and urban Factory and slaughterhouse workers in Mexico, the sleaze and venality of government bureaucrats in that state, the complicity of foreign based resources with the Dà ­az regime, and the inevitability of terminating the dictatorship. From 1895 to 1911 with on the increase foreign supremacy of the economy came beyond doubt ruthless working conditions. Capitalism, free of state parameter, subjugated Factories and slaughterhouses. A necessary social arrangement with hospitals, wellbeing reimbursement, schools, and housing facility and so on, was not provided by foreign capitalists. Company towns were built for Factory and slaughterhouse workers where their entire families lived in diminutive single rooms. These barrack settlements were little more than massive penitentiaries. Workers were expelled from having guests to put a stop to transaction and communication of ideas. Industrial contamination coupled with household sewage caused terrible health hazards that carried epidemic after epidemic on the working class. State of affairs was so dreadful in some company towns that even the panorama of starvation could not drive people to work there. The state took action by compulsorily rounding up men, women and children, and compelling them to work as slaves. Every feature of work and living was proscribed. Fines were imposed on Factory and slaughterhouse workers who were then enforced to take out mortgages to pay them off. Thus Factory and slaughterhouse workers faced several obstacles in Mexico City face before and during the revolution. Regardless of the atrocious oppression and unsympathetic circumstances, workers sustained to organize. A number of clandestine workers’ councils and subversive unions were created, often forming a substitute revolutionary culture based on reciprocated aid, as workers endeavored to survive in an atrocious atmosphere. By 1900, some of these organizations became strong as much as necessary to confront the regime inspiring a number of strikes across Mexico. After the wrapping up of Mexican revolution both refugees and Mexican Americans involve themselves in the activities undertaken by labor organizations. The American Federation of Labor naturally repulsed Mexican descent factory and slaughterhouse workers and considered them as prospective strikebreakers, but Tejano workers seek for other alternatives. The membership of La Agrupacià ³n Protectora, founded 1911, comprised of factory and slaughterhouse workers. La Agrupacià ³n called for the fortification of its members from illegitimate reclamations of possessions. Tejanos as well joined an assortment of Socialist associations for instance the different associates of the Socialist party in Texas. Some Tejano factory and slaughterhouse workmen joined unions but however found themselves separated out from Caucasian laborers. Nevertheless, the epoch of the insurrection and World War I brought about an upswing in organizational responsiveness and no doubt improved living and working conditions of factory and slaughterhouse workers especially those of Mexican origin. Politically, Tejanos involved themselves in remonstration activities to bring awareness to the tribulations of their everyday living and working conditions. Aggravated by antagonism against decades old prejudice and disdain, Tejanos finally joined in a movement of armed confrontation against subjugation in 1915. In the conclusion it would relevant to mention that the revolts and wars irrespective of whatever reason instigated cast devastating curse on mankind. These never prove to be beneficiary for any party. Though living and working conditions of factory and slaughterhouse workmen in Mexico improved subsequent to the Mexican revolution in 1910, but due to various deceitful policies of the government the workers still suffer. Reference: Smith, DA; Mexico: A Thousand Revolutions; Alliance Publications; 2001

Organizations and Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organizations and Behavior - Essay Example Organization theory is not quite prepared to confront this. Nevertheless, organizational knowledge, or the knowledge produced by managerial and organizational activities and events, is generated by the accumulation of distinct experiences of members in a particular organization and its environment. This organizational knowledge then made the possibilities for effective organizational structure, corporate culture, and management and leadership strategies (ibid). Therefore, in this paper, two different organizations, namely General Electric and Ford Motor will be compared and contrast using the various organizational theory. An in-depth look at these two organizations’ structure, corporate culture, and management and leadership approaches will also be included. Nonstop changes have become a normal occurrence for companies and their employees in the contemporary period’s cutthroat, competitive business world. During the recent years, several companies have endeavour into remarkable adjustments such as removing strata of management, streamlining techniques, motivating employees and laying off others, creating self-empowered work teams, and others. In periods as such, companies clearly need competent leadership strategies, yet particularly so at the highest level of the organization. Even though numerous of business adjustments happening nowadays might appear to most employees, a beaming model of the common idea of consistently changing an organization for improvement is the General Electric Corporation (GE), which experienced an extensive restructuring process commencing in the opening of the 1980s under the administration of their Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John F. Welch (Strohmeier, 1998). The most important leadership codes dev eloped by Welch at the time these changes can provide as a framework for other leaders confronting similar predicaments in their workplaces regardless of

The Role of Social Media in Branding in the UK Dissertation

The Role of Social Media in Branding in the UK - Dissertation Example This research seeks to investigate social media and critically outline its characteristics in an attempt to define its role in branding. This research will specifically be confined within the United Kingdom. An investigation on social media either within the academic sources or over the Internet would reveal numerous and diverse definitions. Since its invention back in the 1980s, the Internet has rapidly evolved with the equally robust advances in information and communication technologies that enabled it to achieve the speed, coverage and accessibility crucial in the introduction and real-time delivery of rich media content, sophisticated web applications and systems. This development has allowed the Internet to become a major component of the strategies and platforms by which business enterprises operate. The social networking website is one of such breakthroughs. Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Blogspot/Blogger and Twitter are some of the most popular forms of this Internet applica tion/system. By the year 2000, the usage of this web system exploded to billions of users combined. Facebook alone, through the analytics tool provided by Google Ad Planner, has more than 600 million users worldwide and 25 million of these are British. (Google 2011) The statistics is further reinforced by the fact that the website has 770 billion page views and 23-hour average visitor use. (Google 2011) If one has to consider the users of other social networking websites that are popular across the World Wide Web, the staggering figure could reach up to 1 billion. Facebook is, in fact predicted to achieve its one-billionth user by next year. (Business Wire 2007) In the British experience the figures are as impressive. For example, the percentage of social media users jumped from 22 percent four years ago to 44 percent in 2009 and approximately 35 percent of these users logging on to their favorite social networking site(s) at least once every week. (Shayon, 2010) The significance of these developments and figures for advertising and branding is tremendous. As a communications technology, social media has the power to influence individuals and groups. The humungous number of social media users highlights the degree of its import. Research Objectives This research seeks to investigate social media and critically outline its characteristics in an attempt to define its role in branding. This research will specifically be confined within the United Kingdom. To this end, the following goals would be pursued: Define and explain social media; Explain how social media can enhance branding; Identify emerging branding techniques within the social media sphere; Identify and explain existing cases of successful branding undertaken through or with the help of social media in the UK experience; Pitfalls and limitations of the social media in the branding context; Outline potentials and future development of the technology in the context of its role in brand building in the U K. What is Social Networking? An investigation on social media either within the academic sources or over the Internet would reveal numerous and diverse definitions. For this study’s purposes, the term social media would follow Paul Clark’s general assumption which explains social media as the ultimate democracy of expression, one that is â€Å"typified by e-mails, blogs, podcasts, video- and photo-sharing, voice-over IP, message forums and boards, and wikis† constituting some form of organic conversation that involved the production and access of contents by individuals using computers and the web. (Clark, 2010) Social networking websites such as Facebook can be an amalgamation of these social media elements and web applications. For example, they may offer their users photo and video-sharing services, blog/micro blogging functionalities, messaging/chat applications, boards and mail systems. The point is that the web is in constant flux and applications and fun ctionalities are often being developed and integrated in order to provide richer and more complete

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS - Essay Example Firstly, this bumper sticker is not particularly clear. Yes, the exact words it says are clear, and exactly what they mean are clear, but one is left wondering what the broader interpretation should be – are you arguing against automated answering services? Is this a political stance that English should be the National Language? Do you dislike buttons in general for no particular reason? This bumper sticker’s fundamental point is not clear. Though this bumper sticker fails on the clarity test, it does actually pass the simplicity one. Everything is simple about this, perhaps too simple, which impedes clarity. But one cannot argue this is too complex for a bumper sticker. Finally, a successful bumper sticker has to be amusing. Usually good bumper sticker includes some kind of joke or pun, something that will make someone actually happy they paid attention to it. This bumper sticker is in no way interesting. If someone walks up to you and tells a joke, you will be inclined to listen to it. If someone walks up to you and says â€Å"I shouldn’t have to press 1 for English† you will be mad at them for wasting your time. This bumper sticker, by not being interesting, wastes your

What causes conflict in organizations Research Paper

What causes conflict in organizations - Research Paper Example As such, there is a large disparity on the effects of the conflicts to a firm.The first main cause of conflicts in organizations is differing values and beliefs. Most firms have their values and goals at heart and ensure all the employees are inclined towards achieving all these goals. Most of the organizations have various strategies which are geared towards achieving the goals and values that are openly stated. On the other hand, all the employees have their values and goals which are at heart. While the organization is striving to achieve its goals and values, the other employees are also struggling to achieve their goals. This brings conflict of interest where each entity is inclined towards achieving its goals (Rahim, 2011). Many organizations cherish the belief and value of having diverse employees from different specialties. This is deemed to help the organization achieve its goals within the stated timelines. However, some employees are not in line with such an approach. They do not want diversity in the organization as it thwarts their struggle for the best opportunity to excel. This creates a scenario where some are not contented with fellow employees. In the end, there is a looming conflict that affects the performance of the firm. For example, some employers do not believe in having workers that have varying beliefs. As such, they will try their best to oppose such an approach. In solving this conflict, there is a possible approach of teaching employees the need for diversity in an organization. This is by ensuring that they bond and interact with each other in ensuring the organization records stunning performance. In many instances, occasional training is instilled to make a better understanding of the situation (Maas, 2010). Similarly, some organizations involve corporate activities which ensure the employees engage in lengthy talks that are also fun. In such a situation, the employees get to know the other’s positive side. The second caus e of conflict in organizations is the issue of opposing interests. Some employees are hell-bent on achieving their interests while in the firm. On the other hand, the firm has its stated achievements that should be keenly followed. In such a situation, there is a conflict as each of the two finds an avenue of achieving the best. For example, some organizations have stated achievements which include maximizing the utility of workers. In such a situation, most organizations would wish workers to spend more time at their work place in ensuring the organization gets the best outcome (Kinicki and Kreitner, 2009). However, some employees would wish to achieve personal goals which include attaining higher studies. Since most of these studies would require more time, the employees take most of the time studying. In such situations, the organization is not likely to reflect utter utility. This affects its entire performance as it has to struggle achieving maximum utility from some of these e mployees. In solving such a situation, the organization should have clearly stipulated rules and regulations on time management. For example, if the workers would wish to continue with their education, it is advisable that they should seek discontinuation from duties for the stated time. When the employees are concentrating on one activity at a time, they are likely to give it the best shot (Maas, 2010). Therefore, when they have all the time

Passport and Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Passport and Justice - Essay Example As statements made by Knox, she had heard of screams of Kercher proving that she was present in the location and at the time of the murder. At the same time statements of Knox also stressed on the fact that she was mentally pressurized by the investigation team that could have led her to make such statements. Also, the evidences of the blood stains and the matching of DNA with Knox and Kercher could not prove to stand strongly against Knox and her boyfriend. This was primarily because the weapon in which the blood stains were obtained and the injuries on the body of Kercher did not match (Kington, 2011). All these facts reflect on one very important suggestion that the investigation of the murder was done to the proper extent it was needed. Moreover, while the court or the legal system in Italy has been unable to find the match of the evidences with the murder of the young girl, it could also be stressed that the court did not take significant measures to place orders for the identif ication of the truth. The blame was instead completely placed on the team of investigation without any strict rules for them to ensure that the evidences they presented could be strongly used to find the murderers. The US Legal System: Any Difference That Would Have Taken Place: An analysis of the case in concern of the study reflects on the fact there had been a lack in the entire investigation process as well as the legal system that did not contemplate well on what could have actually happened to Meredith Kercher whose throat was slashed and signs of sexual assaults were also found. Rather the judge had made statements that showed that he did not... The case of Amanda Knox reflects on a murder case, which occurred in the year 2007, where Amanda and her boyfriend were charged and given sentences for several years in jail. However, both them have got their releases in the year 2011 (Jones, 2011). The current study focuses on the incidents and the trials that had taken place on this murder, and judgment of the Italian government and how it could be different if the US government was in charge of the case. Also, an overview on the major legal systems in the world would be presented such that an understanding of the legal procedures can be achieved while people move to different countries.There are currently four major legal systems in the world. If any individual travels to different countries, he/she needs to understand the difference in these laws such that they can maintain the decorum applicable in the particular country. Also, in case of any accidents, or criminal acts, the understanding of these laws becomes highly essential. The four major legal systems include the Civil law, the Socialist law, the Islamic law, and the Common law. . If an individual travels to a different country, a study on which law is followed in that country and thus an understanding of that law would assist the individual to keep safe in a foreign country as well.

Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terrorism - Research Paper Example FBI definition of terrorism has been one of the most used in understanding this concept; FBI defines terrorism as the unlawful use of violence or force against property or persons in an attempt to coerce or intimidate a civilian population, a government, or any sort of segment to further certain social or political objectives (White, 2012). In order to understand how the definition of terrorism is impacted upon public and societal perspective and how it changes over time, this paper will address several questions regarding the Irgun. Irgun, also referred to as The National Military Organization in the Land of Israel was a militant Zionist underground group that was actively mainly between 1931 and 1948 during the British control in Palestine (Bowyer, 1977). The group broke from the earlier Zionist paramilitary organization that was known as Haganah. The Irgun was founded on the policy of Revisionist Zionism that stated that each Jew had the right of entering Palestine and that only a ctive retaliation could deter Arabs, and that Jewish armed force that is armed was the only one capable of ensuring the Jewish state (Pedahzur and Arie, 2009). Irgun committed assassination and terrorism acts against the British, whom it considered as illegal occupiers; also Irgun committed violence acts against the Arabs. After the state of Israel was created in the 1948, Irgun was disbanded and absorbed into the Israel Defense Forces (Eisenstadt, 1985). Irgun’s stated motivation and goal for their military actions was to establish a Jewish state on the either sides of the Jordan (Bowyer, 1977). This motivation and goal was informed by the Revisionist Zionism policy which Irgun was founded upon that stated that each Jew had the right of entering Palestine; only active retaliation which involves force and violence can deter the Arabs; and only armed force of the Jews would ensure the Jewish state. Apart from the King David Hotel acts by the Irgun, the group undertook other vi olent actions to achieve their goals. One of the other violent actions by Irgun included the â€Å"Sergeants Affair† in July, 1947 which involved hanging of the hostages (two British Sergeants) after the British had confirmed the death sentences for the Irgun members (Shlaim, 1995). The other violent action by the Irgun is what was referred as the â€Å"Acre Prison Break† where the Irgun undertook one of their largest operations of a prison in Acre; this raid allowed 41 of its members to escape from the prison. Another violent action of the Irgun was the bombing of the British Embassy located in Rome, on October 31, 1946, where close to half of the building was destroyed and at least 3 people injured (Bowyer, 1977). The violent actions of the Irgun mainly targeted the British officials and soldiers, as well as the Palestinian Arab civilians and fighter

Voter ID Legislation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Voter ID Legislation - Essay Example It is obvious why many would favor a voter ID law. A voter ID law obviously prevents voter ID fraud but it also make for more honest politics. Voter ID laws ensure that the one running does not run as a waste of their time. If voter ID fraud can be eliminated, voting becomes more honest. Some may oppose voter ID law for budget reasons and discrimination issues. There may not be money available to pass the law to uphold the new requirements. Voter ID law requires for photo ID which will make it harder to illegally vote. This means immigrants may not be able to vote but still contribute to the economy and pay taxes. It is an honest opinion that I support the voter ID bill. I think that it is very important to have an honest election. Photo ID is required for many different less serious concerns and should also be required to vote. It is necessary for a voter to provide photo ID, voter registration and a possible verification of

Investigation report on World Trade Organization Essay

Investigation report on World Trade Organization - Essay Example The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business," (p.1). "Under the WTO's system of corporate-managed trade, economic efficiency, reflected in short-run corporate profits, dominates other values. Decisions affecting the economy are to be confined to the private sector, while social and environmental costs are borne by the public," Adding that, "In November 1999, the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Third Ministerial Meeting in Seattle collapsed in spectacular fashion, in the face of unprecedented protest from people and governments around the world. The WTO and GATT Uruguay Round Agreements have functioned principally to pry open markets for the benefit of transnational corporations at the expense of national and local economies; workers, farmers, indigenous peoples, women and other social groups; health and safety; the environment; and animal welfare. In addition, the WTO system, rules and procedures are undemocratic, un-transparent and non-accountable and have operated to marginalize the majority of the world's people," (Public Citizen, 2008 p.1). The WTO seeks to promote its services to the world trading community as a way to facilitate trading throughout the modern world.

A Review of Abraham Verghes’ My Own Country Essay Example for Free

A Review of Abraham Verghes’ My Own Country Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nursing transcends cultures and geographical boundaries. With the emergence of a lot of medical conditions in the world, nurses and even doctors have a lot of stories to share with each other concerning the way they treat patients. Some of these stories are common while some are more peculiar than others. When those from the medical profession write about their experiences, those who read their work are bound to be immersed in their world and in their worldview.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dr. Ambraham Verghese wrote about the emergence of AIDS in Johnson City, Tennessee during the time the HIV virus has not yet become as prevalent as it is now. Dr. Verghese chronicles his journey together with his patients and the way he struggled in balancing his medical profession and his personal life. As Dr. Verghese came in contact with the persons with AIDS, he had to confront his own stereotypes and see his patients for who they really are and not for the labels and the stigma directed against them by society. The families of the persons with AIDS also struggled in accepting their identity as homosexuals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Verghese then spent time with these persons with AIDS, talked with them, listened to their stories, and went to their families so he can know them more deeply. By doing so, Verghese succeeded in presenting the humane side of persons with AIDS. The stories he told were filled with emotions and the experiences of people who have AIDS. He also looked at the health care system in the United States and the kind of health care service delivered to persons with AIDS. Apparently, there are incidences when patients are victimized, privacy problems are impinged on and confidentiality between doctors and patients are compromised. On top of this, a lot of people in the society still have their own prejudices, preconceptions and biases concerning AIDS. Verghese, Identity and AIDS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story is not only about the life of Verghese and his medical practice. It was a book about his awakening to the vocation of being a doctor. His book is a courageous look at a topic considered to be taboo by the rest of the society. It is revolutionary because during the 1980s, AIDS was slowly coming to the consciousness of the American society. Although he focused on Johnson City in Tennessee, his story dealt with the human condition and how love and fear can make changes in the lives of people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The autobiographical work of Dr. Verghese talked about the importance of identity. The doctor, himself wrestled with questions about his identity and various influences. He is of Indian decent although with an Ethiopian birth. To confound things more, he was also a Christian. He speaks of being an outsider because of his ethnicity and the way he was labeled as an â€Å"outsider.† He also thought that he was only needed as a doctor and when there are no longer medical conditions he needs to treat, then the community will no longer need him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Against the backdrop of race and his practice of profession, he managed to identify with the persons suffering with AIDS. He also explored how society gives identity to a disease and by association, such identity is imposed to the persons who are afflicted with such disease. To show this further, Dr. Verghese explained how society equated AIDS with homosexuality and sin. When morality comes in, the society looks at the labels and stereotypes instead of looking at the real identity of the individuals concerned. Because of this, Verghese managed to identify with the persons with AIDS and gathered their trust enough for him to help them reconstruct their identity and explore his own identity. Death, Illness and Narratives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the lost art of medicine that Verghese rediscovered is listening and telling stories and narratives. He wrote that through stories, the dignity of an individual can be reaffirmed. Through stories, too, such dignity could also be denied to a person. Through the book he has written, he showed the way that the narratives of his patients got intertwined with his. Along the process, he becomes changed and even relates the narratives from the family members of those persons with AIDS.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The reality of death is very much present in the awareness of the persons living with AIDS. Family members are also aware with the possibility of death. Yet, at first they cannot see beyond the stigma of AIDS. With narratives and stories, however, they get to be made aware of the real personality of the individual with AIDS and recall their love and care for them as family member. Verghese, through his direct interaction with his patients and even with their families learned as much how families react to impending death.    The price of his method of treatment, or rather his going out of his way beyond mere delivery of health care is the way in which he became an â€Å"outsider† from his colleagues from the medical profession. As the persons with AIDS deal with their own lifestyles and impending death, Verghese continues learning from the way they muster courage and inspiration to live. Personal Response   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The approach of Verghese in dealing with his patients with AIDS is amazing. He went beyond the stigma of the society and the accepted way of doing things in his profession just to understand his patients and along the way, he managed to understand himself more deeply. What really touched me is the way that he spoke to persons with AIDS and listened to their stories. The benefit was not only for the patients. Verghese, himself benefited greatly from such an experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If I were in his situation, I might have stuck to the tried and accepted way of dealing with AIDS patients without going the extra mile for them. The example of Dr. Verghese is worth emulating. What he did transcended culture, social norms and stereotypes and eventually empowered the persons with AIDS. He was very brave in pursuing the questions he was asking himself. More than just providing them with health care services, he connected with them as a friend would. That is one thing that I could certainly use in my own medical career. Patients should not be seen as just one disease to be treated after another. Rather, the dynamics of human relationships and narratives should be utilized to the full. Implications to Advanced Nursing Practice   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Narratives and stories are important means of connecting with a person and developing relationships with them. With the example shown by Dr. Verghese, narrative should be a part of the delivery of health care so that they will not only be treated for their medical condition but their treatment could be hastened with the sharing of stories and listening to the concerns of the patients. This may entail additional work for doctors but it is also worth pursuing because of its good effects to the patients and to the doctors and nurses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nurses tend to interact with patients more. As such, they need to learn how to interact effectively with their patients and share stories and narratives. It does not have to be very deliberate or contrived. Rather, it should be as natural as possible so as to encourage better interaction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nurses who provide care to patients in the hospital has to engage the assistance of family members too because they can greatly help in the treatment of the medical condition of the patients. Furthermore, as the family members and the patient interact more, they can be drawn closer together. Some nurses already practice this kind of meaningful interaction with patients. Yet as the need for nurses to engage in narratives and stories, they have to learn how to do this. Reference Verghese, A. (1994). My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Superfund sites Essay Example for Free

Superfund sites Essay Superfund sites are defined as any land in the U. S that has been polluted by hazardous wastes and requires cleanup process as it poses as risk to human health and the environment, (Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA), 2007). One of the sites in the state of Texas (Superfund Information Systems, 2007), is the â€Å"BAILEY WASTE DISPOSAL† (EPA ID: TXD980864649). National Priorities Listing (NPL) had got the site listed on 5th October 1984. According to BAILEY WASTE DISPOSAL (ORANGE COUNTY) TEXAS(2008), the site has a population of 7,600 people which is within 3 miles. The site is a marshy area near the Neches River and the Sabine Lake, occupying 10 acres. Some of the main contaminants in the area are benzene, metals, phenols, chlorinated hydrocarbons in soil, arsenic compounds, naphthalenes and pyridines. The waste volume is about 156,000 cubic yards. The contaminated media was sediments and solid waste. If the site is not suited for human exposure then a study is undertaken to check for contamination and the posing risk to human health. Some of the risks posed by these contaminants are as follows, direct contact (causes cancer), surface contact (marsh have been effected) and ground water (contains organic compounds and metals). The remedy was put into place in June 1998 which consisted of consolidation of sediments that were affected from marsh, drains, channels and drum disposals. The next step involved stabilization of waste and construction of to cover the stabilized waste. Some of the other remedial activities undertaken were evaluation of soil and waste, relocation and consolidation of shallow wastes, clay dike construction, construction of roads, closing of piezometers wells and wastewater treatment plant constructions that includes decontamination of water active area storm waters and dewatering operations from ground water. There is also a constant monitoring of air to check if action levels are not exceeded on the site. Some of the activities that were achieved during 8th February 2006 and 1st May 2006 are excavations of affected and waste sediments which were transported or relocated to industrial landfills for disposal and solidification, verification of waste and sediments. This process also included placement of soil cover. The deletion process has been successfully done on the 15 October 2007. The non-residential land included 10 acres. The major milestones of the site are present status of the site are Final Assessment Decision was taken on the 15 October 1984. This is followed by the Final remedial action on the 16th December 1996. The human exposure control is underway presently. The contamination groundwater migration under control report says that this site is not a ground water site and finally the construction has been declared complete as of 14 September 1998. After the complete remedial process some of these sites may or may not be used for recreational purposes. These sites then come under non-residential use, residential use or land reuse. Once the complete risk analysis is done the EPA takes the action of controlling any human exposure until the cleanup process is done. At the BAILEY WASTE DISPOSAL (ORANGE COUNTY) TEXAS, site as of now has human health and environment protections and safety under control and there is no potential risk to human health or the environment. References U. S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2007). Superfund. What is a Superfund site?. Retrieved on 22 February 2008 from http://epa. custhelp. com/cgi-bin/epa. cfg/php/enduser/std_adp. php? p_faqid=172p_created=1065036363p_sid=OMReyNZip_accessibility=0p_redirect=p_lva=p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xMDUmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0xp_li=p_topview=1 Superfund Information Systems (2007). Superfund Site Progress Profile BAILEY WASTE DISPOSAL (EPA ID: TXD980864649). Retrieved on 22 February 2008 from http://cfpub. epa. gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo. cfm? id=0602911 BAILEY WASTE DISPOSAL (ORANGE COUNTY) TEXAS (2008). EPA ID# TXD980864649. Site ID: 0602911 Bridge City. EPA REGION 6. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 02. Retrieved on 22 February 2008 from http://www. epa. gov/earth1r6/6sf/pdffiles/0602911. pdf

Outsourced Delivery Services Of Ikea

Outsourced Delivery Services Of Ikea The purpose of our thesis is to find out the factors that affecting the customers satisfaction on outsourcing. The importance of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is being a vital part of a company; however, a well SCM is not as mature as some old function like Human Relation Management, Accounting, etc. Thus, companies may outsource SCM or particular function among SCM to the 3rd party services provider. Meanwhile, the quality and effect on outsourcing would be a concern to companies. Customers make the sales, profit of a company. If the part which being outsourced may contact customers directly, is there any precaution and measurement to ensure the services provide will not be affecting during outsourcing, or how to minimize the influence to companies. Todays Supply Chain Management Many companies today are strengthening their connections with partners all along the supply chain. They no longer just treat suppliers as vendors and distributors as customers. They treat both as partners in delivering customers value. Most business nowadays are customer-oriented, e.g., Sales, CS Business, Insurance, Banking/Finance, Beauty Care/Health, etc. Background of Outsourcing In a global marketplace an increasingly huge competition forces companies striving to find strategies that give them competitive advantage over the competitors (Christopher, M., 1998). Outsourcing has been treated as one of the most important business and economic concepts for achieving competitive advantages. Outsourcing can be defined as the transfer of the production of goods or services that had been performed internally to an external party (Van Weele, A., 2005). Company can focus on their core business if the companies transfer its operations to another company to produce goods or services some 3rd party services provider. The basic reason for outsourcing is the increased trend of globalization (Enarsson, L., 2008, p.33). The reasons behind outsourcing may lower the cost on delivery, utilize local firms resources thus avoid capital investment on fixed asset for developing non core products, and to gain access technology, performance through effective partnership. Problems discussion Outsourcing, regardless a powerful economic and business strategy, does not always ensure success to the outsourcesr involved in the entire process. There are many drawbacks in outsourcing operations. It might help a company on cost saving, focus on core business; enhance capacity for innovation, wider experience and knowledge, etc. However, there are some arguments on guaranteeing quality of service, qualifications of outsourcee, standpoint of labor. Once a company determined which projects will be outsourced, they have to know why outsource and when to be carry out, how to prevent from mistakes while outsourcing. CONCEPTUAL STUDIES In this part we will explain the concept of supply chain management and outsourcing as well as their relationship from the point of view of different available and established theories and literatures. In this section our goal is to elaborate more about outsourcing in a theoretical frame. Supply Chain Management (SCM) A customer focused definition is given by Hines Supply chain strategies require a total systems view of the linkages in the chain that work together efficiently to create customer satisfaction at the end point of delivery to the consumer. As a consequence costs must be lowered throughout the chain by driving out unnecessary costs and focusing attention on adding value. Throughput efficiency must be increased, bottlenecks removed and performance measurement must focus on total systems efficiency and equitable reward distribution to those in the supply chain adding value. The supply chain system must be responsive to customer requirements. SCM describles a longer channel, stretching from raw materials to components to final products to final buyers. To implement an efficiency and effective supply chain systems take lots of time to design and manage, and so many companies nowadays decided to outsource parts of logistic function to a 3rd party services provider. Then they can allocate more resource and pay more effort on their core business. The Trend of Outsourcing There are no constrains to any functions which can be outsourced or not to be outsourced. To enhance the levels of competition, many organizations have started to consider in developing and maintaining the range of expertise and skills needed to compete effectively. This need has led many companies to engage with various kinds of sourcing; like outsourcing (Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., Willcocks, L.P., 2009) Definition of Outsourcing Different authors have defined the outsourcing that covers a wide scope of the concept of outsourcing. The word of outsourcing can be split as out and source which means sourcing externally. Some simple definitions of outsourcing are given as follows contracting with a third service provider for the management and completion of a certain amount of work, for a specified length of time, cost, and level of service (Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., Willcocks, L.P., 2009, p 4) A contract is the means by which the planning, responsibility, knowledge, and administration of processes is transferred to an external party (McCarthy Anagnostou, 2004, Blumberg, 1998) According to Franceschini, F. et al., 2003, Outsourcing is a managerial approach usually taken for delegating the responsibility to an external source for carrying out the operation of production process or services of an enterprise. In these contexts, it can be summarized that, outsourcing is an agreement between buyer and supplier(s) to avail processes or services that the buyer is providing internally at present; with an intention to reduce cost, increase focus on core business, improve quality of products and services and to ensure more flexibility. Evaluation Process for Outsourcing An organization needs to maintain an operational cycle to conduct the outsourcing operation. There are the outsourcing life cycle brought up by M.J., Desouza, K.C., Bonifazi, C. (Source: Power, M.J., Desouza, K.C., Bonifazi, C., 2006) Strategic assessment As the first stage of the outsourcing process, strategic assessment is the crucial activity in the whole life cycle of outsourcing. The organization should identifie a certain business case and assesses the potential benefit of adopting the outsourcing as a strategy. Needs analysis After completion of the strategic assessment, the next step for the organization is to define the needs and more specifically areas of the needs that are needed to be focused on. Vendor assessment Organization goes for soliciting, evaluating and choosing the vendor for its outsourcing needs. Contract and negotiation management To be engaged in negotiations (and renegotiations) until an agreement is reached about the details of outsourcing work. Project initiation and transition This is the most influential stages of the outsourcing relationship. The client organization slowly starts to hand over the control of the work to the outsourcee. Outsourcer should always pay attention to deal with emergent issues and smooth out any problems that occur. This stage marks the foundation of the continued relationship. Relationship management To keep up to date with the outsourcing relationship Continuance modification or exit strategy Organization must evaluate its current outsourcing contract to see if its best interest lies in continuing, modifying or exiting the relationship. Motives for Outsourcing Cost Efficiencies: Cost reduction has been the prime motive for outsourcing (Ford, D., et al., 1993). To develop a complete product is always expensive for a company as it needs huge investment to improve products and production process through continuous research and technology development. Outsourcing reduces the cost of the client company in this area as the service providers invest in this area to meet up the demand of the buyers in a large scale. In this way, a company can achieve the competitive advantages in the market reducing the cost through outsourcing process. Focus on Core Business: Every company has some activities that are not as essential as compared to its core business functions. By sourcing non-core business activities a company can focus on its core business in a better way. So, the efficiency of a company is likely to increase as more time and resources are focused only on the core business functions (Davis, J., 2002). In addition, there are some other driving factors that encourage the buyer company to adopt the outsourcing strategy. Such as operational expertise, enhance the capacity for innovation, capacity management where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by the supplier. EMPIRICAL STUDIES IKEA Hong Kongs Concept and History They offers a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. This is the idea at the core of everything IKEA does, from product development and purchases to how they sell their products in retail stores. IKEA can make a good-quality product for a high price, or a poor-quality product for a low price. But to make good products at low prices, they need to develop methods that are both cost-effective and innovative. This has been the focus of IKEA since its beginnings in Smà ¥land, Sweden. Maximizing the use of raw materials and production adaptation to meet peoples needs and preferences has meant that their costs are low. The IKEA way of doing things is to pass these cost savings on to customers. Importance of Select Reliable Outsourcee Under our investigation, IKEA Hong Kong has outsourced the home delivery and assembly services to an independent contractor. Basically, with return or exchange, home delivery and assembly services would be the final stage for company to provide services to customers. From ordering to delivery, IKEA takes at least three workings, even the staff give excellent customer services at retails store, the experience in store almost fade out after placing order. As the period from waiting order delivery to complete can replace the experience in store, services provide during these period of time is essential to decide will this customer return or not. No customers, no business, no sales. Those satisfied ones turns to be a loyal customers, otherwise, unsatisfied customers will bad month our company. Word of mouth is a reference to the passing of information from person to person. The influence of word of mouth is not measurable and difficult to rebuild company image. The dimensions of reliability; responsiveness; assurance; empathy; tangibility and cost in the service quality approach can be used in identifying critical factors that may suggest some ideas on selection of logistic services provider (LSP) (Kong Mayo, 1993; Bienstock, et al., 1997). Reliability Responsiveness Assurance Transit time Service Consistency Document Accuracy Responsiveness Variety of Services Express Delivery Global coverage Updated rates Track and Trace Containerization Consolidation Reputation No Goods Damages Empathy Tangibility Cost CRM Employee Courtesy Location Modern Equipments Own CFS E-services EDI Price Discount Credit term Case Study I: Apple Computer and TNT Express (See Appendix I) Apple Computer has been outsourced its delivery services to TNT Express. There would be a list of complaint about the services of TNT Express. The complaints are regarding to package missing, long delivery time, with recomfirm to package receiver. FINDINGS Apple Computer outsourcing its delivery services to TNT, every one who place the order from Apple store knew this. Once the order is placed, there are an implication of customers are agreed to let TNT Express to take over the duty of product delivery. Unlike IKEA Hong Kong, the delivery materials of contractors like trucks, boxes are printed in IKEA logo. It is difficult for customer to identify they are not the staff of IKEA. In order to protect the image or reputation, IKEA should ensure the contractor can perform like an IKEA staff, i.e., the delivery worker should have basic product knowledge, especially for solving the enquiries during the process of services delivery. That is unreasonable to say we are contractor rather than direct staff of IKEA. Customer service is any contact between a customer and a company, which can cause a negative or positive perception by a customer during services delivery. As an outsourcer, they may state clear of relationship between outsourcer and outsourcee may reduce complaints caused by misunderstanding. The case of Apple, sometimes online checking system of TNT Express does not show the actual product delivery status. Those complainers about product delivery did focus on the services provider TNT Express instead of complaining the Apples decision making on contractor selection. Case Study II: Survey on Outsourcing of Government Activities on 2002 and 2004 (See Appendix II) The Efficiency Unit of HKSAR has been conducted a survey about outsourcing of governemt activities as at 2002 and 2004 since 2000. In this two reports, it showed, over 80% of bureaux and departments have beed outsourced at least one function to an indepentend contractor. FINDINGS According to the report on 2004, those functions which occupied the most expenditure were capital works constraction, building property management and environmental hygiene are the top three outsourced functions. By analyzing the pattern of annual expenditure, the fluctuation of transport services is the most serious among the listed functions. The ratio of reducing expenditure is the most significant as well. In 2000, the expenditure was around $1 billion and then it dropped to $0.1 billion in 2002. Unlike other services categories, transport services were doubling up the expenditure on 2004. The focus of outsourced function of IKEA Hong Kong is the delivery services, it may categorize as transport services among the government functions. Reference to the expenditure on different services categories, transport services it is did not donminated the propular function of being outsourced. Reference to the page 6 of survey on 2004, there are current satisfaction of outsourcees performance. Around half of the outsourcee full met the requirement of outsourcer. Yet there is also another half that only partially fulfill. CONCLUSION IKEA is now the worlds largest furniture retailer; they have a fixed group of partners on manufacturing, purchasing and supply functions, design and development of products in the IKEA range. For distribution they have their own logistics center Europe is located in Dortmund, Germany and Asian logistic center is located in Singapore along with its IT base. To retaining customers, they have the customer relation system of IKEA Family. IKEA perform well in Europe no matter for SCM, marketing and customer retention. In Hong Kong region, they also have a good SCM, even they outsourced parts of service to an independent services provide. Yet the seldom to hear so negative comment to those outsourced services. Furthermore, under our investigation, we found that only one contractor took over the job of delivery, assembly services. The part that would appreciate is even the delivery services are being outsourced, IKEA Hong Kong still having a backup delivery term in-house. Once there are any conflicts or under peak seasons of ordering, IKEA can take over part of the order themselves. However, it is difficult to understand why they have not launch the loyalty card in Hong Kong. To strength the loyalty of customer, which is important to understand the purchase pattern of customers, in order to give related promotion and information to encourage them repeating purchase. There are no absolute anwser for good to be outsoure or not to be.Companies should adopt a planned approach towards outsourcing taking into account the interests of employees and customers alike and come up with a balanced advance. The cycle of evaluation process for outsourcing is a good model for a company which would interest in outsourcing a/some particular function to a 3rd party services provider. For those companies which have been outsourced, a regular evaluation on before and after outsourcing is important. In todays dynamic marketplace, there are no rules can last till the end. The one who wants to be dominant of the market, they should keep track on of market trend, find out the competitive advantage and having a periodical review companys performance from time to time. APPENDICE http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2537721start=0tstart=0 APPENDICE http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/tnt-shipping-c41785.html APPENDICE Some links of complaint about TNT Express when taking over the order from Apple Computer. http://www.uwants.com/archiver/?tid-10549683.html (a brief survey hold by some forum members) http://www1.17t17p.com/viewthread.php?tid=452427 http://boardreader.com/thread/Apple_HK_TNT_FRUSTRATION_9udfX1jc6j.html http://discussions.info.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1messageID=12054701

Relationship Between Inflation and Unemployment :: Economics

Inflation and unemployment are two key elements when evaluating a whole economy and it is also easy to get those figures from National Bureau of Statistics when you want to evaluate it. However, the relationship between them is a controversial topic, which has been debated by economists for decades. From some famous economists such as Paul Samuelson, Milton Freidman etc to some infamous economists, this topic received a lot of attention. However, it is this debate that makes the thinking about it evolve. In this essay, the controversial topic will be discussed by viewing different economists’ opinions on that according to time sequencing. But before started, it is worthy getting a better understanding of the terms, inflation and unemployment. Inflation refers to an increase in overall level of prices within an economy. In simple words, it means you have to pay more money to get the same amount of goods or services as you acquired before. By contrast, the term unemployment is easier to understand. Generally, it refers to those people who are available for work but do not find a work. And unemployment rate, which is the percentage of the labour force that is unemployed, is usually used to measure unemployment (Mankiw 1992). The debate of the relationship between inflation and unemployment is mainly based on the famous â€Å"Phillips Curve†. This curve was first discovered by a New Zealand born economist called Allan William Phillips. In 1958, A. W. Phillips published an article â€Å"The relationship between unemployment and the rate of change of money wages in the United Kingdom, 1861-1957†, in which he showed a negative correlation between inflation and unemployment (Phillips 1958). As shown in figure 1, when unemployment rate is low, the inflation rate tends to be high, and when unemployment is high, the inflation rate tends to be low, even to be negative. Figure 1 Phillips Curve Two years later, economists Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow, who are the most infusive representatives of Keynesian School, also published an article, showing the same negative correlation between inflation and unemployment, based on the United States’ economic data (Samuelson and Solow 1960).

Free Merchant of Venice Essays: Injustice :: free essay writer

The Merchant of Venice is horrid, cruel, and one of the most popular plays of Shakespeare. After a close reading of the play, I find it impossible to think of Shylock negatively; he is just better quality stuff than any of the Christians in the play. The Christians are truly vile, heartless, money-grabbing monsters, and when Shylock makes his final exit, destroyed by defeat, one should sense that our Christian brothers are at last completely ashamed of themselves. I was hesitant to have anything to do with The Merchant of Venice after I first read it; all possible intrigue had dissolved as I read passages such as the following: "He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies, and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? ...If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?" (III.1.49-55, 58-60) This passage tears at my very soul!!! This play was to me a biting farce written to satisfy a bloody crowd. While researching for this paper, I found two seemingly opposing facts about The Merchant of Venice - the Shakespearean play which have sparked the most controversy. This play is the most controversial and the most studied play in Israel. It is difficult to understand how this play could be beloved by the very people who are struck down. Apparently there are various readings of The Merchant of Venice which I had not considered. Perhaps the play is neither pro-Jewish, nor pro-Christian. Sure, Shylock is painted as a money-hungry Jew throughout the Merchant, "My daughter, O my ducats! My ducats, O my daughter!" Shylock is enraged his daughter has eloped with a Christian, but perhaps he is more concerned with the fate of his money. Antonio, a Christian, has borrowed money from Shylock and refuses to pay it back. Here the reader may find a Jew-hating man who publicly spits on Shylock, and suffers from the grief of an unfullfilled homo-erotic relationship.

Creating a New Writing Technology :: Invention Writing Technology Papers

Creating a New Writing Technology "Writing, in the strict sense of the word, as has already been seen, was a very late development in human history. The first script, or true writing, that we know was developed among the Sumerians in Mesopotamia only around the year 3500 BC, less than 6,000 years ago. The alphabet, which was invented only once, so that every alphabet in the world derives directly or indirectly from the original Semitic alphabet, came into existence only around 1500 BC" (Ong, 323). Writing has been around for a short time, but language has been around for as long as humans. It's amazing to see how much the written word controls our lives. You can't do anything; go anywhere, without seeing some form of print. You turn on the television-an add pops up. You go outside-signs everywhere. And what is even more amazing, constantly, new technologies are evolving to improve the way we write-computers, the pencil with an attached eraser. Because of the importance placed on writing and writing technology in today's society I have decided to conduct an experiment. What happens when the "technology" is taken out of the writing? I will attempt to create a new writing technology, with primitive objects, and use it to write a short, twenty word, text. While conducting this new experiment, a couple of issues posed problems. First, I could only use materials found in nature. This was difficult because of the rarity of "natural" items in this day-and-age. Second, I had to keep in mind the permanence of my project-how long the text I created could be expected to last. It was somewhat difficult to do this because a particularly creative and natural "invention" might not be all that permanent, and vice-versa. With these creating problems for me, I didn't find the inventing process easy. I tested a variety of objects. Such as food, grass, dirt, leaves, and mud. The food was too messy, and it didn't last that long. I gathered several items from my kitchen, and decided to experiment. I tried a banana peel, but it ripped easily, and turned completely brown within minutes. I soon exhausted ideas to use other foods, such as apples-they go bad too quickly. Nuts-too fragile; and cheese-not "natural" enough. From these experiments, I concluded that food items would not make good writing technologies. Grass seemed, at first to be an excellent idea.

Discuss how Hare presents ideas about class in this scene and at least one other point in the play

Within Hare’s play Murmuring Judges, there almost appears to be two class systems. The first is the standard upper, middle and lower, however, Hare almost separates the prisoners, the police and the lawyers as three separate classes of people, who each look down on the class below them. This allows us to see not only the perceived separations of social classes but also the classes that you are put into according to you profession and the classist attitudes held by those above. In the focus scene, Hare clearly shows his views about class through implications and connotations used in the lawyers and judges conversations. Immediately as the scene starts, â€Å"His Excellency AL Hadji Sulay Ibrahim Dunko† is announced by the toast master. Whereas within the perceived lower class of the police, DC Abdul Khan is referred to as Jimmy, here he is announced with his full name and title, which immediately suggests a difference in class and status between the two men. This is also clearly shown in the language used by all the characters in this scene, as phrases such as â€Å"Grand Days† and â€Å"the fishy stuff† in reference to caviar creates a semantic field which suggests the men view themselves and believe they are viewed by others as upper class. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the Toast Master and Gerard at the opening of Act 2 clearly demonstrates the social classes, as we see the announcement of important men next to a man monologuing within his prison cell. Hare uses food in the focus scene to reflect the upper class nature of the men. As previously referenced, Cuddeford calls caviar â€Å"the fishy stuff†, suggesting his familiarity with highly expensive foods, which subtly exposes his class. Again, the â€Å"Roast Venison Baden-Baden† also shows the dinner to be sophisticated and the suggestion that â€Å"[the students] have to eat their way through twenty four dinners† reveals the recklessness of the system in terms of man, which clearly suggests there is money to be thrown around. Hare also uses food in other moments in the play reflect the lower classes of the police and the prisoners. Whereas Gerard is only once offered a cup of tea, Woody’s line â€Å"your glass of beer? † shows Woody to act â€Å"like a manservant† which again clearly shows the difference between the two men. However, it could be argued that Sir Peter sees himself as more important than he really is, as he sends Woody to ask Irina to the opera in order to make himself seem too important to come in person, which isn’t reflected anywhere else in the play. Similarly, Hare uses other running motifs throughout the play which suggest the upper class nature of the lawyers, but also to suggest the lawyer’s ideas about the lower classes. The discussion of Desert Island Disks clearly shows them to be at least middle class, as do Sir Peter’s selections, but the comment â€Å"everyone listens to desert island disks† is what exemplifies how out of touch with reality the lawyers are. This unrealistic idea of society is also shown by Sir Peter, â€Å"I thought all educated young women loved music†, as this is rather an idea of the past then the present. Hare uses reading to show the inherent difference between the lawyers and the prisoners especially, as he presents the lawyers as having â€Å"no time to read off the job†, whereas Gerard sarcastically states â€Å"Thank God for literature† as whilst the lawyers claim to have no time, the cruel irony is that all Gerard has is ‘time’. The lawyers views on those they perceive to be lower than them is never hidden, possibly as the lawyers are largely untouchable due to their position, as shown by the conversation with the Home Secretary, which shows the lawyers to have acquaintances in the government. Cuddeford openly calls the suspects â€Å"common-as-much individuals† which shows the upper classes to think themselves much better than everyone else. This is further shown by â€Å"[the prisons] may be called failings of society†¦ which are truly not my concern† show disinterest in the justice of those beneath them, again shown by Sir Peter’s unwillingness to do criminal law as â€Å"it involves real people†. On a larger scale, Sir Peter shows not only the suspects but the whole idea of crime to be â€Å"trivial†, as he refers to Gerard’s case, which clearly upturns Gerard’s life, as â€Å"a silly sort of warehouse robbery†. Sir Peter further expresses his view on Gerard later, claiming he is â€Å"an ordinary, sub-average human being†, demonstrating the barriers he believes exist between them. Gerard is also presented as aware of these separations, as shown through â€Å"these men†¦ will go home to wine in fine glasses and the gossip of the bar†¦and I will go to my gaol†. Gerard’s reference to himself as â€Å"the stuff of their profession† suggests that Gerard perhaps also sees himself as below the lawyers, which could be used to argue that class separations are inherent. This inference is reinforced by â€Å"there is a glass screen and our clients live on the other side of it†, which not only suggests a separation but also could be seen as excusing the seemed inability of the legal system to help its clients. Although largely presented as incapable or unwilling to help their clients, the lawyers are clearly shown to cover their own backs. At the time, there was a suggestion of changing laws regarding barristers which would, according to Sir Peter, would be â€Å"a threat to justice†. In response to this, Irina, under instruction, starts a campaign against the new legislation which raises ?1million in four days. This is heavily ironic within the play, as it is often states there is no money to reform the prison, which given the events of the Strangeways riot in April 1990, would presumably be a higher priority. It also shows the extent to which the lawyers are upper class, as the blase attitude of â€Å"give or take a few thousand† shows how small an amount of money this is to them, which would be huge to any other characters in the play. Cuddeford is shown to be clearly aware of this, â€Å"play down the million†, which suggests a level of guilt at using the money for this, especially within their profession. In conclusion, Hare uses juxtaposition throughout Murmuring Judges to show the seemingly inherent differences in class between the lawyers and the prisoners in particular. Whilst the prisoners are forced to â€Å"slop out† and â€Å"throw shit packages†, the lawyers are often presented in luxurious settings, â€Å"laid out magnificently four different wine glasses†. Hare also presents ideas of class mainly from the perspective of the lawyers who seem themselves as more important than they perhaps are, and certainly better than the â€Å"common-as-muck† ordinaries. Overall, I think the ideas of class in the play are nicely represented in the line â€Å"we were going to abolish this as outdated†, but in the end didn’t, which for me shows the lawyers understanding that the system is incapable or unwilling to work to the best of its ability, but simply would rather not out of tradition.

Lord of the Flies: Intelligence and Good vs. Evil Essay

Good versus satanic is a common c oncept used practic each(prenominal)y in accountingtelling, writing, plays, movies, etc. the basic hi fiction line is commonly used and real to mold different ideals, meanings, and lessons into different types of works. William Goldings invigorated the Lord of the wing f each into this category of works with the good versus slimy story line. Boiling the novel waste to its most basic state it is a story of a convention of boys. They each(prenominal) start out in a state of innocence, then as they go down to their new surroundings after organism stranded on a flea-bitten island with no adults they chose whether or not they release from their innocence.When the boys knock oer from their innocence they go from creation good to malevolent, or as the adaptation of this novel is commonly perceived the boys go from being fine-tune boys to savages. It is in this finger that civilized and good place be used interchangeably for this inte rpretation, and the same for malevolent and savagery. Golding puts an interesting twist to this basic secret plan right in the beginning of the story. Golding presents the story from expert a simple bal unmatchedy of good versus evil to good versus evil with competing ideas of science.Right in the beginning of the novel we see these ideas of go to bedledge service take form. As the story builds the differences in the types of countersign grows and experiences every everyplacemuch distinct. From there the competition of good versus evil begins. after(prenominal) their woodworking plane crashes the boys who were on the plane to escape the warf atomic number 18 in England be scattered on the island. Ralph, the root boy we are introduced to meets anformer(a) boy named neanderthal. Its a shell I seen one wish that before. On almostones back wall. A conch he conjureed it. He used to blow it and then his soundless would complete. Its ever so valu fitted-(15).Wit h porcines help Ralph uses the conch they found to call out to the some otherwise boys on the island. This is the first hint at the two types of password. shote is already exhibiting signs of instinctive science. This type of intelligence is developed based on the receptive analysis of the surroundings. This intelligence is much ripe and enables Piggy to think in more civilized, advanced ways. He is immediately do fun of for his appearance and as the story progresses is mocked as a make love-it-all. No one listens to Piggy, all the same though the conch and the meeting were his ideas no one realizes this, nor do they care.Once all the boys are gathered to put downher there is a balloting on who should be chief. A boy named asshole is introduced as the leader of the choir boys and he wants to be chief, exactly when put to a vote Ralph is elected. Ralph does give the choir to trap and asks what they would a wish well(p) to be. Jack tells Ralph that he and his choir sh all be the hunters. Ralph depicts more accessible intelligence. Ralph knows how to work a crowd, how to lead a root, and how to gain respect. Everybody must(prenominal) stay round here and live and not go away.Three of us- if we take more wed get all mixed, and lose each other- three of us will go on an pleasure trip and find out (23-24). This act showed that Ralph was able to get the attention of the boys at all time and that the boys would actually listen to him. His great power to be able to accomplish this as quickly as he did genuinely shows his true companionable intelligence. If a embark comes near the island they may not happen us. So we must agnize brace on top of the mountain. We must make a apprise (38). Ralph does show some indispensable intelligence as well, provided not nearly as much as Piggy exhibits.Jack in addition shows a form of social intelligence. He is able to elapse predominate over his choir and they listen to him no proceeds what. This shows that in the beginning of the story neertheless though the boys are all different, swallow different types of intelligence, and necessitate mixed feelings slightly the situation they are however unite together as a whole. all(a) day Ive been working with Simon. No one else. Theyre dis bam bathing, or eating, or playing (50). The boys begin to drowsy and begin to realize that there arent consequences or punishments for the wrongs they do.Jack and his group of hunters become obsessed with the idea of kill a farrow, and are the only ones exempt from aid build shelters, though the other boys beginnert authentically care large most their orders to help build or gather food. Its at this bespeak in the novel where there are serious signs of cracks and issues with the order system the boys take aim put in place since being on the island. Jack is beginning to swipe into a more savage state, and is exploitation his social intelligence to ingest other boys down with h im. The improvised form of federation that the boys have created is already starting to let out and fall.Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her seam (69). Look Weve killed a pig-we stole up on them-we got into a circle-(69). It is at this summit in the novel where the group of hunters, the boys who killed the pig, have unfreezeed from innocence. The kill they had obsessed over finally happened and they were proud of themselves for killing. The act of killing a living creature, something they never had do before, was the true turning point for them. thither was no turning back from it the hunters even painted their faces, this sense of wearing a mask, pret send awaying to be someone else enabled them to kill. just now theyll be painted You know how it is. Eric says. The others nodded. They unsounded only too well the press release into savagery that the concealing paint brought. Well, we wint be painted, said Ralph, because we arent savages (Golding 172). Ralph is starting to understand that Jack and the group of boys who follow him are starting to turn to a more evil state. Ralph still tries to use his social intelligence and command over his boys so they dont go over to Jacks array. Within Jacks group the obsession with hunting caused the boys to let the can go out, and subsequently lose a chance at rescue.The hunters didnt really seem to care about the fire they were still excessively hyped up about their kill, swearing that they would hunt again and bring back even more meat. As the boys become more and more essence with letting go with the rules they get side by side(predicate) and closer to losing their sense of civilization completely. If I blow the conch and they dont come back then weve had it. We shant keep the fire going. Well be similar animals. Well never be rescued. (Golding 92). As the boys start to see their own wishes of hunting and playing they get sick of listening to Ralph and being controllerled by the conch.They dont wan t to do work they just want to have fun. Jack rebels against Ralph and makes his own tribe, where he could be the leader and he would no long-lived be controlled by the conch. Evil starts to countermand rapidly the majority of the older boys side with Jack and abandon Ralphs authority. After that Piggy, Sam and Eric are the older boys who stick around with Ralph. As the night wears on, some of the littleuns annul off to join Jack. This is unfeignedly the end of their makeshift society, it has completely failed.After the branch of the group it appeared as though things could accrue down, just Ralph and his boys find that it is nearly unworkable to keep the rescue fire going. They hire to ask the others for help yet Jacks boys are too panicked to help them. Jack had taken to utilize torturous and intimidation methods to keep control over his group. He wears a mask, like he did when he killed the first pig this seems to allow Jack to give in completely to his evil savage s ide. It was bit celebrating their savageness and reenacting the kill that they got carried away and got themselves overly worked up.The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and overleap over the steep edge of the stir to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws (Golding 153). The wickedness in all of the boys deludes them into mistaking Simon, the only truly good pure boy, as the beastie. Simon was considered to be the pure boy, the epitome of civilization and innocence. Jack and the other boys had completely given themselves over to their evil sides, giving in to their ingrained instincts and savagery.Social Intelligence and graphic intelligence are both qualities that help a mortal to be successful in life. However, overall, society puts greater worth in social intelligence. The abilities to work with others, lea d and move others, and inspire others make a person successful in life. Just like good and evil, social and natural intelligence go hand in hand. single is not greater than the other, but like lot believe good is better, people put more stock in social intelligence. In Lord of the Flies the boys put their trust in Ralph, but as time goes on, and rules begin to be broken, the less control Ralph seems to have.Social intelligence will only go so far, it cant be natural instincts. Natural instincts are hidden tin the rules and expectations of society. When they begin to dwindle and those instincts become more prominent, that natural intelligence becomes important, it can be the intelligence or lack thereof that can make or mute a situation. Without one, evil or good, natural intelligence or social intelligence, the other is not really known. Without evil how would we know what good is? If everyone was socially intelligent how would we know what natural intelligence is? The answer is we wouldnt have a way of versed.A person cannot know one without knowing of the other. Intelligence and good and evil all work together, as seen in Goldings novel. Jack possessed the same gentle of social intelligence as Ralph, but when he gave in to evil his social intelligence the power it gave him over the other boys allowed Jack to change the atmosphere of the island and turn the boys away from goodness and civilization. Piggy had natural intelligence but because he lacked some(prenominal) real social intelligence he was shunned, mocked, and in the end killed for this. He came off as a know-it-all and a whiner this annoyed the other boys and in the end led to his demise.The boys didnt put any(prenominal) stock in natural intelligence they put all their stock in social intelligence and natural instinct. Ralph, with Piggys help, was able to remain civilized and good. Though he lost his submit on the boys he still had his social intelligence, and even some natural intellig ence of his own to rely on. When Ralph was in charge his positive outlook affected the boys as well, they were positive because he was positive. The struggle amidst good and evil does not just affect the person whos battling it at bottom themselves, it also affects those around them, and subsequently can change them too. ?

My Beach Memories

Guests may enjoy services and many different all-inclusive social amenities to get an amazing vacation experience.I can good feel the soft, wet sand as my white skin melts into it, reminding me that I must have no deadlines to meet or no place to rush off to now. The cool, crisp water feels exhilarating as it rushes over my body.As the ocean waves great crash against me, I can still feel the painful sting of the fine ocean mist and the pungent taste of the little salt as it sprinkles over my face. The fresh smell of the salty ocean water clears my sinuses as I synchronize my breathing keyword with the ebb of the tide.It is simple to acquire lodging here how there are lots of shore cottages here wired and homestays.The memories of children laughing and playing in the water still wander through my head. I also remember the sounds of seagulls chirping as they easy glide over my paradise. Having not a care in the world, could there be a more wonderful place? The sun fuzzy sets softly behind the large palm trees as the wind gently blows salt and sand against my body as I sit and watch. The fresh air turns cooler as the night begins.

Ocean eastern shores have waves that are bigger.These fond old memories are my pathway to escape extract from reality. Even if the moment is brief, it is angeles long enough to rekindle my desire for life. Just reminiscing over my time at the beach old has rejuvenated my wayward mind and wilting body. I can go back to my happy same place any time I desire.Obviously, you must make it into the shore.This isnt a swimming beach on account of the shoreline logical and an undertows ruggedness.

Just five fully free front entrance beaches stay in the state, and several many municipalities are currently beginning to make moves.Rivers and tidal marshes offer different surroundings.Have an outstanding excursion.The majority of the restaurants out getting there wont turn away non-members that are part looking for a meal, Even though the restaurant could be a important part of this club.

Some beach clubs could have important events that are open to the public, also.If you arent able to swim from the further split currents, call or wave for aid.Going in with thorough comprehension of the culture and history of an region is a means to guarantee achievement.Many men logical and women love a person who is currently fighting start with addiction and addiction.