Saturday, November 23, 2019

Free Essays on Everyday Use

Through contrasting the family members and views in â€Å"Everyday Use†, Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding African American traditions of their own culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one’s heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects, but by one’s lifestyle and attitude. In this paper I will explain the theme of the story â€Å"Everyday Use In â€Å"Every Day Use† Walker shows the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother. The character Dee can be seen to represent a materialistic, complex, and modern way of life, where culture are to be valued for their trendy-ness and appeal. Mother on the other hand, represents a simple content way of life where culture and heritage are valued for both its usefulness as well as its personal significance. The story clearly states Mama’s simple view of her heritage and Dee’s materialistic connection to her heritage. This is demonstrated when we learn the mother character has inheritated many customs and traditions from her ancestors. The mother (the narrator) describes herself as â€Å"a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands† (459). She also describes her various abilities including, â€Å"I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water fo r washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledgehammer and had the meat hung up to chill by nightfall† (459-460). Walker is showing what the Mother has learned from her ancestors, and that being tough is a part of her heritage. Mother is proud of her accomplishments and her abilities. The Mother (the narrator) described Dee as thinner than her sist... Free Essays on Everyday Use Free Essays on Everyday Use Everyday Life Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† tells the story of how a mother can become emotionally unattached from her oldest daughter after years of separation. Walker shows how these changes can occur by establishing cultural and social conflicts of this time. Walker establishes these conflicts in three ways: through actual racial conflicts, through showing Dee’s (the oldest daughter) rise up the social ladder, and through an overall understanding of one’s heritage. Walker develops the aspect of racial conflict through Mama’s thoughts. Mama, a poor southern black female, describes herself as a strong and hardworking single mother that can not even imagine â€Å"looking a strange white man in the eye† (pg. 87). She also establishes underlying conflicts between lighter and darker skinned people within her own race, when she states how her daughter would rather her skin be â€Å"like an uncooked barley pancake† (pg. 87). This second example is the first real indication of the strained relationship between Mama and Dee. Social aspects of the story begin to unfold when Dee returns home. Dee arrives at Mama’s rural shack-like home, with a man that may or may not be her husband, dressed extravagantly and decorated with an abundant amount of jewelry. She (Dee) begins taking pictures, sure to include the shack, before she even greets her own family. She also begins gathering things around the house that are everyday tools for Mama and Maggie (the younger daughter) which she will use as decoration in her own home. These items seem to be a symbol for her, something she can look at that will represent just how far up the social ladder she has risen. Dee even goes as far as telling her sister Maggie,† You ought to try to make something of yourself, too†(pg 91). This statement is an insult to mama and Maggie both. Both of the examples above can be used to help illustrate the theme of heritage, which can pose a social or a cultur... Free Essays on Everyday Use Through contrasting the family members and views in â€Å"Everyday Use†, Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding African American traditions of their own culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one’s heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects, but by one’s lifestyle and attitude. In this paper I will explain the theme of the story â€Å"Everyday Use In â€Å"Every Day Use† Walker shows the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother. The character Dee can be seen to represent a materialistic, complex, and modern way of life, where culture are to be valued for their trendy-ness and appeal. Mother on the other hand, represents a simple content way of life where culture and heritage are valued for both its usefulness as well as its personal significance. The story clearly states Mama’s simple view of her heritage and Dee’s materialistic connection to her heritage. This is demonstrated when we learn the mother character has inheritated many customs and traditions from her ancestors. The mother (the narrator) describes herself as â€Å"a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands† (459). She also describes her various abilities including, â€Å"I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water fo r washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledgehammer and had the meat hung up to chill by nightfall† (459-460). Walker is showing what the Mother has learned from her ancestors, and that being tough is a part of her heritage. Mother is proud of her accomplishments and her abilities. The Mother (the narrator) described Dee as thinner than her sist... Free Essays on Everyday Use Everyday Use by Alice Walker â€Å"Everyday Use† is a story of a black woman and her two very different daughters. It takes place in the late 1960’s, during the civil rights’ movement, in a small, rural, Georgia farming town. The story is told through the perceptive eyes of Mama, who clearly loves both girls and accepts each as she is. As the story begins, Mama and her younger daughter, Maggie, are awaiting the arrival of Dee, the older daughter, who is coming to visit after being away at college. Mama points out how much Dee hated their lifestyle and always wanted more from the very beginning. But today Dee is snapping pictures of the house and farm and even a cow, as though it is suddenly important to her. The story revolves around some handmade quilts that were promised to Maggie, but Dee now wants them to hang on the wall and appreciate them for their handmade and aesthetic value. Mama is in a dilemma as to which daughter to give them to. Although it could be argued that Dee mi ght have taken better care of the quilts, I feel Mama is making an important statement to both girls by giving them to Maggie. Because she is teaching them integrity by keeping her word, as she had promised the quilts to Maggie as a wedding present for her marriage to John Thomas, and she wants to improve her relationship with both girls. From the time she was young, Dee wanted and demanded more and better things for herself. She was forceful and assertive to the point of suffering great personal loss. Mama points out that Dee had few friends and even her only boyfriend dumped her after, â€Å"Dee turned her faultfinding on him.† Dee seems to learn everything the hard way, and in the past, Mama let her do what she needed to do, but this time she decided to put her foot down and take a stand on Maggie’s behalf. Both Mama... Free Essays on Everyday Use Everyday Use In Alice Walker’s, Everyday Use, the point of view is that of the mother’s. She is the narrator. She is also what we’d call a protagonist. A hero in a way. She is telling the story from her perspective, so we see her children the way she sees them. As with most stories, there is a protagonist and an antagonist. In this story, the antagonist is Dee, the narrator’s oldest daughter. Dee does her own thing and is a bit of a rebel. Perhaps just an average African American teenager of the 1970’s, trying to find her place in the world, but her mother thinks differently. She sees Dee as a rebellious teen, and sometimes dreams of having one of those T.V. mother-daughter relationships with her daughter. As with any protagonist/antagonist relationships, the antagonist creates a problem for the protagonist. Dee creates a problem for her mother by the way she begins to act around her new boyfriend and in other ways. Dee decides to change her name, a nd her mother is okay with it. She knows that she has a problem saying â€Å"no† to Dee, or at least that’s the way she said Maggie sees it. Then, when it comes to the quilts, Dee who once said she didn’t want to quilts because they were â€Å"old fashioned† has now decided she wants them, to hang up, to represent her heritage and that Maggie wouldn’t or couldn’t appreciate them. When characters change, it causes conflict, and that is exactly what happens when the Mother decides to finally stand up for herself and she says â€Å"No† to Dee. She gives the quilts to Maggie and tells Dee to take one or two of the other ones. Dee has a problem with this, obviously because the world has never said â€Å"no† to her, and along with her new name, new style, and new outlook on life, she experienced a new word, and it didn’t make her very happy. For once, the mother could sit back and be proud of the way she handled somethin g.... Free Essays on Everyday Use In the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† the character Dee can be described as secure, confident, beautiful, smart, yet scornful, remorseful, and high demanding young woman. This can look as having a supercilious attitude, but it is just Dee wanting what is best for herself and her family. Her attitude observed by her family and others kept them at arms length, but she tried to make up for it once she reached a certain age; then she began to try to appreciate her family, but she did it for the wrong reasons. In the end, only her mother truly understands her. Dee is described as having light skin, nice hair, and a fuller figure than her sister. In the mid-sixties, those with light skin and nice hair were treated better because they were closer to white. Being so beautiful, Dee wanted nice things, such as clothes, although her family could not afford them. She therefore makes her own clothes out of other people’s old clothing. She is a very confident and secure young lady. She knows what she wants out of life and no one is going to stop her from getting it. She knows she has an advantage with her light skin to get ahead in life, and she is going to try to get there and let nothing get in her way. Dee has forgotten where and what she has come from. Now that Dee has been off to college, she has earned an education but also has learned the fancy ways of the city. Dee now dresses herself according to the dictates of a faddish Africanism. According to David Cowart, â€Å"an American who attempts to become an African succeeds only in becoming a phony† (172). Dee’s attitude towards her family has also changed. She despises her sister, her mother, and the church that helped to educate her. Dee and her sister Maggie are at conflict morally in this story. Mamma has maid a beautiful quilt with a little of the families history on it. Dee wants the quilt for all of the wrong reasons. She wants the quilt for materialistic reasons and not f... Free Essays on Everyday Use Through contrasting family members and views in â€Å"Everyday Use†, Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one’s heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects or mere appearances, but by one’s lifestyle and attitude. Throughout the story, Walker personifies the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother (the narrator). Dee can be seen to represent a materialistic, complex, and modern way of life where culture and heritage are to be valued only for their â€Å"trendy-ness† and aesthetic appeal. Mother, on the other hand, represents a simple content way of life where culture and heritage are valued for both its usefulness, as well as its personal significance. The story clearly supports the mother’s simple, unsophisticated view of heritage, and shows disdain for Dee’s materialistic connection to her heritage. This is demonstrated from the beginning of the story. We learn very quickly that the mother has inherited many customs and traditions from her ancestors. She describes herself as â€Å"a large big-boned woman with rough man-working hands† (485). She also describes here various abilities including, â€Å" I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man†¦I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledgehammer and had the meat hung up to chill by nightfall.† (485). While these feats are not extraordinary, Walker exemplifies what Mother has learned from her ancestors, and that being resilient and tough is a part of her heritage. Mother is ... Free Essays on Everyday Use True Heritage In the story â€Å"Everyday Use,† Alice Walker tells a tale of how a daughter’s idea of heritage is distorted by society, and how her true heritage lies within her family. Walker conveys this theme by narrating the story from what is apparent to be the mother’s point of view of how Dee, the oldest of the two daughters, does not have a grasp of her true heritage. Dee’s idea of her heritage is clouded by her experiences away at school and her new friend Hakim-a-barber. The real Johnson family heritage is evident in Ms. Johnson’s detailed description of daily activities around the house. It is easy to picture Ms. Johnson in her day-to-day activities with descriptions of events being this graphic, â€Å"One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall† (131). The reader almost needs to reread her descriptions to make sure she is talking about herself and not some large male farm hand. Her description of herself further adds credibility to her being a real women of rural Georgia in the late 60’s, â€Å"In real life I am a large, big-boned women with rough, man-working hands† (131). Ms. Johnson is obviously a woman of her time, and her youngest daughter Maggie is sure to follow in her footsteps. While Maggie may be a shadow of her mother, Dee on the other hand is not. Dee would, however, like to appear to others as having this hard life background. Early on Ms. Johnson knows Dee is going to be different. She explains some of Dee’s traits in an almost envious manner, â€Å"She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature† (132). At times, Ms. Johnson seems proud of Dee’s differences, but also troubled at some of the things she does. From the time Dee steps out of the car and begins snapping photos of the house and animals, to the end of the story where she asks to take items ... Free Essays on Everyday Use The story clearly supports the mother’s simple, unsophisticated view of heritage, and shows disdain for Dee’s materialistic connection to her heritage. This is demonstrated from the beginning of the story. We learn very quickly that the mother has inherited many customs and traditions from her ancestors. She describes herself as â€Å"a large big-boned woman with rough man-working hands† (485). She also describes here various abilities including, â€Å" I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man†¦I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledgehammer and had the meat hung up to chill by nightfall.† (485). While these feats are not extraordinary, Walker exemplifies what Mother has learned from her ancestors, and that being resilient and tough is a part of her heritage. Mother is very proud of her abilities and accomplishments. The mother, describes Dee as light skinned with nice hair and a full figure (486). She recounts Dee’s childhood and her appreciation of nice things. She was not the least upset when the family home burned to the ground while she was just a girl, â€Å"Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her. She had hated the house that much.† (486) Dee’s character in the story is a direct relation to any number of people in society that do not know or are confused about their heritage. She is struggling to create an identity for herself, and is confused as to what it encompasses. She grasps at African tradition and culture, yet fails to acknowledge her own African American culture. This happened all over America, particularly in the North, in the 1960’s, following the civil rights movement. Dee is misconstruing her heritage as material goods, as opposed to her ancestor’s habits and... Free Essays on Everyday Use Through contrasting the family members and views in â€Å"Everyday Use†, Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding African American traditions of their own culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one’s heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects, but by one’s lifestyle and attitude. In this paper I will explain the theme of the story â€Å"Everyday Use In â€Å"Every Day Use† Walker shows the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother. The character Dee can be seen to represent a materialistic, complex, and modern way of life, where culture are to be valued for their trendy-ness and appeal. Mother on the other hand, represents a simple content way of life where culture and heritage are valued for both its usefulness as well as its personal significance. The story clearly states Mama’s simple view of her heritage and Dee’s materialistic connection to her heritage. This is demonstrated when we learn the mother character has inheritated many customs and traditions from her ancestors. The mother (the narrator) describes herself as â€Å"a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands† (459). She also describes her various abilities including, â€Å"I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water fo r washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledgehammer and had the meat hung up to chill by nightfall† (459-460). Walker is showing what the Mother has learned from her ancestors, and that being tough is a part of her heritage. Mother is proud of her accomplishments and her abilities. The Mother (the narrator) described Dee as thinner than her sist... Free Essays on Everyday Use â€Å"Everyday Use,† a short story written in the first person perspective by Alice Walker, was first published in 1973. This story takes place in rural Georgia, during the early 1970s. Walker uses narration to show, I think, the black woman’s dilemma about how to face the future – whether to continue as her ancestors or become involved in the contemporary world. She does use symbolism, i.e. the contested quilt, yet I am going to focus on the characters themselves – the mother, Maggie, and Dee. In short, the story centers on an educated farm girl, Dee, who went to the big city for college and assimilated into modern society. She then returns for a visit to her old-fashioned mother and sister. Dee expects to take some of the old hand-made items particularly some quilts, with to her to display for her â€Å"enlightened† friends. However, Dee’s mother finally asserts herself with her daughter and firmly says no, that Maggie would be bette r suited to have them. The most developed character of the story is the Mother, who describes herself as a â€Å"big-boned woman† who can â€Å"kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man† (174). Yet, she is also a humble and furtive woman who never had the courage to say â€Å"no† to her daughter. It appears that her low self-esteem comes from a severe lack of education, only finishing the second grade. Mother seems to dwell on the past, especially her shortcomings. Even though she knows them, she doesn’t take steps to improve or change her situation. She is a woman given to fancy, dreaming about being the person her eldest daughter wants her to be: slim, unblemished complexion, with well-educated manners and speech. At the end of the story, she realizes that she can say, â€Å"No† to Dee, at least concerning the quilts. Maggie is a character who is not discussed much in the story. The author describes the girl as a person who walks around shuffling, with her head down, and eyes... Free Essays on Everyday Use Alice Walker’s short story â€Å"Everyday use† tells the story of a mother and her daughter’s conflicting ideas about their identities and heritage. Mrs. Johnson an uneducated woman narrates the story of the day one daughter, Dee, visits from college. Mrs. Johnson auto-describes herself as a â€Å"big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.†(180,Walker). Contrasting her auto-description, she describes Dee as a young lady with light complexion, nice hair and full figure that â€Å"wanted nice things.†(181,Walker). The arrival of Dee to Mrs. Johnson’s house causes mixed emotions on Mrs. Johnson. Dee Johnson and Mrs. Johnson have differing viewpoints on heritage and each value possessions for different reasons. Dee’s superficiality and materialist ways clash with Mrs. Johnson’s appreciation and understanding of her heritage. The conflict between the two characters depict the meaning of the work which is that heritage is to be v alued for both its usefulness as well as its personal significance. Dees’ misconstruction of her heritage was a source of conflict. Dee Johnson changes her name believing that it would affirm her heritage. Dee informs her mother she has changed her name, she states, â€Å"I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people that oppress me.†(184,Walker). Dee discards the name in favor of an African name, Wangero, that, although, is African, is not directly related to her heritage. Mrs. Johnson does not understand why would Dee want to change a name that has been passed down through generations. Mrs. Johnson points out to her daughter that she was not named after the oppressor, but named after her aunt, who was named after her grandmother. Dee does not pay much attention to her mother’s clarification of why the name Dee is significant to the generations of the Johnson’s women. Unlike Dee, Mrs. Johnson grasps and understands the significance of the name. Dee has taken on an African name; h...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Trusts and Equity Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Trusts and Equity - Coursework Example Trustees of Trust have many responsibilities in the exercising of their duties as a trustee. The areas that often posses most difficulties for trustees and is most often misinterpreted, in this area of investment. The Trustee Act 1956 followed an approach of a permitted legal list can be amended from time to time by the new categories if investment. However even though there are no restrictions on the type of investment the trustees can make. There is a general requirement that a trustee exercising any power of investment shall exercise the care, diligence and skill that a prudent person of business the affair of authors. Adam and Beth should consider to take the investment idea that investment advisor have proposed to them. They can invest in stock exchange in order to reduce the risk for losing a lot of money in their investment. The act allows the trustees to invest in any asset as if they were absolutely entitled. The power to invest can be overridden or amended by any investment powers in the trust deed. Typically, these allow trustees to invest in a wide range of investment such as life assurance products, deposits and shares. When selecting investment like investing in shares, the trustees are required to regard the standard vestment criteria that the investment should be suitable and diversified. In order to meet the requirement of the Trustee amendment Act, it is strongly recommended that trustee should work with qualified financial planner who has experience in trustee investment. It should be noted that the investment strategy applied to the trust assets like those shares that Adam and Beth have in that private company can be significantly different than that for an individual. This is because a trust can have different classes of beneficiaries such as income beneficiaries and capital beneficiaries. Modern trusts tend to be fully discretionary trust which will require the trustees to carefully balance all the interest of their beneficiaries.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

JOB ANALYSIS MATERIALS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

JOB ANALYSIS MATERIALS - Assignment Example Described product to customers and accurately explained details and care of merchandise. Customer-focused retail sales associate with a solid understanding of the dynamics of the retail industry. Results-driven Customer Services Representative with proven ability to establish rapport with clients. Greeting customers entering the store to describe our products. Explain and introduce the Youth Olympic Games to both Chinese and foreign customers. Help conduct weekly and monthly sales report and care of merchandise. Organized weekly sales reports for the sales department to track product success. Greeted customers entering the store to ascertain what each customer wanted or needed. Described product to customers and accurately explained details and care of merchandise Customer-focused retail sales associate with a solid understanding of the dynamics of the retail industry. Results-driven Customer Services Representative with proven ability to establish rapport with clients. Greeting customers entering the store to describe our products. Explain and introduce the Youth Olympic Games to both Chinese and foreign customers. Help conduct weekly and monthly sales report and care of merchandise. Organized weekly sales reports for the sales department to track product success. Greeted customers entering the store to ascertain what each customer wanted or needed. Described product to customers and accurately explained details and care of

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Coffee Drinking Habits Essay Example for Free

Coffee Drinking Habits Essay Kantar Media’s Global TGI research (www. globaltgi. com) has explored coffee consumption in different countries, as branches of global coffee house chains become a permanent fixture in even the most far-flung corners of the world. Perhaps surprisingly for a nation once renowned for its tea-drinking, consumers in Great Britain are some of the most likely to visit a cafe for their caffeine fix, report researchers. They share this position with Italians and, among the eight countries analysed, are beaten only by people in Israel, where 75% of respondents visit coffee shops, reports Kantar. The research also reveals the ongoing debate as to the virtues of instant versus filter coffee is alive and well. Whereas 86% of Italians drink ‘proper’ coffee, only 6% of them will consider using instant. Israelis are the highest consumers of instant coffee at 80%, followed by Russians at 72%. Great Britain and Turkey scored low on the ground coffee scale, with 19% and 15% respectively. This research confirms in GB people tend to go to coffee shops for the ‘real deal’ and are generally content with instant coffee at home, said Kantar. Drinking coffee, whether at home or in a cafe, instant or filter, is a global pastime,† said Tracy Allnutt, head of commercial development at Global TGI. â€Å"Global TGI provides brand owners with a flavour for how their marketing strategies should differ by country in order that they reflect the needs of the target market. † The research is the first in a series of ‘Factoids’ produced by Kantar Media’s Global TGI. Scheduled bi-monthly and covering topical issues, they will provide bite-size pieces of information for brand managers in between the more in-depth Dispatches reports undertaken by the company.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Examining methods of analysing a Companies Environment

Examining methods of analysing a Companies Environment There are factors within the environment that the organization operates that are beyond the control or influence of the organisation but these factors affect the business or strategy planning. The STEEPLE analysis is focusing on the external macro-economic environment that a business operates. This helps business to understand the environment, in which it operates, and the opportunities and threats that exist or are emerging within it. An understanding of the opportunities can help a business to take advantage of the opportunities that exist and reduce the threats to the barest minimum. The STEEPLE analysis helps to understand associated risk with growth in market or decline and thus the potentials and direction for business. STEEPLE is an acronym for Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Policy, Legal and Ethical factors respectively. Some of these factors tend to overlap when conducting the analysis. Below is a STEEPLE analysis of the UK motor car market. Socio-cultural: the pattern of lifestyle affects demand of vehicles, availability and willingness of individuals to work and therefore the kind of vehicles are manufactured. The institution of marriage has fallen, there are more single parents, people are having fewer kids and consumer trends which include fashion ability, luxury preference, working population, spending power etc. Technological: new innovations and technologies keep emerging in the car industry and bring about new products and processes e.g. introduction of three-point seat belt, airbag, electronic stability control, Intelligent Transport System (ITS), Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), E-call, Driver Assistance Systems such as E-call and Driver Assistance System such as Electronic stability control and Emergency Brake Assist. Environmental: according to SMMT, the climate change has had a great impact on the car industry and this has great impact on vehicle demand. This overlaps with the ethical factors because the car industry is trying to make vehicles environmentally friendly by trying to make 95% of vehicles recyclable by 2015 in order to comply with the End of Life Vehicle (EVL) Directive. Average CO2 emissions of cars bought through the scheme were 132.9g/km, which was over 27% below the CO2 figures of the outgoing cars that were scrapped. Also there is an effort to improve environmenta l standards at sites processing vehicles and limit the use of materials harmful to the environment in the new vehicle Climate Change Level (CCL). This has increased demand for hybrid cars. Ethical: some ethical issues have to be considered in the market, these include ethics in workplace, balancing stakeholder interests, human rights, reduction in CO2 emission from vehicle and manufacturing process (Farnham 2010). Also, the Climate Change Levy (CCL) agreement was signed by 11 UK vehicle manufacturers as co-ordinated by SMMT has effects on car industry. Political: policies that affect the car market include 2008 piece of legislation which committed European Vehicle manufacturers to cut average CO2 emission from cars to 130g/km by 2015, 2009 European Whole Vehicle Approval Directive, introduction of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme, taxation, congestion charges, other policy areas being formulated include alternative fuels, smarter driving technologies, and lower resistance tyres. SMMT has reported that 395,000 new vehicles have been registered under the Scrappage Incentive Scheme, which has now ended. There were 388,540 new cars and 6,959 new LCVs registered for the period, with 8.1% of all new car registrations and 2.1 LCV registrations in April being linked to the scheme Legal: this is closely linked to environmental political and ethical factors but includes health and safety, company law, consumer protection law. Manufacturers have to abide by policies formulated by government and regulatory bodies. This also affects the UK car industry either positively or negatively. Economic: macro-economic policy, markets and prices, price levels, global trends, market structure, public spending, wages and salaries, balance of payment, taxation etc. (Farham, 2010) the industry generates turnover approaching 52billion GBP so the Scrappage Incentive Scheme was introduced to support the industry because of its importance to the nation. Over 181,092 new vehicles had been registered under the scrappage scheme by the end of September. There is an order bank of a further 80,000 vehicles. The scrappage scheme is largely self-funding for government with the 15% VAT paid on a car bought for  £7,650 covering the  £1,000 government contribution (SMMT). The environmental, political and economic factors can be said to have the greatest impact on the strategy planning of the UK car industry. The product market, competitive structure and nature of competition of the UK car market cannot be analyzed without Porters five forces analysis. Threat of entry: The UK car market has high barriers to entry because it is extremely consolidated, well developed value added chain, RD capability, investment capability in terms of equipment which means existing manufacturers can make relatively high profits. Power of buyers: Buyers have little or no bargaining power in the market, households have no power at all but companies that buy fleet cars for official use have very little bargaining power. Power of Suppliers: there is a lot of power in retail and distribution of cars and this power depends on the price of the seller. The threat of substitutes within the industry also determines the power of the supplier as they can switch brands easily. Competitive rivalry: The UK car market can be said to be oligopolistic in nature because there are about 30 firms with the major rivals being are Ford, GM (Vauxhall), VolksWagen, Renault, Peugeot, Toyota, BMW, Citroen and Honda. Ford is Britains best-selling commercial vehicle (CV) brand and last year took over 24 per cent of the CV market. In a challenging market new models such as the ECOnetic Transit and ECOnetic FiestaVan, will play an important role in maintaining Fords competitive position (Ford). In oligopolistic markets there is a high degree of interdependence and so firms will think carefully how their rivals might react to any actions they take. This can lead to an emphasis on non price competition; a price change is relatively easy to imitate and so firms may rely more on methods such as branding or product development. The presence of powerful competitors with established brands creates a threat of intense price wars and poses strong requirement for product differentiati on. Also, there is cost of leaving the industry because of high levels of investments already on ground so firms fight hard to survive because resources are not easily transferrable and as the market is shrinking, these firms fight for a share of falling sales. Brand loyalty is very poor in this market because customers are likely to switch easily from brand to brand. Threat of substitute: this is linked to the power of buyers and sellers. The car market also faces direct competitors like public transport, air, rail, tubes, sea, bicycle and walking but the major source of substitute is the sale of second hand cars. It can be argued that the demand for cars is elastic because it is affected by substitute goods (as listed above) and complimentary goods (insurance, tyres, fuel, license, taxes, Ministry of Transport (MOT). Research two examples of how Human Resource Management in manufacturing has been influenced by and responds to changes in the environmental context as outlined in a. The automotive sector is highly flexible, dynamic and ever expanding. As a result of its flexibility and expansion, it responds to the global challenges which include GDP and trade growth, deep cultural shifts in the economic patterns and strong environmental aims. The automobile industry is constantly changing and adapting to challenging commercial, regulatory and technological trends, competition in the market, discrimination by customers, pressure from government and influence groups. So it can be argued that the car industry adopts the contingency or best-fit school of HRM which advocates the need to fit HR strategy into its surrounding context. The concept of E-V-R congruence as a measure of how well an organisation is attuned to its environment was developed by Thompson (2005). E- Represents the environment which includes the opportunities and threats that exist within it while R is the resources and V represents the value. The concept of congruence is very important and an organization achieves this when its resources, environment and values are mutually reinforcing. Its strategic position will be strong. The macroeconomic understanding is needed by organizations in order to predict and plan for changes in demand for their products, human resources, inflation and changes in investment. Human resource has to match external environment to the companys objectives. The most significant feature of HRM is the importance attached to strategic integration. Legg (1989) argued that one of the common themes of typical definitions of HRM is that human resource policies should be integrated with strategic business planning. As Baird and Meshoulam (1988) remarked, business procedures and systems are developed and implemented based on organisational needs that is when strategic perspective to human resource management is adopted. Human resource managers play a significant role in ensuring that the strategies adopted by the organization are fully supported by the required workforce so HR has to know how many staff needs to be recruited, retained and developed to satisfy consumer demand. In 2009, recession reduced demand for vehicles leading to a sharp fall in vehicle production and hence turnover. This year saw one of the biggest economic challenges of the automotive industry has ever seen with global sale plummeting, plants cutting production and RD budget at considerable risk. This means demand for cars will reduce because of economic meltdown, supply will reduce and labour needed will be cut. Employment in the sector has decreased despite continued efforts to protect the vital industrial capability by introducing short-term working, time banking etc. Despite the surge in sales towards the end of the year as car scrappage scheme kicked in, Toyota in the UK saw production plummet 40 per cent from 213,000 in 2008 to 127,000 in 2009(Robert Lea times online jan 28,2010http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article7006329.ece). Toyota had to adapt to its work share programme to fulfill orders incentive by the Scrappage Incentive Scheme. Later on, it led to cutting of 750 jobs, or around a fifth of the workforce, in the face of crashing car sales. The decision will come as a blow to Toyota workers who had already been rattled last year by workshare programmes, reduced hours and non-production workers. Over last year, Toyota also accepted 300 applications for voluntary redundancy. (the times February 19,2010) Toyota is to shut down its UK production plant next month leaving 3,500 workers idle. The unprecedented halt for two working weeks is a result of a collapse in its car sales amid consumer concerns over the safety of the Japanese companys vehicles. Sales of Toyotas are thought to be plunging worldwide after multiple recalls affecting 8.5million cars around the world. The company employs 3,900 workers at its main production site in Burnaston and 570 at its engine plant in Deeside. It has already cut 200 temporary jobs and opened a voluntary redundancy scheme last week. Toyota said in a statement: following extensive consultations with our employees representatives, and with input from all employees, it has been agreed that the best way to secure long term employment is to temporarily reduce working hours and base pay by 10pc. Toyota also scrapped the annual pay increase for employees and cancelled management bonuses, while its UK factories have just finished a fortnights shutdown. All these measures were introduced to reduce cost for the company because of the fall in demand for Toyota products caused by recession, the recall of Toyota cars due to safety issues etc. SMMT estimates that approximately 70% of the cars bought under the scrappage scheme represent additional sales which would not otherwise have happened in 2009. Since there was an increase in the demand for cars, this means that the demand for labour in Ford, whose engine plants in Bridgend and Dagenham employ 4,000 people, had to introduce extra shifts to be able to supply more cars. August output was up 36.5% at Dagenham and 18.3% at Bridgend, compared to 2008. Ford estimates that this resulted in positive knock-on effect for around 100,000 of their UK jobs in sales, distribution and sale supply. (SMMT) Also, due to the rapid change of technological advancement, new makes/models, reduction of CO2 emission and the introduction of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme, the car industry in UK now has a high demand for management/ leadership skills and technical skills. These changes have also made it necessary for the car industry to give staff constant training, since staffs with excellent sales skills are essential for the profitability and success of the sector. The ever-growing feast of technology and the need for constant on the job learning the sector specific product Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) was developed. To become ATA registered, an individual must pass a comprehensive and rigorous series of tests of practical skill and knowledge to ensure that they keep up to date with new technologies; technicians need to be assessed in order to maintain their accreditation. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/28/ford-announces-profits-2009 Andrew Clark in New York guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 January 2010 17.01 GMThttp://www.smmt.co.uk/articles/article.cfm?articleid=20676 http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article7032980.ece http://www.ford.co.uk/AboutFord/News/CompanyNews/NewDirector ttp://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_11. htmhttp://www.oup.c.om/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_10.htm http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm http://www.smmt.co.uk/articles/article.cfm?articleid=20676 http://www.smmt.co.uk/articles/article.cfm?articleid=20676 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4972091/Toyota-cuts-production-and-pay-as-motor-industry-crisis-deepens.htmlhttp://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/understanding-microeconomics.asp http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article7032980.ece http://www.smmt.co.uk/industryissues/index.cfm?catid=3725sid=259iicatid=P_1002 http://www.smmt.co.uk/industryissues/index.cfm?catid=3725sid=259iicatid=P_973 http://www.smmt.co.uk/industryissues/index.cfm?catid=3725sid=259iicatid=P_4093 http://www.smmt.co.uk/industryissues/index.cfm?catid=3725sid=259iicatid=P_982 http://www.smmt.co.uk/hottopics/index.cfm?catid=3725sid=259 http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article7006329.ece http://www.comparecontracthire.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/scrappage-registrations-totalled-395000-units-says-smmt/

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

John Milton’s Paradise Lost as an Epic Poetry Essay

The epic poem has been regarded ion all ages and countries as the highest form of poetry and there are great epics in almost in all the literatures in the world. As Dr. Johnson has put it, â€Å"By the general consent of critics, the first praise of genius is due to the writer of an epic poem, as it requires an assemblage of all the powers which are singly sufficient for other compositions†¦ Epic poetry undertakes to teach the most important truths by the most pleasing precepts, and therefore, relates some great event in the most affecting manner† (xix). John Milton’s Paradise Lost belongs to a rare breed of epic poetry in that it conforms to all the structural aspects of an epic, much in contrast with the decline of epic in the eighteenth century (Griffin 143-154). In the eighteenth century, the epic conventions made a gradual shift to mock-heroic poetry – a literary form that pseudo-eulogizes events of stately stature, in a bid to satirize them. But Milton, an egotist throughout his life, picks up topics of profound significance in the context of Christianity, and writes in an epic style that is perfectly complemented by content and theme. This paper is going to analyze Paradise Lost as an epic poetry. Paradise Lost, which was originally published 1667 in 10 volumes, is written in blank verse – a literary device deployed to convey freedom of expression which is commonly attributed to poems of grand scope. The poem vividly narrates the story of Satan and the Fallen Angels. Man’s expulsion from God’s abode in heaven is the main theme addressed in the book. If one takes into consideration the binding principle of epic poetry as having some fundamental and simplest of storylines, Paradise Lost qualifies per se. the story of man giving in to temptation and his subsequent fall from divine grace is a recurring theme in many world literatures. Hence, its subject matter is of universal interest. Again, the story is told within a narrative framework which is fictional in nature. The narrative flow has plenty of drifts when the poet alludes to several biblical and pagan beliefs. But the allusions are very much in keeping with the central theme of the poem – to â€Å"justify the ways of God to men† (Milton, I. 26). Johnson’s views of an epic poem substantiate the thesis pretty well. Almost all the characteristic elements of an epic poem are present in Paradise Lost: The subject matter being dealt with ought to be of a grand scale, preferably some well known tales of heroism and/or defiance of convention. Normally, the subject of an epic is expected to deal with actual historical events or imaginary but probable tales.  The action of the story must be developed by a proportionate mix of grand narrative, dialog and soliloquy.  Meditative and dramatic elements abound in epic poetry. Hence, the canvas of an epic poetry is structured with minute attention to detail, having periodical digressions relevant to the progression of the storyline. The protagonist or the hero must not represent the institutional segment of society. In other words, his actions and words should reflect offbeat ideas intended to defy institutional norms. However, the hero should also possess moral transparency and lofty idealism. The story must be based on the hero.  The language and other literary techniques should be simple yet profound. One of the rudimentary aspects of epic poetry is that it should always be expressed in a free flowing form, stripped of excesses wherever feasible. At the same time, the language should never appear as if constrained by the plot. The plot and the narrative must complement each other without limiting the immense scope of each.  An epic should always propound a lofty moral, capable of standing on its own. in other words, an epic poem must have a generic message that stands true irrespective of times or ideological differences.   It may be noted that all the aforementioned elements can be found in Milton’s Paradise Lost. In addition to this, the poem also follows classical epic conventions such as invocation to the Muse, prolific usage of epic similes and metaphors, blank versification, repetition of lines and passages, permanent epithets and so on. The subject matter of Paradise Lost is common yet sublime. The very inclusion of a biblical theme sets the poem apart from ordinary tales of man’s temporal existence. The Fall of Man has a fatalistic attribution to it, which instantly encompasses everything ever created or to be created within Miltonic cosmos. Milton’s cosmology pertains to a profoundly sagacious vision of the heaven and the earth and how they make exchanges. Satan’s revolt against the Supreme Dictator lays down the premise for an epic rendering of mankind’s perpetual urge to go against norms that put chains on free will. In keeping with epic characteristics, the poem elicits sympathetic responses from readers and critics alike. On one hand, Adam and Eve are thrown out of heaven following their cardinal sin. The divine providence they would enjoy is no longer there. This puts in perspective the hierarchical notion of the order of beings – God at the helm of affairs followed by the list of created beings. What is of epic stature is that the lower hierarchy suddenly rebels against the highest, challenging the supreme authority in a dauntless manner. Their punishment is also a part of the development of an epic. Once they are booted off heaven, readers can almost sense that intangible attributes such as immortality and permanence are lost forever. What is born of defiance is what comes to be standing in the long run – man’s original happiness and restoration of peace and love in their reasonable forms. Once Satan and his men are taught a lesson, following the epic conventions, mortals no longer dare to put themselves in any fanciful longing guided by moral cogency. As far as action is concerned, Paradise Lost unitarily follows a single course of events – all culminating in a grand climax. Milton begins the story by describing the infernal council of the rebel angels, which precedes the Fall of Man. Aspects of epic poetry are rooted in the poet’s approach here. He does not intend to simply narrate the proceedings as they occur. He stamps his own persona by suggesting the mood for revelry the Fallen Angels are in. Thus, the storyline starts from a single point in time and advances from thereon. Nothing is left behind and nothing is to be seen or apprehended in advance. The battle of the angels and the creation of earth are events that follow from one another and do not occur discordantly. Invocation of the Muse, too, is a generic pattern commonly followed in epic poems (Poplawski 266). In essence, Milton’s Paradise Lost is typical of epic poetry in multiple regards. The way it deals with the subject matter, with linguistic mastery and in an introspective mood, goes to show the unique niche the poem still enjoys in literary domains worldwide. As an authentic piece of world literature, Paradise Lost excels over contemporary heroic poetry in many ways. Right from the outset, each character has particular relevance to the story and has generic relevance to the entirety of the historical framework the poem belongs to. Such flawless technique renders a stately charm to the poem.          Works Cited Griffin, Dustin. â€Å"Problems of Literary Theory.† New Literary History 14 (1982): 143-154. Milton, John. Paradise lost: a poem in twelve books. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1868. Milton, John, Elijah Fenton, and Samuel Johnson. Paradise lost. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1821. Poplawski, Paul. English Literature in context. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Exemplary Leader Philosophy Paper Essay

I never aspired to be an ethical leader before this class. It is not that I acted unethically, but that I never understood the importance of being an ethical leader. As a child, I was constantly changing my mind about what I was going to be when I grew up, but never once did â€Å"ethical† cross my mind. It seems as though this is a common theme among human beings, that we see success through the masculine lens of materialism and consumerism. Being able to acquire the newest, biggest, most innovative thing is what motivates us from a very young age. This is not something to be necessarily ashamed about, because at one point or another, everyone acts out of self-interest and solely for self-advancement. The thing that has to change, however, is the amount of fully-grown adults who still act out of self interest, and more specifically, adults in leadership roles, managing corporations, institutions, cities, states, and countries, that pull their team in the right direction for themselves, and not necessarily for the organization. This class has taught me who I am, both as an individual and as a part of a cohesive team, who I can be, thanks to the concepts and thought-provoking readings and lectures, and how I can get there by utilizing these concepts and strategies. Throughout the course of this semester, I have been able to continue producing the same amount of success as I have in the past, but I have been able to do it the â€Å"right† way. By identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to those opportunities of my personality and character, I have been able to identify my true self. This identification process is the first step toward becoming an ethical and moral example for peers, subordinates, and even superiors, both in a professional sense and in a personal sense. â€Å"History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.† – B. R. Ambedkar This quote, spoken by Indian scholar B. R. Ambedkar, shows the belief in the common phrase, â€Å"business ethics is an oxymoron.† It is this mentality that began the self-fulfilling prophecy that business leaders use as an excuse for unethical behavior. The â€Å"slippery slope† of ethical breakdowns, as Badaracco calls it, begins with a mentality that justifies the diversion of ethics and economics. Throughout the rest of this exploration of the current self, the prospective self, and the presentation of a development plan, I will disprove this mentality. Current Self In order to effectively assess one’s ethical and moral fortitude, one must objectively identify his strengths and weaknesses relative to being an exemplary ethical leader. Furthermore, one must then address each individual aspect of his personality, including character traits, values, and integrity through relative ethical concepts and principles. By executing this process, one can truly learn about oneself and identify the necessary steps to becoming the possible self, or leader he wants to become. The process of identifying your own strengths and weaknesses can be difficult, especially in terms of being completely unbiased and objective. The key to successfully doing this is in relying on factual evidence that supports each strength and weakness. To be considered either, however, there must be a certain consistency in terms of actions as well as intent, which proves the validity of each strength or weakness. During my self-exploration, I thought back to some of my first memories in order to serve as a foundation for my moral potency and character, and to see how my experiences have shaped my personality, both positively and negatively. This process has given me perspective and helped me attain the knowledge necessary to complete an objective report of my own personality, values, skills, characteristics, and motivations. Without this process, I would have been subject to a common decision making fallacy that was taught in my organizational behavior class, known as the tendency to use information at hand, which describes a person’s inclination to make a decision based on readily-available information, rather than fact-based evidence. In this case, the â€Å"readily-available information† would be anecdotes and experiences that â€Å"stick out† in my memory. These examples are not necessarily wrong to use, but basing my process on them wholly would provide data inconsistent with my true personality. Since I can remember, I have always been a fierce competitor. This is shown through my spirited drive to achieve that has permeated my entire life, from academics, to extracurricular activities, to athletics. This competitiveness has both positive and negative effects on my leadership abilities, because I am driven and motivated to achieve goals, but can prove dangerous in team situations where group consensus is necessary. The competitive nature that is ingrained in my personality can lead to a concept called â€Å"me-ism†, described by Badaracco in chapter 4, which explains the phenomenon of being so goal-oriented that you lose sight of the effects that your actions have on other people. This concept can also relate to Badaracco’s inattentional blindness and motivated blindness, which describe occurrences in which one’s personal goals or lack of careful observation override that person’s ability to sense an ethical dilemma. My competitive nature has led to many successes in my life, including winning the New York under-18 state hockey championship, becoming the first non-senior to be an alternate captain on the Wake Forest club ice hockey team, and of course being accepted into this business school. These examples are all evidence of my competitive nature, and describe my desire to lead and win simultaneously. The concept of the future is tremendously fascinating to me. In another BEM class that I took this semester, we did a personality assessment that included over one hundred twenty questions and returned your five biggest personality strengths, and â€Å"futurism† was one of mine. I truly enjoy thinking about the future because of its uncertainty. I feel so much potential and possibility for myself, which is strengthened by my competitiveness. My ability to constantly think about the future while still keeping my â€Å"feet on the ground† and completing my assignments in the present is one of my most powerful strengths. My futurism keeps me on track toward achieving my personal and organizational goals. Becoming a transformational leader begins with the futurist outlook combined with a strong moral potency, which is the combination of three moral factors: moral ownership, moral courage, and moral efficacy. Moral potency, when combined with futurism, provides a leader with a strong moral and ethical foundation on which to base decisions, as well as the ability to envision the potential of a given organization. By acting in this way, a leader can start a chain reaction called the contagion effect, which is the phenomenon that occurs by promoting a transparent, ethical, and fair environment, starting from the C-level executives and â€Å"infecting† every employee underneath. The aforementioned strengths of mine, a strong competitive nature and a futuristic outlook provide me with an ethically-ambiguous foundation, meaning that both highly ethical and highly unethical leaders sport these qualities, and the actions that I make within the next few years will decide on which end of the spectrum I fall. In order for me to ensure that I do not start down the slippery slope of unethical decisions, I must be conscious of the fact that each decision I make has ethical implications, and I also must be weary of my weaknesses that could lead me down the wrong path. Acknowledging one’s weaknesses is critical to the process of defining your current self. As the saying goes, â€Å"nobody’s perfect,† and the only way to minimize the mistakes you make throughout your life is to accept the fact that you do have weaknesses, and to analyze what they are, why you have them, how you act on them, and how to correct them. My competitive drive has led me to have a strong desire to please authority figures, which is a major weakness of my personality, not in the sense that it is bad to desire recognition and achievement, but it frequently leads to Machiavellian, â€Å"ends justify the means† justifications of morally questionable actions. One of Badaracco’s ethical breakdowns, which he discusses in chapter five, the overvaluation of outcomes, directly relates to this personality trait. Two years ago I interned for a brokerage firm on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and my boss was a task-oriented, results-driven leader, a common type in the financial sector. He demanded that the team of four interns provide a daily projection of trade volume based on an algorithm and spreadsheets dating back to the early 1990’s. After being reprimanded by our boss for presenting him with unfavorable figures, we began to slightly alter the bottom line to get his approval. In this situation, we made a major ethical mistake by overvaluing the results. With the knowledge I have gained from this class, I would have analyzed the decision to alter the numbers using the categorical imperative, and in this situation, especially in the financial sector, it would be a very bad thing if my actions became universal norms. Fortunately, the trade projections were strictly internal, and I found out later in the internship that my boss would assign this project to new interns as a way of â€Å"breaking them in† and showing them the harshness of the business world. This desire to please has affected my leadership skills mostly within the context of leading peers, because, when combined with my competitive nature, I realize that there are few things that I will not consider doing to get ahead, which will ostracize me from my peers and create a divide within the group, decreasing my ability to influence others around me. Another weakness of mine is my tendency to overuse legitimate power when it is given to me. Legitimate power, which is defined as power bestowed upon someone over others, can come as a promotion, as it did in my case, when I was voted captain of my varsity hockey team in high school. This promotion gave me nominal power over my teammates off of the rink, but it was enough to leverage and coerce them to follow my orders. Trevino and Nelson outline the psychology I used to justify this behavior in chapter five, in their discussion of informal organizational cultural systems. The norms usually override formal rules, according to Trevino and Nelson. â€Å"†¦Despite formal rules, regulations, codes, and credos, informal norms are frequently the most influential behavior guides and clues to the culture†. The rationalization that â€Å"it’s the way we do things around here† was understood by my teammates, because the captain before me was the same way. It is this lack of moral potency to realize the unethical behavior and act on my personal values that makes this a weakness of mine. In the heat of the moment, it is hard to stop yourself and think about ethical philosophy, but necessary to promote the organizational culture that is conducive and necessary to running a hockey team. This self-exploration has provided me with a sound basis to analyze myself and prepare to make the jump into the business world with a strong moral compass and the ability to create a working plan to become the exemplary leader that I wish to be. However, first I must decide and articulate exactly what kind of leader that is. Possible Self The second step in becoming an exemplary ethical leader is to identify your possible self, that is, the leader that you wish to become at some point in the future. This can be done in a multi-step process, first by identifying exemplary leaders that serve as role models or mentors to you, and then by analyzing their leadership qualities and determining which of those you wish to attain. It is undeniable that every ethical leader chooses to lead with character and integrity, two of the most important characteristics necessary to manage an organization, but just how do you define character? According to Professor Sean Hannah, character is defined by three aspects: moral discipline, moral attachment or attainment, and moral autonomy. The combination of these facets provides a solid basis for the quantification of leadership characteristics. Moral discipline outlines the ability to act in alignment with your personal values, while moral attachment or attainment refers to one’s ability to hold true to your values over time, and moral autonomy is the ability to formulate moral decisions based on your values and decision-making skills, without the influence of outside factors. Both character and integrity play instrumental roles in the development of ethical leaders, as well as in their ability to become role models for lower-level employees. My most recent role model for ethical leadership is Dean Reinemund, because he has been extremely successful as a leader in two vastly different industries, which shows that he has the skills necessary to lead, regardless of the situational context. During his guest lecture in our class, Dean Reinemund spoke about his â€Å"Four C’s of Leadership.† I believe that these four characteristics are immensely important to become a transformational leader with a vision that inspires employees to work at the highest level possible. The first â€Å"C† is character, which Mr. Reinemund describes as having your internal compass point to â€Å"true north†. Having the character to act in correlation with personal and organizational values in the face of adversity is an extremely admirable quality, and is something that I wish to have in my possible self. Mr. Reinemund’s third â€Å"C† is the one that resonated with me the most, particularly because it is the only aspect of his leadership philosophy that cannot be readily learned. Commitment, Reinemund says, is the passionate, internal drive to succeed, and it is something that is ingrained in your personality. Although you can motivate yourself through other, extrinsic means, the â€Å"warrior’s ambition† that Mr. Reinemund describes is a burning internal passion for the work that is being done. This is another facet of an exemplary leader that cannot be left out. Badaracco writes about Aristotle’s â€Å"Golden Mean† in terms of leadership by describing the balance between having a high concern for oneself and having a high concern for others. By attaining this equilibrium, leaders can act ethically and morally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This philosophy also relates to Badaracco’s four spheres of commitments that leaders have to navigate during each and every decision they make. Managing the four spheres is an integral part of being an exemplary leader and must be included in my definition of an exemplary leader. The last piece of leadership that I would like to emulate as an exemplary leader is the characteristics of a quiet leader. Modesty, self-restraint, patience, and careful, incremental moves can right, or even prevent, moral wrongdoings without blowing the issue out of proportion. The public displays of heroism, as coined by Badaracco, depicted in movies and television are usually extremely unnecessary and their emotionalism and lack of careful planning undercuts their credibility, while simultaneously decreasing the amount of empathy received from the listener. Being a quiet leader means doing the right thing, especially when nobody is looking, and that is why I admire such a quality and desire to be the quiet leader who allows his exemplary actions speak for him. Action Plan The third and final step to becoming an exemplary ethical leader is to formulate and execute an actionable leadership development plan, which outlines the steps necessary to transform the current self into the desired possible self. By identifying my strengths and weaknesses, and then identifying the ideal leader that I want to become, I can precisely calculate the discrepancy between the two, and what specific steps I need to take in order to become the exemplary leader I want to be. By using course concepts and relating them to my current self, I have come up with the following steps for my action plan: 1. Do not underestimate the weight of any one decision, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be 2. Follow Badaracco’s steps to becoming a quiet leader 3. Apply Trevino & Nelson’s 8 steps to recognized ethical dilemmas 4. Read and reflect on the characteristics of an Authentic Leader every day 5. Establish a strong support group to help assist my decision making and provide comprehensive unbiased feedback These five steps, if followed correctly, will create the optimal environment to foster my development as an exemplary leader. My action plan is conducive to the type of leader that I want to be, because it focuses on further improving my strengths, and transforming my weaknesses into strengths by utilizing concepts and strategies learned in class. The first step is the most important one, because due to my competitive nature, I have a tendency to rush decisions in order to complete tasks more efficiently, but in the long run, especially in the professional world, I must be able to recognize the ethicality of each decision I make. By analyzing every decision I make from now on, whether it is my choice of shampoo or a multi-million dollar contract, I will be able to acknowledge the ethical repercussions of each alternative. My second step is to follow Badaracco’s steps to becoming a quiet leader, particularly the second rule, which says to â€Å"pick your battles†, and outlines the concept of political capital. Leadership is not defined by how many times you â€Å"blow the whistle†, but how much of an impact you had when you did decide to take a stand. Consequentially, I must make ethical decisions like Machiavelli’s fox rather than the lion. By building political capital and using it wisely, the respect that colleagues, superiors, and employees show you will increase, and therefore your ability to influence them will also increase, which will allow you to lead with confidence. Trevino & Nelson’s 8-Steps to ethical decision making are extremely important, because they provide a framework for which to analyze and come to a conclusion about any decision. The â€Å"action† piece of this step is simple: I have handwritten the steps on a small piece of paper and put it in my wallet, so that I can refer to it in any situation. By slowing down and analyzing each choice I make in terms of these 8 steps, I’ll be able to consistently make the best decision possible, which will instill confidence in my peers as well as show potential to my superiors. On the reverse side of my wallet-sized 8 steps, I have written the characteristics of an Authentic Leader, because I believe that simply being a quiet leader is not sufficient. Being a quiet leader is a great way to get things done, but in the long term may result with my leadership becoming â€Å"silent† leadership, wherein my peers and employees cannot easily see how I analyze ethical dilemmas and may start to infer that I rely on bottom-line statistics only. This is where the slippery slope begins, and my fourth step will counteract the possibility of being perceived as ethically neutral. My final step is to create a support group of people from different parts of my life, including peers such as friends and classmates, superiors (teachers and coaches), and subordinates such as the younger players on my hockey team. By establishing this group, I will be able to ask them to give me feedback on my projected personality. The first four steps of my action plan are important to my development as a leader, however they will be meaningless if what people perceive about me is different than what I want. Moreover, a support group will help me integrate my different lives, as Dean Reinemund spoke about in his lecture, by teaching me that in order to be perceived as an exemplary leader, I must have complete alignment between my espoused personal values and my in-use values in every aspect of my life. Solely having an action plan, however, will not give me the results I desire, which is why I must set both short and long term goals for myself in my journey to becoming an ethical leader. Short-term goals are imperative to maintaining my improvement in leadership skills, because without consistent feedback, it is impossible to gauge one’s progress. The support group I establish will provide me with that feedback. Specifically, I will create a point-based survey and ask each person in my support group to complete it. By doing this, I will have quantitative results at the end of each month to see which areas of my personality need improvement. By setting short-term goals, my competitive nature will enhance my desire to improve, until I reach my long-term goals. Perhaps the most challenging task of this assignment was to envision the evolution of my personality from a college student to a business leader, because I did not know exactly how to set long-term goals. After thinking it through, I believe that the most pertinent long-term goal that I can set is to reflect on my life as a leader, and have no decisions that I regret making. This seems vague, but it must be in order to work. By achieving short-term monthly goals, I will achieve my long-term goal as a result, which is the express purpose of short-term goals. If I can look back on my life as a leader when I retire, and I can honestly say that there is not a single decision that I made or failed to make that resulted in an unethical consequence, I will consider myself a success. Conclusion Throughout the course of this assignment, as well as the class as a whole, I have been exposed to completely new ways of analyzing situations and have been able to integrate those concepts and strategies into my daily life. By creating this action plan for the development of my character and leadership skills; I have begun the preparation necessary to successfully lead in the business world, which is an incredibly valuable head start on students in other business schools around the country. B. R. Ambedkar’s pessimistic quote regarding the ethics versus economics dynamic that I used earlier in the paper was a perfect way for me to gauge the effectiveness of my action plan. I believe that through the analysis of my current self, the reflection and projection of my possible self, and the creation of my leadership development plan, I have been able to disprove the mentality that â€Å"business ethics is an oxymoron† and begin to strengthen the mentality that â€Å"ethics is good business, and good business is ethical.† References 1. Sean Hannah, class lectures and PowerPoint presentations, 8/29/2012-12/4/2012 2. Hannah & Avolio, Moral Potency: Building the Capacity for Character-Based Leadership 3. Trevino & Nelson, Managing Business Ethics 4. Badaracco, Defining Moments 5. George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, Discovering Your Authentic Leadership 6. Badaracco, We Don’t Need Another Hero 7. Reinemund, class lecture 10/4/2012 View as multi-pages

Friday, November 8, 2019

Environmental Risk Perception Paper Essays

Environmental Risk Perception Paper Essays Environmental Risk Perception Paper Paper Environmental Risk Perception Paper Paper Environmental Risk Factors Climate Change Climate change is it dangerous? This is a question many have been asking for years. As we know global warming has become a major concern for our environment for the past few years and it seems that is getting worse. In America the study of climate change have become very high risk for at least some reasons. We may not know this but these reason being that the United States plays a big role in the worlds population stated by the (U. S. Census Bureau, 2005), it is said that we use the most intake of carbon dioxide, as we know this is considered to be the heat-trapping gas, alone accounting for nearly a certain amount of the globe . Humans breath a certain amount of tons of carbon each year. (Maryland et al. , 2003). We have also reason to believe that in Washington D. C. The President and Congress have been fighting against each other with much of the world regarding the reality of all these of all the testing, seriousness, and as to how all of these climate change have come about within these years. During studies public risk has been very high, there is a fear that in the future global climate change on human health may cause serious illnesses even deaths for example skin cancer; this climate change will indeed change the way people live which would mean our ranking water would lessen, this will cause serious disease; possibility of losing human nature and this will cause to world to be affected drastically. Article Two Climate Change The second article is about another issue that is causing our climate to change that can be of higher risk that would be the ozone layer. Our ozone layer seems to be dimensioning its been said that pollution gases. Scientist have found evidence that increased pollutants in the air this study shows this comes from cars factories and these are some examples. Some of the sicknesses that occur because of this and our ozone layer not being protected loud be bronchial asthma as we know this is a syndrome which can cause shortness of breath and make it difficult for one to breath, the air pollutants on health have been the focus of attention on this factor. During the years they have conducted many experimental studies these studies have shown that even the gas from diesel exhaust have been causing the upper respiratory disease and is able to control the immune system response by increasing bad side effects with animals and humans. There have been studies and during these studies that have been done they have found evidence that air pollutants can work with in the atmosphere or on human airways, this is a very strong effect on the human body. In fact, if the airways start the inflammation some pollutants start to overcome the chest making it hard to breath which would lead to allergen-induced responses. But, air pollution and with the changes in the climate would cause a human to have an effect this would be an allergic response by influencing the percentage rate of the pollen production by allergenic plants. Even though this has been proven many individuals in 2009 still didnt believe that climate change was he cause of all these illnesses and still did not believe all the facts such as global warming, when carbon dioxide is released in the air which is the combustion of fossil fuels. Environmental Stresses The environmental stresses of climate change have TV0 primary components of this would include (1) temperature elevation with concomitant weather instability and extremes and (2) rising sea-level. These changes may result in the increase of heat waves starting and damaging air pollution, soil moisture would become less, higher weather events for example tornados and hurricane, and coastal inundation (EPIC 1992). More people will have health effects this can include heat related strokes; (2) infectious diseases, this means being beaten by an insect; (3) people will become ill because if food shortage; and (4) because of weather disasters there will be no where for people to live so people will live in streets and public places and this will cause sicknesses to rise because of unhealthy conditions. It seems that the ozone layer is depleting and this is causing many health issues to humans. The direct health impacts from ozone depletion, which leads to increased XIV radiation, include cancer, asthma many health hazards. Conclusion In conclusion must say my own perception on environmental risk perception to climate change is very dangerous. It makes me think that some day we will not be able to walk out of the house because the sun would have no protection since everything in the air is not healthy it just keeps eating at it. During my own studies and years of watching the news I have even heard that hairspray is killing our ozone layer. Living in New York City I believe that our pollution plays a big part in the air quality especially with warm weather the pollution is so bad you cannot even breath when its 90 degrees outside.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Essay on Psychology and Young People

Essay on Psychology and Young People Essay on Psychology and Young People Essay Plan Intro: In this essay I will be discussing two life stages†¦ I will be referring to the PIES that affect the development through the life stage†¦ The first life stage I will be discussing is†¦ The physical developments are†¦ Differs between male and female†¦ How nature nurture debate influences the physical development†¦ Evaluate, Positives and Negatives Impact it will have†¦ Diet can affect†¦nurture Nature, born with it genetics†¦ Argue both sides.. Nature Nurture debate.Intellectual†¦Adolescent thinking is on a higher level than that of children. Children are only able to think logically about the concrete, the here and now. Adolescents move beyond these limits. Adolescents can think in terms of what might be true, rather than just in terms of what they see is true. They are able to deal with abstractions, test hypotheses, and see infinite possibilities. Emotional†¦ shows strong feelings and intense emotions at different times. Moods might seem unpredictable. These emotional ups and downs can lead to increased conflict. Your child’s brain is still learning how to control and express emotions in a grown-up way is more sensitive to your emotions: young people get better at reading and processing other people’s emotions as they get older. While they’re developing these skills, they can sometimes misread facial expressions or body language is more self-conscious, especially about physical appearance and changes. Teenage self-esteem is often affected by appearance – or by how teenagers think they look. As they develop, children might compare their bodies with those of friends and peers goes through a ‘bulletproof’ stage of thinking and acting as if nothing bad could happen to him. Your child’s decision-making skills are still developing, and your child is still learning about the conseq uences of actions. Social†¦ searching for identity: young people are busy working out who they are and where they fit in the world. This search can be influenced by gender, peer group, cultural background and family expectations seeking more independence: this is likely to influence the decisions your child makes and the relationships your child

Sunday, November 3, 2019

International trade between Japan and Africa Essay

International trade between Japan and Africa - Essay Example In relation to this, the African states have also been benefiting from Japan in several ways. These may involve the developmental projects channeled to such African states from Japan. It is of crucial significance o note that Japan’s major target in their trade relations with Africa has been majorly based on the key resources like oil, minerals as well as other raw materials (Raposo, 47). These raw materials are of high demands in the Japanese companies. They are used to make different sorts of products that are sold within the country as well as exported to other nations abroad. This has contributed greatly towards ensuring a robust economic growth in Japan (Raposo, 54). Majority of such products are also old back to the African states. This helps maintain the good relations between the two nations. On the other hand, African states have been benefiting in equal measures following their international trade relations with Japan. Upon providing Japan with the raw materials, Japan has contributed a lot towards providing Africa with huge structural projects as well as soft loans in exchange to the raw materials (Raposo, 63). Such have involved construction of infrastructure necessary to open up Africa to more trade opportunities. These include building of ports, roads, railways as well as airports. However, it is important to note that these amenities always ease the movement of the raw materials back to Japan from

Friday, November 1, 2019

She's One of a Kind Boutique Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

She's One of a Kind Boutique - Term Paper Example The boutique offers a wide variety of clothing items for women. The clothing items retailed at the business are designed by a team of experts associated with the organization and they are manufactured by a contracted manufacturing organization. The boutique also features clothing items by other designers as well who work in collaboration with the boutique. The competitive advantage of the business is the innovation in the production of the clothing items. The expert designers hired by the organization are encouraged to produce innovative designs and such designs are critically assessed. Only after the appropriate approvals, such designs are moved to the next level that is manufacturing. The main reason behind the established position of the business in the market is its competitive advantage. The competitors of the organization are unable to move the organization from its market share due to competitive advantage of the organization. Another factor that may be the reason behind the s mooth operations of the organization is the efficient use of technology. The business makes extensive use of technology throughout its operations. The information related to the business is centralized on a cloud computing system and the authorized personnel have access to the information. The marketing strategy of the organization includes; offering discounts to the customers, offering value cards and other promotional activities. In order to ensure that the organization retains its market share amidst the competition projected by other organizations operating in the market, the organizations implements upon its marketing strategy at a regular basis. The organization offers value cards to its customers which can be used by the customers to avail discounts. The more a customer shops, the more value points are added to the account of the customer and when a customer reaches a certain level, the customer becomes eligible to avail discounts. Promotional activities include distribution of flyers at shopping places and placement of banners. Initial financing of the organization was done partially through the investment done by the owners of the organization and partially through the debt acquired by the bank through a long term loan. The funds were utilized to acquire office and store space, to acquire the necessary computer and other office equipment, and to carry out initial advertisement of the business. The start-up personnel of the organization were; core management for each department and subordinate staff. The organization hired limited staff in order to start the business and once the business started to grow, more staff was hired on the basis of the requisitions filed by the core management. The hiring is done through an extensive process and it is ensured that only the eligible personnel are hired by the organization. Section 2: Code of Conduct The organization gives significant importance to the compliance with market standards. It is believed by the cor e management that compliance with standards is more than the responsibility of the organization but it is the way the business should be conducted. The organization also promotes ethical conduct of the staff and core management in