“Merchant of Venice” Feminist Perspective Essay

The feminist critical perspective examines the roles that women play in literary works and their true significance to the text. Their roles are usually decided on by the society or time period in which the story is set. In â€Å"The Merchant of Venice,† females were suppressed by the societal ideals of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan era, which is portrayed through the characters of Portia and Jessica, who could not establish their own powerful identities because they were women. Portia and Jessica are the main female characters in the play. If they had been given a chance to show their skills, they undoubtedly would’ve been extremely strong women. However, they had to mask their abilities in order to appeal to their male counterparts. Their positions in the story were to show what it was to be the ideal Elizabethan woman. Time and time again, Portia and Jessica were shown to be mere objects that were owned by the male characters in the story. They could not shine or b ecome powerful characters, when they had every capability to. According to Maggi Ros’ â€Å"Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Common Knowledge,† a woman was nothing more than property in Elizabethan society. It states that, â€Å"Children are the property of their parents, and give them the respect a servant gives his master†¦Wives are the property of their husbands†¦Some women are more independent than others. However, every woman expects to be married, and to depend on her male relatives throughout her life.† Throughout the story, we see that Jessica and Portia fit perfectly into this description of Elizabethan women. Jessica was the property of her father. Shylock did not care for his daughter nearly enough as the fact that he owned her. When Jessica eloped with her lover, Lorenzo, Shylock cared only about two things: that his daughter had eloped with a Christian and that she had stolen his money. The reader can see this when Salanio, while gossiping with Salerio, mocks Shylock: â€Å"I never heard a passion so confused / So strange, outrageous, and so variable / As the dog Jew did utter in the streets: / ‘My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! / Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! / Justice! the law! †¦ A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, †¦ Stol’n by my daughter! Justice! Find the girl!'† (II.viii.13). Jessica’s eloping with Lorenzo signified that Shylock’s source of pride, his Jewish religion, would end  after his death. There would be no continuance of the tradition because Jessica had betrayed him and married a Christian. She could no longer bear him a Jewish heir. After his religion, money was the second most important thing in Shylock’s life. Jessica had taken some of his ducats and precious stones. He begged the law to condemn Jessica, who had stolen his hard-earned money. It was obvious that the loss of his daughter did not affect him one bit. But rather, it was the loss of his money and Jewish bloodline which infuriated him. Sadly, this showed that Jessica’s worth was limited to nothing more than mere property. Portia was, like Jessica, bound by her father. She says: â€Å"If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will† (I.ii.98). Her deceased father had left behind a will, which contained a riddle. There were three caskets, made of gold, silver, and lead. The man who can correctly choose the casket containing Portia’s picture would become her husband. If Portia had not remained loyal to her father, she could have easily chosen any man to be her husband. However, this shows the power of the male guardian in Elizabethan times. Portia did not dare to be disobedient to her father, even after his death. â€Å"O me, the word ‘choose’! I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse who I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father (I.ii.19). Instead, she grudgingly accepted the riddle as the ultimate decider in her fate and love life. In another aspect of Elizabethan society, women were mere objects that belonged to their husbands after ownership was transferred from their fathers. The suitors lasciviously desired Portia for her beauty and wealth. If they could win her as a wife, their reputations and futures would be set. The first suitor to try his luck at the riddle of the caskets was the Prince of Morocco. He chose the gold casket which had an inscription that read: â€Å"Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire† (II.vii.5). This shows that Morocco was a greedy man who desired Portia for materialistic reasons, just like many other men who would desire the gold too. The second suitor to attempt the riddle was the Prince of Arragon, who chose the silver casket. Like Morrocco, Arragon was quite superficial. â€Å"I will assume desert. Give me  a key for this / And instantly unlock my fortunes here† (II.ix.52). He saw Portia as merely a free ride to financial security. He didn’t want her because he loved or cared for her. He only wanted her for her money and power. Women were a prize which men displayed and flaunted. A woman had no true value as a person. A recurring event in the play was the women disguising themselves as men. This is symbolic of the suppression of the women by their male counterparts. They had to mask their true abilities under the guise of men. There was no way in Elizabethan society for a woman to be successful in any field other than wifehood or motherhood. In Act II, Jessica was finally rebelling against the strict rules of Shylock. She was taking extreme measures in order to elope with Lorenzo. â€Å"I am glad ’tis night, you do not look on me / For I am much ashamed of my exchange / But love is blind and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit / For if they could, Cupid himself would blush / To see me thus transformed to a boy† (II.vi.34). Escaping from her father should have empowered her character, but in fact, it didn’t. She had to disguise herself as a pageboy, thus, taking away any feeling of female empowerment that the act of eloping should have brought. She was defying in the costume of a male and this showed that only males had the power to rebel or to be strong. At the end of Act III, Portia and Nerissa dressed up as a male lawyer and clerk and traveled to Venice to defend Antonio. Portia was the most intellectual character in the play and that was made evident by the skill with which she executed Antonio’s defense. When the evidence was clearly stacked against Antonio, using her wit and intelligence, Portia turned the tables on Shylock and made him the victim. Portia’s cleverness was shown when she said: â€Å"This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood / The words expressly are ‘a pound of flesh:’ / Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh / But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed / One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods / Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate Unto the state of Venice† (IV.i.309). Portia knew that Shylock had every right to cut Antonio’s flesh–the law gave him that right. But, she also knew that the law stated that if an attempt was made at a Venetian’s life, the perpetrator  would have his property confiscated. This was a brilliant twist of events that greatly affected the case. Shylock had now turned into the victim and Antonio was completely off the hook. Portia was an utterly brilliant lawyer, which everyone in the courtroom could distinguish. However, Antonio’s defense and the infamous â€Å"quality of mercy speech† were made under the disguise of a male lawyer. No one would ever see the true intelligence that Portia actually beheld, simply because an intelligent female was unfathomable in Shakespeare’s time. Women in Shakespeare’s Elizabethan society were greatly undermined. This is made quite evident in The Merchant of Venice, through the feminist critical perspective. Societal ideals forced Jessica and Portia to mask their abilities and talents. They could not show their true identities or else they would break the mold of a proper Elizabethan woman, which was absolutely unthinkable. Portia and Jessica were both the property by their fathers and could never really break free from that ownership. Also, Portia was desired by men for her wealth and beauty, rather than her intelligence and personality. Women were merely a prize that should be flaunted. Their inner-value was worthless; it was their material value that mattered. Finally, both women had to disguise themselves as men in order to express the independence and power they possessed. The female characters in the story were inferior to the males because of the social stigmas which had existed during Shakespeare’s time period.

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay

Riordan Manufacturing needs to develop a formalized method for controlling all client information into one centralized client administration method. The first part of this plan will develop a modified administration plan that will include many critical elements; for example, suggestion of a plan in order to execute modifications during the coming year and an explanation of the assessment processes following the implementation of the modifications. The 2nd part of the plan will make reference to an exhaustive communication plan for the suggested modifications. A sample message communicating the plan to the company employees is also included. Riordan Manufacturing currently uses a bureaucratic structure based on formal power. This structure is designed with set rules and functions on how the business will operate daily. Their organizational chart describes how the organization is departmentalized by scope of work into functional areas. Each specialized department has a vice president a nd managers that control their operations. The major advantage of this type of functional departmentalization is efficiency gained from putting like specialists together (Robbins & Judge, 2013). The power and political structure could affect the employee behavior because all decisions must go up the ladder. For example, if a decision needs to be made about how a heart valve machine needs to be updated, the decision must be routed through proper authority, rather than being handled by the foreman. Another advantage of this structure is that there is direct communication between lower level managers and their supervisors; this provides effective leadership, vision, and communication throughout the ranks in the organization. The most appropriate and effective organizational structure for Riordan is departmentalization and formalization. With the planned change for a new customer information system, structure, organization, and good communication between departments  is necessary. This form is valuable when an organization†™s customers are widely distributed geographically and have similar needs based on their location (Robbins & Judge, 2013). Most of the positions in the organizations are standardized, so each employee is placed in the correct department according to his or her abilities. Riordan Manufacturing has a separate department for each product they make, which is an example of departmentalization. Employees in a departmentalized and formalized organization have set rules to follow and are specialized to their department. Riordan Manufacturing employees are a diverse group that offers solutions in a diverse market. Each member is part of a team where each product made grows their total portfolio. Riordan’s culture is based on organic growth with innovation, although they are a bureaucratic organization. They are constantly looking for new products to innovate and expand in new areas without looking to cut costs to gain growth. Their characteristics include: ethical standards, innovative, and team building. The corporate culture of Riordan Manufacturing influences employee behavior by innovation and risk taking with an emphasis on team building. Riordan uses good communication and team orientation to keep their employees motivated. Some workers may become unwilling to cope with modification. Possible reasons may be the lack of knowledge regarding the modification, comfort, anxiety about being unsure, personal private views, job security, pressure from peers, clashes, and lack of confidence. Even though workers are being resistive, the administrators are intending to cope with the opposition and assist workers with the modification more efficiently. Administrators may apply the modification by conveying it clearly, being straightforward, and acknowledging their worries together while respecting workers. Administrators may provide support by meeting directly in regards to the modifications or by additional co aching. Administrators might place the resistive workers with employees or another company temporarily who are already using the modification. This can allow for administrators to make certain they have set some objectives to ensure the success of the modifications was worthwhile and advantageous. Modifications need constant and continuous quality improvements. During the 12 months, administrators must be sure that the modification they put in place continues to remain effective. Administrators can perform this by assigning reaction teams to  areas which are in danger, as well as continue to make contact with their workers via phone, email, direct contact, or memo. Safety precautions will also continue to be managed and improved. Staff and administration attitudes will remain optimistic, involving workers, caring for their views, ideas, and thoughts, continuing to provide training sessions, set objectives and goals, and encourage inspiration. Administrators may assess achievement by monitoring the effectiveness of the modification, organization numbers/sales, and ensuring workers are producing great results. In case the organization is failing or hasn’t seen any growth then they must adjust the modification. Communication Plan The best way to overcome the resistance to change is timely communication to employees. Managers should have meetings with employees, as necessary to discuss the changes. The reason for the changes should be conveyed in a way so employees will understand the necessity for the changes. Managers also need to make themselves available to address any concerns and to listen to feedback from employees. It is very important to listen to their concerns, and address them in a professional and compassionate manner. The manager needs to assert themselves as being calm and professional, while conveying the change and listening to concerns of the employees. Along with meetings, regular emails and memos should be sent to all employees to inform them in a formal manner of the changes that need to take place. It may be prudent to appoint a few reactionary team members to assist the employees with the new procedures. Some employees should be selected to join the reactionary team to instill a sense of ownership into the changes. If a written communication method was to be utilized there could be physical barriers to non-verbal communication. Not being able to see the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body language can make communication less effective. To counter that, our preferred communication channel will be face-to-face to discuss anything that could be considered sensitive in nature. Jargon, abbreviations, and slanged terms for what is considered common items is commonly used in corporations; this can cause confusion for some whom may be less familiar. To ensure everyone has a firm grasp on the message being relayed, the use of these terms should be minimized in all formal communications. Email and Memo Message Valued Employees of Riordan Manufacturing: The organization decided to apply a client administration method that will permit you to easily monitor our clients. The administration knows that we have put enormous accountability on you to manage client info and wish to provide you with the methods to do this job more efficiently. This info might be more effective when we keep it in a uniformed style and saved in a convenient location. By applying this method we will be allowing the info to be easily available to all workers and will streamline searching methods. We know that this info, if not saved correctly will get lost, and we don’t want to jeopardize the client associations which you have worked so hard to maintain. Formalized training will be given to all workers prior to the launch of this method. Our objective is to make sure that you are happy and capable of using the latest program before it’s put into use. We have created a formalized coaching agenda for following week to make sure everybody has had time to see, work, and know the program. We hope that this may be applied on Monday March 30th, 2015. Administration knows that understanding the latest method is a difficult task, however we believe you will notice the advantage of this latest program. We thank you all for your hard work, persistence, and assistance in this matter. Please contact your immediate supervisor with any questions or problems. Thank You, Riordan Manufacturing Administration Conclusion The document has assisted in developing a modification administration plan for Riordan Manufacturing by deciding formalized and casual power structures of the company and their influence on the conduct of workers. It has additionally determined suitable company structures for this organization which will help in achieving the modifications. The document has described the company’s tradition by identifying its features, and the possible impact of this tradition on the conduct of workers. Riordan must think about applying the specified modifications which are contained in the modification administration plan, and they must also apply the communication plan that will assist in implementing the modifications effectively. Reference Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational behavior (15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Paraphrase - Essay Example This led to formation of professional organizations like the National Safety Council that made positive contributions to safety at the work place. Based on a postulate that accidents are psychologically triggered and that they could be prevented, research initiatives established that effective management and efficient procedures through employee training and awareness is an important factors towards reducing accident cases and claims. Developments after the year 1930 such reduced accidents; courts approach to settling compensation disputes and setbacks to the psychological assumption led to the collapse of the investigative era. Accident and injury prevention are two distinct occurrences whose difference can be understood from their scope, objectives and timing factors. While accident prevention concentrates on the entire work environment and possible risks, injury prevention lays preference on people within the work environment. Preventing an accident therefore considers both the environment and the involved people while preventing injury focuses on people’s risks. Even though injury prevention can be done after an accident, both injury prevention and accident prevention improves workplace safety through identification and control of possible risks at the

State Government vs Federal Government (Similarities and differences, Essay

State Government vs Federal Government (Similarities and differences, reporting standards etc.) - Essay Example It is appropriate to highlight the differences between the federal and the state government in regard to public resources, and how the same utilized effectively. The budgeting process involves careful planning of how money will be received and spent over a specific period of time (Kieso et al., 2012). Therefore, the major components of a public budget include revenues and expenditures. In the United States, the federal government differs with state governments in as far as the budgeting process is concerned. For instance, the federal management has the authority to control the economy through interest rates while state governments do not have such control over interest rates. The federal government is often at liberty to engage in deficit spending, implying that the federal administration has the ability to increase spending even if the revenue is lower than it should (Kieso et al., 2012). As a result, the public debt in the US has continued to soar over the years. On the contrary, state governments are not at liberty to engage in deficit spending on a large scale, and are bound by the parameters of a balanced budget. The federal government differs with the state governments in a number of ways in as far as the taxation process is concerned. As for the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the agency charged with tax collection (Kieso et al., 2012). The government uses progressive tax to determine the tax rates in that the more money a person earns, the more the taxes. The most common federal taxes are the withholding tax and the federal tax return. The withholding tax is subtracted from wages that individuals receive, while the federal tax return requires citizens and residents to report their income each year to determine if they owe any income tax to the federal government (Weygandt, Kimmel & Kieso, 2010). Taxes imposed by state governments differ from one state to another, as there is no one system that works for all states.

Medium Research Methodology Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medium Methodology - Research Paper Example A quantitative approach was adopted for this study. It was vital to impose primary demands on the data collection. This is in order to study and know how the British national newspapers have constructed ‘binge drinking’ as a social problem. The research study is primarily and mainly dealing with how have the British national newspapers constructed ‘binge drinking’ as a social problem and not generalized approaches (Iwere, 2010). Additionally, the relationships between the variables will be analyzed in great detail by the research. The analysis will include testing the variation effect within factors which influence the British national newspapers to construct ‘binge drinking’ as a social problem. The approach (quantitative) was the most suitable approach for the study since the research question required needed a statistical answer and solution. Critcher, (pg. 154) stated that a quantitative study approach is often characterized by statistical measurements and figures whereas a qualitative approach is best suited for research questions which require a descriptive solution and answer. The research focused on finding the coverage of a small sample of British newspapers on binge drinking. Consequently, a quantitative paradigm was used to collect data for the research because it is more relevant and suitable. This was made up of newspaper articles which were meant and aimed to illustrate the findings of the study from the perspective of the research participant. To satisfy the demands of depth, the need for detailed information or data about binge drinking and the British media necessitated the use of more newspaper articles. Also, the use of many articles enabled the study to come up with reliable results and information.

Globalization at general electrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Globalization at general electrics - Essay Example First, GE chose to invest aggressively in foreign expansion for the obvious reason of desire to grow the company. Foreign investment results in more branches of the company, and this is directly linked to increased revenues for the company due to the additional branches, which will generate additional profits for the company (Rugman & Collinson 2008). Therefore, GE bought other companies in various countries, which were in a financial jeopardy, and were on the verge of collapsing. GE bought the financially unstable companies at a faster rate, mainly because, this was the only opportunity it had to acquire those companies and expand, since these would be seized by other companies, if GE would not act fast. This is a strategy, which GE used to ensure that its expansion was rapid. Aggressive expansion of GE might have been aimed at ensuring that the company moves closer to most of its customers, since this would be easier and cheaper for the company to address the various concerns and n eeds of its customers, while increasing its total sales revenue. In addition, international expansion by GE was intended for the company to increase its customer base, since this would acquire more and new customers in the new geographical locations that it established itself. In addition, GE chose to expand because of the company’s wish to deal with their foreign markets on a higher level. By adopting globalization, GE wanted to prove that the relationship between the company and its foreign markets was strong enough to allow the country to directly invest in the foreign countries, while being assured of profits. Rugman & Collinson (2008) argued that it not enough for a company to be shipping its products to foreign countries. Instead, a company should consider getting closer to its customers in the foreign markets, and establish a close relationship with them, to boost revenue and address consumer needs appropriately. Finally, GE might have chose to expand internationally i n order to save on the costs it incurred in the form of wages for its employees. Employees in other countries outside the United States are paid lower salaries and wages, mainly because of the economic status of their country, which is usually lower, compared to the United States. Therefore, most American multinationals choose to expand outside the United States in order to explore these lower wages (Rugman & Collinson 2008). Question 2 According to Birkinshaw, Braunerhjelm, Holm & Terjesen (2006), the corporate headquarters of a company plays a valuable role in influencing the relationships between the company and the financial markets, as well as its stakeholders. Stakeholders of a company include customers, as well as the competitors of the company, which are the most important stakeholders of a company. Therefore, by moving its headquarters to foreign markets, GE wanted to influence the relationship with its customers in the foreign countries. This would result in a stronger rel ationship than the one that existed previously. Most companies claim that the decision to move their headquarters to foreign countries is influenced by their desire to be in close proximity with their international customers (Rugman & Collinson 2008). In the case of GE, like most companies, this company has moved most of its headquarters of its other businesses from the U.S.A. to other foreign countries.

Marketing plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Marketing plan - Assignment Example Further, it is essential for the organization to consider all the 7Ps of Service Mix and hence, contribute in all these areas to gain sustainable development. Besides, the sustainability in the business process would be gained through appropriate financial control and control measurement. These would lead the organization to accomplish its vision of performing with enhanced market share and profitability. Baglow is an organization that has certain unique business idea. This is with regard to the introduction of a business plan of bag cleaning service. The market that Baglow is targeting is Qatar. For delivering an effective service to the customers, the organization has planned to undertake the strategy of introducing advanced technology. Moreover, the organization has recruited some of the highly skilled cleaning professionals. These make the service of the organization highly effective and hence, it is able to meet the satisfaction level of the customers significantly. The service of the organization is categorized into different segments of target customers. These include the cleaning of the travel bags, school bags, gents bags, ladies bags, and miscellaneous other bags. The service of the organization is further segregated into leather, cloth and others. This segmentation is done, as the materials and the method used for the cleaning purpose are different for leather, cloth and o thers. Moreover, in order to make the service of the organization highly convenient to the customers, the organization has adapted the strategy of serving at the door of the customers. In this regard, the organization takes the bags from the home of the customers. The organization further cleans the bags at the working zone of the organization. After cleaning and pressing the bags, the organization delivers the bag at the convenient locations of the customers. In the cleaning process, it is

Looking Within to Produce Without Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Looking Within to Produce Without - Essay Example As for the anger for example, I should practice claiming techniques, try to find positivity in every negative situation and this will assist in dealing with my inner feelings and preventing them from coming to the external and running my performance. Self-awareness of the situations that participate in my emotional state is necessary so that I can be able to better handle myself and be a better leader (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2001). My boss is not one of the nice people and this is especially visible when performance declines even if slightly. He is an autocratic leader that likes things to go his way and controls everything leaving us to be only faithful followers. Most of the times our performance is great but there are a few hitches we encounter at times and it is at these times that he is unbearable. The best thing I have learnt is to read his emotional state once he comes in the morning. This is important in order to know how to relate and interact with him for the day without him affecting my day and performance as well. If he is in a terrible mood, the best thing is to avoid crossing his path by asking him questions unless it is a really urgent matter. Becoming least resisting is another way to deal with him. Whatever he wants done no matter the magnitude or time limit I never argue or complain within earshot. This way, he is less angry and no conflicts arise. Leaders are more productive when they have open communication with their team members. This will require them to focus more on others and externally open as well as focusing more on the results. I would like my boss to for example be more supportive of the team by being empathetic and expressing concern about both personal and work issues. In this way, he can cultivate a culture of sharing, getting to know the potential each of us possess as well as develop trust with the team. I would also like my boss to constantly motivate us and especially after one

Suze Orman..leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Suze Orman..leadership - Assignment Example Career Suze Orman faced a lot of physical and mental challenges in her youth period, which she overcame through strong determination. Her indomitable effort bore fruit when she completed her graduation from public school and got chance at the Illinois University. At the University of Illinois she was a student of Social Work in which she desired to obtain a degree despite significant hardships. Suze Orman could not get achieve the University degree in first chance. However, instead of staying back moved over to California during 1973 where she started working as a waitress in a bakery to finance her studies. During 1976, Suze Orman was conferred diploma in Social Work by the University of Illinois. The initial period of Suze Orman’s career was as rough as the initial stages of her life. Suze Orman after being a graduate decided to stay back at the bakery to learn the style of the trade. She decided to open a restaurant by herself. To this end, she was also awarded with a loan of $50,000 dollars (by a benevolent customer) that she deposited in Merrill Lynch. However, with the crash of the financial market the entire amount was lost. This changed the course of Suze Orman’s life as she in a great need of meeting the loan ventured into the financial market to be employed as a broker. ... Four years down the line in 1987 Suze Orman resigned from the post of Vice President in Prudential Bache to become a financial entrepreneur. As a financial entrepreneur, Suze Orman ventured to open up her own financial firm, Suze Orman Financial Group where she stayed till 1997. Suze Orman decided again to change her career course from being a financial advisor to become a writer and a speaker. She quit the post of director of her firm and started on her career as a writer and an orator on financial matters (â€Å"Suze Orman Biography†). Achievement Suze Orman’s career as a writer and speaker won her many accolades. The books written by her consists of popular titles like ‘ The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom’, ‘The Courage to Be Rich’ and ‘The Road to Wealth’. All these books authored by Suze Orman happened to become the best sellers in New York. Suze Orman’s writing career also wears some national bestsellers like ‘Youà ¢â‚¬â„¢ve Earned It’ and ‘Don’t lose it’. Her writing career gains further recognition through her continued literary contribution to America’s contemporary magazines like ‘Oprah Winfrey’s Magazine’, ‘Philadelphia Inquirer’ among others. Apart from shining in her writing career, Suze Orman made a mark of an orator while hosting a show in the CNBC Channel. A separate segment was created in CNBC named ‘The Suze Orman Show’ which gained huge popularity. Her list of accolades includes Emmy awards for hosting shows aimed at public service. Suze Orman also received the Gracy Allen award for her significant contribution in financial talk shows in the audio and visual media. The Smart Money Magazine had listed Suze Orman among thirty ‘’Power Brokers’’ in the country. The Feminist Press for her

User Groups And Their Usage Perception Of Financial Statement Essay

User Groups And Their Usage Perception Of Financial Statement - Essay Example The above discussion is totally emphasized on the user groups of financial statements of Torotrak Plc and Surface Transformers Plc. The companies have been analyzed by considering the 3-year financial statement. Both internal and external user groups of the financial statement have been considered such as investors, lenders, suppliers, management, employees and the Government. This analysis shows the various perspectives in which each user analyze a financial statement. From investor’s point of view, it can be considered that company’s share prices are low and as a rational investor, buying shares of this company can prove to be profitable in the future. As the companies are in developing phase, the payables are quite high, but if seen on a year-on-year basis, it is also reducing. Hence, a supplier would not bother to stop their supply as they are getting paid. The analysis has illustrated the responsibility of management to evaluate and maintain efficiency and profitability of the firm by emphasizing on their efficiency to retain profit by maximizing the utilization of resources. Employees generally look into profit making of the company to understand their potential in terms of providing remuneration in an efficient and timely manner. Government focuses on taxes and as these companies are loss making, the tax levied on them are also low. Finally, it could be concluded that even if the companies are bearing losses, they are still tryi ng to control their costs, use their resources effectively and reduce the gap of their losses over year-on-year.

Macroeconomics - Globalisation Essay Example for Free

Macroeconomics Globalisation Essay For its supporters, globalisation describes a dream of opportunity and prosperity. For its opponents, it denotes a nightmare of greed and inequality Explain the term globalisation and the factors that may have contributed to the process. Globalisation can be defined as the integration of the worlds economies into a single international market, as local and national markets become incorporated into the global capitalist system of production with increasing interdependence. It promotes the free movement of labour, capital, goods, services, technology and management in response to markets around the world. The growth of markets in this manner is not a new, but a process that has seen the markets grow from a local scale to a national one during the Industrial Revolution and to an international scale by the end of the 20th century. The growth of international trade has been significant in furthering globalisation. During the Industrial Revolution, Britain had a significant comparative advantage as its advanced manufacturing technology allowed hugely improved transport through steamships and railway networks across its Empire. This opened up huge potential markets around the globe for British exports, at the same time making a huge range of goods from these new trading partners accessible to British consumers. Although comparative advantages have changed, this is a trend that has continued into the 21st century, with the rise of low cost air travel and other forms of transport becoming quicker, cheaper and further reaching. There is certainly incentive for this international trade driving globalisation has seen a rise in the trade of manufactured goods to $12 trillion in 2005, a hundred times greater than it was in 1955. Over a similar period, the industrialisation of LEDCs has also been significant. As systems of production in economies such as the Asian Tigers, including Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, and increasingly the Tiger Cubs of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia along with other NICs have advanced; their economies have become increasingly suited to manufacturing industries. Cheap labour costs in these countries encourage this development, which has been partly responsible for a new international division of labour. As production and trade of quaternary services such as research and development has increased in the three main areas of influence of North America, the EU and Japan, MNCs have increasingly looked to NICs to provide secondary industry, incentivised by low production costs and an increasingly welcoming attitude from national governments. Whilst restrictions still exist, this is particularly true in India, where rules that previously did not allow FDI are loosening and large firms such as Wal-Mart are seeing opportunities to access new markets, particularly in the IT sector. It is perhaps a result of this and other economic liberalising policies that India is seeing growth rates of 9%. Whilst the rise of globalisation has certainly seen a widening in participation in international trade not even the oil producing nations are, for example, energy independent, some economies are far more integrated in the global capitalist system of production than others. As many MEDCs specialise in the production of services, very little of their economies are left purely domestic. In contrast, however, the remaining non-industrialised LEDCs, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, have significantly less impact on the global economy. Trading in cash crops and similar primary goods, much economic activity in these nations is still domestic, with many farmers, notably, practicing subsistence farming to the point they have little to no involvement in the cash economy. Evaluate the view that, although globalisation has brought benefits to the UK economy, it has not been without significant costs. The process of globalisation has not continued without criticism. Clearly, there have been considerable benefits to the UK economy over several hundred years as a result of globalisation, but are there costs associated with the rise of the global economy and, indeed, are those costs now outweighing the benefits of an interdependent world? Globalisation has increased the competitiveness of UK markets. Competing in highly contestable markets, British firms face competition from abroad. A few large firms, between whom collusion very well may have occurred, as explained by game theory, had typically dominated domestic markets. As more firms entered the market, they erode larger firms market share with which they may have exercised monopoly power. Domestic firms are thus forced to become more productively efficient, producing at lower cost to compete with, for example, goods manufactured using cheap labour in South East Asia. Competition would also promote innovation so that in an economy with high labour costs, British industry could gain a comparative advantage over foreign firms. The effect of globalisation has thus been an influx of new goods and services combined with lower prices on existing goods, now of a better quality. Globalisation has therefore lead to a net gain in welfare for UK consumers. However, the realities of the situation are very different. Realistically, UK firms cannot compete in the manufacturing industry where economies with cheap labour have been deemed to provide unfair competition. The UK is a high labour cost country and thus at a comparative disadvantage which is effectively impossible to overcome, as demonstrated with the loss of the motor industry in the UK during the 1970s. Footloose capitalism has no preferred location, and as such will shift production to wherever costs are lowest. Globalisation has spurred the process of de-industrialisation, whereby employment in the manufacturing sector has fallen from 7.1 million in 1971 to 3.1 million in 2005, where the size of the UK labour force has in fact grown with rising participation rates. Many of these workers are either unskilled or have been trained to a specific task, making it difficult for them to find alternative employment, compounding the problem. The effects have not just been felt in manufacturing, but increasingly in the service section as IT booms in India and many firms opt for business process outsourcing. Surveys by Deloitte have shown that much of the UK population are deeply concerned about the outsourcing of white-collar jobs. Globalisation has lead to job losses in the UK, causing social distress and negatively affecting unemployment rates, an important economic performance indicator. The picture is not as bleak as it may seem, however. Unemployment rates in the UK remain low, and that generated can be viewed as frictional unemployment as other vacancies do exist. Government training schemes, such as free IT lessons under the auspices of Learn Direct also go a long way to combating structural unemployment as manufacturing workers can retrain for jobs in the quaternary sector. Whilst the UK has lost the majority of its manufacturing industries, a new international division of labour has emerged as the theory of comparative advantage shows that global production is increased if economies specialise in what they are relatively best at producing. The UKs specialisation in the service industry has lead to job creation and significantly increases in national output. Measured through real GDP growth, this rise in national output as a result of specialisation shows that globalisation has been in part responsible for economic growth. Augmented by the multiplier effect, this brings benefits to the whole economy. However, the direct economic benefits derived from globalisation have in fact widened spatial inequalities rather than benefited all, as impacts have differed between the regions. Under the international division of labour, there has been a greater emphasis on knowledge-based industry with the rise of the service sector, with 73.1% of national output in 2004 being in the service sector, compared to manufacturings 15%. Where benefits from these dramatic figured? Quaternary and knowledge-based services are concentrated around the M4 corridor the sunrise strip, and silicon fen, with R+D focused on science parks located around southern universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. These effects of de-industrialisation have created a north/south divide, as the north is traditionally home to the manufacturing industry. Northeast England never fully recovered from loss of traditional heavy manufacturing industries such ad shipbuilding. The consequential migration of workers to the south of England has placed pressure on resources and housing, whilst some northern areas such as Liverpool have seen a fall in population. This is allocatively inefficient resources are wasted whilst the necessary investment needed to deal with the new distribution of population has spurred further investment in the south, widening the north/south divide. In conclusion, the costs to the UK economy from the march of globalisation are highly significant, although their impact can be disputed when the importance of globalisation to UK economic development is considered. However, globalisation is not a process that can be reversed, halted or even slowed. The world is interdependent and will continue to be so, and the UK must be a part of it. International trade, the driving force of globalisation, is enormously important to the UK has been responsible for its position as a major economic power since the days of the British Empire. We have neither the resources nor the inclination to pursue a policy of economic isolationism, as the potential benefits from globalisation are huge. The best option, therefore, would be a cautious approach, devising strategies to tackle problems as they arise with a fundamental focus on sustainability.

The Story Of The Flivver King History Essay

The Story Of The Flivver King History Essay In the story of the Flivver King, Upton Sinclair wrote this book from the period in the early 20th century about of one of Americans most famous self-made business leaders of the 20th century, Henry Ford. The author explains the story through the eyes of a fictional character that idolizes Ford from a young age, that character is Abner Shutt. Abner is the main character in the book and from his viewpoint Sinclair shows the reader how Ford started off as a man who was thought to be a lunatic for his ideas of making a carriage that can move without the help of a horse, to becoming one of the most influential people of his time. The story follows the ideas and growth of what would become the Ford Motor Company through the eyes of the Shutt family, primarily Abner since he eventually works for Ford and advances himself in the company slowly. The story also shows how Abner grows into a family man who works for Ford for many years and how Henry Ford starts off with great intentions, brilli ant ideals, and hopes for his company and the workers in it. As shown in the book, one of Fords hopes at the beginning of the story is that he would be able to have his workers earn enough money so they may also have the means to buy a car. Upton Sinclair shows how Ford changes during the story and how at the end of the story, Ford and his ideals are changed by power and a few billion of dollars. The idolized leader of Ford had become a prisoner of his own wealth and power. In this story, Upton Sinclair wants the worker who is Abner Shutt to gather with other workers and form a strong labor union. During the story Abner is not waiting to organize anything like a Union at Ford due to his beliefs of what Henry Ford is about as a person and how much trouble it can potentially get him in. Sinclair originally wrote this book for the United Automobile Workers of America in the late 1930s so that people during this time period would understand that workers should have some basic rights to work in a safe environment with fair hours and pay. At this time at the turn of the century, many of the workers who would immigrate to America for work would often be exploited at many levels. This happened in all types of factories other than the automotive factories; Sinclair had seen factory worker abuse first hand in meat packing factories. Upton Sinclair was not just trying to be just another author but a revolutionary activist for the workers, who attempted to show peo ple firsthand what workers had to deal with when they were in the factories. By creating books like the Flivver King, Sinclair was attempting to show how much power the leaders of a major company can have and how it is unethical. Sinclair also shows how the power hungry leaders can start with good intentions and then just crave for more and more power. During this time Upton Sinclair realized that during this time when America was in the middle of another major industrial revolution after Ford and the birth of the major car industry. People who had ideals like Sinclair wanted to see more federal regulations in the American auto industry and he was showing how company leaders like Henry Ford would be against regulation and power to the workers since he feels that he would want to have the most possible control over his company and workers as a whole. Upton Sinclair felt that our nation at this time needed to establish a strong union where the workers can actually get help from a stronger organization when going against the corporations. Sinclair wanted a strong Union to help workers get what he feels they deserve, instead of becoming just another cog in the machine known as the abused industrial workforce at the time. After reading this book one would think that the reason why there is no strong presence of a labor union in this country is because of the risk that it presented for workers at the time. In the Flivver King, Henry Ford used thugs and goons to intimidate people from not causing a ruckus and not bringing the any kind of union into his company. Upton Sinclair said this in the book, as a beleaguered American socialist in a society that is generally unsympathetic to the plight of the less fortunate, Sinclair pondered the question of why Socialism did not gain a foothold in the minds of the American workers. (Sinclair, Pr eface viii, xi) Reading this from Sinclair makes the reader believe that since socialism did not gain a solid ground in the mindsets of the factory workers at the time prevented a chance and at a strong labor union, and it shows the reader that Americans can show little sympathetic to those who do not have a lifestyle as well as their own. After reading this, it is clear that Sinclair pities the American worker of this time period and he feels that if they could have embraced a more socialist mindset, there could have been some kind of organization to protect them from being exploited and possibly fired just by mentioning the very idea of trying to start or join anything like a union. Other issues in the work place were workers being killed by various factors like poor or unsafe work conditions, violent protest and strikes, and being beaten thugs. Sinclair thought that because of the difficult working conditions, some kind of regulation was needed from a higher power, and that higher power would be our very own government. He also thought that the people needed to stand up and do something in order for anything to happen. In the book, Sinclair uses Abners son Tom as an example of person trying to make a difference by attempting to make labor unions for auto workers a reality. Tom Shutt who was a college graduate from the University of Michigan was once a worker at a Ford gear plant, he was eventually was listed as a trouble maker by the company and he was shown working for the United Auto Workers. Tom would go into the towns where Ford had great influence he would try and show people how they can get the company to join the union. This proved to be an very dangerous job, especially in the towns where The Ford Motor Company had a strong impact. Also Sinclair shows us that greed that was a common theme in the book did not help a ny efforts to start labor unions in the auto industry. Sinclair believed that since characters like Ford had so much money and power at the time, they could also obtain political influence by attempting to urge the people to vote a for a certain candidate so their policies can maintain the status quo and keep labor unions from becoming a reality. Just a few years after this book was written there was an ongoing battle for Ford to Unionize, the United Auto Workers won, and now even today Ford Motor Company is part of the UAW. In the story, Upton Sinclair used the main characters in some way or another to support his arguments for why there should be a labor union for the workers in the auto factories. With his depiction of Henry Ford a self made billionaire who gets corrupted by the money, power, and the very empire he made. At first people thought of Ford a crackpot with lofty ideas, Abners mother said on the very first page of the book that he is a crazy person who is just fooling around all day. After Ford proves the doubters wrong he creates a strong following, and one of his most loyal followers happens to be Abner. The strange and misunderstood inventor gained so much power in a relatively short amount of time, and the power and wealth turned a peaceful and revolutionary inventor into a power hungry corporate leader who wanted to control everything around him. The next character that Sinclair uses is Abner Shutt, a loyal Ford follower from a young age since he saw the beginnings of Ford on Bagely St reet in Detroit, and later an employee of Henry Ford. Abner appeared to be oblivious to some of things that occurred at the Ford Company at the time. For most of the book he would address Mr. Ford with the upmost respect. With the company growing into a global business powerhouse Abner saw the company rise from humble beginning and with honest intentions. Later Abner saw the company grow to have spies and gang members working for Ford to prevent any type of action that Ford himself would not like. Abner even had one of his own family members Tom Shutt, suffer at the hands of the gang members for trying to make a difference for the factory workers. If a proper workers union would have been established earlier on, maybe his son Tom would not have been beaten by the thugs at Ford. Sinclair uses this compelling story to open the eyes of Americans to show them some of things that occurred to people who tried to make a difference in the world for all of the auto workers in America. He also shows how money and power can overwhelm people who start out with good and clean intentions to help and give products to those who cannot afford it or give good benefits to their workers. With this piece of literature, we now can understand how much of a need there is for a an auto workers union, so we can avoid falling back into a time where workers can be fired for the wrong reasons or killed by the company thugs for attempting to create a safety net for the auto factory workforce.

Kirkpatricks Evaluation Of Training Management Essay

Kirkpatricks Evaluation Of Training Management Essay Kirkpatricks model of evaluation is being applied. This model consists of four levels of evaluation. The first level is the reaction level in which the reactions of the trainees are understood to mean the way in which they perceive and subjectively evaluate the relevance and quality of the training. It attempts to answer questions regarding the participants perceptions Did they like it? Was the material relevant to their work? This type of evaluation is often called a smileysheet. According to Kirkpatrick, every program should at least be evaluated at this level to provide for the improvement of a training program. At this level, evaluation measures the satisfaction of the people who followed the training. In conjunction with that, positive reactions are of critical importance in creating sufficient learning motivation. In this sense, the participants reactions have important consequences for learning (level two). Although a positive reaction does not guarantee learning, a negative reaction almost certainly reduces its possibility. Learning can be described as the extent to which the attitudes of the participants change, their knowledge increases or their skills are broadened as a consequence of the training. This is a second level of evaluation of learning behavior whereby evaluation is intended to measure the progress made in terms of knowledge, skills or attitudes. In other words, evaluation tests the participants to see whether new skills have been acquired. At this point, evaluation can relate to the method used to transfer the knowledge, skills and attitudes. To assess the amount of learning that has occurred due to a training program, level two evaluations often use tests conducted before training (pretest) and after training (post test). Assessing at this level moves the evaluation beyond learner satisfaction and attempts to assess the extent students have advanced in skills, knowledge, or attitude. Measurement at this level is more difficult and laborious than level one. Methods range from formal to in formal testing to team assessment and self-assessment. If possible, participants take the test or assessment before the training (pretest) and after training (post test) to determine the amount of learning that has occurred. A third evaluation level is that of changes in job behavior or performance. This involves studying the change in job behavior which takes place as a result of the training. Evaluating at this level attempts to answer the question Are the newly acquired skills, knowledge, or attitude being used in the everyday environment of the learner? At this point, evaluation sees whether tasks are performed differently before and after the training. In order for positive reactions and learning effects actually to lead to changed job behavior, the transfer of acquired skills to the work situation must especially be ensured. The quality of this transfer is strongly dependent on the support the participant receives after the training, especially from his immediate supervisor or coach. From a study by Bergenhenegouwen, which explain the low effectiveness of training courses, are found in this area in which immediate bosses who have more of a discouraging effect, who themselves do not set a satisfact ory example or provide insufficient supervision. For many trainers this level represents the truest assessment of a programs effectiveness. However, measuring at this level is difficult as it is often impossible to predict when the change in behavior will occur, and thus requires important decisions in terms of when to evaluate, how often to evaluate, and how to evaluate. Level four evaluation attempts to assess training in terms of organizational results. At this point, evaluation checks how the results are evaluated at the end of the training initiatives. An evaluation of the results therefore measures the progress made at organizational level. Frequently thought of as the bottom line, this level measures the success of the program in terms that managers and executives can understand increased production, improved quality, decreased costs, reduced frequency of accidents, increased sales, and even higher profits or return on investment (ROI). From a business and organizational perspective, this is the overall reason for a training program, yet level four results are not typically addressed. Determining results in financial terms is difficult to measure, and is hard to link directly with training. According to Kirkpatrick, the subject of evaluation or the level at which evaluation takes place is dependent on the phase during which the evaluation takes place. In Kirkpatricks four- level model, each successive evaluation level is built on information provided by the lower level. Assessing Training Needs often entails using the four-level model developed by Donald Kirkpatrick. According to this model, evaluation should always begin with level one, and then, as time and budget allows, should move sequentially through levels two, three, and four. Information from each prior level serves as a base for the next levels evaluation. Thus, each successive level represents a more precise measure of the effectiveness of the training program, but at the same time requires a more rigorous and time-consuming analysis. 3.2. Transfer of Training Training transfer generally refers to the use of trained knowledge and skills back on the job. Baldwin Magjuka mentioned that for transfer to occur, learned behavior must be generalized to the job context and maintained over a period of time on the job. Meanwhile, Saks Haccoun views training transfer is the generalization of knowledge and skills learned in training on the job and the maintenance of acquired knowledge and skills over time. According to the transfer of training framework by Saks Haccoun, the transfer of training activities could be segregated into three phases which is before, during, and after training to facilitate and improve the transfer of training. However, for the purpose of this study, only transfer of training after training is being applied. In this case, the management must ensure that trainees have immediate and frequent opportunities to practice and apply what they learn in training on the job. The management should also encourage and reinforce trainees application of new skills on the job. There are many other things that managers do to facilitate transfer such as develop an action plan with trainees for transfer and show support by reducing job pressures and workload, arrange practice sessions, publicize transfer successes, give promotional preference to employees who have received training and transfer, and evaluate employees use of trained skills on the job. The trainer should conduct follow-up or booster sessions following a training program. Trainers should maintain their involvement in the training and transfer process by conducting field visits to observe trainees use of trained skills, provide and solicit feedback and provide continued support and assistance to trainees. Trainees should be able to use new knowledge and skills on the job as soon and as often as possible. At the same time, trainees should meet with their supervisor to discuss opportunities for transfer. Trainees might also establish a network of peers who also attended a training program that can provide assistance and support each other for using their trained skills on the job. Trainees should also set goals for practicing their newly acquired skills on the job. 3.3. Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Training and Development In the real world, there are some other factors that influence the effectiveness of training and development in an organization. One of them that have been identified by Haywood is the human resource policy of training and development. He mentioned that too many training program place emphasis on ease and the very purpose behind the design of programs namely, learning, skill development and behavioral change, has defeat the original purpose and goals of training are lost and the means all too readily becomes the end. Furthermore, the human resource policy would determine a clear link between training and an organizations career development and reward system in which training might leads to recognition and advancement. Indeed, the trainers capabilities as a subject matter expert would determine the effectiveness of training and development. Training programs can be trivialize if the organization hiring unqualified trainers that could defect the transfer of learning to the employees. In addition, employees attitude and motivation are one of the factors that might influence the effectiveness of training and development. Therefore, the positive attitude should be foster through the constant emphasis on team building program to enhance the employees motivational effort. In relation to this, the employees motivation in transfer and transfer climate are crucial to ensure the effectiveness of training and development. Finally, the commitment of top management to the training and development is critical to its success. Organizations whose top management view training as a way to meet organizational goals by making sure that employees take an active part in the delivery of training and in the planning of training objectives; and by maintaining a financial commitment to training.

Electrical Engineering :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Electrical Engineering My decision to pursue graduate study in the United States is underscored by my desire to be a part of the graduate program at your institution. Purdue University offers the flexibility needed for such a vast and rapidly changing field. The research facilities and the faculty at the university are par excellent. Communications is an industry that has changed our lives. In a very short period it has changed the way we have looked at things since centuries. It is one industry that is going to shape our future for centuries to come. Hence my desire to do masters in electrical engineering with communications as my major. My interest in electronics blossomed during my high school years. It was the time when technology had begun to make an impact on the lives of people in India. Hence engineering with electronics as my major was the first choice for my undergraduate studies. Right since the beginning of my undergraduate study electronics is a subject that has fascinated me with its power of applications. The subjects that I have studied include Linear Electronics, Digital Electronics. These laid the foundation for my courses in Electronic Communication & Communication Systems at a later stage. My undergraduate studies already focus on the communications aspect of electronics. A masters degree in electrical engineering with communications as major field is the next logical step. For the past four months I have been working as a project trainee at the Indian Institute for Advanced Electronics. I am working on the design and development of a "PC Controlled Digital Serial Data Generator". This short stint has given me invaluable practical experience. It has given me the confidence to pursue a masters degree and also kindled a desire to do research. During the course of my work at IIAE, I have come across several scientists. Most of them work in different areas of communications. Interactions with them have made me realize the vastness and the scope of communications. My discussions with them convinced me that specializing in communications will suit me very well. The subject of research which interests me very much is spread spectrum communication systems. Coding theory and combinations is another research subject which arouses my curiosity. The subject Communication Theory which I am studying at present introduces these topics in theory.

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury Essay -- Faulkner Sound Fury

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, the image of honeysuckle is used repeatedly to reflect Quentin’s preoccupation with Caddy’s sexuality. Throughout the Quentin section of Faulkner’s work, the image of honeysuckle arises in conjunction with the loss of Caddy’s virginity and Quentin’s anxiety over this loss. The particular construction of this image is unique and important to the work in that Quentin himself understands that the honeysuckle is a symbol for Caddy’s sexuality. The stream of consciousness technique, with its attempt at rendering the complex flow of human consciousness, is used by Faulkner to realistically show how symbols are imposed upon the mind when experiences and sense perceptions coalesce. Working with this modernist technique, Faulkner is able to examine the creation function of symbols in human consciousness. The occurrences of honeysuckle in the Quentin section suggest that Quentin came to view this plant as a symbol for Caddy’s sexuality involuntarily. When Quentin attempts to convince his father that he was the one who impregnated Caddy, he connects honeysuckle with his sister’s loss of virginity: â€Å"I fooled you all the time I was in the house where that damn honeysuckle trying not to think the swing the cedars the secret surges the breathing locked drinking the wild breath the yes Yes Yes yes† (94). In Quentin’s memory of the night Caddy lost her virginity, he recalls honeysuckle as a significant element of the event. In addition, he is hostile towards the plants and its meaning, which can be seen in his damning of it. This connection to the sexual act and the hostility, which is ascribed to it, suggests the internal conflict in his anger... ... of our deepest memories, rather they are active forces in our life, capable of controlling the mind of the individual. Works Cited Bauer, Margaret D. Southern Literary Journal. â€Å"`I Have Sinned in That I Have Betrayed the Innocent Blood': Quentin's Recognition of His Guilt.† 2000: 32.2 70-90. Bockting, Ineke. Style. â€Å"The impossible world of the `schizophrenic': William Faulkner's Quentin Compson.† 1990:24.3 484-498. Kartiganer, Donald M. â€Å"The Meaning of Form in The Sound and the Fury.† The Sound and the Fury. Ed. David Minter. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1994. 333. Vickery, Olga W. â€Å"The Sound and the Fury: A Study in Perspectives.† The Sound and the Fury. Ed. David Minter. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1994. 285. Zender, Karl F. American Literature. â€Å"Faulkner and the Politics of Incest.† 1998: 70.4 739-766.

Dantes Divine Comedy - Symbolism in the Punishment of Sin in The Infer

The Symbolism in the Punishment of Sin in Dante's Inferno  Ã‚      Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin. The first of the two divisions of Hell is Upper Hell. Upper Hell is the area habitated by those committing sins of incontinence or lack of self-restraint. This lack of self-restraint could be in the form of anything from sex to mood. Before delving into the sins of incontinence, one must first look into the first inconsistency of the Inferno. This inconsistency is found in the Vestibule of Hell. The Vestibule of Hell contains the trimmers and the neutrals. Although almost all other sins mentioned in the Inferno are of an ethical, universal standpoint, the ones mentioned here are sins only from the Christian point of view. These neutrals are the people who either showed no partisanship or did not take sides. Lines 37-39 and 46-50 read: They are joined with that choir... ...ion. Dante cites now-historical and mythological figures to exemplify the sins and to make for the better understanding of sin to even the most inept of readers. This work stands alongside The Bible as one of the greatest religious-literary masterpieces of all time.    Works Cited Literature of the Western World, Volume 2. 4th edition by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997. Works Consulted Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry. Inferno. New York: Pocket Books,1976. MacAllister, Archibald T. Introduction. Inferno. By Dante. New York: Mentor, 1954. Pinsky, Robert. The Inferno of Dante. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Shippey, T.A. "Into Hell and Out Again". Times Literary Supplement, 8 July 1977, .820. Spinrad, Norman. Introduction to Inferno, by Niven and Pournelle. Boston: Gregg Press, 1979. Dante's Divine Comedy - Symbolism in the Punishment of Sin in The Infer The Symbolism in the Punishment of Sin in Dante's Inferno  Ã‚      Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin. The first of the two divisions of Hell is Upper Hell. Upper Hell is the area habitated by those committing sins of incontinence or lack of self-restraint. This lack of self-restraint could be in the form of anything from sex to mood. Before delving into the sins of incontinence, one must first look into the first inconsistency of the Inferno. This inconsistency is found in the Vestibule of Hell. The Vestibule of Hell contains the trimmers and the neutrals. Although almost all other sins mentioned in the Inferno are of an ethical, universal standpoint, the ones mentioned here are sins only from the Christian point of view. These neutrals are the people who either showed no partisanship or did not take sides. Lines 37-39 and 46-50 read: They are joined with that choir... ...ion. Dante cites now-historical and mythological figures to exemplify the sins and to make for the better understanding of sin to even the most inept of readers. This work stands alongside The Bible as one of the greatest religious-literary masterpieces of all time.    Works Cited Literature of the Western World, Volume 2. 4th edition by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997. Works Consulted Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry. Inferno. New York: Pocket Books,1976. MacAllister, Archibald T. Introduction. Inferno. By Dante. New York: Mentor, 1954. Pinsky, Robert. The Inferno of Dante. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Shippey, T.A. "Into Hell and Out Again". Times Literary Supplement, 8 July 1977, .820. Spinrad, Norman. Introduction to Inferno, by Niven and Pournelle. Boston: Gregg Press, 1979.

Acknowledgement Paper Essay

First of all, we would like to thank our Almighty God for giving us the determination to complete this project and to improve ourselves in a situation that we never imagined that the developer can surpassed. The courage to make this work done with the strength, time and efforts that the proponents have. Second, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Ms. Liz Manalansan, manager of Avon Muntinlupa. To Mr. Jandy and all staffs of the said company for giving enough information. In regard with this we would like to thank also Prof. Nino Del Monte, thesis adviser, for the continuous support, patience and motivation, and for unselfishly sharing his expertise from the initial to the final level of this academic endeavor, to the panelist for their encouragement , insightful comments, and intellectual guidance. To all my friends in PLMun and specially our section BSCS 4B for not letting anyone lose hope and giving each of us determination and encouragement.  With all efforts, time, and the knowledge the proponents put into, this just prove that â€Å"Everything is possible. Just believe†. To God Be the Glory!

Agatha Christie Essay

â€Å"Death on the Nile†, a Hercule Poirot murder mystery, takes place in England for the first part of the story and along the Nile River aboard the S.S. KARNAK for the rest of the book. Agatha Christie tells the story in the third person narrative.  The protagonist and main character is Hercule Poirot, the world-renowned, brilliant Belgian detective who has solved numerous difficult and complex cases. Before his escape to England during WWI, Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer, was a celebrated private detective on the continent. He is not more than five feet four inches but carries himself with pride and integrity. He has a moustache that is exceptionally stiff and military-like. He wears only the finest attire and his neatness is astonishing. Hercule Poirot is a kinetic character because he does change by the end of the story in a small way. I can say that because all detectives at the beginning of a crime go in thinking one idea. Next, they explore many possibilities for who could have committed the crime and what their motive was. By the end of the story they reach a conclusion that is totally different than what they first expected. That is exactly what Hercule Poirot did, and that is how he changed. In a story the protagonist is developed by either the author’s description, what other’s say, dialogue, thoughts, or actions and reactions. In my book, I learned the most about Hercule Poirot from dialogue. This book for the most part is dialogue. For example, this story consisted mainly of inquiries, which involved questioning and conversing with many people. When Hercule Poirot asked questions, they were always beyond what the others were thinking and they were always used to answer more than one question. That is how I learned he was very intelligent. Also, whenever he spoke to someone about anything, he brought up past experiences, incidents, or just facts that related to that topic. That told me had knowledge about things that was above average. Agatha Christie’s â€Å"Death on the Nile† started off in England. Linnet Ridgeway a young, beautiful, and rich girl had just bought an estate there, after she had just inherited a great fortune from her father Melhuish Ridgeway. She’s the girl who has everything and the townspeople say she’s got millions. Linnet’s home is named â€Å"Wode Hall†. It is said that she is going to marry Lord Charles Widlesham but Linnet had mixed feelings. One day, Linnet received a call from her oldest friend Jacqueline De Bellefort who wanted to come visit her. Jacqueline De Bellefort arrived to tell Linnet that she is getting married to a man by the name of Simon Doyle. Jacqueline De Bellefort declared she must marry him or she shall die. Jackie also asked Linnet if Simon could take over a job at her residence. Linnet accepted with joy. After Jackie left, Linnet began to think about her man Lord Charles Widlesham. Widlesham was wealthy and owned an enormous Elizabethan mansion named â€Å"Charltonbury†. But Linnet did not want to leave Wode Hall and go to Charltonbury, after all Wode Hall was hers! Linnet broke it off to go marry Simon Doyle. Their honeymoon was set to go to Egypt aboard the S.S. KARNAK along the Nile River. Jacqueline De Bellefort was furious. At the Cataract Hotel in Assuan, everyone who was about to board the ship was present. Linnet Doyle and Simon had arrived. The famous detective Hercule Poirot was present. He was said to be taking a holiday. Next to him was a gentleman by the name of Colonel Race. A man and his mother by the names Tim Allerton and Mrs. Allerton were at hand. Tim was the cousin of Linnet’s friend Joanna Southwood. Linnet was surprised to see her American trustee, Andrew Pennington in attendance. Also, there was a fairly old woman named Mrs. Marie Van Schuyler and her daughter Cornelia Robson who were taking a holiday as well. Together sat another family, Marie, Rosalie, and Salome Otterbourne. There were three men, Dr. Carl Bessner, James Fanthorp, and Mr. Ferguson who were also due to board the ship. Lastly, the person who was least likely expected to come on this expedition was the enraged Jacqueline De Bellefort! The following day everyone was aboard the ship and assigned to their cabins. At around midnight in the saloon Jackie, Simon Doyle and a few others were present. Jackie had been drinking for quite a while and then came to a point of insanity. She started yelling at Simon and he yelled back. During the argument, she pulled out a pearl-handled pistol and shot Simon in the leg! After that, she dropped it and kicked it under a settee and began to cry. Dr. Bessner attended to Simon and brought him to his cabin while a girl by the name of Miss Bowers took Jackie to her cabin. When the others went back to retrieve the pistol from under the settee, it was gone! The next morning, Linnet Doyle was found lying in her bed, dead! She was shot in the head. Also, her expensive pair of pearls was missing from her cabin. The case had just become more complex. Now, Hercule Poirot and Colonel Race came into the picture. They were the ones who were going to solve the case. After inquiries and inquiries with different people on the ship they wrote down all their observations. It looked like this:

Dorian Gray Essay

The Picture Of Dorian Gray Essay There are certain aspects of Dorian Gray’s personality that make me think he is schizophrenic, such an example is multiple personalities. In the beginning of the story, Dorian was a young, attractive boy with cunning wit and a semi-feminine charm. It was just an ordinary day and all of the sudden, Dorian meets Basil Howard. Infatuated with his good looks, the beauty of Dorian hit Basil like a Mata bus. As Basil began painting a picture of Dorian, he met Lord Henry, a close companion of Basil and he too was struck by Dorian in a different way. He had interests of studying him instead of admiring him. Finally, Basil finishes the picture and in the first two chapters of the book and in one paragraph, you have met three contributions of Dorian’s conscience: the painting, Lord Henry Wotton, and Basil Howard. The painting was an obvious representation of Dorian’s conscience in my opinion because as his soul grew weaker, as did his conscience. As Dorian aged, he became evil and he never thought for himself, he either adopted Lord Henry’s views or Basil’s. Dorian clearly listened to Lord Henry more because in the long run, he became evil. â€Å"It had, perhaps, served often as a pall for the dead. Now it was to hide something that had a certain corruption of its own, worse than the corruption of death itself– something that would breed horrors and yet would never die† (Wilde 122). According to the bible, your soul is immortal and I think Dorian is expressing this in his thoughts. In this quote, Dorian wants to cover up his conscience and his soul to avoid listening to it. The portrait represents his constant nagging conscience and bad decisions he has made in the past. Lord Henry and Basil Howard were the good angel (Basil) and bad angel (Lord Henry) on Dorian’s shoulder. Lord Henry always tried to speak aphorisms and spoke of himself as a higher power, such as: â€Å"My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals† (Wilde 51). Lord Henry was always trying to force his opinions into Dorian’s head and the sad thing was, he ate every word and practiced it in his life. Lord Henry represents the bad angel/conscience and it was also the side he listened to more often than any other. On the other hand, Basil represents the good angle/conscience. Throughout the book, Basil always tried to steer Dorian in the right direction. Dorian looked up to Basil in the beginning but, as his infatuation became stronger with Lord Henry, the respect dwindled and Dorian listened less and less. The prayer of your pride has been answered. The prayer of your repentance will be answered also. I worshiped you too much. I am punished for it† (Wilde 162). Even in a time of horror, Basil stood behind Dorian and tried to help him in a hard situation but, Dorian did not listen and turned to the dark side when he said: â€Å"Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him, Basil! † (Wilde 161). Dorian had finally shut the door on his good conscience and killed him within minutes. In Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde is telling his readers it is harder to follow the better side of your conscience. There are many temptations to do the right and the wrong thing and this story is an example of when you always make the wrong choices. The ending of this story also showed the final bad decision when a change is presented right in front of you and yet the weak character still follows a bad influence. Wilde is teaching us a lesson in life, to always follow your heart as you take in bad and good influences. Works Cited Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003.

Hazards and Benefits of Science and Technology Essay

The last two centuries have seen monumental changes in our lives, brought forth by advancements in science and technology. These advancements have their hazards and benefits in the society. It is these negative and positive impacts that this paper will be looking at. Right from the days that men discovered how to make fire, discoveries have come streaming our way at an amazing rate. Telephones, cars, rockets and computers have all been brought by science. Undeniably these inventions have made our lives better and tolerable. The benefits reaped throigh the inventions in medicine cannot be underscored or under estimated. It has helped us to cope with our bodies and health in uncountable ways. The benefits of medicine now can enable us live a full life with the best health possible. Many epidemics in the early days caused immeasurable human sufferings and losses of untold magnitude, and so too could small pox and polio have done had it not been for science, leading to a discovery of effective vaccinations. Medicine is saving lives and giving patients a second chance to live. A heart surgery and a transplant had always been unimaginable and a patient with a heart ailment was considered to be living his/her last days. This however changed in the 20th century when the first heart transplant was conducted by Bernard. Medicine continues to help us fight deadly diseases while giving us an opportunity to take control of our lives. It is just but a matter of time that pandemics such as AIDS and diabetes will have a cure. These are just but a few examples of how medicine, occasioned by advents in science and technology, is benefiting our lives. Technology continues to ease communication in a phenomenal way. Looking at how far we have come amazes me even more- from the days of drums and smoke to a complete different era of digital technology where almost everything is done at the touch of a button. Now it is taking only a few seconds to communicate to somebody you are separated with by seas and vast lands. The hallmark of these inventions in the communication sector is the computer. It has revolutionalized our lives in ways that could not have been imagined before. Storage and retrieval of data has improved a lot, analysis of data and events is only now a matter of seconds. Telegraphs and tele faxes came but now they have been undertaken by the internet and mobile phones. Internet has also revolutionized research and information access which has become cheaper and fast. Business transactions are now completed at the touch of a key through e-commerce saving a great amount of time. The entertainment industry has not been left behind, with greater inventions seeking to improve the comfort and luxury of a modern person. Looking also at the citizen security and protection also highlights the benefits of science and technology. It is now possible to predict earthquakes, foul weather and other natural calamities that may befall humanity. This ensures that people raise their level of preparedness. In the energy field, experts are looking into new sources of renewable energy. With the day to day dangers and risks of ozone layer depletion, fossil fuel which is the lead cause of environmental depletion could soon be replaced by a more clearer and efficient hydrogen,which will be a permanent non polluting source of energy. It is clear for all to see how the inventions in science and technology continue to benefits the society in a great way. However, it is a two edged razor that also leads to adverse effects in ways that can lead to a miserable end to the humanity (Burby, R. J 15-25). Our world today is trying to grapple with how to cope with the hazards caused by the ever expanding inventions in science and technology. Developments in the science and technology sector in the last centuries have seen an increase of global warming occasioned by the continued depletion of the ozone later-a thin layer protecting the earth from the harmful radiations of the sun. This is greatly caused by; continued use of fossil fuel, air transportation and green house technology in farming just to mention a few. This has led to a change in climatic patterns, making it unpredictably hazardous to the humanity. The increased cases of earthquakes, droughts, floods and desertification have been attributed to global warming. Another example of the hazards brought forth by science and technology is the improvements of inventions in the art of warfare. The 20th century evidenced major inventions in weaponry used in the first and second world wars. The invention of ground and ballistic air missiles and most importantly the nuclear and biological war heads transformed warfare to another level. For the first time, human beings were faced with the reality that they could fight themselves to extinction. This was demonstrated when the United States of America responded to the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. They reiterated by using nuclear bombing the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki expunging thousands of lives and wounding many more. This is a living example of how science and technology can lead to a hazardous end of humans. All in all, many people are on agreement that the few isolated hazards that can result from science and technology cannot water down the benefits arising from the same. A simple cost benefits analysis indicate that humanity stand to gain more as inventions in science and technology continue to be realized.

Managing Information Systems- evaluating information systems Essay

Managing Information Systems- evaluating information systems - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the role of information management systems cannot be overestimated. The application of information communication is increasing as more firms realize the benefit of using information technology to power various functions of the business processes. In the UK, there are a number of firms that have responded to the continued development of new management information systems. For example, the there are several mobile banking solutions that are increasingly being adopted in the UK by some of the banking firms. Within the UK Banking sector, First Direct has become one a leading bank in the adoption of mobile banking technologies. According to Boddy, information management systems present business firms with opportunities to leverage their potential. In many business lines, mobile technology has been envisioned as a potential channel that could be exploited. However, developments in the recent decade opened new opportunities for business. Thro ugh the acceptance of the internet as a reliable medium of communication, the use of mobile phones to access internet and share information has been on the rise. Indeed, this is one of the push factors that motivated the development of management information systems that use the mobile platform. The adoption of the mobile banking has been a continued process in other parts of the world, but the United Kingdom has been trailing behind. Nevertheless, this process has changed over time.

The influences of Chinese culture on leadership style Dissertation

The influences of Chinese culture on leadership style - Dissertation Example It was likewise found that private sector employees experience all leadership styles more than their public sector counterparts. These outcomes are relevant to ensuring the satisfaction and retention of staff. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study Cross-cultural research has emphasized how culture can be strongly associated with leadership behaviours. Aside from practical needs, it is also of great importance that the influence of culture on leadership is investigated. The notion on the concept of leadership has now highlighted the fact that attitudes, behaviours, and values of leaders can vary due to national cultures (Liu, Fu, and Wu 2008). Moreover, it has also been asserted that leaders’ effectiveness considerably differs due to the culture with which such leaders function (Fikret-Pasa, Kabasakal, and Bodur 2001). Because strong evidence exists regarding the impact on national culture on the behaviour of leaders, the influence of Chinese culture on their style s of leadership has been widely documented (Wang, Tsui, and Xin 2011). The considerable transformation of the People’s Republic of China with regards to their political, economic and social aspects has caught the world’s interest over the previous years. Due to a planned economy that has become increasingly competitive during the past two decades, the country’s activities have become more incorporated into the global economy and has been observed to be a very significant player in the international market (Tsui and Lau 2002). China also remains to be the world’s largest Communist nation and is committed to function with its cultural influences in controlling and managing businesses. Nonetheless, traditional firms in China have continued to experience major organisational transformations as well as an increased competition due to numerous new and fresh entrepreneurial companies (Tsui and Lau 2002; Moody 2003). Such conditions develop a sense of uncertainty for firms and establishes a setting in which their leaders must possess and demonstrate a high level of good judgment to positively influence organisational outcomes (Boal and Hooijberg 2000). The more effective and cautious leaders are, the better their influence on decisions, and behavioural decisions will be, hence, better outcomes for their firms (Boal 2004). Moreover, traditional Chinese culture allow leaders to have dominant control and authority over their firms and have the main responsibility of making decisions as their subordinates expect guidance and consent from them. Leaders represent important figures in any organisation whose actions and decisions are observed and adopted by others (Farh and Cheng 2000). Chinese leaders were selected as the main topic for the current study as they function in a working environment that is characterized by constant environmental changes (Tsui, Schoonhoven, Meyer, Lau, and Milkovich 2004), yet their commitment to operate in accordance with cultural beliefs and values cannot be overemphasized. In environments characterized by ambiguity and instability, leaders are expected to provide their firms with a vision and direction for the future. China’s major transformation into free market competition has

Information Systems-e-commerce and the Internet Essay

Information Systems-e-commerce and the Internet - Essay Example But it is only after the inevitable dotcom bust in the early years of the millennia that e-commerce established itself as a viable and dependable method of conducting business. Technological innovation in terms of developing security software aided this process and so did the process of globalization. As a culmination of these parallel but complementary processes, e-commerce in general and electronic financial transactions in particular has firmly taken root in mainstream global economy. Since the beginning of the 1990s, and with the advancement in global telecommunications technology, e-commerce has really taken off. And online retailing comprises an integral part of this broader phenomenon. In advanced countries, traditional brick and mortar retail stores have extended their services through the Internet, adding new dimensions to the experience of shopping for consumers. New and exclusive online retailers have also sprung up to cater to the newly created demand by consumers online. While there are complaints and concerns about this new mode of business (especially security issues), there are also numerous redeeming features of e-shopping, without which the market share for this fledgling industry would not have risen to 10 percent approximately.

Discussing assessment results Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussing assessment results - Assignment Example As such, while a task oriented leader has fewer considerations for the needs of people around or team players, the average score indicated significant attempt to care for other team players. These results indicate that, in addition to being analytical and logical in achieving certain ends by following strict procedures in the workplace, there is a significant concern for team members involved in completing the task especially where a task has to be split into smaller sub-tasks to make the work easier. Therefore, the tests indicated both relational-oriented and task base leadership qualities, though with a bias on task-based leadership qualities. The score obtained in B.2 test also authenticates the above findings. While the score for management attention was 14 and a 16 for management meaning, management of self and management of trust, the score for management of feelings was 17. The management of attention and meaning are important in people-oriented leadership styles where a manager has to be more concerned with the people accomplishing the task contrary to the task at hand. The average scores in the above parameters indicate that though there are some people-oriented leadership qualities, these qualities have been suppressed by the observed dominant task-oriented qualities. A high score in the management of trust, self-risk and feeling indicate a case of extremely high personal discipline and confidence in achieving any task. As such, a high confidence and discipline makes it possible to have more focus on the task at hand and the procedures involved than on who is to perform the task as needed in people-oriented manage ment. The leadership tests indicate more transformational than transactional leadership qualities. Firstly, considering the five power score in leadership, the score for reward was 4, coercive 2.2, expert, 4, legitimate 4 and referent 5. The high score in referent power indicates the high ability

Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Marketing Plan - Essay Example The Brighter Cleaning Company offers janitorial equipment and cleaning solutions products for furniture and floors. The cleaning products and janitorial equipment help in keeping the work places clean and free from germs. The products can be categorized into three major areas: equipment, paper products and cleaning chemicals. The specific products include brooms, brushes, dustpans, chemicals, dust mops, dusters and cleaning pads. Additional products are floor and furniture care, janitorial carts, paper products, rags and wipes. The Brighter Cleaning Company also offers receptacles, personal care, trash bags, liners, recycling equipments and replacement parts. The aim of the marketing plan is to see that the market of the products increases thus increase in profit margin. An increase in profits will ensure that the shareholders’ returns increase. The marketing plan also aims to improve the return on investment of the company. The marketing plan will aim to minimize the cost that is associated with marketing while the same time ensuring efficiency. The costs to be reduced will include those that are related to lack of customers for the company’s products. United States of America enjoys a stable political condition, thus suitable for business. Being a super power country, it also experiences a great political favor from other different countries. In return, the products manufactured in the United States of America are easy to export to other countries. The policies that control the business in the country favors young businesses and have seen them flourish. The tax laws give the young businesses a grace period to which the business can grow. The business policies in the area also promote the issuance of subsidies to the young businesses thus promoting them. The levied tariffs are also fair; therefore, the business does not struggle to pay the taxes (Kotler & Levy, 1969). The company’s