Orgnizational structure of two companys Essay

Starbucks Corporation is an American global coffee company and coffeehouse chain. It is based in Seattle. It was founded in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington March 30, 1971.It is a public business and consist of 149,000 employers as of 2011. In Starbucks the Managers and subordinates alike are working with communications more efficiently. By having a Flat decentralized structure. Flat in the sense that Starbucks has few layers of management and broad span of control and decentralized meaning mangers and employers are allowed to take charge in the decision making instead of headquarters due to the fact that they have close relationship with the customers. Also, since Starbucks specializes in coffee production and sales it cannot be considered a matrix organization. This is because unlike companies like apple and Microsoft where various projects take place on a daily basis, Starbucks just focuses on mainly coffee marketing and coffee production. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world’s second largest public corporation. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. WalMart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Walmart has a total of 2.2 million employees as of 2013. Wal-Mart’s management structure and management style model is created or molded by Sam Walton’s principles and values. Increasing size and geographical scope of Wal-Mart determined that the corporate executives should remain in touch with customers and store operations on a daily basis. This means that Walmart engages in a Centralized authority. Also, Wal-Mart’s regional vice presidents are responsible for supervising between 10 and 15 district managers. The divisional structure is divided into three categories: product, market, and geographic. This means also that walmart specializes in Departmentalization. Moreover, due to its type of industry (retail) not much projects need to be done. In other words, Wal-Mart is a line organization. To sum things up, the structure of Wal-Mart clearly defines the roles of employees and lines of authority. By following divisional structure approach Wal-Mart has a flat Centralized structure which enables it to have a wide span of control and this plays a major role in decision making . References http://www.starbucks.com/ http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-government-shutdown-20131008,0,4717965.story http://smallbusiness.chron.com/starbucks-its-organizational-design-12857.html http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/leadership/executive-management http://www.walmart.com/ http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2010/01/28/walmart-announces-organizational-changes

“No Sugar”: analysis of the play Essay

One people One land that’s how the whites saw it back in the early 19 hundreds of the Australian settlement. They didn’t recognise the aboriginal people to be as people, to them they were but cheap labour. The Australian drama â€Å"No Sugar† gives us an insight into this through the lives of a few aboriginal people. The play shows how aboriginal people lose their way and become more reliant on the white man and how the whites used this position of power of them. One cannot survive unless one has ones’ purpose. To aboriginal people their purpose was unrecognised due to the destruction of their past. Which meant that their purpose was lost and without that they faded away with help by the white man. The play is set in the 1929 in Western Australia, in a small settlement called Moore River. The story behind the play is about an aboriginal family and how they work to gain their purpose and fight to survive. This is well characterised and through it’s characters we are able to see the theme to the play that one must have ones’ purpose in order to survive. Characters like Jimmy Munday and Joe represent the stronger aboriginal, the side that stands up to the white man, the side that don’t step back but take a few steps forward. Their courage and willingness to gain their purpose is passed on to the other aboriginal people throughout the play and help bring the aboriginal closer. The theme of the play is a very powerful one as it asks the viewer to think and question himself or herself on to what is their own purpose and how could they achieve their purpose if they have not found it. One has to have ones’ purpose in order to survive. For the aboriginal people their survive was weakened for the fact they had no purpose but to server and live like the whites had showed them how. In settlements or on the street not giving them the right to vote the rights whites had because the white people were afraid of them. They thought that if we let one we would have to let them all and if one can do a white persons job better then a white man. Then  Aboriginal people would takeover and white people were afraid of aboriginals having power over them. They enforced laws that weren’t set for the white man. Laws that made sure there could only be one power and that was white and not black. We’ve seen this racial hate, this black against white throughout history. The American civil war, the apartheid in South Africa and now we see it in our own country a place we call free. The aboriginal people saw different they saw only the lines of hate, the lines of white power over black, the segregation that blinded people to think that everything was moral ok. When in fact people were being used as cheap labour and weren’t given a choice, for if you did not accept you were cased into gaol. I believe that the message to the play is true and that one has to have ones’ purpose in order to survive otherwise one lose everything. For the aboriginal people they lost their way. The way of the dreamtime, the stories that used to be past on to generation to generation was been forgotten and that only the elders knew of the stories, the poems and the songs. The elders were fading away and each time one passed a story or a song was forgotten and without these the aboriginal people lost their purpose and turned to the white man to find a new purpose but all they found was lies.

Shakespeare Sonnet Analysis

Nowak Enriched Language Arts 11 – Period 7 13 December 2011 Time: A Giver and Ravager Shakespeare uses tranquility, somberness, and hopefulness as elements of the mood in Sonnet 60. He begins the sonnet as a metaphor, â€Å"Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,† comparing time to a tide. Waves could represent peacefulness and one at ease because a tide is smooth and continuous. Later on the tone becomes more dark and depressive, â€Å"And time that gave doth now his gift confound. / Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth / And delves the parallels in beauty's brow† (9-10). Shakespeare expresses the fact that time gives the gift of life, but also takes it away with death while destroying nature’s perfection, â€Å"Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth† (11). In the couplet, hope is seen because he says â€Å"And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand, / Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. † He anticipates that his words will not be destroyed by time and will continue to praise his beloved. The sonnet begins with tranquility, but then changes to somberness, yet Shakespeare still ends with words of hope. Shakespeare is telling the audience a lesson of time. Minutes are continuously coming, â€Å"So do our minutes hasten to their end† (2). He seems to be wrapped around the theme of time passing by and also trying to battle time, â€Å"Crooked elipses ‘gainst his glory fight† (7). Time can give yet also take, it is inevitable. It is the reason for birth, mortality, and change, but only words can withstand time. Imagery is a key peace to this insightful sonnet. The first line is an illustration to show time as the ocean â€Å"Like as waves make towards the pebbled shore. Using the sun to represent a human’s life, â€Å"Nativity, once in the main of light, / Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d, / Crooked eclipses ‘gainst his glory fight. † Nativity is the birth, then one maturing into adulthood, and finally trying to fight or cheat death. He personifies time as it is passing in the couplet’s last words, â€Å"despite his cru el hand† (14). Time is the owner of the hand and the â€Å"cruel hand† is the elements of time. Mental images of Sonnet 60 are time passing, the cycle of life, and the personification of time. Shakespeare’s hope that his â€Å"verse shall stand,† (13) is now a fact. His message is being studied and analyzed in this assignment. This proves that even though his life has ended, his words of wisdom have defied time. Time does pass while giving and annexing life. It is ceaseless and unchanging. Everyone experiences time every day and because it is inescapable, Shakespeare expresses and characterizes time but its timelessness is why it is relevant to today. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. â€Å"Sonnet 60. † Shakespeare's Sonnets. Oxquarry Books Ltd. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. ;www. shakespeare-sonnets. com;

Are leaders born or made Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Are leaders born or made - Essay Example The first scientific investigations of leadership, performed in the 1930s, were interested with naming several individual psychological qualities that may differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Eventually, this became widely recognized as ‘The Great Man’ leadership theory (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson 2008). They also determined that the qualities they had classified seemed to vary randomly, differed from leader to leader, and merely became evident after individuals had attained leadership positions (Kouzes & Posner 2007). This was a normal outcome of the reality that they may only examine leaders after the incident, when they had become leaders themselves. Additional research suggested that the relationship between leadership and particular leadership attributes is insignificant, comprising only roughly 10 per cent of the aspects that determine whether an individual was a leader or not (Kouzes & Posner 2007). Unexpectedly, further research has failed to resolve conclusively the issue ‘Are leaders born or made?’ and this lingers a subject of intense debate among scholars. In terms of this ongoing debate between nurture and nature, this essay will try to answer this lingering issue of leadership by drawing on concepts of human motivation and various leadership approaches. Ho wever, as Gardner (1990) argued: â€Å"Many dismiss the subject with the confident assertion that ‘leaders are born not made.’ Nonsense! Most of what leaders have that enables them to lead is learned. Leadership is not a mysterious activity†¦ And the capacity to perform those tasks is widely distributed in the population† (p. xv). Stogdill (1974) emphasized that â€Å"there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept† (p. 259). This essay does not aim to add still another definition. However, there are fundamental defining components of leadership in

Team and Leadership Recommendations Research Paper

Team and Leadership Recommendations - Research Paper Example Nando’s Restaurant has devised the method of improving its leadership and performance as the staff motivation (Hambley & Kline 2007, p. 142). The first team to be considered in the strategy is HR team. This is because they are the immediate people who will influence and change the attitude of the entire employees, as they are the immediate people dealing with other employees direct. HR team should be motivated in various ways. They should be given time to attend frequent leadership seminars and training (Harris, Hopkins & Chapman 2013, p. 63). This will enable them to acquire more skills, which will enable them to lead by example and motivate the other employees. The HR team should be given chance to give their new ideas on how the services can be improved or solve certain problems. This will make the HR team feel comfortable when delivering their duties as they feel they are part of the organization. The shareholders should consult the team before taking any step or making an y decision concerning employees’ performances. (Lumby & Coleman 2007, p. 61). This is a kind of motivation on the HR team, as they feel recognized before any decision is made in the company.HR team should employ the theory of team formation when trying to meet the targets of the organization. HR team together with other managers and supervisors should convince the other employees to form teams. When the employees work in teams it will be easy as they will work together aiming the same target.

Special Interest Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Special Interest Story - Essay Example ct also bears the name ObamaCare 2010, and it is an implemented health care policy that looks forward to drive the American health care system into the public sphere. This means that the former system of private the health care system transforms towards a public system under the drive of the government. At this point the government will bear the obligation of running and financing the entire health care system. This Health Care policy became law on March 2010 through president Obama’s approval. The introduction of this Act has triggered vast debates form analysts who differ in positive and positive effects that will be inflicted by the Act to the people of US and to the country’s economy (ObamaCare Facts 1). Among the pros exhibited by the Act is that it will positively improve the lives of American citizens by granting affordable health care services to people who previously lacked the privilege of affording medical care due to their low social status. The Act will also initiate laws that ensure adult children of ages up to 26 acquire affordable Medicare services under their parents’ policies (Cannon 1). Moreover, the Act enhances improvements in care delivery and payment system by ensuring that each American citizen possesses a medical insurance. The Act will also foresee that the government monitors medical insurance companies; thus, ensuring that patients with pre-existing conditions do not undergo oppression from insurers who force them to pay high premiums (Cannon 1). In addition, women will acquire the most privilege because the Act allows them to access free health care services and visits from social health care workers. Prior to the fore-mentioned advantages, other analysts seem to disagree with the presented facts that greatly benefits the American citizens irrespective of their social status. These opposing analysts argue that in order for the government to acquire the money that will insure billions of Americans, it will inflict new taxes to

Homelessness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Homelessness - Essay Example A nurse can also create awareness of where people can go to visit such people through websites and also asking for help from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Campaigning for gender equality for the women feel the burden the most. Such women do not have people to depend on .Therefore, to make them feel as a part of the society, having campaigns to educate people on gender equality would help to curb such situation (The Homeless Hub, 2015). At personnel levels, a registered nurse should support and encourage reorganization of such people by the government through the set policies. A nurse should also join campaigns like ‘walk the talk† which are meant to assist on reduction of racism which is one of major factors that has led to increase in aboriginal homeless population. It is also necessary to create change in the community systems to enable people treat homeless population as part of society and involving them in projects that will reduce their cultural and historical trauma (Somerville,

Central City Museum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Central City Museum - Essay Example As the reporter highlights "I would create a forum that encompasses all of them and categorically convince them that the purpose and direction that the museum should take is to benefit both the school and the community. I would inform them that the approach is cost effective and cut across because it takes care of the interest of nearly every one of them. To implement this mission, I would contact the major museums in the region with the aim of creating travelling exhibition. Furthermore, I would sensitize and encourage students and the community to display their cultures during the cultural exhibitions that will be organized by the museum. Lastly, I would create a section that is accessible to both the students and the community that only deals with the current events. The main concept of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity today is to eliminate any form of discrimination at the place of work by embracing diversity. In addition, it is a requirement for every business organization to implement a formal affirmative action plan as directed by executive order 11246 that is found in the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Â  At my place of work, both interpersonal and organizational are sources of barrier towards timely communication. They include ‘emotional noise’ caused by attitude, poor or even outdated communication equipment that is sometimes used to relay information, stereotyping others based on their cultural backgrounds."

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Final - Essay Example The company commenced its manufacturing and retail operations over 40 years ago, and according to the message from the CEO, Jules Di Bartolomeo, the company’s operations still continue to do well up to today. There is a lot of more innovation that the company gets from the fact that it has remained in manufacturing for a long time rather than if it was outsourcing and just being in retail. This is because manufacturing keeps the company struggling to keep up with the ever changing technology, hence increasing innovativeness and improvements in the line of products. Those companies that major in oversees products, majorly the company’s competitors, do end up filling the market with copied products, hence lack of innovativeness. Looking at the income statement, the company had a gross profit of 70.29% in 2012 and 70.92% in 2013. This shows that the company’s expenses such as cost of goods sold decrease as its income increased. Looking at the operating expenses, the company had 42.01% in 2012 and 40.46% in 2013. This again shows that the company has engaged in ways that are able to reduce its cost of operations in order to maximize on the operating income. The great reduction in the cost of operation therefore led to an increase in net income to up to 30.46% in 2013 from 28.28% in 2012. The god performance of the company by reducing its cost of operations made it to record an income before taxes of 1.79% in 2013 from 0.10% only in 2012. This shows a great improvement in the company’s income before taxes which therefore increases the company’s ability to meet its short term financial obligations. Even though the tax liability increased from -0.61% in 2012 to 0.27% in 2013, the net income of the company has still proved to increase despite it all. The net income therefore increased from 0.71% in 2012 to 1.52% in 2013. The company therefore closed the 2013 year with a net income of 1.51% after the

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT - Essay Example For example, the general management will avail the resources required and give signatories to implement the strategy; hence they need to be aware of the strategy and its implications on the operations of the company. Providing all the information about the business strategy to the general management is vital in ensuring that they give a go ahead so that the strategy is implemented. The human resource organizational strategy, which will make their policies work, is one that divides the role of decision making among the employees, which is referred to as employee or labor relations (Abella, 2004). For example, different groups will be assigned different tasks, which they will be responsible for and ensure that the tasks they are assigned are accomplished. Sharing decision-making makes employees comfortable with their job since they will have a feeling of self worth. Consequently, this will enhance the operations of the company and productivity will rise. In addition human resource can use a compensation strategy, which will see that the hard working employees are given bonuses for the extra work they do. To be a stage 6 manager in the construction company, the manager needs ensure that their practices are directed towards achieving the goals the company has set within the time provided while taking care of the needs of every worker (Armstrong, 2008). The manager should use orientation where he will ensure that all the workers are protected in terms of justice and welfare, which will be the same for everyone in the company. The manager should ensure that every worker is entitled to a medical cover and incase of injury or sickness, they are treated promptly and in the best way. He should also ascertain that workers are entitled to joining unions, which will be responsible for forwarding their complaints to the management. Furthermore, the manager should ensure that his motives are moral and should be

Phd proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Phd - Research Proposal Example Research Approach 6 3.2. Research Design 6 3.3. Data Collection 7 3.3.1. Secondary Data 7 3.4. Time Line of the Dissertation 8 References 9 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Study Past decades and passing time has proven to be the most dynamic for every global aspect. Organizations have also been faced with the need for change, no matter how large or small they are. Organizations go towards changes and modification to meet the pace of the changing world and its requirements. Although, the concrete and customized purposes of the organizations vary in nature; yet, the philosophy of change in organization remains the same, and that is, to become more effective, moving towards increased efficiency and being actively responsive to the ever-changing environment of the dynamic world (SONG, 2009, pp 6-7). Change does not dawn itself easily. Organizations, similar to any other forces that might get affected by change also face numerous problems in the process. As the change proce sses threaten the existing milieu of the situations, the organizations might face numerous problems including staff resistance, organizational strengths, weaknesses and capabilities, and most importantly the lock or lethargy of management. Rod ascertains that the administration should understand the processes of change intricately and its impact on the people, production and environment. For the purposes of comprehension of these processes and guiding the organizations towards the journey of change, clear and motivated management of change is inevitable (Fernandez & Rainey, 2006, p.168). Hence, managing change becomes as imperative as the change itself. Change management has justifiably acquired a chief aspect of the studies of management, outlining various types of changes which are adopted by the organizations, and their related theories or constructs. 1.2. Research Aim and Objectives This research will aim to explore the change management in organizations with particular referenc e to structure of the organizations. The objectives of the study will be to explore and investigate: Changes in organizations Causes of organizational changes Types of organizational changes Change management Change management with regards to structure of the organization Enterprise Education, a precursor for success 1.3. Research Questions The research will be carried out to respond to the develop research questions which are as follows: 1. What are changes in organizations? 2. What are the causes of changes in the organizations 3. What are the types of organizational changes? 4. What is change management? 5. What is change management in terms of structure of the organizations? 6. How can structural change management prove to be a precursor of success for the organization? 1.4. Significance of the Study As mentioned in the subsequent section, the study of change management has acquired a significant position in the management constructs. Globalization constitutes as one of the most key features of the time that drives the organizations to move forward and adopt global changes (Dawson, 2003; 114). Structural frameworks are the major stakes of organizational change. Related to management and forming the environment of the situation, structural changes in organizations are essential to delve into and be investigated. Consequently, this study will prove to be an addition to the wealth of researches and studies in this regard because of the essential nature of change and dynamism in this era. 1.5.

Labour party Essay Example for Free

Labour party Essay ‘To what extent is the Labour party still committed to its original principles?’ The Labour party has often been referred to as a ‘socialist’ party. However, this is misleading. For most of its life – dating back to the eighteenth century, the Labour party has always had less ‘radical’ ideologies than socialism and British ‘socialism’ has always been more moderate than elsewhere in Europe. However, the Labour party abandoned a number of its previous principles in favour of new ones, in order to move to the centre ground and enable the party to compete with the Conservatives. It seems that this was ultimately, a successful strategy as it resulted in Labour winning three general elections and beating the Conservatives. Some people are now of the opinion that the Conservatives have, in fact, moved closer to the centre-ground in order to compete with the New Labour party. Within true socialism, there is the idea that the economy should be based upon ‘production for use’; everything produced is just enough to satisfy human need and demand. Socialism also works to reduce or remove hierarchy. The most radical form of Socialism has been ‘Marxism’. Marxists hold the desire to completely destroy capitalism and its political system. It has been said that Marxism is more like communism than socialism. Although Labour has never been revolutionary, it has always argued that its version of socialism can be achieved in a peaceful way, through parliamentary means. All but the more moderate socialists have viewed social class as a crucial aspect of society. Some socialists assume that the majority of people define their position in society in terms of their social class. This was referred to as ‘class consciousness’ by Karl Marx and the idea is that people tend to develop common interests and purpose with fellow members of their class. For example, a number of people within the middle classes feel they need to protect private property interests, as well as feeling the need to promote and protect business and to keep tax as low as reasonably as possible. The working classes, however, are more concerned with issues such as the welfare state, industrial relations, fair wages, good working conditions and policies that promote equality. In most cases, business classes oppose higher wages, mainly due to the fact this conflicts with the need to make profits and generate funds for further investment. Until about the 1930’s, the British Labour party adopted this ‘class position’ as the Labour has always been forced to consider interests of all the classes in British society, in all of its policies, not just those of the working class. To some extent, the reason for this is the need of electoral support the party has always needed. For a large part of the twentieth century, approximately one third of the British public voted conservative and this meant that, electoral reckoning determined, the Labour party could not win by gaining votes of the other two thirds of the working class alone. Collectivism refers to two main ideas – the first being that people tend to prefer to achieve goals collectively as opposed to independently and secondly, action is more likely to be taken by people in organised groups than a sum of many different individual actions. Collectivism is the political principle of centralized social and economic control. One main example of collectivism practised by the British Labour party in the 1940’s was the nationalisation of several large British industries. These industries included the railways, coal, steel, electricity and gas, as well as telecommunications. Nationalisation was a collectivist enterprise and its purpose was to, firstly, prevent the industrial muscle of private industries exploiting its workers, and secondly, ensuring the industries were run in the interests of the community rather than just the owner. After 1997, for the majority of the time, Labour followed the principles of the ‘Third Way’. Yet, today, many argue that it has gradually shifted towards a ‘New Right position’ – that is, even further away from its original socialist values. The term ‘new’ Labour tends to be used to describe the change in Labour party policies, ideas and goals that occurred as a result of the modernisation process. This was started in the late 1980’s and was accelerated under Tony Blair, in opposition and in government. The differences between ‘new’ Labour and ‘old’ Labour tend to be defined by vital policy movements. This includes the abandonment of nationalisation and the recognition of the ‘rolled back’ state, which was inherited from the conservatives. An emphasis on low inflation, for example, demonstrated the wider role. Since 1997, the Bank of England has started setting interest rates; cuts in income tax and have started to refuse to return to the more ‘sharply progressive’ income tax rates of the 1970’s; cuts in some benefits and eagerness to push forward with market reforms of the welfare state. ‘New’ Labour can also be distinguished from ‘old’ Labour in terms of a weaker association with the trade union movement and a reduced reliability on working class votes. During its early years, New Labour was a party very much dedicated to reforming and modernising, but it was not a fundamental one. It did not make any significant changes to the policies put forward but the Conservatives, however, it did seek to improve the way in which policy was executed and it has also attempted to make government action more susceptible to the needs of the disadvantaged and minorities in society. Its principle reforms, therefore, have been to the public services and to the welfare state. Over time, the party seems to have turned rapidly to consolidation rather than reform. New Labour tends to focus now on improving the delivery of the policies it has already implemented.

Robert Brownings Poetry | Analysis

Robert Brownings Poetry | Analysis Compare the examination of abnormal psychology in Robert Brownings poetry, and in Iain Banks novel, The Wasp Factory. Make illuminating connections with the work of Edgar Allan Poe.   The abnormal mental state of the narrators in both Brownings poetry and in Banks novel, The Wasp Factory, is intrinsic in achieving the gothic style. Whilst the protagonists insanity is more implicit in Brownings poetry, the narrators, nevertheless, display similar characteristics of psychosis and delusion. Indeed, this madness disconnects the characters from the rest of society, and this element of monstrosity is vital in creating the intrigue and terror that ensues. Inclusion of such monstrous figures destabilises the natural order: it challenges the fixed social structures and ideology, and becomes inconsistent with what the majority considers both acceptable and intelligible. Yet, whilst on the surface gothic works may appear to reinforce these seemingly grotesque characteristics, in many respects, through exposing the unnatural, they deconstruct the illogical, and thereby attempt to create a set of social norms. The first chapter of The Wasp Factory, The Sacrifice Poles, serves as a warning to the reader that they are entering into the domain of Franks psyche. The unconventional behaviour she displays is evident through her intentional replacement of common nouns with proper nouns: for instance, the capitalisation of words such as Factory and Poles. Essentially this represents the objects which Frank views as significant in the private world that she has constructed for herself. Franks tendency to fantasise is further demonstrated through the naming of her catapult- The Black Destroyer. In fact, Frank goes beyond symbolism- for instance she assigns the house with humanistic attributes through personification: powerful body buried in the rock. Of course, this description may well be representative of the dark life she lives, in regards to both her social isolation and the sinister lifestyle that she leads. The conflicting behaviour that Frank exhibits, that is her seemingly child-like behavio ur and her meticulosity with rituals, underlines her highly unusual mental state. The initial lines of Porphyrias Lover similarly imply the protagonists unusual frame of mind. The use of pathetic fallacy and personification, for instance, the sullen wind is not only effective in creating a cold and melancholy atmosphere, but may be representative of the narrators mind; consequently, there is a strong sense of foreboding. The abnormal psychology of the narrator is further exemplified through the description of how the wind did its worst to vex the lake. Likewise, the wind is awake and tears down the elm-tops for spite. Thus, the wind is perhaps an emblem of the narrators destructive capacity: it could be argued that the lake is representative of Porphyria, and the wind is representative of the narrators anger towards Porphyria. In this sense, the narrators anger is possibly a consequence of his inability to possess the femininity that Porphyria exudes. The Laboratory also reveals a narrator that exhibits an unstable mental state. The anapaestic meter of the poem po ssibly reflects her enthusiasm and engagement in producing the poison. Additionally, the tricolon Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste is representative of her increasing exhilaration as the poison approaches completion, whilst active verbs such as grind and pound convey violent connotations, which present us with an ambience of foreboding. The exquisite blue and the gold oozings of the poison, however, are possibly an allusion to the opulence of the French court. There is a stark contrast between the murky laboratory, which is arguably representative of the decadent aristocrats, and the affluence of the court; this is perhaps symbolic of the widespread corruption that encompassed the French aristocracy. During the emergence of the gothic literary movement, history was characterised by widespread political unrest often resulting in revolution. Subsequently, the genre became very popular with writers as it enabled them to express sympathy and moral concern over such movements. I n The Fall of the House of Usher, Poes imagery describing the attrition of the house is perhaps an attempt to symbolise the narrators degenerating mental state. Also, the Haunted Palace that is occupied by evil things (that) assailed the monarchs high estate is possibly an allusion to how his mind is being possessed by the malevolent forces that ostensibly surround the house. In The Wasp Factory, Franks father also displays an abnormal state of mind, which is demonstrated through his efforts to exert constant authority over his daughter. Mr Cauldhame has ultimately left Frank excluded from society through his decision to conceal his identity and home educate him. More sinisterly, however, Angus, through experimentation, has essentially created a contemporary Frankenstein. Fundamentally, Angus has suppressed Franks innate feminine characteristics through experimental hormone therapy and has indoctrinated her with misogynistic views. This enables Mr Cauldhame to think that he is in control of what he views as the correct father- son relationship. Of course, normality has no association with Franks life: the child-like mentality that she exhibits through her fantasy, perhaps signifies that, in reality, Frank is scared of the real world in a multitude of ways. Alternatively, this fantasy world may keep Frank at least partially sane: Eric shows the stark conse quences that may result from the real world. Moreover, their use of imperial measurements is not only indicative of Mr Cauldhames compulsive disorder, but accentuates the concept that the island does not progress with time. In this respect, the Cauldhame family is a microcosm of the demise of the empire and the island is a last remnant of it. Accordingly, it can be argued that it was the demise of Angus position as a patriarch that has ultimately brought about his decision to devise an all male enclave. Angus obsession with control, therefore, stems from his fear of being replaced as the monarch of the empire because of the emergence of the new feminist movement. Thus, Angus Cauldhames behaviour is synonymous to the description found in Jerrold Hodges gothic textbook: Angus has created a patriarchal enclosure designed to contain and even bury a potentially unruly female principle'. The way in which Banks presents the reader with a typical boys story whose protagonist is, in truth, a girl is perhaps a critique of the way in which society devises fixed binary gender stereotypes, and thus is an attempt to undermine these traditional gender expectations. Frank, however, conforms to the typical gothic female character, who is suppressed by a domineering male; the irony is that Frank is both the subjugated female and the tyrannical male. A similar desire for control is displayed by the narrator in Brownings My last Duchess. This element of control, that the narrator wishes to possess over his wife, is exemplified through the poems iambic pentameter. With twenty-eight rhyming couplets, the very tight structure of the poem is possibly representative of the level of authority and control that he expects to exert over his wife. The curtain that he has drawn over his late wifes picture is again perhaps symbolic of the level of authority that he desires to exercise over his female partners. Indeed, he gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. The underlying sense of threat signifies his expectations of how his wife should behave. Ironically, however, the Duke can only, when his wife is dead, counteract what he perceives as her earnest glance. Fundamentally, his wife has been objectified from subject to object; she is simply one of his possessions. Similarly, the narrator in Porphyrias Lover demonstrates a notion of control. The sibilance in the sentence, she shut the cold out stresses how she is able to alleviate the narrators mental anguish. However, it also stresses the narrators dependency on Porphyria and this concept is reiterated through the way she was mine, mine. The use of repetition thus highlights the possessive nature of the protagonist. Certainly, it is possible that the narrator is resentful of both her social superiority and of her more commanding presence. In the nineteenth century, society was characterised by patriarchal codes, which women had to adhere to; men typically exerted absolute control over their female partners. Thus, Porphrias gay social life may also be a source of the protagonists bitterness and the only way to free himself of such powerlessness is to kill her. Browning may be attempting to indicate a reversal of gender roles; the male is the weak character through his inability to keep control of himself- let alone Porphyria. In this sense, the protagonists obs ession with maintaining control is similar to that displayed by Mr Cauldhame in The Wasp Factory. Franks aggressive behaviour also illuminates her abnormal psychology. In many ways, the buck, which Frank encounters, is symbolic of all the things that she wishes to possess: that is, ironically, an alpha-male persona. This concept of masculinity is maintained through the way that Frank hissed. This animalistic imagery, once again, highlights Franks aggressive and territorial nature, which reveals her very apparent abnormal mindset. In essence, though, this encounter is an externalisation of Franks internal battle. This externalisation of an internal conflict is perhaps representative of Franks struggle with her dual gender identity. Additionally, this attack of revenge on the buck reinforces that Frank has the capability to kill and in fact clarifies her monstrosity. More disturbing, however, is Franks admittance that it felt good; this compounds her mental disposition. This scene provides the reader with a very clear image of Franks ability to inflict suffering and destruction whi lst chillingly deriving pleasure out of it. The externalisation of internal conflicts is equally manifested in Poes work. For instance, in The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat the narrators attempt to bury the corpse symbolises their attempts to conceal the problem. In The Black Cat, the narrators attempt to hide the corpse under the wall is ultimately representative of his desire to contain his problems within. Alas, for the narrators, their failure to deal with their problems effectively, leads to the resurfacing of the initial problem, and, inevitably, their downfall. However, despite Franks seemingly grotesque and in many ways nauseating behaviour, the reader can, nevertheless, sympathise with her. Franks manipulative nature may well be an attempt to expose her abnormal mind further. However, an encounter with this element of monstrosity is sometimes known to provoke paradoxical emotions. This notion of abjection as Julia Kristeva describes is the in-between, the ambiguous, the composite. Thus, the monstrous element has the ability to induce sentiments of horror and desire, disgust and fascination. Indeed, Franks mix of monstrosity and humanity possibly provide us with a forewarning of the transgression of which we may all be capable of; this, of course, presents a poignant and unsettling dimension. The Inclusion of animals is evident in Franks encounter with the buck, and in Poes The Black Cat. Poes story, like Banks novel, perhaps includes these animalistic aspects to reiterate that by undertaking such vicious acts the narrators are in complete deficiency of a logical human psyche, and are more comparable to animals who ultimately do not work within such moral frameworks. The authors are perhaps attempting to demonstrate that the narrators are deficient in human ethics: as philosopher Daniel Dennett states, many regard human ethical knowledge as a marvellous perspective that no other creatures have. The unconventional behaviour displayed by the narrator in Porphrias Lover, is implied further through the way he debated what to do. This uncertainty accentuates that when he kills Porphyria, it is a conscious decision and not an impulsive act. The composure, which the narrator exhibits is also shown through the very orderly ABABB rhyme scheme which is ultimately suggestive of the attitude, albeit this makes him appear all the more dangerous. However, alliteration in the sentence Blushes beneath my burning kiss presents a degree of desire for Porphyria. The paradox may nonetheless simply epitomise his psychosis. In The Wasp Factor, Franks casual admittance that his killings were Just a stage (he) was going through, stress his lack of remorse; in fact, like the narrator in Porphrias Lover, Frank is essentially justifying his actions. Hence, it reveals the very apparent psychosis of both narrators. In addition, despite Brownings clues towards the protagonists madness, it is never evide nt through the tone or diction of the poem. Instead of being presented with a stereotypical mad character, like Eric in The Wasp Factory, it is more implicitly implied. Alternatively, his madness is suggested through what the narrator does not say and the fact that he perceives Porphyria as being happy and at peace: The smiling rosy little head; the narrators portrayal of events can simply not accord with reality. Undoubtedly, the narrative of Porphrias Lover could well be a figment of the protagonists imagination; if this is the case, then it clearly reinforces that the narrator exhibits an element of abnormal psychology. The concept of the narrator justifying their actions is illuminated in The Tell-Tale Heart. The narrator is essentially justifying the murder of the old man through the notion that he had an evil eye: I think it was his eye!- yes, it was this! In essence, the narrators uncertainty alludes to the concept that it is simply an attempt to justify the sinister and irra tional behaviour that the reader is about to witness. A parallel can be drawn between the way in which the narrators justify their behaviour and the notion of self-deception. In The Wasp Factory, Franks self-deception is exemplified through the way in which she has essentially created her own fantasy. Franks propensity to self-deceit is apparent through the final chapter: the factory was my attempt to construct life, to replace the involvement which otherwise I did not want. Moreover, the level of deception is explicitly expressed through her engagement in rituals, which is an attempt to affirm her position as man. Franks repetition of the secret catechisms thus helps her to create the illusion of her male persona. Ultimately, though, her attempts are futile: the juxtaposition of the bowie knife and comb that Frank carries around presents the reader with a subtle intrusion of Franks real gender identity. These two contrasting objects possibly symbolise Franks conflicting personality: the knife is representative of the destructive behavi our that she asserts to conform to her male persona, whilst the comb is representative of her inherent, albeit more restrained, feminine character. This lingering uncertainty regarding sexual identity, as Boris Kà ¼hne argues, is a source of the uncanny and presents us with a pervasive gothic feeling; this ostracises Frank from societal norms and is inevitably the major source of her monstrosity. This is also evident in Brownings Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister. Essentially, the narrator soliloquises his own inadequacies and attributes them to Brother Lawrence. Stanza four illustrates the narrators perception of his own self-righteousness, and indeed his dedication to denouncing Brother Lawrences commitment to his faith. The narrator describes Brother Lawrences ostensible lusting over the two nuns, Dolores and Sanchicha. Yet he goes on to explain that that is, if hed let it show; crucially, there is no evidence that Brother Lawrence has been looking at the nuns lecherously. Rather, the detailed account of the nuns activities must be a product of the narrators own impure thoughts, and his attempts to attribute these unchastely thoughts to Brother Lawrence can only serve to accentuate his self-deceptive and manipulative personality. The monks attempt to describe himself as the epitome of morality continues with his comment regarding the symbolic divide between their table eti quette. The crossing of his silverware, the narrator argues, symbolises his remembrance of Christs death on the cross; Brother Lawrence displays no such gesture. Additionally, the narrators absurd suggestion that Brother Lawrences drinking of the watered orange pulp in three sips supposedly denies the Arian doctrine again provides us with an illustration of his attempt to reaffirm his moral superiority. Ironically, despite the narrators belief, his attempt to condemn Brother Lawrence into eternal damnation reiterates his spiritual inferiority; this irrational behaviour provides an indication that Brownings narrator also exhibits an elementary characteristic of abnormal psychology. The quasi-religion that Frank constructs evidences the depth of her delusion and, correspondingly, her abnormal psychology. However, Franks religion has not stemmed from an intrinsic religious belief, but arguably out of a necessity to harbour some control, whilst denying any element of responsibility. Frank, in light of the failure of familial relationships, relies on The Wasp Factory to guide and ironically protect her. Frank creates a polytheistic religion: water, fire and death are all pseudo-Gods and perhaps compose Franks trinity. Indeed, Franks monstrosity is a result of her moral indifference. Since sea has destroyed what (she has) built wiping clean the marks (she) made Frank perhaps deduces that this permits her to inflict suffering on animals, which are below the pseudo-hierarchical order that she has constructed. However, the contrast to the sea destroying her dams and the sadistic killing of the rabbit is not apparent to Frank. Franks quasi-religion naturally has many Ch ristian elements: the lighting of the candles in Franks religions, nevertheless, contrastingly symbolises a destructive power. Banks notes that this was an attempt to satirise religion, and expose the ways in which we are all deceived, misled and harking back to something that never existed. Consequently, Banks ridicules all religions perhaps in a bid to create a society that is free from religious doctrine, and one that advocates logic and equality. Poes work also contains religious undertones. For instance, in The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator essentially ascribes himself the role of God; this is reinforced by the way he describes the extent of my powers- of my sagacity. The delusion of grandeur ultimately reveals his damaged psychological state. Religious overtones are similarly apparent in Porphyrias Love. The imagery arguably possibly portrays Porphyria as an angelic entity. The way she glided in and her ability to make the cottage warm suggest a supernatural quality, with her yellow hair and bare white shoulder possibly alluding to her angelic purity; even when Porphyria is dead, the narrator describes her blue eyes without a stain. The presentation of Porphyrias purity and innocence may well be an attempt by Browning to accentuate a feeling of anguish after Porphyrias death. Conversely, the magical element that the narrator has ascribed to her may ultimately be a result of the magic in his head. In this respect, the reference to her eyes, which were without a stain, is perhaps his warped perception that Porphyria worshipped him; after all, the eyes are a window to the soul. Certainly, the notion that she worshipped him is reinforced by his absurd insistence that she is happy and at peace in his arms: the smiling rosy lit tle head. The fact that God has not said a word, however, is perhaps a direct attack on God: a sin has been committed yet no justice has been obtained. Indeed, Brownings poem was written during the Age of Enlightenment, a time where the legitimacy of the Bible was challenged and an emphasis of rationalism over religion occurred. In a rather different perspective, the God which is referenced may simply be a rhetorical God, which the narrator uses to convey his perception of how any God across all religious spectrums would view the strangulation of Porphyria as morally correct; this would clearly reinforce that the narrator exhibits an abnormal mental state. To conclude, all the texts examined contain quintessential characteristics of gothic mode and symbolism, which disclose the abnormal psychology of the narrators. The monstrous aspect pervades us with a feeling of uneasiness and revulsion. Yet, through including the seemingly grotesque and disconnected narrators, the gothic is able to defuse the transgressive, and challenge the conventional expectations of society. In The Wasp Factory, Banks perhaps attempts to satirise the way in which society constructs binary gender stereotypes and, in doing so, challenges what appears to be an illogical social norm. Similarly, Brownings Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess, through including subjugated female characters, possibly battles to expose the patriarchy that characterised Victorian society. Poes narrator in The Fall of the House of Usher, perhaps similar to Frank in The Wasp Factory, possesses a dual persona, or doppelganger, which accentuates the transgressions of which all humans may be capable of. In this way, through exposing the unnatural, the gothic advocates rationality and, as Kà ¼hne argues, acts as final safeguarding device against the invasion of the monstrous in the readers actual life.

Anthropological Perspective on Culture and Society

Anthropological Perspective on Culture and Society The three branches of human sciences (Social sciences), Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology are interlinked in that they try to describe the different areas of human life and their relationships to each other. They offer an explanation on human behavior and in the society they live. Furthermore, these social sciences provide essential skills in analyzing the intentions and behavior of individuals and groups they encounter. Individual identity is forged by ones culture, groups, and by institutional influences. Institutions such as families, schools and even churches greatly influence human beings yet these institutions are merely organizations whose aim is to develop the core social values of its constituents. In discussing cultural diversity on the perspectives of the three social sciences there is a need to understand the difference between culture and society. This is because the all the three disciplines explore culture and society to understand human behavior in depth. The term Culture has many different meanings, for some it is the appreciation of art, literature, music and food, while for others like biologists; they take it as a colony of microorganisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory. However for social scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns. Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted through learning and adaptations. Children obtain such traditions by growing up in a certain society, through a process called enculturation. A culture results into a degree of uniformity in behavior and thought among the inhabitants of a particular society (Baugher et. al, 2000, p. 4). The terms culture and society are different as cultures are co nsidered to be complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions while society is a group of interacting organisms. Therefore this paper will critically analyze cultural diversity based on the three social sciences, evaluating the social sciences similarities and differences. Discussion Anthropological perspective of culture diversity When it comes to understanding diversity in cultures, the anthropological view can help humanity understand and appreciate the complexity of diverse cultures. This discipline involves the study of biological and cultural origins of the humans. The subject matter of anthropology is wide-ranging, including, fossil remains, non human primate anatomy and behavior, artifacts from past cultures, past and present languages, and all the prehistoric and contemporary cultures of the world. The subfield of cultural anthropology is the most commonly studied and useful in analyzing and interpreting the diverse cultures of the world. In recent years, recognition of the need for multicultural awareness, understanding, and skills has grown in our society. The aim is to achieve multicultural diversity competence, which is a term that refers to the ability to demonstrate respect and understanding, to communicate effectively, and to work with different cultural backgrounds (George Fischer, 1999, p. 71). These diversities in culture encompass differences in gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, social class and physical appearance. Misunderstandings and conflicts in the society are two major consequences of lack of awareness in the ever increasing cultural diversity. Cultural anthropology explains cultural diversity through aspects of social life such as material culture, social organizations, politics, economics, symbolism, change and development, ethnici ty and modern nation-state formation. In explaining and interpreting the diverse cultures, anthropology uses ethnography- describing particular cultures; and ethnology- comparing two or more cultures. In addition it incorporates the holistic approach in cultural studies by studying biological and cultural aspects of human behavior; encompassing the broadest possible time frame by looking at contemporary, historic and prehistoric societies; examining human culture in every part of the world; and studies many different aspects of human culture (George Fischer, 1999, p.68). Cultural diversity is relevant to a cultural approach in learning, in that learning and motivational styles and cross cultural pedagogical strategies assume attention to diversity in learner populations and pluralistic learning outcomes. The data, concepts and insights derived from the study of other cultures helps us meet our professional goals and lead more satisfying lives in a multicultural society (Herdman Macmillan, 2010, p. 23). Moreover, the process of studying anthropology is also valuable because of the skills and competencies that it helps to develop. Activities such as taking courses about different cultures, participating in local internships and international organizations, living in the universitys international dormitory, and participating in study abroad programs all combine to provide students with valuable skills in understanding diverse cultures hence achieve multicultural diverse competence. There is a need to come up with a strategy to accept cultural diversity, for example, in the United states of America the freedom to pursue ones individual dream and fortunes in the united states has produced a widening gap between the haves and have-nots. According to Herdman and Mcmillian, 2010, managing directors in United States of America made forty times as much compared to the average worker in 1973 and three hundred as much in 2004. At the same time, earnings of middle class were growing slightly and those of lower class were actually shrinking. This situation to a European means that the state is working against well being of the population, particularly in light of tax cuts during this period. Another instance is when expressing feelings of affection which is typical for all human. The manner in which the affection is expressed is cultural, the kiss is not universally accepted as a symbol of affection; some societies consider it suggestive of cannibalism. A basic anthropological strategy for understanding other cultures is to look at a cultural feature from within its original context rather than looking at it from the perspective of ones own culture; being inquisitive, non-judgmental, and open to new ways of thinking is vital in understanding other cultures; Balancing contradictory needs instead of trying to eliminate them; emphasize global team work; develop a cognitive complex which is made up of twin abilities of differentiating and integrating; and developing a personal acuity (Naylor, 1997, p. 157). The strategy will not only help you personally in understanding other cultures but assist you in integrating to any culture globally. Sociological perspective on Cultural Diversity Sociology is critical analysis of the society in which humans live. People who make sense of the social world-past, present and future- are referred to as sociologists (Anderson Taylor, 2005, p. 8). Sociologists research on social structures such as class, family, politics, social problems like drug abuse and crime all of which influence the society. Social interaction amongst humans is the basic sociological concept, because all humans and groups that make up a society socialize. Specialists who focus on particular details of specific interactions as they occur daily are called micro sociologists and those that focus on larger patterns of interactions amongst larger sections of the society such as state and economy are called macro sociologists. A society is rarely culturally uniform hence the result of different cultures. As societies develop and become more complex, different cultural traditions appear. The more complex the society, the more likely the culture will be internally varied and diverse. The causes of cultural changes in a society are cultural diffusion, innovation, and imposition of cultural change by outside world (Anderson Taylor, 2005, p. 72). Two concepts from sociology help in understanding complexity of culture in a given society, dominant culture and subcultures. Dominant culture is the culture of the most powerful group in the society. Although it is not the only culture in society, it is commonly referred to be the culture of a society, despite other cultures present. Subcultures on the other hand are cultures of groups whose values and norms of behavior differ from those of the dominant culture. Members of subcultures tend to interact frequently and share a common world view. Sociology stipulates that culture consists of both material objects and abstract thoughts and behavior. Several elements which sociologists consider in understanding culture diversity are language, norms, beliefs and values (Kaufman, 2004, p. 7). Language: Learning the language of a culture is essential to becoming part of a society. Language shapes culture as it provides the categories through which social reality is understood. This was proved by Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Worf in the 1950s through their theory called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The hypothesis states, it is not that you perceive something first and then think of how to express it, but that language itself determines what you think and perceive (Anderson Taylor, 2005, p. 83). In understanding cultural diversity language is seen to reflect the assumptions of a culture. This is seen and exemplified by: language affecting peoples perception of reality; Language reflecting the social and political status of different groups in society; Groups advocating changing language referring to them as a way of asserting positive group identity; The implications of language emerging from specific historical and cultural contexts; language distorting actual grou p experience; language shaping peoples perceptions of groups and events in society. Norms: They are specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation. Lack of norms in any society results in turmoil however, with established norms people would be able to act, behave and interact in a society properly. In the early years of sociology, William Graham Summer in 1906 identified two types of norms; folkways and mores. Folkways are general standards of behavior adhered to by a group, example wearing pants and not skirts for men. Mores are stricter mores which are seen to control moral and ethical behaviors such as injunctions, legal and religious. Beliefs: They are shared ideas people hold collectively within a given culture, and these beliefs are also the basis of many cultural norms and values, example in USA there is a widespread belief in God. Sociology study belief in a variety of ways, and each theoretical mentation provides different insights into the significance of beliefs for human society. Values: They are abstract standards in a society or group that defines the ideal principles of what is desirable and morally correct, for example in USA equality and freedom are important values which provide a general outline for behavior. Values provide values for behavior, but can also be sources of conflict like the political conflict over abortion. Understanding the four elements of sociology enables proper integration in any society. Integration into the society is achieved by respecting the diverse cultures that are found in a society. Sociology studies culture in a variety of ways, asking numerous questions about the relationship of culture to other social institutions and the role of culture in modern life. The new cultural perspective on culture according to Naylor, 1997, is that it is ephemeral, unpredictable and constantly changing; is a material manifestation of consumer-oriented society; and is best understood by analyzing its artifacts- books, films, television images. Psychological Perspective on Culture Diversity Social psychology a subfield of psychology has its origins in the early years of the twentieth century. Its findings do not necessarily concern human thinking throughout history but rather meet the requirements of our modern society. Social psychology research aims to capture the interplay between social thinking and socio-historical dynamics in order to understand how societies function and how culture is produced (Xenia, 2004, p. 13). Psychology is distinguished from neighboring social sciences through its emphasis on studying samples of organisms within controlled settings rather than focusing upon larger groups, organizations or nations. Psychologists test the specific results of changes in a controlled environment on the individual in that environment, but there are strongly set procedures through which organisms are tested psychometrically. There is a big debate in psychology and more generally in social sciences how to define culture. In some definitions the concept of culture includes behavior, in the sense that our behaviors are expressions of our culture. Other definitions emphasize that participating in a culture means having understanding of our world. However with trying to find a consensual definition of this concept, the main argument of researchers in psychology is to highlight how important it is to take into account the cultural context in which psychological studies were conducted (Kerr Tindale, 2011). They were right to point out that humans are linked to the social context in which they live, proving that psychological functioning and human behavior are universal and culture specific. Sharing a culture means that people have a common way of viewing their relationship with the social and physical environment; of communicating their thoughts and emotions; of prioritizing their activities; of dividing tasks and resources; of attributing values, honors, and power (Xenia, 2004, pp.17-18). When they do not share the above listed elements then culture diversity occurs from a psychological point of view. The people of diverse cultures are not like minded hence the question is, whether individuals from diverse cultures can coexist harmoniously in time space and under the same political and social organizations? The answer to this question provides the idea of how to cope with culture diversity. Various cultures flourish from the recognition that they represent a set of beliefs, modes of thinking and practices that are peculiar to them and different from others. Some cultures are more inclusive example western cultures, others refer to a small group of people for instance the Basque culture, but each one of them is important for its members because they represent the way they construct their social reality, and provides them with action alternatives. Conclusion Culture Diversity has been discussed using the three social science disciplines of Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology. Even though all of them have a similarity of trying to understand culture diversity in humans, they are different in terms of how they approach the study. Anthropology looks at culture diversity at the perspective of humanity, his origin and through aspects of social life such as ethnicity, symbolism, politics, race and so on. Anthropology explains that the origin of culture diversity is through mankind hence the concentration a human perspective. Sociology looks at the society which humans live so as to explain culture diversity. It states that elements such as language, beliefs, norms, and values are what bring about culture diversities. Psychology on the other hand analyses culture diversity with focus entirely on internal factors that influence individuals. Therefore the three social sciences provide an understanding of culture diversity and a basis of respecting other cultures.

Quest for Paradise in Lydia Maria Child’s A Romance of the Republic Ess

Quest for Paradise in Lydia Maria Child’s A Romance of the Republic A Romance of the Republic, written by Lydia Maria Child, is an intriguing novel which reflects certain predominant 19th-century views about racism, patriarchy, and class status. One aspect of this story that is unique is the constant use of a flower motif, through which the reader is drawn into a Paradise that is fantastically created, an Eden that is not limited in its range of vision due to the wealth, class, nationality, and color of its individuals, but rather embraces the many hues and varieties of life that any beautiful and perfect garden must possess. Although one could argue that this utopia is never obtainable, Ms. Child successfully demonstrates that a society can be egalitarian, not constructed on class consciousness and struggle, but rather based on the framework of the Constitution, which states that all people are created equal, with unity for all being the ultimate goal. These beliefs in equality are demonstrated through the strategic use of class where the aristocratic faction should not have more value than their lower class counterpoints. They are also reflected in the novel’s use of racial crossing, where many varieties of people, including the pivotal octoroon sisters, Rosa and Flora, can have many potential colors and racial identities. Finally, the egalitarian beliefs are evidenced in cultural differences, where a society can only evolve into a more splendid creation when it derives sustenance from many groups and resources. The fact that this book deals with the aristocracy at all turns presents an excellent summation on the beliefs that money and prest... ...e appreciation of many cultures for the unique and various gifts they contribute to their spheres allows those individuals to branch out into other spheres and impact many new clusters of people. Just as Paradise is beautiful, so is equality. This leaves the reader with the logical progression of: 1) Flowers are beautiful: just as all people are beautiful; 2) Flowers are from many genuses and possess many hues: just as people are from many cultures and have many different colors; 3) People of many colors and cultures are beautiful. When all varieties of people are planted in the same garden and live in peaceful coexistence, they will develop their own accepting culture, which is nothing less than Paradise. Works Cited Child, Lydia Maria. A Romance of the Republic. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1997.

Literature Has Much More Value Than Television Essay -- Argumentative

Literature Has Much More Value Than Television It may go without saying that there are those who will never study, appreciate, or even perhaps consider literature as it is known in academic circles. There are those for whom the written word may have, at best, utilitarian purposes, and for whom any piece of writing beyond a technical manual should, at least, be a work of â€Å"non-fiction,† designed to impart a clearly stated morsel of information or worthy opinion. Part of the explanation for this may coincide with the same general reason that some people never consider religion: the proponents of literature – as is sometimes the case with the proponents of religion – sometimes themselves make their cause a used-up, weary, and trying thing, and may remove from it all the beauty and potential which it might, in the proper hands, convey. Arguably, much like religion, literature has a transcendent value, and fulfills an essentially universal need, in every human being. After all, even the most ardent opponent of the usage of literature in his or her own life embraces forms which complete virtually the same need within him; that is, myths, folklore, stories, movies, television, and even song, occupy essentially the same place and function as literature in the human person, albeit in a form often immeasurably more crude. And, as hotly debated as the following may be in the milieu of post-modern and relativist academic circles, the need to convey truths and explore the human person through story and myth may reach its most sophisticated form in literature. That, of course, raises the implied debate as to just exactly what constitutes literature. If poems and theater can be properly called â€Å"literature,† can not film, or popular s... ...evision, and now, following in their footsteps, much written â€Å"literature,† seek mostly to entertain, to lull viewers into a comfortable despondency and create a sense of need for consumption, all of which perpetuates the success of these mediums. The vacuous lack of effort required of the viewer by television points to the factor that may simultaneously be literature’s greatest value and its most daunting hurdle to many potential readers. That is, literature invites readers, at its best, to learn a new set of codes and means of digesting language and tales; it may require, as in (for example) opera, learning an entirely foreign collection of meanings, linguistic cues, symbols, and, in effect, a new kind of listening. But those who seem to most appreciate opera, much like those who seem to most appreciate literature, swear that the payoff is well worth the toil. Literature Has Much More Value Than Television Essay -- Argumentative Literature Has Much More Value Than Television It may go without saying that there are those who will never study, appreciate, or even perhaps consider literature as it is known in academic circles. There are those for whom the written word may have, at best, utilitarian purposes, and for whom any piece of writing beyond a technical manual should, at least, be a work of â€Å"non-fiction,† designed to impart a clearly stated morsel of information or worthy opinion. Part of the explanation for this may coincide with the same general reason that some people never consider religion: the proponents of literature – as is sometimes the case with the proponents of religion – sometimes themselves make their cause a used-up, weary, and trying thing, and may remove from it all the beauty and potential which it might, in the proper hands, convey. Arguably, much like religion, literature has a transcendent value, and fulfills an essentially universal need, in every human being. After all, even the most ardent opponent of the usage of literature in his or her own life embraces forms which complete virtually the same need within him; that is, myths, folklore, stories, movies, television, and even song, occupy essentially the same place and function as literature in the human person, albeit in a form often immeasurably more crude. And, as hotly debated as the following may be in the milieu of post-modern and relativist academic circles, the need to convey truths and explore the human person through story and myth may reach its most sophisticated form in literature. That, of course, raises the implied debate as to just exactly what constitutes literature. If poems and theater can be properly called â€Å"literature,† can not film, or popular s... ...evision, and now, following in their footsteps, much written â€Å"literature,† seek mostly to entertain, to lull viewers into a comfortable despondency and create a sense of need for consumption, all of which perpetuates the success of these mediums. The vacuous lack of effort required of the viewer by television points to the factor that may simultaneously be literature’s greatest value and its most daunting hurdle to many potential readers. That is, literature invites readers, at its best, to learn a new set of codes and means of digesting language and tales; it may require, as in (for example) opera, learning an entirely foreign collection of meanings, linguistic cues, symbols, and, in effect, a new kind of listening. But those who seem to most appreciate opera, much like those who seem to most appreciate literature, swear that the payoff is well worth the toil.

Human Resources Functions Essay

The Human Resources Department (HRD) is responsible for Human Resources Planning at ‘Alstom’ and most other big businesses. This means they have a number of main responsibilities to make sure that the business is planned and running well. At ‘Alstom’ the HRD have to plan ahead and make sure they have the correct number of suitable employees for the business. In order to do this ‘Alstom’ set out to fully understand the demand on the labour market in their area. The main things ‘Alstom’ look at are: > Availability of labour > Competition for employment and placements > Local employment trends > Skills shortages These are all very important as they highlight what is going on in the labour market and what may affect the running of ‘Alstom’. Availability of labour shows just how many people there are on offer for employment in ‘Alstom’s’ area, which reveals to them how many people there are to choose from when recruiting. Competition for employees shows whether demand for labour is increasing because competitors are expanding or whether demand is dropping because competitors are having to make redundancies. This also can affect wage rates when recruiting, because as demand increases salary rates are caused to rise. This is because it is harder to recruit the right sort of employees and so companies have to offer better pay conditions in order to attract the right candidates to their business. Local employment trends imply how much labour is available and suggest whether it will be easy or difficult to recruit. It also shows if a local competitor is discarding labour and so provides an advantage for ‘Alstom’ as they can employ these who have been made redundant, as they will have the skills and the experience needed. Skill shortages are very important statistics to ‘Alstom’ as they reveal when the skills needed in their industry are dropping in the labour market, which can be very costly to the business when it comes to recruiting. If the skills they need such as degrees in manufacturing and engineering begin to fall, then wage rates will rise and the competition between ‘Alstom’ and other companies to recruit these graduates will become quite fierce. However, to help this problem ‘Alstom’ are quite fortunate as they have already set up their own training scheme to make sure they are achieving the skills they need. At ‘Alstom’ they also review how labour is progressing within the business. They calculate: > Succession > Sickness rates > Accident rates > Age > Skills & training > Wastage rate – labour turnover This is very important because by using and understanding these factors and statistics it can be seen where ‘Alstom’ may need improving and where things may have to change. For example, if accident rates are high, they may look into why people are so many accidents and what from, etc. By doing this they see if there is anything they can do to help this situation and prevent this from happening as much. ‘Alstom’ can also make better decisions about their staffing from these statistics and can analyze the success of the HRP and improve where it is needed. Recruitment & Selection At ‘Alstom’ it is the HRD’s responsibility to recruit and select employees into the business. At ‘Alstom’ they have four main objectives when recruiting staff, which are all very important. They are important because these objectives outline the essentials that are needed in recruitment and selection to structure a solid foundation for the business. These objectives are: > Helping the growth of ‘Alstom’ > Improving by changing job roles within ‘Alstom’ > Improving by employee internal promotion within ‘Alstom’ > Filling resignation, retirement or dismissal vacancies within ‘Alstom’ When additional or replacement personnel are required, here are what the main responsibilities are throughout this process: > The Recruiting Manager (RM) will complete a Personnel Requisition (job family model, profile & job description). > It is returned to HRD for action. > The Human Resources Officer (HRO) advises the RM on the Personnel Requisition and will consult with them regarding sourcing the vacancy. > The post is advertised internally prior to/parallel with external recruitment procedures (managers are not permitted to contact any external agencies directly without prior agreement from the HRD). > Internal applicants should complete an ‘Application for Internal Appointment’ form – applicant’s manager must authorize. External applicants complete an ‘Application for External Appointment’ form or submit a CV. > Internal applicants are screened by the HRO and forwarded to the RM. Selected applicant interviews are then arranged via HRD. Internal candidates not selected for interviews are notified by HRD. Successful internal candidates have their current manager informed by the HRD and are formally offered the job via their manager. They then have 10 days to accept and the two managers agree on a release date. > External applicants are screened by HRD and suitable applicants are forwarded to the RM for selection. Interviews are then arranged via HRD for short-listed candidates. The successful candidate is issued the ‘New Starter Advice’ by the HRD, in liaison with the RM. The candidate is then offered a placement subject to a pre-employment medical examination and at least one previous employers reference and evidence of qualifications. The candidate then has 10 days to accept after which time the offer becomes invalid. This process is very important to ‘Alstom’ as it makes sure that recruiting and selecting is done accurately and fairly. If this was not done appropriately then the business could suffer as the wrong recruit for ‘Alstom’ may be selected due to the process being carried out inappropriately and poorly. The candidates may also complain if they feel that the process was not carried out professionally and fairly, which would obviously not benefit anyone. Performance Management At ‘Alstom’ they have several ways of measuring and managing the performance of their employees, all of which are very important. They are important because they enable managers to oversee and supervise the performance of employees and make sure they are working to their full potential and so therefore see whether they are benefiting ‘Alstom’ and doing their part to ensure the business operates to its full potential. It also helps ‘Alstom’ to see which employees may need help and what they may need help with. Many of the ways are connected to the training. These are the methods they use: > Standards – At ‘Alstom’ there are set standards for each job role that have to be met in order for the work to be regarded as high performance. There are four sets of standards for different levels. These levels are: Group leaders Middle managers Senior Manager (operations) Senior manager (strategic) These standards for each level are to be met and are used to assess the skills and the effectiveness of the employee as well as to assess whether they are working efficiently enough for ‘Alstom’. These results are then reviewed and worked through in an individual appraisal discussion. > Objectives – At ‘Alstom’ objectives are set and defined and help employers to ensure that employee’s are working to a good standard. Setting objectives also helps the employees by stating the important guidelines, which need to be followed in order for them to do their job well. There are ten objectives, arranged in two groups. Technical Objectives and Business & Personal Objectives. Here is an example of a Business Objective: B4 = Personal Skills To be able to operate effectively in a group endeavor > Self-assessment – At ‘Alstom’ they ask employees to carry out their own self-assessment after reading and understanding the standards. They are given a suggested method and have guidance along the way. This helps both the employer and the employee. It helps the employer to understand what the employee’s own personal opinion of their performance is, where they may feel insecure and want some help, how confident they are within themselves, etc. Self-assessment helps the employee by allowing them to input their own thoughts of their performance, shows where they may need to put most of their effort, assess how they are coping meeting the job’s criteria, etc. Therefore, it helps both the employer and the employee to assess and manage individual performance. > Measuring production – At ‘Alstom’ they also carry out some measurements of production. An example of this is ‘Graduate Retention’. This is an important method of performance management as it shows clearly what ‘Alstom’s’ internal statistics are and helps the business realize and assess where improvement may need to made and which areas are struggling to run well. For example, if graduate retention is increasing then they will need to make changes and improvements to bring this statistic down and therefore benefit the business. Training and development At ‘Alstom’ they have a process for Training and Development (shown on next page). The main responsibility of HRD is to make sure that this process is carried out and that it is fully introduced and explained. Training and Development is very important to ‘Alstom’ as it ensures that employees learn the right skills for the job and it makes sure that they can do their job well and efficiently. It helps employees to earn the skills, qualifications and experience that they want/need and it benefits ‘Alstom’ as it enables them to run better and to a fuller potential and efficiency because their workers are well trained and developed.

Fareed Zakaria’s The Post-American World Essay

Fareed Zakaria’s â€Å"The Post-American World† â€Å"Through his writings, research, and teaching, Fareed Zakaria has made an impact in the field of political science and foreign policy. A graduate of both Yale and Harvard, Zakaria has utilized the knowledge that he has gained by writing extensively on the subject of international affairs. Articles authored by Zakaria often appear in distinguished publications such as Wall Street Journal, New Republic, New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. Zakaria’s Journalistic writing has also led to the publication ofa number of books† (Fareed Zakaria). Fareed Zakaria is Indian mmigrant who has become a true patriot of America. Almost all his works are related to the United States. This fact can be read in his creations such as The American Encounter, From Wealth to Power, and The Post-American World. â€Å"Several critics found The American Encounter to be an admirable project†¦. Library Journal contributor Tricia Gray felt the book is the best suited for academics and some of the larger public libraries, while Booklist reviewer Mary Carroll recommended the book for public display, noting: ‘Even Libraries with a full run of Foreign Affairs on the shelf may want this collection. Fareed Zakaria). Fareed Zakaria’s The Post-American World is extraordinary event. The author of the idea of â€Å"Illiberal democracy’ Fareed Zakaria sought to explain to America and West political diversity of the modern world, to imbue the American establishment to respect the historical choice of non-western peoples. The authorà ¢â‚¬â„¢s new creation is not a description of decline of the U. S. that has become commonly known, but thoughtful analysis of the growing world’s globalization, its effects and outlines of the future configuration. â€Å"Changes take place gradually’, writes Zakaria. We live in the Newton’s dynamic world, not in the Medieval Europe’s static world. Everything started from Galileo Galilei who challenged static world and made first changes which led to collapse of Medieval Europe’s world. According to Fareed Zakaria, over the past five centuries there have been three â€Å"tectonic shifts of power†. The first shift that began in the XV century and accelerated dramatically in the XVIII century gave rise to the phenomenon â€Å"modernity’ with corresponding attributes of science and technology, commerce and capitalism, and agrarian and industrial revolutions. The first stage haracterized by the continued dominance of West over the rest of the world. The second shift, according to the author, began in last years of the XIX century, and its content was an elevation of the U. S. , its transformation into â€Å"imperial successor† of ancient Rome with the relevant economic and political-military attributes. In the last two decades America’s influence has become â€Å"unipolar† – a phenomenon unprecedented in modern history. Finally, the third shift that Fareed Zakaria called â€Å"the rise of the others† is happening before our eyes. It is a consequence of accelerated growth of major countries in Asia and beyond. The third shift is actually creating a new international system in which the former â€Å"object† and â€Å"observers† are transtormed into real global â€Å"players†, acting on the basis ot their own interests In other words, distribution of power is shifting from America to other centers of power. However, â€Å"It is not ‘anti-American’ world, but ‘post-American’, directed from many centers not only by Americans, but also by others†, writes the author. Fareed Zakaria describes several trends that determine and will determine the trajectory of evolution of the â€Å"Post-American World†. The author emphasizes the â€Å"Islamic threat† hich, however, at the level of ideology cannot compete with the west modernization. Islam has to adapt to the challenges of modernization and globalization in societies that do not welcome the idea of Jihad. Therefore, â€Å"Modern civilization may be stronger that we suspect† (Zakaria 17). Fareed Zakaria states the offset of the global geo-economic â€Å"axis† to the east, in the direction of the Asian-Pacific region. This trend was reinforced by globalization. Now, the vast majority of the monetary and financial resources of the world are concentrated in the Asian-Pacific region. â€Å"According Goldman Sachs, by 2040, the combined GDP of China, India, Brazil, Russia and Mexico may exceed the corresponding fgures of the G-7† (Zakaria 27). Thus, â€Å"American ideas of the world order† actively challenged by global energy producers: Iran, Venezuela and Russia. Particular attention is given to the national identity of the peoples in the â€Å"Post-American World†. In â€Å"The Rise of Nationalism† Zakaria sees two sides. Firstly, objective difficulties of coordination of private and public interests, and in this sense â€Å"raising of the rest†, are able to â€Å"prevent transformation of the forces of global growth nto factor of global disorder and disintegration† (Zakaria 27). Secondly, the U. S. will have to reckon with the fact that in the modern world there is the concept of â€Å"freedom of choice†. Zakaria cleverly illustrates this fact by excerpt from a conservation of last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten and Mahatma Gandhi. Mountbatten said: â€Å"If we Just leave (India), there will be chaos. † Gandhi replied: mies, but it will be our chaos† (Zakaria 33). Further, very few people in the modern world are ready to agree with the western version of the â€Å"new world order† which is a continuation of the American version. Now, many countries set together horizontal communication without support of the American â€Å"center†. One example of this kind is an interaction of the four mega-countries: India, China, Russia and Brazil (BRICS). As for the â€Å"Last Superpower† the U. S. holds and will hold the positions of the most competitive economy due to the highly developed demographic dynamics. At the same time the role of Western Europe and Japan in the world economy, according to the author, will continue to decline. The inconsistency of being America is that the U. S. , on the one hand, remains at the top of the world’s new order, and on the other and, the new order of its dynamics challenges the privileged position of America. Fareed Zakaria fascinatingly describes historic ascent of the West to the top of industrial civilization, which is a subject well known by experts of the economic history, but new to the ordinary readers. In this approach, there is convincing, in my view, the geopolitical logic. This logic has an idea that the industrial civilization and its foundation not questioned. The author writes: â€Å"Unprecedented economic growth has produced unprecedented social change. China has compressed the West’s two undred years of industrialization into thirty’ (Zakaria 97). The country with an active operation of market mechanisms and the most significant population in the world is a new challenge to the United States. It is the challenge that America hasn’t previously encountered and to which was unprepared. The tinal chapters ot the book are dedicated to America’s role in the â€Å"post-American world. † â€Å"Secret weapon† of the U. S. , Zakaria believes, is the demographic potential of the country. It is going to hit 365 million people by 2030, while the ratio of workers to not employed will be ore favorable than, for example, in Western Europe and Japan.

Case Write-Up

In the sense of the promotions, Population Services International distributed to both Raja and Maya $400,000 advertising dollars per year, which was the second largest of all advertisers In Bangladesh. Their approach was to skip the Intermediate level of Influences and go directly to consumers. In this case, It works to sell Raja condoms directly to the market since It's more like a one-time use consumer products. However, it'll be difficult for Maya to build up the brand image since customers perceived Maya as a drug, which will bring more concerns when people try to buy oral contraceptives.Hence, it still needs recommendations from doctors to convey the effectiveness and proper information about the drug. Third, the pricing of Raja and Maya can also be an influence to their performance when compared to their competitors' price. For example, Raja is priced more than competitor Tahiti, which is government sponsored condom manufacturer. The higher price of Raja made a premium image fo r customers to buy the condoms even If the price is higher. On the other hand, however, Maya is priced lower than its competitors, creating a hurting image that for oral medicines, cheaper may mean bad laity.And this situation got worse when it didn't get the recommendations from intermediate level influences. Finally, the distributions for both products were to focus directly to customers. So SSI planned to sell their products via pharmacies, general stores, and pan stores. Nevertheless, the difference in nature of these two products caused deferent performance. For Raja, it's easily to sell their products since men accounted for 80% of the purchasing behaviors of the birth control products.But it became difficult for Maya to have the same efficiency since people till prefer to see a doctors before decide which medicine is safe and reliable, which Is the critical cause for the sluggish sales of Maya. 2) How do you characterize the competitive environment in Bangladesh? That Is, whe n you look at SSI vs.. The other organizations In the space, how do they view each other? How does this differ from the other for-profit contexts we've studied? What might It mean for the strategy? ) Create a marketing plan for Improving sales of Maya Given the analysis that I described before, It Is the difference In nature that causes the difficulty to sell Maya successfully. In order to create a marketing plan for improvement, we need to modify the flaws in the previous one. To begin with I'll suggest to create a new brand. To explain, it's already been perceived by Bangladesh that Maya is a brand that is cheap and mistakenly regarded as an inferior product. Reputation, competing with their main competitors, which are the government sectors and Vast.So my recommendation for the price would be to price their oral contraceptives the same price around their competitors, getting rid of the inferior image of the product. Also, Its important to target their customers not only for males but males as well. The reason for this is because for the buying behaviors of the birth control products, 80% of the purchases were made by men. As a result. They can put more effort to their advertising to educate male customers the effectiveness of their products.Finally, to achieve SKI'S goal, which is to broaden their market share to help control Bangladesh population explosion, they'll need to increase their profit margin to retailers and RPM (Rural Medical Practitioners) in order for them to promote more diligently to the end customers to increase the overall market share. To explain, the profit for retailers now are low due to the low pricing of the Maya. So increasing the price of the product will enable SSI to provide higher profit margin to retailers, incentives them to put more selling effort to sell out new product.For Ramps, they can be critical since they are the one that can reach out to distant area and provide their recommendations to consumers. So including the in termediate level of influences will bring a better communication and education to customers, enabling a better brand perception and awareness of the new products. By providing more profit incentives to RPM, we'll be able to achieve this goal. 4) How will you evaluate your plan? How can you calculate the ROI? The â€Å"l† is relatively straightforward but how would you go about evaluating the â€Å"R? What challenges do you face in this regard as compared with most of the other cases we've discussed? How would you address it? In order for the plan to be feasible, we'll need to take into account multiple data and information from the current selling circumstance of Maya to make a thorough evaluation. To begin with, I'll conduct surveys to see how people perceive the Brand of Maya to make sure that the issue of he produce is the cheap quality and also to see the why customers are unwilling to try out Maya.Moreover, the COPY (Couple Years Protection) for industry and SMS (The So cial Marketing Project) products from Exhibit 8 is an indicator for us to observe the change of market share and growth rate from 1978 to 1983. And based on the change throughout the years, we can further conclude whether the approach for Maya had problem that need to be addressed. Finally, I'll try to get the distribution data from retailer, wholesaler, and smallholder to see how they sell their products in terms f the sales ranking of the products in the same category.Therefore, by using the data mentioned, we can reconstruct a new marketing plan for the new product and focus more on the culture of Bangladesh in terms of selling birth control products. Given our plan can be successfully implemented, we need to figure the challenge in the long run. And since the project is lunched by a not-for-profit agency, they mainly relied on funding to support their operation. According to the case, the barely earn profit by this product since the profit margin for the product is very low. Cha llenge, use project, longer no fund