Religious and Moral about Clowns

Clowns are generally considered that they exist for fun and entertainment, but when one who has clear knowledge about a clown and his job, one will understand how powerful clowns are. Barbara Tedlock has studied a lot about clown across the world and he wrote an essay called, ‘The Clown’s Way’. In fact main job of clowns is to entertain, give fun and make the people laugh. Clowns often remind us about circus, how they entertain the crowd with their funny words and deeds. They are professional clowns who are into the job for earning. There is also another kind of clowns who do such things for their religion and with a fear of religious beliefs. They are religious clowns. The best moral to learn from religious clowns are to make others laugh irrespective of one’s own worries and day to life tensions. Every clown is a human in fact, and they too have some worries of life. But once they wear clown mask, they forget all their personal worries and issues, and everything they do is laugh and let others laugh, which is very healthy to anyone. Different religious clowns entertain people in different ways. Heyoka clowns do things the other way like they read backwards, walk backwards, ride the horse in backward direction, moves counter-sunwise. His voice is a thunderclap. In few religions, during festivals, the clowns open the baggage of the guests, though such things are annoying, the guest burst up in laughs looking at the way the clowns behave. In some religion, clowns pour water on the guests and they also throw coal. This is always ends up with fun, but not into fights. In few religions, clowns go door to door to beg food and tobacco, if anyone refuses; they are allowed to do anything to fetch food from any house. The theft of food is a very common issue in California. The theft of food sometimes leads up to sexual show ups like they talk or sing about sex, or they perform sexual displays in the public at women. According to Tedlock, Jemez clowns â€Å"make advances toward women†; Ponca clowns â€Å"crawl up and touch a woman’s genitalia in full daylight†; and Kwakiutl clowns jest with chiefs’ daughters, often making pointed references to sex. In the Southeast, Creek clowns, while singing obscene songs during the Crazy Dance make sexual motions and even come into bodily contact with women. (p.6). Generally it is considered by many religious clowns that they believe they will die if they do not do their job properly. Though they show things in a funny way, many of their deeds share knowledge about the religion or they teach us a moral of life. One of the best examples said by Tedlock is about Pueblo Indian Clowns. On the occasion of feeding the katchina dancers, clowns substitute ashes or sweepings for corn meal as their own sacred offerings, and they make people laugh. But this deed has a hidden moral. It shows the religious deeds of Zuni woman, who deposit sweepings at the corn field and say, â€Å"I now deposit you as sweepings but in one year you will return to me as corn†. It is just like instead of wasting corn on the floor as sweepings, they will make it purpose for future food.

Women Suffrage in the 1920’s

The 1920’s was a huge struggle for women around the U. S. Huge rallies were formed and outrageous furry was spread city to city. All this drama and series of strikes was caused by the women that were eager to have the same rights as everyone else, without and racial or gender profiling against them. But late in that time period, that wasn’t the cause. After numerous protests and the creating of the women’s national party, little did they know but it would soon become a huge success for all women around the globe. The 19th amendment guaranteed women the right to vote, and it went into effect in 1920.It had begun settling rates at levels intended to ensure the industries profits full woman suffrage before 1920, eighth date granted partial woman suffrage before 1920. No woman suffrage until ratification of 19th amendment. Elizabeth caddy staton becomes president of the national women’s suffrage association. Women also began appearing on the political scene an d in elected offices. Winifred mason huck of representatives in 1922 was the first. The woman suffrage movement got off to a slow start. Some people threatened women suffragrates, and sold they were unfeminine and immoral. Many if its supports were abolitionists as well.In the years before the civil war abolishing slavery took priority. Many job opportunities were available for women. One of them being the biggest company at the time. They worked as operators at telephone companies. It was a great and easy job and didn’t involve doing much. It was better than staying home completing the daily tasks taken place at what was called, â€Å"A women’s place†, in the 1920's. Now it was not only at home but also in their workplace. Suffragists march in a 1912 rally in New York City. In 1920, after decades of struggle for the right to vote, the Nineteenth Amendment's ratification granted female suffrage.

Corporate Personhood Essay

Corporate personhood is the concept that a company or business has legal recognition by the court; it simply means that the corporation has the power or ability to enter into contracts, to hire and fire its employees, to sue and to be sued, to make speeches freely and to hold property just like any other individual (Diamond, 2012). Corporate personhood was recognized first in the year 1886 by the Supreme Court of the United States in a ruling during a case between the Santa Clara County and Southern Pacific Railroad. The main reason that they were targeting then was to give corporations the legal rights of people in order to maintain minority rule and to avoid democracy. In this essay we get to discuss the challenges that have come with corporate personhood, its impact on other businesses and the community at large. We also get to look at the current affairs and state of corporate personhood. In comparison, of the two articles which are, The endangered public company and the Occupy Santa Clara Corporate personhood recognized, we get to see some of the points in which the two articles concur and those that they differ. We are also going to look at the Strength and Weaknesses of their decision or arguments. The title endangered public company comes into use because the corporations are being targeted for closure, some people are of the mind that corporations have been given too much power and they end up ruling us instead of us controlling them (The Economist, 19 May 2012). Corporations are doing a lot of damages and injustices to other small businesses and due to the fact that it cannot be punished or fined. It avoids justice which many people think or feel is not fair for the community. Everyone should be answerable for the mistakes they commit and no one is above the law. In one of the articles that critics are challenging corporate personhood, they are against it and would wish for it to be made illegal and all the issues regarding the corporation be directed to a particular individual, but the railroad barons and lawyers get away with their mischief’s by giving corporations personhood, we also get to see that people are accusing Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook directly, ignoring the fact that he is not Facebook as Facebook is now a separate entity that can sue and be sued. Although, Zuckerberg acts on behalf of Facebook; he cannot be held accountable for the deeds done under the umbrella of Facebook. (The Economist, 21 May 2012) In both of the articles, corporate personhood ends up being recognized as legal though some critics don’t like it. It is however, important that we get to see the strengths and weaknesses of a corporation personhood. Some of the benefits that a business or the individuals owners of the business may get from being in a corporate are. The ability of the corporation to carry all its liabilities incases of any calamity; in case of bankruptcy or any other unfortunate occurrence, the corporation will be responsible for the damages and not the individual owners. The railroad barons can now sit in comfort for the blames will not be put to them but directed to the corporation, Zuckerberg can also relax for the actions taken by face book are not answerable by him (The Economist, 21 May 2012). The ability of the corporation to sue and be sued; the corporation can take any person to court if aggrieved in any way and it can also be taken to court just like it is with Facebook, individuals have taken it to court for the treatment they have received in the social media, it is also clearly seen I the article of Occupy Santa Clara Personhood reconsidered that a number of corporation have been taken to court for one reason or the other, it is evident that most of the corporations always go scot free immediately their lawyers quote the decision made by the supreme court in the case of Santa Clara County Vs. Southern Pacific Railroad. This is because the court have to always uphold previous decisions or judgments’ made especially if it were made by a court that is of a higher authority that the one currently in question. A corporation can live forever, in case of death of any of the owners it just continues operating, a simple process of change of ownership is all that is required, and although the founders of the South Pacific Railroad are long gone their corporation is still functioning. Despite the fact that a corporation can be sued, an individual cannot take it to jail, this is because it’s just an abstraction, and this is seen clearly in the issue involving the railroad barons. (Diamonds, 2012) Despite a corporation being of enormous advantages and benefits, they also carry with them their disadvantages, Some of the weaknesses that can be viewed include the fact that the legal formalities of establishing the corporation are quite many and tedious, an organization will have to adhere to more sta te and federal rules and regulation. The fact that a corporation is expensive to form also gives it a negative touch, not every individual can just come and decide to form a corporation. The other issue is that since a corporation can be sued and taken to court, if found guilty of the charges levied against it the repercussion might be severe if the shareholders had not prepared themselves well for the consequences, the corporation might be rendered bankrupt or may be put under receivership which may not ogre well with the shareholders. Corporation personhood is an issue of great concern and many people in the current generation are trying to find a way to overrule the decision of the Santa Clara case that haunts many legal suits, they are of the opinion that the 126 years that corporation have been terrorizing people is enough. Historian Morton Horwitz is among the individuals who have been trying their level best to overturn the ruling of the supreme court of the year 1886, (Meyers, 2002) though it is evident that the court ruling at that time was aimed at protecting the interest of a big business and protecting the barons it will still be hard to overturn it because its benefits have been seen in the long run. So many countries have adopted the same and they have ripped the fruits of corporate personhood. It may have its side effects but for the record, corporate personhood is one of the best things that has ever happened for the benefits it has brought with it far much outweighs the negative aspects of it. People may magnify the negative aspects but it is evident that without corporate personhood there are a lot of things that would not have been achieved, starting with the railroad. References Meyers, W., (2002). The Santa Clara Blues, Corporate Personhood versus Democracy. Retrieved from http://www.iiipublishing.com/afd/santaclara.html Diamond, S. F., (2012, April 12). Occupy Santa Clara! Corporate Personhood Reconsidered. Dissent Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/occupy-santa-clara-corporate-p

Financial Crisis and Lehman Brother Collapse Essay - 1

Financial Crisis and Lehman Brother Collapse - Essay Example To this end, the paper will critically evaluate all the factors responsible for the global financial crisis and identify whether there were factors that were only related to the financial sector or not. The paper will therefore conclude on whether the financial sector was solely responsible or not Financial Retail Products and the Profit Motive Prior to the financial crisis of 2007, it was believed that mass marketing of retail financial products in high income countries after the early 1980s was safe (Froud, Johal, Montgomerie, & Williams, 2010). This was a general belief that this constituted the democratization of finance and ownership in modern Capitalist society. This is because poor people and middle class persons who could not normally afford to own some kinds of properties could acquire properties through the acquisition of various financial products and services. The supporters of this school of thought believed that it was a shared framework that enabled all people in the society to own what they wanted to own. â€Å"Mainstream finance represented financial innovation in circular and technological terms as that which perfected the market.† (Engelen, Erturk, Froud, Leaver, & Williams, 2008, p. 4). This means that the growth of technology and the enhancement of the financial sector led to the growth and expansion of the debt systems and debt structures (Froud J. , Johal, Montgomerie, & Williams, 2009). This grew the trend of financial intermediation and created more financial retail products. However, this process gave way for the evils of exploitation by numerous financial intermediaries (Froud, Johal, Montgomerie, & Williams, 2010). This created a major problem that fed into the system of the credit crunch. â€Å"Empirical evidence of the United States shows that extension of credit and asset ownership in an unequal society is self defeating because it does not abolish the tyranny of

Abandoned vehicle problem evidences Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Abandoned vehicle problem evidences - Assignment Example An abandoned vehicle can be plainly defined as a vehicle gone unattended, left parked with no information about the owner and further parked within an area of 10 feet or more or less the same, for a time period of 48 hours and in the publicly used or mostly in the privately owned area for around 30 days, without the permission or consent of the zone owner (Alaska Department of Administration, 2011). Some of the most common reasons of the car abandoning are as follows: Most of the cars abandoned in Jeddah are by the expats who do not find enough time to dispose of their cars and travel back to their native lands without going through the hassle of disposing off their vehicles. Some abandoned vehicles, that as in fulfill the above definition of vehicle abandoning i.e., stay parked at airports or other areas for a period of 30 days are actually left or parked by expats until their return from vacations from their native lands. Majority of these cars are old and derelict for a safe daily based use and parked as useless by the owner after they have removed all the proves of their ownership. Another big part of these abandoned cars come from both the local residents and expats who flee away from holding any accountability to the money owed for the cars, most of which comprise of luxurious sports cars. Some abandoned cars are highly under car loan defaults and the owners look for sneak away by parking the cars as unrecognized. Because of the above reasons and further many not identified properly, the car abandoning has turned into one of the biggest reportable issues of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, specifically in Birman and Jeddah. According to reports, Law enforcement officers have been into devastating nightmares dealing with the abandoned vehicles that have apparently been aggressively multiplying over the time. The major threats and environmental nuisance these abandoned vehicles are posing is rising alarmingly. They are taking up unwanted space and creating a se nse of insecurity amongst the normal residents as the long parked cars give a secure pathway for crimes (Historic Vehicle, 2012). Another big issue related to the vehicle abandoning is that they, if seen from a financial perspective are a big block towards making the cash liquid. Liquid cash is very important for the refining and uplifting of economic standards and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is amongst the strongest Arab economies. Their strength is most looked after for the viable working of the Arab and most importantly the economy of all the Muslim countries. A block of average 7200 vehicles per month is a bid hindrance to the smooth working of their economic system. The reinforcement authorities have actively involved Department of Specialized Hygiene of the Waste Department of Municipality to draft out feasible and practical strategies to work over the abandoned vehicles. Now, these abandoned cars are left at wait for the owner’s contact for maximum six months. During t his time, efforts are made to trace the owner and the vehicle is also printed in newspaper for any whereabouts of the owner. If the owner gets traced, he is levied with a penalty and warned to dispose of the vehicle officially or otherwise keep the vehicle and clear off the claims that the vehicle holds. Regular checks are made about the outstanding vehicle schedules that had prompted the owner to attempt silent abandoning (Seatlle, 2013). If the owner is found to have

COMPERATIVE STUDY TO DETERMINE THE BEST DIANOSTIC IMAGE MODALITY IN Essay

COMPERATIVE STUDY TO DETERMINE THE BEST DIANOSTIC IMAGE MODALITY IN PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE (PAD) - Essay Example Similar to pathology in the coronary arteries, the pathologic hallmark of the lesions involves plaques of atherosclerosis with calcium deposition, thinning of the media, patchy destruction of muscle and elastic fibers, fragmentation of the internal elastic lamina, and thrombi composed of platelets and fibrin (Duerschmied et al., 2006, 310-315). According to statistics delineated in different articles, the primary sites of involvement are the abdominal aorta and iliac arteries comprising 30% of symptomatic patients; the femoral and popliteal arteries consisting of 80 to 90% of patients, and the more distal vessels, including the tibial and peroneal arteries making 40 to 50% of patients (McDermott, 2006, S2). Mechanically and topographically, atherosclerotic lesions occur preferentially at arterial branch points, which are sites of increased turbulence leading to altered shear stress, and hence injury to the tunica intima. Epidemiologic and demographic data suggest that the distal vasc ulature is most commonly involved in elderly individuals, mostly in patients with diabetes mellitus (Marso and Hiatt, 2006, 921-929). The history and physical examination are usually sufficient to establish the diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). An objective assessment of the severity of disease is obtained by noninvasive techniques. These include digital pulse volume recordings; Doppler flow velocity waveform analysis; duplex ultrasonography, which combines B-mode imaging and pulse-wave Doppler examination; segmental pressure measurements; transcutaneous oximetry; stress testing, usually using a treadmill; and tests of reactive hyperemia (Mohler, III, 2003, 2306-2314). In the presence of significant PAD, the volume displacement in the leg is decreased with each pulse, and the Doppler velocity contour becomes progressively flatter. Duplex ultrasonography is often useful in detecting stenotic lesions in native

Interracial relationship in Emmerdale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Interracial relationship in Emmerdale - Essay Example We are in an age where globalization has built a more liberal and understanding attitude towards mutual growth and development. Interracial marriages are undoubtedly the next step to defining the generation next, which understands the importance of living across cultural barriers (Judice, 56-60; Yancey and Lewis, 66). Children of intercultural marriages are more culturally aware and have a broader perspective to life than the children born into monocultural families (Crippen, 7). The Boston marathon in 2013 was gripped with sudden terror when bombs planted by two youngster â€Å"Jihadis†, that injured and killed many innocent runners (Scheer; Hoffman). The racial inclination of the two bombers was later revealed during investigation. Culture is defined as acts of harmony and belief that the members of a community indulge in, while race is defined as a sub-community that has distinct culture and language practices. Over the years, migration and globalization has caused a great deal of exposure to multi-cultural scenario, both in professional and personal lives (Lewis, 268). There are an increasing numb er of interracial marriages happening in the Western society today. This trend in the Western society seems to have gripped the attention of media personnel, so much so that they have started using intercultural marriages as background themes to soaps and serials that they create and air to audiences in these countries (Karis and Killian, 65, 126, 165). Even celebrities’ gestures are marked as racist (White). The various aspects of a family that is based on intercultural values are highlighted in these soaps. The popularity of such soaps is a direct indicator of how audiences are able to relate to their real life circumstances and watch the added drama on air (Nittle). A leading example of intercultural environment created on celluloid or the small screen is the entry of the Sharma family in the Emmerdale series. The story of the family is a

Teaching and Learning for Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Teaching and Learning for Health - Essay Example This report stersses that cigarette smoke contains over four thousand chemicals and nicotine forms one of these. This smoke also contains sixty known chemicals that cause cancer which include lead which is a heavy metal that damages the brain, nickel which causes increased lung susceptibility, formaldehyde which causes gastro-intestinal and respiratory problems among others. Consumers are made aware of the various risks of smoking and the various benefits of treatment of tobacco dependence. After teaching them on the demerits of smoking, they are in a position to understand that they spend a lot of money on smoking and this helps them improve their saving. Smokers are also made aware of passive smoking that can affect other people who inhale air that is contaminated with smoke and hence those who might not quit will smoke in isolated places to avoid affecting other people. This essay makes a conclusion that health refers to the level of metabolic or functional efficiency of a human being. Healthy living is under my area of interest. Communication theory and academic work can be used to help consumers are made aware of the various risks of smoking and the various benefits of treatment of tobacco dependence. Theories related to psychology and teachings have also provided plausible reasons for the tobacco smokers to quit smoking and live a better and healthy life. This teaching activity has helped me to determine the various dangers of tobacco smoking and what precautions can be taken to facilitate better living. It also provided me with the best methods of conveying this vital information to those who needed it most, tobacco smokers.

Aldi, Lidl and Netto Supermarkets Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Aldi, Lidl and Netto Supermarkets - Case Study Example The macro economic players include government's regulations, global economic trends, development of technology, and social aspects of living. Analysis of the business environment is very important before coming up with a marketing strategy. The marketing style adopted by the three supermarkets (Aldi, Lidl and Natto). The most important players to consider when designing a marketing scheme are the clients and the competitors so that the buyer behaviour can be manipulated to benefit the business by purchasing more while keeping a competitive advantage over competitors (Creevy 2008). Basically the current business environment shows that the number of buyers is reducing as the credit crisis has led to loss of jobs and the consequence of this is reduced purchases as many people cut down of some expenditure. The current estimated consumer cut down is about 57%. The prices of basic products increased considerably over the past few years according to the Mysupermarket.co.uk estimated at 11% per year. The three supermarkets are struggling very had to stay at the top of the business and also venturing into other countries like Germany where they have already won the war. The risk of recession presents an opportunity and the three supermarkets have advertised their land requirements in the media and have predicted an enormous increase (Creevy 2008). The three supermarkets should strife to maintain and increase the market share which is currently at 40% combined with over 500 stores. The marketing mix has been very unique approach as the supermarkets stock assortment of well recognised brands like Nescafe and Heinz plus other Dutch and German products. Over the next twelve to eighteen months, the Aldi, Lidl and Netto supermarkets should improve on their display of products to add glamour. The products range from alcohol brands, bakery, cereals, desserts, sweets, fruits and vegetables, pasta and dried foods, pets and health and beauty. The foods are displayed in fridges and this offers wide-ranging effects of sausage and other snacks. The aisles should be designed in attractive manner in that the discount tags are colorfully displayed with the clothing stacked in an organized manner (Leroux 2009). To diverse the product portfolio, the supermarkets should provide seasonal delicacies like barbecues. Aldi, Lidl and Netto should adopt price cuts and give offers in order to keep up with the competition from other players in the market like Tesco which is greatly competing with them. The current statistics reveals that the value line of Tesco products is lower making these gods cheaper than those offered by Aldi, Lidl and Netto (Leroux 2009). These supermarkets should now realise that customers are very informed and they a understand that discounts do not imply poor quality hence if the use of offering discounts as a marketing strategy is implemented, then the supermarkets are bound to increase their sales by a greater margin. Lidl property director has confirmed that the supermarket is ready to take an extra mile in order to keep competitors at bay and this would include stocking and dealing in any product that would make commercial sense (Duxbury 2008). For this purposes the supermarkets have placed their interests to purchase land on the media as mentioned before, this is as a result of property slump. The supermarket need to maintain good working

Human Resource Management has evolved significantly over recent Assignment

Human Resource Management has evolved significantly over recent decades with an increasing emphasis on contributing to business - Assignment Example The introduction of globalization and the subsequent growth of cross cultural business made a further name change in the employee management department. Now, instead of HRM, Strategic HRM is prominent in the organizational world. Employees are the backbone of any organization. Even though an organization has many other resources, human resources are the most important ones. All the other organizational resources such as machines, money and materials, need the supervision from human resources for proper utilization or mobilization. This paper evaluates different approaches in strategic human resource management (SHRM) and describes the positioning of SHRM in contemporary context. Introduction According to Bratton & Gold (2012), â€Å"Labour is not a commodity. It is people in work organizations who sets overall strategies and goals, design work systems, produce goods and services, monitor quality, allocate financial resources and market the product and services† (p.8). Even tho ugh an organization has many internal and external resources, none of them has the ability to act independently except the human resources. In other words, all the organizational resources can be mobilized properly only under the control of human resources. There is nothing wrong in saying that HR can make or break an organization. Boddy (2008) defines Human Resource Management (HRM) as â€Å"the effective use of human resources in order to enhance organizational performance† (p.354). Because of globalization, majority of the prominent companies are currently operating cross culturally. Outsourcing and offshoring like modern business principles were evolved out as a result of globalization. Exploitation of cheap labor is vital for an organization for staying competitive in the market. Moreover, diverse workforce is common in most of the modern organizations. Management of diverse workforce necessitates restructuring or modifications of many of the existing HRM principles. Ins tead of HRM, SHRM is common in most of the modern organizations. According to Bratton (N.d.), â€Å"Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance†(p.37). The ability to stay competitive determines the success and failures of modern organizations. The way of doing business in the past and present are entirely different. SHRM helps organizations to formulate strategies suitable for the changing principles in the organizational world. Different approaches and models are prevailing in the organizational world with respect to the implementation of SHRM. Different approaches in strategic human resource management (SHRM) According to Bratton (N.d.), â€Å"Strategic HRM’ is an outcome: ‘as organizational systems designed to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through people’† (p.46). For example, plenty of American companies ar e currently struggling in international market, not because of the poor quality of the products they produced, but because of the huge price of these products compared to the prices of products from competitors. It should not be forgotten that America is a country in which manpower cost is extremely high. On the other hand, China and India are countries in which manpower cost is extremely low. Nobody has any doubt about the technological dominance of American companies. However, expensive labor preventing American companies from competing effectively in the global market. Currently,

Financial Aid Appeal Essay Example for Free

Financial Aid Appeal Essay First year of college was very challenging to me yet I was still wasnt ready for the courses that I chose. My goal was to obtain an a degree maybe, i havent decided yet, and then i wanted to transfer to a 4 year institute to obtain a B.A Degree. My educational goal was to be majoring in an unknown field to many. In Fall 2009 I chose courses I have since realized were too difficult for a first-time student and I became overwhelmed. Having had no prior experience with college-level life, courses, and exams. I was not sure what to expect and learned that my study techniques lacking, resulting in poor grades. I also failed to attend the review sessions, did not seek assistance from my professor or tutoring help, and as a result I failed my courses. Due to these circumstances I have been rendered ineligible to receive financial aid. Without financial aid I will be unable to continue my education because I cannot afford the cost of supplies, fees, transportation, and personal expenses. Receiving financial aid will allow me more time to study properly. Without it, I will be forced to take time away from my studies in order to work. My academics are my first priority now and I realize I need to devote all of my time to them in order to be successful in the future I recently evaluated my plans to improve my academic. I have determined the following points to be the keys to my educational success. 1. I will balance the course choices better. 2. I will manage my time wisely on academics. 3. I will seek assistance with my coursework when I have difficulties. 4. I will maintain communication with my professors on a regular basis to ensure success in my courses 5. Complete classes C or better. I understand the expectation better now and I am doing well in my coursework this semester with currently all passing grades. I have made a huge improvement and I am determined to pass every class this semester. Although I have made great improvements, without financial aid I fear I will find myself struggling to succeed once again. I hope those of the financial aid committee who read this will give me a second chance to help me accomplish my goals and reach success for the rest of my time at college. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain my financial circumstances. I look forward to hearing about your decision. Sincerely, Any correction/improvement needed? thanks

The Godfather Reflective Summary Essay Example for Free

The Godfather Reflective Summary Essay Shawn Carelli Business Ethics: Week 4 The Godfather Reflective Summary The Godfather is a great movie the many consider essential to any great business. This movie shows the realization of the American Dream. A family empire built from little to nothing. Though the business that took place in this movie was certainly illegitimate, the practices and rules they lived by are a key asset to modern day business. Break the laws they might, but family values are one of the most scared attributes to being part of these families. The Godfather truly shows it’s important to play by the rules, or you’ll be â€Å"sleeping with the fishes†. There are plenty of great lines in this movie in which hold great value in business. â€Å"Never dishonor those who help you†. Taking care of those who take care of you, great businesses today understand the importance of this. They take care of employees that contribute well to the company and partnerships that generate business. â€Å"Don’t discuss business at the dinner table†. This is a great line for people in business to understand. This means there is a proper time and place for business talk. And in my opinion, one of the most well-known lines, â€Å"It’s not personal, it’s business†. It’s very important in business to understand that your business life and personal life are separate, and that the main goal of a business is to make money. Competitors will get beat and will not be happy about it, but it’s not personal, it’s business. Business is not all about making people happy but is more so about making the business money. That being said, many of the other values of business both in The Godfather and in the business world are kept in check with the values that are set. Defying those values can prove to be very costly as illustrated in the movie. The Godfather shows how doing business properly is vital to the old world values that are set. To be respectful and understand your priorities, as stated, â€Å"A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man†. The movie shows that in business it is vitally important how we conduct ourselves, how we interact with others, and how we stand behind the team, or family, that we are a part of and not deceive them. â€Å"Show, don’t tell†. This has means that there is more credibility in what you do, not just what you say. You can’t say that you conduct yourself following the values that are set by your peers; your actions have to speak for themselves. Though in The Godfather, much of the business conducted had plenty of corruption, violence, and vengeance, there was still a very strong set of values on how the different families conducted themselves in their business dealings. This goes to show how ethics is something that can be interpreted differently. Something that might be considered unethical and wrong to one person might be considered perfectly fine and ethically sound to another. It’s interesting how the strong family values were of the utmost importance, even though they were involved in illegitimate business. This movie really illustrates the importance to take pride in your work and to play by the rules. Loyalty is, in my opinion, one of the biggest lessons The Godfather shows. Being loyal you your family or business is essential to them doing just that for you, but defy them and you will have a mark against you by them and others who know that you are not a loyal member. Being loyal is so important in business. It’s taught to us at a young age, â€Å"treat others the way you would want to be treated†. The movie emphasizes this greatly, as family is the most important thing, and since the family is in business together, business loyalty is even more important. To conclude, I feel The Godfather was a great movie to watch. I think there are great lessons to be learned from the famous quotes on how to conduct oneself in business. From family values, to why it’s not right to deceive people.

Strategies of Financial Forecasting at Strident Marks

Strategies of Financial Forecasting at Strident Marks Financial Forecasting Role of Financial Statements Forecasting The role of financial statement forecasting at Strident Marks is to provide expected future financial statements based on conditions that management expects to exist and the action it expects to take. These statements offer financial managers insight into the prospective future financial condition and performance of the company. Financial statement includes income statement and balance sheet. (Horne, Wachowicz Bhaduri, 2008) Development of Income Statement Forecast The income statement forecast is a summary of a Strident Marks expected revenues and expenses over some future period, ending with the net income for the period. The sales forecast is the key to scheduling production and estimating production costs. The detailed analysis of purchases, production based wages and overhead costs helps to produce the most accurate forecasts. The costs of good sold are forecasted on the basis of past ratios of cost of goods sold to sales. Following this the selling, general and administrative expenses are forecasted. The estimates of these expenses are fairly accurate because they are generally calculated in advance. Usually, these expenses are not sensitive to the changes in sale, specifically to the reduction in sales in the very short run. After this other income and expenses along with interest expenses are estimated to obtain the net income before taxes. Next to this income taxes are computed based on the applicable tax rate, which is then deducted to arrive at estimated net income after taxes. All of these are then combined into an income statement. Anticipated dividends are deducted from profit after taxes to give the expected increase in retained earnings. This anticipated increase need to agree with the balance sheet forecast figures that are developed next. Development of Balance Sheet Forecast To prepare balance sheet forecast for a particular period say for June 30, Strident Marks utilizes the balance sheet of the previous December 31. Receivables at June 30 can be estimated by adding to the receivable balance at December 31, the total projected credit sales from January through June (for which the estimation is done) and deducting the total projected credit collection for the particular period. Forecasting Assets: In the absence of cash budget, the receivable balance can be estimated on the basis of a receivable turnover ratio. This ratio, which depicts the relationship between credit sales and receivables, should be based on past experience. To obtain the estimated level of receivables, projected credit sales are simply divided by the turnover ratio. If the sales forecast and turnover ratio are realistic, the method will produce a reasonable approximation of receivable balance. The estimated investment in the inventories for a particular period may be based on the production schedule, which in turn is based on the sales forecast. This schedule should represent expected purchases, the expected use of inventory in the production and the expected level of finished goods. On the basis of this information along with the beginning inventory level, an inventory forecast can be made (Horne, Wachowicz Bhaduri, 2008) Estimates of future inventory can be based on an inventory turnover ratio, instead of the use of production schedule,. This ratio is applied in the similar manner as for the receivables, except that now we solve for the ending inventory position. Inventory Turnover Ratio = cost of goods sold (Ending) Inventory Future net fixed asset are estimated by adding planned expenditures to existing net fixed assets and subtracting from this sum the book value of any fixed assets sold along with depreciation during the period. Fixed assets are fairly easy to forecast because capital expenditure are planned in advance. Forecasting Liabilities and Shareholder Equity: for instance if the company wants to estimate the liabilities for June 30, the accounts payable are estimated by adding the projected purchases for January through June and deducting total projected cash payments for purchases for the period to the balance of December 31. The calculation of the accrued wages and expenses is based on the production schedule and the historical relationship between these accruals and production. The shareholders equity at June 30 will be equity at December 31 plus profits after taxes for the period minus the amount of dividends paid. Generally cash and notes payable (short term bank borrowings) serve as balancing factors in the preparation of forecast balance sheets, whereby assets and liabilities plus shareholders’ equity are brought into balance. Once all the components of the balance sheet are estimated, they are combined into a balance sheet format. (Horne, Wachowicz Bhaduri, 2008) Importance of Financial Statement Forecast The information that goes into a cash budgets can be used to prepare forecast financial statements. Financial mangers can make direct estimates of all the items on the balance sheet by projecting financial ratios into the future and then making estimates on the basis of these ratios. Receivables, inventories, accounts payable and accrued wages and expenses are frequently based on historical relationships to sales and production when a cash budget is not available. Forecast statements allow us to study the composition of expected future balance sheets and income statements. Financial ratios are computed for analysis of the statements; these ratios and the raw figures may be compared with those for present and past financial statements. Using this information, the financial manager can analyze the direction of change in the financial condition and performance of the company over the past, the present and the future. If the firm is accustomed to making accurate estimates, the preparation of a cash budget, forecast statements or both forces it to plan ahead and to coordinate policy in the various areas of operation. Continual revision of these forecasts keeps the company alert to changing conditions in its environment and in its internal operations. In addition, forecast statements can even be constructed with selected items taking on a range of probable values rather than single point estimates. (Horne, Wachowicz Bhaduri, 2008) Comparison between financial statement forecasting process and budgeting process The budgeting process starts with forecasting of future income statements. These statements are made on monthly or weekly basis and may stretch for twelve months in the future. Both budgeting and forecasting are important management tools that we use to anticipate needs and avoid crisis. (Laura, 2000) Budgeting process gives us information about only the prospective future cash position of the company, whereas forecast statements embody expected estimates of all assets and liabilities as well as of the income statement items. The key differences between budgeting process and forecasting are as follows: The budget obtained by budgeting process is generally more detailed than a forecast. Expenditures are more specifically matched to sources of income in a budget than in a forecast. Budgeting is a tool for management to achieve the objectives, whereas, forecasting is a used by management to formulate the budget. Budgeting is related to future definite period only, whereas, forecasting is related to past, present and future for pure estimation. Budgeting is dependent on forecasting but forecasting is not dependent on the budgeting. The preparation of budgets ids essential to achieve the production targets but the forecasting is essential to prepare a business budget. Budgets are quantitative, whereas, forecasting is qualitative in nature. Budgeting is a business process for management whereas forecasting is a mental process for management. The success of budgeting is dependent on sound forecasting whereas, success of forecasting is dependent on proper use and analysis of scientific and statistical methods. Budgeting process starts after forecasting while the forecasting is a pre process of budgeting. Budgeting is a standard itself whereas forecasting helps in preparing budget as a standard. Budgeting highlights the whole business while the forecasting helps the budget to highlight the business. (Khan, Jain, 2002) References Horne, J.C., Wachowicz, J.M. Bhaduri, S.N. (2008). Fundamentals of Financial Management. Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Khan, M.Y. Jain, P.K. (2002). Financial Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd. Laura, E. (2000). Budgeting for the Future: Why Firms Need to Forecast and Budget Their Cash Flows. Retrieved June 2, 2008, from http://www.allbusiness.com/accounting-reporting/budget-budget-forecasting/622015-1.html

Christian Discipleship :: Religion Jesus Christianity Essays

Christian Discipleship Discipleship means ^one who follows^ or ^one who learns^ and this meaning has not changed over the centuries. The first disciples must have felt very special just as do today. Also, the first disciples were not fully understood and were rejected. This is true for disciples today aswell. The Bible is the most important reference for a Christian today. It contains all sorts of stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New Testament concentrates on the life of Jesus which is probably more important to Christians than the Old Testament because Jesus^ death means that everyone has a chance to have all of their sins forgiven. The book I will be concentrating on is the gospel of Mark. Mark ^zoomed in^ on whom Jesus chose to be his disciples and what they were like. When people read Mark^s gospel they realise that you can be a disciple of Jesus no matter who you are. Jesus said, ^It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners^ (Mark 2:17) Many people today see this and are inspired. They see that they too can be forgiven for all of their sins and lead a better life. Being a disciple today is nearly the same as being a disciple in the time of Jesus. As a disciple today you still have to have a true belief in God and to follow the word of Jesus. This is also true for disciples 2000 years ago. Christians today do not suffer as much as they did in the time of Jesus but in some countries Christians do get persecuted and even attacked or killed. The first twelve disciples are not so sacrificial and some probably wouldn^t give their life for God. However, there are still Christians who would do anything for God but this is only a small percent of Christians. The first twelve disciples weren^t just Christians straight away, they dropped all of their things to follow Jesus and spent years learning about God. Nowadays, many people wouldn^t just drop all of their things to follow someone they know nothing about. Many people are told about God and Jesus for a long time before becoming a Christian, just like in Emmanuel College in assemblies and in tutor prayer. Jesus told taught crowds of people that they must sacrifice everything to be a proper disciple. Some people want to learn more about Christianity but don^t want to be sacrificial in their living making them unable to be a disciple.

The Powerful Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay -- Adventures Huckle

The Powerful Adventures of Huckleberry Finn      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Samuel Langhorne Clemens first published his story, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he was criticized severely. On top of that, the book was banned from libraries and schools alike. The book was thought to be a bad influence on children because it represents the breaking of the law as moral, it recommends disobedience and defiance on the part of young people, it portrays churchgoers as hypocritical, and the most admirable characters in the book habitually lie and steal and loaf (Johnson XII). In this day and time, though, the book has become required reading for many schools, and is found in almost every library in the country. Why has there been a change in attitude about the book? I believe that it was Twain's ideas on slavery, and his views on the "code of honor" of the South that made critics and readers alike come to love his book and see it for what it really was below the surface.    Twain was completely and utterly against slavery. He viewed it as immoral and wrong. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain writes on two aspects of slavery that particularly bothered him. One is the legal concept of the slave as property, and the other is the endorsement and support of slavery on religious and moral grounds by the established church. Repeatedly in the novel, the reader is reminded of the cruel absurdity by which one human being pretends to own another, much as one would own a cow or a horse, and that this is done in the name of religion adds makes it even more perverse (Johnson 110). The idea of a slave as property is introduced immediately after Jim, one of the main characters and a slave, runs away. He speaks of himself as property: "... ...m completely that it was a very foolish way of life.    Works Cited Adams, Richard P., Unity and Coherence of Huckleberry Finn. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Simpson, Claude M., ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1968. Crowley, Donald J., ed. One Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn: The Boy, His Book, and American Culture. Columbia: U of Missouri, 1985. Johnson, Claudia Durst. Understanding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood P, 1996. Poirier, Richard, Huck Finn and the Metaphors of Society. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Simpson, Claude M., ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1968. Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (1884) Secaucus: Castle, 1987.   

House Of The Seven Gables :: essays research papers fc

The House of the Seven Gables   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"[The] sympathy or magnetism among human beings is more subtle and universal than we think; it exists, indeed, among different classes of organized life, and vibrates from one to another† (Hawthorne 178). Loosely based on the events of Hawthorne’s own life, The House of the Seven Gables attempts to show the suffering of descendants forced to repent for the sins of their â€Å"father†, while they are unknowingly renewing the curse by nurturing the ancestral greed that has passed through the generations (O’ Connor 6) . Thus the various themes of the novel reflect the central idea of continued sin through the greed and guilt of a declining family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each generation struggles to escape the sins of the past, only to be thrust forcefully back to face the offenses of their forefathers. The House of the Seven Gables is a tale of loneliness and greed caused by the sin of preceding generations. The opening of the novel is set in puritan times during the Salem witch hunts. The villainous Colonel Pyncheon wrongly accused the innocent Matthew Maule of witchcraft so that the Maule land would fall into the Pyncheon family’s hands. Upon his death, Maule â€Å"addressed [Colonel Pyncheon] from the scaffold, and uttered a prophecy...God will give him blood to drink† (Hawthorne 4-5) . The physical wrongdoing of Colonel Pyncheon against Matthew Maule was avenged at the former’s death, with the curse being fulfilled. However, the essence of the crime lived on through the generations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By chapter two, the focus of the novel has shifted to the modern generations of the Pyncheon family. The family has severely declined since the Colonel’s time, yet the curse of greed is as strong as ever. The remains of the family consist of a decrepit spinster named Hepzibah, now the caretaker of the house of the seven gables; her insane brother Clifford, who was just recently released from prison; their devilish cousin Judge Jaffrey, a man fixated upon his own greed; and their distant cousin Phoebe, the sunny country girl that will be their redemption. Also, the last surviving descendant of the Maule lineage, the handsome Holgrave Maule, resides at the house.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a compilation by F.O. Matthiessen, it is stated that the â€Å"main theme was not the original curse on the house, but the curse that the Pyncheons have continued to bring upon themselves†. It is not Maule’s death which needs avenging, but the anguish caused by the Pyncheon family’s greed. â€Å"Lust for wealth has held the Pyncheon’ in its inflexible

What is swatch

Marketing planning – Introduction Author: Jim Riley Last updated: Sunday 23 September, 2012 Introduction A plan is a way of achieving something. Your revision plan is a way of helping to achieve success in business studies exams. The Christmas present shopping list is a simpler example of a plan – a way of ensuring that no-one gets missed on 25 December. In business, It Is no different.If a business wants to achieve something, It Is more likely to do so with a well-constructed and realistic plan. What does planning involve? Planning involves: ? Setting objectives, quantifying targets for achievement, and communicating these targets to people responsible for achieving them Selecting strategies, tactics, programmes etc for achieving the objectives. The whole topic of planning brings with it some Important terminology that it is worth spending time getting to know well.You will come across these terms many times In your study of marketing (and business studies in general): Strategy Strategy is the method chosen to achieve goals and objectives Example: Our strategy is to grow sales and profits of our existing products and to broaden our business by ntroducing new products to our existing markets Tactics Tactics are the resources that are used in the agreed strategy Example: We will use our widespread distribution via UK supermarkets to Increase sales and existing products and Introduce new products Goals Goals concern what you are trying to achieve.Goals provide the â€Å"intention† that influence the chosen actions Marketing planning – values and vision Introduction to Values and Vision Values form the foundation of a business' management style. Values provide the Justlflcatlon of behaviour and, therefore, exert significant Influence on marketing decisions. hy are values Important in marketing? Many Japanese businesses have used the value system to provide the motivation to make them global market leaders.They have created an obsession about winning that is communicated at all levels of the business that has enabled them to take market share from competitors that appeared to be unassailable. For example, at the start of the 1970's Komatsu was less than one third the size of the market leader – Caterpillar – and relied on Just one line of smaller bulldozers for most of Its revenues. By the late 1980's it had passed Caterpillar as the world leader in earth-moving quipment.It had also adopted an aggressive diversification strategy that led it into markets such as industrial robots and semiconductors. If â€Å"values† shape the behaviour of a business, what is meant by â€Å"vision† and how does it relate to marketing planning? To succeed In the long term, businesses need a vision of how they will change and Improve In the future. The vlslon of the business gives It energy. strategy. What are the components of an effective business vision?Davidson identifies six requirements for success: â €“ Provides future direction – Expresses a consumer benefit – Is realistic – Is motivating Must be fully communicated – Consistently followed and measured Example: Our goal is to achieve market leadership in our existing markets Objectives Objectives are goals that can be quantified Examples: – We aim to achieve a market share of 20% in our existing markets – We aim to penetrate new markets by achieving a market share of at least 5% within 3 years – We aim to achieve sales of growth of 15% per annum with our existing products Aims Aims are goals that cannot be measured in a reliable way.However, they remain important as a means of providing direction and focus. Examples: We aim to delight ur customers Marketing Study Note Home I Latest Marketing Resources from the tutor2u Blog I Marketing Revision Quizzes Marketing Objectives Introduction to marketing objectives Let's face it. Of the four main functional areas ofa business, market ing has to be the most important! Marketing is at the heart of a business.Remember the definition of marketing: â€Å"The process of identifying, anticipating (predicting) and satisfying customer needs profitably' Almost every activity that a business undertakes can be linked back to this definition, whether it is: Raising finance to support an investment n new product development Introducing quality assurance and lean production to improve product profitability Training staff to improve customer service standards Ultimately, almost every functional activity or objective can be linked back to marketing.A similar picture emerges when you consider how corporate objectives link to the functional objectives for marketing. Typical corporate objectives might be to: Bea market leader within 5 years To grow market share by 5% in core markets To become the most trusted and recognised brand in our industry Each of these has a strong marketing element. Marketing objectives need to be seen as part of a hierarchy of objectives, in the sense that they are shaped and informed by the corporate objectives.A corporate objective influences a marketing objective, which in turn shapes the marketing strategies and marketing tactics employed: Marketing planning – the mission statement Mission A strategic marketing plan starts with a clearly defined business mission. Mintzberg defines a mission as follows: â€Å"A mission describes the organisation's basic function in society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its customers†. A clear business mission should ave each of the following elements: Taking each element of the above diagram in turn, what should a good mission contain? (1) A Purpose Why does the business exist?Is it to create wealth for shareholders? Does it exist to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders (including employees, and society at large? ) (2) A Strategy and Strategic Scope A mission statement provides the commercial logic for the business and so defines two things: – The products or services it offers (and therefore its competitive position) – The competences through which it tries to succeed and its method of competing A usiness' strategic scope defines the boundaries of its operations. These are set by management. For example, these boundaries may be set in terms of geography, market, business method, product etc.The decisions management make about strategic scope define the nature of the business. (3) Policies and Standards of Behaviour A mission needs to be translated into everyday actions. For example, if the business mission includes delivering â€Å"outstanding customer service†, then policies and standards should be created and monitored that test delivery. These might include onitoring the speed with which telephone calls are answered in the sales call centre, the number of complaints received from customers, or the extent of positive customer feedbackvia questionnaires. 4) Valu es and Culture The values of a business are the basic, often un-stated, beliefs of the people who work in the business. These would include: Business principles (e. g. social policy, commitments to customers) Loyalty and commitment (e. g. are employees inspired to sacrifice their personal goals for the good of the business as a whole? And does the usiness demonstrate a high level of commitment and loyalty to its staff? ) Guidance on expected behaviour – a strong sense of mission helps create a work environment where there is a common purpose What role does the mission statement play in marketing planning?In practice, a strong mission statement can help in three main ways: It provides an outline of how the marketing plan should seek to fulfil the mission It provides a means of evaluating and screening the marketing plan; are marketing decisions consistent with the mission? It provides an incentive to implement the marketing plan Marketing planning – the link with strate gy Businesses that succeed do so by creating and keeping customers. They do this by management constantly have to assess which customers they are trying to reach and how they can design products and services that provide better value (â€Å"competitive advantage†).The main problem with this process is that the â€Å"environment† in which businesses operate is constantly changing. So a business must adapt to reflect changes in the environment and make decisions about how to change the marketing mix in order to succeed. This process of adapting and decision-making is known as arketing planning. Where does marketing planning fit in with the overall strategic planning of a business? Strategic planning (which you will cover in your studies of â€Å"strategy' is concerned about the overall direction of the business.It is concerned with marketing, of course. But it also involves decision-making about production and operations, finance, human resource management and other bus iness issues. The objective of a strategic plan is to set the direction of a business and create its shape so that the products and services it provides meet the overall business objectives. Marketing has a key role to play in strategic planning, because it is the Job of marketing management to understand and manage the links between the business and the â€Å"environment†.Sometimes this is quite a straightforward task. For example, in many small businesses there is only one geographical market and a limited number of products (perhaps only one product! ). However, consider the challenge faced by marketing management in a multinational business, with hundreds of business units located around the globe, producing a wide range of products. How can such management keep control of marketing decision-making in such a complex ituation? This calls for well-organised marketing planning.What are the key issues that should be addressed in marketing planning? The following questions lie at the heart of any marketing (or indeed strategic) planning process: Where are we now? How did we get there? Where are we heading? Where would we like to be? How do we get there? Are we on course? Why is marketing planning essential? Businesses operate in hostile and increasingly complex environment. The ability of a business to achieve profitable sales is impacted by dozens of environmental factors, any of which are inter-connected.It makes sense to try to bring some order to this chaos by understanding the commercial environment and bringing some strategic sense to the process of marketing products and services. A marketing plan is useful to many people in a business. It can help to: Identify sources of competitive advantage Gain commitment to a strategy Get resources needed to invest in and build the business Inform stakeholders in the business Set objectives and strategies Measure performance justification of behaviour and, therefore, exert significant influence on marketing e cisions.Why are values important in marketing? Caterpillar – and relied on Just one line of smaller bulldozers for most of its revenues. markets such as industrial robots and semiconductors. If shape the marketing planning? To succeed in the long term, businesses need a vision of how they will change and improve in the future. The vision of the business gives it energy. It helps motivate employees. It helps set the direction of corporate and marketing providing better value for the customer than the competition. Marketing Marketing planning – values and vision

Coca Cola: Another Advertising Hit

When you think of Coca Cola what comes to your mind? It wouldn’t be surprising if you thought first of Coke ads. In the history of advertising perhaps no other company has had such a strong and continuous impact on society through advertising. Not only have Coke’s ads been successful at selling its soft drinks, but decade after decade Coca Cola’s ads and campaigns have influenced our very culture by making their way into the hearts and minds of the consumers. A Brief Ad History In the 1920s Coca Cola shifted its advertising strategy, focusing for the first time on creating brand loyalty.It began advertising the soft drink as fun and refreshing. Coke’s 1929 campaign slogan was: The Pause that Refreshes. To this day, that slogan remains number two on Advertising Age’s top 100 slogans of all the time. How about those famous Coca Cola Santa Clause print ads? Most people probably have seen an example of such. What most people don’t realize is that our modern-day vision of Santa as a jolly old man with a white beard in a red suit and hat is to some extent a result of those Coke ads that began emerging in popular magazines in 1931.Before that, the world’s image of Santa was fragmented, with physical portrayals of the legendary holiday visitor ranging from a pixie to a leprechaun to even a frightening gnome. But Coca Cola’s long-running series of ads solidified what was becoming a common U. S. image, making our beloved Santa Clause recognizable around the world. Those Coca Cola campaigns were probably a little before your time. but what about Coca Cola’s 1971 â€Å"Hilltop† campaign. Perhaps you remember its lyrics, â€Å"I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony.I’d like to buy the world a Coke, and keept it company. † The song was sung by a choir of young people from all over the world, perched high on a hilltop, each holding an iconic hourglass-shaped bottle of C oke. Within months, Coca Cola and its bottlers received more than a hundred thousand letters about the ad. The ad actually received requests at radio stations; so many in fact, that a version of the song was released as a pop-music single. The jingle’s tagline, â€Å"It’s the real thing,† served as the foundation for Coke ads for years. Still too long ago for you?Maybe you have heard of Coke’s ad showing a bruised and battered Mean Joe Green tossing his shirt to a young fan after the boy shares his Coke with the pro football player. The ad appears consistently at the top of â€Å"Best Super Bowl Ads† lists. Or how about â€Å"Coke is it? † â€Å"Can’t beat the feeling? † certainly you would remember the jingle made famous in the 1990s, â€Å"Always Coca Cola†. And who doesn’t make some associate between the sweet, dark, bubbly beverage and polar bear? Innovative animation technology put those lovable creatures in only a handful of ads, but they are forever etched in the memories of consumers everywhere.These are only some highlights of Coca Cola’s long advertising history, stretching back to the company’s origin in 1886. With so many hits and such a huge impact on consumers, it’s hard to imagine that the beverage giant ever gets into an advertising rut. But as the new millennium began to unfold, many considered that Coke had lost its advertising sizzle. The company was struggling to create ads that resonated with younger folks while at the same time appealing to older consumers. And the company’s ads were routinely out-pointed by those of rival Pepsi. Coca Cola needed some new advertising fizz.Back to the Bowl Where does a company turn when it wants to make a big ad splash? For Coca Cola, it’s thoughts turned to the marquee of all advertising events – the Super Bowl. The company had certainly had success with the ad venue before. But scoring big with a Super Bowl ad isn’t guaranteed. In fact, many cynics view the ad venue as a waste of money. One team of researchers found that average brand recall one week after the 2008 Super Bowl was an unimpressive 7%. Recall for specific commercials and the brand represented therein was even worse at only 4%.That doesn’t speak very highly for a 30 second ad that costs $ 2. 7 million to air. And perhaps even more to produce. The Super Bowl has its share of critics who think it is far too costly for a single event, regardless of how many people tune-in. But for all the misses, there have been plenty of hits. In 1999, Hotjobs. com blew half of its $ 4 million advertising budget for the year on a single 30-second spot. The result? Traffic on its web site immediately shot up 120%, choking its network and server system. Monster. com saw similar results that same year.And hundreds of advertisers throughout the Super Bowl’s history have been very satisfied with the results of t heir ads. For its 2008 campaign debut, Coca Cola was confident that the Super Bowl was just right for its broad target market. It assigned Wieden + Kennedy the task of crafting a 60-second commercial. Hal Curtis, one of the top creative directors for the agency, took charge of the project. Two years before, Mr. Curtis had come up with an idea for an ad while working on a different campaign. He thought the idea was perfect for Coke. By now, you’ve probably seen the ad.Titled â€Å"It’s mine†, the spot is set at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a parade famous for its blimp-sized balloons marched through the Central Park area on long tethers. The Coke ad focuses on two particular characters, Stewie Griffin from Fox network’s comedy television show Family Guy and the classic cartoon character Underdog. Both balloons sidle up to a huge Coke balloon. The two characters begin fighting over the coke, bouncing around in a kind of slow-motio n ballet against the New York skyline, bumping up against buildings.As the scuffle progresses above the streets, moving higher and higher, New Yorkers look on from hot dog stands, cabs, and even inside buildings. At the story’s climactic moment, a giant balloon depicting the cartoon character Charlie Brown emerges from nowhere, swooping and claiming a giant Coke, leaving Stewie and Underdog empty-handed. The spot cost Coca Cola $ 2. 3 million to make and more than double that to air. It was also the most difficult ad that Mr. Curtis had ever produced. For starters, he encountered mounds of red tape in negotiating the rights to use the well-known cartoon characters in the ad.Choreographic and shooting footages of giant balloons in one of the world’s biggest cities brought its own set of challenges. At one point, bad weather forced the project indoors and all the way across the country to the Paramount Studios on the West Coast. The post-shoot animation was considered ye t a third shoot for the ad. It all added up to four months of production and postproduction. When asked about the challenge of simultaneously reaching consumers of all ages with an advertisement, Mr. Curtis responded, â€Å"A good story appeals to everyone.And a story that is well told appeals to young and old. Certainly, there are times where we want to skew a message younger, but for this spot that wasn’t part of thinking. † Pio Schunker, Coca Cola’s head of creative excellence, added, â€Å"We are at our best when we speak to universal values that appeal to everyone rather than try and skew it to specific segments. † According to Mr. Schunker, the universal value referred to here was that â€Å"Good really wins in the end†, a point that he thought was made strongly with the contrast of Charlie Brown over a character like Stewie.In fact, Curtis originally pitched the ad with an ending that had the Coke bottle getting punctured on a flagpole and n either balloon getting it. But Coca Cola wanted something that was emotionally more positive, something that expressed optimism. â€Å"I felt it was such a downer of an ending to have these characters chase the Coke and not get it,† stated Mr. Schunker. It was Curtis’s 12 year old son, Will, who gave him the idea for what became the ending when he said, â€Å"Why can’t another balloon get it? † For Hal Curtis, the next logical step was Charlie Brown.Everyone was happy with the end result. Both Coca Cola and Wieden + Kennedy felt that the ad communicated the desired message perfectly while bringing out the kind of warm emotions that had emanated from Coca Cola ads for decades. The hunches of these ad veterans proved correct. The day after the game, Coke’s balloon ad had 350 blog posts, while Pepsi’s ads had only 250. A week after that, the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad was the most talked about ad online. SuperBowl-Ads. com had it rated a s the top ad of the dozens that aired on the 2008 gridiron matchup.And later in the year, the spot won a Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions festival, the most prestigious award event in the industry. There is no doubt that the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad achieved more buzz and more size than Coca Cola’s ads in recent history. But that’s only a first step to advertising success. In the end, the only result that really matters is whether or not the ad has the intended effect on consumers. Although the impact of Coca Cola’s â€Å"it’s Mine† ad or its history of other outstanding ads on actual beverage sales may never be known, one broader conclusion is clear.Every year, Interbrand publishes the premier ranking of global brands based on monetary value. And every year since Interbrand began publishing the list in 2001, Coca Cola has held the top spot. At $ 65 billion, Coca Cola is the world’s most valuable brand. Thus, it’s pretty easy to make the connection between Coca Cola’s brand value and more than 100 years of stellar advertising. Questions for Discussions 1. Consider Coca Cola’s advertising throughout its history. Identify as many commonalities as possible for its various ads and campaigns. (For a list of Coca Cola slogans over the years, check out http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Coca-Cola_slogans) 2. Analyze the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad based on the process of creating an advertising message. 3. Discuss issues of selecting advertising media for the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad. How might this process differ from that of other Coca Cola’s campaigns? From another campaigns for other companies? 4. Based on the information given in this case, how might Coca Cola measure the effectiveness of the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad? What else might Coca Cola want to measure? ———————– Coca Cola: Another Advertising Hit Famous c artoon: Underdog Stewie Griffin from Family Guy Charlie Brown

“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding Essay

We were innocent before we started to begin feeling guilty and deep inside the nook of our minds and hearts we have found a hidden treasure that we once had and now seek. One of the most precious gifts one can obtain in life is the gift of innocence and once it has been taken away it can no longer be returned. The term innocence is interpreted as â€Å"the freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil†. Once a child is exposed to blind ideas such as believing the world is a perfect place and then realizes the cruelty which inhabits within it, innocence is lost. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies outlines how civilization allows man to remain innocent and once the needs for survival become crucial, the primitive instincts of man must come to parity with the necessities one needs to survive. While loss of innocence is a predominant theme in the novel, the symbols of the beast, the painted faces, and the forest glade help to illustrate the importance of s avagery created within the boys over their time on the island. Man will always try to convince themselves that there is no evil inside of them by making something or someone else seem to be the cause of evil; this is mainly evident in the idea that the boys instill fear in themselves due to the existence of the beast. Realistically, the beast symbolizes the â€Å"inner beast† inside all of the boys on the island and eventually leads each of them to lose their innocence and increase their savage like instincts based on their fear and expansion of belief in the beasts existing. A significant part in the novel in which the beast is introduced is in Chapter 2, page 34 where one of the little boys claims that he had seen the â€Å"beastie† somewhere inside of the woods. At this early point in the novel we are able to see the imagination in which all the boys have put into effect on what exactly the â€Å"beastie† looks like and it is quite evident that Golding has used this idea in the earlier chapters to later portray the scene of chaos and terror of the beast. The discovery that something other than the boys is on the island creates fear in all of them in which their animalistic instincts will begin to surface because now they fear their safety and the need for survival must be placed into effect. The beast in  itself can be symbolized as incarnation of the Christian notion of Satan, which motivates the boys to become more cruel and violent in behavior. The characters of Ralph and Jack are also affected by the beast’s existence for it creates a rupture between them and their followers, where the follow up to the end of the book shows how all the boys will turn on Ralph, who throughout most of the novel was the most civilized. Simon, being the â€Å"Christ-like† figure in Lord of the Flies, is the only character who communicates with the beast and is one of the most ethical characters that realize the inner beast amongst the other boys on the island, especially when the boys believe in solely having fun instead of finding wa ys to get off the island and getting back home. â€Å"This has gone quite far enough. My poor misguided child do you think you know better than I do?† There was a pause. â€Å"I’m warning you. I’m going to get angry. D’you see? You’re not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island.† (Golding, 144) Simon is also the only character who discovers that the dead parachutist that had landed on the island is the imaginary beast that everyone has become terrified of and is also the cause of the diminishing human morality within the boys. When he attempts to tell the rest of the boys that he had witnessed the dead parachutist, the boys are under impression that Simon is the beast because they are sightless and in a panic they brutally murder him. An equally important symbol as in comparison to the beast would be the fact that the boys paint their faces. When Jack had appeared before his group of boys with his face smeared in clay like war paint he decides in taking the boys on a pig hunt. The mask then internally transforms Jack in which his primal instincts come to surface. â€Å"He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling† (Golding, 64). It appears evident that the boys are becoming savage like because of their painted faces, the paint masks are used to infiltrate all the boys’ souls because now they feel more powerful. The masks not only instigate the evil inside all of the boys but are symbols representing the chaos currently going on in the world which is war. â€Å"For hunting. Like in the war. You know – dazzle paint. Like things trying to  look like something else† (Golding, 63). With this idea in mind the anonymity of the masks create chaos and violence in which it furthers the boys’ advantage in killing the beast. Now that the boys are corrupted by the beast and have strengthened their egos by painting their faces, innocence that a child should withhold is lost because now their innate instincts are to act war-like which the doings of an adult are. Just as in war, death to an opposing team causes blood-lust for the victorious person, in this case it would be Jack who succumbs himself to the thrill of violence, creates his own sub-society, and engages in rituals of violence and slaughter. Furthermore, the clash between Jack and Ralph grows deeper because of Jacks tyrannical rule and Ralph’s democratic perspective, and the fact that Jack is more concerned on becoming a better hunter where as Ralph is concerned in getting everyone off of the island creates huge tension between them and foreshadows the breakdown in which the boys will create for themselves in their invented society. It is easy for one to hide behind a mask to hide fear but in the novel’s context the masks do not work as something that shelters the boys but rather liberates and frees them into believing they can do anything they want while wearing it and not worrying about important matters. Another symbol throughout the novel Lord of the Flies would be the forest glade which is the open space in the jungle that Simon finds. Although it seems that the forest glade seems minor in its symbolism it actually has greater meaning than depicted. Simon is the only character who sees the jungle as a tranquil and beautiful place as compared to Jacks character that only sees the jungle as a dangerous place. Later on throughout the novel when Simon returns to the forest glade he is met with the pigs head in which a peaceful place has now been disrupted by this bloody offering, which later symbolizes the innate human evil that affects and harms childhood innocence. A child, being symbolized as a peaceful jungle with nothing to harm it, has become corrupt by something such as the pig’s head being brought into the child’s environment. The pig’s head now instigates the child’s innate and natural evil to come out so that it can find the needs to survive and because of this, innocence has been lost. Living in the 21st century means that throughout peoples entire lives they become sheltered from evils  depicted in things such as the media, but once we are exposed to the â€Å"outside world† and engage in immoral acts and grow out of being a child, we automatically lose that innocence we once obtained because everything becomes a game of survival of the fittest. Due to all the dominant symbols in the novel Lord of the Flies, it is extremely evident how all of them work together to structure the central theme of loss of innocence. All the boys on the island had been exposed to ideas that have been kept blind to them before that had reached the island, but still they were able to survive nature by bringing forth their innate human instincts. The boys being quite educated and reserved in their lives before coming to island shows that loss of innocence can occur to anyone no matter what lifestyle they lived prior. The fear the boys had throughout the novel brings forth the loss of innocence because it represents the potential evil instilled within all humans especially when they are placed in certain environmental conditions in which for the boys was the island they had landed on. The island itself being seen as a paradise comes to an end when the boys’ instinct take control of their rationality. Society today is still faced with the â€Å"inner beast† inside many people this is quite evident in the fact that our world today is still filled with criminals, gangs and tyrannical people. If humans weren’t so instantly triggered by their innate evil desires then their wouldn’t be treacherous acts of rape and there wouldn’t be secret organizations such as the vigilantes of Ku Klux Klan that advocate one races supremacy over another. The things the boys of the island in Lord of the Flies do are just a miniscule example of real life-size issues that can occur anywhere at anytime in ones life that brings out the â€Å"inner-beast† in everyone. The experience of losing ones innocence is often part of growing up but can be painful and tragic. Tragedy in this experience unlike any other faced in a person’s lifetime is that innocence is the gift that once it’s damaged it cannot be retained again and all senses of life’s marvels are lost simply because of humans innate evils.

Summary of Radical Idea of Marrying for Love

In the essay â€Å"The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love†, Stephanie Coontz discusses the change marriage has made among the different cultures around the world and how it went from being an act that was necessary to something that was done for personal joy and fulfillment. For most cultures marriage was an act that was done as a necessity. Couples married because they needed to reproduce and ensure that their family continued to have money and power. The romance of marriage did not exist and it was discouraged in most cultures for the couples to fall in love before marriage. Most marriages were arranged by the family, the couples did not marry because of being in love. In the Chinese culture the man could return the wife to her father if it appeared the husband and the wife were too in love. The husband had duties to perform as well as the wife and if those duties were neglected because the couple was too in love it was looked down upon. Couples weren’t supposed to love their spouses. It was common for each partner to have a mistress. The mistress was the one they were to be intimate with. In fact it was common for the couples to explore intimacy outside the marriage openly. The couples depending on culture would share spouses with other couples, or even siblings. In the Bari culture it was common for the women to be with other men even during pregnancy. However at time of birth the women could name all the partners she had been with since she knew she was prengnat. The men would help support the child. Acts such as this are not accepted in all cultures. In more recent centuries couples began to fall in love before they married; although it is still looked down upon in certain cultures. Certain critics felt that if women and men were in love before marriage that things would change in marriage. They felt that men and women would choose mates based on what made them happy at the moment and then could decide to not be married if they were no longer happy. The idea of marriage and love has changed over history and many cultures still have mixed beliefs on what is acceptable within the marriage. Being in love is not a necessity before marriage and those that believe this also feel that it is acceptable to find intimacy outside the marriage. While other cultures believe that you should marry for love and be faithful to your spouse. Marriage is one of the many things that vary depending on culture and the beliefs among those cultures regarding marriage has also changed over the centuries.

Analysis of the Introduction of Ariel and Prospero in Act I, Scene 2 of The Tempest

A Close Study of How Ariel and Prospero are Introduced in the Scene 2 of the First Act in the Tempest The introduction of Ariel in the second scene of The Tempest raises some of the central issues in William Shakespeares 17th-century play. Most notably, the themes of power, nature, and magic prove to be integral in shaping the audiences perception of Ariel, Prospero, and the island itself. Indeed, the concept of power and its use within this scene, particularly in the context of the era where the divine right of kings was unanimously accepted provides the foundation for a full understanding of the play. Shakespeares presentation of the nymph Ariel as both a powerful brave spirit and the slave of Prospero (is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains) raises the question of whether Prospero has the right to summon and dismiss Ariel in such a dictatorial manner (Go. Hence with diligence). Ultimately, Act I, scene 2, introduces characteristics of Ariel that suggest that he has both Prosperos respect and gratitude, but also that he is irrefutably subservient to his master. The relationship between Prospero and Ariel is a curious one. Firstly, their names have interesting connotations. Prospero brings to mind the verb to prosper suggestive of magic and conjuring, while Ariel, described as an airy spirit in the character list, has a name that notifies the audience that he is of the elements and can be considered a demi-god. Despite this elevated status, Ariel is obedient to his noble master even though it is he who conducts a great deal of Prosperos magic. Although there may well be a friend-like bond of mutual respect between the two characters, it soon becomes clear that Prospero is indeed in control of Ariel, who acts not unlike a right-hand man. The use of sir and master by Ariel to address Prospero provides evidence for Prosperos authority and power over his subject. Ariel appears to be indebted to Prospero, a fact emphasized to the audience by his exaggerated language. Shakespeares use of hyperbole to force the idea that Ariel serves Prospero is highly effective. For example, All hail, great master! and I come to answer thy best pleasure, portray Ariel almost as a sycophant to his master, desperate to appease him. This is continually reinforced throughout the scene, with Ariels responses to Prosperos questions becoming increasingly elaborate Not a hair perished; on their sustaining garments not a blemish, is Ariels answer when Prospero asks him whether all those who were entrapped in the tempest are still alive. This use of exaggerated tone and overtly descriptive vernacular intrigues the audience, as one wonders why Ariel might feel such an intense need to appease Prospero. The text answers this question by declaring that Prospero freed Ariel from the foul witch Sycorax. Prospero is eager to emphasise his control, as can be seen when he retorts to Ariels request for freedom by declaring him a malignant thing reducing him to inanimate object. He goes on to ask, dost thou forget from what torment I freed thee? When Ariel answers no, Prospero still takes the opportunity to retell just how compassionate he was to Ariel, highlighting the ways in which Sycorax imposed her age and envy to imprison Ariel within a tree painfully for a dozen years. Prospero uses sarcasm and rhetorical questions o was she so? to ensure that Ariel resists reiterating how he has done thee worthy service, told thee no lies, made thee no mistakes and served without grudge or grumblings. Shakespeare deploys imagery successfully in order to suggest Prosperos dominance over Ariel. Prospero, who initially treats Ariel in a manner that reflects admiration, soon begins employing threatening imagery in an effort to convince Ariel that he must serve his duty or face severe punishment. Prospero threatens, if thou more murmurst, I will rend an oak, and peg thee in his knotty trails, till thou hast howled away twelve winters. The use of metaphor when stating thy groans did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breast of bear in reference to Sycoraxs imprisonment of Ariel accentuates the idea that Prospero has acted as Ariels liberator. In Act I, scene 2, Prospero suggests that Ariel is very much indebted to his master. While it is clear to the audience that Prospero has been hypocritical toward Ariel by enslaving him in much the same vein as Sycorax did (although she simply imprisoned him), Ariel is forced to continue serving Prospero. After Prosperos threatening warning, Ariel reverts to his original subservience: Thats my noble master. What shall I do? Say what. What shall I do? However, Prospero does not treat Ariel as one who is among the lowest in the Jacobin social order like Caliban but predominantly as a respected servant, ensuring that he retains control but also eager to praise his quaint Ariel. The tone of Prospero is one of delight and pleasure at Ariels magic why, thats my spirit. Instead of overtly ordering Ariel to do his bidding, Prospero simply suggests that it is his duty to do as he says Ariel, thy charge exactly is performed. But theres more work. Ariel, meanwhile, generally responds with o bedience. Ariel is not the moody character that Prospero describes him as when he tentatively asks for his liberty, but is rather charmingly energetic and enthusiastic. When describing his actions, he uses expressive adjectives such as flamed amazement and Joves lightnings an insight into the potential power of Ariel. His references to Neptune and Jove, both ancient Greek gods, forms a direct comparison between his work and that of a god an idea that instantly prompts the audience to recognise that Prospero cannot govern Ariel exclusively as a servant. There is an aspect to Ariel that separates him from the earthly world of humans. Although he may well be subject to the magician, his own conjuring is more natural and of a higher order than that the powers learned from books. Ariel is associated with the power of the elements; images such as flame, thunder-claps, spirits and nymph o the sea all enhance the idea that his is a pure figure, a child of nature. While Prospero ultimately presides over Ariel, the audience is made aware that the relationship between the two cannot be defined so simply as master/slave. Prospero requires Ariels magic, while Ariel needs him to earn his liberty. Shakespeare presents the concept of mutual dependence in this scene so that as the play unravels and all achieve their aims, the conclusion is not alien to the audience, but rather relates to the beginning of the play. Ariel is presented more favourably than his master Prospero in Act I, scene 2. Although one expects Prospero to be a positive influence on the island due to the fact that he has been usurped from power himself, and assumed the role of leader of the island due to his noble status, one must consider Prosperos disruption of the natural order. While Prospero has seemingly convinced himself that he has the right to rule over Ariel, which in turn raises the question of whether Prospero can be considered a good character or not, he has dominated over the natural world in Arial and the rightful heir of the island in Caliban. In Act I, scene 2, Shakespeare introduces Ariel as both powerful and subservient, committed to the cause of his master, Prospero. Their relationship is one of mutual dependence, but is ultimately governed by Prospero, who consistently exerts his authority over Ariel. Ariels introduction is important in that he is symbolic of the beauty of the island. It is clear that Ariel, possibly like the island, wishes to be rid of the meddling Prospero, but he realises that he is under must obey his master: Pardon, master, I will be correspondent to your command, and do my spiriting gently. Ariels obedience to Prospero signifies the latters continual misuse of power; he utilizes Ariels magic to cause disturbances, but is unwilling to grant Ariel his rightful liberty. Ariels appearance as one who is both natural and powerful, but under the dictatorship of Prospero, implies that he is being ruled over unjustly. Indeed, Shakespeare forges their relationship either to provoke the suggestion that Pr osperos right as ruler is not indisputable, but open to debate, or in support for the continuation of the royal inheritance of kings.

Catalan Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Catalan Literature - Essay Example Roig’s identification of the female as both carrier and purveyor of Catalonian language, traditions, myths, history and nationalism was circumstantially predetermined by the experiences of this quasi-national community during the Franco years. To understand Roig’s works as something other than a feminist treatise and to fully appreciate their complexity, an understanding of the politically history which informed and incited them, is necessary. In brief, throughout the four decades of General Franco’s dictatorship, the Catalan community, as were the Andalusia, Basque and Castilian, was oppressed through the government’s determined efforts to forcibly impose the Spanish culture and language upon all. The Catalan language and culture were outlawed, with the hope being that their de-legitimisation would, over the generations and years, lead to their obliteration. Both, however, were kept alive within the private and feminine space of the home and, both were ke pt alive through the efforts of Catalan’s women. It was, thus, that Catalonian women played a fundamental role, not only in the rescuing of the national culture and historical memory but, in the survival of Catalonia herself. Within the socio-political history which informs Montserrat Roig’s works lays the key to the understanding of her literary productions. Binary oppositions assume political significance, with the private representing the national space and the public symbolising the oppressive dominance of Franco’s Spain; with the private and the feminine representing oppressed and the public and the male symbolising the oppressor. Indeed, as one who lived during Catalonia’s traumatic linguistic and cultural experiences under Franco, Roig’s works can only be fully understood from this perspective and can only be fully appreciated as a product of a literary mind which, itself, had

Technology and Management Functions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology and Management Functions - Essay Example It has boosted productivity by enabling employees to access the tools they need to carry out their functions from nearly any location; and to learn about developments with the company's products and services tight from their desktops. Technology has transformed administrative tasks for which employees used to rely on others into routine self service operations that take only a fraction of the time. It has also facilitated a convergence and coordination of business data systems from disparate areas that has given rise to new possibilities for customer facing services. Finally, it has freed employees from the tether of an office and enabled them to access virtually all of their productivity tools from anywhere they happen to be. On the other hand, the company's conversion of its business systems from PeopleSoft to SAP has not gone smoothly. SAP implementation has been plagued with difficulties that have resulted in tremendous frustration both internally and externally. This adoption of new technology, which was designed to improve business over the long run, has - in the short run -made it difficult to facilitate many types of customer transactions. This situation illustrates that technology has the potential to put up obstacles as well as knock them down. Product Development The first area in which technology has improved business at Lexis Publishing is product development. Technology has transformed the essence of the company's product offering from print to online media. Online delivery has enabled users of the information to more quickly and precisely access what they need. It also opens up countless possibilities for product development, through searching and user interface enhancements. In fact, the company has a new release of its online search engine every month that features numerous usability and content improvements and enhancements. Productivity Employee productivity is one of the most important concerns when it comes to business improvement. Technology has enabled companies to grow productivity tremendously by equipping employees with portable office capabilities and self service administrative functioning. This has improved employee relations by striking a balance between squeezing more productivity out of employees and allowing them greater mobility and freedom than they previously had. As David Parlby, workforce solutions lead partner at KPMG asserts, there are two key ways technology has been leveraged by management to facilitate improved relations via employers and employees. "First, connectivity - allowing employees to gain access to corporate data and to connect with their colleagues, customers, suppliers and partners wherever they are. And secondly through well- designed applications, allowing employees to carry out administrative tasks and business processes themselves, without the intervention of administrative st aff" (Wylie, 2002, para. 6). At Lexis Publishing, this has been accomplished by equipping all employees with wireless-ready laptop computers and Blackberries, setting up intranet tools that make reporting easier and quicker, and electronically disseminating career and professional development information and job postings. Webex meetings and eLearning tools have become commonplace. Today, employees increasingly have the freedom to work from