Analyse and Discuss the Merits and Best Use

Analyse and discuss the merits and best use of management skills Throughout the essay I hope to be able to interpret the management skills that are essential in today’s working environment. I will also hope to explain my own positive and negative experiences I have come across throughout my working career. The main areas I will cover in this essay on management skills are Leadership, Teamwork, Partnership, Networking, Delegation and Negotiation. We all want to be the best manager we can be, whether it is for your business, small project or social event or to meet targets in your workplace.Unfortunately most people have experienced bad managers or at least bad management skills in your work or personal life. The benefits of being a very good manager is that you have a productive and happy workforce or team enabling you to achieve great results and for team members feel valued and feel they are making worthwhile contribution to the project and to themselves. Agha Hasan Abedi quo tes â€Å"The conventional definition of management is getting the work done through people, but real management is developing people through work† So how do you enable the people to achieve the best for your team?One way is to have excellent leadership skills, so a manager can lead a team to success, whether that would be one section of a project or being able to hit all the targets, to give the company financial benefits. An excellent leader would be a manager that could lead by example, showing their team that they can work hard, put the effort in, are not shunning the menial and difficult work and are willing to â€Å"get their hands dirty† with the team to create success. A leader also has to be the person viewing the team analytically. . e. looking in on the team so that they have the knowledge of their team’s positive and negative points, so they can utilise the person with the right skills for the right task and to train the staff to enable someone or ev eryone to achieve their goal and the teams overall accomplishment. I once worked for the Welsh Assembly in the data capture department for the farming subsidies; I had one main and three deputy managers and worked with between fifty and sixty temporary agency and assembly staff.The managers never once talked individually to their staff to see what their experience was or what their needs were to be able to give the right procedure or training to the right person. Everyone was grouped together and was told to get on with it. This meant that regularly we would have to go over work already done as there were so many mistakes and the quality of the project was put in jeopardy. The end result was that the farmers were often paid very late for land they did not own for farms that did not exist. The Welsh Assembly did pay one farmer over ? 40,000 for farm land that was situated in the North Sea!Just by talking and listening to their staff, working beside them and finding the right person f or the job, a lot of time and money and reputations could have been saved. Teamwork – no goals can be achieved or positive results gained for a project without co-workers, subordinates or friends working effectively together. For any group of people to work together effectively there must be someone who will stand as the manager of the team; so they can lead the team into working as a whole to achieve success; someone who can address any problems and help to find a solution ensuring everyone feels positive in their role in the team.As a manager of a team you need to be able to set the direction, provide guidance and support, co-ordinate the teams’ activities, ensure that each team member plays his or hers part, promote the learning and development of team members, consult the team on issues affecting its work and in conjunction with team members, monitor, and review team performance. If all this can be achieved a manager can lead their team to success time and time aga in.Striving to gain larger profits, market share or to outmanoeuvre business competitors requires capitalizing on highly effective partnerships either internally within a field or business or externally to start collaboration from an assisting field. Partnerships can also ensure the business or project has the capabilities to support it and can evolve initiatives. The strategy of connectivity to other people and entities is now crucial for innovation and overall success. â€Å"Businesses today must propagate connections that provide resources they don’t possess in house and enable them to move quickly to profit. states Mr Stephen Dent from Partnership Continuum. Smart partnerships win not only because of what they do but, even more importantly, from how they do it. They win from leveraging their connectedness and from valuing the building of relationship skills. Partnerships can produce astonishing results—but only when information flows freely, people trust each othe r, and are loyal to each other and their mutual success. Managers and people can get things done by networking.Networks are organized connections between people with shared interests when they exchange information, enlist support and create alliances getting agreement with others on a course of action and joining forces to make it happen. It is an essential way of getting things done in organizations – it ensures that the informal organization works. They exist to meet a need and can be dispersed if that need no longer exists, only to be reformed when it reappears. Networks may just consist of people with similar aims or interests who communicate with one another or get together as required.To start networking you have to identify people who may be able to help, seize any opportunity that presents itself to get to know people who may be useful, have a clear idea of why you want to network – to share knowledge, to persuade people to accept your proposal or point of view , or to form an alliance. You have also got to know what you can contribute – networking is not simply about enlisting support, it is just as much if not more concerned with developing knowledge and understanding and joining forces with like-minded people so that concerted effort can be deployed to get things done.Ask people if you can help them as well as asking people to help you. Operate informally but be prepared to call formal meetings when necessary to reach agreement and plan action. Make an effort to keep in touch with people. Networks are sometimes set up formally in organizations, for example the ‘communities of interest’ that are created to exchange and share knowledge and experience. Networks can also exist outside the business.Again, they may consist of like-minded individuals exchanging information and meeting informally, or they may be set up formally with regular meetings and newsletters. But however you make a network they are very useful, especi ally in these changing times. When I was working in the medical recruitment field for Lifeline locums I began networking when I realised that the business needed more market share of the Welsh NHS positions and to increase the amount Private/NHS general practitioners we could locum. I joined a lot f medical recruitment committees and medical business networks to try and get to the right people who could introduce me to persons who could help the company win business inside the confines of the NHS. I was also informed of a number of NHS tenders to provide locums for certain hospitals that I believe won through networking. This raised the company’s profits fourfold and ensured I had a healthy bonus for the years to come. Even 8 years on I am still in touch with many of the people I made connections with then.The art of delegation is a precise one that requires time and forethought, time to build a strategy, team member development and realism. Every manager is as good as their team around them and as a manager it is impossible to try and do everything yourself, whether it is because you are afraid of giving over some of the control or that you cannot trust other team members to do the work as well as you, sooner or later you will have to be able to delegate to someone.Delegation can feel like more work and more hassle than it's worth, however if you can delegate effectively, it is possible to hugely expand the amount of work that can be completed. When you arrange the workload so that you are working on the tasks that have the highest priority for you, and other people are working on meaningful and challenging assignments, everyone is happier. To delegate effectively, choose the right tasks to delegate, identify the right people to delegate to, and then be available if required.When I was working in America I used a template like this to be able to make a logical step before I made the decision about whom I could delegate to, this also helped study what t ypes of skills I would need. I could then try to find the best match I had within my team or what was needed to develop them to be able to complete it successfully. Although in my case this template, was normally scratched onto one of my paper food sacks from the fruit company I owned in Colorado. Delegation template| Skill/ Ability | Specific Task or Objective| Measures| Agreed(is it? | Realistic(is it? )| Timings(start/finishdates)| Actions | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Negotiating is the process of communicating back and forth, for the purpose of reaching a joint agreement about differing needs or ideas. It is a collection of behaviours that involves communication, sales, marketing, psychology, sociology, assertiveness and conflict resolution. A negotiator may be a buyer or seller, a customer or supplier, a boss or employee, a business partner.It is a process of interaction by which two or more parties who consider that they need to be jo intly involved in an outcome but who initially have different objectives, seek by the use of argument and persuasion to resolve their difference in order to achieve a mutually acceptable solution. Another important consideration is that negotiation implies acceptance by both parties that agreement between them is required before a decision can be implemented. In an ideal situation, you will find that the other person wants what you are prepared to trade, and that you are prepared to give what the other person wants.Depending on the scale of the disagreement, some preparation may be appropriate for conducting a successful negotiation. For small disagreements, excessive preparation can be counter-productive because it takes time that is better used elsewhere. It can also be seen as manipulative because, just as it strengthens your position, it can weaken the other person's. So, in conclusion to ensure that you become an effective manager and have the right skills to be able to steer y our team to success you will undoubtedly have to work hard, find out about the people who are working with you and develop a trusting relationship together.But that is not all; you will need to show you can work hard with them and for them, see what they can do with and without you. See what you could do to develop your team around you and every once in a while take a step back every now and then to see the bigger picture about you and your team. Even within these management skills you have to remember to look outside your team or company and see if there are benefits in creating a network from similar fields or departments that could help strengthen your abilities. Also look out for partnerships that could develop mutual benefits.I hope this has explained the benefits of management skills and this has helped you to understand the examples of my previous working life. But I hope above all, that you remember to always stand tall and proud and be happy in your work. If you believe in yourself, others will to. | | | References Armstrong, A (2008) How to manage people. London. Kogan page limited Buckingham, M (2007) Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance. London (for Agha Hasan Abedi quote) Cole, G. A. (2004) Management – theory and Practice – Sixth Edition. London, South Western CENAGE learning Chapman, A. 2006-2011) Delegation (online) Business Balls http://www. businessballs. com/delegation. htm [accessed 12th December 2012) Dent, S. M. (2006) Partnership Relationship Management- Implementing a Plan for Success (online) Partnership Continuum, www. partneringintelligence. com (accessed 2nd Jan 2012) â€Å"Myopendraft† (2009) Management Skills – Networking (online) www. myopendraft. blogspot. com/2009 (accessed 2nd Jan 2012) Shah, K & Prof. Shah, P. J Date unknown Negotiating Skills (online) Available from http://www. laynetworks. com/Negotiating-Skills. html [accessed 14th Jan 2012) | |

Abigail Should Be Regarded as a Victims of the Puritan Society Essay

Whether in novels, movies or plays, the villains usually leave some negative impressions on the audience so that the villains basically become the most unpopular roles in the works. Because the audiences easily produce subjective consciousness following the villains’ performances in the stories, they are used to ignoring the factor that the villains also could be the victims at the same time. In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is a controversial villain because she is both a typical instigator of the accusations and a victim of the Puritan society at the same time. Firstly, Abigail’s heartrending life experiences and the Puritan society environment which she lives in build her complex character. Secondly, in the affair between her and Proctor, Abigail not only loses love but also she is hated by her lover. First of all, the unpleasant past and the Puritan environment build Abigail’s complex character. To begin with, she is ruthles s because it can be shown from her attitude towards the other girlsof Salem. In order to prevent other girls from speaking out what they have done against the puritanical rules in the forest, she threatens these girls, â€Å"[†¦] I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish had never seen the sun go down!† (Miller 20) A normal girl should never say about that. It is so early for Abigail to experience such a cruel scene as a young child. Her parents’ death greatly affects her, as a result of which this event is likely to leave a wound on her heart. She also gradually becomes ruthless because of that. In addition, the children of Puritan society were never valued by their parents and their physical and psychological health would not be developed very well. Like her contemporaries, Abigail lacks care from her uncle in her childhood. She is adopted by her uncle Parris Williams who a priest in Salem. At the beginning of the play, the narrator said:â€Å"He was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them. [†¦] like the rest of Salem, never conceived that the children were anything [†¦] (Miller 4). Parris never cares about Abigail’s growing up and only cares about his wealth and reputation in Salem. Without the correct guidance, Abigail has to face and solve every problem she may meet in her life by herself. Even though she uses some wrongful means to achieve her purpose, she never cares about whether they are correct or not, because nobody enlightens her how to face these  difficult situations. For example, when Parris asks her what they really have done in the forest, because she fears being punished, she instigates the other girls to cover up the truth, even accusing those innocent people when they are interrogated who are the devils’ servants. Moreover, the Puritanical rules restricts the entertainments of the children’s. This also evokes these girls’ï ¼Å' especially Abigail so that they want to seek some exciting activities somewhere.Therefore, the identity of being an orphan and her miserable childhood experiences cause the ruthless and dishonest character of Abigail, and make her become a victim of the Puritan society. Furthermore, Abigail is a victim in the love affair because she loses her reputation and gets nothing in the end. Firstly, Abigail loses her innocence in villager’s eyes of Salem. When her uncle Parris is talking about her name, Parris mentions Proctor’s wife Elizabeth and he said: â€Å"she comes so rarely to the church this year for she will not sit so close to something soiled. [†¦] that you are now seven months out of their house, and in all this time no other family has ever called for your service (Miller 12). This shows that Abigail has lost her reputation in Salem. Her affair with John Proctor is already known by many people and this event causes n obody would like to employ her. As an unmarried girl, innocence is very important, unlike Proctor who has married Elizabeth. In her future life, no one would like to marry such a soiled girl. At the end of the play, Abigail’s ending is tragic: â€Å"The legend has it that Abigail turned up later as a prostitute in Boston† (Miller ECHOES DOWN THE COORIDOR). She has paid her reputation for love but she still loses Proctor’s love. When Danforth asks where he and Abigail’s affair happened, Proctor tells the truth: In the proper place –where my beasts are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past. [†¦] I beg you, sir, I beg you—see what she is. My wife, my dear good wife, took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the highroad. And being what she is, a lump of vanity [†¦] (Miller 110). John Proctor would rather sacrifice his reputation than harming those innocent people including his wife. He makes his mind up to save Elizabeth and expose the Abigail’s true face at the same time. This reveals Proctor’s emotions toward Abigail at this time. There is not any love is remained in his heart, only anger and hatred. Abigail is a loser in love: she loses Proctor. She is too young and impulsive so that she never considers the consequences when she falls in  love with Proctor who cannot bring her anything she wants. Thus, she gets nothing. All in all, although Abigail is a villain in this play, she is also a victim of Puritan society.

Woman Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Woman Renaissance - Essay Example One such case of women renaissances lies in the curiosity that came up amongst women in modern Europe following the recognition of a patriarchal order in society thus women were put in their own unique situation to engage in their desires. This is especially so in England, where women discovered overcame the issue of contemporary dressing that was common at that time and adopted a more adventurous dress code. The above-mentioned dress code defied their role as people who stayed at home and away from the public limelight for preservation of a pure bloodline, and made them into suspicious beings in the eyes of men. The women’s revolution further covered the ownership of property by women, where to many, if any could own property. Concerning those that owned property it was regarded as highly unusual as it was unlikely in the first place for a woman to have property of any kind in her own name. In this case property was totally patriarchal in that it could only be passed to male members of a family (McKay 395). Looking at merchant families reveals that in spite of family background in terms of religious differences and only allowed inheritance through the male line. The different social backgrounds that were overlooked by this patriarchal tendency include religion and social values, as all this was embedded in classical values as shown by the sidelines at which women were kept. There were also leadership issues towards the renaissance of women in early modern Europe, where there was debate about female rulers, where royal born women were given an education and rights (McKay 393). This was part of the renaissance in that it openly defied gender roles and partially welcomed female responsibility, where women could be rulers. In addition, ownership of property was fully meant for the glory of men, where they were to be honored and respected by women at all times since they were at the mercy of men. These also involved keeping women away from public life and we re isolated at home in an attempt to ensure that their fertility was preserved towards the purity of bloodlines. This is in an attempt to ensure that male line of inheritance was purely familial and not from bastard sons. The above is termed as part of keeping man away from evil following biblical accounts stating that Eve was the villain that brought about suffering unto man thus purity as further depicted by the story of the virgin Mary had to be maintained (McKay 396). In addition, this occurred by keeping women isolated in their homes, where even artwork in the form of paintings indicate the isolation of women by being drawn next to windows (McKay 417). This is especially so in the case of England and France, where the church had a strong influence and only served to ensure that the traditionalist trends of the day and age were followed. This serves towards showing the lack of a renaissance for women in modern Europe due to religious lines and traditionalist ideologies that kept women away from owning property and even having a life outside of their houses as they were seen as treacherous beings (McKay 396). In addition to this, their sense of worth was highly demeaned, as their parents had to pay bride price for their marriage making the perception towards them be highly negative as they were of no economic worth except bringing expenses. However, women did have a renaissance in early modern Europe, as it brought about curiosity, as earlier mentioned in the concept of sexuality, only that in this case it was drawn towards knowledge. During this time, there arose a sense of awareness amongst women who strived to have more knowledge and overcome their conventional roles

Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Management - Assignment Example He defines leadership as follows: â€Å"Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills† (Clark, 2008, para.3). Leithwood & Riehl (2003) posit that a good leader has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He collaborates with other people on ways and means to reach their goals and not focus the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. Because of his positive influence, he gains the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organization. For me, such a leader is leading a noble course in his life, one who makes a difference in other people’s lives and one who leaves a valuable legacy behind. The course on leadership included a large chunk on motivation. A leader needs to be able to motivate his team members. Handy (1999) reports that the initial goals of motivation research was to encourage individuals to provide better service to their employers by exerting more effort and maximizing their talents at work. Having a well-motivated workforce may be equivalent to better work productivity and success in the achievement of goals for the organization. Additional advantages are lower level of absenteeism and staff turnovers because the employees are satisfied with their work. This also means that training and recruitment costs are lowered because work positions are always reliably staffed (Dawson, 2009). To me that makes a lot of sense because what is the point of maintaining teams and training them to be effective if they are

Policy in the Human Services Assignment #2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Policy in the Human Services #2 - Assignment Example The different stages right from deciding on the agenda or issue for which the policy is needed to be framed to the implementation of the final policy is effectively reflected in the following diagram. The policy making stages reflect after identification of the issue for designing of the policy, reflects on evaluating the problems and the different options for setting up of the policy. After the selection of the right or favorable option the policy making process focuses on generation of legislative and regulatory procedures for designing of the policy before implementing the same to bring about necessary changes. The process of designing or generating a policy is also observed as an effective cycle of different types of activities that are conducted in a specific order. The different types of activities that are conducted in a chronological fashion are identified as recognition of the problems or issues based on which the agenda can be constituted, analysis of the policy to be made, evaluation of the tools for designing of the policy, making effective consultation and collaboration with interested stakeholders, coordinating with other principal areas, formulation of decisions re lated to the policy, implementation of the decision made and finally evaluating the potentiality of the implementation phase in meeting the policy objectives. The above discussion is diagrammatically as follows. Work Life Inc. is a company that works as a consultancy in the generation of effective strategic and marketing solutions for different companies operating in the services sector. Mainly based in United States, the company is currently observed to focus on becoming a multinational company through setting up of branches in different parts of the world both in developed and developing nations. In its bid to internationalize, the company aims in generating a policy framework on incorporating a diversified workforce that

SOCIAL NETWORKING AND STUDENT SAFETY BALANCING STUDENT FIRST AMENDMENT Essay

SOCIAL NETWORKING AND STUDENT SAFETY BALANCING STUDENT FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS AND DISCIPLINING THREATENING SPEECH - Essay Example ertain nation are capable of governing their own selves but at least, it is of an utmost fact that people always desires for the good and well-being of their own country; hence, the essence of universal suffrage prevails that the people instinctively chooses leaders who will run the nation; leaders who possess the same amount of passion in upholding the welfare of the nation and therefore deserves to take supreme control over the nation. In America, it is very evident from a keen observers eye the results brought about by democracy. There is so much talent that can be found everywhere. There are many people who are more deserving for a seat to supremacy but are not part of the supreme authority. Instead, they are part of the common Tao that work and live a normal life every day and it should be noticed that these are the outcomes in connection to democracys excess over its previous limitations. Democracy is not merely deficient of judgment that is important to choose people that truly deserves their trust, however, almost always have not wished or had the intention to look for them. It is of an undeniable fact that institutions embracing democracy inclines to introduce a sense of jealousy in the heart of each individual; it is not due to the fact that they have all the capacity to rise above everyone elses position as ultimately because these would mean to unnoticeably beset the people who hired them. Democratic bodies enlivens and teaches a desire for fairness which cannot be satisfied at all. The norm of fairness that renders men self-regulating of each other provides them a practice as well as a perception for going along their isolated acts no other controller aside from their own drive. The whole freedom, which they always delight in relative to their peers and in the interactions of personal life, lean towards making them gaze at all power with an envious eye and hastily proposes towards them the concept and the passion of political liberty. A usual bias

Evolution of Biology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evolution of Biology - Research Paper Example On the basis of the FGF amino acid sequences found in the metazoan lineages, it has been exhibited that the evolutionary scenarios in the metazoan lineages are associated with the FGF gene content. Two hypotheses have been proposed on the basis of the evolutionary progression in the metazoan lineage. The first hypothesis states that the eight FGF subfamilies are chordae-specific and the second hypothesis states that the eight subfamilies were ancestral to all eumetazoans. The study results showed that the chordates possessed two gene copies of the FGF gene and duplications occurred generating the current diversity. The metazoan lineage, on the other hand, exhibits high degree of gene losses during their evolution. Therefore, a total of eight gene families were present in the eumetazoan ancestors, out of which there were six gene losses in cnidarians, five in ambulacrarians and five in protostomes. For phylogenetic analysis of vertebrae FGFs, the amino acids were aligned and maximum likelihood tree was built. For the nonvertebrae FGF phylogenetic analyses, the obtained FGF sequences were aligned with the already known FGF sequences from the metazoan lineages. Maximum likelihood tree for this group was also generated. The methodology focuses on comparing the FGF subfamilies from the vertebrae and non-vertebrae groups to understand the genetic evolutionary process. The approach of the methods used by the research was focused on supporting the hypothesis and different sequences were compared so that an understanding of the variations in the genetics of FGF family could be compared. The data is exhibited through easy to understand diagrams and chromosomal maps. For exhibiting the evolutionary progression of the FGF family the comparison of the amino acid sequences is crucial so that the duplications or losses could be understood. The hypothesis is supported successfully by the results of the data which represents that the FGF

Why was OJ Simpson found not guilty in the criminal proceedings, and Essay

Why was OJ Simpson found not guilty in the criminal proceedings, and found liable in the civil proceedings - Essay Example y considered to have been poorly administered by the presiding judge (Lance Ito), and despite the introduction of considerable forensic and circumstantial evidence pointing to the defendant’s guilt, Simpson was acquitted in October 1995. However, in the civil trial alleging wrongful death and concluded in February 1997, the verdict was otherwise. This disparity in results has raised a number of questions concerning such matters as actual guilt, double jeopardy, and the like. In criminal litigation, the burden of proof is on the state. â€Å"The state [or ‘prosecution’] must prove that the defendant is guilty. The defendant is assumed to be innocent; [and therefore] the defendant needs to prove nothing†¦ [Furthermore,] in criminal litigation, the state must prove that the defendant satisfied each element of the statutory definition of the crime, and the defendant’s participation, ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ [Standler, 2002].† Conversely, in civil litigation, while the initial burden of proof, as in criminal cases, falls to the plaintiff (paralleling the prosecution in a criminal proceeding), â€Å"when the plaintiff has made a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant to refute or rebut the plaintiff’s evidence [Standler, 2002].† Equally important, in civil proceedings the requirement that the jury be convinced ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ is replaced by a jury’s col lective satisfaction that the ‘preponderance of evidence’ points to the defendant’s guilt or negligence. In California, no one may be convicted in a jury trial criminal proceeding (vice trial by presiding judge alone), except in those instances when the jury is unanimously agreed on the defendant’s guilt. Conversely, in civil proceedings, the plaintiff prevails if nine or more of the twelve jurors concur in the defendant’s guilt or negligence. Since no formal punishment attaches to conviction in a civil proceedings, matters at issue that have been resolved in

Customer Driven Quality Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Customer Driven Quality - Research Paper Example One of the driving factors for this trend is the "impact of competition" (Burrill and Ledolter, 1999, pg. 523). The second major factor is the ISO 9000 system of standards. These standards provide a baseline by which processes and organizations are checked. The organizations strive to achieve certification as a stamp of approval. The final factor is quality awards. Companies compete to earn the highly visible quality awards. Not only do these awards make a statement about the organization, but these needs will have leverage in marketing campaigns (Burrill and Ledolter, 1999, pg. 523). The major factors that help define the value of quality have been presented. The next phase is to tie these factors to customer satisfaction. Greater levels of competition provide a catalyst to force companies to keep improving products or services. Consumers can generally choose from one of many companies to meet needs. One way for a company to keep customers is to provide a much greater level of satisfaction. The manufacturing industry will be used to illustrate this example. Automotive manufacturing is a $484 billion industry (Yahoo! Finance, 2007). Quality plays a major role in the success of this business. According to industry data Toyota is currently at the top of the market capitalization with $228.3 billion. Toyota takes both employee's and customer seriously when it comes to satisfaction. Toyota vehicles are in the top five in both the Midsize Car Initial Quality and Midsize Car Reliability awards from JD Power (JD Power, 2007). These examples of quality awards and the financial standing in the industry provide evidence of Toyota's value of quality being important. Consumer trends show the importance of fuel efficient vehicles that are still safe and fun to drive. Industry trends cited record-level gas prices for the beginning of the trend toward more fuel efficient vehicles. The forecast for the 2006 model year showed Japanese Big Three (Honda, Nissan, and Toyota) continuing to capture market shares. Customer needs were being met by these companies. Fuel efficient and hybrid vehicles were being manufactured with attention to quality (Edmunds, 2007). The manufacturers spotted the trend and produced quality vehicles that met the customer's needs. Toyota maintains quality at all levels of the company. This method allows Toyota to garner the best input from every employee. Special attention is paid to Toyota's methods for gathering input from all employees. "Toyota receives 4,000,000 ideas from its 80,000 employees. Since over 95% are implemented, this is over forty-six implemented ideas per employee per year" (Wadsworth, Stephens, and Godfrey, 2002, pg. 92). Toyota leverages the knowledge each employee gains while performing job functions. This allows for a close check to be kept on the quality of the products being manufactured. Steph Service companies lose millions of dollars when failures become repetitive. The failures result in redesign costs, liabilities, and transaction costs (Free Quality, 2007). Much of the business lost as a result of failures is the most serious cost and causes customer defection. The task that service companies must provide is error-free services. Error-free service becomes challenging due to subjective

Creative Spark Talk Analysis Essay Example for Free

Creative Spark Talk Analysis Essay Sir Ken Robinson is an educator, respected author and leading advocator for changes to the educational system. A Professor believes that the education system needs to be more creative and stop preventing creativity. Sir Robinson speech on â€Å"How Schools Kill Creativity†; given on February 2006; at TED conference in Monterey California. It focuses on the education system goals and the educators understanding the process of developing a successful system. The focus of his speech is how schools do everything they can to dissuade children from being creative. He is advocating for a monumental change in current educational systems that nurture and promote creativity. The education system profound way of how the selection process of the employee, prevents the out-of-box thinkers from maintaining their creativity growth. Stages of Creativity Robinson begins his talk referencing how we have become a society that deeply vested in education. He goes on to say today’s children have incredible talent but we waste it through our current educational systems. He discusses how we have become a society that is educating for 50 years in the 2065 we really have no idea what the future will look like in five years. In looking at the four stages of creativity, it is easy to see how the current educational systems stifle creativity. Stage one according to Ryan Ruggiero is searching for challenges or â€Å"meeting challenges in an imaginative, original, and effective way† (Ruggiero, 2012). Robinson discusses how our educational systems have become more about mathematics and science and less about the arts. Young children are willing to take a  chance. If they do not know an answer to a question, they are not afraid to go for it or of being wrong according to Robinson. Robinson makes an excellent point that â€Å"if you aren’t prepared to be wrong then you will never come up with anything creative† (Robinson, 2007). Stage three, which probably the most important deals with investigating the problem. It is important to make sure you obtain the necessary information to deal effectively with the problem. The last stage is stage four, which involves producing ideas. It is importa nt to make sure you generate enough ideas to decide which action you should take. Concepts of imagination and Curiosity Almost the entire talk Robinson gave revolved around creativity and imagination. Robinson discusses how today’s society has become dependent on rising through the ranks by achieving different degree levels. He explains that in order to rise to different levels there is too much focus on answering questions accurately and too much focus on when mistakes occur. Personal experiences and Benefit Society I remember not doing well in my Biology class and my instructor challenge me to change location in the classroom. I did not believe that the seat selection was the problem, but changing the seat eliminated the surrounding distraction and my grades highlighted the improvement. I took that same approach to the rest of my classes and the results astonishing. I believe at that time most of my teachers had written me off, but as an educator you have to seek ways more creative approach to capture and develop the students minds for thinking out of the box. I have learn from that experience and lecture, we as educators in the educational system have to be open to ideas and develop different methodology that will help our learners to mature and produce different avenues of approach to accomplishing a task. Sir Robinson talk was quite eye opening for me and has made me take a more analytical approach to how I even educate my children. References Robinson, K. (2007, January 6). Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? [Video file]. Retrieved from Youtube.com website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY Ruggiero, V. R. (2012). The Art Thinking. The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought (10th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Longman.

Cultural Dependency Theory

Cultural Dependency Theory Introduction: There are many reasons to examine the current situation of the world, where a lot of countries are underdeveloped or are developing, and a small portion of the world, which are the Western countries, are relatively rich and developed and rule over the under-developed and developing countries. In this essay, I discuss the Modernisation theory and the Cultural Dependency Theory, how they came into existence and what are their problems. Also, the contributions made by all the countries and trying to develop have not really helped them to a great extent. In this essay, I have also explained why this division is still present and the dependency of the Third World countries on the Western countries. At the end of the essay, I have given the pros and cons of both the theories. International Communication Theory: The Third world countries were highly inferred for development because of the cold war which divided the countries into Eastern countries and western countries. This lasted for more than 50 years. Most of the Third World Nations wanted to avoid the group of countries which had common interest in politics and they wanted to concentrate on getting their population out of the control of the other legal or political restrictions. Third world nations got their name during the cold war which is said to be given by Alfred Sauvy in 1952, who was the French Economic historian. The world was divided between the capitalist first world which was led by the United States, and the communist second world, which was headed by Moscow (Thussu, 2006). The Term Third world was given to the nations who were not included in above mentioned groups (Brandt Commission, 1981; South Commission, 1990) and Asia, Latin America and Africa started a movement of National Liberation. This changed the entire political maps of the world (Thussu, 2006). By 1960, a lot of countries were free from the colonial powers and these new independent states got an opportunity to develop because of International Communication (Thussu, 2006). The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was approved by the UN General Assembly and the UNCTAD, because, the Non-Aligned Movement started demanding fairness in the economy. NIEO had an independent and an egalitarian economic order which was grounded on the principles of equality and was government free which included that, all the members of the country had equal rights to participate in the development process (Thussu, 2006 cit. Hamelink, 1979: 145). The NIEO provided a structure which helped to understand the international relations between the countries based on North-South division. At the same time, New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) also had to be taken into consideration in order to link it with the economic order. The Non-Aligned countries demanded changes in the global economic and informational systems. Juan Somavia, 1976, observed that, The transnational Power structure supported the transnational communication system to develop. This is basically a tool for transmitting values and lifestyles to Third World Countries which provokes the consumption and society which is necessary to the transnational system as a whole. (Somavia, 1976: 16-17) There were a lot of times when the Third World or the developing countries took technical and financial help from the Western or the developed countries as they wanted to use the communication technologies for development. One of the main areas where the developing countries took support from the developed ones was the satellite television. Television was considered to be one of the most powerful and influential medium. It could be used for a lot of purposes like bringing change in the attitudes of the traditional people, educational purposes and modernise societies. Cultural Dependency Theory: Cultural Dependency Theory was emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. It was a criticism of the modernisation theory. This theory was developed in Latin America under the supervision of Raul Prebisch who was the director of United Nations Economic Commission. The main interest in research of Instituto Lationoamericano de Estudios (ILET) which was established in 1976 in Mexico City was to study the Transnational media business, which gave a force to criticise the modernisation theory.(Thussu, 2006) It became necessary to analyse international communication. So dependency theorists directed towards getting a substitute theoretical account (Baran, 1957; Gunder Frank, 1969; Amin 1976). Transnational Communication (TNCs) which was dominated by the North, have control over the governments and over developing countries by setting their personal rules and regulations on global trade which includes dominating labour, market, production and resources. These countries were developing in such a way that the developed countries keep dominating over the developing countries and maintained the need for the developing countries to be dependent on the developed countries (Thussu, 2006). Due to the neo-colonial relationship in which the TNCs controlled the exchange and structure of global markets, the inequality in the south had become wider and deeper whereas the TNCs had strengthened their control over the worlds natural and human resources (Baran, 1957; Mattlelart, 1979, Thussu, 2006). Dependency theorists tried to show the link between modernisation and policies of transnational media (Thussu, 2006). Herbert Schillers idea of cultural imperialism is the most clearly identified one (1969-92). Schiller analysed the links between the transnational business and the dominant states. (Thussu, 2006) The main argument of Schiller was about how the US based transnational corporations weaken the cultural liberty of the developing countries and force them to be dependent on both hardware and software of communication and media. The definition of cultural imperialism by Schiller was, the sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to or even to promote, the values and structures of the dominant centre of the system (Schiller, 1976: 9) Schiller argued that new emergent American empire was taking over the European colonial empires like, British, French and Dutch. This was based on the economic, military and informational power. According to him, the US based TNCs are continuously growing and are starting to dominate the global economy. US business and military organisations have got a leading role in the development and control of a new, electronic based global communication system due to the support that economic growth has received from the communication knowledge (Thussu, 2006). USA had the most effective surveillance system as it controlled global satellite communications which was the crucial element in the cold war years (Thussu, 2006). Due to this the dependence on the US increased for communication Technology and investment (Schiller, 1969). All the western goods and services along with the American way of life were promoted when the media programs were imported from the USA which required sponsorship to run . This was a threat to the Southern traditional cultures (Schiller, 1969). He argued in his book, which was republished in 1992 that the domination over the worlds communication of the US increased after the UNESCO failed and the cold war got over. The domination of US over the economy had started decreasing as the TNCs started acquiring important role in international relations changing the cultural imperialism of US into Transnational corporate cultural domination (Schiller, 1992: 39) The other works which show the dominance of the US using cultural imperialism is clearly seen in the Hollywoods relationship with the European movie market (Guback, 1996); US exports television shows to Latin America and influences it greatly (Wells, 1972); Disney comic also have contributed in promoting capitalist values (Dorfan and Mattelart, 1975) and advertising industry has played a role of an ideological instrument (Ewen, 1976; Mattelart, 1991) (cited in Thussu, 2006: 48-49). Oliver Boyd-Barrett noticed one of the most prominent aspects of dependency in international communication in the 1970s as media imperialism. This examines the information and media inequalities between the nations. It analyses the domination of the US over the international media (Boyd-Barrett, 1977). Modernisation Theory: The concept of modernity has become a very general statement. It represents the experience of the western culture on the others. All the global cultures are disapproved to modernity and the concept of cultural imperialism critically evaluates the conclusions in the critique of modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). A philosophical notion in the years after the war was that international communication is an important part in order to modernise and develop the Third world nations. The notion was that international communication can be used to spread modernity among the newly independent countries and that it will help to transform the traditional societies of the developing countries. It was also used to transfer the hypothetical description of economic and political entity of the developed countries.   Modernisation theory is an attempt to provide a support for the development policies which was created by the western countries. These development policies were supported towards the Third world countries which were still getting out of the rule of the stronger countries and were getting independent. This theory is just an attempt to explain the economic under-development of the Third world nations by focusing on the development which can be done with a process which is determined by the societys internal features. Vincent Mosco points out: The Modernisation Theory was meant to reconstruct the international division of labour amalgamating the non-Western world into the emerging international structural hierarchy (1996: 121). Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel and Tonnies and others came up with their own theories keeping in mind the dramatic changes in the European societies due to the modern world. There was an agreement between the theorists which was based on the political spectrum and all of them thought that the world had more than one possible meaning in the capacity to deliver fulfilment and happiness. Modernity was associated with enlightenment and was suppose to free the people from the control of another person or any legal or political restrictions. But modernity failed to deliver complete freedom. Modernisation includes economic scientific and technical development that is very closely related to the capitalist market. But Bermans, in his book All that is solid melts into air talks about the notion of self development. The main aim of his book is to explain that cultural condition of modernity stood still and lapsed during the twentieth century. He also aims to fix the serious problem which was closely linked to the possibilities of dangers along with the enthusiasts and enemies of the modern life which was found during the nineteenth century. (Berman, 1983) According to the Frankfurt School theorists the main issue of modernity was the injustices by the capitalist system or social intolerance by a bigot or of the ideology of possessive individualism (Tomlinson, 1991). Horkheimer and Adorno critiqued the modernisation theory by comparing it with the so called rational institutions. The main task of modernisation theory is to set people free, but the history and past politics show that this theory failed to do their task effectively (Tomlinson, 1991). According the Berman, people living in the twentieth century do not know how to live a modern life and missed of broken the connection between the culture and lives. He describes modernisation as a set of historical processes due to which the experience of modernity evolves. He claims that modernity is one of the most difficult, anxious and uncertain place to live, but ultimately it is the world where people live and people can master the cultures of the place where they live. At one point of time, he mentions about the Third World nations and discusses that the governments of those countries are trying to protect their people from modernisation which is being imposed by the West. He says that if the culture which is being imposed by the west is really not used by the Third World nations then will they consume so much energy? The governments of the Third world nations call the West as aliens. But they do not understand the fact that they are their own peoples energies, desires and cr itical spirit. When these governments say that they do not want the Western Countries to impose any kind of cultures in their nations, they are trying to say that, they have managed to keep the political and spiritual influence on the people. Also they do not realise that once the people become more aware of things going around them, modernist spirit will be one of the first things to be adapted by the people. The governments of the Third World Nations are fighting against each other in order to keep their tradition alive among the people, which had no result at the end. He also says that Third world governments think that they are being enforced upon by the western countries by accumulating a lot of capital or are being forced to break into parts. He suggests that people have to adapt to a place in which nothing can be taken for granted. Media is just one form of medium which helps to spread the experience of modernity. But according to another theorist, Peter Berger, 1974, modernisation is not a one way journey which rectifies human self understanding. He explains this concept with the help of a story of a visitor who visited the villages of Tanzania. People living in these villages belonged to different Tribes but are now living very co-operatively. This was one of the communities which were transferring from tradition to modernity. The visitor asked someone; whether they still practice their personal tribal dances. The answer was, yes, and it is done once or twice a year on any special occasion. He also added that this is done so that it becomes easy for the people to understand one another better. (Berger, 1974).It is clearly seen that there is a process of political-economic which is enforced upon the Third world nations as they are very closely connected with their traditions and colonialism which has become a history for the Western nations and still are in a position to dominate over the Thi rd world nations (Tomlinson, 1991). Castoriadis, 1985, mentions that the West will continue to conquer the world even if it was going to be destroyed materially (Castoriadis, 1985). So when Berman says that the Third World cultures need to be modernised, he means not just in terms of objective structures of the capitalist markets, urbanism, but also in terms of a narrative with a clear beginning keeping in mind the cultures of the west. His view of modernity means that it is full of forces like the dynamic and development forces which means that the Western cultures are being imposed on the Third world nations in order to modernise and develop their countries. But Castoriadis has a different opinion. He accepts individuals have their own priorities and have their personal institutional forces towards modernity. The kind of institutions we develop in order to become powerful does not come from external forces of humanity but it comes from within through the social imaginary (Tomlinson, 1991). Habermass view on modernity is completely different from that of Bermans. Habermas thinks that modernity is a way of making someone poor culturally, whereas Berman thinks that there are forces which drive people towards modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). Cultural Dependency Theory v/s Modernisation Theory: The gap between the ruling and the working class increased which combined with regular recession to create dissatisfaction among the working class (McPhail, 2009). In order to fight for their rights, working class started forming groups such as unions (McPhail, 2009). Stevenson criticised this theory by using the dependency literature which was notable for an absence of clear definitions of fundamental terms like imperialism and an almost total lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments (Stevenson, 1988: 38). A lot of other theorists argued that it did not consider the media form and the role played by the audience (Thussu, 2006). Those involved in a cultural studies approach to the analysis of international communication argued that, like other cultural artefacts, media texts could be polysemic and were amenable to different interpretations by audiences who were not merely passive consumers, but active participants in the process of negotiating meaning (Fiske, 1987, cited in Thussu, 2006: 49). It was also noticed by the theorists that cultural imperialism thesis did not consider issues as how global media texts worked in national contexts, ignoring local patterns of media consumption (Thussu, 2006: 49). Cultural Dependency theory also failed to explain the effects of the cultural products distributed by the US around the world. Also, cultural imperialism failed to give attention to the complexities of the Third World cultures and assumed a hypodermic-needle model (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1991, 1997). It was also argued that western scholars did not have deep knowledge about the Third world cultures. They had extremely limited knowledge and not being aware of diversities such as race, gender, class, religion and ethnicity. Very few systematic studies have been conducted by the southern scholars on cultural and ideological effects on western media on the audiences of the south (Thussu, 2006).One of the major issues of this theory was that it did not consider the role of the national elites, especially elites living in the developing countries (Thussu, 2006). Modernisation Theory had promised to deliver the social and economic change which failed miserably (McPhail, 2009). Therefore, three other theories were developed which looked at the development communication which were totally different and directed in a different way, which were, Cultural imperialism, Participatory communication and Entertainment-Education Theory (McPhail, 2009). Social and cultural theory does not agree with the core of modernity. Also this theory was criticised to a great degree because of its ideological basis, lack of clarity and it is a subject which is ignorant to many and it fails to exercise good judgement. This theory ignores the external determinants of underdevelopment like the exploitation of the Third world countries when they were being ruled by the Western countries. This theory ignores these factors and assumes that the Third World nations are progressing independently and are becoming modern on their own. In order for the Third world nations to progress they needed help from the Western countries as there was a lot of poverty, inadequate resources, lack of social provisions and political instability in the Third world nations. Modernisation Theory ignores all the disapprovals and expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context which was addressed by the classical theorists (Tomlinson, 1991). In this theory, the traditional cultures, media habits, language, religion of the developing countries were not included, and were totally ridiculed and ignored (McPhail, 2009). One of the clear criticisms on this theory is that the American policy was to commit to free flow the information to the world and all the nations fell into the trap and gave immense support to this statement which was assumed to be true (McPhail, 2009). Scholars from the developing countries argued that the developing countries were not the beneficiaries of this theory, which was meant for them, but the western countries who created it were only getting benefitted out of this theory as it helped the companies to grow and establish in the Third world and could find their new consumers of their products (Thussu, 2009). A lot of people in the Third World remained poor and under developed, even after adapting themselves to modernisation theory and by the mid 70s, they started talking about the passing of the dominant paradigm (Rogers, 1976: 3).Slowly, when the US realised that the Southern nations are looking at them with suspicion, they stopped their free flow of information and became the one at the receiving end which at the end became a one way flow of information (McPhail, 2009). This matter was going to be brought up in the debate of the UNESCO in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the US president, Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher withdrew from UNESCO in order to protest against NWICO. Different opinions resulted in creating two streams, one of which was the outline of cultural imperialism by Herbert Schiller and the NWICO debate and fallout. This resulted in making a particular culture homogenous, that is the American popular culture, which is been mass produced (McPhail, 2009). Due to these reasons, the theorists of modernisation theory realised that this theory needs to be redeveloped (Thussu, 2006). The revised modernisation theory gives greater notice to the local elites (Thussu, 2006). But even in the revised version, western technology remains important. According to Thussu, 2006, Modernisation requires advanced telecommunication and computer infrastructure, preferably through the efficient private corporations, thus integrating the South into a globalized information economy (Thussu, 2006: 46) Despite of all the criticism done on dependency theory, cultural imperialism thesis have been extremely influential in international communication (Tomlinson, 1991; Thompson, 1995). This particular thesis was extremely important and needed during the heated argument during the NWICO debates in UNESCO and other international fora in the 1970s (Thussu, 2006). While criticising this thesis, John Thompson, 1995, concluded that this research is probably the only systematic and moderately plausible attempt, to think about the globalisation of communication and its impact on the modern world (Thompson, 1995: 173). Theorists, who defend this theory, argued that the critics of this theory often take the notion which is totally not in reference to the theory and it is completely abstract (Mattelart and Mattelart, 1998). There were a lot of changes in the debate of international communication which reflected the language of privatisation and liberalisation in the 1990s, media and cultural dependency theories became less eminent but their relevance was very visible all around (Golding and Harris, 1997; Thussu, 1998; Hackett and Zhao, 2005 and Hamm and Smandych, 2005 cited in Thussu, 2006: 50) Boyd-Barrett rightly argues that media imperialism has not included variables, such as gender, media relations and ethnic issues, so it is still a very useful theory to understand of what he terms the colonisation of communication space (Boyd-Barrett. 1998: 157). References: 1. Amin, S. (1976) Accumulation on a world scale: a critique of the theory of underdevelopment. New York: Monthly Review Press. 2. Baran, P. (1957) The political economy of growth. New York: Monthly Review Press. 3. Berman. M (1983) All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity. London, verso, pp. 15 4. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1977) Media Imperialism: towards an international framework for the analysis of media systems. In J.Curran, M. Gurevitch and J. Woolacott (eds), Mass Communication and society. London: Edward Arnold. 5. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1998) Media imperialism which was developed again. In. D. Thussu (ed.), Electronic empires. London: Arnold. 6. Brandt Commission (1981) North-South: a programme for survival. The report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues under the chairmanship of Willi Brandt, London: Pan Books. 7. Castoriadis, C. (1985) Reflections on rationality and development, thesis eleven, no. 10/11, pp. 21. 8. Golding, P. And Harris, P. (eds) (1997) The political economy of the media 2 vols, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 9. Gunder Frank, A. (1969) Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. New York. Monthly Review Press. 10. Hackett, R. A and Zhao, Y. (eds) (2005) Democratizing global media: one world, many struggles. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield. 11. Mattelart, A. (1979) Multinational corporations and the control of culture. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. 12. Mattelart, A. and Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of communication: a short introduction. London: Sage. 13. McPhail, T. (2009) Development Communication Reframing the role of the media. London. Blackwell Publishing. 14. Mosco, V. (1996) The political economy of communication: rethinking and renewal. London: Sage. 15. Berger, P. (1974) Pyramids of sacrifice, Harmondsworth, Allen lane, pp. 197-8 16. Rogers, E. (1976) Communication and DevelopmentL the passing of a dominant paradigm. Communication Research, 3. 17. Schiller, H. (1969) Mass Communication and American Empire. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Second revised and updated edition published by Westview Press in 1992. 18. Schiller, H. (1976) Communication and cultural domination. New York: International Arts and sciences press, 9. 19. Somavia, J. (1976) The Transnational Power Structure and International Information. Development Dialogue, 2:   16-17. 20. South Commission (1990) The challenge of South: the report of the South Commission. Geneva: the South Centre. 21. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1991) The global and the local in international communication. In J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds), Mass Media and Society. London: Edward Arnold. 22. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1997) The many cultural phases of imperialism. In P. Golding and P. Harris (eds), Beyond cultural imperialism. London: Sage. 23. Stevenson, R. (1988) Communication, development and the Third World: the global politics of information. London: Longman. 38. 24. Thussu, D. K (ed.) (1998) Electronic empires: global media and local resistance. London: Arnold. 25. Thussu, D. K (2006) International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. 26. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 46. 27. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 48-49. 28. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 49. 29. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 50. 30. Thompson, J. (1995) The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity. 31. Tomlinson, J. (1991) Cultural Imperialism- a critical introduction. Great Britain. Pinter Publishers Ltd.

Walt Whitman: Homoeroticism in Leaves of Grass Essay -- Poetry Analysi

Leaves of Grass is Walt Whitman’s life legacy and at the same time the most praised and condemned book of poetry. Although fearful of social scorn, there are several poems in Leaves of Grass that are more explicit in showing the homoerotic imagery, whereas there are several subtle – should I say â€Å"implicit† – images woven into the fabric of the book. It is not strange, then, that he created many different identities in order to remain safe. What Whitman faced in writing his poetry was the difficulty in describing and resonating manly and homosexual love. He was to find another voice of his, a rhetoric device, and his effort took two forms: simplified, and subverted word play. The first was to understand and render the experience in everyday terms, as in the poem Behold This Swarthy Face. Whitman puts emphasis on masculinity â€Å"in this swarthy face, these gray eyes† (149), and other words, too, are expressive enough to explain to the reader what kind of person is to be loved. What is not as subtle as in some other of Whitman’s poems is the idea in the second part of the poem: â€Å"And I on the crossing of the street or on the ship’s deck give a kiss in / return† (149) – the meeting of the two is to be recognized anywhere, be it on the street or on a ship's deck. When it comes to the second form, Davidson notices that â€Å"The other and far more prevalent form of presented homoerotic love was by means of terms of oppression, subversion† (54). Exemplar poem of this form is Not Heaving from My Ribb’d Breast Only. In it the lyrical subject is trapped in fears and must break out of suppression in order to be himself. In the end of the poem there is a sudden release: â€Å"O pulse of my life! / Need I that you exist and show yourself any more than in... ...d Bergman, David. Choosing Our Fathers: Gender and Identity in Whitman, Ashbery and Richard Howard. American Literary History 1.2 (1989): 383-403. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Davidson, Edward H.. The Presence of Walt Whitman. Journal of Aesthetic Education 17.4 (1983): 41-63. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Herrman, Steven B.. Walt Whitman and the Homoerotic Imagination. Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche 1.2 (2007): 16-47. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Maslan, Mark. Whitman and His Doubles: Division and Union in Leaves of Grass and Its Critics. American Literary History 6.1 (1994): 119-139. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Metzer, David. Reclaiming Walt: Marc Blitzstein’s Whitman Settings. Journal of the American Musicological Society 48.2 (1995): 240-271. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Pennsylvania: the Pennsylvania State University, 2007. Print.

LSD and PCP :: essays research papers

LSD and PCP Use Today there is increasing usage of two very powerful, and dangerous drugs in the youth of this Nation. LSD is one of these drugs, this hallucinogen more commonly known as Acid and is one of the longest lasting highs that are out there. LSD was first researched in 1953 when the Central Intelligence Agency thought that the Soviets and Chinese would use LSD to brainwash American diplomats. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration lists this drug as a "schedule I" drug that means that it has high potential for abuse. During the "turn-on, tune-in, drop-out" time of the 60's LSD became the thing for social and political movements to freedom, creativity, self-discovery and opposition to the Vietnam War. Some freaked out during bad trips as LSD caused panic and advansded mental illnesses. Most are curried with flashbacks that are recurrences of hallucinations. Some people thought they could fly, and jumped to their deaths. The popularity of the rug in the 60's started research and laws making its use illegal. LSD is the chemical term or lysergic acid diethyl amide. National Institute on Drug Abuse surveys indicate illicit use of LSD has remained relatively constant. Almost 2 percent of high school seniors are current users and 8.7 percent have taken LSD at least once. Its not creating the problems it created in the 60's because the average street dose is al least 50 percent lower. Washington, D.C. is known as the PCP capital of the United States because there are more illicit PCP lads here than anywhere both water and fat soluble. In other words, any way ap person gets it in his or her body, it will be absorbed. PCP can be snorted or inhaled, put in a pill form and swallowed, sprayed on any thing and smoked. In Washington, dealers spray it on marijuana and sell it to all the street junkies. People high on PCP either end up overdosed, where they become kind of robotic in their movements and behavior, or they act really crazy. PCP patients show signs of visual hallucination, they show psychotic behavior. Many crimes of violence have been done under the have no an amnesia component. When people smoke PCP, the high comes on in two to five minutes, peaks at about 20 minutes, and takes 24 to 48 hours to come back to what they call normal. Most users also smoke a combination of PCP and crack known as bazooka. There are a lot of mixtures of there drugs in fact not many

Platos Symposium :: essays research papers

Throughout history Love has been a topic of conversation. As the topic to the Symposium Socrates and his intellectual partners discuss what Love is and twist it’s meaning in every possible way. Each attendee of the dinner is given an opportunity to express his feelings and ideas about Love. Love can be molded to fit many styles, shapes, and types. Of those who were attending the Symposium, the majority of the men were homosexual or like Socrates bi-sexual. In this era, men commonly befriended young boys and taught them about Love. In exchange for sharing their knowledge, the older men gained sexual satisfaction. This started a cycle, when the young boys grew old they passed their knowledge on. The young boys in which were taught showed their appreciation by performing sexual acts. Love occurred in several ways. Physical and emotional attractions were the two main sources of Love. Love based on a single physical feature is just as possible as love of a person’s entire body and physical beauty. As talked about in the class discussion, Love of a person can be based on the Love of a physical feature. An individual can fall in Love with another even if he or she is not attracted to the other person’s mind. Opposite personalities can fall in Love with each other and do not need to base their Love on compatibility. Others base their Love on an emotional connection. This type of Love is the type thought to be most accepted by society, especially by women. In the class discussion, the females seemed to accept Love based on emotion and not based on physical beauty. It is hard to believe that Love can be formed solely on physical attraction and not on a spiritual connection. Emotional Love differs from physical Love due to the reason that no matter how much the person being loved changes physically, he or she will still be accepted and loved. Emotionally based Love can change according to the personality change of the loved one. If the person being loved no longer acts in a manner that is attracting to the person doing the loving then it is possible to fall out of Love that is emotionally based. Those who attended the symposium believed that there were two types of Love, Common Love and Heavenly Love. Heavenly Love is represented through the older man giving knowledge to the young boy in exchange for sexual gratification.

A Blessing James Wright Essay

In the poem â€Å"A Blessing,† James Wright analyzes the relationship between human beings and nature through the descriptive explanation of an encounter between his friend and himself and two Indian horses. He shows that although we are able to relate and interact with the animals we don’t have the ability to join them or as Wright puts it: â€Å"break into blossom† (26-27). Wright uses imagery and personification to describe the nature he witnesses as he escapes from the stress of human life. The ponies in this poem are personified by comparing them to human beings, mainly through the description of their emotions. This personification lessens the gap between the author and the horses and separates him from civilization represented by the highways of Rochester, Minnesota. As the poem goes on the differences between the humans and nature start to fade away as they begin to interact. When the poem opens we see the harsh contrast between the highways of human civilization and the imagery being used to describe setting of the encounter between the humans and nature, or the horses. See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay The horses welcome the writer and his friend, which is shown through personification. The writer and his friend â€Å"step over the barbed wire into the pasture† (7) and meet the lonesome horses that have been alone all day. The barbed wire serves as a figurative barrier between the human world and the natural world of the horses in the pasture. The simile: â€Å" they bow shyly as wet swans† (12) describes the ponies and shows the beauty and elegance of the ponies in their natural environment. The ponies are at home in their environment as â€Å"they begin munching on the young tufts of spring in the darkness† (15). The author is also starting to feel more comfortable in the natural world, on the other side of the barbed wire. Wright describes the beauty of the horses using imagery of their mane and their colors. The writer is so drawn in by this beauty in the horses that he desires to become a part of them and â€Å"hold the slenderer one† (18). This shows the merging of the two groups into one happy combination of the two. This point is proved further as â€Å"A light breezes moves [the author] to caress [the ponies] long ear† (23), showing that nature itself is encouraging the merging of the two sides, because the wind encourages the hand to pet the horses ear. Another simile is used to describe the horse’s ear â€Å"as delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist† (24), again blurring the line between human and nature. Finally Wright comes to the realization that if he were â€Å"blessed† enough he would be able to step out of his body and break into blossom, thus becoming a part of nature. But, he realizes that is past the realm of reality and therefore cannot be done. Wright examines the relationship of human being and nature using his descriptive language including such devices as imagery and similes. Wright sees the idea of nature and humans joining as one as a possible feat and he shows this though his written experience with these Indian ponies. He initially shows the contrast of the two worlds, but they grow on each other and end up becoming one. Wright sees the loneliness of the ponies, gains their affection, as the ponies are very welcoming. He ultimately ends up wanting to join them by being able to â€Å"break into blossom† (26-27), but he is unable to do so because he reached the maximum threshold of the union between humans and nature. Which brings us back to the Wright is able to disregard the average day for humans and take a day to appreciate the true value of nature in its raw form while ignoring the troubles of the human world. With this he creates a memorable analysis of the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Origin and Development of Applied Linguistics Essay

â€Å"Applied linguistics is not a discipline which exists on its own. It is influenced by other disciplines and influences them as well. It is a two-way process. For this reason, applied linguistics examines theories from all sorts of different areas (semantics, syntax, pragmatics, sociolinguistics,†¦) and from all sorts of perspectives so that it help find out effective solutions for language -related issues such as teaching methodology (including foreign language and mother tongue teaching), translation, aphasia,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Applied linguistics originated in close relation with foreign language teaching and has developed to cover a wide range of knowledge, but its core has always been language teaching and learning. Applied linguistics draws its sources from sociology, psychology, anthropology and information theory as well as from linguistics to solve practical problems in practical areas such as language teaching. So applied linguistics is not linguistics that is applied, though it applies, first of all, linguistics. In fact, what it applies depends on what the theories are applied to. Applied linguistics, unlike pure science, aims to solve problems. Thus between theories of linguistics and related fields and the practical areas such as language teaching, it plays the role of a mediator, which bridges theories and practice together. In this way, applied linguistics not only provides principles and methodology for language teaching, etc. , but also gives feedbacks to the theoretical study by summing up the experience from practice. As applied linguistics makes language teaching and learning its core, it provides language teacher with good language theories, principles and methodology. By learning applied linguistics, language teacher can possess an overall understanding of updated theories of language teaching & learning as well as a better perspective of the various factors affecting language teaching &learning. So it is very necessary for a language teacher to learn applied linguistics in order to teach more effectively. As for language learners, it is also very helpful to have some knowledge about applied linguistics. For one thing, by knowing the currently used teaching approaches and methods, which are covered by applied linguistics, language learners can learn to adjust themselves to the teacher’s teaching by adopting a more proper learning method because â€Å"a theory of teaching always implies a theory of learning â€Å"(Applied Linguistics, Yue Meiyun) and language learning is a two – way process, which needs efforts and adaptation from bath the teacher’s side and the learner’s side. For another, applied linguistics covers a wide scope of knowledge. It helps to enhance learner’s insights and depth of knowledge in language learning. Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of study that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, linguistics, psychology, computer science, anthropology, and sociology. The goal of this writing is to make some personal comment on the viewpoint: â€Å"Applied linguistics is not a discipline which exists on its own. It is influenced by other disciplines and influences them as well. It is a two-way process. For this reason, applied linguistics examines theories from all sorts of different areas (semantics, syntax, pragmatics, sociolinguistics,†¦) and from all sorts of perspectives so that it help find out effective solutions for language -related issues such as teaching methodology (including foreign language and mother tongue teaching), translation, aphasia,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Many linguistic students like me find linguistics useful because it broadens and deepens their understanding of related fields such as languages and literature (English and foreign), social sciences (especially anthropology, sociology, and psychology), education, philosophy, communication†¦ The question is whether applied linguistics and linguistics applied is the same. Needless to say, the answer is â€Å"no†. Phillip Shaw, Stockholm University Strictly looking at the model above by Philip Shaw, a professor from Stockholm University, we can see a basic coherence between applied linguistics and other sciences. According to the professor, studying linguistics means studying language’s sounds, grammar, words, meanings, uses, and connected contexts – that is phonetics, syntax, lexis, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse respectively. Of these, phonetics focuses on the physical sounds of speech. It covers speech perception (how the brain discerns sounds), acoustics (the physical qualities of sounds as movement through air), and articulation (voice production through the movements of the lungs, tongue, lips, and other articulators). This area investigates, for instance, the physical realization of speech and how individual sounds differ across languages and dialects. This research plays a large part in computer speech recognition and synthesis. Syntax is the study of how units including words and phrases combine into sentences. Syntacticians investigate what orders of words make legitimate sentences, how to succinctly account for patterns found across sentences. Semantics within linguistics refers to the study of how language conveys meaning. Pragmatics is the study of how utterances relate to the context they are spoken in. By areas studied, he distinguishes different kinds of linguistics. Sociolinguistics is the study where linguistics looks at how language functions in different social contexts. In other words, it is the study of how language varies according to cultural context, the speaker’s background, and the situation in which it is used. Meanwhile, historical linguistics studies how languages are historically related. This involves finding universal properties of language and accounting for a language’s development and origins. Psycholinguistics is the study of language to find out about how the mind works. Pr. Phillip Shaw emphasizes that we can applied all knowledge of the above-mentioned sciences. It is understandable, therefore, whereas theoretical linguistics is concerned with finding and describing generalities both within particular languages and among all languages, applied linguistics takes these results and applies them to other areas. He defines applied linguistics as an engineering of linguistics, taking what the sciences of linguistics have discovered and applied to solve real practical problems. Kamil Wisniewski, in his work ‘Applied Linguistics’ 2007, he presents the term applied linguistics as an umbrella term that covers a wide set of numerous areas of study connected by the focus on the language that is actually used. He puts the emphasis in applied linguistics on language users and the ways in which they use languages, contrary to theoretical linguistics which studies the language in the bstract not referring it to any particular context, or language, like Chomskyan generative grammar for example. Interestingly even among applied linguists there is a difference of opinion as to the scope, the domains and limits of applied linguistics. There are many issues investigated by applied linguists such as discourse analysis, sign language, stylistics and rhetoric as well as language learning by childr en and adults, both as mother tongue and second or foreign language. Correlation of language and gender, as well as the transfer of information in media and interpersonal communication are analyzed by applied linguists. Also forensic linguistics, interpretation and translation, together with foreign language teaching methodology and language change are developed by applied linguistics. Shortly after the introduction of the term applied linguistics it was associated mainly with first, second and foreign language teaching, however nowadays it is seen as more interdisciplinary branch of science. Although in certain parts of the world language teaching remains the major concern of applied linguists, issues such as speech pathologies and determining the levels of literacy of societies, or language processing along with differences in communication between various cultural groups – all gain interest elsewhere. There is a consensus among linguists that is applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of study that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, linguistics, psychology, computer science, anthropology, and sociology. Major branches of applied linguistics include bilingualism and multilingualism, computer-mediated communication, conversation analysis, contrastive linguistics, sign linguistics, language assessment, literacy, discourse analysis, language pedagogy, second language acquisition, lexicography, language planning and policies, stylistics, pragmatics, forensic linguistics, and translation. For all of what I have presented above, I want to restate that applied linguistics does not exist on its own, it makes a great influence on other disciplines and also is influenced by them. The findings of linguistics, like the findings of any other theoretical study, can be applied to the solution of practical problems, as well as to innovations in everyday areas involving language. This is the mandate of applied linguistics. Applied linguists draw from theories of language acquisition to develop first and second language teaching methodologies and to implement successful literacy programs. Applied linguists may also engage in language planning by developing alphabets and grammars for unwritten languages and by writing dictionaries. In short, applied linguistics applies the theories and tools of formal linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics in a wide variety of socially useful ways In his own work – â€Å"Issues in applied linguistics† (Cambridge University Press, 2001), Michael McCarthy presents applied linguistics as problem – solving concept. According to him, it is the belief that linguistics can offer insights and ways forward in the resolution of problems related to language in a wide variety of contexts that underlines the very existence of applied linguistics. Applied linguists try to offer solutions to real-world problems in which language is a central issue. People often think that applied linguistics refers to the use of linguistic research in language teaching, but this is just one sub-discipline. McCarthy lists out the domains of typical applied linguistic problems which, as he says, seems certainly be wide – ranging and potential endless, but might include 14 problems as following: 1- A speech therapist sets out to investigate why s four-year-old child has failed to develop normal linguistics skills for a child of that age. 2- A teacher of English as a foreign language wonders why groups of learners sharing the same first language regularly make a particular grammatical mistake that learners from other language backgrounds do not. – An expert witness in a criminal case tries to solve the problem of who exactly investigated a crime, working only with statements made to the police 4- A advertising copy writer searches for what would be the most effective use of language to target a particular social group in order to sell a product. 5- A mother-tongue teacher needs to know what potential employers consider important in terms of a school-leaver’s ability to write reports or other business documents. 6- A historian wishes to understand the meanings of place-names in a particular geographical area and how they have changed over time. – A person constructing a language test foe non-native speakers for entry into further education needs to know what the key linguistic or psycholinguistic indicators are of reading ability in a second of foreign language. 8- A literary scholar suspects that an anonymous work was in fact written by a very famous writer and looks for methods of investigating the hypothesis. 9- A dictionary writer ponders over possible alternatives to an alphabetically organized dictionary. 10- A computer programmer wrestles with the goal of trying to get a computer to process human speech or to get it to translate from one language into another. 1- A group of civil servants are tasked with standardizing language usage in their country, or deciding major aspects of language planning policy that will affect millions of people. 12- A body is set up to produce an international, agreed language for use by air-traffic controllers and pilots, or by marine pilots and ships’ captains. 13- A zoologist investigates the question whether monkeys have language similar to or quite distinct from human language and how it works. 4- A medical sociologist sets out to understand better the changes that occur in people’s use of language as they move into old age. (Michael McCarthy, â€Å"Issues in Applied Linguistics†, Cambridge University Press 2001, page 1-2) In a work called â€Å"Understanding applied linguistics† by Professor V. B Owhotu (2007), the author emphasizes the importance and growing diversity of applied linguistics. In his view applied linguistics is driven first by real world problems rather than theoretical explorations. In other words, the applied linguists should be preoccupied by the following problems: language learning problem (emergence, awareness, rules, use, context, automaticity, attitudes and expertise); language teaching problems (resources, training, practice, interaction, understanding, use, context, inequalities, motivation, outcomes); literacy problems (language and culture); language inequality problems such as ethnicity, class, gender and age; language policy and planning problems (status planning, corpus planning, and ecology of language); language assessment problems (validity, reliability, usability, responsibility); language use problems (dialects, register, discourse communities, gate-keeping situations, limited access to services); language and technology problems (learning, assessment, access and use); translation and interpretation problem (on-line, off-line, technology assisted); and language pathology problems (aphasia, dyslexia, physical disabilities). Needless to say, it is far beyond my capacity to present an insight to all of these above-mentioned problems. However, in this part of the writing, I would like to take problems of language learning and teaching, translation nd interpretation, and speech-language pathology as examples to demonstrate the point that applied linguistics helps us to find out effective solutions to our practical problems. Researches in language teaching today show that applied linguistics is sometimes used to refer to â€Å"second language acquisitions†, but these are distinct fields, in that second language acquisition involves more theoretical study of the system of language, whereas applied linguistics concerns itself more with teaching and learning. In their approach to the study of learning, applied linguists have increasingly devised their own theories and methodologies, such as the shift towards studying the learner rather than the system of language itself, in contrast to the emphasis within second language acquisition. I shall continue by considering what avenues within linguists suggest themselves for approaching two of the problems relevant to languages teaching. Let us consider problem of teacher trying to understand why learners from the same language background are having difficulty with a particular grammatical structure in English. Potential linguistic questions for the solution of a grammatical problem, as McCarthy shows in â€Å"Issues in applied linguistics†, are: â€Å"What is known about the learner’s first language or any other language they know which might be interfering with their learning of the foreign language? What do grammarians say about this structure? What psychological barriers might be preventing the learning of the structure? Are some structure difficult to learn if they are tackled too early on? Is there an order in which structures are best presented? † (Michael McCarthy, â€Å"Issues in applied linguistics†, page 8). Can linguistics offer an approach or solution to the problem? If so, which branch(es) of linguistic study and by what methods? The answer lies in such linguistics’ components as pragmatics, semantics, syntax. In terms of pragmatics, students sometimes make mistakes in the use of unsuitable sentences in certain contexts that makes listeners misunderstand. Therefore, when teaching English, teachers need not only teach grammar and vocabulary but also teach how to use sentences in suitable contexts; e. g. eaching students how and when to say thank you or apologize. In terms of syntax, the most popular mistakes students make are: when making sentences students often translate word by word as the result of their habit of mother tongue (e. g. I have a cat black); combining words incorrectly to produce phrases (e. g. â€Å"a high man† instead of â€Å"a tall man†); the agreement between words in a sentence (e. g. S and V, tenses). In these cases, possibly effective solutions for teachers are: teachers need to teach students how to combine words correctly according to English grammatical rules; they should teach words in contexts. Teachers might also apply semantic knowledge to deal with learners’ mistakes. That is when teaching students a word which has many different meanings, they should teach the meanings related to the context, situation; wishing to talk about a meaning of the word, we may use different synonyms or antonyms; when teaching students how to translate the sentences or the texts into learners’ mother tongue, we should teach students to combine the meaning of English words and the meaning of their mother tongue to have a good translation. It could be confirmed that any problems in language learning and teaching might be solved with application of linguistics, and knowledge about language plays or could play a major role in language teaching and learning. In translation and interpretation area, applied linguistics can also be shown with effective applications in solving problems. In an article titled â€Å"Linguistics and Applied Linguistics† posted in the website of University of Melbourne, Australia, the author emphasizes an important role of linguistics and applied linguistics in different areas of our life, specially in translation and interpretation area. The article provides clear reasons why linguistic and applied linguistics should be studied by those specializing in translation and interpretation. One of the given reasons is that the skills in need for solving problems are central to the study of linguistics. An evidence for this assumption is clearly shown in the article. That is, â€Å"In a period when Australian culture is coming to term with the need to relate the worldwide mosaic of non-English speaking cultures, and when information and communication are moving to technological centre stage, there is a growing demand for people equipped to analyze language. In fact, an increasing number of employers, ranging from language teachers to engineers of knowledge systems and speech synthesis, from translators to managers to designers of natural-language interfaces for computers, from lexicographers to lawyers to bilingual schools in Aboriginal communities, realize the value of a sound training in Linguistics†. As cited in the article, knowledge in Applied Linguistics will provide us a head start in understanding and orienting us to the area and will give us relevant knowledge and analytical skills. People with a background in Applied linguistics also gain an enhanced understanding of how people learn first, second and foreign languages and of how language is used in the community. These skills will be relevant to those interested in preparing for careers as language teachers, language education and assessment experts, speech pathologists, interpreters and translators, and a variety of jobs in industry where language and communication are issues are of concern. Linguistics and Applied Linguistics provide unique skills in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communication that are helpful in solving problems in translation and interpretation. Speaking of applied computational linguistic, people often mention machine translation, computer – assisted translation, and natural language processing as fruitful areas which have also come to the forefront in recent years. I am going to pick up machine translation as a typical example of applying linguistic knowledge. Machine translation is a form of translation where a computer program analyses the text in one language – the â€Å"source text† – and then attempts to produce another, equivalent text in another language – the target text – without human intervention. Currently the state of machine translation is such that it involves some human intervention, as it requires a pre-editing and a post-editing phase.