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Saturday, August 31, 2019

‘the Perfect Storm’ Essay

How does the Director create tension in the storm scene of â€Å"The Perfect Storm†? In the storm scene of â€Å"The Perfect Storm†, the director, Wolfgang Petersen, creates a large amount of tension to try to make the film more exciting and realistic. It is important for this film to be quite realistic because it is based on a true story. This is how tension is created in this dramatic, exciting scene using Cinematography and Mise-en-Scene. One of the many tense moments in this scene is when we see a tilt angle in which the crew are sitting silent in their quarters. The tilt angle emphasizes the fact that the boat is rocking dangerously and makes the audience worry that the boat will capsize. This creates tension because it makes the audience fear for the lives of the crew. Another tense part of the scene is at the beginning when we see the small boat struggling against the gigantic waves. The long shot shows how massive the waves are compared to the small fishing boat. This makes the audience feel tense because the boat looks so helpless in the dangerous storm. This is one of my favourite scenes because it shows just how much danger the crew is in. Tension is further built through a close up of one of the crew in the bedroom. He looks very much like he has given up and also very worried, depressed and hoping that that the captain will be able to save them. This creates tension by making the audience fear for the crew, worry about them and creates sympathy towards them. A mid-shot continues to make us feel anxious when we see the captain and his first mate struggling to steer the boat through the huge waves. This shot shows just how much difficulty they are having and how worried and tense they are. It creates tension because it shows the audience how hard it is to control the boat and shows the emotions the captain and his mate are feeling. These emotions are exhaustion and anxiety. Another very intense part of the scene is when there is a high angle of the floor in the bedroom and clothes washing around. This shows how flooded the boat is and emphasizes the fact that this is an extremely dangerous situation. This creates tension because it makes the audience feel that the boat will sink and therefore putting them on the edge of their seat. There is also a low angle in the scene. We see the captain and his mate at the steering wheel. The fact that it is a high angle suggests that the crew is still in control. They have very determined looks on their faces which suggests that they might make it and gives the audience a false sense of hope in the crew. The director uses Mise-en-scene in the film to create more tension. The lighting in the storm scene of â€Å"The Perfect Storm† is quite dark and dramatic. There are also flashes of lightning to emphasize how dangerous and unpredictable the storm is. The dark blue lighting creates tension because it is a cold, dark colour. This makes the audience feel that something very bad is going to happen. The music and sounds are also a very important part of this film. These create tension in the storm scene because there are sounds of massive waves splashing against each other, claps of thunder and dramatic music playing in the background. The splashes are to remind the audience how big the waves are and the thunder is to add to the tension created by the lightning. The trumpets in the background music make the audience feel tense because trumpets can make very dangerous sounding notes. Costumes can also create tension. For example, in this film, the crew are wearing fishermen’s uniforms. These mainly consist of waterproofs, jumpers and gloves. These are to show that they are fishermen and to emphasize how cold and wet it is. They also make the audience think that the crew is feeling uncomfortable. Props also make the audience sit on the edge of their seat in this film. In this scene, there are clothes all over the floor and pictures of family on the wall. This is to show what the crew will lose. The effect on the audience is that it makes them feel sorry for the crew’s family. In conclusion, the director creates tension with angles, shots, music and props. I have learned that Cinematography and Mise-en-scene are very powerful things when trying to build tension. Personally, I found this film quite depressing. But I still feel tense when I see this scene.

Micro Operation at Airlines

_____________________________________________________________________ B200B TMA Spring 2013 _____________________________________________________________________ Question: ‘The airline industry has firms which can be great examples of operations management. There are processes and resources to manage very carefully in order to have satisfactory outputs and results’.Analyze the above statement using examples from B200B material and an airline company, and discuss in particular the following issues: managing micro-operations for an airliner, handling emergencies and delays, serving passengers, reservations handling, baggage handling, meals, maintenance, training of crew†¦ (100 Marks) NOTES TO STUDENTS Cut-off date: Submit this assignment no later than 27 April, 2013.Word count: 1500 words (plus or minus 10%). Referencing: You must acknowledge all your sources of information using full Harvard Style Referencing (in-text referencing plus list of references at the end). Use E-library: to get journal articles on the topic (using Emerald or EBSCO). Use at least 2 or 3 articles. Plagiarism: It is very important to use your own words. Plagiarism will lead to a significant loss of marks. Extensive plagiarism could mean that you failed your TMA.Plagiarism means copying from internet, from unreferenced sources, from other students’ TMAs or any other source. Penalties for plagiarism ranges from failure in the TMA to expulsion from the university. Answering: Your response to the question should take the form of a full essay format divided into a number of paragraphs with introduction and conclusion without subheadings and bullet points. Use B200 ‘reader three’ chapters (Processes), especially chapters 1, 2, 4. Also search information on a specific airline company and use E-library. This TMA is 20% of B200B Grade.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Kulula case study analysis Essay

How Kulula.com became a big brand in south Africa? In 2001, it was no secret that the national carrier dominated the domestic carrier market. 9/11 was going to change the world forever. South Africa was not a good market for low cost airline because of two main factors: 1) There were no cheap regional airports. 2) Comair Airlines, kulula’s holding company didn’t have resilience to launch a new brand but the folks in kulula were determined and nothing was impossible for them. They refused to believe that it was mission impossible. The first challenge for them was to position the airline correctly. The folks had done their research and found that leisure market would be more interested in low fares and less need for flexibility than business class. This mean that new airline could afford to offer no full service(No-frill) something which never had been available before but having no pre-book seating, free meals at board, or no possibility of rebooking to other airlines, the aim was to keep the cost at minimum and savings passed on to the passenger. It could have been a huge mistake if kulula.com would have concentrated on low cost to position themselves. The smart way to position kulula on promise was to be sustainable and for long term and that is why kulula.com brand positioning of making it accessible and easy was on top. The second challenge this airline faced was on deciding on a name and in the world of branding your brand name can influence or sink. The name  (kulula.com) has taken a brand values such as simplicity, honesty, respect, innovation, safety. So why was Kulula.com a winner? 1. Available as a dotcom 2. Easy to say. 3. Means â€Å"easily† in zulu. 4. Stood for a benfit, rather than a service. The suitable name now decided upon, now was a time to launch the brand. It has tiny budget of 23 million rand as a loan and just one opportunity to get it right. It needed to be noticed and what was the better way was to make customers â€Å"Superhero† and for that reason that came with a punch line of â€Å"Anybody can fly†. The brand’s positioning line, ‘Now anyone can fly, endeavoured to communicate to ordinary people that they could become superheroes as the airline fulfilled their hidden wish to fly. Porter’s competitive model The five forces model depicts five elements which act on a business competitiveness. The South African airline industry experiences the following competitive forces which were identified by Michael Porter 1) Potential entrants: Kulula.com might see other airlines coming into the market for example Mango 1996, 1-Time though it liquidated and many other low cost airlines in the country. Foreign carriers including regional ones might also enter. 2) Bargaining power of suppliers: Aircraft manufacturers, aircraft leasing companies, labour unions, fuel companies, airports, hotels and local transportation service. 3) Bargaining power of buyers-in the case of Kulula.com travel agents thought the power is low, business travelers, leisure travelers, organized group tours. 4) Substitute products: Alternative travel modes for example, people might choose to use a bus, Greyhound, Inter-Cape, SA Road-Link or rail transport, private cars  (transportation). 5) Intra-Industry rivalry: The competitors for Kulula.com are South African Airways‟ low cost models which are Mango Airlines, South African Air Link, South African Express. Comparison of Kulula.com with Mango Airlines: 1) Both Mango Airlines and Kulula Airlines allow you to choose your seats online 24 hours before your flight. 2) Both airlines are being copycats & using Boeing 737-800s, which use 26% less fuel than the MD82s, saving a lot in terms of carbon emissions. The planes carry 186 people. 3) Both airlines’ call centres were impressively quick at handling the calls.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Privacy of Information and Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Privacy of Information and Advertising - Essay Example the FatAway Inc. has launched a product line that is so far trusting with respect to the product specifications and the claims that it says. And to market it, manager believes that the best idea is to select the fattest people in Australia and use them as spokespersons or as reference persons in their ads. For this manager needs to probe into the databases of companies that maintain statistics related to the fat people in Australia. In this situation we can say that the manager's company is the sponsoring client (or the user of the data) and the companies maintaining databases are the researchers. Now, manager sees that the data probably might be easily available about the heavy weighted people; but the problem lies in the intrusion of someone else's personal life and the respondent probably has given his personal profile for some other purpose, and to use it for a third purpose might not be liked by him. And even if the respondents agree to the proposal of acting as sales person then too they might not be aware of the future emotional consequences that might occur to them and then they would not have any option. As the technology emerges it brings with it new and creative ways of information sharing. Companies have also shifted their business orientation from production to provision of knowledge. And hence we see growing number of companies maintaining databases, and also government organizations maintain data with respect to the population demographics etc. This data is collected for specific purposes. But as we move forward issues concerning intrusion of privacy are enhanced; since individuals are too cautious about their personal lives and the style with which they live. Accordingly, no one has any right to say or dig into the reason why someone is fat, since he or she has no concern. This case explores the same idea. Ethical issue or dilemma in the case Firstly, manager (user of the data) sees that obtaining data about weight and height of client is intrusion of privacy and since in the western countries especially collecting and giving out of data is considered serious violation of privacy. Next, the data might be available with a third party (the researcher) and the researcher is ready to sell the data but data might have been collected for some other purpose and thus using it for some other reason might not be right. Third, the subjects i.e. the fat people might agree to participate and act as the spokesperson and participate in the advertising campaign for the company. But this may embarrass them in the future and bound them to work for the company even if they later realize that they don't like working in the ad or made public about their weakness i.e. being fat. Prevailing community or the societal attitudes of the person may not allow him to such a behaviour. Solutions to the case Solution 1: First and foremost the general business ethics of the company maintaining databases and their privacy policy should be analysed. If they have the right to use the respondents' information in any way and context with the prior permission of the client, then only the data should be used. And this is most required in situations when the certificate of confidentiality has been given by the respondents. Solution 2: Moreover, to avoid any future embarrassment and humiliation for the potential spokesperson they should be

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Legal Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legal Case Study - Essay Example Generally, death in any manner is a sad thing for the kith and kin of the deceased or dying. Euthanasia or assisted death though relatively new has caused much debate. But Terri’s case of a person who can not decide whether she wants to continue in a persistent vegetative state. She could not decide or communicate her desire. Hence many ethical issues arose. The personal ethics of her parents and husband were in sharp contrast in the later part of Terris’ life. Michael her husband wanted her artificial life support to be withdrawn and the Schindlers, Terri’s parents did not. They argued it would have been against the wishes of Terri who they claimed to be a devout catholic. The parents were wrong in persisting in their demand even after the courts ruled in favour of Michael and appointed him guardian. The judiciary acted reasonably in the matter. Bouma (2005) opines that â€Å"There are adequate checks and balances in the levels of judicial system, and courts have not acted precipitously or hastily.† Yet the Florida Legislature passed a bill authorizing the governor to intervene in Terri’s case. The law was later struck down by the Supreme Court yet the legislature and executive tried unsuccessfully to decide the fate of a person who can not think for herself, against her implied wish as the courts had decided. The society violated its ethics in that special interest groups tried to influence and decide such a highly personal question of a caretaker’s decision about life support to a person in a persistent vegetative state. Lastly, the government violated its duty towards the larger majority of people needing medical aid which would have been provided for instead of spending the amount in costly healthcare of an individual whose legal guardian had expressed his desire to stop her artificial life

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Study 4 - Nonprofit Fundraising Ethics Coursework

Study 4 - Nonprofit Fundraising Ethics - Coursework Example This can only be done under special circumstances. Even if the organizations have to apply the code of conduct in their activities, they do not have a right to question the origin of the money. Therefore, the organization should accept the money. But if the money that he or she is giving to the organization has been established that he acquired illegally, the organization should not accept the money. It makes no difference even if the person has served the jail sentence. Though this would be a good prove that the person is free to use his money. The information about the prospect’s husband illness should not be communicated to the volunteer. This is a personal arrangement and the prospect may be does not want the information to be distributed publicly. The fund raiser should first confirm from the prospect whether she wants the information known to the volunteer and the donor. Even if she is being helped, her right of privacy should not be violated. The fund raiser should act according to the prospect. The details of the prospect should not be recorded in the database of the organization. This is because this was a private discussion and if the wife of the husband needed help, she should have gone to the organization officially. These are private matters unless the owner wants to be exposed (Worth 2009). It is not ethical to tell the donor about the impending appointment if the owner of the organization wants to be considered alone and be given the donor. The owner of the organization should compete with other organizations for the donation from the donor. The owner should not use ‘back doors’ in order to get the donation. As the manager or the owner of the organization, I would accept the second room and name it. The owner is not obliged to tell the first donor about the arrangements that they made. This is because, it is a private issue and he has the authority to do whatever he wants with his rooms.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Afrocentrism Historiographical Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Afrocentrism Historiographical Paper - Essay Example In searching for the origins of Greek civilization, the Western world is in search of its identity. However, in the act of separating the world into a Western and an Eastern world, theories surrounding origins are biased by the desire to belong to the foundational race. In examining such theories, an observance can be made about the way in which ’truth’ is defined within the framework of scholarly theory. The origin of the Afrocentric movement of theories can be traced to the 19th century when â€Å"an approach that explicitly sets out to redress the negative images which have often been developed of Africans and to promote positive constructions of African heritage†(Ancient Egypt 2003, 7) was determined to be needed for cultural authenticity. The work of Cheikh Ante Diop, a Senegalese national who studied in Paris, and became an historian, an anthropologist, a physicist and a politician, studied histories of origin in order to support his theories and determined that â€Å"it was Europe that depended on Africa . . . Far from having no history at all, as European scholars had been assuring themselves, Africa was now recognized as no less than the source of mankind†(July 1987, 137). Martin Bernal’s theory of the origins of Greek civilization has created a great debate in the academic community. The basis of this theory is that a correction in accepted European revisionist theories on the origins of Greece must be made. Greece culture, according to Bernal, was borrowed from the civilizations of Egypt and Phoenicia, not from the northern Indo-European cultures. He contends that this theory of Indo-European influence is a result of theories produced out of prejudice that are created to diminish the influence of African cultures on modern thought. Bernal (1994) states the Greeks were fiercely opposed to the idea that any other culture had ever been involved in the creation of their society that they were superior to

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Research Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Research Method - Essay Example 6. When a financial organization decides to take part in financing activities, there are a number of risks that the move. The risks include political risks and foreign exchange risk. The risks make it difficult for the institution to maintain reliable and constant revenue. 7. Paying the amount in three months’ time may be reached at if the paying company is capable of availing the amount in three months’ time. Financial ability is the main contributes much to the financing action. The bank would prefer the payment to be made in twelve months since the longer the bank transacts the payment, the higher the bank interest earned (Pratt, 2011). 8. Once the USASuperCars accepts the HSBC’s offer, the risk will lie on the financial institution too. The bank, on the other hand, may gain or lose depending on the exchange rates. The probability of the bank making a loss are minimal because HSBC native currency is in sterling pounds which are stronger that the dollars. 9. The fixed sum of money is about $2,150,000 without exchange rate risk while HSBC has 29% chance to lose and 5% chance to gain more than $200,000. Analyzing the information keenly, the exchange rate is risky to HSBC. The bank is either going to generate a profit of five percent of the loss of about twenty-nine percent. Â  I am writing this report to make financial decisions for Corvette Company, which sells luxury sports cars to various countries in the world. The company is situated in the United States and deals with a unique brand of cars. The good reputation of the company has seen it move far ahead of other car selling companies. The success of the company is due to coordination between different departments. The managing board makes decisions that have seen Corvette retain it unbeaten reputation in the entire globe. Good quality and affordable produce are indeed the pushing force behind its success (Guffey & Loewy, 2013). I will analyze the financial risks,

Saturday, August 24, 2019

To what extent do cultural differences alter understandings of Essay

To what extent do cultural differences alter understandings of injustice and approaches to justice - Essay Example Before embarking upon the topic under study, it would be appropriate to define culture. Culture is the amalgamation of religious belief system, cult, social norms, values, mores, customs, traditions and conventions. Language, art, literature, festivals, folkways, food, dressing, writings, music, dance, thought and philosophy also come under the fold of culture. â€Å"Culture is†, Macionis submits, â€Å"the values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that together form a peoples’ way of life. Culture includes what we think, how we act, and what we own.† (2007: p 60) Hence, culture is not specific to one single era only; rather, it maintains its roots in ancient past, branches of which seek their way in future centuries to come. Since cultural patterns vary from one region to the other, the values, norms and traditions also observe imperative divergence in them. A tradition, thought to be complying and pleasing in one set up, may be offensive, ridiculous and annoying within the framework of some other. For instance, shaking of hands with the colleagues of the opposite gender is a common thing in the west, and is viewed as a part of interaction, but the same is considered very awkward and indecent in the East, particularly in Muslim states and India. Similarly, intimate relationship among the males are viewed as a sign of sincerity and friendship in Asian countries, while the same act is suspected as homosexual aptitude in some parts of Africa and western Europe. â€Å"Differences between people†, Encina (2007) notes, â€Å"within any given nation or culture are much greater than differences between groups. Education, social standing, religion, personality, belief structure, past experience, affectio n shown in the home, and a myriad of other factors will affect human behavior and culture.† (Quoted incnr.berkeley.edu) Thus, cultural values develop the tastes and decide intellectual thoughtfulness of the individuals belonging to that

Friday, August 23, 2019

Explaining And Defending The Assigned Option Assignment

Explaining And Defending The Assigned Option - Assignment Example I believe the pricing option that I have chosen will be profitable for Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile Company will enter the market matching with prices offered by their competitors.   Ã‚  I also believe that their modern channel strategy and VirginXtras they will differentiate their products that will offer them a competitive gain in their target market. Given that the market is flooded, it is appropriate to let these features retain their product distinct and not saturate the population with totally new prices that may be difficult to understand.   Moreover, by matching competition and maintain their phones as post-paid, they can keep a low roil rate of 2 percent (McGovrn, 2015).   The rate will give Virgin Mobile the greatest chance of becoming even more profitable. If they opt for below competition option, they will create an entirely new price that might turn out to be risky. They may risk complicating a saturated market and raising churn rates. â€Å"Clone the industry Pri ces† options will be more profitable as it requires a small advertising budget. They can put their packaging so that they can pass their message to their customers without using salespersons. By using this option, their profits can be increased since there are reduced expenses for hiring salespeople.  Virgin Mobiles anticipates using approximately 60 million dollars less on advertisement compared to their competitors.  

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Explore an object Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Explore an object - Essay Example The knob has a handle on both sides of the door thereby enabling the door’s functionality. Both the door and the frame are of the same blue color, one that contrasts perfectly with the cream color of the room. The unique coloring of the door makes it conspicuous besides creating the notion of the space it creates on the wall. The color breaks the monotony of the wall thus enhancing the doors functionality. Additionally, the frame fixes it to the wall. As stated earlier, the door is of a light blue color. The color creates an ambiance of calmness besides breaking the monotony created by the cream walls. The color reflects light especially at night thus enhancing the brightness of the room. Additionally, the silver knob breaks the azure of both the door and the frame. The door is perfect rectangle with longer lengths and shorter width. It fits on the frame which thus the wall. The painting has a unique pattern of uniformity of both depth and intensity. This creates a fine texture characterized with smoothness to every direction. The painting has no definite pattern of brush movements a feature that creates a sense of uniformity in the texture of both sides of the door. The knob at the center of the door is silver in color a feature breaks the monotony of the azure of the rest of the door. This eliminates the sense of repetition in the texture of the door besides making the knob conspicuous. The blue surround the knob perfectly leaving the protruding silver color appearing as an island in an ocean of deep blue waters. The door falls in the crafts category of visual arts. The door is an artistic composition made of wood, nails and hinges among other features. Door making is a unique craft that requires precision in measuring the pieces of the door in order for the door to fit the frame. Additionally, the paint requires an artistic skill in order to enhance the functionality and appeal of the door. The door appears simple and is indeed simple to those who do

Why would a firm want to become a multinational Essay Example for Free

Why would a firm want to become a multinational Essay Let’s be clear about what we mean by a multinational. This is a firm that extends beyond the borders of an individual nation and operates with affiliates and branches in at least two countries. A multinational organizes phases for producing goods and services to sell in different countries. For example, many car companies have mastered the so-called international segmentation of production, which works like this: A Toyota vehicle assembled in San Antonio may have been designed at the Toyota design center in Australia; the vehicle’s aluminum-wheel components may have been produced in Delta, British Columbia; and its other components may have been produced in yet another location. Other multinationals replicate entire production processes in different countries. Consider Coca-Cola. If you are visiting Poland, the Coke you drink probably was produced in a plant in Lodz, Poland, not in the United States, although the brand and the company hail from the U. S. International business scholars and economists have observed that firms become multinationals to exploit three broadly defined sets of advantages. The first is ownership advantage. Multinational firms usually develop and own proprietary technology (the Coca-Cola formula is patented and kept extremely secret) or widely recognized brands (such as Ferrari) that other competitors cannot use. Multinationals often are technological leaders and invest heavily in developing new products, processes and brands, while usually keeping them confidential and protected by intellectual property rights. Maintaining stronger protection of these elements helps firms enjoy greater profits from innovation. Second, consider localization advantage. Multinationals usually try to build facilities that produce and sell their products in locations near the consumer (the Polish consumers of Coke in our example). This helps reduce transportation costs or helps the company fit in better with local tastes and needs. Proximity to demand also helps firms adapt their products and services to different markets. At the same time, they also may take advantage of lower production costs (for example, labor costs, energy, sometimes even lower environmental standards) or more abundant production factors, such as expert engineering or greater raw materials). For example, the Polish affiliate of Coca-Cola also owns bottling plants in the Beskidy Mountains region of Poland, which is rich in mineral water for making other beverages. Finally, multinationals want to internalize the e benefits from owning a particular technology, brand, expertise or patents that they find too risky or unprofitable to rent or license to other firms. Enforcing international contracts can be costly or ineffective in countries in which the rule of law is weak and court procedures are long and inefficient. In these cases, the company also may risk losing its ownership advantage, which it has created at a substantial cost.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The economic globalization of football

The economic globalization of football Abstract Football is not only the most popular sport of the world, but also the most globalized one. With its popularity and passion, football attracts the support of billions of people and sponsorship of international companies almost every single corner of the world. This paper examines the globalization of football in accordance with the concepts consumption and empowerment with concrete examples. The paper addresses economic globalization of football by considering the worlds major clubs turning into multinational corporations (MNCs); and affirms the utility of football as an important strategy for the empowerment, particularly in less-developed and developing countries. There will be given place to the initiatives that are being carried out by FIFA, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) where football is the main strategy. Keywords Football, Globalization, Consumption, Empowerment, FIFA, UNICEF Introduction: Problem Description â€Å"I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.† says English novelist and essayist Nick Hornby in his worldwide famous book ‘Fever Pitch.[1] As it is looked at the popularity and passion of the football that surround billions of people from all around the world, Hornby was totally right. There is no other ‘thing which is more global than football. History of humanity witnessed tons of actors who were trying to establish huge empires: Atilla, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon or Hitler. However, none of them even came close to the magnificence of this gigantic empire: Football In this research paper, firstly, I will give a place to the history of football briefly and then I will focus on the globalization process of football that started as a local phenomenon and then became a global passion. ‘Does the globalization of football encourag e people for the consumption? and ‘Is it possible to use football as a strategy for empowerment? will be the questions which are going to be answered with concrete examples. Background: History of Football There have been different types of games that were playing by ‘foot and ‘ball in different corners of the world. â€Å"There are claims that suggest ball games were played earliest in Ancient China, maybe as early as 2500 BCE.†[2] Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), world governing body of football, also declared that â€Å"football, with the name of ‘cuju, was born in the Shandong Province of Linzi during the West Han Dynasty. A primitive version of football existed in China centuries before it was modified and given rules by English scholars to become association football†[3]. The evaluation of football took place in Britain and football, with the type which is very close to the modern style, was first played in Britain in the late nineteenth century. As an inventor of modern football, British were also effective in the spreading of football to the continental Europe and overseas countries with the help of railways and sea ways. When the English sailors and merchants give a break in the harbors, they performed this game, and the indigenous people imitated them very easily. That is why, in the continental Europe, first football teams were established in the harbor cities such as: Le Havre Athletic Club (France), Genoa Football Club (Italy), Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona (Spain), Hamburg and Hannover 96 (Germany).[4] The spreading process of football to Africa and Asia took place in a different way; they met with football through colonial powers. For this reason, British colonies met with football earlier than the other nations.[5] Globalization of Football In the 1930s, the evolution of radio accelerated the spreading of football. However, football started to become more popular with the help of television. At the beginning, TV and football were not very good friends since those who were responsible from the football were blaming TV to unload the stadiums. In the following decades, the relation between football and television became better and latterly it started to base on bilateral benefit. The first football broadcasting on television, namely on BBC, was the final match of the English Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) in 1938. The 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland was the first world cup that was broadcasted on TV. Football- television partnership was conquering the world; however, â€Å"the most important factor that has reinforced the restructuring of football and football clubs has been the arrival of cable and satellite television†.[6] The 1966 FIFA World Cup in England was broadcasted via satellite and the fin al match of the tournament was watched by 400 million people from 36 different countries. The statistics of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France shows that, the final match of this tournament between Brazil and France attracted 2 billion viewers.[7] â€Å"Television coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was the most extensive to date with 376 channels showing the event. What is more, the 2006 event had TV coverage in 214 countries. The tournament had a total cumulative television audience of 26.29 billion.†[8] Another point, which came to the fore as a result of this football-television partnership, is the broadcasting right agreements between football federations, football clubs and television channels. In 1960, European Football Championships broadcasting rights were sold for only 8,000 pounds. As a natural result of globalization and industrialization of football, the broadcasting rights agreements, which cost billions of dollars/euros, started to be signed. For example, the br oadcasting rights of the English Premiere League were sold to the British Sky Broadcasting (BskyB) for a fee of 1, 65 billion pounds in 2000.[9] I believe that it is very helpful to look at the numbers again in order to understand the globalization process of football. The shift from 8000 pounds to 1, 65 billion pound proves that television has great influence on the globalization of football and there is a double-sided benefit between them. TV has helped to the ball to bounce in whole world, and the ball has helped to the successes of the TV.[10] Another indicator, that proofs the globalization of football, is the selection of rival teams. First international football matches were played between neighbor countries such as; England- Scotland (1872), Portugal- Spain (1923), Sweden- Norway (1908), Costa Rica- Salvador (1923) and Japan- China (1917).[11] However, nowadays, it is very common to see football matches between England- Brazil, Australia- Uruguay, Turkey- Costa Rica, or Leba non- Vietnam. Besides these, football shifted from bilateral concept to the multilateral one with the help of tournaments like World Cup, European Cup, and African Nations Cup. The passing of football from local to the international arena firstly took place in the World Cup in Uruguay, where 13 national teams attended, in 1930. At this point, it is very helpful to look at the statistical datas of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, in order to see evolution of football better. For the last world cup in Germany, 198 national teams attempted to qualify, and 32 of them from six different continents competed in Germany.[12] Football and Consumption[13] Within the framework of globalization process, another important concept is the marketing, promotion, and as a natural result of these, consumption of football. Football is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular (probably the first one) sports in the world, and the marketing of football has become an increasingly significant issue, as clubs and product owners want to provide more profit from this sport. Football clubs started to become multinational companies (MNCs) in parallel to the globalization, and they perform like a company in order to increase their revenues with the help of different marketing techniques and financial strategies. Football clubs from all around the world use the mass media as an important tool not only attracting the people into the role of football spectator but also to associate football with the consumption of products through commercials.[14] Moreover, most of the major football teams have their own TV channel, radio or magazine in order to market their ac tivities, organizations and licensed products; and to increase their brand value. For example, the official Manchester United magazine, ‘Inside United is sold in China with a circulation of 50,000 copies.[15] Examples can be increased; Italian football club Juventus has 1200 fan clubs in all over the world. The TV channel of worldwide famous Spanish team Real Madrid ‘Real is watched in 40 different countries.[16] Another strategy, which is popularly used by big clubs, is to increase their visibility in Asia, North America and Middle East. Football clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, arrange training camps or friendly games in China, Japan, the USA, and United Arab Emirates; thus they aim to enlarge their market and to increase the number of potential customers. Major football clubs open stores in various cities where their Asian, American, Middle Eastern fans can find official products of their European clubs, such as jersey, cap, scarf, shirt, flag etc. Football clubs are trying to reach their overseas fans not only by arranging camps or opening merchandising stores; but also by developing interactive services where fans follow their team all year long. For example Manchester United and FC Barcelonas webpage has Chinese, Japanese and Arabic version. At this point, it is remarkable to remember the declaration of former president of Italian football club Lazio , Sergio Cragnotti: â€Å"In the era of globalization, when people have more leisure time, football is the most global business of the lot. You tell me another product that is bought off the shelf by three billion consumers. Not even Coca- Cola comes close†.[17] In the same manner, transfer of David Beckham from Manchester United to Real Madrid can be a good example how globalized football icons affect the balance sheets of football clubs and encourage supporters to buy official products of their clubs. â€Å"Apart from benefiting from his football ability, this transfer gives the Spanish club an opportunity to profit from merchandising, especially in the Far East, where Beckham is enormously popular.†[18] Real Madrid paid $50 million for David Beckham in 2003. But, later â€Å"Real had put some hard numbers on the players off-the-field impact in his four years at the club. The club sold à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬440 million ($600 million) worth of shirts and other soccer mercha ndise during that time, increasing merchandising profits by 137%†[19], according to the Real Madrids marketing director Jose Sanchez. Football is getting more industrialized day by day and accordingly; businessmen, Russian oligarchs, Arabian oil barons, old prime ministers started to perceive football as a business and invest on football clubs in order to gain their profit, to get prestige or for some other reasons. Former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatras purchasing of English football club Manchester City and latterly selling it to the Emirati businessman Sulaiman Al-Fahim can be a good example how this football thing perceived as an income channel by business world. The same relation between business world and football can be seen in the examples such as; Russian businessman Roman Abramovich- English football club Chelsea; Russian-born Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov- Scottish football club Hearts and American businessman Malcolm Glazer- English football club Manchester United. Another dimension of football-consumption concept is the usage of football clubs and players as an icon, product or service by international brands. The broadcasting rights agreements which cost billions of dollars/euros with television channels (Eurosport, Fox, BskyB, etc.), sponsorship agreements with sports equipments suppliers (Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, etc.), transportation agreements with automobile and airline companies (Audi, Mercedes, Fly Emirates, Thomas Cook, Turkish Airlines, etc.), communication agreements with electronic companies and GSM operators (Samsung, Vodafone, Philips, etc.) are all big income channels for both football clubs and those multinational companies themselves. In the world economy, football is an important and popular tool, especially for the companies in the consumption and service sector, to promote themselves and their products. Until the beginning of 21st century, only interaction between companies and football clubs was mostly based on simple a greements such as jersey advertisements. However, especially in the last years, international companies sign more comprehensive and significant amounted sponsorship agreements with the football clubs. Football clubs stadiums (Commerzbank Arena, Emirates Stadium, Philips Stadion, Bolton Reebok Stadium), names (FC Red Bull Salzburg), even their leagues (Ireland Eircom Premier League, Romania Liga I Gamebookers.com, Turkey Turkcell Super League, Portugal Carlsberg Cup) where they are competing have begun to be known with the name of international brands. These kinds of agreements are not only take place between global companies and football clubs but also between global companies and football players. Many football stars such as David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic earn large sums of money not only for their sporting abilities but also through sponsorship agreements. The gain is mutual; while football players make a lot of money thanks to those sponsorship agreements; international brands have chance to expand their markets and increase the number of their potential customers with the help of football icons. Moreover, these kinds of agreements among football players and companies may affect players professional career as well. â€Å"Pepsi and Adidas played a big role in forcing David Beckham to move to Real Madrid. For Pepsi, it would be more profitable for them to have David Beckham to play in Real Madrid because Real Madrid has three other players that have sponsorship deals with Pepsi. But the biggest influen ce came from Adidas, which is the main sponsor to David Beckham. Manchester Untied is sponsored by Nike, Adidas biggest competition in the industry and Real Madrid is sponsored by Adidas, so it would be so much better for Adidas to have David Beckham to play in Real Madrid instead of Manchester United.†[20] Another remarkable example is the transfer of worldwide famous Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, from Manchester United to Real Madrid that is sponsored by Adidas. Nike, which is the personal sponsor of the player, sent him to the official unveiling in Madrid with a T-shirt where a big Nike logo on it. Football and Empowerment Football is one of the most globalized concepts of the era that has tons of followers in all around the world. They play this game in stadiums, dusty streets, beaches, deserts, in the middle of war zones; in the rainy, snowy, windy weather. On the other hand, the same people are suffering as a result of armed conflicts, ethnic and religious disputes, poverty and HIV/AIDS in almost every corner of the world, especially in less developed and developing countries. But even in dreadful situations, children played/are playing/will play football in every chance that they have. Football is a universal language for all those children from all around the world. â€Å"Football is more than ‘just a game, it is a positive lifestyle. It teaches children to trust each other, lures them away from drugs and violence and provides them with a protective environment where they can grow up healthy, fit and self-confident.†[21] It is obvious that those people (especially children) in the pr oblematic areas of the world should be empowered. The question is that is it possible to use football as a tool for empowerment? The World Bank defines empowerment as â€Å"the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives.†[22] When it is looked at the social economical and cultural effects of the football, yes it is possible to claim that football can be used as a tool for the empowerment of people who live in the problematic areas of the world. By those, who noticed the importance of sports as a tool for development in the last years; sport, particularly football, has been started to use as a strategy for the empowerment of people (especially children) worldwide. International, regional and local organizations, governments, NGOs and individual activists launched and are still launching programs and campaigns, where football is the main strategy, for the empowerment of children and woman especially from the poorest and most marginalized regions of the world. All those organizations have their own techniques, methods and ways of working; but they all have one purpose: to improve the lives of children and women by fostering empowerment. With its popularity and passion; football surrounds billions of people and â€Å"reaches more youth than any other recreational activity in the world.†[23] According to the UNESCO report, related with the variety of sports activities in 48 less developed countries which are located in Af rica, America and Asia-Pacific region, only three sports are practiced in all of those countries: athletics, football and basketball.[24] And football is the only sport that is being performed in every single corner of all those countries. As a result of an idea â€Å"Harnessing the power of football, a universal language that all children understand, can translate into an effective tool to combat violence and conflict, enabling children to grow up in more peaceful societies.†[25], football is being used as an important empowerment strategy by many international organizations such as UNICEF, FIFA or football clubs. Since 1999, UNICEF and FIFA have many collective campaigns under the framework of â€Å"Unite for Children†[26] for the rehabilitation and development of children especially in problematic areas of the world by using football as a strategy. The main purposes of those programs are to â€Å"prevent children from being recruited as child soldiers, inform them about the dangers of HIV/AIDS through education and discussion, and promote educations for girls, among many other objectives.†[27] To reduce the damage of HIV/AIDS is one of the priorities of campaigns which held by UNICEF and FIFA. According to the 1998 numbers, 2.2 million people died from AIDS just in Sub- Saharan Africa.[28] The diseases like malaria or HIV/AIDS are serious threats to economic, social development and stability of developing countries both in Africa and in some other regions of the world. In January 2000, the former secretary- general of UN Kofi Annan stressed the seriousness of health problems, particularly AIDS, for African countries with these words: â€Å"The impact of AIDS in Africa was no less destructive than that of warfare itself. By overwhelming the continents health and social services, by creating millions of orphans, and by decimating health workers and teachers, AIDS is causing social and economic crises which in turn threaten political stab ility In already unstable societies, this cocktail of disasters is a sure recipe for more conflict. And conflict, in turn, provides fertile ground for further infections.†[29] Yes, that is obvious that football can not eliminate those health problems by itself, it can not realize the development by itself; but it is again obvious that it can help the empowerment of people in those less- developed and developing countries by using its popularity and attractiveness. Another campaign that was launched by UNICEF and supported by FIFA is ‘Say Yes for Children, that â€Å"urges people to pledge their commitment to improve and protect childrens lives.†[30] Recently, the campaign has more than 94 million supporters from all around the world. The 2002 World Cup, which was organized by Japan and the Republic of Korea, was dedicated to the children of the world by FIFA in order to support ‘Say Yes for Children campaign and attract the attention of world to this humanitarian cause: children. â€Å"Girls and women face a disproportionate number of life challenges, which reduce their ability to achieve their full potential. Recent studies show that despite formal guarantees of equality, the overall rate of progress for women, particularly those from the poorest and most marginalized regions of the world has been slow.†[31] In this manner, the campaign â€Å"‘Go Girls! Education for Every Child is UNICEFs public outreach campaign to raise awareness, generate public support and mobilize resources for girls education in countries around the world.†[32] Accordingly, FIFA dedicated ‘Womens World Cup 2003 to this campaign. During the tournament, a lot of advertisements and promotions were held about the campaign, and at the same time â€Å"FIFA has also donated more than 600 ‘sport-in-a-box kits to support UNICEF programmes around the world.†[33] Those kits which contain equipments to play football, aim to attract girls to the school and en courage them to do sport. â€Å"In Guinea and Djibouti, for example, UNICEF is using the sports kits as a way of improving girls attendance in schools, empowering girls and changing attitudes towards girls.†[34] Football takes a very significant place at UNICEFs agenda and the cooperation between UNICEF country offices and FIFA national associations is held in more than 75 countries. Campaigns such as in Fà ºtbol para la Vida (Football for Life) in Honduras and Fà ºtbol para la Paz (Football for Peace) in Colombia are two other examples where football is being used as an empowerment strategy. Both during and after the conflicts in Balkans, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Georgia or Sudan, football was used as an important tool to decrease the trauma of conflict. There are also some education programmes, where football is used as a tool, in Kenya, Liberia and Honduras tosupportHIV/AIDS preventioncampaigns. Apart from UNICEF and FIFA campaigns, there are various empowerment initiatives to provide a better and safe environment for the children and women of countries which are affected by war, poverty and HIV/AIDS particularly in Africa and Latin America. ‘Womens Soccer Unity in Rwanda is a project which aims â€Å"to empower girls and women through football in all regions of Rwanda and to create a solid womens football federation.†[35] After the education program in Kigali, participants return to their hometowns; found and develop their own female football teams on a volunteer basis. â€Å"They also take on the development of peace and reconciliation and the eradication of gender based violence by using football as a platform for outreach and education.†[36] ‘AFESCO; a campaign that deals with teenage girls and women who were displaced from their homes and live in refugee camps in Democratic Republic of Congo, has â€Å"initiated a project in 2008 with approxim ately 50 girls and women learning football skills and partaking in education about womens rights, overcoming trauma and peace and reconciliation.†[37] ‘Moving the Goalposts (MTG), a community based organization in Kenya, is helping more than 3000 girls and women (between the ages 9 and 25), who are participating in football tournaments and ongoing leagues. â€Å"Participants are encouraged to be active in leadership roles such as: committee membership, coaching, refereeing, first aid, peer educating and counseling. Moreover, MTG has used football projects successfully to address reproductive rights and economic empowerment, for in school and out of school girls.†[38] ‘Family in Need Trust organization is â€Å"dedicated to reducing poverty and empowering girls and women†[39] who are suffering and can not participate actively in the social life as a result of political situation in Zimbabwe. The organization is supporting sport activities, particularly football, as well as professional education for 300 girls and women. ‘Kroobay Women and Girls Sport in Sierra Leone is a womens rights organization, that aims sustainable development and gender equality through sport movement for girls and women who were affected negatively from the war between 1991 and 2004. The organization â€Å"uses different sports (running, football, volleyball) to reach 200 girls and young women in the Kroobay community in order to increase their physical endurance, learn conflict management, develop their leadership skills, and develop a higher self-esteem and pride in themselves.†[40] ‘Associacià ³n Bogota Colombia is another community based NGO which â€Å"develops projects for homeless and excluded people facing problems of social disparities, poverty, discrimination, violence, insecurity and conflicts.†[41] The method of the association is using street football as a uniting element for the girls between the ages 15 and 19. Tha nks to the campaign, participants are also being engaged to the income generation projects, community service, and education programmes. The Homeless World Cup, which aims the empowerment of children in all around the world, has been held annually since 2003. The Homeless World Cup is an international football tournament that aims to combine young homeless people from all around the world and to give them a chance to represent their country and meet other young people from different countries. â€Å"It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 70 nations working with over 30,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year. The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.†[42] The organizations such as UEFA, UN; football clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid and football players such as Eric Cantona, Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand a re some of the supporters of the initiative. Another contribution to the empowerment of children, in problematic areas of the world has come from football clubs. Manchester United is one of the first football clubs that started to work with UNICEF to support children which were affected by HIV/ AIDS. â€Å"The club that has been working with UNICEF since 1999 under the name of the ‘United for UNICEF â€Å"has raised over 2 million for UNICEF programmes and has benefited over 1.5 million children worldwide.†[43] Another football club that supports UNICEF is Barcelona FC. For the first time in the clubs 107 years history, they signed an alliance with UNICEF in 2006, â€Å"which included an annual contribution of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5m to the charity for the right to wear the UNICEF logo on the Barcelona jersey. Barcelona and UNICEFs global partnership has supported more than 100,000 children, notably in sub-Saharan Africa.†[44] For example, in the first year of this agreement, the donation was canalized for the rehabilitation of children affected by AIDS in Swaziland. As a result of education and sport programmes there was a remarkable improvement in the better protection, support and care of orphans and vulnerable children. Besides, the public awareness to the AIDS has risen as well. Another Spanish football club Real Madrid launched a partnership with UNICEF in 2004, to work for childrens right. â€Å"The club works to improve the lives of children by harnessing the power of football and the global influence of the team and drawing attention to childrens issues.†[45] Real Madrid FC also welcomed four Somali youth in 2004 under the framework of an education programme jointly held with the UNICEF Somalia, and provided them two week summer football camp. Conclusion Football has always been a popular sport, but especially after the globalization process it has become a business as well. The marketing of football has become an important issue, as clubs and product owners want to provide more profit from this sport. Football clubs have started to act like MNCs. They follow strategies which aim to increase loyalty of fans to their teams and to encourage them for more consumption. Even if globalized football triggers the consumption, amateur spirit in football should be kept in order to maintain its passion that attracts billions from all around the world. I believe that ‘Football Empire will never collapse unlike the previous ones which were established by Atilla, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon or Hitler; since it grew and spread up by acceptance not by force. â€Å"Football is Old Europe and New Europe. It is Brazil and the rest of Latin America, along with Africa, Asia, Australia, and the United States. It is the Islamic world. Every World Cup is a celebration of a happier globalization than the one we all know. The nations of the world come together for a contest between peers, with no single party calling the shots. Football can be our role model for a just world order.†[46] Football should not be extremely overestimated or underestimated. Football, by itself, can not cause a tension or a war between two countries that have good relations. Football can not stop a conflict without the political will of actors. However, it can be used in one of these fields. In its own measure, football can be effective to increase or help the detente of violence. Football can be an important tool for the empowerment of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America; it is obvious that it can not finish the poverty, malaria or HIV/AIDS; it can not provide economic stability or political order by itself; but it can help to create a more secure and peaceful environment within its own concept. Bibliography Books Boniface, Pascal, Futbol ve Kà ¼resellesme, NTV Yayinlari, 2007. Boyle, R. Haynes R., Football in the New Media Age, Routledge, 2004. Hornby, Nick, Fever Pitch, England: Clays Ltd, 1992. Snarr M. T. Snarr D. N., Introducing Global Issues. UK: Lynne Rienner Publication, 2008. Articles Internet Resources Andelman, B., Bud Bowling for Dollars, http://www.whymenwatchfootball.com/ch19.html, [2009-12-23] Bilgià §, A. U., ‘Top Artik Dikdà ¶rtgen, http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2haberno=7008, [2009-12-28] Croci, O. and Ammirante, J, 1999, ‘Soccer in the Age of Globalization In: Peace Review Volume 11 Issue 4 David Beckham, http://www.123football.com/players/b/david-beckham/index.htm, [2009-12-28] Dolles, H. Sà ¶derman, S., Globalization of Sports- The Case of Professional Football and its International Management Challenges, German Institute for Japanese Studies, 2005, http://www.dijtokyo.org/doc/WP05_1GlobalizationOfSportsProfessionalFootballDollesSoederman.pdf, [2009-12-26] Empowering Girls and Women through Sport and Physical Activity, Woman Win, http://www.womenwin.org/documents/EmpoweringGirlsandWomenthroughSportandPhysicalActivityFinal.pdf, [2010-01-06] Family in Need Trust, http://www.womenwin.org/documents/FamilyinNeedTrust.pdf, [2010-01-05] FIFA and UNICEF join forces to â€Å"Say Yes for Children†, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/news/newsid=80114.html, [2010-01-03] Fourie, P Schà ¶nteich, M (2002) ‘Die, the Beloved Countries: Human Security and HIV/AIDS in Africa In: Politeia Girls education campaigns- FIFA Womens World Cup 2003, http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/campaign_fifa.html, [2010-01-05] Girls education campaigns- Go Girls!, http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/campaign_gogirls.html, [2010-01-04] Headline Figures at a Glance, http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/ffprojects/ip-401_06e_tv_2658.pdf, [2009-12-27] Host Country, http://www.fifa.com/womensolympic/destination/hostcountry/index.html, [2009-12-20] Kroobay Women and Girls Sport, www.womenwin.org/Kroobay.doc, [2010-01-06] Kurbjuweit D., What Football Says about our Wo

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Impact of Contemporary Globalisation on Thailand

Impact of Contemporary Globalisation on Thailand Introduction Contemporary globalization is defined as the final wave of globalization, and is characterized by the acceleration and intensification of the technological, cultural, religious, economic and political integration (Gerle 2000). Although this has led to development and advancement in many countries around the world, it has raised issues in many parts of Asia facing religious and social concerns. This essay will argue that contemporary globalization will raise issues in the traditional social and religious visible in two Asian nations, Thailand and Malaysia. The values that will be discussed is in relation to the paper are the Buddhist and Collectivist values for the Thai, and Islamic values for the Malays. Thailand and Malaysia are countries that are similar in the fact that they have both dominant religions that are closely linked with their way of life. Both countries are multiethnic and multicultural but Malaysia has a higher percentage of 50% ethnic Malays and 60% of the country practicing the Islamic faith (Nations Online 2011). In Thailand, it has majority of Thai which is 75% and with 94.6% of the country practicing the Buddhist faith (CIA 2011). First this paper will discuss the conflict that occurs in the business culture of Thailand and Malaysia. Next, it will explain how contemporary globalization is intertwined with popular culture, or ‘pop culture, and has placed a significant Western influence upon the youth of Thailand and Malaysia, and has changed their social ideology compared to the traditional ideology. Finally, the paper will identify how globalization has led to conflict with the conservative religious values that exist in Thailand and Malaysia. Business culture in Thailand and Malaysia The global spread of Multinational companies (MNCs) has led to the popularity of conducting a business in a Western style, which has led to conflict in the traditional Thai and Malay business culture. In research conducted by Niffengger, Kulviwat and Engchancil (2006), traditional Thai business culture is strongly influenced by Buddhism.It explains that business is run in Thailand in a uniquely paternal style, and although the relationship between superior and subordinate is, â€Å"formal and authoritarian, the boss is expected to be benevolent and paternalistic† (Leppert 1996).   An example of how differently a local Thai business operates in comparison to a Western MNCs is visible in the example of the Siam Cement Group in 1998, when they â€Å"reported a loss of 52.5 billion Baht but did not lay off a single one of their 35,000 employees†, while on the other hand, â€Å"Kmart in 2003, laid off 57,000 of their staff to avoid bankruptcy and even closed one thirds of their stores† (Niffengger et al 2006 p. 409). It is just from the fundamental way of operating a business in the West that has come about from contemporary globalization which is very foreign to the Thai, and brings issues in the social and business aspect. For example, sexual equality was not common until the early 20th century due to Western influences upon Thailand and it is still seen as untraditional or unconventional in a traditional Thai business for a woman to be in a managerial level (Thaiways 2002). Through the influences of Western values which has come from contemporary globalization, traditional Thai business values face a dilemma on how to preserve their traditional business culture in the midst of the increasing MNCs. Malaysias business practice bias is visible through the Bumiputra policy, meaning â€Å"sons of the soil†, which is the preferential treatment of the native Malay people. The Bumiputra came about from the New Economy Policy (NEP) in 1971 with goals to alleviate poverty and social and economic imbalances through equity ownership, employment, and other fields. Stoever (1985) explains the fields that ownership of productive resources should be 30% in the Bumiputra hands, for public and private corporations the Bumiputra should be 30% of the employees. Finally, Malays are given other advantages in university admissions, bank loans and credit access. Although the Bumiputra policies are deeply imbedded into the Malaysian business culture, there are numerous ways that the Western practices of business have placed a significant amount of complication in the traditional Malay businesses. The traditional Islamic way of establishing the economy was from, â€Å"the desire to defend Islamic civilization against foreign cultural influences† (Kuran 1995 p.15). However, due to contemporary globalization the influence of the â€Å"Western secular system and capitalistic culture has been slowly adopted by a growing number of Malay business† (Mutalib 1993). The adoption and the continuation of coming into contact with the capitalist business culture of the West will endanger the survival of the Muslim culture, as argued by Al-Maududi (cited in Ahmad 2009), because it may result in complications to differentiate the Western and Muslim mindset and lifestyle. Although Malaysia has a strong protection for the ethnic Malays as seen wi th the Bumiputra policies, the gradual influences of the Western business culture is starting to endanger the security of the Malays and the way they conduct business. Popular Culture in Thailand and Malaysia Advancements in technology allows the Western media to be easily accessed by almost everyone in the nation, which will bring issues with the traditional lifestyle as the youth become more interested in what the Western media brings. Pop culture is commonly connected to cultural imperialism because it the Western film, television programmes, and music is known to impose bourgeois values and capitalist ideology (Berger 2008). There are many causes of the introduction of pop culture and the impact is has placed upon Thailand, like Tourism and Media. Tourism was one of the earliest forms of the introduction of pop culture in Thailand. Westerners make up a significant portion of the Thai tourism industry, and leave an imprint of their culture behind. Thailand has won many tourism awards and is the first in the world for having the Best Tourist country for five consecutive years (Asiativ 2011). However, that has led to a form of ‘neo-colonization in consumerism and tourism. What tourism can do in a political economy approach is that developed metropolitan cities often impose their values on developing countries; in addition, the recipient countries face environmental, social and economic problems (Chang and Raguraman 2001). Furthermore, in order to accommodate the influx of tourism, Bangkok, which is the capital city of Thailand, reformed itself so that it will have an ‘Old Bangkok, where the roya l palace and historic temples are located, and a ‘New Bangkok, where there are numerous shopping malls, hotels, and skyscrapers (Burke, Brash, and Bush 2010). Thailand is slowly losing its traditional characteristics within the cities. Besides tourism, Berger (2008) also added that Thailand was going through rapid modernization and was losing their Thai identity and becoming more ‘Americanized due to the western media. It is telling how from Rodcumdees (2002) research, the media is becoming the most common way for locals to learn more about the West; television being the first and the internet and Western music as the 4th most popular medium. Due to Thailand accommodating tourist needs and influence from Western culture and habits that the tourists leave behind, as well as the accessibility of the Western media, this culminates in the erosion of Thailands authentic and exotic traditional values. Malaysia is also at a similar situation where pop culture influences the youth of the nation, especially for the ethnic Malay population. The Malaysian former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim delivered a speech   in The Straits Times (cited in ed. Souchou   2001) where he described his concern of media and technology because, â€Å"in recent years there have been an overwhelming, almost imperialistic diffusion of Western or Western-influenced cultural products.† The issue in Malaysia is that the youth are absorbed in wanting to be like their idols that they see on MTV or eating McDonalds or KFC instead of eating their local delicacies. It is further explained by (Jayne 2003) that it is also partially the state governments responsibility that the youth are being influenced by pop culture because of the lack of support for local pop culture that youths have no other choice but to search for their individuality or values in the western media which is e asily accessible and popular globally. The lack of support for the local pop culture and the accessibility of the Western pop culture through contemporary globalization have caused the Malay youths to wander away from the traditional social values and practices. Way of Life in Thailand and Malaysia Finally, through the discussion of the two different aspects of contemporary globalization, it is significant to discuss the most crucial aspect of how globalization comes into conflict with the traditional way of life of Malaysia and Thailand due to their daily life being intertwined with religion. In Thailand, there is a strong impact of contemporary globalization bringing issues to the traditional way of life for Thailand. The difference between the youth and the older generation as discussed in how pop culture is causing Thailand to lose its religious, cultural, and traditional way of life; moreover, it is leading to more dilemma. The forces of contemporary globalization did not stop at just imposing its Westernized culture, but also spread its influence to hybridizing the Buddhist religion of Thailand, which has caused an uprise and several issues in the nation. It is explained by Kitiarsa (2005) that this ‘hybridization has led to the rise of many public religious movements that are â€Å"responses to the wider, largely economic-impersonal forces of globalization that have profound ramifications for Thai social life.† It is discussed by Geert Hofstedes Cultural Theory that the West and Thailand have a significant difference as to how Buddhism is deeply interwo ven into the way of life for the Thai people (Niffengger et al. 2006). For example, the Thai people believed in the predestination of human life, and how it cannot be altered or changed. However, through Western influence of how an individual has the power to change his or her destiny, this belief is challenged (Thaiways 2002). These Western ways of thinking through contemporary globalization has influenced the traditional Thai values and is shifting the way of life to the people which endanger the preservation of the Thai values.   In Malaysia contemporary globalization is eroding the traditional social values and practices that have flourished in the nation for years. In Malaysia, many Muslims have started to adopt the ‘Hi/Hello culture, which contrasts with the Islamic greeting which is ‘Assalamu Alaikum (May peace be on you) because while the Western greeting does not carry any â€Å"emotional attachment or blessings to someone. The Islamic greeting not only expresses emotional attachment, but also conveys blessings of peace for the person being greeted† (Nurullah 2008 p. 6). Through this influence and visible change in the country, Malaysia is starting to feel a form of threat from this ‘Westernization and is further explored by Gerle (2009) that in Malaysia, the state attempts to â€Å"recreate a Muslim identity in order to protect oneself against the West, in terms of economic dominance as well as values.† However, it is uncertain whether this attempt will succeed or not du e to the wide influence that contemporary globalization already spread itself to. Conclusion The impact that contemporary globalization has on Thailand and Malaysia through the advancement of technology, introduction of foreign companies, and culture can be seen through this essay to be having a significant amount of challenges to the traditional religious and social values. Through the examination of the Buddhist Thai business culture and the Islamic Malay business culture, it is visible that the Western business culture is more individualistic, while the Thai and Malay business culture focuses on conformity, importance of religious practices, and taking care of the business as family. In addition, pop culture has caused the Thai and Malay youths identity to be more ‘Americanized due to the increase of western media and internet access. Finally, the cultural and social practices, and the way of life of the Thai and Malay people is changing due to contemporary globalization like way of speech, daily lifestyles, and changes in their traditional religious practices is starting to distance the people from their traditional way of living. There are attempts taken by the government and people who are passionate in keeping their traditional social and religious values. But from observations of the examples of the impact of contemporary globalization, this seems to be a challenging task indeed.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Bob Gonzalezs Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe, John Everett Millais Trust Me and William Powell Friths For Better of For Worse :: Compare Contrast

Bob Gonzalez's Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe, John Everett Millais' Trust Me and William Powell Frith's For Better of For Worse Art may be considered the reflection of one's emotions or an outlet of one’s creative thought. A person can display art, not only through music or dance, but also through the creativity of a play or drama. Bob Gonzalez's Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe is a great example of creatively organizing the inner thoughts of Monroe through the theatre. He went past Monroe's glamorous facade and showed the "behind the scenes" lifestyle. In addition to dramas and plays, art may also be expressed on the canvas. John Everett Millais (1829- 1896), president of Royal Academy, did well in demonstrating his creativity with oil paints. One of his recognized works is Trust Me. Being named the most illustrious member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Millais is a well-known Victorian Artist. William Powell Frith, too, was a renowned Victorian artist. For Better of For Worse was an oil painting with a double meaning. First, one could refer the title to the marriage vows. But as one further analyzes the piece, one notices that For Better or For Worse can also refer to the gap between the upper and lower classes. All in all, the artists in each of these cases had a story to tell using certain tools to show emotion. William Powell Frith (1819- 1909), like many before him, used the tricks of the trade to simulate a certain feel in For Better or For Worse. Wardrobe and the compositional unity are tools he used to make this painting tell its story and setting. Frith, first, chose a wardrobe worthy of the Victorian Era. All the men were dressed in classic suits, either black or navy blue with a white shirt. The women, too, were covered in the time-conventional, puffy dresses. But the women’s dresses came in assorted colors, unlike the men. Hence, the wardrobe matched the aristocratic, social norm of the time. A model of the lower class’ wardrobe matched the times stereotype. For example, the father, seemingly decrepit and tired, was in a ruined suit with holes in the pants and patches on the sleeves. His wife’s dress could not compare to the wonderful dresses of the upper class women.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Standardized Testing Is Inaccurate For Teacher Evaluation Essay

The United States of America is ranked 15th in the world for it’s quality of education. Improvement in our education system is necessary if we want to keep up with the best nations in the world. Over the past ten years, a new push has been made to improve education in America through programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. States across the country are assessing teachers and schools by using standardized test scores. By using standardized test scores, states link high stakes to the results such as grant money, salary, and jobs as incentive to improve the scores for the following year. In Wisconsin and other states, 50% of these evaluations are based solely on how students score on these tests making the results have a critical impact, affecting not only the futures of the students, but also the futures of their teachers. Although it is important to give schools and teachers feedback so that they can better educate students, high-stakes testing should be used mi nimally for this purpose because of the lack of conclusive results they produce, and the detrimental effects that they can have on students, teachers, and even the whole schooling community. The first problem with evaluating schools and teachers with standardized testing is that the scores are so heavily correlated with factors other than intelligence. Background factors like like their family’s socioeconomic status or disabilities that a student may have all affect a students ability on a standardized test. Proponents of the use of standardized testing to evaluate schools and teachers argue that standardized tests are a fair and objective way of evaluating students because it is a common standard for everyone. The problem in their argument is that not all s... ... Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers. Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #278. 2010 , Economic Policy Institute, 13 November 2014. http://www.epi.org/publication/bp278/ Kohn, Alfie. "The Real Threat to American Schools." Tikkun. March/April 2001: 25+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Nov 2014. Teachers Need Real Feedback. Perf. Bill Gates. TED. The Sapling Foundation, May 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. . Strauss, Valerie. "Massachusetts Professors Protest High-Stakes Standardized Tests." Washington Post. 22 Feb 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 17 Nov 2014. "What the Research Says on Teacher Evaluations." Learn More About Teacher Evaluations. New York State United Teachers, Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. .

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Harrington: Cost and Variable Costs

Harrington Case Analysis Issue Stagnant sales performance has caused Harrington Collection to explore new avenues for improved performance, including the launch of a new active-wear line. Recognizing an emerging trend of low price and rapid style turnover in the women’s apparel market, along with tremendous growth in the active-wear segment, Harrington needs to work strategically to capture this profitable market opportunity. After careful analysis, it was determined that Harrington should implement a new active-wear line. Financial AnalysisWhile doing the financial analysis it is important to calculate the unit price first. Using the wholesale price rather than the retail price, the calculated unit price is $95. Next, we sum up the start-up costs and operating costs, both fixed and variable, and use these numbers to calculate the breakeven units. After calculation, the breakeven point is 289,846 units. Appendix A shows the details of our process. Active-wear sales are expecte d to double by 2009, and 40% of those sales are expected to be classified as ‘better’ active-wear.Assuming that Harrington Vigor maintains their 7% market share, we can deduce that Vigor can expect to sell 420,000 units of active-wear in its first year. Over half of all apparel purchased is sold â€Å"on sale. † We accounted for these markdowns by assuming that half the units will be sold for full price, and the other half will be sold at a discount. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by calculating the discount rates at 20%, 40% and 60% separately. From Appendix B, we can see that even for the 60% discount rate, the profit margin is still up to 21%, which is quite attractive.Therefore, Harrington has strong financial forecast to support its new launch in active-wear segment. Market trend After the economic downturn in the early 2000s, the trend of price-sensitive and more than 50% discount sales volume drive the mature market to a low-cost and outsourcing comp etition area. Thus, majority of apparel companies choose to outsource their production in low-cost labor areas such as China. Another trend is the fast growing needs for the superior styling, fresh, and fashionable active-wears. Quality strengths and OpportunitiesHaving established their brand in the1960s, Harrington became well known for its superior quality, knowledgeable sales staff, and designer styles. With fairly high loyalty customers, Harrington possesses premium brand reputation. In addition, donning Harrington labels represents an instant status upgrade and the cutting edge of fashion. Generally speaking, the active-wear market is a rapid growth field with a relatively small segment in the â€Å"better† category. In order to seize the opportunity for diversity in its marketshare, Harrington should enter the market as soon as possible.Considering its brand influence and exceptional quality and styling, together with its cutting-edge technology, Harrington has a subst antial opportunity to become a critical player in this profitable segment. Channel conflicts and Challenges By 2007 specialty stores and department stores are still the main retailing channels in the women’s clothing market. Department stores may benefit by the lucrative inventory turnover rate produced by Harrington’s extensive national advertising.Alternatively, department stores could be weary of stocking the active-wear products since this is a relatively new market and could mean more risk for the retailers. Harrington will need to rely on their relationships with the retailers and expertise in marketing to diminish this potential conflict. From the survey, the possibility to cheapen Harrington’s brand is really trivial by launching a new active-wear line. Recommendation Despite the conflicts and challenges, Harrington has a significant opportunity to advance their business into the active-wear segment.By upscaling the active-wear into the â€Å"betterâ₠¬  category, Harrington could apply the comfort and fashion image which the Vigor division has already formed into the new segment. In addition, by outsourcing the production in Mexico, it can not only decrease costs, but also provide the possibility to respond more swiftly to changes in demand. With this in mind, it is strongly suggested that Harrington launches a new active-wear line. Appendix A Start Up Costs:| | | Start-up Costs (Pants Plant)| $ 1,200,000 | | Start-up Costs (Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant)| $ 2,500,000 | | Equipment (Pants Plant)| $ 2,000,000 | Equipment (Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant)| $ 2,500,000 | | Launch-PR, Advertising| $ 2,000,000 | | Fixtures for Company Stores| $ 2,500,000 | Total Start-up Costs | $ 12,700,000 | Annual Depreciated Start-up Costs | $ 2,540,000 | | | | Annual Ongoing Operating Costs-Fixed:| | | Overhead (Pants Plant)| $ 3,000,000 | | Overhead (Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant)| $ 3,500,000 | | Rent (Pants Plant)| $ 500,000 | | Rent (Hoodie and Tee-sh irt Plant)| $ 500,000 | | Management/Support| $ 1,000,000 | | Advertising| $ 3,000,000 | Total Fixed Operating Costs| $ 11,500,000| | |Direct Variable Costs:| Hoodie| Tee-shirt| Pants| | Sew and press| $ 3. 25| $ 2. 00| $ 2. 85| | Cut| $ 1. 15| $ 0. 40| $ 0. 70| | Other variable labor| $ 3. 20| $ 2. 40| $ 3. 05| | Fabric| $ 9. 10| $ 2. 20| $ 7. 50| | Findings| $ 3. 85| $ 0. 50| $ 2. 30| Total Variable Cost| $ 20. 55| $ 7. 50| $ 16. 40| | | | | Direct variable costs translated into â€Å"unit† cost| Hoodie| Tee-shirt| Pants| | Total Variable Cost| $ 20. 55| $ 7. 50| $ 16. 40| | * measure| 0. 5| 1. 5| 1. 0| | Unit Cost| $ 10. 28| $ 11. 25| $ 16. 40| Indirect variable costs:| | | Wholesale â€Å"unit† price| $ 95. 00 | Total variable costs as % of wholesale price| 40%| Indirect variable costs per â€Å"unit†| $ 8. 64 | | | | | Direct variable costs per â€Å"unit†| $ 37. 93 | | Indirect variable costs per â€Å"unit†| $ 8. 64 | Total variable costs pe r â€Å"unit†| $ 46. 56 | | | | Contribution:| | | Wholesale price per â€Å"unit†| $ 95. 00 | | Less total variable costs per â€Å"unit†| $ 47. 00 | | Contribution per â€Å"unit†| $ 48. 00 | | | | Breakeven:| | | Fixed annual costs(operating and depreciated start up)| $ 14,040,000 | | Contribution per â€Å"unit†| $ 48. 00 | | = Breakeven Units| $ 289,846 | Appendix BUnit Price = $95. 00, Unit Quantity = 210,000 * ((7,500,000 * 2 * 0. 4 * 7%) / 2) Profit Margin*| | | | | Discount Rate (40%)| Discount Rate (20%)| Discount Rate (60%)| Revenue| $ 31,920,000| $ 35,910,000| $ 27,930,000| less fixed annual costs| $ 2,540,000| $ 2,540,000| $ 2,540,000| less total variable costs| $ 19,555,410| $ 19,555,410| $ 19,555,410| Profit before tax| $ 9,824,590| $ 13,814,590| $ 5,834,590| Profit margin before tax| 30. 78%| 38. 47%| 20. 89%| * Assumes half of inventory is sold at full price, and other half is sold at subsequent discount rates. |

Supply and Demand of Pepsico

Week 03 Course Paper – Supply and Demand If the price for PepsiCo brands increase so does the supply. This is because as the price increases, PepsiCo has an incentive to supply more to meet the demand. This creates a positive supply curve. If PepsiCo competitors can produce their products for less and sell them for less money, than consumers will start to purchase competitor products as substitutions (Case, Fair, & Oster, 2009). The demand for PepsiCo brands is the price in which consumers are willing to buy at a given price. If the price of Pepsi products stay low and all other things are unchanged then the demand will remain the same or rise. If the price of Pepsi products goes up then demand will go down. PepsiCo is a consumer product company that operates in highly competitive markets and to continue demand for their products they must continue to improve products to offer what the consumer wants. PepsiCo must monitor the market and respond to changes in consumer wants quickly or their competitors will respond first taking away some of the demand for PepsiCo’s products. PepsiCo has several brands that it produces including Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, Tropicana, Quaker, and Gatorade. These brands offer quick snacks and convenience, which has historically been a preference for consumers. PepsiCo is innovating ways to keep foods and snacks convenient while making them healthier. This is in response to consumers wanting healthier options. All of these actions coupled with marketing strategies keep the consumer demand rising for PepsiCo brands (PepsiCo, 2011). There are several substitute products for PepsiCo brands. Such substitutions as Coke for Pepsi, Tropicana Orange juice for Sunkist orange juice, or Gatorade for PowerAde are made when their price is lower than PepsiCo brands. Complementary goods for PepsiCo brands would be Quaker oatmeal and Toast, Mug Root beer and vanilla ice cream, and Aunt Jemima pancakes and Butter. These products are consumed together; however, the same company does not necessarily produce them (PepsiCo, 2011). ? References Case, K. , Fair, R. , & Oster, S. (2009). Principles of Microeconomics (9th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. (Original work published 2002) PepsiCo. (2011). Retrieved January 16, 2012, from http://www. pepsico. com/Index. html

Friday, August 16, 2019

Anabel Family problems Essay

One year later. After implementing the ethnography students’ achievement plan, the students have developed well. Although not all were able to meet all the goals I set to them at the beginning of the school year, each one of them was able to excel this year. Since all of them have difficulties in reading, writing, spelling, and Mathematics, teaching was basically the same. However, for each one’s special needs, the approaches were different. Some of them were found to be very good in peer to peer tutoring while others were good in one on one tutoring. Aside from academic struggles, problems on behavior, anger and frustration management and lack of confidence were common among them. Dukes and co-authors (2007) argues that problem behavior is causes risk in the effective teaching and learning strategies and also with the safety and convenience of both the students and the teachers. Thus, while honing their academic skills, I also had to be concerned about each other’ behavior problem. Different strategies like joining what they would not want to do and what they want to do in one activity was found effective to encourage the child to do what he needed to do. Letting them feel that they were good in some skills encouraged them to learn even more. Although a lot of strategies regarding behavior problems exist, not all are found to be effective. Some teachers would prefer to do punishments with problem students but this would not frequently change the students’ behavior. Some researchers would suggest the functional behavior assessment (FBA) technique (Dukes et al, 2007). Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is â€Å"the process of identifying the events that reliably predict and maintain problem behaviors before an intervention is determined† (Scott, Nelson, & Zabala, 2003). Such process requires a school-wide or perhaps district-wide training so that FBA will be properly implemented. Moreover, the parents were also counseled so that childrens’ learning could continue at home. A careful guidance of both parents and teachers was still found to be the most effective among all processes of handling a child with special needs. It may also be noted that teaching self management requires follow up procedures especially from the teacher. Some may expect that effective self management would require independence from the teachers and parents, children with disabilities need continuous follow up and monitoring (Sears, 2006). On a more personal note, the students were not just the only learners in the sessions. I also gathered more learning and insights for this school year. Although the students were not aware, the teacher was able to observe them personally. The students have taught me to have more patience, more kindness, and even the technical aspects of teaching special children. Indeed, special education must be put into a higher respect, love, and passion for teaching. More than a profession, teaching was more of motherhood to these children who have special needs that are needed to be given in a special way. Three among my five students were able to fulfill the goals of the course while the other two need more time. Anabel, Mark and Henry fulfilled most of the goals I set for them at the beginning of the school year while Jessica was not able to improve a lot. Lastly, Juan dropped out due to financial problems and problems about his health. The highest among the five is Mark who was able to achieve all the goals. His determination and parents’ support was present throughout the school year. If this would continue, he can excel to class even more in the next grade level. His parents were very thankful because he was able to make them proud whereas Mark was sure inspired by them. They would continue to support them and promised that they would always cooperate with the teacher for Mark’s continuous learning. Second was Anabel who almost achieved all the goals too. This lovely young girl had shown her potential and allowed the teacher to help her develop these. Her behavior was never been a problem towards the end of the school year. She was very willing to learn and wanted to learn even more. Also, her lack of self confidence improved. She was more interactive and participates more in and out of class. The least was Henry. This was duly because of his problem attitude. He refused to participate and failed to show willingness to learn. He was not able to improve a lot because he did not want to practice and follow my instructions to him. He was not able to behave well in class. Thus, I plan to handle with this problem behavior first before really forcing him to study, which is never convenient for him and for me. Jessica is still young. Like Henry, her behavior had hindered her development. Thus, she must undergo behavior management procedures. Also, her parents are also advised not to let her do what she wants to do just to make everything be fine. She needs to be treated in a way that she will learn how to follow authorities and when to do what she does not like to do. This lovely girl has the potential. She only needs to become more responsible so that she can focus more on her tasks. Her great sociable characteristics should be honed so that she will continue to learn more things to more people. Lastly, for Juan, he needs more constant medication with his doctor. I still talk to his parents so that Juan could continue to go to school because he sure has potential. Case Study I: Anabel Family problems often hindered Anabel to come to class. Since her family is not financially stable, some of her needs like school supplies and others stuffs needed to school were not duly given to her. Moreover, she was greatly affected by the fights of her parents and refused to come to class at times. Sometimes, while her mother was out to work, she was left to attend to her younger brother. Family problem is perhaps the greatest dilemma for the young mind of Anabel. It hinders her self development and only adds up to her hang ups. Thus, I advised her parents to undergo marriage counseling not only for their children but also for their family life as a whole.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Plan for Successful Team Building and Team Leadership Essay

Elements of Successful Team Building  · The importance of diversity should be inculcated in every member of the team to ensure respect and good working relationship.  · Engage the team members into a disclosure of who they are and where they are in relation to others. This is an act of building community within the team, which can facilitate harmony and better working relationships in spite of generational and other kinds of differences.  · Elicit commitment from team members to work towards common goals in the team and for the good of the whole organization. Team Leadership  · Understand the vision, the mission and the goals of the team for clarity of purpose and unity of the team and the organization.  · Develop the leaders of the team in good decision making and appraisal of the situation of the team. This way, they can make effective decisions even with constraints of time and resources.  · Empower the leader to be responsible and accountable and engage the team in various scenarios so as to develop greater trust in the leader and in themselves.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Commentaire †Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy Essay

Thomas Hardy described the novel in his preface as dramatizing â€Å"a deadly war between flesh and spirit†. This quasi reference to St Paul’s conception of human dualism goes far towards explaining the nature of Jude’s tragedy. This dualism appears also in the book. Jude The Obscure is the last of Thomas Hardy’s novels published in 1895: its critical reception was so negative that Hardy resolved never to write another novel. The passage under analysis is situated towards the beginning of the novel, at the arrival of Jude at Christminster (the fictional name of Oxford). He found a job at a stonesman’s to make a living while studying by himself to try and achieve his dream. Indeed, Jude’s first concern is a job, though his working is to be done only as a way of supporting himself until he can enter the university. Our commentary will fall into two parts. First we will study the isolation of Jude, and the opposition between Jude’s world and the world of his enthusiasm that is to say the world of Oxford students. Then, we will study the omnipresence of spirituality that contrasts with the materiality in the text. As we have said before, this novel is the last novel of Thomas Hardy. This novel recounts the painful process of his disillusionment and his final destruction at the hands of an oppressive society, which refuses to acknowledge his desire. Even if this extract does not seem so sombre, and presents a real hope, we can notice that the theme of the contrast or the opposition exists all the text long. Thus it is interesting to underline that play of opposition which appears quite characteristic of the novel as it is implied by the sentence of Thomas Hardy that we have quoted in the introduction where he describes his book as â€Å"a deadly war between flesh and spirit†. In a strikingly similar vein, Hardy tells also that the † ‘grimy’ features of the story go to show the contrast between the ideal life a man wished to lead, and the squalid real life he was fated to lead.† There is a play of opposition and parallelism that exists in this extract that presents contrast also. The first opposition that can be noted is the opposition between Jude and the others. Indeed, there is a real separation  between Jude and what he calls â€Å"his inmates† on line 11 or his â€Å"happy young contemporaries†. That is also obvious with the use of the pronoun. All the text long, and mostly in the first part of the text – when the narrator describes Christminster and the students – we can see appearing two different groups as clearly underlined on line 25: â€Å"Whatever they were to him, he to them was not on the spot at all; and yet he had fancied he would be close to their lives by coming there†. This sentence permits really distinguish the opposition between those to entity. This idea of separation exists in all the text, with different symbol of separation. Thus we can say that even if the â€Å"Christminster ‘sentiment’ (†¦) ate further and further into him†, Jude is clearly not in the Christminster ‘way of life’. This situation of exclusion is described implicitly, by the narrator, as quite unfair, when he underlines for instance that â€Å"he probably knew more about those buildings materially, artistically and historically, than any one of their inmates. We could perceive this remark and all the text as an implicit criticism of the fixed class boundaries that exist in the Victorian society. Indeed, we know that Jude has a real willpower of being â€Å"someone†. He left his life in the country town to come into the big city in the hope of succeeding in life. But that society seems quite close as described by Hardy. That is probably why the narrator and Hardy himself insist on the separation of Jude, his isolation and even a sort of imprisonment. He is all alone, in a big city, living apar t and a lot of elements in the text can induce this idea. Firstly let’s notice the â€Å"echoes of his own footsteps†. Echoe occurs most of the time in big and empty spaces, thus using the world ‘echoe’ the narrator wanted to show the isolation of Jude. The adjectives â€Å"impish† and the comparison with â€Å"blows of mallet† are also relevant is that respect. The character appears then, at first sight, isolated, alone with some kind of harsh condition. The evocation of the â€Å"wall† is stronger in that respect. The wall is the symbol of separation, division and exclusion; and here this symbol is used several time as on line 10 â€Å"Only a wall divided him from those happy young contemporaries† or on line 14 â€Å"Only a wall – but what a wall!† showing us the real feeling of exclusion of Jude. This image is reinforced by the metaphor of the â€Å"gates† saying that: â€Å"For the present he was outside the gates of everything, colleges included†. Otherwise the gates can refer to heaven, as we will see later. This division appears also in the  room itself, showing that it exists two worlds: â€Å"rigged up a curtains on a rope across the middle, to make a double chamber out of one†. As we have said, there is a gap between Jude and the rest of Christminster; it is also suggested with the world ‘antipodes’ used on line 21. Nevertheless, it seems that Jude look like ‘their inmates’. The narrator on line 11 underlines it when he says ‘he shared a common mental life’ or on line 20 â€Å"they seemed oftentimes (†¦) to be particularly akin to his own thoughts†. The difference is then more a difference of wages, and not of cleverness or aspirations, we can thus see an implicit criticism of the system by Hardy: they are equal but separate, and they don’t have the same chance to succeed in life, and this opposition drawn by Hardy permits to understand that. The picture painted of the education system is very bleak for the common man, who can study day and night, but will never walk through those great doors of learning. There is a dichotomy between manual work and intellectual work: the young workman in a white blouse vs. the young students. Jude seems to want to realize a synthesis of those two worlds as underlined on line 38: â€Å"He was young and strong, or he never could have executed with such zest the undertakings to which he now applied himself, since they involved reading most of the time after working all the day†. Indeed this text not only presents this division between two worlds but also sort of hope concerning the future. The way of writing of Hardy permits us to understand Jude’s enthusiasm and his faith in future, and permits then to comprehend the mind of Jude: the landscapes of this extract is both Christminster and Jude’s mind: Christminster changes and evolves in Jude eye’s. . Even if Jude The obscure is Hardy’s most sombre novel, here, it is the beginning of the novel and faith and hope are still allowed. This hope appears on line 28 â€Å"But the future lay ahead after all (†¦)†. Desire and enthusiasm are perceptible in the text and particularly in the last paragraph. However the last sentence permits to understand that the future will be more difficult than he probably thinks: â€Å"His desire absorbed him and left no part of him to weigh its practicability†. And Christminster will not be probably the city he was expected. Indeed, this text is situated toward the beginning of the novel when Jude has just arrived at Christminster. In  that respect, he is still full of hope, and enthusiasm even if we can see that he realises â€Å"how far from the object of that enthusiasm he really was†. But it is more a dream than anything else: indeed, Christminster’s phantasmal allure, glimpsed by Jude from the top of his ladder, becomes after his arrival in the city the sinister phantasm of feeling himself disembodied and different. This idea could be illustrated by the description of the Cathedral in the text with the insistence of the size (grandeur ) of it on line 59 : â€Å"Tall tower, tall belfry windows and tall pinnacles†. The anaphora permits to show the discrepancy between Jude, alone and the big city, bigger than his country town where everything is closed for the moment. But as we have said, there is still hope, and the reference to the Cathedral permits to underline another aspect of this extract, which is faith and spirituality as implied by the use of the word â€Å"faith† on line 61. In Hardy’s book, Bible is omnipresent. The text is full of biblical allusion, so much that The Ecclesiasts are a privileged intertext. We can say that God is everywhere, and this extract presents us a lot of references to spirituality that contrasts with materiality of his life conditions. The use of Biblical analogy separates it from all the others novels of Hardy. In it Hardy traces the odyssey of Jude, showing that at important turning points in his life Biblical references serve as guideposts marking his direction. Christminster is tinted with spirituality and so does the extract under study. Firstly, we can point out the name of the city because even if Hardy refers to Oxford, he gives to the city a fictional name that is â€Å"Christminster†, mixing Christ, which is the title, also treated as a name, given to Jesus of Nazareth and â€Å"minster† which is a large or important church, typically one of cathedral status in the north of England that was built as part of a monastery. So, it is a double reference to religion and spirituality. Then there are a lot of references in the text itself, and the place of Christminster seems impregnate with religion and spirituality, which are two notions not exactly similar. Indeed, religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, spirit; and spirituality is relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or  physical things. In those definitions, we can then clearly see that spirituality is opposed to materiality, which seems also the case on that extract. Spirituality or religion appears first throughout the abundant lexical field: â€Å"haunted† on line 1, â€Å"cloisters† (l.1), â€Å"God†, â€Å"Cathedral†, â€Å"Belfry†, etc. More of that, Hardy plays with the meaning of some words; firstly, with the meaning of the world enthusiasm. As we have said before, Jude’s enthusiasm is one of the major stakes of the extract. It could be understand as the intense and eager enjoyment or interest, which is probably the case. But not only, enthusiasm has also an archaic and religious meaning: indeed, enthusiasm is a religious fervour supposedly resulting directly from divine inspiration, typically involving speaking in tongues and wild, uncoordinated movements of the body. This religious could also cast a different light of the expression â€Å"Christminster ‘sentiment’†. This sentiment could also be a religious feeling, a spiritual fervour that pervades Jude. God is thus present in the text, and Jude is not an atheist as underlined on line 30: â€Å"So he thanked God for his health and strength, and took courage†. The world courage is also relevant in that respect. Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. But In both Catholicism and Anglicanism, courage is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. With the gift of fortitude/courage, we overcome our fear and are willing to take risks as a follower of Jesus Christ. A person with courage is willing to stand up for what is right in the sight of God, even if it means accepting rejection, verbal abuse, or physical harm. The gift of courage allows people the firmness of mind that is required both in doing good and in enduring evil. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are thus wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe, right judgement, knowledge, courage, and reverence. And it seems that Jude possesses some of them, just like â€Å"knowledge, wisdom or understanding† as implied in the text, or at least that is what let us hear Thomas Hardy in some sentences as on line 29 â€Å"If he could only be so fortunate as to get into employment he would put with the inevitable† which shows the â€Å"understanding† of Jude for instance. It is also obvious on the end of the extract with the quotation of The Ecclesiasts â€Å"For wisdom is a defence and money is a defence; but the Excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it†. We can see that God, spirituality and religion are everywhere in Jude’s life  and in this extract. But this quotation of the Ecclesiast permits also to cast a light on a major opposition in the text between that spirituality and the materiality. Indeed, Jude seems in a state of imprisonment also because of his lack of money. He is met with obstacles time after time, mainly due to his social station as a common stonemason. This lack of money is thus a real obstacle as underlined one line 49 â€Å"Having been deeply encumbered by marrying, getting a cottage and buying the furniture†. That sentence permits to see that those things of life are limited the freedom and the development of his mind. That is why there is real opposition between spirituality and materiality. In the same way poverty seems contradictory to wealth of mind: â€Å"After buying a book or two he could not even afford himself a fire†. Thomas Hardy gives details about the price of the lamp, in order to insist on this problem of money. Money problem seems to be an obstacle to think well as implied on the beginning of the text when the narrator says â€Å"men who had nothing to do from morning till night but to read, mark, learn and inwardly diges t†. The real difference between Jude and his inmates is that, they don’t have to preoccupy about money, they are totally free of materialist preoccupations and thus, they only have to think, learn and understand. Their mind is not hobbled by money questions. Throughout this opposition, we can maybe perceive the denunciation of the author. Jude’s cousin Sue Bridehead describes his situation very succinctly few chapters later: â€Å"You are one of the very men Christminster was intended for when the colleges were founded; a man with a passion for learning, but no money, or opportunities, or friends. But you were elbowed off the pavement by the millionaires’ sons.† The image of the ogee dome can also be relevant in that respect. Indeed, the ogee dome is the dome of Tom Tower in Christ Church, and it was at one time the signal for all the Oxford College to lock their gates. We find back the image of the gates that could also by a symbol of the Gates of Heaven. But here again, they are closes, and locked showing how vain and difficult it is to try to penetrate in it. Thomas Hardy touches on several socially relevant and subversive themes in Jude The Obscure: education, social ranks, and religion. Those themes appear  in the extract under analysis. This one is particularly interesting because of Hardy’s craftsmanship. He uses a subtle play of opposition and parallelism that convey a peculiar atmosphere and permits to understand Jude’s feelings and situation. He seems thus alone torn between his desire of knowledge and his social condition, but also between spirituality and some kind of materiality inherent to his condition.