Latino Race Ethnicity and Place in the USA Essay

– Race: people who share physical characteristics, such as skin color and facial features that are passed on through reproduction – social construction: a societal invention that labels people based on physical appearance. – Skin color, hair texture, and eye shape are examples of unequal treatment – Ethnic Group: a group of people who identify with a common national origin or cultural heritage that includes language, geographic roots, food, customs, traditions, and/or religion. – Puerto Ricans, Chinese, Serbs, Arabs, Swedes, Hungarians, Jews – Racial-Ethnic Group: people who have distinctive physical and cultural characteristics. Immigrants – Illegal immigrants do the jobs that most Americans don’t want like clean homes and offices, nannies and busboys, nurses’ aides, and pick fruit for low wage Dominant and Minority Groups: – Dominant Group: any physically or culturally distinctive group that has most economic and political power, the greatest privileges, and the highest social status. – Men are dominant group because they have more status, resources, and power than women. – Apartheid: a formal system of racial segregation – Minority: a group of people who may be subject to differential and unequal treatment because of their physical, cultural, and other characteristics such as sex, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or skin color. – American minorities have fewer choices than dominant group members in finding homes and apartments because they are less likely to get help from a bank to help with mortgage. – Patterns of Dominant-Minority Group Relations: – Genocide: the systematic effort to kill all members of a particular ethnic, religious, political, racial, or national group. – Holocaust in Germany – Segregation: the physical and social separation of dominant and minority groups. – De Facto: informal; may be voluntary as when members of racial or ethnic groups prefer to live among their own group. Due to discrimination -De Jure: Legal; replaced by de facto – Assimilation: the process of conforming to the culture of the dominant group, adopting its language and values, and intermarrying with that group. – Mexicans are less likely to assimilate in the US than immigrants from the Philippines, Vietnam or South Korea because they are more likely to have entered the country illegally which cuts them from getting a good job, most public assistance programs, and eventual citizenship – Pluralism: minority groups retain their culture but have equal social standing in a society. – The US is pluralistic because it is multicultural, multicolored, and multilingual. Also, the US has most racial and ethnic communities (â€Å"Little Italy†, â€Å"Greek Town†, â€Å"Little Korea†, â€Å"Spanish Harlem†) live peacefully side by side Some Sources of Racial-Ethnic Friction – Racism: a set of beliefs that one’s own racial group is naturally superior to other groups. – Prejudice: an attitude, positive or negative, toward people because of their membership. – Different from us in race, ethnicity, or religion. Asians are really hard workers; White people can’t be trusted – Stereotype: an oversimplified exaggerated generalization about a category of people. – Can be positive; All African Americans are athletic – Can be negative; All African Americans are lazy – Ethnocentrism: the belief that one’s own culture, society, or group is inherently superior to others. – Reject those outside of our groupÃ'Ž – Scapegoats: individuals or groups whom people blame for their own problems or shortcomings. – They didn’t hire me because the company wants blacks; I didn’t get into that college because Asian Americans are at the top of the list Minorities are scapegoating targets because they differ in physical appearance and too powerless to strike back. – Stereotypes, ethnocentrism, and scapegoating are attitudes, but lead to discrimination. – Discrimination: any act that treats people unequally or unfairly because of their group membership. – Range from social slights (not inviting a co worker to lunch) to rejection of job application and hate crimes. – Can be subtle (not sitting next to someone) or blatant (racial slurs) – Individual Discrimination: harmful action on a one-to-one basis by a member of a dominant group against a member of a minority group. – Discrimination while eating in restaurants, shopping, buying house, applying for job, etc. – Institutional Discrimination: unequal treatment and opportunities that members of minority groups experience as a result of the everyday operations of a society’s law, rules, policies, practices, and customs. – Heath services; minorities get lower quality care than white people even when treated by the same doctor. – Relationship between Prejudice and Discrimination: – Robert Merton described the relationship between prejudice and discrimination as 4 patterns; 1. Unprejudiced Nondiscriminators: â€Å"All-weather liberals† They aren’t prejudiced and don’t discriminate; they believe in the American creed of freedom 2. Prejudiced Discriminators: â€Å"Active Bigots† They are prejudiced and do discriminate. They are willing to break laws to express beliefs 3. Unprejudiced Discriminators: â€Å"Fair-weather liberals† ; They aren’t prejudiced but they discriminate because its in their own self interest to do so 4. Prejudiced Nondiscrimination: â€Å"Timid Bigots† They are prejudiced but don’t discriminate. Major Racial and Ethnic Groups in the US – European Americans: immigrants from southern and eastern Europe; they viewed newcomers as dirty, lazy, and uncivilized because they differ in language, religion and customs. – Latinos: many Latinos who were professionals in their native land only find low-income jobs in the US. They often have a hard time to both work and learn English well enough to pass exams to become doctors, lawyers, and accountants. Many are successful though. Earn better hourly wages because they are older, better educated, and more likely to be employed in construction than agriculture. – African Americans: They are successful. A third of all black households earn incomes of $50,000 or more. – Asian Americans: the most successful Asian Americans are those who speak English relatively well and have high education levels. Have higher educational levels than any other US racial-ethnic groups. Most likely to be concentrated in highly skilled occupations like information technology, science, engineering, and medicine. – American Indians: they are not immigrants, they have been in the US longer than any other group. They have made considerable economic progress by insisting on self- determination and the rights of tribes to run their own affairs. Most of them work in construction and repair, maintenance, and personal and laundry services. – Middle Eastern Americans: one of the most diverse and complex combinations of geographic, historical, religious, linguistic, and even racial places on Earth. Tend to be better educated and wealthier than other Americans. Well integrated into American life. Three of four speak only English at home or speak it well and more than half are homeowners. Sociological Explanations of Racial-Ethnic Inequality – Functionalism: (macro) Prejudice and Discrimination can be dysfunctional, but they provide benefits for dominant groups and stabilize society. – Conflict: (macro) Powerful groups maintain their advantages and perpetuate racial-ethnic inequality primarily through economic exploitation – Primary Labor Market: held primarily by white workers, provide better wages, health and pension benefits, and some measure of job securityÃ'Ž – Secondary Labor Market: (fast-food employees) are largely minorities and easily paid, their wages are low, there are a few benefits and working conditions are poor. – Feminist: (macro and micro) Minority women suffer from the combined effects of racism and sexism. – Gendered Racism: the overlapping and cumulative effects of inequality due to racism and sexism. – Symbolic Interactionism: (micro) Hostile attitudes toward minorities, which are learned, can be reduced through cooperative interracial and interethnic contacts. – Attitudes toward dominant and minority groups through labeling and selective perception can increase prejudice and discrimination. – Contact Hypothesis: the idea that more people get to know members of a minority group personally, the less likely they are to be prejudiced against that group Interracial and Interethnic Relationships: – Miscegenation: marriage or sexual relations between a man and a woman of different races. – The increase in intermarriage reflects many interrelated factors both macro and micro that include everyday contact and changing attitudesÃ'Ž

Pros and Contras About Facebook

There are a large number of people that have a Facebook page as it is a great way to get in touch with your old friends and to share information about your life with your friends all over the world. While facebook reigns as the most popular social media site out there, it does caution it’s users to limit the information they post online as it is accessible by anyone and this can lead to identity theft and many other concerns. If you are investigating facebook and trying to figure out if you should start up your own profile, here are some pros and cons to facebook that will aid in making your decision a little easier.Pros of facebook Let’s start with all of the things that make facebook a great thing to have. First of all it has the highest user percentage of all social media sites, which means there is a good chance that most of your friends, co-workers, and relatives will have a facebook page that you can interact with. Facebook is a great way to connect with your old high school and college classmates. This is the biggest selling point to facebook because it really does allow you to reconnect with a lot of old friends and to make new friends.There are a lot of people that use facebook to find dates by checking out the friends of their friends. Do you have loved ones that live far away? Facebook helps you to stay connected but it also allows you to share your pictures with them of recent family vacations and other things. For grandparents and aunts and uncles, facebook provides a great outlet where they can see their grandkids and nieces and nephews grow up. Companies and individuals use facebook to promote their companies and services.If you have a charity event, facebook is the way to get people to connect with you and hopefully support it. Facebook has a lot of opportunities for self-promotion, making it a great outlet for anyone that really needs to find clients and to get supporters. Do you have celebrities and tv shows that you follow? Face book allows you to â€Å"like† on their page and you will be able to get status updates about what episodes are airing along with other great information like access to concert tickets before the rest of the public.Having the â€Å"insider† scoop to your favorite sports teams will also allow you to hear about who is starting at quarterback this week and other great information about your favorite teams. Cons of facebook Now that you see some of the big reasons why you need to try out facebook, we will look into some of the things that make facebook annoying and also scary to your privacy. The â€Å"friend† game. Remember the old high school bully who has now changed his or her ways? Well what do you do if they want to be your Facebook friend?It seems like everyone takes the term â€Å"Friend† differently. There are some people that want to be your friend and you might have said â€Å"hello† to them once 20 years ago. The good thing is you really do n’t have to add everyone. The facebook newsfeed. This is where all the new information is posted or the profiles that have status updates with a lot of comments. The newsfeed can be nice but it can also become really annoying. This is where you will end up blocking a lot of status updates and other things because they do become simply too annoying.The newsfeed is where a lot of information is shared and you may be thinking to yourself â€Å"who cares that your neighbor’s dog barks? † There are a lot of people that just want to talk and they use Facebook as that outlet. Spam is another problem with facebook because it seems like everyone will send you invitations to games and things that they like. Farmville invitations will get old along with other invitations like â€Å"which celebrity are you like† and so on

Analysis of the smoking ban effect

Analysis of the smoking ban effect â€Å"On the 26th March 2006, smoking was banned in enclosed public places in Scotland.† This essay will consider different aspects of this ban, including a consideration of the extent to which the theory of externalities can be used to justify government legislating on smoking, an analysis and explanation of the short run impact of the smoking ban on market for alcohol sales in pubs and clubs, the market for cigarettes and the market for chewing gum and, finally, an explanation on whether the smoking ban would have any effect on the production possibility curve. All of this will create an economic insight into the effects of the 26th March 2006 smoking ban. Firstly, the theory of externalities will be considered as externalities are seen in almost every area of economic activity, therefore are also important to analyzing the effects of the smoking ban in enclosed public places. Garratt and Sloman (2010, p.517) define them as â€Å"costs or benefits of production or consumpt ion experienced by society but not by the producers or consumers themselves. Externalities are likely to cause market failure if the full social costs and social benefits of production and consumption are not taken into consideration. Social cost includes all the costs of production of the output of a particular good or service. We include the external costs arising, for example, from pollution of the atmosphere. It is therefore important to consider how this theory of externalities justifies the government legislating on smoking. Cigarettes in the UK have an enormous taxation rate – in 2009, 10.5 billion pounds were raised in tax revenue from tobacco for the UK government. People usually tend to smoke a lot when they are drinking so if they are not allowed to smoke inside the clubs and bars, there is not as big as a demand as if people were allowed to smoke in bars and clubs. This means that the government loses the money it could have raised from the tobacco taxation if the re was a bigger demand. The money that has been raised from putting taxation on tobacco is usually invested in healthcare as a public good so it can be perceived as an external benefit. However, government this way avoids the damage of issues that are caused by smoking, such as less productive workforce and the vast amount of money that has to be put into healthcare because of the health issues caused by smoking. Therefore it can be argued that the government loses money but at the same time invests in the long-run welfare and healthcare of the people who are living in Scotland. Some benefits might include women smoking less, therefore living longer or having healthier babies. These benefits of the government legislating on smoking might seem insignificant now because it could be argued that people who smoke, will find a way to smoke anyway, especially with bars and clubs investing in comfortable outdoor smoking areas, but the external benefits of the smoking ban are much more impor tant – the reduction of secondary smoking health costs (non-smokers now do not have to suffer from other people smoking indoors), especially when the smoke that accumulates indoors only contributes to damaging health to people who are inside enclosed places. Also, not being able to smoke inside discourages more people from smoking or they smoke less frequently because a lot of people just can’t be bothered to go outside. This is the case especially amongst young people where smoking is still considered a social activity so if they can’t smoke in bars and clubs – they won’t. Also people are discouraged from smoking in a way that doesn’t affect the black market which is good because then the government does not have to spend extra money on dealing with the black market while spending huge amounts of money improving the health of the people. Taking all these arguments into account, the theory of externalities can be used to justify government l egislation on smoking.

Data Encryption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Data Encryption - Essay Example , storing as well as managing our passwords allowing us to click just the once and obtain the entire the password regarding information we require without encompassing to be afraid of data susceptibility. Simple multi-user arrangement permits by PassMonster enterprise-wide. PassMonster offers business to put together faultlessly into our present computing situation thus making it simple to install as well as utilize this application by a lot of users as we require. This system offers the facility to the users to place perceptive files in the folder organized through the IT Supervisor, DEOS take control to consistently encrypt files in batch format when Users shut down their systems. By means of the Timed-Interval Encryption utility, a User places secret files in the directory created through our IT manager, DeltaCrypt will encode/encrypt them consecutively at the timed-period set. If DeltaCrypt determines a vulnerable file, it will automatically encrypt that particular file. In DeltaCrypt by means of the .ADM file placed in the Active Directory Group Policy administration, this system offers alternatives those are simply organized through the IT manager. As of the encryption algorithm to the client password arrangement, DeltaCrypt configuration is formed according to our safety requirements. In the present age of information technology we are facing a lot of challenges such as data hacking and theft. In this scenario the Encryption is the only way that offers enhanced support for handling and managing the security and privacy of the data. In this scenario I have analyzed three top encryption software applications. I have assessed some of the main advantages and potential benefits attained through these systems. However I have found DeltaCrypt DEOS more excellent in case of offering better and enhanced solution for the business and personal data security. Encryption is one of the main tools for ensuring information security. We cannot imagine a security

Communication Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communication Strategies - Essay Example There is no organization that can effectively function without communication. Thus, over the recent years, corporate communication has evolved to become one of the most valuable management and strategic tools in any organization especially if it is well aligned with the overall strategy of a company and meant to improve and enhance the strategic positioning of the organization (Argenti, Howel and Beck, 2005). Corporate communication is mainly concerned with passing information to the organization’s diverse stakeholders with different needs and expectations (Gupta, 2011). As such, this paper is designed to review literature and explore the major strategies and roles of corporate communication during the contemporary period in different organizations. According to Kim & Radar (2010), corporate ability (CAb) focused strategy, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focused strategy, and hybrid focused strategy are the major corporate communication strategies used by organizations during the current period. The Cab strategy focuses on communicating the company’s products while CSR is concerned about communicating to the stakeholders to show that it is socially responsible. The hybrid strategy is a combination of both. As a result of increased global competition, consumer activism and digitization, it is increasingly becoming important for organizations to effectively manage their relations with various stakeholders. This can be achieved through the effective use of corporate communication which plays a pivotal role in the organization. Corporate communication plays the following roles: A number of studies have emphasized the significance of corporate communications in building an organization’s corporate reputation and image. For instance, Gupta (2011) observes that 80% of respondents in study acknowledged that the core purpose of corporate communication is to build corporate brand and enhance its reputation. Corporate

Concept Synthesis Paper on Personal Nursing Philosophy Essay

Concept Synthesis Paper on Personal Nursing Philosophy - Essay Example These concepts also provide a framework for the purpose of analysis, to compare the perspectives of different nursing theorists (Fawcett, 2000). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to identify, discuss and document the basic four domains of nursing metaparadigm: patient, nurse, health and environment. One’s own perspectives regarding two other practice-specific concepts for one’s rural emergency department setting will be identified, discussed and documented. Propositions or assumption statements that connect the concepts will be listed. Nursing philosophy explains the meaning of nursing phenomena through analysis, meaning and logical argument. Nursing philosophies provide direction for the discipline, forming a foundation for professional scholarship, leading to new theoretical understanding and professional application (Marriner-Tomey & Alligood, 2006). Most philosophies of nursing are â€Å"statements of beliefs about nursing and expressions of values in nursing that are used as bases for thinking and acting† (Chitty, 2004, p.230). Most philosophies of nursing are formulated using the concepts of people, environment, health and nursing as the main foundations. Around three decades ago began a period of major developments in nursing theory, â€Å"characterized as a transition from the pre-paradigm period to the paradigm period† (Marriner-Tomey & Alligood, 2006, p.6). Paradigms are abstract philosophical concepts which form the basic parameters and framework for organising a discipline’s knowledge. Nursing theory explains patterns and relationships found in nursing phenomena and activities. Theories are developed to describe the many aspects of nursing towards promoting a normative standard for nursing practise, through nurses’ study and evaluation of the theories (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2004). All aspects of nursing such as practice, administration, education, research and further theory development form the

Organizations of Similar Size and Similar Structures Essay

Organizations of Similar Size and Similar Structures - Essay Example The structure provides pointers to the old and new members, to the outsiders, stakeholders, shareholders and other concerned or interested parties. This therefore means that regardless of which organization, as long as it has clear rules of governance and operation, then anyone can understand what it is all about. This paper is going to analyze in details and with examples how even though organizations may vary in size, their structures are still similar. Will organizations of similar size have similar structures? One of the reasons all organizations have similar structures no matter their size is because the main aim of all organizational structures in all the organizations is to facilitate the coordination of the employees and the management in achieving the organizational goals and even objectives. This is so because the structures put forward by organizations have similarity in characteristics since all the organizations have a goal they want to achieve even though these goals ma y be unique depending on what the mission of the organization is. The other reason is based on the existence of the different organization structure types. These include: functional structure, structure based on division, structure based on geographical location, division of the structure depending on the process, on the product and on the customer (Daft, Murphy and Willmott, 2010, p. 107). All these provide the reasons as to why when it comes to the structure of the organization, the size of the organization does not matter. All organizations need to separate their employees according to the skills each possess in order for them to have easier time consulting each other. This is for example true in that the organizations structure their employees into management, accounting and sales among others. The advantages of this type of structure are that the organizations are able to create efficiency, allow rapid decision making and also promote labor specialization within the organizatio n. This system has its own downside in that there is minimum career development as there is no room for interacting with employees from other careers and seeing them at work. The other is that the employees always have low morale as they have no challenges and competition since they are secluded in their own functional areas (Daft, Murphy and Willmott, 2010, p. 108). The other type of organizational structure that is enforced by all organizations is the division of the structure based on the products (and even services for those organizations dealing with services and not products). When structuring an organization based on its products, it means that all the strategies or decisions that will be made by the management and even the employees will be considering the products or services they are dealing with and which enable them achieve their goals. This concentration on the products or services being rendered does not have size distinction. For example small businesses (that are fam ily owned for example) have very few products they deal with but they fully concentrate on them in order to get their livelihood and provide for the family. The same happens for the large business (even those with several branches globally) where they concentrate on their products in order to gain profit (or for the non-profit organizations, in order to provide the services or be able to achieve their goal). The disadvantage of this type of organization is that it requires a more skilled management which may prove to be too

Buddhism and jainism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Buddhism and jainism - Essay Example Buddhism is one of the indigenous religions in India, which came into existence around 2500 years ago. It is presumably the fourth largest religion in the world after the likes of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism (Doniger, 2010). The Buddhist followers around the world are approximately 390 million as of the statistics conducted in 2012. In India, Buddhism is very dominant in the East that is presumed to be the origin of the region. However over the years the region has influenced the west by constantly attracting new followers (Kelsang, 2011). Over the years since its origin, this religion has metamorphosed into a variety of sub-religions all which share common beliefs and faith. Despite the variety of religions that exist under the parent Buddhism the religion has grown into a form that emphasize on religious rituals and also strict emphasis on the worship of deities. However, Buddhism is primarily founded on the pretext that its followers are supposed to maintain pure mediation wi th the divinity and in this case Buddhist (Kelsang, 2011). The followers of this religion have the obligation to respect the teachings of Buddhism, which is the fundamental objective of this religion. Worship in Buddhism is conducted in a temple that is considered a sacred/holy place of worship where the followers are supposed to maintain purity as they are not supposed to enter the temple with shoes (Doniger, 2010). Buddha the divine element in this religion is regarded as a teacher who directs them on how they are supposed to lead their social life in order to receive favour from him. Worship in Buddhism is conducted in the Vihara but is not scheduled on a specific day or time to conduct the process; the followers are free to conduct worship sessions at any time of the day without any particular followed schedule or proceeding timetable (Kelsang, 2011). During worship food and flowers are placed at the Buddha statue in the

When Healing becomes a crimeby Kenney ausubel Essay

When Healing becomes a crimeby Kenney ausubel - Essay Example To better understand the nature of this opposition, it would be useful for all to read the book by Kenny Ausubel titled â€Å"When Healing Becomes a Crime †. This work is centered on the account of the story of Harry Hoxsey, the private practitioner of alternative cancer treatment with the allegedly very high rate of successful healings. During the course of his book, the author manages to demonstrate what factors have influenced the development of the current medical practices, and some of those factors are definitely not very comforting. One of the specific topics that were of the great interest to me in the book and turned out to be almost a revelation was the fact that despite testimonies of cancer surgeons about numerous accounts of "people who got well when they werent supposed to" (Ausubel, 2000, ch.2), the medical establishment, represented by the American Medical Association (AMA), acted to suppress alternative cancer therapies under such pretences as for example that their proponents in reality had no medical skill, while AMA itself was lead by Dr. Morris Fishbein who â€Å". . . failed anatomy in medical school . . . never completed his internship . . . [and] never practiced a day of medicine or treated a single patient . . .† (Ausubel, 2000, p.117). And especially unpleasant it was to learn that such persecution was initiated after unsuccessful attempts of Fishbein to buy the formula of Hoxsey`s anti-cancer preparations. All this information impressed be because it convincingly shows that medical pr ogress is unfortunately far from being always directed by the principles from the Hippocratic Oath. Another piece of information that I found interesting was more optimistic, and concerned the description by the author of instances when the protest of general pubic and the larger medical community was able to prevent unethical actions of AMA, like when in a commercially lucrative for them step

Fall of the Berlin wall, The First Earth Day 1970 april 22nd, Essay

Fall of the Berlin wall, The First Earth Day 1970 april 22nd, Assaination of JFK, Invention of the Internet,The Columbine shooting, Cuban Missle Crisis, Woodstock - Essay Example The Berlin Wall became a representation of the bipolar politics of the Cold War that separated the worldwide community throughout most of the second half of the twentieth century. During the Cold War, the United States commanded a circle of capitalist polities while the Soviet Union stood at the center of a number of competing states whose governments supported Marxist principles of proletarian internationalism (Buckley 11). In 1989, a wave of widespread opposition in Eastern Europe against the persisting domination of communist authoritarianism led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall turned out to be an introduction to the dissolution of the Soviet Union two years later. The construction, maintenance and collapse of the Berlin Wall have represented trends of history whose global influence goes beyond the local politics of a single city. The collapse of the Wall became the catalyst to achieve German reunification, finally estab lished in 1990. In the last months of the 1960s, environmental problems in the United States were growing rapidly. Uncontrolled air pollution was associated to illnesses and death in New York, Los Angeles, and other cities, as poisonous fumes, ejected by cars and factories, made city life less and less endurable. In a move fittingly responding to the problem, an estimated 20 million Americans assembled together on April 22, 1970, in the largest organized demonstration in the history of the nation, to take part in a remarkably well-publicized environmental event known as Earth Day (Marriot 1). The anti-pollution position of these groups, after influencing the climate of political opinion at the state and local level, swiftly spread throughout editorials and editorial cartoons featured in the nations leading newspapers. Media coverage of the large youth rallies of 1969 served to influence on the American public that the United States had become an urban country with

Nothing but the Truth Essay Example for Free

Nothing but the Truth Essay In Avis book, Nothing But the Truth, there is a quote from a Shakespearian play. Brutus says, No Cassius; for the eye sees not itself/But by reflection, by some other things. I think that in deeper terms, this means that a person cannot see how he or she acts unless someone acts the same way or describes it to them. This quote can be applied to the story because Philip Malloy, the main character cannot see himself clearly. In that way, I am like Philip Malloy. I have no perception of whether my actions have positive or negatives effects and always assume that I am right. In the story, Philip blames his Language Arts teacher for not teaching well and being uptight. He claims that she is the only reason that he does not have a passing grade in that class and therefore the reason that he cannot be on the track team. My opinion is that Philip does not even consider the possibility that he may be part of the problem. I think that if only Philip would try a little harder in Miss Narwins Language Arts class, he would be able to pass. The problem is, Philip is extremely stubborn and insists on believing that his teacher likes picking on him. He refuses to even try to even think about Miss Narwins side of the story. Miss Narwin, in Principal Doanes opinion is one of the best teachers at their school. Miss Narwin, however, thinks that her methods are too old-fashioned and wants to attend a workshop on new approaches to teach literature to students. Her request is turned down and she isnt very happy about that. I think that Miss Narwins desire to take this workshop has a little bit to do with Philip. She knows that Philip has great potential to learn and wants to find a way to connect with him. In what Philip sees as Miss Narwin picking on him is actually an attempt to get him to do better. Sometimes I do not see things clearly either. I have a one track mind. I think that everything I do is right and it is in that way that I am like Philip. When I am wrong, I do not see why and I get frustrated and angry. When this happens I blame it on another person. I do not think about whether there might be another side to the problem or not. To me, there is just no question of me being the cause of the trouble. But if someone would explain to me nicely and clearly, I am usually able to see the logic. In summary, the quote that is on page forty-eight of Avis book, Nothing But the Truth fits with the story nicely. The quote basically says that people need someone to tell them that not everything they do is right and that they may be the ones that are the problem. I am like that too, but as long as someone is there to help me, I will be able to understand.

Union Victory of the Civil War Essay Example for Free

Union Victory of the Civil War Essay Even before the Civil War actually started, the North had already enjoyed two distinct advantages over the South. Although it also benefited from some excellent strategic decisions as the war progressed, those two pre-war factors ultimately spelled defeat for the army of the secessionists from the south. The first of these advantages was the North’s edge in population. While the southern states only had a combined population of 9 million people (including their slaves), the population of the north was 22 million (including some emancipated slaves). That ratio of 2. 44:1 later proved decisive since the North possessed the capacity of raising and fielding more fighting men to sustain its war effort (Murphy, 2008). The second factor was the difference in their economic thrusts. Whereas the North concentrated on industry and commerce to boost its economy, the South relied on an agricultural economy. In other words, the North had industrial plants while the South could only boast of its farms. The superiority of the North’s economic development became apparent when the war dragged on. It was able to convert its factories to war materials production to support its army in the field while the South had to rely on its foreign trading partners for the replenishment of its war chest. Now, since the North had a stronger navy than the South, it was able to rule the seas and managed to organize an effective blockade, thereby preventing the South from procuring war supplies from other countries. The effect was a weakened southern army due to a depleted supply. These were the two primary reasons that gave rise to the observation that the South was doomed from the start (Murphy, 2008). Some observers believed that these advantages which the North enjoyed at the outset were initially offset by two factors which worked in favor of the South. The first was the fact that the Confederate Army was commanded by better military leaders. Before the Civil War broke out, majority of the finest and more senior commanders in the United States military came from the South. This was because of a southern culture which prized a military career for their men. Because of this culture, it had been customary for rich families to send their sons to the West Point Military Academy which was located in the North and start their career in the military. As soon as the secession was announced by the southern states, many of them resigned from their posts to serve with the Confederate Army. Some of these officers were Generals Robert E. Lee, Thomas â€Å"Stonewall† Jackson, Albert Sidney Johnston, James Longstreet, P. G. T. Beauregard, and Joseph E. Johnston. Most of them held more senior ranks in the United States Army compared to majority of the officers who remained with the Union Army of the North (EDSITEment, n. d. ). The second advantage of the South, according to observers, was the theater of operations and the character of the war itself. Since the Union Army invaded the South, the war was fought on southern territory. This means that the Confederate soldiers had the advantage of knowing the terrain better than the enemy who had to fight in unknown territory. It follows, therefore, that the soldiers of the Confederacy were more mobile and flexible. There was also the fact that for the Southerners, the war was defensive in character. War strategists believe that victory is easily achieved in a defensive war since the defenders have only to defend their ground and wear the invaders down. The North had the more difficult task of occupying the South and forcing them to surrender (EDSITEment, n. d. ). In addition, the Confederate soldiers were more passionate and more desperate for victory. They were defending their soil, their institutions, and most of all, their families. Someone said that When you believe that you are defending your wife and children from invaders, you care more about your cause than those who are simply being paid a wage to go fight for a cause that does not influence their lives as directly. This made a significant difference on the battlefield (Murphy, 2008). The soldiers of the Confederate Army, therefore, enjoyed a higher morale on top of their superiority as far as mastery of the topography of the areas where the war was fought was concerned. Unfortunately, these were not enough for them to win a protracted war. In fact their â€Å"home court† advantage was believed to have worked against them as the war progressed. For every successful thrust on the part of the Union soldiers which resulted to the capture of a piece of Southern territory, the adverse effect on the morale of Confederate soldiers had been substantial. This was particularly apparent when the Union Army succeeded in capturing an area situated between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains and when the Confederate Army was effectively cut off from their important industrial and agricultural resources as a result of successful campaigns waged by the Union Army in the central and western regions of Tennessee (EDSITEment, n. d. ). The South was likewise believed to have acted based on a false assumption which contributed greatly to their defeat. This false assumption was echoed by South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond in 1858 when he said that the South was in such a valued station that no country would even think of declaring war against it. Specifically, he declared that â€Å"The world was so dependent on cotton that Southerners could coerce any foreign country into coming to their aid merely by threatening not to sell it† (EDSITEment, n. d. ). Indeed, if Great Britain, who was a major consumer of the South’s cotton, sided with the Confederacy, the war could have ended differently. The South was so confident in their hold of the world cotton market that when the blockade was declared by Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, who was then acting as President of the Confederacy, did not do anything about it. He was certain that when the countries in Europe would be starved of cotton, they would voluntarily send their navies to destroy the blockade set up by the North, declaring war against the Union in the process. Unfortunately, this was not what happened. Instead, the European countries merely turned to Egypt and India for their cotton requirements, dealing a hard blow to the economy of the South (Newton, Poulter, Simon, Symonds, and Woodworth, 2005). In the end, the great military commanders of the Confederate Army could not do anything with a depleted army and were forced to surrender. The destruction of the economy of the South proved to be the most decisive factor in the Civil War (Murphy, 2008). References EDSITEment. (n. d. ). On the Eve of War: North vs. South. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://edsitement. neh. gov/printable_lesson_plan. asp? id=745 Murphy, A. (2008). Strengths Weaknesses of the North and South During the Civil War. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/532303/strengths_weaknesses_of_the_north and. html Newton, S. H. , Poulter, K. , Simon, J. Y. , Symonds, C. L. , and Woodworth, S. E. (2005).

Gregory Framework Of Technology Management

Gregory Framework Of Technology Management There are several technology management models. The Gregory frame work has been proposed in 1995 by M. J. Gregory. This process has been built based on previous work on technology management. There are several elements have been identified previously link to the technology management within organizations. Competence and capability are important to be analyzed within the organization to understand the strength and weakness. They also reflect how well the organization can satisfy the customers and how fast the organization may response the market. According to this analysis, the company can identify the suitable technology strategy. Organization learning is also widely used concept in technology management. RD development and new product introduction are the processes which technology is applied in. Innovation activities are taken to deliver the customer satisfaction. [Gregory, 1995] However, there is no agreed framework for technology management has been proposed. Based on the literature research on previous work and the development of technology management in many companies, Gregory proposed the 5 processes frame work for technology management. The 5 processes have been identified as below: Identification Selection Acquisition Exploitation Protection It aims to identify the suitable technologies can be used now or in the future in the identification phase. The identification will be conducted through a systematic review of existing technology, emerging technology and in-house developed technology. [Leonard, 1992] The information needed in this phase to conduct review includes external drivers, marketing analysis, stakeholder information, and futurology understanding, etc. A group of approaches may be applied here, such as PESTEL. Selection is the process to determine the technology can be developed within the company. The process will be aligned with companys strategy. The criteria in this phase are usually from different sources. Technology audit, SWOT analysis, and RD portfolio analysis are the approaches usually can be used in this process. It aims to find out the suitable method to acquire the technology and applied in the organization in the acquisition phase. There are several means to obtain the technology. Companies may choose to develop the technology by itself by RD activities or organizational learning. They also may choose to collaborate with others as suppliers, or partners. Technology may also be purchased via brokers or licenses, etc. The acquisition means should be considered to be suitable with company strategy by considering the complexity of RD, risk management, and financial limitation, etc. The exploitation process is to convert the obtained technology into the practical production to gain the financial profit. The key point here is to apply the scientific technology into products can gain the maximum profit. Technology fusion is an important concept here to explore new function. The exploitation is the only process in this framework able to generate profit to cover all the technical investment. The protection phase is about how to protect or maintain the knowledge and relative expertise in the manufacturing process. The traditional way to protect the technology is the legal method as licensing or patenting. [Gregory, 1995] This process framework is a general model for technology management to be used in organizations. This process is not a defined model but comes from the process those companies apply the technology. It reflects the routine the management takes to manage technology within the company. The framework also associates all the relative activities which include innovation, product technology, production technology, etc. into the model. This framework also enables the company to align the technological considerations with business strategy. Every process in this framework needs a set of activities and criteria to implement. Thus this framework also enables the management to evaluate the whole processes and manage the relative dimensions. Furthermore, a process-based model can make the technology management process in company visible and transparent. [WMG, 2010] However, few companies may apply this model into their business. The process framework includes a variety of activities in different process and related to different function. But in many companies, the activities have been included in other business process as new product introduction, marketing strategy setting, etc. Thus there is a challenge for companies to apply this model entirely. [WMG, 2010] Holistic approach in technology management Management of technology links engineering, science, and management disciplines to address the planning, development, and implementation of technological capabilities to shape and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of an organization [National Research Council, 1987] Refer to the definition of technology management, it requires collaboration of the RD, manufacturing, service and operation function, marketing, finance, and HR function in the company. Thus a holistic approach needs to be taken to manage technology in the company. It will be divided to several reasons to explain in below paragraph and what are the benefits. Firstly, technology management involves multi-functions within the organization. In a company, not only engineering department or RD department is responsible for technology management, all the functions within the organization are more or less related to technology. [WMG, 2010] Thus technology management requires a system of integration within the organization. For example, the product development and design process has been considered as a traditional technical activity. Engineers and designers can work individually towards the goals. However, this kind of isolated work can result an unsatisfied output. The engineering department may complain the marketing department for the poor data; the production department may complain engineering department for design need rework. Without crosscutting functions, it will not only raise the cost but also cause the friction between departments. Secondly, technology management requires broad knowledge within the organization as business strategy, marketing, customers, competitors, existing product and service, SWOT, etc. Thus it is important to understand the overall sense to manage technology effectively. Furthermore, it is important to consider technology relative issues with the internal information and external information: how technology may influence the operation within the business; how the limitations and requirements of the business may affect the technical decision. If the technology management cant achieve the system integration, it may lead to products cant meet the markets requirements and customers expectation since the technology management hasnt been associated with marketing activities; project may last for long time with back and forth process because necessary technical information hasnt been input; as well as cost will be increased; company may response to the market slower. Consequently the company may gain fewer profit compare to it could gain. [Steele, 1989] Thirdly, technology is not the isolated content within technology management. The key elements in technology management are management of innovation process, development of technology, technology utilization to obtain profit. [Badawy, 2009] The activities of technology management include development and research; design; manufacturing and operation; organizational learning; technology transfer, etc. Based on this perspective, technology management is not only a process to be applied in RD but in a broad range of functional area. All the activities within technology management are used to align the technology strategy with company strategy. The company structure and business strategy are the important factors to determine the technology strategy. [Pavitt, 1999] The technology strategy may be set to align with companys long-term profitable project or short-term project to compete with other companies on the market. The technology management would consider all the parts inside of the or ganization to ensure it can align with business strategy. Fourthly, Technology is a method instead of objective. [WMG, 2010] Technology can only be applied through a fundamental structure instead of existing alone. [Wyk, 2005] Alternatively, the technology has to be implemented to enable the firms profitability and growth. The process to utilize technology is insisted of a set of cross function activities. Thus the technology would not be existed isolated or developed without business objectives. As above analysis, it can ensure the maximum profitable though a holistic approach in technology management. For example, the operation management aims to drive the whole processes as quick as possible while eliminating mistakes, delays, etc. The effective operation management not only requires the output can satisfy customers but also generates profits to company. A proper technology strategy here can enable the operation processes to proceed faster and effective by avoiding unsuitable product strategy has been processed. Holistic approach can also ensure the output is marketable by avoid the lack of external information, which cause high risk to fail in the market. The holistic approach also can ensure the technology strategy to align with the overall business strategy. Furthermore, it also helps the company to identify the proper way and pace to adopt the technology. The collaboration case study between Sony and Ericsson Nowadays, its very common for companies from different countries and sector to work together. In 2001, a joint venture company Sony Ericsson Mobile communication has been established by a Japanese electronics company Sony Corporation and Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson. [Caroline Sanja, 2007] The aim of this cooperation is to produce the mobile phone with multimedia communication solution to customers all over the world. The initial for this collaboration is to associate the Sonys multimedia consumer electronics expertise and Ericssons technical knowledge in telecommunications. Once Sony Ericsson established, both of the companies stopped their individual mobile business. The Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications is a London-based 50:50 joint venture business. Before the collaboration, Ericsson ran its mobile business in the market for years and obtained 10.7% in the handset market in 2000. It has a great loss when faced the cheaper mobile phone producer as Nokia. Mobile phone is one of the core businesses in Ericsson. Thus they cant abandon this part of business. Ericsson had the advantage of the leading infrastructure. Meanwhile, Sony had just 10% market share in Japanese handset market and 1% in all over the world. However, Sony obtained the multimedia technology enable to enter the global market. Sony Ericsson employed 2500 stuff from Ericsson and 1000 stuff from Sony. [III-Vs Review, 2001] Sony and Ericsson both obtain 50% of the capital. And each of them obtains half of the boards positions. This business had been expected to take over all the mobile phone technology from the parents and to be able to compete with Nokia and Motorola in the market. How does the collaboration between Sony and Ericsson conducted The initial of Sony is to look for a partner to explore the GSM and CDMA technologies. Sony had soft alliance with Qualcomm and Siemens in the 1990s. In the experience with Qualcomm, Sony developed CDMA technology together with Qualcomm, but products have been sold separated under two brand name. The competition leaded this soft alliance to the end as well as the collaboration with Siemens. However, Sony realized its a huge investment to conduct RD alone in telecom technology. Before Sony and Ericsson arrived a Memorandum of Understanding, many partner candidates as Motorola, Alcatel and Nokia had been considered. At that time, Ericsson gained a big operation loss in 2000. And it was looking for a partner to take over the handsets operations. There were many potential candidates had been chose. Sony was one of them. Sony held the advantage of the multimedia consumer electronics expertise but had been limited on designing and innovations. Initially, Sony want to take over all the oper ation include the core technology, design, distribution and marketing. However, the top management of Ericsson didnt want to abandon the core technology of handset, which was developed in Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP). Thus Ericsson proposed soft alliance which had been turned down by Sony who insisted the joint venture deal. Ericsson Sony Original staff numbers in 2001 in Joint venture 3000 1500 Market knowledge Telecom operating valuable Limited Market Knowledge multimedia consumer electronics limited valuable Handset technology valuable Dont want cash contribution Fig1. Sony-Ericsson partnership when merge According to the Fig1, Ericsson obtained the core handset technology, however Sony at that moment dont want any cash contribution. In that time, Ericsson played the major role in that deal according to its global market share and handset technology. Thus the Ericsson Mobile Platforms has been excluded in the joint venture deal. Thus EMP has to reduce the operating cost and sell technology to other company as LG. The final agreement was finalized in the end of 2000 between the two companies. Then followed a group of discussion on how to conduct this collaboration in terms of management, manufacturing, Research and Development, and governance, etc. The board of the joint venture was formed 50-50 from two companies, and with a president to be named by Sony. 1,500 staff came from Sony and Ericsson brought its organization of products, sales and marketing. The new joint venture has been named Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. There were many challenge issues for two big companys collaboration. The intellectual property rights (IPR) is one of the critical issues. Since it was very difficult to identify how much the two companies should transfer IPR to the joint venture at the beginning. Sony built up a team called Functional Integration Team to tackle the joint venture issues. Sony decided to take over the management of manufacturing by controlling the Sony-Ericssons own production plant with C hinese partners. And Sony also is in charge of the supply chain management which Ericsson had long-term operational experience in. Thus Sony took many important positions in Sony-Ericsson management: Sony executives had been transferred to take over the business units and supply chain management. While Ericsson ex-executives took over HR and other departments. The operation of the joint venture started at Oct-1 2001. [Sigurdson, 2004] There are three main issues occurred at the beginning of collaboration in Sony-Ericsson. Design is one of the issues. Sonys designers had different understanding on the outlook and functions with the Ericssons designers. For example, the Sony designers proposed that streamline shape of mobile phone is better than straight line mobile phone. However, its difficult for Sonys designers to explain this concept to Ericssons designers. In Sony, the information of design philosophy is tacit instead of explicit, thus in the joint venture, designers from each company cant understand the in-house words from each other. This was solved by re-designing a new set of internal terms in Sony-Ericsson. The few number of published mobile phone model lead to a big loss in the first two years. However, another side, the conflicts between the two types of culture also enabled Sony-Ericsson to enter the international market. There was an argument on the product design in Japanese market. The Sony designer s claimed that design is the most important part and Japanese market need attention due to the customers high standard needs. Japanese market is the most advanced mobile phone market and more than 10 major mobile phone manufacturers existed in the market at that time. Sony-Ericsson obtained a lot of important experience, and also able to learn the technology trends from Japanese market. The second issue in Sony-Ericsson is the supply chain management, which didnt work well. Firstly, the manufacturing had been divided into three manufacturing facilities in Sony-Ericsson: Ericsson manufacturing contracts with EMS, Sony manufacturing company, Ericsson manufacturing plant in China. There was a huge challenge on managing the manufacturing since its very difficult to manufacture products ordered and meet the requirement of quality. Especially the outsource supplier EMS, which met great challenge on delivering qualified products on time. The different type of manufacturing source brought Sony-Ericsson a critical problem. Secondly, Time to market is a very important criterion in mobile phone market due to the fierce competition. The management of platform in Sony-Ericsson is a weak point compare to the other competitors as Samsung and Nokia. Due to lack of management, in the platform, it was found the new orders were laid without organization. This became worse when the ma rketing strategy had been set to increase the market share. The issue occurred because Sony-Ericsson lack the knowledge on management of production process and supply chain management. The third issue was technology transfer. Sony contributed the screen and camera technology to Sony-Ericsson. All the related technology was explored in Japan and transferred to Europe. It took a long time for the technology can be applied based on the telecom infrastructure in Europe. The core handset technology came from Ericsson. EMP combined the software and chip as product, which is a new business model. As above information indicated, EMP didnt be included in the joint venture deal. And the cost of EMP was really high because of the exploration of 3G and GSM at the same time. Thus EMP served Sony-Ericsson as customer, as well as Siemens, LG, and Samsung. In the first year of the joint ventures operation, Sony-Ericsson lost 292 million and didnt made profit until 2003. Sony and Ericsson were not satisfied with the performance of the joint venture. However, they still tried to inject capital into Sony-Ericsson in 2003. The Sony-Ericsson walkman branded mobile was doing well at the beginning. However, it had been over taken by music mobile from other manufacturer as iPhone and other brand recent years. The collaboration between the two big companies has been considered as one of the most complex one. It took long time to implement and consolidate. Compare to the previous soft alliances, Sony aimed to build a stable collaboration to expand the mobile business. In summary, the joint venture is able to combine the technical strength from both sides. As identified before, Sony is good at the multimedia customer electronics. The first series of products is walkman portfolio. Sony transferred their multimedia technology to Sony-Ericsson. While Ericsson contributed the core handset technology and telecom infrastructure which enable Sony-Ericsson to release series of mobile phone based on cooperation with telecom operators. But due to Sony dont want to invest at the beginning. The core handset technology still has been kept in EMP. This is one of the mistakes of Sony in this collaboration. EMP was focusing on integration of software to system. And it became one of the advanced research cen ter on GSM and 3G. However the operation cost of EMP kept on increasing. Sony-Ericsson purchased chip with software from EMP, which was a high-cost component. Even though, EMP couldnt balance the cost and income. It had to supply other mobile companies for sustaining. Sony-Ericsson cant involve the management of the EMP. This will become a weak point in the future. The managers of Sony-Ericsson initially came from Sony and Ericsson, but the management was isolated from Sony and Ericsson. The challenge issue here is the different culture of the two companies. Globalization is a common phenomenon everywhere. Even difference of culture can be solved in personal level. Its quite difficult to merge a big group of people with totally different culture. Sony is a big international company. However, it still holds a perspective of business strategy, marketing, design, and product development, etc different with other western companies. Compare to Sony, Ericsson is a low masculinity organization which has low work stress, high gender quality, equality between employees, and team work. In traditional Japanese company, staff cant question the bosss instruction which is observation in western company. Thus Sony-Ericsson created their own company value as Passionate, Innovation and Responsive. [Caroline Sanja, 2007] Phase1 Culture Awareness Phase2 Creating new culture Phase3 Managing SEMC Culture Seminar Workshop Leadership Programs Fig2. Developing Sony-Ericsson culture [Caroline Sanja, 2007] The Fig2 indicates how Sony-Ericssons own culture has been developed. The difference of business strategy between the two organization cause many friction in the collaboration. The CEO of Sony mentioned this issue in 2008, that if the Sony-Ericsson cant work towards the same goal, its very difficult for this collaboration to continue. Generally speaking, the joint venture ran with several issues at the first two years. This directly affected the financial performance of Sony-Ericsson. Due to this bad performance, it almost leaded to an end of the collaboration. However, finally both Sony and Ericsson injected a certain amount of capital to the joint venture. Sony-Ericsson performs relatively well. But this collaboration didnt enable Sony-Ericsson to compete with Nokia and Samsung in the market. Discussion on outcome from Sony and Ericssons point of views in terms of success and failure of this collaboration From both of Sony and Ericssons point of views, it is benefit to look for a partner to establish a joint venture. This alliance can bring advantage as risk reduction, international expansion, technology transfer, sharing capital facilities and equipment. Once the joint venture establishes, the tangible and intangible assets will be transferred from parents to the joint venture. The tangible assets include capital facilities and equipment, technology and patents. The intangible assets may include the brand name, explored market, reputation of company, etc. Sony was in a reasonable good place in Japan before the collaboration. And they found the mobile business is a growing business. However, Sony was not a major player in GSM market in the global market. However, Sony is very excellent on product design. It wouldnt be difficult for Sony to gain more market share from the initial 2%. But if Sony want to be a major player, its not enough to rely on product design and multimedia expertise only. According to the previous experience on soft alliance, Sony realized joint venture would be the best choice to work with partner in this business. The benefit to conduct this collaboration with Ericsson is Ericsson is experienced in European market; It obtains the infrastructure of telecom and it has handset technology; in 2000, Ericsson rank number 3 in mobile phone market. Sony can enter European market easily with this partner and also can built the brand name for other business of Sony as TV. Sony doesnt have to invest on infrastructure and tec hnology on this deal. However, the failure of this collaboration to Sony is the EMP. Sony didnt want to invest in EMP initially in 2000. Consequently Sony is not able to learn from the Ericsson for the core handset technology. Furthermore, EMP is one of the most advanced research center for GSM and 3G technology. To sustain the operation, EMP sells products to Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, and Nokia. And Sony-Ericsson didnt have any advantage from it. From Sonys point of view, its able to enter the international mainstream market of mobile phone via the joint venture. In this collaboration, Sony can utilize the advantage of product design. Sony also learn a lot from western company on business management for example supply chain management, which contributes a lot on Sonys global expansion. The experience of collaboration also has been considered as internal good practice . After collaborated with Ericsson, Sony also collaborates with companies as DoCoMo in other business. [Sigurdson, 200 4] The performance of Sony-Ericsson compare to the initial purpose isnt so good. Especially in 2008, Sony and Ericsson had to inject 1.8 million Euro to Sony-Ericsson again to overcome the economic crisis. And Sony showed disappoint on this collaboration in terms of disagreement on business strategy. Up to now, even Sony entered the mainstream market. It still cant compete with other major competitors in the market. Before the collaboration, Ericsson obtained 10% market share in the mobile phone market. But Ericsson kept on losing money and market share. Meanwhile, the high operation cost of EMP drive the company to seek for a partner to share or take over the operation cost. Ericsson has a good base in terms of infrastructure, handset technology, and operator relationship. However, the mainstream of mobile phone became multi-functional mobile. Ericsson has no experience and strength on that. Sony became the best choice to cooperate. The initial idea of Ericsson is to sell all handset business include the core technology. But top management didnt want to abandon the mobile business and then its very important to keep the technology within the company. The collaboration with Sony enables Ericsson to focus on 3G technology development. From Ericssons point of view, the collaboration with Sony brought them technology of multimedia expertise which Sony is one of the advanced companies in the world. However, all the Research and Development of screen and camera are conducted in Japan directly. Ericsson has not been involved in it. The success point of this collaboration to Ericsson, its able to produce the mobile phone to satisfy customers increasing needs. Through the collaboration, Ericsson also learned product design from Sony, which is different with Ericsson. And the Japan-based company enable the company understand the trends from the advanced mobile market. Furthermore, Ericsson also learned management skill from the Japanese company. But according to the performance of Sony-Ericsson, the market share cant catch with Nokia and Samsung. They have fiercely competition with Motorola and LG in the main market. From both of their view, this collaboration is not easy to be conducted. Due to many issues and conflicts, Sony-Ericsson cant achieve a maximum profit and increase the market share as expected. Technically, Sony Ericsson combined the core technology from Ericsson mobile business and Sonys multimedia technology. This form of collaboration worked well in the first 3 years. Walkman mobile phone was released very successful. However, todays mobile phone has been expected a lot from customers. Sony-Ericsson didnt cooperate well to work on the RD on new technology. The two companies still have a lot of conflicts on the business concept, and the inefficacy management on that may lead to an end of the cooperation. From the point view of the profitability, this collaboration didnt achieve the expectation in the first two years until the third quarter of 2003. During the economic crisis period, Sony-Ericsson experienced tough time. The parent companies have expected payback in the last 10 year s. The further research can be conducted to discuss whether Sony-Ericsson can be more successful. And it also can be compared to the collaboration between Siemens and BenQ.

Obstacles In Team Dynamics Essay -- Teamwork

Obstacles in Team Dynamics Abstract Students face obstacles on a daily basis. These may include personal, financial obstacles or obstacles at work. There are many ways to deal with them, and due to human nature, they are dealt with uniquely. Working within a team environment brings its own obstacles. This paper will discuss obstacles in team dynamics and how to overcome them. Obstacles in Team Dynamics By the time people reach adulthood, they have gone through many obstacles in their lives. Perhaps an individual has been passed over at work, had someone close to them die, lost a job, or just lost direction. Those are some of life's many obstacles. As part of a group, there are obstacles that have to be overcome in a team environment. What are they and how does an individual get past the issues that arise in team dynamics? The prevalence of obstacles inserted into a team dynamic increases the likelihood that a team will fail in its mission. What is Team Dynamics? First, we will answer the question, "What is team dynamics?" "A team is defined as a group of two or more individuals engaged in some joint action with a specific mission or goal. Team dynamics are defined as the motivating and driving forces that propel a team toward its goal or mission." (Six Sigma Team Dynamics, The Elusive Key to Project Success). There is usually much diversity in a group. We have different ethnic backgrounds, intelligence, goalsÂ…. Humans in general are non-trusting. Building up trust in a team is not easy. No matter how hard he works, grades could still be low due to poor performance of another team member. Taking individual responsibility for everyone's grades is not an option. I have heard there is no "I" in t... ...g (1997). Learning to Work as a Team Player. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/EMTC/Insight/vol22/technique.html. Bayt.com. Tips to Succeeding as a Team Player. Retrieved March 21, 2007, from http://jobs14bayt.com/job/career-article-762.adp. Brown, Tom (1992). Why Teams Go Bust. Industry Week. Cleveland. 241 (5) 20. Retrieved March 28, 2007, from ProQuest database. Dearlove, Des (2002). The Secret of Teamwork; [Final 1 Edition]. The Times. London (UK). Aug 8, 2002, pg.7. Retrieved March 27, 2007, from ProQuest database. Ehlen, Dave (1994). Supporting High Performance Teams. Manage. Dayton. Nov 1994 46 (2) 32. Retrieved 18 March 2007, from ProQuest database. Six Sigma Team Dynamics, The Elusive Key to Project Success. Retrieved March 27, 2007, from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/71/04712227/0471222771.pdf

Red Sorghum :: essays research papers

Red Sorghum Claire Huot China’s New Cultural Scene   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The film Red Sorghum was one of the most popular Fifth Generation films in China and Abroad. As an adolescent American kid, probably the average, I got to see a new perspective of China through this class. I wanted to compare the West’s interpretation with Chinas’. One of the first things I did was compare Chinese cinema to well known American cinema. Zhang Yimou’s first film as director, Red Sorghum was immensely popular at home and abroad. The film follows a popular novel with its point of view; an off-stage, present-day male narrator whose own life is ancient and minute compared to the family he was grateful to have been associated with. Compared to a classic American Movie this is very much the same. The movie I am talking about is Legends of the fall. In almost the exact same way this movie was made. An older Indian gentleman begins to tell the story he lived. He grew up in a great family, with great traditions. Then he narrates the tale of a family and its struggles through love, war, bitterness, and bad times. Its starts with that voice, on a blank screen: â€Å"I will tell you the story of my grandpa and grandma†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In LOTF an older Indian man starts telling the story of â€Å"Tristan’s stormy birth† We then see the hero at a very young age, fighting a bear. In Red Sorghum instead of the exp ected old granny, we see a beautiful, twenty-something woman who, looks very attractive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Nine arrives at the distillery and rallies all the men together to work, its comparable to the first time Susanna arrives at the ranch. Run by mostly men, she has some women, but the men all look at her with admiration. Right away Tristan is taken to her. When she is out riding and lassoing the cow, is like Nine rounding up the Sorghum to work. Tristan automatically chases a nearby Mustang and catches it. Much like Grandpa catching the first â€Å"thief† on the travel through the sorghum fields. He comes back with a mustang, and Grandpa now has Nine’s appreciation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many script similarities, and cut similarities between these two films, yet LOTF has a more comprehensive plot, to me. Maybe its loses something in the sub-titles, that I don’t find it as intriguing as American Cinema.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One script point in particular in LOTF is the fact that the father was a former military chief, and he left that â€Å"madness† for a more peaceful life.

An Argument for Euthanasia Essay -- Argumentative Essays, Persuasive Es

An Argument for Euthanasia Euthanasia is defined as, "The act or practice of putting to death painlessly a person suffering from an incurable disease." Euthanasia can be traced back as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. It was sometimes allowed in these civilizations to help others die. Voluntary euthanasia was approved in these ancient societies. Today, the practice of euthanasia causes great controversy. Both pro-life groups and right-to-die groups present arguments for their different sides. Pro-life groups make arguments and present fears against euthanasia. I contend that the case for the right to die is the stronger argument. I will begin my by listing the arguments against euthanasia and my criticism of each argument. 1. Euthanasia is a violation of medical ethics. The American Medical Association has consistently condemned euthanasia as an unethical practice. Today, attitudes may be changing. Recent surveys indicate that a majority of doctors in some areas, (60% in Oregon, 56% in Michigan, and 54% in Great Britain.) favor euthanasia in extreme cases. 2. Euthanasia weakens the trust relationship between the doctor and the patient. We expect doctors to heal and save lives, not to kill. I feel that I should be able to trust my doctor to do what is best for me as an individual in any situation, including ending unbearable suffering, even if it is my choice to die in order to end my suffering. Doctors may lose the trust of their patients by not helping them to end their suffering. 3. Choosing the time and place of a person?s death is God?s decision. This argument suggests that we should never intervene in any life-threatening situation. If a person is having a heart attack, should we just... ...admit that they have given heavy doses of morphine to relieve the extreme pain of terminally ill patients, knowing that such high doses will cause a quicker death. Because their primary aim is to relieve pain, these acts are considered moral. It would not be morally right to give the same high doses of morphine if their primary aim was to cause death. This is in my opinion wrong. In either case, the ultimate end is death. I believe that it is immoral of society to force caring, compassionate people to lie and go to such morbid lengths to help their patients and loved ones end their suffering. These illegal acts would be entirely unnecessary if euthanasia were regulated and legalized. Value Premise: Everyone deserves to live a life free from suffering. Factual Premise: Euthanasia ends suffering. Conclusion: In order to end suffering euthanasia should be allowed.

Customer Service in the Transport Logistics

The South African transport industry is one that is changing. In terms of Customer service there are certain companies that are excelling and are able to provide service that gains them a greater measure of customer satisfaction. Good customer service is an integral part of any business or organization. The process of managing stock, warehouse inventory, and freight transportation is at the heart of logistics. Logistics is the management and coordination of moving inventory from its origination to its ultimate destination. The goal of a logistics team is to find a way to do this process in the most streamlined, cost efficient method possible. The overall High costs in the logistics industry though are a cause for concern as they hinder the ability of organisations to provide maximum efficiency, to their customers thus not achieving maximum customer service. We will discuss what customer service is and its importance in the transport industry. We will look at the challenges facing the South African Transport industry as well as current developments going into the world cup and what these developments mean for the future of the South African transport industry. Customer Service is defined by Vogt and Pienaar as â€Å"the integrated series of activities between a supplier and a buyer, which enhance the sale and facilitate the effective use of the suppliers’ products. When rendered effectively, customer service is the overriding logistics supply chain function that can create demand and retain loyalty. In a broader sense customer service is the measure of how well the logistics system is performing in providing time and place utility for a product or service (Pienaar & Vogt; 2009, 25). According to Christopher and Peck (2003) customer service includes points of contact between a supplier and buyer also including tangible and intangible elements. Logistics performance is extremely important in achieving customer satisfaction. Importance of Customer service The importance of customer service in any organisation and the transport industry as a whole cannot be over emphasized. Customer service is the most critical aspect of the whole supply and distribution chain (Ron). According to Karl it has been proven in surveys that most customers do not come back to certain business establishment because of the indifferences they might have had with the owner, manager and employees regardless if they like the product or service the business renders. Every business management must recognize the reality that customer service is imperative in the success of the business. This ensures customer loyalty and commitment to the business. The company’s ability to focus on customers needs rather than on their own will ensure that company is cost effective and efficient at all times. Characteristics of customer service in transportation There are a number of factors that make up customer service and specifically for the transport industry these include, dependability, time in transit, flexibility of mode chosen, loss and damage performance of the mode, and ability of the transport to adapt to the changing customer needs. (Craig, 2004) Most customers are more interested about receiving their delivered goods on time than whether the person delivering the goods has a cheerful face. Successful companies try to under-promise and over deliver in terms of delivery time. This allows the firms to capture their customers ensuring that the company’s reputation is not jeopardized so firms need to ensure that their lead times are accurate. Customer service excellence is about reliability and consistency. Reliability means that the suppliers commitment to maintain a promised delivery schedule and to advise customers if deliveries subsequently cannot be made on time. This shows that the suppliers are reliable and keep the customer at ease. It is better to switch to a more expensive but reliable supplier than to rely on a relatively inexpensive but erratic supplier. Customer satisfaction is highest when a customer knows they can rely on their goods to be delivered at the specified time and that the goods will be delivered. Companies such as Manline offer customers the service of being able to track their goods in transit through a customer call centre where they can monitor their cargo through real time satellite tracking of their vehicles. Such services allow customers to be more at ease. In South Africa overall this is a concern in the transport industry as the rate of hijacking is high and thus the risk of goods not arriving is high. This means that in South Africa it is imperative that an organisation gets the best security technology in order to meet customer needs. The amount of time in-transit is another important element in customer service within the transport industry. Goods need to be transported and delivered as quickly as possible as customers need their cargo on hand as soon as possible. The flexibility of any mode of transport is another important element in customer service. If an organisation is to provide the best service they need to react to a customer’s changing needs. In the South African transport industry it is sometimes difficult for there to be immediate changes in customer requirements as the most used mode of transportation is road transportation. This means that service delivery in any other form is sometimes difficult or unreliable. The idea is to move goods as quickly, efficiently and cost effectively as possible. JIT (Just-In-Time) deliveries are a powerful force in the modern epoch. Deliveries are getting smaller but more frequent. We are moving into a situation where there is a continuous flow of goods from source to final delivery. Those carriers who are able to adapt to the changes in the market and accommodate a wide set of logistical competencies will be the winners in the new age of transport. Traditional haulers must change their ideas of what industry they belong to and face the challenges of the new order. Fast-moving, 2005) Challenges affecting customer service in South Africa Within the last couple of years the country has been able to address some of the issues within the transport industry, though there is still much that needs to be addressed. There have been various challenges that have and still face South Africa’s growing transportation and physical distribution industry. One of those challenges is that with increased globalization the local industry has to compete wi th foreign industry. Customers want the most reliable yet inexpensive way of transporting their goods and foreign companies are doing this, making it difficult for local companies to stay relevant. Another major challenge which has been addressed to an extent by some companies and aspects of the transport industry is that of technology. Customers want to know the exact specifications of the transportation of their goods. They want to know time of departure, time of arrival, amount of time in transit, and even the route of transit. This then means that the best tracking technology is required. In South Africa this high technology has been slow in infiltrating the transport industry. Devices for tracking and monitoring load carriers using real time satellite tracking is not something that is widely used in the industry. A good example of a company that is doing this though is Manline . This Company has set up a 24-hour control centre operated by fleet trackers that constantly monitor all vehicles and also to apply effective route rationalizing techniques and maximize vehicle productivity and utilization. (Manline 2010). According to the findings of the ‘Research Report for the Infrastructure Inputs Sector Strategy’, commissioned by the Presidency, and compiled by Sudeo International Business consultants. One of the other major challenges facing the South African Transportation industry going into 2010 is that freight volumes travelling by all modes of transport will have to be suppressed for the duration of the world cup. This will have considerable impact on the logistics industry as a whole. Ways to improve and Developments in 2010 The challenges that face the South African industry are ones that can be remedied. The 2010 World cup in South Africa has become a catalyst event in developments in the country and the transportation industry as it is one of the most integral parts of achieving efficient customer delivery and thus achieving high customer satisfaction. An important component of ultimate improvement would be making on-time deliveries every time. When a product is ready for use, the clock starts to count down how long it will take to complete the cycle from completing the manufacturing of a product to the consumption of that product. The longer it takes to get the product into the hands of the consumer, the more money a company loses. It is important that the products are delivered quickly and on time to the customers in order to maintain the company’s customers and keep them loyal. So how does one streamline this process? By implementing a logistics plan of action, a company can do just that. Larger manufacturers will hire a logistics team that is responsible for the routing of goods from the company, to the freight transportation company, and finally to the end client. They will have a database system to track all inventory. They will monitor inventory levels to make sure that a backlog of supply occurs. An additional responsibility of transportation and logistics specialist is to account for accurate transportation times. It is vital for companies to be able to rely and trust that their shipments will arrive in a timely manner. Being well organized accounts for much of this success, but the ability to transport the shipments quickly is also important. Because the country's infrastructure has improved with better maintained highways and interstates, transportation times have decreased. Freight transportation is more reliable now because companies can more accurately predict when a shipment will arrive. Some trucking companies will even guarantee the precise day and hour that a delivery will be made. This is very important because customer satisfaction is often based around on-time deliveries and accurate accounting of merchandise. This has also helped to reduce the cost of shipping freight, since trucking companies now have reliable, more direct routes to utilize. It indirectly affects cost because better roads create less wear and tear on shipping vehicles. It is important for the organization to answer all e-mail and phone calls from customers within an hour. If possible, the owner of the business, personally take care of the problem. This will show that the organization cares about customers and will improve the service quality of the organisation. This is an important area of improvement in South Africa as clients would be able to trust load carriers as they would be in constant contact. It will give customers peace of mind if they can continuously monitor their cargo themselves and also stay in contact with their company. The organisation should offer as many contact methods as possible. Allow customers to contact you by e-mail. Hyperlink the e-mail address so customers won't have to type it. Offer toll free numbers for phone and fax contacts. Some trucking companies have contact numbers written on their trucks so that the customers can be able to contact that particular company when they need their service. The organisation should invite customers to company meetings, luncheons, workshops or seminars in the meeting the manager can inform the customers about when the products will be available in the market because it is important to give customers more than they expect. Create special events for the customers like parties, barbecue's, dances etc. This will make them feel important when the company include them in regular business operations and special events (Larry Dotson, 2004) If a logistic team only concentrates on reducing freight cost, they could potentially lower customer service quality. Therefore, the goal of a logistics manager, or third party administrator, is to find a balance between cost and customer satisfaction. They must also be able to provide accurate tracking information, correctly estimate shipping cost, and be able to calculate delivery dates and times. By being organized, keeping cost low for the clients, and by making on time deliveries, freight management can help control the overall customer satisfaction of their clients. Reducing cost in freight transport is great, but if you can improve customer service at the same time, that’s even better. Logistics software can help reduce costs in freight transportation and logistics while improving customer service quality. (Barone, 2003) In the South African industry research shows that there should be plans to shift back to rail-freight and reduce that of road as the overall cost of damage to roads will eventually filter down in costs to the customer. Although currently there are greater cost savings and cost competition in using road freight. Measuring Customer Service. Measuring customer service in logistics for any organization is crucial to determine whether the organization is doing what the customers are expecting. The needs of the customers differ to a large extent and the reason being is not all customers are treated the same. Since the needs of the customers differ to a large extent, organizations end up knowing so little in general about the customers’ real requirements hence they end up setting the service levels that are too high and hence too costly (Ballou, 1978). The high service levels result also in higher distribution costs and therefore the overall price of a product. Even though the aim of any organization is to meet the needs of each and every customer, the organizations should however try to generalize about customer service as much as possible to drive down the costs. The problem that is encountered while trying to measure the customer service is what factors to measure exactly. There has always been a contradiction on whether the service levels should be determined by the customers or be set by the organizations. The firms normally select factors that are easier to measure such as order handling, order picking times whereas customers might be interested or concerned about the order transmittal and delivery which tend to be more difficult to measure. Therefore to determine those factors or aspects that the customers value the most, the organizations normally use the performance model (Murphy and Wood, 2004). The performance model is a questionnaire that the customers fill on receipt of their orders; its main objective is to determine the percentage of times the firm accomplishes specific goals and objectives. Managers normally set some visible goals against which performance can be measured. These come in two forms; standards and policy statements (Ballou, 1978). The managers might for example set a standard whereby the target is to ensure a 95% in-stock rate, filling customer orders within 24 hours of receipt or a one day order cycle time for all customers staying close to the organization. Against these standards managers can be able to tell if they are meeting and exceeding the customer service levels the organization had set. I should be further noted that it is inefficient and costly to provide more service than the customer expect or requires hence the firm should try to meet to break-even. Some companies take customer service seriously in a sense that they even have the written printed statements. The policy statements promise the customers that the company intends to act in a specified way with regard to service. There are five ways in which the organizations measure or test the customer service levels (Gwilliam M, 2008). Firstly, if the organization is able to fill the orders then it must be meeting the customers’ expectations. Normally the acceptable standard is the 95% fill rate whereby it is only 5% of the time when there is stock out. Secondly it is the delivery of the goods on time. It is vital to measure how fast the organization can deliver the products that have been ordered. If most of the time the goods are not delivered at the targeted date then major changes need to be done. Furthermore, it is important to measure how successfully the customers’ concerns can be resolved. Since the customers use the enquiries to express their concerns, the proportion of the number of customer enquiries that have been effectively resolved can be used as a means of measuring customer service given the number of enquiries that have been received. Another way to measure customer service can be how quick the organization responds to the customers’ mails, emails, and phone calls. If the organization is able to respond to the customers within 24 hrs than the level of customer service is up to standard. The last way of measuring the customer service in logistics is by letting the customer decide. The customers can let the organization know if it is fulfilling the needs of its customers. The customer surveys that focus on the customer service issues can be conducted and from the response of the customer surveys the organization can be able to improve on the areas that the customers are not happy with. Once the level of customer service is known it becomes easier to control it. When the level of customer service is below the standard the customers become dissatisfied, however if the level of customer service is above or exceed what the customers require it increases the costs of the organization. Control is therefore defined as a process of taking corrective action when measurement indicates that the goals or objectives of customer service are not being achieved. For example, if the delivery targeted dates are not met there might be a need of changing the mode of transport or simply the route being used. Firstly the service level standards are set, and then the actual is compared to the standard. If there is a variation then the corrective measures need to be done so that the standard is met. At times the reason why the standard is not met is because it was set too high that it cannot be matched, in this case the standard itself needs to be revised. Conclusion â€Å"The success of South Africa’s infrastructure growth challenges will be dependent on the ability of logistics infrastructure and, in particular, transportation, to cope with the demands placed on it. †(Engineering news, 2007). In the future the quality of customer service will be the main determining factor in the survival of a company as customers become more aware of product offerings that will suit them. The transportation industry in South Africa is changing, with greater emphasis being placed on the customer and their level of satisfaction. This will bring a greater move forward in the industry that will see South Africa competing on the world stage in terms of transportation. Customer service is vital to the survival of any company, organisation or industry and establishing and implementing customer service policies that work is what will lead organisations and industries to greater growth and success.

Powerplay in Texts – Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare), Gladiator (Ridley Scott) & the Statue of Liberty (Warren Brown)

Power is conditional; it’s a measure of one individual’s ability to control the environment around itself, including the behaviour of other entities through manipulation and exploitation. The application of power, whether this be physical or sexual, individual or political, private or public, replicates one’s ability to control, command and influence others. Ultimately, an entity with power is permitted to employ this for the benefit of others, or unfortunately to their detriment. Power is transient therefore, gains or losses in power can significantly impact on an individual’s human experience. Three texts permeated by power struggles include Shakespeare’s catastrophic play Antony and Cleopatra, Ridley Scott’s film ‘Gladiator’ (2000), and Warren Brown’s political cartoon ‘The Statue of Liberty’. Each composer employs a variety of literary and visual techniques including dialogue, symbolism, sound (both diegetic and non-diegetic), mise-en-scene, irony, soliloquy and emotive language, to explore the transformative effect of power on the human experience. These powerplays are extremely persuasive, and thus we are convinced to embrace the perspectives offered in these texts. The major powers examined in the three texts are political, militaristic and sexual. Antony and Cleopatra is a disastrous play that illustrates a chronicle of two leaders from two very different worlds who fall profoundly in love with each other and their endeavor to sustain their relationship against the Roman Empire, however, it ends tragically with their suicides. Antony grapples with the conflict between his love for Cleopatra and his duties to the Roman Empire; the geographical poles that draw him in opposite directions represent deep-seated conflicts between his reason and emotion, his sense of duty and his desire, his obligations to the state and his private needs. Soliloquies are used throughout the play as a means of aiding the audience to understand the subconscious thoughts of the characters. In Act IV, scene 12, Antony states to himself â€Å"O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more†, foreshadowing his own death. Various persuasive forms of power are displayed in this play convincing us to embrace perspectives offered in this text; those forms of power being political, sexual and militaristic. Before Antony met Cleopatra, he held military and political power so great, even his lieutenants were afraid to out preform him, â€Å"But ‘twould offend him, and his offence†¦Should my performance perish. † Antony’s affair with Cleopatra makes him disregard his responsibilities where the sexual power present allows for passion to overtake his reasonable judgement. Antony knew this in his use of fertility and sexual imagery in the metaphor â€Å"These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, or lose myself in dotage. † Sympathy for Antony was formed through his personal conflict between love and duty, thus weakening Antony’s control over himself and his known loss of power. Antony blames himself for the wrong decision â€Å"My very hairs do mutiny, for the white†¦reprove the brown for rashness† Here hair is used as a metaphor for age, and Antony hasn’t acted as a man with â€Å"white† hair should which is with maturity, instead acting on impulse, brown hair symbolising a younger man. We see the enchanting sexual power of Cleopatra when Enobarbus’ explains to Agrippa â€Å"From the barge, a strange invisible perfume hits the senses†, personifying the sexual power held by Cleopatra, not only over Antony, but the radiating power she holds over all who cross paths with her. â€Å"Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself. † This order delivered by Cleopatra herself is the order, which ultimately, brings Antony to kill himself illustrating Cleopatra’s manipulative power over him. When she learns that she’s being taken to Rome, it produces a fear of humiliation for her; accordingly, she ends her life. Caesars’ use of Antony’s own surrendered men in the front battle line creates a psychological advantage over Antony by bringing emotion onto the field, â€Å"Plant those who have revolted in the van†¦that Antony may seem to spend his fury†¦upon himself†. The emotive language manipulates the situation by making Antony feel he is fighting himself when fighting his deserted soldiers through metaphrasing them as himself. The suicide of both Antony and Cleopatra takes away from Octavius because they become tragic lovers who would always be remembered, â€Å"Our army shall†¦in solemn show attend this funeral†¦and then to Rome†¦see†¦high order in this great solemnity. † Irony is used when Caesar parades both Antony and Cleopatra to maximise his gain in power but instead makes the best political move giving them a great ceremony. The varied force of power is extremely persuasive. Throughout the entire play the effects of Powerplay direct the vents of the characters lives and create and destroy relationships between all characters involved, persuading us to embrace these perspectives concerning the significance of power in the human experience. Similarly, Scott’s film Gladiator, Maximus (Russell Crowe), the Roman general turned Gladiator and Commodus, the son of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius manipulates others to gain power in order to fulfill their desires. The dominant po werplays in this text and political and militaristic, and due to the perspectives offered on the significance of power in the human experience, we are persuaded to embrace these perspectives. Maximus is portrayed as a powerful character by Scott through the use of mise-en-scene, in particular Maximus’ costumes, that being of an Upper Class Roman General and props (ie – his Imperial Sword), and the fact that when we see Maximus fighting, whether it be at the beginning of the film with the Barbarians or near to the end in the arena, we see him through a low-angled camera shot, exemplifying his fighting power and knowledge over his enemies. Maximus’ image of power is gained, lost, and then later re-gained through the duration of the film, despite the capturing of this power ultimately leads to his death. Correspondingly, we are persuaded to embrace these perspectives about the significance of power in the human experience in Warren Brown’s political cartoon ‘The Statue of Liberty’. This text uses a number of techniques to convey its political power play perspective including contrast of size between the two personas. It is a widely shared notion that power is associated with size; the greater the size the greater the level of power. Yet, this cartoon chooses to test this and illustrate the idea that Osama holds power over the Statue of Liberty. This is both ironic and a contrast of size. Although America, represented as the Statue, has been damaged to various terrorist attacks, it still aims to protect itself, just as Maximus aimed to protect Rome at all costs, even after he had been captured and sold as a slave and gladiator. The fact that Osama is not present within this frame suggests that he holds power of the statue. The political perspectives offered in this text are persuasive, thus convincing us of the significance of power in the human experience.