Quintessential Leader Description Essay

The main focus of this research paper is leadership qualifications in the workplace. Please structure a research paper to address the following issues: (A) Develop the academic foundations of leadership by providing a brief literature review of three (3) current articles (that is, within the last 4 years) that relate to any of Daniel Goleman’s theories. Research other articles not use used in the course. Make sure that the articles you choose are appropriate and related to you topic. The articles do not require Goleman as an author. (B ) Describe what you consider to be the quintessential good leader using additional research literature (in addition to those of the previous Goleman literature review) to support your defense. (C) Using the research from the Goleman literature reviews (category A), and the literature used to describe the quintessential leader (category B ), develop a theoretical leadership model with a focus on middle manager leadership qualifications for an existing or fictitious organization. Use one of the teamwork development models from threaded discussion 2.2 as one of the expectation of the leader. In other words, I want you to build an organization with a middle manager (leader) which instills all of the characteristics that you choose to describe, defend, and analyze. This is your chance to put your preferred leadership resource in place. It is recommended that you include at least three characteristics for your leadership qualification model. Note: you have full autonomy to provide the list of characteristics as long as it is defended using proper research methods. Make sure you analyze each characteristic and defend your assertions.

Life of Pi analysis Essay

Life of Pi â€Å"Life of Pi† written by Yann Martel is an incredibly philosophical novel that tells the story of survival. Pi Patel, a young Indian boy, is faced against the impossible when his familys boat is shipwrecked and he is left stranded in a lifeboat with an interesting and potentially harmful group of animals: a zebra, an orangutan, a vicious hyena, and the magnificent Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger with a human like name. Throughout the novel, due to his situation of being stranded, Pi had to take drastic measures in order to survive. Part of his need to survive resulted in Pi giving up his egetarian ways. Slowly throughout the book, readers witness the transformation from Pi’s civil eating habits to an animalistic devouring of food . His transformation of eating habits leaves readers to question how, after reaching such a gruesome point, is Pi able to return to the life he lived pre-shipwreck, and return to his old eating habits as if nothing happened? In the beginning of the novel, it is quickly established that Pi was vegetarian. With being so close to the zoo keeping industry allowed Pi to develop a love and understanding for animals that many carnivorous eaters don’t. His religion of Hinduism also played a part in Pi’s original eating habits. The strictness in his diet made it hard for Pi to, at first, get accustomed to life on the sea. Imagine going from eating a strict vegetarian diet to being required to eat anything in plain sight Just to survive. Pi’s first scene where he breaks his vegetarian diets occurred a days after the shipwreck. After realizing that the sea is full of edible life forms, Pi makes an executive decision and decides that, in order to survive, he must eat food that would defy his vegetarian ways. After unsuccessfully using a leather hoe as bait for fish, Pi is interrupted by a school of flying fish. Luckily for P’, some of the fish fall into the boat, making them readily available for Pi and Richard Parker to eat. Being the animal that he is, Richard Parker does not hesitate to eat his portion of the fish. However the same does not go for P’. Eating the fish meant doing what he considered to be the unthinkable. Pi â€Å"proceeded with great deliberation† (182) and â€Å"unwrapped the fish carefully’ (182). It was apparent that killing the fish went against all of Pi’s morals because â€Å"the closer the fish was to appearing, the more afraid and isgusted† (182) he became. Pi’s contemplated a lot before making his decision because â€Å"a lifetime of peaceful vegetarianism stood between and the willful beheading of a fish† (183). After deciding that the best way to kill the fish was to break its neck, Pi had â€Å"tears flowing down his cheeks† (183). The simple killing of a fish left Pi in an emotional state. Now instead of an innocent sixteen year old boy, Pi was a killer and guilty of taking a life away. In other words, Pi now â€Å"had blood on [his] hands† (183). Despite Pi’s utter disgust and emotional breakdown, he continued to fish using the dead fish’s head as bait. As a result, Pi was able to attract the attention of a hungry Dorado bird. Once Pi realized that he had his next victim, he began to reel it in. However, the Dorado bird was not going to go down without a fight. Although it was a struggle for Pi to reel in the distressed bird, â€Å"killing it was no problem† (185). Pi beat the bird vigorously witha atc et n n . Unlike the tisn, Pi nad no issues witn killing the Dorado. He maintained emotionally stable and didn’t really care whether or not the bird suffered while it was being beaten. At this point in the novel, readers begin to see how Pi’s eating habits are transformed. In such a short time, Pi went from â€Å"weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death of a Dorado† (185). This is proof to the believe that â€Å"a person can get used to anything† (185) regardless of what it is. In Pi’s case, he got accustomed to killing. As time passes by, Pi’s eating habits only become more brutal. After discovering the simplicity in catching turtle, Pi began to eat them. More specifically, Pi butchered the turtles and drank the â€Å"sweet lassi† (212) that would spurt from the turtle’s neck. Not only did turtles become Pi’s â€Å"favorite dish† (212), but it also ate everything that urtles had to offer, whether it be their liver, heart, lungs, flesh, or intestine. Pi’s methods for killing the turtles and his behavior when eating the turtles showed how Pi was slowly transforming into a version of Richard Parker. His eating habits were becoming animalistic and they continued to worsen as Pi spent more time stranded out in the Pacific. In addition to ravenously eating his prey, Pi’s mood began to reflect the amount of food he ingested. Once Pi’s rations were gone, â€Å"anything was good to eat† (213). Instead of using his morals and sense of reasoning, Pi would Just eat nything he could find, regardless of the taste. Even Richard Parker’s feces caused Pi’s mouth to water. Pi’s need for food numbed his mind from making reasonable decisions. In Pi’s mind, everything was edible, much like how animals perceive everything to be edible. On top of atrociously killing turtles, Pi began to kill small sharks that would swim by the lifeboat. Instead of fishing for these sharks, Pi would â€Å"catch [the sharks] with [his] bare hands† (219) and eat their flesh. This sort of behavior Pi demonstrated further proves how his eating habits resemble those of Richard Parker. Whenever Pi would throw the tiger its ortion of the prey, Richard Parker would â€Å"attack immediately’ (219) by striking the animal with his forepaws. Similarly, Pi is beginning to â€Å"attack† his prey with his hands, and then devour it. Pi also reached a point where he, himself, realized how his eating habits resembled Richard Parker’s. He became known of â€Å"how low [he] had sunk† when he compared his eating to the tiger’s. Both ate their food with a â€Å"noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down† (225) nature. Even though at that point of Pi’s journey he seemed to have become a completely new individual, Pi still had some of his morals intact. When Pi became temporarily blind, a French cook boarded the lifeboat and began to talk to him. At the time, Pi thought that he was talking to Richard Parker. Pi and the cook discussed food, and the cooks view on food caused Pi to feel â€Å"sick† (245). Unbeknown to Pi, the cook was actually a cannibal and had every intention to eat Pl. Luckily for P’, Richard Parker was there to save him by killing the French cook. However, although Pi was sickened by the thought of eating another human being, Pi’s actions following the death of the cook showed how hunger truly numbed his mind from remembering his morals and his vegetarian ways. After â€Å"catch[ing] one of [the cooks] arms with the gaff’ (256), Pi used the Frenchman’s body part as bait. Pi’s extreme need for food also drove him to eat some the man’s flesh. Although the amount ot tlesn Pi ate was small and went â€Å"nearly unnoticed† (2 still ate the flesh of another human. That by definition is cannibalism. For Pi to go to such an extreme Just to satisfy his hunger confirms that he was willing to do anything to survive, even if it meant disregarding all of his religious and moral believes. Even if it meant that he had to become an animal, Pi was willing to do anything to survive. In the end, despite the food Pi was exposed to while stranded in the ocean, Pi did return to his peaceful life as a vegetarian. When the interviewer went to hear Pi’s incredible story, the interviewer made note of the fact that Pi was an â€Å"excellent cook† (25). Pi happily made the interviewer some vegetarian tacos and zesty macaroni and cheese. It would seem as if Pi never viciously slaughtered turtles or sharks, or had eaten the flesh of another human being. It was as if Pi had forgotten the horrid things that happened on the lifeboat. However, that was the case. Those memories were forever mprinted in Pi’s memory, but Pi was able to move past the killings and continue with the lifestyle that truly made him happy and comfortable before his misfortunes. As Pi stated before, â€Å"a person can get used to anything†. In regards to his eating habits, once Pi returned back to normal civilization, he became accustomed to the habits he had before the shipwreck.

Proposed Action Plan to End Police Discrimination Essay

Proposed Action Plan to End Police Discrimination - Essay Example (CNN.com, 1). Tabatabainejad may or may not have been justified in his actions, but from the videotape of the event, it appears that the police were certainly not justified in their actions. Campus police spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein commented, "This is a long-standing library policy to ensure the safety of students during the late-night hours" (CNN.com). But one wonders if this is actually the case. Would the police have treated a white male in the same way We are also seeing this same kind of behavior occurring within our own police force. The only way this problem can be stopped is by creating a plan of action that would require a major overhaul in the way the police officers of this city think about the people in the community, and vice versa. The needs assessment for this plan is described below. Recently, the police department has been under fire for its rough treatment of students of color during protests on the college campus. In fact, this type of police-student interaction has increased almost 75 percent in the past year. On the other hand, police violence against white students during protests has decreased 50 percent in the same period of time. Obviously, there is a disparity here that needs to be addressed. Our officers routinely neglect the investigation of crimes committed against minority groups so that they can spend more time on crimes against white people. They do not even respond to calls from minority neighborhoods in a timely manner. Of the 5,000 emergency calls the department received over the past year, 1,500 were from white citizens, while 3,500 were from minority citizens (black, Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern). Ninety percent of the 1,500 white citizens' calls were responded to within a day, with an average of 50 police work hours going into investigating each of these calls. Only 30 percent of the 3,500 minority calls were responded to within a day, with an average of about 12 work hours put forth toward the investigation of these calls. This represents a serious neglect of duty when it comes to making sure that the safety needs of all citizens are addressed. Problem 3: Police harassment of minority owned and frequented businesses The department gets calls all the time from minority-owned and frequented businesses about the lack of respect, and the amount of grief, they get from the neighborhood officers. Over the past year, these incidents have increased 50-60 percent. It is unclear whether this really reflects a shift in police actions, since the number of minority-owned businesses in the community has also increased significantly. Still, it represents a disturbing trend. Problem 4: Racial slurs directed toward minority communities The officers on this force have, at times, been known to speak to Hispanics and other minority groups using derogatory language and racial slurs. Hundreds of calls have been received from concerned citizens about this issue. These incidents represent an increase of about ten percent over the past year, but this does not even reflect the number of remarks that go unnoticed or unreported. It is likely that there are many such cases. Sadly, this discriminatory

Why the European Union developed a range of equality policies and Essay

Why the European Union developed a range of equality policies and enacted some strong workplace equality legislation - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that ever since 1957, when gender-based inequality was pledged to be abolished from workplaces in the European Union through the Treaty of Rome, Europeans have seen many changes occur in the field of workplace equality policies. Recently, the European Union again reemphasized upon this aspect of equality in the workplace and modified the workplace equality legislation to give everyone a fair chance in performing at their jobs while the reasons for this move is pretty obvious, exact tenets of the approach used by the European Union are hard to emulate in other countries due to the complexity of clauses presented in the legislation. In order to understand this, we must delve into the details of the changes brought in by the European Union recently. For a country to grow and experience financial and economic prosperity, it is very important that each and every individual in the community has a role to play in contributing towards the infrastru cture of the country. For this to happen, any individual located in any part if the European Union should ideally have all the chances to take up a job he desires and serve the country using his specific skillsets. It was this ideology that prompted the government to set up such legislation initially. In due course of time, several amendments came up to reduce gender bias and racist discriminations in the workplace. Amongst prominent incidents that led to the further upheaval of the policies in this legislation, we find the following to be of utmost importance and to have led to anti-discrimination laws to be more completely defined in recent times. Roma History: Surprisingly a lot of schools in different parts of the European Union had students of Romanian backgrounds, most of whom were victims of discrimination whether at school or in society. Children abused at workplaces were also found in these rehabilitation schools. This observation and the plight of descendants of Gypsies br ought out the need to abolish discrimination at elementary levels, by introducing laws that governed much more than just racial discrimination in the workplace.

DISNEY MARKETING NUTRITION TO CHILDREN Case Study

DISNEY MARKETING NUTRITION TO CHILDREN - Case Study Example esity among children in the United States and Europe due to eating fast food that are produced and sold at Disney theme parks and outlets (Bell & Winig, 2009). It was gathered from the case study that more than 65% of Americans are obese and similar trend has been observed in children as well. From studies, it was found that a majority of the advertisements that are aired for influencing children are related to high calorie and fat food items such as, candy, soft drinks, fries and other fast food and sweetened cereals. It was also noticed that when a certain food was endorsed using cartoon characters, children insisted on purchasing those, more for the character than the food. Researches revealed that there was a huge gap between preference of parents and that of children regarding the nature of food. Children preferred eating those foods that their peers preferred, while mothers selected nutritious food for them. The case study also suggests that initially, when Disney sold food and beverages in their entertainment parks and outlets, they had only considered enjoyment entailed with the eatables over the nutrition factor. Therefore, their eatables included ice cream, candy, pizza and pasta. According to Disney, they related food as a lifestyle over a source of nutrition prior to the criticisms (Bell & Winig, 2009). People buy or consume fast food because these food items look attractive and taste good. Moreover, fast food is available at a reasonable cost while the volume is comparatively high. The company can introduce servings of salads and fruits along with basic meal. Introduction of salad along with high calorie meal will help in adding nutrition along with satisfying their taste buds. The company replaces its fast food products with healthier whole meal choices but with reduced variety. On a small scale production, it will be expensive, but if the company integrates suppliers and farmers from different parts of the world who are involved in fresh produce,

Caring for the Elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Caring for the Elderly - Essay Example As studies emphasize the continued activeness contributes to longevity and health of elderly, there has been significant initiatives to increase their activeness on a personal and community level (Caring for the Elderly). The elderly should not be marginalized, set aside or to be made feel unwanted or uncared for. The motivation is for the elderly to be able to enjoy the longevity that is afforded them by new developments in medical science to the fullest. Many programs has encouraged many senior citizens to stay active or become active. This has increased their quality of life while at the same has provided essential support among the individuals in their age group (Williams & Garland 379). However, success of the programs has been limited and health departments are turning to private and community groups to improve the situation of more senior citizens. In Northern Ireland, case study programs have been launched to assess the effectiveness of physical development programs for the elderly and the leanings from the programs are to be the basis of programs to be launched in Britain in 2007 (Northern Ireland Social Care Council [NISCC]). Among the popularized programs that have initiated by the Unite Kingdom's National Health Service include community exercise programs that include Tai Chi and dance. The programs are centered on the theory that improving the level of physical activity can enhance the overall all health of the subjects, enhancing or maintained include dexterity, agility, endurance and coordination (McGuire-Snieckus et al 8). Continued physical activeness can significantly enhance everyday physical activities since muscle tone and related body functions are maintained (Caring for the Elderly). Though there are strict considerations for individuals who have existing conditions particularly those who may have conditions that impair their judgment as well as for cardio vascular or immunological conditions (Garland et al 454). The objective is to be able to not just let them enjoy the activities but to also derive pleasure and fulfillment form their physical activities. Social Care Together with the studies that give evidence that beyond the physical activity that is involved in the programs, interaction during the activities also plays an important role for the individuals participating in the programs (McGuire-Snieckus et al 11). Thus, the physical activities or therapies serve as the host for other programs designed for the age groups that also aim to enhance their life and the effectiveness of their medications and treatments. The elderly should be considered a heritage to society: treasured and valued for their lives and learning. Parts of existing rehabilitation programs for the elederly are in combicnation with juvenile programs. The elderly serve as mentors for the troubled youths providing them real life insights regarding their addiction or other conditions. The program has had success because of the relationship that is fostered among the participants and on the side of the more senior participants it allows them to share their feelings and realizations from their lives (Lalor et al) According to researches, one of the most difficult sources of problem for the elderly involves their marginalization and diminished access to social institutions and activities that

Should China be Promoting Big Business Groups Essay

Should China be Promoting Big Business Groups - Essay Example As the discussion stresses Chinas enterprise groups have performed better than any other enterprise. They are competitive and ready for the challenge of improving the nation’s economy. They have driven the economy of china to a higher level. The process of transforming these enterprises is better known as Jituanhua. By 2004, china transformed about 2692 enterprises into enterprise groups. This enterprise groups provided employment for almost 30 million people in china. Their output has grown up to 21% annually. These enterprise groups expanded more as many more companies joined in to work together.From this paper it is clear that  China has adopted the East Asian style to development. This started all the way from 1980s when it was realized to be one of the fast growing economies in East Asia. They key models imitated by the Chinese economy from other already developed states in East Asia are state controls over the finance, government intervention in state firms, substituti ng imports in some industries and high export activities. A lot of saving and investment is also encouraged locally. Much similarity is noticed between Taiwan and china since they both have private and state enterprise sectors that play the crucial role in their development strategies.  It is surprising that this was the case even though china shared most of the affected sector with other East Asian countries.... This started all the way from 1980s when it was realized to be one of the fast growing economies in East Asia. They key models imitated by the Chinese economy from other already developed states in East Asia are state controls over the finance, government intervention in state firms, substituting imports in some industries and high export activities. A lot of saving and investment is also encouraged locally. Much similarity is noticed between Taiwan and china since they both have private and state enterprise sectors that play the crucial role in their development strategies. In 1997 and 1998, there was a financial crisis that affected the East Asian countries though china was affected at a minimal degree. It is surprising that this was the case even though china shared most of the affected sector with other East Asian countries. The East Asian financial crisis According to (Yang & Tyes, 1999), the East Asian countries were doing remarkably well in the financial development around the year 1997. Financial and currency crisis affected this greatly. Many economies in this region that had expanded started to slow down. This era experienced currency depreciations. According to (Yang & Tyes, 1999) â€Å"The external crisis combined with domestic reforms and with the changes that were taking place in the macroeconomic policy to retard overall economic growth and an increase in employment.† The Chinese people had long valued the culture of saving and using the savings future which saved china’s economy from collapsing like the rest of the East Asian states. Japan experienced a drop in investment to about a tenth in the years 1997-1998. In some countries, the economy declined by a half. Production of

Management Accounting 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Accounting 3 - Essay Example Developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School and David Norton as a performance measuring framework which could have the capability to take into account the strategic vision and goals of the organization. It is also viewed as value methodology besides being considered cost benefit analysis tool however it is also being labeled as something which can help organizations to change value culture as well as improving operational efficiency and profitability of the organization. (Gumbus and Lussier). The need for developing a balanced score card emerges because though companies are good at developing the glossy mission and vision statements however they fail to develop operational strategies which can help achieve organizations those strategic goals and due to the lack of ability of the organizations to effectively measure whether they are achieving their strategic goals, and targets, organizations found Balanced Score card a very effective tool to measure and monitor their per formance against their strategic goals. Since a balanced score card connect various components of the organizational strategy making such as organizational resources, customers, people, operations, finance and the community also therefore Balanced Score Card is a very comprehensive strategic tool to manage above all. This essay will look into some of the key performance areas which a balanced score card look into and will review their usefulness in achieving the strategic goals within the context of a service organization. Balanced score card have evolved from being a simple performance measuring tool to one of the highly used strategic management tools organization could ever have. It tends to associate the non-financial aspects of the performance with the financial aspects and presents a broader and deeper view of the organizational performance and its relevance to the overall organizational strategy. Rather than being simply used as a performance measurement tool, it

Legal aspect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Legal aspect - Essay Example They include autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. Based on the case before us, the nurses had the ethical responsibility of providing safe, compassionate, and competent care to the patient (Storch, Rodney, and Starzomski, 2004). In this regard, it was the responsibility of nurses to ensure that the patient is provided with the necessary treatments and care to ensure his well-being. In fact, the patient also has the right to receive treatment from nurses regardless of their status or situation. Therefore, it was the obligation of the nursing staff to ensure that the right of the patient is protected. The nurses were also under the ethical responsibility to preserve the dignity of the patient. This included the duty of providing the necessary support to ensure the patient’s dignity and integrity is maintained, according to Storch, Rodney, and Starzomski (2004). In the case before us, the patient had the right to be provided wit h the necessary care such as ensuring his cleanliness and well-being is assured. This includes being cleaned and turned on bed periodically to ensure his dignity is not compromised. The nurses were also under an ethical obligation to promote justice of the patient (American Nurses Association, 2006). ... Further, the nurses had the ethical responsibility of ensuring that the privacy and confidential information pertaining to the patient are maintained, according to the American Nurses Association (2006). In this regard, the nurses were expected to ensure that any confidential information pertaining to the patient is only used for the purpose for which it is meant. Therefore, they should ensure that private and confidential information is not divulged to the public without the consent of the patient. 2. Was there a deviation from the standards of care in this instance? Explain. The case before us showed a deviation from a number of standards of care expected of the nurses in discharge of their duties. Firstly, the case manifests a deviation from the nurses’ ethical duty to provide safe, compassionate, and competent care. This is evident from the fact that the nurses at the hospital failed to ensure that the patient received the quality care. According to Mrs. O’Hara†™s family, their patient died because of the nurses failed to administer the care and treatment expected. The fact that the 86-year old man laid on the bed without assistance from nurses is a clear proof of the deviation of this standard of care. The case also shows a deviation from the ethical responsibility of protecting the dignity of the patient. Every patient has a right to receive the necessary support from the health care providers such as being given the opportunity to bath and the turned on the bed in case the patient is too weak to do so by himself or herself (Burkhardt and Nathaniel, 2002). The case before us, however, shows clearly that the nurse charged with the responsibility of providing such a support failed to do so. As claimed by Mrs. O’Hara’s family, the 86-year old patient

Criminal minds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminal minds - Essay Example In spite of the efforts in this direction crimes continue to exist and it can be concluded that the crimes will continue to exist and this problem can not be solved. In order to solve this problem it becomes necessary that the cause of the crimes or the reason why people commit crimes need to be analysed. Traditionally crime has been considered as associated with two domains by the specialists. The domains are the nature or the environment of the individuals including the family and the peers of the individuals. However it must be noted that these specialists belong to different fields of science as the complexity and dynamics of crime extends to different areas which are difficult to comprehend. When reference is made to the science of criminology automatically reference is made to different branches of science such as psychology, genetics, sociology etc. The main purpose of criminology is to deal with crimes and criminals and solve this social problem. As mentioned earlier the main approaches to deal with the problem of crimes and their resolution are the natural approach and the environmental approach. The environmental approach deals with the circumstances that made an individual to commit a crime and it does not consider the heredity or family background of the criminal. Whereas the natural approach is sure that the nature of the criminal, his or her genes, and heredity are the main reasons that make him/her to commit the crimes. The latest developments in genetics have been fairly successful in substantiating the environmental causes for people committing crimes and this has put away the theories about the heredity and genes being responsible for the crimes which need to be proved scientifically. The theories relating to the presupposition of the heredity and genes are ambiguous and are to be established with a scientific base before they can be taken into account. On the other hand the followers of the environmental approach also can not deny the fact that the heredity and genetic causes play an important role in shaping the character of a person. They also contribute to the committing of the crime by the individuals. It is important that environment in which a person is born and brought up is considered while studying the crimes, as such environmental factors do have a large influence on the formation of the personality of the individual and the shaping of his or her characters. Though this new approach is relatively young and new it is becoming more and more popular and deserves to be analysed thoroughly before any conclusion can be drawn from the approach. According to Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) "criminology is the study of delinquency and crime with the goal of developing a body of knowledge including all the dynamics that surround crime and criminals to assist in their understanding of the phenomenon". Thus the focus of the science of criminology is to evolve a deep understanding of crime, the reasons why people commit crimes and also the nature of the people who commit crimes namely the criminals. It is a fact that it would be difficult to understand the crimes as a social phenomenon in general and all the details of the crime in particular as it affects the society, unless the causes which make the people commit the crimes.

Postmodernism, Hyperreality and the Hegemony of Spectacle in New Hollywood Essay Example for Free

Postmodernism, Hyperreality and the Hegemony of Spectacle in New Hollywood Essay After the screening of The Matrix on its first release, a dear cousin of mine, film connoisseur and avid fan of classical movies, spontaneously made the following comment: â€Å"This is an entirely new cinema to me! † If anything, The Matrix is a clear marker of cultural change. A film with state-of-the-art production values like this is bound to elicit in us the belated realization of how slow our response has been to the cultural products of an entirely transformed film industry, that of New Hollywood. My cousin’s casual and unwitting remark reflects the embarrassment felt by both professional critic and layman alike in coping with contemporary movies, especially when we still tend to approach New Hollywood products with the standards of the Old Hollywood cinema. Because of our adherence to tradition, we still tend to look for those classical values of â€Å"development†, â€Å"coherence† and â€Å"unity† in narratives only to find with disappointment that narrative plots become thinner, that characters are reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes and that action is carried through by loosely-linked sequences, built around spectacular stunts, dazzling stars and special effects. Narrative complexity is sacrificed on the altar of spectacle† (Buckland 166) as today’s blockbusters turn out to be nothing but calculated exercises in profit-making, all high-concept, high-gloss and pure show. Similar cries of warning about the loss of narrative integrity to cinematic spectacle have been voiced at different periods, usually at times of crisis or change in the history of the American cinema. One could cite, for example, Bazin’s disdain at the â€Å"displacement of classicism† by the baroque style, marking the end of the pure phase of classical cinema. His coined term, â€Å"superwestern, †designates the â€Å"emergence of a new kind of western† (Kramer 290), that, according to Bazin, â€Å"would be ashamed to be just itself, and looks for some additional interest to justify its existence—an aesthetic, sociological, moral, psychological, political, or erotic interest† (150-1). Similarly, in 1957 Manny Farber, taking his cue from Bazin’s superwestern, laments the â€Å"disappearance of this [classical] roduction system and the closing of action-oriented neighborhood theaters in the 1950s†. He claims that directors like Howard Hawks â€Å"who had flourished in ‘a factory of unpretentious picture-making’ were pushed towards artistic self-consciousness, thematic seriousness, and big-budget spectacle â€Å"(Kramer 293, emphasis added). A decade later, Pauline Kael too expresses her fears at the disintegration of filmic narrative which she attributes to the abrasion of traditional film production in general. She laments not only the emphasis on â€Å"technique† â€Å"purely visual content,† and â€Å"open-ended, elaborate interpretations† of the experimental and innovative art film of the New American Cinema, but as Kramer puts it, she was equally critical of the experiences facilitated by Hollywood’s mainstream releases. The lack of concern for coherent storytelling on the part of producers and directors in charge of the volatile and overblown process of filmmaking was matched by the audience’s enthusiastic response to spectacular attractions and shock effects, irrespective of their degree of narrative motivation. 296) Voices of dissatisfaction were heard at another major turn in the history of Hollywood, that is in the late 1970s, when the â€Å"unprecedented box-office success of Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977), signaled Hollywood’s aesthetic, cultural and industrial re-orientation towards movies with more emphasis on special effects and cin ematic spectacle† (Kramer 301). Unlike the classical movies produced on the assembly line under the studio regime (films that respected narrative integrity and refined story ideas into the classical three-act of exposition, complication and resolution), the products of New Hollywood, says critic Richard Schickel, seem â€Å"to have lost or abandoned the art of narrative. [Filmmakers] are generally not refining stories at all, they are spicing up ‘concepts’ (as they like to call them), refining gimmicks, making sure there are no complexities to fur our tongue when it comes time to spread the word of mouth†(3). Contemporary cinema has come to depend so much on shrewd marketing and advertising strategies that its pictures, as Mark Crispin Miller points out, â€Å"like TV ads, aspire to a total ‘look’ and seem more designed than directed† (49). The difficulty that critics nowadays face with films like The Matrix and the new situation in Hollywood, is not only unlike the layman’s inability to assess â€Å"any recent Hollywood film as a discreet textual artifact that is either ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than the artifact produced under the studio regime,† Cook and Bernink note (99). It has also to do with regarding â€Å"the textual form of recent Hollywood as expressive of changed production circumstances that lead to a different kind of textual artifact†(ibid. ). In other words, as we move on in our globalized, high-tech age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to regard any single movie as a self-contained, autonomous text. On the contrary, as Eileen Meehan contends, it has become imperative to look upon any New Hollywood mainstream release â€Å"always and simultaneously as text and commodity, intertext and product line† (31). In order to revise our critical standards and respond effectively to the new status of the contemporary Hollywood movie, we need to grasp the dramatic changes that the American film industry has undergone in the post-classical period, which started right after World War II and culminated to a point of radical transformation in the post-1975 period, which has eventually come to best warrant the term New Hollywood. These changes have been lucidly described in a number of historiographic studies (Ray 1985, Balio 1985, 1990, Schatz 1983, 1993, Gomery 1986, Bernardoni 1991, Corrigan 1991, Hillier 1992, Wasko 1994, Kramer 1998, Neale and Smith 1998, Cook and Bernink 1999) which collectively shed ample light on the completely new situation defining New Hollywood. What has drastically changed is both the ways movies are made and the ways in which Hollywood has been doing business. After the government’s dismantling of the â€Å"vertically-integrated† studio system, the industry turned to producing and selling motion pictures on a film-by-film basis, resulting in the shift of power from studio heads to deal-makers (agents), in the rise of independent producers/directors, and in a more competitive and fragmented movie marketplace (Schatz 9). To the rise of TV and the emergence of other competing media technologies (VCRs, Cable and Satellite TV) Hollywood responded with a re-orientation towards blockbuster movies, â€Å"these high-cost, high-tech, high-stakes, multi-purpose entertainment machines that breed music videos and soundtrack albums, TV series and videocassettes, video games and theme park rides, novelizations and comic books† (Schatz 9). Despite the â€Å"increasingly fragmented but ever more expanding entertainment industry – with its demographics and target audiences, its diversified multimedia conglomerates, its global(ized) markets and new delivery systems†, the calculated blockbuster, as New Hollywood’s feature film, remains the driving force of the industry (ibid. ). This is testified by the monumental success of the blockbuster at the box-office. Schatz cites Variety’s commissioned study of the industry’s all-time commercial hits, in which only 2 movies of the classical period appear to have reached the top, whereas â€Å"90 of the top 100 hits have been produced since 1970, and all of the top 20 since Jaws in 1975†(9). The big-budget, all-star, spectacular hits of the late fifties and early sixties (such as The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, Cleopatra, or Dr. Zhivago) have some sizable profits to show for (all in the vicinity of $25-to $50 million). By the standards of their age, they were considered colossal box-office successes; however, by today’s standards they seem quite puny contestants to the post-75 era of super-blockbusters which generate record-setting grosses, well beyond the $100 million barrier (always in constant dollars). And such a figure applies only to theatrical rentals, which accounts just for a percentage of the total revenue of a movie which also finds outlets in ancillary markets. he industry’s spectacular growth and expansion (its horizontal integration) is to a great extent owing to the take-over of the majors (Paramount, Fox, Columbia, MCA/Universal) by huge media empires (Warner/Time Communications, Murdoch’s News Corporations, Sony, Matsushita, respectively) forming multimedia conglomerates with diverse interests in the domestic and the global market, with holdings in movies, TV production, cable, records, book and magazine publications, video games, theme parks, consumer electron ics (both software and hardware). These huge corporations provide financial muscle for the multi-million production budgets of the blockbusters (since the production costs have themselves sky-rocketed), but also market muscle for promotion. Marketing and advertising strategies have been the key to the unprecedented success of the New Hollywood movie since Jaws: through pre-selling, usually cashing in on the popularity of a novel published prior to production, a movie becomes a media â€Å"event† by heavy advertising on prime-time TV and the press, as well as by the massive simultaneous release in thousands of mall-based multiplex theaters. Calculated blockbuster productions are carefully designed to ensure the greatest potential profit not only through extended theatrical rental (sequels, re-issues, remakes, director’s cut), but also though capitalization in ancillary markets: soon the movie will come out on videocassette, audio-cassette, novel, computer game, and the increasingly popular since the mid-nineties, DVD, let alone an extended market career through by-products ranging from the CD movie soundtrack to T-shirts and toys, which contribute to the impressive surge in profits. It becomes obvious thus why contemporary movies cannot be conceived of as individual entities and cannot be separately examined from their economic intertext that renders them part (or rather the driving belt) of a larger entertainment machine and advertising campaign. Expensive blockbusters, which in the early days of the post-classical period were the exception and now, as Schatz states, have become the rule, â€Å"are the central output of modern Hollywood. But what, aside from costs, are their dominant characteristics? How are they able to attract, engage and entertain millions of people? asks Warren Buckland (166). The blockbuster syndrome has also changed the movies’ mode of address. Designed around a main idea, what is called â€Å"high concept†, a blockbuster becomes increasingly plot-driven, increasingly visceral, kinetic, fast-paced, increasingly reliant on special effects, increasingly â€Å"fantastic† (and thus apolitical), and increasingly targeted at younger audiences. And significantly enough, the lack of complex characters or plot [as for example] in Star Wars opens the film to other possibilities, notably its amalgamation of genre conventions and its elaborate play of cinematic references. But while these movies enjoy a great popularity among younger audiences, as their huge box-office success indicates, the loss of narrative integrity to spectacle, and the sense of escapism and triviality usually associated with high-gloss, star glamour and dumb show, has driven most academics or old-cinema cinephiles to summarily shun or dismiss blockbusters as merely calculated exercises in shameless profiteering. Warren Buckland thinks that these arguments about the loss of narrative potential in the contemporary feature film are overstated and attempts to reverse the â€Å"unhelpful and hostile evaluative stance† (167) of the critics towards the blockbuster. Focusing on a typical action-adventure blockbuster, Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Arc heproposes adopting an analytical and descriptive approach to these films, an approach dubbed by Bordwell and Thompson â€Å"historical oetics. † Part of the argument he makes is that â€Å"historical poetics† can account for the popularity of movies with such a broad appeal (and allows us to take them seriously as aesthetic, cultural objects) â€Å"especially because movies are examined in terms of their individuality, including their response to their historical moment, in which style and composition respond to the historical questions posed in the culture in which the film is made† (168-169). In other words, the issue is not so much about the so-called death of narrative—because narrative is still alive and well—but the emergence of a new kind of narrative, whose meaning is conveyed not through traditional narration but by emphasis on spectacle and the visual impact of the pictures which provide additional narrative pleasure and have changed the patterns of viewer response. Thus Buckland’s concluding remark that â€Å"it is perhaps time to stop condemning the New Hollywood blockbuster and to start, instead, to understand it,† carries more merit than we have been ready to admit. My intention in this essay is to extend the argument about the narrative/ spectacle issue in the direction suggested by Buckland, but within a wider, cultural perspective. The supremacy of the visual and the spectacular over traditional narration in the textual form of contemporary movies is not only expressive of the changed production values and the text’s signifying practices; it is also reflective of the changed cultural patterns and lifestyle habits in postmodernity. Classical cinema favored traditional storytelling because it provided a univocal interpretation of life and reflected a uniformity in entertainment habits: cinema was the predominant form of entertainment, as â€Å"the movies attracted 83 cents of every U. S. dollar spent on recreation† (Ray 26). Its nineties counterpart, with its emphasis on the sensational and the spectacular, on episodic action and generic diversification, is a postmodern cinema entertaining the possibility of multiple signification and the hyperreality of the visual, subject to an increasing commodified experience. As Anne Friedberg puts it, â€Å"today the culture industry takes on different forms: Domestic electronics (fax, modems, cable television) follow the interactive model of dialogic telephone communications. The personal computer turns the home user into a desktop publisher, the microwave turns every cook into an instant gourmet, the Walkman transforms each listener into a radio programmer. Both production and reception have been individualized; the culture industry no longer speaks in a univocal, monolithic voice. 189) This proliferation of entertainment venues offered to the individual points to a general malaise often regarded as the central feature of postmodernism, what Featherstone terms â€Å"the fragmentation and overproduction of culture—the key-feature of consumer culture† (76). As Jameson says, â€Å"in postmodern culture, ‘culture’ itself has become a product in its own right; the market has become a substitute for itself and fully as much a commodity as any of the items it includes within itself† (1991 x). In the â€Å"cultural logics of late capitalism,† Jameson’s code-phrase for postmodernity, what is commodified is not simply the image, which has acquired central role in contemporary culture but lived experience itself. As Guy Debord diagnoses in The Society of the Spectacle, â€Å"everything that was lived directly has moved away into a representation (1983 np). Baudrillard, as Friedberg notes, also talks about â€Å"the same phenomenon—representation of the thing replacing the thing—and extends it into a mise-en- abime of the ‘hyperreal,’ where signs refer only to signs. Hyperreality is not just an inverted relation of sign and signifier, but one of receding reference, a deterrence operation in the signifying chain†(178). A part in this process of the commodification of the sign and the derealization of the real has been played by media technologies, especially electronics, as Vivian Sobchack points out: The postmodern and electronic â€Å"instant† constitutes a form of absolute presence (one abstracted from the continuity that gives meaning to the system past/present/future) and changes the nature of the space it occupies. Without the temporal emphases of historical consciousness and personal history, space becomes abstract, ungrounded, flat—a site for play and display rather than an invested situation in which action â€Å"counts† rather than computes. Such a superficial space can no longer hold the spectator/ user’s interest, but has to stimulate it constantly in the same way a video game does. Its flatness—a function of its lack of temporal thickness and bodily investment—has to attract spectator interest at the surface. In an important sense, electronic space disembodies.

Abridging Cultural Differences in Learning Essay Example for Free

Abridging Cultural Differences in Learning Essay The world is not only composed of different races that come from different countries but also comprised of innumerable cultures unique from each other. Races from all around the world are greatly diverse. The diversity includes differences in practices, traditions and other cultural manifestations. Culture is one of the distinguishable characteristics of a group of people living in society. Culture is embedded in the community and is illustrated in various forms. In fact, even architectural design depicts culture of people in a particular place. Culture shapes and reshapes a persons individuality. It is influenced by various factors including socio-political, sociological, religion, and historical. Culture continually conform and mold to provide the ever-changing needs of the people in the society. The difference in cultural identity of the people could be attributed to the inherent beliefs, traditions and practices they adhere or grew up with. It is also due to the geographical locations of where we live because culture should match or fit to the geographical and topographical characteristics of the place. For these characteristics greatly affects some aspects of the culture. Learning Styles Learning plays a big role in the lives of people for it is essential in acquiring knowledge that is utilized in understanding things. Learning is an inherent human ability that is honed by factors that affects this particular human process like parenting, formal schooling, experience etc. The process of learning is never-ending, as people reach old age they still acquire new things like information and knowledge they will be able to utilize in some way. Learning has biological and sociological aspects or dimensions. These aspects affect learning either in a positive or negative way. Students may have different processes in taking in information and different ways of learning. Teaching strategies and methods also vary among teachers. Whenever teacher-student education style methods and preference are the same, learning is more likely successful. When there is an existing discrepancy in the learning style preferred by both students and teachers, the students tend to get bored and become inattentive to the lessons (Felder). Every individual have their preferred way of learning things. They are often unaware of this particular preference, they are just aware that they learn more of things that way. People tend to learn more using certain activities and methods than others (Melkman Trotman, 2005). The learning style preferences determine how people learn and the comfortable way in which they were able to learn more. These preferences exert influence learning efficacy (Melkman Trotman, 2005). Some of the biological aspects of learning are sound and light (Shalaway Beech, 1998), some people could not digest the things they should learn in the presence of loud noise and dim light, while there are some people who understand more of the lesson under that certain circumstances. The perception of an individual also affects the learning process of an individual. State of mental health is also another aspect that affects the learning process in which we determine if a person could easily learn the things being taught to them. This is where we could separate fast, average and slow learners. Developmental and sociological aspects that affect the cognitive processes include motivation (Shalaway Beech, 1998), in which some persons need to be motivated in order to digest what is being taught. Being in the in-group also one of the factors that is mostly seen in the school setting where students are more eager to go to school when they are not ostracized by the cliques or social groups. In most classroom settings, noise is not tolerated. Teachers react negatively whenever students squirm or wriggle in their seats, whenever they tap their desks with their pencils or whenever they show restlessness. However, studies prove that some children need such activities for then to able to concentrate, think and learn (Shalaway Beech, 1998). Research shows that when the learning preference of the children, either their biological or sociological aspect, there is a notable increase in achievement and behavioral response. Teachers also have individualized learning styles that affect their way of teaching. When the learning styles of the teacher and students happen to be the same, the more the students will learn (Shalaway Beech, 1998). Various sources discussed many types of learning style preferences. The three main learning style preferences are the auditory, visual and kinesthetic. The auditory learning style explains that some students learn more using their sense of hearing. They tend to get oral instructions easily. The visual learning style, on the other hand, explains how some students tend to learn more using their sense of sight. They are the students who frantically take down notes and copy down keywords from visual aids in class. The kinesthetic learning style explains why some students opt to learn on their own. They tend to learn more through experience and discovery (Learning Styles, 2005). Cultural Differences and Learning Culture and learning are two inseparable things (Moore and Anderson, 2003). The innate cultural identity of a person tends to affect their learning capabilities through influencing their learning styles. Researches find out that cultural groups tend to have unique learning styles that are different from other ethnic groups. But there is also a contrasting finding that members of the family tend to have different learning styles. Instructors and learning facilitators should be aware of three important things. 1. There are existing universally accepted learning principles, 2. Culture greatly influences the learning styles of individuals, 3. Every person has their distinguishable learning style preferences that affect their potential achievement and acquired knowledge (Moore Anderson, 2003). Culture could be held responsible in the developed learning style of an individual. Culture determines the preferences and values a person holds. United States is a multiracial and multicultural society in which the normal classroom is composed of people coming from the different ethnic groups (Shalaway Beech, 1998). Oftentimes, we are having a difficult time understanding people who have dissimilar taste and preference, because we know that there is no commonality or common ground that that two person could talk about. We tend to be biased in some way. Cultural differences are persons strengths, knowing the cultural background of the student will greatly help us to facilitate and induce classroom learning (Shalaway Beech, 1998). The knowledge in the cultural diversity and how it influences the learning process is very important especially to the course designers because there is an inevitable possibility that a group of individuals have different learning styles preferences (Moore Anderson, 2003). The negative implication of the culturally diverse classroom setting is composed of individuals with various learning style preferences. The instructor or learning facilitator have no control over the heterogeneous mixture of learning styles for it is difficult to develop a mixture of training methods and teaching strategies for all the students to learn in class. Conclusion Learning is among the fundamental human process very essential in life. The process of learning occurs in every setting and outside the confines of school and we are unaware that it happens. Culture is the embedded characteristic deeply rooted in society. It somehow defines the social identity of a person. Culture shapes individuality and influences the different aspects of a person, including tastes and preferences. Variety is the spice of life. The global society is composed of different races and cultures. Cultural differences are reflected in learning style preferences. The negative implication of cultural diversity in a classroom and having too many learning styles is that the teachers do not know what teaching methods they should used in order the students to learn the subject. Knowledge in this particular matter is very important especially to learning facilitators and course designers to develop a comprehensive and efficient teaching method to be utilized in classrooms in which ever student’s learning style is utilized. In this way we will be able to abridge cultural differences in learning. References Felder, R. Learning Styles. Resources in Science and Engineering Education. Retrieved June 25, 2008 from http://www4. ncsu. edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Learning_Styles. html. Learning Styles. (2005). Student Development Services. University of Western Ohio. Retrieved June 25, 2008 from http://www. sdc. uwo. ca/learning/index. html? styles. Melkman, A. Trotman, J. (2005). Training International Managers: Designing, Deploying and Delivering Effective Training for Multi-Cultural Groups. England: Gower Publishing Ltd. Moore, M. G. Anderson, W. G. (2003). Handbook of Distance Education. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Shalaway, L. Beech, L. (1998). Learning to Teach: Not Just for Beginners: The Essential Guide for All Teachers. New York: Teaching Resources/ Scholastic Professional Books.

Business Practices Faced By Richard Branson Commerce Essay

Business Practices Faced By Richard Branson Commerce Essay This is where it all began, Richard Branson, best known for his Virgin Group is of over 400 companies. Born in July 18, 1950; destined to become one of the best known British entrepreneurs. Beginning at the age of 16 with his first successful business venture; publishing Student magazine, beginning his string of successes. Richard Branson is now the 212th richest person in the world. Estimated a net worth of approximately 4 Billion a dollars; honoured for his degree of Doctor of Technology, knighted for his services to entrepreneurship, becoming on the greatest British citizen and most influential people in the world by BBC and Time Magazine. Being an adventurer Branson is, he never hesitates to take risks and experiment with new ventures, now one of the most recognized brands in the world. The Company Philosophy Try new things, branch out, and when you cant find success with one venture, you simply move on to the next Sir Richard Bransons philosophy above simply puts Virgin Group into prospective. The Virgin group was founded by Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson in 1970; started one of his many entrepreneurial ventures at the age of 16, when he started a magazine titled Student in 1968. Later in 1970, Richard launched a mail order record company called Virgin, which was also a success, and soon after a chain of Virgin record stores followed. In 1973, Branson entered into the music recording business and went on to sign artists such as the Rolling Stones. However, that did not satisfy Bransons entrepreneurial quest and he was looking for opportunities to diversify his business. Hence, in 1984 he ventured into the airline industry with Virgin Atlantic, which went on to become the second largest airline in Britain. The Virgin group then continued to expand with the launch of Virgin Publishing, Virgin Radio, Virgin Cola, Virgin Direct and Virgin Rail. Nevertheless, the Virgin Group was not always free of failures. One major setback for Virgin was the acquisition of Virgin Records by EMI in 1992. The other road bumps for Virgin were duds like Virgin Cola, Virgin Vodka, Virgin Cinemas, Virgin Cars and Virgin Cosmetics that were not very successful ventures sign of a true entrepreneur. But that does not mean that Virgin gives quantity more priority over quality. Every business venture is carefully calculated and analyzed keeping in mind the market demand, customer needs and innovation of products and services. Today, Virgin group is a leading branded venture capital organization and consists of more than 300 companies worldwide with products and services ranging from music, telecommunications, beverages, airlines, media and finance. The growth strategy of Virgin Group is based on the concept of licensing and franchising the Virgin brand name and being involved in the establishment of the ventures from scratch rather than acquiring and buying out existing businesses. The Virgin Brand is ever expanding and diversifying and Branson always encourages innovation and the wide range of products and services offered under the Virgin brand name exemplifies that. In the future years the strategic plan of Virgin is to launch two more ventures: Virgin Fuel (Cheaper, more efficient eco-friendly fuel), Virgin Galactic (Suborbital Space flights; which are set to revolutionize the business world). Brief Timeline 1970 With the success of Virgin Records, Virgin Group was founded, a catalyst for this creation. 1999 Virgin Atlantic was developed, a British train service. 2002 Virgin entered the mobile phone business, Virgin Mobile, opening similar mobile ventures in Britain, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. 2004 The independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group was established as Virgin Unite. 2005 Virgin Comics launched. 2006 Virgin Holidays established with a very econ friendly view by using all its profits in research and development of sustainable sources of energy. 2008 Virgin Radio rebranded. 2009 Virgin Group launches Digital Help Company in New York and in the UK. 2010 Unveiling of Virgin Gaming, an online destination for competitive console gamers. 2011+ Virgin Fuel Virgin Galactic Sectors that Virgin Group diversifies into: The Virgin group has been diversifying for a long time now. The company is occupied in different types of sectors and currently has around 240 or even more corporations. Richard Branson also ventured into the wildest sectors-Virgin Space Port. The diagram below lists the various sectors that the Virgin Group is diversified into: C:UsersalwardiDesktopVMS.jpg Why we chose this particular business over others? Virgin Megastores are known worldwide about its products and services. Every time you pass by the store you are curious much to know if they have any new products. At times you get surprised by seeing some movies and music albums that are yet to be released in America. Virgin mega store is a place where you can go for everything that involves entertainment. It has a sense of youth in the store; that awakens the young sprit. As for the staff are mostly youngsters. Virgin gives them the opportunity and flexibility to cope between work and studies. This gives a good reflection about Virgin brand. There products varies from educational to entertainment. It used to be only entertainment but after diversification; it serves all ages. When you approach any Virgin employee and ask them about any specific product they would be very confident and explain everything. In addition; other information that concerns the past and current status of the products. Advantages and Disadvantages of such a Business Each and every business has its own advantages and disadvantages. Each and every department has its own ways. Thus, every department differs. In general these are the advantages and disadvantages: Advantages Virgin Megastores Bahrain have a no competition with other brands. As its the only one in the country that sells everything that you require from a pencil to a laptop. There is nothing like virgin in Bahrain; when you enter searching for something you can easily find it. When you compare the Middle East and United States of America there is a major difference. Over there are other companies and stores that offer the same type of business but the middle east Virgin Megastores is one of a kind; and the first. Disadvantages However, the use of internet these days has increased significantly; and copying of the original music and movies too. As Virgin Megastores has a wide range of music CDs and movies; the sales are reduced due to piracy; illegally downloading materials from the internet. So consumer view why should I buy something that I can get easily free. Thus, causing a major loss to Companies like virgin. To add on, Virgin Megastores are diversified into many departments example: music, movies, books, etc. This causes some complications; that your focus is not only on one thing but several things at the same time. Leadership Leadership can be defined as the art of influencing other people to achieve the companys goals and objectives in a way to make it more consistent and cohesive. (Hubpages, 2010) Leading people in the right path processes leadership in order to accomplish a common goal. Leadership ensures that the organization works successfully in accomplishing its desired goals. Good managers are characterized by their leadership skills and experience for the aim in getting high performed and well organized company. They are the backbone of the company to maximize their productivity at the same time create harmony between employees which results to better outcome and efficiency. Only leaders have the ability to encourage their employees to work efficiently toward achieving the companys best interest. (WIR,2010) Types of leadership Leadership style is the method and approach used by leaders to achieve objectives, provide direction and motivates people when working with others. It is the manner in which leaders interact with their subordinates. Given below are the different ways leadership styles have been defined: Transactional Leaders: this type of leadership involves a process of exchange between the leader and the follower (subordinate). The leader tends to obtain compliance on one hand by offering incentive on performance and on the other hand, by offering threats or punishment for bad performance and non-compliance. Transformational leaders: this type of leadership style is more visionary and inspirational in approach. The leaders here have a tendency to provoke intense emotion and communicate a clear and acceptable vision and goals with which the subordinates can easily identify. Autocratic leaders: here, the leaders are the decision makers and have total authority. This type of leadership style is used for employees that require close supervision to perform certain tasks. (Lewin, Lippitt White, 1939) Democratic leaders: this type of leader always listens to his teams ideas and analysis them, but he/she will make the final decision. Here the team players contribute to the final decision making and therefore, employee satisfaction increases. (Lewin, Lippitt White, 1939) Laissez-faire leader: this type of leadership provides no continuous supervision, as the employees are highly experienced and do not require much supervision. Leadership at Virgin:- The person who made Virgin Group an outstanding business empire by changing and diversifying the business from a magazine to a range of companies at the present time is one of the worlds most effective leader and risk taker Mr. Richard Branson. This effective leader now owns 360 companies worldwide, which operate, now in eight different sectors, from music to transportation, media, travel, etc. (AUV, 2010). There are many effective methods used by Mr. Richard Branson in conditions of leading his employees. Mr Richard Branson has all the features every good leader as he adopts his own personal style of management. He maintained a very good relationship with the media, as he was known for his charisma. His leadership power motivated his employees as he supported them by financial incentives. Apart from the financial incentives given to his employees, he has his own way of motivating his employees by sharing with them stories of how he succeeded in life and shares his enthusiasm to help others by establishing various non-profit organizations in order to support young entrepreneurs. His introduction of new green technologies in the business was one of his major investments towards the safety and health of the environment; made his leadership strategies different from others (VSD.2010) Richard Branson follows both the democratic as well as the Laissez-faire leadership style, as his employees are involved in decision making indicating the decentralization technique used by him allowing his employees to participate in leadership. Applying his supportive leadership style where he loom his employees to become friendly and caring. His employees are allowed to have an open communication with the top-level management without any restrictions. (Hill. McShane, 2008) Richard Branson leadership approach has resulted to a significant achievement for the virgin group. Branson had been demonstrated conceivably enhanced than any other investor for the past thirty years worldwide. (BAG, 2010) Strategies of the Virgin Group: Virgin group played a very important role in Mr. Richard Bransons life; it not only transformed the company, but also transformed himself as known now to be a person who is willing to take risk at any time and a daring man. According to him, no was never the right answer now was it a solution. With the help of the strategies he had adopted, every opportunity, which came knocking on his door, was accepted. Not all of the strategies used by Mr Branson to diversify the company were successful; the strategies had their pros and cons. below are few strategies that are applied in virgin group in general regardless to the various sectors they are diversified into: Since the word NO is one of Bransons favorite words, the company uses Risk Management as their core strategy to capture any idea. Risk management is the method used by the company to manage and control risks and threats that comes to their way. The philosophy used by the virgin group is by separating the risks into various segments so that if any loss occurs, the whole group will not go down at once. At any crises point, this approach guarantees the company that only a tiny proportion of the company is affected. The virgin group also applied the Unrelated Diversification strategy. As seen today, Mr. Branson has expanded his company, diversified it and also invested money in different sectors yet, still uses the same brand name. He moved from sectors like Virgin Airlines to Virgin travel and tourism, Virgin Media and Virgin Cola. There are about 200 companies carrying the Brand name virgin. (VGA, 2010) Virgin stores are known for their lenient administration towards their employees. Decentralization is one of the strategies used by the company. Here the decision-making authority is transferred to the subordinates. Virgin group is a semi formal organization and work together as a big happy family. Here, the staff are empowered with many rights and responsibilities and are considered the strength of the company. Flow of information is very flexible and smooth so as the management (Pravab, 2010) Corporate social responsibility, a new strategy applied to the virgin group that emerges them to move towards social responsibility and to invest money towards a safe and healthy environment for the costumers. The Virgin Green fund project was created and invested into various sectors such as resource efficiency and renewable energy. (VSD, 2010) Employee motivation What is motivation? Motivation is the combination of forces that moves individuals to take certain actions and avoid others in pursuit of individual objectives. Motivation is the reason or reasons for getting involved in certain behaviour, especially human behaviour. There are many theories of motivation but to concentrate more on Virgin Megastores; they follow McGregors Assumptions which are divided into two groups Theory X and Theory Y. The two groups are completely different from each other. As for Virgin Megastores they go with Theory Y which is a really positive way to interact with employees. A short definition of Theory Y is that; Managerial assumption that employees enjoy meaningful work, are naturally committed to certain goals, are capable of creativity, and seek out responsibility under the right conditions. The assumptions behind theory Y emphasize growth and self-direction. Theory Y oriented managers seek to motivate employees through intrinsic rewards. As for Theory X; managerial assumption that employees are irresponsible, are unambitious, and dislike work and that mangers must use force, control, or threats to motivate them. The assumptions behind Theory X emphasize authority. The evidence that proofs that Virgin Megastores follow Theory Y; is that when you enter the store you can see one of the staff members heading towards you and asking you if you need any assistance. Mangers at Virgin motivate them psychologically; by different means. They give them the freedom to dress up in their own way as if they were going to a mall with friends and not in formal suites. In addition, all of virgin Megastores employees are in their 20s and are youth. The mangers have asked them to be themselves when coming to virgin full of youth sprit that catches customer attention. Competitions between employees are also done so that they love their work more and have more personal achievements. If any complications happen they highlight the mistakes personally to the employee and show them the correct way on t overcome these problems. What type of Company is Virgin Mega Store? It is a Private limited business. What is the difference between a limited and unlimited business? Limited company: A limited company can be defined as a business that has been registered in such a manner to ensure its owners to have limited liability. The owners would lose the value of their investment if company declares bankruptcy (farlex financial dictionary, 2010) http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Limited+Company Unlimited company An unlimited company is company; were the liabilities of the shareholders are not limited. The owners have unlimited obligations to meet any insufficiency in the assets of the company in the event of any bankruptcy. (Wikipedia, 2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlimited_company Public company A public company is a company that had issued securities all through an offering and which is traded in an open market. (webfinance, 2010) http://www.investorwords.com/3932/public_company.html Private limited Private limited company is a company whose shares cannot be traded in the stock market. It can only pass to another person with the shareholders agreement. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) MARKETING STRATEGY Theory A marketing strategy can be defined in financial terms as the process of allowing an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the major opportunities to increase sales and attain sustainable development and competitive advantage. The main concept of marketing strategy is consumer satisfaction. It serves as the foundation of the marketing plan. (Wikipedia, 2001-2006) . It is most effective when it becomes an integral part of the corporate strategy; as it clearly defines how the organization will successfully engage costumers, prospects and competitors in the marketing field. The key component of the marketing strategy is to keep a line with the companys overarching mission statements. Marketing strategies in virgin group: After a research done on Virgin group, Bahrain; the sales manager of virgin megastore, Mr. Kevin Koswette stated that virgin group as known now has diversified into various sectors and have around 240 companies. It is very difficult for the company to pay attention to its marketing strategies, as each sector is different from the other. The companies pay the virgin group to market their products; for example: Yamaha musical instruments are sold in virgin megastores as well as Arsenal sports club items. The marketing strategy of each product/service differs from the other as they are from various sectors that the company is diversifies into. For example: marketing strategy for Virgin music cannot be applied to the marketing strategy of virgin airlines. Recommendations: We have noticed that Virgin group involves its employees into their decision making which leads to decentralization of authority in the organization; in our opinion, high decentralization may also lead to loss of authority in the company and may also result to confidential leakage. The leniency in the workforce allows employees to dress up informally as they have the freedom to style their hair inappropriately that may influence youngsters who consider them as role models. Also it may not be acceptable socially in the community. We also noticed in our research about the company, that Mr. Richard Branson- the leader behind this company is a man with great charisma and loves the media exposure. In our opinion, the media exposure can cause negative impacts like scandals and false information about his personal life as well as the company. The flexibility in the workforce, friendly relationship and kindness of the leader- Mr Branson with his employees may result to dishonesty in the workforce; and employees might take advantage of this leniency in terms of achieving their objective. Findings of the project To get information about all the required details we had an interview with Mr. Kevin Koswatte, who is the Manager at Virgin Megastores Bahrain. Here are the questions: Questions In your opinion; what are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of business? What type of leadership style do you follow? What are the techniques used to motivate your staff? Is it limited or unlimited? Private or Public? Can you explain to us the marketing strategies followed by the company? Is it effective or not?

Portrayal of Women in The Good Earth :: Good Earth Essays

Portrayal of Women in The Good Earth The Good Earth focuses around the life of a Chinese peasant, Wang Lung, who struggles to overcome a poverty-stricken life. The accounts of Wang Lung's life portray traditional China. One prominent aspect of this story is how women were depicted in society. The role of women in China is woven throughout the novel. Depending on their social status, each female character within the novel gives readers a different perspective of a woman's role during this period. In addition to their roles, the author includes the trials and tribulations these women must face as well. As a whole, the importance of these female characters are based upon their contribution to the ego's of the male protagonists and as being providers of support to both family and order in society. In Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, women are depicted to be consistent with the authentic Chinese culture of that period. Paul A. Doyle, a literary critic, remarks that Buck's stories were improbable and simplistic (Chauhan, 1994, 120). He later adds: "In structure, The Good Earth uses a chronological form which proceeds at a fairly regular pace. Buck's stories take the epic rather than dramatic form, that is to say, they are chronological narratives of a piece of life, seen from one point of view, straightforward, without devices; they have no complex plots, formed of many strands skillfully twisted, but belong to the single-strand type, with the family, however, rather than the individual as a unit (Buck 35). As Wang Lung and his father begin this family strand, one by one characters are introduced from Wang's viewpoint. In regards to women in his society, he objectively portrays them for what they are worth. In spite of his smooth surface, the novel shows a complicated feminism. On the one hand, the woman's situation is clearly, almost gruesomely, presented: Chinese village society is pat riarchal, oppressive, and stultifying to women (Hayford, 1994, 25). The clearest illustration of this occurs through O-lan, the wife of Wang Lung. O-lan comes about in the first chapter of the novel. At the age of ten, her parents sell her off to the Great House of Hwang, where the village's wealthiest landowner resides.

Essay --

2) The Three Main Fashion Centres Within France Paris, Lyon and Marseille are not only the three largest cities in France, but they are also the main fashion centres in the country. Each city has played a unique role in shaping France as a fashion mecca. France has been called the world fashion capital for many decades. France’s capital and largest city, Paris is home some of the world’s most elite French fashion houses. The Golden Triangle is a name given to Avenue Champs- Élysà ©es, Avenue Marceau, and Avenue Montaigne, the main districts for luxury shopping in Paris. These areas boast stores of the highest names in fashion such as Chanel, Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Balmain and many more. There are also many high-end department stores like Printemps, Bon Marchà ©, and Les Galeries Lafayette, which draw thousands of locals and tourist every day. Other districts, like La Marais are home to many smaller boutiques, and much more affordable shops. It seems as though everywhere you turn in Paris, there are luxurious fashion houses, contemporary boutiques, and unique t... Essay -- 2) The Three Main Fashion Centres Within France Paris, Lyon and Marseille are not only the three largest cities in France, but they are also the main fashion centres in the country. Each city has played a unique role in shaping France as a fashion mecca. France has been called the world fashion capital for many decades. France’s capital and largest city, Paris is home some of the world’s most elite French fashion houses. The Golden Triangle is a name given to Avenue Champs- Élysà ©es, Avenue Marceau, and Avenue Montaigne, the main districts for luxury shopping in Paris. These areas boast stores of the highest names in fashion such as Chanel, Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Balmain and many more. There are also many high-end department stores like Printemps, Bon Marchà ©, and Les Galeries Lafayette, which draw thousands of locals and tourist every day. Other districts, like La Marais are home to many smaller boutiques, and much more affordable shops. It seems as though everywhere you turn in Paris, there are luxurious fashion houses, contemporary boutiques, and unique t...

Views on the Topic of Reeds Book Forest Dweller, Forest Protectors Ess

Views on the Topic of Reed's Book Forest Dweller, Forest Protectors Many of the countries of South America have experienced severe balance of payments deficits. In order to encourage development and solve these problems, the governments have engaged in misguided and largely unsuccessful development projects in the rain forests. Ranchers have cleared the forests to raise cattle. Colonization projects have brought small farmers into regions that were once virgin forest. The farming practices that were developed in temperate regions are not very successful in these areas. The land is quickly depleted and the farmers and ranchers clear more forest. The authors of this article suggest that this pattern is not necessary. They explain that simply by following the models of sustainable resource extraction practiced by the indigenous people of the area, the resources of the rain forest can be utilized sustainably. The areas in which sustainable resource extraction is being investigated include gathered products, wild game, aquaculture, agriculture, and resource units. The authors explain each type of resource and touch on how each can be extracted sustainably with the help of indigenous models. For example, game animals could be taken from the forest sustainably if they were "cropped in a form of ‘semi-domestication’ in abandoned garden sites" (Posey, et al 1984). This would mimic the indigenous people such as the Guaranà ­ who are able to keep populations of important game animals artificially high when they allow them to eat food plants out of their gardens. If this model were followed, more animals could be hunted with less harm to the population. Agricultural practices of native peoples could also be copi... ... and used for meat in a sustainable way. I find this point to be highly controversial. Large mammals such as manatees are more vulnerable to over-hunting because their populations are not very dense. Many varieties of turtles are already endangered in the rain forests because there is too much sediment and pollution in the rivers. I don’t think that these species should be considered in sustainable hunting programs. Finally, some of the ideas of these authors, including gathering insects, organizing plantations of fruit bearing trees and keeping animals that eat the fruits on the land as a "game farm," and developing resource units seem a little bit far fetched. All of the ideas of this paper do, however, merit careful review. Any use of a rain forest that maintains the biodiversity and all allows the ecosystem to remain intact is better than clear cutting.

Analyse the sun’s newspaper leading article Essay

The Sun is a tabloid newspaper, which is generally short and easy to read. The word â€Å"spirit† adds evidence that The Sun targets a simple audience, which don’t have to be highly educated. The Sun is aimed at the middle class market (red top). As well as being strictly right-wing politics, the paper also has an untrustworthy reputation, they can also have tendency to exaggerate the truth and even print lies. Papers often exaggerate to make the situation sound more devastating and to have a more dramatic effect on the reader. The Sun gives a graphical view into what happened on September the 11th. The article on the 12th September 2001 is presented quite visually. The paper uses headlines to attract the reader’s attention and to summarise the facts of the article. The main title for the article is â€Å"The Sun Says†. The title is printed in large capital letters, is bold and has white letters printed on a black background. White letters on a black background are used to focus people attention on the title. Bold text is also used to make certain text stand out from the rest. The heading is to summarise the article, which is what â€Å"The sun says†¦ † This short unfinished sentence makes the reader want read on and this creates suspense as well as getting reader interest. This heading is also influencing the reader’s point of view. The main Sub heading is â€Å"All the world must unite to defeat these evil cowards. † This heading is printed in large letters, is bold, underlined, has white letters on a black background and in the centre of the article. The heading is in the centre of the article this is to break up the text and grab people’s attention. The heading is used to give a message, which in this case is everyone, must join together to find out who committed this unprovoked attack. This heading is also exaggerated to creating drama and excitement to stimulate the interest of the reader. Below the sub heading in a picture of some of the people caught up in the accident. This is eye catching and is reinforcing what is being said in the text. The picture is followed by the caption â€Å"Terror victims†¦. New York workers flee the devastation covered in dust yesterday† This caption is to get a certain response from the reader. The writer varies the sentence lengths to make short sentences punchy and hard-hitting on the audience. This simple short sentences â€Å"They must† is the first sentence of the article after the subheading. Short sentences are to emphasise a certain point. The point for this sentence is really the answer to the sub heading before it. This has a dramatic effect on its audience to unite in the â€Å"wake of yesterday’s horrors. † An additional short sentence is â€Å"Not after yesterday. † This is due to the amount of lives that were lost and threat of another attack. This is playing on the audience’s emotions. The writer uses a variety of techniques to help write a powerful article. Emotive language is used to provoke a certain response this can be demonstrated by the phrase â€Å"But the world will never be the same again. † This phrase is used to provoke an emotional response from the audience because the towers will never be rebuilt or be the same again. In order to create emotions, The Sun had to be biased and argue their point in order to get a certain emotion, among the audience. The writer uses the single word â€Å"exactly† which is written in Italic writing. This is to emphasise the word and make it stand out from the rest of the paragraph. The word is also to persuade the audience to adopt their point of view. Bold text stand is used several times throughout the article. Various examples of the bold text are â€Å"It is our duty to support them, both morally and – if necessary – practically† and â€Å"They must be hunted down and killed. † These quote are both subtitles. These subtitles are bold to catch the reader’s attention and make you want to read more. The bold also makes the text stand out from the rest of the paragraph. Both of these sentences give the read a feeling that if there is a war then we should back America. A rhetorical question is often asked for effect, this is to get a reader interested in what is happening. â€Å"Were his words treated as bravado rather that a dire threat? By asking a question the reader is leaving the answer up to the readers imagination and for them to draw their own opinion. In addition, the writer also uses questions from famous people in order to support their view. By quoting the prime minister the writer helps to support this view and it gets the paper politically involved. Tony Blair quoted, â€Å"The terrorists were in human† Journalists often exaggerate the truth to have a greater impact on the reader. For example â€Å"The world will NEVER be the same again. † By exaggerating the story the writer is trying to create a more devastating story. By developing and twisting the story the writer is assuming what has happened, but can’t prove what actually took place. This is called suppression and is created by saying an example of this is â€Å"If they had a nuclear bomb, they would use it. † Exaggeration is also being used to influence the reader’s point of view like in the phrase describing the disaster similar to â€Å"Armageddon, Death Wish and the Towering Inferno. † Writers some times use rhyming phrases in order to create phrases or slogans to keep the suspense of the article. Examples of rhyming phrases in the article include â€Å"George W. Bush will not shirk from using might in the cause of right. † And â€Å"we have won before. We will win again. † By playing on words, using Rhyming phrases and repetition the writer is focusing on a certain point or word. In this case the word is â€Å"we† which is at the end of the article to get across the point that â€Å"we can win†. The Language used in the Sun is informative, angry and sad. The language is a key tool in making a newspaper as affective as possible as it keeps the audience interested. A great example of this is the phrase â€Å"New York workers flee the devastation of yesterday. † This example of sad language is to provoke angry response from the audience. The language is also dramatic an example of this is â€Å"he must be bold†. This is to provoke the response that George Bush must be brave and daring. At the time of the disaster I was at school so I didn’t find out until I got home. When I saw the pictures on the television I felt a great lose for the families and could not belief something like this could happen, it affects everyone. The bottom lines of the article are trying to get people to unite and get everyone to â€Å"pray for America and for us all. † This powerful phrase is supposed to have a lasting affect on the reader and to influence their opinion. The leading article is a story expressing the newspaper’s point of view they are normally hard hitting, powerful and personnel. Some times they are actually written by the editor and they are much more opinionated than other reports. This type newspaper tries to make up people’s minds for them as it is mainly biased.

Whisper of Aids

Sa whiletha Blum Comp 1 Mrs. L-P 20 January 2012 The Whisper of help is a real powerful speech. Mary moody cat wrote a very effective speech one and only(a) that would change a lot of Ameri female genitalss views on support. This speech triggered emotions and brought forrad an issue r atomic number 18ly talked considerably-nigh in that time of the world. Mary fisher cats main point was to rid the stereotypes of wad who funked the sexually transmitted illness, AIDS. black cat was a Caucasian female. She was non curt, non Afri move American, and not homosexual. She did not contract AIDS from being with multiple phonationners she got it from her husband. fisherman valued mint to k presently that AIDS can happen to anyone. In her speech she said, It AIDS does not care whether you are Democrat or Republican it does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight, young or old. In this speech, she was talking to the Republican subject Convention . By comparing the two totally opposite political parties (Republicans and Democrats), it shows that truly anyone can be victims of this disease. Fisher rattling posit tribe think when she stated, Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital.Though I am female and promise this disease in marriage and lie with the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the unwarmed wind of his familys rejection. She used a method cognise as pathos, which is using emotions to convince an hearing in what you are saying. By a ruler woman comparing herself to the typical stereotypes of AIDS, Fisher opened eyes about this disease. more populate concept only African Americans could contract AIDS because the disease is said to be originated from Africa and the disease was well- comen t here. Fisher was neckn to be very wealthy.This withal helped people make water its no t just the poor it can happen to. Fisher also talked about President Bush elder s family supporting her through this time. This is enkindle because Republicans are known as the materialistic party vs. the Democrat party, so typically democrats would have been more likely to accord AIDS epidemic. I believe Fisher brought up President Bush to make Republicans more open to the idea of expression people contracting AIDS. When Fisher told people from the beginning that she got contracted her STD from her husband, she was automatically thought of as honest.It was good for her to be known as honest because then the audience trusted her and really believed in what she had to say. Fisher used pathos many quantify in this speech. When she started talking about her family, she really hit home to many Americans. Everyone who had children could plug in to her at that point. She stated, My son Max, now four, allow for take the measure of his mother. My son Zachary, now two, will sort throug h his memories. I may not be here to hear their judgments, but I know already what I hope they are. I want my children to know that their mother was not a victim.She was a messenger. I do not want them to think, as I once did, that courage is the absence of fear. In my opinion this was the most touching part of her speech. Talking about her children was really stirred up to read and by her stating that she might not be there to hear her judgments do people realize that this disease is sombre and deadly. Her final statement, To all within the punishing of my voice, I appeal Learn with me the lessons of write up and of grace, so my children will not be afraid to say the word AIDS when I am gone.Then, their children and yours may not need to whisper it at all. immortal bless the children, God bless us all. Goodnight. showed America that AIDS is not something to be ashamed of and not something that needs to be hidden. Mary Fisher did an outstanding tune at influencing peoples t houghts about AIDS. In this time and day, AIDS is well known and its not something people are embarrassed to talk about. She do it her goal to let people know AIDS can happen to anyone and warned people to be cautious of it. Fisher changed the carriages of many and how we look at AIDS today.