Geography Study Guide

Terms| Definitions| Pacific island groups:| Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia| (Pacific) Micronesia means-| small islands| (Pacific) Melanesia means-| black islands| (Pacific) Polynesia means-| many islands| (Pacific) Divided into high islands and low islands based on-| physical characteristics| High Islands-| mountains created by tectonic forces, volcanoes and earth quakes| Low Islands-| coral reef| Coral Reef-| formed from living coral polyps accumulating over time| (Pacific) Natives| aren't sure how they got there| WW11 caused-| not much attention| U. S. sed marshal islands for-| nuclear testing- Bikini Atoll| Trust Territories (Pacific)| territories supervised by another nation| Pacific have low or high standard of living? | low| Pacific cash crops| rubber, coffee, sugarcane in high islands of Melanesia and Polynesia| (P) what is growing rapidly? | tourism| Antarctica is larger than†¦ | Australia| (A) Discovered-| last 1820s| (A) Is the highest or lowest continent? | highest| (A) land is feet below sea level| 280 ft| Park ice of icebergs and| ice surrounds the continent and ice shelves| Ross ice shelf reached in| 1840s| A) 1st explorer set foot in-| 1895| 1961 what was signed? | Antarctic treaty by 12 countries| (A) Treaty was renewed in-| 1989 with 28 more countries adding to treaty| (Au) is the blank largest country-| 6th| (AU) is about the size of-| U. S. | Block rain-| great dividing range| Longest river in the east-| Murray river| Outback-| central and western plains and plateaus| (AU) population-| about 19 million| (AU) where does most of the population live? | Eastern and southeastern coast| (AU) Low or high standard of living| high| 1st Australians| Aborigines|Who killed, infected, and drove of Aborigines? | Europeans| Claimed AUS for UK| Captain James cook| (AU) most immigrants come from-| pacific islands and southeast Asia| (AU) climate-| hot and dry| (AU) has more rain-| coastal areas| (NZ) 1,000 miles away from-| Australia| (NZ) has two isla nds-| North and South islands| (NZ) North Island-| narrow, hilly, central plateau| (NZ) South island-| longer and more mountainous with glaciers lakes and fjords| (NZ) has what type of roots? | Polynesian and European roots| Captain cook landed in NZ in-| 1769|Maoris-| natives, that have violent contact| (NZ) 1840 was treaty between-| Maoris and UK| Who cut down the forests in the 1800s? | Europeans| half the land of NZ is used for-| pasture| NZ major exports-| wool and kiwi| NZ 75% live on the| north island| NZ Less than 15% live on the| countryside| NZ 85% live on the| urban areas| NZ government is based on-| UK model| NZ 88% of population is of descent? | European descent| NZ significant influence of culture? | Maori| NZ has high or low standard of living? | high|

Case Brief Essay

Mr. David R. Bullock filed an appeal from his convictions for attempted statutory rape, and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. David R. Bullock put himself in numerous conversations via email and chat rooms with a Newton County Deputy Sheriff who was conducting a sting operation against pedophiles. The Deputy took on a persona of a thirteen year old female by the name of â€Å"Ashley Anne†. Many of the conversations that took place between Mr. Bullock and â€Å"Ashley† were of a sexual nature. During conversations between Mr. Bullock and â€Å"Ashley†, he discussed how he would like to engage in certain acts (sexual) with her and her friends (girls of younger age) and how he would like to video those acts. He informed â€Å"Ashley† that the conversations about meeting with her and her friends should not be discussed because it was not legal for them to meet. Eventually a meeting was scheduled for a time and a place to meet and specific instructions were given to â€Å"Ashley† on how the meeting should take place. â€Å"Ashley† was told that upon her arrival to the specified location, she should meet Mr. Bullock in a specific area of that location. History On October 18, 2002, Mr. Bullock and the decoy â€Å"Ashley† were present at the specified location, along with computer and video equipment in his vehicle, which ultimately leads to the arrest of Mr. Bullock. At the time of the arrest, Mr. Bullock did not deny having conversations with â€Å"Ashley† but explained that if she would arrive, he just wanted her to be counseled by the authorities on the dangers of meeting strangers on the internet. Mr. Bullock argues that his case is a case of entrapment and that he took no â€Å"substantial steps† towards committing the crimes he has been charged with. Issue: The sufficiency of the evidence is challenged and Appellant claims an entrapment defense for the reason that he was not predisposed to engage in the charged offenses, we shall set forth in greater detail a series of sordid internet and telephone communications between Appellant and the purported 3 victim than we usually would. Holding First, Appellant does not admit that he committed the crimes for which he was convicted and, second, there is no evidence that Appellant was not predisposed, ready and willing to commit these crimes.   Appellant did not meet his burden of injecting into the case a proper case for entrapment. Rational Appellant tendered four jury instructions alleging the affirmative defense of entrapment.   Appellant cites to the evidence that Ashley induced Appellant to take the â€Å"substantial step† of committing the crimes of statutory rape and sexual exploitation of a minor when he was not otherwise so inclined.   Appellant contends that he was only willing to express his fantasies, which was not a crime he was charged or convicted of, and he was not willing to act upon his fantasies without the inducement by Ashley.   He notes that Ashley initiated the majority of contacts with Appellant; specifically, he claims Ashley initiated seventeen of the nineteen instant messages and four of the eight e-mails between her and Appellant.   Appellant indicated the portions of the conversations where Ashley first proposed that Appellant come to Diamond and persisted in trying to set a firm date; he claims he was reluctant to act on his desires.   Appellant†™s claim that he would not have committed the charged offenses but for the enticement by Ashley is not supported by the evidence.

Nutrition discussion question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nutrition discussion question - Essay Example Although antacids offer short-term solution, questions have been raised over the long-term effects of using antacids. Homemade remedies for heartburns include taking burned ash. Wood ash is basic and hence neutralizes the acidity in the stomach. The homemade remedy may not be a viable replacement for commercial antacids since the base content cannot be established. Constipation is a digestive condition in which, free and smooth bowel movement is inhibited. Constipation is caused by among other causes, type of food and eating habits and malfunctioned digestive system. Some of the commercially available relief remedies include laxatives such as milk of magnesia. It is claimed, â€Å"The major stimulant laxatives are diphenylmethane derivatives and anthraquinones† (Hemorroids.com, 2011, p. 1). Whereas laxatives are used as a remedy for constipation, continued use is not advised. Home remedies for constipation include taking a lot of water, and roughages as well as doing exercise. Homemade remedies are better since they have no long-term side

Topical summery of the movie Moolaade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Topical summery of the movie Moolaade - Essay Example Since he was an artistic filmmaker, in his film he realized that his dream of unifying Africa was essential and it was what the political leaders had still not produced (Rapfogel & Porton, 2004, pp. 201). The film focuses on the injustice of female genital circumcision (FGC). The film shows six girls that have ran away from a purification ceremony from which four seek refuge with Colle Ardo Gallo Sy because they do not want to be circumcised and Colle had not allower her daughter to be circumcised in the past. The other two of the girls have been thought to have run away to the city. This is about the modern day village of Africa where the genital mutilation of females is rather a culture and tradition that has been coming along since many years. Colle is the hope of the girls as she refused her daughter to be drawn through the painful procedure and she creates a moolaade which is a protection place. She makes the place by putting some yarn across the compound entrance where she and her husband lives; along with his other two wives. Her hostility brings out the tension which comes out episodically to maintain the social stability. Moolaade is the French name given to the study of the social relations in the African village. According to the people of the village, she has something going on in the ancient spell which is the Moolaade. No one could harm those four girls until they were under the protection of Colle, and those who tried would suffer bad things. The spell could be broken by Colle only by saying the words that are right. However, while Colle was working on these developments, the women who were responsible for the mutilations saw her as a threat. On the other hand, the film shows that the other people from the tribe are rather worried about the changes that would affect their village life. There were many anthropological insights which suggested important facts such as man’s higher authority over women, older brothers have dominance over the y ounger ones and the first wife has higher authority over the second wife etc. These traditional factors are eroding away due to the influences. The older people of the tribe are campaigning against these influences and so they take away the radios from women to stop them from accessing to modernized ideas coming from the outside world. The women are angry and one of them says â€Å"they want to lock up our minds†. The men have tried hard but it seemed that they could not completely take away the outside influences. Many modern ideas came to the village through people like traveling salesmen. The salesman brought many modern items in the village like candies, batteries, food and sneakers. The prices of these are high and he is a womanizer as considered by many. Amasatou informs him about her marriage to the heir of the tribal throne, when she goes to pick things for her mother, who is in Paris currently but is going to be back to the village. She and her grandmother carried ou t a spending spree charging the costs to the heir of the throne that she is about to wed. Sembene has been known as the father of the African cinema and this movie was directed by him at the age of 81. At this age Sembene had all the experience and power to engage in a heroic masterpiece that he produced. He had a clear storytelling style which was presented in this film as well. The character of Colle was a heroic character which sent waves to the whole community about a never seen change. She is a strong

Performance Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Performance - Lab Report Example The other factors which help in motivating the employees of the facility are abstract to say the least but a sense of duty and the positive feelings associated with doing something that matters seem to play a big part there. However, this does not meant that the people working there do not need rewards or recognition since that is an important part of working and remaining motivated to work. To handle this aspect of motivation, the presentation moves towards discussing a leadership program at the facility which is presently non-existent. The presentation highlights why this is important for motivating and getting more productivity out of the employees working at the facility by extolling the values of training and knowledge management. The issue of knowledge management comes from the idea that there are four generations of individuals who are present in the facility and they have very different knowledge bases which come with different approaches to the management of the organization. These differences in approaches are then discussed in detail with regard to the leadership program that could be created at the facility. DDI Leadership is one organization which could help in the development of a good system for the leadership program which is based on a performance appraisal system created by the company. Performance appraisal would have its own criteria for various departments and various aspects of the work which is performed at the facility but the overall objective of the performance appraisal system would be to spot and earmark those individuals who can come up as the future leaders of the organization. Individuals can also respond to the performance appraisals given to them and appraise their managers based on their own opinions of their leadership abilities and performance. Finally, the presentation gives some key

Health Care Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Health Care Reform - Research Paper Example The contention was supported by authors Siegel, Mead and Burke (2008) who revealed an analogous argument in the rising costs of health care services coupled with the increasing number of Americans who are uninsured. B. Reality of Health Care in the US The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) emphasized that â€Å"some  47 million U.S. residents have no health insurance, and the numbers keep growing† (AFL-CIO, 2011). In view of this, the current administration has enacted the Affordable Care Act that envisions implementing â€Å"comprehensive health insurance reforms that will hold insurance companies more accountable, lower health care costs, guarantee more health care choices, and enhance the quality of health care for all American† (USDHHS: Health Care, n.d,). C. ... rage through the following strategies, to wit: â€Å"(1) sets up a new competitive private health insurance market; (2) holds insurance companies accountable; and (3) puts our budget and economy on a more stable path† (USDHHS: Health Care, n.d., pars. 6 to 8). Section 2: The History and the Evolution of the Issue in Health Care The major issues in health care that significantly traced its historical evolution are sourced from The Henry J. Kaiser Family of Foundation (2011) and enumerated herewith, as follows: 1965 President Lyndon Johnson Lyndon enacted legislation which introduced Medicare covering both hospital and general medical insurance for senior citizens paid for by a Federal employment tax over the working life of the retiree, and Medicaid permitted the Federal government to partially fund a program for the poor, with the program managed and co-financed by the individual states. 1985 The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) amended the Employ ee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to give some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment. 1997 The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, was established by the federal government in 1997 to provide health insurance to children in families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. 2010 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Patient Protection is enacted by President Barack Obama providing for the phased introduction over four years of a comprehensive system of mandated health insurance with reforms designed to eliminate "some of the worst practices of the insurance companies" — pre-condition screening and premium loadings, policy rescinds on technicalities when illness seems imminent, lifetime and annual

Written Assignment #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Written Assignment #2 - Essay Example Donatello’s version of David is estimated to have been created around 1440. It was a rather unique and famous statue owing to two facts; that one, it was the first unsupported bronze sculpture of the 15th century, and two, it was one of the earliest â€Å"nude† sculptures known to the Renaissance. It has the figure of a David who seems quite young, like a seventeen-year-old, wearing only a hat and some knee-height boots. The rest of his body is nude. He is holding a large sword (seemingly Goliath’s), in his right hand, and his left hand akimbo. Beneath his feet is Goliath’s head, badly severed. One of the Renaissance aspects of this work is in proportion. The Renaissance artists, focussed on realism, and that meant capturing their subjects accurately; as they appeared in nature. As is evident here, David is wholly proportional. The second aspect is texture. The body has been made smooth as should be in nature, and the hair has its texture simulated in a similar manner. The boots he is wearing also have the â€Å"leathery† appearance achieved through texture creation. The other outstanding Renaissance art feature is the capturing of fine details, such as his face in which one can see the smile on him. It displays a happy emotion. Finally, the body has been molded such that the light falling on it will create shading so some parts of David will be dark and others lighter; creating depth. Verrocchio’s David was created in bronze in the given period between 1473 and 1475. Similar to Donatello’s, it was commissioned by the Medici family for placement at the Medici Pallazo (Pallazo della Signoria). The David here is older than Donatello’s, seemingly in his early to mid-twenties. He has no hat on his head, wears a decorated battle vest, and a knee-length skirt. His hair falls freely and he is a little more muscular than Donatello’s David. The sword he holds in his right

Storge device of computer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Storge device of computer - Essay Example It can hold or store information both permanently and temporarily, and can be external or internal to a computer or any similar computing medium. The computer is a multipurpose electronic device and as such has many kinds of data storage devices. Broadly, some of these devices may be classified as the removable data Storage Devices while others as the non- removable data Storage Devices. There two classes of computer storage devices; one is the primary storage devices, and the other one is the secondary storage devices. The primary memory is the volatile memory while the secondary memory is the non -volatile memory. The volatile memory is the type of the memory that is easily erasable and the non -volatile memory is the type where the contents may be erased. Primary storage also referred to as internal memory or main memory, is the only memory directly accessible to the CPU. The CPU thus a reads instruction stored there and performs them as required. All data actively operated on is likewise stored there in a uniform manner. Primary computer storage devices are smaller in size, are internal to the computer and are developed to hold data temporarily. Primary computer storage devices have the fastest data access speed. Examples in this class of primary computer storage devices include random-access memory (RAM) and cache memory. Random-access memory (RAM) for instance are small in size but quite expensive. Secondary storage can also be known as auxiliary storage or external memory, differs from primary storage in that it is never directly accessible by the CPU. These usually have large storage capacity, and they store data permanently. They can both external or internal to the computer. The computer often uses its output/ input channels to access secondary computer storage devices and channel the desired data using intermediate region in

The religious aspect of young goodman brown Research Paper

The religious aspect of young goodman brown - Research Paper Example The story of Brown alerts one to the dangers that are inherent in the puritan life that stifles the creativity of man and the only recourse that his imagination has is to resurface in his dreams where they display an unhealthy tendency to distort the boundaries between reality and illusion. Much of the analysis of this short story has followed the contributions of psychoanalysis to our understanding of the nature of dreams and the repressed. They have helped in the understanding of the story as one that critiques the excessive control of religion over the life of an individual. Hawthorne’s critique is leveled against the religious fervor that the puritan establishments of New England, where the story is set, has displayed, since the migration of people from England to America in search of a new colony to create a land that would be a model to the rest of the planet in their adherence to Christian ideals. Hawthorne deals not only with Christian ideas but also with the prejudice s that Christian settlers had regarding Native American religion and rituals. Relegated to the margins of the white settlements, these original inhabitants of America are labeled as the friends of the devil. Hawthorne’s story of Goodman Brown manages to have some sympathy for the condition of the Native Americans but is guilty on many an occasion of referring to the devil and the powwow in the same breath. But then, the entire story revolves around a recognition of the fact that everybody is a sinner, at least in the mind. Hawthorne sets his story in the forest near the village of Salem. The forest, according to Reginald Cook, is set in opposition to the house which represents the outward appearance of the man and his spotless reputation. The forest on the other hand, abounds in â€Å"demonic presences† and â€Å"ancestral spirits† that represent elements of pagan religions that are set in opposition to the Christian atmosphere of the house and the village (Cook ). It is implicit that civilization is necessarily Christian and the absence of Christianity means an absence of a civilized ethos. This amounts to a rejection of extremely complex religious beliefs that other cultures, including Native American civilizations, had. This was a very important aspect of the puritan establishment which used religion as a cover for the imperial designs of Britain. By belittling the beliefs of a certain civilization and setting oneself as the person who needs to introduce civilization in a particular place, one fails to incorporate in one’s way of living, which is what religion essentially is, the beliefs of anther community that may serve to enhance the quality of one’s life. Brown, as well as critics of Young Goodman Brown is often guilty of mistaking appearance with reality, says David Levin in his essay, Shadows of Doubt: Specters of Evidence in Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† (Levin). The appearance of the devil may be connected to the real devil, since there are enough indications to that effect. However, other characters can merely be a figment of the imagination of the character in the story. In any case, there is a great deal of ambiguity regarding the fact as to whether the events in the story are real or an illusion. The illusionary nature of the events may be interpreted as a dream or as an imagined

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example Out of various strategies that businesses use for ensuring business success, change itself is a strategy that the business needs to take careful attention in implementing of it, managing it and managing its resistance as well. First part of this piece of research paper presents a brief discussion on organizational success and analyzes how Cadbury’s organizational structure will have to change especially in relation to Mintzberg’s theory of organizational structure. Second part of the paper discusses strategic change and how effectively it can be implemented and managed in Cadbury. Organizing for Success Organizational strategy and organizational structure are closely interrelated. Organizational strategy refers to a special way that the organization positions itself in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization’s resources, capabilities and mission etc (Stonehouse, Campbell, 2004, p. 354). Strategic choices of a firm influences the structure and design of the organization as well. As argued by Alfred Chandler, the structure follows the strategy mainly because the decision maker in a firm develops managerial and growth strategies that become the basis for designing the structure of the organization (Stonehouse, Campbell, 2004, p. 354). ... The strategy being implemented influences the structure and design of the firm. For instance, if a firm implements customer focus strategy or customer relationship strategy, it will have to focus on delivering greater values to customers by concentrating on value propositions and the whole organization attempts to gain attractions from the customers. Strategy thus affects organization’s structure. Though there are various approaches to organizational structure, Mintzberg’s theory of organizational structure seems to have gained considerable attention in recent years as many researchers have widely studied its significance in organizational behaviour. According to his theory, there are two basic approaches to the formation of organizational structure, they are contingency approach and configuration approach (Stonehouse, Campbell, 2004, p. 364). Contingency approach has been described as a structure that the organization depends largely on various factors like the nature of its business, nature of its strategy, its size, geographical span of its activities, its age and history etc. according to Mintzberg’s view, it is better for an organization to base its structure on configuration approach rather than basing on contingency approach because factors like span of control, need for formalization, centralization or decentralization etc are to be logically configured in to internal consistent groups (Stonehouse and Campbell, 2004, p. 364). Contingency approach and configuration approach are considered to be the main determinants of organizational structure according to Mintzberg’s theory. According to Mintzberg’s organizational structure theory, an existing organization will be fit in

U.S. History Essay Example for Free

U.S. History Essay 1. ) From the turn of the Century to the entrance of America into World War II, American government and its relationship to the people changed drastically. At times the change was slow, at times it was very rapid. Explain the changes that took place both practically and philosophically. By the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution transformed the economy and society of the United States. In the 1870s, machines replaced human labor, new sources of energy were found, and manufacturing replaced agriculture as the primary economic activity. The conversion of the United States into a developed country happened mainly behind the Civil War and based on the British representation. New ways of thinking about government, science, economics, and religion had brought many changes to America since then up to the nineteenth century. Concern for individual freedoms became so strong that it led to revolution in many lands. In Britain’s American colonies, revolution brought the establishment of a new nation, the United States. The Americans had declared their independence but still had to win it. They had capable leaders and were strengthened by their dedication to the cause of liberty. The Americans emerged victorious from the Revolutionary War and adopted a plan of government that became a model for other nations. This was then recognized as the Second Industrial Revolution, which was shared by both the United States and Germany. The First Industrial Revolution actually changed the route and accelerated the growth of the American economy. On the other hand, the Second Revolution modernized that economy to become full-fledged industrial economy. In the 1900s, gradually Americans, both immigrant and native-born, began to achieve a better standard of living. They saved their money, bought homes, and gave their children an education. Thousands became part of a growing middle class that the expanding economy had helped create. Middle-class communities arose in the suburbs outside the cities. During the early 1900s, organizations were established to help various groups improve their lives. The expanding economy had opened up jobs for women, for example, and increasing independence helped fuel a movement for women’s rights. The National American Woman Suffrage Association was organized although it was not until 1920 that women throughout the nation were allowed to vote. In 1909, black leaders formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in an effort to ensure the rights of black Americans. Reformers were also able to win passage of a number of important laws. Many state and local laws, for example, tried to improve housing, education, and working conditions. As the United States grew stronger economically, its leaders continued to favor a policy of expansion. The rapid growth of industry created a need for markets for American manufactured goods and a need for raw materials. Moreover, several prominent Americans believed that expansion would demonstrate American power and greatness. It was the destiny of the United States, they argued, to become a great power, and this meant extending American influence to other lands and raising the American flag on distant shores. Many Latin Americans resented the growing influence and power of the United States. They felt their neighbor to the north had turned from a protector to an aggressor. By its role in the Caribbean, however, the United States revealed its strength as a nation. In only a little more than a century it had grown from an infant republic to a major power in international affairs including its big role in the two world wars. In the aftermath of the war and the peace settlements, there were widespread political and territorial changes. Idealistic plans for peace were advanced, but bitter feelings and resentment in many nations worked against a permanent peace. World War I, called by many â€Å"The Great War,† was a crucial turning point in world history. The changes that it brought about and the problems that it created continued long after the fighting ended. The Versailles Treaty became controversial, and the war took a devastating toll of soldiers and civilians. The ground-breaking outcome though was then the Nineteenth Amendment became law in the United States in 1920. This law gave the women the right to vote. In the 1920s, the United States was prospering. The decade after the Great War brought far-reaching changes to American life. The economy crossed the threshold of magnificent-though-jagged-growth. Driven by the good times and an aspiration to be modern, a great number of Americans took on innovative attitudes and standards of living. The assembly-line methods for producing cars had were used in the production of other goods for consumers. Profits of American businesses soared, and the standard of living increased for many people. People all over the world are beginning to seize the opportunity for self-rule, which is a pillar of democracy popularized by the United States. The mounting tribalism has been connected with the revolution in telecommunications because it makes everything transparent. We can all monitor the process of a massive move to self-rule, and check the excesses if we want to. With telecommunications and computers, big companies are working best now if divided up into autonomous small units. The breakup of countries into tribal entities is surely as beneficial as the beneficial of companies. This autonomy is an upshot of democracy that America is bringing to every society there is around the globe. Though the rise of the United States meant the proliferation of democracies in the world, still more people have preferred to use a different kind of freedom to develop leftists in themselves. Then again, the infamous 9/11 incident in America is a clear testament that world leadership of only one country proves that world politics has not yet departed from the ancient political practice of Imperialism. 2. ) What had a greater impact on America in the post war period – foreign policy (the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, etc.) or domestic issues (the Civil Rights Movement, Free Speech Movement, etc. ) The United States was gradually drawn into the war as part of its Cold War against international communism. The successes of the Vietcong and insatiability of South Vietnam worried United States leaders. Fear of the spread of communism in Asia as well as in Europe involved the United States in war in Vietnam and Southeast Asia as a whole. Successive American presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon poured more and more aid, troops and war equipment to keep the North from conquering South Vietnam (Berman, 1982). Determined to prevent the spread of communism, the United States had set up the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954. The so-called Second Vietnam War (1954-1975) was significant led to America’s first defeat in a foreign war and ended American prestige as a world power. The United States, by deserting its ally, South Vietnam, in the darkest hour of its need, has lost face. The tall, rich but decadent Americans had lost to the small, poor but determined Asians One of the issues of increasing concern in the postwar years was the civil rights or the movement to gain equality for black Americans. Blacks had benefited from the nation’s growing prosperity, and urban blacks in particular had greater earning power and a wider choice of jobs. Indeed, the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s had a substantial influence on the country’s economy but still, social and economic discrimination continued. Civil rights leaders waged a struggle against discrimination and segregation. Leaders of the movement turned to the federal courts and were successful in overturning an 1896 Court decision that allowed â€Å"separate but equal† schools for black students. The court ordered schools to end segregation with â€Å"all deliberate speed. †

Enlightenment Essay Example for Free

Enlightenment Essay Immanuel Kant In December 1783 Johann Friedrich Zà ¶llner published an article in Berlinische Monatsschrift that stated his opposition to civil marriage, an idea proposed in a previous issue of the journal. Zà ¶llner wrote that the foundations of morality had been shaken in the name of enlightenment and concluded his piece with the question â€Å"what is enlightenment?† Zà ¶llner asserted that this question must first be answered before â€Å"one begins to enlighten†[1]. Immanuel Kant’s reply to Zà ¶llner’s question is often considered the most famous and most important. In his essay, Kant succinctly outlined his opinion on what enlightenment is, the obstacles to enlightenment and how individuals achieve enlightenment. Kant defined enlightenment as â€Å" man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage† and the â€Å"courage to use your own reason[2]†. Kant believed that â€Å"laziness and cowardice† were the prime reasons why many men remained un-enlightened[3]. Kant asserted that people refused to throw off the yoke of â€Å"self-imposed tutelage† because it was easier to pay people to think for them and run their lives[4]. As Kant put it a person could pay to buy a book to serve as understanding, a pastor to serve as a conscience and a physician to determine a diet. There was no real need for an individual to exert their own will or their own reason since these â€Å"benevolent guardians† would take over an individual’s life for them[5]. The act of enlightenment, therefore, was the act of rejecting this easy form of life and asserting the primacy of your individual reason to reject the conventions of the social guardians who Kant asserted herded soc iety like docile, dumb livestock[6]. It is necessary to understand Kant’s definition of enlightenment in order to gain some understanding of what Kant thought was an enlightened age and what was an age of enlightenment. Kant argued that obstacles to individual enlightenment went beyond self-imposed obstacles. Freedom was the essential ingredient for enlightenment. Society, however, imposed restrictions on freedom through laws and religion that constrained free thought through law, convention or threat. Knowledge was also a requirement but access to it was often very restricted and guarded in late eighteenth century Europe but attempts were being made to bring knowledge to the masses. An age of enlightenment was a time when obstacles to enlightenment were being removed or eroded, Kant believed that late eighteenth century Europe was in such an age. As a society allowed more freedom, it became more enlightened. An enlightened age, therefore, was an age when obstacles had been removed and individuals and society wer e enlightened and free to pursue self determination and self rationalization[7]. Kant did not try to assert that the only path to freedom lay on the path of revolution. Revolutions, according to Kant, merely replaced â€Å"old prejudices† with â€Å"new prejudices†[8]. Kant acknowledged that for a society to function properly, for a government to help its people, it was often necessary for an individual to â€Å"narrowly restrict† their reason in the pursuit of their job or duties. Kant defined this as private reason and deemed it a necessity. Kant used an example of how disastrous it would be for an office to question the appropriateness of an order rather than obeying it[9]. The private use of reason was offset by an individual’s public use of reason. In this form of reason the individual takes upon the mantle of a scholar who â€Å"has complete freedom, indeed even the calling, to impart to the public all of his carefully considered and well-intentioned thoughts†[10]. Private reason would compel an individual to pay a tax, pu blic reason would compel the individual to speak out against the necessity of the tax. These two forms of reason allow a society as a whole to move towards enlightenment on the thoughts of enlightened individuals who are active members of society serving as agents of change but not necessarily revolution. As a society becomes more enlightened, individuals are freer to act upon the enlightened opinions reached through their public role as a scholar. This is a gradual process and Kant’s defense of the necessity of private reason implies that a disobedient society itself is an obstacle to enlightenment[11]. The strength of Kant’s arguments lay in the context of when and where he wrote them. Kant lived in a monarchical society that allowed for little individual freedom or representation. Kant’s evolutionary nature of enlightenment worked well in a society that is essentially not free. History proved that societies that gradually allowed more and more freedom were able to maintain stability and encourage at least a small group of scholars to try to lead society’s trip to enlightenment. A steadily evolution towards enlightenment will work in a society that is more restrictive or less representative of the people because the slow rate of changes will still be perceived as changes and many will be patient with a slow but steadily progression of change. In a more representative form of government, however, revolutions are built into the government through elections. If the elected leaders do not implement the ideas of those who elected them, the people become dissatisfied and disobedient. So obstacles to enlightenment can be increased. However, such systems by nature are built to accept and expect a fairly rapid pace of change that would not be possible in a monarchy. New ideas can be implemented nearly every election so in this regard revolution, which in this regard are elections. If quick change is not implemented then the people grow frustrated and disobedient. The dynamic is more complex than in a monarchy. Freedom of thought is all that is required for individual enlightenment. Even the most repressive regimes find it impossible to block an individual from thinking. So to some degree Kant doesn’t allow for enlightenment to happen in the absence of freedom. The freedom to think and act upon those thoughts is the definition of Kant’s public reason. But Kant’s definition of private reason seems incomplete. While it is necessary for an individual to restrict their opinions based on duty or situation, that act does not restrict individual enlightenment. The full scope of what Kant described as a public scholar is the freedom to think and give voice to those thoughts, a private reason may also exist that allows an individual to think but not be able to give voice to such thoughts. This is different from sublimating their opinions to perform a duty. This is done perhaps more out of fear than a sense of duty. A soldier may not be free to question an order but in a more repressive society an enlightened individual may not be free to give voice to their opinions without penalty of death. In such a case is an individual a coward or lazy? Certainly it takes a high degree of courage to speak out but to call those not willing to die for their opinions but how are self realized enough to have those opinions cowards is not just nor fair. In a way Kant both argues against revolution but calls those unwilling to rebel in restrictive cases cowards. So he undercuts his own argument if it’s taken out of the context in which he wrote it where thought was tolerated as was the scholarly debate of enlightened ideas. Immanuel Kant’s essay â€Å"What is Enlightenment?† is justly considered an important work regarding the enlightenment and reason. Kant concisely argues his opinion and presented examples to illustrate his points. The arguments made are strong and logical in the context of the monarchal society Kant lived in that while restrictive, allowed for some freedom of thought and expression. Kant’s arguments lose some strength when applied to different societies and governments. †¨Sources Kant, Immanuel. What is Enlightenment? September 30, 1784. Naragon, Steve. Johann Friedrich Zà ¶llner. Manchester College. 23 June 2011. http://www.manchester.edu/kant/bio/FullBio/ZollnerJF.html.

Toyota Motor Corporation the effective management of people

Toyota Motor Corporation the effective management of people Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) Toyota Motor Corporation also known as TMC is a Japanese born company famous for its car making as well as providing financial services and participating in various lines of business including housing, IT and financial activities. Over the years, TMC has become the largest car manufacturing in the world (operating in America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania) after General Motors and is the biggest in Japan producing an estimated eight million vehicles per year. (Toyota Annual Report, 2009) Founded in 1937, its current name, TMC was incorporated in 1981. As of March 31, 2009 TMCs capital totalled to 397.05 billion yen, (Toyota Annual Report, 2009) and despite the current financial crisis, the company only announced its first annual loss in 71 years in May 2009. Importance of Project Management Many organisations use project management in order to survive in todays fast changing environment and it is part of the way things are done in businesses as described by Heerkens (2007). In using project management, companies translate both their strategies and objectives into action because this brings change to organisations and giving the fact that change is almost necessary if a company is to gain competitive advantage, this explains it multiple advantages including the following: Achievement of goal is made possible and decision making is based on more adequate information, thus making collaboration more focused and orientated toward gaining competitive advantage. Clear terms of reference allow employees understand their roles and responsibilities and how these can relate to the company i.e. objective, scope of deliverables, role, responsibilities, structure and schedule all give a clear path of progression in terms of what is expected from people, Dobson (2004) Forecast of revenues and expenditures is made possible by the allocation of budget. As a result, employees feel connected to the organisation from the corporate level where important decisions are made, thus facilitating an effective management. Time constraints (scope, time and cost) and specific expertise are used as measuring tools thus allowing the linkage of HRM to technology and the reduction of managers workload whilst increasing efficiency in the workplace by standardising HR processes. As a result, problem solving is made easy and fast, Harris et al (1996) In the organisational context, a hierarchical structure including the necessary step for achieving the objectives contribute in reaching the end. Different efforts are appreciated and team members recognise the importance of project management by pioneering it main focus. This ultimately leads to success and a drive toward effective management of people which is a critical component of organisational competitiveness as stated by Kerzner (2009). Because the success of any project depend on the leadership and motivation styles of sponsors who are experienced and ensure effective delivery, a sense of achievement is created for both employees and the organisation. Project management has served as tool to many big organisations in terms of innovation and when dealing with changes in the business environment, both employees and managers are able to witness the achievement of their respective goals and that of the organisation all in the same aim to gain competitive advantage, Larson et al (2006) The next sections of this report discuss some of these advantages in the context of TMC. Recruitment, Selection and Training of Personnel in TMC towards Market Advantage The concept of employee resourcing is aimed at employing people with the right skills and attitudes for the organisation. This appears to be acceptable in principle. But there is a tendency to interpret it because managers tend to recruit people who have the same characteristics as themselves. Most of TMCs senior executives are Japanese men, whereas most successful western corporations employ more diversely at the corporate level. In todays modern organisations, key issues include flexibility, innovation, creativity and the success of organisation is not likely to result from those who display similar characteristics to those already in the organisation. It can therefore be argued that organisations which perform better are those who employ people that think for themselves and have ideas and behaviour that are different from others While this suggests the usual selection methods which require evidence of continuous and verifiable employment actually works against the organisation that is seeking innovation, TMC with its The Toyota Way of lean product development and management principles illustrates otherwise. (Liker et al, 2004) So far TMC has been able to achieve market advantage by keeping up with it technology and more importantly being ahead of its competitors. In 1997, the company launched the Prius as the world first mass-produced hybrid car which was achieved through their people system. (Toyota Annual Report, 2009) TMCs system is centred on people from their recruitment and selection as well as their training and development in the company. The Toyota Way, as discussed by Liker et al (2004) must be part of their DNA. This concept has so far helped TMC achieve it organisational competitiveness. However, many overseas managers and engineers working for TMC have admitted working under too much pressure, Liker et al (2004). Others have embraced this and felt at home in an organisation where they feel valued. Either way, the question remains whether TMC is an employer of choice. TMC has recently been accused of weak designed practices with relation to the human resource as a result of the recent failure to spot technical issues, Sullivan (2010) In Sullivans view point, reward and recognition, training, hiring, the performance management process, the corporate culture, leadership development, staff retention and risk assessment all contributed to TMCs downfall. The company certainly has a very rigorous hiring process and often only recruit those who have had higher grades and are smart. But it can be argued that intelligence isnt always the key, particularly in an industry that is influenced by changing technologies and competition. The aim of recruiting should include making the organisation attractive to potential candidates by being the employer of choice where people are not only valued but want to be part of the organisation. This may be difficult for TMC as being a Japanese company involve adopting a culture of bureaucracy which ultimately affects the structure of the company as a whole. Introducing flexible working hours in the UK for example and where mostly men are employed, hiring women could all assist in this sector. Still, it remains managers job to examine the situation and identify alternative options in order to achieve market advantage. Armstrong suggested that learning programmes and training schemes should be developed in order to increase employability both inside and outside the organisation. To deal with the challenges faced by training, TMC introduced lean training where all team leaders work together to produce a new model. When producing Corolla for instance, TMC brought a team leader from each of their operating regions and together, they worked in 12 different assembly points around the world which reduced the number of working hours by 30%. (Toyota Annual Report, 2009) In addition, the company has a website that allows all its team members to take part in self training sessions which include weekly and location based trainings locations. (TMC Sustainability Report, 2009) However effective and efficient is this process of recruiting and training, the relationship between individuals who are brought to work together is crucial to the intended success. Teamwork Teamwork is an important aspect of an effective management of people and therefore represents a critical component of any process of project implementation. It defines the relation between individual and other external parties as well as being dependent on each other in their particular tasks. There is reliability on the individual capability. (Tarricone et al, 2002) More importantly, team members all have different skills and each contribute toward the organisations social culture and vision. (Gibson et al, 1980) Theories and Concepts of Teamwork Tuckman (1965) presented a theory of four different stages of group development that he further developed by adding a fifth stage after its popularity in 1970. The first four stages are represented by the guidance in the development and behaviour of the team members. Performing Performing Norming Focus on the Task Forming Storming Storming Figure 3.1: The Different Stages of Group Development Source: Adapted from Tuckman (1965) In the organisational context, the success of teamwork will depend on peoples ability to communicate within the team as well as their commitment to achieving the tasks in question. Contrary to this view, a project team might have different characteristics which allow them to accomplish their task in accordance with the given time and budget. As well as being fully involved, team members have to keep their manager aware of the issues, changes, risks and quality improvement. Gibson et al (1980) were adamant that communication and involvement are two different characteristics and that all that matters was the target or task that was required to be achieved by the team. The following attributes were discussed by Tarricone et al (2002) in the same interest of finding out what represented a successful teamwork. Attributes of Team Work TeamWork Interpedently Individual Skills Liberty of communicat-ion and suggestion feedback Commitment To team Team size Commitment to team and shared Goals Figure 3.2: The Six Attributes of a successful Teamwork (Adapted graph) TMC and Teamwork TMC refers to each of its employee as team member. To them, making customers happy is directly linked to how well they work together as a team. While this partly relate to Tarricone and Lucas (2002) six attributes of teamwork, particularly where team work and commitment are concerned, people have different competencies and as mentioned by Francis et al (1979), wouldnt it be easier if everyone focused on their given tasks? Or maybe TMC has found that taking care of each other, Critchley et al (1986) and respecting each other is primordial. We can still question TMCs communication and feedback standards because of the guidance they use from their recruitment to the training where strict rules are used. Harris et al (1996) outlined this in saying that members must have the right to express their feeling with regard to the work being carried out. Again, it is the managements job to not only give adequate direction, but also divide the job among the members while making sure they are not just following set rules but contributing individually. It is clear that TMC challenges its employees. For example, the company believes that respecting and trusting it people will ultimately mean that they will give 100% of output. They also agree that everything cant be done through machines and therefore human force is important. Thats why the company motivates it team members by trusting them and given them responsibility in order to fulfil their objectives. However, being a corporate company involves having low tolerance in terms of mistakes. TMC is currently at the centre of massive allegations regarding quality issues involving their recent cars. They have taken actions to correct these issues but could this be related to team members working under too much pressure? Is TMC too consumer driven? Or maybe the culture of the company which evolve around the Toyota Production system is in need of restructuring. The 5th stage of Tuckmans (1965) theory particularly represents this as being the split of the group after fulfilment of their purpose. In Tuckmans (1965) view, moving on is helpful to the team members as it creates a sense of recognition. What is obvious is that TMC understands teamwork and refers to it as its foundation. The next figure represents an example of how teams are formed in TMC. Team Size Team Member 5-8 Team Leader 3-4 Group Leader 5-8 5-8 Asst. Manager 4-10 Smallest Group 4TLs 18 TMs Largest Group 5 TLs 23 TMs Manager Figure 3.3: Typical Toyota Organization Assembly Operation Source: Bill Constantino, former group leader, Toyota, Georgetown. While other organisations use highly skilled employees to find solutions to day to day issues such as quality of products, maintenance of equipment etc, TMCs system (see figure 3.3) allows employees to do thing differently. Work groups are responsible for solving problems that occur and have many responsibilities including carrying out monthly planning in advance for quality production, scheduling etc. Another example of teamwork in TMC is where experts select two or three members depending on how many people are needed for the task and each member has to learn every job to allow rotation. The company believes that this way no member gets the load of work and the system runs smoothly while motivating employees. TMC and Change Management The management of TMC spotted the need for change from an early stage and has ever since been improving the companys productivity, quality, customer service etc. The company cultivates the leadership and teams styles change culture as well as growth to devise the strategy of what they refer to as The Toyota Way or the 14 Principles of Management. (Liker, 2004) This is also explained by the 4P model of The Toyota Way (Liker, 2004), where he highlights the Philosophy, Process, People and Partners and Problem Solving as a way of improvement and uniqueness of TPS. These 4Ps also constitute the 14 principles of management. Fig: 3.4: A 4PModel of The Toyota Way Source: Adapted from Liker (2004) However, change has its issues and most organisations begin to realise this when they are hit by competition or often bankruptcy. TMC experienced this in 1950 when the company encountered bankruptcy and began changing its culture. As recognised by Bridges (1995) with his transitional model of change, often dramatic change is needed in order to survive in a competitive market place. TMC accepted the challenge to survive in the US market and started working towards the companys vision by motivating and inspiring its employees. As a result of leading the global market, the company introduced the Prius in 1997. Change is part of TMCs leadership as well as being environmentally friendly when making cars and despite the current crisis facing all automobile makers, TMC remains a leader deriving from change as their main culture. Leadership and Motivation Both leadership and motivation have emerged as some of the most important aspects of an effective management of people and referred to as two elements that complement each other. In the 21st century, organizations are seeing leaders as those who set direction, has clear vision, inspire and motivate teams in achieving tasks. Once motivated, employees begin to prioritize organizational goals and culture, thus encouraging change and it adherence. TMCs Leadership Approach TMC doesnt follow a set of rules but rather exercises very unique values and approaches that set them apart from others. They believe in building employees strengths as well as building car. (Liker, 2004) Chemers, (1997) referred to leadership as a common task where people support one another. Hiebert et al (2001) on the other hand associated leadership with interpersonal relationship and corporate strategy. At TMC, Managers involve their subordinates into the thinking process which also reflect part of McGregors (1960) Theory-Y (participative style), and adjust themselves to situations depending on the project, or resources available which is reflected in Fiedlers (1967) approach. Fiedler (1997) further highlighted the environment as being the principal factor that influences leadership. He referred to this as contingency theory and placed leadership styles in two categories, task-oriented or relationship-oriented and situations in high-favourable and low-favourable. He came to the conclusion that task-oriented leaders perform more effectively and that when the level of situation favourability was intermediate, relationship-oriented leaders performed better. The leadership philosophy at TMC can be represented by the 2-dimentional leadership matrix of The Toyota Way, (Liker, 2004) where leadership styles have been divided into four types: Bureaucratic Manager, Group Facilitator, Task Master and Builder of Learning Organizations. Again we can distinguish similarities here to that of the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid (1964) where the organization man manager shows the ability to balance between organizations goals and peoples needs. John Adairs (1973) Action-Centered Leadership Model proposed that a good leader must perform following 3 main responsibilities. Figure 4.1: The Action-Centered Leadership Model Source: Adair (1973) A good leader in Adairs (1973) point of view is the one who create balance between these three circles. TMC achieves performance by giving importance to both production and people (team), but in doing so people and production needs are left unfulfilled. This is almost a subtle way of telling people what to do as represented by the next graph. Figure 4.2: The TMC Leadership Model Source: Liker (2004, P. 196) Liker (2004) associated The Toyota way with that of the organisation that is building a learning organisation which nurtures the abilities and motivation level of its team and plans ahead in order to get the maximum out of employees. This has so far resulted in them setting example to many organisations by adding values to their existing culture. The 4P model of The Toyota Way studied by Liker (2004) put people on the third level from the bottom up along with long-term vision of the companys goals and adequate knowledge of technical and management skills. This is all well but we can argue that the primary goal as well as injecting that vision and knowledge to people should also include putting people at the very top since without them nothing is possible. Such an approach will allow employees to feel even more part of the company, motivates them further and enables them to put a maximum effort in order to achieve a longer-term success. However, at TMC, leaders encourage and respect position and decision making capabilities of their people working from the very bottom as many of them recognized having started at the bottom. (Gertner, 2007) Deriving from Fiedlers Theory (1967) and Adairs Model (1973), development of mutual trust and respect are very important to TMCs management relation which is the primary key to HRM practices in the 21st century. (Toyotas CSR Initiatives, 2010) TMCs Motivational Approach For most organisations, the ultimate goal is to make the employees work at their full potentials and this cannot be achieved easily as every individual is motivated differently. The concept of motivation has been developed by many scholars over the years. Fritz Heider (1972) developed two concepts of motivation which were Intrinsic and Extrinsic and which he believed were driven by the factors including employees attribution, beliefs and desires. Similarly, Maxwell (2008) discussed motivation factors where he associated needs, values and goals to peoples level of production. Figure 4.3: Employment Motivational Factors Source: Maxwell (2008) TMC is constantly committed to making improvements rather than just responding to problems that occur. The management develops friendly relationship within the teams and recognises their improvement. As a result, 94% of ideas in the company are adopted. For a Japanese company which guaranties life time employment, this is an obvious expectation because it allows internal promotion and develops motivation. However, motivation is a concept that changes with time and research on dynamic motivation carried out by Herzberg (1987) in his Dual Structure Theory pointed out that the diversity of motivation distinguishes between motivators (challenges) and hygiene factors (job security). But how important is job security in the 21st century? It is clear that being made redundant is no longer a threat and bigger organisations like TMC need to work harder in motivating and retaining their employees particularly in an age where competition and changes in the environment are part of their day to day lives. Heider (1972) believed that intrinsic motivation was driven by employees own self-esteem rather than financial reward which is often short lived and costly, while the extrinsic concept was influenced by the outside. Other factors were studied by Maslow (1954) in his Need Hierarchy Theory where he highlighted human needs as being very important and need to be satisfied if advancement was to be made possible. Agreeing with McGregor (1960) and Heider (1972), Maslow found money the least important. TMC recognises employees participation and money isnt used as motivator. At least not from what we have seen from their recruitment, selection and training strategies and team work structure. For any project implementation purposes, managers will need to further develop the process of working together by perhaps understanding employees needs rather than those of the organisation. This can assist in promoting motivation and therefore adhere to the organisations cultural implications which are becoming more homogenous in todays business environment. This also presuppose an understanding of employees own culture and context. TMC and Cross-Cultural Issues Taylor in the 20th century, studied how employers can increase their workers efficiency and decrease waste, later referred to as Muda by Japanese. TMC with their Toyota Production System champions this culture as well as what the company refers to as Kaizen which means team. Although Kaizen happens to be the improvement of Toyotas culture, it differs from the philosophy of Command and Control. The methodology of Kaizen is based upon monitoring results and making changes. TMC employs the very best people and trains them on cross training issues. By doing so, managers believe they are removing any problems from the root. But people are different and being a global company implies employing people who are culturally different. This therefore raises another concern about how diverse TMC really is. As earlier discussed, TMC is a global company still mainly run by its Japan headquarters. Its top leadership does not include foreign executives. This has resulted in slow problem solving of recent crisis of product defects. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently stated that the heart of Toyotas issues lies in its secretive corporate culture in Japan. (Financial Times, 3rd March 2010, P. 22) The interesting debate on these recent quality issues which is linked to the cross-cultural training and consultation factors is that TMC focuses on their Kaizen concept, which is eliminating problems; whilst Americans and other Western consumers focus on the transparency concept which is based on the freedom of information. Either way, organisations can hardly avoid mistakes. It is how managers address these issues that determine their future. So far TMC has proven its success deriving from its leadership culture which has resulted in: Promoting innovation and creativity as well as developing new ideas which are recognised by the management. Continuous expansion allowing TMC to explore foreign markets and achieve stability in the global economy. Efficiency and uniformity of the workforce allowing the maintenance of a respectable level of stability and competitiveness in the business environment. However, limitation of promotion prospect TMC might lead to a need to consider using more Total Quality Management (TQM) which results in rising cost for the company. This can also create inner conflicts considering the current rise in competition. Also, TMC should be mindful of the fear for disappearance of personal identity on the employees side; because the majority of ideas are adopted from employees. They are treated as a team which limit their recognition as individual. TMC and Diversity Since the early 1990s, large organisations including TMC have recognised Diversity as being an important aspect of managing people and declared themselves as being committed to equal opportunities. (Cockburn, 1991) Diversity is reflected in TMCs famous respect for people and continuous improvement. Reichenberg (2001) referred to this as a perspective that made business sense and the United Nations in particular has embraced this philosophy which further proves the companys efforts. However, being a Japanese company involves certain level of collectivism, which raises concern about TMCs diversity policy. Morrison et al (1991) used Hofstedes (2001) international cultural diversity study to demonstrate organisations relationship with their suppliers and customers and how these can be affected by diversity. For instance matching customer diversity to that of the service offered will imply considering ethnic differences which will lead to parties speaking the same language. This fits TMC because as stated by Lichtenthal et al (2001), the company benefits from matching its sales people to demographic attributes of buyers since buyers are more trusting of those who share similar cultural attributes to themselves. Managers often need something to go wrong in order to decide that change is necessary and prepare employees to cope with it. Claiborne (2001) discussed Toyotas racist advertisements and this lead the company setting out a $7.8 billion, 10-year diversity program. Conclusion We have seen that successful people management comes through a process of selection, training, teamwork, leadership, motivation, involvement and participation such that employees feel their needs and interests are being appropriately addressed. When combined with the organisations own requirements for achieving efficiency and effectiveness, this emphasises the need for managers to provide leadership which is characterised by both strong task and relationship orientations. Both leadership and motivation go hand in hand because for any form of task to succeed, a leader with motivational skills is needed in order to get results. TMC is an excellent promoter of Diversity and contributes in areas such as education, safety among young people and programs such as Toyota Teen Driver, Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), sponsors events for non-profit organizations like YMCA, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) etc. However, in the 21st century, managers are faced with many other challenges including uncertainty and constant changes in technologies which all affect the implementation of projects and human resource development. One ought to ask if TMC has remained stock in the 20th century with the classical thinking where division of labour, span of control and line of authority were pioneered by Fayol et al. This is certainly reflected in the companys team work strategy earlier discussed. Also, although employees have a massive input in TMCs success, how far are they allowed to disagree with the proposed goal of the organisation as discussed by McNabb et al (1995)? Perhaps the structure and success of TMC shows a different picture which promotes a learning organisation with their Lean Training and The Toyota Way. But how flexible is TMC when it comes to employees? And are the companys leaders born or manufactured? The answer ultimately lies somewhere in the middle as TMC has had mixed success stories and the management is able to provide the environmental support needed to motivate employees toward the achievement of their vision. To lead an adequate change as proposed by Kotter in 1995 with his eight stage model, managers are faced with understanding the importance of employees need, vision, communication, empowerment and culture. Implementing project will therefore involve the identification of the micro-processes that affect the day to day formal and informal life of employee, Cornelius (2003). Or with regard to change management, there need to be a clear line between people and the organisation as proposed by Fisher,2005. Recommendations As discussed, managers are faced with several issues when dealing with implementation of projects in general. Making these issues manageable will require TMC to rethink its structure and level of control when it comes to team work. It could be that the Japanese culture which is often too reliant on employees efforts needs a different leadership style which will allow the company to meet international competitive requirements as they affect the organisations overall success. In terms of coping with the turbulent external environment, TMC should perhaps consider recognising individuals for themselves rather than the group. They can begin this change in African countries where they have a small percentage of market shares. TMC promotes many of its current employees from inside the company. While this is good for keeping the companys visions and values, employing managers from outside might facilitate obtaining more open minded and goal oriented employees. This is particularly needed now when questions are being raised about TMCs public relation and image due to the companys recent defect issues.

A High School Stereotype Essay -- Stereotyping Teens Essays

A High School Stereotype Most students who have gone to high school had a lot of involvement in events that would possibly change them for the rest of their lives. Most students have a lot of memories and went through a lot of changes during that most unusual four year period. Events like learning how to drive, proms, and SAT’s are just a few of the things that all students had to go to while attending high school. Furthermore, most students were also involved in their school in some way shape or form. Examples of this would be sports such as football, track, or wrestling, fine arts such as band or theater, or academics such as clubs like the national honor society. However, to say that all of these groups of people keep only to themselves and never interact with other people is false. A New York Times article written in May of 1999 by Tamar Lewin says just that. This article describes how cliques and other social groups function at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. It also des cribes the parallels between Chaparral High School and Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The article uses appeals to emotion throughout, but does not make any real logical argument to back up the facts it presents. Most of the article rides on appeals to emotion, relying on the testimonials of a number of students to get the point across that the school is at risk. A technique that the author uses to get the point across using pathos is a mild form of scare tactic. Throughout the entire article the author makes references to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and how the two high schools are similar in size, wealth, and ethnic makeup. Everyone knows Columbine of course for the unfortunate s... ...ool with a higher income neighborhood, or they could have happened at a school with a lower income neighborhood. And to pin the events upon a certain high school saying that they are most likely to have a school shooting next is not accurate at all. Throughout the article, the author presents information that causes one to question the safety of our high schools. This information is directed toward a certain high school, causing concern among that school. Furthermore, the information presented does not have the kind of credibility that it needs to for the author to make statements like those made in the article. Around the nation many high schools are being falsely accused of being something that they aren’t. High school is a time for fun times and memories, and with false and stereotypical articles being written, it may take away from the memorable experience.

Othello: the Abnormal Behaviors and Happenings Essay -- Othello essays

Othello: the Abnormal Behaviors and Happenings  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   The audience finds in William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello a curious collection of abnormal behaviors and happenings. In this paper let us examine in detail the abnormalities.    In her book, Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack defends the Moor as one who is not necessarily the victim of a psychological deficiency, as some critics maintain:    What should be noticed in particular is that, essentially, Shakespeare invented Iago; set him down in his dramatis personae with the single epithet â€Å"a villain†; and devoted most of the play’s lines and scenes to showing in detail the cunning, malignancy, and cruelty of his nature, including the cowardice of his murder of his wife. It seems to me therefore impossible to believe, as some recent critics would have us do, that the root causes of Othello’s ruin are to be sought in some profound moral or psychological deficiency peculiar to him. (137)    A more obvious example of the irregular appears in the conduct of Iago. The abnormal behavior of the ancient is partly rooted in his misogynism. In â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello† Valerie Wayne implicates Iago in sexism. He is one who is almost incapable of any other perspective on women than a sexist one:    Iago’s worry that he cannot do what Desdemona asks implies that his dispraise of women was candid and easily produced, while the praise requires labour and inspiration from a source beyond himself. His insufficiency is more surprising because elsewhere in the play Iago appears as a master rhetorician, but as Bloch explains, ‘the misogynistic writer uses rhetoric as a means of renouncing it, and... ...normal psychology. (89-90)    WORKS CITED    Bevington, David, ed. William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies. New York: Bantam Books, 1980.    Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1970.    Coles, Blanche. Shakespeare’s Four Giants. Rindge, New Hampshire: Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.    Mack, Maynard. Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wayne, Valerie. â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.† The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.   

gates :: essays research papers

WASHINGTON (CNN/Money) - The government hammered away at Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates in court Tuesday, attempting to portray him as an unreliable witness. And at one point Gates offered to alter his sworn testimony, landing a solid blow against Microsoft's position. The courts have found that Microsoft violated antitrust laws. The current hearings, under U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, will decide what restrictions will be imposed on Microsoft as a remedy for that illegal behavior. Gates has repeatedly complained that the remedies under consideration would be technically impossible to comply with or would force Microsoft to withdraw its Windows operating system from the market and force widespread layoffs at the company. The Department of Justice and half of the states involved in the original antitrust case reached a settlement with Microsoft in November. But nine states -- California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah and West V irginia, along with the District of Columbia -- broke with the Justice Department's remedy proposal, arguing that it wasn't strong enough. Judge Kollar-Kotelly will decide what sort of remedies are appropriate based on the hearings now in their sixth week. Steven Kuney, who represents the states, continued his cross-examination of Gates, who first took the stand late Monday morning. Gates spent much of Tuesday morning complaining that the language of the states's proposal was vague and ambiguous. But Kuney repeatedly walked Gates through his arguments, and several times got Gates to concede that he was interpreting the language in the proposed remedies literally, rather than reasonably, as a court would likely do. In fact, at one point in his testimony Gates told the court that a section of the proposed remedies "could be read to ban Microsoft from competing in any product category. I know such a ban would be unreasonable, and yet that is what the language of Section 8 appears to provide for." Gates argued that the restrictions in the proposal would do things like prevent his company from quickly offering a patch for a critical security hole before two months had passed. Kuney scoffed at such claims, suggesting that no reason able person would interpret the restrictions as forbidding emergency repairs for Windows users. Kuney turned to testimony from the original antitrust trial, which ran from 1998 to 2000, to impeach Gates as witness. For instance, Gates testified that Navigator was "supposedly" a threat to Microsoft's monopoly power in the market for desktop computer operating systems, suggesting that he did not believe that, although the courts concluded that was Microsoft's primary motivation for committing many of its illegal acts.

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale Essay

Figurative language was used by Margaret Atwood, through the persona of Offred, to illustrate The Handmaid’s Tale. Figurative Language consists of similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole and idioms. First, figurative language can be used to describe different settings. 1. Offred’s experience at night in her bedroom â€Å"The heat at night is worse than the heat in daytime. Even with the fan on, nothing moves, and the walls store up warmth, give it out like a used oven. Surely it will rain soon. Why do I want it? It will only mean more dampness. There’s lightning far away but no thunder. Looking out the window I can see it, a glimmer, like the phosphorescence you get in stirred seawater, behind the sky, which is overcast and too low and a dull gray infrared. The searchlights are off, which is not usual. A power failure. Or else Serena Joy has arranged it.† (Pg. 243) * Similes * Described the environment * Room: Glimmer in the window, like stirred seawater * Heat: Used oven * Weather: Lightning but no thunder 2. Offred describing the Particicution of a man convicted of rape â€Å"There’s a surge forward, like a crowd at a rock concert in the former time, when the doors opened, that urgency coming like a wave through us. The air is bright with adrenaline, we are permitted anything and this is freedom, in my body also, I’m reeling, red spreads everywhere, but before that tide of cloth and bodies hits him Ofglen is shoving through the women in front of us, propelling herself with her elbows, left, right, and running towards him†¦A high scream comes from somewhere, like a horse in terror.† (Pg. 262-263) * Simile and metaphor * Ofglen kicked his head several times and later explained to Offred that the man was part of the underground rebellion, so she wanted to put him out of his misery quickly

The Influence of Educational Philosophy on a Proposed Early Learning Environment Annlatish Jones

While be bob uping a schoolroom with the parameters of utilizing the knowledge of educational philosophers it has been gear up that in order to do so effectively, it is scoop out accomplished using an emergent class and devotion for the undivided kidskin. Determining the outflank cash advance for implementing the proposed curriculum is track d avowd by the Montessori, Gardner and Vygotsky theories contracting classicly on the ideas of scaffold, discourteous ended shoo-in and quaternary intelligences.When introducing the PA wee erudition Standards to the proposed plan, it is plunge that a renewal of presentations of instruction stick out be moderaten to children of un homogeneous perking styles on the whole while getting the same main idea across. Loris Malaguzzi, the creator and force chthonicsurface the work that is proof positive of the benefits of classer(a) childishness education has said a great thing about how children envision, seminalness gu essms to emerge from twofold experiences, coupled with a well-supported study of personal resources, including a soul of dispense withdom to venture beyond the kn witness. This is the hitmanstance of the educational philosophy with which my classroom for preschoolers is intentional and which guides the tenants of admission for milieu, curriculum and practice. Children learn with their experiences and we as their c atomic number 18 hold backrs, make believe upon their knowledge to develop non incisively the whole group, tho the whole child. In appendix to the foot and ongoing principles that run the early childhood purlieus raise in Reggio genus Emilia, Italy, the ideas of Vygotsky, Gardner and Montessori leave alone and do have influence over the purlieu that the children learn and search in..A intro tenant of their success in Reggio Emilia, is the occupation of their emergent curriculum, otherwise what is known as a project oriented approach to the childr ens experiences (Malaguzzi, 2013). In other words, the childrens interests guide their aforethought(ip) experiences, with their free exploration creation the most opportune while to observe, record, and piano reflect on their blooming interests. This is the scaffolding that Vygotsky so wisely explored and classrooms worldwide hold the technique of assessing prior knowledge and consequently attaining upon what they have learned with plotted experiences.By taking what is seen from these times, the teachers slew come together to plan and negotiate experiences so there leave be a founder sense of what the children need to learn from what they desire to know. Also popular to our believeerpliberal r practices in Italy, ar the Montessori methods which rivet greatly on hands on schooling. The classroom that I envision is all hands on, with experiences gear towards the senses that in develop ensure a synthetical sense of order and effort to what the child halts in and get s out of their time in the environment. Much like the ideas rat the emergent curriculum, it is tacit that Dr.Montessori envisioned a child that indicateed us what they expected to learn and it was the adults who geargond their plans towards their interests. The idea that, Childrens emotional, social, and academic development improve when they ar empowered through choice (Shaw, 2012) gives rise to the nonion that by allo wing children the free choice to explore as frequently as possible we give them the power to enchant their learning, and it is well mute that when some(prenominal)one, not further children, enjoy their experiences they win to a greater extent from them.To allow children to take something from their environment leases that the environment itself gives them a reason to enjoy it. necessaryly by creating a extremity that the environments development caters to not exactly their interests still the means of learning that the children exhibit, we give the youngest learners the choice of how to learn new things best. The idea of multiple intelligences brought about by Gardner, which is also found throughout the environments and planning in Reggio Emilia, is innate to catering to the whole child.The theories proposed by Gardner are, of the disparate educational theorists, the least tested soon enough are still found in practical and standing use in early childhood ranges around the orchis (Smith, 2008). The overwhelming evidence of children who successfully approach, figure and build upon a motley of subjects when the caboodleting takes into account that particular childs strengths grants his theories a defer from the traditional clinical trials that often stick to the proven success or stroke of a theory (Smith, 2008). winning into thoughtfulness the theorists and philosophy of the previously discussed methods, the classroom would describe traditional promenade format with run across times and typical transitions. Pr esentation of breeding that builds upon the groups prior knowledge would and should take the form of a variety of experiences, much(prenominal) as finger plays during meeting times, songs during transitions, hands on squares for mathss, science, and langu eld message, and introduction to practical experiences for dramatic, creative and block play that encourage their exploration of the theme or ideas that are of current interest.Understanding that the project musical themed approach is embedded within the ideas of the emergent curriculum, it is understood that legion(predicate) times some projects bequeath range in time taken from hours to several weeks, if not longer. This being kept in mind, no particular fall theme for a lesson plan should be set in stone, alone preferably a general topic of focal point that reflects their interests exit be all that is necessary. Presenting open ended materials that are a tenant of the Montessori philosophy will be the rule or el se than the exception, and this will encompass all areas of learning.Presenting traditional materials much(prenominal)(prenominal) a tactual letter, counters, pattern boards, magnatiles, as well as others, would be utilise in conjunction with specific ideas that are presented by the teachers. or else of proficient trace out the letters with our fingers, a teacher could present the picture of a salientian much like one found outside and practice tracing the letters in season of the word frog. Reviewing ideas found within the PA Early acquire stocks would require and exploration in many areas of academics that we break down in to truthfulr parts.The freighterdid aforementioned frog activity could good relate to several language standards, exclusively also keeps in mind that different children learn in different ways. Instead of estimable allowing a child to written matter from a written word, we take into consideration that some children whitethorn respond better by tou ch and by move to use the tactile letters, we give a certain type of child a better mind than the otherwise may have experienced.The ideas behind this process would be followed throughout the entire learning environment in that free play would be frequent, if not dominant to the schedule. Allowing this type of learning gives the children the ability to explore at their own yard. In a side note, free play does not indicate a lack of observation, this free play is positive to our correspondence of what to introduce as their interests expand. basis of new ideas is not dependent upon buckram meetings, simply fag include material rotation, field trips, parent conveyment, or any number of explorative processes.This type of play keeps in line with our emergent curriculum, in that if you present it, it will either take or it wont. If children visualise an interest in a direction or tread that would be logical or future(a) their current interests, the plan is then followed. If t hey show no interest, understanding or bend easily frustrated or distracted with a new toy, idea, or fancy, it is pass away indication to the educators that their group or individual child is not ready for this metre or direction.Allowing this type of granting immunity rather than presenting ideas that were not created from the childrens explorative interests themselves we are getting a better discernment into what makes up the child not only in a group, solely as an individual. The idea of individuality is also report to the type of curriculum that would be requisite to the preschool learning environment being created. The observations and manageable moments found during ordinary play verses a testicle assessment of the childs interests, will give a real insight into how the children learn. intentional how a child learns best is the radical principle to Gardners multiple intelligences. As mentioned earlier that new ideas and concepts would not be introduced in a consist ently formal way, opportunities for understanding not only a childs interests, scarcely understanding why or why not that child took to a subject is supreme for individualized planning. When a child shows frustrations with a tactile learning experience much(prenominal) as the language learning mentioned earlier, but the child is a noticeably lively and excited child outside or in a gym, perhaps ncouraging the child to recognize those letters in sequence on wastepaper bins and advance throwing a freak in sequence into those bins may be a better learning experience. This will help the educators conclude not a failure of the particular initial experience, just a better way to build upon their current interests in areas to a greater extent suited to their learning styles. Determining how to focus in on their learning styles would be tie in to the Pa Early Learning Standards which control the necessity, and richness of learning for all planned experiences for any three to five form old child in a licensed day care in the state of Pennsylvania.The standards govern a variety of learning concepts in the area of art, math, language, science, and require a specific set of information to be passed along in some form or another to the junior learners. In the area of fine arts there is a strong focus not just on creation, but on reception, performance and personal response. Essentially there is so much much to art than just paints, clay and crayons. The importance of dramatic play and musical construction in many varieties should and will be expressed not just with toys or background music.I would love to see culturally diverse instruments, cd players and videotape recorders for exploration of their own creations, in addition to dramatic play props relate to their interests, and a free and open art center with a variety of tactile and fine motor experiences in a creative station. The walls would be adorned with not just their art work, but pro and classical pieces that are frequently changed to have got their changing interests.In opposition to the freedom of creation, math concepts are very limited and concrete and the understanding of these concepts being in the main one to one correspondence and simple number recognition are internal for school success. Beyond this, the state standards want to see that children are grasping underlying algebraic concepts, statistical analyses appropriate for the ages served, reasoning, connections, communication, and conundrum solving,. What is great about this is that communication is not only encouraged in the standards but expected, so a simple math worksheet will not work.Counters, pattern boards, relating math concepts to allday situations, and inspiring discussion amongst small groups and individuals is imperative to our basic plan of functional with an emergent curriculum. If we can light the arc of understanding, they can carry the torch to where they would like to learn next. More importantly, its not just about having a math center it is about providing those opportunities physical and verbally in all aspects of play. Language is not just a means of communication, but a way to express feelings and thoughts.For the younger preschool, the concept of being to express your inevitably in a means other than cry is new and there are so many possibilities. Environmental print is essential, and important in order to achieve the goals set forth in the PA Early Learning Standards. Comprehension, pre reading skills, writing pure tone are all parts of the standards that must be ad specifyed, but with various options for every child and style of learning that can and should be presented.Labels for not just materials but for everyday objects, a variety of printed materials much(prenominal) as books, letters of all forms, pile of paper types for writing and inspiring mediums such as sentence strips, letter stickers, envelopes, designed paper, and cards with words and their names preprinted on them, to allow interest and ownership of their work. Taking an interest in not just their classroom, but the outside learning environment is critical to the PA Early Learning Standards.The science concepts that we multiply will focus a lot on the environment outside our window and the means with which we can bring it back into the classroom. Leaf samples, swing types, living and not living samples, and screen materials, as well as tools such as magnifying glasses, binoculars, tracing paper, pencils and crayons all of these materials and more lead to open ended cerebration and understanding the design and structure of the natural world around them.Letting the children lead and then in turn permit the educators build upon their experiences to enhance their knowledge base is key to them moving on and understanding something on their own that is just a step above that we can build upon again. Building this knowledge base is essential to the curriculum and program that would be utilized in my preschool classroom. Catering to the individual hildren as well as the group will be in the plan presented and would cover the collective interests in the plan for their developmental stimulation. A base idea which is presented in a lesson can be small down into a variety of sub plans for individualized learning. For typeface, a math lesson could involve counting out toy wings. By introducing the pairs as individual parts, we are encouraging one to one correspondence, which is covered under standard Mathematical Thinking and applied science standard 2. 1. 1. Under that particular standard there are indicators related to rote learning counting, vocabulary and correspondence up to twenty, which gives rather a bit of flexibility to do to a counting wings problem and allows variation dependent upon the learner and the ability. For instance a child who is more interpersonal, dress up butterfly wings purchased from a discount store and counti ng amongst friends, logical learners may benefit from butterfly wing counters, and there is also the option for the sensible kinesthetic learner to have butterfly finger puppets.For a child who has master the skills of counting, perhaps expanding to the notion that we can count in multiples, which would bring in a concept of patterns and allow the idea of two wings to one butterfly to encourage in this plan. Moving beyond just the counting, children who are more creative can color and cut out their own butterflies and then number them to be utilise as counters for the whole group. By providing multiple strategies under the same standard, you are addressing the needs and abilities of many within the group.In the miscue that you want to introduce the life wheel around of a butterfly, found under the scientific Thinking and Technology standard 3. 1b. 2, you can present pictures of the life rhythm method of birth control at the creation center and allow them to use whatever mater ials they see fit to dumbfound the life cycle. Providing the opportunity for children to utilize different props and recreate the life cycle in the dramatic play center is another option for the interpersonal learner.For those who are more linguistic, perhaps letting them ordain the ideas of how the life cycle occurs while they research at pictures, or if they are advanced in their writing skills assist them in sounding out the words they want to use and let them write it relatively independently. These are all ideas that can be expanded upon into other standards, centers of interest, and permitted across the age ranges served in the classroom. Through a variety of learning experiences, we provide our youngest learners with a venture to experience at their own pace and level.By educators and experience providers choosing to let them explore on their own terms, we are grown them a grander opportunity to learn more effectively and utilizing the theories of those that inspired t he ideas in Reggio Emilia and with the emergent curriculum approach, we are doing so with purpose. When we allow children to explore at their own pace, we are really letting them show us what they want to know, and in turn we introduce what they need to know which is what allows us to truly develop the whole child.References Malaguzzi, L. (2013, meet 22). The Reggio Emilia Approach. Retrieved from Campus Kindergarten http//www.uq.edu.au/campuskindy/Reggio_Emilia_for_parents.pdf Shaw, L. F. (2012, January 27). Montessori The Missing Voice in the genteelness Reform Debate . Retrieved from Huffington persuade http//www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-flores-shaw/montessori-education-debate_b_1237451.html Smith, M. K. (2008). Howard Gardner and Multiple Inteliigences. Retrieved from The Encyclopedia of Informal Education http//www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm