McDonald’s: An Iconic Chinese Restaurant

McDonald’s is an iconic figure in America, almost every household has eaten there at least once, but what about other countries around the world? In Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia, James Watson uses the logos rhetorical appeal to make his points about the iconic McDonald’s status in China throughout McDonald’s in Hong Kong. He does this most effectively via his many uses of evidence he gathered from talking to the Chinese people in Hong Kong that patronize the restaurant, evidence gathered from speaking with the management of the McDonald’s in Hong Kong and his own observations. James Watson’s McDonald’s in Hong Kong begins by showing the reader the importance of food to the Cantonese customer. Cantonese people are proud of their food and most of the older generations are able to describe a single meal in detail many years after eating it. The author goes on to describe how McDonald’s has incorporated themselves into the local culture by accepting and embracing local beliefs instead of trying to change them and by being adaptable in the running of the business. Watson also describes the emergence of a new culture springing out of the American based business by bringing former non-practices like celebrating birthdays into practice and providing areas safe for younger generations to form their own identities through group activities. Food is an integral part of human life all over the world, but in China food is also an integral part of human society. Older generations of Chinese people are frequently able to describe in exact detail a single meal from start to finish including where the food came from and what dishes were used in the serving of the meal. As evidenced within the text Mr. Man â€Å"recounted–in exacting detail–the flavor and texture of each dish, the sequence of spices, and the order of presentation† (77). This is worthy to note only because the meal, according to the author, took place fifty years prior (78). Clearly, Mr. Man is an older gentleman at the time this interview takes place, but other generations of Chinese people also place importance on food. Children did not celebrate birthdays in China until recently and the parties that are held are ranked by the type of fruit on the cake. Watson states, â€Å"the birthday cake is an infallible status marker among younger consumers; specifically, the type and quality of fruit used to decorate the cake is what matters most† (104). This is used as evidence to back up the previous statement that â€Å"Around the age of four, Hong Kong children begin to develop a fine-tuned sense of social distinction that is reflected in consumption patterns† (104). These observations and interviews clearly show the evidence to back up the claims and arguments made by the author. McDonald’s restaurants are not the first fast food restaurants to be introduced to Hong Kong although the franchise entered the country in 1975. â€Å"By the time McDonald's opened its first Hong Kong restaurant in 1975, the idea of fast food was already well established among local consumers† (80). There were fast-food places, operating since the 1950’s, that sold quick Chinese delicacies for the lunch crowds already in place and accepted by the culture. The author uses this information to begin effectively establishing how well McDonald’s restaurants are faring in Hong Kong. The reason for the success of the integration and subsequent popularity, according to the author, comes from many different areas. The manager took deliberate steps to make sure that the people knew that the restaurant was foreign, going so far as to keep the name of the restaurant in English for the first few years (82-83). Afterwards, when the manager had decided it was time, he decided to translate the name phonetically instead of literally. â€Å"Mr. Ng decided to capture the sound of â€Å"McDonald's,† in three homophonic characters, rather than create a name that would convey meaning–thus making the company appear to be a Chinese enterprise† (83). McDonald’s is not seen as a foreign institution, but is an accepted Chinese restaurant (107). The McDonald’s chain has succeeded in becoming an icon in China’s new popular culture (86). Children often are seen entering these restaurants after school to study or get together with their friends. They have birthday parties as young children and, according to the author, it is â€Å"the students, with their book bags and computers, who have claimed McDonald's as their own† (106). The author uses the argument that study space is limited in Hong Kong to help the reader visualize the reasons for the children and teens to go to McDonald’s in order to study for exams and meet with friends. Watson states, â€Å"Interviews with teenagers revealed that McDonald's is perceived as a place that offers more space, in the literal sense of distance between tables, than any other public eatery in Hong Kong (save for the more expensive restaurants)† (106). Clearly, McDonald’s is seen as a safe place for children and teens to gather and spend time without fear of violence and the author even states that McDonald's staff keep a sharp watch for possible fights or disruptions, but trouble of this nature rarely breaks out in fast food restaurants. Managers know by sight most of the gang members in their neighborhood and sometimes delegate a (large) male employee to shadow potential troublemakers-standing uncomfortably close to them, watching every move (105). It is for these reasons, among many others, that McDonald’s has the iconic status in China that it does. By setting themselves as the standard, based upon the evidence given by the author through observations, interviews with clientele and interviews with the management, McDonald’s restaurants have become an integral part of Chinese society. The arguments put forth by the author, as evidenced in this paper, make for an effective argument about the importance of McDonald’s on Chinese society. By using quotes from clientele and management alike, Watson backs up his statements and beliefs enough to make them wholly reliable. The inclusion of facts gleaned from the McDonald’s corporation also serves to support his conclusions he has reached that McDonald’s is part of a new cultural era in Hong Kong.

W. H. Auden’s Mus

In addition, the contrast In words used within the poem (â€Å"Innocent behind†) are used to Juxtapose how W. H. Aden has put the Idea of Europe practically Ignoring the Holocaust with the Cirrus disaster – which is used to illustrate Addend's opinions and views of what was happening during the asses in Second World War Britain. ‘Musse des Beaux Arts' includes variations of language devices. The use of sibilance in the poem, â€Å"disappearing†¦ Passionately†¦ Sun shone†, highlights the contrast of the mood In Addend's prose.This makes it clear that the tone of the poem vanes throughout. For Instance, the first stanza opens with a drabber opening (â€Å"About suffering†) yet ends with the juxtaposition â€Å"innocent behind†. This shows the dissimilarities in the mood throughout the poem. Aden tends to use fronting to get his point across quicker. â€Å"About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters; how well they understood †. This sentence adds an effect by being grounded – It has deliberately been put back-to-front. It gets the theme of the poem across quickly and gives us judgment on the key themes.Therefore, it announces the theme of the poem. However, one could argue that the theme of the poem is not about war. Alternatively, one can see how the poem Is about religion and Jesus – hence the reference to suffering. The mention of â€Å"martyrdom† links with how Jesus was believed to have died Tort our sly. The structure of the poem is very irregular. The first stanza is a lot longer than the second stanza. This is because Aden wants to state his case before he mentions what the poem is about. â€Å"On a pond at the edge of the wood: they never forgot†.The SE of enjambment on the sentence highlights the continuation of the poem. Aden is Just setting up his hypothesis and uses both enjambment and end stopping to conjure up the idea of using the second verse as a quick er, punchier stanza. In conclusion, Addend's ‘Musse des Beaux Arts' identifies many themes and uses historical context to summarize his own view on Nazi Germany during the time of the poem's composition. By using language and structural devices in an irregular way, he is able to highlight the contrast in tone and imagery throughout the text.

Cyclical Fluctuations in the Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cyclical Fluctuations in the Economy - Essay Example The supply side shocks such as the improvements in technology or the raging oil prices affect the costs and prices in different countries. These supply side policies may then have an internal affect on the interest rates, exchange rates etc to becoming either beneficial or causing damage in the own country. In effect the cyclical fluctuations in the economy may be expected, however activities are so interconnected that changing one variable for the better usually upsets other variables. These cyclical fluctuations can be divided into 4 consequences. These consequences are handled by the macroeconomic policy of the government. (objectives of government macroeconomic policy, 2008) These objectives seem hard to achieve in the light of the cyclical fluctuations in the economy, however the government needs to apply the macroeconomic policies with hindsight and foresight to fully reap the benefits of the economic system. The main objective that all governments want to at least achieve is to increase the growth rate of the country without increasing the inflation. This is the real growth, while with inflation the growth is cancelled out with the rising prices of commodities. Monetary policy is "the policy carried out by the central bank to manipulate interest rates and credit conditions, in order to influence the general level of economic activity. Monetary policy is a powerful tool for influencing the level of employment, economic growth and the rate of inflation." (GOIAM) The government should lower the interest rates. This will eventually direct the growth towards the rise in consumer and business capital spending. When this happens the national income rises making the people spend more and increase the economic activity. Since investment spending results in a larger capital stock, then incomes in the future will also be higher through the impact on LRAS. The people would spend more rather than keeping the money in the banking systems as the return on investment isn't high. With the increased economic activity, the country will boom and the growth will increase. Eventually this growth would need to be sustained, which can be done through the use of microeconomic policies such as supply side and monetary policies (GOIAM). Therefore when the interest rates need to be reduced without changing the inflation rate by using the expansionary monetary policy, the aggregate demand will increase. On the other hand if a contractionary monetary policy is used, th e spending will decrease and the aggregate demand will decrease. (Weerapana, 2002) (Source: Weerapana, 2002) Fiscal Policy Fiscal policy is the policy used by the government to control the total level of economic activity in a country. It "involves the use of government spending, taxation and borrowing to influence both the pattern of economic activity and also the level and growth of aggregate demand, output and employment". An expansion in fiscal policy by increasing government spending will contribute directly to aggregate demand. This demand is good for the country as it would give an opportunity to the industry to boom and make more efficient use of their systems to cater to the demand. However if the government spendi

Family Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Family Business - Essay Example The paper tells that the family business is an enterprise governed and managed for the purpose of pursuing and developing the vision of the business â€Å"held by a dominant coalition controlled by members of the same family or a small number of families† for its potential sustainability across generations of the family, sometimes in business association with some of its extended families. Most definitions of family business centre around the kinship of family members owning and managing a venture, state Rogoff and Heck. According to Habbershon, Williams and MacMillan, it is the intersection between family members, the family, and the business that epitomises the distinctive set of characteristics that explain performance differences between family and nonfamily businesses. The intersection may also be a source of conflict within the family and the business. In the domain of family business leadership transition, Hartel, Bozer and Levin consider an adaptation of executive coac hing to be helpful in the process. Family systems are important in family enterprises. Further, family businesses form the foundation stones of evolving economies state Gomez-Mejia, Takacs, Nunez-Nickel et al as well as Hunter and Wilson. Two-thirds of organisations are family-owned and managed. The fact that this segment of the economy is facing an impending crisis is disquieting, particularly in view of the fact that there is little governmental assistance for family business owners to resolve the emerging threat successfully. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the theory of family business, examine the crucial role of the family system in family business, and determine whether the adaptation of executive coaching can successfully support leadership transition in family enterprises. The Theory of Family Business The lenses through which academic research and literature on family businesses are viewed and interpreted is the theory explaining different asp ects of family business management. Research helps to reinforce theory. For example, Sharma, Chrisman and Chua (2003) use the theory of planned behaviour to help explain the extent to which family businesses engage in succession planning. At the same time, a broad theory of family business is more important because it will help in setting the parameters for research in the domain of family businesses. A broad theory will also function as a tool for retaining, expanding, and propagating knowledge on the field. The theory of the family firm explains the concept of the family business, the reason for the existence of the same, and the determinants of their scale and scope. It is a comparatively new area of study in relation to rigorous theoretical investigations. However, there are identifiable trends in defining family business, and in differentiating between family firms and non-family firms, thereby addressing the existence of family firms, the factors that support their survival, g rowth, and the creation of long-lasting economic and non-economic value. Habbershon (2006) as well as Chrisman, Chua and Litz (2003) reiterate that the family business exists because of the reciprocal economic and non-economic value created through the integration of family and business systems. The joining of the two systems leads to capabilities of â€Å"familiness† that cannot be duplicated, and which contribute to the survival and growth of family businesses. A resource-based view of the family business explains how it identifies and develops capabilities of familiness, how they transfer those capabilities to new leaders and new family business structures, and their methods of renewing their capabilities during the transformation in circumstances and conditions. On the other hand,

Latest technology in battery for electrical vehicles Research Paper

Latest technology in battery for electrical vehicles - Research Paper Example Moreover, these cells need to be frequently recharged. Since the discovery of electric cars, countless breakthroughs in technology have been made over the previous decade. These innovations are aimed at translating into commercial batteries that store energy and are cost effective. Improving the electric drive vehicle batteries, such as plug-in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles is critical enhancing the environmental, economic, and social sustainability (Czapnik et al., 2015). In essence, changing to light-duty hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles may reduce a country’s dependence on foreign oil by approximately 60% and also reduce emission of greenhouse gas by about 50% (Czapnik et al., 2015). However, these reductions are dependent on the particular mix of technologies employed. With the numerous electric vehicles that are being made available on the market, efforts to make further improvements in electric vehicle batteries would not only make these cars more affordable but also more convenient to consumers. The vehicle technologies office has come up with numerous initiatives that focus on reducing the weight, cost, and volume of the batteries, while concurrently improving the performance of the electric vehicle batteries in terms of durability, energy, and power (Harris, 2012). The ability of these cells to tolerate cruel conditions is also improved. Besides light duty vehicles, manufacturers of some heavy duty vehicles are emulating hybridization of heavy and medium duty vehicles to enhance fuel economy. Realizing the goals of these researchers in these areas as well as commercializing innovative energy storage technologies enables more individuals to buy and use these electric drive vehicles (Harris, 2012). Moreover, this latest technology in electric vehicle batteries helps the energy department to meet the electric vehicle needs. This makes the United States the first nation globally, to produce affordable plug-in

Atonement On Robbies psychological state in the novel Research Paper

Atonement On Robbies psychological state in the novel - Research Paper Example â€Å"He was happy and therefore bound to succeed. One word contained everything he felt: Freedom. Now, finally, with the exercise of will, his adult life had begun. There was a story he was plotting with himself as the hero.† (McEwan, 115-116). This story was for him to attend medical school. Not because medicine was his greatest passion although it would benefit him with prodigious skills and satisfy his practical nature. Robbie was about to make his own decision, and this above all else was the beauty of his aspiration. â€Å"He had never before felt so self-consciously young, nor experienced such appetite, such impatience for the story to begin.† (McEwan, 117). This invigorating time of youth and all its vast potential is where we meet Robbie and we embark with him as he sets out on his journey of promise. He has carried himself on his hard work and good reputation for so long that it is to be expected Robbie will be successful in his exceptional endeavors and rise higher than Leon Tallis, the boy of wealth and good fortune who lacks the ambition or desire to put to noble use the advantages with which he’s been provided. At this time of awakening purpose, perhaps the biggest self-discovery in Robbie is that he has fallen in love. Robbie has become very awkward and uncomfortable around Cecilia Tallis the girl who was first a childhood friend, an almost sister. They hardly talk anymore and when they do their exchanges are blocked with layers of unclear meanings and hidden feelings. The scene in the novel when Robbie and Cecilia are by the fountain is a lovely illustration of the long brewing tension between them. Cecilia goes to the fountain to fill the family’s cherished vase with water for the flowers and he has offered to help her. They quarrel over him going to medical school. When she makes the comment that her father will be paying for it his pride is hurt and he retorts that he will pay the money back. She is not angry any f inancial expense, but at the cost of his leaving. They struggle over the vase and he breaks it losing a piece in the water. Angrily she removes her clothes in front him, dives in and retrieves the missing piece. She steps out of the water and redresses leaving him overtaken with longing for her. â€Å"He stood up at last from his bath, shivering, in no doubt that a great change was coming over him.† (McEwan, 101). Stirred by this great change within him Robbie writes a couple of letters to Cecilia, the one unintended to be given, articulating his sexual yearning for her. Following the lines of a good plot, the wrong letter is delivered to her by her younger sister Briony, who has also witnessed the fountain display of her sister removing her clothes. The fountain incident compels Briony to read the letter, more sexually explicit than her thirteen years can comprehend. A short while after delivering the letter to her sister, she walks in on Robbie and Cecilia making love in th e library that night at the family dinner party. â€Å"He discovered he had never hated anyone until now. There was no good reason why she should be in the library, except to find him and deny him what was his.† (McEwan, 177). Robbie and Cecilia exchange vows of love and by the time dinner is served, Robbie has nearly savored the sweetest dessert of his entire life. In the course of dinner it is discovered, Jackson and Pierrot, cousins of the Tallis family have left a note

Operations Management (Quality Control in Operations) Essay

Operations Management (Quality Control in Operations) - Essay Example (2) The planned systematic activities necessary to ensure that a component, module, or system conforms to established technical requirements. (3) The policy and procedures, established in an organization which is meant for the purpose of providing and maintaining a specified degree of confidence in data integrity and accuracy throughout the life cycle of the data. If the process is not established and the standard procedures are not adhered to, then it will result in poor quality. As a consequence the deadlines will not be met within the required time frame and subsequently deliverables to the customer will be delayed. Thus productivity is affected. The cost of a product includes the manufacturing cost and cost of quality. The cost of quality is the money spent what it would cost to build a product right the first time. If every worker could produce the defect-free products the first time, COQ would be zero. Since this situation would not occur, there are associated with getting defect free product is produced. Prevention: Monoey required to prevent errors and to do the right first time is considered prevention costs. This category includes money spent on establishing methods and procedures, training procedures, training workers and planning for quality.

Writing Workshop Theorists and Overview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writing Workshop Theorists and Overview - Essay Example For an effective achievement of writing workshop, it must have mini-lessons running for 5-10 minutes; where students get enlighten on common experiences and ideas in writing. Independent writing follows, a stage, which students reveal their capacities in writing while following guidelines given. Another component of a writing workshop is conferencing during independent writing with students and teachers. Sharing follows a stage that allows students to identify different mistakes while also learning from their counterparts. It is in this regards that a total workshop time should be 30-50 minutes. The success of the writing gets attributed to various workshop theorists including Nancy Atwell who is the most respected educator in USA. Her work in writing and reading workshops has inspired many generations of students. She has enabled students to adopt various qualities such as being independent as well as sophisticated writers (Atwell, 2002). Among the books, she has authored include fi rst hand lessons, which change writing techniques among various writers just by reading various articles from Nancie’s file cabinets. She propels the momentum is students mainly through seventh and eighth grade writing as well as history of teaching and learning. Lucy Calkins is another writing guru, who has authored many writing materials. Common core reading and writing, for instance, is one of her books and companion resources, which keep the fire of writing burning. Donald Graves is also a writing expert who revolutionalised the writing arena in many ways (Fletcher and JoAnn, 2001). He carried out widespread research in different languages making various publications. Writing teachers and children is a book he authored in 1983 which gave various ways writing should follow. Also in the list of prominent writers, is also Regi Routman who is in memory for having intimate knowledge of teaching and writing. She provided many helpful tactics for learning English including teach ing, reading and writing essentials as well as how to solve various writing dilemmas. She has helped the writing arena through widespread research bring into practice various teaching essentials. Consequently, she has held varied workshops to strengthen, and coach writing in schools including Heinemann professional Development consortium, where she demonstrated exemplary grasp of workshop writing. Last but importantly among the experts of workshop, writing is Dorothy Strickland. She has authored many books and held many conferences in writing making her, a prominent workshop skill source. Her book, beginning reading and writing; for instance, offers ground braking knowledge to workshop skills (Fletcher and JoAnn, 2001). Research proves that writing workshops allows students chose their writing, work on their own and find their voice. For flexibility, a writing workshop should have a predictable future, regular time and favorable atmosphere. These are conditions, which pose a challen ge to teachers and students. This is because they cannot make head or tail of the tin box atmosphere in writing. This is a statement, which means writing workshops should have standards similar to a work place in the real world. Students must respect and gain professionalism as well as a workmanlike atmosphere for real writing (Atwell, 2002). This is an atmosphere where explicit routines and set rules of writing get followed for successful writing. Consequently, students must have all writing requirements including pencils, notebooks, pens, highlighters as well as any relevant material for writing. Last but importantly a writing workshop must have a regular schedule, which enable students develop habits, which allow them work independently, while taking responsibility

A brief look in the world of serial killers Essay Example for Free

A brief look in the world of serial killers Essay Often people get confused between a serial killer and a mass murderer. A mass murderer is a person who kills several people, all at once or within a short period of time. A serial killer on the other hand is one who kills several people over a long period of time, sometimes spanning several years. Technically, a serial killer is someone who kills at least three people with a break or free period between the killings. A mass murderer may have victims who cannot be generalized to fit into any category, as these victims are generally those who happen to be present at the time of the incident. However, the serial killers select their victims according to some preferred type or class, like sex, age, looks etc. Generally serial killings occur for sexual gratification, but there are also cases where victims have been selected with the sole intent of killing. Just like any other criminals, serial killers can also be profiled. The FBI has developed a Behavioral Science Service Unit in 1978 at Quantico, Virginia to study and establish profiles of serial killer suspects. The profiles attempt to predict the age, race, sex, and habits etc. of the serial killers. Although all serial killers wont fit a same profile, most killers can be characterized by a general profile. The general profile of a serial killer suggests they are mostly white males of 25 to 35 years of age, and have a similar type of victims (CCMC, 2007). These killers are thought to have an above or average intelligence, suffered child abuse or have had a troubled childhood and have little or no social attachments. Serial killers are also thought to return to the scene of killings or burials and keep body parts of their victims as souvenirs. Playing with fire, bed-wetting and cruelty to animals are some important childhood traits of a serial killer. Serial killers are generally associated with a pattern, because of which they are ultimately tracked down by the police. Such patterns may include either their method of killing, location, motive or the profile of victims. Serial killers have existed for several centuries. Four types of serial killers are (Holmes and De Burger, 1988) a) The Visionary type who believe that they are guided to kill by an inner voice or vision. b) The mission oriented type who believe they have to eliminate a particular group or class of people from the society. c) The hedonistic type of killers who get pleasure from the killings they carry out. d) The control or power driven type who derive sexual satisfaction by controlling their victims. In addition to this the FBI has identified two more categories of serial killers namely the organized type of serial killers and the disorganized type of serial killers. The organized killer is intelligent, socially acceptable, uses restraints and targets strangers. These organized killers are likely to hide the victim’s body, leaving little or no evidence; they keep a track of the developments in crime through the media, while anticipating questioning by the police (David, 2001). The disorganized killers on the other hand are socially withdrawn, generally know their victims and kill instantly without planning. These disorganized killers do not follow crime on the media, despite leaving evidence on the crime scene The serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. was a big businessman, liked and admired by many. He frequently hosted parties for friends and neighbors, dressing up as a clown. He also entertained children at local hospitals, and associated himself with groups like Jaycees, working for the improvement of the community. Everyone knew him as a devoted, hard-working man dedicated to he cause of friends and family. However Gacy had another side, a very dark unknown side, and when that side became known, he was known as the ‘clown who killed’. John Wayne Gacy Jr. was born as the second child and the first son to a Chicago’s Irish couple in 1942. His older sister Joanne was about two years older to him, while his younger sister Karen was two years junior to him. The three children attended catholic schools. Gacy, like any other boys of his age, took up part time jobs and scouting activities while at school. He worked as a bag boy and a clerk in a grocery store. Gacy’s childhood was absolutely normal except for his relationship with his father. He had a very deep relationship with his mother and sisters. The senior Gacy was an abusive alcoholic, who beat his wife and verbally abused his children (Bell and Bardsley). Although his father was not a pleasant man, young Gacy loved his father and wanted to get close to him. He longed for his father’s affection and love, but never got it. All his teachers, friends, and co-workers liked him very much and he was indeed popular. When Gacy was eleven, he was hit in the head by a swing while playing, which caused a blood clot in his brain. This blood clot was only discovered at the age of sixteen. Between eleven and sixteen, he suffered several blackouts as a consequence of his blockage. At seventeen, he was found to have a heart ailment, for which he was hospitalized several times. However, he suffered no major health problems due to this. After attending several schools and not being able to graduate, he dropped out from school and left for Las Vegas. He worked as a part time janitor in a mortuary, with which he wasn’t satisfied and again left for Chicago. He joined a business college and learnt the skills of a good salesman. A mature salesman, capable of handling all sales situations, he joined as a management trainee with a shoe company in Chicago. Thanks to his excellent performance on the job, he was soon promoted and transferred to take over the men’s apparel outlet in Springfield, Illinois. Gacy married and relocated and to Waterloo, Iowa in 1966 when his wealthy father-in-law asked him to manage the family’s chicken restaurant. Gacy’s first encounter with the law was in 1968 when he was arrested for homosexual acts and sodomy. He was arrested on felony charge of forcing a male employee to join in homosexual acts. Gacy who was by then a father of two infants, pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to ten years in prison. His wife filed for divorce and parted ways. After 18 months, he got parole and went back to Chicago where he started his own construction business and married a recently divorced woman. In 1971, he was charged with the attempted rape of a man, but was freed of the charges when the victim did not turn up to press the charges. A shrewd businessman, he beat his rivals by hiring very young school age like employees, to cut costs. His second wife too divorced him in 1976 when she realized his passion for homosexual magazines. His minor role in party politics even got him photographed shaking hands with the wife of President Jimmy Carter. It was in December 12, 1978 when the police required to have a closer look at Gacy and his background. A teenaged boy working with a pharmacy had gone missing and Gacy was the last person seen with him. His background check revealed that he had spent time for sodomy. During a search of his house they found a ring belonging to another teenager who disappeared a year back. When investigators got to the sprawl space beneath his home, they sensed a foul smell, which they initially attributed to sewage. They then left his house and called him again for interrogation the next day. Since they had nothing incriminating, they let Gacy go. However Gacy was under 24 hour surveillance. Further investigation and lab work on the items confiscated, gave critical evidence on Gacy. Realizing the importance of the developments, investigators obtained a second search warrant to search Gacy’s home. Among the items confiscated at his home, there was a box containing marijuana and rolling papers, seven erotic movies, nitrate and valium pills, a stained rug, a pair of handcuffs with key, a eighteen inch rubber dildo and nylon ropes. Knowing that his dark game was over, Gacy confessed to the police that he had killed about 33 men, all young over the last seven years. He showed the locations to 28 graves under his house and garage. He also revealed that he had dumped five others into the river. He confessed that he had his first victim in January 1972, second one in January 1974. He revealed that he would lure his victims with the promise of marijuana, drinks or employment. He would then play with them and trick them into getting handcuffed and then sexually assault them. He would stuff an underwear or socks into their mouths to muffle their screams. He killed them by pulling a rope or board across their throats while he raped them.

The Possible and the Potential Essay Example for Free

The Possible and the Potential Essay A Paper on Problems that a Teacher May Encounter in the Classroom Before a teacher steps into a classroom and valiantly imparts to the students whatever it is he/she needs to impart, there would inevitably problems that would be encountered. In fact, before, during and even after a lesson has been conducted and the chalk has been put away, there are bound to be problems encountered in each step. The art of teaching actually does not seem to run out of problems and yet, it is a glorious profession that only the best people on planet earth have the capability to practice. Out of all these inevitable problems, there are those problems which are more prominent than the others—and believe it or not, can easily be solved. In the three articles that are featured in this paper, there are numerous problems which they have pointed out and which can be solved by instructional means. In Holly Hansen-Thomas’ article, â€Å"Sheltered Instruction: Best Practices for Ells in the Mainstream†, she points out that sheltered instruction—a form of instruction used to teach ELL students—can also be used in teaching mainstream students. Sheltered instruction is defined as â€Å"a research-based instructional framework that provides clear and accessible content and academic language to ELLs in pre-K–12 grade-level classes† (Hansen-Thomas, 2008). This can help the potential problems that may arise in ELL classrooms wherein students of a different language are trying to learn English. Though Hansen-Thomas has specifically identified what are the things to keep in mind in ELL classes, the things that she also explained can also be applied in mainstream teaching and even other forms of pedagogy. Potential problems (or things that should be kept in mind to avoid the cropping up of problems) would centre on the instructional materials and if the teacher is competent enough to handle such materials or to even implement certain programs or curriculum. This may be seen as one of the things that would hinder optimum learning from the students if the teacher himself/herself is incapable of optimum pedagogy. The fact that there is already something wrong when the teacher fails to deliver his/her lessons well or even the strategy he/she is trying to employ would greatly reflect on the learners. Hansen-Thomas unfailingly reiterates that people who can deliver sheltered instruction for students are those teachers who specialize in such instruction. Thus, it is imperative to train and assist teachers in their professional development to solve and to even avoid potential problems in the classroom. This circumstance of incompetent teachers can be seen as a problem since time, money and effort would be wasted on all parties concerned—the teachers, learners, parents and the educational institution. Worst of all, the learners would not learn anything at all or if they do, it would be a misleading form of knowledge or skill. On the other hand, a different problem is discussed in the article of Amanda O. Latz, Kristie L. Speirs Neumeister, Cheryll M. Adams, and Rebecca L. Pierce entitled â€Å"Peer Coaching to Improve Classroom Differentiation: Perspectives from Project CLUE†. Latz et al. (2009) discusses in their article about the decrease in teacher differentiation. This may pose a problem because such method is needed in meeting all the needs, styles and levels of the students. It is commonly known that not all people are alike and this same goes on how students learn, retain learning and desire learning. Because of this diversity in students’ needs, desire to learn, level of learning, style of learning and other factors such as historical/cultural background, gender and age, there is a need to address everything (no matter how daunting and impossible it may seem) while implementing a strategy that would be fair to everyone. This is a problem for both the educational institution and most especially for the teachers since it would entail much assessment, research and preparation—and such factors are exactly the reasons why according to Latz et al. , fewer people are using differentiation on their teaching. This decrease in differentiation would greatly pose a problem for the students since their individuality as learners are not met and addressed. When this happens, naturally, only students who are targeted in the objectives of the teachers would fully take advantage of whatever strategy implemented by the teacher. This would mean that those students who are having problems in school due to behavioral problems, psychological/ mental/ emotional instability and even those who are gifted and talented to the point that they are not learning properly due to the inappropriate learning level they are in would never be solved and addressed. The lack of proper attention to their differences would prove insensitivity and maybe even laziness on the teacher’s part. Latz et al. (2009) sees peer coaching as the answer to support and catalyze teaching differentiation since it would allow help from the all the teachers to come together and cooperate to assess the individuality of the learners and come up with a game plan that would allow them to address that individuality. In the third and final article wherein Nancy Padak and Cheryl Potenza-Radis (2010) showed an example on how teachers successfully motivated readers who are struggling in their efforts to read on the same level as everyone else. In the article entitled â€Å"Motivating Struggling Readers: Three Keys to Success†, Padak et al. (2010) explained that there are students who are having difficulties in reading since they are either not motivated to read or they are ashamed of their incapability to read on the same level as everyone else. This situation is not new and can be seen as a threat to the learning of a child. Since the child would have such insecure notions about himself/herself, he/she will do anything to worm out of a situation that would entitle him/her to read in public, even to the point of being withdrawn or aloof to everyone else. Moreover, this would develop a psychological effect on the learner which would render him/her with the thinking that he/she is stupid or incapable of learning when in fact, such problem can be addressed. In the same article, Padak et al. (2010) pointed out that the answer to such problem lies in a conducive environment prepared by the teacher, the zealousness and efforts of the teacher to motivate and to teach the students to read and lastly, a routine implementation of a strategy that the students would enjoy and greatly benefit from. Reading is one of four macro-skills that is considered as a life-long skill needed for personal growth and everyday communications—if an individual cannot read or is hindered from enthusiastic reading the tendency is that the individual’s over all character would be greatly affected. To end, there are still many other examples of potential problems that may happen in the classroom and it is not up to the teacher alone to address or prevent the onslaught of such problems. It is up to the teachers, learners, parents, educational institution and even the government and the society to go on solving and preventing such problems. After all, a most educated learner who has received optimal capacity for learning would most likely mean a most efficient and valuable member of society in the future—and would not that be a pretty picture to envision? References Hansen-Thomas, H. (2008). Sheltered instruction: best practices for ELLs in the mainstream. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 44 (4), pp. 165-169. Name of Database. Retrieved: Date of Retrieval, from Website URL. Latz, A. O. et al. (2009). Roeper Review 31, pp. 27-39. Name of Database. Retrieved: Date of Retrieval, from Website URL. Padak, N. et al. (2010). Motivating struggling readers: three keys to success. New England Reading Association Journal 45 (2), pp. 1-7. ProQuest Education Journals database. Retrieved: Date of Retrieval, from Website URL.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total Quality Management (TQM) Total Quality Management (TQM) is a strategy that embodies the belief that the management process must focus on integrating the customer – driven quality throughout an organisation (Stah, 2002). It stresses continuous improvement of product quality and service delivery while taking into cognisance the reality that in order to achieve this goal, employee relations needs to be equally addressed, as the customer cannot get the satisfactory service delivery from ill- motivated employees (Lewis, 2004) The philosophy underlying the implementation of a TQM strategy is to see organisational customers and clients as the vital key to organisational success. Organisations with TQM strategy see their business through the eyes of their customers and clients and then measure their organisations performance against customer/client expectations (Fran, 2002). It therefore follows that organisations that want to be successful with the implementation of TQM strategy must evaluate its operations through the eyes of its customers b y strengthening and exploring all avenues including the people (employees)that make up the organisational structure(Stah,2002). According to Balogun and Hope-Hailey (2008), strategy should be seen as a system/process, that should be able to engender in the employees a culture of total commitment to the vision and mission of the organisation, and thus, a functional strategy that embodies the collective contribution of various components that make up the organisational hierarchy should be such that compliment each other in the implementation of a strategy. For a strategy to accomplish the desired goals and objectives of an organisation, effective strategy implementation mechanisms should be put in place and one of the most potent ways for achieving this is by exploiting the internal capabilities of the organisation in the form of its employees as a veritable asset while encompassing various HRM initiatives, such as recruitment and selection, training and development, reward systems, performance appraisal , the need for enhanced employee voice systems , employee engagement and greater line manager involvement wi th management ,because they should be seen as a bridge between the employees and management for enhanced psychological contract, which will in turn facilitate greater employee commitment (Murphy et al, 2001). Quality products or services need not only to conform to consumers requirements; the product/service must be acceptable. Effective TQM strategy entails that the product/service must go beyond acceptability for a given price range. For example, rather leaving customers/clients satisfied that nothing went wrong with the product or service, a product/service should give the customers/clients some delightful surprises, or provide unexpected benefits (Collard, 2001). This means, therefore, that product/service quality assurance requires more than just meeting customers/clients minimum standards. The level of product quality is the degree, to which a product/service is equal to or greater than customers/clients expectations, That is LPQ > CE Where LPQ = Level of Product Quality, and CE = customer/client expectation. Thus, for organisations who desire to have TQM strategy in place and make it work effectively, should as a matter of principle endeavour to be positively disposed to the idea of quality management philosophy in their organisation. According to Haigh and Morris (2002), quality management is an ingredient towards adequate quality delivery to customers .Quality management involves: management systems, delivery, quality, cost, technology and of course the employees, because according to Donaldson, (2001), no matter how perfect a strategy might be, it depends on people for implementation. All these various components of quality management when effectively harnessed will result in customer satisfaction; where the intention is not to stop at a point in the process of implementation, but rather a continuous improvement of the mechanism for a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), through the use of employees as organisations effective internal assets for a successful implementation (Haigh and Morris, 2002).This can be further understood with the diagram below   FIGURE 1: COMPONENTS OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (HAIGH AND MORRIS,2002) People Dedication and commitment from the employees, by means of well established voice systems and employee engagement. Adequate tools to do the work effectively and efficiently, an enabling environment, and training. Team approach to management policies and procedures for strategic implementation. Quality No compromise alternative when aiming at quality because the outcome will definitely tell , ‘the customer knows it when he sees it’ Delivery Customers should be able to receive products/service, when they want it. Management systems Understanding variation and effective development of human resource capacity utilisation. Constancy of purpose and direction Preventing error margin rather than detecting errors in quality delivery Pride of workmanship Problem solving Technology This involves research and continuous development in terms of product/service design. Up to date with contemporary manufacturing and service capabilities. Cost Efficient and competitive production system for good products/services Continuous cost improvement for the benefit of the customers (customer loyalty) as well as other associated costs like overhead costs associated with running the organisation. Thus, from the foregoing, a number of issues can be associated with the implementation of an effective TQM strategy, but as stated by Stanford, (2005) succour lies in the ability of managers to adhere to these under mentioned twelve elements: Quality awareness Effective management leadership style Organising for quality improvement Creating a participative environment by means of employee involvement and participation and employee engagement. Problem prevention and solving. Training for quality improvement Involvement of every function(e.g. front line leaders) at levels Customer (employees as internal customers) and supplier involvement within and around the organisation. Measurement of Quality performance Continuous appraisal of measurement system for sustainability. Recognition for achievement/excellence. Continuous improvement. Although all these twelve elements may seem too tasking at the beginning, a committed manager will appreciate how mutually important and inter-related all these elements and their recognition is vital for a successful implementation of TQM strategy. Various proponents of TQM strategy see it from different angles, right from the early works of Crosby(1979,1984,1989), Deming(1986,1994), Feigenbaum(1991), Juran(1988), Juran and Gryna(1993)and Ishikawa(1985), but central to their beliefs and working methods, is providing quality delivery through people .TQM begins with education and ends with education, and so crucial is the role of the employee in seeing to its successful implementation, because, when employees are aware of what is required of them in the process through effective voice system and engagement, they become highly motivated and committed to its actualization, (Dale, 1994). TQM should go farther than production operations/activities and involve every employee in the organisation. More often than not, companies that have failed in the implementation of TQM strategy fail not because they desire to fail in strategy implementation but rather, because of the emphasis laid at the door step of the ‘hard’ aspect o f the organisation such as costs and production performance, thus living little or no significant room for the ‘soft’ people centred values of an organisation which encompasses employee involvement, participation, commitment and engagement (Slerming, 2007). For TQM to be effective, managers have to take into proper perspective the relevance of the workforce that make up the organisational structure, as no organisation exists to carry out business operations/activities without employees (Carol et al.2006). People are the effective tools management can readily use in transforming /implementing strategic choices(Edwards, 2005) and as Guest (1987) puts it â€Å"because they are the most variable, and the least easy to understand and control of all management resources, effective utilisation of human resources is likely to give organisations a significant competitive advantage. The human resources dimension must therefore be fully integrated into the strategic planning process†. The above quote by Guest (1987) is aptly correct and relevant, if organisations are to attain the goals and objectives required of them, so as to justify the huge financial commitment by owners of business like the investors (shareholders) and even joint stakeholders in the operations of the business, for example the suppliers, regulators, customers, employees and communities they operate, because apart from justifying what is expected of them, TQM as a strategy allows and build in the employees the following: A decentralisation of decision-making responsibility to well trained problem solving labour force, that is , it provides an avenue for the employees of an organisation to participate in decision- making about how the business operates, and this can further improve relationships, develop trust and confidence as well as facilitate co-operative activity (Druker, 2008). Methodologically improving the quality of all organisational processes and strategies from an internal and external customer perspective, because with TQM, it helps with building collective responsibility, aid personal development and build confidence, develop problem solving skills and also facilitate employees awareness of quality improvement potential, leading to behavioural and attitudinal changes(Farnham, 2000). A combined emphasis on both incremental continuous total quality improvement and break through strategies, because TQM as a strategy encourages the employees to improve operating effectiveness as employees work in a common direction and thus, foster a change in management style and culture(Fullan,2003). A reasonable focus on the customer, both in setting strategic objectives and in building organisational routines that link as many units and levels in the firms as possible to identifying and meeting customer needs, wants, desires and expectations, and this can only be achievable with the enhancement of employees morale within and around the organisation ,(Simons, 2000). A linkage of reward and measurement systems, both formal and informal, to support these new directions, because TQM builds in the employee the ability to solve problems to be able to align his/her personal needs, wants and desires with that of the organisation (Green et al, 2003). TQM AND EMPLOYEES: THE USE OF HRM PRACTICES AND INITIATIVES Every employee in an organisation should contribute reasonably to quality improvement and satisfaction of customers’/clients’ needs and wants (Collard, 2001). For organisations that practice TQM strategy, the manufacturing department orientation, for example, towards lowest-cost productivity should synchronise with the marketing commitment to market quality products at acceptable prices. The idea that quality improvement is every employees responsibility should permeate throughout the organisation, so that advertising, human resource, order-processing, production, delivery, and other organic functional areas of the organisations’ business will be in harmony. This will eliminate or reduce the problem of sub-optimisation associated with departmental excellence at the detriment of organisational excellence (Aluko et al, 2000). The idea should be top-down and bottom-up approach policy by management so as to allow for open line of communication within employees and between management. One way of achieving this, is by means of HRM practices and initiatives in the implementation of the strategy through training, learning and continuous development of the employee, recruitment and selection, reward system, succession planning and engendering employee voice culture, where they will be allowed to air their opinion on ways of moving the organisation forward for better growth and development (Lewis, 2004),because according to Murphy et al,( 2001), an engaged employee is the satisfied employee ,and a satisfied employee, is happy and able to deliver and meet set targets. Professional development is particularly crucial for employees of any modern organisation that aims to be competitive in business, by satisfying the customers through quality delivery of products and services (Kremetik, 2004). Practices and initiativ es of HRM is by no means, an invaluable instrument in achieving a successful implementation of TQM strategy. In order to be abreast with the current trends in the ever dynamic business environment, it is pertinent that organisations invest in their workforce who will see to the implementation of TQM as a strategy that allow employees the opportunity to be aware of new trends and development in their fields (Collinson et al, 2003). Purcell et al. (2003) research, established the link between people and organizational performance. According to Purcell et al. (2003), by providing employees with the necessary training, their skill and motivation levels will increase, thus leading to enhanced performance within the organization. There is the need for line managers to be actively involved and committed to the development of employees, to enhance a strategic development, say in the area of training, learning and development (TLD) Garavan (2007). This is because, line managers are better placed to understand the needs of both organizations and employees, so, it is ideal for line managers to have greater involvement, by aligning individual needs to organizational needs, so as to ensure that TLD is more strategic, helping to encourage vertical integration (Kremetik, 2004). For organizations to fulfill their vision and mission, front line leaders have to ensure that employees are clear about their roles and how it fits w ith the overall organizational objective. This can be done by reinforcing the concept of the golden thread, Martin and Jackson, (2005) ensuring the strategic link is maintained. According to Morgan, (2000), organizations have to take into cognisance, the employee aspect of the enterprise, because, they enable it to thrive financially, through the services that they render. Hence, there is the need for open line of communication, at all levels within the organisation. For TQM to take firm root in an organization as a strategy that can contribute to improving performance of an organization through quality delivery of products and services, it has to be backed up with Ability, Motivation and Opportunity(AMO) as postulated by Purcell et al,2003; because when employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge to do their jobs, the result is commitment and discretionary behaviour which are necessary ingredients to achieve high performance and turn skills into effective action. TQM strategy can be enhanced when using the AMO model (Purcell et al. 2003) and here, employees must have the ability, opportunity and motivation required to enable them do their work effectively and efficiently. However it relies heavily on the role of line managers, and in this case, since line managers are responsible for people management, they have to get more involved with their employees’ development and provide them with the three important aspects of the AMO model. Trust and confidence, resulting from psychological contract are ingredients that are needed for a greater involvement of employees in the implementation of TQM processes. FIGURE 2 People and Performance Model (Purcell et al., 2003) From the diagram above, it highlights some of the main domains of HRM practice which are in the areas of training and development, performance appraisal, recruitment and selection amongst others. The link between these domains, when harmonized, will ultimately result in better optimization of human resources (employees) in an organisation. When the employees are given the necessary motivation and skills which they will acquire through the training and management development programmes by management of organisations, the staff will in turn be motivated and committed to give in their utmost best while seizing every opportunity to demonstrate to the management as well as customers of the organisation that a strategy that is people oriented and participative to employees will promote growth and development in an organization, Purcell et al.,(2003),this of course will only be possible with effective collaboration with a functional line management. What this model tend to demonstrate, is t hat teamwork, opportunity to participate, pay satisfaction, open communication between management and employees, enhanced career development will give the employees a sense of organisational commitment, well motivated staff strength and job satisfaction which ultimately will lead to greater performance outcomes and effective human resources capacity utilization(Grant, 2008)..Organizations that allow their employees to practice their profession to the point of attaining the highest position available in the organization, will certainly get the best out of their employees, knowing fully well that climbing up to the highest position in terms of hierarchy will not be compromised as this practice is also embedded in TQM strategy (Donaldson, 2001).The psychological contract is the bond existing between the employer and the employees; it says much about the trust and cordiality that exist between both parties i.e. the employer on one hand and the employee at the other side (Druker, 2008).T he psychological contract â€Å"both fill the perceptual gaps in the employment relationship and shapes day-to-day employee behaviour in ways that cannot necessarily be discerned from a written contract†, (Rousseau and Ho 2000 pp 476). According to Gyelan and Waldman, (2005), embedded in psychological contract is the inevitable reward of use of discretionary behaviour by the employees. Confidence building and trust in the management by the employees will bring about this development, in order for the workforce of an organization to be whole heartedly involved in the day to day operations of an organization. It is only in an atmosphere of camaraderie that trust and confidence can be established, Geary,( 2003); thus, for organizations to succeed with the implementation of TQM strategy, HRM practices and initiatives, that allow for an atmosphere of psychological contract to be entrenched in its body of policies, should be allowed to flourish, so as to facilitate the linkage between psychological contract and the use of discretionary behaviour.An employee that is allowed freedom of choice in using his/her discretionary behaviour as encouraged by the implementation of TQM by seeing the employee as the internal customer, and not necessarily adhering to all rules as directed by management hook-line and sinker, will definitely give his/her best to an organization, because the phobia of high handedness which inevitably leads to human resource capacity under utilization of employees and poor performance from above management when eliminated, will allow for greater performance from employees, Gran t,( 2008) and thus, the idea behind AMO(Ability, Motivation and Opportunity) as postulated by Purcell et al.,(2003) would have been achieved, because, within the AMO model lies the desire to see employees not being bossed into a tight corner of having to implement all that management of organisations have to say to their employees but having the freedom to exercise their innate knowledge, which of course can only be demonstrated and made manifest, when given the necessarily opportunity and motivation to do so. THE ROLE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT TEAMS IN TQM STRATEGY One of the major obstacles that have bedeviled the successful implementation of TQM is the non – recognition of quality teams in organizations in the quest for a successful strategy that will lift the organization above its competitors (Stanford, 2005). Team effectiveness is crucial to the implementation of TQM because the development of people and their involvement in the operations of an organization through teamwork is very essential ,and for it not to be seen as such ,will only ruin the collective effort of inputs towards the actualization of a functional quality delivery strategy like the TQM(Lewis,2004) Quality improvement teams cuts across employees of organizations, representatives of customers and suppliers with a major objective of meeting the set target of achieving quality. In doing this, it is pertinent to note that certain criteria have to be fulfilled in order to get the desired result from a quality improvement team, since it embraces almost all the stakeholders that lay claim to a business, and these criteria, according to Geirhybein (2004) include choosing the leader and members of the team. In doing this, the team leader must: ââ€"  Possess effective Leadership Behaviour ââ€"  Possess the attributes of effective conflict management ââ€"  Should have the ability of encouraging innovation ââ€"  Have adequate knowledge of effective meeting management ââ€"  Manage and send out schedule of events and activities. ââ€"  Make certain that the team members are conversant with the modus operandi of team meetings/activities. ââ€"  Endeavour to make certain that meeting venues are secured well ahead of time. ââ€"  Engage in meeting with front line managers on favourable times for team meetings. ââ€"  Should be prompt and alert to time. ââ€"  Ability to record activities of team meetings in minutes as well as collation of data. ââ€"  Sets an agreed time for the next meeting as well as communicates minutes and ensure that action is taken for matters raised. ââ€"  Ability to identify training needs of the quality team in addition to be a good contributor and listener, and this can be achieved by being dedicated to the intended purpose of the team through effective commitment. Similarly, Geirhybein (2004) suggested what members need to have in order to be effective in quality delivery teams: ââ€"  Members must be willing, not forced or coerced to join a quality team for the fun of it. ââ€"  Members need to be passionate about what the quality team sets out to achieve at all times as the direct result of such commitment is the outright benefit of quality service. ââ€"  Members should be prepared to share their experiences with the team leader as well as among themselves, for the overall benefit of the team. ââ€"  Members should be able to buy into shared team vision ââ€" Present in the members should be the spirit of natural collaboration ââ€" Need to respect the views of other members when they speak, listen to them when they have issues to raise as well as, be able to communicate effectively with both the team leader and members. ââ€"  Members should equally be ready to take down minutes at the request of the team leader, be prepared to follow up actions when directed and never be afraid to say ‘I don’t understand’ when situations arise . ââ€"  Members need also to be able to contribute meaningfully to discussions on the floor during meetings as well as being effective listeners. Quality improvement initiatives AMO(Ability, Motivation and Opportunity) as exemplified in the work of Purcell et al.( 2003) can serve as a leverage for the implementation of a TQM system. can be strengthened by the basic application of principles of motivation, especially the the recognition of team achievements as against those of individual employees, for team efforts, are crucial in driving the process of TQM. The HRM department is in a vantage (Fran, (2002). INSTITUTING TQM CULTURE IN ORGANISATIONS: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT People can be better managed to embrace TQM by institutionalizing TQM organizational culture in the employees, so as to be able to deliver quality products and services to customers, Collinson et al, (2003). Human resource management can play a crucial role in the implementation of TQM strategy. HR managers or practitioners are responsible for recruiting and selecting high-quality employees, the continuous training and development of these employees, and the creation and sustenance of reward systems. Therefore, TQM sees to the control of processes that are pivotal to the accomplishment of cultural changes often required for TQM to be successfully implemented, Haigh and Morris, (2002). Directing the TQM cultural development initiatives to the organisations’ conditions is important in subduing opposition According to De Wit and Mayers, (2005),. Engendering trust and confidence through an open interchange of purposeful ideas can help eliminate. This can provide the building block for all employees to be trained to see their colleagues in other divisions as equal internal customers to the organisation. This is another avenue for HRM to highlight this new outlook by example. Through this means, that is, focusing on satisfying the needs and wants of the customer first and foremost, HRM can institute A major function of HRM’s expertise is its capability to scrutinize and provide assessment for employee attitudes. This expertise can be significantly essential in driving the process for a proper implementation of TQM, since getting it right from the onset (conceptualization stage) entails having adequate data/information about current performance level. Therefore, a preliminary action is to implement an employee assessment, targeting two prime areas. One requires the identification o f the difficult parts of organizations’ current operations, where innovations in quality can have the most significant impact on an organizations’ performance level. The other part, targets the perceptions and attitudes of employees towards quality as a fundamental issue, so as to ensure that, the implementation of TQM can be revitalized, for better effectiveness and efficiency, Collinson et al.,( 2003). Achieving assistance from other divisions in an organization in the use of surveys to a great extent depends largely on their perception of HRMs position ensure that HRM is not having an over bearing influence on other departmental functions, but rather, to be seen as an important ally in making their own quality improvements. Achieving this status, can be accomplished in the participative nature of the TQM philosophy by involving other divisions in the organization, towards the development of the survey instrument to be used. This involvement begins the process of carrying each division in the organization along, so as to see TQM as a strategy to be embraced by all employees of an organization (Haigh and Morris, 2002). REFERENCES Aluko, O.,Gbadamosi, I., Osuagwu, L., (2000) Business Policy and Strategy, Lagos, Remof Themes Publishers Antonioni, T., (2004) The Bounaryless Organisation: Breaking the Chain of Organisational Structure, London, Pitman Publishing. Balogun, J. and Hope-Hailey,V., (2008) Exploring Strategic Change, 3rd edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. Campbell, H., N., (2006) Management Theory and Total Quality: Improving Research and Practice Through Theory Development, New York, Free Press. Cardy ,G., (2006) Employee involvement as a Pre-requisite to Reduce Worker’s Compensation Costs, Review of Business, Vol.23, No.2, pp12 – 16 Cardy,G. and Dobbins, L., S., (2004) Corporate Management, Governance, and Ethics Best Practices, Human Resource Management, Vol.32, pp 283 – 297 Carol. L. McWilliam,M Catherine, W., (2006) Implementing organizational change in health and social services , Journal of Organizational Change ManagementVol.19, Issue 2 pp119 – 135,available online atwww.sciencedirect.com, accessed 8, June, 2009 Collard, R., C.,(2001) Total Quality: Success Through People, London, 1PM Collinson, H., Work Motivation, London, Sage. Collinson,M., Edwards, P. and Rees, C.,(2003) Involving Employees in Total Quality Management, London, Department of Trade and Industry, available online at www.sciencedirect.com, accessed 10, June, 2009 Dale, B.,G., (1994) Managing Quality, 2nd edition, London, Prentice Hall Davies, M., B., (2007) Key Concepts in Social Research Methods, New York, Palgrave, Macmillan LTD De wit, K. and Mayers, J., S., (2005) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 4th edition, London, Routledge Donaldson, (2001) The Contingency Theory of Organisations, London, Sage Druker, J., (2008) ‘Wages System’, in White, G. and Druker, J. (eds) Reward Management: A Critical text, 2nd edition, London, Routledge. Edwards, M.R., (2005) ‘Employer and Employee branding: HR or PR?’ in S .Bach (ed.) Managing Human Resources: Personnel Management in Transition, Malden, Blackwell. Farnham, D., (20

The Character of Caliban in The Tempest Essay examples -- Tempest ess

The Character of   Caliban in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban is the only authentic native of what is often called 'Prospero's Island'. However, he is not an indigenous islander, his mother Sycorax was from Argier, and his father Setebos seems to have been a Patagonian deity. Sycorax was exiled from Argier for witch-craft, much like Prospero himself, and Caliban was born on the island. Caliban's own understanding of his position is made eloquently plain when we first meet him:    I must eat my dinner. This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak'st from me. When thou cam'st first, Thou strok'st me, and made much of me, would'st give me Water with berries in't, and teach me how To name the bigger light, and how the less, That burn by day and night. And then I loved thee, And showed thee all the qualities o'th'isle, The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile. Cursed be I that did so! All the charms Of Sycorax - toads, beetles, bats light on you! For I am all the subjects that you have, Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me The rest o'th'island. (1.2.330-344)    We can clearly sense Caliban's resentment of what he sees as a colonial occupation of his island. The story of his upbringing is not so simple, however. It seems that when Prospero and his infant daughter arrived on the island twelve years before, Caliban was an orphan, his mother having died. This is not entirely clear: in conversation with Ariel (formerly Sycorax's spirit) Prospero recalls the 'blue eyed hag', 'The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy, Was grown into a hoop' (1.2.258-259), but it is not clear wheth... ...pression to both sides of the question, and leaving much to the interpretation.    Works Cited and Consulted: Davidson, Frank. "The Tempest: An Interpretation." In The Tempest: A Casebook. Ed. D.J. Palmer. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1968. 225. Kermode, Frank. Introduction. The Tempest. By William Shakespeare. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1958. xlii. Palmer, D. J. (Editor) The Tempest - A Selection of Critical Essays London: MacMillan Press Ltd., 1977. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans, et. al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Solomon, Andrew. "A Reading of the Tempest." In Shakespeare's Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232. John Wilders' lecture on The Tempest given at Oxford University - Worcester College - August 4th, 1999.      

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - Is He Insane? :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: Is He Insane?         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The term insanity means a mental disorder, whether it is temporary or permanent, that is used to describe a person when they don't know the difference between right or wrong.   They don't consider the nature of their actions due to the mental defect.(â€Å"Insanity†, sturtevant)   In William Shakespeare's play â€Å" Hamlet† Shakespeare leads you to believe that the main character, Hamlet, might be insane.   There are many clues to suggest Hamlet is insane but infact he is completely sane.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout the play Hamlet makes wise decisions to prove he is not insane.   He knows exactly what he is leading up to.   He just delays to act due to his indecisiveness.   An example of this is in Act III, section III, line 73, Hamlet says â€Å"Now might I do it pat, now 'a is a-praying, and now I'll do it-and so ‘a goes to heaven, and so am I revenged that would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.†Ã‚   He says here that he has his chance to kill his father's murder but, he is praying.   By killing him while he's praying his soul goes to heaven and this wouldn't be revenge. This is not a thought of an insane person.   An insane person would have completed the murder at this opportunity.   In Act III, scene I, line 55, â€Å"To be or not to be...†, Hamlet displays his indecisiveness by thinking about suicide because of the situation he is in.   He would rather be dead than live with the thought of his father's death going unavenged.   He is scared to get revenge because he found out from a ghost and he doesn't know what to do.   In line 83,† Thus conscience takes a major part in the thought and action of murder.   This is why he delays so long to commit the murder.   An insane person would not wait.   They would be more apt to act in impulse.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet's madness only existed when he was in the presence of certain characters.   When Hamlet is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Gildenstern, he behaves irrationally.   For example in Act II, section II, Polonius asks Hamlet,† Do you know me, my Lord?†Ã‚   Hamlet replies,† Excellent well, you are a fischmonger†.   Hamlet pretends not to know who Polonius is, even though he is Ophelia's father.   When Hamlet is around Horatio, Bernardo, Fransisco, the players and the Gravediggers, he behaves rationally. In Act I, section V, lines 165-180, Hamlet says â€Å"How strange or odd some'er

Frida Kahlo’s work A Few Small Nips

The following essay will deal with Frida Kahlo’s work A Few Small Nips.   The analysis of the piece of artwork will be the main focus of the essay including a brief biography of Kahlo’s which will be used in interpreting the purpose of the paining.   Other art critics will be used in this analysis so that a broad spectrum of opinion is introduced and debated in the paper in order to come to a conclusion about this piece.Kahlo’s work has been interpreted as bordering and often times delving into the grotesque; but typically there is a reason of politics or personal pain behind the works created by Kahlo.   In Mencer’s article The Trouble with Friday Kahlo this point is well elaborated,Among all the Kahlo tchotchkes now on sale at the NMWA gift shop, only her self-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   portraits adorn the fridge magnets, not â€Å"My Birth,† or â€Å"A Few Small Nips,† a disturbing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   image of a bleeding woman lying o n a bed with a man standing over her wielding a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   stiletto. Kahlo's visage has become a symbol in its own right–a trend evident in the number of artists now creating tributes to her.Chicano artists in California have been   Ã‚  Ã‚   incorporating her image into their murals since the 1970s in celebrations of their heritage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But the practice has become so common that the Japanese performance artist and drag   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   queen Yasumasa Morimura recently did a show called â€Å"An Inner Dialogue with Frida   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kahlo,† in which he painted himself as Kahlo self-portraits.This iconographic status of Kahlo was only more dully emphasized with the grotesque paintings she did after her miscarriage.   It was this point in her personal life which gave rise to much of what is recognizable Kahlo’s own style of art as is seen in A Few Small Nips in which a brutal scene is emphasized with d iagonal viewpoints.The truth behind Kahlo’s painting A Few Small Nips resides with the act of a man brutally stabbing his girlfriend and killing her.   In court the man professed he only gave her a few small nips.   Thus, above the painting itself is a banner, and in Kahlo’s own sentiment she often feels that she is murdered by life.   At this point in Kahlo’s life she was separated from Diego Rivera, and so those emotional feelings of abandonment, jealousy, guilt, and love all coincide to create not just a real life portrait of an event but the echoed feelings of Kahlo while being separated from Rivera (Smit).This real life portrayal used by means of expression for personal pain is typical of Kahlo’s work, as Muna writes,  In A Few Small Nips (1935), Kahlo paints a dead woman on a bed, naked but for one    shoe and stocking, her body slashed and bleeding, while a man, fully dressed, stands   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   calmly at her side. The painting was inspired by a real-life murder story – the defendant   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   told the judge that it was only a few small nips – but it also stands as wider commentary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   on the gender inequalities within Mexican society, as well as echoing the hurt she herself   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   endured at the hands of her husband, Diego Rivera.The fact that Muna wrote the gender inequality in Kahlo’s work is important.   This crucial piece of evidence is what gives rise to the portrayal of Kahlo’s self portraits done in a dichotomized fashion, as well as the focus of the treatment of women.Frida’s own heritage and gender have a lot to do with her style of painting as has been seen in A Few Small Nips.   Kahlo’s father was a Hungarian Jew born in Germany and her mother was Spanish and Native American.   Thus, her nature of birth could also lead her dualistic approach to painting and her strong sense of preservation for women.   In A Few Small Nips Kahlo presents the viewer with a woman who has just been stabbed to death and yet the killer is standing feet away from her, and thus, even in death she is denied company.   This type of disturbance in the ritual of a passion crime tells the viewer that Kahlo is interpreting her own loneliness into the painting.Kahlo’s imagery and her ‘eclectic blend of ancient Aztec to modern Mexican, religious metaphor and fantasy, and penetratingly observed reality (Muna) is what draws the viewer into this painting.   The fact that the painting was based on a real event, and the feelings of the man and what he said in court as his defense, ‘just a few small nips’ allows Friday creative interpretation of that event to rival her own misplaced identity and hatred so much so that the viewer becomes a part of the story in that they are witnesses to the event.   Bearing witness seems to be the role placed on the a udience in order to keep the honesty of this woman’s death alive.   In fact the purpose of much of Kahlo’s art is for the viewer to bear witness to a travesty, inner demons, or brutal and graphic deaths.This concept of memory or of bearing witness is designed in Kahlo’s work A Few Small Nips as collective memory for a town or witnesses or even participants together but also as individual memory.   These different definitions of memory are the purpose of Kahlo’s painting.   While it uses a force to ensure that Kahlo’s own identity and separation from Rivera is expressed the event of the drunk man killing his girlfriend is still intact.   The joint purpose of these two sentiments is to ensure that the memory of the event does not relapse and thus prevent progression or the politics of the painting express Kahlo’s wish that the town, country and gender which this occurred does not forget such a transgression.Memory however can quickly b e wiped clean and thus it becomes important to mark tragedy with artwork as A Few Small Nips has done, so that there is a physical reconstruction of an event that is witnessed in the public eye that allows the elusive memory to remain sharp, â€Å"Inevitably every act of memory carries with it a dimension of betrayal† (Huyssen â€Å"Present Past Palimsets†; 4).   In the act of constructing war memorials and citizen monuments the procession of remembering is occurring.   In the act of construction is insurance that the past is not repeated.Historical memory is important because it allows the people who have survived a devastating travesty to recall the event in loving memory of the family members of people they lost, as Huyssen states â€Å"Historical memory today is not what it used to be. It used to mark the relation of a community or a nation to its past, but the boundary between past and present used to be stronger and more stable than it appears to be todayâ⠂¬  (Huyssen â€Å"Present Past Palimsets†; 1).   This however does not mar the memory of the event that initiated Kahlo’s work.   Although Huyssen writes that historical memory is fading into the past and events are not being recognized or remembered but instead are falling into demise over time and being forgotten this is what Kahlo’s work strongly against.The repetition of trauma is precisely why this painting is such an important piece of work in Kahlo’s collection.   She painted it intended that such an event would not transpire again,The focus on trauma is legitimate where nations or groups of people are trying to come to terms with a history of violence suffered or violence perpetrated.   But the transnational discourse of human rights may give us a better handle on such matters than the transfer of psychoanalysis into the world of politics and history.   For it is precisely the function of public memory discourses to allow individuals t o break out of traumatic repetitions.   Human rights activism, truth commissions, and juridical proceedings are better methods for dealing with historical trauma.   Another is the creation of objects, artworks, memorials, public spaces of commemoration†¦Huyssen â€Å"Present Past Palimsets†; 9  Urban space that is the Tate museum which houses Kahlo’s work should be utilized in commemoration for a traumatic event so that healing may begin in a national capacity.Both of these days serve as an embodiment of an event.   This in itself allows the past to be tangible. In both the memory of the event and in the survivors the day becomes a cultural history; it becomes real, fact as is done in A Few Small Nips.   The past has a tendency to become mythical, and memory has ways of faltering, but to make memory real these days add the cementing of the past events (Huyssen â€Å"Present Past Palimsets†; 15).   There can be no collective amnesia involved beca use the painting allows people on an international scale to become part of the remembrance.The horror in Kahlo’s painting is not only the brutality of the event, as blood is smattered in every direction of the space, but also in the facial expressions of the two bodies.   While the woman is lying on the bed, killed, naked, and in flaccid immobility, the man is fully dressed, with a small smirk on his face.   That smirk is the true horror of the piece.   The fact that the woman is completely nude while the man is fully dressed is also a point of interest.   This signifies that the woman trusted the man to get fully undressed while the man kept his secrets, his disguise as a killer, on.   That is the point of the contrast between the two figures; the man keeps his secret identity.This secret identity of duality as mentioned prior is a key focal point in Kahlo’s work but in A Few Small Nips she is attributing this dualism to the mal figure instead of the female (albeit, this is not a self portrait, at least not in the typical Kahlo fashion).   The point here is that Kahlo was enduring separation anxiety with Diego and so painted him as the killer giving him aplomb of secrets, and a smirk over the dead woman’s body.   If this painting is taken as a self-portrait then emotionally, Kahlo is telling her audience that she is dead, murdered in fact by this smirking man, her lover, Diego.Although such an interpretation may be considered to be extreme, it still does not become drastic following the line of paintings which Kahlo further immersed herself into later in life.   Although the painting is a brutal scene the fact that the banner with the works murdered by life written on them is carried by a dove says a little more about metaphor in the work.   The dove is typically the bird associated with peace and hope, a scene in this painting obviously says there is none in this room, if the interpretation is taken to represent the rea l event of the day.   However, if the painting is on an allegorical level a representation of Kahlo’s emotional state between her Diego’s separation, then the painting with a dove means that a resurrection is not completely unexpected.In this interpretation the notation of the blackbird on the opposite side of the banner from the dove also states another level of allegory.   If the dove is representational of Kahlo’s hope, and indeed it resides on the part of the painting harboring the woman’s dead body, then the blackbird which holds the banner on the man’s side of the painting could be representational of doom, or lack of hope and rebirth.   Also, the lighting which Kahlo placed in the painting is brighter around the woman’s dead body, and the shadows envelope the man which further suggests that if any hope is to be born from this brutal scene then its transgression is from the man and its livelihood rests with the woman’s fla ccid body.Thus, Kahlo accomplishes the dual side of human nature and her own feelings with these two birds: hope and travesty.   Although the intention of the painting was to represent the events of a brutal murder by a drunk boyfriend, in other allusions of the painting the viewer may find Kahlo’s own harboring of love and death with her relationship with Diego as well as the identity of a woman whom she felt a kindred spirit and in painting this work Frida perhaps wanted to make the nation, and finally the world aware of the brutality which was occurring in her home town.Thus, Kahlo’s painting may be considered a piece of feminist work which allows for the viewer to bear witness to a travesty.   The painting also serves as a national identity for the state of Mexico in showing the reality of the everyday in such a deplorable scene, but all too real.   The purpose however, for Kahlo in creating this work was not only for her own identity but for the identity of the murdered woman and to give her justice in allowing for the world to see how she did and by whom.Work CitedHuyssen, Andreas.   Present Pasts:   Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory.   Stanford  University Press, 2003.Lindauer, M.   Devouring Frida: The Art History and Popular Celebrity of Frida Kahlo. Woman’s Art Journal.   Vol.   22, NO. 1.   (Spring-Summer, 2001).   pp.   53-54.Mancer, S.   The Trouble with Frida Kahlo.   The Washington Monthly.   2002.Muna, S.   Frida at the Tate Modern.   Socialism Today.   Issue 93.   Jul-Aug 2005.

Nitrophenol Essay

Abstract: Using a micro scale steam distillation we separated ortho and para-nitrophenol from a mixture that was already made. After the para and ortho were separated we measured their melting points and compared it to the literature values for purity. For ortho-nitrophenol we had 60% recovery and for para 160% recovery. Our melting point ranges were ortho: 45-46Â °C and para 64-95Â °C. Introduction:Â  Nitration: In phenols, -OH group strongly activates the ring system. As a result, phenols are susceptible to oxidation in the presence of concentrated nitric acid (HNO3). Thus, nitration of phenols is carried out with dilute nitric acid and results in the formation of o-nitrophenol and p-nitrophenol. The o-nitrophenol is steam volatile and the mixture of o-nitrophenol and p-nitrophenol is separated by steam distillation, in our case using micro scale measurements for safety and time consumption purposes. (Electrophilic aromatic substitution) We used steam distillation because we are distilling under 100Â °C; above 100Â °C is H2O. Looking at the volatility of o-nitrophenol compared to p-nitrophenol, the p-nitrophenol has intermolecular hydrogen bonding and it occurs due to a large number of molecules are associated together. This association in the p-isomer makes it less volatile. However in o-nitrophenol, intramolecular hydrogen bonding occurs and thus, it exists in a monomolecular state making it more volatile. Results/Discussion: Using a sand bath for transferring of heat through the distillation which was sitting on a hot plate. Using a small round bottom flask which was attached to Hickman’s distillation head and then we attached water through the openings. Using 1.00g of the prepared mixture we placed it in the round bottom flask along with 1.00mL of ethanol and then filled it about 2/3 with water. We added a magnetic spin-vane to the flask as well. We collected the yellow waxy ortho-isomer from groove in Hickman’s distillation head using a Pasteur pipette. We made sure that the solids did not accumulate as this would clog the condenser. If it did we would just turn off the cold water momentarily and the hot vapor would melt the solid. The distillation took about 45 minutes and even though this was the specified time period for distilling the mixture, we felt as though much of the ortho-isomer was left in the small round bottom flask along with the para-isomer and the spin valve. In order to characterize the 2- and 4-nitrophenols, we need to determine their melting points. We compared our results to those in the literature. Data:Â  *some ortho solidified in the Pasteur pipette so there might arise a percent error from this as some ortho was left in there. *we assumed that the starting mixture was about 50% each of o- and p-nitrophenol.

Hamptonshire Express Case Essay

1. a. The simulation indicates that 584 is the optimum stocking quantity. Daily profit at this stocking quantity is $331.4346. b. Using the newsvendor model, Cu = 1 – 0.2 = 0.8 and Co = .2. Cu /(Cu + Co) = .8. Using the spreadsheet, we found Q* = NORM.INV(.8,500,100) = 584.16. The simulation and newsvendor model give the same optimal stocking quantity. 2. a. According to the simulation spreadsheet, 4 hours of investment in creation maximizes daily profit at $371.33. b. Sheen would choose an effort level where the marginal benefit gained by the effort is equal to her marginal cost of expending the effort. To calculate the effort level, h, we equalize marginal cost and marginal benefit. Here (.8 * 50) / (2√h) = 10. Solving gives h = 4, or the same as the simulation. c. The optimal profit derived in this scenario is $371.33 per day, which is a $40 increase from the profit derived in problem #1, of $331.43. 3. a. Using the spreadsheet, Ralph’s optimal stocking quantity to maximize his profit is 516. b. The optimal stocking quantity differs from problem #2 because Ralph is incurring the cost of overstocking, which changes the critical ratio from .8 in problem #2 to .2. Because of the critical ratio change, Anna’s profit decreases as Ralph’s increases. This is consistent with the Newsvendor Model, which gives Cu=.2, Co=.8, for a critical ratio of .2. Using the formula in the spreadsheet, Q*=NORM.INV(.2,600,100)=515.837, gives the optimal stocking quantity of 516. c. Assuming that we only use whole numbers for her amount of time, Anna’s optimal effort is 2 hours with a profit of $261.93, a decrease from problem #2 of 4 hours. This is because Anna is now sharing her profit. d. If you decrease the transfer price, Anna’s effort level also decreases, and Ralph will increase his stocking quantity, adding to his profit. Anna’s effort level decreases because her profit decreases when Ralph buys the newspapers for less than $0.80. When the transfer price increases, the opposite occurs; Anna’s effort level increases and there is a decrease in Ralph’s stocking quantity and profit. 4. a. The optimal stocking quantity is 409 according to the spreadsheet in the simulation, which is a decrease from 516 in problem #3 because in the event that the Express stocks out, Ralph still makes a profit from 40% of  customers who will buy the Private. Therefore, because he makes more profit off of the Private, his risk decreases because of cost of understocking of the Express. b. For problems #1 and #2 there were no profitable alternatives to understocking, whereas in problem #3, Ralph has a profitable alternative for understocking since 40% of customers will buy the Private. The different critical ratios from each problem produce a different optimal stocking quantity. c. This decreases his optimal stocking quantity because Ralph is allocating $0.03 to the cost of each newspaper, making his cost of understocking now 1-.83-40%*.4=.01. Co=.83 Critical ratio 0.01/.83= 0.012 According to the data, the optimal stocking quantity is Q*=NORMINV(.012,500,100). 5. a. A lower buy-back price means a lower stocking quantity, because it affects the cost of overstocking. Ralph wants to stock a lower quantity in order to lower his risk of overstocking. The optimal buy-back price is $0.75, which gives a stocking quantity of 659 and channel profits of $369.80. b. The optimal transfer price is $0.99, giving a buy-back price of $0.988, and channel profits of $372.62. However, this is an unrealistic scenario because Ralph’s profits are negative at -$24 and Anna is making almost the full $1 price on each sale. The channel profit is very close to the $371.33 profit from problem #2. This is because the transfer price is almost the same as the selling price to customers of $1, eliminating Anna’s cost of under or overstocking. c. If Ralph had to pay a franchise fee, he would no longer have an incentive to understock. Anna’s effort would remain the same because the marginal benefit of her effort would not change given the additional fixed profit from Ralph’s fee.

The professional teacher in classroom, school, and society

Introduction:By the 1970s, large authoritiess were criticized about interfering the function of markets and the ability of the persons to run their ain personal businesss. Managerialism and marketization of the public services was the chief impression of ‘new public direction ‘ . In order to better the efficiency and effectivity in the populace sector, different schemes such as internal audit and quality confidence have been introduced. ( Aucoin, 1990 ) As instruction is one of the cardinal public services in Hong Kong, it can non hedge from the tidal force of marketization. The reform is related to the transportation of duty from the authorities to the school. In other words, there is a alteration in the nature of the authorities engagement with a position to going more competitory and providing for the demands in the market, and the ever-changing universe. Efficiency, answerability, quality and efficient usage of resources have become the ‘yardstick ‘ in mea suring the public presentation by society, authorities and schools. Those standards have made a great impact on instruction at all degrees. Policy of Decentralization in Schools: In an effort to advance ‘quality instruction ‘ in schools, Hong Kong authorities introduced the thought of a school-based direction theoretical account with a position to conveying about decentalisation. This policy based on an premise: when a market mechanism is in topographic point in the instruction system, s chools will go antiphonal and accountable to the populace, and therefore will choose for better-quality public presentation. ( Brown, 1995 ) Decentralization allows schools flexibleness to apportion resources. Marketization enhances the power of parents as they provide the demands. Diversity of school was decreased and hence the competition between schools is violent. The functions of instructors and pupils have to alter harmonizing to the above-named factors. Fig. 1 Marketization theoretical account ( Modified from Ball )Parental pick:Parental pick is one of the cardinal influences of the educational market. Restructuring instruction by the authorization of parents and pupils through picks in instruction is the cardinal thought under acceptance of a market-oriented attack. In Hong Kong, most of the parents are fond of English Medium Secondary Schools because they believe in the myths of better educational services inside them. ( Band1c†Ya ®Ã‚ ¶e†¢Ã‚ ·a„†ºa‚?c µÃ‚ ±e†¹Ã‚ ±a? ­ , 2010 ) Presently, instruction is considered as a sort of commercial merchandise instead than larning to larn. The whole schooling system can be regarded as a trade good market controlled by civilization of quality. Furthermore, schools are the mills for â€Å" value-addedness † while the pupils ‘ acquisition results are the trade goods within the market. Parents are the goaded force and exert great force per unit areas to school in order to bring forth better reactivity and academic effectivity. ( e ¶Sa ¤se†¹Ã‚ ±?-†¡c? ­ e ¶Sa?-a ®Ã‚ ¶e†¢Ã‚ ·e § , 2008 )Diverseness:In the aftermath of the economic restructuring of Hong Kong into a service economic system, there was a great alteration of the prevocational and secondary proficient schools in 2000. Education and Manpower Bureau revamped and enriched the proficient course of study by stressing more on concern and technological facets every bit good as linguistic communications. ( Education Department, 1997 ) The differences between secondary proficient schools and mainstream secondary schools became bleary. Furthermore, inclusive instruction is introduced and implemented. Students with particular educational demands ( SEN pupil ) are encouraged to have instruction in ordinary schools every bit far as possible. This policy increases the learning diverseness of pupils inside chief watercourse schools. This follows with increasing of demands of resources and teacher re-training. In world, nevertheless, there is unequal support and resources. Under inclusive instruction system, schools can merely have $ 10,000 subsidies for every SEN pupil. Compared with the original system, schools can enroll one instructor and learning aid for every 15 SEN pupils. ( ez?a†¢Ã¢â€ž ¢e‚?eaS?a? §a ¤sca °Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ , 2005 ) Merely 6 % of instructors agree with adequate support under the bing system. ( Education Convergence, 2002 ) In the past 15 old ages, the diverseness of school is reduced due to revamping secondary proficient schools and inclusive instruction. More and more schools became mainstream schools. Normally, those schools focus on academic facets instead than developing pupil ‘s possible since academic accomplishment of pupils is an of import public presentation index under cognition base society. Students ‘ endowments are ever buried.Competition:Under marketization, competition becomes much more serious than earlier. From the fact that the figure of pupils entry to secondary one lessening dramatically ( a? ­a ­?aae ·?a?†¦e ©sa , 2010 ) , schools which did non get adequate figure of pupils might be closed by the authorities. In order to hedge from this procedure, different schools principals utilizing different schemes to pull pupils to analyze their school. The schemes including give different subsidy or even hard currency to the new pupils. Harmonizing to the research ( e ¦Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â€ž ¢e‚?a °Ã‚ ­aaâ€Å"?a?†Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â€ž ¢a? «a ·?aeY? , 2010 ) , some instructors were forced to advance the school. The promotional activities including be aftering different activities, some even serve as salesmen on the street to advance the school. We believed that these should non be the responsibilities of instructors. The direct result is teacher can non pass equal clip on the lesson planning or fixing resource for pupils. This implies that learning quality in footings of pupil larning result may deteriorate due to the deficit of readying. Second consider competition between pupils. Hong Kong is a cognition based society. Under the construct of marketization, educational success implies competiveness, which farther elaborates to money and high socio-economical degree. We argued that the ultimate end of instruction should non be served as a tool to mount up to higher socio-economical degree. If marketization continues, the purposes of instruction would go training pupils to accomplish academic success merely and in uniformity. We argued there would be two possible result of this uniformity. The first result is we would lose out value instruction. Previously school non merely concentrate on academic country, but besides the whole individual development of pupils. Teacher can hold flexibleness to learn different country of cognition, but non constrained to the examinational stuffs. But under marketization, we focus on the acquisition result and competiveness between pupils instead than value. It seems that the value instr uction is no longer of import in the modern society. Therefore we argued this may be one of the accounts of the happening of different societal issues. The 2nd possible result of uniformity is the changing of features of pupils. After marketization, we focus more on competition every bit good as public scrutiny. Therefore different accomplishments such as communicating or coaction may be omitted in the course of study. From the illustration of the maestro alumnus in Chinese university, this indicated that our current educational system maintain preparation pupils in this mode. ( a? ­a ¤Ã‚ §c? ©a? «200? ¬?e ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹a ·?a ¤Ã‚ ±?†¢- , 2011 ) This in bend pupils can merely execute good in the test merely, but can non use the cognition in the existent state of affairs or utilizing different accomplishments to work out jobs.The effects of the reform of educational system on instructors:In fact, the work load of instructors was really high before the reform of educational system. Teachers have more than 30 periods per hebdomad and it was one of the highest Numberss around the universe ( Cheng, 2004 ) . Furthermore, the figure of pupils per category normally is really high and it is about 40 per category. It may to a great extent increase the work load of instructors. Under the reform of the educational system, the work load of instructors is farther increased. In the yesteryear, the instructors could still manage their work. It was because of the standardised course of study, lower in-class diverseness of pupils and the comparatively teacher-centered instruction manner. However, under the reform of the educational system, the stria of pupils was changed from 5-band system to 3-band system. In other words, the intra-school diverseness of pupils became much higher. This may ensue in the dramatic addition in the trouble and cost of learning and direction of schools. Ultimately, instructors have to pay more attempt to cover with the jobs in learning, conselling and resources allotment. As the diverseness of pupil additions, the original high quality schools and pupils become second-rate since the resources have to be shifted to cover with the jobs of less able pupils. As mentioned antecedently, inclusive instruction is one of the of import policies under the reform of the educational system. It aims to include some SEN pupils into the normal categories so that SEN pupils can accept the legitimate instruction. This may increase the intra-school diverseness of pupils and the operating cost of schools. Besides, excess back uping resources should be needed. However, a batch of schools do n't run into the standards to suit the SEN pupils and are forced to make so. Under the state of affairs of high work load and ‘big category ‘ , instructors really have non adequate clip and energy to take attention of the SEN pupils. As a consequence, the SEN pupils finally get no benefit. The reform of educational system involves the alteration in the instruction schemes and the usage of the instruction tools. In order to do the instruction more effectual, instructors have to take a batch of preparation classs about the alteration of the course of study, the application of information engineering and etc. Besides, some instructors have to complete the graduate student sheepskin of instruction. Teachers have to pay excess clip and energy on their surveies. In add-on to the work load and day-to-day responsibilities in school, instructors may experience collapsed. As a consequence, the success of the reform of educational system may be hard to be achieved since instructors really have no clip and energy to take attention of the diverseness of the ability of pupils and aid pupils ‘ growing.Decision:In decision, marketization have its ain advantages such as bettering efficiency of acquisition and instruction in footings of larning result. Nevertheless, the purposes o f instruction and value instruction are neglected in the current marketized educational system. We believed that the disadvantages overwhelm the advantages and this is non a good pattern to our following coevals. Entire words: 1675