The Emperors Necropolis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Emperors Necropolis - Assignment Example There are many mysteries spoken of in relation to the tomb and First Emperor. The overall scope and detailed complexity of the tomb have been called astonishing and astounding. Why did he build it? Did he really seal up living people inside the tomb to prevent its secrets from being revealed? How in a time so long ago was such a thing able to be built? Truly, it is a magnificent accomplishment, but the Tomb of Shi Huang Di is less about mystery or mythology, but a product of armies of manpower over the course of decades. In order to understand the creation of the Mausoleum, we must understand the man who claimed the title of the First Emperor of China. Yin Zheng took the throne in 246 BC, at the very young age of 13, and managed to unite several warring kingdoms. With these successes, he took the name Shi Huang Di, or First Emperor. He was a force to be reckoned with, but not all of his contributions to China were militant in nature. The Emperor standardized a coin system, universalizing potential commerce in the different kingdoms. He also created a standard of weights and measures, commissioned roads, and waterways to connect the states and the first to conceive the Great Wall of China. He was a man of great and immense power, amassing more wealth and control than any previous ruler before him. Not long after unifying the feuding kingdoms, he conceived and commissioned the tomb that would be so much more. Shi Huang Di was fixated on the afterlife and believed that he would continue on when his mort al life was over. This is entirely not unlike the ideology behind the Pharaohs of Egypt. The Emperor entirely planned for his rule, his kingdom, his actual court, would continue into the afterlife.

Concepts of Organisational Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 22

Concepts of Organisational Structure - Essay Example Change management is also known as alteration. This case study shall explain the change management, leadership style and organizational structure of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. It is one of the successful pharmaceutical companies of the world operating its business approximately 180 countries of the world. The firm was founded in 1849. Presently it has around 110600 employees. The strong vision of the company helps it to operate its business worldwide. This American multinational company produces medicine for animals and human. The leaders of this company are very effective and they run the organization in an efficient way. They played an important role in the development of the company. The firm hires good and quality staffs that innovate and develop strategies to achieve the goals of the Pfizer. The company experienced many acquisitions, divestitures and mergers. The change management of this firm has improved the organizational structure of the company. Pfizer’s orga nizational management system experienced many changes which helped the company handle many situations which can even lead to break up of the company. The organizational goal of the company is to deliver its commitments to its customers by maintaining transparency in its activities. Efficient operation of the business is based on its organizational structure. The routine of the company is set by its structure. It helps to determine how the firm will make and implement decisions for performing its various tasks and activities. There are many types of organizational structure like functional, flat, geographical, product, matrix and divisional organizational structures. A divisional organizational structure is mainly implemented in big companies which operates a business in a large geographical area. This structure is expensive because of its scope and size. In a functional structure, each part of the company is grouped according to the work. There are many departments where employees work as per there specific functions. Matrix is a high breed organizational structure. It is a mixture of functional and divisional organizational structure.

The Corruption of Macbeth and Duddy Essay Example for Free

The Corruption of Macbeth and Duddy Essay Everyone should follow their dreams, but sometimes when you get too caught up in your dreams; you begin to forget about reality. Throughout the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare and the novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, written by Mordecai Richler, protagonists Macbeth and Duddy become corrupted as they on the pursuit of their dream. Throughout the novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and the play Macbeth, both protagonists have characters in their life that influence them into becoming corrupt. Both characters, Duddy and Macbeth have such a strong ambition that it leads to the corruption of themselves. Duddy and Macbeth’s pursuit of their dreams leads them to be greedy which leads to their corruption. In the play Macbeth, and novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, external forces influence Macbeth and Duddy’s decisions, Macbeth and Duddy’s ambition controls their actions and the greed that Macbeth and Duddy possess, all lead to their corruption while they are both on the pursuit of their dreams. Throughout the play Macbeth and the novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz we begin to see that external forces in these characters’ lives help lead to their corruption. In both books we see that some characters attempt to show Macbeth and Duddy that they must commit crimes to accomplish their goals in life. An example from Macbeth is when Lady Macbeth attempts to persuade Macbeth into committing evil acts and tries to explain to him that he cannot change what has already been done. In the play Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth â€Å"Things with all remedy should be done without regard. What’s done is done†. (Macbeth, 2) This shows us that Lady Macbeth tried to show Macbeth that if you want something you need do whatever you can to obtain it and you cannot change what has already been done in the past, which helps lead to his corruption. Similarily, in Duddy, the Boy Wonder tries to have Duddy commit crimes to â€Å"help† Duddy become rich and achieve his go als. One quote from the novel representing this is â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  This quote shows how Boy Wonder tried to have Duddy commit these crimes to try to show him how to accomplish his goals in life, although, it just helps lead to the corruption of Duddy. In both stories external forces have told Macbeth and Duddy what they have to do in order become successful. In Macbeth, the witches inform on how to become king which corrupts him. A quote from the play showing this is â€Å"All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!† (Shakespeare, 10) Another quote showing his reaction to this is â€Å"Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more!† (Shakespeare, 11) This shows us how the witches told Macbeth that he could become king and then he gets too caught up in it which finally leads to his corruption. In Duddy we see Simcha tell Duddy that â€Å"A man without land is nothing.†(Richler, ) After Simcha tells Duddy this, Duddy does whatever he can to be a man with  land without truly thinking about what he is doing. This helps leads to the corruption of Duddy. The external forces around Macbeth and Duddy influence their decisions which lead to the corruption of both characters. Macbeth and Duddy are so focused on the pursuit of their dream that their ambition to obtain their dream leads to their corruption. In both stories Macbeth and Duddy’s ambition to pursuit their dream becomes so large that both protagonists are willing to do anything in order to achieve that dream. Throughout Macbeth we see many times where he is willing to do anything in order to become king. A quote from the play showing this is â€Å"The Prince of Cumberland! This is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap; For in my way it lies.† (Shakespeare, 16) Now we see that Macbeth is willing do anything to become king and his ambition to become king has become far too great, and in the end it leads to his corruption and downfall. Just like Macbeth, Duddy is willing to do anything he can in order to obtain his dream and have all his land even if it means hurting others that are close to him. We see this when Duddy steals money from Virgil when it says â€Å"Duddy took a quick look virgil’s bank balance, whistled, noted his account number and ripped out two cheques. He forged the signature by holding the cheque and a letter Virgil had signed up to the window and tracing slowly.† (Richler, 307-308) This shows that Duddy’s ambition to get his land has him doing anything he can to get it which leads to his corruption. Also, throughout both Macbeth and Duddy, their ambition to pursue their dream leads to death or injuries of other characters which leads to their corruption. As Macbeth’s ambition grows and he murders Duncan, we see him feel guilt when he says â€Å"I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on ‘t again I dare not.† (Shakespeare, 30) We see Macbeth begin to feel guilty and the more characters that die we see he begins to become more and more corrupt. Similar to Macbeth, we see Duddy’s ambition to pursue his dream lead to a very severe injury of one of his friends. Duddy’s epileptic employee, Virgil, gets injured while driving and we see the corruption of Duddy when he says â€Å"I hope he dies and I never have to see him again.† (Richler, 248) This helps us see that Duddy’s ambition led to the injury of his friend and employee, and we see how corrupt he is becoming. The ambition of Macbeth and Duddy become so great that as they pursue to their dreams, it leads to their own corruption. Macbeth and Duddy’s greed that comes from the pursuit of their dream, leads to their corruption. Both Macbeth and Duddy only care about themselves and it leads to their corruption. An example from Macbeth is when Macbeth hears about being able to be the Thane of Cawdor and the king he wants to know how even though he is already the Thane of Glamis. The witch tells Macbeth, â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!† (Shakespeare, 10) Even though Macbeth is already the Thane of Glamis and is considered to be a noble and royal man he wants more. As his greed grows Macbeth becomes more and more corrupted. Similar to Macbeth, Duddy’s pursuit of a dream makes him greedy as he gets a truck for free and lies to Virgil about it so he doesn’t have to pay him $1000. Duddy’s greed for money gets in the way as he lies to Virgil by saying â€Å"It’s in beautiful shape and he wants twelve-  fifty for it. But if you were interested, Virgie, and willing to pay cash, I think I could swing it for a thousand.†(Richler, 215) We see that as Duddy pursues his dream he becomes greedy and only cares about himself, which leads to his corruption. In both of the stories, Macbeth and Duddy’s greed grow on the pursuit of their dreams and it leads to their loneliness which leads to their corruption. So many people die because of Macbeth’s greed on his pursuit of his dream that when Lady Macbeth dies he is all alone and he becomes corrupted. As Macbeth hears about the death of Lady Macbeth he says, â€Å"Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.†(Shakespeare, 87) We see that as Macbeth’s greed grows he does things that make him lonely, and in the end he is all alone with nothing to live for. This helps towards the corruption of Macbeth. Duddy’s greed gets the best of him as he loses Yvette after the injury to Virgil. After Yvette stops seeing Duddy he says, â€Å"Without Yvette the office was a bore. Going out on the road, doing Virgil’s job, was the only peace he knew those days, and heading back for Montreal at two in the morning he always drove as fast he could, sure that Yvette would be home when he got there. Often he woke in the middle of the night, thinking he had heard her on the stairs, but he did not go down to her apartment, and he waited for more than two weeks before he phoned her.† (Richler, 250) We see that as Duddy becomes more selfish, he only focuses on the pursuit of his dream and as he loses Yvette, we see how corrupt he has truly become. Macbeth and Duddy become so greedy because of the pursuit of their dream, in the end it helps corrupt them. Throughout Macbeth and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, characters in the lives of Macbeth and Duddy help lead to their corruption, Macbeth and Duddy’s ambition towards their goals help lead to their corruption and the greed they both get from the pursuit of their dreams leads to their corruptions. Characters that are in the lives of both protagonists control the decisions the protagonists make which leads to their corruption. The ambition both Macbeth and Duddy achieve while pursuing their dreams leads to their corruption. The greed both characters obtain on the pursuit of their dream has them feeling all alone and it leads to their corruption. In conclusion, on the way to pursuing their dreams, both protagonists Macbeth and Duddy let characters influence their decisions, which helped Macbeth and Duddy’s ambition grow, which made both protagonists greedy, and in the end, both characters Macbeth and Duddy, become corrupt.

Ethnocentric Approaches to HRM

Ethnocentric Approaches to HRM 1 Introduction Human resource management (HRM) refers to the activities an organization carries out to utilize its human resources effectively, including determining the firms human resource strategy, staffing, performance evaluation, management development, compensation, labor relations. The staffing activity is concerned with the selection of employees who have the suitable skills required to perform a particular job. To perform staffing function effectively, there are three main approaches within international business identified: the ethnocentric approach, the polycentric approach, the geocentric approach (Dowling PJ, Festing M and Engle AD, 2008). In the article, the ethnocentric approach will be comprehensively and deeply analyzed, and then the advantages and disadvantages of ethnocentric approach will be figured out. Combined with analyzing the case of Hilton Group, we will see that the reason why the ethnocentric approach to HRM for multinational company (MNC) is out, that how an internatio nal human resource management (IHRM) effectively plays its part under the global context. 2 The ethnocentric approach to HRM for MNC is out. 2.1 General situation of Hilton International Group Whichever major city you find yourself in you may have a big shot to coming across a Hilton Hotel. Hilton International Group is a leading global hotel brand; the company operates 380 hotels all round the world and has subsidiaries located in 66 countries. Its 80,000 strong workforce looks after and serves an average of 8 million guests every year (Article, 2002; Annual Report, 2003). The quality of the Hilton brand is base on the customer service and its operational excellence is higher than in most industries. The same as all service businesses, the contribution of people is of central importance to Hiltons success. Hilton International is quite decentralized: splitting into countries, cities and individual hotels. This meant that hundreds of its managers have to be convinced about the initiative an exercise in which Skill-Soft plays a fundamental role to tackle different issues arisen from its 66 country subsidiaries. (Article, 2002) 2.2 Recruitment analysis of Hilton International Group The broad recruitment strategy determines the nature of the international manager development program and the type of IMD, suggested by Perlutter (1969) and later on by DAnnunzio-Green (1997). Besides the ethnocentric approach which tends to use expatriates in key positions abroad, there are other two different approaches available for managing and staffing companies subsidiaries, the polycentric approach and geocentric approach. The polycentric approach tends to use local nationals wherever possible and the polycentric approach tends to use a mixture of nationals, expatriates and third country nationals (Treven S., 2001; Datamonitor, 2004). For the ethnocentric approach, the cultural values and business practices of the home country put a predominant influence on the subsidiaries. The corporation headquarter determines all the standards of evaluation and controls the branchs management practice in the form of orders and commands (Miles, 1965; Malkani, 2004). For the polycentric appr oach, it is just direct opposite to the ethnocentric approach. The corporation headquarter allows its subsidiaries to develop locally but the corporation headquarter will supervise the local managers. However, this results in little communication between the corporation headquarter and its subsidiaries. For the geocentric approach, it combines the advantages of ethnocentric approach and polycentric approach. The selection of manager is based on competency rather than nationality and organizations try to combine the best from both the corporation headquarter and its subsidiaries. With regard to Hilton Hotel Group, it tries to integrate different parts of the group through the cooperation between headquarter and subsidiaries, and then implement combined standard of both universal side and local side for evaluation and management (Johnson, 2003). And at the same time, Hilton has attempted to recruit and develop a group of international managers from diverse countries for many years. These international managers constitute a mobile base for a variety of management facilities as the need arises. 2.3 The phenomenon Hilton Group unfolds and implies: the ethnocentric approach to HRM for MNC is out The recruitment approach of Hilton hotel indicates something that reveals the shortages of the other two approaches. As this article aims at the ethnocentric approach analysis, it can be concluded that the Hilton Group did not adopt the ethnocentric approach as the staffing strategy for some reason. Here what is needed to be explored is that what the reason is. Underling the phenomenon of Hilton Group not adopting the ethnocentric approach, there may exists some common truth shared the multi-national corporation, like Hilton Group. Is the ethnocentric approach out to human resource management for Multi-national Corporation? The answer to this question definitely is yes; the explanations and its analysis will be stated in the following paragraph. 3 Advantages and disadvantages of ethnocentric approach to HRM 3.1 The ethnocentric approach To analyze the question and answer above, firstly let us see what does ethnocentric approach mean and why the people use it to human resource management. Ethnocentric approach means the home country practice prevails within the company (Albrecht MH (Ed), 2001); headquarters from the home country makes crucial decisions; employees from the home country hold important positions, and the subsidiaries follow the headquarter management practice. The companies that adopt ethnocentric approach hold three reasons: firstly the company believes that there is a lack of qualified individuals in the host country to fill senior management positions(Dickman M, Brewster C, Sparrow P, 2008); secondly, the firm regards an ethnocentric approach as the best way to maintain a unified corporation culture; thirdly, the company believes that the best way to create value by transferring core competencies to a foreign branch is to transfer home-country nationals who have sufficient knowledge and competency fo r the branch. However, recently the ethnocentric is on the wane in most international business, for two main reasons: leading to â€Å"cultural myopia† and limiting advancement opportunities for host country nationals. 3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of ethnocentric approach As to the issue whether ethnocentric approach to HRM should be used in Multi-national Corporation, both the advantages and disadvantages of ethnocentric approach deserve to be analyzed and evaluated. The advantages of ethnocentric approach include: offers multi-national orientation opportunities to employees through the working experience at parent company; cultural similarity with parent company guarantees various transfer of business and management practices; permits tighter control and closer coordination of international subsidiaries for the headquarters (Grandrose CS, 1997); establish a big pool of international experienced executives for the parent country. The disadvantages of ethnocentric approach include: the subsidiaries may create problems of adaptability to the local environment and culture; the corporation may involve high transfer fee and salary costs; sending managers to subsidiaries may result in personal and family problems; it may be more possible to lead to high fa ilure rate; it may has disincentive effect on local-management morale and motivation; the subsidiaries may be subject to local government restrictions, and others. For Multinational Corporation, the ethnocentric approach shows a centralized authority management style. The local subsidiaries do not have so many decision-making rights compared with the geocentric approach subsidiaries. However, the business surroundings vary from one country to another. One management decision works out in a country but may not work out in another. Obviously this is unsolvable problem faced by the corporation headquarter that adopted ethnocentric approach to HRM. Surely there are other tough issues confronted with the MNC which adopts ethnocentric approach. But all the issues are arisen from the ethnocentric approach. Thus I think the disadvantages of the ethnocentric approach put a heavier negative role on the MNC management than the positive role put by the advantages of the ethnocentric approach. Combined with Hilton hotels operational environment differences, Hilton Group made a right decision of not adopting the ethnocentric approach. 3.3 Deeply analyzing the reason why the ethnocentric approach to HRM for MNC is out. Since it is a right decision for Hilton Group not to adopt the ethnocentric approach, then put it in another way, it is a wrong decision for Hilton Group to adopt the ethnocentric approach, at least at the time of present. Then it can be concluded that the ethnocentric approach to HRM for Hilton Group is out. However, can the conclusion be applied universally into other multi-national corporation like Hilton? If the answer is yes and the ethnocentric approach to HRM for Multinational Corporation is out, then what is the reason and how does it happen. The following is to deeply analyze the reason why the ethnocentric approach to HRM for MNC is out. On the related theme, if the foreign subsidiaries of MNC intend to succeed in a particular market, they must hire, train, and afford attractive career path to the local managers in the subsidiary country (Lucas R et al, 2006). Having those who know the language, the culture, and the business customs to operate the subsidiaries is quite crucial to reach the success of the subsidiaries. All these requirements above in this paragraph cannot be realized by the ethnocentric approach. For MNC, the ethnocentric approach denies advancement to the subsidiary country nationals, which probably breed resentment and diminish the corporation public image; the expatriate managers may become insular in their attitudes and prone to the cultural myopia, and the latter may lead to management overlooking niche market opportunities. The ethnocentric approach also frequently comes into conflict with host-country laws, norms and traditions (Schuler R. and Jackson S., 2003). It is clearly that the ethnocentric approach to management is not best suited to a global market place. And as more and more companies realize that the ethnocentric approach does not yield success, gradually this approach will be abandoned in favor of a more multinational approach. 4 The right way to perform IHRM and help MNC develop. 4.1 How IHRM works in a MNC Under the context of global economic integration, if the MNC wants to achieve success in the world market, it has to adopt a more multi-national competitive strategy for human resource management, rather than the ethnocentric approach. To explore deeper what constitute the success of a MNC for HRM, the characteristics of IHRM will be stated and analyzed here. Broadly defined, international human resource management (IHRM) means all the process of procuring, allocating, and effectively utilizing human resources within a multinational corporation. If the IHRM is a art of managing different people with various cultures, then the emphasis of IHRM should be focused on dealing with the changes among the differences from both the people and the culture (Warner M and Joynt P, 2002), and then to realize the goal of managing workforce efficiently and effectively across boundaries for the company, in other word, during the process of managing, people with different culture, ethnicity, values and ethos will be well coordinated and organized. Compared with the domestic traditional HRM, there are two somewhat conflicting strategic objectives that are needed to be achieved by international human resource managers (Sparrow P. et al, 2004). Firstly, the IHRM managers need to integrate the HR practices and policies across the subsidiaries in different coun tries so that the corporation objectives can be achieved. Secondly, the approach to IHRM must be flexible enough to allow for many differences in the type of HR policies and practices that are very effective in the different business and cultural environment. 4.2 The approach for IHRM working in a MNC: geocentric approach Based on the requirements of IHRM, according to the definition of the geocentric approach, and combined with the analysis of Hilton case, it can be seen that the geocentric approach is an effective approach to the international human resource management. The geocentric approach can not only help the corporation deal well with the local issues arisen in the subsidiaries, but also can demonstrate trust in local citizenry which is good for the public relations of a MNC and increase acceptance of the company by the local community. What is more, the geocentric approach can effectively represent local considerations and constraints in the decision-making process and maximize the number of decision options available in the local environment. 5 Conclusions IHRM focuses on the management of human resources on a global basis. For a multi-national corporation, how to effective manage various differences from the subsidiaries located in different countries is a crucial part to its IHRM. Then choosing the right approach influences the great implementation of the major international human resource management functions. Those companies that take the ethnocentric approach attempt to impose their home country methods on their subsidiaries. But it results in bad outcomes in the subsidiaries. Various issues arisen from the ethnocentric approach are confronted by the corporations that adopt ethnocentric approach. The multi-national corporations have to find another approach to effective carry out the global competitive strategy and deal with the local tough issues in subsidiaries. Hilton Group, though using large quantities of expatriates to manage its hotels, achieved a great success all round the world. It indicates that the ethnocentric approach to HRM for MNC is out. Then by analyzing the characteristics of multi-national corporations, the right approachgeocentric approachis proved to be able to tackle the issues arisen in subsidiaries. However, varied with the business surroundings changes and differences, the approach to IHRM implementation also needs to be adjusted. Maybe one day the geocentric approach is out to IHRM, a newer approach appears to help the MNC achieve success globally; after all, all the approaches aim to make the company win. References Albrecht MH (Ed) (2001), International HRM: managing diversity in the workplace, Oxford: Blackwell Article, 2002, A skillsoft case study: Hilton hotels, http://www.skillsoft.com/EMEA/documents/Hilton%20Case%20study.pdf Boselie P., Paauwe J., Richardson R., 2003, Human resource management, institutionalization and organizational performance: a comparison of hospitals, hotels and local government, International Journal of Human Resource Management; December, Vol. 14 Issue 8, pp.1407-1429; Datamonitor, 2004, Hilton Group plc: company profile, April, pp. 1-9; Dickman M, Brewster C, Sparrow P (2008) International Human Resource Management: A European Perspective, London: Routledge Dowling PJ, Festing M and Engle AD (2008), International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context, London: South Western Grandrose CS (1997), Cross-cultural Work Groups, London: Sage Johnson A., 2003, Making room for recognition and reward at Hilton, Strategic HR Review, Vol.2 Issue 3, March/April, pp.10-12; Lucas R et al (2006) Human Resource Management in an International Context, London:CIPD Miles R., 1965, Human relations or human resources?, Harvard Business Review, Vol.43 Issue 4, July/August, pp.147-189; Schuler R. and Jackson S. (2003) Managing Human Resources in Cross-Border Alliances London: Routledge Sparrow P. et al (2004) Globalizing Human Resource Management London: Routledge Warner M and Joynt P (2002) Managing Across Cultures. London: Thomson

Innovation In David Mc Culloughs The Great Bridge :: essays research papers

ALBERT EINSTEIN once said about the invention of the Atomic Bomb that it was as much a matter of scientific knowledge and astuteness, as it was a call of circumstances and time. The millennial brightness of Albert Einstein, the pressing imminence of war and the determination to succeed of the American government and scientists, are part of the ecology of innovation that surrounded the emergence of nuclear technology, and eventually led to the creation of the atomic bomb and its destructive power. The ecology of innovation not only includes the elements directly related to the emergence of a new technology such as its inventor, or the need it fulfilled, but also includes seemingly unimportant aspects such as the governing politics that allowed it and the conditions that created a need for that technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  APPLIED TO David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge, this concept encompasses a whole nation in its drive towards modernization. Preceded by inventions such as the railroad and the telegraph, the second half of the 19th century stands at a time where technology is regarded as a primary option to achieving comfort. Little by little, the realization is made that perhaps nature’s boundaries is not the farthest mankind can go. The middle of the 19th century also opens an era of greater involvement of the government in matters of public interests and an increase of funding as well; The Erie canal build from 1817 to 1825 is a testimony of such an involvement, and an example of the willingness to defy nature with innovation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, as communications are slowly developed with the emergence of the telegraph and later the telephone, the notion of time and distance become more important than they ever were, and begin to matter in the everyday lives of people. When observed in such an ecology, it is easy to understand how and why the idea of a bridge over the East River, connecting Brooklyn to New York came about at that particular time. Of course as in the example given earlier, the mind at work was a sine qua non condition, and there would most likely not have been any bridge without the mind, or rather the minds of the Roeblings. For this amazing piece of engineering, he was the right mind at the right time. Thomas Kinsella put it in better words in The Brooklyn Eagle, saying: †He spoke our language imperfectly, because he had not the advantage of being born on our soil, but he spoke the genuine language of America at Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Niagara†¦(The Great Bridge p.

Merleau-Ponty on Beauvoirs Literary-Philosophical Method :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Merleau-Ponty on Beauvoir's Literary-Philosophical Method ABSTRACT: Modern philosophy from the mid-nineteenth century on, has been particularly interested in choosing, adapting, and in some cases inventing literary forms to fit the particular philosophical subject under investigation. Simone de Beauvoir, with her explicit rejection of any formalist division between literature and philosophy, is one of the most interesting contributors to the modern development of philosophical writing. The waters surrounding de Beauvoir’s contribution to philosophical method are somewhat muddled because the literary forms she used innovatively for philosophy — the novel and the short story — have (unlike, for example, the literary forms of Wittgenstein) resulted in writing which has been chiefly esteemed largely in terms of literature. In fact, many of her compositions rest simultaneously in both the categories of literature and philosophy. The significance of this aspect of her work was recognized by some of her contemporary philosophi cal associates, most particularly Merleau-Ponty. This paper draws on Merleau-Ponty to explore the philosophical ideas which inspired de Beauvoir’s methodology, and considers the nature and ramifications of her originality in terms of philosophy’s tradition of methodological diversity. 1. Philosophy's Literary Forms In this paper we want to examine a category error in which her fiction and philosophy are treated as mutually exclusive and separate categories. The underlying problem at work in contributing to this mistake is that of the conflation of a writerly form with the type of subject matter addressed by it. Falling into this confusion is particularly misleading for readers of Simone de Beauvoir because one of the most significant and fascinating aspects of her methodology lies in her explicit rejection of any formalist division between literature and philosophy. This is an intriguing aspect of her work which places it in an honourable and innovative philosophical position. It is not often enough noted that one part of the Western philosophical tradition — a part which is especially admirable — is the diversity of writerly forms which have proved useful to its major practitioners. The dialogues of Plato and Hume, the fables of the Enlightenment philosophers, the dramatic narrat ives of Kierkegaard, the parables and aphorisms of Nietzsche, as well as the essays of Kant and Sartre are all part of that heritage. Equally, the mathematician's "paper" used by Tarski and Russell, and the scientific paper adapted and made so fashionable by the logical positivists, and that strange literary form devised by Wittgenstein, so eccentric that it apparently remains without a name and yet has its antecedent in Spinoza's Ethics, all form part of the major lineage of ways in which philosophy has been successfully written.

Ansell Condoms Case Study Essay

Question 2: What are the pros and cons for Ansell acquiring a European competitor? In your opinion, is it a good idea? Pros Ansell will be able to get a greater share of the market in Europe. Acquiring a new company in Europe will help to build their portfolio. They should be able to increase their number of recognisable brands. Ansell will be able to acquire the new companies existing contracts and contacts. It will help to create a reduction of overcapacity in the industry. Increase sales/revenue. Cons It was mentioned that the companies that Ansell are thinking about taking over are in some financial difficulty at the moment so Ansell will have to take on that difficulty. There is an increased change of job cuts. It will be hard for Ansell so see all of the hidden liabilities the company may possess. Ansell will more than likely have to pay goodwill for the acquisition. Conclusion Overall in my opinion it would be a good idea for Ansell to try and acquire a European competitor because although there is some financial risk and it could be a difficult process I think that the pros that I mentioned above will outweigh the potential cons. Ansell will need to get a strategy in place to make sure that the takeover goes as smoothly as possible. Learning Points: * Condom market is extremely competitive This case study shows us that the condom market is extremely competitive with five main companies competing with each other and a large number of smaller companies continually trying to gain a greater market share. * Acquisition of European competitor good for Ansell It would be a good idea for Ansell to take over one of their smaller European competitors to try and increase their market share and increase their number of recognisable brands around the world.