Insights Offered by Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Macbeth, written by English playwright William Shakespeare, is a fictional play set during a deep Christian era, which focuses heavily on the life of Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. Consistently throughout the play, a number of critical issues and themes are explored and reiterated with the clever use of language techniques and setting. On analysis of the patterns these themes and issues present, the responder is able to recognise a number of insights into the complex structure of human life and emotion.Furthermore, through investigation of Shakespeare's time and audience, we can further understand the context of these insights and how they relate to present day. Ambition is essentially a positive human emotion, however it maintains the ability to manipulate personal decision and influence cause of action. Throughout the play, the power and control of ambition is notably the most crucial element in the development of the plot, and provides a fundamental insight into the manner human em otions operate.To begin Macbeth is initially portrayed as a noble and decent character before meeting the three witches. He is considered loyal to his king and is highly respected amongst his soldiers, â€Å"For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—†. Shakespeare characterises this dignified Macbeth through the use of powerful emotive language such as â€Å"worthy gentle men† and â€Å"valiant cousin†. However, upon meeting the witches and hearing the utterance of their prophecy â€Å"All hail king thereafter†, ambition begins to consume him, initiating his mental downfall.Shakespeare emphasises the effect of ambition over Macbeth when he contrasts the once heroic character as â€Å"deceitful, false, avaricious and malicious†. Not only to we see the controlling effect of ambition on Macbeth, but rather it is his wife who begins wild dreams of limitless control as ambition reveals a darker side of human nature. Lady Macbeth, constr icted by this dark desire for power, aggressively persuades Macbeth into murdering King Duncan. We see Macbeth use ambition as a justification to himself when he declares â€Å"Vaulting ambition, which o'er leaps itself and falls on the other â€Å".Shakespeare’s inclusion of the term â€Å"vaulting ambition† demonstrates and emphasises the influence ambition can dictate over human action. Such wild ambition is presented in Macbeth's soliloquy and metaphor â€Å"Life's but a walking shadow†, which implies its inevitable and detrimental nature. Macbeth allows the responder to identify the manipulative nature and control ambition can hold over human emotion. It is through Shakespeare's clever characterisation and use of language techniques that we can analyse the natural process of human emotion and how ambition can act as a catalyst for irrational human behaviour.As such, we establish a key insight into the impact of ambition on human emotion and the destructiv e and unethical behaviour that can result. In Macbeth, the Elizabethan world view and perception of natural order greatly influences the complex mechanics of the play. Shakespeare writes in a time where God’s order was assigned to all aspects of life, from kings to nobles, husband to wife, and men to women. If the natural order was altered, God would become displeased and society and nature would distort until order was inevitably returned to its natural state.The subversion of nature is presented consistently throughout Macbeth; in the tyranny and vicious nature of Macbeth, and also in the ambiguous and abnormal gender profile demonstrated by Lady Macbeth. The corruption of the natural order in Scotland commences upon Macbeth's act of regicide and unjust ascension to kingship. Shakespeare effectively communicates the impact of such unnatural events through the use of powerful natural imagery. Subsequent to Macbeth's murder of Duncan, Dunsinane is engulfed in a violent weathe r of storms and ferocious winds.Lenox describes the evening as, â€Å"The night has been unruly. Where we lay, Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say, Lamentings heard i' th' air† This use of symbolic imagery portrays how Scotland has been overwhelmed by sin. Lady Macbeth further provokes the unsettling of natural order when she begins to plot against the King. At this time, we see her gender ambiguity provoked when she exclaims â€Å"unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty†.Macbeth become more passive as she begins to assume a more masculine role, and therefore, is subverting the Elizabeth natural order by denying her femininity. In the Elizabethan era, such an unstable and disturbed world was toxic. Inevitably we see the death of Macbeth and his wife as they succumb to the consequence of their actions. Order is finally restored to the land following Malcolm's proper ascension to the throne, highlighting the significanc e of correct order and hierarchy to the Elizabethan Era.Shakespeare’s crucial involvement of natural order and God's will is a powerful inclusion in the play. Through the use of powerful imagery and contrast, Shakespeare allows us to develop an insight into the importance of maintaining correct social order and the consequences of challenging it. In Macbeth, a number of key characters make decisions that result in harsh consequences. Shakespeare allows us to identify the connection between sinful actions and the subsequent guilt and consequence. Within the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both totally consumed by guilt.Upon committing regicide, Shakespeare highlights the overriding guilt of their actions through the use of symbolic imagery. The image of blood is consistently repeated throughout the play and symbolises the unrelenting guilt staining the couple â€Å"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? † This is further demonstra ted in Act 5 Scene 1, where Lady Macbeth's mental depreciation and thriving guilt is highlighted when she is presented with the illusion of bloodstained hands as she sleep walks in the night, â€Å"all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Shakespeare also utilises setting well in many of the scenes to represent the evil pervading within the play and around the couple. Images of darkness and night help create this evil setting for the sin committed by Macbeth and his wife, â€Å"let not light see my black and deep desires†. Macbeth allows us to establish an understanding of the consequences of a person's action and the subsequent guilt that follows. Accordingly, we are provided with an insight into the role of choices in human emotion and how a regrettable decision can bring with it not only cruel consequence, but unforgiving guilt.Shakespeare's Macbeth explores several critical issues pertaining to the process of human life and society. Macbeth reflects on human attitudes and reinforces the challenges of human behaviour. The play reiterates the consequences that are linked to sinful action and the guilt that follows, the importance of order and structure in society, and the impact of ambition as a catalyst for irrational human behaviour. These issues provide us with key insights into the complex mechanics and structure of human emotion and society, enhancing our understanding of the play as a whole.

Cultural Context Essay

Even though construction is usually considered as originally the activity of men and machines in digging, moving, shaping, erecting, and so forth, the relative use of building materials by the construction industry far exceeds its share in the gross domestic product. Specifically is construction of great significance for that special class of materials – sometimes called as the â€Å"physical-structure† materials, which made major things of human civilization. Out of these â€Å"physical-structure† materials the more or less long-lasting and reliably shaped are wood and concrete. They are basic building materials for thin-shell roof construction, walls, tanks, large-diameter pipes, runways, highway bridges and many other structures. Main Body Concrete is related to the most significant building technologies in twentieth and the early twenty first century. However, other important building materials, such as wood, also figure in the construction picture. The poured method of concrete building has been so improved that buildings of this material are now erected as rapidly as a wood structure. Engineering departments all over the world are now prepared to assist engineers, architects and builders to apply concrete and wood to their construction work. Increasingly in the beginning of the twentieth century, when builders were asked how they should build the foundation possessing good physical strength, their answer was – concrete. Either by placing the steel frame upon concrete foundations or by placing it upon a more spacious concrete raft foundation, architectural constructors in most cases complement steel with concrete as a problem-solving building material. By reinforcing concrete with steel rods, or by using steel machinery to form concrete blocks as prefabricated building blocks, builders further diversified their architectural techniques. The most approved composition of concrete for general construction consists of a mixture of broken limestone, granite or clean screened mixture of rock fragments, clean coarse sand and cement, in such proportions that the voids between the stone are completely filled by the sand and the voids in the sand completely filled with cement, with a slight excess of cement to guarantee a perfect connection with the stone. To create top-quality concrete, manufacturers need equally high-grade cement. By 1900 approximately three-quarters of that material was Portland cement, named after the tiny island of Portland in the U. K. where a desirable limestone used in its manufacture was descovered. In 1824 Joseph Aspdin, from Leeds, was the first to provide the world with Portland cement, but after 1872 the material was produced in the United States and its popularity spread rapidly (Collins, 1998). At the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition, American Portland cement was displayed to the public as a useful and practical building material, but production only began in earnest in 1880 and domestic cement only began to overtake European imports in 1897, by which time American machinery for crushing aggregate and making concrete had also begun to substitute European machines, even in Europe itself (American Exporter, 1906, 58 (3), pp. 79-87). Wood structures can be constructed more quickly and inexpensively than other kinds. Wood still is used for finish flooring in the living areas of about four out of five homes, although plastic tiles and other materials are gaining ground. Flooring generally involves both the visible flooring and a subflooring. Most frame houses utilize boards for subflooring, but plywood is gaining ground. In buildings which use concrete beams, concrete flooring slabs are generally poured right along with the beams. Steel structures may be floored with poured concrete or with precast concrete or gypsum slabs. Roofs of houses, which have a timber framework and cladding, are likely to have as the foundation wooden board, plywood, or composition planking. However, the current general tendency in home building toward flat, or low-pitched, roofs has led to a partial shift from tile, wood, and asbestos tiles to concrete materials and poured concrete. Because of its important role in residential buildings, wood does only slightly less well than concrete. Although its relative cost has increased with time, it is still the most popular building material all over the world. The open-grained wood of any of numerous coniferous trees, such as pine and cedar, as distinguished from that of a dicotyledonous tree, enters the English home as framing, siding, shingles, finishing panels, sash, millwork, and boarding, used to cover the wall studding or roof joists of a timber frame; the wood of any of numerous broad-leaved dicotyledonous trees, such as oak, beech, ash, etc. – principally as flooring, material used for making panels, and trim. In non-residential buildings, wood is put to practice as the most widely used building material for concrete formwork, railroad ties, telephone poles, railings, fences, and many other purposes (BLAIRSLTD). The chief advantages of wood in construction industry include its ease of production and of process by which wood is packaged and transported, its low thermal conductivity, and its strength-to-weight ratio (which is greater than that of cast iron and is identical to that of the stronger concretes) (Rowell 9). Yet, because of its peculiar weaknesses as an organic material, such as vulnerability to fungi and various insects, its relative lack of versatility in terms of design, and its long-term rise in price in comparison with concrete, the relative role of wood as a building material may to some degree decrease in the future, and further replacement may be projected. If considered as a structural material in large building construction, wood has already been largely replaced by concrete framing, brick or concrete walls, and concrete floors. This trend will probably continue in the future. On the other part, wood framing probably will retain its dominating position in the residential building, although giving way a bit to steel, concrete, perhaps aluminium, and sandwich panel method of building. The advantages of metal roof frameworks are gradually reducing the amount of wood required for roof structures. Moreover, for exterior trimming wood is being increasingly substituted by brick exterior and by panels of such building materials as asbestos, metal, and organic materials with a polymeric structure. Dry wall building and the utilisation of gypsum plasterboard and of metal lath are also considerably lessening the need for wood. The most important role for wood is probably in finished flooring, but there are modern trends toward replacement of composition and various types of synthetic materials even in living areas. Wood, like steel, is yielding to aluminum as the leading building material for window frames, door frames, doorways, trim, and other such purposes. In concrete building the formwork is tending change from wood to steel and plywood and also to plastics. Growing popularity of plywood and of laminated structural members may slow down the trend away from wood. Laminated wood arches, structural frameworks of wood, and roof systems have proved appropriate for spanning distances up to 120 feet, and, because of their attractive and pleasant appearance, are today in frequent use in the building of churches and temples, buildings for public gatherings or meetings, shopping areas, and the similar places. Plywood, which to some degree possesses more physical strength than lumber, may replace lumber in almost any of its uses; it is already extensively used in subflooring, boarding, interior panelling, concrete forms, and so forth. Thus, it may be expected to grow in total use at almost twice the rate predicted for lumber. Use of concrete in building is constantly increasing today. It is a changeable mixture of portland cement, fine aggregates (almost always sand), and coarse aggregates (crushed stone, gravel, cinder, slag, or whatever else is available within a particular area). The proportions of these ingredients are influenced by the particular use to which the concrete is to be intended, but they are at most times 1:2:4. As can be seen, cement is the minor component in this mixture. The fact that concrete is the most extensively used building material can be explained by its advantages related to wood among which are versatility, its high breaking strength relative to bricks and other kinds of masonry materials, the low price which makes it comparatively inexpensive material relative to structural steel, and in essence the presence of concrete components almost in all areas (Classic Encyclopaedia). The main uses of concrete in England are in dams, water tanks, pipes and sewers, heavy walls, piers, caissons, columns, and road and sidewalk pavements. In addition, concrete is utilised in the form of units cast in a particular form before being used in building, such as concrete blocks and cast stone, whose principal advantage over wood, brick, and structural tile is that they are costing relatively little. Because of the low flexural strength of concrete, it is combined with steel in most of its construction applications (Classic Encyclopaedia). This combination is made possible by the match of coefficients of thermal expansion of these materials. The amount of reinforcing steel – rods, wire, wire-mesh, and so forth – needed for a concrete structure is only one-third to one-half the amount needed for a similar completely steel structure. In England, the possibilities of this technique of construction are just beginning to extend its use beyond massive complex constructions. The chief disadvantages of reinforced concrete (also known as ferroconcrete or armoured concrete) in comparison with structural steel are the time and costs of construction, even if one takes account of the applying paints to the surface of steel members and their trimming. It is costly to build and remove forms, shores, and temporary metal or wooden frameworks. Most of the developments, which been made not long ago, in methods of concrete building are somehow related to reducing expense on forms, First, as an alternative to the traditional lumber and plywood, steel – and more recently, plastic with fibrous matter to confer additional strength – forms have been experimented. Plastics are especially showing great promise, in view of the fact that they are smooth and easily utilised, able to keep water, may be given extraordinary shapes, and may be use again and again from fifteen to twenty times. Second, â€Å"slip-form† pavers have been successfully employed in laying road pavements (Green 1-2). Third, precasting of concrete members has been used as a mass production technique and to provide solid and robust in construction, more unchanging in form concrete, but presents some transportation problems. Fourthly, so-called tilt-up construction and lift-slab construction has permitted walls, floors, and columns to be poured on a horizontal surface and then either tilted or lifted into place. Finally, able to be used more than once, adjustable length steel trusses have removed the need for the multiple strengthening which differently has to be placed under the conventional built-up forms. The faster such form-saving processes are improved and used by engineers and constructors, the faster steel concrete is likely to be used as a structural material. One more limitation of usual concrete is its low heat insulation value. That is why concrete walls are occasionally of a non-load bearing, sandwich type, being composed of a layer of insulating material cast between two concrete slabs. In this application, concrete is to a serious degree threatened by other types of curtain walls, including various types of sandwiches. Alternative way to give concrete protecting properties is to make it with relatively light weight aggregates – such as vermiculite, expanded clay, and so forth. In this form, it not any more has sufficient quality of being physically strong to be used for load bearing purposes, although it has been very well utilised in long-span roof building. Prestressed concrete has gotten great significance as a building material. The basic characteristic of prestressed concrete is that, by compressing concrete and keeping it under compression, the tensile stresses caused by loads are neutralized (CEMENT). The compression is accomplished by casting the concrete around stretched rods or cables, the tension on which is released as the concrete sets. A prestressed beam needs only one-fourth the weight of the steel and one-half the weight of concrete which is needed to support the same load by a usual reinforced concrete member. Although it was patented by a San Francisco engineer in 1886, prestressed concrete did not emerge as an accepted and effective building material until a half-century later. Since then it had been intensively used in Europe for structural purposes. Up to the present moment, prestressed concrete’s applications have been limited mostly to pipes, tanks, runways, and from time to time highway bridges. As engineers and constructors gain experience and manage to reduce the manufacturing expenses, prestressing may become competitive with steel and with reinforced concrete building. After weighing up all the factors, the trend is more toward a substitution of concrete for other building materials than of other building materials for concrete. The use of portland cement which is made by heating a slurry of clay and crushed chalk should more than double in the next decades, may presumably triple, and at its lowest is expected to become greater by at least one-third.

How Women Changed During the Civil War Essay

The Civil War was a defining moment in American history. It was the event which determined the fate of the nation as the American community was divided into two opposing sides. It was also a time of significant social change. The realm of war previously belonged to the men; it was the male soldiers who fought in the battlefields. However, the Civil War altered the situation. The status of women dramatically changed as they became active participants in the war effort. Indeed, the Civil War opened many opportunities for women and allowed them to be active members of society. This research paper aims to discuss how women changed during the American Civil War, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the said changes. In the 19th Century America, men dominated society and women were regarded as inferior to them. Women lived under the authority of the opposite sex, either that of the father, husband or another relative (Massey, 1994). They were confined in the domestic sphere; their main concerns were their home and family. Women had no voice in the political arena because only the men had dealt with public affairs. Not only was it objectionable for women to fulfill men’s jobs, it was also disagreeable for them to wear men’s clothes (Eggleston, 2003). When the Civil War began, the social lines were blurred. Women suddenly were presented the chance to go beyond their realm and participate in the world of men. They were given roles and jobs that were not accessible to them before. Both the Union and the Confederacy allowed women to take part in the war effort. For the first time, the government allowed women to become doctors and nurses (Eggleston, 2003). Women also served as messengers and spies. Meanwhile, there are also those women whose contributions were domestic in nature; these include cooking, as well as mending and sewing uniforms for the soldiers (Eggleston, 2003; Silber, 2005). These activities may have been the same as those women were tasked to do in the past; however, there was a significant change. Before, women only did those jobs due to the necessity in the household. During the war, the women did those jobs due to the necessity of the nation. Their domestic activities were no longer performed for private purposes; they had become part of the public affairs. However, women were not merely passive participants. They were also directly involved in the war effort as soldiers. The battlefield was reserved for males, but the females eventually found themselves fighting the same war. Women became soldiers by concealing their real identities (Eggleston, 2003). There were many reasons why women opted to disguise themselves as male soldiers. There were those who fought in the war to either escape from their betrothal or to be with their loved ones. Some saw the war as an adventure and craved its excitement. There were others who saw fighting for its financial benefits and the opportunity to better provide for their families. Meanwhile, there were women who took part in the Civil War for more noble reasons; they went to war because they were compelled by duty and patriotism (Eggleston, 2003). Women had to resort to extreme measures to appear like male soldiers. There were women who were immediately discharged because the way they acted revealed their real identities (Eggleston, 2003). Meanwhile, there were women who dramatically changed their actions and behavior before enlistment to successfully disguise themselves. They modified the color of their complexion and learned how to chew tobacco. They used vests with pads to conceal their breasts; the pads also made them seem more bulky and masculine (Eggleston, 2003). Having women disguised as men in war had its share of difficulties. The problems arose from the different toilet habits as well as other personal routines (Eggleston, 2003). Nonetheless, the recruitment of young men in the army proved to be advantageous for the female soldiers. The army consisted mostly of boys, who were still shy and reserved around each other. Most of them were hesitant to relieve themselves in the company of other soldiers; to attend their toilet needs, they had to hide in the woods or others areas which offered privacy. The meek nature of young men was beneficial for the female soldiers because it allowed them to seek privacy without appearing unusual. In addition, the young men of the army have not yet started shaving, so it did not appear unusual for the females if they did not shave (Eggleston, 2003). It is remarkable that women have finally reached the public realm during the Civil War, even if they had to pretend as men to do so. However, that kind of participation had disadvantages. Women who had successfully kept their real identities hidden as part of the army suffered all the difficulties which came with war (Eggleston, 2003). Female soldiers were held captive by their opponents, brought to prison camps and killed in the battlefields. There were those who perished and buried without their real identities discovered. Because women soldiers were not supposed to be fighting in the war, their participation in the war was previously not acknowledged. There were even those who denied the direct involvement of women as soldiers (Blanton, n. d. ). The non-recognition of women fighters in the Civil War prevented the discovery of the total number of female soldiers who offered their services. The numbers available on record are merely estimates. This situation posited a real problem, as it undermined and ignored the contributions of women in the battlefield. During the American Civil War, women changed because they went beyond the roles that were initialed assigned to them. The war effort presented them to enter the public realm of men and participate in it. Women had indeed changed during that time, as they progressed from housewives to participants in war. Women even came in disguise to become soldiers. While it is a great thing that women became active members of the community, some of their contributions were not recognized or accurately recorded because of their secret identities. Nonetheless, this does not diminish that fact that women were a significant part of the American Civil War. References Blanton, D. (n. d. ). Women soldiers and nurses of the American civil war. American Civil War Website. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://americancivilwar. com/women/index. html Eggleston, L. G. (2003). Women in the Civil War: Extraordinary Stories of Soldiers, Spies, Nurses, Doctors, Crusaders and Others. North Carolina: McFarland. Massey, M. E. (1994). Women in the Civil War. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. Siber, N. (2005). Daughters of the Union: Northern Women Fight the Civil War. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Scheduling Management in Tunnel Construction Projects Literature review

Scheduling Management in Tunnel Construction Projects - Literature review Example 45). Scheduling management Scheduling management is very important to any project because it entails helpful techniques applicable while managing activities involved in projects. Managers practice scheduling management before starting up a project, which involves. Pointing out the task that interests an individual, estimating the total period that the task will take, and distributing resources needed to perform that task, finally deciding on when the task will commence. In the procession of a project, monitoring is important as it ensures that scheduling management predicts the future of a project. An effective scheduling management helps the project administrator to ascertain that a project is within the expected cost, time and certain standards of quality (Kerzner, 2009, p. 47). Scheduling management techniques There are two types of scheduling management techniques applied in projects in order to enhance efficiency. These techniques include the Milestone chart and the Gantt chart. In projects, Milestone chart is very imperative as it identifies vital events that occur during the implementation of a project, it usually reflects critical issues in a project, which without controlling on time will lead to delays in a project. Milestone chart is very reasonable about deadlines as it entails installation of equipment, changes in a new system, completion of systems and file conversations. However, Gantt charts occur either in a horizontal bar shape or as a line chart and it indicates the activities that the project entails written in the left hand side of the chart. In addition, it contains the time scale of a project indicated at either the top or bottom of the chart, a line drawn showing the project’s estimated period and another line showing the dependencies among the project activities and the time used (Kerzner 2009). According to the construction industry, Gantt chart represents a scientific method of management that helps individuals to break down th e processes involved in projects. This chart divides a whole project into distinct task, methods of performing the tasks, cost and time spend on the task, and finally it monitors the entire project (Kerzner 2009). Steps for better scheduling management In order to come up with a successful project, it is important for project managers to observe the following scheduling management steps. Firstly, managers should implement a scope letter entailing the price of a project, which will be of benefit while negotiating for project schedule. Secondly, they should make a worksheet and compare it with the one provided by the contractor of the project; managers should also make notes indicating the commencement date of a project and when it will end. Managers should ensure that they recheck for logic problems in their work before they proceed because errors resulting from logic leads to poor projects. The project schedule should include separate person-hours allocated for each task in order to make it detailed and organized. The manager should carry out resource loading to ensure equal allocation of resources and tasks within a given time. Later, he/she should determine the total resources desirable in performing the project

Revenue Management in Restaurants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Revenue Management in Restaurants - Essay Example By calculating factors such as length-of-stay, accessibility and overbooking, revenue management practices can add to revenue, efficiency and property valuation for hotels by growing length of stay and check supply and demand to influence offered rates (Andersen, P. and Bowe, V. 2000). Nowadays McDonald's operates in the global quick service restaurant manufacturing trade. McDonald's was the lead the way of this trade and it was McDonald's which made the quick service restaurant commerce a worldwide industry by creating a enormous global profitable empire. At present McDonald's ranks 114th in the list of luck 500 companies and thanks to its ground-breaking dispensation and standardized approach to the profitable production of fast food, McDonald's has placed the quick service restaurant business between the big financial driving force industries such as steel and vehicle. According to the expert analysis Raymond Kroc the founder of McDonald's had the dream of a sequence of fast food restaurants in each American State and in the earth as well. No doubt, he wanted his fast food restaurants to serve excellence food according to permanent standards and requirement. When Kroc ongoing business in 1955 there were other well recognized fast food chains in United States, in the middle of the most extensively known were A&W, Dairy Queen, Tastee -Freez, and Big Boy, Burger King then recognized as InstaBurger King was just preliminary out. There were lots of things which alienated McDonald's from its rivals. No doubt, Raymond Kroc's goal was to make world wide fast food chain while the rest of the main fast food chains were not so excited about growth. Other fast food chains which function on a franchise basis viewed their operators as customers and only reaped benefits without providing much leadership relating to operation, endorsement, sales strategy, financi ng and food dispensation. Raymond Kroc comprehensive his hands to operators of permission McDonald's restaurants by extravagance them like do business partners in each respect of the business. These close associations with operators make sure that McDonald's restaurants in any State in the United States would dish up food according to fixed requirement and amount. Furthermore, Raymond Kroc did more than by just give recommendation regarding procedure management him allowable his operators to work out their innovative skills connecting to every feature of the franchise trade. McDonald's had set new principles for the fast food manufacturing by selling a recognized service not just original food recipes and formulas. (Greatest Business Stories of All Times) Revenue Management in Restaurants According to the expert analysis the nature of the restaurant industry, typify by many self-governing minute businesses as well as a few nationwide and international enterprises in a usually competitive environment, makes the application of revenue management, on the whole, additional problematical than in the airline and hotel sectors. Additional, adjusting the excellence of the product, and hence price levels, is much easier than for airlines and hotels. Against that, the vast preponderance of restaurants

The Common Goal and the Overall Productivity of the Organization Research Paper

The Common Goal and the Overall Productivity of the Organization - Research Paper Example The above performance appraisal form has been prepared for the supervisors to estimate his/her performances on a regular basis. The rating scale consists of nine parameters ranging from Excellent to Low. The supervisor will be evaluated based on the performance within a certain stipulated time. Seven performance factors have been taken into account since they are the key skills that a supervisor needs to possess. These factors are administration, knowledge of work, communication, teamwork, decision making, leadership and scheduling. It is to state that greater weight has been provided to the decision making, teamwork, leadership, communication and knowledge of work because these are the most essential skills that the supervisor’s job demands. Communication relates to how efficiently a supervisor is listening to his subordinates. It also intends to identify whether the supervisor demonstrates his ideas orally and in writing or not. The other factor to consider is whether the su pervisor reports to the management regarding the co-workers on a regular basis. Conversely, comparatively less weight has been provided to scheduling and administration since they are comparatively less significant; however, are important skills that are required. After having assessed the performance of an employee, it is vital to provide feedback on the performance that needs improvement and thus plan the activities that the organization along with the supervisor needs to take to make advancement in the performance. The plan can be to provide training to the supervisors. The evaluator also needs to check the reason behind the unsatisfactory performance and thus plan their actions accordingly.

Sexually Objectifying Music Videos and Lyric Increase Sexual Violence Research Paper

Sexually Objectifying Music Videos and Lyric Increase Sexual Violence - Research Paper Example pared to male characters since music videos portray women as sex objects because they use revealing or provocative clothes which display excessive skin exposure. Recent analysis of rap and hip hop music videos documents the presence of misogyny, which is defined as a sexualizing women and the dominance of men over women. The theme is visible in when numerous and highly sexualized women dance provocatively while wearing revealing clothes and being submissive to male artists other characters who are male in the music video. The result suggests that even though male characters are associated with various themes, female characters are mostly associated with position of objectification. Another recent content analysis study examined various sexual objectifications in other video music genres that include country and hip hop. The study showed that most of the sample video of female artists contained sexual objectification indicators like close-up shots of private body parts, touching of pe rsonal sexual body parts, sexualized dancing or ample skin exposure. Therefore, sexual objectification is not exclusively done to female characters by their male counterparts; but rather most female artists engage in acts of sexual objectification of their bodies. In accordance with objectification theory, sexual objectification is conceptually defined as a considering an individual as a body only valued by its use by others. Thus, basing on the definition, sexual objectification operationalized both in visual representation of female artists’ bodies and their behavior. Sexual objectification is common in media culture; however, music videos offer the potent example of it (Aubrey, Megan and Wanjiru 365). To understand how exposure to sexually objectifying music videos link to constructs... This "Sexually Objectifying Music Videos and Lyric Increase Sexual Violence" outlines how such types of video affect level of sexual violence. Research show that music video often differs in the way they portray men and women; generally showing men in more positive light compared to females. Specifically women are depicted in positions of submission compared to men; besides, men are likely to perpetuate violence and women are portrayed as victims. Music videos often show women dressed in provoking clothing specifically in sexually objectified music videos, the variation in the depictions of both men and women signifies the significance of considering gender differences in music video (Conrad, Travis, and Yuanyuan 137-138). Significant increase in sexualized videos results in idealized body perfection in young children, which is difficult to attain even for models that perpetuate the industry practice. Objectified music videos lead people to believe in reality that never exists which is detrimental especially to adolescents. Repeated exposure to sexually objectified music results in gender-stereotyped ideas and images that contribute to sexist attitudes and beliefs like sexual harassment and etc. Though, sexual objectification is one type of gender harassment, it takes into consideration other hosts of oppressions that women face ranging from employment discernment, trivialization and sexual violence. Consumption of sexually objectified music allows women to accept the tendency of viewing women as objects.

GBST300 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GBST300 - Essay Example For example in the book â€Å"How to get filthy rich in Asia† by Hamid a poor person who is the protagonist moves to city and becomes an industrialist. In a city, the education, health and security is better in village than city. Education a person can get from a school or college in village because comparing to health and security, education takes a second place. In city health and security is less and in village people can get fresh air, food and water. In village people can feel safe as there are no crowding people and there is no traffic of strangers. In a village the people know each other and feel safe. There is good health due to the reason that people are physically active. They do not spend their time leisurely and get enough time to walk or get active. Moreover they do not eat fast food or other processed food like city dwellers. They raise their own food and eat wholesome food which give them good nutrition and health. They also have access to fresh water and are not subjected to pollution. The â€Å"White horse village† is a documentary which shows the unhealthy ways of city dwellers that in greed of money and power are destroying a village in China. Getting ahead in cities is not easy. For this one person need to be competitive and need to be selfish and be materialistic. They need to be thinking of earning money by any means and others interests does not stand in their way. One needs to sacrifice their morals and ethical standard. In city one need to avoid love friendly attitude and should be ready for debt. In the book by Hamid the characters are all thinking that they are the hero which is the attitude needed in city life. The people should be ready to be unethical and the protagonist of his novel wants to go back to rural life after being rich and lost in a city lifelike the protagonist in the novel by Hamid who ignores religion, value and love

Leadership for Performance Improvement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership for Performance Improvement - Essay Example This paper seeks to reveal the effects of this entrepreneurial and leadership orientation on firm and individual performance through motivation. The organisation, in the modern day context, has become a body that is made up of its human resource and the quality that this resource base imbibes into the operational sphere of the organisation. (Silberman, 2006) The modern day organisation depends to a great extent on the contribution and quality of its human capital. (Enos, 2007) The human capital may be defined as that element of the organisation's operational sphere that is a living, breathing part of the activities that put the innate resources and factors of production into application. This application results in profits arising out of the activities of the human capital and the efficiency with which this resource carries out its tasks. (Ellis, 2003) This in turn, has a bearing on the achievement of the organisation's goals in the sense that the organisation is structured according to the quality of the HR within it. Also, it shows the principles that are followed by the management in manning the organisation.

Free Markets are Efficiency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Free Markets are Efficiency - Essay Example In addition, the paper also focuses on the criticism and arguments surrounding the free market concept. The efficiency of free markets surrounds the effectiveness of an economy in the allocation of resources. The efficiency of a free market is dependant on satisfaction of several conditions that permit the agents in that economy to trade freely and attain the market equilibrium in quantity and price. For the purpose of this paper, a free market is one that has negligible government interference, or no such interference (Argelis & Pitelis, 2008: 1). With this in mind, we may define a free market as a market where the agents engage in selling and buying activities on own consent, without any legal compulsion. The prices at which a trade transaction takes place, or the quantities traded are not under control (direct or indirect) of third parties in the market. In essence, this implies that the market operates without legal restrictions or regulations. Simply, a free market is one where buyers decide freely the commodities to buy and their quantities at the prices of the sellers and sellers choose freely the commodities they are willing to manufacture and sell at their price that they decide to sell. The first welfare theorem or the invisible hand proposes that a free market provides a channel through which an economic system is able to reach the ideal level of production. According to Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations, the different traders, like butchers and brewers, do not offer their services out of benevolence, but with a consideration of their own gains (Chang, 2002:5). Kenneth Arrow and Gerald Debreu later mathematically confirmed this theorem, indicating that in the event that all possible gains are exhausted from the exchange, then the free market attains an equilibrium equivalent to the Pareto efficiency in allocation of resources. In economics, the allocation of resources is Pareto efficient if there is no other feasible allocation preference by one pa rty, and which the other party equally likes, therefore making any further mutual benefiting allocation impossible (Hayek, 1945). For instance, party A and party B engage in a trade exchange. After several exchanges with emphasis on their level of endowment, party A and party B will reach a position on the curve (B and C), which is the Pareto optimal point of resource allocation (Lott, 2007: 82). The curve demonstrates the dual benefits of both parties for both reaching an equilibrium benefit of transfer and guiding the economy towards an outcome that observes the Pareto efficiency. Fig 1: Pareto optimality graph. From http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/images/fig8_1.gif&imgrefurl=http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/08_construction_pricing_and_conctracting.html&usg=__d69xypDoP0EqqL9D0orgPd46Ezw=&h=399&w=404&sz=5&hl=en&start=3&sig2=s1ZXuuc1Dtp3tLmn-opTVA&zoom=1&tbnid=AORY7mH4F1EvoM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=124&ei=uZDpTrifAsqZiQfMnYWyBw&um=1&itbs=1 The Pareto-efficient outcome is only attainable on the certain conditions that are generally not applicable in practice, despite the mathematical proof by Kenneth Arrow and Gerald Debreu (Mankiw, 2009:153). These conditions include, but not limited to, imperfect competition like a monopoly, inevitable provision of public goods, presence of externalities, negligible transaction costs that are difficult to achieve, and social priorities that often favor a particular

Patient Satisfaction and Retention Strategies in Hospitals Thesis

Patient Satisfaction and Retention Strategies in Hospitals - Thesis Example This paper illustrates that the performance of any hospital is dependent on the patient satisfaction and retention strategies for hospitals. Studies have been conducted on how hospitals can improve their patient satisfaction and retention strategies, as well as, how hospitals can attract patients. However, the studies did not explain explicitly the tactics that can be implemented to help attract patients and retain them at the same time. Therefore, the need to understand and analyze various factors that can help in improving patient satisfaction and retention in hospital settings. Although studies have been conducted to establish why different hospitals perform better than others, employee satisfaction has always satisfaction has always been a very important tool for medical staff. Staffs who are content will be more productive than discontented staff and will also have the low turnover of staff. The question of why some hospitals perform better than others is asked by many and by co nducting a research on the patient satisfaction and retention strategies on Sheikh Khalifa some of the questions will be answered. Though sickness is not something that can be wished for it is foolish or naà ¯ve to ignore the fact that people fall ill. It is in this context that SKMC tries to understand that treating a patient does not necessarily mean he or she is satisfied with the services offered. SKMC was built in 2005 due to the merger of publicly managed health care providers in Abu Dhabi. It encompasses several ‘Centers of Excellence’ and it is run by the Cleveland Clinic. It functions as the leading institution in SEHAs system. It is overseen by its obligation to practice modern health care services to high standards as high as the world’s best medical facilities. SKMC’s broad healthcare services provide for the priorities of the people of Abu Dhabi. It ensures both the finest levels of patient satisfaction and care and promotes overall health th rough awareness and education. SEHA is standing for Abu Dhabi Health Services and Company. SEHA is the Arabic word for health. It was launched in December 2007 and it is owned and run by the Abu Dhabi government. SEHA was launched by the government has plans to reform the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi and represent a positive milestone in the provision of the best healthcare services in the world by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa.

Usa And Mexico Immigration Issues Essay Example for Free

Usa And Mexico Immigration Issues Essay Why people from other nations wants to immigrate to U. S. Perhaps, there are great potentials to earn good money through employment, can lead good standard of living, having the pride to be the citizen of the World’s richest country and many more advantages like free medical coverage and financial aid to poor, and to have great business potentialities. This research essay analyses issues relating to immigrant in U. S. A , its impact , nature of issues involving the immigrant, its effect on American economy and probable solutions to issue. [Peter Katel 393-420]. America can be called as land of immigration and even today, over 43 million American still claim German ancestry and 34 million claim Irish roots. America’s first wave of immigration was principally drawn from western and northern Europe –Teutonic and Celtic in origin. However, starting in the 1870’s, a substantial portion of Jewish, Latin, and Slavic peoples migrated to American shores and this group accounted for about 70% of the immigrant population in U. S. A. [Msaci 921-944]. After the 9/11 attack, US immigration policy has been tightened. In US, immigration policy has always been a contentious subject. [David Merchant 287]. It is estimated that more than 10 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States and about 1500 illegal immigrants mainly from Mexico are illegally entering into the US on daily basis. [Peter Katel 393]. According to U. S –Mexico Studies center at the University of Texas at Dallas, it would be very difficult to perform many jobs in USA if undocumented peoples from Mexico are not there. . [Peter Katel 393-420]. This research essay mainly researches into the issue of immigration. Between the USA and the Mexico and what are the similarities and the differences between them in detail. 2. ANALYSIS: According to U. S-Mexico relations center at the University of California, the U. S economy would not come to a halt without illegal immigrants but at the same time, they are significant to some specific industries. [Peter Katel 393-420]. In the year 1940s, United States loosened up its immigration policies mainly for political and economic reasons. In the year 1942 , mainly to relax shortage of wartime labor shortages and to partly to authorize and control the flow of Mexican agricultural employees into the USA and initiated the guest worker program namely ‘Bracero† which implies ‘workers’ in Spanish as it permitted employees from the Caribbean and the Mexico mainly to pick crops in Western states of USA. [Peter Katel 393-420]. In 1952, US enacted a law which contained a gaping loophole –the Texas Proviso- a transparent concession to safeguard agricultural interests of Texas that depended on cheap labour flow from Mexico. [Peter Katel 393-420]. In 1986, due to heightening of economic crisis in Mexico, about 1. 7 millions crossed the Mexican border and landed in the US. It is to observed that illegal immigration from Mexico could not be stopped even after 9/11 attack and it is estimated that about 58% of illegal immigrants in USA are emerging from Mexico. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Further , the provision in the immigration law of US as regards to the family-reunification has made the Mexico as the leading country as about 116,000 of the total 706,000 legal immigrants in the fiscal year 2002-2003 accounted from Mexico alone. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Further, North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA] did not generate sufficient jobs in Mexico to keep away Mexicans from migrating to USA. Further, the Immigration Enforcement Improvement Act of 1996 did not reduce the flow of illegal immigrants into the USA. If political unrest in Mexico continues then it would spiral the illegal immigration into USA both under economic and political causes. [Peter Katel 393-420]. To curb the illegal immigration from Mexico, some critics have suggested for the introduction of Real ID Act, which would institute national driver’s licence criterions and to complete the fencing of U. S – Mexican border near San Diego at faster speed. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Critics vehemently argue that illegal immigrants from Mexico have stolen the American’s jobs considerably , chance of inflicting non-English speaking menace to American culture , ruining the robust American economy and causing overall threat to national security . Some critics have opined that by allowing illegal immigrants in American soil , poverty is being imported by millions on every year basis. [Peter Katel 393-420]. However, the Mexican illegal immigrants in the USA are being considered as heroes in their homeland as they braved death in desert while crossing the border and undertook dangerous jobs in service and construction industry to support their families at home. It is estimated that more than 3,000 Mexicans have lost their life between 1996 and 2004 while crossing the US-Mexican border . However, those who successfully crossed the border and find employment in the US were mobilized about $16 billion during 2006 alone to their motherland which formed the third largest source of revenue in the Mexican budget. [Peter Katel 393-420]. In 2004 alone, it was estimated that about 4,500 illegal immigrants from Mexico were mistreated or injured by anti-immigrants activists or by Border Patrol agents of USA. Anti-immigrants activists are of the view that illegal immigrants are draining the coffers by way of education, health care and social services and also responsible for gang-oriented crime. [Peter Katel 393-420]. The Bush’s new immigration bill stipulates that the employer should insist from the employee before offering employment for his US passport or secure Social Security card or driver’s license. [Peter Katel 393-420]. As a measure to legalize the illegal immigrants living in USA, the proposed bill suggests that such aspirants have to demonstrate that they are living in US since earlier 1st January, 2007 onwards and these people are entitled to claim a special probationary status right away. This process permits them to stay and work in the USA legally. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Further , Bush new immigration policy also have allocated more than 380,000 ‘green cards’ with permanent legal resident status mainly to attract skilled , highly talented who are needed in US job market each year. Further, these green cards are awarded on a point system where preference for siblings and adult children would be abolished. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Another special feature of Bush immigrant policy is that it offers opportunity to more than 200,000 foreign workers on temporary basis to work in the USA under guest-worker program. However, it is to be noted there is no cap on the visas to be issued to agriculture workers in USA. According to US Commerce department, the number of Americans at prime working age group between 25 and 54 is constantly growing at a phase of 0. 2% per year while at the same time, the job market in the US is growing at the phase of 1. 2% per annum. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Some are of the view that liberal immigration policy will result in unemployment problems and an escalation in crime rates. Further, illegal immigration from neighboring countries like Cuba, Mexico is on the rise and has created law and order problem in U. S like operation of street gangs, drug trafficking, armed robbery etc. According to United States Census Bureau [2005], there were nearly a third of the 35 million foreign born population of the United States is from Mexico. On realizing the severity of the illegal immigration, California State has enacted strict laws to crack down illegal immigrants. It has also initiated preventive measures like increasing the number of border guards, cautious to grant political asylum etc. One of the arguments against liberal immigration policy is that citizen workers who are hailing from racial and ethnic minorities are at greater disadvantage due to illegal immigrations. Further, the presence of illegal workers in large numbers makes it extremely difficult to unionize workers in secondary labor markets. Definitely illegal immigration will definitely have its impact on the poor citizens in the United States. [Merchant, David 287]. One of the recommended solutions to the immigration issue is that to have much stricter immigration laws and enforcement mingled with the economic aid to Mexico to develop its northern Border States and free trade in goods and services. According to Veblen, international borders, restrictions on migration and all types of nationalism act as a blockade to maintain industrial efficiency. Further, technology revolution is a global phenomenon and it is to be observed that no civilized country’s industrial structure will work in isolation. [Veblen, 1918]. According to Wendell Gordon, U. S should adopt a more open border policy and U. S today’s economic development may be attributed to its liberal immigration policy as liberal immigration policy has helped to achieve economic development process. Gordon was not agreeing to the idea of that Mexico tops the illegal immigration in U. S. A. According to the available data in 1973, there were about 3 million illegal immigrants who had entered into U. SA. Gordon doubted about the accuracy of this data as â€Å"Mexican population would have augmented by 8. 6% if Mexico had actually exported to U. S in a single year†. [Gordon, 1975]. Gordon was also against the view that illegal migrants were robbing the job from U. S workers. But according to Briggs, immigration policy should be evaluated mainly on labor market consideration. Briggs was of the view that colossal inflow of illegal immigrants is making serious interferences in the normal labor market adjustment processes. [Briggs, 1975]. Between January 2000 and March ,2005 , there was an increase in the estimated 7. 9 million new immigrants both legal and illegal which amounted the highest ever five year period in American history – almost surpassing the peak 10 year period between 1900-1909. How U. S has benefited from immigration can be illustrated by the following illustration. Adam and Balfour have won the coveted Louis Brown low Award of the National Academy of Public Administration (1998) and Best Book Award of the Academy of Management in the same year for their book â€Å"Unmasking Administrative Evil† and have cited how SS-supplied slaves were used for building V2 rockets by Germans. Thus, slaves with technical skills from the camp Mittelbau-Dora were supplied for Mittel work factory. It was said that though they built around 6000 rockets in a period of two years but more than 20,000 deaths were reported. Thus human deaths by accident while making the rocket surpassed the number of rockets actually produced! The project leader Von Braun and about 120 members were whisked off to US, though nearly 50% of them were Nazi party members while other Nazi members of rocket factory were tried after the war. This Nazi project team was given protection in US, their erstwhile records were destroyed and finally they were sanitized. Later, they were made in-charges of US missile program and equipped US in facing threats from the USSR in the cold war era. The two roles played by Von Braun was highlighted in the book . One as the project leader in Nazi’s camps and wielding his powers in the business of making missiles and the other being his role in US by equipping it with latest missiles to protect against it from USSR threats. Thus, the main purpose of the system rather than its administrative evil would have to be viewed. Due to alarming immigration to US from other countries, U. S government was forced to enact Immigration Act as early as 1907. It was again amended in 1917. In 1921 and 1924, amendments were introduced through immigration bills. The number of immigrants was only around three million in 1986 and liberal immigration policy allowed to swell to twelve million in 2006. The Immigration and Naturalization Service’s function and responsibilities changed under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This law, signed under President Regan, also allowed a certain number of aliens living in America legally, permitted to become legal resident of U. S. However, the immigrants in USA and their supporters vehemently oppose the Bush government’s following moves to streamline the illegal immigrations in the country. ? To remove the proposed legislation to impose a fine of $ 5000 on illegal immigrants who look for legal status in the US. ? To abolish the proposed legislative provision as regards to necessitate guest-workers to go back to their home country for a year for every two years employed in the US. ? To desist to offer more priority in according legal status to highly –qualified, skilled and well-educated immigrants in preference to those who have their family in the US. [Fidel V. Ramos NA]. However, both U. S and Mexican government has realized the significance of flow illegal immigrants from Mexico to U. S and have initiated â€Å"voluntary repatriation† program mainly to deport such illegal immigrants to Mexico from U. S. [Peter Katel 393-420]. Mexico’s new charisma leader Mr. Vincente Fox has sought amnesty for some undocumented Mexicans working in the US and it seems that Bush is enthusiastic to consider the same. It is being argued by immigrant right’s advocates and American labor unions are of the opinion that Mexican workers in U. S offer invaluable labor and their rights should be safeguarded by removing the fear of deportation. Thus, the two leaders are trying to resolve many burning issues between them which include an American appreciation of Mexican attempts to desist drugs from entering the US from Mexican soil and the effect of the NAFTA on Mexican developing economy. [Msaci 921-944]. NAFTA had eliminated trade barriers between the Mexico and the US and helped the Mexican economy to grow. This has paved the way for the Mexicans to stay in the home instead of illegally immigrating to the US in search of jobs. Supporters of the NAFTA have demonstrated by showing impressive development in Mexico’s gross domestic product [GDP] since its introduction. [Msaci 921-944]. However, NAFTA critics were of the opinion that tens of thousands of small and medium-sized business into bankruptcy, resulting mass unemployment among Mexicans and it was further argued that Purchasing power parity of the average Mexican has dwindled than before the implementation of NAFTA treatment. [Msaci 921-944]. Some critics argue that Mexico will never be decertified since minimizing U. S support would destroy one of USA’s most significant associates. In July 2007, Bush made a statement that he wishes to legalize almost 3 million Mexicans residing illegally in the USA. [Msaci 921-944]. CONCLUSION: It appears that current U. S immigration laws does not satisfy any one and there is lack of enforcement as it is evidenced from employer sanctions which was first enacted into law with the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act [ ICRA] of 1986. Congress debates on immigrant issues always centers around stricter enforcement, laying of fence along the border, ways and means to legalize various undocumented workers and to augment the free flow of workers. The Congress is more concerned with the illegal migration from Mexico and possible effect on the labor market. Further, the current proposals are emotionally attached to homeland security issues. Since U. S is actively engaged in globalization process, market-oriented mainstream economics can only substantiate open borders. Any impediments on capital, trade or labor mobility are inconsistent with the narrowly defined conventional conceptions of efficiency. Redefining the immigration debate in terms of dynamic economic process and economic development would be a significant milestone in developing a momentous approach to immigration issues. It is to be noted that both the Gordon and Galbraith argued that migration was a key component in the economic development process. Unless American leaders concur to scrutinize immigration in view of its historic record and present state of health, it will prolong the country’s most unsettled and misunderstood issue.

Analysis Of Literary Studies

Analysis Of Literary Studies Amputation in poem is actually a metaphor of the doom on Dacca gauzes. Furthermore it also represents the similar fate of all rare art works. The author in the dark represents the young in modern society and his grandmother in the open is representative of people in old days Amputation is to weavers what the agony of missing the old things is to grandmother, which is like the air saturated with sorrow and pain. The old, with the high tempo of modern life, are not ready for getting used to the ever-changing society. Not only art works are turning to new forms and having a variety of styles in which modern elements can be found, but things except art are also changing totally. So the elderly prefer living in their memories grief yet full of graceful and sadness added with sweet. In the poem grandmothers saying No one knows what it was to wear or touch that cloth just tell readers how lonely she was. No one could understand why she treasured those transparent Dacca gauzes in the bottom of her heart so much. And the young seldom accurately estimated the value of those invaluable art works. So grandmother had to put down her words such as heirloom sari and genuine. Years later when heirloom sari tore, nieces and daughters-in-law inherited all those beautiful handkerchiefs made from the torn Dacca gauzes. How excited these successors should have been at the time they received heirlooms. Never. Those handkerchiefs too now lost. As for the young, amputation is a metaphor of a fair way for them to success the treasure from their ancestors and also it is a lively symbol of their attitude towards these old precious treasures. Especially when we refer to various forms of art which are loved by people in different age groups, we can easily find that there is a totally difference among their preference. The young, looking for pleasure, indulge themselves in the moment of blink while the old, searching for old feelings, enjoy the perpetuity of delicacy and beauty. So the old learned to face the increasingly changing reality towards everything despite their difficulty in getting used to it while the young pursuit new things which belong to the modern world even though they get ready to hear what their grandparents say about the past. Finally a picturesque setting of the due-starched morning once again is providing to us. Grandmother has been pulling the muslins through her wing. Literary studies à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¡ The story of Williamsons mysterious disappearance made by Ambrose Bierce known for his satirical lexicon tells the issues of American society in pre-Civil War. That is peoples inward fear under the disoriented society with the unbalance between rigorous yet imperfect law system and seemingly harmonious yet cold social order. People, on their own stand, reacted in various ways when they are witnessing the disappearance of William. And the court must to make sure that whether Mr. William was gone before his estate was distributed according to law. The characters all forgot to tell something and the mystery of disappearance remained, from which the metaphor is the disappearing memory of the slavery in the endless American history. In a nut shell, the truism about the relation between law and social order is that there is a functional gap between them despite they never isolated from each other. As a tool used to serve regime, the ruling class rely on it to keep the social order well within a certain scope. However law only compensates for the darkness of a society as it is drafted by men who were hampered by the culture of their time. Linguistics à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚   What metonymy is that figure of speech in which a word or expression normally or strictly used of one thing is used of something physically or otherwise associated with it. And from the book Metaphors We Live By written by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980 we can learn that metonymy is a cognitive process which involves conceptual mapping and reference point phenomena. The expansion meaning of the word log is to meet the cognitive need when people develop vocabulary system. At first the word log was used as a noun to describe a bulky mass of wood. When we use a semantic triangle [1] to explain this, it is easy for us to understand the changes of the meaning and usage of this word. Concept Symbol Things [1] Semantic triangle From the original concept of log we firstly refer to the symbol of something natural or raw. As a result, things such as an unhewn portion of a felled tree and firewood were related with that symbol. In 1574 an apparatus used as an indicator of the rate of ships motion was called log because the apparatus was of a thin quadrant of wood which had some similar qualities of firewood. To expand the meaning from indicator to measurement unit, the concept of a vessel occurred in the year 1883. Then the word log-board occurred as it was also related to a ships log. Continually the meaning expanded to journal as it was the content of log-board. At last log represented any progress or performance of something in the order considered logically right as log had ever had the meaning of an apparatus for ascertaining the rate of a ships motion. Except all talked above, there is another kind of change which commonly occur in metonymy. That is change in part of speech which is considered as grammatical metonymy. We can see that the word log can use as a verb when people want to express the meaning such as opening or terminating a time-shared system such as database or email on computer. Translation 1. A) The topic of this essay is as follows: Education in America has its unique purpose for serving the American social system not for others, so it is totally successful within the U.S. community. It is never too late to reach a conclusion and take action before we are clear about the accurate definition of the success of education. So please give a second thought when this topic about the success of American education runs into your eyes, neither becoming so elated with cheers and applauses nor coming into immediate searing criticism with anger and frown on your face. The author argued in this article that on one hand philosophers, scientists and engineers are produced in the U.S. education system. On the other hand it also turns the other large group of people into the superficial, the ones pursing dazzling things in the torrent of fashion, the eye-blinded who are vulnerable to manipulation and the idiots at the annual peak of shopping mania, which are all required in the money-oriented capitalism economies. B) Social-cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural awareness are required for translator especially when they do some translation of advertisement. What information a company wants to tell consumers in foreign markets can easily be distorted by mistranslation. So I will translate that slogan as follow: B. TT1 is a direct translation of the Source Text. However TT2 is not because it is translated with more considering about the culture of target reader. As a saying in china, the sentence in TT2 is easier for Chinese to understand and smoke in the ST must be translated into wind and fire should also be translated into white water as this is a kind of faithfulness in Chinese culture. When we do translation, we should develop our awareness of the dialectic relationship between Chinese and English C Translation is a loyal recurrence of the beauty of the origins when we translate the art works and we should pay more attention to the effectiveness of the translated words and sentences especially when we do translation of the writings except for literary work. An ideal translator should be a person who is both loyal to the original and is palatable to its target audience. However this is difficult sometimes especially when we translate works written in the years far from now or when we meet the cultural difference among different language systems. So keeping the balance between faithfulness in the text sources and service for target readers are the core issues concerning translation studies.

Extensive Reading With Young Learners English Language Essay

Extensive Reading With Young Learners English Language Essay In this essay, I will discuss extensive reading with Young Learners, and how extensive reading can be promoted, with reference to young learners in Hong Kong. Children learn to read in English in schools in Hong Kong at an early age, but there is little encouragement for them to read for purposes other than to learn the language. I will examine the benefits of extensive reading, in particular childrens stories, and how these can be used to promote extensive reading with primary learners in my teaching context at the British Council Hong Kong. Why extensive reading? Day and Bamford (1998, 4) contend that the type of reading done in ESL classes bears little resemblance to reading done in the real world, and that in fact students learning to read a second language do not read and they do not like reading. Reading in the classroom tends to be done purely in order to teach or review a language point, or to train students for an exam. However, It is simplistic but true that the more students read, the better they become at it (Day and Bamford 1998, 4). Teachers therefore need to find ways of encouraging students to read that are enjoyable and motivating for them, and more closely resemble the kind of reading that is done outside the classroom. Extensive reading, is any reading that is done either for pleasure or not explicitly for the purposes of teaching reading. (Emery 2009, 38). This can be any type of text, whether fiction or factual. With this type of reading, the readers attention should be on the meaning, not the language, of the text (Day and Bamford 1998, 5). As children focus on meaning when learning a language, extensive reading should then particularly appeal to them as a way of learning English, especially if the texts are of types that they would normally read in their first language. Language learning from reading comes from exposure to the language, but is not the primary aim of extensive reading. Clark and Rumbold (2006, 9) list the following benefits of reading for pleasure; reading attainment and writing ability text comprehension and grammar breadth of vocabulary positive reading attitudes, which are linked to achievement in reading greater self-confidence as a reader pleasure in reading later in life Although their report was regarding native speaker children in the UK, they note that these benefits are equally true for second language acquisition. It appears, then, that extensive reading is crucial for literacy development. In Hong Kong, there is little interest in reading for pleasure, particularly in English (Ho 2008, Leung 2005). Taking into account the above benefits of reading for pleasure, it seems crucial to encourage a love of reading extensively in our students in Hong Kong, both inside and outside the classroom. Why stories? First and foremost, children enjoy stories. Stories are particularly important in the lives of our children à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Childrens hunger for stories is constant (Wright 1995, 3). If we provide children with stories, they will be motivated to read and listen to them. Reading stories in the classroom is a shared event, which encourages social skills, such as cooperation, collaboration, listening and turn taking and helps to create appropriate affective conditions for learning to take place (Read 2008, 7). We can also provide them with the means to read stories for themselves outside the classroom, increasing their exposure to language further. Children are also aware of and enjoy stories in their first language; From their early experience, children are likely to be familiar with story or narrative structure (Cameron 2001, 129). This means that, unlike many classroom activities, the telling or reading of a story will be a familiar activity. Even if reading books and stories are not commonplace in the home, children will have had exposure to stories through a variety of other media, e.g. films and cartoons. Children are therefore more likely to be receptive to a story than an activity which is not so familiar and therefore potentially confusing. Stories fulfill childrens need for security and novelty (Cameron 2001), as there is the security of the familiar structure of the story, with a beginning, introduction to characters, a problem which is resolved, and an ending, and also the novelty of new stories, characters and plot surprises. Stories provide a clear context from which children can find meaning. The meaning and enjoyment of the story are the most important for children, and the meaning of the language is supported by the context. They work out the meaning first and tend not to pay attention to the words that are used to express the meaning (Moon 2000, 5). Stories are a rich source of language. Because stories are designed to entertain, writers and tellers choose and use words with particular care to keep the audience interested (Cameron 2001, 163). Many words and phrases are often repeated throughout a story, increasing students exposure to them, and also helping to create the sense of security and familiarity. Through such exposure to language children are learning new vocabulary, often without realising it (Cameron 2001, 164), and the teacher can also exploit this vocabulary in classroom activities. Moreover, this vocabulary is used within a clear context, so Children have the ability to grasp meaning even if they dont understand all the words (Ellis and Brewster 2002, 8). Heathfield (2009, 17) refers to his own experience of storytelling with elementary Italian learners, who were able to follow and understand the general meaning of stories told in English. Attention can be paid to vocabulary and students accuracy once the context and meaning have been established. Stories provide children with exposure to not only vocabulary, but also to the structure of sentences and the general feel and sound of the foreign language (Wright 1995, 5). If stories are read aloud, children have exposure to the pronunciation of the language, its rhythm and intonation. This exposure helps them with their fluency, both written and spoken, when they are later ready to move to more productive use of the language. Stories also contain a variety of themes and topics which can be interesting and relevant to the students themselves, or can be exploited in the class. These themes can be linked to other subjects across the curriculum. They can also help develop childrens awareness of the world around them, or of different cultures. Stories can also be used as a stimulus for speaking and writing, and exercise the imagination (Ellis and Brewster 2002, 1). Cameron (2001, 160), warns, however, that we should not allow our feelings of nostalgia and fond memories of childhood stories to colour our perceptions of the magic of stories. She notes that the classroom is not the same as the family home, and the teacher is not a parent, so we should adopt a more critical stance to using stories in class, both in our choices of stories and the way that we use them, and to be open to using other text types which may be equally appealing to children. We should also be aware that stories are also available through other media than books, e.g. animated cartoons or TV programmes, and it is very likely that children may be even more receptive to these forms of media than traditional books. Choosing stories The stories used with children should first of all appeal to them (Phillips, 1993, 46), whether it is the theme, the illustrations, or the fact that it is a story which is familiar to them and they know they will enjoy it. A good story à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is simply one that listeners or readers enjoy (Cameron 2001, 166). The story should have interesting characters that the children can relate to and a clear plot, with possibly a surprise at the end. The length of the text should be appropriate, i.e. for beginning readers using books with shorter texts will promote success and motivation. The language used in the book should also be simple enough for them to understand, but also contain some language which is beyond their current level in order to develop learning and language development. The child should be able to build on familiar language with new language, but not be demotivated by reading something beyond their level. A story which uses a lot of repeated structures and vocabulary will help reinforce meaning, and children also enjoy the repetition. The illustrations used in a book are also important, as they not only make the book more appealing to a child, but can also support the meaning of the text and new vocabulary and stimulate their imagination (Hsiu-Chih 2008). The themes of the story can also help children to understand more about the world, but should have appropriate values and portrayals of characters. If a story is being used in class, one could be used which fits the topic of the lesson. There are many graded readers available for young learners, in which language is carefully selected to match the childs level of English. However, the language is often simplified in these readers to such an extent that the language becomes unnatural, for example present tenses are used throughout, whereas in authentic literature a story is nearly always told using past tenses. As Cameron (2001, 166) comments, It seems a pity to deprive learners of opportunities to hear authentic uses of past tense forms à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I can see no intrinsic reason for supposing that use of the past tense would prevent children understanding a story. Cameron also points out that although many text books for young EFL learners contain stories, they often lack the prototypical features of a story, such as a plot with a a problem to be resolved, and a satisfactory ending. These stories are unlikely to capture childrens imaginations in the same way that stories can do (Cameron 2001, 162). Quality storie s have characters and a plot that engage children, often the art work is as important as the text in telling the story, and they create a strong feeling of satisfaction when the end is reached (Cameron 2001, 166). There are many arguments for providing children learning English as a second language with real books offering a rich source of authentic input and challenge (Ellis and Brewster 2002, 8). These stories are more likely to contain the elements necessary in a quality story as described by Cameron, and children can feel highly motivated by being able to understand a story which has not been simplified. There is also such a wide variety of authentic story books which makes it easier to choose something which will appeal to many different children. Ellis and Brewster (2002, 8) note that it can be argued that the language in authentic story books can be too complex for children learning English, while the content may be too simplistic for their age if a book is chosen which has been written for a younger target age. They argue that In a foreign language, however, children are often very happy to accept stories which they may reject in their mother tongue. Although care needs to be taken to select books which will appeal to the child, what is important is the way that the story is exploited and the language learning supported for the childrens particular level. It is what we expect the children to do which determines the proficiency level required, not the story itself (Wright 1995, 3). It is also important that the child, not just the teacher or parent, chooses the books that they would like to read. Clark and Rumbold (2006, 22) stress the importance of children choosing their own reading material on motivation and acheivement. They refer to Krashen, saying that students who choose what they read à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ tend to be more motivated, read more and show greater language and literacy development. Cameron (2001, 164) believes that children may learn vocabulary while listening to stories without realising it, and learner involvement with a story may be what makes a difference à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ letting children choose the stories they want to hear may help maximise the learning that takes place. They will be more likely to choose books that interest them, and therefore be more motivated to understand and engage with the text. It is difficult to place too much emphasis on the role interesting material plays in the desire to read (Day and Bamford 1998, 29). Using stories and promoting extensive reading There are many ways in which extensive reading and reading stories can be promoted both inside and outside of the classroom, which I will discuss in relation to my current teaching context. In the classroom, the teacher can use stories in a variety of ways, both to promote reading and to exploit stories for further language work. Reading stories aloud to the class is an effective way of exposing children to story books and their narrative structure. From listening and watching an adult read aloud, children can see how texts are handled, how texts encode words and ideas, how words and sentences are set out on a page à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Affectively, reading aloud can motivate children to want to read themselves (Cameron 2001, 141). The telling of the story should be an enjoyable experience, and, if possible, the classroom arranged so that all children are sitting around the teacher, maybe on the floor, so that everyone can see the book (Wright 1995). The teacher should take care to hold the book so everyone in the class can see it, and use mime, gestures, facial expressions, the stress and intonation of their voice, and the pictures in the book, to help students understanding (Ellis and Brewster 2002, Read 2008). Students should be encouraged to participate in the story reading through questions which reinforce understanding, e.g. describing the pictures, or making predictions about what happens next. The teacher can help students with new and difficult vocabulary by providing tasks to pre-teach vocabulary, and follow up with activities which consolidate the language and help students to recall the story. Above all, the story and related activities should be enjoyable for the students. Favorable feelings for and experiences with the teacher, classmates, materials, tasks, procedures, and so on, can forge positive attitudes toward reading in the second language (Day and Bamford 1998, 25). At the British Council Hong Kong literacy texts have been incorporated into the syllabuses for the higher level primary classes for students aged 8 and above. These are generally texts which are used in schools in the UK to teach literacy in the British National Curriculum, with accompanying teachers notes and materials these are usually adapted to suit the EFL and local contexts. The texts chosen are for a younger age group than they would be in the UK, i.e. materials for British children aged 8 to 9 are used in classes for Hong Kong learners aged 10 to 11. These have proved to be overwhelmingly popular with teachers, who report that they enjoy using them and find that students also enjoy the stories whilst being stretched, because they can see that the materials are authentic and feel a sense of achievement. Many teachers also use storytelling in class, as story books are readily available in Hong Kong. These teachers appreciate the value of using story books in class, and find storytelling an enjoyable activity in class themselves. Some teachers use story books not just for teaching purposes, e.g. the introduction/consolidation of language or to complement the course book materials, but also for a story time slot. Often at the end of the lesson, the story time slot is used as part of the classroom routine and settles children. The stories are read purely for enjoyment, and if enough books are available (some teachers have their own story book collection) students are able to choose which stories they would like to hear. For younger primary students book boxes are provided with a selection of suitable books, which teachers are encouraged to use with their classes. One advantage of the book boxes is that with a selection of books children are able to choose for themselves what the would like to read, or what they would like the teacher to read. Other ways of encouraging children to choose and read books would be to have a book corner in the classroom or a lending library for children, so that children could enjoy reading by themselves either in class or at home. Unfortunately, neither of these are currently feasible at British Council Hong Kong. The classrooms are used by many different classes, including adults, so it would not be practical to set up a corner of the classroom with books. There is also the issue of funding book corners or a library; with approximately 3,500 primary students currently taking courses at the British Council, the cost of buying sufficient books for either scheme is prohib itive. One scheme which has been successfully introduced for primary classes is a Reading Challenge. Students are encouraged to read books in English and write brief reviews of them. After they have read six they receive a prize of a certificate and a book. The success of the scheme seems to depend largely on how much the individual teacher promotes it, but prizes have been earned by students across a range of classes, not only in the highest levels or older age groups. Clark and Rumbold (2006, 20), in a review of studies examining the effect of reward on motivation, conclude that we cannot be certain that rewarding children for reading actually motivates them to read more, or if they do so, that they are reading purely to get a prize and will not continue to read widely in the future. However, if a reward is given for reading, it appears that literacy-targeted rewards, such as books or book vouchers, are more effective in developing reading motivation than rewards that are unrelated to the activity. The most important factor, however, in developing childrens literacy and enjoyment of reading is the involvement of their parents (Clark 2007, Clark and Rumbold 2006, 24, Wood 1998, 220). The British Council Hong Kong has recently introduced parent workshops to encourage parents to read with their children, emphasising the importance of reading not only for literacy and educational attainment but also social and emotional development. Parents are also shown how to choose appropriate books and how to read them with their children, exploiting the stories and the pictures. These workshops are proving to be very popular with parents, who, while keen to encourage their children academically, had previously not realised the benefits of reading for pleasure. Conclusion There is not on the whole a culture of reading in Hong Kong, but, given the advantages outlined of extensive reading, it is particularly important to encourage our students to read for pleasure, and using story books can be particularly effective. This requires not only access to suitable texts, but also training for teachers and parents on how to read books with children and develop further language use. (3,204 words)

Mars, The Red Planet Essay -- essays research papers

Mars, it’s where aliens come from, a Hollywood Sci-Fi mainstay, the mysterious red planet. But, what is Mars really? Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, orbiting 227,940,000 km away. It’s diameter of 6,794 km and mass of 6.4219e23 kg, makes it the seventh largest planet in our solar system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mars, which is the Greek name for the god of War, probably got this name due to it’s red color, and is often referred to as the red planet. What makes Mars look red? Mars’ atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, which oxidizes iron on the planet’s surface to create rust. Because there is very little water vapor on Mars, dry winds pick up and blow the dust around the planet, coloring it red.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What would you see if you went for a nature walk on Mars? Among the surface features are giant volcanoes and vast canyons. The largest volcano in the entire solar system is on Mars, Olympus Mons. It is classified as a shield volcano, similar to the volcanoes in Hawaii. Olympus Mons, three times higher than Mount Everest, is twenty- five kilometers high, surrounded by a 550 kilometer moat filled with lava. The Valles Marineris canyon is 4500 kilometers long and reaches seven kilometers deep and 600 kilometers across. There are also many meteorite impact craters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why couldn’t you take a nature walk on Mars? The atmosphere is not only very thin, it’s made almost completely of CO2 and known for its raging dust storms. You would...

Once :: essays research papers

Once again football mania descends on the country as we root for our boys in Japan. Catch all things World Cup with our dedicated World Cup channel. Get the latest results direct to your mobile, keep up to date with news headlines and win fabulous prizes. And if World Cup isn't your thing, we've got a special World Cup antidote to see you through this difficult time... All this and much, much more with World Cup 2002 @ ntlworld. News (from News (from Ananova): Stephen Byers resigns Transport Secretary Stephen Byers has resigned. Blunkett vows to preserve powers on 'whole life' sentencing Pakistan test fires second short range missile Four questioned over  £10m drugs haul British government accused of sacrificing human rights Weather (from WSI): Check the latest forecast Sport (from Ananova): Keane rejects chance of World Cup U-turn Roy Keane has explained why he has turned down the chance to rejoin the Republic of Ireland World Cup squad. Luck of draw puts Ipswich in Uefa Cup Henman wins opening French Open match Trulli keeps fourth place Beckham expected to face Sweden Entertainment (from Ananova): Michael Jackson and David Blaine coming to Exeter Michael Jackson and David Blaine are to make personal appearances at a charity event at Exeter City's football ground. Punk group 'shot at' as they leave gig Jordan delighted that Yorke was at birth Sir Alan Parker receives knighthood Bond actor Moore urges world to focus on children Money (from Ananova): FTSE hit by banking stocks and weak US opening The FTSE 100 has closed down 62.1 at 5074.2 Vodafone boss may receive bonus pay-out Record increase in monthly mortgage lending Barclays issues warning on bad debt provisions Carlton's core earnings tumble News (from Ananova): Stephen Byers resigns Transport Secretary Stephen Byers has resigned. Blunkett vows to preserve powers on 'whole life' sentencing Pakistan test fires second short range missile Four questioned over  £10m drugs haul British government accused of sacrificing human rights Weather (from WSI): Check the latest forecast Sport (from Ananova): Keane rejects chance of World Cup U-turn Roy Keane has explained why he has turned down the chance to rejoin the Republic of Ireland World Cup squad. Luck of draw puts Ipswich in Uefa Cup Henman wins opening French Open match Trulli keeps fourth place Beckham expected to face Sweden Entertainment (from Ananova): Michael Jackson and David Blaine coming to Exeter

Sport Obermeyer Case

Obermeyer Sport A Strategic Direction in Forecasting Introduction & Summary Klaus Obermeyer is an innovator in the high-end skiwear industry. The company began with down filled jackets and slowly began to diversify its product line with high-altitude suntan lotion, turtlenecks, nylon wind-shirts, mirrored sunglasses and more. In 1961, the first Sport Obermeyer factory warehouse opened in Aspen, and the innovations continued with â€Å"soft-shell† jackets, double lens goggles, and the first waterproof-breathable fabrics to be used in clothing. Sport Obermeyer is a high-end fashion skiwear design and merchandising company with its headquarters located in Aspen, Colorado. The company specializes in selling its products in U. S. department stores and ski shops. Although the company has a global supply network, most of its outerwear products are channeled through Obersport. [1] In the fashion skiwear industry – demand is very dependent on several factors that are difficult to predict. The inconsistent nature of the economy, fashion trends and weather create a significant challenge for a firm such as Sport Obermeyer. By actively applying a selection of appropriate forecasting methods and continuing to adapt to this fast-paced industry, Obersport would be able to remain competitive and retain or increase its 1992 high market share entering into the 1993/94 season. Analysis A joint venture was established between Klaus Obermeyer and Raymond Tse in 1985. This company gained the title of Obersport Ltd. This joint venture allowed Obermeyer to manage supply and production operations in Hong Kong and China. [2] Until the mid-1980s, Obermeyer followed a simple design-and-sales cycle: The first stage was to design the product, then fabricate and showcase samples to retailers in March usually at fairs/shows ? The second stage was to place production orders with suppliers in March and April after receiving retail orders from the fairs/shows. ? The third stage was to receive goods at Sport Obermeyer’s distribution center in September and October; and ship product immediately to retail outlets. During the mid-1980s, several factors rendered this approach obsolete: ? As sales volume grew, the company hit manufacturing ceilings during the peak ski wear-production period. Being unable to order sufficient quantities during critical summer months reduced the supply for ongoing demanded volume, to be produced after it has received retail orders. Therefore, the company begins booking production the previous November, or about a year before goods would be sold, based on speculation about what retailers would order. Processes and Strategies A ski jacket being distributed in the U. S. could be asembled in China from fabrics and findings (zippers, snaps, buckles, and thread) sourced from Japan, South Korea, and Germany. This global supply chain (Exhibit 1. 0) created more product variety and improved production efficiency, but at the same time greatly increased lead times. Reaction to the lengthening supply chains, limited supplier capacity, and retailers’ demands for earlier delivery were all prominent obstacles. Obersport began developing a variety of quick-response initiatives such as to shorten lead times to overcome them. First introduced were computerized systems to slash time in processing orders and computing raw-material requirements. This technology would anticipate what raw materials it would require and pre-position them in warehouses in the Far East because lead time for obtaining raw materials proved difficult to shorten. To shorten this time Obersport used air freight for delivery from the Far East to the Denver distribution centre as delivery due dates quickly approached. In the 1990s, these changes had reduced delivery times by more than one month. [3] Along with these changes, the Sport Obermeyer applied some other tactics in the 1990s. Obermeyer persuaded some of its important retail customers to place their orders sooner, providing the company with valuable foreword information such as the popularity of certain styles. Invited were 25 of the company’s largest retailer customers to Aspen each February offering them a preview of the new annual line and solicit early orders. This was called an â€Å"Early Write† which accounted for about 20 percent of the total sales. About half of production requests depended highly on demand forecasts still. An in-house buying committee approach was allocated to generate these forecasts. 4] Short life cycle Issues There are three topics in today’s business environment that are especially relevant to this case: ? Production planning for short-life-cycle fashion products ? Operational changes that reduce the cost of mismatched supply and demand ? Coordination issues in a global supply chain. The Bullwhip Effect (or Whiplash Effect) is an observed phenomenon in fo recast-driven distribution channels. Since the oscillating demand magnification upstream a supply chain reminds someone of a cracking whip it became famous as the Bullwhip Effect. For seasonal goods such as winter sportswear, which has a short selling season and long lead times, a firm can do several things to better match supply and demand: †¢ Additional events can be held before large trade fairs in order to secure orders further in advance. †¢ Supplier capacity can be reserved without specifying the exact product mix. This postponement of the final mix has benefits similar to those of postponing product customization until the distribution center. †¢ Common parts can be used in designs in order to pool some of the variation between individual demands. [5] Demand Forecasting The different types of forecasting include: †¢ Economic forecasts address the business cycle. Ie inflation rate, money supply, and housing starts †¢ Technological forecasts predict the rate of technology progress and impact the development of new products †¢ Demand Forecasts predicts sales of existing products and services. This is the type of forecasting relevant to the Obermeyer case. [6] The Importance of Forecasting [pic] Forecasts are based on statistics, and they are rarely perfectly accurate. Because forecast errors are a given, companies often carry an inventory buffer called â€Å"safety stock†. Moving up the supply chain from end-consumer to raw materials supplier, each supply chain participant has greater observed variation in demand and thus greater need for safety stock. In periods of rising demand, down-stream participants increase orders. In periods of falling demand, orders fall or stop to reduce inventory. The effect is that variations are amplified as one moves upstream in the supply chain (further from the customer). The causes can further be divided into behavioral and operational causes: Behavioral causes to forecasting Misuse of base-stock policies †¢ Misperceptions of feedback and time delays †¢ Panic ordering reactions after unmet demand †¢ Perceived risk of other players' bounded rationality Operational causes †¢ Dependent demand processing †¢ Forecast Errors †¢ Adjustment of inventory control parameters with each demand observation †¢ Lead Time Variability (forecast error during replenishment lead time) †¢ Lot-sizing/o rder synchronization †¢ Consolidation of demands †¢ Transaction motive †¢ Quantity discount †¢ Trade promotion and forward buying Anticipation of shortages †¢ allocation rule of suppliers †¢ shortage gaming †¢ Lean and JIT style management of inventories and a chase production strategy The information above (Importance of Forecasting) was provided by Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Bullwhip_effect Objectives Despite current forecasting strategies being used at Sport Obermeyer to satisfy the constantly changing consumer demands, goals and targets must be set in order to improve weak areas allowing the company to remain competitive for the upcoming season. The following objectives are used to further develop the company’s forecasting strategies for the 1993/94 season. 1. Find new ways to accurately estimate the quantity of each style required in the initial phase of production. 2. Implement operational changes that will improve overall performance. 3. Properly align current supply chain sources subject to supply channels in Hong Kong and Greater China. Recommendations The following recommendations have been created to ensure the company meets its required objectives. 1. Wally Obermeyer reflects the results from the buying committee meeting that is held in November, annually. This year Wally strayed away from the usual system of having six key managers make production commitments based on the group’s consensus, to having each member give a personal forecast retailer demand for each of the products sold at Sport Obermeyer. We recommend that he takes each manager’s forecasts and makes one forecast based on the other manager’s predictions. A good formula to use in order to accomplish this is ? i-k? i= 10,000 units. (refer to exhibit 3. 0)This formula takes both the mean of all of the other manager’s forecasts and the distribution of everyone’s forecast into consideration. By improving the internal forecasts by applying this forecasting model with the data used from past sales instead of a simple average made by the buying committee. [7] 2. The main operational changes that Wally should focus on in order to increase pro ductivity is to initially focus on splitting the seasonal orders into two lots: Speculative Order The first lot should be an order of 10,000 units placed approximately 10 months before the selling season. This order will be made through China, considering that they are less expensive and need more time for production. This order will consist of the quantities produced from the data attained through a weighted average method as identified above. Reactive Order The second lot should be ordered closer to the selling season, approximately six months, and should also be 10,000 units. The quantities in this order should be decided based on which items are popular in the Las Vegas fashion show. The Vegas fashion show should offer a better prediction of popular trends in the season. This order should be produced by Hong Kong manufacturers considering that they are faster, more efficient and more flexible. Although, it would be much less expensive to order through China, given the short time line for this second order it is essential to use Hong Kong. [8] 3. Due to lower costs, but longer lead times, Sport Obermeyer should make a majority of its speculative order to China. With strict quota restrictions limiting the number of units that can be imported from China into the United States, it is necessary to ensure the orders brought into the US before the quota has hit a maximum. Sport Obermeyer forecasts an annual demand for its product and as a result supply channel partners need to undergo change to develop and deliver new product lines annually. Therefore, Obermeyer retroactive order should be manufactured in Hong Kong to avoid the risk of declined imports (Exhibit 2. 0). The Hong Kong manufacturer also provides higher quality and quicker production times, but at a higher price. Conclusion [pic] Obermeyer did employ all of the recommended strategies (to some degree) to satisfy the three outlined objectives entering into the 1993/94 season. Although Obermeyer did increase their quality control functions to position themselves as one of the highest quality brands in the market, they continued to use essentially the same supply chain. The company has since evolved from its operations in the early 1990’s to investing highly in research and development as this is the only way to remain competitive as a premium brand supplier in the 21st century. Sport Obermeyer now follows the following strategy: â€Å"Obermeyer Product Technology defines our commitment to the demand of function and performance. Today, more than ever, we are designing garments that are pushing the boundaries of outerwear technologies. Introducing new systems of integrated synergistic components which create exceptional, high-performance winter gear: The Advanced Technology Series is way of the future. † Despite their fundamental changes in corporate strategy, effective operations management remains a critical part of the ongoing success of Sport Obermeyer Ltd. Exhibits Exhibit 1. 0 – Supply Chain [pic] Exhibit 2. 0 – Comparative Analysis |Hong Kong |Greater China | |Advantages |Disadvantages |Advantages |Disadvantages | |Workers 50% faster than Chinese |Shorter hours worked, less |Significantly lower wage/hour |Workers not as efficient | |counterparts |overtime allowance |(US$0. 6/hr) |Narrower range of tasks | |Higher weekly output/worker |Higher labour costs |Ample supply of manufacturing |Long production lines | |Trained in broader range of |Shortage of younger workers |human resources |Much higher minimum order | |tasks |Insufficient number of workers |Lower landed cost |quantity for same style | |Lower minimum order quantity for|Higher landed costs | |Slow repair rate (10%) | |same style | | | | |Fast repair rate (1-2%) | | | | Exhibit 3. 0 – Speculative Production Quantities Assumptions ? All ten styles are made in Hong Kong, and Obermeyer's initial production commitment is at least 10,000 units. Different unit costs of production are inapplicable |Style |Average Forecast ( µ)|Standard |2x Standard Deviation |Product Quantity | | | |Deviation |(? i) | | |   |   | |Isis |357. 24 | |Entice |832. 24 | |Assault |1804. 2 | |Teri |292. 28 | |Electra |1293. 52 | |Stephanie |2. 12 | |Seduced |2838. 28 | |Anita |1076. 36 | Daphne |905. 36 | Exhibit 4. 0- Product Life Cycle [pic][9] Project Management Group Three: Craig Brown, Evan Farquhar , Jay Maynard, Sarah-May Kilpatrick, Sean Vrooman The first step taken was to appoint a Project Manager for our group. We decided to appoint Sean Vrooman due to his background in Human Resources and having a strong understanding of Project Management. The first thing put into place was we created a plan for how we would structure this assignment. First we analyzed what the objectives were and how we could meet them over a timeline. We then devolved a work break-down schedule to split up certain tasks to individuals in the group. Our first meeting was Tuesday November 3rd, 2009. We decided to meet every Tuesday but with limited resources we decided to start meeting twice a week for the last three weeks to help us move at a faster pace through the project. In total we met seven times with emails back and forth discussing and analyzing each other’s work. After implementing a schedule based on our working methods we had a very strong and competent order of who was doing what part of the paper and how we were going to present our material to the class. No methods were required In genereal this group functioned very well together. Everyone contributed in a very equal and professional manor. We completed this project on time and did not need the assistance of any extra materials like Gannt charts or critical paths. ———————– [1] Janice H. Hammond, Ananth Raman, Harvard Business School, Sport Obermeyer, Ltd. [2] Janice H. Hammond, Ananth Raman, Harvard Business School, Sport Obermeyer, Ltd. [3] www. personal. umd. umich. edu/~drossin/class/gommo4 [4] courses. washington. edu/smartman/Ass3. htm [5] http://www. quickmba. com/ops/scm/ [6] Heizer_9_ch4 [7] [pic]678GOP’? E? †¢Ã‚ ±- = O f o iU?  §Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ¢â‚¬ ¦tcRcRcRcAcAc! hâ‚ ¬Uhz B*OJQJaJphy! hâ‚ ¬UhI? www2. isye. gatech. edu/~jvandeva/Classes/6203/†¦ /12Obermeyer. ppt [8] www. utdallas. edu/~metin/Or6366/Folios/scnewproduct. ppt [9] Heizer_9_ch4