Abuse and Proper Discipline

I have experienced many things in my life. All of my life experiences have affected me in different ways. Some experiences were good and some were not. The physical abuse I experienced by my father was the most impact experience. A parent is supposed to create a safe, stable, and loving home. Instead my father created a home of fear, instability, and inconsistency. This affected my behavior in school, and how I react to things later in life. I was born in Florida.At the age of two my father moved me and my three brothers to New York. At this time my mother was not in the picture for unknown reasons. My father was avid alcoholic, and drank a lot. During his drunken rages he would abuse me and my three brothers. My father moved us around a lot, and we never really stayed In one place for very long. I was never quite sure why this was, but I would guess that maybe someone or somebody became suspicious of what was taking place In our home. This resulted In us taking off before anyone cou ld find out for sure.My father started beating us while he was drunk, but then eventually started abusing us while he was sober. It became a regular thing for us and almost expected. He would start to hit us based on his moods. If he had a bad day at work, or had a fight with one of his girlfriends. He would choke us, punch us, throw us, and has even gone as far as burn my brother's arm on the stove. There were times that we did not eat for days. It was not because we did not have any food, but because he wanted to punish us. He also kicked us out of the house, and made us sleep outside. Even In the winter.I was terrified of my father. Instead of Henning 2 growing up feeling love and trust. I grew up feeling fear and pain. I would often watch sitcoms on TV, and wish that I could just jump into the screen. Daydreaming of a better life was something I did often. I wanted to leave, but this was all I knew. This was my life and nothing was going to change it. My father did not only abus e me when I did wrong, but instead he would abuse me when he was in a foul mood. The abuse was inconsistent, and because of this my behavior was impacted. In school I would lash out at teachers, and was defiant.My father was not concerned with proper discipline or punishment. I was more of a punching bag for his anger. Therefore I did not understand how to act or behave properly. I was uncontrollable in school. I would Jump on desks, and crawl underneath tables In the lunch room. I even threw chairs at the teacher when I did not want to do something she asked. I was violent with my classmates, and disruptive. The bus ride to school was also a problem. I would Jeopardize the safety of the other children by jumping over the seats, and disrupting the bus driver.It got would get letters and phone calls from the school, he did not seem to care. My father was more worried about what was going on in his world to care what was happening at my school. After a while the school decided I neede d to be enrolled in a special school that was more equipped to handle my behavior issues. No one in the school system even thought twice about the discipline at home. If they had investigated our home they would have found out my father never disciplined us, but abused us instead.To this day I feel that proper discipline is needed for a child to grow up and become successful in life. The abuse started to get worse as we got older. He became a lot more aggressive. He even ended up sending me to the hospital for bashing my head on the bathroom floor. The reason for the more intense abuse was because of the increase in size of my older brother. My brother was getting older, and was able to fight back. Unfortunately my dad was still Henning 3 a lot bigger than my brother. My dad would often punch holes in the walls when he was mad.One day I was picking at one of the holes in the wall that my father punched in. He walked by and saw me doing this. Out of nowhere he punched me right in the eye, and I went to school the next day with a black eye. This started causing a scene with my teachers and nurses. I went to school plenty of times with black eyes, and bruises. I could not understand why this one was any different. The ruse must have gotten sick and tired of seeing it, and finally acted. This caused an investigation, and at the age of eight years old I was removed from the hell that I called home.When I was being removed from my home I remember seeing my neighbor with an unsurprised look on her face. This made me wonder if she had suspected the abuse all along. It also made me wonder how many others knew or suspected what was taken place in my home. After being removed from the house I called home. I was placed with a foster family. The first few months were great. I was not scared and looking over my shoulder anymore. I was happy and felt love for the first time. My foster mom made pancakes and sausages for breakfast in the mornings.I have never had anyone make b reakfast for me before, and it was like heaven. I had warm bed to sleep in, and I even had a TV in my room. It might have seemed that my story was over. However the effects of the abuse were still there, and my behaviors still caused many problems. Throughout my life I had to go through therapy to undo the damage my father caused. I had to relearn how to act and behave properly. Today I am a pretty optimistic person, and I do not like to use my past as a crutch. However I will not deny hat there are some lasting effects that the abuse still holds.Therapy was very successful for me. It help me deal with what happened, and encouraged me to move on with my life. However therapy cannot remove the memories and the experience. I will forever remember the abuse I endured. Henning 4 The abuse from my father affected me in many ways. I had to struggle, and was not able to have a normal childhood. I grew up in a home full of fear, and lacked the to relearn how to behave properly. I do not reg ret what happened in the past, for my past is part of who I am. What I have been through and what I endured has only made me stronger.

Newt Experiences at the Chetco River

Newt experiences at the Chetco river There are many things that might come to mind when a person thinks about camping along the Chetco River. Things like swimming , roating marshmallows over a crackling fire while warming up from the cool summer breeze, or even just the smell of the good ole outdoors. For me, however, the Chetco River brings yet another thing to mind :poison. It all started on a warm summer evening in June of 2001. My family and I, as we always did this time of year,had been camping for 2 or 3 days. My brother,Ethan and I had found our usual perch im the shallow parts of the river catching frogs and Red- bellied newts.Suddenly, a billowing voice came floating through the evergreens and out to the river where Ethan and I stood. It was our mom. â€Å" Come and wash up and eat,† she shouted. So Ethan and I obediently ran up to our campsite. Now, our mom always warned us to wash our hands after playing in the river because we could get sick, and we most always obe yed in fear of getting some terrible disease or worse. This particular occasion however, Ethan went through the typical routine of pouring some water from a gallon jug on his hands,rubbing it all together with soap and rinsing.I however, thought in my little uneducated seven year old mind, that I was somehow above all of that nonsense about death and poison. So while my brother was actually washing his hands and scrubbing off the poisonous slime left behind by the newts, I chose to just pretend that I ws washing my hands so that I could eat quicker. So I , with my slime covered hands, happily scarfed down my hotdog. â€Å" See nothing happened, those newts can't be poisonous. † I thought trying to convince myself that my mom was just over reacting.I went about my usual day running around the campsite, most likely driving any by-standers including my family insane. After about an hour of this ,I felt a sharp, intense pain in my side. I keeled over, gripping my gut. My mom, not icing that something wasn't right, ran over to me. â€Å"what's wrong? † â€Å" I don't feel good,† I Explained. So she sent me to the tent to rest, assuming that I had just run around too much after eating. After an few hours of restlessly lying there, I didn't feel any better. My stomach still felt like the Roman Coliseum on fight day. I couldn't move.I tried to call out to my mom, but where the words should have been, there was just a moan of sheer agony. After a few minutes, I heard footsteps. Finally she was answering my silent plea. She walked into the tent only to find me a motionless sweaty mess. â€Å" I won't be mad,† she started â€Å" but are you absolutely positive that you washed your hands really well before dinner? † Tears filled my eyes â€Å" I'm sorry! † I gasped â€Å" I lied. † â€Å" OK† was her only answer. With that , she sprung up and out of the tent. A few seconds later,i heard her voice talking to an inaudib le listener. well she was out playing with newts and didn't wash her hands before she ate and now she's really sick. † Her voice trembled a bit. As my mom continued to explain my predicament over the phone, I got more frightened by the minute. A few minutes later, the sound of wheels and sirens came. They stopped when it sounded like they were in our campsite. Within seconds, two men who I had never seen before came rushing into the tent toward me with two big bags and what looked to me like an alien mask. One man situated himself right behind me and laid my head on his lap.The other went around to my side and told me that they were going to take good care of me. All I had to do was puke. In a flash a third worker, this one female,came in with a long cot. The three of them hoisted me up onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. After what seemed like a lifetime,we got to the Brookings Hospital. They took me into a little white room with all white walls and teddy bear wallpape r. I wasn't sure exactly where I was, but I was too exhausted to think about it. A doctor came in. â€Å" What happened here? †he asked with a smile his face wrinkled with years of wisdom. we're gonna fix you all up OK? We'll just make sure you're OK, and you'll be better in no time. † After some time had passed, I was released from the hospital with little more than exhaustion and a stern warning to wash my hands before eating. We headed back to the campsite and continued our stay until the end of the week. The next day, I was fully recovered from my fiasco and Ethan and I went back to our everyday routine of catching newts and frogs, But this time, when mom called us for dinner, I was extra sure that my hands were clean. I never want to go through that again.

Within the context of the boundaryless career critically analyse the Essay

Within the context of the boundaryless career critically analyse the challenges faced by graduates in a volatile global economy - Essay Example This factor deters many graduates from securing internship and job opportunities (Sturges 2000). There are issues such as lack of suitable skill required in the job market by employers and over qualification on other job areas (Queck 2011). Therefore, this paper is going to discuss the meaning a career and boundaryless career, the major challenges affecting graduates and their mechanisms of avoiding the setbacks. Additionally, it will also analyze the effects of volatile economy upon the graduates in their search for internships and jobs. Therefore, we define career as a form of profession that is taken by a person for certain duration with the purpose of personal development. On other hand, a boundaryless career entails those careers of changing companies, locations, jobs, specializations or industries. In other words, boundaryless careers have no bounds and it grants an individual the opportunity of movement. In addition, a person is able to define himself in accordance with his jo b rather than the company. This enables a person to guide their careers by adapting to the changing surroundings (Arthur 1997). Alternatively, several main contents of theoretical perspective influence graduates in boundaryless careers. ... Furthermore, opinion the persons who go against the society in terms of career development should not be ignored. This is backed by the career theory, which tries to comprehend the phenomena of careers and analyses aspects of careers beyond the usual confines of the society. However, I am against the argument that graduates should be offered employment they want and not the conventional grounds of traditional employment. This is because a number of factors have influenced the current graduates. For instance, demographic and workforce factors, changes in the organization structure and new trends in the job market. It is such attitudes of job discrimination that has prevented many graduates from securing jobs hence increasing the rate of unemployment. It is therefore, imperative to note that a theory such career theory backs boundaryless careers as it seeks to analyze the broader spectrum of career development (Lent & Brown 2005). Furthermore, this theory tries to break the traditional limitations of how society views careers. This theory incorporates among other issues career counseling that aims to understand the employee on how he finds the job and the challenges of doing the job (Shaikh 2011). This theory further aims to understand the networks of career development used by employees in boundaryless careers utilize to communicate. However, there critics of the career theory argue that it supports only pluralism instead of unity, which is unproductive for the worker and the organization. There are numerous challenges facing graduates in terms of securing internships and obtaining gainful employment. For example, there is the obstacle of

GBAA Scholarship and Darden School of Business Essay

GBAA and Darden School of Business - Scholarship Essay Example Experience is considered the best teacher, but it may to be successful in certain fields including aviation industry. Therefore, the need to study management is essential. I intend to study aviation management with the help of GBAA scholarship (Barney and Hesterly 23). The scholarship will enable me to undertake further training on issues of aviation management which are essential for career development. Currently, I have training on Aviation Maintenance, which I received a license in 2013. However, aviation maintenance does not cover issues of corporate aviation function. My career objective is to become aviation manager. This cannot be achieved unless the educational background is secure and sound. This involved studying aviation management and business related degree, which will ensure that all the necessary skills are developed. However, to achieve this, I will need financial support that will facilitate the process of learning. Corporate aviation management is a scientific process with great business repercussion including massive losses in case of wrong choice. Wrong choices can be avoided if solid educational background is developed. Professional development in this field cannot be achieved easily because of the increasing financial strain. Therefore, I believe that there is need to develop effective skills through learning and positive interactions with players in the field and lecturers. The role of corporate aviation manager is broad covering a myriad of responsibilities. He supervises all phases of aviation department including flight operations, maintenance and scheduling. The understanding of the departmental functions is essential because it leads to harmony in operations. These interconnections cannot be grasped without solid educational background. Therefore, the challenges of the position are massive. In addition, communication skills are vital to instill vitality into planning

Conflict in Employment Relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Conflict in Employment Relationships - Essay Example Conflict with your boss doesn't have to lead to derailment if the effort is made to effectively manage the situation. By appropriately manage conflict, positive consequences can result. Managing conflict can lead to a more productive working relationship between the employer and you're the employee: Increases effort. In many ways, we need our differences to help us clarify our own positions and better understand others. The chaos and confusion that naturally surrounds a search for clarity can actually energize the efforts of all. To deal with the conflicts many organizations' human resources or the employment relationship departments have developed grievance procedures. These procedures facilitate in managing the conflict otherwise organizations may face huge losses in terms of employee turnover and employees themselves may find themselves loosing or changing a job too often. A grievance is normally a complain by an employee that to notify that management or the employer in some way or the other has violated any of the terms of their employer-employee contractual arrangement. Formally the grievance procedure is for the processing of allegations from the lower tiers of management to the upper tiers. This allows employees to lodge complains if they have any regarding the work environment, work situation and any of the working relationships also without any fear of reprisal if the process is really fair. A fair and a just grievance procedure may also lead to development of credibility as a good employer for the organization. One of the benefits of well developed grievance system is that it helps firms resolve any conflicts or differences in interest internally and not leading to any court involvement or furthermore any of the public announcements or disclosures that can be more costly. I do not agree with the statement that there is no need of grievance procedures in the organization. The arguments in favor are presented in the following text. The reason of my agreement which are elucidated as under includes: Saves costs for organization Gives employees a voice Provides a mechanism for employees to communicate upwards Represents justice Enhances organizations' capability Allows managers to learn of the grievances at lower tier But, since it is believed that the conflict between the employee and the employer is inevitable therefore, the systems may thought to be flawed or useless because there is always a bias involved in the relationship even

Heritage Tourism in Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Heritage Tourism in Cities - Essay Example However, every heritage contains real, underlying or symbolic importance that plays a critical role in terming its perception in society. This paper examines dark tourism, focusing on marketing and interpretation of House of Terror Museum in Hungary, a traumatic site as touring sites in the contemporary society. Smith and Robinson (2006, p105) defined heritage tourism as â€Å"leisure expeditions with the major objective of touring historic, natural, recreational and scenic sceneries to learn more about the past†. Dark tourism is one component of heritage tourism and it involves â€Å"visiting places associated with death, suffering and tragedy† (Cooper, et al 2008, p49). Heritage tourism is founded on the motivations and perceptions of the consumers or tourists rather than the particular characteristics that define the destination. According to Smith and Robinson (2006), the major motivation for touring heritage sites is the uniqueness of the tourism destination in rel ation to the tourists’ awareness or perception of their own heritage. Heritage tourism to a site with dark history evokes various emotions such as nostalgia, idealism, and a feeling of belonging in the time and space (Foley and Lennon1996). Stone (2006) argues that heritage tourism is both unique and universal, because it presents a heritage for all people at a given time. Although each site has its unique characteristic, dark tourism sites present a universal message to all persons, from the message of pain to suffering and anger among other feelings that characterize human beings. Heritage sites include various inherited localities such as historic buildings, artwork and scenic areas among others. A tourist travels to the heritage site with an objective of seeing the historical artefacts. These artefacts usually form an important connection between the cultural background of tourist and his or her history or past. However, the particular historical site or artefact elicits different emotions and reactions from various people. Holloway (2004) argues that it could elicit emotional encounter and make the individual feel closely connected with ancestors and the historical event, which makes the experience more than just a learning experience. Manino (1997) argues that dark tourism is a mysterious combination of heritage, history and tragedy. It evokes discussions of the past, present and future morals and ethics surrounding death of mankind. Some of the most popular sites for dark tourism include conflict sites and death camps which figuratively or literary embrace the memory of human suffering and violence that took place in a particular historical period (Manino 1997). Disastrous events such as the collapse of the world trade centre continue to elicit attention and curiosity from different people across the world. Similarly, scenes of accidents and large-scale loss of human lives usually become spontaneous attractions, where people gather to pay their r espects or just to witness and experience the terrifying aftermath. The uncharacteristic connection between leisure and pleasure in dark tourism has been a matter of moral and ethical discussion in the hospitality industry especially when it comes to marketing and promotion of the sites. Some heritage tourism critics contend that tourism is an immoral and inappropriate practice for presenting disturbing events of human history, such as death and tragedies and other forms of suffering. According to MacCannell (1989: p73),

The Legality of Risk Management in Healthcare (United States) Essay

The Legality of Risk Management in Healthcare (United States) - Essay Example Dr. Harris diagnosed the patient with pneumonia and impending respiratory failure. She thought of intubating the patient herself on the floor, but then decided against it and handed over the patient to a pulmonologist and intensivist. The patient suffered intense and seemingly irreversible brain damage. After a few months had elapsed, the relatives of the patient consulted a legal counselor and came to the conclusion that the patient had suffered due to malpractice. Dr. Harris was held accountable. The case was settled by giving compensatory damages to the plaintiff. The end of the paper has an executive summary analyzing the case. The history of risk management in health care goes as far as four thousand years. The Babylonians were famous for punishing their medical practitioners if they were involved in any malpractice or if their negligence had incurred any physical or metal harm to the ill. The increased incidence of malpractice during the 1970s had a seminal effect on how the legislations that were made regarding health care. Health care providers found themselves in a quandary. The money-intensive lawsuits that had been filed against them was not only a huge financial burden, but also compromised their reputation. They were also faced with the possibility of losing their license. Therefore risk management became all the more important, with agencies using both financial resources and specialized risk management staff to ensure patient safety and higher standard of professional conduct for health care practitioners. Risk management in health care is defined as the systematic management of administrative and clinical processes to prevent uncertainties and potential dangers and to mitigate the risk of the institution’s exposure to liability if loss occurs. Risk management can come into play in case of mal practice. The Joint Commission (2010) defines mal practice as the â€Å"improper or unethical

White Collar and Corporate Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

White Collar and Corporate Crime - Essay Example Concealment of misconduct usually involves falsifying records or documents to disguise discrepancies. The higher the degree of effort to conceal a corporate misconduct the more difficult detection will be for unsuspecting management, the public, investors, directors, auditors, and the government. Crime was defined only by traditional "street crimes" during the 30-year period between 1940 and 1970, and there was minimal public concern with the issue of corporate criminal conduct. Since the early 1970s, however, "crime in the suites" has emerged as an important political, social, and economic problem. The extent and seriousness of criminal behavior by corporations, corporate officials, and employees led to the development of organized crime as a separate type of white-collar crime and, more importantly, an increased recognition of the need for criminal statutes that address corporate misconduct and more severe criminal corporate sanctions (Clinard, Marshall, and Peter Yeager. 1980, 132). Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation," and used the term to refer primarily to "business managers and executives." (Edwin Sutherland, 1961, p. 19) His studies and conclusions indicate, however, that white-collar c... Organized crimes were initially defined as "the offenses committed by corporate officials for their corporation and the offenses of the corporation itself" and occupational crimes were the "offenses committed by individuals for themselves in the course of their occupations and the offenses of employees against their employers." (Marshall B. Clinard and Richard Quinney, 1973, p. 188). Occupational crimes are committed by lawyers, doctors, businessmen, and politicians, for example, and may include crimes like income tax evasion, embezzlement, and check kiting. Corporate crimes are organizational crimes and can only occur in the context of the complicated relationships among executives, corporate officers, managers, and corporate agents on the one hand, and among parent corporations, corporate divisions, and subsidiaries on the other hand. Nevertheless, a distinctive feature of organized crime is that the crime is committed primarily for the benefit of an ongoing legitimate business enterprise rather than for the individual who actually carries out the offense. Thus, organized crime is a specific type or form of white-collar crime and includes criminal conduct, intended to benefit the corporation, by corporations and by individual corporate employees, officials, or agents. In the late 1980s and early 1990s has served to bring potentially dangerous corporate activities to the general attention of the public and has inspired the academic legal community to pay greater consideration to several very basic questions concerning the potential use of the criminal law in this area. (Fisse, B And Braithwaite, J, 1993, 134) The criminal statistics show unequivocally that crime, as

Grades Encourage People to Learn Essay Example for Free

Grades Encourage People to Learn Essay Grades encourage people to learn TOPIC 5 : Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Grades encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. As we all know, in the school, people use grades to evaluate the result of studying process. And it is clear to see that grades encourage students to learn so much. Because it helps students have a specific target, know what their strength and weakness are and try to learn to get benefits that high grades bring to them. First of all, the most important thing when you start to do something is that you have to make your own goal. Knowing clearly/obviously What you want to achive will help you get/make a clear plan about what you have to do. In the school, the grades play a role as that goal. Once you had a specific purpose you will try your best to reach it. (example ? ) Secondly, the second, because grades are used to evaluate your academic result, you will have a/an overview about what subjects you are good at or bad at. This will be useful for you to pay more attention to which parts you are not so good to improve them. Finally, when you get/obtain high grades in the school you will have a chance to get a good job. When you apply for a job, recruiters usually look at your CV including your academic result first to make a decision if they will give you an interview. The grade is a standar to determine your ability in gaining and understanding new knowledge. So high grades help you have a good quality in others’eyes. In conclusion, grades help students make an effective approach of studying. Besides, good grades bring students many benefits. That is why grades encourge students to learn so much.

Euro Disney Essay Example for Free

Euro Disney Essay Despite a long story of success in the past, Euro Disney failed to anticipate demand accurately for their services. The company failed to recognize the frugality and price consciousness of the European customers which had a direct impact on the spending Patterns of the consumers. They assumed Europeans to follow the same pattern as the Americans however this was not the case hence it suffered huge losses. Cultural differences can lower the impact of a certain service and will lead to lower projected revenues. Euro Disney had visitors from all over Europe which spoke different languages, they shared different culture and history compared to American. It was important to integrate it into the theme park before hand. These differences adversely affected the company; alcohol wasn’t served in the park in a country where wine was a norm with food, inability to realize Europeans peak leisure days and serving them breakfast. A better analysis before hand and a president from the local environment initially would have been more familiar with the local environment would have led to increase in revenue. It was very important to be familiar with the mindset of the people while working with those belonging to different culture in order to maintain smooth working environment. The French unlike the Americans were sensitive and touchy people. To foster good will with them one has to incorporate them in one’s decisions and discussions and not just dominate them because this will infuriate them and alienate them and their support and cooperation. The French don’t like bossy attitude coming towards them hence one should be modest in dealing with them. The Tokyo Disney turned out to be a great success, way more than the expectations. The number of visitors was high with large revues and profits. Japanese were adaptable and flexible lot they welcomed American culture in the theme park from food to entertainment whereas the Europeans were reluctant to adopt the American style initially due to which Disney had to face many problems of cultural diversity in Euro Disney. Euro Disney was located at an ideal place as it was close to Paris, Paris being Europe’s largest tourist destination. The problem was not with the location but with other factors such as skimming pricing strategy for the price sensitive Europeans proved to be a failure, recession in the economy, failure to anticipate demand and cultural differences and apart from these operational inefficiencies and mismanagement. Location would not have made these factors better hence it would not have done better if located anywhere outside Paris too. Mickey Mouse is one of the greatest characters of Walt Disney and has a long history of success with the company. It is an icon of American culture; Mickey Mouse has always been one of the attractions at the Disney theme park. Unlike other American theme parks Euro Disney was criticized among the French for being too American and caused a clash, resentment and low turnover from them as they believed keeping French culture aside American culture was being imposed on them. Hence in order to counter the ethnocentric views Disney had to incorporate the French culture into the American Disney image for the liking of the Europeans. In order to make an impact on the Europeans, Disney was required to make a campaign that would have focused on French names and terminology, such as names of the rides and the restaurant menus, the French wanted their culture opposed to the American as it did not   tune in   with their own. Similarly the European Walt Disney studios should focus on French movies and people as a means of entertainment. It should be positioned as a theme park that as a perfect vacation resort and not the American resort in particular. This positioning can be done by engaging tourist guides, bus drivers and travel agents into the marketing campaign and providing them incentives to promote the promotional campaign of the company. Though Disney entered Europe with high hopes and confidence however it had to face losses due to the many mistakes it made in planning and launching the theme park. One such mistake was the price skimming strategy, Disney expected the demand for its park to be inelastic and hence it could have gained high revenues. However, raising admission prices would have added fuel to the situation because the turnover from the French people was already low, their low spending patterns, frugality, and economic recession would have discouraged people from visiting the park as prices were already considered to be very high and would have lead to further losses for Euro Disney. References Jiffy Notes. (n.d.). EURO DISNEY S.C.A. Retrieved May 21, 2010, from JiffyNotes.com: http://www.jiffynotes.com/a_study_guides/book_notes_add/emmc_0001_0001_0/emmc_0001_0001_0_00102.html

High Turnover Rate Of Expatriate Managers Management Essay

High Turnover Rate Of Expatriate Managers Management Essay The West Indies Yacht Club Resort (WIYCR), headquartered in Chicago, is located on the British Virgin Islands (BVI). BVI is part of the Virgin Islands archipelago with the population of approximately twenty thousand. The majority of the population (83%) is of African descent, with the remainder being of Amerindian, East Indian, and Middle Eastern descent, or white expatriates. Although it has been operating successfully, the West Indies Yacht Club Resort has some alarming problems that have recently become apparent and have seriously affected the operational and organizational aspects of the resort. The main concerns of the organization can be summarized as follows High turnover rate of expatriate managers; Low motivation of the local employees; Rising tension between expatriates and local staff; Rising number of guest complaints; The purpose of this report is to identify the causes of the problems highlighted above as well as provide the most suitable and feasible solutions to improve the current situation in WIYCR. For the purpose of the study critical review of the academic research has been conducted to define the two colliding cultures and to understand the needs of the local staff as well as help US managers to employ the most effective management style. In addition to that, thorough onsite investigation, observations and set of interviews have been conducted, findings of which have been outlined in the below report. Research When it comes to business, it is crucial for a multinational organisation to be able to successfully deal with cross-cultural differences, turning them into strengths, not weaknesses. The existence of expatriate managers is quite common in multinational companies. It is also believed their managerial skills are directly linked to the success of the business and also to the success of cultural adaptation of the organization. According to Schneider and Barsoux cultural adjustment should create opportunities for an organization rather than a threat, and it helps leaders develop intellectually, emotionally and ethically. The qualities that make a good expatriate manager have been often discussed. As per The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development the key competencies that they feel a good expatriate manager should exhibit include Technical competence, previous achievements in home country, language skills, motivation, stress resistance, independence, and goal orientated personality and good communication skills. They also believe that a manager thriving in one culture is not inevitably going to be successful in another. Moreover, it is vital for a multicultural organization to employ good leaders. However, the leadership styles differ greatly among cultures. Mendenhall et al (1995) claim that in order for an expatriate manager to effectively motivate and lead people from different cultural background they must try to fit in with the social norms of that culture, while also standing out as a leader. In order to identify and understand the main differences between the US and BVI and be able to provide guidance on how to effectively manage people for both cultures, the following two diagnostic models have been reviewed: Hofstede s Model of National Culture; 7d Cultural Dimension Model. In general, people in BVI are more relaxed that in the US and they value quality time with friends and family. They also have very strong power distance which means that people are required to obey and show extreme respect for people based on organizational hierarchy. According to the Hofstede the management style in such societies is mostly authoritarian and vigorous due to the fact that many employees tend to avoid work. The fact that the local staff is paid on the hourly basis and gets a pay raise each year without a proper performance review, gives further incentive to work less. In addition to that, the Caribbean people also experience the lack of proper education, resulting in very high uncertainty avoidance. They also find it difficult to cope with uncertain situations and try to stay away from any conflict that might lead to having to make independent decisions. By contrast, the American culture manifests low uncertainty avoidance. It has been proven that effective leadership systems in countries with high uncertainty avoidance tend to involve providing employees with very clear instructions. Therefore, if they do not have defined objectives for a day, employees choose to avoid work to minimize the stress of uncertainty. According to Hofstede the link between individual and society also plays a significant role in defining a particular culture. There are two main streams individualism and collectivism. As far as the Caribbean culture is concerned, it shows much more tendency towards collectivism as people are viewed mainly in terms of the group they belong to. Unlike in the US, the individualism is very low in BVI, resulting in people not interested in personal achievements and career progression, and they favour work in groups. In those cultures time spent with family and friends is highly cherished and cannot be compensated by financial benefits. The American approach is quite the opposite. According to Hofstedes theory, cultures also differ in terms of expectations as regards to the role of men and women in a society. Therefore high masculinity cultures clearly define the gender roles men are usually more self-confident and dominant and they are more career-oriented. In the case of the Caribbean culture, the gender roles are not clearly divided, in fact there is a high equality among men and women and their performance. Additionally, in order to understand a particular culture, one should also consider whether people have a long term or short orientation. For example, in the US people are more short term oriented which means they expect immediate results and paybacks. By contrast, the Caribbean culture shows greater tendency towards long term orientation, where people are not anxious to see immediate results, compensations or promotions but put emphasis on the role of security and social obligations. In order to analyze those two cultures even deeper and explain how people relate to each other, the 7d Cultural Dimension Model has been employed. First of all, in terms of universalism versus particularism approach, the US is believed to favour universalism, where the most effective management style is based on set of rules and commonly accepted moral principles. On the other hand, the Caribbean people treat each interaction in a different way and pass the subsequent judgments. They are also very affective, which results in expressing their emotions freely whereas in the US people are expected to be conservative in that respect. In addition to that, the Caribbean people believe that they have to establish a personal relationship with the prospect business partner before entering into any business relations. With regards to WIYCR, the local employees say that We have so many managers from US and they dont stay here very long. Many of them think they can just come here and well instan tly be their friends. Since it takes time to build personal relations, there should be a commitment from both sides. Lastly, it is crucial to distinguish between the internal and external control. In the US people believe that they are in charge of their own lives, whereas the Caribbeans put more trust in Gods fate. Those differences have a great impact on the attitudes people show towards different values and norms. For instance, Americans believe they can achieve anything they like if they put enough effort into it. Therefore, the American culture emphasizes and supports personal achievement and continuous improvement. By contrast, Caribbean people believe that their fate has been predetermined. Therefore, they do not try to change something in their lives or put more effort intro achieving something. Findings and analysis To start with, it should be noted that the local government regulations in relation to the labour market in BVI has had a great impact on the overall structure and performance of WIYCR. The government restrictions considerably differ from those the US expatriate managers are familiar with. Generally speaking, in the US the job is given to the best possible candidate, while in BVI it is offered to the most enthusiastic candidate. The local work permit limitations result in trained and qualified managers from the US not being able to find employment in BVI. Another obvious difference between those two labour markets is the process in which employees can be laid off. As tourism is one of the few sustainable industries on the island, employees are granted job security despite their qualifications and willingness to work. By contrast, the number of jobs available in the American hospitality industry is rather limited. The employment opportunities in BVI are almost unlimited in that respec t, which means the local staff can freely leave or change a post if they wish. Unlike in the BVI, the US have extensive hospitality management educational programs and relevant work placement schemes. Therefore, the locals do not have the opportunity to gain the necessary education in the hospitality field resulting in their lack of enthusiasm in relation to taking on management positions. As far as the management team of WIYCR is concerned, the main company departments are located miles away from the actual resort, and all strategic decisional are made offshore. As the top mangers pay visits to the resort only few times a year, and never during peak season, they cannot fully understand the culture diversity and employee needs, let alone the issues which can directly impact the overall operation of the resort. This gap has already resulted in various communication issues. In one particular instance, the Chicago office had over-booked the resort by nearly 20% despite the opposition from the Rooms Division Managers. Therefore, during the peak season the number of guests was much higher than the physical capacity of the resort, affecting the service and staff morale. In the light of the previously identified problems, the study have been concluded with the following findings: Turnover in expatriate management This problem is partly due to the lack of essential international experience, cross cultural communication and sensitivity training on the expatriates side. Additionally, the strict local government regulations create challenges for the management to effectively run the resort. Since the understanding of local culture is limited among the expatriate managers, the management styles they employ are often ineffective. For instance, the behind-the-scene approach so popular in the US is much less effective in managing the Caribbean staff that showing support and participation. As a result of the cultural gap and lack of apparent results, the expatriate managers often feel discouraged since they cannot motivate the local staff to work effectively. Thus, the expatriates often loose their enthusiasm to work in the resort within a short period of time. Lack of motivation in local employees This issue is related to the over-protection from the government labour policy guaranteeing the jobs and salary for the local staff. Moreover, BVI locals are nourishing-oriented they cherish friendships between co-workers and family life. Thus, solely financial reward system is not effective at all. Instead, according to Maslows Needs Hierarchy Theory and The Four Drive Theory belongingness should be developed as well as drive to bond in order to boost their working spirit. It is also crucial for the locals to create personal relationships with their colleagues and direct supervisors, which is combined into their working relationship. Therefore, behind the scene managers do not encourage loyalty or respect from the local employees. Finally, locals know that they are paid on hourly basis and will get a raise each year without a review and regardless of their job performance. Tension between expatriates and local workers This is caused by the cultural difference. In the case of WIYCR, the expatriates are goal-oriented, they emphasize individualism, adopt easily to low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance and competitive environment whereas the local staff put emphasis on collectivism, adapting to high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance and nourishment orientation. The difference leads to misunderstandings on both sides creating unnecessary conflicts and tensions. Additionally, as mentioned previously, the labour laws of BVI increase job protection for locals, posing significant challenges to operations of the resort that suffers from insufficient capacity during peak season and overstaffing during the rest of the year. As it has been already proven the ideal management styles of US and BVI are significantly different. The former prefer laissez-fair or behind the scenes style while the latter prefer a hands-on and more instructive style. Since there are merely a few hands-on managers in WIYCR who strive hard to integrate into the local culture and gain respect, the frequent misunderstandings and lack of cooperation lead to unnecessary tensions in the resort. Moreover, unclear job descriptions and expectations also contribute to the increased tensions. Having lower education levels, the locals require clear and detailed role descriptions while the US expatriates consider brief guidelines sufficient in order to get the job done. Increase in guest complaints This issue is directly related to the above mentioned problems. Internal weaknesses combined with ineffective operating of the resort (e.g. insufficient staff in peak seasons, overbooking) result in the diminished level of service provided to the guests. The low motivation of local employees and the fact that there are currently less reluctant to take on more responsibilities affects the level of the customer service the guests expect. Solutions Based on the above findings it is believed that the optimal solution in the case of WIYCR is to change the organizational mindset to create more globally conscious management that will be able to benefit from the cultural diversity of the organization. The obvious advantage of this alternative is the fact it will promote cultural harmony, leading to increased work efficiency. Be changing the corporate culture to embrace diversity, the company will utilize the strengths of both cultures which in return allows the resort to retain the leading position in the market. As far as the downsides are concerned, the existing team may initially resist change resulting in cultural differences being even more challenging to harmonize. In the short term however, as the Christmas season is about to begin, the company should focus on trust building and improving team working. In the long run, attention should be placed on improving the communication and relationship between the resort and the headquarters in order to increase the overall efficiency of the organization. The first step is to improve the current situation in WIYCR is to have an authority figure present in the resort at all times in order to motivate employees. By having an evident, participating leader people will be motivated to work harder and focus on achieving the companys goals as well as seeking assistance with solving any problems that may occur. Secondly, managers should assign daily tasks and set goals for their employees as collectivists are not willing to set their own targets. This form of leadership is believed to be effective way of managing the local staff due to the high power distance of their culture. It is highly recommended that the implementation of this plan begin immediately since it is a vital part of the overall cultural adaptation process. The second area of development is to improve internal communication, gradually building trust between managers and local staff. In order to do that, the existing managers should undergo cultural training, so they become aware of the cultural differences they deal with be able do handle the situation more effectively. Cross-cultural training will significantly improve the communication between locals and expatriates. It is believed that it could be of a great benefit to the organization if the staff and management team attend both formal meetings to discuss progress and improvements and informal gatherings to improve relationships. The main reason behind it is that the local employees will hopefully increase their involvement and work efficiency as they are highly motivated by social activities. It has also become apparent that the communication between the resort and headquarters needs to be improved to prevent further tensions and deterioration of the customer service. The situation in this case can be improved by having frequent performance reports, as well as resort peak period bookings reviewed by the onsite managers. Additionally, quarterly meetings should be organized as well as visits from the top management to oversee the operation and become actively involved in the resorts day-to-day activities. In the long run, part of the booking duties could be delegated from the headquarters to the resort to improve efficiency and staff involvement. It is also recommended that the above solutions are considered as an on-going process starting with increased interactions among the employees, managers and head office. The third area of improvement related to building team working skills. It is vital for the business to have motivated and enthusiastic employees that work efficiently towards the common goal s of the organization. Since there is a high illiteracy rate among the local staff, precise instructions and demonstration are recommended. Moreover, in order to improve efficiency among the local staff, re-training using a hands-on approach should be considered. Additionally, future recruitment practices with regards to the local employees should be linked to the relevant skill set and attitude of the right candidate. Moreover, the selection of expatriates for managing positions should be based on previous cross-cultural experience and the relevant characteristics. Finally, job rotation should be taken into consideration to further encourage employees to interact with each other and increase job satisfaction and motivation. The fourth area of development relates to the implementation of effective performance measures. Both financial incentives as well as added collective rewards based on group performance should be considered. There should be frequent performance reviews held during group meetings, emphasizing win-win approach among management, employees and customers. The purpose of this approach is to satisfy needs of both cultures that help inspire employees to work efficiently increasing the organizations performance. These changes will involve continuous adjustment and improvements. Short term recommendations Organize an informal gathering prior to the peak season to boost employee morale Liaison with the local bar, popular with both the expatriates and local employees, should be considered and every opportunity such as birthday or festival parties should not be missed. It is also recommended that the resort provide food and drink incentives for employees. This action can help to build up friendship and team spirit between the expatriates and the local people. It will also create an excellent opportunity for both sides to discuss different opinions, express ones beliefs and subsequently reduce the tension between them. Additionally, it will help the expatriate managers to adapt to the local environment better in order to achieve their best management styles and satisfy their drive to acquire in order to have a lower turnover rate. Such informal gatherings are believed to be the first step to overcome cultural barriers and reduce tension between the parties. Informal parties should also provide a perfect opportunity for relationships to be established, and friendships and bonds to be made. It is also highly recommended that the local employees are encouraged to bring their family and friends, which is seen as a crucial part of their culture. In that way both the local employees and expatriate managers will have a brief, but better understanding for each others culture, which may result in mutual respect at least for the forthcoming holiday peak season.. Creating informational leaflets Those leaflets should be distributed among guests upon arrival, in which local culture is explained and embraced. This will help to change customer perceptions and persuade guests to relax and enjoy the slightly slower pace of islands time. This is a short term solution that can be altered into a longer term marketing campaign. Formal meetings (Instruction days) The main aim of these meetings should be to identify difficulties that both sides encounter on a day to day basis in the resort. It is recommended that the meetings are held regularly focusing on giving clear instructions to reduce uncertainties by providing clear indications in terms of work requirements, goals, future plans. In addition to that, demonstrations can be done by managers to increase their awareness of the daily tasks involved in running of the resort. It will also give the managerial team the opportunity to get to know the work of their subordinates and show their willingness to cooperate. Moreover, the local staff should be encouraged to ask questions, which in return help to provide cleared indication for future plans to be implemented and should guarantee higher motivation from the local community. Training programs For locals, the training workshops should focus on three areas: foreign culture, language and hospitality. Those initiatives should help the local people to understand the other culture and break the language barrier, as well as provide guidance on how to treat the customers in appropriate ways, thus helping to reduce the guest complaints. For expatriates, the training workshops should emphasize both BVI culture and management skills. They should be able to explore and appreciate the local culture, and communicate with the local staff in an effective ways by adapting their management styles to the local requirements. Long term recommendations Establish a WIYCR management training program This program should provide an opportunity for enthusiastic locals to receive the necessary training and education in order to be able to understand the industry and operational aspects of the resort. It will help to find a balance between local and expatriate management and staff. Additionally, this should promote motivation and involvement among local people and increase their willingness to take on extra responsibilities. Request frequent visits from the offsite top management team It is recommended that during these visits both the employees and managers should be encouraged to have an open dialogue in efforts to improve communication. Establish a social interaction committee The purpose of this should be to create more informal interactions between the local employees and the expatriate managers. This is especially recommended during off-peak season. This will not only improve internal communication, but also provide conditions for cultural understanding. In addition, non-financial incentives such as providing free food and drinks if customer complaints go down 10% in a particular week. Conclusion To sum up, all problems rooted from the large cultural gap. The remedial measures listed above aim at facilitating mutual communication and thus establishing better understanding and trust to deal with the cultural clash. Managers and local staff are important assets which help to run the resort smoothly. Any disputes and conflicts make unnecessary loss to the resort. Therefore, creating harmonious environment is essential before coming to various solutions.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essays -- Essays Papers

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight As with so many stories written in the Middle Ages Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is filled with wonders, magic and knightly pursuit of fame and nobility. It combines folklore and romance as does, according to The Norton Anthology, no other known work. The character of the Green Knight fascinates and amuses. Most people would not think of it as an Arthurian-time creature. The Green Man in fact, is a part of an ancient folklore where the beheading of a green man would assure the return of spring next year. The passage that I am discussing takes place almost a year after the Green Knight has visited King Arthur's court to challenge the court. He has specifically challenged Sir Gawain who steps forward to accept the challenge. The passage starts with the appearance of a castle. This is very significant to the story, and this fact is communicated to the reader in the description of the castle and even by the initial fact that it appears so suddenly and so very conveniently after Sir Gawain's prayer. Sir Gawain has been suffering, trying to find the Green Knight. The Green Knight has set a date on which they will meet, and Sir Gawain, as is the custom for knights, has to keep his promise that he will fight him. Furthermore, Sir Gawain is the best of King Arthur's knights and his five-pointed star symbol on his shield stands for truth so there is no way he will not keep his promise. We are made aware of the importance of the castle first when it just suddenly appears from nowhere and secondly when we notice it is set in a green field. The green field makes no sense to the reader because it is the middle of winter, but it does signify the fact that the appearance of the castle is not acci... ...ain is not aware of. Sir Gawain is just grateful that he has found this castle (or that he has been led there) and that he will have a place where he can spend Christmas day. He does not see all the symbols that make this castle special. From all the clues that the author gives us, we know that the castle is crucial for the story as well as for Gawain's life. He is not aware of it, but the castle is the place where he is tested, and ultimately his future is decided there. It is very typical of this kind of story to include such symbols, like the castle, to convey to the reader that whatever happens there should be remembered because it is important part of the story. References: 1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In The Norton Anthology of Literature. Ed. M.H.Abrams, et al. Vol I. Sixth Edition. New York: W.W.Norton & Company, 1993, pp 200- 254.

freeaw Not Ready for Freedom in Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay

Not Ready for Freedom in The Awakening  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the main character, Edna Pontellier makes a very long, painful journey into her inner self. At the end of this journey she discovers that she is not strong enough to adopt a life in which a woman is her own woman and lives for herself. This forces her to choose the only other option available to her. I think the propriety with which Edna struggles (and most often gives in to) as she begins to discover who she is and what she wants creates a thick, almost suffocating atmosphere of tension. So much so that I was relieved that she decided to take her own life, as it had evolved into a torturous existence. I thought it unfair that Edna was portrayed as a somewhat neglectful mother. It was clear that she adored her children, albeit a fondness that was in â€Å"...an uneven, impulsive way.† (p. 59) It is important to focus on the time this story was written---the choices available to women in 1899 (the year The Awakening was printed) were extremely limited, and Edna Pontellier, all things considered, actually made a good life for herself, on the surface by making a marriage with Leonce. The material trappings in life that Leonce provided were comfortable, extravagant, actually, and the luxurious life of servants (quadroons), and more than one home appeared to be a life of perfection. Buried within the text are a multitude of â€Å"hints,† â€Å"suggestions,† and in some cases blatant statements concerning the state of mind of Edna Pontellier. The reader is introduced to the possibility that Edna may have a healthy curiosity of the â€Å"absence of prudery† due to her fascination with the lives of Creole women. These women of French descent have far les... ...se population. Edna Pontellier was a lady of ladies, yet she had a will stronger than any iron-clad vessel that plowed the Mississippi River. Her â€Å"awakening† was at once liberating and devastating. Her anger (throwing the vase and her wedding band) was a manifestation of her confusion and inability to comprehend the society that insisted she receive guests on Tuesday (her husband Leonce was appalled that she left one day and did her own thing), be a wife and mother first, and love only one man. Although her demise was indeed tragic, the point is that Edna was not entirely ready to absolutely adopt the Creole way of life---the life in which a woman is her own woman and lives for herself, stands up to the world and insists on having life on her terms. In the end, Edna could not reconcile herself to a life that stepped outside the boundaries of propriety.   

“Match Girl” by Anne Bishop Essay

Anne Bishop bases her story, â€Å"Match Girl, off of Hans Christian Andersen’s â€Å"Little Match Girl†, but she adds a disturbing twist. Bishop uses so much torture and violence that as a reader you want no more. â€Å"Little Match Girl† was a story based on an innocent little girl having to face the cold heart of society. On the other hand, â€Å"Match Girl† was a story based on a young girl that has to face a disgusting and cruel world. The misery and cruelty that Bishop adds to her story is too much for this story to gain credibility. The story starts off with Phoenix already having to suffer from her owner’s cruelty. Just like the little girl in Andersen’s story Phoenix is suffering from cold and torn boots, but in Bishop’s story we get to meet her owners. In this tale we have characters that we can hate. Thanks to all of the characters that Bishop’s uses we are able to get a background story, a setting, and are able to have other feelings besides sadness. To start off with her owners were too cruel. Da had no voice throughout the story and the only action he had that was seen was when he hit Moll. Moll is a cold-hearted woman that treats Phoenix badly probably because she is also living a miserable life. She is forced to live in a man’s world. The men in her life control her and at the first chance she gets to show power and control she takes it. At first it seems like she is the only cruel character but that title is removed once we meet the rest of the characters. Moll and Da’s son does not fall too far from the tree. William is a disgusting creature that should have never been given life. He is absolutely good for nothing and does nothing besides shove his penis into innocent and defenseless Phoenix. He gets away with so much and no one says or does anything, not even Phoenix. But William is only a fraction of all the disgusting males in this story. The worst scene in this story is the one when all the men take a turn on raping Phoenix. She has a spoon that is violently hurting her mouth, meanwhile she has men violently rape her one right after the other. These men are completely heartless and time and again Bishop includes scenes of other women being punished by the men when they don’t do what they are told. Bishop only shows the men in the story as being drunk, violent, and horny. It’s as if she is trying to make a greater argument besides the cruel society that Phoenix lives in. All the men in this story are completely useless and do not have any actions besides violence and sex. This violence and sex is what leads critics to say that the cruelty takes credibility away. It is just too much for one girl to stand. There is too much misery for one story too hold. Anne Bishop said, â€Å"While I embellished or modified details to fit the fictional place, I didn’t make up the instruments of torture. They all existed† (Pg 247). I seem to disagree with Bishop. These â€Å"modified details† did not fit this fictional place. It was too much torture for one story, for one specific character to endure. Although Phoenix saw other women being hurt in different ways, she still had to endure watching them suffer. Phoenix when through too much and although in real life humans also have to endure torture and cruelty, I don’t believe anyone will ever go through all that Phoenix went through. I understand that the methods of torture used are real and were used; I just wish Bishop had cut done a bit on all the horrible things that happened to Phoenix. Phoenix didn’t deserve anything that happened to her, but she continued to be kicked around in more misery until the end. This story was really hard to read and accept. The imm ense cruelty took away from the credibility of the tale.

Out of Body Experiences Speech Essay

Do you ever feel as if you’re watching the World the same way you watch tv, that’s what an out of body experience is like. Today we are going to discuss what an out of body experience is, how they are believed to occur, and in labs how are they being tested. An out of body experience is when you watch the world from a location outside of your body. During this you can see your body and the way you behave, yet you aren’t controlling your movements. It is said that at least 5 to 35 people out of 100 experience this sometime in their life. British psychologist, Susan Blackmore, says the experience has many similarities as dreaming and very close relations with lucid dreaming. According to PHD Stephan LaBerge in his book, Nightlight, they are, â€Å"The human consciousness separating from the human body and traveling in a discorporate form in the physical world. † Another popular belief is that these are also hallucinations, but if that were true how would all the same people have the same delusion? Now that we’ve discussed what they are let’s move on to how they happen. These experiences are believed to have a connection with mind altering events. Such as traumatic events, drug use, or dehydration; still that isn’t the case 100% of the time. The majority of the people experiencing these also had neuroelectrical abnormalities, which is any disorder with the body’s nervous system. It distorts the brains ability to process information. Even though they were first heard of in the early 1940’s yet scientists still have no concrete explanation for it. Many experiments have been performed in explaining these experiences, Time Magazine explains how these lab controlled experiments take place. They hook up a video camera to a pair of goggles, the camera shows the subject what is going on behind them so they are able to have a view of their own backs. A scientist taps the Now that we have went over what out of body experiences are, how they occur, and how they are being test; the real question is, do you this these people are out of their minds, or out of their bodies?

Effect of Political and Economic Environment in the UK on Toyota Essay

After the oil shock in 1979 the European Automobile had to restructure as a result if car sales drop.   This fall in car sales continued until late 1980’s.   At the moment the demand for cars is precariously balanced.   The Market is now facing challenges concerning quality and technological changes with Japanese and USA producers having transplants in the UK. Europe is the largest producer of automobiles in the world.   Production is declining.   â€Å"According to record, 13.7 million units were being produced in 1989 compared with 7.8 million for North America and 9 million for Japan†.   (Global competition and the European Automobile Industry. Pg 3). The UK automobile was expected to rise by the year 2000 by then the market would be owned by the Japanese, UK and European producers.   The first company to set automobile in UK form outside was the US Ford and later others like General Motors, BMW, Honda, later Nissan and Toyota joined.   The UK has a global quality improvement initiative controlled by society of motor Manufacturers and traders industry forum.   Currently UK has over 1000 automotive suppliers with manufacturing firm based in the UK. How Economic and Political Environment are Affecting Toyota   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Generally, UK based vehicle manufactures are recording losses.   This included companies with high productivity records.   The economic conditions tend not to favor the vehicle market.   This is due to production of cars at cheaper prices in other sectors of the globe. Toyota is not an exception.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The political environment of UK does not favor manufacturing plants much.   This is evident through the ease at which employment law makes it easier to close manufacturing firms.   In cases where any manufacturing plant fails to adhere to the government regulations and the UK British act, it can easily be terminated by law. Majority of UK suppliers are lacking some of the short principles of management like good customer focus, and shortage of skills.   Considering that UK has had a good history of quality cars.   The market is almost exploited; customers have seen almost variety of unique cars in the Market. The economy of UK is stable relative to other economies.   Hence, company’s wishing to invest in UK find it expensive to hire labor in UK.   As a result, their profits are limited due to high expenses on payment of labor. The increased cost of energy in the UK’s economy to be specific is another economic factor, though this change is being felt all over the globe.   This is affecting Toyota as a company negatively since most of its production requires energy. Swot Analyzes Strengths Burnaston has made Toyota UK evaluate its first strength through Toyota’s corporate finance strategy.   (Kerretsu).   This is a major strength for Toyota considering that burnaston fits into Toyota’s long term global strategy. Toyota also enjoys government support through seminars and automotive academy like the one launched in 2004 to enhance skill training for the industry.   This is helping Toyota to market itself and gain more knowledge on automotive industry. Toyota UK, also has a diversified capital base considering that the company is international and its sales are doing well in other countries. incase of a fall in the market price and demand for cars in Toyota UK, the company cannot collapse because of liquidity problems as it can be funded by its branches in other parts of the world. Weakness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Toyota UK is positioned in country with high quality products and variety.   This reduces the sales level relative to other countries where the company enjoys monopoly or less competition. Heavy taxes are also affecting the company.   The fact that Toyota is foreign company in UK; makes it more tax worth than UK based Companies. Toyota UK management feels that the UK that used to once be an attractive place to invest has been changed by the on going economic and legislative climate. The strength of starling pound is also affecting Toyota’s investment in the UK in relation to the weakness of Euro.   Toyota is currently seeking an exchange rate solution in order to trade in UK and survive the market with minimal profits. With the introduction of work place parking levies, Toyota doubts whether the charges will impact the behavior of car users something that would affect the company’s sales. A shortage of trained engineers in the UK is another constraint facing Toyota UK.   Toyota is reported to have experienced critical shortages in training new personnel in the information systems department. (Memorandum submitted by Toyota motor Europe, July 2000) Opportunities   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Toyota UK has the chance of acquiring labor from Japan at a better cost in case the UK economy and labor market is exploited.   This gives the opportunity to maximize its sales too.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Expansion is still available for the company.   Despite the fact that the country has many manufacturing companies that have specialized in automotives, it’s also possible for the company to expand in UK since the company has its own unique brands.   In addition, the company can list in the (UK) foreign stock exchange hence engaging in offshore.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fact that UK is historically known for its high level of production o of vehicles, as far as quality is concerned is in advantage.   This is because Toyota UK can learn more techniques or production and improve on the quality of products that it had been producing. Toyota can also produce in bulk.   This is because the UK is a bigger Market and much as competition is there, one cannot rule out the population factor.   The UK population is big and the ratio of people to companies selling vehicles is still low enabling Toyota to Operate. Threats   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competition is the major threat facing Toyota UK.  Ã‚   With the large number of companies in UK and all producing quality cars, the company can easily be thrown out of market or forced to sell at low prices in order to fit the market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economic dynamics are also major threats in the production process of Toyota UK because the poor performance of the economy dictates that the cost of production might be high and selling price might be low.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The U.K’s current fuel crisis is also a possible threat to Toyota UK. If the market price for fuel goes very high, then the demand for vehicles also go down because people will not be willing to buy vehicles if fueling is very expensive. (Marketing Teacher 2000). PEST ANALYSIS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The UK political set up has history of non-violence and generally friendly to foreigners.   The government policies that regulate taxation and monitoring businesses in UK are however, strict.   This does not restrict companies willing to do business though, because the rates are fixed. The government’s policy on the economy in relation to automobile is rather positive since the government offers support to encourage innovation.   On basis of religion and culture the UK people are a collection of different denominations that rarely affect investment policy.   The governments involvement in trading agreements is however an added advantage for Toyota UK, because they are assured of validity of their license. Economic Factors The UK raised his interest rates to 5.75% this year.   With a rise in interest rates, Toyota UK is affected negatively as it can not be banking its money in Japan.   As long as the interest rates are high, this means that the bank charges will be high, reducing the profits that a company can make.   UK’s monetary policy committee (MPC) warned inflation is still on aid and remains a danger to the entire economy.   (BBC News. 24) Some analysts have gone further to determine that this rate of inflation might rise further.   This is bad news for Toyota as the sales of the company will have a less value than approximated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a result, expansion is limited as the purchasing power is reduced. The good news about the economy of UK is the fact that the country’s GDP is relatively high and per capita income is high enough these two combinations encourage liquidity among the citizens which realizes sales for Toyota.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socio-cultural factors. UK’s reception of foreign products is positive. People do not discriminate instead they observe quality.   Majority of dwellers of the land are English speaking hence communication between Toyotas’ salesmen and the citizens is easy. The ability to socialize by the inhabitants and minimal discrimination facilitates marketing. The older generation of UK has accumulated wealth thus Toyota has a wide client base. Technological factors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It would be a lie to argue that technology allows for products to be made more cheaply in the UK than Japan. However technology allows for production of quality automobiles in UK. This helps Toyota to produce quality and leave room for innovation. For instance Ford Company and BMW have products that are better than Toyotas, depending on class of the customers who is buying. Integration of sale of automobiles and insurance company is another technological advantage. This allows company’s selling automobiles to be able to connect their clients with insurance companies. (Alan Capman1995-2005) PORTER’S FIVE FORCES Threat of substitute products   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Toyotas products have a couple of other products similar to them. This makes the company’s products to have high elasticity of demand. Buyers have high propensity to substitute. This puts Toyota at the bargaining edge through pushing the company to keep modifying its products in order to be competitive. Toyota has to keep revising its prices too. Again this is a disadvantage because probably the cost of production was higher than the prevailing market price. Despite of the high elasticity of demand the switching costs of products is still high, making consumers to stick by one product, this adds to Toyotas advantage. The level of product differentiation is another major threat of substitute products. Toyota has an added advantage over this issue since it has different products and can offer customized products too.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Threat of the entry of new competitors. Unless the entry of new firms is blocked, Toyota is exposed to the perfect competition. However Toyota has taken care of this risk through economies of product differentiation and brand equity. The absolute cost advantages are among other ways that Toyota has established its market. The intensity of competitive rivalry. This is the major or determinant of industry competitiveness. Toyota is facing both marketing and innovation competition. The number of competitors is increasing following the governments opening of investors willing to invest. Not forgetting companies like Ford Operations. Toyota has high levels of advertising expertise internationally.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bargaining power of customers. This is the customers’ ability to pressure the firm to reduce its prices. The number of buyers’ volume. In UK though buyers are many, options regarding which company to buy from are also many making buyers to have a bigger influence on bargain than Toyota. Not forgetting the availability of information which has been made possible by internet and the UK media.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bargaining power of suppliers. Toyota UK requires labor, components and other factors. Suppliers can influence the market by raising the cost of raw materials to enjoy the industries’ profit too. However, Toyota UK has suppliers who are competing against themselves too hence making supply price low due to availability of commodities at ease. For example, the tire industry. (Morison .J 2006) Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Toyota Company UK has established itself despite the competitive environment due to diversified portfolio where the company sells other products like, used trunks, car bodies, primary NAICS and insurance linking’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recently Toyota was confirmed as be best performing automobile company in the UK. Media tenor UK’s leading media on opinion reported during the 7.5 international Auto salons in Genf. Media tenor, realized a pessimistic trend for the future of the car industry in UK.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Toyota has been rated the best performer, as other companies report losses and closing down some of their joints. Overall, Toyota has been able to extend its products to cooperate. Among BMW, DC, Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford in UK, Toyota has the best performance so far. Reference http://europa.eu Marketing Teacher. (2000). Swot analysis   lesson- www.marketingteacher.com Media tenor International Newsletters (2005-03-08). -Toyota outshines competitors again in UK.   www.mediatenor.com Alan Capman (1995-2005) Pest Market analysis tool www.businesshalls.com Morison .J (2006) International business environment global and local market place in a changing world. Palgrase Macmillan.

No One’s A Mystery Essay

â€Å"No One’s a Mystery† is mainly about innocence and how coming-of-age plays an important role in a relationship. Tallent plays out a contrast between hopeful expectations and disappointing reality through the character of a naive, innocent girl involved with an older, experienced man. The girl appears to be very comfortable with Jack, even though he pushes her into hiding below the dashboard, and despite her spirited singing along with Rosanne Cash on the tape deck, her casual drinking of tequila, and her acceptance of the gift. The curiosity builds when he gives her a five-year diary for her eighteenth birthday, almost foreshadowing a future together. The girl had experienced many changes in consequence of being with Jack. Her loss of innocence is further emphasized as she offers the following insights regarding their future together: â€Å"Jack should be home any minute now, but I don’t know if I can wait until after the trout a la Navarra to make love to him. â€Å"In Tallent’s â€Å"No One’s a Mystery†, the story shows having faith in someone is difficult to do especially when you’re in a relationship with a person. In Jack and the girl’s case, the naive girl questions her future with Jack when he treats her like a child and mocks her when she speaks. Jack chooses to mock her realism by challenging her playfully. Although she still has a serious love for Jack, she is now jaded and aware of what difficulties lay ahead. Another example would be when she is interrupted by a skeptical comment from the older man she continues, â€Å"Little Jack is hungry for his supper.† Jack laughs as she draws to a close, â€Å"My nipples are a little sore from nursing Eliza Rosamund.† Stirring traces of sight, smell, sound, and touch, all feed into her introspective outlook, but strangely. The story, â€Å"No One’s a Mystery† by Elizabeth Tallent explores the relationship of two characters, whom are both rather disputable. The young girl in the story remains unnamed and could be considered naà ¯ve and dim-witted while the guy, Jack, is a chauvinist pig. He uses his 18 year-old admirer as an excuse to make himself think he is still young. It is a way to keep him in the frame of mind that he doesn’t need a wife, he can do what he wants and get what he wants without her. Jack doesn’t seem to want a predictable life. His comments to his admirer show that he isn’t ready to settle down with his wife. For the most part his comments are short and indirect, â€Å"It’s her,’ he said. ‘She keeps her lights on in the daytime. I cant think of a single habit in a woman that irritates me more than that.† This quote is showing Jack belittling his wife. It’s something that would be said in a high school relationship. He also puts her down once again by saying, â€Å"She thinks it’s safer. Why does she need to be safer? She’s driving exactly fifty-five miles an hour. She believes in those signs: ‘Speed Monitored by Aircraft.’ It doesn’t matter that you can look up and see the sky is empty† It’s like he is saying these comments to win his admirers affection. However when Jack saw his wife coming in the distance his actions showed little respect for his young admirer. Jack is a selfish person who only cares about himself. Usually cheaters do not look out for others but themselves but he demonstrates it in several ways. The girl notes â€Å"He pushed me down onto the dirty floor of the pickup and kept one hand on my head while I inhaled the musk of his cigarettes in the dashboard ashtray†. This is horrible to have to go through but the girl has fallen in love with him to the point where she doesn’t think anything is wrong with the situation. â€Å"When he saw that I was going to stay still he took his hand from my head and ran it through his own dark hair†. Jack has to be really inconsiderate to put someone through that. He cares for her about as much as he does with all his pop-tops that are on his truck floor. Later on in their trip Jack tells his admirer what he thinks she will be writing in her diary. â€Å"I wonder what I ever really saw in Jack. I wonder why I spent so many days just riding around in his pickup. It’s true he taught me something about sex†. This comment here shows a little about how Jack sees their situation. He knows its not going to last forever and it will come to and end with in a year. You can tell the two have a very comfortable sexual relationship by the â€Å"taught me something about sex† line in his speech. They are both so comfortable around it that he feels free to joke about it around her. Jack’s situation is not one that’s seen as mature or respectful among most people. He uses his lover for sex and keeps his wife in the dark of the whole situation. It is selfish and wrong for Jack to be acting like this. Jack does what he wants all day and has no respect for either of the two women involved in this affair, therefore showing a childish attitude.

A Between Soldiers Home by Ernest Hemingway and Speaking of Courage by Tim OBrien

A Between Soldier's Home by Ernest Hemingway and Speaking of Courage by Tim O'Brien Sometimes the hardest part of going to war is coming home. In the two short stories, â€Å"Soldiers Home† by Ernest Hemingway and â€Å"Speaking of Courage† by Tim O’Brien, each of the characters Krebs and Berlin show the difficulties it has on a soldier returning home from war. Both characters illustrate how hard it can be to adjust to a normal lifestyle compared to the life that they had overseas or the one that they had before they left for war. However, each story differs when looking at how they deal with the aftereffects and who they confide in about the difficulties of war. In a â€Å"Soldier’s Home† when Krebs returns home he has this need to talk to someone but doesn’t know how to approach people about it. Whereas in â€Å"Speaking of Courage† Berlin has the choice to speak of the difficulties and hardships of war honestly, but he chooses not to because he doesn’t want to bother anyone. Each of the characters exhibit fo rms of PTSD and how the war put many hardships in their lives when they returned home. Although, the stories have many differences they also share many similarities about the effects of war. In a â€Å"Soldier’s Home† by Ernest Hemingway before Krebs became a soldier he had a pretty normal life, he was in a fraternity where all the men involved wore the same kind of shirt in the same style. With this, it showed that he had friends who accepted him and a healthy social life. When Krebs was away in war it is discussed that the fellows soldiers â€Å"look too big for their uniforms†. The idea of â€Å"outgrowing† a uniform is a pattern that we consecutively see throughout the short story. Krebs eventually hypothetically speaking outgrew his uniform in the fraternity when he went away to war. Where we see this pattern again is when Krebs is away in war and he eventually begins to outgrow his uniform and returns home from war. In the article â€Å"Where Do We Go From Here? by Trout, Steven he discusses how â€Å"it turned out, many former soldiers, including some of the most decorated of the war, were not up to the challenge of reentering civilia n life without support, economic, or otherwise†. Krebs realized that once he did return to the civilian world that he was on his own, he wouldn’t be able to truly discuss the causality of the war and the experiences that he went through. When Krebs returned home from war this is when we began to see how he was more isolated with those around him, it shows that he was impacted by war and what he saw. When he came home from war it was about late summer, he would sleep late in bed, he would walk to the library, eat lunch at home, he’d walk around town by himself, and then he’d spend the remainder of the night in the pool room. He spends most of his days alone with the exemptions of the times he sees his family. He also is constantly reminding himself of the things that he saw while he was at war. PTSD has the effect of returning military members to disregard their previous social lives to try and narrow the psychological effects of war. We also see this when Krebs wants to be associated with people, but he does not want to have to deal with the stress that comes with it because â€Å"here at home it was all too complicated†(Hemingway 168). After looking into articles based on how Krebs felt when returning home from war it came across the article that further discussed his need to talk about war. Krebs feelings about the war are constantly changing, in the arti cle Soldiers’ Voices in In Our TIme: Hemingway’s Ventriloquism by Milton A. Cohen, it goes into talk about how â€Å"his compulsive need to talk to someone†. Krebs is constantly looking for someone to listen to the stories of war that he encountered, but since it was so late when he returned home everyone thought they had heard it all. As the story continues we see a change in the way that Krebs talks to his sister compared to how he talks to his mother. Krebs has a new view on the world after being in the war for so long he has a hard time adjusting to his life back home and has a hard time controlling what he says because he has a fear of losing those he loves. At the time these scenes take place it is painful to hear how hurt he is to the point he has to tell his own mother that he doesn’t love her. In the article Performative Patterns in Hemingway’s â€Å"Soldier’s Home† by Ruben De Baerdemaeker it goes into discuss how â€Å"Krebs disavows being in God’s Kingdom, and emotionally distances himself from his mother and the world she represents†. When Krebs tells his mother that he does not love her, he quickly realizes that what he said was an accident. Krebs knew that what he has said was wrong, and after saying this, he tries to give reasons for himself but could not se em to come up with an exact answer. He then tries to say that what he said was a mistake and that it came out the wrong way. He couldn’t explain that he didn’t want to lose her, so he was trying to express himself to seek to keep her away from his life because he feels he is damaged. Psychologically Krebs has been changed because of the war, and he tries to get used to his social surroundings, which is now different and complicated to him. We also see these similarities in â€Å"Speaking of Courage† where the main character Norman Bowker has a hard time adjusting to a normal life after returning home from the war too. We can see this when he â€Å"followed the tar road on its seven-mile loop around the lake, then he started all over again, driving slowly† (Tim O’Brien). Norman realizes that he has nowhere to go at this point and turns to driving and reminiscing about his days before war. Bowker wants to talk to someone about what happened to him at war, but he has no one to talk to about anything. He also thinks about conversations that he would have with people about what happened, about the medals that he got awarded to him, but he also wanted to tell those the he was a coward, that he wasn’t brave. In the article Tim O’Brien and the Art of the True War Story by Timmerman, John H. goes into detail about how if people would have listened to Bowker â€Å"people would have heard, if o nly they had listened, was Norman Bowker’s story of he had courage, of how he almost saved his friend Kiowa, except for the terrible sink in the field. His father was the appropriate one to initiate the hearing, for his father also knew the truth of war†. Norman has a hard time accepting what happened to him, about all the changes in the town that happened to him. He can’t accept the fact that what happened to his friend was purely an accident and that if he would have stayed he would have been gone too, that he deserved all of the medals that he received in war. Bowker is clearly in a state of stress that is causing to constantly revisit the incident that happened with his friend, this is otherwise known as PTSD. There was a study produced, published online Sept. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry, that conducted the theory that PTSD can cause listlessness and emotional detachment. Which we see in both of the characters in the two short stories. Krebs and Bowker each have a difficult time adjusting to life outside of war; they have a hard time adjusting to the lifestyle that they knew before which results in them wanting to be alone a lot of the time. Although these characters have a lot of similarities, they also have differences such as the type of war they fought in and how they can talk about it and who they have to talk about it when they return home. The differences of these two short stories were when they soldiers returned home and how the circumstances where. When Krebs returned home from war, it wasn’t right for him to talk about the war and his experiences. He returned home from war so late compared to the other soldiers they thought they had heard everything that had happened and they thought it was weird that Krebs was returning so late after the war was over. Krebs eventually started lying about his experiences to get the attention of those around him, but this resulted in becoming sick whenever he told a lie. In an article posted by the Perelman School of Medicine, it is said that one of the most common side effects of PTSD is changes in mood and cognition, where the person affected by this has exaggerated negative beliefs, and self blame for the traumatic event, detachment from others loss of interest persistent negative emotional state, reduced ability to feel positives emotions. Krebs has a hard accepting what has changed and his inability to find satisfaction in what is around him, especially women whom he finds necessary to get close to because it is far too complicated. As much as Krebs believes in the truth, people around him force him to lie. The story precisely manifests the conflict between Krebs value, which has dramatically changed after his war experience and society expectation toward him to conform to its traditional values. Eventually to maintain his existence Krebs has to choose isolation by detaching himself from social relations, love, religion and ambition. Harold Krebs returned from the war with an inability to love and determined to avoid complications which include lying. But his life is getting complicated already, when he was welcomed by the society people to be listened to at all he had to lie. As the story goes Krebs has to lie again while trying to be attached to his family. Krebs still has some relationship with his family as he is still in touch with his sister, but otherwise he has distanced himself from almost anyone and anything around him. Whereas Bowker has a hard time adjusting to his new lifestyle and talking to those around him, he has started losing those relationships that he once had because he has a hard time adjusting to his new life. Norman Bowker wanted to have conversations with people, but instead of talking he had imaginary conversations with people because he doesn’t know how to actually have them. Bowker had these conversations with people because he doesn’t know how to actually have them. He is afraid of what people might say and do because now that he has returned home from war his life is diverse. He feels as though all the people he wants to have these conversations with are wrapped up in their own lives, and he feels that his issues aren’t important enough to bother them or that they wouldn’t understand them. He has this whole imaginary conversations with his father, whose approval is significant to him, he thinks about how they’d talk about all the medals that he had received in the war. He thinks about how he believes his father would celebrate how courageous and brave that he was in the war, although he feels he was not he thinks of himself as a coward because he à ¢â‚¬Å"almost† won the silver star for valor. He has repeatedly thought about this conversation that h would have because he has thought about how his father would react and what he would say to him.