American Federation of Teachers Essay

The continued drive to improve education and to support the legislation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy of the government has pushed the district of Georgia to create an effective framework of assessing and testing students of their proficiency in the different realms of education. By doing such, the district not only complies with the legislation and policies but at the same time ensures that the continued need of students in the facilitation of education is attained. Seeing the three documents notions of similarity can be seen. Looking closely these similarities have well in fact have to do with the standards set by the district of Georgia with the regards to proficiency standards. Also, there is a similarity in the objective and rationale that an improvement of such standards is necessary to achieve the optimum educational needs of students in the classroom. Lastly, there seems to be emphasis and importance on creating appropriate methods within the classroom scenario. This means both teachers and students are expected something to contribute for the overall facilitation of classrooms. On the other hand, the two documents have their own differences. One important difference that can be seen in the article are their relative scopes One article focuses on the general framework and ideas in Georgia concerning the improvement of standards that will enhance student education. On the other hand, the other article showcases an analysis of deeper sets of standards. This means that each point and objective is elaborated more clearly and brought down to per level category. This categorization helps readers understand the complexity and depth of such initiative. With this understanding, proper critiquing and arguments can arise which later can contribute to a better development of initiatives that can foster and administer change for students and teachers within the classroom. Creating standards are an integral part in the overall facilitation of learning within the classroom setup. This is because it enhances the level of knowledge imparted to students and at the same time. â€Å"Introducing standards in the classroom will augment the learning experience by pointing students to available design and marketing tools, and best industry practices. † (Schultz, 2005) Furthermore, the creation of standards enforces the actualization and realization of information of students within the classrooms. â€Å"By establishing standards for teacher competence in student assessment, the associations subscribe to the view that student assessment is an essential part of teaching and that good teaching cannot exist without good student assessment. † (American Federation of Teachers, 1990) By integrating these standards, it can create an integral part in the overall process of learning and facilitation of education. Enhancing student learning requires a thorough understanding of issues revolving around a particular topic. By doing so, it gives the teachers the necessary information that they need to sustain and develop methods adequate for students needs. First these documents serve as (1) an added tool for application. Seeing the development of literature gives options for teachers to apply proper schemes in classrooms. Second, it sketches approaches in the field of educational development of students. â€Å"Students cannot achieve high levels of performance without access to skilled professional teachers, adequate classroom time, a rich array of learning materials, accommodating work spaces, and the resources of the communities surrounding their schools. † (NSES, p. 1) Lastly, these documents promote equality in the classrooms in terms of addressing the needs of each actor. By realizing the importance of student and teacher’s needs, objectives can be calibrated to better suit the classroom. In the end, literature has shown that by creating standards, issues in education and student needs can be addressed. Properly applying these standards within the classroom needs to be done in order for students to avail of the proper amount of education they need to sustain their holistic development and endeavors. References American Federation of Teachers. (1990) Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students. Retrieved April 24, 2008 from http://www. unl. edu/buros/bimm/html/article3. html National Science of Education Standards. National Science Education Standards: An Overview. Retrieved April 24, 2008 from http://www. nap. edu/readingroom/books/nses/overview. html Schultz, D. (2005) Standards in the Classroom in ASTM International. Retrieved April 24, 2008 from http://www. astm. org/SNEWS/JULY_2005/schultz_jul05. html

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Essay

WHAT IS FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG)? FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) is a term that is used to refer to those goods which are sold through retail stores. These goods have a short period of shelf life and as such are used up within days, weeks, or months. TOP 7 FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS 1. PROCTOR & GAMBLE: Headquartered at Cincinnati in Ohio, United States, Procter and Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational company. It was founded in October 31 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. Its flagship and best selling brand is ARIEL laundry detergent which was launched in 1967. This detergent is available in different variants. The company also manufactures other best selling products that are highly popular around the world. 2. NESTLÉ: Nestle is a Swiss multinational engaged in the production of different food products. It has its presence in more than 100 countries. It produces several top selling products in different food categories. Some of its best selling products are LEAN CUISINE, Maggi, Boost, Kit Kat, Friskies, and Nescafe etc. 3. UNILEVER: Unilever is a multinational engaged in the manufacture of different products like foods, personal grooming products, detergents and beverages etc. This British-Dutch company is the owner of over 400 leading brands in the world out of which 13 are billion dollar brands. One of its top products is  AVIANCE which is a beauty product for women. This product is sold in many countries of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. 4. COCA-COLA: Coca-Cola Company which is based in Atlanta in Georgia manufactures the world’s most popular soft drink COCA COLA. It was Dr. John S. Pemberton who created this drink in 1886. Coca Cola touched base in every part of the US by 1895. The company began its franchisee operations in 1899 and gradually it opened up bottling plants in every corner of the globe. The universal popularity of Coca Cola is undisputed. The Coca Cola syrup mixed with carbonated water created ripples everywhere and today you can get a Coke in any part of the world. 5. PEPSICO: PepsiCo was created out of the amalgamation of two companies named Pepsi Cola and Frito Lay. The company which was formed in 1965 has its headquarters at Purchase in Harrison New York. It is a Fortune 500 company. PepsiCo is engaged in the manufacture of snack foods (grain based), beverages and other similar products. One of its best known brands is the cola beverage PEPSI-COLA. Created in 1893 its former name was ‘Brad’s Drink’. 6. BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO: Another multinational tobacco major is the British American Tobacco company which is the world’s second largest tobacco company. It sells its tobacco products in several top markets across the globe. Many world-famous cigarette brands are manufactured by BAT. One of its top selling cigarette brands is PALL MALL. Some other leading cigarette brands manufactured by the company are Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Vogue. 7 NOKIA: Nokia is a Finnish multinational engaged primarily in the manufacture of  mobile telephones. The company has its headquarters at Keilaniemi, Espoo which is near Helsinki, the capital of Finland. This mobile communication giant is the largest manufacturer of mobile telephones in the world. Its products are sold in every part of the world. Nokia has launched many innovative mobile systems and almost all its products have been hot sellers.

Hartwick College Essay

In this extract, we are shown insight into what Pips character has become, by reacquainting him with the convict Magwitch. In this second visit, we can see the contrast between Pips first encounter, and this more shocking scene – how Pips persona has changed from an innocent youth, to a selfish, egocentric ‘gentleman. ‘ Also, we are given the startling revelation of Pip’s true benefactor, in a cumulative peak of excitement enriched with Dickens unique writing style. Throughout the text, Pip’s manner towards others, his way of thinking and even his narrative voice transform to create two reasonably different characters. The extract pictures him as a selfish, pompous young man who shows great ingratitude towards Magwitch – asking â€Å"inhospitably enough† whether he would like to come in and pushing away a plea for affection, from one who has worked hard all his life merely to provide Pip with a great wealth, and an undemanding lifestyle. When Magwitch returns to greet his beneficiary, he is treated with less than minor courtesy. Pip’s younger character however appears far more innocent, showing respect and even compassion towards a convict, who threatens and oppresses him, glad that his stolen food is â€Å"enjoyed† by a complete stranger. This highlights a stark contrast between the Pip displayed in the extract, and Pips younger self. Indeed Dickens seems to point out the irony of such a title – at the point in time when society considers him ‘gentleman’ he is anything but gentle – instead he appears malicious and critical of his former friend Joe whose visit he awaits with â€Å"mortification. † The wealthy gentleman is now a moral shadow of the impoverished yet guiltless Pip we are introduced to at the beginning of the story. His simultaneous ascent to aristocracy and fall into selfish spendthrift, leading to his subsequent redemption, are reminiscent of the ‘education’ novel popular at the time. These tales of ‘apprenticeship’ were often of mistreated orphans who managed to become wealthy and successful. The stories featured the many obstacles that the hero/heroine would have to overcome, and their popularity peaked around Dickens time. Typically, they explore â€Å"the youth and young adulthood of a sensitive protagonist† who is â€Å"in search of the meaning of life and the nature of the world† (David Cody, Associate Professor of English, Hartwick College.) They tended to contain autobiographical elements, and were sometimes influenced by contemporary social and industrial transformations. There are also some other genres on which the story touches upon, namely the ‘sensation novel’ – the numerable plot twists and shocking revelations form a large part of the structure – in this extract we see the startling disclosure of Pips true benefactor, which most contemporaneous readers would perhaps not have guessed. Indeed, these climatic scenes are pivotal to the books success as a serialisation, as well as a novel. To maintain interest in a book that is staged in weekly instalments, Dickens uses a variety of sub-plots to keep the reader engrossed. This eccentric writing style gives the text a unique quality, and the overall effect on the reader is one of shock and intrigue. The rendezvous with the convict in the graveyard, and his death, Miss Havisham’s fire, and the showdown with Orlick are among the most memorable climax’s we experience – as well as Pips second meeting with Magwitch. In this passage, we can see how the writer cultivates tension and makes the most of Magwitch’s secret. When extract reaches a pinnacle of excitement, many sentences become long and drawn out, and sentence complexity increases, leaving the shorter, snappier â€Å"why, Wemmick† and â€Å"would it be J? † to further promote interest in the plot, and give a tense, nervous atmosphere. As the scene draws to its zenith, as Pip’s â€Å"heart (beats) like a heavy hammer of disordered action,† we see powerful metaphors, and repetition of prominent, emotive language (â€Å"dangers, disgraces, consequences†) to give a sense of anxiety and intensify the scene. Language is also used here to alienate the convict from Pip himself. The rich, throaty slang of Magwitch’s â€Å"arterwards,† â€Å"spec’lated† and â€Å"warmint† contrasts against Pip’s more noble speeches of how he â€Å"cannot wish to renew that chance intercourse† and inquires of the messenger â€Å"since he undertook that trust. † The way Dickens estranges Magwitch from Pip is significant: it symbolizes the delusional notion that Pip is a gentleman, and that he is superior to the convict. Pip believes himself to be changed since that first chance meeting in the graveyard, and thinks that he is now above Magwitch, who is after all a criminal. The irony experienced by the reader is that Pip’s great wealth and upper class lifestyle is solely attributable to Magwitch himself, and this too is the source of the shock Pip describes. The way Dickens depicts Pips feelings is extremely powerful, as we see Pip â€Å"suffocating† merely from the shock of this news, news that his almost successful attempt to become a gentleman was funded by the dark relic of his youth, who’s felonious past appears further from gentry as is possible. This is of course, not the first time we see Pip’s character interrupted by members of his childhood – there was his meeting with Mr Pocket on his arrival to London, and more important, Joe’s visit to Pip in his London flat. This meeting, like the one with Magwitch we see in the extract, stresses the change we have seen in Pip’s character by comparing his manner towards someone he knew as a boy, and how he acts towards them now. Upon his visit, Joe is not treated with hostility as such, but Pip denotes that he â€Å"certainly would have paid money† to keep him from coming. As a boy, Pip always stayed friends with Joe despite his obvious stupidity and clumsiness, yet now he wishes more than anything to avoid him. Pips dismissal of Joe in this way turns the reader against him slightly – up until now we have supported Pip as the ‘good guy. ‘ Pips corruption from an innocent youngster to a snide gentleman, and then back into a more honourable businessman. This cycle of purity, corruption and redemption is an ongoing theme in Great Expectations, and makes subtle references to Christian beliefs of how the life of greed and sin that Pip lived in London, on the wealth of a convict, lead to a corroded innocence that was only liberated through his consequent illness and then his new beginning with Estella. The other theme that appears in the novel, is that of justice and the just punishment of crime. We first see this in the appearance of a convict (though this method of punishment was stopped in 1868 several years after the novel was written) and Dickens portrayal of him as an honest man, who admits to the theft of â€Å"some broken wittles† and â€Å"a dram of liquor† to save Pip from his sister, Mrs Joe. And again, Mrs Joe herself ties in to the punishment theme, her harsh disciplining of her husband and brother again lets us sympathise with those who are chastised, and not the chastisers. Later in the book, we see another example of this when Magwitch is caught. And more subtle instances of punishment such as Mrs Havisham burning for her corruption of Estella (corruption almost being a theme in itself) are also present in the text, giving us a thorough impression of how those who commit crime will always be brought to justice. The time setting of the novel allows Dickens to include these ideas of corporal punishment, convicts and public hangings. To a modern reader, these archaic, brutal methods of upholding the law appear old-fashioned. However, readers of the time would most probably have experienced these events fist-hand, in one way or another. Moral preaching’s of more passive action towards prisoners and criminals would be relatively new to them, whereas nowadays such views are accepted as standard. The feelings created by the views Dickens has on delinquency, and its retribution, are therefore significantly different between readers of-the-time and present day students. As a modern audience, we also feel compelled, excited, and fascinated by the books intricate plotlines, particularly in this extract. To inspire such strong emotions, Dickens uses many lingual and structural functions, the aforementioned effectiveness of metaphors and imagery to name one. He also writes in the 1st person, which is pivotal to the feelings the book creates: the story is far more personal and involving. Dickens also entwines his plots and subplots very carefully to create a prominent air of tension. As he builds up to the climax of one plot twist, he continues to insert little mini-dramas that leave us waiting for the main storyline to continue. He does this quite often in the novel, and it makes the reading most tense and far less predictable. To a less observant reader, Magwitch’s return would be a complete surprise – this is where the majority of this extract’s attraction lies. Overall, this extract is in fact one of the most outstanding scenes in the book. The build up of excitement before the final revelation of â€Å"Pip – your him! † is done with a variety of complex, literary devices, and the twist in the plot and return of a familiar character add to its success. It calls attention to Pip’s new assumed role, as a self-centred ungrateful gentleman, and is characteristic of Dickens writing style.

Workforce Effectiveness (Interview Technique) Essay

Workforce Effectiveness (Interview Technique) - Essay Example Patton (1987) has recommended that such questions should be neutral and clear to the employee, they must be open ended and demonstrate sensitivity to the subject of the interview. The cognitive interview techniques aims to improve communication during an interview, through enhancing recall of past events and the context in which they occurred. This method also allows an interviewer to assess when confabulation is used, i.e, stating something that is not strictly true. Memon et al (1997) have examined the application of the cognitive technique in the context of police work where interviewing witnesses was concerned and found it efficacious in enhancing accurate recall of past events. Lindberg et al (2003) have compared three different investigative techniques used with young children. The first of these was a step wise interview process, in which questions became progressively more difficult. The second method employed a play situation and interviewed the children by asking them questions as they played. The last method was a modified structured interview in which the interviewers were provided an information packet that highlighted the importance of the resea rch and included instructions on how to build rapport with the children together with guidelines on specific kinds of questions that could be asked. The last method was found to be the best. In view of the above, it appears that the method of semi structured interview may be the best in gaining a picture of the candidates for the Executive assistant position and their abilities. While a set of prior questions can be prepared before hand, some questions can be open ended, allowing the candidate to expand on any aspect that the interview wishes to know more about. The interview will include questions about the candidate’s academic qualifications and the grades that were earned. A set of questions on job history can

Procurement & Contracts Coursework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Procurement & Contracts Coursework - Assignment Example 57). One of the key attributes of PPP is that it not only facilitates public-private partnerships during the construction phase, but it provides for post-construction services to be managed by a private agency. It has been argued that by taking this approach, the construction design is usually conducted contemplating subsequent services which ultimately lowers the cost of services. Moreover, the nature and duration of the PPP encourages a relationship of trust and facilitates the free flow of information (Hoppe & Schmitz, 2013). Likewise, Private Finance Initiative (PFI), project procurement, a form of PPP, is particularly important when the public budget is constrained by economic difficulties such as the current economic downturn. PFI is a method by which the public sector secures â€Å"value for money† and the private sector â€Å"service provider† assumes the risks associated with the project (Akintoye, Hardcastle, Beck, Chinyio, & Asenova, 2003, p. 461). Given that the global economic downturn has impacted the UK government’s ability to deliver and meet the demands for health services, a PFI-PPP procurement route is the more innovative and least costly option over traditional procurement routes. ... Traditional procurement routes will also be discussed. The Principles of Public-Private Partnership Procurement Definition PPP is defined by the OECD as: †¦an agreement between the government and one or more private partners (which may include the operators and the financers) according to which the private partners deliver the service in such a manner that the service delivery objectives of the government are aligned with the profit objectives of the private partners and where the effectiveness of the alignment depends on a sufficient transfer or risk to the private partners (OECD, 2008, p. 17). PPP therefore takes the involvement of the private sector to more proactive level and does not merely involve a limited contractual arrangement. PPP is best understood when compared to traditional procurement routes. PPP vs Traditional Procurement Routes Instinctively, the concept of PPP invokes ambivalence over the idea of the private sector becoming involved in the construction and man agement of public infrastructure. However, as Grimsey and Mervyn (2007) point out: †¦the old command and control structures of the public sector are breaking down and are being replaced by interrelationships between government and private sector entities (p. 171). Although traditional procurement routes use the private sector, PPPs can be distinguished in a significant way. Traditional procurement routes usually involve private entities constructing roads, hospitals, schools, public buildings and schools and so on. Private companies also manage and maintain the infrastructure. However, with PPPs, rather than use individual agreements, the agreements are combined in

Ikea Company and Its International Retailer Selling Case Study

Ikea Company and Its International Retailer Selling - Case Study Example From this paper, it is clear that the analysis of internal environment would include strengths and weaknesses of the company. The strength of the company lies in its expert marketing abilities and also its location. These are the two aspects which add to the value of the company’s products. It is also a strong global brand attracting key groups of consumers. The company’s scale and size of the company’s business could make it hard to impose quality standards and maintain quality issues. Moreover, some of the countries making IKEA products also do not implement proper working environment legislation. These could account for company’s weaknesses. Some of the key opportunities which IKEA tries to take advantage of being a consistently increasing in demand for greener products. Also, the demand for low priced products remains high. Also, the present financial conditions in the economy across the world predict a gradual decline in consumer’s preference f or expensive products. Also, there is high demand for low water usage and low carbon footprints. The company must design a business strategy which would be socially and economically conscious. Thus it would be based on the present market conditions. It is true that the present financial conditions are favorable towards the production of low priced products but soon the situation is likely to improve and this would consequently change people’s tastes and preferences as well. This means that the company must design a strategy which would be adaptive to the surrounding environment if it seeks to avoid losses due to change in tastes and fashion. Going by the existing opportunities and threats facing the company, IKEA strives to develop an environmental and sustainability plan which is central to its business strategy. The plan seeks to continue operations till 2015 and includes social, economic and environmental issues.

Applied international macroeconomics projet between 1956 1986 Essay

Applied international macroeconomics projet between 1956 1986 - Essay Example Tunisia, officially known as the Tunisian Republic, is a country situated on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, bordering with Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia got its independence from the French colonialism in March 20, 1956 and Habib Bourguib became the president of new state. He established a strict one-party political system with a strong hold on economy and state resources and their allocation. One of Tunisia’s outstanding characteristics is its remarkable economic development, sustained over many decades and currently driven by a process of market liberalization and integration into world markets (Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Tunisia 2005–2009, 2006, p. 7).Historically, Tunisian economy has gone through fluctuating periods of growth and instability. Its has gone through a transition period of a centrally planned to a more privately managed economy and stabilization and later as a structural reform programs.The purpose of f ollowing paper is to briefly highlight the important aspects of Tunisian economy during1956 to 1986 period. The paper discusses important economical during this era by splitting it into two sub-periods; namely;- Transition period of a centrally planned to a more privately managed economy and the stabilization (1956- 1970), and - An era of structural reform programs (1971- 1986).Tunisia, officially known as the Tunisian Republic, is situated on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, bordering with Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. ... crisis and instability. Its has gone through a transition periods of a centrally planned economy to a more privately managed economy and the stabilization (since 1956 to 1970) , and structural reform programs 1986-87. W can divide this entire period of economic developments into two sub- periods namely; - Transition period of a centrally planned to a more privately managed economy and the stabilization (1956- 1970), and - An era of structural reform programs (1971- 1986). Transition Period of a Centrally Planned to a more Privately Managed Economy and the Stabilization ;1956- 1970. At the time of independence in 1956, Tunisia was facing a crippling economic position mainly because of the huge transfer of money abroad by the wealthy Europeans, who had left the country. Yet the country and its leadership were quite optimistic and had strong determination in their potential and progress. They set their targets mainly focusing on education, modernization agriculture and infrastructure and industrialization and heavily invested in these sectors. Although these were fine priorities, yet unfortunately in sixties, they could not reap enough of the benefits to the masses because of their long term investment requirements and strict government policy control over theses sectors. During this period per capita income could not increase with an increase in investment. Government strict policy control over economy resulted a rapid increase of money supply and aggregate demands. These factors considerable increased the inflation rate and above all raised foreign payment imbalance. More than 70% of investment was public. More than half of total investment was based on

Project Review Report about the Sonic Pathfinder a microprocessor Assignment

Project Review Report about the Sonic Pathfinder a microprocessor based Travel Aid for the Blind - Assignment Example These are achievable through effective utilization of ultrasonic navigation and sonar or laser signals to distinguish the region for objects in one’s path way. 1.2. Methodological study, evaluation and analysis of the effectiveness of Sonic Pathfinder SP as were subjected under different environmental conditions and placements. A methodological study carried out consisted of two participants (One and Two), and behavior analysts who observed movements of these two participants. Given different environmental placements, as described in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research development, varied responses were obtained. These test environments were as follows: 1.2.1. Shopping Mall The conditions of the shopping mall chosen were that it was indoor, single level, with the irregularly shaped passageways lined with a number of retail outlets which are ever open to the passageways during business operation hours. Things that were in the Mall included signs, planters, product shows/displays and sitting benches that were located along walking paths. Pedestrian traffic concentration was determined as relatively high. As had been realized by Analyst One, a particular path from the main entrance towards the West entrance was a problem for the participant. This participant thought that acquiring SP would be a permanent solution to the problems experienced especially along the identified path. This study considered a Z-shaped path of travel within the shopping mall (from Northern to Eastern direction Entrance). The Participant initialized the experiment by facing south with their backs facing to the doors; they turned to their left and moved east, then south, then east ag ain to the Eastern direction Entrance. Along their path ways there existed open storefronts on either sides of the walkway, and the counter and display area of a florist to the right side of the southern leg extended beyond the waking path. The southern leg of the route also ended at the entrance to a boutique shop. Frequently, there were a string of people at an ATM on the east wall before the end of this path. The East entrance was at the extreme end of a corridor to the left of the boutique shop while the central point of the Shopping Mall (which is an open region serving as the hub or the various paths) was at the right. Remarkably, this was a region known for its heavy pedestrian traffic. For affectivity, the two participants were first familiarized with the route

Art Through the Ages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art Through the Ages - Essay Example Imagination should not only form the basis for understanding 19th century art in the context of political, technological and social changes, but it should also help in developing the ability to locate art work in history. It is crucial to consider the convictions, expectations and prejudices of the spectators and artists in art during this historical period. Style refers to the distinguishing manner of producing an artistic object and the way the spectators look at the object. Style is a historian’s extraordinary sphere. However, because of its subjective assessment, it is rarely used by historians. Style in art provides a useful tool for creating chronology. In art history inquiry, defining artistic style comprise a vital element. Several different types of style exist; regional, period and personal style2. Regional style refers to the usage of variations in style attached to geography. Like the object’s date, its place of origin and providence can determine its charac ter. Artwork from the same location but made ages apart can have similarities, unlike contemporaneous work from differing locations. For instance, a historian can differentiate Egyptian art from Mexican or Italian art made during the same age. Variations in the two sets of art exist, which make it possible to differentiate the artwork. Through regional style, art in the 19th century can be studied and used to show the ideas and aims of the artists in this period3. In 1820-1860, romanticism and naturalism came out through the work by Delacroix in Liberty Leading the People and in Rude and Corot’s work. Their work portrayed emotional reactions against neo-classicalism. These artists used nature, patriotism, supernatural, heroism and glorification of the past to show changes in politics, technology and social aspects of life. For instant, peasants were used to show that the society, during this time, was composed of peasants. This means that not many technological advances had b een made during this period. The emotional reactions against neo-classicalism also showed the political nature of 1820-1860s. The work by Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, portrays the emotional hatred of neo-classicalism. The art also depicted the peasant workers in their farms or homes. The hatred of neo-classicalism and the peasant workers showed political resentment towards neo-classicalism and the lack of technological knowledge and application in daily duties. The work also portrayed hints of patriotism in people, especially in protecting themselves against neo-classicalism4. Realism followed by naturalism came out in 1850-1870s through the works of Daumier, Hogarth and Eiffel. During this period, art portrayed positivism based on facts and not emotions. Industrial progress had begun to take root during this period. Eiffel designed the Eiffel tower during this period. This signified an age of advancement because man thought of complex achievements. The industrial revoluti on resulted in changes, in the society, because people could afford food and luxuries after working in the industries. Artists like Eiffel who designed the Eiffel tower explored into the technological world by designing a complex structure that had technological complexities. The growing steel industry provided material for the construction of his design. This period did not witness much political skepticism as the people had a positive outlook of the political future. The industrial and technological development kept

Measuring customers satisfaction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Measuring customers satisfaction - Research Paper Example The importance of customer satisfaction is that loyal customers are more likely to come back to the same business and this improves the profitability of the company due to increased sales which comes from loyal customers (Tarasi, Bolton, Gustafasson and Walker, 2012). They are likely to come back even if the price is lower on the competitor’s side due to satisfaction they get from their supplier. The loyal customers are likely to recommend to their friends about the satisfaction they get from their supplier hence increasing the customer base of a business leading to realization of more profits. Acquiring a new customer is 20 times harder than maintaining a customer hence its prudent and costly for a business to look into ways of acquiring new customers (Tunner, 2012). Measuring customer satisfaction using American Customer Satisfaction Model (ACSM) This is a cause and effect model with indices for drivers of satisfaction on the left side, satisfaction in the centre and outcome resulting from satisfaction on the right side and both are weighed with several questions within a model. The drivers of customer satisfaction include customer expectation together with perceived quality and perceived values, which are important aspects in measuring customer satisfaction. The questions assesscustomer evaluations of the determinants of each index which are reported on 0 to 100 scales depending on various ways the customer responds in relation to goods and services from the company. The figure below represents the ACSI Model Adopted from http://www.theacsi.org/the-american-customer-satisfaction-index From the above figure, it can be deduced that ACSI has three important component that determine its measurements and they are perceived quality, perceived value and customer expectations. Customer expectation measures customer anticipation of the quality of a company’s product and services and it represents prior consumption experience and a forecast of company’s ability to deliver high quality products in future. The customer’s complaints are measured as a percentage of the respondents who complain and this is used to gauge the various responses in customer satisfaction index (Angelova and Zekiri, 2011). Measuring customer expectation using King County Method This plan establishes three cross cutting guidelines that relate the customer satisfaction, need and the need to improve services in response to customers. This method id service oriented, results focused and innovative in the way that learning from experiences ambles seeking of new results. This method of customer satisfaction focuses on customers, employees and managers hence informing opportunities for general improvements (King County, 2013). The following diagram represents King County Process of Customer Satisfaction measurement Adopted from www.kingcounty.gov Types of industries There are various types of industries on the type of services they provide to their customers over time. Primary industries are concerned with reproduction of goods and are nature oriented industry since they require very little human effort. Manufacturing industries are engaged in transforming raw materials into finished products by the used of machines combined with manpower in a highly specialized environment. Service industries are co

The Nuremberg Main Trials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Nuremberg Main Trials - Essay Example However, Nuremberg was flawed, to a certain extent, and it is sensible to assume that its imperfections could be the most integral features of it deserving of attention at present. Still, many would believe that there are other features, as well, and that a number of these address undying desires for the triumph of fairness and justice.2 This essay examines the appropriateness of the indictments, the issue of jurisdiction, and general questions of legality with reference to the ‘fair trial principle’ in the Nuremberg main trial. Appropriateness of the Indictments The function of the IMT at Nuremberg was to formally question the ‘main’ German war criminals. IMT had two members from each of the four participating nations, namely, the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. These members would shape various paradigms of criminal law and process.3 The IMT mission was instigated in 1945, as soon as the Committee of Chief Counsels of the four p arties to the London Agreement—a declaration that specify the guidelines and law through which the Nuremberg trials were to be carried out-- approved and passed an indictment laying down the criminal acts arraigned against the ‘main’ war criminals.4 The indictment convicted them with four violations: ‘(1) common plan or conspiracy, (2) crimes against peace, (3) war crimes, and (4) crimes against humanity.’5 Common plan or conspiracy The scholars of the Nuremberg Trials claimed that it is crucial to impugn the guiltiest offenders for conniving to pursue the Nazi persecution of the Jews and other acts of violence. Nevertheless, it was not a war misdeed for the nation to perpetrate acts of violence against its own people.6 For that reason, â€Å"[t]he American motives for spinning the dense web of conspiracy to inculpate the Nazi brass is no secret in that the stratagem was essentially intended to procure legal grounds for holding the instigators of th e Nazi movement accountable for the record of ‘domestic’ bestialities against assorted segments of their own population, including the Jewish minority.†7 In view of that, a conspiracy conviction was seen crucial so as to impugn individuals for planning or pursuing a common plan to perpetrate crimes against civilians. The Tribunal took into account the indictment of common plan or conspiracy on the basis of two rationales: first is the blameworthiness of organisations, and second is whether the war criminals had connived to pursue genocide and persecution. The latter rationale was settled under the accusation of ‘crimes against peace’.8 The Tribunal, as regards to the accusation of ‘conspiracy’, simply deemed: In the opinion of the Tribunal, the evidence establishes the common planning to prepare and wage war by certain of the defendants. It is immaterial to consider whether a single conspiracy... has been conclusively proved.9 Moreover, t he Tribunal resolutely strived to lessen the possible perils to minor collaborators or innocent members which could have stemmed from its judgment to charge four organisations of war crimes.10 As claimed by Professor Schwarzenberger, â€Å"

American Psychiatric Association Essay Example for Free

American Psychiatric Association Essay The dynamics of the child who kills likely differ depending on the type of killing. On one hand we might expect the typical youngster involved in a gang killing to have antisocial traits and a history of gang involvement or wanna-be gang behavior. On the other hand the child who kills a mother or father is more likely to have had a history of serious physical or sexual abuse. A girl who kills her infant, if not in a postpartum depressed or psychotic state, is likely to have hidden the pregnancy from others and to have very poor coping skills; often she has completely denied the pregnancy to herself and others. Now we are learning about the dynamics of children who kill at school: many are said to be socially isolated, alienated, and the objects of bullying by others. Research samples of children who kill are often small and are samples of convenience: for example, a sample might be all the convicted children being held in a particular facility. Nevertheless, there may be some data to be gleaned from these studies even though the findings may not be entirely generalizable. Ewing (1990) notes that most children who kill are evaluated by mental health experts, because homicide by a young person is almost automatically thought of as the result of mental disturbance. Most are not found to be psychotic, and many seem to receive diagnoses of relatively mild disorders. Also most are not intellectually limited, but a disproportionate number have learning disorders. Cornell, Benedek, and Benedek (1987) studied seventy-two children charged with homicide and classified them into three groups: adolescents who manifested overt psychotic symptoms at the time of the offense, adolescents who killed in the course of another criminal activity such as robbery or rape, and adolescents involved in an interpersonal conflict or dispute with the victim. Corder, Ball, and Haizlip (1976) compared adolescents who had committed parricide to those who had killed another relative or a close acquaintance and to those who had killed a stranger. They found that all could be characterized as having backgrounds of serious family maladjustment (defined as marital conflict, child abuse, and parent substance abuse or other criminal activity), but those who killed parents were less likely to have a history of poor impulse control and aggressive behavior and more likely to be overly attached to their mother. The small sample size (ten children in each group), however, limits the generalizability of this study. A portion of children who kill appear to have abnormal brain functioning. In more clinical terms, they have neurological impairment (Lewis, Shanok, Grant, Ritvo, 1983). This comes from a variety of causes, including exposure to drugs in utero, head injuries from childhood accidents, high fevers, other medical conditions, and child abuse. Lewis et al. (1988) conducted extensive neurological evaluations on fourteen death row juveniles convicted of murder and found that every one had a history of symptoms consistent with brain damage. Lewis, Shanok, Grant, and Ritvo (1983) also studied ninety-seven incarcerated juvenile delinquents. They compared more violent offenders to less violent, using a global rating scale, and found that the more violent delinquents were more paranoid, more loose and illogical in their speech, and more likely to have neurological dysfunction. They were also more likely to have witnessed extreme violence. One of the most common findings in the histories of children who kill parents is child abuse. In some studies this is defined as witnessing domestic violence (Ewing, 1990), but more commonly the child has been a victim of abuse, often brutal in nature (Ewing, 1990; Mones, 2001). McCloskey and Walker (2000), in a large sample of children from violent households, found a high incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Thirty-eight percent of the abused children met criteria for PTSD, and all of those who were abusedand also saw their mothers abused met criteria for PTSD. This disorder presents with a range of serious symptoms, including flashbacks and hypervigilance to danger. Sometimes children kill to protect their battered mother; often this is after years of severe violence and the mothers increasing debilitation. More typically, the child kills to escape what is a physically and psychologically intolerable situation. Meaning the abused child finds him/herself â€Å"locked† in a highly conflictual, dependent relationship that he or she could no longer sustain or give up, making homicide a â€Å"solution† to intense conflict. Children and adolescents who kill are often misdiagnosed as having antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Many have a history prior to the homicide of antisocial conduct, substance abuse, truancy, running away, and problems getting along with others. Truancy and running away from home were especially likely to be found in children who eventually killed one of their parents (Ewing, 1990). Some evaluators use the act of homicide itself to support a diagnosis of ASPD, but this results from faulty logic and a lack of knowledge of the diagnostic criteria for the disorder. It is important to note, also, that in addition to meeting these criteria the patient must have a childhood history of conduct disorder for a diagnosis of ASPD and that the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2004) is quite specific that ASPD not be diagnosed in adolescence. In general, the strongest predictors of school violence are neighborhood conditions such as poverty, population turnover, and crime rates, and the greatest risk factor for killing a parent is a history of severe, inescapable child abuse (Mones, 2001). With these caveats, accumulated data from clinical and research studies suggest the following as warning signs of homicidal violence: Exposure to violence, either in the home or in the community. Although exposure to television violence is not commonly cited, it is a factor in a number of homicides, and preoccupation with violent imagery is a particular warning sign. A lack of success with the normal tasks of adolescence: for example, failing in school, having no extracurricular involvement. Social rejection and poor social supports. Alienation and lack of empathy develop in large part from social deprivation. Many school shooters have been described as â€Å"loners. † These youngsters have intense feelings of being alone, and the absence of social support also reduces their general ability to cope with the ups and downs of adolescent life. †¢ Intense anger that has accumulated from past painful events, usually surrounding relationships (rejection, failure, or other narcissistic wounds). †¢ An inability to express or resolve intense feelings in adaptive ways, and a proclivity for externalizing defenses, or acting out. References American Psychiatric Association. (2004). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (7th ed. ). Washington, DC: Author. Corder, B. F. , Ball, B. C. , Haizlip, T. M. (1976). Adolescent parricide: A comparison with other adolescent murder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 957–961. Cornell, D. G. (1989). Causes of juvenile homicide: A review of the literature. In E. P. Benedek (Ed. ), Juvenile homicide (pp. 3–36). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

The Holocaust In Rwanda History Essay

The Holocaust In Rwanda History Essay The Holocaust was, without question, one of the defining events of the 20th Century and its legacy left an indelible mark upon subsequent attempts to come to terms with issues of genocide and mass murder. Whilst the Holocaust is the most well-known case of genocide, the systematic extermination of groups of people or entire societies both pre-dates 1945 and has also played a fundamental part in international politics since the end of the Second World War. The formation of the United Nations helped to legally define the concept of genocide and Fatsah Ouguergouz shows that Article II of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide enumerates a number of acts which committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such constitute the international crime of genocide (Ouguergouz 2003: pp.216). However, despite greater efforts to understand and combat the problem of genocide the post-1945 world has proven itself incapable of eliminating genocide. The Holocaust might be the most glaring example of genocide before 1945, but there is a strong case to be made for the argument that the Rwandan genocide a serious episode since the end of the Cold War. This essay will examine whether the Rwandan experience displays points of comparison to the Holocaust and to what extent a comparison is a valid historical line of enquiry. There have been a number of historians that have sought to locate common themes in the Jewish and Rwandan experience of genocide. One concept that is often applied to the Holocaust and the case of Rwanda that is argued to mark them out from other instances of genocide is the idea of total genocide. Robert Melson draws a distinction between what he refers to as partial genocide, which is the use of mass murder in order to coerce and to alter the identity or the politics of a group, not to destroy it and total genocide, which means to do away with a group entirely (Melson 1996: pp.28). Mark Levene argues that both in the case of the Holocaust and Rwanda one can argue that total genocide was being practised by the perpetrators and that it was not simply a conscious attempt to mass murder targeted groups as groups, but, so far as it was possible to do so, to the point of their complete annihilation (Levene 2005: pp.66). The concept of total genocide to the Holocaust and to Rwanda is impo rtant to consider when thinking about both cases. Indeed, the term Final Solution is synonymous with an approach seeking to exterminate an entire group of people and Friedlander shows that for Hermann Goring the final solution was also a total solution (Friedlander 1997: pp.284). Christian Scherrer argues that Rwanda can similarly only be understood as a situation of final solution and total genocide and he argues that this is the only possible starting point for understanding Rwandan realities as they are today (Scherrer 2002: pp.169). In other words, the explicit aim of the Nazis was to remove entirely the presence of Jewish people from the face of the earth and the parallels with the case of Rwanda are clear. The relentless drive by Hutu extremists and militias to eliminate the entire Tutsi population originated in large part from the belief that the solution to Rwandas problems was to eliminate the entire Tutsi population (Twagilimana 1997: pp.50). Conceptualising of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide with reference to the n otion of total genocide, therefore, appears to be justified in relation to the intentions of the Nazis and the Hutu. ************* difference= brith of the hatred. R the division was created by the colonists (French and Belgians), by defining differences in characteristics between the Hutu and Tutsi and creating a hierarchical system for the possession of such traits, which essentially gave rise to hatred and segregation in Rwandan population. Whereas anti-Semitism has been in existence for centuries (PROOF) Another comparison that can be drawn between the Holocaust and the Rwandan experience of genocide is the innocence of the victims. Lemarchand argues that Tutsi and Jews share a sense of victimhood for which here are few other parallels in recent or past history and that Jews across the world, and the state of Israel in particular, heavily empathise with the Rwandan experience (Lemarchand 2005: pp.145). A former Rwandan government official states the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust were the same as both killed innocent people based on their race, religion or convictions (Eltringham 2004: pp.54). ADD: how both Rwandans and the jewish populattions were both victims. DIFFERNCE: Rwandan killed their own population Whereas the germans gesapto aswell as SS were recuited to simply exterminate the Jewish popution. DIFFERENCE: GERMANS BELIEFES: Aryan race, and the hatred and anilations of Jews, the disabled, old people. Whereas tin Rwanda the hatred spiralled via the post colonialidt. One common experience shared by both Jews and Tutsi that make their anguish particularly raw was the fact that in both cases the international community was slow to respond to the mounting evidence of genocide against their peoples. The American and other allied governments certainly knew of the genocide being committed against the Jews by the Nazis, but the reality of the situation was that these governments believed that they had other more vital interests that needed to be pursued elsewhere. In other words, in the context of a World War, saving the Jewish people from extermination was low on their list of priorities. This was to an extent true even of American Jews and in a speech in 1991 the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said that the memory of inaction during World War Two was heavy on the conscience of American Jews (Novick 2000: pp.39). The Rwandan experience and the Holocaust share another similarity in this sense, Destexhe argues that the Western world was very slow to recognise what was happening in Rwanda and even more reluctant to call the atrocities in the country genocide (Destexhe 1995: pp.32). It took three weeks from 6 April a long time in the world of CNN-style news before editorials finally began comparing the situation in Rwanda with Germany under Nazism and referring to it as a genocide (Destexhe 1995: pp.32). Taylor agrees with this assessment arguing that the West was largely uninterested in the unfolding chaos in Rwanda (Taylor 1999: pp.4). How poorly the world powers read the situation. But for that matter, did a sincere desire really exist at the time to understand it? (Taylor 1999: pp.4). Taylor claims that the United States was weary of intervention during this period and that only France and Belgium had any pressing interests in Rwanda. Another element of commonality is highlighted by Traverso, one that might be regarded as a feature that separates the genocides in Rwanda and in Germany (Traverso 1999: pp.74). Traverso focuses upon the industrial nature of the killing both in Germany and in Rwanda and whilst the operations of the Nazis are often characterised in this fashion it is less common to conceive of the Rwandan genocide in such terms (Traverso 1999: pp.74). The mobile killing units had precursors in the Ottoman Empire and epigones in Rwanda and Bosnia and therefore he argues that the Jewish genocide constitutes a paradigm of modern barbarism (Traverso 1999: pp.74). The weaponry that the Hutu used in order to commit their crimes might have been no more sophisticated than the simple machete, but this is not Traversos point (Traverso 1999: pp.74). He argues that the sophistication is to be found in the level of planning and organisation undertaken by both Nazi and Hutu leaders and that this is where the industr ial and modern spectre of the genocide is to be located (Traverso 1999: pp 74). Differences between the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide An important difference between the Rwandan experience and the Holocaust was the extent to which ideology influenced the perpetrators of the crime. Smith identifies the centrality of ideological currents in the Nazi genocide (Smith 2002: pp.153). According to Smith, ideology glorifies the perpetrators group by assigning to that group a special historical or religious mission. It demeans the victims group by assigning to its members many negative and often nonhuman characteristics (Smith 2002: pp.153). Ideology certainly played an important role in the Holocaust and there were a number of Hutu intellectuals who advocated more extreme forms of action against the Tutsi, but as Lemarchand argues the role of ideology was fundamentally different in both cases (Gellately 2003: pp.331). According to Lemarchand, whereas the Holocaust is the classic example of an ideological genocide, rooted in the most stridently racist ideology, the Rwanda genocide is better seen as the byproduct of the mort al threats posed to the revolutionary Hutu-dominated state by the RPF (Lemarchand 2005: pp.148). The Rwandan genocide is therefore better understood as resulting from a Hutu population that felt itself to be under threat from the Tutsi, rather than from any driving ideological imperatives. The difficulties of comparing the Holocaust and Rwanda However, a number of historians are not comfortable with drawing parallels between the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. Lemarchand argues that analysing genocide comparatively is inherently problematic and claims that each instance of genocide must be investigated on a singular basis. Lemarchand does not fundamentally disagree with the notion that there are similarities between the two experiences, but argues that a comparative analysis is dangerous (Lemarchand 2005: pp.143). To treat Rwanda as the carbon copy of the Holocaust is likely to obscure its historical specificity and regional context, and ultimately lead to a misunderstanding of the motivations behind the killings (Lemarchand 2005: pp.143). Eltringhams comparative examination of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide encounters similar difficulties and finds that a comparison of the suffering in both cases is ultimately futile (Eltringham 2004: pp.56). Both Tutsi and Jews have suffered, but in a different manner and for different reasons (Eltringham 2004: pp.56). There may, therefore, be similarities between the experiences of Jews and Tutsi during the their respective genocides, but the entire comparative paradigm is irretrievably flawed and as a result any attempt to draw sustained parallels between Germany and Rwanda is always likely to end in failure. In conclusion while it is possible to display points of comparison between the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust, such a comparison must be approached with caution. One can argue that conceiving of the Holocaust and Rwanda as examples of total genocide is legitimate and that the industrial nature of the killing as well as the inaction on the part of the international community all point to a clear line of similarity between the two experiences. However, it is clear that a point of comparison between any two genocides is difficult, if not impossible task. The multitude of factors that cause genocide to take place in any given country are enormously complex and critically depend upon the context from which they emerge.(ADD: The colonists created the divde between the population, whereas anti semitsim has existed for centuries. Therefore, to argue that the Rwandan genocide is a modern-day example of the Holocaust is a misplaced argument, because it does not appreciate the many points o f difference that existed in the two respective cases. Ultimately, one should be careful when drawing points of comparison between the Final Solution and the Rwandan genocide for precisely this reason. ADD: How the rwandan hutu leader sought inspiration from Hitler, he watched films related to Hitler and searched for tips .

The Organisational Structure Of Jaguar Management Essay

The Organisational Structure Of Jaguar Management Essay Jaguar over the last decade has been over taken by Ford, who have invested considerable in to to the Jaguar / Ford strategy to become the number one automative company in the world. Jaguar used WCT (world class timing) or WCP (world class process) but now have invested considerable in FPDS (Ford Product Development System). Which will reduce the time from concept to the customer. With the advent of the supplier development and closer relationship between the supplier and the customer, it has resulted in more suitable and cost effective processes and materials been selected early on in the programme, which is resulting in Jaguar investing in more techniques and processes to maintain its competitive edge and maintain existing hold in certain markets. In this report I will be discussing the corporate level, business level and manufacturing level strategy used within Jaguar/Ford. I will also be addressing the following questions : Current and Future impact on the organisation Tools and tecniques used to analysy the various strategies used How these strategies affect the upstream and downstream customer or supplier within the supplier chain What actual part my colleagues and I play in formulating and achieing the company goals and objectives Possible improvements in the implemtation or formulation of any ofthe companies strategies  £10000 would I i What is the organisational structure of Jaguar ? I will also discuss the possibility of investing  £10,000 in to the company, look into the future trends and analyse the methods employed at Jaguar. I will conclude by reviewing my findings. 1.2 Background To illustrate the principles of Manufacturing Strategy. I have selected the Jaguar Cars Limited, for which I am project engineer in Electrical Engineering. As Project engineer of the security system team in the body systems department at Jaguar Cars Limited, Whitley, Coventry. My role and responsibility as Project engineer, consist of various task and project every year. One of many projects under my control is the security system project. This consists of selecting new suppliers, working out roles and responsibilities, setting up meetings/presentations, liaisons with various tier one and tier two suppliers, setting targets for various attributes and setting up training for staff in my team. The current security system products are supplied by Megamos. Jaguar and Megamos relationship first started in 1982, when Megamos supplied Jaguar with a security system for the XJS vehicle. This consisted of a security ECU, remote transmitters and security sounders. Megamos headquarters is based in Germany but they have set up a site close to Jaguar cars to build on this close relationship as required in a supplier development programme. Megamos are a subsidiary of a larger group called Delphi and Textron. In November 1989, Ford acquired Jaguar cars Ltd. This has helped Jaguar to reduce its number of 1st tier supplier from 420 to 350, with the Ford 2000 initiative this will be reduced further, this has also helped in more common product and processes being used on both Jaguar and Ford car lines. The FPDS process is the first all new common process to be used at Jaguar and Ford simultaneously, this will help Jaguar and Ford to reduce the development cycle from concept to customer. Ford 2000 means that we need to invest in initiative that will reduce development cycle time, to increase productivity and variability of our product range. This should result in more common parts, product and processes being used across the works, with the implementation of FPDS we have started to see the results. CHAPTER TWO 2.1 Objective Ford / Jaguar Stratgies : The objective of the reprt is to evaluate FORD / JAGUAR strategy. I will be evaluating the company Mission Sttement and Comany Histiory as an overview. Tis will then be followed by a critical analysis using the SWOT matrix, PORTERs five factors and other Hills 5 step approach showinfg the inter-relationship between stratgies. FORD / JAGUAR VISION CHANGES GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE COMPANY: Each of you, have the means and opportunity to positively impact Fords quest for world-wide leadership. Our goal is to be the worlds leading automotive company. We at Ford face a challenging and exciting future. In the fall of 1994, we began a dramatic global reorganization called Ford 2000. Since that time, we have changed our structure and processes to become more efficient and responsive to the customer globally, and will continue to do so into the future. FORD 2000 STRATEGIES When we launched Ford 2000, we developed 7 strategies that are key to our success. It should be noted that, empowered people is at the top. We believe empowered employees, making decisions every day are instrumental in achieving our goals. GLOBALIZATION Ford Automotive Operations (FAO), developed as part of Ford 2000 combines our operations around the world into a single, global structure. FAO was established by combining north american automotive operations, Ford of europe, international automotive operations and the automotive components group. At the heart of FAO are the 3 vehicle centers. These centers each have worldwide responsibility for the processes and systems that contribute to a vehicles product development, manufacturing, supply and sales activities. While design and manufacturing are centralized, marketing and sales operations will remain localized locally managed, sensitive and responsive to the needs of customers and dealers. We will become a global organization for collecting the voice of the customer from various markets and sources, to ensure that voice is well-represented within the vehicle centers. ALEX TROTMAN QUOTE Alex trotman, our C.E.O. and clearly the leader of the companys globalization initiative, has said, to survive and prosper in the future, we cannot maintain the status quowe want to be the best in the world; not second best, not third best, the best. Our Ford 2000 reorganization strategies will make us the worlds leading automotive company. FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE DIVISION The Ford customer service division are shaping themslves to become the customer service satisfaction leaders. FPSD TO FCSD Several years ago we transformed the Ford Parts Service Division (FPSD) into the activity it is today, the Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD), the companys voice of the customer. Notice the subtle but obvious change? The word customer. We took a look at ourselves and asked where we wanted to focus our efforts and resources over the long term. We decided we wanted to be recognized as a leader in customer satisfaction. However; before we could start on this change journey, we had to develop a vision of what we wanted to be and a mission which would help us get there. VISION AND MISSION OUR VISION IS: To provide owners of Ford motor company vehicles or Jaguar Cars Limited an ownership experience that is so good, they will buy again and tell others how great it is to own a Ford or Jaguar product. OUR MISSION IS: We are the companys principal source of customer support and vehicle service. Our mission, in partnership with related company activities, is to improve continuously both our own and Ford and Jaguar dealers ability and commitment to provide superior customer service. The owners of our vehicles will determine our success. Simple statements, challenging tasks. Do you agree? DRIVERS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION In order to help us focus our attack, we comissioned extensive research and determined that the drivers of customer satisfaction came down to three elements: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 58% of a customers total satisfaction is related to the vehicle itself. Interestingly, our research pointed out that FCSD can affect 18% points of that number because of our involvement with providing quality parts for the vehicle; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 21% of customer satisfaction is influenced by the sales experience, and. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the final 21% is influenced by the service experience. Within the service sector, repairing the vehicle correctly on the first visit, termed fix-it-right-the-first-time contributed to 42% of the customers service satisfaction while customer handling practices accounted for 40%. So, in total, we established that FCSD contributes to 39% of the factors that drive customer satisfaction. KEY STRATEGIES There are 4 key strategies that support our strategic thrusts: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Working With Dealers To Improve Fix-It-Right-The-First-Time-On-Time Capabilities (FIRFTOT). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Maintaining a field focus (dealer support customer handling) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Support of the upstream engineering process à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ maintaining a focus on a quicker service fix process FIRFTOT AND FIELD FOCUS INITIATIVES Improving dealer firtftot capabilities field focus As I mentioned earlier, repairing a vehicle correctly on the first visit is the primary driver of service satisfaction. The rapid advancement of technology incorporated into our vehicles has improved our quality and reliability but has challenged the dealers ability to keep up. Providing ongoing support as it relates to training employees, attracting and retaining quality personnel and establishing sound business practices to better handle customers are among the dealers priorities. Several recent initiatives have been launched that will mutually benefit the dealer and customer base simultaneously: The FCSD field reorganization, completed last year, revolutionized the level of support afforded dealers. The MARKET AREA TEAM APPROACH PROVIDES THE DEALER WITH MORE DIRECT COMPANY SUPPORT BY: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Placing a larger percentage (82%) of our field office personnel in dealer contact roles; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ establishing specialized dealer contact teams with defined roles; and. . . à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ placing our most experienced managers in consultative, leadership roles (doms) to improve dealer operations. REGION TO DEALER SURVEY RESULTS Our dealers have recognized this effort by showing significant increases in satisfaction with Ford customer satisfaction support. Another milestone accomplishment involving dealer support is the fordstar distance learning system. Currently, we are approaching 100% participation. The entire dealership network, 5000 dealers in the united states will be fordstar capable. We have committed to regular programming to support their technical and non-technical training needs. This initiative has been greeted with strong dealer support since dealers can now receive interactive training (sales, service, technical) and communicate with the company without leaving the dealership. Long-term, these initiatives will undoubtedly have a continuous and positive impact on customer satisfaction and owner loyalty. UPSTREAM ENGINEERING QUICKER SERVICE FIX I will now discuss an area where we have made significant improvement, upstream engineering and establishing a quicker service fix process. The upstream engineering process will prove to be a competitive advantage in that it allows us to build quality into future designs. As part of the upstream engineering process at Ford: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Fcsd personnel have been co-located on forward -year design teams where they interpret field data, serve as the voice of the customer and have a measurable impact on overall quality; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ we also assigned these co-located employees with the task of developing an affordable service structure while improving the field serviceability of our product. Thereby, holding technology in check. While upstream is proactive, we must still be positioned to react to problems as they occur. Thats where quicker service fix initiatives come into play. Our goal is to resolve service problems within 90 days of their assignment to engineering. We currently achieve this standard around 72% of the time, but we are trending in the right direction. We will accept nothing short of 100% on this important area. Last year, in support of this standard, we added fcsd members to each of the plant vehicle teams to improve resolution time and become more proactive: the role of pvt members involves: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Analysis of current vehicles and identification of component problems à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ interpretation of quality to promote quick problem resolution à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ representation of the voice of the customer at the production level Each strategy and initiative I discussed with you will contribute to quality improvements. But no more than fcs 2000 and policy deployment combined. Fcs 2000 contains the infrastructure which will allow us to align with the objectives of Ford 2000, while policy deployment will align objectives toward common goals and promote focus throughout the organization. Most of you have heard or read about Ford 2000, the largest reengineering project ever undertaken by a major corporation. Im pleased to say that we are beginning to see the results of this important initiative with products like the expedition where the use of common components (54%) control cost, quality levels are world class and it was designed and delivered in 37 months. This is only a start, now let me show you how our globalization initiative, known as fcs 2000 aligns with Ford 2000. FORD 2000 ENTERPRIZE MODEL On the Ford 2000 enterprize model, after sales service is the term that relates to fcs 2000. Let me start out by defining what aftersales service means to us. . . It is not about repairing problems on vehicles after they are sold, it is about designing quality and serviceability into our vehciles upstream so the problems never occur in the first place. However, this is where the real work begins. Once the majority of reactionary problems have been eliminated, we must then provide each of our customers , world wide, with consistent, world class service experience so they remain loyal to us long-term. When i refer to consistency, I like to use an analogy which relates to mcdonalds restaurants. . . [add lib mcdonalds consitent quality from chicago to cologn] FCS 2000 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM This model displays the four process groups which make up the global and regional organizations under fcs 2000. Briefly. . . Business development will focus on working with dealers to improve competitiveness and customer focused practices in order to capture a higher percentage of the service business. Parts supply and logistics will consistently deliver the right part to the dealership, on time and at a price the customer is willing to pay. Technical support will provide a single, accurate, timely and common technical information process worldwide. Vehicle service and programs will be developing upstream engineering processes which will consistently design quality and serviceability into the vehicle and when a problem occurs, it will be handled in a timely and customer driven manner. This global structure I just reviewed will impact the 5 regions which make up the global fcsd. They include north america, europe, south america, asia-pacific, and export. This structure will allow us to think globally, but act locally. Much of what we still must achieve requires extensive cultural change throughout fcsd. CUSTOMER SERVICE CULTURE INITIATIVE By benchmarking industry leaders in customer satisfaction the customer assistance center has developed a customer service culture initiative. There are three key areas to this initiative: Customer service philosophy transform customer service from a department to an attitude, embraced by all employees! Revised new employee orientation stress the importance of customer service on day one with you our new employees. Continuous reinforcement daily team meetings focusing on the importance of customer service and best practices. By establishing customer service as a way of life, the customer assistance center will help drive our goal to be the worlds leading automotive company. Additional details of this important initiative will be covered later this afternoon. DIVERSITY AWARENESS A key driver in culture transformation is diversity! What is diversity in the work place? It includes all the differences that define us as unique individuals. Differences such as: culture, ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, experiences, opinions, and beliefs are just some of the distinctions that each of us bring to the workplace. By understanding, respecting and valuing these differences, we can capitalize on the benefits that diversity brings to the company. The entire staff within the customer assistance center have attended a diversity awareness session. Eeryone in the organisation has attended a session during there level 1 training process. The company wide roll-out was completed by the end of 1997. By valuing diversity, we will be better equiped to meet the challenges presented by global competition. This challenge seems to have been embraced by most of the employees within the organisation. We must also work together as a team to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage that will make us rise above our competition. PLAYING TO WIN That means having a playing to win versus playing not to lose attitude. when you play to win: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ you are focused on being number 1, not number 2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ you are willing to take risks, try new things that will yield the big rewards On the other hand, people who play not to lose are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ satisfied with being the close follower à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ focused on playing it safe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reliant on what you know worked before We, at Ford customer service division, are definitely playing to win! We have embraced that winning philosophy and developed the Ford corporate culture, known as winning together. Ford places a premium on sharing best practices, recognition of effort, and the setting of stretch targets. All are required to foster a winning together culture within an organization. You are joining Ford motor company at one of the most exciting times in history. As you move through your career, you will be influenced by its history, but you dont have to be constrained by it. JACK WELCH  [1]   Id like to believe we are practicing what Jack Welch, chairman of General Electric and the dynamic force behind General Electrics renewal, has been preaching. His 3 operating principles sum up what we are trying to achieve with our entire strategic change and reorganization process: STRETCH Using dreams to set business targets with no real idea of how to get there. If you know how to get there, its not a stretch target. SPEED Allowing us to shift the center of gravity of the company. only the most productive companies are going to win SHARED VALUES- Piercing the walls of 100-year-old fiefdoms and empires called finance, engineering, marketing, and gathering teams from all those functions in one room, with one shared coffee pot, one shared vision, and one consuming passion As the leaders of tomorrow, you must embrace stretch, speed and shared values. All three will be critical in our fast-paced global marketplace. I talked a great deal about change. And you will hear even more about the importance of change, embracing change and leading change as globalization progresses. Why is all of this so important? DR. GOLDSBERRY QUOTE  [2]   Because our future is not secured by what we did in the past, or even what we are doing at the presentno matter how great that was or is. We have to change strategically and continuously if we are to be a global leader. Without strategic change, we will only be able to watch our competitors achieve the goals and rewards that we seek. I challenge each of you to value our customers and think strategically, to stretch your thinking and goals, and to be proud that you are an employee of Ford motor company. 2.2 Mission Statements Fords Mission Stement Jaguars Mission Staements Which Corporate strategy is right for Jaguar Cars Limited ? There are five possible steady state (that is, non -emergency) corporate strategies. Strategic Thinkers ANSOFF, H. IGOR Russian American engineer, mathematician, military strategist and operations researcher. The model assumes that the purpose of a firm is to maximise long term profitability (return on investment) and then gives a host of checklists and charts for deriving objectives, assessing SYNERGY between different parts of the firm (functions and businesses), appraising the firms COMPETENCE profile and deciding how to expand ( how to diversify, how to assess whether entry to an industry likely to give the desired ROI, whether to acquire or go for organic growth, and how to weight alternatives taking into account a large number of highlighted factors. He stresses the need for a common thread for all a companys businesses if it is to add value to them. The ANSOFF MATRIX is definitely a useful framework for considering expansion into new areas. The ANSOFF MATRIX shown below gives 4 options for increasing sales. The Ansoff Matrix for business development 4 3 New Market 2 1 Existing Existing New Product Arrow indicates increasing risk BOX 1, selling more of existing products in existing markets, is a low risk, market share gain strategy. To be useful, this must specify how this objective is to be attained, for example by enlarging the sales force, increasing advertising or cutting price. The XK8 / XKR was the first times in over a decade Jaguar started to advertise its product range, it increased its sales force in all the markets especially in Germany and the United states. BOX 2, implies product development to sell new (or modified) products to existing customers : fine as long as the firm has a good track record of product development and provided the new product share enough costs and skills with the existing products, and do not face a very strong incumbent competitor ( see also adjacent segment). This is when Jaguar introduced the XKR the supercharged version of the XK8, the sales plan predicted sales of up to 15000 units per annum but it sold in excess of 5000 units, due to our track record and existing products sharing cost. BOX 3, takes existing products and sells them to new markets or customers. This is clearly sensible if the new markets can be cultivated at relatively little extra cost, but can be risky if a new market requires investment in fixed cost (for example, a new salesforce), if the customers have different requirements, or if there are entrenched competitors. BOX 4, new products to new markets is the highest risk strategy : the segments being entered are not adjacent to the existing business and it is almost like starting a new business from scratch. The presumptions that Box 4 strategies are inherently unsound and should only be taken either in desperation or because there is a compelling short term opportunity not being exploited by others. PORTER, MICHAEL Porter defines two kinds of competitive advantages : Low cost, or differentiation. He places a firm in the context of its industry (see PORTERS FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES) and identifies the firms own value chain (all the ways it adds value from start to finish by activity) systematically. Porter Competitive strategy codified how to gain competitive advantage. His analysis suggests four diagnostic components of looking at any specific competitor : (1) Future Goals: what are they trying to achieve, including their ambitions in terms of market leadership and technology : (2) Assumptions : how does the competitor perceive himself, and what assumptions does he make about the industry and his competition ? (3) Current Strategy ; and (4) Opportunities : what do they think they have ? Armed with this framework, one can then construct scenarios about competitors possible reactions to any action by ones firm. Porters five competitive forces Porter was an innovator in structural analysis of markets, which previously, even with BCG (Boston Consulting Group) , tended to focus largely on direct competition in the industry, without looking systematically at the context in other stages of the industry VALUE CHAIN. Porters five forces to analyse are : Threat of potential new entrants Threat from substitutes using different technology Bargaining power of customers Bargaining power of suppliers Competition amongst existing suppliers. The interactions amongst the five forces are shown below. From this porter builds a useful model of industry attractiveness and how this might change over time, both because of objective economic changes and also because of the ambitions of the players themselves. Michael Porters Five Competitive Forces Potential New entrants Threat from new entrants Competitors in the industry Bargaining Power Suppliers Bargaining Power Customers Competition among exising companies Threat from substitutes Substitutes Jaguar History .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. . . Within the automotive industry there is a trend towards, only five six major players within this field. The customers voice is been heard and been acted upon. There has been a tread towards more customers wanting luxury vehicles and this segment is growing very fast and all projected figures show that this tread will continue. This is one of the drives behind the set up of the new Luxury vehicle team Premier automotive Group being set up by Ford and Jaguar. The premier automotive group is made up of Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo and Lincoln. It is envisaged that together, these four brands will ensure that Ford will progressively become a leading force in the global luxury car market. This is being headed by Dr Wolfgang Reitzle, who was previously the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at BMW. A key qualifier and undoubtedly an order winner for Jaguar is the brand image, the image of quality , wood finish and leather seats. Dr Reitzle stated we need to continue our commitment to become th e worlds leading consumer company for automotive products and services  [3]  and Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lincoln and Volvo are powerful brands and by grouping them in this way it allows us to bring a laser-like focus to these products and also allows us to preserve the diversity of these vehicles in terms of customer appeal and cultural heritage. The objective of the Premier Automotive Group will be to develop strategies to leverage and grow our premium and global brands. Driven by the statement .. to always meet or exceed the customers needs Jaguars strategy has been geared towards providing the customer with surprise and delight features. This direction is a major contributor to higher gross sales and profit. This is clearly shown in Jaguar sales as it reached 50,000 units for the first time in its history. How will this strategy affect downstream and upstream companies in the supply chain ? Jaguar strategy in terms of offering a vehicle with individual style and elegance is the way forward in the luxury market segment. A supercharged Jaguar is one vehicle that was under estimated by sales and market and the press, but as soon as it hit the market it was such a success Jaguars downstream supplier were unable to keep up with the demand. It was predicted to sale only 1500 units but it actual sold in excess of 5000 units. In order to implement this strategy greater investment is required along with training and developing the skill base, the core competence both from within the group and buying in expertise. A recent example of this has been expanding the veneer workshop and carrying out all the work in-house, were as at one stage this work was going to be out sourced for the S-type. Down stream the subcontractors reaction has been understandably negative. Jaguar and Ford only use Q1, QS9000, ISO14001 approved supplier for all its components and parts. This will no doubt result in larger price increases as supplier try and achieve there customers goals. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS Good training / education programmes Good communication : weekly or daily feedback Broad customer base Brand image nd heritage High quality Potential for Growth internally and externally Good team work and support from other platforms or car lines WEAKNESSES Loss of customer goodwill low resale value Under resourced Information systems weak too many new electronic process that have not been fully de-bug Limited product range Delivery times gon average >90 days OPPORTUNITIES Expansion of core business Many more product lines (e.g. X400, X350 etc.) Joint customer supplier development New territory For more X-car line features or functions THREATS Mergers Premim Automative Group BMW Globalisation strategy of customers, especially customer wants and needs Shorter times from concept to market from our competitors. The SWOT analysis clearly highlights the overall position of the company in the market place. Jaguars future strategy can clearly derived from the strengths and opportunities available. Jaguars long history for providing the customers with a vehicle with an individual style, quality wood finish and leather and at a price a customer is willing to pay is defiantly a strength that will lead it to achieve or exceed it corporate strategiy for the future and meet all the future business plans (business strategies) for the next decade. The opportunities that are available to Jaguar suggest that heavy investment and process competence would allow it to focus on its customer base also allow for the provision of supplying more variety of vehicles to the customers. Although this clearly highlights w

OMD GEESE :: essays research papers

Running Head Lessons about teamwork can be learned from geese. As each goose flaps its wings it creates"uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. When a goose falls out of formation, it immediately feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position. While flying in formation, geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. When a goose gets sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. They launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock (Lessons on Teamwork from Geese, 1999). Bluefield College has a unique flock of geese that meet every Thursday night in the Science building on the second floor in room # 222. These particular geese "honk" in every class and are attempting to become a team. OMD #97 members are a prime example of how group intervention can be transformed into a team. Team building creates a culture that enables communication, trust and commitment. Critical skills for team success are factors such as communication and appreciating differences. Communication and appreciating differences When a group of people becomes truly effective and perform to their potential, each one should possess a built-in confidence for each other. Understanding how goals can be served by a group effort is important. During transition from a group to a team, communication skills need to be developed. Talking and listening are crucial forms of communication. The weakness in our group is not talking. Our geese "honk" about homework, papers and tests. They fall out of formation when they do not listen or try to understand what is occurring and become upset when questioned about their presentations. The group is affected when particular members: engage in distractions (writing, reading, leafing through books, slamming book covers, zipping and unzipping notebooks); verbally attack personalities; do not participate in team decisions; do not take the process seriously; and offer putdowns at every opportunity. These actions weaken the team.

What is an expert? Essay -- essays research papers

Currently the most prevalent is that an expert is a person who has some skill or knowledge in some domain that is matched by only a few other people. These people are thus extraordinary in some way. Anders Ericsson, probably the best known of the researchers on expertise defines expertise as Relatively stable outstanding performance.Experts are often labeled as such. People called exceptional, superior, gifted, talented, specialist, expert, etc. tend to belong to the set of experts. There is no doubt that there are large differences in the quality of performance of different people on different tasks or in different domains. We can think of this difference as a scale of expertise. Novices are those who do not perform very well, and we can move through different levels of expertise until we find some individuals that we might say are skilled or knowledgeable beyond that of almost everyone else in the world, or world class. What is the nature of this dimension? What are the categories within which this level of expertise motif applies? Becoming an expert in any domain requires experience and effort. Don Norman introduced the notion that an someone requires 10,000 hours of experience and practice for reasonably complex domains to have the possibility of being an expert. Most people seem to agree with that assessment. In order for someone to become an expert in physics, music, chess, psychology, mathematics, baseball, etc. takes many hours, even years, of hard work and practice. ***Keith Ericsson in viewing the development of expertise argued that the most important factor, perhaps even necessary and sufficient for developing expertise is deliberative practice. Deliberative practice has four properties: (1) it is at an appropriate level of difficulty, (2) the participant receives informative feedback, (3) the participant has many opportunities for repetition, and (4) the participant has th opportunity to correct for errors (from Ericsson (1996; found in Sternberg & Ben-Zeev (2001). If we focus on the process of becoming an expert rather than the claim that only a few become expert, we may come to a position I first heard from Micki Chi. Children are universal novices. They have not developed very many of the component skills needed for any domain. Decalage is the order of the day; many of the skills needed are relatively domain specific. The topics in t... ...wa workshops; Miss America candidates from Texas; Prodigies of all sorts. Winton Marsalis view on becoming an expert: commitment, listening, training, practice, confidence, independence. Component skills and knowledges. Must borrow many of them, learn to apply them in the right places, and integrate them to the new task. Some knowledge and skill must be learned from scratch. Many skills need to be developed more highly. It is possible that all of the component skills can be decomposed into simple enough parts that they are known a priori; however, expertise still requires integrating and restructuring them into usable schemata. What is the state of novice performance? Inchoate states, random trial and error, frustration, backward chaining, small units, surface form, separate nonintegrated components, bottom-up Expert performance--focused, much forward chaining, top-down, coherent and integrated, abstract organization, large units, proceduralization, integrated sequences, skillful, selective. Ericsson, K. A. (1996). The road to excellence. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Sternberg, R. J. & Ben-Zeev, T. (2001) Complex Cognition: The psychology of human thought. New York: Oxford.

Understanding Ourselves in the Age of the Internet Essay -- Sherry Tur

Understanding Ourselves in the Age of the Internet In her book, Life on Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, author Sherry Turkle explains the effect technology has on the way individuals view themselves, and how this relates to the growth of postmodernist thinking. According to Turkle, the rapid expansion of network technology, specifically the Internet, is responsible for introducing millions of people to new spaces and ways of interactivity with one another. This revolutionary method for relating to others is swiftly changing how we view our minds, our sexual interactions, the forms of our communities, and even our own identities (Turkle 9). In the excerpts selected for our class reading, Turkle cites Internet communication technology such as chat rooms, MUDs (Multi-User Domains) and IRC (Internet Relay Chat) as the basis for the further exploration of our identities because, "it is on the Internet that our confrontations with technology as it collides with our sense of human identity are fresh, even raw. In the real-time communities of cyber space, we are dwellers on the threshold between the real and virtual, unsure of our footing, inventing ourselves as we go along" (Turkle 10). As we invent new identities in order to harmonize with the changing frontiers of technology and society, our culture moves from the modernist idea of calculation to a postmodern concept of simulation (Turkle 20). To understand the difference between the postmo dernist impact on contemporary thought as opposed to the modernist view, it is important to hold a basic understanding of both ideas. Modernist thought is difficult to accurately define - the gradual evolution of philosophy makes it hard to determine how long modernism has ex... ...l life and what is considered computer simulation. After all, most chat users argue, "why grant such superior status to the self that has the body when the selves that don't have bodies are able to have different kinds of experiences?" (Turkle 14). The technological culture of simulation is gradually affecting the way we view our minds as well as our bodies, and a majority of mainstream computer programs are designed with this postmodern influence in mind. Rather than expecting to program aptitude directly into their computers, programmers now believe it is the interaction of smaller subprograms to each other that can create a greater intelligence. The relation of these programs to each other may become too complex to properly define or completely understand, but so are our brains - and this never prevented them from functioning competently (Turkle 20).

Junior High School Essay

It was during my 7th grade year that I decided upon my answer to the age-old question: â€Å"What do you want to be when you grow up? † Being that it was my first year at a junior high school, I was a little intimidated. I wasn’t fond of making new friends, so I stuck with the people I already knew from the year before. Jonathan, one of my closer friends, was as introverted as I was. He wasn’t looking for a whole lot of attention, but he did want to involve himself in school. Jonathan asked me to join the school’s drama club with him, so he wouldn’t have to do it alone. I decided to humor him and attend the first meeting one day before school. When I walked in the doors, I saw kids laughing and joking around. It was such a comfortable atmosphere; I barely even felt as if I was still at school. Drama club wasn’t just some club, it was a place for me to be comfortable with myself. It was an escape from the humdrum school days which seemed to get longer as time passed. The drama club was filled with people who weren’t afraid to make fools of themselves and wouldn’t judge me when I did the same. I could let myself be silly and not feel ashamed. I played games like ‘Understudy’ where a skit is started with a few students, the leader interrupts, and the students are replaced with new ones. The new actors then carry on the same general plot of the skit. It was the most fun I had experienced in such a long time. I caught myself going every Tuesday and Friday morning before school. We even planned to do a play one day after lunch. For once I was hoping to get some attention. I wanted to be seen. I had never wanted something like that before. I always laid low and kept to myself, but now I was on stage reading lines. The funny thing about all of this was that I wanted to do it. It was my decision, and I was happy with it. I enjoyed myself so much that I wanted to experience it more often, but with no theater in town, it was easier for me to watch movies. I watched more and more, and before I knew it, I started paying more attention to the actors instead of the storyline. I would watch a couple of movies that all featured one actor to see how his or her style would change. One in particular changed my amateur views of acting altogether, Primal Fear featuring Edward Norton who portrayed an older teen with multi personality disorder. His ability to make 180 ° turns in a single scene fascinated me. I could compare this to Sally Field’s role in the movie Sybil. I tried to find more movies with Edward that were as mind-blowing as the last. I watched Fight Club and noted that he again played a character with a split personality. Leaves of Grass was next on the list. Edward acted as his own twin brother, one who was a college professor while the other was a drug dealer. It seemed to me that his strategy was to unveil the pencil-thin line dividing good and evil or moral/immoral. It was amazing to me that I could learn so much about one person by watching him or her portray others. I fell in love with this theory, so I decided to try my hand at them by joining the Teche Theater of Performing Arts. I auditioned for a play named Gypsy based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee. The role I was given was not very substantial, but it was a role nonetheless. Rehearsals lasted all summer, and I dedicated myself. I showed up early, and I stayed late. I sang and danced after I told myself I would never do that on stage. I realized my motivation was in the applause. I was looking for a thrill, and I found it in the crowd. I found it in making people laugh. I found it in making friends. Now THAT was different. Now, I was different. I was happy. I used this motivation to better myself. I did more shows at the theater, and I met new people. One of which was Mrs. Diane Wiltz, the main director at the Teche Theater. She would tell me how impressed she was by my versatility on stage, but she wasn’t ever afraid to point out when I was doing something wrong. She taught me to improvise when appropriate, push my character onto the audience, be loud, and overact. â€Å"Don’t hold back,† she would say, â€Å"when you think it’s too much, it is just right. † She also taught me to act comfortable in situations that might not be comfortable. Her advice was not bound to theater. I found that I could incorporate the lessons she taught me into everyday life. I took heed to the advice that she gave me. I did a few experiments to see how I could use these lessons offstage. I started pushing myself to be more extroverted at school by talking to more people, even the teachers. I became comfortable joking with complete strangers. I noticed that my overall attitude towards life changed somewhere along the way. I wanted to make people feel good. It felt good hearing laughter or applause, so I looked for it everywhere I went. I further involved myself in school and the theater. I took on roles in several more productions at Teche, becoming a regular there. The Teche Theater was like a second home to me by then, and I wanted so badly to do this for the rest of my life. I then decided to make plans to act professionally. I looked into finding a school that would help me get a foot into an acting career. I stumbled upon a film organization associated with the University of New Orleans. How could I make my way into an organization that I knew nothing about? It would be way over my head considering I knew little to nothing about film, and I wasn’t a student of UNO. I needed to get a little experience at another college before jumping into being a full-time student in New Orleans, so I decided to enroll at Nicholls State University. As of now, I plan on finishing my freshman year at Nicholls before transferring to the University of New Orleans. When I enroll at UNO, I will major in film arts and production. I will work with fellow students on projects as well as doing a few projects of my own. I will also work to serve as an intern on any major motion picture sets that is offered. Students at the University of New Orleans have helped work on the set of movies like Ray, Runaway Jury, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. These opportunities will hopefully open more doors for me, helping me start a career in this field. I look forward to seeing how I fare in a career that is so difficult to jumpstart, and I can’t help but to think of the people that inspired me and pushed me to be on the path that I am on today.