Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Superman and Me vs. Bodega Dreams Essay Example

Superman and Me vs. Bodega Dreams Paper 1 Makeitha C Mrs. Rogers ENC 1102, 4:05 November 29th, 2011 Culture vs. Education Culture is an essential element that can impact the way a person sees the world and processes information. â€Å"Superman and Me,† by Sherman Alexie and â€Å"Bodega Dreams,† by Ernesto Quinonez, examines the importance of education and the impact it has on cultures. In â€Å"Superman and Me† the narrator tells a story about an Indian boy who teaches himself how to read and write at the age of 3 years. Despite the challenges he was face with living on an Indian Reservation, he remained motivated and interested in gaining more knowledge in reading and writing. Bodega Dreams,† by Ernesto Quinonez the narrator tells a story about two young Latino boys and their experience together in Junior High school. The young boys are in English and Science class together. Although the boys are not motivated about school, there teacher’s (Mr. Blessington and Mr. Tapia) try different me thods to keep them motivated and focus in school. These two stories will debate how culture influences children view point in education. In the story â€Å"Superman and me† the narrator details methods he uses to learn how to recognize a paragraph and picture read using a Superman comic book. The narrator explains how he was very motivated about learning to read and write. The narrator seemed to be a very driven man who knew exactly what he wanted, and was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals. The narrator expresses himself with self-confidence by stating, â€Å"I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I want to save my life (209-210). † Being an Indian boy who lived on a reservation, he felt many people were expecting him to fail in the non-Indian world and he was determined to prove them wrong. The narrator states, â€Å"I never was taught how to write poetry, short stories, and novels. † â€Å"I don’t recall a guest teacher visiting the reservation (210). 2 The narrator tells how he was enthused about reading and the different methods he used to learn the words. He tells about the many struggles he had to endure because he was different, he was not ashamed to show his intelligence. He explains how his Indian peers were afraid to show their intelligence by not speaking out in class or around other peers. The narrator argues that Indian children are stereotyped as unintelligent failures. We will write a custom essay sample on Superman and Me vs. Bodega Dreams specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Superman and Me vs. Bodega Dreams specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Superman and Me vs. Bodega Dreams specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The issue is the author wants readers to recognize that Indian children were not well educated in reading and writing, they needed to be encouraged to read and write, and exposed to more literature. The Indian children lacked motivation in learning to read and write. They were comfortable with just knowing powwow songs and jokes. The narrator wanted the Indian students to see the importance in reading. He wanted them to understand reading is more than just the reading of words, but a way to survive in the non-Indian world. The narrator states he eventually grew up and became a successful author/writer. He devotes his time working with Indian children and assisting them with reading and writing their own stories. Although the narrator tells about the struggles he had growing up on a reservation knowing how to read and write, he decides to give back to his community. The narrator teaches Indian children creative writing hoping they will change the perception about school and develop confidence and motivation like he did. Ernest Quinonez’s â€Å"Bodega Dreams† the narratora young Latino boytells a story about an experience he had in Junior High school and the kind of relationship he had developed with his Science teacher (Mr. Tapia) and English teacher (Mr. Blessington). In the story the narrator tells how Mr. Tapia and Mr. Blessington interact differently with their students. The narrator explains how Mr. Blessington is not one of his favorite teachers. The narrator states, â€Å"He kept telling us boys were all going to end up in jail and all girls were going to end hooking (167). † The narrator explains how he is bored with listening to the Robert Frost poem in his class. The narrator states, â€Å"He was one of those upper-class people who thinks highly of themselves†¦and have chosen to â€Å"help† poor kids from the ghetto (167). In Science class his teacher, Mr. Tapia, is inspiring to him. The narrator explains how Mr. Tapia encouraged his class to do their work. He felt all his students had the potential to do well. In the story the narrator enjoyed challenging the teacher’s with questions just to get off task. The narrator’s friend (Sapo) had the same classes toge ther. 3 Sapo was very quiet and kept to himself until one day the Mr. Blessington approached him with a question. The narrator claims Sapo did not make an effect in class due to Mr. Blessington negative comments he makes towards him and his peers. Mr. Blessingon was not pleased with Sapo’s attitude. Mr. Blessington and Sapo begin exchanging words which lead them to a heated discussion and a physical altercation. Mr. Blessington lost control and Sapo released anger. In the story Mr. Tapia tried to save Sapo by telling Sapo to lie about the altercation. Sapo did what Mr. Tapia told him to do in order to avoid the detention center. The incident eventually changed Sapo’s persona. The young Latin boy was put in a position to where he lost control and it changed his whole outlook on life. In this story the author argues that a person’s childhood environment often determine his or her character and life path. In the story the narrator provided evidence of how the students had supportive teachers and how their teacher’s encourage the students to be successful. Mr. Tapia and Mr. Blessington exposed their students to a variety of poetry and literature, and allowed them opportunities to complete their work either at home or in school. The stories share common points about the importance of reading and writing. In order for an individual to be successful in school is by making an effort and attempting to do the work. In â€Å"Superman and Me† the Indian boy wanted to be successful by taking matters in his own hands by teaching himself how to read and write. In â€Å"Bodega Dreams† the characters in the story were not interested in learning or doing their assignments, which became a disappointment to their teachers. I think the Indian children have a valid reason to feel conquered by their abilities to learn. Their cultural upbringing can be a factor which often causes them to lose interest in reading and writing. When teachers are working with children it’s important that they are sensitive to the students’ needs, respect each child’s differences and culture, and be more mindful of their position in society. Providing support and positive guidance is the key when working with children and helping them become more involved in school. 4 In closing, these stories have a valid point and will stimulate more readers to think about the importance of culture and education. Stereotyping and prejudice can have a negative effect on children. Adults must remember children are in a vulnerable position. Allowing children to explore and have access to different learning materials will help them gain more knowledge. Respecting different cultures and communicating with children in positive ways will help develop self-confidence and help them have a better outlook on life. 5 Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. â€Å"Superman and Me. † Reading Literature and Writing Argument. 4th ed. Missy James and Alan Merickel. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print Quinonez, Ernest. â€Å"Bodega Dreams. † Reading Literature and Writing Argument. 4th ed. Missy James and Alan Merickel. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

10 Types of Wordplay

10 Types of Wordplay 10 Types of Wordplay 10 Types of Wordplay By Mark Nichol Humorous works of fiction are easily enlivened when the author resorts to one or more of the following categories of playing with prose: 1. Acronyms: An acronym is an abbreviation consisting of a string of initial letters pronounced as a word. Fictional examples, such as SPECTRE (for â€Å"Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion†), from the James Bond novels and films, and VILE (for â€Å"Villains’ International League of Evil†), from the Carmen Sandiego computer-game series, can be serious or humorous depending on formation and intent. 2. Anagrams: An anagram is simply a word with its letters scrambled in a new order. Many humorous phrases have been derived by scrambling expressions or people’s names, such as forming â€Å"I am a weakish speller† from â€Å"William Shakespeare.† (Anagram generators can be found on the Internet.) 3. Chronograms: A chronogram is a phrase in which constituent letters also express a number, as in â€Å"My Day Closed Is In Immortality,† an epitaph for England’s Queen Elizabeth I in which the first letter of each word corresponds to a Roman numeral; the numerical sequence, MDCIII, is translated as 1603, the date of her death. A weak variant is a habit of filmmakers (or, more accurately, film marketers) of replacing one or more letters in a movie title with a number vaguely resembling the letter or otherwise related, as in the title of the 1995 crime thriller Seven, represented on posters as Se7en. 4. Initialisms: Initialisms are distinguished from acronyms by the fact that the constituent letters are pronounced individually, rather than sequentially sounded as if they were a single word. Many popular social-networking terms such as LOL (â€Å"laugh out loud†) and ROTFL (â€Å"roll on the floor laughing†) are initialisms; so is TEOTWAWKI (â€Å"the end of the world as we know it†). 5. Lipograms: A lipogram is a composition deliberately consisting of words lacking a letter of the alphabet. Such a work is more or less easily accomplished depending on the letter selected for omission; many writers, astonishingly, have written novels produced without recourse to use of a common letter such as e or t. 6. Malapropisms: This type of wordplay refers to misuse of one word for another by those too ignorant to recognize the error. It’s named after Mrs. Malaprop, a character in an eighteenth-century play who is notorious for such unwitting utterances, as exemplified by the character’s line â€Å"She’s as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of Nile.† Shakespeare also employed such humor, most notably in lines by the character Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing such as â€Å"Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons.† 7. Mondegreens: Misunderstood song lyrics are often referred to as mondegreens; the term itself is based on a mishearing of the phrase â€Å"laid him on the green.† A more recent example is â€Å"Excuse me while I kiss this guy,† rather than â€Å"Excuse me while I kiss the sky,† from the Jimi Hendrix song â€Å"Purple Haze.† 8. Onomatopoeias: Onomatopoeias (the term is from the Greek words for â€Å"make† and â€Å"name†) are words that imitate sounds, such as splash or bump. A notable example of an onomatopoeic proper name is that of the Houyhnhnms, the sentient, civilized horses from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. 9. Portmanteaus: Portmanteaus, words creating by combining two words and their meanings into one, were named and popularized by Lewis Carroll. He coined several, such as slithy (from lithe and slimy); more recent examples include brunch and smog. (Carroll named the form of wordplay after a word for a suitcase with two separate compartments.) 10. Spoonerisms: The term for expressions in which initial letters, or sometimes entire syllables or words, are transposed is based on the name of a British clergyman supposedly prone to such utterances, though many attributed to him were only inspired by him. Among them is â€Å"a well-boiled icicle† for â€Å"a well-oiled bicycle†; John Lennon is credited with coining a variation on â€Å"Time heals all wounds†: â€Å"Time wounds all heels.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidConfusing "Passed" with "Past"Confusion of Subjective and Objective Pronouns

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Arab learners of English Avoid using phrasal verbs Research Paper

Arab learners of English Avoid using phrasal verbs - Research Paper Example Such an observation has been made on the basis of wide ranging studies conducted by various researchers in this regard. As mentioned earlier, recently there has been observed a trend, which indicates the avoidance of phrasal verbs by Arab learners of the English language. Several papers and research articles have focused on this phenomenon which indicates such an avoidance (Kano (2006), Tarone (1981), Kleinmann (1977), etc.) as well as the manner of avoidance i.e., semantic, topical, lexical, phonological, morphological, graphological or void, (Brown,1994). This trend, hence, has been identified as a classic problem or issue of concern among the researchers in the field of linguistic studies. However, consensus on the actual occurrence and the reasons behind such a trend is yet to be arrived, owing to the differing views presented by various researchers. For instance, Schachter (1974) who first observed such avoidance behavior claimed that the learners, who resorted to avoid usage of phrasal verbs, did so, owing to difficulties in constructing sentences using such verbs. Researchers such as Klienmann (1977), Chiang (1980), Dagut and Laufer (1985) etc supported the claims made by Schachter, that the avoidance was mainly on account of difficulty experienced by the learners with respect to structure and semantic aspects of the target language. While yet others such as Seliger, (1989) argues that, there is no clear definition of avoidance and further states that avoidance can only occur in situations wherei the learners are able to form a target structure but lack knowledge regarding appropriate distributional rules. The native language plays a significant role in influencing the manner in which a learner produces different structures. This claim was substantiated by Kleinmann (1977) in his experiments whereby he studied a group of Arabic speakers as well as Spanish / Portuguese speakers with regard to the use of passives, present

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Outline and discuss the different kinds of barriers to learning and Essay

Outline and discuss the different kinds of barriers to learning and participation faced by disabled children and young people wi - Essay Example However, there are calls to improve the deaf education by addressing the various challenges deaf children and young people come across. Schools, governments and the society have working towards better deaf education in most countries. The deaf education has been improving over the years, but the challenges are still there for deaf children and young adults in their quest for education, and only time will tell whether the current calls for more improvement and addressing challenges will be successful in making their education even better. The deaf education can be credited to an Italian physician, Geronimo Cardano who was born in the 16th century in Milan Italy. Geronimo claimed that the deaf were as smart as the hearing people only that they could not communicate with the others. He proposed that the deaf be taught just like the hearing people. Rather than normal communication, Geronimo proposed that the deaf be taught to use symbols and signs as a way of communicating their feelings to the others. This proposal was well taken by Juan Pablo de Bonet who created the first ever sign language book in 1620. This made the deaf education to spread fast across France leading to the establishment of the first deaf education school by Charles Michel de L’Eppe. ... Deaf people continued to be taught how to communicate to the rest of the society using this sign language. This has continued to the current times. School, colleges, experts and government alike have started appreciating that deaf education is important to the people with hearing problems. Parents with deaf children are advised to take their children to these special schools (Winzer and Mazurek, 2000). Though deaf education is yet to be like main stream education, at least there are some improvements. There have been significant events in history that have really impacted the deaf education. They are; Abraham Lincoln signing in to law the enabling act which was meant to improve education of the deaf. This was followed by the opening of the National College for the deaf and dumb in 1864. The invention of the electrical hearing aid in 1892 to allow the deaf to communicate with the other people in the society, phone for the deaf invented in 1964 and the signing of the disabilities act i nto law which was meant to ensure that the disabled have right to education, employment and equality (Rotatori, Obiakor and Bakken, 2011). Lack of enough funding for deaf education is the great threat to the deaf people. A cross check in several countries shows that deaf schools are closing. According to the National Association of the deaf, most states in the United States are cutting funding for deaf education. Most of the national and state governments across the world are focusing on cutting their expenses. They are removing what they deem not necessary as the world has been a recession. Deaf education programs are some of the items that are not a priority for most governments. The

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Marketing communication Plan for Aer Lingus Essay

Marketing communication Plan for Aer Lingus - Essay Example The major focus of the airline is on B2B. In order to collect information, the company should use more social media. Moreover, it has been recommended that the company should focus on B2C as well. The main reason is that the B2B is a small customer size segment as this will increase its revenues (Dialogue marketing, 2014). The brand image of the airline is professional but affordable. People perceive the airline as a low cost airline and customer expectations average quality service from the airline. The company to increase its brand image and to meet up the customers’ expectations, the management should advertise the qualities and services offered at the given price as well as should promote the brand image while advertising to attract more customers. Culture, Values, and Beliefs: The airline is committed to serve at the central and convenient locations, so that there is large number of passengers travelling. The mission of the company is to connect the Ireland with the world and different countries of the world with Ireland through providing quality services at competitive price. The secondary mission of the airline is to enhance the connectivity for the customers. The company is facing issues as the brand of the airline is not renowned and many people are not aware about the brand, thus it is essential the values are communicated clearly and more widely so that it reaches to a larger audience. The brand awareness of the airline is not strong in the United Kingdom. The perception of the airline is low carrier airline, however it is not the best service providers as compared to its competitors. Thus, this low price perception has been blurred as well due to the offerings of Ryanair and other low-cost airways. The company has limited locations to go and has lower customer retention rate particularly when compared with the competitors. In order to attain all these goals, it is essential to design a

Friday, November 15, 2019

Effects of Communication on Organisational Culture

Effects of Communication on Organisational Culture Topic 2: A range of authors (e.g. Gerard and Ellinor 2001; Isaacs 1993, 1999; Schein 1993; Senge 1995) suggest that dialogue can positively transform organisational cultures. Introduction Communication acts as conversational skill, which is from physical and innate ability. Dialogue can be used and appeared everywhere, in work place, school, bus, home, pub etc. It is one beginning when you meet someone and try to do something new. Dialogue always impact the whole society, human and culture from ancient times to this present, especially organizational cultures. In this essay, there are some effectives, which are some positively transform organizational cultures to be explained. Some relevant academic literatures and suggestion of authors are going to be supported in this essay. Several examples will be provided. Finally, there are some discussion and challenges to be supplied and forecasted future. The word of dialogue is derived from Greek, which means flowing through (Isaacs, W.N, 1993). In 1914, dialogue is provided one exchange between human beings by Martin Buber who is the philosopher (Senge, P, 1995). In simplest sense, dialogue is one kind of talking skill, which is known as special conversation (Dixon, N.M, 1998). This conversation is two-way communication with emotion and passion between persons in different society, organization and group (Swidler, L, 1966). Learning and teaching will be occurred both side of persons, who can understand the whole among parts, link them together and make a decision from dialogue (Gerard, G., Ellinor, L., 2001). Therefore, dialogue will have a strong and effective influence to transform organizational cultures. Accounting to figure 1, there are four type of organizational culture to provide, which are competitive culture, learning culture, bureaucratic culture and participative culture. These cultures depend on different level of environmental adaptation and internal integration (Hellrigle and Slocum, 1994). These four different of cultures will be positively transformed by dialogue from individual, group and organizational levels. At the beginning, there is one example to be given from book of Dialogue At Work. It describes engineering organization in Colorado. One project-based was supported and replaced. Some of employees never talk and share any ideas with others. However, some of them are very exciting and interesting this project. They discuss with employees, managers. They created one system for themselves about how to work and what changes would success their projects (Dixon, N.M., 1998). Accounting to this case, individual and group dialogue play a role for learning culture. Isaacs mention collective thinking and communication will impact learning culture (Isaacs, W. N., 1993). In the first, Employees should have enough knowledge and experiences to provide when they are working in company. If they do not, they have to be trained before they worked. Training is beginning of dialogue from organization. Training is not only learned from teacher how to do. They need to go outside, not only in some formula to work. Employees can discuss with other employees to share study skills, this is because some skills can not learn from knowledge of book or rules. Dialogue is the best way to think and make a decision which method is suit for you. On the other hand, some mixture of qualification and generic skills training become much more popular. This training force on social interaction skills, team working, adaptability and flexibility of response. This non-formal learning will p rovide more challenge and skill for employees to go outside and contact others. This abnormal training dialogue can much more positively impact organizational culture (Cressey P., Kelleher M., 1999). Secondly, there are several problems will be appeared when they are working. These problems could not be solved by training skills. Employees may require another dialogues with staff or managers. Group communication is as extensive as individual learning, especially innovation and new production development department in participative culture of company. There is one successful case, which is Telia Company. They create â€Å"interactive academy† which is provided on line. Every staff can access this intranet system to obtain document and share information (Docherty P., Ullstad C., 1998). This company organizes their whole company to one group. This open system is convenience dialogue, which may easily to achieve directly communication between employees and managers. This is because manager not only can spend less time to discuss with employees, and they may also control employees from different sections. For employees, they may find distinct requirements from managers and oth ers to provide successful production or project. Therefore, this dialogue would act as timesaving, faster and functional system to extend other organization. In sum of first two parts, there are three main elements to force on dialogue for learning and participation culture, which are listening, inquiry and reflection. Isaacs said, listening is the heart of dialogue (Isaacs, W. N., 1999). Listening is not only hear the words, people have to consider and understand what they are listening. This information would be noticed and observed to you. Basically, listening is one learning method, which collect information from others and suit for you (Gerard, G., Ellinor, L., 2001). Inquiry is pretty functional model for dialogue. As a matter of fact, asking question is one directly observation way from dialogue. Any questions will be achieved by inquiry. You may obtain extra information when they solve your question and more options why other disagrees (Gerard, G., Ellinor, L., 2001). The last one is reflection. During the conversation, you should be noticed what is your options and how to effect. At the end of dialogue, everyone should speed fe w minutes to think about this dialogue. Dialogue not only transform your mind, it will be also confuse others. These three elements will act as the key of dialogue to positively impact organizational culture. There are two opposite opinions for competitive culture by dialogue in internal and external company. Dialogue would negatively impact competitive culture in internal company. If the competition appears between employees, they would not share any ideas with each other, this is not satisfactory condition in organization. However, if this competition is appeared between companies. Dialogue is perfect method to provide more competition than other companies. Different department should work together and provide vary information from distinct sections. Company need to competitiveness up with dialogue between companies. Dialogue is resource and material, which promote development of company. The last organizational culture is bureaucratic culture. It has been identified two major approaches: the top down and the bottom up (Thornhill, A, P. Lewis, M. Millmore M. Saunders, 2000). Regarding the top down, it is known as culture engineering approach (Palmer, I C. Handy, 2000). There is the top manager who has enough knowledge of desired values and achieves success to all staff of organization by norms and expected behavior. Therefore, there is one success case, which is British Airways to improve and achieve the top down approach (Watson, T.J. (1996). However, there is not enough evidence to circumstantiate several questions in the top down approach. Even though manager has the right and ability to create, maintain and change the organization culture (Thompson, R. C. Mabey, 1994), they should also pass through lots of human resource to achieve, especially, organization development, communication strategies, training and reward (Mabey, C. G. Salaman (1995). This system is too centralization of state power from manager and underestimating employee resistance. Employee would reliance on manager without measure. They could not thinking and discuss with each other. They only force on what order from manager and how to do. Manager considers everything, which they do, is correct, nobody can not reply them. At the end, it would lead to vicious circles of manager behaviors (Beer, M., R.A. Eisenstat B. Spector, 1990). In contrast, the bottom up approach is much more participative and interactive than the top down approach. There are greater opportunities to be provided for employee involvement in culture change (Hargie. O D. Tourish, 2000). It would raise organizational effectiveness through this approach. Employee might discuss and talk with manager. In the case study of telecommunications of Sri Lankan organization, they have made an attempt through improved conversation between manager and other employees (Sri Lanka Telecom (2001). However, manager may recruitment correct staff in each stage. They have to spend effort, time and money in training the staff to suit for each stage. Hence, company will operate bottom up approach, which is stable by structure, policies and performance (Armstrong, M, 1990). As a matter of fact, the bottom up approach will help manager to relax and reduce pressure from company. Each department force on different staff to work. It not only increases work efficiency, a nd varies ideas will be provided by each employee. Sequentially, dialogue can positively impact organizational culture, competitive and innovation. Appendix: References: Dixon, N.M. 1998, Dialogue at Work. Making Talk Developmental for People and Organizations, Center for Creative Leadership, London. Swidler, L 1966, What Is Dialogue, Temple University. Gerard, G., Ellinor, L. (2001), Dialogue at Work: Skills for Leveraging Collective Understanding, Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications. Hellrigle and Slocum, 1994. Management, 6e. New York: Addison Wesley Isaacs, W. N. (1993), Taking Flight: Dialogue, Collective thinking and Organizational Learning, Organizational Dynamics, 22, 24-39. Cressey P., Kelleher M., (1999) Partnership and Investment in Europe: the role of social dialogue and human resource development, Leonardo Project Consolidated Report, Jan. 1999 University of Bath / ECLO Docherty P., Ullstad C., (1998) Partnership and Investment in Europe: Volvo Car Corporation case study, IMIT, Gothenburg Isaacs, W. N. (1999), Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach to Communicating in Business and in Life, New York: Currency. Senge, P. (1995), The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook : Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization London: Nicholas Brealey. Schein, E. (1993), On Dialogue, Culture and Organizational Learning, Organizational Dynamics, 22, 40-51. Thornhill. A, P. Lewis, M. Millmore M. Saunders (2000) Managing Change: A Human Resource Strategy Approach, London: Prentice Hall. Palmer, I C. Handy (2000) Thinking About Management: Implications of Organizational Debates for Practice, London: Sage Publications. Watson, T.J. (1996) How do managers think? Identity, morality and pragmatism in managerial theory and practice, Management Learning, 27: 323-342. Thompson, R. C. Mabey (1994) Developing Human Resources, London: Butterworth Heinemann. Mabey, C. G. Salaman (1995) Strategic Human Resource Management, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Beer, M., R.A. Eisenstat B. Spector (1990) Why change programmes dont produce change, Harvard Business Review, November/December, 158-166. Armstrong, M (1990) How to be an Even Better Manager, London: Kogan Page Sri Lanka Telecom (2001) Annual Business Plan 2002, Colombo: Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd., Hargie. O D. Tourish (2000) Communication and organisational success, in O. Hargie D. Touris (eds) Handbok of Communication Audits for Organisations, London: Routledge.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

How to Conduct Strategic Analysis

One critical piece of the Strategic Planning process is Strategic Analysis. It is an integral part of a company’s evaluation program; it provides managers with a comprehensive assessment of the organization’s capabilities and market factors; revealing growth opportunities and vulnerabilities. With this information, managers can more effectively choose from strategic alternatives and create the greatest future reward potential. A)Company Mission – Vision The first step I would take as part of my Strategic Analysis process would be to look at the Company’s mission and its vision.Mission statements include the aim of the organization, the organization’s primary stakeholders, the product or service offered and a declaration of the organization’s core purpose. A vision statement is similar to the mission statement but it doesn’t include customers or clients in the statement. The vision statement is for members of the company and it paints a picture of what the company aims to be in the future. Both the mission statement and vision statement must be examined before beginning the strategic analysis as they provide the framework for this process.B)External Analysis The next step I would take for my strategic analysis process would be to examine the company’s external environment. The external environment includes all factors that affect the firm. Some of these forces may be outside of the firm’s control such as technological, governmental, economic, cultural, and demographic factors. Knowing these factors however, enables a firm to look at strategies that work within their respective environments.Other factors within the external environment include: competitive rivalries, threat of new entrants, supplier power, buyer power, and threat of substitute products. These external industry environmental factors would be analyzed using Porter’s Five Forces Model which is discussed below. -Porters 5 Rivals fo rces One of the earliest models used to examine industry economics and industry activeness is Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model. This model identifies five forces at play in an industry’s environment (external).The five forces are: competitive rivalry, threat of new entrants, supplier power, buyer power, and threat of substitute products. The weaker these forces are the greater opportunity for superior performance by firms within the industry; the stronger these forces are the more difficult it will be. C)Internal Analysis The next step I would take in my Strategic Analysis Process would be to examine the company’s internal environment. The internal environment consists of those factors that exist inside the company.Some of these factors include the company’s identity, the knowledge of their employees, their financial situation, etc. Again, similar to the external analysis, there are many different models that analyze a company’s internal environm ent. The one to be discussed in this report would be the Value Chain which is explained below. – Value Chain Every company’s business consists of a collection of activities undertaken in the course of designing, producing, and marketing, delivering, and supporting of its product or service.All of the various activities that a company performs internally combine to form a value chain. This is because of the underlying intent of a company’s activities, which is to do things that ultimately create value for buyers. A company’s value chain also includes an allowance for profit because, it is customarily part of the price (or total cost) borne by buyers. The value chain consists of two types of activities: the primary activities that are foremost in creating value for customers, and the support activities that facilitate and enhance the performance of the primary activities.To conduct a Value Chain analysis you first have to make sure all activities both prima ry and support are identified. After this is done, costs must be allocated to these activities using activity-based costing. Performing this analysis will provide a picture of which activities cost the most money and identify problem areas or areas that could be more cost efficient. D)SWOT Analysis The next step I would take for my Strategic Analysis Process would be to take the findings of my internal and external analysis and lay it out in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis.The SWOT analysis guides you to identify the positives and negatives inside and outside of the organization. A SWOT analysis will provide perspective, and reveal connections and areas for action. The SWOT analysis breaks down Internal Strengths and Weaknesses of the organization along with External Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Organization (Internal): In this part of the analysis, factors which are internal or within the control of the organization s hould be identified.These factors may include: skills and resources, structure, shared values, finances, staff/directors, and style of leadership within the organization or systems such as communications channels. All of these things will ultimately play a role in the organization and its mission. Opportunities and Threats Facing the Organization (External): All organizations are affected by outside influences over which they may have little control, this part of the analysis these factors will be identified. These factors have varying degrees of impact which are both positive and negative, on the organization.Factors to be addressed here will relate to the mission. They may include activities of competing organizations, government policies, society/community influences or trends, markets, the economy, lifestyles, the environment, demographic trends, technological advances or alternatives. E)Long-term objectives/Key Issue or Decision Point When information regarding the company and its internal and external environments has been laid out, long term objectives must be established. The key issue or decision point must be addressed.With the information gathered, realistic and measurable long term objectives may be set. One way of addressing or scoring these long term objectives would be to use a balanced score card. If the company’s long term objectives have already been set, then perhaps there is a key issue addressed or a decision that must be made. In this section of the strategic analysis process this issue or decision will be identified and analyzed in detail. F)Alternatives In this section of my strategic analysis process, alternative strategies to meet the long term objectives or to solve the issue or decision will be xplored. At first, all possible options will be laid out, including the status quo. The options will be narrowed down using pros and cons, as well as forecasting the outcomes of the various strategies. G)Choosing the Strategy/Recommend ations This is the final piece of the strategic analysis process. This involves choosing the best possible strategy of all the alternatives listed above. After the best strategy is chosen, recommendations may be given as well as an implementation plan developed.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Analysis of Crooks – Of Mice and Men

Crooks is a lively, sharp-witted, black stable-hand, who takes his name from his crooked back. Like most of the characters in the story, he admits that he is extremely lonely. When Lennie visits him in his room, his reaction reveals this fact. At first, he turns Lennie away, hoping to prove a point that if he, as a black man, is not allowed in white men’s houses, then whites are not allowed in his, but his desire for company ultimately wins out and he invites Lennie to sit with him. Like Curley’s wife, Crooks is a disempowered character who turns his vulnerability into a weapon to attack those who are even weaker.He plays a cruel game with Lennie, suggesting to him that George is gone for good. Only when Lennie threatens him with physical violence does he relent. Crooks exhibits the corrosive effects that loneliness can have on a person; his character evokes sympathy as the origins of his cruel behavior are made evident. Perhaps what Crooks wants more than anything else is a sense of belonging—to enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with the other men.This desire would explain why, even though he has reason to doubt George and Lennie’s talk about the farm that they want to own, Crooks cannot help but ask if there might be room for him to come along and hoe in the garden. Candy One of the book’s major themes and several of its dominant symbols revolve around Candy. The old handyman, aging and left with only one hand as the result of an accident, worries that the boss will soon declare him useless and demand that he leave the ranch.Of course, life on the ranch—especially Candy’s dog, once an impressive sheep herder but now toothless, foul-smelling, and brittle with age—supports Candy’s fears. Past accomplishments and current emotional ties matter little, as Carson makes clear when he insists that Candy let him put the dog out of its misery. In such a world, Candy’s dog serves as a harsh reminder of the fate that awaits anyone who outlives his usefulness. For a brief time, however, the dream of living out his days with George and Lennie on their dream farm distracts Candy from this harsh reality.He deems the few acres of land they describe worthy of his hard-earned life’s savings, which testifies to his desperate need to believe in a world kinder than the one in which he lives. Like George, Candy clings to the idea of having the freedom to take up or set aside work as he chooses. So strong is his devotion to this idea that, even after he discovers that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife, he pleads for himself and George to go ahead and buy the farm as planned.

Friday, November 8, 2019

What were Stalins Motives for Soviet expansion, defensive or expansionist Essays

What were Stalins Motives for Soviet expansion, defensive or expansionist Essays What were Stalins Motives for Soviet expansion, defensive or expansionist Paper What were Stalins Motives for Soviet expansion, defensive or expansionist Paper By 1920 the Bolsheviks were in a very weak position and Russia as a whole had to come to terms with its own vulnerability in a hostile world. Stalin decided on the extension of the soviet control to eastern Europe. This policy aimed to protect the interests rather than stirring up world revolution. In other words it was too become defensive rather than aggressive, however the west refused to believe this and still had there minds set that Stalin was planning the spread of world revolution. This is what I will discuss in my essay, was it defensive or expansionist? Firstly Ill look at why the people believed it was expansionist, in other words to spread world communism. Stalin had always believed in communist revolution. This was also seen by Truman which introduced the permanent revolution. This was the belief that Russia would not survive because of conflict between capitalism and communism was inevitable. However at the time Stalin put this too the side as he thought it wasnt important but it wasnt forgotten in the future. One of the main reasons that people believed that Stalin was too expand rather than be defensive was the introduction of Comintern. This was an organisation to factilate contacts between communist groups throughout the world. It encouraged people ( communists) to stir up unrest across Europe. Another significant event to consider which supports this view is the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. To the west the imposition of communist governments on eastern Europe, the civil war in Greece, where communist were attempting to remove the monarchists, the takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948 and the soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948-9 were all seen as evidence of Stalins intention to spread communism. One last key reason was Keenan views, he said that foreign threats would mobilise the population in order to secure its own position. However this view by the West and communism was misleading as they based there views on assumptions. They didnt have a understanding of the motives and the reality of the soviet position in 1945. On the other hand some say that Stalins motives appeared to be more defensive. Soviet foreign policy must be seen within the context of western hostility in the USSR, which has existed since its beginning, One reasons people see it as defensive and some solid evidence of this was the buffer zone which was created by Stalin, this was to protect the soviet union from invasion from the west. In 1945 exhaustion occurred due to the war effort and made the USSR concerned to protect its borders, this is an example of defensive Expansion. After the war there was a sense of insecurity and Stalin responded by being defensive, Him and his minister itemised the destruction of towns, villages, industrial complexes and collective farms. This resulted in the soviets being obsessed with security, which is a massive defensive issue and they introduced a zone of satellite states in Eastern Europe. The security could only be safeguard by a ring of buffer states in eastern Europe,e He hoped that other countries would be friendly to the soviet union, he took firm measures to ensure this. It wasnt until later than Stalin insisted on communist regimes in the Stalinist model as a response to a us policy towards the USSR. Shortly after this free elections saw Stalin agree to the Yalta would not guarantee the USSR the security it needed. Greece could be left to the west but eastern Europe was not negotiable. This resulted in the soviet union feeling they deserved the right to impose control of the region to secure its defensive needs. However communism was spread to eastern Europe Overall I believe that the soviet union was bait defensive and a bit expansionist. Soviet foreign policy under Stalin was dominated by the cautions implementation of the defensive strategy to secure the interests of the USSR. However the US government clouded by notions of world communism revolution failed to understand this and they misunderstood the whole situation, and Stalins lack of skills led the Misconceptions around the world.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

African American vs. Caucasian Americans essays

African American vs. Caucasian Americans essays At first glance some people might consider this paper to be on the racial side, however it was all written by observations made. There are many differences between African Americans and Caucasians, some people don't see the differences because of ignorance . You must read the paper with an open mind and take none of this to heart. African American and Caucasians function differently in public surroundings. When you see a young African American you usually see them in groups of four of more. However, when one of them gets into a disagreement five to ten more show up in their defense. They are a very close knit group of individuals. I have also noticed that when you see a young African American walking around they are usually singing, talking very loud or running around. Also when they are in groups they are very loud and take over the area that they occupy. On the other hand when you see Caucasians they are rarely in groups of three or more. To top it off when someone in one of their groups gets in trouble the rest of the group is nowhere to be found. Most times when you see young Caucasian people in a group they are for the most part within a normal speaking level. These two groups tend to act differently in the public due to their cultural differences. There are a number of differences between the churches of African Americans and Caucasians. At most typical African American churches there are no true sermons. The African American churches tend to do more entertaining rather than teaching. They also do a great deal of singing and dancing involved in there praising of God. They emphasize fellowship in their churches especially after church when they all gather and close the celebration with a meal together. However at a typical Caucasian church there are a few differences. To start it off when you first walk in you get a program detailing what will be happening through the service. The...

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Running Groups For Adults Who Have Profound Mental Retardation Essay

Running Groups For Adults Who Have Profound Mental Retardation - Essay Example Right from the time the group is set up to the time it completes its tasks, objectives, or goals, persons with special needs have to be at the center stage of every activity being undertaken. The team leader and all other members in the group have to be conscious about their colleagues who have profound mental retardation. The leader should set operational strategies for the group in such a way that accounts for every single individual on board. The activities that need to be undertaken in regard to persons with profound mental retardation in a group setting might not be met all at once. However, a time to time approach to these activities can be adopted in line with the group schedules over the entire time the group will remain operational. In order to do this, team leadership skills have to be eminent. While the priority in this case is to be as helpful as possible to the group members with profound mental retardation, the other part of the group cannot be solely ignored (Sonnentag & Volmer, 2010). It is fundamental to consider and balance all matters of concern in the group. In order to ensure a smooth run of the group, skills training comes in handy. This does not necessarily have to only involve the group members and their leader, but can also involve an expert in the field of dealing with persons with profound mental retardation. This expert can be an institutional staff or any other person that the group is comfortable working with. The involvement of an expert in the group matters enables the group to manage any merging issues that may negatively affect the overall success of the group. On the same note, when there is an essentially qualified and experienced advisor or mentor to guide the group, the integration of all ideas and arguments of individual members is easy. Moreover, this enables understanding and

Friday, November 1, 2019

Walt Disney Hall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Walt Disney Hall - Essay Example Later that year after enough sourcing for resources, the construction took off again. What lead after that proved a disaster for the dedication of the Walt Disney himself. However, there was a complete turn of events where when the budget far exceeded the available resources. Nevertheless, there was a move to use cheaper material rather than using the originally planned bricks, but it later proved to be a blessing in disguise which prompted to the reputation of the Los Angeles’ marvel. This was because the stainless steel move was a better match for Ghery’s architectural plan for the hall. This move saw the completion of the project in the latter months of 2003. There were substantial costs accredited mainly to the parking garage itself which cost $110 million, escalating the total cost including the floors of the entire construction to $274 million. Materials and Description of Architectural and Construction Form Gehry adopts to his childhood experiences to make differ ent architectural designs for the building, using 12500 unique pieces of steel each having sole characteristics. He also uses a variety of standard bricks to go along the regular formed parts of the architectural design. For the main auditorium he uses a type of fir wood to make the floors, walls and the ceilings. This is the same type of wood used in making violas, making them appropriate for making the site for presenting such performances. For the restaurant he uses mostly clear glass to allow enough lighting to bring in the warm and accommodating qualities of a restaurant. Through this he tries to make the transition to psychological and imaginative effect on architecture. Ownership The Walt Disney Hall is primarily owned by the widowed Lillian Disney after her major contributions to the construction. Her contribution was later topped by another contributor to the construction, who was the Walt Disney Company. The company contributed about $25 million. Additionally, the Walt Dis ney family made private contributions to the project amounting to an estimated $85 million. This is evidence that the ownership of the Walt building is not well defined, but its stakeholders in shareholding comprises a number of private entities individuals and companies that made their contribution to the construction of the building. However, it is safe to stipulate that the primary owners are the Walt Disney Company, Lillian Disney and the entire Walt Disney family. According to Bell, the owners of the Walt hall are mainly business people and profit making organizations who have wanted to proceed with the dedication started by Lillian, and not just for the purpose of making profit. The building however has a variety of functions held at the venue, ranging from orchestral performances, musical performances, movies’ premiering featuring in many television series episodes and movie features. Much of the maintenance of the building is done with the proceeds from the sale of th e tickets of which usually, most of it goes to serve in the Walt Disney foundation. Functions of the Hall The Walt Hall first performance was held in 2003 during the acoustics, Daphnis and Chloe’s acoustic performance which set the way for other grand performances, performing the Sonic LA, Sound Stage and Living LA. This paved way for other prime performances to follow in the wake of a new concert hall for Los