Narrative Voice In The Bell Jar

L. P. Hartley and Sylvia Plath both use the first person narrative to evoke a sense of tragedy for their protagonists, however, with Leo, Hartley uses the first person narrative to allow the reader to understand the unfortunate event in the life of twelve year old Leo. Some may say that the first person narration of Leo is both more personal and detailed than that of Esther. The reader sees the sophisticated world of Brandham Hall, contrasted with the closeness of Leo’s relationship with his mother, from Leo’s perspective.On the other hand, in The Bell-Jar the reader’s understanding of Esther’s life is limited by the cold and detached first person narrative, due to her descent into depression. It could be said that Esther is presented as repressing her emotions, yet her opinionated ways lead to her alienation. This makes her unreliable as the reader experiences the narrator’s life from her dysfunctional perspective. This makes it hard for the reader to connect to Esther, therefore limiting our empathy with her tragedy. In contrast, the reader sympathises with Leo as we see his youth and enthusiasm for life being destroyed, which enhances the tragedy.It could be said that Plath’s use of a simile to portray incongruity foreshadows Esther’s growing fear of â€Å"the bell-jar†. At the start of the novel, â€Å"The cadaver’s head, floated up behind my eggs and bacon at breakfast†. The reader is shocked due to the tragic inappropriateness of the cadaver’s head being connected to the mundane image of eggs and bacon. This dark humour, which arises from the absurdity of the two objects, could be perceived as foreshadowing the tragedy to come, due to Esther’s dysfunctional view of life.The humorous tone of the simile is increased as the narrator does not seem traumatized by such a shocking image being associated with an everyday object. It could therefore be argued that this reduces the t ragic effect from the situation. However, the cadaver’s head is always following her â€Å"on a string, like some black, nose less balloon stinking of vinegar† which could be argued is dragging her down. This macabre humour of the â€Å"nose less balloon† contrasts with the tragic tone of the novel and perhaps reduces our sense of Esther’s misfortune.The balloon could represent a â€Å"bell-jar† hanging over Esther’s life, always close enough to come down on Esther and never going to disappear. However, it could be argued that if Esther really wanted to, she could let go of the balloon and therefore release her connections with the bell jar, which may take the tragedy with it. The balloon could portray that the tragedy, strangeness and â€Å"the bell-Jar† is Esther’s own doing, as for a balloon to come down, all one has to do is pull, so this could be a metaphor for Esther’s life as a whole, which is tragic as we feel co mpassion for the young girl starring down the barrel of depression.Furthermore, the â€Å"cadaverous face† is mentioned on the last page of the novel. This structural feature, which Plath would have no doubt intended, indicates that the cadaver has followed her all her life, tragically limiting her chances of being â€Å"normal† which shows that Esther may never get out of the â€Å"bell-jar†, even when there is a little hope at the end of the novel. Narrative Voice in the Bell Jar L. P. Hartley and Sylvia Plath both use the first person narrative to evoke a sense of tragedy for their protagonists, however, with Leo, Hartley uses the first person narrative to allow the reader to understand the unfortunate event in the life of twelve year old Leo. Some may say that the first person narration of Leo is both more personal and detailed than that of Esther. The reader sees the sophisticated world of Brandham Hall, contrasted with the closeness of Leo’s relationship with his mother, from Leo’s perspective.On the other hand, in The Bell-Jar the reader’s understanding of Esther’s life is limited by the cold and detached first person narrative, due to her descent into depression. It could be said that Esther is presented as repressing her emotions, yet her opinionated ways lead to her alienation. This makes her unreliable as the reader experiences the narrator’s life from her dysfunctional perspective. This makes it hard for the reader to connect to Esther, therefore limiting our empathy with her tragedy. In contrast, the reader sympathises with Leo as we see his youth and enthusiasm for life being destroyed, which enhances the tragedy.It could be said that Plath’s use of a simile to portray incongruity foreshadows Esther’s growing fear of â€Å"the bell-jar†. At the start of the novel, â€Å"The cadaver’s head, floated up behind my eggs and bacon at breakfast†. The reader is shocked due to the tragic inappropriateness of the cadaver’s head being connected to the mundane image of eggs and bacon. This dark humour, which arises from the absurdity of the two objects, could be perceived as foreshadowing the tragedy to come, due to Esther’s dysfunctional view of life.The humorous tone of the simile is increased as the narrator does not seem traumatized by such a shocking image being associated with an everyday object. It could therefore be argued that this reduces the t ragic effect from the situation. However, the cadaver’s head is always following her â€Å"on a string, like some black, nose less balloon stinking of vinegar† which could be argued is dragging her down. This macabre humour of the â€Å"nose less balloon† contrasts with the tragic tone of the novel and perhaps reduces our sense of Esther’s misfortune.The balloon could represent a â€Å"bell-jar† hanging over Esther’s life, always close enough to come down on Esther and never going to disappear. However, it could be argued that if Esther really wanted to, she could let go of the balloon and therefore release her connections with the bell jar, which may take the tragedy with it. The balloon could portray that the tragedy, strangeness and â€Å"the bell-Jar† is Esther’s own doing, as for a balloon to come down, all one has to do is pull, so this could be a metaphor for Esther’s life as a whole, which is tragic as we feel co mpassion for the young girl starring down the barrel of depression.Furthermore, the â€Å"cadaverous face† is mentioned on the last page of the novel. This structural feature, which Plath would have no doubt intended, indicates that the cadaver has followed her all her life, tragically limiting her chances of being â€Å"normal† which shows that Esther may never get out of the â€Å"bell-jar†, even when there is a little hope at the end of the novel.

Skin & Tattoos Review

Patterson, M. , & Schroeder, J. (2010). Borderlines: Skin, tattoos and consumer culture theory. Marketing Theory, 10, 253-267. DOI: 10. 1177/1470593110373191 Assignment 1: Patterson & Schroeder Article Review This essay critically reviews an academic article which applies consumer culture theory to identity formation by illustrating the association of skin and body art to femininity and commodification. The paper begins with a brief summary of the key points outlined in the article which is then followed by an analytical evaluation of these points. After which I will examine why I believe they were able to make a compelling argument. I then go on to critique the style of the article and discuss some of the weaknesses I found in the argument presented by the authors. I end with a suggested issue for further research. The authors of this article intend to examine the establishment of identity, both generally and embodied, within the consumer culture theoretical framework. In order to do so they describe three fundamental assertions which have been derived from consumer culture theory (CCT) and employ three metaphors to illustrate how these concepts prove to be problematic. They further develop evidence which challenges the proposed concepts by applying them to skin, and more specifically to the skin of heavily tattooed women. It is their assertion that skin serves as the principal site for individuals to imprint their ideologies and convey their stories, it brings together the natural and the social. The concept of femininity and cultural ideas of beauty also become intertwined in the conjectural work put forth by the authors. In their attempt to show a correlation between skin, identity, and consumption, the idea that heavily tattooed women collect body art in order to distinguish themselves from the masses and challenge existing gender stereotypes forms the foundation from which they argue. According to the article an individual’s production of self is mediated by interaction with others in addition to a calculated use of commodities. However, they claim that interpretation of one’s identity is not always clear or easily discerned and further that access to the resources we use to create our identity is not equal amongst all individuals. The following relationships between skin, femininity and consumption form the structure from which they develop their assumptions: first, the containing function of skin is central to creation of femininity as ideals of the perfect body remain; second, femininity is implicit on skin so much so that transmission becomes an issue of surface projection; and third, well maintained, delicate skin has become an archetype of femininity and a desire to retain this indicator of gender difference leads women to want to work on their skin. The ambiguousness of such an overlooked and yet important organ enables the reader to relate to a vast number of viewpoints. Based on the evidence presented, I find the authors’ argument convincing and can appreciate why skin makes an ideal medium for research on consumer identity. What I took from the article was that beauty and identity are often interdependent and rely on how one interprets and creates it. I arrived at this conclusion by following their logic that skin is connected to our identity in how we adorn and maintain it. The closer we come to upholding social norms regarding femininity, which is often closely tied to ideals of beauty, the more highly we are regarded in society. We use our exterior surface as a canvas in which we create our inner identity, however, identity is not static and we are continually modifying and recreating ourselves. I like the idea that women are silently protesting and disrupting long held patriarchal beliefs of femininity by engaging in body art acquisition. I also agree that by partaking in forms of body modification, such as tattooing, women challenge the traditional ideals of beauty. While the article is written concisely and straightforwardly, I believe the metaphors they use could have been explained further in order to get a clearer understanding of their association to the topic at hand. I found the idea of skin as a container difficult to follow, the arguments presented in this section taken individually were clear, but when related back to identity and commodification it became someone convoluted. One aspect I believe the authors neglected to develop was the notion that individuals can assume simultaneous identities or that they can perform identities, whereby they represent themselves different from their visible characteristics. They touched on this with the discussion of tattooed women being both contained and transgressive in the narrow perception of beauty, along with the view of the mind/body dualism. I found the overall concept explored in this article quite interesting, but thought the execution left something lacking. At times the article almost seems somewhat philosophical in its assessment of the topic in that it relies largely on interpretive research. Identities are seen not as merely represented in discourse, but rather as performed, enacted and embodied through a variety of dialectal and non-linguistic means. After introducing the topic at hand and reviewing the relevant concepts that have been ascertained in regards to the conceptualization of identity within the framework of consumer culture theory, and more specifically, identity as it applies to skin, femininity and body art, the article concludes with a suggested direction for further study. The authors propose that more work on boundaries and understanding of identity and consumption should be done. In addition, they advise rather than looking at the meaning of the body, future examination should analyze what the consequences of consuming the body are.

Theme: Gender Stereotyping Essay

Based on the novel, The Curse by Lee Su Ann, I have acquired an interesting theme from the many others that have been portrayed in the story. The theme is gender stereotyping, in which, involves unfair treatment upon the rights of a certain gender requiring them to act in a certain manner, where it is greatly influenced by culture and upbringing. There are a few unfortunate characters in the story who have been condemned to such discrimination and in this story; the female gender faces the dilemma of being subjected to gender stereotyping. The first character is Siti, Puan Kamsiah’s 17 year old daughter. She is a student about in the course of taking her SPM but we have seen in the story where Siti monologues about having to ask a teacher at school to persuade her father to let sit for the exam. Traditionally, the female stereotypic role is to marry early, be obedient and submissive and Siti, like every other woman before her, is required to follow the customs and norms. This shows that in that society, women, in general, have no say in their lives especially for someone as young as Siti. Siti was also portrayed to have felt a sense of envy towards Azreen who was lucky enough to have furthered her studies overseas, in London, while she is still shaky on taking her SPM. Opinion provided, her father’s role in making decisions may well ruin the possibility of a bright future as mentioned in the book where Siti is actually a hard-working student who loves to study. Secondly, the character Madhuri is the perfect depiction of how gender stereotyping may ruin someone’s life and in her case, it took away her life. Madhuri as portrayed in the novel is the perfect example of a woman who possesses the behaviour requirements and is considered innocent by the villagers through her soft spoken ways. She can teach Qu’ran lessons to the children of the village and she can cook very well as seen when Azreen’s mother asks for the porridge Madhuri made. Madhuri also obliges her father’s manipulative orders to marry Haji Ghani despite having the flutters for another. Additionally, Madhuri takes care of her parents even after her marriage to Haji Ghani. As a reader, I have seen how this changed in the  eyes of Azreen when she finds out the truth regarding her sister’s death and secret love affair to Asraf. Madhuri’s character takes a big leap in change and naturally becomes her facade to cover up for the forbidden affair that she had entangled herself into. She is no longer the perfect idol for women to follow and men to like and this contrast led to her demise. In my opinion, her naivety to confess her true heart led to the adulteration of her flawless personality which was perceived by the ignorant and self-righteous villagers. When her egoistic father discovered the truth, he had killed her in uncontrollable rage, not being able to accept his daughter loving other than her own husband. Lastly, gender stereotyping is depicted throughout the novel, in the main character Azreen through the aspect of female behaviourism. This statement is further proven when Azreen’s school friends start to cast suspicious eyes towards her when she behaves unlady-like. She plays hockey with the boys and even â€Å"laughs like a bunch of hyenas† with them. To them, as a woman, Azreen is not expected to be tomboyish and hangs too closely with boys. She is also considered obstinate and rude by the villagers and her own parents when she chooses to speak her mind rather than remain silent which is against the norms of the villagers as shown in various occasions in the novel, namely, the bull incident where she takes the blame for Asraf out of loyalty in friendship. In my opinion, Azreen’s unladylike and outspoken behaviour has triggered a sense of discomfort among the people around her as she does behave in the stereotyped manner, where they perceive her as disrespectin g the elderly. People tend to be cast out when they don’t follow certain norms of a society. This is evident in the reasons that I have stated. In my opinion, Lee Su Ann has shown perfectly how narrow-minded thinking can lead to detrimental outcomes. These sorts of stereotypes can prove harmful; they can stifle individual expression and creativity, as well as hinder personal and professional growth. Additional point: Puan Fatihah. In the sense of a woman having to marry and produce offspring, Puan Fatihah is seen as someone who has failed this. She is incapable of bearing her husband a child and always feels insecure about herself. This flaw renders her nearly useless in her husband’s eyes when she is unable to fulfill her duty as wife. I can understand her pain of insecurity as she looks into the mirror and see her unstoppable aging face. Meanwhile, Hj Ghani the insensitive husband marries another woman, Madhuri, who is by both men and women’s standards beautiful. We have seen how much the villagers worship her flawless personality and beauty and Hj Ghani, despite a wise man, also falls for the stereotyped mind set. Pn Fatihah’s declining beauty has caused her to feel envy towards Madhuri and to be angry at her husband. However, it is not her fault, but rather, the fault of the villagers who use the subject of beauty to measure the worth of a woman. How sure you are that it was not Hj Ghani who is barren? Madhuri, the second wife, also did not produce a child for him before her untimely death.

International and Comparative Human Resource Management Essay

International and Comparative Human Resource Management - Essay Example In addition diversity in workforce presented itself both as a blessing and a trouble to be handled carefully. Multinational enterprises (MNE) are the bodies that are directly affected by the results of globalization as their major portion of revenues are generated from the countries other than their home country. MNE need to manage a diverse workforce in order to maintain their competitive advantage. Globalization itself is the outcome of tremendous improvements in information technology. Information technology has made it possible to communicate throughout the world effectively and speedily. Therefore human resource management practices are also affected by the implications of latest technologies. Globalization has presented many challenges to almost every arena of life in its own way and human resource management is not an exception. These challenges can be named as advance recruitment practices, cultural issues, employee commitment and loyalty, corporate environment, legal issues and political situations. ‘Global trends should be acknowledged as triggers of change in employment relationships. Firms irrespective of national borders are compelled to adjust the employment relationship to fit in with current global realities’. ... Then advertisement to attract useful workmen from the global employee market requires special tactics. An organizational quality can be taken as opportunity by some people and it can be considered as a negative point for some others when we are talking about global employee market. Like if an organization is thought to be hierarchical in nature following a strict chain of command then it will be taken as an opportunity for introvert culture but it will be given less importance by the people who are extroverts and want to express their individuality. ‘the recruitment task becomes more akin towards brand management-monitoring and promoting the reputation of the firm(what it offers as company, in terms of job and competitive compensation), dealing intimately with the problems that leads to excessive turnovers, knowing well the different segments of employment market. Firms with a fine recruitment image often use referral systems (a majority of Cisco employees are hired on the basi s of such internal referrals)’ (Evans, p.70) Furthermore during the initial screening process the human resource management has to develop specific standards which are generalized enough to compare people from different backgrounds equally and using same parameters. Conduction of interviews is also an area of concern in terms of communication differences. There are obvious differences in verbal communication, gestures, postures and body language. Like in modern societies the individuals are not reluctant to be asked about their age, marital status and personal life but in some countries the same questions are taken as a blow over ones privacy. Online interviews are a frequently used phenomenon nowadays. Online

Rapid Colony Transformation of E -Coli with Plasmid DNA Lab Report

Rapid Colony Transformation of E -Coli with Plasmid DNA - Lab Report Example The paper "Rapid Colony Transformation of E -Coli with Plasmid DNA" analyzes E-Coli transformed by plasmid DNA using a rapid method. The transformation method can be categorized into four stages. The first is Pre-incubation stage. The low temperature gels the cell membrane, thereby stabilizing the distribution of charged phosphates and allowing them a more effective shield from the cat ions. The second stage is Incubation. The DNA is added and the cell suspension is kept at 0Â ºC.the cat ions are thought to neutralize negatively charged phosphates in the DNA and the cell membrane. The third stage is Heat Shock. The cell +DNA suspension is briefly incubated at 42Â ºC and then returned to 0Â ºC. The rapid temperature change creates a heat imbalance on either side of the E-Coli membrane and is supposed to create a wave that sweeps plasmids into the cell. The fourth stage is Recovery. LB broth is added to the DNA/cell suspension and incubated at 37Â ºC before being put on plates with different selected antibiotic resistant markers. Transformed cells recover from the treatment, amplify the transformed plasmid and begin to express the antibiotic resistant strain. Samples of E-coli cells are taken from a nutrient agar plate (LB agar) and suspended in two tubes containing a solution of calcium chloride. Plasmid pAMP is added to one cell suspensionBothe the tubes are then incubated at 0Â ºC for 15 minutes. After this a brief heat shock is administered at 42Â º .the samples are cooled and LB broth is added.

Law and Order Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Law and Order - Essay Example Basically every country needs a sequence and order to operate its functions properly. In order to make all the tasks of the country go smoothly law and order is implied. Law and order also make sure that a country has peaceful conditions and every one is treated equally. Law and order make sure that every person of the country has its share of rights. If a country lacks stableness in Law and order than it deteriorates economically, its neighbor countries avoid major communications with the country and the conditions of the country meaning peace is not maintained. If a country’s law and order is not imposed properly than automatically it loses political stability. In order to maintain Law and order in a country certain aspects need to be given special importance and it should be made sure that ignorance is avoided. The major factor for an efficient Law and order is to have a good balanced Lawsuit. Other factors include an effective check system on the Law imposers in order to check their credibility and the ratio of police to citizens. Another important factor is the role of the citizens in maintaining Law and order in their country. It’s important for the citizens to abide by law and obey every lawful order.

Financal Statement Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financal Statement Analysis - Essay Example Consequent to this, the share price movements of Inditex SA and Gap Inc over the past one year are analysed, following which the impact of credit crunch on both the retail firms are discussed. It also confers on their corporate governance issues in detail. Finally, the paper offers recommendations for both Inditex SA and Gap Inc with the purpose of improving their financial as well as operational situation in the upcoming years. Corporate Failure Models for Inditex SA and Gap Inc The findings from the previously conducted financial statement analysis of Inditex SA and Gap Inc suggest that both the companies are financially stable and fit. However, though the present financial position of both the retail companies is stable in comparison to the overall retail industry, it is imperative to assess the susceptibility of these companies to corporate failure or bankruptcy. This can be accomplished by computing the Altman’s Z-score of Inditex and Gap. This is because the Z-scores of the business organizations enable one to forecast the extent of financial distress encountered by the business. It also assists in assessing whether a particular organization is vulnerable to bankruptcy in the upcoming years. ... (Rachlin, 1997). In the above equation, Working Capital/Total Assets ratio determines the net value of liquid assets of the organization in relation to its total assets, while the Retained Earnings/Total Assets gauges the profitability of the organization over time. The EBIT/ Total Assets ratio is the most vital constituent of the equation as it determines the earning capacity of the company. The Market Value of Equity/Total Liabilities ratio determines the organization’s potential to endure a decline in its asset value, where as Net Sales/Total Assets ratio identifies the sales generating competence of the organization’s assets (Rachlin, 1997). The Z-score of Inditex SA and Gap Inc have been computed as follows: Financial Year 2011 Inditex SA (in millions Euro) Gap Inc (in millions US$) Current Assets 5202.51 3926 Total assets 9826.08 7065 Net Sales 12526 14664 Interest 3.56 0 Total Liabilities 3402.91 2985 Current Liabilities 2674.91 2095 Market Value of Equity 42105. 97 14212.29 Earnings before Taxes 2321.59 1982 Retained earnings 6272.3 1086 (Source: Gap Inc., 2011; Bloomberg (a), 2012; Bloomberg (b), 2012) Z-Score of Inditex SA Z= 1.2*(0.257) + 1.4*(0.638) + 3.3*(0.237) + 0.6*(12.374) + 1.0*(1.275) = 10.682. The elevated value of Z-score for Inditex is mainly due to the high value of Market Value of Equity to Total Liabilities ratio of the company. The company has much less liabilities in comparison to its large market capitalization value. Z-Score of Gap Inc Z= 1.2*(0.259) + 1.4*(0.154) + 3.3*(0.281) + 0.6*(4.761) + 1.0*(2.076) = 6.387. The decent z-score for Gap Inc is mainly due to the high value of Market Value of Equity to Total Liabilities and the

Criminal Justice System Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminal Justice System - Case Study Example In the first section of the report I will also summarize not just the role and approach of the consortium I represent but also the organization's response to the overall consultation. To describe the British Retail Consortium, an introduction of the organization would be based on what is given on the website of British retail consortium. It is one of the leading associations representing all kinds of retailers from all parts of Britain. According to the website, 'The British Retail Consortium is the lead trade association representing the whole range of retailers, from the large multiples and department stores through to independents, selling a wide selection of products through centre of town, out of town, rural and virtual stores' (brc.org, 2008). The mission statement of the company focuses on the vision and mission of the company that aims at creating a vibrant and sustainable retail industry and also defends the retailers' interests. Improving retail services in general and providing advice and other kind of help services to the retailers are also equally important. The actual mission and vision of the organization as available on the organization website is given here: from brc.org, 2008 The British Retail Consortium also works closely with governments on campaigning and policy issues and maintains constructive relationships with governmental departments. The BRC has strong ties with governmental and non-governmental organizations including the DFID, the Department of Health, Revenue and Customs, Home Office, Health and Safety Executive as well as several non governmental organizations (BRC.org, 2008). The Policy Action Group of the BRC provides responses to government on policies that would be burdens to the retail sector and recommends changes for smoother working of public and private sector. BRC undertakes regular consultation responses and policy consultation is an essential part of BRC's wide ranging activities. The Policy Action Group of the British Retail Consortium has been especially established to tackle responses and consultations with Government departments and this particular exercise on policy appraisal of the Criminal Justice System falls within BRC's responsibilities on providing the right kind of consultation and responses to policies dealing with sentencing cases of theft from a shop. CONSULTATION RESPONSE: The consultation response to the policy on theft from a shop that the British Retail Consortium provides for the Criminal Justice System would be aimed at maintaining the best interests of the consumers, retailers from all sectors, the government, the sentencing guidelines council and the criminal justice department. According to

Coperate social responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Coperate social responsibility - Essay Example This paper describes almost all the CSR activities of these two companies. Beside that paper also provides a descriptive view of stakeholder models of these two companies. Finally there is a comparative analysis of CSR activities of Microsoft and Tata. This comparison is made on the basis of their operating zone and industry in which they are operating. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been defined in various ways over the time. Most experts believe that the foundation of CSR is good corporate citizenship. It is also believed that CSR is founded on acknowledgement by the organizations that they need to clearly understand and manage the massive influences of business on the society in order to benefiting both society and company as a whole (Marsden and Andriof, 1998). According to McIntosh and Andriof refers to the understanding of the corporate leaders regarding the fact that each and every activity of an organization has flow-on effect on both inside and outside of the company. Company’s activities would have effect on everything starting from customers to communities and environment. Several management writers argue that corporate social responsiveness deal with the capacity of any business organization to respond to various social pressures (Foley, Jayawardhena, October 2001). In this paper CSR would be discussed in the context of two multinational companies, one is from a developed economy and another is from a developing economy. Microsoft is chosen as the representative of developed economies and TATA is chosen as the representative of developing economies. Software giant Microsoft provides software service and creative business solution to its huge customer base. The company was founded in 1975 by Bill gates and Paul Allen. Various products of Microsoft include different versions of windows, MS-DOS, Office XP, .NET, 2007 Office system etc. (AEA Member Directory, n.d.).

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Risk management - Essay Example Because of this, it is in order to posit that drilling not only readily brings serious risks, but listing 30 of the most significant physical accident risk sources may also thus be in order. List of risks 1) Structural or infrastructural collapse 2) Trips, slips and falls 3) Explosions and fire outbreaks 4) Oil spills 5) Human error 6) Natural forces such as strong wind, hurricane or tropical storm 7) Unsupportive environmental conditions such as soggy ground after rainfall. This may lead to the infrastructure giving way or the rigs not holding firmly to the ground 8) Poisoning 9) Long-term cumulative environmental impacts of offshore drilling which may trigger anoxic conditions, and thereby harming the environment, flora and fauna 10) Ice or glacial action 11) Helicopter accidents 12) Crane accidents and malfunction 13) Earthquakes 14) Falling debris 15) Incompetence, inadequate training and fatigue 16) Drowning 17) Dumping of drilling fluids and metal cuttings into the ocean 18) Ai r pollution 19) Pipeline leakages 20) Water transport accidents 21) Flooding 22) Negligence such as the failure mark equipment, leading to burns and cuts 23) Contamination of food 24) Mercury poisoning and resulting health complications 25) Hearing loss to humans and marine life 26) Climate change due to burning of fossils which produce black carbon 27) General feeling of malaise 28) Cancer 29) Radiation 30) Attacks by marine life Scale 1-10 Risk sustained 1 Trips, slips and falls 2 Oil spills 3 Structural and infrastructural collapse 4 Explosions and fire outbreaks 5 Natural forces such as hurricane, strong winds 6 Long-term cumulative impacts 7 Negligence such as failure to label equipment, leading to burns and cuts 8 Unsupportive environmental conditions 9 Poisoning 10 Hearing impairment Trips, Slips and fall Like all other industries, offshore drilling is also characterized with slips, trips and falls. The concomitance between trips, slips and falls and offshore drilling is unde rpinned by the fact that oil rigs and mining site surfaces are always covered with oil. These forms of accidents are so common among offshore drillers that they have been established to occur on any surface- littered decks, rough dried-up, slimy or smooth surfaces included. Loose hatch covers and other objects which protrude into a walkway may also occasion trips, slips and falls. Schermerhon (2011, 45) points out that some of the measures that have been put in place to ensure abatement of slips, trips and falls include the designing, recommendation and subscribing to proper shoe wear. Proper shoe wear includes thick and tough leather boots which are complemented with rubber soles. Rubber soles have firm grips, since mostly, slips are brought about by a very low coefficient of friction. Likewise, the heavy duty nature of these boots succour offshore drillers from being injured when they dash their feet against metallic or concrete erections. Another step that has been used to abate slips, trips and falls is raising awareness on the same, and emphasising the importance of education on safety precautions such as neatness, proper outlaying of the work environment, proper dressing, and erection of warning signs. Another risk that accompanies offshore

Pride and Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Pride and Prejudice Essay When prejudice occurs, stereotyping and discrimination may also result. In many cases, prejudices are based upon stereotypes. A stereotype is a simplified assumption about a group based on prior assumptions. Stereotypes can be both positive (women are warm and nurturing) or negative (teenagers are lazy). Stereotypes can lead to faulty beliefs, but they can also result in both prejudice and discrimination. According to psychologist Gordon Allport, prejudice and stereo types emerge in part as a result of normal human thinking. In order to make sense of the world around us, it is important to sort information into mental categories. The human mind must think with the aid of categories, Allport explained. Once formed, categories are the basis for normal prejudgment. We cannot possibly avoid this process. Orderly living depends upon it. This process of categorization applies to the social world as well, as we sort people into mental groups based on factors such as age, sex and race. However, researchers have found that while when it comes to categorizing information about people, we tend to minimize the differences between people within groups and exaggerate the differences between groups. In one classic experiment, participants were asked to judge the height of people shown in photographs. People in the experiment were also told that: In this booklet, the men and women are actually of equal height. We have taken care to match the heights of the men and women pictured. That is, for every woman of a particular height, somewhere in the booklet there is also a man of that same height. Therefore, in order to make as accurate a height judgment as possible, try to judge each photograph as an individual case; do not rely on the persons sex. In addition to these instructions, a $50 cash prize was offered to whoever made the most accurate judgments of height. Despite this, participants consistently rated the men as being a few inches taller than the women. Because of their prejudgment that men are taller than women, the participants were unable to dismiss their existing categorical beliefs about men and women in order to judge the heights accurately. Researchers have also found that people tend to view members of outside groups as being more homogenous than members of their own group, a phenomenon referred to as the out-group homogeneity bias. This perception that all member of an out-group are alike holds true of all groups, whether based on race, nationality, religion, age or other naturally occurring group affiliation.

Story Murderers Walk Essay Example for Free

Story Murderers Walk Essay In the story murderers walk, Gary Kilworth conveys his ideas on law and justice very effectively by using narrative voice, narrative structure, setting, use of language, plot and characterisation. The central premise of this story is that natural justice should and will always prevail. The plot of this story is a game. You are introduced in the exposition to murderers walk, a free city state with no law. Kilworth explains about the elated feelings of criminals that have escaped the law, which leads on to an explanation of the game they play in the inns. Groups of nine murderers play a card game to decide their own death sentences. The loser, the player receiving the ace of spades must commit suicide within 24 hours. We are introduced to our main character that remains nameless throughout. He is a newcomer, who begins to play the game to feel that rush of adrenaline at escaping death again. We reach the climax as he loses. 24 hours of pure hell, thinking about death, before his life is over. Then denouement, just before death another player enters with two jokers and the game is declared void. The resolution being you are dragged kicking and screaming to play another game and relive the torture. The narrative voice of the story is quite unconventional. It is told in second person, and in the present tense, which makes it direct and involves the reader which is very effective as it makes the reader want to continue reading the story. The unconventional way in which the story is told conveys how unconventional the justice system is in Murderers walk. There are no laid out laws but justice is still carried out by nature. Narrative structure in Murderers Walk is in the style of the rules of a game which is ironic because in the story there are no rules, this suggests that Gary Kilworth believes rules are needed in society. If there are no rules then humanity will simply create some showing the power of imagination and that natural justice will prevail eventually. The story usurps the readers expectations. At the beginning of the story, in the first paragraph, the last line says it is not unusual to see a man or woman being dragged, or driven, or forcibly carried. Sometimes they are screaming; sometimes they are stiff with fear. This reader automatically assumes that the character in question is being taken to their death but this is wrong and only as you reach the end of the story do you discover this. The last paragraph says They have stolen your death from you That is when they drag you along the street kicking and screaming, like a man being led to his execution. This clearly conveys Kilworths opinion on law and justice. Natural justice will always prevail, even though the criminals can escape death they go through a worse torture having their deaths stolen from them as they were ready to die. Now they have to play the game again and undergo all the stress and tension again. During the whole of Murderers Walk there is no mention of dates or times. There is a mention of cobbled streets and old houses that overhang the alleys which suggests it may be set in Tudor or Stuart times but then there are still many streets now that have Tudor/Stuart buildings in them so it is quite possible it could be set anytime. It is like the place has been frozen in time. Because its a lawless place it doesnt keep up with everyone elses time, its a law unto itself. This emphasises the eeireness and the feelings of terror and fear. This shows Kilworths view of the law and its failings. It cant control everything, and it never will, nature will always be a law unto itself eventually. Kilworths uses powerful language to great effect. He uses strong words to create powerful images, for example the pallor of your distended face: purple perhaps? Your eyes, huge balls easing out of their sockets? Your tongue hanging long between blue lips? You weep. Your head is full of a thousand active thoughts, each one a nightmare. These words create a powerful atmosphere of fear. Showing how natural justice can be just as bad, worse even than human laws. Gary Kilworth uses numerous words relating to law and justice, like refuge, justice, law, escaped, rules, execution, guilt, fear, sanctuary, victims, and innocent. These words are repeated all through the story hinting at the theme of the story and continuously suggesting Kilworths views on law and justice. It is ironic how Murderers walk is described as a sanctuary. Leave the city-state and the sanctuary of Murderers Walk to take Sanctuary means safe and holy whereas Murderers walk is perhaps the exact opposite, it is a haven for criminals and its quite dangerous considering the games they play. This adds to the dark atmosphere Kilworth is trying to create. The setting he creates is dark and sinister. Its cobbles, slick even on dry days, tread the malefactors who have run to its shadows to escape the rope He tries and succeeds to put across a hostile setting to show that natural justice can be just as effective and worse than normal justice. No attention is given to character details in this story. We arent even given names. This adds mystery to the plot. Only one character is mentioned singly, the main character. All we are told about him is that he is a murderer that has escaped the law, we dont know who he murdered or how. All the other characters in the story are only mentioned collectively. During the story the characters dont interact at all except through the game. Its as though theyve become nothing, they live only for the adrenaline rush of the game and theyre all just waiting to die. Kilworth lets the reader get to know the character through his emotions rather than letting the reader know all the details of the characters life and the reader immediately stereotyping him. Its a very effective way of writing. It emotionally involves the reader rather than them just learning about the characters, he tries to bring the reader into the story. The place is empty of emotions yet at the same time full of them. The limited usage of characterisation makes the place seem hostile and uncaring which simply re-emphasises that natural justice is just as bad as human law and that justice will always prevail. Gary Kilworth conveys his ideas on law and justice effectively from the beginning to the end of the story. He uses many words throughout Murderers Walk relating to law and justice, such as execution, guilt and death. He uses narrative voice in an unconventional way. He directly involves the reader by using second person, drawing them into the dark, dank, terrifying underworld of criminals. He structures the story like the rules of game, like societies rules, except theyve created their own. He creates a hostile setting which is very effective in proving his point that natural justice can be worse than government law. He effectively puts across that natural justice will prevail. He blends a mix of menacing pictures and dark meanings to show everything resolves itself in the end. Although the justice is very unconventional, the criminals in the story get what they really deserve in many ways. Their torment forces them to try and cheat death until they are released by death. So in Murderers walk, Kilworth shows an innovative and effective way to show that justice finds its own way in the end.

Analyzing Various Types Of Debt Instruments Existing Finance Essay

Analyzing Various Types Of Debt Instruments Existing Finance Essay INTRODUCTION First chapter describes the basis behind doing this study. Then, it examines the objectives of this study and some limitations of the study. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this study is to analyze various types of Debt instruments existing. It aims to develop an understanding of the growth of the topic. It also includes the impact of these instruments on the country and on various companies. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main objectives of this paper are To conduct a study on the requirement of debt instruments To understand why debts instruments are important To analyze these instruments LIMITATIONS OF STUDY Due to lack of information available the graphs and the statistics shown are of previous years (2007-2008) As the data was gathered from secondary sources, the authority of the data could not be tested. Another problem was knowledge constraint and this report is an attempt to gather as much of relevant data as possible. However, every effort was made to ensure that these do not in any way adversely affect the results of the study. INTRODUCTION The debt markets today are a major source of financing than the banking system. It is any market situation where debt instruments are traded. It establishes a planned environment where the debts are traded amongst the interested parties. The debt markets are known by other names based on the types of instruments are traded. For example when municipal or corporate bond are traded, debt market is called bond market whereas if notes or securities or mortgages are traded market is called credit market. The debt market is three times larger than stock/equity market. The debt markets are categorized into two other markets called money market and capital market. Money market is a subsection of the fixed income market. It specializes in short-term debts with the maturity of one-year. Capital markets specialize in long-term debts. It is a market in which financial instruments are traded by the institutions and individuals. Institutions or organizations in either private or public sectors sell securities to raise funds in these markets. Both these terms are mistakenly applied. In capital market assets (including equities) are taken into consideration and they are amortized over the period of time. Money market is more of debts which are readily sold at price predictable within short time. But it is very difficult to distinguish between money and non-money based on one year maturity line. Some of the debt instruments are traded Over-the-counter and not through exchanges. They are traded in an electronic network market where the brokers or dealers act as mediators. Money markets are not accessible by small investors except through MFs. Corporate associates or groups or even individual investors may participate in the debt market. There may be very little difference between how corporate associates or an individual participate depending on the regulations of the government. The interest rates are the price of the money which increases with the increase in the demand to borrow money. The debt market is influenced by credit-worthiness of the borrower, term-to-maturity, security for loan and many other factors. But government also tries to regulate the interest rates to stimulate the economies with complete focus on inflation. The main advantage of debt market is the degree of risk associated with the investment opportunity is very low. For the investors who avoid participating in the riskier ventures in which there is less or smaller returns favors bonds and similar investments. A significant amount of money is earned even of returns are not high in the debt market. WHAT ARE DEBT INSTRUMENTS? For every individual financial planning is an important task. For the preservation of principal amount the investors should distribute a major portion of their investments in debt instruments. A debt instrument is an electronic obligation or any paper that permits an issuing party to raise funds by assuring it to pay back a lender in accordance with the terms and conditions of a contract. The predetermined conditions which are mentioned in the contract are the periodicity and rate of interest and the date of the repayments of the principal amount. Debt instruments  are an easier way for  participants and markets transfer the rights of  debt obligations from one party to another. Debt obligation  transferability increases liquidity and gives creditors a means of trading debt obligations  on  the market. Without debt instruments acting as a means to facilitate trading, debt is an obligation from one party to another. When a debt instrument is used as a medium to facilitate debt trading, debt obligations  can be moved from one party to another quickly and efficiently. In Indian Securities market, the term bond is used for debt instrument given by Central and state government and the term debenture is used for the instruments issued by private sectors. OBJECTIVE OF DEBT INSTRUMENT Preservation of principal amount and getting modest returns is the main objective of the debt funds. Investors look for both short-term and long-term investments. There are many instruments available in the market so one can choose easily any or mix of instruments according to its requirements. FEATURES OF DEBT INSTRUMENTS The features of the instruments are: Safety of the principal amount Guaranteed returns for the investors. Some of these instruments also qualify for tax rebates under Section 80C. Currently 8-9% interest per annum are quoted for medium to long-term deposits whereas it is 6-7% returns for short-term deposits Nowadays, many banks provide funds sweep-in /sweep-out facility where a balance beyond a certain limit automatically gets converted into a fixed deposit and banks pay the fixed deposit interest on it. This can be an option for a short-term horizon. There are three main features of debt instruments Maturity Coupon Principal Maturity Maturity refers to the date on which the bond matures. It is the date on which the borrower agrees to repay the principal amount. Term-to-maturity refers to the number of years remaining for the bond to mature. It changes every day from the date of the issue to the maturity of the bond. It is also called the tenure or term of the bond. Coupon Coupon Rate refers to the periodic payment of interest made by the issuer of the bond to the lender of the bond. Coupons are declared either by stating the number (example: 8%) or with a benchmark rate (example: MIBOR+0.5%). It is usually represented as a percentage of the face value or the par value of the bond. Principal It is the amount which is borrowed. It is the face or the par value of the bond. The product of the coupon rate and principal is the coupon. For example a GS CG2008 11.40% bond refers to a Central Government bond maturing in the year 2008, and paying a coupon of 11.40%. Since Central Government bonds have a face value of Rs.100, and normally pay coupon semi-annually, this bond will pay Rs. 5.70 as six- monthly coupon, until maturity, when the bond will be redeemed. The term to maturity of a bond can be calculated on any date, as the distance between such a date and the date of maturity. It is also called the term or the tenor of the bond. For instance, on February 17, 2004, the term to maturity of the bond maturing on May 23, 2008 will be 4.27 years. The general day count convention in bond market is 30/360European which assumes total 360 days in a year and 30 days in a month. There is no rigid classification of bonds on the basis of their term to maturity. Generally bonds with tenors of 1-5 years are called short-term bonds; bonds with tenors ranging from 4 to 10 years are medium term bonds and above 10 years are long term bonds. In India, the Central Government has issued up to 30 year bonds. CHARACTERISTICS OF DEBT INSTRUMENTS The primary characteristics of debt instruments are: Issuance of an instrument is easy Any company with or without past track record can issue these instruments Rate of interest are fixed or floating Fixed commitments are imposed on servicing Debt instruments may be flexible in the period of repayment or nature of interest but they impose fixed commitments on servicing or business. Failure to do servicing of these instruments would be termed as default with adverse effects on the companys standing in the financial sector. Risk is low Investors in such instruments being creditors of the company have priority over equity and preference shareholders in receiving return (in the form of interest) in such instruments. These carries priority claim on the assets of the firm (if secured) in the event of bankruptcy. TYPES OF DEBT INSTRUMENTS There are various debt instruments. The debt instruments can be categorized into long-term and short-term debt depending on the time for which the amount has been raised or the repayment period. The debt instruments are mentioned as follows: C:UsersdellDesktopdebtinst.bmp Long term Debt Long-term debts are mainly bonds and debentures with the tenure greater than one year. Debentures A debenture is an instrument of debt executed by the company acknowledging its obligation to repay the sum at a specified rate and also carrying an interest. Company can raise loan capital from debentures A debenture is thus like a certificate of loan or a loan bond evidencing the fact that the company is liable to pay a specified amount with interest and although the money raised by the debentures becomes a part of the companys capital structure, it does not become share capital. The main characteristics of debentures are: Fixed interest instrument with changeable period of maturity May or may not be listed on stock exchange, if listed they should be rated by any of the credit rating agencies chosen by SEBI Can be either offered for subscription or privately placed A debenture redemption reserve has to be maintained when offered for subscription The period of maturity varies from 3 to 10 years and may also be more for projects having high gestation period Types of debentures Various types of debentures are as follows: Non convertible debentures (NCD) Fully convertible debentures (FCD) Partially convertible debentures (PCD) NCDs are those in which total amount if instrument in redeemed by the lender whereas FCDs are those in which the whole value of the instrument is converted into equity. The conversion price is given when the instrument is borrowed. PCDs are those in which part of the instrument is redeemed and part of it is converted into equity. Conversion price is the price of each equity share received by converting the par or face value of the debenture. The number of equity shares exchangeable per unit of the convertible security i.e. debentures is called the conversion ratio. The period of time after which the debenture is converted into equity is called the conversion period. The convertible instruments are generally used to stem the sudden outflow of the capital at the time of maturity of the instrument causing temporary liquidity problems. Alternately, the company has to raise funds from a different source or issue fresh instruments to tide over and also has to bear the transaction costs in the process. Debentures might be either callable or puttable. Callable debenture is a debenture in which the issuing company has the option of redeeming the security before the specified redemption date at a pre-determined price. Similarly, a puttable security is a security where the holder of the instrument has the option of getting it redeemed before maturity. Bonds A bond is a debt security in which authorized borrower or issuer owes the lender or the holder a debt and is obliged to repay the principal amount and interest at maturity. It is a loan in the form of securities having varying terminologies: The issuer is equivalent to the borrower, the bond holder to the lender, and the coupon to the interest. It enables the issuer to finance long-term investments with external funds. Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that stock-holders are the owners of the company (i.e., they have an equity stake), whereas bond-holders are lenders to the issuing company. Another difference is that bonds usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed, whereas stocks may be outstanding indefinitely. An exception is a consol bond, is a perpetuity bond (i.e., bond with no maturity). There may be many types of bonds- such as infrastructure, regular income, deep discounts or tax savings. These are instruments having fixed interest rate and a definite period of maturity. The main difference between bonds and debentures is that debenture is secured and bond is not. Hence bonds have higher rate of interest than debentures. There are many kinds of bonds available such as: Floating rate or fixed rate bonds High yield bonds Subordinated bonds Perpetual bonds Asset-backed securities Bearer bond Zero Coupon bonds Registered bond Inflation linked bonds Book entry bonds Municipal bonds War bond Lottery bond Medium term loan These are loans extended for a period of 2 to 5 years. The purposes for which these loans are issued are: Short gestation projects: The short gestation projects could be for purchase of balancing equipment, for incremental expansion of capacity. Refinancing of loans in case of very long projects where the repayment of the term loans might occur prior to sufficient cash flows being generated by the project. For meeting any other medium term shortfall in funding arising out of an acquisition or bulleted repayment of a large loan, etc The methods for issuing medium term loans are similar to those required for project finance. In case of meeting a medium term mismatches not linked to a project or equipment, the financing decision would be on the basis of a cash flow analysis indicating the need for such medium term funding and an analysis of overall profitability and financial to the business to provide lender comfort. Other than these aspects, the procedures for availing Medium Term loans follows the requirements sought by the lenders in case of Project financing/ long term lending. Public Deposits These are those deposits that are achieved by many small and large firms from the public. The public deposits are issued mainly to finance the working capital requirements of the firm. The rate of interest offered varies with time period of the public deposits. The rate of interest which is mostly offered by the companies on the deposits made on one year is 8-9%, for two year deposits rate is 9-10% and for three years rate offered is 10-11%. For public deposits there are some rules which the companies have to follow according to Companies Amendment Rules 1978: 3 years is the maximum period of maturity for public deposits whereas 6 months is minimum period For NBFC 5 years is the maximum period of maturity The companies need to disclose the information regarding the financial position and performance 10% of the deposits need to be kept aside by the companies every year by 30th April by the companies having public deposits. This will mature by 31st March next year. Advantages enjoyed by companies Simple and Easy process in gaining public deposit No restrictive agreement Reasonable cost incurred after tax No collateral Disadvantages Very limited funds raised Short period of maturity Advantages enjoyed by investors Higher rate of interest Shorter maturity period Disadvantages No tax exemption No collateral Short-term debts The debts which are raised for less than one year are short-term debts. These are categorized into market instruments and financial assistance granted by NBFC, Commercial Banks and Term Lending Institutions focusing on the short term needs of a business. Commercial Paper These are unsecured promissory notes. These are issued by those companies having high credit ratings. The maturity of CPs is 1 to 270 days. They are issued at face value and redeemed at face value. CPs can be issued by companies, which have a minimum networth of Rs.4 crores and needs a mandatory credit rating of minimum A2 (ICRA), P2 (Crisil), D2 (Duff Phelps) and PR2 (Credit Analysis Research). The rating should not be more than 2 months old. It can be issued for a minimum amount of Rs.25 lakhs and more in multiples of Rs.5 lakh. Since the companies are not pledging any collateral, only companies having high credit-worthiness are allowed to issue CPs. They are usually sold at discounts and have higher interest repayments dates than bonds. Advantages: Flexibility in maturity Lower cost of capital with high credit ratings Disadvantages: It brings down credit limits of the banks Very restrictive about issuance of CPs Limited to blue chip companies Inter-Corporate Deposits (ICDs) These are funds raised by corporate companies from other corporate. This is a form of dis-intermediated financing, where corporate with surplus funding directly lend to those in need of funding of such funds and thereby save on the spreads that banks would have charged in borrowing from one to lend to the other. This is very efficient means of investment. The ICDs issuance was very poor in India. In early nineties companies raised funds from public without even identifying the projects for investments. These sums were then deployed in the ICDs market where the borrowers more often than not invested in the booming financial assets (shares) or real estate. Often monies were lent to group companies for propping up the shares of different companies of the group. The end of the boom in financial and real assets saw significant amounts of defaults in ICDs and a virtual closure of the market.

Moral Philosophy of Global Peace Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical Pap

Moral Philosophy of Global Peace ABSTRACT: Global Peace is the summum bonum, so we must know its negative as well as positive meanings. Simultaneously peace must be understood in all its interrelated but theoretically differentiated dimensions as personal, social, national, international and global. Today, humankind is suffering from multidimensional crises such as terrorism, population-explosion, denial of human rights, economic inequality, racial discrimination, ideological extremism, religious intolerance, social injustice, ecological imbalance, consumerism, oppression of weak, etc. These peace-related issues compel us to lay down the fundamental principles of a radical global ethics that expects us to realize our roles and duties regarding global peace. It includes the role and ideals of educationalists, the duties of scientists, philosophers, and thinkers, the inculcation of human values such as nonviolence, love, etc. "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed" -Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO Global peace is the supreme ideal, or the Summum Bonum, so in order to know the exact meaning and real nature of peace as-well-as the ways to realise it, first of all, we have to rectify the prevailing tendency to think of peace only in negative terms as absence of bilateral war, since it encourages the pacifism, which does nothing, but denounce such war, while global overview confirms the presence of ethnic and civil war etc. Accordingly the negative definition of peace should also include the elimination of such wars. Sometimes peace as "Opposite of Violence" , as is done by Daisaku Ikeda. (1) Of course peace will be achieved by removing all k... ...r, Peace Research Center, Gujrat Vidyapeeth Ahemedabad). (5) British Writer Arthor Koestler being his works "Janus" with these lines. (6) Gorbachev, M. Perestroika, PP 225-266 (Chapter 7). (7) Jonas, Hans. , The Imperative of Responsibilitive, P.7. (8) Philosophy Today, spring, 1988, Vol.32, No.1/4 P. 77. (9) Soka Gakkai News, Vol. 18, No. 286, March 1993 P.7. (10) Murty, K.S., The Quest for Peace, P. 214. (11) In his book "Reconstruction of Humanity ". (12) Acharangasutra (a Jain Treatise). (13) Dammapad 3.5 - Never in thise world is hate appeased by hatred. It is only appeared by love. This is an eternal law. (14) Mac Bride Report, Many Voices, One World, UNESCO, 1980. (15) Dimensions of Peace and Non-violence: The Gandhian Perspective P. 22. (16) The Moral Law, P. 90. (17) The quest for peace, P. 196. (18) Rgvedic Prayer.

A Passage from Hamlet :: essays papers

A Passage from Hamlet Hamlet is probably the best known and most popular play of William Shakespeare, and it is natural for any person to question what makes Hamlet a great tragedy and why it receives such praises. The answer is in fact simple; it effectively arouses pity and fear in the audiences’ mind. The audience feels pity when they see a noble character experiencing a regrettable downfall because of his innate tragic flaw, and they fear that the same thing might happen to them. Hamlet’s speech (III, iv, 139-180) contributes to producing this feeling of pity and fear. First it explains the thought with particular emotional effectiveness. Second it conveys Hamlet’s character, both virtue and tragic fear. Lastly, it marks the beginning of the tragic discovery and Hamlet’s downfall, answering the question â€Å"why does Hamlet delay?† Observing the beginning of Hamlet’s downfall and tragic discovery in this passage, which happens despite his many virtues, maximizes the pity and fear at the same time. The first contribution is that this passage conveys Hamlet’s thoughts with poetic and emotional effectiveness. Hamlet denies his madness and urges Gertrude not to make his madness an excuse for her faults. He asserts that excuses would only cover the superficial faults and the soul would be corrupted deep within. He further asks Gertrude not to commit any more sins that make past faults even worse and to confess herself to heaven. After all, Hamlet sarcastically begs her pardon for his reproach. Hamlet explains that during the extremely rotten time, Hamlet, who is good and of virtue, must beg pardon to and get permission from Gertrude, who represents vice by committing many sins, to do good things such as urging her to repent. As a method for salvation, Hamlet asks her not to go to Claudius’ bed. Then he apologizes for the death of Polonius and admits his own fault. However, he insists that Polonius and he both are punished because God has made him the agent to punish Polonius with him and him with Polonius. He takes the responsibility, and explains Gertrude that he is cruel only to be kind to her and warns that worse things are yet to come. Through out the passage, imageries are used to add poetic emotion to Hamlet’s thought. One example is â€Å"unction† in Hamlet’s speech â€Å"Lay not that flattering unction to your soul†¦It will but skin and film the ulcerous place whiles rank corruption, mining all within, infects unseen.

Extraterrestial Influence :: miscellaneous

Extraterrestial Influence All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike and yet it is the most precious thing we have. -Albert Einstein INTRODUCTION There are many things in this world that go unexplained. Not anymore, it was all aliens, everything you can’t figure out like, â€Å"Where does one sock go when I do the laundry?†, and â€Å"How do you get the caramel into the Caramilk bar?† Aliens. Earth has been profoundly impacted by extraterrestrials in its short history. Everything from supplying life-giving chemicals and wiping out the dinosaurs with meteorites to influencing human culture and evolution. The whole world is filled with evidence of extraterrestrials, though it is usually denied and ignored by governments and academics. This essay will provide a brief analysis of extraterrestrial events or evidence thereof the were especially significant. THE BEGINNING OF LIFE Evolutionary theory suggests that life on earth has been developing for millions of years into more and more complex organisms. These organisms evolved from inorganic molecules through the release of UV, heat and electrical energy in the atmosphere of early Earth. This theory was found to be valid by Stan Miller in 1953, who through a series of tests managed to create some hydrocarbons and amino acids out of chemicals that were present on earth 3.5 billion years ago. These hydrocarbons and amino acids are very susceptible to oxidation and would not exist for very long in an oxygen based environment. Though there was very little oxygen in earth’s atmosphere at the time, the large amount of energy present would have easily electrolyzed some water and produced oxygen gas, which is bad for the amino acids. A much more likely place for amino acids and hydrocarbons to develop would be in large dust clouds in space, such as the one that condensed to form our solar system. Evidence fo r this theory comes from the many carbonaceous chondrite meteorites recovered (these same life giving meteors have also led to many mass extinctions in earth’s history). A NASA research group examined one such meteorite in 1970 and found a higher concentration of amino acids and hydrocarbons than are present on earth today (Kvenvolden, K., Lawless, J., Pering, K., Peterson, E., Flores, J., Ponnamperuma, C., Kaplan, I.R., Moore, C., 197). In addition the amino acids had a higher concentration of L enantiomers than R-enantiomers, as is seen on earth (Chyba, 1997). This seems to suggest that the basic chemicals for life were derived extraterrestrially.

Feminism and Social Cognitive Theories Essay

The goal in this individual assignment is to apply the social cognitive theory and feminist theories to contemporary media content and to compare and contrast different theoretical perspectives. Attached to this paper there will be a print advertisement specifically chosen to analyze how and whom these theories reflect on in new media today. After analyzing the two perspectives, the theories will be compared and contrasted, showing the similarities and differences between them and their approach to the advertisement. Throughout the paper the usage of examples from the specific advert chosen will conclude to the appliance and defined terms to support the arguments that will be debated. The social learning theory furnishes a framework that allows usto analyze the human’s psychological functions that produce certain behaviors (A. Bandura, 1986). The concept describes the mental processes at work whenever a person learns (Bandura, 1944). The theory of socialization explains humans thought and the personal factors that make learning a cognitive process to all agents such as, social groups, parents and siblings, teachers, schools and religious leaders, neighborhoods and media.(Eyal, 2012)According to Bandura, the theoryproves that belief and behavior are determined by three different factors that interact and impact each other, known as the triadic reciprocal causation, examining behavior, personal determinants and characteristics such as cognitive and biological qualities like age, race, sex or height, and environmental factors or events (Bandura, 1944). Bandura’s social cognitive theory of mass communication and the broader social learning theory serve as the foundation for volumes of research in all areas of media effects study today (A. Bandura, 1986). A study of this theory presenting the process of modeling has been conducted by Albert Bandura during the study of the bobo dolls by including the four compon ent processes: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. Later to be discussed in relevancy to the advertisement chosen.Proving that a person that observes other peoples actions and the consequences of those actions can learn from what they have observed, called observational learning, which then can be reenacted by the observer, known as modeling (A. Bandura, 1986). According to the research done in the bobo doll studies, Bandura’s method was to create a lab experiment with kindergarten children, by exposing them to different versions of movies with aggressions toward a bobo doll. Focusing on the children in the experimental groups, these children were aware of what they have watched and this is where the modeling process originates. Attention has been elevated. The experimental group children sat and thought through the film alsopossessing the necessary components and skill, while perhaps thinking of their capabilities and self-efficacy perceptions,known as motor reproduction in terms of the process. In order to later imitate the aggressive acts, training what they’ve cognitivelylearnt and seen, known as retention, rehearsing of the act in order to properly mock the material exposed. In conclusion to the observational theory, children seemed motivated to model the behaviors they learnt in the film. Children who had watched the violent film were less inhibited about performing other violent acts they had learnt in the past, and not portrayed through the given film. The film therefore, had a disinhibitory effect upon the children who saw it (Bandura, 1963). â€Å"Disinhibitory effects disinhibit or lift previously learned internal restraints on certain behaviors (Bandura, 1963 p.73) as explained in the study Bandura conduced on the school kids and the fact they used the violence seen in the film, and not violence that has been shown to them throughout their lives. In addition, the theory also serves as a common denominator among many media effects and hypothesis today. It provides a framework explaining pro-social effects from mass media, social encouragement or persuasion, and transmission of an idea, message, or belief by way of figurative modeling (A. Bandura, 1986, p.70). The second theory that will be discussed, analyzed, compared and contrasted to my chosen advert throughout this paper will be the feminist theory. Focusing on, outlining the influences of a variety of critical feminist studies on the representation of women in popular media forms. The feminism study is part of a theoretical approach; it’s an actual theory equal to all other theories (Hay, 2012). A few theories that will be analyzed are â€Å"The beauty myth† by Naomi Wolf, â€Å"The Women Myth† by Roland Barthes, and â€Å"Women in films† by Laura Mulvey. Wolf claims that the quality called â€Å"beauty† objectively and universally exists. The most effective way to combat this epidemic, Wolf argues, is to show how what we call â€Å"beautifu l† is a cultural myth that has been framed for certain economic and political purposes. â€Å"In assigning value to women in a vertical hierarchy according to a culturally imposed physical standard, it is an expression of power relations in which women must unnaturally compete for resources that men have appropriated for themselves†(Wolf, N. The Beauty Myth, p.1). Barthes discusses â€Å"The women myth† as being everywhere, relating to culture, time, and change. It’s not something were born with,it’s something society socially constructs (Hay, 2012). He tells us that the image of beauty-â€Å"The rhetoric of the image† (Roland Barthes) changes according to where you are, who you’re with, and what environment your currently in, that can all reflect on the image. Last, Mulvey writes about the male gaze, â€Å"women in films†.The women’s appearance was created to serve male defense mechanisms against castration, and portrays women as visual objects through the media (Hay, 2012) Mulvey argues that cinema displays the i mage of women as a certain look, that feminist find humiliating; due to the element it displays the passivity of women, and the activeness of men complying the fact women will never have lead roles or be distinguished as greater than men (Hay, 2012). After explaining,defining and giving examples of both theories, the advertisement chosen will be analyzed and evaluated through these theoretical perspectives. In terms of feminism, the advertchosen will constructively reassure the myths and there theoretical approaches. The advertisement I chose represents, the alcoholic drink, SKYY vodka. Thereis a tan, thin women, in a bathing suit, with a big chest, lying on the sand at the beach trying to get some sun. The close up shot of her â€Å"dreamy† chest is likely to attract attention of men, possibly the aimed audience for this advertisement. Mulvey argues about â€Å"the look† or â€Å"the image† the media portrays a woman’s hypothetical appearance should be, usually categorized as young and skinny (Hay, 2012) which the advertisement assesses. The power through genders are used to catch the man’s eye, making the man see the women as a visual object, also known as the male gaze, leading the male to be come aroused, and in conclusionan intended effect of convincing the specified audience, men, to buy the product advertised. As Naomi Wolf mentions in â€Å"the beauty myth† the purpose of using the women as an object is for political and economic reasons. This doesn’t mean that everyone will be impacted in the same way due to sub-cultures, politics, and media, but society’s understanding of the add will hopefully conclude to more or less, the same objective and conscious feeling. In addition to the women’s bareness and attraction, the advertisement shows the man in a suit standing on top of the women, most likelyrepresenting ownership and power, a demanding authoritywhile glazing down on her from above. According to Mulvey, feminists see men as active and the women as passive, clearly shown in the advert. The man is not only trapping the women between his legs while she lays on the floor, but heis also blocking her from the sun, the reason she most likely came to the beach to begin with. Feminist argue that women are usually presented in a submissive way. According to feminists, the media has an important role and defines the women and how women should look, act and represents the power struggle between men and wo men today (Hay, 2012). The theory of Laura Mulvey shows that commercial wise, advertising women is usually conducted in a sexual manner relating them to sex items, and ignoring internal characteristics by focusing on just looks(Hay, 2012). In addition to how women were portrayed in programs, feminist critics charged media owners and managers with sexism (Cantor, 1988). They supported this claim with reports showing widespread discrimination against women in broadcast industry employment practices, as seen in the advertisement presented, as the women lays beneath the man and is gazed upon from above with feeling of power. Women in advertising are usually gently touching to looking at something, making it seem that they are not in control of that object, that they aren’t the true owner and masters of it, just participant(Cantor, 1988). In one hand the man is holding a bottle of SKYY alcohol, and in the other hand he is firmly holding 2 cups as to which the alcohol would be put inside to drink. The differences between the positioning of the genders in the advert really prove the feminist theories can be related to this, the masculine side of the man and his strong fists, and feminine side of the women is shown through the relaxation of her hands holding her sunglasses up, lying on the floor with her pure beauty and fertility.In the past, a lot of time advertisers used women to present women were they needed rescue. Alcohol can be considered a type of escapism, and by the man showing her what he has, once again, the women comes out to be the weak one that wants to be nurtured, and in feel of need, comfort and care by the man. Just like gender role portrayals in Disney princesses and there need of being taken care of by heroes, or prince charming. This advertisement focuses on a specific audience, in particular, perhaps SKYY vodka calls for people who enjoy drinking, probably youngsters that want to let loose try new things, students, and because of the main focus of the clos e up of the women’s breast, an educated guess would assume that the men population are most likely well off to be the best consumers. The social cognitive theory portrays many different theoretical approaches to the specific add chosen.Banduras social cognitive theory provides a framework to explain what the media’s effects are towards, violence, sexually explicit material, diffusion of an idea, message, belief by way of symbolic modeling, persuasion and so forth (Bandura, 1986). Human communication is built upon a system of shared meanings known as language that is shaped by various symbols, such as letters of the alphabet,† used to construct words which serve as a symbol to represent specific objects, thought or ideas† (Bandura, 1986 p.68).The word â€Å"SKYY† printed on the alcohol bottle doesn’t just cause the brain to think of the company SKYY vodka. When speaking about the sky in a metaphoric way, people relate the word to an unlimited effect, just like the quote many people use these days, â€Å"the sky is the limit†. The thought the drink may have towards specific audience mentioned earlier, triggers their brain to consider the non-boundary border. As seen in media today, a number of people like to go against the ordinary, and fight the status quo. Possibly now, when people see the word â€Å"sky†, the capacity of understanding and using this symbol allows them to store, process, and transform this observed experience into a cognitive model, which may guide them to the long term effect of buying the alcohol while thinking about the positive effects it may have and motivating them to buy this product. Advertisement in media today can be learnt from and modeled leading to positive or negative outcomes. Just like Banduras study with the bobo dolls, the major findings were disinhibitory effects, which concluded to children learning aggression. A disinhibitory technique, as mentioned earlier, â€Å"causes a transgressor to shift the responsibility for wrong doing to another.†(Brock & Bus s, 1962, p. 75) With diffusion of responsibility, a transgressor acts within a group and therefor doesn’t feel personally responsible for the subsequent act (Bandura, 1986). As seen in the ad, the bottle of alcohol is being advertised. As most people know, one of the most well-known laws in the U.S. states that the drinking age is 21+. In this case the add is relevant due to the fact a transgressor may influence an adolescent to consume the alcohol in this add showing him it’s the cool thing to do, leading him to another device, disregard of the consequences of action, in which the under 21 person,illegally performs what he is told, not thinking about the harm it might cause and only thinking of the thrill of the moment. Bandura identified four different self-reflective â€Å"modes† used in thought verification: the self-reflective capacity, meaning that a person has the ability to perform a self-check to make sure his or her thinking is correct (Bandura, 1986). One being the enactive mode: this means that a person calculates the agreement between thoughts and the result of actions (Bandura, 1986). For example, this add may influence people to buy SKYY vodka, especially men, since the advertisement shows that the man is over powering the sexy woman, an act in which most men usual want to achieve. After trying the alcohol, the effect it had on the man wasn’t what he thought would conclude to, assuming he would be able to mimic the character holding the alcohol bottle in the advert and is disappointed, having a destructive effect, and in this case his actions do not verify his thoughts and he must reassess his thinking. If, however the man had had the positive effects he was expecting after drinking SKYY brand alcohol, the man’s actions corroborate his thoughts and provide verification. The second â€Å"mode† used in the thought verification isvicarious mode: this means that the observation of another person’s experience and the outcomes of those experiences aid to confirm the accuracy of thoughts (Bandura, 1986). For example, a 17 year old boy that never tried alcohol might look at this advertisement and see that the man has total control over the women, the boy never thought about trying the beverage the man in the ad is holding, but due to positive assumptions, realizes he should. His thoughts about underage drinking could shock him into some kind of reassessment. The third â€Å"mode†, serving as the best demonstration of an effective advertisement is persuasion (Bandura, 1986): the act in which a person is influenced or encouraged in some way to change their thought. For example a man sees the SKYY vodka advertisement and it comes off to be eye catching and convincing. Even though he might already have a specific vodka brand he uses, the astonishment of the print add influences him to try new things in an alteration effect of buying the alcohol, maybe leading to a long term outcome of the continuity of buying the specific vodka, and the intended effect the company tried to portray. At last, the advertisement will be compared and contrasted according to the two theoretical perspectives. The media teaches society how to socially learn, whether it’s through observational and modeling, or how women should be, including all the individual differences (Hay, 2012). Whether the effect is direct or indirect, constructive or destructive, people observe others and their surroundings.One of the arguments the theories can express thesimilarities and differences in, is the effect manipulation or influence can have towards and depending on audience types. The social cognitive theory, the process of modeling shows that the advertisement can be portrayed and looked at as motivating for male audiences, catching there attention while seeing the amount of control and command the man has above the women, leading to arousal and motor reproduction of the customer, influencing them to similar actions. On the other hand, feminists look at the advertisement and find it discriminating how the media socially constructed the women to fit the image that Mulvey speaks about.The female audiences will see the degradation of the trapped women, looking up at a man, and specifically go against the consumption of that certain alcohol. Women don’t see the need to advertise the alcohol in such a provocative manner and want to fight the status quo of using women in the media for political and economic reasons, as Naomi Wolf’s theory applies. In conclusion, the social cognitive theory and feminist theories play a big role in media today. Providing a framework to academically understand where media came from in history, and how it has currently changes. Media serves as a theoretical basis that was learnt from in the past, and continues to be learnt from throughout years to come. References: Bryant, J., & Thompson, S. (2002). Fundamentals of media effects(Chapter 4). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. Hodkinson, P. (2011). Media, culture, and society: An introduction(Chapter 11, pp.219-242). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Wolf, N.The Beauty Myth. Cantor, M. G. (1988). Feminism and the media.Society, 25(5), 76-81. Social Cognitive Theory and Feminist Theories LiatSlomowits Raphael Recanti International School, Interdisciplinary Center Hertzliya T.A. – Yael Hay Introduction to communications liatipoo@aol.com

Kids Dropping Out of School to Work

Abstract Teenagers all around the world have found it extremely difficult to stay in school for various reasons. It's clear that if you don't get the proper education then you won't be able to do anything good in your life. It's very difficult to obtain a Job due to the demands for work; most Jobs require you to have a high school diploma or GEED equivalent. Other Job that doesn't require having the education, which is encourages children to drop out of school under the impression they are never going to have get a proper education.The ignorance of today's society believing they are going to become the next Snooty dumb as a doorknob with no education. Unfortunately young people who fail to earn a high school diploma face a hard dilemma later on in life than those who graduate with a high school diploma. For those who drop out are more likely to be unemployed, have poor health, live in poverty, and become dependent on public assistance or never live up to their own dreams of success. Young adolescence tend not to realize that school can actually take you far, and can open many opportunities to a good career.In this economy it as been difficult the last couple of years, people who have good paying Jobs are getting fired. Dropping out of school is Just going to hurt you in the future no employer can guarantee you a good paying Job forever. Nationwide, about seven thousand students drop out every school day. By dropping out, these individuals diminish their chances to secure a good Job and a promising future. Overall, far too many students are not graduating on time with a regular diploma; low-income and students of color fare the worst in the dropout epidemic high school dropouts in America.Each year, approximately 1. Million students fail to graduate from high school; more than half are students of African descent. The graduation rate among students back is as much as twenty-five percentage points below their white peer's high School Dropouts in America. A studen t within the age range of sixteen to twenty- four years old who comes from the lowest family income is about seven times more likely to have dropped out of high school than his/her counterpart who comes from the highest income.National Graduation Rate for Class of 2007 was seventy seven percent white, fifty four percent African American, fifty six percent Hispanic, eighty nee percent Asian American. In 1970, the US has the world's highest rate of high school and college graduation according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Every twenty nine seconds, another student gives up on school, more than one million American dropouts a year- or seven thousand every likely to drop out of school than are children from middle-income families, and 10. Times more likely than students from high-income families (Background on High School Dropouts). Students who have disabilities are also more likely to drop out. The National Transition Study estimates that as many as 36. 4% of disabled youth drop out of school before completing a diploma or certificate (Background on High School Dropouts). Eighty two percent of all Jail inmates are recorded as high school drop outs. The students who do drop out and have children at a young age are also likely to be on welfare.Women who have children at young ages and drop out of high school have a higher rate of going on public assistance, rather graduating high school. The government provides public assistance to high school drop outs that do not go to college. Africans American and Hispanics are at greater risk of dropping out than whites, while Asian Americans and white students are lease likely to drop out of school. Most parent's want what is best for their child, and do whatever they can to help them stay in school.It's understandably that when you have a kid while in high school you have to stop thinking about yourself and become a parent and think about your kid. But when kids are dropping out of school to be a part of a gang, or because school doesn't interest them then that's where the bigger issues begin. Some parent's even encourage their kids to leave school so they can help out around the house, which seems selfish because they are the ones who choose to have kids.

Organization Design And Technology Of Sony Corporation Essay

Due to the fast-paced growth of Sony Corporation in the international market, it gave way for the misalignment of its market and internal expansion leading to the deterioration of its rate of technological development or the quality of its product lines, and the decline of the efficiency of its workforce as the number of responsibilities and tasks suddenly increased triggered by the market expansion of the said company. With the aid of ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire and balance scorecard, Sony Corporation has been able to improve the quality of its product and workforce efficiency. By expanding the workforce of Sony, it can solve the deterioration of its rate of technological advancement and inefficiency on workforce on a long term basis. Between adding new position to the organization structure of Sony and hiring more workers to expand the workforce of the said company, adding new position to Sony Corporation is the one that fits to solve the above mentioned problems of Sony considering the cost of its implementation and effectiveness. Introduction With the growing competition in the international market, it is a must for Sony Corporation to secure competitive advantage in terms of internal stability and technological development. Most consumers nowadays provides more premium on the most advanced products in the market, and this is the primary reason why Sony Corporation allot significant amount of resources to research and development to maintain the pace of their technological development. Furthermore, Sony has designed its organization structure in such a way that it could easily respond to various new market challenges. But the forces of market competition and globalization blocks the technological advantages of Sony as well as destabilized the internal stability through attacking their organization design as various departments and key person of the said company shoulders broader responsibilities as the company continues to expand in the international market. Sony’s competitors, Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple, Microsoft, and Dell are just few of the many electronics companies also operating in the international market with fast-paced technological development (Isuppli. om 2006: 1). Due to this scenario, Sony’s products appears to be less technologically advanced compared to its competitors leading to a sudden down turn on their sales and profit internationally as their customers shift to their competitors (Eetimes. com 2008: 1). Furthermore, during the peak of Sony’s international operation, various departments and top level managers was bombarded with more tasks and responsibilities in order to support their market expansion which presently lead to the deterioration of their performances. Distribution of task and responsibilities is weak and most of the organization design of Sony is already obsolete considering the present condition of competition and globalization in the international market. In this regard, this paper aims to discuss how the forces of competition and globalization weaken the organization design and technological advantage of Sony as well as the potential alternatives that Sony must undertake in order to solve the said weaknesses. At the end of this paper, expect for a recommendation that would best solve the problems of Sony concerning its organization design and technology. Classification of Organization Structure Sony Corporation has been using divisional type of organizational design as illustrated by their organizational chart, see appendix (. During the early years of Sony’s operation in the market, the divisional type of organization design enables them to easily implement strategies and decisions to problems that need immediate solution. Since Sony was only on its development stage, they were able to fully utilize the optimal gains that can be derived from using divisional organization structure. The fast relay of information, decision making and implementation of strategies through the use of divisional organization design provided Sony with tremendous amount of gains in the international market as they start successfully penetrating their target market and out-performed their competitors in the market, making them one of the successful multinational companies around the globe (Goliath. ecnext. com 2007: 1). Furthermore, the divisional organization design enables Sony to specialize its â€Å"groups† since thereby improving the quality of their products in the market (Market Wire 2005: 1). Like for instance, the Sony Ericson Mobile Communications Group concentrate only to develop and produce mobile communication products in the market. The head of Ericson Mobile Communications Group is directly below the CEO of Sony, and so with their other groups (Sony. net 2008: 1). The direct relationship between the head of Sony’s groups and its CEO provides ease on decision making and distribution of information as well as strategies on brand development. But this organizational structure starts to provide instabilities to Sony Corporation as it continues to grow as electronics industry superpower in the international market. As the company grew in the international market, responsibilities of each head of various groups also increased up to the point wherein they start performing inefficiently as their time being spent on every vital aspect of their operation become lesser and lesser. In this regard, the present status of divisional organization design to Sony becomes ineffective and only provides instabilities as the executives of the company starts to perform inefficiently on their respective fields. But divisional organization design fits Sony than any other organization structure available in the business management realm. Since Sony have a diversity of products in the market, and each group specializes into the production of their own product lines, then, divisional structure already fits Sony. The only problem lies on the fact that every executive of Sony starts gaining more responsibilities in his/her assigned group. In other words, the international expansion of Sony in the recent years was not accompanied by expansion of internal responsibilities of various executives of the said company, thereby leading to a down turn on their overall performance. In order for Sony to restore the stability of its internal affairs, it does not have to change its organization design; rather, Sony management can make improvements on their divisional structure by adding new positions or by appointing executive assistants to key positions on various groups of the said company. This strategy will provide enough room for the key personnel of Sony to manage their responsibilities well and delegate those less priority tasks to their assistance or new positions in the group. In other words, this strategy will give way for the internal expansion of Sony while maintaining their original organization design that was already proven to be effective and fit to the business structure of Sony Corporation. Choosing organization structure other than divisional design would provide great risk since Sony operates on various groups with different product lines to produce into the market. Furthermore, each group has less influence on one another and almost operates independently from other group while their headquarters and CEO serves as the link between them. In this regard, it is vital for Sony Corporation to implement the said internal expansion of their groups in order for them to re-establish their competitive advantage in the international market in terms of internal stability and workforce efficiency especially during these times wherein the forces of tight market competition and globalization calls for the acquisition of more potential sources of competitive advantages to keep the pace of Sony’s growth internationally. Key Determinant and Influences on Organizational Structure One of the main strategies of Sony in expanding its share on the international market would be the diversification of its product line from electronics to B2B business solutions, which later on enables the company to tap various resources. Since each product line of Sony needs different production processes compared to others, Sony decided to use divisional organizational structure in order to easily manage the entire company without compromising the quality of their product lines. For instance, Sony Financial Holdings Group provides business solution services to the market and needs different operational processes compared to Sony Entertainment Business Group that provides television, digital cameras, and video cameras in the market. Each of these groups requires different set of operational style, set of skills and equipments, and set of strategies, thereby providing enough room to these groups to operate independently from one another would enhance their productivity and efficiency as they specialize into their production process. This is the main reason why Sony chose to use divisional organization design in order to provide enough room for each product line to be developed separately by workers specialized on producing it from other product line. In this regard, the strategy of Sony to diversify its product line gave way for the use of divisional organization structure. Furthermore, another factor that serves to be the key determinant of Sony Corporation’s organization structure would be its growth rate. Sony Corporation has roughly 4 percent sales growth rate internationally as of this month which is relatively higher compared to its rival companies like Panasonic with -2. 78 percent sales growth rate (Reuters. com 2008: 1). During the initial stage of Sony’s growth in the international market, as their product become more diverse leading to a fast-paced growth, Sony chose to use divisional organization structure to allow the company to cope up with the said growth rate since divisional organization structure provides enough room for Sony to further develop their diverse product line through specialization. At present, the root of organization stability of Sony roots on the fact that they were not able to accompanied their market growth and expansion with internal expansion causing for the divisional organization structure to work inefficiently. Once the internal growth rate of Sony already aligned itself to its market growth, then, that is the only time wherein Sony can fully utilize the potential gains of using divisional organization structure. In this regard, it is therefore vital for Sony to keep track its market growth and internal growth if whether these two still align each other since these affects the performance of their organization structure. The strategy and growth of Sony is interrelated to one another and this is the main reason why these two factors greatly affect its organization structure. The strategy of Sony to diversify its product line provided them with enough opportunity to increase their market share in the international market. The said product line expansion and increase of market share enable Sony to easily penetrate its target market and outperformed its competitors. Furthermore, as Sony continues to successfully penetrate its target market and outperformed its competitors, it starts to gain impressive growth in the market due to higher sales and profit. But the said market growth of Sony was not accompanied by internal expansion which presently leads to tremendous losses as key personnel of its groups starts performing inefficiently and ineffectiveness of their organization structure. Furthermore, as these key personnel of Sony perform inefficiently, the research and development of their products starts to drop, giving enough room for its competitors to step up in the electronics and business solutions industry and provide financial losses to the company (Forbes. com 2008: 1). Therefore, at this point in time, it is vital for Sony to address these instabilities on its workforce in order to restore their competitiveness in the international market with respect to their market strategies and technological advancement. Organizational Effectiveness One way in which Sony Corporation evaluates performance would be through the use of Information and Communications Technology Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire which aims to determine if whether their suppliers uphold the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct. Since suppliers have a direct impact on the overall performance of Sony in terms of product quality, along with other electronics companies around the globe such as HP, IBM, and Microsoft, Sony Corporation created the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct which encompasses the ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire. Through the ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire, Sony can monitor the product quality of their suppliers. By securing the performance of their suppliers, Sony Corporation has been able to maintain its integrity of producing high quality products in the market. There were cases wherein Sony Corporation was sued for releasing substandard products in the market. Like what happened recently when a couple sued Sony when the battery of a Sony laptop exploded causing injuries to the complainants. Due to this, Sony had to pull out all of the batteries that were being suspected as substandard and replaced with a new one in order to prevent having more accidents. In this regard, through the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony Corporation can stop the above mentioned accident caused to substandard products that they release in the market which mostly came from their suppliers. Dell, the maker of the said substandard battery of Sony laptop, is now making collaboration with Sony in pulling out those substandard laptop batteries in the market. Another way by which Sony evaluates their performance is through the use of balance scorecard. Balance score card help every organization in the market to determine if whether their smaller scale operational activities are still aligned with their larger scale activities. As for the case of Sony Corporation, it uses balance scorecard in determining the alignment operational processes of its groups, e. g. Sony Ericson Mobile Communications, Game Business Group, Entertainment Business Group, and Sony Financial Holdings Group, to the vision and strategy of the entire organization. For instance, the balance scorecard is being used by Sony Corporation in determining if whether the processes used in producing Sony Ericsson in the market are still aligned with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the entire company. Through this, Sony Corporation can keep their various groups intact to the vision and strategies of their â€Å"parent† company – Sony Corporation. Just recently, Sony Ericsson phone was awarded as the most â€Å"Eco-Friendly† phone in the market and the said award is being attributed to the continues success of Sony Corporation to uphold its Corporate Social Responsibility on minimizing the wastes being emitted in producing the said product (Sayer 2008: 1). Considering the said success of Sony Ericsson phone in the market, there is a great possibility that it can earn positive balance scorecard by upholding the CSR of Sony Corporation, which can eventually serve as the basis for further development of Sony Ericsson phone in the market (Ericsson. co. jp 2005: 9). Therefore, balance scorecard provides enough room for Sony Corporation to determine the alignment of their product lines to their vision and strategy especially when it concerns the integrity of their brand name. At this point, the performance evaluation tools of Sony Corporation, ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Balance Scorecard, has been able to solve its problem regarding maintaining the quality of their products in the market by securing the compliance of their suppliers and aligning the production processes of their product lines into their Corporate Social Responsibilities. Therefore, ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Balance Scorecard fit to the vision and strategies of Sony Corporation based from their successful solution regarding the low quality level of Sony’s products in the market. This issue on quality level and on how the above identified evaluation tools of Sony Corporation solved it will be thoroughly discussed in the next part of the paper. Critical Analysis of Current Problems Actually, the main problem of Sony Corporation would be the misalignment of its market and internal expansion that eventually lead to various â€Å"branch-problems† like low performance rate from the workforce of the company as well as the deterioration of the quality level of their product lines in the market. The fast-paced growth of Sony in the past years, while leaving their internal condition to remain untouched, provided inefficiencies on the part of their workforce as the responsibility of one another can no longer be performed as efficient as before, and low product quality as the said inefficiencies on their workforce started to reflect on the quality level of their product lines. This is the main reason why Sony Corporation suffers from return on investment and profit on its operation as their customers shift to the side of their competitors since the latter already have relatively technologically advanced product lines in the market compared to Sony Corporation. In order to provide a long term solution to this problem of Sony Corporation, it is a must for the management of the said company to expand their workforce either by adding new positions to reinforce the key positions in the company or hire more workers to delegate the tasks optimally among their workforce. But at present, Sony Corporation is applying short term solutions to these problems through the use of evaluation tools as discussed on the previous part of this paper. First, the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire provided solution on securing the quality of their supplier’s products which later on be used on the production process of Sony. With the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony can monitor if whether the supplies of their suppliers are substandard or complies with the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct which sets up the standards for electronic products in the market (Greenwald 2005: 2). Sony Corporation can now minimize the incidence of product malfunction or substandard components of their product lines just like what happened to the batteries of Sony’s laptop that exploded due to overheating. ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire will improve the quality of Sony’s product line even up to a small degree since it only solves their problem on the side of their supplier and not the root of the problem which still lies on the internal stability of their workforce. With the rise of ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, cases of substandard electronic products in the market will be minimized leading for Sony to improve the quality level of its products (United Nations Environment Program 2005: 1). In this regard, through the use of ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony Corporation manages to improve the quality of their product lines even up to a small degree. On the other hand, the balance scorecard of Sony Corporation provides enough room for the said company to improve the quality of their workforce’s performance since the company can determine if whether a group or department already performs outside the boundaries of their vision and corporate strategies. There are times wherein the misalignment of Sony Corporation’s products to their vision and corporate strategies roots on the inefficient performance of workforce of a given department or group, and balance scorecard can determine if whether a given group of Sony Corporation performs inefficiently based from the evaluation of the products being produced by that given group. Through this, Sony Corporation can easily determine which group among its companies needs to undergo workforce expansion to solve the said inefficiency of their workers. In this regard, the balance scorecard provides two services to Sony Corporation, evaluation of their product’s performance in the market and its alignment to the vision and corporate strategies of the company, and on which group of the company needs workforce expansion in order to improve the quality of their product lines just like what happened to Sony Ericsson phone in the market (Esato. com 2007: 1). Solutions In order for Sony Corporation to have long term solution to their problem regarding the misalignment of their market and internal expansion as the consequence of their fast-paced growth, it is advisable for them to expand their workforce either by adding new positions into their organization structure to optimally delegate the tasks among the workers of the company; or, the management could hire more workers that will handle the additional responsibilities provided by the market expansion of the company. Furthermore, through adding new position to the organization structure to various business groups of Sony Corporation, e. g. executive assistants will give their key executives to delegate some of the less important tasks and responsibilities to their assistants so they can concentrate to more responsibilities. The divisional organization structure of Sony Corporation will still be used in the organization design of Sony under the said strategy considering that it is the only organization design that fits to the business nature of Sony Corporation as discussed on the previous part of this paper. On the other hand, with regards to hiring more workers that will be responsible on shouldering the additional tasks provided by the market expansion of Sony Corporation, this will provide Sony with enough room to improve the efficiency of their workforce as every person on their workforce can now perform their responsibilities to their optimal level since tasks are now well distributed on their workforce. At the end of the day, these strategies will improve the quality of Sony’s workforce and so with the quality of their products. The only problem with hiring of additional workers would be the fact that it is costly to hire more workers for the company considering that Sony is presently suffering from low profitability in the market compared to adding new position to the organization structure of Sony Corporation. Recommendation Both of the above mentioned strategies provides same improvement on lifting the efficiency of Sony Corporation’s workforce and boosting its product quality level, but in terms of costs on the part of the company, adding new positions to the organization structure of Sony is relatively cheaper than hiring more workers. In this regard, alongside with the performance evaluation tools of Sony Corporation, it is a must for their management to add new positions into the divisional organization structure of the company to provide long term solution on their low quality product in terms of technology and improving the efficiency of their workforce considering the extent of their market expansion in the global market. Conclusion With the misalignment of market and internal expansion of Sony Corporation due to its fast-paced growth in the international market, it provided various problems into the said company. Technological advancement of Sony’s products drops while the efficiency of its workforce decline due to the significant increase on tasks and responsibilities on the workplace caused by the fast-paced growth of Sony in the recent years. Through adding new positions on the organization structure of Sony, it can already improve the efficiency of its workforce and so with the rate of its product line’s technological advancement in the market.