Mount Pleasant Essay

Louise Buxton’s Mount Pleasant is a very uniquely written short story, where we experience a normal day from a child perspective. It’s a modern story from 2005. The story is told in first person singular, where the narrator is a young girl whose name is Elizabeth. †(†¦) like the glue wee peel off our hands after arts and crafts hour at school with Mrs Kelly.† (p.2, l.16-17) Based on the information we know that Elizabeth goes to school, but also that she cannot be more than 6 to 8 years old. When she finds the old photograph of a boy which is a 9-10 year in a costume, we are told that she is not quite as old as he is. We know that she is a young girl, judging by her verbal skill and behavior. â€Å"With the sun in my eyes, I couldn’t see my mammy’s face, not even squinting with both arms above my head and my head tilted†. (p.2, l.22-23) The language is very descriptive and it seems as if one were looking through the eyes of a child. The short story varies from other traditional first person stories by putting the focus on a child and what a child does. Elizabeth’s focus is on everyday play, and those days are to her full of adventure and close friendships: †Lena, Little Fran, Wilf and me – playing for hours at house or working at some theatrics†. (p.5, l.152-153) Or where there is a break with everyday routines. For example, when Lena and Elizabeth discovers a business with unlimited possibilities in the form of candy and ice, until the mother puts an end to the adventure: †(†¦) raspberry ruffles and chewing nuts and chocolate raisins and liq-uorice sticks and ice cups and strawberry boot lace. We put them on Mammy’s account at first but Mammy found out after she got given a bill (†¦).† (p.4, l.92-94) The children also play ghost games, where they attempt to frighten one another by dressing up in linens and pursue one another. In several cases reveals the narrator herself as a child by acting irationaly. When Lena and Elizabeth lie in their beds and think they can hear ghosts, they pull the sheet over their heads and lie still. The reaction shows a childish logic. If they cannot see the ghost, then the ghosts cannot see them: †If I don’t move, they can’t get me.† (p.5, l.147-149) Since the perspective is a child’s, it is particularly interesting to see where the child’s perception of situations and episodes differs from that of an adult. For example, when Elizabeth thinks that the mother reknits the nuns clothes, because the  mother is good at knitting and can do it better: †(†¦) and mammy isn’t proud, she always takes them – and unravels them and knits them again, better, because she’s a good knitter, my mam†. (p.4, l.87-89) The reason is more likely that the mother does not want people to know that they have gotten the clothes from the nuns. The narrator being a child has the effect that we as readers several times pause to think about what it means. At several places in the story where Elizabeth tells about an episode where the reader has to interpret the situation, to determine whether it’s a ghosts or just the narrator’s childish imagination. It’s for example unclear in Elizabeth’s depiction of how the photograph ends up on the mantelpiece again and again: †But somehow it found its way back on top of the mantelpiece.† (p.4, l.102) Or where she feels like there is somebody sitting on the bed and watching them. The fact that the narrator is a child is very easy to see by analyzing the language. She mentions her parents with expressions such as â€Å"mammy and â€Å"daddy†. The little brother, George William she calls â€Å"babby†. The language is characterized by an absence of literary language. An example of this is where she says that their hands are â€Å"(†¦) lickity-stickity†. (p.5, l. 121-122) She invents her own expressions, which results in the story being poor in traditional imagery like comparisons and metaphors. The imagery used is mainly related to the child’s imagination. For example when she feels uncomfortable in her clothes she says: † I’m all blowed up like an old frog.† (p.2, l.12) Another interesting thing is how the sounds in the house are described. Elizabeth perceives the sounds caused by the wind to be scary, and describes it with the use of personification. The short story takes place in an environment that Elizabeth knows well, which is at their house, Mount Pleasant. We don’t hear much about the world outside the neighborhood, or thoughts that exceed it. This is of course because she is a child who is not involved in it. â€Å"We know the roads around Mount Pleasant pretty well now. And everybody knows me and Lena.† (p.4, l.83-84) The tittle of the short story Mount Pleasant, which is the name of their house, indicates how safe and merry their life is, and stands as a stark contrast to the spookiness. Mount Pleasant can be seen as a symbol of childhood joys and play. Her childhood eventually gives in to a more mature and realistic  perception of reality. When Elizabeth throws the photograph in the fireplace, it seems as if she actively tries to fight her fear. She might think that the deceased boy had something to do with the ghost. She goes to bed, and the tension builds up and gets stronger and stronger until she finds out that there is nobody there at all. Elizabeth takes a small step towards becoming an adult; she finds out that there are no connections between the photo, the scary sounds and the deceased boy.

Managing Across Culture

{draw:rect} {draw:rect} 000579613; 000573398; 000573202; 000583118;000527971 {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Managing Across Cultures- Group Report on Case Study Analysis of Alcatel-Lucent BY TEAM: Meenak*shi Mukherjee* 000579613 Carlos Andres Serna 000583118 Quasirat Hasnat 000573202 Sangeet Premkumar 000573398 Imran Shahzad 000527971 Executive Summary This paper examines a case study sprouting mergers of two firms Alcatel and Lucent technologies. This paper provides an insight into the French and American cultures taking into consideration the parent company cultural imbroglio. Alcatel, an American company, was previously owned by the technological giant, the AT&T group. However in the year 1996, the company parted ways from the group of AT &T and merged with the French company, Alcatel. Alcatel, headquartered in France, provides hardware-software services to the telecommunications sector involving service providers and enterprises. On the 1st December, 2006, Alcatel- Lucent merged to explore greater productivity by utilizing jointly owned resources, products and services. Cross-cultural barriers hindered Alcatel-Lucent’s strategic advantageover its competitors. In this paper, the Alcatel- Lucent merger will be critically analysed with help reference frameworks and cultural tools such as Hofstede’s dimensions, Trompenaar’s theories on culture and related articles from newspapers. In the recent years, companies have been adopting the strategy to expand their markets globally with different strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, licensing etc. However, companies trying to achieve synergetic benefits often fail in their process of expansion due to the cultural problems revolving between the host and home countries. Introduction Alcatel-Lucent, headquartered in Paris, France, is the Telecom giant with over 77,000 employees in its payroll a with annual revenue generated as reported in the financial report standing at a staggering 16. 98 billion Euros. The merger of parent companies Alcatel and Lucent was anticipated to be the ‘shining star’ of mergers and was aptly phrased as a merger of equals (Sutherland, 2006). This paper discusses the importance of cultural differences and indicates the problems that can be create when different cultural interaction occurs between different strata’s of organizations. Short Brief about different cultures Culture can be considered to be a vast word having no unified idea that can summarize the true essence of it. Some scholars and researchers define Culture as a part of our environmental conditioning, usually distributed among members of similar nations, regions and areas (_Sorensen_, 1984). This case study is used to communicate the study of cross culture and its related problems. In regards to job environment, the French Culture believes in providing security for the members of the society. The Culture is competitive yet assertive but however is risk averse and consumes too much time to take decisions to deal with a situation. On the contrary, the American Culture is easy going and flexible. Americans believe in quick decision making with a â€Å"win-lose† approach and as a result accept uncertainties in a positive manner. In a recent article, Holstein (2007) stated, that the two parent companies addressed the issue of crisis taking measures differently. In times of crisis, the Americans believe in reducing costs through scaling down job opportunities whereas the French have a supportive approach towards their employees with the government acting as the back bone to resolve such issues making the process of decision slow but unaffected by the crisis piling on the company with additional operational costs. The inclination of the American Culture is towards achieving short term goals such as profit making, however, the French culture denotes a negative aspect of doing business with haste. The French decision making processes are long and tend to measure each step taking important aspects into consideration. Literature review The Dutch anthropologist, Trompenaars , conducted a research over 10 years and eventually publishing his work in 1994. Expatriates in an organisation can benefit from his dimensions by having knowledge on the managing tasks in different cultures (Trompeenars et. al. , 1997). Universalism Vs Particularism: According to Trompenaars , Universalism and Particularism are terms used to denote a culture which is governed by rules and relationships. In the words of French (2007), rules are flexible in particularistic societies and relationships are given more importance than rules. Trompenaar’s classifies of USA as aUniversalistic society bound by rules. Hence, Lucent as a company believes in developing rules, codes and standards that can be applicable to everyone in every situation without any modification. In USA, negotiation takes place in written agreements, shows that a formal procedure is to be followed to do business. However in a particularistic culture, the type of relationship determines the business. Whereas the French culture is average in Universalism indicating Alcatel, the French company is neither too particularistic nor too universalistic and rationally develop inter personal relationship and trust bearing in mind the expected standards (Gesteland, 2005). Affective/ Emotional Vs Neutral: Affective and Neutral are terms used to represent emotions with in a culture. In affective cultures individuals tend to show their emotions explicitly in public like the American culture. However Neutral cultures believe in implicit behaviour towards their emotions. According to French (2007), different cultures exhibit different behaviours when it comes to emotions. American people tend to deliver their disgust spot-on using verbal communication where as the French do so with sign language such as frowning and smirks. The US and French cultures are both alignedvery close to each other in terms of how emotional or neutral they are. Both of them are moderately average, which means people working in Lucent as well as Alcatel neither express their feelings too enthusiastically nor do they try to hide their feelings (Gesteland, 2005). Specificity Vs Diffuseness: According to Hampden (1998), Specificity is a term used to represent cultures where difference between work life and personalised life are applicable. In diffused cultures, the society is non- segregated as work and personalised life are closely interlinked. According to Guirdham (1999), the French are diffused in their cultural believes hence personal and professional life is considered to be a part of the culture whereas the Americans believe in keeping the two separate. Achievement Vs Ascription: Trompenaar describes cultures which believe in achieving status through performance with a generic belief that status can be gained and lost if performances are not measured accordingly. Ascribed status is where people believe that status is gained through inherent right and not according to what they perform in everyday life(French,2007). Achievement oriented societies formed by individuals who believe in achieving goals independently. For example the reigning President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama is an individual who became the president with his qualities and perseverance. In Ascribed societies, people believe in the status and the background of individuals. This juxtaposes the idea that in France one can participate in politics only if their family has been inclined politically in the past. The American culture is achievement oriented thus at Lucent, social status or position of an employee is derived from his/her achievements. The employees in Alcatel could grow only if their business links with the superiors are concrete (Guirdham, 1999). Sequential Time vs. Synchronisation: The word, sequence, is used to describe time where events follow one another whereas in synchronised time, events are arranged at a parallel basis. Multi-tasking is the main feature of synchronisation. Lucent being a North American company follows monochromic time that is tangible and divisible. They view time as a narrow spectrum of distinct, consecutive segments. Hence they perform only one activity at a time with greater focus, keeping a strict schedule of appointments and showing a strong resistance from deviating their plans (Gesteland, 2005). Whereas Alcatel being a Mediterranean country follows Polychromic time, for them time is indivisible and flexible. Time is viewed as a norm and people perform multiple activities simultaneously which makes them distracted very easily. For them appointments are approximate and can be changed at any point of time, schedules are not as important as relationships are. Future Vs Past Orientation: Lucent focuses more on the present and the immediate future than what has happened in the past. They concentrate on achieving result within a short span of time. In Alcatel, the present and future are valued by looking at events that occurred previously. Any given situation is compared to the previous happenings. Time orientation does matter a lot when companies operate in different cultures. It creates chaos specially in taking long term decisions. High Vs Low context cultures: Lucent (USA)- as a company possesses the attributes of a low context culture where it relies on information explicitly provided, detailed communication and even higher detailed instruction at workplace. However at Alcatel (France), employees practice moderate levels of cultural context interms of communication, information and even instruction at workplace. Alcatel being a French company practices very high power distance, which means a wide gap exists between leaders, subordinates and management decisions are made at the top level only without the consent of fellow employees. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Dutch Anthropologist, Geert Hofstede defines culture as â€Å"The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another† (Hofstede, 2001). Using his survey at the IBM involving employees from world over, he formulated the cultural dimensional framework. High Vs Low Power Distance: Power distance is related to a society which is divided into classes and ranks. In USA, ranks are least important to individuals as they believe in Equality. Organisational ranks often make employees feel uncomfortable and are not practiced widely. In France such distinction between classes and ranks are acceptable. Though high organisational ranked employees believe in respecting employees of lower ranks but make sure that the distinction is clear. In such countries it is wise for a subordinate to use terms such as ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’. Whereas, at Lucent- a US based company, power distance is relatively low. The gap between superior and subordinate is minimal likewise salary and decisions are made consulting with everyone, though organizational hierarchy exists but for convenience. High Vs Low Uncertainty Avoidance: The term Uncertainty denotes societies that are risk averse and risk takers. In US, the culture believes in taking risks and with France, risk taking is not a wise decision and is often followed with monotonous long-term decision making. The French are known for high uncertainty avoidance. Hence at Alcatel people prefer not to take risks unnecessarily, they usually are loyal to their employers and have long work records. The organization is structured with explicit rules and regulations with the employee (French, 2007). Therefore, Lucent as an organization is not well structured and people are eager to take risk, thus being flexible that makes them not loyal enough and are clear indicators of short term employees. As France is extremely cautious about uncertainty decisions, thus employees at Alcatel are extremely concerned about job losses. In a recent article Sutherland (2006) stated that: â€Å"About 10 percent, or 8,800 employees, will be laid-off. Lucent could not answer which percentage of the job losses will be borne by the U. S. Company, but French laws tightly control when employers can fire workers† (Cited in, Sutherland, 2006). Individualism Vs Collectivism: In Individualistic societies, individuals tend to look after their family and themselves. Organisational goals are based on individualistic performance and not on the group effort. Team works are performed with individual rewarding system. Collectivist countries believe that the essence of good performance is based on team work. Individuals must sacrifice their personal interest for the benefit of the team. Rewards and bonuses are according to the team’s performance on activities. The French and American individualistic characteristics are common, causing a clash of cultures while working in conglomerate companies such as Alcatel-lucent. Individualism evolved when the two companies merged because the people started thinking of their own self interests instead of considering the company on the whole. This leads to chaotic asynchronous processes that are disruptive for productivity (French, 2007). Masculinity Vs Femininity: Masculinity and femininity are characterized by behaviours such as assertiveness, competitiveness, caring and loving. Masculinity is a composition of tough values whereas Femininity shows tender traits. Both the nations are masculine in nature but the roles of women in the two societies are very different. In USA, Women can reach the top layers of the organisation whereas in the France it is the other way round and men are given more precedence as the society male dominant. In an article Holstein (2007) stated that: â€Å"One is that there is confusion about who’s in charge. Russo became CEO of the combined entity and Tchuruk became chairman. In American cultural terms, that means Russo runs the company. After all, she’s the CEO. But in a European context, and particularly a French setting, the chairman is the boss. Confusion at the top is deadly† (Cited by, Holstein, 2007). Masculinity is relatively high in Alcatel compared to Lucent. At Alcatel, people believe in competition, performance and male dominance. Whereas at Lucent ,people seek equal opportunity, better quality of work, solidarity over other factors including competitive behaviour. Patricia Russo, a successful business entrepreneur from the USA is an example of a Masculine dominant society where women scale the height of opportunities. According to Verwaayen (2008), decisions making in Alcatel-Lucent remains a crucial factor as the two companies have different reporting standards. In Alcatel the Chairman is the head who takes the final decisions relating to a company and in Lucent the CEO is the person who delegates decisions. The two different distinct approaches have clearly confused the role of employees in both the companies. Verwaayen (2008) also stated that in mergers, long distances usually creates trauma as processes cannot be co-ordinated hence provides freehand edge to competitors. According Gubbins (2007), it is important for the government to have a top- bottom flat structured system so as to make the operations of the company smooth and efficient to survive the competitive environment. Cultural clashes were so evident that Patricia Russo, the chief executive decided to leave the company and stakeholders expected changes after his reign. This can be analysed from the newsfeed of Alcatel-Lucent (2009) stating that: â€Å"We hope that a new CEO will be able to bridge the cultural divide between the Americans and the French and get all sides pulling together† (Cited in, Windsor, 2008). Analysis of Opportunities, *Challenges,* Considerations Opportunities Alcatel-Lucent partners a project phrased as the â€Å"Cercle Passeport Telecoms†,in France, which is a business program for corporate mentoring of multicultural students from humble backgrounds in their pursuit for higher academic opportunities (Alcatel-Lucent,2008). As a part of the recruitment opportunities, Alcatel Lucent revamped its business training programs into sessions that integrated technical training with hands-on experience on security products and data transmission . Further emphasis on sales methodologies, reaching out to partners to engage with the end-users and to carve out solutions to address their needs. In order to convert innovative ideas into reality products or services, Alcatel-Lucent launched the Entrepreneurial Boot Camp housed in Belgium in the spring of 2006. Aimed at a constructive build of a global knowledge base where creativity blossoms, a business foundation like the Boot Camp is a grooming factory for all the budding business developers of the next generation. Alcatel-Lucent’s strategic security partnership with renowned financial sector reseller Abraxas Partners paves wave for new job opportunities showering prosperity in the near future (Alcatel-Lucent, 2008). Considerations The primary objective of a merger is the integration of skills, resources, and business networks and their harmonic implementation. Taking into account Cultural differences, mergers are drafted, and contingency plans are prepared in order to tackle such differences. When cultural differences arise at higher level of the organizational hierarchy, the execution of these pre planned contingencies become haphazard(Turner & Trompenaars, 2000). The analysis of this uber-merger case study has given us a clear insight in to the detrimental situations aroused by unsuccessful execution of mergers. The cultural differences seem irrelevant considering the fallacies involved with it are not redundant while assessing shifts in fiscal trends. The persistent pressure enforced a moral obligation, convincing the American chief executive, Patricia Russo and the French Chairman, Serge Tchuruk to step down. (Ruitenberg,2008). The ignorance of demographic and geographic interests might have had a negative impact on the merger. Previous acquisitions and mergers may have misunderstood the merger as a change in organizational goals. According to Jolly (2008) ,Alcatel-Lucent’s current vision can be quoted as â€Å"CSR is about being a value driven company, where values are not words on pieces of paper but things we do automatically . It’s about being a company that is inclusive and has respect for the individuals, respect for differences and respect for cultures â€Å". Challenges Mergers and Acquisitions have a tendency to confront various issues and involve constant reframing of policies. Differences can be resolved at the nascent stages of the Merger or Acquisition only. Alcatel-Lucent faces a challenge in restoring their longstanding relation with their previous collaborators like Bell Labs, Packet Engines and Xylan who might have experienced difficulties while the management underwent changes, so that they may continue providing and developing their services. They also face the challenge of retaining existing customers especially those who might have endured inept services while the organization resolved its differences. The merger of the parent companies has taken a toll of time and the company has experienced positive development in turnovers, cultural integration thus reoccupying the held market share and brand goodwill. Internal Organization Alcatel-Lucent’s design and consultancy service convolutes the vital processes necessary to ensure an integration of cost-effective, flexible network infrastructure. Business Consulting, Operations Consulting, Applications Consulting, Security Consulting, Network Consulting & Design, Network & Service Optimization are Business units and processes that constitute this esteemed organization (Alcatel-Lucent,2008). Conclusion and Recommendation Complications usually occur when two companies from two different countries merge to benefit synergetic effects. In terms of Alcatel- lucent, the two parent companies follow an individualistic approach which motivates employees to work towards individualistic goals and often the objective of the company is not taken into mere consideration. The essence of good successful business is to adopt a collectivistic approach giving the goal and the mission of the company at the top priority. Team work will motivate employees of Alcatel- Lucent to take decision jointly (Alcatel-Lucent, 2008). To bridge the gap between America and the France, it is important to reduce the distance by sending employees of each company onto expatriate missions. To understand a culture, it is important to stand in the threshold of the other. Managers in expatriate missions will gain better understanding of the French and the American cultures thus adjusting to the new inter-cross culture. Leadership should be vested in hands of one and not many, therefore confusion at the top should be avoided by integrating processes with clear objectives. Employees should be made to report to only one superior. It is important for the company, Alcatel- Lucent, to use new technologies such as video conferencing to reduce communication barriers between the employees of the two countries. In this time of financial crisis, it is important to cut costs to sustain in the global business market. Top heavy structures in the company with higher pay packs to the employees could create operational loss. In the reduction of financial position, the competitors would benefit by reaping advantage of the situation and overlapping it by way of acquisition. As the French are more protective about the job loss scenario, the company should take effective measures such as putting employee rolls stagnant thereby reducing its financial cost. References French, R. (2007),â€Å"Cross Cultural management in work organizations,† Kerry Press LTD, London. Hofstede, G (2001) â€Å"Cultures and organizations: software of mind† McGraw Hill, New York. Turner,C. H. & Trompenaars,F. 2000) â€Å"Building Cross cultural Competence,† John Wiley &Sons Inc, USA. Alcatel-Lucent, (2008) â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent launches new channel recruitment drive in UK and Ireland and announces security partnership with Abraxas† [Online] Available at: http://www. subtelforum. com/articles/? p=190 (Accessed on 2nd Dec. 2009). Alcatel-Lucent, (2009) â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent announces Chairman Serge Tchuruk a nd CEO Pat Russo to step down† [Online] Available at: http://www. alcatellucent. com/wps/portal/! ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4x3tXDUL8h2VAQAURh_Yw!!? LMSG_CABINET=Docs_and_Resource_Ctr&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=News_Releases_2008/News_Article_001159. xml (Accessed on 2nd December 2009). Fons,T. , Turner,H. , Charles, (1997), â€Å" Riding the waves of culture†, Gardners [Online] Available at: http://www. businessmate. org/Article. php? ArtikelId=5 (Accessed on 10th Nov. 2009). Gubbins,E. (2007), â€Å" UBS: Alcatel faces mobility decline, culture clash† telephony online: Penton media online press [Online] Available at : http://telephonyonline. com/wireless/news/alcatel_mobility_revenue_121907/ (Accessed on :23rd Nov 2009). Hall,E. T. and Hall,M. T. (1990), â€Å"Understanding Cultural Differences, Germans French and Americans† , USA, pg 129;130. Holstein,W. J. (2007), â€Å"Lucent-Alcatel: Why Cross-Cultural Mergers Are So Tough†New York Times [Online] available at: http:// www. nytimes. com/2007/11/01/business/worldbusiness (Accessed on 10th nov. 2009). Jolly,D. (2008), â€Å"Culture clash hits home at Alcatel-Lucent† New York Times [Online] available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2008/07/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-alcatel. 4. 14867263. html? pagewanted=1 ( Accessed on 1st December 2009). Ruitenberg,R. 2008),† Alcatel-Lucent's Russo, Tchuruk to Quit; Loss Widens† Bloomberg[Online] Available at: http://www. bloomberg. com/apps/news? pid=20601085=a6fn02kzojwE=europe (Accessed on, 20th November 2009). Sorensen,G. (1984) â€Å"How much Poison is Another Man's Meat? † Notes on the Logic of World Systems Analysis, page 29. Sorensen,O. J. (1984) â€Å" Marketing Systems a nd Economic Development. An Institutional-Structural Approach† page 41. Sutherland,E. (2006), â€Å"Lucent Brushes Up on French With Alcatel Merger† Internetnews [Online] Available at: http://www. internetnews. com/bus-news/article. hp/3596246 (accessed on 23rd Nov 2009). Verwaayen ,B. (2008), â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent: New CEO, Same Three Problems† The Wall street journal. Windsor. R(2008), â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent confronts its cross-cultural challenges† BBC News[Online] available at: http://leaderswedeserve. wordpress. com/2008/07/31/alcatel-lucent-confronts-its -cross-cultural-challenges (Accessed on 5th Nov. 2009). Managing across Cultures, INDU 1033 – Team Reflection – Questions to guide the Team Presentation and Written Report Draw on your experiences: how would you qualify the teamwork in terms of {text:list-item} Keeping in mind the scarcity of information available in journals and online web content a strategic plan was devised to search online material using key trigger words that would facilitate in text referencing. The presentation time being short was a challenge for me in my role( Meenakshi Mukherjee) as group leader to define specific roles to my team mates to quantify the case study of Alcatel –Lucent keeping in mind the cultural heritage both companies’ native countries share. A well defined work with ample support from team members in way of skills and research makes me happy and feel good as a budding manager graduating from this esteemed university. {text:list-item} I would like to reflect on the fact that our team being truly multicultural, representing various nations of the world knit as family segregating this task into sections of expertise . Taking the reference frame work set forth by the respected lecturer and tutors, each subtopic in the case study was carefully classified and analysed. Disputes about the content were usually friendly group discussions in a professional manner. How much could difficulties be related to national variations in approaches to group work ? Multicultural teams like ours have different rational thinking capabilities . Innovative ideas streamlined. But the pipeline for these ideas was the standards we must set . Work can be left to interpretation. A consensus of the group eradicated doubt and hesitant notions. What elements of the process would you do differently next time. NB various approaches may exist among the different members of the team The data collection was done in large qualities from various limited resources. The case of Alcatel Lucent is primarily neglected in the business world. Careful selection of the company of reference could have been more articulate and the constrains of time and word limited was a real burden . Optimum utilization of resources can be improvide in future. The following members of the team declare to have fulfilled a

Gender Criticism based on Feminism and Masculinism in the Book “Skin” Essay

The book entitled, â€Å"Skin† is written by Ted Dekker and is a fiction novel about a killer who took as captives five people who each had stories to tell and had things about their past to confront. They were brought together by such deadly circumstances and despite their individual differences and suspicions drawn against one another, they had to work together somehow against a common enemy, their captor. â€Å"Skin† covers issues of feminism and masculinism in the details about how the captured characters – namely, Wendy, Colt, Jerry, Nicole and Carey – were victimized by the killer, Red. For Wendy, it all started one rainy night when she was driving herself to the place where her estranged mother was. The horror of all that they have gone through, all five of them, turned out to be something none of them was ever prepared for. Thesis The novel â€Å"Skin† relates a story that supports the thesis that the gender-defined roles of the characters therein damaged both sides. The story also presented the question of what true beauty is, both masculine and feminine beauty. Beauty is explored both as an external quality and as something that is more than what meets the eye – in men and in women. It turns out that beauty can be perceived by people as gender-defined. Beauty in men, thus, can be judged by parameters that are supposed to apply to men, and then beauty in women can be judged by altogether different parameters that, in turn, are supposed to apply to women. Feminism in the Story Wendy is an escapist from a cult where men reigned as the superior sex. In fact, even decisions pertaining to her life – who she was to wed eventually, who she could date and kiss – were made by the acknowledged head of their tribe, a man much older that her who was even supposed to be her future husband. Her mom was in the cult, too. As a member of it, she submitted to such leader and went to wherever the group went, never deciding for herself where and how she wanted to live her life. Through it all, she allowed the cult leader to make decisions that she should have made for herself and her daughter, Wendy. Wendy has become a prime feminist since her escape from the group whose members made up her world. She then became totally free – free to make choices for herself, free to make decisions concerning herself, her life and her personal interests. She has been equipped with good education and having been a scholar who made it through college by herself – with no help from parents, whose support usually comes in the form of financial resources to enable their children get through college as a way to have much better chances for a bright future. During her traumatic childhood experiences in the cult where the male leader was practically the ruler of all, Wendy had known what it meant to be eyed or even â€Å"reserved† for an older man. In the story, there was the pre-arranged marriage that Wendy had no choice but to succumb to when the time for it would come. For this reason, Wendy was even punished at one time for having kissed a guy. Through it all, Wendy came to have this fear of men. It was the same fear that went in the way of her having a serious relationship with a guy even when she was already a young woman. Thus, during years since her escape, Wendy had only female friends. Given the life she lived and the role of men in her life, Wendy has grown to be an independent woman who definitely did not need a man to make life easier for her. In contrast, Nicole had her brother, Cary, to adore her, to take care of her and to protect her. She grew up depending on the love and security that her older brother represented. Nicole represents the very image that present day feminists want to totally disassociate from women in general. She’s a victim of men who, like her brother, have to be needed by the women in their lives as the only way they would feel strong, masculine and happy. In such a trap, the likes of Nicole have been raised to believe that women are weak and are in constant need of the protection and support that only men can provide. For an independent woman like Wendy, it was indeed a novelty to watch Carey carry his younger sister all the way and to see for herself how much Carey loves his younger sister, Nicole. And Nicole, loved him, too. He was her older brother who has always been her source of love and protection. The same love and protection, though, can serve to curtail Nicole’s potentials as a person – a free thinker, a decision-maker and the master of her fate. Thus, the protective love of men – in this case, Nicole’s older brother – can be likened to a trap that can prevent women from going out into the world, making mistakes and learning in the process, and living their lives to the fullest. Curtailed freedom was one thing Wendy and Nicole had in common, but Wendy had chosen to break out of her prison cell and fly away toward freedom and self-realization. Men, as oppressors, can clip the wings of the women in their lives either intentionally or not, either lovingly or not – the manner, though, does not change the meaning of what is going on. Masculinism in the Story Colt’s masculinity would seem readily obvious in the light of his being a policeman. His marked skill as a gunman would serve to give his masculinity an added boost. After all, his being an adept shooter can easily be surmised to mean his being a good protector of people under his wings. As a great gunman, then, Colt has won the respect and admiration of his fellow cops in the police department, both male and female. And also as a great gunman, Colt would seem the kind of man who has little or nothing to fear. No one would guess, therefore, that for all his seemingly apparent masculinity, Colt has fears and has doubts of his capabilities and qualities as a man. In fact, the story says that having a woman around or being with one is enough to break Colt’s cool demeanor and to reduce him into a bundle of nerves. He therefore has neven been close to a woman. His life has been lived and has revolved pretty much around male friends. The story has mentioned Colt’s mom who has been murdered but was believed to have committed suicide – she might easily have been the only woman in his life. One’s childhood always leaves its imprints on the person. Events during Colt’s childhood have caused him to have insecurities and doubts about himself. These self-doubts leave no sign in the policeman that Colt has become. Such doubts and insecurities have stayed within him but have been buried way under Colt’s demeanor. In a way, Colt has been victimized by the way ladies ridicule guys they are not interested in, more so when ladies spurn those suitors whom they do not at all find attractive. Being rejected by a girl can have such an adverse impact on a guy’s confidence. Some guys even find it hard to recover their self-esteem after having been rejected by the ladies they loved. While Colt avoided women as characters he was not ready to have in his life, Cary was the type of guy who was instinctively protective of women he loved, like his sister, Nicole. Cary has grown up believing that the male sex is the stronger sex and that the females are therefore to be taken care of and sheltered. While adhering to this belief, being in helpless situations would kill the likes of Cary in their insistence that they be the protectors of the women they love. Thus, in the story, it tore Cary apart to watch his younger sister in pain and so helpless. It likewise broke his heart that he could not do what had to be done to keep them all safe from harm. Thus, independent women like Wendy would be a novelty to Colt, whose perception of women would be more of the clinging and needy sort. In the same way, frail and fragile women like Nicole would disarm Colt’s defense and lead him to overcome his fear of women, who in the person of Nicole can seem to be such weak, dependent and powerless creatures in need of somebody like himself. The story is adroitly set with twists that all served to help the characters eventually face their fears and find themselves. Works Cited Dekker, Ted. Skin. Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2007.

Australian Pizza Wars (pp 687-689) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Australian Pizza Wars (pp 687-689) - Essay Example A reputable pizza marketing magazine suggests that pizza companies should begin using promotions which describe dollars off rather than percentages when using marketing promotion (clippermagazine.com, 2009). This is an aspect of consumer behaviour where they feel dollars off promotions are more incentive to buy products than through direct mailings which offer percentages off the pizza product. Currently, Pizza Hut offers reduced priced pizzas, using marketing promotion to encourage volume ordering to offset the costs of marketing, as identified by the case study. This is an ongoing pricing strategy, however Pizza Hut maintains the opportunity to use unique graphics, logos, and other consumer-oriented images to create direct mailing (or even Internet coupon offerings) which appeals to the psychographic aspects of buyer behaviour. Kurtz (2007) identifies that consumers are strongly driven toward promotional materials, in direct mailing form, which utilise well-known corporate logos an d can be entertaining at the same time. This would give Pizza Hut the opportunity to use pricing as only a portion of the marketing strategy but use innovative sales promotions, based on consumer behaviour and graphics presentation, to make their business stand out over competition. It would be unrealistic to believe that pricing is no long relevant for sales promotions, just the method by which Pizza Hut appeals to the buying audience should be altered. This could also give Pizza Hut the opportunity to sign up many different customers, through unique promotions which offer contests or similar incentives, giving Pizza Hut several niche markets to sell product. Because consumers in Australia are beginning to explore healthy eating options, these direct mailing, innovative graphic marketing tools can highlight new menu options for the healthier eating client. The case study did not provide

Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Diversity - Essay Example CEI is an indication of zero tolerance to discrimination in the workplace, especially with reference to the LGBT community. The rating of corporations in terms of their CEI displays to the public companies with good and ethical practices in terms of their corporate cultures. For a company to appear in the list of top ten LGBT companies, it has to exhibit maximum CEI. This compels potential employers of LGBT community to develop their organizational cultures with gender orientation in mind. Consequently, the 100 percent CEI requirement is a good initiative of checking workplace discrimination on LGBT community in a work environment crippled by dearth of LGBT workplace protection law. Human rights must be protected from all dimensions. Every member of the society deserves to enjoy protection against discrimination of whatever kind. Consequently, it is difficult to object the demand by Diversity Inc’s requirement of 100 percent CEI for companies listed in their website, which is a public exhibition of companies that are socially responsible and zero tolerant to workplace

Urban Transportation Problems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Urban Transportation Problems - Assignment Example g this, there are two policies that present problems: the first, that city governments mismanage curb parking, and second, that city governments required developers to provide free parking or extensive off-street parking (Klein, 2006). In truth, free parking is not free, since easily the required parking for a business establishment, such as a restaurant, may occupy a space three times that of the establishment itself. In the US, the subsidy to parking may easily reach $127 billion to $374 billion annually, not yet counting curb parking which is either free or underpriced (Shoup, 2005). Furthermore, it makes people feel that they are entitled to free parking as a right. Free parking and off-street parking, when carried to excess, tends to â€Å"increase traffic congestion and air pollution, distort urban form, degrade urban design, increase housing costs, limit homeownership, damage the urban economy, harm the central business district, and penalize poor families (Shoup, 2005:592). More importantly, it has an effect on the demand for public mass transportation facilities. Because parking becomes convenient, there is a general tendency for people to choose to travel in their own private cars, instead of taking public transportation, or even in lieu of cycling and walking (Shoup, 2005:2-3). It was found that in urban neighbourhoods that are required to provide parking spaces, residents were 28% more likely to travel by automobile than residents in areas where parking supply is optional and therefore less (Litman, January 2010). Since private cars would be able to carry travellers from their homes to within close proximity to their destination, the c onvenience afforded by free parking makes it the transportation medium of choice. Pursuant to Anthony Down’s triple convergence principle, there are three types of convergence: spatial convergence, when drivers tend to come together at peak hours to a principal thoroughfare; time convergence, when more cars elect to

Contract terms as conditions or warranties Term Paper

Contract terms as conditions or warranties - Term Paper Example Therefore, the court conclude that the defendants had a right to end the contract because the plaintiff breached a condition of the contract Poussard v. Spiers & Poland, 1876).However, in a similar case, Bettin v. Gye (1876); a singer was contracted to perform and sing for 3 whole months with six rehearsal days. The singer, however, fell ill and thus missed the six days of rehearsals, which resulted in the defendant replacing him with another singer. However, in this case the court held that the termination of the contract was uncalled for because the failure to attend the rehearsals only amounted to a breach of warranty and not a condition and thus the singer was entitled to the contract because the breach did not go to the contract’s very root (Bettin v. Gye, 1876). Thus, based on this case contracts can be categorised as conditions if the breach of the terms of the contract significantly or materially affects the performance of a contract and, therefore, becomes unenforceab le to the innocent party’s favour (Smith and Atiyah, 2006).  Ã‚     Another example of categorizing contracts terms as conditions or warranties was best articulated in the case of British Crane vs. Ipswich Plant Hire (1974) in which both companies were engaged in contracting out earth-moving equipment. In this case the plaintiffs provided the defendants with the equipment over the phone contract promptly without articulating the contract terms. However, the claimants later sent their conditions to the defendants but before signing them.

The Faster Flow of New Information in Order to Ensure Proper Learning Essay - 9

The Faster Flow of New Information in Order to Ensure Proper Learning - Essay Example Learning ought to be an active process whereby students come up with constructive ideas depending on their current or past events. Research proves that interactions and motivation influences construction. Teacher’s focus is to create a connection between facts and to ensure better understanding among learners. This approach gives learners the opportunity to analyze, predict and interpret information. It means that students are involved fully in finding solutions to the problem. Consequently, interactive learning proves effective in education. Information is easily absorbed by the memory for the purpose of filtration. The teacher wanted the information that he was passing to be store on the short-term memory by letting the learners draw the ball. Primarily, short term memory is where the controlling takes place in terms of rehearsal, coding, decision and retrieval strategies of the information. It allows learners to relate past events with the present; hence improves their abil ities to accommodate fresh ideas. Most importantly, the information is easily transferred to the long-time memory store for encoding and retrieval. Admittedly, the use of techniques that link short-term memory with long-term memory is effective in education (Cole, 2008). Learners are required to be able to use the approach of processing information. In addition, learners must be able to absorb and accommodate new facts. At first, when Lucy encountered the word platypus, she enquired from her father what it meant. Her father told her that platypus was an animal. By relating the word platypus to her prior knowledge of what animals are, she can then classify the information.

What Is Morality Why Should Society Be Moral At All Essay

What Is Morality Why Should Society Be Moral At All - Essay Example ‘Society’ is ‘a large group of people who live together in an organized way, making decisions about how to do things and sharing the work that needs to be done’. It is interesting to note that the lexical definitions of the words ‘morality’ and ‘society’ begin not with the definite article (the) but with the indefinite article (a). It goes on to imply the limitations of their specificity. In other words, any discussion on an issue like morality is inherently bound to be highly subjective in nature and any effort to arrive at objective conclusions is utterly futile. But this could mean that there are at least some issues which allow total objectivity and that becomes a disputable statement if we consider Nietzsche’s observation that there is no such thing as an objective point of view, which means objectivity itself is a subjective matter. [â€Å"There is only a perspective seeing, only a perspective 'knowing'; and the more e motions we express over a thing, the more eyes, different eyes, we train on the same thing, the more complete will be our idea of that thing, our 'objectivity'.† (Nietzsche, 153)] ... Not only in the production processes but also in the themes of films do we notice an ever-increasing obsession with technology if we take a careful look at the recent part of Hollywood’s journey from Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark to Cameroon’s Avatar. Even at this point of time, if humankind still continues to ponder over issues like morality and if there are still some directors interested in throwing light on how ‘sometimes good people do evil things’ (as the advertising tag of Sam Raimi’s 1998 film A Simple Plan reads) and if Michael Sandel’s discourse on justice has the potential to draw such huge crowds that it is rated among the most popular courses in Harvard’s history, it deserves careful consideration. It is a testimony to the fact that science’s takeover bid for the world does not mean a decline of our interest in morals and morality. The fundamental goal of a code of morality is to exercise control on the aspirations and deeds of individuals and groups. It is expected to be a deterrent. More than a century ago, W. W. Jacobs wrote the story The Monkey’s Paw (which opens with the caution: Be careful what you wish for. It might come true.) in which he skillfully embeds a very useful message in a seemingly horror story as to how our anxiety for quick or undeserving gains could have fatal consequences. It is this anxiety that prompts good people sometimes to do evil things. Thus, Sam Raimi’s A Simple Plan is more or less on the same lines as Jacob’s story. Capitalism, war, crime and corruption are all rooted in the desire to make a profit even if it is at the expense of someone else’s loss and if there is a code that could make everyone realize that prosperity is

Public and Government Healthcare in America Research Paper

Public and Government Healthcare in America - Research Paper Example 7). There were flaws to the system which President Obama and his healthcare program were trying to correct through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which became a law in March 23, 2010. The bill sought to provide inexpensive, but good quality health care for all the citizens of the United States. It is not only the costs of drugs and hospitalization; the entire healthcare system is being questioned. This was demonstrated in a 2007 National Health Interview Survey showing that 43 million Americans did not have an insurance coverage (Adams et al. as cited in Benson et al., 2011, p. 28). A report by Families USA (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as cited in Benson et al., 2011) stated that most citizens below 65 had an insufficient health insurance during the period of 2007-2008. The road to a perfect healthcare system for the Obama administration and the American people is still a long way. There are many problems and challenges along the way, one of w hich is that most Americans with the insurance coverage are fearful of changing the questioned healthcare infrastructure. Why are Americans afraid of change? Change is a matter of acceptance with courage; courage is significant for accepting an improvement. Americans are afraid of changing the healthcare infrastructure for many reasons which will be discussed in this essay. The unique U.S. healthcare system allows the private sector to help the public sector or the government with providing health care. It is this kind of the system that allowed the private sector, particularly the insurance companies, to commit abuses and malpractices with ordinary citizens as the victim. It is also through this system that the Obama administration wants to incorporate changes and provide an avenue of perfect health for the American people. The healthcare system is a complicated topic involving political, cultural, and moral aspects where change could not be easily implemented as it involves many a reas. Politicians could not reach a point, while all the classes of society could not agree on the kind of change they wanted. In his first address to Congress, President Obama identified healthcare as a primary focus that required an appropriate funding regardless of the existing recession in 2009 (Obama as cited in Benson et al., 2011, p. 28). Historical Development and Current State of Health Care Delivery Before the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, also known as the ObamaCare), there were several challenges, or problems, the government and the American people had to face. The PPACA was challenged by 26 state governments, but the controversy was resolved by the Supreme Court ruling in June 2012, which upheld the provision of the law that every American should have a health insurance or pay a fine. This individual mandate was a significant part of the ObamaCare, and, so, the Supreme Court ruling was a big boost and support for the law. Had the cour t ruled otherwise, the entire Affordable Care Act would have fallen (Tate, 2012, p. 4). The U.S. healthcare system allows a combination of private and public insurance agencies to provide healthcare insurance to American citizens. Many insurances of this kind were sponsored by their respective employers. Before the passage of the Affordable

Living at Home Versus Living in an Apartment Essay Example for Free

Living at Home Versus Living in an Apartment Essay People do not realize how different living at home and living in an apartment is until they compare the two. Other people don’t realize it until they are actually out on their own. There are many differences when a person is living at home compared to living in an apartment. In this essay we will look at the differences of the two. One difference between living at home and living in an apartment is how the bills get paid. When living at home parents or whoever the person lives with pays all the bills and buys all the food. Even if the person has to pay for anything while living at home, I’m sure it is just a small portion of what all the bills come out to be. When living in an apartment the person has to pay their own bills and buy your own food. This means that they have to find somewhere that is affordable for them. Some apartments have bills like electricity, water, and sewer/garbage included in the rent. If the person needs help buying food they have a program out there that they can sign up for food stamps at the local social services office. They also have places that have food pantries that gives people a food basket. Some towns also have a place for people to go and eat like the Salvation Army or a church. This is one major difference of living at home versus living in an apartment. Another difference between living at home and living in an apartment is making sure the person has everything they need. When living at home with the person’s parents or whoever they live with, they already have or have bought all the necessities that they will need for a place like furniture, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, stuff for hygiene, etc. When a person is living in an apartment they have to buy everything that they are going to need for the apartment. That means that the person has to go out and buy their own furniture and everything else that they want for their place. A person can watch for garage sales or even go check out some thrift stores. The Salvation Army gives a person a voucher to go to their store and get some stuff for their new place if they have it in stock. They even help out with furniture to. Some stuff the person will probably want brand new like their silverware and dishes. Another difference between living at home and living in an apartment is all about how clean the place is. When someone lives at home or with whomever they live with they usually want their place nice and clean. They want everyone that lives there to help with the cleaning and to maintain a clean home. When a person lives in an apartment they are the one that decides when to clean the place. Also they are the one to decide how clean they want their place and if they are going to try and maintain a clean place. Some people like their house spotless while others don’t really care if their place is clean or not. Maintaining a clean home means a lot to others when they come over to visit. The final difference between living at home and living in an apartment is being independent. When a person is living at home they have rules to follow. Some rules may be easy to follow like cleaning up after oneself, help with the cooking, and maintain a job or go to school. Other rules may be harder to follow like if the person has a certain time to be home and if certain people that they hang out with are not allowed to be at the person’s house they are staying at because they don’t like or get along with them. When a person is living in an apartment they are on their own. They are the one that picks the rules. When living in an apartment a person can come and go as they please. Also they can do whatever they want. Just be careful when living in a person’s own apartment because some people go crazy and have all kinds of parties. If the neighbors call the cops the landlord has a right to evict them. If they get evicted it makes it hard for them to get an apartment the next time they are looking for one. In conclusion, everybody now has some of the differences between living at home and living in an apartment. It’s all up to them to decide if they want to stay living at home or move into an apartment. Everybody has their own way of thinking and choosing what they want to do. If they want to move into an apartment a person could keep an eye out for stuff they will need so they will have it by the time they move.

Early Years Foundation Stage for Childminding Essay Example for Free

Early Years Foundation Stage for Childminding Essay The EYFS is set to ensure all children in early year’s settings including children with disabilities and special needs have the best possible start in life which they deserve. A child needs to not only have a safe, secure and happy childhood but also one which is rich in positive parenting and high quality learning. These will provide the foundations and tools a child needs to reach their full potential. The EYFS must be followed by all early years’ providers to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. The EYFS is set to help prepare children for school, physically and emotionally and set a foundation for a positive progress through school and life. Children develop at a raid rate between birth-5 years and experiences between this time have a dramatic impact on their future. Key Points of the Early Years Foundation stage †¢ Good quality and consistent care within all early years’ settings to ensure every single child makes good progress. †¢ A secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly †¢ Partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers †¢ Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported. EYFS requirements for learning and development †¢ All Early year providers must help children work towards the early learning goals, the knowledge, skills and understanding a child should have by the end of the academic year in which they turn five. †¢ Shape activities and experiences within the setting to enable every child to have the best chance of reaching these learning goals. †¢ Set in place assessment arrangements and requirements for measuring progress and for reporting to parents and/or carers. EYFS requirements for safeguarding and welfare Early years providers must set in place requirements to ensure a child’s safety and promote their welfare taking into account the following points. †¢ Every child is different and unique and children who are constantly learning will become more confident, independent, and grow in self-esteem. †¢ Positive relationships enable children to be strong and independent †¢ A nourishing environment which responds to a child’s individual needs will enable them to learn and develop well. This will also be the case through a good strong partnership between parent/care and care giver. †¢ Children learn and develop in different ways and at different speeds.

Reflective Essay on Plagiarism

Reflective Essay on Plagiarism Introduction Plagiarism or academic dishonesty as it is commonly known is a rampant vice among college students which is committed both intentionally and unintentionally (Maureen and Joyce 2006). There is a growing concern about the increasing levels of plagiarism among students who are either too lazy to do their assignments or are turning to doing group work and then turning assignments as their original work. Different forms of plagiarism exist which to fairly new students in college may be quite hard to master. For instance copying from internet sources without giving credit, paraphrasing of other peoples work and not acknowledging the original author and the most common one is whereby students fail to cite even when they have referenced their work (Plagiarism Statement 2006). My position on this issue is that plagiarism should be discouraged using the strongest and enforceable terms possible. The first step is to give an F in the particular assignment or test and then proceed to reassign the test again but first making sure that the student understands what plagiarism is and why he or she is repeating the assignment. To make sure that the student is serious with work, the possible total marks that can be awarded in the second attempt of the paper is seventy percent and not a hundred in order to make the student to work harder. On top of redoing the work again, the student involved in plagiarism should appear before a specially constituted board of staff members in the department of the student and also the parents should be present (Jack and Michelle 2009). Failure of following the above procedure by the student will lead to failure in the course and subsequently no graduation for such a student. This stand may seem harsh but it is the only way of curtailing a culture that is threatening to kill innovation and originality among our future scholars. In the field of research, originality of ideas is encouraged although those ideas must be from prior similar work which someone took a lot of time to compile and acknowledgement would be in order. It would also deem to be unfair as a tutor to award marks to all students on the same scale considering that some have done their honest work and turned it on time whereas others have taken a short cut and copied from their friends at the last time to avoid failing in the paper (Jack and Michelle 2009). There has been a mushrooming of many internet sites that have custom written papers which a student can download an essay for quite an exorbitant fee in order to avoid doing the assignment. This trend pits students from rich backgrounds who can afford to buy professionally written papers in order to out do their counterparts against other students who depend sorely on their natural abilities to research. In the long run, some students may pass not because of their natural abilities and intellect but because they used shortcuts (Maureen and Joyce 2006). Some faculty members and teachers have argued that punishment that is doled on students in the case of plagiarism is sometimes extreme and impacts negatively on the lives of students who may sometimes be suspended for two years. According to an article appearing in The Daily Princetonian, as many as ten students were asked to leave the Princeton University for two years on various charges of plagiarism. In addition, twenty two students were slapped with suspensions and expulsions while the degrees of other students were withheld by the university (Jack and Michelle 2009). Most of the punishment is seen as draconian and unfair which is not the case especially when there are clearly outlined penalties for plagiarism which are available to every student in college. To counter this, many people argue that plagiarism is in many forms which should carry different penalties and not a viewed as equal (Plagiarism Statement 2006). While there may be different forms of plagiarism, the bottom line is that it all amounts to plagiarism and it should be treated the same. The only thing that may make difference in penalty is whether it is a first time offense or a repeated offence. The penalties are also not just handed but a committee sits downs and passes the sentence based on admissible evidence of plagiarism, laid down regulations and their expertise on such matters (Maureen and Joyce 2006). Conclusion There is no other way to show the seriousness of dealing with plagiarism other than to hand out stiff penalties on offenders in order to discourage the vice in our future scholars. However, considerations can be made on to what form of plagiarism because there are usually cases of mistakes and students end up paying severely. To avoid the penalties that come up with plagiarism, students have to make sure that they acknowledge their sources even if they have paraphrased the original thought, cut or copy pasting of material from the internet is not an option and all materials that is cited should be within the reference and the reference materials should be cited within your work. Work cited   Jack Ackerman and Michelle Wu. Doling Out Discipline. 29th April, 2009. 24 August 2009, Maureen Dawson and Joyce Overfileld. Plagiarism: Do students know what it is? 18 July 2006. 24 August 2009, Plagiarism Statement. Union County Public Schools Graduation Project Implementation Guide. 23 Jan, 2006. 24 August 2009.

Defining Personal Responsibility and Exploring My Own Responsibilities

What is personal responsibility? Some examples people would probably come up with would be these: working, chores, taking care of your family and some might even say going to school and getting a better education. The definition of personal responsibility is: the obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success. ("DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms"). Personal responsibility to me is taking ownership of the things that will affect us in anyway, whether it is in the long run or short term. If we do not take ownership of the situations around us we will be consumed by duties and assignments which at that point become a task and no longer just a responsibility. College is a personal responsibility to us all. In order to take control of our lives and have the options we desire, college is the avenue most of us will have to take. Successfully completing our studies and obtaining the highest level of education possible will open the doors to providing for those we care most about in our lives. It will allow us to live our dreams by having options to choose from, which is why we worked so hard and decided to go to school. According to "10 Incredibly Successful People Who Went To Community College" (2012), â€Å"Nolan D. Archibald who is the CEO and Chairman of Board of the Black & Decker Corporation, was once one of the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 Company and has been celebrated by the American Marketing Association, Business week and Fortune as one of the most successful and ‘most wanted’ business executives in the country†¦Archibald graduated from Dixie Junior College† (7). The point is, it doesn’t m... ...e to use in any given situation. Works Cited 10 incredibly successful people who went to community college. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/01/10-incredibly-successful-people-who-went-to-community-college/ DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated terms. (). Retrieved from http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/dod_dictionary/?zoom_query=responsibility&zoom_sort=0&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=1 Famous people & the schools they went to. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.collegecrunch.org/fun-stuff/famous-people-the-schools-they-went-to/ Julian, T., & Kominski, R. (2011, September). Education and Synthetic Work-Life Earnings Estimate. 2010 CENSUS, (), 2 Leading Thoughts. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.leadershipnow.com/responsibilityquotes.html Lincoln, A. (1862, December ). Message to Congress. Message to Congress, 10().

Media Violence Essay -- essays research papers fc

Machine gun fire, explosions, and screams for help are only a few of the sounds that can be heard emanating from a child’s bedroom today, while his parents listen nervously just outside his door. Horrified, these parents shake their heads ruefully, wondering at the power of entertainment available for kids nowadays. Sometimes they even argue whether it is right for their child to have access to this sort of violence: the kind found in most video games, television shows, and movies all over the world. But honestly, does it make a difference in the child’s development as a productive member of society, and if so, can a parent really do anything about it? These are the questions that researchers of the subject hope to answer conclusively In order to understand how media violence has an effect on children, different variables must first be examined. To begin with, children of various ages understand what they are watching very differently. Most of it depends on the length of their attention spans, the way they go about processing their information, the amount of mental effort that they put in, and their own life experiences. These stages are broken up into five parts. The first part is the effects on infants. Infants or children up to 18 months old can â€Å"Pay attention to an operating television set for short periods of time, but the attention demands a great effort and infants are more interested in their own activities.†1 Even when it seems that they are focusing on the television, infants will usually not be able to comprehend what is going on. They take it as a bunch of â€Å"Fragmented displays of light and sound†, which they can only recognize and put together certain pieces and characters. Although there is no evidence yet as to the effect of media violence on infants, there is still evidence that infants may imitate some behavior that they have seen on television. The toddler period begins at roughly two-and-a-half to three years old. It is at this point that they begin to pay more attention to the television when it is on. They also begin to develop a minute capability to take some meaning out of what they watch. They are also more likely to copy what they see on television. Children, who are at preschool age, three to five years old, start watching television with the intent of understanding the content. They are drawn to fast-pacing images, which tend to b... ...t of violent games will grow up to be violent. But just as every cigarette increases the chance that someday you will get lung cancer, every exposure to violence increases the chances that someday a child will behave more violently than they otherwise would.†3   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . Bibliography 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wendy L. Josephson, Ph.D. (1995). Television Violence: A Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages. Retrieved Nov.17, 2004. Media Awareness Network. http://stauffer.queensu.ca/inforef/instruct/tv1.htm 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Michael Craig Miller, (2000). Does Violence In The Media Cause Violent Behavior? Nov.18, 2004. Harvard Mental Health Letter. http://www.health.harvard.edu/medline/Mental/M901c.html 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Senator Orrin G. Hatch, (1999). Children, Violence, And The Media. Nov.18, 2004. Senate Judiciary Committee Media Violence Report. http://www.senate.gov/~judiciary/mediavio.htm 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Saul Kassin, (2004), Psychology. Retrieved Nov.19, 2004 New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN NOVEMBER 23, 2004

The Banking Concept of Education and The Achievement of Desire Essay

The Banking Concept of Education and The Achievement of Desire Education is a topic that can be explored in many ways. Education is looked at in depth by both Richard Rodriguez in his essay, â€Å"The Achievement of Desire†, and by Paulo Freire in his essay, â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.† After reading both essays, one can make some assumptions about different methods of education and exactly by which method Rodriguez was taught. The types of relationships Rodriguez had with his teachers, family and in life were affected by specific styles of education. Based on Freire’s essay, â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education†, there are two types of education styles. We will use these educational styles to look at how they affected Rodriguez’s relationships. The first type is referred to as a â€Å"banking† education. In this type of education, information is â€Å"deposited† into students by their teachers. â€Å"Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiquà ©s and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat† (Freire 213). In this method of education, according to Freire, students never think critically or develop ideas. The second type of education is labeled â€Å"problem-posing†. Freire makes it very clear that he is an advocate of the â€Å"problem-posing† method of education. He believes in encourages communication and better comprehension of what the students are learning. â€Å"Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning†¦the teacher cannot think for his students, nor can he impose his thought on them† (Freire 216). Freire argues that the only real form of educatio... ... that a â€Å"banking† education is not the better choice for obtaining an education. He does not present both options and allow or encourage the reader to form their own opinions. The style of his writing is direct and straightforward as opposed to analytical. By analyzing Freire’s essay, one can assume that Freire received a â€Å"banking† education based on the way he has written his essay. This is another example of how the style of education you receive affects your life and relationships. Bibliography: Works Cited Freire, Paulo. â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.† Ways of Reading. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1996 211-223. Rodriguez, Richard. â€Å"The Achievement of Desire.† Ways of Reading. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1996. 566-585.

Independence Day Essay

â€Å"India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.† Honourable Chief Guest, teachers and all my dear friends. This day 15th August of every year is a golden day engraved in the history of the world. We won our freedom on this date and it is a day of celebration. As we celebrate it hoisting the flag, playing our National Anthem with fervor, singing and rejoicing, we need to recall the past to remember and pay homage to the builders of our nation. My dear friends, we are the privileged lot to have been born in a free India. We are able to breathe in a land that is free from the day we were born. If at all we want to know the pangs of agony of being slaves under a foreign rule, we must ask our elders born before 1947. It was indeed a Himalayan task for every Indian in those days to fight against those powerful giants – the British rulers. We must not allow those hard times and struggles fade away from our memory. Hence it is befitting for us to celebrate such a National festivals and recall those heroic deeds of our National heroes. We remember them today. Right from Mahatma Gandhi to the many patriotic leaders to whom we owe our gratitude. As we regard those martyrs who laid their precious lives for our sake, we must not ignore the common people who sacrificed their lot for the good cause. There were farmers, land lords, businessmen, teachers, writers, poets and students who helped the land achieve the long cherished dream of being free from foreign rule. Today we have travelled a long way in the path of free India. We have proved ourselves worthy of freedom. We are considered as the largest democracy in the world. How proud we were when Sushil Kumar won the silver medal in 2012 London Olympics or when The Indian Cricket Team lifted The ICC Champions Trophy? We are proud of it and feel very happy about all these positive aspects. But can we afford to be blind to the black clouds surrounding us? Let us question ourselves have we used our freedom in the right manner? If so, why should there be so many problems facing our motherland that threaten its existence? Be it terrorist attacks or the blight of corruption; these are the dangers that threaten us all. Well what can a mere student do at this juncture? Should we go catch the terrorists? Should we fight against the corrupted politicians? Or should we take over the country by waging another war for  freedom? No, we are not expected to do anything that brings turmoil to our land. We must keep observing things around us. We will have our own day. Before that, let us do our duty of preparing ourselves to be well-educated citizens of tomorrow. Let us do our duty sincerely and study hard to achieve a goal that is to be responsible citizens of India who believe in their country. Today we require youngsters with lot of energy. Illiteracy is our first enemy for a democratic nation. Let us get rid of illiteracy and become informed citizens who take India to a bright future. Jai Hind

Racial Politics

The push for racial equality in the United States got a boast from the demands placed on all facets of society during the Second World War. The mobilization effort relied on the black race to win the war and once it was over, there was no turning back. Furthermore, the ideals of freedom and equality, which were the backbone of the Allied war cry and the foundation for the anti-communist Western movement, did not sit well alongside Jim Crow laws and public acts of racial discrimination.The Jim Crow System of segregation was a process in which white Southerners legitimized their racial supremacy over their black counterparts. It was a system based on ethnic and racial differentiation. It is important to note that such a system enabled the â€Å"definition of racism as an institutional fact† (Singh, 2004, p. 22). This is evident if one considers that such a system enabled â€Å"the construction of black people as subjects proscribed from participating in the social state in whic h they live† thereby positing them as entities â€Å"whose relation to the public is always in racial doubt† (Singh, 2004, p.22). The possibility of such is better understood if one considers that differentiation entails the recognition that races are different and as such, it creates a political setting that separates races [e. g. distinction and hence separation of the whites from the blacks]. In addition to this, it also separates and ultimately, limits or confines races to a social sphere with corresponding social functions that are imposed on them. In lieu of this, the importance of the Civil Rights movement lies in its attempt to breakdown and free society of this idea of racial differentiation.Contrary to popular belief, the Civil Rights movement did not begin in the 1950’s and end in the 1960’s; instead, it has been an ongoing process since the Compromise of 1877, through to the present day. The movement has encompassed not only political equality but also housing, education, and economics, to name a few. Moreover, Jeanne Theoharis (2003) argues against the dominant notion that the civil rights movement was a nonviolent movement born in the South during the 1950’s that emerged triumphant in the early 1960’s only to be derailed by Black Power and the white backlash when it moved North after 1965.Theoharis (2003) argues that an understanding of the movement necessitates â€Å"a fuller inclusion of Northern activism within the postwar freedom narrative challenges the notion that the movement went from civil rights to Black Power (p. 12). She notes, â€Å"that Black Power caused the decline of the movement, that self-defense was new to the movement in the 1960s, and that well-organized nonviolent movements were not as prevalent or successful across the North as they were in the South from 1940 to 1980† (p. 12).The Northern movement successfully used similar tactics as compared to the Southern movement such a s boycotts, sit-ins, rallies and grassroots. The difference however, was the internal concepts of race in the North. An example of the historical and political tensions that existed in the North can be seen in Alexis de Tocqueville commentary in 1831 when he stated, â€Å"the prejudice of race appears to be stronger in the states that have abolished slavery than in those where it still exists; and nowhere is it so intolerant as in those states where servitude has never been known† (Jacobson, 1998, p.22). On the surface, it seemed as if the North was anything but racist since the North had fought against slavery and never implemented Jim Crow Laws. Underneath this however, racism and discrimination were institutionalized within the economic and political system; and in both instances, the system was controlled by whites. This was noted by Sugrue (1996) in The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Within the aforementioned work, Sugrue outlined th e pre-existing presence of economic discrimination in postwar Detroit, which led to the 1967 riots.At the end of World War II, blacks were leaving for the North, just as northern cities began to lose money and jobs. The â€Å"Second Great Migration† led to an influx of unemployed blacks into northern cites with limited resources and jobs. Deindustrialization, combined with the Great Migration, exacerbated the persistent racial discrimination in labor markets and intensified the racial division within the metropolitan area. Though Sugrue focuses on the economic aspect of the issue, he does note that the origins of the urban crisis are much earlier than social scientists have recognized.In lieu of this, he stated, â€Å"there is no simple explanation for the inequality and marginality that beset the urban poor† (Sugrue, 1996, p. 5). In lieu of this, this paper opts to present an evaluation of the effect of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Such an analysis will consider the historical, philosophical and ideological underpinnings of the Civil Rights Movement. I will argue that American society was unprepared for such huge and radical changes [brought by Civil Rights Movement] because the issues involved were too complex.In relation to this, I will also argue that it is not only the case that society was not ready to handle such changes but also the legislated and enacted laws were directly attempting to change a social conception of race that had dominated United States [political, social, economic, and religious] culture since its inception. In proving my argument, I will focus on the aspect of â€Å"educational equality† as implemented in the process of Mississippi’s initial experiences in its implementation of school desegregation programs.In 1954, the United States of America’s Supreme Court decided a landmark case concerning educational and racial equality. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U. S. 4 83 (1954), the Court’s ruling is grounded on the principle that the doctrine of â€Å"separate but equal† [this doctrine is referring to the segregation policy, more specifically, the segregation policy in the schools in the United States] will not and cannot provide Black Americans with the same standards and quality of education available for White Americans.The court thus, outlawed the â€Å"racial segregation of public education facilities† for the aforementioned reason. In relation to this, on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court handed down a 9-0 decision, which stated, in clear and certain terms that â€Å"separate educational facilities are inherently unequal†. Chief Justice Warren writes: â€Å"Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society.It is re quired in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms† (Imber & Geel, 2004, p.212). The aforementioned decisions may be best understood if one considers that racial segregation [as the court sees it] is against the pronouncements of the Constitution. The segregation of students on the basis of race or ethnicity and the legalization of a segregated public school education through the enactment of certain statutes serving to legitimize th e creation and operation of schools that are exclusively for Whites or for Blacks, is clearly, not justified. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka remains and is still considered as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Within Mississippi, the attempt to account for the implementation of the aforementioned decisions occurred during the later part of the 20th century [1970’s]. The reason for such lies in the high amount of white resistance to school desegregation. In lieu of this, the result of the elimination of the desegregation system was set on white terms. This is evident if one considers that during the process, race was considered as a high factor in the consideration of a school’s teachers and administrators.Black teachers and administrators thereby lost their jobs and the black community saw an erosion of the control they had exercised over their children's education (Bolton, 2000, p. 782). In th e years that followed, as federal support waned, efforts in Mississippi and across the nation to create unitary school systems usually floundered, in many cases leading to a resegregation of schools (Burger, 1982). In the decade before the Brown decision, upgrading black schools within segregation was considered a viable alternative to school integration by both blacks and whites.This strategy of educational equalization sought to ensure a balanced distribution of resources between separate black and white schools. From 1925 until 1950, black southerners, focused their efforts on trying to equalize educational spending rather than directly assaulting the doctrine of separate but equal. In addition to this, after the organizations shifted its tactics to challenge the Jim Crow system, many black southerners continued to embrace the equalization policy as the best method for improving black education.The necessity of such was posited by Burger (1982) during his oral account of history during the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Burger (1982) noted that the importance of the aforementioned segregation system lies in its ability to provide good education for the black people. He noted, â€Å"There was interest to help the black high school to be established and survive [however] it didn't get much support locally†. According to Burger, the difficulty of the situations within the black schools is evident if one considered that â€Å"there was no money there [black schools]†.In addition to this, he noted that during the 1930’s to the 1960’s, the black schools got â€Å"little aid†¦ from the county†¦ [It] was just a little bit of sixteenth section money and maybe one or two other funds†. Southern state governments in the decade after World War, faced with both a federal government increasingly sympathetic to the cause of black civil rights and changes in the region's demographics and economy that threatened to undermine the racial status quo, also recognized that a little more emphasis on the â€Å"equal† part of the separate but equal equation might be prudent if segregation were to be preserved.After the war, these states all began or enhanced programs to improve black education. As opposed to this some southern states, such as Mississippi, continued to advocate educational equalization even after the Brown decision had declared segregated schools inherently unequal, in the vain hope that the federal government might somehow still accept an improved version of separate but equal over desegregation.During the aforementioned period, within the Mississippi area although implementing the Brown mandate ultimately proved difficult, educational equalization was never a viable alternative. Such is evident not merely in the efforts to enable student desegregation but also in providing education for the black professionals within the field of education. An example of such was evident in Dr. Burgerâ €™s situation during the period.As a black principal in Hattiesburg during the period that he sought to obtain a master's degree in the early 1950s, he had to take a leave of absence without pay. In order to fully understand such a situation, one must thus be careful of the nuances involved in his or her understanding and analysis of the Civil Rights Movement, what the movement sought to achieve and the means in and through which its prominent leaders and advocates believe to be both proper and effective.As may be noted in the development of the civil rights movement, from the historical, philosophical and ideological perspectives, the proper and effective means in which the recognition of civil rights be regarded as fundamental rights that ought to be granted to every citizen of the state and not only to a selected few, is through the tedious process of â€Å"legislation† and â€Å"affirmative action†.By these two concepts we mean a legal mechanism (1) â€Å"for the institutionalization of certain laws and statutes† and (2) â€Å"for the correction of certain laws and statutes to address and correct the mistakes committed in the past† so that the law may be said to fulfill its function, that is, to administer social justice. The above discussion gives us an idea of the complexity of the problem that needs to be resolved.At this point, it is not difficult to see that all of these things involve the very notion of â€Å"power relation† at the very core and as such, it may be said that the whole historical, philosophical and ideological developments of the push for racial equality in the United States was held fast by this very notion. Power relation then, both as a notion and a political phenomenon, is constitutive of the problem that was explored by the paper.As I see it, the problem with the civil rights movement was that it was not universal; instead, there were those who defended and supported the movement and there we re those who opposed. It was not able to gain an inter-subjective consensus, so to speak. In the face of such a complex problem, legislators in the past should not have merely taken into consideration that the problem would appropriately and effectively be addressed by mere acts of rapid legislation. Rapid legislation, as what the legislators in the past did, and as will be argued in this thesis is not the solution to the problem.In fact, it made the problem worse by failing to consider the interweaving and interconnected issues that were involved. In the case of Mississippi, the formulation of legislations that opted to eradicate the aforementioned cases of segregation merely led to the further specification of the events that enable segregation. It is important to note that the downside of such lies in the fact that such cases of segregation or racism were enabled by the existing laws of Mississippi during the period in discussion.The oral history narrated by Dr. Burger serves as an example of such. True, the expedited implementation of civil rights on all facets and areas of society created considerable â€Å"changes† on the realms of the social, political and economic but the question whether such huge and radical changes were appropriate and effective remained without a satisfactory answer since the phenomenon is in itself deeply embedded in the culture of the American society. References Bolton, C.â€Å"Mississippi’s School Equalization Program, 1945-1954: ‘A Last Gasp to Try to Maintain a Segregated Educational System’†. The Journal of Southern History 66. 4: 781-814. Burger, N. (1982). â€Å"Oral History with Professor N. R. Burger. † Interview by W. Pyle. University of Southern Mississippi. Retrieved February 27, 2008 from http://anna. lib. usm. edu/~spcol/crda/oh/ohburgernp. html Imber, M. & T. Van Geel (2004). Education Law. London: Routledge. Jacobson, M. (1998).Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immig rants and the Alchemy of Race. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Singh, N. (2004). Black is A Country, Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Sugrue, T. (1996). The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Theoharis, J. & Woodard K. (2003). Freedom North: Black Freedom Struggles outside the South, 1940–1980. New York: Pal-grave.

Advanced Audit and Assurance Essay

These briefing notes evaluate the business risks facing Grohl Co, and identify and explain four risks of material misstatement to be considered in planning the audit of the financial statements for the year ended 30 November 2012. In addition, two ethical issues are discussed and relevant actions recommended. (i) Business risks Imported goods – exchange rate fluctuations Grohl Co relies on a key component of its production process being imported from overseas. This exposes the company to exchange rate volatility and consequentially cash flow fluctuations. The company chooses not to mitigate this risk by using forward exchange contracts, which may not be a wise strategy for a business so reliant on imports. Exchange gains and losses can also cause volatility in profits, and as the company already has a loss for the year, any adverse movements in exchange rates may quickly increase this loss. Imported goods – transportation issues Heavy reliance on imports means that transportation costs will be high, and with fuel costs continuing to increase this will put pressure on Grohl Co’s margins. It is not just the cost that is an issue – reliance on imports is risky as supply could be disrupted due to aviation problems, such as the grounding of aircraft after volcanic eruptions or terrorist activities. Reliance on imported goods increases the likelihood of a stock out. Unless Grohl Co keeps a reasonable level of copper wiring as inventory, production would have to be halted if supply were interrupted, creating idle time and inefficiencies, and causing loss of customer goodwill. Reliance on single supplier All of Grohl Co’s copper wiring is supplied by one overseas supplier. This level of reliance is extremely risky, as any disruption to the supplier’s operations, for example, due to financial difficulties or political interference, could result in the curtailment of supply, leading to similar problems of stock outs and halted production as discussed above. Quality control issues Since appointing the new supplier of copper wiring, Grohl Co has subsequently experienced quality control issues with circuit boards, which could result in losing customers (discussed further below). This may have been due to changing supplier as part of a cost-cutting exercise. Given that the new supplier is overseas, it may make resolving the quality control issues more difficult. Additional costs may have to be incurred to ensure the quality of goods received, for example, extra costs in relation to electrical testing of the copper wiring. The company’s operating margins for 2012 are already low at only 4% (2011 – 7Â ·2%), and additional costs will put further pressure on margins. High-technology and competitive industry Grohl Co sells into a high-technology industry, with computers and mobile phones being subject to rapid product development. It is likely that Grohl Co will need to adapt quickly to changing demands in the marketplace, but it may not have the resources to do this.