Leadership and Sustainability Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership and Sustainability - Assignment Example In fact, leaders have come under consideration to be the most substantial elements for the organization and its success. This is because leaders are the people who implement and bring into practice the new strategies and methodologies, as these new techniques or the innovations are the prospective features that facilitate the organizations to accomplish constructive financial outcomes and overall profitability (Gallos, pp. 1-10). Leadership likewise has also come under observation as a process, rather than a trait or a characteristic. However, leadership has come under definition by its promoters as â€Å"process of  social influence  in which one person is able to enlist the aid and  support  of others in the accomplishment of a common  task† (Chamorro-Premuzic, pp. 144). In addition, it also refers to gather, systematize, and manage a cluster of population that can work towards the accomplishment of a shared and widespread goal. The leaders have the ability to infl uence others in a way that they respond willingly to the leader. Besides, it has also come under notice that leaders regulate their leadership style with reference to the situations as well as to the directed people (Chamorro-Premuzic, pp. 143-148). ... Nevertheless, extensive studies suggests that the current leadership styles is immense, colossal, complicated and multifaceted that is in a constant process of magnification. In fact, more and more companies nowadays are looking to sustainability leadership as the core competency in the competition (Pride & Hughes &  Kapoor, pp. 179-186). Scholars even view the fact that patterns of thoughts and actions are not the only attributes that comes under leadership styles, as it is something more than that. However, according to few of the authors, leadership style has come under reference as the method or approach that a leader leads that include his or her communication style and skills of leadership, the way of practicing power and authority, and the impact of these techniques on others (Pride & Hughes &  Kapoor, pp. 179-186). Researchers even bring into limelight that leadership styles lay its foundation on several frameworks, despite the fact that they indicate different and divers e viewpoints, yet the core and fundamental principal behind all continue to portray the same meaning. Empirical studies in the wake of the leadership styles not only illustrate the affiliation and liaison between various factors that support leadership styles, organizational culture and the demands of its environment, but also depict the effects on the performance of the organization (Pride & Hughes &  Kapoor, pp. 179-186). While looking at diverse types of leadership, every sort of leadership works and proves to be efficient, but only in certain cases, where the organization’s business functions and operations are the key responsible elements in determining which

Maria Montessori Language Arts Rationale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Maria Montessori Language Arts Rationale - Essay Example A child learns to listen by hearing the various sounds that the adults around him and also learns to speak by imitating the various sounds that the adults make around him.as Maria Montessori said: There are three main areas where children are prepared for reading and writing. The first is physical skills where a child learns to balance using their hands and coordination of the hand and the eye works. The child also learns to concentrate and focus on the practical issues of life, recognizing sizes and shapes, working with paints, crayons, pencils and practice in talking. The second skill that a child learns is the mental skills where the child learns to absorb and how to use language and how to learn the sounds that each letter of the alphabet makes. This can be made easy by playing games to break up words into sounds (Montessori, 2010). The third skills are the social skills where people living in homes sit down and have conversations instead of watching the television or using the computer to learn language. A directress would know that a child is ready to learn a sound if they try to repeat what has been said to them by an adult around them. The child will also be making sounds on their own that they have heard before. Sounds are taught to children by repeating the sounds over and over until the child is able to differentiate it from other sounds. In learning the different sounds, he child is taught the various sounds of the different letters of the alphabet. There are different rules for the letters and children are very receptive towards rules. Therefore, they are first taught the rules than the different sounds of the letters of the alphabet (Montessori, 1909). The child is taught the phonetic words first and once they have mastered the phonetic part of the alphabets, they are next taught the non-phonetic part of the language where there are no rules whatsoever. A child learns to blend sounds by learning the individual

Organizational Behavior: A Case Study of PCCW Company

Organizational Behavior: A Case Study of PCCW Company Introduction With the numerous changes brought about by the surroundings, machinery, financial system, political affairs, and the general public, changes in the organization must be taken note of in order to deal with the varying demands of the workforce and the clients. In this output-oriented society and generation, every organization must have the skills, capabilities, endurance, and the strategies to be able to meet the demands and the needs of their market. As such, the continuous changes that organizations must undergo may be considered as their only edge in order to cope with the overall changes observed in the society. Thus, appropriate change management must be done in a company to effectively and efficiently facilitate and govern the changes needed by organizations. In the objective of PCCW for market extension, protect its position, and create strategic agreements with other Asian companies, it has borrowed greatly to finance the $38 billion bid for Hong Kong Telecom, which resulted to its debt of US$4 billion. Further decline of its performance is brought about by its lack of confidence in the debt repayment plans among stockholders (Darlington and Cooke, 2000), which contributed to its standing as the worst performing blue-chip company on the list of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2002 and 2003 (PCCW, 2007). In addition to its debt and change in ownership and management are the increasing pressures of competition among the industry. It has been reported that in August 2000, there were 165 external telecommunications services operators and 187 Internet market service providers. The increase in competition led to another cause of the companys problems, which is the existence of monopoly for domestic fixed telephony. This became a major blow fo r the company, as many telephone operators no longer need the gateways and local networks provided by PCCW (Darlington and Cooke, 2000). Furthermore, another basis of its problems is the decrease of its staffs and labor force, which donate to the decline of its operations. An additional cause is the failure of the bid between the company and China, for at the time, China resisted to make consultation with a company that is allied to the Singapore government, which also became the basis of the problems of the Sing Tels bid in the past (Greenlees, 2006).   Additionally, the problem for the company is the generally failing revenues in Hong Kong, with its failure to make considerable advancement to the China mainland. With this, heavy investment in communications all through East Asia must be required before the full potential of PCCW can be appreciated (Darlington and Cooke, 2000).    External Change Driver The PEST Analysis sets up an efficient exploration of the peripheral impacts on a precise company by infringement of the components into indispensable and perceptible elements or factors. The obvious essentials under this type of analysis include Political, Economic, Sociological, and Technological elements. Political factors include the limitations in the policies of the Chinese government with regards to company consultations and mergers; the governments choice of companies outside the country, with which it would make discussions with; distinctive pre-eminence in Chinas legal system; influence of British legal system in Hong Kongs international financial transactions. Economic elements comprise the progress and underdevelopment of infrastructures in East Asia; telecommunications monopoly; debt of PCCW; dollar inflation and deflation rates; financial crises; crumple of asset prices; rate of economic growth. Sociological factors include PCCWs variance with customers that are major stockholders; unemployment; changes in communication, marketing and management; retaining separate superiority over human capital, language, rivalry and challenge. Effects of e-commerce to PCCW; improvement and enhancement of its website; operation and maximization of the Internet; faster negotiations, development of new ultra-modern tools, enhancement of RD through the Internet Internal Change Driver   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the inner alteration drivers of PCCW is the change in its possession, along with the adjustment in its supervision and its executive culture. The culture was then distorted with the amendment in the personnel. Subsequent to the acquirement, most of the staffs working in CW HKT are now employees in PCCW. This led to the change in the customs of the company, from a conventional, seniority-based, and non-market driven, it twisted to a powerfully spirited, performance-based, and customer-focused company. Another internal driver is the modification in the companys main concern. The quality of service is now the companys primary alarm, and the company has been investing millions of dollars in excellence and customer service training. The third internal driver is the change in internal processes (Hatch, 2006). Such changes in internal processes include implementing diverse quality programs, including quality improvement teams and six sigma programs. These changes in the culture of the company brought about the companys reorganization procedure, for instance changing the divisions from a cost-center to a profit-center, thus, making all employees aggravated to make negotiations and business dealings (Cable and Wireless: Jobs Surveys, 2003).   In line with the companys agenda for change, several aspects in the organization can be taken note of, namely, its strategy, structure, processes, and people. In relation to its strategy, PCCW provides solutions for port management, security and CCTV systems, audio and visual solutions, and technical support and maintenance services to various sectors in the industry, such as governments, public services, aviation, and broadcast engineering operations. In addition, it re-entered the mobile market, collaborated with real estate and broadband companies, and improved its telephone directories. In terms of structure, the contribution of its large team of professionals, experiences and knowledge in the IT industry provide excellent ICT solutions that would help customers develop innovative and challenging business opportunities. In terms of processes, the company facilitates outstanding innovation, especially in terms of IP-based business services, New Generation Fixed Line services, broadband pay-TV, Internet access, media content, large-scale IT solutions, mobility, and wireless innovations. In terms of people, it has approximately 17,000 employees, located in different parts of the globe, including mainland China, South America, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Europe, the United States, India, and the Middle East (Company Profile, 2008).    Assessment on the Style of Leadership/Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As mentioned earlier, the management of PCCW was transformed from a conservative, seniority-based, and non-market driven, to a strongly competitive, performance-based, and customer-focused company. From this transformation alone, it can be stated that the style of leadership in PCCW is a Proactive style of leadership. This is because a proactive leader focuses on achieving performance outcomes of his or her team and shares a vision, which compels the team to move towards that vision or goal (Holmes, 2008). However, the presence of conflicts and resistance on the part of the employees may indicate that the type of leadership or management they experience from the company might not be sufficient to fulfill or satisfy their needs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If PCCW Limited did not take any action regarding their problems, a domino effect of negative events would happen. Its debts would further increase, which would afford the company to sell their assets and resources in order to make up for the debts it have in other companies. Resignation of managers would also be another effect of a no change strategy. The increase in debts would lead to further loss of company assets, and later on, to further loss of human resources. Due to the lack of adequate resources and assets, there would the delay, inefficiency, and ineffectiveness of processes and operations in the company that would lead to the decline with the number of its customers, as becoming less satisfied. The loss of customers leads to the loss of profit, thus, resulting to bankruptcy and immediate closing of the company. Proposed Change Strategy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been identified that one of the problems of the company is the lack of infrastructure development in East Asia, which hinders the development of the company. With this, the company must not wait for the development of the region, but must try to find alternative solutions and materials that would suit its processes and the trend of infrastructure in Hong Kong. If the company is bold enough, it can initiate in setting the trend in the city in terms of infrastructure development, given the right resources and the right skills and expertise. In order to do so, the company can invest in its Research Development in its quest to find new supplies and materials. Another proposed change is the implementation of performance management strategies that would help develop and improve the overall performance of the organization. Since the management of PCCW has already been transformed into a performance-based management, performance management of the employees must be done in order to help guide them with their tasks and responsibilities in the organization. This is because performance management serves to focus the efforts and attention of employees in critical tasks using performance feedback (Bernardin and Russell, 1993). This would then allow the employees to gain more knowledge and develop new skills in relation to their work in the company. Another change strategy is the implementation and use of Information Technology or Information Systems, which would facilitate in the organization and information retrieval in the company and in effective communication. Through the use of an IT or IS, the company would be able to organize its customer database that would allow it to have an effective and efficient product inventory, customer follow-ups, and evaluate customer feedbacks for product improvement. Lastly, the organization can improve its operations strategies through the improvement of its supply chain. In the management of its supply chain, both the suppliers and the corporation would be able to have a successful and well-organized affiliation, thus, preventing the impediment of provisions and resources considered necessary by the organization (Robbins, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First and foremost, the realization of the change program would certainly elevate confrontation among the employees and managers of the organization. The sources and the apparent impacts of this resistance were already mentioned in the earlier discussions. Resistance to change of the employees leads to inflexibility and lack of support, ensuing to the delay of the change process and in internal processes and operations. Second issue to take note of is the differences in the preferences of the management and leadership styles of managers in the organization, consequential to varied inter-departmental cultures and practices. Due to such differences, employees would be having a rigid time dealing with other employees, which can be a promising source of conflicts. Third issue is the possibility of needing to lay off employees or reassigning them to new job positions that may require new skills, technologies, and knowledge. This may also le ad to grave threats and conflicts in the organization. Fourth issue is the need for reformation in the departments that may or may not be contributory to the welfare of employees. Fifth issue is the adequacy of resources, which would be essential in sustaining the needs of the company. Finally, the execution of new policies would be a concern for PCCW (Simon, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the argument, it can be apparent that in order for a company to experience and execute a change program, it must be proficient in taking note of different interior and exterior issues that would present an assortment of impacts to the employees and the performance of the organization itself. As such, an efficient organizational change process would consist of important elements including its external environment, internal processes and operations, the welfare of employees, the support of top management, and the satisfaction and demands of customers. Putting each constituent in synchronization and concord would perhaps guarantee a successful adjustment procedure.

Intestinal Neoplasia Model Essay examples -- Biology,

The mammalian intestinal tract is structurally a tube that is divided into two segments: the small and large intestine. The inner wall consists of a simple epithelium called mucosa, which is responsible for the processing and absorption of nutrients (Sancho et al., 2003; Barker et al., 2008). The small intestine epithelium is folded into finger-like protrusions, called villi, directed toward the lumen; the valleys are invaginations into the sub-mucosa and are known as the crypts. In the large intestine, the mucosa lacks villi, and the crypts invaginate deep into the sub-mucosa. There are four distinctive, differentiated cell types in the mucosa to mediate the functions of the intestinal epithelium: enterocyte (EC), goblet cells (GC), enteroendocrine (EE), and Paneth cells (PC) (Radtke and Clevers, 2005; Barker et al., 2008). ECs are absorptive, and the others have secretory function. The epithelium renews its cells after every 4-5 days and is fueled by proliferative stem cells residi ng at the bottom of the crypt. In mammals, swallowed food passes through the esophagus to the stomach, where food accumulates and digestion proceeds; it then moves to the small intestine for nutrient absorption and later to the large intestine for further nutrient, water and electrolyte absorption. Finally, it reaches the rectum and anus for excretion (Thompson and Malagelada, 1981). Like mammalian intestine, Drosophila intestines also have similar tissue architecture and physiological function (Rubin, 2007). Developmentally, both the mammalian gut and Drosophila midgut are of endothelial in origin (Kedinger et al., 1987; Tepass and Hartenstein 1994). They comprise an epithelial monolayer of columnar or cuboidal cells called enterocytes. To maximize i... ...gle (E blast cell) lineage, is made of 20 cells arranged to form a tube with a central lumen. Each of these cell pairs forms an intestinal ring (II-IX int-rings). The most anterior intestinal ring (int ring I), is made of four cells. The apical surfaces of the intestinal cells carry numerous microvilli. In C. elegans, intestine carries out multiple functions that are executed by distinct organs of higher eukaryotes. The primary function of intestinal cells seems to be digestive since they secrete digestive enzymes (e. g. cysteine protease, endodeoxyribonuclease) into the lumen and take up processed material and nutrients. Intestine also seems to be a large storage organ since it contains a large number of assorted storage granules (White J., 1988)). The intestinal contents are excreted to the outside via a rectal valve that connects the gut to the rectum and anus.

Apple Board of Directors

Lydia Butler Board of Directors Apple A. Board of Directors 1. William V. Campbell Chairman Intuit, Inc. (external) 1983 Tim Cook CEO Apple (internal) 2011 Millard S. Drexler Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J. Crew (external) 1999 Albert Gore, Jr. Former Vice President of the United States (external) 2003 Andrea Jung Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Avon Products, Inc. (external) 2008 Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Genentech, Inc. (external) 1980 Ronald D. Sugar, Ph. D. Former Chairman and CEO Northrop Grumman Corporation (external) 2010 2. Members of the board do in fact own stock in Apple including Tim Cook who was given 1 million shares when he became CEO. 3. From research online I found that most Board members had a mix of both public and restricted stock depending on the person. 4. All of the board members are seasoned CEO’s of their own corporations, many of which have been the best of their expertise for decades and served on many other boards. 5. The year each member of the board joined is adjacent to their names. 6. Members of the board do not only â€Å"rubber stamp† management decisions but are also excited to use their talents and ideas to further better the company. For example, in his bio on Apple. com, it is stated about that Ron Sugar that: â€Å"In addition to having been the CEO of a high-tech Fortune 100 company, Ron has a Ph. D. in engineering and has been involved in the development of some very sophisticated technology. † CORPORATE GOVERNANCE A. Board of Directors 1. Who is on the board? Are they internal or external members? 2. Do they own significant shares of stock? 3. Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of stock with different voting rights? 4. What do the board members contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations, do board members have international experience? 5. How long have members served on the board? 6. What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely rubber-stamp top management's proposals, or do they actively participate and suggest future directions? You have a good start here, but additional information and research would have been nice to see. Be sure to provide and cite your references. 80/100

Malware review

While technology in computing continues to rise, computer hackers and crackers are also evolving. Cracking even started at the early age of computer technology. It started from simple codes exploiting bugs in Operating Systems. And now, it becomes a hobby of some. Stealing passwords and exploiting computers are common way of cracking. Some people termed it as hacking. Everyday, anti-virus companies are also upgrading their systems since viruses and other harmful softwares are upgrading. Piracy is another story. It is an act of duplicating someone’s work and sells it. Before, it is not common and hardly be seen. But as devices and softwares are upgrading, duplications can be made in a split of seconds. For some consumers, it is good but for the industry, it is a disadvantage. Piracy is one of the major problems that media industry is facing. But, technology cannot be fathom; it is continuously evolving in exponential manner. Music publishers (the entertainment industry is the ones affected) released their cure or prevention for such exploitation. The program is called â€Å"rootkit†. Basically, its task is to hide copy protection on computers.   With its ability, people can no longer copy music. In this way, piracy can be prevented. But, Sony admitted that someday somehow people will try to crack its code and continue on pirating. But for sure, media industry’s cyber security personnel well not let crackers succeed. On the other hand, due its capability to control computers, rootkit was distinguished by most anti-virus software as a malware. On an article on Technology Review published by MIT and written by Wade Roush, Technology Review interviewed Bruce Scheiener a computer security guru. There, Scheiener discussed about the tool and its capabilities. In â€Å"When Copy Protection Becomes Malware†, the computer security guru specifically identified the work of the rootkit and why it is called a malware. Basically, malware is a form of software that can control the system. Some malwares are harmful. But in the case of Sony, it has no other functions except to hide copy protections on users’ computer. The reason why it is distinguished as malware is because of its capability to manipulate the system wherein the user’s freedom of the product is given limitations. Added by Scheiener, computer users or consumers often times do not know what they are buying. Advertisements are so broad that buyers only see the outside appearance of the capability of the product. Consumers do not know what else their product can do. With this weakness, rootkit see an opportunity. It can’t be distinguished by consumers as harmful except when their anti-virus reacts on it (after distinguishing it as a malware). But these days, rootkit is accepted by anti-virus companies as useful software and now freely preventing music from being copied. In my opinion, it is illegal and unethical to copy a product. The ethical nature of copy protection and its implementation on the other hand is discussed in relation to a new set of copyright laws called The Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This act protects the media industry. It punishes those people involved in illegal duplication of digital products. In some point, consumers do not freely get what they needed for a product. Consumers buy digital products to satisfy their needs. But with this technology, some consumer’s rights are somewhat by passed. If we try to look at some point, there is a contradiction. Consumers wanted to buy a product that will make their lives easy. But this objective is not met since producers have the capability to control the product they want to sell. But, we can also say that it is a part of technology advancement. It is like before. There are no copying devices before so digital products are secured. It only came when the technology advances and devices able to duplicate are manufactured. Digital products vendors are only upgrading their system. They only restore what was lost. With the rootkit, digital products today have similar limitations before, except that it’s more advance and more easy to use. There’s another important thing the article discussed. The rootkit was not detected by anti-virus softwares before. There are people who know that Sony rootkit is freely exploring their computers. One of the reasons for this is that, Sony’s technology or program is more powerful than the anti-virus available that time. There were customers who noticed it. Some make noise that their anti-virus software did not detect the rootkit. It’s really shame on the part of anti-virus provider. Their software should be able to protect the computer from harmful viruses yet rootkit passed the test. We can picture out that programmers are getting their codes better in order to cross the gate which are set by protection softwares. However that did not last a long time. Anti-virus software providers developed further their products and able to detect the rootkit. Scheiener was asked if Sony will not make another program similar to rootkit. The guru said boldly that Sony will again do it when the controversy is over. Well, we cannot blame the company for it. They are only protecting their products from pirates. If more piracy will happen the digital industry will not also last for long. There will be no marketer on the said or similar products. It is also their way of saving their jobs and professions. Malware is really a big issue. Rootkit is not free from that controversy. The process will just create a cycle. There are people who will continue to find ways how to pirate a digital product. Crackers will continue to write codes in order to exploit bugs of every technology. While that is happening, cyber security personnel will find ways to prevent their products from being stolen. This is indeed an indication that we passed the days of low-technology and now experiencing a high-end digital technology. Nonetheless, copy protection will still be recognized as malware unless anti-virus provider withdraws its security on the program. Reference: Roush, W. (2006). When Copy Protection Becomes Malware. Technology Review. Retrieved

Fortune Magazine Says LinkedIn is Rocking!

Fortune Magazine Says LinkedIn is Rocking! On July 15, in an interview by Margaret Larkin on WCKG Chicago’s Geoff Pinkus Show, I was asked what main mistakes people are making on LinkedIn. My response was that the biggest mistake people make is not being on LinkedIn in the first place – or not taking it seriously if they are. This sentiment was echoed in a July 2013 Fortune Magazine article entitled, â€Å"LinkedIn: How It’s Changing Business (And How to Make it Work for You).† Journalist Jessi Hempel asserts, â€Å"In the past year LinkedIn has emerged as one of the most powerful business tools on the planet.† She reports that according to ComScore, the number of users who log on at least once a month has jumped 37% over last year, to 141 million worldwide. Furthermore, 88 of the Fortune 100 use LinkedIn’s licensed recruiting software to search for job candidates; the software obviates the need to pay a headhunter. As a job seeker or business person, why would you not want to jump on the LinkedIn bandwagon with full enthusiasm? LinkedIn is largely conceived as a job seeking hot spot. It might be telling that students represent LinkedIn’s fastest-growing member group, ostensibly because they are cognizant that it is essential to have a positive presence on LinkedIn when entering the job market. What students and other professionals might not realize, as described in the article, is that LinkedIn is not just a tool for job seekers. Large corporations such as Citigroup, NetSuite and Dell are using the power of this business network to target markets, conduct surveys, and conduct creative marketing activities. Also not obvious to most of us is that LinkedIn is working on collecting information that will likely provide some of the most accurate and valuable information about the job market and business throughout the world. CEO Jeff Weiner envisions that â€Å"LinkedIn will provide a real-time measure of where jobs exist, where customers aren’t being served, and where people need training.† One use of the site, for example, would be to identify what colleges are best for obtaining certain jobs after college. After all, LinkedIn has accurate information on where all its members went to college and what types of jobs they’re in now. Watch out U.S. News World Report – LinkedIn is coming! People are paying attention to LinkedIn. The author of the Fortune article related that she updated her LinkedIn profile as part of writing the story; and her colleagues noticed. They jumped to the conclusion that maybe she was thinking of looking for a new job- a common perception when someone updates a profile. But the reality is that updating a profile is a good idea for everyone, not just job seekers. It is a way to â€Å"touch† your network and gain visibility. Maybe you’ll get a lunch meeting out of it, or an interesting information exchange. Perhaps the most interesting point of this article to me personally is that LinkedIn has a vested interest in having its members improve their profiles; if the site is to become competitive in the sales industry, it must provide companies with robust information on social networks. It is odd, therefore, that LinkedIn’s platform is confusing to many, and also, as Ms. Hempel points out, that LinkedIn has not commissioned any â€Å"How to† books about using its site. How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile is cited as one of the premier books on the subject, a mention which makes me proud. Hempel observes that LinkedIn has been extremely persistent in its vision, making it â€Å"the single biggest repository of career data† and positioning the site to be a force in how business is done worldwide. This observation brings me back to my radio interview and my point that the biggest mistake you can make on LinkedIn is not to be on the site or not to take it seriously. How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile I’m doing everything I can to support LinkedIn members in creating effective profiles (and to keep up with the rapid changes LinkedIn is making to its functionality). If you haven’t yet read How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, I encourage you to do so; you can get a free excerpt by signing up for my e-list at https://forms.aweber.com/form/58/584588858.htm. If you want the full version, including FREE lifetime updates, order the pdf for just $9.97 from The Essay Expert. And as always, your questions are welcome. If you have a comment or question please enter it in the comments and you might just see an answer in a future blog!

Walt Whitman †A narrative of the life of Douglass †American Literature Essay (100 Level Course)

Walt Whitman – A narrative of the life of Douglass – American Literature Essay (100 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Walt Whitman A narrative of the life of Douglass American Literature Essay (100 Level Course) Walt Whitman was one of the most forward-looking poets and writers in America. His writing style showed how he thought of America at that time and reflected his views on current affairs and what might happen in the future. Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass, which was a praise on everything that was American. Whitman praised its people and the common American was mentioned several times as being the most important part of the country. Whitman emphasized and talked a lot about the American ways of life as being the best of its kind and as an example to other democracies. He thought of America as a nation of nations due to its citizens who are originally from other nations and the race of races due to its multi racial culture. Whitman also talked about the American poet and the way he depicts America helps its citizens understand more. Whitman was a poet and writer whose idea and lifestyle were ahead of its time. He was truly a visionary and great thinker. Research Papers on Walt Whitman - A narrative of the life of Douglass - American Literature Essay (100 Level Course)Book Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 Europe19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHip-Hop is ArtAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaWhere Wild and West MeetQuebec and CanadaCapital PunishmentPETSTEL analysis of India

A Review Of The Battle Of Lz Albany History Essay

A Review Of The Battle Of Lz Albany History Essay The battle in review is LZ Albany. This battle took place during the Vietnam War under Operation Pleiku. LZ Albany was an ambush on American troops en route to landing zone Albany by NVA regulars. The battle took place on the afternoon of November 17, 1965. The fight involved the US Army 2nd battalion of the 7th Cavalry (2/7) and the NVA 8th battalion of the 66th Regiment. Although the end result of the battle is considered an American victory, the losses suffered were horrendous. It is safe to say this was a pyrrhic victory for the US, only due to the fact that they held the ground at Albany at the end of the battle. This did alter the amount of troops the NVA could attack LZ Columbus with as a side effect. The battle itself would teach many lessons to the US army in regards to the importance of security and the role support by fire played in this theatre of combat. The Vietnam War was a civil war in which the United States was actively involved in. The Northern faction of Vietnam adopted Communism, and thus gained Russia and China as allies. Vietnam until this point was a French territory which was in the process of being liberated by the North Vietnamese. They had defeated France and driven them from parts of the country. France and South Vietnam sought aid from the United States. In reply the United States rendered aid and advisors to South Vietnam. This was due to US foreign policy at the time and staunch opposition to Communism by the US government. If Vietnam fell to Communism it also posed a great economic threat to US interests in South Asia as well. By 1965 the US Armed Forces no longer played the role of advisors for the South Vietnamese in the Vietnam conflict. We were at the point of actively engaging the North Vietnamese in combat. (Stewart 386-320) Under Operation Pleiku, US Army divisions were first employed against the North Vietnamese. This is exactly what the North Vietnamese commander Gen. Nguyen Chi Tranh had desired. His main strategy enc ompassed liberating a vast majority of South Vietnam from southern control and inflicting mass casualties on US forces. The idea was that the American public would not support a war in which multitudes of American soldiers lost their lives. His intent was to shatter the American public’s support and thus drive another foreign imposer out of the country. This plan was titled the Dong Xuan Campaign. (Coleman.51) American forces had already been occupying the provincial capital of Pleiku. Frequent attacks and skirmishes by the NVA gave the impression that they were probing for the best possible place to attack to retake the city. This indicated to US commanders that there was a sizable force of enemy soldiers in the Northern plateaus that needed to be dealt with. A series of landing zones were reconnoitered for probable attack positions. The Army’s objective was simple: to destroy the enemy threat in the area and their will to fight. After securing LZ X-ray, it was the jo b of the 2/7 Cavalry to sweep the gap between LZ X-ray and LZ Columbus, which held US artillery. Their mission was also very simple: to sweep the area between LZ Columbus and LZ Albany, and engage whatever enemy they found.

The purpose of this assignment is to discover the roles of an Essay

The purpose of this assignment is to discover the roles of an operations manager (first-line, middle or top) in Singapore and ho - Essay Example In this study the focus has been on the study of the roles and responsibilities of the operation manager working for Wilmar International Ltd. headquartered at Singapore. The study shows that the role of the operations managers are becoming more and more challenging due to the globalization that is making the organizations to open their businesses in other nation across the border. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Company Profile and Background 5 Company Mission and Vision 5 Integrity 6 Excellence 6 Passion 6 Innovation 7 Teamwork 7 Safety 7 Manager’s Profile 8 Interview Transcript 9 Analysis of the responses given by the Operations Manager 11 Conclusion 13 REFERENCES 15 Introduction In modern organizations the role of the operation managers in framing the strategy of the firm is gaining huge importance. The decisions related to operations is also playing significant role in achieving the competitive advantage. The responsibility of an o perations manager of an organization is to oversee the process that transforms the input into a greater value output. The main concern areas of the operations manager is manufacturing, development of new products, procurement, distribution, research, technology, customer service and distribution. The business strategy of the firm is implemented in the operations. ... long with willingness to change is required, which needs to be relentless and continuous process to improve the performance of the firm (Bruner, 2003). As emphasized by Wild (1979) the decision of the operations manager influences not only the entire organization but also the work with it and the way all the functions are managed. In case of manufacturing firms Armistead and Mapes (1992) claimed that the roles of the operation manager in a manufacturing farm are more beleaguered towards the corporate target rather than the performance measures. This follows the consequence that the focus of the manager should be shifted from scheduling, production planning and control (Gerwin, 1993) to coordination and design of network of knowledge (Mak and Ramaprasad, 2003) or to organization of task connected to marketing and production. The study focuses on in depth analysis on the role of the operational managers of Wilmar International Limited. The analysis will be based on interview that will be conducted on the operation managers of the organization. Company Profile and Background Wilmar International Limited was founded in the year 1991 and is headquartered at Singapore, which is the leading agribusiness group of Asia. Wilmar is ranked as the largest listed company in the Singapore Exchange with regards to the market capitalization. The business activities of Wilmar International includes oilseed crushing, oil palm cultivation, edible oil, specialty fats, sugar milling and refining, biodiesel, oleo chemicals, grain processing and fertilizer manufacturing. The core strategy of Wilmar International is a flexible incorporated agribusiness model that surrounds the whole value chain of processing business dealing with agricultural commodity staring from processing to distribution,

The Innovative Entrepreneur Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Innovative Entrepreneur - Coursework Example An example of disruptive innovation was the iPod. I admired the product because it changed how people listen and buy music (Kahney, 2011). I decided that this was an innovation because it created a new platform to get access to music which did not exist before. Starbuck recent market development strategy of â€Å"Skinny Lattes† and low fat/calorie syrup was innovative. I admired the innovation because it was able to address the increasing change in consumption behavior as more people become concerned about their health. This was innovative because it was able to create a product that fits human health through reducing the level of calories. I decided that the idea was innovative because it was able to address an existing problem of obesity (Starbucks Corporation, 2014). However, the current innovative idea might affect the consumption of other foods. This might affect the company’s performance in the market. The change of PayPal business model from a cryptography company to an online money transfer company was innovative. Currently, PayPal enables people to transfer money online from one part of the world to another within a short time. I admire this innovative idea because it was able to identify a gap that existed in the market, an aspect that led to creation of one of the most successful company in the world (Cohan, 2013). However, the disadvantage of the move is that it affected the original idea that led to establishment of the company. Kahney,  L. (2011, October 22). An Illustrated History of the iPod And Its Massive Impact [iPod 10th Anniversary] | Cult of Mac. Retrieved  May  27, 2014, from

A case study,plan the use of cash in a business and discuss the Assignment

A case study,plan the use of cash in a business and discuss the financial aspects of assessing managerial performance - Assignment Example The ABC costing process helps in the most beneficial allocation of resources on profit bearing products, departments and activities and reducing the costs associated with non-profitable products, services or activities. The Activity Based Costing (ABC) method is an extremely advanced costing method that helps to increase the profitability of an organization through the identification of the unnecessary costs that can be eliminated to lower the overall production costs of the organization. The Activity Based Costing (ABC) method is being considered by the case company i.e. Berry Ltd. Berry Ltd. has been using the traditional absorption costing method as the main costing technique for the company. The company manufactures three main products and the costs and resources of each of the products are allocated through the use of the absorption costing process. Absorption costing is a managerial costing method in which the expensing of the costs of all the products manufactured in the company are allocated through the consideration of both the total overheard cost and the total direct costs associated with the manufacture of each of the products. As per the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), absorption costing is the preferred method of costing used by the companies for the purpose of external reporting (Clyde, Brown and Whalen 2006). The management of Berry Ltd is considering the adoption of the Activity Based Costing (ABC) method in the company in order to achieve better cost management and control in the company. According to both the Production Director and the Finance Director of Berry Ltd. the use of the Activity Based Costing (ABC) method is likely to improve the overall cost control of the company and thus, lead to increased profitability in the business. Since, lowering the operational costs is a major way of increasing the margins associated with the manufacture and subsequent

Shopping Centres in Prague Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Shopping Centres in Prague - Essay Example They are also choosy in selecting the shopping centres. This research is aimed at studying the shopping centres in Prague and what are the preferences that the people who use it have. In today's modern world, time is perceived as a precious commodity; accordingly the society is very much concerned with time management. Therefore, it is expected that in order to be as time efficient as possible people avoid visiting shopping centres, which require an extended travelling time. They are more likely to visit frequently the shopping centre, which is easily reachable and accordingly requires a less time consuming travel. Transportation by car is to be expected when travelling to an edge-of-city shopping centre, on the contrary people are more likely to use public transport, bicycle or simply walk when travelling to an in-town shopping centre. Congestion and other traffic problems have made access to in-town shopping centres increasingly difficult, consequently this became a highly time consuming transportation method. Therefore, public transport is the solution, as it is not affected by traffic, thus it is expected to be used along with other methods like foot and bicycle which likewise are not influenced by traffic. Nevertheless, edge-of-city shopping centres are more easily accessible by means of car transportation as they tend to be located in areas where road communication is designed to create comfortable approach, these areas usually do not suffer from high levels of congestion. Moreover, car transportation allows people to carry bulky goods easily, this is of high importance as shopping tends to be one of the main reason for the visit. Methods of data collection A list of all Prague's main shopping centres was made. This was then divided into in-town and edge-of-city shopping centres. The entire investigation is then based on this assortment. The Annexure-I gives the list of shopping centres. Both the hypothesis needs to be tested with the available number of shopping centres. Since it is difficult to check or study every one of the shopping centres available, it was decided to take two randomly selected shopping centres, one each from either of the groups, for this purpose2.

Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Marketing Plan - Essay Example Supplementing it will be rice and salad. Juices will also be served but this will also be squeezed in front of the customer and fulfill our health proposition. The total estimated cost of setting up the restaurant is estimated to be $70, 000. The selection of the products served by us is justified by many reasons. First and foremost is the inclusion of chicken in the eating menu of most of the people. This will give is an instant head-start because chicken preparations are liked by almost every single person. Secondly, from health and nutrition point of view, juices will also attract people. In a nutshell, chicken and juice will serve as a short-meal combination which can satisfy short span hunger and can be eaten before proper meals. Initially price will be set lower to attract customers and develop confidence in them of our food and service quality at reasonable prices. It will also be set keeping in mind what other restaurants serving the same item are charging for it. But we will fix the rate at slightly low. Place selected for the business is Downtown San Francisco where tourists come from all over the world and the place welcomes people from diverse culture. Because chicken is an item liked by almost all cultures and traditions, this place offers the most advantageous position to locate our business. Promotion strategies of our business will include radio announcements, pamphlet distribution, hoardings, newspaper advertisements and word-of-mouth publicity. Initially, discounts will be provided on family orders and inviting friends. We will also try to gain contracts at major shops and tourist destinations for serving our juices there. Later on when the business catches up, loyalty cards and rewards will be given to regular customers to retain them and get positive feedbacks and publicity. Our primary target market will be tourists who try each and every item selling at the place they visit.

A case study,plan the use of cash in a business and discuss the Assignment

A case study,plan the use of cash in a business and discuss the financial aspects of assessing managerial performance - Assignment Example The ABC costing process helps in the most beneficial allocation of resources on profit bearing products, departments and activities and reducing the costs associated with non-profitable products, services or activities. The Activity Based Costing (ABC) method is an extremely advanced costing method that helps to increase the profitability of an organization through the identification of the unnecessary costs that can be eliminated to lower the overall production costs of the organization. The Activity Based Costing (ABC) method is being considered by the case company i.e. Berry Ltd. Berry Ltd. has been using the traditional absorption costing method as the main costing technique for the company. The company manufactures three main products and the costs and resources of each of the products are allocated through the use of the absorption costing process. Absorption costing is a managerial costing method in which the expensing of the costs of all the products manufactured in the company are allocated through the consideration of both the total overheard cost and the total direct costs associated with the manufacture of each of the products. As per the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), absorption costing is the preferred method of costing used by the companies for the purpose of external reporting (Clyde, Brown and Whalen 2006). The management of Berry Ltd is considering the adoption of the Activity Based Costing (ABC) method in the company in order to achieve better cost management and control in the company. According to both the Production Director and the Finance Director of Berry Ltd. the use of the Activity Based Costing (ABC) method is likely to improve the overall cost control of the company and thus, lead to increased profitability in the business. Since, lowering the operational costs is a major way of increasing the margins associated with the manufacture and subsequent

Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Marketing Plan - Essay Example Supplementing it will be rice and salad. Juices will also be served but this will also be squeezed in front of the customer and fulfill our health proposition. The total estimated cost of setting up the restaurant is estimated to be $70, 000. The selection of the products served by us is justified by many reasons. First and foremost is the inclusion of chicken in the eating menu of most of the people. This will give is an instant head-start because chicken preparations are liked by almost every single person. Secondly, from health and nutrition point of view, juices will also attract people. In a nutshell, chicken and juice will serve as a short-meal combination which can satisfy short span hunger and can be eaten before proper meals. Initially price will be set lower to attract customers and develop confidence in them of our food and service quality at reasonable prices. It will also be set keeping in mind what other restaurants serving the same item are charging for it. But we will fix the rate at slightly low. Place selected for the business is Downtown San Francisco where tourists come from all over the world and the place welcomes people from diverse culture. Because chicken is an item liked by almost all cultures and traditions, this place offers the most advantageous position to locate our business. Promotion strategies of our business will include radio announcements, pamphlet distribution, hoardings, newspaper advertisements and word-of-mouth publicity. Initially, discounts will be provided on family orders and inviting friends. We will also try to gain contracts at major shops and tourist destinations for serving our juices there. Later on when the business catches up, loyalty cards and rewards will be given to regular customers to retain them and get positive feedbacks and publicity. Our primary target market will be tourists who try each and every item selling at the place they visit.

The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay â€Å"The most iconic characters in literature are alienated by the changing world around them. † Discuss these ideas in relation to The Great Gatsby and Nineteen Eighty-Four. In ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Fitzgerald frequently demonstrates how isolated his strongest characters are by the world around them through a variety of techniques. Both Nick and Gatsby are presented as being alienated from the world in some way and, as suggested by William Troy, both characters represent two forces in Fitzgerald’s own life – â€Å"’intelligent and responsible’ vs. ‘dream ridden romantic. † He uses symbolism frequently throughout the novel to suggest that this split autobiographical portrayal of his characters is representative of the limbo between â€Å"‘power’ and ‘dream’† as said by Lionel Trilling in his critical essay, and the immovability this creates within people. I find confinement of characters is shown in the novel through a use of pathetic fallacy. Fitzgerald also uses the novel to introduce the theme of class and demonstrate how wealth constricts different people in different ways, despite sometimes seeming like the key to happiness. Many of these ideas are echoed in ‘Nineteen Eight-Four,’ in which Orwell uses symbolism to emphasise his totalitarian oppressive society. One way Fitzgerald portrays his characters as confined by the world around them is through his use of pathetic fallacy. The phrase ‘weather-beaten’ is used to describe Nick’s bungalow on the West Egg and this implied that it wasn’t just the people in ‘The Great Gatsby’ that the weather and change bore down on, but the buildings too. When Nick first visits Tom Buchanan at his home, Fitzgerald says the two men talk on ‘the sunny porch’ with the sunshine here being presented as a sense of optimism that Nick can find companionship with a man he knew at ‘Yale’. When Nick talks to Daisy during that first visit, he tells her there’s a ‘persistent wail all night’ along the shore of where they’ve left; Nick is bowing to Daisy’s desire to be missed by personifying nature to allow it to chase after her, much like Gatsby. Sunshine again is used by Fitzgerald to present those who are indulgently wealthy when Nick visits Tom and Myrtle’s apartment which was ‘full of cheerful sun’ until night time and alcohol were brought into the story. Alcohol is usually accompanied with darkness within the novel, to reflect Fitzgerald’s potential personal distaste as a recovering alcoholic at the point of writing the novel. Of Gatsby’s parties, it is said they are held on ‘summer nights,’ a phrase still managing to retain the concept of summer and nice weather to attach to the wealth. Once Nick has arranged the meeting between Daisy and Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses pathetic fallacy to mirror Gatsby’s emotions within the chapter. As he waits for Daisy coloured with ‘embarrassment,’ it is ‘pouring rain’ but once Daisy arrives and he sees her with ‘unreasoning joy’ it has ‘stopped raining,’ and finally as Nick leaves Daisy and Gatsby looking at each other with ‘wonder’ over a piano, there are ‘twinkle-bells of sunshine’ leaving a sense of hope to the chapter that the constraining rain did not hold. Again, at Gatsby’s funeral, Fitzgerald writes the weather to very clearly reflect the character’s moods. Nick is deeply saddened by the loss of his friend and the rain is repeatedly described to be ‘thick’ and ‘heavy,’ a force to be reckoned with that the characters must move ‘through to the cars. ’ The rain is shown to hang around Nick, replacing the people the funeral lacks in attendance and shows that Fitzgerald thinks it is a trapping task for a man to abandon the side of him that dreams. Similarly, Orwell also uses metaphor at the beginning of ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,’ as Winston enters Victory Mansions to describe the ‘swirl of gritty dust’ following him into the building, reminiscent of how the Party trace every movement and every action, confining their citizens in the most suffocating of manners; the dust reminiscent of the dark, rainy sky in ‘The Great Gatsby’ closing in on the characters. Fitzgerald frequently depicts the isolation of characters in ‘The Great Gatsby’ with use of various reoccurring symbols. Colours are something the author uses in various ways. The colour yellow, which we have already seen mirrored in Fitzgerald’s use of pathetic fallacy with the large amounts of yellow sunshine symbolises decay and corruptness. The reader is told Gatsby’s car is a ‘rich cream’ colour. Not only is the mustard colour of the car symbolism, it is a representation of Gatsby himself – ostentatious and over-the-top in displaying his wealth. Later in the novel, Fitzgerald writes that the car ‘mirrored a dozen suns’ with its large amount of windshields. This give the interpretation that the car is glowing, further drawing on the yellow symbolism of decay for the personal representation of corruption. Perhaps intentionally, it is also this car that leads to Gatsby’s own destruction by being so conspicuous. Gatsby’s demise by his own car leads to the idea presented by Fitzgerald that one cannot escape decay. The Valley of Ashes is riddled with symbolism, from the ‘ash grey’ men that inhabit the ‘grey land’ to the looming billboard eyes of T. J. Eckleburg. The colour grey here symbolises dreariness and monotony, and with the character of Wilson, Fitzgerald ties this to a lack of wealth. The lack of light implies claustrophobia within its inhabitants – Tom says it’s good for Myrtle to ‘get out. The ‘dimmed’ eyes of Eckleburg ‘look out’ over the characters in the novel and symbolise the ever growing commercialism of America and how this change causes moral depravity. This is again emphasised by how Wilson equates these eyes to God when finding out about Myrtle’s affair with the phrase ‘God knows’ what she’s being doing. The eyes watched as Tom and Myrtle had to drive past them to get to their apartment, and the loss of Myrtle’s life occurred in the miserable valley of ashes under their omniscient gaze. Another colour Fitzgerald utilises is white, though it is usually placed in juxtaposition to the character wearing it. Daisy and Jordan, first seen in ‘rippling’ white dresses, are not seen in any other colour but white – falsely implying the purity and innocence women were just losing the expectation to have. This lies in line with Joan Korenman’s interpretation that says the ambiguity of Daisy’s hair colour from dark to light symbolises ‘the fair and the dark women’ of literature, with fair hair being stereotyped as innocent – something the reader finds neither Daisy nor Jordan to be. Fitzgerald is also referencing the ‘expansion of femininity’ with the 1920s â€Å"new women. † In ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,’ Orwell also uses symbolism when he writes a poster that ‘gazes down’ with large, ‘dark’ eyes much like those of T. J. Eckleburg, that are pasted all over London by the Party – comforting to some inhabitants with the name ‘Big Brother,’ but a threat to others because the posters watch their every move. However the connotations of ‘Big Brother’ are a lot more oppressive than those of God in ‘The Great Gatsby’ and cause Winston’s alienation and his subsequent relationship with Julia. Another way Fitzgerald shows that the characters in ‘The Great Gatsby’ are ostracised because of the world they inhabit is through his presentation of classism and how that affects the interaction between people, as well as isolating them to their own class. Ross Posnock argues that the characters in ‘The Great Gatsby’ are so obsessed with material wealth they treat each other like objects and this could leave many people feeling objectified and therefore ostracised by those who claim to care about them. This is seen when Nick says the cocktails are ‘floating’ – completely overlooking the fact Gatsby’s hired staff are holding the trays. Marxists argue that Nick overlooks the existence and therefore the difficulties of the working class. However at the start of the novel, after the events of the story, Fitzgerald writes that Nick is aware the ‘fundamentally decencies’ are ‘parcelled out unequally at birth’ at that point, which means he knows class play a big role in identity in his current society. Fitzgerald further supports this with the phrase ‘wanted the world to be in uniform’ which is simultaneously a nod to the passing of World War I and also emphasising that Nick has had enough of the upper class’ selfish behaviours. When Nick is sitting on the porch with Daisy and Tom, Tom states that their society is ‘going to pieces’ and spews racist ideals. This is Fitzgerald showing that Tom feels he is at the top of society and does not want to be ‘submerged’ by those he feels are beneath him – the lower class and immigrants. However, earlier when Tom shows Nick his ‘nice place’ the reader can see it isn’t as big or obnoxious as Gatsby’s home and the divide between the â€Å"Old Rich† and â€Å"New Rich† starts to become clear. This minute difference in class leaves the upper classes estranged from each other. At the start of the novel, it is made clear that even Nick’s family have been wealthy ‘for three generations’ and this makes him acceptable despite been less rich than those he socialises with. Like Fitzgerald, Orwell uses the class divide in ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ to define between members of the Party (who are granted great privileges and freedoms), the middle class who obey the Party (such as Winston), and the proles who ( are a ‘swarming mass’ so poor they are ‘disregarded’ by the Party, which is so convinced of their inability to have action against them – much like Nick’s complete ignorance to Gatsby’s servants at the party. After exploring a variety of factors throughout this essay, I agree with the critical opinion, especially in terms of ‘The Great Gatsby’ as one of Fitzgerald’s main themes throughout was of how Gatsby was trapped in the past and this isolated him from the present. This can be seen especially in the last paragraph of the book, in which Fitzgerald compares his character to boats ‘beating on. ’ I feel Orwell’s characters also felt claustrophobic in their London because of the new law implemented by the Party, and Winston’s submission at the end of the novel is representative of Orwell’s warning to the readers.

Analysis of umbrella branding

Analysis of umbrella branding The 1980s witnessed a revolution in the understanding of the working of the brands. Marketers describe brands as a mirror image of customers own personalities, so that customers can relate to their products well. In fact the unique aspect of the modern marketing has been that it has focused upon the creation of differentiated brands and using them as weaponry for initiating multi-level attacks on the opposition. Market research has been used as a marketing tool to help recognize and develop the bases of brand differentiation. A brand not only identifies a product but also its sources. Along came brand extension. At present brand extension strategies and policies are widely engaged because of beliefs that they build and communicate strong brand positioning, amplify profitability and enhance awareness. Brands are often extended beyond their initial categories to incorporate new product categories. Research has proved that the success of brand extension depends on the transfer of parent brand awareness and associations to the extension. The transfer of these quality perceptions is the key in umbrella branding. An umbrella brand is a type of brand that covers various kinds of products which are more or less related. It applies also to any company that is identified only by its brand and the brand history. It is contrasted with individual branding in which each product in a portfolio is given an exclusive brand name and identity. An umbrella brand is an overarching brand used across multiple products which are related to each other. Another name for umbrella branding is family branding. Time and again economies of scope are related with umbrella branding since multiple products can be proficiently promoted with a single advertisement or campaign. This type of branding facilitates new product introductions by providing a familiar brand name, which can lead to product acceptance, trial purchase and other advantages. Umbrella branding may impress on the brand owner a superior burden to sustain constant quality. If the quality of even one of the products in the brand family is compromised, it could have an impact on the reputation of all the others. This is a major reason why umbrella branding is generally limited to product lines that consist of products of similar quality. Umbrella branding is extensively practiced. The umbrella brand and individual brands are compared to an Indian family, where in umbrella brands like the Indian family, the father is the head, looking over the children (individual brands). When they grow up and become independent, they hold the umbrella for the family. On the other hand the individual brands are like a western family, who grow up fast and leave the family behind. EXAMPLES OF UMBRELLA BRANDING: Amuls strategy of using umbrella branding has really paid off. Amuls marketing and advertising spend has never exceeded 1% of its revenues. Most of the other food companies spend 6-7% of their revenues on advertising and marketing. They are not big spenders compared to Nestle or Britannia. Despite a limited budget, Amuls creatives in the form of: 1) Billboards or 2) The Taste of India campaign have always managed to remind a larger-than-life brand feel, reliability and spirit of Indian culture in a modern way. Hindustan Unilevers beverage brands have been combined under two umbrella brands Brooke Bond and Lipton. In the fabric wash category, it has retained only Surf, Rin and Wheel. With time HUL has withdrawn its brands such as Nihar, Dalda, 501 and Sunlight; it plans to extract some more brands and put them under a few umbrella brands. HUL is currently focusing on its 35 power brands. Nivea the cosmetics brand has its presence in a huge number of product categories and countries. Niveas performance impelled a yahoo.com news article to name it the Queen of Mega Brands. This title was appropriate since the brand was present in over 14 product categories and was available in more than 151 countries. Nivea was reportedly believed to be a brand of local origin having been present in them for many decades. This fact went a long way in helping the brand attain the leadership status in many categories and countries. According to analysts, the brand was the single largest factor for the 4.6% increase in the companys revenues and 10.8% increase in after-tax profit. Beiersdorf never tried to change the umbrella branding of Nivea and got prolific results. PROCESS OF BRAND EQUITY BRAND EXTENSIONS A company may use its existing brand name to launch new products in other categories. Honda uses its name to market various products like automobiles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and lawn mowers. This allows Honda to advertise that: It can fit six Hondas in a two car Garage Godrej now features its name on soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, locks, shower gel, raw chicken, almirahs, etc. The latest trend in corporate brand building is that corporation is licensing their names to manufacturer of a wide range of products from bedding to shoes. Brand extensions also involve risk. The new product might disappoint buyers damage their respect for the companys other product. The brand may lose its special positioning in the consumers mind due to dilution. When consumers no longer correlate a brand with highly similar products or a special power Dilution occurs. History of Brand Extension Brand extension is being used since a long time and is not a recent phenomenon. It has been prominent since a long time in the luxury goods sector. India has been fortunate enough to always have big business houses like Godrej, Tatas, and Birla who have always pushed newer and varied products under one Brand Name. Tata From Steel to Cars Godrej -From locks to Farm fresh Chicken Ambanis after decades of distinction in Industrial chemicals have now entered into telecom and power sector. WHY EXTEND THE BRAND? Innovation allows the brand to remain up-to date, allows a company to achieve a competitive advantage over the other and demonstrate a continuous attentiveness to the changes in customer taste. Also a major factor in brand extension is the cost of advertising. BRAND EXTENSION: HOW? There are two preparatory stages, before setting any practical extension. The first is the exploratory stage- It probes all the memories and the associations that the people have in their minds with the brand. This stage helps in assuming as to which products would be compatible with the brands meaning. Second study phase- New products ideas are tested. A decision cannot be made on the basis of this information alone. Strategic decisions lead to brand extensions. It also involves factors linked with marketing, finance, human resources and production. It cannot be over-emphasized that extension cannot be contemplated without the complete knowledge of the brands attributes. Why Brand Extension Fail? The various reasons why the effort of brand extension can fail are that the strategy presupposes one or more assumptions. Assumption one: It will help get trial / sell the new product. This need not be unavoidable, even if it is reasonable. The extension of the brand name will help to get trial only if it is seen to Add Value to the new product. Example, when Nirma introduced toothpaste -many consumers who saw a value in Nirma washing powder, did not find it in the toothpaste. Assumption Two: It will help to reinforce the existing product. A brand extension can easily achieve this, but only if the new product incorporates a truly New Idea. Example, the Apple computers brand was actually enhanced by the introduction of the iPod MP3 Player but this was a result of the iPod being a sensationally new idea. The Apple brand could not have achieved this, if the iPod was just another regular MP3 player. Assumption Three: The brand equity will ensure ready recognition in the new category. A common assumption is that the brand has enough Stretch to carry its strength into a new category. Example, Bournvita was unable to extend its strength to biscuits from a health beverage. One of the most critical weaknesses in many Brand extension initiatives is that they start with the marketer and not the consumer. Brand Extensions will succeed only when they research and have a Consumer Connect. Guidelines for Brand Extension Guideline One: Extend a strong Performance Characteristic Association. This is the simplest level at which to begin. Amul stands for pure milk. Indeed it is likely that to many consumers, Amul is milk. Therefore, it is easy to extend the brand from wet milk, to butter, to cheese, to dairy whitener, and recently, to ice cream. However, with pizza, Amul may now be moving just a bit too far from the core milk association. Does the consumer think Pizza = cheese (=milk) or is Pizza = baked food? Guideline Two: Extend a strong Benefit Association. Fair Lovely owns the skin fairness benefit strongly enough to extend the brand from the original fairness cream to a lotion to a soap to an under-eye cream. Guideline Three: Extend an association with a Consumer Attitude or Belief. Nike and its swoosh stand for pushing oneself beyond the limit and an individualistic attitude so the brand appeals to those who share this view and who wear the brand as a badge: in sports shoes, sports goods, bags, casual wear, even watches. Guideline Four: Extend the brand based on Brand Essence. There are also several watch-outs to note before extending brands. Watch-out One: Is your brand extension sending out contradictory signals? This could be happening in the case of Nivea, where after offering skin-care products for women for years, a range of mens toileteries was introduced under the same name. Bad idea. Watch-out Two: Is there any link to the brand extensions or is it merely a convenient, available name thats being used? Maggi came into India with 2-Minute noodles a hearty, anytime snack. Since then the Maggi brand has been extended to sauces, soup cubes, even pickles. There is nothing that holds this set of products together. Is it surprising that the extensions are not resounding successes? Watch-out Three: Check the interpretation of the link across extensions. Dettol was the ubiquitous antiseptic liquid (and then cream). When the brand was first extended to soaps, the antiseptic property was interpreted to mean care and Dettol was launched as The Love and Care Soap. It did not work. Today, many years later, Dettol soap offers protection a more realistic interpretation of the antiseptic property, and the soap is doing far better. A few umbrella brands or individual brands? According to experts, independent brands only make sense when the product clearly has a different proposition from the company brand; like Lexus from Toyota and Swatch from Omega. In the case of Asian Paints, there were so many sub-brands, there was a reduction of media weights for advertising each entity. Then, the company shifted to a brand-centric portfolio, which involved a change of logo, product names, packaging and advertising. But the response from the trade and consumers has been positive, overall brand synergy and shop presence have increased, and the advertising is more effective. Most probably in near future the media environment will make it impossible to create newer brand names and the conditions at the consumer level, as well as the environment. So unless the product is clearly different in the mind of the consumer, umbrella branding is the way to go. Umbrella brands are going to rule! Nestle SA , the worlds leading food manufacturer and the market leader in both coffee and mineral water, produces a wind range of products including prepared dishes and cooking aids, milk-based products, cereals, instant coffee, pharmaceuticals and baby foods. Nestle SA is a publicly owned company, with subsidiaries across the world. It website addresses in 104 countries. It is also the world largest food and beverage company with $71 billion in annual sales and almost 230,000 employees around the world. It markets some 8000 brands that include instant coffee. Remarkably, its products are sold in every country in the world, including in North Korea. Nestle coat of arms, the birds nest, which refers to his name, has become a symbol for the products being a safe care for their consumer product safety and quality. Research and development based innovation capacity and strong brands are priority for Nestle.

SC college Info :: essays research papers

University of South Carolina-Columbia Applying: % Applications Admitted: 67%.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  76-100% of students had H.S. GPA 3.0 or higher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regular Application Deadline: 12/15/Previous Year Costs: Living On and Off Campus Costs: $7,314  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cost/Credit Hour (In-State): $324 *Health professions have higher undergraduate fees. Financial Aid Distribution: 56% (Scholarships/Grants), 44% (Loans/Jobs). Average % of Needs Met: 89%. Average SAT and ACT Scores: SAT Reasoning Verbal: 520-620 SAT Reasoning Math: 520-630 ACT Composite: 22-27 Admissions Policies and Factors: Admission Requirements: SAT Reasoning Test or ACT w/writing. Very Important Admission Factors: secondary school records, standardized test scores. Considered: recommendations, talent/ability. High School Preparation: 19 units required. (AP) Policy: Good AP exam scores gain college credit. Clemson University Applying: % Applications Admitted: 69%.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  76-100% of students had H.S. GPA 3.0 or higher. Priority Application Deadline: 12/01/--   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regular Application Deadline: 05/01/Year After  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Costs: Living On and Off Campus Costs: $8,816 (In-state annual) + $1,600 average for required laptops. Financial Aid Distribution: 52% (Scholarships/Grants), 48% (Loans/Jobs). Average % of Needs Met: 34% Average SAT and ACT Scores: SAT Reasoning Verbal: 540-640 SAT Reasoning Math: 570-660 ACT Composite: 24-28 Admissions Policies and Factors: Admission Requirements: SAT Reasoning Test w/writing component or ACT w/writing component.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SAT II Subject Tests considered if submitted. Very Important Admission Factors: class rank, secondary school records, standardized test scores, state residency. Important Admission Factors: alumni relation. Considered: essay, recommendations, talent/ability. High School Preparation: 19 units required. (AP) Policy: AP exam scores of 3, 4, or 5 gain college credit. University of Maryland-Baltimore Applying: % Applications Admitted: 70%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  76-100% of students had GPA of 3.0 or higher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Priority Application Deadline: 11/01/--  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regular Application Deadline: 02/01/Next Year Costs: Living On and Off Campus Costs: $8,520 (In-state annual)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cost/Credit Hour: $270   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $16,596 (Out-of-State annual)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cost/Credit Hour: $606 Financial Aid Distribution: 51% (Scholarships/Grants), 49% (Loans/Jobs). Average % of Needs Met: 60% Average SAT and ACT Scores: SAT Reasoning Verbal: 540-650 SAT Reasoning Math: 580-670 ACT Composite: 22-28 Admissions Policies and Factors: Admission Requirements: essay(s), SAT Reasoning Test w/ or w/o writing component or ACT w/writing. Very Important Admission Factors: secondary school records, standardized test scores. Important Admission Factors: class rank, essay, recommendation. Considered: character/personal qualities, extracurricular activities, interview, talent/ability, volunteer work, work experience. High School Preparation: 22 units required. (AP) Policy: Good AP Exam scores gain college credit. Johns Hopkins University-Baltimore Applying: % Applications Admitted: 30%.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  76-100% of students had GPA 3.0 or higher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regular Application Deadline: 11/15/Previous Year Costs: Living On and Off Campus Costs: $32,120 (In & Out-of-State annual) Financial Aid Distribution: 79% (Scholarships/Grants), 21% (Loans/Jobs). Average % of Needs Met: 100% Average SAT and ACT Scores: SAT Reasoning Verbal: 640-730 SAT Reasoning Math: 660-760 ACT Composite: 27-32 Admissions Policies and Factors: Admission Requirements: essay(s), SAT Reasoning w/ or w/o writing component or ACT w/ or w/o writing, SAT II Subject Test recommended. Very Important Admission Factors: character/personal qualities, essay, recommendation, secondary school

Diabetes: Prevention and Treatment Essay -- Diseases/Disorders

Public health emphasizes the importance of prevention and proactively taking care of one’s body. As people grow older, they must follow certain guidelines to ensure that they age healthily and successfully. One of the biggest concerns facing the aging population is chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are long term diseases that have a slow progression. Once chronic diseases pass â€Å"certain symptomatic or diagnostic thresholds,† they become a permanent aspect of an individual’s life because â€Å"medical and personal regimens can sometimes control but can rarely cure them† (Albert and Freeman 105). One chronic condition that is a cause of concern is diabetes. Diabetes is not only one of the leading causes of death in the over 65 population but also one of the most prevalent and debilitating conditions (111). Diabetes is a chronic disease or condition that involves the hormone insulin, which helps regulate the amount of glucose in a person’s bloodstream. When cells are in need of energy the pancreas produce insulin; this mechanism allows cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body has become resistant to its own insulin; this leaves an excess amount of glucose in the bloodstream as there is no insulin present to guide it to the cells (â€Å"Diabetes†). There are two types of diabetes that affects the worldwide population: Type I and Type II. Type I is typically prevalent in children and is characterized by an insulin deficiency. Type II diabetes is adult onset and occurs when the body is resistant to the insulin it produces. Type II affects approximately 90 percent of people with diabetes around the world. Due to the similarity in symptoms between both types... ... Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Aug. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. . "Diabetes." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, Aug. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. . "HealthEase." Division of Aging and Community Services. State of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Web. 03 May 2012. . "Medicare Diabetes Screening Project." Medicare Diabetes Screening Project. Web. 03 May 2012. . Span, Paula. "For Elderly Diabetics, Questions About Aggressive Care." New York Times. New York Times, 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. . Diabetes: Prevention and Treatment Essay -- Diseases/Disorders Public health emphasizes the importance of prevention and proactively taking care of one’s body. As people grow older, they must follow certain guidelines to ensure that they age healthily and successfully. One of the biggest concerns facing the aging population is chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are long term diseases that have a slow progression. Once chronic diseases pass â€Å"certain symptomatic or diagnostic thresholds,† they become a permanent aspect of an individual’s life because â€Å"medical and personal regimens can sometimes control but can rarely cure them† (Albert and Freeman 105). One chronic condition that is a cause of concern is diabetes. Diabetes is not only one of the leading causes of death in the over 65 population but also one of the most prevalent and debilitating conditions (111). Diabetes is a chronic disease or condition that involves the hormone insulin, which helps regulate the amount of glucose in a person’s bloodstream. When cells are in need of energy the pancreas produce insulin; this mechanism allows cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body has become resistant to its own insulin; this leaves an excess amount of glucose in the bloodstream as there is no insulin present to guide it to the cells (â€Å"Diabetes†). There are two types of diabetes that affects the worldwide population: Type I and Type II. Type I is typically prevalent in children and is characterized by an insulin deficiency. Type II diabetes is adult onset and occurs when the body is resistant to the insulin it produces. Type II affects approximately 90 percent of people with diabetes around the world. Due to the similarity in symptoms between both types... ... Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Aug. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. . "Diabetes." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, Aug. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. . "HealthEase." Division of Aging and Community Services. State of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Web. 03 May 2012. . "Medicare Diabetes Screening Project." Medicare Diabetes Screening Project. Web. 03 May 2012. . Span, Paula. "For Elderly Diabetics, Questions About Aggressive Care." New York Times. New York Times, 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. .

Communication Climates, Responses, and Dynamics

This paper will discuss small teams on a reality show called â€Å"There goes the Neighborhood†. This show is about a neighborhood that allows a brick wall to gate them in and they must learn to work together, not only as a family, but as neighbors too. In the beginning of the game, everything is taken away from them. For example, all of the luxuries such as appliances, televisions, snacks, video games, and children’s toys were all removed. There was no need for their cars since there was a huge wall around the neighborhood. These teams not only had to learn to become a team, but it would also teach them to appreciate everything that they have. The game encourages team work, because without teamwork the teams would lose the challenges that are presented to both teams. Even though the challenges are staged, they push the competitors to extreme emotional, physical, and mental states. The challenges are rewarded with prizes for the winning team. Defensive and supportive climates are always going to be a part of communication. With that in mind we look at a certain style and that is certainty vs. provisionalism. The Nelson Family seems to believe that everything should go their way, and were working on the Johnston’s as allies to get rid of the people they did not like. Since the Nelson family did not approve of the Mullinax family because they were lesbian mothers they wanted them out of the game. This shows certainty because they were very defensive on the subject. The other families showed provisionalism because they were open to the Mullinax’s situation. This began to tear families apart and finally the other families were tired of being followers and kicked the Nelson family off. Later on in the game, the families started to notice that the Mullinax family was just giving excuses every week for why they should not be eliminated. First it was for stereotypes, and then it was for nobody liking them, and this week it was they live paycheck to paycheck and have two children going to college soon. It seemed as though other family members were getting tired of the excuses and felt as if they might be using it to their advantage to win the game, so they eliminated the Mullinax’s. The Mullinax’s started to show defensive behavior thinking it would save them and people would show sympathy for them, but it seemed to backfire on them. The person who behaves defensively, even though he or she also gives some attention to the common task, devotes an appreciable portion of energy to defending himself or herself. Besides talking about the topic, he thinks about how he appears to others, how he may be seen more favorably, how he may win, dominate, impress or es cape punishment, and/or how he may avoid or mitigate a perceived attack. (Gibb, n. d. ) This same situation takes place in confirming and disconfirming responses. During the elimination ceremony, the Mullinax family poured their hearts out stating that the Nelson family made them feel outside of the core. The Nelson family showed disconfirming responses by failing to acknowledge them and talking to other family members while they were talking. This also showed their nonverbal behavior such as rolling their eyes and smiling at their family members. Nonverbal communication is defined as all the messages that people transmit through means other than words (Alberts, 2007). The Nelson’s would someday see themselves on television and see how much they used non-verbal behavior in a negative way. Sometimes people have to acknowledge someone’s negative non-verbal behavior before the main person recognizes it. Other families tuned in and really listened to what the Mullinax family had to say and showed confirming responses. None of the other families knew that was how the Mullinax family felt deep inside and they changed their minds to eliminate the Nelson family. Cohesiveness relates to the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to remain part of that team. A cohesive group member values his or her membership and strives to maintain a positive relationship within the group. Often, cohesion is viewed from an affective perspective; as interpersonal attraction among members or to the group. However, cohesion can also be envisioned as â€Å"attraction to a collectivity† as opposed to an attraction to the individuals who make up that grouping. (Ratzburg, n. d. ) It is important that every single member never work against each other but strive to work with each other toward their shared goal(s). Any negative force that threatens the team's success redirects itself into something ositive as long as team members share the same purpose. Cohesiveness is a process whereby a sense of we-ness emerges to transcend individual differences and motives (Kinicki ; Kreitner, 2004, p. 15). Some of the teenagers in the families did not approve of how their parents were acting on decision making. Since these people were actually neighbors in real life, these teenagers were friends with the other teens in the game. This caused problems because some of the parents were being immature and this caused the teens to rebel against their own family. In certain challenges the teens would not try as hard as they should because they disapproved of what their parents were planning. Finally, one of the mothers talked to them and explained that it was only a game and more than anything they needed to work together as a family first. The teen realized that this was more important and strived to help his team out. Effective listening is an important part of working as a team. When effective listening does not occur it can result in misunderstanding, failed goals and accomplishment, or even a conflict between team members. This situation came into place as the teams had their challenges. The teams were supposed to build a house of card which taught them how to listen to each other and work as a team. One of the children was very experienced in building houses of cards, but the parents were ignoring his ideas on how to build it because of his age. The family ended up losing the challenge because they did not listen to each other. The same thing that the child was explaining to his family, the other team listened and took the idea and won the challenge. This also showed a barrier between the adults and the children. Some parents still live the old fashion way where children are not really paid attention to, especially in a situation where a huge lump sum of money is involved. Some of the old fashioned quotes would be, â€Å"Don't speak until you're spoken to†; â€Å"Children should be seen and not heard†. Due to this, children never get a chance to express themselves or help out so they either give up or rebel. Some children feel why they should bother if no one is going to pay attention to them. There were also several barriers between the families such as cultural, physical, and emotional. There were a lot of stereotypes going on in this show. Like mentioned before, the Nelson’s had a problem with the Mullinax’s because they were lesbians. The men had issues with Cameron Johnston because he was a stay at home dad. They secretly would mention that they did not feel that he should be staying at home while his wife worked. They figured he was a real man, so they would never include him in the things that they were doing outside of the challenges. There was also the Upshaw family who were a bi-racial family where the mother was white and the father was black, and they were definitely nonverbal looks at the beginning at this family. The Upshaw dad felt out of place being the only black man, so he was always staying on his toes and making sure that his family won the challenges so that they would not be sent home. He was one of the families at the beginning that sided with the Nelson’s because he knew that they were in charge. He was also the main person who sided with the Mullinax’s and eliminated the Nelson’s too. In conclusion, watching reality shows definitely show real team work and the positive and negative outcomes. When watching fictional sitcoms or series, we really do not get the full effect of how teamwork really works but how the director and writer perceive it. Since this was the summer time it was hard to find a decent reality show to discuss compared to the fall season where there are wonderful shows like Survivor which would have great examples. There goes the neighborhood still showed enough examples on teamwork and interpersonal communication. As the teams were eliminated, the audience could definitely tell which ones actual learned for the experiment compared to the others who were still defensive. Watching a reality show provided different camera views to catch the families nonverbal and verbal communication. If they rolled their eyes or whispered something it was all caught on camera with subtitles. Nonverbal and verbal communication work together to convey and explain messages sent between people. Together they support the thoughts and ideas of the speaker. We use nonverbal communication to illustrate the verbal communication. Without one or the other two types of communication we would not be able to fully understand each other.ReferencesAlberts, Jess K. (2007) Human Communication in Society Nonverbal Communication (144-161) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall Gibb, Jack R.. (n.d.). Defensive Communication. In Definition and Significance. Retrieved Sept 13, 2009, from http://www.geocities.com/toritrust/defensive_communication.htm. Kinicki, A., ; Kreitner, R. (2004). Organizational behavior: Teams and Teamwork for the 21st Century. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies. LeVrier, Peggy. (n.d.). Parent University. In Establishing your posture as an effective listener. Retrieved Sept 13, 2009, from http://www.pasadenaisd.org/parentuniversity/parent9.htm. Ratzburg, Wilf H.. (n.d.). Group Cohesiveness. In Organizational Behavior. Retrieved September 13, 2009, from http://www.geocities.com/athens/forum/1650/htmlgroups18.html.

Sociology: Marx, Weber & Feminist Theory

1. Classical Marxist theories have served as a springboard of inspiration for a variety of contemporary theorists challenging the existing state of society and seeking social justice and a fair society. Consequently, feminist standpoint theories, theories that represent a specific disposition, align with common themes found throughout Marxist interpretations of society, with an emphasis on the development of individual schemas dependent upon the relationship between the individual and their economic and material conditions.Although the foundation of the separation of and disparities between classes is applicable in feminist standpoint theory, feminist theories contribute an entirely unorthodox dimension to the Eurocentric, masculinist dominated sociological discourse about oppression: gender. Marx’s theories of society developed around what he considered an unfair and unjust society in which two classes existed, determined by the coincidence of birth, which Marx coined the bou rgeois, the owners of the means of production, and the proletariat, the wage earning laborers who become alienated from their work due to social constraints.Marx believed in historical materialism and class struggle, demonstrating that the private ownership of the means of production enabled the bourgeois to maintain power over the larger, powerless proletariats who provided the labor for the means of production. As a repercussion of this disparity of power Marx concluded social and moral problems were inherent to a capitalist system, which forced competition and created unnecessary antagonisms, essentially isolating the proletariat in their social position for generations.Feminist standpoint theories corroborate the essence of Marx’s disposition regarding the injustice found in society, as it is acknowledged that there is a clear disparity of power in society among stratified groups of people. Yet instead of focusing on the owner of the means of production versus the wage la borers or proletariats, feminist standpoint theories extend the argument to include the dimension of gender and emphasize the necessity of including feminist experiences.According to feminist standpoint theories, the concrete experience of females and males is historically different, as they are required by society to play very different roles. Feminist theories build on Marx’s standpoint of experience based on social class and include the systematic oppression in a society that devalues women’s knowledge and experiences. One feminist standpoint theorist in particular demonstrated the subtle differences between standpoint theories and Marx’s theories on society.Patricia Hill Collins’ matrix of domination theory agrees that there is a top-down power struggle in society that forces and controls unwilling victims, yet also notes that an individual has the ability to be the oppressor, a member of an oppressed group or both simultaneously, citing gender and cl ass as variables of oppression. Collins continues to purport that it is the oppressed or subordinate individuals and groups in society who possess the most comprehensive social knowledge of power structures and their affects on these individuals and groups due to their social positions.Marx sought change in society and attempted to inspire a revolution amongst the proletariat, with an overthrow of the capitalist system. Collins seeks to understand the struggle with a more complex perspective, contributing the observation that people simultaneously experience and resist oppression, implying that there is more control in the hands of the oppressed than what was previously thought. Just as Marx challenged the capitalist system, feminist standpoint theory further challenges the existing male-biased conventional knowledge.In both theories there exists the implication that the experiences of individuals is shaped by their social position, and a hierarchy of power relations exists among th ose who have and those who have not, or the oppressor and the oppressed. However, although Marx’s theories on society and feminist standpoint theories share the emphasis on individual experience being shaped by social position, Marx focused on class from an economic standpoint while feminist theory added to the discussion of social injustice by incorporating a new dimension, gender.While Marx was more interested in social justice for the proletariat, feminist standpoint theory extended this social justice to include the day to day concrete experiences of females with respect to their different knowledge of the world, as well as various other subordinate groups whose perspectives are often left out of the discourse on society. In conclusion, the comprehensive discussion of class relations that has been ongoing for centuries has continued to evolve over time and space, xtending the concepts of social justice and a fair society to various subordinate groups. I support Marxâ€⠄¢s theories of society serving as a significant platform for the descending schools of thought to build off of, with shared goals of social justice and a fair society. The differences can be attributed to the historical context of the development of these theories, with the discourse of sociology seen as an ongoing continuum.Sociological implications are inspirational, as it has been seen that within the discussion of social justice subordinate groups are gaining attention and credibility, and I believe it can be concluded that because of this criticism of the existent state of society, society has begun to improve. With the emersion of Marxist inspired feminist standpoint theory in the middle of the 20th century, women’s experiences have been acknowledged and improved because of their visibility in academic discourse.I support the Marxist call for an examination of subordination in the existent social structure, accompanied by feminist standpoint theories that extend to inc lude all subordinate groups that struggle with societal constraints. 2. The structure of the critiques of science and knowledge provided by Foucault parallel the central concepts and arguments found in the feminist critiques of science and positivism, yet the focus of topics are differentiated along gender lines and the quest for the origins of truth, or the acceptance that truth itself is subjective.Both Foucault and feminist critiques share a common theme of mistrust of authoritative power, and the social injustice stemming from this authoritative power. As a post-positivist philosopher with an interest in power relations and the ability of power to dominate western culture, Foucault offers criticisms of science and knowledge rooted in the distrust he maintained for the developments of science representing improved reference and authority.Foucault emphasized the quest to discover the roots of truth values in the social context of science but rejected an account of science as ideol ogical and argued that the discourse of scientific knowledge is constraining of what scientists themselves can see, but more significantly is productive and enabling for the production and solving of problems, the construction of data, and therefore the production of new knowledge to be interpreted widely s valid, or universal truth. For post-modernists, such as Foucault, science is nothing more than an allegation derived from subjective orientations, or a social construction. Feminist theorists corroborate this belief and interpret the power and injustice stemming from science with a different sociological perspective, a female standpoint.Feminist theorists believe mainstream science is a product of a patriarchy, and despite being portrayed as universal, value-free and neutral in its pursuit of truth or knowledge deemed valuable for all, it is actually organized in a way that systematically oppresses and harms women based on their gender. Feminists believe that the production of kn owledge is a social activity, embedded in a certain culture and worldview, echoing the social construction of knowledge purported by Foucault.Feminist critics of science have noted that Western science, as it has developed since the Enlightenment, is determined by political, economic and social conditions, which are based on a patriarchal order. Feminists go on to note that women themselves were left out of the development of science, and as a consequence of being perceived as closer to nature than men with respect to their capacity for feelings and emotions, were ruled out as unfit for reasoning abilities.Foucault’s main concern throughout his lifetime of publications revolved around the relationship between power and knowledge, and how one affected the other. Citing Nietzsche’s considerations of a will to power motivating human behavior with the declining of traditional values losing power over society is built upon by Foucault’s further analysis of knowledge ceasing to be liberating and instead becoming a mode of surveillance, regulation, and discipline. Foucault also argued that power itself creates new objects of knowledge and accumulates new bodies of information.The feminist critiques on positivism shares common characteristics with Foucault’s critical theories of science and knowledge, as feminists tend to adopt an anti-positivist, anti-science position due largely to the male dominated social science research. Despite positivist views put forth by such classical theorists as Emile Durkheim, supporting the necessity of objectivity in research, feminist critiques argue for subjectivity. According to feminist critique, male social science researchers likeDurkheim claimed objectivity by citing non-involvement in social problems, enabling them to distance themselves from their human subjects of research and omitting their research goals, as well as claimed scientific truth for their theories by imitating quantitative methods of the natural sciences. In an effort to parallel the natural sciences with sociology, furthering the notion that science is in fact objective, Durkheim conducted a study on suicide and measured it using the scientific method and quantifiable observations.The feminist criticism notes the results of paralleling the natural sciences with sociology were often blatantly untrue and biased against women, with science and social science being manipulated to harm women, for example by neglecting to appropriate equal value of their experiences with that of their male counterparts. Most significantly, feminist critique argues the pursuit of objectivity in science and the pursuit of truth are impossible, and by pretending that they are possible the scientific community is deceiving the public.In conclusion, feminist critiques of science and positivism are directly paralleled with the concepts found in Foucault’s critiques of science and knowledge. In both instances, I support the arguments that center on the need to understand the ambiguity and cultural context of the notion of universal truth and for scientific and social research to be sensitive to the dangers of objectivity regarding such truth. I believe the scientific approach is useful but misguided as subjectivity is inherent in the search for truth and knowledge.These critiques have significant sociological implications as the existing state of male-centered scientific research is being challenged in a way that will be productive for the various sub-groups within society, particularly along gender lines. 3. The concept of modernity generally refers to a post-feudal historical period that is characterized by the move away from feudalism and toward capitalism, accompanied by all of the ripple effects initiated by capitalism, such as the industrialization and secularization of society that is maintained and controlled through extensive surveillance. Modernity ocuses on the affects that the rise of capitalism has had on social relations, and notes Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber as influential theorists commenting on this phenomenon. For the purposes of this assignment, I will be focusing on the concepts and analyses of Marx and Weber. Karl Marx is perhaps the first in a series of late 19th and early 20th century theorists who initiated the call for an empirical approach to social science, theorizing about the rise of modernity accompanied by the simultaneous decline in traditional societies and advocating for a change in the means of production in order to enable social justice.Marx’s analysis of modernity reveals his conceptualization of modern society as being dictated by the rapid advancement of productive forces of modern industry, and the corresponding relationships of production between the capitalist and the wage laborers. In addition, Marx also examined the concept of class interest, which seeks to further the life of capitalism as those individuals or groups who hav e power work to retain this power at the despair of the subordinate, socially powerless individuals and groups.The rapid advancement of major innovations after the Enlightenment period known as modernity stood in stark contrast to the incremental development of even the most complex pre-modern societies, which saw productive forces developing at a much slower pace, over hundreds or thousands of years as compared to modern times, with swift growth and change. This alarming contrast fascinated Marx who traced the spawning of modern capitalism in the Communist Manifesto, citing this record speed as the heat which generated the creation of the global division of labor and a greater variety of productive forces than anytime before.Ultimately, Marx’s approach is best known as an effort to come to terms with the unprecedentedly rapid development of the new capitalist world and the consequential development and adaptation of social constraints. Marx concluded that modernity was a soc ial construction of mankind, and as a creation of mankind, mankind could reverse it and with the public class-consciousness acknowledging this rule, revolution, followed by utopia, was inevitable. In contrast, Max Weber found that social life did not evolve according to his rule, and, unlike Marx, Weber did not anticipate a definitive end of modernity but instead viewed modernity and the outlook of mankind as an open query, with an answer impossible to predict. Weber’s disposition on modernity transformed modern society into a metaphorical iron cage. The iron cage represents society’s entanglement with the modern, mechanized transformation of society initially thought to be controllable, with the ability to detangle itself from the machines at any time, like a cloak that can be removed.Throughout history, however, Marx notes that this entanglement has become permanent and the individual has been locked in a cage by a modern society, with the implementation of more soci al control manifest in excessive bureaucracy. Karl Marx and Max Weber have made significant contributions to the field of sociology, and I support both theorists in their arguments. I believe that Marx was correct in regards to his conceptualization of the social structure being of man’s creation and therefore within the realm of change under the direction of man. However I believe that limitations exist in the idealistic nature of his utopian dream.Maintaining a utopian objective as the goal of social change exposes the inherently distorted analysis of sociological phenomenon, as there is neglect of examining social issues from a micro, day-to-day orientation essentially proving the existence of a Eurocentric male bias historically found within the study of sociology. I also agree with Weber’s connection between the Protestant work ethic and the consequent rise of capitalism as is found in his work The Protestant Work Ethic, which implicates religion as the engine tha t enabled the rapid development of capitalism.However I find limitations with the primacy placed on the influence of religion as the sole engine for capitalism†¦. Marx and Weber lived and worked in a distinctive scholarly moment in time, after theological persuasive power had declined and while sociological analysis maintained a fresh outlook on classical theories. During this moment in time Marx and Weber also experienced the rapid transformation of society dictated by modern forces, which would influence their focus and work.Marx and Weber, who’s work has been critiqued and contributed to by future theorists as society continues to rapidly transform into a fully mechanized, technologically dependent society, holds sociological implications in the theorists whose work has been influenced by their analysis of modernity. 4. The Marxist perspective on work and capitalism is paralleled in many ways with Max Weber’s perspective on these issues, with subtle differences stemming from the causation of capitalism.For Marx, the theory of historical materialism held that all human institutions, including religion, were based on economic foundations, with the implication that the economic foundations came first. In contrast, Weber’s The Protestant Ethic challenges this assertion and instead implicates a religious movement as responsible for fostering capitalism, yet doesn’t fully discount the theories of Marx. According to Marx, it is historical materialism that fuels the engine of society.Historical materialism examines the causes of developments and changes in human society in regards to the collective production of life necessities, with non-economic characteristics of society, such as religious ideologies, seen as a repercussion of its economic activity. The emphasis on material objects, or commodities, during the newly mechanized time period influenced the construction of a labor class that performed activities that were detached fro m their personal identities.As private ownership over the means of production reduces the role of the worker to that of a cog in a machine, as Marx astutely determined, the worker becomes an expendable object that performs routinzed tasks. For Marx, working simply for money, in essence seen as a means to an end, and neglecting the creative potential for labor itself was analogous to selling one’s soul. Weber, on the other hand, did not fully discount Marx’s theories but added to them and incidentally sparked a conversation that has become a historically significant and enduring sociological debate.Weber proposed that ideology fostered capitalism, in part resulting from the absence of assurances from religious authorities. Weber argued that Protestants began to look for other signs that they were saved, and, spurred on by Calvinist ideas of predestination, in which individuals identified their central duty to prove their salvation accompanied by the rejection of having too much wealth, capitalism prospered. Essentially self-confidence replaced the priestly assurance of God’s kindness, and a way for this self-confidence to anifest itself and be measured was with worldly success, and profit became a visible blessing from God that enabled followers to feel confidence that they were going to heaven. This enthusiasm toward achieving self-confidence through the production of profits encapsulates the Spirit of Capitalism, and it was within this spirit that capitalism flourished. Weber described a paradox regarding this Protestant work ethic.On the one hand, Protestants desperately sought the accumulation of worldly wealth in an attempt to give them self-confidence that God has chosen them and they will be granted salvation. However, on the other hand, Protestants were also deeply passionate about frivolous purchasing of luxuries being perceived as a sin, accompanied by complex limitations for extricating the money. In order to resolve this paradox the money was invested, giving life to the class distinctions along the lines of those who possess, and those who do not.Adam Smith paved the way for this phenomenon of investment and class divergence, citing the existence of those who work hard and those who do not, and that over time those who work hard and can be motivated will accumulate wealth. I applaud Weber’s theoretical surfacing of the irony of the Protestant work ethic, which views ideology as being composed of the need to be posthumously saved through their religion, and yet this motivational work ethic would inspire the distribution of excessive earnings to maintain their religious ideals, spawning and encouraging capitalism.Marxist perspectives are limited by the need for further examination of the causes and continuations of capitalism throughout the current state of society, particularly with respect to the rapid transformation and globalization of the economy. If further analysis reveals the causation of cap italism and the structure that continues to keep it running, then it may reveal implications that mankind can control the economic and social conditions of humanity. With the appropriate critiques of capitalism in a contemporary society there may be a potential for social justice. . Social action and interaction can be explained in a number of ways, and in the field of sociology exists two major theoretical orientations that aim to discover whether the hierarchy of influence between individuals and society is macro, with society influencing the individual, or micro, with the individual influencing society. Herbert Blumer’s interpretation of symbolic interactionism demonstrates the process of interaction from a micro perspective, demonstrated in the formation of meanings for individuals.As John Dewey influenced Blumer, Blumer believed human beings are best understood in relation to their environment and used this concept as inspiration for the study of human group life and con duct. Blumer outlines his micro theory of symbolic interactionsim with three central principles. The first principle, meaning, states that humans act toward people and things, based upon the meanings they have given to those people or things, and meaning is a central influence on human behavior. The second principle regards language as a means by which to negotiate through symbols.According to Blumer, it is by engaging in acts of speech with other individuals that humans come to identify meaning, enabling the development of discourse. The third and final principle is thought, which is based on language, and is a mental representation of conversation or dialogue, requiring role taking and imagining different points of view. Essentially, Blumer supported the micro perspective of individuals influencing society because he believed the language and meaning of language explains social action. In contrast, Talcott Parsons’ macro approach to social action and interaction reveals a d ifferent conclusion.Parsons developed the theory of functionalism, which serves as a framework that views society as a complex system, whose parts work together in order to promote stability and solidarity. Parsons’ approach views society with a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole, adopting a macro orientation to social action. Looking simultaneously at social structure and social functions, the theory of functionalism tackles society as a whole in terms of the functions that compose elements. These elements mostly include norms, traditions, customs and institutions.For example, it is like the human body; the individual parts work together for the functioning of the body as a whole. Functionalists such as Parsons support the notion that a social role is created due to the repetition of behaviors in interactions with the reinforcement of expectations. The role that is created is defined by Parsons as the regular, repetition of participation in co ncrete social interactions with specific role-partners. Eventually, Parsons’ concept of roles was formed into a collective definition that is functional as they assist society in servicing and satisfying its functional needs, enabling society to run smoothly.I support both Blumer’s micro level orientation as well as Parsons’ macro orientated theoretical arguments in that they acknowledge the capabilities of the individual and the adaptability of society, implicating a dialogue between the two entities. However I believe limitations exist in that both theorists place primacy of one orientation over the other, and as a result are neglecting a holistic approach. Research questions that have emerged from functionalist theories add new depth and dimension to the basic concept of functionalism.For instance, emergent theorists have inquired about functionalists’ tendency to see only the benefits of various institutional relationships brought to society, posing t he question of whether or not institutions can be oppressive and exploitative. Further emergent research questions address whether or not social institutions create social constraints, and controversially ponder why anything should change if it is already functional to society. Ultimately this discourse inspires sociological thought to continue developing and evolving over time. 6.Traditionally, theorists and theories that generally support one of two orientations have dominated the discipline of sociology. The first orientation is regarded as a macro-perspective, with an analysis of society focused on the larger overall structure of society, placing an emphasis on social systems and institutions, or structure, and the ensuing tendency for the structure to dominate the individual. The second orientation can be described as a zoomed in image of society, with a focus on the every day individual and group interactions, with the implication that the individual is being dominated by the structure of society.It is through these two distinct lenses that sociologists have contributed to the larger discourse regarding social justice and equality, yet the disconnect manifests in the perceptive cohesion of these two orientations. Contemporary sociologists, such as Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration and the empowerment theory in feminist thought, have sparked a revolution in sociological thought with the unorthodox notion that the actor, or individual, and the agency, the structure, are in fact of equal primacy, and represent a duality rather than a hierarchy.In addition to bringing this connection to the surface of sociological discourse, many contemporary theorists’ theories are challenging the limitations of solely using one orientation in the effort to balance humanity’s understanding that individual’s posses the will to maintain social relations based on the comprehension of power, social reproduction, and institutional constraints. Giddens developed the theory of structuration, and, like many other contemporary theorists like Pierre Bourdieu, the theory supports the integration of macro and micro orientations.The structuration theory centers on the consensual duality of structure and agency, where the agent and the structure intersect, arguing that they are a dichotomy where one wouldn’t exist without the other. Giddens argues that the individual, or agency, is essentially responsible for their surroundings as they are reflexive and possess the ability to adapt to the ever-changing social structures and institutions, which also adapt to the individuals’ behavior, creating an ongoing dialogue between the two entities.The argument for a rejection of primacy between the agency and structure includes the objective of literal social change that can result from social scientific knowledge of society. Giddens continues to argue that it is the individuals’ motives that dictate the larger plan of a ction and the routinized practices determine what the action will manifest as. According to this logic Giddens proposes that individuals therefore have the ability to change their actions, which produce unintended and inevitable consequences, influencing future actions.Giddens critiques sociologists for placing too much emphasis on the constraints of social structure when he believes it is only through this activity of the individual agent that structure, or rules and resources, can exist at all. In fact, Giddens purports that a social structure or system is composed of a set of produced and reproduced relations between agents. It is this belief in the duality of agency and structure, as well as the desire to alter the discourse to ncorporate an integrated orientation rather than independent orientations, that Giddens has significantly contributed to the discussion and debate of macro and micro orientations, citing the inability for one to exist without the other. Despite criticism of structuration as inadequate, Giddens’ work continues to influence and inspire contemporary social thought.Feminist thought and the empowerment theory takes an additional step back from sociological discourse to evaluate the misconception of objectivity found in Eurocentric, male dominated standpoints and argue for the need to take a subjective perspective in order to achieve any social change. Additionally, feminist thought advocates for the integration of orientations to examine the individual’s experience as equivalent, or dualistic, with the social structure in which the individual plays an active role in shaping.It is also deemed necessary that the interrelationships between the individual, groups and society are examined from a subjective, integrated orientation in order to make the leap from social theory to social practice. According to feminist thought, by making the previously personal world of the individual political the barrier between the individual and society is broken down and lays the foundation for individuals to influence and experience social change.The empowerment theory suggests that production and maintenance of society is dependent upon the individuals who are socially considered undesirable, casting these occupations as invisible in society and, accompanied by a societal ideology that lacks public appreciation for these occupations, the undesirable individuals also believe their work is invisible, revealing the distortion of societal components. It is within feminist thought that the empowerment theory extends not only to women, but any subordinate, oppressed group or individual within the larger society.This emerging connection between the personal and political identity parallels Giddens’ support of integrating the macro and micro orientations in order to achieve any significant social change, and I support both approaches. I believe that with the integration of the orientations true social change can be achie ved, and that further examination of the intersection between agency and structure can enhance the limitations of past sociological thought. By creating and maintaining a boundary between these two worlds and rejecting the notion of a duality, a cognitive dissonance will continue to remain in the lives of oppressed and arginalized individuals without any hope for societal change. Contemporary sociologists must continue to transcend this boundary, accepting the inherent subjectivity found in any social science and focusing on fostering a productive sociological discourse with the goal of social justice. As Marx a stoutly stated in the mid-19th century, philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point, however, is to change it. 7. As the grand theory is considered the most abstract level of sociological theory, the initial intentions of such a theory are discussed in an abstract, idealistic way.Grand Theory, a term created by American sociologist C. Wright Mills, refers to the preference for formal organization and the arrangement of concepts over understanding the social world. The concept of an overarching, grand sociological theory can be applicable in an idealistic setting, where each diverse aspect of society is equitably dealt with and examined to formulate widely accepted conclusions about the world. However, the emphasis tends to focus on concepts that are generally disconnected from the concrete, every day realities of societal life.I believe that an adapted version of a grand theory in sociology is necessary to the extent that it has the ability to provide a structured framework in an otherwise incredibly complex social world. However, I also believe the grand theory should not be accepted as universal but instead should be considered a continuous work in progress that is added to over time as traditionally invisible issues continue to surface, creating multiple new dimensions of potential thought. Throughout sociological history the theoretical supporters and critics of a grand theory have been numerous.Karl Marx’s Historical Materialism, Anthony Giddens’ The Juggernaut of Modernity, and Talcott Parsons’ Actions Theory each offer various uses and perspectives of grand theory concepts. The evolution of the concept of a grand theory can be seen throughout these noteworthy theorists’ work. For example, Marx’s work with the grand theory of historical materialism put forth a streamlined argument that stated economic relations were the foundation of social structure, regardless of any other variable.Embedded in this theory is the idea of an overarching, universal definition of social structure contingent solely upon economic and material relations. This revolutionary idea may have been appropriate in the historical context of the theory, yet weaknesses in the universal concept of a grand theory appear in the absence of any other variable which undoubtedly impacted the social structure of Marxà ¢â‚¬â„¢s time.Anthony Giddens uses the concept of a grand theory to examine modernity, differentiating from the streamlined definition of society as purported by Marx by including a complex assortment of variables, which contribute to modernity. Giddens relates modernity to an overpowering force that transcends everything in its path with the implication that it is uncontrollable. Giddens also suggests that the overpowering force of modernity is dynamic, with the consequences of actions unforeseeable and uncontrollable, yet it manages to adjust based on reflexive actions, creating new societal problems in the process.Overall, Giddens’ interpretation of grand theory offers a more complex framework for analyzing society in modernity, yet it is left open ended as Giddens anticipates the creation of a new slew of issues that will plague society based on the adjustments made from previous issues. Talcott Parsons is credited with the continuing the quest toward the theoretical evol utionary development of structural functionalism and established what can be defined as a grand theory of action systems, despite the fact that Parsons himself declined to identify it as a grand theory.Parsons contributes to the discussion of grand theories in that he expanded the theory to consist of influence from various disciplines aside from sociology, including psychological, economical, political and religious components. Parsons also connected the concepts of motives as part of our actions, and determined that social science must take ends, purposes and ideals into consideration when creating a grand theory. Parsons attempted to integrate all of the social sciences within an overarching, grand theoretical framework that aimed to include aspects of both macro and micro orientations.Tracing the evolution of the concept of a grand theory reveals the irony rooted in the quest for such a grand theory, which is that despite attempts to create universal truths regarding society ind ependent of time and space, such independence is not possible. Marx, Giddens and Parsons each lived in their own, slightly different time periods and as a result one can observe the variations in their concepts of grand theories.I believe that the evolution of a grand theory is a continuous one with no particular end, because as Giddens suggested, the flexibility of society to adapt to societal issues in turn creates new societal issues, suggesting the permanence of such an analytical cycle. 8. Among Emile Durkheim’s plethora of contributions to sociological theory emerges an unorthodox, evolutionary approach, which considered society to be like an organism, distinguishing two central characteristics as structure and function. Durkheim’s contributions also include helping establish and define the field of sociology as an academic order.Durkheim expanded the limitations of the study of sociology when he argued that sociologists should study particular features of collec tive, or group, life. He suggested that society exists independently of the individuals in it, as societies influence individuals through established norms, sentiments, and social facts. Durkheim contributed the inquiry of study regarding modern society and its ability to remain cohesive despite the individualism and self-sufficiency of each person, as well as the study of social facts representing features of the group that cannot be examined independently of either the collective or the individual.Emile Durkheim’s writings are recognized for forming the foundation of functionalist thought, which remains among the oldest and most dominant theoretical perspectives in the study of sociology. The foundations of functionalism center on two categories: the individual organism and society being seen as analogous, and the examination of the objective social world with the application of the scientific method.Durkheim was one of the first sociologists to make use of scientific and s tatistical data to conduct sociological research, such as with his famous work Suicide, using real data to examine the phenomenon of suicide among religious groups. By incorporating the scientific method as a central method of research, Durkheim implicitly contributed the assertion that the social world can be studied in the same ways as the physical world. Regarding Durkheim’s relation to structuralism, he was concerned with the question of how particular societies are able to maintain stability internally and are capable of survival over time.Durkheim discussed structuralism in two variations, with the first referring to the pre-industrial societies that were structured on equivalent parts connected by shared values, and the second referring to more complex post-industrial societies that are connected through specialization and strong interdependence. The essence of Durkheim’s relation to structuralism and functionalism is the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, with society being greater than the individuals.Talcott Parsons offers a contemporary perspective on the concepts of structuralism and builds on Durkheim’s interpretation by discussing structuralism as a framework to examine society as a complex system whose parts work together in order to promote solidarity and stability. The focus on Parsons’ work is on the social structures that shape society as a whole, determining that each individual has a set of expectations based on other’s actions and reactions to that individual’s own behavior.Parsons also contributes the idea of the role, established through the repetition of behaviors and interactions dictated by social structure and that become recognized as normal. This concept of roles evolved into the groups of roles that harmonize each other and ultimately fulfill functions for society, in the sense that they assist society in operating and running smoothly. In conclusion, the concep ts put forth by the theories of functionalism and structuralism has had a significant impact on the study of sociology.Durkheim utilized the scientific method, and for this leap to a parallel with the natural sciences and hence more validity I am in support. However, Durkheim’s scientific method was perceived from an inherently Eurocentric male standpoint, and consequently produced misleading results. Emile Durkheim is ascribed with forming the foundation of thought in the functionalist orientation, and continued to attempt revolutions in sociological thought throughout his life’s work. Talcott Parsons is one of many contemporary theorists who have built upon Durkheim’s original theory y contributing contemporary rationalizations and have enhanced the sociological discussion regarding the macro evaluation of a modern functioning society. I support Parsons’ concept of social roles that are dictated on social expectations and are controlled by social struct ure, yet I find limitations in the neglect of an analysis of the social roles for subordinate individuals and groups, and without this analysis social justice will remain an idealistic theory. 9. The theoretical contributions and approaches of sociological theorists such as W.E. B. Du Bois and Patricia Hill Collins are significant in the conversation of sociological history as they take the unorthodox approach of delving into the perception of historically invisible issues regarding race and gender. For instance, Du Bois approaches the subject of race that centers on describing and explaining the actual, instead of theoretical, daily life conditions of African Americans, such as the threat of racially motivated violence like lynching, and the psychological damage of being separate but equal under Jim Crow laws.This brought a clearness of vision of specific phenomenon to the sociological conversation, with a focus on race, and an extension to any colored group that has experienced Eu rocentric imperialism. In regards to racism, Du Bois granted the primary responsibility of the social construction of racism on capitalism, and Du Bois was sympathetic to socialist causes throughout his work. Du Bois utilized deductive analysis, accompanied by empirical observation, to examine the experience of African Americans throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.Du Bois was primarily focused on variables that had been ignored by his sociological predecessors with particular attention paid to the intersection of race and class. He was interested in how the intersection of these variables contributes to broader cultural patterns dictating the stratification of individuals along lines of race and class and the shaping of individuals’ perceptions and experiences. Du Bois offers his conceptualization of race in comparing the variety of races around the world, with the U. S. housing two of the most extreme examples of race on the planet.As a result, the concept of the double c onsciousness exists, as African Americans may ask themselves on daily occasions what identity is truly theirs. For instance, one might ask, am I American or am I black? Can I be both? Does being black give me more of an obligation to assert my nationality than European immigrants would? Further, the double consciousness is the sense of â€Å"otherness† that prevents this uniform sense of self in accordance with the American image and produces a sense of two-ness, both American and black.In addition, Du Bois’ concept of the veil represents the distance that is felt socially between people of separate races, most significantly keeping the less dominant group, blacks, out of the dominant group’s, white, world. Patricia Hill Collins continues to build on the concepts highlighted by Du Bois’ work, and instead of extending his conversation about race and class Collins adopts an unconventional method of examining the intersection of race and gender.Collins empha sizes the specific experiences of black women as intersecting categories of oppression, with the goal of extending the discourse into other oppressed individuals and social groups. Collins’ theorizes that black women stand at the focal point where two historically powerful systems of oppression meet: gender and race, focusing on black women as outsiders within the larger, white male dominated society. According to Collins, by acknowledging this intersection of oppression, the possibility to see into other social injustices.Collins identifies three aspects of every day life in which black women are affected by and manage their race and definitions of identity in the greater American culture. These three aspects are known as safe spaces where black women are able to articulate their thoughts and feelings without the social pressure of mainstream society, which creates the double consciousness experienced by racial divide. The creation of the safe space is essential for the surv ival of oppressed groups, as they provide a unique place away from the ruling ideologies.For instance, one safe space for black women is in their relationships with each other. By empowering themselves in their own relationships, black women are able to help each other learn the knowledge to survive. Other safe spaces include black women’s blues traditions, followed by black female literature and poetry. Through these art forms, black women are able to approach the concepts of social injustice in a non-threatening manner.Collins also adds that groups must identify themselves, instead of letting other identify them. In conclusion, W. E. B. Du Bois and Patricia Hill Collins have made significant contributions to the sociological discussion of social injustice by forcing the issues of racial, class, and gender inequalities to the surface of social discourse. I find the work of Collins to be an extension of what Du Bois began, and I support the shared goal for both theorists in t heir quest for social justice for all subordinate groups.In fact, I believe that the combination of work from Du Bois and Collins epitomizes the essence of micro sociology, as they are able to articulate the invisible yet powerful social constraints that subordinate individuals and groups experience, and represents a transcendence of sociological thought above Eurocentric male standpoints. Their work has left deep impressions on current and future sociological theorists and essentially opened the door for the study of other socially oppressed groups.