Cuba And The United States - 1610 Words

Introduction A lot has gone on between the United States and Cuba between 1959 and 2015. In 1959, Cuba and the United States cut off diplomatic ties. On December 17, 2014, the United States and Cuba announced that they would restore diplomatic ties. Diplomatic ties is defined as â€Å"The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements† by The Free Dictionary. This means that two countries work together and with other countries to talk about alliances and make treaties and agreements. When they cut off diplomatic ties, the United States and Cuba basically had nothing to do with each other on the international scene. History of Cuba Cuba was first discovered by Spanish explorers about 500 years ago. Cuba is the largest country of the West Indies, which include Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. Cuba has a population of over 11 million people. They have been shut off from the United States since 1959. They have not gotten any new cars from the United States since then, so they keep the 1950s cars in use. Fidel Castro became the Prime Minister of Cuba in 1959 after seizing Havana and overthrowing Fulgencio Batista. Havana, La Habana in Spanish, is the largest city in Cuba, as well as the largest city in all of the Caribbean, and the capital city of Cuba. Havana is also the only major city in Cuba. Havana has a scenic waterfront and is surrounded by beaches. Cuba is 64% white. These whites used to own AfricanShow MoreRelatedCuba And The United States864 Words   |  4 PagesCuba and the United States are two very different countries. Although they are only nearly 90 miles away from each other it has been over 50 years since both countries have had any real relationship towards each other, other than the hatred that seems to shown by the two countries’ politicians. In October 1960 the United States began to impose its first round of embargoes towards the small island when Cuba decided to nationalize all of the American Oil on its county after the United States withoutRead MoreThe United States And Cuba1491 Words   |  6 Pages Before the conflict between the United States and Cuba, the two countries were strongly connected in terms of trading, with the US purchasing 87% of Cuba’s exports (CITE). However, once Fidel Castro came to power in Janurary 1959 after successfully overpowering President Batista and established Cuba as a communist state, relations became strained. In the following year, $1.8 billion US assets in Cuba were taken by Castro and the newly Communist state created close ties with the Soviet Union (CITERead MoreCuba And The United States1217 Words   |  5 Pageshe U.S and Cuba officially cut ties in January of 1961, meaning that there have not been any high-level diplomatic relations with Cuba for 54 years. At the time, America and Cuba considered one another as mortal enemies and mistrusted each other’s government greatly. So this raises the question; Was it the correct decision for Cuba and the United States to cut ties? This break with Cuba was a bad decision because it caused Cuba’s economy to plummet, caused Cubans to immigrate, and it caused CubanRead MoreThe United States And Cuba Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States and Cuba The United States is the leader of the free world. The United States exercises strength in this role through trade agreements and military strength. Because of this, the foreign policies the United States puts into place greatly affect the economies of other countries. This is especially true of Cuba. The island of Cuba is just over 100 miles south of the Florida border. The United States and Cuba have struggled to find common ground in regards to foreign policy overRead MoreThe United States And Cuba1534 Words   |  7 Pageshostilities, the United States and Cuba have taken significant steps in recent years to dramatically alter their relationship in the years ahead. Those efforts are controversial to a number of Americans who oppose engaging the Cuban government. Prior to the Spanish American War of 1898, Cuba was a Spanish colony with extensive commercial relations with U.S. businesses, particularly with regard to the production of sugar. Following the U.S. victory in the Spanish American War in 1898, Cuba, which is locatedRead MoreCuba And The United States1610 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction A lot has gone on between the United States and Cuba between 1959 and 2015. In 1959, Cuba and the United States cut off diplomatic ties. On December 17, 2014, the United States and Cuba announced that they would restore diplomatic ties. Diplomatic ties is defined as â€Å"The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements† by The Free Dictionary. This means that two countries work together and with other countries to talk aboutRead MoreCuba And The United States1307 Words   |  6 PagesCuba is a nation that formed from a history of colonial and imperial domination. Formal colonial status under Spain ended during the invasion by the United States in 1898, when military and corporate interests made the island a de facto colony of the United States. However, Cuba and the United States have had a long history of both political and military ties; both good and bad. Nevertheless, these ties have played a vital ro le in the current relationship the United States maintains with CubaRead MoreEssay on Cuba and the United States4491 Words   |  18 PagesCuba and the United States The island of Cuba has been a focal point of American foreign policy since the acquisition of Florida in the late 1800s. Cuba continues to capture Americas attention as it is the only existing communist state in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. policy has attempted to topple the communist regime in Cuba since its outset in 1961. Policies designed to incite revolution, destroy the Cuban economy, and starve the Cuban people seem to be at odds with American ideals ofRead MoreThe United States Embargo On Cuba2305 Words   |  10 PagesII 21 March 2016 The Extirpation of the United States’ Embargo on Cuba On an island far, far, away, are oppressed, poor, and hopeless people who have been under the subjugate control of a regime of communist dictators for over half a century. A body of people, who for almost 55 years, have been given the cold shoulder by one of the world’s biggest superpower and the only superpower in close proximity to their own island. The U.S. implemented sanctions on Cuba in 1960 and 1961, with President John FRead MoreThe Embargo On Cuba And The United States1781 Words   |  8 PagesIn December 2014, President Obama started restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. Cuba and the United States have been hostile since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, when Fidel Castro overthrew the US-supportedbacked dictator, Fulgencio Batista, and established a Communist regime. The US rejected Castro’s bid for equal economic partnership because they wanted to maintain economic dominance. As such, Castro began seizing US assets, causing back-and-forth actions that culmi nated in Presidents Eisenhower

Essay on Rousseaus Philosophy in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein

In Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, the titular character states that If [mans] impulses were confined to hunger, thirst and desire, [he] might nearly be free (Shelley, 97). With this assertion, Victor imparts his belief that man is most content in the state of nature; a state where only his most primal needs must be fulfilled in order to be satisfied. Man in his natural state is the central topic in Jean-Jacques Rousseaus philosophic essay A Discourse on Inequality, an academic work that had tremendous influence on Shelley. Shelley uses three of Rousseaus major beliefs as fundamental elements of Frankenstein; man is most content in the state of nature, society is what corrupts him and once corrupted, he can never return to his natural†¦show more content†¦He is oblivious to the fact that his appearance is horrific and has no knowledge of the concept of evil because he has had no exposure to society (Edwards). The monster does not know that civilized man views his ugly exterio r as representative of evil within, so he is baffled when the occupant of a hut he stumbles upon produces a terrified shriek and runs away (Shelley, 105). The monster later comes to know good and evil; virtue and vice; due to the fact that he possesses the faculty of perfectibility Ââ€" mans inexhaustible ability to improve himself (Â…) and be shaped by his environment (Edwards). This quality of adaptability allows for enlightenment to occur, but is ultimately the source of all of mans misery. The monster becomes malignant through his exposure to society, a phenomenon that is congruent with Rousseaus doctrine. The monster as natural man is nomadic; he roams from place to place, eating and resting where he can. When he finds adequate shelter in the hovel attached to the De Laceys cottage it becomes convenient for him to stay there. According to Rousseaus discourse, new conveniences [weaken] bodies and minds, and [eventually turn] into needs (Edwards). The monsters newfound kennel is directly adjacent to a familial society; one that Ââ€" due to his perfectibility Ââ€" transforms him irrevocably by producing a need for assimilation. Rousseau writes that withoutShow MoreRelatedRousseau s Views On Inequality And Origin Of Languages1513 Words   |  7 Pagesarticles have found and appreciated that Jean Jacques Rousseau philosophies are present in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Rousseau’s essay Discourse on Inequality and Origin of Languages can be directly co rrelated with the development of the creature in Frankenstein. While it is clear that Rousseau’s philosophies follow the transformation of the creature I sparked more of an interest in the philosophies of John Locke and connecting his philosophies with the transformation of the creature. John Locke’s EssayRead MoreThe Romantic Movement1322 Words   |  5 Pagesemotional aspect of literature, was a period when such novels as Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus were written, being very different than novels written before this era. Romantic thinkers and writers, such as Mary Shelley, believed that imagination was the crucial way of thinking. They often depicted their heroes in their novels as â€Å"creative artists† that are determined to push beyond society’s restrictions and ways of life. Mary Shelley was similar to these writers of such concepts and had incorporatedRead MoreRomantic Elements Of Frankenstein1358 Words   |  6 PagesFrankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley in 1816. Originally intended as a gothic ghost story while on retreat in Geneva, Shelley’s novel would later become the groundwork for modern science fiction and horror. As a romantic piece, Frankenstein is a novel intended to entertain, to scare, and to bring a sense of unease to the reader. Culturally and historically, however, it acts as a romantic commentary on the transition from the Enlightenment periodRead More Mary Shelleys Frankenstein - The Individual and Society Essay1923 Words   |  8 PagesFrankenstein: The Individual and Society      Ã‚  Ã‚   The creatures ambiguous humanity has long puzzled readers of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. In this essay I will focus on how Frankenstein can be used to explore two philosophical topics, social contract theory, and gender roles, in light of ideas from Shelleys two philosophical parents, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft.    What Does it Mean to be Human? Individual and Society    One historically important tradition in socialRead MoreMetamorphoses Within Frankenstein14861 Words   |  60 PagesThe Critical Metamorphoses of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein You must excuse a trif ling d eviation, From Mrs. Shelley’s marvellous narration — from th e musical Frankenstein; or, The Vamp ire’s Victim (1849) Like Coleridge’ s Ancient Mariner , who erupts into Mary Sh elley’s text as o ccasionally and inev itably as th e Monster into Victor Frankenstein’s lif e, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometh eus passes, like night, from land to land and w ith stang ely ad aptable powers of speech Read MoreMan Or Monster? By Mary Shelley s Frankenstein And Oscar Wilde s The Picture Of Dorian Gray2820 Words   |  12 Pagesresponsibility for their actions. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the â€Å"monsters† come from creators that will not take responsibilities for their actions and properly care for their creations; therefore, these neglecting creators are the true monsters and not the innocent, impressionable creations. Victor Frankenstein’s characterization and family background establish his nature as the true â€Å"monster† in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Victor had an idyllic childhoodRead MoreHow Does Mary Shelley Create a Sense of Dread and Horror Up to Chapter 5 in the Novel ‘Frankenstein’?6870 Words   |  28 PagesHow does Mary Shelley create a sense of dread and horror up to chapter 5 in the no vel ‘Frankenstein’? Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein. The novel is also known as the modern Prometheus. Mary Shelley, her husband Percy and Lord Byron went to Lake Geneva. Lord Byron challenged the group to a ghost story. After that Mary Shelley had a dream which then made her start writing her ghost story. Her dream was of a boy which made a machine, a man, which showed signs of life. Mary then had theRead MoreDiscuss to What Extent the Monster in Frankenstein Is Portrayed as a Tragic Hero?3265 Words   |  14 PagesDiscuss to what extent the monster in Frankenstein is portrayed as a tragic hero? Aristotelian defined tragedy as the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself. It incorporates incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions. The tragic hero will most effectively evoke both our pity and terror if he is neither thoroughly good nor evil but indeed a combination of both. A tragic hero has the potential

Dead Poets Society Film Study Essay Example For Students

Dead Poets Society Film Study Essay Society has engaged Its audiences and critics with Its brilliant plot spun expertly Like a spiders web. This coming of age film explores the rebellious nature of the adolescents as they progress from childhood to adulthood. Dead Poets Society is unique with its brilliant acting, uplifting story and superb craftsmanship. The main characters in this film are Robin Williams as Mr. Keating, Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry, and Ethan Hawk as Todd Anderson. I believe that Robin Williams was the perfect choice to act as Mr. Keating as he is well-known to possess a humorous rationality. The enthusiasm that he emits when acting makes the film feel very realistic. For example In the Toddys Breakthrough scene, the emotion seen on his face makes it feel as if it is not just a film but something that would happen in an actual classroom. Robert Sean Leonard, who played Neil Perry, is a young adult still finding his maturity and responsibility. However as his father starts to dictate his life and lead him away from his lifelong passion of acting, Neil feels that he cant convince his father to allow him to live his dream and ends his own life. All wrought the film Robert Sean Leonard has used amazing facial and body language to convey a confused adolescent to the audience. In the scene where Knells father decides to enroll Neil into a military school, Neil portrays an exasperated and desperate teenager with his magnificent use of facial expressions. Ethan Hawk, who played Todd Anderson, is able to portray the nervous personality a very shy teenager. In the beginning of the film Todd was a very insecure student and couldnt talk to anyone with authority. Ethan played all of Toddys Insecurities flawlessly from the stuttering In his voice to the whimpering facial expressions. Ethanes expertise In acting Is highlighted In the Toddys Breakthrough scene. In this scene Todd Is helped to overcome his fear by saying a poem in front of the whole class. The fear of performing Is painted all over Ethan Hawkers face but as Keating helps him forget it all he finally breaks through the wall of insecurity that had held him back throughout his whole life. The brilliant acting bought by the main actors helped make this dramatic film, entertaining, funny, realistic and overall superb. With the use of special effects, film techniques and the dazzling acting, this film has truly touched Its audiences and critics.

My Work free essay sample

Name a famous person whom you would consider a â€Å"typical† American. What characteristics of this individual do you think make her or him typical? Do you consider these characteristics a stereotype? Why, or why not? IndividualDistance Learning Vocabulary and Course Forums| Resources: Appendix D, Glossary multimedia  Imagine  that you are trying to explain distance learning to a friend. Write  a response of 200 to 300 words to  explain how courses work at University of Phoenix. Use each of the following terms at least once in your explanation:  ? Threaded discussion? Electronic forum? Asynchronous communication? Feedback? Online? The Internet or the web? Participation grade  Create  a list of the forums in a typical University of Phoenix online course. Indicate which forum you would place the following messages into:  ? A message intended for your instructor concerning feedback you received on an assignment? A message responding to a classmate’s bio? A message replying to a discussion question or discussion thread? A message about a classmate’s hobby or outside interest? A message about clarifying assignment instructions| Due Day 7- Sunday| 30|   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Threaded discussion- ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electronic forum ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asynchronous communication ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Feedback ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Online ? ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Participation grade At University of phoenix can go to class and earn a degree, Unlike a traditional le arning environment where students are required to take three or more classes at a time. We will write a custom essay sample on My Work or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The advantages of a distance learning environment is that, e. Students can. In a distant learning environment students have time to think.. Students can use the e-library respond to questions asked by instructors through an electronic forum, unlike he traditional environment where you have to think fast and respond as soon as a question is asked. With Internet access, you can go to class, interact with instructors and retrieve lectures and assignments entirely online. Because the information is all in text form, you’ll never miss an important point. With your personalized student website you can: * check email * access  student services * complete coursework through electronic forums * participate with your classes when and where you choose   Ã‚   * work closely with classmates on a learning team communicate online with classmates and instructors * register for classes, pay tuition, order books and get grades At the click of a mouse, you can view your textbooks and check out research materials in our  online University Library. If you need help finding information, our team of librarians and research specialists are ready to assist you. You can also get help online with your math classes through our  Center for Mathematics Excellence  or help with your English classes through our  Center for Writing Excellence, where you can also have your essays reviewed. Students can attend a course at  anytime, from anywhere. This means that parents can attend to their children, then sit down to class; working students can attend classes no matter what their work schedule might be, folks that travel for business or pleasure can attend class from anywhere in the world that has internet access. | 2. | Online learning enables  student-centered teaching  approaches. Every student has their own way of learning that works best for them. Some learn visually others do better when they learn by doing. | 3. | Course material is  accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Students have the ability to read and re read lectures, discussions, explanations and comments. Often spoken material in the classroom passes students by due to a number of distractions, missed classes, tiredness or boredom. | 4. | In an online environment, attendance to class is only evident if the student actually participates in classroom discussion. This  increases student interaction  and the diversity of opinion, because everyone gets a say, not just the most talkative. | 5. | Online instructors come with practical knowledge and may be from any location across the globe. This allows students to be  exposed to knowledge  that cant be learned in books and see how class concepts are applied in real business situations. | 6. | Using the internet to attend class, research information and communication with other studentsteaches skills in using technologies  that will be critical to workers in the 21st century business community that works with colleagues globally and across time zones. | 7. | Participating online is  much less intimidating  than in the classroom. Anonymity provides students a level playing field undisturbed by bias caused by seating arrangement, gender, race and age. Students can also think longer about what they want to say and add their comments when ready. In a traditional class room, the conversation could have gone way past the point where the student wants to comment. | 8. | Because online institutions often offer chat rooms for informal conversation between students, where student bios and non class discussions can take place, there appears to be a  increased bonding and camaraderie  over traditional class environments. | 9. | The online environment  makes instructors more approachable. Students can talk openly with their teachers through online chats, email and in newsgroup discussions, without waiting for office hours that may not be convenient. This option for communication provides enhanced contact between instructors and students. | 10. | Online course development  allows for a broad spectrum of content. Students can access the schools library from their PCs for research articles, ebook content and other material without worries that the material is already checked out. | 11. | Students often feel that they can actually listen to the comments made by other students. Becauseeveryone gets a chance to contribute, students are less irritated with those that over contribute and can ask for clarification of any comments that are unclear. | 12. | Over 75% of colleges and universities in the U. S. offer online degree programs, with online degrees as respected as on the ground degrees. (Lewis)| 13. | Online classrooms also  facilitate team learning  by providing chatrooms and newsgroups for meetings and joint work. This eliminates the problems of mismatched schedules, finding a meeting location and distributing work for review between meetings. 14. | Students often comment that online learning lets them attend class when fully awake and attend in increments of convenient time block, rather than rigid 2 or 4 hour stretches once or twice a week. | 15. | Because there are no geographic barriers to online learning, students can find a  diversity of course material  that may not be available to them where they live or work. This is especially true for professional training such as medical billing training or purchasing training and for students in remote rural areas that cannot support college or vocational training centers. at this university students The online environment  makes instructors more approachable. Students can talk openly with their teachers through online chats, email and in newsgroup discussions, without waiting for office hours that may not be convenient. This option for communication provides enhanced contact between instructors and students. Do you think it is human nature to categorize people? Why or why not? D. The Oxford English Dictionary defines diversity as â€Å"the condition or quality of being diverse, different, or varied; difference, unlikeness. Do you agree or disagree with that definition? Why? the condition of being different or having differences :VARIETY lt;much diversity in their choicesgt; lt;diversity of opiniongt; 2 : an instance of being different : a point of difference lt;the climati c diversities result in a great variety of plant lifegt; 3 archaic : a variety, kind, or species especially of plants or animals 4 : diversity of state or national citizenship especially in determining the jurisdiction of a court synonym see VARIETY My work free essay sample Po-on A Novel is a novel written by Francisco Sionil Jose, a Filipino English-language writer. This is the original title when it was first published in the Philippines in the English language. In the United States, it was published under the title Dusk: A Novel. For this novels translation into Tagalog, the title Po-on Isang Nobela – a direct translation of Po-on A Novel was adopted. Po-on A Novel is the beginning of the so-called Rosales Saga of F. Sionil Jose – a series of novels about Rosales, Pangasinan in the Philippines. TheRosales Saga has five parts, all of them individual but interrelated novels, composed namely of the following titles in terms of historical chronology: Po-on, Tree, My Brother, My Executioner, The Pretenders, and Mass. Among Joses five-part novel series, the Rosales Saga, it was the last to be written and published but the first in terms of story-telling chronology. In Po-on begins the narration of the experiences of one generation of the Samson family, through Eustaqio â€Å"Istak† Samson, a farmer who joined the rebel forces. We will write a custom essay sample on My work or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The peasant family reluctantly left their original hometown to escape further oppression from a corrupt Spanish priest and from the persecution of other colonial authorities. Their journey lead them to a new place at Rosales, Pangasinan. The novelist discusses the life and the origins of this family while embellished with the historical background of the Philippines during the late 1880s. Alive in the novel were the concepts and the events that emanated during peacetime and wartime; even the status of the poor and the affluent, of the privileged and the powerful, and of those who have privileges, freedoms and rights. During Istak’s time during the final days of the 1900s, the bliss in Istak’s heart when the Philippine Republic finally achieved independence was just for a brief moment. Because that liberation was only short-lived: the ruling Spaniards were only replaced by a new group of strangers from a continent called the United States of America. This colonial transition occurred after the Spaniards were defeated by the Americans] during the Spanish–American War. In Po-on A Novel, Jose revisited these mutual chapters in both American and Philippine histories, together with the presentation of their social and psychological effects to the Philippine citizenry who had been under foreign occupiers from one time followed by another’ The events in Poon A Novel happened from 1880 to 1889, when an Ilocano family abandoned their beloved barrio in order to overcome the challenges to their survival in southern Pangasinan in the Philippines, and also to flee from the cruelty they received from the Spaniards. One of the principal characters of the novel is Istak, a Filipino from the Ilocano stock who was fluent in Spanish and Latin, a talent he inherited from the teachings of an old parish priest in Cabugao. He was an acolyte aspiring to become a priest. He was also knowledgeable in the arts of traditional medicine. The only hindrance to his goal of becoming a full-pledged priest was his racial origins. He lived in a period in Philippine history when it a possible Filipino uprising against the Spanish government was about to erupt, a time after the execution of three mestizos, namely Mariano Gomez, Jose Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (or theGomburza, an acronym for the three) at Bagumbayan (now known as Rizal Park) in February, 1872. There were signs that a revolution will happen, despite of the lack of unity among the inhabitants of the Philippines islands at the time. Another approaching occurrence was the help the Filipinos would be receiving from the Americans in finally removing the governing Spaniards from the archipelago after three hundred years. The novel recreates the societal struggles in which the characters of Po-on were situated in, which includes the protagonist Istak s personal search for lifes meaning and for the true face of his beliefs at principles. Throughout this personal journey, he was accompanied by a dignity that is his alone Istak was assigned the task of delivering a message to General Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine revolutionaries, but died at the hands of American soldiers, on his way to delivering the message. Po-on the novel is only one part of F. Sionil Joses Rosales Saga, the historical epic narrative composed of four other novels considered by the Filipino poet and literary critic Ricaredo Demetillo as the first great Filipino novels written in English. Specifically, Po-on had been described by Random House as a work of fiction which is more than the character of a historical novel, a book with extraordinary scope and passion that is meaningful to Philippine literature. a book as meaningful to Philippine literature as One Hundred Years of Solitude is to Latin American literature. [10] One Hundred Years of Solitude is the masterpiece of Latin Americas Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. [2][3][4][5][10] Frank Gibney of The New York Times described the story-telling in Joses Rosales Saga as being similar to the tradition and style found in the U.S. A. trilogy by the American novelist John Dos Passos Jamie Lynn R. SalasRizal’s Life’s, Works Writings III-A PsychProf. Erlinda B. Dizon Bayaning 3rd World It was all about making a film about Dr. Jose Rizal as our National Hero where the film makers Ricky Davao and Cris Villanueva were thinking what would be the title of the film they will make. And they come up with a detective story wherein they will investigate if Rizal is really a Hero, which implies that they were in doubt of Rizal being our Hero. Moreover, they have many questions on their mind that needs an answer. First, who is Rizal? National Hero, the great Malayan, the first Filipino Indio bravo and the pride of Malay race. What is Rizal? One peso coin, even though always devalued always number one. Small but Terrible. In the year 1904 Gregorio Aglipay, monopoly of Catholic Church, built his own church and made Rizal as their saint. Similarly, group of Filipinos specifically cult praised him and made him as their lord. Second, did Rizal marry Josephine Bracken? They say that Rizal marries Josephine but there was no documentary evidence that will proved that they were really married. The Friars said that Rizal can marry Josephine only if he will write a retraction paper. Jose Rizal did write a retraction while he was in Dapitan but there was no signature of him. So, Rizal did not marry Josephine. However, they really love each other and both live in Dapitan and have a child but unfortunately died. Third, did Rizal sign a retraction paper? This was the most controversial issue. There was a retraction paper made but the text and signature of Rizal were not genuine. Maybe, The Jesuits imitates it. In the interview of Father Balaguer, he said that Rizal retract and confess. If Rizal really retracts and declares himself as catholic, it means that he retract with all his heart whatever in his words, writings, publications and conduct has been contrary to his character as son of the Catholic Church. The film follows two filmmakers (played by Ricky Davao and Cris Villanueva) as they attempt to do pre-production research on a film on Rizal. The two get into endless, impassioned debates; they propose all sorts of absurdities (Rizal Underarm Spray), and make witty observations (Rizal on a devalued one-peso coin is still Number One). They interview people from Rizals lifehis brother Paciano (Joonee Gamboa), his sisters Trining (Rio Locsin) and Narcisa (Cherry Pie Picache), his mother, Dona Lolay (Daria Ramirez), his (reputed) confessor, Father Balaguer (a hilariously villainous Ed Rocha), and his (reputed) wife, Josephine Bracken (Lara Fabregas). Their conclusion (people who wish to stay surprised may want to skip to the next paragraphthough doing so may ultimately prove pointless) after much hemming and hawing basically boils down to this: Rizals life is unfilmable. Its the long, shapeless and rather inactive life of an intellectual bum (something I concluded myself long ago, when I was involved in writing the screenplay of Rizal sa Dapitan). De Leon (with his scriptwriter and co-director, Clodualdo Del Mundo) go so far a s to allow that many interpretations can be made from Rizals lifesari-sariling Rizal or, roughly translated, to each his own Rizal. Significantly, the film lacks certain basic elements of traditional narrative film: a dramatic story, recognizable dramatic charactersno one is changed or transformed during the course of the film (the two filmmakers, who enjoy star billing, are named filmmakers 1 and 2). The last shot has filmmakers 1 and 2 (stand-ins for De Leon and Del Mundo? ) throwing up their hands and walking away from the project (as De Leon did, years ago). This is a Rizal movie about the impossibility of making a Rizal movie; in short, not a Rizal movie. Possibly the single most brilliant director of the Philippines (alive or dead) and his closest and best scriptwriter have played a joke on the long-expectantthree years in the making, not to mention waitingPhilippine public. And what a joke! Its long, multi-layered, elaborate; its richly allusivedrawing not just on practically everything we know about Philippine history and our national hero, but also everything Mike De Leon knows (which is considerable) about film and filmmaking. And the punchline works like a time bomb: you may find yourself laughing your head off hours after seeing the film, orsome days laterfinding yourself thinking about it and chuckling. Or you may not laugh at allto each his own reaction to the film. The film is stuffed with jokes and references. The structure is modeled on Orson Welles Citizen Kane, the first twenty or so minutes a fast and funny recapitulation of Rizals life and significance (a la Kanes life, recapitulated in The March of Time sequence); later we have interviews of the different people who knew Kanesorry, Rizal. One shot, of a Filipino declaiming in front of a huge banner, recalls a similar one in Welles film, where Kane is at a political rally; several times we catch the filmmakers poring over a huge blow-up of Rizals executiona direct quote from Michaelangelo Antonionis film Blow Up. De Leons favorite German Shepherd makes several appearancesgently mocking Alfred Hitchcocks tendency to make personal appearances in his pictures. Other jokes: Cris Villanueva, talking to different people and concluding that their lifes story would make a better film than Rizals. Father Balaguers testimony of Rizals last days in prison, which De Leon mercilessly lampoons in all kinds of ways (having read part of Balaguers testimony, I would say De Leon manages to make fun of him without once exaggerating him). My personal favorite, however, is the moment when the filmmakers finally confront Rizal himself (Joel Torre): his replies to their questions prevaricate hilariously, as befits a true student of Jesuits (What did you do the night before your execution? The Spaniards did what they had to do; I did what I had to do.). Some reservations: despite the astonishingly wide range covered by this relatively short film, De Leon fails to bring up the matter of moneythe difficulty of funding a Rizal film, or any film for that matter (De Leon in the years after his GMA debacle should be more than familiar with the subject). Lara Fabregas ruins the fascinatingly unreliable character of Josephine Bracken (did she marry Rizal, or didnt she? ) with a cartoon English acce nt straight out of Repertory PhilippinesI mean, nawbody tawks loyk that! And De Leon blunts the sharpened point of his joke with a voiceover statement at the very end of the filmto sit through all that ambivalence and ambiguity, only to have everything cleared up at the very last second! Del Mundo admits, though, that that final voiceover is still tentative, and may be removed during the films final sound remixing (heres to hoping they do (note: they didnt which is a pity)). Where does De Leons film stand in comparison with other recent Rizal flicks? I cant comment regarding Rizal sa Dapitan for obvious reasons; I do think Bayaning Third World is superior to the monumental Jose Rizal. The first in its eighty short minutes covers more of Rizals life than the second does in three hours, with more clarity and historical accuracy. The film gives properthat is, primalimportance to the question of Rizals alleged retraction, framing the issue thus: if Rizal didnt retract, then he stuck to his principles and died a hero (and heretic). If Rizal did retract and returned to the Church, then he went against everything he had written and said and died a coward (or, as I would put it, a recognizably human being). Jose Rizals implication that Rizal retracted and is still somehow a hero is, as De Leons film so eloquently points out (without once directly pointing it out), a complete contradiction. I cant quite call De Leons film superior to OHaras Sisa (1998); both recognize the difficulty of filming the life of Rizal, both use diametrically opposite approachesBayaning Third World filling up the gaps with wit and intellectual speculation, Sisa with imagination and heart. Bayaning Third World displays remarkable ingenuity in trying to make what should have been a dry historical debate lively and involving; Sisa displays equally remarkable ingenuity in trying to make a coherent and even moving historical drama out of an impossibly small P2. 5 million ($25,000) budget, shot in ten days (Bayaning Third World, though I cant be sure, must cost at least P5 million or more, shot for over a year). Calling one better than theother is probably a matter of taste (personallyand I think you can see this coming a mile awayI plunk down in favor of imagination and heart). Both films, however, should be a matter of modest pride for all involved: Rizal finally, brilliantly deconstructed on filmtwice. This may not be a Rizal film, but its a remarkable Rizal film nevertheless. Jamie Lynn R. SalasRizal’s Life’s, Works Writings III-A PsychProf. Erlinda B. Dizon â€Å"MAKAMISA† BY: Dr. Jose P. Rizal Nanghinayang ako na hindi natapos ni Jose Rizal ang k anyang ikatlong nobela. Maganda ang konsepto na kanyang naisip, ang magsulat ng aklat na ang pokus ay ang kultura ng mga tao sa isang pamayanang Tagalog. Ang mga nauna kasi niyang aklat ay hindi nakasentro sa iisang pamayanan; mas nakapalibot ang mga ito sa ilang tauhan. Ang Makamisa ay mararamdaman mong mas nalalapit sa karaniwang mamamayan ang pokus; ang mga pangunahing tauhang Pilipino na hindi man lang nakatapak sa labas ng bansa. Naisip ko rin na sayang at hindi ito naisulat ni Rizal sa Tagalog, kahit ginusto sana niya itong gawin, dahil sa kalikasan ng paksa nito.Isa itong kwentong mas maiintindihan ng pangkaraniwang Pilipino, na madalas hindi nakaiintindi ng wikang Espanyol, kaysa sa mga dayuhan at ibang mga ilustradong nasanay na sa kulturang Europeo. Ayon nga sa Paunang Salita ng tagasalin, mayroon ngang paniniwala si Jose Rizal tungkol sa kahalagahan ng katutubong wika, na makikita sa kanyang mga akda. Sabi rin dito na nasanay na masyado si Jose Rizal sa pagsulat sa wikang Espanyol kaya nahirapan siyang isulat ito sa wikang Tagalog. Isa itong dahilan na madaling paniwalaan, dahil nararanasan ko rin ang penomenong ito. Madalas, wikang Ingles ang ginagamit ko sa pagsulat, at kapag wikang Tagalog na ang aking gagamitin, nahihirapan na akong ilagay sa tamang pag-iisip ang utak ko. May nagsabi sa akin dati na nakaiiba talaga ng pag-iisip ang paggamit ng partikular na wika dahil maraming aspeto ng isang kultura ang nakakabit na sa wikang ginagamit nito. Nabanggit ang saloobin ni Rizal tungkol dito sa Paunang Salita ng libro na salin ni Dr. Nilo Ocampo (Etikang Tagalog), na kaya nga ginagamit ito ng mga dayuhan ay upang padaliin ang kanilang pananakop sa bansa.

Question Paper Essays

Question Paper Essays Question Paper Essay Question Paper Essay CASE STUDY : 3 International Case : The Restructuring of Daimler-Benz In a 1996 address to stockholders and friends of Daimler-Benz, CEO Jurgen Schrempp reviewed the position of the diversified company. He started by saying 1995 was a dramatic year in the history of Daimler-Benz. It was also a year that the board of management made a major break with the past. Daimler-Benz, with more than 300,000 employees worldwide, consisted of four major groups: The first, by far the biggest and most successful group, was Mercedes-Benz with about 200,000 employees. It is best known for its passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The second was the AEG Daimler-Benz industries in the business of rail systems, microelectronics, heavy diesel engines, energy systems technology, and automation. The third was the Aerospace Group in the business of aircraft (the company has a more than one-third interest in the Airbus consortium), space systems, defense and civil systems, and propulsion systems. Finally, there was the Inter Services Group consisting of systemshaus, financial services, insurance brokerage, trading, marketing services, mobile communications services, and real estate management. Daimler-Benz went through various development phases. From 1985 to 1990, it diversified into aerospace and electrical engineering. The aim was to become an integrated high-tech group. This diversification was further consolidated in the next phase that extended from 1990 to 1995. Under the leadership of Schrempp, the core business was redefined and the strategy refocused. A 1995-96 portfolio review showed the need for refocusing on what the company could do best. Top management reevaluated its strategies and its core businesses based on economic criteria and the strategic fit of the various activities. It became clear that the companys strengths were in car manufacturing, the truck business, and the railroad sector. Mercedes Benz, for example, had a strong competitive position with its cars and trucks in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Vans were also relatively strong in Europe, and buses had a good competitive position in Latin America. Based on this analysis, the strategies for potential growth were through globalization and the development of new product segments. In 1996, top management reassessed the companys position and its 1995 unsatisfactory results from its operations. It was discovered that the company was exposed to currency fluctuations that affected profitability. The companys image was also blurred because of the ventures into many different kinds of industries. The management board decided to cut its losses and chart a new direction for the company, with greater emphasis on profitability. The organization structure was tightened and certain businesses were divested. In fact, policy decision from an earlier period were reversed. The unprofitable AEG Group and the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker did not receive financial support. Since both the Dutch government and Daimler-Benz withdrew support, Fokker filed for bankruptcy. Although these and other drastic decisions helped reduce the 1995 financial losses, the companys goal was not to emphasize maximizing short-term profitability but to work toward medium- and long-term profitability. A number of other managerial decisions were made to achieve the ambitious goals of reducing costs and improving profitability. Employees close to the operations were empowered to make decisions necessary to carry out their tasks. The organization structure was simplified and decentralized so that organizational units could respond faster to environmental changes. Moreover, the new organization structure was designed to promote an entrepreneurial spirit. Control was exercised through a goal-driven, performance-based reward system. At the same time, the new structure was designed to promote cooperation. In 1997, the board of management restructured and integrated the Mercedes-Benz Group into Daimler-Benz. Consequently, Mercedes-Benzs chief, Helmut Werner, who had been given credit for a successful model policy, resigned from the company. Questions: 1) What is your assessment of Daimler-Benzs operations in many different fields? 2) Should the various groups operate autonomously? What kinds of activities should be centralized? 3) Daimler-Benz is best known for its Mercedes-Benz cars. Why do you think Daimler bought AEG in the first place and why did it venture into the Aerospace and Inter Services businesses? 4) Given the apparent mistakes in acquiring non-automotive businesses, what should Jurgen Schrempp do now?

The Best Jobs For Antisocial People

The Best Jobs For Antisocial People So you hate people, and you’d rather not interact with them all day every day. Like at most jobs, right? Well, you’re in luck. You can still be a functioning member of society, hold down a proper career, be successful- all without having to spend too much time in the company of others. So stop beating yourself up for not being a â€Å"people person.† Here are 10  of the best jobs for introverts, misanthropes, awkward people, and the antisocial among us who would prefer to do our work on our own, thank you very much.1. EconomicsSpend your work time conducting research, analyzing data, and formulating economic plans. Most of this requires you to be hunched over your computer in fierce concentration. No conversation necessary.2. PotteryIf you have any talent for pottery, you can retreat to your studio, wheel, and kiln, and then make money off your wares. You could even get someone else to sell them, or set up a shop online.3. Watch RepairIt’s just you and t he cogs. Hide out in some back workroom fixing and cleaning and adjusting watches for a living.4. Agricultural Equipment OperatorA big farm machine, the open field and sky, and no conversation required- it’s too loud to hear anyone talking anyway, even yourself. Plus, it’s vital work that feeds the world.5. Animal CareLike animals more than people? Spend your workweek taking care of them in a shelter, pet store, or veterinary office. It doesn’t pay terribly well, but it’s bliss.6. ArchivistHole up in a solitary corner of a museum or auction house and catalogue or restore items of immense value to a few scholars. You’ll spend your days in silence and make a decent salary.7. Court ReporterYou’ll be in the middle of the action, but you’re a mere fly on the wall; you won’t have to interact with anyone. Just sit there and let your mind wander and your fingers fly.8. Social Media ManagerIt may seem ironic that you can conduct immense ly social marketing business from a little cubicle somewhere and never have to speak to anyone. But it’s true! You’ll have to spend a lot of time online, just by virtue of the position, and you’ll hardly have much time in your workday to be, you know, actually social.9. Tax Accountant/Actuarial AccountantYour contact with clients will be infrequent. You’ll spend most of your day analyzing numbers, dealing with data, and researching. And there are subspecialties in the field that will carry you even further from daily human interaction.10. Transportation Equipment PaintersYou probably didn’t even know this was a job. But surfaces of transportation equipment like buses, trucks, trains, boats, planes, etc. all require painting. So put on your haz-mat suit and enjoy the sound of your own thoughts.

The Circular Flow Model Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Circular Flow Model - Research Paper Example The role of the household and the private firms differ based on the type of market. The factor market involves buying and selling production factors. The factors of production depend on the market since it decides the disbursement of the income. Each of the components is related to the other component of the circular flow model. The product market mainly deals with the process of buying and selling of the goods and commodities. The households are the major buyers of the product market and this improves the flow of goods and the exchange of money and goods. This, in turn, improves the interaction among the firms, the market, and the households.The interaction between these components is strengthened by the role played by the government and the financial institutions. The government has a direct communication and relationship with the firms and the households. Among the various roles played by the government in the circular flow model, the major operations include tax collection, resource allocation, and supply of goods and services. The first and foremost process is the tax collection. The firms and the households are intended to pay a certain amount to the government. This amount is known as the tax and this is calculated based on their income and the expenditure. The tax forms the major portion of the government’s revenue with which the government manages the payments to the households and firms. The government, in turn, provides the goods and services to the households and firms. This is a two-way process in which the necessary monetary help is rendered by the government. Another important task of the government is to provide the local and state governments with the required resources. The local, state and the federal government depend on the government to accomplish their tasks. The role played by the rest of the world in the market is also equally important. Though the government forms an integral part of the circular flow model, the remaining part relies on other factors. The market situation and condition also decides the flow of money and goods and services.

Discourse on Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discourse on Method - Essay Example In his work, Descartes argues that Science is not the only way of dealing with difficulties in the society. He indicates that Science is full of flaws and that human beings should not confine themselves in the practicality of scientific experiments. In this context, therefore, he indicates that, the human soul is the origin of truth, as it allows human beings go through a process of soul and self searching, in an endeavor to come up with answers to questions of nature. To prove this point, in part four, he gives an example of the incapability of Mathematics to distinguish the truth from fallacy. This is an interpretation of the fact that, Science does not encompass all aspects of problem solving skills and that human soul allows an individual go through a process of soul search; thus, allow an examination of facts from a first hand experience on the organs and they determine the existence of beings. For one to get answers regarding nature, they must have one on one experience with th e attributes and not just by creating formulae and theorems to explain the facts. He gives an example of feeling the heat through the fingers to the blood; thus, ascribe meanings to the same. In part 4, (pp.54) he indicates that, in the case that the human did not have a body, and the physical world did not exist, the existence of the soul is an explanation of existence in the world. The body is distinct from the soul and each exists on their own. This is an evidence of Descartes; part 6 is concurrent with the works of part 4 and 5. Just like in part 6, Descartes’ thoughts concur with those of part 4. He argues for, and proves the subsistence of the soul as well as God. This can be evidenced from his argument that the senses are unreliable from the nature of dreams. From this example, Descartes aims at proving his existence, and that he thinks that he exists. An analysis of facts leads to Descartes thinking and belief that the soul and the body are separate and the senses in the human body are not beneficial in coming up with the exact aspect of issues in the environment. From his thoughts, Descartes goes to an extent of doubting that he exists and that perfection is way beyond unreachable. He insists that perfection is only possible in God, and attests to the fact all things form Him and that He is the only one who has answers to the seemingly extremely difficult concepts to understand. From part 5, the thoughts of part 6 seeds of truth have a great correlation. Descartes explains human anatomy being almost perfect yet their ability to reason has a lot of flaws. Human beings, for instance, are rational beings whose soul, in his argument, must be alienated from the body. The human soul is way beyond death, and must not diminish with the fatality of the body of the human. This is an interpretation of the immortality of the human soul. In search for truth, Descartes argues that, aspects of fame and fortune may not be beneficial. Descartes’ pursuit prone to error Descartes confirms to the fact that all forms of undertakings are prone to errors. In his work, Descartes (pp.51) indicates that, in the quest to search for truth, human beings tend to relay on their senses to have an understanding of the facts that are around them. In this context, therefore, he

Risk Management Essay Example for Free

Risk Management Essay This is a report from a member of the finance, audit and risk management (FARM) Committee. I am currently the assistant manager of the flagship store in Queen Street, Brisbane, and have been given the opportunity to manage the new store in Toowoomba. There are some information about the risk manage of the new store. a. Scope: MacVille recognizes that risk management is an essential component of good management practice and is committed to ensuring the implementation of risk management processes that focus on the proactive management of risks across the organization. MacVille is committed to achieving its vision, business objectives and quality objectives by the proactive management of risk at all levels of the organization. b. Goals: MacVille aims to deliver our valued customers the very best cafe-going experience. In three years, the business will have established a presence across the Queensland and NSW, with the opening of additional cafes. c. Analysis: to thoroughly identify risks, we must examine the external environment surrounding an organization. This includes the political, economic, social, legal, and technological factors affecting the business. d. Research: As part of their overall strategy in the Australian beverage market, MacVille Pty Ltd have developed a chain of cafes in the Central Business District (CBD) of Brisbane, Queensland and the CBD of Sydney, NSW. The board of directors has made the decision to expand their operations in Queensland with the purchase and re-branding of the existing Hurley’s cafe in Toowoomba, 130km west of Brisbane. e. Describe: By way of background, MacVille has agreed to employ all existing staff on three months probation. The current supervisor James Mansfield, has been offered the position of 2nd in charge and he has accepted. While settlement on the purchase of the business is not for another few weeks, the seller has agreed to grant us full access to the store’s operational processes and store information. I will liaise weekly with the Finance, Audit and Risk Management (FARM) Committee here at head office concerning the marketing, finance and store management functions that you are investigating. I will set up a regular meeting for you. Head office has a report on a similar expansion conducted by the NSW team and I hope you may help me in my research. You may need to review other statistical information and engage specialists to help you with your investigation. The legal firm Goldsmith  Partners are advising MacVille on the Hurley cafe acquisition and would be available to help you with legal or any compliance issues. The landlord of the shop in Toowoomba, Ron Langford, is also a local councillor and has offered his assistance in getting established in Toowoomba. He has offered his email address for correspondence.

Eulogy for Mother :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Mother There is an old Yiddish proverb, when the heart is full, the eyes overflow. And so it is the case when we try to sum up and honor my mother’s life. My mother was a difficult, unusual and complex woman. She loved her daughters, Barbara, Wendy and myself, her sons-in law, Marty, John and David, her grandchildren Kenny, Cory and her stepgrandchildren, Mandy and Taryn, But if she loved her children, she absolutely adored her husband, my father. My Father was the truly abiding center and great passion of my mother’s life, as she was his, and knowing that they were coming up on their sixtieth anniversary only just barely gives you a glimpse at the strength of their love. My mother was not big on verbal or physical expressions of her love, but rather she showed us with her actions. And she often used food as a way of showing her love. She was a very good cook at many foods but she was an extraordinary cook when it came to particular dishes. Like her spaghetti sauce. Most of you here might have met my mother after she retired from spaghetti sauce making, but she used to cook sauce for three days in a 20 quart army pot. Then she would freeze it into quart containers for her children and her own use. Whenever we came to visit her, we would go home on the plane with a shopping bag filled with frozen containers. We felt sorry for those who were not so fortunate as to have the spaghetti sauce queen for a mother. Her Jello pie was famous in our household- whenever we came down we could always count on one there. God have mercy on us when all three of us were there with only one jello pie. And my Aunt Harriet, my mother’s sister, who loved my mother very much, was never jealous in spite of the fact that my mother could so deftly make this pie, while my Aunt’s could never stay put. My Aunt understood my mother’s talents. Years ago, when I was 16 I got mono. It was a whole thing. My sister came over, I was taken by ambulance to the hospital and when they brought me home, I didn’t seem to have an appetite. During the nights of fever she would come in to my bedroom, change the sweat soaked sheets, and put me back to bed.

How Much Land Does a Man Need Essay

The main character of â€Å"How Much Land Does A man Need?† is a clear example of an insatiable desire for possessions and wealth which at the end destroys the person. Pahom was living a life â€Å"free from anxiety† as his wife said and â€Å"without time to let any nonsense settle in his head† according to Pahom’s words. As the story develops it reveals Pahom’s real problem was inside him because he was never content or please with the land and the possessions he had. At the beginning of the story, Pahom was a peasant without land of his own, working daily to support his family and thinking â€Å"Our only trouble is that we haven’t land enough. If I had plenty of land, I shouldn’t fear the devil himself†; when in reality the avarice within Pahom lied dormant and he was not aware that his desire to obtain â€Å"plenty of land† will inevitably awaken the monster inside him that could never be satisfied. The first time Pahom had a land of his own was a farm of forty acres. â€Å"So he became a landowner, plowing and sowing his own land, making hay on his own land, cutting his own trees, and feeding the cattle of his own pasture. When he went out to plough the fields, or to look at his growing corn, or at his grass meadows, his heart would fill with joy†. This farm seemed to him unlike any other land, fulfilling his dreams until he heard the story of a better place where he will be able to have more land of his own. At this moment the greed in him began to blind Pahom to the simplicity of his life and to be grateful and fulfilled for what he had. The second farm he acquired had 125 acres and Pahom, â€Å"had three times as much as at his former home, and the land was good corn land. He was ten times better off than he had been. He had plenty of arable land and pasturage, and could keep as many head of cattle as he liked.† Obviously greed does not have limits and it is a part of our human nature some posses a greater level of greed than others but nevertheless greed holds no boundaries and the word plenty has no meaning at all. I wonder what Pahom’s wife was thinking now because in the conversation she has with her sisters, she was more concerned with the temptations of the surrounding towns but did not consider the avarice lying inside her husband that once, fed leads to ruin. Pahom had it all but Pahom was not happy, he was not content, he was not satisfied with the land he had. His greed lead him in to a path of destruction that is best described by the dream he had the night before his death. â€Å"He thought he was lying in that same tent, and heard somebody chuckling outside. He wondered who it could be, and rose and went out, and he saw the the Bashkir Chief sitting in front of the tent holding his side and rolling about with laughter. Going nearer to the Chief, Pahom asked: â€Å"What are you laughing at?† But he saw that it was no longer the Chief, but the dealer who had recently stopped at his house and had told him about the land. Just as Pahom was going to ask, â€Å"Have you been here long?† he saw that it was not the dealer, but the peasant who had come up from the Volga, long ago, to Pahom’s old home. Then he saw that it was not the peasant either, but the Devil himself with hoofs and horns, sitting there and chuckling, and before him lay a man barefoot, prostrate on the ground, with only trousers and a shirt on. And Pahom dreamed that he looked more attentively to see what sort of a man it was lying there, and he saw that the man was dead, and that it was himself! He awoke horror struck.† Pahom never had enough land, he always needed more to feed the insatiable greed that controlled his life. The following excerpt from the poem Who Am I? written by Dietrich Bonheoffer describes better the condition of Pahom’s struggle: â€Å"Who Am I? This or the other? Am I one person today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army? Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine.† Time after time Pahom was not able to enjoy the fruit of his hard work as a result of the avarice consuming him. As the proverb says: † A greedy man hasten after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him† Proverbs 28:22 Pahom died seeking more and more land of his own and at the end â€Å"his servant picked up the spade and dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in, and buried him in it. Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed†.

Sarah Dessen Research Peper

Love is a powerful thing, but can be quickly damaged when those who love, abandon their loved ones. Author Sarah Dessen portrays many themes and subjects in her works, most of which include love, friendship, romance, and abandonment. One of Dessen's works is Lock and Key, where Dessen's story telling method fits the feel of the story, allowing it to move forward as Ruby lives day by day but still clings to her past. It's a thought provoking and intelligent story about all kinds of relationships and love.Another novel by Dessen is Along for the Ride which is also about new elationships, romance, and getting through the past. It feels as if Auden is sharing confidence as she discovers that people are not easy to figure out and can change. She is quite the original character. Author Sarah Dessen deals with the theme of abandonment and romance in the novels Lock and Key, and Along for the Ride There are many traits and characteristics that come along with all characters. The main charact er from Along for the Ride is Auden. She is an independent young woman who never got to experience a normal childhood.Since Auden was never given ttention she always did what her parents wanted trying to get some recognition, so she immersed herself into her school work in order to succeed like her parents. Auden is a very smart individual; she went to private schools her whole life, and got accepted to her first choice of college. The main character from Lock and Key is Ruby who is very independent and does not take help from others. Everyone has abandoned her so why wouldn't people she met in a new place do the same? So she grew up thinking that no one could be trusted.She is closed off and does not open up to people; she is alone most of the time and prefers it that way. Both Auden and Ruby grew up independently, they were abandoned by their parents in form of parenting and had to grow up as an individual, which led them to stay closed off from others. The selections didn't only have main characters with common traits but also shared some similar themes. When reading a story of any kind there always themes expressed throughout. Some themes are obvious while others are vague. And some stories have multiple themes while others have one.Some of the themes expressed in both novels are: it's important to be able to open up to others and express ndividuality; certain people can be trusted over time; Friendships are important and can be found in unexpected places; Finding friends can also help a person find themselves. Also for both novels, it's never too late to do anything. A person should never feel like they can't do something because the time for it passed; don't Judge anything or anyone; when a person meets someone new they shouldn't instantly judge and categorize the individual; No one ever knows who a person is Just from their looks.Express individuality be able to open up; No one should close themselves off to anyone. Both novels shared many similar theme s, and have expressed the struggles that the characters had to deal with. We all face many struggles throughout life, some harder than others. Throughout the novels Lock and Key and Along for the Ride both the main characters, Ruby and Auden, face many struggles, involving many things from love and romance to family and abandonment. Ruby feels alone and lost after being abandoned by her mother and so many other people in her life.Ruby never received any attention trom ner mother growing up; the li ttle attention sne d receive was violent and not welcomed. Ruby was never really told the truth; her mother made her think her father wanted to leave her and her sister wanted nothing to do with her, which caused Ruby to struggle and suffer greatly. Auden never had the childhood most children had experienced. Missing out on many things, she wasn't like most kids her age. Auden always met their high expectations for school and what they approved.She was never given much of any attention fro m her parents so she was immersed in school while other kids would be immersed in friends and sports. Since she always met her parent's expectations she was never given any of the attention she deserved. Both characters faced struggles of being abandoned they were completely ignored and kept to themselves. All people are used to routine one way or another, whether they are used to the same set schedule every day or they are used to the routine of change. Auden always enjoyed being alone, up all night going to same cafe every night.She was used to the same old schedule, living with her successful mother, keeping to herself mostly, and going to school. Ruby was used to the always changing, unexpected life style. Alone with Just her mother, Ruby was always moving around until her mom left too. She as used to living on her own as a teen when abandoned by her mother for good. She was used to her mother's unexplained absences, and her mother abandoning her once and for all was Just a part of the routine she was used to, chaos. But routines break and so does the chaos, opening up new beginnings.We may have the routines that we stick to but everything changes; the only thing constant is change, which opens up new beginnings. Auden changes her regular routine when she goes out of her comfort zone and decides to spend the summer at her dad's. Auden tries things she normally wouldn't, feeling she missed out on a lot. She makes new friends and gets more involved with the people around her and mostly her family. Auden learns it's never too late to do what she missed out on. With Auden's new start, her and her new friend Eli make a quest to do what Auden's missed out on, and along the way learn the true meaning of friendship.Opening up for Ruby is difficult; she likes to hold things in; she does not ever express her feelings because with her upbringing she felt no one could be trusted; in her new home, however, she is learning that it's okay to open up and take help when sh e needs it. Ruby, once being closed off, learns o change for the better; she starts to open up and reach out to others which she wouldn't normally have done. It was difficult for Ruby to get used to such a new lifestyle, now in a big, expensive house living with her sister who she thought had abandoned her, with new people, new friends, new things learned and to be learned.Both of the girls, Auden and Ruby, change and start off on new beginnings in new environments; they both start to reconnect with who they had been abandoned by. They are also starting to open up to new friends, some whom seem to be a little more than Just friends. Love is powerful and healing; it is all around us, and it is what helps us to keep on pushing through the hardships in life. Friendships, friends, or any relationships were the last thing Ruby was looking for, but over time relationships and friendships began to develop in the least likely of places.

Free Essays on Honduras

Honduras Essay written by: q_bert The Republic of Honduras is a comparatively large country in Central America. Its area is at 112,088 km2, and has about 13,000,000 people in which about 60% are literate. Honduras is the 2ed largest country in Central America. Their national holiday is their Independence Day and they celebrate this on the 15th of September, although it is not the only time they gained their independence, it is the only time they celebrate. The nation also escaped from the United Provinces of Central America. The capitol of this mainly Spanish and English speaking nation is Tegucigalpa. The history of the country begins when Columbus saw the country, but he generally stayed farther north. Spain began to settle the country in 1524. The two men in charge of the colony were Davila and Orid. The country was largely unprosperous until 1536 when Gold was discovered in the city of Gracias. The discovery of gold got new settlers to come and also created more demand for miners to mine the gold. The indigenous peoples were forced into this job. One year later in 1537 an uprising occurred and it was led by Lempira, who the national currency would be later named after. His base was on a hill known as Pe »ol de Cerqu ¡n and successfully defeated all efforts to subdue him until the year 1538. In 1538 other native groups began following his example and started small uprisings. Lempira was ultimately killed while negotiating with the Spaniards. The fighting was greatly weakened but continued for 3 more years. The defeat of Lempira’s revolt accelerated the decimation of the indigenous peoples. In 1539 there was approximately 15,000 people and two years later there was approximately 8,000. Most of the remaining peoples were divided into encomiendas, a system that left the native people in their villages, but placed them under the control of Spanish settlers. Under the terms of the system the Spanish were to provide the natives wit... Free Essays on Honduras Free Essays on Honduras Honduras Essay written by: q_bert The Republic of Honduras is a comparatively large country in Central America. Its area is at 112,088 km2, and has about 13,000,000 people in which about 60% are literate. Honduras is the 2ed largest country in Central America. Their national holiday is their Independence Day and they celebrate this on the 15th of September, although it is not the only time they gained their independence, it is the only time they celebrate. The nation also escaped from the United Provinces of Central America. The capitol of this mainly Spanish and English speaking nation is Tegucigalpa. The history of the country begins when Columbus saw the country, but he generally stayed farther north. Spain began to settle the country in 1524. The two men in charge of the colony were Davila and Orid. The country was largely unprosperous until 1536 when Gold was discovered in the city of Gracias. The discovery of gold got new settlers to come and also created more demand for miners to mine the gold. The indigenous peoples were forced into this job. One year later in 1537 an uprising occurred and it was led by Lempira, who the national currency would be later named after. His base was on a hill known as Pe »ol de Cerqu ¡n and successfully defeated all efforts to subdue him until the year 1538. In 1538 other native groups began following his example and started small uprisings. Lempira was ultimately killed while negotiating with the Spaniards. The fighting was greatly weakened but continued for 3 more years. The defeat of Lempira’s revolt accelerated the decimation of the indigenous peoples. In 1539 there was approximately 15,000 people and two years later there was approximately 8,000. Most of the remaining peoples were divided into encomiendas, a system that left the native people in their villages, but placed them under the control of Spanish settlers. Under the terms of the system the Spanish were to provide the natives wit...

Hrotsvitha von Gandersheimâ€Dramatist, Poet and Historian

Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim- Dramatist, Poet and Historian Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim wrote the first plays known to be written by a woman, and she is the first known European woman poet after Sappho. She was a canoness, poet, dramatist, and historian. Surmised from internal evidence of the writings that she was born about 930 or 935, and died after 973, perhaps as late as 1002 The German Dramatist is also known as Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim, Hrotsuit, Hrosvitha, Hrosvit, Hroswitha, Hrosvitha, Hrostsvit, Hrotsvithae, Roswita, Roswitha Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim Biography Of Saxon background, Hrotsvitha became canoness of a convent in Gandersheim, near Gà ¶ttingen. The convent was self-sufficient, known in its time for being a cultural and educational center.  It had been established in the 9th century by Duke Liudolf and his wife and her mother as a free abbey, not connected to the hierarchy of the church but to the local ruler.  In 947, Otto I freed the abbey completely so that it was also not subject to a secular rule.  The abbess in Hrotsvithas time, Gerberga, was a niece of the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I the Great.  There is no evidence that Hrotsvitha was herself a royal relative, though some have guessed that she might have been. Although Hrotsvitha is referred to as a nun, she was a canoness, meaning that she did not follow the vow of poverty, though she still took the vows of obedience and chastity that the nuns did. Richarda (or Rikkarda) was responsible for the novices at Gerberga, and was a teacher of Hrotsvitha, of great intellect according to Hrotsvithas writing.  She later became an abbess. At the convent, and encouraged by the abbess, Hrotsvitha wrote plays on Christian themes. She also wrote poems and prose. In her lives of the saints and in a life in verse of Emperor Otto I, Hrostvitha chronicled history and legend. She wrote in Latin as was usual for the time; most educated Europeans were conversant in Latin and it was the standard language for scholarly writing.  Because of allusions in the writing to Ovid, Terence, Virgil, and Horace, we can conclude  that the convent included a library with these works.  Because of mention of events of the day, we know that she was writing sometime after 968. The plays and poems were shared only with others at the abbey, and possibly, with the abbess connections, at the royal court. Hrotsvithas plays were not rediscovered until 1500, and parts of her works are missing.  They were first published in Latin in 1502, edited by Conrad Celtes, and in English in 1920. From evidence within the work, Hrostvitha is credited with writing six plays, eight poems, a poem honoring Otto I and the history of the abbey community. The poems are written to honor saints individually, including Agnes and the Virgin Mary as well as Basil, Dionysus, Gongolfus, Pelagius and Theophilus.  Poems available are: PelagiusTheophilusPassio Gongolphi The plays are unlike morality plays that Europe favored a few centuries later, and there are few other plays extant from her between the Classical era and those. She was obviously familiar with the classical playwright Terence and uses some of his same forms, including satirical and even slapstick comedy, and may have intended to produce more chaste entertainment than Terences works for the cloistered women. Whether the plays were read aloud or actually performed, is unknown. The plays include two long passages which seem out of place, one on mathematics and one on the cosmos. The plays are known in translation by different titles: Abraham, also known as The Fall and Repentance of Mary.Callimachus, also known as The Resurrection of Drusiana.Dulcitis, also known as The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Irene, Agape and Chionia or The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Agape, Chionia, and Hirena.Gallicanus, also known as The Conversion of General Gallicanus.Paphnutius, also known as The Conversion of the Thais, the Harlot, in Plays, or The Conversion of the Harlot Thais.Sapienta, also known as The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Faith, Hope, and Charity or The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Fides, Spes, and Karitas. The plots of her plays are either about the martyrdom of a Christian woman in pagan Rome or about a pious Christian man rescuing a fallen woman. Her Panagyric Oddonum is a tribute in verse to Otto I, the abbess relative.  She also wrote a work about the abbeys founding, Primordia Coenobii Gandershemensis.

THE THEORIES BEHIND MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

THE THEORIES BEHIND MANAGEMENT - Essay Example It should be unequivocally stressed that managers who have applied management theory in there daily operations have high chances of accomplishing both personal and organizational objective. To address this subject, the study paper will carry on along the following field: management will have to be defined for reasons of theoretical clarity; management functions, objectives, goals, and essentials will be underscored; reasons to study management theory will be named; and the various management theories, the centre of the paper, will be discussed at length; and lastly "the way forward" in terms of a conclusion will be provided Management is defined as the art or science, of attaining objectives through individuals. Because managers also oversee, management can be understood to mean literally as "looking over" - i.e. ensuring individuals do what they ought to do. Therefore Managers are, supposed to ensure better productivity or, "continuous improvement". More generally, management is a process of formulating and maintaining an atmosphere in which people, working collectively in groups, ably accomplish selected objectives (Koontz and Weihrich 1990,). In its expanded outline, this fundamental definition means quite a few things. One, as managers, they perform the managerial roles of planning, organizing, leading, controlling and staffing. Two, management pertains to any type of organization. Lastly, the objective of every manager is similar - creating surplus. Basically, then, management involves the acquirement of managerial competency, and efficiency in the following essential areas: problem solving, human resource management, administration, and organizational leadership. Most important of all management is entails solving problem or issues which go on emerging every time in the as an organization struggles to realize its goals, aims and objectives. Problem solving ought to be accompanied with problem identification, assessment and implementation of solutions to managerial problems. (Stoner J. A. et al, 2003) Management Objectives; Functions; Goals; and Essentiality Management Objectives There are principally three management objectives. Ensuring organizational targets and goals are met; secondly looking after health, safety and welfare of staff. Thirdly protecting the apparatus and the resources of the organization, with includes the human resources. (Stoner J. A. et al, 2003) Management Functions To appreciate management, it is very important that we divide it into five managerial functions that are; planning, leading, organizing, controlling and staffing. Planning entails selecting objectives and missions and the actions to realize them. Leading is to influence people so that they contribute to organization and also group goals; it has deals mainly with the interpersonal side of managing. Organizing is that part of management which involves creating an intended structure of roles for individuals to fill up in an organization. Controlling, for instance, budget for expenditure, is the measuring and also correcting of subordinates activities to make sure that events conform to plans. It assesses performance against objectives and plans, illustrates where negative differences exist, and, by putting in motion actions to correct deviations, helps ensure accomplishment of plans. Staffing

Risk Pricing in Construction Contracts in Saudia Arabia Research Proposal

Risk Pricing in Construction Contracts in Saudia Arabia - Research Proposal Example This report sets out some of the general risks to be taken into consideration, for application in the Saudi Arabian region. Most construction contracts originate through sealed bid auctions. The bids are generally prepared using approximations, with a risk allowance being included to cover any unforeseen circumstances, and inaccuracies in estimations.(Skitmore, 2001:800). Most construction companies have an overall risk management strategy, and the major issues arising in this context are (a) risk ownership, i.e, which party owns the risk and (b) risk financing, i.e, how to allocate and use risk contingencies (Smith and Mema, 2006:5). One of the most important risks arising in construction contracts is the management of uncertainty, caused by two major factors: (a) complexity – where information is available in principle, but is too costly or time consuming to analyse (b) unpredictability – where past events do not provide a reliable guide for the future. In instances where there is enough data that is available to assign meaningful probabilities to the information that is required, then the uncertainty becomes a question of risk (Winch 2010:7). The element of uncertainty is especially applicable in the context of price, because the price agreed to at the time of singing the contract and the actual price incurred are likely to change due to external factors in the environment that cannot be effectively predicted. In terms of managing the risk, dynamic uncertainty refers to the relative uncertainty at any point on the project life cycle, relative to earlier and later points on the cycle, but when adequate amounts of information are obtained in progressive stages, the levels of uncertainty are also reduced. As Smith and Mema(2006:6) have pointed out, the management of risk largely entails the exercise of control over events in the future and this may involve the ability to

To what extent is the documentary film 'sisters in law' a reliable Essay

To what extent is the documentary film 'sisters in law' a reliable source to account for the situation of women's rights in Came - Essay Example Issues in Cameroon In this section, the issues faced by women in Cameroon have been listed down and discussed as shown in the documentary. The reliability of the documentary is also analysed with the help of some independent sources. Child Marriage The documentary shows that women are usually married off at a very young age in the country (Ayisi & Longinotto, 2005). Due to early marriage, they are unable to complete their education. An early marriage also gives rise to early pregnancies which is risky both for the mother as well as the child. This problem is corroborated by the statistics presented by UNICEF. According to UNICEF 36% of women were married before the age of 18 in 2010. Thus, the problem of Child marriage is really a big issue in Cameroon and has been captured well by the documentary (UNICEF, 2010). Selling off Daughters In the beginning of the documentary we have seen a case in which the women were ‘sold’ of as wife by the father in return for dowry. This is a very big problem in many Islamic societies. Women are considered as merchandise by the family which can be sold for the right amount (Ayisi & Longinotto, 2005). Although the documentary has failed to take into account the issue that majority of Cameroon residents are not Muslims but the issue is still worth discussing as it affects one-third of Cameroon’s population. The documentary presents this issue in a good way but fails to tell us about the extent to which this issue plagues the society. Custody of Children The Islamic law says that if there is divorcee or if the wife runs away, the custody of the children stays with the father. This is in sharp contrast with the modern law which regards the mother as the most natural custodian of the child. Although Cameroon has modern system of law in place but the society still follows age old tradition and a woman has to fight in order to get custody of her children (Ayisi & Longinotto, 2005).Once again the documentary focused on the Islamic population of Cameroon and fails to give an insight into the practices followed by other people of Cameroon. Physical abuse Physical Abuse is another big problem which is faced by women in Cameroon. This abuse is not only inflicted on older women but even children are not spared from it. It is common for the husband to regularly beat up his wife over small things. Children are beaten up mercilessly by their guardians over small faults (Ayisi & Longinotto, 2005).Report of UNICEF in 2010 also supports the issue shown in the documentary. It shows that 56% of population of Cameroon justifies wife beating and a very high 93% has justified the beating of children (UNICEF, 2010).Thus the issue shown in the documentary also finds resonance with UNICEF and shows that the issue has been shown reliably and correctly. Social Boycott Cameroon is a traditional society where matters of the house are not taken outside. The elders of the house or of the village gather together in orde r to solve the issue .It is taboo for women to drag her husband to the court even if she has been suffering a lot. Once a woman decides to break free of

SWOT Analysis: A Small Family Business

SWOT Analysis: A Small Family Business Family business is definitely a strength for RCDC as in a family owned business, the owners view their as an asset to pass on to their descendants rather than wealth to consume during their lifetimes (carron,1999). In addition, as recently argued by Zellweger(2007), the extended time horizon that characterizes family firms reduces the marginal risk of an investment and therefore the corresponding risk-equivalent cost of equity capital (McNulty,Yeh,schulze and Lubatkin,2002). Consequently, family owned firms can seize investment opportunities their non-family competitors do not consider as sufficiently attractive or consider too risky;such a situation offers family owned firms the possibility of developing their activities unhindered by aggressive competitors and of conquering markets that competitors cannot enter(Zellweger,2007,p-9) Moreover, families may bring with them significant financial and physical resources,called survivability capital(Simon and Hitt,2003),which can be used to sustain the business during economic hardship or after unsuccessful strategic movies (Dyer,2006). These elements are usually known by customers and suppliers,who may establish and cultivate long-lasting relationships because of the goodwill and trustworthiness generated by the family commitment (dollinger 1995). 2) Strong Criticism from shareholders: The continuous negative feedback from directors of warwick investments regarding the poor dividend payment record and the lack of strategic direction is actually a strength of RCDC as it acts as a drive for improvement .It is because of this critism and the drop in turnover that the Lancasters and Yorks are trying to find every possible way to save their business and satisfy the stakeholders. 3) Long-term experience in the dry cleaning business: As per the case RCDC has been in the dry cleaning business for more than a decade and they have managed to run the business reasonably well which means that they have had a good market share and enough customers to patronize and a fairly good knowledge of the particular business. They can use this experience to overcome the weaknesss and excel in their traditional business. 4)Flexi-timing: The RCDC has got both full time and part-time staff which is a strength as it increases the employee morale ,engagement and commitment to the organisation.It reduces the absenteeism to a certain level and increase the chances of recruiting outstanding employees.It even helps in reducing the staff turnover and developing the image of the employer. Weaknesses: 1)High staff turnover: As mentioned in the case, RCDC is facing a hgh level of staff turnover at both staff and managerial level which is one of the causes of the reduced organisational performance .Excessive employee turnover can hurt the overall productivity of a firm and is often a symptom of other difficulties.Every organisation strives to have high productivity,lesser turnovers and maximum profitability.managing turnover successfully is a must to achieve the above goals.Abassi and Hollman(200) stressed that the managers must recognise the employees as major contributor to the efficient achievement of the organisations success.Furthermore,highly motivated and performing individuals are the crucial factors of the organisational productivity. Therefore,there is need to develop a thorough understanding of the employee turnover from the perspective of causes,effect and strategies to minimize turnover. 2) Absence of training and development: This another weakness of RCDC which is worth mentioning as this can be a major cause for employee turnover as there is no growth within the organisation.according to the case ,the training and development interventions are completely nonexistent which means that there is no scope for employees to develop or achiveve some sort expertise in their particular professions.Moreover,Training and development is asource of competitive advantage for companies which helps to remove performance deficiencies in employees. There I greater stability,flexibility and capacity for growth in an organisation.Training contributes to employee stability in at least two ways .Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees contribute to the growth of the organisation and growth in trn renders stability to the workforce. 3)safety Measures at work: The mishap that happened with one of the employees at RCDC makes it evident that safety measures are completely missing in the company which means RCDC is putting the ife of its employees at risk by making them work in an unsafe environment which in turn spoils the image of the company. 4) Conflict among the owners: There is a lot of conflict among the owners of the RCDC which is one of the root causes of the underperformance of the company.There is no strategic planning ,no control and no direction at all. Threats: 1)Competion: One of the main threats to all the businesss is competition and RCDC is no exception. RCDCs main competitor is Bletcheys fast clean plc which operstes approximately in the same geographical area .The Bletcheys can even take advantage of the internal problems faced by RCDC to take greater market share.as compared to RCDC, the marketing strategies and pricing policies of Bletcheys.are better and their success rate is also quite high which is why many of the RCDC employees have joined Bletchey and they have been able to pull many of the customers along with them. 2) Seasonal work : Usually people consider dry cleaning for woollen and expensive clothes so the sales tend to be higher in winter and autumn where as summer is marked with reduced sales as the clothes are machine washable. 3) Increasing nmber of supermarkets Another threat posing the traditional neighbourhood dry cleaning business is the increasing number of supermarkets having the dry cleaning stores.Most of the pople nowa-a-days find it convenient to shop from these supermarkets where they get their clothes also drycleaned.This can eventually lead to complete extinction of the traditional drycleaning. 4)Legal issues: Court cases filed against RCDC by its employees is another threat to the smooth functioning of the business.Firstly it can spoil the image of the company by reducing the sales and secondly it does not allow the management to concentrate completely on their business as most of their time goes in finding new ways to deal with these problems. Opportunities: 1)Diversification of business: One of the opportunities is to diversify their business into areas such as shoe repairs,film processing,key cutting and contract cleaning in addition to achieveing a level of excellence in their core business i.e dry cleaning.Diversifiacation can help RCDC with increased profitability and seasonal challenges. 2)Innovative Marketing strategies: RCDC can come up with some innovative marketing ideas to top the market e.g:E-marketing,offering discounts to its loyal customers etc.It can also improve its customer service by providing the option of home delivery which can prove convenient to customers having a busy daily routine and can even beat the threat of one stop-shopping. 3)Improved organistioanl strategies: RCDC needs to implement training and development programmes for employees which can help in attracting more and more people for work,reduce employee turnover and will make the process more organised.Safety measures also needs to be included in this program so that the rate of accident is minimised. 4)Centralisation of operations: Decentralisation Iis a better opportunity than centralisation as decentralisation would lead to better customer care and speedy dry cleaning which could be helpful in getting more customers and increasing the profits .In addition to this store managers should be given more responsibility and powers so that they can take decisions regarding an problem related to the specific store as and required and do not have to depend on getting orders from headquarters. Present and potential problems faced by RCDC in the following areas: a)Operations management and organisational issues: Operations management is the activity of managing the resources which produce and deliver products and services.The operations function is the part of the oranisation that is responsible for this activity.Every organisation has an operations function because every organisation produces some type of products and /or services.Page 4 No organisation can survive in the long term if it cannot supply its customers effectively.And this is essentially what operation s management is about designing,producing and delivering products and services that satisfy market requirements.For any business,it is a vitally important activity. General problems in operations management faced by small and medium sized organisations : Operations management is just as important in small organisations as it is in large ones.Irrespective of their size,all companies need to produce and deliver their products and services efficiently and effectively.However,in practice,managing operations in a small or medium size organizations has its own set of problems.Large companies may have the resources to dedicate individuals to specialized tasks but smaller companies often cannot,so people may have to do different jobs as the need arises.such an informal structure can allow the company to respond quickly as opportunities or problems present themselves.But decision making can also become confused as individuals roles overlap.small companies may have exactly the same operations management issues as large ones but they can be more difficult to separate from the mass of other issues in the organisation. Present and potential operations management problems faced by RCDC can be discussed a follows: 1)No understanding of the operations strategic performance objectives: The first and foremost responsibility of any operations management team is to understand what it is trying to achieve,which means understanding how to judge the performance of the operation at different levels,from broad and strategic to more operational performance objectives.The management in RCDC is not paying any attention to this crucial area which can lead to further damange to the companys market share. 2)Operations strategy for the organisation: Operations management involves hundreds of minutes by minute decisions so it is vital that there is a set of general principles which can guide decision-making towards the organisations longer term goals called an operations strategy.RCDC do not have any specific operations strategy which is why the organisational growth is suffering and will continue to suffer if this issue is not addressed. 3)No measures for improving the performance of the operations: The continuing responsibility of all operations managers is to omprove the performance of their operations which is another issue to be addressed in RCDC. 4)social responsibility of operations management: It is increasingly recognised by many businesses that operations manager have a set of broad societal responsibilities and concerns beyond their direct activities.the general term for these aspects of business responsibility is corporate social responsibility or CSR.The accident that took place with one of the employees and the managements attitude towards that incident makes it evident that RCDC completely lacks CSR.This has already spoiled the brand image of the company and can ruin it completely. All these issues can turn RCDC into a failing organisation. Organisational Issues: 1)Due to the heavy drop in sales over the last few months ,the directors are considering centralisation of operations at Leicestershire site leading the company to substantial savings in staff costs and providing it with the opportunity to dispose of surplus machinery.However due to the conflict between the owners the idea of centralisation does not seem to work out.If any decision is not taken in the near future, the profitability of the company will keep going down and finally the owners may have to close don the company. 2)The present 24 branches operated by RCDC are not at all enough as far as the idea of centralisation is concerned.RCDCs main target is to increase the sales and for doing this they have to attract more and more customers which can only happen if they provide better and quik services to their customers as compared to the competitors.so,the geographical coverage is very important for the growth of the business. 3)The problem of moving goods from the retail outlets to the plant and then back to the outlets and customers is another issue which needs to be addressed.Making goods and services available to the customers on time is the biggest challenge for all the organisations as it is one of the ways of building healthy relationship with customers and making them loyal to the company. c)Sales and marketing Issues: Marketing Planning: Marketing Planning can be defined as the application of marketing resources to achieve marketing objectives(P-16,marketing plans that work) In simple words marketing planning is a series of activities and the formulation of plans for achieving them.Companies generally go through a management process in developing marketing plans .In small ,undiversified companies this process is usually informal and same is the case with RCDC.RCDC needs a much more systematized marketing plan to target more customers. Constructing a marketing plan is the most difficult task for RCDC as the owners do not agree to each other and they all have different expectations and goals altogether. 2)Decling Sales: The sales of RCDC are decling rigorously and the company is not taking any serious action regarding this issue .The company needs to conduct a marketing audit which is usually conducted by organisations in situation of decling sales ,falling margins,lost market share etc.Marketing audit is a means of defining problems precisely so that each problem can be addressed and eradicated. 3)Undiversification: According to the case ,Yorks want to diversify their business and move into related ares such as Shoe repairs,film processing.key cutting and contract cleaning which is actually a good idea to increase the overall profitability and can help RCDC to overcome the bad phase of reduced sales .Hoever the disagreement from lancasters is not allowing this idea to be turned into reality. 4)Sales Promotion: d)Personnel and industrial relations: 1) Training and development: Absence of training of and development is one of the biggest problems in RCDC. As per the case training and development programmes are considered to be an expense to the company and the employees are expected to pick up work as they go.Training and development can provide RCDC with the much needed competitive edge by improving the performance of the workers and the organisation as a whole. If this practice continues RCDC will completely fail in attracting employees to work for it ,as there are no growth opportunities for employees. 2)employee relations: As per the case ,there is a lot of friction between the employees and the management which is one of the many reasons for RCDCs high staff turn over.The management needs to value its employees and show concern to their problems as the employees are the building blocks of any organisation.In order to achieve longterm goals and future success RCDC must improve its relations with its employees. 3) Health and safety: The workers at RCDC are prone to accidents as there are no health and safety measures .The management is only concerned about increasing the profits without a proper planning and concern about the people who can actually help RCDC achieve it. 4) Job dissatisfaction: The high employee turnover makes it quite evident that the employees are not at all satisfied with their job at RCDC. There can be various reasons for it e.d: No growth opportunities. Risk factor No concern for employees well being from the management. Work stress. Competitors etc. 5)Orientation : Orientation programmes are must for every organisation as it helps new employees to get aware of the work practices and the expectations of the organisation.These orientation programmes are completely missing in RCDC and it effects the perception of employees. 6)legal issues: RCDC is dealing with court cases which is not a good sign for the growth of any business as it affects the brand image. 7)Internal conflicts: Another serious issue is the conflict between the owners which has created a sort of deadlock in the company as no plans are put into action.These internal problems have already affected and can futher affect the goodwill of the company. Accounting and Finance: The present and potential problems faced by RCDC in accounting and finance are as follows: 1) Payment of dividends: One of the main problems in RCDC is the poor dividend payment plan.Every organisation has a responsibility towards its stakeholders and if an organisation does not fullfill the expections of its shareholders,it has to bear the consequences such as internal conflicts,loss of credibility,reduced sales etc.which is exactly the case with RCDC.Therefore, RCDC has to improve the standard of paying dividends to its shareholders and for doing so ,it has to manage its financial resources in a proper and planned way and keep maximising the shareholders wealth. If the business is to achieve its objective of maximising shareholder wealth then it must use its resouces to maximise profits and cash flows.This will maximise shareholder wealth because there is general agreement that share prices reflect the discounted value of a firms cash flows.Whilst it may not be possible to increase dividends every year,shareholders like to know that dividends will be paid because they provide a signal to investors.A reduction in dividends is likely to lead to a reduction in share price because the signal to the market is one of the financial difficulties ahead.such a reduction in a firms share price will in evitably have other financial implications.The company may become target for a possible take over,particularly if another company believes that the reduction in earnings has been brought about by poor management rather than hostile trading conditions.Even if this does not happen the company may well see its credit rating reduced thus increasing its capita l costs because of the increased risk perceived by investors.Capital spending may also have to be stopped in an attempt to protect the firms cash flow. 2) Financing the new project of centralisation: RCDC is considering centralisation of operations which according to the management will help in reducing staff costs and the concentration of operations will allow the company to take advantage of the economies of scale.In,addition to this the machinery in the branches could be sold off to get some finance to invest in the new plant.The main problem with the centralisation is that the company is not having enough funds to invest in the new plant which is estimated to cost around 7,50,000 pounds.even selling off the surplus machinery in branches will hardly aid in solving the finance problem. At present ,there is no possibility of assuming any increase in sales ,that leaves RCDC with the option of taking a loan from a bank to finanace the project and for doing this the company needs to discuss the profitability of the proposed project which is expected to be 1300000 pounds that can act a basis for the bank authorities to sanction the loan.However ,considering the present market condition of the company ,it is quite difficult for RCDC to get a loan sanctioned from a bank as it has lost its credibility.Even if RCDC manages to get a loan ,it has to give a serious thought on how to repay the loan.Every business and every new project involves risk,but it should be a calculated one.Calculated risk makes the success of a company more predictable while, uncalculated risk can completely damage the business. 3) Costs involved in the new project: As per the proposed plan,only the staff cost is showing a reduction by 1,80,000 pounds all other costs are assumed to be same or to show an increase e.g,the head office cost at present is 240 and even for the new plant ,it is proposed to be 240, but the operating surplus is supposed to increase by 130000 pounds,same is the case with flat rental and other entities.According to the data provided in the summary of annual operating statement ,it can be understood that the proposed plan involves more cost and only marginal saving.so, the management should seriously analyse the implications of the proposed plan and decide whether they should invest in this plan or not.