Monday, September 30, 2019

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a type of a mental disease characterized by prolonged personality function failure, variability and disturbance of moods. Ultimately, it leads one to unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships, behavior, identity, and self image. The proceeding results are periods of dissociation and isolation. When one is disturbed this way, he or she may develop pervasive negativity within the facets of life psychologically. Difficult in developing and maintaining work, social settings and home relationships are experienced.When the victims are not given the effective therapy and proper care, complete or attempted suicides are possible outcomes (Kantor, 1993, pp. 135). Current research on this disorder has revealed the specific symptoms that can help one establish early signs of the disease. The first recognitive experience of this disease is a turmoil relationship that takes a hate-love track as time goes by. After perceived slight misunderstandings, victims of this disorder furiously and immediately drop their friends.The victims have a general difficult in agreeing on gray areas with the other people they interact with (Lachkar, 2004, pp. 23). Current research from Britain encyclopedia has come up with a wide range of the factors that may lead to this disorder. The causes are said to be complex and diverse. They include child sexual abuse or childhood trauma, brain abnormalities, environmental factors, neurobiological factors and genetic predisposition. The disease itself is mental but the repercussions mostly rest and affect social behavior of the concerned.The affected spends most of the time mentally alternating between extremes of devaluation and idealization. The perceived identity disturbance is generated because of the psychological unrest in evaluating ones sense of self and self image. In the process of finding a solution to these encounters, impulsive thought that are far much self damaging come in mind. They may inc lude reckless driving, substance abuse, binge eating, eating disorders, promiscuous and unprotected sex (Lubbe, 2000, pp. 450). At individual level, suicidal threats, gestures and behavior are experienced.This may also be coupled with behaviors that are self mutilating including excoriation or interfering with body scars that may be healing, cutting or picking at oneself. Due to affective instability, moods can be marked by high reactivity such as irritability, dysphoria, and intense episodic or sometimes high anxiety. Chronic feelings such as worthlessness and emptiness, frequent displays of recurrent physical fights, constant anger and temper, dissociate symptoms, delusions, paranoid ideation and transient stress are symptoms that indicate prevalence of Borderline Personality Disorder (Lachkar, 2004, pp.24). The Chinese society of psychiatry has carried out an extensive study on the diagnostic paths in handling this mental illness. The diagnosisitnvolves the so called mood swings. Mood swings describes reactivity of mood and marked liability which can be defined as emotional dysregulation. It is a reaction of the victim to external intrapsychic and psychosocial stressors which is believed to subside or arise with time. The above medical research body has come up with several areas of concentration in the attempts to curb the prevalence of the disease globally (Muller, 1994, pp. 87).The approach in treating the disorder has ranged from socialization programs to medication programs. The medical section has given a prior attention to hospitalization, medications and psychotherapy interventions. After carrying out the research, the core treatment of the disorder is psychotherapy. The two mainly used and effective disorders are Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). It is an approach that applies high skills in teaching the regulation techniques of ones relationships, emotions and tolerating distress. It can be a face to face or phone counseling which can be done at individual level or through a group consultation.The second type of psychotherapy is the Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP). This kind of approach concentrates on the relationship between the victim of emotions and the therapist. It helps in understanding the challenges that may come along with social interactions and how to deal with the difficulties. These researchers have identified that medications can not adequately cure this disorder. They can only treat the problems that are associated with the disorder. It can approach and counter situations like anxiety, impulsitivity and depression.These medications include anti anxiety medications, antipsychotic and antidepressant. The hospitalization program is usually designed to keep the victim safe from self injury. Consultation of mental health providers gives the directions and precautions to undertake in containing the disease (Muller, 1994. pp. 87). The world health organization has also involved itself in the search for co ntingency measures in handling of the above disorder. It has proposed and enhanced group based psychological services. These programs motivate people to engage, participate and encourage group and solitary activities.It has thus developed therapeutic communities in Europe, that have led the campaigns towards treatment or lowering of the severity associated with this personality disorder. These communities focus on future prevention of the disease, handle the current victims and extend their material assistance to these individuals. The mission of these research organizations is to provide improved psychiatric rehabilitation services. The rehabilitation is achieved through encouraging engagement in meaningful activities and avoiding of social exclusion and stigmatic endeavors.The world organization also provides mutual support and promotes co-counseling groups all over the world to prevent unexpected and harmful spread of the disorder. The victim can get involved in alternative medic inal techniques. Doing exercises and ensuring physical fitness can be improved by including team sports and occupational therapy techniques. Engaging in a sort of employment encourages the spirit of self efficacy, competence and having a social role and obligation to perform in the society. This in turn promotes self esteem (McCallum, 2001, pp.234). This body has also provided antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor that has been presented in randomized and controlled trials around the world. It has been reported to improve attendant symptoms related to depression, anxiety, hostility and anger. A higher dose of the above depressant is required in the treatment of mood disorders in comparison with depression. The benefits of this depressant are realized within a period of three months in treating mood disorders and a period of six weeks if it is made to treat depression.Mentalization based treatments assumes that victims of this disorder experience attachment di sturbance because of parent child relations in the early childhood stages. Lack of enough early child attunement and mirroring by parents can result to the child’s mentalization deficiency. This lowers the capacity of such child to attach some kind of correlation between the mental state and the potential causing action. Under normal conditions, there must exist some kind of relatedness between the driving force towards an action and the state of the mind.Studies have attached the perceived mental failure in this disorder to problematic impulse control and instability in moods (Acocella, 1999, pp. 108). Mentalization oriented treatments highly and frequently employ psycho dynamically informed multimodal treatment criterion in the process of ensuring a sustained capacity of self regulation of the patient. This criterion goes ahead to incorporate both individual psychotherapy and group psychotherapy in an outpatient context, partial hospitalization or therapeutic community.Comb ination of these medical and non medical elements helps to reduce the emotional states which are closely associated with Borderline Personality Disorder. The categories of the disorders include feelings of victimization, feeling of lack of identity or fragmentation, feeling of self destructiveness and extreme need for isolation. When these people are completely attacked by the disorder they become hyper alert to signals of rejection, less or no valuation, insecurity, ambivalence, avoidance and demonstration of fearful preoccupation in relationship patterns.All these issues are encountered in the process of novelty seeking or intimacy seeking of the patients (Livesley, 2003, pp. 90). Cultural, age and gender considerations of the disorder Several studies upon the relatedness of this disorder to gender aspects or differences have been done. It is an area that has raised a lot of controversies and critics in the attempt of justifying the perspective that this disorder dominates in fema le gender as compared to the males.It has thus received a very high feministic criticism. A group of scholars believe that patients of this disorder have a history of abuse in lines to do with sex during their early childhood. This ideology argues that girls are more exposed to the danger of sexual abuse compared to boys, definitely and inevitably justifying that the disease is common among ladies. On the other hand, women who have survived childhood sexual abuse perceive traumatization when interacting with abusive mental health services.This happens because of the fact that Borderline Personality Disorder is a diagnosis full of traumatization and thus it evokes negative or abusive responses and answers from mental health providers. To acknowledge the abuse of sex inflicted on these women, several feminist thinkers have suggested that it is better to use diagnosis of post traumatic disorder for this class of women. This medication is however made to medicalize the disorder but it d oes not handle the root cause of the problem within the society (Acocella, 1999, pp.180). Clinical officers respond differently to similar complains or symptoms, depending on whether it originates from a woman or a man. For example if both sexes report cases of angriness and other promiscuous behaviors a man is likely to be diagnosed by use of Antisocial Personality Disorder whereas a woman will be diagnosed with Borderline Personal Disorder. If a woman portrays manhood characteristics such as hostility, success or sexual activity, she is entitled to a diagnosis of personality disorder.If on the other hand the woman shows psychiatric symptoms that conform not to the sick role considered traditionally passive, she is likely to be labeled and considered as a difficult patient. This situation leads to the patient receiving the stigmatizing diagnosis of the borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder seemingly is associated with urban settings and low economic and s ocial status. Diagnosis of this disease may at times be applied to the wrong group of persons or individuals.In some areas engagement in some behaviors is perceived as a protective approach or a presumed survival strategy. In making diagnosis analysis, it is of great importance for the clinician involved to consider the economic and social context in which the perceived emotional difficult occurred. Diagnosis of this disorder should not be performed before the age of eighteen years. This is because some observations made at early ages are associated with childhood. After this age, any symptoms can be diagnosed because every sense of maturity s assumed upon an individual (McCallum, 2001, pp. 234).Many sample based studies in the world have shown that the prevalence of this disorder in males is 1% and 3% in females. The origin of the individuals used in the sample has also contributed to variations in the study’s results, depending on the surrounding social and economic scenari os. Urban settings have indicated a percentage of 30% prevalence compared to 3% found in rural areas. This state has prevailed in many nations because urban settings are subjected to many social evils and crimes that highly contribute to emotional reactions. Substance abuses are believed to be highest in towns and cities.This disorder does not have a well defined course in ones life. It is however believed through experimentations and research activities that it disappears as one gets older and older. It has been observed to disappear in the fourth decade of life cycle. The remission of this disorder is not however automatic but depends on the frequency of engaging in criminal activities or activities that can interfere negatively with ones psychological and emotional state. There is a natural impact that forces one to reduce the spectrum of behaviors such as substance abuse (McCallum, 2001, pp.234). Future considerations of the disorder The future diagnosis of this disorder require s an improvement and a further consideration of emotional difficulties to avoid misconceptions. This is because many reports have been produced where this disorder is persistently misdiagnosed. If this problem is not properly handled, it may lead to marked distress. This also promotes impairment in occupational, role functional and social obligations of the patients. When diagnostic results are released, the patient simply believes in the results without any doubt.Any diagnosis whether true or not is very much impactive on the emotional state of the patient. The patient will therefore adapt the living styles of fellow partners who are suffering from the disorder. Any further research on this work should be in position to offer updated synthesis which concretely incorporates rational clinical attention and current scientific knowledge. It should comprehensively reconstruct the minds of patients for it to serve as a vital caveat utilizing the treatment recommendations with appreciatio ns and not view them as limiting to their ambitions in life.The nature of supportive advance should determine the treatment recommendations. These recommendations should be keyed with respect to confidence level provided by coded evidence (Acocella, 1999, pp. 108). In the future, researchers should not only concentrate on the medication issues but also pay attention to the socialization programs that can be adopted to prevent and at the same time help to cure who are suffering from the disorder. Emotional complications can not occur when the social atmosphere is not disturbed.Borderline disorder is sensitive to the environmental state. It is just a psychological response or reaction towards an emotional embarrassment from a certain source. If sexual abuse among children at early childhood is minimized or stopped, the rate at which the disorder is spreading can be cut down to lower ends. Therefore, programs should be launched to encourage the public through sensitization programs to take a personal initiative, aimed at a collective goal, a counter reaction towards Borderline Personality Disorder (Livesley, 2003, pp. 90). Reference: Acocella Joan, 1999. Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder. London, Jossey-Bass publishers, pp. 108. Kantor Martin, 1993. A Guide to Avoidance and Avoidant Personality Disorder. Mahwah, NJ, Praeger publishers, pp. 135. Lachkar Joan, 2004. The Narcissistic/ Borderline Couple: New Approaches to Marital Therapy. London, Brunner-Routledge, pp. 23, 25. Livesley John, 2003. Practical Management of Personality Disorder. London, Guilford Press, pp. 90. Lubbe Trevor, 2000. The Borderline Psychotic Child: A Selective Integration. London, Routledge, pp. 450. McCallum David, 2001. Personality and Dangerousness: Genealogies of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Cambridge University Press, pp. 234. Muller Ryse, 1994. Anatomy of a Splitting Borderline: Description and Analysis of a case History, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 87.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Formula 1 Constructor – Choose a Team – Ferrari

The resources, capabilities and attributes that are required for the success in Formula One (F1) can be looked on a number of dimensions taking into consideration the unique and fast paced context of Formula One. F1 is a highly competitive industry and based in a rapidly changing environment, which has been defined by Porter’s five forces (Appendix One). Key resources within F1 are both tangible and intangible and can be considered under the following broad categories: Physical Resources: The car and its components such as engines and chassis are vital resources but the technological advancement determines its ability to win races.Test Tracks are also vital physical resources both in the competitive context and in the ability to test cars, the location of such tracks may also be an important factor. Own testing and development equipment is also important for technological advancement and knowledge gain. Factories are also an important physical resource for constructors. Financ ial Resources: High start up costs and continued running costs involved with the sport, result in the need for high capital investment, for example a medium sized constructor needs ? 30-? 50 million capital investment as a basis for being competitive.The majority of team finance is generated through sponsorship – a lucrative sponsorship deal can help improve a team’s level of performance through cash injection alone. Fans are a huge resource for the sport as they act as a huge funding society for Formula One. At present tickets cost upwards of ? 330 per race and for VIP access ? 1700. Revenue is also provided by prize money from winning championship points and through shareholders within each constructor. Human Resources: Team Principles are an important aspect to every constructor.Initially, teams were managed by the founders themselves, but as time has moved on the emphasis has shifted to managers and their ability to run the team in a business manner. The intangible resource of their skills and knowledge is incredibly important in F1 due to the highly competitive environment. For success a team needs a certain level of experience and expertise, either built up over time or recruited from elsewhere. To gather this expertise is expensive and requires investment in personnel as well as technology. Such gains are provided by the knowledge from other important employees including designers, engineers and drivers. Another crucial factor is the motivation to carry-through the bright idea into detailed implementation† (Cross and Clayburn Cross). Drivers are a key human resource; important attributes of a driver include the ability to drive fast, think strategically while racing on the track, good communication skills, and motivational skills. Intellectual Capital: Although patents are not allowed in F1, other intellectual capital includes the constructors brand and reputation – largely used to gain finances. A key brand in F1 is the Maran ello Red used by Ferrari.Complex business systems are required by F1 teams for managing the large amount of data that flows in the organisation. These resources will not reach their potential purely from existence, the way in which they are managed, used or deployed is essential in understanding strategic capability. See Appendix Two for example of resources and the competencies gained. To be on the F1 grid and compete in the market, capabilities gained through the above resources must reach the threshold level. The F1 constructors generally function at the peak of resource utilisation and, therefore, manage resources very efficiently.Hence, almost every resource that becomes a capability for competitive advantage is converted into a competency for competitive advantage. Internal strategic capability allows for successful strategy and is required for survival and success (Johnson et al, 1998). To gain competitive advantage involves adjustment of capabilities, for example acquiring m ajor improvements and advancements in attributes such as technology and from the creation of new opportunities. Stretching and exploiting capabilities in such a way that competitors cannot imitate, results in them becoming a rarity and providing competitive advantage.Though such advantageous technological strategic capabilities have been required by constructors for competitive advantage, they have also become been a pivotal factor for the introduction of increased legislation designed to reduce uncertainty and increase competition, such as the introduction of generic tyres. The factors responsible for the success of the teams in their respective periods of dominance can be considered through analysis of the organisations core competencies, a form of competitive advantage which s usually a result of â€Å"collective learning processes† and are manifested in business and activities and processes. The core competencies are those unique capabilities, which usually span over mult iple products or markets. † (Hafeez 2002). Ferrari’s dominance in the mid 1970’s Much of Ferrari’s success during the period of the mid-1970’s can be attributed to the ability to build their race cars at the Maranello site without the need to outsource for component parts.This created centralisation of knowledge and expertise, thus the ability to transfer knowledge between departments without leakage. When Ferrari sold 40% of the company to Fiat, in 1969, providing huge cash injection thus acquiring the Fiorano test track allowing them to test the change in any aspect of the car on the track and observe real time results. This gave a competitive advantage through testing technology and making changes faster than their opponents. This led to the creation of a team dedicated to engine design and development.A much needed management discipline was also imposed upon the organisation with the appointment of Luca di Montezemolo as team principal in 1974. Luca restructured the management, added focus to the organisation, and enabled the team to reach its collective potential. Montezemolo defined strict areas of responsibility in order to reduce the amount of interference and internal politics. In 1973, along with the arrival of Mauro Forghieri as the technical director, Niki Lauda was recruited. He provided the team with driving skills and racing experience. McLaren’s domination in the late-1980sMcLaren’s domination can be attributed largely to the culture created under Ron Dennis’ leadership and the recruitment of personnel matching this culture. Dennis’ obsessive attention to detail coupled with John Barnard’s ‘technical excellence’ created an atmosphere where new ideas and innovations in technology could thrive. Consequently, McLaren differentiated themselves from other Formula One teams by taking bold steps into unchartered territories both in their strategy and their design of cars , for example by using carbon fibre instead of metal for the chassis of their successful MP4 car.Prahalad and Hamel (1989: Page 64) argue that gaining leadership in any given industry requires a ‘strategic intent’ to guide operational direction and its resource allocations. For example, when Canon sought to ‘beat Xerox’ in the photocopier industry, it was able to do so over a period of years by incrementally attacking all of Xerox’s ‘loose bricks’, the criteria left unfulfilled by its competitors. Similarly, Ron Dennis built an ‘intent’ of having the ‘smartest and the best presented car’ in Formula One despite the risks of failing in its races.This attitude evidently became entrenched in the whole organisation as the element of fear was removed, helping McLaren achieve success even after Barnard’s departure. Although many strategists argue that a company’s core competence cannot be derived from a s ingle person, Tampoe (1994: Page 69) argues that a leader with a personal core competence such as a ‘strong vision and enormous energy to expand’ can help an organisation sustain competitive advantage. Ron Dennis, with his perfectionism and ‘legendary’ marketing and management abilities, was considered by many the best manager in sports.McLaren’s core competence, therefore, appears to have been Ron Dennis’ vision and his skills through which McLaren won 15 out of 16 races in 1988. Tampoe’s (1994) model for ‘Market Survival Strategy’, shown below in Figure 1, explains how companies competing with their core competencies can gain higher competitive advantage. Figure 1: Tampoe (1994): Market Survival Strategy Patents Low High Profit Low Competitive Advantage High Competitor Response Hard Easy New Product Know How Sources of Market StrengthPrice Place Core Competence Tampoe (1994) shows that competing on the basis of lower cost s and technical know-how is easier for competitors to imitate. As patents are not allowed in F1, teams need to compete on the basis of their core competencies to sustain their competitive advantage. Dennis’ abilities could not be imitated or substituted by McLaren’s competitors as he achieved success by synthesising McLaren’s budget, designers, engine, drivers, and sponsors to create a perfect ‘overall package’.McLaren achieved success on the race track through an overall strategy that was invisible to its competitors. This included long term partnerships with sponsors such as Marlboro and TAG, a design team led by John Barnard, and possibly the best management in sports. These core competences are evident as Dennis applied them successfully in other areas including a marketing consultancy operation to help smaller teams find sponsors, while also launching the McLaren F1, the world’s most expensive and fastest road going car.McLaren’s sponsorship partnership with Marlboro cigarettes, lasting 22 years, was particularly helpful as Marlboro were responsible for Ron Dennis’ recruitment when McLaren were struggling against their competitors. Furthermore, McLaren’s relationship with Honda was a key reason for success as the engine makers had recently split from rival constructor Williams and had some of the most talented engineers and expertise. This relationship produced the MP4, Honda powered car which became the most reliable and fastest car on the track in 1988.William’s success in the mid-1990s Perhaps the most important factor in the success of Williams during this period was the relationship between Frank Williams, the founder and owner, and Patrick Head, the designer. The partnership provided the combination of â€Å"entrepreneurial energy and technical excellence needed to succeed in F1†. Williams’ autocratic and frugal approach, paired with Head’s ability to develop g ood ideas, led to the team becoming leader of the â€Å"technical revolution† during the 1990’s.This long standing relationship is unique to a sport where personnel changes frequently, and gave stability to the organisation leading the team to gain its competitive edge. Another key partnership leading to Williams’ success during this period was with the engine supplier Renault, lasting 10 years. Its success led to the development of the Williams FW15 and FW16 cars powered by the Renault V10 engine, still widely regarded to be the most technologically advanced car of the time. It assisted in the team winning 56% of their races between 1992 and 1994, as well as winning the constructors title in 3 consecutive years.Ferrari’s return to winning ways from 1999-2003 Since Ferrari’s success in the mid 1970’s, much change led to a move towards revamping the management, technical department and design development. Appointing British technical director John Barnard led to a change in attitude of the organisation as they were now prepared to imitate the British constructors with a base in Britain. Luca Di Montezemolo, team manager of Ferrari during their dominance in the mid 1970’s, returned as CEO in 1993 to restore Ferrari’s dominance. Jean Todt was appointed to handle the overall management of the team.After Barnard left in 1996 the role left was split up between Rory Bryne and Ross Brawn, and between them they built a new design department based in Italy. Ferrari entered into a commercial partnership in 1996 with tobacco company Marlboro. Phillip Morris, in charge of the Marlboro brand, agreed to pay for the team driver’s, Michael Schumacher’s, salary. They also made a contribution to Ferrari’s annual operating budget. In Schumacher, Ferrari had one of the best drivers in the business, who was able to lead them to success.Schumacher was not only a talented driver, but also a motivator with th e ability to communicate effectively with the team, demonstrated by learning Japanese to communicate with an engine technician recruited from Honda. The change in Ferrari as a constructor is evident. Jeremy Clarkson, a well know auto-journalist, documented this fact: ‘In the olden days they (Ferrari) used to build their cars with a lot of passion and enthusiasm. And then, on lap 3, as often as not, they would explode in a passionate and enthusiastic fireball.But a few years ago they started building their racing cars with science and math and since then, as we know, they’ve been top of the tree’. Reasons for failure Ferrari Ferrari, unlike other competitors in F1, made all parts of their car, including the engine, themselves. Although, this resulted in huge success during the mid 1970s, Ferrari’s uniqueness was also the reason behind their failure. Ferrari’s failure due to technological negligence can be explained using the Quantum Hypothesis: 1. Th e pursuit of efficiency increases internal consistency and cohesion. Ferrari had developed a unique engine-gearbox combination using their ‘flat-12’ engine and a transverse gearbox and applied it in their 312T series of F1 cars. Ferrari chose to develop this combination further and with this revolutionary configuration they were able to stay ahead of the competition from 1975 to 1979, winning the constructor’s title in 1975–1977 and 1979. 2. Overtime, configurations ‘change to adapt’ OR alternatively, match poorly with the environment as it changes (the overtly cohesive ones). * In 1980, new innovations in the aerodynamics brought the ‘ground effect’ revolution.This was developed by Lotus and quickly adopted by Williams and Brabham, but Ferrari was not able to adopt this new technology as their engine design was different. 3. Overtly cohesive configurations resist change for as long as possible. * When the ‘ground effectâ₠¬â„¢ technology was developed, Ferrari knew that their cars would not be competent enough to keep up. Instead of finding a way of incorporating the new technology in their current cars, they chose to concentrate on a longer term project of developing a V6 turbocharged engine.In essence, Ferrari made a crucial trade-off between the current and the future plans. 4. When such configurations change it tends to be sudden and relatively rapid (and often painful). * Although the change for Ferrari was neither sudden nor rapid, it was quite painful. When Ferrari did eventually come out with their new car sporting a V6 turbocharged engine and employing the ‘ground effect’ technology, it was perhaps too late. Ferrari was not able to win a single driver’s championship between 1980-1999, and didn’t win a constructor’s championship between 1984-1998.In Ferrari’s case, the flow of the stages of the Quantum Hypothesis can be easily seen. Ferrari was overtly cohesive and resisted change in 1978 when the ‘ground effect’ technology was developed. Enzo Ferrari’s autocratic leadership style lead to a political environment, causing rivalry and confusion. Good management is of paramount importance in any industrial context and this was proved by the turnaround in Ferrari’s fortunes achieved by Luca di Montezemolo’s restructuring. Furthermore, in 1977, Niki Lauda ended his partnership with Ferrari.This was a major blow for the team as Lauda had the ability to translate what he wanted in the car to the technical team. Reasons for failure McLaren McLaren’s main reason for failure came when Honda pulled out of F1 racing in 1992. Ron Dennis failed to respond to widespread speculation that Honda would be leaving. Due to such failure, Ayrton Senna left McLaren for Williams, taking with him his great ability to motivate designers with valuable feedback. McLaren seemed to have lost their focus on their carâ₠¬â„¢s design, evident in 1995 as both their drivers failed to fit in the new ? 0 million MP4/10, ultimately leading to Nigel Mansell’s departure. Other reasons for failure include the departure of John Barnard, whose presence was seen by many as the reason behind their developing dominance. Despite their poor relationship, the partnership between Dennis and Barnard had been highly successful and held potential for even greater success had it been sustained for a longer period. Another relationship problem leading to failure was the fierce rivalry between two highly competitive drivers, Prost and Senna.This could be attributed to the fact that, rather than applying the usual team ethics of having primary and secondary drivers to support each other, McLaren recruited two top drivers and did not give either driver ‘first’ priority. This left both drivers competing for top position, causing friction within the team even when it had the best car in the sport, the Hond a MP4. Notably, McLaren were able to sustain their success by substituting John Barnard with Gordon Murray, and McLaren’s success was not greatly affected by Prost and Senna’s conflict.Therefore arguable the only factor that led to their complete failure was the lack of a contingency plan for the departure of Honda. Reason for failure Williams The Williams team’s failures, like McLaren’s, show the bargaining power of engine suppliers and drivers, as well as talented designers in the F1 industry, proving to some extent that Ferrari had a degree of advantage by producing their own engines, despite the technical issues. In 1988, Honda’s departure from Williams, like their departure from McLaren left the team reliant on off-the-shelf engines, leading to the departure of their main driver, Nigel Mansell.The importance of a good driver was signified during the early 1990’s as Williams went from winning only two races in 1990 to dominating the race s in 1992 after the return of Nigel Mansell. However, the Williams team remained steadfast in their belief that the driver was not as important as the car’s design process, despite the valuable contributions a good driver can make towards this process. Placing a lack of importance on the driver, as well as the ‘masculine’ approach of Frank Williams led to many successful drivers leaving the team.Due to their technologically competitive car, Williams retained their constructor’s title in 1994 despite Ayrton Senna’s death. With only a more advanced car, Williams’ competitors were soon able to catch up as Benetton used the expertise of Ross Brawn, formerly a junior designer at Williams, to design a car replicating the innovations from Williams. There have been instances in Williams of their knowledge being transferred to competitors as their employees left to join other teams.This shows a fracture in the culture of the team with little sense of belonging. Furthermore, Renault, ambitious in becoming a top engine supplier in F1, had decided to supply Benetton with engines as well, and therefore, by pairing a similar car with a better driver in the form of Michael Schumacher, Benetton were able to break Williams’ three year domination period in the sport by leaving them with no unique competitive advantages. Proposed strategies for maintenance of dominance of each constructor Ferrari: The Crescendo Model of RejuvenationFerrari was a team driven by the ambitions of one man – Enzo Ferrari, when Luca di Montezemolo was appointed the opportunity to rejuvenate should have been taken due to several important signals: * Even after the considerable cash injection by Fiat, the team had not been able to perform very well. * Enzo considered the most important part of the car to be the engine almost neglecting the importance of other parts. * Enzo’s autocratic style of ‘divide and rule’ had created much confusion and rivalry within the team. There was a huge supply of talent at Ferrari and it had not always reached its collective potential, mainly due to Enzo’s management style. There was clearly the need to start a fresh and Montezemolo had this opportunity when he joined the team along with technical director, Mauro Forghieri, and a new team driver, Niki Lauda. Baden-Fuller and Stopford (1994) argue that the obvious thing to do at the start of a rejuvenation process is to establish measures that heighten the sense of urgency to deal with emergent problems before they become serious.Luca could see the problem, which is why he made some managerial changes in the way the departments interact, but was not able to make the problem evident on a broader scale. It can be argued that if Montezemolo had realised the team needed an organisational turn-around and would have started a rejuvenation process, using the Crescendo Model, the team could have started the 1974 season with an a lternative strategy and would have been able to sustain its period of dominance by adopting the ‘ground-effect’ technology in 1978.This process had to be initiated by Montezemolo as â€Å"Rejuvenating a mature organisation is impossible without commitment from the top† (Baden-Fuller & Stopford, 1994). This eventually took place, but at a much later stage in 1992 when Montezemolo was called back to Ferrari as a CEO, to take Ferrari to the top again. SECI – Strategic Knowledge Creation Recent work by Chou and Te (2004) sought to empirically test the roles of knowledge assets in the promotion of SECI outcomes, finding some support for hypotheses which asserts the presence of knowledge assets.For example organisational routines which can have a strong impact on certain SECI outcomes. Such a model can be transferable to Ferrari. In 1978, after the launch of the revolutionary ‘ground-effect’, Ferrari should have started a SECI (Strategic Knowledge C reation) within different departments, particularly in the engine development department. Discussion of the possible solutions to overcome the threat posed by the new ‘ground effect’ technology and the ways of quick implementation, without disrupting undergoing future developments was essential.The managerial implications of such knowledge in a new climate of learning and innovation required collaborative learning and task sharing. Vital questions such as: How great a threat does the new technology pose? should we adopt it? , and if so, in what context? needed to be considered. Ferrari should scrutinize their own motive force mechanism on the basis of defining its objectives, not only considering the intended results but also setting up colony incentive mechanisms to strengthen corporate cohesion. It must be realised that unlike competitive environment within the team, all members should strive towards the same goal, to win the races. Ferrari’s success is gained through their ‘team’ culture and therefore such knowledge transfer may be deemed easier to extract in this environment. The authors of this assignment argue that the transfer of SECI principals to Ferrari are suitable to not only change the team dynamics but also create knowledge that may be turned into suitable technology (Wei, 2007). Introduction of a Project OrientationFollowing the knowledge creation process, knowledge development is needed; it would benefit Ferrari to assign a small team of engineers to the same task – more like a project. The main advantage of adopting a project orientation in this matter is that with this method no major changes need to be introduced in the management of the team. If a separate team is assigned for this aim, then the current developments are not disrupted. This newly assigned project would come under the category of an ERD project (Exploratory R&D project) as the main objective would be to find a way to improve the current technology at Ferrari to remain competitive.The only possible conflict could be the common resources, solved by giving the project team a clear preference in the need to regain competitive edge, and the project team is dedicated solely to accomplish that objective. It is important to note the need for SECI and Logical Incrementalism within the project team as well. Quinn (1978) argues that ‘Logical Incrementalism allows organisational actors to modify the idea behind the reorganisation as more is learned’, hence, giving the option of developing a flexible platform for the project team to work on. McLaren:McLaren’s core competences, as mentioned earlier, lay in Ron Dennis’ management abilities as a leader and his success in fulfilling all necessary criteria to create a perfect ‘overall package’. McLaren had all the components, such as good designers, drivers, and sponsors required to sustain competitive advantage. According to Mintzberg (1978) , organisations need to have a ‘peripheral vision’ to achieve strategic learning not only from their competitors’ successes but also their failures. McLaren’s failure resulted from absence of a contingency plan and lack of strategic learning rom the Williams team, who suffered similar experiences with Honda’s departure. The Deliberate-Emergent Pendulum Due to Honda’s departure, McLaren’s intended strategy to compete in partnership with Honda as an engine supplier was unrealized in 1992. Although an emergent strategy did come about in a successful partnership with Mercedes, it was three years too late. McLaren had lost not only their dominance in F1 but also their main driver, Senna. Dennis could have sustained McLaren’s domination by planning prior to Honda’s departure, creating an emergent strategy involving a different engine supplier.This is demonstrated in Figure 2. Figure 2 Intended-realised strategies by Mintzberg ( 1978) Unrealized Strategy Emergent Strategy Realised Strategy Intended Strategy Deliberate Strategy McLaren’s partnership with Mercedes has been highly successful but could have been achieved earlier, avoiding the organisational inertia following Honda’s departure. Mercedes has made a substantial investment in McLaren, acquiring 40% equity, tying them into the alliance, showing that McLaren learnt from their experience with Honda by negotiating a more secure alliance.An approach that may have better managed McLaren’s success was the relationship between Barnard and Dennis which, despite its success, was not maintained. Ikujiro Nonaka (1998) writes about the concept of ‘Ba’, a shared place for emerging relationships. The space is described as being physical or mental or any combination of the two. The most important differentiator of ‘Ba’ from ordinary human interaction is the platform provided to enhance both individual and collective k nowledge.The relationship between team principle Ron Dennis and John Barnard provided an environment that would lend itself well to the creation and sharing of tacit knowledge. Williams: According to Voelpel et al. (2005) the Red Queen effect, as coined from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, is essentially: â€Å"a comfort trap† where â€Å"running harder is easier to do, it is of an analytic-benchmark nature, it shows short-term success and is less risky in the near horizon, but ultimately holds long term downfall. † The Red Queen effect illustrates that in Williams’ case the organisation walked into a dead-end which moved them faster to failure.They just worked harder to improve traditional industry and organisation success factors rather than looking outside their core competencies. The need for management at a strategic level was to be creative and come up with new strategies to challenge their core competencies. According to Voelpel et al. (2005) â€Å"reinventing old ways, will provide a wide range of options to choose from in dealing with the uncertainty of the environment. † Whilst the industry is a closed environment in terms of technological revolutions, continuous development will push industry boundaries and help keep the organisation on top.Had Williams analysed their business model, they could potentially have moved away from being design led (their core competency) to focus on areas of the organisation in need of improvement and development, whilst still making the technological advancements and improvements that led their dominance initially. Voelpel et al. (2005) provide a practical sense-testing tool for developing and adapting new business models to avoid the traps of the Red Queen principle. According to the theory, a comprehensive and cohesive understanding of a business model and its key elements can provide an important source of sustainable competitive advantage.Figure 2 shows that there are four se nse testing dimensions displayed as: business System infrastructure, technology, customers, and economics/profitability. By analysing the different components of their business model from the four elements, management can determine the feasible business models that possess acceptable success probabilities. Applying this tool would have helped to sustain Williams’ advantage by encouraging development of the organisation outside of their core competencies.Figure 3: Business Model Reinvention by Voelpel, S. (2005) With regards to a business model, a clear understanding of the nature of the business and its core competencies creates a situation where change and development can take place. The sense-testing tool helps companies grasp the concept of adapting and creating business models for strategic inflection, enabling managers to discern where competitive advantage could be achieved and eventually leading to the constructor prolonging their period of dominance.Williams’ c ompetitors imitated aspects of their race car design realising the advantages that a Renault powered engine had in gaining a competitive advantage. Barney (1991) suggests that a firm should aim to have â€Å"causal ambiguity when the link between the resources controlled by a firm and a firm’s sustained competitive advantage is not understood or understood only very imperfectly. † The competition should, in an ideal situation, find it difficult to duplicate a successful firm’s strategies through imitation of its resources, it should be impossible to know which resource is giving a constructor the advantage.According to Barney (1991), Williams’ competitive advantage was not sustained because their methods could be duplicated due to their competitors realising the link between the resource and its advantages enabling them to acquire the same resources taking away Williams’ competitive advantage. Knowledge Management When talking about Knowledge Manag ement (KM) Satyadas at al. (2001) argue that there are challenges in the â€Å"people† aspect of KM outlining several factors that make up these challenges. In the case of Williams, the most disruptive element of knowledge retention is the affinity and sense of attachment felt towards the organisation.A lot of talent departed Williams, which shows the lack of affinity towards the organisation held among the employees. â€Å"Concerns around intellectual capital in a highly competitive environment need to be balanced with social capital benefits. † (Satyadas et al. 2001). Perhaps Williams was not able to provide these social capital benefits which ties in with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Appendix Three), Williams might not have been able to satisfy the higher level needs and therefore, their employees tried to fulfil these needs with other teams.The suggested solution for Williams would be to modernise their management style and steer away from the current autocr atic style. There is a need for a more democratic management style – where the manager allows the employees to take part in decision-making: therefore everything is agreed by the majority, making the employees feel more valued and bringing a sense of belonging to the team. The Future Ferrari won 5 consecutive championships from 1999 – 2004. Schumacher played an important role towards Ferrari’s success.Hence he has been brought back as Jean Todt’s assistant linking to knowledge retention. In 2007, Ferrari returned to top form by winning both the drivers and constructors championship. McLaren has evolved as a business by applying their core competences in marketing and technical excellence successfully. They have gained finances from Abu Dhabi and Bahrain governments, along with sponsorship from Vodafone among others. McLaren has also developed an Electronic Control Unit that has been deemed mandatory by the FIA to be used by all other constructors for the 2008 season.Recent news speculates the retirement of Ron Dennis with Martin Whitmarsh, current CEO of McLaren, as his replacement (Appendix Four). It will be interesting to see if McLaren retain the successful culture created by Ron Dennis. In 2005, Williams had to rely on off-the-shelf engines once again, when BMW, their engine suppliers, created their own team. This shows that Williams failed to learn from their experiences with Honda and Renault, repeating the same mistake for the third time. This can be attributed to a lack of managerial focus and the inertia to change.While other teams are being managed by professionals, Williams has stuck with its orthodox ways, a major factor for Williams’ poor performance. In 2007, Williams ranked 4th in the constructor’s championship, no longer being a threat to McLaren and Ferrari. References Journals Baden-Fuller & Stopford (1994) The Crescendo Model of Rejuvenation from rejuventing the Mature Business. Harvard Business Scho ol Press [In MLQG: pp. 189] Barney, J. (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of management, Volume 17. Constantinides, E. 2006) From strategy to e-strategy: Lessons from two success stories, handbook of business strategy, Emerald Group publishing limited. Cross, N. Clayburn Cross, A. (1996) Winning by design: the methods of Gordon Murray, racing car design, Design Studies, Volume 17, number 1. Hafeez, K. Zhang, Y. Malak, N. (2002) Core competence for sustainable competitive advantage: A structures methodology for identifying core competence. IEEE transactions on engineering management, Volume 49, Number 1. Hamel G and Prahalad C K, Strategic Intent, Harvard Business Review, Vol 67, No 3, 1989, pp 63-78.Heracleous, L. (2002) The contribution of a discursive view of understanding and managing organisational change, Strategic change, John Wiley and Sons Limited. Jenkins, M. And Floyd, S. (2001) Trajectories in the Evolution of Technology: A Multi-Level Stud y of Competition in Formula 1 Racing, Organization Studies, 22 (6) pp. 945-969 Lampel, J. , and Jha, P. P. (2004) Models of Project Orientation in multi-project organisations, The Wiley Project Management Resource Book, (eds: Pinto, J. K. and Morris, P. W. G. ) New York: Wiley. Nonaka, I. , & Konno, N. 1998) The Concept of Ba: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation, California Management Review (Spring) 40(3): 40-47. Quinn, B. (1980) Strategies for Change: Logical Incrementalism, Irwin, Homewood Ill. [In MLQG pp 10: Ch 1 and 5] Quinn, J. B. (1978) Strategic Change: Logical Incrementalism, Sloan Management Review, pp. 1-21 [In MLQG: pp. 183 ] Rice, J. & Rice, B. (2004) The Applicability of the SECI Model to Multi-Organisational Endeavors: An Integrative Review, International Journal of Organisational Behaviour, Vol. 9, Issue 8. Stalk, G. Evans, P. Shulman, L. E. 1990) Competing on capabilities: the new rules of corporate strategy, Harvard Business Review, 1992. Tampoe, M. (1994 ) Exploiting the core competences of your organisation, Long Range Planning, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 66-77. Voelpel, S. (2005) Escaping the Red Queen Effect in competitive strategy- how managers can change industry rules by sense-testing their business models, European Management Journal, Volume 23, Issue 1, P. 37-49. Wie, L. (2007) Reflection upon Present Competition-orientated Corporate Culture: in Knowledge Management Perspective, Wireless communications, Networking and Mobile Computing BooksIkujiro, N. & Hirotaka Takeuchi,(1995), The Knowledge-Creating Company; How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, Oxford University Press, New York Johnson, G. , Scholes, K. , Whittington, R. (1998), Exploring Corporate Strategy, 7th Edition, Pearson Education Limited, Essex Mintzberg H, Lampel J, Quinn J B and Ghoshal S, The Strategy Process, Concepts Contexts Cases, Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall, 2003. Appendix Appendix One: Porter’s five forces Threat of New Entrants: A n ew entrant to the Formula one industry faces many barriers. * High start up cost Excessive running cost (The total spending of all 11 teams in 2006 was estimated at $ 2. 9 billion) * High level of resources required, also act as a barrier for potential new entrants to the industry. * Certain level of experience and expertise is necessary which requires investment in personnel and technology * Sponsorships and a lucrative sponsorship deal can help improve a teams level of performance * The rules and regulation that exist regarding the design and construction of the car Bargaining Power of Buyers: The buyers in F1 enjoy high power.They play a vital role in the popularity of the sport as well as a considerable contribution to the funds for various teams. * Fans * Media * Sponsors Competitive Rivalry within the Industry: Formula One is, like any other sport, a highly competitive industry. Each constructor places emphasis in different capacities on a number of variables. * Engineers * Dr ivers * Management * Sponsorships * Designers * Technology Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The primary suppliers of F1 constructors have a lot of power. So much so that in a few instances, suppliers have been the cause of the end of the period of dominance of some constructors. Drivers * Engine manufacturers * Designers * Technical team Threat of Substitutes: All the other popular racing and sporting events can be considered to be a threat for F1 as they may take away resources such as money, drivers, sponsors, popularity, etc. from the F1 industry. * Soccer * Cricket * Olympics * Le Mans * BTCC * WRC * Moto GP Appendix Two: Resources and competencies gained Appendix Three: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Appendix Four: Speculation of Ron Dennis Leaving the McLaren Team Source: The Guardian, Monday March 3 2008, pp. 15 Appendix Five: MinutesMinutes were taken at every meeting since October, meetings took place either weekly or fortnightly depending on work load and no meetings wer e held over the Christmas vacation. Meeting 1- Pret a Manger Minutes 15th October 2007 * Introductions to the group * Confirmation of group members * Vanessa Barnes * Laura Bentley * Ankur Dawar * Aashir Agarwal * Saqib Munir * Joe Abernethy * 2 people were assigned (or chose depending on personal preferences) which company they would like to be responsible for initially researching. * Ankur and Aashir: Ferrari * Laura and Vanessa: Mclaren Joe and Saqib: Williams * Arranged a set time and day for the meetings: Tuesdays 11-1 * The task for the next meeting: * Each read the article * Print off background information about our particular company (from the website) * All think about how the questions could be answered Next meeting: Tuesday 16th October in the Library Meeting 2- Library Minutes 16th October 2007 * Group discussion of how the essay should be structured * Each member of the group gave feedback about their company and interpreted the competitive strategies adopted by each c ompany. * Question oneAttempt to answer it using the model of porters 5 forces to firstly analyse the general industry of formula one * On a large piece of paper- we mapped out all the key issues that need to be considered in each aspect of porters 5 forces model and related them to Ferrari, Williams and Mclaren. Tasks for next meeting * Each member has been assigned one of porters 5 forces discussed and the individual has to relate the discussion to the three companies and bring a copy of the written up notes for the next meeting. * Find any relevant information to your ‘force’ e. g. e-journals etcNext meeting: 23rd October 2007 in Library Meeting 3: Library Minutes 23rd October 2007 * Feedback to the group our individual pieces of work from last week and make key points for improvement * From the case study made a list of all the apparent resources, capabilities and attributes of formula one * Linked all of the information to the strategies of each constructor Resourc es * Capital Investment * Money * Manager * The car * Sponsorship * Research facilities * Raw materials Capabilities * Skills * Extensive driver training * Engineering * Design * Performance * Racing tactics Different strategies for every track Attributes * Technology * Corporate Identity * Design * Tactics * Strategy * Track knowledge * Constructors have different strategies for different tracks therefore the design of the car changes with the track Discussion of case study: Amazon * Read the article and picked out key points Things to do for next meeting * In our constructor groups, identify the resources capabilities and attributes of Ferrair, Mclaren and Williams Next meeting: 6th November: Bistro Study Area Meeting 4: Library Minutes: 6th November 2007 * Main emphasis of the meeting was on question 2 Divided the work up between the team: Ankur and Aashir: Ferarri success in the mid 1970’s Joe and Saqib: Mclaren and Honda 1980’s Vanessa and Laura: Williams 1990â₠¬â„¢s * Decided on the word counts for each section * Set deadlines for each section Next meeting: 20th November in Bistro Study Area Meeting 5- Bistro study area Minutes 20th November 2007 * Incorporate the crescendo model into the assignment, particularly in questions 2 and 3. Link this to logical incrementalism and how was it implemented? * The next task is to focus on question 3 and look at each F1 constructor and find their reasons for failure.Some of the problems were then discussed in the meeting: * Breakdown in relationships * Unreliability of technology * Alliances pulling out * Drivers leaving * Discuss the possible reasons for each of the above factors and then in our teams, produce a document which states the reasons for the failure of each F1 team. * Ferrari: Ankur and Aashir * Williams: Joe and Saqib * Mclaren: Vanessa and Laura * It is also important to consider why and how Ferrari have sustained success!! Tasks for next meeting * Each team member should be responsibl e for finding e-journals and bring at least one journal on competitive strategy to the meeting. Competitive advantage * Competitive Strategy * Formula One * Is it possible to get hold of any financial statements for any of the companies? * Conduct a PEST(LE) analysis of your particular team to go into the appendix of the assignment. Next meeting: Tuesday 4th December at 12pm in Bistro Study area. Meeting 6 in Library Minutes 4/12/2007 Tasks for after Christmas * Look at the reading list and pick an item each * Got through the lecture notes so far and highlight what needs to be included in the assignment. * Find 2/3 journals each on our selected topics: read, highlight and make notes. Highlight the reasons for failure for each constructor and type up (300 words) * Do a PEST analysis for each constructor E-journals to look at: Vanessa and Laura Porters 5 forces and the value chain Critique of Porters five forces Saqib and Joe Emergent, intended and realised strategies Ankur Resources and capabilities Aashir Focus differentiation Cresendo model Constructors to look at reasons for failure: Vanessa and Laura Mclaren Joe and Saqib Williams Ankur and Aashir Ferrari Next meeting: After Christmas meet 6th Feb due to exams Meeting 7 in library Minutes 6th Feb 2008 Discussion of previous work that has been done over Christmas * Identified the need for theory to now be integrated into the questions * Discussion of peer assessment- decided to give each other equal marks * Discussion of question 4 and the theory that needs to be built into it * Discussion of the basic strategies for each constructor Theory for question 4 * Growth strategies: Alliances Alliances with suppliers and sponsors To gain sponsors and get more money the company needs to pitch a strategy if they are not already achieving success. * Imposed strategiesThe constructor doesn’t want to do it but the environment imposes change: e. g. legislation * It is difficult to innovate due to the imposed limit ations on the industry * Quantum Hypothesis * Cresendo Model * Logical Incrementalism Used generally throughout Formula one, small changes being made all the time * Red queen principle After Ankur and Aashir have sent the first draft of question 4 to the group- we all need to go through it before the next meeting and have some improvements on it and things that we need to add to it. Tasks to be done for 8th Feb * Format question 1: Laura Type up the minutes: Laura * Put question 2 together from everyone’s answers for each constructor: Joe * Put question 3 together from the reasons for failure for each constructor: Saqib * Do a first draft of question 4 taking into account the notes and discussion that was produced today: Aashir and Ankur. * Send all questions to Vanessa, she will format the questions and make them into ‘one voice’. * All look at previous lecture notes and the review of semester 1 to see what else we need to include in the questions What needs to be in the Appendix? * Porters five forces model * Minutes Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs * Resources and the competencies gained Discussion of the unipart and Sony Case studies Next meeting: 22nd Feb Meeting 8 in Library Minutes 22/02/08 * Cutting down the word count from 7000- 5000 * Checking all theories used and adding any relevant material * Reading the Guardian news article and discussing it’s relevance Tasks to be done * Front cover of assignment: Aashir * Word count- cutting words out: Vanessa, Laura, Saqib, Joe, Aashir * Formatting: Laura * References: Laura * Proof reading: Laura * Printing: Aashir * Compile appendix: Aashir, Laura, Vanessa

Saturday, September 28, 2019

How British Airways can overcome low profitability and threat of Essay

How British Airways can overcome low profitability and threat of redundancies - Essay Example One of the most important issues for firms in the airline industry – as also in firms in all industries worldwide – would be to understand the needs of the customer and the market trends. The use of creativity when developing a firm’s strategic plans could be particularly valuable towards the improvement of organizational performance. However, managers would have the necessary skills in order to use creativity for the development of their firms’ strategic plans. The use of appropriate supportive tools (like Porter’s five forces, SWOT analysis or benchmarking) would be suggested to managers of all firms internationally especially under current market conditions – when the development of strategic advantages is not sufficient for the improvement of a firm’s position in its market. The radical changes in markets worldwide under the influence of continuous and strong financial turbulences have been often considered to express a change in t he structure/ ethics of societies worldwide. The airline industry has to follow the practices adopted by other industrial sectors in order to survive in current financial crisis.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Rounding with decimals to the nearest tenth Essay

Rounding with decimals to the nearest tenth - Essay Example This information should suffice for most students who have a solid grounding in the prerequisites. However, weaker students would require not only a good revision of the place value system, rounding whole numbers, recognizing decimal numbers etc. beforehand but could also be aided by a visual representation for rounding numbers, and if necessary a flowchart of the procedure given above (to prevent procedural errors). For the former, the number line is ideal. An example is given below. The similarity with rounding whole numbers should be stressed. They are not really learning anything new. All they need to be careful with now is the decimal point. Thinking along these lines should be reinforced in demonstrating the rounding procedure using the number line (3 examples are given): Five situations are the most likely occasions of problems for students learning to grasp the concept of rounding to the nearest tenth digit. This is given in order of increasing difficulty based on my own experience of teaching children. 1. What to do when the digit in the hundredths place is 0 (zero). Zero does confuse many students. In this case the student should be reminded that (due to its position in this particular case) it holds no value and it is similar to the situation when the digit in this place is either 1, 2, 3 or 4 i.e. we simply truncate the number at the tenths position e.g. 1.60 would become 1.6 similar to 1.63 also becoming 1.6. 2. What to do when the digit in the hundredths place is 5 (five) – perceived as a ‘halfway’ or ‘middle’ point. In this case, the teacher needs to remind the rule that we round up when this digit is a 5 and it is similar to the situation when the digit in this place is either 6, 7, 8 or 9 i.e. we simply increase the number in the tenths position by 1 and leave out the 5 (the hundredth digit) e.g. 1.65 would become 1.7 similar to 1.67

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Techonolog Discusssion 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Techonolog Discusssion 3 - Essay Example There are various ‘Internet filtering software’ available to date. Two of them are Mcafee Safe eyes and Cyber Patrol. Mcafee Safe eyes allow users to control social networking and email accounts. Moreover, it also restricts certain keywords entered in search engines so that parental control can be applied to certain pornographic materials on the web (Internet filter software review 2012). Furthermore, it also allows setting the time limit for Internet usage. On the other hand, Cyber Patrol provides parameters for websites to be blocked, as they can be categorized in the black list and the allowed sites can be categorized in the white list (Internet filter software review 2012). In terms of user ratings, as per ‘internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com’, Mcafee gains five stars in categories such as feature set, ease of use, ease of installation and filtering effectiveness. On the other hand, Cyber patrol gains 3 stars in all these three categories. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) focuses on issues associated with offensive material on the Internet that can be viewed on school and library computers. Likewise, CIPA enforces certain requirements on schools and libraries that are funded by E-rate programs. The E-rate program facilitates to make information technology more affordable to the eligible schools and libraries. Likewise, schools that are subjected to CIPA must establish an Internet safety policy that will address some of the clause provided below (Childrens internet protection act, n.d): The Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act COPPA is an act that is applicable to online collection of personal information from the age groups of 13 year old. Likewise, from April 1st 2000, a privacy policy is mandatory that will address how and when to find the verifiable consent from a guardian along with the responsibilities of an operator with regards to age

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Understanding and assisting Megan Griffiths Case Study

Understanding and assisting Megan Griffiths - Case Study Example Megan Griffiths is a 27 year old single parent who has 4 children. She has had four different boyfriends since she was aged 13 and has been living on her own since she was 16 years old. Megan’s first daughter, Jane was in foster care from birth until the time her mom reached the age of 16. Understanding the situation Megan is in may be easier with some knowledge of the developmental stages that occur during adolescence. It seems that, because her first pregnancies occurred during her teen-age years, one must first have a solid understanding of the state she was in at that time. Along with looking at the actual information provided by Megan herself, the literature can provide a good framework for case planning. Pierno (1995, p-1) has provided some excellent information in her work on adolescent pregnancy. She points out that Freud’s concept of adolescence as a time â€Å"fraught with struggle†¦a time when the ego is torn between the strong impulses of the id and the restrictions of the super ego. This conflict makes adolescence a time of tremendous stress and turmoil. She goes on to contrast Freud’s theories of psychosexual development to Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory which takes a broader view of the factors impacting human development. Erikson proposes that all people face a series of developmental tasks but he does not see individuals getting ‘stuck’ in a phase, as Freud believed. Erikson’s theory is that people will rework old issues in the context of certain tasks and then move on. In Megan's situation, having had a total of four children she seems to have initiated the process of 'moving on' by accessing help for a depression that was diagnosed when she was fifteen years old. There appears to have been significant progress in this area in that she accessed training as a nursery nurse and is working part time in a children's play group and nursery. However further research and reflection have led this writer to conclude that Piaget's theory is the most appropriate model for understanding Megan's situation. Piaget's theories about cognitive development (3) through adolescence involve ".movement from concrete to abstract thinking and a decrease in egocentric thought." Pierno (1995, pp. 2-3) points out that "The acquisition of formal reasoning skills allows older adolescents (about age 15) to think about many possible outcomes that do not exist now.An adolescent with formal reasoning skills (with appropriate guidance) could try to think through the full implications of parenting a newborn." Risk taking, part of the normal behavioral development as seen to occur during adolescence may have been the basis for Megan becoming sexually active in her early teens. This is a time when young people typically work at finding ways to "shape their identities, try out new decision making skills, develop realistic assessments of themselves and gain peer acceptance and respect (Ponton, l997; Jesser (1991)" (1995 p-3) Pierno points out that "unfortunately, some of the risks that adolescents pursue may pose a real threat to their health and well being. These include motor vehicle accidents, pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse and cigarette smoking." CURRENT CASE PLANNING Understanding Megan's early behavior would be helpful in working with her current

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

U.S. - China relations since 1970 to present Term Paper

U.S. - China relations since 1970 to present - Term Paper Example US-China relations since 1970 to present Both US and China differ on their ideologies and also do not possess similar economic and political views. They in fact come together for strategic necessity. The US side is filled with suspicion about China’s intentions and its strategies on economic, political & military fronts. The Chinese side on the other hand considers US as a threat to their communist ideology. US always pressurize China in the areas of human rights, economic and military sanctions. China though not always interested in ideological quarrel is forced to do so by the western ideology followed by the US. Therefore US-China relationship has developed on the parameters of mistrust and non-declarative thoughts along with military capacity building aimed against each other (Guo, 2010, p2). The US was basically a result of the convergence of the North American, European and African cultures. It mainly developed from small and struggling settlements to more thriving and populous colonies between 17th and 18th ce ntury facilitated by the exploitation of natural resources of North America. The commercial and cultural exchanges throughout Europe, Africa and the America led to the creation of the modern world (Winkler, Mires & Pestana, 2006, pp. 7-13). Initially during the period of Opium war in China the US was trying to disrupt and destabilize China’s communist government. The US considered China an aggressive power and threat to the non-communist countries. The US stationed military troops down the eastern and southern boundaries of China. During this period the US also engaged in the war in Vietnam. The US formed alliances with Japan, South Korea and the Nationalist government on Taiwan and encouraged them not to develop diplomatic relations with Beijing. The US also restricted American’s entry into China. The US was in fact tougher on China than other communist rivals. It pursed a â€Å"wedge† strategy which was aimed to encourage a separation between the two communist allies (Nathan & Ross, 1997). More than 90% of the Americans held unfavorable images about China; considered the nation as threat to US security. The American concepts of individual liberty, political pluralism and economic opportunity were alien to China. China was marked by Cultural Revolution trying to inculcate ideals of collectivism, asceticism among its people and facing continuous class struggle. China thought US to be beneficial on economic and political front. But Americans considered China an irrational power as their support for revolutionary movements proved to be dangerous to US (Harding, 1992, p.3). Therefore it was particularly a period of the formation of new ideas. US- China (1970-1989) Beginning from 1970 the relation between US and China was found to be versatile and multileveled. The two nations began to move closer to each other. The Americans on the one hand were trying to end their Vietnamese war while China was seeking support on account of its resistance to the pressure from Soviet Union (Nathan & Ross, 1997). Soviet Union was a direct threat to the security of China. Due to Soviet Union gaining an advantageous position in the global arena against the US compelled a reconciliation between the US and China. Both the countries started coordinating their strategic postures and united their military assets against Soviet expansion. Some Chinese leaders including Mao were interested in resuming cultural and

Monday, September 23, 2019

Strategic Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Strategic Planning - Essay Example Tesco has been successful in expanding the growth of its business through entering into joint venture with other large retail companies all over the world. (Leahy, 2007: 41) As of 2008, the company was able to establish a total of 12 international businesses which serves the market of Hungary, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, Central Europe, Czech Republic, Poland, and the United States among others. (Leahy, 2007: 42 – 43; Couch, 2006; Wilson, 2005) In early part of 2007, the company entered into a joint venture with Tin Cao who owns a little more than 50 Hymall-branded hypermarkets. (Hawkes, 2008; China Daily, 2008; Baijia, 2007) Tesco’s joint venture in China is known as the ‘Happy Shopper Hymall.’ The company was able to increase its sales by 13% to  £7.6 billion in 2006. (Times Online, 2006) In line with the success behind Tesco China, its top management believes that the said strategic move will enable the company to serve a more lucrative market in Shanghai, China. With regards to Tesco’s current expansion in the Chinese market, the researcher will seek to identify and evaluate the key stakeholders of the joint venture between Tesco and Tin Cao. Eventually, the impact of the joint venture agreement in terms of its competitive position in the chinese market will be discussed thoroughly. Based on the past retailing experiences of Tesco in the UK market, the researcher will make use of the PESTLE as well as the opportunities and threat analysis model as part of determining and examining the potential external factors that could significantly affect the business expansion of Tesco in China. Prior to the conclusion, the identified value adding activities that may contribute to the success of Tesco in China will be highlighted. Aside from the employee of Tesco Group, Tin Cao owned Hymall-branded hypermarkets and

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Asch Conformity Experment Essay Example for Free

Asch Conformity Experment Essay The Asch Paradigm Majority Influence Introduction In this essay i will discuss the experiment that Solomon Asch’s conducted in (1950) were his main was aim was to discover how majority influence can affect one individual judgment and how pressure from the majority can pressurise one person to Conform, I will also evaluate his research method, the results and the findings he attained. Aim S Solomon Asch’s had disapproved of the Conformity experiment conducted by Muzzafer Sherriff as Asch had felt that sheriffs visual illusion known as the auto kinnect didn’t really show any results of conformity as the participants were asked to take part in an ambiguous task were they were just asked to point out how far the a light travelled in a dark room, Asch believed that Sherrifs experiment clearly had no right or wrong answer so it was impossible for the experiment to show any results of conformity in a group situation. Asch figured the only way to measure the rates of conformity was to place an individual in a group situation were they would be influenced by the majority even if they knew their group was giving incorrect answers on a task that was ambiguous and obviously correct. The Method (laboratory experiment)

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Sex Sells in Advertising Essay Example for Free

Sex Sells in Advertising Essay Advertising is everywhere in today’s world. Advertisers constantly are increasing their ad’s appeals by continuing to push the envelope. Society allows this to happen because people are always ready for the next best thing. One way that advertiser’s use to catch their audience’s attention is sex appeal. Companies want to get the message across that by purchasing their specific product a consumer can increase how much others desire them. The clothing industry seems to use sex appeal quite often. Calvin Klein released an ad in spring of 2012 for their new line of jeans that were to be released. The ad portrays a male model with gorgeous, dark eyes and a perfectly toned and tanned body sprawled across what looks to be a mountain top. He’s wearing absolutely nothing besides a pair of fitted white jeans. There is quite a bit of contrast between his tan and his white jeans which pulls the viewer’s attention after being lost in the crevices of his sculpted body. He also has a beautiful blonde woman, again, perfectly tanned and wearing nothing but a pair of tight, low cut green jeans, lying in his lap. They look care-free and relaxed. Both are showing plenty of skin which appeals to a person’s sexual desire. I agree with Jean Kilbourne when she states that, â€Å"In the world of advertising, lovers are things, and things are lovers† (Kilbourne, Para 6). Kilbourne tells us that in society today people have an almost intimate relationship with their belongings and also have turned relationships into belongings. Companies feed off of a person’s predictability to buy an item that captures their desire to be desired. She makes a valid point that people tend to spend money on materialistic items because it continuously stays the same. Armani Jeans released a similar add in 2012. The ad shows a very handsome man lying with arms wide open on a fluffy rug. He has tight fitting jeans on, with the belt undone, and his shirt is wide open allowing the viewer to get a view of his perfectly sculpted chest and abdominal area. His facial expression tends to send the message that he is ready to fulfill anybody’s personal desires, thus appealing to the sexual need of the average Americ an. Jib Fowles would argue that appealing to a person’s sexual desires through advertisement can be tricky (Fowles, Para 22).People may have a negative reaction to advertisers trying to appeal to their need for sex. He explains that most of the time, ads are not directed at the desire of sex, but the desire of attention. However, attention and sex appeal typically go hand in hand. Society has based their views of people solely on looks causing everyday people to want to be more visually appealing compared to people from years past. The more skin a model shows, the more eyes he or she attracts, the more that people look at the model, the more the product is promoted. Though conservatives may disagree with this logic, it is true. Advertisers target certain groups through their ads. Sex, attention and affiliation are the way to go for most people between the ages of 17-21. True Religion Brand Jeans ad is of a petite blonde woman lying on the ground. Her low rise jeans allow the audience to see her tan line around her waist. Her breasts are showing due to the fact that she isn’t wearing a shirt, but they are not completely exposed. Her eyes are done with dark makeup making her seem to be seductive, yet mysterious. Behind her, a male sits propped up on his elbow, shirtless, his arms glistening. He has shaggy dirty blonde hair that frames his face perfectly. He’s got rough facial hair that is in perfect contrast to the rest of his face. He looks mysterious as well, but has a vibe about him that screams bad boy. Advertisers often use techniques that Fowles has outlined for his readers. When ads are designed, they often are not from just one angle. This ad uses six of Fowles fifteen advertising appeals. When you look at this ad you find the need for curiosity. Both the male and the female’s eyes are mysterious causing the onlookers to wonder. It peaks their curiosity. The ad features two people who are perfect. They both have flawless skin, are very attractive, gorgeous eyes, and amazing hair. This plays off the audience’s need for aesthetic sensations. Everyone wants to be viewed as flawless, sexy, and desirable. With flawlessness comes attention and sex appeal. Society focuses on beauty. The sexier a person is the more attention that individual receives. These two advertisement techniques tend to fall hand in hand. Last but not least, the audience experiences affiliation. By purchasing a pair of True Religion jeans, a person can feel a sense of belonging to a group (Fowles). Advertisers feed off of people’s need to be a part of a group. They long to be involved with others and associated with people who like them. Kalle Lasn compares the excessive branding and need for acceptance to being in a cult. Lasn states, â€Å"Dreams, by definition, are supposed to be unique and imaginative. Yet the bulk of the population is dreaming the same dream. It’s a dream of wealth, power, fame, plenty of sex, and exciting recreational opportunities† (Lasn, Para 34). Advertisers focus on the dream that Lasn is referring to. Consumers are provoked to buy things that portray wealth, power, and sexual appeal, thus allowing their selves to be grouped with others and be labeled; hence the cult that Lasn refers to. In the ad above, we see a popular rap artist, Nelly, lying carefree next to a beautiful woman. Nelly is wearing big bulky accessories such as his sunglasses and jewelry. He has very plain clothing on. The female however, is in a short, low rise skirt and matching short jean jacket with studs which pulls the audience’s attention to her. Her hair is laid perfectly, and her face is flawless. She’s gorgeous. Her leg is casually draped over him sending the message that maybe they are intimately involved. Apple Bottom Jean Co. definitely sends the message that looking sexy and getting attention goes hand in hand. Abercrombie and Fitch use the appeal of attention, affiliation, and sex. Their models are typically males, in their early twenties, wearing loose fitting jeans, and are shirtless leaving their perfectly sculpted body exposed. AF’s ads are normally shot with multiple models being grouped together smiling and enjoying life. This is sending people the messages that by purchasing this product, not only will the consumer look good and feel good but will be accepted by others. Kilbourne’s logic that people look for relationships with their possessions instead of people can be proven true when it comes to clothing. People tend to take immaculate care of their clothing when they spend a lot of money on it. The average pair of jeans from AF runs for $123 before tax so their consumers are more likely to take care of their product forming a special bond. This type of bond could also be construed as advertisers meeting the need for prominence as explained by Fowles. Fowles provides insight to meeting the need for prominence as, â€Å"the need to be admired or respected† (Fowles, Para 54). Again, all of the appeals have been tied together in one ad in order to get the companies point across. DKNY Jeans took a similar approach in advertising. Their ad for spring of 2012 focuses on an intimate relationship between a man and a woman on what looks to be a busy street in New York. She is blonde, petite, and has dark seductive eyes; while he is tall, rugged, and completely consumed by her beauty. DKNY appeals to the consumers need for prominence, sexual desire, and attention. Fowles states that tying all of these appeals together leads us into a full circle of advertising (Fowles, Para 78). Fowles makes an excellent point that you cannot have one form of advertisement without another. Every ad that has been analyzed has had sex and attention closely tied together. Society has made it so that if you’re visually appealing you obtain the attention you desire. Attention is typically closely tied into prominence. Prominence as earlier defined by Fowles is the need to feel admired and respected. Sexual appeal, attention, and prominence are portrayed in every ad. Kilbourne’s thought that people tend to make relationships with their objects is brought to life. Models in these ads often look intimate. They have formed a type of bond with the clothing that they are wearing allowing them to feel sexy and to pull the attention they desire. This is the full circle effect that Fowles refers too. Any way an ad is analyzed sexual desire is involved. Remember, sex sells.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway If someone is fortunate enough to acquire a treasure, He is obligated to battle for it until death; but if a man is unlucky enough, he must fight to obtain his possessions till the end. In either situations, the struggle within determines the persons rank, and is given the title of a hero. In the old man in the sea, the old Cuban man Santiago Is ridiculed by the fact that he hasnt caught a fish in eighty-four days. The local fishermen in Santiagos village nickname him Salao, or someone who encounters bad luck. Before Santiago sets off on his journey to sea, he orders Manolin, Santiagos friend and fishing aid, to stay on land. Santiago believes the fishing plague is caused by fallacy. Santiago considers that leaving Manolin will bring him better luck at sea. Sailing out into the open ocean, the old man knows that a big fish is guaranteed. Santiagos plaque ends when he encounters himself with an enormous Marlin. But his valuable treasure, the Marlin, is destroyed by the sharks. Althoug h Santiago losses his treasure to the sharks, he is considered a hero because he fights bravely till the end. The symbol of the lion, which is seen several times in Santiagos dreams, serves to show that he loves them just as much as he loves Manolin. He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy (Hemingway 32).Throughout the novel, mainly at the beginning, the lions appear as cubs. The young lions foretell the great things that lie ahead for Santiago, as he embarks on his quest for the treasure. When the cubs transform into lions, they imply great power which inspires Santiago to not give up. When Santiago dreams of Manolin, Santiago compels himself to defend the boy of his values. When the old man dreams of Lions, he tends to relax because the lions seem to have control and domination over him. Since the lions appear in the beach, an environment not native to their surroundings, it inclines to show that there is an accord in all of life. I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing, the old man said. They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand (Hemingway 17). Another frequent figure in the novel is that of Joe DiMaggio, an all-star and hall of fame baseball player for the Yankees. DiMaggios bone spur, which might have crippled another player, made him tolerable and mentally strong. Although DiMaggio was Handicap, He never gave up and set out to protect his accomplishments. DiMaggios Leadership and fortitude, is what inspires Santiago to protect his treasure without giving up. When Santiagos hand craps and is left to battle the Marlin with only one hand, Thoughts of surrendering enter his mind. When Santiago reminds himself of the great DiMaggio, he continues to endure what he set off to accomplish. The icon of the legend baseball player serves to symbolize Santiagos stamina and endurance, despite his awful pain. [I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars. Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. . . . Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. . . . There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity. I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers (Hemingway 28).] In the Beginning of the novel, the Marlin is distinguished as a creature from the unknown, a creature that only exists in a place of mystery. When Santiago hooks on to the fish, he is not sure of what he is hooked on to. The fish, witch dwells underneath the surface, pulls Santiago and is left to only imagine what mysteries are left to be revealed on th e other end of the line. When Santiago finally gets a glimpse of the fish, when the fish breaks the surface of the water, he is startled and shocked of the fishes massiveness. With Santiagos mysteries revealed, He is left to endeavor with every bit of his strength and power. You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more? (Hemingway 98). Santiago begins to feel pity for the Marlin; witch in his mind believes the fish is exhausted. The demoralizing thought of having to kill the fish, also makes the old man strengthen his way of life. While Santiago fights the Marlin, he develops a relationship and affliction towards the fish. He begins to believe that the fishes worthiness is so worthy that it does not matter who kills whom, as long as there is nobility in fighting. Initially the old man was going to use the fish for food, but he realizes that the actual reason for fish is for self-pride. The main symbol in the novel is the presence of the Marlin. In Christianity the symbol of the fish has many meanings, including the fact that in Jesus time in Galilee the main diet consisted of fish. For example, Christ multiplied the two fish and five loaves of bread to feed the people. Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men (Mark 1:17) Jesus said to his disciples. Santiago uses the marlin as a source of food to bring back to his village in Cuba, but the wicked sharks eat the flesh off the Marlin just leaving the carcass. The sharks symbolize evil, somewhat like the devil. The sharks deprive Santiago from his treasure and leave him with devastation, similar to sin. The image of the skeleton symbolizes Santiagos triumph over the fish, to show to Manolin and the other fisherman in his village. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). Santiagos batt le with the fish lasts three days; witch is a significant and symbolic number in the bible. There are also three distinctive stages in the battle (the hookup, the battle, and the success over the fish). There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood (Hemmingway, 107). This quote exemplifies that Hemingway uses Santiago as a Christ like figure. Santiago and Jesus are either considered martyrs, or someone who suffers for a cause. Jesus was a martyr because he died for his beliefs; Santiago is a martyr because the sharks rhetorically take away his life. Santiago is Christ like in the way that he carried the burden of his boat on his shoulders back to his cabin, resembling Jesus carrying his cross in Jerusalem. Santiago then lies down with his arms straight out and the palms of his hands, cut up from holding the fishing line, facing up. This image is similar to Jesus crucifixion, where Jesus hands were nailed to the cross. Like Jesus Santiago full of compassion, determination, and righteousness. The energy of evil is present through the sharks, similar to the evils that were introduced to Jesus in Jerusalem. Both Santiago and Jesus are dishonored and deceived. The Main quote in the story unquestionably is Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated (Hemmingway, 103). This quote captures the actual essence of the novel. Without a doubt, Santiago was destroyed but not defeated. Some might dispute that the old man was defeated as it states in the book they beat me Manolin they truly beat me (Hemingway 112), nevertheless the old man was defeated physically but not spiritually. Like Jesus, Santiago kept his Faith, courage, and perseverance even when he was physically destroyed. Santiago is a man that should be respected and honored for the sacrifices he demonstrates. Even though Santiago has numerous troubles he persists. He has a strong faith in Manolin, the great Joe DiMaggio, and most significantly within himself. This is possibly his greatest quality and characteristic because without it he would never have had the potency to persevere and overcome the evil sharks. In the novel Santiagos courage is untouchable, however it is not until he hooks onto the big fish that we really see his courage and persistence. Citation Page: SparkNotes: The Old Man and the Sea: Day One. Web. 29 Apr 2010. . Ernest Hemingway Quotes. Web. 29 Apr 2010. . http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5TCxdhLFhgBbq5XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByZDQ4OGhzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDOQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAw/SIG=13gum525d/EXP=1272584002/**http%3a//members.lycos.nl/fdhsaertgae/a-life-ldf/a-man-can-be-destroyed-but-not-defeated-.html. Web. 29 Apr 2010. . CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS: THE FISH (ICHTHUS, ICTUS), CROSS AND CRUCIFIX. Web. 29 Apr 2010. . Studyworld Studynotes: Old Man and the Sea, The: Summary: Points to Ponder. Web. 29 Apr 2010. . The Old Man and the Sea SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS. Web. 29 Apr 2010. . Ernest Hemingway Quotes. Web. 29 Apr 2010. .

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Racism, Sexism, and Stereotypes In Media Essay -- Media Essays

This essay discusses censorship and the way in which social media and consumer products affect and model an appropriate societal ‘literacy’ or view in particular regards to gender and race, to young children. A summary of the stereotypes displayed in several videos viewed on YouTube, as well as student’s own identified stereotypes, both in regards to race and gender, are displayed below (Alexander, 2011; BrokenXLoner, 2012; Lac, 2013; Walt Disney Pictures, 1998, 1994, 1992, 1967, 1955, 1953, 1941): Examples of ‘Frequent Racial Stereotypes’ Displayed in Popular Culture African American (examples: Disney crows, orang-utans in Jungle Book, The Lion King hyenas) American Indians (example: American Indians from Peter Pan) †¢ Athletic, often dancing – jive, hip-hop, break dancing, hustle, †¢ Slowed, slurred speech patterns †¢ Jungle Book – orang-utans singing about wanting to be like men †¢ Underdog – has to work hard to get somewhere, ‘sidekick role’ †¢ Criminal – ‘hood’, guns, gangs, ‘crooked/shonky’, poor †¢ Player - sexualise females in particular †¢ Loud, opinionated women who boss around their men †¢ Comedians – loud, funny †¢ Depicted as saying ‘woo woo woo’ whilst clapping hand over mouth, and saying ‘ugg’ †¢ Teepees †¢ Dancing – jumping and kicking with arms crossed without much knowledge or sequence to their movements Asian (examples: Siamese Cats ‘Lady and The Tramp’, Mulan) Caucasian †¢ ‘Asian Features’ – slanted eyes, buck teeth †¢ Cunning and manipulative †¢ Seen as sexist and oppressive societies – girls have no value if they are not married, women should obey orders from men †¢ Intelligent †¢ Fighting/tough †¢ Women can be sexualised and fragile †¢ Tough parental expectations †¢ Rich †¢ Preppy †¢ Dumb †¢ Blon... ...The Lion King [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Clements, R. & Musker, J. (Directors). (1992). Aladdin [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Reitherman, W. (Director). (1967). The Jungle Book [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Geronimi, C., Jackson, W. & Luske, H. (Directors). (1955). The Lady and The Tramp [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Geronimi, C., Jackson, W. & Luske, H. (Directors). (1953). Peter Pan [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Armstrong, S., Ferguson, N., Jackson, W., Kinney, J., Roberts, B., Sharpsteen, B. (Directors). (1941). Dumbo [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures.