Corporate Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Investment - Essay Example Some of the junk bonds are very profitable but they have the highest risk for investment losses. Individuals and corporations must carry out appropriate risk management when purchasing bonds. The issuer make announcement that bonds are to be issued. Usually, the bond is associated with a face value that is redeemed when it is sold by the purchaser in open market. The bond is issued at a value less than the face value, the difference is the profit for the purchaser. The underwriter takes its commission also. Once the purchaser buys the bond, he/she can sell it in the open secondary market or can keep it till maturity when full face value of the bond will be returned by the issuer. If bond is traded before maturity, the selling price is lower than the face value to accommodate profits for the next purchaser. Though bond and stock markets operate separately, yet stock market does have an impact on bond market. The company whose shares are trading at premium in stock market has a better chance to get its bonds purchased by many purchasers. Also, they are in a position to sell bonds at a higher discount rate to minimize its own losses when the bond face value is to be returned at the time of maturity. A company that is not doing well on stock market also faces difficulty in selling its bonds in bond market. I think lower taxes on dividend and ca... A company that is not doing well on stock market also faces difficulty in selling its bonds in bond market. PART 2 Data: 500 shares at $30 per share = $15,000 Initial Margin requirements = 55% = (15000)(0.55) = $8,250 Hence, Loan amount = 15,000 - 8,250 = $6,750 Interest payment = 13% = (6750)(0.13) = $877.5 Dividends received = $1 per share = $500 (for 500 shares) 1. Sold stock for $40 per share: Total earnings from sale = (500)(40) = $20,000 Total earnings + dividends = 20,000 + 500 = $20,500 Total expenses = $878 Net earnings = $19,622 Hence, rate of return = (19,622 - 8,250) / 8,250 Rate of Return on investment = 137.84% 2. Sold stock for $20 per share: Total earnings from sale = (500)(20) = $10,000 Total earnings + dividends = 10,000 + 500 = $10,500 Total expenses = $878 Net earnings = $9,622 Hence, rate of return = (9,622 - 8,250) / 8,250 Rate of Return on investment = 16.66% 3. Cash Purchases: (i) Sold stock for $40 per share: Total earnings from sale = (500)(40) = $20,000 Total earnings + dividends = 20,000 + 500 = $20,500 Total expenses = $15,000 Net earnings = $5,500 Hence, rate of return = 5,500 / 15,000 Rate of Return on investment = 36.67% (ii) Sold stock for $20 per share: Total earnings from sale = (500)(20) = $10,000 Total earnings + dividends = 10,000 + 500 = $10,500 Total expenses = $15,000 Net earnings = ($4,500) Hence, rate of return = (4,500) / 15,000 Rate of Return on investment = -30% PART 3 I think lower taxes on dividend and capital gains can enhance economic development. This is because if taxes are low, the individuals are able to save

Rdms, phase2 db1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rdms, phase2 db1 - Essay Example Two types of integrity constraints entity integrity and referential integrity are taken in account for the design and development of database system. â€Å"An Entity is commonly thought of as a noun – a person, place or thing. In a real sense, Entities reflect Tables in the database† (Mickler, 2008). Entity integrity guarantees that there are no duplicate records within the table and that the field that identifies each record within the table is unique and never null. In general, Entity Integrity is the mechanism the system provides to maintain primary keys so that there is a unique identifier for rows in the table (database.dev.co.uk, 2008). It is good practice to have primary key in every table so that each row can be identified uniquely. â€Å"A primary key is typically only one field and that field is set to a special domain, or type† (Mickler, 2008). A primary key, composed of one or more columns, uniquely identifies each row of a table and eliminates the possibility of duplicate rows in a table (CTU Online, 2008). According to Hoffer, Prescott & McFadden (2007), â€Å"A foreign key is an attribute in a relation of a database that serves as the primary key of another relation in the same database†. Referential integrity maintains the consistency among the rows of two relations. The referential integrity rule states that for every foreign key value in a table, there must be a corresponding primary key value in another table in the database (CTU Online, 2008). Problems arise when we fail to relate the tables properly and inadvertently delete data in a particular table that would result in broken links or floating records (Mickler, 2008). For the new Student Class Registration System we have to make sure that entity and referential integrity constraints are applied. Entity integrity can be achieved by having a primary key not null field in each table of the database system that uniquely identifies each row. In case of our new Student Class Registration

How to win the cold war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to win the cold war - Essay Example If there was any doubt in the hearts and minds of the American people as to rather or not they were able to face the struggles ahead those fears were squashed under the triumph of Johnson’s words. Johnson presented what he felt was key to the success of the U.S. in the cold war. He wanted the nation to get back to work and called for the production industries to beef up their rate of production. Johnson felt that the nation needed to be prepared. The preparations that they were to make would serve to ensure that not only America stayed supplied, but any allies. Johnson wanted the nation to be ready to help any allies who happened to run low due to the costs of the war be supplied with the materials they would need to fight the war and win. He said, â€Å"America’s production machine must grow-and grow rapidly† Clearly there was not doubt in Johnson’s mind that American would be successful. President Johnson also had special desires for Texas and the American West. He had confidence in all of the country but he felt that these areas should be delegated special responsibility. Johnson felt that it was in the west that the expansion should take place. He said that it is in the west that America found its strength and that this area, although having become America’s backbone in a sense, has not been fully utilized. There was a great bounty of resources in the west, according to Johnson, that could be used to help America and her allies sustain themselves during the heat of a war. Therefore Johnson encouraged the western Americans to take courage and be prepared to work hard and give of their natural resourced to come to the aid off their country who would need them in the midst of the war. Therefore much of the responsibility of increasing production fell on companies in the west. Some of these surely were glad for the increased business. Johnson was ready to lead the country into a bold victory. He was not going

The Analysis of the Mythic Dimension in ‘a Streetcar Named Desired’ Essay Example for Free

The Analysis of the Mythic Dimension in ‘a Streetcar Named Desired’ Essay This paper tells about American South which exposed in A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennesse Williams. The changes were drawn from the life experience of the main characters in the play, named Blanche Du Bois. Here, we try to explore about the analysis of the main character, Blanch Du Bois. Problem and its Scope This study principally constitus the analyze of the myth in a play that written by Tennese William entitled ‘A Streecar Named Desire’.  This study explores the mythic dimension of one of Tennessee Williams’s best-known and most enduring plays. The author’s revival of ancient myths and archetypes in Streetcar illustrates his professed belief in the collective unconscious as the source of his richly symbolic dramas. The conflict between the main characters is endowed with universal significance—the clash of two rival myths vying for dominance in Williams’s imagination. While Stanley Kowalski is presented as a modern day avatar of Dionysus, the amoral, primitive god of drink and fertility, Blanche DuBois’s descent into the underworld of Elysian Fields makes her the failed embodiment of the guilt-ridden, inconsolable Orpheus. A yearning for the reconciliation of opposites is ultimately revealed in the myth of the androgyn, the third substratum of Streetcar and the spring of Williams’s alchemical art. MYTHOLOGY can be defined as a body of interconnected myths, or stories, told by a specific cultural group to explain the world consistent with a people’s experience of the world in which they live. [The word â€Å"myth† comes from the ancient Greek word meaning â€Å"story† or â€Å"plot,† and was applied to stories sacred and secular, invented and true.] Myths often begin as sacred stories that offer supernatural explanations for the creation of the world . . . and humanity, as well as for death, judgment, and the afterlife (Myth 284). A mythology or belief system often concerns supernatural beings/powers of a culture, provides a rationale for a culture’s religion and practices, and reflects how people relate to each other in everyday life. Creation or origin myths explain how the world came to be in its present form, and often position the cultural group telling the myth as the first people or the true people (Myth 284). Such  sacred stories, or narratives, concern where a people and the things of their world come from, why they are here, where they are going. Myths and mythology express a culture’s worldview: that is, a people’s conceptions and assumptions about humankind’s place in nature and the universe, and the limits and workings of the natural and spiritual world. Analysis The classic definition of myth from folklore studies finds clearest delineation in William Bascom’s article â€Å"The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives† where myths are defined as tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic characters. Such myths, often described as â€Å"cosmogonic,† or â€Å"origin† myths, function to provide order or cosmology, based on â€Å"cosmic† from the Greek kosmos meaning order (Leeming 1990, 3, 13; Bascom, 1965). Cosmology’s concern with the order of the universe finds narrative, symbolic expression in myths, which thus often help establish important values or aspects of a culture’s worldview. For many people, myths remain value-laden discourse that explain much about human nature. The concept of Myth in the literature is The word ‘myth’ is derived from the Greek word ‘mythos’, which means a traditional tale common to the member of a tribe, race or nation. It usually involves the supernatural elements to explain some natural phenomenon in boldly imaginative terms. Today myth has become one of the most prominent terms in contemporary literature analysis. It was Northrop Frye, one of the most influential myth critics (others including Robert Graves, Francis Fersusson, Richard Chase, Philip Wheelwright), who discovered certain formulas in the word order. He identified these formulas as the â€Å"conventional myths and metaphors† which he calls archetypes. C.G. Jung was of the view the materials of the myth lie in the collective unconscious of the race. This analysis based on the theory of semiotics that tells about the mythology. Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or (in the Saussurean tradition) semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism,  signification, and communication. Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics, which, for its part, studies the structure and meaning of language more specifically. Semiotics is often divided into three branches: * Semantics: Relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata, or meaning * Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures * Pragmatics: Relation between signs and the effects they have on the people who use them In the nineteenth century, Charles Sanders Peirce defined what he termed semiotic (which he sometimes spelled as semeiotic) as the quasi-necessary, or formal doctrine of signs, which abstracts what must be the characters of all signs used byan intelligence capable of learning by experience,[9] and which is philosophical logic pursued in terms of signs and sign processes.[10] Charles Morris followed Peirce in using the term semiotic and in extending the discipline beyond human communication to animal learning and use of signals. In his essentially Southern play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams observes a uniquely Southern phenomenon: the Southern belle. In scene seven of the play Stella Kowalski says the following: â€Å"†¦you’ve got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did† (Williams, 99). With this sentence Williams introduces a possible starting point for an analysis of the Southern belle myth. The figure of the Southern belle is founded on a canonized discourse, resting on a cultural and social personification – a description, a code, a stereotype – which legitimizes and authorizes the interpretation of culture and nature, masculinity and femininity, superiority and inferiority, power and subordination. In other words, the Southern belle stereotype is based on a fear that women â€Å"might escape the rule of the patriarchy, that the oppositions of white/black, master/slave, lady/whore, even male/female might colla pse into an anarchic conflagration threatening to bring down the symbolic order† (Roberts, xii). Additionally, this Southern woman stereotype is both a literature-generating principle, often supporting the very concept of Southern fiction, and a social construct, supporting the writing of  Southern history and culture. In both cases it has to be read â€Å"against the South that created [it] for different social purposes, or reinvented [it] at crucial moments in history† (Roberts, xii) providing insight â€Å"into anxieties and aspirations of the culture† (Roberts, xii). Before I show how Williams approached this myth in his A Streetcar Named Desire, a few remarks about the appearance, development and ‘purpose’ of the Southern belle stereotype are in order. First, its appearance was tied to the Southern antebellum chivalry and masculinity code origin of which can be looked for in attempts to preserve English moral standards in the U.S. South. They, based on the Victorian model of a woman as an angel in house as well as on the small number of upper cl ass women who were, thereby, considered â€Å"custodians of culture† (Bartlett and Cambor, 11), confirmed and authorized the hyperevaluation of upper class Southern women. Second, the Southern belle stereotype rested on a set of very strict class, race and gender traits. Drawing on this statement, it went without saying that the belle was white and of aristocratic origin. She was lively, little bit vain, rather naà ¯ve and â€Å"had few tasks other than to be obedient, to ride, to sew, and perhaps to learn reading and writing† (Seidel, 6). Since courtship, innocent romances, and, consequently, marriage were considered to be the highest aspirations of her life, the belle’s energies and skills were mainly directed to finding and marrying real Southern gentleman. And â€Å"if she was pretty and charming and thus could participate in the process of husband-getting, so much the better† (Seidel, 6). The act of marriage gave this stereotype something new – the aura of legal commitment; it consequently transformed her into a â€Å"hardworking matron who was supervisor of the plantation, nurse, and mother† (Seidel, 6). Third, the purpose of this Southern woman stereotype was justified upon, at least, three premises. It was, to begin with, a compensation for gender devaluation which began practically with the belle’s birth, when her mother ‘handed her over’ to mammy, and continued during her childhood and youth. This placed the belle in a kind of limbo: just as her mother was forced to accept the cultural role which denied her sexual and maternal identity, so too the belle had to deny her sexuality and, at the same time, perform passion without taking part in it. As one would expect, the construction of Southern bellehood had its racial background which was tied to sexual exploitation of African  American women legalized by the institution of slavery and Jim Crow legislation. Their very presence paid homage to white upper class woman as a person who legitimately preserved white superiority since her racial ‘purity’ guaranteed her inaccessibility to inferior races and classes of men. Further investigation helps to reveal how the divinization process of white Southern upper class woman resulted in her identification with the U. S. South itself. The attacks on Southern way of life were thus interpreted as the attacks on the honor and integrity of its greatest ornament – white Southern upper class woman. Lastly, partaking in the construction of this Southern woman stereotype was a matter of prestige. Even though Southern upper class women had many reasons for abolition of slavery – sexual transgressions of their fiancà ©es, husbands, fathers and brothers, isolation on plantations, problems in managing slaves and servants, supervision of agricultural production, dealing with slave insurrections in absence of their husbands, fathers or brothers, and were, on the other hand, attributed chastity, gentleness, compassion – virtues that corresponded to abolitionist rather than proslavery movement, they did not rebel, they did not subvert or transgress the prescribed codes of behavior. They remained loyal to the institution of slavery and Southern social system and, as a consequence, ‘earned’ the pedestal they were put on. Challenges to this viewpoint began to appear during the Civil War. It, by contrast, put emphasis on the belle’s determinacy, strength, and inventiveness. During the period of Reconstruction and the New South â€Å"the terror of losing jurisdiction over women’s bodies created discourses of nostalgia and threat† (Roberts, 104) and transformed the belle’s suffering into that of the U. S. South. She represented the symbol of the U. S. South and one of the most important constructs of Southern mythology. During and after the 1920s, owing to changed economic, political, and social situation which allowed women, even in the U. S. South, to vote, work, get educated and, consequently, enjoy greater financial and personal independence, a new discursive space on the meaning of the Southern belle mythology was opened. It, for sure, rested on criticism and judgment rather than on eulogies. The Southern belle was now used to demythologize Southern myths since the virtues she should have been the embodiment of – beauty, passivity, submissiveness, virginity, and asexuality – proved to be the unstable and destructive property. Quite  specifically, it was then asserted that society’s emphasis on the beauty of the belle can produce a selfishness and narcissism that cause her to ignore the development of positive aspects of her personality. Taught to see herself as a beautiful object, the belle accentuates only her appearance and is not concerned with any talents that do not contribute to the goal her society has chosen for her: winning a man. (†¦) The sheltering of the belle leads to a harmful innocence: she cannot adequately interpret the behavior of men who do not believe in the code of southern chivalry that respects the purity of women. Moreover, (†¦) the repression required by the ‘ethic of purity’ which leads to a variety of physical and mental disorders, including frigidity and exaggerated subservience [is also condemned]. (Seidel, 32) My point in citing Kathryn Lee Seidel at length here is not simply to draw attention to the subversion of the old stereotype, but to emphasize the fact that these changes did not automatically mean the inauguration of the Southern anti-belle. This was mainly possible because deeply rooted prejudices concerning women’s behavior were still the part of Southern culture. In sum, even â€Å"though southern women might be no longer queens and saints, they were not allowed to be ‘flesh and blood’ humans either† (Roberts, 109). The failure to respect the prescriptive code of behavior usually implied some kind of punishment – hysteria, madness, rape, losing social privileges, or death. As a Southerner, Williams could not resist the influence of values, myths and images of his birth-place. He, however, tried to redefine them by negotiating them through the subversive potential of the Southern women/men stereotypes and the prescriptive rhetoric of Southern cult ural codes they assert once they are separated from its institutional binding. His A Streetcar Named Desire is, for sure, a perfect example of this, for at its center is Blanche DuBois. Through this woman character, Williams appears to celebrate the gentility and sensitivity of the Old South as well as the Southern belle as its greatest ornament. But, as the representative of Southern Renaissance, he himself is ambivalent as well as suspicious about the possibility of the belle’s permanent affirmation in the modern world. As if to clarify this point, Williams portrays Blanche as the last representative of the old aristocracy who tries to survive in the modern world by escaping to alcohol, madness, promiscuity and whose memories are bitter since they are burdened by racial and sexual sins of her  ancestors. From the very outset of the play, Blanche is seen as affirmation and subversion, symbol and antithesis of the Southern belle stereotype. This conflict of opposing principles begins with her name which Blanche explains as follows: â€Å"It’s a French name. It means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together mean white woods. Like an orchard in spring!† (Williams, 54-55). The connotative value of this naming act has an exciting importance for it puts emphasis on, at least, two aspects of the (demythologized) Southern myth. It connects, on the one hand, Blanche’s French, colonial and aristocratic origin, or, at least, what has remained of it, with the antebellum U. S. South and, consequently, with the idea of Southern gentility and chivalry (this particular idea was introduced by the first colonists who were either of aristocratic origin or earned this status in their community; this, in turn, helped to establish the metaphor of the US as Europe’s noble heiress). Blanche’s name, on the other hand, reveals what is hidden between the lines: centuries and generations of moral and physical corruption and degeneracy of both her aristocratic family and the U. S. South itself. Another interpretative possibility, which again underlines conflicting nature of Blanche’s identity, sets forth her name as the conflict of binaries – body and mind, nature and culture. Her name, which means both ‘white’ and ‘blank’ and thus connotes the virginity of female body â€Å"predetermined to succumb to inscription† (Vlasopolos, 326) in the tabula rasa manner, refers to body and nature, or the female binary, and defines her as the belle. Her family name, meaning ‘woods’ and consequently referring to papers and pencils (keep in mind that Blanche is a teacher and actually needs these stationery in her job), i.e. intellectual activities, introduces the idea of mind and culture, or the male binary, and places her in the exclusively anti-belle context. Similar reading of Blanche’s name, combining connotations of the lost physical virginity and the â€Å"beauty of the mind and richness of the spirit† (Williams, 126), offers Bert Cardullo in his paper â€Å"Scene 11 of A Streetcar Named Desire,† where the duality of Blanche’s name is explained with the help of the New Testament symbolism. Cardullo thus argues that her name links her not only to the purity of the Virgin Mary, but also to the reclaimed innocence of Mary Magdalene, who was cured of her sexual waywardness by Jesus (just as Blanche was suddenly cured of hers when she remarked to Mitch, ‘Sometimes – there is God – so  quickly!’. (Cardullo, 96) The duality of Blanche’s personality, indicated by the linguistic polysemy of her name, continues by opening a discursive space on the possible existence of two Blanches: the one is the ‘passive-submissive’ Blanche who, as such, is the embodiment, and the symbol, of the Southern bellehood; the other is the ‘victimized’ Blanche who, by subverting the each and every trait of the Southern bellehood, becomes its antithesis. As one would expect, both performances are founded on a set of distinctive characteristics, features, and situations which throw new light on the existing debate. Drawing on that approach, B lanche’s partaking in the Southern belle performance is supported by several factors. Firstly and most obviously, Blanche’s plantation origin marks her inescapably as the Southern aristocrat. Secondly, Blanche is brought up in the Southern tradition of idealization of woman’s beauty. She perceives herself as a beautiful object which has to be properly decorated in order to sell well. As such, Blanche depends heavily on exterior beauty markers – dresses, hats, jewelry, perfumes, and cosmetics which are, in her brother-in-laws’s discourse, magnified into â€Å"solid-gold dress[es,] (†¦) genuine fox fur-pieces, (†¦) pearls, bracelets of solid gold, (†¦) and diamonds† (Williams, 35-36). These things, even though cheap and artificial, represent Blanche’s only inheritance and Blanche’s only future insurance; they remind her of the life she used to live. Thirdly, Blanche is educated. Blanche’s participation in education process foregrounds the idea of the time that college education presented â€Å"prope r youthful behavior for a young woman [and] a pleasant interlude on the way to growing up† (Graham, 770-7719) insofar as it was percieved as â€Å"an asset in the marriage market† (Jabour, 40) and â€Å"the final polish necessary to gentility† (Jabour, 40). So judged, it is then not surprising that Blanche was somehow predestined to choose liberal arts, study English and â€Å"teach high school to instill a bunch of bobby-soxers and drug-store Romeos with reverence for Hawthorne and Whitman and Poe!† (Williams, 56). Access to education, on the other hand, gave Blanche the opportunity to cultivate sophisticated way of speaking and behaving; it allowed her to understand the life as ‘poetry’ in Southern plantation myth manner. Further investigation helps to reveal how Blanche’s arrival at her sister’s home in New Orleans, her insisting on staying there – â€Å"I guess you’re hoping I’ll say I’ll put up at a hotel, but I’m not going  to put up at a hotel. I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone!† (Williams, 23) – announces â€Å"her basic motive: need for refuge and desire for human contact† (Hardison Londre, 52), need for protection which, in the tradition of the Old South, had to be through another person, through family. In much the same way Blanche clings to the antebellum chivalry codes which obliged men to protect women in return for their contribution to cultural and social capital, their attention, love and, of course, wealth. She thus, in the tradition of the antebellum Southern belle, tries to ‘save’ herself and her sister Stella from inappropriate way of life at Stanley’s home by looking for protection in another man – her former beau Shep Huntleigh. Blanche’s behavior can be understood as â€Å"reflexive reversion to the Southern belle’s habits of thought – that is, emotional dependence on a patriarchal system of male protection for the helpless female – just moments after she had said, â€Å"I’m going to do something. Get hold of myself and make myself a new life!† (313) (Hardison Londre, 56). This particular pattern of Blanche’s behavior occurs repeatedly during the play and culminates in the last scene when Docto r and Matron come to take her to asylum. In order to avoid humiliation and save her dignity, she once again plays the role of the helpless but flirtatious Southern belle and treats Doctor as a gentleman who knows how to protect and behave to a lady in distress. One final point. Blanche’s relationship with Stanley once again ties her to the antebellum period when the principle of noblesse oblige promoted patronizing relationship between upper and lower classes and races in the U. S. South. She behaves to Stanley as â€Å"the aristocrat who condescends to the plebeian when she is not actually scorning him. This is compulsive conduct on her part, because she must feel superior to her sister’s husband if she is not to feel inferior in view of her helplessness† (Gassner, 375). The extreme polarization of relationship between Blanche and Stanley could also be read as a â€Å"critical struggle between [two different] ways of life† (Jackson, 59) – as the struggle between Blanche’s traditional, civilized, artistic, and spiritual self and Stanley’s modern, primitive, physical, and animalistic other. Blanche, by finding additional support for her point of view in science – biology, anthropology, history, even verbalizes this struggle: He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There’s even something –  sub-human – something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something – ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I’ve seen in – anthropological studies! Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is – Stanley Kowalski – survivor of the stone age! Bearing the raw meat from the kill in the jungle! And you – you here – waiting for him! Maybe he’ll strike you or maybe grunt and kiss you! That is, if kisses have been discovered yet! Night falls and the other apes gather! There in front of the cave, all grunting like him, and swilling and gnawing and hulking! His poker night! – you call it – this party of apes! Somebody growls – some creature snatches at something – the fight is on! God! Maybe we are a long way from being made in God’s image, but Stella – my sister – there has been some progress since then! Such things as art – as poetry and music – such kinds of new light have come into the world since then! In some kinds of people some tender feelings have had some little beginning! That we have got to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag! In this dark march toward whatever it is we’re approaching †¦ Don’t – don’t hang back with the brutes! (Williams, 72) Their conflict, or, it is tempting to claim, the struggle over authority in the house, culminates in Stanley’s rape of Blanche. The very act of the rape, which Stanley rationalizes by his famous line: â€Å"We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning† (Williams, 130), is also fueled by Blanche’s refusal â€Å"to become the woman in the traveling-salesman joke, the stereotype of the nymphomaniacal upper-class girl† (Vlasopolos, 333). It, once again, demonstrates convincingly the victory of primitive over civilized, physical over spiritual, male over female†¦ Just as some aspects of Blanche’s personality pay homage to the concept of the Southern bellehood, so too there are other aspects of her personality that can be read against the culture which created them and reinvented them when it had found this necessary. Such reading introduces Blanche as the woman who defies to be classified as the â€Å"active property shaping the so cial and sexual relations† (Van Duyvenbode, 208) in the U. S. South and â€Å"shatter[s] the stereotypic chaste heroine/whore dichotomy to show women in their complexity† (Hale, 22). It also offers a new, rather different, image of Blanche as it portraits her as a victim and a potential subversive female force in the play. To discover it one has to discuss factors, features and  characteristics that promoted this shift in Blanche’s character. The ground from which we need to begin is to investigate the origin, or perhaps the reason, of Blanche’s victimization. A possible starting point for this investigation can be found in Joseph N. Riddel’s paper, â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire – Nietzsche Descending.† Riddel thus argues that Blanche’s life could be seen as a reflection of â€Å"living division of two warring principles, desire and decorum, and she is the victim of civilization’s attempt to reconcile the two in a morality† (Riddel, 17). In other words, Blanche’s past, as well as her present, is a mixture of sin and romanticism, reality and illusion, personal excessiveness and social discipline. Th ese are all elements that would justify a rendering of Blanche as hypersensitive, tragic woman who is, because of her uniqueness, forced to create her own world on principles of exclusion, isolation, and imagination. She is â€Å"the sensitive, misunderstood exile, (†¦) fugitive kind, who (†¦) [is] too fragile to face a malignant reality and must have a special world in which (†¦) [she] can take shelter† (Ganz, 101-102). As a result of Blanche’s balancing between desire to act as she wants to act and a compulsive need to behave according to prescribed standards, norms and codes, many compulsive, obsessive and, to some extent, subversive reactions – illusions, alcoholism and promiscuity – appear in her behavior. They, for much of the play, represent Blanche’s attempts to stand up to harassment and stereotyping she is exposed to. Illusions, or, to quote Blanche, â€Å"magic (†¦), misrepresent[ing] things (†¦), tell[ing] what ought to be truth† (Williams, 117), are found as a continuous thread woven into the fabric of A Streetcar Named Desire. Consequently, a number of interesting points arise from Blanche’s definition of it. ‘Magic’ is, to begin with, throughout the play confronted with the authority of reality which, even though manipulative, tangible, and limited, is the inseparable part of human experience and has to be accepted as the dominant mode of living. As such, it is brought into being by Blanche’s brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Stanley, by using sources whose existence we are forced to acknowledge in our everyday life: the power of authority, physical force, intimidation, economic domination, manages to overpower Blanche’s ‘magic’. In his quest Stanley additionally â€Å"profits from staying within the parameters set for him by his sex and class† (Vlasopolos, 337). He is, thereby, seen as normal (read: ‘real’): his pleasures are normal  pleasures – poker, sex, drinking, bowling; he is a good provider and a loyal member of community and society. Except for his rape of Blanche, which has actually no witnesses and thus creates a reasonable doubt in its occurrence, â€Å"nothing Stanley does threaten the social fabric† (Vlasopolos, 337). Blanche, on the contrary, builds up her ‘magic’ on her failure to conform and her deviance of her class and sex. She, one realizes, although (†¦) maintains the trappings of the aristocrat in her expensive and elegant tastes, has allowed the rest to slip, like Belle Reve, away from her. In seeking emotional fulfillment, she has disregarded the barriers of â€Å"normal† female sexuality and of class. Her actions subvert the social order: she remains loyal to the memory of her homosexual husband, she fulfills the desires of young soldiers outside of very walls of her ancestral mansion, she is oblivious to class in her promiscuity, and she seduces one of her seventeen-year-old student. (Vlasopolos, 337) When in New Orleans, she attempts to split up the Kowalskis even after she learns that Stella is pregnant and makes plans to take Stella away from Stanley. Being aware of this, Stanley enters the battle for weak and indecisive Stella, who functions as the prize between warring parts – Blanche and Stanley. He ruthlessly engages in exposing Blanche as a fraud, a prostitute, and an alcoholic, mercilessly destroys veils of ‘magic’ Blanche wrapped herself in, makes her look old and cheap in the light of the bare electric bulb, and, by imposing his reality in the form of the rape on her, eventually wins. Not only does Blanche’s system of illusions prove to be he r response to the reality of the everyday life, but it also seems to possess a redeeming merit. To understand it, one realizes, attention should first be drawn to the fact that Blanche, confronted with the disappearance of the old South and its codes and myths expressed by the selling of her plantation because of â€Å"epic fornications† (Williams, 43) of her ancestors and deaths that followed them, tries to preserve the past by marrying â€Å"the urbane and civilized, the ‘light and culture’ of the South in the form of Allan Gray† (Bigsby, 64) which thus presents â€Å"a logical extension of her desire to aestheticise experience, her preference for style over function† (Bigsby, 43). His poetic delicacy and refinement, however, turns out to be the cover for his homosexuality. Shocked and disgusted by this discovery, Blanche publicly exposes her husband and makes him commit suicide. In other words,  she â€Å"discovers the corruption, or, at the very least, the profound deceit which lies behind the veneer of that side of the Southern pastâ₠¬  (Bigsby, 64). Seen in this light, Blanche’s cruel exposure of her husband becomes the origin of guilt which has to be expiated and redeemed by her own system of illusions. She had to â€Å"turn from the death in Belle Reve to the ‘life of casual _amours_’, (†¦) she had [to] turn away from the misery of ‘reality’ to her romantic evasions† (Kernan, 11). In the end, or rather from the very beginning of the play, Blanche’s system of illusions proves to be a not well-chosen reaction since reality, in the character of Stanley Kowalski, forcefully imposes on her, leaving her only one exit – that of asylum as a sea resort. Blanche – homeless, ravished, and abandoned – gets confined inside the boundaries of her own illusive fiction (asylum as sea resort, Doctor as Southern gentleman) which makes her invulnerable to further assaults but, nevertheless, destroys her humanity. Blanche’s challenges to the Southern belle stereotype are also pointed up by her excessive alcohol consummation and innumerous love affairs. Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche has a drink in her hands which is quite unusual for the Southern belle she is supposed to represent. This ‘unusual spectacle’ occurs repeatedly in scene 1 when Blanche, waiting for Stella, â€Å"tosses a half tumbler of whiskey down† ( Williams, 18), â€Å"looks[s again] around for some liquor (†¦) [which then] buzzes right through [her] and feels so good† (Williams, 19-21) when talking with Stella. Although Blanche â€Å"rarely touch[es] it† (Williams, 30) and is â€Å"not accustomed to having more than one drink† (Williams, 54), she, nevertheless, falls under alcoholic spell again and again and again – in particular in the scenes 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11. For instance, she cannot imagine her coke without â€Å"a shot in it† (Williams, 79) or a date with Mitch without a drink or two; she needs â€Å"a bottle of liquor† (Williams, 113) not only to stop the Varsouviana tune in her head but also to get over Mitch’s betrayal†¦ It is striking in all these instances that Blanche actually uses alcohol to â€Å"extirpate moral contradictions† (Riddel, 18) that stand between her and the concept of the idealized white Southern bellehood whose principles she was supposed to have internalized as her own. Perhaps it would also be correct to say that alcohol, in these specific fictional instances, operates as the means of encouragement against the humiliation of being an unwanted intruder and a fallen role model in her own  family who ‘forgot’, although they live in New Orleans, the basic codes of Southern hospitality. Relatedly, Blanche’s frequent love affairs justify their rendering as Blanche’s physical redemption for the responsibility and guilt she has felt since she confronted her husband with his homosexuality: I had many intimacies with strangers. After the death of Allan – intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with. †¦ I think it was panic, just panic, that drove me from one to another, hunting for some protection – here and there, in the most – unlikely places – even, at last, in a seventeen-year-old boy†¦ (Williams, 118), In finding it perverse, she could neither live with the idea of Allan’s homosexuality nor could she help him. The ‘neither-nor’ situation in which Blanche found herself caused Allan’s death and, consequently, made her guilt and pain-ridden. This pain, which is almost literally tearing her apart, is thus the pain of the woman violated and abused by the men-domi nated culture, which cannot necessarily be heterosexually oriented. In order to live with it, she had to neutralize it with desire – a succession of sexual encounters with even younger and younger men. To Blanche, â€Å"desire was the antithesis of death and her relationship with young men a defense against the destructive processes of time† (Bigsby, 60). Blanche, for her part, was attracted by their innocence and purity – the features she, as the Southern belle, was supposed to possess; or she saw in them the reincarnation of her dead husband and, consequently, a chance to redeem her own conduct and start a new ‘marriage’ based on understanding, compassion, and gentleness; or maybe she, as Tennessee Williams argued, â€Å"in her mind has become Allan. She acts out her fantasy of how Allan would have approached a young boy† (Hardison Londre, 58) subverting and travestying in that way, the Southern belle myth that promoted clear cut borderlines between genders and sexes, races and classes. In the end, there is only a hope that this paper, which attempted to give an insight into the historically (de)constructed myth of the Southern belle and its literary affirmation and/or subversion in the character of Blanche DuBois in Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, has been successful enough to explain the complex and, at the moments, perplexing development of Williams’s (anti)belle concept. Given this fact, the paper, beginning with a description of the Southern belle stereotype, pointed out that this very stereotype was (de)constructed along class, race and gender lines. In the  second section, I discussed aspects of Blanche’s identity which were tied to the historical construction of the passive-submissive Southern bellehood. The third major section focused on Blanche’s victimization and her, more or less, subversive reactions to it. Blanche, for her part, is, most obviously, capable to shake and, occasionally, break the Southern bellehood myth; there are, at the moments, greater or smaller rebellions and transgressions she is tempted to perform. But, sometimes, just as it is courageous to deconstruct the pedestal, so too it is safer to find shelter in the well-known patterns of behavior, it is safer to be center than margin, we than other†¦ Conclusion In the analysis of the American play â€Å"Streetcar Named Desire† that written by Tennesse William. The myth in the end, there is only a hope that this paper, which attempted to give an insight into the historically (de)constructed myth of the Southern belle and its literary affirmation and/or subversion in the character of Blanche DuBois in Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, has been successful enough to explain the complex and, at the moments, perplexing development of Williams’s (anti)belle concept. Given this fact, the paper, beginning with a description of the Southern belle stereotype, pointed out that this very stereotype was (de)constructed along class, race and gender lines. In the second section, I discussed aspects of Blanche’s identity which were tied to the historical construction of the passive-submissive Southern bellehood. The third major section focused on Blanche’s victimization and her, more or less, subversive reactions to it. Blanche, for her part, is, most obviously, capable to shake and, occasionally, break the Southern bellehood myth; there are, at the moments, greater or smaller rebellions and transgressions she is tempted to perform. But, sometimes, just as it is courageous to deconstruct the pedestal, so too it is safer to find shelter in the well-known patterns of behavior, it is safer to be center than margin, we than other. Based on the theory of Semiotics in this play Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or (in the Saussurean tradition) semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication. Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics, which, for its part, studies the structure and  meaning of language more specifically. Refference * Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Signet Books, 1974. * Elengton, Terry. Teori Sastra. 2006. Yogyakarta : Pecetakan Jalasutra * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mythology The Analysis of Main Character ‘Blanche DuBois’ in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’

Many corporations are over managed and underled

Many corporations are over managed and underled Differentiate between management and leadership in the context of the statement many corporations are over-managed and under-led. (15) Management and leadership are two notions that are often used interchangeably. However, it describes two different concepts. Here, we shall first define management and leadership. Second, we will focus on the leadership styles and how they affect the managerial task. Jones and George (2009:5) define management as planning, organizing, leading and controlling of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively. According to Saha (2006:2) management is the conscious effort to form the environment by effectively utilizing the available resources. She further states that management is the skill of efficiently organizing the present scenario from a past viewpoint in order to shape the future. Leadership has been defined in many different ways, but most definitions share the assumption that it involves the process of influence that is concern with facilitating the performance of a shared task. Jones et al. (2009:494) defines leadership as the process by which a person exerts influence over people and inspire, motivates and directs their activities to help achieve group or organizational goals. Saha (2006:289) in her definition believes leadership is getting people to do things they never thought of doing, do not believe are possible or that they do not want to do. The definitions available, all describe management and leadership a two different ways of organizing people. Ehlers and Lazenby (2007: 220) believe that leadership and management complement each other, and expertise in both is necessary for successful strategy implementation and survival. A company that is well-led will not do well without effective management; similarly a company that is well-managed will also not do well without effective leadership. Managing organizations is therefore a complex activity. Managers must possess a wide range of skills, knowledge and abilities to enable them to make the right decision even in difficult situations. Leadership is one of the assets a successful manager must possess. However, a manager cannot just be a leader; he also needs authority to be effective. Following is Kotters distinction between Management and leadership as presented in the Regent Business School Study Guide (2007: 136). Management Leadership Direction Planning and budgeting Keeping eye on bottom line Creating vision and strategy Keeping eye on horizon Alignment Organizing and staffing Directing and controlling Creating boundaries Creating shared culture and values Helping other grow Reducing boundaries Relationships Focusing on objects producing/selling goods and services Based on position power Acting as boss Focusing on people inspiring and motivating followers. Based on personal power Acting as coach, facilitator, servant Personal Qualities Emotional distance Expert mind Talking Conformity Insight into organization Emotional connections (heart) Open mind (Mindfulness) Listening (communication) Nonconformity (Courage) Insight to self (Character) Outcomes Maintains stability, creates culture and efficiency Creates change and a culture of integrity Table1: Management vs Leadership (Business Regent School Guide., 2007: 137) According to Gaddini (2010: 1-2) [online] many corporations are over-managed and under-led. If they are to have a sustainable future, they must develop the capacity of individuals across the organization to exercise leadership more effectively. In recent years, organizations committed a lot of financial resources towards enhancing information technology, improved systems and innovations. Leaders need to be much more than information or task managers. They need to engage the organization by involving people at every level. Over managing an organization has to do with the management style a manager is using in running the organization, how much time they spend talking with their people about why things must get done? Companies need to identify, train and develop employees with managerial skills. To successfully manage a company, managers also need to be self-aware and be able to build teams, crate global management and marketing practices, and interact and manage employees from diverse cultural backgrounds. Noe (2005: 10) believes that effective managers are important because they help retain employees as one of the reasons employees leave jobs is the working condition created by managers. Saha (2006:18) describe persons management style as a typical pattern of behaviour she shows in carrying out a management role over a period of time. Management styles are the ways in which a manager deals with the employees or subordinates. Cronje et al. (2000: 152) believe that leadership and its models are driven by the assumption that certain personality traits and behaviour patterns are crucial to a leaders success. Jones et al (2009: 497) believes that a managers personal leadership style shapes the way that manger approaches planning, organizing and controlling. There are different styles to leadership and management that are based on different assumptions and theories. The styles used are based on a combination of the managers beliefs and preferences as well as the culture and norms of the organization. Following are leadership styles as described by Jones et al. (2009: 497-500), Cronje et al. (2000: 152-) and Anonymous. (2010: 1-2) [online]: Participatory/Democratic leadership Style In a participatory management style the worker can make a contribution to the design of their own work. Managers who practice this engage in certain types of behaviour. Employees are encouraged to be part of the decision making process. To engage the workers, they establish and communicate the purpose and direction of the organization. This help in developing a shared vision of what the organization should be. The managers role therefore is that of a leader. By her actions and words, she shows the way to her employees. She is also a coach, evaluating the results of her peoples efforts and helping them use the results to improve their processes. In this regard, decision taking takes time and thus the organization cannot afford to make mistakes. Autocratic leadership Style The premise of the autocratic management style is the belief that in most cases, the worker cannot make a contribution to their own work, and that even if they could, they would not. This goes with the classical approach. The manager retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible. He does not consult employees, not are they allowed to give any input. Subordinates are expected to obey orders without any explanations. Bureaucratic leadership style Gaddini believed that lack of personal contact between different arms of an organization has reduced peoples understanding of important regional, national and cultural differences. Therefore, as a result, most non-value-added activities are caused by poor communication skills and bad decision making. Managers need to take responsibility for the people who work for them, rather than simply managing the tasks the people perform. In conclusion, there is no one good method as the leadership style followed will also depend on the mangers personal background, the subordinates background and the companys traditions The leadership will thus no longer focus on power but on achievement. Evaluate this statement by examining the sources of leader power and discuss whether such a leadership style can be explained in terms of any leadership model (theory). (20) There are many ways to understand how leadership works in an organization. From the different views available, there seems no single or simple answer to which leadership style is best. Some leadership perspectives are currently more popular than others; however, each helps us to understand this complex issue. We will look at the five sources of leader power and discuss whether such a leadership style can be explained in terms of any leadership theory. Leaders influence others because of the power they possess. Cronje, Du Toit and Motlatla (2000: 151). Defined power defined as a measure of a persons ability to control the environment around them, including the behaviour of other persons According to Luthans (2005: 558) in achievement-oriented leadership, the leader sets challenging goals for subordinates and shows confidence that they will achieve these goals and perform well. The five sources of leader power are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, referent power and expert power. Effective leaders take steps to ensure that they have sufficient levels of each type of power and they use the power they have in beneficial ways (Jones et al., 2009: 500) Legitimate power According to Jones et al (2009: 500) this is the authority that a manager has by virtue of her position in an organizations hierarchy. The leader has the right or the authority to tell others what to do and employees are obligated to obey. According Cronje et al (2000: 151) legitimate power refers to the authority granted in a business to a particular position. Accordingly, a manager has the right to dismiss employees if they fail to comply. However, even though managers may possess legitimate power, this in itself does not necessarily make them good leaders. Power of Reward The power of reward relies on the promise of or the ability to deliver a reward in return for desired behaviour. This is also regarded as the power to give or withhold rewards (Jones et al., 2009: 501). Such rewards are for example, salary raises, bonuses and recognition. Effective managers use their reward power in such a way that subordinates feel that their reward signals that they are doing a good job and their efforts are appreciated. Ineffective managers on the other hand use rewards in a more controlling manner that signals that the manager has the upper hand. Coercive power Coercive power is the power that comes from a persons authority to punish (Jones et al., 2009:501). From the viewpoint of followers, its one of the most obvious types of power a leader has. This is the power to enforce compliance through fear, whether psychological, emotional or physical. Robbers often make use of such power through physical force or violence. In this regard, physical force is not a consideration in modern business, but psychological or emotional fear of being retrenched, or of social exclusion from a group, constitutes forms of power that may be exercised by managers to put pressure on employees. Jones et al. (2009: 501) believes that ineffective managers tend to rely heavily on this power and sometimes get them fired. Referent power Jones et al. (2009: 503) believes that Referent power is that that comes from subordinates and co-workers respect, admiration and loyalty. Subordinates obey leaders simply because they like or respect them, and identify with them. In other words, the leaders personal characteristics make them attractive to others as some even get to know their subordinates and showing interest in them. Expert power Jones et al. (2009: 501) believes that this power is based on the knowledge the leader possess. Their power gives them influence over subordinates. This is derived from expertise, knowledge and professional ability. A manager who commands all five kinds of power is a strong leader. But it is not only managers, or leaders who possess power, employees possess it occasionally too. For instance when a manager is dependent on subordinates for information, they are needed for their cooperation. Managers should therefore understand that their subordinates also possess power, and that they should use their own power with care, and only to the extent necessary to achieve their objectives. Effective managers will use their power in such a way as to maintain a healthy balance between their own power and that of subordinates. There are different approaches The following leadership theories have been looked at to establish whether the styles discussed above can be explained to any of the theories. Trait Theory The trait theory is described by Jones et al. (2009: 504) as one that describes personal characteristics or traits that contribute to effective leadership. Managers who possess these traits are regarded as not effective leaders and some managers who do not possess all the traits are nevertheless effective leaders. A manager under this theory will be exercising the expert power. Traits here would be knowledge and expertise. There seem to be many studies on leadership traits but they only agree in general qualities needed for be a leader. Behaviour Theory This theory described two kinds of behaviour that most leaders engage in, consideration and initiating structure (Jones et al., (2009: 505-506). For consideration, the behaviour indicates that a manager trusts, respects and cares about the subordinate therefore, the referent and reward power. For initiating structure, subordinates perform their jobs as expected of them and adhere to rules and regulations. A manager under this theory will be using the legitimate power. Contingency Theory This theory takes into account the complexity surrounding leadership and the role of the situation in determining whether a manager is an effective or ineffective leader. Relationship-oriented leaders are most effective in situations that are moderately favourable for leading and will be using the referent power. They develop good relationships with their subordinates and want to be liked by them. Task-oriented leaders are most effective in situations that are very favourable or very unfavourable for leading (Jones et al. (2009: 507-508). Task-oriented leaders will be using the legitimate and coercive powers. They want subordinates to perform at a high level and focus on task accomplishments. Path Goal Theory This theory describes how effective managers motivate their subordinates by determining what outcomes their subordinates want, rewarding subordinates with these outcomes when they achieve their goals and perform at a high level, and clarifying the paths to goal attainment. Managers can engage in four different kinds of behaviours to motivate subordinates: directive behaviours, supportive behaviours, participative behaviours and achievement oriented behaviours (Jones et al. (2009: 510-511). This theory can be used by the leader in different situations. Luthans (2005: 558-559) believes that using one of the four factors stated above, the leader attempts to influence subordinates perceptions and motivate them, which in turn leads to their role clarity, goal expectancies, satisfaction and performance. By doing that the leader attempts to make the path to subordinates goal smooth. The conclusion therefore is that the Path Goal Theory is perceived as the most favourable theory by subordinates as it exerts most influence over them when they behave in ways that closely match their needs and values and requirements of a specific work situation. A flattening of the hierarchy suggests the need to review the organizational structure. With reference to this, identify the factors that influence the choice of an organizational structure. (12) Organizing can be effectively carried out only if the organizational structure has been developed to optimize the execution of strategies and plans. In other words, plans can be successfully implemented only if the organizational structure makes this possible. (Cronje et al. 2000:152). Before identifying the factors that influence the choice of an organizational structure we defined what that is. According to Jones et al. (2009: 346) an organizational structure is a formal system of task and reporting relationship that coordinates and motivates organizational members so that they work together to achieve organizational goals. Jones et al. (2009: 656-659) and Cronje et al. (2000:152) identified the following four factors: The Organizational Environment The environment in which a business operates should be taken as a basis for designing an organizational structure, The more quickly the external environment is changing within it, the greater the problems facing managers in trying to gain access to scarce resources. Managers have to make organizing choices that result in more flexible structures and entrepreneurial cultures. This means they have to decentralize authority, empower lower-level employees to make important operating decisions and encourage values and norms that emphasize change and innovation. If the external environment is stable, resources are readily available and uncertainty is low, managers must make organizing choices that bring more stability or formality to the organizational structure and establish values and norms that emphasize obedience and team players. Less coordination and communication takes place among people and functions to obtain resources. The organizational climate therefore play an important part i n organizational design. The type of structure that leads to the successful implementation of tasks depends on the culture of the business. The structure of a business with a formal culture will differ from one with more informal cultures. Strategy The close relationship between the strategy of a business and the organizational structure, or the infrastructure to implement the strategy is very important. Ehlers et al. (2007: 247) believes that a change in the organizations environment often triggers a change in strategy so that continued success and wealth maximization for all the organizations stakeholders can be sustained. It is therefore important that the organizational structure remains aligned with the strategy at all times. Human Resources There is also a close relationship between an organizational structure and the competence and role of staff. Structure influences both the choice of strategy and the preferences as to how things should be done. Most managers have a personal preference for a particular organizational structure, for the type of relations with subordinates and attitudes to formality and authority. However, they should also pay attention to the needs of the workforce and to the complexity and kind of work employees perform. In this regard, the tendency is to move away from the strictly formal bureaucratic structure and have a flexible structure that is characterized by decentralized authority and empowering employees. Technology Jones et al. (2009: 347) states that technology is the combination of skills, knowledge, machines, and computers that are sued to design, make , and distribute goods and services. As a result, the more complicated the technology that an organization uses, the more difficult it is to regulate or control it because more unexpected event can come up. The more complicated the technology become, the greater the need for a flexible structure and progressive culture to enhance the managers ability to respond to unexpected situations increase. However, the more routine the technology, the more appropriate is a formal structure, because tasks are simple and the steps needed to produce goods and services have been worked out in advance. The size of the business It is equally obvious that the structure also depends on the number of employees and managers to be coordinated. An increase in the size of the business also creates a need for greater specialization, more departments and more levels of management (Cronje et al., 2000: 152. In this regard, Mabey, Salaman and Storey (2005:247) believe that larger organizations would have more complex and formal structure. Nonetheless, even size is not a determining factor: some large organizations have managed to create informal arrangements while some smaller organizations have created more formal systems. Planning, leading and control are facilitated if management has an effective and dynamic organizational structure. Organizing is carried out amid many factors, each of which may provide input in the designing of the organizational structure. Some experts believe that the environment in which a business operates is a decisive factor. Others emphasize the connection between strategy and structure. The size and complexity of the business, the competence of its employees, organizational climate or corporate culture should not be ignored in designing the structure and informing departments and distributing tasks. Whatever is designed should be adaptable to changes in the business environment. With reference to the term devolution of power and authority, explain the need to decentralize authority. (8) Jones et al. (2009: 366) believes that decentralizing authority is giving lower-level managers and non managerial employees the right to make important decisions about how to use organizational resources. When leaders empower their subordinates, they take over some of the responsibilities and authority that used to reside with the leader such as the right to check ones own work and also take decisions that their leaders or supervisors use to make (Jones et al., 2009: 503) Decentralization of authority is need as employees at each level have different but related responsibilities for utilizing organizational resources to increase efficiency and effectiveness (Jones et al., 2009: 15-16). In order to understand decentralization of authority, one needs to understand the management processes and levels and managements. We looked at the levels of leadership as tabulated by Pearce and Robinson (2007: 372) hereunder. When the need for decentralization occurs, the size of the organization should be considered and the geographical location of its branches. If the organization is large and branches are located far from each other, then decentralization of authority should be considered. This will not only speed up the decision-making process and adapt to the local conditions, but importantly empower the employees. With the demarcation of Namibia into thirteen regions, the government has been trying to decentralize some of the authority to the Governors in the various regions. The process has been slow and although people welcomed the idea of allowing the Governors to take decisions based on the needs in their regions, they still feel that they do not all the authority they need. Due to that delays occurs in particular the recruitment processes. It is all still being done at a central place. Attracting resources and capabilities and developing the business RENEWAL PROCESS Developing operating managers and supporting their activities; maintaining organizational trust Providing institutional leadership through shaping and embedding corporate purpose and challenging embedded assumptions Managing operational interdependencies and personal networks INTEGRATION PROCESS Linking skills, knowledge, and resources across units; reconciling short-term performance and long-term ambition Creating corporate direction. Developing and nurturing organizational values Creating and pursuing opportunities; managing continuous performance improvement ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS Reviewing, developing, and supporting initiatives Establishing performances standards Front-Line Management Middle Management top Management Table 2: Management Processes and Levels of Management (Pearce et al., 2007: 372) Leadership is about coping with change. Discuss the relationship between organizational control and change, and explain why the management of change is a vital task. (20) The first question here is to discuss the relationship between organizational control and change. In order to that, we first look at the definitions. Organizational control is defined by Jones et al. (384) as the process whereby managers monitor and regulate how efficiently and effectively an organization and its members are performing the activities necessary to achieve organizational goals. Organizational changes on the other hand is defined as the movement of an organization away from its present state and towards some desired future state to increase its efficiency and effectiveness (Jones et al., 2009: 384). The relationship between organizational control and change is that there need to be balance between control which is the need to improve operations and change which is the need to respond to new events. Managers therefore must balance the need for an organization to improve the way it currently operates and the need for it to change in response to new unanticipated events as illustrated in figure 1 (Jones et al., 2009: 408). The second part of the question required an explanation as to why management of change is a vital task. Jones et al (2009:409) states that management of change is vital as there exist a need to constantly search for ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Managers have to develop the skills necessary like, political skills, analytical skills, people skills, system skill and business skills to manage change effectively. It is also vital for managers when managing change to follow the following steps as discussed by Jones et al (2009: 410-413). Assessing the need for change Deciding how to change an organization is a difficult task because change disrupts the status quo and poses a threat, prompting employees to resist attempts to alter work relationships and procedures. Assessing the need for change calls for two important activities that is recognizing that there is a problem and identifying its source. During the first step in the change process, managers need to recognize that there is a problem that requires change. Managers need to look at performance measures such as falling market share or profits, rising costs, or employees failure to meet their established goals or stay within budgets which indicate whether change is needed. Too identify the source of the problem, managers need to look both inside and outside the organization. Externally, they must examine how changes in environmental forces may be crating opportunities and threats that are affecting internal work relationships. Managers also need to look within the organization to see whether its structure is causing problems between departments. Need to respond to new events Need to improve operationsManagers must balance the need for an organization to improve the way it currently operates and the need for it to change in response to new unanticipated events. Figure 1: Organizational Control and Change (Jones et al., 2009: 408) Deciding on the change to make Once the source of the problem has been identified, managers must now decide what the organizations future would be and plan how they are going to attain that. Managers must also identify the obstacles of resistance and analyze these obstacles which can be at corporate, divisional, departmental and or individual level. It is important for managers to invite employees to participate in the planning for change as it will help overcome resistance and allay employees fears. Managers can also overcome resistance by emphasizing group or shared goals such as increased organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Implementing the change It is generally accepted that management introduce change from top down as they are the ones who identified the need for change, decided what to do and thus move quickly to implement the changes throughout the organization. With this approach, the emphasis is on making the changes quickly and dealing with problems as they arise, which is regarded as revolutionary in nature. This approach has the benefit of providing clear, sustained direction which is well resourced and coordinated, however, it also runs the risk of not being owned by a number of staff and may lead to some distrust. The bottom-up approach is regarded more gradual or evolutionary. Consultation takes place with middle and first-line managers about the need for change and develops a plan. The advantage of this approach is that it minimized uncertainty and resistance as employees participate and are kept informed of what is going on. Evaluating the change Managers need to evaluate how successful the change effort has been in improving organizational performance using measures such as changes in market share, benchmarks and profits. They also need to compare how well an organization is performing after the change with how well it was performing before. Finally, organizational control and change are closely linked because organizations operate in environments that are constantly changing and so mangers must be alert to the need to change their strategies and structures. With reference to the words the opening of existing communication channels and the recreation of new one Describe the communication process and outline the barriers to effective communication in the workplace. (15) Communication is the sharing of information between two or more individuals or groups to reach a common understanding. Good communication matters because business organizations are made up of people (Jones et al. (2009: 567). Communication process consist of two phases: the transmission phase where information is shared between two or more individuals or groups and the feedback phase where understanding is ensured. In both phases, a number of distinct stages must occur for communication to take place. (Jones et al., 2009: 569-570) (See figure 2). In the transmission phase, the sender who is the person or group wishing to share information with another person or group, decides on the message, what information to communicate. The sender then translates the message into symbols or language, a process called encoding. Noise is a general term that refers to anything that hampers any stage of the communication process. Once encoded, the message is transmitted through a medium to the receiver, who is the person or group for which the message is intended. A medium is just the pathway through which an encoded message is transmitted to the receiver. The receiver then interprets and tries to make sense of the message through a process called decoding. The feedback phase will then be initiated by the receiver, who now becomes the sender. The receiver decides what message to send to the original sender (who now is the receiver), encodes it, and transmits it through a chosen medium. The original sender determines that a common understanding has been reached, sender and receiver cycle through the whole process as many times as needed to reach a common understanding. Feedback eliminates misunderstandings, ensures that messages are correctly interpreted, and enables senders and receives to reach a common understanding. The encoding of messages into words, written or spoken, is verb

Young Goodman Brown :: Free Essay Writer

'Young Goodman Brown'; was an interesting story because of its setting, characters, and plot. The story was set in the late Puritan Era when people were scared of the woods due to the mysterious witches and savage Indians. Puritans really liked true colors such as white and red. If white was worn it meant pure but if red was worn it meant evil. As Puritans, an individual had to have pure thoughts, and sex was only thought of to procreate if married.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Young Goodman Brown, Faith, fellow traveler, and the townspeople are the characters in 'Young Goodman Brown.'; Young Goodman Brown means an inexperienced good standing citizen with an ordinary last name. All he wanted was to advance in his social and religion status. His wife, Faith, is a sweet girl who wants her husband to stay home all the time. She wore pink ribbons in her hair, which in the Puritan Era pink resembled pollution. Pink is a mixture of white and red which was not a true color. Today in society pink means innocence, which is ironic from the Puritan way. The fellow traveler could have been either Young Goodman Brown's own personal devil or his father. The townspeople were church going people yet in the end they contradicted their own values and beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The plot of 'Young Goodman Brown'; had a lot of twists and turns. The story started out with Young Goodman Brown needing to go to an important meeting and to get hoping to raise his religion and social status. He took a simple journey in the forest and it turned into a complicated ending. He met up with a traveler who was waiting for him in the woods. They were walking on a narrow path but it was hard to stay on because of the distraction and they ended up on a wide path. In the Bible it says 'a narrow path leads to heaven, and a wide path leads to hell.'; This was not a simple journey for Young Goodman Brown as a young man because he must have pure thoughts about anything. Strange things began to happen on his journey.

Societal Needs:Diversity and Equity Essay -- essays papers

Societal Needs:Diversity and Equity The purpose of this paper is to examine diversity and equity issues regarding education. More specifically, this research paper will take an in-depth view of affirmative action and its policies. A non biased view was enacted to present the pros, cons, and hotly debated issues regarding affirmative action at the university level. Additionally, the paper will examine the validity and possible biases in alternatives to affirmative action that have recently been issued. Simply stated, affirmative action is an active commitment to enhance employment and educational opportunities for minorities and women. Affirmative action’s origins stem back to the 1960s when the government began to progressively take steps in redressing decades of racial discrimination against blacks (â€Å"affirmative action†). Women and minorities, mostly Hispanic and Native Americans, subsequently were covered in this new remedy. Affirmative action forced private as well as public institutions of higher education to alter their traditional ways regarding the recruitment and admission of students (Lowe 13). Colleges and universities developed organized methods to help attract black students. Increased representation of black students on campus now became a commitment at all schools. Admission and financial aid were altered to help eliminate existing barriers to access. As a result, numerous minorities who previously may not have been admitted to institutions of higher learning were now being accepted in increasing numbers (Fullinwider). This new commitment and responsibility of institutions, however, was not welcomed by everyone. At what cost would universities go to wh... ... â€Å"Universities Need to Take A Stand and Defend Affirmative Action.† Black Issues in Higher Education 17.4 (2000): p42 Lowe, Edward, Jr. (1999). Promise and Dilemma. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. McClafferty, K. â€Å"Challenges of the New Sociology of Urban Education.† Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. 3-15 Pg. 9 Miller, Geralda. â€Å"Study: Racial Prejudice is Reason For Affirmative Action Resistance† Black Issues in Higher Education 17.2 (2000): p14. Plous, S. (2003). Ten Myths about Affirmative Action. In S. Plous (Ed.), Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination (pp.206-212). New York: McGraw-Hill. Symonds, William C. â€Å"College Admissions: The Real Barrier Is Class.† Business Week 3828 (2003): p66. Zwick, Rebecca. â€Å"Eliminating Standardized Tests in College Admissions.† Phi Delta Kappan (1999): 320-325.