Discuss the dramatic importance of the witches in Macbeth Essay

Macbeth was written sometime between 1603 and 1606. This coincides with the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne, as James I of England, in 1603. The play was certainly written with James in mind. Firstly, it caters for the interests and expertise of James: its fascination with the supernatural would attract his attention. Witchcraft, apparitions, ghosts and the King’s Evil were areas of great concern to James. Secondly, it compliments James by making his ancestor, Banquo, a hero in the play. Thirdly, the play explores the issue of kingship and loyalty. These were of profound importance to James, who had survived an assassination attempt earlier in life. Fourthly, the play is intimately related to the topical events of the Gunpowder plot of 1605 (where loyal people were planning to kill the king) and the subsequent trials of its conspirators. This failed coup was sensational in a number of ways – the sheer audacity of trying to blow up Parliament amazed the country, as did the scale of the treachery involved. Treason is related to the wider theme of appearances. For example, Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to â€Å"look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.†(Act 1, Scene 5, lines 64-65). When saying this, she is trying to convince Macbeth to become a villain and murder King Duncan; this expression could also be showing how scared she is. Lady Macbeth is tempting Macbeth to deceive people and create a disguise to achieve an end. It could also be deduced that the witches possessed the knowledge of what would trigger ambition, greed or deceit in the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Throughout the play, the witches have different dramatic functions such as setting the scene, creating or changing the atmosphere, foreshadowing what would happen later on in the play, altering the characters language and minds and they also acted as a plot device. All these dramatic functions will have different effects upon the audience. In this play, there are 5 main dramatic techniques. Firstly, there’s pathetic fallacy. This is used to create an atmosphere by the use of weather. For instance, in this play, it’s used at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1. For example, â€Å"Thunder and lightning† evokes a feeling of evilness and darkness. This portrays an intimidating beginning. The audience would feel frightened; they would immediately guess it’s a prologue of the evil. Another function of the witches is foreshadowing, which signifies giving clues about future events, which Shakespeare uses to give clues to the audience about future events, by doing this, he makes the audience think in advance. Namely, this technique is used when the witches are playing with Macbeth’s sleep; this example indicates that this creates a feeling of confidence and nervousness amongst the audience. Confidence because the audience will know what is going to happen so they will be prepared for whatever to come. However, the actors on stage wouldn’t know what is going to happen; this indicates that the audience would feel nervous waiting for the reactions of the actors. Besides these, there are three more: dramatic irony, this will create a nervous feeling; this is because the audience would feel nervous waiting for the reactions of the actors. Besides these, there are three more: dramatic irony, this will create a nervous feeling; this is because the audience will know more than the actors on stage. The next one is symbolism, this depends on the audience, some people will have gained the ability to interpret words in different ways, these people will obviously know and understand the play fully however the people who haven’t gained this ability yet, will miss out bits and pieces of information. Finally, there’s plot device. This will be understood by everyone as it’s just the introduction of characters or objects that change events. In this case, the plot device is the witches. They are the ones who change events. This will create fear amongst the audience. In the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1, the witches were introduced as the evil side of this whole play. â€Å"A heath, Thunder, Enter three witches† has a lot of meaning. A heath is a barren land, a deserted place with a rough landscape covered with mud, it’s basically a place where no human being will live, and this creates tension amongst the audience. This is also created by using ‘pathetic fallacy’, another technique, in the word â€Å"thunder†. This word has a lot of meaning; it can be looked as weather, a sign of evil and darkness but also as a danger or warning. This immediately creates fear and tension. When the â€Å"three witches enter† (Act 1, Scene 1), the effect will be almost immediate, somewhere between shock and fear. â€Å"Three† is the number that witches mostly use to symbolise evil, so when the three witches enter, the audience is warned about what’s to come. This relates back to the introduction, in the Jacobean times, the audience will have had a very strong belief in witches and witchcraft; they were convinced that the witches has a lot of power and besides that they also suspected the witches to perform and make spells. On the whole, witches create these dramatic functions by firstly, being the first things to appear on stage, secondly by using pathetic fallacy and by finally talking in the witches language which is mostly made up of chants, spells and evilness. An example of a spell could be â€Å"Thrice the brindled cat hath mewed† which could show evil when we see the words â€Å"three† and â€Å"cats† which are things normally associated with evil. The witches also act as a plot device, they changed Macbeth’s fortune. At the start of the play, Macbeth is seen as the man of action, he is a fearless warrior and an important Lord who defends the king against treachery. He is praised by the King and by everyone else, including the audience. Initially he has a conscience and a highly developed imagination, â€Å"he is full, so valiant† (Act 1 Scene 4) – he sees all too well in his mind the horrors of what he is proposing to do – but he shuts out the implications of what this is telling him. Manhood is important to Macbeth, Shakespeare creates this impression when Macbeth says â€Å"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none† (Act 1, Scene 7). This suggests that Macbeth will â€Å"dare† to do anything to show that he’s a man, he also talks back to Lady Macbeth which will give a shock to the audience; this also tells the audience that Macbeth’s manhood is very important to him. This is what the witches play on through Lady Macbeth and her language. The witches influence Lady Macbeth’s language. Lady Macbeth appeals to his manhood when persuading him to murder Duncan in the first place; she also makes a similar appeal during the banquet scene. Lady Macbeth thinks him â€Å"too full o’the milk of human -kindness† -an extraordinary statement in the light of the murders that Macbeth commits. The audience’s point of view on Macbeth also changes from strong and loyal to a treacherous and murderous character. The witches also foreshadow the torture that Macbeth will feel when they say â€Å"Hang upon his penthouse lid; He shall live a man forbid†. These words rhyme; this makes it sound like an enchantment, like a chant. â€Å"I’ll drain him dry as hay!† is a simile, which has been used to create a picture (of a man being tortured) of what’s going to happen to Macbeth. When the audience hears this line with the word â€Å"drain† in it, they will be wondering whether the witches are going to drain him with blood. However it’s only in the next line, â€Å"Sleep shall neither night nor day†, that the audience understands that the witches are going to drain Macbeth with sleep like one of the witches did to the poor sailor because of his wife not giving chestnuts to the witch. â€Å"And munched, and munched, and munched† is a repetition of the woman eating. This emphasises the point and helps the audience to visualise the eating actions. Witches can’t kill so they would do anything possible to play around with the victim’s consciousness. In Act 1, Scene 3, after the sailor’s meeting, all three sisters pronounce a chant. They also link back to evil when they say â€Å"thrice to thine† which again relates back to evil. The audience here will be warned about what’s going to happen to Macbeth, Shakespeare uses foreshadow in this context. With this in mind, when Macbeth says â€Å"Methought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more: Macbeth does murder sleep† (Act 2, Scene 2) evokes a frightening atmosphere. The audience would be aware of this as it has already been foreshadowed in the previous lines of the witches. This is also showed when the witches say â€Å"Yet it shall be tempest-tossed!†, this also foreshadows what’s going to happen to Macbeth later on, that they are going to toss him a round like he’s in a storm. The witches deliberately play with the characters; they give misleading visions to Macbeth. Macbeth who was once a reputable, loyal and important Lord becomes involved with evil. We can see this when he says â€Å"Though you untie the winds and let them fight†¦Even till destruction sicken† to the witches on Act 4 Scene 1. This shows that Macbeth is prepared to risk all the common hazards of witchcraft, he is prepared to lay down his arms in front of evil. However what he says can also be interpreted as an uncontrolled ambition. Before Macbeth comes to meet the witches, Hecate tells the other witches that Macbeth has used witchcraft â€Å"for his own ends†, not for the witch’s sake (Act 3, Scene 5). In addition, she says that â€Å"by the strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion†. This again foreshadows what will happen later on to Macbeth. When Macbeth comes on stage, the audience will know more than Macbeth, which is dramatic ir ony. Macbeth received comfort from the three apparitions that the witches call up. They appear in symbolic form. The first, â€Å"an armed head†, represents Macbeth’s own head (wearing a helmet); the â€Å"bloody child† that comes next is Macduff, who has been â€Å"untimely ripp’d’ from his mother’s womb (as he tells Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 7); and the last, the royal child with a tree in his hand, is Malcolm, the rightful King of Scotland who approaches the palace at Dunsinane camouflaged with tree-branches (Act 5, Scene 4). These are all forthcoming events but Macbeth looks at them and interpret them as â€Å"that will never be† (Act 4, Scene 1). The witches also don’t tell him the real meaning as they want him to get confused, they want to see how he’s going to interpret their pictures, and it’s their type of revenge for him as he had used â€Å"witchcraft for his own ends†. He doesn’t think twice about their meanings, he doesn’t even try to understand them. He feels comfortable when he misunderstands that he’s safe. This means that the images can symbolise different things and everyone’s got different ways of interpreting them. Macbeth cannot interpret these symbols, but Shakespeare expects the audience to understand what is meant. This is ‘dramatic irony’- when the truth of a situation is known to the audience but hidden from the characters in the play. There is dramatic irony, too, in the words spoken by the apparitions, for again we understand the real meanings, while Macbeth can only understand the apparent meanings of the words. Macbeth, however, is in no doubt about the significance of the final ‘show of Eight Kings’. The witches want Macbeth to â€Å"Hear his speech, but say thou nought† (Act 4, Scene1). This shows that the witches do not want Macbeth to know what it really means they give ambiguous visions. The witches also say â€Å"Seek to know no more† (Act 4, Scene1), this means that Macbeth always wants more, he is greedy but it could also mean that the witches do not want to tell more. They want Macbeth to use his imagination to work out what the symbolic images mean, even though he goes on the wrong path, they do not stop him but encourage him to find his own interpretations. The audience would also probably feel shocked and surprised to see that a loyal man like him has turned into something evil. One of the main functions of the witches is to affect the language used by other characters – which mirror their evil language. They do this with Lady Macbeth when she starts to use negative and evil connotations. She places herself in the centre of evil, we can see this when she says â€Å"And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell† (Act 1 Scene 5). By placing herself there she becomes one of them. Lady Macbeth starts to use symbolism; she uses lots of symbols related to evil such as â€Å"raven† and â€Å"croaks the fatal entrance†. The raven is a bird associated with evil and fear, raven doesn’t normally croak, fatal also means deadly so the audience might expect murder or something deadly (Act 1 Scene 5). In the beginning of the play (Act 1, Scene 3), Macbeth says â€Å"So foul and fair I have not seen† mirrors the witches words. The effect upon the audience of this oxymoron should be immediate; they understand that what Macbeth just said is the repetition of what the witches said earlier on, this brings panic amongst the audience as they start to guess that Macbeth is letting evil penetrate through him. Macbeth gains the audiences sympathy by exposing his weakness -almost subconsciously. He is not a â€Å"bare-faced† plain murderer, but he is also a prisoner of horrendous imaginings. Shakespeare helps him gain this sympathy by making the audience decide on the moral issues involved. Shakespeare allows Lady Macbeth to explain her husband’s character as she understands it, and although she cannot see the whole truth, she tells us a great deal about Macbeth that is true. Two lines of her soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 5 are particularly significant â€Å"Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, not without The illness should attend it.† By ‘illness’ Lady Macbeth mean ‘evil’, but her metaphor is appropriate; Macbeth catches ‘evil’, as one might catch a disease. Duncan getting killed creates havoc; it upsets the natural order and the reminder to the audience that you have to accept the King or Queen chosen by God is very well interpreted so that the message is clear. If you unbalance the natural order, you’ll allow ‘evil’ to take over. A paradox is used when Macbeth changes from a loyal Lord to a murderer. This is one of the important turning points. Macbeth gains the crown; but he loses love, friendship, respect – and in the end his life. His crime is rightly punished. It can be argued that the witches are not human at all, and therefore cannot be considered as a character. They are certainly a malign force in the play. They do not invite Macbeth to murder Duncan or even suggest such a thing. This shows that witches are very powerful. They symbolise evil, but man is free to resist them. Macbeth’s downfall occurs partly because he comes to depend upon their information. The prophecies weren’t prophecies; they were Macbeth’s driving force. The audience will not be very pleased to see the witches as they are supernatural phenomena; they are the device that unbalances the natural order. The audience will also be partly surprised that Shakespeare has included Hecate, the leader of the witches as a real person. But as I said before it was all in Macbeth’s hand, he was the one to choose his faith.

Gender Stereotypes Essay

Gender stereotypes in the society have been existing for a long period of time. This has been due to their intensively conventional simplified and persuasively convincing reference that makes people to easily belief them. Though these stereotypes have been adopted by majority of the people as part of their culture, they are wrong and should be discouraged as they are highly generalized, give wrong perceptions, discourage full potential exploitation from the people or make certain them to adopt unhealthy harmful practices in society (Richard & Zoe,2003). Change to the gender stereotypes perception will form the basis of equality for both male a d females in all areas of development thereby portraying the greater sense of social civilization in the 21st century. Gender stereotypes in the society are dynamic and greatly influenced by the changing economic modes and social ideologies in the societal setting. They are greatly adoptive in different regions of the globe especially in the modern era of verbalization (Theresa, 2005). This paper explores the gender stereotypes and myths in our society and how they influence the intent by individuals to adopt or pursue specific lines of development like careers, sports, modeling and even political ambitions. It also examines the current situation and the extent to which the society have been influenced by the gender stereotypes. With major comparisons and possible projections to enhance increased efficiency in the society, suggestions are highlighted to assist in reducing the major impacts resulting from the vice. 1. History and development of gender stereotypes in the society. Biologically, men and women are different and therefore have different functions that goes along with their natural being. Though this has been used to indicate different views on the their society expectations, it is greatly misleading and can hinder full potential exploitation from different genders. Since long time in history, man has been depicted to represent brightness, hardness and positivity in the society. Through out the time, men have also been considered as the heads of the households and responsible for making appropriate decisions in the political arena. On the other hand, women have characteristically been expected to be submissive, piety and highly domestic oriented in the society. They are required to assume softer roles and be less aggressive in order to be bale to mentor the children as they grow (Richard & Zoe, 2003). In majority of the societies like in China and Latin America, females were mainly supposed to perform household chores like cooking cleaning, tending to children and looking after their husbands. Also, they were expected to work in the farms and not in industrial regions as the heavy jobs were reservations for men. In the modern western world cultures, young men are portrayed as being obnoxious, violent at times and prideful about promiscuity in their lives. They are also expected to be assertive, more intelligent, risk taking, combative, insensitive and tough, while women should posses politeness, slim figure, act as nurturers and homemakers. Through out the history, little changes have taken place to fully appreciate the input of women in the society both economically and politically (Margaret, 2003). However, increase in the representation at high decision policy making positions and encouragement to the women to take higher risks in the economic arena indicates the changing trends in perception of the gender stereotypes. Unlike in the mid 19th century, all the high positions in the US government both gender representation. Appreciation has increasingly been recognized with the number of female senators to the federal government continuously rising. Other areas of middle and high class diplomatic leadership have also increased the democratic space for both genders representation with minimal or no bias at all. 2. Impacts of gender stereo types on education and careers As indicated earlier, females are perceived as being less competitive and possessing reduced ability to pursue careers in mathematics, engineering, medicine and other science oriented occupations in the society. Women are mythically considered to be qualitative as opposed to men who are perceived to be highly quantitative therefore making the girls themselves to believe that mathematics and sciences are for men only (Margaret, 2003). Some of the societies in the East, Africa and the Caribbean have the tendency to direct the girls to social art oriented careers while boys are offered more opportunities in the diverse scientific careers that are considered more prestigious. This stereotyping and mythical believe is not only wrong but unethical as it acts to block the overall potentials of the females to pursue different careers related to sciences. There is no empirical statistics that show women have less ability to perform well in the science oriented careers. Limiting them to less competitive careers has seen their reduced contribution to the society and acts to solidify more stereotype myths that portray them as domestic oriented as opposed to active participation in the economic development (Williams, 2006). To add to that, education preference has been more oriented to the boy child as opposed to the girl in the developing world. It is considered as less productive to educate a girl than to educate a boy since girls would sooner be married off therefore losing the prior investment on them. The current globalized society’s success being based on education, the girl child is therefore less advantaged to access the major benefits of the high technological world. Marxism theories indicates that increase in living standards is dependent on the ability to provide skilled labor to the capitalistic world. He continues to infer that all factors of production should be dynamic in application for high competition and maximum returns to be realized. As a result, limiting female children from education barricades them from possible future development and innovations as their negotiating capacity is fully crippled (Theresa, 2005). However, this perception has been proved wrong as more women are increasingly struggling and achieving equal or higher scholarly achievements than their men counterparts in the scientific careers. Major educational researches and scholarly work have been done by women and received major recognitions. However, such achievement are not emphasized on since stereotypes tend to rely more on generalized aspects than the reality. Higher education and science subjects limitation due to the major stereotypes in the society, kills the overall desire of the female children to pursue different education careers as they would be perceived to be odd. In Trinidad and Tobago, despite the government great initiative to have more girls participate in science oriented subjects, over 80% of them prefer hospitality and secretarial studies (Margaret, 2003). As a result of stereotyping men as generally good in the society to pursue scientific subjects careers, excess assumptions are laid on their abilities with priorities and talents not being emphasized on. Therefore, there is general tendency of the men to pursue careers in sciences as opposed general arts. Engineering profession in US has only about 25% of the people working there being women and 75% being men (Williams, 2006). In the Medical schools in Australia, the ratio of men to women is 1:3 indicating the high level of gender stereotype in the country. Both genders should be given equal priorities to develop their careers as they are all gifted and talented differently. As a basic requirement in the society, scientific skills must be emphasized to both genders for faster transformation of the society in the 21st century and later years. Until recently, computer engineering was a specifically mens careers where women could not even try to figure out pursuing them. In the year 1996, the total number of women computer engineers in Canada was represented by only 9% (Williams, 2006). 3. Impacts of gender stereotyping in politics and governance. Richard & Zoe (2003) points out that, over a longtime in history, political leadership has been dominated by men in different countries and states all over the world. It is believed that women are less capable of making correct decisions in the society as compared to their men counterparts. Gender stereotyping has consistently prevented women from being seriously considered in politics and high level offices. Great challenges lay in the way of entering and remaining in politics for the women from their men counterparts and the society in general. Traditionally, women were not allowed to vote or hold elective position in different countries. US had to greatly struggle for the women to be granted the power to vote for the political leaders in the mid nineteenth century. In the year 2004, women representation in Jamaican government was only 3% since their independence in 1953. From the electorates in the society to the structured policies in individual governments constitutions, women are less favored to compete for different elective posts (Williams, 2006). Uncritical promulgation of the female manifestos in Jamaica, Thailand, Venezuela, Germany and South America countries has assisted in portraying the male candidates as more suitable to their women counterparts. However, recent participation by women all over the world in important decisions making processes acts as a major indicator of how they can be involved in major decision making. They have therefore been limited in contributing important decisions that can assist in enhancing the globalization trends to make the world a better place to live in. Michelle Bachelet and Megawati Sukarnoputri acted as presidents for Chile and Indonesia for the years 2006 and 2004 respectively. Others include President Arroyo for Philippine, Tarja Halonen for Finland and Moscoso for the democratic republic republic of Panama. Therefore, women are not inferior in politics and can be able to rule and make equally good decisions in their respective countries (Williams, 2006). Others like Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state have been involved in international critical decisions like war in Iraq, African Affairs and nuclear weapons development diplomatic intervention decisions making. Their direct or indirect denial from participation in politics is therefore a clear indication of low levels in achieving democracy in various states in the world. Though, this view has widely changed, bulk of the masculine people especially in the developing countries must change their approach to enhance full potential reap from both genders (Theresa, 2005). 4. Gender Stereotyping in economic development. All over the world, women have been having great problems in development as compared to their male counterparts. It is considered that women are not supposed to inherit wealth from their matrimonial parents. This view as held by most eastern cultures and has tendered to keep women away from economic development. Access to finances for development has always been tied to the ability of an individual to provide enough security against it. In China, Japan and Brazil, it is believed that a woman after developing and attaining a given age, should get married. They are therefore denied the autonomy of making independent choices of their later economic lives. This denial therefore ensures that they remain dependent on their immediate marriage partners for all their activities. Though different regions and states like US and Britain have established ample legislative frameworks to prevent the exploitation women based on this myth, bulk of other countries still watch as women remain poor economically. As a result, their economic competitive ability is greatly compromised and overall economic situation derailed locally and internationally (Williams, 2006). As indicated earlier, women have have been having less chances to get educated in more competitive scientific subjects therefore, denying them the ability of accessing better jobs in the fast industrializing world. Until recently, Canadian women were regarded as housewives and only participated in minor poorly paying jobs like working in farms and in fabric industries. Though this fact was overlooked for a long time, the trend is fast changing to give them a more inclusive chance to contribute to the economic development of the country. According to Williams (2006), due to the high dominance of the men in different governments, legislations to discourage women participation only in minor home affairs have been developing very slowly and at times met with great resistance. As it was evident in Canada, women believed that they were supposed to be house wives and send their husbands to work and children to school. Besides, it was also believed that those Women who work are either widowed, unmarried or belong to far non Canadian community that have established investment in the country. The believe that all women should be house wives contradicts greatly the twenty first century economic trends where educated working women are highly respected and immensely contribute to the economic growth their countries. 5. Gender stereotyping in sports According to Schmalz & Kerstetter (2006), sports have become major activities in the world that are used to bring great wealth to countries and individuals. Gender stereotyping however, has demanded strong compliance where women are expected to participate only to individual aesthetic activities that are pleasing and simplistic like gymnastics, synchronized swimming and figure skating against their male counterparts who are occasionally trained to participate in strenuous, aggressive and very competitive sports in the world. This division encouraged and allowed the women to accept and adopt the unfounded physical limitation imposed to them by the society (Theresa, 2005). With the traditional views that women should remain attractive, groomed and nurturing, they are thus discouraged from participating in strong sports like lifting weights, grunting and being aggressive in the society. Due to this acceptance, young girls have been stigma conscious of gender in physical activities and sports. Many of the activities that are encouraged for the women have high participation from the men counterparts. Swimming, tennis, badminton, bicycle riding, and athletics have as equal number of men like women. Boxing, football, rallying, horse riding and skating have little participation from the women as they are perceived as men sports. However, these trends have greatly changed and more women are participating in football, boxing and car rallying all over the world. Several states globally have tried to change the trend and encouraged more participation in sports by women. During the 2008 Olympic sports in China, sports participation by women had increased tremendously from the previous world cap. Economic development that simultaneously realigns with these segregated sports are therefore denied for women making them to be even more dependent on men and reducing their ability to inspire other women in the society (Malszecki & Cavar, 2005). To add to that, talents are greatly lost from the various individuals that could have been developed to full appreciation through various sports. As a result of confining women to the beauty and light sports, international representation has been lost greatly for various countries. Besides, women are concentrated more in only few sports that cannot accommodate them thereby discouraging increased participation in sports by women (Schmalz & Kerstetter, 2006). 6. Gender stereotypes in modeling and relationship Over years, it has come to be stereotypically accepted that women as opposed to men should be thin in order to look more attractive. Physical appearance in women has been pasted as a major determinant factor in their overall success. Current media depiction of slim and less stout women to be more successful in life has made many young women to strive being like them in order to be equally successful. Major advertisements and beauty competitions are dominated by such slim ladies pasting the wrong attitude for their lives. Those ladies unable to remain slim are generally traumatized and looked down upon and by their counterparts in the society. From the 1950s to 2005, woman’s body in Miss America contests as well as the Playboy Centerfolds have portrayed women thinness a major prerequisite for their consideration to participate and win. Other models all over the world copying from the west, have adopted the trend that is posted to all the media with great magnitude that even the very young girls only wish to remain slim and thus look attractive. Overestimation and failure to question critically the relationship of the preferred slimness in comparison to the immediate health consequences has been missing in this myth (Williams, 2006). It have been categorized as harmful to refuse eating food in order to slim because of immediate susceptibility to diseases by the body. Everybody should feed adequately to enhance enough body immunity that increases it’s overall ability to fight against germs invasion. Adoption of slimming options by the female ladies has been ill advised and happens with little assistance from the medical assistants thereby putting them into greater risks. Extremely slim ladies have been considered more susceptible to periodic diseases invasion which may end up costing them more in treating the same ailments. Continued slimming for long periods of time have been associated with reduced life expectancy for the specific individual due to lack of enough body supportive nutrients (Margaret, 2003). Modern relationships have been displayed and greatly exaggerated by the media where slimmer and lighter skin colored women are portrayed to be much more attractive and sexy in comparison to others in the society. As a major item in the western world and fast spreading due to other regions, all the young and old ladies want to look good when they are with their peers as well as when they are in relationships. They therefore struggle to attain and retain the prescribed model like figures and maintain them through out to make them fit in the social groupings that develop in the society (Malszecki & Cavar, 2005). Besides, there is even higher risk to their health in the case where they use chemicals to assist them assume the slim preferred figures. These chemicals enhance immediate alterations of the hormones in the body thereby achieving the required change. However, over 65% of all the chemicals used for slimming have major side effects like cancer and bio-accumulative poisoning. On the other hand, cosmetics are also increasingly being used to enhance the immediate change in the face appearance. Mercury and silver based skin lightening cosmetics demanded has risen with over 75% in the last 10 years. Though standards have been emphasized greatly to ensure reduced side effects, cases have been reported of massive chemical burns and even death after using various chemicals (Malszecki & Cavar, 2005). Great care should therefore be instigated for use and natural beauty appreciated for all the people. 7. Addressing gender stereotype in the society. As indicated earlier, gender stereotype in the society involves attitudes by the people which are regarded by majority or all of them. Addressing them therefore, requires a combined effort approach where various entities will be required to positively confront the issue for holistic success to be achieved. 8. Use of policy and legislative framework To begin with, inclusive research should be instituted to enhance understanding of the problem from all the dimensions and identification of the immediate key players for the existence of the fallacy. European Institute for Gender Equality has helped greatly in establishing the major gender imbalance based issues that promote stereotyping in the society. It’s immediate and long term effects should also be established to categorize the urgency (Richard & Zoe,2003). Then policies and legislative framework should be developed to encourage more equity and representation in the society. These policies should therefore ensure increased awareness creation and training to the teachers in different schools and their students on the need to reduce gender stereotypic approaches in the society (Theresa, 2005). Besides, it should also be extended to the parents who play major roles in the early child development. Incentives should be established to increase participation by both genders. European Union after realizing the great impact that gender stereotyping was having in the society, it established a common policy to be used by all the European Union countries in removing the deeply entrenched disparities (Margaret, 2003). Accessibility of jobs previously prescribed as only for men was opened up for women in the member countries. Besides, the member states agreed to develop individual objectives to be localized from the agreed agenda by reflecting the immediate country’s problems. 9. Using media to enhance change of attitude Malszecki & Cavar (2005) argues that, media should act as the key tool in promoting positive attitudes towards different genders while denouncing the stereotypic ones. As indicated earlier, media has played the greatest role in spreading stereotypes in the society due to it’s great availability and massive persuasive and convincing power especially to the young people. Facts should be used in advertisements and extremism avoided in the whole process. Many people do not understand the negative outcomes of the gender stereotypes and therefore, both sides of the story should be told for informed decision from the different people in the society to be made. Though the freedom of the media is of great necessity at all times to enhance increased ability of the people to express themselves, it can be regulated to make it more responsible since it is the major contributor to the existence of the current high levels of gender stereotypes in the society (Williams, 2006). 10. Local and international cooperation To add to that, cooperation at all levels in the field of community development and youth affairs should be initiated in the line of jobs and employments opportunities in different states. As discussed earlier, majority of the disparities arise as a result of poor availability of employment opportunities that instigates sharp divisions guided by various mythologies relating to gender stereotypes. Increased industrialization and opening up of more chances related to different areas of specialization in working places should be enhanced (Richard & Zoe,2003). This specialization therefore, would act as an opener to new opportunities in all careers. Introduction of unemployment benefits for the unemployed people of different genders would help reducing major held perceptions that are based on dependence of women to men through submissiveness. It would also increase their ability to invest and improve their independence (Williams, 2006). 11. Improving democracy in the society. Democracy as described in the classical theories of change in the society, acts as a major platform for total participation in all developments in the society. Increasing democratic space for all the people in various decision making posts can reduce totally the perception that only men can hold such administrative posts in the management. As indicated in majority of the democratic world, all the people should have equal opportunity to contribute and sell their political agendas for increased efficiency and higher level management of their states. After Germany elected Engel Merkel as the chancellor in the country, great changes have taken place and people are admiring her mode of operations both locally and internationally. At all levels of management, representation should be enhanced and made equal for both genders (Margaret, 2003). In regions where low levels of democracy still persist, policies should be established to reserve posts for both genders in the management structures. Acting as a major example in the present world, similar cases are being developed in the developed and developing world to enhance major economic growth (Richard & Zoe,2003). 12. Promoting gender equality in sports and careers As a major abstractor in the sports field, both genders should be encouraged to participate in all the sports available for improved talents harnessing in the society. Negativism in one gender participation and scaring off should be discouraged at all times to allow improved development for both genders (Theresa, 2005). Careers development should be improved for better participation in the economic developments by both genders. Gender balance creates self esteem that aids in reducing the major disparities that go together with discrimination. From the local and international arena, successful people in different careers and sports should be used as the major role models because of the facts attached to them (Schmalz & Kerstetter, 2006). Conclusion. Gender stereotypes have been adopted by majority of the people as part of their culture and are therefore used in defining their ways of living in the society. However, they are wrong and should be discouraged as they are highly generalized, give wrong perceptions, discourage total potential discovery from the people and hinder full potential exploitation in the society. As it has happened in education and sports, various achievement of the major goals and objectives that assist people in assuming better earning jobs and thus improved lifestyles are highly limited and defined on the gender stereotyping attitudes possessed by the society. Change to the gender stereotypes perception will form the basis of equality for both genders in all areas of development thereby portraying the greater sense of social civilization (Williams, 2006). Due to the high level of illusionary correlation in gender stereotypes, information on emphasis of slim models and discouragement of participation in sports by the females are highly deceitful to the people. They therefore portray wrong perception that are sooner adopted as part of life by the people in that region. Besides, being in the era of globalization development should be based on the major premises that are substantiated and not illusionary. It should be fully discouraged and all the perceptions conclusively removed with immediate programs as it is a major abyss for talents, innovations and developments. Recommendations 1. Improve and increase cooperation from the of the major organs dealing with gender stereotypes in the society through awareness creation. 2. Promote economic independence of all the people in the society by opening up areas of employment and working (Richard & Zoe,2003). 3. Increase funds for gender based programs that will enhance increased participation from both males and females in the society. 4. Promote responsible media programs in the society that will enhance change of attitude for the better by the youths in the society. 5. Enhance improved research, implementation and monitoring into the established initiatives for effectiveness and conclusiveness of the goals set Reference list Malszecki, G. & Cavar, T. (2005). Men, masculinities, war, and sport. In Race, Class, and Sexuality. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall. Margaret, W. M. (2003). The Psychology of Women. Washington: Sage. Richard, F. & Zoe, O. (2003) â€Å" Gender stereo typing Stereotyping in State Executive Elections†, Journal of politics, (3)65, 25-49. Schmalz, D. & Kerstetter, D. (2006). Girlie girls and manly men: Children’s stigma consciousness of gender in sports and physical activities. Journal of Leisure Research, (4)38, 536-557 Theresa, M. (2005). Gender Myths V. Working Realities. New York: NYU Press. Williams, K. 2006. Globalization: Gender stereo typing in the 21st century and its impacts in

Reasons Why The Memberships Of Trade Blocs, Such As The EU, Has Changed Over Time

Memberships of trade blocs changed over time because countries realized that there are a huge amount of benefits to joining a trade bloc union. Benefits such as Free trade within the bloc which means that they have free access to each other’s markets, members of the trade bloc are encouraged to specialize. This means that at the regional level there is a wider application on ability to carry out a particular economic activity e. g. making a specific product more efficiently than another activity.In addition countries have Market access and trade creation which is when countries have easier access to each other's markets meaning that trade between members is likely to increase. Trade creation exists when free trade enables high cost domestic producers to be replaced by low cost and also allow more efficient imports. Because low cost imports lead to lower priced imports, there is a ‘consumption effect', with increased demand resulting from lower prices.Also Producers from the member country can benefit from the application of scale economies, which will lead to lower costs and lower prices for consumers. Jobs may be created as a consequence of increased trade between member economies. There is increased protection. Firms inside the bloc are protected from cheaper imports from outside, such as the protection of the EU shoe industry from cheap imports from China and Vietnam. There are other long-term political and social benefits to trade blocs.The countries’ economies become more intertwined also the political reasons for close cooperation within the bloc increases. Countries understand that they have a stake in each other and make greater efforts to get along. In that same way, increased business contacts usually mean that people must learn the culture of their trading partners. Many must learn new languages and different business practices. In short, more people will come into contact with each other and will need to learn more about each oth er. This breeds increased understanding amongst people.Another reason for the change is as for consumers are that there is often a greater variety of goods and services available in free trade blocs. Products like beer, detergent, clothing, and machine tools are often produced in all the countries after the free trade agreement they are often stocked in many stores. Products like satellite hook ups for televisions, computers and telephones are usually made more available to developing countries. Internet service providers are now able to sell to larger markets and more consumers have opportunities to purchase or use these services.

Nordstrom Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nordstrom - Assignment Example Nordstrom, like other departmental stores has a central management in Downtown  Seattle,  Washington with stores spread in many other states. Another defining characteristic of Nordstrom as a departmental store is its high level of customer service, though this comes at a price, making Nordstrom products and services more expensive than in other retail outlets. Customer Service Nordstrom has cultivated a culture of full customer service whereby all the firm’s employees know the true meaning of putting customers first. First, important customers are identified, served well, and measures put in place to ensure they return over and over again to give Nordstrom business. The first measure is sparing no efforts to ensure that the customer leaves the premises with maximum satisfaction. In addition to acquiring goods, the customer gets high quality service utility. Secondly, business cards are exchanged between the customer and the sales person that they interact with. This ensur es that the sales person has complete control of this relationship that is free from interference by the management. This sales representative acts as the link between Nordstrom and its customers, with only a rule stating that the former uses their best judgement to ensure customer satisfaction. Another strategy for ensuring a long-term relationship in Nordstrom includes follow up calls on customers informing them of new products. In summary, Nordstrom identifies its customers and gives them undivided attention to ensure a thriving long-term business relationship. On the other hand, there is Target. Target is a business enterprise that does not provide much choice of products for customers. In addition, Target has been widely accused of poor customer service and its lack of concern for customer needs. In contrast to the expensive Nordstrom, Target sells designer merchandise at discount prices but there are stringent rules for their sales. For instance, Nordstrom exchanges goods for customers even if they did not sell the said goods but in Target, after three days, sales are not reversible. Nordstrom encourages its customers to do business with them while in Target a willing customer may get a hard time in an attempt to be served. Factors Contributing To Company Success Six managerial and positional components of service in Nordstrom ensure the survival in a highly competitive environment including the six P’s i.e. product, place, promotion, price, presentation, and personnel. First, on product, the firm only sells according to its customer requirements as Eric Nordstrom said that business has to go on even if only one shoe was in sale. Second is the place consideration whereby the management puts all possible factors including, gut feeling, into consideration before setting up a new business. Promotion is the third factor and Nordstrom uses the customers’ word-of-mouth as their main promotional vehicle, giving customers the best service and count ing on them to spread a good word about Nordstrom. The other factor is price and Nordstrom exploits the common belief that a higher price translates to higher quality of goods and services. Prices at Nordstrom are above normal. However, customers flood into the stores expecting premium quality service and Nordstrom does not disappoint. Presentation is the fifth strategy whereby products are presented just the way

The Woman's Liberation Movement Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Woman's Liberation Movement - Term Paper Example The American culture expected women to ‘keep the home.’ The television programs of the 1950’s clearly demonstrate this reality. Prior to the 1960’s and 1970’s women were commonly vilified and thought of as egocentric if their personal ambitions did not comprise cooking meals, cleaning, caring for children, and being the obedient wife of their husbands. The idea of feminism was one of scorn and mockery during this time. It was also understood to be opposed to the basic tenets of Christianity. The efforts of numerous women such as Gloria Steinum, Ruth Rosen and Betty Friedan during the 1960’ revitalized the women’s movement and laid the foundation for changes in both public perception of feminism as well as the law for all time. Although the women’s liberation movement is often understood as being of a uniform ideology it actually is very diverse consisting basically of two differing perspectives on feminist thought fundamentally d ivided by age and, radical and liberal. The significant achievement for the women’s liberation movement that began in the 1960’s was to give voice to very private matters such as domestic violence, date rape, workplace discrimination and sexual harassment by forcing these subjects into the public debate thus instigating changes concerning both social attitudes and legislation. The changes began when President John F. Kennedy formed the Commission on the Status of Women in 1961. Betty Friedan, an outspoken feminist was part of this commission. In 1966 Friedan created the National Organization for Women (NOW), the first new feminist organization in nearly 50 years. NOW was the initial and remains the most recognized but it was only beginning of the organized expression of the women’s movement. â€Å"The (women’s) movement actually has two origins, from two different strata’s of society, with two different styles, orientations, values, and forms of o rganization† (Freeman, 1971) These unaligned women’s groups were thought of as separate in structure and motive throughout the 1960’s but by 1970, these numerous groups loosely aligned by two uncommon composition and origin merged in the collective conscience of the American public under the familiar terminology of the women’s liberation movement. The first faction which included NOW, the Professional Women’s Caucus, the Federally Employed Women and the Women’s Equity Action League, the self-described ‘right-wing’ of the movement, whose demographic consisted largely of older women than other groups formed during the 1960’s. The older group consisted mainly of women who worked outside the home plus older homemakers who were sympathetic to the cause. The younger factions were generally college-aged young women who came from the civil rights movement. The women’s equality groups of the ‘younger generation’ heard the words and witnessed the efforts of the ‘older generation’ such as Betty Friedan, who wrote the very popular book, The Feminine Mystique, who said â€Å"A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, ‘Who am I, and what do I want out of life’? She mustn’t feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children† (â€Å"

Market Structure Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Market Structure - Research Proposal Example A detailed research plan has already been made so as to have blue print of what should and should not be done in the process of research. A detailed search for material has been made. Finally, I got all the material on the basis of which the paper is completed. Secondary data alone is used in the studies which are collected from electronic sources. The data collected are analyzed on the basis of required outcome of the research and only relevant data are written in the paper. No primary source such as market survey or product survey is made for the collection of data and analysis. The paper is prepared in such a manner that each question is followed by its answer so that it will be of immense help to the reader to easily understand the situation. A brief structure of the answer is given below: A perfect market is a situation where there are large number of buyers and sellers and all have free entry to and exit from the market. Firms in the perfect market are price takers. Profit is determined by the number of product marketed and the demand for the product. Monopoly is a market structure wherein one seller meets all the demands of the market. Since he is the only seller in the market, the price determined by him is the final price. However, in many cases the existence of monopoly is justified owing to reasons like natural monopoly, legal monopoly and acquired monopoly. But, if there is proper legislation in the country, the problem of monopoly can be reduced. An imperfect market is one which is not a perfect market. Monopoly, Monopolistic and oligopoly arte the examples of imperfect competition. Bibliography G Stigler, (1957)'Perfect Competition, Historically Contemplated', Journal of Political Economy, vol. LXV. Viewed 19 November, 2008, http://www.economyprofessor.com/economictheories/perfect-competition.php Yogesh Ambedkar, (2005). What does Market Monopoly mean Viewed 19 November, 2008, http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-13-2005-64198.asp Roderick Hill, (March 2006), The Overemphasis on Perfectly Competitive Markets in Microeconomics Principles Textbooks. Viewed 19 November, 2008, http://www.unbsj.ca/arts/economic/documents/Overemphasisonperfectlycompetitivemarkets.pdf Imperfect Competition notes: (n.d.) viewed 19 November, 2008, http://www.scribd.com/doc/4032087/-Imperfect-Competition-notes Lecture Outlines (n.d.), Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly, viewed 19 November, 2008, http://www.humboldt.edu/sh2/econ200/e200notes_week11.htm Investopedia (2008), Perfect Competition, viewed 18 November, 2008, http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/perfectcompetition.asp Perfect Competition (n.d.), Economy Watch, viewed 19 November, 2008, http://www.economywatch.com/economics-theory/market-theory/prefect-competition.html Question No. 1.

Effective Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Effective Advertising - Essay Example   Ã‚  Ã‚   Although marketers and creative directors may be thoroughly familiar with the rational approach and may have learned much about mnemonics and long-term memory, many are still in the dark regarding the unconscious side and motivation. What is presented here is the integration of all three aspects of advertising, leading to a totally integrated three-dimensional approach to advertising and marketing.   Ã‚  Ã‚   It is imperative to examine three-dimensional advertising and marketing in detail, especially with reference to the second dimension: motivation.    The First Dimension of Advertising and Marketing: Logic, Rationalizations, and Justifications   Ã‚   Logic and rationalization are the first dimension of advertising and the one that is the most familiar. They also are the most exploited dimension in advertising. That is because most marketing approaches are based upon traditional market research, and traditional market research asks people logical questions. Henc e, consumers respond accordingly: with logic and the left side of their brain. Since humans want to appear logical and rational, they give logical and rational answers. They respond not only to other people, but also to themselves. These are rationalizations. They may be true or untrue. They are what the consumer wants to believe, and they are what the consumer wants others to believe. Rationalizations are the most common form of advertising. They work either on the front end or as reinforcers, after the decision has been made. Rationalizations influence the emotions.... Hence, consumers respond accordingly: with logic and the left side of their brain. Since humans want to appear logical and rational, they give logical and rational answers. They respond not only to other people, but also to themselves. Typical of the answers and rationalizations that are given are: "I bought it because I'll never see it at that price again." "When these are all gone, there won't be any more." "These coupons cut the price nearly in half." "I really needed it." "The salesman offered me a deal I couldn't resist." "I bank at First because it's so convenient." "I like the people at the Apple Tree Restaurant; they're friendly and go out of their way to please." "Even though I have a two-hour commute to the city, the taxes are much lower out here." These are rationalizations. They may be true or untrue. They are what the consumer wants to believe, and they are what the consumer wants others to believe. Rationalizations are the most common form of advertising. They work either on the front end or as reinforcers, after the decision has been made. Rationalizations influence the emotions. They are obvious, and they are powerful. They are motivating.The problem is that at some point before the sale is made the consumer has to deal with emotion. Also, rationalizations do not feed into brand loyalty, positioning, unique selling, and marketing propositions. That is why people buy ABC instead of XYZ, and what has to be done to change them. Consumer decisions are based primarily on emotion and not reason. Even so, rationalizations are an important part of the purchasing process.Kowata and Buck ( 1995) illustrate the relationship between rationalizations and emotions (affect) in a cross-cultural study. According to these investigators,

Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking - Essay Example (Sloan 222). The lung is able to filter some of the beneficial substances in cigarettes though harmful chemicals leak into the lungs. Tar causes damage to airways of lungs and this could lead to unusual multiplication of cells in the lungs. As one continues to expose lungs to smoking, lungs experience irreversible changes in the cells. This specifically affects nucleus of the cells hence uncontrolled cell growth of cells in the lungs. Every puff smoke inhaled by a smoker either of tobacco or cigarette deposits tar that coats the lungs and may cause difficulty in breathing since there is no exchange of clean air from the atmosphere to lungs and vice-versa. Mouth cancer, also referred to as oral cancer cannot be evaded by smokers. People have been made to believe that smoking using cigars and pipes leaves less tobacco in the system. However, this is untrue since cigar and pipe smokers are at high risks of mouth cancer. The pipe-stem rests on the lip and exposes users to another great risk of lip cancer. Continued smoking or tobacco use is said to be the major cause of mouth cancer. Smoking causes irritation on the mouth surface. Burning of tobacco and its by-products is the base line of this irritation after interacting with mouth membrane. Moreover, cigars and pipes take some considerable time to burn and thus expose user to secondary smoke. Smoking could also lead to loss of teeth and other teeth illnesses. Smoking has a direct effect on the way the body responds to exercise. Exercise requires oxygen in the body. Smoking brings carbon monoxide in the body which reduces the level of oxygen in the body. As a result, there is increased heart beat since less oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream (Owing 166). The heart is overworked in an attempt to get more oxygen since carbon monoxide stops supply of oxygen. Thus, smokers have poor body fitness since the body cannot respond to any vigorous activity. Smoking

Process Analysis Essay on Coming into Language Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Process Analysis on Coming into Language - Essay Example Supporting arguments and claims in a text using evidence from a book is important whenever an author presents a text. However, in the essay, the author does not provide any evidence from the original text. Although there are assertions and claims made concerning events that happened in the life of Baca, there is no evidence in dictating that the author drew reference from the actual text read. In most cases, a book could have a number of prints, or different editions; others could have different versions. This necessitates reference to the book used while drawing the conclusions of the essay. However, this aspect does not appear in this essay. Although the audience can identify with the text, while others could have read the book, directing them to the actual cited pages is important in order to make clear of their ideas. Quoting an actual text not only gives evidence of the author’s text but also makes their arguments stronger. Although the essay uses quotes from the actual t ext as evidence of the arguments raised, the lack of pagination of these quotes makes them irrelevant. By using direct quotes from the actual text, it makes it possible for the audience to make a quick reference of that text to the actual text. Anybody reading a text and wants to draw reference to the actual text used, the direct quotes give them guidance to the actual page numbers used in the text. However, the failure of the author in this essay to include page numbers of the quoted texts makes the quotes invalid. For instance, a reader who would wish to draw reference to â€Å"their language was the magic that could liberate me from myself, transform me into another person† and â€Å"reading was a waste of time, and nothing could be gained by it† as quoted in para (2) would hardly find them due to the missing page numbers. Further, â€Å"island rising beneath† and â€Å"like the back of a whale† in para (3) have no pagination as well. Subsequently, the audience would have to read the entire book in order to find these particular quotes. The flow of ideas in a text in most cases determines the perception of the audience about the particular text. Ideas that flow in a logical and sequential manner makes it interesting for the audience to read. By chronologically presenting arguments, an author shows the conception of the idea, its maturity and later the conclusion. Additionally, an author could draw recommendations from the text (Tanselle 20). However, a text organized in a haphazard manner lacks a captivating aspect, making them hard to read. The essay does not have a proper flow of ideas and chronology of events, something that makes it difficult for the audience to follow. While the author narrates about the events that happened to Baca after his release from prisomn in para (3), he later goes back to the time of his prison the fourth paragraph. Such a presentation could confuse the audience, thus making them hate the actual tex t. The essay, though shallow in the analysis, reveals the book to be an inspiring piece (para 1). Further, it hints that the story is about a character and the actual author who learnt to read and write while in jail (para 1).  

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 27

Homework - Essay Example Although the advancement of technology is so rapid that some programs or hardwares become easily outdated, there are still some activities that cannot be done using the Internet. In the future, I hope that there will be available programs where we can watch the stars or the galaxy through the telescopes used by astronomers in different parts of the world. It is like telescopes linked to each other through a computer and people all over the world can see through them through the internet real time. Location based services [LBS] is the capability to identify the location of a particular person or mobile device and connect with a different device or individual (Burgess, 2010). Currently, almost everyone uses LBS when they use different social media sites like blogs or when they check-in their locations using Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. LBS is also used to be able to navigate in areas that an individual may not be familiar with, and reduces the amount of time spent trying to locate establishments. Real time updates through Global Positioning System [GPS] also gives real time updates of traffic and accidents on the road so it will be really helpful so commuters can plan ahead and the time needed to travel will be more readily estimated. Even location of road constructions are provided, so a commuter can easily avoid these areas without having to run into traffic. To a certain extent, LBS is a good tool, because for certain applications it makes transportation more efficient and helps individuals plan properly, and this saves a lot of time, in a broader perspective. However, if the technology gets infiltrated by people with bad intentions, or terrorists, for that matter, LBS will no longer be beneficial at all. This may lead to threats, even security and safety issues because locations and activities of individuals may be monitored and mapped without the person being fully aware of it.

Impacts of Fuel Price Increase on Logistics and End User Assignment - 2

Impacts of Fuel Price Increase on Logistics and End User - Assignment Example The researcher states that over the past decades, logistics executives tried to cut down inventory costs by moving the goods as fast as possible through the supply chain. However, growing fuel costs changed the whole scenario, and hence today companies tend to keep more inventories on hand. In addition, organizations consider shipping larger loads and increasing buffer stocks as two potential ways to fight mounting fuel prices. Reports indicate that companies are relying on more fuel-efficient modes of goods movement such as rail and water in response to rise in fuel costs because those transportation facilities are beneficial to ship larger loads and to reduce congestion. In addition, the logistics industry focuses more on short sea shipping and moving freight along inland waterways to mitigate the adverse effects of growing fuel prices. The drastic increase in inventory costs is a direct impact of rising fuel costs. Increased product density is another major consequence of hiking f uel prices in the logistics industry. Logistics sector would be compelled to establish central warehouses when fuel prices increase constantly. Companies may be forced to depend more on in-sourcing in order to trim down logistics costs, and the situation, in turn, would drive changes in warehousing and distribution. In the worst case, firms may consider relocating their production at customer plant sites to reduce transportation costs or near-shoring to achieve optimized inventory levels. In the context of increasing fuel prices, logistics departments of competing firms may operate collaboratively to cut down unnecessary transportation costs. Gross, Hayden, and Butz point out that adverse increase in fuel costs over the past few years have resulted in the optimal degree of centralization of logistics networks. The authors add that the optimal configuration of logistics network is greatly influenced by varying fuel prices.

Computer Technology Essay Example for Free

Computer Technology Essay The education system world wide has been vying to raise the quality of education as reflected in the volumes of research regarding quality education and teacher effectiveness. In the light of the rapid advancement of technology, more research attention has been given to the integration of information and computer technology (ICT) with the educational design and curriculum. It has been included for since computers were invented, however because of the rapid rate by which modernization occurs, the ministries of education for every country must be able to cope up by intensifying the rate degree of integration while upholding quality content and instruction as well. In present Saudi Arabia, the application of satellite technology had been the focused issue because of its potential to elevate the quality of teaching and learning at all levels (Al-Sharhan 2000). Studies have shown Australian states as a model for the significant links communication systems provide for students across the nation to interact and add valuable substance to their learning (Al-Sharhan 2000). The potential of such satellite communication new instated in Saudi Arabia and its uses for educational purpose is yet an area to be discovered and studied because of the reduced equipment, maintenance and operational cause that this technological advancement provides (Al-Sharhan 2000). However, the education system in Saudi Arabia must be prepared by properly equipping their teachers, their curriculum, and their students for the changes that would occur as the operation of the satellite communication are full-fledged. The important focus of this management plan is to introduce ICT and integrate it into the method of quality teaching and learning to the highest degree possible. In ten years time the great need to close the â€Å"performance gap† between the schools and colleges in terms of achieving the goals of a world class high quality education would be eradicated if not it would totally minimal compared to the global leaders in education (Kelly 2001). The current status of the education system defined by limited technology. Studies are still underway into how the satellites can be used however, at present; there are still no clear terms in how it must be used before this quality teaching and learning framework. Planning for improvement must be based upon the baseline or the â€Å"initial audit† of the school and college to include the opinions of the parents, the students, and the staff as the starting point for quality management (Kelly 2001). Considerations must be a unified expected outcome, the welfare of the internal customers, the key persons responsible for implementation and task assignments and a means to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the plan (Kelly 2001). Overview There must be a close consideration for the content and educational design for the integration of ICT into the curriculum and into the classroom instruction (Naidu 2003). Content refers to the information or in the scenario of the ICT integration, electronic information that the students would get as learners (Naidu 2003). Educational design refers to the processes that the educators would use in planning and providing the education for the students (Naidu 2003). The faculty needs to be prepared and guided for the integration of the technology. As the method of instruction would be elevated and modernized, the teaching quality must be improved as well and not be forgotten in the excitement for advanced technology (Fraser 2004). Regulatory and quality assurance would be increased, however there would be a shift from a managerial system to an academic accountability system for the teachers in the college as they have more freedom as well as responsibility when their methods for instruction grows wider (Fraser 2004). The increased emphasis on quality and accountability would be a response to the changes that the colleges and universities would have with a change in their material conditions as the satellite technology become fully accessible and utilized in education (Fraser 2004). As most teachers are used to the traditional technologies, they must be aware that every tool that would become available has something unique and valuable to offer (Clark et al. 2003). Technology can enrich any course subject in ways the traditional method cannot (Clark et al. 2003). In terms of assessment such ICT programs, a web-based assessment reflects the continuum of assessment types because of their nature of improvement (Naidu 2003). Traditional assessments were known to lack a variety and autonomy as well as student choice, they were also lacking in work-based application and project-based learning as well as limited peer and self-assessment strategies (Naidu 2003). ICT-based assessments would be introduced in this plan to be able to evaluate the quality of an ICT-integrated education system. Satellite communications are used for different applications that can both be used for educational purposes; one is for remote sensing, taking pictures and capturing scientific data and the other for telecommunication purposes (Al-Sharhan 2000). Their difference in purpose can point to different themes and school activities by which they would be used. The telephone link would be one of the most important contributions this satellite technology can have for the schools of Saudi Arabia (Al-Sharhan 2000). Theoretical Foundations Expected Outcome Teachers. The computer and all the benefits it can provide have been massively changing the perception for teaching instruction (Nicholls 2002). The expectations have become higher in terms of teacher preparation and delivery in relation to quality education (Nicholls 2002). The teachers can not be one way or the other when it comes to technology; most of the time, some either ignore technology because of the lack of trust and knowledge or rely on them because of familiarity (Nicholls 2002). The implementation of this plan would enable the teachers to be comfortable with teaching with technology. In less than ten years, the staff would become so familiar with ICT that it would be the new normalcy when it comes to quality education. The elevation of standard for the Saudi Arabia schools would reflect that not only a few subjects would make use of such ICT-based curriculum, but it would be a requirement for every subject course and professor. The educators would be the ones introducing technological advancement to their students with their methods and in turn the students would be equipped to use them because of such instruction. Students. The satellite technology would be able to accommodate a large number of students simultaneously and over an extended geographical area (Al-Sharhan 2000). Most of the students are more IT literate and expect technology to be used for teaching by the educators (Nicholls 2002). The teachers, who are well-equipped in operating technology, would be able to customize their activities to fit the needs of the students. It encourages the students to go beyond the lecture to expand their learning and to conduct self-directed study (Nicholls 2002). The school may have web-based discussion forums, electronic mailing lists that enhance student participation and individualized learning (Nichols 2002). The Education System. The integration of ICT and the use of satellite technology can be potential for elevating the standard of the education system in developing countries to overcome specific problems such as loosing high quality teachers due to emigration to other countries, shortage of physical equipment and materials in many schools (Al-Sharhan 2000). The combat against high adult literacy can also be fought better given the Open University potential for online learning (Al-Sharhan 2000). It also provides the solution for segregating male and female students that would be difficult in physical classrooms but would be possible with online classrooms that would give more educational opportunities to women than before (Al-Sharhan 2000).

Introduction To External Migration And Internal Migration Marketing Essay

Introduction To External Migration And Internal Migration Marketing Essay Migration is the movement of people across a specified boundary for the purpose of establishing a new or semi-permanent residence. Migration included external migration and internal migration (Indepth Network, 2008). And this article would talk about the international migration (external migration), it means people migrate across the land and sea from different nations. There are some advantages of migration. First, people can enjoy a better living environment and a democratic, progressive and safety society which cannot get in their original country. Safety is the very important for persons to consider migration. Especially for people whose original countries are suffering a native disaster or social instability, like economy problem and progressive problem. At this time, they would like restart doing everything rather than stay in danger. Migration is the best choice to them (Tonita, 2010). Secondly, offer children an advanced education. Except that, for the rich Chinese immigrates, they would feel more safety, their money also would be taken care. Second, for some businessmen, migration offers a chance to develop their business. And live in other country, they can experience a cultural diversity and expand their living experiences, which would be easy for them to communication with others in business. There could be some possible drawbacks to immigrants. First, for most of countries, it reduces the skill people, like doctor, lawyer and accountant. And it leads to an environment where develop knowledge and resource is lost to another country. Secondly, if they do not have skill which country economy needs, it would be so hard for them to find or look for a job. And because of the high unemployment and less friend would create a very crime rate. Next, for kids migrate with their parentsat the early time. They are no longer acquiringtheir native language and custom (Attachment across culture, 2010).Moreover, sometimes during the process of migration, separation family members occurred immediately. Sometimes members migrate first, and others follow a few months or years later. That cause a lot of parents and children are separated in different countries (Attachment across culture, 2010). At this time, migration is not a good thing for them, they may lose their relationship, even worse, and immigration would destroy peoples life. Next, language is a biggest problem for them. Not all the people can migrate to countries which speak the same language with their hometown. So when they move to the country, they must overcome the language problem first. After migration, they will always experience some culture shock. By living, sometimes, they have to restart learning all the things. Like, language and skills, even they are not willing to. With Australia as an example, when people migrate to Australia, they must learn English that can ensure they can work and live well. Last, with so many immigrants move to the big city, it is so difficult to balance between males and females of the city population. Also cause the problems for the city, the city has to extensive housing programs and expand its water, electricity and communication facilities to meet all peoples needs (Arce and Alvarez, 2010). In my view, I disagree that people would abandon and corrupted the traditional valuesafter migration. This is because when we move to another place, we must adapt to the culture of the host country. This process of adapting is known as acculturation.Acculturation is the process of adjusting to the host culture by adopting its values, symbols and/or behaviour (Dwyer, 1999, p.25). Acculturation does not mean people will abandon their own traditional culture but they accept each others culture. For example, most Chinese move to USA, they usually would adapt to the new environment to meet the needs of studying, working and living. But that does not present they forget their traditional values. We still can see a lot of Chinatown around the world in different big cities. Chinatown is the place for most Chineseliving  together, and at that place, they open a lot of Chinese style shops.  In the Chinatowns of all over the world, we do not only see the Chinese. We see tourists and also the local people live, eat and shop there. This promotes cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the recognition of cultural differences and acceptance that each social group has its own set of cultural norm(Dwyer, 1999, p. 26). The people who come to Chinatown accept the Chinese culture and they are fine with it.   Like, Chinese restaurant.   That is one of the ways for them to keep  the traditional things. Besides, they also celebrate the Chinese Traditional Days to develop their original culture. Like, Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival. And for Chinese people, wherever they are, Spring Festival is the biggest event, so, it is being celebrated all over the world in different way. And it is very good to see the Chinese culture on display. In Singapore, most of Singaporean is Chinese; they celebrate the Chinese New Year by a series of activities. For instance, lion dance. Chinese food is also very famous in the world. No matter where Chinese are; most of them develop the Chinese restaurant. And it is a very good opportunity to show world the Chinese culture with Chinese food. Besides for many businessman, the growing international business acquired them to work overseas as part of their career. And the key of their career success depends on the communication skill in an intercultural environment (Himstreet and Baty, 1987). In conclusion, people would not lose their traditional and core values after migration; they still can develop their culture and spread to the world. However, immigrants also need to learn new things to make sure get involved to the local and climb social ladder. Reference List Arce,W., and Alvarez, G.(1983), Population Change in Southeast Asia, Insitute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Dwyer, J. (1999), Communication in Business: strategies and skills, Prentice Hall Australia Pty Ltd, Australia by Star Printery, Erskineville, NSW. Himstreet, W C., and Baty, W M. (1987), Business Communications, 8thedn, PWS-Kent Publishing Company, United States of America. Indepth Network (2008), Migration definition, viewed on 26 August 2010, . N.D, Impact of Migration,viewed on 26 August 2010, . Tonita, H. (2010), why do people immigrate to other countries?viewed on 26 August 2010, . Essay 2: Social network refer to a Web platform where people can build relationship with others who share the same interest, ideals, thoughts, activities and information (Powell, 2009; Safko and Brake, 2009). It offers a new way to communicate. The internet and online networking have come along way. Today, Internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other people to gather and share first-hand information and experiences (Information Organizations in Asia and Oceania, 2010). Social networking websites like an online community of Internet users. And Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are the most popular and influence online social network system. These tools sometimes include more than 500 million registered users that host more than millions of photographs, such as Facebook (Facebook, 2010). And they aimed to help people to connect and socialize with one another. Whether you are from a small organisation or a multinational corporation, social network are changing the way we do business. Anyone can join in it for free. Besides, it can create a lot of new business opportunity in producing, distributing, communication. Thus, social networking is becoming most important strategy to develop your business. The reasons why companies spend a lot in social networking, because rely on the social network sites, like Facebook and Twitter are the ways to reach their customers and help them build the public relationship. But for different size company, they may use different kind of social networking. For large company, like Dell and Starbucks, they can spend millions of dollars, even setting a department to take care of their social networking. But for a small or poor company, they also can use free social networking sites, like, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. With Facebook as an example, businesses on Facebook may connect with members in a number of ways : Online Adverting, Facebook Connect and Customer Applications. Starbucks is another innovative company using social networking to build customer loyalty and mine innovative ideas from its customers (Hartley, 2010, p. 30). Starbucks has one of the best social media strategies. The most major online community they use are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. You can find their Facebook page, and if you are a twitter user, you also can find them in Twitter. Besides, Customers who register their Starbucks card not only get special discounts on drink and food, but also access to the Internet to provide feedback. My Starbucks Ideatheir own social network site In March 2008, Starbucks launched their own social media site called The My Starbucks Idea blog (http://mystarbucksidea.force.com). Readers are allowed to share suggestions, vote and discuss posted ideas, and see the most popular ideas would be highlighted and have been implemented. (Starbucks Corporation, 2010) Starbucks Blog called Ideas in Action. It is a part of My Starbucks Idea website. This blog is written by various Starbucks employees and talks about what Starbucks is doing with the ideas given by users on the My Starbucks Idea site. This blog let the reader know what happening with their ideas and increase the loyalty to this brand. Starbucks on Twitter Starbucks uses twitter every day to connect people and get heard. Until Today, Starbucks has over 1 million followers (Twitter, 2010). Twitter is a place for Starbucks to provide the better customer service. By using twitter to answer questions and retweets to communicate with the Starbucks fans and customers. Twitter also helps it to spread the news from the company. Every time, when Starbucks launch a new product, we always can find the related photo and articles link from Twitter at the first time. Besides, it helped to engaged consumers. Starbucks has already participated in Twitters promoted Tweets program, it means advertised sponsored link in twitter by paying money. (Rao, L, 2010) Starbucks using twitter as a promotional tool. And it offers discounts and promotions to users who retweet their message, thus making use of the word-of-mouth that currently exists on Twitter. Starbucks on Facebook Starbucks Facebook page has 10 million fans (Facebook, 2010), when they update their company their page, their fans would notice. And Facebook is a great social network site to organise the events, they use it to organise the real events. Besides, Starbucks also using the Facebook discussion with fans to talk about the products and service and announce the latest news. Starbucks also provide a promotion for free pastry on its Facebook pages, which let customer can find a coupon for free pastry with a purchase a coffee drink. Starbucks created a photo gallery, and post a lot of pictures not only the just latest coffee, but also got partners (staffs) and customers in it. Except that, they also put Howard (the CEO of Starbuck)s latest picture to close with the customers. Starbucks also  advertises  on Facebook to help in bringing  traffic  to Starbucks homepage. Starbucks on YouTube Starbucks also has its own YouTube Channel, and over 7,000 people subscribe to the Starbucks (YouTube, 2010). They upload video same as the commercial, and tell the audiences the information about their history and show people how they provide the best coffee. On the other hand, employees of Starbucks always submit headlines for YouTube videos with coffee experts talking about Starbuck Coffee. Not like other companies, Starbucks also allow people to update their video to their page. Recently, Starbucks join to the photo site called Flickr, and has more than thousands members with 15 thousand pictures. There is no doubt, Starbucks and many other businesses figured out using the social networking sites can help build the brand and engage the customer with spending less money.

Power and Money do not Substitute Love :: essays research papers

Money and power in the world today are two of the most envied things. Most people, well in fact all people live by the thesis that they must have as much power and money as possible. 'Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness.' This was the statement that Morrie used to bring his point across. I believe this statement is to show Mitch that by him working so hard for a new car, house etc. is not what life is about, also this was used to show others in the world that power and money are not substitutes for love, affection and compassion. Money is not just a possession as much as a way of life as it is the one thing that will keep us alive in the modern world. It seems ignorant to think that money is what drives us to what we are considering it is a mere possession, a fragment of our modern world. Without it we would be stranded, without shelter and without livelihood when we realize that it is what we live by and for. Every pert of our life revolves around money whether it be leisure or work. We work for money in order to have leisure time. This is a simple way to put it. What we should be living for is love, companionship, friendship and respect. To me these simple things seem worth more than what money can bring and therefore I do believe that the human race has become something out of a science-fiction movie or book. We seem not to care for the simple but most pleasurable things in life. Many people in today?s world seem to think that when they buy something new that they have thrived to own it will give them a ?hug? show compassion or love towards them, but the simple fact is that it won?t. Money cannot buy love, it can only be given and taken as a show of respect for others. Almost everyone in this world has fallen into the same trap, thinking that money will bring them happiness. We can all agree that having money is a nice experience and may make you happy for a short period of time but cannot stand in place of the affection (tenderness as Morrie puts it). I am sure that each one of us realizes Morrie?s statement to coincide with their own thoughts and beliefs but it seems to me that everyone is afraid of showing tenderness but even more afraid of loosing it so they venture into something such as money for a guaranteed ?

Essay --

Morocco Marketing Organizations The Moroccan National Tourist Office, abbreviated as MNTO, is the primary tourism and marketing organization for the country. Their mission statement aims to ensure strength for Morocco as a tourist destination, therefore translating the positive results for the economy and society and preservation of their culture. They also state that they want to entertain internal tourists as well as foreign tourists visiting Morocco and by doing so enticing them to visit for longer periods of time and visit several destinations. Their website is visitmorocoo.com and their local office is in Dusselforf, Morocco (Morocco National Tourist Office). The tourist office is also a part of ANTOR, http://www.antor.com/ which is the principal lobbying organization for tourist offices around the world. ANTOR is a place that brings all the tourism information together into one, being a very important place to be a member of for destinations such as Morocco due to the competition it faces (ANTOR). T here is also a Ministry of Tourism for Morocco, and can be found online at www.tourisme.gov.ma. The page is in French but can be translated to English using Google Chrome or another internet browser. This website is not really for tourists themselves; instead it focuses more on how tourism can be sustainable in Morocco and goes into depth about things such as Vision 2020, job opportunities involving tourism, tourism figures, and tourism partnerships and seminars (Morocco Ministry of Tourism). The MNTO’s website is set up in attempt to get people to use their â€Å"My Morocco† function. This is a system that tourists interested in possibly visiting Morocco can use to see more of what the country has to offer. Users create... ... recommended to dress conservative when in rural areas with areas of the body from the knee to the elbows all covered. As long as these areas are covered, the locals openly invite other cultures and languages. Environmental Sustainability Since a large pull factor for tourist to Morocco is the great diversity of Nature the location has, environmental sustainability is crucial to tourism sustainability. The people and cities of Morocco treat their surroundings with care. The city of Ifran in Morocco landed at #2 in â€Å"The 12 Cleanest Cities in the World†, a ranking recently published by International Headline website MBC Times. A big reason for this is that there is no industry in this city, making the air quality superior to others. National Parks are very popular in the area, having many lakes, streams, waterfalls, and a large maple tree forest (MBC Times).

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Years ago there was a traveler who came upon an old-fashioned pump from which he would have to pump the handle in order to retrieve the water. Beside the pump there was a pitcher full of water, and on the pump there was a sign. The sign instructions were to prime the pump with the water in the pitcher, pump the water for use, and then refill the pitcher. The thirsty man looked at the pitcher, the pump and the sign. He thought to himself, "If I pour this water down the pump, and it doesn't work, I will have no water to drink and it will be wasted. But, if I drink the water, I will be satisfied, but the next traveler will have nothing. We as graduates are like this traveler and we have decisions to make. We have the potential to be contributing members of society -- we are the doctors, nurses, farmers, servicemen and pastors of tomorrow. We can use the water in the pitcher that is like the education and resources this country has given us, and we can prime the pump for others, providing them with the opportunities that we have already been given. We can give back to society with our...

Case Study-Carlsbad Essay

QUESTION #1 Prior to the Public works department merging to become a part of a Major Service Area (MSA), the employees often performed work assignments that were redundant in different department which is a waste of the City of Carlsbad’s financial resources. This redundancy in work was contributed to the lack of cohesiveness in the entire Public works departments except for the water department. Lack of leadership is also a hindrance to the department’s mission and the employee’s guidance because the Public Works director is also the City Engineer. With too many employees performing job duty functions that require supervision, leadership in the Public Works department has been lacking the necessary guidance employees should expect. The employee tenure ratio varied between long and short assignments which could be an issue for training and coordination of day to day work without the proper leadership. QUESTION #2 I would introduce myself to the employees within the different departments of the Public Works department to clarify how we will be looking to make the organization better and offer an outline of what we may require from them. I will have discussed this conversation with management prior to speaking with the employees. Cummings & Worley (2008) states, â€Å"Before collecting diagnostic information, practitioners need to establish a relationship with those who will provide and subsequently use it. Because the nature of that relationship with those who will provide and subsequently use it† (pg. 121). I would use collection methods such as observation of employees at work, surveys and questionnaires. Because the Public Works department services the residents of Carlsbad, I would also include them in random questionnaires to find out how their service is working and how it can be improved. This will allow the department to receive feedback from those they work daily to service. Through interviews with the employees in small groups or individual sessions, I would like to pose direct questions such as â€Å"What do they need to succeed in their position?†, â€Å"Do they feel as if they are provided enough direction in their day to day?†, or â€Å"What they feel the vision of the organization is?† Cummings & Worley (2008) states, â€Å"Further probing and clarifications is, therefore, possible as the interview proceeds. This flexibility is invaluable for gaining private views and feelings about the organization and for exploring new issues that emerge during the interview† (126). QUESTION #3 I would recommend interventions for the Public Works department such as a process consultation with the open-systems method intervention. Performing the process consultation prior to offering the department any solutions to make any changes will allow us to identify where the disconnect in communication with the employees while providing the ground work for establishing the organizations goals. Cummings & Worley (2008) states, † Rather the process consultant works to help managers, employees, and groups assess and improve human processes, such as communication, interpersonal relations, decision making, and task performance†(pg. 253). Because the Public Works department has been comprised of so many different groups providing a variety of services to the residents of Carlsbad, I would recommend the open-systems method to the intervention. Through this intervention, we will be able to narrowly focus of the core mission of the organization and its purpose while creating an ideal future of how the Public Works department can progress with the inclusion of its employees. Because employees were often doing redundant work, we will use this time to assess how many people are needed on a task and what areas is not being taken care of due to mismanagement of assignments. QUESTION #4 I would begin the implementation of the action plan by interviewing and meeting with employees individually to introduce the goals of the OD intervention and perform interviews during this discussion. I would also perform random interviews with the residents of Carlsbad who rely on the Public Works service to discern their likes, dislikes and suggestions for improvement. I would then reveal the discrepancies of what the employees and management believe they are doing to what is actually happening. This will allow everyone to gauge the disconnect in their services as well as a starting point for improvement. During this time, we can refocus the employees on the vision of the Public Works department. Cummings & Worley (2008) states, † Generally, a vision describes the core values and purpose that guide the organization as well as an envisioned future toward which change is directed. It provides a valued direction for designing, implementing, and assessing organizational changes† (pg.169). Through the establishment of a communications plan, daily assignment check-ins and training the employees will be able to garner a more focused work day and reduce redundant work being duplicated. During the intervention a separate amount of time will be devoted to assess the leadership of the department. With the supervisor splitting duties as the City engineer, we may assess the need for an assistant to properly manage the employee’s daily. Anonymous surveys and observation will be used to garner feedback on how well the action plan works. References Cummings, T. & Worley, C. (2008). Organization Development & Change. (Pgs. 121, 126, 169, 253) Cengage Learning. Mason, OH.