Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Airline industrial analysis Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Airline industrial analysis - Statistics Project Example An overview of the companies is followed. As Canadas leading airline, Air Canada obliges about 165 destinations, in Canada, US, Asia/Pacific region and Europe. Together with regional affiliate Jazz, the carrier operates a fleet of nearly 330 aircrafts. It extends its grid as part of the Star Alliance global marketing group, which is managed by United Continentals United Airlines and Continental, and Lufthansa. In addition to its passenger business in both international and national markets, Air Canada provides cargo services. (biz.yahoo.com, 23.03.2011) Flying to about 60 destinations at home and another 100 in about 40 countries, Qantas Airways is Australia’s #1 airline. Qantas has ownership of the regional carrier QantasLink and the low-fare carrier Jetstar. Both operate in Australia and the Asia/Pacific region. The Qantas fleet includes almost 230 aircrafts, and generates revenue from cargo, catering, and tourism operations as well. (biz.yahoo.com, 23.03.2011) According to the industry structure, based on federal oversight and the size and purpose of air carriers, both companies are categorized as Major Airlines (eHow.com, 23.03.2011). Although the same industry, the comparison companies’ target markets do not entirely overlap e.g. regional differences, spending power of customers, etc. Their capacity levels are also not equal (e.g. Air Canada operates 330 aircrafts while Qantas operates only 230). Thus comparison analysis purposes it is assumed that the both companies operate with equal capacity in similar conditions. Based on the opportunities available for gaining advantages, airline industry is positioned in the ‘Fragmented’ section of the BCG matrix (Table 1). This explains that even though there are many opportunities for differentiation the opportunity for sustainable competitive advantage is slim. As the competitors achieves the same advantage in a very short period of time disabling its competitiveness. Thus

Monday, October 28, 2019

Gambling addiction Essay Example for Free

Gambling addiction Essay The text states that the one problem in gambling has visibly endured is known as problem gambling. Government officials have long demanded a solution from gaming operators to address this major issue. Too many issues go along with problem gambling such as crime, family and work problems, and financial damage. Fortunately, the gaming industry as a whole has sought to be proactive in combatting the issue. They feared being viewed in the same light as the tobacco or firearm industry by ignoring major problems with their products. Are the steps that they have taken enough, or is gambling in general a major threat to society that should be avoided? The American Psychiatric Association refers to problem gambling as pathological gambling. There are generally speaking two different types of problem gamblers; action problem gamblers and escape problem gamblers. Gambling addiction is just as valid of an illness as addiction to alcohol or drugs. Its prevalence is linked directly to the ease of access of gambling in our society. However, just like drugs and alcohol, only a small percentage of the population is prone to this illness. Gambling addicts in general either lose all of their money, accumulate massive debt, file for bankruptcy, and in the worst cases commit suicide because they are hopeless. What steps has the gaming industry taken to prevent these horrible outcomes? I spoke to my long-time friend Alan Erskine, who now works as the Public Affairs Coordinator at the American Gaming Association in Washington D. C. I needed to find out if they were taking appropriate precautions to prevent these people from self-destruction. He assured me that, â€Å"The gaming industry has made many contributions to curbing problem gambling. The first is the creation of the National Center for Responsible Gaming, which is the largest funder of scholarly studies on how to best curb addiction. The industry also makes various efforts to educate customers about possible negative effects of gambling. This includes: posting signs around the casino floor, advertising the problem gambling hotline and ensuring customers are not intoxicated while gambling. † I was glad to hear that they were this proactive, but is it enough? The National Center for Responsible Gaming is the only national organization exclusively devoted to funding research to enhance the understanding of pathological gambling. They also search to find effective methods of treatment for the disorder and work to improve prevention, diagnostics, intervention and educating the public about responsible gaming. However, if gambling is the root of the issue to begin with, is it worth expanding gaming in our society? Is educating people really enough to curb the issue? There are countless organizations to prevent drug and alcohol addiction, but the problem still persists. Some critics of legalized gambling would argue that it is the direct cause of the increase in problem gambling and that any of their efforts are just reactive in order to protect their own interests. Alan Erskine responded to this claim stating, â€Å"The industry recognizes that a small segment of the population cannot gamble safely. Studies have shown that about one percent of the population cannot gamble safely. † His response does hold water. The mental disorder of pathological gambling does affect only a small portion of the population. Should the rest of society be restricted just because there are some who can’t gamble responsibly? The same case could be made for alcohol. Only a small percentage of people are alcoholics. The rest of the population should not be prohibited to drink just because a select few cannot handle it responsibly. All the industry can do is provide outlets for people to get help, and educate the public on the dangers of its abuse. The NCRG has yielded very helpful results in order to understand the nature of the psychological disorder. These include statistics on the scope of people affected, more effective treatment options, the role of genetics, and new instruments to measure, screen and diagnose pathological gambling. The more we understand about how this pathological disorder works, the more we can do to diagnose and treat it before the victim gets themselves and others into serious trouble. In conclusion, it is a bit of a cop out to simply blame the gaming industry for the rise in gambling addiction. They have been extremely proactive in trying to curb the issue and bring it to public eye. Even though they didn’t want to be viewed in the same light as other industries like tobacco, alcohol and firearms, it seems inevitable that they would be grouped together. They all provide goods and services that some can enjoy responsibly and others become addicted to and harm themselves or others. Research has consistently pointed out that addiction to gambling produces the same reactions in the brain that you would find from drug and alcohol addiction. However, they should be distinguished from these industries in the fact that they have donated a great deal of time and resources in order to find ways to diagnose, prevent, and treat this pathological disorder. While the acceptance of gambling in society does allow an outlet for those who can become addicted, the vast majority of people have proven they can do responsibly and the industry continues to take significant steps in order help those who suffer from gambling addiction.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

How Poets Describe the Ending of Childhood Innocence :: Childhood Poetry Poems Essays

How Poets Describe the Ending of Childhood Innocence Firstly Seamus Heaney is a poet I have studied. He was from a rural catholic background in Castledawson, County Derry, however he did live in a mainly protestant area. He addresses issues such as childhood, familial relationships, particularly his relationship with his father and also the identity crisis of becoming a poet. For example in his poem, â€Å"Death of a Naturalist† he draws largely on his experience and the experience of his community in an attempt to represent the troubles in a new and analytical manner. In contrast to this, another poet I focused on, Carol Ann Duffy, grew up in an urban environment. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1955, however grew up in Staffordshire, England and attended university in Liverpool before moving to London. She also addresses issues involving childhood memories in such poems as Litany and In Mrs Tilscher’s class. Another poet studied was Ronald Stuart Thomas. He was born in Cardiff but moved from place to place after his father got a job in the Navy. He finally settled in Holyhead in 1918. He began to seriously learn the Welsh language, as he wanted a sense of Welsh identity. It showed importance of being Welsh. Many years later R. S. Thomas was alienated from much of Welsh country life by his status as a priest in the Church of Wales. He felt the exclusion keenly, saying once that an anglicised upbringing like his prevents one from ever feeling one hundred percent at home in Welsh Wales’. He is similar to Heaney due to his rural and religious backgrounds and is also a nationalist. All three of these poets frequently write about a personal experience they had when growing up and how it affected them, or about the experience of the child or children and how they think it affected them. Seamus Heaney wrote Mid-term break, which describes a personal experience for him when his brother died in a car accident when he was young. He is recalling a childhood memory. Carol Ann Duffy also recalls a childhood memory in her poem Litany. She remembered the day when she thought her mother and her mother’s friends were excluding her. Also R. S. Thomas wrote the poem Children’s song, which speaks about how children live in a world of their own in which no adult can never be a part of. When writing about childhood the poems are retrospective and look into the past, which concern memories of the child. Some poems by these three poets present a child’s perspective of the world, while others show how an adult views their past.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Promotion Strategies Essay

Did you happen to catch the season finale of â€Å"Friends† on May 6th? â€Å"The exhaustively hyped series finale of â€Å"Friends† drew 52.25 million viewers for its extended 66 minute running time.† A 30-second commercial spot garnered a cool $2 million, costing advertising heavyweights such as Allstate, Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, as well as Walt Disney and Universal Studios a mere four cents a head. For the purpose of this assignment I will characterize mass media’s and telemarketing’s role as part of the promotional mix, who pays for them, and how they are perceived by consumers with regards to their objectivity. I will also explain how traditional Word-of-Mouth works and round up the assignment discussing â€Å"buzz† advertising. First, let’s discuss television mass media’s role in the promotional mix. Mass media’s (television, radio, magazines, etc) role in the promotional mix is advertising. In particular, television commercial advertising is a paid form of non-personal communication. Companies use commercial advertising because it is an effective means of mass-marketing as indicated by the â€Å"Friends† series finale. The objectives to advertising include: informing consumers of a new product, persuading the consumer to remain with or switch to a particular product, or remind consumers of the value of a product or where to locate it. The objective of mass-marketing is to reach out to as many consumers in one fail swoop to create brand awareness, brand interest, brand equity, to obtain competitive advantage, and to increase market share. The advertiser’s ultimate goal is to accomplish the company’s marketing objectives. In regards to advertising, companies use a pull selling strategy, to â€Å"build up consumer demand.† A typical commercial is comprised of the source (the company/distributor/retailer) whose product or service is featured) that encodes the message using symbols such as words, illustrations, or images; the message (the combination of symbols) transmitted to the receiver (consumers) who then decodes the message (hopefully interpreting the message in the same way it was encoded); and feedback (through purchase, attitude change about the product/service, or non-purchase). Finally, noise, plays a role in advertising. With current technology such as TiVO, consumers can  choose to skip past commercial segments. The advertising company, its’ distributor, or its’ retailer pays the network for the commercial air time. If more than one of these pays for the commercial air time it is called cooperative advertising. Using vehicles as an example, either the manufacturer pays for the commercial or the car dealership does. However, in the overall scheme of things, successful commercials can be paid for by consumer purchases. The court of public opinion considers the objectivity of advertising dependent upon the type of message. According to a 1990 survey conducted by the Roper Organization concerning public opinion â€Å"with regard to the content of promotion messages, 60 percent of those surveyed believe ads with money-back guarantees, 57 percent believe ads with products approved by medical or health groups, 38 percent believe ads where comparisons to competitors are made, 29 percent believe ads using hidden-camera interviews, and 25 percent believe ads featuring celebrity endorsements.† While no current data is available, it appears consumers remain skeptical concerning advertising messages. Telemarketing is an example of direct marketing in the promotional mix. However, the court of public opinion indicates displeasure in this type of promotion. One could say the public pays for telemarketers with interrupted dinners and misleading or deceptive telemarketing schemes, but the business or charitable organization that uses this service pays for it in cash. It’s interesting to note that an Eyewitness News investigation in Rock Hill, South Carolina revealed that the South Carolina Police Officers’ Association â€Å"charity raised more than $600,000 in 2002, but spent barely $5,000, or less than one percent, helping police officers and their families.† With telemarketing it is truly a â€Å"Buyer Beware† promotion. Most consumers are probably more skeptical when it comes to this type of promotion than any other. There is the noise factor in this type of promotion as well. The national â€Å"do not call registry,† telephone company telemarketing blocker services, and products such as the Telezapper significantly decreases the telemarketer’s sales. I personally just inform telemarketers I am not  interested in their pitch and to place me on their â€Å"do not call† list. If this doesn’t work, I just hang up. Another promotional technique is word-of-mouth. When consumers communicate their experiences connected to a particular product, they are essentially providing the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer free advertising. Word-of-mouth can accelerate brand recognition. The heart of word-of-mouth marketing is giving consumers something to talk about. An excellent example of successful word-of-mouth is the Atkin’s Diet. I initially read one of Dr. Atkin’s diet books more than 10 years ago. While I do not remember the name of the book, I do recall I never tried his diet because I dreaded giving up on favorites such as pasta. Last year I was struggling to lose the weight I had gained following a thyroidectomy. I was running three to five miles per day, counting calories and fat grams and lost absolutely no weight whatsoever in three months. Then two colleagues of mine began losing considerable weight with very little effort. They told me about the Atkin’s diet and that each had lost more than 20 pounds in a month. I started researching the diet on the web and found other testimonials as well. Hordes of people are devoted to this diet. I began the diet and maintained my exercise routine and lost 30 pounds in eight weeks. The hottest new trend in word-of-mouth marketing appears to be buzz. The buzz marketing described in the BusinessWeek article we were tasked to read appears to be a fad. I don’t consider it an advanced form of word-of-mouth but rather an insidious, deceptive practice. Consumers have a right to feel â€Å"cheated† because these buzz marketers are treating the American consumer as if they were complete idiots. Once American consumers figure it out, and they will, it will be gone the way of the sandwich board. No wonder it is referred to as â€Å"viral marketing.† Too bad doctors don’t have a cure for this virus. In review, I discussed mass media’s role in great detail because it is perhaps the most widely used form of promotion. I focused on television commercial advertising discussing how marketers use commercials to inform, persuade, or remind consumers about a particular product or service. Then I  discussed how the communication process fits into commercial advertising. I followed with a discussion on who pays for commercial advertising and cooperative advertising. Then I provided a survey example to illustrate how consumers view commercials in regards to their objectivity. I also discussed telemarketing as a direct marketing approach to promotion. The next topic was word-of-mouth. I discussed how word-of-mouth is essentially free advertising and the heart to its success of giving consumers something to talk about. I ended this assignment with my view buzz marketing. I feel this is a deceptive promotional tactic that appears to be just a fad. Once consumers recognize how they are being used, it will fade into the sunset. Overall, the promotional mix appears to be a driving factor in a product or service’s success. Works Cited The One Where ‘Friends’ Puts Up Massive Finale Ratings. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C88037%7C1%7C,00.html Promotion – Push and Pull Strategies. Tutor2U ®. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 9 May 2004: http://www.tutor2u.net/business/marketing/promotion_pushpull.asp Evans, Joel R. and Berman, Barry. (1994) â€Å"Marketing,† Sixth Edition. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York, New York. Page 584. Charity Organization Pays Telemarketers Big, Police Little. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 9 May 2004: http://www.wsoctv.com/specialreports/2885811/detail.html Works Referenced How to Establish Promotional Mix. Edward Lowe Organization. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.att.sbresources.com/SBR_template.cfm?docNumber=PL12_3600.htm#under standing Kumar, S. Ramesh. Getting the promotional mix right. The Hindu. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://www.hinduonnet.com/ct/2002/09/05/stories/2002090500110200.htm Lancaster, Geoff Above- and below-the-line promotion. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://www.da-group.co.uk/geoff/communications.htm Nucifora, Alf. Keep Up With the Buzz On Buzz Marketing. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/10/07/focus2.html?t=printable Marketing: Promotion. Tutor2U. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.tutor2u.com/ Pride-Farrell Marketing. Part 5. Promotion Decisions. Integrated Marketing Communications. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.gsm.uci.edu/~rwheeler/2 Promotion and the Promotion Mix: A Part of the Marketing Mix. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.creighton.edu/~hutchens/nps_c_08.html Promotion Answers. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.learnmarketing.net/promotonanswers.htm Reed, Keith. (2002) Through the grapevine: PR firms tout ‘buzz’ marketing. New Mexico Business Weekly. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/10/07/focus2.html Wegert, Tessa. (2003) Four Online Media Mix Essentials. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 7 May 2004:

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Impressions †art Essay

The ballet paintings of Degas featured women in a variety of intimate moments, so to speak. It is at this point that after trying out a variety of techniques, mediums and themes that his work takes on a completely Impressionist image. Paintings done during his early years turn out to have little resemblance in terms of style and composition to the artwork he did later on. Nevertheless, certain features of Degas’ painting methods remained the same regardless of the many modifications and adaptations to this styles and mediums. For one, he always painted indoors. This remains in effect a testament to his derision at the en plein air technique of the Impressionists; he would always prefer to work in his studio instead, relying on memory or live models for his paintings. This was what he did during some of his paintings on dancers, where he would get a female ballet dancer to act as a live model in his studio. His subject too, remained the primary focus, and the landscapes and background were simply reproduced from memory or created from his imagination. In general, one can say that aspects of Degas’ work carry an element of sensuality, perhaps even hyper-sensuality, in them especially during the paintings of the nudes. It is crucial to know that understanding this is important to be able to successfully analyze, comprehend and appreciate his other works. A blatant example of one of Degas’ works that has clear elements of sensuality is Four Dancers. In this painting, Degas arouses a variety of sensual responses based on the primary visual image, to the eroticism exhibited by the female models. Degas did not only reveal his artistic and personal introversion through linear revelation but also through the use of color and light. The dancers stand in muted quite with earth tones while their outfits have small hints of brilliant color with blue or pink sashes. The stiff form of the skirt while a dancer is standing still and straight as can be witnessed in Four Dancers in the forefront dancer’s position is easily transformed into a fluid myriad of colors whenever a dancer takes movement and Degas reveals an asymmetry with color, line, and the imbalance of the two. Theatre Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus is in summary about the ‘feckless’ artistic genius of Mozart pitted against the mediocrity of Antonio Salieri whose jealousy over Mozart’s success in the play lends itself to murder. The play was an in depth exploration of Mozart as a man and not just as a genius composer; the director Kent Thompson brought Mozart’s humanity to the stage as well as accurately portraying the script composed by Shaffer. The elements of fear in failure and ebullience in joy were the true rivals in the play, and the way in which the audience relates to these characters was extraordinary. The magic, as it were, of the play was the way in which both Shaffer’s ideas and Kent’s ideas bred a new life into the classical artist Mozart; he was not only a composer by the end of the play but the audience was so engrossed in his life that he became a person to them, relatable with his life, his marriage, his children and his music. The play by Shaffer introduced to audiences a psychological background that was highlighted in Kent’s portrayal by lighting and theme background. The stages were generally a dark atmosphere which juxtaposed Mozart’s own emotional allegiance to failure, but also the lights were introduced in brilliant colors when Mozart’s psyche was enjoying a brief happiness. Kent made the lighting a major part of Shaffer’s script. Kent did a lot of spotlighting, or mood lighting in which only a few characters on stage were illuminated to show their importance. The corners and niches of darkness were the psychological equivalent to the turmoil that Mozart was going through not only in his composition powers, but also in his relationship with his mother, his wife, his rival, himself. Therefore, it was not just the use of lighting but the introduction of shadow that enabled Kent to deftly portray Mozart’s emotional being. Also, Kent incorporated into the design of the show six luxury pendant lamps above the audience members. This allowed the action and the scenery of the stage to overlap the audience so that the actions on stage would be more realistic since the audience was almost part of the play with the same scenery above their head. When the pendant lamps turned on during a palace scene or a scene calling for luxury the audience members were being incorporated into the play by the extension of the stage design into the seats. This is not the only technique Kent used in allowing the audience to become part of the actions on the stage. The way that Shaffer wrote the script, in plot, Salieri is in a wheelchair, and the action is taking place 32 years after Mozart’s, ‘assassination’. Salieri lets out a very penitent dialogue in which he asks the audience to be his confessors. In this action, both Kent and Shaffer are introducing that the suspension of disbelief does not exist at the proscenium, but at the entrance to the audience since the audience itself is asked to become characters, or confessors in the play. The life of the play, the essence that Shaffer had imagined it to be, was aptly give in Kent’s direction. The actors, the plots, the dialogue all gave Amadeus the possession of a reality given in psychological torpor by Salieri and Mozart. Not only was the costume impeccable in portraying 1781, but the props themselves gave the play an extra touch of reality in their presence on stage. The sound in the background, the classical music notes, the rendition of specific Mozart pieces added to the ambiance of the play and the inclusion of the audience members into the action on stage. The lighting however was one element that was very unique in its rendition and aided in the audience’s understanding about characters, setting, and their own inclusion in the play. The lighting was a major part of the success of the play, not only its highlighting of certain characters but in the use of shadow as well; there was a very chiaroscuro effect that Kent employed, that worked for the extra drama of the Amadeus. Dance Gina Pane was able to transform performance art to be inclusive of pain as a gateway of understanding life, and for the audience to understanding of that pain was exhibited through art. Gina Pane would, during her performances, burn her limbs and slice herself with sharp razors. During multiple performances she would take her own blood and outline her physiognomy on the plane of a mirror, at which she was peering. She would take blood from her sliced open eyelids and trace her face in the glass. By performing in this fashion Gina Pane was able to visually and metaphorically re-engineer the product of artistry in her shedding of her own blood which in turn become a dichotomy of both process and product (Hewitt 1997; 103). Thus, not only was the performance geared toward the audience but the act of bloodshed was art, thereby attributing self-mutilation as a genre in performance art. Often times this sacrifice of the performer’s blood is equated with Christ’s sacrifice for redemption of humankind, thus, the performer is acting out self-mutilation thereby cleansing the audience of their sin (Hewitt 1997; 104). The artist is using this pain and sacrifice for the importance of self expression. Gina Pane utilized this masochism in order to save the audience from the din of inexcusable art and thus she saw herself as a scapegoat that eventually rescued the audience from the cultural retardation of art from the perspective of art being disembodied and mundane because of its equaliency of being inhuman or at least no longer defined through human qualities. Gina Pane’s onstage sacrifices were a tribute to her faith in that art was not only for expression but salvation. She believed in the body, and had faith in that art through masochism was a way in which she could associate herself as an artist through recognition of the human as blood and in this was found a truth she wanted to relay to the audience (Hewitt 1997; 104). Art should not be devoid of human life and experiences and thus Gina Pane placed much importance on her shedding of blood as performance. Pane perceived the body as a vehicle, a tool of expression through pathological masochism. Thus, when Pane includes these self-mutilation acts in her work she is making a succinct statement to the audience not only of sacrifice and redemption but also in an egotistical fashion she is stating that her arms are hers to do with what she pleases. If she wants her arms to be scarred then that is how they will be and this message is delivered to the audience as control. Gina Pane’s performances are about control of the body. Music. Gangsta rap originated from the blues as well as poetry since rap in essence is poetry put to a beat just as most African American music derives itself in some form from the Deep South’s work music, so does gangsta rap originate from the hardship of the rappers’ lives, and they lived, where they lived and how they survived which is all put into the lyrics of the gangsta rap song. In gangsta rap, it is with the Blues that it is attributed to adhering to, and it is with the Blues that the cadence and lyrics gangsta rap can be found with regard to the artist and how they wrote blues as a new age rhythm in rap. In the following essay, cultural, economic, and social factors will be explored as to their impact on gangsta rap and the artist. The lyrics and the artist will be compared and contrasted and the difference between the two, will be the focus of the following pages. Also, in the music production, business will be considered, and the aesthetic aspect of production will be examined, both monetarily, and otherwise. Gangsta rap takes its cue from the Blues. The gangsta rap artist illustrates life in the hood; thus they lyrics do not propagate the problem but merely report about the problem. In this fashion gangsta rap artists are more like journalists instead of musicians as most of their lyrics are fueled from poverty stricken lives, doing drugs or selling drugs just to make money or seeing their family and friends to the same thing. All of these issues are written into the gangsta rap lyrics. As mentioned prior, the Blues was a musical form founded in the Deep South, both rooted in spirituals, and labor (Gospel Music Association). The Blues became more sophisticated as the music, and musicians moved from rural landscape to cityscape. It was within the urban environment that the Blues found its voice (Dean, 1998), as it is true that gangsta rap found its voice in the over urbanization of a culture. One of the central figureheads of gangsta rap is Tupac. His blues mixed with voice, lyrics, and the slow acceptance of depression and love in his song are reminiscent of blues, but his strict adherence to the lyrics and the politics in the lyrics made him the transcendental leader of gangsta rap. Gangsta rap is a genre of hip hop which also is heavily influenced by politics. The focus of gangsta rap and the artist was one concerned with inner-city living or ‘da hood’. Thus, the attention to gangs and gang members as part of the lyrics of gangsta rap become synonymous with this type of policy; chaos. Crime and violence are a large part of the lyrical side of gangsta rap because of its origins in the city. The artist writes what they know and it is with lyricists such as Ice-T, and 2Pac that the illusion of the nuclear family was put to waste and the creation or rather recognition of America’s streets was brought to the forefront of society. Gangsta rap is known as a realistic sound, typically associated with the angst filled lyrics of the rising rock and roll sound emerging at the same time with hip hop. Due to the eclectic influence of gangsta rap, the sound was much misinterpreted, or hard to pinpoint as a genre, and thus the inclusion of the advocacy of drugs was initiated into this musical genre. This however is not the case. Gangsta rap is anything is a narrative, and as a narrative the lyrics reflect what the artist is living or already seeing. The artist then becomes a surrogate for the rest of society in understanding life on the street and the real America. Work Cited Hewitt, Kim. Mutilating the Body: Identity in Blood and Ink. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. 1997.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

List of Verbs Followed by Gerunds or Infinitives

List of Verbs Followed by Gerunds or Infinitives Verbs that are followed by other verbs can take either the gerund or the infinitive. A gerund is a verb ending in ing that functions as a noun. An infinitive is the basic or root form of a verb, typically preceded with to. Understanding how these words function is a crucial step in developing your English skills. The following lists of verbs followed by other verbs will help you practice using gerunds and infinitives within simple sentences.  Note how the gerund and infinitive verbs (italicized) are used within the sample sentences. Verbs Followed by the Gerund Verb Definition Example Sentence abhor to hate John abhors working outdoors. acknowledge to recognize what someone has done She acknowledges his working hard on the project. admit to say that you have done Peter admitswasting time and money. advise to give advice I advise saving a little money every month. allow to permit She allows using smartphones in class. anticipate to expect I anticipate visiting New York next month. appreciate to be grateful for Jack appreciates your helping him out with the project. avoid to try not to do She avoids dating men over 30. be worth to be a good idea to spend the time on It’s worth spending some time on the grammar. can’t help to be able to not do Tom can’t help complaining about the heat. celebrate to party about We’ll celebrate working together for over 50 years. confess to admit that you did Alice confessed stealing the money from her sister. consider to think about We’re considering buying a new house. defend to give reasons why you did They defend purchasing the new car because they have two jobs. delay to postpone, put off We’re going to delay meeting until next week. detest to hate, despise Jack detests learning new vocabulary. discontinue to stop doing, providing The store discontinued providing customer service on demand. discuss to talk about We like to discuss learning techniques. dislike to not like Bob dislikes having to work so hard. dispute to say you didn’t do They dispute stealing the merchandise. dread to fear doing or experiencing I dread taking tests. endure to go through We endured listening to him for three hours. enjoy to have a good time doing Sarah enjoys cooking fine dinners. escape to get away from The students escaped taking the test because the fire alarm rang. evade to avoid He evades doing yard work on Saturdays. explain to give details about He’ll explain purchasing online next week. fancy to like very much They fancy eating donuts. fear to be afraid of I fear flying in airplanes. feign to pretend to do Mary feigns not knowing anything. finish to stop doing We finished shopping and went home. forgive to not be angry at someone anymore They forgave stealing the candy as the children didn’t know it was wrong. keep to continue doing We keep studying the same grammar every week. mention to say in passing They mentioned buying a new car last week. mind to object to I don’t mind smoking. miss to want something you don’t have I miss having more free time. necessitate to require to do The job necessitates lifting heavy objects. omit to leave out, delete We omitted discussing the new Smith account during the meeting. permit to allow We’ll permit fishing on Saturdays. picture to imagine Doug pictures retiring to Brazil. postpone to put off, delay We postponed traveling to Chicago for a week. practice to do over and over again Practice playing scales for 30 minutes every day. recall to remember Yes, I recall buying that book. recollect to remember Tom recollects playing baseball as a child. recommend to tell someone they should do something They recommend purchasing insurance with this product. report to tell about Tim reported spending twelve hours on the job. resent to not like that something that someone does Susan resents having to work so hard. resist to try to avoid doing Many students resist studying more than two hours a day. resume to start doing again We resumed speaking about the problem at the meeting. risk to take a chance on Jack risks making everyone angry with his stupid statements. shirk to not do something you should do Dan shirked paying for the children’s meal. shun to avoid contact with Don’t shun spending time with those you don’t know very well. suggest to say someone should do something I suggest buying a new camera. support to help someone with words, thoughts or money They supported our going to the doctor for help. understand to comprehend He understands investing in the stock market. urge to suggest strongly I urge spending some time learning the program. warrant to provide the reasons for doing The situation warrants investigating Mr. Todd. Verbs Followed by the Infinitive Verb Definition Example Sentence agree to say you will do Tom agreed to help me with the work. appear to seem to be She appeared to wait for a moment. arrange to put in some order I arranged to meet David next week. ask to inquire They asked to join us for dinner. attempt to try Doug attempted to say something. beg to urgently ask for The man begged to receive some help. can/can’t afford to permit I can’t afford to spend time doing this. can/can’t wait to allow time for Susan can’t wait to see Tom next week. care to have feelings for She cares to comment about the situation. chance to try I chanced to give it a taste and it was good. choose to make a choice Chris chose to not visit his friends last weekend. claim to say is true Dick claims to see UFOs! come to arrive at They came to purchase a new car. consent to agree to Martha consented to instruct the children. dare to risk doing We dared to take some time off work. decide to make a decision He decided to go to university in San Francisco. demand to insist I demand to receive help now! deserve to merit Peter deserves to have his time off this week. determine to come to the conclusion We determined to finish the project by the end of next year. elect to choose Alice elected to not come with us to the presentation. endeavor to try The company endeavors to provide the best possible service. expect to feel something should happen She expects to arrive in 30 minutes. fail to not succeed Unfortunately, they failed to get enough votes for the measure. get to receive We got to see our friends last week. guarantee to say will happen They guarantee to finish the work before 5 o’clock. hesitate to not be sure about She hesitated to say yes, but in the end, did. hope to want to happen I hope to see you soon. hurry to go to quickly Mack is hurrying to finish the report by 3 this afternoon. incline to tend towards He is inclined to not come to parties. learn to study and memorize The children learned to do many things at camp this summer. manage to do with difficulty Don managed to finish the job on time. mean to intend Dan means to speak with you this evening. need to have to have/do We need to think about this some more. neglect to not do something you should do The man neglected to give me all the information. offer to say you will do, give, provide We offered to help them with their homework. pay to spend money on We paid to become informed about the matter. plan to think about the future I plan to visit Chicago someday. prepare to get ready for They are preparing to leave on vacation. pretend to act as if The boy pretended to be a ghost. profess to believe Lori professes to believe in UFOs. promise to say you will do I promise to come over tonight for dinner. refuse to say you will not do Jane refused to do what he asked. remain to stay I remained to finish the work until 8 o’clock. request to ask for The man requested to speak to a lawyer. resolve to decide to do We resolved to clean up the house this summer. say to tell someone He said to tell you hi! seek to look for They are seeking to receive $1,000,000 in damages. seem to appear It seems to be very easy. shudder to physically react to something you do not like I shudder to think about all the problems in the world. strive to try hard to do Frank strove to meet all the demands of his boss. struggle to work hard to do The students struggle to understand all the grammar. swear to promise to do I swear to be a good boy in the future. tend to usually do Dianne tends to waste time on the telephone. threaten to say you will do a bad thing to someone The boss threatened to fire everyone. volunteer to say you will help They volunteered to help with the cooking. wait to let time pass We waited to see the doctor for three hours. want to desire I want to help you. wish to want to do She wishes to visit her parents in Ireland. would like to want I’d like to have a steak, please. yearn to desire very strongly I yearn to finish work today! Additional Resources Want additional practice or a chance to show off your new skills? Test your knowledge of gerunds and infinitives with this reference chart.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Resonse to a Peom Essay

Resonse to a Peom Essay Resonse to a Peom Essay Either stories or poem, that are constructed differently have their own stories to tell. Basically, the authors are trying to convey their messages and stories by using their own style of characterization, rhythm, and a fictional setting that will be used for their narrative. The beauty of stories and poems are usually generated through the imagination of the readers, which consequently allows them to build their own connection with the literary piece. Through imagination the readers are able to visualize what the author is trying to depict through symbolism, and other descriptive languages. The three literary pieces "The Road Not Taken†, â€Å"A Worn Path†, and â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† are different in terms of writing style, but all share same theme. The main theme suggests that despite the many life journeys we go through and decisions we make in our lifetime, we are still in complete control of how we want it to end. Every piece was able to depict a specific kind of solitary journey. For instance, Robert Frost in his The Road Not Taken was able to provide some hints to his reader that the poem will revolve around someone’s journey. He also used the first person narrative, which personally led me to envision him in his struggles and journey. On the contrary, Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path† utilized the third person perspective as the word â€Å"she† was consistently used. With that, I was prompted to envision a woman constantly walking without a specific decision, alone. True enough, this vision of mine was confirmed when there was a part in the story where the woman spoke to the animals â€Å"Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, and beetles†. This mere gesture has strongly appealed to me as the solitude of the woman. There was also a mention of the woman walking an uphill path, which I can equate to her struggles with a hard life. Walking an uphill is tough enough, an d considering that the woman in the story is already old, it provokes stronger sympathy from the reader, because it makes the journey tougher. â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† also used the third person narrative, which used â€Å"she†. The same kind of feel was depicted in this story, which is solitude. Some of the lines that suggested solitude in the story were â€Å"She was standing by the river†, and â€Å"â€Å"She came to the worn steps†. While the three pieces evolved on the same theme, it was still presented in distinct ways, especially through the choices that each of the character makes. When plotting a story or poem, the setting is also one of the biggest considerations of an author because it can be a major influence in the kind of engagement that the reader will have with the piece. For example the â€Å"The Road Less Taken†, from the title alone, it already creates the notion that the poetry will deal with an internal conflict, or a resolution of a conflict. The poem started with the line â€Å"Two roads diverged in yellow wood† , at that point, it made me think about my own path choices too. And since the poem was writing in first person, it was relatively easy for me to put myself in the position of the author, and really visualize my own pathway based on his depictions and descriptions in the poem. Moreover, there was a part in the poem where Frost described a specific path as â€Å"where it bent in the undergrowth† and compared it to another path, which he referred to as â€Å"grassy and wanted wear†. Based on these descriptions, the reader gains an impression that although the two paths are physically different, they are still pointing at the same ending. The descriptions also served as the a symbolism for someone’s connection to something that he or she has grown with locally. Poetry are definitely filled with symbolisms since it is one of its features. For example, the color yellow could mean a aging or something that is starting to lose its value. Another interpretation could also be a reference to the character of Dorothy of the â€Å"Wizard of Oz†, because the yellow brick road there signified the beginning

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Cake Mistakes and Kooky Cookies

Cake Mistakes and Kooky Cookies Cake Mistakes and Kooky Cookies Cake Mistakes and Kooky Cookies By Mark Nichol The problem with spelling-challenged cake decorators is that they don’t have to eat their words, so sometimes they get a little careless, or display their ignorance on the icing. And though the purchasers can try to devour the evidence, there always seems to be somebody around to document the sweet screw-ups. Absent the sloppy lettering, this is a very well-done icing job. But not only is the cursive writing poorly executed (note the m and the n in particular), the cake decorator is also one of the seemingly innumerable people who mistakenly believes that the correct way to form a plural is to add an apostrophe and an s. Job applicants for this line of work should have to pass an English test. Next to Pennsylvania State University’s heinous football-program scandal, this is a trivial matter: The cake decorator misspelled the first word of this message. In an odd way, though, it works when interpreted as a series of the kind of monosyllabic grunts you’d expect football fanatics to utter: â€Å"Here.† (Getting attention.) â€Å"Us.† (Identifying the subjects.) â€Å"Roar.† (Describing the subjects’ actions.) If you eat too many of these things, â€Å"Huge me† might be an appropriate admission. But there is no silent e in hug, folks. Not only does the decorator have poor cursive skills, but the person also impressively committed three errors in three words consisting (when rendered correctly) of a total of eight letters and a couple of marks. Besides omitting the possessive apostrophe and s required in it’s and spelling girl incorrectly, the perpetrator failed to incite excitement with an exclamation point. It a gril. Ho-hum. OK, let’s sit back and think about this for a moment: This is an exhibit of the work of someone who either has never heard of the Star Trek franchise (impossible) or committed this odd transposition error while inebriated or otherwise incapacitated (highly unlikely, considering that the lettering job is otherwise admirable). So, is this an inside joke about teleportation? Highly illogical, Captain, but fascinating. This error also calls for analysis. My deduction: The message was phoned in: â€Å"I’d like it to say ‘Sheri,’ with an i.† The cake decorator interpreted the message differently. Why? Who in their right mind would think the message, as presented, has any meaning to anyone? The perpetrator was obviously not mentally engaged or was mentally deranged during the creative process. â€Å"Your cute† what? Oh, the decorator ran out of space for â€Å"smile† or whatever. Wrong. It should be â€Å"You’re cute.† But the number of people who don’t know or understand the difference between you’re and your is increasing exponentially, in my perception and our cookie decorator is one of them. These images are from the websites Apostrophe Abuse, English Fail Blog, and Wordsplosion! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business Letter35 Genres and Other Varieties of Fiction10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Interview a manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview a manager - Essay Example The procedural dimension of ethical leadership includes problem-solving and decision-making practice within the circle of ethics. For instance, ethical leadership demands that the leaders, before practicing their decisions, discuss them with parties that are going to be affected by their decisions, so as to make them feel respected. The substantive aspect of ethical leadership includes knowledge, tough standards and guts to pursue ethical directions regardless of opposition. When I asked him if he had faced any ethical conflict in his career, he told me something. Last year, when his company announced vacancies, he was appointed to interview the candidates for selection. Mr. Harrison was obese. He selected him on the seat of disabled persons. Title I of Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 states that all employers, who have at least fifteen employees working under them, must give equal chances of employment to qualified disabled persons (U.S. Department of Justice 2005). When he discussed the matter with the managing director, he said that an obese person was in no way a disabled person. He stated Carrier (2000) who affirmed that â€Å"although courts initially were reluctant to recognize obesity as a qualifying disability for purposes of ADA protection, courts are increasingly willing to consider obesity as a disability giving plaintiffs status to raise ADA claims.† Finally, Harrison was selected. To my question about employee development, he answered that he totally believed in the concept. According to him, flourishing employee development programs and strategies guarantee improved employees’ performance, which leads to higher productivity and overall organizational success in the competitive market. Employee development leads to employee motivation and job satisfaction. A growth-oriented workplace culture works on improving small occurrences so that

Friday, October 18, 2019

Staff Study Format Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staff Study Format - Research Paper Example The two articles share a similar course of action (COA) which is simply to prevent the occurrence of further repeat crime in the said countries. The articles discuss different methodologies trough which such crimes can be curbed, controlled or even prevented. However, the two articles different course of action and method where one is the use of CCTV to prevent crime and the other one being the use of repeat victimization to prevent crime. Though different methodologies, the two articles have one main agenda which is to prevent crime. Identification of minimum criterion Crime control in the two towns is measured by a reduction in the number of reported crimes. Less is better effect is one of the minimum criterion applicable in this study. The article on â€Å"CCTV in three town centres in England† by Ben Brown is better in terms crime control than the article on ‘Biting back: Preventing repeat burglary and car crime in Huddersfield† by David Anderson and Ken Pease. Mounting CCTV cameras on the three cities works well in crime control than repeat victimization which is used as a standard approach to crime prevention across an entire police division. Whenever there are CCTV cameras, no crime will take place there, and this is one good way of reducing crime whether from repeat offenders or new offenders (Clarke, 1997). Using repeat victims by the police as a way of Preventing repeat burglary and car crime in Huddersfield only helps them to detect the hardened offenders as they only concentrate on the repeat crimes (Anderson and Pease1995). This leaves a loophole for more crimes from new offenders and this makes use of CCTV cameras more effective than the repeat victimization. More is better is also another criteria applicable in this case. Here, the article â€Å"Biting back: Preventing repeat burglary and car crime in Huddersfield† by David Anderson and Ken Pease are better than the article on â€Å"CCTV in three town centres in England † by Ben Brown. This is because the methodology used in this article involves many actions which makes the crime control method more effective. The inclusion of many actions makes the methodology more comprehensive than the one than only uses CCTV cameras. One can make a conclusion that the use of repeat victimization is more effective as it can be used to detect loopholes and the many causes of crime as opposed to the use of CCTV cameras which only prevents crime. Utility matrix Less is better is the criterion which best addresses the COA of crime control. The utility score will be based on the percentage change in the target crime (0 reduction is worst while 100% reduction is best). The utility for the matrix include learning zone, crime reduction programs, ideal and repeat crime. The crime control matrix Crime Crime Control In the two quadrants which are labeled learning zone and ideal, crime is low. In the learning zone, crime is high but crime control are low while in the ideal situation, special efforts have been put in place to control crime. In the learning zone, the police are trying to learn more on the crime from the repeat victims in order to determine how to prevent re-occurrence of crime. The ideal situation has reduced crime as the police has already put in

Nantucket Nectars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nantucket Nectars - Essay Example Another source of short term finance is life savings. Tom and Tom with their lifetime savings of $17,000 were able to undertake some expansion. Like Nantucket Nectars, entrepreneurs like Tom and Tom did can borrow funds from local financial institutions or individuals. Short term borrowings may be in form of overdrafts with limits set by banks and interest charged at variable rates set by the banks. Short term loans may also extend up to a period of three years; such sources of cash do not require much collateral, hence easy access. Before short term lending is extended to firms’, factors such as purpose, amount, repayment period, term and security are considered and ascertained (Pride, William, Robert 2011). As a matter of urgency if deemed so, a company may welcome wealthy individuals who pump money into the business at the exchange of a percentage of shareholding. The sales director of Nantucket nectars advises that mike Egan be allowed to bring in $600,000 for the exchange with 50% of the company. Out of the companies profits it can decide to plough back some amount to grow the business in form of retained earnings. Though this means has a direct impact on dividends since it reduces the amount earned by shareholders hence they may complain (Pride, William, Robert 2011). Retained earnings are attractive sources of cashing in since managers think they don’t cost anything, it is at their discretion to make dividend decisions. Also retained earnings as opposed to issuing new shares help the firm to evade issue costs and this method also helps the management avoid change of control. Another factor which facilitates the consideration of retained earnings is the financial and taxation levels of the existing shareholders. If due to taxation, they would receive capital profit realizable only during taxation of shares sold than receive current income then retained earnings is preferred to other methods. Businesses can still cash in

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) Case Study

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) - Case Study Example d contraction has tremendously adverse effects on landscape, namely roads and buildings, causing cracking of walls and foundations, and, thus, devaluing of the property in a remarkably short time. It also costs millions of money on repairs. Studies also show that expansive soils, when on slopes, can cause landslides. Care and treatment, therefore, has to be taken before construction of buildings on this soil. Engineers have to carry out soil tests, in order to determine the nature of the soil, before commencing construction, due to the adverse effects of expansive soil. Expansive soil can also be detected just by direct observation. If the soil is found to be expansive, various treatments could be applied so as to avoid the effects of the expansive soil: This involves compacting the subgrade at the appropriate moisture content. This will â€Å"produce a subgrade that absorbs less water, provides slightly higher strength, and will not expand or swell as much..†.( ACPA, 2008). Selective grading may be the most cost effective method of treatment, if expansive soils are not the predominant soil type along the roadway alignment. This will include blending and cross hauling. If the profile grade can be designed to keep expansive soils out of the top of the subgrade, (ACPA, 2008), selective grading may also be sufficient in controlling the shrink and swell potential. This is used when the subgrade soils consist of primarily expansive soils, and it is not economical to import non-expansive soil. This provides an effective means to control the shrink-swell potential of a soil. This method can also be economical on some projects, compared to selective

Monopoly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Monopoly - Essay Example It was unthinkable to make diamonds available to the general public. However, supply increased rapidly in 1867 when diamonds were first found in South Africa but until the present day the notion of diamond as a precious and rare commodity remains. Just like the gold miners in California, the diamond miners of South Africa were very attracted by the riches about diamond and tend to rush. But because of the scarcity of resourceful lands and problems with infrastructure and equipment, large scale digging was impossible. This gave the opportunity for businessmen like Cecil Rhodes to rent out pumping equipment and soon realized that he had tapped a vast market potential. By 1880, Rhodes held a large enough share of diamond claims to justify a separate company purely concerned with managing the mines: thus DeBeers Mining Company was created. By 1887, the company was the sole owner of South African diamond mines (Kretschmer, p.1). Ernest Oppenheimer, a German immigrant established himself a s a prominent figure in the South African diamond and gold industry in the following three decades. As a diamond expert, he entered the gold business, created the Anglo-American Corp. of South America and owned a dominant share of South Africa’s gold mines. With his greatest ambitions, he finally gained full control and ownership of DeBeers in 1926 and this was the start of De Beers as a monopoly. There are factors that made it possible for a certain company such as De Beers to be considered as monopoly in the industry. Market structures are determined according to the degree of difficulty of entry and exit in the industry and how their products are differentiated. Monopoly is a market structure characterized by having a single or sole producer of a unique product. This is very true for the De Beers, a Swiss-based company controlled by a South African corporation, as it is the only supplier of diamonds and controls the world’s

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) Case Study

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) - Case Study Example d contraction has tremendously adverse effects on landscape, namely roads and buildings, causing cracking of walls and foundations, and, thus, devaluing of the property in a remarkably short time. It also costs millions of money on repairs. Studies also show that expansive soils, when on slopes, can cause landslides. Care and treatment, therefore, has to be taken before construction of buildings on this soil. Engineers have to carry out soil tests, in order to determine the nature of the soil, before commencing construction, due to the adverse effects of expansive soil. Expansive soil can also be detected just by direct observation. If the soil is found to be expansive, various treatments could be applied so as to avoid the effects of the expansive soil: This involves compacting the subgrade at the appropriate moisture content. This will â€Å"produce a subgrade that absorbs less water, provides slightly higher strength, and will not expand or swell as much..†.( ACPA, 2008). Selective grading may be the most cost effective method of treatment, if expansive soils are not the predominant soil type along the roadway alignment. This will include blending and cross hauling. If the profile grade can be designed to keep expansive soils out of the top of the subgrade, (ACPA, 2008), selective grading may also be sufficient in controlling the shrink and swell potential. This is used when the subgrade soils consist of primarily expansive soils, and it is not economical to import non-expansive soil. This provides an effective means to control the shrink-swell potential of a soil. This method can also be economical on some projects, compared to selective

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The management of people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The management of people - Essay Example Management is a serious task (Aguilar, 2002). Low team morale is a hindrance to success in any project and it is the Manager's responsibility not only to make sure that the project is successful, but also see that the team is satisfied. People work in projects to make something for people. The problems in projects are human problems. For every technical, financial or schedule problem there is a human problem behind it. The most significant resource any business has is its people. A significant element in managing a complicated project knows how to manage the most precious asset the human resources. Perhaps the greatest challenge that is presented by a global project is the management of the human resource pools. This is true at a macro or overall staffing levels and micro or delegation of work to labour pools level. Management is now assuming a greater role to strategic business partners (Holsapple and Joshi. 2000). Successful businesses realize that true competitive advantage lies in the people. Businesses have been forced to redefine the responsibilities and develop a compelling response for critics who dispute human resource's value to the bottom-line. Management has been around since the dawn of civilization (Terry, 1960). In primitive societies almost everybody had to do physical labour. To break away from this burden, about the only choices were going into politics (kings) or religion (priests). Complications arise in tracing the history of management. Others see it by definition as a late modern in the sense of late modernity conceptualization (Ahmed, Lim, and Zairi. 1999). On those terms it cannot have a pre-modern history, only harbingers. Others, on the other hand, detect management-like activities in the pre-modern past. Civilized urban societies led to more specialization, produced new vocational alternatives to manual labour, and saw a tendency of those who did not work with the hands to look down on those who did. Others argue modern management as a discipline started as an off-shoot of economics in the 19th century (Drucker. 1988). Economists provided a theoretical background to resource allocation, production, and pri cing issues (Conceicao, Gibson, Heitor, and Shariq. 1997). About the same time, innovators produced elements of technical production such as standardization, quality-control procedures, cost-accounting, interchange ability of parts, and work-planning. Many of these aspects of management existed in the ante-bellum (pre-1861) US slave-based economy. There, 4 million people were, as the contemporary usages had it, managed in profitable quasi-mass production. By the late 19th century, a new layer of complexity is introduced to the theoretical underpinnings of management (Bennis, 1989). The first tertiary-level course in management in 1881 is offered. Management of People provides managers and human resource professionals with skills and knowledge for managing the people aspects of strategic implementation (McWilliams, Abagail, and Siegel 1999). In the early 21st century, it was easy to see the development of a "third wave" in these well-established concepts (Stacey, 1992). Just as the 21st century has seen new types of organizations and new ways of doing business arise, so, too, will there

Monday, October 14, 2019

Dance Essay Essay Example for Free

Dance Essay Essay Chosen to look at the productions Cell Block Tango from Chicago and Rosas Danst Rosas by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. I wanted to compare these two dance pieces, as I felt the concept behind them, was very similar. Both pieces represent strong female roles, demonstrated by movement and strong characters. In Chicago, the fosse inspired production, choreographed by Rob Marshall, looked at the political issue of women trying to escape their stereotypical role as the domestic care giver in attempt to be individualists. Whereas in Rosas Danst Rosas, choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaecher, her choreography reflects back on feminist issues that females in society faced. Both dance pieces portrayed these issues through movement, in very different ways. Bob Fosse was the original choreographer for Chicago, however, Rob Marshall adapted the Fosse choreography to his interpretation for the film in 2002. Bob Fosse was born in Chicago, Illinois, 1927 and died in 1987. His life was dedicated to dance, he is acknowledged around the world for his outstanding, unique style. He was an American, actor, dancer, director, screen writer and film editor. At a young age he teamed up with another young dancer, Charles Grass, and began a collaboration called ‘The Riff Brothers. ’ Fosse then went on to direct many productions, for example, Sweet Charity, Billion Dollar Baby, dancin, and Chicago. Chicago was originally from a 1926 play by the reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, she bases her plays on actual criminals and crimes she reported on. It was then, as said above, originally choreographed by Bob Fosse, his style is strongly identified throughout the production. In 1996 Chicago holds the record for the longest running Broadway revival. In 2002 the Academy-award winning film version of the musical was released, directed by Rob Marshall. Rob Marshall is an American theatre director, film director and choreographer. Marshall was born in Madison, Wisconsin and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Carnegie Mellon University where he was trained in jazz and ballet. Chicago is about two women who go to prison as they have called their partners, who find themselves awaiting their trails and having the same passion, to be a singer and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. I have chosen to specifically research one of the routines from Chicago, which is Cell Block Tango, the dance is about six woman whom have killed their partners, they all have separate parts in the dance, which portray the hatred and re-enactment of when they killed them and why. I felt this was very effective as it signifies the power of woman, and their independence. They wanted to show the audience that if they were in their position they would of done the same. I noticed they use a lot of gestures that indicate power, for example when they are stomping. The dance is also very seductive, empowering over men.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Literature Review on Emotions Across Cultures

Literature Review on Emotions Across Cultures Ms. Shweta Gaikwad RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OF EMOTIONS ACCROSS CULTURES (EMIC, ETIC OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH) Introduction: The terms emic and etic were coined in 1954, by linguist Kenneth Pike, who argued that the tools developed for describing linguistic behaviors could be adapted to the description of any human social behavior. Emic and Etic are terms used by anthropologists and by others in the social and behavioral sciences to refer to two kinds of data concerning human behavior. In particular, they are used in cultural anthropology to refer to kinds of fieldwork done and viewpoints obtained. In the field of cross-cultural research, the emic approach involves examining one culture at a time to evaluate how insiders or participants interpret a phenomenon. The criteria for evaluating behaviors relate to the insiders, and the structure is discovered by the researchers. On the other hand, the etic approach involves comparing different cultures. Behavior is studied from the perspective of an outsider, the criteria for evaluating behaviors are viewed as â€Å"universal† and the structure is created by the researchers. Definition: â€Å"The emic approach investigates how local people think (Kottak, 2006). How they perceive and categorize the world, their rules for behavior, what has meaning for them, and how they imagine and explain things.† The etic approach realizes that members of a culture often are too involved in what they are doing to interpret their cultures impartially â€Å"The etic (scientist-oriented) approach shifts the focus from local observations, categories, explanations, and interpretations to those of anthropologist.† When using the etic approach, the ethnographer emphasizes what he or she considers important. Early Etic and Epic studies in Psychology: Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, is a researcher who took an etic approach in his studies. Jung studied mythology, religion, ancient rituals, and dreams leading him to believe that there are archetypes used to categorize people’s behaviors. Archetypes are universal structures of the collective unconscious that refer to the inherent way people are predisposed to perceive and process information. The main archetypes that Jung studied were the persona (how people choose to present themselves to the world), the animus/ anima (part of people experiencing the world in viewing the opposite sex, that guides how they select their romantic partner), and the shadow (dark side of personalities because people have a concept of evil. Well-adjusted people must integrate both good and bad parts of themselves). Jung looked at the role of the mother and deduced that all people have mothers and see their mothers in a similar way; they offer nurture and comfort. His studies also suggest that †Å" infants have evolved to suck milk from the breast, it is also the case that all children have inborn tendencies to react in certain ways.† This way of looking at the mother is an etic way of applying a concept cross- culturally and universally. Recent Researches on Emic and Epic across Culture: I) West Meets East: Incorporating the Emic Perspective for Cross-cultural Business Communication by Yunxia Zhu, University of Queensland Business School The researcher has shed light on the rapid development of internationalization and globalization, cross-cultural business communication is drawing increasing research  attention. The researcher has reviewed and reported findings based on 177 journal papers, published after 1990, in various Journals of Business Communication. The researcher indicates that there has been a shift of research focus towards  Asia and other emerging economies with the rise of Asia and Latin America  (e.g., China, India, and Brazil) in the world economic arena. However, Many Scholars contemplate dominant approach of crosscultural communication and management is Still largely based on polarised cultural dimensions, (e.g., Individualism and collectivism). Hofstede’s (2001). The research highlights the issue relating to the imbalanced emic-etic focus and propose specific ways of addressing this imbalance, through the discussion on the following three points: Introduction of the concepts of emic and etic perspective, and discussion of the relevance to cross-cultural business communication. The sources of emic researches and suggest ways of incorporating them. The theoretical and practical implications of applying the emic perspective and suggest some future research directions. The researcher refers to Kenneth Pikes (1967) contribution and definition of the terms epic and ethic and concludes that the etic unit was from the outside in, providing access into the system but only as the starting point of analysis; the full understanding of the emic is the ultimate end point. However the researcher fails to mention the terms are coined priory by Pikes in 1954. According to the researcher the importance of the emic approach has drawn increasing research attention but it has not been given sufficient research attention in cross-cultural business communication. Also it is crucial to explore and incorporate The emic perspectives in order to reach a balanced view about the culture and communication in the new economic and cross-cultural contexts. The researcher has further discussed the Imposed Ethic approach, The Integrative Etic-Emic Approach and Emically Derived Etic Approach with relevance to various researches in the respective fields. There are enough evidences of researches In conclusion the expant research points to the imperative of incorporating the emic perspective in order to explore the nuances and richness of cultures. Whereas, the emic perspective is especially important today when the East meets the West. The study of incorporating emic perspectives has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the emic can complement the etic approach, hence extending the prevalent etic approach. The researcher further suggests future study can examine how emic perspectives can extend other cultural dimensions. Also indicating that various theories can be viewed in the light of emic perspective to derive or facilitate culture studies. The limitation or overlapping of the theories is also pointed out that some imposed etic or prevalent Western theories are in fact emic in nature. Thus leading to the need to identify the limitations of these theories including tracing sources and contexts of these theories while applying them. The researcher states that the emic sources of knowledge also extend the etic approach, offering us a wider range of alternative perspectives from emic sources for cross-cultural adaptation. For example, we can be more flexible with communication styles with different group of people in different contexts. The researcher concludes with the conception that there is potential for developing new theories and for complementing extant theories drawing from emic sources, which will help to achieve significant impact and answer the ‘so what’ question for cross-cultural business communication research. II) Toward a new approach to the study of personality in culture. by  Cheung, Fanny M.; van de Vijver, Fons J. R.; Leong, Frederick T. L. The research reviews recent developments in the study of culture and personality measurement. Three approaches are described: an etic approach that focuses on establishing measurement equivalence in imported measures of personality, an emic (indigenous) approach that studies personality in specific cultures, and a combined emic–etic approach to personality. The research proposes the latter approach as a way of combining the methodological rigor of the etic approach and the cultural sensitivity of the emic approach. The combined approach is illustrated by two examples: the first with origins in Chinese culture and the second in South Africa. The article ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the combined emic–etic approach for the study of culture and personality and for psychology as a science. III) Views From Inside and Outside: Integrating Emic and Etic Insights about Culture and Justice Judgment by Michael W. Morris, Stanford University Kwok Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Daniel Ames, University of California at Berkeley and Brian Lickel, University of California at Santa Barbara. The research focuses on synergy between emic and etic approaches to research on culture and cognition. The research contemplates the integrative limitation as well as simulative progressive characteristics of emic and etic approaches to research. The research notes that the emic or inside perspective follows in the tradition of  psychological studies of folk beliefs (Wundt, 1888) and The etic or outside perspective  follows in the tradition of behaviourist psychology (Skinner, 1938).The two perspectives/approaches persists in contemporary scholarship, in psychology, between cultural psychologists (Shweder, 1991) and cross-cultural psychologists (Smith Bond, 1998). Varied views on emic and etic approaches, as facilitating and bringing limitations to one another as integrative, with context to anthropology, comparatives and psychology, are elaborated. Further contemplating that, emic and etic researchers tend to have differing assumptions about culture. Emic researchers tend to assume that a culture is best understood as an interconnected whole or system, whereas etic researchers are more likely to isolate particular components of culture and state hypotheses about their distinct antecedents and consequences. The researchers agree that there is differences in justice judgments made in East Asian cultural settings, as opposed to Western settings. The researchers examine selected results from the two key components of distributive justice perception: selecting principles and construing behavior. East Asian cultures have suggested that the principle of harmony is salient in Confucist cultural settings (Hsu, 1953). Whereas Western common sense and theory (Deutsch, 1985). Chinese respondents give more weight to group-oriented values than do North Americans (e.g., Singh,Huang, Thompson, 1962). Emic research has revealed novel constructs (e.g., generosity as a means to harmony), has challenged etic constructs (the notion that individuals adherence to individualist  and collectivist values is captured by a unitary dimension), and has suggested new solutions  (e.g., distinguishing types of ingroup relations). Insights concerning cultural influence on the  interpretation of behavior relevant to justice comes mostly from emic studies. Emic analysis of how culture shapes judgment of deservingness has gone furthest in studies of indigenous Chinese constructs. Although there can be no doubt that an employees social connections enter into appraisals in many Western settings, the role of an employees connections  in an evaluation of his or her worth generally is left implicit and unarticulated by Western observers. To summarize the researchers have described several forms of stimulation in which  developments within each research tradition are provoked and challenged by findings in the  other tradition. Moreover, researchers have argued that an integrative explanatory framework incorporating insights from both traditions avoids limitations of purely etic and purely emic findings in conceptualizing culture and in capturing its various influences on cognition. In conclusion , the researchers have argued that integrative frameworks have several advantages as guides to solving the applied problem of managing justice perceptions  in international organizations. That is, an integrative framework enables better anticipation  of employees justice sensitivities, better decision making about a firms policy options,  and, once a policy is chosen, better implementation. Conclusion The researches on etic and epic approaches suggest that use of integrative approach provides a better understanding of cross-cultural researches. The cultural differences in context to personality, organizational, communication and emotion studies can be broadly generalised if the integrative approach is used. The limitations of one approach are the advantage of the other. Many studies indicate that some emic studies include an epic approach. REFERENCES Cheung, F. M.; van de Vijver, Fons J. R.; Leong, Frederick T. L. (2011) Toward a new approach to the study of personality in culture. American Psychologist, Vol. 66(7), pp.593-603.  Retrived on 19th November 2013 from:  http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuyid=2011-01448-001 Emic and Etic Researches-concept  Retrieved on 19th November 2013 from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emic_and_etic Friedman, Howard S; Schustack, Miriam W (2012), Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research, Boston: Pearson Allyn Bacon. Kottak, Conrad (2006), Mirror for Humanity, New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Morris, M. W.; Leung, K.; Ames, D. and Lickel, B.( 1999).Views From Inside and Outside: Integrating Emic and Etic Insights about Culture and Justice Judgment.  Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24. No. 1781-796.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Anti-Marijuana Advertising Campaign :: Research Essays

The Anti-Marijuana Advertising Campaign: Public Service Announcements or Public Disservice Announcements? For nearly one hundred and fifty years marijuana has been illegal in the United States of America. Though marijuana naturally grew in all of our fifty states, it was outlawed due the superior strength and durability of hemp rope. This threatened to replace cotton rope, which would cost wealthy cotton owners a lot of money. To this day marijuana is still outlawed in the U.S., however rope has nothing to do with it. Once slavery and the â€Å"cotton boom† were over hemp made a little bit of a comeback in a smoking form. Then, in the early 1940’s the government began releasing anti-marijuana propaganda. In the 1960’s when marijuana became popular amongst pop-culture, a movie by the name of â€Å"Reefer Madness† was released depicting marijuana users as fiends and criminals who’s normal everyday lives fell apart, and spun out of control due to the addiction to the drug. Even in the present day organizations, as well as the government, continue to try and sway people from using the substance by portraying users as irresponsible idiots. Some examples of behaviors portrayed in the commercials are: accidental shootings, running over a little girl on a bike, molesting a passed out girl, supporting terror, and impregnating/becoming impregnated. I feel that these advertisements are ridiculously tasteless and misleading. Through personal experience, surveys, an interview, and a case study I intend to prove that marijuana users do not behave in the fashion that the anti-marijuana campaign ads would suggest, and furthermore, I expect to find that the ads so grossly misrepresent the common user, even those who do not use disagree with the negative portrayals. I also challenge you to think about the suggested situations and behaviors from the commercials, I feel that you’ll see every situation and behavior in the advertisements is much more feasible to a person under the influence of alcohol than under the influence of marij uana. In order to test my theory I was going to need to use a few different methods of obtaining data. The first method is for me to just use past experiences from my own life. I use marijuana on a regular basis and have friends who do as well, so this is a good base for looking at how people act when using the substance.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Many of Steinbecks characters are crippled mentally or physically Essay

Many of Steinbecks characters are crippled mentally or physically. How far do you agree with this and how far are they made victims of society of the time? Lennie is probably the most obvious character of the book that is mentally crippled. He has brooder slopping shoulders and walks along heavily dragging his feet. Underneath Lennie is a child, he may look like and man but isn’t. Like a child Lennie has a fascination of small cuddle, cute things, especially rabbits. ‘I like to pet things with my fingers, sof’ things’. Lennie is also clumsy like a child and on the ranch others see him as a slow worker. George is like a father to Lennie and he looks up to him, and also fully dependant on him. He wont do anything till George says he can, he automatically turns to George in when in any danger, like a child dependant on his mother. Candy is the oldest of the characters and he is physically crippled, as he has lost his right hand as a young boy. He was one of the best workers of the ranch and everyone respected him in his younger days. But he is slowly becoming useless, with only a job of sweeping and has become very lonely with only the companionship of a dog. But soon found friendship in George and Lennie. However this does not stop him from being a nosy character and finds interest in others gossip. Candy loves his dog to pieces, but like candy the dog is getting old and weak, ‘ That dog of Candy’s is so god damn old he can’t hardly walk’. Candy has had to dog for most of its life, and it’s the only thing that reminds him of the good days on the ranch. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and he is crippled physically as he has a bent spine. Considering how hard it was for black men in those days, they were not given any respect at all and were bullied. The people at the ranch were racist towards him. ‘ But I can’t play cards cause I’m black and they say I stink.’ He is also lonely like Candy and is rejected from the people at the ranch, he has his own cabin and spends most of his time in there on his own. Crooks seems to be a bit sensitive underneath his brave face and takes it all to heart. He trusts no one but himself, because he isn’t respected. Though at some times he has a slightly vicious streak, ‘You got no right to come in my room, nobody got any right in here but me.’ A lot of the people on the ranch take advantage of him because they know they can get away with it. ‘Listen nigger you know what I can do if you don’t shut your trap’. I think that Crooks knows that people take advantage of him, but he can’t fight back. Curly’s is the bosses’ son and he thinks he is a powerfully man. He has a constant eagerness to prove himself. One of his weaknesses is that he doesn’t like taller people because they make him feel insecure, threatened and small. Deep down he is a lonely character and is insecure. Curly copies his Dad like Lennie copies George. By taking on the future job of the ranch and has a future not like most of the workers, and wants to become powerful like his Father. Curly’s wife plays a small part, though a crucial one. She is the only one of Steinbecks characters that is nameless. In those times it was hard to be a woman and were looked upon as staying at home all day and cooking for the husbands on return. She is a flirt of the ranch, what with being the only woman and the men on the ranch refer to her as a tart. No one really wants to talk to her as they are worried what curly might do if he found out, and this makes her lonely and isolated. ‘ Well I think Curley’s married a tart.’ Curly’s wife wanted to make something of her life, so she is very disappointed that she hasn’t, this can make her feel very viscous. Though still she has the power, like her husband to make people feel small and unimportant, that’s why people chose to exclude her on the ranch. She is young and niave and would believe anything she was told. ‘He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.’ I think that Steinbeck wrote his characters to be either mentally or physically crippled. He wrote this book to expose all of the racial and sexist prejudice. He succeeded in this by using the right characters and their every day life.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Should Compulsory Military Service Be Abolished?

Should compulsory military service be abolished ? (ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY) The problem of compulsory military service has always been a controversial issue. Some people strongly support this idea while others are definitely against it. Although it has been claimed that the military service should be compulsory because of its benefits to governments, compulsory military service shouldn’t be abolished because of its limitations to citizens. It is commonly maintained that compulsory military service affects government’s economy in positive way, yet military service is cheaper than mandotary in long-term.Supporters of compulsory military service believe that mandotary military service is a must for countries to develop their economy. The choices of developing countries could be a good example for benefits of compulsory military service. Developing countries mostly prefer compulsory military service to grow their economy. Portugal is one of the these countries. Since Portugal m oved on to free military service there is a rapidly increase in civilian wages. However United States shows that countries can have both powerful economy and strong military power despite using free military service.According to Chapman, the cost of a volunteer is more expensive than full-time soldiers. (2002) Another argument widely claimed against abolishing compulsory military service is based on the assumption that young people could improve themselves physically and psychologically, pn the other hand it may cause harmful consequences on many sensitive young men. Proponents of compulsory military service claim that personality of young men would be developed during military service.They think that military service would make young men disciplined and principled. Laar stated â€Å"During the course of compulsory military service, a number of skills required for civilian life are acquired. † (2011) According to Kelty, Kleykamp and Segal, military service is an experience th at turns youth to adults. (2010) Nevertheless, compulsory military service may cause permanent problems in young people’s character and their lives. Forcing sensitive young men to strict the rules may lead to terrible damage to their psyche or even suicide.Citizens aren’t free to choose how they live in the countries using mandotary military service. They would be forced to something against their plans and they can’t live their lives how they wish. Other frequently heard arguments in support of compulsory military service is its necessity to protect national security against threats, yet it is unnecessary to maintain large armies because the strength of the country doesn’t depend on the manpower of an army; it is related to skills and knowledge of experts who are specially educated.A common claim is that compulsory military service is necessary to protect national security against threats. They think that the increased number of soldiers helps to fight a gainst terrorizm. It can frighten enemies to have a great number of soldiers. However, maintaining large permanent armies is not essential in our age because technology is developed. Nucleer weapons are one of the high-tech weapons and they can be operated by a small force.Professional soldiers are specially educated to operate complicated missles of an intercontinental range so the number of the soldiers is not so important. For exapmle Turkey is one of the countries that have increased number of soldiers but they can’t eliminate terrorizm in many years. In conclusion, best opinion would be forming smaller professional armies consisting of young men who like military life and who can easily adopt to hard conditions. Everyone should be granted freedom of choice and not forced to do something against his plans or nature.

Hitler’s Underestimation of the Allies

Toni Smith 12/4/09 â€Å"The Boys’ Crusade† concerning Hitler’s Underestimation of the Allied Powers In his book â€Å"The Boys’ Crusade† Paul Fussell develops the theme of Adolf Hitler’s underestimation of the Allied forces. Hitler’s failure to accurately evaluate the power of the Allied enemies led to the destruction of the Axis powers and precipitated the end of WWII. He underestimated not only the strength of the Allies, but also their determination to win, their combined cooperation, their militarial organizational skills, and their combined technological advances. This underestimation was a product of Hitler’s personal theory of German Aryan racial supremacy over other races and was commonly accepted to some degree as the social Darwinist ideas of the time. In Hitler’s eyes, Germans were a dominant species, set apart from other races by their motivation, their loyal dedication to the Fuhrer, and the strength of their willpower. Hitler believed Germans would prove themselves to be superior on the battlefield if only because of their pure racial background. The lack of discipline and the dismissive attitudes of Allied troops were factors that Hitler believed maintained the theory of racial supremacy. The Germany military, called the Wehrmacht, the SS, and the Gestapo were all strictly trained and highly disciplined units. German parades during WWII consisted of controlled marches in uniform through the streets of German cities. Nazi officials aimed to show the Aryan population the strength and pride of the German military. In contrast to the strict discipline of the Wehrmacht were the Allied forces, in specific, the American troops. They gained a reputation of general laziness including â€Å"slouching postures, gum chewing, leaning against walls when tired, keeping hands in trouser pockets, and †¦ profanity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 1 Hitler saw the slovenly attitudes of the American troops as a solid example of the supremacy of the Aryan Germans. Fussell states that because conditions at the front line were so deplorable many psychological problems and morale issues arose. Also, a general unpreparedness of new recruits was a critical concern, which could have been avoided by training infantrymen for the psychological aspects of warfare. Too late, military planners found that unless replacement troops were â€Å"trained rigorously and prepared psychologically for the carnage of the front lines, they would not survive long and tended to revert to cowardice when faced with violent action. †2 In trench warfare the abysmal living environment, illness, fatigue, loneliness, and constant fear of death created a hopeless feeling of fighting in a meaningless â€Å"never-ending† war. The psychological health of Allied troops was a crucial factor in relation to the positive morale and overall troop resilience, especially of those confronted daily with violent action. The infantry suffered the highest percentage of total casualties throughout the war, and was forced to fight in the worst conditions. The idea of a â€Å"never-ending† war was created in part by the demoralization of troops during the middle stages of the war, before an end was clearly in sight, and also because American troops knew there were only three ways â€Å"to escape from the front line with its discipline, anxiety, and horror: the unlikely sudden end of the war; a wound; and death itself. †3 Before the winter of 1941, Hitler had not considered, the threat of U. S. involvement in the war. However, when the U. S. declared war on Germany and Japan on the 11th of December, 1941, Hitler wholeheartedly believed Germany was ready to challenge Britain and America in a war of global magnitude. Hitler had previously assumed the U. S. would stay out of a European conflict to continue their chosen policy of isolation across the Atlantic. But Germany was not materially prepared for a global war drawn out for more than a few years. Though the U. S. lacked the discipline and fanatical loyalty the German troops showed towards their Fuhrer, Americans were not entering a war without national strengths. The Germans were renowned craftsmen and had the capability to produce high-quality weapons and war-materials but they were not equipped for the scale of production necessary for victory in a global war. However: the strengths of the American industrial tradition – the widespread experience with mass-production, the great depth of technical and organizational skill, the willingness to ‘think big’, the ethos of hustling competition – were just the characteristics needed to transform the American production in a hurry. 4 The U. S. as quite familiar with the technique of mass-production and implemented it very successfully. The American motor industry adapted so well to the program that â€Å"once the conversion was completed the industry began to overfulfil its orders. †5 Based on the opportunities of individual profit, many prospective entrepreneurs found that the war opened a door to the world of business. Germany had been making preparations for war since Hitler took control of the state on the 30th of January, 1933 and the American leaders were aware of just how far behind in production they were. The military weakness of the U. S. was a consequence of geographical and political isolation, but in only four years the giant plans approved by Roosevelt and Congress in the first weeks of war â€Å"turned America from military weakling to military super-power. †6 The strategy of mass-production encouraged individuals to involve themselves in the production of war materials, giving them a personal and unique sense of dedication to the war effort. Production began with Roosevelt building a wartime planning infrastructure, run by business recruits. He employed a strategy in which business was given a good deal of responsibility to further the war effort. The American approach to â€Å"production on this scale made Allied victory a possibility, though it did not make victory in any sense automatic. †7 Hitler was anxious for a victory over the Soviet Union, not only to satisfy a sense of retribution remaining from the German defeat of the First World War, but also to accomplish the goals he set out in his book, Mein Kampf, to attain Lebensraum, or living space for an expanding Aryan population. Even the war with Britain couldn’t distract him for long, and â€Å"in the summer of 1940 he turned his back on Britain, who could, he argued, be finished off by the Luftwaffe in good time, and looked eastward. †8 Hitler was so focused on the conflict against the Soviet Union, that he didn’t correctly prioritize the two conflicts and the necessary war materials needed for a victory in a war against a second front in the West. Hitler had an overabundant confidence in the superiority of German troops and German tanks and didn’t realize how decisive the Allied landing at D-Day and later the battle at Stalingrad would be. The landing on Normandy beaches were a welcome success after the months of small and costly victories in Italy and North Africa. Though Stalingrad is generally considered the most decisive battle of WWII, D-Day marked a major turning point for the Allies. The landing forced Hitler to fight a war on two fronts, which relieved some pressure from the Soviets’ bitter struggle against the Wehrmacht in the East. Hitler’s Germany was beginning to stretch thin, as â€Å"a great chasm opened up between Hitler’s plans and the material reality. 9 The Allies effectively used technology to gain the upper-hand to aide in the victory of the Second World War in Europe. The strategy of synchronizing air support with ground forces promoted forward surges of troops while destroying dug-in German fortifications and causing enemy casualties. In the Battle of the Atlantic, the British were able to crack the German naval code and use decoded transmissions to steer convoys of merchant ships away from the packs of waiting U-Boats. The Allies proved their organization and cooperation abilities during the Battle of the Atlantic. The British and Americans worked together successfully to â€Å"render redundant naval strategies still rooted in the battleship age†10 by the use of air power in groups called support escorts to keep merchant ships safe from U-Boat damage. The success of U-Boats destruction was increased with the use of long-range aircraft, radio, and radar. The warfare technology at sea was maximized, proving that â€Å"victory was a product of all those elements of organization and invention mobilized in months of painstaking labor. 11 Though the Battle of the Atlantic wasn’t won in any short span of time, it lasted for six years, the technological advances, communication improvements, and the coordination of British and Allied forces to predict U-Boat movement took Hitler by surprise. Hitler was confident that the superior German navy could easily gain control of the English Channel, but the Allies proved that in this specific battle â€Å"the careful application of air power, and the use of radar and radio intelligence, turned the tide. 12 Hitler had an overabundant confidence in the German forces and didn’t contemplate the outcome of an Allied victory because he believed Germans were racially superior. Though he wasn’t interested in a war with Britain or the U. S. , they stood in the way of the fruition of his goals of conquest in the East, specifically the destruction of the Jewish people and the downfall of the Soviet Union. Hitler underestimated the combined strength, organizational skills, and military power of the Allies and allowed his dreams of Eastern conquest to cloud his judgment concerning military priorities when faced with a pressing war in the West. His inaccurate estimation of the strength of the Allies and his inability to coordinate war efforts on two fronts, especially after Stalingrad, led to the downfall of the Axis powers. References Fussell, Paul 2003. The Boys’ Crusade. New York: Random House Printing. 136. Fussell, 97. Fussell, 107. Overy, Richard 1995. Why The Allies Won. New York: Norton Publishing. 192. Overy, 195. Overy, 192. Overy, 192. Overy, 13. Overy, 200. 10. Overy, 30. 11. Overy, 60. 12. Overy, 52.