Are Teen Age Years The Best Essay

Are Teenage year the best of your life? The teenage years are considered the best years of your life that is what magazine. I’m going to tell you why they are not. First you are always looked at to succeed by your parents, the lack of freedom we get and last but not least we are considered lairs and criminal among today’s society. One of the disadvantages of being a teenager is that we are always looked to succeed in school so you can do and be better then them. They also say if we fool around the future for us is going the extinguished. Other disadvantage of being a teen is the lack of freedom we get. Sure we might live in a free country but are we all free? The freedom that I’m talking about is staying up late, working and school. Staying up late I don’t know about you but I have to get home before my parents I can’t even be in front of my house to the wee hours of the morning. Working is another one we another one we can’t work on weekdays because my Dad says it will effect my school work how will he know if he doesn’t give it a chance. School is the worst of all we can’t even wear earrings because it’s not part of the uniform I understand that but the shaving is just stupid how could you order someone to do something that comes in naturally. It is like telling someone you have to get a hair cut every week. It’s violating our freedom of expressing. The worst part of being a teenager is that we are considered lairs and criminals among our society. For example if a bunch of teens walk into a variety store the owners automatically think we are going to rob them but the only thing we want is a little snack. The other thing is lying adults never believe teens why you ask? I don’t really know. For example a teacher and a student get into an argument and it’s the teacher’s fault the principle is going to believe the teacher because they don’t tell lies. So with the facts that I just stated that is why I have to say the teenage years are not what people say they are.

Kingship in Macbeth Essay

In his first appearance, King Duncan performs two of the basic duties of a king: punishing the bad and rewarding the good. Upon learning of the treachery of Cawdor and the heroism of Macbeth, he says, â€Å"No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present [immediate] death, / And with his former title greet Macbeth† (1.2.63-65). The phrase â€Å"bosom interest† means â€Å"vital interests,† but â€Å"bosom† suggests that a relationship of love should exist between a king and his subject. Soon after the witches hail him as â€Å"Thane of Glamis,† â€Å"Thane of Cawdor,† â€Å"and king hereafter!† (1.3.50), Macbeth receives the news that he has been named Thane of Cawdor. This news throws him into a reverie, in which he says to himself, â€Å"Two truths are told, / As happy prologues to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme† (1.3.127-129). Macbeth’s metaphor is dramatic, or musical; he seems to be imagining himself as making a grand entrance as king, or maybe as an emperor, a king of kings. Just as the King is commenting on the treachery of the former Thane of Cawdor, in comes the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth. The King greets Macbeth as â€Å"worthiest cousin!† (1.4.14) and says in several different ways that he can’t thank him enough. Macbeth answers with heroic modesty that â€Å"The service and the loyalty I owe, / In doing it, pays itself† (1.4.22-23). That is, it’s payment enough to know that he did the right thing as a loyal servant of the King. Then Macbeth adds, Your highness’ part Is to receive our duties; and our duties Are to your throne and state [stateliness, dignity] children and servants, Which do but what they should, by doing every thing Safe toward your love and honour. (1.4.23-27) â€Å"Safe toward† means â€Å"to secure† or â€Å"to safeguard†; the idea is that it is every subject’s duty to do everything he can for the king, both to keep the king safe and to earn the king’s love and respect. Macbeth’s speech pictures King Duncan as the loving father of a happy family, but Macbeth is already thinking about killing him. When Lady Macbeth receives her husband’s letter about the witches’ prophecies, she is only worried that her husband is â€Å"too full o’ the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way† (1.5.17-18). But she’s sure she has no such problem, and she’s eager for the chance to make him see things her way. Holding the letter, and speaking to Macbeth (even though he hasn’t arrived yet) she says, â€Å"Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; / And chastise with the valour of my tongue / All that impedes thee from the golden round,† (1.5.25-28). We might say that she’s going to nag him, but she believes that she is going to enable him to reach his potential. She will â€Å"chastise† (make him ashamed of) everything in him that prevents him from being evil enough to be king. Shortly, Macbeth appears and tells her that King Duncan will be staying with them that night. Lady Macbeth declares that King Duncan will never leave their castle alive and advises Macbeth to be a good hypocrite. He must give the king a warm welcome, the better to kill him that night. Apparently Macbeth shows a little reluctance, because she says, He that’s coming Must be provided for: and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch; Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom (1.5.66-70) â€Å"Sovereign† means not only â€Å"kingly† but also â€Å"absolute.† Lady Macbeth is telling her husband that if he will only do as she tells him, they will be king and queen, with power over all. To her, the essence of kingship is ruthless power. When King Duncan is greeted by Lady Macbeth, he makes a little joke about the social difficulties of being king. He says to her: See, see, our honour’d hostess! The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you How you shall bid God ‘ield us for your pains, And thank us for your trouble. (1.6.10-14) Duncan’s whole speech is based on our ancient custom of a guest saying something like â€Å"I don’t want to trouble you,† and the host replying with some version of â€Å"It’s my pleasure.† By saying that his people’s love is sometimes his â€Å"trouble,† King Duncan is saying that his loving people go to a great deal of trouble for him, and he’s troubled by the fact that they take all that trouble. Nevertheless, when people take trouble for him, he knows that they do it because they love their king, and so he thanks them for their love. Next, referring to himself royally as â€Å"us,† the King jokingly tells Lady Macbeth that he’s saying all of this so that — instead of him thanking her for taking trouble — she will thank God and him for giving her trouble. While King Duncan is at dinner Macbeth almost talks himself out of the murder. He reflects that King Duncan is a good king, not arrogant or selfish. Macbeth says to himself that the king â€Å"Hath borne his faculties [royal powers] so meek, hath been / So clear [uncorrupted] in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off† (1.7.17-20). The day after the murder of King Duncan, Ross speaks with an old man. The Old Man’s memories go back seventy years, but nothing he can remember compares to what has happened during this night: â€Å"I have seen / Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night / Hath trifled former knowings† (2.4.2-4). Ross replies â€Å"Ah, good father, / Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man’s act, / Threaten his bloody stage† (2.4.4-6). The â€Å"heavens† are the heavens above, where God lives, and they are also the upper regions of Shakespeare’s Globe theater. Ross is saying that the heavens frown angrily (â€Å"threaten†) as they look down upon man playing his part on the stage of life, which has been made bloody by the murder of King Duncan. King Duncan should have been honored and loved, so his murder was unnatural, and Ross and the Old Man go on to tell each other of all the unnatural things that have been happening lately. They do not know that Macbeth is the murderer, but as they speak we can see that the unnatural events reflect the contrast between King Duncan and Macbeth. The Old Man says that â€Å"On Tuesday last, / A falcon, towering in her pride of place, / Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d† (2.4.11-13). The falcon’s â€Å"pride of place† is the highest point of its flight. And the owl, which usually catches mice on the ground, went up instead of down, and killed a falcon. Also, a falcon is a day creature, and a royal companion, while the owl is an untamable bird of night and death. If things in nature stands for things in human life, King Duncan was the falcon, and Macbeth the owl. Even worse, King Duncan’s horses, â€Å"Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, / Turn’d wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, / Contending ‘gainst obedience, as they would make / War with mankind.† (2.4.15-18) A â€Å"minion† is someone’s favorite. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were King Duncan’s minions. The King showered them with honors and gifts, but they turned wild and made war on their master. Thus the point is made that Macbeth’s murder of his king is a crime against nature. Just before he sends the murderers to kill Banquo, Macbeth has a soliloquy in which he states his fear of Banquo. He says that Banquo has â€Å"royalty of nature† (3.1.49), and courage, and wisdom. Macbeth also says, â€Å"under him, / My Genius is rebuked† (3.1.54-55). A man’s â€Å"Genius† is his guardian spirit, but Macbeth isn’t being particularly mystic here. He feels that Banquo is naturally superior to him, and just being near Banquo makes Macbeth feel ashamed of himself. For example, he recalls, Banquo defied the witches and challenged them to speak to him. (In contrast, we should remember, the witches’ prophecy put Macbeth into a kind of trance, a reverie of ambition and murder.) In short, Macbeth feels that Banquo is more fit to be king than he is, and for that, he’s going to murder him. After he becomes king, Macbeth has a moment when he tries to be the kind of king that King Duncan was, humble and mild. At his feast Macbeth welcomes everyone, saying, â€Å"You know your own degrees; sit down. At first / And last the hearty welcome† (3.4.1-2). The â€Å"degrees† of the guests are their social ranks. Normally, each guest would receive an individual greeting and then be escorted to his seat, with the highest ranking person sitting closest to the king, and the next highest the next closest, etc. Macbeth tells them that they know where they should sit, and welcomes everyone at once. He will â€Å"play the humble host† (3.4.4), and sit among them, showing how friendly and down-to-earth he is, even though he is now the king. However, he can’t keep up his act because un uninvited guest shows up — Banquo’s bloody ghost. Lennox and another Scottish lord have a conversation in which both of them refer to Macbeth as a â€Å"tyrant.† It’s clear from their conversation that life under a tyrant is a life of fear and lies. Because Macbeth has many spies, they need to be careful what they say and to whom they say it. As the scene opens, they have just gotten to the point at which they are sure that they are on the same side and have many of the same thoughts. As Lennox says, â€Å"My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, / Which can interpret further† (3.6.1-2). Perhaps the other Lord nods agreement, because Lennox now launches on a string of sarcasms about Macbeth. Lennox says, â€Å"The gracious Duncan / Was pitied of Macbeth: marry, he was dead† (3.6.4). This bitter joke describes both Macbeth’s facade — that he was sorry for King Duncan — and the truth about Macbeth, which was that he was sorry for King Duncan only after he killed him. Then Lennox proceeds to ridicule Macbeth’s version of everything that has happened to this point. Banquo died because he took a walk after dark, and Fleance must have killed him, because Fleance ran away. And speaking of that, wasn’t it terrible for Malcolm and Donalbain to kill their father? And of course Macbeth felt terrible about Duncan’s murder, which is why he killed the only two possible witnesses, Duncan’s grooms. If Malcolm, Donalbain, and Fleance were in Macbeth’s power, he’d certainly teach them a lesson or two about killing a father! After a bit, Lennox drops the sarcasm and turns to the subject of Macduff. He has heard that Macduff has gotten on Macbeth’s bad side because Macduff used some â€Å"broad words† (3.6.21) about Macbeth, and because he failed to show up for Macbeth’s banquet. Does the other Lord know, Lennox asks, where Macduff might be? The other Lord does know. Macduff is on his way to the English court, where Malcolm has been respectfully received by King Edward the Confessor. Macduff has gone to plead with King Edward to help Malcolm by sending to Scotland the forces of Northumberland and Siward, two English nobles famous as warriors. If Macduff is successful, Scotland will be freed of Macbeth’s tyranny. Then â€Å"we may again / Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, / Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives, / Do faithful homage and receive free honours† (3.6.33-36). Under Macbeth’s tyranny, fear of his bloody knife darkens every moment of a person’s life. In contrast to this reign of terror, a true king is given â€Å"faithful homage† and he awards â€Å"Free honours.† Free honours are given by a king in recognition of service; they are â€Å"free† in the sense that person honored does n’t have to be a tyrant’s yes-man in order to receive them. When Macbeth seeks out the witches, he curses them, calls them hags, and demands that they answer his questions. They give him their prophecies, the last of which is that Banquo will be the progenitor of a long line of kings, stretching to James of Scotland and England. Macbeth is stunned, and the first witch says that they will cheer him up with music and a dance, so â€Å"That this great king may kindly say, / Our duties did his welcome pay† (4.1.131-132). The witch is being sarcastic. Macbeth is a tyrant, even to witches, and gave them no welcome; they repaid his angry demand for answers with deceptive and frightening â€Å"duties† — their prophecies. As the witches are the opposite of dutiful subjects, Macbeth is the opposite of a great and kindly king In England, Macduff pleads with Malcolm to lead an army against Macbeth. Eventually, Malcolm says that he will, but first he tests Macduff’s intentions. He wants to find out if Macduff wants what is best for Scotland, or just wants to defeat Macbeth. Malcolm begins his test by saying that Scotland will suffer even more after Macbeth is crushed. The reason: Malcolm will be more evil than Macbeth. First, Malcolm says that he will be so lustful that â€Å"your wives, your daughters, / Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up / The cistern of my lust† (4.3.61-63). Macduff’s response is more than a little wimpy. He says that uncontrolled lust is bad, but he’s sure that Scotland can provide Malcolm with enough willing women to satisfy him. But Malcolm goes on to declare that he’s also so avaricious that â€Å"were I king, / I should cut off the nobles for their lands, / Desire his jewels and this other’s house: / And my more-having would be as a sauce / To make me hunger more† (4.3.78-82). Macduff admits that avarice in a king is even worse than lust, but he’s sure that Scotland has abundance enough to satisfy Malcolm. Such lust and avarice would be bearable, balanced against good qualities. â€Å"But I have none† (4.3.91), Malcolm answers. He goes on to assert that he has not a single virtue that a king needs. Not only that, but he is positively evil, so evil that â€Å"had I power, I should / Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, / Uproar the universal peace, confound / All unity on earth† (4.3.97-100). After describing himself as the worst possible person on the face of the earth, Malcolm then asks Macduff if someone like him is fit to govern. â€Å"Fit to govern! / No, not to live† (4.3.102-103), Macduff bursts out. Then he laments the fate of Scotland and is about to storm off, but Malcolm calls him back and unsays everything he’s just said about himself. He is, he now says, chaste, generous, and trustworthy. In short, he wil l be a true king, not the tyrant that Macbeth is. After the tyranny of Macbeth is contrasted with the goodness of Macduff and Malcolm, we are again reminded of what a good king should be. A doctor enters and tells Macduff and Malcolm that a crowd of sick people are waiting to be cured by the English king. Their sickness can’t be cured by doctors, but only by the king: â€Å"at his touch– / Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand– / They presently amend† (4.3.143-145). The doctor leaves, and Macduff asks what disease he was talking about. Malcolm explains, â€Å"‘Tis call’d the evil† (4.3.146). (The disease is scrofula, which causes ugly swellings of glands in the neck. It was called â€Å"the king’s evil† because of the popular idea that a holy king could cure it by touching the diseased person.) Malcolm goes on to speak of what a miracle-worker the English king is. He brings God’s healing power to his people, and it’s a wonder, because â€Å"How he solicits heaven, / Himself best knows† (4.3.150). In addition to being able to heal the sick, the English king â€Å"hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, / And sundry blessings hang about his throne† (4.3.157-158). Malcolm doesn’t mention Macbeth, but the only apparent reason for this description of the English king is to provide a picture of heavenly good to contrast with Macbeth’s hellish evil. Shortly after, news comes of Macbeth’s most recent act of tyranny — the slaughter of Macduff’s innocent wife and children. When she walks in her sleep, Lady Macbeth relives the moment just after the murder of King Duncan, when her husband could do nothing except stare at his bloody hands holding the bloody daggers. In her sleep she says to him, â€Å"What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?†(5.1.37-39). Her point is that Macbeth is king (or about to be) and therefore it doesn’t matter who knows that he murdered King Duncan. She thinks (or thought) that kingly power would solve all problems, but it doesn’t save her from madness. When he is brought news of the approach of the English army, Macbeth knows that he could lose the battle, and he tries to find a way to accept defeat. In a famous passage, he tells himself that his life is not worth living: I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fall’n into the sear, the yellow leaf; And that which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. (5.3.22-28) We can see that Macbeth now understands the consequences of being a tyrant. He rules only by fear, which means that all those he rules hate him. Standing before Dunsinane, Siward, the leader of the English troops, comments to Malcolm: â€Å"We learn no other but the confident tyrant / Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure / Our setting down before ‘t†. ) He means that Macbeth seems to be so confident of the strength of his castle that he’s willing to let his enemies lay siege to it, rather than going on the attack. Malcolm replies that Macbeth really doesn’t have a choice: â€Å"Both more and less have given him the revolt, / And none serve with him but constrained things / Whose hearts are absent too† . By â€Å"more and less† Malcolm means both the nobles and the common soldiers; Macbeth the tyrant controls only those who are within reach of his sword. In the final scene, Macduff, carrying Macbeth’s head on a pole, hails Malcolm as king of Scotland and says, â€Å"Behold, where stands / The usurper’s cursed head: the time is free† . The â€Å"time is free† because they are all now free of Macbeth’s reign of terror over Scotland. Macduff then leads the men in a shout of victory and loyalty. He says, â€Å"I see thee compass’d with thy kingdom’s pearl, / That speak my salutation in their minds; / Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: / Hail, King of Scotland!† . Macduff knows that these thanes already think of Malcolm as their king, and now he asks them to join him in shouting out loud, â€Å"Hail, King of Scotland!† And so they do, honoring Malcolm, above whose head looms the severed head of Macbeth.

Lenten Candles †The Color and the Significance Essay

Lent candles have their own significance in the observance of Lent. The burning candles stands for the arrival of Christ as the illumination of the world. The shades of the candles can differ. Conventionally, three purple candles and one rose-colored or pink candle are used. The purple indicates that Lent is a period of regret as well as hope. Many churches use blue candles instead of purple ones to highlight the positive hope of the period. A candle is lit on the first Sunday of Lent with an additional one lit on every following Sunday. The blissfully colored pink candle is set aside for the third Sunday of Lent, Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete, which actually refers to â€Å"rejoice† in Latin, is the initial word of the Introit for that Sunday: Several Christians append an exact explanation to the four candles. The first candle, or the Prophet Candle, stands for the optimism and expectation of Christ’s incarnication as forecasted at so many places in the Old Testament. The second candle recalls how Christ was born in modest style, in the trivial village of Bethlehem. Therefore this candle is often referred to as the Bethlehem Candle. The third candle is identified as the Shepherds’ Candle. It brings to mind the joy of the shepherds when they left after having seen the Christ-child in the stable. The fourth candle is the Angels’ Candle. It take us back to the blissful crowd that declared the good news of our Savior’s birth.

Learning ,development- education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning ,development- education - Essay Example But as she reached the level of grade 6 her problems started. She started showing apathy for learning or in studies for that matter. From her own version it came to be known that she finds the instructional material difficult. Her inability to understand the learning material could be considered the actual cause of this gradual recoiling from studies. At this stage the main point of concern is the cause of Jenny’s decreasing grasping power or academic receptivity. Previous record shows that Jenny has no intelligence deficit or learning disability symptoms. So it is assumed that she is suffering from acute loss of motivation. At this point the transition to grade 6 or a comparatively higher educational grade has played a significant role in unnerving her. Being promoted to the senior class along with facing a new and qualitative standard of study material has probably created a mental block and as a result she has become demoralized and self-doubting. Her position can best be described as having lack of academic resilience (Martin, 2002). In education academic resilience among students is essential in persistently maintaining a standard because as one climbs to higher grades the standard of education increases and so does expectation from students. According to the expectancy value theory, students look for both motivation for success and the ‘incentive value of the goal’ (Hootstein, 1994). Jenny is facing this typical problem and as she cannot come out of it she is gradually getting de-motivated. From this point of view it could be said that Jenny has little academic resilience (Martin, 2002). Firstly she cannot understand that such a mental block and thereby loss of focus is natural and it is curable. Secondly Jenny has to develop resilience to accept failure and fight back with renewed energy. The promising part of Jenny’s case is that she has only lost her motivation that requires to be regained with proper care and guidance

Human resources Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human resources - Case Study Example The wage rates of the people marked on an industry-average basis are evaluated in terms of piece-rate system relating more to the Production workers where pieces produced by each individual are noted. Basic Workers are also rendered yearly bonuses that also depend on their merit or performance rates. The compensation program of Lincoln Electric can be enhanced through introduction of non-financial benefits like Training and Job Recognition programs and yearly Compensation Cost attributed likewise is furnished to employees (The Lincoln Electric Company, n.d., p. 569-570). Compensation package of Southwest Airlines is however found to comprise of a basic pay which is below the industry average. Additions are rendered to Basic Wages in the form of Profit and Stock Sharing endeavors where employees are rendered a part of the company’s yearly profits along with encouraging them to purchase shares of the concern. The people procure shares through allocation of profits or through a d eduction in their pays. Other performance recognition and reward programs are also generated financial or non-financial in nature to enhance the Total Compensation Package. ... 586-587). Benefits and Services The Benefits and Services rendered should be properly planned and executed by the organization to match the demands and aspirations of the employees through the process of employee surveys. Innovation must be rendered to as to the type and range of benefits and enhancement would be rendered through comparison based on industry standards. In the process of surveys and decision-making ventures related to benefit planning both the employees and the union bodies must be taken into consideration. Finally having decided on the benefits based on the cost structure it must be adequately communicated to the beneficiaries to help them optimize and gain on present and future opportunities (Sims, 2007, p.484-485). Range of benefits and services rendered to the staffs in Lincoln Electric contain both financial and non-financial categories. In financial category benefits related to medical insurance and retirement financing schemes are on the cards. Non-financial be nefits consist of meals obtained from the office cafeteria at concessional or discounted rates. Again the employees receive insurance for disability or accidental reasons from the Employee Association body. The company also renders right to older employees to procure stocks of the company wherein they gain on dividends same like the external shareholders. However the executives of the company are devoid of other perks like parking facilities and reserved washrooms and eating zones (The Lincoln Electric Company, n.d., p. 571-572). Southwest Airlines is also found to render a host of benefits to the employees both financial and non-financial in nature. The financial benefits that consist of a range of insurance benefits related to medical, life, disability, mental needs and

Globalization and the maritime world in the twentieth century Essay

Globalization and the maritime world in the twentieth century - Essay Example Marc indicates that cargo ships were the major systems of transport and were used load and offload goods (166). The goods in this context had different destinations throughout the world. This concept simply explains that globalization was taking place as the goods were sent to different places. The world was soon becoming smaller thanks to the development in the maritime industry. Marc explains that the shipping lines ordered for larger ships that would be used transport the aluminum boxes that were the standard containers (202-21). Additionally, the development of the maritime industry saw the modernization of port cities to accommodate the larger ships (Marc 191-201). The author also argues that in the 1980s computers ventured in as well, that led to a containerized system (Marc 125). A closer analysis of this fact would be said to have shaped the global economy through innovations in the maritime industry. Miller backs the work of Marc by arguing that globalization is historical and can be rooted to the reality of shipping and trading. The maritime world, in his thought, was the major reason behind the global interconnectedness (Miller 11). In the twentieth century, for example, there were a lot of Eurocentric exchanges in the sea. There was the existence of a global maritime system where European ports were constructed, shipping lines as well as partial networks (Miller 12). This commercial maritime world played a huge role in shipping the present day world of business. The Europeans were the principal operators of the global trading and transport systems up to the 1960s. Just like Marc, Miller would argue that there is a great link between containerization, trade, de-colonization and economic growth thanks to the maritime industry and its developments. Through the works, the close correlation between the maritime world in the 20th century and globalization is evident. The process of globalization clearly went through progressions that saw the

FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCE ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCE ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example If we analyze the trend of rate of return of bonds in table 1 we get to know that fluctuation is higher than cash but on the other hand much better return is being generated as compared to cash. Average rate of return is more than double of that of cash but again standard deviation is high representing high rate of risk. Many people know about the property investments. Property investment is usually in shape of build home or any other type of building; that appreciate or devalue in value and provides a normal profits known as â€Å"rent†.Normally property investment generates a satisfactory returns as compared to cash and bonds but has more risk .According to data in Table1 the rate of reurns from year 1992 to 2006 is getting appreciated and overall average expected rate of return better than cash or bonds but inevitably results in greater risk or standard deviation. A share is companied issued legal document, which has some value in the market. Company’s Ownership can be in the shape of trade investment. Subsidiary or associate. It specifies the right of share holding pr voting power and also determines the amount of dividend to be received. Usually return from share is in the shape of dividends given by the companies. The possibility that Investor will lose money when they invest in a company that has debt, if the companys cash flow proves inadequate to meet its financial obligations.In other words risk of getting loss instead of profit is financial risk. The rate of return depends upon the risk associated with that investment. The greater the risk, the larger the return that is they are directly proportional to each other. This is one of the most fundamental relations in finance. The rate of return is what you earn on an investment, stated in percentage terms.If we analyze portfolio Kappa and Omega we can see that average expected rate of return are 7% and 8% approximately where as there risk or standard deviation is 4%

Candide by voltaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Candide by voltaire - Essay Example Voltaire maintains that the world is not perfect, and that there might be no reason or justification for the atrocities that one faces in life, such as his characters facing or witnessing tortures of flogging, rape, earthquake, and others (Voltaire). Linked to this is the concept of a God, who, in His infinite Wisdom, can justify such hardships. By denouncing optimism, Voltaire denounces the existence of God (Voltaire). He also writes against theoretical philosophy and mere rhetoric in favor of practical work and constructive thinking, for while Candide is trapped beneath the rubble of the earthquake, instead of helping him, Pangloss lectures him on the philosophical causes of the tragedy (Voltaire). This is in contrast to the happiness and contentment that Candide feels at the end when he is in his garden, and he tells his companion, â€Å"let us cultivate our garden† (Voltaire) . This demonstrates the triumph of labor over

Qualificaiton Framework Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qualificaiton Framework - Research Paper Example This level deals with detailed understanding and knowledge. Level 3 qualifications are quite appropriate for the students who wish to go to the universities or the people who wished to work independently in an organization. Level 4 qualifications involved in-depth analysis of high level of knowledge and information. This level deals with specialist learning. Learning at this level is quite appropriate for people who used to work in managing, technical, professional or development job (Watkinson 108). The qualification at level 4 is equivalent to academic certificates of higher education. Level 5 qualifications recognize the competency to increase depth of knowledge and understanding. It helps to enable to formulate the solutions to the complex situations and problems. Level 6 qualifications recognize high level of skills and knowledge. This level motivates students to generate innovative ideas to give a solution to the problem. Level 7 qualifications recognize highly developed skills and knowledge. This level helps students to provide original and in-depth responses to the unpredictable and complicated situations and problems. Lastly, level 8 qualifications recognize leading practitioners or experts in a specific field. Doctorate degree is the highest degree that is awarded by an approved educational organization or a graduate school to a skilled and most competent student (Brown 107). Generally the duration of doctoral program vary in length between 4-5 years depending on various subject areas and areas of research work. A Master’s degree is an important academic degree that is granted to the individuals who have high-order overview of a professional practice area or a specific field of study. Duration of Master’s degree vary in length between 2-3 years depending on the subject areas. A bachelor degree is an important academic degree that is conferred to a student by a university or college. This degree is provided to those students who complete

Achieve dramatic effect Essay Example for Free

Achieve dramatic effect Essay Act three is the boiling point of the crucible. How does Arthur Miller create tension and suspense to achieve dramatic effect?  The crucible was written in 1953 to highlight the atrocities of McCarthyism, the modern parallel to the Salem witch-hunts. Senator Joseph McCarthy was as determined to hunt out communists, as the Salem judges had been to hunt out witches. Like the Salem judges he sought to extract first confessions and then named of alleged associates. Refusal to denounce others in both communities could be punished as contempt of the committee or court therefore many were forced into self-preservation and started to blame others to save themselves. Most of the crucible is centered on the court and theocracy. It was these strong religious beliefs that made the town of Salem, Massachusetts, particularly disrupted by the rumour of witchcraft. Salem was an intensely Puritan village whose religion frowned upon fun; Christmas festivities were forbidden and holidays only meant that they must focus even more time upon prayer and the church. This strict upbringing, without any fun, was partly to blame for the childrens crying out. The boredom they must have suffered led to their accusations so that they may be at the centre of attention. The puritan religion at that time throve on fear of the devil and had an obsession with sin and damnation. Therefore any other justification for the girls behaviour was seen as contempt of the court. It wasnt until much later that mass-hysteria was considered and concluded to be the explanation if the girls behaviour. The cause of Mass-hysteria in this case was the group of childrens boredom; the reason for this is twofold. Firstly it led to dancing and conjuring of spirits in the wood and secondly Abigail Williams boredom gave her a need for attention. Abigails accusing of several witches caused Betty to believe she saw the Devil and a baseless belief, such as this, is often the cause of Mass-hysteria; it begins small with one person in hysteria (Abigail) but travels and inflicts more people and more people. Abigail Williams, a teenage girl, is the most powerful character in The Crucible. During the play she manages to gain control over all but one of the community. However, this person, John Proctor, subjected to Abigails power in the past as we find out later on and is the cause of much irony in act three. Abigail is Reverend Parris niece, his beliefs and his views of witchcraft change as the play progresses. He goes from being totally against witchcraft and tries in to avoid the subject to trying to convict many witches and those who try to stop the accusations in act three. I think that Parris does this is mainly for self-preservation. The first act of self-preservation in the play was made by Abigail, she accused Tituba, Parris slave. I think that she blamed Tituba because she saw it as a way out. I think that when Hale grabbed her up close and asked if she called the Devil she replied I never called him! Tituba, Tituba because it released the pressure off of her. The pressure being released and put onto Tituba meant that Abigail was free and was not under questioning. The courts procedures were very strict in Salem. There were two judges, judge Hathorne and deputy-governor Danforth. Danforth strongly believes in the court and is stubborn in his beliefs; he thinks that people are scared of the court because they are guilty. He wont listen to any reason that may lead him off his path. When Giles Corey proposes his deposition to save his wife (which said that Putnam manipulated the girls) is proposed in act three, Danforth sticks to the way he believes is right, the court. He says that he must go through the proper procedure and that he must submit his evidence in proper affidavit. Miller puts Giles deposition in the play for two reasons. I think that the first is to show how difficult it is to be heard and that they could not protest their innocence, this foreshadows the later events. I think the second reason is to create time for the judges to read it. This time creates tension as the audience are waiting to see what will happen with Mary Warrens deposition, which we know about from act two. Arthur Miller builds up the tension in act three, he uses the tension of the conflict between Danforth, Parris and Hale near the begin and throughout. Theses are three men with different beliefs, rules and procedures, to achieve dramatic effects. He does this by using the conflict to give hope in the audience that the court will crumble.  Later on in act three Miller creates tension by putting Danforth on the spot. He does this by putting Proctor on the scene with his deposition of the evidence of Mary Warren. Again Miller creates tension because we already know from act one about Marys character. She is a shy, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and subservient girl who wanted to be honest from the start. In act one she says Abby, weve got to tell. We must tell the truth, Abby! however Abigails strong, threatening behaviour stopped her from owning up, we wonder whether Abigail will do this again.

Competition in the Construction Industry: Laing O’Rourke

Competition in the Construction Industry: Laing O’Rourke Select one construction firm and explain the nature of competition in its specific market sector and discuss how it may be advised to secure contracts for future work. Laing O’Rourke is the United Kingdom’s largest privately owned construction firm; it operates internationally across a variety of different sectors within the construction industry. Formerly known as R. O’Rourke Son until its takeover of Laing Construction in 2001, Laing O’Rourke is one of the leading construction firms in the UK. The firm has a strong standing in sectors including, building, transport, power, water and utilities, mining, oil and gas. (Laing O’Rourke, 2014). This firm operates heavily in the private sector, with investments from large scale hotel operators, for example the Atlantis hotel, The Palm, Dubai; to football stadium developments, such as the recent expansion of the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. (Prior, 2014). Laing O’Rourke also engages in a substantial amount of work in the public sector, (Laing O’Rourke, 2014) however over recent years the borders between the private sector and public sector have been blurred to a point where often only a specification is given by the public sector client and the financing, design, build and maintenance is taken on by the private sector firm (Myers, 2013). This method’s popularity has soared over the last 20 years mainly due to the dwindling amount of capital readily available to the public sector and also to the public sectors keenness to utilise as much of the firm’s specialist expertise and experience. This method of public sector and private sector partnership (Myers, 2013) is known as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and is often used for projects such as schools, infrastructure, and hospitals. All types of developments which Laing O’Rourke has recently undertaken. The contracts run for roughly 25 – 30 ye ars (Myers, 2013) and so capitalises on the strengths of both sectors; the specifications and requirements coming from the public sector client, and the development and maintenance aspects being handled by the private sector firm. Because the private sector firm has had to invest its own assets into the PFI project, the public sector client pays an annual charge to the private sector firm or can allow the firm to retain any profits made from the operation (Myers, 2013). This method legally ties the contractor to the project and thus greatly increases the likelihood of the firm delivering a high quality product. As they are responsible for the maintenance and running costs, (Myers, 2013) it is in the firms best interests to create a product which will not require a great deal of additional financial input to maintain. Laing O’Rourke operates across most aspects of what Myers (2013) considers to be the broad definition of the construction industry. This ranges from suppliers of basic materials to the providers of services such as transportation and demolition (Myers, 2013). Laing O’Rourke as a whole are capable of operating across such an expanse of sectors in the construction industry through the use of subsidiary companies. These are firms or departments which Laing O’Rourke has either created within the firm itself or purchased and brought under the Laing O’Rourke umbrella and allows for an entire construction project to be completed using only one large contractor, themselves, instead of having to hire in sub-contractors and other professionals. This has a number of advantages as it means that from day one there can be excellent communication between everyone involved and consistency with aspects such as quality, pricing, budget and time management (Laing O’Rourke, 2014). Most small firms specialise in a certain aspect of construction, such as building or civil engineering (Ive Gruneberg, 2000) but not usually a multitude of aspects. Laing O’Rourke is a major firm which owns different subsidiary companies within s ub-industries which are of particularly good use to the parent company. The firm currently owns a total of 17 subsidiaries (FAME, 2014). An example of this practise would be that if Laing O’Rourke were to purchase or develop a steel fabrication firm and bring it under its control then all the steel work could be sourced from that arm of the company and sent to site at internal reduced costs instead of paying a higher price for an independent firm to provide the resources. This allows for a substantial reduction in overall cost and lead time during the construction process and would no doubt have the potential to have a positive environmental effect. Laing O’Rourke have taken this practise a step further and have delved into the mining industry. They are responsible for some construction materials from their initial removal from the ground all the way up to their installation on site. Laing O’Rourke have been mining materials such as coal, iron ore, zinc, bauxite, alumina, diamond, and copper for over 40 years in Australia (Laing O’Rourke, 2014). Since Laing O’Rourke acquired Crown House Technologies and Barclay Mowlem in 2004 and 2006 respectively (Laing O’Rourke, 2014), they have completed some of the most recognisable and both culturally and economically significant building projects in the world. The firm was responsible for the construction works for the half a billion pound regeneration project known as Liverpool One, in Liverpool in 2008 to mark the city’s celebration as the European capital of culture. The project has been hailed as a great success, improved the local economy and transformed the image of the city almost in its entirety. (Laing O’Rourke, 2014). The size and range of Laing O’Rourke’s operations position the firm in a sector of the market which can be described as an oligopoly. Cooke (1996) wrote that â€Å"Oligopolistic industries are characterised by a small number of firms accounting for a large proportion (or all) of total output.† Laing O’Rourke is one of a relatively small number of firms that is responsible for a very large proportion of all construction work. This raises an interesting point as the industry is in fact dominated by a large number of small firms (Cooke, 1996). This is mainly due to the construction industry being location specific. The resources and materials for a project may all come from static factories, but the actual construction activity itself must always take place on the site itself, such is the nature of construction (Cooke, 1996). This is even the case where an entire building may be produced using prefabricated components, the actual coming together of the parts will happen on site. This is where a firm like Laing O’Rourke will utilise the smaller, more location specific firms to aid in their efforts. These smaller firms operate in an area of the market which could be described more as monopolistic competition, even bordering on perfect competition in places. Cooke (1996) describes monopolistic competition as: â€Å"Monopolistic competition exists when a large number of firms are operating in a particular market but, unlike perfect competition, each producer offers the customer a slightly differentiated product†¦ or when firms offering a similar product are located in different geographical areas† This oligopolistic competition at the top end of the construction industry has meant that the top 50 construction firms in the UK, sometimes even the top 10, are usually the same familiar names, granted they regularly overtake one another year to year as the market can often be volatile and firms can easily lose out financially if a project has not gone well. This was touched on earlier where most of the construction work carried out on a whole is actually by a small amount of large firms. Construction can be a very lucrative business even on a small scale. Therefore the amount of money passing through the accounts of a firm the size of Laing O’Rourke is phenomenal. This section will look into some aspects of the firm’s accounts, which are readily available to the public as the firm is a limited company. Parker (1999) states that all company balance sheets are built up from three main categories; assets, liabilities and shareholders’ funds. â€Å"Assets can be defined as rights or other access to future economic benefits controlled by a company as a result of past transactions or other events.† Current assets are assets which are to not be put back into the firm. This includes mainly cash, debtors and stocks (Parker, 1999). In contrast, fixed assets are assets which are to be used in the continued operations and growth of the firm. The total assets can be found by combining the fixed and current assets. The net assets can be found by subtracting the current liabilities from the total assets. Table 1. below shows the total assets and net assets for the years 2012 and 2013. Table 1. Balance Sheet – Laing O’Rourke 2013 2012 Total Assets  £255,100,000 +  £929,700,000 =  £1,184,800,000  £250,300,000 +  £970,000,000 =  £1,220,300,000 Net Assets  £1,184,800,000  £865,400,000 =  £319,400,000  £1,220,300,000  £914,400,000 =  £305,900,000 Source: FAME, 2014 It can be seen that the total assets have dropped from 2012 to 2013, however the fixed assets actually grew by  £4.7 million and the current assets dropped by  £40.3 million. This shows that more money was allocated to be put back into the company in 2013 than it was in 2012. The net assets show a growth of nearly  £15 million. Below; Table 2 shows similar look into another large construction firm Carillion. Table 2. Balance Sheet – Carillion 2013 2012 Total Assets  £1,952,900,000 +  £1,683,200,000 =  £3,636,100,000  £2,026,500,000 +  £1,834,800,000 =  £3,861,300,000 Net Assets  £3,636,100,000  £1,661,600,000 =  £1,974,500,000  £3,861,300,000  £1,688,400,000 =  £2,172,900,000 Source: FAME, 2014 This data shows a drop in fixed assets of about  £73 million and also a drop of about  £150 million current assets from 2012 to 2013, which shows that fewer assets were allocated in both sectors, so it is possible that the firm did not perform as well in 2013 as 2012. The net assets also show a drop over the time period. This is in contrast to Laing O’Rourke, who actually increased its overall assets. This does not mean though that Carillion have less assets than Laing O’Rourke, on the contrary, Carillion, even though the firm did not increase its assets over the year, do however still have about 6 times the amount of Laing O’Rourke. Gross profit can be found by deducting the turnover from the cost of sales. Profit margin ratio can be found by dividing the net profit before tax by the turnover and multiplying the answer by 100. Return on capital employed can be found by dividing the profit before tax by the capital employed and multiplying the answer by 100, as is shown in the table (3) below. Table 3. Profit and loss account Laing O’Rourke 2013 2012 Turnover  £1,640,100,000  £1,622,400,000 Cost of sales  £1,473,000,000  £1,448,700,000 Gross Profit  £1,640,100,000  £1,473,000,000 =  £167,100,000  £1,622,400,000  £1,448,700,000 =  £173,700,000 Net profit before tax  £21,500,000  £27,400,000 Profit Margin 1.31 1.69 Return on capital employed 6.73 8.96 Source: FAME, 2014 Table 4. Profit and loss account Carillion 2013 2012 Turnover  £3,332,600,000  £3,666,200,000 Cost of sales  £2,984,600,000  £3,279,400,000 Gross Profit  £3,332,600,000  £2,984,600,000 =  £348,000,000  £3,666,200,000  £3,279,400,000 =  £386,800,000 Net profit before tax  £110,600,000  £179,500,000 Profit Margin 3.32 4.90 Return on capital employed 5.60 8.26 Source: FAME, 2014 These figures clearly show us that in both firms the gross profit figures have fallen. Also the profit margin and return on capital gained has fallen in both cases. Both firms did however make a profit over both years and the figures show that Carillion’s profit margins and return on capital gained are significantly higher than those of Laing O’Rourke. Current ratio can be found by dividing the current assets by the current liabilities. Acid test ratio can be found by subtracting stock from the current assets and dividing the answer by the current liabilities. Also the efficiency ratio can be found by dividing turnover by the current assets. Table 5. Solvency efficiency – Laing O’Rourke 2013 2012 Current Assets  £929,700,000  £970,700,000 Current liabilities  £865,400,000  £914,400,000 Current ratio 1.07 1.06 Acid test ratio 0.92 0.87 Efficiency ratio 1.76 1.97 Source: FAME, 2014 Table 6. Solvency efficiency Carillion 2013 2012 Current Assets  £1,683,200,000  £1,834,800,000 Current liabilities  £3,636,100,000  £3,861,300,000 Current ratio 1.01 1.09 Acid test ratio 0.98 1.05 Efficiency ratio 1.98 2.00 Source: FAME, 2014 These figures show that both Laing O’Rourke and Carillion’s current ratio and acid test ratios are hovering around the 1:1 mark, but both firms display a reasonably high efficiency ratio. Laing O’Rourke are at the forefront of the construction industry with new ideas and methods with regards to reducing their impact on the environment. Their current methods include cutting carbon, eliminating waste, sourcing responsibly, and implementing a stringent environment policy that should see their impact on the environment be reduced significantly. Their greatest priority though is to eliminate all accidents through their ‘Mission Zero’ policy. This policy aims to eliminate all accidents resulting in the loss of one or more shifts by 2015 and to eliminate all accidents of any severity by 2020 (Laing O’Rourke, 2014). These efforts should go a long way to improving their performance along with eliminating the bad practices often associated with the industry. To provide success in the future the firm could aim to eliminate waste from their productions entirely and endeavour to not just become carbon neutral, but to become a ‘carbon negative’ firm that will actually help reverse the effects that the industry has on the environment. Also a continued development and implementation of Building Information Management (BIM) into their projects of all sizes up and down their supply line would further increase their effectiveness and efficiency as a firm (www.bim.construction.com, 2014). References BIM Construction (2014) Building Information Management. Available from: http://www.bim.construction.com/ [Accessed 22 April 2014] Cooke, A.J. (1996)Economics and Construction. Basingstoke: Macmillan. FAME Database Ive, G.J. and Gruneberg, S.L. (2000)The Economics of the Modern Construction Sector. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Laing O’Rourke (2014) Environment. Available from: https://www.laingorourke.com/responsibility/environment.aspx [Accessed 22 April 2014] Laing O’Rourke (2014) Health and Safety. Available from: https://www.laingorourke.com/responsibility/health-and-safety.aspx [Accessed 22 April 2014] Laing O’Rourke (2014) Our History. Available from: https://www.laingorourke.com/who-we-are/our-history.aspx [Accessed 22 April 2014] Laing O’Rourke (2014) Our Sectors. Available from: https://www.laingorourke.com/our-work/our-sectors/mining-and-natural-resources.aspx [Accessed 22 April 2014] Laing O’Rourke (2014) Our Work. Available from: https://www.laingorourke.com/our-work.aspx [Accessed 22 April 2014] Laing O’Rourke (2014) What We Do. Available from: https://www.laingorourke.com/what-we-do.aspx [Accessed 22 April 2014] Myers, D. (2013)Construction Economics: A New Approach[online]. 3rd ed. London: Routledge. [Accessed 22 April 2014]. Parker, R.H. (1999)Understanding Company Financial Statements. 5th ed. London: Penguin. Prior, G. (2014) Laing O’Rourke wins Man City stadium expansion. Available from: http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2014/03/31/laing-orourke-wins-man-city-stadium-expansion/ [Accessed 22 April 2014] Word Count 2002 Business Economics Management for Construction (UBIL6Y-20-1) Page 1 of 9 Competitive Advantage: Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair Competitive Advantage: Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair This report analyses how organisations can be strategically guided towards success. The report uses the strategic frameworks; the cultural web, the VRIO framework, the value chain and the the three levels of culture to identify how organisations achieve competitive advantage. Virgin Atlantic and Ryanairs strategies are then subject to scrutiny under these frameworks to identify, in reality, how this is achieved. Competitive Advantage and Distinctive Resources; The purpose of strategy is competitive advantage. Competitive advantage emerges when an organisation enforces a strategy that creates value that is not being achieved by its competitors (Henry, 2008). The advantage becomes sustainable when competitors cannot mirror the value creation of the strategy. A distinctive resource of an organisation can be defined as a resource that cannot be imitated by other organisations (Henry 2008). Strategic Planning; Vision, Values Mission A distinct characteristic of a successful organisation is clarity over what is to be achieved. A clear purpose can enthuse employees, managers and senior managers due to the similar values they may share (Scott Jaff, 1993). A vision is the desired state the organisation aspires to accomplish, values are the core principles of an organisation and the mission gives reason to why an organisation exists (Kaplan et al, 2008). They need to be clear and concise and easily understood by all levels of the firm. Carpenter and Porras (1996) emphasised why clarity of vision and mission hold importance they suggested employees who have a better understanding of the mission and vision are able to have a greater awareness of the organisations strategy and how it is implemented. Secondly an explanation is given to staff of how strategy helps achieve the vision and mission of the organisation. Finally they offer guidance to strategy development as they guide the strategy which guides the organisation. Values create the foundations of an organisation; what the company promotes within their working culture can greatly influence decisions on every level thus a companys strategy for the future will be formed around these core concepts and beliefs. They allow the formation of the organisations purpose; the fundamental reason for existence. Case Example: Ryanair Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair are successful airline companies who achieve competitive advantage in different ways. Ryanair is a concentrated low cost airline who offers a no frills service to customers. The strategy of Ryanair is to be a cost leader. The purpose of Ryanair is therefore to provide a cheap, no frills flight service that is profitable. Vision, Value and mission of Ryanair Vision To offer low fares that generate increased passenger traffic while maintaining a continuous focus on cost-containment and operating efficiencies. Values Cost efficient = low fares low costs. Mission To firmly establish itself as Europes leading low-fares scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings of its low-fares service. Source: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/Strategy.pdf (2013). Ryanair measures its success through profit. Ryanair recorded a jump in profits towards the end of 2012 which indicates that Ryanair is achieving its purpose (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20202579). Virgin Atlantic is a leisure airline who is able to diversify into unusual leisure routes and serve different demographic locations to Ryanair. The overall purpose of Virgin Atlantic is therefore to grow a profitable airline that focusses on business and leisure markets and the quality of service offered whilst empowering staff. Vision, Value and Mission of Virgin Atlantic Vision The success of our three year strategy requires us to build on these foundations by focussing on the business and leisure markets and driving efficiency and effectiveness. Values Caring, honest, value, fun, innovation. Mission To grow a profitable airline where people love to fly and people love to work. Source: Virgin Atlantic (2013) Virgin Atlantic measures it success through feedback from both staff and customers through effective feedback systems including 360 degree feedback. The feedback received is often positive and shows Virgin Atlantic is achieving its purpose of providing an airline where people love to fly and staff love to work (Virgin Atlantic, 2013). The above examples demonstrate how vision, values and mission statement underlie the purpose of an organisation and how combining the three together form the foundation of strategy. Ryanair The first organisation to be looked at is Ryanair and how it achieves its cost leader status by looking at its culture in terms of the three levels of culture framework and by applying the value chain to analyse how they integrate the flow of activities to achieve competitive advantage Culture and its connection to strategy Schein (1988) defined organisational culture as a pattern of basic assumptions a given group has created by learning to handle problems of internal integration and external adaptation. Culture is created through the actions of upper level management in relation to what they take precedence to, what they focus on and what behaviours they punish or reward. Hall (1993) suggested culture can be viewed as an intangible resource that can be classified as an asset or competency contributing to an organisations sustainable competitive advantage as culture can hinder a strategy or make a strategy excel. Scheins (1988): three levels of culture Hatch (1993) described the model as a conceptual framework for intervening with and analysing internal organisational culture. Schein (1988) described culture as three levels categorised into: Artifacts Espoused Values Basic Underlying Assumptions. They show how deeply values and beliefs are embedded into an organisation. The model shows the degree to which culture is visible to an organisation and brings about an understanding of the way business process are carried out and what can be done to assist change in an organisation. It is used to diagnose cultural characteristics of an organisation which can then be used to develop or maintain Strategy and the strategic advantage that ensues. The table below summarises each level of culture; Three Levels of Culture Artifacts The most observable level of culture and can include business process, aesthetics of the organisation or organisational structures for example. All are visible indicators of culture but are difficult to interpret. Espoused Values They underlie behaviour and can, to some extent, determine behaviour. They are not directly observable and can include strategies, goals objectives or philosophies for example. Basic Underlying assumptions These assumptions are unconscious and often stem from values until they are taken for granted and transfer to the unconscious. Source: Williams (2012). Ryanair; Three levels of Culture The culture of Ryanair is cost efficiency which is reflected in their values, vision and mission where they create their main competitive advantage of being a low cost, frill free airline. Using the framework a diagnosis can be made of the culture of Ryanair and how this creates competitive advantage. Artifacts No complementary services are offered at Ryanair; this reflects cost efficient culture as instead they sell secondary services on flight. Head office staff supply own pens and are not allowed to charge their phones at work in the office, reflective of low cost culture. Employees pay for their own training and uniforms. Ryanair use subsidiaries to make fares cheaper, they are obtained from using local airports so the savings can be passed onto customers. Espoused Values The policies enforced by Ryanairs senior management, e.g. the policy of having to buy own uniform/ stationary equipment, reflects cost efficient nature. Basic Underlying assumptions Embedded guidelines in Ryanair; staff employees deliver a cost efficient service to passengers and they know that they are getting a frills free flight where the expectation of other airlines is to receive complimentary services. Source: Ryanair (2013). The three levels of culture demonstrate how the strategy of cost leadership is built into the culture of Ryanair culture so it becomes an unconscious process from staff and an expectation of customers. The Value Chain The value chain was first characterised by Porter (1985) and is a chain of activities that group together the main value adding activities of an organisation and can be used as a strategic planning tool. Porter (2007) described an organisation as a compilation of individually distinct, interrelated, economic activities which include both primary and secondary activities. The value chain serves as a guide for identifying the key activities within an organisation which make up the value chain that have the potential to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The competitive advantage emerges from the ability of the organisation to perform identified activities in the value chain in a superior way to competitors. Source: Williams (2013). The value chain is divided into primary activities and secondary activities which need to linked together strategically across the organisation so resources can be optimised and coordinated in a way to sustain competitive advantage. Primary activities are activities classified as products or marketing related activities. Support activities assist the primary activities and include infrastructure, human resource management, procurement and technological development. Value Chain of Ryanair The Value chain of Ryanair is a demonstration of how they integrate both primary and support activities together to create competitive advantage; Support Activities which add value to Ryanair; Support Activity:  Infrastructure Description:  Ryanairs Head Offices are minimal Support Activity:  Human resource Management Description:  Management control, limited training, Low number of staff Support Activity:  Technology development Description:  Internet booking system, Low tech marketing, Internet sales, Integration of systems Support Activity:  Procurement Description:  Outsourcing, low costs alliances The support activities defined show how they can accommodate the primary activities in a way that is cost effective. For example, Ryanairs point of sale is internet based, cutting out the middle person so flight bookings go directly to Ryanair themselves. Primary Activities which add value; Primary Activity:  Inbound logistics Description:  Quality training, Low cost suppliers, Airport agreements Primary Activity:  Operations Description:  No added frills (low cost.) Primary Activity:  Outbound logistics Description:  Fast turnaround times of aircraft, reliable service Primary Activity:  Marketing Sales Description:  Low cost promotions, Free publicity, Internet sales, controversial Primary Activity:  Services Description:  Limited resources and very basic Throughout the value chain, each activity is based around cost efficiency. Money is saved through; Providing a basic service to customers Using the internet as a point of sale which incurs lower costs as less human capital is needed Instilling a cost efficient mind set in staff through managing staff in a cost efficient manner by lowering overheads on training, uniform and fancy offices Ensuring there technology and logistics are built around time efficiency ensuring maximum usage of craft and ensuring services they offer are reliable. Source; Ryanair (2013). Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic has a reputation of quality, whether it is quality in terms of service, treatment of staff or the design of the actual aircraft. The cultural web will be used to identify how culture contributes to competitive advantage of Virgin Atlantic and how its resources are distinctive to those of its competitors. Cultural Web Strategy Corporate culture and reputation are significant, intangible resources of an organisation that can create sustainable competitive advantage. The cultural web is a diagnostic tool that looks at the internal environment of an organisation aligning strategy with culture Johnson (2000). Seel (2000) describes the cultural web as six interrelated elements centred round the paradigm (the organisations core belief) which constitutes as the work environment. The paradigm is structured on collective experiences and informs what people in the organisation do and has influence over how change should be responded to. Stories, symbols, power structures, organisational structures, control system and ritual routines are the six elements that make up the web and are the focus of strategic change. Each of the elements must be examined in order to gain understanding of an organisations culture (Johnson, 1992). Organisational culture needs to inspire innovation meaning that although culture needs to be embedded in an organisation it needs to also be flexible in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Cultural web of Virgin Atlantic The paradigm of Virgin Atlantic is reflected in their mission statement; to grow a profitable airline where people love to work and people love to fly. The core belief of Virgin is delivering quality experience. Stories; Most stories involve Richard Branson (the founder of the virgin brand) and often relate to his personality or management style and portray him as an anti-corporate, innovative hero. Rituals; Virgin Atlantics headquarters are spacious, have a relaxed atmosphere and when staff reach training milestones they and their families are invited to an event which is often attended by Branson himself. Power Structures; Most decisions and visions are controlled by a driven, close knit group of senior executives Organisational structures; Small, focussed teams that work to maintain a small company mentality inside a big company. Control; Financial and performance results are displayed for everyone to see encouraging and empowering staff to take responsibility for their performance. Symbols; Branding is smart and slick and conveys the good reputation that the brand Virgin has. Source: Virgin Atlantic (2013) The cultural web shows how the six elements interact with each other creating the core belief of quality and innovation. The VRIO framework Barney (1997) described strategic resources as; valuable, rare, inimitable and organisable. The VRIO framework is a tool an organisation can use to examine its internal environment and views organisations as bundles of resources. If these resources are correctly used then an organisation can gain competitive advantage over competitors depending on the four characteristics identified by Barney (1997) and determines whether the advantage is temporary or sustainable. Oriordian (2006) described four questions that need to be asked when identifying an organisations resources and capabilities; How valuable is the resource? How rare is the resource? Can the resource be imitated? Is the resource organised in an efficient manner? If the answer is yes to the above questions then the resource offers a competitive advantage over competitors. When analysing an organisations resources one of the following answers occur (Barney 1997); If an organisations resource is not valuable then the firm can expect to be at competitive disadvantage If the resource is valuable but not rare competitive parity is reached If the resource is valuable but not rare a competitive advantage is reached but it may only be temporary. If a firms resources are rare, valuable but not costly to imitate then temporary competitive advantage results. If the resources of an organisation are valuable rare and costly then a sustained competitive advantage will result if the resources are organised properly. VRIO framework of Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic has a number of resources that help sustain its competitive advantage over competitors. Its brand and reputation are indisputably its strongest resource whereas its customer service, geographic location (in terms of flight destinations) and human resources are a competitive advantage now, but have the risk of being imitated in the future. The VRIO framework for Virgin Atlantic shows that competitive advantage is gained from there resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable and organised. The brand name Virgin and the ability the name has to raise capital due to Virgins reputation are the resources that ensure sustainable competitive advantage is achieved. Technology, the location of where flights are available to and from and the organisational structure of Virgin are all resources that can create competitive advantage but have the possibility of being imitated by competitors which means the advantage may only be temporary. Conclusion; By exploring the strategies of both Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair it is clear that different strategic routes can be taken to achieve competitive advantage. Both organisations use their resources effectively to achieve their purpose. Competitive advantage is about creating and sustaining superior performance (Porter, 1998). Looking to the future Airline companies will be have to face rising fuel costs and an increasing demographic of consumers who have less disposable income. This could propose challenges to both organisations. Ryanair focus on cost efficiency, however, if fuel prices were to rise substantially they would have to consider ways in which they can continue to deliver there no frills flight service at competitively low price. With regards to Virgin Atlantic they would have to cater to the consumer with less disposable income by considering how they could improve the efficiency of its processes and activities to appeal to this audience. There is no right way of forming a st rategy as not one applies to every organisation. The most effective strategies are those that meet the needs of the organisation at hand.

Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father

Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father Barack Obama in his first book Dreams from my Father A story of Race and Inheritance takes his readers to a beautifully crafted journey of self-discovery. His first book was published over a decade ago and is recently re-published by Random House. It is a compelling story of not only race and culture inheritance but also of personal growth, human experience, life lessons and human nature. Obama tells his fantastic life story in a very thoughtful and reflective way. I feel this is a story of a very wisely examined life. The fact that readers, regardless of social background, cultural heritage or skin colour could find themselves in the story reminds me that as human beings as well we all share plenty of similarities and differences. About a few months ago in a very strange incident when the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates stood on stages around the nation asking who was Barack Obama? They had a very easy access to their own question if they would have read Dreams from my father. If they would have read the story they wouldnt have enough knowledge about the man who would serve as 44th president of the country but more about themselves as well. THE STORY The autobiography tells the story of the life of Barack Obama up to his admission in the Harvard Law School. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama Sr. Of Kenya, a black African and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas, a white American, who met as students at the University of Hawaii at Minoa. Obamas parents separated from each other and got divorced in 1964, when Obama was just two years old, and the reason behind the divorce was Obamas father went to Harvard to pursue his PhD but did not have money to take his family with him. Obamas father later on returned to Africa to fulfil his promise to the continent. A kid without his father, Obama formed an imaginary image of his absent father from the stories told by his mother and his grandparents. He could see his father one more time in 1971 when Sr. Obama had come to Hawaii for a month long official visit, without knowing death could be just a few away. Obamas father died in a car accident after 11 years in 1982. After the divorce Obamas mother remarried to Lolo Soetro an East-West Centre student from Indonesia, and then moved to Jakarta. When Obama was just ten years, he returned to Hawaii to get better educational opportunities available in Hawaii, under the care of his grandparents and later his mother. He was enrolled at Punahou School, a private college-preparatory school, in fifth grade where he was on of the only six black students at the mostly white school. Obama attended the school from the 5th grade until his graduation in 1979. Obama in his writes For my grandparents, my admission into Punahou Academy heralded the start of something grand, an elevation in the family status that they took great pains to let everyone know. In the school Obama met Ray who introduced him to the African American community. After finishing high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled at Occidental College, he describes his life there to be a party lifestyle with the drug and alcohol use. After two years of his party life at Occidental, he transferred himself to Columbia college at Columbia University, in Manhattan, New York, where he majored in political science. After graduation, he started a business for a year, which did not go very well, he then moved to Chicago there he worked for a non-profit community organizing in the Altgeld Gardens housing project on the South side of the city. He recounts the difficulty of the experience, as his program faced resistance from apathy on the part of the established bureaucracy and entrenched community leaders. During this time Obama first visited the Chicagos Trinity United Church of Christ only to be motivate himself to do something grand in his life. Obama decided to visit his relatives in Kenya before joining the Harvard Law School. Obama uses the experience Kenya to be the setting for his books final emotional scene. Relating the story with Obamas life the book includes a great deal of reflection on his own personal racial experiences with the Americans in the United States. A FEW RACISM FACTS I ceased to advertise my mothers race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites this is a quote from the introduction in the book Dreams from my Father. This gives the very first glimpse of the racial discrimination and racial issues faced by Barack Obama right from the age of 12 or 13. Obama still had the thrive to continue and achieve everything that he aimed for. There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white. This is during the time when he describes a job interview with a man in Chicago. It seemed that race had been a part of their discussion as the white had a certain air about himself seeing Obama being a black, but instead of getting de motivated and upset about the behaviour from the white Obama took it as an opportunity and showed what his true talent was. And at the end he was able to win the person, which was one of his many passions. It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names. Obama discusses this part of his life when he talks about his childhood and his schooldays in Hawaii. Though having a white mother Obama faced too many racial discriminations in his school days, which made him vulnerable to the whites. I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didnt speak to my own. It was into my fathers image, the black man, son of Africa, that Id packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, Dubois and Mandela. This statement shows that though being a black, Barack Obama did not get emulated with his fate to have born a black, he made it his strength and walked ahead instead of walking backwards and run away from the hardships. Despite having faced so many incidences of racial discrimination and underlying authority Barack Obama had only one thing that was unbitten and that was his never dying spirit and courage and this is what i think undoubtedly defines his leadership quality. LEADERSHIP Recently I happened to read an article on leadership qualities and how is a person fit to become a leader. To test the article I decided to experiment with few of my friends, on a casual discussion I asked them who do you think can be a leader? to my amazement the entire discussion turned into an argument whether a leader is born or made. Later on after giving the entire argument much thought I decided to jot down few of the qualities of a leader I could figure out during the discussion. The first thing that I noticed was during the entire conversation there was one friend who did not even attempt to get into the conversation, later when asked he said I dont think thats even a discussion, it was so pointless, Id rather spend my time reading Barack Obama then deciding whether a leader is born or made it is always going to be debatable, thats when I realised that a true leader never gives too much time to such discussions he rather concentrates more on developing his own leadership qualities which he thinks are necessary for his success. One of the other things that I noticed was in a group theres always a person who leads the discussion, gives it a proper flow and concludes it, this group had a leader as well, but the quality i noticed here was a leader always has followers, you take the case of Hitler, Mussolini, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi anyone in that case, they are perfect examples of Leadership and one thing that is common among all of them is they all had th eir own set of followers. Which I think is one of the biggest qualities of a leader, what is the point of leading a group when you do not have anyone to follow? Summarizing the entire incident i could come up with Five qualities that a leader possesses. They are as follows: A leader should be Intelligent Clarity in thought Forward looking Ethical Inspiring Now the important job for a leader is to display his skills or the five qualities mentioned above and at the same time inspiring people to follow. Below is a story of a great leader who doesnt have a name in history, hasnt made it big yet she is a motivation, a role model and has all the qualities for an entrepreneur mentioned above. How often do you get a chance to motivate? How often do you get a chance to touch peoples lives and make them better? Well i just came across a teacher who made it all possible, they called her Miss G. Miss G was a happy, and a fun loving human being, happily married and a perfect husband made her confident, and lively. She came from a political background and as her father she too wanted to do something for the society, she had tried a couple of things already but somehow did not interest her, or rather the work did not approve her, not getting de motivated Miss G joins the Long Island school, Long Beach to try her hands on teaching, little has she thought of what she was getting into, she would have had night mares before step forward to take the job. Her father did not approve of her becoming a teacher, he thought it was too low a profile to work in, she didnt pay attention to it, as she knew she would be able to make her father agree to her choice eventually. She started off her first day as a teacher with a group of students majorly African Americans, who were engaged in gang wars, drugs, fighting etc. She had a hard time even talking to them as they had a typical attitude to the way they lived. They were freshmen at school and obviously hated the fact. The first day she experienced the enmity amongst the students with the issue being the colour of their skin. She has a hard time controlling their fights, but gets hold of it eventually. When she walks out after the school she sees that the whites are on one side of the ground and the black on the other none of them even bothered to interact with the other colour. The very next day she mixes the different colour students within the class to break the ice amongst themselves. That doesnt work very well as many of them feel offended of their colour and stop coming to the class. She tries to figure out for days together what is it that is stopping 13 year kids to talk to each other and discriminate amongst each other due to their colour in modern America. And one day something happens that teaches her the real reason, a boy gets killed by one of the whites just because he was black, she learns the fact that one of her students called Eva was also involved in the incident. She wanted to confront the girl about it but was warned by the administration of the school to not to do so as it was against the policy of the school. She still tries to confront and learns that the blacks are ill-treated by the American cops for no reason, they were bitten up, shot and jailed just for being a black. Miss G didnt realise what to say when she was confronted with a truth like this. She knew the students wouldnt speak to her directly in the class, but she wanted them to take all their pain and sufferings out so that she could heal them and make them better human beings, because she knew, she had hope in them that they werent as bad as they were made out to be. She then came up with this really amazing idea of making them keep their journal, she asked them to write any of their experiences that were close to her heart. She told them she wouldnt read their journal unless and until they would allow her to. She offered them a closet to leave their journals if they wanted her to read them. And to her surprise everyone wrote in their journals and left them behind for her to read it. The administration of the school was strictly against all the activities that she was doing and wouldnt support her or help her even with the material she required for the class. Miss G didnt give up on the kids, she worked double jobs just so that she could provide them with the materials that they needed. But in all of this her personal life, her happy marriage had started to go on the rough track. Thus she was losing support both from her working environment as well as her husband. But with her determination and passion to make a difference to those kids lives, she continues to teach with all the hurdles and difficulties that she was facing. With all the efforts she was putting in she succeeded in making the class room a home for all the kids she was teaching. Her husband left her, the administration didnt agree with her efforts and the people around her tried every possible way to de motivate her. But she was a warrior princess despite having an emotional breakdown, the threat to lose the job, no home she never gave up or rather never bowed to the situations, she kept fighting. During the entire mess up she was going through for the first time her motivating force was her father. Her father told her I am jealous of what my daughter is being able to do, she did what I had dreamt for myself, which I think in itself is a driving force for any individual. And with the warrior she was this just added to her strength. She motivated the kids to keep their own journals, this time she motivated them to convert their journals into books. The kids already following the footsteps of their teacher readily agreed to it, and after months of rigorous work they came up with their own individual books with their own stories. Their own stories of struggle and their own stories of survival, she had succeeded. This motivated Miss G to write her own book for the kids and the experience with them. She amazingly called them the freedom writers. My Learning It is not necessary that you make it big if you are an entrepreneur, it is not necessary that the world should know what a big personality are you. The satisfaction comes from within. One if the question that i came across while reading the book was why doesnt everyone have a name in history? What is so special about the people who have made it big? the answer to the question was their intelligence. Imagine what if everyone had the same wavelength, what if everyone was as intelligent as Mr Narayan Murthi of Infosys, Mr Warren Buffet the investor, Mr Bill Gates of Microsoft, there would be a new Infosys and Microsoft coming up every day in every different corner of the world. There wouldnt have been any uniqueness in their ventures. Thus intelligence plays a vital role in what you do. Intelligence plays a vital role in what you do but intelligence without clarity of thought cannot be put to the best use. Imagine Bill Gates having an idea of launching Microsoft but doesnt know where, when and how, i think without a clear vision he wouldnt have been able to do any of it. And lastly having a vision of where you want to be sums up to all the things that are needed to be a leader. Thus a mixture of an intelligent, forward looking and clear minded individual makes it to be the best leader. Conclusion Whether its Miss G or Barack Obama, both of them had their own share of hardships and struggles one thing that kept them going was their never say NO attitude to life. This is what has made them a leader, an entrepreneur and a satisfied human. At the end of the day it is not what you do or what you make out of what youre doing, it is the learning that life offers for the present and the future. Lions sleep 18 hours a day if hard work alone was the secret to success, then donkey would have been the king of the jungle.

How To Detail Your Car Essay -- essays research papers

How to successfully detail your car. When you buy a new car it comes to you spotless, washed, polished, and dressed. After a while the bright shine of amorall begins to fade and that showroom shine is no longer at show room condition. French fries begin to gather, straw wrappers appear, the ever-present coffee stain on the carpeting and even animal hair collects all which demolishes the clean appearance of your prized automobile. When owning a new car you need to know how to reestablish that beautiful finish. The first thing you should know when detailing a car is the importance of washing and polishing the cars exterior, then comes the dreadful interior, after that is the detailed cleaning that makes or breaks the cars appearance. First you must pick a perfect day to detail your car, the weather must be fair the sun should be blocked by the occasional cloud or two and for your comfort it should be mildly warm out. Pull the car up to a shaded area close to a long garden with water pressure to spare. Make sure the windows are closed, and then begin to pre-rinse the car to get any easily removed dirt off of the car, not doing this will result in scratching of the paint when washing with soap. Second you should later up a nice bucket of car wash and with a knotted hair glove thoroughly scrub every inch of the cars paint and windows. If some of the dirt or squashed bugs from fast highway travel get some bleach-white car cleaner and with a bug pad apply the cleaner directly to...

Economic Growth :: Economy Economics Governmental Essays

Economic growth is the most important study in economics today. The first book on economics was by Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations the full title was the Inquire Into The Nature And Sources Of The Wealth Of Nations. â€Å"Economic growth determines a countries future, and economic growth in the past determines a countries present as far as it’s material values are concerned.† (Buechner Recording) So every material value of the modern world is a result economic growth in the past, or your standard of living is the result of economic growth in the past. Economic growth in the future will determine whether or not there is rising or falling economic wealth, and coordinated with that whether or not the standard of living in the future continues to rise or fall. For example: In 1870 England was the leading industrial power of the globe, and as a consequence it also was the leading political power of the globe. According to M. Northrup Buechner the real wage rate in England is estimated to have been about 50% higher than the real wage rate in other European countries at that time. (Recording) It was about 1870 because of the rise of statist policies and ideologies that rate of growth in England started to lag behind that of the other European Countries. It didn’t lag a lot Buechner states the statistical estimate was less than one percent a year, however for a period of 10 or 20 years that’ll make a difference hardly anybody would notice. Yes maybe so, but if you compound that interest rate over 100 years what you get is what you see today. England is essentially a third rate economic power, and the real wage rate in England today is estimated to be â€Å"about 33% less than the real wage rate in other European countries.à ¢â‚¬  (Buechner Recording) In 1870 the United States in 1870 was an economically backward, internationally insignificant, and unimportant country in the world with respect to matters regarding foreign affairs. According to Buechner it was about 1870 when the United States embarked on a growth rate of over 5% percent a year, which was sustained for a period of over 40 years. (Recording) No country in the history of the world matched that record. At the end of that period about the time of World War I the United States took Britain’s place as the leading industrial power of the globe.

Chris Rock: Niggas vs. Black People Essay

This paper addresses the identity that is constructed of African-Americans through Rock’s language use of racial speech and taboo language. It also attempts to portray Rock’s function of the skit and the controversial attitudes that arose, including my own. 1. 0 Introduction ‘Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you’. Unfortunately for Randall Kennedy this limerick held no connotation that he wished to acknowledge, as he recites his Mother’s words, he finds himself in war with a word, a word that for every African-American is at the core of inflicted pain; Nigger. Kennedy narrates his Mother’s experience during the era of the Jim Crow segregation, ‘I have been called nigger to my face on a couple of occasions by people who sought to convey their racial hatred or contempt for all blacks including me. ’ (Kennedy, 2002) This word for Centuries, although has been at the centre of normalisation and empowerment in recent years, is the definition of prejudice assigned by white supremacists. Racial discourse has changed over the years, the media has been at the frontline of these changes along with the law and democratic societies yet the word nigger still remains a temperamental taboo, its history foreshadows it and no matter what context the word may be used in, its cultural inheritance warrants its preservation. (Kennedy, 2000:3) A man that attempted to manipulate its detrimental meaning was the illustrious comedian Chris Rock. Rock is known for his politically incorrect humour and his fight to tackle racism and his 1996 HBO special, Bring the Pain performance is what give him his contentious status today. ‘Niggas vs. Black people’ is a twist on street culture vs. working class; it is a linguistically controversial skit that portrays how boorish behaviour feeds racial stereotypes while including his own personal assessment of the state of Black America. Rock empowers the word nigger and attempts to change its injurious meaning. The pain this word has caused the African-American community has been an expedient one, compromising the dignity, identity and representation of their race. Rock intends to fight and abolish the pain and with this is calls his performance, ‘Bring the pain’. 2. 0 Laughing Matters The intrusion of laughter is an ideal that is sought after by many comedians; it is the notion of laughter that holds profound significance amongst its audience. It gives society and the individual access to the truth, truths which become identifiable from a different view point, ‘laughter serves as a means to understand both what is found in the world and what is found within the individual. ’ (Gray & Putnam, 2009:18). Without laughter fear would not be defeated and fears of the truth would not be overcome, with this society becomes reliant on laughter, it gives a sense of belonging, understanding and serves as a joint understanding and belief. (Clark, 1996) This idea of the truth is based upon Bahktin’s theoretical view on laughter, as Gray and Putnam (2009: 18) state, ‘Laughter is also a defence mechanism against external realities that contradict our inner truths. ’ These truths and fears are identified with concepts such as, racism, politics and feminism. 2. 1 Encapsulating the audience To capture Daniels’ (1989: 15) phrase when discussing the subjectivity of humour, ‘it’s funny because it makes me laugh’, highlights individual social ideologies, each individual has their own set of attitudes and beliefs and this therefore contributes to the success of an anecdote, whether or not it fits with ideological views is at the core of an audiences’ hilarity. It would be deemed accurate to acknowledge that comedy is maintained and controlled with ideological boundaries in mind however at the same time, the genius of comedy derives down to comedians pushing these boundaries, this disrupts social order and it advocates change and ridicule’s power rather than reinforcing it, which relates back to this notion of identifying our inner truths. According to Daniels (1989: 15), he states that comedy is not achieved through content alone, however when picking apart the history of African-American comedians on black comedy; it is in fact the content alone which becomes a pandemic with the characteristics of the comedians talk that sets off the entire performance. Dating back to the Minstrel era – the pioneers of comedy today, ‘Bert’ Austin Williams took stage to be the first black American to take a lead role on a Broadway stage, Williams first became noticed in Vaudeville as a successful double-act â€Å"Williams & Walker†. Williams and Walker were a success for the black community, their acts were a representation of their race but they entertained white audiences by delivering acts that included content which demeaned their race: using words such as, ‘coon’. At the risk of criticising the African-American race, they still, at the expense of their careers performed for the white audience and their expectations. This stereotype of African-Americans is one that became a collective ritual of rhetoric complaint and occurrence. In 1951, a TV show called ‘Amos ‘n Andy’ came to our screens but was cancelled in 1953 due to complaints from the NAACP (National association for the advancement of coloured people), who acknowledged the programme to be only one representation of black folks. ‘Stereotyping is a process of selective perception by which the complex character of experience is filtered and simplified into fixed categories. ’ (Daniels: 1989) Parallel to these representations of African-American figures in the media, notions cited from Daniels (1989:3) are those of Halls who profoundly highlights, ‘[t]he depiction of blacks in popular media is restricted to a repertoire of basic images – the slave, the native, the entertainer – as only certain traits and characteristics are selected for emphasis. ’ Black people were subjected to the notion that as a cohort they were portrayed to be the same as one another; having no original identity as an African-American as there were no other representations of the black cultural community. Comedians such as Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy were just a few of many that fought against these racial negative stereotypes that were portrayed within the media. In 1984 the introduction to ‘The Cosby Show’ was set across our screens. ‘The idea of The Cosby Show which was rejected by ABC, they felt that America was not ready to accept the concept of an intact, black middle-class family. ’ (Crenshaw, A) The Cosby Show declared positive attributes to the black stereotype in opposed to the black sitcoms that came before it. Although the success of The Cosby Show dispelled negative perceptions of the black community the initial idea was thrown, which contributes to racial segregation in American at that time during the 80’s. However, the typical black family perception did change as a result of ‘The Cosby Show’ and opened the doors for many comedians and sitcoms to come. ‘The fresh prince of bell air’ and comedians such as Chappelle and Chris Rock were the start of a new generation of insurgences. 3. 0 Rock’s linguistic segregation ‘Now we’ve got a lot of things, a lot of racism going on in the world right now. Who’s more racist? Black people or white people; black people. You know why, cause we hate black people too! Everything white people don’t like about black people. Black people really don’t like about black people. ’(Rock, 1996) In 1996 Chris Rock took to the stage with his controversial stand-up skit ‘Niggaz vs. Black People’ at the HBO special Bring the pain performance. Like Bill Cosby, Rock too was in attempt to eradicate negative perceptions of the black community but a way in which engages with a diverse group of audiences, to do this he interplayed cultural and linguistic taboos to mock ideological perceptions of African-American identities. Rock’s main aim of the debated skit was to diminish stereotypes that were apparent amongst the American public, this notion from white supremacists that African-American citizens are categorised to be ‘all the same’ was, in Rock’s eyes about to be obliterated. Rock proclaims ‘Nigga’s’ to be in clear detachment from working class African-Americans, whose bad behaviour is giving detrimental negative images towards other ‘black people’, his attempts to deliver vital messages in a comedic format is a portrayal of Rocks adamant intention to not allow a minority of troublesome individuals tarnish the image of the African-American. ‘Every time black people wanna have a good time, ignorant ass niggas fuck it up. ’ (Rock, 1996) His immediate intention is to of course eliminate racism not promote it, however from the view point from an audience member who are a collection of a variety of different races, the question to whether he reached out to all individual members is debatable due to ideological boundaries and beliefs, as discussed in (2. 1). Rock opens the show with Irony, it draws a ‘white’ audience in and takes members of the public by surprise; an African-American man is standing on stage telling his audience that black people are more racist. He has now captured communities of different races, whether that being good or bad he has his audience seized. He identifies his own community and creates a separate identity to others within the ‘black’ community; he takes these remarks made by the media, ideas that are created amongst groups of people and verbally throws it back allowing the power of discourse to be retained within the African-American community. Rock attempts to take on a social discourse, giving the ideology ‘Nigga’ a new contentious status, separating it from working class African-American citizens. In congruence to this, Gray and Putnam (2009:19) states, when referring to Chappelle’s ‘Exploring Niggerdom’, ‘[C]hapelle succeeds in appropriating a terminology that has previously been held in the hands of the whites. By using language for his own purpose, with his own nuances and intentions, Chappelle takes back the power that whites had originally given to that language. ’ The key notion that is represented here is power within language, although Rock attempts to capture this power as Chappelle (2003) successfully did, a small percentage of Rocks audience failed to connect to his language use decorously because of this Rock never performed that skit again. Some critics state that the ‘black’ community was offended while others felt they too had the public authority to say the ‘N’ word. 3. 1 The ‘N’ word; Nigger. ‘There’s black people and there’s niggas and nigga’s have got to go. ’ (Rock, 1996) The term ‘nigger’ is one many do not wish to publically celebrate, it is derived from the Latin word ‘Niger’ and has transformed over Centuries to hold different connotations; throughout history, the term ‘Nigger’ has been a frequent occurrence, its use is, ‘[e]mployed to impose contempt upon [blacks] as an inferior race’(Kennedy, 2002:5) It has even been employed upon children with nursery rhymes, one that may be commonly known is, ‘Eeny-meeny-miney-mo, catch a nigger by the toe, if he hollers; let him go, eeny-meeny-miney-mo. ’ Paradoxically, ‘Nigga’ is a phrase that is now used frequently amongst ‘black’ people, becoming a term of friendly salutation and even empowerment; it is comedians, rappers and hip hop entertainment that have created this discourse. However, what Rock does with the word is give the term a negative perception to emphasise distinctions between social groups regardless of their race. Terms such as, ‘Nigger’, ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’, are commonly known to be censored words, taboo words, words that when used today in a western society become intertwined with concepts of face and politeness. (Goffman, 1967; Brown & Levinson, 1978) Face-saving views of politeness start from this idea that humans are rational agents who are conscious of their language choices. (Brown & Levinson, 1987; Clark, 1996; Grice, 1975; Locher, 2004) Both interacting participants, for example H and S, would have an interest in maintaining each other’s face but often have to commit to face-threatening-acts. (Brown & Levinson, 1987) Face threatening acts can threaten the independence of ‘H’s’ face and the face needs of ‘S’s, (Locher, 2004: 66) in relation to this concept, when Rock uses racist speech and taboo language he puts his own face at risk, which knowingly as a comedian it is a risk that threatens the involvement of their face. When Rock uses commonly heard taboo language, there is a higher chance, as it has been heard before, that the audiences’ face needs are not jeopardised, however when using racial speech, for instance when Rock makes reference to the ‘KKK’, there is a possibility that face needs are threatened, whether that be the African-American community or the white community; it seems Rock knew that his language use would threaten the face needs of some of his audience members as near the end of his performance he exclaims, ‘Man, why you got to say that? †¦ It isn’t us, it’s the media. The media has distorted our image to make us look bad. Why must you come down on us like that brother? It’s not us, it’s the media. ’ (Rock, 1996) Rock in this sense does not blame the media for the corrupt behaviour of what he calls ‘Niggas’, he blames the cohort minority that are giving African-Americans a bad reputation. However to oppose this analogy Van Dijk (1992: 513) brushes upon racism in the press and offers examples to emphasis the ideas that are represented within the ‘black’ community. ‘We have racism too – and that is what is behind the plot. It is not white racism. It is black racism†¦ But who is there to protect the white majority? †¦ Our tolerance is our strength, but we will not allow anyone to turn it into our weaknesses. ’(Sun, 24 October) The black community do have an arguable point when feeling face-threatened by Rocks notion of Black people vs. Niggas, as clear evidence of discrimination is shown within Newspaper articles such as these, but Rock emphasises that it is the unruly, uneducated, minority of black people that are giving the community a bad name, he then puts himself in the shoes of a white person, comedic irony again, by being a part of the KKK and feeling threatened at night when drawing money out ‘at the money machine’. What is so fundamental about the article above is the correlation in language use within Rocks opening performance and the beginning of the article, two very similar introductions with two very different intentions and it may be perceived potentially by some members of Rocks audience that it was interpreted in ways that are incongruence to articles such as these, articles which are in denial of racism. The controversy caused by Rocks excessive use of the word ‘Nigga’ led him to remove the piece from his act; Jay Washington (2012) stated that in a 60 minute interview Rock said, ‘By the way, I’ve never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will. Cos some people that were racist thought they had license to say nigger. So, I’m done with that routine. ’ 4. 0 Cultural Impact The cultural impact made by Rock’s 1996 performance of Niggas vs. Black people has been an pragmatic one, Barack Obama made reference to his skit in a Father’s Day speech in 2008, it also made television as ‘The office’ did a censored take on the monologue and audience members watching his 1996 performance still will laugh at his Ironic satire sketch. I certainly did, although Rock removed the piece from his act due to ‘overusing’ the word ‘N’ word, his hidden intention was genius. Rock was trying to give this word a new meaning, eradicating its history of contempt, he was trying to stop stereotypes of African-American people and push boundaries of the ideological perceptions within the audience. Rock’s intention was to unveil a hidden truth, a truth that may be covered up by fear but must be defeated with laughter. (2. 0) Why should Rock not use this word and attempt to give it a different connotation, his ancestors were victims of slavery, his parents were victims of discrimination and ridicule why should he not poke fun at true racists by empowering the tern ‘Nigger’ and giving hardworking African-Americans the voice to be disassociated with the word? A reference cited from Gray and Putnam (2009: 23), is a quote that correlates with my notion, Elizabeth Ludwig states, ‘[c]learly, if comedy is an expression of abjection, then it must be an expression of one’s own abjection. ’ I feel Rock exerts his right to use this word, despite its negative media responses. It is true racists that watched this sketch and felt that discrimination against black people was now acceptable, which is a shame because I feel what Rock intended to do was try to educate the thoughts of people who were of different ethnicities and it seems that the minority of these different racial groups let them down. Rocks main purpose was to target minority groups and bring to their attention to antiquated notions of stereotyping. 5. 0 Conclusion Rock is a linguistic comedic prodigy; he faces racism head on and delivers his content in such a confident manner that he encapsulates the audience and brings cathartic laughter from a masochistic inheritance. He draws upon truths, pushes ideological boundaries and empowers racial speech; this language use constructs a distinctive identity of working class African-Americans which is separated from the minority of gang culture which is influenced by bad behavior. Although the term nigger is used in a way that contradicts is ideological meaning and portrays positive perceptions of working class African American citizens, the term can be portrayed differently from different perspectives in the audience. ‘I think people who use the term nigger in their speech should bear the risk that listeners overhearing them will misunderstand their intentions. ’ (Kennedy, 2002:146) The truth about the ‘N’-word is that even as a euphemism the term should still be redundant due to historical context, the way in which the word has been empowered gains nothing but positive attributes however I feel its connotative history foreshadows its use and no matter who attempts to manipulate its meaning its history will always remain. References Brown, P, & Levinson, S. (1987) Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P. Chung, J. (2002) The Burden of Laughter: Chris Rock fights ignorance his way. 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(2009) The comedy of Dave Chappelle: critical essays. McFarland; USA.