Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use Policy Artiesha Artis CIS 462 Security Strategies and Policy Professor Darrell Nerove October 20, 2012 Working in many different arenas while pursuing my degree in Computer Security has opened my eyes to many things, one thing that I have noticed is that some companies felt that they were immune to data breaches. I have worked in smaller organizations that just didn’t have the knowledge to protect their network against security breaches.One inexpensive and very productive way to counteract lack of resources or know how is with an Acceptable use police. An acceptable use policy is not put in place to snoop on individuals rather than to protect the businesses assets. The AUP (acceptable use policy) that I want to focus on is one that governs internet usage. Acceptable use policy regarding internet usage normally includes information about websites that are off limits as well as defining a scope for what sites are allowed to be accessed for personal surfing.Most AU P’s are put in place to protect the company’s employees, partners and the company itself from any illegal or damaging actions by individuals knowingly or unknowingly. Confidentiality, integrity and availability are the founding stables of insuring that information is secure. An acceptable use policy enforces confidentiality, integrity and availability by limiting access and disclosure to authorized users — â€Å"the right people† — and preventing access or disclosure to unauthorized ones — â€Å"the wrong people. , as well as requiring employees to authenticate themselves in order to control access to data system resources and in turn hold employees responsible if violations occur under their user id. The company that I presently work for has an acceptable use policy it purposes is to highlight an outline the acceptable use of the computer equipment and systems that we are granted access to. It is always stated throughout all the acceptable use policies I have seen that users must be aware that data created on corporate systems are property of the company.Employees are to exercise sound judgment regarding personal usage of computer systems. To be quite honest the AUP at my current organization is very straight forward and what I consider to be week. It is literally a blurb in the handbook that states that the internet systems are for business purposes only, and that the company observes the right to monitor the usage of the software. I can only think of a few reasons why the AUP at my organization is so brief.I work in the healthcare industry and because we deal with a lot of member information we are more concerned with HIPPA violations. In conjunction with HIPPA we also focus on making sure we remain in compliance with the HITECH act. Since there are other rules that we become preoccupied with the focus is no longer place on the AUP at my job. You will notice although there is no strict regards to an AUP at my place of employment there are filters and blocks in place so that certain websites are not able to be accessed.I have a few ideas on how I would implement a better AUP at my place of employment. I would first conduct a current policy review. By performing an audit of my current internet usage policy I would compare it with what I want my new policy to be. Taking into careful consideration the degree of policy enforcement required. Next I would want to gain visibility of your network traffic. Using a Web traffic assessment tool, such as a proxy appliance, to identify and monitor Internet traffic and to identify specific areas or groups that are engaging in inappropriate or excessive Web use.This would allow me to analyze how much time users and user groups spend on the Internet during an â€Å"average† workday and what policies may need to be implemented. I would then concentrate on working collaboratively with all departments to enforce my end goal concentrating on the departments that have a bearing on the companywide Internet use policy, especially human resources and IT ensuring that there are no mismatches between the policies established and the ability of the network infrastructure to support them.After all this is completely then we would need to test my new policy by conducting an exercise with key users when the policy is at a draft stage. This will ensure that the policy is both practical in terms of achieving its objectives and sufficiently flexible to accommodate change or emergency situations. Then I would create a plan for announcing the new Internet usage policy throughout the organization to ensure that employee communication is well managed, the policy is understood and the restrictions imposed are fully justified.This would include denying access to Internet resources until users agree to accept the new policy. I would then ensure monitoring employee use is automated through Web monitoring software. I feel it would be a waste of human resou rces to assign a person or team to monitor the Internet activities of all company employees as a supervisor I know that there is just no time for looking over someone’s shoulder. Web monitoring software would provide efficient and comprehensive reports and data can be accessed within minutes.Stricter automation would allow management to set boundaries for site browsing, prevent downloading and installing of software and has multiple scanning engines to ensure that allowed downloads are free of viruses and other malware. By controlling downloads and browsing in real-time, the network is protected from malware. There is also the prevention of data leakage through socially-engineered websites and it also helps reduce cyber-slacking, thus boosting employee and business productivity.In order to increase awareness of the importance of AUP and the need for them I would hold formal companywide training. I would also have quarterly reviews on what to do if. I have always believed that the only way for end users to truly embrace and understand the importance of any new policy or procedure implemented is to make them part of it, so during training I would ask for suggestions on how the employees feel they could make things smoother or easier and I would advise them to keep an eye out for violations.Having individuals keep an eye out on violations is the more challenging part of it all because no one wants to be a snitch but in order for any policy or procedure to work well to its fullest all wheels have to turn in the same direction. Of course the responsibility of reporting violations won’t be solely on staff because I would want monitoring in place to assist with that.AUPs are put in place to protect a company's data assets and confidential information while also safeguarding employees and maintaining standards concerning the use of the Internet during working hours. Implementing Web monitoring software is an investment in security and could prevent emplo yees from cyber-slacking or abusing the company's trust with work-related information. By implementing and enforcing a solid AUP and providing ongoing, end-user education and training, a company can minimize risk, allowing them to focus on growing their business ather than the need to repair it. ? References Gaskin, J. E. (1998). Internet acceptable usage policies. Information Systems Management, 15(2), 20 Johnson , R. , Merkow, M. (2011). Security Policies and Implementation Issues. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett. Palgi, R. D. (1996). Rules of the Road: Why You Need an Acceptable Use Policy. School Library Journal, 42(8), 32-33. Siau, K. , Nah, F. , & Teng, L. (2002). ACCEPTABLE INTERNET USE POLICY. Communications of the ACM, 45(1), 75-79.

Overcomming Cultural Challanges Tyco Case Study

CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION Student : Odirile MachaDate : 15 October 2012 | 1. Tyco Employees’ Frustration turnaround3 2. Tyco’s Strategy to Overcome Cultural Change barriers5 3. Tyco’s CEO: Rebuild corporate reputation: Message package to Employees8 4. Issues emerging in communicating change externally: Tyco Case10 5. Bibliography12 * Tyco Employees’ Frustration turnaround (Gerard & Teurfs 1995; Palmer et al. 009) urges that practice dialogue is commonly used combat issue of culture in an organization or community, the practice consist of four components defined: a) First rule, the participants must suspend the attachment to their own position and judgements regarding each other. This allows participants to be more accepting to others perspective. b) Second rule, participant must identify their underlying assumptions on the matter at hand. ) Third rule, participant must listen actively to each other; remain actively present during the sessions. d) Final rul e, participants must reflect in order to uncover deeper issues and create a profound level of understanding. Transformation of culture can be measured or realised, as urged by Gerard & Teurfs (1995), byatransformed participant behavior, by the morale or feeling with the organization and by the attitude of collaborations instead of individualism.The purpose of response to question seeks to establish: the similarities in between the approach taken by the Turnaround team and the practice of dialogue; and also evaluate the outcome inline with the perceived results of a transformed culture. These similaries between the Turnaround team’s approach and practice dialogue, categorized into three stages of using dialogue in problem solving , a view supported by Gerard & Teurfs (1995). Stage 1. Problem Identification (Gerard & Teurfs 1995; Palmer et al. 009) urges that the first stage seeks to identify problems early and assist the team in setting their priorities. a) The general assumpt ion made is that Breen was part of the Turnaround team, and the fact that he never commented about Kozlowski’s past behaviour, is in line with the first step of practice in dialogue, where the participant suspend the attachment to their own position and judgements regarding each other. b) The turnaround team (Breen), communicated in a letter to the employees and shareholders, Tyco’s commitment to reinvent its credibility and integrity.This message was all inclusive not directed to any particular individuals, and that qualifies to the second rule about assumptions about each other’s commitment. The problem was identified to be lack of credibility and integrity leading to frustration of employees at Tyco, which were centred on the ethical behaviour that existed during the last CEO’s tenure, which brought uncertainty to the future of the company. Stage 2. Problem Solving (Gerard & Teurfs, 1995; Palmer et al. 2009) urges that the second stage seeks to underst and the problem, generate solutions, and make decisions. a) The approach to communication, by the turnaround team, in defining Guide to ethical conduct of employees. Instead of defining just Code of ethics rules. The team built guides with illustrative which were meant to make the code easier to read and understand, this is in line with the third rule in dialogue, where the participant should remain active during the sessions, and absorb the messages consistently. ) The message was package in local languages across different cultures and delivered through meeting (â€Å"if you want to change the hearts people about their ethical behaviour, you must bring live to this document†), instead of sending the documents to all operations around the globe, the Turnaround team choose to deliver the message in meeting (face to face), to gain active participation and also get feedback on the assumptions the team made in line with the first and second rule. The turnaround team did make dec ision to changing the executive team and infrastructure related changes.The team also made a decision on the implementation approach. Stage 3. Implementation (Gerard & Teurfs, 1995; Palmer et al. , 2009) urges that the final stage seeks confirm that the group behind the change will support the final decision and be committed to it. a) The implementation was done in meetings, with the message packed in videos and corporate management making visits to Tyco sites, which is in line with the third rule for developing a profound understanding is achieved. b) Management site visits also build a profound understanding of issues in line with rule three.The fact that corporate manager visit site and dialogue issues with management brings a degree of trust, releasing a lot of frustration that the employees had. c) The implementation involved further training of 20,000 personnel, localising trainers who went further provide input further refinement of the massage blue print for targeted destina tion, these refinement were published, this is in line with rule two and three, on understanding problem and getting commitment. d) The organisation gained an improved Governance metrics of international rating from 1. in 2002 to 9. 0 in 2005, and was consider being the most dramatically improved. This improvement is in line with the third rulewhere the result demonstrates the team fully understood the problem and prescribed a fit solution. The Turnaround team were fully committed to the change and the results were observed to have a positive impact on the organisation as a whole. The outcome can be measured though positive energy on the employee as the managed to produce positive result in profits and improved ratings. Tyco’s Strategy to Overcome Cultural Change barriersGhemawat (2001) urges that distance from an area of comfort of doing business (base country) always has in impact on the overall strategy, and that the impact of distance on industry and product is based on t he country specific characteristic defined: a) Culture (C) covers different ethnicities, lack of connective ethnic or social networks; different religions and different social norms. b) Administrative (A) covers aabsence of colonial ties; absence of shared monetary or political association; Political hostility; government policies; institutional weakness. ) Geography (G) covers physical remoteness; lack of a common border; lack of sea or river access; size of country; weak transportation or communication links, differences in climates d) Economic (E) covers differences in consumer incomes differences in costs and quality of: natural resources, financial resources, human resources, infrastructure, intermediate inputs, and information or knowledge. Tyco’s global strategy will have to address these international issues, if they are compete internationally because challenges differ from one country to the next, a view shared by (Grant, 2010).The other part to this question, is to develop a strategy that will assist in overcoming cultural barrier that faced Tyco, Hill & Hernadez-Requejo (2011) urge the best way for a Tyco to deal with cultural bariers is to develop a Cross culture litetracy, use country specific input and use local content. Cross Culture literacy Hill & Hernadez-Requejo (2011) urges that for international company to succeed in doing what they do, they must adapt to conform with the value system and norm of that culture.The adaptation must cover the following: ways of dealing with negotiation, incentive pay system, organisation structure, products naming, labor and management relations and product promotion concepts to avoid cultural conflicts associated with cultural differences (Hill & Hernadez-Requejo 2011). International companies in other countries, must learn more about the countries and cultural values (Hofstede, 1980; House et al. , 2004), and how these will affect their business.Tyco’s strategy to overcome culture barriers hin ges on understanding the cultural values and differences that exist in each country, and (discovered that these values are deeply embedded in people who work in these organisation. (Hofstede, 1980) confirms that values are held the moral behaviour of people and how they ultimately perform in their organisations. The strategy seeks understand the values identified by (Hofstede, 1980): Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance; Masculinity vs. Femininity; Individualism vs. Collectivism; Long vs.Short Term Orientation; and then identify the mis-alignments and adapt to the new cultural values without compromising the organization value system, a view by Hill & Hernadez-Requejo (2011). a) Power Distance Local Manager should be equipped to with the relevant skills to handle prevent, guard against and deal with issues influence by socioecomic status and power that may exist in the community within which Tyco operates, a view supported by Hill & Hernadez-Requejo (2011), to ensure that organisat ion key objectives are met. b) Masculinity vs. FemininityLocal manager should be empowered to align that the organization observes community or individual values governing the gender based differentiation in masculine based country and the contrary, a view confirmed by Hill & Hernadez-Requejo (2011), to ensure that organisation key objectives are not compromised. c) Individualism vs. Collectivism Local Manager should be empower to align that the organization observes community or individual values governing collectiveness society where family ties are strong to an extent where employee cannot be separated with their families and conform where possible and the contrary should be observed. ) Uncertainty Avoidance Local Manager should be empower to align that the organization observes community or individual values associated how they view uncertainty and ensure proactive communication to avoid instance of uncertainty that may affect corporate objectives. e) Long vs. Short Term Orienta tion Local Manager should be empower to align that the organization observes community or individual values to stay in the same job for short or long term, and make sure the build contingencies that are cost efficient for the organization.The strategies must be broken down into initiatives that can be easily followed and delivered, with proper measures and timeline, a view by Palmer et al. (2009). Tyco’s CEO: Rebuild corporate reputation: Message package to Employees Corporate reputation defines, how the organisations perceived by all its internal and external stakeholders and it is always linked with trust and credibility, a view shared by Grates (2005), who further confirms that a loss in the company (Tyco) trust and credibility destroys its reputation and is difficult to restore.The current situation at Tyco, with the former CEO on trial, has lowered the reputation of company. According to (Collin 2001; Hughes et al 2012), it take a long time for a company to build its rep utation, through delivery of sustainable proof before the stake holders can endorse it as a positive reputation. The crisis situation that Tyco is in, have been identified and there reputational issues that needs to be managed to avoid further damage.There is an immediate need to communicate with, internal and external stakeholder, and the message content should contain the following as guided by [Reputation-Risk of risks: Economist Intelligent Unit]: * Concerns – As the CEO,I have to communicate and acknowledge the challenges that Tyco is faced with; own up to what has gone wrong; and express regret and concern, a view supported by Palmer et al (2009). * Commitment – As the CEO, I have to communicate a plan to fix this problem and share in detail an action plan with clear timelines, a view supported by Palmer et al (2009). Control – As the CEO, I must demonstrate that we are in control of the situation and that we are liaising with the relevant authorities invo lved to bring the situation under control a view supported by Palmer et al (2009). It is imperative, as the CEO, to break news earlier to employees and keys stakeholder [Reputation-Risk of risks: Economist Intelligent Unit], before the other sources share information that is ambiguous and could shake up the stakeholder and affect the companies operation.It is however important to also acknowledge indeed some business operation and resource will be affected and also provide a medium that could be used by also sources to provide feedback. Any questions that are asked must be responded to consistently with the message shared by the CEO. As the CEO, it is important to step back and reflect on my personal reputation and professional conduct, are tightly tied to the reputation of the company. The decision made should be consistent, as confirmed by [Reputation-Risk of risks: Economist Intelligent Unit], with the messages that are being put across as the turnaround strategy.There should be transparency on actions taken, as confirmed by [Reputation-Risk of risks: Economist Intelligent Unit] that affect people, and information about plans should be share promptly. Palmer et al (2009) urge that it is within and through communication that changes occurs and as the CEO, it is ideal to explore the change methodologies that are effective for internal communication with staff. There are four types of change approaches, which can be used draw up the speech acts as defined by Palmer et al. (2009): Initiative conversation – this focuses on the need for change depending on the situation, in the event that something has happened already or before it occurs. In the case of Tyco, the initiative would be based on what the organisation seeks to undertake to address the problems that have been identified. The message will contain assertions (what need to be in aligned with governance issues), request (to establish reforms to achieve objective) and declaration message (about new targets) going forward: * Conversation for understanding – meant to provide employees with greater appreciation of change issues and problem areas.The conversation would seek to establish on clarity solution proposed to target the challenges and beyond. * Conversation for performance – focuses on producing the actual change required, at Tyco, this would be the time to implement all the promises Tyco committed to deliver on aligned to the plan shared with stake holders. * Conversation for closure- is an indication of the completion of the actual change, this is where acknowledgements are made to deserving participants, and rewards are disclosed ad celebration ensued.The CEO cannot carry out all these activities on his own but requires to have people with the right skills in the right jobs, people with the attitude to lead the change and these people have to be carefully selected a view by (Collin 2001; Hughes et al 2012). The CEO still remain accountable but provide gui dance in direction to ensure that what is delivered is consistent with the commitments made. Issues emerging in communicating change externally: Tyco Case Palmer et al. 2009) urges that external oriented communication can be categorised into two parts: communication with external stakeholder that relates to internal organisation changes; and where there is need to handle a crisis situation. In Tyco case is more associated with the crisis situation and the communication was done with a letter to internal and external stakeholders, and the message promoted credibility; integrity; and promoted a culture of accountability, the question seek to find out how effective communication was to external stakeholders.Palmer et al. (2009) urge external communication is different from internal communication is a number of respects, it address issues relating to: justification decision made; assurance over an allegation made; downplaying statements made (concealment) ,or reassurance that matter are under control. Issue emerging from the case: a) Hiring a new CEO, is a also consider a major event in rebuilding the reputation of Tyco, that required external communication. [The road to reputation recovery: Burson-Marsteller] ) The Tyco letter Breen spoke to reassurance and commitment to change. The message was carefully crafted because at the time there was not much to give out, as the trial was still on-going. The message seek to reassure the employees and shareholders that; Breen and his team were committed to addressing issues relating to credibility of the corporation internal and external stakeholder but is does not layout the intervention and the time it will take to restore the integrity.There was no apology from the CEO about recent bad publicity; it is as if nothing major has happened at least resentment would have been enough. [The road to reputation recovery: Burson-Marsteller] c) The changes done at board and executive level were fitting of external communication esp ecially the appointments new executive members and board, because reputation issues affecting Tyco, were more to deal with the CEO’s leadership and board and between the two they are both responsible for the wellbeing of the organisations reputation. The road to reputation recovery: Burson-Marsteller] d) Guideline developed for internal employees relating to interaction with suppliers and partners would have been something that worth external communication, this was a good initiative as it commits Tyco to a good corporate principle. [The road to reputation recovery: Burson-Marsteller] e) The fact that Tyco, consider best practice models Sigma, was the right move as it demonstrated Tyco’s desire to improve the corporate performance, this move was worth sharing externally if it does not compromise their competitiveness. ) The fact that Tyco, consider engage in an audit and the performance rating was improved dramatically, it was worth going public on the results, this su rely is some reputation builder according to [The road to reputation recovery: Burson-Marsteller], and this was worth acknowledging and celebrating. g) The fact that the turnaround of Tyco, was well completed within five years and that the corporation managed to payout dividends worth 2. 09 billion, was not communicated externally well enough, but it some positive development for the shareholder.The corporate media for public communication and information sharing were not well explored [The road to reputation recovery: Burson-Marsteller] Bibliography Busson-Marsteller (2009). The road to reputation recovery. [Online] Available from :< http://www. CEOgo. com/documents/RR_01_10_05. pdf >[Accessed 13 October 2012]. Economist Intelligent Unit, the (2005). Reputation: Risk of risks [Online] Available from :< http://www. eiu. com/report_dl. asp? mode=fi&fi=1552294140. PDF&rf=0>[Accessed 13 October 2012]. Gerard G. & Teurfs L. (1995). Dialogue and Organizational transformations†, in community spirit: Renewing Spirit and Learning in Business, Kazimerz Gozdz. San Francisco: New Leader Press. pp. 143-53. Ghemawat, P. (2001) Distance Still Matters: The Hard reality of Global Expansions. Harvard Business Review, 79 (8), pp. 137 -147. Grant R. M. (2010). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. 7 ed. United Kingdom. Wiley and Sons. Grates F. G. (2005). Hold on tight:  The Reputational Pull of the Automotive Industry. [Online]. Available from: < www. instituteforpr. org/downloads/330> [Accessed 13 October 2012].Hill, C. W. L & Hernadez-Requejo, W. (2011). Global Business Today. New York, McGraw Hill/Irwin. Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA. Hughes , L. R. , Ginnett, C. R. , Curphy, J. G. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of Experience. 7th Ed. Singapore, McGraw-Hill companies. Palmer I, Dunford R & Akin G. (2009) Managing Organization Change: A multiple perspective approach. 2nd ED Boston, McGraw Hill International. Elsevier LTD.

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Vocabulary - Assignment Example First, the teacher will make sure that the students sit at the front of the class, where they can hear as much as possible of what the teacher is saying. Secondly , the teacher will speack with as high voice as possible and thirdly, the teacher will speack to the students individually, to confirm that they have heard and understood what is being talked about and what is expected of them. The teacher will explain to the students that they will take a test on their sentence construction skills to see how good they are in creating sentences with vocabulary. The teacher will explain the significance of this test and explain to the students that they will then get to learn how to construct senstrnces and have a retest. The teacher will explain what is about to be done by the student. The teacher will also give a brief background so that the student can connect what they have learnt in the past with what they will learn in this particular lesson. To begin with, the teacher will introduce the book as follows; Today we have a new chapter that we are going to learn. The topic is interesting and everyone is going to enjoy this. In the past, you guys learned about English vocabulary and even learned the meanings of these vocabulary. Today, you are going to use these vocabulary to build sentences. This should be interesting for you because sooner than you know, you will be writing interesting stories. The book we are going to read is not new to you but the chapter we are going to read may be new to you. I dont know whether any of you have tried to read ahead of the teacher and gone to chapter seven of 2nd Language Acquisition and the Younger Learner? (wait for the class to respond and act accordingly) After that, the teacher will ask the students to open chapter seven of the book, where the teacher will give a number of examples on how to construct senstences, and then ask the students to do the same. The teacher will explain to the students the

The City Hall of Los Angeles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The City Hall of Los Angeles - Essay Example The pride of the nation is clearly manifested by the fact that the top of City Hall's tower was designed to resemble the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The City Hall of Los Angeles is another building that represents the pride of a powerful nation in the 21st century just as El Escorial stood as a sign of a great nation in the 16th century. These two structures served their purpose of showing to the world what the country they represent was capable of doing in terms of arts, engineering, and science and technology. There are several aspects where we can equate this two architectural figures against each other. We can examine as to their purpose and usability, the motive of its conceptualization, the approach and styles the structures were developed, and their respective contributions to the history of architecture and structural engineering. This essay digs down into the essence of these facts and would try to explain them. There maybe other landmarks in the United States and the world greater than the City Hall but once in recent history it brought pride to the nation because of its structural magnificence and proportion. Besides, this structure also represents the advancement of a nation in terms or economy, culture, and science and technology. ... The building of such enormous structure serves to remind the nation of its capabilities. Speaking of the structure as a show of economic might, the LA City Hall is built in a highly progressive city within an economically superior state which is part of a super powerful nation. It represented the government being the based of its management and operation. It was built from materials obtained from different parts of LA which clearly show that its creation is a pooling of everyone's pride. The building stood in a place where nature is so unfriendly LA being in a fault and a seismic hazard. Yet it rose to the top undaunted by this geologic challenge. The gamble could only be best when the sophistication of modern architecture combined with science and technology warrants more that fifty percent of survival. It indeed survived the challenge, proof to that is it still exists today. As further evidence to the technological advancement of its structural systems, the seismic retrofit at Los Angeles City Hall was selected as a winner in Buildings magazine's 2003 Modernization Awards among other awards and citations. One important culture of the people that pushed for the building of LA structure is risk taking attitude. Taking the challenge in a rational way and making use of creative thinking and harnessing available resources and good minds makes nothing impossible. For the creative developers some things are just difficult but never impossible. Added into its pride was designing the top of City Hall's tower to resemble the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Today with continuous upgrading and reinforcing the LA City Hall survived the challenges of times. Newer structures around the

The implementation of Occupational Health and Safety Act Essay

The implementation of Occupational Health and Safety Act - Essay Example 1990, CHAPTER O.1 PART III.1; 32.1-32.4). The plant is covered under the Industrial Establishment regulation of the OHS act (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 851, s.3.). The Ontario act and the regulations for industrial establishment The plant has an open layout. The layout is segmented into various sections where specialized work is carried out. The circular saw is located in the carpentry and joinery section. Although the plant employs 50 workers, only about 10 employees are trained in the use of the circular saw. The circular saw used is an electrically powered saw. It uses its own electrical outlet and cannot be operated by any other means. It was first installed about 8 years ago by the manufacturers and is fully owned by the company. There are 5 circular saws in the work area; two are with radius of about 10 inches and the others about 8 inches in diameter. The circular saw has procedures of use that details maintenance time-lines, hours of operation and troubleshooting. Above all the designers and manufacturers have outlined in the operation manual that only authorized persons should operate the equipment. The manufactures have also suggested a restricted work area. (i) Pre-use: there is no operational checklist prior to use of the circular saw. ... (i) The area is not clearly marked as a restricted area. Un-authorised personnel usually occupy it. (ii) The work area is not clear of debris such as dust and wood chips. The sanitation and maintenance is performed at the discretion of the operators, usually after long periods. (b) Employee Training The manufacturers (designers) have provided training manuals for the equipment. However, (i) Newly assigned workers including temporary workers do not receive the prescribed level of training before operating the saw. (ii) Workers from other sections of the plant frequently use the saws without training or supervision. (iii) Training updates on use of the saw is not scheduled for any of the workers. (iv) The manuals of operation for the section (including for circular saw equipment) are not in full display therefore are hardly referenced by employees. (c) Maintenance of Equipment Regular and periodic maintenance is prescribed by the manufacturer of the circular saw. The assessment of the equipment maintenance is as follows: (i) Pre-use: there is no operational checklist prior to use of the circular saw. Therefore the saw is not always checked for lodged bits and chips stuck under the blades. The saw is not checked for performance before use e.g. there is no testing of emergency stops. (ii) Post-use: Debris from operating the saw is not cleared from away. Guards are not always deployed to restrict blade movement during cleaning. Electrical power is not turned off during post operation use. (iii) Manufacturers have completed a scheduled maintenance of the equipment. (d) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) The use of PPE is left to the discretion of the workers. An assessment revealed the following non-compliance: (i) The

Teaching Techniques Essay Essay Example for Free

Teaching Techniques Essay Essay Software Development is one of the main courses that I often teach. In order to teach this course to my students at undergraduate level, I use an eclectic approach by combining various teacher-centered and student-centered teaching techniques. In fact, due to the nature of this course, both theoretical education and practical work are required (Damian, Hadwin, Al-Ani, 2006; Dubinsky Hazzan, 2005; Gnatz, Kof, Prilmeier, Seifert, 2003). Therefore, teacher-centered techniques are not sufficient, and some student-centered techniques should be employed to fulfill the requirements of this course that is a key subject for software engineering students (Catalano Catalano, 1997). In general, my teaching strategy for this course consists of four different elements, including: a briefing session, teaching and explanation sessions, laboratory sessions, and a final project. While the first two elements are mostly based on teacher-centered techniques, the other elements absolutely focus on students’ activity and participation (Felder Silverman, 1988). Each of these components will be discussed in the following paragraphs. With this regard, the related teaching techniques used in each stage of my teaching are justified. The first stage of my teaching is based on lecturing, in which students are introduced to the subject and its significance. I start with a brief introduction about software development methods and their usage. This stage gives students a big picture of the whole course and they get the idea of the subject. I usually try to keep this stage short so that students do not get bored with my lecture. Then, I continue the course with the next stage that includes teaching and explanation sessions. For this stage, I use exposition and demonstration together with case study and Socratic (QA) techniques. I teach software development methods one-by-one in different sessions. For each method, I use Guided Discovery (talk and chalk) approach to provide students with the basic knowledge they need to understand that specific method. Then, I will try to elaborate more using real-life application examples. To engage students in my teaching sessions, I give them some case studies followed by QA, so that they get better insights and learn where and when to use that method for software development. After this, students are prepared for practical work in the upcoming stages of the course. The next two stages of the course are based on some useful student-centered techniques, namely: guided discovery, group work, and a sort of role-playing. Laboratory sessions are aimed at providing some hands on experiences and supervised activities. Hands-on experiences are essential for students to learn and practice some procedures that they need for their development projects (Gnatz et al., 2003). During these sessions, I explain a simple system to them, and ask them to think about the most suitable method for developing the required application. I try to involve each and every one of them in finding the best solution. Then, they will be asked to draw the related diagrams using the popular UML software (Larman, 2002). These supervised activities are also helpful for me to effectively identify their strengths and weaknesses so that I can plan accordingly to address their needs. The final stage of the course is a group work mixed with some role-playing. Students are divided into groups to do a software development project using what they have learned during the course. Although, they choose their group members themselves, I use my assessments from the previous stage to make sure that there is a fair balance in all groups (Damian et al., 2006). Then, I assign a project to each group, and they choose a project manager among them. Groups are given a dead-line to plan for their projects. Project managers are responsible to present the project plan of their groups and justify the method they used for development as well as their time-line and work-load distribution. This activity will simulate tasks performed by software development teams in industry. Moreover, students will learn and practice team-building and team-work skills, which are very important for their future career. Usually, after a successful delivery of their projects, students are motivated to become part-time developers to extend their skills while making revenue for themselves. Overall, the eclectic approach that I use for teaching Software Development course, help my undergraduate students to gain both knowledge and experience they require to carry out for developing different kinds of software such as web applications or mobile apps, which are highly demanded these days. References Catalano, G. D., Catalano, K. C. (1997). Transformation: from teacher-centered to student-centered engineering education. Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference, 1997. 27th Annual Conference, Teaching and Learning in an Era of Change. Damian, D., Hadwin, A., Al-Ani, B. (2006). Instructional design and assessment strategies for teaching global software development: a framework. Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Software engineering. Dubinsky, Y., Hazzan, O. (2005). A framework for teaching software development methods. Computer Science Education, 15(4), 275-296. Felder, R. M., Silverman, L. K. (1988). Learning and teaching styles in engineering education. Engineering education, 78(7), 674-681. Gnatz, M., Kof, L., Prilmeier, F., Seifert, T. (2003). A practical approach of teaching software engineering. Proceedings of the 16th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training, (CSEET 2003). Larman, C. (2002). Applying UML and Patters: An intr oduction to Object-oriented analysis and design and the Unified Process, Prentice Hall, ISBN: 130925691.

Tescos Market Position Analysis

Tescos Market Position Analysis This is a report on Tesco PLC which is one of the largest grocery and general merchandising retailer in the UK and in other countries around the world. Tesco is the third largest retailer in the world; the first two largest retailers are wall-mart which is also known as Asda in the UK and Carrefour which is a French international retail organisation. Tesco is the 2nd largest retailer in the world in comparison of profits which is leaded by Wal-Mart. This report looks at the organisation on how it was formed to how it has become successful around the UK and the rest of the world. Tesco is a highly reputable organisation which has been growing over the last 8 decades and is still growing. Tesco is a highly profitable organisation and evidence has been shown of this in this report. In this report I will use a range of models and strategic analysis both internal of the organisation and externally as well as strategy formulation. I this report I have use a rage of model and tool to demonstrate what TESCO is all about. Tescos has over 4,330 stores around the world but mainly around the UK. In this report I have used the strategic tools like PESTEL, Porters Five Forces, SWOT analysis and a value chain analysis. 2. Background how and when TESCO was introduced and its current position in the market Tesco initial was founded by Jack Cohen early in the 1920s. The brand was initially named when jack Cohen bought a shipment of tea from T.E.Stockwell and by using the initials of T.E.Stockwell Cohen added the first two letter of his surname to create the brand TESCO. The first Tesco was open in 1929 in the north of London in the area of Brunt Oak. Tesco first started by selling food and drinks and over the year has diversified its product range from clothing, insurance, telecommunications and retailing and renting DVDs to online services like music download and software. The organisation has also diversified geographically as it is a well known brand around the UK which was the primary focus to the rest of the world and is now operating in 14 major countries around the world. TESCO is on the London stock exchange as the FTSE 100 Index which shows Tesco is one of the 100 most capitalised organisations in the UK. In 2009 Tescos has staggering revenue of 54biillion and the organisation employs over 472,000 employees worldwide. Tesco have over 960 Tesco express stores around the UK which sell around 7,000 products which include fresh food around the Tesco express local stores. Tesco also has around 170 metro stores which sell a diverse range of food products around city centres. Tesco currently has over 450 superstores which Sell all their product rage including services such as DVD rental and Tesco Mobile. Tesco provides financial services called Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) as well as providing broadband internet connections.  The position of Tescos in regards to shares with other market leaders have been put into a PIE chart below: Market share Tesco ASDA Sainsburys Morrison Others % of market share 30.60% 16.60% 16.30% 11.10% 25.40% Fig 1: Share of leading organisations in UK Food Retail Market 3. PESTEL Political With the immersion of 10 more countries in the European Union (EU) in 2004 had promoted the trades between Western and the Eastern European countries (BBC, 2009). This has allowed Tesco to expand in the retail markets around the EU. Last year it was signed off by Tesco with china that Tesco will be able to open a chain of shopping malls in China. This joint project included three main malls to be built in Qinhuangdao, Anshan and Fushan. A total of 18 hypermarkets were also expected to open this year. This information was provided by Tesco last year. The growth of the international market is on the rise and is predicted to account for 25% of the companys profit. In the Straits Times 2010 article it is motioned that due to Chinas accession with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) it has promoted a free flow for foreign trades this was done by removing all barriers which would encourage companies from the west including Tesco to make it way to the most profitable market which would encompass over 1.3 billion people. Economic The economic factor is a point of concern for Tesco since the UK was officially declared as being in the recession in 2008. This has affected the consumers directly as they became insecure about their financial income. The buying behaviour of Tescos customers meant since the recession consumers were more selective on what they bought. The reduction of the interest rates helped in the reduction of the growth of unemployment in 2009. As a result the spending power of the consumers in on the rise again as people became more secure about their financial positions. However there is still allot of people under threat and so are likely to spend less money on the ready prepared meals, this will affect the sales value and the profit margins adversely. On a positive note in regards to the recession consumer are more likely to cook at home compared to eating out and this would have a positive effect on the amount of sales in the grocery retailers like Tescos. Consumers are less likely to cut down on food expenses instead the percentage of spending on food has risen over the years. Below is a graph showing this form Euromonitor 2010: Fig 2: The % of UK consumers spending on food from 2004 2008 The economic recession has been brought to radiance with the help of the following GDP growth graph since 1990 (BBC news 2010): Fig 3: UK GDP Growth 1990-2010 Social In an analysis UK population it shows that there are more people in the UK who are retired compared to the children in the UK. The elder generation tends to eat less and tend to travel less to supermarkets compared to the younger generation. It has been predicted that the internet shopping is more convenient to the elder generation but due to the low amounts of food required by the elder generation deliveries are less profitable. In the recent decade the number of people choosing has increased and Tesco have identified this and have increased their product range to meet customer demands. Payments by cheque and cash were 1st made achievable by Tesco. Technological One of the main macro ecological variables that have inclined the supply chain, operation and process of grocery and food retailers is technology. The operations of supermarkets are being affected by the use of services like internet shopping. Internet shopping has been growing and is still growing in the UK. The subscription of internet has developed by over 50% and it is estimated to have 70% of UK being users of the internet. (Office for National Statistics, 2010). The use of loyalty schemes which are used by online retailer helps to retain customer as people are discouraged to shop elsewhere (Sun, 2009). Online shopping is also available on phone so people can shop anywhere at any time. Due to the increase of the access of broadband internet shopping is increasing in the UK. 15.5 million Number of users is in UK who is broadband users and this account for 70% of the total market (Keynote 2010). Environmental The environmentally friendly solution of reducing packaging is promoted by the UK Government. In a study by the Office for National statistic, the number of people using reusable bags has raised by 3% from 71% to 74% and those consumers using normal bags and are trying to cut down has also increased from 65% to 68%. This has helped in reducing the cost and it also good for Tesco CSR image. Tesco has recently started adding carbon footprint data to dairy product, orange juice and potatoes and plans to expanding this data onto bread and non-food items in the future (Tesco 2010) There are customers who are reusing bags, recycling old mobile phones and aluminium cans and also prefer bagless deliveries. These customers are being awarded for their contributions through the Tescos Clubcard points (Datamonitor, 2010). Supermarket Tesco have put wind turbines on one of the stores roof this produces enough energy to run all 15 tills. Fig 4: Consumers actively being Green 2007-2010 Legal Due to the rise of the VAT in January to 20% by the government to reduce the budget deficit, Tesco non-food products will be affected such as clothing and electrical goods. In recent years the national minimum wage has been increased by 15.5% this has increased the supermarkets running and operating costs. Porters Five Forces Analysis Threat for substitute products and services In the retail market the threats for grocery retail products is low compared to non-food products. Substitute food products are available from local convenience stores and shop but are not seen as a threat for Tesco as Tesco is able to provide higher quality for lower prices due to buying power and other factors. Tesco are also opening express stores which take most of the business form local convenience stores. The threat for non food items is high as consumers are inclined to by discounted products like clothing form other retailers, however due to the recession Tescos is benefiting compared to the specialised clothing outlets. Threat of entry of new competitors Threats in the food retail industry are low for new competitors. To succeed in the food retail market a huge investment is required to be competitive against Tesco or other food retailers as the new organisation would have to build a brand name. Major retailer of food like Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury account for 80% of shopping for food in the UK (Mintel 2010). In order to compete against the established brads the new brad must either produce a higher quality or sell the product for lower prices or even both to be any threat to the big players. To gain permission from the local government to establish a new supermarket could take a considerable amount of time so therefore there is a key barrier for new entrant in this business. Intensity of competitive rivalry Competitive rivalry is quite high in the food retail industry. Due to the high level and the growing levels of rival market shares Tesco is at risk of losing its market leadership. All the major competitors like Asda Morrisons and Sainsbury have had an increase in the market share for 2009-2010. All the major retailers are being very competitive against each other as they are always lowering prices and promoting products. In the rural areas of the UK consumers are inclined to go to places like Somerfield and Co-op due to the distance of the major retailers. The highly discounted food products from retailer like Aldi and Lidl are inclining customers to go there especially in times of financial difficulties due to the recession. These retailers have grown by 25% during 2008. (Keynote, 2010). Bargaining power for buyers The Bargaining power for the buyer is high. Consumers are inclined to buy cheaper products and with the use of the internet for comparing product prices consumers are inclined to switch to cheaper alternatives. Where products are more standardised and have little differentiation consumers can easily switch from one brand to a different one. Bargaining power for suppliers Bargaining power for suppliers is low Suppliers are attracted to sell their products to major retailer like Asda and Tesco as the supplier would not want to lose their contacts with these major suppliers due to their selling power and so the negotiations with suppliers are strengthened and the major retailers are likely to come with a positive outcome when it comes to buying at lower prices. Detailed SWOT Analysis Below I have done a SWOT analysis for Tesco. Strengths Tesco is the 3rd largest retailer in the world. Tesco holds 30.7% of shares for the UK grocery market. In a research done by Datamonitor 2010 Tesco has a turnover of  £54 billion this in an increase of 14.9% compared to 2008. Tesco has done this by customising products and services to meet the demands of the consumers. Tesco has focused on reducing product prices without compromising on quality. Online services in the non-food retail market; Tesco Direct has seen an increase by 50% (Tesco, 2010). Tesco has retained its customer with the use of Clubcard. The information from Clubcard has been used to promote products and other promotional techniques. Fig 4: Tesco annual Growth in Key Performance Indicators Weaknesses Tesco has not performed well over the last year compared to the competitor in a report by Mintel (2010). A large number of goods were recalled which has resulted in finical loss. This has also had negative impact on the brands image. The main operations of the organisation are in the UK where it is recorded more than 75% of its revenue is generated in the UK in 2009. This was mentioned in a report by Tesco (2010). The organisation lacks geographic diversification and this shows a key weakness for Tesco to systematic risks of the UK market. Opportunities In a report by Mintel (2010) it is recorded that Tesco have opened over 620stores in 2009 and 435 of them were in international locations. The geographic growth will help the firm to improvising its economy of scale, while it is also reducing the exposure of the systematic risk. In the Guardian (2010) it is mentioned that Tesco.com has over 1 million customers, this has provided the firm to attract new customers which is helping to increase profits due to overall costs. The company is focusing in expanding geographically; this will strengthen its global market position. Tesco has signed off a new deal with Tata group which is one of the major industrial organisations based in India (Daily Mail, 2010) The food retail market is expected to grow from  £125 billion in 2009 to over  £145 billion by the year 2014 as it is important to have enough food. (Euromonitor, 2010) Threats Due to the reduction to consumers income and the rise of unemployment the buyers behaviour is affected and non-food products are being adversely affected. Tesco has been the market share leader for over 15 years and is now facing difficult times due to the intense competition of its competitors like Asda and Morrisons (Mintel, 2010). Bellow is an abridged SWOT analysis of which can be summarised in the illustration below: Fig 5: Tesco reduced SWOT Analysis Value Chain Analysis for Tesco The value chain shows the strength and weakness in the value accumulation process. The value chain for Tesco has been illustrated below: Fig 6: Value chain for Tesco Primary Activities Inbound logistics The primary stage of the value chain is where the opportunity arises to create value for the business. The first stage is known to be upstream for activities. Inbound logistics is where products are bought from the supplier and are and are handled and transported to the shelves. Tesco adds value by maintaining the level of choice while it is also improving the efficiency of distribution system. Quality control measures are taken to remove the damaged goods and reducing the cost which may be incurred to its consumers. Operations In the day to day running of the stores Tesco has to maintain its service levels by selling the products and services and making sure they are open for business in accordance to their trading hours. Tesco would have to also make sure products are available on shelves for their day to day business, this is done overnight daily. In order to keep their competitive advantage Tesco may have to consider opening more hours or even opening metro and express stores. To do this Tesco must seek permission from the council and sometimes this may not be possible, this would take away their competitive advantage. Outbound logistics Outbound logistic is the third stage of the value chain and Tesco add value by providing deliveries to customers. Tangibles such as parking facilities, trolley collection, staff at till and systems are also used to gain the competitive advantage by saving time of consumers if done properly. The implementation of trolley deposit stations and keeping them orderly helps customers to get to and from the stores premises allot quicker as well as making these facilities available to use. Marketing and sales The marketing and sales side of the value chain is more downstream. The Tesco club card provides discounts and help to keep customers loyal. Tesco also advertise on the radio, newspapers as well as TV adverts to attract customers with their pricing and promotions available. In regards to selling environmentally friendly products there are some constrains however Tesco can take advantage of this by providing products that are environmentally friendly which could help attract new customers. Support Activities Company Infrastructure To help maintain the price of the products the implementation of security systems are in place as well as anti fraud systems to prevent people acting fraudulently. To reduce costs departments such as profit protection are employed by Tesco to reduce losses. The reduction of crime and its prevention helps Tesco keeps is low prices low. Human resource management Human resource management would be regarded as a downstream activity. The job of HRM is to make sure staff are recruited and trained properly so benefits are passed to the customers. Tesco are always trying to maintain is high level of customers service by putting in programs for employees which are performance related. Employees are paid more by providing a better service to its customers and so employees are encouraged to do this. Technology development This activity is also downstream and Tescos ability to provide product ranges which are new and innovative products has to be maintained. The product vitality adds value to the brand of these products. Conclusion The report has clearly showed the success of Tescos from a small enterprise to a large PLC. Tesco success depends on their brand name which has always been evolving. Tescos brand name has hit the world like a virus but mainly in the UK. Tesco have managed to get the right message across to its consumers by making sure their CRS was to focus on their stakeholders. In order to succeed in the future Tesco has to diversify its products ranges and also diversify geographically as it has done over the last 8 decades, this will continue to create new customers as well as retaining its existing customers. Also to continue to succeed Tesco must adapt to any changes which may occur like a change in the services like broadband, BT have started to install fibre optic to increase its broadband seed. If Tesco wants to continue to grow its must adopt to all changes in real time, not only with this help retain customers as the services and products are up to date but this will also attract new customers. The strategy formulation for Tesco is to continue to learn. Large organisations like Tesco the strategy should be analysed and implemented on all levels of the hierarchy. The strategy of the different levels must be common throughout the hierarchy in order to have the competitive advantage. http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/retailing/Bottom of Form Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form

Bhp Revitalizes Its Global Management :: essays research papers fc

BHP Revitalizes Its Global Management Summary of the article by David Forman "BHP REVITALISES ITS GLOBAL MANAGEMENT," Business Review Weekly, April 17 1995, page 24-26. BHP is setting up the required management to handle a rapid global expansion. They have done this by appointing a network of regional corporate representatives and a corporate general manager, international. Representing BHP across the world, these managers will facilitate new developments, and assist global expansion. This overseas focus of expansion requires new systems and processes, to take on projects in different countries around the world. BHP has taken advice from other companies, that have expanded outside their home countries, also background advice from consulting firms. BHP have taken this advice, and created a management model to suit their operations. By providing regional representatives to deal with governments, bureaucracies and coordinators of cross divisional activities, this model expects BHP to be able to find expansion opportunities. Particularly where opportunities exist that involve more than one divisional group. An example of this is BHP Power, which develops power stations using the most appropriate energy source for the circumstances. Power is an independent group, drawing on the skills of the Mining and Petroleum divisions where necessary. The company is looking at other possible new businesses, that are natural developments of the company's existing businesses, in the same way Power has evolved from Petroleum and Mining. One of these is Manufacturing, using the skills developed in the Steel division. In 15 years BHP has gone from being a domestic steel producer with small petroleum and mining operations, to having a significant international presence in the steel, oil and mining industries. (Forman, D. 1995, pp. 24-26) MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES After a six month review of their business position into the next century BHP has developed a strategic plan.(Forman, D. 1995) The strategic management process uses nine steps to create a strategic plan. 1: Identify the organisations current mission, objectives and strategies. BHP operates steel, mining and petroleum businesses. 2: Analyse the environment. They have recognised that many areas that they operate in are suitable for expanding existing operations. 3: Identify opportunities and threats. The opportunities are to develop businesses that are not yet operating in a particular area. The threats are competitors who move in quicker, and a lack of understanding of the specific environment. 4: Analyse the organisation's resources. BHP have recognised that they have many skilled people within the steel, mining and petroleum operating divisions. 5: Identifying strengths and weaknesses. The strength of BHP is in its traditional steel, mining and petroleum operations. The weaknesses are the lack of a co-operative link between the divisions. 6: Reassessing the organisation's mission and objectives.

Gatsby and the American Dream Essays -- The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitz

The American Dream is what we all aspire to achieve. The idea of starting off with nothing and to become something has caused millions of people from all corners of the world to immigrate to this country for over 300 years. However, what exactly is the American Dream? F Scott Fitzgerald answers this question within his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald analyses the high class of the 1920s and reveals that the American Dream has been distorted from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. Fitzgerald incorporates the aspects of both the Ã’old dreamÓ & the Ã’new dreamÓ in his tragic story to depicts how the inflexible dream has been corrupted and lost forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fitzgerald illustrates in The Great Gatsby that the qualities of the original dream are perseverance and hope. The most glorified of these characteristics is that of success against all odd. The ethic of hard work can be found in the life of the young James Gatz. His focus on becoming a great man is thoroughly depicted in his Ã’Hopalong CassidyÓ journal. When Mr. Gatsby showed the tattered book to Nick, Mr. Gatsby said, Ã’Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always has some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what heÕs got about improving his mind? He was always great for thatÓ. The Ã’Hopalong CassidyÓ symbolizes the continual struggle for self-improvement, which has been the basis of America a land of opportunity. Social Classes have always been apparent in civilization and America in the 1920s is no exception. Often those who rank in the lower classes usually feel that their problems will be resolved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. This then offers a false connotation that the American Dream is this passage into to high social status and upon reaching that level, you are then able to abandon all economic worries. However, the American Dream involves more than acquiring wealth and a high social status. The dream involves attaining a balance between the spiritual strength and the physical strength of an individual. In the end of this book Jay GatsbyÕs ultimate goal to have Daisy love him never comes to fruition solely because he chooses to pursue his dream by engaging in a lifestyle of high class. The product of hard work is the longing Jay Gatsby, who contains the purest chara... ...umanityÓ: Ã’So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the pastÓ. The dream is now completely gone without a possibility of being resurrected. Through unfolding events of a doomed romance, F Scott Fitzgerald also depicts the inevitable doom of the American Dream. Gatsby had no balance to the extremes of his material and spiritual sides of himself. His dream of winning over DaisyÕs love is masked by the desire to become rich. Fitzgerald created Gatsby to show the failure of the individual who believes the American Dream requires money. It is well documented America was to be a land of endless opportunity and wealth, however a nation needs more depth than itÕs promise of materialism. The true composition of a nation is the unity of its peopleÕs minds in order to achieve a universal acceptance. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and the other characters to convey his message- The American Dream, once a pure and noble concept is now dead and buried into the ground by a dehumanized void which revolves around money. Perhaps the book is not a tribute to a man named Jay Gatsby, rather, a tribute of an a noble aspiration of realistic success which is now and forever gone.

Christian View of the Natives in the New World Essay -- American Ameri

Christian View of the Natives in the New World Some would say that Christopher Columbus was a devout Christian. He believed that "his was a mission that would put Christian civilization on the offensive after centuries of Muslim ascendancy" (Dor-Ner 45). Columbus' original mission was to find a western route to the Indies. But when that failed, his mission became clear: convert these new people to Christianity. Throughout this paper I will show the view of the natives by Columbus and Christendom and how these views changed over a span of fifty years. Columbus made it very clear that he was doing this not only for Ferdinand and Isabella, but also for the faith that he was subject to (Dor-Ner 150). He may not have always had the backing of the Papacy, but he always claimed to be doing, whatever it was that he was doing, for the Church. In 1492, when Columbus first arrived, the first thing he saw were a bunch of naked people. I guess to someone who is used to "civilization" this would be somewhat shocking. His first impression of them was recorded in his log. He says that all he saw were young people, handsome and well built, and they seemed to be friendly and well-dispositioned (Dor-Ner 152). So first contact was not a hostile thing. This friendly attitude towards the natives did not last long. There was a settlement left on the island of Hispaniola, after the first voyage, called Navidad. The settlers were supposed to be cementing relations and trading with the natives. On the night of November 27, 1493, when Columbus was on his second voyage back to visit this colony, he was met with only silence. All that was found were the ashes of the town and the remains of the settlers bodies (Dor-Ner 206-207). From this ... ...es or even killing them, but it was a start. It took fifty years for people to even declare that the beasts that they were killing were indeed human and capable of understanding religion. They went from being looked at as a friendly people, to slaves and evil abominations, to truly innocent men who need and want to receive the Word of God. It took five hundred years for people to truly realize that what we did was just plain wrong. Bibliography Davies, Nigel. Voyagers to the New World. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1979. Dor-Ner, Zvi. Columbus and the Age of Discovery. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1991. Dyson, John. Columbus: for Gold, God, and Glory. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991. Kung, Hans. Christianity: Essence, History, and Future. New York: Continuum, 1995. Sublimus Dei. http://www.listserv.american.edu.

“How Does Boey Kim Cheng Powerfully Convey His Attitude to the Planners in the Poem?” Essay

The Planners is a poem where Boey Kim Cheng describes how the planners effect the nature in a negative way. He talks about how every single thing is constructed to the point of perfection, where seeming human is a mistake. History is erased to make way for buildings made of glass and steel. Boey Kim Cheng portrays his distaste and disapproval of the planners in the poem and uses an accusatory tone to point out how they’re craving and planning for perfection. And this is shown in the first three lines of the second stanze where the poet writes â€Å"They erase the flaws, the blemishes of the past, knock off useless blocs with dental dexterity.† Their objectives of erasing the imperfections of the past is unnatural. As the mistakes we’ve made in history make us what we are today, and our imperfections are what makes us human. The use of the word ‘blemishes’ conveys something negative. Blemishes are something you usually have on your body, something people vehemently try to get rid off by using countless methods to seem attractive to another. The use of the phrase â€Å"useless blocks† is almost offensive because who are the planners to decide which parts of our history, our past are of no use? The second stanza uses and extended metaphor for the country described in the poem with teeth, words such as ‘dental dexterity’, ‘shining teeth’, ‘anaesthesia’, ‘piling’ and ‘drilling’ are used. Here, the Planners obsession with perfection is emphasized, flaws are erased, useless parts (useless teeth) are knocked off, even the ‘blemishes of the past’. The Planners here are even trying to perfect their imperfect past, a near impossible feat. ‘All gaps are plugged with gleaming gold’, wealth and prosperity is used to cover up imperfections of the country, and it is made to be perfect in every way possible, wearing ‘perfect rows of shining teeth’. However, even if everything of the present is perfect, they will not stop, even trying to alter their history.

Living in a city Essay

LIVING IN A HUGE CITY OR LIVING IN A QUIET SMALL TOWN What are differences between living in a huge city and living in a quiet small town? And living in a huge city is better or worse than living in a small town? Living in a huge city or in a quiet small town, each of them also has its advantages and disadvantages. If you living in a huge city, there are many opportunities for your job, education, entertainment†¦ These things do not have if you live in a small town. For example, you will have many choices when you find your job, there are many big companies in a huge city, that you can’t find in a small town. Or when you need to study, schools in huge city are often better than schools in small town. If you want to watch a new movie, or find a Japanese restaurant, you look for these things in a huge city is easier than in a small town. But living in a huge city also has many disadvantages, pollution, and traffic jam, noisy†¦ all of them can make you stress. Living in a huge city is always more stress full than living in a small town. Another problem of living in a huge city is price of life. Living in a huge city, you often spend more money than in a small town. Prices in huge city is costly. You would have spent more money for your house, your food, your serving†¦ Living in a huge city or in a quiet small town, it depends everybody’s personality. If you want to find the opportunity, you want to have an active life, you should choose live in a huge city. And if you like quiet, you want to have a peaceful life, you should live in a small town. Nowadays, people often work in a huge city and when they retired, they will come back to live in a small town.

Jamaica National Heroes

Manley| Jamaica's National Heroes Published Nov 20, 1995 | Jamaica’s National Heroes dared to challenge the institution of colonialism and in so doing changed the course of Jamaica’s history giving social and political freedom to its people. Today, the statues of Jamaica’s seven National Heroes stand in proud acknowledgment, in the National Heroes Park in Kingston where they are viewed with inspiring pride, unforgettable symbols of Jamaica’s enduring strength. PAUL BOGLE birth date uncertain-died 1865. Paul Bogle, a Baptist Deacon was generally regarded as a peaceful man who shunned violence.He believed in the teachings of the Bible, endorsing the principles of charity and endurance. Yet he was also a leader and organizer who knew well the terrains of the land and had spent time in educating and training his followers. He lived in St. Thomas and led the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865. GEORGE WILLIAM GORDON 1820-1865. George William Gordon was a free colored land owner and an associate of Bogle. As a member of the House of Parliament, he used his position to highlight the sufferings of the people and to make a plea for changes.The Morant Bay Rebellion and the resultant deaths of Bogle and Gordon precipitated the beginning of a new era in Jamaica’s development. The British government became compelled to make changes including outstanding reforms in education, health, local government, banking and infrastructure. NANNY lived and died in Nanny Town. Nanny of the Maroons stands out in history as the only female among Jamaica’s national heroes. She possessed that fierce fighting spirit generally associated with the courage of men.In fact, Nanny is described as a fearless Asante warrior who used militarist techniques to foul and beguile the English. Like the heroes of the pre Independence era, Nanny too met her untimely death at the instigation of the English sometime around 1750's. Yet, the spirit of Nanny of the Maroons remain s today as a symbol of that indomitable desire that will never yield to captivity. SAMUEL SHARPE 1801-1832 ‘Daddy’ Sam Sharpe, as he was affectionately called was to carry on the Resistance against slavery effecting at the young age of 31, the most outstanding Slave Rebellion in Jamaica’s history.Sharpe, an educated town slave, was a preacher and spokesman. Intelligent and sharp, he followed the developments of the abolition movement by reading discarded local and foreign papers and was able to advise his followers. Sharpe was tired of slavery, spent months in strategic planning, educating the slaves and traveling from estate to estate in secret meetings at nights, igniting the slaves with inspiring messages of hope of freedom. The 1831 Christmas Rebellion started in St. James and spread throughout the entire island.The Rebellion started on December 28 and lasted 8 days. Sam Sharpe was eventually captured and hung at the Parade in Montego Bay (now renamed Sam Sha rpe Square). On August 28, 1833 slavery was abolished and the System of Apprenticeship instituted, allowing for the total freedom of slaves in the next 4-6 years. On August 1, 1938 the Apprenticeship System ended granting full freedom to the slaves. SIR ALEXANDER BUSTAMANTE 1884-1977 Alexander Bustamante was an aggressive, outspoken young man who understood the dynamics of labor relations.A charismatic and impressive speaker, he used the media to criticize the prevailing political system and its attendant social problems. He started the Industrial Trade Union in 1938 and was jailed for 17 moths following labor riots. He became Jamaica’s first Chief Minister, a position he held until 1954, being knighted that same year by the queen. On August 6, 1962 Jamaica was granted full independence. At the first session of Parliament, Bustamante received the Instruments of Independence from the queen’s representative, Princess Margaret.This time in Jamaica’s history drastic changes were heralded, not by bloodshed but by peaceful negotiations. NORMAN WASHINGTON MANLEY 1893-1969. Norman Washington Manley founded the People’s National Party which later was tied to the Trade Union Congress and the N. W. U. Together with Bustamante, their efforts resulted in the New Constitution of 1944 granting full Adult Suffrage. In 1955 Manley was elected Chief Minister. The 400 year British Rule, invoking slavery, deculturisation, uprising and bloodshed was now at an end.MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY 1887-1940. Marcus Mosiah Garvey stands out in history as one who was greatly committed to the concept of the Emancipation of minds. Garvey who was born in St. Ann became famous worldwide as a leader who was courageous and eloquent in his call for improvement for Blacks. He sought the unification of all Blacks through the establishment of the United Negro Improvement Association and spoke out against economic exploitation and cultural denigration. He spent many years in the United | |

A Long Way Down By Matthew Simpson Song Analysis

Nick Hornby is a modern British classic author, having won many awards, most of his books have climbed to the top of the bestsellers chart. Most of his books are fictional and tend to be written about unemployed characters or characters who are now quite far down the social ladder, for whatever reason. His books have done well enough for three films to be made out of them. ‘A Long Way Down' is about four characters who want to commit suicide, but meet and decide not to, instead opting to help each other. It was very successful because of its narrative and the characters which we like to read about in order to make ourselves feel better. People would also buy it because of his previous success. There are many reasons for its success, including the fact that it is about suicide. We are intrigued by this narrative because it is something we do not really know about. The theme of social wealth is also very important because it is something we are involved with on a day to day basis. Character introductions are very important because it sets the standard for the rest of the novel and also needs to hook the reader. ‘Emma' By Jane Austin is a good example as it hooks us by talking immediately about social wealth, â€Å"with very little to distress or vex her†, this intrigues us because we want to learn about her luxurious lifestyle. As I have previously discussed, Hornby is a bestselling author who has become a modern classic author. This reputation must have helped ‘A Long Way Down' to sell well, as it did become a bestseller. Exploration of character introductions All four characters start the narrative and the variety in social wealth of the characters adds to interest. By having these four contradicting characters, we are guaranteed conflict. Jess is a young, party-going loudmouth, but is without many friends, â€Å"and not have anywhere to go on New Year's Eve.† We as readers wonder what her life is like, but once we find out that she has a political father, and a comfortable home, we feel little sympathy for her. Jess likes to argue with and annoy the other characters, which can excite us, because we like to see characters fall out in order to make us feel better about ourselves. Maureen is the other female, who is extremely introverted with a disabled son. Her transformation from this character into a more relaxed, open and friendly character after hitting Jess' ex, shows us that even the most reclusive people can change and be happy, making us as readers happy as well. By adding a supposed rising American rock star, who has unfortunately fallen on hard times, we feel sorry that he was not able to achieve his ambitions. JJ's constant use of swear words livens up the story, â€Å"Oh OK, your band was fucked up†¦the only reason you were in this fuckin' country†, as we don't see it as being pretentious, or something that we can't read. The icing on the cake has to be the law-breaking child molester, â€Å"screwing a fifteen-year-old†, who rocketed into the public eye for things which he would rather have not been' being bombarded by the press with headlines such as â€Å"SLEAZEBAG!† We want to know how on earth he could possibly live with himself, and perhaps understand that he's not the murderous villain that we might typically stereotype him as. Although, for sure, we are not meant to like him all that much. Having these four different suicidal characters also means that we can see that suicidal people aren't necessarily as selfish as we might think they are, and that they are just normal people like you and me, except grossly stereotyped and with supposedly big problems. Each character interests us in a different way, and obviously one of the novels greatest pulls is its modern style, with frequent use of colloquialism and so on, as I have explained below. However, some other interesting factors are the fact that Jess doesn't use speech marks because she apparently doesn't understand how to use them. By varying the syntax like this, it makes the sentence structure less common and so more interesting to read, and perhaps a bit more of a challenge to read. Another key factor is how one character thinks of the other characters, for example Martin thinks that he is too cool to â€Å"hang around† with the other three, when he clearly isn't. This difference in attitudes towards each other that they don't all necessarily know about, has the effect of making the reader think they have an advantaged view on things and so want to find out how things change. Hornby releases information slowly in order to add intrigue. This is evident in the first chapter which Maureen â€Å"writes†, where she talks about a â€Å"He† and â€Å"His† without telling us who this is. We wonder if she is in a dysfunctional relationship, until we find out a few lines later that it is actually her son, and later still a sick child, which perhaps makes her seem selfish when she says, â€Å"but you can see that nothing goes in.† It is vastly important that Hornby uses a split narrative so hat we can see the central plot told or portrayed from several different angles, and see what effects it has on Martin's family or what he has left of it as a result, for example, â€Å"You know Martin left us? We didn't leave him?† It also gives us, as readers, variety so that if we get bored of one characters way of writing, we are safe in the knowledge that another character will be along in a minute that has a different outlook on things, and a different style of writing, inspiring us to keep reading. Moreover, if we had just one narrative then we wouldn't learn anything about suicide that would give us a â€Å"well-rounded† opinion if you like, it would also get terribly boring unless that character had split personalities, for example. Explore Hornby's writing style I think that Hornby's writing style is fabulous. The way we get the impression that he has written nothing, and that it was the work of these completely believable characters is astounding. As above, he frequently uses colloquialism, presumably to bring the novel down to earth and to make people believe that these could be real people. He uses very subtle language techniques such as brackets to make Maureen seem un-confident and Jess' lack of speech marks to indicate stupidity. Practically the whole book is written like a conversation and flows like one as well. Pretty much the whole book could be put on a stage without too much re-writing, and this, I suppose, helps to lift it out of the weighting of â€Å"a book† where complicated language and dull paragraphs are used into something that you could believe to be happening in you street. Exploration of themes and narratives We are interested in a group of people who want to kill themselves because it is not something we would normally think of doing, and neither is it something that we know about. The fact that suicide is so taboo in modern society makes the narrative of this book even more narrative, because it is somewhere where we can find out a little more about suicide, without all the opinions of other people etc. We are ultimately intrigued by this. Social wealth is extremely important in the novel, because if the characters had been successful people with lots of money, and lots of friends then we as reads would not be interested. When we pick up a book, most of us like to escape to another world, and find out about that world. Furthermore, we like to feel good about ourselves at the same time, so the characters have to be the complete opposite to the above so that we can compare it to our own lives and be happy that we are doing fairly well. A lot of people are obsessed with celebrity in today's society, so the fact that this is a key component for Martin in the novel is a big pull. Celebrity magazines usually focus on relationships, and rarely do we see celebrities with such vivid problems as Martin. We as readers want to see what this fame-torn star does with his life and also to observe his downfall. They want to know how someone with such a reputable job could get into such a bad state, which is something a lot of people like finding out about. We perhaps also feel sympathy for him because of the way he is treated by the media, which draws parallels with how real-life celebrities are treated and how we now think of them as a result of reading the novel. For those people who read ‘A Long Way Down' and are religious, a big part of the narrative for them must be Maureen's struggle with her religion's stance on what she so desperately wants to do and the pain she is suffering. People may wonder how on earth a Catholic could possible consider one of the biggest sins, as the obvious thing to say is that it is not an option for her, but she clearly thinks it is. Readers will want to find out, specifically in these days of high religious tension, how and if she manages to turn her back on her religion's beliefs. Suicide and religious guilt tie in very tightly with each other here. Some people may argue that the ending of the novel was a bit of an anti-climax, because they were expecting at least one of the four to commit suicide. However, I would argue that it wasn't, because we never really root for any of the characters to kill themselves, instead we want to see them resolve their problems. The fact that we get an ending where they talk about helping someone else who is in their situation, shows that they have learnt something and moved on, and this makes us happy. In Martin's last chapter, he seems to write a bit like an offender doing community service, as he tries to gain back his â€Å"self-respect.† This shows us that his arrogance from the start of the novel had perhaps started to die, until we read that he didn't like the child and blamed him for not getting his self-respect back quickly, â€Å"I blamed him, partly.† And again, perhaps the â€Å"partly† shows that he is starting to see the error of his ways. He also uses a circular narrative; the story beings with him stating, â€Å"Suicide was my Sydney†, and ends by saying, â€Å"self-respect is in, say, Sydney.† This shows us that he has moved on, but more so that he was back at the start, as were the others, and all the guilt and problems they had were very much still there. Throughout the book I never really cared for any of the characters and perhaps this is because I saw hope for them, there was always an alternate path; Maureen could have sent Matty to a care home, so I didn't think they needed caring for. I think that they were designed to intrigue and interest the reader, but were too vulgar or out of the ordinary to care for. I think that a reader would be more likely to care for a character if they were in a similar situation and so could empathize with them. In conclusion, I think that the social relevance of the novel outweighs that of the character introductions, because it is such a big issue in modern society, and this is where the initial spark of intrigue comes from, from us wanting to know so much about the topic of suicide. However, because the character introductions are so good, they are also responsible for hooking the reader and keeping them reading, perhaps more so than the social relevance. Had this book been released in the 1920s then the social relevance in relation to partying and suicide etc, would have perhaps of been less than it is now, and the introductions would have been such a contrast to writing of that time that they would not hook many people. So after reflection, it must be a combination of the two.