Monday, September 30, 2019
Policing in American Society
Policing in American Society Kathleen Kloos CJA 214 November 8, 2011 Douglas Edwards Policing in American Society The relationship between the U. S. government and all policing organizations throughout the U. S. is necessary because policing organizations cannot function without government support. Government provides support in the form of training, civilian staff, funding, corrections, and judicial support (Grant, 2008). Administrative support from the U. S. overnment can be seen by looking at the Office of the Coroner, which has the responsibility to investigate violent or suspicious deaths. This office determines cause of death and provides the proof of a homicide, or crime, to the law enforcement agency to pursue criminal charges. U. D. government changed their structure in regards to law enforcement and investigation after the events of September 11, 2001. Many departments and agencies became restructured to answer to either the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice (Grant, 2008.The Department of Homeland Security oversees: Customs and Border Protection Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) U. S. Coast Guard U. S. Secret Service The Department of Justice is in charge of: Drug Enforcement Administration Federal Bureau of Investigation Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives U. S. Marshals Service Federal Bureau of Prisons The relationship between the U. S. government and policing agencies can be described as co-dependent.Neither can exist without the other. Decisions handed down by the U. S. Supreme court dictate future police procedures. Cases such as Mapp v. Ohio, Miranda v. Arizona, and Fuhrman v. Georgia have changed the way police agencies investigate and charge offenders who eventually end up in prison. Police are no longer able to question a suspect without first advising the suspect of their Miranda rights (Miranda v. Ariz ona). Illegal search and seizure is no longer admissible in court (Mapp v. Ohio).Cruel and unusual punishment is no longer tolerated (Fuhrman v. Georgia) (AllGov, 2011). The criminal justice system exists by making each branch dependent upon the other. Police agencies investigate the crime, take custody of the suspect, recommend charges to be filed against the offender, then hand the case off to the judicial branch to adjudicate. Once the case has been tried, if the defendant has been convicted, or pled guilty, the corrections department takes over and makes sure the defendant serves his/her sentence.The impact of this relationship on American society insures that the citizens of this country feel safe. The impact shows criminals that society will not tolerate crimes against society. This relationship is a constant work in progress. Just like any relationship. References Gov, A. (2011). AllGov. Retrieved from http://www. allgov. com/Agency/Federal_Law_Enforcement_Training_Center Gra nt, H. B. , & Terry, K. J. (2008). Law Enforcement in the 21st Century (2nd ed. ). Unknown, AZ: Pearson Education.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Psychology of Adulthood and Aging Essay
Introduction      Relationship varies in people and among different issues involved. Indeed no man is an island and you are what you are today because of how people made influences to you. Maintaining a good relationship is vital in every man’s life. It serves as inspiration and a driving force to succeed in every career or goal that we want to pursue.      This research aims to discuss further relationship types and issues. Our way of living and how it affects dealing with people will also be analyzed. At the end of this paper one will begin to realize what are the responsibilities and role of every individual as they relate with every people around. Friendship      The first type of relationship is friendship. As discussed in class in this relationship type, people tend to have more friendships during young adulthood than during any other period. It is easier to deal with younger people since they are free of anxiety, envy and insecurity. Hatred is easily taken out of their minds unlike fights between adult. They are after the happiness of their playmates rather discussing petty arguments. â€Å"Children’s friendships are the training grounds for important adult relationships, including marriage†(Finding A Friend, 2000). As they grow up different preferences occurs as they began to choose the kind of friends that they will have and also during Friendships in old age are important for maintaining life satisfaction.      Friendship among adult includes three broad themes: First, Affective or emotional basis of friendship based on trust, loyalty and commitment, Shared and communal nature of friendship and Sociability and compatibility. Men tend to have fewer close friends and base them on shared activities. Women have more close friends and base them on emotional sharing. According to psychologist Erdley and Nangle in an article of University of Maine website: Close friendships are characterized by affection, a sense of reliable alliance and intimacy the sharing of secrets and personal information. The experience of having a friend to confide in can promote feelings of trust, acceptance and sense of being understood. As a result, friendship mediates the link between acceptance and loneliness. (Finding A Friend, 2000).      Trust is really vital in any relationship this is a strong foundation especially during your maturity years and you need somebody to rely upon. Your loyalty is really the basis as to up to what extent your friendship will last. It is also a commitment that requires integrity with each other on secrets and when businesses are already included. As you build trust you can easily gather people of common interest with what you have, from here enters the second theme of adult friendship. Sharing the same nature of likes and dislikes brings a more sense of belongingness and acceptance. From those commonalities, it leads to the third theme as you begin to adapt social responsibility as a friend. â€Å"Unlike close friendships, peer group acceptance offers children a sense of inclusion. Both social relationships offer nurturing and self-worth. But while peer acceptance influences children’s feelings of belonging, friendships directly affect feelings of loneliness†(Finding A Friend, 2000). Sibling Relationship      Most of our time is spent outside mingling with our peers but more important are those people whom we see upon arriving home. Blood relation is indeed more greater since they are the ones who stood by us after we are given birth. Sibling relationships are important and among the closest relationships. There are five types of sibling relationships that have been identified in class these are: Congenial or having the same disposition and desired things in life siblings who live with congenial relationship results in a more harmonious way of living as they associate the likes and feelings on one another., Intimate sibling relationship is more delicate and sweet in the truest sense they are after the concern of each other while the third type is in contrast with the first since apathetic type of sibling relationship is more spiritless and indifferent with the feelings of their siblings. Lastly is more of antagonistic approach since being Hostile to their siblings is because of certain malevolence and interest to family property.      Sibling relationship is indeed the most important on any relationship since they are the ones who stood beside us right after birth hence sibling rivalries makes the situation worst at times. This is considered as the rocky part of family relationship since jealousy and envy takes place between brothers and sister over affection, time and material things.      Children are sensitive from the age of one year to differences in parental treatment and by         three years they have a sophisticated grasp of family rules and can evaluate themselves in relation to their siblings (Mersky Ledder, 1993).      This is also explained by psychologist Freud as he states:  the sibling relationship is an extension of the Oedipus complex, where brothers were in competition for their mother’s attention and sisters for their fathers (Mitchell, 2003). And since sibling rivalry is part of every family it happens once in a while but siblings manage to fix things over quicker with the aid of parents. Love Relationship      Next relationship taken up is Love relationship where Passion, intimacy, and commitment are the key components. Selecting a mate works best when there are shared values, goals, and interests. Passion is important to keep the romance alive and be more sweet to your love one. Intimacy is having the same extent of emotion and shared interest while commitment is being responsible to your partner and where fidelity takes place. The best way to love according to one love website is to :Love deeper. We love others to the degree we love ourselves (Self Creation, 2008).      Part of loving one’s self is accepting (being okay with) who we are. Consequently, we   love to the degree we’re happy. While we are unhappy and attending to our fears, we do           not love. The self is always crying out for acceptance. When we deny ourselves that         acceptance, life gets twisted. Our attention gets sucked into a void inside ourselves,        leaving nothing left to give to another (Self Creation, 2008).      Love and acceptance goes hand in hand in order to maintain a good love relationship. Communications is also important to know each others feelings and it is better to find a mate who shares the sane set of values and beliefs to avoid any further arguments. If love is not taken care of properly violence in the relationship may occur and worsen the scene. Violence in Relationships      Violence in Relationships contains levels of aggressive behavior range from verbal aggression to physical aggression to murdering one’s partner. The causes of aggression become more complex as the level of aggression increases. People remain in abusive relationships for many reasons, including low self-esteem and the belief that they cannot leave.      Insecurity and obsession merely causes violence in relationship. A person greatly obsessed tends to take ownership on his partner and don’t want anybody to get into their way. Insecurity makes a person think of ways to secure his/her partner so that no one will have the power to get into the scene. Low self-esteem causes lack of confidence. Hence this violence can be avoided if only trust is preserved in the relationship.      However, violence in a relationship can be classified into three: Physical, Sexual and Emotional Abuse. Physical Abuse involves kicking, hitting, hair pulling, spitting, biting, pushing, shoving, beating with weapons and murder (Understanding Violence, 2008).      Sexual Abuse occurs when forced or coerced sex, unwanted touching, sexual accusations, unwanted sexual acts and Emotional Abuseises extreme possessiveness and jealousy, name calling, put downs, manipulation and control, isolation from friends and family, threats of suicide, threats against your life or to harm loved ones and pets, destruction of property (Understanding Violence, 2008).      Abuse and neglect of older adults is an increasing problem. This can be also considered as violence in a relationship since the feelings of adult people is being put at stake. The feeling of rejection and neglected to be taken care of is really hurtful to its very extent. Singlehood      According to our class lecture,  Approximately 75% of men and 60% of women are single between the ages of 20 and 25. People remain single for many reasons; gender differences exist. Singles recognize the pluses and minuses in the lifestyle.      The freedom that one may gain being single is irreplaceable since no one is dominating your life and you don’t need to think of giving consideration to any ones feeling since you are only depending on your individuality. Cohabitation      In this kind of relationship couples are living together without any legal or moral consent. People in committed, sexual relationships lives together and is now becoming an increasingly popular lifestyle. This up to date trend is not healthy but can be considered a trial and error relationship to determine the characteristics of your companion before jumping into marriage.      However, such measures should be taken loosely, as researchers report that cohabitation           often does not have clear start and end dates, as people move in and out of each other’s     homes and sometimes do not agree on the definition of their living arrangement at a particular moment in time (Manning & Smock, 2005). Homosexual Relationship      Most countries prohibits this kind of relationship since it is ruled with morality and ethical issues. But gay male and lesbian couples are similar to married heterosexual couples in terms of relationship issues. The issue here is how open is the society to accept the validity of their relationship. Since in the present generation there are laws made to allow marriage of same sex couples. Marriage      The validity of a relationship is often measure through the legality of Marriage. The most important factors in creating stable marriages are maturity, similarity, and conflict resolution. Marital satisfaction is highest at the beginning, falls until children leave home, and rises again in later life. Failure in marriage results to emotional damages and may lead into divorce. There are also instance when you find that there is someone else whom you should have marry instead of the one you are currently attached. This is the time where divorce and remarriage takes place. Divorce and Remarriage      Although most couples intend their marriages to last, roughly half will end in divorce. Divorce is not viewed as negatively as it once was and expectations about marriage have increased. Gender differences are found in adjustment; men have more short term problems but women have more long term problems including financial difficulties. Most divorced couples remarry. Widowhood       Widowhood is more common among women because they tend to marry men older thank they are. Widowed men are typically older. Men generally have problems in social relationships and in household tasks. Women tend to have financial problems Reference: Finding a Finding a Friend: Children’s Friendships Training Ground for Adult Relationships (2000). University of Maine Website, Retrieved, January 23, 2008 from: http://www.umaine.edu/mainesci/Archives/Psychology/Friendships.htm Manning, Wendy and Smock, Pamela (2005). â€Å"Measuring and Modeling Cohabitation: New     Perspectives from Qualitative Data.†Journal of Marriage and Family 67(4):989-1002. Mersky Leder, Jane (1993). Adult Sibling Rivalry. Psychology Today. January-February Issue 1993. Mitchell, Juliet (2003). Freud Lecture. Retrieved January 23, 2008 from: http://www.freud-museum.at/e/inhalt/wissenJulietMitchell2003.html Self Creation (2008). Be Selfish in love. Retrieved, January 23, 2008 from:            http://www.selfcreation.com/love/index.htm Understanding Violence in a Relationship (2008). What is Violence in a Relationship. Retrieved            January 23, 2008 from:            http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/CommunitySupport/Men4Change/violencerelate.html Â
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Quality statistics paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
Quality statistics - Research Paper Example Here quality plays a significant role in ensuring the survival of companies in tough competitive businesses by inspecting the existing processes and discovering the new ones. In order to manufacture goods or offer products or services to the customers, companies employ different processes. A process is defined as a collection of interrelated and planned activities carried out to produce goods (products) and services (Oakland, 2008). There are different variations associated with each process due to number of sources and factors. Berger and Hart (1986) highllighted that variations can be inherent to the process due to its nature and are terms as common causes of variation. However, there are variations in process that result from external sources or special causes and are termed as special causes of variation. Since 1920s manufacturing has benefitted from the SPC techniques in its decision making processes (Morestream, 1920). Especially, this is true with the control charts that help to identify if a variation is really present and assist to determine if the actions need to be taken to bring the process back in statistical controls. The strength of the statistical process control techniques is its simplicity and ease in understanding equally at the management and worker level as appreciated by Thompson and Koronacki (2002). Statistical process controls allows objective investigation of the parts or whole of a process that may mask sources of variations that interfere with the level of product quality. If detected, SPC can help to numerically measure the significance of the variations and subject these to correction (Wheeler and Chamber, 2010). Consequently, the controlling of variations would reduce wastes and improve the product quality. It is crucial to understand that not all the SPC techniques are applicable to all scenarios and largely depend on type of the data and the type of the variation under investigation (Czitrom and Spagon, 1997). For example, in th is report we have analyzed the processes of providing the customer support services by an IT Call Center. In this aspect, the major quality issue was the call waiting time i.e., average waiting time during a service call. This is the time when the customer is holding on the phone line and waiting to be connected to any of the customer service representative. Introduction From the conception to design and further to manufacturing of a product, the variations introduced during initial processes become manifold towards the delivery of the product to the customer and severely impact the quality of the product. Oakland (2008) explains that there are two major types of variations in the process; common and special variations. The common variations are generally intrinsic to the process and cannot be eliminated without modifying and even eliminating the process or switching to an entirely new process. On the other hand, special causes are a result of some causes that are identifiable and a ssignable and usually appear in more periodic fashion, thus these can be identified and can be reduced/removed with eliminating the source of variation that does not involve process changes (ASQ, 1920). In an effort to identify the process variation and understand the process behavior, statistical techniques and probabilistic methods would be used for analysis. The analysis would be based on the actual
Friday, September 27, 2019
Why having a large vocabulary is good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Why having a large vocabulary is good - Essay Example A bewildering vocabulary entraps aghast and paranoid occupants of the society and provides them with a most comfortable place to live. The elegant and charismatic words, help in evading disputes. Proper use of vocabulary helps people in integrating their dispersed thoughts in an efficient way. Moreover, to properly utilize the liberty of thoughts and expression a person needs to have a large vocabulary. Having a large vocabulary stops people from lament over the lack of words to explain their thoughts. An efficient use of vocabulary ensembles the ideas and produces a long-lasting effect on people. Hence, the beauty of words is the most powerful weapon against the prejudices, disputes, arguments and literary wars that exist today. Having a large vocabulary for the cause of sharing ideas, sympathizing people, literary expressionism and a tool to fight against the vices of society is a great success of an individual. Hence, large vocabulary not only helps in good academic outcomes but a lso affect the social order and perceptions of people if used
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Literature 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Literature 4 - Essay Example ading as well as for their recreation on the one hand, and for the character building and moral uplift of the innocent minds on the other, the writers take it as their moral obligation and professional duty to create such theme which portrays dutiful, honest and chaste as the follower of good, while liars, dishonest and trouble-creating characters as the representatives of evil. The writers also cite the fate of the transgressors and disobedient to the ways of the Creator, by which they look after keeping the children far away from the wrong-doing and evil. The same can be witnessed by going through the novel under analysis. Renowned fantasy writer Nancy Veglahn in her work has posed the question ‘who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Women know – and likewise men know what evil lurks in the hearts of women’ (2003, p.114). By her proposition, she simply views that both male and female are can assess and comprehend with the negative and evil thoughts growing in the hearts of the members of their opposite gender; it is therefore, they portray each other as monsters and evils in their works because of the very reality that they are actually fearful of the hidden emotions prevailing in the breast of each other. Hence, the writers of both the sexes are psychologically aware of the flaws and faults of the individuals belonging to opposite gender; consequently, they project, promote and highlight these negative traits and characteristics in such an astounding way that it creates the same image in the innocent minds of children while their reading the fantasy, so that they could im agine the evils in the same lines on which they have studied them. Here arises the question whether there exists or not any need for the specification of gender identity in the literature meant for children. The theorists are of the opinion that since children have to take various responsibilities on the foundation of their gender in future, so there must be established the
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 39
Reflection - Essay Example Additionally, I provided helpful information in the presentation and I spelt out a clear definition of leadership, which was supported with several substantive quotes. However, because of the fairness of the assessment process I was also made aware of areas that I need to improve, which include ensuring that I use photos that directly relate to the topic of discussion. Secondly, I need to slow the pace of making a presentation and thirdly, I need to use my own voice whilst making the presentation. In the feedback received, it was noted that I should improve the presentation by using my own voice during the presentation. I will do this by simply making an audio file that directly interrelates with the presentation i.e. words and symbols on a particular slide. Secondly, I will change some pictures to make all the pictures fit with the concept of leadership and that will give the presentation a stronger meaning. I will locate such pictures by simply conducting an in-depth internet search and retrieving relevant pictures that are aligned with the topic of discussion or the concept of leadership. This assignment has helped me in redefining on what a leader is and it has helped me in developing a deeper understanding about the concept of leadership since I used visual images to r clarify further on certain points. The feedback particularly helped me to improve on my self since they highlighted on my weaknesses and they clearly stipulated on areas that I need to improve on. In the beginning of this semester I understood leadership as a practice whereby a person who in this case is a leader is able influence others in order to achieve the goals of the interest they present, which could be individual or organizational. At the end of the semester, I have a different view as well as understanding about leadership based on what I have learnt throughout the semester or whilst making the presentation. In particular, at the end of semester I
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Special education students revenue, analysis that shows compartive Research Paper
Special education students revenue, analysis that shows compartive costs of educating those students inside the district as opposed to outside the district - Research Paper Example Since each special child has their own way of understanding, the school system tends to provide more learning hours for them. This caring includes adding to the budget of the school what is needed by the child therefore receiving provisions from the federal government. A child with the development disorder will need a tutor for most of their life in order to be self-dependent and the school has to provide. Although intellectual giftedness can benefit from a different program, the term special needs education refers to those that are underprivileged and this reduces their ability for learning. Special education has institutions, but it is also under integration in the education system in developed countries and each school has a program for special needs students. This modification tries to see that the most number of students, even with special needs, receive service from the general education environment for more inclusive learning activities. Some special cases, however, have to receive handling in special schools, which have specific programs for severe cases. Schools in Saddle Brook school district have approval from the New Jersey department of education. The following is a table showing the average enrollment of the school for the past five years ending with the fiscal year June 30 2012. Saddle brook district is financially well off with residential homes occupying most of it. The district is almost 95% developed which means further development is quite hard to implement. With such a huge residential population, it means that the district funds the schools via the local tax base. This means that for all developments in the district, the community is directly responsible and they determine how much the school has to upgrade the programs. The district has several schools despite its consideration as a small suburban district. It has three K-6 elementary schools; long, Smith and Franklin, the Washington school; houses the special
Monday, September 23, 2019
Lesson Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Lesson Plan - Assignment Example Procedure A. Motivation 1. The teacher will ask several questions about the topic to the students to arouse their interest: †¢ Have you ever experienced entering or visiting a cave? †¢ What have you seen? †¢ What did you feel? 2. The teacher will then give pieces of bond paper to the students. The students will be asked to draw on the paper what they have experienced or seen upon entering the cave. If a student does not have any experience about caves, he can draw his ideas about what a cave would look like. 3. After 10 minutes, 2-3 students will be asked to share what they have drawn on the paper. All the students will pass their drawings after the activity. B. Presentation The teacher will introduce the topic by posting a big colored poster of a cave on the board. The teacher may tell facts and historical accounts in relation to the topic such as cave paintings, carvings, cannibalism and fossil remains to refresh the memory of the students. C. Lesson Proper The teacher will discuss the lesson by using the textbook as the primary reference. The discussion includes the definition and history of caves, the kinds of cave formations, the organisms that make the caves as their habitat, and the archaeological and cultural importance of caves. After the discussion, the teacher validates the students’ knowledge of the subject matter which had been discussed. A. Unlabeled pictures of the different types of caves are posted on the board. Students will be asked to volunteer to put names under each picture.... After naming the caves, other students will be asked to write certain characteristics of each cave under the name. If a student would name or describe a cave incorrectly, another student would be asked to do the task. The activity will end after all the pictures are properly named and defined. B. A simple, large cave will be drawn on the board. Each student will be asked to draw an animal or an organism inside the cave. The animals should be the correct animals that live inside caves. After drawing, the class will tell what each animal eats and whether their prey also lives in the cave. D. Evaluation A 20-item identification type of quiz will be given to the students. The topics covered will be the definition and history of caves, the types of caves, and the ecology of caves. E. Homework 1. An essay about the cultural and archaeological importance of caves. The minimum number of paragraphs is 3. 2. A report about one of the world's most famous caves. The report should tackle about the history and physical characteristics of that cave, the kind of cave formation, the location, and how that cave became popular. Examples: 1) the Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA) as the cave system with the greatest total length of surveyed passage, 2) the Ox Bel Ha Cave System in Yucatn, Mexico as the longest surveyed underwater cave. Lesson Plan for Science Grades 6-9 I. Objectives At the end of the lesson, 90% of the students are expected to: 1. Differentiate and define sunrise and sunset; 2. Explain the scientific process that is bounded to make sunrise and sunset possible for occurring; 3. Track the position of the sun every hour of the day; 4. Show appreciation to sunrise and sunset. II. Subject Matter A. Topic Sunrise and
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Midterm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1
Midterm - Assignment Example The fall of this age credited with the Dorian Invasion, which is believed to have happened around 1100 B.C., and which came to be the conclusive deathblow to the Minoan civilization (Lawall & Maynard 24). According to Greek legend, it was in this age that the Oedipus tragedy evolved, and the story later depicted in Aeschylus' Oresteia played out. This was the time of the famous Trojan War, which left the Trojans and Greeks alike bereft of some of their most beloved and courageous men who died as heroes on the incarnadine battle fields (Lawall & Maynard 34). This was the time of the wonderings of Aeneas and Odysseus after the war, and a time where the inhabitants of Mount Olympus interacted with the humans more than ever. Homer did not live during the time, which is named after him. He is believed to have lived three hundred years after the Homeric Age of which he wrote about in his epic poems (35). He is, of course, our most important literary source for knowledge of this period, com bining the history, religion, myth, and lore of many generations (Lawall & Maynard 37). The political institutions of the Homeric Greeks were exceedingly primitive. ... Practically his only functions were military and priestly. He commanded the army in time of war and offered sacrifices to keep the gods on the good side of the community (Lawall & Maynard 48). Although each little group of villages had its council of nobles and assembly of warriors, of these bodies had neither any definite membership nor status as an organ of government. The duties of the former were to advise and assist the king and prevent him from usurping despotic powers. The functions of the latter were to ratify declarations of war and assent to the conclusion of peace (Lawall & Maynard 50). Almost without exception, custom took the place of law, and the administration of justice was private. Even willful murder was punishable only by the family of the victim. While it is true that the king for settlement, he acted in such cases merely as an arbitrator, not as a judge. As a matter of fact, the political consciousness of the Greeks of this time was so poorly developed tha t they had no conception of government as an indispensable agency for the preservation of social order. When Odysseus, king of Ithaca , was absent for twenty years , no regent was appointed in his place , and no session of the council or assembly was held. No one seemed to think that the complete suspension of government, even for so long a time, was a matter of any critical importance. Just before the violent Doric invasions, the Achaeans fought the Trojans of Asia Minor. The chronicle of that war, the Iliad, furnishes the first clear picture of the early Greek religion as it evolved from a blending of Achaean, Dorian, Minoan, Egyptian, and Asian elements. This phase of Greek religion called Homeric, after the
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Minireview of A Study Essay Example for Free
Minireview of A Study Essay Synaptic transmission in vertebrate neuromuscular junctions forms the basis of this study. The communication between neurons in the nervous system occurs largely due to neurotransmitter release at the synapses. Messages on the various significant nervous system functions are coordinated through the synaptic junctions and the release of neurotransmitters. Ryanodine receptors are found in the somata of the Purkinje cells, basket cells and pre-synaptic terminals of specific synapses and terminals of basket cells. Calcium in the extracellular fluid triggers the neurotransmitter release. Now it is understood that pre-synaptic stores could participate in this same function. Ryanodine-sensitive stores of calcium also play a role. The quantum is the amount of spontaneous signals occurring in the absence of pre-synaptic action potentials and is equivalent to the release of one neurotransmitter vesicle (Katz, 1969). The action potentials are called miniature currents. For central synapses in the brain, large miniature currents are believed to arise from the release of many neurotransmitter or presynaptic vesicles and in the range of several quanta (Bekkers, 1994). Yoshida’s study (1994) revealed that these multivesicular miniature events could actually be tetrodotoxin-resistant action potentials in the pre-synaptic terminals. Other researchers have tried to explain the phenomenon from another angle, using the presence of intracellular calcium stores in the pre-synaptic terminals. Nakanishi et al localized inositol triphosphate receptors in the neural tissue of the developing and adult mouse brain (1991). These were immunolocalised in the pre-synaptic terminals of the deep cerebellar nuclei and the retina of the eyes. Narita’s studies (1998, 2000) revealed the action of ryanodine-sensitive calcium stores at the frog neuromuscular junctions. It was discovered that agents which influence the ryanodine-sensitive Calcium stores also increased the intracellular Calcium in the pre-synaptic cells and regulated acetyl choline release during high frequency stimulation. Mothet et al (1998) studied the action potentials at the pre-synaptic terminals of the buccal ganglia in Aplysia. They indicated that ryanodine inhibited while the pre-synaptic injection of Cyclic ADP Ribose augmented the action potential evoked release of acetyl choline at synapses. Studies also showed that caffeine with or without ryanodine modifies Calcium stores at the pre-synaptic terminals in autonomic ganglia (Peng, 1996; Smith et al, 1996) and in photoreceptors (Krizaj, 1999). Studies on hippocampal pyramidal cells have shown that Caffeine or thapsigargin influences the frequency of miniature IPSCs. Making an assumption, from prior studies described above, that spontaneous Calcium release from pre-synaptic Calcium stores may provide the synchronisation mechanism that causes multivesicular miniature IPSCs and the fact that such a hypothesis has not been tested systematically previously, the authors have taken up this topic for their study on cerebellar interneuron Purkinje cells. This Study  Methods Experiments were conducted on the sagittal cerebellar slices of decapitated rats aged 10-14 days of age. During the experimental recordings, the slices were perfused in saline containing prescribed concentrations of NaCl, KCl, Na H2PO4, NaHCO3, CaCl2, MgCl2 and glucose with 95:5 mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Experiments were done at room temperature. For tight-seal whole-cell recordings, pipettes filled with a solution of appropriate concentrations of CsCl, MgCl2, HEPESCs, BAPTA-Cs (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oregon), CaCl2, Na-GTP and Na-ATP and of pH 7.3 were used. Capacitance cancellation and series resistance compensation had been done. Kynurenic acid had been added to the extracellular solution to block the inotropic gluatamate receptors. TTX was present in the solution for all recordings. The calcium free solutions were prepared by leaving out Calcium and adding EGTA Na. Membrane potential was maintained at -60mV and the current was filtered at 1.5-2 kHz. Sampling was done continuously with brief interruptions. Detection and analysis were done using the IGOR-Pro programming environment. In experiments needing a Calcium channel blocker, cytochrome was added to the external solution. The toxin was prepared while the ryanodine was purchased. Testing the Calcium The Calcium in the basket cells were tested using the Two-photon laser scanning Fluorescence microscopy. For studying the action potential-evoked calcium increases, bicuculline was added to the external solution and the calcium sensitive probe Oregon Green was put into the pipettes. Scans were done and pulses were applied at the end of each 8th scan. This was repeated every minute in external solution which contained saline in order to get a baseline. The external solution was then changed to the solution containing ryanodine and recording proceeded for another 15 minutes. Another set of recordings were done with external solution not having calcium but having EGTA Na. The internal solution also had EGTA and Cs instead of K as the main cation. The responses in Spontaneous Calcium transients also were recorded using molecular probes in the external solution. A pseudo line scan was also done. For immunocytochemistry, a rabbit polyclonal anti-serum was raised to the 16 amino-acids found in all mammals. A C terminal cysteine enabled conjugation to haemocyanin. The conjugated peptide was used to immunize rabbits. Then the ELISA confirmed the specificity. The sarcoplasmic and endoplasmic reticulum microsomes derived from the skeletal muscle, cardiac tissue, whole brain and cerebellum were used for immunoblot analysis. Effects of external Calcium concentration. Large amplitude miniature IPSCs in cerebellar Purkinje cells were found sensitive to extracellular Calcium. With calcium free solution, the mIPSC frequency fell suddenly to half the control level. Continued exposure to the low level of external calcium caused the frequency of mIPSC to continue declining but at a slower rate. On washing after this, the frequency recovered and reached its initial level. The amplitude of the mIPSCs on the other hand showed a steady decline all through and no recovery on washing. With high levels of Calcium, the frequency of the mIPSCs increased rapidly and significantly. The change in amplitude varied from no response to a minimal increase. The inference was that Calcium strongly influenced mIPSCs in the Purkinje cells though frequency and amplitude were differently affected. The rapid change in frequency was interpreted as the reaction of intracellular Calcium to external Calcium changes. The slow change in amplitude was considered due to the extracellular influence on the pre-synaptic stores. The prolonged extracellular calcium removal could have caused selective elimination of large amplitude miniature IPSCs. Repeating with a calcium-free solution, many large amplitude miniature IPSCs were seen again. Then there was a sudden drop and then the amplitudes reduced to become concurrent with the control and the IPSCs were also less. The reduction seen when external Calcium was removed was not due to post-synaptic modifications. On returning to the calcium-rich solution, a slight recovery of both amplitude and frequency occurred. Paired Student’s t-tests indicate significant changes in mean amplitude and frequency between mIPSCs recorded during a 3-min control period and after 15–18 min in Calcium-free external solution. 6 sham experiments were also conducted by keeping the slices in Calcium containing external solution all throughout and these showed no obvious change. The time course of decay of the IPSCs was slower in calcium-free external solution when compared to depolarization-induced calcium transients. Effects of elevated intracellular Calcium Elevated intracellular Calcium in the Purkinje cells caused a speedy frequency reduction and a slow increase in amplitude. This sudden fall could not be explained by the intracellular calcium as BAPTA buffered the Calcium in the cells and could not have caused the IPSCs. Effect of the axons in large amplitude miniature IPSCs The immediate slow changes in the amplitude of IPSCs on withdrawal of external calcium for 3 minutes could not be attributed to the delayed removal of external calcium from pre-synaptic release sites. The effect was also not due to local Calcium influx caused by the TTX insensitive axonal depolarization. For the latter test, external Cd,  a non-selective channel blocker, was used. It reduced the action potential-evoked pre-synaptic Calcium transients seen in the axons and pre-synaptic terminals of cerebellar interneurons. The slow changes in amplitude were therefore not connected to rundown or altered post-synaptic receptors or delayed extracellular calcium removal. The only remaining explanation was that multivesicular release under the pre-synaptic calcium stores could have caused the changes in amplitude. The lack of recovery after external Calcium restoration could be due to the slow store refilling of intracellular Calcium when action potentials and subsequent calcium influx are blocked. Rise Time Kinetics The multi-vesicular release also could not completely explain the slow changes in amplitude. Rise time of IPSCs as a function of amplitude was studied after extended external calcium removal. In 6 of the 8 cells tested, the rise time was heterogenous in nature where two subpopulations were concerned. Slower decay kinetics was also noted. A faster rise time was seen in the proximal dendrites and soma. Faster IPSCs were more sensitive to external calcium removal than slow ones and these IPSCs arose at somatic synapses. The origin being multivesicular, synchronisation time must have been in the range of submillisecond. Some IPSCs had slower rise time and decays and were less sensitive to external calcium removal. These IPSCs could be arising from dendrites and could be having synchronisation of 1-4ms. Ryanodine receptors The two photon laser illumination was used to focus on the ryanodine receptors stained with a high-affinity Calcium-sensitive dye, Oregon Green BAPTA-1. Transient rises of Calcium in the stained ryanodine receptors in response to short trains of action potentials were measured. The fluorescence rises were noted. Ryanodine-sensitive Calcium stores are associated with the large amplitude mIPSCs. In the experiment Ryanodine in large concentrations of 100 ÃŽ ¼M blocked the receptors. The response recorded showed that Ryanodine reduced the mean amplitude and frequency of mIPSCs simultaneously. The responses to muscimol were not affected by ryanodine and the researchers assumed that ryanodine had no post synaptic effect. Axonal spots with calcium stores were identified in pre-synaptic terminals by recording responses to short action potentials. The intracellular Calcium fluctuations in response to differing concentrations of external calcium to which small concentrations of ryanodine were added was checked. Repeated scanning in the presence of TTX was done. Spontaneous calcium transients were noted before and after addition of ryanodine. Bright spots of fluorescence were noted at the pre-synaptic terminals. This signified the presence and increase of Calcium at the pre-synaptic terminals. Experiments were then done with small concentrations of Ryanodine 10 ÃŽ ¼M. Large amplitude mIPSCs were recorded. High frequency bursts and amplitudes of the responses were greatly increased. The bursts could reflect the response at multivesicular and monovesicular sites. The histogram comparing the amplitudes in the control and after ryanodine was added showed a significant difference. The spontaneous Calcium transients occur at basket cell axons and their frequency was increased by small concentrations of ryanodine.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Business Strategy In Global Environment Mcdonald Marketing Essay
Business Strategy In Global Environment Mcdonald Marketing Essay McDonalds is one of the worlds leading fast food makers, 1995 when Ray Kroc started the franchising system till now McDonalds have seen an era of constant growth in both in terms of reach to the customers across the globe or in terms of sales and profits. There are number of driving forces of its basic aims that kept it at above all system wide sandwich market throughout its most magnificent years. The idea of making a system of restaurants with low priced menu items available to local community in a fast, efficient and hygienic way as well as a enjoyable environment lead McDonalds to become worlds largest sandwich chain. (Marino, 2004. p.C213) http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpd5oqJsfyDAeDoy7AST6YNQfaNhLV25kSdfuI_KXZH6mcilIt=1usg=__7clK98n3FRPjsriVl9qBT21ydm8= After a years of hard work McDonalds has developed its customer loyalty and brand image across the world and strong financial base to counterbalance the impact of extreme competition by the similar sandwich industry players such as Subway, Burger King, Wendys. During early 1990s, when MacDonalds intensified its international operations to balance the impact of growing competition in USA, its brand image became so popular outside USA that on its opening in Beijing 1992 more than 40,000 customers flooded the restaurant. Earlier in 1990, an opening of a new restaurant in Moscow drew about 30,000 people. (Marino, 2004, p.C214) throughout 1990s McDonalds have seen many year of radical transformation in its strategic policies besides its glorious years, particularly in the later years of 1990 most of its efforts to overcome its falling performance, customer satisfaction and monetary profits resulted in further decline in brand image as well as sales. The top management launched a plan to further boost restaurants growth and diversification away from just a sandwich maker by adding no less than 40 new items in the menu. In order to achieve the target of 10 to 15 percent of profits an investment of $420 million was made to upgrade few things such as kitchen and research and development. Despite all these efforts it appeared that nothing was working to put McDonalds back on track. (Marino, 2004, p.C215) This was the first time when McDonalds posted its first time ever fourth quarter loss in 2002. It is the same time when Jim Cantalupo took over the charge of the corporation and introduced Plan to Win strategy to win back the lost empire of unprecedented history of McDonalds. Jim Cantalupo preferred to focus companys generic strategy on marketing mix of the company in order to overcome the declining brand image and negative publicity experienced just before him taking over the company. His plan focused on offering customers a better experience of enjoying their fast food as compared to competitors. (Marino, 2004) WHAT IS A BUSINESS STRATEGY By all the management scientist and academicians business strategy has been defined in many variable ways. Strategy can be simply defined as a plan to reach from one point to another or it can be as composite as the global market place. In a global corporate industry environment strategy is a complex and comprehensive framework of actions put together after careful analysis of capabilities and strengths and the environmental impacts of peripheral forces manipulate the organization (Elkin, 1998) Strategy can also be defined as a framework which steer those choices that determine the nature and direction of an organization. (Tregoe Zimmerman, 1980) Leadership in a highly competitive market depends on narrowing the focus of business strategy instead of broadening it. Business strategy includes identification of organizations operational excellence, its customer intimacy, and the product leadership. These three elements are the powerful dynamics of a business strategy. (Treacy Wiersema, 1989) To achieve objects an organization can exploit its unutilised resource strength and capabilities or it can altogether develop a core competency. A companys strategy is a plan of its management to achieve and sustain a market position, conduct its operations, attract and please customers, compete successfully, and achieve organizational objectives. (Thompson Strickland, 2003, p. 3) http://www.softsia.com/screenshots/Deep-SWOT-analysis-software_sxtn.gif INTERNAL STRENGTH AND RESOURCE CAPABILITIES STRENGTHS: The assessment of in-house resources of an organization is evaluated in relation to the competitors. (Thompson Strickland, 2003) MacDonalds business strategy still upholds the philosophy of Ray Crok who in 1958 said that, the basis for our entire business is that we are ethical, truthful and dependable. It takes time to build a reputation. We are not promoters. We are business people with a solid, permanent, constructive ethical program that will be in style years from now even more than it is today. (mcdonalds.com) a) Market Leadership In the fast food chains in the world McDonalds has one of the strong international presence, in the USA alone it has over 13,500 restaurants and 16,500 restaurants worldwide. It was operation in 120 countries of the world with Burger King at number two in 2002 was operating in 120 countries of the world with Burger King at number two with only 58 countries. Its operating income from worldwide operations almost compared the income from domestic operations. In USA McDonalds secured over 32 percent of the sales of top no less than 30 chains in 2003 out of which about 30 percent of the sales come from its international operations. The leadership of McDonalds amongst restaurants chains have widely been recognized and have placed it in a very strong position to increase and retain a major part of this market share. (Marino, 2004) B) Financial Strength Another very important policy of McDonalds is to own all real estates for franchised or company operated location. This gives a large rental income and asset base for the company. Beverley Vasquez in his article; McDonalds Takes Bite from its Land holding published in Denver Business Journal in 1998 says that McDonalds generate more money from its rent than from its franchise fees. (Denver Business Journal 50, p. B9) its strategy to own its real estates has given it even more control over what it can do with the land. The major advantage of this policy was to choose a piece of land to build a restaurant in any suitable location to generate maximum sales and to make financial assets and remove the impact of development McDonalds keeps about 100% of profits from company owned restaurants. (Marino, 2004) like any other company in the same business McDonalds liquidity is within the industrial standards. McDonalds current ratio in 2003 was 0.76, maintaining or improving current ratio help meet current liabilities and short term debts without putting further constraints on company operations. c) Brand Image In 2003 McDonalds brand value was placed at 8th number among worlds most valuable brand with $24.69 billion (source: interbrand). Brand image is the totality of consumer perceptions about the brand, or how they see it. Companies have to work hard on the consumer experience to make sure that what customers see and think is what they want them to. (Temporal, 2002 Marino, 2004) d) Innovative Skills In a global market place a company needs to be well aware of particular needs and requirements of the people defined by their cultural and religious affiliations and their particular eating habits. Due to changing eating habits of its customers McDonalds has improved its menus many times. This was due to many reasons such as innovation in food processing and cooking and growing health awareness in people. (Marino, 2004) Its menus in almost all countries reflect the local traditional elements and tastes. Kosher for Jewish people in Israel, introduction of low fat food across the chain, and menus according to particular French, Chinese and South American tastes are a few examples. It has integrated local eating trends and traditions successfully across the world by changing the local menus in several regions of the world, McDonalds have almost always adapted to the changes in the costumers preferences despite some of its failure to regain sales revenues in late 1990s. WEAKNESSES: a) Weak Strategic Direction Chairman and CEO Alan Greenberg took the full responsibility of its poor performance and resigned after face the first ever loss In fourth quarter 2002. The collapse was mainly cause of launching many concordant initiative and be deficient of will to completely implement them or waiting for the outcome of any particular initiative. Due to this deprived strategic decision making, management was left with no clear directions. Increased competition and hostility among the franchises forced company to review its policies regarding development, association, quality and customer services. At one stage company publicized 40 new menu items and customized cooking system which cost company a hefty $420 million. (Marino, 2004) A week strategy or failure to fittingly launch a strategy may result in a week performance of the overall business. (Thompson Strickland, 2003) If a company alter its business strategy it may result in customer confusion, price oriented customer may switch to another low cost leader if the business employing a low cost strategy shifts its focus to differentiation strategy At the same time those customers willing to pay a premium price may not identify the organizations strategic change. (Parnell, John A.,2003) b) Customer Services McDonalds discontinued its principal of restaurant evaluation system in early 1990(namely QSVC, Quality, Service, Value, and Cleanliness) in order to reduce the tension among franchises and to pave way for international growth and to improve its partnership with leading superstores. It was expected that companys image would regain When Greenberg reinstituted its Quality, Service, Cleanliness inspections and mystery shopping in 2001, but in 2002 company was ranked lesser than its main rivals including KFC, Wendys, Burger King, and even US internal revenue services. c) Revenues Losses and Share value In the start of 2003, McDonalds had to face a loss of $343.8 million in its first quarter Followed by a constant decline in revenue during 12 months to April 2003. Companys share value dipped to all time low. At one point in March 2003 it was being traded at $12.50. Putting further pressure on short term and long term liquidity and constraining the company to keep equity at sustainable level. d) Employees Turnover Employee turnover is very important in any organization accurate, efficient and quick customer service mostly relies on staff training and experience. McDonalds has 300 percent high employees turnover than industry average. This clearly means McDonalds not only have to train more than average employees but also have to wait until they are fully functional and experienced. It is 40 seconds slower than its close rival Wendys in drive-thru operation but still it generates almost 60 percent of its revenue from them. EXTERNAL MARKET FACTORS OPPORTUNITIES: a) Revenue Generation The strong worldwide presence of McDonalds provide it an opportunity to produce revenues from public offering and this was experienced successfully in case of Japan. Public offering could be phased out in 120 countries of the world once McDonalds could grow strong in each country. b) Diversification materialization of mega-store and expansion in their process has unlocked a new market segment for McDonalds retail products. Further new opportunity include launching McDonalds novelty products like watches and toys to be sold across the world and going into joint schemes with non rival companies to use MacDonalds premises to uphold their product. THREATS: a) Trends in Sandwich Restaurant industry McDonalds has faced challenges by the new trends in eating healthier food alternatives along with the other industry players. Customer dietary awareness grew after findings of various scientific researches advocating eating healthy food with lesser fats, oil and sugar contents. Sandwich chain have to keep modifying their menu in order to be concerned about customers wellbeing. McDonalds has to continue focusing on adjusting its policy to reflect healthier aspects of menu items or it could be an easy target for negative publicity. McDonalds main rivals Burger King and Wendys have addressed current consumer health trends more successfully. Particularly, Wendys has responded to this with the introduction of their gourmet salad line. Typically 30% of those consumers visiting Wendys do so specifically for the purpose of purchasing salads from their Garden Sensations salad line. (Marino, 2004) Soon after recognizing the market, the super store jumped into sandwich industry by offering read ymade meals and sandwiches at competitive prices further increasing competition for McDonalds and its rivals as well. b) Intense Competition After 2003 it was expected for systemwide sandwich industry in USA to grow around only 2 percent for foreseeable future. There was a shrinkage in local restaurant industry due to increased competition amongst traditional rivals, many chains were copying McDonalds theme at that time increasing market share was more difficult in both USA and worldwide. (Marino, 2004) a large number of customer was shifting to other low price outlets of similar quality and service as they were becoming more price conscious. The ideal condition is for the strength/ competitive assets to outweigh its weakness/ competitive liabilities by an ample margin-50/50 balance is definitely not the desired condition. (Thompson Strickland, 2003, p120) PEST ANALYSIS The analysis of macro environment in which business operates is called PEST analysis its consist of four elements Political, Economical, Social and Technological. POLITICAL FACTORS Individual state policies enforced by the government greatly influenced the international operations of McDonalds. Many groups in Europe and USA clamor for the actions taken by the state pertaining to the hygiene, health and fitness proposition of eating fast food. They have pointed out that things like cholesterol are harmful for human body and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products. (ivythesis 2010) On the contrary, there are number of internal policies and regulation in order to control the company, specific segments of the market focus on different fields of concern for example environment, worker protection and specially health. In all parts of country and outside the country government check all these elements before issuance of any kind of license in the respective states. In countries like India it is a looming legal dispute in the franchise of McDonalds where certain breach of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food, it is highly offensive to the Hindu religion in that region to have meat in their menus. There are also other studies that points to the infringement of McDonalds Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market. Like any business venture, these McDonalds stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market. (ivyth esis 2010) ECONOMIC FACTORS It is seen that there are always numerous problem available to fast food industry and no organization in this business are excused for any disputes and troubles, all have concerns up to certain extant regarding economic factors individually. Branches and franchises of fast food chains like McDonalds are likely to experience difficulties in case the economy of any country is hit by inflation and a rapid change in exchange rates. In conditions like this customer have to go over the usual budget and they have to think whether or not they should use up more of these foreign fast food chains therefore these businesses must think of some solutions to deal with the effects of the economic environment specially when the problem are caused by the consumer behavior these issue can lead to a serious problem as it could influence their general sales. In regarding the operations of the company, food chains like McDonalds tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific territory if ther e is a dearth of supply.  Exchange rate fluctuations will also play a significant role in the operations of the company. if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak state, hence their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, then these franchises must take on certain adjustments to maintain the economies of scale. (ivythesis 2010) SOCIAL FACTORS The surveys and articles on the international strategies of McDonalds have been working in many areas to assure worthwhile returns for the organization. The company put so much effort to improve on establishing a favorable mind set from their basic consumer. McDonalds indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. It has also seen that McDonalds has provide the market such as United Kingdom an extra option in their dining needs and requirements as they have introduced a valued and reasonable set of food that affectionate a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates.  Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonalds franchises. ( 2005) TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS McDonalds produces demand for their own products. Television advertisement is one of the companys key tool for marketing. It has also been seen that McDonalds are inclined to the interest the younger populations more, this can been seen in different ways such as distribution of toys in their meals offered by the company and the existence of play spots in the restaurant areas. Similar demonstrations can be seen in the commercial they make it clearly reflects their marketing strategy. They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace and Hamburglar. On the other hand they hire popular celebrities in order to promote their products. Their campaign regarding their logo Im Loving it is renowned across the globe and is recognized well in people of all ages. Moreover McDonalds has significantly been infused with new technology in their operating system and their biggest achievement is to introduce a Just In Time strategy Elements like the inventory system and the management o f the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with. The integration of technology in the operations of McDonalds tend to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context. (ivythesis 2010) FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS 1. Rivalry Amongst Existing Competitors It has been seen that the competition in restaurant industry is too high as there are large number of many fast food businesses that are fighting with each other in order to get the bigger market share and to improve their customer base, McDonalds is not an exception to this, it has excelled in this sector of the market since its commencement in 1940. Nevertheless to stay competitive they started with McCafe and gained a huge success as a fast food providers. Another major step came out when McDonald started Breakfast to compete with the existing business serving breakfast. Hence, this industry is extremely competitive and the MDC should be up to date with customer taste preferences.(quickmba 2010) 2. Threat of Entrants It is hard to set up a different brand name as well as to enter the restaurant business, The cost of entry in the market is extremely high there is big research and development costs. Large established companies with strong brand identities such as McDonalds do make it more difficult to enter and succeed within the marketplace, it is difficult for new entrants to find their place as they are faced with price competition from existing chain restaurants.(quickmba 2010) 3. Threat of Substitutes There are many substitutes in this industry. Since there are a wide variety of products that people can choose, they could either be substituted by MDC Burgers, Beverages, dairy products, and others. 4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Power of suppliers within the fast food industry would be relatively small, unless the main ingredient of the product is not readily available. 5. Bargaining Power of Buyers Relatively strength of buyers is low in this industry http://maven.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/porter5forces3.gif SCHOOLS OF STRATEGY Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel discuss various approaches to strategic planning and they identify 10 different schools of thought which are divided into Prescriptive and Descriptive. We can apply Prescriptive schools for Strategy formulation and Descriptive School for Strategy formation. A) PRESCRIPTIVE SCHOOLS Prescriptive means what can be done most realistically. The prescriptive strategy takes other factors into consideration while analyzing multiple criteria and conflicting objections. After this, then chooses what strategy would or could be done realistically based on the objectives previously listed. According to the prescriptive strategy, the second best decision might be more appropriate. The prescriptive approach includes an analysis of possible decisions around a chosen solution known as sensitivity analysis. 1. Design School: This strategy is adopted by McDonalds in a way they have matched their internal situation of the company with the outside situation caused by the environment. Thus the strategy of the company is made and function to signify the best likely fit. 2. Planning School: Here strategy arrangement is seen as a prescribed procedure, which follows a thorough set of steps from scrutiny of the condition to the growth and exploration of different substitute scenarios. 3. Positioning School: This is very important approach as it is very much influenced by the Porters work, formation of strategy as an logical process that place the organization in the same context of the business the company is in, McDonald as a business used this as a strong tool of their strategy. B) DESCRIPTIVE SCHOOLS Descriptive means what is usually done. The descriptive strategy is done based on past evidence. It is something that has been most likely done in the past. 1. Entrepreneurial School: In McDonalds this approach look upon strategy formation as a visionary process, that is going on within the mind of the captivating founder or leader of the company. 2. Learning School: The whole function of this strategy is to educate people where the management of an the company take care of the workers that they work efficiently and does not work over time and incorporates these lessons learned into their overall plan of action. 3. Power School: Here strategy progress is appear to be a process of cooperation between power holders within the company, and or between the company and external stakeholders. 4. Cultural School: This strategy talk about developing a culture that makes the working condition comfortable for all this school takes the strategy formation as collective process that includes multiple groups and departments within the organization the strategy developed is thus a reflection of the corporate culture of the organization. 5. Environmental School: In response to the current challenges imposed by the external environment, this strategy structuring is seen to be a reactive process. 6. Configuration School: This is the last school and the purpose of strategy formation can be easily seen as method of altering the organization from one type of decision making structure into another. CONCLUSION McDonalds have increase its product line to ensure they have multiple products to choose form and to remain competitive to their rivals, and have focused to provide better and continuous service, they also have reduced their cost by reducing their supply chain expenses. In order to retain customers they have expanded their happy meal choices and took further step by adding premium and different coffees in their beverages menu as well as cakes and pastries. The concept of toys introduced by McDonalds for all kind of generations specially for kids was new to everyone in the market. As a suggestion they must provide special promotion during the festivals, apart from organizing birthday parties they should move on to one step ahead in organizing or sponsoring college festivals. After analyzing the marketing mix of McDonalds, it is clear that the company can be said to be `global, i.e. combining elements of globalization and internationalization. McDonalds have achieved this through apply ing the maxim, `think global, act local REFERENCE Marino, L. Jackson, K.B., 2004; McDonalds: Polishing the Golden Arches, p. c213-c234, Case Study 13, Thompson A. A. Strickland, A. J., 2004, Strategic Management, Concept and Cases, 13th Edition, McGraw Hill †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Thompson A. A. Strickland, A.J., 2003, Strategic Management, Concept and Cases, 13th Edition, McGraw Hill. †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Johnson, Gerry Scholes, Kevan; 2002, Exploring Corporate Strategy, Text and Cases, 6th Edition, FT-Prentice Hal †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Hooley, G.J., Saunders, J.A. Piercy, N. (2004) Marketing strategy and Competitive Positioning. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Kotler, Philip. 1988, Marketing Management Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, 6th Edition, UK: Prentice Hall †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Kotler, Philip. 1967, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control, Prentice Hall, New jersey †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Drejer, Anders 2002, Strategic Management and Core Competencies: Theory and Application, Quorum Books. London †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Tregoe, Benjamin Zimmerman, John. 1980, Top Management Strategy, Simon and Schuster, New York †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Cameron, E. Green, M. 2001; Making Sense of Change Management, London: Kogan Page Publishers. †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Treacy, Michael. Wiersema, Fred., 1989, Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines, Journal Article, Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb 1993) †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/business-operations/swot-analysis/ †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Denver Business Journal 50, 1998; no.8, October 23-October 29, , p. B9 †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Temporal, Paul; June 2002; Corporate Identity, Brand Identity, and Brand Image, www.brandingasia.com/columns/temporal10.htm, [Accessed on January 01, 2009] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Parnell, John A. 2003; Five Critical Challenges in Strategy Making, SAM Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 68, [Accessed: August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Elkin, Paul. 1998; Mastering Business Planning and Strategy: The Power of Strategic Thinking, Thorogood †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Jody Nimetz The Five Ps of Marketing, http://www.searchengineguide.com/jodynimetz/ the-five-ps-of-1.php †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ McDonalds Annual Report 2007, Available at; http://216.139.227.101/interactive/mcd2007/ [Accessed August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Hamill, Jim. Campbell, David. Purdie, Tony. Stonehouse, George.; 2004, Global and Translational Business: Strategy and Management, John Wiley Sons †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Martin, Andrew., January 10, 2009, At McDonalds, the Happiest Meal Is Hot Profits, News Article, New York Times, Internet, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11burger.html?_r=1 [Accessed; August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Anon, January 13, 2009, 2:59PM ET. McDonalds becoming Major Coffee Player, Business Week/The Associated Press, Internet, http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D95MF7900.htm [Accessed at; January 15, 2009, 2:59PM ET] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Bandyk, Matthew; 12 January , 2009, 10:15 AM ET 2009, McDonalds Proves To Be A Recession-Proof Business, U S NEWS, Internet; http://www.usnews.com/blogs/risky34 business/2009/1/12/mcdonalds-proves-to-be-a-recession-proof-business.html [Accessed; August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Vella, Matt., December 3, 2008, 11:30AM EST, A 7ew Look for McDonalds, †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Crown, Judith.; January 9, 2008, 9:26PM EST, Coffee Gets Hotter at McDonalds, BusinessWeek, Internet; http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2008/db2008019_036171.h tm?campaign_id=msnbc [Accessed on: August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ www.bbc.co.uk, 17 January 2007, Growth on the Menu at McDonalds, , News story from BBC 15:31:37 GMT;, Internet; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6271795.stm (Accessed; August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Gutierrez, Carl.; 11 November.2008, 03:40 AM EST, Market Scan: Burgers Thrive In the McDownturn, Forbes Internet, M EST, http://www.forbes.com/equities/2008/11/11/mcdonalds-restaurants-closer-marketsequity- cx_cg_lal_1110markets43.html [Accessed; 10 January 2009] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Gogoi, Pallavi. Arndt, Michael. Business Week Magazine, March 3, 2003. http://www.businessweek.com/@@LWIXFoUQQDDeyAwA/magazine/content/03_0 9/b3822085_mz017.htm) [Accessed: 5 January 2009] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ McDonalds Corporation Official website http://www.mcdonalds.com/ †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Fortune 500; http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/ wwwfortune500.com †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Macarthur, Kate., 2005, Wendys Overhauls Marketing Strategies, May 19, 2005, http://adage.com/results?end http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/02/pestle-analysis-of-mcdonalds.html (Accessed on: October 2, 2010) http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml (Accessed on: October 2, 2010)
Thursday, September 19, 2019
The History of Video Games Essay -- Video Games
The History of Video Games 1972, the year the first home video game system, named Odyssey, is released by Magnavox. This main games featured on this system were a light gun game and a tennis game. During the same time, a game by the name of Pong is a success in the public. It is because people wanted to play Pong in the comfort of their own homes, that they bought Odyssey. The system only sold around 100,000 units since Magnavox only sold the game system from their own stores, making consumers believe that the game system would only work on Magnavox TV sets. Things stay quiet until 1976. With the success of Atari (the makers of Pong), many game companies arise and try to release their own gaming systems. Due to the sudden high demands for electronics parts, many companies did not receive their products on time. During this time, Fairchild Camera and Instruments releases their game system, titled the Video Entertainment System, later renamed as Channel F. This is the first home system to have programmable video games via game cartridges. Users can now change games with by swapping in and out a game cartridge (which is about the size of a 8 track tape). 1977, Atari opens Pizza Time Theatre, a restaurant with coin operated arcade games and dancing and singing mechanical animals. Interestingly enough, the mascot of Pizza Time was a giant rat by the name of Chuck E. Cheese. Seeing the success they had with software, Atari decided they would debut their own cartridge based video game console, known as the Atari 2600. A year later, Midway games imports arcade game Space Invader by Japanese developer Taito, to the US. The game was a ... ...s project and ended its contract with Nintendo. It own focus on a next generation CD only gaming system aimed at defeating Nintendo. This Sony system later became the Sony Playstation (32bit) released in 1995. Along with the Playstation, other companies such as Nintendo and Sega releases their own 32bit system. In the end the Sony machine comes out on top. Meanwhile, Nintendo sticks with their cartridge based design and releases the 64bit Nintendo 64 gaming system. Unfortunately, due to high cost and limiting factor of cartridge systems, not many developers hopped on board. Fast forward to today, we have three major players in the field, Nintendo’s Gamecube, Sony’s Playstation 2 and the new comer, Microsoft’s XBOX. Sony still remains on top while XBOX and Gamecube fighting fiercely for number 2. Source Cited Gamespot.com. The History of Video Games Essay -- Video Games The History of Video Games 1972, the year the first home video game system, named Odyssey, is released by Magnavox. This main games featured on this system were a light gun game and a tennis game. During the same time, a game by the name of Pong is a success in the public. It is because people wanted to play Pong in the comfort of their own homes, that they bought Odyssey. The system only sold around 100,000 units since Magnavox only sold the game system from their own stores, making consumers believe that the game system would only work on Magnavox TV sets. Things stay quiet until 1976. With the success of Atari (the makers of Pong), many game companies arise and try to release their own gaming systems. Due to the sudden high demands for electronics parts, many companies did not receive their products on time. During this time, Fairchild Camera and Instruments releases their game system, titled the Video Entertainment System, later renamed as Channel F. This is the first home system to have programmable video games via game cartridges. Users can now change games with by swapping in and out a game cartridge (which is about the size of a 8 track tape). 1977, Atari opens Pizza Time Theatre, a restaurant with coin operated arcade games and dancing and singing mechanical animals. Interestingly enough, the mascot of Pizza Time was a giant rat by the name of Chuck E. Cheese. Seeing the success they had with software, Atari decided they would debut their own cartridge based video game console, known as the Atari 2600. A year later, Midway games imports arcade game Space Invader by Japanese developer Taito, to the US. The game was a ... ...s project and ended its contract with Nintendo. It own focus on a next generation CD only gaming system aimed at defeating Nintendo. This Sony system later became the Sony Playstation (32bit) released in 1995. Along with the Playstation, other companies such as Nintendo and Sega releases their own 32bit system. In the end the Sony machine comes out on top. Meanwhile, Nintendo sticks with their cartridge based design and releases the 64bit Nintendo 64 gaming system. Unfortunately, due to high cost and limiting factor of cartridge systems, not many developers hopped on board. Fast forward to today, we have three major players in the field, Nintendo’s Gamecube, Sony’s Playstation 2 and the new comer, Microsoft’s XBOX. Sony still remains on top while XBOX and Gamecube fighting fiercely for number 2. Source Cited Gamespot.com.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Anatomy Of A Psychopath :: essays papers
Anatomy Of A Psychopath "In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty." Almost every person has a preconception of the darkest form of humanity: evil. One German film exemplifies this classic struggle of right and wrong, while addressing deeper emotional messages. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was made in 1919 and directed by Robert Weine. The film features a character named Francis, the protagonist, who seeks revenge against Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist, Cesarà ©, whom he believes murdered his friend. In one specific scene, Cesarà © attempts to kill a beautiful woman named Jane, Francis’s fiancà ©e coincidentally, at Caligari’s request. Judging by Cesarà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s previously witnessed brutal and robotic nature, it is assumed that as he creeps up to her gentle sleeping body that her time has expired. Magically, he cannot commit the deed. Overcome with affection, he instead lovingly reaches to cradle her head. She awakens, screams, and struggles. Cesarà © snaps out of his funk and overtakes her, eventually escaping with her on his back. This intense scene conveys the message that even the darkest forms of evil are not completely devoid of humanity, giving the audience the faintest glimmer of hope that good can always shine through malevolence. Cesarà © has no mind of his own; rather he is the puppet of the sinister Dr. Caligari. This is strikingly obvious just before the attack on Jane. As Cesarà © slinks down the corridor to the bedchamber his movements are awkward and unnatural, similar to puppet’s movements. At one point he even pauses, as if to mentally rethink the plan for murder Caligari has laid down. This attention to said murder agenda points that normal people can be highly susceptible to perform evil deeds. In essence, Cesarà © is not an evil person, but one who has been mentally dominated by the evil Caligari. One could play a contemporary television therapist and venture to state that Cesarà © "is the victim in all of this." In fact, "Cesarà © the sleepwalking killer" never existed before Caligari came into place. One can therefore also determine that evil spawns more evil. Kindness and humanity always find a way to shine through the depths of rage and hate. Poised in a striking position, primed to kill, something inside Cesarà © snaps. He is rendered momentarily immobile, unable to perform the deed he has been commanded.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Richard Wright :: essays research papers
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man'; Â Â Â Â Â In “The Man Who Was Almost a Man'; by Richard Wright, the main character Dave expresses his needs to be acknowledged as an adult. Yet he also exhibits his immaturity and the fact that he is not yet an adult and can not handle adult problems. His actions lead him into trouble that proves the fact that he is still an adolescent who can not handle problems of the adult world. The characters around Dave make him feel like he is still a child. His wants to purchase a gun to feel more powerful. In the beginning of this story, Dave talks about how a gun would change the way people acted towards him. He feels that if he owns this power, the men in the fields who work with him will have more respect for him, and his mother will start treating him as an adult. Dave feels as if he is surrounded by people who treat him as a child and he does not like this at all. “You ain’t nothing but a boy. You don’t need a gun.'; This statement said by Joe, is the main reason why Dave truly wants a gun, to feel independent. Even though Dave wants to be acknowledged as an adult, his actions are very immature and childlike. The act of cornering his mother for a gun is one good example of immaturity. Dave feels as though he can not ask his dad for the gun for fear of rejection, a perfect example of immaturity. Daves defiance to his mother’s rules is another example of immaturity. Dave’s mother agrees to allow Dave to buy the gun as long as he promises to bring it straight to her. He agrees to this, yet he does not go along with her wish. The next morning, Dave set out to the fields early to shoot his gun. He ends up accidentally killing Mr. Hawkins mule, Jenny. The way Dave goes about dealing with this problem is childish. He panics and decides to lie about what really did happen. He makes up a story which he knows nobody will believe, yet he feels that if everyone does in fact believe him he can avoid his problems more easily.
Monday, September 16, 2019
‘Tis the Season
The Season Just because we all grow up physically does not mean we have to allow ourselves to become numb to all the things that made us feel giddy as a child. Everyone knows how exciting it can feel to wake up on Christmas morning. All December long, we work to ring in the Christmas spirit by giving to others, displaying festive colors of green and red, and enjoying the constant Jingle of holiday music in the background of everything we do.I personally feel like a little kid, naive and blissfully ignorant very year on December 25th. There's something magical about all the traditions and events that make me feel forever young at heart on this special day. At our house, though I am a fully-grown only child, my parents still enforce the mystery of Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve we all gather In the kitchen, warmed by the radiating heat of a wood-fired stove, and bake fresh gingersnaps that embrace every room In the house with their saccharine fragrance.We lay them out on a festive plate with a refreshing glass of cold milk, and as I sleepily tiptoe my way to bed I pretend that I actually believe a chubby man in a crimson suit will shoot out of our chimney and joyfully gobble them up while I'm asleep. Then I wake up early the next morning and peek out the window and watch puffy white flakes descend gently to the ground, and the crisp, cold air chills the palms of my hands as I touch the frosty glass.My mind says there is no such thing as magic or flying reindeer, but as I observe the delicate snowfall and notice one lonely, half-eaten gingersnap left on our plate in the kitchen, my heart starts to believe all over again. Later, when I'm done absorbing the simple leisure of Christmas morning in my solitary silence, I drag my feet all the way to my parents' bedroom and I wake them up. They reluctantly roll out of the comfort of their warm bed Like two teenagers getting up for school on a dreary Monday morning.After they pour themselves a steaming hot cup of bitter, b lack coffee, we all congregate in the living room around the Christmas tree. Before we even consider tearing into the plethora of gifts wrapped in shiny, foil paper and topped with curly ribbons, we sit together for a while, and we are hushed by the fatigue of early ironing and the distinct elegance of the glimmering lights that dress the tall, green tree that appear like stars in a cloudless midnight sky. Eventually someone will break the infinite silence by saying â€Å"Whiffs going to open the first one? Then we dig into the various gifts, being particular with which boxes we choose first. Sometimes I shake the box like a rattle to try and guess what lies within its layers of cardboard, scotch tape, and colorful wrapping paper. We all watch each other, waiting eagerly for a surprised reaction. When we are done scavenging through every Inch of the ere, we enjoy each others company and sit contently on our couch while we watch a classic, the movie A Christmas Story.Christmas, I'm sure, is celebrated very different from person to person. Hopefully, my family. Christmas is a time to believe, whether that be in a Jolly, old, overweight man, the spirit of giving, or the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is when people should let themselves feel young again, and for me, that means baking cookies and waking up early with my parents Christmas morning so we can watch a movie together. As the wise Dry. Issues once wrote, â€Å"Maybe Christmas,' the Grinds thought, ‘doesn't come from a store.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Black Hawk Down Analysis
In the 1990s, Somalia is undergoing a famine along with a civil war. Many civilians have died as a result of the war, and so the UN has intervened and started a peacekeeping operation there, with a base just outside Mogadishu. Unfortunately, the Somalis, distrusful of the UN, have declared war on everyone involved in the operation. In response to this, the US army deploys Delta Force to aimed at undermining the power of the president of Somalia. They plan a mission to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of the President’s top advisers.The operation is planned out, and everything seems foolproof. Before they leave however, a lieutenant is removed from duty due to a seizure, and so a less experienced soldier must take his place and lead the crew. Delta Force is deployed to capture the two men in Mogadishu, and all goes according to plan. Helicopters are flown in over the city, and they can see tires burning, which is the Somali’s signaling that the y were coming. They then convince a taxi driver to show them where the two men will be, and they go in with helicopters and armored vehicles.They successfully capture the two advisers, and wait for the extraction team to come pull them out of the hostile territory. On the way, the extraction team takes heavy fire, and one of the helicopters is hit with an RPG. It goes into a tailspin and hits a rooftop before crashing into a street. Two of the passengers in the helicopter crawl out and away, but the other two have extensive injuries and have to stay in the helicopter. Another helicopter is told to take the place of the one that went down.This helicopter is quickly shot down as well, but lands with less injuries. At this point the armored vehicles are diverted from the path of retrieving the two captured men and told to go to the first crash site, retrieve the soldiers there, and then move to the second crash site and secure it. On the way to the crash site, one of the armored vehicl es is hit by an RPG, and men are thrown out of it. The convoy stops and retrieves the wounded, but in the process another soldier is shot. Throughout the mission, the armored convoy is being given directions by a plane overhead.At this point, the confusion is too great and the directions are inaccurate. Roadblocks are being set up by the Somalis, which makes it impossible for the convoys to reach the crash sites. Unbeknownst to the ground forces, the convoys give up trying to reach the crash sites and head back to the UN safe zone, in the stadium. Meanwhile, ground forces are also trying to reach the crash sites. A group of men reach the first crash site, and set up a defensive perimeter around it, with the base inside the house that the helicopter crashed into.They attempt to treat the wounded soldiers, and hold back Somali forces. At the second crash site, two snipers are dropped in by helicopter to try to retrieve the wounded. They find one soldier injured and alive, but as night falls, both of them are killed and the injured soldier is taken captive. Under cover of darkness, the Somalis attack the first crash site, but air support from the military holds them back until help can arrive. A relief convoy arrives and rescues the wounded, but many of the soldiers are forced to run back to the stadium.As they arrive, they are greeted with hundreds of smiling and cheering Somalis. In the end, there were 19 American, and over 1,000 Somali casualties. The injured soldier that was captured at the helicopter crash site was released almost two weeks later. The two snipers that went in to retrieve the injured soldier were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Soon after, the president of Somalia was killed in a battle with a rival group. The following day, the general in control of the operation resigned. In terms of accuracy, most of this movie is biased toward the Americans.In the beginning, there is a scene where the Americans are flying over the UN food supply trucks that were sent in to feed Somalia, and in this scene, Aidid’s men mercilessly gun down civilians in order to take the food trucks. In reality, that event never even happened. Throughout the whole movie, director Ridley Scott added and took away events to delude the viewer into believing that the Somalis were evil people who had no motive, and just wanted to be in control. When this war actually happened, there were two phases of UN involvement.The movie mixes them together in a way that suits its purpose. Phase one was actually a benevolent move by the UN; food trucks were brought in an attempt to feed the starving citizens of Somalia. This lasted for awhile, but not forever. Then came phase two, which was the violent phase. The US Army came in to the city with a, â€Å"military campaign to to install a fresh political system in Somalia. †The Somalians resented this. Another, more blatant inaccuracy was when the movie announced onscreen that â€Å"Aididâ€℠¢s militia first killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and then began to target US troops.†The opposite of this is actually true. US troops were targeting Aidid before the Pakistanis were killed by a Somali mob. The UN interfered with Aidid’s affairs before the events of the movie even took place. This omission of information is meant to convince the viewers that the attack on the US troops was unprovoked and aggressive, to indicate that the US was in the right and Aidid’s army was in the wrong. Also, the movie makes it seem as though this is the first time US troops had engaged in any kind of action in Mogadishu.In actuality, the Delta Force had flown in over Mogadishu many times before to harrass Aidid and his supporters. US troops â€Å"rotor-washed†houses and people in downtown Mogadishu, meaning they would hover above the town in helicopters and blow down structures with the force of the wind from the rotors. The final and most glaring piece of evidence still remains. Through the entire film, it is not explained why the US troops and Delta Force were met with such violence and antagonism on the streets of Mogadishu.The movie plot and the way the characters are presented leads the viewer to believe that the Somalians are just naturally aggressive and ferocious people. The real reason is that months before, on July 12, 1993, the dominant groups in Mogadishu held a meeting to discuss a peace proposal from a main official at the UN, Jonathan Howe. Many prominent leaders of groups opposed to Aidid were also there. During the meeting, US helicopters attacked the building that the gathering was in, and slaughtered Somali religious leaders and elders.This enraged the Somalis, and so when they met the US troops in the streets of Mogadishu, they took out their full anger and ferocity on them in retaliation for what was done at the meeting. This film is skewed to favor of the US, in order to sway viewers to believe that what the UN did was entirel y justifiable, that the Somalis have short fuses and will fight, unprovoked, at the drop of a hat. The viewers of this movie would naturally be led to have a negative attitude toward Somalia, and ultimately in future engagements, be biased towards the US military as heroically on the side of justice.The US military establishment was more than pleased with this depiction of the October 3, 1993 raid on Somalia, in which 18 US soldiers lost their lives and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed. As evidence, thousands of videotapes of the film were sent to US military bases abroad and the producer of the movie, Jerry Bruckheimer was widely quoted as telling General John Keane, â€Å"General, we’re going to make a movie that you and your army will be proud of. †After seeing the film, General Keane told reporters â€Å"He did that, and we thank him. â€
The Hypocrisy of Being Earnest
The Victorian era was a time of smugness and pomposity for the newly rich generation who quickly rose in class during and after the industrial revolution. Nothing was as it seemed in this day when earnestness was allegedly the most prized attribute a man could possess. In Oscar Wilde’s classical satire, â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest,†every character embodies the ideas and values of this â€Å"earnest†age. Oscar Wilde’s primary character in â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest,†Jack, spouts hypocrisy when his mouth is open, and sometimes when it is closed. At first impression, Jack seems to be a true gentleman. Indeed, the beginnings of his conversation with Algernon in the opening scene proves just that, but when the subject of his travels back and forth from the city to the country is brought up, Jack makes excuses and hastily changes the subject to more lighthearted topics like cucumber sandwiches (890). But very soon Algernon broaches the subject of â€Å"Bunburying,†to Jack’s ignorance. Little does this kindly gentleman know, however, that he is in fact â€Å"one of the most advanced Bunburyists (Algernon) know(s)†(894). The explanation Algernon receives from his questions is simply that Jack is Ernest in town, and Jack in the country. Perhaps Jack who is Ernest is not as earnest as he seems? Algernon certainly thinks so. He produces a cigarette case belonging to Jack with the inscription â€Å"From little Cecily with her fondest love†(892). At which point, Jack says that it is very ungentlemanly to read someone else’s cigarette case. If Jack is so concerned about being gentlemanly, then why is he, as Algernon puts it, a â€Å"Bunburyist? †Only a few lines later, Jack says to Algernon: â€Å"My dear Algy, you talk exactly as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn’t a dentist. It produces a false impression†(893). This statement condemns him as a dreadful hypocrite to attentive readers. Jack claims to be a gentleman though he leads a double life, yet still dictates to others how a gentleman should act. In essence then, Jack, despite his admonishing of Algernon, is very much talking like a hypothetical dentist even if he isn’t one. It is not only Jack who is a hypocrite, however, as Algernon and Jack committed twin sins. After Jack’s admission of leading a double life, Algernon too confesses: You have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like. I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn’t for Bunbury’s bad health, for instance, I wouldn’t be able to dine with you at Willis’s to-night†¦ (895) Bunbury and Ernest are one of the same. However, Algernon is guilty of hypocrisy in more than just this instance. Upon Jack’s entrance, Algernon has a spread laid out in preparation for Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen, including a selection of cucumber sandwiches. When Jack reaches for one, his hand is slapped away by the host, because they are to be saved, then Algernon continues eating the cucumber sandwiches (891). However, perhaps the most astonishing crime of hypocrisy Algernon commits takes place in act II, upon Jack’s discovery that Algernon is assuming the role of his â€Å"brother,†Ernest. Algernon declares that â€Å"one must be serious about something, if one wants to have any amusement in life. I happen to be serious about Bunburying†(932). With this statement, Algernon has admitted that the only thing he is serious about is lying to others. This Victorian gentleman, who claims to be earnest, is serious about nothing but the deception of others. Cecily and Gwendolen, too, are prisoners of their own hypocrisy. Indeed, it seems as though Cecily is such a hypocrite that the only hypocrisy she can detect herself is in lies. Upon her meeting with Algernon, who is at the time pretending to be Jack’s wicked imaginary brother Ernest, Cecily expresses that: â€Å"I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy†(913). In addition, Cecily too contradicts the lady-like humble manner the Victorian women were so proud of. As Algernon, in guise of Ernest, declares his love for Cecily, instead of the typical thank you and returning of compliments, she pulls out a diary and writes the compliment down, asking for more. Gwendolen, meanwhile, is worrying over whether or not she is still to love Jack since his name is Jack, and not Ernest as he deceived her. Her judgment is sure to be flawed though, seeing as how in her opinion, â€Å"In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing†(935). At last, the true irony of this hypocritical opinion comes out when Jack confides that he is to be rechristened â€Å"Ernest. †Then, Gwendolen is not opposed to the marriage as she had been five minutes prior. Indeed, as events unfold her decision changes along with the changing of Mr. Worthing’s first name. Remember, that earnestness is prized above all, so Gwendolen and Cecily both desire to marry a man named Ernest. Whether he is really earnest or not is of no importance, because as Gwendolen said, style is much more important than sincerity. All in all, the behavior of Wilde’s infamous hypocrites is astounding, to say the least. However, this must say something of the manner of the â€Å"earnest†Victorian age. Was it truly being earnest that was the desire of men and women? Or was it to appear earnest? If the latter is true, then it was necessary to be a hypocrite just to keep a name. Regardless of the case, it can be sure that Worthing at least has succeeded. All of his life he claimed to be Ernest, not Jack, but when he found out he truly was Ernest, he finally realized the importance of being earnest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)