Monday, September 30, 2019

Downsizing: Is less still more? Essay

Impacts of Downsizing Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a broad spectrum, managers and organization leaders should center their attention on ensuring human dignity and justices while faced by downsizing needs. The process of selecting the employees to cut off should be ethical and legal. Otherwise, this can cause adverse implications to the employees and the organization at large (Cooper, Pandey & Quick, 2012). With respect to the case study provided, Teresa believes that the company’s decision in regard to downsizing is illegal and unethical. Consequently, Teresa has not only the right or rather mandate to object but also the ethical duty to object. In addition, she should not be prepared to loss her job at the expense of moral grounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With respect to her initiating a discussion of the same on a local internet discussion board can be termed as illegal. This is because legal mechanisms such as litigation have been put in place to allow employees who feel the process of downsizing was not ethical and legal sue the company in a court of law (Cooper, Pandey & Quick, 2012). Evidently, venting her frustration on a local internet is absolutely illegal as this could have adverse impacts to the company and the employees left behind. This is simply because Teresa might give some inaccurate or rather misleading information about the company. The information she provides to the local internet discussion matters a lot as it can invoke diverse reactions by the employees who are left behind hence implicating to malfunctioning of the company. This can result to declining employee’s performance as they may feel that the company is not ensuring human dignity and justice and they ma y also think they are next to be selected for cut off. Reference Cooper, C. L., Pandey, A., & Quick, J. C. (2012). Downsizing: Is less still more?. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Source document

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Chapter 31 The Third Task

â€Å"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?† Ron whispered. Everything Harry had seen in the Pensieve, nearly everything Dumbledore had told and shown him afterward, he had now shared with Ron and Hermione – and, of course, with Sirius, to whom Harry had sent an owl the moment he had left Dumbledore's office. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Harry's mind was reeling, until he understood what Dumbledore had meant about a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have been a relief to siphon them off. Ron stared into the common room fire. Harry thought he saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm. â€Å"And he trusts Snape?† Ron said. â€Å"He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry. Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. Harry thought she too looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve. â€Å"Rita Skeeter,† she muttered finally. â€Å"How can you be worrying about her now?† said Ron, in utter disbelief. â€Å"I'm not worrying about her,† Hermione said to her knees. â€Å"I'm just thinking†¦remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? ‘I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl. ‘ This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember†¦'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home.† â€Å"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?† Hermione shrugged. â€Å"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?† Ron said, turning back to Harry. â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry, â€Å"but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage.† â€Å"We never thought of her, did we?† said Ron slowly. â€Å"Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it-â€Å" â€Å"Of course she doesn't,† said Hermione sharply, looking up. â€Å"Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth.† Hermione looked at her watch. â€Å"We haven't done any practicing!† she said, looking shocked. â€Å"We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on. Harry, you need to get some sleep.† Harry and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. As Harry pulled on his pajamas, he looked over at Neville's bed. True to his word to Dumbledore, he had not told Ron and Hermione about Neville's parents. As Harry took off his glasses and climbed into his four-poster, he imagined how it must feel to have parents still living but unable to recognize you. He often got sympathy from strangers for being an orphan, but as he listened to Neville's snores, he thought that Neville deserved it more than he did. Lying in the darkness, Harry felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom†¦.He remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the dementors†¦.He understood how they had felt†¦.Then he remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later†¦. It was Voldemort, Harry thought, staring up at the canopy of his bed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort†¦.He was the one who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these lives†¦. Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Harry prepare. â€Å"Don't worry about it,† Hermione said shortly when Harry pointed this out to them and said he didn't mind practicing on his own for a while, â€Å"at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class.† â€Å"Good training for when we're all Aurors,† said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair. The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead. Tired of walking in on Harry, Hermione, and Ron all over the school. Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx. â€Å"You're still doing really well, though,† Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. â€Å"Some of these are bound to come in handy.† â€Å"Come and look at this,† said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. â€Å"What's Malfoy doing?† Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it. â€Å"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie,† said Harry curiously. â€Å"He can't be,† said Hermione, â€Å"I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry,† she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, â€Å"let's try that Shield Charm again.† Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it. If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters. Harry's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly he did, the tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief. Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it. â€Å"What?† said Harry and Ron together, staring at her. â€Å"Nothing,† said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, â€Å"No way. Not today. That old cow.† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Rita Skeeter again?† â€Å"No,† said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight. â€Å"It's about me, isn't it?† said Harry. â€Å"No,† said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. But before Harry could demand to see the paper. Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table. â€Å"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?† Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reaction. â€Å"Let me see it,† Harry said to Ron. â€Å"Give it here.† Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Harry turned it over and found himself staring at his own picture, beneath the banner headline: â€Å"HARRY POTTER† â€Å"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS† The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School. Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying. It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potters brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, a nd that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion. â€Å"He might even be pretending,† said one specialist. â€Å"This could be a plea for attention.† The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public. â€Å"Potter can speak Parseltongue,† reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. â€Å"There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power.† Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue â€Å"as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers.† Similarly, â€Å"anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence.† Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening. â€Å"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?† said Harry lightly, folding up the paper. Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes. â€Å"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?† Ron said. â€Å"There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard -â€Å" â€Å"The window was open,† said Harry. â€Å"I opened it to breathe.† â€Å"You were at the top of North Tower!† Hermione said. â€Å"Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!† â€Å"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!† said Harry. â€Å"You tell me how she did it!† â€Å"I've been trying!† said Hermione. â€Å"But I†¦but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Ron, frowning at her. â€Å"Yes,† said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Harry and Ron stared at each other. â€Å"I've had an idea,† Hermione said, gazing into space. â€Å"I think I know†¦because then no one would be able to see†¦even Moody†¦and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge†¦but she's not allowed†¦she's definitely not allowed†¦I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library – just to make sure!† With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall. â€Å"Oi!† Ron called after her. â€Å"We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey,† he said, turning back to Harry, â€Å"she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class – read again?† Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task. â€Å"S'pose so,† Harry said to Ron; but just then. Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him. â€Å"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast,† she said. â€Å"But the task's not till tonight!† said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time. â€Å"I'm aware of that, Potter,† she said. â€Å"The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them.† She moved away. Harry gaped after her. â€Å"She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?† he asked Ron blankly. â€Å"Dunno,† said Ron. â€Å"Harry, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later.† Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. He really didn't want to go into the chamber. He had no family – no family who would turn up to see him risk his life, anyway. But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out. â€Å"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!† Utterly perplexed. Harry got up. The Dursleys couldn't possibly be here, could they? He walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his fathers hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry, who waved back, grinning. Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him. â€Å"Surprise!† Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled broadly and walked over to them. â€Å"Thought we'd come and watch you. Harry!† She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"You all right?† said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. â€Å"Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail.† Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them. â€Å"This is really nice of you,† Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. â€Å"I thought for a moment – the Dursleys -â€Å" â€Å"Hmm,† said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned. â€Å"It's great being back here,† said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). â€Å"Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?† â€Å"Oh yeah,† said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year. â€Å"And the Fat Lady?† said Bill. â€Å"She was here in my time,† said Mrs. Weasley. â€Å"She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -â€Å" â€Å"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?† said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement. Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling. â€Å"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll,† she said. â€Å"He got caught by Apollyon Pringle – he was the caretaker in those days – your father's still got the marks.† â€Å"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?† said Bill. â€Å"Yeah, okay,† said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around. â€Å"There you are, are you?† he said, looking Harry up and down. â€Å"Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Ignore him,† said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. â€Å"He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion.† â€Å"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?† said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. â€Å"Still,†¦you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?† â€Å"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!† Mrs. Weasley said angrily. â€Å"I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!† Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away. Harry had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg. â€Å"How's Percy?† Harry asked as they walked around the greenhouses. â€Å"Not good,† said Bill. â€Å"He's very upset,† said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. â€Å"The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it.† They returned to the castle for lunch. â€Å"Mum – Bill!† said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. â€Å"What're you doing here?† â€Å"Come to watch Harry in the last task!† said Mrs. Weasley brightly. â€Å"I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?† â€Å"Oh†¦okay,† said Ron. â€Å"Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right,† he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, â€Å"they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard.† Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too, and Harry was having such a good time he felt almost as though he were back at the Burrow; he had forgotten to worry about that evening's task, and not until Hermione turned up, halfway through lunch, did he remember that she had had a brainwave about Rita Skeeter. â€Å"Are you going to tell us -?† Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley. â€Å"Hello, Hermione,† said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual. â€Å"Hello,† said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face. Harry looked between them, then said, â€Å"Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend.† â€Å"Oh!† said Mrs. Weasley â€Å"No – of course I didn't!† But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that. Harry, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Harry thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her, There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now.† Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished him good luck, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor. â€Å"Feeling all right. Harry?† Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. â€Å"Confident?† â€Å"I'm okay,† said Harry. It was sort of true; he was nervous, but he kept running over all the hexes and spells he had been practicing in his mind as they walked, and the knowledge that he could remember them all made him feel better. They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy. Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest. â€Å"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze,† said Professor McGonagall to the champions. â€Å"If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?† The champions nodded. â€Å"Off you go, then!† said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers. â€Å"Good luck. Harry,† Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, â€Å"Sonorus,† and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each – Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!† The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. â€Å"In second place, with eighty points – Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!† More applause. â€Å"And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!† Harry could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him. â€Å"So†¦on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!† said Bagman. â€Å"Three – two – one -â€Å" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Harry felt almost as though he were underwater again. He pulled out his wand, muttered, â€Å"Lumos,† and heard Cedric do the same just behind him. After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other. â€Å"See you,† Harry said, and he took the left one, while Cedric took the right. Harry heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Krum had entered the maze. Harry sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight. Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside. Harry kept looking behind him. The old feeling that he was being watched was upon him. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork. â€Å"Point Me,† he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm. The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. The best he could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible. The path ahead was empty too, and when Harry reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked. Harry didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving him. Surely he should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring him into a false sense of security. Then he heard movement right behind him. He held out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking. â€Å"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!† he hissed. â€Å"They're enormous – I only just got away!† He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw†¦a dementor gliding toward him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but knew what he had to do†¦. He summoned the happiest thought he could, concentrated with all his might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with Ron and Hermione, raised his wand, and cried, â€Å"Expecto Patronum!† A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry's wand and galloped toward the dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes†¦.Harry had never seen a dementor stumble. â€Å"Hang on!† he shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus, â€Å"You're a boggart! Riddikulus!† There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver stag faded from sight. Harry wished it could have stayed, he could have used some company†¦but he moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his wand held high once more. Left†¦right†¦left again†¦Twice he found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. He turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him. Harry approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind of enchantment. He wondered whether he might be able to blast it out of the way. â€Å"Reducio!† he said. The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. He supposed he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would happen if he walked through the mist? Was it worth chancing it, or should he double back? He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence. â€Å"Fleur?† Harry yelled. There was silence. He stared all around him. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. He took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist. The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from the earth completely. Think, he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his head, think†¦ But not one of the spells he had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices – try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task. He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling. Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight. He paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. He was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks – did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand? Harry took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease†¦but at the same time, he couldn't help thinking. One champion down†¦ The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. He'd got this far, hadn't he? What if he actually managed to win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since he'd found himself champion, he saw again that image of himself, raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest of the school†¦. He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Cedric was right – it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Harry's wand, which he pointed at it. â€Å"Stupefy!† The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Harry ducked just in time, but could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward him. â€Å"Impedimenta!† Harry yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back a few paces and fell over. â€Å"IMPEDIMENTA!† The skrewt was inches from him when it froze – he had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction – the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment. He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest. He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead. â€Å"What are you doing?† yelled Cedric's voice. â€Å"What the hell d'you think you're doing?† And then Harry heard Krum's voice. â€Å"Crucio!† The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric's. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his robes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him. Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run. â€Å"Stupefy!† Harry yelled. The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. Harry-dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face. â€Å"Are you all right?† Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm. â€Å"Yeah,† panted Cedric. â€Å"Yeah†¦I don't believe it†¦he crept up behind me†¦.I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me†¦.† Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry looked down at Krum. â€Å"I can't believe this†¦I thought he was all right,† Harry said, staring at Krum. â€Å"So did I,† said Cedric. â€Å"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?† said Harry. â€Å"Yeah,† said Cedric. â€Å"You don't think Krum got her too?† â€Å"I don't know,† said Harry slowly. â€Å"Should we leave him here?† Cedric muttered. â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him†¦otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt.† â€Å"He'd deserve it,† Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay. Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them. Then Cedric said, â€Å"Well†¦I s'pose we'd better go on†¦.† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Oh†¦yeah†¦right†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was an odd moment. He and Cedric had been briefly united against Krum – now the fact that they were opponents came back to Harry. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turned left, and Cedric right. Cedric's footsteps soon died away. Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Cedric now. His desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever, but he could hardly believe what he'd just seen Krum do. The use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum surely couldn't have wanted the Triwizard Cup that badly†¦.Harry sped up. Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, in his Monster Book of Monsters. It was a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice. â€Å"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me.† â€Å"So†¦so will you move, please?† said Harry, knowing what the answer was going to be. â€Å"No,† she said, continuing to pace. â€Å"Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess – I let you pass. Answer wrongly – I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed.† Harry's stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"Can I hear the riddle?† The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited: â€Å"First think of the person who lives in disguise, Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, The middle of middle and end of the end? And finally give me the sound often heard During the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together, and answer me this, Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?† Harry gaped at her. â€Å"Could I have it again†¦more slowly?† he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. â€Å"All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?† Harry asked. She merely smiled her mysterious smile. Harry took that for a â€Å"yes.† Harry cast his mind around. There were plenty of animals he wouldn't want to kiss; his immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but something told him that wasn't the answer. He'd have to try and work out the clues†¦. â€Å"A person in disguise,† Harry muttered, staring at her, â€Å"who lies†¦er†¦that'd be a – an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A – a spy? I'll come back to that†¦could you give me the next clue again, please?† She repeated the next lines of the poem. â€Å"‘The last thing to mend,'† Harry repeated. â€Å"Er†¦no idea†¦'middle of middle'†¦could I have the last bit again?† She gave him the last four lines. â€Å"‘The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,'† said Harry. â€Å"Er†¦that'd be†¦er†¦hang on – ‘er'! Er's a sound!† The sphinx smiled at him. â€Å"Spy†¦er†¦spy†¦er†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Harry, pacing up and down. â€Å"A creature I wouldn't want to kiss†¦a spider!† The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass. â€Å"Thanks!† said Harry, and, amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. He had to be close now, he had to be†¦.His wand was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance†¦. Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. â€Å"Point Me!† he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead. The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him. Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Harry knew he would never catch up, Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs – Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it – â€Å"Cedric!† Harry bellowed. â€Å"On your left!† Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Harry saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Cedric. â€Å"Stupefy!† Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead. â€Å"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!† But it was no use – the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon him. He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers and next moment he was in excruciating pain. He could hear Cedric yelling â€Å"Stupefy!† too, but his spell had no more effect than Harry's – Harry raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted â€Å"Expelliarmus!† It worked – the Disarming Spell made the spider drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him. Without pausing to think, he aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as he had done with the skrewt, and shouted â€Å"Stupefy!†just as Cedric yelled the same thing. The two spells combined did what one alone had not: The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs. â€Å"Harry!† he heard Cedric shouting. â€Å"You all right? Did it fall on you?† â€Å"No,† Harry called back, panting. He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on his torn robes. He tried to get up, but his leg was shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around. Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him. â€Å"Take it, then,† Harry panted to Cedric. â€Å"Go on, take it. You're there.† But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Harry saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Harry again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support himself. Cedric took a deep breath. â€Å"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here.† â€Å"That's not how it's supposed to work,† Harry said. He felt angry; his leg was very painful, he was aching all over from trying to throw off the spider, and after all his efforts, Cedric had beaten him to it, just as he'd beaten Harry to ask Cho to the ball. â€Å"The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg.† Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, away from the cup, shaking his head. â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"Stop being noble,† said Harry irritably. â€Å"Just take it, then we can get out of here.† Cedric watched Harry steadying himself, holding tight to the hedge. â€Å"You told me about the dragons,† Cedric said. â€Å"I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming.† â€Å"I had help on that too,† Harry snapped, trying to mop up his bloody leg with his robes. â€Å"You helped me with the egg – we're square.† â€Å"I had help on the egg in the first place,† said Cedric. â€Å"We're still square,† said Harry, testing his leg gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped him. â€Å"You should've got more points on the second task,† said Cedric mulishly. â€Å"You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that.† â€Å"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!† said Harry bitterly. â€Å"Just take the cup!† â€Å"No,† said Cedric. He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries. â€Å"Go on,† Cedric said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided. Harry looked from Cedric to the cup. For one shining moment, he saw himself emerging from the maze, holding it. He saw himself holding the Triwizard Cup aloft, heard the roar of the crowd, saw Cho's face shining with admiration, more clearly than he had ever seen it before†¦and then the picture faded, and he found himself staring at Cedric's shadowy, stubborn face. â€Å"Both of us,† Harry said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it.† Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. â€Å"You – you sure?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry. â€Å"Yeah†¦we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together.† For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin. â€Å"You're on,† he said. â€Å"Come here.† He grabbed Harry's arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles. â€Å"On three, right?† said Harry. â€Å"One – two – three -â€Å" He and Cedric both grasped a handle. Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at his side.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Airport and Aviation Security Annotated Bibliography

Airport and Aviation Security The paper "Airport and Aviation Security" is a delightful example of an annotated bibliography on social science. Abrahamsen, R., Williams, M. C. (2009). Security beyond the state: Global security assemblages in international politics. International Political Sociology, 3(1), 1-17.The book provides an in-depth analysis of global security privatization. It analyses global governance in relation to security in private companies. The books put forth theories examining state authorities and the private e-commerce sectors and how this impacts global security. The book content is very current and politically inclined. The information can be relied on as credible and useful.Adey, P. (2009). Facing airport security: affect, biopolitics, and the preemptive securitization of the mobile body. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 27(2), 274-295.The book preemptively narrates the openings that airports provide to global security or insecurity. The book cross examines why airports are i nsecurity targets. The book also provides a peek into the future of airport security on several dimensions. The book is current and very useful in providing credible discourse in upgrading airport security mechanisms.Elias, B. (2009). Airport and aviation security: US policy and strategy in the age of global terrorism. CRC Press.The books explore the challenges that current airport security strategies are facing. The measures put forth by security protocols and why they do not effectively counter insecurity. There is wide coverage of the imbalance between air commerce whenever global security measures are enforced. The authors perspective is absolutely convincing as they relate with the most recent al-Qaida attacks. More than this, the book is recently published and has been referenced a lot meaning it is credible and the information reliable.Frederickson, H. G., LaPorte, T. R. (2002). Airport security, high reliability, and the problem of rationality. Public Administration Review, 62(s1), 33-43.The article appeals to the aspects of the reliability of airport security operations. The author explores a myriad of efforts to ensure enforced airport security standards to bear fruit in global security. The article further provides an overview of the information needed to implement the high standards of security. The author being a public administrator provides the administrative view where the airline sector is to charge for the responsibility of global security. The public administration theories are more accurate and relevant in the application.Heng, Y. K., McDonagh, K. (2009). Risk, Global Governance and Security: The Other War on Terror. Routledge. The book provides a multilateral view of global security cutting across the militaristic forces, the rhetorical war on terror and emerging issues in global security. With the incessant explosion of terrorism, the book covers strategic ways to end the insecurity. The book exhaustively discusses anti-terror initiativ es and the modes of implementation exploring their effectiveness. The information as presented is credible. The author has vast knowledge in international relations from his long lecturing career in many universities. The authors reference to theories of risk and key concepts adds credibility that makes the knowledge very useful. Kibaroğlu, M., Kibaroğlu, A., Halman, T. S. (2009). Global security watch--Turkey: A reference handbook. Westport, Conn: Praeger Security International. The book examines Turkeys reaction to foreign policies and decisions. It also explains how the private sector has boosted the state of global airline safety. The book provides a conceptual framework for the role that airport security plays in global security by demonstrating the state of Turkish airports. Other than been current the information is practically drawn making this credible source. McCarley, J. S., Kramer, A. F., Wickens, C. D., Vidoni, E. D., Boot, W. R. (2004). Visual skills in air port-security screening. Psychological Science, 15(5), 302-306. The journal is based on an experimental check on the tools employed in airport security. The experiment purely is used to reveal how the travels and screening tools can contribute to global insecurity. Moreover, the journal uncovers the need to upgrade airport security screening tools. This information is credible and having been conducted scientifically, it is highly accurate and reliable. Sparke, M. B. (2006). A neoliberal nexus: Economy, security and the biopolitics of citizenship on the border. Political Geography, 25(2), 151-180. The book identifies the ways in which airport security is has failed. It examines the inadequate security designs that airports employ. The role that bodies such as the Transport Security Administration and Homeland security play are discussed. This is a very recent publication, therefore, gives a current view. The author is a diplomat and a keen analysis of security matters. This informat ion is fairly credible and accurate when related to the current state of affairs.Sweet, K. (2008). Aviation and airport security: terrorism and safety concerns. CRC Press. The descriptive analysis of biometrics, predictive analysis and dataveillance in the book scrutinized the role of airport security on state borders. The book relates technology, the airport travels and global security on many levels. The text is also particular in technological techniques through which airport security enhances global security. The content is relatively recent, credible and accurate technologically and other senses.TYLER, S. T. A. C. E. Y. L. (2017). AIRPORT SECURITY: Passenger screening and governance post-9/11. S.l.: ROSEDOG PR. This book narrates the tenets of airlines exploring their operations, economic impacts and political roles. It addresses the challenges faced, global security being a major threat. The book also provides great insight into the age of terrorism and its impact on airports. The author writes on account of their first-hand experience from their experience working in the Turkish embassy. This authors active involvement in business security has enabled her to argue substantially on the subject making credible and reliable arguments.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Swot or FDI analysis on Human Development Indext in International Essay

Swot or FDI analysis on Human Development Indext in International busines - Essay Example To support international business the government has had to create a number of policies that are in line with the HDI measures. Human development is supported by the ability of the population to access a variety of products and services affordably. Infrastructure is therefore key to human development (Ranis, Stewart, & Samman, 2006). Since the inception of international business by the Economic committee, international business has been designated as the lifeblood for economic growth of Singapore and the impact the same has on both the finance and the logistics sectors of this economy. The SWOT based on HDI in relation to international business include: Strength- Existence of attractive trade infrastructure hence a huge trader in world oil. There is wide connectivity in terms of business and physical location (Chowdhury, & Squire, 2006). Political stability is a key requirement for international business to thrive. Weaknesses are much unwelcome as they discourage FDI and global business in the long run: these include; less pool of local professionals in trade with costs such as rent and wages rocketing high. In addition there is limited access to capital and export credit insurance. The opportunities on the other hand are vast including the international access of markets and the increased liberalization of Asia as well as demand for risk management. We experience a few threats including other locations offering better incentives and an increase in direct trade. The increased access to international business has an impact on overall Human Development Index (HDI) as the population will be able to improve in terms of living standards given the trade in variety (Chowdhury, & Squire, 2006). Human development index is directly related to the strengths and opportunities presented by the access to international business. This is due to the fact that the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Staffing Process in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Staffing Process in Organizations - Essay Example Actually, after the recruitment and apportionment are done, the employees will be prepared to start the work as soon as possible. But, sometimes or most times, the recruited employees should need to be given orientation and training to integrate or assimilate with the working environment and importantly fulfill the work needs. That is, the prospective employees may show optimum interest, performance, etc at the time of recruitment, but after selection, while working in the organization they may underperform. That is, after performing well during the recruitment process and getting the job, they may become over-confident and may not put the same effort during their work. Also, if the organization fails to give them an optimal working environment as promised during the recruitment process, employees may not perform well in that scenario also. So, this where an optimal staffing process through coaching and mentoring will come into the picture, equipping the recruited employees and match ing the job needs of the organization. Staffing involves coaching and mentoring the job seekers to make them fit for a particular job (koreone.com) As part of the staffing processes, organizations should coach or mentor the recruited staffs and even the old employees, for it reaches the top echelons. â€Å"Coaching and Mentoring can be used to effectively unlock the potential that already exists within any organization. The organization’s most valuable resource is its people or puts more concretely, the knowledge and passion that resides within the hearts and minds of its people... introducing coaching and mentoring within any organization, will reap the benefits to the organization† (oaktraining.com). That is, when the recruited employees fall short in their performance, mainly due to lack of skill and  knowledge about the process, they can be coached or mentored.

An illustrated critique of the nature of brand design and its value to Essay - 1

An illustrated critique of the nature of brand design and its value to a selected company - Essay Example It also critically evaluates its internal strength, weakness, and brand power due to massive international presence. The key competitors are under analysis and comparison with H&M to evaluate its brand image significant for its international standing and business operations. OVERVIEW H&M (Hennes and Mauritz) group is a renowned retail designer specialising in fashion apparel and accessories for men, women and children wear. It is the second largest international fashion retailer after the Spanish brand Zara (Inditex). It is operated through leased retail stores, franchises and online catalogue stores with operations in Europe, Americas, Middle East and Asia. It has expanded internationally through network of franchise stores as well as catalogue sales. It offers affordable and chic high street fashion from children to teenagers and adults with wide variety of fashion apparel, footwear, accessories and cosmetics. It divulges the concept of fast fashion i.e. offering premium fashion at affordable prices while maintaining satisfactory quality. It has a distinctive global presence across 48 countries with 2,700 retail outlets covering 50 franchises, 48 Monki, 18 Weekday and 35 Collection of Styles (COS) stores. It has a workforce of almost 94,000 employees globally. The significant growth was captured by introduction of cosmetics and accessories in the fashion apparel market. It derives 90% of its revenue from overseas market, where Germany being the biggest at 27%. The online and catalogue sale is only offered in the European region (Datamonitor, 2011). HISTORY The history of the multi-national retailer dates back to Erling Persson in 1947 at Vasteras, who started the brand initially with Hennes dealing with women wear. In 1969, Erling Mauritz bought a menswear retail company, together Hennes and Mauritz AB founded H&M fashion house dealing with both men, and women wear products. It expanded the fashion business from Sweden during the late 1960s to Norway, Denmark , Switzerland, UK, Austria, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Germany. H&M is listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange since 1974. In spite of H&M Scandinavian origin, its expansion into British and European market was a major success in the late 1970s. The online store was inaugurated in 1988 with consolidation of men, women, teens and children under one fashion brand called H&M. It is operated and headquartered in Stockholm. It turned into a multinational retail fashion business by acquiring 40% stakes in Fabric Scandinavian, which deals with brands such as Cheap Monday, Monki and Weekday retail stores. It also inaugurated its first COS concept store in 2011 at Stockholm (Datamonitor, 2011). H&M LOGO The logo signifies the first letters of the founding members of the H&M group, Hennes and Mauritz. The brand logo illustrates a bold red colour with light cursive that depicts softer outlook. The red colour illustrates a vibrant and enthusiastic outlook that comprehends with the company’s creative fashion trends. The font size and colour chosen for the brand depicts the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Nokia Business Strategy Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Nokia Business Strategy Report - Essay Example This report will determine the purpose and business performance of Nokia Corporation. Both the external and internal analysis has been conducted for Nokia in order to determine the impact of external environmental factors on the business performance of Nokia. The internal environmental analysis will help to determine the strategic strengths and weaknesses of Nokia Corporation. The strategic development part of the report will evaluate the corporation’s existing business and corporate level strategy. It will help to recommend effective strategic operation for Nokia Corporation so that the organization can overcome its key issues and challenges. Strategic Analysis This part of the business strategy report will provide a brief about the organization and its operating industry. This strategic analysis part will help the readers to determine the implemented strategies of Nokia and the impact of several external and internal environmental factors on the business performance of the o rganization. ... Global telecommunication industry is highly competitive as several leading organizations, such as Samsung, Apple and HTC are operating within this industry. Once, Nokia Corporation was considered as the leader within the global industry. But the organization lost its huge market share to its competitors due to several external and internal issues. The organization is one of the largest telecommunication equipment manufacturers. Nokia Corporation has a strong global presence. The employee strength of the organization is 87,100 (Macroaxis, 2013, p.1). Since last 5-7 years, the products of Nokia Corporation faced low sales due to lack of effective differentiation strategy and inadequate quality control (Marion, 2013, p.2). The Smartphone market share of Nokia has reduced from 33 percent to 14 percent in 2011 (Hui, 2013, p.1) Organizational Purpose Currently the company has formed a strategic partnership with Microsoft with the aim to build a mobile ecosystem worldwide. The phones operat ing on Windows would serve as the primary smart phone platform for Nokia. From April, 2011 Nokia has formed two distinct business units in the form of Smart devices and Mobile phones. The former units will be responsible for cementing the status of Nokia in the smart phone market while the later will leverage the innovation into new target markets so as to connect billions to people worldwide. Nokia Corporation is a multinational organization that engages in manufacturing and distribution of mobile phones and related accessories. Mission Statement The mission statement of the Nokia Corporation is to focus on effective decision-making strategy. The organization will create an effective

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example Catherine Barkley, like the season of mist and monsoon, has two faces on a single paradigm. At one plane, she is enough voluptuous to quench the desire of a man and satisfy his fantasies. And on the other plane, she is independent, smart, and strong women who not only shows the capacity to melt a stone like Henry but evolves out with the progression of the novel, as a peer to Henry in all his struggles and troubles. Hardly any female character would give such unconventional dialogue in discovering the fact that she is pregnant as Catherine gives in ‘A Farewell to Arms’, â€Å"I’ll try and not make trouble for you. I know I’ve made trouble now. But haven’t I always been a good girl until now?† (Hemingway, â€Å"A Farewell to Arms†, Pg - 128). Critics rightly claim that Catherine Barkley is the real hero of the novel. Her desperation to love Henry with all that she has, transports her claim for Henry above all the limitations of conventionalities. â€Å"There isn’t any me. I’m you. Don’t make up a separate me† (Hemingway, â€Å"A Farewell to Arms†, Pg - 107) indicates that she is above any ordinary woman to be titled as mere fantasy of a man. She is courageous, stoic and deity of fortitude. She is the real hero of the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Take a stand for or against the proposition Jakob Nielsen should be Essay

Take a stand for or against the proposition Jakob Nielsen should be empowered to set mandatory usability standards for Internet web pages - Essay Example According to Nielson’s web site user interface usability is higher for intranets than for the internet. The reason for this lies in the intranets usability design and in the fact that an intranet is controlled and a user won’t find themselves at a dead link, or fraudulent site (as can happen on the internet). According to Nielson’s website (useit.com) the internet â€Å"is the interface to a vast amount of information, and so the emphasis must be on usability†. According to Frank Spiller (Spiller, 2004) Jakob Nielson â€Å"promotes best practices, he preaches obedience to his guidelines and when he postulates opinions they are interpreted as instructions". Spiller argues that Nielson may be interpreted wrongly and when translated, from the Danish, meanings get lost or misunderstood. The translations do sound a bit egocentric as Nielson declares that: "In the future, first of all, websites will be designed by my guidelines†. It is here that the argument moves away from usability into the realm of personality and professional ethics problems (Spiller, 2004). Nielson comes across as flamboyant and arrogant. He often cites his work a â€Å"we† but doesn’t mention the others he is working with. His professional ethics have been questioned on some occasions. For example, he charges 35,000 for a half day consulting appearance while claiming that usability is the least expensive way to go (Spiller, 2004). There are many arguments against usability as introduced by Jakob Nielson that include: Who will pilot a new usability program? Who will mandate the standards and ensure compliance? What will happen to those who choose not to follow Nielson’s standards? Will their websites be denied web access? Will those trying to access denied sites be redirected to another web address? Any mandated plan will need to be well thought out. Perhaps Nielson needs to visit the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Lyndon B. Johnson Essay Example for Free

Lyndon B. Johnson Essay Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential reign began with the assassination of former president John F. Kennedy in 1963. While the people of the United States tried to recover from the loss of Kennedy, Johnson used it to his advantage. Many citizens did not notice that this was being done, and some even wonder if Johnson himself knew he was using it to his advantage. By him telling America that Kennedy would have wanted the Great Society, the people believed him and went through with it. Many things, both good an bad came out of the Great Society. The Great Society was Johnson’s way of fixing the problems in America, that being the political, emotional and mostly the social problems. Johnson used the nations grief to pass the civil rights bill. It had the same idea of the bill Kennedy was planning on passing, but the difference was that Johnson’s was stronger and more powerful. This act was passed in July of 1964, and it outlawed radical discrimination in all public places. Places that included hotels, and restaurants, it banned the discrimination of unions, and the employers and even programs that were funded by the federal government. The civil rights act was not the only thing passed in 1964 though, he also passed the Economic Opportunity Act. As seen in document B, the act was made to help people in poverty. It started head start, a preschool program funded by the government, and gave workers and farmers money to break through and escape from poverty. It improved what was being done in our nation at that time, and became a milestone for our 180-year search for a better life for our people. With these couple of acts being formed it did help our poverty rates change. When you look at document H you can see that in 1959 before Johnson’s presidency, the poverty rate was at 55.1 for blacks, 18.1 for whites, and 53.3 for all non-whites. Once the acts were formed the rates went down a little and were recorded in 1966 by about 15 percent except for whites, the whites only went down 7 percent. They kept decreasing until 1974 where they were last recorded in the document at 29.5 percent for all non-whites, 31.4 for blacks, and 8.9 for whites. The white race was effected the most by this and they decreased the most out of all of races. Now with the change of the  poverty rates, Johnson also tried to help with medical prices. He started insurance programs such as Medicare for seniors and Medicaid for the poor. Document A shows Abraham Ribcoff testifying before the House of Representatives about the prices of medical care. The discovery of more advanced medical sciences and life spans lasting longer, the elders and poor need more help paying these bills and with Medicare and Medicaid help will be provided. Now the Great Society was a huge deal during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency. Probably because it had a huge impact on America to this day. Johnson poured millions, even billions of dollars into building a perfect society. While he was putting money into this, he was spending money trying to help with the Vietnam War. Document E is a perfect cartoon of what was happening in the time period. Johnson knew that we could not win the war, but he kept us fighting. Many lives were lost, and more and more money was spilt into it. The idea of his Great Society fed right into the war. So much money was lost into the US economy and it is money that we have not gotten back. People were disappointed with Johnson because he kept us fighting, but he did not under their anger. In document F, an interview of Johnson in 1967, he states, â€Å"How is it possible that all these people could be so ungrateful to me after I had given them so much?† He has a point where he had done a lot, but t his was nothing compared to the pain families had felt over their loved ones. Johnson was not the only political figure during this ear that made a strong impact on civil rights. Several supreme court cases were occurring at this time between the Miranda rights, and when Plessy was overturned by Brown. Along with Baker v. Carr and Engel v. Vitale. All of these impacted women and blacks. Betty Freedan was against the perfect life idea for women. Where they need to be the perfect wife for their husbands and how it was every woman’s dream. Betty had this life and it was not her dream. Blacks wanted full rights, no more segregation between them. With these two together the civil rights movement began. More information on these two groups are found in document C and D. Johnson faced a lot during his presidency, and he made it through all of it. He made a large impact on American’s life. Economically he put us into a severe struggle, but he did help with medical care, and schooling for children. Socially we now have equal rights, and the civil rights movement did work after a while. We all get along in schools and those movements started it all. Politically he was not the best president, but they all have ups and downs. My own opinion, Johnson was an okay president. Life was difficult then, but many of those difficult things made the life we live today a lot better.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Coca Cola The Company | Commerce Essay

Coca Cola The Company | Commerce Essay Organizations do not simply appears on their own, It requires proper planning and formal structure to ensure that organization will perform as expected. It is a social system formed by likeminded people, to achieve stated objectives or common goals of participants. Organizational design deals with factors and issues that should be considered, rules and processes that must be implemented. A successful organizational design helps to develop, implement and maintain effective organizational process, (Allan S.Gutterman). Organizational design is more than just defining the formal structure of organization. (Allan S.Gutterman).it also includes management decision making process, values, policies, mission, vision, goals and purposes for which organization exists. Thus it requires creativity and careful planning to design structure of an organization. This creativity has led the organizational design to organizational architecture. Coca cola the company: http://jobs.paktutorial.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Coca-Cola.gif Coca cola is a beverage company. It is manufacturer, distributor, and marketer for non-alcohol beverages and syrups. The coca cola company is truly global firm in real terms. Coca cola operate very smartly around the globe. It knows how to deal with changed culture, drinking habits and taste for specific beverages in specific regions. It thus used to changes its syrup formula and molds it according to taste and preferences of people in different regions. There are five main factors that holds important place in success of coca cola. Well recognized brand Around the globe Consistently improving quality Innovative and unique marketing program worldwide Availability on large scale, almost in every region of world Continuous stream of quality products e.g. Diet Coke (1982), Coca-Cola Vanilla (2002). Probably, coca cola is the sole product that is universally relevant in every corner of the globe, the Company feels that its its responsibility is to ensure that with every single can or bottle of Coca-Cola sold and enjoyed, individual connections are made with their consumer. Organizational structure of coca cola: Organizational structure of coca cola has characteristics of both mechanical and organic structure. The company has a centralized structure but recently there is a twist, it is moving from centralized to decentralized structure. Coca cola is well aware of how important it is to meet ever changing demands of customers. This realization has played key role in transition from centralized to decentralized structure of Coca cola. Two main operating groups of company include corporate and bottling management. Corporate operations are also divided in different regions like America, Europe, and Africa North America etc. in order to be more responsive to local demands of customers in different regions, its will work a lot to allow and encourage decision making at local level. In this way, upper management can devote more time to long term planning rather than devoting time to short term and little issues. Important decisions of company like financial human resource, innovation marketing strategy etc are centrally located within corporate division of company. In each region f company, some of these functions are performed on low level; most of the decisions are made by top management of company. For instance the decision to support world cup was made by top management, but local and regional branched were also considered important and were allowed to make advertising decisions. Such as they were asked to develop marketing strategies for local market In 2004, new CEO, Neville lsdell introduced more complex interategrate mechanism. In order to recover from extremely growth rate or company, lsdell used team of top management to create a culture of innovation and decision making. Employees at lower level can be informed by face to face meetings. Balance in organizational design is important as it allows some flexibility, as well as it will give organization some flexibility. The design of the company is hybrid or mixture of both organic ad mechanistic structure, and the company emphasis more on responsiveness. Recent research has revealed that company has 94800 employees, and more than five hierarchal levels of organization. Although the structure is good enough, company faces the communication problem. One survey revealed that company and people lack clear goals and objectives. While organization is trying to engage ore employed, that tall hierarchies will also create communication problems at the company. From last two decades, many firms are founding it difficult to reach their financial objectives, due to recent ethical crisis associate with organizations financial objectives. Warren Buffet served as a member of the board of directors and was a strong supporter and investor in Coca-Cola but resigned from the board in 2006 after several years of frustration with Coca-Colas failure to overcome many challenges. In 2000, company failed to make the top ten of Fortunes annual Americas Most Admired Companies list for the first time in a decade. The company is committed to refresh everyone who had touched the business of coca cola. Thus company gained the status of well recognized brand around the globe. Coca cola has great concern for social responsibility. The company is fulfilling all requirements of Corporate and social responsibility. it believes in transparency, honesty and integrity in business dealings, improved relationships with all stakeholders. In its services for community, coca cola has provided scholarships to more than 170 colleges, and this number is expected to grow to 287 over the next four years. It includes 30 tribal colleges belonging to the American Indian College Fund. Coca-Cola is also involved with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. So, the demand of more accountability has no clear impact on behavior of Coca Cola. Conclusion: Coca cola is a very well reputed and well recognized beverage supplier all around the globe. It has hybrid structure of organic and mechanistic structure of organization. The company is committed to provide continuously improved quality products. To be more responsive to local demand of customers in different regions, coca cola allows local managers, at lower level to make decisions about changing demands of local customers to be more responsive, flexible and adaptive to change. The structure of company has centralized decision making as well decentralized to some extent. Some decisions are made by top management and lower level employees are engaged in decision making process by allowing them to decide about promotional or marketing strategy for their respective regions. Coca cola is in struggle to Connect with more employees; this has created some communication problems for the company. Company has enough potential to cope with different challenges and issues. Coca cola has great concern for CSR practices and believe on transparency, honesty and integrity in business operations so, the increased demand to accountability has no negative impact on coca cola, and instead it is contributing factor in improved performance by the company.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Patients Rights Essay -- patients’ bill of rights

The practice of medicine in the 1960s saw a change in the doctor-patient relationship that ultimately cultivated the patients’ rights movement. Individuals sought to become proactive in the healthcare and the healing process of their bodies. Because the medical practice was evolving rapidly in technology and specialized care, patients’ healthcare and rights became a major concern that needed to be addressed. In 1973 the American Hospital Association published a patients’ bill of rights that provided the patient with most advantageous healthcare available. This bill of rights required all accredited hospitals to accept this standard moving forward (Patients' Rights, 2004). The American Medical Association (AMA) developed a Code of Medical Ethics which includes: the patient has a right to obtain and discuss health information related to benefits, risks, and costs of treatment alternatives; patient’s can make decisions pertaining to healthcare suggested by the physician; the patient has the right to courtesy, respect, dignity, and attention to healthcare needs in a timely manner; and the patient has a right to confidentially, continuity, and adequate health care. (emedicinehealth, 2011). Communicating openly and honestly between the patient and doctor will allow both parties to make decisions to properly take care of needs. Patients’ have the right to know all details related to the service or treatment that will be provided and the right to refuse any such service or treatment before it happens. This informed consent will communicate exact procedure details, pain intensity and or disability period encountered, risk involvement, and any alternative methods of treatment and its risks. A patient will receive a concurrence... ...egrity of protected health information. Works Cited emedicinehealth. (2011). Retrieved February 23, 2011, from http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script Fiore, K. (2011) HIPAA Violation Costs Cignet Millions. Retrieved March 15, 2011 from http://www/medpagetoday.com/tbprint.cfm?tbid=25036 Patients' Rights. (2000). Retrieved February 23, 2011, from The Royal Society of Medicine Health Encyclopedia: http://lirnproxy.museglobal.com Patients' Rights. (2004). Retrieved February 2011, 23, from New Harvard Guide to Women' Health, The. http://lirnproxy.museglobal.com Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (2011, January). Retrieved March 03, 2011, from PrivacyRights.org: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs8-med.htm U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. (2011). Retrieved February 23, 2011, from hhs.gov: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Scouts Learning Experiences in To Kill a Mockingbird Essays -- Englis

Scout's Learning Experiences in To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout learns valuable lessons on the evil of prejudice present in her Southern town of Maycomb, on the true nature of courage, and on the dangers of judging others before "...climbing into their skin and walking around in it." Set in the mid 1930s, Scout Finch is a young girl living with her older brother, Jem, and her lawyer father. Being a kid, Scout has the simple duties of a minor, to have fun and to stay out of trouble. But along the way, she also learns many important things. Although the majority of her hometown is prejudiced, Scout's innocent mind remains non prejudice and caring of others. To her, all is equal, so therefore, should be treated equal. There is no doubt that Scout's character is one whom is an individual, someone whom will stick to her own perspective no matter how cruel and racist other people can be. In her adult world, Scout learns to treat all people fairly with dignity and respect. One of the most important role models in Scout's life, is her father, Atticus. Atticus is a small town lawyer who deals with a very tough case involving a black man and his rights. Although Atticus is a single father, he manages to teach his children right from wrong. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and therefore displays the characteristics of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Atticus demonstrates his feelings for...

Sexual and Spiritual Freedom :: essays research papers

Sexual and Spiritual Freedom The key to humanities freedom lies in its religious and sexual paradigms. Religion, as a social control mechanism, has sought to limit mans sexual freedom. The stigma associated with sexual promiscuity permeates every level of our society. I believe that in time people will demand freedom in the sexual and spiritual aspects of their lives. In order for this to occur a paradigm must be established that emphasizes wholism. Without this wholistic thought conflict can still exist and dogmatic religion is needed to band all the individuals into a splintered and confused mass. Within our current Newtonian paradigm, material realism, true wholistic thought is impossible. The scientific rules of strong objectivity, the notion that objects are independent from the mind and determinism prevent it. Strong objectivity was established when Descartes divided the world in to the objective and subjective spheres. This was done mostly as a compromise with the then all-powerful church, which would rule in matters of the subjective mind while science enjoyed freedom in the world of “reality';. Determinism is easiest under stood through analogy. Think of the universe as a bunch of billiard balls in a three dimensional pool table called space. If one were to know all the forces acting on these balls at any time it would be possible to extrapolate all future or past positions. This creates determinism and determinism destroys free will. The best example of this phenomenon in society would be the partisan political system and foreign policy. Sociologists and the public in general, see themselves and each other as one of these pool balls being kicked around. In this environment neither self-worth nor confidence is cultivated. These traits are vital in a society that increasingly asks its population to work unsupervised and off of the job site. In 1665 Isaac Newton drafted the theories which set us on the course that led to the materialism dominating our culture. The philosophy of materialism matches the paradigm of classical physics, material realism. Since this revolution our vision has been a mechanistic one. This vision was formed as a direct result of the changes in philosophical and political knowledge that came to light in the mid seventeenth century. The power and simplicity of Newton’s three laws of motion and the success of scientific empirical method caused nearly every influential thinker of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to use them as a model.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Queen Elizabeth I Essay

The play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was written by William Shakespeare in 1594. From the theme and context of the play, I can conclude that it was probably written for a wedding. It would be similar to the epithalamion written at weddings at this time, but a more elaborate version. Many of the lines rhyme and it all has the feel of poetry: some beautiful and some seeming supernatural and spell-like. It canvasses all aspects of marriage through plot, characters and symbolism, touching on both light and dark areas. The tragic side is shown more through references that actually spelling it out; Pyramus and Thisby is one example of a union which ended in catastrophe. However, despite this, the main idea of marriage is perceived as harmonious; all is shown in a ‘comic’ frame, with a humorous touch and a happy ending. This would be an appropriate feel for a wedding play because it gives the concept of marriage an idyllic feel, telling the newlyweds what they want to hear: that marriage is a good idea. If you search the play in depth, you will find that not only is it about the union of people in a marriage, but also about the unity of opposing forces in nature and bringing harmony from chaos. It is also, in an even broader sense, about the Elizabethan ideals about God and the universe. To clarify exactly what these ideals were and how ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ defines them, I must start at the beginning with the story of Adam and Eve. Elizabethans believed in everything fitting into its natural place. After studying the sky, they thought the universe was made up of spheres, one containing the stars, one containing planets and so on. They thought the Earth was at the centre of the universe; the spheres they believed in were a way of dealing with the fact that different bodies in the sky moved in different ways. It was thought that these spheres made the world harmonious, but humans couldn’t see the true beauty of it because of Adam and Eve. The legend goes that Eve was tempted by the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. This, apparently, caused the whole human race to fall from God’s grace. Now, the relevance of this to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and the theme of marriage is that when this happened, it meant man kind could not the ‘music’ of the spheres; they were only told by God that everything had its place. Even the evil in the world has a reason for being there. Humans cannot see quite how everything fits in because of their sin. They do not fully understand why some things happened because they can’t see the ‘big picture’. This was illustrated by the ‘Great Chain of Being’. God came at the top of this chain, with angels under Him. Then came nature (represented by Oberon and Titania), people (shown in all the human characters), and below them animals, plants and rocks. Humans came between animals and Angels, a relationship personified by Bottom. He is a typical human, not very bright or beautiful, but just a normal working class person. He then has a link with both the animal and angel world; he is turned into an ass and he has a relationship with Titania. This establishes the link between animals, angles and humans, and also tells you about the human nature. They are always trying to find something greater that themselves (for example fairies or angels) but to the greater beings, they must look as animals do to us – far beneath them and having little or no brains. Also exhibiting the same way of thinking was the fact that men came above women in the category of humans. If you were to sum up the play with one idea, this is the single idea addressed most eloquently. Many events in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ suggest the superiority of men, through the media of imagery, plot and characters, which will be tackled later. The Elizabethan idea of the cosmos is also addressed by the union of opposites connected with marriage. Their idea of the universe is that everything joins together perfectly and everything has its place. Things which may not seem to have a purpose will have been created by God for a reason; we just don’t know what that is. The prime example is the joining of a man and a woman in marriage. It may seem to make more sense to join two women or two men, as these will have more in common, but this play is trying to say a little of both the male and female persona is needed to make the match united. They are like opposite forces, but marriage brings them together. It is as is they have only half of the qualities needed to bring harmony and they must be brought together in marriage to make a ‘whole’. The same is also being expressed through the union of other opposite forces. There are many contrasting pairs which link hand in hand in this play: night and day; sleeping and waking; supernatural and mortal; discord and harmony; passion and reason; and ultimately female and male. These pairs are all the exact opposite of each other; and yet Shakespeare is presenting the notion that we need each half of the pair to make the world harmonious.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” Essay

An amazing movie, The Pursuit of Happiness illustrates through the examples of Chris Gardener’s life that anyone has the opportunity to achieve their own pursuit of happiness, if they have self-motivation and determination. Happiness is not something that can be pursued. We already have all the capacity for happiness that we need. Happiness comes from within, and from being content with oneself. People can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable. But to be happy or to be sad they need to have particular motivation or self-determination for it. Motivation is defined as a desire or need which directs towards a goal or something that someone wants. Motivation is an inherent response; it comes from inside and cannot be imposed from the outside, and comes from wanting to do something of one’s own free will. A motivating condition may be defined as an emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an animating to action and is the set of processes that moves a person towards a goal. Motivation consists of five basic theories. The last theory is called humanistic theory and this is perhaps the most important of all. According to Abraham Maslow, an inventor of humanistic psychology, humans are driven to achieve the maximum point of goal at some point of their lives regardless of any obstacles and hindrances. Maslow developed a pyramid called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and it argues about five levels of needs beginning with physiological needs and ending with our need for self-actualization. In the movie Pursuit of Happiness, the main character Chris Gardner was played by Will Smith, who had lost everything in some financial crisis. He ended up living in homeless shelter with his kid. He was jobless to support his kid and his wife, so his wife leaves him. Motivation drives him to struggle until the very end to get rid of this situation. Chris had motivation, he had to feed and care for his child. To feed your child and raise them properly is probably about the strongest motivation a person could have. Chris’ son reminded him daily of his need to succeed and get control of his life. Not only did Chris have motivation, he had an  incredible attitude and was confident in himself. If not for his confidence and attitude he most likely would have never become the successful stock broker he ended up being, much less even made it into the internship. Chris, after falling on hard financial times his son was left homeless. Chris manipulates working a full time unpaid internship, bringing his son to daycare, and finding a bed to sleep each night in Church. Chris and his son are not leading an easy life. One day, Chris finds some free time and decides to play basketball with his son. Where he tells his son that his dream to play basketball as an NBA player will never become true, and he can never be a good player, so he should stop playing. Yet Chris has a sudden change of heart and gives his son a speech to encourage him to always try his hardest and not let anyone shuts him down. Chris tells his son, â€Å"Don’t let anybody tell you, you can’t do something. Even me,† â€Å"You gotta dream, you gotta protect it†¦ You want something? Go get it. Period (_The Pursuit of Happiness.)†_ In first Chris decreases his son’s expectancy by telling him that he wouldn’t be able to play as a basketba ll player. In this movie the character of Chris is shown an extremely determined person. According to psychology, in order to be determined you have to let your mind make the decision that you have to get to the very end. It’s like a goal that you have to achieve it. It’s the end of your work. It could be either good or bad. A very good example which proves that Chris Gardner is determined person is when Chris did not have any money left to pay for his rent. He didn’t just say I don’t have any money and give up on everything, he rather told his land owner that he will pay him the money and so he did, he was so determined to pay for his rent, so determined that he painted the walls of his apartment to make money so that he could pay off his rent. The another great example of being determined is when Chris trusted the hippie girl with one of his bone scanners and when the hippie ran away with the scanner, he did not just sit back and lose his faith. He runs after that lady and finally gets his scanner back. The third example of being determined is when Chris kept calling although many people such as his manager keep distracting him from his work and turned him down, but he never gives up and ended up getting business from a CEO of a big company which  shows that what determination brings to him. Chris Gardner had hope and motivation not to give up. He was very hopeful and optimistic individual and never gave up throughout his life. He decided what he wanted to do and he actually went for it. Even though his motivations for being in the stock market were not the correct ones, but it still even didn’t drag him to despair. An admirable illustration that proves Chris Gardner really is a hopeful and Optimistic person is when Chris’s wife had left him and he did not break down. He in fact was totally optimistic and did as far as conceivable to take care of his child as a single parent. Further example for Chris Gardner’s optimistic nevertheless hopeful individuality is when he took a chance of an internship that offered no salary, and he took that job even though he was literally broke. The third impressive example would be when one of his scanners that Chris was selling got broke. He did not get disappointed and lost his hope. He actually took some notable action and donated blood to the hospital so he could get paid for that. With that money in his hand he bought the bulb for his machine and repaired it. According to Maslow’s pyramid Chris was hanging on the very bottom of it, because he did not have a permanent shelter where he could live with his son, and he has very little money for the food. Since he had no job so he was not secured either. With all these negative things Chris’ self-esteem was very high as is shown in the movie when he showed up into interview with no shirt on and paint all over his body and hair and he still gets selected. The reason why, is because he was very and confident and he had firm belief in himself, so he gets respected by others too. They didn’t just judge him the way he looks but how well he can perform his job and they offered him the internship job. Even though the job was no salary based he still accepted it and worked very hard till the end to get the actual job at same place. In the end, your motivation to change something about yourself may come from a variety of sources, perhaps a little because of pain, a little because you’re inspired to be a better person, and a little because your spouse  would like you to stop a habit that’s driving both of you crazy. Becoming aware of your primary motivation to change is the best source for setting off a new path, a new direction of life. No matter who or what the circumstances are, every person who is considering changing something about her or himself has a reason; a motive to change that can reinforce and strengthen the resolve to change when change becomes difficult. WORKS CITED â€Å"Motivation in Psychology 101 at AllPsych Online.† _Psychology Classroom at AllPsych Online_. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. . â€Å"Literature Class Ppt.† _Google_. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. . â€Å"Motivation in Psychology.† _Encyclopedia of Psychology – Psychology Websites_. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .