Technology and Management Functions

The diversely changing business environment has called upon strong models of technological outfit which address the core competencies with which organizations thrive on. Generally, the competitive advantage of the modern organization has only been possible pursuit to the advancement in the technological growth which has consequently helped to streamline the core organizational functions with their goals and objectives. Principally, technology has been of importance in aligning the core management functions towards a resting point of productive layout which gives such an organization adequate stepping stones towards which they can explore the proactive business opportunities within the highly competitive business environment.My organization has indeed rested upon strong technological proximities as a tool for organizational governance based on adequacy in approach of the basic core management functions. This is to imply that, technology has been used as a good source of organizational competence with which my company leverages on, providing it with a long lasting solution for competitive advantage. The technological component within my organization therefore has been a compound of various technological outfits which have been described as inherent in the modern business world in providing functionality, systems design, management and operational ability for the various activities and processes within the organization.Technological has not only been inherent subject to the use and employment of machines and tools, but also the use of intangible technologies and process that help to provide a continuous co-ordination of the day to day organizational activities within the organization as well as with the external stakeholders of the company (Dibrell, Craig, 2008). Various strategic and managerial issues have thus arisen from the same technological development. This has been leveled from the fact that technological development within the organization provide candid grounds with which the management can spearhead various managerial process aimed at strengthening the core management functions as well as other strategic ideologies that arise as a   result of development in technology.Conceptually, technology has continued to play wide range of importance in our organization, bringing into a close realization the core management functions with the expected strategic models of the company. Just to mention, the four management functions which are organizing, controlling, planning and leading, have all been subject to various technological implications. Adequacy in the functionality of the four has been provided by the interactive phenomenon between each and at least a specific technological component, which help in information dissemination and coordination across all the organizational components.An important facet of technology within my organization has been that of information technology, with which classically wide array of communication fram ework across the different organizational components has been necessitated (Lee, Tseng, 2009). Development and investment in business technology within my organization, that runs from simple mobile phone technology, to other information exchange and core production technological tools has been perhaps the building block of our current state of competence in the business environment that uses various operational advantages to address its needs within its approach.Business technology has been the corner stone with which my organization continues to embrace a widely classified competitive advantage from its operational symmetry classified with various advantages. Of importance also has been the investment in digital technology with which the organization uses to channel most of its activities and process through. The step towards management in business technology has thus helped my organization in unifying management and growth in technology towards a center stage of optimal decision m aking and attempt to build a long lasting spirit of the entrepreneurial motive.The quest for technology within my organization has rested on multiple of provisions which include software development, solution in communicating networking, maintenance in computer hardware, technical support systems and the diverse development in the productive technology of the organization. Reliance in computing and other computer related technological components have helped in giving a motive of strong reliance with which my organization can achieve its broad productive mission.By and large, technology has by far helped to address the organizational needs not only by providing an arms length with which the various management functions can continuously integrate with each other, but also from the managerial perspective of comparative advantages it provides to the organization. Just to mention, advancement and investment in technology has provided various statutory benefits and implications for the or ganization.One, technology has been the basic tool with which my organization can undertake its processes and activities in a fast and speedy manner. This has also been doubled with high quality and quantity in output thus meeting the organizational objectives of competitive advantages (Dibrell, Craig, 2008). The use of computer and other technological devices for organizational production has been helpful in providing grounds with which activities can be done in fast and speedy manner. Deliveries and consignments have been able to be provided within their prescribed time frames.Technology has also been a cornerstone for which efficiency can be increased in all organizational undertakings. Efficiency in this perspective has been an importance hallmark with which logistic models that provide competitive advantage for the organization can be enhanced. My organization has thus been able to change and respond instantaneously to various business demands and expectations which foster opti mal executions of their activities. Bias to informational technology for example, data can be stored in various formats which can be explored in a fast and efficient manner to bring about the need for corporate efficiency.Of importance also is the need for multi-tasking with which my organization has been able to embrace adequately subject to the investment in various technological provisions.   For, example, the use of computer and other computer related tools has enabled various persons at different levels of managerial components to perform different tasks at the same time. Multi-tasking within my organization has been one of the important attributes which help to provide optimal resource functionality.Additionally, technology within my organization has been perhaps the most important sediments and a path towards which cost precept can be internalized. The use of a wide framework of technology both in the computing, information technology and the productive process has been imp ortant in safeguarding the cost intercept of the organization (Lee, Tseng, 2009). Both information technology management and business process management have leveraged their axes on the importance of technology as a quest with which the organization can meet its productive layout without much difficult.Summarily therefore, business technology within my organization has thus been used as the core tool for improving communication as well as maximizing the efficiency component within the work place. The company has continuously used structural components of information technology as the main tool with which it can achieve classically various advantages in its productive framework.   It has seldom been able to align its strategic goals and objectives with its various managerial functions. A realized relationship has been achieved between the four levels of management subject to the use of technology as the core model with which it can address its wide array of its activities.Reference Dibrell, C. & Craig, J. (2008). â€Å"Fueling Innovation through Information Technology in SMEs† Journal of Small Business Management, Vol.46, pp.67-79Lee, Y. & Tseng, H. (2009). â€Å"Exploring the Relationship between Information technology Adoption and Business Process Reengineering† Journal of Management and Organization, Vol.15, pp.1-18 Technology and management functions IntroductionAny hospital, whether public or private, requires a clear and comprehensive system of management that will enhance the quality of all organizational initiatives. As with any other type of organization, a hospital must be able to handle tactical and strategic issues, and to guarantee smooth operation and continuity of all business processes. At the age of technological advancement, technology determines the quality, speed, and cost-effectiveness of organizational decision-making. That is why the development and implementation of integrated IT frameworks is the key to a better quality of all planning, organizing, directing, and controlling processes that take place within a highly complicated clinical environment.PlanningPlanning is â€Å"unending course of action† (Buzzle, 2008). The hospital I used to work at was trying to enhance the quality of all planning processes by using an Executive Integrated System (EIS), where budgeting tasks were reasonably combined with other key management functions. The hospital had successfully launched an effective software system, to provide managers with objective financial information and to eliminate wasteful paper-based operations.The system made it possible to track and manage medical order supplies, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of all medical services, and to address spend management issues. Fully automated reports contained brief critical information with regard to costs and productivity indices for a given period of time. The previous information system had failed to deliver information in a usable form; very often, the needed information had been delivered too late. The newly launched EIS was efficient in a sense that it provided real-time information and maintained flexible approaches to planning (Keegan & Baldwin, 1992). Any changes in financial or strategic management data were immediately reflected and delivered to the hospital’s management, with the latter being able to timely respo nd to the emerging issues.OrganizingObjectively, â€Å"management must organize all its resources well before in hand to put into practice the course of action to decide that has been planned in the base function† (Buzzle, 2008). In hospital, organizing is probably the most complex and the most responsible management mission, which requires using a well-developed system of software solutions and maintaining reasonable combination of electronic and manual organizing procedures. The use of wireless communication systems has become the critical factor leading the hospital to total care quality standards.The introduction of bar coding for all medication items, the use of laptop computers at the bedside, and a new advanced paging system were aimed at providing employees with a better understanding of their responsibilities and tasks. However, despite the visible effectiveness of all these organizing solutions, hospital’s personnel were largely unprepared to using advanced t echnologies in the workplace, and only with time, all administration and business organization processes have been harmonized to serve the needs of patients. By using the new wireless system of communication, the hospital’s management has finally achieved the five major goals of the organizing process, including the effective division of labor, staff positioning, reasonable departmentalization, delegation, and equalizing the power.DirectingAlthough organizing is the most responsible of all management functions, it loses its relevance, if organizations cannot direct and motivate their employees. Our hospital had initially been trying to change the traditional vision of health care management, and to make the directing function of management â€Å"more technological†. It should be noted, that a hospital usually resembles a kind of a virtual team, where team members are scattered across different physical locations but need to maintain continuous intrapersonal relationshi ps. At our hospital, voice conferences were used as the means of synchronous communication between different hospital departments.Voice conferencing was chosen as the communication tool, which did not distract employees from their direct functions, but could be used to ensure that all of them understood the hospital’s strategic goals. Emails and written documentation were used to enhance the quality of virtual communication with employees and between employees and the senior hospital’s management. Unfortunately, technology could not resolve all directing issues; very often, employees needed face-to-face consultations to establish credibility of their organizational efforts. However, with time voice conferences have substantially changed the quality of employee relations at workplace, providing management with an effective real-time tool for directing and motivating medical personnel.ControllingControlling is the last out of four functions of management, which â€Å"in cludes establishing performance standards which are of course based on the company’s objectives† (Buzzle, 2008). In case of the hospital, controlling was used to evaluate employee performance by means of several automated performance appraisal systems in the workplace. As a result of technologies implementation, the time allowed for the completion of performance evaluation forms was dramatically reduced; the hospital’s management was given an opportunity to manage workflows and to track the progress of the performance evaluation process.Although the majority of medical personnel needed time to learn additional technical skills, the system has significantly improved the quality of all business processes within the controlling area. Technology has proved to be an excellent tool of developing cohesive relationships between employees, as well as between employees and the senior management, and has finally created a technologically enhanced management environment acro ss all hospital departments.ConclusionThe use of reliable technological solutions is the key to developing and implementing an effective management system in a highly complicated hospital setting. With the use of budgeting solutions, automated organizing techniques, voice conferences and performance appraisal strategies, a hospital is likely to turn into a technologically advanced, and as a result, a highly organized system of employee interrelationships, which in turn substantially improve the quality of medical services delivered by the hospital to all groups of patients.ReferencesBuzzle. (2008). Management concepts – the four functions of management. Buzzle.com.Retrieved January 16, 2009 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management.htmlKeegan, A.J. & Baldwin, B. (1992). EIS: a better way to view hospital trends – executiveinformation systems. Healthcare Financial Management. Retrieved January 16, 2009 from http://findartic les.com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_n11_v46/ai_14176789/pg_3?tag=artBody;col1

Compare and Contrast Key Perspectives in Psychology Essay

Psychology literally means the study of the mind, translated from Ancient Greek as psyche, meaning â€Å"mind† or â€Å"soul† and logia, meaning â€Å"study†. The most accurate description of psychology is that it is the science of mind and behaviour (Collin et al, 2011). Psychology evolved from philosophy and can be dated back to the time of Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle (325 BCE). Studying the nature of subjects such as the memory, thoughts and the consciousness, did not make psychology a standalone science, instead it was viewed as a form of philosophical speculations. Psychology became a separate, scientific discipline in the late 19th century. The world’s first experimental laboratory of psychology was founded in 1879 by Wundt. As many philosophers and scientists tried to explain the inner world of a person (psyche) since ancient times, many key perspectives of modern psychology appeared as a result. These key perspectives include: Psychodynamic, Behavioural, Cognitive, Humanistic, Evolutionary, Biological and Cross-Cultural (Cherry, 2014). This essay will explore and compare two of these perspectives, Behaviourism and Psychodynamic, and their influence on modern psychology. The psychodynamic approach is based on the theories of Freud, Adler, Erikson and Jung. Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis. Together with Breuer, Freud developed psychological treatment, known as talking therapies, believing that many forms of mental illness, such as: irrational fears, hysteria, anxiety and imagined pains, were the results of a traumatic experience acquired by the patient in the past. Freud believed that people store their ideas, memories and impulses in the unconscious when they become too overwhelming for the conscious mind to bear, this is known as repression. He believed that the conscious mind is just the surface (likening it to an iceberg) of a complex psychic realm, which included the ego, superego and id. The id is driven only by the fulfilment of basic drives, for example; food, comfort, warmth and sex, and obeys the Pleasure Principle, meaning that each impulse must be gratified immediately. The ego, one the other hand, accepts the Reality Principle, which says we cannot have everything we desire. The ego negotiates with the id and may be compared to the moderator between id and superego (Collin et al, page.111). The  superego is the internal voice, influenced by our parents and the society’s moral code, it is a judging voice of our conscience, which tells us what we should and should not do, and may often become the source of guilt and shame (Collin et al, 2011, pp.94-99). In Freud’s opinion, the difference between conscious and unconscious thoughts creates psychic tension, and that this is how many mental problems originate. Repressed and unprocessed emotions build up and then become revealed in anger, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and so on. These problems can be helped by releasing them and confronting them during the process of psychoanalysis. Freud tried to free his patients from repressed memories and ease their mental pain. Dream Analysis was a method which in Freud’s opinion allowed to access and encode messages sent by the unconscious. Despite all of this, even Breuer criticised Freud for concentrating too much on the sexual origins of neuroses (Collin et al, 2011, p.95). The humanistic approach criticised psychodynamics of excluding the thought of free will (McLeod, 2007). Furthermore, today Freud’s interpretation of dreams appears unreasonable to many. In spite of all the criticisms, many accept that Freud highlighted the importance of childhood experiences and his methods inspired many famous psychotherapists to develop new types of treatment. One example includes Virginia Satire, who stresses the importance of the family environment (Collin et al, 2011, pp.146-147). Freud also introduced the idea of defence mechanisms which is widely used today in different therapies. Denial, repression and displacement are some examples of defence mechanisms (Cherry, 2014). In addition, psychodynamics also made the case study method popular in psychology. One of Freud’s eminent theories was about the Oedipus Complex. Freud used his case study known as ‘Little Hans’ to support this theory. Hans was 5 years old at the time and had a phobia of horses. Hans’ father, who was Freud’s friend, wanted Freud to cure Hans from his phobia. Freud was mostly interested in how the phobia was triggered and how it could be linked to his idea of the Oedipus Complex. By analysing Hans’ dreams, Freud ruled out that they boy’s phobia of horses was caused through the fear of being castrated by his father because he had sexual desires for his mother. Freud advised Hans’ father to reassure his son that he would not castrate him and eventually the boy’s phobia resolved. Despite curing Han’s phobia, Freud’s emphasis on the phobia being caused by an underlying fear of his father seems farfetched,  especially when it is known that Hans witnessed how a horse died on the street, an event which traumatised him. This would seem a more plausible reason for the child’s horse phobia, but instead Freud emphasised that this case study was a perfect example of the Oedipus Complex. In addition, Freud didn’t work directly with Hans, almost all of his investigation of the case and all ‘therapeutic work’ occurred through correspondence with Hans’ father, who was Freud’s admirer and friend. (McLeod, 2008). Therefore, this doubts the authenticity of the study. Later, it became obvious that Freud sometimes distorted his patients’ case histories to fit with his theories (Sulloway, 1991). In 1960, Beck exposed the weaknesses of traditional psychoanalysis and proposed cognitive therapy as he could not find any reliable studies proving the success rates of psychoanalysis – only anecdotal evidence of case reports. Furthermore, many psychoanalysts objected scientific examination (Collin et al, 2011, pp.175-177), which brings up the contrasting approach of behaviourism. Behaviourism is based on the works of Darwin, Thorndike, Watson, Pavlov and Skinner. The behaviourism approach suggested that psychology should be treated as a science and must be based on observations, research and experiments (Collin et al, 2011). Is it possible to measure behaviour? Behaviourism stated that it is. In order to do this, behaviourists experimented firstly on animals. Therefore, physiology has had a lot of influence on this approach. In 1890 Pavlov, developed the concept of classical conditioning (Collin et al, 2011). Pavlov introduced such terms as ‘unconditioned’ and ‘conditioned reflex’, ‘response’ and ‘stimulus’ in physiology and psychology. Later some behaviourists switched to experimenting on humans. Yet, it cannot be said that these early experiments on humans were very ethical. With this in mind, one example is that of a case study known as ‘Little Albert’, carried out by Watson (1920), on a nine month old baby, ‘Albert B’. Today his method would arguably be considered unethical and even cruel. However, Watson thought that the experiment was a logical continuation of previous animal studies. The aim of Watson’s experiment was to find out if it was possible to teach an infant to fear an animal by repeatedly presenting it at the same time with a loud, frightening noise, or a stimulus. Watson put the baby on a mattress and then showed him  a dog, a rat, a rabbit and a monkey. Albert showed no fear and his natural instinct was to touch the animals. In this case, the animals were used as a neutral stimulus. In Watson’s opinion, this was a baseline, from which he could measure any change in Albert’s behaviour. Then, Watson started to frighten the child with a loud noise, an unconditioned stimulus, by striking a metal bar with a hammer. Watson then paired the sighting of an animal with a frightening noise, and as a result, each time Albert saw an animal he burst into tears, because his n atural response to the noise – fear and distress – had now become associated with animals. All that was very good from the point of view of Pavlov’s classical conditioning, however today it may be argued that Watson’s experimentation method was unethical. Nevertheless, Watson’s experiment demonstrated that human emotions are susceptible to classical conditioning. This was his new input on Pavlov’s theory, because previous stimulus-response experiments had focused on studying behaviour, not emotions. Later, Skinner published ‘The Behaviour of Organisms’ (1938) and developed the concept of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a form of conditioning in which the outcome depends upon an animal operating upon its environment, such as pressing a lever to obtain food (Collin et al, 2011, p.342). Skinner carried out multiple experiments on animals, studying satisfaction and discomfort. He used positive and negative reinforcers, working with rats and pigeons as well as primary and secondary reinforcers (Jarvis and Russell, 2002). Through his experiments, Skinner proved that behaviour is often shaped not by a preceding stimulus, how it was stated previously in classical conditioning, but instead by the consequences of that behaviour (Collin et al, 2011, p.59). Today, Skinner’s ideas are used in workplace psychology, for example they influenced the method of rewards and incentives. The attractiveness of the reinforcer (incentive) can increase the productivity of workers and it is widely used in different industries. Similarly, operant conditioning has an application in today’s clinical psychology. For example, in the study of depression. Also, self-harming addictions are explained in terms of operant conditioning, which is now often called behaviour modification. Behaviour modification is used in treating mental disorders and in programmed learning. Ghosh and Chattopadhyay used behaviour modification techniques when treating children with ADHD (Jarvis and Russell, 2002). The  Behaviourists’ approach has its’ strengths as it is scientific, their theories are supported by experiments. Behaviourism focuses on observable behaviour that can be measured (McLeod, 2007). On the other hand, behaviourism does not consider emotion and thinking. Watson denied the inheritance of capacity, talent, temperament and mental constitution (Collin et al, 2011, p.28). Not all human behaviour can be explained by operant conditioning, which is why Skinner’s ideas are no longer popular with many psychologists today. Behaviourism does not explain complex mental processes, for example that humans often learn by the observation others, not just by punishment and rewards. Furthermore, operant conditioning does not explain the aspects of how hormones and genetic predispositions affect and shape behaviour. However, because Pavlov and Watson successfully trained animals’ and children’s new behaviours through stimulus-response patterns, other researchers understood that if behaviour could be learned, it can also be unlearned. For example, based on that mechanism, Wolpe created treatments for ‘war neurosis’ and phobias (Collin et al, 2011, p.87). How are these two perspectives viewed and applied in psychology today? Behaviourism was always considered as a more scientific, objective approach as compared to psychodynamics. Modern psychology is based on much more empirical, objective evidence than before, due to the efforts of behaviourists. Behaviourists introduced modern methodology, which includes efficient ways to observe, collect data and carry out credible experiments. Watson demonstrated that human behaviour can be predicted, controlled and modified. Unlike behaviourism, Freud’s ideas were based on observation case histories rather than on experimental research. Behaviourism and psychodynamics are similar in their rejection to free will (McLeod, 2007) and their belief that everyone is born ‘tabula rasa’, or as a blank slate (Collin et al, 2011, p.29). Despite this, behaviourists criticised psychoanalysts and vice versa. Freud criticised behaviourism as it did not consider the unconscious. However, Wats on criticised Freud’s idea of unconscious as not provable, because it is unconscious and therefore difficult to access. (Collin et al, 2011, p.94) On the other hand, some of Watson’s methods are now dismissed as unethical. For example, Watson advocated unemotional parenting, which he thought would be beneficial to  children, but later he was largely criticised for his ideas, even by the mother of his own children. Watson grew up with an alcoholic father, and was not shown much attention as a child. Consequently, Watson did not have much empathy to children himself. Virginia Satire later stressed the importance of affection and compassion in creating a healthy family and shaping a successful person (Collin et al, 2011, p.146). Also, behaviourism does not recognise a difference between animals and humans. In contrast, due to Freud, more than 22 different schools of psychoanalysis have evolved from his method. It may be argued now that Freud’s theories were not as scientific as the behaviourist approach, but nobody else influenced 20th century psychotherapy in general as much as he did. Freud started what is now called ‘talking therapies’ (Collin et al, 2011, p.99) For example, Freud’s ideas influenced cognitive therapy and humanistic psychotherapy (Collin et al, 2011, p.91). By the mid-20th century both behaviourism and psychodynamics were being critically examined. Finally, at the end of the 20th century, after all the criticism and controversy, the best of psychodynamics and behaviourism joined together and gave birth to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It happened when Wolpe’s behavioural therapy merged with Beck’s cognitive therapy. There is strong empirical evidence for the success of CBT as compared with classical psychoanalysis (Collin et al, 2011, p.176). CBT is widely used today for the treatment of different anxiety and mood disorders (Mà ¥nsson et al, 2013). To conclude, it would be fair to say that both the behaviourism and psychodynamic perspectives have had a vast influence on modern Psychology.

Eternal Love Through Death in John Keats Bright Star Essay

Love, being one of the most debated topics in literature, often serves as a source of inspirations for many of writers and poets, including John Keats. Throughout his life, he wrote countless love poems and letters, addressing his lover – Fanny Brawne. The star, apart from being the symbol of steadfastness and constancy, it is also a metaphor representing Keats himself. Through Keats’ idea of â€Å"Mansion of life†, the poem is consisted of two floors where the first floor displays his passionate love for Brawne while the second floor talks about his inner desire for death. Keats first expresses his ideal, however paradoxical love. There are two essential yet conflicting qualities in this poem – the reality verses the ideal and the immortal verses the mortal. On one hand, he would like to be like a star, steadfast and unchanging. On the other, he dislikes the solitude of the star as it has to watch â€Å"the moving waters† and â€Å"the new soft-fallen mask/Of snow† from afar like a â€Å"sleepless Eremite†. He continues to state that if he â€Å"has to live ever†, he would rather â€Å"pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast†. The ideas to be eternal and to love simultaneously do not go hand in hand. To love, one has to be human and therefore not an immortal, steadfast star. In the last line of the poem, Keats acknowledges that he would like to â€Å"live ever† in love, but he has to be human in order to experience love, which hints that the love between Keats and Brawne will not last and will eventually fade away as time goes by. The other possible alternative to immortalize their love is â€Å"swoon to death†. One of Keats’ letters from 3 May 1818 to Fanny Brawne echoes the idea of â€Å"swooning† and it says â€Å"†¦I love you; all I can bring you is a swooning admiration of your Beauty.†(Poet.org) This can be interpreted that he wants to die while experiencing intense, ecstatic love or according to the letter, overwhelmed by her beauty. While I was reading Bright Star, I could not help but catch the similarity between Keats and Shakespeare’s idea of love. In the opening of Shakespeare’s sonnet 116, â€Å"Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.† (Shakespeare) Shakespeare talks about his ideal love and marriage. Keats, being a reader of Shakespeare, is in some way affected or inspired by him. Shakespeare describes love as an â€Å"ever-fixed marks† that â€Å"is never shaken† even in the wildest storms. Keats transformed Shakespeare’s â€Å"ever-fixed† into steadfastness. Keats then moves on to talk about a more sexual and sensuous love. With more explicit descriptions of â€Å"my [his] fair love’s† body parts, those descriptions hint the idea of sex and orgasm. He imagines himself â€Å"pilliow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast†. The word â€Å"ripening† gives a notion of youth, implicating that the lady is young and energetic. Keats also describes the rising and falling of her chest when she takes her â€Å"tender-taken breath†. If he could, he would â€Å"so live ever†. However, it is impossible to live forever and the only solution would be â€Å"swoon to death†. Keats did not explicitly tell the readers what it means to be â€Å"swoon to death† and leave us a lot of room for imaginations. The word â€Å"swoon† and other erotic images of the lady’s body parts bring us to the subtext of the poem – sex. La petite mort is a French idiom or euphemism for org asm, meaning little death. According to Oxford Dictionaries, â€Å"swoon† means â€Å"to enter a state of ecstasy or rapture†. Whether he intended to talk about sex at the end of the poem is still indefinable as we have no idea of what Keats was thinking when he wrote the poem. Though Keats did not write any overly sexual poetry, there is always a strong erotic indication in many of his works. If the sexual subtext is intended in the poem, I believe that it creates a nice denouement to the poem. Keats’ obsession with death and his love for Fanny are intertwined seamlessly throughout the poem. In one of his letters, he states â€Å"I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks, your loveliness and the hour of my death† (Poet.org). Not only is Keats intimidated by death, to some extent he is also intrigued by it. Even though he is worried about the approaching death, to him the promise of death is comforting and soothing. The only resolution to achieve the paradoxical ideal of being eternal as well as experiencing love is death. Through death, immutability and steadfastness can be achieved. Keats has seen many people died in his lifetime. His father died when he was eight; his mother died from tuberculosis when he was 14; his brother Tom died also from tuberculosis when he was 19. Along with his family’s deaths, he has also seen a lot of patients died as he was also a medical student. Therefore, constantly seeing people die in a way reminds him of the tran sience and the mutability of life. There are some religious references in the second quatrain of the poem. All these references, other than conveying the loneliness and the solitude of the star, also illustrate his longing for the promising death. The poem was written in 1819, the same year when Keats contracted with tuberculosis. The word â€Å"ablution† is heavily loaded with connotations, both religion and about death. From the Oxford Dictionary, â€Å"ablution† refers to the washing or cleansing of the body†. In Christianity, there are different forms of ablution and one of them is the preparation before the burial of a dead person. Here Keats is hinting that his death is near and the priest will cleans his body after his death with â€Å"the moving waters†. Further Keats also mentions the â€Å"soft-fallen mask/Of snow† in the following two lines. Seasons always act as symbols of different stages of human life in literature. Spring refers to birth or new beginning; summer means m aturity; autumn represents old age while winter symbolizes death. In line 7-8, with â€Å"the mountains and moors† covered in snow, such explicit image suggests that death is approaching. Though death is coming, Keats is not browbeaten. Yet, he is fascinated with death as it helps him to accomplish the co-existence of eternity and love. Bright Star is a poem that can be read on many different levels. To me, the poem is not merely a declaration of his ardent love for Fanny Brawne. It is also an expressive lyric poem addressing his awe as well as obsession with death. The main themes of the poem are smoothly woven together and this showcases Keats’ expressiveness and his wit. Works Cited Keats, John. Bright Star. n.d. Oxford Dictionaies. Oxford Dictionaries. . Poet.org. Selected Love Letters to Fanny Brawne by John Keats. 17 October 2013 .

Jake

Hasnu, the stone cutter Plot A stonecutter named Hashnu sat beside the highway cutting stone when the King’s courtiers cross the street. He then wished to be King and that wish was granted. Then he felt the sun’s heat thinking that the sun was powerful than the king so he wished to be the sun. He became the sun but then the cloud covered the sun. Thinking that the cloud was powerful than the sun, he then wishes to be the cloud. When he became the cloud, he then wished to be a rock for it didn’t move for all of his raining and blowing.Then he experienced the hardships of being a rock being sculpted by a stonecutter so he wishes to be a stonecutter again and fulfilled his duty contentedly. Conflict  · The conflict in the story is when Hashnu wants to be the most powerful. Climax  · The climax in the story is when Hashnu wants to be the king, the sun, the cloud, the rock and the stone cutter again. Denouement  · The denouement in the story is when Hashnu reali zed that the most powerful among the creations of God is still the man and he now fulfill his duty as a stonecutter contentedly. CharactersProtagonist:  · Hashnu- the stonecutter Antagonist:  · Hashnu-the stonecutter Setting Time- Time of Monarchs Location- Along the road where the King and his courtiers were crossing. Theme The theme of the story is life process because the story tells the experiences of Hashnu when he became a king, a sun, a cloud, a rock and the stonecutter again. Point of view The point of view of the story is third person because the narrator is not a participant in the story and his knowledge is limited only to the character of Hashnu. Conflict The conflict in the story is Man Vs.Society because here in the story Hashnu struggles with himself and his desire to be the most powerful. Symbol The symbol in the story is the mallet which is used by the stonecutter. Moral Lesson Be contented with who you are. The Lady or the Tiger Plot – A semibarbaric kin g discovers his daughter is having an unlawful affair with a male suitor. The male suitor is soon arrested and forced to go to trial, a trial that consists of an arena with two doors. Behind one door is a tiger, set to maul the unlucky criminal; behind the other is a beautiful bride, set to euphimistically maul the lucky criminal.The princess, who loves the young criminal, knows behind which door awaits the tiger, points to the right, indicating which door the young man should choose. Setting – The story takes place a long time ago in a kingdom far, far away. Characterization – The king is semibarbaric. The young man is handsome. They are both stereotypes. The princess, on the other hand, is developed more deeply. We know she loves the prince. We know she has inherited some of her father's semibarbaric qualities. We know she is jealous of the bride to be, if chosen.We do not, however, know which door she has chosen for her lover. Conflict – A person v. person co nflict exists between the king and his daughter and the king and the young man. An individual v. society conflict exists between the two young lovers and the rules of the kingdom. The central conflict in the story is an internal conflict within the princess as she struggles between watching her lover in the arms of another or watching her lover get devoured by a tiger. Resolution – The story has no resolution. It is up to the reader to determine whether or not the young man lives or dies.Theme – Stockton's short story comments on the confusing nature of love and the subjective notion of civilization and barbarity. There is also an element of Determinism vs. Free Will and whether or not, if left to their own desires, humans make the right decision. Suspense – Suspense is created through the use of foreshadowing, dangerous action, and pacing. Stockton foreshadows the coming unhappiness of the princess (although he doesn't provide a definitive answer to the specifi c choice that causes that unhappiness). The dangerous action is provided by the tiger.The ultimate creation of suspense is done by the story's pacing. It is so well done, in fact, I still don't know what the young man chose. Irony – The ironic structure of the story–it has no end, for example–highlights the irony present in the story: (1) the princess and not the criminal is the story's true loser; (2) the king, despite the outward appearance of sophistication is, at heart, a cruel semibarbarian; (3) the princess deliberates for days on whether or not to save her lover Point of View – Do not confuse the author with the narrator.The narrator is third person omniscient and knows the fate of the young man. The author does not. The Gift of Magi PLOT – Linear a) Introduction – The story starts with a description of the place where the major characters live, and then the major female character is introduced. Rising Action One dollar and eighty-sev en cents. And the next day would be Christmas. Climax Jim stepped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her.It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. Falling Action Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled. Denouement ;quot;Dell,;quot; said he, ;quot;let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy Your combs.And now suppose you put the chops on. " CHARACTERS: The two main characters are both protagonists (There is no antagonist): Mr. and Mrs. James and Delia Dillingham Young. – DEVELOPING/ Round Minor character: Madame Sofronie â⠂¬â€œ STATIC/ Flat SETTING a. ) Place The action takes place in New York City in a very modest apartment and in a hair shop down the street from the apartment. Although Porter does not mention New York by name, he does refer to Coney Island, the city's most famous amusement park, located in the borough of Brooklyn. ime – At Christmas Eve, a long time ago c) weather condition- winter time social conditions – The couple was financially- struggling e) mood or atmosphere – †¦ Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles†¦ POINT OF VIEW Stream of Consciousness – The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions. LITERARY DEVICES Foreshadowing Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's.The other was Della's hair. Symbol The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men-who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. THEME Love has no bounds. CONFLICT -The couple’s financial struggle Person vs. Circumstances (classical) – The couple struggles against poverty Person vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) –Delia struggles with the painful decision of letting go her only prized possession

Explain the main ideas of a pluralist model in a political process Essay

Explain the main ideas of a pluralist model in a political process - Essay Example In the elections, voters will support only those political parties which stand for their ideologies and beliefs. Pluralism believes that politics and decision making processes are some of the duties of a government. Pluralists believe that no other entities like religion or judiciary has any role in politics or decision making even though such entities may have its own role in other matters. This paper analyses the main ideas pluralist model in a political process. Pluralists note that if a majority of people do not like what their representatives are doing, they can vote them out of office at the next election. Representatives, therefore, have to act in a way that is pleasing to the majority. They consider voting to be of only irregular significance. General elections occur periodically and individuals are asked to vote for packages of policies put together by political parties. Therefore, voters do not have an opportunity to wield influence on the specific issues that concern them; so pluralists claim that people are able to exercise power between elections by joining interest groups - such as political parties, trade unions and other pressure groups. Group activity, they argue, is vital to the successful functioning of the political system (Pluralism) It is practically difficult to allow an elected government to function only for a short time period because of the huge expenses needed for general elections. Tax payer’s money used for conducting elections and if the elections happen in every year, the public will suffer a lot. Because of the above awareness, elections usually held in democratic countries only in every four or five years. In other words an elected government need not worry much about the public support or influence for four or five years. They can function as they like during their four or five year term if they have majority support in the parliament. In other words, public forced to wait for four or five years to defeat the government , if it functions against the will of them. It is not a good practice in a parliamentary democracy. So, public tries to exercise their power or influence on government through other nongovernmental groups such as political parties, pressure groups, interest groups, trade union etc. Trade union strikes or public agitations are happening in most of the democratic countries in order to exert pressure or power on the governments. In India like democratic countries, people often conduct huge protests whenever the government tries to impose certain policies against them. For example, India government recently increased the petrol and cooking gas prices because of the increase in crude oil prices in global market. Public forced to conduct several agitations against the government and succeeded in reducing the prices up to certain extent. Opposition political parties often join public when they conduct agitations against the government in order to increase their public support. â€Å"Inter est group leaders have more knowledge regarding the inner workings of government than ordinary citizens and therefore are able to channel democratic voices to the politicians in power more effectively† (Pluralist Model). In short, group activity is vital in controlling a government according to the principles of pluralism. The role of the government in a Pluralist Democracy is to protect and promote diversity.

The Economist Magazine Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Economist Magazine - Research Paper Example As the paper discusses digging back into the history of The Economist magazine, it only began with consumers not more than 1,969. As at present, a global record of March 2014 listed The Economist as the most read magazine by the world’s business and political leaders with a standing circulation of over 1.5 million. Launching of The Economist first edition in Spanish in 1967 helped a great deal in increasing its readers mainly aimed at Latin America. It boosted the sales to 100,000 by 1970. Almost at the same time in 1974, Andrew Knight, the new editor of The Economist at that time introduced pages on science and technology. According to the discussion the magazine further advanced with editor, Rupert Pennant-Rea, in 1986 innovating the Asian section, the Bagehot, and a page outlining sport in addition to the Lexington columns. Later in 1991, the Economist group took over Public Network Europe (PNE) that enabled them to publish the monthly magazine for the European executives in telecommunication network corporations†. By this time, 500,000 magazines were in circulation. Most changes in The Economist Group occurred in 1993 with Marjorie Scardino as the chief executive and Bill Emmott as the editor. He introduced the column for American. The sections included obituary page, Technology Quarterly, emerging market indicators and Charlemagne. At this point, foreign sales added up to about 80% of the total sales. It is this year that The Economist marked 150th anniversary. With a steady progress, in 1995, the group acquired a journal on commerce that was the primary source of information on shipping and transportation industries that were in the US.  

Brand Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Brand Management - Assignment Example Through, successfully implementation of this methodology, firms can win loyal customer at a reasonable rate. Brand management practice is applicable across various industries, because of its perceptive dimension (Lienert). However, the positive product or brand image could be built in a fraction of seconds, when salesperson highlights the importance and applicability of a certain product in customer’s life; but the hard part is to backup this perceived value with actual product performance. All of the major automobile companies are attempting to lower their operational costs, because of Japanese competition (Mannering and Winston). But, they are taking this challenge in a wrong direction, because Japanese are not just selling vehicles, they are giving away comfort, low maintenance and high quality. Thus, they are providing more real value to the customer that enables them to charge some extra cash. The competitors should concentrate on enhancing the value provided to the custo mer, in order to counteract Japanese competition. ... In this way, the company will be able to provide incentive to facilitate sales. Another unique aspect of brand endorsement is its center of attention, which is more abstractive in nature. It emphasizes on improving the quality of life of an individual through a product, thus brand management is all about increasing consumers’ comfort through adding new and meaningful products in their life. Brand managers believe that customers do not purchase clothes; they pay for good looks, which these clothes will provide them. The above mentioned argument fits well, within the industry of cars that this paper will analyze in the coming section. Such consumers are interested in fuel consumption, convenience and elegance, thus require a travelling solution not just a car. Fait, which possesses the managerial rights of Chrysler, is planning to lower their value chain costs through streamlining their dealership network, by combining small to medium size dealers with larger ones. This strategy will help them in lowering the number of dealers; therefore their transportation costs will drop significantly. The use of centralized dealers points towards the intention of top management on gaining a price advantage. In the history, Fait attempted to introduce its products as luxurious ones. But, this decision caused its offerings to compete in a different market, in which Honda and other similar companies had established brands. Therefore, Fait failed to make a name in this segment; mainly, because of its products’ low quality. The customers consider Chrystal’s products as economical and designed for middle class; due to this market perception best cost marketing strategy will be ideal for promoting these products.