Jollibee †fast food the filipino way (case study) Essay

1. Introduction Strategic management is a comprehensive study of how a firm performs during its course, with regard to its predetermined objectives, how they plan to achieve these objectives, and how much resources are expendable for those objectives. The process to determine the strategic management involves considerations of company’s strategic advantages and matching it with existing conditions in business environments. Gerry Johnson and Kevin Scholes (2001) reveal there are three ‘origins’ of strategic management. In their book, Exploring Strategic Management, they mention that a corporate strategic management could rise from: ? Experience of operating corporation’s daily activities ? Regulated designing steps as mentioned above or, ? Novel and innovative ideas that come form evolutionary and complex understanding of the business environment. Concerning the strategic management, this paper discusses the case on Jollibee Food Corp (Jollibee). The company has worldwide reputation as fast-food provider from Philippines. The interesting part when discussing about Jollibee Food Corp lies on the fact that the company was named to be McDonald’s a huge embarrassment, according to the Economist on its February 2006 issue. Moreover, the discussion will address the potential future strategies for Jollibee Fast Food. The report will highlight a through analysis of the organization under review, together with recommendations for future strategies to secure opportunities, or to defend against threats. Furthermore, the analysis of Jollibee Fast Food will also focus upon applying the theory of strategic management. There are six points of discussion about Jollibee Fast Food; they are systematic process of strategic management and decision making, key strategic problems, key strategic opportunities and threats, value, alternative courses of action, and recommendations as to the company’s future course. 2. Analysis of Jollibee Fast Food 2. 1. Key issues of Systematic Process of Strategic Management and Decision Making The development of business involves a series of suitable decision making that drive a company to achieve a designated position in a particular market or industry. Concerning the decision making nature, I found a brief explanation from a research, where the researchers explains that there is no â€Å"pure† decision merely based on intellectual logic or â€Å"purely† based on emotion (Biology Daily, n. d. ). Their remarks suggest that in every kind of the decision making process, there is an appropriate mixture between emotion and reason of the decision makers. This suggestion is in line with nature of storytelling that also composes of mixture between the two factors. Although decision-making process could not merely depend on rational process, I found that it makes sense to assume that too much emotion may cause a decision to be flawed or vague. Under such circumstances, in order to make a sensible decision we must dispassionately consider evidences we have. The theoretical perspectives in strategic management and decision making, as mentioned above, also happened in the case of Jollibee in which the decision to adopt McDonald’s and U. S. fast food chain and to localize their offerings involves both rational and emotional decision making. 2. 1. 1. â€Å"Copy† Strategy. As mentioned above, strategic management involves three broad activities; they are performs during its course, with regard to its predetermined objectives, how they plan to achieve these objectives, and how much resources are expendable for those objectives. Concerning the Jollibee case, during its first stage, the company asserts that from the start, their objective is to copy existing fast-food business practice in order to avoid reinventing new wheel and take benefits of tested experiences. In order to achieve the objective, Tony, the founder of Jollibee, and his brother went to the U. S in 1978 in order to gain knowledge about running a fast-food business. The main role model for Jollibee is undoubtedly McDonald’s that later becomes the company’s main rival not only in the Philippines market but also overseas. The interesting part of Jollibee action is that the company decides to compete with multinational fast-food chain like McDonald’s and Burger King by adopting the so-called ‘symbol of Filipino Pride’. This strategic management is taken since the company realizes they cannot compete with McDonald’s that have strong financial backup and supply chain. 2. 1. 2. Address Local. Preferences In addition to copy the fast-food practice that McDonald’s and other U. S. fast-food chain, Jollibee also address the local preferences when competing with U. S. fast-food chain in Philippines market. For example, from the start in 1978, Jollibee address the Fillipino habits like eating in groups, each person orders separate dishes. By adopting local preferences, Jollibee has extensive number of menu compared to U. S. fast food that offer limited menu. Moreover, like McDonald’s that has Ronald as the mascot, Jollibee also provides their mascot appeared as ‘a human like bee’ two years after the fast-food chain establishment. The success of Jollibee continues running although McDonald’s entered Philippines in 1981 since the U. S. competitor did not localize their offering and their price was higher by 5 to 10 percent than Jollibee. Moreover, in order to attract and serve Filipino, Jollibee practice the local greeting culture by saying Magandang Umaga Po, the local preferences that McDonald’s and other U. S fast food retailers do not adopt and practice. 2. 1. 3. Market Expansion Another decision that is noteworthy in the case of Jollibee is their globalization strategy. The company’s first overseas outlet was in Brunei in 1987. The decision to expand worldwide was because the company saw opportunities in foreign markets although their market expansion strategy slowed down due to economic recession in 1997. The decision to adopt dual strategy to expand internally (Philippines market) while keeping their eyes open to international market amidst global economic recession highlight that the company employs both rational and emotional decision. The situation occurs since Jollibee believe that the recession would go away while market opportunities would grow at a breakneck speed afterwards. In addition to initial overseas outlet in Brunei, the company immediately presents other overseas outlets in Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the U. S. The decision was based on the fact that the three countries have significant number of Filipino working there. In the U. S. for example, Jollibee first exists in Daly City, California, whwre 25% of the city population was Filipino descent. 2. 2. Key strategic problems and issues which have arisen and why they have arisen Jollibee has a great reputation in managing its outlets throughout Philippine and neighboring countries. In its home markets, Jollibee is practically the leader in the fast-food industry, outperforming McDonalds by far. The company also gained success in foreign Asian markets, especially ones with significant population of Filipino nationals. Nevertheless, the company is currently facing the challenge of maintaining corporate growth and surviving within the increasingly competitive industry and facing various crises. 2. 2. 1. Core Issue The company is currently planning to expand its business to the United States and perhaps even the European countries. Management believes that such undertaking is necessary to ensure growth for corporate international business. However, analysts stated that this undertaking might not be as successful as Jollibee’s management predicted. This is due to the fact that competition in the global fast-food industry is much more intense compare to the Philippine markets and the Asian market. The company will have to face competitors in their homeland, which is a scenario that receives significant critics because Jollibee is known to be profitable because it took advantage of its knowledge and insights of Philippine people’s tastes and preferences. Such advantage will not be present in the US or European market. In short, to successfully perform the internationalization strategy, Jollibee cannot rely on existing strategies. New strategies that appeal to US consumers must first be discovered. This is the main issue faced by the company today. 2. 2. 2. Technical Obstacles Besides this main problem that will obstruct Jollibee’s expansion strategy, there are others. In entering the US markets, Jollibee is also facing technical problems like procuring suitable real-state and designing the right retail format. Because of the different construction style in US and different consumer preferences, management of the company is forced to build outlets which are actually different than their original plan. 2. 2. 3. Attracting New Customers The company is also having problems in attracting customers. The original strategy of the company is to appeal to Filipinos who are working or living within the targeted country. However, the amount of Filipino nationals who live in the United State is far from sufficient to generate Jollibee’s targeted revenue. Management is dealing with this problem by adding new products that suited local customers. Nevertheless, some of these new products are very different than the original offering of Jollibee and Jollibee is inexperienced in providing such products to the market. Furthermore, this strategy threatens to eliminate Jollibee’s original trademark. The company needs to discover a way to increase the appeal of Jollibee’s original offerings to local customers. 2. 3. Attracting Good Employees Besides having trouble getting customers, Jollibee is also having problems attracting good employees to work in its outlets. Being a new brand in the market with no locally reputable achievements, the company is struggling to attract good people to work in the company. The problem deserves quite an attention because the company is also inexperienced in facing this problem. In its previous markets, the company simply has to pick and choose between abundant applicants. The company needs to revaluate its human resource management programs and discover strategies to attract good employees. 2. 4. Key strategic opportunities and threats Strategic management is the art of designing the business to reach the highest possible success level. The core questions addressed by a good strategic management process are: 1. ‘what are our business objectives? ’ 2. ‘how are we going to achieve those objectives? ’ 3. ‘what resources are needed to achieve such objectives? ’. (‘What is’, 2007) In the case of Jollibee, the company already has a good design of vision and mission statement and the values in achieving those objectives. Corporate values include: â€Å"customer firsts†, â€Å"excellence through teamwork†, â€Å"frugality†,† spirit of family and fun†, â€Å"humility to listen and lead†, â€Å"honesty and integrity†. Corporate mission is to â€Å"bring great taste and happiness to everyone†. Corporate vision includes: â€Å"being the most dominant and best-tasting service restaurant†, â€Å"reaching every Filipino†, â€Å"provide great product taste at all times†, etc. The company is planning to achieve this objectives by attaining the 3B, which are† boosting the standards of fast food industry†, â€Å"build brand satisfaction†, and â€Å"broaden the reach to customers†. These statements represent the first component of strategic management. However, Jollibee must work to evaluate the second and third component mentioned above. In facing existing challenges and to achieve corporate objectives, Jollibee must search into its organizations for competitive advantages and develop the valuable edges to help the company gain more share of the market. These advantages must be cross referenced to the conditions in Jollibee’s foreign markets to discover the appropriate corporate strategy to apply in the foreign markets. The core strategic advantages of the company are: †¢ Innovation. In its home market and the market it has been operating in since its inception, the company was known to be highly innovative. The company developed from an ice cream parlor to a chain of the most successful fast-food counters in Philippine. Today, the company has not lost its touch in innovation. New products are developed and designed as the company perform its daily operations and generated new menus and methods of preparing food. †¢ Sensitivity toward all customer segments In my personal opinion, Jollibee is successful because of its main weapon, sensitivity toward customer preferences. The company took notice of the different segments of customers that come into the outlets and find the best possible way to satisfy their needs. Creating a variety of meals instead of the standard and non-variative products which is considered to be the character of fast-food outlets, designing children’s meals, creating a special program to address the take-away segment are just some example of how the company address the needs of its customers †¢ Preserving Quality of Operations The company uses the newest technologies to enhance its operations. The manufacturing process within the outlets is constantly improved by benchmarking programs and adopting new processes and technologies. This should be identified as a weapon of corporate growth and entry into foreign markets. †¢ Good relationship with Franchisers The company treats is partners and franchisers like family in accordance to Philippine customs. Inputs are regarded and the company truly work together with franchisers to develop the quality of outlets’ operations. †¢ Leadership Some analyst believed that most of the current success of the company is the result of one man’s hard work. Without the leadership qualities and the boldness to spot a good strategy and actually go through with the idea, Jollibee would not be what it is today. There is little doubt in stakeholders’ minds that corporate survival and growth for all the years are directly related to Tony’s presence as corporate leader and mentor. Identifying these strengths and cross referencing them to the challenges faced by the company in its internationalization plan, we should be able to conclude the following strategic opportunities: †¢ The company possesses notable chances to succeed in international markets because of its qualities. However, because the international markets have much more intense competitive environment, the company must always try to develop the quality of its operations in all aspects. Preserving the present quality of operations and active innovation, and also enhance them to a new level will allow the company to be among the top players of the international fast-food industry. †¢ Facing new environments, all companies must go through a stage of adaptation. Adoption of local characteristics is generally necessary in order to get the first customers into the outlets. The company, who has a reputation of being innovative and sensitive toward customer preferences, should see this as an opportunity to create new products, new programs, new packages or other new and appealing strategies that will attract customers into Jollibee’s outlets. †¢ In managing the human resource, the company should rely on its proven qualities for leadership and managing good relationship with partners. If the company is having trouble in initially attracting good employees into the outlets, the company should consider using Filipino employees. By training them to meet the highest standard of the industry and giving them the best employment deal in the market, Jollibee will set an example to the general workforce in the market. The present condition of the company however, also has strategic threats that must be paid attention to. Some of them are: †¢ Letting go previous formats and being creative Research indicated that previously successful companies generally have problems adapting to new conditions and developments. This is caused by the illusion that they have discovered the recipe for success and refuse to change along with the environment. Jollibee must educate its managers and employees not to fall into this mind trap and understand the reality that the corporate profit will diminish and corporate existence will be threatened if all components of the organizations failed to change along with the environment. New strategies that will strengthen corporate competitive advantages are required, especially in this internationalization program. †¢ Dependency toward single leadership. In Jollibee, most of the bold and innovative strategies are led by a single leader which is a dangerous culture when the company intends to go international. The principles of globalization stated that business internationalization means that the company also has what it takes to perform localization of business operations. In a localization concept, local leaders must have the authority and freedom to act in response to conditional changes (Beck, 1999). Having privately owned and franchise outlets overseas will make it necessary for delegation of leadership. †¢ Losing corporate characteristics Other strategic threat is losing corporate characteristics and be called a copycat or business imitator. Unlike the previous years of Jollibee when the company must perform serious benchmarking to mimic McDonalds, today the company is recognized for its own brand and characteristic. Corporate strategy must be aimed at increasing the appeal of existing offerings and not blindly mimicking local competitors to gain more customers. Such a plan is not viable in the long term. 2. 5. Value if decisions taken by managers. Jollibee’s success is not without apparent reasons. Management of the company displayed that it has performed its best in all aspects of corporate operations, especially in adhering to customer preferences and maintaining high quality manufacturing processes. In the modernism perspective, Jollibee would be successful in all its business endeavors as long as the company maintains all of the present business credibilities. This is in line with modernism philosophy who believes that human endeavor, logic and technology are the main factors that shape the world (Nichols, 1995). However, reality revealed that the company is not vulnerable from problems and issues, and it must be noted that most of the problems are generated by external factors and not internal. In other words, the company remains credible as it is originated, but the quality of its performance is threatened. This is hardly accord with principles of modernism. On contrary, this is more suitable to the postmodernism perspective. In the postmodern perspective, social, cultural and spiritual factors are significantly influencing occurrences of the world. Postmodernism proponents adopt a more ‘flexible’ or ‘fluid’ view of the world, with appreciation but not worshiping logic and modern technologies (Bertens, 1995). In the light of this discussion between modernism and postmodernism, we discover the reality that the business world is a constantly fluctuating place, where a company might be the indisputable leader today but could be reduced to runner ups the next day. Jollibee is in an important stage of its development, which is expanding to one of the biggest and most challenging markets in the world. This represents the possibility that Jollibee will face more challenges and uncertainties in addition to currently present. In its foreign markets, the company need to reevaluate its operations both internally to refit corporate human resource management and externally to increase the marketing appeal of the company (Castels, 1996). 2. 6. Consideration of alternative courses of action According to case of Jollibee, there are many actions that Jollibee considered to be excellent. However, there are many opportunities for the fast-food chain to improve their service. for instances, concerning the global expansion, currently, the company still believe their recipe to develop the true taste for Filipino since their target customers are Filipino descent. However, since customers in the global markets do not come from Philippines or not wholly Filipino, therefore, the company needs to adopt local taste as well. For instances, when serving American customers, Jollibee needs to incorporate local taste instead of forcing the Filipino taste for American people. 2. 7. Recommendations of Company’s Future In order to provide suitable analysis for a company’s future, we should incorporate suitable business analysis tools so that we can obtain enough information and develop suitable strategy from it. One of business analysis tools that is suitable for Jollibee case is Ansoff Matrix. This analysis tool is basically a marketing tool, publicized by the Harvard Business Review in 1957 (Tutor2U, 2005). The concept elaborates how companies direct their corporate strategy to achieve corporate growth. As each company rely on different competitive advantage for profitability and growth, the Ansoff Matrix simplifies the complicated nature of ‘personal’ corporate competitive advantages by dividing all of them into four large quadrants. In order to alleviate the limitation that the analysis tool has, Bruce D Buskirk, in 1998, add another two quadrants (6 in total) in the Ansoff Matrix. The addition quadrants address the influence of high tech environment in a business (Figure 1). Figure 1 Ansoff Growth Strategy Market (Expanded) Source: Available at http://www.zanthus. com/databank/strategy/business_strategy. asp Concerning the case of Jollibee, the recommendation can be developed into several components as depicted by Ansoff Matrix. But two most important factors for recommendation are Future and New Technology. †¢ Future Concerning product future (product development and diversification), Ansoff matrix suggests that a company needs to promote their product and repositioning the brand. This strategy is the least risky since its does not require massive capitalization to obtain new resources (QucikMBA, 2004). This is important since the positioning of Jollibee is formerly to become the Filipino choice while markets/customers come from diverse culture and nationality. The situation suggests the company need to develop global taste. Remember, McDonald’s success is because they have a wide range of products that address global tastes plus some adjustment to local tastes. †¢ New Technology Considering the benefits of IT for supporting the Jollibee operation, the company needs developing Management Information with following benefits: ? Simplifying the product and the production process? Using customers demands as a guide to enhance products and services ? Reduce cycle time ? Improve quality and precision of products (food and beverage) delivery ? Avoid miscalculation in billing statement To be specific, Jollibee can increase their revenue by simplifying the purchasing process by using corporate e-commerce, for instances, where customers can reserve a place at any Jollibee’s outlets. Similarly, by using e-commerce customer can purchase any Jollibee’s products and have them by home delivery services. The situation highlights that the adoption of technology will give the company with new revenue sources. 3. Conclusion Fast food industry is an interesting business since people need food and therefore the industry grows fast. Concerning issue, this paper discusses the strategic management of Jollibee Food Corp (Jollibee). Moreover, the analysis of Jollibee Fast Food will also focus upon applying the theory of strategic management and address six points; they are systematic process of strategic management and decision making, key strategic problems, key strategic opportunities and threats, value, alternative courses of action, and recommendations as to the company’s future course. Bibliography Beck, U. 1999. ‘What is Globalization’. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bertens, Hans. 1995. ‘The Idea of the Postmodern: A History’. London: Routledge. Biology Daily. Emotion. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from http://www. biologydaily. com/biology/Emotion Castells, M. 1996. ‘The Rise of the Networked Society’. Oxford: Blackwell. Harvey, Neil. Company Strategy. Professional Management Review. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from http://www. pmr. co. za/magazines/January2005/regCompanyStrategy. htm Nicholls, Peter. 1995. ‘Modernisms: A Literary Guide’. Hampshire and London: Macmillan Tutor2U. (2005). Ansoff Product / Market Matrix. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix. htm QuickMBA. (2004). Ansoff Matrix. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from http://www. quickmba. com/strategy/matrix/ansoff/ ‘What is Strategic Management? ’. 2007. Allbusiness. Retrieved July 2, 2007. from http://www. allbusiness. com/search.

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Explain the advantages and disadvantages for collecting abandoned DNA to law students - Essay Example Whenever these DNA materials are in such a state, it is referred to as abandoned DNA from a legal perspective. On the other hand, the legal Scholars suggest that, the free for all standing of the abandoned DNA poses an instantaneous threat to a person’s privacy. Nonetheless, abandoned DNA collection may be both advantageous and disadvantageous to law students (Schmalleger 312). The purpose of collecting the abandoned DNA determines whether it will be beneficial or not to the law student involved. Collecting DNA for a suspect secretly could be an unorthodox approach in solving any form of crime. However, prosecutors articulate that it crosses no legal boundary. From this reasoning, it’s not a crime to collect an abandoned DNA in a public place. Therefore, this advantage provides a platform for student lawyers to gather evidence especially if the suspect committed a criminal offense. For some States such as Florida and Washington, the act of collecting abandoned DNA has been under scrutiny especially after it raised questions (Healy 176). Important information that would facilitate the justice process can be obtained from a public place through skin flakes, saliva, or strands of hair. In the process of obtaining justice in the case of a crime case, DNA forms the basis of providing the bio-information that is an essential tool for identifying criminal offenders. However, compelling people to give their DNA to the police have raised lots of concerns. These concerns relate to informed approval, individual and family solitude, genetic information usage in the criminal justice scheme, and the preservation and DNA samples and profile use. Since DNA is unique to every person, things like blood, carpet fibers, blood, and hair can be examined even after decades. Individuals DNA is, therefore, an important tool used by law enforcers (Krimsky 109). In any criminal justice system, evidence is an important

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Investment Decisions and Financial statement Analysis on Facebook Inc - Essay Example The ratios such as efficiency, liquidity, profitability and leverage are calculated so as to depict whether Amazon is the right company to invest the lump sum amount of money that is received by Hector. The findings revealed that the financial condition of Amazon is weak with respect to its competitors such as eBay Inc. Hence, the investment decision in the shares of Amazon is not wise for Hector and it is further assured by the share price analysis of the company. Amazon.com Inc. is regarded as the most popular American online retailer, which aims at selling various products and services over online platform through subsidiaries. The company has its operation in about 11 counties and also ships its products and services internationally (Amazon.com, Inc., 2014a). The company has grown steadily over the past few years and has been the one of the best online retailers in the world. The mission of Amazon is to become the most consumer-centric company in the world by providing right type of products and services to the customers online at lowest possible prices (Amazon.com, Inc., 2014a). The company employs the mission as the vision and thus makes it less valuable for a communication tool. They aim at providing the best quality products to its customers by employing the latest technology. This helps the company to acquire loyal customers and also maintain the interest of the shareholders even after maintaining its profit (Amazon.com, Inc., 2014a). Amazon has several team worldwide, who are working for the customers. These teams provide reliable and fast shipping directly from the retail website of the company that deliver 24X7 services. Moreover, the technology team of Amazon is located in Seattle and is designed in such a manner that it can be tapped as the best technical talent in the world (Amazon.com, Inc., 2014a). The company employs multi-level strategies for targeting its customers. It focuses on building business-to-consumer

American Imperialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

American Imperialism - Essay Example In 1866, the foreign policy of America dealt with expansion of America and also mentioned that no European power will become a hindrance in the path of development of a country according to the doctrine given by Monroe in 1823 (Dulles 1955). The expansion started in 1866 when the first American troops were sent to Mexico (Dulles 1955). American Imperialism was rationalized by referring to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. There were many other reasons due to which, American imperialism was justified. Due to the Spanish-American War, there was acquirement of the colonies related to foreign land (Dulles 1955). The agricultural and industrial growth of America increased to a great extent and got beyond the consumption needs of the country (Dulles 1955). There was a need of foreign markets for further economic growth and stability. Racial superiority was also a consideration of the time due to which, expansion took place (Dulles 1955). The major events that took place in nineteenth century in relation to American Imperialism were purchase of Alaska, the increase in economic stability of America, Spanish-American War, the victory of America, Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico and Philippines came under the control of America, America appeared as a Manifest Destiny, California and the Oregon territory were taken under control by America and various islands in the Caribbean and Pacific ocean were annexed with America (Dulles 1955). Boxer rebellion Chinese Nationalists revolted against the foreign entrants and Christians but they were pushed back by American troops (Dulles 1955). Panama canal was also constructed by Americans during the imperialistic era. The countries that got involved in the imperialist policy of America were either taken over by America or were those who fought with America or backed the country. Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska, Hawaii, Spain, Denmark, Russia and many others (Dulles 1955). The policy of

Should Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) be considered in the Research Paper

Should Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) be considered in the rating of Wall Street companies - Research Paper Example This poses the question whether CSR should be considered in rating of Wall Street companies. In this paper, CSR is discussed in cases for and against inclusion in Wall Street company ratings. Approaches to CSR, research and trends are also examined. The author argues that CSR is important and should be considered side by side the companies’ ratings so that stakeholders get a clearer picture about the companies’ operations in the society they work with. The author proposes a simple, qualitative rating scale as a starting point for something as universal as CSR for inclusion in rating Wall Street Companies. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an ethical belief and practice that companies, just like individuals, are responsibilities as good stewards of the society in which they do business with (Wood, 1991). Corporations have an obligation to act in ways that will benefit or sustain society and that their responsibility is not lim ited to their profit. In the last decade, we have seen movements gather momentum requesting for more corporate social responsibilities in ethical practices, for the environment, the working conditions of employees, for the local communities, and towards all stakeholders from suppliers to post-consumption of products. CSR is soon to be integrated with the human resources, business development, operations, and relations (Barnea and Rubin, 2010). This paper will examine the two companies rated by Wall Street: Goldman Sachs and British Petroleum (BP), which very recently have been involved in practices that did not do well to the society in which they do business with. An attempt will be made to see if CSR should be considered in their ratings. In the year 2010, each of the three major credit rating agencies - Moody’s Investor Services, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings - rated both of these companies mainly on their credit worthiness. In the same year, Fortune Magazine also na med them as two of the world’s most admired companies. The question then is whether these companies should be rated solely on scales that show their credit-worthiness or should these ratings also include a dimension that will show how well a company performing in the society in general. British Petroleum (BP) In April 2010, an explosion occurred on BP's oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard reported that 11 people were killed, 17 other others injured and about 4.9 million barrels of oil released to the Gulf of Mexico affecting Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The oil spill caused extensive environmental damage to the sea and wildlife creatures in the Gulf of Mexico. It also damaged the fishing and tourism industries. The US Government held BP accountable for the damages. BP officials committed to shoulder all cleanup costs and other damages. In addition, the company is also being investigated for alleged unsafe practices which caused the occurrence on the rig leading to the explosion. An internal probe made BP admit to mistakes that led to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010, Moody’s rated BP’s senior unsecured ratings as an Aa2 from Aa1. Fitch Ratings rated BP’s long-term issuer default rating and senior unsecured rating as an AA from AA+. Reuters also reported in June 2010 that Standard and

Introducing Customer Services Essay Example for Free

Introducing Customer Services Essay Introduction In this assignment I will be writing about the importance of having good communication skills in customer service. I was assigned to a two week work placement at Superdrug where I had to deal with different types of customers and their needs and expectations. I also was instructed by the supervisor to give good customer care and service to customers. Task 3 Explanation of what a customer is Customers are people or businesses who pay for goods and services or benefit from a particular business. People such as: * The elderly * Teenagers * Disabled * Insurance companies * Banks * Cleaners Task 4 In this task I will be explaining the meaning of internal customers. I will also be giving examples of what an internal customer is. Internal customers Internal customers are those people and employees who might use a companys services and products. Examples of internal customers are: Store Manager The store Manager is an internal customer because he/she benefits from the company when the company gets sales. They also may get a pay rise if the business does really well. The manger depends on the business to get sales, if the business does badly the manger is then at risk of losing money or getting sacked. Security guard The security guard is an internal customer, for his/her service of making sure goods are not thieved from the store he/she benefits from the business by getting a months salary and also may get discounts from the business. Cleaners The cleaners job is to make sure that everything in the shop is clean and presentable. The cleaner benefits from this by getting a monthly salary and may get a discount on the products he/she buys from the business. Task 5 In this task I will be explaining the meaning of external customers. I will also be giving examples of what an external customer is. External customers An external customer is an individual or business outside of the company who receives goods or services from that particular company. For example: Banks Banks are external customer because they benefit from the money that is given by companies. They benefit from this money because when the money is given to the bank the bank loans the money to other companies and make profits off of it e.g.(interest). Suppliers The suppliers are external customers because they provide the products for the businesses and the businesses therefore buy the products from them. The suppliers make a profit from that money used to pay for the product which enables the people who work with the supplier to get a salary. People People are external because they buy products from the business and in return they get good service and quality products. Task 6 Customers at Superdrug and their needs and expectations In this task I will be identifying 4 types of customers I came across while working at Superdrug and what their needs and expectations were. While on my work experience I came across a range of different customers such as: * The elderly * Disabled * Teenager I didnt come across the external customers who are: * The cleaners * Bank * The manager * Insurance company Internal customer needs at Superdrug Store Manager The store Manager needs to come to the store and buy product in-order for him/her to get paid. The manager also needs employees to come to work early in-order for the store to open if no-one comes in to work the business will have to get closed down and the manager will lose his job. He/she also needs holiday entitlement Security guard The security guard needs to get paid for his/her services. Him/her also need to have at least one lunch break and needs to be useful e.g. (watching out for thieves). External customer needs at Superdrug Bank The bank needs Superdrug to put more money into it that they take out so the bank can make profits. The bank also needs the money to get into the bank on-time and always have some of that money in the bank. Insurance company The needs of the insurance company are for Superdrugs to pay them. Elderly To meet customer needs knowledge of the products are necessary. A lot of elderly customers come in to the store for the in-store pharmacy, the customers brings their prescription to the counter and or they may ask you for something you will have to understand what they need so that the customer can purchase the product. The customers are also like to be buying the product from a decent enough price and have good quality. Teenagers Superdrug attracts a lot of teenage customers because they like to buy a lot of hair products and perfumes. They need good value for money as they dont work to get money themselves and quality products. Internal customer expectations at Superdrug Store Manager The store Manager expects employees to come in every day and give good customer service and expects a permanent job. He/she also expects the employees to be polite and pleasant to him/her, and expects the business to look after him/her e.g.(sick pay). Security guard The security expects to be treated with respect by all staff in the store, a lot of thieves come into the store everyday and if the security is to catch one of those thieves he/she expects to be praised and maybe get a pay rise for the hard work. For his/her service of making sure goods are not thieved from the store he/she expects to benefit from the business by getting a months salary and also may get discounts from the business. External customer expectations at Superdrug Bank The bank expects Superdrug to pay their money on time and use they right forms. They also expect the money to come in regularly. Insurance company The Insurance Company expect Superdrug to pay their money on time every month and not make untrue claims because this will make the insurance company lose out on money. They also expect Superdrug to fill the form out correctly when apply for that particular company. Elderly Elderly customers expect to be treated with respect and when asking for a prescription they expect staff to be polite and the prescription to be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Elderly customers also expect to have easy access around the store. Teenagers Teenagers expect good customer service from employees. They also expect the products to be of good quality and value for money. They also expect for the product that they want is always available. Task 7 Customers expectations at Superdrug are quiet high and are always increasing. While on my work experience I came across many different types of customer, below are just a few examples of customers I came across in the business and what their needs and expectation were. Task 8 Why you have to present yourself appropriately and prepare your work area before customers arrive in Superdrug. In this task I will be explaining why it is important that staff present themselves appropriately and prepare their work area before customers arrive. In Superdrug the majority of customers are members of the public, the appearance of both the staff and the premises are very important. It is important in a retail business that staff pays attention to their appearance because customers expect you to be smartly dressed, and also to be approachable this includes having good hygiene. It is important that I had a positive attitude towards customers so that they may feel welcome to return back to the store and buy products. Knowledge of products and services is also very important because customers wont always know about the product so they would seek advice from staff. In Superdrug it is important that the work area is clean and tidy before customers arrive to provide a pleasant and sufficient environment to give the impression to the customers that the store is well looked after. It is important that equipment is easily accessible to those who need to use it. For example the tills would be turned on and appropriate amount of cash put in, and televisions advertising certain products so that customers can buy them. The work tops will also be cleaned before customers arrive. It is also important to keep store safe for customers at all times this can be done by making sure that the till area is always tidy and making sure the walking areas no obstructions such as boxes and plastic wrappers left from staff stacking items. There would also be security staff protecting the store. Task 9 How Superdrug staff prepare themselves and their work area for customer service In this task I will be describing how staff in Superdrug prepares themselves and their work area for customer service. Staff Positive attitude While on my work experience I had positive attitude when dealing with customers and was enthusiastic about the products I was selling. It is also important that I was polite and understood the customers needs so that the customer will be happy to buy the product I was describing to them. Personal presentation In Superdrug it was expected of me to be professionally presented. The customers will have certain expectations including being approached by staff that is clean, smartly dressed and has good personal hygiene. Dress code I was instructed by the manager to arrive at the Superdrug wearing a smart black blouse with smart black trouser and black shoes (no trainers). It is also expected of me to have clean hair and brushed teeth so my breath does not smell while talking to customers. Posture It was important that I had good posture which means standing up straight and looking confident so that you look approachable by customers. If I did not have a good posture for example slouching with my hands in my pocket customers may think I cant be bothered and I dont care about my job, therefore customers will not feel comfortable approaching me. Personal space It is important that when I was talking to a customer face to face that I was to stand at least arms length away from them. Standing closer than the recommended length is invading that customers personal space and they may feel uncomfortable. Standing further away from the customer may give them the impressions that you are either scared or you dont have time for them. First impressions First impression of a business is very important. If a shop is first opening and the shop floor is dirty and staff looks scruffy, the customers may think the business is not run properly and may not get the chance to see the products. The customers will see the dirt and poor appearance of the staff and will expect the product to be poor quality. Knowledge of products and services Customers expect staff to know about the products and services that the retail outlet provides. It is important that staff familiarise themselves with the layout of the shop floor, this will enable staff to provide information regarding products (e.g. product whereabouts). While on my work experience at Superdrugs it was required of me to have knowledge of the section I was working in and also know other sections around the store, I was given a sheet of paper showing everything that was in the store and where they were. By the end of the day I knew where every thing was on the shop floor, when customers approached me asking where a particular item was, I was able to tell them straight away. It helped to have the section I was given to work in because I had a lot of knowledge of those products as I am always buying those products myself. Organisations guidelines and standards required for customer service It is essential that Superdrug have a customer service policy that states the required standard for customer service. This ensures that employees know what to do when they are dealing with customers and will help them provide a high standard of customer care. Teamwork It is important that staff are good at working as a team, this can improve your customer service skills as you would have to use the same skills in order to build a good relationship with your team workers. For example listening skills, negotiation skills and assertiveness. Teamwork involves sharing ideas and working together, for example in Superdrug on the pharmacy counter processing customers prescriptions is customer service staff working with each other the till staff send prescription info to a computer behind the scenes, the prescription is then processed and given to the customer. Work area Appropriate equipment In Superdrug it is important that the work area is clean and tidy before customers arrive to provide a pleasant and sufficient environment to give the impression to the customers that the store is well looked after. It is important that equipment is easily accessible to those who need to use it. For example the tills would be turned on and appropriate amount of cash put in, and televisions advertising certain products so that customers can buy them. Safe and tidy work area It is important in that Superdrug keep the work area clean and tidy. I did this by making sure that I cleaned up my rubbish after stacking the shelves. If the store is not kept safe and tidy it could cause hazards and may result in customers injuring themselves. It is also important that the workplace is kept tidy because staff may find it is easier to lose important documents. Efficient use of space It is important that in Superdrug there is enough space for all types of customers to walk about with. For example mothers with buggies and disabled people in wheelchairs. It is also important that items displayed on the shelves are easy reach by customers of average height. Remember high shelves can make it hard for shorter people to reach. Health and safety By law all employees/staff are required to take responsibility of their own health and safety and that of other e.g. (customers). It is also important that when staff use equipment they clean up after themselves or put the equipment in its rightful place. For example, when stacking out items on the shelves make sure the boxes or the products wrapping is not obstructing the aisles, this could cause a customer to trip and injure themselves. Fire safety It is important that staff follow the procedures of fire safety. All members of staff should know what to do in an event of fire and where the equipment is, for example marked fire exits, emergency evacuation procedures and fire extinguishers. While on my work experience on the first day I was shown all the nearest fire exits and it was explained to me what I should do in an event of fire. There was a practice fire alarm and it was my job to make sure that all customers were safe and evacuated the building immediately. Accident It is important that all staff in Superdrug no what to do in case of an accident to an employee or customer. If a customer or employee has been injured it is important that you notify an appropriate member of staff e.g. (manager, first aider). If the injury severe you should dial 999 and ask for an ambulance. Task10 Health and Safety risks in the workplace Task 11 In this task I will identifying four possible hazards found in Superdrug. Four possible hazards in Superdrug Poor maintenance Slips, trip and falls Fire exits Smoking Task 12 In this task I will be identifying the potential hazards and risk in Superdrug. I will also be explaining how the hazards and risks could harm employees and customers. Hazards Risks Poor Maintenance If shelves are broken and not repaired quickly. A customer might want an item which is on a high shelf not knowing that is broken they will pick up the item and the products could fall on the customer which may cause an injury. If shelves are broken and not repaired quickly. An employee can be stacking the shelves not knowing the shelf is broken they will stack items on there and the shelves will collapse onto the person causing an injury. Slips, Trips and Falls If the floor has just been cleaned and a hazard sign has not been put up. A customer could walk into the store not knowing the floor is wet, they would then walk in that wet area and slip and injure them self. If an employee has just finished their task of unpacking products and stacking them on the shelves and they leave the rubbish on the floor, another employee could walk by not knowing the rubbish is there, the could trip over rubbish and fall and injure themselves. Fire exits If the fire exits are not clearly labelled for customers in an event of fire customers could be a great danger. If employees leave their boxes and rubbish in front of the fire exits in an event of fire people wont be able to get out of the building and will then result in a lot of staff and customers getting injured. Smoking It is important that customers do not smoke in the building because if they are to drop the cigarette on the floor without putting out, this could cause the building to set on fire and put a lot of lives in danger. If employees are to smoke in the building they at risk of injuring themselves and others around them, everyone around them will be breathing in second hand smoke which could damage their body severely. The employee is also at risk of causing a fire and getting sacked. Task 15 In this task I will be explaining the meaning of communication. The meaning of communication Communication is when people interact with each other and share information. For example, while on my work experience I listened to customers needs and what they had to say which is that they wanted to buy a 3 mobile, then I gave back the right information on products and services in order for them to buy the products they wanted. Task 16 Why it is important to have good communication skills It is important to have a good level of communication skills because in the retail industry a large proportion of the work is dealing with customers verbally. Customers expect retail staff to be helpful, polite and to be well presented. Retail staff are required to have a good level of spoken English in order to understand customer needs and to be able to clearly provide information on request. Throughout my work experience I think I had very good communication skills towards customers I feel that I showed that I was enthusiastic about what I was doing. And there for customers would not hesitate to approach me. In the end it is important that the customers get what they want, the business then makes money and customers will be happy to return to the store. Task 17 In this task I will be explaining 3 types of communication I came across when approaching staff in a business Verbal communication One example of verbal communication that I came across as a customer was that when I asked a member of staff for a particular item they explain very clearly where the item was and they were very welcoming and polite Non-verbal communication One example of non-verbal communication that I came across was that when I tried to approach a member of staff in a store they didnt even make eye contact with me they just pointed to a section of the store. Body language One example of body language that I came across is that when I tried to ask a till cashier for some information they just shrugged their shoulders with an angry face like I done something wrong. Task 18 In this task I will be identifying six communication skills and why they are important Appropriate spoken English It is important to have appropriate spoken English in Superdrug. While on my work experience it was important that I was polite to customers and that my language was clear and straightforward so that customers would fell comfortable buying the products and to return back to the store. Level and tone of voice When speaking to customers it was important that I pay close attention to my level and tone of voice. For example, if my tone of voice is too loud the customer may think I am being angry towards them. The level of voice should be balanced, not too loud and not too quiet. Welcoming In Superdrug it is important to be welcoming and friendly. For example, I welcomed every customer that came into the store and ask if they needed any help finding anything. This encourage .customers to return to the store/ Listening In Superdrug it was important that I know how to listen to customers. I made sure that I listened to the customers needs and what they wanted. I showed that I understood the customers and didnt interrupt them unnecessarily. Assisting It is important to offer and give help to customers. While on my work experience I made sure I did this. For example, opening doors for customers with lots of bags, this will encourage customers to come back to the store. I also offered to get products from high shelves and if the customer was looking for a product that my store didnt sell I advised them on what others stores would sell the product. Questioning Questioning is very important in customer services in Superdrug. When customers first enter the store the first contact with them was in form of a question. For example, how can I help you Sir/Miss? or what are you looking for? Questioning helped me find out the needs of the customer. Which then gave me information on what they needed, to ask another question like, what is your budget for this item?. M3 How can I provide good customer care and services? In this task I will be describing how I can provide consistent customer care and services. Good customer care It is important in Superdrug that customers are satisfied with the way they have been treated; giving good customer care and loyalty will attract more customers to the store and keep Superdrug in business. Giving good customer care means being polite and helpful to customers. It is important that I listen carefully to customers and ask them questions so I get an understanding of what the customer wants so that I can get the right products for the customer. Having a positive attitude towards customers is mostly important because without a positive attitude customers will receive a negative vibe and therefore will not feel comfortable with me serving them. For example, while on my work experience customers asked for products that were no sold at the Superdrug store, instead of saying we dont have that I recommended them to a store that might have it. It is important when providing customers with information that I am clear and accurate about the product and that I confirm that the customer understands the information I have supplied. It is good to remember that when a customer enters the store, try and give customers more than they pay for. Good customer services When customers enter the store they should be assisted. In Superdrug every customer that entered the store was given information on the products that were sold there and the products features. It is important in Superdug to provide after sales care such as refund and guarantees. Communicating with customers is an essential part of customer service. This includes letting them know what services are available and making sure they are happy with the product I have sold to them. Good customer service in Superdrug attracts more customers and increases sales. It also improves the business reputation which means more customers just through recommendations. For example, two main factors that contribute to its business success are Superdrugs commitment to high standard of service and the expertise of its staff. To maintain these standards and keep staff up to date with new products Superdrug invests in training. D2 The importance of providing good customer care and services Importance of good Customer service Customer service is the provision of care to customers from pre-service to after sales service. It may be face-to-face, over the telephone, written or via new technology using e-mail and the Internet. Superdrug use customer care to create an overall impression of an organisation that puts the needs of the customer first, to ensure quality and increase sales over competititors. Increasingly, Superdrug have customer services departments or customer services desks whose job is to ensure the efficient process of delivering customer care, including provision for those customers with special needs. Superdrug produce literature, which outlines their Customer Care Policy or Charter; this may include their policy on refunds, warranties, after sales service and how to make a complaint. Customer service is very important part of any business organisation. Bibliography BTEC introduction business-published by Heinemann in 2005 Heinemann Educational Publishers Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8EJ ISBN 978 0 435401 21 4 John Ruskin college intranet site Superdrug 452-456 Brixton Rd

Critique Of Difficulties For Students Studying Abroad English Language Essay

Critique Of Difficulties For Students Studying Abroad English Language Essay Introduction The article, Cultural Variations: Difficulties for Students Studying Abroad, was written by Ballard and Clandchy, in 1984. The authors describe three kinds of difficulties which students studying abroad have to face, different styles of thinking, learning, writing and presenting ideas. They also point out that if overseas students want to have a good studying and living condition, they must try to change their thinking, learning and writing style into critical and analytical approach in order to adjust to the western country. Generally the viewpoints are good, but there are some weaknesses about examples which should be re-evaluated. Summary To the first question-different style of thinking, the authors observe that culture variation lead students with different context think for different purposes. This phenomenon is not only for the different languages, but also culture background. An example about a Japanese student studying at Australia is given to support this view. He was a good student who had studied Economics for two years in Tokyo before coming to Australia. However he even could not pass the exam and mistook the meaning of his essay question because of different thinking style. When he was able to see the problem and adapted to the Australian thinking pattern, he became a promising student again. The authors second main point is different styles of learning. They present three kinds of learning method: reproductive approach, analytical approach and speculative approach. Different students from different culture background are used to their own ways of learning. When they come to a new academic environment, it is hard for them to develop a critical and hypothesising attitude towards tasks. A Singapore undergraduate, a Japanese MA student and an Indian PhD students comments proved that the variety of learning style make them unfit. An Indonesian postgraduate also suffered with the studying problem when she moved to Western university. Once she switched her thinking and learning approach and began to ask questions, she was successful. Moving on to the third style main pointstyle of writing and presenting ideas, the authors refer to Kaplans research. He argues that there are five independent patterns for writing: English pattern, Romance and Russian pattern, Semitic pattern and Oriental pattern (cited in Kaplan). Each pattern has its own characteristic. For example, English pattern is a linear one, moving from main opinions directly to examples, which is totally different from Oriental pattern, indirectly, circling round the main ideas for avoiding making an ultimate conclusion. Critique In the article, Ballard and Clanchy point out that Asian student should exert critical thinking to adjust to the Western learning system. Though the authors viewpoints were raised in 1984, I agree with it to a large degree. But there is no example about Chinese students in the article and many examples are not powerful enough to support their view. Overseas students lack critical thinking, even today Though the article was written in 1984, generally its views are good, many of which are still valid today. Back to Chinese traditional culture, the thinking and learning style are different from that of western countries. In China, we were used to absorb what teacher said, and never doubted whether it was right or not. Because in our eyes, teachers duty is to preach, teach and disabuse, so they must be exactly right (Patrick Huang, 2009). If someone is doubtful of teachers words or theories on the book, he will be regarded as not respecting teachers or crazy. When I came to the UK, what I felt on the lectures made me to recognise the learning style is different from China. Whenever, British students feel a question got them, they would put up their hands, though in my mind, the question was easy. On the lectures, it is can be often heard from a teacher: Are you all happy with that? It is the time that the teacher wants to get some feedbacks from his students, whether they understand his lecture or not. Most of the time, some British student will shout out what make him confused. But to our Chinese, though the question is really hard, we would read some reference books rather than to raise it up on the lecture, because there is a high-self-esteem ideology in our mind. I will feel shame if all of the other classmates understand the question, but me. Examples are not powerful enough As mentioned above, the authors ideas are generally good, but the examples used in the article are not convincing evidence to function as the authors expect. Firstly, the examples in the article are not enough in quantity and quality. In my opinion, a questionnaire about whether different culture context have different learning style and comparison between Asian students and Australian students should be done in Ballard and Clanchys investigation. An example like Biemans and Mil raised in their research is expected: 25 Chinese students and 16 Dutch students were divided into two groups respectively. Most Chinese students have the characteristics that reflect a reproduction-directed and an undirected learning style, while the Dutch students as a group do not demonstrate any one particular learning style (Biemans and Mil, 2008). In addition, the evidence is not relevant to Chinese students. According to Ku at el, the most common difficulties For Chinese students are associated with language ability, academic performance, and social adjustment (Ku at el. 2001). It is thus clear, besides critical thinking and learning strategy, language ability is another obstacle which limits Chinese students progress. Another weakness is the analysis Ballard and Clanchys did is not deep going. To the Chinese style of learning, it must be retrospect to the fundamental education for children. I have read a funny story about a Chinese couple, taking 3 year-old son, visited their American friends who had 3 children. When these children played the building block, the Chinese child often asked his mother to help him, while these American children never did that. Oppositely they were happy to help their new friends solve the problem. At dinner, these American children were happy to see the guests using chopsticks, so they copied the actions to eat food. Whereas the Chinese kid did not want to eat by himself, just shouting: mom feed me, mom feed me The Chinese lady had no choice but feed him. It is an example in our daily life, yet we can get more information and think deeply rather than the superficial meanings. Sometimes we consider kindergarten or primary school is where fundamental education begins. W ell actually parent is childrens first teacher whose teaching style effects initiatory learning style of the kids. In my opinion, most Chinese parents like to teach their children hand by hand. Just like my parents, when I was young, they checked up my homework every day and told me to remember the equations or formulae time after time. Western country parents will not do that, because they think that is the teachers work. They just tell the children to learn by themselves. So when children step in schools, they would be used to the ways of learning from their parents. And also the teachers, under different culture context, teach their students with different ways. These factors lead students to form the habit of how to learn and not adapt to other style of learning. Just like the authors mentioned, we cannot say which learning method is superior to the others. Reproductive style lay emphasis on memorisation and imitation, which, I think, is suitable for primary schools study, not for high school or university, because it prepares students for bigger tasks ahead. But when they go to study abroad, normally western countries, the speculative style of learning, such as, group discussion, questionnaire, makes them uncomfortable. Otherwise, with the combination of eastern and western culture, more and more universities of the eastern countries have begun to attach importance to analytical and speculative learning style and encourage students to ask questions. Conclusion When a western university takes over an overseas student, I think, his marks and English level must be both good enough. Maybe only the way of learning and thinking is different from that he acquired in his country. What he needs to do first is to learn how to ask questions. Never be shy! And then try to use critical and analytical views to do the different tasks. When he breaks through these main points, everything will go well. He can prove he is excellent both in his country and abroad.

The Story of an Hour Analysis

The Story of an Hour Analysis The short-story under consideration by Kate Chopin, the American short-story writer known for her works about strong women in terms of liberation debate, is entitled The Story of an Hour. Being the framing sign of the whole text, the title brings the text up to date, however, running through the entire plot it does not uncover the essence of the unpredictable situation the main character finds herself. It is a sign of prosecution and forms the expectations about what the story may deal with. a lot is hidden beyond the title but only having read the short-story it becomes clear that it describes an hour of true free life of a wife, Louise Mallard, who was dominated by her husband Brently Mallard and could break free from the imprisonment only after her husband had perished in a railroad disaster. The theme of the short-story is definitely connected with the future Liberation movement that was already on the way and promised the long-awaited equality. The analysis of the short-story under consideration is carried out in the light of the Lacanian structuralism who in his psychoanalysis reconceptualised Freud using post-structuralism. Kate Chopin enables readers to trace the widows mind working and the way it is influenced with sadness and joy. The readers distinctly feel the shift of tone in the narration as Mrs. Millard breaks through her conscious storm of grief that caught her immediately as she heard the news. Her first and adequate reaction of mind is weeping, Chopin says: she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment. Everyone knew that she suffered from a heart disease and were very careful and tender to do the least harm to her fragile heart. It seems that her oppressed will obeys the established system of society and she expresses her feelings structured by the desire and expectations of others, through the relay of her surroundings. The reason of that may lie in the fact that human-beings are social creatures and their desire also has social nature that is developed through culture and language, the former structured like the unconscious. But then she abruptly calms down and sits in her room enjoying the view from the window: The delicious breath of rain was in the airà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. At the moment the sound consciousness that cannot help but feel regret about the perished husband makes the way for physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. Here Kate Chopin describing the unconscious through the symbols introduces readers the image of nature seen from out of the window of Louises room. The season itself, the springtime, symbolizing the new life the advantages of which she is still has not realized yet, and the window giving her the view of patches of blue sky, all this is definitely a new world that appears before Mrs. Mallard. The expression of the unconscious comes through symbols and readers see her motionless with her dull stare transformed into a gaze fixed away off yonder on the patches of sky symbolizing her future. She feels that something is approaching to posses her interrupting her bitter grief, that is the feeling of freedom that she never new before. And as according to Lacan, the unconscious is structured like a language, Louises eyes become keen and bright and she utters under the breath: Free, free, free! Louise did not cry herself to sleep as a child usually does, it was her unconscious desire to live a full life of beautiful images that lost its bright colors as her husband dominated her. Her conscious ego comes into clashes with her unconscious desire to gain freedom and live for herself. And the momentous joy that seizes her is the expression of her unconscious mind. Lacan substantiated the connections of binary oppositions that became central to structuralism. They can be noticed in the short-story as a system of interrelated signs that make up the whole. In the text under consideration the binary oppositions are male and female, joy and grief, love and self-assertion. The last opposition is ironically described by Kate Chopin, as the main character thinks that she loved her husband sometimes and adds that often she had not. She reasons what could love count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion that is a strong impulse for her to go on. She may have drawn a line to summarize what she lacked and longed for and realized that she deserves freedom and there would be no powerful will bending, no repression and restrictions imposed on her by the society of the time. Mrs. Mallard, though it is a kind of paradox, could feel so free and protected only after her husbands death and was joyously drinking in a very elixir of life through the open window. But the fate offers her another surprise bringing her husband alive and when he enters the house as nothing has happened her heart cannot bear the excitement and fails. Though no one of those present can guess the true cause of death, Louise dies of a heart attack as she instantly realizes that her hopes are broken against the shores of reality. Her family friends call it the joy that kills. Actually, she appeared to feel free only temporarily, but she was free only from the burden of marriage that repressed her, but the complete freedom is nothing but an illusion as it doubtfully exists. Viewing the short-story from the perspective of post-structuralism definitely has some drawbacks, as it propagates the ambivalence of meaning and upset link of the text and the real world. Rejecting the certainty of meaning it may result in thousands of free interpretations that put the readers on the wrong track. Therefore, analyzing the short-story in the light of structuralism is quite beneficial and helps to reveal through symbols the mental state of the main character with the unconscious dominating the conscious ego. It cannot help but catch the eye of the readers that Kate Chopin intentionally concentrates her narration on description of the mental state of the heroine and the signs that uncover it, paying little attention either to her appearance or to the interior and clothes. Structuralism developed by Lacan helps readers to have a good look through a magnifying glass of his postulates on the mental state of Mrs. Mallard and ponder over the reasons of her behavior concealed in the symbols. The short-story The Story of an Hour is of inspirational and though-provoking character that can hardly leave readers unmoved.

Montags Metamorphosis in Fahrenheit 451 :: Fahrenheit 451 Essays

Montag's Metamorphosis in Fahrenheit 451 It is once in a while in the history of one's literary experience that a book comes a long which is so poignant in its message, so "frightening in its implications" [New York Times], and so ironically simplistic in its word choice. One of these treasures of 20th century literature sits on my desk in front of me as I type-Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the novel devoted to denouncing the adage, "Ignorance is bliss". This novel provides a glance into a bleak world similar to our own (almost too similar) where war is common, feelings are shunned, family is non-existent, and thought is no longer an individual's query. To facilitate this last criterion of Mr. Bradbury's world, books have been banned, condemned to be burned on sight along with their possessors. (Incidentally, I am sure that Mr. Bradbury was aware of the high irony of writing this down in a book when he conceived of the idea.) And who should be the policemen of this world of ignorance? The "firemen." Not unlike the fir emen in our world today, they dress alike, drive big trucks, and wail their loud sirens. There is one fundamental difference, however-these firemen start fires; they cleanse the evil books of their sin. And who should personify the heartless, unfeeling, cold-warm fireman but Guy Montag. His father was a fireman, and his father in turn, so what other job could there be for a man like him? Well, as you, the reader, will see, Montag will soon have trouble answering that question himself. As I have mentioned, Montag is like all the others at the commencement of the novel: loving his job, never questioning an authority that has never given him any reason to obey. This all changes though when, while walking home from work, he encounters a young girl named Clarisse, who, through her innocence and oblivion to the world around her, shows him that society is crumbling around him and that he can be a part of the solution, not as everyone else is-the problem. For the first time in his life, he questions what he sees around him: his wife overdosing on pills, Clarisse getting hit by a speeding car and killed, and even the book burning which he does every night for money. Or was it amusement? Either way, curiosity gets the better of him as he "steals" a book from a raging fire during one of his raids.

why read the books :: essays research papers

It has now become clear that Italo Calvino will prove to be one of this century's major writers. In recent years, his work has been established alongside such pan-European thinkers as Barthes and Eco, particularly in the sense that his interests are polymathic. Calvino is an essayist, a literary theorist, a writer of fiction and, to a large extent, a visionary. Paradoxically, much of the modernity he has explored in his narratives has its roots in the simplicity of folk tales, and his own short fiction has the elemental power of myth and allegory. In these essays, however, we have a kind of summation of all this, albeit in a piecemeal form. By this I mean that within this large collection of literary essays, Italo Calvino mixes critical judgement with literary history, and reflections on the writer's art with sheer readerly enthusiasm. This powerful mix is the result of his assembling a personal 'canon' of texts, and in that sense some of his choices reflect that idiosyncrasy which all readers have: personal passions, a taste in obscure writers; and, a few absolute favourites which have clearly inspired his own creativity. In the dimension of personal taste, the leaders are Dickens in Our Mutual Friend, Stendhal and Dante, but there are many more, and after an initial essay which tries to establish what a classic is, the essays range from classical to modern texts, not always in terms of accepted classical status. Some of the writers discussed may even merit being rediscovered. In fact, Signor Calvino is such a good critic that he sneaks in brief chatty references and even fragments of autobiography before we realise it. The case of Hemingway shows this for instance: 'There was a time for me when - and for many others, those who are more or less my contemporaries - Hemingway was a god.' The essay then proceeds to show Hemingway's appeal as well as his limitations. The book's title is something of a misnomer in this respect, because the question is tackled directly in the first essay. Then a certain enquiry about the nature of a 'classic' is assumed as the author proceeds to explain the gamut of literary achievement in virtually every prominent form. However, the defining essay does lead to the interesting proposition that 'A classic is a work which persists as background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway.

Gender Roles in Society Essay -- Gender Studies

Gender Roles in Society Gender role is a commonly discussed subject in society. Gender role simply defined is a person's inner sense of how a male or female should feel and behave. Society and culture are also very important in relation to this subject. This means different societies and cultures may produce children and later, grown men and women, who have quite different views of a man or a woman's place in the world around them, often determined by their culture's gender stereotypes. These topics will be explained and compared to each other later on. How to implement a gender free childcare environment will also be discussed. Children begin to learn their gender roles at a very young age. Boys must learn what boys and men do, what they like, and even how they think and feel. Females do likewise as they learn the roles for girls and women. This is called gender stereotyping. When children seem already aware of differences between what men and women wear and do, then children are deeply involved in this search for these "rules," and later on can often apply gender-specific labels to toys, activities, types of work around the home, and even adult occupations. This how the children, since they were born, step-by-step came to learn their gender roles. We see gender roles and the results of gender stereotyping around us every day in the society. In our homes, there are often certain tasks that are usually carried out by a man - cutting the lawn, for example, or fixing a broken washing machine - and others, like the bulk of the cooking and the washing up - that often are almost always done by the woman. The stories we watch on TV and in the movies often follow exactly the divisions of sexual roles that so many cultur... ...cussing adults, I would show the children pictures of female doctors and male nurses and find other ways to show that almost all occupations are now open to both of the sexes. Children learn from their play about what the world is, or should be. They learn new skills and about new possibilities. I would not be disappointed if the boys still liked their toys more in the end and the girls sometimes preferred housekeeping to the monkey bars. The important thing is to provide openness and diversity of choices. There are biological sexual differences between men and women, of course, but gender roles are often imposed on children by the culture around them. As an ECE educator I believe that I need to promote un-biased play activities and teach children in an open and diverse environment so that each child can discover on their own who she is and what he wants to be.

P Emergency Bail Out

â€Å"We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land† was Herbert Hoover’s message to voters in the US Presidential race of 1928. However, once elected into office, within months, he came to terms with his own short sightedness as the world plunged into a downward economic spiral, unparallel in history . . . at least until now.The sub prime mortgage crisis and the ensuing credit crunch is by all means a haunting reminder of Black Tuesday, when on October 29, 1929, the NYSE crashed as a result of panic selling and led to the Great Depression.Without dwelling much on history, it can be concluded that the NYSE crash of 1929 and the Housing market crash of 2007 are both characterized by speculation and greed, a fundamental failure of pristine capitalism. Secondly, both crashes have followed an era of loose monetary policy and lax credit regulations for which hot shot individuals at the Central Banks and the comme rcial banks themselves share the blame. To add on to this, we have the menace created by the alluring yet highly risky business of derivatives.With nothing much to defend, the question arises, are we headed towards a depression as in 1929 or is the situation still under control? The likely scenario that we face is a gloomy one. The level of debt that individuals hold is high. The housing crash has wiped out a large portion of the banks credit portfolios. Other advances are also suffering as falling income levels, losses on a highly volatile stock market and rising unemployment are triggering people to default.This is making depositors uneasy as they are shifting money between Banks causing liquidity issues for them. Some Banks have closed down, unable to honor commitments. Others are set to follow. Low liquidity and capital losses means that these financial institutions are refraining from new lending despite the availability of cheap credit. Lack of financial facilitation means tha t businesses are suffering a lack of confidence and the economy is slowing down, marred with deflation, unemployment, high debt levels and low production. The Secretary of the US Treasury, Mr.Hank Paulson’s Emergency Bail out Plan, is set out to counter these problems and save America and the world from recession. The original idea was that the purpose of the plan would be to purchase bad mortgage related assets, reduce uncertainty regarding the worth of the remaining assets, and restore confidence in the credit markets. The treasury was given sweeping powers with 250 billion dollars of immediate funding. If need arose, an additional 100 billion dollars would be available on the discretion of the President and another 350 billion dollars following a congressional resolution.Over time, the plan has come to embody a whole list of objectives including provisions on how to prevent foreclosures, deposit insurance, restrictions on executive pay and equity interests in financial ins titutions. The plan has met a mixed reaction. While there is a strong argument that the plan could be inflationary (Hudson, 2008), some argue that it would tend to be the opposite (UBS, 2008). There is also argument that this plan is aiming to fix a bruised and battered system and that we need a new and revitalized system for credit screening. Detractors also point to the fact that the plan keeps on changing.It seems, from the looks of it, that the treasury is determined to stop the bloodshed with its 700 billion dollars but lacks any coherent strategy to do so. Whatever the case, lets build on basic macroeconomics to see how the plan will affect the American and the world economy and then make an informed conclusion on what the US Treasury should instead aim at. To take a short trip back down history lane, when the 1929 depression struck, John Maynard Keynes argued that Government intervention through a budget deficit would alleviate these conditions.Initially the private sector is unwilling to invest. However, as government spending increases, it raises the private sector’s interest. Gradually, confidence returns. Monetarists held an opposing view. While Keynes argued that higher incomes would lead the poor strata of society to consume more, monetarists held that this additional income would go back to paying off debts and accumulated obligations and not add to the value of the multiplier. (Lipsey & Harbuy, 1992) The US Treasury and the Federal Reserve it seems are following a middle line here.While the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates to stimulate business activity, capital infusions by the US Treasury is intended to help banks lend more freely. Thus, we are witnessing a mixture of Keynesian and Monetarist school of thought. Although there is little argument to the fact that this plan is inflationary in nature, the problem that it fails to address is that the US Treasury, despite making equity infusions in banks, buying troubled assets, lowe ring interest rates and taking steps to reduce uncertainty cannot force banks to lend.While some point to the inflationary nature of the program and its evolving nature, it seems that the major flaw is that it cannot help but wait when banks start lending freely and unfreeze the credit markets, stimulating business activity. Thus, as far as the effects go, it seems likely that if the banks refrain from lending even at the now cheaper interest rates and merely choose to sit on the cash, it is highly likely that the plan would fail plunging America into a recession. This lack of financial facilitation will also affect the world as the USA is acting as a demand powerhouse for the world.It is likely that the World may move into recession too as export markets in America contract. On the other hand, if the plan was to succeed in unfreezing the credit markets and stimulating business activity, we will see inflation followed by bouts of constrained monetary betterment. This would help the world economy too as exports will be less affected and American consumption will fuel their growth. However, in either case, these 700 billion dollars will ultimately affect the taxpayer in future years, in the form of an increased tax liability.However, the most worrying thought is that the recovery could be a jobless one. The bail out plan may put back business and consumer confidence back on track but the increased money supply might not affect unemployment levels in a major way as US firms continue to move production facilities abroad. Therefore, a coherent strategy aimed at increasing industrial production and reducing unemployment inside the US is augmented. For this reason, other counties, possibly China will have to step up and act as a demand generator. (Shafi 2008)To conclude, if the plan is not able to unfreeze the credit markets, there is little chance that the world might escape a depression. If the plan was to work, two scenarios present themselves. By returning to the old way of consuming more, the US Treasury will allow the legacy of the old system to survive. Instead, if the focus would be towards industrial and export led growth, the system of budget deficits and trade deficits and the large sums of money conjured in maintaining them will die and a new world order built on fiscal facilitation and sound monetary management will evolve.References: Hudson, Michael (2008). The bailout is a giveaway that will cause hyperinflation and dollar collapse. The Real News. Retrieved on 13-12-2008 Lipsey G. , H. & Harbury, C. (1992) First Principles of Economics. London: Oxford University Press. Shafi, A. (2008). A Walk Down Memory Lane: The Sub Prime Mortage Crisis and the Great Depression revisited. The Financial Flicker Retrieved on 13-12-2008 UBS. (2008) There is no alternative. â€Å"Policy measures are anti-deflationary. They are not inflationary. † Retrieved on 13-12-2008