Spartan Education Essay Example For Students

Spartan Education Essay When examining any society, one of the most important aspects of its civilization to identify is the education of the youth. Children yearn to please their instructors. Therefore, when all children throughout a society are taught a certain way to live and think, when they grow up, the society itself models these values instilled upon the children. Naturally, when using this ideal to study the history of the Ancient Greeks, focus falls upon its two major city-states, Athens and Sparta. As in almost every aspect of comparison, the difference between the education of the warlike Spartans compared to the education of the philosophical Athenians is like comparing black to white. The main focus of a Spartan education was not to focus on literacy. Instead, as a result of the system of helotry practiced in Sparta, fitness, obedience, and courage had to be taught in order for the Spartans to retain the militaristic supremacy that they had over the rest of the Peloponnesus. We will write a custom essay on Spartan Education specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In contrast, an Athenian education was devoted to the three basic categories of literacy, music, and physical education in hopes of creating intelligent, well-rounded citizens who could responsibly participate in the Assembly. For purposes of comparison, the education of both societies can be broken down into three distinct periods of age in which certain traits were taught and which certain schools were attended. When education was complete, the society had successfully refined another child into its strict system of beliefs and principles.In the eighth century B. C., Sparta was in need of more fertile land to support an ever-growing population that demanded food. Consequently, Sparta was forced to do what any ancient civilization did when in need of

Destijl movement Utopian values essays

Destijl movement Utopian values essays The De Stijl Movement of the early twentieth century was founded in 1917 by Theo Van Doesburg. Initially established as a journal, he brought together a group of artists, architects, sculptors, designers and writers who collectively published the first issue of the journal entitled, De Stijl (the style). By publishing this they hoped to create a dais for the voice of the modern world and the avant-garde. As this new form of art was emerging Van Doesburg realised that the work had to be accompanied by a literary commentary, almost having to defend their innovations and theories. It was hoped that in printing such a journal they were developing a new public awareness of what was considered beautiful and so making them more open to modern art. The De Stijl believed art was capable of leading mankind toward a brighter future, a new and revolutionary utopia. By looking at the work of three of the most prominent members, Theo Van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian and Gerrit Rietveld, we can see how their cumulative utopian ideals manifested through their individual projects. Universal harmony was the focus of the De Stijl. Art had a new mission. It preceded life and showed the way to the realisation of universal harmony. They wanted to bring mankind to light and purity that would spill to every facet of life, including politics, music, architecture and theatre. The De Stijl members believed that this universal enlightenment and harmony was obscured by the individualism and irrelevancies of life. In their search for these truths they sought to reveal them through the creation of a new model. They tried to achieve this in their collective projects through the use of the most direct and elemental means, namely: primary colours, considered to be the only true colours; strong verticals and horizontals, representing male and female opposing forces; and, asymmetrical compositions. By breaking down the organic representation and reducin...

Food Safety College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food Safety College - Essay Example The government at all levels has a role to oversee the enforcement of laws and regulations which are created for food safety. Although there are various agencies which take note of the health and safety of the public especially when it comes to the food they take, the presence of enforcement programs at the local health department is necessary. It can more far-reaching since it would be very well supervise whether everyone concerned adheres with it and violators can be easily identified. However, even with the presence of these enforcement programs, there are still many cases of food-borne diseases. This turns the focus to the food handling practices. Food handling practice may be the main cause of the persistent cases of food-borne illness. In many food establishments in the country, food handling training with particular mention to sanitation procedures has been inadequate because it is usually done quickly. This result to dangerous food handling practices related to temperature control, personal hygiene and prevention of cross-contamination. This makes effective training programs very important. The FDA Food Code recommends the certification of food safety managers as a way of demonstrating food safety knowledge. Studies have shown that sanitation in food service establishments are greatly affected by food safety training and certification (Almanza et al., 2004). In addition, the behavior of food handlers also determines food safety. If they be careless in preparing the food, it can result to contamination. Many food handling practices and sanitation procedures however can be learned through food safety training. This highlights the significance of food safety training as a very effective approach to food safety. Thu s everyone working in food establishments should undergo adequate food safety training and must be certified before they are allowed to work with food. Food safety must be ensured at all times. Since consumers may get sick with improperly prepared or contaminated foods, all food employees must undergo proper and adequate training with regards to food handling practices and all food establishments should deem it necessary. Mosquitoes are the most common vectors of many pathogenic microorganisms. A mosquito bite can sometimes result to a fatal disease. Hence, it is important that the community has enough knowledge on how to reduce the risk of acquiring these diseases. West Nile virus (WNV) is a group of disease-causing viruses usually carried by a female Culex pipiens mosquito. Each bite of this mosquito can transmit the West Nile virus. Worse is that people who become infected does not show symptoms. Only few show signs of fever and body aches but can further infect the brain and the spinal cord making it life-threatening. In places where it its endemic, it was observed that not all mosquitoes becomes infected and infection does not occur with all that individuals that are exposed to mosquitoes (Bren, 2003). According to Jesse Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, West Nile virus can be transmitted through organ transplant and blood transfusion. Aside from that, a September 2002 case in Michigan suggests that breast milk can transmit WNV. These cases however are rare. The common cause though is

Agency theory and the question of shareholder primacy Essay

Agency theory and the question of shareholder primacy - Essay Example As a way of dealing with such unhealthy tango that normally exists among owners and controllers such as shareholders, the corporate governance is usually used to structure and clarify the distribution and use of power among all stakeholders within the modern firm (Waitzer and Jaswal 480). In this paper, the role of corporate governance and law in general in ensuring effective power relationships among competing groups within the organization is reviewed from two perspectives. These perspectives are agency theory and shareholder primacy. As part of the review of the two perspectives, key debates in literature on perceived problems and benefits associated with agency theory and shareholder primacy will be discussed. Based on the review, a conclusion was taken that shareholder primacy fails to be a credible source of solution to most forms of conflicts and unrest that exists among various stakeholders within the organization and outside of it. This is conclusion is taken based on the fa ct that shareholder primacy seeks to prioritize the interest of shareholders only and thus create uneasiness with other stakeholders. In common-law based countries such as the US and the UK, power struggle has been identified to be very common because of the separation between ownership and control. As a result of the separation, anxieties of corporate control have often been created between owners and shareholders, bringing about corporate tensions that affect the running of organizations negatively (Jensen and Meckling 309). Unlike civil-law framework countries, the UK and US promote more diversified shareholder basis through delivering good security of minority shareholders (Mallin 11). In most corporate organizations, owners and shareholders have often looked over their shoulders, suspecting that the other person may be having some advantages that help serve their personal interests rather than the

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and 19 century American Society Research Paper - 2

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and 19 century American Society - Research Paper Example Other Calvinists also explained that the salvation was held in the hands of God. In the nineteenth century evangelicals like Finney and other evangelicals were in the fore front to preach to the sinners. They focused on the sins of the human beings in action. They also preached about the hellfire in order to try and divert the sinners from the exercise. They went ahead and insisted that the sinners were supposed to repent and get away from all the sin. In the nineteenth century, the Protestants through the evangelicalism laid much emphasis on the conversion. This was obliged by ideas about the sinfulness of the human beings after the fall of Adam and also the omnipotence of God. It is said after all this that God has got mercy towards his people and he promises them salvation after all these. The evangelicalism also laid strong emphasis on the how Christ died on the cross for the sake of the sins of the humans. They tried to explain that the best thing to understand is that conversio n was just an experience and it was not hard. Many of the people did not believe the message that these evangelists gave. Believing was a very important thing and so for the evangelists I was not easy to convince the people. But still what they preached was heard by many people and though many would have not responded but they were psychologically transformed. (Claudia 2006). This did not just leave them as the ordinary people they were there before but it came to be like a transformation and most of them had changed and they had those characters of Christians deep inside them2. The evangelicals explained that what happened to them was a spiritual rebirth and death of the old someone to the transformation and the birth of another person who has gone through transformation. Conversion consisted of steps that had to be followed.  

The Pros And Cons Of Hiring An Expatriate Management Essay

The Pros And Cons Of Hiring An Expatriate Management Essay In this assignment, the importance of cultural factors over past knowledge experience is highlighted with the help of surveys, case studys organizational examples. The meaning definition is explained followed by the reason that make cultural factors so important for the success of an international assignment. There is a comparison made in between cultural factors past knowledge experience with the help of some real organizational experiences which include a survey case study as well. Towards the end the advantages disadvantages of hiring an expatriate based on each factor is discussed followed by a conclusion. What is Culture? Culture is a term used to define a shaping process in which members of a group or society share a distinct way of life which has common values, attitudes certain behaviours that are transmitted over time. As per Phatak(1995) A person is not born with a given culture: rather she or he acquires it through the socialization process that begins from birth: An American is not born with an inclination towards hot dogs, or a German with a preference for beer: these behavioural attributes are culturally transmitted (Dowling, Welch, Schuler,1998). International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context, 3rd ed. Peter J. Dowling, Denice E. Welch, Randall S. Schuler REASON FOR CULTURE AWARENESS IN INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS: It has been a long time that most of the multinationals are not just confined to commercial and economical enterprises but they involve political, social, scientific, athletic, religious and cultural entities. This has caused cultural differences in MNEs among both their manpower and their customers. Diversity is a fact in todays life and no organization can ignore it. Organizations are working with employees and clients who have different functional, cultural backgrounds and assumptions about the ways of decision making and communication (Zahedi, 2000). Cultural factors play a major role in international assignments because every country has a different culture and if the business people lack knowledge or sensitivity for other cultures there can be mistakes in both personal professional interactions because of which there can be clashes. People going on international assignments always think that their own country provides the best way of doing business, they behave in ways and mak e decisions that alianate their foreign counterparts leading to business and/or personal failure. Simple things such as gift giving or introductions can also create problems in international business if importance of culture is ignored. Peoples varying beliefs, values and behaviour patterns are very important for the success of an international business, including activities such as cross national negotiations, sales interactions in between people from various countries, management of the performance of employees from different countries, the treatment understanding of contracts between firms from various countries. All these activities require a good cultural knowledge of the host country (Briscoe Schuler, 2004).International Human Resource Management, 2nd ed. Dennis R. Briscoe Randall S. Schuler. In the international assignments, individuals receive poor job performance evaluation from their superiors if they have a different cultural background they do not understand cultural differences in role expectations, and do not conform to the role expectations (Stone-Romero, Stone Salas, 2003). An expatriate going abroad experiences situations that show differences in language, dress, hygiene, food attitude towards time and such situations can be difficult which can even lead to expatriate getting a cultural shock- a phenomenon which is experienced by people who move across cultures. When an expatriate goes on an international assignment, the new environment requires many adjustments to be done in a relatively short span of time which can challenge an expatriates frame of reference to such an extent that their sense of self, especially in terms of their nationality culture comes into question. Cultural shock can also cause Psychological disorientation if they do not understand or misunderstand certain cues which can further lead to negative feelings about the host country its people and a longing to return back to the home country or in severe cases failure of the international assignment. For an international assignments success activities such as hiring, promoting, rewarding, dismissal must be determined as per the practices of the host country and should be based on a value system peculiar to that countrys culture. .(Dowling, Festing Engle,2008) International Human Resource Management, 5th ed. Peter J Dowling, Marion Festing, Allen D. Engle, Sr Past Knowledge Experience versus Culture Business people with international knowledge experience operate with the expectation that the business models methods they are used to will work well in business interactions in other countries, however companies with long experience in the international field suggest that there is hardly any such positive overlap. MNEs should understand that the core of success in international assignments is cultural awareness and understanding of effects of culture on day to day business operations. As per a survey done on executives from around the world, the importance of intercultural understanding was highlighted and it was shown that countries in which people have greater cultural understanding are the ones that have an advantage in international business. Survey: A survey of more than 3,932 executives from around the world, rated countries in between 1 to 10 based on how well developed intercultural understanding is there in their business. The higher the intercultural understanding the greater is the competency success. Intercultural Understanding: Switzerland: 8.02 Egypt:6.48 Hungary: 5.18 Denmark: 6.94 China: 3.10 Israel: 5.89 Russia: 3.10 France: 5.08 Singapore: 8.02 India: 6.23 Poland: 4.57 Spain:5.42 Australia: 6.15 Malaysia: 7.30 Mexico:4.65 Korea: 5.35 Germany: 5.95 Hong Kong: 7.37 Turkey: 5.89 Italy: 5.04 Ireland: 5.30 US: 5.22 Taiwan:6.44 brazil: 5.71 If a firm enters a new country and performs its activities based on prior knowledge experience, it can cause a significant lack of trust alienation in the host country, this can have further ramifications, like attaining a quality workforce (Dowling, Welch, Schuler,1998). Example to prove importance of Cultural factors over Past knowledge Experience: For international assignments, if a MNE decides to take the enterprise culture forward it can create certain problems for e.g., MNEs originating from US UK feel that women should be assigned senior management positions but they cannot carry this culture for an enterprise in a country that is against women empowerment for e.g., Saudi Arab. Similarly a MNE originating from Asia may give importance to group loyalty discussion, with deference to senior employees in their operation however same practice cannot be carried forward while starting an international assignment in countries where individual decisions are more important (Dowling, Welch, Schuler,1998). Case Study: Experience past knowledge that works at home does not necessarily work abroad In a South Korean textile firm a Vietnamese worker was once kicked and slapped by his South Korean boss because the worker did not respond as he could not understand when his boss told him that he was in the wrong place in the factory. In South Korea it is common for employers to scold beat employees if they make mistakes. But this home practice led to a mass retaliation in kind by ten workers and the manager was hospitalised. It further led to a four day strike pay rises of ten to fifteen percent for workers. So the textile firm had to pay a lot for not considering cultural factors in Vietnam.(Dowling, Welch, Schuler,1998). International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context, 3rd ed. Peter J. Dowling, Denice E. Welch, Randall S. Schuler As per a study done to determine the affects of cultural factors on job performance it was indicated that after accounting for control variables, gender, prior overseas experience, length of stay in host country and language fluency, Cultural factors significantly related to job performance ( Ang et al.,2004) Pros Cons of Hiring an Expatriate based on Culture over Past Knowledge Experience: Experience in home country If a MNE hires expatriates based on past knowledge and experience in the home country, it can be beneficial for the control maintenance of the policies culture of the parent firm however it can lead to high expenditure in foreign assignments, difficulty in providing adequate training for foreign assignments, problems with adjustment for the expatriate and his family, problem in dealing with repatriates(when expatriates return). Experience in some other country As per Searle Ward(1990) having host country experience or friendships with host nationals greatly improves the expatriates ability to learn social skills and behaviours. Greater experience with the host culture produces greater cross-cultural adjustment. The theorists state that prior foreign experience with the host culture is positively related to adjustment provided that the experience does not serve to foster negative, unrealistic expectations of the foreign culture. There is a direct relationship between prior experience and cross-cultural adjustment , it provides an accurate and realistic representation of the host Countries policies, customs, values, etc. There is very little evidence that previous experience abroad does not always facilitate adjustment to a new expatriate environment (e.g., Black Gregersen, 1991; Cui Awa, 1992; Dunbar, 1992; Selmer, 2002). The major advantages disadvantages of hiring expatriates with past experience (both domestic and/or international) are Advantages: It leads to organizational Co-ordination Control is better facilitated maintained. It also helps promising managers with past knowledge experience in home country get international experience. People with past knowledge prove to be the best people for the job because of special skills experience. It provides an assurance that during international assignment, subsidiary will comply with companys policies, objectives etc. It has been found that researchers generally consider previous international experience to be of advantage because such experience teaches an individual the ability to generate strategies for adaptation in new situations, so the chances of assignment failure are minimized(Tye and Chen, 2005 cited in Avril Magnini,2007) Disadvantages: The Promotional opportunities of host country nationals get restricted limited. Adaptation to host country may take a really long time. Parent company nationals may impose an inappropriate headquarter style. Compensation benefits for Parent company nationals Host country nationals may differ, causing conflicts. As per Gregerson Black (1990) One of the most important reason for the expatriates failure international assignments has been the use of technical skills, rather than intercultural skills, as the most important factor in US selection for overseas assignments (Stephan, Helms Haynes,1995) Hiring on the basis of Cultural skills: However, if cultural factors are given importance and for international assignments expatriates are chosen on the basis of their understanding of the host countrys culture it can result great success for the assignment. Hofstede (1980,p. 398) suggests that the key cross-cultural skills are the ability to communicate; The ability to be non-judgemental; The ability to accept the relativity of ones own knowledge and perceptions; The ability to display empathy; The ability to be flexible; The capacity for turn-taking (letting everyone take turns in discussions); Tolerance for ambiguity. As per Fishmayr (2004), all the attributes must be viewed in the context of the host countrys culture. Each culture has its own criteria of the importance of Characteristics required for success. The major advantages disadvantages of hiring expatriate with cultural understanding are Advantages: Language other barriers of traditions are eliminated. Hiring cost is tremendously reduced, no work permit required. Continuity of management improves as HCNs stay longer in position. No government interference as the host country gets employment opportunities. Morale dedication of expatriate increases as they see career potential. (Briscoe Schuler, 2004) The expatriates who understand the social cultural environment of the host country, will be more efficient in understanding the culture of the host company. For example in individualistic cultures the organizations give importance on rewarding individual contributions, whereas in collectivists cultures the shared objectives, common interests, interdependence and communication is given more importance(Chatman et al; 1998). Such demographic compositions affect expatriate performance, creativity, motivation turnover intentions and any other job related outcomes. Among these creativity is more tangible and employee specific resource of MNEs, lack of which, may retain multinationals from keeping in touch with technological changes and development in related industries. (Avril Magnini,2007) Disadvantages: Control co-ordination of headquarters may be spoilt. HCNs will have limited growth opportunities outside the subsidiary.Hiring HCNs may limit the opportunity for PCNs to gain foreign exchange. It can lead to a federation of national rather than global units. (Briscoe Schuler, 2004).International Human Resource Management, 2nd ed. Dennis R. Briscoe Randall S. Schuler CONCLUSION Thus it can be said that the role of culture is very important in the success or failure of an international assignment. If a MNE ignores this factor it has to face serious consequences, like failure of the assignment, bad reputation, financial losses so on. However, this fact cannot be overlooked that other factors like past knowledge experience are also important and they should also be considered while choosing an expatriate. The only way to ensure that an assignment gets successful is to make sure that the expatriate chosen has good knowledge about the host country, its culture, tradition, values along with some past knowledge experience. Q: In what way is repatriation proving to be a major problem for MNEs? Critically discuss what should be the essential features of an expatriate training programme designed to assist the western expatriates adjusting to life and work in another continent. A: PREAMBLE : In this assignment, the repatriation issue is dealt with in detail. The major problem faced by the MNEs is discussed followed by the problems faced by expatriates in detail, as the problems that expatriates face have a severe impact on the MNEs in terms of productivity and staff turnover. A literature review has been used to study the past practices of MNEs that made repatriation a problem. Later on, the essential features of an expatriate training program designed for western expatriates are discussed in detail like cultural training, language training, technical management training, the importance of including preliminary visits to the host country as a part of training programme has also been stated. In the end the critical review/conclusion is given reflecting the total understanding of the topic. Definition: Repatriation is a process of returning back home at the completion of an international assignment. (Rugman Collinson,2006) The major reason that repatriation becomes a problem for MNEs is the organizations belief that returning home of expatriates should not be difficult, but many researchers have found repatriation to be a really challenging and complicated process(Cox, 2004). The main source of concern for the multinational enterprises is the repatriation turnover i.e. number of repatriates leaving the job on return (Lazarova and Cerdin, 2007). The major concern for the MNEs is the attrition rate of their repatriated employees (Gregersen, H.B., J.S. Black ,1996) .Managers returning from an international assignment are more likely to resign and look for other employment opportunities as compared to other eecutives with same domestic experience ( Stroh et al, 1998) As per the Global Relocation Trends 2003/2004 Survey (GMAC, 2004) 13 percent of the US repatriates leave the company in one year after returning from an international assignment, another 10 percent leave the following year. Baruch and Altman (2002) found in their research that 50 percent of people left the company within a few years of their return from an international assignment. Bossard and Peterson (2005) argue that, if the repatriates get frustrated due to unfulfilled expectations and lack of appreciation, they will leave the MNE. The costs of pre mature repatriation also includes losses like damaged corporate reputation and lost business opportunities. If a repatriate leaves the home organization soon after coming back from an international assignment it causes a financial setback also forces the company to lose the repatriates recently developed international experience and competence (Hyder and Lo ¨vblad, 2007). LITERATURE REVIEW: International human resource development (HRD) researchers have recognized that organizational support and training are necessary for expatriates to do a good job in overseas assignments (Hurn, 2007; Osman-Gani and Tan, 2005; Selmar, 2005; Osman-Gani, 2000; Brewster, 1993; Harvey, 1989). However, the literature concentrated on the role of training and development for successful performance in foreign assignments, but little attention has been given to the repatriation aspect. Repatriation, which is the last step of the expatriation cycle, is an under-researched dimension of international assignments (Harvey, 1989; Black, 1992; Suutari and Brewster, 2003), although its importance has been repeatedly mentioned in international business and international HR literature (Allen and Alvarez, 1998; Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001). (Ahad Hyder,2008, pp457) As per Black Gregersen, a multinational spends a huge amount of money on each expatriate over the duration of international assignment and if the employees exit the MNE within a short duration of time, it can result in huge financial human capital losses as the knowledge, skills experience gained by expatriate are scarce in the external internal labour markets. (Dowling, Welch Schuler,1999) International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context, pp 221 Repatriation is proving to be a major problem for MNEs because they do not have any plans or training programs to handle returning expatriates the expatriates face many challanges when they come back, some of them being: 1. Readjustment Problem: There can be a readjustment problem for expatriates as when they come back they might feel that the home office job lacks the high degree of responsibility authority that they had in the overseas assignment. 2. Delay in Career Progression: They can also start feeling that the MNE does not value their international experience and their time was wasted when they were on an overseas assignment in terms of their career progression. 3. Standard of Living: The repatriates when overseas enjoy generous living allowances benefits that cannot be matched when they come back home. 4. Reverse Culture Shock: Expatriates can get a reverse culture shock because of the change in cultural lifestyle back home. 5. Increased Prices of fixed assests: Expatriates who sell their houses when going on a long international assignment for two or three years find it very difficult to purchase a new house because of increased rate of property. 6. Technological Advances: When the expatriates are abroad numerous technological advancements keep happening in the head quarter which might make the knowledge skills of expatriates obsolete. (Rugman Collinson,2006) International Business, 4th ed., Alan M. Rugman Simon Collinson, pp345 7. Conflicts: Conflicts may occur because after gaining international experience, an expatriates way of working gets influenced by foreign culture and when he comes back home, conflicts can arise if he tries to work as per the culture of the foreign country to which he was sent. For example, an American expatriate who went to Indonesia, alters his participative managerial style to one that is authoritarian because of the subsidiarys requirement, however when the expatriate returns to America tries to be authoritarian in managing style, conflicts are bound to happen. 8. Role clarity Role discretion: Role discretion means the freedom to adjust the work role to fit the individual (repatriate), making it easy for him to utilise the past international experience familiar behaviour. For most of the North American companies, role clarity role discretion remains a major repatriation issue as they do not provide role clarity discretion to returning expatriates. 9. Social Factors: On return, life may seem unexciting or dull because the social ties that the expatriate made on the foreign assignment were broken when he came back home. Families who return to their previous domestic locations often find that their relatives friends have moved away even children find it difficult to adjust to new school friends. 10. Effect on Partners career: If the repatriates partner had never worked before in the home country but got some job when he/she was abroad with his partner on international assignment, it becomes really difficult to start the career from the scratch once again when the partner returns back to the home country. As a result of all these problems MNEs have started taking repatriation much more seriously. In 1989 Harvey did a survey of the members of the Institute for International HRM of the U.S society for HRM to determine U.S firms approach towards repatriation. It was found that 31 percent of U.S firms offer repatriation program to help the repatriates in dealing with numerous problems they face on return. (Dowling, Welch Schuler,1999) Peter J. Dowling, Denice E. Welch, Randall S. Schuler International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context pp211- 225 Essential features of an expatriate training programme As organisations are becoming globalised, there is an increasing challenge to send expatriates on international assignments to complete critical tasks (Gregersen Black 1996, Brewster 1998, Downes Thomas 1999). Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) use expatriates for corporate control and expertise reasons in major global markets also to facilitate entry into new markets or to develop international management competencies (Bird Dunbar 1991, Boyacigiller 1991, Rosenzweig 1994, Shaffer, Harrison Gilley 1999, Forster 2000). (Chew,2004) Janet chew,2004, Managing MNC expatriates through crises: A challenge for International Human Resource Management A western expatriate going to another continent finds it really difficult to adjust because of several reasons like climate, culture, eating habits of people from other continents so on. To cope up with all these problems it is very essential that the expatriate gets proper training before he leaves on the assignment. The different types of training programs required by a Western expatriate can be broadly classified as: 1. Technical Training: The technology used by western countries is not same as that used in other continents so the expatriate should be made familiar with the technologies used by that foreign organization to which he is going. He should also be briefed on the local attitudes of people over there towards technology innovation transfer. 2. Management Training: An expatriate sent to other countries on a specific project holds a particular designation so it is very important that the western expatriate is made aware of the administrative responsibilities for the post. a)He should also be made aware of policies regarding ethical issues. b)He should be told about the companys organizational structure, strategies opportunities for change, organizational climate, informal structures. c)He should also be trained on conflict management. d)The western expatriate should be trained on the business environment of the host country, a description of local international markets should be given along with information about competitors, distributors, tariff other barriers e) He should be well trained in marketing issues strategies, pricing strategies, advertising promotional strategies that work in other continents. f)The expatriate needs to have knowledge about human resource issues, labour relations policies, salary reward structures other policies followed in the host country.(Mead,1994) 3. Cross-cultural training : Such training aims at achieving three major outcomes (Black Mendenhall,1990) For western expatriates it is the most important part of the training as: a) It teaches them about the other culture, values practices within that culture. It also helps the expatriate his spouse in learning about different situations that they might encounter. It also gives them a knowledge as to how the culture is reflected in political, historical economic data. b) It also helps them to develop non-evaluative attitudes towards other culture, teaches them how to express cultural values in their behavior, this also helps them to predict when culture will be a factor in determining behavior. c) Cross-cultural training teaches expatriates how culture affects attitude towards work; motivation, organizational climate, degree of personal involvement etc. It teaches them how culture influences relations between organizations how it influences formal interactions.(Mead,1994) As per Treven (2003) the most important part of expatriate training is cross-cultural training. It helps to prepare expatriate managers to live, work survive in a different cultural environment. It is important as dealing with new culture surroundings appears to be even more difficult than the assignment itself. Treven (2003) also underlines that it is important to train managers their families both before leaving for the other country and during the assignments. Tsang (1994) identified six types of cross-cultural trainings, which are used by the US, European and other western countries. (1) Environmental briefings in order to provide information about climate, geography, housing and schools. (2) Orientation on culture in order to familiarize the expatriate with cultural institutions and value systems of host country. (3)Cultural assimilators using approaches aiming at exposing members of one culture to some basic ideas, approaches, role perception and habits of the other culture. (4) Sensitivity training to increase attitudinal flexibility. (5) Field experience, which sends the person to the country of assignment in order to help him deal with emotional stress of living and working with people who differ culturally. 6) Language training . 4. Language training: An important issue that Treven (2003) underlines is the language training for the expatriate family, as it provides the recognition of a new culture, including such a cultural elements as history, economy, politics, religion, social atmosphere and business practices. Without language training survival becomes difficult. (Karcz, Liu Adamska,2006) How to survive as an expatriate in china-A case study based on three companies IKEA, NCR Texol, 2006, Kamila Karcz, Rongzhi Liu, Joanna Adamska 5. Preliminary visits family considerations: One of the most important technique that is useful for western expatriates is preliminary visit to the host country. It serves to introduce the expatriate to the business context in the host country also helps in pre departure preparation and initial adjustment. As per Price waterhouse survey in 1997-1998, 53 percent of the MNEs always provide preliminary visits to its expatriates and around 38 percent use it in certain circumstances. This practice can become a bit problematic for expatriates as they find it difficult to reject the assignment in spite of not liking the host country because a huge amount of MNEs capital gets invested in the visit. (Dowling, Welch Schuler,1999). Family members must be involved in relocation decisions and preparation (Hogan and Goodson, 1990). Stress and culture shock can effect the family and if not addressed in time can become a negative force in an overseas assignment. Black and Stephens (1989) found spouse adjustment to interaction with the host-country was correlated with the expatriates intentions to complete the assignment. Researchers including Gregersen and Black (1990) stress the importance of developing the intercultural skills of both expatriates and their families. (Stephan, Helms Haynes,1995) CRITICAL REVIEW (CONCLUSION) As per research done by Gregerson Black(1996) there were significant differences in the motivation expectations of the expatriate those of the MNE. The expatriates accepted international assignments for career progression, compensation adventure however the MNE sought it as a means of transferring home corporate culture and expanding business in global markets. Most of the MNEs during the 1970 and 1980s were experiencing difficulty agreeing on the appropriate skills and competencies training that were required by western expatriates to be successful on an international assignment. The main points of disagreement were: Corporate leaders could not agree on the importance of prior international experience and expertise the expatriate should have before taking an international assignment. Some of them believed prior international experience was necessary, others felt that an employees success at the domestic level, rather than international experience, was the key predictor to being a successful expatriate. MNEs were struggling to discover an effective training and development model to help them in preparing expatriates to be successful in their overseas assignment. In 1970s and 1980s less than 30% of employees who were sent on 1 to 5 years assignments received some type of training before undertaking international responsibilities. Top management generally did not consider trainings importance in contributing to an expatriates successful performance. MNEs did not encourage the need of customized training programs for expatriates within the host country. Training received was generic in nature and mainly offered within the western countrys borders. MNEs, in mos

Discuss Stevensons portrayal of the nature of good and evil and the dual nature of mans personality Essay

Question- â€Å"Discuss Stevenson’s portrayal of the nature of good and evil and the dual nature of man’s personality. What does this show us about Stevenson’s view of Victorian Britain?† Born into the middle-class, prosperous district of â€Å"new† Edinburgh in Scotland, 1850, the young Robert Louis Stevenson’s life was a existence of opposites and contradictions. Just a few miles from his homeland lay the slums of â€Å"old† Edinburgh- a destitute sprawl of old urban living, disease and vice widespread and all to common. The young Master Stevenson was forbidden from this area, instead confined to his bedroom with his fanatic religious nanny- largely in part to his poor health and fragile immune system. His nanny, Alison Cunningham, was a devout Calvinist, a religion with a mixture of both Christian and Folk religion ideals. Calvinism teaches that every human being is born into sin, and thus must take it upon themselves to seek God, going against their natural inclination. This rule, entitled Total Depravity, was taught to the young Stevenson by his nanny, therefore leading the young seven year old to question his every step, paving the way for horrific nightmares of Hell and the fury of the Devil. As Stevenson grew up he found himself swept up in the cultural revolution that was â€Å"Bohemianism.† A now teenage Stevenson found himself attending raucous parties and living a second hand existence in near poverty, as what was expected from any bohemian person. He also found himself increasingly attached to the bottle and, on more then one occasion, visited prostitutes- an act that was seen as greatly immoral in the Victorian era and an action that would certainly have shocked his nanny. This deliberate act of rebellion shocked his parents and they temporarily disowned him and, although, Stevenson kept his attitudes and dislike of religion, the fall-out with his parents made him question the gulf in lifestyle that he and his parents had and the arguments also led him to question just what was right, and what was evil. Whilst travelling Stevenson met a certain Fanny Osborne, a women both older then him and already married. They had a short lived affair before Osborne absconded, leaving her husband for the young Stevenson and the couple soon wed. Second marriages were considered a â€Å"taboo† topic in the Victorian era, and Stevenson once again found himself branded as â€Å"evil† and â€Å"ignorant†, further stimulating Stevenson’s mind on right and wrong. Stevenson’s first wrote â€Å"The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† in 1885 and the book was released a year later. Rumour has it that Stevenson wrote the book whilst heavily drugged; the author had a considerable liking of Cocaine, a mind-altering drug. The drug would have momentarily changed his perceptions and view on the world, and this is perhaps reflected in the book, further strengthening the divide that was beginning to shape his book. The book was fairly popular yet drew heavy criticism from some scholars who read the book as an allegory of inappropriate sexual desires. At the time Stevenson re-buffed the ideas, through fear of the popularity of his book diminishing, but he later admitted that the book could be read as an allegory of the troubles of Victorian society. There are many themes that run deep through Stevenson’s novella, all centred around the line that divides good and evil. This topic of morality particularly fascinated the Victorian audience, largely thanks to the strength of the British Empire. The common Londoner’s heard tales of strange, far-away lands and peculiar, ritual-abiding tribe’s man and started to question their own rituals and actions. Stevenson’s book tapped into this market, asking whether what was considered â€Å"good and evil† was â€Å"good and evil† everywhere, or whether different people had different opinions on the difficult and dividing topic. Stevenson’s story begins with â€Å"The story of the door†, an opening chapter which tells the friendship of Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield, two respectable men who refuse to indulge in the spread of gossip. However they eventually begin to discuss the indecent trampling of a small girl, committed by a mysterious, twisted man, later named as Hyde. The fact that Hyde is introduced before Jekyll keeps the character of Mr Hyde fresh in the mind, and the irregular pattern (time-frame) of the book leads to the resulting conclusion being even more startling, especially for the Victorian audience who wouldn’t have expected anything similar to the actual ending. The chapter is also rich in subtle foreshadowing of opposition and restraint. â€Å"He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages;†, is a perfect example of Stevenson’s subtle touch. The fact that Utterson drank Gin when alone, a drink regarded at the time as a â€Å"poor-man’s† drink, a drink that was crude and often associated with criminals and vice, to quench his thirst, nay, desire for rich wine represents Jekyll’s attitude towards Hyde: Jekyll deliberately starves himself of the drug he slowly becomes addicted to, the drug that turns himself into Hyde despite despising Hyde with every bone in his body. Yet Jekyll still feels a craving for the drug and has to substitute himself with other activity’s, despite his attempts at distraction resulting in vain. The setting and atmosphere of Enfield’s recollection of the night when he first met Hyde also reflects the duality of man, a crucial aspect in Stevenson’s book. â€Å"A black winter morning†¦there was literally nothing but lamps† being a prime example of this. This abnormal lighting situation would produce shadows- the shadows representing the underclass of London society, the people that would hug street walls late at night, trying desperately not to be seen as they went about their shady business. The natural image of the black winter morning also juxtaposes the artificial light of the lamps, depicting the fact that, in the Victorian era, the citizens were always trying to triumph over nature, attempting to create social standards that even Mother Nature abided to. The stark contrast between dark and light is almost ignored in this quote, as the blackness of the night and the brightness of the lamps merge seamlessly into one another, thus representing Enfi eld’s confusion. This confusion is epitomised by the quote: â€Å"I got into the state of mind when a man listens and listens and belongs to long for the sight of a policeman,†. Enfield states his nervousness and â€Å"longing† for a policeman, a rather unusual trait as the Metropolitan Police Force was still in it’s infancy and battling many an unfavourable opinion. Also the character was earlier described as a rather dull man, the â€Å"man about town†, an experienced figure who had seen just about every city occurrence. Yet here Stevenson describes him as worried and nervous, determined to find a member of the establishment that was so untrusted around town. As well as this Stevenson implies that he character can sense something is wrong; he has potentially sourced the overbearing threat of Mr Hyde. This demonstrates the main antagonists intimidating nature before we are even introduced to him. This fear of the unknown could be related to Stevenson’s upbringing, surrounded by religion and threat of the Devil. In Christianity, and Calvinism, the Devil is both feared and yet paradoxically respected. His fundamentalist Nanny would have taught him of the threat of the Devil and also of the reason why the Devil was cast into Heaven (most prominently for failing to understand that he was created by God (that he had a dual nature)). This links in with Hyde’s nature and internal struggle- he can never fully become Jekyll because he was created BY Jekyll. The quote: â€Å"like a forest in a fire† is a good example of Stevenson’s views on current society and the changing world that was revolving around him. The simile is used to emphasise the differences between the old, poor row of houses and the new, upper class street- no doubt a product of the industrial revolution that was currently sweeping the country. Forest’s contain nothing but wood, and the single most dangerous thing one could encounter in a forest is fire, where the spitting flames spread from tree to tree. The simile could be linked to the Victorian industrial revolution: Stevenson views it as a hungry flame, sweeping away all of nature’s beauty and all of what the world used to comprise of, for now metal and steel is starting to replace the natural woods used to build shelter, and trees were being cut down to feed machines, which spat out new inventions and ideas. The quote has a negative edge relating to the industrial revolution, which fits in with Stevenson’s lifestyle and ethics. For he was a romanticist, a bohemian- interested in the preservation of nature, which they believed directly fed and influenced literature, poetry and art. The quote symbolises the divide that the industrial revolution was creating, and also questions whether the industrial revolution is good or bad, similarly to how the main theme of the book questions whether humans truly are good or evil. The second chapter, entitled â€Å"The Search for Mr. Hyde† continues with some important quotations regarding the duality of man, â€Å"It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity†, being one of these. The â€Å"dry divinity† means a religious book or text, and the reading of these kinds of texts was considered a honourable and dutiful act in the Victorian era. However Utterson describes the text as â€Å"dry†- he finds it boring, dull. Thus the quote informs us that Utterson sticks to conventional Victorian traditionalism, yet aches with boredom in doing so. He yearns to be doing something else, somewhere else but feels compelled to follow his upstanding â€Å"Sunday custom†. This is typical of Victorian society and a crucial element of understanding the â€Å"duality of man†. For the Victorians tried to quench man’s natural instinct and mould him into a figure they determined respectable. Yet in pushing, in repressing people so far man rebelled, and began to question the life he lived under, leading to all of the Victorian â€Å"vices†, sex, alcohol and homosexuality becoming acceptable. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the Victorians oppression of the minority and the poor we probably wouldn’t be living in such a free society. The usage of pathetic fallacy is a common and important tool in Stevenson’s novella. The fog increases in depth and prominence whenever Hyde is near , and the fog clears towards the end of the story when the mystery is close to being unravelled. â€Å"the first fog of the season, a great chocolate coloured pall lowered over the heavens† is a quote from the chapter: â€Å"The Carew Murder Case† and the use of pathetic fallacy has connotations of impending danger as well as connotations of the industrial revolution. The â€Å"chocolate coloured† essence of the fog has implications of the industrial revolution â€Å"poisoning† the fog, changing it’s colour and also the times when the fog appears. The fog is stated as being the â€Å"first of the season†, yet the timeline would mean the fog was unnaturally early, implying the industrial revolution is harming and manipulating Mother Nature. The fog could be interpreted as nothing more then smog, a poisonous relation of the cleaner and more natural fog. The relationship between the unnatural smog, produced by the industrial revolution and the natural fog could also be linked to the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde; Hyde is a less natural side effect of Jekyll’s curiosity, Hyde is the poisonous, dangerous aspect of Jekyll. Jekyll could be interpreted as the influence of nature on Victorian society, an old-fashioned traditionalist being poisoned by new ideas and new beliefs. The murder of Sir Danvers Carew is an important part of the book, and Stevenson’s description adds to the sense of confusion and fear that is created. We are fed the murder from the viewpoint of a maid who was â€Å"romantically given† just before the crime was committed. â€Å"he was trampling his victim under foot†¦under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway† is an extract from the murder description. The description is vivid, Stevenson notes how the maid heard the â€Å"bones shatter†, surely an awful, sickening sound. The murder is incredibly violent, representing Hyde’s anger boiling to the surface- alas; the exact reason for the murder is never truly revealed, leading us to think that Hyde needs violence to satisfy himself when he is allowed to roam free. The phrase â€Å"the body jumped upon the roadway† is also an interesting use of language, possibly representing the violence of the act; the body has been hit and abused so hard it is physically moving away from Hyde, his blows have pushed it away. The phrase adds to the sense of strength Hyde possesses, making him an even more formidable character. â€Å"with indescribable amazement read the name of Gabriel John Utterson† We first learn the full name of Utterson in â€Å"The Last Night†, after Jekyll puts his name on his will. His name could be interpreted as some as incredibly significant to the story. There are many religious connotations in Stevenson’s novella, and Utterson’s first name could be another of these connotations. In the religion of Christianity, Gabriel is the arch-angel of God, and God’s chief messenger. He passes on messages from God to various biblical figures, giving him the title of â€Å"God’s medium†. His role in Christianity is similar to Gabriel John Utterson’s in the â€Å"Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde†, he retells messages between Lanyon and Jekyll, and also uncovers the truth by reading messages intended as replies to another. Utterson’s first name also reveal his â€Å"good† side- he is a constant friend to Dr. Jekyll throughout the novella. Nearly every member of the reading Victorian audience would be familiar with the arch-angel Gabriel, and many readers would have made the link between â€Å"the two messengers†. Stevenson could also of used Utterson’s name as a way of stating that not everyone caught up in evil, is evil. Utterson is confronted with pure, undiluted evil a number of times in the story but he never once loses his sense of moral decency or moral fibre. The final chapter in Stevenson’ story contains the most information regarding the â€Å"duality of man†. The final chapter is in chronological order- right from Jekyll’s childhood to his death. The chapter also informs us of how Jekyll grew up harbouring an â€Å"evil† side. â€Å"Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures† being an example of his youthful, dual personality. A youthful Jekyll realises that, once one enters manhood and the adult world one must learn to conceal any hope or joyfulness for fear of be let down by society or taken advantage of. So we learn that, even from childhood, Jekyll is living a lie and hiding his â€Å"split† personality from the world. â€Å"I was in no sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest† is an example of a slightly older Jekyll’s newly stifled personality. He has forced down his natural, animal-like instincts and replaced them with an acceptable, Victorian type attitude. He has learnt to ignore his impulse and instead confer to Victorian era conformity. He has become emotionally repressed and, whilst he is coping at the minute there will always be a threat of his emotions bubbling over in a â€Å"Jack the Ripper† type emergence. â€Å"My Devil had been long caged, it came out roaring†¦Instantly the spirit of Hell awoke in me and raged† is an example of such an outburst. We know from the story that a drug causes Jekyll’s evil side to emerge but the warning Stevenson writes of is that anybody can be unleashed, any human has the potential to be a crazed mass-murderer, or an evil psychopath if pushed (or oppressed) hard enough. This would of hit a chord with the reading audience who were still recovering from the Jack the Ripper attacks, which left many Londoners wondering just what kind of person could commit such crimes. The answer? Anybody- for the Victorian style of living had the potential to depress, oppress and ultimately, end lives†¦ Overall, I believe Stevenson wrote â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde† as a warning to the Victorian reader. He wanted the audience to realise that everyone, regardless of social stature, finance or credibility, had the potential to be evil. Yet, in his novella, Stevenson almost determines that there is no real definition of â€Å"good and evil†. The human body is a complex machine and, like a snowflake, the human body changes with each individual. Humans realise and readily accept that every human has different fingerprints yet seems to find it harder to link this fact with the human brain. For ultimately, every single human is different thus the guidelines of â€Å"good and evil† change with every single person. And, ultimately, who are we to question who is good and who is evil? There are thousands of different religions, what if they are all wrong and the one, true religion (if there is one) actually determines evil as good, and good as evil. We are just mere mortals, and the human brain is the most complex thing on the planet. Before we even begin to scrape the surface of this complex machine, we must first begin to understand the secrets of the universe, and life. â€Å"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.† So said Albert Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. I believe that this quote sums up Stevenson’s approach to the dividing line between good and evil. For where other people of the age, fresh from the horrors of the Ripper murders, strived to find a logical answer to the line between good and evil, Stevenson instead â€Å"moved in the opposite direction†. Rather then attempt to answer the question, he questioned the question, asking whether there was an answer to a question that people were still questioning. After all, how can one answer a question that is not even based on fact, or truth, but instead on prediction? Stevenson’s opinion on religion is prevalent throughout the story. The story has a number of biblical links, no doubt harking back to the days he spent locked in his room with Alison Cunningham, whilst being fed awful stories of Hell and the Devil. There are a number of religious links, one of these being: â€Å"This inexplicable incident, this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment.† This quote mirrors the experience of Prince Belshazzar, a Babylonian prince featured in the book of Daniel. The prince, whilst dining one night, sees a mysterious, disembodied hand floating behind him. As he turned to face it, the hand begun writing in a mysterious code, on the wall. A translator later interpreted the coded writing as: â€Å"Thou art weighed In the balance and art found wanting†. Later that night Belshazzar is murdered in peculiar circumstances, hence the popular saying; â€Å"the writing on the wall†. Jekyll can see his impending doom, due to his evil exploits as Hyde but his good side is still portrayed by Stevenson, the use of religion is used for this. In the book, I believe Stevenson uses religion as a writing technique; when Stevenson wants to signify the emotive nature of people , he uses religious links and connotations. Hyde is forever associated with Hell and the Devil, whilst Jekyll and Utterson is associated with Gabriel, and the â€Å"light† side of religion. Religion is used to measure and signify, to compare and contrast. Religion also represents a divide in beliefs and personality. The end of the Victorian era was the first time, since the beginning of Christianity, that people were beginning to question and doubt religion. â€Å"Jekyll and Hyde† was penned during this time and concerns itself with the duality of man. Stevenson simply used the biggest cultural divide of the day: religion, and weaved it into his book, making the theme of duality more relevant to the reading Victorian audience. Overall, â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† questions and challenges what would have been conventional beliefs in the Victorian era. It makes the reader question his own sense of right and wrong, and challenges religion and science- the two cultures that were so opposed to each other in the Victorian ere. It incorporates the depression that surrounded the Victorian dynasty, the industrial revolution, the Jack the Ripper murders and the strict conformity of living the Victorians imposed. But it also includes the first green shoots of hope that began to surface around the late 1800’s- Charles Darwin’s â€Å"The Theory of Evolution† is integrated through Jekyll’s science and the fact that Jekyll, despite through the persona of Hyde, engaged in activities such as sex and alcoholism sent the message that man can experiment, as long as it didn’t threaten or harm anyone else. The book was aware of the duality and diversity of it’s audience and revelled in this. Stevenson’s book was a revolution in itself. For it changed the conventional type of living and made people question the rules they lived under. And any book that can influence people on this scale is a rare, and beautiful, thing. â€Å"The mark of a good action is that it appears inevitable in retrospect.†

How useful are the following sources in arriving at an accurate understanding of Dartford high street in the mid nineteenth century?

There has been much development and change in Dartford after the eighteenth century. One of the many reasons for this is the growth of industry and the manufacture of the railway, this town has gone from being solely from being a market-town and coaching post to developing more towards industry. The High Street has changed a lot since the nineteenth century in terms of functions, shops, conditions, etc. There are many ways of finding out what it used to be like, including sources, the census, and the existing buildings. There are six main buildings in Dartford high street which I am studying. These buildings are generally quite simple to put a rough date to them. The rough date that we can confidently give these buildings is that they are from the Georgian era, with a couple also being from the Victorian era. Some of these buildings, such as the Bull's Head yard building have certain features about it which can help give details about the actual street and its functions, not just the building. The Bulls Head yard building has a pulley system attached to it, which could suggest a warehouse and cart way on the other hand this does not necessarily mean that the street had many carts going over it. Although, source C (the engraving of Dartford high street), suggests that carts were common in Dartford high street. Moreover, the Bull and Victoria Hotel gives some evidence to suggest that coaches were popular in Dartford as well. We can see this because the entrance is fairly wider than it would normally be for an ordinary building or hotel, therefore suggesting that this building could have been a coach house. So overall, although the buildings show individual purpose and use, they in themselves, do not necessarily show what the high street was like in the 1800s. The strengths of this source are that this report gives detailed information on the conditions of Dartford High Street concerning matters of hygiene and sanitation. It is an official enquiry by the General Board of Health and written by William Ranger; therefore, it must have some reliability. It was also written in the nineteenth century so Ranger would have known exactly what it was like. The report implies that Dartford is not a very prosperous town, saying things like ‘The general character of this place is such that humans ought not to be allowed to occupy it. This tells us that the area being described has very poor sanitary conditions. The report therefore contrasts with Dunkin's description of a wealthy, aesthetically-pleasing town. There are also weaknesses to the report. Firstly, it only focuses on Clark's alley rather than the High Street itself and therefore it does not directly tell us about the High Street. Furthermore, only the conditions are described, rather th an other aspects such as its function and people. Also, as the report was written for the Board of health, it describes the worst case scenario of the conditions of the High Street so that the Board of Health would know where to improve-due to the government Public Health Act of 1848, people were hired to report on the sanitary conditions of places. Dunkin's history of Dartford is a detailed description of Dartford. It was written in 1844. Due to the fact that it is a book, it could be said that there were bias motives for writing it, as there is an advertising side to it, not just an informative side. This is because the source comes across a bit like a brochure, which means that Dunkin could be promoting Dartford and its shops in particular since he himself owned one. So this could be seen as not very helpful in gaining an understanding of Dartford High Street. Although, Dunkin was a local man which means that he should know what he is talking about. Moreover, he was also a historian, which also means that he uses factual information, and has researched what he was writing. The reliability of the source could be questionable, as it doesn't actually tell us a lot of information about the function or look of the buildings themselves. The report to the general board of health was an official document which means that the likeliness of the report being bias is very low. This source contradicts Dunkin's view of the appearance and prosperity of the high street saying how it may be incorrect. It gives information on what life may have been like for the ordinary working people in Dartford. However, it is a limited discussion regarding the appearance of the high street itself. It refers more to the alleys and side streets than the high streets. Peter Boreham was a historian who relatively recently wrote an overview of Dartford for the book ‘Dartford Through Time'. The strengths of Boreham's account are that the fact that Boreham was a historian gives this source reliability due to the fact that his aim would have been to report the truth, as that was his job. He also has the advantage of hindsight and neutrality, as he was not there at the time. Boreham describes the function of the High Street in his account when he talks of â€Å"Dartford's role as a shopping centre†; this tells us that shopping was one of the High Street's major functions. This is supported by the evidence from the census which says that 30% of all of the jobs in the High Street were as shopkeepers. In fact, Boreham probably used the census in order to obtain this information. We can tell from Boreham's account that he has used other sources, including the census as mentioned previously, when writing this. For example, he says: â€Å"Housing conditions†¦ were atrocious. † This is probably based on Ranger's report to the Board of Health which states a similar thing. He also writes how the shop windows are â€Å"tightly packed with as many goods as possible† which could refer to when Dunkin writes about â€Å"handsome shops, well stocked with a choice assortment of goods tastefully displayed†; as well as referring to the photographs mentioned. The wide range of sources used adds reliability to the account, as it means that he has not just used a narrow perspective of the High Street but has considered many points of view. The book Boreham wrote was written for schoolchildren in 1990. Therefore, in order to provide the right information to the children, he would have had to have made it as accurate as possible. However, the weaknesses are that Boreham was not there at the time and therefore did not know for sure exactly what the High Street was like. In addition to this, the book was published by Dartford Borough Council and therefore they might have edited it in favour of Dartford. Also, Boreham's account was aimed at secondary school pupils so it might not include all of the information in order to make it more interesting or easier to understand. Furthermore, Boreham's source lacks detail and can only give us an approximate overview of the function of Dartford, rather than a detailed description. Although Boreham used some sources, there are some which he did not use. For example, the engraving was probably not used, as he does not describe the appearance of the High Street. Therefore, we do not know what other important information he has left out. Overall, Peter Boreham's source gives a reasonably reliable overview of Dartford High Street in the mid-nineteenth century, which uses a wide range of sources to help give us an idea of some of the functions and buildings of Dartford High Street at that time. The engraving of Dartford high street was done in 1860. It is a Detailed engraving which gives a clear and complete view of the high street itself, and also a large range of buildings. It gives great detail on the appearance of the buildings, showing all the architectural styles of the buildings, such as Tudor, Georgian, and early Victorian architectural styles are all visible. Although it gives great detail on the appearance of the buildings and the high street, it doesn't give a lot of detail towards the actual functions of the high street in the mid nineteenth century. However, it does show some basic information which can help us gain an understanding of what Dartford high street was like, such as in the engraving, we can clearly see carts and carriages in the street. This shows, as mentioned in previous sections, that carts and coaches were popular in the high street, which is backed up by the image of the Bull and Victoria Hotel. Also, some other functions are visible, these include: trade, shopping, and transport. From this engraving, we can also see evidence of prosperity in Dartford. This is made apparent by the obvious wide open ‘airy' streets', the fashion, street lighting, and it is obviously clean. We don't, however, know who drew this engraving, which means that it could actually be very unreliable, or it could be reliable. Overall, although it doesn't give detailed evidence of the high street, it does give sufficient evidence of the functions, appearance and prosperity of the high street to give us a rough understanding of what Dartford high street was like in the mid nineteenth century.

Women impact on jazz music essays

Women impact on jazz music essays As the progression of jazz has moved over time, Women have stepped in and made a huge, positive impact in many different ways. Bessie Smith was one of the United States most amazing female jazz artists ever performing. Her life started off hard. Her family lived in poverty. Lack of money didnt stop Bessie. She started off in small honky tonk tents, (SOURCE NUMBER TWO) and singing on street corners. As time progressed she moved up in the life and worked as a dancer, She also showed a natural flair for comedy (Smith, Bessie Microsoft Encarta 2001) Finally, In February 16, 1923 her big break came when she had her first recording session. She recorded two songs, Down hearted blues and Gulf coast blues (SOURCE NUMBER THREE). After that, Bessie career really began to move along when in 1929, she stared in a reel film St. Louis Blues. This was during the Great Depression, when most people needed money, Bessie was doing just fine. Once Bessies name was known, she had the opportunity to perform at many wonderful locations. One of the most notable was New Yorks 52nd street in February 1936. Bunny Benigan and Joe Buskin backed Bessie. (SOURCE NUNBER TWO) As Bessies professional life progressed, her personal life did as well. She was married to a man named Jack Gee and adopted one son, they named Jack Gee Jr. Her career started to get the best of her and she began to have problems with alcohol ...

8 Interesting Facts About the Irish American Population

8 Interesting Facts About the Irish American Population How many facts and figures do you know about the Irish American population? Did you know, for example, that March is Irish-American Heritage Month? If so, you belong to a small group of Americans. Too few people know that there is such a month at all, let alone which month it falls in, according to the American Foundation for Irish Heritage. While a number of events internationally take place in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, celebrating the Irish throughout the month of March has yet to become a routine practice. The American Foundation for Irish Heritage aims to make the cultural heritage month, first celebrated in 1995, as popular as Black History Month or Hispanic Heritage Month. The group even offers tips on how to get the public to take more of an interest in celebrating the month-long observance, such as contacting public radio and television stations, Irish-American organizations and state governors. The foundation already has one agency in its corner; the US Census Bureau. Each year, the bureau acknowledges Irish-American Heritage Month by releasing facts and figures about the Irish population. Irish Ancestry in the US Population Although Oktoberfest is nowhere near as popular as St. Patrick’s Day in the US, more Americans claim to be of German ancestry than any other. Irish is the second most popular ethnicity Americans claim. Nearly 35 million Americans report having Irish heritage, according to the census. That’s seven times the population of Ireland, which is an estimated 4.58 million. Where Irish Americans Live New York is home to the largest percentage of Irish Americans in the country. The state boasts an Irish-American population of 13%. Nationwide, the Irish-American population averages 11.2%. New York City also has the distinction of being host to the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It took place on March 17, 1762, and featured Irish soldiers in the English military. In the 5th century, St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, but the day in his honor has now come to be associated with anything Irish-related. Irish Immigrants to America Precisely 144,588 Irish immigrants became naturalized US residents in 2010. Wealth Among Irish Americans Households headed by Irish Americans actually have higher median incomes ($56,363 yearly) than the $50,046 average for US households generally. Not surprisingly, Irish Americans also have lower poverty rates than Americans as a whole. Just 6.9% of households headed by Irish Americans had incomes at the poverty level, while 11.3% of American households generally did. Higher Education Irish Americans are more likely than the US population as a whole to be college graduates. While 33% of Irish Americans 25 or older have at least earned a bachelor’s degree and 92.5 have at least a high school diploma, for Americans generally, the corresponding numbers are only 28.2% and 85.6%, respectively. The Workforce About 41% of Irish Americans work in management, professional and related occupations, the census reports. Next in line are sales and office occupations. Just above 26% of Irish Americans work in that field, followed by 15.7% in service occupations, 9.2% in production, transportation, and material moving occupations, and 7.8% in construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair occupations. Median Age Irish Americans are older than the general US population. According to the 2010 census, the average American is 37.2 years old. The average Irish American is 39.2 years old. The Most Irish President John F. Kennedy broke the glass ceiling in 1961 by becoming the first Irish-American Catholic president. But he wasn’t the president with the most direct ties to Ireland. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Andrew Jackson holds this distinction. Both of his parents were born in Country Antrim, Ireland. They relocated to the United States in 1765, two years before his birth.

Hospitality Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Hospitality Operations Management - Essay Example In this regard we have selected tourism as our topic. In our report we would also highlight the reason why we have selected tourism as our core hospitality feature. In our study we will use secondary sources to gather our data and based on the gathered data we will reach our conclusions. Hospitality industry is a well-researched topic, and we have plenty of credible sources which can assist us in better research of the discussion questions. We will start with a brief introduction of hospitality industry and the vast services that are a part of it; further we will also give a brief introduction of tourism industry. After the introduction we will discuss and analyze our core topic and would elaborate on few of the main influential decision in the business development process for the tourism industry and how they can be eliminated to achieve the desired optimal results. We will further substantiate our discussion question with examples of various geographical regions. Once we have elaborated on the issues and discussed the solutions we would conclude our topic with the research analysis and findings. Hospitality industry is field of service industry and includes a large range of customer services such as event management, transportation, tourism and many others. The core concept behind hospitality industry is customer service which is shared by all the sub-segments of the industry. The three core categories of hospitality industry are food and beverages; this is the biggest segment of the industry and takes into account food places from the most expansive to the least (Reynolds, 2014). These also include the sub-chains which are open as facilitation to other units i.e. shopping plaza. The second part of the hospitality industry is accommodation; these include hotels, and other places offering lodging facility. These are the facilities provided by different lodging units. The third and final category of hospitality industry is travel and tourism. These

Plato and a More Definitive Understanding of Art and Philosophy Essay

Plato and a More Definitive Understanding of Art and Philosophy - Essay Example Plato bases his argument upon several highly subjective and controversial premises: a) art in the Republic should first be didactic with the purpose of inculcating the virtues of being a good person, b) Those who merely seek the reflections of the forms and not the forms themselves are not artists and c) Most people view illusions as reality; only the artists/philosophers see the light. Naturally, theses statements not only represent a great range of issues, they encourage detractors to focus upon the inherent flaws and weaknesses that are therein represented. In this way, the following essay will seek to provide the reade with an informed understanding of the inherent weakness of Plato’s approach to the issue of art/philosophy. Naturally, the first level of argument which can be discussed is with regards to how Plato defines virtue. As one might expect, many pages and indeed entire passages of Plato’s work have been concentric on defining virtue in the means through wh ich it can be maximized within our world. However, with that being said, it must be understood that virtue within the specific delineation of what defines arts and how it should be represented to the populace is ultimately a subjective understanding. In such a way, by promoting the belief that art should only be exhibited if it entails the possibility of fostering virtue and promoting the â€Å"goodness† of the person is something that cannot be defined by a single understanding and should not be presented as the benchmark by which art should be manifested. By providing something of a tangential analysis, the author can point to the fact that Nazi Germany fostered what they understood to be a â€Å"virtuous† society that fostered the goodness of the stakeholders that they deemed fit to be included within such a definition. Moreover, the totalitarianism of the Third Reich was not only visited upon the way in which ethnic minorities were treated, it also was expanded to the way in which political ideology, philosophy, and indeed art itself was presented. It does not take a great deal of historical analysis to point to the fact that the third right was heavily involved in promoting its own version of what art and artistry should entail. So much was the Third Reich interested in this specific understanding of redefining art that they even presented their own populace a traveling art exhibit which was dubbed as â€Å"degenerate art†. The ultimate purpose for referencing the third right within this understanding of Plato’s virtuous end good definition of art is with respect to the fact appointed to the ultimate subjectivity that a society and/or an individual may ascribe with regards to the way that art can and should look. Such inherent weakness points to the fact that an all-inclusive and simplistic definition of how art should be manifested should be shined and the individual should seek a more realistic delineation of the way in which art is defined and represented within a particular society/group. Another noted shortcoming with regards to Plato’s definition of art/philosophy and the means by which it should be integrated with the populace is with respect to the fact that he denotes that those who merely seek the reflections of the forms and not for themselves are not artists. Although it is with great respect that this author approaches the writings an understanding of Plato, it must also be understood that what is being referenced within this particular definition of what art should and should not be is a highly personal view upon what defines this genre. Ultimately, the definition of who is responsible for reflecting these forms and not focusing upon the form itself is a definitive right of the philosopher/artist to represent the subject matter in the