Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story

Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story in MAUS  Ã‚      The use of the frame story, an overarching narrative used to connect a series of loosely related stories, pervades literature. An example of a frame story on a large scale - tying together a whole book-length work, not a simple short story - can be found in Art Spiegelman's graphic novel MAUS. Each of the narrative's six sections is framed with snatches of the interaction between Vladek and Art during the "interview" that supposedly occurred to create the book. This framing helps us learn about Vladek's character, which we would not know about from his rather flat, unemotional Holocaust narrative. In coming to understand this book, we must also take into account the fact that no work of literature exists in a vacuum, and all literature is affected by the social and cultural contexts of its author and its reader. MAUS is no exception. In MAUS, the use of frame stories helps to establish personal, social, and cultural context for the "main" stories told within. In this effort to give literary works some sort of context, it seems that there are three "filters" through which any work of literature can be viewed. The first of these is what I will call the "personal context", that is, the information we amass about the previous experiences of the protagonist and other central figures of the work. Clearly, what has happened to a person, real or fictional, in the past will indelibly inform their present and future actions and emotions. The second "filter" is the "social context": the relationships that characters form among themselves. (In MAUS, I will also refer to this as the "familial" context, since the central relationship in the book is... ...e graphic novel. This helps to clarify the cultural context in which Vladek views himself. In conclusion, three different types of context are established by the "frame story" in the book. These are the personal, social, and cultural contexts which I have described. Perhaps there are others, but these three seem to be the most central to understanding the interaction of literature with its background culture. As there is reader-response criticism, perhaps we might propose a school of culture-response criticism, devoted to understanding the ideas portrayed in literature in light of the surroundings in which they were created.   "Captured in a photograph, without a frame, You see her standing tall but you see no face to blame."   Tara MacLean, "Let Her Feel The Rain" Works Cited: Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York, Toronto: Random House, Inc. 1973. Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story in MAUS  Ã‚      The use of the frame story, an overarching narrative used to connect a series of loosely related stories, pervades literature. An example of a frame story on a large scale - tying together a whole book-length work, not a simple short story - can be found in Art Spiegelman's graphic novel MAUS. Each of the narrative's six sections is framed with snatches of the interaction between Vladek and Art during the "interview" that supposedly occurred to create the book. This framing helps us learn about Vladek's character, which we would not know about from his rather flat, unemotional Holocaust narrative. In coming to understand this book, we must also take into account the fact that no work of literature exists in a vacuum, and all literature is affected by the social and cultural contexts of its author and its reader. MAUS is no exception. In MAUS, the use of frame stories helps to establish personal, social, and cultural context for the "main" stories told within. In this effort to give literary works some sort of context, it seems that there are three "filters" through which any work of literature can be viewed. The first of these is what I will call the "personal context", that is, the information we amass about the previous experiences of the protagonist and other central figures of the work. Clearly, what has happened to a person, real or fictional, in the past will indelibly inform their present and future actions and emotions. The second "filter" is the "social context": the relationships that characters form among themselves. (In MAUS, I will also refer to this as the "familial" context, since the central relationship in the book is... ...e graphic novel. This helps to clarify the cultural context in which Vladek views himself. In conclusion, three different types of context are established by the "frame story" in the book. These are the personal, social, and cultural contexts which I have described. Perhaps there are others, but these three seem to be the most central to understanding the interaction of literature with its background culture. As there is reader-response criticism, perhaps we might propose a school of culture-response criticism, devoted to understanding the ideas portrayed in literature in light of the surroundings in which they were created.   "Captured in a photograph, without a frame, You see her standing tall but you see no face to blame."   Tara MacLean, "Let Her Feel The Rain" Works Cited: Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York, Toronto: Random House, Inc. 1973.

Capstone Project Essay

Apple has been known to be an inherently personal computer company. However, it is also well known that there is no better example of innovative strategic thinking and execution. Apple’s strategy has remained to creating and sustaining value for customers across the world. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and the company never looked back since. However, it is also said that Apple lost the pc business because of ignoring the trends in pc industry. Apple’s business strategy is primarily based on innovation for creating differentiated products. It has built products that are cool to use as well as simple and intuitive. Its products are best known for the amazing experience they provide. However, Apple kept taking calculated risks and entered new markets boldly. It was visible in the release of innovative products like iPod, iPhone etc. Inherently it is a pc company and uses its competencies in developing hardware and software for developing effective, efficient and innovati ve products. In fact, its iPad, iPod, iPhone and Mac are all computers. (Harris, 2010) Apple’s success is mainly the result of innovative technology and design innovation. In this way we can see that Apple has enjoyed continued success in the market through innovation and matchless design. Apple’s vision is also based on continuous innovation which is visible in the products it makes. Its mission is also to be the leader in the digital revolution by making revolutionary products. We know that Apple is the market leader in terms of most innovative electronic products and the customers’ choice also. The business environment for Apple Company is highly competitive both domestically and globally. (Harris, 2010) However, its products qualify as global products and are preferred by customers all around the globe. In fact it is through innovation that the company has remained a global leader in terms of technology. Its iPhone took  the world by storm in 2007. Apple has strong capabilities in product design and engineering as well. In fact the smart phone boom was sparked by Apple through its release of iPhone in 2007. Initially, the market was shaped by the customers in US and other developed markets. However, the growth for smart phone market is now coming from the Asian and developing countries mainly. However, if anyone is challenging its position then it is Samsung which has emerged as a competitor for Apple. Till a few years ago, Samsung was just trying to catch up in the smart-phone market. Now, apart from being the world’s largest technology company by revenue, Samsung has set Apple on its back foot. It is now trying to overtake Apple. Samsung’s galaxy series became the customer’s preference soon after entering the market. In fact Samsung is considered to be the best when it comes to learning from its competitors. But they also remain customer centered at the same time. In fact Samsung keenly observes what its competitors are bringing to the market. It keeps a watch over the recent trends and does not take much time to release its own version of the innovation. (Nisen, 2013) Apple also has a huge cash pile, but when it comes to taking risks and putting the money behind it, Samsung appears to be far ahead of Apple. Apart from that Samsung also spends a larg er part of its revenue on research as compared to Apple. It spends 5.7% of its revenue on research as compared to Apple’s 2.4. Actually, Samsung is a diverse business that is made of chips, displays and a variety of other technology. Its main benefit to Samsung comes in the form of the ability to compete on price and offering features which others cannot. However, it is important to note that Samsung is more than just a smart-phone maker. It is a conglomerate, a manufacture as well as the world’s largest chip maker. These factors play in Samsung’s favor. Many of the components of the smart phones are made by Samsung itself which gives it a cost advantage. (Nisen, 2013) When we compare Samsung with Apple we can see that Apple relies on external partners, which sometimes also leads to difficulties and delays. Though Apple has a well-managed and futuristic supply chain, yet it does not have the cost advantage like Samsung. One important factor regarding Samsung is that it has provided many lower end options for the developing world. In case Samsung continues to bring game changing products to the market like its Galaxy series, it can move from a close second to being the market leader. Samsung’s advertising expenditure  is also quite high which has really paid it as well. Samsung has been successful domestically as well as globally. Its most products especially the galaxy series has taken the markets in the developing world by storm. (Nisen, 2013) Apple is considered to be the market leader in the computer software and hardware industry. The main reason behind its growth and success over years are the innovative products it has brought to the market. One of the most important strengths of Apple is its incredible brand loyalty. It has a very high number of brand loyal customers. These customers will even line up before Apple stores at night in freezing cold to be the first to lay their hands on a new released iPhone, iPad or Mac. Strong financial strength is also a major strength off Apple. Apart from these things Apple is also known for its strong brand reputation and strong advertising and marketing teams and its retail stores. We already know of Apple as the leading innovator in the mobile device technology. However, apart from the above mentioned strengths there are some weaknesses also. As analysts have mentioned without Steve Jobs in leadership, the pace of innovation at Apple has slowed down a bit. Recently it also faced problems from its main supplier and producer Foxconn which led to unwanted difficulties and delays. So, its reliance on external suppliers gets to be one of its primary weaknesses. Apart from that Apple operates in a highly competitive industry and the competition sometimes affects its margins also. Its profits are also affected due to similar but low priced offerings from its competitors. Another important weakness which generally goes in the favor of its competitors is that its products are generally high priced. This all has also led to a decline in the market share of the company. However, despite all the above mentioned weaknesses it can certainly not be denied that Apple is a customer focused, futuristic and innovative company and it is certainly due to its focus on design and innovation that the company has a vast array of opportunities ope n before it. Its main opportunity lies in the growth of smart-phone and tablet market. Increased demand for iPhones and iPad also brought new opportunities for Apple. With iPad mini the company has also set its foot in the small tablet market. Despite the innovations it has brought till now to the market, the company has still significant room left to innovate further. In fact its opportunities lie in continuous innovation. Release of the TV is also being  seen as a great opportunity for Apple to amaze its customers which it does like no one else. However, it is not easy to be and remain the market leader and it holds true regarding Apple also. Apart from that its reliance on external suppliers has also proved a threat for it. Competitors like Samsung have the cost advantage since they produce their parts themselves. This is a major threat for Apple which it cannot afford to neglect. The company is increasingly threatened by the price pressure from Samsung over key components. Samsung’s main strength lies in its diversified product portfolio. In fact the company has a really large product portfolio which includes mobile phones, tablets, TV, camera, pc, printers and many more items. In most of these product categories Samsung itself holds a significant market share. It is today the number two in terms of market share in the cell phone industry. Not just this Samsung was able to catch Nokia’s market share by superior innovation in smart phones. Apart from that Samsung has also remained ahead consistently in terms of design and innovation. A very important strength of Samsung is that it has been able to take advantage of the markets of growing economies. In fact it has been able to obtain a large market share in the growing economies because of its low end products. Another key strength of Samsung is that most of its products can easily be integrated with various software’s. It is not so with Apple and its devices are generally not compat ible with different operating systems. Apart from being known for its innovation and design, Samsung is well known for its relatively cheap products. Added to all this is Samsung’s global brand recognition. But apart from its strengths Samsung has some weaknesses also. Firstly, it is not as ahead in terms of software and hardware as Apple. It does not have either its specific operating system or software. It is a very important advantage for Apple and to become the number one in the industry Samsung would need to beat Apple. Apart from it, Samsung is focused on making too many products and its profit margins are also very low. Its competitors like Apple are the largest buyers for its electronic equipment’s also. Still there is a large pool of opportunities lying open before Samsung which is mainly due to increased demand for smart phones in the developing economies. Its galaxy series has been a great hit globally. Apart from that demand for quality products from Samsung has also risen greatly. The expansion of tablet market has also brought new  opportunities for Samsung and the company has also obtained large benefits from it. The main threat before Samsung is the fall in the prices of smart phones. Samsung faces increased threats from Apple because of its innovative technology and design also. Apple’s release of ITV is also being seen as a threat for Samsung. Technological change is happening rapidly and Samsung will also need to innovate consistently to remain at the position it is. Price wars as well as decreased margins also bring additional threats for Samsung. Generally companies have to adapt their business strategies and products to different cultures when they are trying to sell to various countries with different cultures. This is referred to as globalization. However, this thing does not become very important for companies like Apple which sell nothing but innovation. English is a global language and Apple’s designs are generally simple and easy to use. As such Apple does not face great difficulties trying to adapt to various cultures and its strategy roughly remains the same across cultures. As we can see that cultural differences do matter in business. Yet, Apple sells the same iPad in Tokyo as it does in Toronto. (Jacobs, 2010) Instead of competing on localization, Apples competes on the pace of innovation across cultures and countries. It is due to its pace of innovation that today it is a global brand. However, the case is different for Samsung, which is said to design globally but adapt locally for success. Every day it ships millions of products to customers around the world. Samsung believes that it is important t to understand the local culture to meet the local needs. It is necessary to understand the local culture to understand the customers’ preferences. One important example of its globalization strategy is its establishing of Lifestyle research labs in various countries including UK and India as well as Singapore and China. (Samsung, 2013) Apple has some distinct organizational competencies which differentiate it from others. Its competencies include its business model, corporate culture; focus on customer as well as control of the entire ecosystem. Why Apple is generally able to generate lots of buzz is because of its fastidious attention to design like its founder Steve Jobs. Most importantly it is the ability and practice of putting user experience first that keeps Apple ahead of others. Apple is known for being customer focused and it reflects in the success of its pr oducts. Apple is known for its design and ease of use. Its iPhone is  in fact a great example of the same. Apart from innovation and technology there is one other core competency that is the key driver behind Samsung’s success. Samsung believes in building an organizational culture of learning and development. Samsung has also established a work culture that promotes learning and development for its employees. The company has also established a Creative Development Research Institute System to provide its employees with the opportunity to pursue creative ideas. This initiative is aimed at encouraging the employees to develop creative ideas and be more entrepreneurial. Samsung has a highly diversified product portfolio and it is also in more places than Apple. But it sometimes also results in diverted focus. If possible Samsung should try to limit it so that it can focus on specifically important products. Apart from that Samsung would need to invest much more in innovation and desig n to pull customers off iPhones. It will also need to go beyond marketing and just bigger screens. Samsung has been concentrating on offering cheap products for the markets in developing countries. Yet it remains to do more on innovation as the technological market keeps changing rapidly. Samsung will need to specifically concentrate on design and better technological innovation. Apple has been winning due to its focus on innovation and design. However, it is not having a very significant advantage which is of producing the components for its iPhones. It is also relying on external suppliers and it leads to difficulties and delays. Apple should especially concentrate on its suppliers. In this backward integration can be highly helpful for Apple. In this way it will be able to have better control over its suppliers which will minimize delays and other difficulties. Apart from that it will also provide Apple with significant cost advantage. Apple has in fact used forward vertical integration to reach closer to its customers. It has opened Apple stores in multiple countries around the world. Apple is thinking of opening newer Apples stores in the markets it has tapped newly. In fact it does not just bring Apple closer to its customers but is also an example of effective corporate level strategy. The popularity and demand of Apple’s products is high. As a result Apple is trying to reach a larger number of customers through its own stores, since scalpers jack up the prices. However, the strategy that worked in the favor of Apple was that of diversification. Apple diversified itself from computers to consumer digital lifestyle and  entered the mobile phone market also. Since then it also brought a vast range of game changing products to the market which became highly successful. In case of Samsung the backward vertical integration strategy has worked. Many of the components that go into the smart-phones are made by Samsung itself and the company also gains significant cost advantage due to it. Apart from that this strategy also benefits it by allowing it higher flexibility in terms of what and when it produces. In fact Samsung’s business model is based to a great extent on this competency. The corporate governance structure of Apple is designed keeping in mind effective decision making as well as appropriate monitoring of compliance and performance. The board of directors at Apple oversees the CEO and the senior management. This monitoring is done in order to ensure ethical and operation of Apple Inc. In fact it is an efficient method to monitor that the top management is working ethically and properly. Apart from that this method also ensures that there are no frauds or manipulations as well as prevents any problem at the corporate level. Apart from that the board also conducts a self-evaluation to find if the board and its committees are working properly. The compensation committee does an annual review of the executive performance including the CEO. This review is also evaluated by the board to ensure the CEO is providing effective leadership to the company. The board of directors at Samsung is composed of seven members of which four are external directors. This ensures the independence and transparency of the board’s decisions. The board of directors also meets regularly to discuss management issues and other important things. The directors are not allowed to engage in business activities in the same industry without approval from the board. It has been done especially to minimize any risk of conflict of interest or unethical behavior. Samsung is a company considered to be over hierarchical and also to be dominated by its founding family. There has been significant criticism of its governance structure. Firstly, the company should stop its owner centered managing system since due to it the company cannot remain independent of its chairman. The rights of minority shareholders as well as economic justice get eroded in this system. Samsung will need to change this structure. (Kim, 2012) The company should follow a structure where th ere is more transparency related to ownership. Apart from that to improve its profitability and sustain its position, Samsung will need to invest more and  move further in terms of innovation. It will also need to move its focus from products to customers. In case of Apple, it will need to adopt its business strategy to obtain cost advantage like Samsung. One major drawback of Apple is that its products are very costly generally. In this regard Apple should go for backward integration to obtain significant cost advantage. Apart from that the company should continue to focus on innovation and design to remain competitive. Apple has been using forward vertical integration successfully but it also needs to use backward integration for further success and managing costs. Pressure from competitors like Samsung is rising and company will need to be focused on managing the price issue to beat the competition. The smart phone market is currently driven by two factors. These include large screens as well as cheap products. However, Apple currently provides none of these. Despite not being the most attractive segment cheap devices still drive the sales volume. A number of second tier Asian brands have also started eating into Apple’s market share. The fight between Apple and Samsung is going to be really hard. Apart from it both companies will also have to fight hard for their respective positions in the market against the emerging challengers. Apple’s target continues to remain the high end market. It has still held itself from releasing a low cost product since it may eat into its profitability. Currently, Apple and Samsung are the only vendors who have their market shares in double digits. Yet, their combined market share fell in 2013 which denotes that the road ahead is going to be tough. Still, the two are the most dominant players in the global smart phone market. In fact the decline was largely due to inability of Apple to grow according to the broader smart phone market. However, it is still the market leader. (Osawa & Grundberg, 2014) But on the other side it cannot be denied that Samsung has been inching closer through its strategy of innovation and price competition. In fact if Samsung is able to manage its winning spree as it did in case of Galaxy smart phones, it will grow at faster pace than Apple. Apple would have to pay attention to certain other things also apart from differentiation through design and innovation to retain its leadership position. Still, taken together these companies seem to be dominating the smart phone market and will continue to for the coming years. References: Nisen, M. (2013). Samsung Has A Totally Different Strategy From Apple, And It’s Working Great. In Business Insider. Retrieved September 6, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.in/Samsung-Has-A-Totally-Different-Strategy-From-Apple And-Its-Working-Great/articleshow/21250813.cms Jacobs, E. (2010). Navigating cultural differences. In Financial Times. Retrieved September 6, 2014, from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3e2f464-937e-11df-bb9a 00144feab49a.html#axzz2w9RbDZqJ Samsung Designs Globally and Adapts Locally for Worldwide Success (2013). In Samsung. Retrieved September 6, 2014, from http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/?p=28148 Osawa, J., & Grundberg, S. (2014). Apple’s Smartphone Market Share Drops as Samsung’s Edges Up. In Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/28/apples-smartphone-market-share-drops-as-samsungs-edges-up/ Harris, M. (2010). New Product Markets†¦create and dominate them Apple style! In Harconllc. Retrieved September 6, 2014, from http://harconllc.com/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2013/04/DominateMarketsAppleStyle.pdf Kim, L. (2012). Samsung’s family battles over corporate governance, will it be a risk? In Quamnet. Retrieved September 6, 2014, from http://www.quamnet.com/newscolumnistcontent.action?articleId=2323716&request_loc le=EN_US

Investigation Completion and Analysis Essay

Evaporation is a process where liquid is converted to vapor with the purpose of separating it from a dissolved solid or from a liquid that is higher in boiling point in experiments or investigations on how to separate soluble solid in liquids (Holland, 2005). Evaporation technique was chosen for the experiment because it is easy and simple to execute compared to other methods of separation such as distillation. 2. Distillation Distillation is an investigative technique used in separation of mixtures based on conditional and differences required to change the components phases of the mixture. It can be applied in a mixture of liquids, and the mixture of soluble solutes and solvents like in this experiment. During the distillation process, the water is heated into the gas phase of the vapor leaving the salts deposits, then condenses back into liquid form that is then collected. The process is then repeated again to improve the water purity (Porteous, 2010). This method was obtained because pure water can be obtained 3. Crystallization This technique is a process of solid crystals formation from a solution. This technique is a technique of separating solids and liquids in which transfer of solute from a solution to a solid crystalline which pure occurs (Jones, 2002). This method was chosen because pure solutes can be obtained. Modifications made, and justification for the changes 1. In evaporation, I applied some heat from flames to the containers holding solution of water and salt. I applied the heat to increase the rate of evaporation instead of leaving it open in the air and under the sunshine that is slow. 2. I used ice in the condenser to condense maximum amount of vapor. Moreover, I re-distilled the condensed water to get maximum dissolved salts again. 3. In crystallization, I left the crystallization process to proceed slowly undisturbed instead of fast cooling. This was to prevent impurities from getting attached to the salts and also to get bigger crystals. Ways to ensure the accuracy To ensure accuracy, I ensured that the same amount of solvent and solution was used in the three experiments. Moreover, an equal amount of time was applied on all the experiments to get accurate results. Lastly, I ensured that the salts and the water had no impurities that could affect their boiling points. Ways to ensure reliability Reliability in the techniques was determined by the experiments producing consistent results. To ensure reliability, I started with the evaporation method which the results were salt and water, distillation and crystallization also produced consistent results of salt and water.Ways to ensure validity Validity indicates the extent to which the applied technique in the separation process separated the components it was intended to separate. To ensure the validity, I ensured that salt and water which were the components of the solution that was to be separated were the end products. The process requires a lot of heat energy which might be expensive. However, solar heat is slow and evaporates small quantities of the solution. The method is suitable in situations where salt is the only product needed. However, collection of water vapor is difficultDistillation The distillation process desalinate water removes dangerous heavy metals like mercury, arsenic and lead, and the soluble salts that harden the water such as magnesium, calcium and phosphorous. Therefore, it is preferable for distillation of drinking water. However, this process is ineffective in separation of soluble salts that has lower boiling points than water such as synthetic chemicals, chlorine solutions, herbicides and pesticides (Porteous, 2010). Moreover, it requires large source of heat which is costly. Lastly, the distillation process strips water its natural trace elements; hence the hydrogen composition in water increases and makes water acidic (Porteous, 2010). Crystallization The process is complex compared to the evaporation method. It is also unsuitable where water is to be collected as an end product. However, it is advantageous since pure salts can be obtained for usage (Jones, 2002). b) Suggestions of possible improvements Alternative sources of heat could be used such as the use of solar energy to reduce high costs incurred in the evaporation and distillation process. Despite the fact that solar energy cannot produce a high amount of energy needed to heat the large amount of the solution for a longer duration of time, it is the best cost-wise. Given that some dissolved salts have lower boiling points than the water hence difficult to separate them from water, the boiling point of water can be lowered by lowering the gas pressure above the liquid. The distillation process strips water its natural trace elements, hence making water to be acidic due to increased proportion of hydrogen. To avoid water being acidic, beneficial salts can be added into the water for human consumption such as calcium that is good in formation of bones. References Holland, C. D. (2005). Fundamentals and modeling of separation processes: absorption, distillation, evaporation, and extraction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall. Jones, A. G. (2002). Crystallization process systems. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Porteous, A. (2010). Saline water distillation processes. London: Longman. Source document

The Selfish Hedonist

â€Å"I'll have a husband yet / who shall be both my debtor and my slave / [†¦ ] for mine shall be the power all his life† (Chaucer 262). In The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath, also known as Alison, presents herself as the authority on marriage and marital life. She comments on the social and legal position of women in marriage and daily life. She claims she has her knowledge from experience, not from scriptural authority. She dictates her life story of her five previous relationships with her fellow pilgrims to show her experience. Rather than rejecting scriptural authority, she appeals to logic thus rejecting too strict interpretations of scriptural rules and commandments. She gives ridiculous details of her marriages, including her marrying old wealthy men so that she could get their money once they died. After telling the unreasonable details of her relationships, she goes on to tell a tale about an old hag and one of King Arthur's knights. The old hag forces the knight to marry her after she helps him with a life-saving question of â€Å"What do women most want in life? The Wife of Bath attempts to portray the idealness of a woman's domination in the end yet she fails because the old hag becomes passive again. Through the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale in The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays the Wife of Bath as a selfish hedonist and feminist trying to gain complete control over men. Her new stand on women's supremacy only shows her selfishness because she wasn't trying to make a difference or revolutionize anything, she was only trying to gain personal benefits. The Wife of Bath's prologue is used to explain the basis of her theories on authority and sovereignty. The medieval Church at the time of the Wife of Bath saw her as a wicked woman, and she boasts about it with pride: â€Å"If I turn difficult, God give me sorrow! † (262). â€Å"Her marrying three old men in succession is a violation of not only of the law of common sense but even of the law of Nature, who would bring together those of comparable age† (Oberembt 288). Marrying another man after already being married previously is already a scandalous crime for this time period. Now to marry someone much older than herself a few times in a row is wrong not only in the eyes of God, but it is wrong along the lines of common sense too. The text of the Wife of Bath's Prologue is based on an allegorical ‘confession' in which she tells her sins to her audience in her life story: â€Å"O Lord, I wrecked their peace / innocent they were, without remorse! † (Chaucer 268). She confesses to deceiving and tricking her husbands just so she could get money and admits to arrange a fifth marriage while still in her fourth. In doing so, she demoralizes herself to try to be better than a man. Having more power than a man means she gets to decide, yet she goes and ruins her own reputation just so she can have an edge over men. Her rebellion against patriarchal authority and the abusive treatment of particular men expressed by the Wife of Bath are really but the projections of her selfish attitude: â€Å"His pleasures were my profit, I concurred† (269). She does not care about anyone but herself and she chooses to display that willingly. She has a self-centered interpretation of the marriage. Oberembt uses the argument that she was only twelve years old in her first marriage and that she was unable to conceive a child with her first husband which could've lead to her â€Å"frustration† (Oberembt 288). Through her words, and mostly through her actions, the Wife of Bath expresses her views on a wife's domination through her own life story. The Wife of Bath's Tale is an exemplum, providing an answer to the question, â€Å"What do women want? † Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath to explain and give an example that women most desire sovereignty: â€Å"A woman wants the self-same sovereignty / over her husband† (Chaucer 186). The tale is Alison's idea of the perfect illustration of her point. The Knight gives in to his new old wife and therefore she becomes beautiful in his eyes because she has now been given the right to choose. But if one was to switch the roles of men and women in society, men would become a very meek and uncertain group of people who wouldn't know how to behave. â€Å"Thus the Wife of Bath comically inverted the conventional sex-linked male and female behaviors† (Oberembt 300). When the Knight of King Arthur lets the old hag make the decision, he abandoned the male's sovereignty in favor of the woman's rule: â€Å"My dearest wife / I leave the matter to your wise decision† (Chaucer 291). The Wife of Bath most likely sees her story as what she wishes would happen normally. But by her story, she's not changing anything or giving examples on how to change the present ways because no man is going to willingly give up his sovereignty only to have his wife rule over him. The Wife of Bath is an early extreme feminist who believed in women having the most power and command over their husbands: â€Å"You make the choice yourself† (291). â€Å"Through the Old Hag, Dame Alice persuades an unreasonable male chauvinist to renounce self-indulgence and to accept the only reasonable norm for human conduct† (Oberembt 300). She is the only person who believes that a woman's domination will make everyone happy. But on the man's side of the story, he is forced to give up his masculinity and become sensual only so that his wife can now become masculine. In the Wife of Bath's Tale, she attempts to convey her message that women want domination, yet with closer analysis one sees that her ideas do not seem to work out well. Chaucer seems to have made the relationship of the tale and the teller to force one to consider Alison's argument of domination. The argument in contrast to this belief is the idea that the Alison just wants a mutual relationship, one that is of giving and receiving: â€Å"His pleasures were my profit, I concurred† (Chaucer 269). If the Wife of Bath is telling us that marriage is all about having sex with your spouse just so that they could give you fancy things and money in return, there is no sign of a revolutionary idea. McKinley states that â€Å"each spouse's body becomes the property of the other by virtue of the new marital alliance† (371). If this is the case, then the couple has the right to each other and the right to have sex with each other and there shouldn't be any type of give and take mentality. In the end of the tale, the old hag relinquishes her power and never really becomes the dominant of the two: â€Å"‘And have I won the mastery? said she† (Chaucer 291). She becomes a passive wife when she gives up her power by giving the knight what he wants. This is because the knight gives her the choice to choose and it seems as though she now has complete control, yet she gives up her power when he wants to have sex with her and she resigns his power and listens to him. The Wife of Bath's Tale ultimately contradicts Alison's belief of female domination in that the woman never gains domination over the man: â€Å"My dearest wife / I leave the matter to your wise decision [†¦ ] [Sir,] Do with my life and Death as you think best† (291). The language and acts of self-sacrifice, obedience, and submission seem to suggest the very antithesis of self-actualizing, assertive behavior which feminism [and Alison] has championed (McKinley 373). † Throughout the Wife of Bath's Prologue, Alison stands strong to the idea that women should have complete control over their husbands. One might think that the tale she would tell contains support to her ideas, but it does not. For in the end, Chaucer shows us that the Wife of Bath's idea of domination wouldn't work because she would eventually give her power up again only after just receiving it. Therefore, Chaucer depicts Alison as a selfish woman who wants authority over her husband and yet in the end he shows how her ideas would never work. One must come to the conclusion that the Wife of Bath only tries to express her belief in a wife's complete supremacy over their husbands. In the Wife of Bath's Prologue, Alison uses her experience to verify her theories on a wife's supremacy. She also uses Biblical examples to support her ideas, such as previous Biblical characters that had multiple spouses. But her life story is evidence to her views and without her personal input one would wonder whether or not her beliefs really would work. In the Wife of Bath's Tale, Alison most likely sees her story as what she wishes would happen normally. But with a closer look at the details, she's not changing anything or giving examples on how to change the present ways because no man is going to willingly give up his sovereignty only to have his wife rule over him. Also, the tale ultimately proves Alison wrong because the old hag becomes passive in the end after being given the control. Alison proves her theory wouldn't work, and Chaucer tries to explain why a woman's superiority wouldn't work too well through the old hag and her decision to give into the knight's request of sex.

Managing a diverse workforce

Managing a Diverse Workforce Our society is becoming more diverse. We can see people from different nation or different racial in our daily life, this situation is more obvious in school and workplace, especially in multinational. A diverse workforce combines employees from different nations, ethnic and gender that together create a more creative, innovative, and productive workforce. Many companies see workplace diversity as an investment toward building a better business.However, although workplace diversity can help many make more profits, it also brings some challenges to employees and managers. Below are several common challenges often happened in workplace diversity. First challenge is poor communication (Holt, n. D. ). Workplace diversity often has employees from various backgrounds and experiences. Sometimes, those employees do not have common language. Therefore, it caused difficulties for employees to communicate with each other, and lead to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity.Second challenge is resistance (Holt, n. D. ). Although oracle diversity can help company make more profits, some employees or business owners may not want to make any change, because those people only want to stay in their comfort zone. Therefore, making diversity in workplace without any plan may cause negative impacts, such as decrease productivity, damage morale and lead to bad workplace environment. Third challenge is discrimination. Employees may discriminate against others because those employees think they are better than others.There are several types of discrimination may happened in workplace. For example, local employees may discriminate against foreign employees because local employees think they have geographical advantages, male may discriminate against female because male think they are better than female, white may discriminate against black or yellow because white think they are superior than them. There are too many possible discrimination may hap pen in workplace. For managing a diverse workplace, some companies use affirmative action to maintain the diverse in workplace.

Operations and Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Operations and Supply Chain Management - Essay Example The report will asses some aspects of operations and supply chain management in terms of strategies to be adopted, supply chain design, supply chain planning, inventory and planning in retail and global operations, procurement management sustainable supply chain, demand forecasting, demand management, and product design supply chain. The paper will also asses some aspects of transport and distribution supply chain management, warehousing and material handling service operations, logistics outsourcing financial considerations, lean manufacturing human aspects of operations and supply chain management, quality management pedagogical issues, and maintenance research methodology in operations and supply chain management. It is worth noting that any of the above analysis will be done with an aim of developing a consultancy report to advice the management of the company about an appropriate â€Å"layout† for the proposed store. It is in this light that I will discuss the elements of a hypermarket layout plan in order to address all relevant considerations that should be put into practice to make easy the operations of such a business once in force. Introduction Studies have noted that the concept of operations and supply chain management has been emerging as a management issue of concern that organisations have sought to address to its conclusive end (Heiman and Nickerson, 2002, p.97; Singh and Power, 2009, p. 189). Horvath (2001, p. 205) observes that having come out as a dominant theme, supply chain integration is being considered to be of vital importance given the role it plays in business management. An organization's operations are strategically vital in the sense that, nearly all of the firms everyday activities are normally within the operations function. The relationship between a firm’s strategy and its operations is actually the big factor that determines the overall success of the firm in relation to its set objectives either in the short ru n or in the long run. Other scholars have been for the opinion that supply chain management (SCM) would be best carried out if traders come together and form and co-operate so as to achieve a common goal with an aim of acquiring benefits that may accrue from such integration. In order to determine the best layout and size of a new hypermarket near Sydney, I considered research studies on the Sydney market, consumer behaviors, the market’s potential in relation to local and international competition, international trade barriers, transport costs, local competition, government requirements, and political stability. In addition, I also researched on buyer behavior, competitive practices, distribution channels, media and demographic patterns through research studies about Australian markets, especially Sydney. However, the major discussion will be based on geographical expanse of Australia, especially Sydney, and demographic profile. This will put into consideration reliable data on potential demand, the cost of facilities, and operating costs such as labour and transportation Literature Review Australian Market Studies have indicated that operations and supply chain management (OSCM) assists companies to respond to market factors appropriately and allay any undesirable effect that may impede an organization (Holweg et al., 2005, p. 170; Chen et al., 2000, p. 436). In the sane way, other studies indicate that highly integrated supply chains help firms in building competitive advantages over rival companies (Myhr and Spekman, 2005, p. 180; Themistocleous et al., 2004, p. 393). From studies conducted on Australian internal market, (Chan, 2006, p. 238) has found

To what extent can Chandlers model of large-scale, integrated Essay

To what extent can Chandlers model of large-scale, integrated managerial enterprise explain the long-term competitiveness of leading economies - Essay Example Expressing my opinion, this model has not been followed entirely by all the leading economies in the world. To be discussed in the essay is a brief explanation of Chandler’s theory of large scale managerial enterprise its applications and bottlenecks. I will provide justification of my opinion by using the enterprise system in Japan and China with a focus on the role externalities such as the availability of funds, role of the government as well as business networks and groups. With these, examples this paper will explain the theories of capitalism and entrepreneurship and how they have enabled those using the system gain competitive advantage. Chandler’s concept of the visible hand premises the origin of the firm and its growth prospects. He argues that the existence of the firm is fundamentally to achieve coordination in an effective manner than the market in order to enjoy productivity gains. When the gains are easily realized, economies of scale set in. The model has specific problems associated with it. First, a managerially controlled firm is non-maximiser and thus high profit rates are not as objective and thus cannot be used to measure competitive advantage. Second, the firm though being an efficient cost minimiser, the benefits are not observable since they are being absorbed by high executive salaries and managerial perquisites. According to Chandler (1997, p14) managerial enterprise is defined as the modern enterprise with numerous operating units carrying out specific functions of production and distribution. It can also be termed as governance structure where investment decisions for current and future activities are made following management hierarchy with expertise and knowledge. All the managers are charged with the responsibility of efficient management of the organizations and they are salaried managers answerable to the board of governors. The large scale