Ethic Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethic - Movie Review Example From the film, the bankers acted in a questionable manner because of how they sold the mortgages. A lot of people with experience in the financial companies were interviewed such as top executives such as Raghuram Rajan, Dominique Strauss-Khan and Glenn Hubbard (Ferguson). The bankers provided the consumers with credit despite knowing that some consumers had low credit scores. 20 or 30 years ago, banks would tell consumers who could not afford to buy mortgages that they would not get loans. However, in the film it is clear that such kind of advice is not taken cautiously because the bankers allowed the consumers to buy houses that they could not afford. In another scene, viewers can see that the people who could not afford the mortgages were now living in tents and jobless. The actions of the federal regulators, economic academics and politicians were well captured showing that they did not do anything that would help in regulating the finances. In one of the scenes, one of the interviewee indicates that there was a continued deregulation of finances and â€Å"they knew what was happening† (Ferguson). In addition, most of the people in these groups are noted in some scenes to be paid excessively. For example, in one of the scenes, when the narrator Matt Damon asks what he thought of wall-street incomes, the interviewee said it as an excessive amount. There were those who earned as much as $485 million and 80 million (Ferguson). All the parties mentioned above relied on the moral philosophy of ethical relativism to justify their actions. In ethical relativism a person holds the view that there is no moral right or a moral wrong. Therefore, the person believes that he or she should act in their own interest. In this light, it is not difficult to see why the employees and employers in the wall-street financial companies decided to self-regulate themselves.

Persepolis and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring Essay

Persepolis and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring - Essay Example It is one of a kind movie, for it is rare that politico-historical subjects are treated in an animation format. This cinematic experiment has worked out well, as symbolism and abstract depictions are well suited to socio-political drama. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring is a masterpiece in its own right. This film treats such difficult subjects as nature v nurture, religion, meaning of life, human tendencies for sin, methods for salvation, etc. Broad and yet profound in its interpretative scope, the director conveys his musings mainly through visuals set amongst brilliant natural scenery. Dialogues playing second fiddle as a narrative device but are potent nevertheless. The two main characters of the two films are Marjane and the young monk respectively. The character and life story of the young monk holds a better universal appeal, as the director treats his life history via universal metaphors. In other words, the events, conditions and temptations that confront the young monk are representative of broader humanity. Religion is shown in a benign light in Spring, Summer...while it is shown as oppressive in Persepolis. Indeed, in the life of young Marjane, religion (at least those who claim to stand for it) is authoritative, repressive and cruel. In contrast, in Spring, Summer..., the young monk comes of age by committing mistakes that were discouraged by his religious code. Yet, his wise master was not prohibitive of those mistakes, although he was well cognizant of their implications. The wise and experienced master allows his ward to learn the realities of life by himself. The master is not indifferent to the wellbeing of his ward, but merely austere and understated in his guidance. For the master knows scriptures cannot substitute real life experience and that the young monk will have to eventually find his own way out of worldly temptations. Hence, the process of coming of age for the young monk is by learning to see his own shortcomings. The comp assion and warmth of the wise master was also instrumental in his growth. In contrast, in the case of Marjane, the process of coming of age is not through understanding her frailties. To the contrary, she is a regular girl with normal affections and inclinations reflecting various stages of growth. But the country in which she grows up – Iran – was going through radical political upheavals. She gets valuable guidance through elders in her family, most notably, her uncle and her grandmother. Her uncle fought the excesses of Shah’s regime and was persecuted for the same. Later, when he objected to the oppression of the Islamic regime, he was imprisoned and eventually executed. But he made a profound impression on the formative mind of young Marjane. His words of advice to her – â€Å"stay true to yourself, never compromise on your dignity† - would remain as a guiding beacon to Marjane whenever she is troubled by social and political circumstances. He r grandmother too reiterates the thoughts of her illustrious uncle and admonishes Marjane whenever she breaches those lofty standards. Marjane grows up, albeit with lots of hurdles en-route, by upholding her principles in light of strong authoritarian opposition. She doesn’t always win, as illustrated by her sad return to home from Vienna and her short-lived marriage. But, she is the stronger for it. This is evident in her last

Cache Memory: Definition and Function

Cache Memory: Definition and Function CACHE MEMORY Cache memory is random access memory (RAM) that a pc micro chip will access a lot of quickly than it will access regular RAM. because the micro chip processes knowledge, its initial within the cache memory and if it finds the information there (from a previous reading of data), it doesnt got to do the a lot of long reading of knowledge from larger memory. Cache memory is usually delineate in levels of closeness and accessibility to the micro chip. associate L1 cache is on identical chip because the micro chip. L2 is typically a separate static RAM (SRAM) chip. the most RAM is typically a dynamic RAM (DRAM) chip. In addition to cache memory, one will think about RAM itself as a cache of memory for disc storage since all of RAMs contents return from the disc at the start. once the processor has to scan from or write to a location in main memory, it initial checks whether or not a duplicate of that knowledge is within the cache. If so, the processor straightaway reads from or writes to the cache, that is far quicker than reading from or writing to main memory. a translation look aside buffer (TLB) wont to speed up virtual-to-physical address translation for each practicable directions and knowledge. Knowledge is transferred between memory and cache in blocks of mounted size, known as cache lines. once a cache line is derived from memory into the cache, a cache entry is made. The cache entry can embody the derived knowledge in addition because the requested memory location currently known as a tag. once the processor has to scan or write a location in main memory, it initial checks for a corresponding entry within the cache. The cache checks for the contents of the requested memory location in any cache lines that may contain that address. If the processor finds that the memory location is within the cache, a cache hit has occurred. WRITE POLICY: If knowledge is written to the cache, at some purpose it should even be written to main memory. A write policy determines however the cache deals with a write cycle. The 2 common write  policies area unit Write-Back and Write-Through. WRITE BACK POLICY In Write-Back policy, the cache acts sort of a buffer. That is, once the processor starts a write cycle the cache receives the information and terminates the cycle. The cache then writes the information back to main memory once the system bus is offered. This technique provides the best  performance by permitting the processor to continue its tasks whereas main memory is updated at a  later time. However, dominant writes to main memory increase the cache’s quality and  cost. WRITE THROUGH POLICY The second technique is that the Write-Through policy. because the name implies, the processor writes through the cache to main memory. The cache could update its contents, but the write cycle doesnt finish till the information is keep into main memory. This technique is a smaller amount advanced. The primary drawback with write-through caches is their higher write traffic as compared to write-back caches. a method to scale back this traffic is to use a coalescing write buffer, wherever writes to addresses already within the write buffer area unit combined. once a write misses within the write cache, the LRU entry is transferred to the write buffer to create area for the present write. In actual implementation, the write cache may be integrated with a coalescing write buffer. Write through policy is most prefererable in memory application than write back policy as a result of it embody the property of automatic update once any changes occur in cache block itll replicate into main memory. CONVENTIONAL 2 LEVEL CACHE Fig. 3illustrates the design of the two-level cache. solely the L1 knowledge cache and L2 unified cache area unit shown because the L1 instruction cache solely reads from the L2 cache. below the write through policy, the L2 cache continuously maintains the foremost recent copy of the information. Thus, whenever a knowledge is updated within the L1 cache, the L2 cache is updated with identical knowledge in addition. This ends up in a rise within the write accesses to the L2 cache and consequently a lot of energy consumption. The locations (i. e. , approach tags) of L1 knowledge copies within the L2 cache wont modification till the information area unit evicted from the L2 cache. The planned way-tagged cache exploits this reality to scale back the quantity of the way accessed throughout L2 cache accesses. once the L1 knowledge cache masses a knowledge from the L2 cache, the approach tag of the information within the L2 cache is additionally sent  to the L1 cache and keep during a new set of approach-tag arrays These way tags give the key data for the following write accesses to the L2 cache. In general, each write and browse accesses within the L1 cache may have to access the L2 cache. These accesses result in totally different operations within the planned way-tagged cache, as summarized in Table I. below the write-through policy, all write operations of the L1 cache got to access the L2 cache. within the case of a write hit within the L1 cache, only 1 approach within the L2 cache are going to be activated as a result of the approach tag data of the L2 cache is offered, i. e. , from the approach-tag arrays we are able to acquire the L2 way of the accessed knowledge. whereas for a write miss within the L1 cache, the requested knowledge isnt keep within the L1 cache. As a result, its corresponding L2 approach data isnt offered within the way-tag arrays. Therefore, all ways that within the L2 cache got to be activated at the same time. Since write hit/miss isnt proverbial a priori, the way-tag arrays got to be accessed at the same time with all L1 write operations so as to avoid performance degradation. Note that the way-tag arrays area unit terribly little and also the concerned energy overhead may be simply salaried for (see section). For L1 scan operations, neither scan hits nor misses got to access the way-tag arrays. this is often as a result of scan hits dont got to access the L2 cache; whereas for scan misses, the corresponding approach tag data isnt offered within the way-tag arrays. As a result, all ways that within the L2 cache area unit activated at the same time below scan misses. PROPOSED approach TAG CACHE we tend to introduce many new components: way-tag arrays, way-tag buffer, approach decoder, and approach register, all shown within the line. The approach tags of every cache line within the L2 cache area unit maintained within the way-tag arrays, set with the L1 knowledge cache. Note that write buffers area unit normally used in write through caches (and even in several write-back caches) to boost the performance. With a write buffer, the information to be written into the L1 cache is additionally sent to the write buffer. The operations keep within the write buffer area unit then sent to the L2 cache in sequence. This avoids write stalls once the processor waits for write operations to be completed within the L2 cache. within the planned technique, we tend to conjointly got to send the approach tags keep within the way-tag arrays to the L2 cache at the side of the operations within the write buffer. Thus, alittle approach-tag buffer is introduced to buffer the way tags scan from th e way-tag arrays. {a approach|how|some way|the way|the simplest way} rewriter is used to decode way tags and generate the alter signals for the L2 cache, that activate solely the specified ways that within the L2 cache. every approach within the L2 cache is encoded into the simplest way tag. {a approach|how|some way|the way|the simplest way} register stores way tags and provides this data to the way-tag arrays. IMPLEMENTATION OF WAY-TAGGED CACHE WAY-TAG ARRAYS Way tag arrays have approach tags of a knowledge is loaded from the L2 cache to the L1 cache, shown in Fig three. Note that {the knowledge|the info|the information} arrays within the L1 data cache and also the way-tag arrays share identical address from hardware. The WRITEH_W signal of way-tag arrays is generated from the write/read signal of {the knowledge|the info|the information} arrays within the L1 data cache as shown in Fig. 8. A UPDATE is management signal, obtained from the cache controller. once a L1 write miss, UPDATE are going to be declared and permit WRITEH_W to alter the write operation to the way-tag arrays (UPDATE=1 and WRITEH_W, See Table II). UPDATE keeps invalid and WRITEH_W =1, a scan operation to the way-tag arrays. During the scan operations of the L1 cache, the way-tag arrays dont got to be accessed and so, scale back energy overhead. to attenuate the overhead of approach tag arrays, the scale of a way-tag array may be expressed as Where SL1, Sline,L1 and Nway,L1 area unit the scale of the L1 knowledge cache, cache line size and variety of the ways that within the L1data cache severally. Bway,L2= may be a code. The way-tag arrays area unit operated in parallel with the L1 knowledge cache for avoiding the performance degradation. as a result of their little size, the access delay is far smaller than that of the L1 cache. WAY-TAG BUFFER Way-tag buffer is quickly stores the approach tags from the way-tag arrays within the L1 cache. its identical variety of entries because the write buffer of the L2 cache and shares the management signals with it. Note that write buffers area unit normally used, the information to be written into the L1 cache is additionally sent to the write buffer to boost the performance. This avoids write stalls once the processor waits for write operations to be completed within the L2 cache. When a write miss happens in L1 cache, all the ways that within the L2 cache got to be activated because the approach data isnt offered. Otherwise, solely the specified approach is activated. approach tag buffer is little in to avoid space overhead. Approach DECODER The operate of the approach rewriter is used to decode approach tags and generate the alter signal, that activate solely desired ways that in L2 cache. This avoids the extra wires and also the chip space is negligible. A write hit within the L1 cache, the approach decoder works as associate n -to- N decoder that selects one way-enable signal. For a write miss or a scan miss within the L1 cache, the approach decoder assert all way-enable signals, in order that all ways that within the L2 cache area unit activated. Approach REGISTER The approach tags for the way-tag arrays is Provided by approach register. A 4-way L2 cache is take into account, that labels â€Å"00†, â€Å"01†, â€Å"10†, andâ€Å"11†. This area unit keep within the approach register. once the L1 cache masses a knowledge from the L2 cache, the corresponding approach tag within the approach register is distributed to the approach-tag arrays by this way the corresponding way tags area unit keep in way-tag array. The planned approach-tagged caches way operates below totally different modes throughout scan and write operations. solely the approach containing the specified knowledge is activated within the L2 cache for a write hit within the L1 cache, operating the L2 cache equivalently a direct-mapping cache to scale back energy consumption while not performance overhead below the write-through policy. APPLICATION OF approach TAGGING IN PHASED ACCESS CACHES In this section, we are going to show that the thought of approach tagging may be extended to alternative low-power cache style techniques suchas the phased access cache [18]. Note that since the processor performance is a smaller amount sensitive to the latency of L2 caches, several processors use phased accesses of tag and knowledge arrays in L2 caches to scale back energy consumption. By applying the thought of approach tagging, any energy reduction may be achieved while not introducing performance degradation. In phased caches, all {ways|ways that|ways in that} within the cache tag arrays got to be activated to work out which approach within the knowledge arrays contains the specified knowledge (as shown within the solid-line a part of Fig. 8). within the past, the energy consumption of cache tag arrays has been unnoticed as a result of their comparatively little sizes As superior microprocessors begin to utilize longer addresses, cache tag arrays become larger. Also, high associativity is vital for L2 caches in bound applications. These factors result in the upper energy consumption in accessing cache tag arrays. Therefore, its become vital to scale back the energy consumption of cache tag arrays. the thought of approach tagging may be applied to the tag arrays of phased access cache used as a L2 cache. Note that the tag arrays dont got to be accessed for a write hit within the L1 cache (as shown within the dotted-line half in Fig. 9). {this is|this is often|this may be} as a result of the destination approach of knowledge arrays can be determined directly from the output of the approach decoder shown in Fig. 7. Thus, by accessing fewer ways that within the cache tag arrays, the energy consumption of phased access caches may be any reduced The operation of this cache is summarized in Fig. 9. Multiplexor M1 is used to get the alter signal for the tag arrays of the L2 cache. once the standing bit within the way-tag buffer indicates a write hit, M1 outputs â€Å"0† to disable all the ways that within the tag arrays. As mentioned before, the destination approach of the access may be obtained from the approach decoder and so no tag comparison is required during this case. Multiplexor money supply chooses the output from the approach decoder because the choice signal for the information arrays. If on the opposite hand the access is caused by a write miss or a scan miss from the L1 cache, all ways that area unit enabled by the tag array decoder, and also the results of tag comparison is chosen by money supply because the choice signal for the information arrays. Overall, fewer ways that within the tag arrays area unit activated, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the phased access cache. Note that the phased ac cess cache divides associate access into 2 phases; so, money supply isnt on the crucial path. Applying approach tagging doesnt introduce performance overhead as compared with the standard phased cache. Common or Shared LUT design A shared or common LUT design is planned to be applied in knowledge array management of this cache design. Since knowledge array in cache design is related to electronic device choice based mostly processor for knowledge accessing, we tend to area unit introducing associate shared LUT during which all knowledge data is loaded with table loader per is index and coefficients for knowledge finding and matching allocation throughout cache operations. thus knowledge array may be replaced by shared LUT design with effectively acts and reduces the whole power consumption of overall approach tag array cache design. From the fig. 7. the shared LUT design is divided in to four banks with several address related to it. If a processor has to access knowledge from bank three, itll directly access that data via its constant bit address by matching with table loader indexes. Hence a protracted looking method is proscribed to direct accessing technique through shared LUT design. Apart from banks it conjointly has SFU-Special practical Units in it. its connected to table loader. These SFU’s will access all the banks by having easy indexes like â€Å"000† the primary zero represents the quantity of SFU i. e SFU 0. thus the remainder 2 zero’s represents the bank constant. By bit matching, SFU simply connects with bank zero that contain relevant knowledge access in cache operations. If SFU0 and SFU one having values like â€Å"000† and â€Å"100† then confusion is cleared by higher priority portal. the upper priority is nothing however one that comes initial is allowed to access the information initial too. the remainder request signals accessed in  Ã‚  parallel at that time.

Dangerous Driving And The Effects On Youth Essays -- essays research p

Dangerous Driving and The Effects on Youth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today's society, dangerous driving is criminal and is also considered to be deviant. There are different levels of dangerous driving, all of which have different meaning to different people, some are considered part of the social norm and others are considered to be deviant. Speeding for example is considered to be a norm of society. Everyone speeds and this is not considered a problem which needs societies immediate attention, however there is a line which changes speeding from being a criminal offense to a deviant offense. The following analysis will provide a descriptive summary of the functionalist perspective, the social control theory and the power control theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These theories have been applied to a news story in which two young teens from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Renee and Danielle Orichefsky, were killed in a dangerous driving accident. The driver was Ralph Parker, a twenty year old man from Halifax who lost control of his sports car as he attempted to make a turn on the corner where the girls were sitting. This article involves the day of Mr. Park's conviction, the reaction of the girls' parents and also the reaction of Mr. Park's mother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The problem of dangerous driving as viewed from a theoretical standpoint can easily be identified with the social control theory. The control theory questions not what motivates individuals and society in general to indulge in societal deviant behaviour but rather examines what is within the structure of a society that causes individuals to conform to social laws. A social control theorist would argue that it is social pressures that prevent people from acting out in deviant manners; otherwise people would act upon inborn animal impulses. In this case, Mr. Park it seems felt the need to drive his sports car very fast and dangerously because it catered to his instinctive need for excitement. If Mr. Park had been thinking about the possible consequences of killing two young girls, he may have decided to slow down and be a little more careful. This is because murder is a deviant act in our society and committing murder would not be socially acceptable. Thus it can be concluded that that the structure and organization of society is very influential in determining the conduct of ind... ... to exist. A man who drives slowly and with caution is portrayed as a wimp. A power control theorist would say that this young man was playing on the â€Å"natural â€Å" male instinct to drive in this manner and have some fun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Risk taking, which is the another factor is very relevant to this case because Mr. Parker took a risk in driving dangerously. The irony in this case is that people who speed or drive recklessly do not see the danger of killing people as the big risk when they are offending. They are more concerned with the risk of being caught by the police for the crime that they are committing. Someone who is driving recklessly knows the consequences of having an accident, but they may not be important to that person at the time of their action which is deviant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Formal state of control considers that opportunities to deviate are more restricted for females than males. The freedom to take risk is given to boys, this may have been the case in Mr. Parker's family, he (it is assumed) did not have a father figure and took direction from his mother. A power-control theorist would argue that women give more freedom to their sons.

Effective Management of Job in Post Merger and Acquisition Scenario

RAYAT LONDON COLLEGE SUBJECT:- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY COURSE:- MBA SEMESTER 1 LECTURER SUBMITTED BY SUBMISSION DATE DR. LANGESWARAN SUPRAMANIAN ARSHAD MUHAMMAD 14 DECEMBER 2007 â€Å"EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF JOB REDUNDANCIES IN POST MERGER AND ACQUISITION SCENARIO (SERVICE SECTOR)† ASSIGNMENT TOPIC 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. ABSTRACT 2. INTRODUCTION 3. MOTIVATION 4. RATIONALE 5. LITERATURE REVIEW 6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 7. FURTHER EVOLUTION 8. CONCLUSION 9. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES Page NO 3 4 6 9 12 19 19 22 22 1. ABSTRACT This report introduces a practical model of training and development needs assessment to reduce redundancies stress on employees after merger and acquisition. The proposed model is competency-based, which allows for the incorporation to reduce redundancies in post merger situation. When redundancy is the only route available, employers invariably feel obliged to assist those affected with positive planning measures for what, at the time, can seem an uncertain future. However, this is not an easy task. Redundancy can be a difficult ordeal, hitting hard both mentally and emotionally and unless professionally implemented, employers will invariably fall short of ? having done enough‘ to really help. Everyone deals with redundancy in a different way. Being made redundant can provoke a range of emotions at different times, including shock, anger, loss, fear, denial or acceptance. Redundancy after M&A is a risk to all employees, and needs careful handling and counselling. Less recognised are the needs of those left behind. On the analogy of major disasters, they too demand meticulous attention to avoid deleterious effects both to themselves and to their organisations. The management of restructuring, redeployment or redundancy is important, not simply to be humanitarian, or for good public relations, but also because the effectiveness, vision and mission of the organisation that survives is at stake. Survival tips for both the individual and the organisation are indicated. 2. INTRODUCTION Since the late 1980s, the total number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) has far surpassed the number that occurred throughout the 1960s. Whereas the M&As throughout the 1960s were mainly due to unions between conglomerates, the 1980s and 1990s has witnessed an increase in M&As between firms of different sizes and different industry types, Merger and acquisition would have corporate strategies directed at gaining competitive advantage and satisfying customers? eeds always have human resource implications, and tactics such as job redesign, multi-skilling, redeployment, training, paying for performance, layoffs and downsizing should be specifically directed at implementing the human resource strategies of organisations. Unfortunately, however, the strategic considerations which should accompany the use of these tactics are often absent. The primary purpose of merging and acquiring new firms is usually to improve overall performance by achieving synergy, or the more commonly described as the ? + 2 = 5? effect between two business units that will increase competitive advantage (Weber, 1996). Recent research indicates that these M&As have a negative impact on the economic performance of the new entity because of human resource implications mostly redundancies (Tetenbaum, 1999). Therefore, although M&As are usually extremely well planned out in terms of financial and legal aspects, the conclusion that has to be drawn is that these poor results have come to be attributed to poor human resource planning. Redundancies after M&As can be a difficult ordeal, hitting hard both mentally and emotionally and unless professionally implemented, employers will invariably fall short of ? having done enough‘ to really help. Redundancy is probably the most evocative and fear inducing form of organisational change for many workers. Each year in the UK, there are over 200,000 notified redundancies. What is perhaps of more concern is that many organisation merger and acquisition change programmes have relied heavily on redundancy even though they have been articulated as downsizing or, more euphemistically as rightsizing or business process eengineering (Champy, 1995). 4 The essence of research is to explore how well human resources are being managed within organisations and better to understand the impacts of organisational change in different sectors and at levels in the organisational hierarchy after merger and acquisition. Have pre-existing human resources strategies to cope with redundanci es after M&As would reduce the stress on employee and also on organisation. Human resources strategies like open up consultative and participative organisationwide discussion to seek out possibilities that minimise redundancies, establish sound two-way means of communication which permit employees to freely vent their feelings, with a guaranteed right of reply from the organisation, communicate constantly and effectively, actively evaluate impact, exercise effective leadership from the top, ensuring that the pain is shared, provide a clear reconciliation of the market and financial situation, offer immediate counselling and assistance to all those identified for redundancy set up a mutual support network for those made redundant and continue to offer human resources help where required are the core tools which can organisations should implement after redundancies in merger and acquisition situation. Mergers are not without their downsides. They can consume an incredible amount of time and money, legal and tax complications, and problems with mixing corporate cultures and last but not least the redundancies. It has been estimated that fully 50 percent never achieve the initial financial and market goals projected. Decisions to merge assume that synergy will develop between two organisations that combine resources and talent and achieve economies of scale and integrated technologies. Whenever two separate organisations merge, they want synergy. Each side hopes to benefit from the merger and initially willingly attribute benefit to the other. However, synergy does not occur easily or without effort. A merger may change the name of the company and management, but the real benefits occur when people ascribe to merged goals and ideals. There were more than 36,700 transactions with a combined value of more than US$3. 49 trillion (Thomson Financial, 2001). The number of jobs that these mergers impacted on has not been estimated, but conservatively it must run into the hundreds of thousands. For instance, at least 130,000 finance jobs have 5 disappeared in western Europe alone as a result of mergers and acquisitions in the 1990s (International Labour Organization, 2001). 3. MOTIVATION Post-merger depression begins the day top executives declare that the merger, of which the most obvious is losing one‘s job. But redundancy after M&A can be an opportunity for positive change. Time could be spent on self discovery and re-focusing e. g. advancement new people and forming new working opportunities, meeting merger is done. Employees often expressive many fears they are confronted with following a relationships, learning new skills, getting over the pain caused by the merger, and setting new goals as well as creating an organisation that is better than the two original separate organisations. Building on valuable training, experience, skills, talents and past achievements. While accommodating new work / life balance considerations and identifying new and as yet unrealised opportunities that only a fresh start can afford. Explores redundancy after M&A as a significant and pervasive outcome of organisational change. The need to manage the redundancy transition has provoked the development of new HRM policies and practices. Highlights interventions such as redundancies are often used by companies with little rigorous evaluation of their utility or benefit, yet their continued proliferation would suggest that they appear to have assumed essential credibility and value. The pervasive and complex nature of current changes dictates not only the need for a better understanding of the practices that exist but also an exploration of how HRM theory of redundancies can contribute to and enhance that understanding. The complexity of the situation for the survivors of redundancy after M&As means that no simple formula exists. The variables at play are diverse. It is often difficult to provide cause and effect data, reflected in an overall lack of evaluation. It appears that there have been few reported successful attempts to implement intervention strategies which support and assist the framework of organisational change after 6 redundancies due to M&As and personal transition for both those leaving and the survivors of a redundancy experience. One prime example is BBC model to deal with redundancies, considering that everyone's future at the BBC was uncertain during the 2004, including members of the HR department. BBC worked to build in the flexibility to provide as many courses as were needed and to ensure that those you were going to made redundant had sufficient clarity about their own careers first, to help them to provide the objectivity that those they were working with would need. Suggestions for managing redundancies would be to encourages organisations to develop strategies which reduce, avoid or limit redundancy after M seeks to ensure that if redundancy occurs, it is handled in accordance with the law seeks to raise awareness of strategies which assist those affected to retain self-respect and enhance employability. Redundancy is one of the most traumatic events an employee may experience. Announcement of redundancies will invariably have an adverse impact on morale, motivation and productivity. The negative effects can be reduced by sensitive handling of redundant employees and those remaining. If possible, it is preferable for an organisation to establish a formal procedure on redundancy after merger. In many organisations a formal agreement may have been negotiated and agreed between management and trade union or employee representatives. Some organisations deal with redundancies by an informal arrangement with a practice which varies for each redundancy or they may only start to consider the appropriate procedure for the first time when a redundancy situation arises. At the very least in order to plan and implement a redundancy situation properly, the following stages will be followed in most redundancies: o Planning o Invitation of volunteers o Consultation, both collective and individual o Use of objective selection criteria 7 Compliance with all three stages of statutory dismissal procedures o Advance notice of individual consultation meeting o Permitting a colleague to be present at consultation meetings o Opportunity to appeal o Allowing seeking of suitable alternat ive employment o Statutory or other redundancy payment o Relocation expenses o Helping redundant employees obtain training or alternative work. Of course the exact procedure varies according to the timescale and size of the redundancy after M. Mergers and acquisitions (M) are increasingly prevalent, powerful and risky corporate events. The resistance or support of people in the integration of two previously separate organisations plays a key role for their success or failure. As ? merged‘ corporations integrate previously separate organisations, they can often dis-integrate individual careers with lay-offs, reduced advancement opportunities, upset or changed career plans, and other resistance-generating changes. This is the poorest means of mobilizing motivation, experience, commitment and competence, all of which are usually seen as critical justifications for M in the first place. Organisations face opportunity to select new combinations and integrate work in ways that individual careers can be re-integrated into the goals of the M with the goals and motivations of participants affected by it, by recognizing and effectively supporting different motivational and competence profiles. Senior management who had been involved in M identified talent retention as their biggest challenge in leading a successful merger or acquisition, followed by making the deal generate long term value. Less skilled firms in the art of M also focused on talent management but failed to create the fundamental climate of ownership that recognised the value of staff. 8 Managing and developing talent will prove instrumental for organisations to retain their competitive position and deal with the twin challenges of leadership and growth. According to new research by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, France, the Netherlands, and the UK have the worst redundancy pay. Based on minimum statutory paid notice and severance pay for a white-collar employee aged 40, made redundant after 10 years on a salary of ? 20,000, the average redundancy pay across the EU was ? 11,163. But using the same comparison the redundancy pay would be just ? 5,000 in France and the Netherlands and ? 5,128 in the UK. In Spain and Italy the payment would be ? 25,464 and ? 18,276 respectively, and ? 15,000 for both Belgium and Austria. 4. RATIONALE The rationale for M activity is a key value-added role that the board can and should play. A value-based analysis can be strategic rationale of a deal, revealing its true underlying economics. For an acquisition to deliver improved financial performance, it must enhance the strategic position of the acquirer‘s businesses or the target‘s businesses. More precisely, it must improve either market economics or competitive position of the business units. No brainer deals that provide great returns by simply eliminating redundancies, achieving a lower cost of capital or lowering tax rates are virtually a thing of the past. So mergers and acquisitions must be justified through the strategic benefits that will be realised. Signs of human stress are present in all combinations, even the friendliest and bestmanaged ones. Manifestations of the merger syndrome appear in all varieties of corporate combination, be they mergers or acquisitions, friendly or hostile, domestic or international, involving companies of similar or different sizes and so on. Personal involvement in organisational mergers and acquisitions has served to foster an awareness of the various symptoms of the ? merger syndrome?. Twelve such indicators are preoccupation; imagining the worst; stress reactions; crisis management; constricted communication; illusion of control; clash of cultures; we vs. 9 they; superior vs. inferior; attack and defend; win vs. lose; and decisions by coercion, horse trading and default. (Schweiger et al. 1987) cite job security as the most important factor for employees during a merger, followed by pay and benefits, work autonomy, and performance feedback. Research has also indicated that the organisational change process in mergers is usually tightly controlled by management and decisions on job losses are driven solely by the need to reduce numbers (Kanter, 1986). Thus employees are commonly concerned not only with job security but also with how selection decisions are made. Related to this, a number of researchers have shown that perceptions of procedural fairness are a key factor in determining staff attitudes to, and experience of, merger change. In particular, the perceived fairness of redundancy procedures is reported to impact significantly on the attitudes of the staff that remain in the organisation (Brockner and Greenberg, 1990; Schweiger et al. , 1987, 1994). A number of organisations using a compulsory approach to redundancy selection made the point that once change is known to be about to occur there is more to be gained in terms of gaining the commitment of key players than in leaving these employees ? in the dark?. One organisation held briefing sessions for all its senior managers before the advent of a redundancy programme in order to provide reassurance, and to talk through strategic plans after the redundancies, with all main board directors present to field questions. This was designed to be open in nature so that these managers could in turn return to their staff to counter any ? doom and gloom? suggestions. Managers such as these have been used as the ? ears? of the organization in order to feed back issues which arise during this period of uncertainty, so that a response can be made by the organization in order to minimize any adverse effects. In spite of these benefits, other organisations stated that they did not reveal plans to anyone outside a very select planning group, fearful that leakage of such information might have more significant negative effects. However, these particular organisations tended to be the ones who bypassed any prior, general notification about intended redundancies, thereby moving to ? phase two? , which is the actual notification of 10 those affected. The disadvantage of this closed and compulsory strategy is the type of situation referred to at the start of this article. Indeed, this particular organisation did not repeat its experience when it faced the need to undertake a further round of redundancies: this time it declared the need to make further workforce reductions, requested volunteers and stated that it would only declare compulsory redundancies if there were insufficient volunteers. Reactions related to disbelief, betrayal, loss of motivation, lower morale, mistrust, uncertainty, insecurity and lower commitment to the organization and so on are undoubtedly more pronounced where there is no announcement or indication before the actual notification of those to be made redundant. To summarised the rationales of this report would be, Job redundancies are common phenomena in post merger, lack of secondary data, there is no support, continuity or implementation of the programs like this in any organisation, Collecting information in real time from both participating and non-participating employee groups after redundancies is a challenging task, the mono-method bias is another limitation of this study and last but not least the time limit. 11 5. LITERATURE REVIEW Author Year Bob Moore 2002 Surviving Title Authors Evaluation Report Evaluation a to compulsory redundancy and Several factors contribute to A number of organisations Thriving During successful M. The first is using a Merger or instilling a positive mindset approach Acquisition among all employees – and this selection made the point can only start at the top. Senior that once change is known management alignment and to be about to occur there is partnership sets the tone, as more to be gained in terms employees managers look for to their of gaining the commitment and of key players than in direction assurance during this important leaving these employees ? n time. Getting people and the dark?. One organization processes to work together is held briefing sessions for all the only way to make the new its senior managers before company work. A successful the advent of a redundancy management evaluate team should programme in order to each company‘s provide reassurance, and to ?personal best practices? and talk through strategic plans incorporate them into the newly after the redundancies, with combined organization. all main board directors Although 75 percent of M present to field questions. don‘t reach their stated goals of greater financial results, there is a formula designed to encourage success. Attention, time and financial resources must be applied to employees and their work processes, so the new company ends up with a motivated, ? can-do? workforce. 12 Christiane Demers 1999 Merger acquisition and Communication‘s critical role in Poor communication and in the implementation of change is mergers often cited in the literature. intensifies acquisitions stress for announcements as corporate wedding narratives Communication is presented as organisational a tool for diffusing members top because of the uncertainty their future. The management intentions and for about preparing context of minds action to a new communication strategies Managers serve to reduce uncertainty, egitimate change to encourage in which both management employee commitment to and employees can voice their opinions, and concerns, provide imminent transformations. desires information. Adrian Furnham 2006 Deciding on One of the occasional tasks of a Senior management who promotions and manager is to de cide on who in had been involved in M redundancies their reporting staff to promote identified talent retention as as well as, where applicable, their biggest challenge in who to make redundant. In large leading a successful merger organisations guidelines factors there may be or acquisition, followed by concerning to take which making the deal generate into long term value. Less skilled some firms in the art of M also on talent both consideration. Further organisations keep records on focused performance designed to which reduce are management but failed to the create the fundamental subjectivity in these sorts of climate of ownership that decisions. Nevertheless this is recognised always because a of difficult the decision staff. and the value of many powerful consequences not only for the individual involved, but also his/her working colleagues and the organisation as a whole. 13 Stephen A. W 1994 Downsizing Improve Strategic Position to Planned large scale reductions A successful merger is all in head-count, or redundancies, about cost savings, right? ave become commonplace in Wrong. The most important many industries worldwide. In thing is making sure that the practice many downsizings fail valuable talent from both to achieve desired long-term companies doesn't simply results. Presents results of a march out the door. survey among large Canadian Ma nagers behind the most firms which suggests Examination management some successful mergers and reasons. strategic of acquisitions spend as much of time addressing â€Å"people† downsizing reveals weaknesses issues such as integrating of both planning and cultures, managing talent, knowledge and implementation. management of Effective sharing human retaining key people as they esources is a prerequisite but do on cost savings, merging failures often arise from processes, technologies and inattention to other important divisions. aspects of organizational change. Suggests that a wellthought-out strategy should be accompanied innovation, by process re- business engineering and organizational learning. Bob Moore 2004 Surviving and Several factors contribute to Suggestions for managing Thriving During successful M&As. The first is redundancies would be to a Merger or instilling a positive mindset encourages organisations to strategies avoid or which limit M&As that if is among all employees – and this develop can only start at the top. Senior reduce, management alignment Acquisition and redundancy after ensure artnership sets the tone, as seeks to employees look to their redundancy occurs, it 14 managers for direction and handled in accordance with law seeks of to raise assurance during this important the time. Getting people and awareness strategies processes to work together is which assist those affected the only way to make the new to retain self-respect and company work. A successful enhance management evaluate team each employability. should Redundancy is one of the company‘s most traumatic events an ?personal best practices? and employee may experience. incorporate them into the newly Announcement combined of organization. redundancies will invariably Although 75 percent of M&As have an adverse impact on don‘t reach their stated goals of morale, motivation and greater financial results, there is productivity. a formula designed to encourage success. Attention, time and financial resources must be applied to employees and their work processes, so the new company ends up with a motivated, ? can-do? workforce. Adrian Thornhill 1995 The positive For those organizations which Redundancies after M&A management of declare redundancy survivors: issues lessons redundancies without can be an opportunity for prior warning, the effect may positive change. Time could come as a shock to all be spent on self discovery re-focusing e. g. nd employees – those who are not and to be made redundant as well as advancement those who are to go. This has opportunities, particularly been the case in meeting new people and non-unionized organisations forming new working where there has not been the relationships, legal requirement to undertake learning new skills, getting prior consultation. One financial over the pain caused by the 15 services organisation stated that merger, and setting new this led to a period of shock for goals as well as creating an 24 hours during which work organisation that is better effectively ground to a halt. The than the two original management of the organization separate organisations. hen had to work quickly to overcome this effect, through company-wide communication and by demonstrating that those to be made redundant would indeed be fairly in treated. unionized prior However, even organisations, where consultation occurs, there may be the feeling that ? little attention has been given to the survivors of redundancy?. Beth Taylor 2002 The right way to There is a growing awareness Human resources strategies handle redundancies among business leaders that the like open up consultative way an organisation handles and participative redundancies sends out a very organisation-wide strong messag e about its discussion to seek out corporate ethics and values. possibilities that minimise redundancies, establish ound two-way means of communication which permit employees to freely vent their feelings, with a guaranteed right of reply from the organisation, communicate constantly and effectively. 16 Ridha Khayyat 1998 Al- Training and The more organizations seek This report excellence, employees‘ the training and and introduces a development needs assessment: more practical model of training development to needs reduce on a education becomes imminent. In assessment organisation redundancies practical model contemporary for institutes partner information stress dissemination by employees after merger and itself leads to little or no results. acquisition. The proposed It is the ability to that of the model is competency- organization knowledge disseminate based, which allows for the leads to incorporation to reduce employees‘ skills and abilities redundancies in post merger development. What matters is situation converting technology through people into better organisational performance. One thing which is true about the twenty-first century is that the development of human resources is no longer an option but a must. Joseph Cangemi 2004 P. Exit strategies Job losses that are the result of A number of organisations mergers, sale of a company, using restructuring, and downsizing as approach organizations profitability in struggle a a to compulsory redundancy or selection made the point highly that once change is known competitive corporate world are to be about to occur there is common. The reduction process more to be gained in terms forces organisations to employ a of gaining the commitment variety of exit strategies as they of deal with the most key players than in difficult leaving these employees ? in aspect of downsizing – the the dark?. reduction of personnel from their organisation as a means of rapid reduction of expense to 17 the company. Considers some employee-sensitive strategies exit Bryn Jones, 2001 How Redundancies Worsen Inequality Collective redundancy (CR) is The complexity of the erhaps the most central but situation for the survivors of acknowledged employment factor redundancy in means formula that after no M&As simple The are Social least shaping contemporary Britain. exists. at play The ease with which employers variables can execute CR allows not only diverse. It is often difficult to fairly rapid and to and also of far-reaching provide cause and effect business data, reflected in an overall working lack of evaluation. It changes organisational practices, restoration but prompt appears that there have few reported to companies‘ been financial deficits, as well as succes sful changes in the skill and implement of strategies attempts intervention which support demographic workforces. profiles nd assist the framework of organisational change after redundancies due to M&As and personal transition for both those leaving and the survivors of a redundancy experience. 18 6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The primary data would be collected through, principally involving in-depth questioners and interviews with senior human resource practitioners and staff those who made redundant after M&As in the organisations. Before interviews occurred, these practitioners were supplied with a list of the questions. The ranged from the reasons for redundancies after M&As through to the impact of redundancies on organisational survivors, and organisational learning points for the future management of redundancies. A comprehensive assessment after redundancies can reveal how a company has emerged from the combination and how ready it is to achieve future goals. Secondary data would be collected by using publicly available information, public domino, Newspapers, Articles on Redundancies after M&A and International Journals on this topic. 7. FURTHER EVOLUTION The need to reduce costs is an opportunity critically to review current ways of doing things, to make major improvements using new technology or better methods and build strengths for the future. Reasons for the design of existing work flows are often buried in history and reflect yesterday? s crises. Many organisations have found that simply the exercise of mapping their major business processes can suggest dramatic improvements. Redundancies, duplications, inefficiencies and ? disconnects? are common in most processes or systems which have been in operation for a while. Massive reductions after M&As radically change managerial and workforce attitudes. Individuals no longer trust organisational commitment to long-term employment and morale has suffered in many cases. Corporate psyches have been forced to confront the possibility that growth may not return, and decline may be inevitable. Dealing with these issues effectively is the difference between a company that will continue to suffer the redundancy hangover long after the event and one that can 19 move on swiftly. Companies that manage the process of redundancies after M&As well in terms of being fair and transparent and in terms of giving a level of support to the employees when they‘re leaving, create an environment in which the people who are left behind say: ? Well, at least they treated them fairly, and it had to happen for a business reason – at least they looked after them and didn‘t just shove them out the door. The high level of consultation required makes good management sense. ?Two things: once the decision has been taken, how an employer conducts himself after that is going to be critical. It‘s about being responsive to employees — giving them an opportunity to have discussions; making sure information is available to them. All of that will be seen by employees who remain behind as well. Secondly, the communication process for those who remain is important, making sure they‘re not ignored or sidelined just because they‘re not part of the programme. They may well feel left out. To this end the following are some of the approaches that may assist: ? Have pre-existing human resources strategies to cope with such a situation. These should be open and transparent, subject to widespread consultation, and equitable. ? An organisation needs to provide a career management structure which enhances self-directed skill development. The opportunity to learn the transition skills necessary to career change are thereby created. ? In facing an experience, an organisation has to consider the impact on the symbols it has previously used to motivate staff, particularly its sense of mission. ? The management of restructuring, redeployment or redundancy is important, not simply as a humanitarian gesture, or for the sake of good public relations, but also because the effectiveness of the organisation that survives is at stake. ? Open up consultative and participative organisation-wide discussion as soon as danger signs appear. Seek out possibilities that minimise redundancies after merger. 20 ? Establish sound two-way means of communication which permit employees to freely vent their feelings, with a guaranteed right of reply from the organisation. Communicate constantly and effectively, and actively evaluate impact. ? Exercise effective leadership from the top, ensuring that the pain is shared, such as through voluntary salary cuts and the non-awarding or take-up of bonuses. ? Provide a clear reconciliation of the market and financial situation, options for amelioration, and the need for job cuts within this. ? Use clear and published criteria to determine the basis for redundancy, arrived at through consultation. ? Set up a mutual support network for those made redundant after M&As and continue to offer human resources help where required. Offer immediate counselling and assistance to all those identified for redundancy. Organisations should always attempt to avoid redundancies in post merger situation. Ways of doing this include: ? ? ? ? ? ? Natural wastage Recruitment freeze Stopping or reducing overtime Offer early retirement to volunteers (subject to age discrimination issues) Retraining or redeployment Offering existing employee‘s sabbaticals and secondments. 21 8. CONCLUSION Handling redundancies after M&As is a difficult task where decisions have to be made as to numbers, timing and criteria. The detail should be fully discussed with employee representatives, with the objective of getting agreement about the way matters should be handled. A successful merger is all about cost savings, right? Wrong. The most important thing is making sure that the valuable talent from both companies doesn't simply march out the door or made redundant. Managers behind the most successful mergers and acquisitions spend as much time addressing â€Å"people† issues such as integrating cultures, managing talent, sharing knowledge and retaining key people as they do on cost savings, merging processes, technologies and divisions. 9. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1. 2. 3. Furnham, A. (2001), Management Competency Frameworks, CRF, London. Greenberg, J. (1996), The Quest for Justice on the Job, Sage, London. Sessa, V. , Taylor, J. (2000), Executive Selection: A Systematic Approach for Success, Jossey-Bass, New York, NY. 4. Lynch, J. G. , Lind, B. (2002), â€Å"Escaping merger and acquisition madness†, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 5-12. 5. Anderson, H. A. 1993), Successful Training Practice: A Manager‘s Guide to Personnel Development, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 6. 7. 8. Hoke, W. (2002), â€Å"What's your exit strategy? â€Å", The edge, pp. 5-12. Business Week (2002), ? Exit strategies discussed?. Fowler, A ( 1993), Redundancy, Institute of Personnel Management, London. 22 9. Charlesworth, K (1996), Are Managers Under Stress? , Institute of Management, London. 10. Nathan, R. (2007), Colleagues turn counsellors in BBC's pioneering program Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 15 Number 5 pp. 11-13. 11. 12. 13. Kanter, c (1986), Managing HRM risk in a merger, London. Business Week (1994), â€Å"The pain of downsizing†, Business Week. Doherty, N. Horsted, J. (1995), â€Å"Helping survivors to stay on board†, People Management, No. 12 January, pp. 26-31. 14. Institute of Personnel and Development (1996), The IPD Guide on Redundancy, IPD, London. 15. Schlesinger, L. (2002), UK offers worst redundancy pay in Europe, Financial Director. 16. Yehuda, B. (2000), ? Survivor syndrome? – a management myth? , Journal of Managerial Psychology Volume 15 Number 1 2000 pp. 29-45, Emerald. 17. Steven, H. (2000), Anatomy of a merger: behaviour of organizational factors and processes throughout the pre- during- post- stages, Management Decision, Volume 38 Number 10 2000 pp. 674-684, Emerald. 18. Noeleen, D. 2005), The role of outplacement in redundancy management, Volume 27 Number 4 1998 pp. 343-353, Emerald. 19. Shay, S. (2006), Downsizing and the impact of job counselling and retraining on effective employee responses, Career Development International, Volume 11 Number 2 2006 pp. 125-144, Emerald. 20. Stephen, A. (2001), Downsizing to Improve Strategic Position, Volume 32 Number 1 1994 pp. 4-11, Emerald. 23 21. Gerald, V. (2002), Counselling remaining employees in redundancy situations, Volume 7 Number 7 2002 pp. 430-437, Emerald. 22. Al-Khayyat, R. (1998), Training and development needs assessment: a practical model for partner institutes, Volume 22 Number 1 1998 pp. 18-27, Emerald. 24

Pioneers, oh pioneers

How does the setting underline the main conflict and the meaning for characterization? Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Setting 2 2. 1 Dominica 3 2. 2 Dr Cox's house 4 2. 3 Ramage's house 5 2. 4 Comparison Imperial Road and Market Street 7 3. Conclusion 8 4. Bibliography 10 5. Honesty Statement 11 This seminar paper analyses the different functions of the setting in Jean Rhys's short story â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers. † The author Jean Rhys was born in 1890 and brought up in Roseau, Dominica (Rhys 1981: 10).Her father was Welsh and her mother Creole (Rhys 1981 :6), so she grew up etween two worlds. Savory underlines that this is manifested in her divided attitude towards cultural identities (1998: 35). Rhys was an author of novels, short stories and an autobiographical fragment which is called â€Å"Smile Please†. But not only this book is autobiographical. Jean Rhys had almost always some autobiographical aspects in her stories. To her friend David Plante, who lat er became the ghostwriter of her autobiography, she said: â€Å"l can't make things up, I can't invent.I have no imagination. I can't invent character. I don't think I know what character is. I Just write about what happened† (1983: 52). In â€Å"Pioneers, Oh Pioneers†, which was originally published under the name â€Å"Dear Darling Mr Ramage† in The Times and later became a part of the story collection â€Å"Sleep It Off Lady' (Rhys 1976), the reader will also find some autobiographical aspects. The female child protagonist Rosalie is â€Å"aged 9† (Rhys 1970: 12)1 and â€Å"her father is the local doctor† (Hooper 2005:122).In 1899 Rhys was the same age and her father also had â€Å"decided to become a doctor† (Rhys 1981 : 68). Malcolm and Malcolm point out that Ramage â€Å"is neither white nor black† Just like Jean Rhys was. In her family she was the one with the palest skin (Rhys 1981). Do you consider yourself a West Indian? â €  She shrugged. â€Å"It was such a long time ago when I left. † â€Å"So you don't think of yourself as a West Indian writer? † Again, she shrugged, but said nothing. â€Å"What about English? Do you consider yourself an English writer? † â€Å"No! I'm not! I'm not!I'm not even English (Plante 1983:44). Jean Rhys seemed nowhere to be fit. To come to terms with this experiences, Rhys uses the character Mr Ramage in â€Å"Pioneer, Oh, Pioneers†. She adopts his eccentricity, but apart from that, she â€Å"gives im a rather different story' (Hooper 2005: 122). All references from the short story are from: Rhys, Jean. â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers. † Sleep it Off Lady. London: Penguin Books, 1979, 11-21. The following analysis will start with a short definition of the term setting and a closer investigation of the general setting in the short story.Furthermore, this seminar paper is aimed to show the link between nature and the emotional state of the main character Mr Ramage. Besides, the main issue of the story, namely the cultural clash between the black and the white insulars, will be analyzed. To get a general nderstanding of the main topic of this seminar paper, namely the setting of the short story â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers†, the definition of Michael J. Toolan is to be considered. He points out that â€Å"We like, in our reading of narratives, to know where we are, and look for clear spatiotemporal indications of Just where and when a thing happened. (1988: 102). In answer to the question of the point in time during which the action of the plot takes place, the reader finds out that â€Å"It was still the nineteenth century, November 1899†³ (11). According to Malcolm and Malcolm this date indicates he inability of Ramage to fit in the community of the island population. It symbolizes the situation of Ramage being caught between two cultures (1996: 85). He is neither Creole, nor a proper English man, b ecause he is trying more and more to disassociate himself from England, for example by marrying Isla. Her given name, Isla, the Spanish for Island, may suggest that Ramage has embraced the island itself† (Hooper 2005: 124). The date 1899 also implies that the action occurs at the time of colonialism. To have an overview of the history of the society living there at that time, the reader may onsider that the West Indies were discovered as a place where tobacco and sugar grew very well and one might earn money by planting there and shipping the goods apart. For this reason thousands of people from Africa were departed to the West Indies to work there as slaves.Although in 1899 slavery was already abolished, racial segregation was still present. â€Å"[T]he majority of Dominica's population is of African descent, mainly speaking French Creole and of the Catholic faith. † (Savory 2009: 2) but the minority of white people, mostly from Europe, who believed in the Anglican Chu rch, was still the dominating class. They urged the black people to adapt to their culture and rules (Smith 1974: 5-6). Besides telling the reader that the story is set in the time of colonialism, the date fulfils another function.November 1899 is the turning point between two seasons, two years and two centuries. As Malcolm and Malcolm point out it â€Å"adds to the sense of uncertainty and displacement† (1996: 85). The question of where the action takes place is more difficult to answer, but it will be discussed in the chapter â€Å"Dominica† of the seminar paper. Particular places of action re â€Å"Spanish Castle†, the â€Å"yellow- hot Market Street† (1 1), â€Å"the Imperial Road† (14fO and Cox's house. In the following chapters, those places will be analyzed in more detail. 2. Dominica Dominica plays an important role in the analysis of the setting, since it is probably the place where the entire plot takes place and it is furthermore the is land that accommodates the most important houses such as Ramage's Spanish Castle or Dr Cox's house. â€Å"Dominica is part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, in a strip of islands known as the West Indies. It is situated between the French islands of Guadeloupe to he North and Martinique to the South. † (Kamyab 2009: 3). Other islands of the Lesser Antilles are Barbados and Trinidad (Brockhaus Weltatlas 1993: 255). arries Isla Harrington and at the end his wife is said to have stayed with relatives from Guadeloupe. As all these islands are directly mentioned, the reader can conclude that the location where the action takes place is a Caribbean island as well. Savory points out that Rosalie and Irene are â€Å"clearly in Roseau, Dominica in 1899† (2009:100). One fact which proves that Savory's statement is very likely to be true is the reoccurring motive of the â€Å"Imperial Road†. Along this new Imperial Road† (13) Ramage looks for a place to li ve. He finds his new home, a mansion called â€Å"Spanish Castle†.Another fact that may lead to the impression that Dominica is the place where the action takes place, is the â€Å"West Indian newspaper† (Rhys 1976: 12) which is mentioned in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers†: â€Å"the Dominica Herald and Leeward Islands Gazette†. First of all, the newspaper is named after Dominica, therefore the reader may conclude that this is the place where the story occurs. Furthermore, an article published in this fictional newspaper mentions the Imperial Road and defines ts idea as made â€Å"to attract young Englishmen with capital who would buy and develop properties in the interior† (19).The real Imperial Road had a similar concept. The administrator of Dominica at the period from 1899 to 1905, Henry Hesketh Bell, developed the idea of this concept. Bell was a fine publicist and attracted a number of new venturers on Crown Lands opened up by the Imperial Road , thirty on his own estimation, who together had invested about E40,OOO by the end of 1904 (Bell Papers (12. x. 1904)). In September 1900, while on leave in London, Bell wrote a long letter to The Times nder the title â€Å"Planting in Dominica,† extolling the virtues of the island and seeking young men.He received many replies, three planters returning with him to Dominica later that year (Hulme 2000:29). The house of the Cox family is described as one room which is: â€Å"C†¦ ] full of rockingchairs, a mahogany table, palm leafs fans, a tigerskin rug, family photographs, views of Bettws-y-Coed and a large picture of wounded soldiers in the snow, Napoleon's Retreat from MOSCOW' (Rhys 1979: 12). Furthermore, the fact that the two girls had to â€Å"go upstairs to bed† (13) leads to the conclusion that this house is not a simple one in the Caribbean.The financial situation of the Cox's is never directly mentioned in the text, but looking at the fact that they life in a house where, for example, timber-made chairs, belong to the furniture, the reader can come to the conclusion that the Cox's are a family that is well off. Here Rhys uses the setting to promote an â€Å"indirect characterization† (Toolan 1988: 104). To give some information about Dr Cox's character, a description of his desktop is used. â€Å"The Times weekly edition, the Cornhill Magazine, the Lancet and a West Indian newspaper, the Dominican Herald and Leeward Islands Gazette†(12), are to be found there.This indicates that Dr Cox is a man of vast reading and therefore well-educated. Objects like this â€Å"handled or props are two pictures. The first one is a picture of Bettws-y-Coed, this tells the reader that the Cox's have a British origin (http://www. betws-y-coed. com 2013). The second one with the historical Napoleonic background, implies that they are a family which is interested in culture and history. The house of the Cox family is situated near the ce ntre of the city, close to the Market Street, which is part of Irene's and Rosalie's way back home (11).The description of Dr Cox â€Å"sitting in an armchair with a hree- legged table by his side. On the table there were his pipe[†¦ ]. Also a Times weekly edition He was not to be spoken to (12) has also a biographical aspect. The place where Rhys's father used to sit is described in a similar way: a round table with a green- shaded reading lamp, the latest Times weekly edition a fortnight old, his pipe rack, and a large armchair where he sat reading and we weren't allowed to disturb him or speak to him (Rhys 1981: 68 f. ).Ramage's home is the place where the function of the setting, namely to underline the character traits, is most recognizable. Rhys focuses on â€Å"male exploitation of women, on women's resistance to and collusion with that exploitation, on marginalizes exiled fgures from the Third world, on class antagonisms and conflicts† (Malcolm ; Malcolm 1996: 1 1). But in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† the protagonist is a â€Å"male outsider† (Malcolm ; Malcolm 1996: 82). The character Ramage is also not completely invented. The real Ramage was a well-known fgure in Dominica.His attempt to dig a hole to reach China stands in parody of Chamberlain and Bell's modernizing efforts: much digging to no ultimate purpose, and with moral laxity, madness, and death Hulme 2000: 10) The main intention of the fictional Ramage in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† is to find peace: â€Å"Peace, that's what I am after. † (14) but the only way to find it is: † to pay for it' You'll be very much alone. † (14). But this does not bother Ramage much. He prefers being alone and is considered to be â€Å"very unsociable† (12). He does not follow any â€Å"invitations to dances, tennis parties and moonlight picnics† (1 2f).Furthermore he does not seem to be interested in religion very much, for he never goes to ch urch (13). The setting of the Imperial Road underlines this antisocial attitude. Only made â€Å"to attract young Englishmen† the Imperial Road is a very isolated place to live at. The closes neighbor of Ramage is the owner of Twickenham, Mr Eliot (14). In the beginning, Ramage appeals to the inhabitants of Dominica, whether they are black or white. He is â€Å"followed about by an admiring crowd of little Negro boys† (12) and regarded as â€Å"a gentleman† (12) by Miss Lambton. â€Å"Ramage appears made to fit in. † (Malcolm & Malcolm 1996: 88).It is conspicuous that Rhys uses the setting to create a link between the outward appearance of Ramage and the one of his house, the â€Å"Spanish Castle†. At the when it came to looks â€Å"(12), wearing his â€Å"tropical kit, white suit, red cummerbund, solar topee† (12). His eventual home, the Spanish Castle, is said to be â€Å"beautiful but not prosperous† (14). As the story continues, things change. Ramage is now â€Å"burnt a deep brown, his hair fell to his shoulders, his beard to his chest. † (16). With only â€Å"wearing sandals a leather belt, on one side which hung a cutlass, on the other a large pouch. (16), he attracts the attention of the other inhabitants of the island. 5 Spanish castle is now â€Å"unkempt deserted [†¦ ]. The grass on the lawn had grown very igh and the verandah hadn't been swept for days† (17). Rhys uses the setting to underline the change in Ramage's life. He doesn't care about how he looks like anymore and seems desperate, because he seems to be unable to catch up with the society on the island. He simply wants to find peace. He isolates himself from the island population and tries to go native, but fails. Ramage's public appearance as naked, with long hair and deep brown skin, seems to indicate a serious, if flawed, attempt to go native. Ramage looks – with the exception of the beard – Just like de pictions of the real natives of Dominica† (Hooper 2005: 125). Ramage may try to leave his British origin behind and to identify himself as a fixed part of the island. His whole struggle with trying to live a quiet life is reflected in the appearance of his estate. By marrying Isla, Ramage splits himself off from the English society and puts down roots on Dominica.But the people who live on the island do not except this marriage. He is said to be â€Å"lost to white society' (15) now. Resulting from his interracial marriage, the island population assume that he rejects the idea of the natural superiority of the British race (Wende 2012: 229). When Mrs Ramage disappears, rumors are spread that Ramage might have killed her. An article published in the Gazette calls him a â€Å"beastly murder[er]† (19). Toolan points out that there is a causal or analogical relation between the setting on the one hand and characters and events on the other hand (1988: 104).Dr Cox, who seem s to be the only friend of Ramage, is not able to see the danger signals. When he visits his friend, the last time before Ramage kills himself, he gives the impression to be okay. The â€Å"nasty beastly horrible Ramage. â€Å"(11) was now â€Å"wearing one of his linen suits, lean and pressed, and his hair and beard were trimmed. † (17). He says that he feels â€Å"splendid† (17) but his garden tells the truth. Here the setting, in this case the garden, gives some information about the feelings of the male main protagonist.As already mentioned above, the garden is â€Å"unkempt and deserted The grass on the lawn had grown very high and the verandah hadn't been swept for days. † (17). Deep inside he also feels â€Å"unkempt and deserted† (17) because the people throw stones at his house (18), think that he killed his wife (19) and do not accept his new way of dressing 16) and his marriage with Isla (15). That fthe servants have all walked out† (17 ) shows that everyone left Ramage and he is all alone now, as Dr Cox predicted it before. Although he said at the beginning that he had no problem with being alone (14), he is hapless now.Nobody seems to understand him and therefore he is not able to find the only thing he was after: â€Å"Peace† (14). Neither fitting into black nor white society, Ramage decides to commit suicide. On the day of his funeral â€Å"it was dream. 6 The comparison of the Imperial Road and the Market Street is used to clarify the function of the etting to underline the racial segregation. â€Å"In Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers,†the two contrasting worlds meet physically on Market Street in the form of black and white women there† (Malcolm ; Malcolm 1996: 85). Rhys illustrates the complex hierarchy of race and class (Davis 2005) in her short story.She does this by using the setting. Like Davis points out, on Market Street â€Å"the black women were barefooted, wore gaily striped turbans and highwaisted dresses† (Rhys 1976: 1 1), while Afro-French Madame Menzies maintained the dignity of her old-fashioned riding habit, and British Mr. Ramage lived out an imperialist antasy in his â€Å"tropical kit, white suit, red cummerbund, solar topee† (12). These different perspectives are linked through the consciousness of the young protagonist who rejects the reductive, hegemonic vision of colonial society (Davis 2005).When Ramage arrives on the island, he is looking for an estate and he tells Dr Cox that he â€Å"was told that there were several places going along this new Imperial Road [†¦ ]† (13). But Dr Cox is not convinced of this plan. ANon't last. † (13), he says. But Ramage still decides to buy an estate located at this lonely road. He acquires Spanish Castle, â€Å"one of the older properties† (14). The nearest estate is the one of Mr Eliot. It was used to be called â€Å"Malgr © Tout†, but now it is called â€Å"Twickenha m† (14) after a London suburb.Wende points out that this renaming represents the British sovereignty (2012: 227). In contrast to the young men, like â€Å"young Errington, young Kellaway, who had bought estates along the Imperial Road and worked hard C†¦ ]† (14) but failed and had to sell their land after only a few time had passed, Ramage does not want to gain prosperity. The only thing he wants to find is peace (14). In one way this can be interpreted as a â€Å"desired escape from Britain† (Hooper 2005: 124). The loud and crowded Market Street corresponds to the lonely Imperial Road.The Imperial Road seems to be a place built up by white people to separate themselves from the black society. It is a place where people who want to live in another country, but do not want to integrate, live. They rather want to stay among people of the same origin. This is to be noticed by the fact that there are no black people to be found on the Imperial Road. Only rich wh ite people live there. The Market Street is the place where black as well as white people meet. As already mentioned above: â€Å"[T]he few white women carried parasols. The black women were barefoot, wore gaily striped turbans and highwaisted dresses. (11) Though they are humans, all people Rosalie watches on Market Street are only part of the setting (as well as 7 the admiring negro crowd). They are used to underline the contrast between black and white on the island, and are not important as characters for the story. They are only props, as Chatman defines (1993: 63). The white women do not seem to enjoy the weather. Their appearance is much darker than the one of the black women, who barefooted, but Mrs Menzies also passes by riding, she is therefore in the physical osition to look down on other people.This underlines the clear distance between the colonialists and the people who are colonialized. Even though slavery was abolished by this time, hierarchical structures were stil l present (Wende 2012: 237). In â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† the white society seems to be very hostile to acts or people who do not fit in their idea of life. Not only the Market Street shows the racial segregation, but also the description of the two cemeteries. On the one hand, there is â€Å"the Catholic cemetery, where all day the candles burnt almost invisible in the unlight.When night came they twinkled like fireflies. The graves were covered with flowers- some real, some red of yellow paper or little gold cut-outs. † (21). This cemetery is the one where mostly black people were buried. Just like their clothes, their cemetery is described in a more colorful way. Whereas â€Å"the Anglican cemetery, which was not very far away, down the hill, was deserted and silent. † (21). Just like the people, the cemeteries have some point where they seem to be alike, for they both are places where people are buried, but they have significant differences.When eferring to the people this could be interpreted as the black people are more kindly (bright) and the white are more dismissive (grey). 3. Conclusion An impoverished stranger comes from off the island, usually from ‘home', and courts and marries a local woman who, in narrative terms, is seen to represent the island itself. That story is fundamental to Rhys's work. [†¦ ] It is the story of Mr. Ramage, in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh Pioneers. † And, crucially, it is the story of Rhys herself (Hulme 2000: 20). In Jean Rhys's short story the setting fulfills several functions.One the one hand, it is sed to determine the place where the action takes place. As already mentioned above, the place where the entire plot takes place and where the houses which are directly mentioned, such as Ramage's Spanish Castle or Dr Cox's house, are to be found, is Dominica. On the other hand, the setting is used to characterize acting people in an indirec way. For example, it is never said that the Cox f amily is a rich one. Only the description of one room in their house with chairs made of timber and a tigerskin rug leads the reader to the conclusion that they are a family which is well off.Furthermore, the setting tells the reader important character traits of 8 Dr Cox. The description of his desktop with a lot of newspapers implies that he is intelligent and a prestigious man. Another function of the setting in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† is to point out the racial segregation, that was still present on Dominica in 1899. Although the differences were never mentioned explicitly, it becomes clear that there is a huge discrepancy between black and white people, as the setting implies. For example, when Ramage marries Isla, he is â€Å"lost to white society' (15).In their eyes, the way Ramage lives does ot match their ideas of a hierarchy everyone has to stick to. They want a clear separation of colonialists and the people who are colonialized. As Malcolm and Malcolm point out â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneer†, deals with the cultural clash between those two groups (1996: 83). The white people outrank the black islanders. This is already got to know. The white women Mrs Menzies does not only feel like she is in a higher position, she actually really is, because she rides past the black people on her horse. Furthermore Malcolm and Malcolm emphasize that even the date emphasizes the clash.Peter Hulme sees in Jean Rhys's short story ‘Pioneers, Oh Pioneers' not only a foreshadowing of the life of the inexperienced settler, but a critique of precisely the sorts of imperial road-building ambitions that were promoted by politicians and administrators such as Chamberlain and Hesketh Bell.

environmental scarcity essays

environmental scarcity essays Conflict From Environmental Scarcity or Lust For Wealth? In "Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict," Thomas F. Homer-Dixon writes about the possible conflicts that are caused by environmental scarcities, using three different hypotheses's to do so. I found the first hypothesis to be most compelling because I feel it is the most prevalent in the world today. The first hypothesis in "Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict" states that environmental scarcity causes simple-scarcity conflicts between states . I selected "Lust for diamonds kills thousands in African wars," which I found on the web page www.cnn.com, to test this hypothesis. Homer-Dixon's hypothesis that environmental scarcity causes simple-scarcity conflicts between states is a valuable one and I feel that some conflicts such as the one involving diamond wars in Africa give this hypothesis merit although the wars in Africa cannot be solely based on it. Although Homer-Dixon concludes that the first hypothesis lacks empirical support, I feel that it is more interesting and easier to draw conclusions from it then the other two because of its simplicity. Unlike the other two hypothesis which are inter-woven with several elaborate ideas that all must coincide in order to justify it, the first hypothesis relies on the simple fact that a lack of resources and states quest for these resources drive the possibility of conflict and violence. I also like the examples used to support it such as Japan's strategy during World War II to obtain resources from China and the Persian Gulf War, which the United States was involved in. I lived through the Gulf War and believe that the war was almost solely based on the importance of obtaining oil from the Middle East. Contrary to what the United States wanted people to perceive, they where not simply helping out a weaker country like Kuwait in time of need but rather looking out for their own w ell being which mea ...

Free Essays on Analysis On John Donnes’ Holy Sonnet 14

to let God know that: He is the one who gives us all breath; He is the one who shines above everything; He is the one that helps us out more than any other thing. Secondly Donne admits that he is a sinner. He states that in order for him to be able to be a new person and â€Å"rise and stand† (3) before God, he must first be overthrown and broken. He goes on to say that he is engulfed in sin and is essentially in an unwanted rela... Free Essays on Analysis On John Donnes’ Holy Sonnet 14 Free Essays on Analysis On John Donnes’ Holy Sonnet 14 Analysis on John Donnes’ Holy Sonnet 14 As a Christian, John Donne writes his â€Å"Holy Sonnet 14: Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God† as a traditional orthodox prayer. He writes in the context of addressing God with praise at the beginning and the end of his prayer. In his prayer he also admits he is a sinner and asks for redemption. This particular course follows the same structure of numerous prayers found throughout the Bible. One of the most prominent of them is â€Å"The Lord’s Prayer† told by Jesus in Matthew 6: 9-13. We know that John Donne was a traditional orthodox Christian by the way he addresses God. He refers to God as a â€Å"three-personed God† in line one. He refers to God as three persons in one unit, not separate, for a reason. Traditional Christianity explains God as being made up of three parts: The Father; The Son; The Holy Ghost. Therefore when Donne refers to God this way we know he is addressing in the traditional orthodox Christian way. In Christianity, the Bible teaches us how to pray. One example is when Jesus recited â€Å"The Lord’s Prayer†. He was setting a particular course that he wanted Christians to follow. The first part of His prayer begins with addressing God and giving Him praise when He says â€Å"Our Father [†¦] Hallowed be Thy name.† (9). Donne follows this by addressing God in the first line. He then goes directly into praising God by saying, â€Å"You / As but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend† (1-2). He says these particular words to let God know that: He is the one who gives us all breath; He is the one who shines above everything; He is the one that helps us out more than any other thing. Secondly Donne admits that he is a sinner. He states that in order for him to be able to be a new person and â€Å"rise and stand† (3) before God, he must first be overthrown and broken. He goes on to say that he is engulfed in sin and is essentially in an unwanted rela...

The 3 Types of SAT Reading Passages You Should Know

The 3 Types of SAT Reading Passages You Should Know SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are 3 types of SAT reading passages that you, as the test taker, need to be familiar with. The 3 types of passages mainly differ in length, but also somewhat in content. Therefore, the strategies for tackling them need to be different. Below, we'll go over the different types of reading passages on the SAT and what you can expect from the questions that follow them. NOTE: This article was written about the old SAT Critical Reading section. For more information about passages on the current SAT Reading, we recommend instead reading this article. Types of Passages: Short passages Short passages are generally 100-200 words, 5 or 6 questions per passage.You might have multiple short passages in a section but, because they have less space to express ideas, they are usually informational pieces, rather than fiction. Here's an example of a short passage: These short reading passages tend to follow the sentence completions.Short passages are generally more straightforward and convey simpler ideas. Therefore, you should be able to go through them faster, and with greater accuracy than thelong or paired passages. Short Passage Questions Short passage questions tend to focus around reading comprehension questions. They're likely to be specific questions, or information based, with some general questions about the main idea or tone. Long Passages Long passages are 400-800 words, with anywhere between 7-10 questions per passage.The types of questions likely to be covered in a long passage are mentioned in another section below. Because of its length, you may find yourself forgetting what you read by the time you get to the questions. Therefore, make things easier for yourself! Mark important sections or words as you're reading the passage so that you can easily find it again later as you are going through the questions, just like in the example above. Long Passage Questions Longpassages are the bread and butter of the reading passage and usually involve main idea questions in some form. You should definitelyexpect plot summary questions, questions about the author’s views, and questions about individual characters (if the subject is fiction). Paired Passages Paired passages are 250-600 words each.They generally share the same topic or theme but approach it from a different perspective. Paired passagesare either both long or both short but, don't worry, they are no more difficult than the standard long or short passages. Here's an example of a passage pairing that's particularly short: With paired passages, remember to read any introductory material describing or giving information about two passages. This will usually be found in italics at the beginning and contain valuable information that can start helping you compare and contrast the two viewpoints. It might also be good to keep in mind the kind of sources that the 3 types of reading passages are drawn from. We'll cover these in more detail in another article, but for now, here's a very brief overview, below. Paired Passage Questions For paired passages, the first group of questions will refer to the first passage and the second group of questions will refer to the second passage. The last group of questions will almost always refer to how the passages relate to each other -this question type is unique to paired passages. Paired Passages Generally Have the Following Format for their Questions: A few questions on passage 1 A few questions on passage 2 Some questionsthat ask you to compare and contrast the two passages Some questions that ask you to consider what one author thinks about the other author's point of view Reading passages usually concern these subjects: Natural Sciences Humanities [Arts Commentary, History] Social Sciences [Science and culture] Literary Fiction [Literature] Personal Narrative We cover all these types in more detail in another article, Master SAT Reading: 5 Types of Passages. Question Types Across Passage Types: There are a total of 48 critical reading questions that are passage based, distributed across the 3 types of passages above. All passages share certain types of questions in common, while each passage type also has unique question types. First, we'll cover the types of questions that are common to all passage types. Vocabulary in context questions Vocab in Context questionsgenerallynumber between12-16 questions in total. Typically, they ask about a word in the passage.These questions are straight forward and quick. They're also easy to practice for - don't waste this opportunity to accumulate points!Always refer back to the passage first (get an idea of what word means in your terms then look at answer choice and pick one that matches). Specific Questions Specific questions will often contain a line or paragraph reference, a piece of information that isn't identified by line number.You will need to look for one identifiable piece of information within the passage, not the passage as a whole.If you find the answer, then approach itlike you would the vocab questions - think of the answer in your own words, and only thenlook back at the question.Specific questions can be literal comprehension, extended reasoning, or main idea questions. Literal comprehension questionswant you tofind a specific piece of information. Extended reasoning questionsask you to enter, make connections or draw conclusions about specific information in the passage. They never stray far from the text!You can draw conclusions but keep in mind that they're still specific questions! All answers should be drawnfrom the passage.Sometimes you may have to identify cause and effect,make inferences, orunderstand the logic of analogies or arguments. Main Idea Questions Main idea questions generally ask about passage as a whole (about author's tone, about attitude/development of a character).To answer these, you must have reasonable grasp of the entire passage.These can take a long time, so save them for last if you have trouble with time management. Confused About How to Sort This Out? Don't worry! We've got you covered! Below are some questions that should help you assess how you are doing on the critical reading - what you're good at, what you're having trouble with, where you can improve, etc. Answer them on a separate piece of paper and go over them with another practice test in hand. If you have a tutor, bring your answers to them, so they can have a clear idea of where you need help most! We've also got some links to articles that focus on strategies to ace the SAT Critical Reading section. Check out the section What's Next? at the bottom of this article. Questions to Ask Yourself: What Passage Types Are You Bad At? For each type of passage, categorize the number of questions you get right, wrong, and omit Figure out your % performance for each type of passages Ifone of these is worse than others (say 10% lower than others), focus on that type of passage Categorize the types of questions across the test, then figure out your % for each type of question Focus on your weaker questions/passages when studying for your test What's Next? For more information on SAT Critical Reading, check out: What's Actually Tested on SAT Reading? SAT Reading Skills Printable SAT Practice Tests: 8 FREE Official Tests The Best Way to Read the Passage in SAT Reading Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Internatioanl Logistics - Monitoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internatioanl Logistics - Monitoring - Essay Example International suppliers more so should be monitored with a not of keenness considering the distance that may separate the two businesses and the logistics involved in making cross border transactions. The importance of monitoring supplier activities is to ensure the timely detection and correction of faults that may arise in the course of doing business. Based on the performance of the supplier, the business is in a better position to make good and timely decisions and so avoid unpleasant surprises. The monitoring of performance and identification of areas likely to be faced with problems can improve the efficiency of a supply chain. Efficient supplier monitoring also involves aspects such as costs, quality, performance assessment, social responsibility, timeliness of deliveries as well as business-supplier relationship. For efficient international supplier monitoring, there is need for the use of real-time information, visiting steady reaction sites, accurate reports of situation an d constant client accessibility. These monitoring services help in resource optimization, review of supplier achievement as well as future decision making. Cost control One of the key factors that determine the success of a business is cost of suppliers. As the organization does business with an international supplier, it really needs to closely monitor global trends in the cost of related products, foreign exchange rates and airfreight costs. The business needs to get updated with packaging, transport, and unloading related costs. Transportation cost is a core issue in the cost of logistics. For this reason continuous monitoring of transport activities is a major concern of businesses. In monitoring transportation, the company may consider monitored related risks in terms of delay risk and safety. Delay risk involves the use of departure, transfer and destination points as well as real time data and transport time as inputs in calculating and warning of a delay. However with the im proved technology there are better methods of monitoring logistic information. Essentially, the suppliers costs of packaging, transportation and unloading should be reasonable and sensitive to the needs of the business. Relationship with Supplier An organization needs to maintain a good relationship with its suppliers. Establishing and maintaining positive relationships will in effect financially benefit both parties. The company has its responsibilities when it comes to dealing with suppliers such as making prompt payments and promptly submitting complaints and claims in the event of damages. In order to maintain a positive relationship with international suppliers, the business may consider meeting their contacts face to face with an aim of seeing how their activities are carried out as noted by Business Link (2011). The suppliers should also be contacted regularly and updated with strategic changes promptly so that they may also adapt to such changes. Better deals may come in the way of the business if it maintains a healthy rapport with a supplier and becomes one of its important customers (Business Link 2011). Quality control The products and services that suppliers provide to a business greatly impacts its performance in the market. This being the case, the business should ensure that its suppliers deliver quality services and products. Monitoring the