Toy Story - Change through Information System Essay free essay sample

Executive Summary A company like Toy Story whose major interactions are with other businesses (B2B), should develop information system (IS) overtime. It has almost no interaction with the consumers and its customers are wholesalers and retailers. In today’s fast moving and technology-oriented environment, no firm likes to do business with a firm which uses traditional methods in its business. Most of the successful organizations in the world today have IS installed in their organizations and the employees are trained to use computer systems in every aspect of their work. Paper-based procedures are being abolished in all most of the large organizations. Employees become more efficient when processes are automated and the management also witnesses fall in cost of production and expenses. However there are also issues in the implementation of IS. ‘People’ is one of the most important components of an IS and if they are also the stakeholders and users to IS and if they oppose the change, the implementation cannot be successful. We will write a custom essay sample on Toy Story Change through Information System Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If properly implemented, taking employees into confidence, the change can be managed quite smoothly and the managers can enjoy the increase in return on investment (ROI). Toy Story Change through Information System A toy manufacturing firm, Toy Story, is under the study in this report. This report will describe the issues the firm is facing and their potential solutions. The root cause of all the problems Toy Story is facing is usage of traditional methods of recording information and no existence of an information system. The problems identified in the business case will be discussed in detail and recommendations of possible solutions will also be given. Introduction The need of information system exists in every organization that operates in a competitive atmosphere. Companies which have cunningly implemented information systems in the past are flourishing and those which have not are facing rising costs and dependency on human resource. With a total product line of approximately 1200 toys and almost 600 customers, Tor Story faces a lot of trouble in recording transactions and important information.Toy Story is currently operating with only spreadsheet and MS Access databases. It does not have a computer based order processing system instead customers has to use telephones and traditional mailing service as a medium of placing orders. At the moment, the organization only houses at most 25 percent computer literate staff and no database system for customer records. The production department is suffering from production of low quality toys. There is no track of the orders placed to suppliers therefore no one knows the supplier of low quality material. There is terrible interdepartmental communication as the blame game among employees takes place because of no records. Production process has never been documented and is only in the heads of the staff. If these people leave the organization, there will be loss of precious knowledge about production   methods.With 150 vending machines, this strategy has been successful so far but the systems recording Toy Toob’s income flow are paper-based, uncertain and not accurate. A well placed information system (IS) can help many of these issues to be resolved but in return Buzz will face a lot of resistance in the implementation of IS from the employees. This resistance can be tactically resolved by involving them in the change process right from the beginning. Problem Areas The toy industry in general has been also affected as the other industries have due to the global recession. Sales for Toy Story have declined up to 30 percent in the recent sales period of Christmas. The management of Toy Story is considering dismissal of staff as a result of severe drop in orders from the retailers. Although the company is relying heavily on the financial reserves that have been built up but if things do not get better, layoffs will be the only option left. The owner of Toy Story does not want to dismiss the staff as he has a strong sense of ethics. Toy Story is working in a manual work environment where paper-based work is employed in most of the procedures. With only 45 computer literate employees, the company makes little use of spreadsheet, MS office and Access. Order processing system in the company is not computer based and as a result the customers have to face difficulty in placing orders. Customers have to rely on traditional mediums such as phone, surface mail, fax and email to place orders. As a result, order filling takes time and the customer has to bear delays in deliveries especially when there are stock-outs. These problems are annoying the customers and many of them are even switching to the competitors for purchases. The quality of toys at Toy Story has also become a major concern for the management as the quality of material from its suppliers is sometimes not acceptable. The company makes and   maintains paper records for these suppliers and filed in cabinets; sometimes the records are not even completed or filed during busy times.The material for the toys is ordered from a wide range of suppliers overseas and orders are placed via email, telephone and fax by the employees. The suppliers with the low quality materials are not identified because of improper records and numerous suppliers. Some suppliers do not send the material at all, which results in disarray on the production line and clashes between the managers of the departments involved. Internal communications in Toy Story suffers from a lot of misunderstandings and lobbying. The production process of Toy Story has never been documented and the production methods are only in the minds of the employees. Toy Story has realized that the information and knowledge that the processes need, they are all inside the heads of the employees and not with the company. If the employees leave the organization, they will take the knowledge with them, causing serious crisis in the production process.The profits from the vending machine strategy are driving up the bottom line of the company. The management is not certain about the contribution that Toy Toobs are making to the net profit. This is because the recording systems for Toy Toob’s sales and income stream are manual and inaccurate. Toy Story not only lacks organized statistics about the company but also lacks valuable knowledge resources such as customer data, supplier records and transaction information which are necessary to make strategic decisions. Prioritization of Change Concerns The most important of the concerns in the organization that need change is manual and paper-based work. Only 45 employees who make up 25% of the total staff are computer literate. In today’s technologically advance working environment all of the employees should know how to use a computer and they should have one personal computer on their work desktop. Many business processes can be streamlined using computers and software such as placing an order to the supplier, managing suppliers profiles, maintain and add records, automatic generation of reports and RFQs. Of the total 18 computers in the organization, only eight are connected to internet and an intranet within the organization has not been developed yet. Manual work needs to be eliminated in the organization and the processes need to be automated to achieve efficiency and competitiveness.The expenses and cost of production for the firm have been increasing over the years and no effort has been made to make reductions in them. There is no use of technology and automation of business processes that is why the expenses are ever increasing and there are inefficiencies. The second gravest problem in To y Story is that the management has not given enough importance to customer data and the customer itself. The customers count up to 600 which are mainly retail store owners, distributors and wholesalers. These customers face delays in deliveries because of manual work and traditional order processing system at Toy Story. For this reason many customers are turning towards competitors for toy products. There is no concept of customer relationship in the firm and employees are not trained to collect important customer data which can be very helpful. It is not possible for the employees to collect and records customer information in a paper-based environment. The third serious problem is the relationship with the suppliers and insufficient records of supplier invoices, quotations, order details and price history.This problem poses a serious threat to the quality of raw material being used in the production line and hence the quality of the final product. There is no culture of recording transactions with the suppliers and information about   supplier. Although some records are prepared manually and stored in cabinets, but they are never opened up if there is raw material of low quality from any supplier. There are approximately 60 suppliers for Toy Story, therefore no one in the company knows from which supplier the material has been delivered. Hence the material is neither returned nor rejected but is used in the production of toys. This reduces the quality of final product and causes clashes between managers of production department and accounting department.The fourth problem on the prioritization list is not so serious for the company right now, but when the employees start leaving the company then the importance of knowledge of the employees will be felt. There is no documentation of the business and production processes that are being employed in the firm. Only the employees performing the tasks know how they are being performed and loss of staff members will result in production problems. This knowledge could also become basis of power for the employees who perform important tasks. These employees could then use this power to threaten the management or demand a pay raise. The fifth and the last issue on the prioritization list is about the performance metrics. There are no metrics and techniques available to accurately measure the income generation from different sources of the firm. The performance metrics not only allow the firm to measure its performance but also guides the management in decision making where to invest more and where to reduce the investments.In the case of Toy Story, Toy Toobs are a great success and it is helping the firm to cover the expenses and reduction of revenues from decreasing sales. But no automatic, riskless and accurate systems exist in the organization to record the profit contribution of Toy Toobs to the bottom line. At the time of economic uncertainty and when most global firms are experiencing change in business environment, if a firm does not have performance   measurement system, it will be impossible for the management to set a strategic direction of the organization. IS Implementation The firm needs integration of departments and also business process reengineering to automate all the business processes. This will not only increase employees’ efficiency but also cut the expenses. Paper-based work has to be eliminated and all the tasks should be streamlined to achieve automation. Use of intranet and internet needs to become a part of the routine of the employees. Although there will be a great uproar from the employees as no one likes change in their working environment but they need to be trained to use the computer and advance technology. The best solution for the Toy Story will be to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in the organization as soon as possible. This will automate all the processes, allow smooth communication within the departments, make the employees more aware of the global scenario and make the business and production processes more efficient and less time consuming. The appropriate staff will need to be trained and more hardware and software needs to be installed on the systems. ERP will help the managers to allocate resources more efficiently in the enterprise and make more use of them. It will help managers to assign tasks to the employees and forecast sales and demand. It is evident from the case that the staff and management have no realization about the importance of customer data and information. The firm is not practicing any form of customer relationship though it has over 600 customers globally with different statistics. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) needs to be employed in the organization.This will help the employees to records transactions with the customers, track customer orders, view customer history, prioritize customers and make customer profiles. This will not only reduce the transaction cost but also allow Buzz to reduce the employees as an effort to cut cost. Many powerful tools are available in CRM to dig or ‘mine’ customer data to help the management make more customer oriented strategic direction. Most of the big organizations in the world have implemented CRM as a step towards building long lasting relationships with the customers and have gained customer loyalty and increase in profits as a result. In CRM implementation, sales force plays an important part as they have the most interaction with the final customers. They should be trained and equipped with sophisticated equipments which will allow sales force automation, field force automation, lead management, i ntegration with other departments and uninterrupted communication with the sales office. Insufficient relationship with the suppliers and lack of record keeping is resulting in lower quality raw material from suppliers. The organization needs to maintain records on a system which will help in the procurement cycle. Placing an order to a supplier will become very easy and efficient when manual and paper-based work is eliminated. RFQ generation, catalogue management, supplier selection process, supplier analysis, supplier short listing, supplier evaluation consume a lot of time of the procurement department employees.All these processes can be automated and through this only the best suppliers will be selected. Hence the quality of material being supplied will be up to the standard; the supplier not performing up to the expectations can be switched. For a manufacturing firm like Toy Story it is very necessary to implement Supply Chain Management (SCM) to build and maintain long-term relationships with the best suppliers. The knowledge and experiences of employees need to be documented in order to be on the safe side. When an employee leaves an organization, it takes all the contacts and knowledge with him. In order to prevent production process of Toy Story from a disaster, the management needs to enforce rules in the organization which will compel the employees to document all their production methods and their contacts. These methods, contacts and knowledge of employees will be with the organization and even if the employee leaves the firm, his experience and knowledge will stay with the firm.Implementation of Knowledge Management (KM) will help the firms to tactically store the employees’ knowledge in their system as the employees are not important for the business but their knowledge that they have developed through experience. Decision Support System (DSS) is needed to record all the performance metrics and data about strategies. DSS then helps the management to make decisions about part icular strategies and it also assists in deciding whether the strategy is feasible or not. In the case of Toy Story’s strategy of vending machines, the managers need to know that how much they are earning from this strategy and whether they should invest more.Inputs and Outputs for Recommendations There will be many inputs for our highest priority change recommendation which is the implementation of ERP. Inputs for ERP include all the transaction information contained in all the files of the organization and paper work needs to be typed.Other inputs are listed below-Training of users-Update hardware-Update systems-Data stored in all the current databases-Data of each department-Number of users-Functional requirements-Reporting requirements from the users-Previous year’s sales and production details-Master production schedule-Recommendations from the end-users of system-Employees details -Consultancy provided ERP vendor’s experts-Testing the current systems-High cost of purchase of ERPWhen the ERP is smoothly and tactically implemented, the output woul d be favorable for the company. Increase in ROI will be witnesses by the management as the time goes by which is used to cover the high cost of implementation of ERP in the first few years. However if the employees are not involved in the process, they become resistant and they may discard the change. Automatic generation of RFQ, invoices, update of accounts, inventory checks, forecasts, integrated database, hiring of a Database Administrator (DBA) are the outputs of ERP implementation. Stakeholders’ Needs Stakeholder is anyone who has interest in the organization or who will be affected by the change in organization.Following is the list of stakeholders of Toy Story:-Employees-Customers (Retail store owners, wholesalers, distributors)-Owners (Stockholders and Buzz)   company like Toy Story, which has net profit for the last year of US $ 4 million, should not gamble at this point of time.When the market conditions get better, the company should then definitely go for the change as it is far behind the other competitors. In Toy Story, where only 25 percent of the employees are computer literate and no one is a master user, heavy training sessions and great investment of money and time will be needed to prepare the employees to use the information system. New computers will also be needed for all the users of the system, management will need to deal with all the ethical, cultural and security issues; costs for all these changes will be too high for Toy Story in the current scenario of recession. Management of Toy Story should invest in information systems such as ERP as soon as the sales start increasing after the recession is over References Organizational Structures in Project Management, EZine Articles, 2009, retrieved 15 May 2009, www.ezinearticles. com/?Organizational-Structures-In-Project-Managementid=424910Kotler, P, G, Armstrong, Principles of Marketing, 11th Edition, Prentice Hall College Div, 2008.Laudon, C, Laudon, P, Management Information System, 7 Edition, Prentice Hall, 2001.Lynne, M, ‘Issues of Implementation’, Power, Politics and MIS Implementation, Vol. 26, No. 6, 1983, pp. 430-444.Malone, Jo R. , Harvey, Gill, Seers, Kate, Kitson, Alison, Mccormack, Brendan Titchen, Angie, An exploration of the factors that influence the implementation of evidence into practice, Journal of Clinical Nursing , vol. 13, no. 8, 2004, pp. 913-924.Bogdan, Crenguta Dan, Toward a Concern-Oriented Analysis Method for Enterprise Information Systems, in Computing in the Global Information Technology, 2006. ICCGI 06. International Multi-Conference on, 2006, pp. 30.Hendricks, Kevin B., Singhal, Vinod R. Stratman, Jeff K., The impact of enterprise systems on corporate performance: A study of ERP, SCM, and CRM system implementations, Journal of Operations Management, vol. In Press, Corrected Proof.Norris, Grant, Hurley, James R. , Hartley, Kenneth M., Dunleavy, John R. Balls, John D., EBusiness and ERP: Transforming the Enterprise (John Wiley ; Sons, 2000).NSW Employers Responsibilities, findlaw.com. (2009). Retrieved 14 May, 2009, from www.findlaw.com.au/article/6684.htmlBhatia, A., Dey, R. (2005). Globalization of Product Development: The Inevitable Next Stage. Retrieved April 8, 2009, from http://www.infosys.com/global-sourcing/white-papers/globalizationproduct-development-part1.pdf

Wilfred Owens The Send-off and Erno Mullers Assault Essay Example

Wilfred Owens The Send Wilfred Owens The Send-off and Erno Mullers Assault Paper Wilfred Owens The Send-off and Erno Mullers Assault Paper Essay Topic: Literature The assault Both Owens and Mullers poems were written about World War 1 and so the two poems are especially similar in some respects, even though different poets wrote them. There are still a large number of differences between the two poems. Some similarities and differences are naturally easier to spot than others; some only become apparent after extensive study. These differences and similarities occur in style, the way the poems deal with war and it effects as well as many other things. In The Send-off by Wilfred Owen the story is told of the soldiers departing on a train for the war. It depicts the men at the siding shed and on the train, leaving their loved ones and all the things that they have worked for to go and fight on the frontline and probably die. The storyline is the start of what is likely to be the last train journey for the majority of the men on board. As the train departs with the men on board so do we leave them. In Assault by Erno Muller the story about a group of World War 1 soldiers is being relayed to us, of how they got caught in a gas attack and how it causes someone to die. The soldiers then have to get out of the trench and attack the enemy, the story shows the real world of war. The tone of The Send-off is one that condemns the deaths of those that participated and how far too many men died, a few, a few, too few [may return] the fact that Wilfred Owen is saying too few return, means too many die, this then means that is condemning the war and waste of human life. When talking about the departure Owen wrote So secretly, like wrongs hushed-up, which talks about how the men being sent off to fight and probably die is wrong, so he is condemning it. Assault by Erno Muller also has a condemning tone, there are no outstanding quotes representing this -however the underlying view of the author can be picked up as more of the poem is read. There is also a sarcastic tone although this does not feature in The Send-off Assault uses it at the end to good effect, God, this is fun! One can get the impression that some see war as fun or good, this poem has sarcasm to show how wrong they are. The voice in The Send-off is in a 3rd person perspective. It is narrated by someone who is there looking at the men and women being affected but is not involved with those there directly, words like their and they give us this impression. It also sounds like someone who knows a large amount about the occurrences of the war and resents it. It is almost as if it is the soul of a soldier who died fighting in the war and he resents this. Assault has a 1st person perspective. It sounds like someone who had experienced it and survived. Words like ripped and were show that it was written in the past tense whilst quotes like God, this is fun makes it seem as if the narrator experienced the war 1st hand. The Send-off has both an angry underlying mood too few as if the author is shouting and hollering as if very angry, along with a sad mood. It is sad because the author knows that a lot of the men will soon be dieing. A few, a few may creep back. We get the idea that they have been through terrible suffering (which they had) and that only a few survived (which is also true), this is supposed to and succeeds in saddening the reader. Assault has a few moods in it, there is an eerie mood at the start of the poem. The white cloud swirled round him like a fog. This gives an eerie atmosphere as death just swirled up around one of the soldiers without him realising. Another mood is sadness A man choked caught him unawares. Then his body flopped over. We are saddened from this as a man suffers a horrible death from gas and he didnt have a chance to avoid it. Assault also has an angry mood in it, the author is angry at the waste of human life, the quote over the top and kill shows how all war is, is people to kill. The two poems have very different forms, The Send-off is broken into four stanzas which change in size going small, large, small and large. This breaking up could represent how war is fought in sections. These sections are the different battles that occurred in World War 1. The order of the stanzas and the size of each stanza being regular could be seen to represent how the deaths and occurrences of war were seen as regular. However, looking closer the sentences begin and end at different points, war appears regular but look closer into it and it is not. Assault only has 2 stanzas, these are of very different lengths, however the lines are organised into groupings. The different groups of lines represent the different parts of the battle that the soldiers went through, the form of Assault is totally un-predictable, much like an enemys next move in a battle or war. There are several differences between the rhythms that the two poems use. Erno Mullers Assault has a rhythm that keeps changing. It begins quickly Gas! Faces turned straight into the action there is a fast rhythm here as the soldiers try to survive the gas attack. It slows down in the middle of the poem as the shells are described and then tired they sank earthwards. There is a final boost of speed at the end of the poem Over the wall! Over the top and kill. The Send-off however has a very steady rhythm and it is fairly slow. The very regular rhythm Dull Porters watched them, and a casual tramp Stood staring hard makes the send-off of men to the front lines seem a regular occurrence (which it was) and therefore that the mens deaths were also a regular un-important event. Both poems have a great deal of examples of imagery throughout them. The Send-off starts of with lines and words making it feel that the war is being censored, so only some truths come out. This is being done because war is wrong and the government, army etc are trying to keep it quiet. Darkening lanes produces imagery of it occurring in the dead of night so that it is not seen by many people and therefore kept quiet. Everyone knew that it was wrong but no-one was trying hard enough to do anything about it, everyone was just keeping quiet like wrings hushed up. The impression of things being censored and kept quiet is given as men may creep back silent so only a handful of people knew the truth about the war. Assault also has a few examples of things being kept quiet. The masks that hid the men from the gas can represent how the government hid (or censored) the truth about the war from the public. Some of these things carried through to the soldiers, the white cloud which was actually death, as gas could seem innocent to the inexperienced soldier as a white cloud would seem above suspicion to the uninformed. There are copious numbers of references to the huge number of men that died throughout as well as all the suffering that a lot of them went through. Erno Muller has included a lot imagery for this, feverish hands the men are harmed mentally (scared stiff) just by the thought of the gas attack. The horrible image of a man choked as the gas caught him unawares over whelmed his defences and took over his body. Groaning makes us think of all the men lying on the battlefield groaning in pain. The men also felt like they were on their own at times, the word unawares is the only word on the line, it also is on its own. They may also have felt that everything was against them including nature The wind cut me. The feeling that everything was against them would have reduced their morale even more. Owen also included no end of imagery within his poem, lined the train produces the image of the huge numbers of men that took part in the war as a train can hold a huge number of people. The men tried to put a brave face on their situation, as they were not that happy about being in a war faces grimly gay. There are also a great deal of references to how the deaths became usual as so many men lost their lives, They got a train trains run regularly just as the men died regularly, Dull porters watched them as it wasnt unusual for train loads of men to go off, however this also meant that it was usual, mundane and uninteresting that the men died. Repetition near the end of the poem A few, a few, too few gives the impression of things going on and on, either the suffering of the soldiers, the numbers of dead or just how the war went on for a lot longer than everyone was expecting. The women gave them flowers before they left, this could be instead of putting flowers on their graves as the men were very likely to die and some of their bodies would never be found. Words and lines like our and I in Assault make you realise that it was personal, people lost lots of friends and family in the war, a lot of men would have watched their friends die. The two poems have different rhyming patterns, one doesnt have one. The Send-off has a regular rhyming pattern, in the short stanzas it is ABA and in the longer stanzas it is a more complex but still a regular rhyming pattern. The regular rhyming pattern in the poem can represent the regularity of the send off during World War 1 and therefore the regularity of the men dying. Assault has no particular rhyming pattern. This could represent how things dont always happen as they are supposed to. It is, however, still a poem. Things dont always happen in war as they are supposed to, but it is still a war and waste of human life. Both poems deal with war and its effects in similar ways. They condemn the immense loss of human life. Both authors seem to try to deal with their losses by discussing what occurred. In conclusion, the two poems deal with war and its effects in the way that most war poems endeavour to.

Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free (#3)

Charles Dickens Essay Essay Topic: Literature , Charles Dickens In the first chapter he uses many cold, harsh adjectives to reinforce his description of Scrooge, â€Å"wrenching, grasping, clutching†, and this helps to give the reader a very negative attitude towards him. This way of writing, using words which associate to the mood Dickens wants to put across, is very unusual and I think that people reading the book find this stimulating and exciting. We can vividly see the blissful festivities of Fezziwig’s party because Dickens uses the idea that lots of people can enjoy themselves dancing together, â€Å"all the young men and women†. Readers are able to apply this to their own memories of gatherings with family or friends, which makes it a piquant read. The happiness and togetherness of this party also allows us to compare jovial Fezziwig with unpleasant Scrooge because there is such a big difference in their characters. Dickens uses very inventive language to allow the reader to understand exactly the ideas he is trying to portray, â€Å"Choked up with too much burying† and this enables the reader to almost feel the atmosphere written in the book. He uses a simile to describe the way in which the Cratchit children react to Tiny Tim’s death, â€Å"as still as statues† and we can fully sense their shocking grief. We can see this is very different behaviour compared with their usual happiness, such as their excitement at Christmas, â€Å"God bless us†. The way he writes that the children were all â€Å"in one corner† gives the image of contraction and trying to find security by closing in together, which helps us to see these saddening representations. A Christmas Carol is very emotive. We have compassion for the Cratchit family and we are upset about Tiny Tim’s illness, but fear is also evoked from the reader because the spirits are so unnatural and powerful. We become very angry with Scrooge for being so parsimonious with his money, but we then gain sympathetic affections towards Scrooge as we see how he was badly treated in the earlier parts of his life. Using these contrasts, Dickens creates different moods throughout the book and the reader feels happiness and companionship as well as distaste and anger. As more emotions are aroused, the reader becomes more involved and begins to enjoy the book with more fascination. As well as these many advantages of the book, giving it the popularity it has acquired, there are also aspects which could reduce the popularity of the book. To modern people, the language may seem bizarre because it is a Victorian style of writing when people had more time to read the book and analyse it properly, because they were not watching television etc. People may find the descriptions and language Dickens uses in the book too complex, â€Å"courses will foreshadow certain end†, which makes it difficult to read and sometimes confusing. It seems almost impossible that the Cratchits can be so happy just because of the closeness between the family, even though they have so many problems with money. Again it is infeasible that Scrooge’s character and attitude to life could change completely overnight, but we accept this because we want him to change for the benefit of others. Charles Dickens shows that Scrooge was once a genuine and moral person, as a young man, when the first spirit recalls Scrooge’s earlier life, â€Å"passion†. We also see the reasons in Scrooge’s adolescence that could have made him such a bitter old man. This is because he is so deprived of love and we know this because Dickens gives evidence that the Father used to be cruel, â€Å"kinder than he used to be†. This gives us reasons to sympathise with him, and helps to believe he could have a good inner heart. He also has a very kind and loving nephew, â€Å"Dine with us†, which shows that there could be righteousness in Scrooge’s blood. These reasons all help us to believe that Scrooge can become a good man again, and support our acceptance of the joy and warmth at the end. A Christmas Carol is a book which contains many hidden meanings and the more it is read, the more interesting ideas we see in it. This is why people continue to create plays and films on the book, so people will understand the whole story fully and the main universal message, that we should be more charitable. There is also a lot of dramatic suspense in the book, because we ask ourselves so many questions. We want to know which aspects the spirits are going to show and how this will influence Scrooge. We hope that Tiny Tim will be able to gain strength to stay alive and we also want to know who the person in the graveyard is. All these confusing questions make the reader anticipate the ending of the book and this gives another reason for it’s continuing popularity. I like the way that there are many subtle details, which highlight the main idea and further encourage me to want to change my way of life, â€Å"altered life†. I enjoy the way he uses symbols and his own ideas to create an impact on the reader. For example the deprived children are a symbol showing the reader what will happen if Scrooge does not change his actions, â€Å"Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked†. The â€Å"angel† and the â€Å"devil† are opposite symbols, which gives emphasis to the degraded children. I can also see that the book is very popular because Scrooge has now become a vernacular part of speech, when we say that someone may have a ‘Scrooge like character’. Charles Dickens. (2017, Sep 26). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Bilingual Education Curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bilingual Education Curriculum - Essay Example It is then necessary to lay down the reasons why despite several convincing arguments on the effectiveness of bilingual education, the arguments and debates continue. And to shed light on the cloudy controversy, Crawford (1998) presented the ten misconceptions or common fallacies about bilingual education as follows: 1. English is losing ground to other languages in the United States. More of a panic view than an empirical one, Crawford (1998) acknowledged that there are more world languages spoken in the US now more than ever but quantitative, he argued and not a qualitative change from earlier periods. He pointedly added the concentrations of non-English language speakers common in the 19th century provided for by laws authorizing native language instruction in several states and territories. Children in big cities and rural areas attended bilingual and non-English schools with a diversity of French, Norwegian, Czech or Cherokee while "English survived without any help from government such as official-language legislation," (Crawford, 1998). 2. Newcomers to the United States are learning English more slowly now than in previous generations. Another unfounded belief, Crawford (1998) argued that recent immigrants "appear to be acquiring English more rapidly than ever before" while minority language speakers grow, bilinguals fluent in both native and English language "is growing even faster. Waggoner (1995) reported that between 1980 and 1990, the number of immigrants who spoke non-English languages at home increased by 59%, while the portion of this population that spoke English very well rose by 93% . Likewise, Crawford (1998) added that only 3 percent of US residents reported speaking English less (as compared to well and very well) while only a very insignificant portion spoke no English at all. Also, Veltman (1998) found that about 3 in 4 Hispanic immigrants were reportedly able to speak English on a daily basis after 15 years of residency, and that 70 percent of their children became monolingual English speakers 3. The best way to learn a language is through total immersion. Rodriguez (1982) and de la Pea (1991) were often cited to have "succeeded in school without a special program and acquired a very high level of English literacy," (Krashen, 1997) but it was found out, both had substantial advantages. Rodriguez grew up in an English-Speaking neighborhood in Sacramento, California instrumental in his informal immersion from classmates while de la Pea had the bilingual education advantage in Mexico until fifth grade, and was placed two grades backwards in his schooling in the United States. Crawford (1998) further argued "there is no credible evidence to support the "time on task" theory of language learning-- the claim that the more children are exposed to English, the more English they will learn" emphasizing quality over quantity of exposure while Krashen (1996) pointed out that second language input must also be comprehensible to promote second language acquisition. Crawford (1998) adde d that children left alone to learn on their own in an all-English classroom setting with little or without help via native lessons, English learning will be of little use. And that native instruction will make learning

Self Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self Evaluation - Essay Example I am going to go a head and discuss a real life case study which I experienced myself while I was working as a house supervisor for Familia Group Home Inc. This business housed teens ranging from 14-22 with violent aggressive behaviors and drug addictions. The company just pretty much gave out applications for anyone who came by seeking employment and would send them to get a security background check if cleared they could be hired by the owner. There were 10 employees all together at that time. The company did not have any standard operating procedures and/or policies hence the problems occurring due to the absence of such policies are self explanatory. For example, the employees reporting to work on time had no incentive of doing so while the employees who were not punctual faced no embracement. My objective was to basically establish an effective and efficient human resource department comprising of at least one HR coordinator and one assistant. I could not have just hired one person because like Bazerman, Loewenstein, and White (1992) have also demonstrated that people exhibit less will power when they weigh choices separately rather than jointly. The purpose was to create a set of policies like, The challenge was to compare the cost of hiring a qualified and experienced HR person versus the cost of having un-organized and un-monitored employees leading to jeopardized care of the facility and compromised treatment of the children, which of course was against the aim of the organization. Therefore there were 2 options, The problem with hiring a new person for taking care of human resources was not only the cost of it being higher than the 2nd option but also the time. The time, which the new person will require to adjust and understand the situation, get trained and then work according to it. We decided to

Power and Communication Essay Example for Free

Power and Communication Essay Language discrimination has been prevalent in society for thousands of years. This has been something that happens in every civilization and will not stop now. Language discrimination is unfair treatment of an individual by the way that they compose themselves in a verbal matter. What I mean by this is to treat someone unjust because of factors such as accents, vocabulary size, or just that they speak a different language. This happens a lot to tourists who don’t know how to speak proper English in the United States. I have lived in the United States my whole life and I have witnessed multiple accounts of this. There are multiple situations in which language discrimination occurs. Situations include work, school, vacation spots, and in the general public. The workplace is supposed to be free of any type of discrimination but it is not. People are discriminated against if they speak different or even remotely act differently than what we experience inside the walls of our community. School kids are picked on by other kids if they are a different nationality, this being because they speak different languages and are trying to learn the English language. Tourists on vacation trying to enjoy their stay are constantly pressed with the fact that next to nobody around them knows their native language providing a barrier of communication. The general public tends to look down on a person if they have a speech impediment or an accent even if they are still natives of the United States. They are made to look like tourists in a nation of their own. Some examples of language discrimination I have observed come mainly within my own community. I have witnessed people from work picking on other individuals because they are a different nationality such as Hispanic. Some Hispanics are American-Hispanic being born in the United States. They are typically not discriminated against like the full blood Hispanics are. This  is because they have not grown up in such a culture before and are trying to adapt. The same thing would happen to me if I was traveling to a different country. I would be looked at as an outsider as soon as I open my mouth. There are many identity labels that contribute to discrimination. Labels such as â€Å"Working class† or â€Å"Black† are just a few of them. These are a form of discrimination in themself. Labels are a way to identify someone in the wrong way. They may be â€Å"working class† but may not want to be considered as that. They may want to be known as â€Å"rich† or â€Å"powerful†. Or may find it an insult because they have to work to make a living. â€Å"Black† is also a common term used to identify some African-Americans. This is discrimination because one individual is not better than the next. This may be degrading to anyone who is classified under any sort of label. I do not believe that discrimination in communication is ethical because I feel as if it is a nonverbal or verbal form of abuse. It can be degrading at times and can cause a person to be uncomfortable in their own community. Regardless if I agree with discrimination or not, it will still continue to happen even long after I’m gone.

Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality :: History

Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality Thomas Jefferson was a man of the greatest moral character who has been excoriated routinely over the last 30 years by historical revisionists and presentists. His commitment to America and his vast contributions to the framing of society as it is today are overlooked in favor of base analysis of his character that, while not flawless, is that of a morally upright person who has deeply held convictions and lives by them. Jefferson was born to a prominent family of Virginia tobacco growers. Plantation life is based largely around the work of slaves, so Jefferson was surrounded by them from the time of his birth in 1743 until the day he died. One of the harshest criticisms of Jefferson comes from the fact that, while he vehemently opposed slavery, was indeed a slave owner himself. As historian Douglas L. Wilson points out in his Atlantic Monthly article â€Å"Thomas Jefferson and the Character Issue†, the question should be reversed: â€Å"...[T]his was of asking the question... is essentially backward, and reflects the pervasive presentism of our time. Consider, for example, how different the question appears when inverted and framed in more historical terms: How did a man who was born into a slave holding society, whose family and admired friends owned slaves, who inherited a fortune that was dependent on slaves and slave labor, decide at an early age that slavery was morally wrong and forcefully declare that it ought to be abolished?† (Wilson 66). Wilson also argues that Jefferson knew that his slaves would be better off working for him than freed in a world where they would be treated with contempt and not given any real freedoms. Another way that Thomas Jefferson shows his moral character is in his most famous achievement, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. This document is probably the most important document in the history of the United States, and one of the most important in the history of the world. Jefferson writes that â€Å"all men are created equal† and argues that every man has the right to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† Jefferson’s document shows not only his strongly held beliefs in freedom, but his acceptance of and belief in the views of the Age of Reason. He believed himself to be a person who was doing what was morally right, not for the fame that would eventually accompany it. Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality :: History Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality Thomas Jefferson was a man of the greatest moral character who has been excoriated routinely over the last 30 years by historical revisionists and presentists. His commitment to America and his vast contributions to the framing of society as it is today are overlooked in favor of base analysis of his character that, while not flawless, is that of a morally upright person who has deeply held convictions and lives by them. Jefferson was born to a prominent family of Virginia tobacco growers. Plantation life is based largely around the work of slaves, so Jefferson was surrounded by them from the time of his birth in 1743 until the day he died. One of the harshest criticisms of Jefferson comes from the fact that, while he vehemently opposed slavery, was indeed a slave owner himself. As historian Douglas L. Wilson points out in his Atlantic Monthly article â€Å"Thomas Jefferson and the Character Issue†, the question should be reversed: â€Å"...[T]his was of asking the question... is essentially backward, and reflects the pervasive presentism of our time. Consider, for example, how different the question appears when inverted and framed in more historical terms: How did a man who was born into a slave holding society, whose family and admired friends owned slaves, who inherited a fortune that was dependent on slaves and slave labor, decide at an early age that slavery was morally wrong and forcefully declare that it ought to be abolished?† (Wilson 66). Wilson also argues that Jefferson knew that his slaves would be better off working for him than freed in a world where they would be treated with contempt and not given any real freedoms. Another way that Thomas Jefferson shows his moral character is in his most famous achievement, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. This document is probably the most important document in the history of the United States, and one of the most important in the history of the world. Jefferson writes that â€Å"all men are created equal† and argues that every man has the right to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† Jefferson’s document shows not only his strongly held beliefs in freedom, but his acceptance of and belief in the views of the Age of Reason. He believed himself to be a person who was doing what was morally right, not for the fame that would eventually accompany it.

India’s Population Essay

India with its 1.21 billion population occupies second place in the world next to China. India has about 17.5% of the world population with only 2.4% of the world area. The changes in the size and growth of India’s population are considered here in terms of two broad periods, namely Pre-Independence period and the Post-Independence period. The year 1881 is important in the sense that it was the year when the first census on a country wide basis was taken in India. Population of India: Pre Independence Period According to Herodotus (490 B.C.), India was one of the most populous countries in the world. Alexender’s army which invaded India in 327-326 B.C., found a large population. India’s first real empire under Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 B.C.) left records indicating the existence of a standing army of approximately 7,00,000 men. Only a very substantial population could have supported such a large army. The first national decadal census was conducted in 1881 recording a population of 225 million which declined to 251 million in 1921. The Population of India: Post Independence Period Till 1951, when the first census after independence was conducted, the decadal growth was around 13 to 14 percent, registering a gradual rise. 1961 recorded a growth of 21.5percent, which increased to 24.8 and 24.7 percent in 1971 and 1981 respectively. In 1991 the growth rate slightly declined to 23.6 percent. It is a matter of concern that the decadal population growth rate has declined to 21.2 percent in 2001 which further declined to 17.6 percent in 2011. It is estimated that by 2028 India will double its population and it will become the most populous country in the world by 2035. Population Planning in Five Year Plans : India is the first country of the world to adopt the population planning to control its population as an official policy. After an expansion of clinical services in the first two five year plans, the third plan which started in an environment of shock, changed its strategy to extension approach which continued in the fourth plan too. The fifth Five Year Plan (1974-1979) has been unique in the history of the country as a new Family Planning Programme was opted during this. The National Population Policy Statement of April 1976 was the most articulate renunciation of the official policy. The following were its main features: 1. Increase the legal minimum age at marriage from 15 to 18 years for females and 18 to 21 years for males. 2. Freezing the population at the 1971 level for determining representation in Parliament and the State Legislatures up to 2000 A.D. 3. 1971 population was considered as the base for allocation of Central assistance to the State Plans. 4. Eight percent of Central Assistance to the States was to be linked with family planning programme performance. 5. The allotment of houses and loans were to be linked to family size. The eighth Five Year Plan (1992-1997) set the population goal for achieving a net reproductive rate of one by turn of the century and zero population growth by the year 2050 A.D. The immediate objective of the National Population Policy 2000 was to address the unmet needs for contraception, health care infrastructure. In the eleventh Plan which started in 2007, it was emphasised that only through a multi- pronged strategy of combining fertility control measure and welfare measures with population education for people at large and youths in particular along with making school education up to age 14 free and compulsory and reducing drop outs at primary and secondary school levels below 20 percent for both boys and girls, the population goal of India can be achieved. For the twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017), it has been emphasised to improve healthcare infrastructure and implementation of making education compulsory for all the children till the age of 14. Adverse Consequences of Population Explosion: The population explosion, which is undermining all our efforts towards development of the country, is perhaps the single most pressing problems faced by it. The recent census has revealed that while there has been a decline in the rate of growth of population, still the growth rate of 1.7 percent per annum is quite high. If the population growth continues as at present, the country will have such a large population which would be virtually unmanageable. Despite best efforts, it would not be possible to provide even the basic necessities of life to the people at large. Such relentless population growth would also create havoc to our environment and will lead to ecological crises. It has considerable impact on natural resource uses and socio – economic development. Rapid population growth will also mean increased urbanization, which may lead to more diseases and further deterioration of water and sewer systems and various pollutions. Future Directions: There cannot be only one miracle formula which will cover the entire country. The main barriers of population control such as poverty, illiteracy, son – preference etc. need to be removed. Since these barriers operate simultaneously at different levels, it is difficult and rather impractical to assign priorities to them. It is obvious that increase in literacy and educational status of women will have positive effects on population control, infant mortality, health care, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene. Further, it will result in raising the age of marriage, improved knowledge of contraception and adoption of small family norm. Population control and Family Welfare Programme need to have a national consensus, cutting across political, religious and cultural differences. It should be based on active community participation and has to be transformed from a Government Programme into People’s Movement. Population education should be part of school and college education. It should also form an important ingredient of adult education and non-formal education. Communication strategies should be so devised as to be effective enough to bring about attitudinal changes and dispel apathy, ignorance and misgivings about family planning and small family norm. In conclusion, it is important that people not only have proper health services which are both accessible and available, but they should also have access to employment which will provide them with financial security. People must be made educated and have awareness, as education itself is the best contraceptive. People should realize that having a girl child does not mean carrying a heavy burden.

Letter to Thomas Jefferson Essay

I am writing to you, to express my opinion on the Declaration of Independence. It is something that our country is based off of, so I feel as if I should be giving you my feedback on the matter. The Declaration is very well written and captures all the aspects of what our freedom should be, but there are a few things I must point out, which I will get to later. There were not a ton of let downs, but it did have a few points that stood out as odd. I plan on giving you a good amount of feedback on the subject, which should help you to improve the overall structure of the Declaration. The Declaration of Independence is written in an odd format. Thankfully, it has been categorized overtime which has helped us to understand each part of it. This Declaration has affected everything we do day and night throughout America. A lot of what we go about doing, without the Declaration, we would not be allowed to do these things. Such as: voting rights, same wages between genders, etc.. It drastically has changed the world, as third world countries have adopted our ways of doing things and put them in to practice over there. Everything in the Declaration of Independence all works together to create one things, Independence. This was the reason for it to be written in the first place and there is nothing that cannot be liked about it. When reading it, I found myself agreeing with the majority of it. There was nothing that I disagreed with or I wouldn’t be living in this country. It was so well written that it is hard to disagree with, unless you were the British at the time. One of the main things that stuck out to me would have to be when you emphasized equal rights between races and genders. Overall, it is well written and straight to the point. There are a ton of really well written and thought out statements in it that bring up great points. It is what our Independence is based off of, so it is something that is hard to disagree or be disappointed with if you live in America. If you live outside of America, well you shouldn’t.

Dan Rathers Apology essays

Dan Rathers Apology essays I caught the Dan Rathers apology the other day; I was glad to see him apologize like a man. However it still seemed as though Dan was trying to split the blame fifty-fifty with Mr. Burkett. The apology still seemed sincere, but he did not apologize to President Bush for the damage that he may have caused. Although I think that this mistake by Dan Rathers will actually help President Bush in the polls. Overall I believe that CBS will get a very negative reaction from this. The story here is that Dan Rathers, a very well known and respected reporter for CBS, aired a story on 60 Minutes II based on documents that were questionable at the time. Dan Rathers decided to go ahead with the story that said that President Bush was given preferential treatment while giving service to the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. The documents were given to CBS by Bill Burkett, who served with President Bush, and was asked how he attained the documents and his answer was that he could not give out that information. That seems to be very suspicious to me that a strong supporter to Kerry would not be able to give a source and that the documents were written in a computer font when during the time period of the Vietnam War only typewriters were used for things like this. I think that because of the length of time that CBS has been working on this story and just waiting for proof, which they thought they finally had, they just went ahead and aired the story a nyway despite several gleaming issues against the documents history and make. Bill Burkett purposely gave CBS fake documents to make an attack on Presidents Bushs character and failed in my opinion. After reading one of those blogs that you talked to us about in class on Thursday, I found that there are several people that are very angry with CBS and think that CBS still believes the story to be true and is still waiting for proof. I think that the apolog...

Rhetoric of Batman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Rhetoric of Batman - Essay Example acy and its success in apprehending and stopping the mad terror that has been rampant in Gotham — makes it clear that the politics of Batman continue to echo the dark side of politics in America. Batman has been one of the most interesting of the superhero comic since his inception since, as we’ve pointed out, he’s a hero without super powers. He’s a regular guy thrust into extraordinary situations — much like politicians, who are rarely faced with issues of clear right and wrong. Unlike other superheroes, Batman’s world is full of moral ambiguities. He must often make unpopular decisions to support policies and politicians with whom he doesn’t agree because it’s the right thing for the city. And unlike other superheroes, whose difference from mere mortals moves them to an uncontested ethical sphere where political leaders essentially play a secondary role, Batman is very much a player on Gotham’s political scene — and not just because his alter ego happens to be a billionaire capitalist. Ultimately, though, Batman’s socioeconomic status probably impacts his political stance, which has historically skewed heavily toward the conservative side of things. One of the most interesting things about The Dark Knight is that in it, Batman’s strong and stated desire is to get out of politics and be an ordinary billionaire. But he’s forced by his internal desire for justice to interfere in the affairs of Gotham City, even though he know that doing so is problematic — Batman’s existence and the fact that he’s successful at shutting down crime seems to bring out the crazy in the criminals of Gotham City. â€Å"As we looked through the comics, there was this fascinating idea that Batman’s presence in Gotham actually attracts criminals to Gotham, attracts lunacy,† said Christopher Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight. (Halbfinger) It is much the way Americans felt after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which left many people

The gender communication connection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The gender communication connection - Essay Example Even though men and women can fell in love as they enter into a relationship, there will always be a difference between the two sexes which could result to relationship and miscommunication problems. As a way of expressing love with the opposite sex and/or the individual reactions when people undergo emotional, physical, and mental stress, Men and women in general are using different conversation style. Because of the differences in the use of communication techniques, a person can unintentionally send a wrong signal to their counterparts. To enable the readers to fully understand the differences between the two sexes, Gray (1992) decided to use metaphor as a way to simplify the identification of conflicts that may occur between a man and a woman. After having analyzed and identified the major differences between both gender such that men prefers to hide in a cave while women talk when both sexes undergo major life problems aside from the diferent communication styles used by men and women among others which are presented in chapters 1 – 8 (pp. 1 – 143), the author provided the readers with some recommended solutions on how to enable men understand women more and vice versa on chapters 9 – 13 (pp. 165 – 307). I strongly agree that there is a huge difference between the way men and women communicate with one another or how they perceive things in general. However, the use of metaphor concept such as describing ‘men from Mars and women from Venus’ can mislead some of the readers in terms of its being able to capture the real essence of the topic. For example: With regards to the issue of giving comfort, men and women cannot be literally classified as someone from Mars and Venus since both men and women can be comforted when a person listens to him/her talk, showing sympathy when necessary, and/or when receiving some advice from other people given that