Essay about Growing as a Reader - 1145 Words

Throughout this year, I have read many different works of early English literature. From reading these works and following the rules of Vladimir Nabokov, I have grown tremendously as a reader since the beginning of this year. From reading Alice in Wonderland to now, I have grown to appreciate literature much more. I have developed a better sense of the English language through the use of a dictionary and the difficult sentence structure of works such as the Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, Le Morte D’Arthur, and the Fairie Queene. Because of the difficult sentence structures, the different word usages, and the deeper meanings wrapped in each of these works, I have learned to reread to better my understanding of the text and to see if I†¦show more content†¦With Alice in Wonderland, I had no intentions of using a dictionary for words that I did not understand, and as a consequence, I had no idea what a portmanteau was. This hindered my understanding of the entire chapte r with Humpty Dumpty and also the portmanteaus throughout the book. Learning from my mistakes as I started Beowulf, I began to use a dictionary as I read, but I only looked up words that I had never seen before. Because I did not look up words that looked out of place to me due their meaning now, I misinterpreted many parts of Beowulf. As I began the Canterbury Tales, I started to write words that I did not understand or that looked out of place in my journal with a question mark by them. After I was finished reading, I would go back and look up the words I wrote down. Then, I would reread the passage to get a better comprehension of it. I continued to do this throughout the year on most of the other works I read. I used the difficult sentence structure of the literary works I read this semester to give me a greater understanding of the English language. Before this year, I had read little to nothing with any form of Old English sentence structure, and when I came to Beowulf, I found it difficult to read. I had to read a passage three or four times before I finally understood what was happening. In my journal, I would write why could we not have a better translation. Now I know why. As I becameShow MoreRelatedBuilding a Foundation and Growing As Readers Essay746 Words   |  3 Pagesprior background knowledge about phonics, and word usage. The whole idea is to build both top-down model strategies, and bottom-up skills and word identification at the same time. The foundation has to be set before students can build and grow as readers. They must be immersed in reading and surrounded by it as well. As a teacher I plan on using phonemic awareness, and word identification skills while also practicing reading, and writing comprehension. Students are constantly building scaffold’sRead MoreComing of Age in Catcher in the Rye1139 Words   |  5 Pagesrealizes that growing up cannot be stopped. He wanders around the New York City by himself and gains experience of life that teaches him to become mature. This book is clearly written to show the theme of coming of age because it shows many symbols of coming of age, it shows the changes of young adults in modern life, and it creates an image of Holden growing up. There are many symbols that represent coming of age in this book. The author hides the innuendos of growing up in the natureRead MoreAnalysis Of The Horizontal World By Debra Marquart772 Words   |  4 Pageslike North Dakota. Throughout the passage it explains how growing up in North Dakota or the square states is boring and plain. Along with talking about how plain these states are, the author brings up many points on why these states are important. Points such as how these states are the states that hold strong women and good looking men (Marquart 26). Throughout this passage the author uses visual imagery and expert testimonial to show the reader how the square states are viewed. Visual imagery canRead MoreAnalysis Of Jane Hirshfield s Poem Tree 997 Words   |  4 Pagesredwood† (line 2) growing near a house, near a kitchen window. The redwood is already scraping against the window frame of the house, reminding the reader of the â€Å"foolish† (line 1) idea of letting it grow there. Humans were created to be one with nature, but as they evolved as a species, they were obligated to choose between the materialistic world or the world of nature. Hirshfield writes this poem in second person to give life to the poem so that the poem speaks to the reader. The poem starts byRead MoreEssay about Boys: Short Story Analysis998 Words   |  4 Pagesabout—relationships, travel, growing up, bedrooms, hotels, restaurants, the synagogue on 42nd Street—and they trust that they will discover things about the topic as they work.† (Sellers 71) Rick Moody author of â€Å"Boys† has taken a relatable topic the process of growing up and has turned a thirty year frame into a condensed linear chronological format. Moody offers the reader a different view point, introduces repetition and the stressing of words creating a certain movement influencing the readers experience. Read MoreAnalysis Of Majed R. Muhtaseb s Argument1353 Words   |  6 Pagesof Majed R. Muhtaseb’s argument in â€Å"Growing role of hedge funds in the economy† is to inform the reader of the increasing role hedge funds play in the eco nomy. Muhtaseb does not make the argument to persuade the reader to invest in hedge funds, but he attempts to convince them of their importance. Stated in the first sentence of the abstract, Muhtaseb presents the simple thesis for the article: â€Å"The objective of this article is to document the profound and growing role of hedge funds in the economy†Read MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock1005 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,† published in 1915, was written by a man named T.S. Eliot. The speaker of the poem begins to describe an evening that appears to be somewhat romantic and a little mysterious. As the reader progresses into the poem, the mood soon fades and the reader starts to figure out that this evening is not what they pictured. â€Å"Acquainted with the Night† is a poem written by Robert Frost. The poem was first published in 1927. The speaker of the poem has a similar mood as Eliot’sRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Ranch Girl 929 Words   |  4 Pagesof a ranch girl is unknown to many people across America. In Maile Meloy’s Ranch Girl, a female narrator brings the reader into her hard life being raised as a ranch girl. Through many different literary devices including, tone, mood, and characterization, the writer set the reader to feel everything the narrator depicts and the reader ingested with a heavier impact than the reader anticipates. The obligation to the community for the ranch girl is to break all stereotypes, thus showing her communityRead MoreEssay On Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird815 Words   |  4 Pagesteaches many lessons as well as defies stereotypes. Scout gives readers her perspective of things. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the growth and characterization of Scout to reveal to readers how innocence slowly falls away through Scout’s obliviousness about other people, Scout’s protection towards her family, and Scout’s curious ways. Although Scout starts off being insensible towards others, she begins to grow and unmask to readers that innocence slowly disappears from a child. Jem and ScoutRead More`` Hidden Intellectualism `` By Gerald Graff912 Words   |  4 Pagesreligious studies, sparking Graff’s’ interest in the idea of hidden intellectualism. He addresses throughout the paper how the culture of schools is not conducive to feeding intellectual growth; his main focus is that of his childhood, and his experience growing up in a school system that focused on memorization of seemingly unconnected facts and an environment that continuously put down intellectuals. Graf continues to argue that schools focus on suppressing conflict for a peaceful and quite faà §ade, however

The American Dream Is Existent - 1525 Words

A recent study shows that more than half of Canadians do not believe that the American Dream is existent. Fifty-eight percent agreed that â€Å"the American Dream has become impossible for most people to achieve.† Canadians have reached this verdict for a very simple reason: It’s true. Obtaining a living wage, retirement security, and the opportunity for one s children to receive a post-secondary education are now nearly impossible. And it is only getting worse. As North America grows in population and wealth, more individuals believe that the American Dream can be easily achieved with hard work and diligence. However, as the cost of living increases, the key aspects of the American Dream are becoming progressively unaffordable for society. Today, a majority of individuals are unable to get ahead financially. As researcher Ben Casselman observes, the middle class has not experienced a wage increase in 15 years. Median household income has fallen since 2008 t o $51,000, while income for the wealthy has actually risen. In the New York Times. Thomas Edsall observed that, â€Å"Not only has the wealth of the very rich doubled since 2000, but corporate revenues are at record levels.† Edsall also mentioned that, â€Å"In 2013, according to Goldman Sachs, corporate profits rose five times faster than wages. A reasonable rate of income growth is a fundamental principle of the American Dream. With statistics like these, individuals should not expect to achieve it.Show MoreRelatedThe Non Existent American Dream1374 Words   |  6 PagesThe Non-Existent American Dream Why is America never America? â€Å"America never was America to me† is a line repeatedly written in the poem ‘Let America be America Again’ by an African American poet Langston Hughes. This poem was published in 1936, when being African American was one’s greatest sin. African Americans were treated as things that elite whites can own rather than free- willed humans. In this poem, the pain and suffering of colored Americans, who were considered less thanRead MoreDiscrimination Essay : The American Dream805 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The American Dream† is advertised as being the act of a person having an idea, goal, or as the saying suggests, a dream, and then them spending time, energy, and money to make it come true. However, if you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a reason they call it a dream because it hardly becomes a reality. More and more people are realizing this so called â€Å"dream† is nothing but a hoax, and that the promises America assures and guarantees such as equal opportunity and equal success are nothing butRead MoreMartin Luther King Speech Analysis989 Words   |  4 Pagestime. His words sparked change for an entire nation and was an enormous factor in contributing to the African American Civil Rights movement. During the time of Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, the country was in a great state of distress regarding equal rights and equal opportunity for people of color. Riots, protests, and chaos seemed to be taking over the country as African Americans began to demand their deserved equality. Martin Luther King Jr stepped up through all the madness going on andRead MoreThe American Dream828 Words   |  4 Pagesand believe me, we are trying our best to change this stereotype. The American dream has always been what everyone desires- a little perfect family, house, and neighborhood. The American dream is what our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents have always wanted. Everyone always desires owning their own home; this concept of the American dream has a symbol of stability attached to it. However, isn’t the â€Å"American dream† itself just another stereotype? I am tired of my generation being tiedRead MoreThe Great Gatsby - Demise Of The American Dream883 Words   |  4 PagesThe Great Gatsby - Demise of the American Dream The Great Gatsby (1925) is a highly symbolic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald on 1920 s America, an era of great prosperity and material excess. Its theme mainly deals with the disintegration of the American Dream due to decayed social and moral values. The American Dream is a set of ideals in which freedom includes the right for prosperity, success, and social upward mobility for all Americans which can be achieved through hard work and dedicationRead MoreEssay on Modernism at Its Finest in Literature756 Words   |  4 Pagesof society and impacted more American lives than ever before. During the American modernism period of literature, authors, artists, and poets strived to create pieces of literature and art that challenged American traditions and tried to reinvent it, used new ways of communication, such as the telephone and cinema, to demonstrate the new modern social norms, and express the pain and suffering of the First World War. With new modernist American literature, Americans lose faith in their traditionalRead MoreThe American Dream801 Words   |  4 PagesThe American Dream has a different meaning today as opposed to fifty-years ago. The American Dream once meant: marrying the love of your life, buying a home in the suburbs with a white picket fence, two to three children, and obtaining a job one could retire from in twenty years. That dream has vanished and disappeared with the advent, development, and advancement of technology, higher costs of living, and rising expenses of student loan debt. The heavy burden of paying off loans from attainingRead MoreHarlem A Dream Deferred Analysis762 Words   |  4 Pagesbecomes their dream, but people do not always fulfill these dreams. There are obstacles that come in the way of people being able to fulfill their dreams. In â€Å"Harlem [A Dream Deferred]† Langston Hughes uses imagery and rhetorical questions in order to demonstrate what happens to a dr eam. The theme that appears through Langston Hughes poem is the theme of not pursuing a dream. Through Hughes poem, this theme is demonstrated and the imagery helps in conveying the idea of having a dream postponed. Read MoreThe American Dream Is The Forefront Of Many Beginnings For Citizens And Immigrants Alike943 Words   |  4 Pages The American Dream is the forefront of many beginnings for citizens and immigrants alike. Achieving this idea has proved to be unfair in certain circumstances due to many factors. The ability to reach the American Dream is not entirely realistic to a handful of people and is highly refutable. Having the chance to accomplish the American Dream is a freedom that most people desire. The American Dream is in fact real, and many have reached this set of ideals with success. However, the diversity thatRead MorePhillip Morrison: Marketing Case Study1156 Words   |  5 Pagescampaigns had been focused on them. By targeting women, Phillip Morris would have the ability to increase its sales levels through strategies of market development, or the in depth expansion of the strategy through the sale of already existent products, into already existent markets (Kotler and Armstrong, 2009). The targeting of people in the middle classes, as these tend to possess the means to purchase the cigarettes, but also the lower education than the high social class; this dimension is relevant

Peer Teaching Lesson for Nurse Education- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about thePeer Teaching Lesson for Nurse Education. Answer: Learning theory used to guide peer teaching session The aim of the given assignment is to provide the learning theories and styles that are used as a peer teaching sessions for nursing. The main purpose of nursing plan is to provide lesson for the basic one to one life support. According to Bradshaw and Hultquist (2016), the learning theories is to provide the framework will provide the blue print for the teaching guidelines. In case of the nursing support related to basic one to one life support care, the teaching guidelines needs to include the general theories. The primary purpose of the basic life support care is to act according to the immediate needs of the patient. One of the essential skills is to have the ability to develop the immediate decision making skills. One of the essential protocol that are needed for the nursing teaching is provided by the need theory of nursing teaching. As mentioned by Oh et al., (2015), the Need theory focuses on the nursing students for development of their own cognitive thinking skills. This will help them to make and implement decisions according to the needs of the patient and situation. The educator wills get the opportunity to teach the lessons that are directly related with the practical situation in the health care service. The theory can also help the individual to focus on the needs of other aspects that will include mental and psychological demand of the patients. Learning styles to be considered The learning style in nursing aims to incorporate the awareness among the people about matters personalized level care. The effective quality of the nurse is dependent on their skills of learning knowledge that is needed for better levels of future growth. The main of the nursing learning styles is to generate the positive environment that is needed for quality care. The style of nursing style depends on the preference of the student. Andreou et al., (2014), have mentioned about the importance of analytical learning styles that are needed for the purpose of understanding the analytics that are associated with the given context. It will therefore be possible for the learners to develop the skill of acquiring information related to the existing medical situation. The analytical style is also combined with that of the situational styles, where most of the learner gets the skills of dealing with the issues with limited amount of medical resources. Both the analytical and situational styl e of learning helps to make most use of the nursing leadership styles. The cultural beliefs within the community also is an essential element of the style of teaching within nursing. The nurse of the community, need to have the ability to understand the sentiment of local culture. This will help them to maintain and establish proper communication within the patient groups (Johnston et al., 2015). Ways to identify the learning needs One of the crucial characters of every professional nurse is the ability to understand and access the needs of the people in the context of the given situation. The importance of understanding the learning needs is to fulfil the gaps that are associated with effective learning skills. In most of the cases, due to the gaps exist mostly due to the rapid changes that occur within the health care sector. Due to the variation in the gaps, exist due to diverse nature of the health care issues in each community. The assessment tool is the most important part of the learning skills that are requested in the context of determining the learning needs. Individual strengths and weakness of the nursing students can be determined that is needed to incorporate personalized levels of nursing care. The teaching objectives in the nursing plan can also be determined by needs (Brennan Bakken, 2015). The area of special focus is part of the nursing teaching plan. Depending on the needs of the local community, it is important to focus on the medical issues faced by the medical experts. Feedback within the nursing care plan As feedbacks are collected from the nursing students, it is possible to understand individual strengths and weaknesses. As a nursing student I will provide feedback by direct interaction with the educator. I will also make use of the evaluation tool, where it is possible to highlight the exact issues in the nursing care plan. For the educators, it is possible to highlight on the barriers that are generally encountered in the teaching plan process. In most of the case, this is possible to deal with the issues that are faced by the nursing students. I can also encourage the educator to change on the existing theory that is needed to incorporate new strategies within the teaching plan. Regular evaluation of the teaching plan is needed, which is the central idea for providing the frameworks needed for the same. Urden et al., (2017), have mentioned about the feedback sandwich model that is needed in the matters highlighting both positive and negative opinions. This model ensures that the information that is gathered from the feedbacks can be used in constructive manner. It also aims to deal with the issues related to the lower motivation of the educators as they have the opportunity to improve the existing teaching methods. Assessment of learners competence The competency level of the learner will help to evaluate the success rate of the implemented nursing teaching plan. With higher levels of competency, it is possible to ensure higher levels of learning success. According to LeGrow and Espin (2017), one of best ways to use of the learning competency is to evaluate the decision making ability of the nurse. The ability to incorporate the soft understanding can also be generated within the process of decision making that will help in improving the accuracy levels of the health care treatment provided. With most of the people engaging in effective communication, it is essential to ensure that proper message is being conveyed to the stakeholders. The objectives can be determined by the rate of recovery of the critical care partients. Reference Andreou, C., Papastavrou, E., Merkouris, A. (2014). Learning styles and critical thinking relationship in baccalaureate nursing education: a systematic review. Nurse education today, 34(3), 362-371. Bradshaw, M., Hultquist, B. L. (2016). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Brennan, P. F., Bakken, S. (2015). Nursing needs big data and big data needs nursing. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(5), 477-484. Johnston, A. N. B., Hamill, J., Barton, M. J., Baldwin, S., Percival, J., Williams-Pritchard, G., ... Todorovic, M. (2015). Student learning styles in anatomy and physiology courses: Meeting the needs of nursing students. Nurse education in practice, 15(6), 415-420. LeGrow, K., Espin, S. (2017). Beginning explorations of the connectedness between patient-centred care, practice development and advanced nursing competencies to promote professional development. International Practice Development Journal, 7(2). Oh, P. J., Jeon, K. D., Koh, M. S. (2015). The effects of simulation-based learning using standardized patients in nursing students: A meta-analysis. Nurse education today, 35(5), e6-e15. Urden, L. D., Stacy, K. M., Lough, M. E. (2017). Critical Care Nursing-E-Book: Diagnosis and Management. Elsevier Health Sciences.

International Marketing Market Entry Plan

Introduction As domestic markets mature and competitive activity intensifies, foreign business expansion is becoming an increasingly important component of most business enterprises across the world (Miller, 1998).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on International Marketing: Market Entry Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Future growth in international market activity is apparently expected to accelerate because of unprecedented opportunities that are presented by emerging markets. As observed by Miller (1998), emerging economies usually experience four distinct phases of demand development as shown in figure 1. Figure 1: Phases of Demand Developments in Emerging Economies – adapted from Miller (1998) One of the principal benefits of developing overseas markets is the opportunity to achieve increased sales. Managers around the globe are recognizing the increasing necessity for their companies to devel op the skills, aptitudes and knowledge to compete effectively in international markets. The emergence of a more open world economy, the globalization of consumer tastes and the unabated expansion of Internet access globally, all increase the interdependency and interconnections of national economies across the globe (Rugman Collinson, 2009). There are, however, challenges that are associated with entering a new market in a foreign country.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Because of geographical distances, and the complexities of operating in a number of disparate markets where risk and uncertainty are high, the need for knowledge and understanding is of paramount importance in international marketing (Doole Lowe, 2008). Table 1 shows the differences between single country operations and international operations. Table 1: Differences between Single Country Operations a nd International Operations Factor Single Country Multinational Operation Language The same language is spoken Being in a different country will require the use of other languages Culture Culture is relatively homogeneous This is diverse between and within countries Labor Skilled and well trained labor is readily available Special training and redesign of production methods might be required Economy The economy is relatively uniform There is a possibility of having wide variations among countries and within countries Politics The political environment will be stable and relatively unimportant The political environment is often volatile and of decisive importance Governmental interference This is stable and reasonably predictable It is often extensive and subject to rapid change Financing There are well developed financial markets and different sources are available In some countries, capital flows are subject to government control and are sometimes poorly developed This paper presents an international marketing strategy to be used by a company to enter a new market in a foreign country. The paper is organized in three major sections: situation analysis, recommended marketing strategies, and economic evaluation. Situation Analysis Before a company can expand its market base to a foreign country, an in-depth preparation is very critical. The marketing department will need to plan the method by which the entry into the new country will be accomplished and how the stated objectives will be realized. Usually, the objectives serve as the driving force for the ambition to move into the new ground (Clemente, 2002). A major responsibility on the part of the marketer is to determine the what, where, when, and how to complete the process. These are briefly explained in the following sub-sections. What Under ideal circumstances, all information could be made available to the market researcher and this can then be quickly sorted into what is relevant fo r the research. The reality, however, is that information is scattered and sometimes hidden and completely unavailable to the market researcher. Access to the information may be restricted by governmental, proprietary, budgetary and temporal constraints. As suggested by Curry (2009), a company should divide its market research into two main sections. There will be cultural information and commercial information.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on International Marketing: Market Entry Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Where To be successful, the company should conduct its cultural research inside the target nation. It is not advisable to depend on cultural information. Although reading tour guide books and national histories is useful, this should only be done as preparation for a research trip by the company’s marketing team and not a substitute for the real work that must be done in the target coun try. Commercial research, on the other hand, may be partially conducted in the company’s domestic market in case the target nation has a history of economic openness. Despite the fact that the Internet and governmental databases may serve as good sources of statistical information, surveys and product testing must be conducted within the target market to get first-hand information (Doole Lowe, 2008). When Although global business often moves quickly, research and access to information sources can be time consuming. It is important for a company considering entry to a foreign market to conduct its research as soon as possible within the shortest period considered prudent (Rossi, 2010). If the company takes too long to complete its research, the final report may contain information that is out of date. How The company may choose from a variety of different means available for conducting market research. One option is to gather its own information or use that was provided by go vernment agencies or consulting companies. Face to face surveys among consumers or observing their behavior from a distance is another approach that the company can take in its research. Other available options include the use of raw statistical data to build elaborate mathematical models of how a market will perform, and relying on empirical evidence as well as cultural history. According to Curry (2009), successful international market entries have been launched using all these models from large to small companies ll. Components of the Strategic Marketing Plan There are several different frameworks to think about and use while developing a strategic marketing plan. Some of these are explained in the following sub-sections. Strategy and Culture The company’s culture is â€Å"made up of people, processes, experiences, ideas, and attitudes†. The strategy indicates where â€Å"the company is headed, what path it will take, and how it will get to its destination.† (Kim, Lee Park, 2010). According to Boone and KurtzIt (2011), it is impossible to have strategy without culture and vice versa.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Internal and External Framework A company will usually have an internal and external framework. The marketing strategy is external to an organization and contains information gathered from customers, competitors, industry, and the operational environment in order to â€Å"identify opportunities and threats. Through employee surveys, board assessments, and financial statements, it is possible to identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses, which are internal† (Raymond, 2003). The Balanced Scorecard Perspectives This is a framework that is applied in order to develop objectives in four main directions. They include financial, customers, internal business processes, and people (Raymond, 2003). While financial, internal business processes, and people are internal the customer is external. Market Focus Growth always comes from the main focus being on customers and thus consequently delivering the best services to them. The market focus framework touches on making sure t hat customers are satisfied. It is very critical to the growth of the organization. Preparing for Market Entry Markets are never completely open or completely closed (Curry, 2009). Every market presents the aspiring entrants with an enormous number of possible doors through which to pass. Some of the doors are unlocked and as clear as glass, while others may be as solid as steel. It is important for the company to understand that ease of entry does not directly imply that the company will realize good profits once it settles in the new country. Oftentimes, governments keep the most lucrative markets well secured mainly to protect its local businesses. Other times, doors are left open and unguarded in an attempt to lure unsuspecting investors or traders to a pitiable and profitless fate. There are also possibilities of lucrative doors suddenly swinging wide open for a moment and then closing. In some instances, a company may only need to have the name of the right person associated w ith them to gain entry into a new country. In all these cases, a company’s ability to properly analyze the information available will determine which door to approach and what product or services to present when the door finally opens. Regardless of the approaches that the company decides to take, devising a blueprint to guide the entire process of entry to a market in a foreign country is critical for success to be realized. Carrying out an exhaustive research in the identified foreign market will enable the company to attain the original goal and avoid numerous distractions sound during the information gathering stage. A detailed marketing plan assures that everything is taken into account before the real investigative work can start. Foundation for the Marketing Plan A marketing plan is the â€Å"formalized roadmap that describes how the company will execute its chosen strategy† (Curry, 2009). The company’s international marketing plan will provide a strong f oundation on which its entry into the new country will be based. It clearly outlines what the company intends to do so as to reach its intended goal. An effective plan will help to focus the energy, resources, and time of everyone in the company towards the same direction. The plan will also make it possible for the company to build a competitive advantage, communicate its strategy to staff, prioritize its financial needs, and â€Å"provide focus and direction to move from plan to action† (Curry, 2009). It is the company’s plan of execution to ensure that everything goes well. Elements of the Strategic Marketing Plan Successful companies develop strategies for marketing their products. The strategic plan guides the marketing department as it makes decisions about the attributes of the product, its distribution, promotional activities and pricing (Pride Ferrell, 2008). A clear understanding of the foundation of marketing is essential in formulating a strategy and in th e development of a specific marketing plan. The key elements of the strategic plan are vision, mission, goals and objectives, strategy, and execution and evaluation. Figure 2 shows some of the elements which are briefly explained in the subsequent sub-sections. Figure 2: Elements of a Strategic Plan – adapted from Pride and Ferrell (2008) Vision Usually, one gets what he or she focuses on. The company must have a vision that will help to bring things to focus. Rather than paying attention to urgent problems, the company should instead focus on vital long term issues. Unless the company can get staff to focus on a common vision, chances are that it will not go anywhere (Monye, 2000). A clear vision will ensure that the energy of all key players is directed towards the common goal of developing the foreign market. It will therefore pay for the company to have a vision that will allow it to marshal the efforts of its team. Mission, Goals, and Objectives The mission statement, g oals, and objectives exist in a strategic plan to empower employees to be more effective. They provide the framework to be used by the company to make independent decisions that will make it possible for the company to be successful in the execution of its marketing plan. The company must have its mission statement, goals, and objectives for the entry into the new country clearly stated and in a way that can be easily articulated by all the concerned parties. Strategy Once the mission, goals, and objectives of the entry into the foreign market are made clear, the company will then proceed to establish how they will be achieved. The strategy will show how the company will achieve what it wants with the resources at its disposal. With a good strategy, the company will be able to out-perform its competition, achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, grow its revenue, maintain or shrink its expenses, satisfy its customers in the new market, and respond to the changing international m arket conditions. Execution and Evaluation All the best missions and strategies in the world are a waste of time if they are not implemented. With a clear marketing plan in place, the company should not hesitate to move into the action stage. The success of the planning process is usually about keeping the plan active. To ensure that the company does not go off target, execution should be subjected to periodic evaluation. Major Planning Pitfalls The company should be aware of the fact that the planning process may yield less than desirable results due to the presence of numerous challenges that may be encountered in the process. First of all, a plan is only as good as the information on which it is built (Moutinho Chien, 2008). The company should avoid depending on untested assumptions which are always risky to follow and lead to erecting the marketing plan on an unsteady foundation. The company should also not ignore any information discovered during the planning process that may require the company to take a different direction. Before embarking on a serious plan to enter the foreign market, it will be helpful for the company to clean up any internal messes which may later interfere with the entire process. It is important for the company to be in good shape before moving forward. Finally, the company should not fall into the trap of copying the best practices of another company involved in a similar business. Even though employing best practices from your industry is important, experiences of other organizations may not be relevant. It is important for the company to find its own path rather following that of others. Tips for Better Planning There are a number of useful tips to ensure that a company succeeds in its supposed entry into the new country. The first thing is for the company to put together a diverse but appropriate group of people to constitute the planning team (McEwan, 2001). A better marketing plan will result from diversity. For effectivene ss, the company should bring together a small core team of leaders and managers who represent every area of the company. Another useful thing to do will be to allow enough time for strategic thinking. It does no help to try and squeeze strategic planning discussions in between putting out fires (Sen Bhattacharaya, 2001). The company should do whatever is necessary to create time for big picture thinking. This may include taking the team off site. It is also important to get full commitment from key people in the organization. If the team does not receive support from key stakeholders, it may result in a disaster eventually. There should be an allowance for open and free discussions regardless of each person’s position within the company. If necessary, the company should hire an outside facilitator. Since good strategic plans are flexible, the company’s marketing plan should not be made rigid or unbending. It must be reviewed periodically to make sure that everything i s on course. Assessing the Company’s Readiness As part of the situation analysis, it will be wise for the company to assess if it is ready to take the challenge of entering a foreign country. Successful planning and implementation will require a keen understanding of how well the company can adapt to fit into the foreign market. Introducing a concept at the right time is critical to guaranteeing a successful implementation. This is the point in the entire planning process where it is important to be brutally honest. Any company that jumps into planning by assuming it is ready is likely to fail somewhere along the way and the whole process can easily get derailed. As part of evaluating itself, the company should look at where it is presently, where it wants to go, and how it will get there. These are briefly explained as follows. Where the Company is currently This can be easily determined by looking at the foundational elements to ensure there has not been a change. It is imp ortant to look at what is happening internally as well as externally to determine how the company needs to shift or change. These foundational elements are the mission statement, values or guiding principles, and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. These elements are crucial in assessing the company’s strategic position. While the company can build on its strengths, it can make attempts to minimize weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and recognize the threats. Where the Company is heading This helps in imagining how the organization will look like in the future. The elements that help to determine the future of the company include sustainable competitive advantage and vision statement. Sustainable competitive advantage explains what the company is best at compared to its competitors. Vision statement on the other hand helps to formulate a future picture of the company. How the Company will get there This is like the core of the marketing pla n but also the most time consuming. It takes long mainly because there will be a number of routes from the current position to where the company desires to be. Recommended Marketing Strategies One entry mode that may be used by the company is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This approach involves the transfer of financial, capital, technology, and other skills that are considered necessary (Moosa, 2002). It gives rise to costs and benefits for the countries involved. Both the investing country and the host country are affected in the process (Agarwal Ramaswamy, 1992). Other useful strategies to use are joint ventures and strategic alliances. The company may enter into joint venture agreements to provide services jointly with companies based in the host country. Strategic alliances will be useful where the company intends to work in the host country through local partners without fully establishing itself in there (Plante Nordhill, 2011). Of the three entry modes discussed above, joint ventures and strategic alliances are cheaper and commonly used by most companies. The company may therefore make use of the two options. Another strategy that may also be used by the company to penetrate the market in the new country is branding (Zou, Kim Cavusgil, 2009). According to Jain and Griffith (2012), developing a global branding strategy is increasingly becoming an important priority for many firms. It will certainly be very useful for the company to brand its products as part of the strategy to enter into the new country (Welch, Benito Petersen, 2007). The impact of global brands has further been enhanced by the movement of people, goods and ideas across national and regional boundaries (Jain Griffith, 2012). Other marketing strategies that will be helpful include segmentation, targeting, differentiation, positioning, and working on having healthy public relations. Segmentation This is the procedure whereby marketers determine how large or how small a group to ap proach with their products is. It is about dividing a mass market into identifiable and distinct groups or segments (Habiyaremye, 2011). Opportunities for segmentation in international marketing may seem endless. The world can be treated as a single marketplace, or it may be seen as composed of billions of single member marketers in the form of individual human beings. The degree of segmentation is determined by the appeal of a product to a general market and by the ease with which that product can be adapted to increasingly specific markets. For this reason, most companies start off with as broad an appeal as possible and then sharpen their focus as more insights are gained. Initially, targeting an entire country can be risky, especially when the geography is expansive and the population diverse. Marketers must determine how consumers in any particular group respond to the marketing mix of the product, its price, promotional efforts, and the means of distribution. Information gathe red during research will be used to make this initial determination, which over time will be increasingly defined. Given that the company may not have all the resources required to meet the demands of all people who may be scattered all over, market segmentation can be used to enable it to use what it has effectively. This will also enable it to ensure that the marketing mix elements namely; product, price, place and promotion are designed to target the selected customers (Habiyaremye, 2011). Market Targeting Market targeting is a company’s decision on which market segments to pursue. It commences once the company segments its market. It is based on the evaluation of the market potential of each individual segment as determined by such factors as market size, growth, competitor activity, and the company’s own resources and corporate objectives. Based on its strength, the company should focus on delivering goods and services to a selected market segment. When this is pr operly done, the company will be more effective in its delivery. Differentiation Differentiation is the conscious effort by a company to distinguish itself from its competition. Even when a segment has been selected, it must be understood that a competitor has already made the same selection or will shortly. This is where differentiation comes into play as a means of reaching the consumer (Lennick Kiel, 2005). Every consumer has a reason for buying a particular product. Starting from the macro-level of marketing, marketers will have only a general understanding of such motivations upon entering a new national market. Time and familiarity will bring about micro-level marketing approaches such as consumer buying patterns. Positioning This is the means by which a marketer establishes the product as a distinct image or brand in the customer’s mind. Simply put, it is the management of perception and it goes beyond the consumers’ general belief about a product. Products are seen as part of a larger category, but a marketer seeks to hold a separate and singular position in the consumer’s mind (Hollensen, 2007). There are six main steps that one can use to prepare a positioning strategy. They include segmenting the market, listing competitors, determining how competitors are positioned, identifying open positions, determining how consumers make decisions, and differentiating a company’s products. Public Relations This is where a company does activities to maintain or improve its image and change the consumers’ attitude towards its products and personnel. Positioning is part of this image maintenance (Czinkota Ronkainen, 2007). Marketers realize that a company’s image can be changed in the consumer’s mind but that too much change or too drastic a change may result in damage. Oftentimes, the image of a company isn’t entirely under its own control. The media can be a very powerful tool both for building an image a nd destroying it. International companies have enormous public relations concerns as they must contend with a wide variety of overseas media cultures as well as with their own domestic news outlets (Lymbersky, 2008). Abroad, virtually everything a foreign company does both prior to and after entering a new country will be scrutinized. Economic Evaluation Economically, it will be necessary for the company to do a thorough evaluation to determine the possibility of carrying on with the plan to move into a foreign market. This evaluation includes undertaking a cost benefit analysis. The company may use the Net Present Value (NPV) technique to determine whether it makes sense to carry on with the project. Other approaches include Return on Investments (ROI) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Conclusion From the discussion presented in this paper, it is quite obvious that the process of entering a new market in a foreign country is quite an elaborate one. This paper, however, presents a useful guide that may be used by a company to successfully penetrate a foreign market. If followed properly, it will lead to impressive results in the end. References Agarwal, S. Ramaswamy, S. N. (1992). Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode: Impact of Ownership, Location and Internationalization Factors. Journal of International Business Studies, 23 (1): 1 – 27. Boone, L. E. Kurtz, D. L. (2011).Contemporary Business. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Clemente, M. N. (2002).The Marketing Glossary: Key Terms, Concepts and Applications. Glen Rock, New Jersey: Clemente Communications Group. Curry, J. E. (2009). A Short Course in International Marketing: Approaching and Penetrating the Global Marketplace. Petaluma, California: World Trade Press. Czinkota, M. R. Ronkainen, A. (2007). International Marketing. Mason: ThompsonSouth-Western. Doole, I. Lowe, R. (2008). International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, Development and Implementation. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning EMEA. Habiyare mye, J. (2011).Market Segmentation and 4 Ps. Norderstedt, Germany: GRIN Verlag. Hollensen, S. (2007). Global Marketing: Decision-oriented Approach. Harlow: Pearson Education. Jain, S. C. Griffith, D. A. (2012). Handbook of Research in International Marketing. Massachusetts, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing. Kim, G. S., Lee, L. Y. Park, K. (2010). A Cross National Investigation on how Ethical Consumers Build Loyalty toward Fair Trade Brands. Journal of Business Ethics, 96 (4): 589 – 602. Lennick, D. Kiel, F. (2005). Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success. London: Pearson Higher Education. Lymbersky, C. (2008). Market Entry Strategies: Text, Cases and Readings in Market Entry Management. Germany: Christoph Lymbersky. McEwan, T. (2001). Managing Values and Beliefs in Organizations. London: Financial Time Press. Miller, R. R. (1998). Selling to Newly Emerging Markets. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Monye, S. O. (2000). The handbook of International Marketing Communications. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. Moosa, I. A. (2002). Foreign Direct Investment: Theory, Evidence and Practice. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Moutinho, L. Chien, C. (2008). Problems in Marketing: Applying Key Concepts and Techniques. Los Angeles: sage Publications. Pride, W. M. Ferrell, O. C. (2008). Marketing. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Plante, J. Nordhill, K. (2011). Beyond the Choice of Entry Mode – A case study of Micropower. Norderstedt, Germany; GRIN Verlag Raymond, M. (2003). Tomorrow People: Future Consumers and how to Read them. New York: Financial Times Press. Rossi, C. L. (2010). Compliance: An Over-looked Business Strategy. International Journal of Social Economics, 37 (10): 816 – 836. Rugman, A. M. Collinson, S. (2009). International Business. New York: Financial Times. Sen, S. Bhattacharaya, C. B. (2001). Does Doing Good Always Lead to Doing Better? Consumer Reaction to Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38: 255 – 243. Welch, L. S. Benito, G. R. G. Petersen, B. (2007). Foreign Operation Methods: Theory, Analysis, Strategy. Massachusetts, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing. Zou, S., Kim, D. Cavusgil, S. T. (2009). Export Marketing Strategy: Tacit and Skills that Work. New York: Business Expert Press. This assessment on International Marketing: Market Entry Plan was written and submitted by user Mohammed Stark to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Costo de visa H-1B y 6 problemas para patrocinar

Costo de visa H-1B y 6 problemas para patrocinar La visa H-1B es adecuada para muchos perfiles de trabajadores extranjeros profesionales. Sin embargo las empresas son reacias a patrocinarlas por el costo y otros problemas. En este articulo se explica por quà © muchas  compaà ±Ãƒ ­as americanas rechazan incluso la posibilidad de patrocinar una visa H-1B o lo hacen muy restrictivamente. Eso es asà ­ sin menoscabo de que otras, generalmente grandes, sà ­ que optan por patrocinar aà ±o tras aà ±o. Costo de las visas H-1B Las empresas deben pagar al Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) una cuota por completar el formulario I-129 conocido en inglà ©s como Petition of a Noimmigrant Worker como paso previo a la obtencià ³n de la visa H-1B.   Las empresas entre 1 y 25 empleados a tiempo completo deben pagar actualmente $1,575, que puede incrementarse en cualquier momento. Sin embargo si la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a tiene ms de 25 empleados el costo se eleva a $2,325.   Adems, si se desea acelerar el proceso de tramitacià ³n es necesario pagar una cuota premium para asegurar una respuesta en el plazo de 15 dà ­as. Esto tiene un costo adicional de $1,225. Son las empresas las que tienen que correr con esos gastos. Es ilegal que el trabajador extranjero se haga cargo de ellos. Adems, hay que sumar el costo de abogados. 6 problemas para las empresas asociados a la visa H-1B Adems del costo, hay ms razones por las que las empresas prefieren no patrocinar. Entre ellos destacan por su importancia los siguientes 6: 1. La incertidumbre es otro de los factores que ms pesa a los empleadores para no solicitar una visa H-1B para un trabajador extranjero. Y es que salvo en el caso de instituciones u organizaciones que se dedican a la educacià ³n o a la investigacià ³n y que estn excluidas del là ­mite anual de visas H-1B la mayorà ­a de las empresas se encuentran con el hecho de que patrocinar a un trabajador no quiere decir, ni mucho menos, que vaya a obtener la visa. La razà ³n es que cada aà ±o fiscal hay un nà ºmero mayor de solicitantes que de visas disponibles, con lo que en los à ºltimos aà ±os se ha tenido que decidir mediante loterà ­a quià ©nes obtienen la visa. Y las empresas que necesitan a un trabajador no pueden estar limitados por la suerte o mala suerte que implica una loterà ­a. Una vez que la visa est solicitada es posible verificar su estatus online. 2. El tiempo es otra razà ³n de peso. Y es que para anotarse para la visa el plazo comienza cada aà ±o el 1 de abril. Sin embargo, aunque se gane el sorteo de la loterà ­a, no se puede comenzar a trabajar con la visa H-1B antes del 1 de octubre, es decir, con el inicio del nuevo aà ±o fiscal. De esta regla sà ³lo estn exentos las empresas no sujetas al cupo anual mximo de visas y pueden solicitar trabajadores a lo largo de todo el aà ±o. 3. El salario del trabajador es caro. La empresa tiene que ofrecer al trabajador extranjero lo que se conoce como sueldo predominante o en inglà ©s  Prevailing Wage. Para conocer cul el es el sueldo predominante para una determinada profesià ³n segà ºn el lugar de trabajo, la empresa que desea patrocinar puede consultar con el NPWC, que es una oficina del gobierno. Otra opcià ³n es consultar la Biblioteca Online de Salarios que se conoce en inglà ©s por las siglas de OWL. El requisito del salario predominante en la prctica puede suponer que podrà ­a encontrar un trabajador estadounidense o residente permanente ms barato. En la actualidad hay rumores de que con el gobierno de Trump una de las reformas migratorias afectar a la H-1B y precisamente en este punto y se han filtrado borradores en el que se indican sueldos superiores a los $130 mil como requisitos para una H-1B, si bien a dà ­a de hoy esto son solo especulaciones. 4. La empresa patrocinadora de una visa H-1B est sujeta a auditorà ­as por parte del Departamento de Trabajo (DoL por sus siglas en inglà ©s) y del Departamento de Seguridad Interna (DHS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s).   Adems, est obligada a mantener ciertos rà ©cords pà ºblicos. En otras palabras, las empresas que patrocinan este tipo de visas atraen sobre sà ­ un escrutinio adicional que no tienen las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as no patrocinadoras. 5. Si por cualquier razà ³n la empresa da por terminado antes de tiempo el contrato del trabajador que se encuentra en Estados Unidos con una visa H-1B, es responsable de pagar el ticket de regreso a su paà ­s del ex empleado. 6. Finalmente, un gran inconveniente para las empresas es que patrocinando una visa H-1B no resuelven de modo definitivo su necesidad por un trabajador con un determinado perfil. Y es que estas visas tienen una duracià ³n de 3 aà ±os ampliables por otros 3. Llegado ese momento el trabajador sale de Estados Unidos o la empresa le patrocina una tarjeta de residencia permanente, tambià ©n conocida como green card. Pero el patrocinio lleva aparejado ms trmites legales, como la peticià ³n de un Labor Certification, ms gestiones migratorias y, consiguientemente, ms gastos. Conclusià ³n y opciones a la visa H-1B En la prctica las visas H-1B no son fciles de obtener, no solo por la loterà ­a que implica un grado de suerte sino tambià ©n porque muchas empresas son reacias a iniciar el proceso debido a todos los problemas e inconvenientes que conlleva.   En este punto destacar que los chilenos tienen una cuota de visas H-1B reservada para ellos y que eso es un punto a favor, porque no entran a la loterà ­a y se pueden pedir en cualquier momento del aà ±o, es decir, cuando la empresa tiene la necesidad. Finalmente destacar que en el caso de profesionalistas mexicanos, un buen nà ºmero de profesiones permiten solicitar la visa TN. Por otro lado, para los profesionales de cualquier paà ­s con cualidades excepcionales en la Educacià ³n, Ciencias, Cine o Televisià ³n, Empresas, Artes o Deportes la visa O puede ser una buena opcià ³n. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Philosophical Quotes on Lying

Philosophical Quotes on Lying Lying is a complex activity, one that we often blame, despite the fact that several times it may be the best ethical option left to us. While lying can be been seen as a threat to civil society, there seem to be several instances in which lying seems the most intuitively moral option. Besides, if a sufficiently broad definition of lying is adopted, it seems utterly impossible to escape lies, either because of instances of self-deception or because of the social construction of our persona. In the sequel, I compiled some favorite quotes on lying: if you have any additional ones to suggest, please do get in touch! Baltasar Gracin: Don’t lie, but don’t tell the whole truth. Cesare Pavese: The art of living is the art of knowing how to believe lies. The fearful thing about it is that not knowing what truth may be, we can still recognize lies. William Shakespeare, from The Merchant of Venice: The world is still deceivd with ornament,In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,But, being seasond with a gracious voice,Obscures the show of evil? In religion,What damned error, but some sober browWill bless it and approve it with a text,Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? Criss Jami: Just because something isnt a lie does not mean that it isnt deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction... Gregg Olsen, from Envy: If only these walls could talk†¦the world would know just how hard it is to tell the truth in a story in which everyone’s a liar. Dianne Sylvan, from Queen of Shadows: She was famous, and she was insane. Her voice soared out over the audience, holding them spellbound and enraptured, delivering their hopes and fears tangled in chords and rhythm. They called her an angel, her voice a gift. She was famous, and she was a liar.Plato: We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Ralph Moody: There are only two kinds of men in this world: Honest men and dishonest men. ...Any man who says the world owes him a living is dishonest. The same God that made you and me made this earth. And He planned it so that it would yield every single thing that the people on it need. But He was careful to plan it so that it would only yield up its wealth in exchange for the labor of man. Any man who tries to share in that wealth without contributing the work of his brain or his hands is dishonest. Sigmund Freud, from The Future of an Illusion: Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanor. Clarence Darrow, from The Story of My Life: Some false representations contravene the law; some do not. The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business, and, besides, could not be done. The line between honesty and dishonesty is a narrow, shifting one and usually lets those get by that are the most subtle and already have more than they can use. Further Online Sources The entry on the Definition of Lying and Deception at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The entry on the Liar Paradox at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The entry on the Liar Paradox at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The entry on the Definition of Lying and Deception at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.A New York Times op-ed by Graham Priest on the paradox.

International marketing( optional) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International marketing( optional) - Essay Example An understanding of the nature of rivalry should begin from an assessment of the nature of products that the two companies deal with. Both companies manufacture highly developed smart phones, ipads, and other technology products with internet-aided applications (The Growth Agenda, 2012, p. 54). The inventory of these products consists of rapid innovations and advancements in technology in very short spans of time. Generally, the products range from simple to highly advanced technological gadgets that seek to satisfy different levels of the clientele. Over the times, both companies have attempted to break into new market segments or take over some of the segments held by their competitors. The course of these pursuits has involved suits of violation of patent rights to other matters that relate to the processes of regulation of the ethics of marketing and general commerce. As such, these companies have devised a range of strategies, which are meant to outpace each other in terms of te chnologies and marketing (Doole & Lowe, 2008, p.36). Samsung has sought to create pools of loyal clientele who cut across the various aspects of the market. The marketing strategies adopted are basically meant to show the other companies as weaker and less innovative in comparison to its own products. Some of the issues that affect the relationship between the two firms relates to the need to build a foil of the companies against which the technological strengths of Samsung might be manifest. On the other hand, Apple has sought to demonstrate the fact that it has a highly evolving technological framework that determines the manufacturing processes of the company. Generally, technological markets are some of the most fluid and unpredictable as compared to other markets. This is because of the fast-paced nature of innovations and technological factors create conditions that encourage competition between rivals in the same operational zone. Some of the issues that relate to the questio n of challenges are that it concerns issues of general commercial concern. The emerging patterns and trends of marketing has often related to the question of ethics versus and fair trading practices. There is an evident departure from ethics of marketing because the companies involved have significant control over significant market niches. The competition, rivalries, and conflicts that pit one company over another could be understood within the wider discourse of liberalization of the market economy. In the context of liberalization, some modern marketing practices often involve a determined from conventional and traditional ethics in ways that encourage the private of private interests at the expense of competitors (Hill & Jones, 2012). Malignant aspects of marketing have the potential of swaying the markets in favor of the direction of the companies involves. Such marketing practices often involve direct mention of certain elements that illustrate the weaknesses of the rival (Moo ij, 2009, p. 62). On this score, companies may deliberately choose to malign the weaknesses of their rivals with the overall objective of carrying out some form of a market coup on the competitor’s interests. Generally, marketing strategies are designed to affect the targeted clientele at the psychological level. Packaging of the psychological messages is usually

The role of inventory management in the logistics and operation of Fed Essay

The role of inventory management in the logistics and operation of Fed Ex Corporation Limited - Essay Example This report will seek to describe the process of inventory management undertaken at Fed Ex Corporation Limited (courier industry) and the role it plays in the overall logistics and functioning of the company in helping it pursue its objective: the fast and efficient delivery of parcels to their desired destination anywhere across the globe! Knowing the role of inventory management is important because it contributes to the overall functioning of the company and in turn, determines the efficiency of the entire process. In other words, it is very important for any firm to deal with its inventory carefully because this in turn complements and directly affects other related processes such as warehousing, transportation and all of this eventually determines the level of customer satisfaction. This customer satisfaction is essential in building and maintaining the goodwill of the company. Any little negligence or carelessness can lead to big failures and destroy very easily the goodwill that the company took years to build. Therefore, through this report, we aim to highlight the importance of inventory management and hence, the logistics operations in the overall functioning of any company, specifically explained here through Fed Ex corporation.

Written Assignment for Industrial Technology Essay Example for Free

Written Assignment for Industrial Technology Essay 1. The written assignment for Industrial Technology has continuously posed a level of difficulty for some students and teachers who are required to contend with the CSEC practical areas. In light of this challenge the following presentation has been created to give a better understanding of the procedure to follow. 2. In order to successfully complete written assignments candidates must firstly become aware of the requirements of this component. It is very important that each candidate is not only provided with these requirements (which include background and mark scheme) but also that teachers utilize a session or two to explain thoroughly the steps to be followed. Guides presented to candidates should include the following: 1. Background to written assignment 2. Mark scheme [Samples shown below] THE WRITTEN COMPONENT The written assignment will take the form of a report of about 1000 – 1200 words based on the common modules. These are: Safety Health Welfare Introduction to Computer Impact of Technology on Society Candidates are to demonstrate their full understanding of the concepts relating to these modules. They should produce a report that uses word-processing technology. Candidates may also use other software packages (Spreadsheets or databases) to do any analysis that may be necessary to enhance the presentation of the report. The report should be a critical analysis of a particular institution, business or theme that has relation or relevance to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied. It is suggested that one of two approaches be used. 1. Industrial visits Preparation of a report on a visit to an industry or industrial site. 2. A report on a particular theme that is relevant to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied, for example, – Transport – road, air, rail or water; – Communication; – Manufacturing; – Service industry. The report should include drawings, and photographs, wherever these are relevant, in addition to the written material. The report should address the areas listed below. – The jobs or careers involved in the particular institution or theme that relate to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied. – The norms, regulations and codes of which employees in these areas must be aware and to which they must adhere, because of legal, financial, strategic or other considerations. – The impact of technology on the careers identified and the processes involved as they relate to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied, for example, employment vs. unemployment, self-employment, security considerations, methods of processing and environmental considerations. – Ethical and moral considerations. A critical look at the environmental issues, employment practices and safety, health and welfare issues as they are addressed. 3. If the candidate is studying: (i) One Unit or Subject only, the report should address the areas listed in point 2 above which are relevant to that Unit only. (ii) Two or more Units or Subjects, the report should address the areas listed in point 2 above which are relevant to ALL the Units being studied. INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY *Table outlining the breakdown of marks for students completing one, two or three units/subject. Interpreting guides and mark scheme It is important to note that unless the report is prepared according to the guides and mark scheme given, students will find it difficult to score points for this component. As such strict adherence to the instructions given through the documents above is critical to the successful completion of this piece. INTRODUCTION OF THE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT The introduction of the written assignment consists of two areas, namely: 1. Topic outlined briefly and, 2. Methods/approach at data collection. Based on the breakdown of the mark scheme the introduction asks for two specific pieces of information and values 2 marks, one for each. It is therefore unnecessary for candidates to be lengthy in this section. Example 1. The manufacturing of ordinary Portland cement at Carib Cement Jamaica Limited. (1 mark) 2. The following approaches were taken in gathering the data: i. A guided tour of the plant ii. Video presentations iii. Use of questionnaires iv. Interviews conducted with personnel (1 mark) CONTENT As outlined in the mark scheme, candidates are required to identify the different careers at the industry that they have visited. In the case of the theme approach, candidates will naturally identify those careers associated with that area of specialization also including support staff that would aid in the successful running of such an establishment. All candidates are required to do here is to list the careers. Evidently only one mark is allotted for this section. Creative ways could also be employed if so desired by candidates to present this information. E.g. Organizational charts. The norms, regulations and codes to which employees must be aware and to which they must adhere because of legal, financial, strategic or other consideration. Again this other item values only one mark on the mark scheme, hence candidates are not expected to be lengthy. A good approach to take here is to break down the heading in order to sufficiently address each component. Example: Norms Norms speak to the customary operation of the plant and especially employees from the time of ‘check in’ to the time of ‘check out’. The operations here could be itemized with an indication of the time in which they are carried out. E.g.: 1) Employees check in at security post for processing 8:30 AM 2) Employees report to departments. - 9:00 AM Regulations Regulations speak to the set of rules to which employees must adhere. These rules must be linked to the daily operations carried out by employees. In presentation these regulations could be tabulated with possible photographs of signs mounted on the plant. NOTE: There are points allotted separately for pictures, tables and charts. Codes could also be addressed at this point. These can be described as a systematic set of laws which quite often govern both behavior and safety. Pictures of codes identified on site could also be used to enhance presentation. Impact of Technology on Careers The impact of technology is essentially seeking to identify the negatives and positives of the use of the equipment on the plant (especially if newly introduced) and the effect that these have on the existing careers. However, candidates are required to speak specifically to the impact as it relates to the following areas: 1) Employment vs. unemployment 2) Security or processing 3) Environmental If an actual tour of an industrial plant was conducted then the information needed in this section could be collected with the aid of interviews, questionnaires or observation of operations. If the report was completed from a theme then candidates would naturally identify possible effects that could arise as a result of the introduction of new technology. As it relates to employment vs. unemployment, candidates are required to say whether jobs have been lost or jobs have been gained as a result of the introduction of technology. In terms of security or processing, candidates will select one of these and identify technological features/devices that are used in these areas striking a comparison with manual methods which were previously employed. Industrial plants are popularly known to have a deleterious effect on the environment especially where the emission of waste is concern. The candidate at this point is to explain what technological feature if any is used to control these emissions and elaborate briefly on its effectiveness. How ethical and moral considerations are addressed This section speaks specifically to two areas, these are: 1) Legal polices on safety, health and welfare. 2) Moral approach in handling safety, health and welfare. A legal policy in this context can be defined as a prudent course of action employed by an organization. This prudent course of action seeks to outline how situations/developments are handled within the establishment. At point 1) above candidates are required to list the legal policies employed by the establishment/industrial plant which address safety, health and welfare. These policies may vary from organization to organization but in this case could include: 1) A safety and health policy. 2) Welfare policy developed through the human and resource department in the establishment. (Information below seeks to give further details on safety and health. Kindly peruse) Safety and Health policies Safe and healthy working conditions do not happen by chance. Employers need to have a written safety policy for their enterprise setting out the safety and health standards which should be their objective to achieve. The policy should name the senior executive who is responsible for seeing that the standards are achieved, and who has authority to allocate responsibilities to management and supervisors at all levels and to see they are carried out. The safety policy should deal with the following matters: 1) Arrangements for training at all levels. Particular attention needs to be given to key workers such as scaffolders and crane operators whose mistakes can be especially dangerous to other workers; 2) safe methods or systems of work for hazardous operations: the workers carrying out these operations should be involved in their preparation; 3) the duties and responsibilities of supervisors and key workers; 4) arrangements by which information on safety and health is to be made known; 5) arrangements for setting up safety committees; 6) the selection and control of subcontractors. Safety organization and management (policies) must cover all aspects of the employer’s or the contractor’s operations Moral Approach in handling safety, health and welfare Moral approach in handling safety, health and welfare has to do with how employees are treated by the establishment. Candidates at this point will identify the initiatives within the organization/establishment which have been developed for employees under the heading of safety, health and welfare. These could include: 1) Health care for employees and family. 2) Provision of safety equipment for employees. 3) Insurance packages for employees. PRESENTATION Seven points are allotted for presentation and in order for students to score maximum they must meet all the requirements outlined in the mark scheme. Keen attention must be placed on the use of tables, charts, pictures and diagrams to present data. The instrument selected can be used to represent any data that the student wishes to highlight. All areas to be addressed under introduction and content should be treated as headings and subheadings thus improving the presentation of the report. COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION This area deals with the communication of information in a logical way using correct grammar and appropriate jargon of the field. All of twelve marks are allotted to this area and as such teacher is expected to monitor students closely ensuring that all the requirements outlined are adhered to as much as possible. SUMMARY This segment of the report carries (2 marks). These are separated evenly between two areas: 1) Major findings 2) Recommendations Major Findings This is where students will highlight any area of plant operation that they might consider to be outstanding. This could include new technology which leads to greater efficiency. Recommendation This is where students identify possible strategies/initiatives which could serve to improve operations in the areas of concern.

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- Literary Analysis

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote an amazing story in 1892 entitled â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†. The story is full of symbolism and was inspired by Gilman's own life struggles. This analysis of her work will cover some important parts of the author’s life, the characters, the setting of the story, and the plot. Throughout the analysis will be explanations of symbols and how the author tied her personal experiences into the story. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a story that the author wrote to depict her own struggle with mental illness. In order to really appreciate this story, it may help to know about the author’s life. Born in 1860, she was the only child of Mary Finch Westcott and Frederick Beecher Perkins, a librarian and writer. It is said that Charlotte’s father abandoned his family, and, on the verge of poverty, they were forced to move around frequently (Merriman). At the age of 24, Charlotte married her first husband, Charles Watson Stetson, with whom she bore a daughter, Katharine Beecher Stetson. Shortly after giving birth, Charlotte began to suffer from severe postpartum depression and had a nervous breakdown. She spent some time at a sanitorium in Pennsylvania, under the care of Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell (Merriman). In 1913, Gilman wrote â€Å"Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’†; For many years I suffered from a severe and continuous nervous breakdown tending to melancholia – and beyond. During about the third year of this trouble I went, in devout faith and some faint stir of hope, to a noted specialist in nervous diseases, the best known in the country. This wise man put me to bed and applied the rest cure, to which a still good physique responded so promptly that he concluded that there was no... ... the characters in the story, the setting of the story, and the plot of the story. While times have changed drastically since Gilman wrote her story, it is my hope that women everywhere will read â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, recognize the struggles she faced in her life, and be grateful that she chose to not accept the advice of a male physician wanting her to submit to a domestic, docile, stereotypical housewife sort of life. Works Cited Booth, Allison and Kelly Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Merriman, C.D. â€Å"Charlotte Perkins Gilman.† Jalic, Inc. 2006. 27 Feb. 2015. http://www.online-literature.com/charlotte-perkins-gilman/. Voight, Heather â€Å"Symbols in the Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.† 2010. 27 Feb. 2015. http://www.helium.com/items/1753292-symbols-in-the-yellow-wallpaper.

The Life of Sculptor Constantin Brancusi

Our simplest words are often the deepest in meaning: birth, kiss, flight, dream. The sculptor Constantin Brancusi spent his life searching for forms as simple and pure as those words—forms that seem to have existed forever, outside of time. Born a peasant in a remote village in Romania, he spent most of his adult life in Paris, where he lived in a single small room adjoining a skylit studio. Upon his death in 1957, Brancusi willed the contents of his studio to the French government, which eventually re-created the studio itself in a museum (1. 1). Near the center of the photograph are two versions of an idea Brancusi called Endless Column. Pulsing upward with great energy, the columns seem as though they could go on forever. Perhaps they do go on forever, and we can see only part of them. Directly in front of the white column, a sleek, horizontal marble form looking something like a slender submarine seems to hover over a disk-shaped base. Brancusi called it simply Fish. It does not depict any particular fish but, rather, shows us the idea of something that moves swiftly and freely through the water, the essence of a fish. To the left of the dark column, arching up in front of a patch of wall painted red, is a version of one of Brancusi's most famous works, Bird in Space. Here again the artist portrays not a particular bird but, rather, the idea of flight, the feeling of soaring upward. Brancusi said that the work represents â€Å"the soul liberated from matter. †1 A photograph by Brancusi shows another, more mysterious view of Bird in Space (1. 2). Light from a source we cannot see cuts across the work and falls in a sharp diamond shape on the wall behind. The sculpture casts a shadow so strong it seems to have a dark twin. Before it lies a broken, discarded work. The photograph might make you think of the birth of a bird from its shell, or of a perfected work of art arising from numerous failed attempts, or indeed of a soul newly liberated from its material prison. Brancusi took many photographs of his work, and through them we can see how his sculptures lived in his imagination even after they were finished. He photographed them in varying conditions of light, in multiple locations and combinations, from close up and far away. With each photograph they seem to reveal a different mood, the way people we know reveal different sides of themselves over time. Living with art, Brancusi's photographs show us, is making art live by letting it engage our attention, our imagination, our intelligence. Few of us, of course, can live with art the way Brancusi did. Yet we can choose to seek out encounters with art, to make it a matter for thought and enjoyment, and to let it live in our imagination. You probably live already with more art than you think you do. Very likely the walls of your home are decorated with posters, photographs, or even paintings you chose because you find them beautiful or meaningful. Walking around your community you probably pass by buildings that were designed for visual appeal as well as to serve practical ends. If you ever pause for a moment just to look at one of them, to take pleasure, for example, in its silhouette against the sky, you have made the architect's work live for a moment by appreciating an effect that he or she prepared for you. We call such an experience an aesthetic experience. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the feelings aroused in us by sensory experiences—experiences we have through sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Aesthetics concerns itself with our responses to the natural world and to the world we make, especially the world of art. What art is, how and why it affects us—these are some of the issues that aesthetics addresses. This book hopes to deepen your pleasure in the aesthetic experience by broadening your understanding of one of the most basic and universal of human activities, making art. Its subject is visual art, which is art that addresses the sense of sight, as opposed to music or poetry, which are arts that appeal to the ear. It focuses on the Western tradition, by which we mean art as it has been understood and practiced in Europe and in cultures with their roots in European thought, such as the United States. But it also reaches back to consider works created well before Western ideas about art were in place and across to other cultures that have very different traditions of art. THE IMPULSE FOR ART No society that we know of, for as far back in human history as we have been able to penetrate, has lived without some form of art. The impulse to make and respond to art appears to be as deeply ingrained in us as the ability to learn language, part of what sets us apart as humans. Where does the urge to make art come from? What purposes does it serve? For answers, we might begin by looking at some of the oldest works yet discovered, images and artifacts dating from the Stone Ages, near the beginning of the human experience. On the afternoon of December 18, 1994, two men and a woman, all experienced cave explorers, were climbing among the rocky cliffs in the Ardeche region of southeastern France. From a small cavity in the rock, they felt a draft of air, which they knew often signaled a large cavern within. After clearing away some rocks and debris, they were able to squeeze through a narrow channel into what appeared to be an enormous underground room, its floor littered with animal bones. Pressing farther into the cave, the explorers played their lights on the walls and made an astonishing discovery: The walls were covered with drawings and paintings (1. 3)—more than three hundred images as they eventually found—depicting rhinoceroses, horses, bears, reindeer, lions, bison, mammoths, and others, as well as numerous outlines of human hands. It was evident that the paintings were extremely old and that the cave had remained untouched, unseen by humans, since prehistoric times. The explorers agreed to name the site after the one in their number who had led them to it, Jean-Marie Chauvet, so it is called the Chauvet cave. What they did not realize until months later, after radiocarbon testing had accurately dated the paintings, was that they had just pushed back the history of art by several thousand years. The Chauvet images were made about 30,000 B. C. E. and are the oldest paintings we know. The paintings date from a time known as the Upper Paleolithic Period, which simply means the latter part of the Old Stone Age. Archaeologists have formed some tentative conclusions about how the paintings were done. Pigments of red and yellow ochre, a natural earth substance, along with black charcoal, could have been mixed with animal fat and painted onto the walls with a reed brush. In powdered form, the same materials probably were mouth-blown onto the surface through hollow reeds. Many of the images are engraved, or scratched, into the rock. More intriguing is the question of why the cave paintings were made, why their creators paid such meticulous attention to detail, why they did their work so far underground. The paintings clearly were not meant to embellish a dwelling space. The cave artists must have lived—slept, cooked their meals, mated, and raised their children—much nearer to the mouths of these caves, close to daylight and fresh air. Until the Chauvet cave was discovered, many experts believed that ancient cave paintings were done for magical assistance in the hunt, to ensure success in bringing down game animals. But several of the animals depicted at Chauvet, including lions and rhinos and bears, were not in the customary diet of early peoples. Perhaps the artists wished to establish some kind of connection with these wild beasts, but we cannot know for sure. Fascinating as these mysteries are, they pass over perhaps the most amazing thing of all, which is that there should be images in the first place. The ability to make images is uniquely human. We do it so naturally and so constantly that we take it for granted. We make them with our hands, and we make them with our minds. Lying out on the grass, for example, you may amuse yourself by finding images in the shifting clouds, now a lion, now an old woman. Are the images really there? We know that a cloud is just a cloud, yet the image is certainly there, because we see it. Our experience of the images we make is the same. We know that a drawing is just markings on a surface, a newspaper photograph merely dots, yet we recognize them as images that reflect our world, and we identify with them. The experience was the same for Paleolithic image-makers as it is for us. All images may not be art, but our ability to make them is one place where art begins. The contemporary British sculptor Anthony Caro has said that â€Å"all art is basically Paleolithic or Neolithic: either the urge to smear soot and grease on cave walls or pile stone on stone. †2 By â€Å"soot and grease† Caro means the cave paintings. With â€Å"the urge to pile stone on stone† he has in mind one of the most impressive and haunting works to survive from the Stone Ages, the structure in the south of England known as Stonehenge (1. 4). Today much ruined through time and vandalism, Stonehenge at its height consisted of several concentric circles of megaliths, very large stones, surrounded in turn by a circular ditch. It was built in several phases over many centuries, beginning around 3100 B. C. E. The tallest circle, visible in the photograph here, originally consisted of thirty gigantic upstones capped with a continuous ring of horizontal stones. Weighing some 50 tons each, the stones were quarried many miles away, hauled to the site, and laboriously shaped by blows from stone hammers until they fit together. Many theories have been advanced about why Stonehenge was built and what purpose it served. Recent archaeological research has confirmed that the monument marks a graveyard, perhaps that of a ruling dynasty. The cremated remains of up to 240 people appear to have been buried there over a span of some five hundred years, from the earliest development of the site until the time when the great stones were erected. Other findings suggest that the monument did not stand alone but was part of a larger complex, perhaps a religious complex used for funerary rituals. What is certain is that Stonehenge held meaning for the Neolithic community that built it. For us, it stands as a compelling example of how old and how basic is our urge to create meaningful order and form, to structure our world so that it reflects our ideas. This is another place where art begins. In our society, we tend to think of art as something created by specialists, people we call artists, just as medicine is practiced by doctors and bridges are designed by engineers. In other societies, virtually everyone contributes to art in some way. Yet no matter how a society organizes itself, it calls on its art-makers to fulfill similar roles. Stonehenge was erected in the Neolithic era, or New Stone Age. The Neolithic era is named for the new kinds of stone tools that were invented, but it also saw such important advances as the domestication of animals and crops and the development of the technology of pottery, as people discovered that fire could harden certain kinds of clay. With pottery, storage jars, food bowls, and all sorts of other practical objects came into being. Yet much of the world's oldest pottery seems to go far beyond purely practical needs (1. 5). This elegant stemmed cup was formed around 2000 B. C. E. in what is now eastern China. Eggshell-thin and exceedingly fragile, it could not have held much of anything and would have tipped over easily. In other words, it isn't practical. Instead, great care and skill have gone into making it pleasing to the eye. Here is a third place we might turn to for the origins of art—the urge to explore the aesthetic possibilities of new technologies. What are the limits of clay, the early potters must have wondered. What can be done with it? Scholars believe such vessels were created for ceremonial use. They were probably made in limited quantity for members of a social elite. To construct meaningful images and forms, to create order and structure, to explore aesthetic possibilities—these characteristics seem to be part of our nature as human beings. From them, art has grown, nurtured by each culture in its own way. WHAT DO ARTISTS DO? First, artists create places for some human purpose. Stonehenge, for example, was probably created as a place where a community could gather for rituals. Closer to our own time, Maya Lin created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a place for contemplation and remembrance (1. 6). One of our most painful national memories, the Vietnam War saw thousands of young men and women lose their lives in a distant conflict that was increasingly questioned and protested at home. By the war's end, the nation was so bitterly divided that returning veterans received virtually no recognition for their services. In this atmosphere of continuing controversy, Lin's task was to create a memorial that honored the human sacrifice of the war while neither glorifying nor condemning the war itself. At the heart of the memorial is a long, tapering, V-shaped wall of black granite, inscribed with the names of the missing, the captured, and the dead—some 58,000 names in all. Set into the earth exposed by slicing a great wedge from a gently sloping hill, it suggests perhaps a modern entrance to an ancient burial mound, though in fact there is no entrance. Instead, the highly polished surface acts as a mirror, reflecting the surrounding trees, the nearby Washington Monument, and the visitors themselves as they pass by. Entering along a walkway from either end, visitors are barely aware at first of the low wall at their feet. The monument begins just as the war itself did, almost unnoticed, a few support troops sent to a small and distant country, a few deaths in the nightly news. As visitors continue their descent along the downward-sloping path, the wall grows taller and taller until it towers overhead, names upon names upon names. Often, people reach out to touch the letters, and as they do, they touch their own reflections reaching back. At the walkway's lowest point, with the wall at its highest, a corner is turned. The path begins to climb upward, and the wall begins to fall away. Drawn by a view of either the Washington Monument (as in the photograph here) or the Lincoln Memorial (along the other axis), visitors leave the war behind. In a quiet, unobtrusive way, the place that Maya Lin created encourages a kind of ritual, a journey downward into a valley of death, then upward toward hope, healing, and reconciliation. Like Stonehenge, it has served to bring a community together. A second task artists perform is to create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. Just as the Neolithic vessel we looked at earlier is more than an ordinary drinking cup, so the textile here is more than an ordinary garment (1. 7). Woven in West Africa by artists of the Asante people, it is a spectacular example of a type of textile known as kente. Kente is woven in hundreds of patterns, each with its own name, history, and symbolism. Traditionally, a newly invented pattern was shown first to the king, who had the right to claim it for his own exclusive use. Like the Neolithic vessel, royal kente was reserved for ceremonial occasions. Rich, costly, and elaborate, the cloth distinguished its wearer as special as well, an extraordinary version of an ordinary human being. A third important task for artists has been to record and commemorate. Artists create images that help us remember the present after it slips into the past, that keep us in mind of our history, and that will speak of our times to the future. Illustrated here is a painting by a 17th-century artist named Manohar, one of several painters employed in the royal workshops of the emperor Jahangir, a ruler of the Mughal dynasty in India (1. 8). At the center of the painting we see Jahangir himself, seated beneath a sumptuous canopy. His son Khusrau, dressed in a yellow robe, offers him the precious gift of a golden cup. The painting commemorates a moment of reconciliation between father and son, who had had a violent falling out. The moment did not last, however. Khusrau would soon stage an armed rebellion that cost him the throne. Although the intricate details of Mughal history may be lost on us today, this enchanting painting gives us a vivid glimpse into their vanished world as they wanted it to be remembered. A fourth task for artists is to give tangible form to the unknown. They portray what cannot be seen with the eyes or events that can only be imagined. An anonymous Indian sculptor of the 10th century gave tangible form to the Hindu god Shiva in his guise as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance (1. 9). Encircled by flames, his long hair flying outward, Shiva dances the destruction and rebirth of the world, the end of one cycle of time and the beginning of another. The figure's four arms communicate the complexity of this cosmic moment. In one hand, Shiva holds the small drum whose beat summons up creation; in another hand, he holds the flame of destruction. A third hand points at his raised foot, beneath which worshipers may seek refuge, while a fourth hand is raised with its palm toward the viewer, a gesture that means â€Å"fear not. † A fifth function artists perform is to give tangible form to feelings and ideas. The statue of Shiva we just looked at, for example, gives tangible form to ideas about the cyclical nature of time that are part of the religious culture of Hinduism. In The Starry Night (1. 10), Vincent van Gogh labored to express his personal feelings as he stood on the outskirts of a small village in France and looked up at the night sky. Van Gogh had become intrigued by the belief that people journeyed to a star after their death, and that there they continued their lives. â€Å"Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen,† he wrote in a letter, â€Å"we take death to reach a star. †4 Seen through the prism of that idea, the night landscape inspired in him a vision of great intensity. Surrounded by halos of radiating light, the stars have an exaggerated, urgent presence, as though each one were a brilliant sun. A great wave or whirlpool rolls across the sky—a cloud, perhaps, or some kind of cosmic energy. The landscape, too, seems to roll on in waves like an ocean. A tree in the foreground writhes upward toward the stars as though answering their call. In the distance, a church spire points upward as well. Everything is in turbulent motion. Nature seems alive, communicating in its own language while the village sleeps. Finally, artists refresh our vision and help us see the world in new ways. Habit dulls our senses. What we see every day we no longer marvel at, because it has become familiar. Through art we can see the world through someone else's eyes and recover the intensity of looking for the first time. Ernst Haas' photograph Peeling Paint on Iron Bench, Kyoto, 1981 (1. 11) singles out a small detail of an ordinary day and asks us to notice how rich it is if we really take the time to look. Rain has made the colors shine with fresh intensity, brilliant red against deep black, and the star-shaped leaves could almost be made of gold. After seeing through Haas' eyes, we may find ourselves—if only for a few hours—more attentive to the world around us, which is stranger, more mysterious, more various, and more beautiful than we usually realize. CREATING AND CREATIVITY Out walking on a rainy day in Kyoto, Ernst Haas could have noticed the park bench, smiled with pleasure, and continued on his way. Standing in a field over a century ago, Van Gogh could have had his vision of the night sky, then returned to his lodgings—and we would never have known about it. We all experience the moments of insight that put us where art begins. For most of us, such moments are an end in themselves. For artists, they are a beginning, a kind of raw material that sets a creative process in motion. Creativity is a word that comes up often when talking about art, but what is creativity exactly? Are we born with it? Can it be learned? Can it be lost? Are artists more creative than other people? If so, how did they get that way? Many writers and educators have tried to analyze creativity and determine what makes a person creative. 6 Although the exact nature of creativity remains elusive, there is general agreement that creative people tend to possess certain traits, including: †¢ Sensitivity —heightened awareness of what one sees, hears, and touches, as well as responsiveness to other people and their feelings. †¢ Flexibility —an ability to adapt to new situations and to see their possibilities; willingness to find innovative relationships. Originality —uncommon responses to situations and to solving problems. †¢ Playfulness —a sense of humor and an ability to experiment freely. †¢ Productivity —the ability to generate ideas easily and frequently, and to follow through on those ideas. †¢ Fluency —a readiness to allow the free flo w of ideas. †¢ Analytical skill —a talent for exploring problems, taking them apart, and finding out how things work. †¢ Organizational skill —ability to put things back together in a coherent order. We might bear that list in mind as we look at Tim Hawkinson's Emoter (1. 12). Like many of Hawkinson's works, Emoter looks like a do-it-yourself science project that has gotten a little out of hand. The stepladder on the floor houses a black-and-white television monitor tuned to a local broadcast station. Rows of light sensors attached to the monitor's screen react to changes in the moving image, sending signals through a tangle of cords, cables, and wires up to a large photograph of the artist's face. The components of the face—eyes, nostrils, eyebrows, and mouth—move continuously in response to the signals they receive, generating expressions that are as extravagant as a mime's. Certainly, sensitivity made Hawkinson a keen observer of faces, and originality suggested to him that such unlikely material as laboratory experiments monitoring brain waves, or antiquated scientific theories linking specific facial expressions to specific emotions, could inspire a work of art. Playfulness, flexibility, fluency, and productivity set him to exploring ways in which his project could be given form, while analytical and organizational skills allowed him to carry it to completion. The profession of artist is not the only one that requires creativity. Scientists, mathematicians, teachers, business executives, doctors, librarians, computer programmers—people in every line of work, if they are any good, look for ways to be creative. Artists occupy a special place in that they have devoted their lives to opening the channels of visual creativity. Can a person become more creative? Almost certainly, if one allows oneself to be. Being creative means learning to trust one's own interests, experiences, and references, and to use them to enhance life and work. Above all, it means discarding rigid notions of what has been or should be in favor of what could be. Creativity develops when the eyes and the mind are wide open, and it is as important to looking at art as it is to making it. We close this chapter by exploring what looking creatively might involve. LOOKING AND RESPONDING Science tells us that seeing is a mode of perception, which is the recognition and interpretation of sensory data—in other words, how information comes into our eyes (ears, nose, taste buds, fingertips) and what we make of it. In visual perception, our eyes take in information in the form of light patterns; the brain processes these patterns to give them meaning. The role of the eyes in vision is purely mechanical. Barring some physical disorder, it functions the same way for everyone. The mind's role in making sense of the information, however, is highly subjective and belongs to the realm of psychology. Simply put, given the same situation, we do not all notice the same things, nor do we interpret what we see in the same way. One reason for differences in perception is the immense amount of detail available for our attention at any given moment. To navigate efficiently through daily life, we practice what is called selective perception, focusing on the visual information we need for the task at hand and relegating everything else to the background. But other factors are in play as well. Our mood influences what we notice and how we interpret it, as does the whole of our prior experience—the culture we grew up in, relationships we have had, places we have seen, knowledge we have accumulated. The subjective nature of perception explains why a work of art may mean different things to different people and how it is that we may return to a favorite work again and again, noticing new aspects of it each time. It explains why the more we know, the richer each new encounter with art will be, for we will have more experience to bring to it. It explains why we should make every effort to experience as much art in person as possible, for physical dimensions also influence perception. The works reproduced in this book are miniaturized. Many other details escape reproduction as well. Above all, the nature of perception suggests that the most important key to looking at art is to become aware of the process of looking itself—to notice details and visual relationships, to explore the associations and feelings they inspire, to search for knowledge we can bring to bear, and to try to put what we see into words. A quick glance at Juan de Valdes Leal's Vanitas (1. 13) reveals a careless jumble of objects with a cherub looking over them. In the background, a man looks out at us from the shadows. But what are the objects? And what are the cherub and the man doing? Only if we begin to ask and answer such questions does the message of the painting emerge. In the foreground to the left is a timepiece. Next to it are three flowers, each one marking a stage in the brief life of a flower across time: budding, then blossoming, then dying as its petals fall away. Then come dice and playing cards, suggesting games of chance. Further on, a cascade of medals, money, and jewelry leads up to an elaborate crown, suggesting honors, wealth, and power. At the center, books and scientific instruments evoke knowledge. Finally, back where we began, a skull crowned with a laurel wreath lies on its side. Laurel traditionally crowns those who have become famous through their achievements, especially artistic achievements. Over this display the cherub blows a bubble, as though making a comment on the riches before him. A bubble's existence is even shorter than a flower's—a few seconds of iridescent beauty, and then nothing. Behind the books, a crystal globe resembles a bubble as well, encouraging us to see a connection. When we meet the man's gaze, we notice that he has drawn back a heavy curtain with one hand and is pointing at a painting he has thus revealed with the other. â€Å"Look at this,† he all but speaks. The painting depicts the Last Judgment. In Christian belief, the Last Judgment is the moment when Christ will appear again. He will judge both the living and the dead, accepting some into Paradise and condemning others to Hell. The universe will end, and with it time itself. We might paraphrase the basic message of the painting something like this: â€Å"Life is fleeting, and everything that we prize and strive for during it is ultimately meaningless. Neither wealth nor beauty nor good fortune nor power nor knowledge nor fame will save us when we stand before God at the end of the world. † Without taking the time to perceive and reflect on the many details of the image, we would miss its message completely. Vanitas is Latin for â€Å"vanity. † It alludes to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, a meditation on the fleeting nature of earthly life and happiness in which we read that in the end, â€Å"all is vanity. The title wasn't invented or bestowed by the artist, however. Rather, it is a generic name for a subject that was popular during his lifetime. Numerous vanitas paintings have come down to us from the 17th century, and together they show the many ways that artists treated its themes. Closer to our own time, the painter Audrey Flack be came fascinated by the vanitas tradition, and she created a series of her own, including Wheel of Fortune (Vanitas) (1. 14). Knowing something of the tradition Flack is building on, we can more easily appreciate her updated interpretation. As ever, a skull puts us in mind of death. An hourglass, a calendar page, and a guttering candle speak of time and its passing. The necklace, mirrors, powder puff, and lipstick are contemporary symbols of personal vanity, while a die and a tarot card evoke the roles of chance and fate in our lives. As in the painting by Valdes, a visual echo encourages us to think about a connection, in this case between the framed oval photograph of a young woman and the framed oval reflection of the skull just below. Flack may be painting with one eye on the past, but the other is firmly on our society as we are now. For example, she includes modern inventions such as a photograph and a lipstick tube, and she shuns symbols that no longer speak to us directly such as laurels and a crown. The specifically Christian context is gone as well, resulting in a more general message that applies to us all, regardless of faith: Time passes quickly, beauty fades, chance plays a bigger role in our lives than we like to think, death awaits. Despite their differences, both Flack and Valdes provide us with many clues to direct our thoughts. They depict objects that have common associations and then trust us to add up the evidence. At first glance, a contemporary work such as Jim Hodges' Every Touch seems very different (1. 15). Every Touch is made of artificial silk flowers, taken apart petal by petal. The petals were ironed flat, intermingled, then stitched together to form a large curtain or veil. Yet although Every Touch may not direct our thoughts as firmly as the other works, we approach it in the same way. We look, and we try to become aware of our looking. We ask questions and explore associations. We bring our experience and knowledge to bear. We interrogate our feelings. We might think of spring. We might be put in mind of other art, such as the flowered backgrounds of medieval tapestries (see 15. 24) or the role of flowers in the vanitas tradition. We might think about flowers and the occasions on which we offer them. We might think about the flowers we know from poetry, where they are often linked to beauty and youth, for all three fade quickly. We might think about petals, which fall from dying flowers. We might think about veils and when we wear them, such as at weddings and funerals. We might notice how delicately the work is stitched together and how fragile it seems. We might think about looking not only at it but also through it, and about how a curtain separates one realm from another. The man in Valdes' painting, for example, draws back a curtain to reveal the future. Every Touch is not as easily put into words as the vanitas paintings, but it can inspire thoughts about many of the same ideas: seasons that come and go, how beauty and sadness are intertwined, the ceremonies that mark life's passing, the idea of one realm opening onto another, the fragility of things. In the end, what we see in Every Touch depends on what we bring to it, and if we approach the task sincerely, there are no wrong answers. Every Touch will never mean for any of us exactly what it means for Hodges, nor should it. An artist's work grows from a lifetime of experiences, thoughts, and emotions; no one else can duplicate them exactly. Works of art hold many meanings. The greatest of them seem to speak anew to each generation and to each attentive observer. The most important thing is that some works of art come to mean something for you, that your own experiences, thoughts, and emotions find a place in them, for then you will have made them live.