Conflict Essay Paradise Road Essay

INTRO When people encounter conflict their true nature is often the force behind their actions. Conflicts can vary from personal to group and be fairly tedious and inconsequential or they can be life threatening situations. Individuals will display different reactions to this conflict depending on their true nature. Some embrace the conflict and it enables them to show their long held values and morals whereas others are put into a position where they must avoid showing there true self in order to survive. People reveal long held values and what really matters to them when they are under pressure. Our true motives are displayed when we encounter conflict. In the movie, paradise road Mrs Tippler has a highly negative response to conflict, she becomes critical and pessimistic. She grows increasingly  spiteful and resentful, making racial tensions worse and accusing the Dutch women of being dishonest. She accuses Adrienna of endangering lives with the vocal orchestra and becomes suspicious of everyone saying â€Å"What about that Jew doctor? What about that one making goo goo eyes at that Japanese guard all the time†. Ms tippler seemed like a reasonable person at the beginning of the movie but as tension and pressure was put upon her and the group her nastier values where exposed. Adrienne emerges as a natural leader in the prison camp. Her response to conflict is to maintain her dignity. Another character, Adrienne is placed in a compromising position when she’s asked if the orchestra will perform a Japanese folk-song for Colonel Hirota. She refuses, risking severe punishment. In a modern day example sporting great tiger woods was involved in many types of conflict with his partner at time and also with the media. His true ethics where shown as it was reveled that he had been a serial cheater and had told many lies, which inevitably was the reason for him being caught, if he had not engaged in any form of conflict though media speculation or of that with his wife who he really is would never have been exposed. In times of conflict people may even surprise themselves, and discover new characteristics they didn’t know they had. Under pressure a person’s true character is often revealed. Some people will remain composed under pressure and remain in control of the situation while others will lose control of their emotions and the situation very quickly. Recently a soldier called Trooper Finney was awarded the George Cross for rescuing an injured colleague following during the war in Iraq. He was driving a tank when they were attacked by warplanes, his colleagues ran away to shelter but he heard his fellow soldier – the tank gunner, screaming, but he couldn’t get to him properly in the tank. Finney pulled his gunner out and gave him first aid underneath the tank- returned to the burning vehicle to radio for help and kept the other soldier alive until assistance came. Trooper Finney was 19 and had been in the Army for less than a year. He would not have had many life threatening experiences and may not have known what he was capable of until under immense pressure in the middle of a deadly conflict. His real identity came out and his real character was revealed when he risked his life for someone else and stayed calm and cool under attack. Margaret  Drummond’s character in Paradise Road was also an unlikely hero, she was humble, sweet and a Christian missionary she probably didn’t realise she could survive such a torturous ordeal as the prison camp but she finds â€Å"The will to survive is strong, stronger than anything.† At times people need to behave in ways that are out of character in order to survive. This is not always an accurate representation of who they are. Stressed and deprived, some of the women in Paradise Road find themselves placed in a morally and politically compromised situation when confronted with the choice as to whether to remain at the Japanese ‘officers’ club’, providing sex in return for food and comfort, or to return to the camp. Inner conflict is also encountered by the women who are often pushed to breaking point by the cruelty of the Japanese soldiers, such as when they are forced to witness the injustice of Wing’s execution in silence. Normally in a situation where the women where not faced with the threat of death they might have stepped in but with conflicting interests of survival and that to help others stopped them from expressing their desired actions. In our political environment the sense of conflict can be strong, especially near elect ion time. Many politicians have to tow the party line and state that they are opposed to things like gay marriage or abortion, because that is what their political party policy is. They need to do this in order to survive politically in their elected positions. They often turn out not to be personally opposed to those things, but the pressure of conflicting parties vying for peoples votes forces them to act in a role which may be out of character. Kevin Rudd is now saying he is not personally against gay marriage, even though he headed a government who opposed to it. In some circumstances morals and values are compromised in order to survive in the given environment, thus their actions and perceived values may not be a true representation of who they really are. CONCLUSION Conflicting interests in the eyes of the individual is often the reason behind how and why they act in certain ways. In situations of conflict some welcome the situation and show their true self while others act out of fear and desperation either inadvertently revealing themselves or deliberately  choosing survival over being themselves.

Knowledge acquisition Essay

Jegrins Insurance Company is one of the largest insurance companies. Jegrins Company is a group of six other companies that deal with life insurance, property insurance, insurance exchange, property insurance and management. Jerkins Insurance Company is one of the largest casualty or property insurers and has so many policies. It deals with life insurance, asset management and casualty and property Insurance. Insurance companies have to maintain a competitive advantage in order to ensure growth. Jergins is one of those insurance companies that need to maintain a competitive advantage. The company has a very stable financial condition, works towards superior targets hence attains the aim of providing superior services. The employees of Jegrins Insurance Company are a very committed group who work towards the success of the company and ensure that the company grows. Jegrins Company has policy holders too that always set specific targets to be met by the company. They either set long term targets or short term targets depending on what they want to accomplish, agents of the company work hard in order not only to meet these targets but also to exceed them as a challenge to their policy holders. This company uses all these to ensure growth in the market as well as maintaining a competitive advantage. The company uses the capitalization’s risk adjustment as one of the ways of ensuring growth. It has a unique solid operating performance system as well, that it makes use of and views this as very important in the growth of the company. Another design in place for the Jegrins Insurance Company is the availability of the regional market that is well established. The advantage of the regional market, the employees attitude towards working hard, the adjustment of risk capitalization and the policies of the company that have to be met, place the company in a very high class among other insurance companies and enables it maintain a competitive advantage apart from just company growth. There are other factors that contribute to the growth hence high rating of the Jegrins Insurance Company. These are factors such as improvements on technology which has enabled the company growth on performance and service offering, low operating costs, a solid income investment, an increased sophistication on pricing and a well organized and well mannered underwriting. Jegrins Company cannot only depend on the already mentioned factors to be successful and to maintain a competitive advantage. It has to look for knowledge and how to manage it for the benefit of the company. The company therefore tried to change or implement ways of getting knowledge which it realized was a very important factor in maintaining competitive advantage. The company realized that by gaining knowledge from outside about other companies or competitors, it would be better placed, and apart from that, internal knowledge was noticed as essential for the general growth of the company. The company manager therefore decided to implement knowledge strategies to use for the companies benefit and be well informed about competitive advantage issues. The knowledge strategy of a company is the approach the company gives to the knowledge capabilities and knowledge resources to the company’s strategy in order to achieve what the company targets are. A knowledge strategy enables the company to increase its knowledge in a specified area be it internal or external knowledge of a company. Companies choose from the knowledge sources which are either internal or external or can choose to use both. Jegrins Company decided on a knowledge strategy that uses both the internal knowledge sources and the external knowledge sources. Jegrins company internal knowledge sources are those that the employees have in their minds, that is, in their behaviors, the duties and procedures they conduct everyday, the company equipments and the software of the company that they handle. Jegrins internal knowledge sources also lay in the various documents that the company has, the databases and the on line repositories. The external knowledge sources that Jegrins decided to use are such as consultants, from brokers of knowledge, universities, publications, personal relations and from professional associations. Jegrins company manager found out that internal knowledge source could be used to prevent imitation by other companies and to maintain the required level of knowledge requirement for executing the company’s strategy and maintaining its current position. The manager then decided to go to an extent of looking for external knowledge sources to avoid being beaten by competitors since competitors too have knowledge levels. The company has to ensure the gap between the competitors level of knowledge is closed down to ensure it is not down and cannot be out done at any time. Jegrins also creates new knowledge to keep in pace and to maintain a competitive advantage position. This extra knowledge, the manager feels is very important since the company will be better placed that the other companies. The company exploits knowledge to keep pace by looking for more information that is relevant. Jegrins insurance Company Internal knowledge management and knowledge acquisition: Without a knowledge strategy, the success of a company can be jeopardized. The company has since implemented a strategy of knowledge acquisition. This strategy has various processes that the company follows. The knowledge of the company since it was initiated was made available to the company employees for them to get to know more about the company. In knowledge management, employees are very important. Jegrins encourages its employees to get the information about the company and perform there duties on the basis of knowledge that they have gained. Internal knowledge is based on the employee knowledge, about their experiences, the soft ware in the company and other company documents. Since the company already had these, it was easy for the manager to go through this step of knowledge acquisition because the employees already had knowledge about the company, the software and had experiences in vast areas of the company. On the basis that this is a large company that provides services to other members and has so many policies, Jegrins has a lot to be termed as internal knowledge. It is therefore an important task to take a long term plan to ensure knowledge acquisition is not stopped after a short time but is continued over a long period of time. Jegrins made this decision just based on the nature of the business or company that does not go for days then close down. The manager decided on long term plans to avoid failure during operations in the future. Apart from the company knowledge that was readily available, the manager still implemented ways to encourage the employees to share the experiences they had and other organizational issues as a way to improve the company’s operational system. By this he encouraged learning through experience hence acquiring more useful knowledge to what his targets of the company are knowledge. External sources of knowledge: Jegrins acquires knowledge too from the external environment as has been stated. It gets information from consultants about the company’s operation steps whenever the manager feels there is a point where consultation is required. The company has evolved to an extent of looking at the other company’s successful methods and learning about them for the benefit of the company and to bridge the gap between the competitor and the company itself. When the company manager does this, he realizes that the other companies do not have more knowledge than the company does, and therefore are at almost the same level of knowledge and not left out yet the company still ranks above the competitors. This he realizes is important in maintaining a competitive advantage since knowledge about other companies is available to him and he knows the steps to make to avoid problems or going down the competitive advantage. The manager also involves the company in looking for information about the environment to which the company operates apart from the competitors’ information. The market is very important to the management of the company since the basis of the company being set up is to provide services to a specified market. Jegrins manager encourages research on the market for the advantage of the company. This though has been the company norm even before the manager decided on taking to knowledge strategy since it offered a lot of information about the steps to be followed for the success of the company. The manager realized that there was need for a strategy or method to be used to acquire just more information relevant for development. This kind of information gaining was meant for the purpose of just keeping in pace with others or being ahead of them which would be to the advantage of the company. The company therefore looked for external sources of information from universities, publications about the successful insurance companies, and other related information professional sources. Jegrins Information distribution: The manager of Jegrins Insurance Company adopted a system in the company that stored valuable information in an order that could be easily retrieved for reference. He also adopted the system of allowing information to be shared among the employees depending on the ranks and area of work so that when an employee does not accept an issue, he/she can explain it to others, discussed and a conclusion made. All these steps the manager considers as a good knowledge management strategy that has shown great success to the company after implementation. After knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation and general storage, the company’s knowledge management can be discussed. The manager so far has used this strategy to manage the company knowledge and is able to realize some bit by bit improvements from the previous level in which the company was before. The company though was at a high level, the manager had intentions of improvement and not just sticking to one level forever that may fall down in one time. The manager decided therefore to implement the knowledge management strategy to improve company performance and maintain competitive advantage. In all the knowledge management procedures, the manager had to take time to make sure that strategic knowledge creation is correctly done. He had to make the short term decisions in some cases and long term decision in others to make sure that there is a balance. This is because in some cases like the maintenance of the competitive advantage by the company, the manager had to decide on long term strategy since the future of the company has to be considered. After implementing a knowledge management strategy, the company has come to realize that knowledge is the key issue in the basis of competition. The company is always aware of any competitor steps that are relevant for the company in order not to be beaten by the competitor. Additional knowledge places the company at a higher class since more improvements have been made based on the acquired knowledge. Internal knowledge proved to be very advantageous to the company since it made the employees share the ideas out of the strategy that the manager created that allowed them to share ideas on the companies operations and make corrections and improvements where it was necessary. The result of these steps by the manager was tremendous, easy maintenance of the competitive advantage, noticeable growth, and increased class when compared to other companies and just being informed in terms of knowledge. It was success for Jegrins. Jegrins manager feels that knowledge strategies that suit respective companies are one of the ways to maintain competitive advantage in insurance companies since knowledge is the basis of competition and improvement. According to Jegrins’ manager, when the company has knowledge from the external environment, there are very high chances of improvement and maintaining a competitive advantage. Internal knowledge also contributes to the improvement and competitive advantage too since the main subject here is the employees and the employees have a big role to play in the company. They are the one who run it through their routine duties and experiences.

Comparitive Essay Between “Millions” and “Slumdog Millionaire” by Danny Boyle Essay

In both ‘Slumdog millionaire’ and ‘Millions’, the director Danny Boyle explores the subject of brotherhood. Furthermore, in both films, Boyle makes the same suggestion that the strength of brotherhood bonds is tested when circumstances change to increase pressure in the relationship. In both films, this theme is explored through the development of the characters in the opening scenes, the rising action and the climax. In the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ we are taken to the city of modern Mumbai and into the life of a man named Jamal Malik as he attempts to win the TV game show ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ in order to reunite with his long-lost childhood sweetheart, Latika. The film ‘Millions’, also from Boyle, tells us the tale of how the brothers Damian and Anthony react when a duffle bag filled with millions of soon-to-expire British pounds fall from the sky near their house. In the opening scenes of ‘Millions’, Boyle leads into the theme of brotherhood by introducing us to the characters Damian and Anthony through the use of camera work. The film begins with a montage of many different camera shots cut together to show a bicycle race between the brothers from a train station, to the construction site where the foundations of their new house are being laid. This has the effect of showing the audience that the brothers have a strong and positive relationship, as they are appearing to enjoy themselves in each other’s company. This introductory montage ends with a high angle shot of Damian and Anthony lying on the ground close next to each other after the race, looking happy and smiling. This, combined with the montage, has the effect of leading the audience to believe that the brothers enjoy each other’s company all the time – whether they are playing, competing or in this case relaxing. Through these techniques the audience is shown the strong brotherhood bond between Damian and Anthony before circumstances change or pressure is added to the relationship. Similarly, in the opening scenes of the film â€Å"Slumdog millionaire† Boyle also introduces us to the subject of brotherhood, and the bond between Jamal and Salim Malik, again through the use of camera work. In the early scenes of the film, a Montage of different shots is used to show the brothers running away from guards on an airstrip, after being caught playing cricket with some other kids from their slum. Throughout the chase, the brothers stick together. This has the effect of introducing us to the characters of Salim and Jamal, as well as making us aware of their friendship and brotherhood. Early on in this montage, a Medium Close Up shot is included, showing Jamal and Salim smiling and high-fiving whilst running away from the guards. This montage has the effect of leading the audience to believe that the brotherhood bond between Salim and Jamal is very strong, as they stick together even in the face of danger, in this case being caught by the guards. Both the Montage and the Medium Close Up shot address the subject of brotherhood, and show us the strength of the bond between Jamal and Salim before circumstances change to increase pressure in their relationship. In the rising action of ‘Millions’ the strength of the brotherhood bond between Anthony and Damian is tested when they disagree about how the money should be used. Boyle again conveys this changing dynamic of the boys’ relationship through the use of dialogue, editing and camera work. Shortly after the money is discovered, Damian and Anthony are in town when Damian sees a woman selling copies of the Big Issue. â€Å"Big Issue anyone? † she says, to which Damian replies â€Å"Here, and keep the change. † She responds â€Å"Thanks mate. I’ve had nothing to eat all day! † to which Damian replies, â€Å"We’re going to Pizza hut. Want to come? † At which point Anthony overhears the conversation and interjects â€Å"No! No she doesn’t, she just wants more money! We haven’t got any more! † Ignoring Anthony, the lady replies, â€Å"I’d fancy Pizza actually. Can I bring my friend? † to which Damian nods. Boyle uses this brief interchange to effectively portray the different views of Damian and Anthony. Damian is shown to be more than willing to help the hungry woman by buying her food, and doesn’t hesitate when she asks to bring a friend, even though it will double the cost. Contrastingly Anthony lies that they â€Å"haven’t got any more to try and avoid what he sees as a waste of money. Soon afterwards in the film, a wide shot is used to show the brothers as they leave for school. In the shot, Damian is in the background, on foot, shutting and locking their door whilst Anthony, wearing sunglasses is framed leaving with an entourage of other kids from school, riding on a bike someone else is pedaling for him. This shot has the effect of symbolizing the two different stances the brothers have taken with the money. Damian has decided to continue his life as if the money had never been discovered, whereas Anthony has decided to use the money for his own selfish purposes. Both the wide shot and the dialogue symbolize two instances in which the brothers disagree about what they should do with the money. Anthony wants to save the money unless it is being spent on him, whereas Damian has the exact opposite goal. Their different ideals combined with the change in circumstance – the discovery of the money – have increased the tension in their relationship and is testing their brotherhood bond. Similarly, the brotherhood bond between Jamal and Salim is tested in the rising action of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ when and Salim repeatedly betrays Jamal. Boyle reveals this development of the Malik brothers’ relationship through the use of dialogue. Jamal and Salim have a scam, in which Jamal occupies the long drop for as long as possible, so people pay Salim to get him to come out. Jamal takes to long getting out, and a potential customer leaves. Salim then says to Jamal â€Å"You just lost me a bloody customer†. Jamal is unconcerned, and doesn’t say anything. A nameless character then shouts â€Å"Amitabh’s helicopter! That’s Amitabh’s helicopter! † Jamal then exclaims â€Å"Amitabh? Amitabh Bachan! Salim places a chair beneath the bathroom’s handle so that Jamal can’t get out. Jamal then yells â€Å"Salim, open it! † We can tell by the way Jamal said Amitabh’s name that he admires him. Salim would have known this, and so to lock him in the toilet when he will probably never have the chance to see Amitabh again is very cruel. As it turns out, Jamal wants t o see Amitabh so badly he jumps through the long drop floor and emerges covered in sewerage. He then runs up to Amitabh and manages to get his autograph. Later, Salim sells the autograph. When Jamal finds out, he exclaims, â€Å"That was my autograph! Amitabh gave it to me! I’ll never get another! † To which Salim replies â€Å"He offered a good price, so I sold it! † As Salim walks away, Jamal says, almost to himself â€Å"But it was mine†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This, again, shows that Salim has very little empathy for his brother, and Jamal was also very upset about what Salim had done. Both these examples of dialogue have the effect of allowing the audience to see that Salim has betrayed Jamal, not once, but twice. The Malik boy’s brotherhood bond is being tested due to this is the change in circumstance. In the resolution of ‘Millions’ Damian and Anthony manage to overcome the obstacles and regain their brotherhood bond. Damian decided to burn all the money, and after he has set it on fire, he sees his dead mother. He has a brief talk to her, and then Anthony comes out to join him. Damian says to Anthony â€Å"She said to tell you not to worry, everything’s going to be all right. † By passing on this message to his brother, it shows that Damian himself agrees with it. Shortly later, a wide shot is used, showing the family crawling through the box tunnel to Damian’s fort. The fort was a very special place to Damian, therefore because he is allowing Anthony inside, it can be concluded that Damian has forgiven Anthony. The effect of the both dialogue and the wide angle shot is to again address the subject of Brotherhood, and to show the audience the brotherhood bond between Damian and Anthony was strong enough that when the circumstances changed for the better – the removal of the money – they managed to regain their previous relationship. Contrastingly, in the rising action of Slumdog Millionaire, Salim and Jamal have a fight, causing the dissolution of their brotherhood bond. After escaping from Maman, Salim has had too much to drink and wants to ‘have his way’ with Latika, so he tells Jamal to leave. When Jamal objects, he retorts, â€Å"I am the elder. I am the boss. For once, you do as I say† After throwing Jamal outside the apartment, Jamal starts banging on the door. Salim opens it, and points a revolver at Jamal’s head, and says â€Å"Shut up! The man with the colt 45 says shut up! Go now, or gun master Jinan will shoot you right between the eyes. Don’t think he wont. The effect of both of these examples of dialogue is to emphasize to the audience that Salim is more interested in his own desires than that of his brother, whom he knows loves Latika. From Jamal’s point of view this is the final straw, and it seems impossible for the brotherhood bond to return to what it was. In conclusion, Danny Boyle explores the subject of brotherhood and makes the suggestion that the strength of brotherhood bonds is tested when circumstances change to increase pressure in the relationship with both Salim and Jamal Malik in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Anthony and Damian in ‘Millions’. In some ways, the films are similar, as the brotherhood bond between the two main protagonists is strong at the start, and is tested in the rising action. The films are different, however, because Anthony and Damian manage to recover their bond in the resolution, whereas Jamal and Salim do not. Boyle’s comments on each of the films are very interesting, and it was impressive to see such varied adaptations of the theme of brotherhood and the different outcomes of each.

Prom as a Rite of Passage

Cody Guilday English 105 Prof. Wheat 10/22/12 The Senior Prom: A Rite of Passage The United States is known throughout the world to be a place in which there are many cultures and customs mixing and colliding. One thing that each culture has in abundance is rites of passage, whether it is Births, Bat Mitzvahs, Quinces, or graduation. Each right of passage is an event that signifies a transition in a person’s life. Senior Prom is a rite of passage for young men and women that is indicative of their transition from teenagers to young adults.It is meant to be a celebration of the high school experience; the last hurrah. A gathering of friends who have spent four years of their adolescence together, figuring out who they are as persons. The reason Prom has become such a rite of passage as opposed to just another dance, comes from the notion that it is an event that cannot be missed. When referring to the high school experience, prom and graduation are the two events that are most commonly brought up. They are universal to all graduated students, yet unique to each individual.The identity of the individual as being a part of their graduating class is why the prom is so important. Although prom is intended to be an all-inclusive experience, the event has become factionalized due to materialism, social status, and willingness to participate in consumption of alcohol. The fact that prom has become commercialized is causing some to be excluded from certain aspects of the prom and sometimes from the entire prom event. The prom event is supposed to include everyone in the graduating class.But the increased prices and concentration on the material aspect is leaving out those who are unable to afford it. In Ann Anderson’s High School Prom: Marketing, Morals, and the American Teen, she points to prom magazines and other advertisers like Seventeen as the reason for commercialism in proms (119). She also states that the average amount spent for prom per family in America in 2010 was about 1000 dollars (115). According to an article from the Huffington Post, the prom industry is valued at four billion dollars. Additionally, the article claimed that the average amount spent on prom this ear in the northeast region was just shy of two thousand dollars (Krupnick). Prices like these are far out of the reach of many families, which leaves them with only a few options. Some parents decide that the event is so important that they will spend beyond their means for the sake of their children’s prom. Others have to take this price tag into consideration. In this case, the students are often left out of things like limo rides, pictures, and after parties. Although they are still part of the prom itself, they are left out of much of what is important to the â€Å"prom experience†.Being left out of these aspects can have an impairing affect on the individual’s sense of identity. It is not just the fact that they are left out the limo ride or the after party. When asked about the event, or when it is talked about after, they are unable to partake in much of the conversation. This is also true for those who do not partake in the prom at all because of the price. Although this is less common, many consider the price of proms to be too steep. Missing the prom is considered a huge deal socially and could be detrimental to the identity of the individual as the community sees it.Over the years, the focus of prom has shifted from the elegant, romantic event it once was to a concentration on teenage alcohol consumption, drug use, and sex. In Ann Anderson’s book High School Prom: Marketing, Morals, and the American Teen, Ann gives a detailed account of the history of the prom event. She claims that prom was originally created to be â€Å"the democratic debutante ball†, referring to an elegant event, which is accessible to all regardless of economic status (Anderson 7). Although originally this may have been the case, it is clear that it is no longer the case today.For starters, as seen before, prom is no longer accessible to all. Although the event itself is still very elegant, the focus has been shifted. It has become a social competition. Many prom-goers worry more about the after party than the event. They see the prom as a stepping stone to the after party, where they are able to drink, do drugs, and have sex without being seen by the prying eyes of parents. This further divides the senior group. On one hand there are those who want to drink, do drugs, and have sex.On the other hand, there are people who would like to be included in the after party in order to get the entire prom experience, but are excluded because they do not drink. For these people who are excluded, the identity of being part of a larger, inclusive community is often ruined. Additionally, it adds to the individual identity as a â€Å"partier† or â€Å"non-partier† often at the expense of those who choose not to drink or do drugs. According to The National Highway Safety Administration, 53% of students reported to have had more than 4 drinks (â€Å"Prom Night Statistics†).That splits a given senior class almost directly down the middle. But the divide is not just based on alcohol. Because the whole senior class cannot attend the same after party, it becomes a matter of social status. This is perhaps the most divisive aspect of the prom and the most destabilizing to the identity of certain individuals. It boils down to two types of people; those who are invited, and those who are not. The community sees those who are not invited as less important and the individuals see themselves in a similar way because of this.Popularity is a huge part of one’s identity, especially in high school. Being that prom is one of the biggest nights of high school, being invited to pre-pictures or the after party is the ultimate show of popularity. In contrast to this, not being invit ed could seriously affect the identity of an individual in a negative way. Some argue that the prom event itself is still one that is inclusive for all, regardless of social or economical status. Although the event is advertised and intended to be this way, the fact is, societal pressures do not allow it.People may argue that there is a cheap way to go to prom without limos, expensive tuxedos or dresses, and no after party. It is plausible to do this but, because of social perception of prom, many feel that they would be marginalized if they did not have all of these aspects. Movies and television portrays the prom event as one in which it is necessary to be lavish. For people who do not have the means to do this, or do not wish to partake in after parties, the prom event becomes undesirable.The rite of passage of Senior Prom is highly important to all high school students. It is one that is looked forward to long before senior year and it is one that is talked about long after grad uation. Although it is meant to be an event for the entire Senior Class, many are left out of the experience because a lack of social or economic status. Not being a part of this event, or certain aspects of this event, causes to the individual to lose the identity of being a part of something greater.It is not just being a part of a senior class that is important to this rite of passage, but it is being a part of the social and educational community that is unique to their specific senior class. This feeling of being a part of a unique community is built up over the years and culminates at the senior prom. Exclusion from any part of this event causes individual to lose their sense of identity as a part of this community. Works Cited Anderson, Ann. High School Prom: Marketing, Morals, and the American Teen. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2012. Print. Krupnick, Ellie. Prom Dresses, Prom Hairstyles, Prom Makeup: How Much Does Prom 2012 Cost? †Ã‚  The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonP ost. com, 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. â€Å"Prom Night Statistics. †Ã‚  Statistic Brain. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. . Works Consulted Best, Amy L. Prom Night: Youth, Schools, and Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print. Fleischer, Myra C. â€Å"Expensive Proms Increase Pressure on Teens to Have Sex. â€Å"Washington Times Communities. The Washington Times, 25 May 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Managing Human Resources Essay

This assissment is going to be about Human Resource Management and it’s going to contain information about different perspectives of human resources management and what the role involves. . HRM system is based on HR system , both work together to the same way. The example is HR strategies defining the direction in which HRM intends to go. We got few models of HRM , one I want to describe is Guest’s Model of HRM. David Guest’s model of HRM has 6 dimensions of analysis : HRM strategy HRM practices HRM outcomes Behaviour outcomes Performance outcomes Financial outcomes This model is prescriptive in the sense that it is based on the assumption that HRM is different from traditional personal management. How guest’s model is adopted in Harrods? In my opinion is adopted by having similar commitments for example the Guest model is prescriptive on the sense that it is bases on the assumption that HRM is distinctively different from traditional personnel management and rotted in strategic management. Also the Guest’s model of HRM outcomes are fairly similar as Harrods engages employees to continues success of the business by committing to what they are doing and one of the outcomes that the Guest’s model states is commitment. David Guest’s analysis financial outcomes in his model of HRM and when looking at the financial outcome at Harrods, we can see that they are loosing money due to the employee turnover. When looking at the case study it shows that the research that has been done about the turnover indicates that the employee turnover has significant cost and performance effects to the business. For example the employee turnover at Harrods measures the rate at which employees leave their employer normally after one year. The claim of the Guest model that it is superior to others is partly justified in the sense that it clearly maps out the field of HRM and delineates the inputs and outcomes. But the dynamics of people management are so complex that no model (including the Guest model) can capture them comprehensively. P. 1. 2 The purpose of HRM is to ensure that the employees of an organization are used in such a way that the employer obtains the greatest possible benefit from their abilities and the employees obtain both material and psychological rewards from their work. Personnel management is the traditional approach to managing. It deals with the reactive side, which are rules, and regulations, wages, pension, and leave administration. It is administrative in nature. Human Resource Management are people oriented an treats employees as an asset. It is the modern approach to managing an organisation and people in the organisation. It is the proactive side of managing which puts people first. The term â€Å"industrial relations† has developed both a broad and a narrow meaning. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations or employee relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Industrial relations has three faces: science building, problem solving, and ethical. In the science building phase, industrial relations is part of the social sciences, and it seeks to understand the employment relationship and its institutions through high-quality, rigorous research. From this perspective, an industrial relation covers all aspects of the employment relationship, including human resource or personnel management and employee relations. The difference between personnel management and human resource management is that personnel management basically deals with the employees, for example they deal with payroll recruitment. Where the HRM deals with the management of the work force, training and the well-being of all employees. Also we can say that Human Resources is to incorporate and develop personnel management tasks, while at the same time seeking to create and develop teams of workers to the advantage of the organization. Personnel management comprises mainly of administrative tasks that are considered to be traditional and routine. The Human Resources management at Harrods helps to build a competitive edge by positively getting involving the employees. The HRM at Harrods use an appropriate leadership style and they use two-way communication, which is very effective as it allows information to be passed on correctly and quickly. Similar organization which adopted IR practice and Personal is NHS. The NHS UK practice managers work within the primary care sector, where they manage the overall running of general practices surgeries. Practice managers come from a variety of backgrounds and do not necessarily need to be a qualified healthcare professional. Industrial relations in the UK health care sector are characterised by high levels of social dialogue and joint regulation, particularly in the public part of the sector. P. 1. 3 At Harrods the role of the line manager is to encourage communication targets and advice to employees through face-to-face interactions. This might involve sitting down in the staff room, or in a more formal setting, to agree objectives and to give advice about improvements and new ways of working. Acting as a coach helps the line managers to develop their managerial skills, build relationships and reinforce trust at Harrods. Employees play the most vital role in HRM because they are the key advantage and we also must remember that high-performing and innovative employees are the foundation of productivity. Some major implications for HRM are, they can set direction and implement a company strategy, which builds commitment to what they do. Employees at Harrods help to develop performance metrics for on going improvements in the business. In order to increase the productivity at Harrods the line manager or HRM support their employees by communicating effectively and giving them regular feedback on their performance and by them doing that it decreases the errors and frustration caused to employees at work. Also an effective reward system for employees at Harrods motivates them towards better performance. Non-monetary factors like better status can motivate employees in addition.

Phantom of the Paradise as a Postmodern Horror Essay

Phantom of the Paradise as a Postmodern Horror - Essay Example The paper will lucidly look into some of the postmodernism aspect of films using the movie as the only reference. It will explain how the movie approaches traditional ideas in non-traditional ways. Some of the common features of postmodernism that have been portrayed in this movie are pastiche, metafiction, paranoia, maximalism, temporal distortion, and techno-culture and hyper-reality. To begin with, the character attire or dressing in the movie is quite different from what was there earlier on. The main character of the film has put on a metallic gown. Others, especially the women, in most of these movies we watch have their own dresses. Most of the dresses worn by women characters are those that that have a close relationship to that of the current American dressing. This is a clear implication that the existing American dressing codes came about as a result of such places. Moreover, the characters themselves. The metallic robe symbolically worn by Roderick Heath represents obedie nce to the law, as well as, protection of oneself. The different dressing models have led to the upcoming of different styles of making dressings in order to meet everybody’s expectations and desires. The current dressing system probably has its origin from the movie. The dressing is also symbolic on the counterculture nature of postmodern horror movies. The other aspect of the movie that brings to the light of the readers is about heroism in most horror movies. It is mainly found among men; however, hero is a woman. Heroes, in horror movies normally act as the main characters of the movies displaying their strengths of defeating a supernatural or extremely energetic character (antagonist). Using various expressive cinema techniques, the director has managed to show certain repeating devices such as scenes and most of the time the entire movie. The cinema techniques originated or evolved due to the issue of postmodernism. Postmodernism brought with itself certain learning, as well as, artistic techniques that affected the entire world of artists, especially on the horror movies (Foster 41). Another technique related to the above is the use of temporal distortion. The movie’s plot is not well organized with certain events overlapping. For instance, the appearance of Roderick Heath at the washroom where one of the music performers is taking a shower is a symbol intentional improper arrangement of the plot. Pastiche is another aspect found in films that have been affected by postmodernism. It refers to the imitation of certain or several works by other people or other genres of literature. Most of the events or characters in the movie have been imitated from other works of arts. The idea of Winslow becoming a terrorist and a killer of Swans is an imitation of certain works of history that have been saved in different historical materials. For instance, being a killer of another person has another meaning altogether and can be compared to past war ex periences such as world war II. Moreover, the image or the way the killing takes place is too simple and unbelievable to some extent. He stabbed him to death using a break of a bird mask from one of the dancers. This is a clear indication of the effects that technology has (Grant 76). Therefore, postmodernism is regarded as the epitome of all the recordings that are done seven today by highly respected printing and publishing houses. Postmodernism is the source of high technology that affects the reproduction of

American Identity Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Identity Paper - Essay Example e people live in a well established society and it carries all the negative aspects whereas in America the society is not well established and whatever it has, it displays more of positive aspects. In the very outset of the letter the author makes it clear that there is not much of disparity between the rich and the poor in America as the poor and the rich are far removed from each other in Europe; for him, one can find in America â€Å"no aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops, no ecclesiastical dominion, no invisible power giving to a few a very visible one; no great manufacturers employing thousands, no great refinements of luxury in Europe† (Crevecoeur, p.49). In America people are after the primary needs of the society whereas in Europe people have already achieved the primary needs and they are after the secondary or tertiary needs of the society. In America all are equipped with ‘the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained’ (Crevecoeur, p.50). As the Americans have no superiors to work for, they work for themselves and everyone adheres to the common goodness. No castles and no proud mansions can be seen here: on t he other way the perfect living of both cattle and men are here. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur considers an American as â€Å"a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence† (Crevecoeur, p.56). The life in the British colonies of the North America had contributed a lot to the unique identity of the American people. In the British North American colonies people migrated from various places like England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. In each and every place of the colonies people had different attitudes, aspects, and notions too. When these mixtures of people joined together