Meaning of Life and Novel Grendel Essay

In the novel Grendel, John Gardner, through Grendel’s character, portrays the universal struggle all humans face to find meaning in life. Grendel, just like everyone else wants to find his meaning, and purpose. Though he struggles, Grendel is ultimately trying to find himself in all of the things that he does. Concept and Explanation Textual Support #1 People in their teenage years often experience a sense of isolation, and this is what Grendel is representing. He doesn’t understand why everyone else has companionship, while he is alone, which is showing his struggle to find out the meaning of his life. People always complain that â€Å"no one understands them† and in Grendel’s case, it’s literal, no one understands him. #1 â€Å"Why can’t I have someone to talk to? † I said. The stars said nothing, but I pretended to ignore the rudeness. â€Å"The Shaper has people to talk to,† I said. I wrung my fingers. â€Å"Hrothgar has people to talk to. † Pg. 53 #2 This quote shows Grendel asking his mom why they live where they do. He’s looking for answers, for a reason why they live there, and why they live the way they do. He might not be looking for a meaning to life, but he’s looking for a meaning for his way of life. He again, doesn’t understand why other things get to live in nicer ways, and in better places. Grendel is looking for a reason, as always. #2 â€Å"‘Why are we here? ’ I used to ask her. â€Å"Why do we stay in this putrid hole? ’† pg. 11 #3 This quote also shows Grendel trying to find meaning to life, or rather show his negativity towards it. He is stating that where you are a child, everything is good, but then you grow up and you have to realize the truth. Grendel is still trying to figure out his truth, and what his meaning really is. #3 â€Å"So childhood too feels good at first, before one happens to notice the terrible sameness, age after age. † Pg. 9 #4 This quote represents Grendel’s more nihilistic ways. He questions his own actions, and motives, showing that he is unsure. His answer to his own question is not even an answer. He says Hrothgar has not done anything to deserve it, but he also has not done anything to be exempt from him. Grendel, again, is searching for an answer why. #4 â€Å"How, if I know all this, you may ask, could I hound him–shatter him again and again.dive him deeper and deeper into woe? I have no answer, except perhaps this: why should I not? Has he made any move to deserve my kindness? † pg. 122 #5 When people find something they’re good at, they refer to it as their â€Å"calling. † Well, this quote represents Grendel finding his calling. He is finally stating that he has an identity and purpose that is unique. This is the first time Grendel feels he actually has a place, and his life has meaning, which elates him. #5 â€Å"I was Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings! † pg. 80.

Second language anxiety Essay

In formal researches, foreign language anxiety has clearly been shown to have a negative effect on performance in the foreign language classroom (Aida, 1994; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991). However, Sparks and Ganschow (1991) have argued to the contrary that, rather than affective factors such as motivation, anxiety or attitude, and foreign language learning are affected by the native language factors. Sparks, Ganschow and Javorsky (2000) contend that some sort of cognitive handicap is the cause of both low proficiency in a second language (L2 hereafter) and the accompanying anxiety. Anxiety in Speaking Public speaking anxiety is very common among both universities students and also the general population. It is a feeling of panic associated with physical sensations that are all too painfully familiar to those affected such as increased heart and breathing rates, increased adrenaline, over-rapid reactions, and a tension in the shoulder and neck area. Almost 20% of university students face the problem of public speaking anxiety (McCroskey, 1977). He also defined anxiety in broad-based as â€Å"an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons†. The apprehension of speaking before a group of individuals remains a problem in the twenty-first century. According to Krannich (2004), the fear of delivering a speech or a presentation ranks as the number one fear among most people, including students as well as adults from many diverse backgrounds. Ayres, Hopt and Peterson (2000) referred communicati on or speaking anxiety related with the delivering of speech or the fear or anxiety associated with anticipating the delivery of a speech.

An Overview Of The Relevance Theory English Language Essay

An Overview Of The Relevance Theory English Language Essay In Relevance: Communication and cognition, Sperber and Wilson (1986, 1995) present a new approach to the study of human communication. Relevance Theory is based on the view that human cognition is geared towards the maximization of relevance, and that communicated information comes with a guarantee of relevance. This is what Sperber and Wilson name the Principle of Relevance. The theory has sparked a great deal of research since it was presented, either supporting or criticizing the entire theory or some of its main arguments. The following presents an overview of Relevance Theory (henceforth RT) and outlines the main tenets of the theory. The overview outlines definitions of the main concepts and tenets which were originally presented by Sperber and Wilson (1986; 1995) and mainly comprised the originality of the theory, such as mutual manifestness, optimal relevance, and ostensive inferential communication. That is followed by a discussion of RT as a post-Gricean theory and how far it adopts or deviates from the views of Grice (1975). Sperber and Wilson present RT as a post-Gricean theory (Grice 1975). It takes as a starting point the inferential model of communication developed by Grice as opposed to the code model of communication. Sperber and Wilson (1995) argue that communication cannot be achieved by the code model alone, i.e. encoding and decoding messages, nor by the inferential model alone. They maintain that verbal communication exploits both kinds of process, as the outcome of the decoding process serves as the input to the inferential process by which the speaker’s intentions are recognized. According to the code model of communication, human languages are codes and verbal communication is achieved by encoding and decoding messages. The speaker encodes his/her message into a signal which is decoded by the hearer. Grice (1975) developed a different model of communication which is the inferential model. According to that model, the speaker pro vides evidence of his/her intention to convey a specific meaning and the hearer infers that meaning according to the evidence provided. Following the inferential model, communication is successful when the hearer interprets the evidence provided by the speaker as she intended it to mean. In cases where a single utterance provides evidence for different interpretations, this could lead to communication failure if the speaker does not inferentially derive the meaning intended by the hearer. Grice suggested that a speaker would observe what he called the Co-operative Principle and maxims of conversation to make his/her communicative intention clear for the hearer who would choose the interpretation that conforms to these maxims. The maxims are Quality, Quantity, Relevance and Manner. Coded communication, as one of the processes involved in verbal communication is viewed by Sperber and Wilson not as autonomous but subservient to the inferential process. Nevertheless, the inferential pro cess is autonomous as it functions in essentially the same way whether or not combined with coded communication. Sperber and Wilson (1995) argue that the code model is not sufficient to account for human communication because comprehension of utterances involves more than merely decoding linguistic signals. There is a gap between the semantic representation of sentences and the thoughts which are actually communicated by the speaker’s utterances. They claim that this gap is filled by inference. Nevertheless, they argue that the inferential model is not enough on its own to explain human communication. As they reject the code model as insufficient to account for communicational understanding, Sperber and Wilson (1995) propose a modified view of inferential communication in which â€Å"communication is achieved by the communicator providing evidence of her intentions and the audience inferring her intentions from the evidence† (Sperber and Wilson 1995: 24). Hence, verbal communication involves both coding and inferential processes.

Generally accepted accounting principles relating to health care Essay

Generally accepted accounting principles relating to health care - Essay Example The standards relating to GAAP have been recognized to be executed by different organizations while compiling their respective financial reports. In general, GAAP is a broadly used accounting procedure of reporting and recording financial information. The accounting standards that have been outlined within the GAAP are â€Å"generally accepted† by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The mission of GASB is to build and develop the financial reporting standards at the level of local governments and state units (Taylor, 2008). Purpose of GAAP The main purpose of GAAP is to represent the financial report that can significantly reflect the financial position of a particular organization. GAAP provides effective support to the organizations in terms of enhancing their capability within the framework of long-term financial decision making process that eventually enables the organizations to accomplish their predetermined financial objectives. Moreover, the other imper ative purpose of GAAP is to enhance the performance of the business organizations through properly maintaining their financial records (Office of Financial Management, 2012). From the perspective of healthcare industry, GAAP performs a major role through delivering transparent financial statements that encompasse all the financial activities of the healthcare organizations. An effective practice of GAAP tends to facilitate the modern healthcare firms and forecast their future financial performance. Proper implementation of GAAP in the financial reporting process can enable an organization to attain competitive position within the growing healthcare industry (Office of Financial Management, 2012). Oversight of Use of GAAP The different standards or the accounting principles belonging to GAAP can be considered as the set of guiding principles that provide effectual accounting solutions for any organization while preparing financial statements. In order to gain a superior oversight reg arding the use of GAAP, it has been identified that the accounting principles concerning GAAP tends to comply with traditional and rule-based methods in representing the financial statements of various organizations. With regard to asset valuation process, GAAP tends to follow historical cost of the assets rather than focusing on fair value of the assets that depicts fair treatment of the items in the financial statements (Rascona, 2011). Description of Each Principle and the Intention behind the Principles of GAAP GAAP mainly contains five types of principles that ensures towards establishing a well-structured financial report which determines the financial stability of a specific organization. The various principles of GAAP relating to healthcare organizations have been discussed hereunder. Going Concern Principle The principle of going concern represents the fact that the healthcare organizations will tend to operate their respective business functions in such way so that they ca n prepare a balanced and well-structured financial statement. Identifying any types of uncertainties in the business processes it has to be noted that going concern needs to be updated in financial reports through rationalizing different standards or the accounting principles belonging to GAAP (Financial Reporting Council, 2009). Matching Principle The matching principle of GAAP defines as a process of recording each item of expense in relation to revenue that must be recorded in

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Homework - Essay Example (Lougheed 2005) This seems as if this could be the solution for many medical problems as scientist are able to somewhat repair damaged cells, and although this can save the lives of many, the lives lost through abortion will never make up for the ones saved. Until stem cells can be collected in a more ethical manner, they should not be used for medical advancement. Many supporters of stem cell research agree that the stem cells obtained from abortions would be destroyed anyway. Whether this is the case or not, the parents are choosing to allow the unborn fetus to die. This means that the cells also should die and it is not ethically correct to use them as they were chosen to be left dead. Hopefully this information is helpful and informative as to what types of stem cells should be used and why stem cell research can be unethical. Until another way is found to collect stem cells, I and many others will remain

The Bernie Madoff Scandal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Bernie Madoff Scandal - Case Study Example This paper illustrates that the Bernie Madoff Scandal was discovered by one of the Modoffs’ son when Madoff decided to pay up to $7 billion redemptions or bonuses upfront after showing the inability to pay investors. The sons demanded to know the source of the funds and father admitted that his asset management arm of his firm was actually being operated as a Ponzi scheme in which new investments covered returns from the existing or earlier investments and personal wealth. Upon discovering the fraud, the son did what the unexpected and took up the matter with the federal authorities leading to the arrest of Madoff. Madoff revealed that he had run the scheme for approximately 20 years since the early 1990s. It was discovered that over the years Mr. Madoff was actually using money from new investors to pay returns to old investors creating a pyramid resembling a previous scheme named after Charles Ponzi. Although Mr. Madoff was operating within hedge fund industry, his fund was not a hedge fund, but endowments and foundations after the hedge funds invested heavily with his company. Madoff’s strategy to pay old investors with funds obtained from new investors enables his firm to satisfy the high returns promised to investors despite failure by the old investments to generate any returns. Investors expected that their funds were invested elsewhere by the company to generate returns, but Madoff deposited all the funds in his business account at Chase Manhattan Bank. In order to hide the reality in his company, he creatively came up with false transactions involving falsified SEC filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and foreign transfers year after year. Modoff’s fraud dealings also most surfaced in 1999 when Harry Markopolos, a financial analyst-whistleblower alerted the securities and commission that his gains were impractical in the financial situation.

Principals of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Principals of Management - Essay Example If customers needs more detailed information not covered on the terminals, service centre staff needs to refer customer to the service centre manager who have a greater knowledge of services and products to ensure customer gets the correct information. The new customer service manager experience a increase in calls referred to her by service centre staff, even though they could have answered some of the questions themselves. This resulted in increased delay for customers as the manager will have to address more queries than necessary. This is supported by rising customer complaints about the time they have to wait on the phone. The manager is concerned and requested some guidance on the possible use of McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y to motivate staff. Firstly it is obvious that the service manager are new and may have taking the position over persons who have been with the bank a longer time, persons with more experience and skills. These persons may feel that they are not seen as good enough and that is why they where not considered for the manager position, influencing them negative and this they retaliate by acting as if they are unable to address the customers queries. Then the tasks these service centre staff have to perform has been designed in a monotonous and boring manner, offering no real challenge or a opportunity for staff to use their own initiative. This combined with strict control of staff's movements and restrictive job descriptions allows no flexibility, resulting in repetitive work without any break will be enough to reduce the employees willingness to perform. Furthermore, the strict control seem to only penalise staff and that there is very little in rewards for above average performance or dedication, giving staff no reason to improve their performance, or to help customers with little more complex questions. With only the service manager to help customers with more complex queries, staff will refer any customer to her if they ask questions only slightly deviating from the norm, without even trying to clarify what the customer wants to know. Five Functions of a Manager Before looking at motivational theories we need to look at the functions of a manager. Management is management in any organization and the principals of management are general and not specific to any business environment. "However, management is universal only if the manager has become familiar with the specific situation in which it is applied. Production technology, customer characteristics and the culture of the industry are examples of specifics that managers need to learn to be effective in applying their generic management skills," (James Higgins, 1994). The main goal of a manager is to reach the organisations mission and objectives through the five functions of management; planning, organizing, staffing, directing and control. It must be stressed that even though a manager have the ability to apply the five functions of management to accomplish the organizations goals, it is no guarantee that he or she will be successful. Managers also need to be effective and efficient, effective in achieving goals and efficient in allocating resources. Below the functions defined as: Planning Planning is the continuous process of developing business objectives and determining how they will be accomplished. Planning can be broad, as in designing the mission of a organisation

Imaging Informatics ( Agfa- Impax 6 ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Imaging Informatics ( Agfa- Impax 6 ) - Essay Example PACS software allows for examination of more vivid details, which results in higher levels of diagnosis accuracy and patient treatment outcomes. In addition, the PACS technology can ensure that referring physicians are able to find complete history and study of the concerned medical case, using a web browser, from anywhere. This would permit the physicians working in rural and remote areas to read the images sent over the web, for examining the same, virtually, offline. With such vast advantages and uses of PACS, the technology has now become a part of electronic medical record, while expanding beyond the radiology department- based medical application. This has necessitated the integration of PACS with RIS solutions, while IT vendors offer interchangeability of data, seamlessly, to enable radiologists helping in provision of optimum medical care at faster speed with lesser costs. Accordingly, the integrated RIS/PACS solutions create a single data base to manage image and information workflow of any radiology department. While it is responsible for acquiring, storing and displaying radiology text-based and image information, the integrated technology maintains awareness of all digital and analog information, creating the work-lists and order status information. This way PACS helps in management of all clinical and business processes in an effective manner, while considerably reducing the related paper work.( PACS –Technology Report , 2009 ) As PACS is a technology that integrates the computers, communication networks, servers, work-stations and software to formulate and manage a system for radiological image formation and display as well as producing the relevant image information archive; there are several components that are integrated together by digital networks and communication protocols. The components include data acquisition gateway, which is

Electron Microscopes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Electron Microscopes - Essay Example But, unlike the ordinary microscopes, the electron microscope uses a ray of electrons (Miller and Levine, 2003) which is shorter in wavelength, traveling through a vacuum, and focused by magnets to very thin objects whose sizes needs to be magnified. Also, the electron microscopes can only magnify specimens that have been properly killed, processed, and mounted for viewing (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). There are two types of electron microscopes. These are the transmission electron microscope (Figure 1) and the scanning electron microscope (Figure 2). The transmission electron microscope allows the viewer to see the internal parts of a microorganism at 1 million times size magnification (Figure 3). On the other hand, the scanning electron microscope allows the viewer to see the external surface parts of a microorganism at approximately 20 nano meter resolution (Figure 4). These two types of electron microscopes have each a built-in camera that can take pictures of images under study. So, besides visibility reasons, specimens are usually stained for more accurate observations, but the micrographs or pictures are black and white (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007. The basic parts of... nsmission electron microscope are high voltage electrical supply line, electron gun, first condenser lens, condenser aperture, second condenser lens, specimen holder, with air-lock, objective lenses and aperture, and fluorescent screen with camera (Figure 5). On the other hand, the basic parts of scanning electron microscope are Control console, electron guns, thermo ionic electron gun, field ionic gun, thermal field emitters, Schottky emitter, and vacuum system: vacuum pumps, roughing pump/mechanical pump, diffusion pump, turbo pump, ion pump (CEMS) (Chemical Engineering and Material Science, 2003). Biologist use transmission microscope to emit a ray of electrons from side to side of a thin sample that has to be examined for its internal structure. In contrast, biologist use scanning electron microscope to emit a fiber-thin electron ray across the surface of the sample producing a clear picture of the surface structure (Miller and Levine, 2003). Conclusion Electron microscopes are biomedical laboratory instruments that enable biologist to accurately configure the internal and external structure of microorganism which were considered in the past as invisible organisms. Photo by: Ernst Ruska. 1980, Berlin Figure 1: Transmission electron microscope Source: Epner Technology Inc. ISO 9001. 2000,NADCAP Figure 2: Scanning electron microscope Title: General Cytology; Publisher: W.B. Saunders; Publication Date: 1960 Figure 3: The transmission electron microscope allows the viewer to see the internal parts of a microorganism at 1 million times size magnification Title: General Cytology; Publisher: W. B. Saunders; Publication Date: 1960 Figure 4: Scanning electron microscope allows the viewer to see the external surface parts of a

What are the most significant factors affecting Foreign Direct Essay

What are the most significant factors affecting Foreign Direct Investment in China - Essay Example China has been a major FDI attraction since it experimented in 1980 and opened up to foreign investment is a few coastal cities and specialized industry parks and economic zones. Since the initial admittance of the first foreign enterprise into China in the early 1980s, the accumulated FDI inflows have reached and outstanding $ 1160.11Billion as of December 2011 . In the early 1992 when Deng was touring in the southern region of china, the quantity of FDI inflows made China become the world’s largest recipient of FDI among the developing nations and the second largest worldwide with the United States taking the lead although China was the leading recipient of FDI worldwide in the year 2002. This move has increased China’s overall economic reforms thus making China more integrated into the world economy which continues to promote the confidence of more foreign investors to attract even more FDI inflows towards China. As the reforms and changes of China’s economic structure have been induced by the large amounts of FDI inflows the evidence is exhibited by the significant changes of comparative advantage in it trade which is continuously increasing in terms of technology intensive, labour intensive and capital intensive productions. As a result, the factor bequest of China has even much stronger complementariness with the world meaning that even more factors influencing FDI in china are increasingly immerging and growing stronger over time (Sheng-xian and Hua 2012). China’s rise into its current position was mainly driven by the foreign direct investors who flocked into the country when it adopted the openness policy to allow FDI inflows into the country and has continued to grow due to its efforts in promoting FDI inflows (Sheng-xian and Hua 2012). This paper covers the most significant factors influencing FDI inflows into China while answering the questions why

Parental Involvement in Education Essay Example for Free

Parental Involvement in Education Essay Clay P. Bedford once said, â€Å"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.† It’s the 21th century and we have achieved the peaked of the brilliancy of the human race and everything is manipulated with a click of the mouse, with the aid of computer technology we can achieve a faster way of learning. However, the urgency, dedication, and quality of learning of children 20 years ago are quite different from the children of this generation. A change in the attitude towards education – a move to the life-long paradigm is currently taking place globally. The fundamental aim of building a better system of education defined the type of society built. Currently, substantial changes have taken place in the context of teaching as well as the system of education and organization of academic work. The success of our community depends upon the pace and extends of building a knowledge-based society with the realms of our school. But, â€Å"The quality of education in the U.S. today declined at a tremendous rate.† (Houig 4-10). Have we as parents contributed to the decline of our children’s learning? Could this be the psychological effect of a dysfunctional family; the types of environment our children are growing; are the children themselves don’t have the urge to study or lack of parental involvement in the child’s education? Therefore, to what point do we as parents try to get involve in our children’s life? This has been a question unanswered by all parents like us? Parental involvement in children’s upbringing plays a very vital role in their attitude and quality of learning. Well, parents go immense lengths to give their offspring the best possible start in life – from providing the first meal, to offering vigilant protection and teaching them the skills to survive on their own. And after continued reading, researching, and asking questions about would have attributed to the continued decline of the quality of education of our children, I have drawn a common t hought that child-rearing practice takes a vital role in the attitude of children towards education. And the most influential in the child’s approach to education is definitely a good child-rearing practice (Hoover-Dempsey 3-42). The techniques of child-rearing that parent are using when raising their children has a great effect on the child’s growth and development. Every society has different  child-rearing practices used to facilitate child development. The practices depend on cultures, beliefs, and socio-economic as well as environmental factors. These different factors influence child development as societies at the same time have different perceptions and expectations on child development. There are two types of child-rearing techniques introduced to us by Ms. Annette Lareau, â€Å"concerted cultivation† wherein in most cases provides the child with skills and advantages over â€Å"natural growth† wherein the children in the classroom will learn and eventually will advance to their career. Parents engaged in concerted cultivation are parenting by attempting to foster children’s talents through organized leisure activities, which teach them to respect authority and how to interact in a structured environment. Learning how to interact in structured environment much like in the classroom gives student a head start in school special emphasis on reasoning skills and language use. These parents are much involved in the following their children’s activities. Through this process children from concerted cultivation upbringing will be more productive in their academic endeavors and they feel more responsible because they know that their parents are highly involved. The second type of technique of child-rearing practice involves parents in the working class which engage their children in the accomplishment of natural growth. Children usually have more unstructured time and therefore these children create their own to preoccupy themselves. They create activities such as watching television, playing computer games, PSP, X-Box and Nintendo DS. This environment does not prepare children to survive in setting that are very structured, such as school. Accompanying the strain of not having enough time, working class parents are left with less time to get involve with their children’s schooling activities. My experience as a teacher’s assistant has thought me to judge parents’ involvement in their children’s learning with performance of each child in school. The proactive parents have their children’s homework completed, memos read and required documentation turned in the following day while half of the class still has their memos on their folders and with no homework completed. Now that coincides with the notes from research showing that when â€Å"Parents are involved in their children’s learning, students achieve more and less likely to drop out of school† (Keith, et.al. 31-40). So, how do we define parental involvement? Parental  involvement includes a wide range of behavio rs but generally refers to parents and family members use and investment of resources in their children’s schooling. After that broad definition, let us differentiate the various types of parents to fully understand and vividly portray the effects of parental involvement in each child’s quality of education. There are three main types of parents: authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parents. Authoritative parents are found to be the style with more success in upbringing; they establish a balance between making demands and being responsive to their children’s specific needs. These parents provide their children encouragement which embodies positive attitudes towards work and effort. With such enthusiasm and children receive all the courage they need to pursue good grades. These children also feel secured in their personality and feel more comfortable asking for help when they need it most. Children of these parents tend to do better while in school (Cotton 1). Authoritarian parents follow a style where they simply tell their children what to do, and not to argue with them. Parents who apply this style tend to limit children’s independence and force them to follow strict rules by threatening harsh punishment for violations. They also tend to be less responsive to and a ccepting of their children. By preventing children from exercising control over their own behaviors and learning from their mistakes, authoritarian parents inadvertently may be rearing children to believe that they are not responsible for what happens to them. Children from these groups of parents tend to display loss of confidence and motivation because of there is lack of continued positive reinforcement. These are the parents that get discouraged when their children come home with bad grades. They punish their children which often cause an uneasy feeling for these children to seek for help; even worse, they may exhibit rebellious attitude towards their parental authority and ultimately towards his outlook on acquiring his education. Permissive parents are very passive and feel their child’s life should be their own responsibility and are often expressing an â€Å"I don’t care† attitude towards their achievement as well as their outlook in life. This can be very dangerous in that the child’s motivation is almost if not quite completely based on observation and peer influence, leaving a large variable on the location and condition of the child’s upbringing. These are the type of parents that are presumed not necessarily uncaring or negligent  in their child’s need; however the children perceived it as such. Ruth Nuneviller Steinem once said, â€Å"Children don’t belong to us. They are little strangers who arrive in our life and give us pleasure and duty of caring for them, but we don’t own them. We help them become who they are.† This is the true essence of being a parent and that being able to impart and bring out the best in our children, be it our own or other children that we get acquainted throughout our life time. Parents’ beliefs and perceptions on the responsibilities as parents have a big effect on their children’s interest in learning (ESU 1-3). But, numerous controversies could cloud the full implementation of programs in school to foster parental improvement in education. An article came up at one of the issues of Michigan State University paper saying, â€Å"Some are concern about parental involvement program stems from their observation that many schools and teachers use a â€Å"one-size† fits all approach to teaching. And the International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies say, â€Å"It is i mperative for teachers and school personnel to enhance their strategies for promoting parental presence.† While another article published at Education State say, â€Å"Educators need to recast the idea of partnership more one in which they parent parents.† So, everyone agree that we need to act on promoting parental involvement in education in order for the student to achieve and excel at highest potential. Our system needs to stream line and advocate the importance of parental involvement and overcome the various obstacles and stigma that permeates our society as a whole. We need to work in unison, united with one goal and dedicated to achieving the goal of improving the quality of education for our generation and the generations to come. It is imperative that these obstacles are talked and overcome so that our children will be better leaders and citizens of our country and the world. In my continued research I found that parental involvement has shown a consistent positive relationship between parents’ engagement in their children’s education and student outcomes ( Such 39-68). So, what can we do as parents? To succeed in our endeavors we as parents, need to get a partner, learn more about organizations working to boost parental involvement, attend workshop and empowering oneself. Parental involvement constitute (1) volunteering by adopting and sponsoring academic based programs, school clubs, or team – attending meetings to help enhance and support academic improvement within  the school; coach sports and supporting the clubs and teams in its advocacy. And if the school cannot get a staffer dedicated to parent engagement, parents should get together and start training parents to be reading and math tutors and even establish a welcoming committee that new parents in the school; (2) setting fair and consistent rules – homework first and foremost before anything else; (3) setting examples – parents needs to show interest in reading, discovering new things and learning and sharing ideas and (4) keeping lines of communication open parents need to encourage their children to relate how their day was. Parents should take a minute or two to answer questions that arises even in a very hectic schedule. Parental involvement is an important area o f sociology because of its significance to social capital and its positive impacts on children. It is, by itself, a social relation involving teachers, parent, and students where each play a role and function based on their own expectations, familial and social norms, and personal and social obligations. Japan for example set a high regard to parental involvement in the education of their children, â€Å"Teachers make explicit and exacting demands on parents for their direct involvement I their children’s learning† (Halloway et.al. 91-97). Japanese schools promote parental involvement (oyanokanyo in Japanese) is said to be strong because parent-school relationship is viewed as a relationship that is based on trust, deference, partnership, and cooperation. Mothers are the primary educator in the lives of their children. They are viewed as (1) audience – Japanese school provide venue where parents can interact with each other and this occur during school orientation (shinnyuugakujidoudetsumeikai) for incoming first graders done yearly during the month of Janu ary to February and parents sit in on a class and listen to the teacher’s lecture; (2) volunteers – parents are asked to fill out a form indicating interest, expertise, and experience. Information provided is used to create a â€Å"talent bank† a database containing the parents name so that they can use to fill up basic services that the school needs like safeguarding students while crossing the street or even recycling activities; (3) paraprofessional – parents acting as teachers during the summer. These work includes making sure they read to their children, make sure that summer home works are done; (4) learners – Japanese school requires parents to attend seminars to improve their efficacy in educating and rearing their children and in some  schools parents are encouraged to attend skills training like ironing, sewing, internet use, etc.; and (5) decision-makers – the school’s PTA officers in Japan meet in the city discuss matters geared to improvement in the school and their children. As my research progress, I have learned that in China compared to our public school system, parental involvement is higher. Parents in China have greater educational expectations for their children. Chinese parents place more emphasis on effort rather than emphasis on ability especially when attributing reasons for difficulty or failure. Chinese parents accept the critical role of helping their children learn concepts if they are lagging in school. Involvement of Chinese parents is â€Å"back-stage/behind the scene†- they are more engaged in home-based activities to boost their child’s ability to learn. Chinese parents make sure that their children complete their homework with perfection. In China, education ethics begins with parents. Mother will actually attend school; takes note; to observe the child-teacher relationship and the child’s behavior towards learning (International Journal of Social Sciences 26-35). Chinese parents are engaged more in cultural practice that honored the professional expertise of teachers and the need to access skills for successful access to social mobility while at the same time they sought to maintain the cultural integrity of their community. In India, the framework of the parental involvement in India’s Education System is defined as controlled by the individual parent, parental school board or the tribal council. Like in many eastern Asian countries education is of highest value that parents could provide for their children. While the authority for overseeing the whole education system lies on federal trust, the responsibility for In dian people remains with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, all agenda pertaining education is directed to include laws and regulations that impact the whole public school system (Warner 4-18). While the Middle Class Americans parents encourage their children to nurture their talent with various activities that will later give them a head start. These parents exposed their children on how to interact in a structured setting. Other parent’s get involves in their children’s life by having an open communication with their children’s teachers. They get involved in the academic process, school activities and other extra-curricular activities that the child is interested with. The Working Class American parents on the  other hand relies on the natural growth of the child, giving the child the opportunity to make their own choices to keep their time occupied, that most engaged themselves with video games and social networking media like Facebook and Twitter. These children learn at their own phase and eventually losing their focus interest in learning and in the traditional population like in the case of the Hawaiians, parents tend to provide their children a non-stimulating environment. They often are unaware that their child-rearing practices can affect their children’s cognitive and language development. They fail to appreciate the importance of playing and chatting with their children because they are unaware of the age-appropriate activities to do with their children. Many of these parents inhibit exploration putting emphasis on discipline, obedience, and respect for elders, religious beliefs and cultural observance (Sheehey 3-15). Both the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services note, â€Å"The role of mother as well as father is necessary in the development and academic success of a child.† Mothers and fathers often bring different strengths and style to their parenting roles. Children benefit significantly in many areas when fathers and mothers are actively engaged. These advantages are the building blocks for success that begins from birth and lasts into adulthood. According to research gathered by the Minnesota Fathers and Families Network some of these benefits include: (1) social skills – children grown with greater empathy , less gender role stereotyping and higher self-esteem. In cases where fathers are actively engaged children have more self-control and less impulsive behaviors; (2) excel in problem-solving – children have less hesitance and fear in new situations because, acceptance and confidence are instilled, increase curiosity to learning, increase exploration of the world around them and these children have greater tolerance for success and frustration because of the nurturing and love that they have received in their childhood; (3) cognitive benefits – higher math competence when fathers dynamically participates in the children’s homework and class activity, overall verbal competence and early literacy because parents effort to reading and story-telling leads to children’s interest towards reading and ultimately all these concerted efforts eventually leads to higher grade completion and income overall. To some parents who take time to attend meetings, conferences and participates in school activities and  events are t eaching their children the value of setting priorities and giving importance to the development of their children’s social life. These parents are teaching their children to be socially aware, responsible, and work for the betterment of the community. â€Å"Our future rest on the quality of children we are raising† (Elium 1-35). These also teach the children to value education. Seeing their parents giving up their time to be in school and get involve completes their development as a whole. For our goal in sending our children to school is for them to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually fit to the society where we belong. We raise our children to better leaders, better care-takers of our environment, better citizens of our society and better parents for our future generation. My personal experience has also convinced me that parental involvement play a vital role in education. This is the story of my medically challenged daughter; Bethany Joy who really exemplifies that role of parental involvement truly is beneficial. She was born prematurely, 29 weeks GA, with low birth weight. She suffered from an intraventricular hemorrhage Grade III meaning, the three chambers or the ventricles bleed 10 days after birth. Her neonatologist and neurologist said that secondary to the severity of the brain damage, she will not be able to walk and talk. A periventricular shunt was implanted to act as the vertebral column where her cerebrospinal fluid will flow. Knowing her prognosis, my husband and I decided that is she will pull through with all this other medical complications that I will have to quit my job. We were determined to defy all the doctors’ perceptions. We nurtured her in a loving environment, made few advances on her therapy sessions, made every effort to read, sing, and played with her and eventually she came out victorious. Talking before she turned one and walking at 13 months. She had undergone five brain surgeries and five other minor surgeries but she is in a regular school and has been one of the recipients of the Academic Honor Student for the past six years at her school. So, now it is safe to conclude that parents’ participation in their child’s education is far more vital in the success of the child’s education. â€Å"Our involvement as parents can mold the child’s interest towards learning† (Eliun 1-35). So, let’s make a difference in our children’s lives, to create a better society and life for our children in the generations to come.

Women of Race in the Late 19th Century Essay Example for Free

Women of Race in the Late 19th Century Essay During the American Civil War all the free white men of the southern confederacy had left their homes to fight the war. While the white male southerners were out fighting battles they left their family and homes with their slaves. During that time period there were no incidents of rape rather the slaves provided protection for their families. When the war ended all the slaves were free and became citizens of the United States. The white southerners did not take to this lightly. To maintain white supremacy in the south white southerners would make false accusations against Afro-Americans of rape, murder, burglary, etc. With the extra-legal laws still intact, by public opinion an enraged mob would lynch Afro-American that have been accused of a crime. This law was only exercised towards the Afro-American population of the south during the late 19th century, mainly towards Afro-Americans men, to maintain white supremacy in the south. The gender norms of the south were that white women married white men. There was a law that prohibited interracial marriage. The law even prohibited intimate interracial relations. Gender ideology of the time was still Victorian, women would stay at home and men would provide for their families. The role of the women was to take care of home and be the moral compass for the family. The man was supposed to work to provide income for his family and home. Sometimes the man of the house would lose sight of his virtues and would rely on his wife to guide him. The core virtues were religious and mainly Christian. There is a reason why the woman is supposed to be the moral compass for her family. Southern women of the late 19th century were to be pious and pure. Seeking for an intellectual life and a career was frowned upon heavily. Men of the late 19th century were not expected to be pure because of their nature but they were encouraged to seek a pious life. Men were seen as impulsive creatures that would make mistakes in his life and would learn from them. Women on the other hand were expected to pure because o f their nature. Women were seen as gentle caring beings. White women of the south during the late 19th century, like I wrote before, are to be pious and pure. This gender norm was highly ritualized among white southerners during the time period. The miscegenation law made it so that Afro-American men would not have intimate relations with a white woman. Afro-Americans were seen as impure and vile. They were seen as lesser race in the eyes of white southerners during the late 19th century. Much of the ways that Afro-Americans were treated while enslavement were not gone. White southerners still treated them with a dehumanizing respect. When a white woman and Afro-American man had a relationship beyond friendship, the white southern citizens would be enraged and form mobs. These mobs would lynch the suspected â€Å"rapist†. In almost all the alleged cases of rape the Afro-American man did receive the consent of the white woman. There was a case in Elyria, Ohio of a white woman married to a minister who accused an Afro-American man of rape. â€Å"She told her husband that during his absence in 1888 the man forced his way in the house and insulted her. She did not know the man but she pointed out William Offett, a married man, who was arrested and, being in Ohio, was granted a trial. He prisoner vehemently denied the charge of rape. He was found guilty. The womans remorse led her to confess to her husband that the man was innocent† (Wells, Southern Horrors, pg6). This proves the accusations of rape were commonly mistaken because the woman was not willing to admit her intimacy with an Afro-American man. That did not change anything, if an Afro-American man had intimate relations with a white woman it did not matter, the Afro-American man was going to be hurt if any white southerner were to find out. There are many situations like these but in some the white lady would admit her intimacy. That would not stop an enraged mob to lynch. The ideology of pure was used to subsidize the degradation of Afro-Americans and to fuel the fire of white supremacists of the late 19th century. There is no doubt that white southern women were attracted to the Afro-American but the southern presses were deeming Afro-Americans as rapists and desperados. Southern media had a huge impact on what the rest of the country perceived Afro-Americans. In Memphis the â€Å"Daily Commercial† and the â€Å"Evening Scimitar† newspapers would claim that that Afro-Americans would prey on a white southerners family at night waiting for an opportunity (Wells, Southern Horrors, pg13). Memphis media would use this propaganda to justify the lynching of Afro-Americans even though there was no outcry of rape by the white women in the Memphis area. Rape was one the most common conviction against Afro-American men. The Memphis newspapers are claiming Afro-Americans are preying on innocent white women and therefore Afro-Americans deserve to be lynched. There are also cases of Afro-American girls being mistreated by white men and these white men do not receive nearly as harsh punishment as the Afro-American man does. These are situations where the white male is completely guilty with evidence to back it. Where as with Afro-American men they are accused of rape without any evidence to back the claim and are still convicted. â€Å"In Nashville, Tenn., there is a white man, Pat Hanifan, who outraged a little Afro-American girl, and, from the physical injuries received, she has been ruined for life. He was jailed for six months, discharged, and is now a detective in that cit y†(Wells, Southern Horror, pg10). There is an obvious trend, white southern men were doing what they want and southern Afro-American men were suffering from social inequality. In the year 1892 there were alleged 28 Afro-Americans that were lynched in Tennessee alone. In the same year there were a total of 241 Afro-Americans lynched in America but mainly in the southern states. White supremacy saw the Afro-Americans as an economic threat and a threat against white women. The threat against white women was not in any physical way rather it was a threat against their purity. It was obvious that white southern women were attracted to southern Afro-American men and vice versa. It was the ideology of pure that white supremacists used against Afro-American men because they believed that Afro-American men were impure and the white woman was pure. They used extra-legal laws for selfish use. White supremacists were afraid of losing power over Afro-Americans and they were willing to do anything to maintain their power that they once had.

Principal characteristics of the weberian ideal type bureaucracy- roles of power and authority.

Principal characteristics of the weberian ideal type bureaucracy- roles of power and authority. INTRODUCTION Bureaucracy has been studied for a long time now and many organizations have adopted this model in the day to day running of their organization. The aim of this essay is to explore the â€Å"Ideal type† bureaucracy developed by Max Weber, its characteristics, the role of power and authority on it and its strengths and weaknesses. Firstly we would look at various definitions of bureaucracy drawn from other writers. Bureaucracy in its ideal form is a â€Å"rationalized moral alternative to the common practices of nepotism and other abuses of power that were rampant in the feudal preindustrial world from which the modern industrial organization emerged† (Hatch, 2006, p. 105). Bureaucracies rely on combination of rules, procedures, documentation and behavioral monitoring to achieve control and seek to place a standard on behavior and the reward for compliance with established rules and regulation (Hatch, 2006, p. 117).   Bureaucracy can be seen as a primary drive through which rationality is used as an instrument within the modern society so as to exclude alternative criteria for action. (Du Gay, 2000, p. 38). Bureaucracy as a concept has come a long way, beginning from France in the eighteenth century. It originates from the French word for an office â€Å"bureau† rule of the bureau. In the 19th century, Germany experienced great success in its use; it was used in both its armed forces and civil administration (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008). Weber discovered that the modernity of Germany was made possible mainly because of the discipline of bureaucracy .It was used in the military to exhibit discipline, using acts such as â€Å"goose stepping†, it assured the generals of the complete obedience of their recruits to order, and for civilians it meant that the men were drilled like machines to eliminate insubordination and individualism (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 46) . As modern industrial organizations emerged in Germany they incorporated some of this form of ruling and it was a success, by the 20th century it became popular, the United States increasingly starte d adopting it for modern management, especially after the World War 1 when they noticed that the German economy had significantly improved. Bureaucratic forms were also developed internationally as a superstructure on a rationalized basis produced by systems such as that of Fredrick Taylor; these rational superstructures triggered Webers productive research inquiries into the nature of rationality, rules and bureaucracy (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 46). Webers view of bureaucracy was as an instrument of unrivaled technical superiority, he wrote that precision, speed and clarity, knowledge of files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of friction and material and personal cost are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration; Bureaucracy was a rational machine and was based on how peoples in an organization use the rules of an organization as an everyday guide to management (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 46). Bureaucracy is supposed to be a system of administration continuously executed by trained professionals following set rules; according to Weber, system administration has to meet all the characteristics of a bureaucracy before it can be called one (Beetham, 1996, p. 10). Examples of everyday bureaucracies include the Armed forces and Corporations such as General motors and NASA. Weber explained that the closer a company is to his model, the more efficient it was likely to become. Bureaucratic control depends upon the existence of a legitimized hierarchy of authority to administer the bureaucratic mechanisms and closely supervise and direct subordinates (Beetham, 1996, p. 13).   It is argued that â€Å"Weber failed to recognize the ambivalent character of bureaucracy, partly because studies of organization were in their infancy in the early decades of the century and also because his ideas were unduly influenced by Prussian army and the Taylorian system† (Beetham, 1996, p. 13 ). It can also be argued that bureaucracy is gradually being replaced due to requirements of entrepreneurial development which gives room for individual innovations (Casey 2004, p.59). Bureaucracy as an important aspect of rationalizing modernity still endures because some certain characteristics of bureaucracy cannot be avoided in order for an efficient and effective running of an organization. Its aim is to prevent forces of unreason, disorder and disorganization (Casey 2004, p.60) Webers theory of bureaucracy developed out of a general theory of power domination which is explained later on in the essay. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WEBERIAN â€Å"IDEAL TYPE† BUREAUCRACY Weber used the term â€Å"Ideal† in the sense of a pure idea, something that can only be imagined rather than in a perfect situation ,it   provides a foundation for theorizing because they are abstract they cannot be expected to exist in the world around us (Hatch, 2006, p. 102) .The ideal bureaucracy that Weber imagined was a means for turning employees of average ability into rational decision makers, serving their   customers with impartiality and efficiency; This bureaucratic form promised reliable decision making, merit based selection , promotion, impersonality and impartiality and therefore fair application of rules (Hatch, 2006, p. 102). Webers ‘ideal type theory offered the following characteristics outlined below: A fixed division of labour: The central feature of bureaucracy is division of labour coordinated under a centralized hierarchy of command. It creates interdependencies in an organization which is managed mainly through hierarchy of authority and standardizing rules and procedures and supported by documenting procedures, regulations, rules and other prescriptions (Walton, 2005, p. 573) A clearly defined hierarchy: Each office has its own clearly defined responsibility and competence. Hierarchical structures improve coordination by restricting free-flowing communications within components (Walton, 2005, p. 573). The hierarchy that workers are subject to at the workplace, Weber argued was required by the organization with complex technical and production processes, it is therefore required to coordinate division of labour (Beetham, 1996, p. 56). Bureaucracy is characterized by expertise because candidates for office are selected on the basis of merit and qualification, and Promotion is guaranteed according to seniority of achievement, and rewarded by fixed salaries paid in money (Hatch, 2006, p. 102).On employment, the office is the primary occupation of the employee and the employee looks forward to a long life career in the organization, and this promotes continuity in an organization (Hatch, 2006, p. 102). Official work is to be separate from ownership of the means of administration; this implies impersonality and Impartiality (Hatch, 2006, p. 102). Work is conducted according to set rules without â€Å"arbitrariness and favoritism† (Beetham, 1996, p. 9) everybody would be treated equally by the books. A set of general rules governing the performance of offices, strict discipline and control in the conduct of the office is expected. Rules, documents and filing is the order of the day as they govern official decision making and action. When we think of bureaucracy, we often think of ‘red tape the strict adherence to formalities (Hatch, 2006, p. 102). Therefore bureaucracy is characterized by high formalization ROLES OF POWER AND AUTHORITY IN THE WEBERIAN IDEAL TYPE BUREAUCRACY Weber sees the rule of man over man in the society as an inevitable historical phenomenon; he distinguished between power and rule stating that the former hinges on having ones way in a social relationship and the latter as getting things done through specific channels persons (Warner, 2007, p. 1024). Authority is a source of power; other sources of power include personal character, expertise, coercion, control; one main difference between authority and other sources of power is that the exercise of authority is directed downward in organizations while the exercise of other forms of power may work in all directions (Hatch, 2006, p. 254). Authority particularly stands out because it is associated with hierarchy, part of the social structure of organizations (Hatch, 2006, p. 254). Weber believed that in a bureaucratic organization members adhere to the rules of that organization, he contrasted three types of authority namely (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, pp. 46-48): Charismatic authority: when respect and obedience will be given because of the extraordinary attractiveness, popularity and power of a person. The person is owed homage because of his or her capacity to project personal qualities; people follow them because of what they believe to be the special nature of their personalities and the success they have achieved. E.g. Princess Diana, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela Traditional authority: occurs where respect and obedience are owed because the person who holds it by birthright. Prince Charles, for instance is not so much an authority because of his charisma, but because of tradition. Rational-legal authority signifies that respect and obedience are owed not to the person or the title they hold but to the role they fill. It is the office respected and not the officer because it is a part of a rational and recognized disposition of relationships in a structure of offices. For instance, a   police officer is respected because of the office he represents and individuals would act rationally by obeying the rules of this office because of the consequences of not obeying .Webers view of bureaucracy was a   tool for unequaled technical advantage. He wrote that â€Å"†¦precision, speed and unambiguity, knowledge of files , continuity , discretion, unity , strict subordination, reduction of friction and material and personal cost are raised to an optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration†. Bureaucracy was a rational machine. The outcome of this process of rationalization, Weber suggests is the production of a new type of person: the speciali st (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008). Things may be done in formally and substantive rational ways, the difference between the two is that the former involves precise techniques of calculation such as those developed to measure technical efficiency or to track costs while the latter refers to the reason for rational action, that is, its meaning and value (Hatch, 2006); He warned that formal rationalization without substantive rationalization would lead to ‘iron cage† which Weber described as the dark side of bureaucracy. The drive for rationality, calculation and control may increase efficiency but also trap an individual in an iron cage that chokes creativity and free will. The charismatic and legal forms of authority may coexist in an organization for example an employee may respect his immediate supervisor because of his charisma and the way he does his work and may decide to make him his mentor, even though they both are subordinates in the same organization(Hunt M icheal, 1983). Rational-legal precepts, is exactly what Weber identified as the heart of bureaucratic organizations. People obey orders rationally because they believe that the person giving the order is acting in accordance with a code of legal rules and regulations.For Weber, the modern organization differed from other forms of organization because of its rationalization of authority and legality; The rational-legal bureaucrat was similarly characterized by technical and professional expertise (Casey,2004 p.65). WEAKNESSES OF THE BUREAUCRATIC FORM OF ORGANIZATION Bureaucracy has to a large extent contributed immensely to the growth of modern organization and in its contributions lays some weaknesses that result from the application of its features in the following paragraphs. Bureaucracy is characterized by high formalization which is defined as the degree to which rules procedures, regulations and communications are written and filed (Walton, 2005, p. 570) .Everything should be done by the book and this leads to the feeling of impersonality often associated with bureaucratic organizations that does not allow employees to be committed emotionally to the pursuit of economic efficiency, which is the overall goal of the organization; it restricts them because of culture of impersonality and detachment (Stokes Clegg, 2002, p. 227). Employees must share a managerial vision of their organizations culture and be prepared to go an extra mile to achieve it, not just to following rules, rules should be bent sometimes to ensure that a desired outcome is achieved, there is a limit to how much of your work you can rely on policy and guideline (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 88). Therefore, Bureaucracy strangles individualism because everything has to be done in a machine-like manner. Webers model of organization efficiency assumes that aspects of individual personality which are not relevant to the strict performance of employees duties would be removed as they enter the organization (Beetham, 1996, p. 13). In practice, people come into an organization with personal needs and expect to seek satisfaction to an extent through social interaction at workplace, the manner this interactions are dealt with at work can be crucial to the performance of the employee. Authority which ignores these factors is likely to meet resistance because people cannot be compelled to work efficiently or with commitment (Beetham, 1996, p. 14). When this resistance surfaces, there is likely to be conflict in the organization which may disrupt organizational goals. Promotion is based on merit ; unqualified personnel may keep getting promoted on seniority bases because the organization may think they merit the promotion because of how long they have stayed (Casey, 2009).In this case, they may not be actually qualified for the promotion given that division of labour encourages specialization because of the standardization of production process. They may have deep knowledge for a particular skill, but not other skills that they may require for higher level.   Division of labor can then lead to a situation where an employee cannot do anything than other than what he is trained to do and finds it impossible to operate in a different situation, because of inflexibility. This impedes self development of employees (Casey, 2009) and limits creativity. Communication comes in one direction because of the hierarchical structure; some information may need to be passed from grassroots upwards sometimes so that employers can get from employees feedback vital for growth of an organization, a hierarchy may suffer from too much information as well as little information (Beetham, 1996, p. 14).A less hierarchical structure may be more flexible. Goals may become displaced in bureaucracy because of strict adherence to rules, because the aims of the organization become identified with following the rules that are only intended as means to achieving goals (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 89).When this happens it also disrupts the overall aim and objectives of the organization. For example, if a schools departments aim is to ensure that the students in class understand the lectures and graduate with good grades. In order to achieve that, the students attendance in class would be very necessary but if a lecturer uses half an hour to count the students in class and write attendance, it becomes a displaced goal because the time used in counting the number of students in class can be used to teach them more effectively. Therefore, these weaknesses discussed have a tendency to become vast, cumbersome, slow and rigid, reduced efficiency because of following usual protocol, not enough freedom of movement, over compliance etc (Casey 2009). STRENGTHS OF THE BUREAUCRATIC FORM OF ORGANIZATION Strength of bureaucracy becomes more evident in stable environments with compliant employees (Morgan, 1995, p. 29). Authority and responsibility are clearly defined due to hierarchy and division of labour (Casey 2009) and when it is defined there is unity of command which leads to efficiency because employees know who instructs and what to do because there is free flowing communication in the sense that information is not muddled up and there is no confusion because information is centralized and comes from one source, flows from upward downward. Bureaucracy is a wall for civil freedom. (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 67). There is fairness and impartiality in bureaucracy (Casey 2009), all employees are treated in the same way, and they do not have to worry about impartiality, unless of course if politics arises in the organization and it starts to affect the rules of the book. You have the right to appeal in bureaucracy if the rules applied are illegitimate; no one is above the law, none could escape rules, and every officer was accountable for what they do because they have specialized tasks, work done is easily traced to who did it. Technical and formal efficiency i.e. expertise of office holders (Casey 2009), standardization of processes brings about efficiency, in that every process is done at the time it is supposed to be done, just as efficiently as machines. Personnel selection and promotion based on expertise and merit, rational-legal authority does not go through the rigorous process of finding another leader in case one is lost, there are endless supplies of people to whom it can give authority because it can make rational choices on the basis of superior leadership and merit (Casey 2009), specialization promotes this expertise which retains knowledge and deep understanding of a particular field. (Casey 2009). CONCLUSION This essay explores the Weberian ideal type bureaucracy, we look at different definitions of it, characteristics, the role power and authority has to play, by focusing on the rational-legal type of authority which is the heart of bureaucracy. We also analyzed the strengths and weaknesses that can be encountered in the use of this model. Webers work made a significant impact on the development in the study of organizations and management. Bureaucracy has been socially institutionalized and used globally. It is considered by some to be stuffy and regimented for example employees taking their breaks at assigned times, dress code specified etc (Daft, 2004, p. 239). However an organization may end up with a term called â€Å"mock bureaucracy â€Å"where the rules are seen as an external regulation that can be ignored on purpose, neither managements nor workers values are aligned with the rules so they are widely regarded as lacking legitimacy; everyone knows the rules and yet decides not to take it seriously, implementing tighter controls may result in resistance and employees become rebels† (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 90). The interpretations of the rules have to change in this case and managing organization is less about knowing what the rules are, and more about managing the meaning. In recent times where the world is taking a more entrepreneurial approach in organization, the Weberian Ideal form of Bureaucracy may not exist in absolute form, because of the changing environment. The need for innovation is very key; an organization may set up a different department for innovation and the other tasks are shared accordingly (Clegg, Kornberger, Tyrone, 2008, p. 93). Red tape and rigidities, we may say we now live in partly post bureaucratic times where a concern with efficiency predominates over issues of equity and justice. Organizations have become more modern equipments, machines and computers now replace files, a database can be drawn up and important records can also be kept there. In essence bureaucracy cannot be absolutely eliminated in as much as some people detest this model; it exists in organizations in different ways of different units for example in a university it may exist in the admissions department, Exams and records departments and so on. It would be hard to imagine a university without the consistent application of rules. There are no organizations that do not have some sort of rules after all, and all organizations are (at least partly) bureaucratic.

Mechanical Energy :: essays research papers fc

Have you ever wondered how a jet aircraft lifts its tremendous weight off the ground, or what gives a runner the stamina to reach the finish line in a race? In order to answer all these questions we must talk about the transformation of one sort of energy into another. The jet aircraft gets its power from jet turbines. These powerful jet engines create a high-pressure stream of very hot gases that push the aircraft forward as they leave the engine. This is an example of heat being transformed into movement. This is sometimes described as Mechanical Energy. However, this transformation could not take place without the fuel that the aircraft gets within its wings or fuselage. Fuel is considered a chemical energy. This diagram shows how the jet engine acts as energy to lift the aircraft off the surface of earth. Fuel can take the form of gases, solids or liquids. When fuels combine with oxygen from the air, they release their stored energy as heat. We recognize this process as burning. The individual relies on food for fuel which contains energy-giving substances that our bodies can store until we need this energy to use our muscles. When we do use our muscles within us, we may not always be sure that heat is given off. Our bodies do not burst into flames but the perspiration on our skin is a clue to what is happening. The movement of the windsurfer has a different explanation. The windsurfer is propelled along by a sail which collects mechanical energy from the winds that sweep along the water. This energy has been produced by the sun which warms the earth's surface and sets the air above in motion. The sun's heat comes to the earth as a form of radiant energy. When the heat reaches the surface of the earth, it causes the land or seas to rise in temperature. The sun is very hot. Infact, the center of the sun can reach temperatures of up to 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. This is because of another kind of energy reaction where new substances are continually being created as others are being destroyed. This reaction is known to us as the Nuclear Reaction. Today we are trying to imitate this reaction in improving our energy supply. Scientists have calculated that the sun has enough fuel to go on producing energy at its present rate for about five billion years. On earth

Names and Titles in Gloria Naylors novel, Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean

Names and Titles in Gloria Naylor's novel, Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean    "Words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power." (Naylor 344) A name is a mark of classification, a basis for self identity. Able to elevate or annihilate a persons' perception of herself and the surrounding society, these designations can uplift, joke, chide, mock, insult, degrade. "Society" implies the people and the atmosphere encompassing an individual in her daily life. "Culture" is closely tied to the society of a person--it is the aspects of her life which are directly influenced by such issues as race, color, nationality, religion, sexuality, and any other number of things that mark a person as distinct. Culture, though an integral part of everyone's lives, is frequently misunderstood or seen as threatening by people outside of the group in question. This ignorance of other people leads to judgments and assumptions, which frequently cloud daily issues. The most ignorant people stoop to name-calling, a painful slap of hatred. Stereotypical, racist, religious, and sexist name calling, especially, can affect the victim's views and opinions for life. Most vulnerable to these taunts are children, innocent and uncallused, who hear these names and know neither their true meanings nor the depth of senseless hatred behind them. As shown by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Gloria Naylor, these labels can be taken in and their meanings rendered harmless. By seizing and possessing these hateful words, a group can reshape the meaning of the slurs once wielded so forcefully against them. In Gloria Naylor's novel, "Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean?" she tells of her experience as a young child called a "ni... ...round the family. While terms such as "nigger" remain excruciatingly prevalent in today's society, victims of racist slurs have found healthy ways of dealing with the abuse. By projecting new meanings onto old words and focusing on the ever-changing names for African Americans for reassurance, the victims' strengths allow them to reroute hate, instead creating a more positive recognition of intelligence, beauty, and individuality. Works Cited Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. " 'What's in a Name?' Some Meanings of Blackness." American Mosaics: Multicultural Readings in Context. Eds. Barabara Roche and Sandra Mano. Boston: Houghton Milfflin. 1996. 424-38. Naylor, Gloria. "Mommy, What Does 'Nigger' Mean?" New World of Literature: Writings from America's Many Cultures, second edition. Eds. Jerome Beatty and J. Paul Hunter. New York: Norton. 1994. 344-7.

I Need To Know Where I Came From To Know Where I Am Going Essay example

Growing up I learned the stories of my ancestors and how all of them were immigrants. I felt a need to learn their stories because I thought â€Å"I need to know where I came from to know where I am going†. I believe I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors and my accomplishments are not my own but resulted due to what they accomplished in their lives. I view my family history as building blocks with each generation improving, if only in millimeters. My ancestors came from Germany, Sweden and Bohemia. Three of my great-grandparents were immigrants. My parents both knew their grandparents and had a relationship I find it amazing to be so close to the immigrant generation yet so far away. I say far away because the language and customs are gone. We are completely â€Å"American† but in writing this paper I realized the values of the old countries remain alive and well within the current generation. The maternal side of my family contains Swedish and Bohemian ethnicities. My maternal grandmother was 100% ethnic Swedish. My great-grandparents arrived in America in between 1874 and 1888. The section on parenting issues for parents of color in Diller (2011) while my grandparents were not people of color they were immigrants which made them different. I wonder what experience my grandmother had growing up in a home with parents who were born in another country, spoke a different language and had different customs. I knew Grandma was raised by immigrant parents but I never thought how that would affect their parenting style and if the children were teased because their parents were different and how their parents helped the children deal with it. I now wish I had spoken to my grandmother about this and how it was to grow up in... ...ow my great-grandfather’s ethnic identity, his self-image of being German, was impacted (Diller, 2011). I can’t begin to understand how my great-grandfather must have felt during this time knowing the country he chose to become a part of and was a upright citizen in thought he was suspect in some way just because he was German. Knowing someone in my family was forced to assimilate, to give up his native language to take on English the language of the domnianat culture, made me angry and sad (Diller, 2011). I myself would personally love to be able to speak German along with the other native languages of my ancestors. I know the values I have written about provide mere snapshots of the cultural values of my ancestors but I believe they impact the way I live my life and view the world. So how does all of this affect my identity and place in American society?

“In Rwanda the nightmares have come to life Essay

They describe the events as â€Å"nightmares†; this is to relate to the reader, and to their own nightmares, this is very effective because its saying to the reader that theses things you will only see in such places as nightmares, but for these people this is reality and their life. Nightmares also have connotations of fear, and horror. They don’t even describe the killers as people, because the things they do are so inhumane. Instead they describe them as a metaphor of† monsters†, which also have the same connotations as nightmares. By mentioning the weapons in such vivid description lets the audience visualise the murders and creates imagery, which will leave the reader feeling uneasy. Repetition is also a technique that is used continually. The words most repeated are â€Å"massacres†, â€Å"silence†, â€Å"listen† and â€Å"you†. These are to constantly get the reader involved, as if they feel involved they, may also feel slightly responsible which may lead them to donate. The article contains statistics for how long the massacres have been going on for. â€Å"There were massacres in Rwanda in 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993. In Burundi in 1965, 1969, 1972, 1986 and 1991. † By showing the reader all the dates exaggerates how long it’s really been going on for. It leaves the reader feeling amazed and makes them think about what they can do to help. The article uses many imperatives. â€Å"Hush. Don’t even breathe. Don’t let this page rustle† This is used to again grab the attention of the reader and to slow down the rhythm of the shocking events being foretold. The layout, pictures used, headings and visual effects are used to draw the reader in and to attract them to the leaflet. Once the leaflet has grabbed their attention, they must persuade them to donate, this is through language techniques. They use a lot of persuasive writing, statistics, emotional blackmail, rhetorical questions, repetition, and describe the events in such extensive detail. On the whole, the leaflet leaves the reader feeling guilty and makes them want to help. This could lead them into donating, or even just making them find out more about the actual charity. It informs the reader of what’s going on, for how long its been going on, and who is responsible. Overall, the leaflet achieves its main purpose by using persuasive techniques.

Assignment #1:  Entrepreneurial Leadership

Assignment #1:   Entrepreneurial  Leadership A Company cannot be innovative and competitive without understanding the importance of leadership. There are three main points to identify leadership which are, having people to lead, having certain skills to reach company's objectives, being focused on and accomplishing goals. In being a leader one possess quality and empowerment. In relation to leadership in a company, three outstanding renowned leaders are, Victor Kiam, Sergey Brin and Larry Page Victor, Kiam, has been known around the world for his vastly flourishing advertising campaign as the man â€Å"who liked the Remington Shaver so much, he bought the company. † But Victor Kiam is much more than a TV spokesperson-he is the man who took a money-losing corporation and quadrupled its sales and turned it around. He is a classic example of a successful leader and entrepreneur. Kiam demonstrates the democratic leadership style, by not only creating a great company all by himself but allowing others input, in helping make decisions for the corporation. The approach to the major business principles of a profit-oriented entrepreneurial in relation to Kiam gives way to the role of entrepreneur being crucial and critical in the context of building the enterprise. He plays many roles linking human resources, finance, production, marketing, operations, research and development and overseeing the same with a broad and big picture. He networks with bankers, major clients, suppliers and others thereby ensuring smooth functioning of the enterprise. Kiam identifies the opportunity, builds the base and leads the organization by attracting and retaining the precious human resources. He usually looks at the niche areas and goes by the road less traveled. In the sense, in order to have the goal of providing a great product and to make a profit he looks for novel and innovative methods so as to try and work out his idea. Kiam is an innovator, creator, risk taker and leader. A successful entrepreneur is one who senses the opportunities constantly, manages the risk, collaborates effectively for building strong teams, raises the bar, learns from mistakes and failures and constantly innovates and pursues the project with passion till the end. Sergy Brin and Larry Page are known for co-founding Google in 1998, and redefined the way people use the web. Now two of the world's richest people, they still play an active role in the company, encouraging resh approaches to Google's unique culture and its expanding suite of services. One would say Brin and Page’s leadership style is characterized from the participative style known as democratic because both individuals are involved in the decision making process as well as working together to solve situations within the company. Many of the same principles that intuitively guide the collective innovation of the Renaissance are now being deliberately and sy stematically applied within the world’s fastest growing companies. Google as a company still aims to continuously innovate to find new ways to organize and present the information that its users say they need and want. New products like GoogleMaps, GoogleEarth, GoogleNews, GMail, and GoogleDocs continue to keep the company at the forefront of the field. Social Responsibility plays a main part in keeping a business running smoothly The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin believe that it is incredibly important for people to have access to information around the world and that this is something that Google can deliver. They have run into issues with foreign governments over censorship, but recently it has not been a major problem. CEO Eric Schmidt predicts that Google will become an unintended central focus around global copyright and ownership legal issues. It is essential for the entrepreneurial leader that people is the most important resource to manage and the most effective to use. Focusing on people, knowing the ways to motivate, inspires, and enabling people to act is what brings the leader to a new dynamic market level. The entrepreneurial leader is to be passionate about what he/she is doing. Every process has to be challenging with a devotion of time and effort. All researches in entrepreneurship view entrepreneurs as innovators. And this is the only way to face increased competitiveness. Innovation today aims at obtaining dominance in a market. When it comes to Victor Kiam who is the most innovative of all US business leaders and who possess, salesman in his bones, he went beyond social responsibility within his company. When Kiam bought the company from Sperry Corporation, Remington it was a loss-making company it was America's dominant electric razor manufacturer. Every salesman knows, a pitch above all has to have the ring of truth. In its first incarnation, the Remington ad featured Kiam in a suit. He notice the unrealistic, he performed the commercial in a bathrobe, only to discover that most American men did not wear a bathrobe when they shaved so he decided to use a towel. As Kiam related in a speech accepting the 1988 Outstanding Business Leader award, â€Å"I draped a towel over my shoulder and covered one breast, as two breasts would have been too much for the American public. † A part of the leadership style of a person is something the person was born with and the other part is formed by multiple factors, such as, society, experience, working environment, and cultural differences. Taking all of these factors in consideration, my leadership style can be described as a combination of democratic leadership and transformational leadership. I believe I posses some of the democratic leadership style characteristics because I make sure my group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, I can lead people around me to better ideas and more creative solutions to problems. Group members also feel more involved and committed to projects, making them more likely to care about the end results. I know I can bring the best out of an experienced and professional team. With being a democratic leader I know it capitalizes on skills and talents by others letting them share their views, rather than simply expecting them to conform. If a decision is very complex and broad, it is important to have the different areas of expertise represented and contributing input this is where democratic leader shines. Research on leadership styles have also shown that democratic leadership leads to higher productivity among group members. Transformational leadership style is also a character I possess. I can create a clear structure of a task that needs to be done always tied together with rewards or punishments. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. I know that within myself I set the bar and others follow just like, transformational leadership which enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance. I believe it is critical to use leadership power in a way that makes people depend less on the leader. Arising motivation and a sense of importance in followers plays an important role in leadership. Besides, the high competition and market perspective this makes me aspire after entrepreneurial leadership. The Small Business Administration (SBA) and SCORE are both useful resources for entrepreneurs. The SBA is set in place to provide funding and to provide entrepreneurs with information to assist in business operations. SCORE is a non-profit organization with chapters across the United States which has volunteers that either have been or are presently successful entrepreneurs and executives who give back by sharing their expert business advice. They provide an entrepreneur with a big range of priceless and unique to small business information, basic and general information, laws and regulations, statistics and researches are available to use in order to learn more and be a successful entrepreneur. Information presented and topics discussed make a process of opportunity searching much easier and less time and cost consuming. Furthermore, it has a live chat, blogs, and online advising system that help to find an answer or solve a problem. I will utilize the SBA to secure funding for my business. While the SBA does not make direct loans to businesses, it sets the guidelines for loans, which are then made by lenders, community development organizations, and other lending institutions. SBA guarantees that these loans will be repaid, thus eliminating some of the risk to the lending partners. The SBA also has a variety of training material on topics such as creating business plans, marketing and outreach, laws and regulations, and many other areas. The Small Business Administration will be instrumental in laying the foundation and funding for my business. SCORE will also be utilized to provide guidance and mentorship. I will utilize the expertise of SCORE’s volunteers to give me valuable input on best business practices, effective strategies for success, enthusiasm and support. SCORE also has an assortment of training material ineffective strategies to manage, grow, and finance, business. The Small Business Administration and SCORE both will provide assistance on the keys to creating an appropriate business infrastructure, keys to sustainability, and strategies for growth. If you were to create your personal principles of leadership, what would they be and explain why you would chose them. My personal principles of leadership consist of three elements, lead by example, have a sense of accountability, and inspire a shared vision. These principles are the most important components of leadership and are the essence of effective leadership. Reference page * ^ Victor Kiam Going for it! How to succeed as an entrepreneur, ISBN 0688060609 * ;http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/private/person. asp? personId=376317;privcapId=26851117;previousCapId=26851117;previousTitle=Lia%20Sophia; * ;http://www. google. com/about/corporate/company/business. html; * ;http://www. sba. gov/; * ;http://www. score. org/;

Classic Knitwear Essay

Classic Knitwear, founded in 1995, began production of a unique line of unbranded casual knit apparel. Included in their product line were such clothing as T-shirts, sport shirts, sweatshirts and other wearing apparel. Although the company saw exceptional revenues as of 2005, they still felt that they were not meeting certain criteria when it came to their gross margin. They sought to increase their gross margin, currently sitting at 18%, to that of a more comfortable number of 20%. To combat this issue, Classic Knitwear decided to team up with Guardian, a producer of odorless repellant protection against bugs, and combine their fortes into a line of clothing infused with the bug repellant technology. These new products would hopefully to rise the gross margin to the 20% they were hoping to accomplish. The non-fashion casual knitwear market consisted of products that range from casual t-shirts to even underwear. Within this industry, it can be divided into two categories, those manufacturers who brand their products with their name and those companies who choose not to brand their line of products. On the branded side of the industry, Classic competed with three major brands. These brands were JamesBrands (which accounted for $4.5 billion in revenue from sales), Flowerknit (which accounted for $1.25 billion in revenue from sales), and Greenville Corporation’s TopTops Division (which accounted for $630 million in revenue from sales). These branded labels competed on the level of private- labeled businesses. On the other side of the industry, Classic competed with one company in terms of unlabeled products. B&B Activewear were major competitors as they generated $590 million or 23.6% market share, which made them a leader in the market. Although not directly involved within this sector, Jamesbrand, Flowerknit and Greenville Corporation’s TopTops Division still were involved with Classic on this level. Distribution channels are essential when it comes to the wholesales of these companies products. 90% of the product distribution from these companies go directly to two distinct types of retailers. Almost 50% of these sales are accounted for from mixed retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Kohls, who sell clothing as well as wide variety of other products. The other 40% is sold towards clothing specialist retailers, such as Gap and Brooks Brothers, who only specialize in the selling of clothing related products. The remaining 10% of the distribution channels contained bits from non- grocery retailers, home shopping, internet retailing and direct selling to the customers. In order for manufacturers to compete for retail business, they used a variety of strategies in order to gain attention from these retailers. Some of these tactics involved prices, variety of products, and efficiency of delivery. Classic Knitwear, since its inception, has been a simple manufacturing company whose focus is on creating and distributing unbranded casual knit apparel which includes T-shirts, sweatshirts and fleece like products. Unlike other companies that chose to have expensive products which carried prestigious fashion labels, Classic decided to venture away from them and focus on products that were categorized as non- fashioned knitwear. With this strategy, Classic accounted for $550 million in revenues from domestic sales. They have also decided to sell only in the United States, as foreign markets were too much of a risk that could have negative consequences. 75% of this revenue came from the selling of their products to wholesalers, who in turn, resold the Classic clothing to screen- print channels which customized the products with logos and images. Ortiz and Chong decided to concentrate on this pathway because it offered the fastest growth potential than trying to sell like ordinary retailers. As a result, Classic Knitwear had established itself as the #2 seller in the market, accounting for 16.5% of the market share. Classic generated the remaining 25% of their revenues from mass retail channels under private labeling. Classic would sell their products to retailers such as Wal-Mart and Dollar General and would be carried under the name of the retailer or through a house brand that was developed by the retailers themselves. In fact, these two retailers accounted for 57% of those revenue sales. To help accomplish such high revenues, Classic had to achieve low production costs throughout the entire company. To ensure that such goals were obtainable, Classic established state-of-the-art production factories that were situated off shore, mainly in the Dominican Republic. Being situated not in the United States allowed them to have much lower production costs than those produced domestically. Although other companies had also set up production factories in other countries, Classic was able to have a slight competitive advantage over these other companies. What helped them keep this competitive advantage was a high volume- low SKU (stock keeping unit) strategy. This ensured that they would produce high quantities of products without the large variety of products that other companies had. As of 2005, Classic felt that it would never reach their goal of 20% gross margins through various controlled labels or tie in promotions. However, Classic Knitwear had an epiphany which could potentially shoot their gross profits to levels that they would feel satisfied with. With the rise of the West Nile virus across the Americas, more and more people were looking for ways to prevent the transmission of the diseases. Classic thought it would generate the attention of customers to produce a new line of clothing that would be infused with chemicals that would be able to repel insects that carried the West Nile virus. With the help of another company, Guardian, who specialized in insect repellants, they would be able to create such a line of products. The reason that they chose Guardian was due to their flagship repellant, have established them as one of the top producers in insect repellant. The products would consist of a short and long sleeve T-shirt, a Men’s polo, and a Men’s fleece. Along with the production of these chemical infused clothing, Classic was targeting males 18-35, seeing as these individuals would most likely be outside during times when insects are active. The initial investment of such a line could cost about $10 million, which would help to generate 50% unaided awareness across the United States. In order to get the needed awareness of their product out to the public to ensure increased gross margins, Classic relied heavily on marketing. They had studied how other brands that were selling similar brands of insect repellant clothing and how they were successful, establishing themselves into small niche markets. Based on those already established companies, Classic decided to sell their product lines to retail stores with cardboard displays housing the different styles of shirts. On the outside of each of the boxes would display pictures of outdoor related activities that would promote the proper use of each shirt. Some of these retail stores would be outdoor related stores such as Bass Pro Shops and L.L. Bean. Classic wanted to have 10,000 displays in stores over the next 2 years after the product line was to begin production. To help get these displays in stores, they offered discounts on the sale of T-shirts if the store agreed to have a display in their store. Classic, with the production of these chemical infused shirts, could have a possible juggernaut to help generate sales, but there could be other possibilities that could help them reach their target gross margin of 20%. One alternative would be to not produce the new line of shirts, relying on frequent customers to help generate the extra sales to gain the extra gross margin. Another possibility would be to vertical integrate with one of the screen-pressing companies that create the logos which are later screened onto the sold shirts. By integrating, they could possibly cut unnecessary costs that would also help create higher gross margins. Lastly, another possible alternative to this problem would be to establish a brand of clothing that is positioned near the high labeled brands. They would have to compete with the big three companies with sales, but could possibly steal sales away from them to help establish themselves. Classic Knitwear was set with a problem of what to do to try and earn more in their gross profits. To solve such case, it would be recommended that they continue with the production of these insect repellant shirts. With the outbreak of the West Nile virus and outdoorsmen wanting styled brands to wear, this idea would help to generate the sales need to raise the gross profits. Based on Consumer.com surveys, it was concluded that there was a strong desire for such a product, especially one whose clothing was made out Classic’s materials. In the end, the continuation of this line would help generate the extra gross margin they had hope to gain.