Conflict Resolution Essay

Merriam-Webster (n.d) defines conflict as, â€Å"the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction†. Interpersonal conflicts, whether they are between family members, students and teachers, employees and supervisors, or groups, have certain elements in common. Coser (1967) asserts that conflict is â€Å"a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources, in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the rivals.† (p. 8) Coser’s definition grew out of the cold war, when conflict between the United States and the former U.S.S.R. dominated Western method to conflict. Conflict was viewed as a win-lose solution. According to Dana (2001) there are only three ways to resolve any conflict; power contests, rights contests, and interest’s reconciliation. Power contest is based on Coser’s (1967) win-lose situation. Each party views their point as right each wanting power over the other. Rights contest is an orderly system which has rules, regulations, policies, precedents and a hierarchy of authority which is used in order to â€Å"win† again this model is a win-lose resolution. The solution to conflict resolution is interest reconciliation. This approach enlists support from both parties to find the best solution. All parties win with interest reconciliation model as their solution. Conflict in the workplace is a condition between or among two or more workers whose jobs are independent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and act in a way that causes a business problem. Conflict has three elements feelings (emotions), perceptions (thoughts) and actions (behaviors). â€Å"Psychologists consider these three the only dimensions of human experience. So, conflict is rooted in all parts of the human nature† (Dana, 2001, p. 5) some confuse conflict with indecisi on, disagreement, stress, or some other common experience that may cause or be caused by a conflict. However, those elements are not best handled by conflict resolution. The question many ask, is conflict normal? Conflict is a fact of any organizational life. On the job, â€Å"conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life† (Kolb and Putnam, 1992, p. 311). Rather than seeing conflict as abnormal, Pondy (1992) suggests we view organizations as â€Å"arenas for staging conflicts, and managers as both fight promoters who organize bouts and as referees who regulate them† (p. 259). In addition, Pondy states that in the company, agency, or small business, conflict may be the very essence of what the organization is about, and if â€Å"conflict isn’t happening then the organization has no reason for being† (p. 259). One study surveyed workers and found that almost 85 percent reported conflicts at work (Volkema and Bergmann 1989). With an increasing awareness of cultural diversity and gender equity issues, it is essential that employees become familiar with issues surrounding promotions and harassment. In fact, one can see tra ining in organizations as a form of preventive conflict management (Hathaway, 1995). The recognition of the frequency of conflict at work has led to books on mediating conflict in the workplace (Yarbrough and Wilmot 1995), showing how managers can learn conflict management skills to intervene in disputes in their organization. As employees, daily work with clients, customers, co-workers, or bosses can be a struggle. Conflict is as Wilmot (1995) wrote, â€Å"What determines the course of a relationship . . . is in a large measure determined by how successfully the participants move through conflict episodes† (p. 95). Conflict resolution has five styles, giving in, avoiding, fight it out, comprise, and work together style. No style is right or wrong; however some do work better than others. Accommodation, giving in to the other’s wishes or smoothing waves sacrifices one’s own goals for the sake of the other person. Accommodators often use phrases like: â€Å"Whatever you want is fine with me.† When one party in a conflict genuinely does not care about the outcome of the conflict, accommodation may be the right choice for that situation. However, if accommodation is the only style a person utilizes, he or she is advised to learn more skills. Avoidance is characterized by behaviors that either ignore or refuse to engage in the conflict. While avoidance is by some consider a negative style that shows low concern for both one’s own and the other party’s interests, there are sometimes strategic reasons to avoid conflict. For example, when the relationship is short-term and the issue is not important or when the situation has a potential to escalate to violence, avoidance may be the prudent choice. Fight it out, competition, or win/lose, style maximizes reaching one’s own goals or getting the problem solved at the cost of the others goals or feelings. While always choosing competition has negative repercussions for relationships, businesses and cultures, it can occasionally be the right style to choose if the other party is firmly fixed in a competitive style or there are limited resources. While competitive strategy is not necessarily dysfunctional, competition can easily slip into a destructive situation. Understanding the methods and strategies of others who use competitive styles can assist conflict managers in neutralizing the negative consequences of competition and work toward a mutual gain approach. Compromise is a give and take of resources. The classic compromise in negotiating is to â€Å"split the difference† between two positions. While there is no victor from compromise, each person also fails to achieve her or his original goal. Finally, working together to collaborate is when parties cooperatively team up until a mutually agreeable solution is found. Compromise and collaboration are win-win solution where as the other styles are win-lose. Why do people avoid dealing with conflict? People have a natural instinct of fear and some let that fear overpower them. The fear of harm causes people to fight-or-flight. Individuals will choose the flight option when in a dangerous part of a city that they have never been in before in order to avoid danger, it shows wisdom or strength to get out a of physically abusive relationship, commendable to stay out emotionally abusive relationships. In spite of this, in some cases people have the response to flight to a false perception of harm. People overstress in their minds the emotional harm that someone can cause harm. The same is said for conflict in the workplace, people will avoid conflict for fear of being harmed by others. Some avoid conflict because of a fear of rejection from others. These individuals feel others will withdraw their friendship or push them away causing more hurt. People have the perception if they do not risk rejection they can suppress their needs and feelings. Loss of relationship is the fear of rejection taken up a level they fear totally losing a relationship. Others avoid conflict to mask their true desires because preserving a relationship is more important than getting what they want. These individuals are trapped into believing their worth is dependant on another accepting them. People avoid conflict for fear of anger. These people do not like listening to someone who is angry. They believe another will hurt them, reject them, or leave them, and they just cannot stand to witness anger. However, anger is just anger and it is not necessarily directed toward them. Individuals do not want to be seen as selfish. In some situations people are not afraid of others reactions, but rather their interpretation of the situation. They fear that they will appear selfish. However, is it wrong to have a need, feeling, or want and to express it? Society has sometimes had it seem that way. Although, there is nothing wrong with asking for what individuals want versus feeling they are entitled to always getting what they want. The truth is if one never asks, then they are depriving people around them from being able give to them effectively. Still, people who feel their wants should not be fulfilled, regardless of what others want, fall into the selfishness category. Sometimes people avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing or something they will regret. Individuals will avoid conflict rather than risk putting â€Å"their foot in their mouth† they contain their anger and frustration which often leads to that which they fear. When people have conflicts in the past that have failed so they avoid future conflict for the fear of failing those too and begin to believe the confrontation is not worth the emotional energy it takes to deal with others. The fear of failing can impact other aspects of ones life. The fear of hurting another is more than just saying the wrong thing. These individuals are extremely sensitive and caring. They would rather hurt themselves than risk hurting another. The fear of success is a fear that most over look. However, it is much like the fear of failure. Some people are afraid to get what they want; they believe they will never get it. These people feel they do not deserve what they want, the consequences of getting of what they want is regret, or the responsibility is more than they need or desire. The fear of intimacy is the most subconscious of the fears. People do not want to share their dreams, desires, and wants with others. They feel they are private and do not want to be exposed. People do not want to appear weak. If resolution involves giving in, avoiding, or compromise they may feel they appear as though they do not have confidence. People do not want the stress of confrontation. They feel it is better to avoid conflict rather than deal with the stress it will cause them in the workplace between co-workers. Our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation. People, who aggressively pursue their needs, competing rather than collaborating, are often satisfied by others who prefer to accommodate. Managers and leaders are often rewarded for their aggressive, controlling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs. Conflict resolution requires profound courage on the part of all parties: It takes courage to honestly and clearly express one’s needs, and it takes coura ge to sit down and listen to one’s adversaries. It takes courage to look at one’s own role in the dispute, and it takes courage to approach others with a sense of empathy, openness and respect for their perspective. Collaborative approaches to conflict management require individuals to engage in the moment of dialogue in thoughtful and meaningful ways, so it is understandable if people tend to avoid such situations until the balance of wisdom tips in favor of negotiation. People have certain perceptions in conflict when dealing with different situations. Culture shapes and frames each individual’s interpretation of appropriate behaviors during conflicts. Conflict across cultures, whether across nations or across the diverse cultures within a country, exacerbates the routine difficulties of conflict management (Fry and Bjorkqvist, 1997). There is no clear conclusion about whether men and women actually behave in different ways while conducting conflicts. However, gender stereotypes do affect conflict behaviors when in dividuals act and react based on stereotypes of how men and women will/should act rather than selecting behaviors appropriate for the individual one is communicating with (Borisoff and Victor, 1997). Parties respond to conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they have about the issue at hand. This includes situation-specific knowledge and general knowledge. The understanding of the knowledge they have can influence the person’s willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or undermining one’s willingness to flexibly consider alternatives. The person sharing the message is considered to be the messenger. If the messenger is perceived to be a threat (powerful, scary, unknown, etc.) the message can influence others responses to the overall situation being experienced. For example, if a big scary-looking guy is yelling at people they may respond differently than if a diminutive, calm person would express the same message. Additionally, if the people knew the messenger previously, they might respond differently based upon that prior sense of the person’s credibility. People are more inclined to listen with respect to someone they view more credible than if the message comes from someone who lacks credibility and integrity. Some people have had significant life experiences that continue to influence their perceptions of current situations. These experiences may have left them fearful, lacking trust, and reluctant to take risks. On the other hand, previous experiences may have left them confident, willing to take chances and experience the unknown. Either way, one must acknowledge the role of previous experiences as elements of their perceptual filter in the current dilemma. These factors, along with others, work together to form the perceptual filters through which people experience conflict. As a result, their reactions to the threat and dilemma posed by conflict should be anticipated to include varying understandings of the situation. This also means that they can anticipate that in many conflicts there will be significant misunderstanding of each other’s perceptions, needs and feelings. These challenges contribute to our emerging sense, during conflict, that the situation is overwhelming and unsolvable. As such, they become critical sources of potential understanding, insight and possibility. How do people respond to conflict? There are three responses to conflict emotional, cognitive and physical responses that are important windows into our experience during conflict, for they frequently tell people more about what is the true source of threat that is perceived; by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behavior to conflict, a better insight into the best potential solution to the situation. Emotional (feelings) are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion. Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Thus, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening. Cognitive (thinking) are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation. Through sub-vocalization (self-talk), people understand these cognitive responses. Physical (behavior) can play an important role in our ability to meet our needs in the conflict. They include heightened stress, bodily tension, increased perspiration, tunnel vision, shallow or accelerated breathing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques. Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. Dealing with someone unwilling to negotiate can be difficult for the person who is trying to resolve the conflict. However, the â€Å"8 Step Model† can be very beneficial, by focusing first on listening to the other person, and seeking to understand the sources of their resistance, the stage can be set for clarifying the conditions he or she requires in order to talk things out. This is not about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the situation, but a practical strategy for getting the other person engaged as a partner in the negotiation process. Another alternative is to focus on things we can do to influence conflicts in the future, rather than putting initial energy into understanding (or solving) problems we have had in the past. By remaining relatively flexible about the agenda – taking on topics individuals care about, but not necessarily the most pressing issues – thus, creating an opportunity to reduce the fears associated with resistance. While the conflict may not be able to be truly resolved, some key issues that exist will be managed and will help to prevent the issues from getting worse. Power is an important and complex issue facing anyone seeking a negotiated solution to a conflict. Before negotiating clarify the true sources of power in the room: The boss has position power, associated with the â€Å"carrots and sticks† that come with the role. She or he may also have coercive power, supported by contracts or statute that compels employees to behave in certain ways and do certain tasks associated with the job. Some may have a great deal of expertise power, accumulated from doing your job over a period of time. Either conflict participants may possess normative power, through which they know â€Å"the lay of the land† in their department and, therefore, how to get things done. And either may possess referent power, through which others show respect for the manner in which the employee conducts themselves. Generally, referent power accrues to those who demonstrate a mature willingness to seek collaborative solutions. An impasse is the sense of being â€Å"stuck†. Impasse is the point within a dispute in which the parties are unable to perceiv e effective solutions. People feel stuck, frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Therefore, they might either dig their heels in deeper, anchoring themselves in extreme and rigid poitions, or they might decide to withdraw from negotiation. Either way, impasse represents a turning point in our efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict. As such, rather than avoiding or dreading it, impasse should be viewed with calmness, patience, and respect. Multi-party disputes are complex situations, and they require careful attention and persistence. However, the same â€Å"8 Step Model† can be applied to the disputes. In spite of using the same process expect everything to take a bit longer than if there where only two or three people. Patiently make sure that all points of view are heard, that issues are clarified for all to see, and that all members in the group accept the agreements being negotiated. If there are limits to the group’s decision-making power, then it is important to acknowledge those limits and understand how they are perceived by all members of the group. There are many different ideas of the steps for resolution, some claim five steps while others claim six or seven for the purpose of this paper Weeks (1992) eight step resolution style is identified. Step one – Create an Effective Atmos phere Creating the right atmosphere in which the conflict resolution process will take place is very important, yet most overlook its importance. The atmosphere is the frame around the canvas which will be painted the negotiations and building of better relationships (Weeks, 1992). Step two – Clarify Perceptions Perceptions are lenses through which a person sees themselves, others, their relationships, and the situations they encounter. Perceptions have a great influence on behavior of people. Once people perceive something in certain way, even if the perception is wrong, in the mind it is that way, and often base behaviors on that perception (Weeks, 1992). Step three – Focus on the Individual and Shared Needs This step builds on the previous step as needs as the conditions people perceive they cannot do without, those conditions critical to each persons wellbeing and relationships. However, step three focuses more on skills involved in the conflict partnership approach. There are several key points to keep in mind in this step. 1) Needs are the foundation of relationship and are an essential part of that foundation. 2) People sometimes confuse needs with desires. 3) Personal needs in relationships perceived by individuals must allow for respect of the needs or the relationship (Weeks, 1992). Step four – Build Shared Power Power is a part of every relationship. However, the way people perceive and use power is seen frequently as a dirty word. Such as when people use power as means to control or to manipulate some else to get what they want. Although, power is and of itself not corrupt, it is the way in which people use their power and whether they allow such power to corrupt. Developing positive self power through a clear self-image means that we base our perceptions of ourselves not on what others expect of us or want us to be but what we believe to be our own needs, capabilities, priorities and goals (Weeks, 1992, p. 152). Step five – Look to the Future, Then Learn from the Past. All relationships and conflicts have a past, present and future. Resolving conflicts requires dealing with all three. The conflict partnership process encourages the use of positive power to focus on the present-future to learn from the past. The past experiences people face set the landscape for present and future decision making and how relate to others (Weeks, 1992). Step six – Generate Options People have the ability to discover new possibilities in their relationships as well as conflict resolution. However, both are often impaired by the packaged truths and limited vision people hold onto in times of stress, insecurity, and conflict. Generating options breaks through the predetermined restrictions brought into the conflict resolution process. Generating options imparts choices which specific steps to resolve conflicts and enhanced relationship can be agreed upon (Weeks, 1992). Step seven – Develop â€Å"Doables†: the Stepping-stones to Action Doables are the necessary stepping-stones taken along the way to resolve conflict. Doables are explicit acts that stand a good possibility of success, meet some individual and shared need, and depend on positive power, usually shared power to be carried out. Working on and accomplishing some doables can help the conflict partners see more clearly where they need to go. Many conflict partners have changed their preconceived definitions of both the conflict itself and the expected outcome due to the lessons learned and clarified perceptions through working with doables (Weeks, 1992) Step eight – Make Mutual-Benefit Agreements Mutual-benefit agreements are the next step on the pathway to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution agreements must be realistic and effective enough to survive and the potential to develop further as challenges arise in the future. Mutual-benefit agreements replace the need or want for demands, see the others needs, shared goals, and establish a standard wherein power is identified as positive mutual action through which differences can be dealt with constructively (Weeks, 1992). Conclusion Conflict is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life whether it is with family, teachers, students, friends, or an organization. The best approach to resolving conflict is interest reconciliation. It joins both parties of the dispute to find the best solution. In so doing, all parties win. People respond to conflict in three ways emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), and physical (behavior). All are important to the conflict experience. They allow a better awareness to best furnish a solution to the situation. An important tactic to conflict resolution is to develop persuasion skills with the ability to clearly explain one’s point of view and to argue for their conclusions and convictions. Week’s Eight-Step Process is a valuable tool in helping people to become more strategic about resolving conflict. References Borisoff, D., and D. A. Victor., (1997). Conflict management: A communication skills approach, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Conflict, (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict Coser, L. A. 1967. Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York: Free Press. Dana, D. (2001). Conflict resolution. New York: Mcgraw-Hill. Fry, D. P., and Bjorkqvist K., (1997). Cultural variation in conflict resolution. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hathaway, W., (1995). A new way of viewing dispute resolution training. Mediation Quarterly, 13(1), 37-45. doi:10.1002/crq.3900130105 Kolb, D. M., & Putnam, L. L. (1992). The Multiple Faces of Conflict in Organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, (3), 311. doi:10.2307/2488478 Pondy, L. R. (1992). Reflections on organizational conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 257-261. Volkema, R. J., and Bergmann T. J., (1989). Interpersonal conflict at work: an analysis of behavioral responses. Human Relations 42: 757-770. Weeks, D. (1992). The eight essential steps to conflict resolution: preserving relationships at work, at home, and in the community. Los Angeles, J.P. Tarcher; New York: Distributed by St. Martin’s Press Wilmot, W. W. (1995). Relational communication. New York: McGraw-Hill. Yarbrough, E., and Wilmot W., (1995). Artful mediation: Constructive conflict at work. Boulder, Colo.: Cairns Publishing.

The Simpsons Are Sociologically Savvy: a Postmodernist Perspective

The Simpsons are Sociologically Savvy: a Postmodernist Perspective Using The Simpsons, a long-running American animated continuing series, as a case study I will analyse the links between audiences, production and text in the creation of meaning. Using a triangulated approach of close textual reading, and theoretical models of post-modernism and queer theory to question the role of agenda setting in contemporary society, I will identify particular mechanisms of agenda setting within this example. The Simpsons, described by Paul Cantor (1999) is a â€Å"postmodern re-creation of the first generation family sit-com† (p738) which can be used effectively to illustrate innovative and radical themes and encourages critical thinking. David Arnold (2001) describes The Simpsons as â€Å"an irresponsible text, one rich in associations and connotations [†¦] a self-parodic, self-referential pastiche of previous texts† (p264). I will endeavour to show that despite the fact that The Simpsons is associated with cartoons, which in their very nature are assumed to be childish and frivolous, it is because of all of the above associations that the postmodern Simpsons are useful as a pedagogical tool (Hobbs, 1998) and can be used to teach adults and children various sociological issues including sexual identities and hegemony. The Simpsons lends itself to be a vehicle of a ‘media-virus’ which according to Douglas Rushkoff (1994) can carry [the] â€Å"revolutionary message conveyed in an apparently innocent, neutral package† (cited in Irwin et Al 2001 p254). Such programmes appear to have proven to be the most acceptable and accessible spaces to show such subjects as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (glbt) identities because of their separation from reality. Arnold (2001) claims that the ridiculousness of the funny yellow looking characters who pop up on your television and look almost human, but with crazy storylines and unbelievable un-human like behaviours â€Å"increase their ability to function as satiric signifiers† (p262). It’s because of their unfeasibility, their â€Å"lack of seriousness† that Diane Raymond (2003 cited in Dines & Humez) maintains allows programmes like The Simpsons to â€Å"†¦play with themes under cover of humour where those themes might be too volatile or even too didactic for another sort of audience† (p101). The Simpsons creators and writers rely on the history of other shows and they take from them all the best titbits rewarding their viewers according to Rushkoff (2004) with â€Å"a-ha moments† or â€Å"pattern recognition† (p296). Whether it is Maggie in ‘A Streetcar Named Marge’ (1992, 9F18) attempting to rescue her dummy-tit at Springfield’s day-care centre to the theme tune of The Great Escape by Elmer Bernstein. Or when Homer arrives to pick her up some of the babies are precariously perched and watch on, which to the media literate is an obvious spoof of The Birds a classic Hitchcock movie from 1963. The wedding scene from The Graduate is spoofed in ‘One fish, two fish, blowfish’ (1991, 7F11) where Homer bangs on the living room window and shouts â€Å"Marge† at the top of his voice. ‘Lisa’s Substitute’ (1991, SF19), is where we see yet another classic scene from the The Graduate, where the substitute teacher is seen at the front of the class through Mrs Krabappel’s leg which is hitched up on the desk and Bart’s teacher says those famous words â€Å"Mrs. Krabappel, you're trying to seduce me. Some of the audience, children moreover adults may see the ridiculousness of the scenes as ‘funny’ but may not see the more hidden intertextual message due to their time spent viewing media texts. However David Buckingham (2001) claims that children are more active, and sophisticated users [†¦] that they see much more television and are able to detect and decipher the â€Å"formal codes and conventions about genre and narrative, and about the production process† (cited in Barker and Petely 2001). These pieces of intertextual fragmented texts have different connotations to different ‘readers’. For example in The Graduate the storyline, for the chief protagonist, was about the coming of age and losing his virginity and the power it gave him, this ‘revolutionary message’ would not be available in prime-time viewing unless such a vehicle as The Simpsons made it accessible through its animation. Ironically The Simpsons was created to be a ‘bridging device’ for The Tracy Ullman Show to cross from the main parts of the show into adverts (Rushkoff 2004 p295). The Simpsons became more popular than the host show and Matt Groening the show’s creator was offered $10m and a 13 episode series at FOX Television (Ibid p295). According to Allen Larson (2004) technological advances, the availability of cable, federal deregulation and corporate consolidation were already in place from the 1980s and 90s but the media conglomerates further assisted the development of corporations like FOX Television which refined prime time sit-coms and the commodification of the audience, they â€Å"re-imagined, and re-exploited profit maximisation† (cited in Stabile & Harrison 2004 p56). At the onset of the 90s production costs for a show like The Simpsons would have cost around $600,000 (Mallory 1996, Karlin 1993b cited in Stabile & Harrison p56) and so attention to attracting the widest demographic was crucial. Merchandising to children was the future as the cable-age children had already become consumers and so the conglomerates â€Å"turned the full force of their attention towards maximising the potential revenue streams provided by children†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ibid pp57-59). USA Today reported in 2009 that in the previous year â€Å"Consumers worldwide spent more than $750 million on Simpsons-related licensed merchandise [†¦]† (Lieberman, 2009). Television programming is not only programming the viewer’s sets but the viewers themselves in order to sell them a product (Rushkoff 2004, p293) [†¦] which would prove why â€Å"advertisers spent $314. 8 million [in 2008] on the prime-time show on Fox and reruns that local stations air†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lieberman, 2009). Postmodernism points toward the fact that we no longer create anything other than the texts made up from the materials which already existed and we patch them together to make fun of that which is present and now. Furthermore there is a notion of ‘it doesn’t get any better than this’ The Simpsons uses all the good bits from the past to fill the present, history is no longer being made it could be perceived. Arnold claims that The Simpsons â€Å"†¦lampoon and amplifies that culture’s foibles up to and beyond the point of absurdity† (2004 p264). Jameson is in agreement (1984 and 1991) he insists that postmodernism has a â€Å"new depthlessness† and that globalised late capitalism does not allow for the text to be critically analysed but commodified and consumed. Jameson states that â€Å"they no longer simply ‘quote,' as a Joyce or a Mahler might have done, but incorporate into their very substance† (1991 p3). Intertextual referencing is key to how The Simpsons works as a postmodern text, although legible to the avid reader of texts, a certain amount of media literacy is required which has taken many decades to achieve, leaving the adult to appreciate the intertextuality of high culture embedded in the ‘funny animation’. The timing with which The Simpsons emerged into mainstream television has proven to be crucial- The Simpsons could not have thrived on prime-time network television unless it was embraced by an audience so advanced in â€Å"TV literacy† that they are able to recognize and relish the signs and symbols from TV culture which the show continuously throws at them (Bj? rnsson 2006). In various episodes The Simpsons have portrayed many sociological concepts, for example; Aging and health in ‘Stark Raving Dad’ (1991, 7F24); Class and socioeconomic status in ‘Burns’ Heir’ (1994, 1F16); Crime law and criminal justice in ‘Homer the Vigilante’ (1F09). Homer has dealt with the urge to cheat on his wife Marge ‘The Last Temptation of Homer’ and ‘Life on The Fast Lane’ (1993, IF07 & 1990, 7G11). The horror of war was tackled in ‘The Principal and the Pauper’ (1997, 4F23) and homosexuality in ‘Homer’s Phobia’ (1997, 4F11) (The Simpsons Archive, 2010). It is this last issue of other sexual identities in The Simpsons which I will be analysing using queer theory as an analytical framework. â€Å"Queer is a category in flux† according to Raymond (2003, cited in Dines & Humez p98). Historically the term was used in a negative or derogatory manner, although most recently the term is used to identify marginalised identities such as gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender (glbt). Queer theory identifies â€Å"a body of knowledge connected to but not identical with lesbian/gay studies† (Ibid p98). According to Raymond (2003) queer theory emerged in the 1960s and 1970s and â€Å"unlike their earlier theoretical forebears like Marxism and feminism †¦ [do not demand] exclusive theoretical allegiance or hegemony (Ibid p99). Instead it asks; what is the point in asking why someone is gay? Or what is the function the question of causation serves in the culture and in ideology? † Queer theorists look less at the nature/nurture argument of Charles Darwin and in addition ask that we see the term as ‘fluid’ and not ‘fixed’. ‘Homer’s Phobia’ (1997, 4F11) looks at Homer and his homophobic behaviour when he meets and befriends a gay man John who is voiced by writer and director John Waters of the critically acclaimed and very camp film ‘Hairspray’. John sells kitsch collectibles in a shopping mall and enjoys chatting to his customers. John tries to explain to Homer what ‘camp’ means when he is showing him around the shop which Homer doesn’t understand. To explain John says that camp is â€Å"The tragically ludicrous? The ludicrously tragic? † When Homer still doesn’t get it, he adds â€Å"†¦more like inflatable furniture or Last Supper TV trays† The penny finally drops as Homer has made a connection, albeit a financial one, and replies â€Å"and that kinda stuff is worth money? †¦Man you should come over to our place †¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"It's full of valuable worthless crap†. John’s views â€Å"echoes cultural critic Andrew Ross’ argument that camp is primarily concerned with reconstituting history’s trash as reasure† (Cunningham 2003). Ross (1989) writes â€Å"The knowledge about history is the precise moment when camp takes over, because camp involves a rediscovery of history’s waste† (p151, cited in Cunningham 2003). This piece also serves to confirm Medhurst’s claim that camp â€Å"is now absolutely everywhere† (1997 p289 cited in Sullivan, p194) and so Homer has become completely blind to it. Homer has not realised John is gay even though there have been quite a few stereotypical ‘a-ha moments’ (Rushkoff, p296) or ‘knowing nods’ to his sexual identity. John has knowledge of female Hollywood actresses and gossip, an appreciation of Marge’s hair John even answers in a ‘camp’ manner with â€Å"my heart is palpitating, hoo hoo†. Marge conversely has determined John’s sexual identity and later, at home, informs Homer of it (much to his disgust). This may signal that the producers are aware of how different people have different ‘cultural capital’ (Bourdieu, 1977) or that Marge and women for that matter are more adept at reading the signals in media-represented images of sexual identities and can see the signifiers due to the time spent watching television. It may also signify the ways in which gay men have been ‘reduced’ to the status of women i. e. engaging in tittle-tattle and pointing out good hair-dos. According to Gross (1995) misinformation and gay stereotyping in the media is due to â€Å"lack of first-hand knowledge of gays and lesbians† (cited in Raymond 2003). Media texts are ‘polysemic’, meaning they have many meanings to many people, although Stuart Hall (1980) states the texts do not have an infinite number of interpretations as they â€Å"remain structured in dominance†. Nicholas Abercrombie (1996) claims that â€Å"audiences are not blank pieces of paper†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p140 cited in Hanes 2000). Reception Studies agree that the meaning is not inherent within the text itself and that the audience create the meanings using their own cultural capital. Morley’s reception study ‘Nationwide’ in 1980 will attest to this fact. In 1992 Morley revisited his ‘Nationwide’ study and found that there were â€Å"totally contradictory readings of the same programme item [†¦]†. There are many criticisms of reception theories, Morley himself states that â€Å"it shows an understanding of the micro-process of consumption†¦and without reference to the broader cultural question†¦ [which is then] of only limited value† (1992, p272). Signs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (glbt) identities are clearly shown in The Simpsons; in ‘Homer’s Phobia’ (1997, 4F11) Roscoe and his fellow workers at the ‘Springfield Steel Mill’ are openly gay and host ‘gay discos’ after working hours. The scene in the mill looks like a ‘guerrilla attack’ where hundreds of gay men have descended on the unsuspecting Simpsons to make them feel like the minority in the ‘queered space’. ‘Guerrilla tactics’ like ‘queering’ are seen in America where glbt people gather in an unsuspecting venue. The venue would commonly be frequented by mainly heterosexuals, the dominant sexual identity. With a flood of glbt patrons the glbt have changed their position to a dominant one within that space. This encourages the audience to see what it must feel like to be in the minority, but also highlights that there are other sexual identities, that heterosexuality is not superior and that gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people live in your street, work in your factories, they have worthwhile jobs contributing to society just like heterosexual people. Queering’ extends to texts too as shown above and also in ‘Three Gays of the Condo’ (2003, EABF12) where Homer shared a room with Grady and Julio who were both openly gay. Glbt identities are also hidden, for example Judge Constance Harm is transgender in ‘The Parent Rap’ (2001, CABF22) the judge refers to ‘once being a man’. There are also the characters such as Waylon Smithers and Dewey Largo who are still in the closet and all of these stories offer viewers a little ‘queer pleasure’. In ‘My Fair Laddy’ Brunella Pommelhorst the gym teacher at Bart’s school tells her students she will return in the next semester as Mr Pommelhorst the new shop teacher (2006, HABF05). Marge’s sister Patty who ‘comes out’ to her in when Springfield became a same-sex-marriage tolerant town to bring in much needed revenue (after Bart brings it into disrepute). Agenda setting in the media is made accessible in The Simpsons and can be seen especially in ‘There’s Something about Marrying’ (2005, 16E10). Mayor Quimby in a speech says he is â€Å"happy to legalise gay money†¦ I mean ah gay marriage†. This may be in response to an article reported by Catherine Donaldson-Evans (2004) written for FOXNEWS. com that states â€Å"Recognizing same-sex couples and families as an emerging market, large corporations have begun targeting the demographic in their ads† [†¦] [the ads are] focused on the micro-lifestyles of the consumers, and same-sex families are a micro-lifestyle. † This clearly shows the emergent culture of commodification of sexual identity. ‘There’s Something About Marrying’ (2005 16E10) which is a clear intertextual reference to the film There’s something about Mary which itself may also be pointing out through the use of intertextuality the name given to Gay men i. e. ‘Marys’ or ‘little-Marys’) was it seems written in response to the controversy in America over gay marriages which was â€Å"a particularly hot topic in the US [at the moment] during election campaigning† (BBC 2004). In February 2004 â€Å"President Bush announced his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, saying he wants to stop activist judges from changing the definition of the â€Å"most enduring human institution† (Huus, 2004). This makes for a difficult position to be in as a queer viewer. Jacqueline Rose (1986) has noted, â€Å"The relationship between viewer and scene is always one of fracture, partial identification, pleasure and distrust† (p227 cited in Raymond, 2003, p100). The Simpsons are not subversive or anti-family, in fact they are probably quite conservative Homer attempts to vote for Democrat Barack Obama in ‘Treehouse of Horror XIX’ (S20E04, 2008) however the machine would not allow him and instead registered his vote for John McCain a Republican â€Å"in a humorous take on the allegations of voter fraud that [had] occurred in prior elections† (Stelter, 2008).

Yes or No to Mandatory Vaccinations

Yes or No to Mandatory Vaccinations Should vaccinations be mandatory for children entering school? At the present time, all fifty states in the United States require children entering public school to be vaccinated. However, no federal vaccination laws exist (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Did you know? ). Many parents hold religious beliefs against vaccination. Forcing such parents to vaccinate their children would violate the First Amendment, which guarantees citizens the right to the free exercise of their religion.Others believe that common childhood vaccinations may cause rare, yet serious reactions. Proponents of mandatory vaccination argue that the risk of not being vaccinated far outweighs the small risk associated with vaccination. Preventable diseases like measles and mumps can cause permanent disability and death. In 1991, an outbreak of measles in an unvaccinated group of children in Philadelphia caused seven deaths (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Pro). Children infected with mumps can become permanently deaf.Although a very small number of deaths from the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine have been reported, the most common adverse reactions are minor soreness and or fever. Vaccines can eradicate disease and prevent serious illness and death. Mandatory vaccination has eliminated disease that once killed thousands of children, such as polio and smallpox. According to the researchers at the Pediatric Academic Society, childhood vaccinations in the United States prevent about 10. million cases of infectious illness and 33,000 deaths per year (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Did you know? ). They believe that most childhood vaccines are 90-99% effective in preventing disease (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Pro). When children who have been vaccinated do contract a disease, despite being vaccinated against it, they usually have milder symptoms with less serious complications than an un-vaccinated child who gets the same diseas e.Since some individuals who have been vaccinated may still get sick when exposed to infected individuals, 75%-94% of the population (depending on the disease) must be vaccinated to achieve â€Å"herd immunity† (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Pro). When herd immunity is achieved, the number of immunized individuals is high enough to prevent the spread of disease through the population. Even when diseases seem to no longer exist, outbreaks can still occur if children are not vaccinated.In Boulder, Colorado, fear over possible side effects of the whooping-cough (pertussis) vaccine led many parents to refuse vaccination for their children, causing Boulder to have the lowest school-wide vaccination rate in Colorado for whooping-cough, and one of the highest rates of whooping-cough in the United States as of 2002 (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Pro). However there are certainly concerns about vaccinations. According to a 2010 survey by the University of Michigan, 31% of parents believe that they should have the right to refuse mandated school entry vaccinations for their children (ProCon. rg, Children Vaccinations, Con). They believe that vaccines are often unnecessary in many cases where the threat of death from the disease is small. During the early nineteenth century, death from childhood diseases, such as, whooping-cough, measles, and scarlet fever, fell dramatically even before immunization became available (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Con). This decreased mortality has been attributed to improve personal hygiene, water purification, effective sewage disposal, and better food hygiene and nutrition, not immunization.Many against mandatory vaccination believe that vaccinations interfere with natural law and God’s plan for humanity. They believe that disease is a natural occurrence and humans should not interfere. Vaccines can trigger autoimmune disorders. An un-vaccinated child can build and strengthen his immune system through fi ghting off infection and can develop a natural immunity to diseases like measles and chickenpox. Vaccines could create an artificial immunity which weakens the immune system, leaving the child more vulnerable to other diseases and infections.Opponents of mandatory vaccination believe that vaccines are created for primarily to generate profit for manufacturers and medical organizations that endorse vaccinations. While the economic slant is bothersome to those opposing mandatory vaccines, their side of the argument is fueled by claims paid under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the United States Court of Federal Claims between 1988 and 2009, which has awarded compensation to 1,322 families whose children suffered brain damage from vaccines (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Did you know? . About 30,000 cases of adverse reactions to vaccines have been reported to the federal government since 1990 (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Did you know? ). Only 13% of tho se cases were classified as serious, i. e. permanent disability, hospitalization, life-threatening illness, or death (ProCon. org, Children Vaccinations, Did you know? ). Should parents have the right to determine whether their child should have mandatory vaccinations, or should the government have the right to decide whether vaccinations are in the best interest of national health?It has been proven that vaccinations can help eliminate diseases that once killed thousands of children. There is still the thought that any risk to a child from immunization is not worth taking, especially considering that most diseases vaccinated against are not necessarily life threatening. The â€Å"slippery slope† seems to be whether the government should have the right to interfere with First Amendment rights.

Cooperative Bank A Case of Corporate Restructuring Essay

Cooperative Bank A Case of Corporate Restructuring - Essay Example The paper tells that troubles that may threaten the very existence of an organization can affect all types of organizations, irrespective of size, brand name or type of industry. Some companies that experience extreme difficulties usually seek to apply for insolvency. A larger percentage of companies in the world at the moment are facing strategic issues, liquidity issues and outcome issues. Before an organization applies for insolvency, it usually passes through the three crisis stages. The first is the strategy crisis in which the company is unable to meet its strategic goals or attain long-term success potential. The second stage is the decline of the company’s market share in its respective index. Finally, if the company fails to implement the required corrective actions, its profitability goals will not be met and the company sinks into an earning crisis. In an impending disaster is identified in a timely manner, corrective actions can be undertaken to ensure the company stays afloat. Corporate restricting can also take place due to a change in the ownership structure, demerger or a reaction to company troubles or major business changes such as a buyout. The main purpose of restructuring management is to ensure that a given company under crisis survives in the short term and to reclaim the company’s competitiveness. Corporate restructuring, mainly relies on the zero-sum game. The process of restructuring decreases financial losses and in the process lowering tensions between debt and equity holders in order to jump start a fast resolution of a troubled situation.

Week Two Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Week Two Discussion Questions - Essay Example A company with a higher debt to equity ratio is generally preferred by lenders because it indicates that the company has low degree of debt and thus, it may be able to return the borrowed funds as compared to a company with higher level of debts. However, other factors are considered as well before the final decision is made regarding whether to lend money or not. A dividend is paid to shareholders as a reward of their investments in the company’s assets. However, if the company is not doing well financially, has earned losses, or there is a big capital expenditure planned in the next year; there may be a point of not paying dividends. Shareholders would certainly prefer to receive dividends as it increases their wealth. 3. Discuss- I think I have mentioned previously that most financial statement frauds are perpetrated by what we refer to as the "C-Suite," i.e., the CFO, CEO, CIO, COO, and other senior executives who work in collusion. I completely agree to the article’s contents. CEOs know their companies inside out and are in best positions to commit a fraud. In recent times, we saw that the CEO of Satyam, an Indian IT outsourcing company, was arrested for conducting similar frauds. He inflated his balance sheets by way of recording fictitious receivables. The receivables were recorded by selling to fictitious companies. According to one of his interviews, he was under pressure to show better performance and in order to conceal the modest performance of the company; he had to do something ‘out of the box’. Unfortunately, the only thing he was successful to do was against the law. Yes, I agree. Travel related frauds are some of the most common fraud cases. Although, these are not very huge in magnitude (in terms of amounts involved) yet the volume and frequency of occurrence is quite high. Most of the times, it is very difficult to detect these as

MUSEUM VISIT & ESSAY ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MUSEUM VISIT & ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The painting depict Buddha seated on his throne while stepping on a tiger that seems to drink water from the stream below. Buddha is holding a golden scepter in his right hand. The scepter has a shiny lamp at the top and a flowing red cloth. Above Buddha’s head, wavy lines are used to depict cloud movements in the blue sky. The sun is depicted on the left side of the painting while the moon and stars are on the right side. This symbolizes that Buddha controls both day and night. On the left side of the painting, there are green mountains and valleys with a flowing stream of water (Tulachan 1). Down the mountain, a half body of a horse and two men seems to be enjoying their bountiful harvest. The right side of the painting depicts flowing air and human figures. A stream of cool water flows beneath Buddha’s legs. The tiger seems to be drinking from the stream and blooming flowers and green plants manifest the importance of the water. The artist combined shades and tints of red, blue and yellow and complemented them with brown color. The sky and the waters below are blue, symbolizing calmness. The light blue clouds have red tails symbolizing their energetic and strong movement in the sky. Part of Buddha’s garment is blue, signifying loyalty, order and peace. Buddha’s garment parts, throne decoration, center of the sun, and lamp are red orange to symbolize his power and strength, and love and energy on humankind. The golden yellow color of Buddha’s face, hands, sun and the environs signify the promise of an affirmative, happiness and enlightenments. The green color symbolizes fertility while brown signifies protection, security and wealth. The painter made use of line to create shape and movement. Wavy lines are used to depict movement and create outlines. Curved lines are predominantly used in natural forms to depict grace, softness, joy and flexibility that come with

Health promotion Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Health promotion Report - Research Paper Example From the study results, there was an increased knowledge on the risk illnesses associated with smoking, benefits associated and ways of quitting smoking thus the intervention proved to be effective. A health promotion intervention is a process that enables individuals to increase control over and improve their health care condition. It is an initiated strategy that has an aim of influencing, informing and assisting both organizations and people to accept responsibility and be more active in health matters that influence their physical and mental health issues (Mills et al. 2007, 47). It entails education, political and economic related programs that are designed to support behavioral changes as well as environmental changes in an effort of enhancing the individual’s health status. It is important for individuals to take responsibility for their health, and a health-promoting program enhances this by challenging people to change their individual lifestyles in an effort of mitigating the effects of change. It is also crucial for individuals to preserve their minds and hearts as physical health is as important as mental health to enhance the growth of a healthy population t hat is better enhanced through education and sensitization. A health promotion intervention is thus important to help in health promotion (Saunders et al. 2005, 139). An intervention program is an action set that has a coherent objective of bringing change, or it is aimed at producing identifiable outcomes. This entails policies, single strategy projects and programs. Health promotion interventions are aimed at protecting, promoting as well as preventing unhealthy living in communities and societies (Warren, et, al 2011, 2). They differ from the clinical interventions that are aimed at treating illness on the ill-affected individuals. However, before conducting a health promotion program, it is essential to get the reason as to why individuals make decisions that they do in regards to

The relationship between motivation and experience of Chinese tourists Dissertation

The relationship between motivation and experience of Chinese tourists to UK - Dissertation Example Keywords: Hospitality, Tourism, Culture, Outbound Tourism, Destination Image, Motivation, Push-and-Pull, Chinese Tourists; Characteristics Acknowledgements This study has been completed with the support and guidance of my supervisor, who has been of tremendous encouragement. Acknowledgements are also due to the respondents and participants to the study for their time and cooperation in sharing their feelings and experiences. The researcher also owes thanks to the friends that have helped in editing and refining the study. Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Global Outbound Tourism 1 1.1.2 China’s Outbound Tourism 4 1.2 Rationale for the Study 6 1.3 Research Aims and Objectives 9 1.4 Research Questions 9 1.5 Structure of the Study 10 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Chapter Overview 11 2.2 Hospitality Industry 2.2.1 Overview 11 2.2.2 Hospitality and culture 11 2.3 Tourism 2.3.1 Overview 12 2.3.2 Tourism and Culture 13 2.4 Motivation 2.4.1 Definiti on and concept of Motivation 16 2.4.2 Motivation to Travel 17 2.4.3 Motivation for the Chinese Tourists 19 2.5 Characteristics of Chinese tourists 20 2.6 Tourism Experience 21 2.7 Push-and-pull framework 23 2.8 Destination Image 24 2.9 Chapter Summary 25 Chapter Three: Methodology 3.1 Research Philosophy 26 3.2 Epistemology 26 3.3 Research Phenomenon 26 3.4 Research Design 26 3.5 Research Methodology 27 3.6 Data Collection Instruments 29 3.7 Sampling Strategy 32 3.8 Data Analysis 33 3.9 Reliability and Validity 33 3.10 Ethical concerns 34 Chapter Four: Findings & Discussions 4.1 Chapter Overview 35 4.2 Presentation of Findings from the Survey 35 4.3 Presentation of Findings from Interviews 39 4.4 Discussion 42 4.5 Response to research questions 49 4.6 Chapter Summary 50 Chapter Five:... Tourists’ search for novel and distinctive experiences and sensations has been the drivers of outbound tourism (Là ³pez-Guzmà ¡n and Sà ¡nchez-Caňizares, 2012). International travellers are by nature novelty-seeking, inspired by a sense of exploration and adventure (Hartman, Meyer and Scribner, 2009). As per United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2008) international tourism has been experiencing consistent growth and destination diversification (cited in Hartman, Meyer and Scribner, 2009). International tourist arrivals grew from 25 million in 1950 to 903 million in 2007, as per UNWTO which suggests an average growth rate of four percent. By 2020 this number is expected to reach 1.1 billion. So far people from Europe and the Americas accounted for the largest travel but now people from several countries such as Middle-East, North-East, South Asia, and Central and South America also travel to overseas destinations. Travel has now become a mainstream activity fo r the masses. This is perhaps the reason that despite the political crises and natural catastrophes in 2011, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) predicted that international arrivals would increase by 4-4.5% in 2012 to an all-time high (ITB, 2011). Despite the uncertain economic outlook, industry experts have expressed optimism for moderate growth. Rising incomes in the emerging markets, stable employment and disposable income in mature markets are expected to drive the growth. The world travel and tourism was impacted in 2011 due to several events such as the conflicts and revolutions in Arab countries, the Tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, and the political and economic drama in Greece (ITB, 2011).

Mayan Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mayan Civilization - Essay Example The ancient kinship of the Mayan people can be described as comprising patrilineal, bilateral and matrilineal and as such laid the foundation for their political organization (Carter 345). In this case, the political organization was embedded in this kinship where it was characterized by segmentary or well-defined lineages. In this case, the political organization resembled the clan-like structures. The strong attachment to kinship is also evident from the extent to which the Mayan assigned the duties to the scribes in the royal houses and palaces (McAnany 21). The scribes played an important role in the documentation of arts and other materials in the society, and most came from the aristocratic families thus extending the noble doctrine. Therefore, forming and establishing the political organizations of these kinship structures meant that the Mayan rather had a centralized political system with the authority from above or the royal powerful kinships (Yaeger 922). On the other hand, the Mayan arts indicate that the most of the rulers were scribes thus the political organization or structure was built on the ability of the rulers to write. The hierarchy brought about by the kinship implied that the aristocrats were the ruling class with the King as the head (Carter 340). Each city, therefore, had a king with a ruling class. On the other hand, the kingship was based on the religious construction and belief that they represented God on earth. Nonetheless, the Mayan had an outstanding religious belief where they had a calendar set with activities for appeasing the gods. Though the traditional Mayan religion can be described as a system of belief, the society rather engaged in habitual religious practices (McAnany 15). In this case, the Mayan religion was a complex collection of ritual practices and was also based on the hierarchy that

Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Engineering - Essay Example The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open design engineering. Engineering has often been seen as a more or less dull, uninteresting field in popular culture, and has also been thought to be the domain of nerds. For example, the cartoon character Dilbert is an engineer. Engineers are seen to be respected yet ridiculed for their intense beliefs and interests, which might owe its origin to the fact that they have deep understanding of the interconnectedness of many things. Thus, engineers such as Governor John H. Sununu, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nuclear Physicist Edward Teller, are often driven into politics to "fix things" for the public good. While it appears as though Engineers still only need a bachelor's degree to obtain a lucrative position that receives respect from the public, in fact it is only through a life-time of devotion to their field and the further advancement of their own technical knowledge that they might arrive at such a destination. While the origin charts out as simply as possible, the journey of the engineer from days of stone tools to a variety of mechanisms and the mechanics that facilitate easy functioning, the category of "what makes an Engineer" shows us the ingredients t... ible, the journey of the engineer from days of stone tools to a variety of mechanisms and the mechanics that facilitate easy functioning, the category of "what makes an Engineer" shows us the ingredients that an engineer is made up and the factors that co exist in his professional live to churn out ideas, designs and actual solutions. Moving onto the issue of the importance of an engineer, one can safely state that engineers have an effect upon the kind of world we thrive in out of all proportion to their numbers, making it important for all of us to understand how they choose and plan the changes they make, for these are the things that influence, strongly and directly, the way we live from day to day. The Engineer's current plight is then described in terms of structural, administrative, participative and perceptional points. An Engineer's level of functioning is compared to various other streams in terms of his contribution and declining numbers. This point also serves as an introduction to the model proposed for the betterment of an Engineer's status in society today, in context of reasons as to why the world needs to sit up and take notice of the efforts of these professionals whose lives are dedicated to making ours' more worthwhile. Summary 4 The Socially Integrative Model covers the following points: Development of State of the Art Institutions Integrated Training Programs Orientation in Influence & Participation Issues Increased Cultural Presence Representative Bodies for Professional Engineers The synthesis of this study and presentation lie in this five tier model, which has been arrived at as a result of a great amount of research as well as interaction with various Engineers from varied streams, who have worked in various time periods ranging from

Engaging Generation Y Employees Essay Example for Free

Engaging Generation Y Employees Essay The ability of employees to combine their commitment to the organization and the organizations values and to work hand in hand with the other team members creating a comfortable work place that lifts up their morale to competently perform their duties is referred to as employee engagement (Bullivant 2005). These efforts enable employees to make decisions that cater for the success of the organization creating a strong bond between the employees and the organization. The virtue of self confidence and trust to the organization is developed as employees categorize themselves, as core members of the organization. Assets and resources provided by the organization are efficiently used and taken care of in an attempt of securing the future of the organization. Although employee engagement has been studied for a long period of time, its implementation seems difficult as the concept behind it has not been fully understood by employees and employers. The attempt of including employee engagement into the education curriculum has also not been successful (Bullivant 2005). The change in industrial relations has lead to the increased need of organizations to recruit an engaged workforce that assures the development of the organization. The upcoming generation Y that occupies about 40 % of the employment sector in Europe has raised concerns in their performance capability (Bullivant 2005). Employers complain about their inquisitive attitude towards the workplace culture which is not replicated into their work output. To overcome this hurdle generation Y has devised motivational schemes that help them to form an engaged workforce. A change in the order of preference between the public sectors and the private sectors is evident in this generation as a higher percentage has been employed in the public sectors comparing with the percentage of generation X and boom that are employed in the public sector (Townsend Gebhardt 2007). Generation Y attributes job stability in the public sectors as the security of employment is enhanced. Generation Y comprises individuals that are still growing financially and require stability in employment to enable them fulfil their needs. Generation Y also associates public sectors with the ability of enhancing good employment relationship that links the employer to the employees by providing a balance between work and the personal life of the generation. In the public sectors opportunities for career development training are unending and are also provided outside work hours resulting to a quick progression of employees, because of the fairly well defined career path. This organizational culture attracts generation Y to work in the public sector, fully formulating an engaged workforce (Cook 2008). A plethora of campaigns wants the inclusion of generation Y into political activities thus increasing the desire of the generation towards politics. Public sectors provide opportunities that advocate for the development of the community to improve their welfare by improving the economic status (Milner 2000). This prevails an opportunity for the generation to actively be involved with the community and thus create better opportunities of winning their votes during political rallies. Also the recognition of their views by third party organizations results to a good development of their reputation especially since they are the future generation. Public sectors offer an attractive sum of money in their entry points thus encouraging generation Y to be fully engaged in the fundamental functions of the sector which leads to the growth of the sector and increase in the profit margins (Terry 2000). Problem statement The economy of Europe has seen its better taste in the 21st century as it has steadily grown, however due to the economic stability that the world is facing Business Secretary John Hutton of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has announced a review on the importance of employee engagement in the performance capability of British organizations (BERR 2008). The role undertaken by the public sector which mainly comprises the government and local authority departments in engaging generation Y employees aged between 27 years and below needs to recognize the generation as valuable assets to the organizations. The public sector needs to invest more on the generation by devising mechanisms which will advocate creation of an engaged workforce that will be more beneficial towards the performance of the sector. Therefore, this proposal will formulate strategies that will engage generation Y employees in public sector and recommendations of the evaluation criterion to be used (BERR 2008). Significance of the study (practical and ethical issue) Organizations that strive to invest in their employees so as to improve their skills and engagement usually have big profit margins which depicts a positive growth of the organization. Therefore this study is congruent in fulfilling the research objectives depicted in the problem statement as it will advocate for the establishment of business environments that will encourage employee engagement. This will help the public sector to view the employees as valuable assets thus creating an employment relationship that is long lasting. Hence this study will identify strategic measures to be implemented during employee engagement processes to help improve the productivity level of the British sector. The study will also explain the benefits British industry will attain in regards to the UK business competitiveness which depicts a progression career path for the employees. The study advocates for the abolishment of trade regulation and market barriers that affect the capability of the public sectors to stipulate policies which would help them ensure employee engagement. The study also encourages adoption of the practice by outlining the achievements of employee engagement. The study will also correlate employment engagement with business ethical behaviour that are in accordance to human, economic and social norms through the use of compliance programs that help to implement the stipulated government policies and regulations to govern the behaviour of team members in organizations. Literature review Statistics show that employee engagement creates a workforce that works with passion as it find a profound connection to the organization it is working for, resulting to the accomplishment of the organizations policies which include the mission, vision, goals and objectives. The functions of the organization, customer service, and cost of production and marketing processes are advocated by the personal growth and unification of the common goal because of employee engagement (Bullivant 2005). A flexible organization culture that involves inclusion of team members in decision making, training programs to improve the competence of the team members and the incentive pay systems are supported by incorporation of employee engagement (Bullivant 2005). Organizations that advocate employee engagement have the advantage of retaining their employees as approximately 13% are likely to seek other employment opportunities (Milner 2000). Therefore, the need for government departments to review the importance of employee engagement in the performance capability of British organizations has increased (Bullivant 2005). To enable the public sector to engage generation Y employees they should re-evaluate their work culture to help improve employment relationship that exists between the sector and its employees. This will help the managers of the sector to value the rights of the employees and devise strategies that will lead to the respect and provision of their rights such as sick offs and company infringements. This will enable employee engagement to prevail, as the employees will connect with the managers of the sector improving their correlation (Tamara 2008). Management communication will help to spell out the functions of each team members and regularly evaluate the performance of the organization in regards to the work output of each employee. Trust and integrity will prevail as the team members will freely air their comments and grievances to a listening ear, thus helping the development of employee engagement (Fitz-Enz 2009). This will help the sector to effectively distribute their duties in accordance to the capability of generation Y thus improving their work performance. An instance where the team members will look after the welfare of the others will crop up as team work will be depicted. Through management communication the managers of the sector will be able to recognize the effort of the team members rewarding them accordingly through provision of benefits and promotion schemes which will lead to career development. This will result to retention of the dynamic generation Y employees who will take pride in the sector and thus maximize their capabilities to also develop the sector (Cheese, Thomas Craig 2008). Offering training programs that will help the employees to understand the sectors vision, ethics and improve their competence should be among the strategies the mangers of the public sector will use to engage generation Y employees. These programs will help the employees to increase their self confidence and knowledge thus adhering to the ethical codes stipulated by the policies of the public sector (Johnson CIPD 2004). The managers of the sector will also attend training programs that will help them to learn strategies, values and tactics that will help them in the engagement of generation Y employees into the public sector. This will further increase the credibility of the sector as employment engagement will improve the reputation of the sector thus marketing it. The sector will also increase its scope of customers and thus strive in the stiff competition presented by the private sector (Pinnington, Macklin Campbell 2007). Research design The research methodology used in this study will measure on the generality and applicability of engaging generation Y employees in the public sector to improve the British industry. Action research that identifies the problem of this study in the existing business practice will be used, as solutions that will be immediately incorporated into the business plan and organization culture of the public sector will result. The study will also rely on the historical perspective of the study problem to help determine the success and failures of previous attempt in engaging generation Y employees in the public sector. The scope of the research will be controlled by the information availed by library and field research. The information collected will be ordered in a descriptive manner to effectively elaborate issues that correlate with the study problems.

Les Miserables Essay Example for Free

Les Miserables Essay In Websters Dictionary the word Justice is defined by the words fairness and rightfulness. Around the world, the figure of Justice is portrayed as blind from all information but objective facts. In the novel Les Miserables written by Victor Hugo, the figure of Justice is meant to be completely blind, but it does not stay totally blind. Jean ValJean, the main character of the novel had been a prisoner for 19 years. When he was released from prison he was given a yellow ticket that identified him as a criminal. This made ValJean unable to live a normal life again. Today, due to the media and the abundance of information that is available for everyone on the internet these days, this system of Justice is not always executed properly. These two instances of the yellow ticket in Les Miserables and the media today resulted in no blind Justice for those who are affected. The system of Justice is supposed to be considered blind. This means that when a trial comes to court, no one knows any outside information on the trial before it begins. This includes all of the Jury and the Judge. The goal of blind Justice is to present a fair trial and eliminate bias. Part of the Jury selection process is to make sure that no one has any prior knowledge on the trial that they are being selected. When there is a trial that is totally blind, the trial is more likely to go smoothly because all of the facts would Just have been known from information presented in the court. There is no outside information that someone considers important which could cause chaos and confusion. Unfortunately in some cases it is difficult to keep a case blind. In todays society there are certain cases that are very tough to keep blind. These cases usually contain popular celebrities that the media is attached to. Whenever a celebrity gets in lots of trouble with the law, it is all over television, newspapers and the internet. The world knows everything that happened in the incident and what will happen to the celebrity. This results in the trial not being blind at all. A recent example ofa trial not being blind is the case of the former Buffalo Bills running back 0. 1. Simpson. Simpson tried to retain some of his old emorabilia from some old friends, but did it very aggressively with a weapon and was charged with numerous accounts of armed robbery and kidnapping. Before this, Simpson was well known for his success on the football field but also his prior trial for murdering his wife. Simpson was found not guilty in this popular trial but many people believe he was guilty. This recent trial was followed very intently by the media. Reporters were everywhere Simpson went and every development in the trial was in the news almost instantly. Before the trial started the Judge and Jury had lready known all about Simpson and his successes and mishaps. As a result the trial was very biased against Simpson. Simpson was found guilty and sentenced to at least 9 years in prison and a maximum of 33 years. This anti-blind Justice pretty much goes for any celebrity that gets in trouble with the law. In Les Miserables Justice is not completely blind for Jean Val]ean. The Justice is not completely blind because Jean ValJean is not a criminal but he was a result of a slightly corrupt Justice system during that time period in France. The Justice system as not intended to be blind. Jean ValJeans open Justice was not in court, it was present a yellow passport, showing that he is an ex-convict. This causes people to instantly look down on ValJean and treat him worse than a normal person. Since he is an ex-convict, anytime he does something he is quick to be arrested, because of his past. When he stays with the Bishop of Digne and steals some silverware he is quickly arrested. Luckily the Bishop was very gracious and let Jean ValJean go by teaching him some lessons. ValJean does continue to face adversity because of his ast. He is later wanted back in prison because he is thought to be disguising himself, to hide his ex-convict identity. Blind Justice was clearly not evident in the life of Jean ValJean. Clearly, Justice is sometimes completely blind, but it is very difficult to keep ones case completely blind. In the cases of 0. 1. Simpson and Jean ValJean blind Justice was not present and they both suffered from it. The Justice system suffers directly from the world around it and as time goes on it becomes ever harder to keep information private.

How Pizza Hut Expand Their ICT Technology Information Technology Essay

How Pizza Hut Expand Their ICT Technology Information Technology Essay Thorough research of their ict system on store level rather than doing it on higher level to get in touch with customers and staff need, because the main reason for keep improving their systems is to get more customers and to get more sales. There are still some flaws in their system. Problems that needs sorting System doesnt update automatically if it does it takes really long time. Keep changing the functions of their systems every two months. Not enough training for staff. Conclusion Pizza hut has seen many changes, good and bad during its duration of the business. But they knew as long as their marketing is up to certain standard they will pull through with every challenge they face in marketing, they have an opportunity to improve their marketing style with the help of Ict. There is still a question mark over the technology that pizza hut uses. A time will come when they have think about changing their strategy and how they view their ict development. In order to keep up with todays environment. Objectives To find out how pizza hut, expand their ict technology in marketing and how it help them topple their competitors The purpose of this paper is to explore the role that ICT use in marketing plays in the processes of product innovation, as an element that strengthens the cooperation and communication among agents within the innovation project, reducing the difficulties to innovation and enhancing the development of differentiated products. Findings Two ideas stand out from the critical analysis of ict use in marketing. First, Intensive ICT use in marketing makes the company more innovative, as it shows that its usage breaks down difficulty to innovation and speeds up processes that in turn become more efficient. Second, Increasing ICT use in marketing encourages company tendency to act as a team with and join together particular agents within the business environment in the development of the innovation process, improving the amount of adaptation of the new product to market demands. BACKGROUND Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by brothers Dan and Frank Carney in their hometown of Kansas. By 1972, with 314 stores nationwide, Pizza Hut went public on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1978, Pizza Hut was acquired by PepsiCo, who later also bought KFC and Taco Bell. In 1997, the three restaurant chains were spun off into Tricon, and in 2001 joined with Long John Silvers and AW Restaurants to become Yum! Brands INTRODUCTION With annual sales of more than  £300 million, selling pizza and pasta is big business for Pizza Hut. With customers facing an ever-increasing choice of restaurants, all offering a variety of foods and competitively priced meals, Pizza Hut must remain flexible and customer focused to retain its market leading position. New product developments and continued growth of its 600 outlets are just two ways in which the company stays ahead. Pizza Hut also recognises the importance of IT to support the Business and invests in technology both to support its operations and to provide management information.   Benefits of ICT With the new system in place, Pizza Huts goal of improving the overall effectiveness of its crew has been achieved. Customers are now served more quickly than before; especially during peak times such as lunch when they have only limited time available. Pizza Hut can currently provide its main food servers with a mobile computer, while other personnel carry out supporting tasks, such as preparing drinks and serving dishes. Food servers with a PDA are now able to be much closer to customers and be of assistance when needed, keeping customers happy and satisfied. ICT SUPPORT COMPANY FOR PIZZA HUT   Since 1992 Pizza Hut has relied upon Sopra Group to provide daily support and strategic management services for their key financial and operational systems. By outsourcing the support and management of their main IT systems, Pizza Hut has noted definite signs of cost saving. Pizza Hut has renewed agreement on several occasions to get services from them due to the specialist skills and value for money provided. Since taking responsibility for Pizza Huts IT operations, Sopra Group also combined day to day systems support with development of new applications and strategic .consultancy. The Sopra Group provide technical and business skills to develop Pizza Huts Data Warehouse. The Data Warehouse holds details of food sales throughout the outlets and enables the restaurant chains business managers to analyse customer demands and preference to target special promotions and offers. ICT Managers remarks With Sopra Group we have access to a much wider technical knowledge base. We have the reassurance that for detailed and complex questions and programming requirements, we can call Sopra Group, freeing us to focus on the business. With their technical know-how and experience of managing our systems, we have confidence that the consultants can handle such a complex project. What does company cover? Sopras department doesnt just cover the head office its responsible for all the systems across all the restaurants too. From carrying out PC support, they are also covers all sorts of IT projects from setting up through to delivery. This might include looking at the processes surrounding bank reconciliations, maintaining pizza huts infrastructure or developing the company intranet as a business device, SYSTEMS THEY USE MICROS/EPSON PA962 PDA   TOUCH SCREEN MONITORS DNA/ONLINE ORDERING Before implementing its new wireless system, order-taking was rather time consuming and could lead to mistakes such as incorrect orders being served to customers. The food servers used to take handwritten orders while often also preparing and serving drinks at the customers table. Only after serving the table was food server able to deliver the handwritten order to the kitchen. And because these orders were often quickly written down, this could result in an order being wrongly made by the kitchen staff. In order for taking hand written order it was taking up more time was the fact that the cashier was required to key the orders into the system when customers were checking out. This procedure could also result in wrong items being entered, potentially resulting in a loss of business or a poor level of customer satisfaction. The new solution made it possible to take orders at the table using Unitechs PA962 wireless terminal. With the use of wireless communication, orders are sent from the PA962 via an intermediate server to the POS systems, as well as to the different work stations such as bar and kitchen for preparing appetizers and main courses. Each work station has its own network printer for printing the assigned order.   As everyone knows pizza hut is leading with continuous menu innovation and different type of pizzas. The system pizza hut was using since 1980 was showing was showing sign of age especially in its ability to do in store work properly and helping management decision making, thats why they had to change it to bring It up to date. To get an advantage over their rivals, they approached quite a lot of system providers with 6 short listed to provide them the system they can be comfortable with. At the end they decided to go for micros Fidelio. But there were some aspect that they had to change in order to fulfil that agreement they had with pizza hut. By 2005 all pizza hut delivery stores were using micros as their system and all the new restaurants. DNA/ONLINE ORDERING DNA is currently used to service 370 Pizza Hut restaurants across the UK. By utilizing DNAs report functions, the Pizza Hut marketing team has access to management information, which is also shared with other departments such as marketing and business development. Intranet Intranet is a secure way of communication between the head office and store level rather than compromising their security by using internet. Pizza hut intranet is very useful where you can find all the standards, contact details, new developments on marketing and plans for future. All the training of the pizza hut is on intranet rather then sending it by post they just post it on intranet so everyone can benefit from it. IMPORTANCE OF ICT IN MARKETING   As the growing demands of business and furious competition between competitors heats up everyone is trying to get an edge to persuade customers that they are value for money. In that kind of scenario ict plays a major role, because everyones busy in their life thats why fast food business is booming in recession as well. Customers dont want to spend really long on phones whilst the order takers take really long to process their order. Thats why an up to date and fast system requires satisfying customers need. ONE STOP FOR ALL Here are some examples that how pizzas hut is using their system to their full advantage. Scheduling/forecasting Determine peak and off peak season Balanced score card Leaflet distribution Performance management Product forecasting

Growing Up :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

I stumbled out into the yard, my flimsy tennis shoes wrapped in plastic bags and secured with tape. The Great Blizzard of Chattanooga had almost subsided, but snow still lay thick on the ground. The cold air invaded my lungs and stung every inch of exposed skin. My parents were trapped out of town at the state basketball tournament, and my three sisters and I had a baby-sitter that was staying with us. She went to our church, and had known my parents for years. We had enough food to last a while, and our family owned enough sleeping bags and blankets to ensure that we didn't freeze. We also had a fireplace in the den, but no wood. Tracy, our baby-sitter, approached me one day while I was reading a book by the window. "Jeff," she said, "Do you know how to chop wood?" The correct answer to the question was no, for I had only handed logs to my father and watched him smite them in two with a vicious swing. I tried once, but I could not swing the heavy maul hard enough to snap a splinter. "Sure," I answered. "How much do you need?" I knew full well that it would be extremely unmanly to confess that I could not break a log in two, and the realization that she probably could have done it never hit me. I trudged back into my room with a sense of sorrowful duty, like a soldier going on a suicide mission to save his brothers. I allowed my baby-sitter to tie the bags on my feet, imagining her as my page readying my trusty sword before battle. "Just yell if you need any help, you hear?" she told me as I headed for the door. I brushed this off as senseless babble, for everyone knew that only men could chop wood. I trekked across the yard with my head down, snowflakes blowing into my eyes and the cold wind biting at my nose. The large logs were stored under the deck, and the planks were very high up, allowing me to chop the wood without having to stand in the snow. I rolled a log into position, not without a good deal of difficulty, but I reasoned that the log would not be quite so ornery once I had broken it into little pieces.

Income Inequality in Iran Essay -- Iran Poverty and Inequality

There are many problems that face Third World nations. Income inequality affects all nations in the world. It affects some countries more than others though. Income inequality is a major problem in the Third World. In the Third World, the top 1% of people earns 15 % of the income, and the top 5% earn 40% of the income. However the poorest 20% earn only 1% of the global income. This creates a world of haves and have nots. This affects many aspects of society in a county. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, income inequity is a serious issue. One social service that is affected greatly is education. Areas that are poorer do not get the same level of education as areas that are richer receive. This inequality in education is caused by the unequal distribution of wealth that is in Iran because of the unequal distribution of oil revenues throughout Iran. In order to understand income inequality in Iran, one must first look at the basic economic facts of Iran. Iran has a population 77,176,930 people. 70% of its citizens live in urban areas such as Tehran, Mashhad, and Tibriz while 30% live in the rural areas. Urban and rural populations will come up later in the analysis of inequality in Iran. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Iran in2012 was $548.590 billion. That ranked Iran 21st in the world. The per capita income for each head of household in Iran in 2012 was $7,207, which was 76th in the world. The Human Development Index (HDI) for Iran for in 2013 is 0.742, which is 76th in the world. That is in the middle range of countries for the HDI; below most developed nations but high for Third World nation. Iran is a semi-industrialized nation with some manufacturing industries and a heavy reliance on oil revenues f... ...r, â€Å"The Roots of Iran’s Inflation† Susman, â€Å"Income Inequality and Poverty in Iran.† United States Government Accountability Office,â€Å"US and International Sanctions Have Adversely Affected the Iranian Economy† http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652314.pdf (Viewed December 1, 2013, 8:45 EST) Raghfar, â€Å"The Roots of Iran’s Inflation† Susman, â€Å"Income Inequality and Poverty in Iran.† Children of Heaven, (Tehran, Iran. 1997). Susman, â€Å"Income Inequality and Poverty in Iran.† Raghfar, â€Å"The Roots of Iran’s Inflation† Susman, â€Å"Income Inequality and Poverty in Iran.† The Jar, (Hormozgan, Iran. 1995). Children of Heaven, (Tehran, Iran. 1997). Raghfar, â€Å"The Roots of Iran’s Inflation† Raghfar, â€Å"The Roots of Iran’s Inflation† United States Government Accountability Office, â€Å"US and International Sanctions Have Adversely Affected the Iranian Economy†

Television Essay -- TV Programs, Monitoring

Since television started its first broadcast in 1941, it has become a staple in American’s homes. Television has much influence on our society and culture. It was first created to entertain, deliver information from the government, and to educate. Over the years, television has changed from education to pure entertainment to meet ratings instead of quality. Children’s programming is one of those casualties, adding violence and sexual innuendoes. Even with all the negative programs, one aspect of children’s programming, educational programing, has kept its integrity and continued to thrive for preschoolers. With the number of children’s educational programming increasing, what are the positive affects do those television shows have on preschoolers? Research suggests the most significant positive effects educational television has on a preschooler are that it heightens imagination, teaches the value of positive social behavior, and increase academic skills f or school readiness. Imagination is an important aspect for cognitive development as it shapes the interaction preschoolers have with their environment (Thakkar, 2006). Singer (2003, p1) defines imagination as the capacity to form images in one’s mind of absent objects or to maintain thoughts or ideas without necessary converting those into acts. She determined that the content on television is what hinders or enhances imagination. Research shows preschoolers imagination can be enhanced by educational television. Studying on how television stimulates imagination is done so with numerous techniques such as observation, inkblots, and questionnaires (Singer, 2003). The most research shows on imagination are on Sesame Street, Mister Rodgers Neighborhood, and Barney and Friends. Se... ...age group can grasp Super Why, Word World, and Blues Clues (Moses). Repetition of a programing episode is important so a child can understand the main points. A preschooler may seem to never tire of that same episode because they a learning things that they did understand the first time or missed (Singer, 2003). To ensure that preschoolers are getting the full benefit of educational programing, parent need to be responsible in choosing the appropriate programs and monitor viewing time. Television is criticized for dubitation American’s society because of the violence and over sexualized. However, as the research show, educational television is positive all around for preschoolers. Television networks have also recognized this. Networks such as Nick Jr., Sprout TV, and Baby TV run twenty-four hours a day to educate children no matter what time of day it is.

How has the population of Deptford has Changed from 1945-1999 Essay

In order to find out how the population of Deptford has changed in the last fifty years, I have to carry out a number of researches to help me bring this to a conclusion. This includes sources, interviews, survey, a personal account from Suzanne Samson and a visit to Deptford High Street, to take a look at the different ethnic group there. I also look at shops there and the kind of people who owned them. I also went to the Albany center and picked various leaflets to see the different activities available to the publics. As a class we designed a questionnaire and had people fill them in for us. Which should show us that Deptford has a multi-cultural population. In this report I intent to show that, explaining some of the reason and causes that make people from commonwealth country migrated to Britain. How has the population of Deptford changed? As a part of my research, I looked at some sources to see how Deptford has changed in the last fifty years. Source A is a picture of children playing in ‘Kender Street School’ in 1947. All the children who can be seen in this picture are white. Source B is a picture showing a class at ‘Deptford Green School’ in 1997. When interpreting Sources A and B it shows the different people in Deptford in 1947 in comparison to Deptford in 1997. By comparing these two sources we can see that there is a massive change, to the kind of people who lived in Deptford at these two times. Source C is a photograph of Deptford High Street and shops which existed in 1963. Source D is also a photograph of Deptford High Street but in 1997. Source C and D show some shops in Deptford High Street, however these shops we can be identify now were represented by other. For example in 1963 there was a ‘Burkes’ store which is now represented by a ‘Halal’ butcher store, which show how different ethnic groups have mixed in as they have settle in. Of all of people, who have answers to our interview, 50% were male and the other 50% were female. 50% of all the people we interviewed were 31-40 years old, whereas 25% were 21-30 and the last 25% were over 60 years old. With 50% of all the people we interviewed were White-English. Whereas 25% were Chinese and the last 25% were Black-Caribbean. The White-English interviewees had lived in London for 32 years. The Black-Caribbean interviewees had lived in London for 43 years, whereas the Chinese interviewees had lived in London for 20 years. The reason why all the interviewees had moved to London was very similar as most people have settle here because of employment and a better standard of living. For example they can take advantages of London, jobs opportunities, lifestyle and child benefit. However the most common reason why foreign has settle in Britain, was for a better education. People didn’t move to Britain for employment as there were very few jobs available and they could not compete, as many of them couldn’t get a decent education in their country. When we asked the Chinese interviewee how many time they have visit their country of origin, s/he had said s/he had never visited their country of origin, whereas the Black-Caribbean had said s/he visit their origin country BI-annually (every other year). The majority of the people we interview had work, apart for a White-English interviewee. When we asked all the interviewees if they had relative in London, everybody said that his or her families also live in London. 75% of the interviewees said London was a multi-cultural place when they arrived. As one White-English interviewee said London was a multi-cultural place when they arrive, whereas the other didn’t remember. Both the Chinese and the Black-Caribbean said it was a multi-cultural place when they arrived. The first time Britain took in immigrants was after the ‘Second World War’ in 1946. Where the European volunteers’ workers scheme launched to rebuild London, however many commonwealth people were still unable to move to Britain. So in 1948 a ‘British Nationality Act’ was passed, which allow those who lived in the ‘Commonwealth’ countries to become a Britain citizens. To see if this ‘British Nationality’ effected people from all over the Commonwealth countries and to help me with my coursework, I looked at a personal account of Susanne Samson’s. Susanne was a Jewish born in Germany, Berlin on the 25th march 1924. Unfortunately for Susanne she was at the age of nine when Hitler won the general election making him the second powerful person in Germany. Hitler had a lot of prejudice against many kind of people e.g. homosexuals, trade unionist, communist etc. However he prosecuted Jewish people the worst over other people. Once Hitler had full power over Germany he made a lot of changes, and one of them was to ensure that Jewish people had no power in Germany. So he took away all the Jewish people right to make a living e.g. closed Jewish shops, factories, businesses etc. One-year later Hitler prejudice against the Jew was clearly showing as Susanne explains she knew that the Jew was being treated differently to other. Running into Nazis marching was very uncomtable for her, as she had no knowledge of what they would do to her, if they saw her and knew she was a Jew. As a result for her fear of Hitler and the Nazis, she moved to Italy. However she didn’t settle in Italy as her mother found work in London. Susanne expectation of London was very different to what she got. As she thought that London was rainy and misty all over, as she knew about this from text back in Germany. She also that London was a place of lords and ladies. When arriving in London Susanne thought London was very exciting place. Bringing only her most valued possessions, her and her family was guaranteed a house, clothes, food and an education. Susanne and her mother stay with a Jewish family who her mum worked for as a housekeeper. Which was not to Susanne family expectation, however as her mum had very little understanding of English she had no other choice but to take up that option. Shortly afterward there was speculation of Germany bombing London. Which meant school and all children was to be evacuated from London and taken to Somerset. After staying in Somerset for a while Susanne returned to London, and got an apprenticeship with a photography studio before war took place. Life for Susanne wasn’t going to well as she had to leave the studio as a result of lack of war workers and which was consider as unnecessary at war. However she was able to find employment in several places but they were temporary. To support our researches and interviews, we visit Deptford High Street to see if all the information we have collected so far is correct. And our so I objective is proved, as Deptford is a multi-cultural community. There are many different races: Chinese, White, Black-Caribbean, Asian etc. I also found out that there was a collection between the ethnic make-up, to the different ethnic shops (businesses) in Deptford. For example, there were Chinese and Indian restaurants and take away, Black-Caribbean and Asian vegetable stores. I picked up leaflets from the ‘Albany Center’ as some proved of my visit to Deptford. All these leaflets show different activities from different ethnic group, which are available to the public. A typical example is a theater show ‘show and dance’ staged at the ‘Calabash Day Center’, this activity is mainly aim at the black community. Another leaflet is picked promote Chinese and Arabic Saturday classes. All this information show is how Deptford has become a multi-cultural community as different people have settle in. Why have people migrated to London? According to sources A and B (factual texts) many people migrated to Britain because after the war so much British men and women were killed that there wasn’t enough people to rebuild Britain. So in ‘ 1948 the Britain government passed a Nationality Act’ allowing all colonial and commonwealth citizens to become a British citizen. Which meant the Britain government can bring people for commonwealth country over to Britain, to rebuild the landscapes. However for the majority of the people who has come over to Britain they were given the dirty and the unpopular jobs, as they were not educated enough for the higher-class jobs e.g. designer, lawyer, pilot etc. In order for these people of a lower living standard to come to Britain the British government had to give out loan to them, which had to be pay back once they got settle in. Source C is a picture of Black-Caribbean people entering Britain by boat, which was published in a newspaper. The people who are shown are very smartly dressed with winter clothing and equipment. The why reason why this particle picture was publish was to attend to change the British people point of views of Black people in general. This picture also published to show that Black were very independent working people, by their smart looks and are quite civilized people as their appearance were very similar to the British people dress sense â€Å"they are just like us.† Source A2 is a extract for a history book, which is consider not to be a very useful piece of evidence as is has no personal account and the we don’t know who has written this text. However this text does contain factual information, and I support alot of researches has been done before the text was written. However this text lacks a very important aspect – which is, who wrote this particle piece of text? Which I believe is the most important aspect when a piece of text is used as evidence. Source C2 is a photograph showing some migrants arriving in Britain by boat. When it can to deciding if this photograph is useful as a piece of evidence. I consider it also not to be very useful; as I believe the person who have taken this particle photograph was a white person. Which meant s/he could have taken and published this photograph because of personal and for pacify reasons. For example they wanted to change the British opinion of Black-Caribbean people. Another reason why this photograph is not a useful piece of evidence is that I believe this photograph could have easily been rearranged or fixed to fit the government, and how they wanted the British people to see Black-Caribbean people. I have reason to believe in this because as we all know the Caribbean is consider to a very hot place to live all around the year. Which mean it’s very usual to see Black -Caribbean people with winter clothing and equipment. Source D2 is an oral interview with Suzanne Samson, who is a refugee from Germany. I consider this source as being the most useful piece of evidence out of the three. This because this source is factual and personal which is most likely to be the true. Even through is can be make up, over exaggerated, or the person can’t remember everything, as it’s a child account. Sources E2 and F2 are two phase of why Somali have settle in Britain. The reason for Somali settlement has changed form the 1945 to the 1980’s, as Somalia’s first settled in London to â€Å"seek better employment† and to make enough money so they can retire back to Somali. When arriving in London they settled in the London East End, to a sailor community, as they were poor and uneducated. The second reason why Somali settled in Britain was to run from Said Barre’s Regime who was the ninth dictator. However these people tended to be richer and educated e.g. doctors People have migrated to London for many different reasons. The majority of these reasons are considers as the result of a ‘push’ or ‘pull’. The ‘push’ factor is when a person is force out of their country e.g. wars, health, environment etc. The ‘pull’ factor is what attracted a person to over e.g. employment – in 1948, the ‘British Nationality Act’ was passed to allow people in the commonwealth to come into British, allow them to become a British citizens. However the most common reason why people migrate to Britain is for a better education. The experience of migrants in London. According to source A3 and B3 (two personal account), the people expectation of Britain- London was very different from what they got. As these people expected Britain to be the â€Å"Golden land†, the land of opportunity and hope. However Britain was nothing to their expectation, â€Å"the houses all capped together and no spaces.† Sources C3, D3 and E3 are all particle part from different newspaper article. All these sources show us that the type of prejudice that Black and Colour people had to face was racism. For example, White and Black pubs and jobs were separated. However the majority of the While community would have the better choices from jobs, pubs, lifestyle etc. Source F3 is a cartoon which show a While person stabbing a Colour person, and in the background there is a Nazis and the cartoon contain an image of people being hanged. This cartoon is making a comparison of Germany- Nazis and the racial activities which take place in Britain e.g. racial attack. The cartoonist has made a comparison between Hitler and the Nazis with the racial activities which take place in Britain, as Hitler and the Nazis were a very racial group as they killed thousand of Jewish people, where with Britain there are many small racist attacks everyday. This source (F3) is quite useful as an historian text as it shows that racism does exist in Britain, even though it’s a one sided view of the polices response to racism attack in Britain. However it’s not very clear when it come down to telling factual information about the incident and is over exaggerated e.g. there is no hanging. This cartoon also shows us that people like the cartoonists are seriously worried with the violence. Source E3 is an article published in a newspaper, which consist of five personal accounts of five different men living the Southeast of London. In these account of people living in South-East London, Mr. Roger (While) believe there is a over glowing amount of Black people which is partly why he dislike his area. He also believe Black people â€Å"pack them into houses†, however he believe his Black neighbours are very friendly. Where with Mr. Barring (Black) who believe the South-East is a place of many culture and a place of little racial discrimination, â€Å"I have never come into contact with a colour prejudice† and â€Å"I like it here† However Mr. Fitz (Black), who has lived in the South-East for 12 years comparison to Mr. Barring who has lived in the South-East five years, believe the â€Å"neignours are the same the world over, sometime good and sometime bad. He also believes there is racial discrimination in his community. For example, employees think you’re less able because of your colour. Mr. Frankin (Black) also spares a similar opinion to Mr. Fite, as he believes his neighbours are quite friendly. However his has â€Å"come into contact with racial prejudice in the past. The final account is from Mr. Charle (White) who believes the Black workers are a † very happy crowd, but a nuisance when they make a noise. He also believe he is â€Å"not prejudiced against them but he rather they were not here. All these accounts are quite useful and reliable, as the majority of these accounts are factual about personal experience of racial discrimination. For example, 2 out of 3 of these colour people accounts show that they have seen and experience some racial discrimination in the past, â€Å"I do come into contact with racial prejudice†. This sign of racial is supported by Mr. Charle account (White) who â€Å"would rather they (Black people) were not here†. This account show us that Mr. Charle is prejudiced to Black workers, but doesn’t except that he is prejudiced, â€Å"I am not prejudiced against them (Black people). However these are personal accounts and do not represent London as a whole. The aim of the newspaper in publishing these account is to promote good race relations In order to write a complete and reliable account of the experience in migrating into London between 1945-1997 I could studied many other sources. For example I can studied a personal account of someone who has just move to London, to see if they’re similar to all the other personal accounts I have studies. I can also do and studied a simple questionnaire, which could be used to support these personal accounts by comparing them. How have migrants affected the area? Migration has affected the area of London and Deptford in many ways. As more and more people have come into London, they have brought with them their traditions and culture, which over time has been accepted, into British society. These traditions are widely practised all over the Britain. Source A4 shows an account by Minette Bailey of what she thought of London, when she first came from Jamaica. She thought that the British people were hypocrites. She said that: â€Å"It is very strange to see how many people flock into church on Sundays instead of going to worship God. It is very strange how many English missionaries come to the West Indies to teach us about God.† This was the feeling many black people had, so they decided to establish Black-led churches, so their traditions could be maintained. This had been acknowledged by many people and also welcomed. In 1982, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie said: â€Å"the presence of the ethnic groups with their different religious traditions has given new breadth and generosity to our vision of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.† The idea was welcomed and even praised by many people. Source B4 shows some young Vietnamese men practising a dance for the ‘Chinese New Year’, which was to be performed at the Chinese community school, South London in 1987. Source C4 shows a Somali boarding house, in Leman Street in the 1950’s. Source E4 shows a Mosque in London. This building was first used as a Church, then as a Synagogue, then as a church again and finally as a Mosque. You can see when the inhabitants of the area change how the area changes as well. The inhabitants of Brick Lane now are mainly Bangladeshi and other Muslims. You see this from the different languages on the sign. Source D4 shows a number of councillors in the London region. Five of the six are Black: Les Eytle, Eddie Capone, Solomon Brown, Angelina Simpson and Stephen Padmore. The last person, Claude Gonsalves is South American. This change was needed as not many English councillors in the past did things that benefited the other ethnic groups. These people have become part of the government to make sure that everybody got what was best for them. During our visit to Deptford High Street we could see that Deptford is a multi-cultural community. There are many different races: Black ? Afro-Caribbean, White, Chinese, Asian etc. I also found out that there were many different shops owned by different kinds of people like Indian and Chinese restaurants, Afro-Caribbean and Asian grocers, ‘halal’ butchers etc. I found that there many different kinds of goods available, most of which are imported from foreign countries, such as mangoes, oranges, lychees, yams etc. Within the area of Deptford, there is a Chinese health centre. Over the years all kinds people have started to use this shop to get natural herbs and medicine, rather than going to the chemist for conventional medicine. The Sainsbury’s store in the area uses a number of languages to label the goods, so it could be understood by everyone in the community. I also picked up a number of leaflets from the ‘Albany Centre’. A typical example is a jazz concert performed at the ‘Barbican Centre’; this is really aimed at the Black community. Another leaflet I picked up promoted the â€Å"show and dance† staged at the ‘Calabash Day Centre’; again it is aimed at the Black community. There was another leaflet promoting Saturday classes, such as Arabic and Chinese. All this information shows how Deptford has become a multi-cultural community as different people have settled in. Over fifties years foreigner and commonwealth country started coming in Britain in abundant amounts, until was introduced. This meant Britain would only take in a reasonable amount of people a year. In other occasion Britain also take refugees of war, such as when Asians were exiled from South Africa. Which leave me with the conclusion that if war never happened, Britain would still be a country with a high population as foreigners has been coming in to Britain for the last fifties years. Therefore there will not be as many job opportunities, so no foreigners would be attracted into coming to Britain. However as war did happened for Britain foreigners working in the country would have felt very uncomtable working those condition, leaving them with very little option but to do war works or leave the country to find work where else. Since after the Second World War (1945) till now (1999) great changes has taken place for many reason in term of the population and the ethnic groups, and for different reason e.g. a greater population with various number of ethnic group. Some of these changes are consider being the result of what we would call the ‘push and pull’ factors. For example in 1946, â€Å"The European volunteer workers scheme involve people from all over Europe in rebuilding London.† An interpretation show that this as an opportunity for many people to rebuild their lives. This quotation is also showing that this is an opportunity for the unemployed people, as there will be thousand of jobs on offers.