Culture and Globalization Essay Example for Free

Culture and Globalization Essay INTRODUCTION Identity is a question that may be expressed by an anxiety and a hope at the same time. The anxiety lies in the sense of the existence of our Moroccan identity in all its dimensions, Arabo-berber, Muslim negro-African and modern. It also lies in our existence in the world in different parts of the planet where we have decided, voluntarily or not, to assert our existence; a planet that has become a finished space, a global village, surrounded by all kinds of flows, economic, human, electronic, and cultural, which are aspects of globalization; a globalization that could not only be a kind of interdependence among the national spaces which existence is still alive but also an internal phenomenon in these spaces. The advantages and disadvantages of this multiform process can diverge from one partisan to another. Some see in it the chance of a new world and others see in it the risk of an incomparable oppression. The problem of the Arabo Islamic identity or Arab identity occupies the front of the scene. The Islamic world has never been so active in the sense of the expression of identity, maybe because of the more and more enigmatic character of this identity because as Dryush Shayagan reminds, more than the ethnic and the religious identities, we find a third one in addition that emerges from modernity. He adds that the three identities fit one into the other, create more and more complex fields of interference, and exploit territories that remain most of the time incompatible with each other. He goes on declaring that today, these identical cultures are situated between the â€Å"not yet† and the â€Å"never ever†: not yet modern and never ever traditional. These identities that live henceforth, in â€Å"between the two† are totally burst according to Dryush.[1] At first glance, this triple identity raises obstacles to communication, but on the condition of succeeding in fitting out their respective spaces, it offers on the other hand, new possibilities of communication. The assertion of a reactive and massive Arabian Islamic identity was the adequate answer to the colonial dominion. Today, however, the reflection has to fit and adapt itself to the requirements of a situation namely, globalization, that orders that identity becomes seen as open, diverse and it has to be attentive to pluralism in the internal as well as the external places. We can think that the new network of information and communication will favour the emergence of new forms of citizenship susceptible to fill the current democratic deficit. Media permanently present information in the different parts of the world. With the means of information which the internet network prefigures today, the individual can have a more active role in the search for information. One can also contact a multitude of people of different nationalities, discuss problems of public interest, and express his/her opinions in public forums. GLOBALIZATION, CULTURE, AND THE MOROCCAN IDENTITY It is crucial to see globalization from an academic point of view as there is a strong link bounding globalization and culture. The global culture belongs to what Simon During calls â€Å"transnationalization.†[2] This latter is the process by which cultural products extend their actual space to emerge in a global area. Cultural studies are a kind of reaction to this process. Going deeper in this perspective, we come across many points that may link globalization to culture if we consider that culture is a local issue that may be influenced by the global market, the global sight, or may itself influence the global sphere if it is considered as a tradition or a way of life. Culture, from another view, maybe considered as the basis of the construction of one’s identity but once influences by globalization, the identity may change and we may adopt some practices and beliefs that may be no more appropriate to the local culture. Education is another point where globalization and culture meet. Students nowaydays, are no more interested by some issues tackling family or social events, but rather opt to get aware of the global economic and capitalistic changes that the actual world witnesses. Culture is a part of our identity. If we change culture, we change our identity. Stewart Hall argues that in a changing history, identity should remain the same though it is far from being the case of the modern world we’re living in and where identities are in a permanent process of change and transformation and this is the result of globalization. Always according to Hall, the construction of identity is made by the sight of the other. In other words, the negative view on the other makes of our identity a positive one. The process of constructing identity then is based on opposition. If the sight of the other makes of us who we really are, we are then no more free to chose according to our own tastes but rather chose according to others’ reactions[3]. This may seem ambiguous in a sense and annoying in another. How can globalization affect our own sense of belonging? Belonging to a particular nation and adopting a specific culture is not a matter of choice, it is because we belong to a certain ethnic group that has its own tradition, culture and religion. Once we find ourselves involved in a pre-created world, the acceptance becomes an automatic reaction, but when our sense of belonging to a cultural space or another becomes guided by the global pressures, our identity gets hurt and our mind fragmented and confused between what is ours and what is theirs (what is local and what is global). â€Å"The global popular† is the means of communication that occupies an important place in the projection of visual images to spread information (TV, satellite, internet†¦). If I insist on citing the global popular as one of the links between globalization and culture, it is because I judge it of a high importance and necessity to remind the idea that Simon During came with and which expresses the impossibility to separate the global popular from the global culture. He kept arguing that the reason was not only that both of them belong to a single globalizing system but also because the relation between various forms of cultural products are changing and transacting.[4] Similarly, Arjun Appadurai cited in his essay â€Å"Modernity at Large† one of the most important means of the circulating forms which is the â€Å"mediascape†. Like the global popular, mediascapes allow any information to become local through all kinds of the modern media. By this way the local culture may be adopted by different societies and consequently be global.[5] GLOBALIZATION AND MEDIA Today globalization arouses number of controversies. The term by itself condenses anxieties: it evokes, quite at the same time, the shrinkage of the planet bound to technological innovations and the massive impact of the triumphant capitalism that imposes its extreme dominance. Appadurai approaches, in a frontal way, the question of globalization. He put in the centre of his analysis the notion of flows. For him, what defines the contemporary world is much more circulation than structures and stable organizations. The proof is quite clear when we see people constantly moving from one place to another and the extraordinary development of mass communication with images transited throughout the planet. Until then, the individual lived and conceived himself in certain limits. From a simple geopolitical point of view, the nation state was considered as a stable referent: within it, the dimension of the local used to have a great importance conferring to each individual in a given society their privileged points of anchoring. In this context, the identical constructions occur in a permanent game of opposition between the self and the other, between the inside and the outside. But migrations on the one hand, and the media flows on the other hand, disrupted the spreading order until then. What interests Appadurai is the way this situation not only alters the material life of people but also tends to give an incomparable role to imagination. This does not mean that previously societies have not abundantly, neither in their mythological, literary nor artistic productions, appealed to this faculty. Henceforth, imagination is no more limited in some specific domains of expression, but it changes the daily practices, notably the migratory situations where migrants find themselves obliged to create in their exile a world of them by using all the images that media allow them to receive.[6] The technological progress: Internet The cable and internet offer multiple means to reconstitute communities including migrants and those who stayed in their countries. When we come across globalization of communication we inevitably think of internet. Internet is considered to be the symbol of and at the same time, a vehicle for the development of the future mediatic landscape. As a polymorphic tool spread everywhere, internet is actually inescapable in the study of the actual communication processes. If we consider internet as a media, we automatically notice that it is a quite particular one. Among modern mass media, internet is characterized by a potentially or at least virtually wide broadcasting. It is one of the facets of the internet ideology: everybody can have access to messages, everywhere and so to speak with no constraints, and at the same time, internet presents specific characteristics that make of it an exceptional media. Unlike press or radio-television that necessitate material and financial means, licenses, and a diffusion and distribution network, by internet everything is easier. Everybody can be a transmitter and everybody is potentially provider of contents but not everybody can create his/her own television station contrary to internet by which each one –or almost– can create a web site with only an online computer. All this is almost free more than the accommodating of private individuals that is also, more or less, free. If we consider internet as a media, it is then the time in the history of mass communication when each citizen and each association has the ability to play in the same ground as that of the wide mediatic groups or the big companies. Yve Thiran states that from this point of view, internet is a means of communication par excellence and it is not surprising that the excluded traditional media were the first to use it.[7] What seems to be new in the case of internet is not really the fact that it facilitates the emergence of multiple forms of sites and more or less alternative means of information, but rather the fact that the local structuralizations have voluntarily or not, reached the world as a whole. The neighbouring radio station’s diffusion is limited in the neighbourhood, while the expression on the Net may give the impression to address the whole planet. A neighbouring radio station, once installed in the web, can be heard by the whole world. Contrary to the press of radio-television, internet still looks for its place in the media landscape[8] grouping sites together, contents, services and very (too) diverse possibilities to aspire to a real unit of speech (but it is not probably the purpose of internet neither), in a social gratitude other than the connotations that can be socially planed on the new technologies of information and communication in general. In other words, as we find everything on internet, it is still its strict technical dimension that allows an observer to apprehend it, to seize it mentally and conceptually and to succeed in defining it differently. What is internet then? It is a media, a commercial space, a means of information, a shop window, and a place for exchange and expression; that is to say, so many activities where the interlocutors position themselves differently. The telephone is not a newspaper; nevertheless, internet can be at the same time a telephone and a newspaper, an advertisement hoarding and a room of debate. CONCLUSION Born Jamaican, the English cultural theorist Stuart Hall argued that identity must be understood in terms of politics of localization, of location and statement –not as a process of discovery of lost roots but as the construction of a new or emergent shape of ourselves, linked at the same time to the actual social relations and to the contemporary power relations–. While most of us clearly wish to respect most of the aspects of our tradition and history, Hall suggests that we also need, for speaking, to understand languages which we were not taught. We need to understand and revalue the traditions and inheritances of cultural expressions in a new and creative way as the context in which they are produced evolves constantly.[9] [1] Shayagan Dryush,  « La Lumià ¨re vient de l’Occident,  » Paris : l’Aube, 2001, Entretiens du XXI Sià ¨cle,  « Oà ¹ Vont les Valeurs,  » UNESCO, Abbin Michel, Paris, 2004. [2] Simon During,  « Postcolonialism and Globalization,  » Culture, Globalization and the World System, ed., Anthony King, Dinghamton, 1991. [3] Stuart Hall,  « Old and New Identities, Old and New Ethnicities,  » Culture, Globalization and the World System, Current Debates in Art History 3, State of New York: Bihghamton, 1991, pp. 41-68. [4] Arif Dirlik,  « The Local in the Global,  » Global/Local: Cultural Production and the Transnational Imaginary, eds., Rob Wilson and William Dissanayake, Durham: Duke UP, 1996. [5] Arjun Appadurai,  « Modernity at Large,  » Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Public Worlds, Vol. 1, London: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. [6] Arjun Appadurai, Aprà ¨s le Colonialisme, Paris : Payot, 2001. [7] Yve Thiran, Sexes, Monsenges et Internet, Bruxelles : Castells-Labor, Coll.  « quartier Libre,  » 2000, p. 42. [8] Yve Thiran shows that the internet needs traditional media such as television to be able to claim the impact that it had notably during the Clinton-Lewinsky affaire. (Thiran, p. 43) [9] Stuart Hall,  « Old and New Identities, Old and New Ethnicities,  » Culture, Globalization and the World System, Current Debates in Art History 3, State of New York: Bihghamton, 1991, pp. 41-68.

Performance appraisal Essay Example for Free

Performance appraisal Essay Performance appraisals are tools that measure and evaluate a persons performance on the-job for a certain amount of time. There are many different types of appraisal techniques to assess the companys employees. Frequently these evaluations can lead to better benefits, promotions, and other rewards. The question is why do companies use appraisal systems? This paper will discuss the systems and answer this question. The performance appraisal assists in the monitoring and evaluating of high-quality and low-quality work performance inside the service organization. The performance appraisal system, when conscientiously integrated with the organizations mission, strategic plan, structure, job design, and motivation and reward system, can serve as a valuable tool to change the personnel profile in a positive way (Kettner, 2002). Performance systems are only good if they are carried out accurately by the managers or supervisors and are tactically planned out. A good Manager or supervisor can associate the objectives of an organization to a certain job tasks. The employees should be well aware of the company expectations of them before the appraisal. Good communication is crucial in the performance appraisals systems processes. The person doing the appraisals is to remain bias free in turn for the process to work accurately. The appraiser must assess the sections of performance that may need to be improved upon. For the most part of the process the appraiser needs to stay in the shadows and just watch the employees work without their knowledge, because when people know they are being evaluated they tend to mess up . Specific norms inside the ratings need to be set up in turn to reward performance successfully. The evaluation cannot just have a one or a two in evaluating people are different and should use a larger scale. Evaluating several qualities is the framework for an excellent performance appraisal procedure. The most important thing to remember throughout the process is to remain truthful and honest. An exceedingly industrious performance appraisal system will have the chance for staff enhancement. A well-integrated performance appraisal system is tied to the work performed, accurately indicates, through a scoring system,  each employees level of performance, and provides a reliable indicator of an employees strengths and weaknesses (Kettner, 2002). The top five employees after the appraisal may see beneficial rewards or an increased salary. This appraisal will happen frequently to give everyone a chance for the rewards. These appraisals will be conducted in a timely manner with little delay to work. A good performance appraisal can have a number of things, some are listed below. †¢Finishes all work in a timely manner†¢Abides by businesses procedures for work†¢Work is orderly and correct†¢Works as an individual or with a group good†¢On time for work†¢Takes notes in meetings and is involved†¢Uses time wisely and prioritize effectively†¢Initiates and remains productive with constant cooperation†¢Appreciate rules and regulations†¢Implements policies and procedures†¢Adapts to changes within the business†¢Uses procedures to resolve problemsCompleting work in a timely manner makes the task easier to complete, there will not be a great deal of work waiting for the next day. In order top have work completed in a timely manner the work and space needs to be organized. The more organized a person is the better he will do in the organization. Work and other aspects in life are alike, for example, if a person is organized in life then he will be at work to. Most people believe time costs money so if the time is being wasted then so is money, this is the reasons for procedures and protocols. Procedures are important to follow because this will cause fewer problems down the line. Rules and regulation need to be followed to the T because they are there to help keep things running smoothly. Problem-solving techniques are always a good thing to see. A good worker always uses policies and procedures to solve minor problems; this will look good during appraisals. Without procedures and policies to follow there would be chaos, people would be unable to work together. An employee needs to be able to work well with a group or by him self to grow in the work environment. A good employee is able to take notes while in a group meeting to refer to later if needed. Employees need to get involved with important conversations and voice their opinions for other to hear on a  topic. The more the employee talks and is cooperating the better he will be able to do his job. Time is important in any business, so it is crucial to be on time for work everyday. When the employee is late he might have missed an important meeting or crucial information. The employee needs to be able to prioritize and make sure things are in order to work effectively. Most important of all an employee needs to be able to accept and be able to adapt to change. The business community is changing every day and the business and employees need to change with it. A performance appraisal of the employees happens everywhere whether there is an official system in place or not. In a small company the official system is probably not used due to the fact there are not numerous employees. While in larger companies the formal appraisal system is a must because there are a number of employees that need to b e watched and rewarded if needed. Appraisals are meant to reward those who work hard and for those who could need a little extra boost to keep them going. This type of acknowledgment and ways to prevail over the problems are best accomplished by offering training to those who need it. When the appraisal is done, the results should be able to tell the manager or supervisor who needs rewarded and who needs a little help. The employees should understand that the appraisal is there to help them not to hurt them. When improvements are decided on the employees, managers, and supervisors should agree on these. The employees should be able to have a say in what type of training they would be doing because if the do not like it then it would be a waste of time. The performance appraisal ought to improve an employees inspiration and show the way for a course to new opportunities and adventures. References Kettner, P. (2002). Achieving excellence in the management of human service organizations. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

The Life And Work Of Elvis Presley Music Essay

The Life And Work Of Elvis Presley Music Essay Elvis Presley is one of the greatest artists of all time the changes that he went through during his career was controversial and also a success. Elvis changed music genres during his career, his distinctive way of entertaining the audience, and many people praise him as a great icon. Marcus Greil has praised Elvis for his influences on people, a great entertainer, but besides being able to capture the attention by the fans, there is a negative standpoint where Greil states Elvis lacks in his originality. People focus on the peripheral features and the commercialized product he became and Marcus views Elvis attitude toward music is different, instead of concentrating on one genre, he transformed himself multiple times to become part of the music trend. People would recognize for his deep tone voice, his signature dance moves on stage, and his self image. I agree with Marcus praise towards Elvis because he is popular for his talent in the entertainment industry and how Elvis became a product of what people wanted him to be. Elvis career slowly developed and changed through many types of genres, Greil states, The cultural range of his music has expanded to the point where it includes not only the hits of the day, but also patriotic recitals, pure country gospel, and really dirty blues (Marcus, 1975, p.121). Elvis was successfully able that he could do many genres not just what he was good at such as rock n roll. In the Mid 1950s rock and roll lecture, Echard (2011) discussed how he was exposed to different genres when he was growing up, Elvis was extremely open minded in terms of musical style. Some of the kind of music he enjoyed included: hymns and gospel, country music, R+B, and TPA pop. As an amateur he used to sing all these kinds of music (slide 7). This gave him an advantage to become a great singer, and be very flexible in what he did, he was able to transform his image and change into a different direction of genre , Almost as soon as he got to RCA, Elvis image began to soften a little and his material moved in a more pop direction (Echard,14). Besides looking at the singers artistic abilities, Marcus have incorporated nationalism and Rock and Roll together, Marcus posited a notion of Americanism that would embrace rock n roll in its entirety (Mazullo, 2000,145). Elvis was very important part of Americas music history and Marcus that he represented inventing new creativity to the music in the quote he mentioned, If they define different versions of America, Presleys career almost has the scope to take America in (Marcus,121). This shows that he was important part of the Rock and roll history, Elvis was able to show America, certain music genres was not just for Black or White people, I think may have brought a rebellious side but at the same time it is making a statement to country. In Marcus perspective of Rock and roll gives a confidence image to the audience, rock and roll was best understood as a cultural form that worked against the American grain, because of its antiestablishment message, while still representing a distinctive national character (Mazullo,145). People critiqued him at the start of his career doing something very different, media was a big help with developing him as a big artist, It was through the influential TV performances that Presleys early somatic presence was relayed to homes in America (Sewlall,2010,47). This point goes back to Marcus (1975) that the opportunity to create new material in music is not there, his presentation of mastery the grandest fantasy of freedom, but it is finally a counterfeit of freedom: it takes place in a world that for all its openness (Everybody Welcome!) is aesthetically closed(Marcus,123). Popularity became important when media was important, Echard (2011) discussed in the Mid 1950s Rock and roll lecture, the radio was important and a lot of people were exposed to the music. Later on, it led to marketing other artists, such as teen idols. In the lecture of 1958-1964, Echard (2011) discussed the personality became more important than the music, which is an issue because it took away their chances to compose original songs, Teen idols were invariably young and cute. Often they were inexperienced performers with comparatively weak voices and mild personas when compared to the first- generation rock and rollers. They were usually accompanied by studio musicians rather than by bands of their own (slide 5). This represented the country, being able to put attractive music to the audience was important to the music market. There was also an issue of what kind of artist they wanted him to be because record because they thought they want to satisfy the majority of the population, Elvis was marketed as the hillbilly catElvis came to national attention, the first impulse of a larger record industry was to market him as a country musician. (Echard,2011, slide 11). This supports what Marcus critiqued about Elvis, people want to advertise and control in a certain way that we lost the sense of originality, Other critiques that he discussed in the book The mystery train was while his fame was rising the meaning of music was fading away, The golorious oppression of that presentation parallels the all-but-complete assimilation of a revolutionary musical style into the mainstream of American culture, where no one is challenged and no one is threatened (Marcus,123). New teen idols, applies with the quote how they did not need to worry who wrote the better song, Echard (2011) discussed an example of Frankie Avalon i n the 1958-1964 lecture, his image was less dangerous than Elvis. His music was intended for the youth Audience. Elvis was portrayed as perfection, he had the physical attributes about him, it influenced people to be drawn to his personality, he was the typical guy girls wanted, Greil quoted, great artist, a great rocker, a great purveyor of shlock, a great heart throb, a great bore, a great symbol of potency, a great ham, a great nice person, and, yes, a great American (Marcus,121). Everything that is described here, I believe is just the peripheral characteristics of Elvis that is shown to us, Marcus has a good standpoint of Elvis capability to just to please his fans by the presentation of his performance. Even though he lacked originality, he showed a confidence in his music which showed through his performance, he was able to interpret other peoples songs better than the original version by another artist, and to know that even though other signers would have come up with a version of the new black music is acceptable to teenage America, of who did emerge in Elviss wake, none sang as powerfully, or with more than a touch of his magic (Marcus ,141). The story of his humble life and to rise to fame, I believe that many people were inspired in him in some way even if someone was trying to become an artist or becoming something else, he was relatable to the general public even though he presented with a lot of star qualities, Marcus stated in his book, A real glow passes and forth between Elvis and his audience, as he shares a bit of what it means to transcend the world of weakness, failure, worry age and fear, shows what it means for a boy who sprung the poor to be godly and shares tha t too. (Marcus,127) Greil Marcus presented with relevant arguments about Elvis Presleys development of his career, he presented the disadvantage of the emerging lack of original songs written by the artist because the production became the important part of making a successful single. Marcus had a strong understanding of Americas new music trend and being able to explain that Rock n roll was influential even though it is not a popular genre today. Media was important to promote the artist, Elvis Presley was able to perfect his presentation, which did not matter, if he wrote a song or not, his technical skills and the image was already the total package, his influences of performances influenced other artists. His legacy has left an imprint in the music industry, most people today are still able to recognize who is, songs that he did have been done by the artist today.

How OR can Aid the complex problem of Management Decision Making :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

How OR can Aid the complex problem of Management Decision Making How OR can aid Management Decision Making Modern businesses have more need to predict future operations than those of the past do. Managers in large corporations have to summarise and analyse the various data available to them when making decisions. The U.K. OR Society defines the operational research decision-making techniques â€Å"as a scientific model of the system, incorporating measurements of factors such as chance and risk, with which to predict and compare the outcomes of alternative decisions, strategies/ controls.† The purpose of these techniques is to help management determine its policy and action scientifically. ‘The models of OR are symbolic or abstract representations of real life problems.’ Examples of techniques that can be used by managers for use in decision making are for example, forecasting. Statistical forecasting is to an extent, an extension of the prediction of a dependent variable. A reasonably accurate forecast can be extremely valuable for a marketing or production strategy. ‘Time series forecasting attempts to capture the past behaviour of the time series and uses this information to predict future values. No external predictors are considered.’ (Kvanli et al, chapter 17) The types of factors that determine the strengths of forecasting are the time horizon of the forecast; the stationarity of the data and the presence of trend, seasonality or cyclical activity. The accuracy of forecasting can be measured by calculating the MAD, MSE and the MAPE. These are useful for comparing the accuracy of a particular forecasting technique on two different time series. The advantage of forecasting is that there is no need to search for external predictors to explain the behaviour of dependent variables. The main disadvantage is that the observed values can be extremely complex and difficult to work out. Such methods are often hard to sell to managers who may not be able to understand the technique. However as mentioned earlier, if a technique is reasonably accurate, it is invaluable to managers. Networks are another decision-making technique that concerns the planning and the control of specific projects. The aim of networks is to complete the project in the shortest time, using the least resources with the minimum cost. Methods that can be used are CPA (critical path analysis) and PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique). The advantages of networks for management decision making are that ‘they provide a logical picture of the layout and sequence of a complex project.

Fashion and Reflexive Advertising Essay -- Alienation Advertisements A

Ads are ubiquitous. Contemporary media-literate audiences know that one-third of a half-hour sitcom will be commercials, that magazines will contain more ads than articles, and that they will be bombarded with advertisements on the internet. The pervasiveness of ads has created spectators who are: "increasingly media-literate, cynical, and alienated...and because the number of ads continues to increase (clutter), advertising has undermined its own effectiveness by unintentionally negating the ability and the desire of viewers to respond" (Goldman and Papson, 83). Advertisers have appropriated this post-modern discourse of alienation, giving it a sign value that they can attach to their product. Alienation consequently becomes a means through which advertisers can differentiate their product; consumers can claim to distance themselves from consumer culture and individuate themselves by purchasing the product so advertised (87). It is ironic that spectators who distrust the simulacrum of advertising are offered a discourse about the world of ads as a substitute for the authenticity (101) that would arguably end their alienation. The print ads examined in this essay reflexively acknowledge and foreground the shallowness of the fashion industry and the commodity culture of which it is an integral part, thereby excusing the product's appeal on the grounds of its fashionability. Judith Williamson states one "can only understand what advertisements mean by finding out how they mean" (Williamson, 42). In other words, one must understand the process o f signification through which an ad transfers signs from cultural systems of meaning onto its product. According to semiologist Roland Barthes, this process of signification involves three... ... increasing advertising clutter, consumers have become jaded and alienated. Advertisers have appropriated this widespread cynical media-literacy, employing discourses of alienation from consumer culture and advertising to differentiate their products. Advertisers offer a reflexive discourse about the world of ads and commodity culture as a substitute for the authenticity that would end consumer alienation. The advertisements discussed in this essay reflexively acknowledge and highlight the frivolity and triviality of the fashion industry, its marketing techniques, and the consumer culture of which it is an integral part in order to excuse and endorse their product's appeal on the grounds of its style. Ironically, this reflexive advertising moves consumers farther and farther away from any sense of authenticity and only increases feelings of alienation and cynicism. Fashion and Reflexive Advertising Essay -- Alienation Advertisements A Ads are ubiquitous. Contemporary media-literate audiences know that one-third of a half-hour sitcom will be commercials, that magazines will contain more ads than articles, and that they will be bombarded with advertisements on the internet. The pervasiveness of ads has created spectators who are: "increasingly media-literate, cynical, and alienated...and because the number of ads continues to increase (clutter), advertising has undermined its own effectiveness by unintentionally negating the ability and the desire of viewers to respond" (Goldman and Papson, 83). Advertisers have appropriated this post-modern discourse of alienation, giving it a sign value that they can attach to their product. Alienation consequently becomes a means through which advertisers can differentiate their product; consumers can claim to distance themselves from consumer culture and individuate themselves by purchasing the product so advertised (87). It is ironic that spectators who distrust the simulacrum of advertising are offered a discourse about the world of ads as a substitute for the authenticity (101) that would arguably end their alienation. The print ads examined in this essay reflexively acknowledge and foreground the shallowness of the fashion industry and the commodity culture of which it is an integral part, thereby excusing the product's appeal on the grounds of its fashionability. Judith Williamson states one "can only understand what advertisements mean by finding out how they mean" (Williamson, 42). In other words, one must understand the process o f signification through which an ad transfers signs from cultural systems of meaning onto its product. According to semiologist Roland Barthes, this process of signification involves three... ... increasing advertising clutter, consumers have become jaded and alienated. Advertisers have appropriated this widespread cynical media-literacy, employing discourses of alienation from consumer culture and advertising to differentiate their products. Advertisers offer a reflexive discourse about the world of ads and commodity culture as a substitute for the authenticity that would end consumer alienation. The advertisements discussed in this essay reflexively acknowledge and highlight the frivolity and triviality of the fashion industry, its marketing techniques, and the consumer culture of which it is an integral part in order to excuse and endorse their product's appeal on the grounds of its style. Ironically, this reflexive advertising moves consumers farther and farther away from any sense of authenticity and only increases feelings of alienation and cynicism.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay example -- English Literatur

To Kill a Mockingbird Test Question 1 As readers, we saw Scout mature and grow as our narorater and as a person. She learned many things, but also lost many things. As she grew up and changed, she began to see how things really were, and gained the knowledge of the pure hate that one man can show another. Scout lost her innocence when she found this out. She began to see how cruel the world can be to someone who is a little different or strange. She saw this in the prejudice that was shown to Tom Robinson, Walter Cunningham, Miss Maudie and even herself. She gained the wisdom of the world outside her back door and began to see how society works. Although this may not have been a good thing, she could now see how unimportant it was. Who cared if one was not up high on the social ladder? Atticus taught Jem and Scout to be polite, caring kids. He instilled in them a great sense of love for their neighbor and told them things that would help them get on in life. Scout was very lucky to have someone to guide her along the way. Although she was faced with â€Å"the real world†, she had lots of people who would willingly explain to her and guide her. Scout really matured during the course of this book. She went from a six year old child with no knowledge of the real world to an about ten year old who had a lot of life’s most important lessons shown to her at a very young age. She had to learn, very quickly, that life would not always be easy and fun. She learned of the horrible ways men can treat other men and of the ugliness of station, poverty and hate. To say that Scout would of never found out about these is incorrect. She would of found out about them within due course, but to find out at nine or ten must have been a culture shock for her! Scout was a very brave little girl to accept, reflect, and reject this ugly knowledge that she gained. If she had just been able to keep the innocence of childhood that she lost, she would have been much better off. We cannot let children face the ugliness that Scout learned of. It was too much, to fast, even for someone so smart. We must show love to everyone so that our children will show love. To Kill a Mockingbird Test Question 2 The author, Harper Lee, picked an interesting person to narrate the story. This had some advantages and disadvantages as the story progressed. This writing te... ...o the story. Without him, the story might have been about Atticus prosecuting Tom instead of defending him. To Kill a Mockingbird Test Question 8 Harper Lee once called this book ‘a simple love story’. Critics today call it an icon of American literature. Why can we not call it both? The book is a love story between the children and Boo Radley. But critics say it was so mush more than that! It truly was. Harper Lee used so many literary tecniques, characterizations, relationship developments and so many other things even the greatest literary master probably couldn’t tell you what this book means. But why can’t a book be both? A Wrinkle in Time is a great adventure book but it’s also a great Newberry award winner. So can Harper Lee’s simple love story between three children and a man not wanting to be pulled into society’s drowning currents be one of the greatest books ever written? A book that has so many hidden and double meanings be one of the most well respected and loved books in all of America? Can a book that touches on so many issues that are still alive today and that peaks to every one of us in a special way be on of the most sold and read books in the world? Yes.

Organizational Structure and Design Essay

1.1 Introduction Samsung India Electronics Ltd is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation headquartered in Seoul, Korea. The company was incorporated in the year 1995. The company is having their head office at Delhi and branch office at 16 locations all over the India. Their manufacturing facilities are located at Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Sriperumbudur in Chennai. The company is having two R&D centres in India, at Bangalore and Noida. Both the R&D centres are involved in cutting edge research and development. The company is dealing in the business of IT, Consumer Electronics and Household businesses. They provide high technology consumer electronics. Their products in India are colour television, colour monitors, refrigerators, washing machines, mobile phones, microwave ovens etc. The company is the first in India to introduce fuzzy logic based washing machines, silver nano refrigerator and flat screen TVs. Samsung phones support five Indian languages, namely Hindi, Marathi, Bangla, Punjabi and Tamil. 1.2 Organization Strategy Strategically the electronics industry was considered suitable for countries with poor natural endowment and high skilled labour like Korea. This industry required labour intensity, knowledge intensity but low input  requirements of energy and raw materials. Samsung electronics has not only utilised status-quo resources but also developed dynamic capabilities as it rose to the top. Aggressive and risk-taking investment behaviour in search of entrepreneurial rent and the effective policy of managing technology development contributed to the extraordinary achievement of Samsung Electronics. The company’s remarkable transformation over the last decade or so can shed light on how a firm’s dynamic capabilities, the ability to improve its O-advantages by reconfiguration, transformation and learning, contribute to its home country’s idiosyncratic development path. The company transformed itself from a sub-contractor to a manufacturer to a leading creator of many electronic components by harnessing a talented team. Samsung took quite a few risks initially to achieve its goals, it kept its winning team refreshed by constant vigilance and talent renewal. Samsung employees put leadership ahead of excellent personal development courses and structures which Samsung Electronics evolved in the 2000s. The same quality could be seen in the company’s Suwon campus. That leadership came primarily from Yun Jong Yong and Lee Kun-hee above him. There was full inter relationship between the Samsung group and Samsung electronics which also lead to a coordinated and smooth functioning of Samsung. 1.3 Organization Structure Samsung Electronics organizes its businesses according to its different characteristics in technology, markets and consumers as either Digital Media & Communications (DMC) or Device Solutions (DS) division, strengthening their independent operating structure. DMC is grouped into Consumer Electronics (CE) and IT & Mobile Communications (IM) divisions. The CE division took charge of the visual display business department and home appliances department. The IM division is in charge of managing wireless businesses, IT Solutions, Network business, digital imaging displays and the Media Solution Center. This restructuring reflects changes which were made to the workforce with the hiring of soft power experts which has become more important than ever  in the ‘Smart’ age. They have already announced their intention to make a paradigm shift by becoming a soft driven company and established a ‘Software’ center in order to increase their software capacity until it’s on a par with their world renowned manufacturing. Changes in the Device Solutions (DS) division also took place including expansion of the organizations in charge of software, controller and solution development to ensure separate teams for each. The expansion of the software related organizations was done to realize Samsung Electronics vision of creating new values and experiences by combining Samsung’s existing strength in hardware design with optimized software and an emotionally appealing user interface. Samsung Electronics also expanded the organization in charge of bio and medical device business and expanded the Bio Lab at Samsung Technology Research Center into the Bio Research Center. They also hired bio material experts to strengthen their research in this area and increased support for bio similar and bio medical research. Organization Chart Refer Exhibit 1 for detailed description of Samsung’s organizational chart with respect to Samsung mobile division of India. 1.4 Organization Culture It has become increasingly important for employees to have vested stake in the growth potential of its company. People expect a participatory work environment where they can feel a sense of dignity, pride, and ownership of the organization’s vision. Samsung Electronics strives to build a creative organizational culture, and acknowledges that the investment they make in strengthening the core competencies of their employees will have a direct impact on their competitiveness. They actively promote a flexible organizational culture that allows employees to pursue a healthy work-life balance, in a dynamic, creative and challenging work environment that is not risk-averse. As an international company they embrace individuals with  different background and abilities. Work and Life Balance through Work Smart: Establishing a Work Culture that Encourages Learning and Development: Samsung Electronics has established a Creative Development Research Institute System to provide employees with opportunities to pursue creative new ideas that take full advantage of their talents and professional passions in a way that encourages taking risks. This new initiative encourages employees to be more entrepreneurial in developing creative ideas that can become new businesses. Once an employee’s plan is accepted, they may concentrate on the project as a member of a task force for up to one year. During this period, they will be free from their usual responsibilities and may receive a dedicated work space, development expenses and necessary equipment as appropriate. Successful outcomes are encouraged through an incentive program; however they are not subject to penalty if they don’t achieve their goals. Some of the other key-features of Samsung’s culture are: * Talent based recruiting of Software and Design experts * Diversity Management * Employees Health and Safety * Integrity Management * Increasing Social Contribution 1.5 Technology Employed: The organization’s core technology is manufacturing which consists of raw material inputs, a transformation work process that changes and adds value to the raw material and produces the ultimate product or service output that is sold to the consumers in the environment. Core Technology On the other hand, Samsung Electronics has also a department work process  that is important to the organization but is not directly related to its primary mission and that we call as non-core technology. For Samsung Electronics, that major non-core technology is Research and Development (R&D) which transforms ideas into new products. Some of the other departments of non-core technology are Human Resources, Accounting, and Marketing etc. Refer Exhibit 2 for Samsung’s Mobile division R&D office structure in India. 1.6 Organization Size: Samsung Electronics has a total of 196 subsidiaries around the world. As of the end of 2011, Samsung Electronics’ total employment stood at 101,973 working in Korea and 119,753 outside of Korea, with the overseas workforce surpassing the domestic workforce for the first time in the history of Samsung Electronics. Currently, Samsung’s total employment is more than 344,000 employees globally.