LEADERSHIP Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

LEADERSHIP - Assignment Example My MBA classes serve as my first real exposure to leadership styles and interaction with people of different cultures. At first, things feel awkward but as I learned more about the principles of leadership and human interaction, I begin to feel more at ease with the group. Given my experience, the three leadership skills that brings a lot of meaning to my life at this point are the skills in active listening, communicate assertively and influencing. Active listening is a very important skill that every leader should learn in order to understand their subordinates better and address their issues and concerns in the most appropriate manner. As for assertive communication, I believe that this still is very important because we all need to deal with certain issues that need to be addressed in certain manners. Influencing others on the other hand is a crucial skill that leaders need to master in order inspire others to follow us. In evaluating my leadership skills using the PDJ and feedba ck from my ground and some classmates, I realized that I need to develop the skills in asserting myself and influencing others. II. Evaluation of Leadership Behavior According to Kotter (1990), leadership involve several factors including setting direction, aligning people, motivating people and creating a culture of leadership. Koontz and O’Donnell (1959) describe leadership as â€Å"influencing people to follow in the achievement of a common goal† while Tannenbaum, R. , Weschler, I.R., and Massarik, F. (1959) define leadership as â€Å"interpersonal influence exercised in a situation and directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specialised goal or goals.† Based on the definitions given, it can be surmised that leadership involves a complex and comprehensive approach to a given situation in order to achieve the desired goals. Based on my experience, leading a group is a complex process and there are a lot of things that one needs to consider in order to inspire people and achieve good results. Leadership styles vary from one person to another and for a leader to be effective; he or she needs to adopt a leadership approach that he or she is comfortable with. In my case, I have a clear vision of the future and understand the importance of clearly defining my development path in order to achieve my goals. By creating a sort of mind map and putting into context the kind plans that I have in order to reach my goal, I am better able to charter my courses of action. For instance, in an activity where my team had to work over the holiday season, I was able to visualize what my team needs to do over the holidays in order to achieve our goals. By visualizing the future tasks of the group and communicating my vision through text messages and emails to the members of my group, I was able to convey the right message to my team mates. Yes, some of my team mates feel that there are things that I need to improve in terms of planning and communication (see Appendix 9) but I believe that given the time constraints that we had, I was able to carry-on the task at based on my vision. In evaluating my leadership behaviour using my Personal Development Journal (PDJ) and the feedback from my peers, I

Unit 5 discussion board Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 5 discussion board - Essay Example In 2002, 70% of the notebook PCs sold were offered with a rebate and the concept seems simple enough (McGinn, 2003). Buy a $1000 notebook and save $200 after filling in the required paperwork, sending it into a third party processing center, and waiting the required number of weeks for your check to arrive. This is a great deal for the manufacturer as they have sold you a PC that was on sale for $800 and then asked you to loan them $200 for a couple of months. No interest is offered, and there is a risk that you may never see your money. Manufacturers rely on human nature to misplace the paperwork, send it in incomplete, or forget it ever existed. For the people that do get the rebate, they merely break even. The sellers have increased cash flow and sold a number of their products at $200 above market value. These practices are as deceptive as a carnival shell game and could have a negative effect on a companys reputation Whether a consumer will even apply for the rebate is largely determined by the amount being offered. While cosmetics that offer $1 back may go discarded, more expensive items will naturally get a better response. However, even on high-dollar electronics the rates can be surprisingly low. Timothy Silk, a University of Florida researcher, found, "...redemption rates, even on larger-ticket purchases such as computers and televisions, are well below 50 percent" (Keen, 2004). Networking accessories manufacturer Asante Technologies sees an even lower response rate. Jim Hsia, vice president of marketing says, "the typical redemption rate for his companys products hovers between 2 and 15 percent" (Millard, 2003). Most people will never see a rebate. In new car sales, rebates can work against the automakers intentions. A consumer electronics rebate can be used to attract attention to an item and create store traffic. However, on an expensive purchase such as a new car, the customer sees the rebate as part

Female Versus Male Homosexuality In Romantic Literature English Literature Essay

Female Versus Male Homosexuality In Romantic Literature English Literature Essay In Romantic poetry, there is a distinct disparity in the representation of male and female homoeroticism. Male homosexual poetry generally constitutes an intricate synthesis of personal feeling and Hellenistic-like homosocial tradition. Female homoerotic portrayals, however, are typically torn between either a sexually sublimed romantic friend ideal or a voyeuristic heterosexual male fantasy pervaded with panic induced by female sexuality. In other words, explicitly lesbian poetry undergoes heterosexualization that dilutes, and in some cases entirely overturns, any liberating potential the poem would otherwise possess. Moreover, while gay male narratives are often privileged within mythologized Hellenistic context and therein become purified and legitimized, lesbian poetry is denied access to a parallel Sapphic tradition. Thus, lesbians become de-Hellenised in Romantic poetry, alienating the reader from a positive tradition of female homoerotica. In To Lady Eleanor Butler and the Honourable Miss Ponsonby Wordsworth writes of the scandalous and infamous romantic friendship of the Ladies of Llangollen, two women who ran away from conventional marriage pressures and started a life together. The poem is saturated with a sense of close friendship and kinship without being blatantly sexual, and this deters reading the poem as a male fantasy. It seemingly advocates the security of the women, but neglects to portray the reality of the relationship as sexual. This reflects the general view of such relationships in the period: female pairs might, if they maintained a faà §ade of genteel respectability, be acclaimed, after the fashion of the day, as idealised romantic friends(483). Accordingly, the relationship between the Lady Eleanor and Miss Ponsonby is described primarily through euphemism and code. For example, Wordsworth describes the womens house as a Vale of Friendship(10) for the sisters in love(13). This conscious use of deli cately-worded expression and naming of the vale acts as a sort of cipher in the poem; it uses a platonic term like friendship in naming the location, suggesting that friendship is what exists there, but then uses a kinship term to describe what the reader familiar with the story knows is not real; the women are not, in fact sisters. Therefore, for them to be in love, the reader infers a similar hint that there is nothing sisterly about the love. Wordsworths construction of space in the poem also significantly influences its portrayal of the lesbian relationship. By addressing the ladies together in the title and referencing the vale, he creates a well-defined spatial framework in which this poem operates. He connects the space with nature and therefore keeps it in line with Romantic tradition: In Natures face the expression of repose(4). More than this, however, he illustrates this space as being a rare refuge for expression of lesbian desire, such that the ladies love can be allowed to climb . . . above the reach of time'(13). Therefore, the poem essentially addresses its own homophobic theme and by designing safe space for the lesbian lifestyle, it also draws attention to the dangerousness of it. In Christabel and Geraldine (lines 236-277 from Christabel), Samuel Taylor Coleridge designs a representation of female homoerotics that is, in many ways, different from Wordsworths. Outwardly, the lines are an empathetic exploration of tortured and repressed lesbian desire through the arrangement of Christabel and Geraldine as lovers. However, it is important to note that this reading can never go beyond compassion due to the omnipresent male presence. This presence, if the reader is to understand it as being Coleridge himself- that is, a heterosexual and very probably homophobic male(#)- therefore influences the readers analysis of lesbian desire in the poem. Accounting for the male persona, two potentially contradictory moods coexist in the poem-heteronormative panic and male voyeuristic fanstasy. The physical descriptions of Christabel and Geraldine act to deconstruct, and thus objectify, the women by mentioning their body parts: Her gentle limbs(stanza 20), her lids(stanza 21), her elbow(stanza 21) and ultimately, her breast(stanza 21). Obviously absent from these bodily descriptions is any mention of female genitalia, a conscious avoidance on Coleridges part; he wishes to circumvent the mention of phallic-barren sexual satisfaction of the lesbian couple. Since the poem is ultimately governed by a male persona, lesbian sex cannot exist as a valid coital act; a focus on parts of the female anatomy that are traditionally and acceptably sexualized like limbs and breasts without mentioning the genitalia maintains the idea that true sexual intercourse is between a man and a woman. Accompanying this denial of implied true sexual satisfaction are descriptions of mental and physical anguish. Christabels brain is described as one of weal and woe (stanza 21) while Geraldine describes the mark of [her] shame, this seal of [her] sorrow(stanza 23). Depicting lesbians as tormented may serve several purposes. In one sense, Geraldines declaration of shame indicates indicative self-hatred, reflecting the contemporary belief that those who engaged in homosexual activity are constantly aware of their insolent perverseness and therefore more likely to continue to self-harm. This punishes lesbian sexual interaction and therefore shields consequent male arousal in the form of acceptable persecution. Furthermore, Geraldine communicates a sense of frustration when she says to Christabel: But vainly thou warrest, For this is alone in Thy power to declare, That in the dim forest Thou heardst a low moaning, And foundst a bright lady, surpassingly fair: And didst bring her home with thee, in love and in charity, To shield her and shelter her from the damp air. (stanza 23) Geraldine expresses contempt that Christabel sought her out merely under the pretenses of platonic assistance, and that lesbian sexual interaction had not been the primary motivation, implying that sexual acts between women are inherently secondary to heterosexual sex. Despite the apparent conflict of the representation of female homoerotic activity in Wordsworths and Coleridges poems, there are key similarities that provide understanding into Romantic homoeroticism. For example, though lesbian desire in the poems is treated differently, both poets use the natural world as a conceptual framework for their particular representations of female homoerotics. While Wordsworth uses nature as a space in which lesbian desire is safely expressed, Coleridge uses the dim forest to essentially neutralize female sexuality and set Christabels pursuit of Geraldine explicitly as non-erotic motive. The poems also share the presence of a male presence which, in both cases, biases them, a characteristic that is ironic given the female-centered content. Although the male presence may not explicitly attempt to negatively represent female sexual relationships, female homosexuality becomes disemboldened and portrayed as less legitimate as a result. Contrary to female homoeroticism, there is a distinct freedom in the portrayal of male homoerotics in two poems The Cornelian and the To Eddleston (from Childe Harolds Pilgrimage, stanzas 95-96). These poems are about Byrons relationship with a choirboy named Eddleston, written years apart, and though the former shares similarities with the sexual vagueness of Wordsworths poem, it, unlike the other, is allowed to be reflected in Greek Love and the Hellenistic tradition. The Cornelian references specifically Greek pederastic tradition. One example of this is the use of the term pledge, a traditional Athenian approach to pederastic relationships. This allows the subject matter an known association with homosexuality, though to further ensure social acceptability, Byron does not focus explicitly on physical or sexual attraction between the two men. In fact, this early homoerotic poem in Byrons repertoire models a conservative euphemistic approach in the portrayal of its content much lik e Wordsworths poem. The only real capability of a sexual encounter between the Byron and Eddleston occurs in a safe pastoral setting where lovers can isolate themselves from the disapproving society: But he, who seeks the flowers of truth/Must quit the garden for the field. PEDERASTIC POWER STRUCTURE. which is characterized by a disparity in desire, To Eddleston, however, composed years after The Cornelian, is more explicit in its homosexual relationship between Eddleston and Byron. In it, Byron avoids euphemism and sublimation into friendship, such as that which occurs in Wordsworths To lady Eleanor Butlerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. A comparison of the titles themselves begins to describe the difference in the poems. In The Cornelian, the content centers on a cornelian stone given to Byron by Eddleston around which Byron can employ Hellenistic structure. In To Eddleston, however, Byron focuses explicitly on his personal feelings regarding the death of Eddleston. While the first poem most easily implies friendship, the second poem describes Byrons lover as being now, more than friend. In contrast to a pederastic power structure, the power relationship in To Eddleston is implied to be more balanced between the two men. The most significant difference between the two poems, however, is the degradation of the boundary between homoerotic and the homosocial with differences in imagery. While this poem reflects notions of ideal love between men it also problematises this ideal through its use of sadomasochistic imagery. The 96th stanza is characterised by the use of violent metaphor. Byron describes himself as being pierced by arrows, an image that invokes both notions of romantic love through the tradition of Eros and also sadomasochistic penetration by the phallus in the tradition of Saint Sebastian, thus sexualizing the wounded male body. Thus, in what may be viewed as a tame evolution of the Hellenistic tradition represented in The Cornelian, Byron uses To Eddleston to express both the emotional and sexual relationship between he and Eddleston. The starkest difference between Wordsworth and Coleridges lesbian poetry and Byrons male homosexual poetry is that the representation of homoerotics is directly informed by the Byrons personal experience. His poems about male homosexuality are framed by the male presence of an author who is, himself, a character in the poetry, distinguishing these poems from the heterosexual voyeurism explored in the analysis of the lesbian poems. Byron has the freedom to approach homoerotic material with more sensitivity and nuance without objectifying the sexual and emotional attraction between the two lovers. Furthermore, the manner in which female and male depictions of homoeroticism explore Greek homosexual tradition is greatly inhibited by male writers of lesbian poetry verses male writers of male homosexual poetry. Byron utilizes a particular version of Greek mythology to portray and legitimize male homosexuality; in contrast, the women of Romantic poetry are denied access to Sapphic mythology and thus their Greek homosexual tradition. Though Romantic poetry does address the issue of same-sex love, it approaches male and female homosexuality in contrasting ways. Through the construction of lesbian desire in Coleridge and Wordsworth, the reader is positioned to read the narrative through a decidedly heterosexual discursive framework. Thus, female homoerotics must become either sublimated to a romantic and desexualized ideal or degenerate into male voyeurism characterized by ambivalent heterosexual fantasy and phallocentric panic. These disparities in construction are summarized in the way in which the concept of Greek Love is incorporated into the homosexual narratives of Romantic poetry. Hellenistic homoeroticism it remains important to Byrons justification of homosexual tradition and forms an integral element of his construction of homoerotics. Contrastingly, female homoerotics are decontextualized and through the denial of a specifically lesbian tradition, become demonized.

Physics of Car Racing Essay -- physics sport sports racecar car race r

This paper is a look at the physics behind car racing. We look look at how we can use physics to select tires, how physics can help predict how much traction we will have, how physics helps modern cars get there extreme speed, how physics lets us predict the power of an engine, and how physics can even help the driver find the quickest way around the track. Tires are the most important part of race or any car for that mater. (Physics of Racing) After all they are the only thing that is contact with the ground! Tires work by having a high coefficient of friction. Some slicks have a friction coefficient grater then 1! (Physics of Racing) Typical normal street tires have coefficient of about .5 to .6 . In physics we learned that friction was equal to mew times the normal force. Since race cars are typical much lighter then normal cars, they use tricks to increase the downward force on the tires. Some drag tires run really low pressure, other drag cars tune the car to lift the front wheels to put all the weight on the rear tires. Indy cars use a wing to generate down force, and ventures to suck the car to the ground. (How to Make Your Car Handle) Take a look at a good example of a slick and a normal street tire. The little holes on the slick are to check how much slick is left on the tire, since tires tend to ware on the edges faster. The gaps in the normal tires allow the tire to transfer water away from the tire, so the tire can make contact with the road. Goodyear makes a slick that is grooved for racing in the rain, but only crazy (Indy, F1) people do that! The circle of traction is a important racing concept with applications from physics. From newtons equation f=ma we know that the more force we apply to an o... ...turn, so you will end up off the track between points a and b. Because of this, many racing teams use a program called rars. (Physics of Racing) It has many popular tracks, and different styles of racing, and cars. It shows how the cars take the tracks, and has little lines for the apex. This can help the driver find the line. Refrences All Physics equations are quoted from: Physics for Scientices and Engineers 5th Edition Serway and Beichner Harcourt, Fort Worth 2000 Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving The Skip Barber Racing School Bentley Publishing, Cambridge 1997 How to Make Your Car Handle Puhn, Fred HPBooks, New York 1981 Chassis Engineering Adams, Herb HPBooks, New York, 1996 The Physics of Racing Beckman, Brian http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/ 2002 Auto Math Handbook Lawlor, John HPBooks, New York, 1992

Marketing Mix Essay

1.1 Background to the Report Strategic management refers to analysing the important initiatives which are taken by the top management of the company on behalf of the owners. It successfully keeps a track of day- to- day activities which are going into an organization to organise the resources and plan a strategy which the organization should follow in order to get benefit in the business. It provides a direction to the organization and is closely related to the field of organizational structure. (Hambrick, 2007) In this report, strategic management of Singapore Airlines is critically evaluated on the basis of several strategies used by them. This not only helped the company in achieving the results but also enabled SIA to expand itself in the global market as well as establish a new base in the new expanding countries. 1.2 Aims of the research are – To develop a good understanding about what involves in Strategic management. To develop knowledge about constituents of strategic management process. Critical assessment of strategies of a selected organization. To throw some light on the internal and external environment of selected organization. Gap analysis for Singapore Airlines – 2. Analysis of internal framework of Singapore Airlines – Capability to restore competency in order to attain similarity with the change in business environment are termed as dynamic capabilities. This is done by reconfiguring, mixing and adjusting external and internal resources, skills and abilities (Teece et al., 1997). 2.1 Resources – Connecting strategic resources and core strategies is defined as ‘configuration’ by Hamel where core competencies and assets, process and assets are organized and combined in order to maintain strategies (Hamel, 2002). Resources are divided into two categories, tangible and intangible resources of Singapore Airlines. They are further divided into sub categories on the basis of which it can be assessed that core strategies and strategic resources were well connected. 2.2 Capabilities – On the basis of broad variety of competency and technological expertise in newly invented planes, Singapore Airlines effectively fascinated more airlines clients to its fleet management industry, securing its place as major fleet management facility providers of the world. It also persists on expanding its potential by means of strategic joint ventures. For instance, a joint venture agreement is signed by SIA with Panasonic Avionic Corporation in order to prepare a facility for maintenance, repair and operation of communication and in-flight entertainment. Facility will be based in Singapore and components will be generated by Panasonic Avionics (Singapore Airlines, 2011). 2.3 Core Competencies – Core competencies of Singapore Airlines consist of the interpersonal talents of its flight assistants and ability of its top level management in planning strategies for marketing. They endeavour to make flights as relaxing as possible (Singapore Airlines, 2011). 3. Analysis of external framework of Singapore Airlines – PESTEL Analysis FactorsSingapore Airlines PoliticalUnpredictable, SIA reject Air India offer EconomicSIA offer created trouble in Hong Kong SocialSIA Airplane crash in Taiwan TechnologicalQuick technology implementation EnvironmentalLaunch of A380 Air career LegalPassengers safety 4. Five forces of porter – Porter’s five forces model deliver a well-liked external analysis framework for Singapore Airlines. After analysing the internal and external framework of Singapore Airlines, S.W.O.T analysis is performed in order to assess SIA’s capabilities, followed by the critical analysis of corporate and business level strategies. 5. S.W.O.T. Analysis – Strengths – Singapore Airlines has an expanded geographical reach. They operate in a number of reasons like US, West Asia, Europe, Africa, South west Pacific and East Asia. They run flights to 63 cities globally, whereas its division Silk Air is offering flights in 12 countries with 39 cities. Considerable amount of revenue is generated by SIA group with its airline operations around the globe. Equally spread and diversified revenue base guarantees that group is not dependent on single geographic market for most of its profits, by which business risk decreases significantly. Though, SIA is basically a passenger airline, but the group is also offering various specialized services like engineering services, airline operations, cargo operations, etc. which are providing them stability by diversifying business threats. Additionally, SIA group has a policy of maintaining young aircraft fleets, which emit lower carbon emissions and have less burning of fuel per kilometres. This is also strength of SIA group as this factor helps in keeping maintenance costs less, along with reducing performance related security concerns (Heracleous, 2006). Weaknesses – SIA faced extremely competitive market in its initial phases. Many countries restricted air-route access to protect national airlines from other competitions. SIA worked hard to get access rights for many important airports (eg. Heathrow, Manchester) (Reddy, 2004). Various competitive authorities keep on investigating about Singapore airlines and its subsidiaries. For example, South Korea, Canada, Australia, South Africa and European Union investigated about SIA group in order to determine whether the rates, surcharges, and other characteristics of cargo service were determined lawfully or not. In financial year 2012, SIA paid administrative penalty to South African competition commission (2.8millionUSD) as settlement. Legal expenses connected with the inquiry and court case and time spent on this issue left an impact on SIA’s business and operations. Opportunities – Singapore Airlines with its well-built base of operations and proficiency, is well placed to reap advantages from the worldwide boom in tourism industry. This would help SIA Group to produce extra profits. Also, group is focusing on joint ventures and strategic operational alliances to add opportunities for growth and sales. SIA entered into partnerships (jetblue Airways) and code-sharing agreements (Virgin Australia/ Virgin America) in order to increase growth opportunities. For instance, SIA signed code share agreement with Virgin America in December 2012 (SIA, Virgin America reach code-sharing agreement, 2012). SIA will add its ‘SQ’ airline code to flights of virgin which are America-operated serving Washington DC, Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago, etc Furthermore, SIA group has launched ‘Scoot’ which is a low cost carrier in order to grow its existence in low cost flight market. This step will enable SIA group to attract more groups of customers which will in crease its growth and revenues. Threats – Competition is very high in the airline industry. Reputation, safety records, customers service, flight schedules, fares, code-sharing relations are few parameters of competitions. SIA faces straight competition with other carriers on its route. Cathay Pacific, Japan airlines, United Continental,  AMR are few of its competitors. Extreme competition on the basis of price matching, promotions, discounting, capacity, etc. affects operating margins of SIA. Also, Natural disasters can have affect on SIA’s operations effecting the cash flows and financial state. Moreover, hike in the prices of jet fuel can increase operating costs, which can affect the profitability (Heracleous, 2006). 6. Strategies used by Singapore Airlines – 6.1 Corporate level Strategies – Diversification – Companies tend to grow their full potential in economies which are developing, with the help of strategic diversification. Strategy of diversification is followed by SIA at the corporate level. SIA group has number of primary companies with key companies being SIA Cargo, SIA Engineering Company and Silk AIR. They also have number of associated companies. Its Airlines divisions which consist of 49% ownership of Virgin Atlantic, 32 % of Tiger Airways and entire ownership of local carrier Silk Air cover basic segments of customer in the industry. This was a long-term strategy (Singapore Airlines, 2008). Benefits of using diversification by Singapore Airlines is to enable passing of learning and control quality and side by side reaping cost synergies. Subsidiaries serve as sources of learning; and also as progress arena for skills of management and corporate rather than divisional viewpoint through job rotation. Profit margins are better in related operations (like aircraft maintenance and catering) on comparison with airline business itself as structure of industry in those sectors is more favourable. (Singapore Airlines, 2008). Strategic Alliances – In April 2000, SIA joined Star Alliance as a step of its internationalization strategy. In the three main airline alliances, Star alliance hold its place  with Oneworld and Skyteam. Also, In India and China, SIA Group were investing through planned deals during this time. Deals were done with local services like engineering services, cargo85 divisions, catering and airport services. SIA is also under a code share contract with Malaysian Airlines. These airlines are offering up to 14 flights in a day between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (Doganis, 2006). For the expansion of the company, strategic alliances are becoming more common tool. SIA used strategic alliances for increasing competitiveness in the global and domestic markets. This helped SIA in developing new business opportunities with the help of new services and products. This resulted in the expansion and growth of company globally. An alliance is a business-to-business relationship (Jeffrey, 2004). 6.2 Business level strategies – Differentiation strategy – Premium services were successfully delivered by Singapore Airlines to those customers who are very demanding and this can be termed as achieving differentiation strategy. This helped Singapore Airlines in identifying that different customers are broadly scattered, with varied needs and sufficient spending power. If an organization is unique in something which is valuable to its customers at the same time, it differentiates itself in the marketplace (Chamberline & Robinson, 1996). If an offer is valuable for the customers, they tend to be less sensitive to characteristics of competing suggestions where cost may not be one among these characteristics. This accomplishment of SIA challenges viewpoint of Porter that cost leadership and differentiation strategies are equally exclusive strategies (Porter, 1985). Differentiation strategy allowed Singapore Airlines to insulate itself partially from rivalry competitors of same industry. Customers of differentiated services were less sensitive to prices and they started preferring SIA over other airlines, that is, SIA succeeded in gaining customer loyalty (Hitt et al., 2007). SIA carefully applied this strategy and played safe by delivering premium services appropriately without over-proliferating them. leadership strategy – Singapore Airlines has considerably greater effectiveness than its peer group, which is a crucial aspect of an effective leadership strategy. They have young fleets which have lower maintenance costs; they are fuel efficient and have effective hedging of fuel. Labor cost of SIA is comparatively low (16.6%) than average of all prime airlines (20.1%) (Singapore Airlines, 2008). Singapore Airlines have youngest fleets in the airline industry, which is worth considering. Their fleets have average age of 75 months, and average age of half of airline industry fleets is 163 months. SIA’s fleets are much efficient. Younger planes are quiet, comfortable and fuel efficient. They have low repair, service and maintenance costs which are all part of its leadership strategy. 7. Recommendations – Keeping in mind the weaknesses discussed above, some recommendations for Singapore Airlines come into light like keeping company information confidential. SIA paid huge fine as various companies successfully investigated about SIA’s internal facts and figures. Also, they need to keep a close eye on its competitors who try to gain lead in the competition on the basis of price matching, promotions, discounting and capacity. 8. Conclusion – A variety of strategies were executed by Singapore Airlines by which the company is successful for a considerable time. By keeping a track on industrial environment and the macro environment, Singapore Airlines can uplift its capabilities to secure future success. However, as there are uncertainties in the environment and market keeps on altering quickly, it is crucial to monitor and carefully consider all the strategies before implementation. Singapore Airline’s potential to become accustomed to change will positively help the company..to..strive..on..with..competitors..in..the..future. 9. References – Chamberline. E, & Robinson, J. (1996). â€Å"Theory of Monopolistic Competition, What is Perfect Competition ? † Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. II, no. 4, 431- 433 Doganis, R. (2006). Outlook, The Airline business ed. 2, Routledge, Abingdon. Hambrick, D. C., (2007). What is strategic management really? Hamel, G. (2002). Leading the Revolution: How to Thrive in Turbulent Times by Making Innovation a Way of Life. New York: Plume Books. Heracleous, L. (2006). Flying high in competitive industry: Cost effective service at SIA. Mc Graw hill. Hitt, M., Hoskisson, R., Ireland, R. (2007) Management of Strategy: Concepts and Cases.7th ed., Thomson South-Western, USA Jeffrey, R., (2004). Strategic alliances: Theory and evidence, Oxford university press, US, 2004. Porter, M.E.(1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press, 6-22. Reddy, A. (1994). Total quality marketing: the key to regaining market shares. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. SIA, Virgin America reach code-sharing agreement (2012, December 15, Saturday). Business pg30..Retrieved..from http://imcmsimages.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20121215/1512BZC032.pdf SIA (2012). Virgin America reaches code-sharing agreement, December 15, 2012. Singapore Airlines, (2008). Annual Report, Singapore. Singapore Airlines, (2011). Annual Report, Singapore. Teece, D., Pisano, G., and Shuen, A.(1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management, Strategic Management Journal , 18, 509-533. reaches code-sharing agreement (2012, December 15, Saturday)

Financial Derivative Case Studies Essay

INTRODUCTION Financial derivatives have crept into the nation’s popular economic vocabulary on a wave of recent publicity about serious financial losses suffered by municipal governments, well-known corporations, banks and mutual funds that had invested in these products. Congress has held hearings on derivatives and financial commentators have spoken at length on the topic. Derivatives, however remain a type of financial instrument that few of us understand and fewer still fully appreciate, although many of us have invested indirectly in derivatives by purchasing mutual funds or participating in a pension plan whose underlying assets include derivative products. In a way, derivatives are like electricity. Properly used, they can provide great benefit. If they are mishandled or misunderstood, the results can be catastrophic. Derivatives are not inherently â€Å"bad.† When there is full understanding of these instruments and responsible management of the risks, financial derivatives can be useful tools in pursuing an investment strategy. DERIVATIVES: A derivative is a contractual relationship established by two (or more) parties where payment is based on (or â€Å"derived† from) some agreed-upon benchmark. Since individuals can â€Å"create† a derivative product by means of an agreement, the types of derivative products that can be developed are limited only by the human imagination. Therefore, there is no definitive list of derivative products. Why Have Derivatives? Derivatives are risk-shifting devices. Initially, they were used to reduce exposure to changes in foreign exchange rates, interest rates, or stock indexes. For example, if an American company expects payment for a shipment of goods in British Pound Sterling, it may enter into a derivative contract with another party to reduce the risk that the exchange rate with the U.S. Dollar will be more unfavorable at the time the bill is due and paid. Under the derivative instrument, the other party is obligated to pay the company the amount due at the exchange rate in effect when the derivative contract was executed. By using a derivative product, the company has shifted the risk of exchange rate movement to another party. More recently, derivatives have been used to segregate categories of investment risk that may appeal to different investment strategies used by mutual fund managers, corporate treasurers or pension fund administrators. These investment managers may decide that it is more beneficial to assume a specific â€Å"risk† characteristic of a security. For instance, several derivative products may be created based on debt securities that represent an interest in a pool of residential home mortgages. One derivative product may provide that the purchaser receives only the interest payments made on the mortgages while another product may specify that the purchaser receives only the principal payments. These derivative products, which react differently to movements in interest rates, may have specific appeal to different investment strategies employed by investment managers. The financial markets increasingly have become subject to greater â€Å"swings† in interest rate movements than in past decades. As a result, financial derivatives have appealed to corporate treasurers who wish to take advantage of favorable interest rates in the management of corporate debt without the expense of issuing new debt securities. For example, if a corporation has issued long term debt with an interest rate of 7 percent and current interest rates are 5 percent, the corporate treasurer may choose to exchange (i.e., Swap), interest rate payments on the long term debt for a floating interest rate, without disturbing the underlying principal amount of the debt itself. RISK INVOLE IN DERIVATIVES: There are four risk associated with derivatives. * Market risk * Operational risk * Counter party credit risk * Legal risk Market risk: The risk to earnings from adverse movements in market prices. Operational risk: The risk of losses occurring as a result of inadequate systems and control, human error, or management failure. Counter party credit risk: The risk that a party to a derivative contract will fail to perform on its obligation. Exposure to counterparty credit risk is determined by the cost of replacing a contract if a counterparty (as a party to a derivatives contract is known) were to default. Legal risk: The risk of loss because a contract is found not to be legally enforceable. Derivatives are legal contracts. Like any other contract, they require a legal infrastructure to provide for the resolution of conflicts and the enforcement of contract provisions. CORPORATION: BARING: Barings PLC was the oldest merchant bank in Great Britain. Founded in 1762. With total shareholder equity of  £440 million, it was far from the largest or most important banking organization in Great Britain. Barings had long enjoyed a reputation as a conservatively run institution. But that reputation was shattered on February 24, 1995, when Peter Baring, the bank’s chairman, contacted the Bank of England to explain that a trader in the firm’s Singapore futures subsidiary had lost huge sums of money speculating on Nikkei-225 stock index futures and options. In the days that followed, investigators found that the bank’s total losses exceeded US$1 billion, a sum large enough to bankrupt the institution. STRATEGIES AND TRANSACTION: CONTEXT: In 1992, Barings sent Nicholas Leeson, a clerk from its London office, to manage the back-office accounting and settlement operations at its Singapore futures subsidiary. Baring Futures (Singapore), hereafter BFS, was established to enable Barings to execute trades on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX). The subsidiary’s profits were expected to come primarily from brokerage commissions for trades executed on behalf of customers and other Barings subsidiaries. Most of BFS’s business was concentrated in executing trades for a limited number of financial futures and options contracts. These were the Nikkei-225 contract, the 10 year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) contract, the three-month Euroyen contract, and options on those contracts (known as futures options). The Nikkei-225 contract is a futures contract whose value is based on the Nikkei-225 stock index, an index of the aggregate value of the stocks of 225 of the largest corporations in Japan. The JGB contract is for the future delivery of ten-year Japanese government bonds. The Euroyen contract is a futures contract whose value is determined by changes in the three-month Euroyen deposit rate. A futures option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a futures contract at a stipulated price on or before some specified expiration date. STRATEGIES: During late 1992 or early 1993, Leeson was named general manager and head trader of BFS. Leeson never relieved his authority over the subsidiary’s back-office operations when his responsibilities expanded including trading. Barings’s management understood that such trading involved arbitrage in Nikkei-225 stock index futures and 10-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) futures. Both contracts trade on SIMEX and the Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE). Leeson soon embarked upon a much riskier trading strategy. Rather than engaging in arbitrage, as Barings management believed, he began placing bets on the direction of price movements on the Tokyo stock exchange. Leeson’s reported trading profits were spectacular. His earnings soon came to account for a significant share of Barings total profits; the bank’s senior management regarded him as a star performer. After Barings failed, however, investigators found that Leeson’s reported profits had been fictitious from the start. By manipulating information on his trading activity, Leeson was able to conceal his trading losses and report large profits instead. A major part of Leeson’s trading strategy involved the sale of options on Nikkei-225 futures contracts. The seller of an option earns a premium in return for accepting the obligation to buy or sell the underlying item at a stipulated strike price. If the option expires â€Å"out-of-the money,† the option premium becomes the seller’s profit. If prices turn out to be more volatile than expected, however, an option seller’s potential losses are virtually unlimited. Sometime in 1994, Leeson began selling large numbers of option straddles, a strategy that involved the simultaneous sale of both calls and puts on Nikkei-225 futures. TRANSACTION: Leeson’s trading losses from 1992 through the end of February 1995. By the end of 1992—just a few months after he had begun trading—Leeson had accumulated a hidden loss of  £2 million. until October 1993, when his losses began to rise sharply. He lost another  £21 million in 1993 and  £185 million in 1994. Total cumulative losses at the end of 1994 stood at  £208 million. That amount was slightly larger than the  £205 million profit reported by the Barings Group as a whole, before accounting for taxes and for  £102 million in scheduled bonuses. By January 1, 1995, Leeson was short 37,925 Nikkei calls and 32,967 Nikkei puts. He also held a long position of just over 1,000 contracts in Nikkei stock index futures, which would gain in value if the stock market were to rise. WHAT WENT WRONG? HOW WAS THE LOSS ACCUMULATED? Disaster struck on January 17 when news of a violent earthquake in Kobe, Japan, sent the Japanese stock market into a tailspin. Over the next five days, the Nikkei index fell over 1,500 points Leeson’s options positions sustained a loss of  £68 million. As stock prices fell, he began buying massive amounts of Nikkei stock index futures. By February 6, the Japanese stock market had recovered by over 1,000 points, making it possible for Leeson to recoup most of the losses resulting from the market’s reaction to the earthquake. cumulative losses on that date totaled  £253 million, about 20 percent higher than they had been at the start of the year but within some days market began to fall again making losses to multiply. Barings faced massive margin calls as Leeson’s losses mounted. While these margin calls raised eyebrows at the bank’s London and Tokyo offices, they did not prompt an immediate inquiry into Leeson’s activities. It was not until Feb ruary 6 that Barings’s group treasurer, Tony Hawes, flew to Singapore to investigate irregularities with the accounts at BFS. Barings had committed a total of  £742 million to finance margin calls for BFS. WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOSS? Some observers blame this lack of communication on the rivalry between the two exchanges. Communication between SIMEX and the OSE was minimal, however this lack of communication not only helped make it possible for Leeson to accumulate large losses but also hampered efforts to contain the damage once Barings collapsed. The exchange’s attitude toward Barings was influenced in part by the bank’s strong international reputation, but its willingness to relax normal risk management guidelines also may have been attributable to its desire to attract business. Events surrounding the collapse of Barings have served to highlight weaknesses in risk management on the part of SIMEX and other futures exchanges. Barings’ collapse was due to the unauthorized and ultimately catastrophic activities of, it appears, one individual (Leeson) that went undetected as a consequence of a failure of management and other internal controls of the most basic kind. Management failed at various levels and in a variety of ways WHAT LESSONS ARE TO BE LEARNED FROM THE CASE/ DISASTER? HIGHLIGHTED WEAKNESS: (1) The lack of communication between securities and futures exchanges and regulators in different countries, and (2) Conflicting laws on the legal status of customer accounts at futures brokers and clearing agents in the event of insolvency. These weaknesses can be addressed only by increased international cooperation among futures exchanges, regulators, and lawmakers. * Management teams have a duty to understand fully the businesses they manage. * Responsibility for each business activity has to be clearly established and communicated. * Clear segregation of duties is fundamental to any effective control system. * Relevant internal controls, including independent risk management, have to be established for all business activities. * Top management and the Audit Committee have to ensure that significant weaknesses, identified to them by internal audit or otherwise, are resolved quickly. METALLGESELLSCHAFT: Metallgesellschaft AG (hereafter, MG) is a large industrial conglomerate engaged in a wide range of activities, from mining and engineering to trade and financial services. In December 1993, the firm reported huge derivatives-related losses at its U.S. oil subsidiary, Metallgesellschaft Refining and Marketing (MGRM). STRATEGIES AND TRANSACTION: CONTEXT: In 1992, MGRM began implementing an aggressive marketing program in which it offered long-term price guarantees on deliveries of gasoline, heating oil, and diesel fuels for up to five or ten years. The first was a â€Å"firm fixed† program, under which a customer agreed to fixed monthly deliveries at fixed prices. The second, known as the â€Å"firm-flexible† contract, specified a fixed price and total volume of future deliveries but gave the customer some flexibility to set the delivery schedule. STRATEGY: By September 1993, MGRM had committed to sell forward the equivalent of over 150 million barrels of oil for delivery at fixed prices, with most contracts for terms of ten years. Both types of contracts included options for early termination. These â€Å"cash-out provisions† permitted customers to call for cash settlement on the full volume of outstanding deliveries if market prices for oil rose above the contracted price. Its contracted delivery prices reflected a premium of $3 to $5 per barrel over the prevailing spot price of oil. MGRM sought to offset the exposure resulting from its delivery commitments by buying a combination of short-dated oil swaps and futures contracts as part of a strategy known as a â€Å"stack-and-roll† hedge. TRANSACTION: In its simplest form, a stack-and-roll hedge involves repeatedly buying a bundle, or â€Å"stack,† of short dated futures or forward contracts to hedge a longer-term exposure. Each stack is rolled over just before expiration by selling the existing contracts while buying another stack of contracts for a more distant delivery date; hence the term stack-and-roll. MGRM implemented its hedging strategy by maintaining long positions in a wide variety of contract months, which it shifted between contracts for different oil products (crude oil, gasoline, and heating oil) in a manner intended to minimize the costs of rolling over its positions. Had oil prices risen, the accompanying gain in the value of MGRM’s hedge would have produced positive cash flows that would have offset losses stemming from its commitments to deliver oil at below-market prices. As it happened, however, oil prices fell even further in late 1993. Moreover, declines in spot and near-term oil futures and forward prices significantly exceeded declines in long-term forward prices. As a result, contemporaneous realized losses. WHAT WENT WRONG? HOW WAS THE LOSS ACCUMULATED? Decline in oil prices caused funding problems for MGRM. The practice in futures markets of marking futures contracts to market at the end of each trading session forced the firm to recognize its futures trading losses immediately, triggering huge margin calls. Normally, forward contracts have the advantage of permitting hedgers to defer recognition of losses on long-term commitments. But MGRM’s stack-and-roll hedge substituted short-term forward contracts (in the form of short-term energy swaps maturing in late 1993) for long-term forward contracts. As these contracts matured, MGRM was forced to make large payments to its counterparties, putting further pressure on its cash flows. At the same time, most offsetting gains on its forward delivery commitments were deferred. MG reported losses of DM 1.8 billion on its operations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1993, in addition to the DM 1.5 billion loss auditors attributed to its hedging program as of the same date. WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOSS? MG’s board of supervisors fired the firm’s chief executive and installed new management. The board instructed MG’s new managers to begin liquidating MGRM’s hedge and to enter into negotiations to cancel its long-term contracts with its customers. This action further complicated matters. The actions of MG’s board of supervisors in this incident have spurred widespread debate and criticism, as well as several lawsuits. Some analysts argue that MGRM’s hedging program was seriously flawed and that MG’s board was right to terminate it. Others, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Merton Miller, argue that the hedging program was sound and that MG’s board exacerbated any hedging-related losses by terminating the program too early. WHAT LESSONS ARE TO BE LEARNED FROM THE CASE/ DISASTER? Considering the debate over the merits of MGRM’s hedging strategy, it would seem naive simply to blame the firm’s problems on its speculative use of derivatives. It is true that MGRM’s hedging program was not without risks. But the firm’s losses are attributable more to operational risk—the risk of loss caused by inadequate systems and control or management failure—than to market risk. If MG’s supervisory board is to be believed, the firm’s previous management lost control of the firm and then acted to conceal its losses from board members. If one sides with the firm’s previous managers (as well as with Culp, Hanke, and Miller), then the supervisory board and its bankers misjudged the risks associated with MGRM’s hedging program and panicked when faced with large, short-term funding demands. Either way, the loss was attributable to poor management. FINAL CONCLUSION OF BOTH CASES: The cases of Metallgesellschaft and Barings provide an interesting study in contrasts. Both cases involve exchange-traded derivatives contracts. In both cases, senior management has been criticized for making an insufficient effort to understand fully the activities of their firms’ subsidiaries and for failing to monitor and supervise the activities of those subsidiaries adequately. But while critics have faulted MG’s management for overreacting to the large margin calls faced by one of its subsidiaries, Barings’s management has been faulted for being overly complacent in the face of a large number of warning signs. If these two disparate incidents offer any single lesson, it is the need for senior management to understand the nature of the firm’s activities and the risks that those activities involve.

Globalization, Poverty and Labor Structures essays

Globalization, Poverty and Labor Structures essays Globalization, accumulation of capital and therefore economic restructuring are crucial elements in the way the world is organized and wealth is distributed. The development of capitalist world economy is heavily dependent on the particular division of labor that governs a nations market. The concept of International Division of Labor (IDL) reflects the vertical relationship that exists among First World countries or developed countries and Third World countries or the developing countries. One should note that while the terms First world, Third world, developed and developing countries are often used in a pejorative way. It is not the intention of this essay to contribute to the discursive reduction of the countries discussed, nor is it the intention to reinforce binaries that allow for a vertical relationship of power to exist among the privileged and the less fortunate. For the purpose of this essay, IDL will refer to the new system of the world economy where the continuous growth of the capitalist countries has been accorded the gravest importance. In this model, worked out by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the organization of the Western industrial countries has been equated to the relocation and export of labor intensive and therefor labor-cost-intensive production processes to developing countries. This economic restructuring manifests into the use and abuse of Third World workers, because of their low wage levels and minimal requirements for safe work conditions, giving rise to establishment of Free Trade or Production Zones, or World Market Factories in countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The relocation of industries, particularly the textile and garment industries, the electronics industry and the toy industry has dictated a certain labor order where women are the op timal force for the capitalist accumulation process on world scale because the...

Homer The Great Greek Poet

Homer The Great Greek Poet Free Online Research Papers Homer, is one, if not the most influential Greek writers/poets to ever live. The estimated TOB of Homer is supposedly around the 8th century BC it is guessed that Greek poet Homer was born around the Greek Island Ionia. Though very little is know of the author; he is given credit to writing two of the most familiar and influential pieces of Greek literature ever written. Homer did not only create a basis for education and Greek culture; he accomplished these landmarks during the spreading of the Christian religion. First, through the creating of The Illiad and The Odyssey, Homer did create a basis for education and Greek culture. These works of Homer very much affected Western standards and ideas. To the Greeks, they were not just everyday literature; they saw the work representing the Hellenic unity and moral instruction. However, there is doubt over whether The Illiad and The Odyssey were composed of the same author. This argument was brought up when the difference in genres between the stories was brought up. But it is still believed by today’s historians that the author of both writings was from a single man. Second, Homer created a basis for Greek education and Greek culture; he also did this through his style of poetry. It had been one of the most important discoveries from a Homeric scholarship; the discovery was that Homer’s style was oral. Oral poetry is a kind of poetry that is made and passed down by word of mouth and without ever writing it down. When Homer recited these oral poems he liked to call himself â€Å"singer†. He introduced a new concept of a very different style of poetry. Third, Homer created a basis for education and Greek culture; he did this by being so influential and brilliant. During the Hellenistic age, Homer received a hero cult in several cities. Great shrines and sculptures were created by amazing artists and were put in popular territories. For example, Ptolemy IV Philopator built a shrine in Alexandria. And also A marble relief, made in Egypt, brought to Italy was made in his honor. In this piece, Homer is not just a great poet, but he also is an inspired source of all literature. Fourth, Homer created a basis for education and Greek culture, but mysteries of his authorship are still being questioned today. Most scholars agree that both The Illiad and The Odyssey went through a process of standardization and refinement. Confirming that Homer created not all of today’s version of these writings, but the basic outline is most likely the same. Other scholars, however, maintain their belief in the reality of an actual Homer. Though a possible theory, not much evidence is found of an actual man Homer. Fifth, Though Homer created a basis for education and Greek culture, his place of origin is a mystery to most scholars. There is a general belief that Homer was a native of Ionia. Which is considerable, considering that the dialect of the poems is Ionian. The most certain, and valuable piece of information proving this general belief is that his descendants, the Homeridae, lived on an Ionic island known as Chios. This location is recalled in both of Homers creations The Illiad and The Odyssey. Homer did not only create a basis for education and Greek culture through his writings; he did it during the spreading knowledge of Christianity. Being the most influential and bright-minded writers in Greek culture, Homer is still living today, not actually, but through his creations. Research Papers on Homer The Great Greek PoetTartaros A Place of Ultimate PunishmentBooker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-BarnettDeontological Teleological TheoriesContrasting Berthe Morisot and Jan van EyckCritical Analysis of HamletThe Gnostic JesusSociology is a ScienceIntentism The Resurrection of the AuthorThe Broken FamilyMy Writing Experience

Meitnerium Facts - Mt or Element 109

Meitnerium Facts - Mt or Element 109 Meitnerium (Mt) is element 109 on the periodic table. Its one of the few elements that suffered no dispute concerning its discovery or name. Here is a collection of interesting Mt facts, including the elements history, properties, uses, and atomic data. Interesting Meitnerium Element Facts Meitnerium is a solid, radioactive metal at room temperature. Very little is known about its physical and chemical properties, but based on trends in the periodic table, it is believed to behave as a transition metal, like the other actinide elements. Meitnerium is expected to possess properties similar to its lighter homologous element, iridium.Meitnerium is a man-made element that does not occur in nature. It was first synthesized by a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Munzenberg in 1982 at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt. A single atom of the isotope meitnerium-266 was observed from bombardment of a bismuth-209 target with accelerated iron-58 nuclei. Not only did this process create a new element, but it was the first successful demonstration of the use of fusion to synthesize heavy, new atomic nuclei.Placeholder names for the element, before its formal discovery, included eka-iridium and unnilennium (symbol Une). However, most people sim ply referred to it as element 109. The only name proposed for the discovered element was meitnerium (Mt), in honor of Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, who was one of the discoverers of nuclear fission and the co-discoverer of the element protactinium (together with Otto Hahn). The name was recommended to the IUPAC in 1994 and formally adopted in 1997. Meitnerium and curium are the only elements named for non-mythological women (although Curium is named in honor of both Pierre and Marie Curie). Meitnerium Atomic Data Symbol: Mt Atomic Number: 109 Atomic Mass: [278] Group: d-block of Group 9 (Transition Metals) Period: Period 7 (Actinides) Electron Configuration:Â  [Rn] 5f146d77s2Â   Melting Point: unknown Boiling Point: unknown Density:Â  The density of Mt metal is calculated to be 37.4 g/cm3 at room temperature. This would give the element the second-highest density of the known elements, after neighboring element hassium, which has a predicted density of 41 g/cm3. Oxidation States: predicted to be 9. 8. 6. 4. 3. 1 with the 3 state as the most stable in aqueous solution Magnetic Ordering: predicted to be paramagnetic Crystal Structure: predicted to be face-centered cubic Discovered: 1982 Isotopes: There are 15 isotopes of meitnerium, which are all radioactive. Eight isotopes have known half-lives with mass numbers ranging from 266 to 279. The most stable isotope is meitnerium-278, which has a half-life of approximately 8 seconds. Mt-237 decays into bohrium-274 via alpha decay. The heavier isotopes are more stable than the lighter ones. Most meitnerium isotopes undergo alpha decay, although a few undergo spontaneous fission into lighter nuclei. Sources of Meitnerium: Meitnerium may be produced either by fusion two atomic nuclei together or via the decay of heavier elements. Uses of Meitnerium: Meitneriums primary use is for scientific research, since only minute amounts of this element have ever been produced. The element plays no biological role and is expected to be toxic due to its inherent radioactivity. Its chemical properties are expected to be similar to noble metals, so if enough of the element is ever produced, it might be relatively safe to handle.

Framing Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Framing Theory - Research Paper Example The field of economics also widely applies the theory of framing. In general, framing can apply to any situation given that it involves the perception of a theory as portrayed by a given individual or group of individual (Laurah, 2012). The theory of framing has several sub-theories that clarify the variances present in its application. First of all, it has considerations in one of two ways. It is either considered as frames in thought or frames in communication. Its consideration as frames in thought consists of certain mental simplifications of reality, representations, and interpretations. On the other hand, when considered as frames in communication, framing consists of the communication frames between different actors. Another sub-theory of this concept is its view either as being negative or positive. In this view, the positivity or negativity depends more or less on the constituents of a given audience and the kind of information being passed to this audience (Judith, 2010). A further division of framing is it being viewed either as equivalence frames or emphasis frames. As equivalence frames, framing represents the logical equivalent alternatives that are portrayed in different ways. In this view, the information in the presentation is often based on the same fundamentals (Shanto, 1994). The frame, though, that is presented shifts with the result that a perception that is dependent on the reference is created. On the other hand, having emphasis frames simplify reality with a focus on a given subset of the aspect relevant to the prevailing situation. These theories and sub-theories have daily applications whereby the same basis of facts is often used to portray different perspectives of a given phenomenon. For example, one may be quoted and their information interpreted in very many different ways thus yielding different frames to different people. Beside the information being received by the audience, members of the audience also receive the

Business environment jewellery, organic food and tesco Essay

Business environment jewellery, organic food and tesco - Essay Example The jewellery and watches market is highly competitive in terms of both supply and retail. Recent years have seen the emergence of several luxury-goods and high-fashion conglomerates into the market, which possess strong brands that are supported by substantial financial resources. In addition to the above implications of excess capacity in Jewellery market, the major implication is the phenomenal change in customer buying behavior. To what extent might the traditional small jewellery and watch operators be considered to be suffering from unfair competition from 'luxury-goods and high-fashion conglomerates' 10 marks Traditional small jewellery and watch operators suffer a major setback in business because of the increasing competition from luxury goods and high fashion conglomerates. There are many instances where the traditional jewellery has lost its importance and the demand for the same is fading because of the evolution of new type of fashion jewellery. Some of the critical aspects for major setback for traditional jewellery Evolution of high fashion conglomerates in the jewellery industry paved way for changing consumer behavior and shift in the purchasing methods and dimensions. The conglomerates use their financial strength to identify key locations that are expensive for better customer segment reach. The traditional firms are a way behind in reforming their practices and are slightly reluctant to change any dimension of their jewellery setup. Whereas the conglomerates are ready to spend fortune on effective advertisement and branding techniques and deploy promotional strategies to attract customers and achieve brand loyalty paving way for effective customer retention. After the great depression, there has been a shift in consumer... The Supply factor out paces the demand of jewellery leading to reduction of prices, minimizing the ultimate corporate profit by a small percentage and increase in job cuts as a measure of sustainability. Traditional small jewellery and watch operators suffer a major setback in business because of the increasing competition from luxury goods and high fashion conglomerates. There are many instances where the traditional jewellery has lost its importance and the demand for the same is fading because of the evolution of new type of fashion jewellery. The traditional firms are a way behind in reforming their practices and are slightly reluctant to change any dimension of their jewellery setup. Whereas the conglomerates are ready to spend fortune on effective advertisement and branding techniques and deploy promotional strategies to attract customers and achieve brand loyalty paving way for effective customer retention. After the great depression, there has been a shift in consumer buying behaviour, their choice and preferences leading to more modified buying motives. With the effective marketing initiatives, the customer target base is attracted towards designs which are fashionable and simple for official purpose.

Application of ERP within a particular sector or type of organisation Essay

Application of ERP within a particular sector or type of organisation - Essay Example It goes a long into maintaining the businesses production and competitive edge while most businesses are struggling to produce. In this paper, various case studies on the applications of ERP will be discussed. It is proposed that more should be considered in the implementation process; careful transition management, bureaucracy, network organization and most importantly culture readiness. Management should prepare the employees so that the transition is smooth and successful. Data collected was secondary. Lessons on how ERP helped curb organizational problems is discussed and explained in depth. Recommendations and possible solutions are provided too (Al-Mudimigh 2001). ERP systems usually organize a company’s resource accordingly in order to render them profitable, efficient and productive. This study focuses on the stages that should be applied in instilling the appropriate strategies in most organizations for the purpose of implementing Enterprise Resource Planning. In organizations where this strategy is embraced, enormous and distinguished performance is perceived. If this is the case, it denotes that inevitable and dramatic failures have being too vivid due to the strongholds resistances for the change. It is a common issue when making any implementation of the operation of a company or any organization, resistance happens to be a barrier from the working mate amongst other barriers. These impediments may at-most end up sabotaging the change that was intended and counteract innovation and creativity. Employee’s environment plays a critical role in gauging the level of productivity for any firm it being profit oriented or non-pro fit oriented. This study cultivates on the challenges encountered with implementation of ERP and the prospective approaches for dealing with them (Strauss 2000). Service companies as well are in demand of the use of ERP services in their day to day operations (Davenport

Updated Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Updated Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example ed data, including the additional bibliographic information, purpose of work, critique, and worth of the presented information, are provided in this work. Each source is catalogued in APA format by authors, year of publication, title of work, location, and publisher. The paper makes use of various sources like published research materials and Internet articles. Badur, G. (2003). International students perspectives on their cross-cultural adjustment to American higher education. J. C. P. G. Palmer. United States -- Illinois, Illinois State University. Illinois State University. This study examines the cross-cultural adjustment of international students from India, China, South Korea, and Japan in a Midwestern public university to identify factors that inhibit or assist in their academic, social, and cultural journeys as they participate in campus life. Graduate and undergraduate students were chosen from the targeted countries with a follow-up interview. The research was based on a host of socio-cultural and educational theories. The focus was mainly on their experience with using English, academic and social competence and approach to American culture. The findings suggest areas of improvement in service delivery to the students in terms of catering to their various academic and social needs. Chaparro, D. P. (2009). Are our efforts worthwhile? International students perceptions of a project-based program designed to internationalize higher education. D. D. Hendel. United States -- Minnesota, Educational Policy and Administration. Educational Policy and Administration. This qualitative research focuses on international students perspectives on a project-based program designed to internationalize higher education. It shows that the Culture Corps project had helped international students in getting acclimatized to the university setting academically, linguistically and culturally. The study explains the basis of the Culture Corp project, undertaken by the

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Events at Work and their Relation to the Theories of Organisational Behaviour A notable incident that took place at work during the week was the instigation of a conflict between the management of the company and the bottom-end employees, who perform the tasks like housekeeping, cafeteria management and other miscellaneous errands of the office. This group of employees were not happy with the company’s projected offer for salary increases and benefit packages over the next five years and were threatening to strike unless the company agreed to increase the salary and benefit packages to a satisfactory level. These employees perceived that the company was being indifferent towards them and hence felt discriminated. On the other hand, the management of the company felt that these employees were being unreasonable in their demands. This resulted in a stressful situation between the two parties. Stress is generally characterised from a ‘demand-perception-response’ view point. The fundamental notion is that stress depends on both the person’s perception of the demands being made from them and also on their perception of their potential to fulfil those demands. Any disparity between the two perceptions would lead to stress for the individual1. This conflict situation could have accelerated and resulted in a lot of stress in an organisation possessing an uncooperative organisational culture.  As a consequence of such a scenario, the employees within the organisation would have felt secluded and alone.   Nevertheless, the company employed the most excellent defence against such a circumstance, viz. healthy communication. This approach of discussing the issue on equal grounds facilitated the company to solve the matter and reach at a settlement. This approach was in alignment with the principle introduced by ‘Roger Fisher and William Ury’ that groups in disagreement ought to focus on their requirements and not on their positions . When the groups concentrate on positions, they are likely to emphasise on the differences, but when they focus on needs, they would find they have more in common than what they had thought2. However, this incident made the company’s management realise the significance of conflict management as well as stress management. Consequently, a mentor was appointed to hold workshops in order to help the people cope up and relief organisational stress. The mentor attempted to understand each participant’s perspective; set ground rules for improved healthy communication between the parties; trained participants on efficient communication styles; equalising power; and helped participants’ plan for future interface. This approach helped to lessen stress by promoting a positive attitude in the company2.   The other prominent event that took place in the company during the last few days was the conduction of a training programme targeted to enhance the work life balance of the employees as well as motivate them in order to improve their overall job performance. The human resource management of the company believed that work-life equilibrium is a significant concern that requires substantial notice. Due to the altering characteristics of the global economy, a large number of companies, particularly those operating in the telecom sector have to function on a 24/7

Managing Human Resources-Phase 2 DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing Human Resources-Phase 2 DB - Essay Example For the individual, we should not make the assumption that everyone’s motivation is the same. While someone just starting out in his/her career may have long-term goals, a professional with 20 years under his/her belt will bring a different set of needs and desires to the position. It is helpful to understand each team member’s background when determining what motivates them. For the team, we should consider what kind of a sales and support structure we would like to create. At NL&S, we already have an exciting message of growth. We can supplement that message with customer service and follow-through. We have had some issues at NL&S related to customer service. It may make sense to tie the customer service people to our sales team—there will be more on this in the recommendations (Levine, 2004). Finally, we need to motivate not just the top performers, but the mid-level performers as well. It’s easy to give the top sellers great bonuses, but they were motivated to sell (or talented enough) anyway. By reaching to the middle level of our organization, we can pull them up with the proper motivation to exceed our expectations (Clive, 2007). The first thing we should do is interview the salespeople one-on-one. I would suggest that I sit in on each interview, in order to provide additional input and to listen from a different perspective. The primary reasons for this interview will be To determine what motivates the individual sales reps: talk about their top three items. I would expect, from a survey of literature, that they want to belong to a winning team, look good to their friends, family and fellow workers, and be well-compensated for good performance. To determine if there are any barriers to their better performance. We will concentrate on product and sales knowledge, problems that they may be encountering with our organization, our products, or our customer service. Since sales reps are

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Events at Work and their Relation to the Theories of Organisational Behaviour A notable incident that took place at work during the week was the instigation of a conflict between the management of the company and the bottom-end employees, who perform the tasks like housekeeping, cafeteria management and other miscellaneous errands of the office. This group of employees were not happy with the company’s projected offer for salary increases and benefit packages over the next five years and were threatening to strike unless the company agreed to increase the salary and benefit packages to a satisfactory level. These employees perceived that the company was being indifferent towards them and hence felt discriminated. On the other hand, the management of the company felt that these employees were being unreasonable in their demands. This resulted in a stressful situation between the two parties. Stress is generally characterised from a ‘demand-perception-response’ view point. The fundamental notion is that stress depends on both the person’s perception of the demands being made from them and also on their perception of their potential to fulfil those demands. Any disparity between the two perceptions would lead to stress for the individual1. This conflict situation could have accelerated and resulted in a lot of stress in an organisation possessing an uncooperative organisational culture.  As a consequence of such a scenario, the employees within the organisation would have felt secluded and alone.   Nevertheless, the company employed the most excellent defence against such a circumstance, viz. healthy communication. This approach of discussing the issue on equal grounds facilitated the company to solve the matter and reach at a settlement. This approach was in alignment with the principle introduced by ‘Roger Fisher and William Ury’ that groups in disagreement ought to focus on their requirements and not on their positions . When the groups concentrate on positions, they are likely to emphasise on the differences, but when they focus on needs, they would find they have more in common than what they had thought2. However, this incident made the company’s management realise the significance of conflict management as well as stress management. Consequently, a mentor was appointed to hold workshops in order to help the people cope up and relief organisational stress. The mentor attempted to understand each participant’s perspective; set ground rules for improved healthy communication between the parties; trained participants on efficient communication styles; equalising power; and helped participants’ plan for future interface. This approach helped to lessen stress by promoting a positive attitude in the company2.   The other prominent event that took place in the company during the last few days was the conduction of a training programme targeted to enhance the work life balance of the employees as well as motivate them in order to improve their overall job performance. The human resource management of the company believed that work-life equilibrium is a significant concern that requires substantial notice. Due to the altering characteristics of the global economy, a large number of companies, particularly those operating in the telecom sector have to function on a 24/7

Managing Conflict Essay Example for Free

Managing Conflict Essay Managing conflict Medicolegal issues We live in an increasingly demanding and vociferous society and incidents of conflict and aggression are sadly commonplace. Kate Taylor, Clinical Risk Manager at the Medical Protection Society offers advice on how to deal with the problem Working in general practice is busy and demanding, with increased workloads, stretched time and some patients having greater expectations of care. At times, when expectations are not met, we can find ourselves in conflict with patients and in some situations this can turn to aggression. As nurses, how should we deal with potentially difficult situations? This article aims to increase our understanding of conflict and provide strategies to deal with it effectively. It also includes practical tips to reduce risks associated with managing conflict and aggression. DEFINITIONS Conflict means different things to different people. The Health and Safety Executive defines workplace violence as any incident where staff are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, well-being or  health.1 Non-physical violence can be defined as the use of inappropriate words or behaviour causing distress and/or constituting harassment.'[ 2] The scale of the problem There is limited documentation relating to violence against nurses working in general practice. However, a recent survey carried out by the British Medical Association, to which 20% of doctors responded, found:[ 3] * Violence is a problem in the workplace for half of doctors (same for GPs and hospital doctors). * 1 in 3 respondents had experienced some form of violence in the workplace in the last year (same for hospital doctors and GPs). * 1 in 5 doctors reported an increase in violence in the past year, but the level remained constant for the majority. * Among doctors who reported some experience of violence, most had been the victim of verbal abuse in the past year while more than half had received a threat, and a third had been physically assaulted. Most injuries were minor, but 5% were serious. In April 2011, NHS Protect was set up. It is responsible for leading on work to protect NHS staff and resources from crime in England.[ 4] According to its statistics, physical assault against NHS staff is steadily increasing. However, these statistics do not capture the incidents where staff have been subjected to non-physical violence. In general practice, members of staff are more likely to be subjected to non-physical violence. Imagine working as a practice nurse and an unhappy patient threatens you, telling you I know where you live? We cannot underestimate the impact that such non-physical violence can have on individuals. CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS Circumstances * Members of the general practice team are particularly vulnerable as they often consult with patients alone. Doctors and practice nurses often work in small numbers. * Home visits are usually carried out alone. System and Organisational Problems * Delays, restrictions and mistakes such as lost prescriptions or delays in test results * Lack of appointments * Patient disappointment often results from unmet expectations, whether  realistic or unrealistic. Environment * Waiting room (heating, lighting, noise and seating) * Cramped consulting rooms without easy exit for health professionals * Lack of privacy * Availability of potential weapons. Patient Factors * Increased expectations and the difficulties in meeting these demands. Dissatisfaction with the care provided is perceived as the most common cause of aggression and violence * Strong patient emotions e.g. uncertainty, frustration, stress and anxiety. Anger is often secondary to emotions such as anxiety or grief * An underlying medical condition such as hypoglycaemia or psychotic illness * Physical symptoms including pain, headache or over-tiredness * Mental health problems such as * Personal problems e.g. financial, relationship, stress at work * Drugs and alcohol. Staff Factors * Under pressure staff-working in noisy cramped rooms, unable to trace or contact staff * In adequate staff numbers * Escalating the situation by confrontation, over-reacting, poor ccmmunication, inconsistencies in handling patients, patronising behaviour, ignoring a situation or falling to apologise. COMMUNICATION SKILLS Good communication with patients is likely to reduce the risk of conflict and violence. As nurses, how we communicate with our patients can have an impact on how difficult situations develop. We need to think about what we say and how we say it. We should rely on our strong communication skills to determine with our patients what they can expect from the services we provide. A study by American psychologist, Albert Mehrabian, determined that non-verbal communication represents over 50% of an interaction.[ 5] Being aware of your own body language can be the first step to understanding how it is perceived by our patients. Listening and empathising with patients are essential skills for nurses-so how do we ensure our patients know we are listening? * Give the patient your undivided attention * Dont trivialise the patients issue * How is the patient feeling are they angry, afraid, frustrated? Respond to the emotion as well as the words * Allow the patient to finish what they are saying * Ask questions, paraphrase and reflect to ensure you understand the message. CHALLENGING INTERACTIONS Challenging interactions with patients can be a significant cause of stress for nurses, yet the nature of most clinical jobs makes these encounters unavoidable. It can be difficult to communicate your point of view effectively for fear of generating conflict, which can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction, and may affect your ability to give good care. It is vital to build a trusting relationship with the patient in these circumstances; ensure you listen attentively, empathise and avoid confrontation. Maintain eye contact and try to establish a shared understanding of the patients problem. Having acknowledged their perspective, respectfully inform them of your position. Then work on achieving a mutually agreeable solution or way forward rather than focussing on points of disagreement, which can otherwise degenerate into an argument. Then help and support the patient to achieve the agreed solution. After challenging interactions that have required you to state your position, ensure there is effective communication with other members of the practice clinical team, along with a clear record of the discussions held. This will ensure consistency should the patient approach a different clinician seeking to re-negotiate an alternative plan or outcome. PRACTICAL TIPS Practices should consider: * Providing a side room or separate area to deal with upset/aggressive patients or those who need more privacy. * Providing good temperature and ventilation control, adequate seating and clear signage * Providing calming measures to reduce frustration, anxiety or boredom such as distractions in waiting room e.g. toys for children, magazines for adults * Adding an agreed marker to the summary of a patients record who has a history of violence (and ensure it is factually accurate) * Having a protocol for involving the police and removing patients from the list * Using CCTV * Ensuring all practice staff have access to panic alarms * Providing locks for all areas where patient access is restricted CONCLUSION We can and will experience conflict in general practice due to the sheer volume of patient contacts that occur every day. The key to managing a conflict situation is to try to de-escalate it as much as possible.confidentiality is central to the trust between nurses and their patients think how easy it may be to breach confidentiality when you have a situation with an aggressive patient. The Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of conduct clearly states you must respect peoples right to confidentiality.[ 6] As a last resort you can remove a patient from the practice list. However, this can be seen as an emotive issue, risking criticism from bodies such as the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, the GMC and the media. You can find useful information on how to go about it in the MPS factsheet, Removing patients from the practice list (September 2013).[ 7] http://www.medicalprotection.org/ uk/england-factsheets/removing-patients-from-the-practice-list. CASE STUDY Nurse E is about to start her clinic when she notices Mrs S on the list of patients for the day. Her heart sinks. Mrs S often presents with one or more complaints, talks nonstop and does not listen to advice provided. She knows from experience that interactions with Mrs S will be challenging. Mrs S is called in 20 minutes later than her planned appointment and she lets Nurse E know that she is not happy. Nurse E admits that her clinic is running late but tells Mrs S that she had an unavoidable emergency. She proceeds to take Mrs Ss blood pressure and other vital signs. Mrs S then asks Nurse E for a prescription for antibiotics as she is going on holiday and wants them just in case her chest flares up while away. Nurse E advises her that she will need to make an appointment to see the GP. Mrs S, now increasingly unhappy, begins to raise her voice and bang her fist on the desk, demanding a prescription before she leaves. Nurse E, staying calm, advises Mrs S that she is unable to give her a prescription as she doesnt have any active symptoms. Mrs S storms out of the consultation room pushing past Nurse E. Understandably upset, Nurse E calls the practice manager to report the incident. How could this situation have been dealt with better? * Apologise when mistakes occur or when clinics are running late. Some practices ask reception staff to inform patients when they are checking in if clinicians are behind schedule * Ensure patients are well informed about how systems at the practice work to try to reduce unrealistic expectations * Acknowledge the patients emotions and allow them to express them, which can take time. Ask the patient to tell you about their concerns. Listen actively using comments such as I see, or go on?, and nodding your head. Summarise their experiences, feelings and concerns back to them * Work with the patient to resolve the situation. Agree a plan for dealing with their concerns and moving forward. * Try to offer an alternative solution to demonstrate that you are keen to help them. For example, Im sorry Mrs S, but I am unable to give you a prescription. However, if you wish to make an appointment with one of the GPs you can discuss this with them * Consider the layout of the consulting rooms and reception area to ensure you can leave the room if the situation escalates. Aggression in healthcare settings is becoming all too common REFERENCES 1. Health and Safety Executive: work related violence www.hsegov.uk/violence 2. NHS Business Services(2012) Not part of my job http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Documents/ SecurityManagement/NP0J1 .pdf 3. British Medical Association (2008). Violence in the workplace. The experience of doctors in the UK. http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/ PDFviolence08/$FILE/Violence.pdf 4. NHS Protect 2013 http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Protect.aspx 5. Mehrabian, A(1971) Silent messages Belmont, CA:Wadsworth 6. NMC(2011)The code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives http://www.nmc-uk.org/Documents/Standards/ nmc TheCodeStandardsofConduct PerformanceAndEthicsForNursesAndMidwives%5FLargePrintVersion.PDF 7. MPS Factsheet removing patients from practices list September 2013 http://www.medicalprotection.org/uk/england-factsheets/removing-patients-from-the-practice-list ~~~~~~~~

The Understanding Of Feminist Theories English Literature Essay

The Understanding Of Feminist Theories English Literature Essay A system of cultural and social assumptions that are presented as natural or common sense, presented as normative social structures but which actually uphold a particular point of view on the world, they are shifting through time, contingent sets of attitudes and dispositions. (Lecture handout) This shift through time relates to feminist theory being developed in writing over time due to the influence of previous feminist literature. The womens movement of the 1960s was not the beginning of feminism. It is an ideology already present in classical books. An example of one of these books is Mary Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of the Rights of Women which highly influenced her daughter Mary Shelleys novel Frankenstein. Other influences on this novel will be discussed in this essay. A feminist may view Frankenstein as a womans story of male creativity because it is a womans description of a mans creation. (Lecture handout) Frankenstein has been described as a Female Gothic  [2]  which is defined as the work that women writers have done in the literary mode that, since the eighteenth century, we have called the Gothic. (Moers, p.214) She intended Frankenstein to be the kind of ghost story that would curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. (Moers, p.214) This is seen in the description when the mad scientist makes the monster: It was on a dreary night of Novemberà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feetà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦my candle was nearly burnt outà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsion motion agitated its limbsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. (Moers, p.217-218) The adjectives dreary, lifeless, horrid, shrivelled and black create a dark image of the monster for the reader. The feelings described such as anxiety, agony and agitation of its limbs reflect possible negative feelings the reader may be experiencing as they read the description. The action described such as my candle was nearly burnt out and it breathed hard creates suspense to the mystery of this creature. These techniques show Frankenstein to have brought a new sophistication to literary terror and it did so without a heroine, without even an important female victim. (Moers, p.216) Mary Shelleys personal experience influenced her writing and a feminist may see the hideous description of birth as an addition to fear of female sexuality because his workshop of filthy creation is seen as filthy because obscenely sexual. (Lecture handout) Womens childbirth is metaphorically described in a hideous way in Frankenstein as shown in Frankensteins process, when he has decided to produce new life, is to visit the vaults and charnel houses and examine the human body in all its disgusting phases of decay and decomposition. (Moers, p.220) To examine the causes of life, he says, we must first have recourse to death. His purpose is to bestow animation upon lifeless matter, so that he might in process of time renew life where death has apparently devoted the body to corruption. (Moers, p.220) Death and lifeless matter must be looked at and used to make new life: Death and birth were thus as hideously mixed in the life of Mary Shelley as in Frankensteins workshop of filthy creationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦her myth of the birth of a nameless monsterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which records the trauma of her lossà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦of her first babyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦who did not live long enough to be given a name. (Moers, p.221) A feminist may relate to the feelings of mothers guilt of abandoning her children as only women experience a mothers attachment to their child. Ellen Moers states that another personal female experience which influenced Shelleys writing was the absence of a mother since she was born and her fathers abandonment of her after she eloped. (Moers, p.222) I, the miserable and the abandoned. Cries the monster at the end of Frankenstein, I am an abortion to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I have murdered the lovely and the helplessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I have devoted my creator to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin. (Moers, p.222) This reflects Mary Shelleys feelings of being miserable and abandoned through harsh imagery using words such as spurned, kicked, trampled. It also reflects her guilt over losing her children which are lovely and helpless and have suffered the same abandonment as the newborn is at once monstrous agent of destruction and pite ous victim of parental abandonment. (Moers, p.222) A feminist may consider all women to originate from Eve to identify who we are and the reason why we are separated from men into a different gender which triggered the separation of public-masculine world and domestic-feminine one. Frankenstein is heavily influenced by the evidence of marginalisation of fallen Eve in John Miltons Paradise Lost. Frankenstein Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? the monster reports wondering, describing endless speculations cast in Miltonic terms.  [3]  These questions refer back to the story of mankind to identify who we are, what we were before we were alive and when we came into this world. Thus their questionings are in some sense female, for they belong in that line of literary womens questionings of the fall into genderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gilbert and Gubar, p.229-230) Relating back to the point that Eve represents female fall, a feminist may read Frankenstein as a subverted version of Miltons Paradise Lost with the emphasis on the fall of the woman in terms of her creativity. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar argue that Mary Shelley uses Waltons revelations in the novel to mirror her anxieties as a woman. Walton says: You are well-acquainted with my failure and how heavily I bore the disappointment  [4]  However, Mary Shelley also states in her introduction in Frankenstein that she had spent her childhood in waking dreams of literature; later, both she and her poet-husband hoped she would prove herself worthy of [her] parentage and enrol [herself] on the page of fame (xii). (Gilbert and Gubar, p.229-230) Both Shelley and Walton share the anxiety of failure as a writer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it seems possible that one of the anxious fantasies his narrative helps Mary Shelley covertly examine is the fearful tale of a female fall from a lost paradise of art, speech, and autonomy into a hell of sexuality, silence, and filthy materialityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gilbert and Gubar, p.231) A feminist may argue that female characters are just as important as male characters in literature which may be an argument for the equality of importance of men and women in everyday life. The female characters of the book have a significant role in the story: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Victors post-creation nightmare of transforming a lovely, living Elizabeth, with a single magical kiss, into the corpse of my dead mother enveloped in a shroud made more horrible by grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel (42, chap 5) (Gilbert and Gubar, p.232) Relating back to the subject of Gothic writing, Elizabeths character enables Shelley to further reveal her Gothic style through chilling imagery using words such as corpse, dead and grave-worms crawling. Though it has been disguised, buried, or miniaturised, female-nessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is at the heart of this apparently masculine book. (Gilbert and Gubar, p.232) Although the book is comprised of mainly male characters, Elizabeths character is used to show Shelleys talent in writing which is the heart of the book. A feminist may see the character Victor as the cause of the fall of women as he symbolises Eve who represents all women who are tempted to do wrong unto the world and unleash Sin and Death. Victors curiosity also mirrors Eves curiosity: He is consumed by a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature, a longing which -expressed in his explorations of vaults and charnel-houses, his guilty observations of the structure of human frame- recalls the criminal female curiosity that led Psyche to lose love by gazing upon its secret face, Eve to insist upon consuming intellectual foodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Gilbert and Gubar, p.234) The secrets of nature is a sexual reference and the metaphors vaults and charnel-houses and human frame are metaphors for bodies and intellectual food refers to sexual appetite: For what Victor Frankenstein most importantly learns, we must remember, is that he is the author of the monster-for him alone is reservedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦so astonishing a secret- and thus it is he who is the true murderer, he who unleashes Sin and Death upon the world, he who dreams the primal kiss that incestuously kills both sister and mother. (Gilbert and Gubar, p.234) A feminist recognises the importance of books and reading to further womens education. (Lecture handout) The monster is the voice of Mary Shelley. Werters story, says the monster-and he seems to be speaking for Mary Shelley-taught him about gentle and domestic manners and about lofty sentimentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which had for their object something out of selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the monster explains to Victor that I thought Werter himself a more divine being that I had everà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦imagined. (Gilbert and Gubar, p.237) Mary Shelley reveals to her readers the importance of education and etiquette such as gentle and domestic manners to help men and women in their everyday lives. Mary Shelley considers Werter a divine being relaying the message that men are valued for their knowledge and can enable women to learn from them through their literature. A feminist may view Frankenstein as a separation of public-masculine world and domestic feminine one as males are taking the domestic role of womens childbirth in Shelleys alternative world. (Lecture handout) Mary Shelley creates an alternative all-male world in her novel. Frankensteins bride-to-be is transformed in his arms into the corpse of his dead mother- a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. (p53)  [5]  This description horridly describes the corpse intentionally as a representation of the death of all women. One of the deepest horrors of this novel is Frankensteins implicit goal of creating a society for men only: his creature is male; he refuses to create a female; there is no reason that the race of immortal beings he hoped to propagate should not be exclusively male. (Mellor, p.274) This separation of the public-masculine world and domestic feminine one helps us to understand the cultural background of the text in the time it was written in regards to peoples ideas on gender separation. (Lecture handout) The men in Frankensteins world all work outside the homeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The women are confined to the home; Elizabeth for instance, is not permitted to travel with Victor and regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience and cultivating her understanding (151). Inside the home, women are either kept as a kind of pet (Victor loved to tend on Elizabeth as I should on a favourite animal [p.30]; or they work as house wives, childcare providers, and nursesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Mellor, p.275) Men are seen to have more opportunities to expand their knowledge and develop their understanding and women are seen as pets or animals. Victor Frankensteins nineteenth-century Genevan society is founded on a rigid division of sex roles. (Mellor, p.274) We can see Mary Shelleys feminist views on the divide of the gender in the novel and the costs of it. Frankensteins obsession with his experiment has caused him to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time (p.50) (Mellor, p.275) The bad result of the division is he ignored his friends and loved ones as he cannot do scientific research and think lovingly of Elizabeth and his family at the same time. (Mellor, p.275) Feminist theory of Frankenstein enhances my understanding of the text as it has shown me it could be read as a womans story of male creativity. The theme of gender is exposed throughout the novel in different ways. The description of birth or the hideous progeny of body reveals the fear of female sexuality of the time. Evidence of marginalisation is shown in the references to Miltons Paradise Lost as Eve is seen to be fallen. Also the separation of public-masculine world and domestic feminine one is seen through the characters roles in the novel. Mary Shelleys gothic style is seen as a subversive form of writing as no other woman before her was able to develop this style in an effective way. There is a strong encouragement to educate women through the importance of books and reading in the novel as Shelley used previous literature to write her novel. This is significant as feminist readings of Frankenstein can be used by other feminists to understand other novels the same way feminis t theory of Frankenstein has helped me to understand the text.