House-guest

To be a house-guest there are many responsibilities such as schedule which, a perfect house-guest would call ahead that they are coming and commit to the time they are arriving and leaving. Guests should know how long to stay at someone else's place and not stay too long to make the person who owns the house annoyed of them. Another responsibility Is that a guest should come with gifts to show appreciation. The gift does not have to be something expensive, just to show that you aspect them that they are letting you stay at their house.Guests should respect the host and not tell them that something of their house or taste sucks. Guests should make the host feel good by telling them how beautiful their house is. Meals is another responsibility house-guests should know that they should not always depend on the host to make them food all the times. Guests should at least offer for help to make the meals or even make meal themselves to show their generosity.Privacy is a gig responsibility because the host could be still working and the guest would be on holiday that they are staying at the hosts home. The guest should respect the fact that the host Is not on a holiday and do things them self or even help the host out by having food ready for them before they come back home. Appreciation Is Important for a house-guest because that would show the host they liked being there and that they actually took the time to appreciate the stay this way the host would even invite the guests back.

General Management Theories

General Management Theories: There are four general management theories. 1. Frederick Taylor – Theory of Scientific Management. 2. Henri Fayol – Administrative Management Theory. 3. Max Weber – Bureaucratic Theory of Management. 4. Elton Mayo – Behavioral Theory of Management (Hawthorne Effect). 1. Frederick Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management. Taylor’s theory of scientific management aimed at, improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. Taylor had a simple view about, what motivated people at work, – money.He felt that, workers should get a, fair day's pay for a fair day's work, and that pay, should be linked to the amount produced. Therefore he introduced the, DIFFERENTIAL PIECE RATE SYSTEM, of paying wages to the workers. Taylor's Differential Piece Rate Plan. If Efficiency is greater than the defined Standard then workers should be paid 120 % of Normal Piece Rate. If Efficiency is less than standard then work ers should be paid 80% of Normal Piece Rate. Principles of Scientific Management. Four Principles of Scientific Management are: 1. Time and motion study: – Study the way jobs are performed and find new ways to do them. 2.Teach, train and develop the workman with improved methods of doing work. Codify the new methods into rules. 3. Interest of employer ; employees should be fully harmonized so as to secure mutually understanding relations between them. 4. Establish fair levels of performance and pay a premium for higher performance. 2. Henri Fayol’s Administrative Management Theory: Henri Fayol known as the Father Of Management laid down the 14 principles of Management. – 1. Division of Work. 2. Equity. 3. Discipline. 4. Initiative. 5. Authority and Responsibility. 6. Esprit De Corps. 7. Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest. . Stability of Tenure. 9. Remuneration. 10. Unity of Direction. 11. Centralization. 12. Scalar Chain. 14. Unity of Comma nd. 3. Max Weber’s Bureaucratic Theory Of Management Weber made a distinction between authority and power. Weber believed that power educes obedience through force or the threat of force which induces individuals to adhere to regulations. According to Max Weber, there are three types of power in an organization:- 1. Traditional Power 2. Charismatic Power 3. Bureaucratic Power or Legal Power. Features of Bureaucracy: 1. Division of Labor. 2. Formal Hierarchical Structure. 3.Selection based on Technical Expertise. 4. Management by Rules. 5. Written Documents. 6. Only Legal Power is Important. 7. Formal and Impersonal relations. 4. Elton Mayo’s Behavioral Theory of Management: Elton Mayo's experiments showed an increase in worker productivity was produced by the psychological stimulus of being singled out, involved, and made to feel important. Hawthorne Effect, can be summarized as â€Å"Employees will respond positively to any novel change in work environment like bette r illumination, clean work stations, relocating workstations etc. Employees are more productive because they know they are being studied.

Finance and Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Finance and Resource Management - Essay Example On the other hand new vehicle would be depreciated by $900 if the same technique were to be followed. The vehicle would be used, on an average 80 kilometers. The fuel efficiency is 8 kms per litre of petrol. Thus, there is a requirement to use 10 liters petrol. Each litre is costing about $2 and so petrol cost would be $20 per day and for 355 days, it would be $7100. The new vehicle has better fuel efficiency giving 10 kms per litre. It would thus require 8 litres per day and with the same cost of petrol, the yearly requirement would be $5680 (that is, 8 litre * $2 * 355 days). Cost of maintenance has gone up in the recent time. As the vehicle has been subject to severe wear and tear, the maintenance cost is estimated in the order of 20 percent of the car. That is, $1000 this year. But maintenance cost for the new car would be very low. It would not exceed 2 percent of its actual cost. This would be therefore $180 per year. Based on the information provided as above, the budget for operating the old vehicle has been mapped below. This has been juxtaposed against the possible cost that will be incurred for operating a new vehicle for similar purpose. Based on the above consideration, operating old vehicle is costlier than the new one. For instance, the annual cost of running the old patrol car is $8600, whereas that of new car would be $6760. There is a difference of $ 1840. In one of the company meeting, it was decided to have annual gathering under the pretext of a training program. The participants included middle level manager numbering about 25 from the United States. The department conducted basically a training program involving talk by about eight invited guests, who had to be given mementos. As these experts were drawn from best performers’ list working for our organization, it was decided that no honorarium would be paid. These participants were asked to stay in a hotel for 2 days. Hotel room tariff was $ 400 per day on twin sharing

MGMT4420 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MGMT4420 - Essay Example some instances where an employee is very valuable to the company, the question might be, â€Å"So have you really made up your mind, are you really resigning?† There are many questions that the human resource personnel would like to ask the resigning employee and most of them are in line with the work experiences of the latter. This definitely will help the company evaluate some important reasons why an employee is resigning. At some point, this may also help the company realize some important points or adjustments that it needs to implement in order to retain its most valuable personnel. Contrary to a job interview, traditional exit interview is like a formal process of ending one’s responsibility with his or her employer. I remember, there were series of questions that were presented by the authorized personnel of the human resource without even knowing that it was already an actual exit interview. It was not conducted at the last day of my employment, but I still consider it as a form of traditional exit interview because the goal was purely for the benefit of the entire company. There was a specific attempt to hold my employment with them through a personal question from my boss which sounded like, â€Å"Would you be willing to leave your friend in this company and would you allow us to loss a valuable person like you?†. That certainly struck my emotion and I must admit it was because of a certain pride in me that I felt at that time upon knowing the fact from them that I was one of the assets of the company. I believe that at some point, the traditional exit interview is perfect opportunity for the company to hold back its very important employees. However, I believe everyone has the freedom to move out from an employment in the same way there was freedom in moving in. I think there must be something wrong with the traditional exit interview especially that it is usually conducted at the last day of employment. A person’s emotion might be mixed up with

Vulnerable Populations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vulnerable Populations - Assignment Example However, they require policy intervention of different types such as economic and social development of communities and neighborhood, income and educational policies, as well as personal medical intervention. Community health nurses have the obligation to respect, accept, and comprehend the contribution of the risk factors not only to vulnerable but also to the influence on the behavior and lifestyle of the patient (Maurer & Smith, 2013). The vulnerable population in discussion refers to those who have higher risk for both poor health access and health status. For an instant, some of the vulnerable populations are those who are HIV, homeless and marginally housed. The majority of infection of HIV is through sexual intercourse between women and men. Moreover, more than half of the adults living with the virus are women. However, there are groups of individuals such as sex workers, individuals who inject drugs, and homosexual have also been significantly affected (Maurer & Smith, 2013). This condition weakens the immune system of the infected persons. Once the immune system has been weakened, they become susceptible to other attack by other diseases. For an instant, HIV infected victim has higher chances of contacting pneumonia or even tuberculosis in comparison to patients ailing from other conditions due to the weakened immune system. The rate of new infection is actually growing among the teenagers and young adults (Holzemer, 2012). On the other hand, the homeless and marginally housed individuals have poor access to health care services and health status as well. The majority of these individuals have mental health problems and abuse substances that create situations where they careless on their health status. They are usually not cognizant to the fact that obtaining care is vital for existence of human life (Maurer & Smith, 2013). The individuals dwelling in rural areas in the US encounter some health related issues in comparison to

The Internet and the music industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Internet and the music industry - Essay Example Copyright is one of the categories of intellectual property that ensures exclusive rights to the creator of a particular piece of work which can be a publication, a distribution or an adaptation for a particular period of time in preparation to the entry of the said work in the public domain. It refers to creations of the mind that can be creative, scientific, artistic or intellectual in form which is an original idea of the creator (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2009b). One of the most important forms of media covered by the copyright law is the music which can be in the form of musical compositions and audio recordings. The research undertaken targets the presentation of the different issues, problems and controversies that can violate the copyright law. There are different ways that can violate the copyright law in relation to music. One is piracy and the other is the prohibited sharing through the internet. The main goal of the research is the piracy of music through the internet. Internet, being an agent of data sharing and recognized as information superhighway can be considered to surpass the limits of the laws that covers other areas specifically in terms of copyright. This can be attributed to the fact that the said technological advancement cannot be hindered by distance or territorial demarcations (Lehman, 1995; Silverthorne, 2004).

Community Corrections Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Community Corrections - Research Paper Example In sum, â€Å"The goals of community corrections are to contribute to public safety and reduce future criminal conduct.† (Martin, 2006) How Do Community Corrections Affect the Society in Which They Are Practiced? Community corrections consist of a number of criminological treatment regimens that are designed from both forensic and psychiatric perspectives. These include counseling, medication, and various other sorts of interventions involving drug/alcohol treatment, cognitive restructuring to prevent sexual offences, anger management, and mental treatment. The effect of these practices can be very positive toward the society at large. Instead of punishment, re-offending, and repeated punishment, community corrections aim at offender specific treatment and rehabilitation, which can minimize prison costs, arouse human values among the offenders, prevent recidivism, and prevent death penalties or life imprisonments. Thus, reduction of criminal behavior and mentality change of th e offenders through community corrections play a constructive role in the society. Hypothesis Community corrections can not only prevent recidivism through rehabilitation but also bring down the economic overheads of maintaining large prison systems. Prison System of Foreign Countries Unlike America, several foreign countries often undermine the human rights aspects of the correctional system. In these countries, correctional systems depended on the prison systems and community corrections remain a neglect field of criminology and rehabilitation. Less technical know-how, ignorance, budgetary restrictions, etc. are the main reasons behind the primitiveness of community corrections in foreign countries. Prisons thus become a means of elimination and isolation rather than correction and rehabilitation. Views of the Other Nations on Imprisonment Most of the other nations have stricter implications for handling offenders. They aim to isolate the offender from the rest of the society. Gen erally due to budgetary constraints and lack of research, prisons in the other parts of the world have very strict code of conduct. And where corruptions are prevalent, prisoners are often systematically exploited and tortured. Authoritarian countries often resort to repression and prisons become concentration camps. Some countries manage to maintain high level of discipline, while others have a highly corrupt prison system. If United States Adopt the Prison System of Another Country†¦ For the purpose of this paper, let’s chose the example of the prison system of Japan. According to Cavadino and Dignan (2006, p. 184): â€Å"One of the most striking aspects of Japanese prison life, at least in the eyes of Western observers, is the extent to which it appears to repressively regimented by a highly detailed and restrictive set of prison rules, covering virtually every aspect of a prisoner’s daily life.† Japanese prison system has an impressive orderliness, whic h is manifest by the fact that incidents of prison riots and prison breaking are very low in Japan. However, such incidents are often encountered in the prisons of the Western countries like United States. Therefore, if the Japanese prison system is adopted, the focus of law enforcing bodies will be at the restructuring of the country’s prison system. Like Japan, United States would also start putting less emphasis on community correct

Muscle is highly plastic and many changes occur in muscle as a result Essay - 1

Muscle is highly plastic and many changes occur in muscle as a result of neurological disease. Critically evaluate this statement - Essay Example Notably, in MS disease, the muscles loses their elasticity, spasm and rigidity ensue (Nylander & Hafler, 2012). Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the conditions of neurons origin that causes extensive muscles involvement. After extensive research, it was established that the disorder was of one the muscles-involving disease that continue to impair muscles plasticity. Together with other diseases such as Myasthenia gravis, Parkinson, it has been established that muscular involvement in these diseases arises from the neuromuscular connection. Multiple sclerosis refers to a neuron disease that occurs when nerves undergo degeneration resulting in loss of functions. The exact cause of the disease is largely unknown. However, existing studies links it to an autoimmune disorder that cause destruction of nerves (Compston & Coles, 2002, 2008b). In other severe cases, loss of nerves functioning causes permanent disability since nerves cannot be regenerated. This focus will examine existing literature to provide an association of muscles properties and neurological involvement. Muscle is an integral part of the skeletal and even visceral parts of the human body. There are of either skeletal or visceral origin. Irrespective of their types, they are needed for normal body function. More specifically, skeletal muscles are necessary in support and movement and visceral muscles are primary parts of internal organs. Besides, they facilitate tissues and organ varied degree of changes including peristalsis. However, in MS, muscles are significantly impaired depending on their location and severity of the disease. To understand the basis of muscles involvement in MS, it is important to look at the Central Nervous System (CNS) and more specifically structural components of a nerve. One way to understand this is to consider myelin sheath autoimmune destruction. During MS, there is gradual attack of the myelin

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Personal Statement Example Other than the passionate desire to study engineering, my environment thus far has extensively molded my aspirations and outlook in life. For instance, my college, St. Joseph’s, sparked an interest in me to study daily applications of engineering. As a result, I have gained a habit of being analytical; evaluating everything I encounter either in secondary information sources, like the Cuban Missile Crisis or in real life, like the basic operation mechanism of a refrigerator. This investigative tendency continues to spur my curiosity in mechanical engineering. I also recognize the fact that, mechanical engineering makes it possible for one to comprehend not only why gadgets work, but also their inherent working mechanism. My home city is also an inspiration, especially given its status as one of the world’s ports. The ability to coordinate all the ships that dock or leave port requires intensive mechanical engineering work and knowledge. Therefore, I acknowledge the impo rtance of the discipline, having had the opportunity to observe it in practical applications. The cultural diversity of Hong Kong also equips me with a unique set of skills, that is, the ability to fit in and interact productively with members of different cultural backgrounds. As a St. Joseph’s graduate, I have had the opportunity to explore diverse activities and not just academics. I developed enthusiasm for cross-curricular activities, given the fact that the college encourages students to be all rounded. Other than representing my college in water polo and tennis, I pride myself in having been a leader of the school’s drama club. This gave me a unique chance to work with numerous schools in successful production of plays meant for the public. While I may not be an excellent dramatist or actor, I gained the position for my ability to direct a team and coordinate creation of functional stage props. The experience was rather exhilarating since I was able to combine m y passion for engineering with artistry and attain an outcome that earned me respect and recognition. It was also intriguing to formulate solutions to deal with basic engineering problems like stability, which are often undermined and mostly studied theoretically. Although it was initially difficult to coordinate the team, it later became an exemplary experience to explore different scientific aspects in dealing with emerging engineering challenges. I learnt that although it is rewarding to get successful outcomes in the end, the teamwork and progress involved in the course of development are highly significant. The Joint Drama Club production also taught me a lot about being a responsible leader and about efficient time management. These are crucial aspects in balancing hobbies and academics, as well as, work in the future. Whenever I watch car rallies like NASCAR’s on television, or even pass by sports vehicle showrooms, I cannot help but imagine myself being actively invol ved in their manufacturing process. Studying a distinguished mechanical engineering program in an overseas university like yours will certainly be a step towards achieving this dream. Personal Qualities, Talent, Accomplishment and Contribution Growing up, I have discovered that communication is extremely important for an engineer. This aspect that is extremely crucial in recognizing success. Nevertheless, I have learnt that communication is not an easy aspect especially when dealing with many people. This needs a lot of self discipline and patience in order to be good in dealing with customers and

Collapse of the Soviet Union Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Collapse of the Soviet Union - Term Paper Example he US of masterminding the fall of this great republic as it was only the fall of the Soviet Union that would have made the US the sole superpower in the world. The Soviet Union utterly rejected the cultures and values of the west as they were in full control of their lives and it was not until the collapse of the republic that the individual countries that constituted the old republic begin to accept some norms and values of the west. The Soviet Union also were also advanced in the art of warfare and they were technologically advanced during that period and it was only very few countries that could match up with its strength. The collapse of the Soviet was unarguably one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century and the collapse of the Soviet bloc still has far-reaching consequences in the world today and the impacts would continue to be felt in the years that follow. Countries of the former Soviet Union have been really affected by the collapse of the bloc, while some countries like Russia and Estonia have come out of the Soviet Union strong, some like Armenia and Azerbaijan have grown weaker. The effect of the collapse on the countries of the Soviet Union shall be highlighted in this paper and it would help us to know the countries that were greatly affected by the collapse and the ones that the collapse had little or no effect on. Though, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, there had been cracks in the walls that held the republic together (Remnick 19). The collapse of the Soviet Union with its fortified walls shows that there is no great country, civilization or republic that cannot crumble and its fall is a lesson to other powers of the world, especially the superpower US. The Soviet Union looked so strong after the Second World War to the ninth decade of that century. The strength of the Soviet Union was made possible by the strong communist and totalitarian regime in the region at that time. The collapse of the Soviet Union happened

Business Ethics in Brazil Essay Example for Free

Business Ethics in Brazil Essay In this comparative survey of 126 Brazilian and U.S. business professionals, we explore the effect of national culture on ethical decisionmaking within the context of business. Using Reidenbach and Robin’s (1988) multi-criteria ethics instrument, we examined how these two countries’ differences on Hofstede’s individualism/collectivism Rafik I. Beekun (Ph.D., The University of Texas, Austin) is Professor of Management and Strategy in the Managerial Sciences Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. His current research interests are in the area of strategic adaptation, the link between national cultures and ethics, and the relationship between management and spirituality. He has published in such journals as Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Journal of Management and Decision Sciences. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to him at: Managerial Sciences Department, Mail Stop 28, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0206. Yvonne Stedham (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is an Associate Professor of Management in the Managerial Sciences Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has published in such journals as the Journal of Management and Journal of Management Studies. Dr. Stedham’s research focuses on the following areas: CEO performance evaluation, gender discrimination in employment, ethics in business, decision making across cultures, and managing knowledge workers. Jeanne H. Yamamura (CPA, Ph.D., Washington State University) is an Associate Professor of Accounting in the College of Business at the University of Nevada Reno. Her teaching responsibilities include auditing and accounting information systems c ourses. Dr. Yamamura’s research focuses on the management of accounting professionals with a particular interest in cross-cultural differences and her work has been published in accounting and business journals. She has extensive practical experience in the field of accounting through her previous employment in public and private accounting. Rafik I. Beekun Yvonne Stedham Jeanne H. Yamamura dimension are related to the manner in which business practitioners make ethical decisions. Our results indicate that Brazilians and Americans evaluate the ethical content of actions or decisions differently when applying utilitarian criteria. By contrast, business people from both countries do not differ significantly when they use egoistic criteria in evaluating the ethical nature of business decisions. KEY WORDS: Brazil, egoism, ethics, national culture, U.S., utilitarianism As business organizations move from domestic to global and transnational competition, they are finding that cultural values vary significantly across national boundaries, and are likely to affect business practices (Husted, 2000). During the past decade, several researchers (Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt et al., 1989; Abratt et al., 1992; Hunt and Vitell, 1992; Tsalikis and Nwachukwu, 1991; Vitell et al., 1993) have noted the potential influence of national c ulture on ethics within a business context. What obscures the impact of national culture on ethics is that business practices may conflict with ethical values in a manner that medicine, law and government do not (DeGeorge, 1993). Not surprisingly, empirical research investigating the relationship between national culture and ethical decision-making is relatively sparse (Vitell et al., 1993). A primary reason for exploring the effects of culture on ethics is the increased globalization of business. This trend, in turn, is characterized by a diverse array of interorganizational arrangements that require cross-cultural interaction. As a result, cultural misunderstandings are likely to occur. One of the key areas where such mis- Journal of Business Ethics 42: 267–279, 2003.  © 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 268 Rafik I. Beekun et al. understandings take place is in the area of ethics, partly because of the influence that national cultures may have upon business ethics (Husted, 2000). Accordingly, in our study, we explore the relationship between national culture and business ethics. We will seek to investigate what process underlies ethical behavior across national boundaries. Understanding this process may help global managers develop tools to promote ethical behavior in their international workforce. In this research, we compare two culturally diverse countries, the United States (U.S.) and Brazil, in order to identify similarities and differences with regard to approaches toward ethical decision-making in a business context. Since culture is a broad concept, it is necessary to specify the values that could be related to behaviors or practices (Husted, 2000). For the purposes of this study, we used a well-established framework of national culture (Hofstede, 1980). Hofstede conducted one of the most important studies that ascertained the relationship between national culture and management. From this study, he identified several â€Å"value† dimensions along which countries differ. Using Hofstede’s (1980) framework, we carried out a crosscultural, comparative survey to assess the relationship between his individualism/collectivism dimension of national culture and ethical criteria. With respect to ethical decision-making, we adopted the instrument proposed and validated by Reidenbach and Robin (1988, 1990). They have generated a set of scales that measure the core dimensions characterizing different perspectives of ethical philosophy. Defining national culture: Hofstede’s dimensions of culture Multiple definitions and conceptualizations of national culture exist (Hofstede, 1980, 1988, 2001; Kluckhohn, 1951, 1962; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, 1961; Ronen and Shenkar, 1985; Trompenaars, 1993). Although these frameworks and conceptualizations typically center on values, they differ with respect to the specific values that are included in their respective frameworks. For instance, Trompenaars (1993) focuses on values related to relationships such as obligation, emotional orientation in relationships, and involvement in relationships. By contrast, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961) emphasize more global values such as people’s relationship to nature and time-orientation. With respect to our study, Hofstede’s framework of national cultures is the most appropriate since he ident ified values related to economic activity (Husted, 2000). Therefore, his framework is germane for the study of business decisions. Focusing on national cultures, Hofstede (1997, p. 260) defines culture as the â€Å"collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another†. Thus, although the problems faced by groups (whether organizational or national) are universal, the solutions devised by each group may be relatively unique to that group. These solutions then become taken for granted over time, and may suggest why people hold certain beliefs and behave the way they do (Schneider and Barsoux, 1997). Hofstede (1980, 1988) has suggested that five dimensions of national culture underlie differences in the behavior of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. Since these dimensions describe how individuals view and interpret situations and behavior, they are likely to be related to how individuals engage in decision-making in general (Weick, 1979; Adler, 2002). Ethical decisionmaking, too, is likely to be affected by these dimensions of national culture. Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions (1980, 1988) are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, individualism/collectivism, and long-term/short-term orientation. Power distance refers to the degree to which less powerful members in a country accept an unequal distribution of power. Uncertainty avoidance depicts a people’s ability to cope with ambiguous situations as well as the mechanisms they have created to avoid such situations. Masculinity exemplifies a focus on material things, such as money, success, etc., whereas femininity refers to a focus on quality of life, caring, etc. Individualism, which will be discussed in more detail later, refers to the tendency of people to consider their interests and those of A Comparative Investigation of Business Ethics their immediate family only. By contrast, collectivism refers to the inclination of people to view themselves as part of a larger group, and to protect the interests of group members. Longterm/short-term orientation describes the time perspective people take when dealing with a situation. Table I represents the scores for Hofstede’s cultural dimensions for Brazil and the U.S. While the scores indicate dissimilarities between the U.S. and Brazil on all five cultural dimensions, by far the largest difference appears in the individualism/collectivism dimension. Brazil scored low on individualism, and hence is considered a collectivistic country; by contrast, the U.S. scored high on individualism and is considered an individualistic country. The individualism/collectivism dimension describes how individuals relate to others and to society, and represents the extent to which they are emotionally and cognitively attached to a particular network of individuals. Individualism describes the inclination of individuals to be primarily concerned with their personal interests and their immediate family’s welfare (Hofstede, 1980). Members of a highly individualistic country view themselves as independent of organizations or institutions, and place a higher value on self-reliance and individual action. Collectivism, in comparison, describes a culture where individuals are viewed as part of a larger group, and look after each other. Collectivistic cultures protect the interests of their members in return for their loyalty. In collectivist cultures, morality is defined in terms of the benefits for the in-group (family, friends, work companies, 269 etc.), implying the maintenance of solidarity (Triandis and Bhawuk, 1997). Hofst ede (1980) noted that the individualism/collectivism dimension carried â€Å"strong moral overtones† because this dimension was reflected in value systems shared by the majority. For example, in a highly individualistic country, individualism is viewed as a strength and the major reason for the country’s accomplishments. By comparison, inhabitants of a highly collectivistic country view an emphasis on self as a negative attribute to be eliminated for the good of society. Competing ethical frameworks for business decisions Ethics are the principles of human conduct regarding either an individual or a group (Shaw, 1999), and represent the moral standards not governed by law, that focus on the human consequences of actions (Francesco and Gold, 1998). Ethics often require behavior that meets higher standards than those established by law, including selfless behavior rather than calculated action intended to produce a tangible benefit. With respect to this study, business ethics describe the ultimate rules governing the assessment of â€Å"what constitutes right or wrong, or good or bad human conduct in a business context† (Shaw, 1999). In the assessment of ethical behavior, perception is critical (Hartmann, 2000). Indeed, ethical decisions may be influenced by our own perception, by others’ perceptions of our actions, and by our perception of â€Å"universal laws†. As a TABLE I Cultural dimensions (Hofstede 1980, 1988, 2001) Dimensions of culture U.S. Brazil Difference Power distance Uncertainty avoidance 40 46 69 76 (29) (30) Individualism/Collectivism 91 38 53 Masculine/Feminine Confucian Dynamism 62 29 49 65 13 (36) 270 Rafik I. Beekun et al. result, our final choices may be determined by the perception tha t is the most salient at the time. Further, Hartmann suggests that cultures may differ not only with respect to the ethical principles underlying decisions but also with respect to which of the three stakeholders – self, society, and universal laws – is emphasized in any given situation. Depending on which stakeholder is emphasized, people from different cultures may vary in their assessment of the ethical nature of a decision. Across most situations, ethical principles that distinguish right from wrong actions are encompassed by several normative theories, e.g., justice, relativism, egoism, utilitarianism, and deontology. These theories can generate potentially conflicting interpretations of what is ethical or unethical, originating from the very nature of the theories themselves. Moreover, prior research (Cohen et al., 1996; Hansen, 1992; Reidenbach and Robin, 1988, 1990) indicates that individuals making ethical decisions do not select a single theory or philosophy by which to make their decisions. In fact, Reidenbach and Robin (1988) found that a varying combination of ethical philosophies or theories is employed when ethical decisions are made. Shaw (1999) draws a distinction between two types of ethical theories, consequentialist and nonconsequentialist. Consequentialist theories suggest that the moral rightness of an action depends on the actual or intended results of the action. What is right is determined by â€Å"weighing the ratio of good to bad that an action is likely to produce† (Shaw, 1999, p. 45). A key issue underlying consequentialist theories is the nature of the beneficiaries of the action under consideration. Should one consider the consequences for oneself or for all involved? The most important consequentialist theories are egoism and utilitarianism. Egoism promotes individual self-interest as the guiding principle whereas utilitarianism advocates that everyone affected by the action or decision must be taken into account (Shaw, 1999). By contrast, nonconsequentialist theories suggest that it is not simply the consequence of an act that matters, but also its inherent character. Although these theories do not deny that con- sequences are morally relevant, they assert that other factors are also important in assessing the moral significance of an action. For example, â€Å"breaking a promise† is wrong not simply because of the consequences that result from breaking it, but also because of the nature of the act itself. In this study, we focus on consequentialist theories for several reasons. First, Hofstede’s individualism/collectivism dimension can be clearly and easily related to the two consequentialist theories. Second, the two theories represent the perceptions of two of the three possible sta keholders identified by Hartmann (2000), namely own perceptions and others’ perceptions. Third, staying within one theoretical category allows for a much more parsimonious, yet thorough, analysis. Ethical perspectives and national culture: hypotheses Whether egoistic or utilitarian principles are employed, ethics are a product of a society’s culture, which includes its traditions, values, and norms. Within a society, ethical behavior is generally agreed upon. Francesco and Gold (1998, p. 40) explain that â€Å"members implicitly understand how relationships, duties and obligations among people and groups ought to be conducted, and distinguish between their selfinterests and the interests of others.† However, when two or more countries interact, they often find that their ethics differ. According to Hendry (1999), these differences may lead to three types of culturally based ethical conflicts. First, there are those conflicts where the ethical values typifying the two national cultures lead to differing conclusions; what is deemed unethical from one perspect ive is considered to be ethical from the other. Second, conflict may arise when businesspersons from one culture consider something morally significant whereas their counterparts from another culture are ethically neutral. Third, business people from two cultures may interpret a common situation differently even when there is some commonality among their national values. A Comparative Investigation of Business Ethics To investigate the relationship between national culture and ethics, we chose two culturally diverse countries, Brazil and the U.S. Given the differences in their respective national cultures, we expect Brazilians and Americans to differ in their assessment of the ethical content of business decisions. Accordingly, we propose the following hypothesis: H1: The assessment of the ethical content of business decisions is a function of national culture. Egoism and individualism/collectivism According to egoism, the only valid standard of one’s behavior is one’s obligation to advance one’s well-being above everyone else’s (Beauchamp and Bowie, 1997). Promotion of one’s own longterm interest is viewed as the only worthwhile objective and the only determinant of whether an act is morally right or not. Nothing is owed to others or to the organization that one works in. Those who abide by this approach to ethics intensely believe that all altruistic efforts by others are really acts of self-promotion since an individual may have to help others in order to advance his/her own interests. Brazil is collectivistic whereas the U.S. is individualistic. As discussed earlier, persons from an individualistic culture emphasize their families’ and their own int erests. H1.a: When applying egoistic criteria to judge the ethical content of an action or a decision, respondents from the U.S. will be less likely than respondents from Brazil to see a decision or action as unethical. Utilitarianism and individualism/collectivism Utilitarianism, in direct contrast to egoism, â€Å"is the moral doctrine that we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our action† (Shaw, 1999, p. 49). Although utilitarians also 271 evaluate an action in terms of its consequences, an action is ethical if it results in the greatest benefit or â€Å"good† for the largest number of people. Issues of self-interest are not germane since actions are assessed in accordance with one primary standard: the general good. Utilitarianism has long been associated with social improvement and the promotion of actions that are in the best interest of â€Å"the community.† Actions are right if they promote the greatest human welfare. Brazil is collectivistic. Persons from a collectivistic culture focus on actions that lead to the greatest benefit for most members of a group. H1.b: When applying utilitarian criteria to judge the ethical content of an action or a decision, respondents from Brazil will be less likely than respondents from the U.S. to see an action or decision as unethical. To be consistent with prior ethics research (Reidenbach and Robin, 1988), the above hypotheses (H1.a and H1.b) together suggest that Americans and Brazilians rely on more than one ethical criterion when assessing the ethical content of an action or decision. However, we are also suggesting that when each specific ethical criterion they refer to is considered separately, people from different national cultures will vary in their assessment of the ethical content of a course of action or a decision. Methodology Sample Data were collected from 126 respondents – 92 from the U.S. and 34 from Brazil. U.S. participants included MBA students at a regional university as well as business professionals. Brazilian participants were all students enrolled in an Executive MBA program. We used MBA students in our study for two reasons. First, MBA students are a commonly used proxy for business people (Dubinsky and Rudelius, 1980). Dubinsky and Rudelius’ (1980) comparison of 272 Rafik I. Beekun et al. student versus professional evaluations found a high degree of congruence between the two groups. Second, since all students (both U.S. and Brazilian) were currently employed by companies or had recent professional work experience, the sample can be used as a proxy for business professionals in both countries. Data collection The instrument we used was Reidenbach and Robin’s (1988) pre-validated, multi-criteria instrument incorporating the core dimensions that underlie several ethical perspectives. We selected this survey instrument because it is a multi-philosophy and multi-item questionnaire. As a result, it will enable us to assess both ethical dimensions of interest, i.e., egoism and utilitarianism, simultaneously. This instrument incorporates multiple items for each ethical philosophy and, therefore, is relatively more reliable than single item instruments (Kerlinger, 1986). Reidenbach and Robin’s instrument includes an initial set of scales that has shown evidence of high reliability and modest convergent validity with respect to U.S. respondents. The scales correlate highly with a univariate measure of the ethical content of situations. Hence, the instrument can be said to have high construct validity in the U.S. Additional reliability and validation efforts for the wh ole sample and for Brazil specifically are reported below. Using a seven-point Likert scale (1 = ethical, 7 = unethical), respondents were asked to rate the action in three scenarios using the criteria (items) described in Table II. The perception of and the criteria emphasized in evaluating the ethical content of a decision or situation depend on the nature of the decision or the situation. In accordance with previous research, scenarios will be used in this study to provide the contextual stimulus and to motivate the evaluation process (Alexander and Becker, 1978). We adopted the three scenarios developed and validated by Reidenbach and Robin (1988, 1990). Table III presents the three scenarios used in this study. Data were collected by means of the abovementioned instrument administered to Brazilian participants (in Portuguese) and provided via written instrument and website access to U.S. participants (in English). The Brazilian instrument was back translated to ensure equivalence. Efforts were made to establish the reliability and validity of the instrument in this comparative context and are reported as follows. We examined the reliability of the instrument by assessing its internal consistency through the use of Cronbach’s alpha. Since we used three different measures (one for each of the scenarios), we calculated three inter-item coefficient alphas. The Cronbach alpha was 0.81 for the first scenario, 0.75 for the second scenario and 0.86 for the third scenario. All three coefficients indicate that the scale items are internally con- TABLE II Ethics instrument scales Ethical perspective Items (Seven-point Likert scale †“ 1 to 7)* Egoism Self promoting/not self promoting Self sacrificing/not self sacrificing Personally satisfying/not personally satisfying Utilitarianism Produces greatest utility/produces the least utility Maximizes benefits while minimizes harm/minimizes benefits while maximizes harm Leads to the greatest good for the greatest number/leads to the least good for the greatest number * Generally speaking, in the above bipolar scales, 1 = fair or just or efficient (ethical) whereas 7 = unfair, unjust or inefficient (unethical). A Comparative Investigation of Business Ethics

The Creole language

The Creole language The Creole language that will be considered during this essay will be Mauritian Creole. Mauritius is found of the African continent, in the south west of the Indian ocean. This island was visited by the Portuguese in the early 16th Century, and by the Dutch in the 17th Century. They were the ones whom first permanently settled there, however due to certain conditions on the island, such as the weather conditions which they could not adapt to, caused them to leave some years later. At this time, the French were ruling the island near Mauritius, which is called la Reunion, and therefore saw this as an advantage and took control of Mauritius in the 18th Century, and as a result it was under the French rule. The French started importing slaves from different areas, such as East and West Africa, India and Madagascar and grew in numbers quite rapidly. They settled on the island using a Creole as a means of communication. Due to the increase in the numbers of slaves, the European population diminished, which caused the Creole language to expand. Some time later during the Napoleon war Britain took over, which meant that English became the language of the government and also education. However, French was still the language used in other domains, but Creole was used the most. At the moment the population of Mauritius is around 1.2 million, whom all speak the Creole language, even though it has been known that English is the official language. In A.Richards book, he states that English is not the preferred language regardless of the fact that it has a colonial past on the island and that â€Å"beyond school and work it is rarely used.†He adds that, â€Å"the official language of Mauritius is English, although most Mauritians are more comfortable speaking French. The language of the people, however, is Creole.†(A.Richards, R.Ellis, D.Shuurman P21) Although Creole is spoken by the majority of its inhabitants, â€Å"people who want to climb the social ladder† are now choosing French or English. â€Å"This fact proves again the sociological content of pidgins and creoles. In most areas they are spoken by the lower classes and abandoned as soon as a person aspires to a higher position in society.†(M.K Adler P54) In actual fact, the pidgins of Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean areas all have â€Å"connections with each other through European colonisation and the slavery system.†(M.Sebba P169) Firstly the term ‘Creole will be taken into consideration, in order to get a better understanding of what will be explained. â€Å"This term has been appropriated by linguists to describe a particular group of languages spoken not only by Black populations in and around the Caribbean, but in many other locations world-wide.†(H.Nwenmely P15) When people from different origins came together, the only way they could communicate would be with simple vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, pidgin as a language was used, until it was expanding and therefore resulting in Creole which, â€Å"results fulfils all the communication needs of its speakers but, while the vocabulary is drawn from the dominant language, the structures which it uses are often very different, and, in many cases, derive from the subordinate languages.†(H.Nwenmely P16) Let us examine the connection between Creole and pidgin language. It can be said that there exists a strong link between Creole and pidgin because if the original language that is spoken by the native speakers is a pidgin, it has been nativised. In other words, it has become a creole language. â€Å"The idea that creole languages are nativised pidgins emerged during the late sixties and developed in the seventies.†(C.Lefebvre P14) Usually, a Creole becomes more complex and refined than a pidgin, which then results in â€Å"its vocabulary expands, its grammar stabilises and its pronunciation becomes more fixed†. (M.K Adler P14) According to C.Lefebvre, â€Å"Creoles can emerge rapidly, in this case in one generation†(P15) Pidgins are known to be more of a second language, in other words a language which is learnt throughout generations, whilst Creole is developed by children as a native language. Therefore, pidgins are â€Å"contact languages without native speak ers,†whilst Creoles are â€Å"contact languages with native speakers.†(M.Sebba P169) Nevertheless we need to remember that even though pidgins and creoles are different, they both ‘share structural features such as grammatical simplicity and small vocabularies when compared with their lexifiers. (M.Sebba P168) In general, Mauritian Creole is an easy language to be learnt as â€Å"there are no grammatical rules†andâ€Å"English, French and Indian words can be adapted by â€Å"Creolising† them.†(A.Richards, R.Ellis, D.Shuurman P21) Therefore, the speaker can utilise the language to communicate in a non-structured way, whereby the style of speaking, vocabulary, syntax, phonology or grammatical structures can be as good and as acceptable as any other language, as it is also â€Å"not formalized and as such does not have a dictionary.† (http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Mauritian:Creole.htm) One main linguistic feature which can be examined in the Mauritian Creole, is the lexifier. â€Å" Where a single language is identified as the source of the majority of the lexicon of a pidgin or creole, it is known as the lexifier†¦the lexifier often equates with the European colonisers language where there is one.†(M.Sebba P25) This language contains many words from the French language, but according to Sebba, she states that â€Å"Baker (1972) notes that more than 150 words are derived from English, more than 50 from Indian languages and several from Malagasy and Chinese.†(M.Sebba P144). It is possible to say that many words clearly origin from the French words but in the Creole lexicon, for example the French ‘le, la, l is usually connected with the noun it affects. Moreover in French, articles are frequently joined with the preposition ‘de. However, in Mauritian Creole, the sound which is produced can undoubtedly be reflected into a single word. E xamples of this could be ‘le pied in French, which in English means foot, becomes ‘lipye in Mauritian Creole. Furthermore, de leau meaning water in English, becomes ‘dilo in Mauritian Creole. As we can see, the articles which exist in the French language, ‘le and ‘la becomes part of the actual word itself. Nevertheless, some words that exist have completely changed their meanings. One example would be â€Å"gayh†, which means â€Å"to have something† in Mauritian, which originally comes from the French word â€Å"gagner†, meaning â€Å"to win something.† Phonology is another aspect which can be examined. This term can be described as the study of sounds, and in this case, the study of the sound system of Mauritian Creole. Phonology can be linked with the organs of speech (palates, alveolar ridge) and how it is used, and also it can mean the features of sound, for example accents and intonation. The sound system for Mauritian Creole is very similar to French, however it still has some obvious differences. This can be said as â€Å"the Creole does not have some of the more deeper and rounded consonants that the French does. For example, manger (eat) in Creole is written manzer and is spoken the same as the French, with the exception that the more rounded g sound in the French is flattened to sound like the s in the English word vision.†(http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Mauritian:Creole.htm) Another aspect which can be recognised is the rounded vowels which exist, such as â€Å"U† and â€Å"EU† that are pronounced as â€Å"I†, â€Å"U†, â€Å"E† and â€Å"O†, which in French are usually pronounced as â€Å"U† and â€Å"EU†. Another striking example would be â€Å"among the many phonological regularities in the derivation of Mauritian Creole words from French is the following tidy principle: French nasal vowels remain nasal†¦but when the French is followed by a word final voiced plosive (d, b, or g) the final plosive is dropped, the MC vowel is denasalised†and â€Å"m,n and ng becomes a sharply pronounced consonant.†(Seuren P100-101) The Mauritian orthography also generally follows French, but some silent letters are not taken into account, which cuts the number of ways in which the same word can be spelt. The vocabulary, in other words, the words or phrases used in Mauritian Creole is interesting to examine. M.Vaughan investigates the languages slave roots. According to her, the linguist and folklorist Charles Baissac reports how Creole uses â€Å"guetter† (to look for) instead of â€Å"regarder† (look). Similarly, â€Å"roder† (to prowl) means â€Å"chercher† (to search in French). Nouns are also important in Mauritian Creole as they do not change when they are pluralised. As a consequence, whether a noun is singular or plural can only be verified by the context. For example, the word â€Å"ban† is put before the noun in order to change the sentence to the plural form, â€Å"ban dimoune† meaning those people, whilst â€Å"dimoune† on its own would mean people. Even though the French â€Å"un/une† is equivalent to the Mauritian â€Å"en†, the way in which it can be used is different. In Creole the article â€Å"la† is used, however it is placed after the noun it changes. In French you would say, â€Å"un chat†, â€Å"le chat†, â€Å"les chats†, whilst in Mauritian you would say â€Å"en chat†, â€Å"chats-la†, ban-chats.† Whether or not the pronoun is the subject, object, possessive, male or female, there is only one word which is used to describe these. This word is â€Å"li†, which can be used to describe he, she, him, her, it or hers. There are also words which are used in sentences to indicate the tenses. For past tense, the word â€Å"ti† is used before the action, â€Å"fin† is used to mark the perfect tense, and â€Å"va† for future. The syntax of Mauritian Creole, especially the use of their question words is also interesting to note, which DeGraff explains in his book. The way in which Creole contrasts with both the English and French language is that it does not have a â€Å"subject-auxiliary inversion in connection with wh-movement.†(DeGraff P78) For example, if we directly translate the phrase â€Å"ki u ule fer dinmen?†, it would be â€Å"what you want make tomorrow?†, and in idiomatic English, â€Å"what do you want to do tomorrow?†(P78) Another example would be, â€Å"kan nu ti fer fet la?†, directly meaning â€Å"when we TNS make party DET?†and in idiomatic English, â€Å"when did we have the party?†(P78) DeGraff continues to comment that â€Å"most question words are created in Mauritian Creole by prefixing ‘ki to nouns of time, place, way and so on, which are drawn from the French lexicon.†(DeGraff P78) He then follows on by explaining †Å"such a bio morphemic way of forming wh-words appears to be typical for Creole languages.†(DeGraff P78) On the other hand, while it seems that some structural elements of Mauritian Creole are typical of creoles in general, it is important to note that Mauritian Creole is not entirely typical of Creole languages. We can take H.Wekkers opinion on this when he comments that typically â€Å"creolization is best described as a gradual process of language formation, involving a period of bilingualism in which substrate features will be transmitted.†(Wekker,H P140) He also discusses about â€Å"abrupt creolization†as a way for development when there is â€Å"extremely limited access†to the main language, but that this manner of development of a Creole language is â€Å"the exception rather than the rule.†(P141) However, we can consider that according to some theorists, Mauritian Creole is a perfect example of this kind of abrupt creolisation, whereby the language is a â€Å"radical creole.† (DeGraff P77). As a matter of fact in Sebbas book, she discusses how in 1773, it was stated in a newspaper advertisement how a lost slave did not understand the Creole language. This therefore indicates that twenty two years after the slaves were first imported to Mauritius, â€Å"an identifiable local language had developed,†(Sebba P142) which caused the slaves difficulty in comprehending. Without a doubt, this means that it can be said that this language is not essentially typical of the Creole languages in general as Mauritian Creole seemed to have developed very quickly and not necessarily derived from a pidgin language. Baker and Corne also suggest this in their book, as they believe that Mauritian Creole originated on the island of Mauritius between the years of 1727 and 1738, without ever having any connections with the pidgin languages. Moreover, they suggest that it was the slave children who created the Mauritian Creole, as when they were born in Mauritius, they outnumbered the white settlers. On the other hand of this suggestion, R ichard says â€Å"it evolved from the pidgin used by the French masters of the 18th Century to communicate with their slaves or their masters who invented the Creole language.†(A.Richards, R.Ellis, D.Shuurman P21) Therefore there is an argument which concerns to whether or not it was the slaves or their masters whom created and developed the Mauritian Creole. The fact that Mauritian Creole lacks the pidgin language, it makes it unusual and according to Wekker, it is therefore quite an â€Å"exceptional† language. (Wekker P141)

Challenges for Supply Chain Management

Challenges for Supply Chain Management introduction The biggest challenge facing the Vancouver manufacturing plant was that for the rest of Hewlett Packard, there was no problem; When it comes to real dollars, inventory costs do not enter into the P L statements, but losses hurt our revenues. Dont talk to us about inventory-service trade-offs. Period. Vancouver was held up as a model of efficiency (Kanban) and the DeskJet printer range was a runaway success. A culture of territorialism and poor communication exacerbated the lack of urgency. Damaging internal rivalry was rife as a result of disjointed an myopic decision-making in the absence of any truly global approach to the supply chain key performance indicators (KPIs); the bullwhip effect was writ large all over the firms supply chain. The problems brewing were real and mounting and we argue that the best solution would require a fundamental overhaul of HPs production and supply chain resulting in the need to establish a new manufacturing plant in Europe. The consumer electronics industry is the very embodiment of [key] aspects of supply chain management and related risks, (Sohdi, 2004), due to the short product lifecycles, tough competition, and global nature of the business. The DeskJet printer business presented a new challenge for HP as the firms expertise was in highly customized, low volume, and long lead-time manufacturing and supply chain. In DeskJet, high volume, short product lifecycles, and high obsolescence risk were the name of the game. Printers were in transition from an innovative product to a functional product but the supply chain did not reflect this. HP used OEMs to source components and then did their own assembly. HP made high margins on the cartridges, and the printer was the conduit. HPs success in Europe was beginning to rival the home market in sales, adding further complications due to the need to modify power sources and languages for local markets. In Europe, product option AB had the highest monthly mean demand, and demand was more dispersed over the options than in North America, where virtually the entire sales were in option A. Monthly standard deviation in demand for the popular options was quite high at +- 30%. Even more importantly, the company was holding large and expensive safety stock due to the long shipping lead times and the prohibitive cost of air freight. The success of HPs DeskJet printer range in spite of an un-optimized supply chain suggests that there were significant potential gains in profitability if the right solution were found. In addition, despite high inventory levels, stock-outs were still occurring, threatening the most precious asset of all in the highly competitive printer market: customer loyalty and sentiment. Questions of internal efficiency and customer fulfilment had to be evaluated against the backdrop of a rapidly growing printer market, which was exploding along with the proliferation of desktop PCs. Despite organizational inertia and competing priorities, a number of avenues were open to HP at the time, including inventory management-the benefits of postponing final assembly-product design, and the introduction of JITD. We examine each and delve deeper into the business and customer benefits of launching a production site in Europe to fully capitalize on the surge of the printer market. The market is evolving rapidly and needs a strategic realignment of its supply chain. Creating a European manufacturing facility, plus integrated financial performance and risk management (Hahn Kuhn, 2009) will also improve shareholder returns (by improving inventory management and hence cash flows) and will mitigate risk. Postponement strategy To be successful the DeskJet supply chain must match customer demand. It must be in the zone of strategic fit, with a better match in Europe between responsiveness and uncertainty. It must integrate sales, manufacturing, distribution, and operations. Postponement is a solution to support future DeskJet expansion in Europe and to meet European demand. A successful postponement strategy requires significant degrees of cohesion; departmental barriers will need to be brought down, processes restructured and products redesigned. However, the rewards of implementing a successful postponement strategy are great. HP is not without challenges to implement a successful postponement strategy. Significant organisational change and coordination would be required. As Pagh and Cooper state (1998), The notion of postponement is to maintain the product in a neutral and noncommittal status as long as possible in the manufacturing process. In order to support this, characteristics of the DeskJet that have to be localised should be added at the last moment. Standardising the DeskJet would make inventory management and forecasting easier. It is also a way to allow cost-effective end user customisation. By creating customisation, additional lines can be introduced and consumer needs are met more easily. Customisation will assist HP in differentiating itself and in capturing the market. Based on Cooper (1993), we propose the use of the deferred packaging postponement strategy. The DeskJet peripherals are not common to all markets whilst the formulation is common. Postponement requires tight integration of processes and the formation of a holistic view. In the case of DeskJet printing, redesigning the product to make it more modular will increase manufacturing costs, but would lower the total supply chain costs. A modular design will standardise the design and thus standardise procurement processes. Making the DeskJet design more modular will also limit the inclusion of components that differentiate the product until the latest possible moment. Other benefits of modularity are identified by Feitzinger and Hau (1997), including the ability to manufacture modules separately or in parallel, thereby reducing production time and assisting with problem diagnostics in identifying quality problems. When considering a supply chain strategy, all elements from the design, procurement, manufacture, sales and distribution must be considered in unison. For example, making the DeskJet power supplies universal voltage may be more expensive, but it would provide HP with a more flexible use of inventory and would reduce forecasting errors. Marketing must be involved in the design process to validate that product variety and customisation meet market requirements. Finance must be engaged to provide activity-based costing, (ABC) statistics to support scenario analysis. All stakeholders and their differing viewpoints must be considered in order to build a holistic model of the revised supply chain. Successful postponement requires that organisational boundaries are traversed. HP should work with resellers and distributors to provide some product localisation and customisation tasks. In many cases resellers will require significant support, training, and systems to carry out these tasks. The long term value outweighs the short term investment. In all cases, postponement partnerships must be made on the basis of empirical evidence and having considered the interdependencies of the model. The decision to build European manufacturing capability and interfacing this capability with European distribution is crucial to support DeskJet sales in Europe. We support establishing a European plant as a strategy given European demand. However, in addition to the plant, distribution centres across Europe should be capable of managing product localisation and replenishment of all localisation materials. Opening a new facility in Europe Companies becoming global and enjoying growing revenue and expanding market shares across geographies face an important challenge: inertia. Being agile and being able to react quickly to changing conditions sometimes requires risky decision in volatile, uncertain environments, and sometimes mandates direct investment in foreign locales. The company must admit that what sustained past success will no longer work and must be adapted. This is the challenge Hewlett Packard faced when the Vancouver facility, which served the U.S. market, at the time HPs largest, could no longer meet the needs of growing overseas markets which were becoming progressively more important in terms of units sold. (Monthly mean of 23,108 units in Europe vs. 26, 611 units in North America). Hewlett realized that in terms of lead time, inventory optimization, transportation costs, and localization/customization, trying to serve European clients with its U.S. manufacturing facility was no longer viable despite var ious attempts at technology innovation and optimization, changes in product design, and shifts in its logistic processes; the problem could not be solved. (Transit time by sea takes up to five weeks.) As the European market matured, it needed one or more manufacturing locations geographically close to local suppliers and to end customers. However, selecting the correct locations in which to put one or many distribution centers and manufacturing facilities required performing scenario analysis (Sodhi, 2003) and considering several important criteria in a holistic framework for value-based performance and risk management in [robust] supply chains (Hahn Kuhn, 2009): Customer and supplier location, concentration and importance: the ideal location is a center of gravity based on weight clustering, transportation cost, the geographical location and relative importance of difference suppliers and customers. Order delivery time is a critical unifying dimension (Tempelmeier, 2001) when selecting a location that serves downstream needs. However, the center of gravity has to be modified by introducing additional constraints as listed below. In other words, optimization under many constraints must be performed. And this has to be done dynamically, including current data and future projections. Labor: The skills, training, and demographics of the workforce, unemployment trends, productivity, cost of labor, unionization, work regulation, work culture all vary widely across Europe and have to be considered. Cost and availability of land: The real estate environment of the area under consideration has to be analyzed: sites, building availability, construction cost, regulation, including environmental regulations, the availability and reliability of utilities, local construction companies, and maintenance providers. Corporate taxes and incentives: taxes are another layer of costs that have to be taken into account. Local authorities and governments may be competing to attract foreign direct investment and job-creating investments, offering tax and other financial incentives which can contribute to returns and lower risks. Logistical infrastructure: HP needs to evaluate connections to highways, rail transport, and the proximity to airports and seaports, all of which have to be reliable and cost effective. They also have to find credible logistic/transportation partners. Other criteria include the local climate and exposure to natural disasters. Finally, the company must provide expatriate personnel to manage the operation and its labor so quality of life issues must factor into the selection of the location. The process of selecting the optimal location is a multi-stage, top-down one, where initial screening produces a short list of countries or regions and then additional and more demanding criteria are added to narrow down the initial list through several iterations until one or two final locations are selected. The benefits of a manufacturing facility in Europe are significant and affect every step in the supply chain which now has a better strategic fit. Physical, financial, and information flows are better aligned. The market is as large as the U.S. but more diverse and will be better served. Raw materials procurement becomes more streamlined. Inventory days fall because one benefit of standardization (with local customization) is that inventory can be moved from one region to another so as to avoid piling up inventory in one region and stock-outs in another. The chain has moved to more of a push-pull system. Lead times are shorter. Finished product also does not pile up. The cost of manufacturing goes down and since printers were rapidly becoming a commodity product, economies of scale and cost savings are vital since customers choosing between two inkjet printers of equal speed and quality will make their decision based on cost and reliability. From a management perspective, handling th e supply chain becomes easier since it is optimized to regional needs but still integrated in a global framework that captures the benefits of HPs scale in buying power. The supply chain better serves customer needs and enables the company to grow more effectively in Europe and also is a model for other regions as they develop. The company can better manage its risks; it has reduced its exposure to inventory and transportation risk and improved its ability to manage supply chain supply and demand uncertainties in Europe. (Uncertainty metrics like margins, forecast error, stockout rates are all lower.) Finally, the improved supply chain should improve shareholder returns since operating margins, asset turns, and cash flow are positively affected. Other Improvement Opportunities As HPs management moves forward, it should take into account the following additional recommendations: A clear, overarching strategy for Europe needs to be defined and implemented across HPs corporate headquarters. Conflicting and competing corporate interests need to be reconciled with a clearly delineated command and communication structure. A clear company-wide and bottoms-up consensus should be reached about the framework necessary to achieve lasting success in Europe. HP needs to adopt improved corporate communication and defined spheres of responsibility and accountability across the organization. The case reveals that some of the companys most important technological advancements have been discovered by happenstance. Enhancing its technological advancement process with a more rigorous collaboration and innovation model would render technological and supply chain process improvements less susceptible to chance. For example, common global KPIs on inventory would be a good starting point. HP should remove organizational barriers to reduce lead time. (Billington Lee, 1992). The company should establish a dedicated European Localization Management Team to assess current local market trends as well as the viability of the suggestions above. The company should explore further trade opportunities within the European Union and in Eastern Europe, beyond just the tax and other cost-savings options. HP should exploit e-commerce, using the internet to take orders and organize distribution. The company should develop a supply chain risk-management framework to anticipate and mitigate any disruptions. A new or enhanced supply chain is an opportunity to integrate currency risks, cyber attacks, failed communication with suppliersterrorismnon-compliance. (Bosman, 2006). HP should modify its local marketing strategies based on national and cultural consumer demographics. The marketing and PR teams should also utilize available resources to identify such opportunities and participate within the European supply chain community. There are green opportunities within the supply chain that could be exploited. Technology Information processing: JITD New systems and better forecasting will make the problem visible but not solve it. The greatest gains are fundamental: Streamline design of the product to facilitate manufacture at the DCs and build capability at the DCs. However, there are still technical gains that can be made. Conclusion The HP case is an example of how effective supply chain management requires both a revised management paradigm (strategic change) and more sophisticated tools and techniques (optimization). The postponement strategy is a better strategic fit between the supply chain and HPs product life cycle across the key strategic and competitive variables: innovation, customer service, and cost leadership since printers are rapidly transitioning to maturity. Establishing a manufacturing plant in Europe, a major change in HPs printer supply chain, will improve the companys performance in four critical areas: costs, customer satisfaction, shareholder returns, and risk management. The companys physical flows, financial flows, and information flows will all be more aligned and efficient. After the initial capital cost of establishing the plant, the company should experience substantial cost savings from lower material costs, better predictability, improved supply assurances (no shortages), and lower inventory carrying costs. There is a tight linkage between sales, inventory, and product availability, (Raman et al, 2009), and so customer satisfaction, as measured by lower lead times, reduced variability in demand, fewer stock-outs, and enhanced ability to customize by region, should improve. The company will also position itself for future growth. HP should see the benefit of improved customer satisfaction in rising sales and market share in Europe. Shareholder value will be enhanced by the positive impact the supply chain changes will have on inventory and working capital and hence on operational value drivers like operating margins, asset utilization, and cash flow. Finally, the company will enjoy significant improvements in risk management. (Hahn Kuhn, 2009, referring to others). Certain risks, like being out of stock of a key component or product, will be entirely eliminated. Others can be mitigated through improved ability to contingency-plan and catch problems earlier. Th e company will be able to offload other risks or share them with suppliers and customers. And it will be able to consciously select risks, rather than passively absorbing them. Overall, the revised supply chain and the new manufacturing plant in Europe will be a catalyst for dramatic improvements in HPs operating and financial performance, not just on the Continent, but around the world. Bibliography Billington, Corey, Lee, Hau L. (1992, Spring). Managing Supply Chain Inventory: Pitfalls and Opportunities. Sloan Management Review, Volume 33, Number 3. Bosman, Ruud. (2006, April). The New Supply Chain Challenge: Risk Management in a Global Economy. FM Global. Cooper, James C. (1993). Logistics Strategies for Global Businesses. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 12-23. Feitzinger, Edward, Lee, Hau L. (1997, January-February). Mass Customization at Hewlett Packard: The Power of Postponement. Harvard Business Review, pp. 116-121. Hahn, Gerd Jurgen, Kuhn, Henirich. (2009, October 30). Value-Based Performance and Risk Management in Supply Chains: A Robust Optimization Approach. Working Paper. Department of Production and Operations Management-Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, Germany. Intermarine USA. (2009, December). Heavy-lift Air Transport Faces Capacity Loss, Competition. Intermarine Industry News. Lee, Hau L. (1995, Sept.-Oct.). The Evolution of Supply-Chain-Management Models and Practice at Hewlett Packard. Interfaces, Vol. 25, pp. 42-63. Raman, Ananth, DeHoratius, Nicole, Kanji, Zahra, (2009, June 12). Supply Chain Management at Hugo Boss (B)-the M Ratio. HBS Case No. 609-055, Harvard Business School Technology Operations Mgt. Unit, University of Portland and HBS. Sodhi, ManMohan S., (2003, Fall). How to Do Strategic Supply Chain Planning. Cass Business School Research Paper. Sloan Management Review. Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 69-75. Sodhi, ManMohan S., Lee, Seongha. (2004, October 1). Global Supply-Chain Risks in the Consumer Electronics Industry. City University London, Sir John Cass Business School, Cass Business School Research Paper. Tempelmeier, Horst. (2001, December 31). Inventory Service-Levels in the Customer Supply Chain. OR Spektrum, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 361-380.

Intelligence and Character Essay -- Careers Teaching Education Essays

Intelligence and Character â€Å"What do you want to be when you grow up?† Everyone has been asked this question at some point in their life. In fact, I am still being asked this question during this time in my life. Although the questions are in a more mature format, such as, â€Å"What are you majoring in?† and â€Å"What are you going to do with your life?† I have always answered this question with the same response. I want to be a teacher. Throughout my entire life I have respected and looked up to all of my teachers, as well as admired my parents, who are both educators. However, during my lifetime of playing â€Å"teacher† I have never actually thought about my personal educational philosophy. Yet, I can look back now on my schooling experiences to see what has been important to me and to identify the major concepts and beliefs I posses in order to form my own teaching philosophy. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, â€Å"Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.† I believe this single statement reflects my entire philosophy of education. I do not believe that any student can gain intelligence and a true character without being introduced to a variety of teaching philosophies and styles. Education, at any level, needs to encompass the needs and learning styles of all students; therefore, I intend on incorporating certain elements into my classroom from three main educational philosophies: Essentialism, Existentialism, and Progressivism. First and foremost, I will definitely use parts of Essentialism in my teachings. Because my goal is to become a secondary English and Language Arts teacher, I know it will be necessary to use this philosophy in order to teach classic... ...r in secondary English education and English, I plan on obtaining my Masters degree so that I can be the best teacher possible for myself and my students. I want to have the main role in my classroom at times, but I also want my students to feel as if they have an important voice as well. Combining parts of each of these methods will successfully make my classroom both a teacher and student oriented classroom. The students will of course learn their English skills and increase their intelligence, but they will also have a feeling of independence and respect, which will lead to the development of or addition to a personal character. Throughout this philosophy statement I have stressed the importance of accomplishing intelligence and character training in the classroom, and according to Martin Luther King Jr., my students will gain a true education in my classroom.

Evaluation of Mother-Women in Chopin’s The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening

Evaluation of Mother-Women in Chopin’s The Awakening In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman. The mother women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels. (p.29) She was fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way. She would sometimes gather them passionately to her heart; she would sometimes forget them. The year before they had spent part of the summer with their grandmother Pontellier in Iberville. Feeling secure regarding their happiness and welfare, she did not miss them except with an occasional intense longing. Their absence was a sort of relief, though she did not admit this, even to herself. It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her. (p. 40) Reading the above two passages it is clear that Mrs. Pontellier feels she is different from other mothers. She is not a "mother-woman". Those maternal beings are "angels" who "flutter" about and protect their children, even if they are in no danger. They are not flesh and blood women with lives of their own. Surely they must have begun life that way, but the passage claims that as they "minister" to their children they "grow wings and become angels. Mrs. Pontellier's use of words such as "minister", "angel" and "worship" must mean that she thinks of motherhood as a religion. While the description of these "mother-women" might imply that they are angelic and selfless, in reality their identity (and existence) depends upon their husband and children. They exist only in a familial context. Without their children they would be nothing. If their children are in no real danger, then the "mother-women" must imagine a threat in order to justify their existence. The use of the word "efface" i s strong and telling. It literally means "to remove the face". The reader gathers that neither Mrs. Pontellier nor Kate Chopin admires this type of woman. In order to be socially acceptable in Kate Chopin's time, one certainly needed a husband to have children. Neither of these passages directly refers to Mr. Pontellier. However, since Mrs. Pontellier is not a "mother-woman", the reader can assume that she does not therefore "worship" her husband.

Kabuki : A Japanese Form Essay -- essays research papers fc

Japan’s dances and dramas as they are seen today contain 1300 years of continuous uninterrupted history. This prodigious feat of conservation, theatrically speaking, makes Japan an extraordinary and unique country. In all of Asia, where tradition generally is sanctified and change eschewed, Japan stands as the only country whose theatre is its entirety has never suffered an eclipse nor undergone any drastic revivification or renovation. The most traditional form of Japanese theatre is kabuki. Its origin goes back to the latter part of the 16th century and, with extensive and continuous evolution, it has now been perfected into a state of classical refinement. Though not as flourishing as it once was, the kabuki theatre retains wide popularity among the people, and is in fact drawing quite large audiences even now. During the period generally referred to as the Edo Era, during which much of the development of kabuki took place, distinctions between the warrior class and the commoners was more rigidly observed than at any other time in Japan's history. Mainly the merchants cultivated the art of kabuki in those days. They had become increasingly powerful economically, but had to remain socially inferior as they belonged to the commoner class. To them kabuki was most significant as the artistic means by which to express their emotions under the prevailing conditions. Thus, the fundamental themes of kabuki plays are conflicts between humanity and the feudalistic system. It is largely due to this humanistic quality of the art that it gained such an enduring popularity among the general public of those days and remains this way today. A unique feature of the kabuki art, and possibly the most significant detail and in keeping with the kabuki spirit of unusualness, is the fact that it has no actresses whatsoever (Bowers 325). Male impersonators known as onnagata play all female parts. The players of the kabuki drama in its primitive stage were principally women, and with the increasing popularity of kabuki, many of the actresses began to attract undue attention from male admirers. The authorities felt that this would lead to a serious demoralization of the public and in 1629 the theatrical appearance of women was officially banned. However, since the public already accepted kabuki, men immediately took over and have continued performing to the present. The ban on... ...e curtain is open and serve also as prompters. They are not characters in the play and the audience is supposed to disregard them. â€Å"A review of theatrical history of the world shows that an ancient dramatic art, once its form has been stabilized in a near perfect state, has been capable of surviving the test of time even when its literary elements were no longer contemporary.† (Hsu, 123) The truth of this statement is born out by the present state of kabuki. It does not depict contemporary life in Japan, a country whose whole civilization has undergone a great degree of Westernization, yet it enjoys wide popularity. A principal reason for this lies in the fact that it is now a crystallized form. Kabuki has thus retained, and seems destined to retain, a place in the nation's pride and affection. Works Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bowers, Faubion. Theatre in the East. New York. Grove Press, Inc., 1993 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hsu, Tao-Ching. The Japanese Conception of the Theatre. Seattle. University of Washington Press, 1985. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mackerras, Colin. The Japanese Theatre in Modern Times. Amherst. University of Massachusetts Press, 1975.

How One Film Demonstrates Features Which Can Be Considered as Post-Modern Essay

Film within the post-modern genre simply illustrates the ideas of postmodernism through expressive art. Postmodern can be defined as a â€Å"genre of art and literature†¦ in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism† In this essay I will be outlining the key concepts as well as characteristics that can be found in a post modern film. Postmodern cinema contradicts the typical principle of narrative structure and the portrayal of the characters. One film I believe illustrates these ideologies is Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction. Released when postmodern films were at its peek. Pulp Fiction has to be one of cinemas most iconic films of all time. Due to the uncertainty of the characters and the stylised yet ambiguous nature of the plot, Pulp fiction is not only to be branded intriguing but also a great example of postmodern. Work by theorists such as Fredric Jameson, will be looked at to help with the analysis of the chosen film. By doing so this helps prove that key concepts which are present within the film such as pastiche, irony, fragmentation and parody are perceptions that together make up a postmodern film proving that pulp fiction is a good illustration. The use of pastiche is present throughout the film. Pastiche allows the emergence of differing techniques to form together in order to create a new structure. Replications of renowned film makers work has been used in order for an updated equally creative film to be produced. Anything from words, phrases, visual, and musical patterns can be used, by doing so it demonstrates that postmodern film is a combination of a variety of texts, styles and skills. Many theorists have spoken openly about their disproval of pastiche. Theorist Fredric Jameson for example even goes as far as to refer to pastiche as a â€Å"dead language†. In the book Postmodern Culture Fredric Jameson writes about the decline of new art, he writes â€Å"in a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, all that is left is to imitate dead styles† (Jameson,1995 ) Even though â€Å"plagiarism of older plots†(Jameson, 1995) occurs in some films it can be argued that by this technique being used it allows an ingenious reinvention of a classic, to be made. One of the first indications of pastiche in Pulp Fiction takes place in the third scene where Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) enter the house. When Vincent is directed to the place where the brief case is, and opens it he is to be met by a bright glow, the scenes shows similar replication to a 1950s film in the film noir genre; called kiss me deadly. Where in both films the characters gaze adoringly in to the case, in Pulp Fiction the question of what it could possibly be is asked, considering the 666 (the mark of the anti-Christ) had to be entered into the case in order for it to be opened. Referencing to the 1950s is evident in the film, Marcellous’s wife Mia is associated with the 1950s quite a lot. The dialogue between Vincent and Mia is reminiscent to what would be said in a 1950s film. This idea is highlighted again when she chooses to go to a 1950s themed restaurant. The language and the setting break’s away from the usual formatting of the film which up until now consisted of violence. Mia being so much associated with the 1950s is rather ironic as you automatically associate the 1950s and women to be calm and innocent. We soon find this not to be the case as she is soon after shown taking drugs in the bathroom. Another example of pastiche within the film would be when Marcellous got raped. After his traumatic experience he tells Butch that he’s going to get his men to work on Zed with a â€Å"pair of pliers and a blow torch†. A line that was famously taken from the film Charley Varrick. The use of parody is another postmodern feature that is evident in pulp fiction. Like pastiche parody is also the imitation of a person’s previous work. Even though they may seem the same, the two techniques in fact contrast one another. Parody imitates film through cynicism whilst pastiche emulates true form. According to Jameson the use of parody emphasises a films distinctiveness through mockery, he rightly declares â€Å"now parody capitalises the uniqueness of these styles and seizes on their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities to produce a imitation which mocks the original† (Jameson,1995 ) The sarcastic tone to situations that can be considered to be serious are ridiculed whilst random partially irrelevant scenes are present at times. This technique easily can be seen as an attack on history however it also can be perceived as a humorous take on a scene or situation of something of importance. According to Linda Hutcheon â€Å"pastiche usually has to remain within the same genre as its model, whereas parody allows for adaptation† (Hutcheon1989). Parody allows the script to differentiate away from the original and become a voice and vision of its own, helping create a new meaning to the scene. Parody allows the script to differentiate away from the original and become a voice and vision of its own, helping create a new meaning to the scene. An example of parody is shown in the film is in the scene where Butch is a young boy. He receives a visit from a friend of his father who died at war. On first appearances you as the audience not only are intrigued but curious to find out what is going on. What seems to be something of importance is soon dismissed as the soldier goes on to talk about how Butch’s birth right was hidden up his and Butch’s fathers â€Å"ass† for seven years. Another element which is evident is the exploitation of words and situations being used in order to suggest the opposite of their intended meaning. Pulp Fiction explores this feature in the form of irony. The three types of irony used are: irony of fate, verbal irony and dramatic irony. Together the three different varieties of irony merge collectively providing a witty script. The scene where the two men in suits (Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) approach the door and enters, is a prime example of dramatic irony. This is due to fact that we know something bad is going to take place. The audience knows more than the characters in the film, making us to wonder what will happen next. The sarcastic tone in the conversation Jules is having with one of the victims, too adds to the suspense as his tone is not serious â€Å"do you mind if I have some of your tasty beverage to wash this down? The dialogue is rather confusing as you immediately think that your interpretation of events must be wrong and once again are left not knowing what is going to happen next. Before killing the victim Jules recites a biblical verse â€Å"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will trike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee† (Ezekiel 25:17). The irony behind this is that he associates God with assignation. His act has now become justified in a deluded way. Whereas before God was associated with negativity in regards to Jules in the end it was the â€Å"divine intervention† of God that also saved him from the life of violence. Jules’ epiphany came when he was close to death it was this same epiphany that saved the thieves in the diner at the end. An example of irony of fate would have to be when Butch runs into Marcellous at the traffic lights. This is ironic as Butch escapes being killed due to Marcellous putting out a warrant for him. The scene continues to show irony as the two of them end up being put in a compromising situation in which they end up needing the help of the other for their own survival. Marvin’s death in the car is an additional case of irony of fate. He ends up being shot accidentally minutes after his life was spared. This is tragic as in Marvin’s case he was killed due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The complex nature of the film means that pulp fiction contains multiple storylines making it a story within a story. This fragmented form â€Å"deliberately discontinuous narratives†¦to suggest the fragmentation and breaks-up of formerly accepted systems of thought and belief† (Tim Woods, 1999). This particular feature is vital and takes place through out. The mergence from one thing into the next forces those watching to construct and figure out the story for themselves. Fragmentation has a real role of importance in Pulp fiction as the distorted storyline enables the audience to have empathy for the characters. The beginning of the film which we later find out is in fact the end, starts off with a mid way conversation between a man and a women. Only seconds into the movie and already the audience is left unsure of what it is they are talking about and what is going on in the scene. After a confusing dialogue between the two people which lasts only a few minutes the scene ends with a frozen image of the two of them. Not knowing what is going on is a theme which is explored throughout the film. Like in the first scene the scene following, too starts off with a conversation which has already started â€Å"okay so tell me again bout the hash bar† by doing so again the audience are unaware of what is taking place and feel the need to construct the story for themselves. A different example in the scene â€Å"Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s wife† introduces another character which the film later reveals is one of three protagonist characters Butch. Like the formatting of the other scenes a conversation is already taking place when the scene begins. The scene continues and Vincent and Jules randomly enter wearing t-shirts and shorts. It is only nearer to the end of the film that we find out why they are wearing what they are wearing. As the film draws to an end the first scene in the diner is explained in the last scene. The audience later find out that both Vincent and Jules are in fact present at the robbery. With his new morally correct path in which Jules wants to pursue he spares them their lives even though they had a gun pointed in his face. After an extensive look into postmodern film and the role in which it plays in the formation of film, it is evident that it is these features that make the films what they are, despite it contrasting the conventions of typical film. Borrowing plot lines from other well known sources, the use of sarcasm when imitating art, irony and perplexity are just a few descriptions, you could find within this genre. Even though at times these features have been questioned as well as criticised, in the end the final product at times are fascinating, a good example of this theory defiantly lies in the film pulp fiction. Pulp fiction forces the audience not to conform to the conventional ideas of film but instead consider a new way of understanding and acknowledge film. The concepts effectively add a new type of understanding to a collective of ideologies, allowing the reader to witness many different transitions that occurs within life through the characters. The relation between postmodernism and film has been openly criticised yet applauded by theorists. The lack of originality is the main focal point in regards to the subject with some theorist even referring it to plagiarism. Quentin Tarantino disproves this theory as his work is a prime example of originality and uniqueness that can come out of postmodern film in spite of pastiche, parody, irony and fragmentation being used.