Animation Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Animation Critique - Essay Example Utilization of animatronics is expected to fade off in the next ten years in the entertainment industry. Film producers have been adopting several new mechanisms of public entertainment (Abbott, pg. 252). They are creating a realistic interaction of the imaginative objects and people. Engineers are improving the technology day by day, to suit the diverse and rapidly changing needs of the target populations. A revolution is expected to happen as the machines become sophisticated day by day. Essentially, scientists are even coming up with a mechanism where such robots will even be in a position to think and act just as human beings do (Schell, pg. 97). The e-robots will have an instinct ability that will reason just as human beings. It will be in a position to detect human emotions such as sadness or happiness. Out of detecting the human emotional happiness, the machine will act to improve the human mood. It will further create a close connection with the human beings (Peltoniemi, pg. 350). Additionally, toy robots are becoming of great use among the children, who are discarding the traditional toys. In essence, machines are replacing all the functions in all sectors. Therefore, extreme changes are expected with reference to the animatronics use in

Business strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business strategy - Assignment Example Indian restaurant owners would already have a solid customer base from which to work from, and there is also the possibility of picking up some other ethnicities too. Cheap Indian food could be offered by encouraging Indian to be spoken within the restaurant, thus attracting the target market. c) The video rental firm market segment is not as attractive as it used to be. This is because more and more young people are using other means to watch their favorite movies. This type of business could possibly work if it was attached to some other kind of product, most likely televisions or DVD players. Special promotions could even be used to encourage people to rent a video along with another kind of purchase. 2) I do not agree that the appropriate positioning is obvious once you have identified the right segment. This is because once the right segment has been discovered further research must be done to narrow down the target customer market. This could be done through surveys of focus groups. Also, the market is always evolving and changing, so it is impossible to automatically know where to position a product in the market. 3) An organization’s competitive stance is the segment of the target market that a company chooses to pursue: low-cost supplier, differentiation, or niche marketing. The functional strategy of marketing activity depends on what the competitive stance is. For example, a company that chooses a low-cost strategy must produce its products for as cheaply as possible in order to offer low prices. Also, this company would need to produce far more products than its competitors in order to make any kind of profit. In a well-designed strategy, an organization’s competitive stance and marketing activity can work well together as long as when one changes, the other one changes to reflect that change. 6) Apple has a competitive advantage over its competitors

Examining Netflixs Business Model

Examining Netflixs Business Model Analyze Netflixs business model? How does Netflix change the video distribution industry? Business Model Business Model describes how a company produces, delivers and sells a service or product to create value for its customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. Netflix a pioneer in the online DVD subscription services operates in the in-home entertainment video market. In-home distribution channels include home video rental and retail outlets, cable and satellite television, pay-per-view, VOD (video-on-demand), internet streaming and broadcast television. (Source:- Netflix Annual Report 2005 Section Industry Overview) Netflix started operations in 1997 and relied on the DVD format as the medium of in-home entertainment, although this format of viewing was restricted to a small population of affluent, technology-savvy customer base. Over a period of time DVD became accepted as the choice and its penetration into every household rose exponentially. Netflixs business model revolves around its home-grown proprietary software Cinematch which powers its website and a comprehensive information system to manage operations. The comprehensive information system allows it to manage and integrate business across order processing, customer service and fulfilment operations. This leads to maximum utilization of library and operate with a decreased number of customer reps. It had 100 customer reps to handle 115,000 customers in the early days, now it has 43 to handle 3.2 million customers. From a business perspective management, organizational and technical elements are aligned towards customer focussed innovations. Warehouse workers get free Netflix subscriptions and DVD players. Corporate Employees are kept happy with perks so that they are eager to solve tough engineering problems to improve user experience. Netflix and the video distribution industry Netflix changed the video distribution from a store based rental channel to an online subscription based distribution channel. The web-site enables subscription account signup and management, personalized movie merchandising, inventory optimization and customer support (Source:- Netflix Annual Report 2009). Coupled with features such as social networking (Friends) and queue management (Profiles) it compares each subscribers movie preferences derived from the individuals past ratings and rental patterns with preferences of other users contained in the database and comes up with personalized movie recommendations unique to each subscriber. The company leveraged on the power of Internet and technology to achieve two purposes (a) Enhance customer experience by providing them a web-based portal tailored to individual preferences. It comes up with a customer specific recommendation list based on the individuals ratings of past viewings. Customers can set up their queues and receive delivery through mail. There is no return deadline; no charges and the DVDs can be mailed back through pre-paid envelopes. (b) Enhance operational efficiency Traditional Video rental retail outlets would have to compromise on the number of titles available in each of its stores because of space constraints. Netflix has an advantage in being able to offer a much wider range of titles since the stock is piled in its warehouses. One of its core business strengths is its vast catalogue of not so popular and old time movies and TV show content which is cost effective to procure and profitable to sell, but is not available in conventional retail stores. Cinematch also avoids suggesting out-of-stock movies and ensures maximum utilization of inventory. An effective and comprehensive Information system enables it to distribute DVDs from the nearest warehouse through US Mail. There are 100 shipping points across the United States which enables the company to provide delivery in one business days for 97% of its customers. Advantages and Disadvantages to potential customers Advantages Personalized DVD rental services and movies through internet streaming. The recommendation software is quite accurate and is built on the customers historic choices and ratings. Coupled with the social networking feature (Friends) it avoids the customer to go through the hassles of selecting and ending up with something he does not like. Availability of a wide range of not so popular and old titles which are not available in a conventional DVD rental stores. Disadvantages The recommendation software purposefully omits out-of-stock titles and hence influences the choice of the customer. It is intentionally slowing down delivery to high volume customers which are not so profitable. Instead it gives a preference to the low volume members. Hence preferential treatment is given to the more profitable low volume customers. Ability to fight competition and sustain its own markets (Source: Annual Report 2009. From Sec Filings of 2010 Subscribers have increased to 20,010(in thousands), Revenues have increased to $2,162 Million and Net Income has increased to $161 Million) Netflix has continued to increase its subscription base, revenues and net income over the years. The following analysis is based on how information systems can address Porters competitive forces model Traditional Competitors, New Market Entrants, Substitute Products and Services, Customers and Suppliers Low-cost Leadership Netflix uses its information systems to ensure maximum utilization of inventory and avoiding recommending out-of-stock titles. The information system integrates order processing and customer service and this has given it a cost advantage with increase in scale of operations, driving down per-unit cost and Netflix has been able to price its service offering at levels difficult for competition to meet. Product Differentiation Netflixs personalized web based movie selection services and technological innovations in the movie recommendation algorithm are a huge entry barrier for new entrants. Although the software and technology is not hard to replicate Netflix has the advantage of a database of over half a billion movie ratings and takes in more than a million new ones every day. Focus on market niche Unlike competitors like Amazon, Netflix has built its information systems targeted to the in-home entertainment industry. It has engaged with partners to expand the number of devices which can support streaming videos from Netflix. Strengthen Customer and Supplier Intimacy Almost 60% of the movies customers put in their queue comes from Netflixs recommendation system and ensures customers run a lesser risk of wasting time on a movie that they will not enjoy. This increases the switching costs for the customer. Although the case study does not state anything explicitly, the annual reports of 2010 indicate that Netflix obtains content through streaming content license agreements, DVD direct purchases and DVD and streaming revenue sharing agreements with studios, distributors and other suppliers and our assumption is that suppliers would benefit from Netflixs recommendation software which could boost up sales of their not so popular titles. All new titles do not end up becoming blockbusters and the less popular ones could get recommended to customers with specific preferences based on Cinematch algorithm. Competitive strengths of Netflix include an iconic brand, personalized merchandising, growing scale without substantial increase in cost and an information system catering to convenience, selection and fast delivery. Principal competitors are DVD rental outlets and kiosk services, such as Blockbuster, Movie Gallery and Redbox (Source: Netflix Annual Reports 2010) Video package providers with pay-per-view and VOD content including cable providers, such as Time Warner and Comcast; direct broadcast satellite providers, such as DIRECTV and Echostar; and telecommunication providers such as ATT and Verizon (Source: Netflix Annual Reports 2010) Online DVD subscription rental web sites, such as Blockbuster Online (Source: Netflix Annual Reports 2010) Entertainment video retail stores, such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com (Source: Netflix Annual Reports 2010) Internet movie and TV content providers, such as Apples iTunes, Amazon.com, Hulu.com and Googles YouTube. (Source: Netflix Annual Reports 2010) Popularity of alternative entertainment mediums which can be distributed using a similar business model like Netflix (Example Gaming CD and DVDs) Threats Currently the time for distribution in DVD format is shorter than release to other mediums (VOD, premium TV etc) after a theatrical release of a movie. This gives a competitive advantage to the DVD market. However this competitive advantage may go if the distribution to these multiple formats happens simultaneously. The proprietary technology and information systems are also based on a certain historic scale of operations which has increased substantially and this could lead to systemic disruptions and negatively impact operations. The DVD format would probably give way to Internet movie and TV content providers and Netflix would be left stranded with its warehouse and sophisticated mail handling systems. However the one thing which will continue to survive is CINEMATCH and its database of billions of movie ratings which will give a competitive edge to Netflix when it decides to switch over to other formats of movie distribution. AOL, Yahoo to Charge for Email Question: Yahoo and AOL are relying on some durable economic laws to support there new email product. What are these? What are the new opportunities that they can exploit by Certified mail product? Durable economy: Assumption: 1. Net Neutrality Legislation will not be approved by the congress. 2. Certified mails also have an opt-out feature that allows recipients to unsubscribe. A sustainable or durable economy requires the development of programs, policies, and implementable initiatives that encourage activities that will empower communities and conservation of resources; promote environmental justice; preserve ways-of-life; and promote by example and through discourse the ideas of ecological and participatory democracy and its real world implications. The basic principal of economy is to distribute the scare resource to most needy ones. In reference to this caselet, the spam mails are using the network bandwidth preventing the internet users to do there legitimate work. The real value produced by information providers comes in locating, filtering and communicating what is useful to the consumer. The certified email service allows email service providers to deliver only the legitimate emails to end users. As the legitimacy and the background of the email originators are already verified by the service providers like GoodMail, this will help in reducing the spam detection cost for AOL and Yahoo. Also, spam and Phishing is bigger threat to web based mail users. To keep the user experience, companies spending huge amount of money to reduce the spam. The fundamental factors that determine the profitability is industry structure and sustainable competitive advantage. By offering these service AOL and Yahoo can out perform there competit ion. There aint no such thing as a free lunch .The economic theory, and also the lay opinion, that whatever goods and services are provided, they must be paid for by someone. The information production and delivery systems requires significant amount of investment in Hardware, Software, network systems. To sustain this business, they need to recover the cost and make profit. The free mail based service cost the mail service providers close to $10-$12 per user. By charging the business to deliver there message to its users, they can recover this cost. Yahoo, AOL mail users will also benefit from this as the information sent to there inbox is useful to them and also they will have an option to unsubscribe these certified mails if they wish too. The business will be willing to pay these charges for sending the mails as this toll will allow them maximize there ROI. Opportunities for AOL and Yahoo: Customer care in a service-based industry and priority email delivery In the information age, service based industry rely heavily on email based communication. Companies want to make sure that, there product information, quires and customer concerns are addressed in stipulated time. The internet traffic is growing year by year and which creating the bandwidth issues. Yahoo and AOL can start the priority email service (similar to the Fedx, USPS, US post which charges for faster delivery) where they can provide the guarantee of delivering mails and to user inbox in stipulated time by charging the legitimate fees. They can work with ISPS to prioritize there mail traffic by sharing the revenue they earn. Eg. Distributed Document Processing services. Govt agencies wanting to reach out to mass public to explain there policies. Yahoo and AOL can offer products to government agencies where they can deliver there communication directly to users inbox. On line Advertising By collecting information about their interests, what particulars mail users want ( based on the responses to the certified mails),Yahoo and AOL can customize adds that can be displayed alongside users mail box page. Reduce the spam and provide security to there users. Phishing and online identity theft are the fastest-growing threats to the email users. By using certified email service Yahoo and AOL can fight the spams better which will help in en-reaching the user experience. This will attract more users.

A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speec

A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen - I would like to start by thanking Frank on behalf of the bridesmaids for his kind comments and echo the fact that they look wonderful and performed their role fantastically well, despite the inevitable and healthy rivalry that can sometimes occur. In fact, just before the service I overheard a furious sisterly argument about who was going to be first to dance with the best man. Understandable, I thought - until I got closer and heard them saying, 'You!', 'no, you!' I've known Frank for the best part of 20 years now and of course there are plenty of things I could tell you about what we got up to in our younger days. Unfortunately, I did consult my solicitor and he tells me that we could still face prosecution, so maybe I’ll keep things to a minimum and talk about how nice he is. Frank is a quality ac... A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speec A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen - I would like to start by thanking Frank on behalf of the bridesmaids for his kind comments and echo the fact that they look wonderful and performed their role fantastically well, despite the inevitable and healthy rivalry that can sometimes occur. In fact, just before the service I overheard a furious sisterly argument about who was going to be first to dance with the best man. Understandable, I thought - until I got closer and heard them saying, 'You!', 'no, you!' I've known Frank for the best part of 20 years now and of course there are plenty of things I could tell you about what we got up to in our younger days. Unfortunately, I did consult my solicitor and he tells me that we could still face prosecution, so maybe I’ll keep things to a minimum and talk about how nice he is. Frank is a quality ac...

Terry Scholarship Applicant

Terry Scholarship Applicants: Use this essay to discuss an experience demonstrating your leadership outside the classroom. ) Describe a significant setback, challenge or opportunity in your life and the impact that it has had on you. Dance has always been my passion. When I was undergoing some difficult problems in my life, I always turned back to dancing. For nine years I had been going to the same dance studio, Pointe & Plie, however, a couple of years ago the owner of the company had closed her dance studio and relocated to another city.I was devasted because I had grown to love the instructors and build a strong friendship with the girls there. After that I knew dance would never be the same. It wasn’t until a couple years later, that a opportunitity opened up at my church. One of my friends, Tess, had been wanting to start a Praise & Worship Dance Team. She was barely going to start the team, and she asked me if I could help her recruit more people and make routines.I was a bit hestiate because I hadn’t danced in a while, but she convinced me that through my years of experience, I could do it. I ended up adding five more girls to the team, and were able to perform numerous of times at our church. The dance team was doing magnificent, and with more experience, we started performing outside of our church, such as youth rallies, musicals, local events, and different churches. The girls had grown to love dance.The year was coming to an end, and we could not wait for what exciting performances and activites we could do the upcoming year. However, Tess, the captain of the dance team, was leaving to college. Some of the girls had gotten discouraged because they thought dancing was over, however, I was not going to repeat the same mistake. I took the iniative to pick the team up and continue the performances even after she left. We continued to practice, and each day we got better; we even were blessed to have more members to the dance team.And to th is day, we are still performing a different routine every month at our local church. We also have added a young dance team that run ages 9-14, they also perform with us to routines taught my myself and some of my friends. Through this experience, I learned to be a leader and to not loose faith in what your passion is. Dancing will never end for me. Eventhough, I have had some setbacks, I will continue doing what I love. I hope to one day inspire the people around me to not loose sight in your dream, even if things do not go as planned.

Advertising in Our Life Essay

The topic of advertising has aroused public concern. Some people say that advertising is helpful and informative, whilst others claim about that it can provide false information and will make goods more expensive. It is quite natural that people from different backgrounds have their own opinions on the issue. Therefore, both of these arguments will be analyzed before a reasoned conclusion is reached. From the one side, the opinion earlier may sound plausible due to the enormous benefits created by advertising. First of all, it can be said with certainty that there are many ways to advertise and ads come in different forms. This is obviously favorable because you can see advertising on newspapers, tv, and on the billboards everyday. Second of all, a further plus point could be that advertising is informative. This is definitely valuable since it introduce us to new products or remind of us the ones that we already know about. Last of all, it is hardly too much to say that advertising creates mass markets and makes goods cheaper. This is surely a positive feature because if there were no advertising, consumers would only know about goods in their local shops. Therefore advertising help to sell to a bigger market, the more goods are sold, the cheaper they become. From the other side, those who disagree point out that the negative influences of advertising are undeniable. The first drawback of this matter is there is people who do not enjoy seeing advertising everywhere, such as in newspaper and on buses. Most people would agree that this is problematic because they say advertisements are generally ugly to look at and spoil the environment. Another negative point is that advertising is not always truthful. And the trouble with this is that the advertiser tends to exaggerate the benefits of the merchandise he wants to sell. Thus, the consumer become victims of such advertising. Last but not least, it is supposed a further unfavorable quality might be that advertising adds to the cost of goods. This is an obvious weakness because the merchandiser has to pay the agency to run advertising campaign in order to introduce and sell their product to consumer. Taking everthing into account, for the reasons which I mentioned above, I believe that the advantages still outweigh disadvantages. So I do totally support the idea of advertising is helpful and informative.

ED510 Concepts of Internal External Validity Essays

ED510 Concepts of Internal External Validity Essays ED510 Concepts of Internal External Validity Paper ED510 Concepts of Internal External Validity Paper Internal Validity The ability to control the extraneous variables on the dependent variable. Anytime there are alternative explanations for the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, internal validity is threatened. External Validity The ability to generalize the study results to other groups and settings beyond those in the current experiment. Research that can be generalized will have more practical value. Threats to Internal Validity Extraneous factors that allow for alternative explanations as to what caused the given effect on the dependent variable. History Effect A threat to internal validity when events occur between the pretest and posttest of an experiment that could affect participants in such as way as to impact the dependent variable (stress, illness, etc). What can a researcher do? Use a control group that has not been effected or mildly effected by the even. Control Group A group of participants exactly like the treatment group in every way possible except that they receive no treatment. Experimental Group The group receiving the treatment. Maturation Effect Occurs when there are changes seen in subjects because of the time that has elapsed since the study began and which may not be the result of of any program effects. Most common in children being studied. What can a researcher do? Use a control group. Testing In many types of research it is necessary to pretest participants to establish a baseline of the dependent variable. The pretest is usually compared to the posttest measurement to determine the effectiveness of a treatment. However, by being tested, participants may become test wise. Any differences seen from the basline to the posttest may be form testing effects. What can a researcher do? Use a control group that does not receive any pretesting. Test Wise By testing, participants may learn how to do better on the test next time they take it. Instrumentation Instrumentation used to collect data can cause threats to internal validity where measurements are not accurate or procedures are not standardized. What can a researcher do? Use a well designed instrument that accurately measures what it is supposed to measure. Selection Bias Anytime individuals are selected in a non: A study on a new health site, it is probably that those who choose to participate are interested in health. What can a researcher do? Although this cannot be completely countered, recruiting volunteers and then randomly assigning them is better than allowing them to self-select a group. Also, matching them on selected characteristics and then randomly assigning them can help. Finally, pretesting groups on measures of the dependent variable to make sure there are no pretreatment differences between groups can help. Selection Maturation Effect A combination of selection bias and maturation effect. This occurs when using intact groups that vary in their maturation level. What can a researcher do? Pretesting and/or prescreening groups on maturity levels. Statistical Regression Occurs when participants are selected on the basis of their extremely high or low scores. If these same participants were administered the same instrument again, the tendency would be for those who scored extremely high on the first test to score lower on the second test and vice versa. What can a researcher do? The study could be designed to follow a random sample of individuals representing a full range of scores rather than placing participants in high and low groups based on one testing. Mortality/Attrition It is common to lose participants over the course of a study. In longitudinal studies, some may die; in others, some will drop out or move without leaving contact information. This creates a mortality effect. Loss of subjects hurts the validity of comparisons. What can a researcher do? Provide incentive for participants. Hawthorne Effect When participants attitudes toward being involved in a study affect the way they behave. ; What can a researcher do? Try to provide the control group with some special treatment that is comparable to the experimental group but would not have direct impact on the independent variable. Also, keep participants from knowing that htye are taking part in a study or being observed. ; ; Placebo Effect Effects caused by participants expectations rather than the actual treatment. What can a researcher do? Use a blind or double-blind study. Also, ensure that those in both the control and experimental groups receive the same information so that both groups have similar expectations. Lastly, give both groups as little information as possible to evade expectations. Diffusion Treatment The Diffusion effect occurs when the treatment being applied to one group spills over or contaminates another group. What can a researcher do? Use control/experimental groups that live separately from each other. Urge participants to keep personal effects of the treatment confidential until the end. Location Location effect occurs when there are differences in the locations where interventions take place. What can a researcher do? Make the locations the same for all participants. If thats not possible, the researcher should try and minimize location differences that affect the dependent variable. ; ; Implementation Incolges the individual or individuals responsible for implementing the experimental treatment and the possibility that they may inadvertently introduce inequality or bias into the study. ; What can a researcher do? Make sure all persons responsible for implementing the program are equally trained and competent, and following standardized protocol. Another way is to have somone other than the program developer present the program. Lastly, internal validity can be controlled by having a neutral observer watch the presenter. ; ; Threats to Internal Validity Extraneous factors that threat the ability to generalize the findings to the population. ; ; Selection Treatment Interaction Concerns the ability of the researcher to generalize the results of a study beyond the groups involved in the study. ; What can a researcher do? Random selection from a population to form a study population. ; ; Setting Treatment Interaction Concerns the extent to which the environmental conditions or setting under which an experimental study was conducted can be duplicated in other settings. ; What can a researcher do? Consider differences in backgrounds of different populations as well as the settings they are given the study. ; ; History Treatment Interaction This develops when the researcher tries to generalize findings to past and future situations. Some experiements may be time sensitive and not produce similar results if conducted earlier or later. ; What can a researcher do? Take into consideration effects of timing, and adjust the study accordingly. ; ; Increasing Internal ; External Validity Maximize Internal Validity by using the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). This analysis equalizes many initial differences that might exist between groups. ; Maximize External Validity by carefully considering what groups can one legitimately generalize to. Also, always duplicate a setting and historical factors as nearly as possible when replicating a study with a different population. ; ; REMEMBER External Validity CANNOT exist without Internal Validity! ; Researchers should always be concerned about ensuring Internal Validity before trying to establish External Validity!

Free Essays on Woman Warrior

East Meets West Children raised in a culture different from their parents’ often present an interesting viewpoint. The Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is no exception. Maxine Hong Kingston masterfully blends the mythical storytelling of Old China with her past and present experiences in the United States. In doing so, she addresses several different angles of this culture clash, including the role of women in each society, the backward logic in both languages, and the general resistance the author’s mother faces to cultural change. Kingston addresses these issues in a stream of consciousness format that enables her to fade in and out of different setting without ever formally notifying the reader. Kingston spends much of the book analyzing the role of women in Chinese society. The book opens with an oral history, given by the author’s mother (Brave Orchid), of a nameless aunt in Old China who committed adultery. The people of village responded to strayed morals by ransacking her family’s home. In response, she killed herself and her bastard child. The subservience of women can also be found the narrator’s own childhood experiences. It seems every time Kingston turns around she is being denied some right or privilege a boy would enjoy; she is consistently referred to as a â€Å"slave†. Much of the family goes along with this, â€Å"Throughout childhood my sister said ‘When I grow up, I want to be a slave,’ and my parents would laugh, encouraging her.†, ironic when one considers that many women in China were real slaves. Women of higher family status were viewed more as trophy’s devoid of responsibility or leadershi p. Such is the case for Moon Orchid, Brave Orchid’s sister, who she comes to America infuriated over her husband’s decades long abandonment of her. She proves herself to be inadequate of handling even the most simple of tasks; and when the time came for her to confront h... Free Essays on Woman Warrior Free Essays on Woman Warrior East Meets West Children raised in a culture different from their parents’ often present an interesting viewpoint. The Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is no exception. Maxine Hong Kingston masterfully blends the mythical storytelling of Old China with her past and present experiences in the United States. In doing so, she addresses several different angles of this culture clash, including the role of women in each society, the backward logic in both languages, and the general resistance the author’s mother faces to cultural change. Kingston addresses these issues in a stream of consciousness format that enables her to fade in and out of different setting without ever formally notifying the reader. Kingston spends much of the book analyzing the role of women in Chinese society. The book opens with an oral history, given by the author’s mother (Brave Orchid), of a nameless aunt in Old China who committed adultery. The people of village responded to strayed morals by ransacking her family’s home. In response, she killed herself and her bastard child. The subservience of women can also be found the narrator’s own childhood experiences. It seems every time Kingston turns around she is being denied some right or privilege a boy would enjoy; she is consistently referred to as a â€Å"slave†. Much of the family goes along with this, â€Å"Throughout childhood my sister said ‘When I grow up, I want to be a slave,’ and my parents would laugh, encouraging her.†, ironic when one considers that many women in China were real slaves. Women of higher family status were viewed more as trophy’s devoid of responsibility or leadershi p. Such is the case for Moon Orchid, Brave Orchid’s sister, who she comes to America infuriated over her husband’s decades long abandonment of her. She proves herself to be inadequate of handling even the most simple of tasks; and when the time came for her to confront h...

The French Verb Conjugations of Chauffer (to Heat)

The French Verb Conjugations of Chauffer (to Heat) In French,  the verb  chauffer  means  to heat. This can easily be confused with chauffeur as in driver. To keep it straight, think of the verb more like a chaffing dish, meaning a heated food serving platter you often see at buffets or banquets. Conjugating the French Verb  Chauffer​ As with all French verbs, we need to conjugate  chauffer  in order for it to mean heating or heated. The -ing and -ed endings are English conjugations and they are universal to the subject. Yet, in French, we must match the verb with the tense as well as the subject: the endings for we is different than the endings for I. While verb conjugations are challenging  for many French students, those that end in -er  often follow a prescribed pattern.  Chauffer  is one of those because it is a  regular -er verb. We take the stem of  chauff  and add particular endings according to the subject and tense. These same endings are used for similar verbs like  brà »ler  (to burn) and  allumer  (to light), making each a little easier to learn than the first. Using the chart, pair the subject pronoun to the proper tense for your subject. For example, I heat is je chauffe and we will heat is nous chaufferons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je chauffe chaufferai chauffais tu chauffes chaufferas chauffais il chauffe chauffera chauffait nous chauffons chaufferons chauffions vous chauffez chaufferez chauffiez ils chauffent chaufferont chauffaient The Present Participle of  Chauffer The  present participle  of chauffer  is chauffant. For this conjugation, it is as easy as adding -ant  to the verb stem. It is used as a verb and will also work as an adjective, gerund, or noun when needed. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © A  common way to express the past tense heated in French is to use the  passà © composà ©. To do this, conjugate the  auxiliary, or helping verb  avoir  to the correct subject, then add the  past participle  chauffà ©. For instance, I heated becomes jai chauffà © and we heated is nous avons chauffà ©. You should note that  ai  and  avons  are conjugates of  avoir.  Also, the past participle does not change when the subject does. More Simple  Chauffer  Conjugations to Know At first, students should focus on the present, past, and future forms of  chauffer  as these are used most often. With experience, you may also find a use for the subjunctive or conditional verb forms. Both of these imply some degree of uncertainty to the verb. In rare instances and primarily in literature, you will see the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive forms of  chauffer. While you may not use or need them yourself, you should at least be able to recognize and associate them with to heat. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je chauffe chaufferais chauffai chauffasse tu chauffes chaufferais chauffas chauffasses il chauffe chaufferait chauffa chauffà ¢t nous chauffions chaufferions chauffà ¢mes chauffassions vous chauffiez chaufferiez chauffà ¢tes chauffassiez ils chauffent chaufferaient chauffà ¨rent chauffassent For short and direct exclamations, use  chauffer  in the imperative form. To do so, theres no need to include the subject pronoun. Rather than saying tu chauffe, you can simply say chauffe. Imperative (tu) chauffe (nous) chauffons (vous) chauffez

Great Communicators in History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Great Communicators in History - Essay Example He served eight years in Illinois legislature and also served as a captain in the Black Hawk War. Lincoln began his political career at the age of 23 as a member of Whig Party but his beginning campaign for the Illinois General Assembly was unsuccessful and he left politics for the time being. He resumed his political career after the passage of the Kansas – Nebraska Act in 1854 which repealed the limit on slavery and recognized the right of people to decide whether to allow slavery in their area or not. From his stand strongly opposite slavery he rejoined politics but his first bid for US senate was unsuccessful. He received some support for the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 1856 and started his move against slavery as public speaker and prominent debater. The nation began to listen to his views from famous speeches like Lost Speech, House Divided Speech, etc. one after another. He received national recognition as a public speaker with his successful speech in th e Cooper Institute, New York in 1860 (â€Å"An overview†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , n.d.). He won the Presidential election in 1860 to become the 16th President of the nation. As the President he faced immense crisis in saving the union from falling apart. He decision continued Civil Wars for four years and Emancipation Proclamation was declared in 1863 declaring the freedom of the slaves. His famous Gettysburg Speech is still remembered as his gratitude to the dead soldiers in the War and as his effort to inspire the nation to follow the path of anti-slavery and unity, the cause for which the soldiers sacrificed their lives. He was re-elected as President in 1864 and initiated the peace activities. He took a more flexible and generous approach to ensure the unity of the nation and encourage the rebels of the south to join the peace mission. He clearly communicated this approach of him in his second inaugural speech. But somehow he was misunderstood as a supporter

Cementing Intercultural Communication Gaps For Smoother Roads to Research Paper

Cementing Intercultural Communication Gaps For Smoother Roads to Harmony - Research Paper Example Human beings communicate their thoughts and feelings to one another in verbal and non-verbal ways. Verbal communication, or speaking out to another person is often accompanied by non-verbal language which includes facial expressions, gestures, posture, body language and tone of voice. Sometimes, such non-verbal expressions say more than the verbalizations of a person. The way one communicates and receives information matters much in the quality of relationships he or she has with others. Effective communication takes practice and hard work especially for those who are not skilled in interpersonal relations. Several factors need to be considered when communicating: age, gender, relationship to the person, nature of the communication exchange, temperament and personality and even culture. The adage â€Å"Actions speak louder than words† rings true in a variety of situations. In the workplace, people manifest explicit verbal communication and implicit, non-verbal communication (L ee, 2008). Explicit verbal communication takes the form of direct reprimands or written memos to delinquent workers. Implicit, non-verbal communication is more action-oriented. An example is a boss deliberately showing a delinquent worker that he is taking over the tasks formerly assigned to the worker. The boss may not say anything, but the message comes across very clear to the worker that his inefficiency is noted by the boss. In times of conflict, the impact of implicit, nonverbal communication and explicit, verbal communication (that is, the written norm) is never equal. The more visible and stark the image, the more effective the message is delivered and received. Verbal and nonverbal interactions play a part in the effective exchange of ideas. LeFebvre (2008) advises that when speaking, one must also be aware of body language and tone and inflection of voice. She notes that different ideas may be conveyed by simply emphasizing or speaking louder the different parts of the sta tement. Being an active listener helps one understand the message being relayed to him. As the listener, one should hold his response until the speaker is done, and keenly observe nonverbal cues expressed. It must always be remembered that communication is a give and take process. One must learn to wait his turn to be the speaker and the listener. The Role of Culture in Communication Hofstede (1994), a well-known scholar of culture and its effect on people, defined culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguished the members of one human group from another†¦ Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture† (Hofstede, 1994, p.54 ). This definition shows how much culture has an influence on people, often dictating how they would relate and communicate to others. Consideration of others’ cultural background entails adjustments to accommodate the needs of others and the exertion of effo rt to understand what they want to communicate. On the contrary, disregarding the other’s culture and instead, promoting one’s own, whether it agrees with the other or not can be a source of major conflicts. Even within a specific country, there exist sub-cultures. An example is the Asian culture. Some values are associated as â€Å"typically Asian†, such as honor and integrity. Within Asian countries, some communicative interpretations differ. To illustrate, in one country, being able to look straight into the eye of another person when speaking, means that the person is sincere while in another country it denotes defiance

THEORIES OF LATE CAPITALISM AND THE WORLD SYSTEM Essay

THEORIES OF LATE CAPITALISM AND THE WORLD SYSTEM - Essay Example With that respect, this essay will seek to highlight and address this problem as well as identify solutions provided by both theorists. Francis Fukuyama assert that the loss of social order as depicted by capitalism was a not matter of poor memory or nostalgia but rather a matter of hypocrisies committed in the early ages of communism. Most recently, as Francis reveals, there has been frequent occurrence of seismic shifts during the fall of 1980s. These shifts involve strategies set in place by governments of the developed countries such as the United States with the aim of harnessing economic power (Harvey 43). The issue regarding if the information age democracies have the ability to withstand social order while facing economic and technological change are part of the greatest challenges encountered by these economic super powers. Philosopher Francis argues that, there exists a strong logic backing the evolution of political institutions pointing towards modern liberty democracy, b asing on mutual relations between stable democracy and economic development. However, the most worrisome aspect as described Francis is that, this progressive tendency lacks social and moral development. His failure to include politics and ecology in his work derives bases from the general tendency of the contemporary basics where liberal democracies fall victim to excessive individualism. Francis makes it clear that the liberty of the modern state premised on the concept whereby the interests political peace, the government would not be in a position to sideline differing moral claims as put forward by traditional culture and/or religion (Harvey 45). In their theories, there is no examination of the ecological implications of modernism or the theoretical practices of postmodernism in relation with the environment to assess whether they repress modernist assumptions or encourage non-exploitation. Their failure to address these issues inevitably reflects the supposed conditions of po stmodernism and discussions based on political stratagem. As a matter of course, their theories omit space analysis into spatial politics as opposed to other theorists (Harvey 46). Indeed, theories of postmodernism bear a strong family resemblance to those ambitious sociological generalizations that bring people the news of the arrival and the inauguration of a new type of society baptized as postindustrial society. To their own relief, these theories have the obvious ideological mission of illustrating that the new social formation does no longer obey the laws of late capitalism. Situation of the problem Their failure to address politics and ecology has made learners fail to understand that despite the increasing global division of poverty and wealth, dependency theory together with its thesis concerning the structural domination of the capitalist West over the developing countries or simply, the Third World, is all but dead. According to Francis and David’s theories of late capitalism, the passing of dependency theory has been faltering, slow, and at the same time inexorable. Now, it is a reduced theoretical political memory in both mainstreams in international relations writing mentioned only as interesting historical lineage (Gray 47). This omission is not very helpful, at best, since

Fashion Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Fashion Media - Essay Example The targeted audience for the magazines consists of people having interest in fashion. The main aim of fashion magazines is to sell clothes and display clothing in an artistic way for public interest. Individuals having deep love and high interest for fashion write fashion blogs. The aim of the writers is to share a unique fashion sense with the rest of the population. Blogs appear on the internet and their number is rapidly increasing. Posts on fashion blogs include pictures and daily updates of the latest fashion finds (Miller, M. 2012, 315). The intended audience of blogs includes people who love and enjoy exploring new trends. The writings on the blogs give ordinary individuals a chance to express their opinions and place their mark on the world of fashion. Although the discipline of fashion writing does not have set rules, there are many traits and commonalities found in it. In writing fashion articles, a specific format has to be followed. For instance, the articles are written in first person narration since it is an opinion piece. Writers in fashion industry are supposed to use sophisticated and an informed voice of authority, while considering the expectations of the audience. They should also use short and clear sentences that are easy to read. The writers have a necessity of producing an appealing mental image by use of descriptive language. For instance, instead of describing something as simply â€Å"yellow†, the writer should use a word like â€Å"lemon† or â€Å"sunny† for creating a vivid image. Fashion writing makes use of distinguished lexicon from other writing forms, for instance, the unconventional use of the syntax is typified as modern and... This essay approves that today, fashion writings are found when flipping through art and fashion magazines. However, the art press locates fashion writings within the wider social and cultural dialogues, reflecting upon the cultural, social, economical and psychological implications of dress. The theory of fields, developed by Bourdieu’s, offers an insightful starting point that helps in the understanding of media field paradigm. The theory argues that the society is divided into semiautonomous fields that are structured around the opposition between the economic and political capital and cultural capital. Fields are distinguished both in regards to their degree of autonomy from dominant political forces and specific capital that is valued therein. However, it is complex to locate journalism within the field theory. Fashion writings have a unique power of investigating other fields, including music and politics. The power impacts on the profession’s autonomy through the criticality of the writings it produces. This report makes a conclusion that fashion writing is a wonderful form of expression and can lead to many prospective careers. This type of writing allows individuals in the industry to convey their uniqueness in an artistic manner. Although the purpose of fashion writing is promoting and selling designer clothing and trends, writers have an advantage of working in an advantageous and valuable career. Fashion writers have an opportunity of achieving an excellent lifestyle and becoming a major influence in the industry while pursuing the career. Fashion is undergoing a deep technological and social change. The changes include from fashion magazines to fashion blogs and fashion plates to fashion films.

Why people behave the way they do Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why people behave the way they do - Assignment Example The author begins by highlighting the influence that leaders have on the people they work with, mainly because their actions have influence on the output of an organization (Clawson, 2001). More so, the article is intended to provide an analysis of different characters of people so as to offer a greater level of predictability for the people we work with. According to Clawson (2001), the attention and treatment that infants receive within their first six months of life have great influence on their personalities. For instance, if the persons in charge of taking care of the immediate needs of such children are incapable of meeting them satisfactorily or on time, a child is likely to develop a negative personality. In such a case, the individual may grow up trying to fill a gap in their expectations that developed when they were not well attended to. On the other end, a person whose needs were actively and dutifully met during this critical phase of their lives will develop warmer relations with other people, and this is likely to show strongly later in life, including at the work place. This view is shared by Kuppens (2009), who noted that personality differentiation and variability are direct products of the experiences one goes through from birth. Therefore, parts of our personalities are the product of how well we were attended to in our formative years. Various other factors contribute significantly to whom we become; which is strongly reflected in what we do. For instance, genetic makeup identifies an individual to a specific lineage. Clawson (2001) noted that on top of the physical characteristics we inherit, we also inherit bio-chemical balances and emotional tendencies. Emotional regulation (and dysregulation) is controlled by bio-chemical balance (for instance hormones) is what contributes to what we do, how we respond to others, and, by extension, how other people

Commissioner Of Internal Revenue Research Paper

Commissioner Of Internal Revenue - Research Paper Example Conducting the event in a tournament setting did not transform the poker activity into something other than wagering. Further, the act of betting is intrinsic to poker, regardless of whether it occurs in tournament poker or "live action" poker. Finally, the taxpayer's argument that tournament poker should be treated the same way as sports such as golf or tennis was rejected. Congress's decision to draw clear distinctions can mainly be viewed as a reasonable form of setting out the distinction without violating due process or equal protection. At trial, petitioners concurred that Mr. Tschetschot was not a professional gambler but argued that Mrs. Tschetschots professional tournament poker playing is not gambling and thus not subject to the limitations of section 165(d) on losses from gambling. The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), as cited fromen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Code is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 of the United States Code (USC).It is organized topically, into subtitles and sections, covering various types of taxes as well as procedure and administration. Its implementing agency is the Internal Revenue Service. In reference to the Black’s law dictionary, gaming is defined as the act or practice of playing games for stakes or wagers; gambling; the playing at any game of hazard (re Stewart (D. C.) 21 Fed. 398). (2) An agreement between two or more persons to play together at a game of chance for a stake or wager which is to become the property of the winner, and to which all contribute(People v.Todd, 51 Hun, 440, 4 N. Y. Supp. 25;)

Why people behave the way they do Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why people behave the way they do - Assignment Example The author begins by highlighting the influence that leaders have on the people they work with, mainly because their actions have influence on the output of an organization (Clawson, 2001). More so, the article is intended to provide an analysis of different characters of people so as to offer a greater level of predictability for the people we work with. According to Clawson (2001), the attention and treatment that infants receive within their first six months of life have great influence on their personalities. For instance, if the persons in charge of taking care of the immediate needs of such children are incapable of meeting them satisfactorily or on time, a child is likely to develop a negative personality. In such a case, the individual may grow up trying to fill a gap in their expectations that developed when they were not well attended to. On the other end, a person whose needs were actively and dutifully met during this critical phase of their lives will develop warmer relations with other people, and this is likely to show strongly later in life, including at the work place. This view is shared by Kuppens (2009), who noted that personality differentiation and variability are direct products of the experiences one goes through from birth. Therefore, parts of our personalities are the product of how well we were attended to in our formative years. Various other factors contribute significantly to whom we become; which is strongly reflected in what we do. For instance, genetic makeup identifies an individual to a specific lineage. Clawson (2001) noted that on top of the physical characteristics we inherit, we also inherit bio-chemical balances and emotional tendencies. Emotional regulation (and dysregulation) is controlled by bio-chemical balance (for instance hormones) is what contributes to what we do, how we respond to others, and, by extension, how other people

Strategies to Turn Around a Division in a Company Essay Example for Free

Strategies to Turn Around a Division in a Company Essay The steps towards turning around an ailing division would require identifying areas that are operational and non operational areas. Thus, both positive and negative elements in regard to the functionality of the system would have to be identified. How these elements would be applied to enhance the performance of the division is of significant. Therefore, I call for a meeting to introduce myself as well as know the team working in that division. In the process, I would give reasons for my belief in the success of the division where I would explore prior achievements and point a way towards achieving such results. I would show that I believe in their expertise and explain my role as to lead the team into achieving success and a good work environment. I would eliminate their fear of loosing jobs and ask them to participate fully in the process to turn around the division. To establish the areas that are functional and not functional, I would engage the employees. Thus, I would ask them to write down what they think works and what doesn’t in the division and give suggestion on what they would want done to rectify the fault. I would also lay out a system where all the employees would access the information gathered and involve them into deciding the best ideas where they would vote on the ideas to implement. I would then discuss with them the results. If I find some ideas not viable, I would explain and open the floor for comments. I would encourage criticism. (Maund, 2001) Communication is vital within an organization and thus I would improve its tools and functions within the division. Thereafter, I would extend this gesture to other departments where I would encourage departmental heads to share information with employees. I would offer incentive for improved communication within and between departments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After achieving enhanced communication I would embark on improving the product line. The problem of an outdated product line with diminishing market share is as a result of rejection by buyers. The reasons would list as the product being obsolete, low in quality, very expensive or the wrong audience is being targeted. Thus, I would request the marketing and sales department to conduct a study to determine a solution. The research findings would be open to employees for scrutiny within a set period of time probably, a week. We would effect changes to the product line and ask employees to try the products in the market and ask them for their opinions on them. Note that these would not be free samples to employees. About the division structure, I would not alter to avoid alienating employees. Instead, I would maintain the stability of the previous environment and inject momentum by introducing new tasks and communication tools and functions. However, if there were suggestions through the initial fact findings I would consider structural changes. Last but not least, I would present the fact finding to the top management with reasons as to the course of action I took. In the agenda, I would include strategies of marketing the new product line where after, I would request for funds to launch the new product line stating our expected financial returns. The old product would have to be terminated and therefore, expenses streamlined. (Sparrow and Hilltop, 1994) In conclusion, as much as the success of these strategies would depend on the market, enhanced communications and participation of motivated employees as well as improving non functional systems and maintaining functional systems, are vital into conquering that market. References Maund, L. (2001): An Introduction to Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice: Palgrave Macmillan, Sparrow, P. and Hilltop, J. (1994): European Human Resource Management in Transition: New York, Prentice Hall.

Multinational Companies MNC

Multinational Companies MNC Multinational Companies MNC 1 Introduction Over the past couple of years Multinational Companies (MNC) had to face a number of new challenges in their daily business. Globalization changed numerous things for global players. Normally the structure of a typical MNC shows a focus on their main resources and departments like finance, technology, marketing, sales and production. This is because they want to have a large number of customers and also want to make a good profit. But if they neglect these new challenges coming up with the globalization they might not be successful anymore (Mendenhall et al., 2003). A big challenge MNC’s have to manage is their workforce diversity (Stern, S. 2008). Diversity means any sort of difference between two or more people. These differences might exist in terms of age, gender, race, education, social status and other terms. To manage this diversity MNC’s have to implement strategies that knit all employees together into a dynamic workforce (Miller, Dollar, 1950). Because of this enormous diversity one of the key success factors of MNC’s is the recruitment and selection of labor who offer valuable individuality. These individuals are forming the values and beliefs of an organization (Mullins, 2007). The management of this diversity is a challenge of the human resource management. In this paper I will focus on how MNC’s can improve their HRM and make their company staying successful in terms of managing diversity. It is hard to become a major player in the global market without an effective HRM. There are two major challenges within global HRM namely building global corporate cultures and developing global leaders that have to be mastered in order to manage diversity and be successful in the global business environment (Mendenhall et al., 2003). 2 Enhancing global business strategy Today more and more companies expand their activity internationally or are already an existent global participant. This requires new strategies. The HRM can contribute a lot to the success of an enterprise, if it adopts a truly globalize strategy in alignment with the corporate strategy (Mellahi et al, 2003). 2.1 Tasks of an international HRM The human resource management has to establish processes and policies which enable people to learn new skills required to compete successfully in a global business environment. A truly international HRM also involves the ability to move people easily from country to country. As companies become more global, they need talented managers with global experience. These people also need assistance in building international task forces and teams. Managing the administrative details associated with international assignments beyond the recruiting process is a complex issue. Therefore a good knowledge of the cultural differences and possible barriers is necessary (Holbeche, 2004). Human resource management needs to develop the policies, the processes and administrative agendas which have to become standardized and implemented in all locations. Though practices may differ between countries, a company needs some common standards across its subsidiaries that are strategically aligned with the organizations mission, for example a worldwide standard for senior management in evaluation, compensation and development. With this HR the organization can create social capital in locally adaptive ways and serve as a buffer between globalization and localization of strategic practices (Gomez et al., 2005). A company that is in the lead in implementing and creating a global HRM and is capable of all these tasks can develop a strategic resource, which is hard and expensive to imitate quickly. 2.2 The mission of international HRM When a company decides to go global, it does so to create unique competitive advantages, that is not possible in the domestic market. Therefore it has to adapt its strategy to define the new goals and the measures to meet them. Business strategies, which organizations adopt to maintain competitiveness, should be developed in conjunction with their human resource departments (Lengnick-Hall et. al 1988; Schuler et. al, 1984; Tichy et. al 1982). It is quite clear that the change from local to global has an impact on the techniques used in human resources management. By implementing HR issues in the mission, this will help enhancing the global business strategy. The mission can be defined as the reason why organizations exist. The purpose of an organization is the heart of the mission, but it is also made up by organizational beliefs, values and business definition (De Wit et al. 2004). To be strategic, human resource practices are expected to maximize employees effectiveness in accordance with their organizations missions, objectives and goals (Lengnick-Hall et al. 1988; Schuler et al. 1984; Tichy et al. 1982). When the mission is consistent and compelling to the employees, it can be a source of motivation and create an emotional bond between the members of the organization, which again can result in better performance tied up to the mission (De Wit et al. 2004). In a global organization, it is harder to create a mission that ties together people from many different parts of the world, and it is therefore crucial in creating a global mission, to consult and integrate HR issues into it. There are very different ways in businesses around the world in handling HRM, and therefore in trying to decrease the differences between domestic and international HR, it can help make the subsidiaries to work towards the same goals. The mission outlines the fundamental principles guiding strategic choices, and if it has guidelines on how to handle different HR issues, the different subsidiaries will use a somewhat similar HR management. To be able to integrate HR with global strategy development and implementation, senior members and top management of the organization need to promote HR issues, and try to address them in the development and implementation stage (Mendenhall et al. 2003). Collaboration among employees in MNC’s Employee behavior is perhaps the most critical challenge that multinational organizations have to deal with (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1990). In Multinational Companies there is a huge potential of conflicts, because of its diverse personalities. As a consequence of this tensions will arise among employees. Although these tensions are inherent to MNC and also desirable (Kilmann, 1985), they require increased levels of collaboration. An organization must therefore enable their employees to accept the tension and behave as one company. Nevertheless, in many large and multinational companies, employees tend to be silo-focused. They view their membership and loyalty as belonging to a certain subunit in the organization. Consequently they behave in a manner that benefits their subunit but could be detrimental to the organization as a whole. This kind of thinking of course leads to a higher effort of coordinating and collaborating employees to have a successful organization (Joyce, 1986). Many problems can arise out of the silo-focused way of thinking. Collaboration between units is hindered by personal conflicts between unit leaders, resources might be withholded from each other and insufficient communication between different units leads to a lack of trust in the whole organization. According to Sy D’Annunzio (2005), there are two major reasons for silo-focused behaviors. First, most employees reside in the same function (and often the same unit within the function), throughout their careers. They always work with the same people and probably never had the chance to work with other elements of the organization. Second, MNCs with complex structures require a higher degree of collaboration, compared to small companies with simple line structures. Mostly, employees have not developed the necessary social skills for this high degree of collaboration. Often, the â€Å"command and control† thinking in traditional hierarchical organizations is simply turned over in complex MNC’s, where it is predestined to fail. Therefore, possible measures to mitigate silo-focused behavior are providing trainings for social skills, defining clear expectations for behavior in the organization, working across functions to learn about different points of view and most importantly building relationships between employees of different units (Sy DAnnunzio, 2005). Diversity in MNC’s As a multinational company works in a global market it must be prepared to detect all possible changes in the global environment and it has to be able to communicate and adapt the identity of the company to them (Ali Camp, 1996). 4.1 Cultural diversity Nowadays cultural diversity plays an important role in a company. The criteria discriminating these groups include race, geographic origin, ethnicity, gender, age, functional or educational background, physical and cognitive capability, language, lifestyles, beliefs, cultural background, economic category, tenure with the organization and sexual preference (Seyman, 2006). The company can’t offer quality products or services to the customers if it doesn’t understand and take in account the impact that the culture has in all the processes (Maddock, Lois Viton, 2008). Workers usually think that their behavior hasn’t got any influence on the final product or service, but to be effective, every part must have a clear vision of the company and a clear mission on it. The social, political and enterprise structure depends on everyone in the company, so the internal area and the human resources, one of the most important areas of a company, must be developed with the rest of the company to achieve their goals (Seyman, 2006). The misunderstanding and ignoring of different cultures, language and historical background lead to disasters in the field of setting up multinational business. To avoid this, a general knowledge of another nation’s culture and history is essential. So general cultural knowledge, if coupled with prejudice and prejudgment, is an obstacle to effective global management (Ali Camp, 1996). 4.2 Communication and language barriers One important challenge beneath culture is language barriers. Communication is essential for management. Yet communication relies upon a shared language, a pre-requisite that does not exist in many international business situations and that is when the problems start. The most pronounced manifestation of the language barrier at work can be found in the relationship between a multinational parent company and its network of international subsidiaries. Several factors contribute to the difficulty of achieving and sustaining effective communications and a productive, collaborative relationship. Even if an employee is relatively competent in the language of the other party, loss of rhetorical skills is always present as the use of humor, symbolism, sensitivity, negotiation, persuasion and motivation requires a very high level of fluency (Harzing Feely, 2008). 5 Managing diversity in MNC’s through HRM To manage workforce diversity in MNC’s it’s a challenge for the human resource management to establish a global corporate culture. To identify with the corporate culture of the company is the most important thing for the staff. That is why building a global corporate culture is one of the most important challenges for Multinational Companies. But also the management in MNC’s has been changing. There is a need for global leaders. The formation of such global leaders is also a part of the human resource management. 5.1 Need for global corporate culture The situation within global enterprises has been changing for many years. According to the cheap labor in eastern world and other factors, there has never been such a need for understanding the different cultures in multinational companies (Crocket, 2003). Cultural empathy, integrity, and comfortability in dealing with people from various cultures, along with effective performance, highlight the necessity to think and act in relevant cultural terms. This does not mean that today’s managers must know in detail the cultural and historical backgrounds of other nations. Rather, it means that global managers need to think and act with an open mind and in socially responsive ways to events at home and abroad (Ali Camp, 1996) To be able to work efficiently in the global market and industry it is very important to build a corporate business culture. A corporate culture can be explained by convening several different cultures represented by numerous different workers, working in a Multinational enterprise (Mendenhall, et. al., 2003). As the word Multinational enterprise already expresses that the company is acting global, it is common that numerous different people with different cultures are working for this company (Stern, 2008). Furthermore every culture has its own methods, values, beliefs, habits, language and so on. Organizations acting global can never work without interference of the leader board to create a global corporate culture. That is why a Multinational company has to offer corporate values, beliefs, methods, habits and working processes all set in the global corporate culture. Of course it is necessary to respect local cultures because if an organization does not respect the local cultures, workers will not be satisfied and can never identify with the company they are working for (Mendenhall, et. al., 2003). In former times there was the so called colonialism style of leading people. Colonialism can be understood as the control of overseas colonies by imperial powers. A foreign power rules a large group of people and the foreign power uses the colony for wealth and has more advanced technology than the people of the colonies (Glossary, 2005). In other words the headquarters and the top management delegated the work to their staff and controlled the output. This is not possible anymore. They have to create clear global corporate values. These corporate values assist to improve workforce and working processes as the staff all over the world can identify with the vision and values, the corporate culture, of the headquarters and all other subsidiaries (Reggie, Fabish, McGaw, 2005). The global corporate culture should assist to create a standardized culture with respecting local cultures so that the Multinational Company has a unique and corporate appearance to the outside. This global corporate culture should be written down with all its values, certain behaviors towards customers, suppliers, stake- and shareholders, its working processes, communication methods and team forming habits (Lotti, Mensing, Valenti, 2006). A very interesting article states that there has to be paid much attention with forming cooperation concerning the global corporate culture. It says that the company cannot be global until its board of directors does not reflect the countries and regions in which it operates. The board of directors has to focus on regarding and respecting all cultures convened in one company. All these different criteria of all convened cultures have to be adapted to fit in the company’s global corporate culture (Nair Chandran, 2006). Accenture made a survey within 900 C-suite executives in the U. S., the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada and China. These executives were asked to identify the greatest challenges with building global companies. Another thing Accenture wanted to know from these executives, was if there is a receipt how a Multinational company can succeed in the increasingly global market. The result to this question was that they found out that their chief concern is the ability to maintain a common corporate culture around the world. It means that half of the respondent executives believe that their companies are ready to succeed in this increasingly global market. It became very important that Multinational companies maintain their core values and their corporate identity across many cultures. Another thing getting very important is that the industry becomes knowledge based. Important as well is to understand local customs and ways of doing business in certain countries. A Multinational company needs the ability to service clients and customers effectively. Therefore they have to learn numerous things about how to deal with foreign countries and their cultures before they start to set up a global corporate culture in their company (Foster Mark, n. d.). 5.2 Developing global leaders The implication of managers has changed during the time. In a constantly changing world it is important to develop global leaders. Nowadays business works on a bigger field, within more different cultures than years ago. The more companies pursue global strategies, the more global leaders they need. How to find and train future global leaders has become a task for the human rescores management in global companies (Allen, 2000). 5.3 Why global leaders? It is important for the whole company that the leaders and the team of executives have the right skills and take the right decisions. The leaders should have global experience. If they do not have international experience they risk handling their work tasks incorrect. They will also have problems to communicate with their new employees from other cultures. Global leaders have to read their market right. This means that it is impossible to sell the same thing, the same way in different countries. There are different requirements that have to be profiled. So human resource management has to be adjusted to the countries they are working in. Leadership models have to differ because the importance of variables as relationships, short-term profits, hierarchies, ethics, and risk are different from culture to culture (Hofstede, 1994). The book Cultural Dimensions of International Mergers and Acquisitions shows that leaders build structure and control mechanisms based on their personal experiences and their national culture. Because they have such a big influence on the company’s strategy it is important that companies have good educated global leaders. Otherwise they might not be acclimatized to the global environment. The way to control a firm in France might not be the same way to control it in China. This example points out very clear that the way of leadership has to be adapted to local markets (Cardel et. al, 1998). 5.4 How to form a global leader? Some requirements for global leaders are that they have to be flexible, open and ethnocentric. They should also have the right background, which should feature an early international experience. This means for example an education from an international school with exchange programs and different teaching languages. On the other hand there are statistics showing that 50% of the learning how to be a global leader takes place though work experience, 30% through interpersonal relationships with bosses, peers, subordinates and professional contacts and only 20 % through formal education and training. This statistics can be interpreted in ways that through the right training on the job, nearly every manager can become a global leader (Lobel, 2007). How the company develops global leaders is very important for the company’s success, because 80% of their education take place on the job and not through earlier education. Aside from the development of global leaders it is for sure that global leaders are very important for companies because when a company enters a new market, the leader has to be keen to know what employees in the new country are needed to be able to compete in this market. They have to balance global integration with the local responsibility (Mendenhall et. al 2003). Global leaders have to learn themselves to integrate into a different social system. It is apparent that it is hard to find individuals that have all the right requirements to be good global leaders. Leaders should try to develop a global mindset. This means that they should be open minded, flexible and not egocentric. A very radical approach to encourage the open mind of global leaders is to abandon managers with homeless people. After such an experience leaders are usually less selfish and more open to other life styles and cultures. A less radical method to encourage a global mindset is the establishment of cross-border teams or projects (Mendenhall et. al 2003). 6 Conclusion In a growing global market companies tend to meet challenges if they do not focus on developing their HRM. It is hard to see the financial gaining of HRM and therefore many companies tend to focus on other aspects that are easier to measure and see the results of. But when operating in a global market with subsidiaries all around the world, the focus on HRM is crucial in creating a united company that works towards the same goals and visions. This is not possible without a well developed HRM strategy. A big challenge of HRM is building a global corporate culture. This means that the mother company needs to set corporate values, beliefs, programs, structures and rules. On the one side, it should help the company to deliver a corporate view of the company to the public. On the other side, it should help the staff working for the multinational company in the whole world to easily identify with the company with the help of the global corporate culture. The main issue of the next challenge of HRM is to find good global leaders, this because they affect the whole company’s opportunity to expand globally. The managers are the ones that make decisions about activity in the new global areas. Is hard to develop good global leaders, and the HRM has problems to find effective education for them. The leaders not only have to have the right education but also the right background, to become successful. All in all, focusing on only one of these prospective is not sufficient enough as they are linked together. MNC’s have to work on all of them to get a more effective HRM and a possible competitive advantage through this. HRM can be a tool to make the subsidiaries feel like a part of the global company, and work towards the same goals. Bibliography Business Journals Ali, A. J., Camp, R. C. (1996). Global managers qualities for effective competition. International Journal of Manpower, 17 (6/7), 5-18 Gomez, C., Sanchez, J. I. (2005). HRs strategic role within MNCs: helping build social capital in Latin America. International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol. 16, Issue 12 Harzing, A., Feely, A. J. (2008). The language barrier and its implications for HQ subsidiary relationships. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal , 15 (1), 49-61 Joyce, W. (1986). Matrix organization: a social experiemet. Academy of management journal, 29, 536-561 Lengnick-Hall, C. A. and Lengnick-Hall, M. L. (1988) Strategic Human Resource Management: A Review of the Literature and a Proposed Typology. Academy of Management Review. Vol. 13, pp. 454-70 Lobel, S. (2007). Global leadership competencies: Managing to a different drumbeat, Human Resource Management, Volume 29, 39 – 47 Mendenhall, M. E., Black, J. S., Jensen, R. J., Gregersen, H. B. (2003). Seeing the Elephant: Human Resource Management Challenges in the Age of Globalization. Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 32, No. 3, 261-274 Seyman, O. A. (2006). The cultural diversity phenomenon in organizations and different approaches for effective cultural diversity management and a literary review. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 13 (4), 297-302 Sy, T., DAnnunzio, L. S. (2005). Challenges and strategies of matrix organizations: top-level and mid-level managers perspectives. Human Resource Planning, 28 (1), 39-48 Lotti, R., Mensing, P., Valenti, D. (2006). A cooperative solution, Strategy + Business, published by Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., 1 – 5 Maddock, M., Lois Viton, R. (2008). Diversity – Don’t innovate without it. Business Week, June 17, 2008 Reggie, V.L., Fabish, L., McGaw, N. (2005). The Value of Corporate Values, Strategy + Business, published by Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., 1 – 9 Stern, S. (2008). Diversity Champions are losing a good argument, Financial Times Unlimited, July 8, 2008 Stern, S. (2008). Diversity Gurus must try harder, Financial Times Unlimited, July 7, 2008 Books Cardel, M., Soderberg, A., Torp, J. E. (1998). Cultural Dimensions of International Mergers and Acquisitions. Walt de Gruytet, ISBN 3-11-015800-0. Berlin, 23 – 56 De Wit, B., Meyer, R. (2004). Strategy: Process, Content, Context. 3rd Edition. South Western Educ Pub. 118 – 134 Mullins, J.L. (2007). Management and Organizational Behavior, Eighth Edition, Prentice Hall – Financial Times, 122 130 Databases Hofstede, G. (1994). Cultures and Organization – Intercultural Corporations and its Importance for survival, Harper Collins, 23 – 27 Holbeche, L. (2004). A perfect match decoding employee engagement – Part I: Engaging cultures and leaders, Emerald, 6 – 128 Kilmann, R. (1985). Understanding Matrix organization: keeping the dialectic alive and well. In D. Warrick, I. Glenview, S. Foresman, Contemporary organizational development, 152-165 Mellahi, K., Frynas, J. G. Finlay, P. (2005). Global Strategic Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 15 Miller, N.E., Dollar, J.C. (1950). Personality and Psychotherapy, McGraw-Hill, 12 46 Internet Foster, Mark, n. d., Maintaining a Common Corporate Culture is a Big Concern for Global Executives, Accenture. Available at www.accenture.com/Global/Accenture_Blogs/Accenture_High_Performance_Business_Blog/Maintaining+a+Common+Corporate+Culture+Is+a+Big+Concern+for+Global+Executives.htm. Downloaded on the 11h of June, 2008 Glossary, n. d.. Available at www.historyteacher.net/EuroProjects/DBQ1998-1999/glossary24-99.htm. Downloaded on the 11th of June, 2008 Nair, Chandrean, 31st of August 2006, Columnists: Multinationals and responsibility – Cracking the colonial corporate culture. Ethical Corporation. Available at www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=4483. Downloaded on the 11th of June, 2008.

Hybrid Cars :: Gasoline Electric Hybrid Automobiles

Hybrid cars: Abstract: A hybrid car, also known as an HEV or hybrid electric vehicle, is an automobile that is powered by two sources; an internal combustion engine, and an electric motor. HEV’s need plugs, as they are amply charged by the movement of the wheels and storing the kinetic energy that is generated through a process called regenerative braking. Cars have been accepted as a solution to the current pollution problems that we face, as they offer lower emissions than gasoline automobiles. Some hybrid cars produces around 90% less pollutants than regular cars. With cars with this system, a hybrid car can cross longer distances than normal ones with less use of gasoline. They can get up to 55-60 mpg in city driving, while a typical SUV might travel just 15-20 mpg. Also there are 2 types of cars: the first type is the series, and the second type is called the parallels Hybrid electric vehicle A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a vehicle which combines a conventional propulsion system with an on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) to achieve better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle without being hampered by range from a charging unit like a battery electric vehicle (BEV), which uses batteries charged by an external source.)The different propulsion power systems may have common subsystems or components. Regular HEVs most commonly use an internal combustion engine (ICE) in tandem with electric motors to power their propulsion system. Modern mass-produced HEVs prolong the charge on their batteries by capturing kinetic energy via regenerative braking, and some HEVs can use the combustion engine to generate electricity by spinning an electrical generator to either recharge the battery or directly feed power to an electric motor that drives the vehicle. Many HEVs reduce idle emissions by shutting down the ICE at idle and restarting it when needed. An HEV's engine is smaller and may be run at various speeds, providing more efficiency. HEVs became widely available to the public in the late 1990s. HEVs are viewed by some automakers as a core segment of the future automotive market. Technology The varieties of hybrid electric designs can be differentiated by the structure of the hybrid vehicle drivetrain, the fuel type, and the mode of operation. In 2007, several automobile manufacturers announced that future vehicles will use aspects of hybrid electric technology to reduce fuel consumption without the use of the hybrid drivetrain. Regenerative braking can be used to recapture energy and stored to power electrical accessories, such as air conditioning.

The Poem Negro by Langston Hughes Essay -- Poetry Analysis

The poem â€Å"Negro† was written by Langston Hughes in 1958 where it was a time of African American development and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes, as a first person narrator tells a story of what he has been through as a Negro, and the life he is proud to have had. He expresses his emotional experiences and makes the reader think about what exactly it was like to live his life during this time. By using specific words, this allows the reader to envision the different situations he has been put through. Starting off the poem with the statement â€Å"I am a Negro:† lets people know who he is, Hughes continues by saying, â€Å" Black as the night is black, /Black like the depths of my Africa.† He identifies Africa as being his and is proud to be as dark as night, and as black as the depths of the heart of his country. Being proud of him self, heritage and culture is clearly shown in this first stanza. The structure of this poem is not the traditional form of poetry, in that he begins with a first person statement then after an indentation, he elaborates on it almost lik...

The Roman Catholic Funeral Rite vs. the Jewish Funeral Rite

The Roman Catholic Funeral Rite vs. the Jewish Funeral Rite Funeral services in the 1990’s are more complex that they have ever been before. The modern funeral director must not only be aware of and comply with their own state and local rules and regulations, but also with the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule and a variety of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) rules. Add to this the fact that the so-called â€Å"traditional funeral† has become less and less traditional. While the religious aspects still play a major role in the majority of the funerals held in the United States, changes in the attitude of the clergy and the families, changes in funeral home structuring and pricing, and changes in the funeral home facilities and services that they render have caused a great change in the funeral itself. There are several religions that practice funeral rites, however, in this paper I will attempt to compare/contrast the Roman Catholic Funeral Rite vs. the Jewish Funeral Rite. Introduction to the Roman Catholic Church Of all the Christian religions in the world, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest, claiming approximately one billion members worldwide. In the United States there are about 55 million members. Roman Catholics believe that since Jesus Christ brought salvation into the world, He was the founder of their Church. They also believe that the Church has preserved the teachings of Christ and that the Holy Spirit guides the Church through its ministry. In regard to funeral rites, the Roman Catholic Church believes that all Catholics should be buried from the Church with a Mass. There is no actual charge for being buried from the Church. The funeral director should be able to guide the family as to the practices if an honorarium is customarily given to the celebrant. Clergy Notification The practice of notifying the deceased’s clergyman when a death occurs was at one time a common as well as sensible practice. However, today, this practice can in no way be considered the usual. Factors such as time of death, place where death occurred, and the relationship between the family and the clergy, each play a role in the family’s decision as to the appropriate time to notify the clergy of the death. Many families would be hesitant to call the clergy in the middle of the night and may determine that more can be accomplished by waiting until morning. This may be especially true in cases where the death was expected or where the Sacrament of the Sick had been administered. Since many priests want to participate in the decision making process for the date, time, and location of the funeral service, the funeral directors may want to determine whether or not the family had contacted the priest, who is to celebrate the Funeral Mass, prior to entering into discussions concerning the scheduling of the Mass. Removal of the Remains There are generally no church restrictions that would prohibit the removal of the remains at the time of death. In cases where the deceased was a clergy or a member of a religious order, there may be delays in the removal should there be a desire for special prayers by members of the order before removal. Preparing the Remains There are no specific restrictions as to the preparation of the remains of the body. Religious articles worn by the deceased should be removed, recorded, and replaced after the preparation of the body. The family should be asked if the religious articles should remain on the body or removed and returned to them. If the deceased is a clergyman or a member of a religious order, there may be restrictions as to how the remains are prepared. Some groups may request that the embalming be done in the convent, monastery, or rectory rather than in the funeral home. In this case, the funeral home should check with the individual within the church, monastery, or convent to obtain proper instructions and authorization to prepare the remains. Dressing and Casketing the Remains The deceased should be dressed in clothing selected by the family. Members of the clergy will be dressed in the robes of the station of their priesthood, while members of religious orders should be dressed in the robes of their affiliated position. Religious objects may be placed in the hands of the deceased by family or church officials. Rosary beads are most commonly used, and usually placed in the hands. A crucifix, sacred heart, or other religiously significant objects may be placed in the head or foot panel, on or near the casket. The Wake A Rosary Service or Wake will usually be held in the funeral or family home, or church the evening before the funeral Mass. This is to provide friends and family of the deceased an opportunity to share a series of prayers with the family. It is meant to offer a time of reflection on the meaning of life, death, and eternal life. The service may be led by a priest, layperson, family member, or the funeral director. This is usually scheduled by the family and approved by the church during the funeral arrangements. The Funeral Mass and Recessional The funeral Mass actually begins when the casket is moved into the vestibule of the church. The casket bearers and family members accompany the casket to await the celebrant and the alter attendants. The procession to meet the body is led by the crucifer and two alter attendants, one who carries the Holy Water and one who carries the incense. The celebrant is last in the procession. Following the greeting and invocation, the celebrant conducts the blessing of the casket with Holy Water. Casket pieces are removed at this time (if applicable) and set aside, and the casket is covered with a pall. In the case that an American flag is covering the casket, prior arrangements would be made as to remove the flag and use a pall. If removed, it will be properly folded and set aside. ) The procession down the aisle is led by the crucifer, followed by the alter attendants and the priest. The family will follow the casket down the aisle. When the procession reaches the foot of the altar, the cele brant will proceed up the steps while the funeral director seats the family and casket bearers. The casket should be placed at right angles to the altar. Laypersons and nuns re placed with their feet toward the altar, while priests are placed with their heads towards the altar. After the funeral directors exit the church, the celebrant will conduct several Bible readings, consisting of the Psalms and the Gospel. Family eulogies are then read and Communion is offered to all. After this, the celebrant will say the final commendation and bless the casket again with incense and Holy Water. After this, the funeral directors will return to the church for the recessional. In the recessional, the celebrant moves toward the cross bearer and the funeral directors return to each end of the casket. With room permitting, the casket is turned making the sign of a cross and it once again placed in the center of the aisle. The recessional makes it way out o the church the same order it entered. Variations of the funeral mass are common, but it the responsibility of the funeral director to maintain constant contact with the clergy. Introduction to Judaism Judaism, thought to date back to the 16th century B. C. , was the first monotheistic religion. Founded by Abraham, Judaism was the foundation for Christianity and Islam. It is based in the doctrine of one God, ancient scriptures (Old Testament) and Talmud (oral teachings of the Torah). There are three religious Jewish groupings in the United States: the Orthodox, who continue the ancient traditions and beliefs; the Reform, who allow greater flexibility and have adapted to modern practices; and the Conservative, who fit in between the Orthodox and Reform. The Conservative still follow ancient traditions, but have accepted gradual changes as a natural growth of the religion. (For the sake of this paper, I will be using mostly the Conservative and Reform position to compare to the Roman Catholic. ) Notification of Death/Clergy It is of up most importance that upon receiving the initial call of the death, that the funeral home request verbal permission to remove the body from the place of death. Upon meeting with the family, written permission of often received. It is also necessary to inform the family that embalming is not required by law, but is desired due to natural biological changes that occur after death. There are often times, whether it be for personal or religious reasons, that the neither the family nor the Rabbi want the body embalmed. It is usually not necessary to contact the Rabbi at the time of death unless the family so chooses to do so. The Rabbi is usually contacted after the funeral arrangements are completed and advised of the time and place of service. Dressing and Casketing The deceased may be dressed in any clothing desired by the family and Rabbi. The family will sometimes request that a shroud be used under the regular clothing or in place of the deceased’s clothing. The casket is the choice of the family and there are no restrictions as to the material it is made from or the type. Most will choose the traditional orthodox wooden casket, but metals or other materials normally used to make caskets are permitted also. The Funeral No funeral services, whether it is Orthodox, Reform, or Conservative, are to be held on the Jewish Shabbat, which is from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. The funerals may be held in the funeral home, the residence of the deceased, the temple, or the grave site. The Rabbi, often accompanied by a Cantor, will lead and direct the service. The Cantor will often chant and sing the readings. If the funeral is held somewhere other than the temple, the cortege will not normally stop at the temple on the way to the cemetery. In most cases the funeral home will provide transportation for the Rabbi and the Cantor. The Committal Service Burial may take place in any cemetery the family chooses. During the procession, the Rabbi may stop seven times to pray. Upon arrival to the cemetery, the casket is placed in wooden planks over the newly dug grave. The site around the grave is usually plain with no artificial grass, but if using artificial grass, a tent and mechanical lowering device is used. During the service, the Rabbi will say special prayers and led the mourners in the recitation of the Kaddish (a prayer recited for the deceased by parents, siblings, spouses, and children). The children will recite the Kaddish at every service for their parents for 11 months. Upon leaving the gravesite, mourners should wash their hands three times by pouring water on them, beginning with the right hand. The hands are then air-dried. As one can see there are numerous differences in the Roman Catholic and the Jewish funeral rites. However, these religions are only two of the thousands practiced in our world. While some may consider their religion healthier than others, everyone has the right to apply whatever religion they choose as well as participate in their own funeral practices. With all the available options, choices, and changes, the â€Å"traditional† funeral is basically no longer. Works Cited Curley, Terrance, P. Planning the Catholic Funeral. Liturgical Press, July 2005. Funeral Etiquette. Google. com. 13 April 2008. http://www. mountcastle. net/ funeral. htm#Funeral_Etiquette_. Gambrel, Leslie. Personal Interview. 12 April 2008. Greenberg, Blu. How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household. Simon & Schuster, September 1985. Conservative Judaism. Google. com. 13 April 2008. http://uscj. org/index1. html. Watson, Ron. A Time to Mourn, a Time to Comfort. Jewish Lights Publishing, New York. November 1995.