Green Innovation. Nokia Case

High-Tech marketing. Sustainable innovation- Nokia case study Introduction: The technology offers a promise of a better world through the improvements in standards of living. On the other hand, resource extraction, emissions of dangerous materials, and pollution of air, water, and soil have created conditions for environmental catastrophe and have already caused irreversible damage to the Earth.That is why in last few years, companies started focusing on an eco-innovation. Eco-innovation is the development of products and processes that contribute to  sustainable development, applying the commercial application of knowledge to elicit direct or indirect ecological improvements. This includes a range of related ideas, from  environmentally friendly  technological advances to socially acceptable innovative paths towards sustainability (http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Eco-innovation). Sustainability can be defined in a variety of ways. The short definition created in 1983 by a UN com mission is:   â€Å"Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs† (http://www. un. org/en/sustainability/index. shtml). The European Union adopted action plans to promote technologies that use less environmentally harmful alternatives.For example, the EU has passed laws requiring energy-using products, such as electrical and electronic devices and heating equipment, to be designed to be more energy-efficient (EPEAT). The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) imposes the responsibility for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment on the manufacturers. The Energy using Products (EuP) Directive, sets requirements to reduce the environmental impact of products that use electricity across their entire lifecycle.REACH is a recent European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use through better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical subst ances, especially those containing more than agreed-upon levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium (VI), polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. Nokia Corporation is a  Finnish  multinational  communications and information technology corporation. Its principal products are  mobile telephones  and portable IT devices.It also offers Internet services including applications,  games, music,  media  and  messaging, and free-of-charge digital map information and  navigation  services through its wholly owned subsidiary  Navteq. Nokia has around 101,982 employees across 120 countries, sales in more than 150 countries and annual revenues of around â‚ ¬30 billion. It is the  world's second-largest mobile phone maker  by 2012 unit sales with a global  market share  of 22. 5% in the first quarter of that year. Nokia was the world's largest vendor of mobile phones from 1998 to 2012.However, over the past five years it has suffered a declining market share as a result of the growing use of smartphones from other vendors, and devices running on Android  operating system. As a result, its share price has fallen from a high of US$40 in late 2007 to under US$2 in mid-2012. Since February 2011, Nokia has had a strategic partnership with  Microsoft, as part of which all Nokia smartphones will incorporate Microsoft's  Windows Phone  operating system. Its first handsets were released in October that year (http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Nokia). Purpose and Mission Nokia’s mission is simple: Connecting People. The goal of Nokia company is to create mobile products that allow people worldwide to enjoy the technology. The key elements of Nokia strategy are: * building a new winning  mobile ecosystem in partnership with Microsoft * bringing the next billion online in developing growth markets * investing in next-generation disruptive technologies * increasing our focus on speed, result s and accountability (http://www. okia. com/global/about-nokia/about-us/about-us/) Nokia follows the concept of the open innovation which lead to forming a strategic partnership with Microsoft that will regain lost place in a smartphone market. Open innovation encourages Nokia-Microsoft cooperation to search and exchange new knowledge, develop products and services to become competitive in the market. I believe open innovation will benefit Nokia and its consumers as it will enhance relationship between producer and users.Although, Nokia is not an energy intensive company because most of the greenhouse gas emissions occur only during manufacturing by suppliers or usage of products, Nokia pays attention to the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of its products and operations. The main of Nokia should focus on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions as well as raising awareness and promoting best sustainable practices in mobile phone industry. In accordanc e to the terms of REACH, Nokia has pledged that the use of chemicals in Nokia products and processes shall be safe to humans and the environment.Furthermore, Nokia is the first company that created climate strategy that concentrates on products, manufacturing, facilities, logistics, suppliers   and customers. So far, the greenhouse gas footprint of Nokia phones has been reduced by up to 50% between 2000 and 2010, while introducing new features and capabilities. In my opinion, Nokia should focus more attention on its customers in encouraging and educating them through use of the products to be more eco-friendly. For example, develop travel applications that help people in reaching destinations quicker and application that encourage people to choose public transport instead of cars.The most useful application would be one that shows the nearest bus stops, train or metro stations, the routs, destinations and the time of arrival/departure. Furthermore, Nokia products should have energ y saving options available in every smartphone model, like switching off online functions (WIFI, internet, GPS etc) when they are not in use for some period of time. Sustainable mobile products Nokia products are eco-friendly as the company uses sustainable materials, develops smaller, recyclable packaging and improves energy efficiency for products.Every Nokia product comes with an eco profile, which explains its materials, energy efficiency, packaging, environmental impact and recycling. Picture 1. Ingredients of Nokia smartphones Adopted from: www. nokia. com/global/about-nokia/people-and-planet/sustainable-devices/materials/materials/ New Nokia products are eco-innovations and have environmental features. For example: Nokia Lumia 820 -automatic screen brightness adjustment, -battery saver feature, -energy efficient charger -contains bio plastics ; recycled metals 100% recoverable as materials and energy -100 % recyclable, minimized package made of -renewable -materials containin g up to 60% recycled materials. Nokia 700 -Power Save mode, -ambient light sensor, -unplug charger reminder, -OLED display, -contains recycled metals, bioplastics, bio paints and recycled plastics -100% recyclable packaging (http://www. nokia. com/global/about-nokia/people-and-planet/sustainable-devices/sustainable-devices/) In my opinion, Nokia should also focus on process of recycling the old phones.For example, when customers want to buy a new Nokia phone, the company should proceed according to The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) that imposes the responsibility for the disposal of electrical equipment on the manufacturers. The best solution would be buying an old phone off customers for a small price and recycle some parts of the phone to recover the materials which can be used for producing new models. The Research ; Development department should also focus on innovation regarding the new energy sources, for example, solar power.To my surprise I learn t that Nokia already has been testing the Portable Solar Charger as a charging opportunities for people that want to use Nokia smartphones but do not have access to the electricity. Furthermore, in 2006 Nokia introduced small packaging which is easier to recycle. Lighter packaging also reduced transportation costs. In my opinion, Nokia should still work on reducing the use of paper and plastic in the packaging. Some of the packages still have paper information, certificates and instructions which are unnecessary. In my opinion, these ocuments together with the user’s guide should not be included in a package, but available online for all customers. Promotion Nokia promotes its products as eco-friendly in the mobile phone market. The company also raises awareness about environmental issues, education. The perfect way of promoting the company with sustainable values in the world is to improve access to information and communication technologies (ICT) in developing countries. Th is would bring benefits to people who are unable to access these technologies for financial or geographical reasons.The company should offer affordable mobile products and services to help people develop business and employment opportunities all over the world. Nokia has already done it, as it collaborates with UNESCO’s Education for All and uses the mobile technology to develop mobile educational products such as Nokia Education Delivery, Nokia Life and Nokia mobile mathematics. Nokia Education Delivery uses mobile technology to deliver quality education materials to remote, hard-to-reach areas so teachers and trainers can access and download videos and other educational resources.Furthermore, in 2008, Nokia launched a pilot scheme for mobile mathematics in South Africa. Nokia Life education services provide health information and advice on pregnancy, parenting, diseases, fertilizers and pesticides, yield enhancement techniques, market prices, and weather (temperature, rainf all, wind conditions). In my opinion, Nokia company should also promote its sustainable values by taking part in worldwide voluntary actions that promote human rights by ethical labour, high quality of work environment, health and safety and equality. DistributionNokia provides guidance on what expect from suppliers. These requirements include environmental and social expectations, which are based on international standards such as ISO 14001, SA 8000, OHSAS18001, PCMM and ILO, and UN conventions. Thus, Nokia suppliers undergo a number of assessments designed to measure their environmental and social performance. In my opinion, Nokia should also ensure that company suppliers provide safe working conditions, use environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and contribute to reducing the environmental impact of our own operations.Nokia should pay attention to the energy and water consumption, waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing products as well as dis tributing the products to the consumers. If the suppliers do not follow sustainable guidance for companies, Nokia should help them achieve those goals by sharing knowledge and experiences with others. Nokia should also have an open communication system with suppliers, customers, and non-governmental organisations that promote sustainability. Development of the company:Reading the documentation of Nokia company it seems that it is a leader in green- innovation in the market of mobile phones. The company is aware of the impact on the environment and tries to minimize by following governmental laws and introducing own sustainable regulations. However, in my opinion Nokia has neglect the importance of promotion and communication with customers its environmental values. Therefore, I would like to propose my ideas for improving few sectors of the company which can make Nokia more competitive in the market and be recognised as eco-friendly among its customers. 1. Communication and promotio n:Nokia should focus its communication messages on showing that the whole company and its products are sustainable and have well-recognised eco-friendly approach among its customers by presenting posters in the Nokia shops or actively and publically supporting environmental organisations. The company should also encourage customers to become more eco-friendly in their everyday life through encouraging them to participate in happenings and day events. Nokia should communicate its green innovation messages more to the general public and potential customers using media like TV adverts and radio messages or internet actions.It would be good if the company took part or initiate some events and happenings which aim at environmental awareness. I also like the idea of Nokia’s mathematics in schools. This action should be continued and also should be better communicated to schools and parents. It would be a good idea if Nokia would open a charity which helps children from developing c ountries in schools or establish academic grants for children from underprivileged families who have mathematical skills. Furthermore, Nokia should also create a school program for ecology and sustainability in primary and secondary schools.In my opinion, it would be a good idea if Nokia would provide bins in schools for recycling batteries or other small electronic appliances. 2. Pricing: To be more competitive in the fast growing market of smartphones Nokia should keep their prices low and affordable for everyone with keeping the high quality standard of the products. Nokia already has lowered the cost of packaging and transport of products by reducing size and use of paper, this should have a reflection in the phone prices as well. In my opinion, Nokia should make a packages even smaller without unnecessary use of plastic covers and paper in them.All the information about the phone should be available on a website after registering or entering the serial codes together with users ’ guide. Furthermore, to appear more ecological friendly Nokia should buy off the customers the old phones which can be recycled by the company again. This way customers feel like being a Nokia’s customer is profitable, taking care of environment as well. Customers receive a high standard product for a good price and in addition they are also paid for returning the old phone. 3. Research and Development:Nokia research and develop team focus on solutions that enhance the energy efficiency in the products. To more competitive in the market Nokia should invest more money in the R;D department and work on new technologies which will use renewable energy. Research and Development is a vital part of every high-tech company and to be successful in innovations Nokia has to recruits the employers through different channels. In my opinion Nokia should offer studentships and grants for postgraduate IT, engineering students who will work on Nokia products and develop them.Nokia al so should offer many apprenticeships for students and graduates who will bring different approach to innovations and help develop products. This will help the company to improve or create new products as well as encourage creativity of employers. Furthermore, Nokia should be more open to communication with its customers and employ them in the open innovation process as well. For example, Nokia should organise contests for its users which encourages creativity: design a smartphone of the future. People could design their own phones using online Nokia application and for the best

Is Gambling a Social Problem Essay

Gambling is an act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning. It also involves a significant risk as the material good (usually money) wagered in the game may be lost if the player does not win. Common forms of gambling include cockfighting (which usually results in the death of one or both roosters), casinos (which has become a profitable business), slot machines (convenient for those who want to play individually), bookmaking (often used for predicting the winners of sports competitions), and caracruz (simplest form of gambling which has existed since ancient history). There is an ongoing debate among social scientists, psychologists, business lobby groups, and others on the benefits and dangers of gambling. Some anti-gambling social activists argue that gambling is a serious social problem, while others argue that gambling problem is a problem of certain individuals who suffer from psychological ills and that in certain circumstances gambling on the contrary is a significant source of income (for example, for Native American tribes). Gambling Is a Social Problem ?Gambling is associated with a range of social issues and thus needs to be designated as a social problem. According to research on the topic, there is a correlation between various social problems and gambling. For example, Hardoon et al. , point out in their study that gambling problem among adolescents they studied stemmed from the lack of healthy familial and peer support, drug use problems, behavioral problems, problems related to family issues, and the parental gambling problems as well as their substance abuse. According to Hardoon et al. , there is a significant familial contribution to gambling problems. Read more:  Ã‚  Essays on Social Issues Many of their respondents said that their elder siblings had a strong influence in their decisions to experience gambling. Many of the respondents who suffered from gambling problems said that their parents themselves were problem gamblers. The study by Hardoon et al. , also points out that children of problem gamblers suffered from insecurity and a sense of â€Å"pervasive loss† (170). They also argue that gambling problem among parents leads to various kinds of familial dysfunctioning, including drug addiction, conduct problems, and delinquency. Hardoon et al. , also point out that there is a connection between gambling and substance use. â€Å"Compared to nongamblers,† they write, â€Å"adolescent gamblers are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, and use drugs† (171). Gamblers are three times more likely to use drugs than non-gamblers. Gambling and substance use problems among adolescents often leads to delinquency and illegal behavior. Adolescents suffering from serious gambling problems are also likely to experience difficulty in school such as decreased academic performance and poor grades. More than half of the problem gamblers Hardoon et al. , studied suffered from conduct problems as well. They were more likely to break rules, get into troubles with individuals in authority, frequently display oppositional behavior, and join anti-social activities (171). This study in general demonstrates that the gambling problem is part of larger social issues and there is a clear correlation between gambling and various social problems. Another study on the impact of gambling on college students suggests that about 1. 6% of the U. S. dult population meets the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling (Level 1), and 3,85% reportedly suffer from subclinical (Level 2) gambling problems. Among college students, the rate of gambling problem on both levels is twice as high as it is among the general adult population. There are significant social and health-related problems associated with adolescent gambling problems. Adolescents and young adults addicted to gambling suffer from serious stress-related problems. Many of them attempt and even complete suicides. Among these adolescents and young adults, the rate of disorderly familial relationships is much higher. There is a higher rate of comorbidity with other addictive disorders, and there are more frequent instances among these adolescents and young adults of arrests and convictions. The study concludes that â€Å"social norms–based social marketing campaigns (emphasizing accurate descriptive norms for alcohol) to successfully reduce alcohol use on campus† needs to be reworked and applied for combating gambling problems among college students (Larimer & Neighbors 241-242). This is another testament to the fact that gambling is a social problem and that the way to reduce it is to employ tools which are used for combating other social problems. Illuminating in this case is the experience of Native American tribes in the United States. With the passing of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, which mandated legislative basis for managing and regulating Indian gaming, the number of casinos has sharply risen in Native American communities. As a result of this, one study of this phenomenon points out, Native Americans â€Å"are four to six times more likely to be pathological gamblers and two to five times more likely to be problem gamblers than non-Indians† (Momper 139). The study also cites poverty, unemployment, and historical injustice as factors that contribute to the development of gambling problems among indigenous groups. According to this study, there is a similar correlation between the practice of excessive gambling and predisposition to other social and behavioral problems such as alcoholism, drug use, and disruptive behavior among Native American groups—but in significantly higher numbers than it is among non-Indians in the United States. Gambling is Not a Social Problem ?While it is true that gambling addiction, just like any other addictive behaviors such as alcohol addiction or drug addiction, is a social problem, gambling itself is not a social problem. Participants of gambling make conscious decisions and they have the freedom to stop the practice whenever they think it is detrimental to their financial, psychological, and social conditions. For example, in the year 1999 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission surveyed the U. S. opulation and found out that 86% of Americans had gambled some time in their lives, and that 68% gambled in 1999 alone (Seligman 86). Out of this large segment of the population who regularly gamble, only a tiny percentage of the population suffers from serious gambling problems. ?Discussions over the use of gambling are sometimes controversial because it is one of the businesses in America which has a bad reputation, on the one hand, and is so popular that more and more Americans are demanding gambling opportunities, on the other. Due to its popularity, gambling has been legalized in all states except Hawaii, Tennessee, and Utah. Residents of these states also gamble, by traveling to other states or by taking advantage of online gambling opportunities. Total wagering in the Unites States is around $900 billion a year (constituting 10% of personal income), and the lion’s share of wagering takes place in casinos ($600 billion). And casinos now exist in twenty nine states. But these are official figures and unofficially the extent of gambling among Americans is likely to be much higher (Seligman 87). Gambling in the United States is a legitimate form of business, and designating it a social problem would necessitate that we label other legitimate forms of business as social problems as well. As Seligman points out, â€Å"Wall Street offers plenty of bets with risk/reward opportunities that mirror those of slot machines—a long shot with occasional huge payout. Buying out-of-the-money puts on an airline stock just before a union vote would fall in that category. If the members unexpectedly vote against wage concessions, you could make a killing on the bankruptcy† (Seligman 89). Some critics of gambling who criticize it from an economic perspective, say that, while gambling consumes time, energy, and resources, it does not produce any real output. But that argument can be used against most kinds of financial transactions and speculating, both of which are acceptable, and in today’s world, necessary components of international financing. As for the charge that problem gambling leads to comorbidity with other social problems such as alcohol abuse and drug use, more research is required to determine the nuances of this connection. Does excessive gambling lead to alcohol abuse or is it the way around? If it is the former, then it is the problem of gambling addiction which needs to be labeled a social problem and remedied. If it is the latter, then it is the problem of alcoholism rather than gambling because alcohol abusers have more than one way of ruing their lives (gambling is not their only option), and even here the issue is the abusive consumption of alcohol, not alcohol consumption in general. Those who see gambling as a social problem ignore the fact that gambling may—and in many cases it does—lead to positive social outcomes. This is generally the case in the Indian reservations in the U. S. As Momper points out, an IGRA passage which aimed at encouraging gambling on reservations for the purpose of raising the standards of living on the poorest reservations â€Å"was the only federal policy that produced lasting effects for tribes, inasmuch as the unemployment rate (38 percent) on 214 reservations with casinos decreased by 13 percent from 1989 to 1995. Even if one takes into account the increase in the number of problem gamblers, other social and economic gains from casinos on reservations greatly outweighed the negative consequences of this business. In addition to creating jobs, casinos on reservations provided the American Indian community with various social services and strengthened their social bonds (Momper 142; Cornell et al. , 1998). While it is true that gambling addiction as increased among American Indian residents as a result of building casinos, in many instances improvements in standards of living took many of them out of poverty, decreasing the rate of behavioral problems and anti-social activities. ?In summary, both proponents of gambling-is-a-social-problem thesis and their opponents have strong arguments at hand. The debate is likely to continue without being resolved as it is a controversial topic and gambling among the U. S. population leads to mixed results: both positive and negative.

Consumer Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Consumer Law - Essay Example Since D-I-Y is in the business of selling home improvement products, there is an implied condition that the varnish supplied is of satisfactory quality, especially since it is an in-house product. Was the varnish of satisfactory quality? There are two factors that would appear to indicate that it was not. Firstly, goods are deemed to be satisfactory if â€Å"they meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory†¦.taking into account all other relevant circumstances.†2 In the case of â€Å"Dà ©cor Shine† the instructions on the tins indicate that the product is suitable for use on all types of wood. But this is not the case – the product is not suitable for use on very old wood since it causes shrinkage. Therefore the description that has been used for the product is false and akin to misrepresentation3 and cannot be said to be the kind of goods that Alf intended to buy. In the case of Reardon Smith v Hansen Tangen4, Lord Diplock clearly highlighted grounds that could exist for breach of contract through lack of identification of the goods being purchased: Alf intends to buy varnish for treating old wood, Dà ©cor Shine is not suitable for use on old wood, yet the label implies that it is, therefore the description of the product is inaccurate – they are not fit for the purpose for which Alf intends to use them.6 The statutory test to determine the merchantable quality of goods is that they are fit for the purpose that they are to be used8. Secondly, there is another factor impacting upon the satisfactory nature of the product - it contains no instructions that it should be used in well ventilated conditions, a statutory warning that would normally be included with these types of products and which a buyer has a right to expect. Since Dà ©cor Shine is in the business of supplying building products, there is an implied condition that the goods being supplied are of â€Å"satisfactory

ETHICAL ISSUES Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ETHICAL ISSUES - Research Paper Example This ensures that only the researches that meet the minimum ethical requirements are conducted, hence, increasing the chances of having a successful research. Another way that an internal review board assists in ensuring the researches undertaken are successful is through provision of information and training to researchers. According to Craig (2009), an internal review board serves as a resource for researchers by providing them with training and information necessary for conducting a successful research. This ensures that the researchers are well equipped when they are undertaking a research and, thus, influences their ability to achieve a successful research. The training and information that this board provides assists researchers in facing some of the challenges of conducting a research and, hence, makes their research successful. The ethical issues involved in research vary with the kind of research undertaken, as well as the research method chosen for the research per se. The ethical issues for an engineering research that does not involve human subjects are different from the ethical issues of a social research that involves human subjects. However, several ethical issues are applicable in almost every research undertaken regardless of the research type and research method. One of such ethical issues is the way subjects in a research are to be treated by the researcher. Another ethical issue is how the research should be undertaken while the other one is how the research findings should be reported. These three ethical issues are sensitive when it comes to any kind of research undertaking. If the subjects in a research are not well treated by the researcher, they can experience some direct or indirect harm because of the participation in research (Oliver, 2010). Therefore, the ethical issue of treating the subjects well and carefully during a research is a very sensitive issue. The ethical issue on

Strategic Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Accounting - Essay Example One of the major developments in the area of managerial accounting is the product life cycle costing which has gained serious recognition during recent periods to meet the challenges of changes in the production systems and procedures. Product life-cycle costing being the new development in the management accounting system has been defined as "a new area of reporting in cost management systems which is the accumulation of costs for activities that occur over the entire life cycle of product"(Hilton, 1994, p.230). Product life cycle examines the life of the product from its development stage to the stage till the removal of the product from the usage. According to Horngren & Foster (1991), product life-cycle covers the life of the product from the time of initial research and development to the time when sales and support of the product to the customers is withdrawn. Burstein (1988) observes that the life cycle costing becomes more and more crucial and important in the light of rapid changes in technology and the shortening of the product life cycle. There is a sharp distinction between the product's life cycle costs and the whole life cycle costs. Life cycle costs cover all the costs that the manufacturer will have to incur and whole life cycle cost includes the costs at the hands of the consumer like installation, operation, maintenance, revitalization and disposal (Shields & Young 1991.) Adamany & Gonsalves (1994) have identified the following seven stages in the life cycle of a product: 1. Analysis Stage - involving a critical assessment of the concept and the effects of investing on the concept 2. Start Up Stage - comprising of prototyping, dedication of the manufacturing facilities and practical assessment of the effects of the investment 3. Entry Stage - where the entry into the market with a new product or service is planned 4. Growth Stage - during which the firm receives back the returns on investment as potential sales revenues 5. Maturity Stage - at which the firm harvests the profit from the product or service 6. Decline Stage - signifying the tampering down of the sales which necessitates moving to the withdrawal stage or revitalizing the product 7. Withdrawal Stage - the product is withdrawn from the market It is also vitally important that the managers gather all the required information at the different stages of the life cycle and the life cycle concept introduces an integrated approach to planning and budgeting. Mapping of Key Information Requirements Life Cycle Phase Time Customer Requirement Satisfaction Target Pricing Resource Requirement Continuous Improvements Cash Flow Analysis Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Start up Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Entry Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Growth Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Maturity Critical Critical Critical Critical Decline Critical Critical Withdrawal Critical Source: (Adamany & Gonsalves 1994) Actions under Life Cycle Costing for Generating Revenue and Reducing Costs Revenue Generation Cost Reduction Product Improvement: New Processes Features Cumulative Volume Performance Experience

The Hiring Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Hiring Process - Essay Example Over time, employers will recognize that people are more likely to reveal their true self on social media while they mask themselves during interviews. A critical analysis of social media profiles of potential employees can help the employers create a link between the information presented during the interview and the facts surrounding the individual. Despite these advantages, employers will need to be cautious when using the social media in the hiring process so that they do not violate the established Communications Act (Segal 70). The only disadvantage of using social media during the recruiting process is that employers and human resource managers can easily find themselves violating laws that protect individuals. 2. Select one of the suggestions from the article and write a paragraph to convince top management where you work that the benefits of the remodel will outweigh the costs in terms of attracting potential employees. In my view, it will be beneficial if the top management ditches the cubicles that are small offices designated for each employee. Research reveals that employees prefer open spaces that allow them to interact freely. Many new employees will not feel comfortable if they are compelled to be confined in a small office without any form of direct interaction with their workmates. Introducing open spaces will benefit the organization, as employees will have an opportunity to share ideas. Moreover, open spaces will facilitate two-way communication channels a factor that will benefit the organization (Redbeacon.com 1). Contrary to the small cubicles, employees are more likely to feel free if they are working in non-congested areas with the free flow of air and the possibility to move around. Such environments are more conducive to creativity and

Socioautobiography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Socioautobiography - Essay Example I had to know how to protect myself, but part of that protection meant keeping interest off of me when it came to possible threats. In Queens, in the middle of New York City and surrounded by millions of people, there was never enough space for me to go off and have any time to myself. I had to learn to make my own privacy even when surrounded by other people. I believe this quality has benefited me well in improving my ability to focus in distracting situations. I always lived in a two-parent household. I always knew that my parents loved me, my two brothers, and each other very much. These positive memories from my childhood have given me a stable foundation on which to build the rest of my life. My parents' example of a healthy marriage gave me the guidance I needed in my life to understand how stable relationships and happy families are built. I plan to take this knowledge and pass this on to my own children someday, whenever I decide it is time to take that next step forward wit h my life. My mother worked as a social worker and my father was a police officer. They raised me and my siblings in an extremely value-oriented household. I was taught from an early age to respect others and also to respect authority. My parents also raised me with a deeply-held belief in social responsibility. It was not enough for my family and for me to live in the world without actively causing harm to anyone. I also needed to do something that bettered my community and improved the world around me. As a result of these teachings from my parents, my two brothers followed in my father’s footsteps and became police officers for the city of New York. However, I wanted to do something different with my life and my career than the rest of my family. I had just enough of a rebellious streak in me that I felt it was necessary to leave home and try something new. However, this rebellious tendency was not enough for me to let go of the values my parents had taught me. As a result , my career choice was to join the military, which is a value-oriented career but one that was very different from anything my parents or siblings had ever done. I thought the military was a perfect choice for me, since I could expand on my existing skills and beliefs while seeing new places and experiencing all kinds of new things. For my first year after basic training, however, I felt that joining the military had been a huge mistake, possibly the biggest mistake I had ever made in my life. I was a child of the urban environment where I had grown up. Being sent to places like the farming community out in rural Texas, the location to which I was originally deployed after training, was a major shock. I missed being surrounded by all the activity and the bustle of the city. I felt like there was nothing for me out there, surrounded by nothing but mountains and empty desert all the way to the horizon. I also missed my family members and the closeness I had shared with them during my childhood. My parents and siblings all still lived in New York City. In fact, most of them still live in the neighborhood where I was born. I rarely had a chance to see them. At that time, joining up with the military seemed like the worst thing that had ever happened to me. Unsurprisingly, during my time in the military I was sent overseas to serve in Iraq. I completed two tours of duty there. It was an experience that I will never be able

Media Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Media - Case Study Example In addition, with the incorporation of the Human Rights Act of 1998 set forth in Articles 8 & 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), concerning the 'tort of privacy' (although a merely 'implied' principle and a little more defined in the previous decades) the courts must also decide what is 'proportionate' and necessary, or if the injunction requires a 'social need' with regards protection of privacy.2 What is interesting to note here is that other countries encompassed by the European Union have interpreted this principle akin to the law of privacy. The German courts for instance declared that the statute serves to "ensure that the State complies with its positive obligation under the Convention to protect private life and the right to control the use of one's own image"3 It is clear that the two main foundations of the court's issuance of an injunction are the breach of the law of confidence and the principles of tort of 'privacy' (though still unspecified) as enshri ned in UK's Human Rights Act of 1998 and the ECHR. Based on the principles of the law of confidence, ... .4 It has to be remembered that Sporting Sunday has acquired material 'confidential in nature'5, reminiscent in the case of Coco v A N Clark (Engineers) Ltd [1969] RPC 41). The material was apparently not 'something which is public property' or constitutes a 'public knowledge'. 6An important requirement in application of this principle, provides that, 'there had to be an unauthorised use of the information' detrimental to the 'confider.' 7 Clearly, the publication of the 'unflattering' and 'imprudent' photographs of the couple, Jones & Davies is detrimental to the claimants as they are popular public figures. This contention is cemented in the case of Venables & Thompson v New Group Newspapers Ltd and others8 when Dame Butler-Sloss granted injunctions 'against the whole world' barring the disclosure of information which could have led to the recognition of the killers of James Bulger. The court decided that the 'disclosure of the information in question might lead to grave, possibly fatal, consequences for the claimants.'9 The primary importance of this decision is that information or personal data cannot be divulged, regardless of the circumstances. The courts must decide if non-disclosure of information threatens public safety. Based on the aforementioned principles, the circumstance surrounding the case of Davies & Jones and the publication of their photographs are not matters of public importance or public interest. In the case of A v B [2003] QB 195 10 the court bestowed an interim injunction which barred a newspaper from disclosing the claimants sexual liaison with a woman to whom the claimant was not married. The injunction was given based on the consideration that the information was, in nature, confidential and subjected under the principles stipulated in

My Tok Moment Essay Example for Free

My Tok Moment Essay My TOK moment was tonight 02/02/12 when the year one students had a batch meeting at the mosque having some games to create a stronger bond between us. As usual this kind of thing made my instinct to escape getting bigger and stronger. So, I decide to sneak out from the program pretending that I had to make some important call. So I ask the permission of our class rep to go out for a while with my best friend. Then we straight forward go to the dewan selera to have an early supper and fortunately the menu for that night is laksa penang. At that time was about 10.45 pm and of course there was no one else except both of us having the supper together. Then came this year one student who was at that time duty at the koop asking and making a generalisation that we are year two students by offering nasi lemak free from koop and fortunately she doesn’t know who we are. I think this was my TOK moment because this particular student has made a generalisation by inductive logic ,since all year one students were having the meeting at the mosque it was impossible that both of us are year one student so she called me â€Å"abang†. So to avoid our identity from being revealed we just pretend that we are full but actually I really want that nasi lemak free.

The Importance of the Past Essay Example for Free

The Importance of the Past Essay When I was 3 years old I remember my mother taking me to day-care for the first time in my life. I was scared and it was very hard for me to make friends. There I understood for first time the meaning of rather having one or two good friends than to have many of them and none of them really cherishing your friendship. That was an opinion I stuck to since and it pretty much had an effect on every one of my relationships. Every single memory and experience has an impact on our lives and builds up our personalities. Sometimes more and sometimes less, but it is still very essential what kind of things has happened to us before. For example someone who has always been mocked about some quality he or she possesses, may become very sensitive about the matter later on. Or it may be something as serious as a Freudian theory about how our childhood affects our personality when we grow older. Whatever it is and no matter how aware are people about the impact of that issue on their lives, it most certainly will affect them somehow. Why is then our past so important in development of our personalities? Well, maybe simply because the most of our thinking consists of remembering something we did couple of hours, two days or even many years ago. The more we think about something particular, the more it grows on us making the subject a part of who we are and controls what we do. The rest of the time we are dreaming or making plans for the future, and that is possible only of the construction of millions of different memories, schemes and expectations of the various outcomes. That fact makes future a very flexible thing. If eventually our future is just a combination of our past, then we have some power to make it something we crave it to be. That is achievable by trying to live our lives in the best way for us as possible. That way everybody can become a person he or she wants to see themselves like.

The Strategy Formulation Framework Tourism Essay

The Strategy Formulation Framework Tourism Essay 2.0 Introduction Chapter 2 will introduce the users about the Methodology used in conducting the research and analysis of the strategies used by Saba Restaurant. The type of methodology used in the conducting this research is The Strategy-Formulation Framework. The purposes of introducing this methodology to the user are to provide the information by which the validity of the research will be ultimately judged. This is to ensure that the team that carries out the research will be able to provide the users with clear and precise descriptions of how the research and analysis was done, and the rationale for the specific key points chosen. In such this will allow the users of the report to carry out similar strategy formulation method to evaluate whether the results are reproducible, and also allow the users to judge whether the results and conclusions are relevant, reliable and valid in the sense that the result will reflect the business natures and it industries. 2.1 Vision and Mission Statement First and foremost for the first part of the Chapter 2, the users will be introduced about the formulation and the evaluation of a companys vision and mission statement. To enable an organization to formulate and implement good alternative strategies, a clear vision and mission statements are needed. This part will be focusing on the concepts and tools needed to evaluate and formulate a good business vision and mission statement. In order to give users a better understanding on vision and mission statement of a business, it is important to focus on the business when it is first started. Vision and mission statements are the resulting written documents which mirrors the basic ideas of the sets of belief about a business. It is crucial for the owner or manager to revise the founding set of beliefs as the business starting to grow. Those new ideas will then be reflected in the revised vision and mission statement. Synergies are said to be achieved when the managers and employees work together to formulate the vision and mission statements for an organization. As a result of such work, the output gained in the form of resultant documents can reflect the personal visions that managers and employees have in their hearts and minds about their own futures. In the end, such shared vision will create commonality of interest within the organization that will motivate both the employees and management to achieve the organizational goal as one. 2.1.1 Vision Statement Evaluation In order to formulate a good vision statement, it is important to involve all the managers and executives in an organization to come out with a common agreed vision that will strives to achieve in the long-term organizational goals. Basically, most of the organizations nowadays have both a vision and mission statement but in order for an organization to operate in long run, the vision statement should be established first and followed by the establishment of the mission statement of an organization. A clear vision statement should be able to answer the question of What do we want to become? Thus, the said vision will able to provide the organisation the foundation for developing a comprehensive mission statement in which that enables an organization to operate effectively and efficiently in the short-run. A vision statement basically is evaluated based on the following characteristics: Should be short and clear, preferably in one sentence; and Should involve as many managers or executives as possible when developing the vision statement. All in all, it is very important to have a clear vision statement before an organization set up its mission statement in order to have a clear view of an organizations long term business operation and to always strive for the vision to achieve desired future position of the company. 2.1.2 Mission Statement Evaluation In order to formulate an effective mission statement, the mission statement should always be broad in scope. The term broad in scope highlight the relationship between specificity and generality of the mission statement. Due to the fact that an overly specificity statement would most likely limit the potential of creative growth for the organization; while an overly generality statement which includes various strategy alternatives could lead to dysfunctional in an organization. Thus, an effective mission statement should be able to answer the question What is our business? As a mission statement reveals an organizations effort in become what they want to be and whom they wish to serve their products and services. A good mission statement will enable the management of an organization in the formulation and consideration of a range of possible alternative objectives and strategies without excessively limiting the management creativity. Besides that, an effective mission statement needs to be reconciliatory so that the organization is able to reconcile the differences effectively among the organizations diverse stakeholders and appeal these differences to them. Nonetheless, a good mission statement should be able to assist organization in identifying the relative attention that it needs to dedicate to meeting the claims and obligations to various stakeholders. The harmony relationship between the specificity and generality of mission statement is usually difficult to achieve, but it is well worth the effort. The following characteristics are what an effective mission statement should have: Broad in scope; do not include monetary amount, numbers percentages, ratios, or objectives Less than 250 words in length Inspiring Identify the utility of a firms products Reveal that the firm is both socially and environmentally responsible Reconciliatory Enduring Include the nine mission statement components Nevertheless, as mission statement is often the most visible and public part of the strategic-management process, it is important that it also includes the nine components which made up of the following: Customers Who are the firms customers? Product/Services What are the firms major products and services? Markets Where does the firm compete (geographically)? Technology Is the firm technologically current? Survival, growth profitability Is the firm committed to growth and financial soundness? Philosophy What are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations and ethical priorities of the firm? Self-concept What is the firms distinctive competence or major competitive advantage? Public image Is the firm responsive to social, community, and environmental concern? Employees Are employees treated as valuable assets of the firm? In conclusion, an effective business mission statement must be able to reflect the judgments about the future growth directions and strategies that are able to achieve an organizations long-term goals and objectives. Besides that, an effective mission statement should provide useful criteria for selecting among alternative strategies and act as a basis for decision making over various strategic option. Thus enable the organization to determine the best alternative strategies to strive for and what type of decisions to be made in order to achieve the organizations goal and objectives. As such, the mission statement should be updated often to stay relevant. 2.2 Strategy-Formulation Framework Chapter 2 Part 2 will be discussing about the Strategy Formulation Framework in details to enable users to understand the nature of the framework and also to understand each stages of strategy formulation framework. Strategic management analysis plays an important role in an organization as it largely involves  managers, executives or strategists in making critical alternative decisions based on objectives information. Users will able to understand the important concepts that help managers, executives or strategist in formulating, evaluating and deciding which alternatives is the best course of action. Factors that will determine the decision of the management in generating alternative strategies are the External Environment Forces and the Internal Environment Forces. Both the External and Internal Environments Forces have strong relationship within organizations, as these forces are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) that the organizations currently have and will be anticipating in the near future. Firstly any changes the External Environment Forces will affect the consumer demand for both industrial and consumer products and services. Nevertheless, the external forces also directly affect both suppliers and distributors. Any changes made in the external force will ultimately alter an organizations effort on the opportunities and threats anticipation. Organizations will able to develop clear mission, develop long-term strategies and develop policies to achieve annual objectives and organizational goals through identifying and evaluating both external opportunities and threats. The external environments forces include the following factors that will be used to evaluate and gather information on organizations opportunities and threats: Key External Forces Demographic Forces Factors comprises of the demographic forces are usually the population demographic such as age, gender race distributions, marriage divorce rates, immigration rate, education systems, education levels, distribution of income wealth, and other factors that will affect the populations demographic Economic Forces These forces mainly consist of factors such as inflation rate, GDP growth rate, unemployment rates, import or export conditions and other factors that will generally affect the economics of the world. Political/Legal Forces Factors which needed to be consider in this forces are the government stability relations with other countries, government spending and taxation policies, industrial policies, laws and regulations on employments, environment protection, foreign trade, duties and tariffs, and other factors that may affect these type of forces. Socio-cultural Forces Socio-cultural forces mainly consists the factors of the social class structure and mobility, the attitudes towards lifestyle trends, work places, consumerism and environmentalism, and other factors in which might affect these type of forces. Technology Forces Factors such as the new discoveries or development in the industry, speed of technological transfer, obsolescence rates within own or related industry, government polices and spending on research, technology changes and others should be considered. Global Forces Global forces mainly consists of factors arises from all other external forces that are in relation to global contexts. Physical Forces Factors that focus on the physical existences and locations of an organization in a specific area will affect its market capabilities. Industry Forces Industry forces mainly comprises of the competitive forces of an organization with all its competitors in the industry. Factors such as the bargaining power of customers suppliers, threat of new competitors substitute products or services and rivalry among existing competitors. Secondly, the Internal Environment Forces will be the organizations Strengths and Weaknesses in the functional areas of business. No organization is equally strong or weak in all areas. Objectives and strategies are established with the purpose of capitalizing the organizations internal strength to overcome the weaknesses. An organization strengths and weaknesses can be seen and evaluated from its effort in marketing, finance, accounting, management, management information system, production or operation and its research development efforts. The internal environment forces include the following factors which will be used to evaluate and gather information on organizations strengths and weaknesses: Key Internal Forces Resources This key internal factor mainly focuses on the organizations internal resources such as materials or other assets that are used to produce economical benefits for the organization. Examples of such factors are the financial resources, human resources, physical resources and other resources that may affect an organizations operation. Capabilities Capability is the ability of an organization to initiate and perform its daily operation. It concern about the ability of an organization to utilize the resources and transform them into future benefits, and to create competitiveness edge over its competitors. Core Competencies Core Competency is reflected as a unique ability that an organization has which cannot be easily imitated that give an organization one or more competitive advantages, in creating and delivering value to its customers in its industry. Then again, the Strategy-Formulation Framework is regarded as important strategy-formulation techniques which are integrated into a three-stage decision-making framework. The tools used in this framework are applicable to all organizations type and able to help strategists formulate, evaluate and select strategies. Stage I: The Input Stage External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) Internal Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix Stage II: The Matching Stage Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) Matrix Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix Internal-External (IE) Matrix Grand Strategy Matrix Stage III: The Decision Stage Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) Table 1 As show in Table 1, Stage 1 of the formulation framework consists of the EFE Matrix, the IFE Matrix and the Competitive Profile Matrix. Being the Input Stage, Stage 1 act as the basic input to summarize the information needed to formulate strategies. This information is largely dependent on the Key External and Internal Forces that managements or strategists have identified and evaluated. Stage 2 which is the Matching Stage, focuses on generating feasible alternative strategies by using the key external and internal factors that have been summarized in Stage 1. Tools in Stage 2 include the Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Matrix, the Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, the Boston Consultation Group (BCG) Matrix, the Internal-External (IE) Matrix and lastly the Grand Strategy Matrix. Results from Stage 1 and 2 are then be used in Stage 3 to indicate which alternative strategies are the best for the organization in its current state and to achieve long term objectives. Stage 3 also known as the Decision Stage involves a single analytical technique that is designed to determine the relative attractiveness of feasible alternative strategies or actions. Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) uses input information from Stage 1 to objectively evaluate feasible alternative strategies identified in Stage 2. As QSPM will reveals the relative attractiveness of alternative strategies and thus provide an objective basis for selecting specific strategies. Details on all nine techniques of strategy formulation framework will be further discussed in the following part starting from Chapter 2 part 3. 2.3 Stage 1: The Input Stage Stage 1 of the formulation framework consists of the EFE Matrix, the IFE Matrix, and the Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM). As the Input Stage, these three tools basically are the summary of basic input information needed to formulate strategies. The information derived from these three matrixes will provide the basic input information for the Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the framework. 2.3.1 External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix In stage 1, users will be focusing on identifying an organizations internal and external environment factors by using The External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix. EFE Matrix also known as the Industry Analysis focuses on summarizing and evaluating an organizations external environment which covers the industrys economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental, legal, technological, and competitive information. These external environment forces will ultimately affect an organization in making decision on choosing feasible strategies alternatives to meet its long term goal. Table 2 is the example of EFE Matrix. The rest of the page is left blank as intended Key External Factors Weight Rating Weight Score Opportunities 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Threats 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Total 1.00 Table 2 Steps in developing EFE Matrix List a total of 16 to 24 key external factors consist of both opportunities and threats that affect an organizations industry which are identified in Chapter 3 External Environment. Information picked should be as specific or objectives as possible, using percentages, ratios and comparative numbers. Assign each factor with a weight that ranges from 0.0 (not important) to 1.0 (very important). Usually opportunities receive higher weights than threats, but if threats are severe or threatening, then it should be given higher weights. The sum of all weights assigned to the factors must equal to 1.0 Assign a rating between 1 and 4 for each key external factor. This is to indicate how an organizations current strategies will effectively respond to these external factors, where 4 = superior response, 3 = above average response, 2 = average response and 1 = poor response. Multiply each factors weight by its rating to determine a weighted score. Sum the weighted score for each variable to determine the total weighted score for chosen organization. Factors includes in EFE Matrix should always be as objective as possible, where factors should be stated in quantitative terms to the extent, rather than being just vague terms. No matter how many numbers of key opportunities and threats included in an EFE Matrix, the maximum or highest possible total weighted score for an organization will always be 4.0 and the minimum or lowest possible total weighted score is 1.0 and an average score of 2.5. Rating above average rating of 2.5 indicates that the organization is taking the advantage of existing opportunity and minimizes the potential threats; rating below 2.5 indicates that an organization is not effectively taking advantage on the external opportunities and also trying to avoid the threat they are facing. As conclusion, the EFE is used to summarize and evaluate the key external opportunities and threats that are beyond the control of the organization. 2.3.2 Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) Other than External Factors Evaluation (EFE) Matrix, Stage 1 also includes the Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) that is used to identify an organizations major competitors and its particular strengths and weaknesses in relation to a sample organizations strategic position. Similar to EFE Matrix, the weights and total weighted scores in CPM have the same meaning and purposes. Illustration of Table 3 will further allow users to understand the calculation and evaluation of a CPM. Company A Company B Company C Critical Success Factors Weight Rating (1-4) Score Rating (1-4) Score Rating (1-4) Score Advertising Product Quality Price Competitive Management Financial Position Customer Loyalty Global Expansion Market Share Total 1.00 Table 3 Critical Success Factors in the CPM include both the internal and external forces issues that make up the factors in the EFE Matrix and IFE Matrix, and thus the ratings for the factors are referred to strengths and weaknesses, whereby 4 =major strength, 3 = minor strength, 2 = minor weakness, and 1 = major weakness. However, these critical success factors are not grouped into opportunities and threats as the ones in the EFE Matrix. The rating and total weighted scores for rival firms can be used to compare the competitive performance to the sample firm. The results from the comparative analysis will provide important internal strategic information. However, users have to aware that they should avoid assigning the same rating to firms included in the CPM analysis. Nonetheless, users should also be reminded that the rating in a CPM are not aiming to arrive at a single number, but rather to integrate and evaluate information that aids in decision making. In conclusion, the CPM is used to identify a firms major competitors and its particular strengths and weaknesses in relation to a sample firms strategic position. The rating results from CPM should be used to aid an organization in decision making. 2.3.3 Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix Last technique used in Stage 1 will be the Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix. Users will be focusing on constructing IFE to summarize and evaluate on the internal strategic management or the major strengths and weaknesses in the functional area of an organization. When developing IFE Matrix, users are required to use their intuitive judgments. Below is an example of IFE Matrix which is illustrated in Table 4. Key Internal Factors Weight Rating Weight Score Strengths 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Weaknesses 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Total 1.00 Table 4 Steps in developing IFE Matrix List a total of 16 to 24 key internal factors consists of both strengths and weaknesses which are identified in Chapter 3s Internal Environment. Information picked should be as specific or objectives as possible, using percentages, ratios and comparative numbers. Assign each factor with a weight that ranges from 0.0 (not important) to 1.0 (very important). The sum of all weights assigned to the factors must equal to 1.0. Factors being strengths or weaknesses that have the greatest impact on organizational performance should be given the highest weights. Assign a rating of 1 to 4 to each key internal factor. Rating 1 = major weakness, 2 = minor weakness, 3 = minor strengths and 4 = major strengths. Beware that only weaknesses will receive rating 1 to 2; and strength will receive rating 3 to 4. Multiply each factors weight by its rating to determine a weighted score. Sum the weighted score for each variable to determine the total weighted score for chosen organization. Just like EFE Matrix, factors includes in IFE Matrix should always be as objective as possible, where factors should be stated in quantitative terms to the extent, rather than being just vague terms. No matter how many numbers of key internal strengths and weaknesses that are included in an IFE Matrix, the total weighted score can range from a low of 1.0 to a high of 4.0 and an average score of 2.5. Rating above average rating of 2.5 indicates that the organization is internally strong, while rating below 2.5 indicates the organization is internally weak. It is important to user that while developing IFE Matrix, try not to have the financial ratio analysis as key internal factors to be more than 30 percent of the total factors. This is because financial ratios are generally the result of many other factors and thus this may create confusion and disorient the organization in which strategies to be considered based on the financial ratios analysis. In conclusion, the IFE Matrix is used as a technique to summarize and evaluate the key internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization, also to act as a basis for identifying and evaluating the relationship among the key internal factors. By the end of Stage 1, users will now able to understand the use of the three techniques or tools (EFE Matrix, CPM and IFE Matrix) to summarize and evaluating both key internal and external factors of the organizations and its industries. Next part of the Chapter 2 will be focusing on the Stage 2 of the Strategy Formulation Framework which is the Matching Stage.

Effective Devices :: Linguistics Language Communication Essays

Effective Devices There is a description of the family who migrated from Vietnam to the US, and they are having a language problem inside of family in the essay, â€Å"Language Use in Family and in Society,† from the English textbook, Constructing Others, Constructing Ourselves. (Lee Thomas, Linh Cao 61 -71). The parents cannot speak English although the children are comfortable with speaking English. As a result, the parents and children cannot communicate appropriately in various situations, and the parents have lost their authority on their children. The children do not respect their parents because they cannot be proud of their parents. In fact, the majority of people who migrated to the US forget their mother tongue after coming to the US because it is no longer necessary for them. The authors, Lee Thomas and Linh Cao, inform us to take this issue as a serious thing for the future of the U.S. In this essay, they use very effective strategies to help the audience understand this issue. I will analyze this essay by using the concepts of rhetorical triangle, structure of the argument, and rhetorical appeals. First, I use rhetorical triangle to analyze the essay. First, Lee Thomas and Linh Cao are the authors of this essay. Lee Thomas teaches linguistics courses in the English department at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Linh Cao is also an English teacher at Sparks High School in Nevada. There are professionals in the study of English. Secondly, the audience is English teacher, people who are in this situation, people who are interested in this problem, and the US government. Third, the purpose is to inform to the US government and American people about the issue that parents and children who cannot communicate with their family because of the different languages which they are familiar with individually. The issue has not well known to the majority of people in the U.S. However, the number of people in this situation will increase in the future because of immigration to the US, and it will continue to cause serious problems. Secondly, I will analyze the essay in terms of the structure of the argument. There are five different aspects.

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White Essay example -- Charlotte Web E.B. Whi

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White Fern convinced her dad not to kill the runt pig and he gave it to her to take care of. She named him Wilbur. Wilbur was getting bigger and bigger and eating more and more. He had to be sold so Fern called her aunt and uncle the Zuckermans. The goose told Wilbur that there was a loose board in his pen. He escaped but he got tired, hungry and afraid. Uncle Homer lured him back to his pen with food. Wilbur had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day because it was raining and his plans got ruined. He started to cry, but then he heard a soft friendly voice. The voice said, "Salutations!" At first he didn’t know who said it. Then he saw a large gray spider waving at him. It was Charlotte. It is summer and school is out for Fern and Avery. The goslin...

Family Memoir: A Jobless Caregiver Essay

The sober statement that â€Å"we need to have a family meeting† foreshadowed bad news for several reasons.   First, we were not the type of family that had formal sit-down meetings.   We were casual, informal, and the very thought that news needed to be communicated around a table suggested that something bad or terrible had occurred.   Second, the tone with which the news was delivered was unusually stern and unsettling. Smiles were the rule in our house, laughter was contagious, and the look on my father’s face as he demanded the meeting was altogether foreign and fraught with trepidation.   If my father was worried then there was cause for worry among all of our family members.   Finally, as we sat down to the meeting, my father carried with him a pen and a small notebook. He opened the notebook as we took our places at the table and he clicked the pen to begin writing.   I glanced at the notebook and saw that he had written the words â€Å"monthly budget.†Ã‚   He set down the pen and said to open the family meeting that à  have lost my job and until I can find a new job we have to make some changes around here.† I was absolutely shocked.   We had never imagined my father without a job, we had always taken our comfortable standard of living for granted and then we were suddenly faced with the prospect of not having our basic needs met.   My mother cried and I waited to find out what would happen. In retrospect, this was probably the defining moment in my family’s existence.   It was a test for all of us, not simply for my father, and we all contributed to preserving the family despite the obstacles caused by an unexpectedly jobless caregiver.   At that meeting, for example, we set out a monthly budget for the family and then monthly budgets for the family members. All of us promised to make sacrifices until my father found a new job and it soon became apparent as we brainstormed how much money we wasted on a monthly basis.   We ate things that contributed little to our sustenance.   We rented excessive numbers of movies when other means for entertainment were readily available. What I learned from this intimate family tragedy, and the thesis of this family memoir, is that modern families spend far too much money and fail to properly plan for emergencies.   Providing for basic necessities, in short, is a far nobler goal than spending money for the sake of spending when little or no value is secured in return for this type of indiscriminate spending. The first thing that my father did, after assuring us that he would immediately begin looking for a new job, was to outline in his notebook the purchases that we could not do without.   He wrote down such things as rent, food, and electricity.   Rather than assuming these as fixed necessities, however, he instead asked how we might cut our expenses with respect to these expense categories. I admired my father for the way that he solicited or opinions as important members of the family unit, rather than dictating new rules and practices, and gradually we all began to come up with new ideas.   Food was an area where out family had effectively overspent for years.   In reality, human beings need nothing more than nutritional meals.   We promised to eliminate junk food from our   diet and to eliminate unnecessary trips to the local fast food restaurants and ice cream parlors. We needed, to be sure, nothing more than the grains, fruits, and vegetables that we all learned about in the elementary school’s food pyramid lesson.   My father calculated some eating practices on the notepad and it soon became apparent that we had been spending more on unnecessary dietary purchases than on necessary purchases.   Together, we calculated that we could save a significant amount of money by eating healthier and more simply.   The same conclusion could be drawn after examining our monthly electricity and leisure expenses. We all promised not to use the electricity for unnecessarily long periods of time and to reduce the purchases of movies and magazines when we could secure the same entertainment functions by playing existing board games or playing basketball outside.   It was a startling realization to discover that we spent a significant amount of money to entertain ourselves when we could have entertained ourselves without having spent a single penny.   It costs nothing, to be sure, to walk to the neighborhood park and shoot a couple of baskets.   It costs nothing to walk to the library and read more books than one might ever find in a commercial bookstore. This new set of experiences and the attendant realizations reminded me of something read as part of a school assignment in which a writer named Henry David Thoreau observed that â€Å"I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of. Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in. Who made them serfs of the soil?†Ã‚   (Thoreau 5). My family learned through deprivation what Thoreau learned more than a hundred years ago about life in a competitive world.   What we learned was that human beings create to a large extant their own financial dependence and that this painful cycle can be broken or tempered by living more basically.   That my father would find a new job within the next two months did not cause my family to forget the lessons learned; quite the contrary, these are lessons that are deeply etched   in my family’s collective memory and which are applied in our daily lives.   Life, in sum, is complicated by false needs and the failure to live simply and modestly. Works Cited Thoreau, Henry D. Walden. Ed. J. Lyndon Shanley. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971. Questia. Web. 7 June 2010.

Reviewing Classroom Management Plan Essay

In reviewing this classroom management plan, I will be looking at the various elements that make up the plan. Such as the visual environment, physical arrangement, class rules and procedures as well as the types of instruction, communication plan and the teacher’s personal philosophy. Classroom management involves teacher actions to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self- motivation. (Burden 2004) The management plan discusses how the visual environment will be set up to motivate the students to learn by having a star student board. That recognizes the student’s hard work both intellectually and socially. As well as having the walls decorated with posters and student’s artwork. There will also be plants and animals in the classroom that the students will be take care of in order to develop of sense of responsibility. It is important to make your classroom an attractive, comfortable place. (Burden, 2004) Sensory stimulation is another effect of a good classroom setting. For children, it is easier to learn in a very appealing classroom, because the elements of the things that would appeal to the senses are there. Pictures, colors, sound, and so forth. (Furniture, 2008)The physical arrangement is set up in groups so that the students can use it as a work space as well as centers. By putting the desks in group it promotes group cohesiveness as well as helping with behavior management. It also helps students with different learning needs, because students get the help that they need by having their peers and teacher to help them. Having different centers in the classroom is an excellent way to incorporate many skills and concepts, but it is also a great way to target students’ different learning styles. This plan gives students a chance to express their different learning styles. By giving them a chance to work with other students in the book nook area or meet with them on the carpet at different designated times. The arrangement of furniture affects space allocation and space allocation has effects to the learning atmosphere. If the classroom looks narrow and small for students, they feel restricted and they do not interact well. On the other hand, if a classroom provides adequate space, students feel that there is space for interaction. (Furniture, 2008) The room is set up so the high traffic areas are free of congestion and there is plenty of space to be able to move around the room effectively. Some things that you could add to make the classroom more accessible for students in a wheel chair is by maybe adding a ramp outside the class room, and larger work space area for the student to be able work at instead of a traditional desk. The way the desks, tables, and other classroom materials are arranged affects instruction and has an influence on order in the classroom. (Burden, 2004) The plan does not tell how the teacher developed the rules. Ways that you could have the students become involved in the process of making the rules is by asking the students what things that they think should be a rule. Depending on the age of children, the teacher may need to reword the rules in positive way instead of a negative. When teachers collaborate with their students to identify the need for rules and procedures in the classroom it helps to establish an orderly and safe place for learning. When they are given the opportunity to help create the list of rules, students are more motivated to follow them. Students will understand that the rules are meant to keep them safe and help them figure out what to do. Rules are general behavioral standards or expectations that are to be followed in classroom. They are general rules of conduct that are intended to guide individual behavior in an attempt to promote positive interaction and avoid disruptive behavior. (Burden, 2004) For playground and cafeteria behavior the teacher has the students follow the classroom rules. Procedures are approved ways to achieve specific tasks in the classroom. (Burden, 2004) If students know the classroom procedures, the routine runs more smoothly and efficiently and less time is wasted. (Ashbaker, 2006) Establishing classroom procedures and rules helps teachers and students to stay organized. When the students have  clear expectations there are fewer behavior disruptions. Procedures tell students how to perform routine instructional and housekeeping tasks. (Sadlers, 2009) The teacher has set transitions for the students to follow for beginning of the school day, leaving the room, returning to the room and the ending of day. The transitions for starting the day is having the students put a card onto the bulletin board telling what they want for lunch, they will also find out what their job will be for the day. By doing this it teaches the student’s responsibility for making sure that their job gets done and they get to chose what they want for lunch. The students next need to go to their desks and do their morning working which gives all the students time to put their lunch card onto the bulletin board and find out their job. As well as letting the teacher get any last minute things ready for the day of instruction. The students have a set way of leaving the room in which they need to do the appropriate sign language sign for their needs. Then once the teacher acknowledges them, they also need to sign out on the sheet by the door and take the hall pass. When returning to the room the students needs to enter the room quietly and sign back in on the paper and return the hall pass and then return back to their work. By doing this it also forces the student to take responsibility for remembering the right sign language sign and also to make sure that the teacher sees the sign before they can get from their desk. As well as making sure to remember to sign out and sign in and take the hall pass and return the pass when they return back to the room. Transitions are movements from one activity to another. A smooth transition allows one activity to flow into another without any breaks in the delivery of the lesson. To reduce the potential for disorder during transitions, you should prepare students for upcoming transitions, establish efficient transition routines, and clearly define the boundaries for the lessons. (Burden, 2003) The children are taught sign language for the words drinking fountain, sink, and bathroom, which are non-verbal cues that the students can use to let the teacher know of their needs. As well the teacher also uses cues by raising her hand in the air to let children know that the classroom is getting too noisy. The students will then raise their hands as well and put their finger over their lips and immediately stop what they are doing and put their eyes on the teacher. By using sign language as well as other non verbal cues, it is a way for the student as well as the teacher to express themselves without disrupting the class. The teacher states that she will using multiple intelligences to include all learning styles, She will be using a combination of direct instruction, small groups and center to teach the students. There is no mention in the plan of how the teacher creates or delivers her lesson plan. To meet the needs of diverse students, instruction cannot be one-dimensional. By using various methods of instruction it helps each student to reach their academic potential. (Burden, 2004)There is a communication plan set up to keep the teacher, students and parents up to date on the student’s progress. The students will receive feedback on their assignments as well as assignments will be displayed on the front board. Each student will keep track of their assignments in their own personal assignment books. If a student stops completing their assignments then there will be a pink slip that will be sent home to the parent. Which will explain the assignment that was not completed the consequences as well the slip needs to be signed by a parent before sending back to school. There will also be a star bulletin board set up where the teacher will give the student positive feedback. Parent conferences will be held as well as having report cards sent home. This plan help the students receive some positive feedback from their teachers as well as letting them stay up to date on their homework assignments. Although I think this plan needs to include more ways for students as well as parents to receive frequent positive and negative feedback. Providing positive feedback helps the child to feel good about what they have accomplished. As well from negative feedback learn what skill or behavior they need to approved upon. Overall I like this class management plan; I believe Classroom Management is the key component in any educational setting. I believe that if students are in a safe environment, then learning can take place. In this plan the teacher set the tone for the class, by preventing behavior problems with interesting and engaging curriculums and effectively including all students in the classroom so that their needs are met. Having the right environment for all students to learn should be every teacher’s major goal. In order to implement an effective classroom management plan in the classroom, without it the students would not be able to learn. The changes I would make are to include more feedback for students and information on how the rules and lesson plan were developed and implemented. Also let the students have a part in developing the rules, so that will have a better understanding of rules. They also will be more inclined to follow them and the consequences. Another thing that is missing is a behavior system that includes some certain of reward system for the students as well as the classroom for positive behavior and consequences for negative behavior. I would leave everything else the same; I think that the main components of the plan would work well with the needed changes that I have suggested. I think that a paraprofessional would be able to fit nicely into this plan by helping the teacher and students when needed. . References Ashbaker, B. & Morgan, J. (2006). Paraprofessionals in the Classroom. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc Burden, Paul R. (2003). Classroom management: Creating a successful learning Community (2nd). JohnWiley & Sons. Maine Burden, P. (2004) An Educator’s Guide to Classroom Management. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Sadlers, Krista. (2009, November 2). How to Establish Classroom Procedures and Rules. Retrieved from http://classroom-organization. suite101. com/article. cfm/how_to_establish_classroom_procedures_and_rules Furniture Arrangement affects learning. (2008). Retrieved from http://sugearup. com/2008/09/furniture-arrangement-affects-learning.

How Useful is Bakhtin’s Concept of Carnival?

Bakhtin Mikhail Mikhailovich (1895-1975) was Russian philosophist, literary critic and the theorist of art. He is a representative of Russian Structuralism and his historical and theoretical researches on epic and novel literature are important for understanding of the cultural development. Mikhail Bakhtin was one of the first theorists who investigated the polyphonic form of the novel ( «Problems of Dostoyevsky's Poetics », 1929) and folk â€Å"laughing† culture of the Medieval Ages ( «Rabelais and his World, 1965).He is also an author of the essays  «The issues of literature and esthetics » (1975) and â€Å"On the philosophy of the act† (1986). He was the first who use the concepts of dialogism (The Dialogic Imagination) and heteroglossia, the carnivalesque and chronotope in the literary critique. Bakhtin’s concepts are very useful for explanation of the nature of the genre of the novel. The â€Å"dialogism† and â€Å"heteroglossia† invo lve a special â€Å"multivoiced use of language†. The concept of the novelistic â€Å"chronotope† describes historical aspects of literary sources; it uses specified and differentiated time and space for the plot.The present essay is devoted to the concept of â€Å"the carnivalesque†. Bakhtin considers that novels â€Å"can be described as inspired by a laughing truth, indebted to parodic genres and to the spirit of carnival†. Bakhtin was interesting in Rabelaisian work since 1930s. His first work about this Renaissance writer was  «Francois Rabelais in the history of the realism » (1940). This work appeared in the time when Soviet ideology admitted concepts of the realism and the national character. Bakhtin adopted these categories and proposed the concept of carnivalesque.He suggested that low humor culture of Medieval Ages and Renaissance was a power folk opposition to the official values and government. The characteristic of folk low humor, the â €Å"life of the belly† was accepted as the main source of Rabelais book and became a discovery in the critique on medieval literature and, particularly, Rabelais creative work. It was the first publication about the philosophy of laugh. The theory of carnivalesque was developed not only for the explanation of local historical fact but as a universal phenomenon of the world culture.Bakhtin’s idea about  «carnivalization » of literature was developed in other works, but the first record of this theory appeared in the second edition of the monograph on Dostoyevsky. After the Second World War, in 1946 Bakhtin tried to defend theses in the Institute of World Literature (Moscow). The subject of his theses was the creative work of Rabelais. But in Stalin epoch his dissertation was rejected (Bakhtin received the degree of candidate of science (the lowest scientific degree in Russia) only in 1952) and they prohibited publishing the text of the dissertation about Rabelais.Mi khail Bakhtin published the book â€Å"Tvorchestvo Fransua Rable i narodnaya kul’tura srednevekovia i Renessansa† (The creative work of Francois Rabelais and the popular culture of the Medieval Ages and the Renaissance more known as Rabelais and his World) only in 1965. In the next couple years this book was translated in foreign languages (English translation by Helene Iswolsky was published in Cambridge, MA: M. I. T. Press, in 1968) and it opened the epoch of Bakhtin’s influence on the Russian and world humanistic thought.The central esthetic idea of Rabelais and his World is â€Å"grotesque realism†. Rabelais created images of the grotesque body; he emphasized the features of â€Å"lower bodily strata†. The grotesque body is opened to the world, his physiology is not hidden, and this body degrades and regenerates actively. â€Å"In grotesque realism†¦ the bodily element is deeply positive. It is presented not in a private, egoistic form, s evered from other spheres of life, but as something universal, representing all the people.As such it is opposed to severance from the material and bodily roots of the world; it makes no pretense to renunciation of the earthy, or independence of the earth and the body. We repeat: the body and bodily life have here a cosmic and at the same time an all-people's character; this is not the body and its physiology in the modern sense of these words, because it is not individualized. The material bodily principle is contained not in the biological individual, not in the bourgeois ego, but in the people, a people who are continually growing and renewed†¦.This exaggeration has a positive, assertive character. The leading themes of these images of bodily life are fertility, growth, and a brimming-over abundance. Manifestations of this life refer not to the isolated biological individual, not to the private, egotistic ‘economic man,' but to the collective ancestral body of all the people† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and his World, p. 19). Bakhtin found the Renaissance was a period of the benign balance between destructive and regenerative features of grotesque realism. He wrote:â€Å"The essence of the grotesque is precisely to present a contradictory and double-faced fullness of life. Negation and destruction (death of the old) are included as an essential phase, inseparable from affirmation, from the birth of something new and better. The very material bodily lower stratum of the grotesque image (food, wine, the genital force, the organs of the body) bears a deeply positive character. This principle is victorious, for the final result is always abundance, increase† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and his World, chapter 1, p. 62).Mikhail Bakhtin emphasized an opposition between the low popular culture and the official culture of the later middle Ages and early Renaissance. The official culture use static stratified model of the world. Unofficial culture is a culture of Carnival. The etymology of the word â€Å"Carnival† is enough sophisticated. The word is derivated from Italian carnevale, alteration of earlier carnelevare, literally, removal of meat, from carne flesh (from Latin carn-, caro) + levare (from Latin to remove, to raise). Another explanation finds roots of the Carnival in Ancient mysteries.They derivate word â€Å"Carnival† from â€Å"carrus-navalis† (the chariot-ship) of Roman religious ceremonies. Carnival concentrates the contrasts of folk culture and shows the chaotic and imperfect nature of the world. An individual of the middle Ages lived two lives: one that was the official life (church, social duties etc), another was the carnival life filled in with burlesque and low humor. The novel of Rabelais shows how the popular culture liberated the society and how the conventionalities were destroyed in the contact with the reality of the modern era.Bakhtin sees Rabelais not only as a novelist but â€Å"his wor k embodies a whole new philosophy of history, in which the world is viewed in the process of becoming† (Bakhtin’s cycle, 2004). In the Prologue to Rabelais and His World Michael Holquist wrote: â€Å"Bakhtin's carnival, surely the most productive concept in this book, is not only not an impediment to revolutionary change, it is revolution itself. Carnival must not be confused with mere holiday or, least of all, with self-serving festivals fostered by governments, secular or theocratic.The sanction for carnival derives ultimately not from a calendar prescribed by church or state, but from a force that preexists priests and kings and to whose superior power they are actually deferring when they appear to be licensing carnival. † (Michael Holquist, â€Å"Prologue,† Rabelais and His World) The carnival of the adventures of Pantagruel is not similar to the modern carnival. The Renaissance cultures understand the carnival as the â€Å"temporary suspension of al l hierarchic distinctions and barriers among men †¦ and of the prohibitions of usual life.†(Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World p. 15). The Renaissance Carnival is unusual world where festive pleasure and philosophy exists contemporarily. It is topsyturvy world, the world of the primary chaos. Bakhtin proposed the semiotic theory of the carnival, the theory of the carnivalizing of quotidian life. The central idea of the concept of carnivalizing or carnivalesque is an â€Å"inversion of binary contraposition† – replacing official values with low folk culture. When people came to the carnival square than all routine ideas and their oppositions of Christianity change each other.The King of Carnival is a pauper or fool (trickster). Everybody does honor to him. There is a Carnival bishop and Christianic sanctuaries could be desecrated. The top became the bottom, the head – the genitals (low body). Females and males switch their places. Billingsgate and devout phrases change each other. Everything was subject of top down imposition. Why? Bakhtin found roots of the carnival in the agrarian cults of pre-Christianic culture. Carnivalizing â€Å"makes it possible to extend the narrow sense of life† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World p. 177).The aspiration of carnival is to uncover, undermine – even destroy, the hegemony of any ideology that seeks to have the final word about the world, and also to renew, to shed light upon life, the meanings it harbours, to elucidate potentials; projecting, as it does an alternate conceptualisation of reality. Dialogism is a fundamental aspect of the carnival – a plurality of ‘fully valid consciousnesses' (Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, p. 9), Baktin used the concept of the dialogism as a necessary condition of the understanding: â€Å"Two voices is the minimum for life, the minimum for existence† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, p. 252).The carnival papered over the differe nces between the social strata. â€Å"Carnival is the place for working out a new mode of interrelationship between individuals . . . People who in life are separated by impenetrable hierarchical barriers enter into free and familiar contact on the carnival square† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, p. 123). Today the elements of carnivalesque are inherent for some ethnic groups, e. g. Bantu tribe. Traditions of European carnival culture flourish in Latin America, in particular in Brazil. (It’s interesting, that so popular in the Brazilian carnivals â€Å"samba† came from the Bantu word â€Å"semba†).In the modern culture the carnivalesque is actual as never before – but it is another carnivalesque. Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnivalesque has four main themes: the tumultuous crowd, the world turned upside-down, the comic masks and the grotesque body. Bakhtin also categorizes the carnivalesque into three basic forms: ritual spectacles (such as fairs, feasts, wakes, processions, mummery, dancing and open-air amusements with costumes, masks, giants, dwarfs etc), comic verbal compositions and various genres of billingsgate or abusive language.â€Å"†¦ we are especially interested in the language which mocks and insults the deity and which was part of the ancient comic cults† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, p. 16). But some authors found limitations in the theory of the carnivalesque. Richard Berrong wrote that Bakhtin‘s theory had some weaknesses. Bakhtin emphasized the role of laughter culture but do not take in the account the historical context of Rabelais's changing attitude (R. M. Berrong, Rabelais and Bakhtin†¦ , Ã'€. 15, 19-51).The concept of the carnivalesque helps us to identify an atmosphere of festivities, disdain of authority and material anti-intellectualism in literature. It could be applicable to certain genres carousals in Flemish painting and to the social criticism of postmodern art. Bak htin’s concept of carnivalesque could be useful way for the analysis processes connecting the comic and the serious issues of routine life. Medieval carnival players went to the streets in masks and costumes, their ritual spectacles (e. g. the Feast of Fools or the Feast of the Innocents) were full with the topsyturvy.The citizens were admitted to â€Å"occupy† the cathedral and turn it upside down and inside out. They could tell everything and do everything. They were equal and close in this moment. They were very much like Americans today. Where is American carnivalesque? You could find in the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras or in the New York during Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. If can find it in the bad blocks and slums. Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of the â€Å"carnivalesque† can be applied to ethnical studies of African American or Latin American culture.Today we can use the concept of the carnivalesque when we analyze issues of satire and paro dy in the festival performance of the globalization. We can see the elements of carnivalizing in the pubs, in political actions, advertising and media, in the street theater etc. We see grotesque body of the modern civilization and the modern art. For example if we apply Bakhtin's idea of the carnivalesque to the comedies and romantic movies we can easily find accordance to Bakhtin's description of the world turned upside down in the interests of liberating laughter.In Bakhtin's view, comedy relocates the spiritual from the top (a head and the face) to the bottom (the belly, the bowels and the genitals): â€Å"The essential principle of grotesque realism is degradation, that is, the lowering of all that is high, spiritual, ideal, abstract† (Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, p. 19). Another modern arena of the contemporary carnivalesque is advertising. Carnivalesque PR stunts are used to attract attention of the potential customer. Otherwise, traditions of the carnival could co nstitute a strategy of resistance to the abusing advertising.I found very interesting material about rave music and use of Bakhtin’s concept of carnivalesque. Rave is out of the mainstream. Like medieval carnival the rave has capacity to disrupt and remake official public norms, both they lead people into the â€Å"symbolic sphere of utopian freedom†. Rave realizes its carnivalesque features in several ways. There are no exclusions to participate in the medieval carnival or rave party and there is no hierarchy between people in the time of festivity or the party. There are oppositions between official and non-official life etc (Rave as Carnival, 2004).But I think that Mikhail Bakhtin never think we will use his concepts to argue our non-trivial ideas about music, movies, public relations – about everything. He was a literary critic and proposed the concept of the carnivalesque to explain dynamics of social changes in the late Medieval Ages and early Renaissance. He uses Rabelais’ work because he was the most typical writer for this period and the elements of carnival grotesque were shown in Gargantua and Pantagruel very clearly. Mikhail Bakhtin died in 1975. He made an important contribution to science. But his concept is not universal.Nothing is perfect.References 1. Bakhtin and Medieval Voices. (1995) University Press of Florida. Gainesville.2. Carnival, History And Popular Culture: Rabelais, Goethe And Dostoevskii As Philosophers (2004) The Internet encyclopedia of philosophy http://www. iep. utm. edu/b/bakhtin. htm.3. Rabelais and Bakhtin Popular Culture in â€Å"Gargantua and Pantagruel† by Richard M. Berrong (1986) University of Nebraska Press, 180 p..4. Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin (1984) Indiana University Press 510 p..5. Rave as a carnival (2004) http://www. odevarsivi. com/12/50972. htm.