Law Enforcement Supervision Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Law Enforcement Supervision - Assignment Example Leadership and Organizational Culture Negative images and observations of people within the law enforcement organizations create an unpleasant working environment. In turn, this adversely influences organizational effectiveness, which is needed to counter crime, turmoil and other services. Society is deprived of quality and expected police services due to the unhealthy functioning of the police agencies. A prosperous, fostering working environment enables police agencies to focus on providing premium police services in a time of meager resources. Every police organization has its own unique sub-culture (Crank & Caldero, 2000). In spite of this, police organizations share certain characteristics, which make them similar due to shared experiences. All police agencies deem themselves to be paramilitary agencies, different from the mainstream community, who are required to be hyper-vigilant all around the clock (Gilmartin, 2002). Likewise, they experience tedium, are compelled to work wh ile others go on vacations, and most importantly they live through life and death experiences together. Consequently, they became bound together in an emotional culture. This culture also serves to glue supervisors to the people and agencies they serve in. Additionally, it delineates the Cop confidential conduct in relation to promotions; and the act of getting detached from one police subculture and being bound to another. John G. Serier has noted in his report, that a mutual experience amongst first-line police supervisors was ‘leaving the stock’ (Serier J. , 2003). Initially in their career, supervisors occupy the same position as line officers, working sidelong them. However, promotion to supervisor separates them from others they had worked with for years. Hence, acceptance by peers of a police officer is an integral and prized stage for them (Manning, 1989). Becoming a supervisor denotes the leave of an officer from his peer group. Additionally, it also signifies seeking acceptance of novel peers and upper level management of police agencies. Supervisory models Supervisors act as influential figures for other officers owing to various mechanisms. For instance, the command supervisory model focuses on the formal authority in the hands of supervisors. It advocates that adherence to bureaucratic standards and setting high performance standards can positively influence subordinates’ behavior (Allen & Maxfield, 1983). However, the downside is that the command model mitigates the task environment. As opposed to this, the bargaining supervisory model advocates mutual dependence of supervisors and officers. Officers need to seek small favors from supervisors such as favorable working schedules, partners, cases, departmental discipline, and the like factors. On the other hand, supervisors are dependent on subordinates’ productivity and maintain a low profile to keep out of problems. This reciprocity instead of the authoritative chain of command positively affects the behavior of subordinates. The impact of supervisors will be then equal to the benefits that will be provided to the subordinates. However, these benefits are restricted in public agencies like police organizations that are governed by civil service laws. Hence, it can be concluded that subordinates’ attitudes are modestly affected by the priorities of supervisors. Transactional leadership

Input Stage Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix Marketing Essay

Input Stage Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix Marketing Essay Key Strategic Factors Weights Ratings Weighted Scores Strengths Brand  Image 0.08 4 0.32 Growing  Sales 0.03 3 0.24 Market  Share 0.05 3 0.15 Distribution Channel 0.08 4 0.32 Product  Quality 0.07 3 0.21 Capacity 0.08 4 0.32 Innovation 0.04 3 0.12 Customer  Oriented 0.02 3 0.06 Qualified Work force 0.01 3 0.03 RD 0.05 4 0.20 Business without Interest 0.02 3 0.06 Exporting 0.06 4 0.09 Weaknesses Local  Company 0.05 1 0.05 Centralized Decisions 0.09 2 0.18 No Sales on Credit 0.06 2 0.12 High  Price 0.05 2 0.10 Uncertain  Economic Political Conditions 0.03 1 0.03 Market  Demand 0.05 2 0.1 Striker  Terms And Conditions 0.03 1 0.03 Promotion 0.05 2 0.1 Total 1 2.83 COMPETITIVE PROFILE MATRIX  (CPM) Critical Success Factors Weight Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score Research   Development 0.08 3 0.24 3 0.24 4 0.32 Advertisement 0.09 3 0.24 4 0.36 3 0.27 Financial  Position 0.09 3 0.27 3 0.27 3 0.27 Market  Share 0.07 2 0.14 4 0.28 3 0.21 Product  Quality 0.08 3 0.24 3 0.24 3 0.24 Price  Competitiveness 0.11 3 0.33 3 0.24 2 0.22 Management 0.10 3 0.30 4 0.40 3 0.30 Global  Expansion 0.08 3 0.24 4 0.32 3 0.24 Customer service 0.06 3 0.18 3 0.18 2 0.12 Network 0.09 3 0.27 4 0.36 3 0.27 Production  Capacity 0.07 2 0.14 3 0.21 4 0.28 Alliances 0.08 3 0.24 4 0.32 3 0.24 Total 1.0 2.76 3.51 2.98 EFE MATRIX AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN KEY EXTERNAL FACTORS WEIGHT RATING WEIGHTED OPPORTUNITIES tax exemption 0.07 2 0.14 energy incentives 0.08 2 0.16 water flow system 0.04 1 0.04 agricultural loans 0.06 3 0.18 surplus production of wheat 0.05 3 0.15 surplus production of rice 0.06 2 0.12 availability of natural resources 0.07 1 0.07 labour incentives 0.09 1 0.09 economies of scale 0.01 1 0.01 high demand of necessities 0.04 1 0.04 THREATS The conversion of arable land into non-agricultural uses 0.10 4 0.40 Water logging and salinity 0.09 2 0.18 Land erosion scenarios are the most disastrous of the present day crisis. 0.08 1 0.08 Land is fixed 0.04 3 0.12 Increasing population 0.01 1 0.01 Political system 0.03 2 0.06 Proposed new tax system 0.03 3 0.09 feudalism 0.02 1 0.02 Instability of economy 0.01 2 0.02 Low literacy rate 0.02 2 0.04 TOTAL: 1.00 2.75 REASONS: The IFE MATRIX for AFL is given above. Note that the strength for the company is Research and Development, Pakistan based and having a highest production capacity so got 4 rating. The major weaknesses are Price competitiveness customer service and planning for the future state of the AFL. The total weighted score of2. 76 indicate this large milk Production Company is above average in its overall internal strength. But its very close to average limit as well. So it really needs to improve its weaknesses and build its strength MATCHNG STAGE OF ENGRO FOODS LIMITED SWOT MATRIX STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OF EFL STRENGTHS: Olpers is a  brand of  EFL. This means that consumers can relate their former image of EFL to Olpers.Engro is a well established brand name in Fertilizer, IT  and infrastructure business. The  brand is well known so customers will automatically have a  brand association with Olpers and see it as a premium quality product. ENGRO  is world renowned so it can easily attract foreign investors in backing it against other competitors such as Nestle. EFL can easily afford research and development costs for Olpers have in order to introduce new products. It can also distribute the brand through better channels because of its long term relationship with distributors in the agriculture sector. Engro has  been interacting with the farmers for fertilizers and has gained quite a good reputation over the years. It has led to a strong bond and long term relationship with the farmers who are willing to supply milk to the company.This is an added advantage and strength for the company because it will never  be short of milk production. The farmers also wont have to look elsewhere to sell their milk. EFL  only, has the third-generation  UHT  milk plant in the country. EFL  plant is the only plant in Pakistan that uses  Bactofuge technology to virtually eliminate  bacteria and ensure premium quality and hygiene. Other strengths of EFL are: Worldwide fame of  Engro. Efficient milk collection system. keeping high quality standards. Integrated distribution and warehousing facilities. Successful related diversification. Generic  brand name of  Olpers Large market share of  Engro innovative and chemicals. Having  Good reputation in the market  by strong  brand name i.e. Engro Industrial strengths for EFL are: Worldwide fame of  Engro. Efficient milk collection system. Keeping high quality standards. Integrated distribution and ware housing facilities. Generic  brand name of  Olpers large market share of  Engro innovative and chemicals. Having  Good reputation in the market by strong brand name i.e. Engro Strong  RD WEAKNESSES: Olwell ad which is  based on  Western life style,  EFL  brand management showed a man who put off his clothes  remain just in his undergarments, or half nude lady in a cat walk or men admiring the figures of a lady in mix  gender health club. In this ad they are creating associations with the brand through the stripes, which is a highlight of Olwell packaging. Half naked people have been shown with tattoos of the same stripes in order to show that they are loyal consumers of Olwell.  Also, the talent, situations and locations connects well with the ad to give Olwell a premium positioning. The brilliant marketing people at EFL failed to analyze is that the market they are targeted the ad on, is Pakistan, where practicing Muslims reside, who have strong religious beliefs. When making the ad, the brand managers were focused on, making an ad that should give the brand the most premium look and feel amongst the target consumers but on the other hand they were least bothered about the ethics, religious beliefs and cultural values. The company has not owned the color red like Nestle has a green  Milkpak;  Haleeb  has a  blue carton etc. This may create problems because when a consumer enters a grocery shop, then he/she might have problems in recalling the brand because there is no color association attached to Olpers .The company may need to find a suitable color in which to focus its upcoming marketing strategies. EFL  is not having its own dairy farms; it largely collects loose milk from farmers   gwalas through its 40  milk collection centers, which sometimes is of low quality and impure because they add vegetable oil to milk to get higher prices. EFL  is dependent upon  Tetra  Pak for the packaging of its entire dairy products. Tetra  Pak is the only option available to Olpers for packaging because it is having monopoly in the packaging sector in Pakistan. Due to this reason, TetraPak can charge them higher and it could increase the production costs. EFLs  34  out of  40 milk-collection centers are located in  Punjab, where as its only milk processing facility is situated near Sukkur(Sindh). It increases the milk collection  distribution costs; and also increases the chances of milk getting spoiled because of increased traveling time. It has  been more than a year now, when  EFL  launched its first dairy product,  Olpers  Milk on March  20,  2006. But  EFL ¶s  brand portfolio still consists of  just  3  products i.e. Olpers  Milk, Olwell  Milk and  Olpers  Cream. Whereas its competitors like Nestle and  Haleeb Foods have a much diversified line of dairy products. Industrial strengths of EFL are: Unable to compete in price sensitive segment of  UHT  milk market. Under  -utilization of the capacity. Unable to fulfill the demand of local powder milk market. Not yet ISO  certified. THREATS Our agricultural land is facing many threats and some of the major threats are: The conversion of arable land into non-agricultural uses Water logging and salinity Land erosion scenarios are the most disastrous of the present day crisis. The total land area of Pakistan is nearly 197 million acres, while the population growth rate is increasing annually. As our total land area is fixed, which cannot be increased, therefore, with rapidly expanding population pressure on it, it is also increasing quickly. As a result, our current and potential agricultural land is reducing and shrinking tremendously. It has been estimated that throughout the country, everyday approximately 500 acres (1 acre = 4,840 square yards) of farmland is taken out of agriculture by the expansion of settlements, roads, factories and many other non-agricultural activities. It is also predicted that if this trend continues then after every decade approximately a million acre or more of crop land would be taken out of agriculture in our country. Arable land is a basic and major resource for the production of human food. But it seems that the expansion of human population and human activities are reducing the availability of land, suitable for food production at an alarming rate. Expanding population demands more food on one side and devours agricultural land on the other side, which is a matter of great concern for everyone. Out of total land area, 80 million hectares, 21 million hectares is cultivable. Of the total cropped areas 16.2 million hectares (77%) is irrigated and 6.01 million hectares is rain-fed. The annual rainfall in Pakistan varies from less than 100 mm in Sindh to more than 750 mm in the foothills and northern mountains. About 60% of this rainfall occurs during monsoon. In spite of a number of drainage and salinity, menace control schemes being undertaken, the salinity and water logging problems positively persist and each year 40,000 hectares of irrigated land is lost to water logging and salinity. On the one hand, the nation needs more food to fulfill the demands of its increasing population while on the other hand, each year the cultivable commanded area (CCA) is decreasing due to this twin menace. Pakistan is quite outstanding country in the world with regard to its well-knit irrigation system which covers from upper parts of the country, down to the mouth of Indus in the south. Irrigated areas (nearly 16.0 million hectares) are generally limited to the Indus plain and river Indus and its tributaries are the main source of irrigation water of this 12.09 million hectares are canal irrigated 3.35 million hectares by tube wells and another 0.6 million hectares by other sources. Of the total area under irrigated agriculture, about 9.6 million hectares is arid, 3.8 million semi-arid and the remaining area is characterized by sub-humid. No doubt, irrigation system has increased agricultural production but on the other hand has created threats of salinity and water logging. The political system of Pakistan is not stable and the corruption in Pakistan also affects the agriculture sector. Government legal obligations have always been a threat for the running of agriculture industry. Inputs rates are increasing day by day, that means less and expensive seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. The trend of feudalism has been in our country for a long time, creating a lot of mismanagement in the federal and provincial level for the running of economy. Because of this the firms in the agricultural industry of Pakistan has been greatly affected. OPPORTUNITIES There is an opportunity for the economic growth to benefit more people only if the country rises: Enhancing Agricultural productivity Improves its system of general education to help millions of small farmers, those are decided to leave the agricultural industries because of poor productivity. Encourages labour incentives in agricultural industry. Improve economic condition in Pakistan by promoting the farmers and maintaining the system for improving agricultural methods. Clean energy and Climate Legislation Will Help: Pakistani Farmers need energy to grow crops and raise livestock, and to transport products to consumers. Farmers have been hurt by recent spikes in diesel and natural gas prices, and by jumps in the costs of inputs like fertilizer. As a result, there are serious concerns across the agricultural sector about the impacts of clean energy and climate legislation on production costs. There are more rooms for chemical industry (for more pesticides and fertilizer). There are three key factors affecting energy prices that will help farmers handle a small increase in both the short and the long term. First, farmers that take advantage of energy and climate bill incentives can quickly see big cost savings from even small improvements in energy efficiency. Farmers can take advantage of the legislations renewable energy incentives to reduce dependence on fossil fuel sand their volatile prices. The legislation will help stop speculation in energy markets, which will help stabilize fossil fuel prices. Increased Energy Efficiency Will Save Farmers Money, Energy and climate legislation will help farmers increase their energy efficiency, reducing their dependence on foreign oil and other fossil fuels. Technology has been advancing rapidly and use of new technology changes such as more efficient farm equipment and farming practice changes such as no-till agriculture. The Pakistan agricultural community is well positioned to benefit from passage of clean climate legislation. Farmers can protect themselves from cost increases through improved on-farm energy management and efficiency and develop new revenue streams through expanded markets for renewable energy. This will help our farmers continue to provide the food we all depend on. SWOT MATRIX FOR ENGRO FOODS. Strengths Weaknesses Worldwide fame of Engro. Unable to compete in price sensitive segment of UHT milk market. Efficient milk collection system. Under-utilization of the capacity. Keeping high quality standards. Unable to fulfill the demand of local powder milk market. Integrated distribution and warehousing facilities. Not yet ISO certified Generic brand name of Olpers Large market share of Engro innovative and chemicals. Having Good reputation in the marketby strongbrand name i.e. Engro Strong RD Opportunities SO Strategies WO Strategies Improving Economy Increase production of quality milk to cater the unsatisfied demand(S2,O2,O8) Population growth rate. As per the increase demand of the milk they should fulfill the demand as EFL have the ability to expand.(W3,O8). High urbanization rate. They should go in the product line of powdered milk. (S8,O2,O5) High literacy rate. They should make strong distribution system to cater to avail the full benefit of the growing market.(W3,O2 ) Flexible government policies They should increase their exports. for food industry. Have significant growth opportunities . May merge with other global businesses to eliminate competitors. They should cater the wide range of unsatisfied demandby improving their distribution networks(S4,O8)) Having Capable of expanding into other markets of the world They should adopt affective marketing strategies for the promotion of their product.(W2,O1) Threats ST Strategies WT Strategies High inflation rate. Invest more on the dairy product line as there is still a large chunk of the market which require modernization ( S6,T5) Low purchasing power. The co-ordination between different departments of EFL should be improved it will lessen the bureaucratic cost and increase the efficiency of the company. Decrease in GDP growth rate .Introduce new technology for assurance and better productivity (S4,T7) Increasing interest rates Decreasing investment Engro must get the ISO certification as to beat their competitors( W4,T8). Recessionary period in business cycle Competition with Nestle Competition with Nestle, Engro Foods and the new entrants Engro foods is currently facing increase in SalesTax SPACE MATRIX FOR ENGRO FOODS LIMITED SPACE matrix is a management tool used to analyze a company. It is used to determine what type of a strategy a company should undertake. Strategic Position Action Evaluation matrix or short a SPACE matrix is a strategic management tool that focuses on strategy formulation especially as related to the competitive position of an organization. SPACE matrix can be used as a basis for other analyses, such as the SWOT analysis, BCG matrix model, industry analysis, or assessing strategic alternatives (IE matrix). The SPACE matrix calculates the importance of each of these dimensions and places them on a Cartesian graph with X and Y coordinates. The following are a few model technical assumptions: By definition, the CA and IS values in the SPACE matrix are plotted on the X axis. -CA values can range from -1to -6. IS values can take +1to +6? -The FS and ES dimensions of the model are plotted on the Y axis. ES values can be between -1 and -6. FS values range from +1to +6 Conservative Aggressive FS 6 5 suggested strategy type 4 (3, 2.75) 3 2 1 CS 1 2 3 4 5 6 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 IS -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 Defensive ES Competitive Result: This particular  SPACE matrix  tells us that our company should pursue an  aggressive strategy. Our company has a strong competitive position it the market with rapid growth. It needs to use its internal strengths to develop a market penetration and market development strategy. This can include product development, integration with other companies, acquisition of competitors, and so on. BCG FOR EFL Relative market share in industry High Medium Low 1.0 0.5 0.0 ENGRO FOODS stars ? cash cows dogsHigh 10 Industry Sales Growth Medium 0 Rate Low -10 INTERNAL EXTERNAL (IE) MATRIX FOR ENGRO FOODS LIMMITED: The  Internal-External (IE)  matrix  is another strategic management tool used to analyze working conditions and strategic position of a business. The Internal External Matrix  or short IE matrix  is based on an analysis of internal and external business factors which are combined into one suggestive model. The  IE matrix  is a continuation of the  EFE matrix and  IFE matrix models. Strong =3.00 to 3.99 Average=2.00 to 2.99 Weak =1.00 to 1.99 Grow I And II Build III Hold IV ENGRO FOODS And V Maintain VI Harvest VII And VIII Harvest IX High=3.0 to 3.99 Medium = 2.0 to 2.99 Low= 1.0 to 1.99 1. Score from the  EFE matrix  =2.75-  this score is plotted on the y-  axis 2. Score from the IFE  matrix  =2.83-  plotted on the x-axis As blue lines indicate RESULT: This  IE matrix for  Engro  Foods tells us that our company should  hold and maintain  its position. The company should pursue strategies focused on increasing market penetration and product development. GRAND STRATEGY MATRIX FOR EFL: REPAID MARKET GROWTH RATE Quadrant I I Quadrant I ENGRO FOODS Weak competitive strong competitive Position Position Quadrant III Quadrant IV Slow market growth rate RESULTS: The grand strategic  Matrix for  EFL  is show that it lies in the first quadrant which recommend that for EFL  continued concentration on the current Market(market penetration and market development)and products(product development)is an appropriate strategy. DECISION STAGE QUANTITATIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING MATRIX OR A QSPM The Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix or a QSPM approach attempts to objectively select the best strategy using input from other management techniques and some easy computation. In other words, the QSPM method uses inputs from stage1 analyses, matches them with results from stage2 analyses, and then decides objectively among alternative strategies. Stage 1 strategic management tools The first step in the overall strategic management analysis is used to identify key strategic factor. this can be done using, for example, the EFE matrix and IFE matrix. Stage 2 strategic management tools After we identify and analyze key strategic factors as inputs for QSPM, we can formulate the type of the strategy we would like to pursue.this can be done using the stage2 strategic management tools, for example the SWOT analysis(or TOWS ),SPACE matrix analysis, BCG matrix model, or the IE matrix model Stage 3 strategic management tools The stage 1 strategic management methods provided us with key strategic factors. Based on their analysis, we formulated possible strategies in stage2. Now, the task is to compare in QSPM alternative strategies and decide which one is the most suitable for our goals. The stage 2 strategic tools provide the needed information for setting up the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix QSPM. The QSPM method allows us to evaluate alternative strategies objectively. Conceptually, the QSPM in stage 3 determines the relative attractiveness of various strategies based on the extent to which key external and internal critical success factors are capitalized upon or improved.The relative attractiveness of each strategy is computed by determining the cumulative impact of each external and internal critical success factor QSPM of Engro Foods Based on strategies in the (IFE, EFE) and (BCG, SPACE, IE), company executives determined that Engro foods needs to pursue an aggressive strategy aimed at development of new products and further penetration of the market. They also identified that this strategy can be executed in two ways. One strategy is acquiring a competing company. The other Strategy is to expand internally. (Attractiveness Score: 1 = not acceptable; 2 = possibly acceptable; 3 =probably acceptable; 4 = most acceptable; 0 = not relevant Doing some easy calculations in the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix QSPM, we came to a conclusion that Expansion internally is a better option. This is given by the Sum Total Attractiveness Score figure. The expansion strategy yields higher score than the acquiring of competing company.The acquisition strategy has a score of 2. 75 in the QSPM shown above whereas the internal expansion strategy has a smaller score of 2. 78

The Significance of Vietnam War Essay -- Vietnam War Essays

The Significance of The Vietnam War Within one generation, The United States have experienced The Second World War, The Korean War and fifteen years of The Cold War crisis. The Vietnam War was the last drop into the cup of American patience. The costs of The Vietnam War were intolerable, because they contravened traditional American values and hopes. In the year 1965, American government announced, with public support, that America is going to win the guerilla war and defeat the â€Å"global communist conspiracy†. It also promised to build free institutions in South-East Asia. Two years later, in the year 1967, the same affair was considered not only as unsuccessful, but also as a gruesome action of the politicians. In one moment, the intellectuals glorified the arrival of a young and freethinking new president, but almost immediately, they blamed his successor of cruelty, continuous lies and desire of war, although the new president’s strategy was basically the same as of his mourned-for predecessor. Richard Nixon’s governing season did not bring much serenity either. Heated resistance against war became even stronger. Nixon wanted to negotiate an honorary departure, which he considered to be almost anything - apart from leaving millions of people, to whom America promised help, to North Vietnamese communists. He took reliability and honor seriously, because he knew that American ability to create peaceful international order depended on them. Nixon and his special advisor claimed that they had a secret plan how to reach â€Å"honorable peace†. But peace came slowly, and when it finally arrived, no one could talk about honor. The longest war in the history of The United Sta tes ended and left a bitter heritage behind. The war, commenced as a noble quest for democratic ideals showed that it is not easy to bring democracy to the region of the third world, which lacked any historical experience with liberal values. The war, which was supposed to be a parade of American military power, harmed her dignity so seriously, that many young Americans started to see the army as a completely rotten and wrong institution. The war, that was supposed to show the world how strong the United States are in their conviction, actually divided America more than any other event in the twentieth century. The wounds were so deep that even the peace did not bring much joy. The Vietnamese Wa... ...e self-confidence and to take into consideration unforeseen factors. However, political passivity does not offer any consolation to millions of immediate victims and it changes political decision-making to irresponsible hazard based on intuition. The greatest loss caused by the Vietnam War was probably the togetherness of the American society. American idealism led to an opinion that the Vietnamese society can be relatively easily transformed to democracy. When this optimistic thesis fell down, it unavoidably led to disillusion. The prevailing phenomenon was also the misunderstanding of the military problem. Looking at the complex problem brings me to the following conclusion: Before The United States (and this applies to any other nation) decide to enter any war, they should be clearly aware of the nature of the threat they will confront and of the nature of the aims they can reach. They must have a clear military strategy and a clear definition of what they will consider a successful military result. And if America decides to commence any military action, it should not accept any other alternative but victory. America can recover from Vietnam only by learning from its wounds.

My Neighbour Totoro [Film History Essay] Essay

My Neighbor Totoro ( , Tonari no Totoro) is a Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. Two young girls, Satsuki and her younger sister Mei, move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother who is recovering from an illness. Satsuki and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros (pronounced toe-toe-ro). The Totoros appear in different sizes, one is small and white, the next one slightly bigger and blue coloured, the biggest one being grey in colour; which features on the movie’s cover being the most well known. They have been described by critics as â€Å"giant chubby ferrets† but there isn’t really any completely apt description to describe a Totoro, for they are made-up creatures. Satsuki and Mei soon befriend these Totoros, and have several magical adventures. When trouble occurs, their new friends will help them rediscover hope and help when dealing with their mother’s sickness and settling into a new home. The voice acting cast consists of 3 different voices for each version of â€Å"My Neighbour Totoro† that was released. There was the original japanese version, the Streamline English dubbed version, then finally an english dubbed version by Disney. The original japanese voice actors were Noriko Hidaka as â€Å"Satsuki†, Chika Sakamoto as â€Å"Mei†, Shigesato Itoi as the â€Å"father†, Sumi Shimamoto as the â€Å"mother†, Tanie Kitabayashi as â€Å"Granny†, Toshiyuki Amagasa as â€Å"Kanta†, Naoki Tatsuta as the â€Å"catbus†, and Hitoshi Takagi as the grey Totoro. The film is set in rural post-war Japan, made in 1988. Some notable anime films made around this time were â€Å"Grave of the Fireflies (1988)† an anti-war movie, as well as â€Å"Akira (1988)†; a cyberpunk anime movie, based in â€Å"Neo-Tokyo†, a booming, industrial city with the ambiance of a society on the edge of collapse. â€Å"My Neighbour Totoro† is a rather significant movie because it was so successful and loved by japanese children like â€Å"Winnie the Pooh† is loved by british children and more popular than Mickey Mouse could ever hope to be. This was because of the charismatic simplicity of the Totoros and their somewhat â€Å"cute† and â€Å"cuddly† appearance. The soundtrack for â€Å"My Neighbour Totoro† composed by Joe Hisaishi and Azumi Inoue received much high praise and added to the straightforward atmosphere of the film. One of the more popular themes from the soundtrack is â€Å"Path of the Wind ( )†. Totoro has become well known in international pop culture as it was indeed a notable film for its particular genre, later becoming the logo and symbol for Studio Ghibli. The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988, as well as numerous other awards. My Neighbor Totoro ranked #41 in Empire magazines â€Å"The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema† in 2010. Although the target audience for â€Å"My Neighbour Totoro† is aimed at children, this 90 minute movie is bound to appeal to to anyone, even if they’re not an anime fan. Dearly loved and critically regarded worldwide, the magical My Neighbor Totoro is a heart-warming tale of innocence and the power of belief that will delight viewers of all ages. The story is uncomplicated and easy to watch, and the undeniable charm of the characters also adds to the realistic atmosphere of this Studio Ghibli movie. Despite its release date, the animation is solid, just like the fitting soundtrack. My Neighbor Totoro is an anime that gained mainstreamed recognition and popularity for good reason.

Cleopatra and Octavia Essay

Examine the contrast between Cleopatra and Octavia. How do they embody different aspects of womanhood and how is this opposition useful in developing the themes and actions of the play? How might the distinction be given different emphases in performance? Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare’s most dramatic plays; however it has not been staged nearly as many as plays such as Hamlet or Macbeth because it is such a hard play to produce due to its enormous variety of content. However the mere strength of the characters within the play creates intense tragic possibilities, despite the difficulties that may be faced in production. Cleopatra and Octavia are contrasting characters in the play Antony and Cleopatra. Each embodies different aspects of womanhood; each is a model of the qualities that should be seen from the country and culture they belong to. The play centres around the contrast between the lavishness of Egypt with the lineal qualities of the Roman Empire. Egypt is a country of luxurious feasts where eight wild boars are roasted for a breakfast for twelve people (2. 2. 189-90) and parties; it is a very sexualised place whereas Rome is a country characterised by politics, scenes of intellectuals and battles, thus the lives and loves of a Roman stand in opposition to the lives and loves of an Egyptian. Cleopatra is a symbol of Egyptian luxury, passion and lust she is a highly sexualised woman and is not afraid or embarrassed to show this; this is shown in her sexual innuendo in reference to Antony’s war horse: ‘Happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! ‘ Her own language often betrays her own sexual nature this can be seen where Cleopatra speaks to the Messenger from Rome: Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, that long time have been barren. (2. 5. 23-24) Egypt is a place dominated by strong-minded mature female sexuality thus making this play one of Shakespeare’s remarkable works due to its attitude to female sexuality as something natural, beautiful and open. Although Cleopatra is described by some in the play as nothing more than a gypsy slut: ‘to cool a gypsy’s lust’ (1. 1. 9) we understand from the differences between Egypt and Rome and their understandings of each other, that Cleopatra embodies Egypt and all it stands for and so can’t be controlled or categorised as a Roman can be. Cleopatra allows men who have grown up in a world where expressing sexual ideas and fantasies is frowned upon, such as that of the view of Puritans in the time in which Shakespeare would have been writing this play; to contact their emotional centres and celebrate erotic possibilities. Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare’s most complex and elaborate female characters; he derives his information about her directly from Plutarch’s portrait of her and the reputation she left behind. Cleopatra is a mixed character and has sudden switches of behaviour from one mood to another, for instances the arrival of a messenger from Rome telling Cleopatra of Octavia, Antony’s new bride. Cleopatra harasses the messenger for news, and is violent and abusive to him as she hasn’t heard what she wants to, once her servants have calmed her down she feels remorseful and sorry for her actions that were must unlike a royal action should be. Cleopatra is a irrational and irratic character who often reacts to menial things, however this can be seen as her way of reacting to the fear of losing what she knows: Egypt and Antony. Her fear for losing and her sense of insecurity is seen through her jealously, that Shakespeare presents clearly in her wish to know what Octavia looks like, she is driven by these uncontrollable passions she feels towards Antony. Her feelings of insecurity are not settled by Antony, and his treatment of both his wives Octavia and Fulvia doesn’t settle her fears but instead gives her little cause for complacency, ‘Now I see, I see, In Fulvia’s death how mine received shall be. ‘ (1. 3. 66) Cleopatra is both seductive and somewhat repellent and it is this mix that makes her such a mysterious and puzzling mixture. Even Antony on occasions doesn’t know how she will react and can’t predict her actions or behaviour either. Antony loves Cleopatra because he wants to, not for any political reasons; there is nothing or any reason why he should love Cleopatra, it is merely his choice. Our deep understanding of Cleopatra’s charm and enchantment comes from the descriptions we are given of her; many of which are taken directly from The Life of Marcus Antonius in Sir Thomas North’s translation of the Roman historian Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579). Here Cleopatra is compared to Venus, the goddess of Love. Shakespeare has taken North’s basic ideas and developed them to a point that the beauty of Cleopatra is seen almost as supernatural. It is these descriptive speeches of Cleopatra that help the audience to understand the infatuation that Antony and others before, have had with Cleopatra: For the person of herself: She was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, apparelled and attired like the goddess Venus (North) It is this beauty that Cleopatra relies on to win over men; she feels herself to be the human incarnation of Isis: ‘Now from head to foot I am marble constant. Now the fleeting moon no planet is of mine’ (5. 2. 237-240) and therefore men are captivated by her and become addicted by the strange power of Cleopatra’s attractiveness. It is said by some that Cleopatra used her beauty and her body to gain what she needed and what she felt was needed for Egypt, as Hughes-Hallet observed: She captivates Antony and then uses her power over him to demand the Kingdoms of Syria and Arabia. (Hughes-Hallet, 165) Cleopatra is portrayed as a strong leader of Egypt and in this respect has similarities with Elizabeth I who was on the throne of England through Shakespeare’s early life. She like Cleopatra was a dominant figure and felt she embodied Britain as Cleopatra embodied Egypt. How unlike Cleopatra, Elizabeth I was prepared to listen and take advice from others who were experts in the field in question; this resulted in her defeating the Spanish Armada. Unlike Cleopatra who although demanded to be treated as a general upon the war field refused to listen to advice which resulted in awful consequences and subsequently the lose of life for her and Antony. Rome is a place where the need for order and discipline is the norm; there isn’t room amongst the Politics and duties for sensuality and pleasure like in Egypt. It is this that causes Antony to be torn ‘between the military honour and familial duty of Rome and the sensuality and luxurious life-style of Egypt. ‘ Rome is a predominantly male society which women have no say; it is associated with action, mainly military and political action. Charney describes it as ‘ a place of conference tables, armour, political decisions and hard materials objects ‘ (102) Octavia is a model of Roman qualities, of obedience and duty. In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, her role is reduced greatly in comparison to that of the Octavia described in Plutarch’s version. In this version she is seen as more of an independent figure rather than one completely dominated by male relations as portrayed by Shakespeare. By moving Octavia into background Shakespeare allows a greater contrast between Octavia and Cleopatra, thus highlighting the great differences of lives in Egypt and lives in Rome. Plutrach wrote of Octavia’s domestic virtues, whereas in Shakespeare’s play Octavia is ridiculed especially by Cleopatra as seen in act 3 scene 3 Messenger: Madam, I heard her speak; she is low-voiced Cleopatra: That’s not so good. He cannot like her long.

buy custom Women in America and Britain Post World War II essay

buy custom Women in America and Britain Post World War II essay The Second World War occurred between the years 1939 and 1945. It is often referred to as the total world war since it pitted the whole worlds against each other. Britain and her allies formed the allied forces while Germany and her allies formed the axis forces. It is the roles that women played in this war that later helped to shape their roles in the society, post the war. Their role in the war largely stemmed from their voluntary work during the First World War. During the First World War, women in Britain and the U.S. volunteered to perform essential duties so that they could release their men to go to war (Barrow, 2010). This seemed to work since it helped the mobilization of army/solders to fight in the war. Therefore, when the Second World War was on the verge in 1939, it was largely publicized that woman should volunteer in the same manner that they did 25 years earlier (Barrow, 2010). However, the demands of war were overwhelming this time. A secret report released by Sir William Beveridge in 1940 seemed to recognize this fact. It consequently advised that there was need to recruit both men and women to be actively involved in the war itself (Barrow, 2010). Sir Williams report subsequently led to a mass registration and recruitment of British women aged between 18 and 60 year in the spring of 1941. They were required to choose the type of job they could perform at the battle ground. These saw the women working in the battle fronts and even in enemy lines to facilitate easier fighting conditions for their male counterparts (Brayley Ingram, 1995).Although it was categorically stated that women would not work with arms, most of them were later to work and die under heavy fire. In Britain, the recruitment of women into the army was made legal in December of 1941 under the National Service Act (II) (Barrow, 2010). It initially targeted single women aged 20-30 but later involved all single women and some married women. Soon, women were working as radio controller, air raid wardens, and rescue. Meanwhile, back at home, more women were recruited to work in the factories to cover up fir the limited labour force caused by the mens participation in the war. They went on to cement their places in the workplace and men had a hard time displacing them after the war (Brayley Ingram, 1995).However, it was the events during the World War II that later shaped the roles of women in the allied nations after the war (Kannan, 2010). Thesis Statement Never before had women been so involved in a war all over the world. In deed, when this war came to an end, the women of America and Britain were not the same again. They had stepped out of their dockets of work and were now doing what traditionally used to be done by the men. It is, therefore, safe to state that the Second World War altered the role of women in the society, bringing into being the rise of feminism gender equality movements of the 1950s (Kannan, 2010). How the Roles Changed Before the beginning of the war, most women in the US and Britain were expected to be, and were in deed housewives. Women had been only allowed to work outside their homes if they had no family but even then were paid smaller wages as compared to their male counterparts, even if doing the same kind of job (Brayley Ingram, 1995).The number of women working out in the factories had been however considerably low. These women had little involvement in the matters of national governance as they were not even allowed to vote. Vying for public positions for women was almost unthought-of. There had been no women in the military before the war neither had there been any woman offering supportive services to the military (Barrow, 2010). However, after the Second World War, the role of women far much fell into place with their participation in the war. Women who had volunteered in the war became members of the Womens Lands Army (WLA) and the Womens Army Corp (WAC) (Theodore, 2008),that trained women on activities that pertained to agriculture, heavy metal industries, chemical industries, ship and plane building, and even bus building. In deed, sooner than later, these industries had over thirty percent of their employees being women. This group of women even worked in the building of Railways and canals. Perhaps the most notable of their work is the building of the waterloo bridge in London (Theodore, 2008). After the Second World War had been won, it was apparent hat women had played an important role in the victory and for that reason, their role in the society was about to take a new turn. They were accorded the right to vote so as to have equal chances/opportunity to choose who they felt would lead the nations appropriately (Lewis, 2011). Their power as a voting bloke soon became apparent when, after not so long, they started electing women to the parliament. On the domestic from, the existing governments made the laws of divorce more lenient on the women and even advocated for their compensation, with substantial benefits, in case of such eventualities. At the work place, competition was stiff between the women employees who had established themselves with the mens absence, and the men for all kinds of job. Among the women that evolved politically and became landmark names in the U.S. and Britain playing key roles in leadership and governance were: Queen Elizabeth and her daughters; Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, the then US first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and an American-born Feminist turned Member of Parliament Nancy Astor (Barrow, 2010). These women had been active during the war acting as morale boosters and mobilizers. Queen Elizabeth had continued to stay with her daughters at the Buckingham palace even though the Germans were heavily bombing the city of London, and providing the city residents with aid after the bombings (Harris, 2011). This provided a morale booster to the British and her fellow allied troops to soldier on and repel the attacks. Princess Elizabeth later became the new Queen (Queen Elizabeth II). The then first lady of the United States of America Eleanor Roosevelt was an active participant in the public affaires. Her husband, President Theodore Roosevelt, was on a wheel chair and did not want to appear in public as disable. The first lady therefore travelled a lot to offer moral support to the troops and the people of the US. This she also did through a newspaper column she continued to write even at in the middle of war. The first lady also advocated for the inclusion of women and minority groups in the responsibility of winning this war. American-born Nancy Astor was a member of parliament in Britain and a Feminist campaigner. She hosted the US troops in England unofficially, and also played a morale boosting role in her constituency. She was seen as a symbol of hope by her constituents and inspired a lot of young women in England and the US to join the feminist movement (Harris, 2011). Other women who became actively involved in decision making in governance included: Frances Perkins, Oveta Culp Hobby, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Alice Paul. Oveta was the US secretary of labour between the years 1933 and 1945 and, during the Second World War, headed the War Departments Womens Interest Section and later became the director of Womens Army Corp (WAC). Bethune was the director of the Negro Affairs Division in WAC and tirelessly advocated for the incorporation of black women into the WAC (Harris, 2011). Perhaps the boldest of them was Alice Paul. She dared to reintroduce the Equal Rights Amendment into congress session after the war was over (Lewis, 2011). This amendment had been introduced and rejected by every session of congress since the attainment of vote rights by women in 1920. Inevitably, the height of womens involvement in the just concluded war had convinced her that congress would be more willing to pass the amendment. However, this amendment failed to pass cong ress until the 70s, and even then it failed to pass in the mandatory number of states. Womens involvement in the Second World War also brought a lot of change to the fashion world. Women involved in military lines often wore trousers or the so-called one piece siren suits. Headgears and large handbags also became the obsession of many (Lewis, 2011). These were borne out of the necessity to tack hair away and need to carry all ration books of a family respectively (Lewis, 2011). They however went on to become fashion statements all over the two nations. The need to survive at the battle ground led many female soldiers and service providers to learn how to knit their cloths. Knitted clothes were believed to be more durable. This art of knitting, however, soon after war became the obsession of many females throughout the two nations. Indeed, fashion designers inevitably took advantage of this culture to make knitted cloths and scramble for the large market. The victory roll of hair was also widely adopted post the war. This style had been quite frequently used during the war and was argued to add considerably to a womans glamour. It was thought that such kind of feminine glamour caused them ad the men around them to be with a lot of morale. Worth noting however is the great sense of social freedom that women acquired during and after the war. There was a general sense that the governments ware more preoccupied with the war rather than monitoring the citizens for misdemeanour. This provided greater opportunity for the women to encounters members of the opposite sex. The results however were devastating- there was a sudden increase in the number of people with venereal diseases and illegitimate children (Harris, 2011). The gain however was the increasingly explicit sex education that left most people better informed about their sex lives than before the war. Women discovered Birth control methods and used them to control their futures, making them able to pursue their goals in life without the hindrances of getting a baby. This has increasingly enabled women to effectively compete with men in jobs and sectors formerly reserved only for the latter. However, critics of this topic of the World War II and the change of the role of women argue that it did not at all change the role of women. They argue that women had been trained to perform industrial and agricultural duties merely to allow men to participate in the war. The result of the end of the war, they argue, was the return to the status quo, with women going back to being housewives and the men resuming their industrial and agricultural duties. What actually caused the change in the roles of women in the society in the US and the UK, among other nations, was the Feminism Movement. The Feminism Movement This was a movement by women in 1950s and 60s advocating for equal opportunities at the workplace, including payment, with the male counterparts. This movement swept across the continents of Europe and America faster than was widely expected by the political elites. There is a general agreement that though the women leading these movements were of a younger generation, the fuel that fuelled that spread was those women that had done the mens job at the Second World War. This augmented by the emergence of such works as The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, and the development of birth control pills, allowed women to alter their social roles in the society. This allowed women more authority and autonomy and helped them to enhance their self-esteem. This farther caused them to focus more on being in control of their lives and their capacities. The movements therefore inevitably evolved from their social settings as was the case in the 60s to target economic changes looking at the situations of women at the workplace. These alterations ensured that women were no longer content with sitting at home all day cooking or cleaning, and caring for the children-they wanted to get out and work. Conclusion Traditionally, women had been confined to the roles of housewives and taking care of crops at home gardens. If there ever was a situation they got entirely involved, it must be in the Second World War. It is worth noting however that despite their immense participation and contribution, they wee still not considered as equal participants. This is evident by the denial by their male counterparts for the females to use arms even in situations where they were working with the arms (like the anti-aircraft crew) (Lewis, 2011). Later, after the war is over, the unionised organisations at the workplaces advocates for the men to reclaim their previous occupations, subsequently displacing a huge number of women who had been employed to cover the vacant positions. This goes along way to show that despite their massive contribution at the war, peoples perception about women have not changed much. The women are therefore forced to go back to their traditional chores and stay low. Such was the case until the launch of the Women Movements (Commonly referred to as the Feminine Movements). With the launch of these movements, women who had vehemently participated in the Second World War found a platform to voice their sentiments. These strong sentiments were coupled with the zeal of women of younger generation, making the movements unstoppable fires. It was indeed these feminine movements, influenced by the experiences of the World War II that caused major alterations in the socio-economic status of women in America and Britain. Buy custom Women in America and Britain Post World War II essay

Willy Russell Educating Rita Essays

Willy Russell Educating Rita Essays Willy Russell Educating Rita Essay Willy Russell Educating Rita Essay Essay Topic: Literature The play is about a working class hairdresser from Liverpool, that wants to be educated, hence the title Educating Rita. Her tutor, Frank is an English lecturer who is teaching in the Open University for the money. The play is set in Franks office. Frank and Rita in the beginning have a teacher pupil relationship that changes to friendship, and subsequently turns back to teacher pupil and towards the end back to friendship. The play is staged with only two main parts and on one set. This allows the audience to become closer to the two characters easier because they are the only characters shown. This means that the audience had to imagine the other characters. The film however has many sets and a more characters, it also gives more of an insight to the working class and middle class home life. I preferred the play because it had a superior dialogue and didnt stray to far from the main point of the play. Our first impressions of Frank are that he is an alcoholic, who hides his drink. Jubilantly he moves to the Dickens section and pulls out a pile of books to reveal a bottle of whisky. He takes the bottle from the shelf and goes to the small table by the door and pours himself a large slug into the mug is his hand. Frank has taken on the Open University work to pay for his drink. It is also obvious from the out set that Frank is middle class, this is shown by his profession, a university lecturer, his speech, standard English and his food, lamb and ratatouille. He also shows his lack of will power when he breaks his promise not to smoke. Frank is very cynical about the education system and has a dry humour. He is almost always apathetic about life; encased in his own environment, his office and his senses become dulled. This is shown when Rita first comes to Franks office and notices the religious painting on the wall and describes it as erotic to which Frank replies, Actually I dont think Ive looked at it for about ten years, He doesnt take notice of his surroundings. In contrast, Rita is a working class hairdresser from Liverpool who decides to take on an English Open University Course to discover herself and to improve her way of life. In the first scene Rita bursts into Franks office and this has a dramatic effect. Rita has a good sense of humour, which keeps the play more interesting at the beginning. She is also assertive, however she sometimes puts herself down because of her lack of formal education. Ritas language is full of slang and swearing. So y switch it off an say, thats fuckin rubbish. Rita believes that the course she is doing will be the key to changing her life. The relationship between Frank and Rita starts at a teacher pupil basis, Rita begins the relationship with high expectations, she assumes that Frank the lecturer will have all the answers and this comes from the fact that she isnt educated, she doesnt come from an educated background. However Rita tests Franks intellectual talents to the full. She always wants an explanation and justification for everything he says. Frank and Rita get on so well because they are different. To Frank Rita is like a breath of fresh air, very natural and down to earth, compared to Frank who is a disillusioned, apathetic, battered university lecturer. But they are both unhappy about the situation that they are in. Rita has a failing marriage with a husband that wants her to have a baby, and Frank his unhappy with everything in his life. However Ritas freshness and appetite for learning and knowledge inspires Frank, he also finds her attractive, intelligent and he enjoys her company. So he invites Rita to his dinner party, he also feels that she will enjoy meeting new people; he never thinks how Rita would really feel being surrounded by middle class educated people. Rita on the other hand is partly excited about it and also apprehensive. In the end Rita does not go to the party because she thinks she brought the wrong wine, or so she said, and would not be able to converse with Franks middle class friends at their level. But I dont wanna be charming and delightful: funny, whats funny? I dont wanna be funny, I wanna talk seriously with the rest of you, I dont wanna spend the night taking the piss, comin on with the funnies because thats the only way I can get into the conversation. I dont want to come to your house just to play the court jester. She thinks that she is a half-caste stuck between working and middle class, not quite fitting into either. For Rita Act One ends on a very negative note, her marriage is finished. This came about because Ritas husband Denny wanted a baby and Rita did not, also Denny wanted Rita to stop going to the O. U course. Denny gives an ultimatum do as he says or leave. Frank and Rita both know that Rita will have to change to be able to write essays that will pass an examination. This will affect the relationship because Frank doesnt want to change Rita but Rita wants Frank to help change her, so it is inevitable that there would be a clash of wills. When Rita comes back from the O. U summer school she is more mature. Frank however is surprised that Rita has changed this much. Rita has gained a larger vocabulary at the summer school and begins to speak more objectively which is what Frank described the language of education to be. Well any analogy will break down eventually. The relationship has developed from the original teacher pupil status to a firm friendship that, as Frank knows, will inevitably have to end. Trishs is Ritas flat mate and has a large influence on Rita; this is shown when Trish tells Rita to talk in Standard English, which she does (to Franks annoyance). Trishs influence also causes Rita to gain confidence, so Rita begins to talk to the proper students. Rita, Yeh, I got here early today. I started talking to some students down on the lawn. Frank, You were talking to students down there? During Act 2 it is shown that, as Ritas life becomes better Franks is becoming worse. He enters scene 3 drunk, after students had complained about him being drunk in a lecture. Rita on the other hand is becoming more educated. Towards the end of the play Rita says that she doesnt need Frank, that she didnt need to hold his hand anymore. This shows that Rita is becoming more independent from Frank, this distanced the pair. Frank asks if Rita wants to stop coming to the tutorials because even without him she would sail through the exam. The audience feels sorry for Frank all through this scene. The end of scene 6 is a low point in the relationship because Rita and Frank arent in direct contact with each other and so the relationship is deteriorating. Frank at the end of the play is being sent to Australia for his crimes and he is still apathetic about the whole affair. Rita however is slightly more depressed with the attempted suicide of her flatmate and Frank leaving. Rita changing her name back to Susan is significant because it shows how she has grown up over the course of the play and that she now knows that changing her name was a silly thing to do. Frank is going to Australia for repeated drinking on campus and his punishment is reduced from the sack to a sabbatical to Australia. Rita plans to either go to France with Tyson, go to her mothers for Christmas or have a baby. These choices reveal that she is still indecisive. I think Russells message is that however well together people seem you cant really tell whats going on inside. For example, you could be a well paid businessman or woman who has a spouse, 2 kids, car and a roof over your heads a perfect life, and still want to kill yourself. The play ends on a happy note with a sad undertone. With the friendship between Frank and Rita back to normal, but with Franks leaving and Trishs suicide attempt ending it as a mix of the two. Russell uses humour to soften the blow that could be caused by tackling class, political and social issues, and the different ways the different classes deal with these issues. The first part of the play is funnier because the differences between Frank and Rita are more prominent. The play ends on a funny note with Rita giving Frank a haircut and cutting him.

Ten Tips for Reporters Who Are Covering Accidents and Natural Disasters

Ten Tips for Reporters Who Are Covering Accidents and Natural Disasters Accidents and disasters – everything from plane and train crashes to earthquakes, tornadoes and tsunamis – are some of the hardest stories to cover. Reporters at the scene must gather information under very difficult circumstances, and produce stories on very tight deadlines. Covering such an event requires all of a reporter’s training and experience. But if you keep in mind the lessons youve learned and the skills youve acquired, covering an accident or a disaster can be a chance to really test yourself as a reporter, and to do some of your best work. So here are 10 tips to keep in mind. 1. Keep Your Cool Disasters are stressful situations. After all, a disaster means something horrible has happened on a very large scale. Many of the people at the scene, especially victims, will be distraught. It’s the reporter’s job in such a situation to keep a cool, clear head. 2. Learn Fast Reporters covering disasters often have to take in a lot of new information very quickly. For instance, you may not know much about planes, but if you’re suddenly called upon to help cover a plane crash, you’re going to have to learn as much as you can – fast. 3. Take Detailed Notes Take detailed notes about everything you learn, including things that seem insignificant. You never know when small details might become critical to your story. 4. Get Plenty of Description Readers will want to know what the scene of the disaster looked like, sounded like, smelled like. Get the sights, sounds and smells in your notes. Think of yourself as a camera, recording every visual detail you can. 5. Find The Officials in Charge In the aftermath of a disaster there will usually be dozens of emergency responders on the scene – firefighters, police, EMTs, and so on. Find the person who’s in charge of the emergency response. That official will have the big-picture overview of what’s happening and will be a valuable source. 6. Get Eyewitness Accounts Information from emergency authorities is great, but you need to also get quotes from people who saw what happened. Eyewitness accounts are invaluable for a disaster story. 7. Interview Survivors – If Possible It’s not always possible to interview survivors of a disaster immediately after the event. Often they’re being treated by EMTs or being debriefed by investigators. But if survivors are available, try your best to interview them. But remember, disaster survivors have just survived a traumatic event. Be tactful and sensitive with your questions and general approach. And if they say they don’t want to talk, respect their wishes. 8. Find The Heroes In nearly every disaster there are heroes who emerge - people who bravely and selflessly jeopardize their own safety in order to help others. Interview them. 9. Get The Numbers Disaster stories are often about numbers - how many people were killed or injured, how much property was destroyed, how fast the plane was traveling, etc. Remember to gather these for your story, but only from reliable sources - the officials in charge at the scene. 10. Remember The Five W’s and the H As you do your reporting, remember what’s critical to any news story – the who, what, where, when, why and how. Keeping those elements in mind will help to ensure that you gather all the information you need for your story. Read about writing disaster stories here. Return to Covering Different Kinds of Live Events

Phonics Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Phonics Practice - Essay Example They are learning to solve and decode the mystery of stringed words. Learning phonics is the key to learning to read print. "Research directly points to the direct relationship between phonic instruction and success in acquiring the skill to read print. In short, evidence on the importance of phonics is incontrovertible." (Savage, ). The practice of phonics everyday is the key to mastery in reading fluently. This should be practiced with music, where songs based on phonics can be reinforced. A video approach is even more effective, as it stimulates the auditory as well as the visual concept. And it is easy for the child to remember and decode information both using their auditory and visual stimulus. Flashcards can also be used for further practice. "The English writing system is based on alphabetic principle: that is the individual speech sounds (called phonemes) are represented in writing by individual alphabet sounds (called graphemes). Children need to understand the alphabetic principle as they learn to read. Mastering these sound symbol relationships is what phonics is all about." (Savage, ). Phonemic awareness - the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken words is crucial to success in beginning reading. It is in-fact a better predictor of learning to read than listening ability, IQ and several other factors. Lack of phonemic awareness puts children at risk of failure to learning to read. Phonics should begin with rhyme recognition and rhyme production and continue with segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution and blending of phonemes throughout the learning program. Emphasis should be on the five essential elements phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. . (Savage ). Motivation should also be the key factor in reinforcing the concepts. Children should be exposed to a variety of folk tales, fairy tales, rhymes and stories from diverse cultures which can encourage them at their level of learning to code and decode the symbols and decipher the hidden meaning. This journey of exploration of literature should be rewarded by more challenging books, materials and rewards. (Savage ). Although phonics remains an essential factor in the word recognition, other strategies should also be taught in helping children identify words and unlock the meaning of words they encounter in print. Children use multiple clues in identifying words, including sight recognition, and context clues all these need to be integrated with the study of phonics to nurture a fluent reader. This lesson should begin from home before Kindergarten years and should be fully mastered by third grade. The appropriate level of challenge should be maintained throughout. These skills should be taught to help children become productive and fluent readers. "Through critical attention to relevant research and careful observation of children in the reading-writing process, we teachers can intelligently decide how to teach phonics. . . . I prefer to teach phonics strategically, in the meaningful context of the predictable stories children read and write every day. In the context of written language, phonics instruction facilitates meaning making and independence."-Regie Routman, 1991(Weaver, 1996) Comparative and naturalistic research indicates that encouraging children in phonics not through drill but integrated natural approach is more effective.

How Non-conventional interfaces such as the Wii and Kinect represent Essay

How Non-conventional interfaces such as the Wii and Kinect represent the future of Games - Essay Example The gaming consoles that are solely non-conventional interface based are primarily introduced by three technological companies: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation’s Move and Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360. Wii was released by Nintendo on the 19th of November 2006. The distinguishing feature of Wii is its wireless controller called the Wii remote which was an imaginative introduction to the gaming world. IT was distinct at that point in time because the Wii remote was a handheld pointing device that detected movement in three dimensions. This design allowed the users of the console to approach the game in two ways: one being the traditional use of the buttons and the second being the new method of using physical gestures in order to control movements in the game.(Guardian 2012) PlayStation’s Move was introduced in the markets in September 2010. Move was motion-sensing game controller platform that was based on the technology used by the Nintendo Wii. The main part of the PlayStation Move technology is the Motion Controller with its lit sphere. This Motion controller is a wand controller that allows the user and the player to connect with the game using the controller that interacted with the PlayStation Move Eye camera through motion and position. The Eye camera tracks the position and motion of the wand with the help of inertial sensors embedded in it. Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360 can easily be considered the latest revolution in the non-conventional interface gaming. Kinect has taken the world by storm as the motion sensing input device that works together with the Xbox 360 gaming console. The device is basically a web-cam style device that detects the body motion and gestures without the need of a game controller. By using an  infrared  projector and camera and a special microchip to track the movement of objects and individuals in three

The Waterboy Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Waterboy Reaction Paper - Essay Example Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler wrote the film; it acts as a motivator to surpass the general parameter of mundane perceptions of possible and impossible. It retells the story of immense possibilities imbibed within an individual who just needs certain extra efforts and a little bit of courage to surface out. Thesis Statement This essay intends to explore the reaction that evolves in the mind of a man after watching this film and the nature and amount of motivation the film exercises on the mind of the audience watching it. Water Boy: A Reflection Characters and situations appearing on the silver screen are always very fascinating. Hardly any hero of a film or a novel confronts defeat. However, in real life the situations are always very different. At a pragmatic plane, therefore it is very tough always to relate to the characters of the reel life. Bobby, the protagonist of the film, â€Å"The Water Boy† at the outset of the film is projected as a character very clumsy and unacce ptable. He is shown undergoing the immense teasing of his fellow boys who are regular players in the football team. He is over protected by his mother who makes him more effeminate and weak. However, nobody ever tries to peep into the nobility of the boy, who chooses to supply water to his classmates playing for the football team after hearing that his father died of dehydration in the Sahara desert while serving in the Peace Corps. He undergoes all the humiliation to provide water to the boys whom he feels need it and in his own little way tries to pacify his mind by quenching the thirst of others. From this act of the boy, his mental convictions are indicated. He is a very determined person and he never gave up whatever he liked although he faced a lot of humiliation from his classmates and often chiding from the head coach, Red Beaulieu played by Jerry Red accusing him of disrupting the practice unnecessary. These situations in the film are conceived on a pragmatic line of action and thought process and motivate a human mind to a great extent. A dejected and a deprived person best comprehends the pang and the pain of another deprived and dejected person. As it is said, one is not able to feel the pang of a sore toe unless he puts the feet inside the shoe. The character of Coach Klein performed by Henry Winkler appears as the catalyst to the process of metamorphosis that takes place in Bobby’s life. He understands his ability and approaches Coach Klein, who mentors him to become one of the most aggressive linebackers attacking the opponent players continuously with ferocity almost like a superhuman. The deprivation and humiliation of long drawn years, which could have acted as a prominent flow of negative energy in Bobby, actually was manipulated by Bobby as his aggression, which he used to develop his attacking skill in the football ground. At the same time, coach Klein was able to give a good reply to the coach Beaulieu by training and transforming a mere water boy of his team to one of the most valued and attacking players of the opposite team. The film â€Å"Water Boy† is very motivating because it shows the perfect balance of a professional and personal life, which is a very important factor of the contemporary world. Bobby achieves a great development in his career as a player. He transforms himself completely. However, this change does not bring any kind of pride of self-glory in him. He knows how to balance his personal and professional life. Bobby follows the exact

Customer Service Operations of University Essay

Customer Service Operations of University - Essay Example A university’s customer care viewing from the student perspective segregates it to a B2C service. As a student we expect and we need to know whether the facilities offered by an educational organisation are average or excellent. One can not judge and have some idea about the services through public events and television. Some happenings could be out of the control. Customer care of the University needs to develop the expectations of the student community and carefully manage their perceptions as well. Service cues cannot be same as can be for any other industry sector, for example hotel and restaurant experience (Johnston & Clark 2008). Therefore, expectations need to be defined to know the quality factors a university needs to set up. The components of expectations need to be comprehended to functionalise customer expectations so that quality parameters could be structured and offered in required levels of quality. It would also help in creating such tools that map customer satisfaction (Johnston & Clark 2008). Service quality factors, according to Johnston & Clark (2008) can vary for different organisations but at least 18 quality factors have been zeroed-in on the basis of wider application of the quality parameters. These factors, which are identifications of prior expectations, include: Access. Service offering address should be reachable easily and the road leading to the destination should be free from the roadblocks. Aesthetics. Parts of the service offering should be admissible and soothing to the customer; it includes the look of the building, its surrounding area and services offerings including offered products and staff. Willingness to help. It should be offered by the contact people to the customer and indicate interest of the service provider in attending to customer needs. Availability. Here it not only implies availability of service facilities, staff and products to the customer but the reasonable ratio of staff to the needy customers. Products availability should also be sufficient in quantity and variance to be shown to the customer. Care. The customer expects fair and sympathetic treatment, and extended patience of the staff to make the customer feel at ease emotionally. Cleanl iness. The facilities the customer approaches need to be well managed from environment perspective. All physical parts of the service offering including goods and personnel come in the scope of cleanliness. Comfort. It comes with the arrangements made by the facility for the comfortable stay of the customer while visiting the facility. Dedication. The attending personnel’s perceived dedication in attending to the customers and doing their job proudly and with apparent activeness and completely. Communication. The servicing staff need to communicate with the customers in such a way that help the customers comprehend what is conveyed. Communication needs to be correct, clear, concise including both written and spoken language used in providing the required knowledge and at the same time listening thoughtfully to what the customer wants to convey. Competence. It is related to the expertise required in accomplishing the service as per customer needs. It requires following the rig ht processes, exact delivery as per customer inputs, extent of service or product information shown by the contact personnel, offering suggestions and ability of the staff in doing the job nicely. Courtesy. It is related to the behaviour of the concerned staff in attending to the customer issues, which should not be interfering sort of. Flexibility. Readiness on the part of the customer service to mould the service as per customer needs. Friendliness. Attitude of the customer service representative needs to be welcoming and body language of the concerned

Internalization of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internalization of Business - Essay Example Presently, the company employs 100 staff to deal with its manufacturing of products such as DVD players and MP3 players. Although the company is supplying products to the Japanese market, it has failed to expand its business over the last two years. A number of reasons are attributable to the company’s stunted growth including higher wages it has been paying and lack of research and development staff. Furthermore, the company is struggling to address highly competitive market environment in terms of technology development and innovation. Hence, it is necessary to critically analyse the present situation of the company and to anticipate the key trends for Elecdyne over the next five years. The 2008 global crisis and recession raised potential challenges to the global economy and it impeded the economic growth worldwide. Many economists are of the view that the global financial crisis 2008-09 is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in 1930s. As Soifer (2010) poi nts out, the crisis led to the collapse of a series of large financial institutions, the bailout of major banks by national governments, and downward movements in stock markets around the world (p.163). This crisis might have contributed to the growth decline of the Elecdyne. In modern days, market competition is very intense and therefore manufactures tend to design innovative models that would effectively dominate the market. Due to this stiff competition, customers get the extensive exposure to choose the best quality and affordable products. Since the Elecdyne lacks an effective R&D team, the company is really striving to develop innovative product models; and this worse condition keeps them away from the main stream of the international market. According to Despont (n.d), innovation and continued R&D is very important for an enterprise to survive the intense market competition because the modern customers always ask for the best products. However, it seems that the process of u rbanisation though networks and partnerships offer ranges of opportunities to organisations. It is observed that Elecdyne is currently near to sources of information and hence it can certainly become stronger by preparing itself to face international competition. Nowadays social networking sites such as facebook and Twitter have attained worldwide popularity and these social channels will enable the Elecdyne to understand customer tastes and specifications and thereby to maintain profitable market segments by realizing potential business territories. As Gourmelen (2004) points out, EU union expansion has created potential opportunities for organisations. In addition, Eastern European countries like Romania have cheaper salary margins as compared to UK .Hence, the Elecdyne can effectively offshore its manufacturing activities to such countries where favourable business conditions are prevailing. In addition, the company may obtain beneficial market environment in rapidly developing e conomies like India and China where the Elecdyne would get cheaper business inputs. The term STEEP is the acronym for Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political Factors. While analysing the socio-cultural factors, it seems that the company possesses a range of potential challenges. To illustrate; Japan, the company’s home country, is one of the world’s most famous countries for its electronics industry. Therefore cheap and close substitutes to Elecdyne’

Vision statement, Core Values statement, Mission statement, Goals & Personal Statement

Vision , Core Values , Mission , Goals & Objectives, and Strategies - Personal Statement Example t working towards a safe, crime and terror free future by pushing for incorporation of intelligent, scientific and technological aspects in service delivery and promoting a healthy and cooperative relationship with the citizens and between the law enforcement agents. My mission is to serve, safeguard and defend the rights of all, promote fairness and public safety. I am committed to promoting peace, demoralizing crime and terrorism acts, protecting property and enforcing laws for economic growth, social cohesion and democratic rights in any manner I deem appropriate without jeopardizing the afore mentioned duties, constitutional rights, ethical and moral concerns. 2. Change people’s negative attitude towards the law enforcement agents through commitment to my duties, respecting the agency’s regulations and ethical standards and using personal judgment and my moral uprightness in the first two years of my service. 3. In my first year of service I will work towards enhancing the relationship between fellow officers and other law enforcement agencies by instilling in them the spirit of team work, togetherness and sharing of ideas. 5. Create a tradition where there will be a change in approach to solving crimes to use of appropriate technology and educated analysis of a situation to reduce chances accusing the innocent in my first two years of service. Staircase to strategic planning comprises of a vision statement, values, mission, goals, objectives and strategies. A vision is blueprint for long term planning. It is a pathway from the present to the future. It comprises of the intended future state of an individual in terms of fundamental and strategic direction. Values are the beliefs which drive an individual’s culture and priorities (Jeanette et al, n.d). The third element in strategic planning is a mission. A mission statement defines the fundamental purpose; reason for existence. Fourthly, is the goals. These are the projected outcomes of what is

Internalization of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internalization of Business - Essay Example Presently, the company employs 100 staff to deal with its manufacturing of products such as DVD players and MP3 players. Although the company is supplying products to the Japanese market, it has failed to expand its business over the last two years. A number of reasons are attributable to the company’s stunted growth including higher wages it has been paying and lack of research and development staff. Furthermore, the company is struggling to address highly competitive market environment in terms of technology development and innovation. Hence, it is necessary to critically analyse the present situation of the company and to anticipate the key trends for Elecdyne over the next five years. The 2008 global crisis and recession raised potential challenges to the global economy and it impeded the economic growth worldwide. Many economists are of the view that the global financial crisis 2008-09 is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in 1930s. As Soifer (2010) poi nts out, the crisis led to the collapse of a series of large financial institutions, the bailout of major banks by national governments, and downward movements in stock markets around the world (p.163). This crisis might have contributed to the growth decline of the Elecdyne. In modern days, market competition is very intense and therefore manufactures tend to design innovative models that would effectively dominate the market. Due to this stiff competition, customers get the extensive exposure to choose the best quality and affordable products. Since the Elecdyne lacks an effective R&D team, the company is really striving to develop innovative product models; and this worse condition keeps them away from the main stream of the international market. According to Despont (n.d), innovation and continued R&D is very important for an enterprise to survive the intense market competition because the modern customers always ask for the best products. However, it seems that the process of u rbanisation though networks and partnerships offer ranges of opportunities to organisations. It is observed that Elecdyne is currently near to sources of information and hence it can certainly become stronger by preparing itself to face international competition. Nowadays social networking sites such as facebook and Twitter have attained worldwide popularity and these social channels will enable the Elecdyne to understand customer tastes and specifications and thereby to maintain profitable market segments by realizing potential business territories. As Gourmelen (2004) points out, EU union expansion has created potential opportunities for organisations. In addition, Eastern European countries like Romania have cheaper salary margins as compared to UK .Hence, the Elecdyne can effectively offshore its manufacturing activities to such countries where favourable business conditions are prevailing. In addition, the company may obtain beneficial market environment in rapidly developing e conomies like India and China where the Elecdyne would get cheaper business inputs. The term STEEP is the acronym for Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political Factors. While analysing the socio-cultural factors, it seems that the company possesses a range of potential challenges. To illustrate; Japan, the company’s home country, is one of the world’s most famous countries for its electronics industry. Therefore cheap and close substitutes to Elecdyne’

Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete - Essay Example Two-point load test was used to examine the bending moment of the bars while the cubes were subjected to compression tests for estimating their compressive strength. The flexural strength was also quantified. The effects observed on the steel fiber and steel bar reinforced beams and cubes were compared with those of beams and cubes made with plain concrete. The observations and comparisons are discussed. Introduction High durability and strength are an important prerequisite for concrete structures as they are continuously exposed to various forces, both static and dynamic (Elavenil & Knight 2007). Therefore, considerable research in recent years has focused on enhancing these properties in concrete. The use of fibers for reinforcement in concrete has been shown to improve its behavior. Reinforcement with fibers improves the toughness of concrete under any kind of loading as the fibers increase the strain experienced at peak load and enhance energy absorption (Van Chanh 2005). While several fibers such as glass, steel, cellulous and synthetic fibers are used for concrete reinforcement, the effects of reinforcement using steel fibers is explicitly discussed here. Special emphasis is given to the mechanical properties and performance of SFRC as compared to plain concrete. ... Hence, a large amount of energy has to be absorbed before there is complete separation of the concrete post-cracking. The material properties of any fiber reinforced concrete will vary with the dosage of the fiber, the geometry of the fiber and the different combinations of fibers used (Ross n.d.). Aims and Objectives The aim of this investigation is to examine the effects of steel fiber reinforcement on the mechanical properties of concrete. For this purpose, both steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) and plain concrete have been compared. The beams and cubes examined in this experiment are made of: 1. Steel fiber HE (Hooked End) reinforced concrete at a ratio of 20 kg/m3 2. Steel fiber HE reinforced concrete at a ratio of 40 kg/m3 3. Steel fiber XR reinforced concrete at a ratio of 20 kg/m3 4. Steel fiber XR reinforced concrete at a ratio of 40 kg/m3 5. Plain concrete 6. Normally reinforced concrete with two 6mm diameter bars 7. Normally reinforced concrete with four 6mm diameter bars As the main aim of this study is to compare the performance of SFRC and plain concrete, it can be subdivided into the following objectives for ease of study: Studying the flexural strength of both SFRC and plain concrete beams Studying the compressive strength of both SFRC and plain concrete cubes Comparing the flexural and bending failures The performance of the different beams and cubes made with SFRC is also compared based on the distribution of fiber in the concrete, and based on the shape of the fiber, i.e. HE and XR. Literature Review Influence of Fibers on Mechanical Properties of SFRC There are different types of steel fibers sold under various commercial names. Based on their manufacturing process, they are divided into

Issues with Cadburys Workforce

Issues with Cadburys Workforce One of the most important workforces issues that Cadbury has to tackle after the Krafts takeover will be the psychological contract and the employee engagement, thus, the fundamentals issues this paper work address are; explores some of the most important external and internal influences and business pressures that Cadbury is facing now, recommending the most appropriate strategic responses and describing some of the key Human Resource issues that the company have to bear in mind during the whole process of this transition. Secondly, this essay does a depth analyses of how Cadbury should tackle their psychological contracts issues, through a fully understanding of the workforces expectations and beliefs towards the Cadburys new employer, generally these expectations are out of the formal or legal contract, which means they are unwritten and unspoken but they still play an important role during this takeover. In addition to the psychological contract, this essay also explores another important issue in this takeover which is the employee engagement, this engagement generally is something given by the employees to the company which shows their commitment, effort and dedication, using the best of their capabilities to achieve the companys goals, therefore, this paper studies how Cadbury should make an appropriate adoption of the employee engagement concept bringing a tremendous vantage for the company. 216 words STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Business Pressure Cadburys company was built nearly two hundred years ago in Birmiham Great Britain, where during whole these years the company has stood up of the crowd for its chocolates quality and has even been awarded for the British Queen in February 1984 (Cadbury 1) Cadbury has also launched some chocolates which have became in a totally British iconic, chocolates bars such as wispa, which was first launched in 1981 and the creams eggs which sell around two hundred million units every year in the UK, and the Dairy Milk which was first launched in June 1905 and has become a mega well-known brand in many different varieties around the world (Cadbury 2), All these products and much more, have made that Cadbury become nowadays the second most engaging brand in the UK, according to a study made by the agency Hall Partners (2010), this study measures how the British people are engaged with brands and analyse how do they feel and think about it. The study reveals that Cadbury is a UK proud brand that British people love; as during whole these years, Cadbury has built a strong relationship with its customers and products in a consciously and unconsciously way. http://www.netimperative.com/news/2010/february/cadbury2019s-and-google-top-uk2019s-10-most/view Hence, taking into the account all these historic facts of Cadbury, it seem obvious that after the announce of Krafts takeover, a huge business pressure had grown all over UK regarding to continuation of the workforces inheritance , the maintaining of their manufactories in UK and the loss of jobs seems to be the most complicated business pressure. As a complement, after the acquisition of Cadbury in  £11.9 billion, Kraft is on  £7 billion debt, and to be able to solve this issue Kraft has created a saving plan of  £450 million a year (The Guarding 3) to pay off all its debts to the Royal Bank of Scotland, which ironically is 84% owned by the UK Government, which means that the UK government has borrowed the money to sell out one of the most engaging British companies. http://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadburyandchocolate/ourstory/Pages/ourstoryFlash.aspx#/1941_1980/product/1971_creme_egg (2) http://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadburyandchocolate/ourstory/Pages/ourstoryFlash.aspx#/1820_1860/product (1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/04/cadbury-kraft-union (3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8470776.stm (4) Strategic Responses Seems to be a very tough task, to set a good and appropriate strategic response, after all these enormous business pressures that surround Cadbury, hence, Kraft should start doing a deep analyses of each one of the business pressure, covering the customers and workforces expectations, to fully understand the whole context. Once exist a better understanding of the whole picture, Kraft should be more likely to face these business pressures in a more efficiently and appropriate manner, setting up the best possible strategic responses to tackle the whole problem. However, bearing in mind that my understanding of the whole picture will never be as deeper as the one Kraft could achieve inside their world, my best possible strategic responses should be keeping their pledges, showing the commitment and interest of Cadburys new owners to the workforce, doing the best of their capabilities to keep the social and ethical values, analysing the business strategic and vision of the company. On the other hand, UK Government should do everything they can, to ensure the jobs are kept in UK after the Krafts new acquisition, however the Cadburys Chairman has admitted that jobs loss are unavoidable as a consequence of the big acquisitions price of  £11.9 billion (The Indepent 2010 5), but as strategic response to this issue, Kraft should make a further investment in better technology machines to increase the productivity and reduce their overhead costs more efficiently without the need to make jobs redundant. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/takeover-will-mean-job-cuts-says-boss-of-cadbury-1873155.html (5) HRM Factors; possible impacts There are many numbers of possible HR impacts in this unexpected and unwelcome Krafts takeover, the first of them, is one of the most common HR impacts which takes place in most of the takeovers, these are the workforces strikes, which are already happening in Cadbury, the employees are desperately seeking for a plan or a law from the UK government which secure their jobs and give them work stability. Secondly but not less important, as consequence of this unwelcome takeover, Cadburys workforce might change its attitude and loyalty towards the company, creating a stressful and uncomfortable workplace environment for everybody, leaving as a result, a depth impact in the productivity of the company. Additionally to the job instability, lack of support from the companys new owner and stressful environment, all these issues could make that the best workforces men remaining in the company, decide to jump out of the ship before the company decides to throw them out. Lastly, the workforces future expectations, beliefs and principles might also change towards the company, meaning a partial or total loss of the engagement from the employees which could easily lead a collective decrease in the productivity. HRM Strategic to tackle As HR strategic, one of the first issues to tackle should be to build a much healthier workplace environment to the wellbeing and productivity of all the company, however to be able to solve this issue the strategic should starts improving the lack of communication between all the workforce, making ice-breaking session involving all manager and plant workers. On the other hand, the HR strategic, should also look at the terms and conditions of the workforces formal contracts, giving additional benefits, securing their jobs stability to all the workforce or at least the best workers and lastly making periodically reviews of their salaries and their current position in the company, all these incentives are with the aim of create a better perception of their psychological contract and get back the employees engagement. As a complement and improvement of the psychological contract perception, the company should also invest in their employees, giving them special training and special support wherever needed, earning also some of the trust which has been lost during this whole process. In support of the business pressures, strategic responses and HRM factors mentions above, the table below shows a strategic framework as develop by Sparrow and Pettigrew to complement the main points which have just been described, this framework shows some of the external influences issues and business pressures that Cadbury is currently facing after Krafts takeover, highlighting the most strategic responses and the HRM factors to my point of view. Business Pressure Strategic Responses HRM Factors Cadbury Now UK Prime Minister has done nothing to secure the Cadburys jobs Takeover will lead to a collective jobs redundant and losses at Cadbury as part of the annual cost saving plan of  £450 millions Public and government concerns about maintaining social, ethical values, and inheritance of Cadbury Customers value and expectations towards Cadburys product may change specially within UK Lack of trust between Cadburys new owners and Cadburys employees A massive disappointed from the UK citizens regarding to the money that RSB bank has lent to Kraft to takeover Cadbury Agreement between Cadbury and UK Government to maintain the Cadburys workforce Better technology machines should be used to increase the productivity and reduce the costs efficiently Show the commitment and interest of Cadburys new owners to the workforce, doing the best of their capabilities to keep the social and ethical values, analysing the business strategic and vision of the company. Keeping promises up to the workforce and showing them that the company really cares and worries for its employees POSSIBLE IMPACTS Possible strike from Cadburys workforce Insufficient support from the Company to the workforce, deteriorating the communications Hidden pressure that managers are not aware of The workforces attitude towards their work activities may change, leaving an impact on the company productivity Stressful work environment Employees concerns about jumping ship and their future career within the Cadbury Cadbury in the Future The UK Government cannot do legally anything to stop the massive fires; they were only concern about their votes There are not hopes that anything will change for the better as result of the takeover The takeover brings a deeper financial crisis for UK Government concern about lack of investment from Cadbury Kraft in UK The maintaining of the Cadbury manufactories in UK The inheritance of Cadbury have come to the end Make an aggressive marketing camping to show everybody the benefits, the takeover has brought To expand the manufacturing production along UK, Create a strategic plan to help sustain the inheritance of Cadburys workforce families HRM STRATEGIC TO TACKLE Restructure the workface of the company Create a healthy workplace environment for the employees wellbeing and productivity of the company Retain the best employees of the Company ensuring them long-terms stability Maintain terms in staff legal contracts (e.g. pension schemes) Revise recruitment policies (to retain existing staff + attract new talents from outside) Introduce training + long-term benefits for commitment of existing staff Conduct ice-breaking sessions for new managers and employees to build positive relationships 1470 words Management of the Psychological Contract and Employee Engagement The management of the psychological contract and employee engagement is one of the areas how Cadbury could tackle its challenges in strategic people management; however to be able to tackle it appropriately, first is essential some degree of understanding of what a psychological contract and what employee engagement is. Psychological Contract There are many different definitions of what the psychological contract is; this concept was first introduce by Argyris, C. (1960), to refer to the different expectations that the employers and the employees have out of the formal contract, since this concept was introduced, many writers have attempted to modify and refine it. At a general level, the concept of Psychological Contract refers to a voluntary agreement between the employee and the employer in exchange of compensations (Rousseau, D. Schalk, R. 2000), in this voluntary agreement, each party, held a number of commitments and beliefs, those beliefs can take the form of promises, expectations or obligations which are generally unwritten and unspoken in the legal agreement contract, however they still play a critical role as they can be interpreted differently by each party (Osborn Jones 2000). This concept of psychological contract implies that either the employee or the employer can have a different perception of anothers expectations, voluntary commitments, obligations and aspirations which are out of the formal contract of employment (Herriot, P. et al. 1997). Therefore, a certain degree of mutual understanding of the agreement between both parties is essential to achieve each participants goals. (Rousseau, D. Schalk, R. 2000), Employee Engagement This seems to be an easy topic to define and describe, however after some research, the huge numbers of definitions regarding this issue seem to be uncountable, making this topic unclear but at the same time attractive enough to the HR consultancy market, consulting firms, business press and some academics writers. Having said that, one of the most complete definitions I found about employee engagement out there to my point of view is the one by Robinson et al., (2004). A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee. Robinson et al., (2004) has also stated in his work, a set of additional characteristics of the employee engagement, which include a belief in the organisation, and the desire of the employees have to work and make the organisation better, basically the concept Robinson presented in his paper work is about the employees having a bigger picture and a better understanding of the business context as well as keeping up to date with the latest information which concern to his/her field. Relation between the Psychological Contract and the Employee Engagement Having defined the employee engagement as; a positive attitude, behaviour and/or outcome from the employees towards the company and its values, being aware of the whole business context and working together with the colleagues in order improve the performance of the company and gain the best benefits for the organization, and having defined psychological contract as; a set of beliefs which can take the forms of promises, expectations and/or obligations existing in a voluntary agreement between the employee and the employer. It seems to be a straightforward relationship each other definitions. Both definitions are relate to the employer and employee relationship, and the first challenge is to efficiently manage the loyalty and trust instead of dictate the rules by organizations, this relationship is fragile and should not be taken for granted by any of the parties, the second challenge is to keep a healthy relationship for the wellbeing of both participants. http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/features/Opinion/927664/Engagement-depends-clear-psychological-contract-employee-employer/ On one side, the employer expects that their employees always performance to the best of their capabilities, being loyal to the company and understand the whole business context, and on the other hand the employees want to be respected, valued, heard and compensated by the employers, therefore the key issue is to build mutual trust which engage the employees with the employers, always keeping an eye on the psychological contract, which means, keeping clear and understandable expectations for both participants (Wellin, M. 2007) However, Cadbury Previous Psychological Contract Having already analysed the general psychological contracts context, is much easier now to deepen in the previous Cadburys psychological contract, but bearing in mind this contract is a pure metaphoric action, where each participants have their own voluntary commitments regarding to the performance and fulfilment of each other, we can infer that each one of the 45000 UK Cadburys workforce have a different psychological contract, which make this an even bigger scenario to analyse but at the same time a extremely attractive, as based on the records, (reference) it shows that most of UK workforce had a similar metaphoric contract. Thus, is unavoidable raise a fundamental question; How Cadbury former owners made that all the forces underlying the legal agreement of their workforce where so similar to each other and how did they manage to sign 45000 similar psychological contracts where does not even exist a physical document as it is a subjective phenomenon? There are evidences (Morrinson, E. and Robinson, S. 1997) which indicate that the performance of each participants psychological contract is directly proportional to how clearly each participant has spelled out the conditions and exchange of their mutual agreement. This last paragraph makes me conclude that, Cadbury has truly understood this issue and has conveyed its commitments, beliefs, and expectations through their whole workforce, establishing in this way some degree of mutual agreement among its 45000 UK employees. Rousseau, D. Schalk R. (2000) indicated in his work that, when both participants of the psychological contract believe that they owed each other something, is very likely that each one gets whatever they desire. The power of the promises Cadbury seems to have conveyed well its expectations and beliefs, establishing a degree of mutual agreement. However, this might not be enough to unify the similar conditions of the psychological contracts in 45000 employees during 180 years. Is remarkable to note at this point, that all sort of beliefs cannot be taken as part of a psychological contract, what this means is, not all expectations, promises and obligations that arise in the workplace can form part of the psychological contract context, as if this happen the concept itself will be weak enough to utilize as an analytical tool (Convoy and Briner 2005), The challenge here is to identify and clarify, which promises, expectations, and/or obligations can be categorized as part of the psychological contract context, nevertheless, does not exist any concern for this essay to deepen in this subject. Having clarified that, psychological contracts are basically a subjective phenomenon based on implicit promises; promises which do not include any belief derive from other inferences. Despite to what we normally think that promises can only be a verbal action, in the psychological context the promises can also be inferred, and is right there, when it becomes difficult to properly interpret these promises into the psychological contract framework. The two key issues here are; primary, do not set promises in the legal contract which could lead to a future misunderstanding of the employees, second do not take into consideration promises derives from any inferences. Tackling the Challenges of the Psychological Contract Having spelled out the success of Cadburys previous psychological contract, is notorious that Kraft / Cadbury has the key issue to maintain the same psychological contract within the UK workforce in order to manage this takeover in the most appropriate way. Kraft will not enjoy of the current Cadburys workforce commitments until they truly understand its ingrain psychological contract as well as its own culture identity Therefore Kraft / Cadbury, in order to tackle the challenges of the psychological contract in the most effective way, they should firstly, fully understand the drivers of their beliefs and what make the employees engage with the company so tightly, taking into consideration the culture differences. As the saying goes, England and America are two different countries separated by the same language; this is a clear caveat to Kraft / Cadbury does not forget that exist some underlying forces of the legal contract, which could leads or infer to a misunderstanding of the beliefs between both participants and as consequence a disengagement of the workforces commitments. For instance, Kraft / Cadbury could hire an external local brand auditor to investigate the reason(s) of key employees engagement, such as plant employees and/or relevant senior employees with the company and/or the brand itself, this audit should be placed with the aim of understand the whole picture in a much clear scenario, before any action takes place to align the companys psychological contract Once these employee engagements reason(s) are clear and there are not doubts of the workforces beliefs, it is equally essential that Kraft/Cadbury spells out their own expectations towards the future of the company and most importantly, the future of their workforce, this action should be made in the most understandable way, covering the entire negatives and positives beliefs so that the workforce can clearly understand the companys position and deal with it in the same psychological contract context. However, this action of conveying the negatives and positives beliefs towards the company and workforce, does not guaranty that the workforce will accept them and share the same commitments that they were sharing before the merger, but at least it will not create wrong expectations, setting up fair rules during the game. Actions such as the recent announcement of the closing Somerdales factory close to Bristol, (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article7022608.ece) losing approximately 400 UK jobs, once Kraft had mentioned that there were not going to be any job cuts during the first six months of the merger, this announcement only creates unrealistic expectations among the workforce towards the company, and being this action the first impression which Kraft has given to their employees of breaking the pledges, it only shows the lack of principles and lack of commitments to keep what they say. These types of actions are the ones which Kraft has to avoid will happen again, after this announcement; it seems to be obvious that the way how Kraft expresses its beliefs and commitments, certainly has not been well understood not only for its workforce but also for all its UK customers and the UK government. Therefore, if Kraft really wants to be engage with their workforce is going to have to work even harder to firstly recover the trust which ever had gained and secondly to rectify the first opportunity which has just spoiled out. CONCLUSIONS