Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Analysis Of Darkness And `` Darkness `` - 1968 Words

For the purpose of examination, I’m going to look more closely as the section of this vignette starting with â€Å"But something deep and powerful†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and ending with â€Å"†¦he’ll know too much too soon about what’s going to happen to him (Baldwin 13),† however the entire memory beginning at the bottom of page 12 and continuing to the bottom of page 13 are relevant in contextualizing and setting the scene for this analysis. The reoccurring theme within this passage is â€Å"darkness†, reappearing three times in the highlighted eight sentences, but the reality of it looms over the entire section. The question becomes whether this is referring to a physical darkness, or a more theoretical darkness. And if the latter is the case, what is represented by the†¦show more content†¦Darkness, as presented here, relates to similar concepts presented in Notes of a Native Son and The Man Who Killed a Shadow, by Baldwin and Richard Wrig ht respectively. In The Man Who Killed a Shadow, shadows become a central theme, specifically referring to the power white individuals have over the stories and experiences of black people. Like darkness in Baldwin’s text, shadows are animated, given power over black individuals within Wright’s world. In one example, the narrator claimed that he â€Å"felt that the shadows would some day claim him as he had seen them claim others (Wright 188),† promoting the shadows to something with enough influence to extend this sense of danger over others apart from the narrator himself. In other words, the narrator implies that his fear and loathing towards the shadows isn’t individualistic, but shared, and potentially universal among those who claim a similar racial identity as him. Additionally, within another one of Baldwin’s own short stories, Notes of a Native Son presents a combined concept of disease and bitterness to represent the struggles faced by a black, male narrator. Here the disease created a sort of blind rage, a hot bitterness against a system that denied the narrator equal opportunities because of his identity. Baldwin states that â€Å"once this disease is contracted, one can never be really carefree again, for the fever, without anShow MoreRelatedDarkness Poem Analysis1452 Words   |  6 Pagesexist from nothing? Lord Byron’s poem, â€Å"Darkness,† brings about the concept of battling darkness with light, trying to bring light out of darkness only to prove to be futile. Byron not only starts off immediately contradicting himself, but continuously does so throughout the poem through his particular use of vocabulary. His word choice ultimately shows how he cannot determine what he means, since everything he says is followed by an opposite. The idea that darkness conquers all in the end in Lord Byron’sRead MoreAnalysis Of Heart Of Darkness 1331 Words   |  6 PagesHeart of Darkness is about the dark effects of imperialism in Africa; the Englishmen wish to colonize in Africa with the purpose of taking their ivory. Charlie Marlow, who works as a sailor in the company of ivory trading. Marlow meets a man named Kurtz, the best-selling agent, during his journey to the Congo. In Heart of Darkness, the characters Marlow, Kurtz helps portray the theme. Marlow’s actions during his journey to the Congo in Africa develops his personality by revealing his character.Read MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Darkness 1040 Words   |  5 Pages In the Darkness â€Å"Dear Diary†¦it’s the first day of school and I can barely pull myself together. My parents are dead and my brothers not okay. For the first time since my life turned around I have written in my diary. I guess this depressing entry will have to wait, because my Aunt is calling my name from downstairs. Farewell - Elena I arrive at school actually on time. All my friends run towards me jumping up and down. I obviously have to join and fake my smile I’ve been dreading to haveRead MoreAnalysis Of Darkness Visible 1542 Words   |  7 Pagesaffecting millions of people every day. As one of the most common mental illnesses, it can occur to anyone, at any age, and to people of any race or ethnic group. With his book Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, William Styron became of the first people to publicly acknowledge his struggling battle with depression. Darkness Visible is an intense and haunting account of Styron’s own suicidal depression in which he reminds us of the toll that this dreadful illness can have on an individual. As StyronRead MoreAnalysis Of Out Of Darkness 1792 Words   |  8 Pages Out Of Darkness Stationary in the pulse of darkness, it’s as though he’s evolved out of nothing, fully formed, unencumbered. Despite it being some hours before dawn, he is not tired, nor is his conscience troubled. In fact, he’s alert and empty-headed and inexplicably elated. With no decision made, no motivation at all, he had moved toward the nearest of three bedroom windows and experienced such ease and freedom in his tread, that he suspects at once he’s dreaming. Dreams do not interest him;Read MoreAnalysis Of Fences And Heart Of Darkness 964 Words   |  4 PagesAmerica such as racism and poverty. When we read about African American literature in school, we read about empowerment and pride. It is ironic how students study White writers who tell stories like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Heart of Darkness with mistreated African American characters, but barely study those same stories written by Black authors, poets, and playwrights. Because African Americ an literature was not glorified in the past, specifically speaking of a time before the HarlemRead MoreAnalysis Of The Darkness By Lord Byron832 Words   |  4 Pages The Darkness is a poem written by Lord Byron in 1816, around the Romantic period. Byron has stated that the poem was inspired by the events of Mount Tambora, which was a volcano that erupted in the Dutch East indies that caused surreal weather phenomenons, such as inexplicable darkness and cold temperatures in Geneva, where Byron was at the time, and eventually where he wrote the poem. This event caused many authors to suspect that this eruption, and the following weather events, was a sign thatRead MoreAn Analysis of Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay1465 Words   |  6 PagesAn Analysis of Conrads Heart of Darkness In the twentieth century, nihilistic themes, such as moral degeneratio n, mans bestial instincts at the core of the soul, and cosmic purposelessness, haveRead MoreAnalysis Of The Article Heart Of Darkness Essay1918 Words   |  8 Pageschallenges for L2 learners regarding, for example, which nouns are countable or uncountable in English since countability, while very important, can be difficult to quantify. An example regarding the use of the article would be the novel Heart of Darkness. Not having an article at the beginning of this title appears more a matter of style than grammar, and also is a characteristic of headlines, titles, and names. So while conventionally a countable noun (such as heart) needs a determiner (the, a,Read MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Heart Of Darkness 1693 Words   |  7 PagesRead The Book Watch The Movie Essay - Heart of Darkness An arrow pierced the Helmsman’s chest and he fell to the deck. Captain Marlow hastily took the wheel. As he navigated the steamboat up the Congo River, his feet began to feel warm and sticky. He looked down and realized that his shoes were filled with the fallen helmsman’s blood. He quickly discarded his shoes, and in order to prevent the cannibal crew from eating the body, Marlow had to dump him overboard into the brown, foreboding water. This

Monday, December 16, 2019

Preface to ‘Joseph Andrews’ Free Essays

string(39) " a father figure within his community\." In his Preface to ‘Joseph Andrews’, Fielding claims that human vices in his novel are ‘never set forth as the objects of ridicule but detestation’. To what extent are ‘Joseph Andrews’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ concerned with issues of morality? Despite the fact that ‘Joseph Andrews’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ approach their concern with issues of morality differently, they both interrogate the subject to the extent whereby, throughout the majority of both novels, they reveal and question existing ideals of society’s principles: â€Å"Robinson Crusoe initiates that aspect of the novel’s treatment of experience which rivals the confessional autobiography and outdoes other literary forms in bringing us close to the inward moral being of the individual† (Watt, 75). This quote summarises the argument ahead and captures Defoe’s intentions. We will write a custom essay sample on Preface to ‘Joseph Andrews’ or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is also one of the many critical debates that surround this concern, that accentuate how Fielding and Defoe’s involvement in this matter is significant and almost revolutionary. Whereas Watt’s comment below encapsulates what Fielding aims to achieve: â€Å"Fielding†¦ attempts to broaden our moral sense rather than to intensify its punitive operations against licentiousness. † (Watt, 283). Both of the above quotations provide an insight into both writers’ new and innovative approaches that can be considered to be quite rebellious, compared to other works from the eighteenth century. Throughout Andrew Wright’s essay titled ‘Joseph Andrews: Art as Art’, it is argued that â€Å"Fielding believes that the function of the novel is to provide a paradigm of civilisation which is above the level of ordinary moral imperatives† (Wright, 24). Thus, one may assume that Fielding’s intention is to set a raised barrier of morality in order to demonstrate how low civilisation measures up to it. He also contends that there is much evidence within and outside Fielding’s novel’s to suggest that Fielding did not have high hopes for human beings to become perfect or for society to transform and become flawless. This pessimism entails that human beings are hopeless. However, Fielding wrote in ‘The True Patriot’ on November 12th, 1745 that there are â€Å"some imperfections perhaps innate in our Constitution, and others too inveterate and established, to be eradicated; to these, wise and prudent Men will rather submit, than hazard shocking the Constitution itself by a rash Endeavour to remove them† (Wright, 30). This statement implies that Fielding’s exploration of vices within the narrative was not designed to change civilisation but to reveal its comportment in all veracity. Wright almost discusses the same notion and argues that â€Å"it is impossible to make a bad man good, and good men will very probably grow wise without much prompting. The function of art, therefore- and if this is not a tautology- is to provide a kind of ideal delight† (Wright, 30). Therefore, it is fair to suggest that Fielding does not intend to improve society or change the nature of human kind. Instead, he aims to encourage acceptance of civilisation; his revelation of flaws is formulated in order to allow his readers to find a way of rejoicing them. Thus, morality is a significant theme within the narrative and could be argued to be the purpose of the book. The rationale as to why this does not appear obvious or heightened is because it is not a concept of morality that is usually highlighted or celebrated. Within this balance of rejection and acceptance, Fielding creates a new type of morality and happiness and this can be reinforced in book three, chapter three, when Wilson unfolds his tale of moral deterioration and debauchery in London: â€Å"I soon prevented it. I represented him in so low a Light to his mistress, and made so good an Use of Flattery, Promises, and Presents†¦I prevailed the poor Girl, and convey’d her away from her Mother! In a word, I debauched her. -(At which Words, Adams started up, fetch’d three Strides across the Room, and then replaced himself in his Chair. ) You are not more affected with this part of my story than myself: I assure you it will never be sufficiently repented in my own Opinion† (Fielding, 180). This extract promotes acceptance of immorality and shamelessness. The way in which Adams reacts for a moment and then replaces himself in his chair demonstrates a sense of tolerance but also acknowledgment. This is symbolic of Fielding’s approach to morality throughout the entire novel; it is important to be aware of corruption but to attempt to repent it could cause more damage. Similarly to ‘Joseph Andrews‘, ‘Robinson Crusoe’ shows many preoccupations with the concept of morality. However, more so than Fielding (although Fielding also uses this device), Defoe utilises religion in order to determine a social moral code; he uses the boundaries and margins of religion in order to measure Robinson Crusoe’s principles. For example, the novel presents a protestant work ethic where success in business, in life is a message that you will go to heaven. Throughout the novel, Crusoe suggests that God is capitalist and that material increase suggests spiritual happiness and a closer relationship to God. This is evident on many occasions throughout the novel, for example, Crusoe converts Friday to Christianity and relates closer and closer to God as the novel progresses: â€Å"From these things I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the true God. I told him that the great Maker of all things lived up there, pointing up towards Heaven. That He governs the world by the same Power and Providence by which He made it. That He was omnipotent, could do everything for us, give everything to us, take everything from us; and thus by degrees I opened his eyes. (Defoe, 213). The significance of the theme of morality (or the Protestant religion as it is referred to within the novel) can also be reinforced by the way in which Crusoe teaches and learns about religion and preaches about its glory to others, such as Friday. This is also evident within ‘Joseph Andrews’ as the reader witnesses Joseph’s attempts to gain attributes similar to Joseph from the bible. For example, he is seen as a father figure within his community. You read "Preface to ‘Joseph Andrews’" in category "Papers" Within his essay, ’Robinson Crusoe and the state of nature’, Maximillian E. Novak argues that â€Å"Defoe was not only delineating the condition of man in the state of nature but also the cultural and political evolution which, by transforming the state of nature, created civilisation and government† (Novak, 23). This suggests that Defoe contributed to a more polished and advanced society that was in the making at the time of the novel’s publication. He discusses three opinions on the private physical men that were current in Defoe’s day: one being that despite being isolated, man would achieve the same intellectual and moral condition that he would if he ould were raised in society. (Novak, 23). Although the category that Novak feels Crusoe belongs to is the third whereby â€Å"he survives his solitude, but he is always afraid, always cautious. Defoe recognised the benefits of the state of nature, but he believed that the freedom and purity of Crusoe’s island were minor advantages compared to the comfort and security of civilisa tion. † (Novak, 23). This view implies that human beings almost do not exist without society because they are so formulated by society that without it, there is nothing left. Novak suggests this when he states that human beings are more affluent in society than alone and isolated. This therefore entails that it is society that provides our moral grounding and that aspects of society such as religion are dominant of what we believe to be right and wrong. Thus, religion is our guide to life and what encourages us to follow codes of moral conduct: â€Å"it is Puritan individualism which controls his spiritual being† (Watt, 74). This can be emphasised within the text as the reader follows Crusoe’s spiritual journey. The reader witnesses how God brings Crusoe back onto the track of Providence which is why he has to relearn everything, including how to behave. Throughout ‘Joseph Andrews’, religion acts as a principal for people to live by and the characters that live up to the standards are used to set an example, such as Joseph. Creating another relationship between both texts, religion is a way for morality to succeed; Fielding makes moral characters virtuous and successful, he also mocks the immoral society that does not have religious beliefs and thus shows that morals equal success. While Defoe shows that religion provides Crusoe with moral demeanour. This has an underlying tone of significance about human beings’ behaviour and what we need to survive, as we observe how Crusoe needs routine and time in order to allow him to feel as though he has control. This also relates to the politically charged atmosphere of the time about the need for a ruling monarchy and colonialism because the restoration demonstrated how the public were unable to direct their own lives; they needed demands from authoritative figures in order to provide them with comfort and assurance. For example, Crusoe recreates what he knows from England, such as, farming and building: â€Å"In about a year and a half I had a flock of about twelve goats, kids and all; and in two years more I had three and forty, besides several that I took and killed for my food. And after that I enclosed five several pieces of ground to feed them in, with little pens to drive them into, to take them as I wanted, an gates out of one piece of ground into another† (Defoe, 146). Consequently, both ‘Joseph Andrews’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ are concerned with morality to the extent that they aim to produce ideals of morality that they believe to be revolutionary compared to the capitalist society from which they derive from. Ian Watt argues that â€Å"the highest spiritual values had been attached to the performance of the daily task, the next step was for the autonomous individual to regard his achievements as a quasi-divine mastering of the environment. It is likely that this secularisation of the Calvinist conception of stewardship was of considerable importance for the rise of the novel† (Watt, 74). Thus, it can be argued that not only were ‘Joseph Andrews’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’s’ moral content innovative and enlightening, they were also significant contributors to the ‘rise of the novel’ and a new way of thinking. This renaissance can be considered as an essential element of the restoration of the time. The fact that Watt explores both novels and novelists in his book ‘The Rise of the Novel’ also accentuates this notion. Throughout her critical study of eighteenth century literature, Pat Rogers discusses the context of the writer’s of the time. She suggests that it was literature’s responsibility to reflect reality and also make sense of it; â€Å"to distil general laws and detect patterns in apparently random occurrences† (Rogers, 11). This is evident in both novels, for example, the way in which Fielding crafts a ingenuous representation of the moral state of society within ‘Joseph Andrews‘: â€Å"Your Lady talks of servants as if they were not born of the Christian Specious. Servants have flesh and blood as well as quality† (Fielding, 260). It is also a dominant feature of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ whereby there are many references to the immoral nature of English society:† greatly concerned to secure myself from any attack in the night, either from wild beasts or men† (Defoe, 74). For example, this suggests that men are the equivalent to ‘wild beasts’ and also just as threatening, implying that men have become corrupt and out of control, showing a lack of consideration for the rest of society. Thus both novels formulate parodies of the truth that reveal the decay of decency and morality. Rogers supports this argument and reinforces both writers’ methods of portraying such ideals: â€Å"they deal for the most part with the experience of everyday of men and women in society; their tone was plain and worldly, they sought to avoid a recondite air, and they addressed the reader with easy confidence†¦the actions of other people form the most obvious objects of our moral perceptions; when we make moral judgements, we apply ourselves decisions we have made about the behaviour of others. Not only do we perceive that an act is right or wrong, but we assign merit or blame to the perpetrator of the act. (Rogers, 147). To conclude, both novels have dominant themes of morality, ‘Joseph Andrews’ concentrates on everyday life and behaviour and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ approaches morality from a broader perspective and through the characteristic of religion. Consequently, both novels attack the negative attributes of society and mankind in a rather sat irical manner; they observe the truth about people’s principles and encourage enthusiasm for the reader to reach their own conclusions, in order for them to recognise flaws. Not only are both books innovative and rather rebellious, but they can both be considered as fundamental stimulants for the ‘rise of the novel’. Historical evidence of the eighteenth century and the tradition of writing at the time can also support both writers’ objectives in incorporating such dominant themes of morality. This is because of the lack of individualism and the control of a newly capitalist civilisation. Therefore, overall there is much evidence to support this argument and many existing critical debates, to suggest that both Fielding and Defoe are deeply concerned with the issues of morality. Both ‘Joseph Andrews’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ can be read as a reflection of life and human behaviour to the extent whereby they highlight the state of morality and its function within society. Bibliography: Bell, A. Ian. ‘Defoe’s Fiction’. Kent: Biddles Ltd, 1985. Butt, John. ‘Fielding’. London: Longmans, Green Co Ltd, 1959. Defoe, Daniel. ‘Robinson Crusoe‘. Berkshire: Penguin Books Ltd, 1994. Fielding, Henry. ‘Joseph Andrews‘, ‘Shamela‘. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. Novak, E. Maximillian. Defoe and the Nature of Man’. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1963. Macalister, Hamilton. ‘Literature in Perspective- Fielding’. London: Evans Brothers Limited, 1967. Paulson, Ronald. ‘Fielding- A Collection of Critical Essays’. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc, 1962. Rogers, Pat. ‘The Context of English Literature- The Eighteenth Century’. London: Methuen Co Ltd, 1978. Watt, Ia n. ‘The Rise of the Novel’. London: Chatto Windus, 1963. Wright, Andrew. ‘Henry Fielding: Mask and Feast’. London: Chatto Windus, 1968. How to cite Preface to ‘Joseph Andrews’, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Electronic Health Record in the healthcare Organisation Sample

Question: Discuss about the Implementation of Electronic Health Record(EHR) in the Healthcare Organisation. Answer: Introduction The requirement of creation and promotion of an efficient healthcare system is unarguable. The efficiency can be attained when the healthcare organisations are attaining the maximum benefits from the healthcare system. In the healthcare organisations, the efficiency can be achieved by the efficient use of technology (Eurohealth, 2012). The electronic health record (EHR) system has the potential to transform the healthcare system. Over the last few years, technology has intervened in the every major industry and most of the organisations have implemented heavy computerisation to increase the efficiency of the organisation. However, despite these technological advances in the society, there is no provision to maintain the health records of the patients electronically. Moreover, most of the patients are prescribed through hand written records and only a few patients are able to electronically contact their physician or set an appointment with the doctor. The Electronic Health Care Recor d (EHR) has the potential to transform the healthcare system of an organisation from paper-based system to computerised system which is capable of delivering high quality care to the patients. However, a simple EHR system provides only partial benefits to the society and the healthcare organisations; it is important that the Electronic Health Care Record system is implemented in a strategic manner. The EHR can be defined as the longitudinal record of the patients health which is stored electronically. The information is generated in the encounters between the patient and the doctor. The electronic health record also contains information related to the patients demographics, progress, medications, vital statistics, past medical history and the medical reports. One of the primary benefits of the EHR is the avoidance of the poor penmanship and associated difficulties in understanding the reports. There are three vital components of Electronic Health Record (EHR) which can improve the h ealth care quality and reduce the system costs. These are: clinical decision support system tools, computerised physician order entry (CPOE) system and health information exchange (HIE) system. The clinical decision support system assists the physicians in decision-making regarding the patient care. It can be used to obtain latest information of the drugs or check previous records to identify a patents allergy to a specific drug. The CDS system can reduce the instances of medical errors which will assist the physicians in delivering effective healthcare (Menachemi and Collum, 2011). The aim of this article is to recommend the implementation of EHR in small patient setting. The Kotters change model has been applied for the implementation of EHR in the organisation. The intention, attitude and the beliefs of the healthcare personnel and the physicians are critical in acceptance and adoption of any new technology. Also, the perceived usefulness and the perceived easiness of use influen ce the adoption of new technological system. Therefore, it is important that social and the behavioural factors are considered in the EHR planning. In the present article, the case-study method has been used to describe the application of Kotters change management model in the implementation of cost efficiency among the physicians (Martin, Voynov, 2014). Reaching Consensus It is important to reach a consensus in the change management process to reduce the resistance to the change. It promotes acceptance of the change process and ownership of the collaborative decision. It will motivate the people to work towards the common aim. The consensus will build support and among the stakeholders and they will be more acceptable of the change process (Voehl Harrington, 2016). A business organisation can build resistance by clearly defining the mission statement for the group, defining roles and responsibilities of the members, maintaining the group mission, establishing positive and open communication and creating s system of continuous review and feedback. The hospital can use consensus decision making to reach agreement between different group members in a group. The consensus decision-making can be used to find solutions which are actively supported by all group members. The consensus decision making allows the management to take into consideration the opinions, ideas and the concerns of all the members. When the management listens to the viewpoint of all the group members, they can bring proposals which can work for everyone. It can result in innovative and creative solutions which can inspire the people and group as a whole (Ledgerwood White, 2006). In the context of the present organisation, the proposed role of Electronic Health Record (HER) will be determined with the help of consensus decision making. The Electronic Health Records (EHR) will be used to support decision making by discussing the benefits of the system as conducted in Lagoon Hospital in Nigeria. Lagoon Hospital has implemented an innovative consensus management approach to implement the electronic system to maintain the medical records of the patients. An electric medical record system has been introduced as a part of the innovation process in the hospital. The organisation has creates a mission to consistently deliver quality healthcare which exceeds the expectations of the customers. The Lagoon Hospital is the first hospital in the Sub-Saharan Africa which has earned the accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI) which shows its excellency in clinical practices related to patient care and safety (Hygeia, 2017). The management of Lagoon Hospitals obtained consensus from different officers by highlighting the benefits of the electronic system to them. The benefits of the electronic health record system were discussed with different employees. It was discussed that the implementation of the electronic record system will allow the staff to create an updated record of the medical and critical information such as medical history, future appointments, and medication and allergy histories. It can increase the efficiency of the healthcare professionals by creating structured information source, supporting inter-operability across the system and supporting effective decision-making by easing the process of accessing and interrogating the medical data. The waiting time of the organisation is also reduced and the errors created due to illegitimacy of handwriting are also mitigated. The appointment system will be better managed and more space is created in the hospital which creates conducive environmen t in the organisation (Gbenga-Mustapha, 2013). The strategic alignment process can be used to determine the stages of the change management process. In the change management process, the major challenge for the organisation is to obtain consensus and reduce the resistance of the staff members. Therefore, in the first stage urgency can be created in the organisation to reduce the current operational efficiencies in the organisation. In the subsequent stages, the employees of the organisation should be acknowledged with the benefits of the Electronic Health Record so that the resistance for the system is reduced (Jones Recardo, 2013). Change Management The implementation of the EHR system will bring certain changes in the operations of the organisation. All the system will be automated and the healthcare professionals and the physicians will be required to learn new processes and technology. There will significant changes in the organisation processes which will cause temporary loss in organisations productivity. The implementation of electronic health record will require significant investment in purchasing and installing hardware and software, converting the paper charts to electronic ones and training the users to operate the new systems. The management also has to constantly pay for the software maintenance and support. Moreover, the employees are also needed to be constantly trained to operate the system (Menachemi and Collum, 2011). There are certain factors which forces the implementation of EHR in a healthcare organisation. The incentives, culture of the organisation and access to resources are the critical factors which are associated with building the pressure for the change process. The leadership and the organisation culture are also significant in the implementation process. The success rate of the implementation of clinical information system is one in three which shows high rate of failures of these systems. The inappropriateness in the selection of change management model also contributes to the failure of the system. The organisation should use creative change management approaches to create an efficient change management system (Kotter, 2012). Setting: The administration of Northshore Medical Group followed the Kotters eight-phase approach for the change. It is a multidisciplinary physician group located in Chicago, Illinois. It is accredited by Joint Commission and cares for about 60 patients in a day. The hospital also performs six to eight surgeries in a week. Creating a Sense of Urgency: It could be scrutinised that the Director of the Medical Centre was initially indifferent regarding the benefits of EHR. However, the practice managers and the billers were concerned regarding several issues such as lack of physical space for storing the medical records, the consumption of physical space for storing medical records and wastage of time an efforts in finding the lost medical records. These problems enhance the perception regarding the perceived usefulness of EHRs for the management and the administration. All these situations triggered the practice manager and the biller to create urgency for the use of Electronic Health Records (Kotter Cohen, 2012). The Later, an announcement was made by the manager of the Northshore Medical Centre for the implementation of EHR. The employees were divided into three groups, physicians, allied healthcare staff and the administrative staff. The physicians do not have a significant role in the change management process; however, they ha ve to experience their use and determine whether the organisation should implement EHR or not. After the evaluation process, the physicians were indifferent to the use of EHR. Moreover, the allied health staffs, which comprise of the lab physicians and medical assistants in the age group 40s or 50s strongly, opposed the implementation of the system due to the highly challenging learning curve. The administrative staff which refers to the billers, receptionists and the administrators were more acceptable to the change as they were willing to try something which assists them in the management of thousands of medical records (Edwards, 2009). Forming Coalition: After the creation of a sense of urgency, the next stage is to create a powerful coalition to guide the change. The guiding coalition was established of the manager and the biller. This coalition was responsible for implementation of EHR system with minimal disruption by identifying the facilitating and the restraining forces. The coalition was responsible for all aspects of the EHR implementation which includes clinical, operational and financial factors. An example wherein the guiding coalition assisted in the implementation of EHR process in the organisation is where the members of the guiding coalition actively participated in the EHR training organised by the vendor. It increased by the perceived ease of use of the organisation (Cameron Green, 2015). Create a Vision for Change Norhshore Medical Center, LLC would become leaner by the implementation of EHR. The vision of the organisation is that EHR is not the end goal of the change management process but the means to end. The aim of the organisation is to increase the leanness and the quality of the organisation by successful EHR implementation process (Kotter, 2008). Giving Voice to Vision The vision of the change management process was established by the practice manager and the biller. The manager and the biller communicated regarding the vision with each member of the team. The EHR implementation was not a simple project in the organisation but will create a major shift in the organisation culture. The management communicated immediate changes with the physicians such as enhanced diagnostic and monitoring tools for improved patient care, increased revenue, decreased manual mistakes and the overall liability (Kotter Rathgeber, 2013). The administrative staff was also communicated with the immediate benefits of the change process such as less missed appointments, prevention of double booking of the beds and less time to find missing records, time efficiency in data entry, data management and transparency in the organisation. It also creates possibility of several people working with the same patient at a single time (European Commission Information Society and Media, 2009). Empowering Broad-Based Action The practice manager and the biller also ensured that there is full participation of the most resistant group of the organisation, the allied health staff who do not perceive any immediate benefits with the implementation of the system in comparison to the physicians and the staff. The learning of the complete EHR system is a complex process and requires the time. The manager and the biller were focused on the group learning. They monitored the entire learning process and focused on how learning can be improved (Kotter, 2008). The following learning approaches were taken, individual and group training, setting up dummy patients for the practical implementation and making the teams watch training videos in group so that they can support each other. The managers also make provisions so that the individuals as well as the groups are recognised for their individual efforts and achieving specific milestones. Generating Short Term Wins In the Northshore Medical Centre, the EHR implementation was conducted during the time period from 1st October, 2013 to 31st December, 2013. During this time period, several milestones were created to mark the progress of the project. The particular milestone was set to create an active allergy list of the patients. In this particular milestone, the physicians had to feed any known allergic reaction to the health records. It is important part of the patient care as an adverse outcome can be prevented resulting from known allergic reactions. Using this approach increased the usefulness perception of the healthcare professionals (Kotter, 2014). It also created the perception that the adoption of EHR system is a strategic vision and change in necessary in the organisation. Consolidation of Change The early achievements and issues were consolidated in the management meetings. It provided the motivation to achieve more challenging milestones in the organisation. With the HER, the patients can give educational printout about the diagnosis and the post-procedural instructions related to the appointment and the procedure. The initial goals were easy which increased the perceived competence and confidence of the people which will be impacted by the change. Anchor new Approaches in the Organisation Culture The implementation of EHR at Northshore can increase the operational efficiency and increase the capital revenue generation. After five months of the implementation of the EHR system, the medical record system was completely transformed from the paper-based record keeping to electronic-record keeping. The implementation of EHR system will change the operations of administrative staff as instead of hunting down the medical charts, they have to notify when a task is needed. The attitude of the staff was also changed and the medical staff that was initially resistant to the change created a positive attitude. They more often enquired about the additional functionality of EHR process (Cameron Green, 2015). Planning Development The Electronic Health Record system has the capability to increase the safety and the quality of care provided to the patients. However, the major challenge with the use of EHR is its proper use by the physicians. The integration of EHR system can impact positively in the operations of the organisation. The EHR system can increase the time efficiency of the nurses as the use of computer will reduce the documentation time. The documentation of admission information can be conducted easily. With EHR, the personal digital assistant can be used which can reduce the manual error and increase time efficiency of the nurses. The major challenges in the use of EHR system are lack of adequate knowledge by the nurses or lack of confidence to operate the device. The physicians can also increase their time efficiency with the use of EHR system. The use of bedside or point-of-care computer system can reduce the documentation time of the physicians. Moreover, the use of central station desktops is less time consuming than thee point-of-care computer system. The integration of EHR system also directly impacts on the patient care, user satisfaction, information accuracy, and completeness of data entered and the nature of workflow. However, time efficiency is the only possible impact which can be assessed. The implementation of EHR can also positively impact on the shift times and working periods. The physicians schedule can be developed accurately with the use of EHR system. The time efficiencies can be enhanced regarding the patient encounters (Poissant et al., 2005). It could be reflected that Electronic Health Record will positively impact on the quality of healthcare provided to the patients. It can reduce the time devoted to the care of each patient which can increase the efficiency of the patients. Moreover, it will also reduce the cases of negligence on the healthcare entity due to negligence. The competing healthcare organisations which are using Electronic Health Records are becoming more efficient in the patient care and have become resourceful to deal with more patients daily. The customers have become more satisfied with the services provided by the hospitals. The physicians and the administrative staff have become more time-efficient and the integration of EHR system has reduced the burnout of these employees. Outsourcing Process With the advancements in technology, the paper-based medical records are becoming obsolete. The Electronic Health Record system will allow seamless flow of information which is readily available and easy to use. However, several Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are challenged by the lack of effective use. Moreover, the issue of selection of the most-appropriate EHR system is also a complex task. Therefore, outsourcing EHR is the best option for the healthcare organisations. In the outsourcing process, the healthcare organisations can outsource the services of data migration of Electronic Medical Records, use it a SaaS service and up-gradation of the existing EHR system. With the outsourcing activities, the healthcare organisations can increase the doctor-patient engagement in a digitally-interactive manner. The processing of the medical records of the patients, using EHR system as service and privacy and security management are approaches which can be outsources from other comp anies (Amatayakul Lazarus, 2005). All the services should be outsourced from one company so that all the services are streamlined. The services provided to the patients are entered into the system by the administrative staff. The calculation of the total cost endured by the patient can be outsourced. Moreover, the health care organisations can also produce adequate supporting documents which can speed up the reimbursement process of the organisations (Walker et al., 2006). There should be constant communication and collaboration between the administrative staff and the outsourcing personnel. Training should be provided so that the physicians remain updated with the current operational processes. The outsourcing agency should provide real-time updates to the software. Moreover, all the processing should be conducted regularly and the information should be updated in real-time (Hammaker Knadig, 2017). Privacy Considerations and Increasing Awareness The Data Protection Act (DPA) control how the personal information of an individual can be used by the business organisations or the government. In the EHR system, the data protection Act is relevant as the personal information of the patients is attained by the healthcare organisations and outsourced to the other companies. According to the data protection principles, the personal data of the individuals can be obtained for lawful purposes and should not be excessive or more than required. Moreover, the personal information of the individuals can only be outsourced to the countries which give adequate protection to the rights of personal data usage. Accordingly, the company should outsource the information processing to the companies which give adequate data protection rights. The unauthorised use of information by the healthcare personnel can adversely impact on the security of the people. Certain methods can be used such as limited accessibility and password protection to protect the information. Increasing Awareness for Business Growth and Information Investment The Electronic Health Record (EHR) system can open numerous business opportunities for the healthcare organization. The electronic health record can support the clinical care by assisting in clinical research. The EHRs have significant use in the routine clinical care of the organisation. It can also be used for secondary purposes such as clinical research, design and execution of clinical trials for new medicines. The EHR system should be used to exchange the information internationally as it ensures consistent and complete recording of clinical information (Coorevits et al., 2013). The healthcare organizations can also customize the services to increase the business efficiency. The healthcare organizations can customize electronic health record templates to increase the proficiency of the system. The companies can also implement strategies to enhance the training and development of the employees (Gardner, Pearce, 2013). The Electronic Health Records are commonly used by a large nu mber developing countries to increase the quality of health care and as they are cost-effective. However, technology can introduce certain hazards such as safety of information in the organization. The malicious elements have found it easier to breach the security of the system with the technological methods. The use of Electronic Health Records can create certain privacy issues which raises ethical concerns for the governments. Several governments have made laws to safeguard the privacy of the people whose data in stored in these electronic systems (Ozair et al., 2015). The information generated through Electronic Health Records can be used in the clinical research and mediating insurance and compensation issues. The patients past records can be used to efficiently provide treatment. It can be used to detect past allergies and reactions to certain chemicals. The information can be used by the organizations effectively by proper management of the system. The administrative staff sho uld be given training to properly manage the system. The electronic health record system should be password protected so that the unauthorized candidates cannot access the personal information of the patients (Ticher, 2008). Report findings Electronic Health Records (EHR) is a system in which the patients records are stored electronically rather than on papers. It is an efficient system and the healthcare organizations require it to reduce the manual errors, due to the illegitimacy of the writings and to reduce the consumption of the physical space. However, before the implementation of changes, the employees always resist it. It is important to bring a consensus for the change so that appropriate efforts are made for the success of the change. The management of the organization can obtain consensus from the employees by promoting the benefits of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system with the employees. The company can also define a clear mission statement; establish open communication, transparency and feedback in the organization. After obtaining the consensus, the company should plan change by selecting appropriate change management model. The Kotters model has been selected for implementing the organization chan ge. It has been successfully used by the Northshore Hospital in Chicago to implement the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. In this model, the change is implemented in eight phases. In the initial phase, urgency is created in the organization for the change. The management broadcast the importance of the change in the organization and motivate the employees in embracing the change. The management actively participates in the change process so that the change can be accepted easily. The Electronic Health Record (EHR) can be used to increase the efficiency of the nurses as well as the physicians. It will reduce the average reporting time of the physicians. With the enhanced services, the customers will also be satisfied with the services. In electronic Health Record system, the companies can use outsourcing to be more cost-effective. However, it is important to collaborate and communicate with the outsourcing agency for smooth functioning of the system. The companies should also b e considerate of the privacy of the users and the patients while outsourcing the work. Since the patients information is sensitive and comes under the Data Protection Act, the healthcare organization should outsource the work from the agencies which have the same data protection laws as that in the Mauritius. In addition to it, the healthcare organization should also increase the awareness regarding the business benefits of the Electronic Health Record system as it will open new business opportunities for the organization. The information obtained with the Electronic Health Record (EHR) can be used by the organization in clinical researches and eefficient management of thee insurance claims. References Amatayakul, M.K., Lazarus, S.S. (2005). Electronic Health Records: Transforming Your Medical Practice. Medical Group Management Assn. Cameron, E., Green, M. (2015). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. Kogan Page Publishers. Coorevits, P. et al. (2013). Electronic health records: new opportunities for clinical research. Journal of International Medicine 274(6), 547-560. Edwards, J.N. (2009). NorthShore University Health System: Achieving Rapid Improvement on Core Measures. The Commonwealth Fund Case Study. EHR system at NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL (Chicago), USA. Retrieved 6 April, 2017 from https://www.ehr-impact.eu/cases/documents/EHRI_case11_NorthShore_USA.pdf Euro Health. (2012). Efficiency and Healthcare. Quarterly of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies 18(3). European Commision Information Society and Media. (2009). The socio-economic impact of the Gardner, C.L., Pearce, P.A. (2013). Customization of Electronic Medical Record Templates to Gbenga-Mustapha, O. (2013). Hospital Goes Digital. Retrieved 6 April, 2017 from https://thenationonlineng.net/hospital-goes-digital/ Hammaker, D.K., Knadig, T.M. (2017). Health Care Management and the Law. Jones Bartlett Learning. Hygeia. (2017). Lagoon Hospitals Implement Electronic Medical Records (EMR) 1st In Nigeria. Retrieved 6 April, 2017 from https://www.hygeiagroup.com/index.php/lagoon-hospitals-implement-electronic-medical-records-emr-1st-in-nigeria/#sthash.koJYt0Sh.dpuf Improve End-User Satisfaction. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing 31(3), 115-121. Jones, D.J., Recardo, R.J. (2013). Leading and Implementing Business Change. Routledge. Kotter, J., Rathgeber, H. (2013). Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. Pan Macmillan. Kotter, J.P. (2008). A Sense of Urgency. Harvard Business Press. Kotter, J.P. (2008). Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management. Simon and Schuster. Kotter, J.P. (2012). Leading Change. Harvard Business Press. Kotter, J.P. (2014). Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World. Harvard Business Review Press. Kotter, J.P., Cohen, D.S. (2012). The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations. Harvard Business Press. Ledgerwood, J., White, V. (2006). Transforming Microfinance Institutions: Providing Full Financial Services to the Poor. World Bank Publications. Martin, W., Voynov, S. (2014). Electronic Health Records and Change Management. International Journal of Computer and Information Technology 3(3), 626-630. Menachemi, N., Collum, T.H. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Risk Manag Healthc Policy 4, 47-55. Ozair, F.F., et al. (2015). Ethical issues in electronic health records: A general overview. Perspect Clin Res 6(2), 73-76. Poissant, L., Pereira, J., Tamblyn, R., Kawasumi, Y. (2005). The Impact of Electronic Health Records on Time Efficiency of Physicians and Nurses: A Systematic Review. J Am Med Inform Assoc 12(5), 505-516. Ticher, P. (2008). Data Protection Vs. Freedom of Information: Access and Personal Data. IT Governance Limited. Voehl, F., Harrington, J. (2016). Change Management: Manage the Change or It Will Manage You. CRC Press. Walker, J.M. e al. (2006). Implementing an Electronic Health Record System: Health informatics. Springer Science Business Media.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Colossal Head Essays - Egyptology, Africa, Ancient Egypt

The Colossal Head The Colossal Head When we think of ancient Egyptian art, we think of deteriorating stone statues, bits and pieces of old architecture, and faded paintings of animals in dark caves and caverns. All of these ancient ruins are part of what shaped Egyptian culture back in the times of Dynasties. Their artwork not only revealed so much of their religion, rituals, and culture, but it also served as a basis for developing and advancing art. The Colossal Head, found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was one of the many early sculptures of Egypt. It came from the late Third or early Fourth Dynasty (2600-2530 B.C.E.). It's no more than two feet high and is made of Red Granite stone. The face of the sculpture has a fleshy, full look to it and most of the features are very blunt, giving it a very healthy, powerful appearance. The eyes are empty as are the eyes of most ancient sculptures so as not to give them any particular focus or expression, and they are styled with regular upper and lower curves, making them semicircular. The mouth is long and fine-lipped which is typical of Fourth Dynasty kings. It curves neither up nor down, showing no emotion whatsoever, creating a very vacant, placid stare. The Seated Statue of Gudea and The Female Head from Uruk are just a couple of other statues with the same empty, expressionless stare. However, the rest of the features of the sculpture and the thick neck are more like images from the Third Dynasty. The tops of the ears and the tip of the nose have been broken off either with carelessness or with time, both of which cause the damage of many ancient sculptures. The statue of Senmut with Princess Nefrua is another of the many sculptures that had been broken over time. Although it has not been proven, the sculpture has been identified as King Huni who best fits the style of this image of an early Old Kingdom Pharaoh. This particular sculpture matches the description of so many others, almost like a generic pattern. Nearly every sculpture from the Third and Fourth Dynasties has the bold facial features, the vacant eyes, and the emotionless face. They were never intended to impress, but to simply be a devotion to a higher power or ruler. While each statue is always slightly different than the next, they seem to all fall into the same category and have the same style, always very modest and usually religious. Egypt is a land of dazzling buried treasure and quiet tomb secrets. Only the dead can experience these treasures however, for they were gifts from the living for the afterlife. The Egyptians, like so many other cultures, were polytheistic and firmly believed in life after death. To make the transition from life to death, the Egyptians would bury their dead with some of their favorite items to take with them to the afterlife. Some of these treasures were very extravagant and valuable. It seemed almost as if the afterlife was more important than actually living. They spent their existence preparing for what came next. Whole temples and enormous statues were constructed as dedication to the deceased. The Stepped Pyramid of King Zozer, measuring three hundred ninety-four feet by three hundred sixty feet, was just one of the many pyramids built in honor of a pharaoh or ruler. The term "Pharaoh" comes from the bible. When we hear this word we think of government, religion, and a way of life. The scriptures used this name to designate rulers in Egypt. It was also used to describe the "Great House", the royal palace where all orders affecting the civil and religious life of the Egyptians were issued. Eventually, the king began being referred to as the "Great House" or Pharaoh and it soon became customary to combine this name with the king's personal name. From then on, Egypt always had a pharaoh ruling over them. By doing this, Egypt had developed one of the first great civilizations that was literate, bureaucratic, and technologically advanced. It centered all it's power and aspirations around a single divine pharaoh who was the master of ceremonies and who made all decisions for Egypt. Egyptian culture was very similar to Greek culture throughout the Third and Fourth Dynasties (the Third Dynasty was also known as the Memphite Dynasty because while some areas of Egypt began to lose their importance, Memphis secured its position as the capital). They influenced and contributed to each others civilizations by means of architectural advancements, religious beliefs, and technological

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Impact of Social Media on the Middle East Uprisings essays

The Impact of Social Media on the Middle East Uprisings essays The lecture in class discussed the expanding availability of social media outlets in the Middle East and its effect on government censorship and the ability to gain and share information with the world. The ability to instantaneously spread information has allowed citizens from oppressed nations to gain power and speak out against severe political, social and economic issues. Despite attempted control from oppressive governments, social media is exposing the current crises and economic state of the Middle East. I believe social media has positive and powerful potential to revolutionize and transform the troubled governments operating in Middle Eastern countries that are part of the Arab Spring because, through the rapid growth and accessibility of technology; information has been made accessible to the world and that knowledge is the catalyst of revolutionary change. Facebook and Twitter have undoubtedly changed the way we give and receive information. With the click of a button, the world can see a picture or video in seconds. With such information now capable of spreading rapidly around the world, people are informed. This has compelled people to intervene, start protests, campaigns and even intervention from the United States government in international matters. A prime example of social media exposing corruption happened in Syria in 2008. The fuel subsidies were abolished, tripling the price of fuel overnight. As a result, the price foodstuffs quickly increased. Subsequently, Syrian food prices rose 30%. Syrian bloggers reported, after the regimes attempt at a price hold it caused hoarding. The rise in global food cost hit Syria with devastation and exposed the incompetence of the regime and corrupt, fractured economy (Goldman, 2011, p. 38). Also, in 2008 the world was instantaneously aware after the first shots were fired in the Mumbai te rrorists attacks, allowing the entire world an eyewitness account of the unfolding d...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Aluminum vs Aluminium Element Names

Aluminum vs Aluminium Element Names Aluminum and aluminium are two names for element 13 on the periodic table. In both cases, the element symbol is Al, although Americans and Canadians spell and pronounce the name aluminum, while the British (and most of the rest of the world) use the spelling and pronunciation of aluminium. Origin of Two Names The origin of the two names may be attributable to elements discoverer, Sir Humphry Davy, Websters Dictionary, or the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In 1808, Sir Humphry Davy identified the existence of the metal in alum, which he at first named alumium and later aluminum. Davy proposed the name aluminum when referring to the element in his 1812 book Elements of Chemical Philosophy, despite his previous use of alumium. The official name  aluminium was adopted to conform with the -ium names of most other elements. The 1828 Websters Dictionary used the aluminum spelling, which it maintained in later editions. In 1925, the American Chemical Society (ACS) decided to go from aluminium back to the original aluminum, putting the United States in the aluminum group. In recent years, the IUPAC had identified aluminium as the proper spelling, but it didnt catch on in North America, since the ACS used aluminum. The  IUPAC  periodic table presently lists both spellings and says both words are perfectly acceptable.   History of the Element Guyton de Morveau (1761) called alum, a base which had been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, by the name alumine. Davy identified the existence of aluminum, but he didnt isolate the element. Friedrich Wà ¶hler isolated aluminum in 1827 by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium. Actually, though, the metal was produced two years earlier, though in impure form, by the Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted. Depending on your source, the discovery of aluminum is credited to either Ørsted or Wà ¶hler. The person who discovers an element gets the privilege of naming it; however, with this element, the identity of the discoverer is as disputed as the name. Correct Spelling The IUPAC has determined either spelling is correct and acceptable. However, the accepted spelling in North America is aluminum, while the accepted spelling just about everywhere else is aluminium.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and Early 1970s Essay - 1

The Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and Early 1970s - Essay Example The decade of the 1960s and into the early 1970s marked a period of turbulence and change in the American socio-political landscape. Among the events giving way to this landscape were the civil rights movements, the hippy culture, radicalism among students, the new left, feminism, the gay rights’ movements, the anti-Vietnam war movements, the Kennedy assassination, the Watergate scandal, the US withdrawal from Vietnam and the oil crisis among other events (King 2002, p. 14). The period of the 1960s and early 1970s was also the Cold War era and many Americans feared a nuclear attack (Neve 1995, p. 221). Arguably these events were quite dramatic and imposed on American culture in a very short period of time. I.The Hollywood Renaissance One of the most striking features of the Hollywood Renaissance was Hollywood’s departure from an attempt to idealize American life and culture. Instead, a majority of the films produced during the era of the 1960s and 1970s appealed to America’s conscience and adapted a social expression. The arts in general gave voice to the socio-political underpinnings of the times and attempted to contribute to change. Man (1994) observed that Hollywood cinema depicted â€Å"common themes† that: ...included the breakdown of traditional values, socio-political oppression, the psychology of sex and violence, moral ambiguity, alienation, solipsism, paranoia, and disillusionment (p. 1). During the 1960s and the early 1970s, filmmakers had greater creative freedom in that the studio system faded out and filmmakers had the ability to be more critical of social issues and could be more innovative (Ryan and Kellner 1988, p. 6). The Production Code was also eliminated during this period and a rating system much like the current system was started. As a result, filmmakers were able to take on topics and issues that were not previously permitted (Ryan and Kellner 1988, p. 6). Kramer (2005) identified three common themes that characterize the films attributed to the Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and the early 1970s. First, the films of this period were described as a â€Å"large number of challenging films† (Kramer 2005, p. 2). Secondly, a majority of the most successful films were produced by a select number of young film directors many of which had graduated from film schools such as Francis Ford Coppola who had graduated from the University of California in L os Angeles. Finally, the â€Å"intense formal and thematic innovation† that marked the films of the 1960s and early 1970s ended with the production of block-bluster films such as Steven Spielberg’s 1975 Jaws and George Lucas’ Star Wars of 1977 (Kramer 2005, p. 2). Nystrom (2009) explained that this new class of directors and producers began to perceive its audience as youthful and intellectual (p. 26). This was the main factor that influenced the culture depicted in film production during the 1960s and the early 1970s. The prevailing view was that the audience was such that it was no longer enough to simply entertain. This new audience was open to the examination of ideas and issues. Michael Laughlin, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) reportedly said that: Our generation has gone beyond mere entertainment. We are too well educated, too intelligent to be just entertained (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). Buck Henry screenwriter for The Graduate made a similar observation. Henry note d that during the era of the Hollywood Renaissance: Heroes can now be intellectual, which they never were in American films. Perhaps it’s because, until recently, the audience was so profoundly anti-intellectual itself. But the younger generation identifies with the melodrama of ideas (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). Paul Williams, director of Out of it (1969) and The Revolutionary (1970) linked the Hollywood

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Possible Turnaround Strategies for the Business Essay

Possible Turnaround Strategies for the Business - Essay Example The paper tells with the understanding that the business operation is based on a quality product as the explanation, increasing the presence of the business in the local market would help to create a good name and a household brand which can be easily sold to outside world. With the brand now famous in the home country, it would be easy even to partner with the international companies and market the products since they would be acting as ambassadors based on the good name built in the local market. However, this would be a wise decision because of the local competition and the possible saturation of the local market. Increase competition or saturation of the local market would make the operation and expansion strategy difficult for the business. According to Audley, the other strategy can through going international at once. This is probably the most efficient way of expanding a local SME to attain international standard. However, this would be a tricky move also very involving. It w ould require proper preparation in terms of capital investment and also in terms of management. Going international for an SME is quite involving but very rewarding in case it is executed accurately. Having seen at the two possible turnaround strategies for the business, let us now look at the requirements that would help in the expansion process. First, it would require a huge amount of capital investment. This is needed in for licenses and business premises. Perhaps the most important thing to understand here is that the owner must first become conversant with the international laws governing international business. This is important in order to understand the terms of payment and transfer of money. The owner of the business needs to establish an account to receive all payments depending on the mode of operation. Having a sound financial backing is of crucial importance before venturing into international business as the business requires huge inputs.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Youth Today - Are They More Impatient Than a Few Decades Ago Essay Example for Free

The Youth Today Are They More Impatient Than a Few Decades Ago Essay It has been rightly said that we spend the first half of our lives trying to understand the older generation, and the rest half in understanding the younger generation. Every age has its own charm. Youth has always felt somewhat exasperated with age and age has always been suspicious of youth. With their natural ebullience and impatience, a majority of young people are keen to act and learn on their own rather being guided by the experience of elders. The older people being more at home with words rather than action often make noises about the youth being impatient and rude. In every generation, old men are found to shaking their hoary heads and waxing nostalgic about the good old days when youth of their time knew better and showed due reverence to age and tradition. Some of the charges brought against modern youth are that they represent a rudderless generation without any ideals to live by or cause to live for. They are afflicted with compulsive irreverence which manifests itself in increasing defiance of parental authority and revolt against established social norms. On the slightest pretext they take to streets, indulging in violence. They want to attract attention through unconventional behavior. They are becoming a generation of drug addicts and have developed an aversion to honest hard work, ever on the look out to have something for nothing. Its no longer anxious youth going forth, into a hostile world. Now its hostile youth going forth into an anxious world this is not sure what to expect from it. If we come to think about it, it is not only the youth which is restless, human society itself is in a state of flux. Growing affluence in developed societies has generated among the youth there a restlessness which pined for instant rewards. The children get all the money they need from parents and seldom face the need to work for a living. In the under developed countries also, young generation are feeling disgruntled because their visions of a happy future are being obliterated either by internal strife or political opportunism. This provokes the youth to protest against rampant corruption in society and the denial of social justice. In the circumstances, is it to be wondered at if all talk of dedication to ideals, renewed moral vigor and basic virtues leaves the youth cold and unconvinced? They are no longer prepared to blindly accept whatever their elders choose to ram down their throats. They are prone to subject to critical review all the social and political values they are called upon to accept. When they se high sounding principles invariably being ignored for expediency, political leaders deliberately hoodwinking the masses, vested interests being allowed to frustrate the state of every step, corruption common in high places and other gaping differences between promise and performance, they naturally become cynical and clamor for change. Students form a very important group among the youth of all nations. Their biggest and most legitimate grievance is that what they learn after putting so much time, effort and money has very little relevance to the realities of life with which they come face to face after leaving the university. It is but natural that they should want to have a say in determining what should be taught so that it has some relevance to their future. They would no longer tolerate politickers veiled as teachers. They consider themselves quite capable of looking after themselves. If we look at youth today in the light of foregoing, it will be apparent that it’s not the young alone who are to blame for the state of mind in which we find them. They may well be charged with being ignorance of what they want. Theirs is a movement of protest against hypocrisy and lack of integrity in their elders. Evidently, this concern for the future and this anxiety to rescue life from hypocrisy is very laudable indeed. But it cannot be said that the young are all the time guided by such high purpose. Dissent is required in fact obligatory when things go wrong. Violence comes natural to youth. The young, supremely sure that the authority against which they are up in arms is unjust and oppressive and feeling cretin of the correctness of their own stand, react emotionally. The intensity of their feelings is such that it fills them with hatred and they turn to violence. On the whole, the younger generation today is much misunderstood and more maligned than it deserves. The world which it is going to inherit will be immensely more exciting than the world of its predecessors ever was or could be. At the same time, life will present to it a much bigger and far more complex challenge. It would not do to condemn it and find fault with it that is easy enough. What is really important is that it is treated with understanding so that it can develop to faculties to reshape the world it is going to inherit in accordance with its noblest vision.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Great Gatsby: The Decline of The American Dream Essay -- The Great

The pursuit of the American Dream has been alive for generations. People from nations all over the world come to America for the chance to achieve this legendary dream of freedom, opportunity, and the â€Å"all American family†. However, in the 1920’s this dream began to take a different form. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, unfolds what the American Dream really meant during the roaring 20’s. The Great Gatsby tells a story of the affluent Jay Gatsby and his dream of attaining the love of the married Daisy Buchanan. In this novel, Gatsby’s dream of love is unmasked and reviled as a dream of materialistic things. Fitzgerald shows that each character truly glorifies only money, power, and social stature. During the 1920’s, these things were the only thing people dreamt about. The symbolism in The Great Gatsby illustrates how the American Dream became corrupt in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald has an amazing talent to create symbols for things that could be overlooked by any reader such as colors. Every color mentioned has a meaning even if it may not seem it. White and green are the main colors mentioned in the novel. White can often be portrayed as wholesome and innocent. However, in this novel white actually represents the false purity or decency in some of these characters. Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy’s, are always seen wearing something white. Daisy and Jordan both seem as if they are sweet and innocent at first, but deep down you see it is only and act and they are truly careless and selfish. Gatsby also wore white on his first meeting with Daisy after five years so that he would appear to be good and pure. The 1920’s also had this way of deception. The fads such as jazz, fashion and art all made the 1920’... ... Gatsby’s dream of winning Daisy embodied the American Dream in the 20’s. Gatsby, as well as everyone in the 20’s, only dreamt of the materialistic in life and it didn’t matter how it was achieved. When talking about Gatsby, Nick says, â€Å"If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.† (Fitzgerald 161). This quote explains that it’s sad that one man only had one dream that he paid high prices for and never got it. Fitzgerald shows that in the 1920’s people only had one dream of power no matter what it took, and in the end it was never attained because of the selfishness of their dream. Through Fitzgerald’s symbolism, it is shown that the American Dream in the 1920’s was corrupt and fell apart. Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Creativity art

The Creativity Spirit During my entire life I encountered a creativity killer. The type of the killer that Eve encountered are surveillance, evaluation, rewards, competition, and pressure. The reason why I encountered the type of killer of surveillance was because during in every classroom I had through my life from K-8, the teacher will always watch my classroom work not letting me to take the risk of being creative in learning.Another type of killer Eve got through my life was evaluation because through-out my life Eve always had other people Judging on what I was doing, they wouldn't satisfy themselves of me being myself. The other killer that Eve encountered in my life is rewards because every time in my life when I tried to achieve a goal that I set my self I would always rewards myself with success. Competition Killer Eve also encountered through-out my life because since I have played soccer my entire life Eve always faced competition.Finally the last type of killer that I fac ed in my life Is pressure cause since I'm the oldest out of my brother and sister. I'm trying to set an example for them so I feel like I have a lot of pressure because I feel like I need to establish grandiose expectation for them. I feel that Creativity Killers do impact learning and creating in college student because I feel that they need to be free to learn and be creative to learn. Also adults enter ultimate state of creativity called flow in which whole absorption can provoke peak desire and creativity. I feel that It's a mixed Impact of positive and negative .

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper Essay

The Federal Bureau of Investigation tracks four offenses murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in its Violent Crime Index. The juvenile arrest rate for each of these offenses has been declining steadily since the mid-1990s. The murder rate fell 70% from its 1993 peak through 2001 (Snyder, 2003). Statistics: Research has shown that crimes committed by juveniles are more likely to be cleared by law enforcement than crimes committed by adults. The clearance data in the Crime in the United States series show that the proportion of violent crimes attributed to juveniles by law enforcement has declined in recent years. The proportion of violent crimes cleared by juvenile arrests grew from about 9% in the late 1980s to 14% in 1994 and then declined to 12% in 2001. (Snyder 2003). Cleared Proportions: The juvenile proportion of cleared forcible rapes peaked in 1995 and then fell, with the 2001 proportion still above the levels of the late 1980s. The juvenile proportion of robbery clearances also peaked in 1995 at 20% and fell substantially by 2001 to 14%, but was still above the levels of the late 1980s at 10%. The juvenile proportion of aggravated assault clearances was at 12% in 2001 and was slightly below its peak of 13% in 1994. This was still substantially above the levels of the late 1980s. The proportion of Property Crime Index offenses cleared by juvenile arrests in 2001 was below all but 2 years in the 1980s and 1990s. (Snyder 2003) Drug Offenses: The text highlights an overall increase in the rate of drug offenses as well as simple assaults amount juveniles. After review of arrest statistics, the finding were that law enforcement agencies made an estimated 202,500 arrests of young people for drug abuse violations in 2001. Of those 202,500 arrests a drug abuse violation is seen to be the most serious. There was a decline in juvenile arrests for murder between 1992 and 2001. During this time period there were a large number of increases as well though. Statistics showed 51% motor vehicle theft and 40 % burglary. There was also a major increase in juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations at a 121%. (Snyder 2003). Simple assault increased between the early 1980s and the late 1990s which was more than 150% between 1983 and 1997. This rate fell 7% between 1997 and 2001. Arrests of Females: Arrests of females for various offenses are increasing more than the arrests of males, and the overall juvenile arrest rate for simple assault in 2001 remained near its all-time high. (Snyder 2003). Of the juvenile arrests reported in 2001 females accounted for 23% of those arrests for aggravated assault and 32% of juvenile arrests for other assaults. Females also appeared to be the leading sex in regards to runaway violations. Females were involved in 59% of all arrests for running away from home. Arrests for curfew and loitering law violations were reported at 31% for female juveniles. Females accounted for 23% of juvenile arrests for aggravated assault and 32% of juvenile arrests for other assaults (i.e., simple assaults and intimidations) in 2001. Females were involved in 59% of all arrests for running away from home and 31% of arrests for curfew and loitering law violations. (Snyder 2003) Violent Arrests of the Races: The text points out that the disparity in violent crime arrest rates for black juveniles and white juveniles declined substantially between 1980 and 2001. In 2001 the juvenile population was comprised of 78% white, 17% black, 4% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian. Violent crime statistics  showed that 55% involved white youth, 43% involved black youth, 1% involved Asian youth, and 1% involved American Indian youth. The results for property crime arrests were 68% white youth, 28% black youth, 2% Asian youth, and 1% American Indian youth. Between 1980 through 2001 black-to-white disparity in juvenile arrest rates for violent crimes show a decrease. The black juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate was 6.3 times the white rate in 1980 and in 2001; the rate disparity had declined to 3.6. The reduction in arrest rate were primarily due to the decline in black-to-white arrest disparities for robbery, which was greater than the decline for aggravated assault. Conclusion The outlook for the juvenile crime rate is uncertain as there are many factors which will affect those final numbers. One thing is for certain and that is that the population is projected to grow throughout the county at a rapid pace. The number of juveniles age 11 through 17; the ages of juveniles responsible for 99% of juvenile arrests will increase in the next decade. This will ultimately cause a spike in juvenile offenses and arrest numbers. References: Snyder, H. (December 2003). U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Juvenile Arrests 2001. Retrieved July 24, 2008, from http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/201370.pdf

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Oxford English Dictionary to go online only (probably) - Emphasis

Oxford English Dictionary to go online only (probably) Oxford English Dictionary to go online only (probably) The next edition of The Oxford English Dictionary probably wont appear in print, according to the Oxford University Press (OUP), the dictionarys owner. Instead, it is likely that the third edition will be accessible only electronically. OED3 wont be ready for at least another decade, and the decision is not yet final. But when asked if it would appear in print, OUP Chief Executive Nigel Portwood said, I dont think so [] The print dictionary market is just disappearing. No surprise that this is down to the increasingly ubiquitous presence of the internet and the latest alternative ways to read and access information. The second edition of the reference guide considered the worlds most definitive work on the language was published in 20 volumes in 1989. Its also been available online (by subscription) for over ten years, where it receives two million hits a month. It seems inevitable that new technology like the iPad will revolutionise our reading habits, but how happy are we all about it? Are those of us sentimental about the feel of paper between our fingers just holding on to a fast-receding past? Simon Winchester, author of The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, has come reluctantly round to that way of thinking. Until six months ago I was clinging to the idea that printed books would likely last forever he said. Since the arrival of the iPad I am now wholly convinced otherwise. And even bibliophiles like him are naturally evolving past pages. I have two complete OEDs, but never consult them I use the online OED five or six times daily. So it looks like the end of the printed word could indeed be nigh. Is it time, then, for techno-sceptics to stop wringing their hands over the demise of books in order to embrace this paperless future?

Monday, November 4, 2019

Analysis Of Connel’s Theory Of Hegemonic Masculinity

Analysis Of Connel’s Theory Of Hegemonic Masculinity In today’s society it takes a lot to grasp the change in how masculinity is â€Å"supposed† to be. To be able to truly understand the sort of expectations that men are held to by society there must be a detailed look into what R.W. Connell refers to as â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity† (Connell), it justifies men’s position in society as head of society and puts women second, saying women are supposed to submit to men. The impact it has on men in today’s society is, more than less, changing, but still has a significant place in male masculinity and in a lot of the â€Å"norms† we have, such as the man has to be the â€Å"breadwinner† of the household, and the women should only take care of the house. We often deamn these beliefs to be true by nature, as soon as a boy becomes a â€Å"man† he must go out and become the head of something or show that he is a man by gaining power (Being the head of his household, owning a business, getti ng wealthy, ect.). In the text Connell states that Hegemonic masculinity is â€Å"a social ascendency achieved in a play of social forces that extends beyond contests of brute power into the organisation of private life and cultural processes.† The one thing that will always be prevalent in the relationship of men and women all over the world is that fact that men will always dominate women. This structural belief that men are over females is the foundation for the term â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity†. â€Å"Masculinity is only hegemonic amongst men: no femininity is hegemonic†. This does not mean any kind of violence, it means hegemony in every part of life, Mainly talking about religious practices. For example, wedding vows, they mostly talk about how men will take care of their newly wed wives as if the are too incompetent to take care of themselves because they are women. â€Å"The man takes control as the breadwinner and the person in charge of a heterosexual relationship.† (Connell). Hegemonic Masculinity is publicized at lot in society, mostly in the media, you may see advertisements showing muscular men as the goal of what a man should look like. It tells him that if his mindset isn’t to want to look like that then he isn’t a man, the proceeds to give him the instructions he needs to become the muscular guy on the television. â€Å"How a man throws a ball is different to how a woman throws a ball. I didn’t want to throw a ball in front of my dad because i knew it wouldn’t look right, it wouldn’t be like the way a good, strong boy should throw it.† Here Connell tries to interpret the boy’s fear of disappointing his father and the combined sense that his body is unsuitable for a man as a learned social experience. The boy is young but is already fully aware that he isn’t what a man should be, he falls short of his father’s expectations in his head. Because of this, Connell is aware that hegemonic masc ulinity is a learned behavior. In movies, another form of media, you see the superheroes, mostly men, as big strong manly guys who saves the world from appending doom, giving the message that men are supposed to imitate these big strong macho men and get through the harsh realities of life unscathed, when in reality life will get to them and that okay, you don’t have to be like these men on the big screens. â€Å"Masculinities in Western societies are typically defined by by a specific body reflexive practice: sport, violence, heterosexual performance, and bodybuilding† (Connell pg. 86). One of the biggest societal issues is that fact that women want to be paid the same as men and that simply is not the case in today’s society. â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity can also be seen in our wage structures where men earn more than women and traditionally men achieve the top positions as managers or leaders.† (Connell). Women try tirelessly to get equal pay, in today’s society, but a lot of the big taxation and welfare policies are still advocates of the belief that males are more important and should get compensated more than women. â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity is evident in all aspects of life, even in housing, where men have designed the house that women clean and traditionally spend much more more time in than men.† (Connell). According to Connell, most of the men in today’s society often benefit from women submitting to them and the home. Taking care of the home is no worry for the man because his wife is the only one that must tend to the house, homely duties like for example, Ironing, cooking and washing clothes, these duties have an unwritten gender rule to them and separates the men and women when it comes to marriage. It is noticeable that the role of men is slowly but surely changing, that actions of men are very different form how men acted 30 years ago, a lot of thin gs that males in the past where doing would not be tolerated in today’s society. â€Å"Traditionally, the man of the family was seen as the breadwinner and the female looked after the children and all duties associated with the household.† (Connell). Because of the many financial challenges in today’s society, the concept of Masculinity has flopped as women are now taking on higher paid jobs and are taking care of themselves rather than in the past that wasn’t accepted. Some men today even have problems trying to find employment and stay home because of it. Women are more educated than men in today’s society as well and that is a big influence on this phenomena. To conclude, the topic of Hegemonic masculinity has yet to be stable and has a lot more research to go before it is concrete. There are many different aspects to masculinity, gender roles and the simple fact that if women weren’t around we wouldn’t even be studying masculinity. According to Connell, a lot of different masculinities are in existence, even though hegemonic masculinity is the most prevalent one. Hegemonic masculinity affects the behavioral aspects of men in today’s society and still has most men trying to maintain their rein on society. The result of this is the fact that men still must prove to the world and other men that they are just as manly. The way that men cope with the changes in the world is something that a lot of future sociologists will be studying. In today’s society it takes a lot to grasp the change in how masculinity is â€Å"supposed† to be. To be able to truly understand the sort of expectations that men are held to by society there must be a detailed look into what R.W. Connell refers to as â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity† (Connell), it justifies men’s position in society as head of society and puts women second, saying women are supposed to submit to men. The impact it has on men in today’s society is, more than less, changing, but still has a significant place in male masculinity and in a lot of the â€Å"norms† we have, such as the man has to be the â€Å"breadwinner† of the household, and the women should only take care of the house. We often deamn these beliefs to be true by nature, as soon as a boy becomes a â€Å"man† he must go out and become the head of something or show that he is a man by gaining power (Being the head of his household, owning a business, getti ng wealthy, ect.). In the text Connell states that Hegemonic masculinity is â€Å"a social ascendency achieved in a play of social forces that extends beyond contests of brute power into the organisation of private life and cultural processes.† The one thing that will always be prevalent in the relationship of men and women all over the world is that fact that men will always dominate women. This structural belief that men are over females is the foundation for the term â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity†. â€Å"Masculinity is only hegemonic amongst men: no femininity is hegemonic†. This does not mean any kind of violence, it means hegemony in every part of life, Mainly talking about religious practices. For example, wedding vows, they mostly talk about how men will take care of their newly wed wives as if the are too incompetent to take care of themselves because they are women. â€Å"The man takes control as the breadwinner and the person in charge of a heterosexual relationship.† (Connell). Hegemonic Masculinity is publicized at lot in society, mostly in the media, you may see advertisements showing muscular men as the goal of what a man should look like. It tells him that if his mindset isn’t to want to look like that then he isn’t a man, the proceeds to give him the instructions he needs to become the muscular guy on the television. â€Å"How a man throws a ball is different to how a woman throws a ball. I didn’t want to throw a ball in front of my dad because i knew it wouldn’t look right, it wouldn’t be like the way a good, strong boy should throw it.† Here Connell tries to interpret the boy’s fear of disappointing his father and the combined sense that his body is unsuitable for a man as a learned social experience. The boy is young but is already fully aware that he isn’t what a man should be, he falls short of his father’s expectations in his head. Because of this, Connell is aware that hegemonic masc ulinity is a learned behavior. In movies, another form of media, you see the superheroes, mostly men, as big strong manly guys who saves the world from appending doom, giving the message that men are supposed to imitate these big strong macho men and get through the harsh realities of life unscathed, when in reality life will get to them and that okay, you don’t have to be like these men on the big screens. â€Å"Masculinities in Western societies are typically defined by by a specific body reflexive practice: sport, violence, heterosexual performance, and bodybuilding† (Connell pg. 86). One of the biggest societal issues is that fact that women want to be paid the same as men and that simply is not the case in today’s society. â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity can also be seen in our wage structures where men earn more than women and traditionally men achieve the top positions as managers or leaders.† (Connell). Women try tirelessly to get equal pay, in today’s society, but a lot of the big taxation and welfare policies are still advocates of the belief that males are more important and should get compensated more than women. â€Å"Hegemonic Masculinity is evident in all aspects of life, even in housing, where men have designed the house that women clean and traditionally spend much more more time in than men.† (Connell). According to Connell, most of the men in today’s society often benefit from women submitting to them and the home. Taking care of the home is no worry for the man because his wife is the only one that must tend to the house, homely duties like for example, Ironing, cooking and washing clothes, these duties have an unwritten gender rule to them and separates the men and women when it comes to marriage. It is noticeable that the role of men is slowly but surely changing, that actions of men are very different form how men acted 30 years ago, a lot of thin gs that males in the past where doing would not be tolerated in today’s society. â€Å"Traditionally, the man of the family was seen as the breadwinner and the female looked after the children and all duties associated with the household.† (Connell). Because of the many financial challenges in today’s society, the concept of Masculinity has flopped as women are now taking on higher paid jobs and are taking care of themselves rather than in the past that wasn’t accepted. Some men today even have problems trying to find employment and stay home because of it. Women are more educated than men in today’s society as well and that is a big influence on this phenomena. To conclude, the topic of Hegemonic masculinity has yet to be stable and has a lot more research to go before it is concrete. There are many different aspects to masculinity, gender roles and the simple fact that if women weren’t around we wouldn’t even be studying masculinity. According to Connell, a lot of different masculinities are in existence, even though hegemonic masculinity is the most prevalent one. Hegemonic masculinity affects the behavioral aspects of men in today’s society and still has most men trying to maintain their rein on society. The result of this is the fact that men still must prove to the world and other men that they are just as manly. The way that men cope with the changes in the world is something that a lot of future sociologists will be studying.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

International strategy operation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

International strategy operation - Coursework Example As a small-scale company in Austria, AGRANA had to compete with other larger and similar companies. Prior to 1989, AGRANA encountered a lot of business challenges before it was able to successfully compete in the global markets. Regional integration is referring to the process in which companies located in different regional states are actively interacting with one another in order to promote both economic and political security1, 2 whereas global integration is pertaining to the process in which the company is able to benefit from the act of combining the different business activities that are located in different countries around the world3. Through regional and global integration, AGRANA was not only able to gain benefits from economies-of-scale but also created more competitive advantage. Ever since the CEE decided to open its market to other regions and in the world market, the scope of AGRANA’s target market also increased significantly. Through foreign direct investment (FDI), AGRANA took the opportunity to expand its manufacturing plants in different regional and international sites4. Since AGRANA was selling homogenous products, its target buyers can easily purchase the same item from other companies. Back when the scale of AGRANA was small, the bargaining power of its buyers was high. Therefore, the company was determined in searching for ways on how they can effectively cut down its operational costs without sacrificing the quality of the products. To compete in the market, the company had no other choice but to improve its marketing and production strategies to create cost and differetiation advantages5. It means that through product differentiation, market segmentaion, the use of generic strategies, and continuous reduction in the actual fixed costs of the busienss6, AGRANA was able to keep up with the tight market competition. For example, instead of