Movie Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson

Movies are representation of the social scenario of the contemporary period. Along with entertainment, these have various social, political and psychological perspectives attached to it. This paper is based on movie Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson. In his 1966 film, Robert Bresson, has focused primarily on his female character Marie, and her donkey Balthazar. The plot intertwines the fate of both these elements, until finally the symbolic connection between the two is established. While the donkey’s fate is clear, we cannot be sure of Marie, beyond what we are told in the narrative.A shy, farm girl in the French countryside, Marie follows what something of Maggie Tulliver’s experience, suffering abuse from different people in her life, oscillating between lovers, finally deciding that she must accept fate, perhaps even rely on some sort of tragic occurrence to relieve her of her pain. This has been called narcissistic rage in literature terminology, and finds its sharpest embodiment in the character of Marie. She too faces the trauma of her parent’s disgrace, because of her father’s decision, a mother who stands by the father but ultimately sees the pointless agony of a self pride, and then poverty and loss.The reason why women are presented in such terms, is as Laura Mulvey would say in her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, due to the unconscious of patriarchal society. In this preexisting fascination with the female object, phallocentrism depends on image of the castrated woman. Female symbolism speaks of castration and her lack produces the phallus as symbolic. It stands as a signifier to the male â€Å"other†. It is thus the bearer of meaning, and not its maker. Women are bound by linguistic command to this situation, a command imposed by man to carry out his fantasies and obsessions.â€Å"The formulation surely owes something to Bresson's Au Hasard, Balthazar, whose literal ass here becomes a figurative bull-a creature whose portion of â€Å"spirituality† is earned in expressions of indiscriminate wrath and sexual irritability. † (Librach, 1992) There are two processes at work in cinema. One is the separation of erotic identity of the subject, the viewer, from the object, the character on screen. While for women, the way that other characters in the film look at her is the same as how viewers look at her, with the male, the viewer feels as though he is looking at the perfect mirror image of himself.Thus Gerard with his leather jacket and his motorcycle, his display of authority, often through violence and abuse, seems the perfect embodiment of masculinity, someone that the heroine, simple by virtue of occupying screen space, must fall for in the end. It rests on the belief that each one of us essentially thinks of himself as a Gerard. While recent feminist studies would refute this and recent changes in cinema have tried to equate the two sexes on screen, the screen largely remains a sexual parameter due to its connection with the ego, something that greatly manifests sexuality.The woman, however, is isolated, put on display and sexualized. This is what Mulvey terms the castration complex. In order for the woman to no longer be a threat because she lacks what men have, she must be glamorized into an object of desire, or fetish. Marie finds a consolation in the donkey. It has been presented as the other, against which Marie can understand the need to sympathize and be pitied and loved. Marie is essentially a Christ figure, whose ultimate ideals find their embodiment in Balthazar.Perhaps it is for this reason that the donkey’s fate has been presented explicitly, while Marie’s future remains in doubt. The perfect Christ must face explicit crucifixion. Marie might seem overtly tragic. This is somewhat due to Bresson’s insistence on purity of emotion. In this manner, Balthazar is the perfect Bresson character. Covere d with snow, we know that he is cold, his tail on fire, we know that he is scared, and finally finding peace and motionlessness among the sheep, we know that his end has come.When three children baptize it; symbolism tells us here that there is a place for all creatures in the house of god. The town drunkard Arnold is shows compassion, despite his other crimes. All the characters in the village are essentially flawed. However, the film’s religious imagery and minimal use of aesthetic detail makes it a powerful statement that highlights the barest of human emotions and thoughts. Reference: Librach, Ronald S. â€Å"The Last Temptation in Mean Streets and Raging Bull. â€Å"Literature/Film Quarterly 20. 1 (1992): 14+. Questia. Web. 11 May 2010.

Bachelor of Arts Essay

1.1 FedEx Corporation Overview FedEx Corporation provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenue of US$ 27 billion, the company offers integrated business application through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 250,000 employees and contractors to remain â€Å"absolutely, positively† focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. 1.2 Strategic Initiatives Currently, with its exposure to volatile fuel prices, high capital expenditures, and thin margins, FedEx can not stand up to the rigorous rule maker quantitative criteria, but its brand power is a perfect example of a sustainable competitive advantage. FedEx ships over 3 million packages a day. Along the route, those packages, the planes that carry them, the trucks that deliver them, and the people that handle them leave impressions on customers. FedEx recognizes that with every box it delivers and every person that delivers it, a brand impression is made. Brand equity is certainly significant to FedEx since its products and services are less differentiated in this fast changing dynamic competitive market. To remake the corporate image in order to extend and enhance its brand equity is one of the key strategic initiatives that has initiated by the management of FedEx Corporation recently. Other strategic initiatives are to focus on the growth of core package business and supply chain capabilities, and growth through e-commerce and technology, and new services and alliances. 2. DESIGN OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 2.1 HRMS of FedEx FedEx Human Resources develop policies, programs and procedures that not only attract, but also retain the most qualified, talented and diverse employees. To this end, Human Resources have implemented successful recruitment, development and Employee relation programs. The Corporate HR function consists of 45 employees who provide human resources support for the entire FedEx Organization. The overall headcount for this team has not changed in over four years even though the employee base has grown by greater than 30%. Most key programs are linked to the company’s diversity strategy to build value and manage a diverse workforce that reflects the rich mix of persons available in the Communities. The HR team regularly attends diversity recruiting career fairs and supports both local and national organizations committed to the development of women and minorities. HR has sought to automate and introduce electronic processes, in order to streamline its various staff function. These include the introduction of an electronic company wide web based Internal Career Opportunities Program (ICOP), that provides employees anytime/anywhere access to available opportunities within the company. Employees can search, apply and be notified of open positions within the organization by logging on to the site. Managers, can also initiate the employment process and receive approval electronically via an on-line employment requisitioning process. The major obstacle that needed to be addressed in the alignment of these two major programs was accessibility, communication and education. Employees were encouraged to submit their personal profiles so that they could receive automatic notifications from the system when positions for which they qualified became available. FedEx has developed a proactive staffing model for its facilities. This program allows the Field organization to add management staffing before the need exists. Recruiting, sourcing and training are done 20 weeks before the individual is expected to begin their career as a service manager. By accessing the HR website, both employees and Managers can obtain a wide variety of information geared to keep their employment information current, provide easy access to employment information (employee handbook) as well as provide access to benefits information and employee centered programs. Online access to the HR Web is available from home and work to all employees. 2.2 VRIO Framework Analysis Value FedEx managers stress that they are a â€Å"people-first† organization. The corporate philosophy statement sums up their view of the source of competitive advantage: â€Å"People-Service-Profit. FedEx discovered a long time ago that customer satisfaction really begins with employee satisfaction. In other words, the FedEx philosophy is that people are the primary link in the value chain, and thus, value is created by focusing on employees first. Rareness FedEx value and capitalize on the differences of their employees with diversity education programs such as Gender Speak, Delivering Diversity, Introducing Diversity, and Valuing Differences. One of its most successful programs RESPECT provides a process where employees can work together to resolve their differences. Therefore, it would exercise tremendous potential to exploit the rare characteristics of its employees for competitive advantage. Imitability FedEx worked closely with the University of Memphis, established the FedEx Institute of Technology, a unique public-private collaboration designed to advance world-class interdisciplinary research and introduce a new generation of highly skilled graduates to the workforce. The company has more than 219,000 employees globally and expects the alliance will help develop a highly skilled recruitment pool. Organization FedEx is committed to fostering an employee focused culture. It has a well-developed and thoroughly deployed management evaluation system, which involves a survey of employees, analysis of each work group’s results by the work group’s manager, and a discussion between the manager and the work group to develop written action plans for the manager to improve and become more effective. Data processed are aggregated at all levels of the organization for use in policymaking. Employees are free to share their opinions with management and in turn, work towards the resolution of internal issues within their department by participating on their action planning teams. 3. EMPLOYEE SKILL, MOTIVATION, JOB DESIGN & WORK STRUCTURES FedEx has a clear goal to have people who are committed, motivated and well trained. Here are some of the tools and techniques that they have developed: 3.1 Selection FedEx Corp is proactive targeting of candidate sources leads to a richer pool of applicants and enables company to reach better candidates faster. They worked closely with the University of Memphis, established the FedEx Institute of Technology, a unique public-private collaboration designed to advance world-class interdisciplinary research and introduce a new generation of highly skilled graduates to the workforce. FedEx had created a multi-national, multi-lingual recruitment assessment system in identifying candidates most suited to the jobs on offer and capable of operating to the company’s global standards and values. 3.2 FedEx Compensation & Rewarding System FedEx’s bonus program is driven by goal sharing. This program encourages employees to achieve strategic goals by basing individual bonus levels on corporate and business unit goals, up to 10% of an employee’s total compensation. FedEx’s formula for calculating bonuses includes corporate variables such as contributed operating margin, corporate ROE, net sales, customer returns, shipped kilometers and total unit cost. Putting people first means that FedEx is dynamic in both reward and recognition. For hourly paid staff the pay is geared to individual performance. However, to encourage good team working, there is also a team based ‘Best Practice Pays’ element. The pay for performance of salaried staff is based upon measures relating to the company’s key philosophy. 3.3 Performance Reviews FedEx is a very performance-based company. Every person knows upfront what his performance objectives are and he also knows upfront what he can earn. So the crux of People Service People is a fairly laborious performance management and compensation system. If a person fails in his performance, then the person does not get disciplined, but he gets pulled into a constructive action plan. Employees are encouraged to identify their weaknesses through a personal development programme (PDP). These could be general things like communication skills or dealing with conflicts in the workplace. FedEx has an online training library with 600 courses on things like leadership, project management skills, even something as basic as presentation skills. Employees can log in and take any course, but need to pass. 3.4 Staff Survey The annual staff survey is considered to be one of FedEx’s biggest business improvement tools. A total of 32 questions are answered electronically in business time over a period of two weeks and participation has increased from 97% to 98%. 4. PRODUCTIVITY, CREATIVITY & DISCRETIONARY EFFORT By competing collectively under the FedEx banner, FedEx in service companies benefit from one of the world’s most documented brands. FedEx is one of the most trusted and a respected brand in the world and its brand name is a powerful sales and marketing tool. Among the many reputation awards FedEx conventional during 2004, FedEx ranked seventh in â€Å"corporate reputation† on The Wall Street Journal’s Harris Interactive/Reputation Institute RQ Gold Survey, and for the third consecutive year, FedEx ranked in the top ten of FORTUNE magazine’s â€Å"America’s Most Admired Companies† and â€Å"World’s Most Admired Companies† lists. FedEx is the only transportation company and one of the very few companies overall to rank this highly in all three reputation surveys. FedEx ranked highest in customer satisfaction in the University of Michigan Business School National Quality Research Center’s American Customer Satisfaction Index in the parcel delivery category. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world’s largest retailer, also selected FedEx as the recipient of its â€Å"Carrier of the Year† award. BusinessWeek recognized FedEx Kinko’s in the magazine’s â€Å"Web Smart 50† report for the company’s innovative use of Internet technology to transform business processes and reduce costs. FedEx is well recognized as a leader, not only in the transportation industry and technological innovation, but also in social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance. Along with a strong reputation among customers and the general public, FedEx is widely acknowledged as a great place to work. In 2004, FedEx was listed among FORTUNE’s â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work for in America,† a list that FedEx have made every year it has been published. It is FedEx people-FedEx greatest asset-that give FedEx it strong reputation. In addition to superior physical and information networks, FedEx has an exemplary human network, with more than 240,000 employees and contractors who are â€Å"absolutely, positively† focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. Through FedEx internal Purple Promise and Humanitarian Award programs, FedEx recognize and reward employees who enhance customer service and promote human welfare. 5. IMPROVED OPERATING PERFORMANCE As discussed previously, new strategic role for HRM is very significant for the organization’s advancement. System thinking among the line and HR manger is the first step. The performance management and incentive compensation system must define desire employee behavior and reward those behaviors in meaningful way when goals are achieved. Almost 50% of all FedEx spending goes to employee pay and benefits. Many Special Awards to recognize employees’ performance: i) Bravo Zulu – award for outstanding performance beyond normal job expectations. ii) Golden Falcon – award for exceptional customer service. iii) Humanitarian Award – recognition for human welfare above and beyond work or community standards. iv) Star/Superstar Award – a lump sum merit based award for top performers. v) Five Star Awards – the highest award for enhancing service, profitability and the spirit of teamwork. Deadly combination and powerful connection are terms to describe the effects of an organization policy of promotion from within on firm performance. But probably not be present in every firm or even most of firms. So the only way that the organization can hope to identify the HR system properly is to adopt system perspective, which means business priorities drive the development of the HRM system. 6. PROFITS AND GROWTH Base on the FedEx second quarter’s Fiscal 2005 financial report (six months ended November 2004), it shows that FedEx has adapted an effective and efficient HRM system, which has brought up the corporation’s profit and growth. This is evidential by the following financial analysis:- i) Revenue There is a 23% Revenue growth compare to the last 2nd quarter fiscal year 2004. The revenue has increased from US$11,607 billion to US$14,309 billions in this 2nd quarter fiscal year 2005. FedEx announced that they would expect to have Group Revenue of US$ 27 billions this fiscal year 2005, which is a 9.5% growth. ii) Salary & Employee benefits Cost However, in term of Human Resources cost, we can see from the report that it is only an increase of 14%. Compare to 23% increase in revenue. The increase is justifiable. iii) Net Profit FedEx has shown a 212% increase in the Net Income this fiscal year compare with last 2nd quarter, from US$219 millions to US$684 millions, despite the roaring up of oil price, which is also one of the major operating cost, in this year. Their profit result is definitely considered outstanding. iv) Diluted Earning Per Share Obviously, with the high increase of the net income, the diluted earning per share is automatically increase by 210% compare to last 2nd quarter. It is definitely a kind of the positive effect of the HR- Stakeholders value relationship. v) Revenue generated per Employee Based on the US$27 billions Group Revenue generated by the total 250,000 number of employees in FedEx, we will be able to see that the revenue per employee generated is nearly US$108,000. Which is much higher than the world largest package delivery company – UPS, who has an annual turnover of US$30 billions and 370,000 employees worldwide, and the revenue generated per employee is only US$81,081. The productivity is much better. This has shown the efficiency and effectiveness of the HRM system. 7. MARKET VALUE From the study of FedEx Corp’s HRM system, it is undoubtedly that its HRM has strategically adopted high performance work system that creates real shareholder value. Such system has strengthened FedEx HR to become a strategic core competency and have an economically significant effect on firm performance. This also generates the transformation from HRM to human capital management and hence becomes to be a competitive advantage. The consistent increased profits and growth as shown in the company’s financial reports has also proved that FedEx HRM has created value and played an important role in the company’s achievement and success. FedEx shareholder market value has increased continuously as shown clearly in its financial statements. However, company’s HR market value has never been officially computed and shown in the financial statements. Based on the company productivity, FedEx’s each employee generates revenue of approximately US$108,000 quarterly, which is much higher than the world largest package delivery company – UPS, whose per employee generates revenue of only about US$81,081 quarterly. 8. CONCLUSION For FedEx, timing is everything. Delivery on time is essential, and within FedEx, ensuring this performance every time, has meant the transition to systems that provide online, real-time connectivity, bringing improved business processes and increased productivity. With unrivalled logistics solutions, FedEx turned to its Human Resources function, to leverage its competitive advantage. In such a geographically diverse and disparate region, FedEx strives to manage its human capital by minimizing administrative burden and creating a culture of effective self-management. With employees spread across the Region, and in line with its organization’s move to an Internet-centric company, FedEx was continuously looking for ways to empower its employees, and allow them to take control of some of their HR functions. Leveraging on PeopleSoft HRMS solution to effectively manage their human capital, it provided FedEx with the scalability and functionality they needed, to enable FedEx to move towards becoming a Real-Time Enterprise. FedEx employees were fully utilizing their self-service functions, and their HR staffs are now free to deliver a more strategic output to the business. They have increased the visibility of HR information to more effectively manage the enterprise’s most valuable resource – human capital. APPENDIX A: BIBLIOGRAPHY Relevant Reference Sites: * www.fedex.com * www.fedex.com/us/investorrelations/2003annualreport/ * www.fedex.com/us/investorrelations/downloads/ * www.fool.com/portfolios/rulemaker/2001/rulemaker010502.htm * www.incomesdata.co.uk/studies/hrmansystems.htm * www.stevieawards.com/pubs/awards/70_1438_8395.cfm * www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb001/is_200309/ai_hibm1G1107999043 * healthproject.stanford.edu/koop/Federal%20Express/description.html * www.hoovers.com/fedex-corporation/–ID__10552–/free-co-factsheet.xhtml * online.wsj.com/ad/fedex/ * moneycentral.msn.com/investor/research/profile.asp?Symbol=fdx * www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/19/0C029319.asp?Type=60&Category=1162 * www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2004/08/09/daily3.html * www.quality.nist.gov/FederalExpress_90.htm Evaluation of the Stakeholder Value Relationship Model Assignment BA361 – Human Resource Management Page 2 of 12

Investigative journalism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Investigative journalism - Assignment Example While Jordan had shown willingness to trade Moath al-Kasasbeh with al-Rishawi, it asked for a proof of life suspecting that the pilot had long been killed. Jordanian intelligence reported that Moath al-Kasasbeh was already been killed as early January 3 of this year (Vinograd, 2015) and that ISIS is just using the pilot to gain media mileage that could enhance their propaganda warfare and have more recruits. Jordan’s retaliation was swift. It made good on its threat to execute its terrorist prisoners if Moath al-Kasasbeh will be killed. When the news of Moath al-Kasasbeh death through burning broke out in the news, the King cut short his visit from the United States and hurriedly went back home to Jordan and had their terrorists prisoners executed the next day. Jordan also vowed to wipe out ISIS at the face of the planet and will wage war on its own backyard. True to its promise, Jordan led by its King Abdullah, conducted a series of bombing in ISIS stronghold and positions. At present, there are already more than 56 airstrikes conducted by Jordan and counting. Other Arab countries are also joining the fight against crisis as United Arab Emirates had sent a squadron of its F-16 to join the bombing run against ISIS. United States cautioned that such attack must be coordinated with coalition forces for it to have more impact and effective and also to minimize the risk against coalition partners. While Jordan agrees, it is now also taking initiative on hitting ISIS targets. This development is relatively new in the fight against ISIS because for the first time, Arab countries in the Gulf are taking active participation in the fight particularly in the bombing run which was typically done by United States with only minor participation of Gulf Countries. That number has now increased and with the momentum of current development, it looks like the number of Arab countries participation against ISIS will

Overseas Trade, Slavery, War, And Taxation in the 18th Century Britain Essay

Overseas Trade, Slavery, War, And Taxation in the 18th Century Britain - Essay Example The availability of revenue allowed for Britain to maintain naval dockyards and barracks, pay wages, and supply food and munitions, through Effective action by armies and fleets. The interconnectedness of overseas trade, slavery, war, and taxation shall be addressed by this paper. It is important to note however, that British colonialism had an influential role in the linkage among the four factors. Alongside a renewed pressure with the unprecedented demands of war with revolutionary and Napoleonic France between 1793 and 1815 was the fiscal-military state of eighteenth-century Britain, in which taxation reached 20 percent of the national income of England.3 Taxes were normally between 8 and 10 percent throughout the 18th century. Along with the growing influence of Britain was a desire to protect strategic goods, encourage colonial trade or preserve domestic employment from foreign competition, which became issues of national, security and imperial preference. It was likewise import ant for Britain to establish its political life and to provide links between civil society and the state, which became the subject of the complex process of brokerage with trade interests.4 However, success in Britain's point of view did not only mean the availability of an increased flow of revenue but warfare as well, whereby large amounts were spent in a short period of time which far exceeded income. It may be inferred that Britain's goal to pursue warfare specifically with its long-term rival France and the corresponding pursuit to sustain taxation were towards the attainment of a more heightened objective, which was colonialism. Such trail towards colonialism is seen in Britain's concentration on taxing policies witnessed in the fiscal system becoming more dependent on excise duties, with tariffs and stamp of wealth declining an importance.6 Land tax was considered the most important direct tax in this period, which was seen to rise in line with rents, profits, and salaries.7 The restoration of the land tax to the real level of the 1690s was seen to solve all fiscal problems as argued by a radical pressure group in 1860, the Financial Reform Association. A range of assessed taxes supplemented the land, aiming to tap the income of the rich by taxing signs of conspicuous wealth and display such as male servants, carriages, and pleasure horses. However, an increasing reliance on indirect taxes ensued when land and assessed taxes declined and these indirect taxes took the form of excise duties on a limited range of goods as well as duties on exports and imports. 8 At the time Britain relied on indirect taxes, there was an expansion of a more effective 'handle' on the economy for trade. Likewise, a means of extracting revenue from expanding sectors of the economy was offered through imports of raw materials such as cotton. This scenario shows the interconnectivity between trade and taxation, complementing one with the other in sustaining a mercantile economy. Warfare contributed to the rising power of Britain towards acquiring more territories for its expansion and objectives of colonialism.

Classical Realism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Classical Realism - Essay Example Elephant is a collection of short stories by Carver which includes the following: Boxes, Whoever Was Using This Bed, Intimacy, Menudo, Elephant, Blackbird Pie, and Errand. Carver used a "dirty realism" technique in presenting his thoughts in these short stories, "a North American literary construct born in the late 20th century where the narrative is stripped down to its fundamental features."2 A derivation of minimalism, dirty realism is present in most of the author's literary works, one essentially characterized by a focus on surface description and an economy of words. This literary genre is present in Elephant as it tends to eschew adverbs and allow context to dictate meaning.3 In minimalist stories, just like that of Carver's, the characters tend to be featured as unexceptional beings through the use of meaningful contexts and through incorporation of adverbs.4 Dirty realism is generally seen as a hallmark of Carver's Elephant as in the rest of his works. Setting out the differences between Carver's dirty realism and 19th century classical realism, the latter focuses on a broad category of artistic styles attempting to merge or combine classicism and realism in textual presentation. It is likewise broadly defined as "the faithful representation of reality", a literarily technique practiced by several schools of writing. Realism takes interest in scientific method, rational philosophy, and a reaction against the classic romanticism.5 It emphasizes "the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence."6 The combination of classicism and realism seems to be an oxymoron, as classicism tends to idealize the subject matter while realism tends to develop a reaction against the idealists.7The 19th century realism tends to have a remarkable and monotonous agreement in main features. There is an excessive use of minute external detail, alongside with viewing the vaunted objectivity and impersonality as a faade for immorality and cynicism, neglecting the ideal. As rapid industrialization and urbanization take place, an expanding population and a rise in middle-class affluence provide an abundant ground for literary explorations, which is often regarded as "a strategy for imagining and managing the threats of social change."8 With Madame Bovary, the term was clearly established in France. Dickens was likewise held as "a novelist of the ideal or romantic school, welcoming the wholesome spirit of realism."9 As a dirty realist, Carver's objects are conveyed with a representational quality which may not be described as metaphorical, universal, or direct. His dirty realism is characteristically represented through truth and a depiction of commonplace events, characters, and settings. It considers characters and events which are very ordinary and uninteresting, attributing meaning and value to them.10 In his Elephant and Other Stories, he presents everyday objects in a realist, descriptive manner, with relevance to their relatedness in the syntax of sentences and the 'world' of the story.11 Intimacy, a story in the collection, suggests a constant fascination with animate objects with the character's expression of inexplicable things through the medium of objects depicted in the text. The story revolves around a man and his

Thomas Paine on Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Thomas Paine on Religion - Essay Example His ideas about religion and its impact on social institutions and citizens, Thomas Paine expressed in the book The Age of Reason. The core of his teaching is deism and personal religion: â€Å"My own mind is my own church† (Paine 13). Thomas was born in Thetford on January 29, 1737. His parents lived in the small house on White Hart Street. A photograph of this cottage exists, but the building was torn down in the 1880's. In its place there stands a pretty garden and a fountain. The house had four or five rooms, one of which on the street level was used by Joseph as a shop. His father, Joseph Paine was a commonplace person (Kaye 72). He is described as placid and pious, industrious and poor (Kaye 74). In religious belief and practice he was a Quaker. He lived ten years in France, from 1792 to 1802, took part in the French Revolution and met thousands of Frenchmen, yet he never learned enough French to make a speech in that language, or to say anything at all except the few sentences that were needed in ordering food and commenting on the weather (Great Theosophists: Thomas Paine n.d.). In 1750, he was taken from school to be taught the trade of staymaking. It was a handicraft that required a fairly long apprenticeship. One had to learn the qualities of various fabrics, such as silk, linen and calico. Cutting the cloth was an operation that called for skill, for each pair of stays was an individual product. Tape measurements of the customer were made in the first place, and a pattern was laid out (Kaye 23). After nearly five years in his father's shop Tom Paine ran away. In 1756, he went away again and joined the privateer King of Prussia, commanded by a Captain Mendez. Paine would never say anything about it, but his attitude in respect to this particular exploit is not at all remarkable. He was as reticent about it as about everything that concerned his personal life. On March 26, 1771, he married Elizabeth Ollive. He was then thirty-four and she was ten years younger (Kaye 24). During 1770s, Paine played an active role in the political life of England: he joined officers in Parliament and published his first political article The Case of the Officers of Excise. In 1774, Paine came to America and devoted himself to the revolutionary cause. The most important fact is that Paine was the first author who wrote for the whole American public. During the first six months after its publication about one hundred thousand copies of Common Sense were sold (Larkin 29). His religious ideas and vision of an ideal society Paine expressed in the Agee of Reason. This work consists of three parts appeared in 1794, 1795 and 1807. The first part of the book was written when he was in good health, and without the aid of a Bible; it was meant to shock men into thinking, but compared to the second part it is a model of restraint. It was dedicated to "my Fellow Citizens of the United States," though he was evidently dubious of their enthusiasm for it" (Paine 45). Paine never overlooks an opportunity to humble aristocratic arrogance. He called men to practice the moral virtues, and the belief of one God Larkin 29). Excepting the violent Fundamentalists, no religious person would today be inflamed by reading it. It is ludicrous to suppose that a man of Paine's intense temperament would indulge in flippancy on the brink of eternity (Great Theosophists: Thomas Paine n.d.). The ink had barely dried on his work when the long-expected happened;

Concept of Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concept of Operations - Essay Example System Goals 3. Operational Description 4. Operational Needs 4.1 Operational Needs – Retail User Viewpoint 4.2 Operational Needs – Client Organisation Viewpoint 4.3 Operational Needs – CRMS viewpoint 5. System Overview 5.1 Description of the System Proposed Content / Functionality Proposed Locations Software Implications Communication Requirements 5.2 Project Architecture Stakeholder / Element Descriptions Interconnect Diagram(s) Information Flow Diagram(s) 6. Operational and Support Environment 6.1 Facilities 6.2 Equipment 6.3 Hardware 6.4 Software 6.5 Personnel 6.6 Changes to Operational Procedures 7. ... Major benefits that can be achieved by the software are the efficiency, ease of accessibility, less chances of error and low wastage of time and effort. Besides, goals, the functionality of the software have been studied, thus claiming benefits that can be achieved by the software’s are ease of maintaining customer records, managing inventory, managing supply chain and thus it assists in forecasting client’s future deals. Additionally, various operational needs relating to different stakeholders have been coined in the document to gather better viewpoint from everyone. 1.3 Definitions, Acronyms and Abbreviation Inventory Management: It includes the management of stock on shelves and also the stock in storage (inventory). Supply Chain: It is basically the interconnection of organization’s various business processes starting from storage of raw material and leading to production of finished goods, in short starting from point of origin and ending up to point of con sumption. CRMS: Customer Relationship Management Systems Pty Ltd is a company that specializes in providing the customer management software to companies that provide rental services of equipment direct to the public. The company’s primary business is to provide softwares to companies for managing on-line bookings and reservations for hire companies. 2) SYSTEM GOALS Customer management software’s will help company in managing relations with customer, consumers, clients and also in forecasting sales. As the company is involved in providing software’s for companies dealing with equipment rentals thus the software will help the organization in maintaining online booking and reservations.

Tesla (electric car company) Marketing Analysis Essay

Tesla (electric car company) Marketing Analysis - Essay Example The company has its headquarters based in California, U.S.A, and it has principles aimed at facilitating development of Models in order to attain its objective of first customer delivery (Tesla Motors, 2010, p. 4). This will facilitate the efforts of pursuing new electric power train opportunities and automobile manufactures. In fact, the paper will focus on conducting SWOT, PESTEL, porter’s five forces, marketing mix and marketing action plan analysis on Tesla Company. SWOT ANALYSIS Strength Tesla signed a licensing deal with lotus cars in order to convert one of their sport models in to an electric car, which was lightweight, small car with all the external body panels made of plastic. On the other hand, the Tesla Roadster has become the first mainstream electric vehicle enquired by celebrities, thus bringing a more desirable model S to the market. The company has managed to develop their first electric sport car â€Å"The Roadster†, and supplied to other manufactures like Toyota with more technological expertise in the field of electric transmission and train drive (GlobalData, 2012, p. 1). The company has also developed a vehicle, which is entirely in house, whereby sub-assemblies are required. The platform developed for Model S has facilitates the application of the crossover model and any other model. In fact, Tesla was the first company to produce electric vehicle and they have stood by the business model to collaborate zero emissions with quality performance design. Weakness The development of the vehicles and sub-assemblies has resulted to an increment of production cost, hence they do not achieve economic of scale. Products have a higher price than their competitors who sell combustion engine powered vehicles. The Roadster has phased out and the sales have reduced, and this is an indication that revenues will come from the Model S. The models have low brand recognition; hence, there will be difficulties in convincing the customers concer ning the superiority of their preferred options of the brand. The other weakness of Model S is that it may not be available until 2012, hence giving a chance to competitors to produce and market their electric vehicles before the release of Model S by Tesla, thus they will take up the market share (Binkiewicz, Chen & Czubakowski, 2008, p. 5). Opportunity The company has been benefiting from support by the government across the globe, since their products are environmentally friendly, thus they have been exempted from duties. The company has also been offered support by the Mercedes Smart car, which has results to leaning the way they can launch in near future. Tesla has a chance to improve the quality control process in order to reduce their cost, hence increasing enthusiasm. The other opportunity relates to the rise of gas prices, whereby people are seeking alternative ways of travelling. In this case, the company acquires a prime opportunity to depict the benefits associated to th eir products and the cost friendliness to customers. Threats There are difficulties involved in production, distribution and selling of the

The Honor Code by Kwame Anthony Appiah Term Paper

The Honor Code by Kwame Anthony Appiah - Term Paper Example But in contrast to the emotions of love and hatred, which just changes the relationship between two individuals, honor has the capability to ignite revolutions and change the face of society altogether. Through the ages, honor has been a driving force for change. Immoral customs have prevailed through generations, even though they faced opposition from morality, reason or religion. But when honor was brought into the equation, these practices were completely eradicated. This is the topic that Kwame Anthony Appiah, one of the most renowned philosophical writers of today, chose in his book ‘The Honor Code’. In his book, he portrays 3 such immoral customs in grim detail and shows how they were considered to be a status symbol in society. This concept of honor inspires people to act, sometimes in ways we find laudable and other times in ways we abhor. In his book, Appiah take 3 such examples and explains in each case how honor started a revolution that was ultimately the cau se of abolishment of immoral acts. The first example took place in Britain. For centuries gentlemen belonging to the aristocratic society of the Great Britain used to settle their difference by duelling to death. Appiah recounts one of the most well known duels in the British history, that which took place between the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea in 1829. He describes how duelling was as customary in the aristocratic British society, as having tea. In those days, fighting to death was the easiest way to determine which individual out of the two was telling the truth. When this custom started descending into the lives of the common man, that was the time when the aristocratic high society British started finding this act a little too abhorrent to keep practicing. The second example that Appiah describes in detail is the fast-forming social consensus against slavery that gave birth to a moral revolution across the British Empire, ultimately abolishing slavery for good . The third example of how honor gives birth to a moral revolution is shown in the foot-binding custom that was carried out in China for centuries. This is the particular example from The Honor Code that has been discussed in detail in this paper. The customary practice of foot-binding was carried out through centuries in China. This practice had most probably originated in the early Song dynasty and was adopted by the elite households of China. Little girls were made to bind their feet so tight that it would permanently damage their structure and cease growth. There were many reasons for this practice, but the most prominent one was that feet bound women represented the elite class of the society who were completely free from manual labour. This elite social status was not only enjoyed by women, but also uplifted the status of their men who could afford women who did not have to work and solely existed to serve their men and direct the household activities. The women took great pri de in their feet which had achieved the desired ‘lotus shape’. This shape was the result of brutally binding the feet in such a fashion that it practically broke the bones of the toes and the arch of the foot and shrunk it down to size that was just 7-9 centimetres from the toes to the heel. As mentioned earlier, women with bound feet only belonged to the elite class of the Chinese society. They would use expensive silk wrappings and embroidered silk slippers to cover their feet. For the men, having a wife who had ‘Lotus feet’