Monday, September 30, 2019

The World’s Wife ‘Little Red-Cap’

How true would it be to say that ‘Little Red-Cap’ is representative of the body of Carol Ann Duffy’s collection ‘The World’s Wife’? Duffy includes a range of themes, which are portrayed in an idiosyncratic way within the collection ‘The World’s Wife’. Most prominently ‘Little Red-Cap’ focuses on the issues of female dominance whilst contrasting it with female exploitation. Alongside, qualities of ambition and independence Duffy can represent her female characters as significant and therefore hinder men’s reputation in the current patriarchal society.This point is further elucidated by Michael Woods who stated ‘the poet fuses these ideas to reinforce the unremitting nullity that is forced upon many women when they are required to take a man's name in place of their own. In fact, the central theme of The World's Wife is encapsulated in this critique upon male arrogance. ’ [1]. Particularly this is something Duffy concentrates on in ‘Queen Herod’, ‘Mrs Rip Van Winkle’, ‘Thetis’ and ‘Mrs Aesop’ alongside ‘Little Red-Cap’. In order to intensify the value of women in society Duffy typically portrays her female characters as more dominant than the males.In ‘Little Red-Cap’ the adolescent’s control is clear especially in the final and penultimate stanzas as the twist on the original tale of Little Red Riding Hood ‘I took an axe to the wolf as he slept, one chop’ gives the narrator the power to dominate over the controlling, male character. Her impatience to escape the wolf’s rugged seduction is especially evident from Duffy’s use of enjambment between these two stanzas where she ‘took an axe / to a willow to see how it wept’.Further her power is apparent from the last line, ‘singing, all alone’, as Duffy explicates the satisfaction with her t riumphant victory over the dark character without the assistance from the hero, typically being a male character. Duffy identifies the problem in which men are portrayed in ‘Queen Herod’ where women commonly see men, deceptively, as a ‘Hero’, ‘Hunk’, ‘the je t’adore’ and showing that this is a problem by incorporating the negatives in contrast, such as ‘The Wolf’, ‘The Rip’, ‘The Rat’.In comparison, the humorous pun used in the final stanza of ‘Mrs Aesop’ portrays the female as over powering through the trenchant ridiculing of the male’s ‘little cock that wouldn’t crow’. Following this, the witty threat; ‘I’ll cut off your tail, all right, I said, to save my face’, which refers to the Bobbit case where his wife cut off his penis, is suggestive of threatening the same act upon him, which ‘shut him up’ and she Ã¢â‚¬Ë œlaughed last, longest’ proving how much control Mrs Aesop has over her husband.Comparatively, there is a distinct semantic field of power in ‘Queen Herod’ from the use of phrases such as ‘I swore’, ‘Do it’ and ‘I sent for the Chief of Staff’, showing the power, and confidence in that power, that Queen Herod has over the male characters. Perhaps this portrayal by Duffy is to influence women that this attitude can be acceptable and possible in our modern day society. Despite this, Duffy contrasts the power of the female gender with the exploitation of females in society.The wolf in ‘Little Red-Cap’ is alluring whilst his chin beholds a hidden sign of adulthood; ‘red wine staining’. The last line of the second stanza ‘he spotted me, sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif, and bought me a drink’ elucidates the overpowering control the wolf has over the adolescent. It is considerably regarde d as an issue as the adolescent initially sees the wolf as seductive rather than threatening, as seen in most modern day relationships. Perhaps here Duffy is attempting to inform the reader of the dangers of growing up too fast in the company of an influential man.Particularly, in ‘Mrs Rip Van Winkle’ the female ‘sank like a stone’ as if drowning, which creates a traumatic and confining image where the narrator has lost control and explicates her failure. The use of ‘still’ in the extended metaphor ‘I sank like a stone into the still, deep waters of late middle age’ suggests a sense of calmness contrasting with the panic of drowning in from experiencing the menopause. This contrasts gives off the suggestion that it is only the woman that changes meanwhile the rest of the world remains ‘still’ and composed.This is compared with ‘Thetis’ where female exploitation is extremely acknowledged. Similarly, the wif e of Thetis ‘shrank’ and ‘sank’ herself to escape the controlling power of the male character. Identifying this issue allows the reader to regard it seriously thus influencing the reader, which is most likely to be female, to share feminist views and condemn the male population. ‘Little Red-Cap’ especially consists of the themes ambition and independence whilst growing up.The story of ‘childhood’s end’ is the transition from innocence to experience with a journey of impetuous turmoil to find love, passion, sex and independence. For Little Red-Cap, poetry is the reason why she chooses ambition because of its richness, the mystery of its ambiguity and the wolf (the dark, mysterious character) can provide this for her. Perhaps, for Little Red-Cap, growing up is poetic and therefore desirable. This can easily be compared with ‘Mrs Rip Van Winkle’ who, ‘while he slept’, found adventure in her life.As she explains ‘I found some hobbies for myself’ it is evident that she is thinking only of what she wants from the use of personal pronouns for the first and last words of the statement, which further portrays him as unimportant regarding her development in reaching triumph in adventure. This is especially explicated through the sibilance of ‘seeing the sights’ as it conveys these adventures as stimulating thus influencing her female readers to reach out further than their heterosexual relationship.Clearly, Duffy’s collection consists of various profound and weighty subjects and ‘Little Red-Cap’ contains the majority of the themes present in the collection. In an interview in 2005 with Duffy the interviewer, Barry Wood, identified particular poems in this collection that ‘are unashamedly set in a contemporary idiom, re-casting the old stories in terms of modern life’ allowing Duffy to ‘subvert[ing] them’ [2]. Arguab ly, the act of modernisation here allows her readers to identify with the aforementioned issues raised.This therefore allows hope for the future for women regarding their status and value as individuals rather than as simply wives or mothers. As a homosexual, Duffy’s feminist views coincided with the notably iconic statement made by Dorothy Parker; ‘heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common’ as her collection ‘takes a very common relationship – that of man and wife – and presents a collection of poetic monologues from the perspective of the wife’ [3] in order to give the world’s wife a voice. Little Red-Cap’ has been identified as a personal account of her relationship with her ex-husband in the interview with Barry Wood as he suggestively asks ‘with a strong autobiographical investment, focusing on the idea of yourself as a young poet, asserting your independence. ’ with a reply of ‘CAD:   Yes. ’ therefore proving that the poem is reflective of Duffy’s feminist views and opinions on heterosexual relationships. The World’s Wife’ consists of providing wives of famous and infamous historic, fictional and biblical male characters a voice in society as the majority were not even considered, whilst commonly criticising the male population for its ignorance, arrogance, selfishness; the list is incessant. Because it is a personal poem Duffy’s views are most definitely included within ‘Little Red-Cap’ as are they included in the collection as a whole. Therefore the poem of subjection is representative of the collection ‘The World’s Wife’.Word count: With quotes- 1,245 Without quotes- 952 Bibliography: 1. Michael Woods critique of Queen Herod: http://www. sheerpoetry. co. uk/advanced/carol-ann-duffy/notes-on-selected-poems-advanced/queen-herod 2. Interview with Carol Ann Duffy and Barry Wood: http://www. shee rpoetry. co. uk/advanced/interviews/carol-ann-duffy-the-world-s-wife in 2005. 3. An essay written by username: doralulusparky http://www. studymode. com/essays/The-World-s-Wife-Carol-Ann-Duffy-598083. html in February 2011.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

My Life as an Aquarious

MY LIFE AS AN AQUARIOUS Astrology emphasis is on space and movement of the sun, moon and planets in the sky through each of the zodiac signs. From the viewpoint of earth, the sun appears to move along a circular orbit across the celestial sphere ;( 12a/20) there are sun signs and moon signs, which both depends on your date of birth. The signs are divided in to twelve different signs, and all twelve of them have their own meaning and representation to the individual that was born in that particular zodiac sign. Being born on January, 24 my zodiac sign that defines (7c) me is Aquarius. It has a quality of being independent, friendly and humanitarian ;( 12a/20) these all are the qualities that can be found in me. The first quality of Aquarius is being independent; any attempt to hold him (11b) down or restrict him will cause him, to flee. He needs to be free to be on his own. Independence is not just desired by Aquarius, it is essential to his well being. This applies (7C) to me in a big way ;( 12c) starting from my childhood,(19a) I always wanted to be independent and to be left alone to try to figure things out myself. After mid school I had to register for high school right away, and my parents was not available that day; I couldn’t wait for the next day, so I went to the school alone to register, and the registrar office sent me home, and I had to come back with my father the next day. I was out from home by the time am 18 and had a job, a house and was making my own money, doing all the decisions (2h) myself. Aquarius is considered independent/detached yet friendly. Even though we as an Aquarius like (7C) to be independent or some might consider us detached, (19a) we are also friendly, which leads me to my second quality of Aquarius being friendly. Without expecting anything in return for this could put a damper on his(11b) freedom; he(11b) live with no strings he love to make people laugh and cheer people up and it makes them feel good to make others feel good. They are very unconventional and always full of excitement ;( 20a) an Aquarius friend always makes life fun. I like to have fun, making people feel included, cheering people up and helping a friend n need. When one of my friends from high school, had his car broke down in the middle of the road on his way to out of town; he had gone far by the time his car stopped, and he called me, I had to excuse myself from work, and drive all the way to out of town and pick him up. Of course I don’t do this thinking about what that person might say or do in return ;(20a/12a) it’s kind o f the way I am,(12b) but I notice my friends loving to be around me and enjoying my company;(20/12a) I even remember my friends calling me and making sure I come to hang out ith them as they always mentioned to me that they like for me to be there because I bring a lot of fun to the table. When I graduated from high school I was categorized in the funny people of the bunch. The other quality I have as an Aquarius is being a humanitarian. Based on the Aquarius Astrological profile, he is (11b) most likely to be humanitarian, which is kind of connected with my first point helping people making feel people better comforting them. 12a/20a) There are even great humanitarians born under this zodiac sign like Oprah winfrey our greatest humanitarian woman, and I personally like helping others. My very first job right out of collage was in a nongovernmental organization which helps women and children in a very rural part of Ethiopia which is located in Africa ;(20a/12b) we personally deliver to their home a lot of materials such as, back to school supplies for students (19i)who can’t afford clothes, helping them with medicines. Our organizations also make sure that there is at least one clinic in a neighborhood so the mothers don’t have to suffer during giving birth. While my friends wanted to stay on the cities and work a regular job, I on the other hand, was so glad to get involved with this type of organization. (20a/12b)It makes my day go by easy and the satisfaction was priceless ,(20/12b)and now when I get to know about my zodiac sign, it all makes sense:(24d)it’s in my blood. It’s really amazing how much you can go and how much you can know if you set your mind to it. I(2h) am really grateful to know about my zodiac sign and what it really meant for me personally. (20a/12b)Writing this essay makes(7c) me realize the things that I didn’t understand for a long time, (19b)and now I know why I make the decisions that I make because they all make sense now. It doesn’t (7c) have to be similar with my friends or siblings because I am my own person, (19b) and I live my life according to me.  « Aquarius  » by Mesfin

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Promoting language and literacy in early childhood Essay

Promoting language and literacy in early childhood - Essay Example Over the past fewer decades, however, the Hong Kong Government has taken a number of positive steps to ensure that early childhood programs provide a minimum level of acceptable quality of care and education. This paper focuses on the critical examination of the statement: â€Å"identification of the focus/ challenges of early language and/ or literacy learning in Hong Kong. Hence, thereby based on the focus or challenges that have been identified, a 5-day lesson plan in considerate to the language section only has been made that would highlight how addressing such issues would cover the learning needs of young learner(s). The importance behind writing this paper is its highlighting various issues that need to be considered while providing children with an educational environment which is conducive to bilingual development or literacy improvement in Honk Kong Kindergarten Education. The Hong Kong Special Region of China in Administration covers 1040 sq. kilometers. It has a population of more than 6.8 million. With the formation fo Sino- British Joint declaration. Described as one of the â€Å"barren island with hardly any house upon it† in the mid-1800s, by 1990s Hong Kong became the territory with the higher (GDP) in Asia. With a higher rate of population and greater GDP Hong Kong became one of the major senders of students abroad for their further studies. As one of the former British colony along with an international gateway to the Mainland of great China, Hong Kong aims to make itself as a bilateral (Chinese and English) along with a trilingual (Cantonese, English, and Putonghua) society. Although by seeing the statistics from 2006 by-census it shows that around 95% of the Hong Kong population is an ethnic Chinese(Hong Kong Government, 2006), both the Chinese and English are the ones official language. With the rapid development in the pre-school policy

Friday, September 27, 2019

Elements of Products in Business and Services Context Assignment

Elements of Products in Business and Services Context - Assignment Example In some instances, the cuisines are similar but excellent cooking style by Nutter that brings out the uniqueness in each. In addition, Nutter is innovative and observes trendy and finest local produce for his classic French recipes. From local and external suppliers, Nutter’s restaurants use supplies to serve vegetarian meals, gourmet, business lunch, Sunday lunch, afternoon tea, desserts and lunchtime meals. Incorporation of different customers includes businesses, individuals, families, vegetarians, children, and persons of all ages generate a wide client base for the food products. For instance, many across all ages enjoy the food from Nutter’s Restaurant like chips and Fish in the United Kingdom, and offering the best value for customers consistently makes them return for more. Coupled to the restaurants excellent tasting menu is the brand of a renowned UK chef and the two aspects influence customer loyalty hence profitability. Like other hotels and restaurants in the United Kingdom, Nutter’s restaurant seeks to understand its customer and in the best way possible, satisfy their food needs better compared to its competitors. The restaurant then uses target marketing to identify the diverse needs of customers in the UK hotel industry and delivers unique cuisines for such needs. According to the Nutters Restaurant (2014, p. n.p), Nutter’s also offers customers with leading and innovative modern cuisine and both locally and internationally. The international market comes because of Nutter’s demonstrations of cooking expertise in New Zealand, United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand. The restaurant is also keen on psychographic segmentation that involves activities like business events, meetings, interests, and other values. Nutter’s understand that different people have different preferences when it comes to food. As a result, the company is quick to offer food products that embrace buyer perception, motivation, and beliefs and attitudes.  Ã‚  

Thursday, September 26, 2019

American and Canadian Industry Today Research Paper

American and Canadian Industry Today - Research Paper Example While the recent economic recess across the globe affected the United States financial sector to a great extent and consequently, also affected the American industries, Canada on the other hand, has proved to be promising and capable enough to continue with its industrial progress. However, in the post economic recess era, while the US industries are showing the potential to retain their lost glory, collaboration and mutual support between both nations, in terms of resources and technologies have proved to be positive. The boon of globalization has provided both nations with scope to support each other so that the process of survival becomes easier in the highly competitive business scenario. While respective industrial prosperity of both Canada and US is dependent on export and import between these two nations, financial cooperation between United States and Canada has not shown much positivism since last few years. However, with the intention to make the situation better in terms of respective financial assistance in February 2010, Prime Minister of Canada Stifen Harper and President of the United States Barack Obama made cooperative deal which focused on exploring avenues of free trade among the two countries and for the public works the reciprocity in gove rnment procurement programs. It is quite clear from governmental policies of both these nations that they are providing a greater deal of importance over the aspect of mutual coexistence in terms of trade and financial assistance, compared to earlier times. It has been realized by either of the nations that the process of mutual cooperation is continued, it will be quite challenging for them to retain position of their industries in the highly competitive market. The United States of America is known as the high ranked nation is all the prospective. Who’s GDP is one of the highest among the developed nations ( $ 14.266 trillion

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games-2016 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games-2016 - Coursework Example The case of the Olympic Games, a nation is not only interested in obtaining a degree of profitability, they are also interested in showcasing their nation to the rest of the world and providing these visitors/newcomers with a positive social experience that could encourage them to visit the nation in the future and/or engage with it economically in a way that they might not have before. Further, key environmental issues also exist with respect to planning and executing such an event as the Olympics. Ultimately, the structures and different requirements of these games necessitate that the city landscape must be transformed as a means of providing the crowds and the athletes with the required infrastructure for the games without creating monstrosities that will be an eyesore on the city landscape or have a distinctly negative impact upon the environment for the future.  Ã‚   Finally, planners for these games must bear in mind that the economics of the entire endeavor is the underpinn ing power and constraint that keeps the games confined to realistic goals.  The rationale for discussing the economic constraints and issues first has to do with the fact that the possibility to host such an event would not be able to be engaged if it were not for the requisite amount of funding that is required to host it.   Beyond this, a nation such as Brazil must determine a firm budget for the process. For instance, many nations that have hosted the Olympics in the past have crafted a budget only to find themselves experiencing dramatic cost overruns as projects are expanded, completed slowly, or not completed at all and necessitating the further work of engineers and contractors to complete according to plan. Moreover, rather than merely crafting a budget for the games and attempting to adhere to it, Brazil must also analyze the costs of the games with respect to the overall results that they hope to enjoy from them. As has been noted previously within the introduction, th e social and economic issues are somewhat overlapping; due to the fact that nations tend to put their respective system forward to the rest of the world as a means of engaging with people, encouraging them to invest within the nation, and promoting their own culture and society. Accordingly, the budget and planning process must engage with whether or not this particular approach will be utilized or whether or not the games are intended as a means of deriving revenue and being profitable. Although each and every nation that hosts the Olympic Games is interested in deriving a level of profitability, for the most part, nations that host these games find themselves in debt for decades after the Olympics have passed.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Ell Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ell - Research Paper Example lish Language Learners such as different linguistic backgrounds, varying levels of proficiency in English, varying levels of proficiency in native language, and cultural factors, it is important to design the most appropriate type of assessments for these learners. Various types of assessments for English Language Learners include formative and summative assessments, objective and subjective assessments, informal and formal assessments, and internal and external assessments. While formative assessments such as quizzes and practices tests strengthen memory recall, summative assessments including tests and exams are designed to evaluate knowledge, skills, and abilities of the learner. Apart from these, the two types of assessments that are commonly used with ELLs include large-scale assessments and alternate classroom assessments. â€Å"A comprehensive assessment system tied to instructional improvement is an essential aspect of a quality educational program that will directly impact children’s early academic achievement. Many studies have confirmed the powerful effect a well designed early education program with appropriate assessment can have on ELL’s emerging bilingualism, in addition to English language acquisition and overall cognitive development.† (Espinosa and Là ³pez, 2007, p. 20). In short, it is essential to design the most appropriate type of assessments for English Language Learners in order to improve their language abilities in every aspect. 2. Why is it important to include language objectives as well as content objectives in a lesson plan? How should you post them and share with students? Write a content and language objective from the content area English language learning. The lesson plan section of the effective instructional strategy incorporates language objectives as well as content objectives in order to help the educators be focused on the outcome of classroom instruction. This has been one of the important guidelines for the educators

Monday, September 23, 2019

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION Essay - 1

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION - Essay Example Everyone is not born similar. Different children have different learning patterns. Some children learn better through demonstration and diagrams, some learn better by doing things themselves while others learn just by grasping things quickly. Children with different learning abilities respond differently to what they are taught in schools. The purpose of the assessment is to help children with learning difficulty to understand their natural learning pattern and to design and create special and nurturing learning environment for them so that they find learning easy and productive. Richard and Schiefelbusch (1991) described assessment as â€Å"a multilevel process, beginning with screening procedures and continuing through diagnosis, planning of intervention, and program monitoring and evaluation† (Gargiulo & Kilgo, 2005, p.90). The assessment of a child is done with a purpose of knowing his abilities, his inherent qualities, his strengths and the areas where he faces difficulties. Assessment should not only aim at knowing why the child is finding it difficult to learn but also to provide a plan to cure his difficulties. The purpose of assessment is to help the child, his parents and his teachers to work together and create a positive environment which caters to his special needs and hence, make the process of learning easy and fun for him. This not only enhances the learning ability but also helps in encouraging the child to come out with his hidden abilities which were somehow suppressed till now because of the lack of the compatible environmental fac tors. However, purpose of the assessment is not being fulfilled as it ignores the importance of the external

Sunday, September 22, 2019

School Administrators Essay Example for Free

School Administrators Essay The role of education does not solely revolve around creating opportunities for children to learn and acquire information. At the same time, the role of reaching out to the community and reaping its benefits have been becoming part of administrative practice. With this idea on mind, there is an increasing need for administrators and educators to create an active environment for participation to extract the needed skills and capabilities to adapt to the challenges and trends of the present environment. Looking at the survey provided, it tries to outline the relevance of such programs not only among administrators and educators but also to parents and students. This is essential because it can create transparency and accountability among the facilitators of the program. At the same time, it allows the educational institution to create new and renew relationships that are relevant to maintain strong partnerships. â€Å"The goal of school-community relations expands on the definition of public relations; the goal of school-community relations it to help develop and maintain relationships† (Hopkins, 2005, p. 1). Another significant component of this initiative is the presence of goals and objectives in every program. This is relevant because it can generate the needed results and actively promote the target audience and provide direction on specific outputs. Likewise, it is important that these outputs are clear and concise because it can increase the chances that the program can be successful and be implemented better on target audiences (Ley, 1999). Through this, it can necessitate effective outcomes and create opportunities for relationships to grow in the process. Communication and interaction is also another relevant element that contributes to community building. Actively coordinating programs towards intended and target audiences can help spread out the word and supplement the objectives by giving the chance for each one to cooperate and take part in the process. Seeing this, it does not only work for actors such as parents, students, and teachers. Rather, there are also significant members who can contribute in the field. â€Å"All of those community members might be interested in knowing how a schools test results and student work compare to other schools† (Hopkins, 2005, p. 1). Operating on this concept, it can be argued that having effective communication can create active environments for cooperation and collaboration. These community programs can serve as a bridge in increasing support mechanisms that are essential not only for students but also for the educational institution as well. At the same time, having a harmonious relationship with these individuals and groups can enhance public relations that can be beneficial for the school’s growth and continuous development (Ley, 1999). Seeing all of these, leadership is a vital component that can merge these concepts together and allow the interaction and change to occur. Organizers must actively realize that by promoting this initiative, they can actively achieve necessary outcomes that will cater student awareness of revolving issues in the community and help them adapt to the elements that continue to be manifested in society. To conclude, community relations have been growing as an important element of student education. By allowing each individual to be immersed to different programs it can reap benefits and experiences not taught in classrooms. At the same time, it can help further and sustain relationships that are also significant not only on creating a good image for the educational institution but also harness the ability of each actor to grasp diversity and complexity in society. References Hopkins, G. (2005) School-Community Relations is Great PR And Then Some in Education World. Retrieved April 23, 2009 from, http://www. education-world. com/a_issues/chat/chat143. shtml Ley, J. (1999) Charter Starters Leadership Training Workbook 5: Community Relations in Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved April 23, 2009. 1-50.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Macbeth Film Comparison Essay Example for Free

Macbeth Film Comparison Essay Compare and contrast the opening scenes of Polanskis 1971 film version of Macbeth with Geoffrey Wrights 2007 adaptation. Roman Polanskis and Geoffrey Wrights adaptations of Shakespeares Macbeth are filmed in different styles despite being based on the same play. This may be to suit a different audience or convey a different message to one another. Roman Polanskis 1971 reproduction opens on a wide angle shot of a beach with a sunrise coming up over the horizon. This creates a feeling of morning, and that this is just the start of a storyline. After this, three old, weathered women appear and dig a hole in the sand- allowing a mysterious atmosphere to develop, which leaves the audience wanting to know more. The witches then bury a dagger encased in a severed hand and a hangmans noose. These items allow the audience to ponder upon the connection of the items. The witches then say their goodbyes and wander off along the beach, the only sound being the squeaking of their cart used to haul the ritual items in. This shot is quite simple, but it creates a feeling of anticipation. Geoffrey Wrights 2007 adaptation opens in a more 21st century blockbuster style, with attractive young schoolgirls playing the part of the witches who vandalise a graveyard by gouging out the eyes of statues of angels and spraying the eyes of the statues with red spray paint. This is quite an aggressive scene to start with, and sets the pace for the rest of the film. Compared to Polanskis version, this introduction offers a more up-beat feel, instead of the more sombre style of the 1971 film. The camera then pans round to a close-up of Macbeths face whose attention is drawn to the young schoolgirls as they wander past him. He then looks at his wife who is kneeling over their dead sons grave crying. Again, another close-up, but this time of Lady Macbeths face which at this point is not particularly attractive. This could show Macbeths desire for a prettier woman in the schoolgirls, and reality- the less attractive sight of his wife; but in the end, no-one knows what he is thinking, just that he is not comforting his wife. Here, the atmosphere is quite tense- lots of things are happening at one time which makes you feel like you are there, in Macbeths hectic, confused mind. In relation to Polanskis film, this film is less mysterious and makes you expect fewer twists because there have been not many so far. The title graphics in Polanskis film are set in a Roman style font, Seriffed and coloured black. The aged font emphasizes the fact that the film is very traditional. This style of writing is often used in newspaper articles. The 2007 adaptation uses a much more modern, contemporary sans-serif font. The text is coloured red- a recurring theme in this film. In the 1971 version, a wide angle shot of the beach is the start of the film. This wide angle shot is used throughout the first scene to depict the bleak landscape that the film is set in. The wide shot could also be showing us the bigger picture- that there are many little thing that make up the plot of Macbeth, and this is just one little thing on a wide, open beach. Geoffrey Wrights film does not include many wide- angle shots in the first few scenes. This is most probably because of the action-packed nature of the film. Therefore the camera follows the action intensely- for example following the witches around the graveyard. This gives the audience an adrenalin rush- especially in the action scenes where the audience can perceive themselves to be taking part in the violence. In both films however, close-up shots of the faces of the main characters are shown. In Polanskis film this is to show mainly emotion- the creepy expressions of the witches, and Macbeths blank expression when shown in a close-up. When Macbeth is first shown, invaders are being hung in the background- but Macbeth retains his blank facial expression- suggesting that he has no feelings for those being hung. Geoffrey Wrights film shows close-ups of the faces of the witches defacing the statues at the graveyards. These shots show the determination that the witches show by their facial expressions to destroy all that has to do with God and heaven in the graveyard. The close-ups of Lady Macbeths face show her weakness in her love for her dead child. Polanskis film uses very weak morning light as a setting for the beach scene. This gives a dull, grey, washed out look to the beach. The beach seems quite uncomfortable, as it is daybreak and there is almost no light and the open beach makes you feel cold inside creating an atmosphere that hints to you that something bad is about to happen. Similarly, the 2007 version seems to be shot in the day, but there is very little light as the graveyard is overcast. Despite this, the graveyard feels more comfortable due to the auburn hair of the witches which seem to emit warmth and light- allowing the audience to feel more relaxed and enjoy the action scene that follows. Polanskis film opens with the witches burying strange items that all link to death and suffering- a dagger, a noose and a severed hand. Blood (possibly a symbol of murder) is then poured over the items. The witches then spit on either side of themselves, possibly to bind themselves to the witchcraft they are taking part in. the weather at that time is bleak ,and a thunderstorm is brewing- possibly suggesting a little cheaply hat something bad is about to happen. At that point, after the title sequence, the king gallops onto the beach to the sound of trumpets- symbolic of royalty and fame. In Geoffrey Wrights adaptation, a recurring theme of red is used from the start of the film. This colour represents blood, murder, death, danger, and the underworld. For example, the witches hair is Auburn, suggesting that they pose a mild danger to Macbeth. Also, The Cawdor- the bar which is used as a drugs den, has red wallpaper- suggesting that it is part of the underworld. The witches vandalise a graveyard at the start of the film, showing their hatred towards God and heaven. They gouge out the eyes of the angels- possibly making them blind to what is about to happen. Red spray paint is forcefully sprayed in the eyes of the statues, also making them oblivious to the witchcraft about to take place. Crosses are also defaced- possibly a reference to Macbeths worries about his afterlife. After the vandalism, the girls quieten down, possibly showing an ounce of respect seen as though the place they just demolished is a graveyard. Macbeth is dressed in casual attire, but in black, as in the introduction, he is supposed to be mourning his sons death. Macbeths wife also lays down white roses- symbols of love and innocence- ironic as in the end, nobody seems to be innocent! Later on, as Macbeth and his gang chase a drug dealer from the underworld (with the prevailing colour of red), yellow street lights and buildings are shown- this separated the real world from the underworld. This shows the audience that Macbeths actions are not within the realms of what a normal person would do, and that in order to carry on with his normal life; he must keep his actions inside the underworld. Music is an important part in setting the scene for a film, and in Roman Polanskis film, a droning, repetitive, chaos-inducing tune is used which shows the kookiness of the witches. When Macbeth is shown, a drum beat, not dissimilar to that of an army march beat is used. This shows how Macbeth is a soldier and will fight for his king. The King has music played on a trumpet- vey regal and flattering, this shows his position clearly as a monarch. The music played for the different characters is mostly to show who they are in terms of status; and the music is used instead of a lengthy introduction, allowing the audience to apply stereotypes to the different characters via the music and paint a picture in their minds about the character, but on a deeper level than shown on screen. While the title graphics are showing, fighting sounds are played- simulating the sounds of a battlefield. Plus with swords clanging and maces clashing, the audience are allowed to recreate their own battle in their minds without the help of visual hints. The 2007 version uses similarly annoying, grating noises for the witches- but this time using hissing sounds- possibly a link to the devil posing as a snake in the Bible story of Adam and Eve, where the snake fools Eve into eating the Apple, who then fools Adam into also eating the apple- an uncanny resemblance to the tragedy of Macbeth. Instead of showing a blank screen while showing the title credits, Wright preferred to show a gung-ho showdown between Macbeths gang and an Asian gang. Here, the music is loud and upbeat in contrast to the hissing beforehand- just like the 1971 version. Possibly in an attempt to entice the audience of the 21st century, Wright uses very violent scenes- such as depicting men being shot with submachine guns by Macbeth. Again- this may have been done to excite the audience; and instead of letting the audience make up the fight in their minds, a graphical representation has been put on a plate for them. This was not done in 1971 due to the social taboos against showing excessively violent scenes in films- a theme that runs right through the 2007 version as nowadays, these types of scenes are generally being seen as more and more acceptable; despite many believing that suggesting is much more powerful than stating- as could be the case in Wrights version. Roman Polanskis film shows witches dressed in ragged clothes, unwashed and with no shoes. This allows the audience to see immediately that these women are strange, and not very wealthy. The king on the other hand is shown to wear a fine suit of armour, with a polished helmet- showing his social importance and wealth. Macbeth lies in the middle of the two extremes- not exuberantly poor like the witches- as he wears chainmail and shoes; but not very wealthy and important- as he has no banner or shiny helmet. This simplistic method of categorising people shows the simplistic way in which Polanski is trying to depict the characters and show the audience how Macbeth is lodged between the two extremes of wealth and social status. When Macbeth meets up with his gang for the action sequence, all of his gang are dressed casually in dark clothes. All except the gangs Consigliere (the Kings son) who is dressed in a smart black suit with a red tie- again, with reference to the recurring theme of red, this time showing him as royalty, and as having a higher social status than the other gang members. Hair is an important part of first impressions- in Polanskis film, Macbeths hair is not shown in the introduction, and is hidden by a chainmail hood. This could hint at Macbeth being sheltered from evil and guarded due to his hood acting as a safety blanket. The King wears a crown- a symbol of true royalty, and his hair is uncovered- possibly showing that he is weak. Geoffrey Wrights adaptation also depicts the King as being weaker than the other characters when his hair colour is looked at. The King is shown as having very fair, blonde hair- again being a symbol of innocence and weakness. The witches in Polanskis film have different hairstyles- two have hoods- like Macbeths but made of cloth, and one has dirty, unwashed brown hair. This array of hairstyles allows the audience to realise that the witches are individuals, and are not all identical in the way they behave. On the other hand, the 2007 version shows all of the witches having the same hairstyle and colour- that being red- with connotations to blood and death. This also is trying to show the audience that they are quite aggressive and possibly have links to the devil. Roman Polanskis film depicts Macbeth with 1970s style censoring- no explicitly violent or sexual scenes; but traditional hints at what is happening. Wrights version is essentially a film from a totally different time period- showing excessive violence to help the modern audience understand what is going on. I think that despite the sometimes cheesy details of the film, Polanski has created a classic that really entices the audience and makes them wonder what is going on when subtle hints are dropped directing the viewer on the right direction in terms of their mental picture of the scene. The 2007 version shows how complacent modern-day audiences have become with violence and nudity in films. I think that this is mostly down to the filmmakers wanting to make the film more exciting- in some ways they have, as the action scenes in the film can be quite gripping. But as a teenager, I think that more needs to be done in order to let my imagination get to work and try to think of what is really happening, and what is the film trying to tell me beyond the gratuitous violence.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Management theories applied to a UK Restaurant

Management theories applied to a UK Restaurant There are a lot of foreign restaurants have opened in UK in this years and these restaurants are growing popular both with UK nationals and foreign visitors to the UK. I am working as an assistant manager restaurant called Smith. This business is the family business and they are thinking about extending and developing a chain of restaurants across the UK like other foreign companies. The owner and manager, Mr Smith is himself a foreigner who has lived in the UK for many years. His family in Africa operates a chain of restaurants business across the African countries and therefore he is very familiar with this kind of business. Introduction Smiths restaurant is located in central London and close to many attractions and easily accessible by public transport. The restaurant has seen a big increase in sale due to the popularity of European and International cuisines. According to these factors Mr Smith want to open the similar restaurants across the UK. Gather Information The restaurant is currently using the typical hierarchical structure. Mr Smith is the owner and also the managing director. He had two assistants and three supervisors but he direct control over management and operational issues such as the hiring of staff, marketing and sales promotion. . Mr Smith Managing Director Staff Staff Staff Assistant Manager Assistant Manager Staff Supervisor Supervisor There are small accounting and finance department headed by Mr Smiths son Peter. He is currently studying for a degree in accounting and only works part time. Mr Smith himself takes some of the duties in this department too. Centralization and Decentralization Mr Smith restaurant is now in centralization structure an it have several layers of management that control the company by maintaining a high level of authority, which is the power to make decisions concerning business activities. With a centralized structure, line-and-staff employees have limited authority to carry something out without prior approval. The top management telling middle management and then tells supervisors. Then the supervisors tell the staffs what to do and how to do it. In this case Mr Smith has to think about the decentralization policy to change in business extension plan. Decentralization seeks to eliminate the unnecessary levels of management and to place authority in the hands of assistant managers and supervisor. Although that policy helps Mr Smith some part of the duties, its increasing the span of control, with more employees reporting to one manager. Because more employees are reporting to a single manager than before, the managers are forced to delegate more work and to hold the employees more accountable. Tall and Flat structure There is other structure to look at for the Mr Smith business plan. A tall structure is the structure which Mr Smith using it now. A tall structure is one with many levels from the top management level to the operating level. A tall structure usually implies a narrow span of control for supervisors and managers and a greater degree of devolved decision-making, but requires many more supervisory and managerial staff. It also leads to the long vertical communication, and possibly to weaker communication between top management and staffs. In a tall structure the hierarchy is generally problems of coordination are always present. Nowadays many large corporations have set about reducing their hierarchy in order to introduce a flatter structure. The flat structure contains fewer levels between the top and bottom of the organisation. The result for the using this structure is a few supervisor and management staff, and wider spans of control for those who remain. This structure leads to more centralised decision-making. However, to avoid this increasing centralization by encourage all the levels of staff carry greater personal responsibility for their role and duty. Organisational Culture Organisational culture affects behaviour through a deep-rooted system of values, attitudes and beliefs. Culture is specific to the organisation and is learned behaviour. Different organisations have a different feel or climate that reflects their culture. This may be reflected in the degree of formality and task or people orientation; the dress code; accepted behaviours and expected performance levels. Charles Handy (1985) looking at culture which used to link to organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes four types of culture; A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture, people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a persons position and little scope exists for expert power. By contrast, in a Task Culture, teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. (P1, P2) Organisational behaviour and management theories Organisational behaviour is a term applied to the systematic study of the behaviour of individual within work groups, including an analysis of the nature of groups, the development of structure between and within group, and the process of implementing change. The rationale of organisational behaviour is to predict or control individual and group behaviour in the pursuit of management goals, which may or may not be shared throughout the organisation. Organisational behaviour also includes in many areas what might be called management theory. Management theory is especially concerned with issues of goal-setting, resource-deployment, employee motivation, team-work, leadership, control, coordination, and performance measurement. Management theory has been approached form a number of different perspective, each identifying problematic issues and usually, proposing a range of possible solutions. These are some of the management groupings as follows; Human Relations Theorists Perspective Typical Issues Exponents Dates social, ie attention to peoples social needs at work Group identity Workers as members of a group Importance of informal groups Elton Mayo Roethlisbeger Dickson 1927-36 Social Psychological School Perspective Typical issues Exponents Dates Individual needs and motivation Acknowledgement of individual contribution Individual needs Personal motivators Self-actualisation Achievement Individual independence Supportive relationships Abraham Maslow Douglas McGregor F.Herzberg R.Likert C.Argyris D.McClelland 1950s 1960s Leadership theorists Perspective Typical issues Exponents Dates Leadership qualities and style Nature of the qualities Leadership styles Situational/ functional aspects of leadership Contingency approach D. McGregor Tannenbaum/Schmidt C.Argyris Blake/Mouton F.E Fiedler Victor Vroom John Adair W.Reddin 1950s 1960s 1960s 1970s Improvements in work performance and effectiveness are depending how excellence in management processes. It is important for managers to understand behaviour in a number of areas. Attitudes: dynamic change in the environment demands rapidly change form organisations and this means their behaviour must change. Employee attitudes to change are often resistant since people feel more secure with the familiar and habitual. They are naturally apprehensive and fear they may be disadvantaged by change and worry they may not be able to learn new skills. For this problem manager must understand the attitudes and perceptions of their employees and respond proactively to reduce resistance for change. This might involve open communication action, participation in the change process and attention to a new wage work bargain. Motivation: is the most importance in the organisation achieving the goals. Managers must not only understand the needs that drive employee behaviour, they must appreciate the processes involved in making motivation effective in improving performance. Needs may vary with the individuals level in the organisational hierarchy and what might be effective with one individual might not be with another. Having the right equipment, people skills and organisational framework is not a guarantee of excellent performance. Employees and managers must be motivated to achieve organisational goals. Communication: organisations depend on receiving and transmitting information to achieve the co-ordination necessary to achieve their goals. Managers must understand this behaviour if they are to ensure a communication process that allows a clear, understandable and fast transmission of information to support decision making without unnecessary distortion or noise. Human nature also leads to extensive informal communications that do not follow the chain of command. Conflict: when negative, this can inhibit the achievement of organisational goals and adversely affect morale and performance. Managers have to understanding of organisational behaviour will appreciate that conflict can be positively correlated with goal achievement where it releases tensions, stimulates ideas or challenges the status quo. Manager also needs to recognise the behaviour signs of negative conflict and understand the mean by which this type of conflict may be resolved. (P4) Motivational theories There are a lot of motivation theories for Mr Smith business plan. These are some theories which are suitable for Mr Smith business plan. A motive is a need or a driving force within a person. The process of motivation involves choosing between alternative forms of action in order to achieve some desired end or goal. Mr Smith is now using the Theory X and Y style (stick and carrot) form Mc Gregor scientific management. Theory X makes the assumption that the average human being has an: Inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if possible, Is lazy Wishes to avoid responsibility, Has relatively little ambition Wants security above all This is the person should use the stick. They have to controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort towards the achievement of organisational goals. Theory Y makes the following general assumptions: Work can be as natural as play and rest. People will be self-directed to meet their work objectives if they are committed to them. People will be committed to their objectives if rewards are in place that address higher needs such as self-fulfilment Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility. Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common in the population. This is the person should use the carrot. They have their personal goals and the motivator has to fulfill their quest with organisational goals together. Victor Vroom Expectancy theory The best known contribution to the process theory of motivation is the work on expectancy models of motivation developed by Victor Vroom. Vroom believes that people will be motivated to do things to reach a goal if they believe in the worth of that goal and if they can see that what they do will help them in achieving it. Peoples motivation toward doing anything is the product of the anticipated worth that an individual places on a goal and the chances of achieving that goal. It may be stated as: From the Vroom theory, Mr Smith has to motivate the employees by the individual goal and chances of achieve the goal. Mr Smith has to show the employees the goal is clear and it is worth to reach that goal. He is trying to increased activity from reduce the staff lunch breaks from one hour to thirty minutes. He argues that he pays his employees very well and they will have to be happy with whatever decisions he made. Mr Smith is using the one of the motivation theory called Herzberg motivation Theory. Herzberg that monetary methods of motivation have little value; firms still use money as a major incentive. There are a variety of payment systems that a business could use to motivate the employees. Advantage Simple and easy to use for businesses Disadvantage Workers may resent being paid the same as a colleague who they feel is not so productive These are the some of the motivation theories for Mr Smith business extension plan to cover. Mr Smith has to look at the monetary methods is not the only solution in organisation, there are so many theories to motivate the employees and always aware of the individual goals of the staffs, then to get the organisational goals with fulfil their wish. (P7) Empowerment Empowerment is like delegation. It is when power or authority is given to employees so they can make their own decisions regarding their working life. Mr Smith should think about the empowerment in future business plan that will also improve in motivation of employees and help in chain organisation. Thats why Mr Smith must use the right management style and structure in his future business extension plan. Blake and Moultons managerial grid There are a lot of management theories using in business organisation these days. This is the one of the management theory which can help Mr Smith business plan. 1.1 Impoverished management- shows a minimum of concern for either people or production. This type of manager exerts just the minimum effort to get the work done and has little interest in his or her subordinates. 9.1 Task Oriented management- is concerned only with the work and has little interest in people. Efficiency in operations results from arranging conditions of work in such a way that human elements interfere to a minimum degree. 5.5 middle of the road- management- balances the necessity to produce with maintaining morale at a satisfactory level in order to achieve adequate organisational performance. 1.9 The country club style- management is all about the people and shows little concern for getting the work done. Thoughtful attention is paid to the needs of the staff for satisfying relationships, leading to a comfortable, friendly atmosphere and work tempo. This is sometimes called country club management. 9.9 Team management- is seen as the ideal. The manager gets the work accomplished by committed people. He or she tries to provide a situation where workers and the organisations goals are the same and this interdependence through a common stake in the organisation leads to relationships based on trust and respect. Blake and Moulton considered that all managers should strive to attain 9.9 on the grid, with training being directed to this end. (P8) Effective Teamwork in Organisation -Teams have been described as collections of people who must rely on group collaboration if each member is to experience the optimum of success. -A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Team success due to: Synergy: 2+2=5 Co-operation increases efficiency, quality, and commitment Atmosphere created by cohesive groups encourages participation Communication and good leadership help to maintain rapport Mr Smith has to look at in the area of teamwork in his future business plan. Teamwork is one of the most important facts in organisation. Without teamwork any organisation couldnt cope in critical situation. These are some effective team development process; Wilemon and Thamhain have developed a model, which they refer to as a multidimensional framework, to guide the project team-development process. This team-development model indicates that the team-development process is composed of the following tasks and goals: Recruiting of team members Climate setting for team development Goal setting Role clarification Procedure development Decision-making Control Using the effective team development in organisation Mr Smith can easily manage from head office to overseas of the chain of restaurants. (P10) Finding and Analysis Management Management is a structured process involving planning, organising, directing, co-ordinating and controlling a range of resources, to achieve pre-determined objectives. THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT The classical school was effectively the first coherent set of theoretical perspectives about organisation and management. It arose at the end of the last century as the early writers sought to make sense of the newly emerging large-scale business organisations. They focused on: Purpose and Structure: The approach centres on understanding the purpose of an organisation and then examining its structure. Operations: The next level of focus is on the operations which have to be undertaken within an organisation to meet the objectives. Groupings of functions: This is followed by the logical groupings of functions to form individual jobs, sections, departments and so on. Span of control: Special care is taken over the span of control within management. Co-ordination is affected by clear hierarchies which identify authority, responsibility and accountability, and by duties being clearly specified for each post. Efficiency: A key emphasis in all of this is a belief in the efficiency of specialisation of labour individuals being responsible for one particular task to the exclusion of others, and thus being able to build up expertise in that task and contribute to the greater efficiency of the whole. F .W Taylor and the Scientific School In 1911, Frederick W Taylors book the Principles of Scientific Management was published and, with it, management as a separate field of study started. The main elements of this view of management are: The detailed and careful analysis of all processes and tasks within the organisation to identify each component part; The review of all routines and working methods, using (principally) time and motion studies now called work study to find the best way to do the job; The standardisation of all working methods, equipment and procedures, so that the precise way in which each task should be done can be laid down and monitored; The scientific selection and training of workers who would then become first-class at their particular jobs; The introduction of payment on a piecework basis, which would both be an incentive to maximise productivity and produce high wages for the workers, although there would be penalties for falling below the prescribed standard a fair days pay for a fair days work in Taylors words. HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL This began through the work of G Elton Mayo (1880-1949) who, with others, conducted a series of experiments at the Hawthorne plant of the General Electric Company in Chicago during the years 1927-32. Mayo sought to evaluate the effects of the changes in physical working conditions, which, according to scientific management, should cause significant variations in productivity. Thus lighting, noise levels, etc. were adjusted and resulting output changes noted. The researchers concluded that group relationships and management worker communication were far more important in determining employee behaviour than were physical conditions and the working practices imposed by management. Also, wage levels were not the dominant motivating factor for most workers. Further research established the following propositions of the human relations school. Employee behaviour depends primarily on the social and organisational circumstances of work. Leadership style, group cohesion and job satisfaction are major determinants of the outputs of the working group. Employees work better if they are given a wide range of tasks to complete. Standards set internally by a working group influence employee attitudes and perspectives more than standards set by management. Starbucks coffee company: believes that their employees are one of their important assets in that their only sustainable advantage is the quality of their workforce. They have accomplished building a national retail company by creating pride in the labour produced through an empowering corporate culture, exceptional employee benefits, and employee stock ownership programs. The culture towards employees is laid back and supportive. Employees are empowered by management to make decisions without management referral and are encouraged to think of themselves as a part of the business. Management stands behind these decisions. Starbucks has avoided a hierarchical organizational structure and has no formal organizational chart. Starbucks Company basically use the Human Relationship management by Elton Mayo to become success retail company in the world wide. KFCs Fried Chicken Restaurant: strategy of KFC is currently working with is to improve operating efficiencies. This in turn can directly impact the operating profit of the firm. In 1989, KFC centered on elimination of overhead costs and increased efficiency. This reorganization was in the U.S. operations and included a revision of KFCs crew training programs and operating standards. They emphasized customer service, cleaner restaurants, faster and friendlier service, and continued high-quality products. In 1992, KFC continued with reorganization in its middle management ranks. KFCs is using the middle management style form Blake and Moultons managerial grid. It is also help the KFCs company to one of the famous restaurant around the world. Mr Smith himself has to choose the right management style and practice in his future business to become a successful organisation around the world. Above information will give Mr Smith to right decision to choose management style for his future business plan. (P5) An individual at work is seemed by other in three principal ways: As a physical person having gender, age, race and size characteristics; As a person with a range of abilities (intellectual, physical and social); As a personality (ie; someone is having a particular kind of temperament). In these three of factors personality of individual must have to look at in every organisation. Personality types are great effective in organisation when we look at in leadership, group and teamwork etc; in such areas. Personality those relatively stable and enduring aspects of an individual that distinguish him/her from other people and at the same time form the basis for our predictions concerning his/her behaviour (Wright et al., 1970) These are the factors impact on the Personality of individuals; Genetic factors there is significant evidence to suggest that our genetic inheritance plays a role in developing our personality. Children, especially twins, are observed to inherit common family traits. Also our physical attributes, which are all genetically determined, may influence how others treat us and may in turn affect how we view ourselves. Social factors these are the factors that could influence personality as a result of interacting with other people. Socialisation is the process of being taught how to behave and how to feel by family, friends and other significant people within a social setting. Humans are social animals and so it is to be expected that social interaction will affect our personality and behaviour.. Cultural factors these are wider social beliefs and values that are absorbed by an individual, and guide behaviour towards that which is acceptable within a social context. This varies across cultures with Americans exhibiting a strong need to achieve whereas in Japan there is an equally strong need to support the team. Situational factors these reflect the effects of specific experiences or situations on a persons feelings and behaviour. There will have been certain events in your life that have had a significant effect on you. Bereavement may literally change the whole personality of an affected person. A persons personality might also change if his or her role changes, e.g. being sent to prison. Because people have different personalities, managers must consider the following work behaviour in organisation: The compatibility of an individuals personality with his task different personality types fit different types of work and this most be taken into consideration when allocating work The compatibility of an individuals personality with the systems and management culture of the organisation some people hate to be controlled whiles others seek active supervision and control. Managers must be aware of these when adopting a particular style of management. The compatibility of an individuals personality with that of others in the team personality clashes are often the major cause of conflict at work and this must be considered when forming teams. (P3) Leadership in Organisation Leadership is a process by which individuals are influenced so that they will be prepared to participate in the achievement of organisational or group goals. It is the role of the leader to obtain the commitment of individuals to achieving these goals. Formal leaders are those appointed to positions within a hierarchy in the organisational structure. The informal leader may exercise appreciable influence within a workgroup. Although not necessarily in a post with any formal authority, and thus unable to issue formal instructions and directives, such a person may initiate action through friends or colleagues, or block action, in conflict with the formal leaders wishes. There are number of different approaches to leadership. Mullins provides a framework within which to analyse and understand the complexities of the subject. It embraces the following approaches: Traits- views leaders as born and not made due to inherited characteristics personality focus. Functions- focus on what leaders do (roles and responsibilities) assumes they can be learnt. Behaviour- concentrates on how leaders behave and influence subordinates and is linked to style. Style- combines functions and behaviour to produce alternative effects on subordinates; Contingency- Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variable. Different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for certain types of decision-making. Situational- based on the recognition that different styles are required in different situations. All these leadership approaches are using in the today business organisation. Mr Smith has to look at the most effective and suitable for his future business plan. For leaders to be effective, they must be able to perform the following functions or roles: An executive co-ordinating group activities and developing norms and policies; A planner deciding the means by which goals will be achieved; An expert source of key information and specialised skills; A figurehead representative of the group, and communications link; An exemplar setting standards and expectations and providing a unified front; An arbitrator resolving conflicts; A father figure a focus for group feelings; An ideologist setting standards of behaviour. According to Mr Smith business plan, he must look at the Professor Adairs action-centred leadership. The model is where task, group and individual needs are interconnected in the context of total leadership. According to him an effective leader is a leader who is able to: Satisfy task needs the leader ensures that the purpose, i.e. completion of the task, is fulfilled. The leadership function includes setting objectives, planning and allocation of resources, setting standards and control to ensure achievement. Satisfy group needs until the task is completed the group has to be held together; the leader must maintain team spirit and build morale, be a spokesperson, motivation communicate and maintain discipline Satisfy individual needs each member of a group or team has individual needs and the leader should try to ascertain these needs and work towards satisfying them as far as is possible within the groups needs. If Mr Smith can use this leadership style in organisation, it will be beneficial to all level in his future business organisation. (P6) The nature of groups and group behaviour within organisation A group comprises two or more individuals who interact in the collective pursuit of a common goal. They share values and goals, are involved in regular activities together, and identify themselves as members of the group and are identified as such by others. In the view of group development process the most accepted is that advanced by Tuckman (1965), which comprises four main stages: Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjoining/Mourning Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially know one other and form as a group. Storming:Â  A chaotic vying for leadership and trialling of group processes Norming: Eventually agreement is reached on how the group operates (norming) Performing: The group practices its craft and becomes effective in meeting its objectives. Tuckman added a 5th stage 10 years later: 5. Adjourning: The process of unforming the group, that is, letting go of the group structure and moving on. In 1996 Cole identified the factors that influence group behaviour in organisation. These are the following factors; Size Leadership and management style Cohesiveness Motivation of group members Norms of groups Group/team roles The environment The group task Learning the nature group and behaviour in organisation, we should also

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Calm After the Storm - Original Writing :: Papers

The Calm After the Storm - Original Writing I don't know whether one could call my life a disaster, or a series of miracles. I have seen tragedies that you think only happen in newspapers or novels, yet I have also seen what comes out the other side and that it is way above average human morals. I am proud to have lived amongst such strong and determined individuals whom I hope will teach others to follow in their footsteps. Of all my childhood memories, one sticks out to have affected me most. I can remember the look of deep fear on my mother's weary face. I wanted to reach out and have her hold me close to her, but I knew that I was no safer with her than in the arms of Edith, my oldest sister under the dining room table. I could hear the huge rip and then crash of the monster waves beating against the side of our house. I had heard of the huge storms years ago before I was born, but they hadn't become real until now. Suddenly, there was the splintering smash of shattering glass and cold salt water hit me in the face. I was sick on Edith but she didn't have time to care as she ran frantically around the swamped house looking for something to barricade the broken windows with. I must have passed out after that because the next thing I remember is waking up alone in Uncle George's barn. I brushed the scratchy straw from my salty clothes while I could hear my baby sister Clara crying from the house. As I entered the cottage kitchen Aunt Francis had a bowel brimming with steaming porridge. So as to not offend her I gulped it down quickly while she gave Clara her bottle. I then asked her about the previous night. She explained to me how the waves had destroyed our home. Half the village was living in ruins now, all because a cement factory dredged our beach of all its shingle. I couldn't quite understand how this made the waves eat up our village

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Interpersonal Communication Problems Essay -- Communication Communicat

Interpersonal Communication Problems Over the telephone my boss gives me an instruction. I hear it, give my recognition, hang up then realize that I am not clear on exactly what it is that I am to do. Something about the proper way to add up my hours is the basic message, but the way she has explained it is not clear to me. Yet. As far as she is concerned, every word she spoke, that is, the way she described her instructions, was perfectly spelled out. She sits in her office confident that her explanation is clear, while I sit behind my desk like some detective trying to solve this great mystery. Although I understood every word she spoke, what she spoke does not register. No eureka bells are setting off. I have trouble decoding her words. I cannot apply the words she's "transmitted." I am experiencing communication problems. This happens all the time. As in the case just described, somewhere between her message and my reception of it, the meaning got lost. To the best of her knowledge, she has gone over a procedure that I have successfully grasped. But it remains unclear to me because I do not understand the way in which she is presenting it. To my boss, it is of course direct and sound, as it is from her mind that the words and thoughts are being emitted. However, as soon as they collided with my own thinking processes they lost complete lucidity. My faculties tell me she is talking but saying nothing sensible. Her faculties tell her her circular sentences are making sense. I periodically acknowledge what she is relaying. She keeps relaying. We are communicating. But are we really? Given this situation, one is led to consider whether it is possible that, that is, can it be that, true communication is impossible? After a... ...y did her presentation of the information pose a problem? Considering we should have understood each other by the virtue of the fact that we speak the same language, this should not have been the case. As a matter of fact, this case shows that even though we were using the same language I could not decipher her meaning. Her mind works in ways that mine does not. And if it is through our minds that we formulate information, then how can it be that what we are communicating will be received in its true form? No two minds work alike nor are their two beings which feel alike. Therefore, how can anyone know exactly what is being communicated? Each of us has a one-of-a-kind make-up. And though, yes, we do understand the use of words and their semantic properties, the fact that we even have to use words to effectively communicate alone makes true communication questionable.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Burger King Case Study Essay

Burger King or McDonalds? In the United States, these two companies equally compete for consumers. Americans usually favor one company over the other or just choose to eat at whichever is more convenient to them. For the American people, Burger King is as common of a household name as McDonalds. However, in Japan, the Burger King brand is one that is not very well known. Burger King has been trying to tap into the Japanese market for some time now. McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut are the leading fast food market chains as of today, but Burger King is trying to make it into this region of the world. With U.S. markets saturated, and the mad cow disease scare slowing sales of Burger King in Europe, it is so important for Burger King to saturate another market, Japan. Much research has been done to think of new and effective ways to penetrate the Japanese market through marketing. Our group of researchers have put together an in depth report on the issues within the marketing of Burger Kin g in Japan. They have discovered the main cause for this need in marketing and what needs to be done to solve Burger King’s marketing issues. Situation Analysis There are many differences between eastern and western culture regarding the restaurant industry. In Western Culture space is more easily attainable. It is easier for new companies to enter the market in the restaurant industry because it is more accepting of diversity. Food trends in this culture differ dramatically from eastern culture. In the western culture, significance of food is not greatly valued and is offered in access creating more waste. The western culture is vast and heterogeneous. Many cultures are accepted creating a vast variety of fusion food sold here in the west culture. In restaurants a bigger variety of different food can be found on the menu. In the Eastern culture, food defines the culture. Each country has it’s own unique and cultural dishes that signifies the past. The middle easts favorite top meat ingredient is lamb and it is substituted for beef. Also most of the Middle East is Islamic so that means that many of the of their dietary rules are obser ved because of religious factors. In Asia, food and culture is divided into three main regions: southwest (India), southeast (Vietnam) and northeast (Japan). India uses more vegetarian ingredients such as beans, rice, and spices. Vietnam focuses on stir-frying, steaming, or  boiling when preparing their food. In Japan, many use the spices they used for their for religious ceremonies. Also in Japan, space is very limited due to overpopulation of people. The Japanese market is maxed out making it very challenging for new companies such as restaurants to enter the restaurant industry. To the Japanese consumer, the significance of food is valued and they feel it is important to not waste it. The norm of their culture is to conserve and not let anything go to waste. Food is offered in small portions for this particular reason. Japan has a very homogeneous culture. They are set in the ways that they do things and don’t deviate from their way of life. In Japan’s restaurant industry, it is more common to see rice and vegetables on the menu. In the case study one of the reasons why Burger King is unsuccessful in Japan is because they are trying to push western culture in an eastern market. Burger King doesn’t understand that they have to tailor their menu to meet the needs of the eastern pallet. They are not offering the foods that appeal to the people of Japan. There are number of other reasons why BK has not become successful in Japan: Weak advertising. Upon researching commercials for Burger King in Japan, it is apparent that their advertising doesn’t appeal to their consumer market. Forcing higher prices than their competitor (McDonalds). McDonalds has been established for more than 25 years and is the most popular hamburger restaurant. Most consumers are price conscious There is no market place for them because they haven’t completely established their brand. BK in Japan does not look like they have established any goals as to how they want to present their brand No differentiation among competitors They haven’t fully achieved brand recognition They’re trying to be an upscale restaurant which doesn’t fit the market. Targeted market is too narrow only catering to a younger crowd They need to reach out to the older population.  The cost of having flame broil grills is not cost effective.  BK is hiding the most unique characteristics because it’s too expensive to build it in front of the restaurant. The budget promotion costs are being  overlooked while opening too many stores. BK is just wants to try to take over the competitor market when in reality they are failing. Problem Definition The problem with Japan is brand image. Burger King wants to expand without building a brand that the Japanese consumers are willing to spend extra money for a burger. Analysis of Alternatives Focus on â€Å"freshness† Burger King has stated that its main focus is producing traditional burgers. Instead of the typical two pickles and some ketchup, focus on the nutritional value such as fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. Fix branding image Differentiate themselves as a more upscale restaurant A example, better training of the staff and cleaner facilities. This may avoid burger wars. Appeal to younger generation Studies have shown that the younger generation is willing to spend more money on nice things. Burger King should try to target this market by becoming an upscale burger restaurant. Also, anime commercials may attract a younger crowd. Place flame broiled grills in front of store. With the gas restrictions are becoming more lenient, having customers visibly see how burgers are made will attract more customers and provide free advertisement just by word of mouth. Attract customers by smell. Venting the exhaust from the grill will release the smell of burgers cooking into the public. This could reach the customers 5 sense of smell, touch, see, taste, and hear. All of this elements could attract more customers to a delicious flame broiled Whopper. Continue integrating Burger King into existing stores Building â€Å"stand-alone† restaurants is expensive. By adding small restaurants into high traffic areas (train/gas stations) it will be a great selling location because of the high volume of customers stopping and waiting. Also, land is so scarce in Japan, partnering will help minimize costs and provides  a definite location for the restaurant. Adding Japanese influence into store. May become more relatable to the culture so customers will be dining in a comfortable environment. Sponsor shows Sponsor physical challenge show comparable to MXC (Most Extreme Elimination). Making the obstacle courses resemble Burger King. Example: have some customers jump on Whoppers or placing the Burger King Emblem to help positively advertise working out with burgers. Themes in restaurant The rock and roll theme is creative but the drawbacks are that they’ll only be known as the rock and roll themed restaurant. A Burger King could be known as a themed restaurant by having different themes in each restaurant. One themed restaurant can have revolving carts where the consumers can sit down and just pick their order off a conveyor belt right by their table. Recommendation Top Recommendation Ranking 1. Fixing brand image 2. Promote freshness of ingredients 3. Adding flame broil grills in front of restaurants 4. Integrate Burger King into existing stores such as gas station or train station 5. Focus on Millennial demographic 6. Promote Japanese culture in restaurants 7. Spend more on promotional advertising 8. Attract customers by smell 9. Sponsor Shows 10. Theme in different restaurants SWOT Analysis During the research it can be said that Burger King in Japan is trying their best to become a real competitor in the fast food industry. I believe that Burger King has the ability to succeed if only better decisions are made. It is evident that many BK restaurants are being developed in a rapid amount of  time. A Japanese proverb â€Å"wishing to eat the fugu, but wishing to live too† states that â€Å"Fugu is a delicious fish which has a poison in it which leads to death if eaten, so in order to eat it has to be prepared by a skillful cook who knows how to properly get rid of the poison. This proverb illustrates situation when there is a bit of risk in taking the action and expresses concern about the outcome†. In all seriousness, it is a risk to rapidly open BK restaurants without the concern of not reaching its potential goal of succeeding. Burger King Japan needs to sit down and focus on how they want to show the consumer what the BK industry is about. Next, corpo rate should consider thinking outside of the box and adding more cultural options instead of buns and beef. I have discovered that a black bun burger â€Å"Kuno Burger† has made it’s way to Japan. Further research on the success needs to be analyzed. Did the consumers like it? Did they know it existed? How did you advertise the sandwich? What will happen if you add rice dishes on the menu? Or fish sandwiches? Also, I believe a way to help Burger King find its target market is by asking individuals what they would like to see, taste, hear, smell, and touch. Maybe have more events and a taste testing between two competing burger restaurants. One target market can be tourists visiting Japan. Some tourists are thrilled to see that their comfort zone is all of a sudden changed because of cultural influences. McDonalds has successfully changed its menu to fit more of the consumer needs which has proved to be the top restaurant to beat. Burger King needs to be more aware of their tactics and build a better team to figure out how to attend to all customers from all around the world (whether the want something familiar or something new). In conclusion, Burger King has to reconsider its standpoint in Japan. It has proved to establish itself successfully in other countries. In the maxed out market economy of Japan, Burger King can has potential to grow. Corporate needs to band together to better figure out the brand image before expanding itself too thin.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Past Tense Morpheme

Morph In linguistics, a word segment that represents one morpheme in sound or writing. For example, the word infamous is made up of three morphs -in-, fam(e), -eous. A morpheme can be realized by only one morph. Thus, for example, the morpheme meaning table is represented by just one morphological form, the morph table, and the morpheme meaning difficult is realized by only the morph difficult.The English past tense morpheme that we spell -ed has various morphs. It is realized as [t] after the voiceless [p] of jump (jumped), as [d] after the voiced [l] of repel (repelled), and as 2162 after the voiceless [t] of root or the voiced [d] of wed (rooted and wedded). We can also call these morphs allomorphs or variants. II. Allomorphs:Allomorphs are variant forms of the same morpheme or variant phonological realizations of the same morpheme such as the past tense morpheme ‘ed’ has various allomorphs as t/d/Id and negative morpheme has many allomorphs expressed by the prefixes, unfriendly, illegal, irregular, intolerant, and impossible. The indefinite article is a good example of a morpheme with more than one allomorph. It is realised by the two forms a and an. -Allomorphs are different forms of the same morpheme, or basic unit of meaning.These can be different pronunciations or different spellings. Example: There are three allomorphs of the morpheme -s in English. Compare the sound of the -s in ‘cats', ‘dogs' and ‘foxes'. Exercise 4: (allomorphs) The past-tense morpheme (ed}) can be pronounced in three different ways. Based on the pronunciation of the past-tense morpheme, divide the following words into three groups. (Crashed, hinted, popped, accustomed, reached, classified, kissed, banged, lulled, lined, divided, fitted, flowed. )

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Analysis of Miss Emily in “A Rose for Emily” Essay

In the fiction† A Rose for Emily â€Å",Miss Emily’s life in particular its gruesome and saddened by the outcome of Tan Wan and as well as the central figure in the daily lives of the other two – her father, her dead lover’s fate, should not only to us Bring thriller, and the offensive suppressed, perhaps, there should be more apprehensive and thinking, because this can be called Faulkner’s short story on behalf of its work, its title has been leaked by its authors described the emotional character Secret. Is no longer the tragedy of death, behind the death of the self-stick to the face and secular blue suit, which is rooted in the history of the thick soil, and even more awesome. The author in the novel approach will be a symbol of its head. Novels for readers to show the United States after the civil war in the south of social change, as well as different social groups in the South of the fate of history. The collapse of the old South, the decline of the aristocracy of the South, whites in the South, as well as to enhance the self-consciousness Southern black suffering and hope of life co-exist, to varying degrees, reflected in the novels, William Faulkner regarded the past as a repository of great images of human effort and integrity, but also as the source of a dynamic evil. He was aware of the romantic pull of the past and realized that submission to this romance of the past was a form of death. In â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, Faulkner contrasted the past with the present era. The past was represented in Emily herself, in Colonel Sartoris, in the old Negro servant, and in the Board of Alderman who accepted the Colonel’s attitude toward Emily and rescinded her taxes.. The novel contains the existential factor, to explore the existential theme of the show. That through the works of Faulkner’s life again alienated people, to show his concern about the situation of human existence,From William Faulkner as a writer in the South of the United States is in a special historical period of ideological complexity and contradiction of, their analysis of the short story in two main lines of the refraction by the Fuk Faulkner to the south of the old love-hate complex of the South, to provide readers with a new perspective in order to better understan d and appreciate the works, By the time the representatives of the new, progressive Board of Aldermen waited on her concerning her delinquent taxes, she had already completely retreated to  her world of the past. She declared that she had no taxes in Jefferson, basing her belief on a verbal agreement made with Colonel Sartoris, who had been dead for ten years. Just as Emily refused to acknowledge the death of her father, she now refused to recognize the death of Colonel Sartoris. He had given his word and according to the traditional view, his word knew no death. It is the past pitted against the present–the past with its social decorum, the present with everything set down in â€Å"the books.† Emily’s world, however, was already in the past. When she was threatened with desertion and disgrace, she not only took refuge in that world but also took Homer with her in the only manner possible–death. Miss Emily’s position in regard to the specific problem of time was suggested in the scene where the old soldiers appear at her funeral. There are two perspectives of time held by the characters. The first perspective views time as a â€Å"mechanical progressionâ₠¬  in which the past is a â€Å"diminishing road†. The second perspective views the past as â€Å"a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottleneck of the most recent decade of years†. The first perspective was that of Homer and the modern generation. The second was that of the older members of the Board of Aldermen and of the confederate soldiers.. Emily held the second view as well, except that for her there was no bottleneck dividing her from the meadow of the past. Emily’s room above the stairs was that timeless meadow. In it, the living Emily and the dead Homer remained together as though not even death could separate them. In the simplest sense, the story says that death conquers all. But what is death? On one level, death is the past, tradition, whatever is opposite of the present. In the setting of this story, it is the past of the South in which the retrospective survivors of the Civil War deny changing the customs and the passage of time. This article from the feminist point of view of psychology to re-read the , an analysis of Emily was confused with a tragic sense and reason in an attempt to add a kind of used to be trampled on Suppressed and ignored the different voices – the voices of women, people from the female psychology and thinking, learn to build self, pay more attention to women’s mental health and human hearts to their homes.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Agriculture in India

TYPES OF FARMING IN INDIA Primitive Subsistence Farming This type of farming is still practised in few pockets of India. Primitive subsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labour. This type of farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown. It is a ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family.When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. This type of shifting allows Nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes; land productivity in this type of agriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers or other modern inputs. It is known by different names in different parts of the country. It is known as jhumming in north-e astern states like Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland; Pamlou in Manipur, Dipa in Bastar district of Chattishgarh, and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.This primitive form of cultivation is called ‘Bewar’ or ‘Dahiya’ in Madhya Pradesh, ‘Podu’ or ‘Penda’ in Andhra Pradesh, ‘Pama Dabi’ or ‘Koman’ or Bringa’ in Orissa, ‘Kumari’ in Western Ghats, ‘Valre’ or ‘Waltre’ in South-eastern Rajasthan, ‘Khil’ in the Himalayan belt, ‘Kuruwa’ in Jharkhand, and ‘Jhumming’ in the North-eastern region. Intensive Subsistence Farming This type of farming is practised in areas of high population pressure on land. It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.Though the ‘right of inheritance’ leading to the division of land among successive generatio ns has rendered land-holding size uneconomical, the farmers continue to take maximum output from the limited land in the absence of alternative source of livelihood. Thus, there is enormous pressure on agricultural land. Commercial Farming The main characteristic of this type of farming is the use of higher doses of modern inputs, e. g. high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity.The degree of commercialisation of agriculture varies from one region to another. For example, rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Orissa, it is a subsistence crop. Plantation Plantation is also a type of commercial farming. In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on a large area. The plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry. Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the help of migrant labourers. All the produce is used as raw material in respective i ndustries. In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc.. are important plantation crops.Tea in Assam and North Bengal coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown in these states. Since the production is mainly for market, a well developed network of transport and communication connecting the plantation areas, processing industries and markets plays an important role in the development of plantations. CROPPING PATTERN India has three cropping seasons — rabi, kharif and zaid. www. excellup. com  © 2009 Send your queries and suggestions to [email  protected] com Rabi: Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer from April to June.Some of the important rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard. Though, these crops are grown in large parts of India, states from the north and northwestern parts such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh are important for the production of wheat and other rabi crops. Availability of precipitation during winter months due to the western temperate cyclones helps in the success of these crops. However, the success of the green revolution in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan has also been an important factor in the growth of the above mentioned rabi crops.Kharif: Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October. Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soyabean. Some of the most important rice-growing regions are Assam, West Bengal, coastal regions of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, particularly the (Konkan coast) along with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Recently, paddy has also become an important crop of Punjab and Haryana.In states like Assam, West Bengal and Orissa, three crops of pa ddy are grown in a year. These are Aus, Aman and Boro. Zaid: In between the rabi and the kharif seasons, there is a short season during the summer months known as the Zaid season. Some of the crops produced during ‘zaid’ are watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops. Sugarcane takes almost a year to grow. Major Crops Rice: It is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in India. Our country is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China.It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature, (above 25 °C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm. In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the help of irrigation. Rice is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions. Development of dense network of canal irrigation and tubewells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan. Wheat: Th is is the second most important cereal crop. It is the main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country.This rabi crop requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening. It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed over the growing season. There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country – the Ganga-Satluj plains in the northwest and black soil region of the Deccan. The major wheatproducing states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Millets: Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India. Though, these are known as coarse grains, they have very high nutritional value.For example, ragi is very rich in iron, calcium, other micro nutrients and roughage. Jowar is the third most important food crop with respect to area and production. It is a rain-fed crop mostly grown in the moist areas which hardly needs irrigation. Maharashtra is the largest producer of jowar followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Bajra grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil. Rajasthan is the largest producer of bajra followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana. Ragi is a crop of dry regions and grows well on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.Karnataka is the largest producer of ragi followed by Tamil Nadu. Apart from these states, www. excellup. com  © 2009 Send your queries and suggestions to [email  protected] com Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh are also important for the production of ragi. Maize: It is a crop which is used both as food and fodder. It is a kharif crop which requires temperature between 21 °C to 27 °C and grows well in old alluvial soil. In some states like Bihar maize is grown in rabi season also. Use of modern inputs such as HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation have contributed to the increasing production of maize.Major maize-produc ing states are Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Pulses: India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world. These are the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet. Arhar, urad, moong, masur, chana and peas are major pulses of India. Pulses help in restoring soil fertility. That is why they are produce in rotation with other crops. UP, MP, Rajasthan and Karnataka are major pulse producing states in India. Sugarcane: Sugarcane grows in hot and humid climate. It requires temperature range of 21 ° to 27 ° c and rainfall of 75 cm to 100 cm.Sugar can grow on variety of soils. After Brazil, India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in the world. It is the main source of sugar, gur (jaggary), khandsari and molasses. The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana. Oil Seeds: India is the largest producer of oilseeds in the world. Different oil seeds are grown covering approximately 12 per cent of the total cropped area of the country. Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower.Most of these are edible and used as cooking mediums. However, some of these are also used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments. Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of groundnut followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra – linseed and mustard are rabi crops. Sesamum is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south India. Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crop. Tea: Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture.It is also an important beverage crop introduced in India initially by the British. Today, most of the tea plantations are owned by Indians. The tea plant g rows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates endowed with deep and fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter. Tea bushes require warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year. Frequent showers evenly distributed over the year ensure continuous growth of tender leaves. Tea is a labourintensive industry. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour. Tea is processed within the tea garden to restore its freshness.Major tea producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in the country. India is the leading producer as well as exporter of tea in the world. Coffee: India produces about four per cent of the world’s coffee production. Indian coffee is known in the world for its good quality. The Arabica variety initially brought from Yemen is produced in the country. This var iety is in great demand all over the world.Intially its cultivation was introduced on the Baba Budan Hills. Others: India is a producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits. Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee www. excellup. com  © 2009 Send your queries and suggestions to [email  protected] com (Meghalaya), bananas of Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, lichi and guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, pineapples of Meghalaya, grapes of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, apples, pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are in great demand the world over.Horticulture Crops: India is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. India produces about 13 per cent of the world’s vegetables. It is an important producer of pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato. Non-Food Crops Rubber: It is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions, it is also grown tropical areas. It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more temperature above 25 °C. Rubber is an important industrial raw material. It Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicabar islands and Garo India ranks fifth among the world’s natural rubber producers.in tropical and subthan 200 cm. and is mainly grown in hills of Meghalaya. Cotton: India is believed to be the original home of the cotton plant. Cotton is one of the main raw materials for cotton textile industry. India is the third-largest producer of cotton in the world. Cotton grows well in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. It requires high temperature, light rainfall orirrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine for its growth. It is a kharif crop and requires 6 to 8 months to mature.Major cotton-producing states are – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Jute: It is known as the golden fibre. Jute grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year. High temperature is required during the time of growth. West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Meghalaya are the major jute producing states. It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts. Due to its high cost, it is losing market to synthetic fibres and packing materials, particularly the nylon.Bhoodan – Gramdan & Land Reforms Vinoba Bhave spread the awareness about donating surplus land to the landless. This was a precursor of abolition of Zamindari system. ‘Land reform’ was the main focus of our First Five Year Plan. The right of inheritance had already lead to fragmentation of land holdings necessitating consolidation of holdings. The laws of land reforms were enacted but the laws of implementation was lacking or lukewarm. The Government of India embarked upon introducing agricultural reforms to improve Indian agriculture in the 1960s and 1970s.The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) were some of the strategies initiated to improve the lot of Indian agriculture. But, this too led to the concentration of development in few selected areas. In states like Punjab, UP, proper implementation fo land reform has led viable size of plot. The right size leads to scale economy and better crop management leading to optimum production. Therefore, in the 1980s and 1990s, a comprehensive land development programme was initiated, which included both institutional and technical reforms.Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease, establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest were some important steps in this direction. Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some other schem es introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers. Moreover, special weather bulletins and www. excellup. com  © 2009 Send your queries and suggestions to [email  protected] comagricultural programmes for farmers were introduced on the radio and television. The government also announces minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen. Current Scenario: The growth rate in agriculture is decelerating which is an alarming situation. Today, Indian farmers are facing a big challenge from international competition and our government is going ahead with reduction in the public investment in agriculture sector particularly in irrigation, power, rural roads, market and mechanisation.Subsidy on fertilisers is decreased leading to increase in the cost of production. Moreover, reduction in import duties on agricultural products have proved detrimental to agriculture in the country. Farmers are withdrawing their investment from agriculture causing a downfall in the employment in agriculture. Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian economy though its share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has registered a declining trend from 1951 onwards; yet its share in providing employment and livelihood to the population continues to be as high as 63 per cent in 2001.The declining share of agriculture in the GDP is a matter of serious concern because any decline and stagnation in agriculture will lead to a decline in other spheres of the economy having wider implications for society. Considering the importance of agriculture in India, the Government of India made concerted efforts to modernise agriculture. Establishment of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agricultural universities, veterinary services and animal breeding centres, horticulture development, research and development in the field of meteorology and weather forecast, etc. were given priority for improving Indian agriculture.Apart from this, improving the rural infrastructure was also considered essential for the same. FOOD SECURITY If any segment of our population does not have this access, that segment suffers from lack of food security. The number of people who do not have food security is disproportionately large in some regions of our country, particularly in economically less developed states with higher incidence of poverty. The remote areas of the country are more prone to natural disasters and uncertain food supply. In order to ensure availability of food to all sections of society our government carefully designed a national food security system.It consists of two components (a)buffer stock and (b) public distribution system (PDS). Public Distribution System: PDS is a programme which provides food grains and other essential commodities at subsidised prices in rural and urban areas. India’s food security policy has a primary objective to en sure availability of foodgrains to the common people at an affordable price. It has enabled the poor to have access to food. The focus of the policy is on growth in agriculture production and on fixing the support price for procurement of wheat and rice, to maintain their stocks.Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procuring and stocking foodgrains, whereas distribution is ensured by public distribution system (PDS). The FCI procures foodgrains from the farmers at the government announced minimum support price (MSP). The government used to provide subsidies on agriculture inputs such as fertilizers, power and water. These subsidies have now reached unsustainable levels and have also led to large scale inefficiencies in the use of these scarce inputs. Excessive and imprudent use of fertilizers and water has led to waterlogging, salinity and depletion of essential micronutrients in www.excellup. com  © 2009 Send your queries and suggestions to [email  protected] com the soil. The high MSP, subsidies in input and committed FCI purchases have distorted the cropping pattern. Wheat and paddy crops are being grown more for the MSP they get. Punjab and Haryana are foremost examples. This has also created a serious imbalance in inter-crop parities. In PDS consumers are divided into two categories : †¢ Below poverty line(BPL) and †¢ Above poverty line (APL), with the issue price being different for each category.However, this categorisation is not perfect and a number of deserving poor have been excluded from the BPL category. Moreover, some of the so called APL slip back to BPL, because of the failure of even one crop and it is administratively difficult to accommodate such shifts. Suggestion for Future: Each district and block can be made self sufficient in foodgrain production if government provides proper agricultural infrastructure, credit linkages and also encourages the use of latest techniques.Instead of concentrating only on rice or wheat, the food crop with a better growth potential in that particular area must be encouraged. Creation of necessary infrastructure like irrigation facilities, availability of electricity etc. may also attract private investments in agriculture. The focus on increasing foodgrain production which should be on a sustainable basis and also free trade in grains will create massive employment and reduce poverty in rural areas. Shifting Agricultural Pattern: There has been a gradual shift from cultivation of food crops to cultivation of fruits, vegetables, oil-seeds and industrial crops.This has led to the reduction in net sown area under cereals and pulses. With the growing population of India, the declining food production puts a big question mark over the country’s future food security. The competition for land between non-agricultural uses such as housing etc. and agriculture has resulted in reduction in the net sown area. The productivity of land has started showing a declini ng trend. Fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides, which once showed dramatic results, are now being held responsible for degrading the soils.Periodic scarcity of water has led to reduction in area under irrigation. Inefficient water management has led to water logging and salinity. Impact of Globalisation on Agriculture Under globalisation, particularly after 1990, the farmers in India have been exposed to new challenges. Despite being an important producer of rice, cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, jute and spices our agricultural products are not able to compete with the developed countries because of the highly subsidised agriculture in those countries.Change in cropping pattern for example from cereals to high-value crops will mean that India will have to import food. During 1960’s this would have been seen as a disaster. But if India imports cereals while exporting high-value commodities, it will be following successful economies like Italy, Israel and Chile. These countrie s exports farm products (fruits, olives, speciality seeds and wine) and import cereals. www. excellup. com  © 2009 Send your queries and suggestions to [email  protected] com