Socio-Economic and Political Conditions in Sparta and Athens After 800 B.C.E.

Ancient Greece was in a pretty bad shape during the period from 1200 to 800 B. C. E, which is referred as the Dark Age of the Greece. Eventually, after 800 B. C. E, Greeks started expanding their empire from the Mediterranean towards east as far as the Black Sea, and towards west as far as the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, two prominent city- states named Athens and Sparta stood as two pillars in the Greek history. Although these two city -states are geographically close to each other in Greece, they were rivals and shared many differences.However, some of the social conditions were similar in these two city -states. During the Archaic age (800- 500 B. C. E. ), these two city- states progressed tremendously both politically and economically. Even though the Greeks came out of the Dark Age and were expanding with prosperity, they faced new problems with growing population, hunger, and land shortage. Moreover, their lands were not fertile to feed the needs of the growing population, an d there was turmoil everywhere because of the tyranny of the aristocrats.To improve their economical, social, and political conditions, the Athenians and the Spartans created new political systems, introduced important reforms and stood as the role models in the Greek political development. The Spartans responded to the economic crisis by conquering Messene, their rich neighbor, in 715 B. C. E so that they can add the rich region’s resources. Sparta is a city -state in the southern part of Greece which was under the control of aristocracy. In fact, Sparta’s asset was its powerful military, and it is the protector of Greece.Spartans oppressed the Messenian slaves after their revolt against the Spartans. In order to appease the non- nobles, who demanded equal rights, as they assisted the Spartans in the war, the aristocrats later, reformed the state system to â€Å"Lycurgan regimen. † According to this reform, all Spartans were given equal rights, and the state wa s ruled by two kings with the assistance from the nobles. Taking into consideration the economic situations in Sparta, the Messenian slaves called â€Å"Helots† did all the physical work while the men of Sparta devoted their lives for the military.Boys in their young age were forced into military training. Although family life was important to Spartans, their social life was compromised as men spent much of their lives in the military. So they established close relationships with other men in the military. The main aim of the Spartan men was to be trained as the best infantrymen and sacrifice their lives in the battle. Spartan women were good wives who devoted their lives in bearing children and had rights to own property.In the same way, Athenians implemented law of codes, reforms, and adopted democracy with the help of prominent and thoughtful aristocrats and ascended from the economic and political distress and oppression of the aristocrats. In the late sixth century B. C. E, Draco, an aristocrat, published the first law of code which asserts that law belonged to all citizens, Later, Solon, an aristocrat who became â€Å"archon,† a chief magistrate of Polis, reformed the prevailing social conditions by freeing the slaves, recalling exiles, and made enslavement for debt illegal.He thus introduced democratic ideals into their political system in response to the tyranny of the aristocrats and nobles on small farmers and landowners. Although Athens was under the aristocratic rule in the beginning, it later adopted the democratic form of government under the leadership of a prominent aristocrat named Cleisthenes. Undoubtedly, Athenians were the first to introduce democratic sovereign and legislation with a council (â€Å"Boule†) and an assembly of citizens (â€Å"Ecclesia†). They also developed their infrastructure, and â€Å"Acropolis† clearly reveals their love for architecture.Young boys were not forced into military and wer e given opportunity to excel in education, arts, and other talents. The Athenians enjoyed better social life than the Spartans, and family life was important. Like Spartan men, Athenian men maintained close relationships with other men. Women were confined to giving birth and raising children along with other household chores, and they were considered inferior to men. Unlike the Spartan women, they had less freedom. Even though Athenians adopted democracy, women and slaves have limited rights and were not granted citizenship. Ancient Greeks rose from their dark age in 800 B. C. E.  and started expanding their empire in the neighboring regions.With their progress several economic and social tensions appeared such as population growth, hunger, and food shortage. In response to this economic and social distress, the two city-states, Athens and Sparta, with their own distinctive social structure, developed into two significant political systems. Athenians emphasized not only on firm p olitical development, education, and culture but also on individual freedom and justice. Democracy and legislation with two presiding bodies were introduced into their political system and even the poor were allowed to vote in the election.On the contrary, Spartans focused on training their youth as soldiers and thus strengthened their military. With the military power they conquered their resourceful neighboring region, Messene, and later reformed their state system with two ruling kings and five noble overseers. Their reform system also presented equal rights to all Spartans. The above discussed political and social reforms were necessary for both the city-states at that time of chaos in order to survive. Even though they underwent many deadly conflicts, Athens and Sparta established themselves as prominent city-states in the political development of ancient Greek history. Socio-Economic and Political Conditions in Sparta and Athens After 800 B.C.E. Ancient Greece was in a pretty bad shape during the period from 1200 to 800 B. C. E, which is referred as the Dark Age of the Greece. Eventually, after 800 B. C. E, Greeks started expanding their empire from the Mediterranean towards east as far as the Black Sea, and towards west as far as the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, two prominent city- states named Athens and Sparta stood as two pillars in the Greek history. Although these two city -states are geographically close to each other in Greece, they were rivals and shared many differences.However, some of the social conditions were similar in these two city -states. During the Archaic age (800- 500 B. C. E. ), these two city- states progressed tremendously both politically and economically. Even though the Greeks came out of the Dark Age and were expanding with prosperity, they faced new problems with growing population, hunger, and land shortage. Moreover, their lands were not fertile to feed the needs of the growing population, an d there was turmoil everywhere because of the tyranny of the aristocrats.To improve their economical, social, and political conditions, the Athenians and the Spartans created new political systems, introduced important reforms and stood as the role models in the Greek political development. The Spartans responded to the economic crisis by conquering Messene, their rich neighbor, in 715 B. C. E so that they can add the rich region’s resources. Sparta is a city -state in the southern part of Greece which was under the control of aristocracy. In fact, Sparta’s asset was its powerful military, and it is the protector of Greece.Spartans oppressed the Messenian slaves after their revolt against the Spartans. In order to appease the non- nobles, who demanded equal rights, as they assisted the Spartans in the war, the aristocrats later, reformed the state system to â€Å"Lycurgan regimen. † According to this reform, all Spartans were given equal rights, and the state wa s ruled by two kings with the assistance from the nobles. Taking into consideration the economic situations in Sparta, the Messenian slaves called â€Å"Helots† did all the physical work while the men of Sparta devoted their lives for the military.Boys in their young age were forced into military training. Although family life was important to Spartans, their social life was compromised as men spent much of their lives in the military. So they established close relationships with other men in the military. The main aim of the Spartan men was to be trained as the best infantrymen and sacrifice their lives in the battle. Spartan women were good wives who devoted their lives in bearing children and had rights to own property.In the same way, Athenians implemented law of codes, reforms, and adopted democracy with the help of prominent and thoughtful aristocrats and ascended from the economic and political distress and oppression of the aristocrats. In the late sixth century B. C. E, Draco, an aristocrat, published the first law of code which asserts that law belonged to all citizens, Later, Solon, an aristocrat who became â€Å"archon,† a chief magistrate of Polis, reformed the prevailing social conditions by freeing the slaves, recalling exiles, and made enslavement for debt illegal.He thus introduced democratic ideals into their political system in response to the tyranny of the aristocrats and nobles on small farmers and landowners. Although Athens was under the aristocratic rule in the beginning, it later adopted the democratic form of government under the leadership of a prominent aristocrat named Cleisthenes. Undoubtedly, Athenians were the first to introduce democratic sovereign and legislation with a council (â€Å"Boule†) and an assembly of citizens (â€Å"Ecclesia†). They also developed their infrastructure, and â€Å"Acropolis† clearly reveals their love for architecture.Young boys were not forced into military and wer e given opportunity to excel in education, arts, and other talents. The Athenians enjoyed better social life than the Spartans, and family life was important. Like Spartan men, Athenian men maintained close relationships with other men. Women were confined to giving birth and raising children along with other household chores, and they were considered inferior to men. Unlike the Spartan women, they had less freedom. Even though Athenians adopted democracy, women and slaves have limited rights and were not granted citizenship.Ancient Greeks rose from their dark age in 800 B. C. E.  and started expanding their empire in the neighboring regions. With their progress several economic and social tensions appeared such as population growth, hunger, and food shortage. In response to this economic and social distress, the two city-states, Athens and Sparta, with their own distinctive social structure, developed into two significant political systems. Athenians emphasized not only on firm p olitical development, education, and culture but also on individual freedom and justice. Democracy and legislation with two presiding bodies were introduced into their political system and even the poor were allowed to vote in the election.On the contrary, Spartans focused on training their youth as soldiers and thus strengthened their military. With the military power they conquered their resourceful neighboring region, Messene, and later reformed their state system with two ruling kings and five noble overseers. Their reform system also presented equal rights to all Spartans. The above discussed political and social reforms were necessary for both the city-states at that time of chaos in order to survive. Even though they underwent many deadly conflicts, Athens and Sparta established themselves as prominent city-states in the political development of ancient Greek history.

On Theory of Brief History of Translation Essay

In general, since mankind started translation activities, the study of translation has never ceased. Discussions about translation have become so frequent that various translation theories have been formed gradually in Chinese. In this paper, Habermas’s theory of communicative action reinterpreting the concept of the understanding of translation studies, and Translation to indicate this special form of cross-cultural communication in how to effectively interpret metaphor. Keywords: theory of communicative action; metaphor comprehension; translation 1. Introduction Translation is a metaphor of language as the carrier of the cross-cultural communication activities, but also a language that will carry the message to another language to the inter subjectivity of communicative action. Inter subjectivity of communicative action for the research, after Germany modern philosopher Habermas’s â€Å"theory of communicative action† (Theory of Communication Action) opened the door for people new window. The theory is swelling in different philosophical ideas and views to choose based on the creation of a complex, multifaceted â€Å"rational alliance system†, it â€Å"understood† as the core language, based on critical theory of the financial community, general pragmatics, social evolution theory as a unified framework. 2. Under the theory of communicative action the concept of translation studies to understand 2.1 Translation studies in the new way – AC Zhu act theory. Translation Studies from the traditional structural linguistics semantic stage to stage, the development of transmission 90 to the 20th century deconstruction of the stage, after a lengthy process. Semantic translation of the traditional paradigm by the impact of the classical theory of knowledge, that â€Å"man is the soul,† the understanding of the object is totally dependent on the translator’s subjective feelings, emphasizing the translator’s understanding and inspiration, emphasis on â€Å"spirit† and â€Å"Transformation†, had gained the so-called flash in the pan. Because it is too much emphasis on the translator’s initiative to make this cross-cultural communication activities translate into a mystical practice. 80 years of the 20th century, structural linguistics in China set off a new upsurge in Translation Studies. People started to pay attention the text, try to use linguistic analysis methods instead of intuitive feeling that in the complicated hidden behind the words of a universal and regularities, as long as it can control the expression of all, making the translation into a simple mechanical operation, that is, the semantics of a target language are stored in the source language and regulations put a rule in the semantic content of thought into the preparation of. Obviously, such a tool and went to the other extreme – too much emphasis on language as the object of the role of law, then followed by the fierce criticism of the ideological trend. Deconstruction gives people a new way of thinking. It broke structure, deconstruction of the system so that the provisions of one dollar to diversify the situation, the logical name translation from the language of Sri Lanka fetters doctrine, but still it will be translated once again into the irrational, too much publicity consciousness, so that interpretation becomes an infinite delay activity, the understanding and exchanges between people seems to have become impossible. How to overcome this ideology of intolerance, effective language as medium of intercultural communication activities? I believe that the use of Habermas’s theory of communicative action, for the translation of research to find a new way of reason. 2.2 Translation understands the concept of re-interpretation. A French translator said: â€Å"The translation is to understand and make people understand.† Building understanding is the cornerstone of translation is the first step in the process of translation, not a good understanding of the translation step. When we think the theory of communicative action has opened a new translation of the windows, it is necessary to understand the concept of re-interpretation. Habermas believes that the language as a medium of social interaction, verbal communication to understand each other, or far from effective communication. Communicative action in the language, that language, the analysis can be regulated. Each speech acts and statements have the effect the dual structure. Purposes of section as the main statement, in the communication layer between the main body; and vice statement as part of statement, in the main contents of the table between the layers. Part of the implementation of speech acts in a decisive role, because it limits the relationship between language and the listener, but also the meaning of the Statute of the contents of the statement. The two structures in the speech act are interdependent. Sometimes words that are a part of which may be stressed, but it does not mean denying other part, but it only temporarily relegated to a secondary position. For example, â€Å"my phone battery died,† the phrase, seemed to be merely stating the fact that mobile phone battery is dead, but in fact it implies a variety of behavioral significance; â‘   because the battery died, so I just did not pick up the phone; â‘ ¡ I must go recharge; â‘ ¢ I will not carry a cell phone and with PHS, the PHS something please call me. This is the hidden part of the implementation of, According to the specific situation; it would serve the purposes of this or that effect. Searle that â€Å"the idea of ​​the original speaker, or intrinsic intentionality is converted to words, statements, signs, symbols, etc., these words, statements, signs, symbols meaningful to speak out if they have a From the speaker’s thoughts in the derived intentionality. They not only have the traditional linguistic sense, but also with the intention of the speaker’s meaning. â€Å"This is undoubtedly the words of Habermas and similar to the dual structure theory. Accordingly on the significance of understanding is also necessary to double the corresponding division. Understand a word should be divided into two to look at the presentation layer is the known what on the issue, and in the communication layer is the know-how of the problem. know -what is the statement that those who understand how to reach such a clear knowledge and understanding that it can acquire the knowledge; from the perspective of those who understand, to ask him to be able to understand semantics, syntax, rules, line up the â€Å"words, statements, mark the symbol â€Å"what constitutes the meaning. know how is the statement that those who have the ability to construct or implement the ability of this speech act is an implicit awareness of the rules; from the perspective of those who understand, to ask him who can understand the speech of this implicit awareness of the rules. In this dual understanding, understanding of the content of verbal expression is an understanding (know-what), but to those who truly grasp the inner speech must enter double intentionality level understanding (know-how), that is part of the implementation of the understanding. Therefore, understanding can not be stuck in the form of a priori judgments must be reached in the communication process. to understand the goal is to guide a recognition that â€Å"the sharing of knowledge, trust each other, the two international interdependence consistent with the subjective. â€Å"It not only includes the traditional understanding of linguistic expressions, but also† in connection with each other that the normative discourse related to the correctness of the background, and between the two main some kind of coordination â€Å", and† the two participants in the process of communication is something the world to reach understanding, and the intention to make himself understood each other. â€Å" 3. Metaphors Habermas’s theory of communicative action on the construction of translation studies methodology has the macro guidance of translation practice is also instructive significance? View of the Newmark said, â€Å"metaphor translation is a microcosm of all the language translation, because translation to the translation of metaphor methods were showing a wide range of choices: either transfer its meaning, or reshape its image, or a modification of their, or their meaning and image of the perfect combination. â€Å"The following instructions will use the metaphor theory of communicative action in cross-cultural communication The Interpretation of. Metaphor is a phenomenon of language use in the â€Å"Dictionary not found in metaphor.† Metaphor from the modern point of view of science should be in the form of metaphor with the exception, belong to different categories in the semantics, logic dislocation, resulting in a semantic conflict, and when the listeners have responded to the conflict, it generates a metaphorical sense, that is a metaphor to understand the words. For the metaphor of the operating mechanism, it was actually made such a description: â€Å"Metaphor involves two different areas (areas) concept; the production of metaphorical meaning is the result of the interaction between the two concepts. This interaction by mapping the way in the mapping process, belonging to a related concept and structure of the field was transferred to another area, the final after the formation of a new synthesis of conceptual structure, that is, metaphorically. And this mapping and integration process is based on two areas of similarity in some respects. â€Å"This is no doubt that the understanding of the need to double by metaphor. The process of understanding metaphors consist of two parts: the identification and metaphorical meaning metaphors inference. In fact this is a secondary level of understanding into the process of understanding. Give an example of people often referred to â€Å"The tongue is a fire â€Å", from the presentation layer of understanding (an understanding),† tongue â€Å"by the American Heritage Dictionary defines this way:† the fleshy, movable, muscular organ, attached in most vertebrates to the floor of the mouth, that is principal organ of taste, an aid in chewing, and swallowing, and, in human beings,, important organ of speech â€Å". We can say that the tongue is an important organ as the human body, the first and most vertebrates have the same taste and chew and auxiliary swallowing function, in addition to, or who have speech capabilities important language organ. to the basic meaning of the center, tongue behind the formation of the word meaning a large collection: it can mean something shaped like a tongue, such as tongue of flame (flame), guiding tongue (rail-oriented switch rail), switch tong (switch to copper), can also refer to human speech acts and speech capabilities, for example, hold one’s tongue (keep silent), lose one’s tongue (lose the capacity to speak, as from shock). The other key words in the speech act of fire, in the American Heritage Dictionary can be found in the following definition; â€Å"a rapid, persistent chemical change that releases heat and light and is accompanied not flame†. the same , the meaning behind it can be found in the collection, such as, cooking fire (cooking fire), forest fire (forest fire), wild fire (wildfires), the fire of cannon fire), and other specific forms of the fire. You can also find other meaning, such as the boy is full of fire (which decided the boy is very warm and excited), He was on fire for mismanagement (because of poor management and blamed). When the tongue and the fire both carry the meaning of their huge collection of words is embedded in the basic language of A is B frame (sentence) to go when the logical relationship between the two on the adoption of â€Å"is’, to interact.† Is â€Å"used to denote a equivalents. it literally, or change a point of view, the presentation layer from the listener’s understanding of the term should be reasoning as follows:† the tongue is a fire â€Å".† is â€Å"meaning that the two sets is in some ways equivalent. However, we are both from the above understanding of the meaning of the word of view, they clearly belong to two different categories, among them with a ‘`is† connected, the the equivalent of conventional logic does not work, so from the presentation layer, we can identify this is a metaphor, thus completing the first part of understanding metaphors. When the listener is clear that to use metaphorical language behavior, the expressed will of the true meaning of metaphors to infer, that understanding will enter the second stage of course, understand the purposes of this part of speech acts, understanding â€Å"the original speaker’s thoughts, or inner intention.† Can be assumed that if â€Å"The tongue is a fire† is said to give an artist is accused by the media to listen to, then the speaker or may contain a sympathetic glance report of intention. Artists are always much media attention, due to For various reasons, may be one-sided media, the exaggerated reports of certain facts, and spread such a report will be turned into a stumbling news and rumors, they will more or less to the artist himself or his cause to bring a number of trouble. The context is the equivalent of the tongue and the fire provides a logical possibility: the tongue – the language of human organs – the words of the act – media coverage – people reported adverse reactions (Wei news and rumors) – to the artists themselves or their cause trouble (damage to reputation or hinder the cause of development), the fire – will shine the chemical substances – excessive light and heat of fire, destroying things, or even result in death, so that both the destruction of the found a similar function, logical reasoning tenable. â€Å"The tongue is a fire† means a variety of popular artists and no shortage of opinions and statements in the news or rumors coffee, they may attack their personality, or even because of their presence, the company lifted the employment relationship, or no one would dare ask this artistes. So we have reason to infer that the speaker is the issue of Renyankewei sigh, or cautioned ent ertainers say and pay attention to their own to avoid capture by the media hype after which her career. At this point, the listener to complete the original speech act of an effective understanding, guiding the listener and the speaker of some sort of recognition. Complete understanding of metaphor, must be made through an understanding (understanding of the content of verbal expression) to reach two to understand (the intrinsic intentionality of the speech understanding of those). In the same language system is the case, between systems in different languages ​​should be so, because only then can an effective cross-cultural exchanges. How should we operate on the self-evident metaphor translation, or the preservation of the source language metaphor, or metaphor replaces the target language, or to have the target language dominance feasibility, as long as it helps the reader to complete the intention of listening comprehension. 3.1 Preservation of the source language metaphor. When the Metaphor and figurative language and translation in the source completely or substantially the same language, the metaphor for the body of the source language, target language readers will have to listen to listen to readers of the source language similar to the psychological Lenovo, and complete understanding of similar intent, target language are advised to preserve the source language metaphor. such as: Links to Research (1) He is the only foxes. English fox, fox and Chinese refer to the same animal, when it was used as that person when they contain â€Å"cunning† in Italy, even listen to the reader and writer, said in a different language systems and cultural background, it can effectively understand the implementation of the partial speech act: be careful of this man, he is cunning. Another example: (2) think tank think tank â€Å"Think tank† in the Chinese culture does not exist in, but the â€Å"library† in Chinese culture, store things in the middle, so even though the people in Chinese culture has not been recognized with the â€Å"library† to describe the characteristics of â€Å"thought â€Å"The collection, but this† library â€Å"of knowledge to guide on English culture† think tank ‘, the identity, so â€Å"library† This Vehicle can save down. After all, this cross-cultural communication, we can not underestimate the listen to the reader’s understanding, not to deprive them of their understanding of rights. In the translation process, in order to achieve the purpose of cross-cultural communication, and sometimes need to work to preserve the source language metaphor, that metaphor at the same time preserve the source language to make the appropriate explanation. Such as: (3) What will it be when the increase of yearly production is brought to a complete stop? Here is the vulnerable place, the heel of Achilles, for capitalistic production. (Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844) If the complete cessation of growth in annual production, what the situation is going to do? Like Achilles heel, as this will be the Achilles heel of capitalist production.

Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished in Malaysia

Capital punishment is a death sentence awarded for capital offences where in the criminal provisions consider such persons as a gross danger or threats to the existence of the society. As the merge of human rights associations, this punishment is strictly opposed for its cruelty and this has been a global debate for some years. In Malaysia, this punishment is proudly held in the law and until today, executions are being held. It is a great shame as all members of the United Nation were already called to Join the moratorium of death penalty (Amnesty International, 2007). Many countries have abandoned capital punishment and Malaysia should do the same as it is inappropriate, cruel and it does not help the society in any ways. It is inappropriate for today as clearly, it is incongruent with what Malaysia is aiming for. The aim is to be a fully developed country and to be one Malaysia has to fulfil all challenges which one of it is to be a fully caring society (Razak, 2010). Putting an end to ones life does not define caring at all. Even though the punishment has been practised in almost every society, many have abandoned the punishment and ore are in favour of abolishing it (Caroline Sculler, 2010). If the policy is as such, then the government is at the same footing as the murderers (Stevenson, 1993). As death penalty is final, those criminals will also be deprived from the opportunity to change and the true causes of crimes will not be figured out Ooseph A. Melusky, 2003). Thus, when Justice is hurried, Justice is buried too. This clearly shows that we have no mercy and for a society that values human rights, Justice and mercy, there should be no death penalty at all (Ragunath Kesavan, 2010). To punish does not mean having to do it cruelly. The world has decides that death penalty is inhuman and degrading punishment which also constitutes a torture (Caroline Sculler, 2010). Inevitably, there are risks in executing innocent people such as cases of drug trafficking involving people who were fooled by so-called Job agencies (The Star Online, 2010). It is very unjust to prosecute innocent lives. What is more, The United Nation disapproves capital punishment as it is contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Malaysias excuse was that, Malaysia is not ne of the signatories of Committees Against Torture (CAT) and International Convention of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and so, Malaysia is not bound to any of their aims (Eldridge, 2002). Malaysia has shown how barbaric the nation is and the reality of death penalty is that it is hypocritical as lives cannot be traded like commodities. To replace belongings or things is acceptable, but to kill, it is cruel (Stevenson, 1993). What more to grieve is, capital punishment does not deter crimes and it does not help the society. It shows no positive result in decreasing violent crime rates (Caroline Sculler, 2010). Death penalty actually promotes crimes. When our government approves on taking ones life, its a symbolic to vengeance. Thus, victims because a clean break is not that frightening. Having the thought of being locked up in a room for the whole life is scarier. For drug-trafficking offences, there is also no evidence that the punishment helps (Human Rights Watch, 2009). It is not only useless, but it obscures the true causes of crime too. Knowing the causes of crimes is hat matters the most and by executing, this disallows research on them and will consequently blind us forever. Hence, the aim of deterring crime will never be achieved. Common arguments and beliefs of why Malaysia should continue capital punishment are of Justice, deterrent and retribution. On Justice, an execution is said to bring closure to the criminal and closure to the ordeal for the victims family. Of deterrent, capital punishment is taken as a tool to scare potential criminals as it is hoped that they will think twice before breaking the law for fear of losing their lives. And of retribution, the taking of criminals life allows society to show convincingly that certain crimes will not be tolerated. However in reality, if criminals have made up their minds to commit crimes, having the mens rea to do any, the punishments will never be taken in considerations. Plus, it is not the best deterrent tool as there is no exact statistic showing the decrease of crime rate for which the death penalty is mandatory (Ragunath Kesavan, 2010). To continue this law is to show how decadent the nation is. Malaysia has more moral based policies, but still, why is this legal? Australias previous Prime Minister, Hawke, have mentioned capital punishment as barbaric by seeing Malaysias policy. And that was insulting (Eldridge, 2002). Killing in any form victimizes all human kinds. Killing will never solve problems and killing will further brings great destructions. The world has decides that the punishment is cruel and let us stand with others. We pride ourselves for being a caring society and let us show to the world that we are. Capital punishment should be abolished as it proves nothing but the act of barbarism.

Change Model to Expand the Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Change Model to Expand the Business - Essay Example This paper illustrates that in business expansion, the change process plays an essential role to evaluate present performances and future possibilities. Apart from this, planning plays a very valuable role during the change process. An appropriate change model is required to be implemented with the intention of ensuring that the expansion process is conducted successfully. Subsequently, the success of the change model is dependent on various factors that include communication of the urgency of change, type of change needed and effective communication of change plan. In this context, planning and implementation process are required to be managed successfully in order to enhance probability margin of success. In the present scenario, globalization and advanced technology are the prime factors accountable for business expansion in different overseas market segments. The organization in order to enter the Chinese market segments and conduct business operations successfully is required to ensure that business operations are performed in accordance with the preferences as well as the behavior of customers. The market segments of China are developing rapidly with consumers mostly preferring for local branded products and/or services. In this context, the Chinese consumers are identified to have minimum needs or preferences for foreign products and/or services. Thus, it can be evidently asserted that in order to establish a business relation in a Chinese market, the organization is required to adopt effective change model to ensure that business operations are conducted on the basis of market demands.

Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Midterm - Essay Example Teachers who scored high in the survey were contacted through an individual interview, which was a blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. This study increased the research about motivation among teachers, and supported future studies related to motivation among teachers in urban schools and the influence of demographic characteristics upon their decision to stay. Central questions that this study sought to answer were: Are science teachers in urban setting intrinsically motivated about persisting in urban schools? Do years of experience/race affect science teachers’ motivation (autonomy, relatedness, and competence)? How the decision to stay was affected by science teachers’ practice and identity? These questions were answered based on results of the Intrinsic Motivation Study. The results of this study suggested that teachers have intrinsic motivation as well as extrinsic motivation. It was found that years of experience and ethnicity did not affect teachers†™ motivation to stay and teach in urban schools. Chapter 5 provides a full account of the data and results of the study. The following paragraphs provide a summary of the findings of the study, discussion, implications, and recommendations for future research. Interpretation of Findings Survey The majority of teachers did not agree on reporting which intrinsic motivation factors were more important to them. There might be other motivational reasons (extrinsic or intrinsic) that result in their job persistence. In this study, I only investigated the autonomy, relatedness, and competence among science teachers. I recommend future researchers to do compression between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation among teachers, which will give a better vision about the motivational factors. Next, findings from the analyses revealed that none of the dependent variables were impacted by the independent variable. The results from ANOVA indicated that it could not attribute differences in intrinsi c motivation and working experience to either ethnicity or teaching experience. The independent variables that were studied did not significantly affect the majority of science teachers’ intrinsic motivation. In terms of years of experience, the findings came to an understanding of Huang and Moon (2009), who found that after 21 years of teaching experience, student achievement dropped. In this study, 36.2% selected a general response, indicating more than 15 years of teaching experience. Also, The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification found that many teachers were still in the stage of gaining proficiency and improving their effectiveness after an average of 11 years of teaching. So, experience might not be a precise variable to test competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Hence, it is recommended for future researches to find the experience more valuable by conducting such a study which compares beginners with stayers. In terms of the ethnic ity, the majority of teachers were white as 68.1% of them indicated having White/Caucasian ethnicity. The high percentage of Caucasian ethnicity was likely to bias the data; however, my data supported The National Education Association (2007), which reported that more than 38% of schools across America do not have teachers of color in

Anti Slavery Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Anti Slavery Movement - Essay Example Anti slavery movement 1800s serves as a turning point in the history of United States, which not only paved the way towards the introduction and implication of social justice and equality in various parts of the country, but also played the powerful and most formidable role in respect of decreasing and discouraging the ethnic, racial, regional and religious inequity and discrimination that had been in vogue for the last several decades, and was responsible for creating bias and prejudice within the entire social establishment at large. Though the statutes of Declaration of Independence as well as the US constitution, as drafted in 1776 and 1787 respectively in Philadelphia, provided equal status to all American subjects without discrimination, yet the black racial group and Red Indians had to undergo prejudiced behavior and hatred from the members of White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASP). It was particularly the case with the African Americans, who had been brought in America as capti ve to lead the life of slaves in the service of the white population. The black slave people used to be tortured, humiliated and abhorred, and were kept deprived of all civil rights and privileges attributed to the free men. Consequently, they started launching a campaign against slavery by establishing the New York City Manumission Society in 1785, and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1789 in order to raise their voice from these respective platforms. Thus, the struggle for abolition of slavery had started side by side the drafting of constitution by the last two decades of eighteenth century. Somehow, the afore-mentioned societies had been working at regional scale, without the national command altogether. His being an open oppose of slavery, and supporter of freedom of the slaves, people had maintained high hopes in the person of third US President Thomas Jefferson. However, he had kept several slaves in his service, so he did not take any important step for the abolition of slavery (Applebaum 318). However, it was during his era when New Jersey state introduced abolition of slavery for the children of the slaves in 1804 (Higginbotham 309-10). Consequently, slave trade was also banned within the country in 1808 in the wake of the division of the country into slave and free states. Since such a division was extremely jeopardizing one for the national unity and harmony, the necessary steps were taken to ensure the trade and trafficking of slavery all over the USA. Moreover, Captain Cuffe also launched an unsuccessful campaign in favor of the absolute eradication of slavery in 1815, though it ended in fiasco after his death in 1817 (Thomas 19). Similarly, a dauntless American Caribbean Denmark Vesey united the African slaves under one platform, and made a revolt by raising pikes heads, bayonets, and daggers. It increased tension in South Carolina and several blacks were arrested. Somehow, the whites acknowledged that the slavery would have no space in the country anymore. Since most of the slaves states belonged to the northern part of the country, there was an urgent need for the introduction of reforms in those areas. Consequently, the northern states recommended the gradual ban on slavery by early 1830s in order to seek its complete abolition within few decades. Actually, the slaves had been deployed in cotton ginning and other agricultural fields and industrial units, their immediate freedom could create serious labor vacuum, as well as possible setback for the national economy. It is therefore some of the politicians, predominantly Henry Clay and others, advocated and launched campaign during 1830s regarding the return of the African Americans to their native lands i.e. Africa (Nye & Morpurgo 208-09). However, New York state completely banned slavery in 1828 within its jurisdiction. Another important black leader Frederick Douglas launched one of the most effective anti-slavery movement in the wake of attending a

Account Balance and Budget Balance in United States of America, Assignment

Account Balance and Budget Balance in United States of America, Australia and Indonesia - Assignment Example From the visual representation, it can be observed that over the four years, Indonesia has had a surplus in its current account balances, this means that Indonesia is saving most of its resources than investing those resources. For the case of Australia and the USA, both countries experienced a deficit in their current account, but Australia has gradually improved its current balance. This implies that these countries are investing more than they are saving and thus, they are utilizing resources sourced from other economies in order to finance domestic consumption. Twin deficit refers to a situation a deficit in the national budget leads to an expanded deficit in the current account. Twin deficit proposition, argues that a large budget deficit has a negative impact on the national saving of the country, this, in turn, leads to souring the current account deficit. Although, some economist that this proposition is so weak in explaining this phenomenon (Hansen, 2003). A twin deficit exi sts in the case of the United States of America where the budget deficit has led to expanding the current account deficit. This implies that the United States acts as the net debtor to other global economies. Therefore, the United States is investing extra resources to other world economies than saving and in return use resources from world economies to fund the domestic consumption. Indonesia has the largest economy in the southeast of Asia, this economy  is characterized by a major development in the information technology sector thus having a comparative advantage over countries in the region. Indonesia was worst hit by the recent global financial crisis that hit the world giant economies like the United States. Thus Indonesia has put up measures so to try and shield its citizen from the financial crisis souring economic conditions in the country. The national government of Indonesia has embarked in various fiscal policy stances so to stabilize the economy. In the effort to sta bilize the economy the government has decided to increase its expenditure, in this case, the government has decided to offer a subsidy to the citizen so as shield them from the soaring commodities prices. Indonesia government will more spend in the current year in subsiding the fuel prices.

HR Planning at Qantas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

HR Planning at Qantas - Essay Example In this situation organizations have been increasingly trying to find out what employees think and want from them1. The question of trade union has an important role to play in this context. They are meant to ensure that employees desires are satisfied and that they get a proper working environment and culture for conducting their jobs conveniently and comfortably too. It is also crucial that the strategies that the management undertakes are willingly accepted by employees and unions in order to ensure to make them effective and successful. Employee’s acceptance of the organizational strategies accounts for a key factor for their effective implementation. The project seeks to present the present situation at Qantas Airways which Australia’s flag carrier and regarded as one of the most well known airlines in the world. The company’s maintenance and repair costs account for one of the most expensive in the world; however, they are the least efficient at the same ti me. The most important and prominent contingency faced by the company was to implement any plan as the staff were not willing to accept in change initiated by the management. As presented by Kavanagh and Ashkanasy, (2006), any change management strategy must strive to bring about a complete cultural change in the organization in order to be successful and the most important component in this change process is effective communication and transparency and must be led under proper and competent leadership .... Strategic contingencies affecting the strategic choices that Qantas has from theoretical and practical perspective and effect of the choices on human resource planning The most important and prominent contingency faced by the company was to implement any plan as the staff were not willing to accept in change initiated by the management. As presented by Kavanagh and Ashkanasy, (2006), any change management strategy must strive to bring about a complete cultural change in the organization in order to be successful and the most important component in this change process is effective communication and transparency and must be led under proper and competent leadership2. The various contingencies towards bringing out the changes can be discussed under the certain theories and models3. The primary change management principles are discussed as under. Figure 1: Primary Change Management Principle (Source: Hiatt & Creasey, 2003, P. 15) In this case the resistance towards change is primarily th e main focus of concern. The main aim was to reduce the maintenance costs for which new maintenance regulations were attempted to be implemented. The new maintenance regulations were issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to align the functioning of the airline in accordance to that followed by the European airlines. It also tries to make further advancement in its technologies and services. He realized that the numerous people were responsible for maximizing the profitability of the aircraft in terms of fuel efficiencies and introduction of new products and services. However, it was also realized that the maintenance costs and repair costs were extremely high and this required a complete

Exploratory Research Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exploratory Research - Case Study Example It is important to employ the most suitable method of qualitative research in determining the viability and effectiveness of such quality teams. Critical Review Question 1 (b): Here, the bank loan officer who wants to forecast the economy of the state in which the bank operates needs to outline a research design which helps him find the exact data and analyze them to arrive at a conclusion. A quantitative research method is most effective in such situations. Critical Review Question 1 (c): It is important to employ a qualitative research method in order to respond to the product manager's suggestion that a non-tobacco cigarette which is blended from wheat, cocoa and citrus needs to be developed. It is only through the employment of such a qualitative research method that one can determine the viability and success of a non-tobacco cigarette. Critical Review Question 1 (d): In a scenario where the research project needs to identify the issues of concern to labor union, a mixed research method is most recommended where qualitative research method and quantitative research method are blended. Critical Review Question 2: The utility of case studies in social researches is manifold and the social scientists use different terms such as 'N of cases', 'case study', and 'sample of cases' to refer to this. The case study research method may be comprehended as an empirical inquiry which analyzes a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context and this helps one in realizing specific aspects of a particular situation. "Case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research. Case studies emphasize detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships." (Soy, 1997). However, there are also significant limitations connected with the method and the critics of the case study method assume that the study of a small number of cases cannot provide any grounds for ascertaining reliability or generality of finding s. It is also maintained that the intense exposure to study of the case can result in prejudiced findings. Critical Review Question 3: In qualitative research, a focus group is an essential factor and has several vital functions to serve. A focus group may be understood as a "carefully planned discussion designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, non-threatening environment." (Qualitative Research: Focus Groups). Therefore, it is a group of people who are asked about their outlook on a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, innovation, or a new technology. The most important function of a focus group is to answer to the questions asked in an interactive group setting and in such focus groups participants are given freedom to interact with other members of the group. The several proven benefits of the focus group method lead many researchers to depend on this method in extensive researches. Critical Review Question 4: The use of a focus group in social researches depends on their advantages and limitations conne

Shoplifting is a crime born of poverty Essay Example for Free

Shoplifting is a crime born of poverty Essay Shoplifting means someone involve stealing from the shop during business hour. Shoplifting is an old problem for merchants. There are lots of reasons to shoplift, range from very poverty and satisfy the desires or mental illness. Although there are lots of anti-shoplifting devices in place and the increase in police patrols and offers the retailers guidance on preventive measures, the rate of shoplifting in the world is still increasing. According to the Home Office crime statistics, there was a 10 percent increase in shoplifting in United Kingdom in the year of 2009. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer research (2009), total global shoplifting in 41 participating countries costs economic lost for around $114,823 billion. Therefore, shoplifting is a serious problem not just in the United Kingdom. The statistics from the Home Office and the research form the Centre for Retail Research showed that the shoplifting is being a serious problem in contemporary society, and this essay is going to discuss, is shoplifting is a crime born of poverty. If not, then what is the reason for people to shoplift? For the issue of shoplifting is a crime born of poverty, there are several factors that may related to the increase of shoplifting and the argument of shoplifting is a crime born of poverty, such as high unemployment rate, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory, underclass and the relationship between capitalism and crime. Against the issue of shoplifting is a crime born of poverty, there are several factors against the argument, such as peer pressure in adolescent, drug addict, psychological elements or other adolescent psychological factors. The rest of the essay is going to analysis all the factors either for or against. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory, this is a theory in psychology and proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Figure1: Maslows Hierarchy of Needs His theories parallel many other theories of human development psychology and focuses on describing the stages growth in humans. He presented his theory in a pyramid and defined the stages with Physiological, Safety, Love/belonging, Esteem and Self-actualization needs to explain the pattern that human motivations pass through. The base floor of the hierarchy  represented basic human need, which are breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis and excretion. These are necessary for human to survive in order to achieve the upper level of human wants. Moving on to the next part, which is safety needs and it included security of body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health and property. This part represents a civilization of human beings, which they are chasing for a better living standard. Then next part is Love or belonging needs, which are friendship, family and sexual intimacy. After that, Esteem needs included self-esteem confidence, achievement, respect of others and respect by others. The last part is self-actualization needs, which included morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts. This is the ethical and spiritual level that Maslow believed. Taking Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as an accurate portrayal of individual evolution, we could apply that to the evolution of human society, which included economically, socially and politically. Therefore the argument of this essay can be clearly explained. If a person lives without food, water and homeostasis, he may not be able to reach the upper levels of the pyramid, which included morality, safety and self-actualization. Therefore, he will commit crime like shoplifting or theft to get what he needs to survive. Most of the humans’ lacks of physiological needs are in poverty. Thus shoplifting can be said as a crime born of poverty in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory. Secondly, the relationship between capitalism and crime is a factor that makes shoplifting a crime born of poverty. Capitalism is an economic system that favours private ownership. In other words, capitalism is a system of economics under which ownership of and investment in the means of exchange, distribution and production. Therefore, most capitalism countries have the problem of inequality, which mean the gap between the rich and the poor. According to urban dictionary, capitalism is an imbalanced mechanism for distributing power where the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful, the poor get poorer. According to BBC News (2009), United Kingdom is a capitalism country, the gap between the rich and poor is very serious in UK, and the richest fifth of the population had an income 16 times greater than the poorest fifth. According to the National Equality Panel (NEP) report (2008), United States and United Kingdom are in the top 10 of inequality countries, which mean the gap between rich and poor  is very big. The rate of shoplifting in United State and United Kingdom are increasing, which means inequality will make poor people committed crime. In capitalism countries, when the gap between rich and poor become wider, the rate of crime will increase. Because capitalism is an idea that rich peoples use money to buy goods then sell to gain money but poor people don’t have money to buy goods in order to sell to gain money, so they committed shoplifting and sell the things that they stole in order to survive. Thirdly, Murray (1990) explained that there are three main characteris tics of underclass, which are illegitimacy, violent crime and economic inactivity. Shoplifting is an activity, which is economic inactive. Murray (1990) has also explained that the morally weak underclass that is unemployed is usually involved in crime and drug addiction. By analysis, the Murray research, the crime committed in shoplifting which is unemployed. According to The New York Times (2012), a single mother committed shoplifting and sells the goods in order to survive because the government had passed the 1996 welfare reform law. This case showed that there are people shoplifting because of poverty. Then, some people committed shoplifting because lack of clear purpose in life. These kinds of people often under unemployment, therefore, they live below poverty level. According to the research done by Mcshane, Lawless and Noonan (1991), 70 apprehended shoplifter aged between 18 and 88 compared to 70 undergraduate non-shoplifters, they found that shoplifters were most likely to live in poverty, to be socially isolated and not to aware psychological stressors th an those who do not shoplift. This research showed that people who live long-term under the poverty level lacks the purpose in life. Therefore, the research done by Mcshane, Lawless and Noonan (1991) proven shoplifting is a crime born of poverty. Finally, according to the UK Office For National Statistics (2012), the unemployment rate in United Kingdom was last reported at 8.3 per cent and it rose steadily. The unemployment rate has explained that the reason people shoplift is because of economic. Although the government have unemployment benefit, there are lots of people who are unemployed but do not meet the requirement to get the unemployment benefit. Therefore, shoplifting in United Kingdom still increases. The study of Ray and Briar (1988) included 200 court records and 382 self-reports and showed that shoplifters were more likely to have lower family income, be unemployed  believe that economic need causes shoplifting. However, there are lots of people who shoplift to satisfy their desires and some of them might pursue excitiement by shoplifting. Shoplifting is a psychological issue for a group of people. According to the articles National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (2006), the single largest psychological factors in around one-third of shoplifters are experiencing depression. Geyer (2001) also explained that most of the shoplifting offender is due to psychological factions. Therefore, most of the shoplifters committed shoplifting because of psychological issues more than because they are poor. Besides, according to Tonglet (2002), the decision to shoplift is influenced by social factors, pro-shoplifting attitudes, opportunities for shoplifting and perceptions of low risks in being caught. He described that shoplifting is consumer misbehaviour. BBC News Magazine (2012) also described that there is a new wave of middle-class shoplifter is targeting some high-end delicacies from stores and supermarket to have a lifestyle that they could no longer afford. The society believed that this development is caused by the ec onomic recession. On the other hand, teen’s problem is also a very important factor of shoplifting. According to the National Crime Prevention Council (2006), there are 25% of people committed shoplifting between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. The following essay is going to analysis and explain the reason that people shoplifting apart from poverty. Adolescent shoplifting is a nationwide rising problem. According to Moschis, Dena and Anthony (1990) experiment, they have surveyed 1692 teenagers from age 10 to 17 investigating shoplifting behaviour, family occupational status, rule breaking behaviour and perceived reasons for adolescent shoplifting. The result showed that shoplifting rate between the age 10 and 15 rose steadily and declined between the age 15 and 17. Moschis, Dena and Anthony (1990) concluded that there are few reasons explained that why teens shoplifting, such as chasing for excitement, peer pressure and attracting attention. For the reason of chasing for excitement, most of the teens got lots of time when they were bored and didn’t have anything better to do, they will pretend shoplifting to gain excitement. For the reason of peer pressure, it is playing a very important role on adolescent shoplifting. When their peers get a pair of expensive name brands shoes or clothes, the others will try to keep up with their peers and wear the latest. Other than that, electronics  also very popular, such as mp3 player, console, phone and other small expensive items. Most teens want to get the best and the latest leisure fashion and electronics to compete with their peers so they are faced with the lack of money to satisfy their desires, they may turn to shoplifting. Steven Gerrard said, â€Å"Being a young lad it’s hard not to give into peer pressure. I stole to fit in. I grabbed a few pens paper from Woolworths made a dash for the door but the security guy grabbed me.† Steven Gerrard is an England soccer hero, he confessed that he stole pens and nabbed by cops when he was in his early teens. This case strongly influenced that shoplifting isn’t a crime born of poverty. At last, the parent attention, many parents were very busy in their work in contemporary society so they will lack of care of their children. The child will do something in order to attract their parents’ attention. The second component that people committed shoplifting is drug users. According a study of Arrestees (2005), the study confirmed that shoplifting was the most frequent crime amongst drug users. This group of people shoplifting showed that they need to shoplift in order to fund their drug habit. Drug users usually resell the things that they steal or attempt a cash refund. The study also showed that alcohol is also a main component in shoplifting. According to BBC News (2012), most cases of shoplifting by what psychologists describe as â€Å" non-professional shoplifter â€Å", and most of them shoplifting to feed their alcohol addiction. Both drug addict and alcoholic people committed shoplifting in order to feed their drug and alcohol addiction not because of they are poverty. Thirdly, Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or bipolar disorder. Although there are very few of shoplifters fall into this category, this type of shoplifters has a psychological compulsion to shoplifting to satisfy their desires. They will commit shoplifting whenever the urge hits. According to Tasman (2011), he explained that people with Kleptomania often report the shoplifting act and they feel of pleasure after committed shoplifting. This kind of people shoplifting is because of mental illness, most of them did not think themselves as a crime after committed shoplifting. But in contemporary society, the law enforcement agencies treated them as normal crime. As a conclusion, to discuss whether or not shoplifting is a crime born of poverty, as it has countless factors causing  people to shoplift and lots of factor proved that shoplifting is born of poverty. Almost all of the reasons that support the argument are around economic and policy, such as the unemployment rate, the unemployment welfare, capitalism and the economic depression. In another word, if the government are to carry out well policy, the shoplifting rate will decrease. Therefore, the government plays a very important role in decreasing the rate of shoplifting. On the other hand, most of the shoplifters committed shoplifting not because of poverty, there are several factors that makes people shoplift, such as Kleptomania, psychological factors, peer pressure, teens’ problem and drug users. All of the academic researches and government reports showed that most shoplifting cases are influenced by the shoplifter’s psychological factors more than poverty, such as the Steven Gerrard’s case, the reason for him committing shoplift was not due to poverty. This is why it may seem fair to say, shoplifting is not a crime born of poverty, it is a crime born of psychological factors and government policy. After all, the study of crime has been the core subject matter in criminology. There are no definite answers as to why people commit certain crimes neither has the causation been found for criminal activities. Different schools of criminology proves that there are no definite answers in the understanding of crime. References Appelbaum, A. and Klemmer, H. (2012) Shoplifting. Menninger Perspective, 5 (3), p.16-19. Bbc.co.uk (2012) BBC News Why do well-off people shoplift?. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16469928 [Accessed: 1 May 2012]. Bbc.co.uk (2010) BBC Mark Eastons UK: Is inequality iniquitous?. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/01/is_inequality_iniquitous.html [Accessed: 1 May 2012]. City-journal.org (2008) The New York Timess Welfare Myopia by Heather Mac Donald City Journal. [online] Available at: http://www.city-journal.org/2012/eon0416hm.html [Accessed: 1 May 2012]. Cox, D. et al. (1990) When Consumer Behavior Goes Bad: An Investigation of Adolescent Shoplifting.. Journal of Consumer Research, 17

Teaching Phonics in Elementary Schools

Teaching Phonics in Elementary Schools Phonics can be defined as an instruction in sound-letter relationship used in reading and writing (Strickland, 1998). In earlier times an alphabet spelling system dominated the teaching of reading, however, a phonetic method was introduced in which children were taught individual sound letter relation and how to blend to decipher words. Teachers were dissatisfied with the method at the time because much attention was placed on word analysis and little interest was given to comprehension. Children were expected to learn every word as a sight word, making progress slow and laborious. This approach was temporarily abandoned and the basal reading program was introduced. The basal reading programs held predominance over other methods and then teachers became discontented with them as the only form of reading instruction and again returned to phonics. Various changes methodology was initiated in an attempt to solve the reading problem in the elementary schools. The literature based approaches to reading instruction in which phonics is taught in conjunction with other word identification strategies was among the practical application. These newly approaches though widely varied in application teaching phonics continue to be heard today. The support of phonics is combined with demands for a greater emphasis on spelling and grammar. Phonics instruction reveals deep philosophical differences about teaching, learning and leads to power struggles over educational policy. Despite the potential for the phonics debate to polarize educational communities, most educators and parents try to avoid instructional pendulum swings that confuse than clarify issues. They choose to concentrate their efforts on providing effective literacy programs. Types of Phonics There are different types of phonics instruction approaches that vary according to the explicitness by which the phonic elements are taught and practiced in the reading of text, it is important to understand the five specific types of phonics instruction and what they entail. Systematic phonics approach is a sequential that set on phonics elements are taught along a dimension of explicitness depending on the type of phonics method employed (national reading panel2000). Analogy phonics is teaching students unfamiliar words by analogy and to know words (e.g., we distinguish that the rhyme segment of an unfamiliar word is identical to that of the a familiar word, and then blending the known rhyme with the new word onset, such as reading sick by recognizing that -ick is contained in the known word kick, or reading hump by analogy to mumps). Analytic phonics is using phonics to teaching students to analyze letter sound relations and learning words to avoid pronouncing sound in isolation. Embedded phonics is using phonics to teaching students phonics skills by embedding phonics instruction in text reading and a more implicit approach that relies to some extent on incidental learning. Phonics through spelling is when teaching students to segment words into phonemes and also to select letters for those phonemes. Synthetic phonics is teaching students explicitly to convert letters into sounds and then blend the sounds to form recognizable words. According to national institution of child and human development report the national reading panel (2000), that phonics instruction teaches student to use the relationship between letters and sounds to translate printed text into pronunciation of words. But it is surprising that many students and teachers do not understand the basic rules in learning or teaching phonics instruction in the content area. Students knowing the basic phonetic instruction rules will help them sound out words and memorize sight words. Phonics advocates focus their efforts on the primary grades and emphasize the importance of students being able to sound out (read) words based on the phonetic instruction (Reyhner, 2000). Inadequacy of Teaching Phonics The phonological instruction is a remarkably, powerful technique and away to teach every child to reading and spelling. The different strategies of phonics instruction a child must go through before they can acquire phonics lessons, from infancy to beginning of school and at each stage the kind of help the child needs from qualified teachers with the knowledge. There are many elementary teachers who have no idea of teaching phonics instruction to students. Primary teachers education students themselves frequently express concern over their lack of confidence in their phonics knowledge and their frustration having to teach and rely on abstract chapters in textbooks those are quite difficult to understand. Today the education programs are burdened with an overcrowded curriculum, in which phonics has successively reduced in lined with pedagogical trends based on literacy acquisition. Teachers complained that phonics instruction is a difficult subject because they are not receiving sufficient explicit and systematic knowledge especially in relation to phonological knowledge in helping the child to read. Jalongo (1998) has commented that is a virtual conspiracy afoot among educators to keep this superior knowledge to ourselves and deny children access to the keys to the kingdom of reading. Teachers are either too lazy to teach phonics or too obstinate to consider it. Teachers and their trainee teachers do not understand how to teach phonics instruction and they rely on computer exercise and games to supply the phonics activities. Buckland and Fraser (2008) has stated these teachers accepted literary knowledge but they did not have knowledge of building blocks language necessary for the big picture of effective literacy teaching. It is the professional responsibility of teachers to develop extensive knowledge of phonics instruction a repertoire of teaching strategies to adapt to the needs of individual children in order to ensure success. Using Phonics instruction to Improve Reading Many researchers and educators still wondering about the use of phonics instruction help student to improve their reading. According to research has shown that systematic phonics instruction significantly enhances students in kindergarten through to sixth grade and children having difficulty in learning how to read. Children that receive systematic beginning instruction were better able to read text and also the improvement in their ability to comprehend text (NICHD, 2000). Systematic synthetic phonics has a positive effective on student with poor reading abilities and low grade achievement with students in school. A child who has been introduced to systematic phonics instruction in elementary school at early levels is able to read properly. Teaching reading using phonics instruction helps kindergarten better understanding the use of alphabetic principles and better able to give students a faster start in learning to read than direct instruction; these children alphabetic knowledge and reading skills have improved. Teachers need to improve students skills in reading by teaching phonics instruction in a meaningful way with a text and emphasize the role of systematic synthetic phonics in the classroom. There are many students who are moving out of the education system that cannot read because they cannot distinguish between sounds of words while some were not exposed to a book or even phonics instruction. Educators need to be focused on a early interventi on literacy program and mandate a strong phonics instruction which emphasize on reading program across the curriculum that fulfil the reading difficulties in the classrooms. Findings cited in the National Reading Panel Report (NICHD, 2000) on the of systematic phonics instruction including the following: Systematic phonics instruction was shown to produce substantial improvement in reading and spelling in kindergarten through sixth grade, especially for younger children who risk of future reading failure and disable readers. The contribution of systematic phonics instruction to reading provide achievement was greater than that of programs that provided unsystematic phonics instruction and programs that included no phonics instruction. Positive results were greater with younger students (kindergarten students and first graders), indicating that beginning systematic phonics instruction early is helpful. Systematic phonics instruction produced gains when used in a variety of grouping patterns such as one-on-one tutoring, small groups, and whole-class instruction. Gains in reading were demonstrated by children from all socioeconomic levels. Systematic phonics instruction improved comprehension and showed an even greater impact on word recognition (pp.26). This finding encourages the government and educators should be using phonics instruction to improve the quality of their reading program in elementary schools. There are many students moving from grade to grade who cannot read and comprehend the text. The best support for children with significant literacy difficulties to enable them to catch up with their peers, and relationship between such targeted intervention programmes with phonics teaching. The teaching of early reading and phonics in primary schools and early years setting, will improve literacy in school today and including both the content area (Europe Intelligence Wire, 2005). Comprehension using Phonics According to NICHHD (2000), reading comprehension is the act of understanding and interpreting the information within a text. Children exposed to phonics at an early age and understanding methods of decoding words can begin to engage in regular reading by translating letters into sounds of oral language and then using their cognitive processes to facilitate listening comprehension to understand what they have read. Teachers can present relevant scaffolding to help student understand textual meaning, and acquire the cipher for mapping sound onto letter to develop their comprehension skill. The high quality phonics instruction should be taught as the primary approach to student in learning to decode (to read) and encode (to write/spell) that will help in analysis comprehension. Phonics instruction should be emphasized within a broad and rich language curriculum that develop students in the area of comprehension skills and expand childrens abilities of words. Teaching comprehension usin g phonics to elementary children should be multisensory in order to arouse their interest by motivating in an exciting way Gambrell, Marrow and Pressley (2007) explained that students often need concentrated instructional support in phonics approaches in order to learn important skills and strategies that they might have difficulty discovering and principles of comprehension skills. Comprehension is an important development of childrens reading skills in academic learning in all subjects areas and in lifelong journey. Learning comprehension using phonics is a dynamic aspect for readers in the understanding of a text that provides the context within which to comprehend individual words and sentences. In teaching comprehension passages, students need to understand basic phonetic instruction to read words and spell. Cain( 2003) stated that word reading is essential for reading comprehension but does not ensure good comprehension of written text if children do not understand basic phonetics. Children who develop age appropriate word reading lack teaching phonics instruction in the classroom; therefore their reading comprehension is poor. They also have poor listening comprehension, indicating that subtle word reading difficulties can be the source of their reading comprehension problems. The theoretical approaches in the teaching phonics instruction has found to improve childrens success in learning to read and was extensively more effective than little or no phonics instruction in the elementary schools. Phonics instruction has positive effective on reading and comprehension skills on children in literacy and also in the traditional and contemporary methods are lacking, emphasis must be placed on the development of new methods that provide teachers with much needed guidance and explication in these years of reformulation in the classrooms (Wilson and Colmar, 2008). CONCLUSION Teaching students to read is a responsible of every teacher in education system. Teachers have to implement creative and effective instructional practices to in the curriculum. Teaching students to read is a responsibility of every teacher in the education system. Teachers have to implement creative and effective instructional practices in the curriculum. The education system needs to place more emphasis on phonics by using to help combat illiteracy in children. Children who were taught phonics at an early age

Causes of WW1 :: World War I History

Causes of WW1 I think that the First World War was the product of long-standing rivalries rather than a badly mismanaged Balkan Crisis because it was these rivalries that led to the Balkan Crisis. The Balkan Crisis may appear mismanaged because previous crises such as those in Morocco in 1905 and 1911 did not result in war. In the July Crisis Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) despite not having conclusive proof. Austria-Hungary asked for German support to "eliminate Serbia as a power factor in the Balkans". Germany agreed, offering her full support for Austria- Hungary to start a war with Serbia, and this became known as the "blank cheque". Austria-Hungary and Germany could not have failed to realise the possibility of Russian intervention and a European war, suggesting to me that war was their objective. Austria-Hungary issued an impossible ultimatum to Serbia, which was likely to provoke a war. Serbia was given only 48 hours to reply, so was forced to think quickly, or other countries would be mobilized and ready to attack. Serbia accepted all but one point of the ultimatum. Consequently war was announced. If given more time Serbia could have discussed the issue further in a conference. The British fo reign minister, Grey suggested a conference, but this was rejected by Germany and Austria-Hungary, suggesting that they had deliberate aims for war during the Balkan Crisis, rather than the Balkan Crisis being mismanaged. There was a long-standing rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Russia due to their interests in the Balkans. Russia saw her role as leading and supporting her fellow Slav peoples in the Balkans. This Pan-Slav concept provided an ideal excuse to interfere in the Balkans and to extend Russia's influence towards the Eastern Mediterranean. Ideally Russia wished to open the Dardenelles straits to its warships. Austria-Hungary was concerned that this Russian encouragement of nationalism may threaten her borders and inspire nationalism within her own empire. In turn, Germany recognised that as Austria's closest ally her fate was linked with that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary was anxious to prevent Russian encroachment in the Balkans. This aim would be best served by the elimination of Serbia, Russia's Balkan ally. In 1878, Russia was humiliated at the Congress of Berlin when her proposal for a Greater Bulgarian state was rejected and Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia to maint ain order amongst the nationalist revolts.

The Environment and Industry of the Artic Region :: Geography

The Environment and Industry of the Artic Region Introduction. The Artic is a region at the upper most tip of the Northern Hemisphere. The Artic includes the area around Greenland, USSR, Canada and Alaska. Much of the Artic circle is permanently frozen ice. The Artic is a pristine environment, clean and void of human interference. However as humans move into these areas and begin to extract what ever they can be balance can be tipped, resulting in pollution and destruction of the environment. Climate. The Artic winters much longer than the Summer. In the winter the sun never rises and in the summer it never sets. The average temperature for the Artic is zero degrees or less. Industry and the Artic. There was once a time when the land of the Artic Circle was considered useless and only hospitable to those native to it. However once vast quantities of oil and fish had been found there was a rush of interest in the land. Fishing in the Artic has occurred for thousands of years but in recent years man has been fishing the Artic; in greater numbers and taking more fish. Professional fishermen are taking all kinds of fish as well as whales and seals. In some areas fishermen have become so efficient at their job that quotas have needed to be put on to limit or stop the capture of certain animals. There are many mineral deposits within the Artic Circle. In Russia: nickel, iron ore, apatite, diamonds, gold, tin, coal, mica, and tungsten. In Sweden: iron ore. In Greenland: lead, zinc, molybdenum and cryolite. Spitsbergen: coal. Canada: uranium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, tungsten and iron ore. The digging out of minerals would inevitably disturb the natural habitat as well as the environment there would be a great cost to maintain the site. Industry that is designed to process various minerals have waste products that would be most unwelcome in the Artic. A good example of this is the pollution that has arisen as a result of the smelting of metals in the Artic. It is for this reason that there is very little industry in the Artic. However Russia, Canada, Greenland and Iceland have several small scale manufacturing plants. The largest industry in the Artic is oil. The rush began in 1968 when a large oil field was discovered, there was a great deal of protest but the development went ahead. Oil extracted from the felid makes its way to Port Valdez via a 1300 kilometre pipeline. Although steps were taken to limit the pipelines affect on the environment it still disrupts the migration of caribou.

Christof Koch and the Theory of Consciousness Essay -- Consciousness

Consciousness was first described and introduced by Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche (Crick & Koch, 2001). It has been described as a realm of the mind that controls human behaviour. However consciousness is not accessible to conscious introspection, self-examination or a source of knowledge. On the contrary, Christof Koch, a neuroscientist collaborator of Francis Crick, describes unconsciousness as any neuronal activity that does not give rise to conscious sensation, thought or memory (Crick & Koch, 2001). Though unconsciousness differs in many different ways to consciousness, it works in a waking state that deals with cause and effect and the logical spontaneous processes in order to process information. On the contrary unconscious mind is associated with involuntary activities that form connections with thoughts, ideas and reflections, which unconsciousness also has the capability for multi-tasking. Therefore, as Koch explains, unconscious puts humans is an â€Å"online† mode, allowing us to override our instinctual ‘offline’ programming. Scientists and philosophers have different understanding and explanations for consciousness, as it used to be observed from a philosophical point of view only. However, the advancement of technologies in understanding brain from a computational, bio-molecular and cognitive and behavioural approach, consciousness is being studied from a neuroscientific approach as well. Therefore neuroscientists have difficulties in verifying and understanding its existence, for example, Dennet believes consciousness is the evolved capacity for self-knowledge that gives us the subjective experience. Where as Francis Crick looks at from a completely neuroscientist view that one should look at Neural Correlates ... ...Natural Correates of Conscouness (Cambridge, Mass:MIT Press, 2000) NCC. Retrieved 29th of December 2011 Reagan, Leslie A., et al, ed (2007). Pavlov Children Medicine's moving pictures. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. p. 285. Retrieved 7th of December 2011 Scheff, Thomas Ph.D. 2009. Emotional/Relational World. Psychology Today. www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2nd of December 2011. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/lets-connect/200909/the- emotionalrelational-world Shear, J., Explaining Consciousness – The Hard Problem (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1997) (and Journal of consciousness studies 1995) Tsuchiya & Koch. (2009) Tsuchiya, Naotsugu. Koch, Christof. The relationship Between Consciousness and attention. Chapter 6. The Journal of The Neurology of Consciousness. www.klab.caltech.edu. Retrieved in the 2nd of December 2011.

Summary and Response Essay Essay

How often do we actually use cursive writing these days? And if we don’t write incursive, should we continue to teach our children how to? This is one of the biggest questions in our education system today. Many states are eliminating this practice, while others are trying to preserve this slowing fading art. Dr. Vi Supon, tells us is in the article, Cursive Writing: Are It’s Last Days approaching?, â€Å"Indicators are that technological advances and state mandated tests, in addition to other variables, are forcing cursive writing to become a casualty of the American educational landscape.† Some people believe that the historical aspect of cursive writing is one we need to preserve. Before typewriters and computers, everything had to be hand written. It wasn’t just a form of communication in the past; many saw it as an indicator to a person’s level of education. In the past penmanship was a separate grade on report cards and students had to spend 45 minutes everyday on handwriting. Today, students might get 10 – 15 minutes a few days a week for handwriting instruction, if any. (Carpenter, 2007). Teachers today are spending more time on keyboarding skills and are teaching it at a much younger age than before. Another concern that is addressed in this debate is students who have learning disabilities and students that use English as a second language. It is harder for these students to read and write, so teachers tend to have the students use print or block form. The block form helps to better enable translations, helps with comprehension and concept attainments. When they understand what they are reading, they are better able to communicate effectively. It also helps the students focus on their compositions and not worry about their handwriting, which leads to a more logical thought process and the mechanical components are more likely in place. The block form also makes reading and assessing students work easier for the teachers to grade. And with them spending less time on deciphering writing, they are able to spend less time on grading and more time teaching. Teachers today have more content to teach and need to concentrate on the requirements for the state  tests. After reading this article I asked myself the same questions I first asked you. Having school-age children myself, I realized how much school has changed since I myself was in school. I was always taught when composing a paper to first put all your thoughts on paper and then compose into a rough draft and then final draft. All of these were always suppose to be in cursive writing. After we had our written final and the teacher looked at it, we had to type out our papers, either on a typewriter or on the computer. I always struggled with this due to the fact that I have awful handwriting. But my kids don’t seem to have any issue because their writings are done on the computer the first time and they don’t have the anxiety of how their handwriting looks. Having recently returned to school myself, I have found that a lot of the teaching methods have changed. And even though it is an adjustment, it is more practical. Thinking back I realized how much extra work I did by writing and then rewriting, followed by typing. And if I wouldn’t have spent quite so much time on trying to get my paper to look nicer, maybe I would have gotten a better grade on the report for the mechanics of the paper. Without I doubt, this debate will likely continue for quite some time. The historical, practical and essential aspects still raise many questions in today’s society. With our youth becoming more technolically advanced, we will more than likely continue to see other changes to our education system. Unfortunately, there will be other casualties of our changing educational landscape. But only time will tell what the outcomes will be. References Carpenter, C. Cursive Writing: Are It’s Last Days Approaching? Supon, Vi Cursive Writing: Are It’s Last Days Approaching?

My Plays Last Scene Essay

Death is a key theme in a number of John Donne’s poems, including ‘Death Be Not Proud’ and ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’. I have decided to compare these two poems with Emily Dickenson’s ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’. From the two Donne poems he releases a mixture of feelings including terror and fear however Donne introduces quite a quantity of Christian images to present death. This could have a lot to do with the multiple times Donne came close to death himself and the pressure and constant fear of death whilst being a Catholic under Jacobean England. Donne’s father also known as John Donne died in 1576, leaving his wife, Elizabeth Heywood, the responsibility of raising his many children. A few months after the death of Donne’s father, his two sisters Mary and Katherine died in 1581. Donne’s uncle William Harrington was tortured on the rack, hanged until not quite dead, then was subjected to disembowelment, this is thought to have had a great effect on John Donne and resulting in him questioning his Catholic faith. Emily Dickinson There are many ways which Donne shows his fear of death, one of which is the way he personifies it making it seem like a feared image that is actually standing next to him. In ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ Donne refers to death as ‘gluttonous’ making us think that death is greedy for more victims and waiting for more people that ‘he’ can swallow up. Donne’s use of capitol letters whilst referring to death makes it seem more like a real person. Similarly, Emily Dickenson also personifies death in her poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’’ similarly to Donne by her use of capitol letters for ‘death’. Donne says ‘†¦will instantly unjoint’ making it sound like being ripped apart from earth and taken to another life against your own will. Antonio S. Oliver once said about Donne ‘’ Some poems depict death as insignificant while others present it as something he, and therefore humans, should fear’’. I agree with this quote because ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ greatly emphasises the fear that Donne quite obviously had towards death whilst writing this poem. This fear of death was probably generated by the Catholic climate in the late 16th Century and early 17th century. It was dangerous to be a Catholic in England at this time. You could not, if you remained faithful to your religion, hope to play any part in public life, and you were debarred from graduating university, something which Donne experienced firsthand. Donne was educated privately from the age of 11. After three years at Oxford he was admitted to Cambridge, where he studied for a further three years. He was unable to obtain a degree from either institution because of his Catholicism, since he could not take the Oath of Supremacy required of graduates. However, Donne uses euphemisms as a way of reassuring that death is not as fearful as he otherwise makes out. In ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ it says ‘’and I shall sleep a space’’, this sibilance and the euphemism of death simply being falling to sleep seems like a way of Donne trying to calm himself of his nerves that come with living in stress and constant fear of death being close every moment of his life. Antonio S. Oliver said about Donne ‘’His faith in theology calmed his fears and doubts.’’ I strongly agree with this statement as religion was a big part of Donne’s life at the time. In 1621 Donne was made Deacon of St Pauls, a leading and well paid position in the Church of England and one that he held until his death in 1631 which emphasises just how much of his life he devoted to his religion. Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’ is basically an ongoing metaphor. Dickinson get’s into ‘’the carriage’’ with death and is taken through a journey of her life. At the end of her first stanza Dickinson says ‘’and immortality’’ which shows us that similarly to Donne she is comforted by the idea of life after death and is curious about what happens behind the grave. Antonio S. Oliver said about Donne ‘’His poetry is highly paradoxical, a quality that only adds to its richness and attractiveness much to the delight of its readers.’’ A lot of Donne’s poems end in paradoxes which make the reader feel frightened and comforted at the same time as well as possibly a little unsure about the actual message of the poem. ‘Death Be Not Proud’ ends with a paradox which says,  Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die’’ This is a statement of clear religious beliefs. Donne is literally saying that death one day shall actually die. Donne is still personifying death by using capitol letters. The use of alliteration for ‘death’ and ‘die’ is quite a deafening and bold sound. From this paradox it is hard to understand whether Donne is underneath quite scared about coming close to death or whether he has overcome his previous fear and by saying that one day death will die is his way of bringing death down to size. ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ also ends with a paradox which says,  Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Impute me righteous, thus purg’d of evil, For thus I leave the world, the flesh, the devil.’’

Culture Analysis of Toyota Essay

ABSTRACT This case study analyses the corporate culture of Toyota by using two theories and then analyze the national cultures of Japan and USA by using two theories and its impact on the corporate culture of Toyota. The models of â€Å"Edgar Schein† and â€Å"Charles Handy† will be used to analyze the corporate culture of Toyota while the models of â€Å"Greet Hofstede† and â€Å"Fons Trompenaars† will be used to analyze the national cultures. Afterwards the case study will discuss the climate of Toyota and the impact of the same to its success. Also the case study will analyze the reasons as to why the Toyota Company had to face failures and whether the company culture had any impact in the same. It will also point out on how the culture of Toyota had become inflexible over a period where the company was facing rapid expansions in to other countries and how it had impacted the success of the company. Finally the author will provide with suggestions and advice as to how Toyota could do in the future on developing their corporate culture. Toyota was established as a commercial vehicle manufacturer in 1937 with a capital of  ¥ 12 million. By 1948 Toyota’s debt was 8 times than its capital value. In 1950s Toyota studies US plants, including Ford, and supermarkets during a 12 week study visit. They see little improvement since his previous trip but use supermarkets as a model for just-in-time production. Toyota entered the US in 1958 by launching its model the Toyopet. It established its first overseas production unit in Brazil in 1959 and entered the European market in 1963. Besides manufacturing, the company started a global network of design and R&D facilities covering the three major car markets of Japan, North America, and Europe. The company underwent rapidexpansion in the 1960s and exported fuel-efficient small cars to different countries across the world. By the early 1970s, Toyota‘s global vehicle production was behind that of only GM and Ford. The oil crisis in the late 1970s gave a major boost to Toyota, with many people shifting to smaller, fuel-efficient cars, where Toyota had a significant presence. In 1988, Toyota opened its first plant in North America in Georgetown, In 2000, Toyota‘s global production exceeded five million vehicles. By November 2003, Toyota‘s market capitalization touched US$ 110 billion. In 2006, Toyota became the third largest car and truck seller in the US, surpassing Chrysler Group LLC13 (Chrysler). In 2007, Toyota with sales of 2.6 million vehicles overthrew Ford from the second position in the US auto market. About two-third of Toyota‘s workforce was located outside Japan at that time. In July 2008, Toyota replaced GM15 as the largest automaker in the world. In the financial year 2008, Toyota emerged as the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. 2. National Culture & Toyota Culture 3.2. What is Culture â€Å"Culture is not something you can manipulate easily. Attempts to grab it and twist it into a new shape never work because you can’t grab it†- Prof.John P. Kotter â€Å"Culture† could be defined as â€Å"the sum total of the beliefs, values, rituals, rules & regulations, techniques, institutions, and artifacts that does characterize human populations†. Sociologists generally talk about the term socialization process, referring to the influence of parents, friends, education, and the interaction with other members of a particular society as the basis for one’s culture. These influences result in learned patterns of behavior common to members of a given society. 3.3. National Culture 3.4.1. National culture according to Fons Trompenaars model Fons Trompenaars teamed with Charles Hampden-Turner and developed a theory on culture. Universalism vs. Particularism – Universalism cultures are strictly rule-based behavioral cultures where particularistic cultures tend to focus more on the exceptional nature of present circumstances. Toyota had been a company who was working on relationship based culture where they have even treated the suppliers as of their own. They value these relationships and trusts that through such practices they will achieve success. Specific vs. diffuse – This the manner which the organization or the culture handles their communications (Low context vs. High context) it is obvious that the Japanese belongs to low context and it was the case in Toyota as well where they value long term relationships with employees and its suppliers. Individualism vs. Collectivism – Individualism is about the rights of the individual. It seeks to let each person grow or fail on their own, and sees group-focus as denuding the individual of their inalienable rights. Communitarianism is about the rights of the group or society. It seeks to put the family, group, company and country before the individual. It sees individualism as selfish and short-sighted. It is clearly proven that Japanese works as groups and all team members and senior managers altogether will decide together on many strategies. Inner-directed vs. Outer-directed (â€Å"Do we control our environment or work with it?†) – An inner-directed culture assumes that thinking is the most powerful tool and that considered ideas and intuitive approaches are the best way. An Outer-directed culture assumes that we live in the ‘real world’ and that is where we should look for our information and decisions. The Japanese culture had strong beliefs on thinking power. Even at Toyota they created their own environment through introducing TPS and Toyota way. 3.4.2. National culture according to Greet Hofstede’s model National cultures can be described according to the analysis of Geert Hofstede. It has five dimensions –†¢ Power Distance, †¢ Individualism, †¢ Masculinity, †¢ Uncertainty Avoidance, †¢ Long-Term Orientation. Japanese national culture had a huge influence in corporate culture of Toyota even though they had their operations stretched towards the other parts of the world. Power Distance – By means which you could understand â€Å"the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally†. As per the table given below, it shows that Japan has more power distance than of USA culture. It’s clear as where all the strategic decisions were taken through the head office of Japan through a hierarchical layer who had more authoritative power. Most of the decisions were dependent on fewer individuals. Individualism – Individualism is the one opposite of collectivism that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. â€Å"Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family.† In Toyota all employees were treated equally important, referred as knowledge workers and everybody was given the freedom to come up with ideas. As per the table given below USA can clearly been seen as individualistic culture where as Japan is more towards Collectivism culture. Masculinity – is the degree to which ‘masculine’ values like competitiveness and the acquisition of wealth are valued over ‘feminine’ values like relationship building and quality of life. According to the table, both Japan and USA are having high Masculinity characteristics but it’s much higher on Japanese cultures. In Toyota, they were obsessed to overtake their competitors and become as the largest automaker in 2008 simply to prove their power proving masculine approach towards their competitors. Uncertainty Avoidance – focuses on the level of society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. A High Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This creates a rule-oriented society that institutes laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty. Japanese try to avoid uncertainty by planning everything carefully. Japan is a culture that depends on rules, laws and regulations. Japan wants to reduce its risks to the lowest and proceed with changes step by step. The United States scores a 46 compared to the 92 of the Japanese culture. Uncertainty avoidance in the US is relatively low, which can clearly be viewed through the national cultures. In Toyota, you could see that they make all the related parties (Supplier, Designers, Engineers, Dealers and Partners) involved in the manufacturing process right from the designing stage to marketing the product so that they produce exactly what is needed with minimum risk. Long-Term Orientation – focuses on the degree the society does or does not embrace long-term devotion to traditional values. High Long-Term Orientation ranking implies that the country embraces to the values of long-term commitments and respect for tradition and where long-term rewards are expected as a result of today’s hard work. This is very evident as Toyota has spent much revenue and focus on R&D activities even at tougher times. Hofstede’s Dimension of Culture Scales When considering these factors, it is obvious that Toyota (which comprises with Japanese culture embedded to its organizational culture) will have a significant impact to its culture when working in USA as USA culture is much more different to than Japanese culture. 3.4. Culture of Toyota 3.5.3. Toyota’s culture according to Edgar Schein’s Theory Schein’s three levels of culture model were developed in the 1980s. Schein identifies three distinct levels in organizational cultures: 1. Artifacts and behaviors 2. Exposed values 3. Basic Assumptions Artifacts of Toyota – Artifacts are the visible elements in a culture. Artifacts can be easily recognized by people. Artifacts can be dress codes, furniture, art, work climate, stories, work processes, organizational structures etc..Toyota’s artifacts could be * Fuel efficient vehicle manufacturer * Concentrated highly on maintaining quality and minimizing waste. Basic Assumptions of Toyota – Basic Assumptions reflect the shared values which are within the specific culture. These values oftentimes will not be especially visible to the members of the culture or the external parties. Assumptions and espoused values are possibly not correlated, and the espoused values may not at all be rooted in the actual values of the culture. This may cause great problems, where the differences between espoused and actual values may create frustrations, lack of morale and inefficiency. Toyota, when they ventured in to U.S. is when conflict in culture start to appear. Japanese corporate culture often conflicts with American management styles is partially due to a basic underlying assumption of Japanese culture. * Japanese Corporate Decision-Making involves group where Americans make decisions as individuals. * Japanese management is much more focused on relationships with their employees than rules to ensure corporate goals are met. * Managers in Japan depend on the honor system to get work done, relying on their workers’ trust and good will * The traditional structures and the hierarchy maintained by Toyota * Functional managers acting as mentors to other staff to understand the values and the culture of the organization * Chief engineers played a vital role in the organization’ * All employees of all levels were treated as knowledge workers * Encouraged all employees to communicate in simple language and encouraged them to be a part of different clubs & groups to share ideas amongst them. * Personal relationships were valued on a higher level 3.5.4. Toyota’s culture according to Charles Handy Theory Charles Handy gave a classification to the organizations culture into range of four cultures. The four cultures he discusses are Power’, ‘Role’, ‘Task’ and ‘People’. Power Culture – Power is concentrated in a smaller group. Power radiates out from the centre, usually a key personality, to others in the organization who send information down to other departments, functions or units. After the Toyota Company had established after global expansion over different continents, the main decision making power was still with headquarters which reflects the control was centralized to Japan headquarters. Role Culture – This culture comprises with several functional units of the organization which have to implement the decisions. The strength of the culture lays in specialization within its theses functional units. Interaction takes place between the functional specialism by job descriptions, procedures, rules and systems. Toyota showed lot of signs of role culture. During the Manufacturing process, they got the Engineers, suppliers and all the other related parties involved from the designing part to the sale of vehicle. Also they treated all employees as equal and each employee were given the opportunity to give their suggestions or express their feelings. Also Toyota had separate divisions operating for separate functions such as Sales, Finance, Legal, Manufacturing and R&D. Task Culture – Such cultures are of organizations which are much involved in R&D activities. They will create temporary task teams to meet their future needs. Information and expertise are the skills that are of value here. In Toyota it was not much shown this type of culture but since Toyota were very aggressive in intensive R&D activities and they emphasized the fact that engineers to spend more time on core engineering and technical skill acquisition, it shows a little bit of task culture in existence in Toyota. 3. Corporate Climate 4.5. What is corporate climate? Climate is defined as the recurring patterns of behavior, attitudes and feelings that characterize life in the organization. Climate impacts employee attitudes and motivation which directly impact on business performances. 4.6. Was the climate correct in Toyota The corporate climate in Toyota was set right at the beginning and lost its way when the expansion process was taking place. As we all know, Toyota has been valued as an organization which been driven through its values, processors and philosophies. Their main focuses were initially on understanding the requirements of the users through intense R&D activities and fulfill the same while maintaining high level of quality. For such they had developed mechanisms such as TPS or Toyota way. The Toyota Way was invented, discovered, and developed over decades as talented Toyota managers and engineers, learned to cope with its (Toyota’s) problems of external adaptation and internal integration. Managers understand the challenges and context that led to active on-the-floor problem solving, not theoretical, top-down exercises. Communications were very strong amongst the functions units. With the rapid expansion and the globalized diversifications being carried out (more broadly in USA), Toyota turned in to an ambition driven company that ignored its traditions. The practice of conveying the Toyota way to an alien culture was an uphill task and a costly exercise. Also there were signs that the top level of the company had its own issues. 1995 when Okuda became the President, he made some dramatic changes to the long lived traditions of Toyota culture by cutting costs, increasing focus on product development and revamping of the product designs. Under his leadership, Toyota went on massive overseas expansion in a rapid phase but the cultural development and the processed values were not conveyed in the same phase. Once the expansions were set the focus/objective of the company became to be the largest car making company in the world beating GM. They were obsessed with this new vision. In parallel to this new vision somewhere in early 2000s, they launched the CCC21 cost cutting program. Due to such many of Japan employees were reduced from overseas plants and due to such the transferring of age old quality practices and corporate philosophy couldn’t be done to its subsidiaries. And finally due to new vision of being the largest car maker, more of production was focused than quality and Toyota looked for suppliers who could produce parts at a lower cost. Due to cultural change and knowledge gap between suppliers and Toyota, series of downfall in quality was observed later in Aug 2009. 4.7. Areas which went wrong with culture As per the case study it is evident that the two countries naturally have different cultures and they will impact the new venture which has cross cultural dynamics. In Toyota culture, they were very concerned on the values and the processor and the people involved. It’s much towards the Japanese cultural influence. But with the expansions, such practices were not effectively transferred to the employees of USA where they were part of a different culture. Even though they set up different division set up in different parts of USA all the main decisions were taken from the headquarters which was in Japan. The overseas divisions were not given much authority. Also another facture was that in Japanese culture they need lot of paperwork to take a decision where in USA culture they take quick decisions. Due to such several crucial decisions could not be taken on time leading to losses and at times up to legal penalties. And the Rigid structures and the Hierarchy were not helping the operations or were not letting the company grow towards the future. As the decision making was solely with the headquarters, it did not empower or give an opportunity to the managers in the USA offices as they were to follow set orders or tasks. 4. Suggestion for way forward 5.8. How could Toyota do better in the future When managing cross cultural issues, it is important that both parties spend a considerable amount of time on understanding each other’s cultures. It is very important that while the top level managers concentrate on the new diversification, the product lines and the bottom lines, they should strategize on how to manage the cultural issues as well. Toyota could have send the senior managers to USA prior to the expansions to really understand the culture of USA and same way they could have brought in the senior managers who were to be recruited from USA to Japan so they could have an deeper understanding of their corporate culture and the values. Same way they must be flexible on the structures and the Higher achy of the company by empowering the other unit heads to take decision and to be innovative from their end and back them on their decisions. Instead of adopting a culture where rewards are given on growth or production, it could be a combination of such and encouragement workers to perform better in order to collectively improve the company. More relationships could have been built with the suppliers and the dealers in order to maximize the production output and to develop the exact required features. The workforce in the USA plants to have a combination of Japanese and USA employees even at the senior levels. This way the touch of the original Toyota values and philosophies will not die fast and could be incarnated to the other employees as well. While trying to be the leader in automobile market, its not advisable to use only the cost leadership. It’s shown in the case study and in many other articles which done by industry experts that due to severe cost reduction practices, Toyota lost its core value which is Quality on its product. Hence it’s always good to have a mixture of strategies when conquering a market. Another aspect is Quick decision making. It is very important that when workings with a culture like USA who are keen on quick decision making, Japanese should react fact to situation otherwise will be at the risk of obtaining losses. R&D activities must be focused on the correct path as such practices will define the future of the company. If the R& D was done properly at Toyota they wouldn’t have acquired so many losses through recalls and poor product designs. And the sharing of information is a definite need when dealing with cross cultural matters. Since both cultural parties are new to each other such communications would bridge the gap. 5.9. Measures which they could take to effectively embed the proper culture to its employees As mentioned earlier, studying the involved cultures is an important process in any organization. For an example, the company which I work for (which is a leading Optical service provider in the country), they closely monitor the culture of the suburb or the region which they think of expanding before taking any key decisions. Same way, Japanese senior managers could have stayed in USA for long enough to get a grasp of their culture and understand their values and way of doing things. Understand the culture of the market which you are entering is a key strategy. Secondly they could have brought in the USA managers whom were to take up senior position in USA plants much prior to the installation of the factories as n induction programme or as an apprentice programme so that the Japanese managers could really transfer the cultural aspects and the values of Toyota which has been practiced for the past decades successfully. In my organization we do such practices as we recruit employees from the region where we are planning to expand to and place them at out head office so that they will be well trained and would really understand our values. Similarly, we send one of our senior staff or Managers to the newly opened branch once its stetted up to be there for a certain period so that he will be an mentor to the others and also he will bring in the details of the prevailing culture of the said region. Another thing Toyota must do is to empower the Managers from the said culture so that the decision making and other practices would be much more effective and related to the actual requirement. For this I could again take my company where all the branches are operated as separate profit centers and the Branch manager is empowered to take decision on behalf of the organization on many operational and at times on some strategic matters. Also for the employees of the two cultures to have much closer ties, Toyota could use the prevailing technologies such as social networking sites whereby they could get the employees of two cultures to meet up on a virtual world and get to know better and even to share ideas amongst them. This way the belongingness and the team work will develop amongst the employees. In our organization, we organize staff day outing, workshops, outward bound training programmes and other get-to-gather activities whereby they will get to know each other better and share their ideas amongst them. 5. Conclusion As most of the solutions are given in the previous paragraphs, the following points to be considered when managing cross cultural issues. When applied to cross cultural management of organizations different corporate cultures can be identified and proactive solutions must be developed to ensure compatibility between all parties and its cultures. And each culture must be valued as they are similarly valuable to both parties. When recruiting new employees it is very important to mentor them about the prevailing corporate culture and the values attached to these cultures. Train and socialize current employees to be more receivable for the coming alien cultures. Change and be flexible on organizational structure to give employees more control. Empower employees to make decision about their jobs. The long lived traditions and the best practices should not be neglected at any time and more importantly the culture plays a very vital role on the organizations success. 6. Reference http://geert-hofstede.com ICBT Study materials www.lindsay-shervin.co.ul www.changingminds.org www.businessmate.org