A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Essay

A popular theme in literature concerns the concept of ‘growing up’, a painful process by which a character achieves maturity, self-knowledge and confidence. In the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, the character of Owen Meany achieves this painful process. Owen Meany is introduced in the novel as a remarkable individual and throughout it can be observed how the brilliant child evolves into the memorable individual that he turns into. In the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving, Owen Meany matures, gains self-knowledge and confidence to become the miracle that his character was. Owen Meany was obviously a brilliant child, but was still able to improve on his excellent character as he was growing. This can be seen through Owen’s maturity level. He was always remarkable advanced and mature for his age, but as he became older, he understood even more than before. His best friend was Johnny Wheelwright. In their friendship, Owen looked after Johnny. He gave him advice and even helped him out academically. When Johnny was bitter about his mother not revealing to him who his father was before she died, Owen came up with a mature response, â€Å"Of course, as Owen pointed out to me, I was only eleven when she died, and my mother was only thirty; she probably thought she had a lot of time left to tell me the story. She didn’t know she was going to die, as Owen Meany put it.† (Irving 10) In the face of irrationality, Owen found it easy to point out the logic. The easy way he comes up with intelligent responses to difficult questions are proof of this child’s brilliance. Later on his life, the reader sees that Owen has matured in regards to his perspective on Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. Kennedy had been somewhat of a hero in Owen’s mind and he had felt betrayed by him. He is able to later recover from this viewpoint and analyze the situation differently. She’s just like our whole country – not quite young anymore. But not old either; a little breathless, very beautiful, maybe a little stupid, maybe a lot more smarter than she seemed. And she was looking for something – I think she wanted to be good. Look at the men in her life – Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, maybe the Kennedys. Look at how good they seem! Look at how desirable she was! †¦ She was never quite happy †¦ She was just like our whole country †¦ Those famous powerful men – did they really love her? Did they take care of her? If she was ever with the Kennedys, they couldn’t have loved her – they were just using her †¦. People will do and say anything just to get the power; then they’ll use the power just to get a thrill †¦. The country is a sucker for powerful men who look good, we think they’re moralists and then they just use us. That’s what’s going to happen to you and me †¦ we’re going to be used.† (Irving 431) Owen Meany is very good at analysis, and he uses these talents to make conclusions on many things. It is an excellent example of his maturity. When Owen first discovered that JFK might be having an affair with Marilyn Monroe, he was shocked. Now, he is able to rationalize it and see JFK in a different light. He is able to come up with educated ideas concerning JFK and Marilyn Monroe. His metaphor of Marilyn Monroe and the United States is an excellent one. Both Marilyn Monroe and America have a great deal in common because of their mutual exploitation by the rich and powerful. Owen Meany learns a great deal about himself through the course of his life. He is convinced that there are reasons for all things. One of his strongest conviction stems from what his parents told him about him being born in the same way as Jesus. Due to this, Owen feels very convinced and assured of himself. He is a highly intelligent child: I know three things. I know that my voice doesn’t change, and I know when I’m going to die. I wish I knew why my voice never changes, I wish I knew how I was going to die; But God has allowed me to know more than most people know – so I’m not complaining. The third thing I know is that I am God’s instrument; I have faith that God will let me know what I’m supposed to do, and when I’m supposed to do it.† (Irving 366) Owen has complete faith that there are reasons for his being the way he is. This is an example of Owen’s self-knowledge. He knew these things with a complete certainty and accepted them. Few people will have blind faith in something. Owen had questions, but he still put his faith in God, bowing to his superiority. He knows who he is. He understands his purpose. He is told by many that he is crazy and insane for thinking that there is a plan for why he has the voice he has. He is also told that he should run far away from what he thinks his destiny is, but Owen is not most people. He knows what his destiny is and runs towards it. Owen’s self-awareness and knowledge is what allows him to feel that he is headed towards the right path. In the end, Owen was right. He is able to save the Vietnamese children, â€Å"It was not only because he spoke their language; it was his voice that compelled the children to listen to him – it was a voice like their voices. That was why they trusted him, why they listened. ‘DOONG SA,’ he said, and they stopped crying.† (Irving 612) In the end, Owen is to be admired for his self-knowledge. Johnny would now be wrong in thinking Owen to be strange for thinking that his odd voice had a purpose. It did have a purpose. Owen’s voice helped him save the Vietnamese children. Owen Meany has a great deal of confidence in himself. If he sets his mind to do something, he can do anything. Owen Meany desperately wanted to join the army and be able to fight so that he could fulfill his purpose that he discovered in his dream. â€Å"If there’s a war and I’m in the army, I want to be in the war †¦ I don’t want to spend the war at a desk. Look at it this way: we agree that Harry Hoyt is an idiot. Who’s going to keep the Harry Hoyts from getting their heads blown off?† (Irving 462) The way that Owen ended the statement, almost makes him sound cocky. In a way, he is, but another term to describe it would be that Owen is confident. He places total trust in God that what will happen will happen. He is confident that he is going to die, fulfill his purpose in life and be a hero. It is uncanny how unshakable Owen’s faith is. Most people are unable to practice what they preach, and Owen does what he thinks is right. He does live by his rules. It is unbelievable that he is willing to throw away his life because of his faith in God. He does not even have any proof of assurance that God does exist, but in his mind he does not need any. When Owen would be practicing his basketball shot with Johnny and it would get dark, he would ask Johnny if he could still see a statue of Mary Magdalene after it became completely dark. He would ask Johnny how he could be certain that she was still there, if he could not see her, â€Å"You absolutely know she isn’t there – even though you can’t see her?’ †¦ Well, now you know how I feel about God †¦ I can’t see Him – but I absolutely know he is there!† (Irving 451) Owen explains to Johnny that he just knows in his gut and instinctively that God exists. In the same way that people can understand and accept that other things exist without physical proof, Owen is convinced of the existence of God. His confidence is daunting. It is unusual for a person to be so rationally convinced about theology and at the same time be willing to go to extremes in the name of God. When he was getting closer to the day of his death, he had doubts, â€Å"I don’t know why he’s here – I just know he has to be here! But I don’t even ‘know’ that – not anymore. It doesn’t make sense! Where is Vietnam – in all of this? Where are those poor children? Was it all just a terrible dream? Am I simply crazy? Is tomorrow just another day?† (Irving 604) Owen is growing up. He is scared and confused. He doesn’t know why Johnny has to be there for his dream to come true. He doesn’t know if anything is going to happen. His doubts are the most important step to his growing up. In the end, he was right all along. The character, Owen Meany, was a miraculous one, due to his maturity, self-knowledge and confidence, in the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Owen was always mature for his age, but he was able to improve on it and make better judgements. He understood that although Kennedy was someone who had been a hero to him, that things are not always as you want them to be. He was able to open his mind to this, and eventually accept the possibility that Kennedy might have behaved inappropriately. Owen had an extreme amount of assurance in himself. He just knew some things and did not feel the need to question them too much. He knew that there was a reason for his voice and although, he wanted to know why, he did not feel daunted by this. He had faith in his ability to do things, even some that he did not manage to do, such as, going to war. Owen’s confidence is the last important point in his path to ‘growing up’. He had doubts and fear, but in the end his confidence in God and himself won out. Owen finally grew up, when he did what he was meant to do by God.

Law of Xenia

Law of Xenia Xenia, the Greek term for the Laws of Hospitality, The custom in classical Greece and other ancient cultures that, if a traveler comes to a strange town, he can ask for food, shelter, and gifts to help him on his journey. In Greek tradition, the host was considered responsible for his guest's comfort and safety, and a breach of those laws of hospitality was thought to anger Zeus, God of the gods.In the Odyssey there are a few instances in which the law of Xenia is broken, quite a few of those belong in book nine of the Odyssey, in which Odysseus and his men are lured into a Cyclops’ cave in which the owner, Polypheus, is angered and doesn’t care about the law of Xenia. One example in which Polyphemus breaks Xenia is, when he fails in offering Odysseus a drink or some food instead he rudely frightens them and ask them impolitely who they are and what they were doing in his cave.Polyphemus violates the law again when he eats some of Odysseus men, Xenia prohib its the host to make their guest unhappy, much less eat them. Although sometimes hosts disliked their guests and even disliked Xenia, they only followed it in fear of Zeus, Polyphemus son of Poseidon, believed that his father would protect him of Zeus and his wrath, so he broke the law once more by keeping Odysseus and his men inside his cave. He then even proclaimed that he wasn’t afraid of Zeus punishment for breaking Xenia relying on his father, Poseidon.When Odysseus asks for his gift for being the guest at the Cyclops’ house the Cyclops reacts in anger, a common rule of Xenia is to present their guest with a precious gift but in this case he laughs and eats a few more men. At last, Odysseus manages to escape captivity by stabbing the large eye of Polyphemus. The Cyclops infuriated brings a curse upon him; for Odysseus to never reach his land, for the last time violating Xenia by casting a spell on his guests.

Buddhism and Confucianism

Buddhism and Confucianism share many similarities, such as their influence on Chinese society and also teaching their people to be virtuous. They do though, differ in their beliefs and on a fundamental point; Buddhism is spiritual, while Confucianism is entirely secular. Buddhism and Confucianism are parallel in several ways. First, as mentioned before, they both influenced Chinese society in a way. Buddhism influenced China by the improvements of landscape painting. Their belief teaches compassion, karma, reincarnation, meditation, enlightenment, and respect of Heaven and Earth. The influence of Buddhism grew o such an extent that vast amounts of finical and human resources were expended on the creation and establishment of impressive works of art and elaborate temples. This growing interest in Buddhism helped to inspire new ways of depicting deities, new types of architectural spaces in which to worship them, and new ritual motions and actions. Confucians influences the basis of society, family structure, and the government for thousands of years. Buddhism encourages a respect for life; in China it helped modify the cruel punishments call for under Legalism. Buddhism espoused respect for all forms of life. Buddhism encouraged the people to be charitable and monasteries became the cultural centers of learning and scholarship. On the other hand, Confucianism had a great impact on the Chinese civilization. It greatly influenced their attitude toward life and it also set their patterns of living and standards of social value. Because of their influence on Chinese society, Buddhism and Confucianism also taught their followers good conduct. The Buddha taught that nirvana, or union with the universal spirit, can be reached through an understanding of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, not through reincarnations from one cast to another. Confucianism taught that social order, harmony, and good government should be based on strong family relationships. Education was also important both to the welfare of an individual and to society and the respect to parents and elders were important to a well-ordered society, too While they may be similar on several levels, Confucianism and Buddhism can certainly be worlds apart in some aspects. One of them, and most important of all the differences, is the distinction between the secular and the spiritual. Confucianism, for one, is very spiritual, as it believes in the afterlife, the spirit that unties everything (Brahman), as well as believing the reincarnation. Even though Buddhism somewhat believe in reincarnation, they desperately try to avoid it, as they want to achieve Nirvana, or union with the universal spirit, which offers release from human suffering. Buddhists focus on minimizing or eliminating suffering. They try to master and reduce the desires and attachments that cause suffering. They are also very big on the cultivation of compassion towards all beings that can suffer. Confucianism, on the other hand, is entirely secular. Its followers devote their time solely to the principal of reciprocity and also the three essential values: Xiao, Ren, and Li. It also focuses mainly on the cultivation of character and human-heartedness, along with fulfilling ones duties to family and country. And because of their differences between their †¦.. t leads to their difference in their belief system. Buddhism is a religion while Confucianism is more of a philosophy. Confucianism believes that you should be improved by education and development of your character, while Buddhism belief is that there will always be negativity in life, and that all life has a lot of suffering in it. Therefore, you cannot change that. This is why Buddhists think reincarnation is a bad thing Also, the Confucians believed you need to understand the relationship with family, and to follow the five goals of Confucianism. The Buddhists had a totally different idea for this though†¦ they believe that you just need to follow behavior in the ways of the eightfold path As you can see Confucianism and Buddhism are very different, but at the same time they are very similar. Each belief has its unique view on basic beliefs, overall goals, goals of the individual believer, view of life, rules of behavior, views of society and influence on China. Even though some of the views are negative, it is the only way the people of that belief know.

To what extent does the United Kingdom have a 2 party system Essay

To what extent does the United Kingdom have a 2 party system - Essay Example The description of British Government so far given has required frequent mention of political parties. The nearest approach to official recognition is in the rules for the formation of Committees of the House of Commons. Yet without them the whole nature of the Constitution would be changed and many of its conventions would become unworkable. The relations of Parliament to the Government on the one hand, and to the people on the other, are governed by the party system (Field, 1963). The essence of this system is that people who find themselves in agreement on major matters of policy should unite in organized bodies to secure the return to Parliament, and to other elected assemblies, of Members who will work for an agreed policy. Thus the party system plays a very important role in the political system of United Kingdom. A political party is more or well organized group of citizens who act together as a political unit. They share or profess to share the same opinions on public queuing and by exercising their voting power towards a common end, seek to obtain control of the Government. In a democratic form of government there might be several parties. And they work through their own ideologies. But in the case study of United Kingdom we find two major parties working and dominating the state politics. This influence or domination is called in terms of Political Science a "two party system". There may existence more parties known as minor parties who are always under the control of the major parties and this absolute domination paves the way of Dictatorship in the politics of UK. Although democracy prevails in UK but practice is not absolute because of "two party system" that is a time demand for amendment. And this is a severe fault of democracy, however this defect of democracy as well as British gov t. is aimed to evaluate in the thesis. 2. BI-PARTY SYSTEM BI-party system does not mean that a particular country has only two parties and there is no third party in it. It means there are only two major parties and the rest of the parties are less important. For example, there are more than two parties in England, viz.. Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Party, Fascist and Communist Party. But in politics, only two parties are important, i.e., the Conservative and the Labour Party. Sometimes the Conservative Party and at other times the Labour Party forms the Government. No seat has been obtained by the communist and the Fascist Party. In the House of Commons, the Liberal Party has only a few seats. Similarly in the U. S. A. though there are, many parties like the Communist Party, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, yet only Republican and Democratic Par-ties are important and they form the Government. The Communist Party has no importance in the politics, thus, there is a bi-party system in the Great Britain and the U.S.A. Where there is a multi-party system, there are more than two important parties in politics. This system prevails in France, West Germany, Italy and certain other countries of Europe. 3. POLITICAL PARTIES AND 2 PARTY SYSTEM IN UNITED KINGDOM (UK) The British parties have been inextricable entwined, cross-fertilizing each other with philosophy, policy, strategy and

Influence of (items choose from the requirement) on the culture of an Essay

Influence of (items choose from the requirement) on the culture of an organisation and the way in which employees are managed 2235 - Essay Example Moreover, organizations are nowadays more inclined towards horizontal structure such team as compared to the traditionally preferred vertical hierarchy (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009). Change trends and patterns have led to the increased emphasis on the effective management of people. With these changes and patterns at affect, academics and the practitioners have increased attention towards the developing systems for the effective management of working groups and teams (John, 2002). Importantly, as a consequence of the teams and working groups, organization also increases the chances of the conflicts that require negotiations for resolution (Maybey, Salaman, and Storey, 1999). All this is critical in maintaining a healthy organizational culture in an organization. With this backdrop of the human resource management and the organizational culture with role of teams and working groups as well as conflicts and negotiations in an organization, this report is aimed at developed review of these aspects on theoretical grounds and its organizational implications. In groups individual task is important but in team to achieve the goal of overall team is more important, which means everyone’s outcome is more important as compare to individual outcome (Kramar, Mcgrew, & Schuler. 1997). In group individual was accountable for his performance but in team, every team member will be held accountable for the performance. For the guidance of the team so that it works in a flow and with high productivity team leaders are being selected from the senior managers. A work group consists of two or three people who belong to same department but divided to achieve different task of that department (Newman, & Hodgetts, 1998). For example, one employee is assigned to conduct marketing research; another employee is assigned to do a marketing campaign of their product. Although it is a group work but in this an individual is responsible for his own act and every group member is

Human Resource Management in China. Performance Appraisal Dissertation

Human Resource Management in China. Performance Appraisal - Dissertation Example Edvinsson’s explication of intellectual capital in his book signifies the importance of human resource management to an elevated extent. Human resource is one of the most fundamental and important function for the development of an organization. The workforce of an enterprise plays the most crucial role for the firm to thrive in the market in a successful and appropriate manner. The goals and objectives of an organization are intrinsically dependent upon the efficiency of its employed individuals. This task comes under the shadow of the human resource management which is required to operate in the most appropriate manner for the corporation in any industry (Price, 2011). The most successful business corporations in the west tend to put immense attention upon the operating workforce to remain the best in business. The dependency of an organization in order to attain the aims is the most upon human resource management because the efficiency or deficiency of the employees directl y affects the finance of organization. Human resource management as being an essential and vital element of any business corporation fundamentally deals with the employment of individuals that is recruitment and selection of candidates to be added into the workforce in the most suitable manner (Sims, 2006). In addition to enlarging or replacing the work team, it also deals with the training and development of recruited employees by which the organizational development is directly associated. With all of the other responsibilities of human resource management, there is critically a significant task which human resource management is responsible for. This task is related to the performance of employed individuals in concordance with the aims, objectives and regulations of the organization. The reason for this task being critical for any organization and its human resource management is the fact that the performance of employees directly affects the performance of the organization in t he market (Price, 2011). Human resource management is one of the most authoritative departments in the organizational management because it deals with the hiring and firing of employees on the basis of their performance in the work force (Sims, 2006). The most visible and clear way to deal with a low performing employee is to fire that individual from the workforce and recruit the better individual in the team on the basis of his skills and capabilities. The performance of employee is directly associated to the revenue that is generated by any organization. If the human resource of a company works efficiently and appropriately then the revenues of certain company is necessarily going to be increased and vice versa. In industry from aviation to food industry, the human resource management plays a vital role regarding the graph of performance of the work force on individual as well as on the group level. The firing and hiring of employees is strictly dependent upon the performance of individuals which is assured by the human resource department to any firm (Price, 2011). Employees’ Performance and Corporations Corporations are formed with certain business objectives underlying every official activity of that corporation. The most important and certain objective which each business firm decides is the maximum generation of revenue and making the maximum profit out of its capital and resources. From production to service providence and from apparel to food chains, every business organizational dealings are fundamentally dependent upon these two objectives. In all of the resources of a company in any industry, the hum

Copyright Law Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Copyright Law Master - Essay Example In many cases, the competition for this standard will be fierce,(n6) because the winner likely will have intellectual property rights in the technology and hence reap a significant reward. Such incentives often are needed for the development of objectively good standards. Yet, as a consequence of granting intellectual property rights, a monopoly is created in a product that Internet users need. Once an Internet technology becomes a standard, how can the owner of the corresponding copyright be prevented from extracting monopoly rents and thereby negating the increase in consumer welfare that the standard created It is an understatement to say that the Internet has become an important communications and commercial network. The large number of Internet consumers grants each user the benefit of network effects -- the effects of a system whose value to a given user increases with the number of users of that system --- a significant externality that affects decisions by potential new participants. Network effects are particularly important with regard to the Internet, because the more users it has, the more valuable it is as an information resource, a communications tool, and a marketplace for goods and services. In fact, the network effect of the Internet would be destroyed were it not for the adoption of common standards to ensure compatible communication. For example, computers use the public domain protocol TCP/IP, which allows the network effect to prosper, because it allows everyone using the Internet to speak the same language. Without such compatibility, email messages would not be readable by, and web pages would not be accessible to, all users; such facile interchange is precisely the value of being on the network in the first place. Thus, the need for compatibility also drives the standardization of Internet protocols and tools, because the network effect requires users to be on the same network. Copyright in the Age of Internet Copyright is a relatively neglected area as far as economists are concerned and it occupies a backseat by comparison to the economic analysis of patents and R&D. This is surprising since it plays a major role in industries that are increasingly important in post-industrial economies, the cultural industries (publishing, sound recording, film, broadcasting) and computer software. It is a fruitful area for the application of law and economics, for modern theories of industrial organisation and for public choice theory. Copyright law provides the institutional framework for markets in the cultural sector of the economy. Each country has its own national copyright law; however, the necessity for that law to be effective with international trade of cultural products has led to harmonisation of copyright across countries. The author may license, assign or sell these fights outright or in part or transfer them to an agent. All such transactions are made through contracts. Only the author's moral right in the work may not be sold or transferred1. The right way to evaluate policy on copyright is to undertake empirical analysis of the economic effects of changes to the law and to see how markets respond to them. It does not seem that this approach has so far even been considered in European policy-making on copyright. Principal-Agent

International Marketing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Marketing - Term Paper Example This report provides a macro analysis of China, one of the fastest growing markets in the world and which provides a suitable platform for a business to invest. One of the many admirable factors about China is its political stability. This gives businesses the confidence of establishing and expanding their businesses as they are assured of enhanced security. China is a single party state which is governed and controlled by the Communist Party. The single party aspect reduces the chances of political wrangles and further reduces the chances of politicians interfering with the business operations (Hale and Long, 80). Though the tariffs in China are high, they have been drastically reducing over the past few years. However, the government still has a lot to do when dealing with e-commerce businesses. The legal framework adopted for e-commerce insufficiently addresses intellectual property, and consumer rights are yet to be satisfactorily addressed (Hartman and Brown, 2013). Even with the few challenges, the political environment in China provides a healthy platform for businesses to operate. The economic environment is the second most important factor (after political) in determining whether a business shall succeed in a country. China’s economic environment has continued to be favourable to businesses, especially with the increasing demand. Based on nominal GDP and the purchasing power parity, China is ranked second, with the first position being America (InvestinChina, 2014). It has constantly experienced an increase and growth in GDP by about 7 %, and it’s GDP, by 2013 stood at 9.82% (Shao and Gui, 2014). This depicts the promising market in China, and businesses that invest here have high chances of succeeding. In addition, the inflation in China is lower as compared to many other developed countries, having a 2.5% inflation rate (InvestinChina, 2014) and an unemployment rate of 4.1%. The growth in GDP is as depicted in the diagram

Enzymes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Enzymes - Essay Example Then we will utilize acquired information to examine a given experiment. type of organic molecule that contained gene makeup in biological existence (pg. 50, Barrick, Scientific American). DNA seemed to be an evolved trend later down the centuries. DNA now possesses all information concerning the constructs of the human body, including the structure of enzymes. Enzymes In comparison to DNA, RNA differs in nucleic acid component such as To understand the process of creating enzyme RNA proliferation, we have to explore how they are produced and pinpoint theirpurpose in modern cells. The process commences when RNA polymerase, an enzyme, attaches to DNA strands and copies portions of it. RNA polymerase unwinds and opens the double stranded DNA and reads the nucleotides and matched them up with composite nucleotides that fit. After transcription is done, the messenger RNA (mRNA) is released and capped on each side of the strand to prevent the enzymes outside the nucleus from disintegrating it. These mRNA are photocopies of the DNA. Now when the strand reaches outside, it is quickly read by ribosomes. Ribosomes are composed of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) that essentially deals with the synthesis of proteins. The ribosomes read the nucleotides assembled in sets of three called codons. Each codon sequence has a specific amino acid it pairs up with. Each amino acid is distributed tRNA or transfer RNA. After each codon is translated, the appropriated amino acid are assembled in the order of the codons on the mRNA and fused to together through the process of dehydration synthesis. Then that protein will leave the ribosome while the mRNA disintegrates for its extended exposure to the catalytic enzymes outside the nucleus. The components of the disintegrated mRNA are recycled. That protein can be an enzyme fit for meta bolic activity. For a catalytic activity, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme breaks them down into different molecules, the products. Almost all processes in the cell need enzymes in order to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are extremely selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell. Enzymes work by lowering the activation energy for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the

The Unresponsive Bystander Essay Example for Free

The Unresponsive Bystander Essay In the chapter â€Å"Where There’s Smoke,† Latane and Darley (1970) narrate the proceedings and outcomes of their experiment employing the use of smoke as treatment which serves to illustrate further the validity of the authors’ contention that the presence of other people actually deters an individual from reacting decisively to a potential emergency. Through the â€Å"smoke experiment, Latane and Darley were able to observe the individual behavior of the bystander in a simulated emergency environment and later prove their thesis that â€Å"the constraints on behavior in public combined with the processes of social influence would lessen the likelihood that members of three-person groups would act to cope with the emergency. †   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The â€Å"smoke† research is primarily a social science experiment where the presence of other people is considered the variable in determining what Latane and Darley coin as the â€Å"bystander intervention in emergencies.† Under the guise of conducting an interview on the problems of urban life, the target respondents—male Columbia University students residing on or near the campus— are invited to participate in the experiment through a telephone call without any other means of contact with the experimenters. They are subsequently assigned into three categories: the alone group or the control group, where the respondents are left by themselves in the experiment room; the two-passive confederates group or the first variable group, where the respondents are joined in by two other men pretending to be respondents to the experiment; and the three naà ¯ve bystanders group or the second variable group, where there were three respondents all at once in the same room. All categories of respondents were made to answer a questionnaire supposedly on the problems of urban life and while they were doing this, smoke was slowly piped in through a small vent in the wall of the room as a stimuli; the basic assumption being that the smoke would â€Å"create   an ambiguous but potentially dangerous situation† or, as the title suggests, lead the respondents in the room into thinking that something was burning. The smoke, generated by the reaction of titanium tetrachloride and water vapor, was allowed to filter in a few minutes after the respondent had started on the questionnaire and continued to pour into the room until the respondent decides to report it. After four minutes it would fill the room â€Å"enough to obscure vision, produce a mildly acrid odor, and interfere with breathing.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Results of the research, although expected, were interesting. As predicted, the respondents in the Alone category â€Å"behaved in a very reasonable manner† in which, after moments of indecision and hesitation he promptly investigated and reported the presence of smoke to â€Å"somebody in the hall who looked as if he belonged there.† On the other hand, majority of those left in the room with the two passive confederates, â€Å"coughed, rubbed their eyes, and opened the window† but failed to report the incident even if it had filled the room to an uncomfortable level. Those in the three naà ¯ve bystanders group performed similarly to the two passive confederates group despite the fact that there should have been thrice as many chance that the smoke would be promptly reported as in the Alone category. In the post-experiment interview conducted later, the experimenters found out that those who did not report the smoke uniformly â€Å"rejected the idea that it was fire† and instead created â€Å"an astonishing variety of alternative explanations† which disregarded the potentially dangerous nature of the source of smoke.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While the experiment proves their thesis, Latane and Darley warn the reader from jumping to conclusions or expecting similar results in predicting the individual behavior of human beings, or what they call bystanders, in times of emergencies when there are other people around but in distinctively different settings. They demonstrate, for instance, how the results of the smoke experiment may not be wholly applicable when fire breaks out in a theater or when any other emergency arises in a crowded place. They are quick, however, in pointing out that in a crowd of a thousand people, there would be a thousand chance that someone will react impulsively—or curiously—to the stimuli and report it promptly to the audience, creating a much bigger potential disaster such as a stampede.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The smoke experiment therefore affirms the applicability of the social impact theory by showing a possible explanation by which an individual, in the presence of other people, is more likely to restrain his or her reactions in the face of an emergency or a potential emergency. It enhances the theory further by showing how individuals tend to act in conformity with others, how individuals tend to act out what they believe is expected of them by others, and how society, in turn, is able to define the norms and rules by which human beings conduct their daily lives, their reactions, and their expectations of others.

Hr department at marks and spencer hq

Hr department at marks and spencer hq It has been a busy start for Tanith Dodge, who only took up her new position running the HR department at Marks and Spencer HQ a year ago. Thelast 12 months or so havewitnessed the announcement of 1,200 job losses, 27 store closures and a hefty slump in profits. But despite the recent turbulence, Dodge has lived up to her name, and been swift to deal with the issues affecting the organisation, quickly cementing herself into the M S family. But then, this is not surprising for a woman of Dodges pedigree. Her list of credentials includes a graduate traineeship at British Aerospace, an employee relations consultant at Prudential and a five year stint as HRD at WH Smith. And while HR is herbackground, it is in leadership development that Dodgeis carvinga name for herself. Indeed, her passion for transforming people in the organisation has been effectively channelled into her latest venture: Lead to Succeed which is being heralded as the companys flagship development programme and is considered to be a key component in its future people strategy. We are doing quite a bit of work on how senior leaders take reorgani sation through a period of change, and making understanding how to lead change and make change happen a part of their toolkit is absolutely key. Launched last year, the programme targets the development of the 300 most senior MS employees, and is designed to identify and train the next generation of leaders. â€Å"Lead to Succeed is designed around our business strategy going forwards; what we need to deliver over the next couple of years,† says Dodge. â€Å"We have taken a lot of the research that was done around the core attributes of leader head, hearts and guts and that underpins the programme. But then weve looked at what is it that MS really needs in terms of its leadership attributes going forwards, so our core values around trust, value service, quality and innovation.† Dodge has ensured that the programme is both robust and practical by looking at potential leaders as individuals rather than simply names on a list. This is then underpinned by coaching and business simulation which is designed around some of the challenges MS experiences as an organisation: â€Å"We ask things like: are you leveraging your own strengths as a leader, how do you then galvanise your team, how do you take the leadership and create that coalition across the organisation and as leaders how do you influence shareholder value? So it is very practical,† she adds. And for Dodge, a focus on practice rather than theory is particularly pertinent at the moment, mainly as many of the senior staff have never before experienced any kind of economic turbulence. â€Å"It is unprecedented,† she says. â€Å"The ways of doing things in the past are not necessarily the ways that will make you successful going forward. We are doing quite a bit of work on how senior leaders take reorganisation through a period of change, and making understanding how to lead change and make change happen a part of their toolkit is absolutely key.† Reflecting this, Marks Spencer devotes significant time and resources to developing its leaders and nurturing its talent. â€Å"Continuing to invest in your talent for now is absolutely key,† Dodge emphasises. â€Å"Organisations that stop that investment risk cutting the Achilles heel. You have to keep these people and do it in ways that arent ridiculously expensive.† To this end, Dodge has developed a thorough, robust succession process which has done away with annual reviews and instead focuses ongoing conversations which enables her and her team to look at individuals capabilities against specific indicators which demarcate them as ‘high potential. Continuing to invest in your talent for now is absolutely key. Organisations that stop that investment risk cutting the Achilles heel. â€Å"We do it at all levels from our senior people through to store managers, who have got the potential to develop into another role going forward. We also look at what roles are critical for us going forward and whether we have got enough pipeline of talent coming through for those critical jobs.† In addition, she runs the annual staff survey ‘Your Say which gives employees the opportunity to voice their views on a range of issues including training and development. Early reports suggest that the programme is a huge success, with the company witnessing significant change in the way that people behave as a result of the training, and the way that they challenge problems within the organisation. Dodge believes that the success of such schemes are very much dependent on those that facilitate them: not only does it show employees how their leaders behave but it sets a precedent so when they themselves reach the higher echelons of the organisation, they too can lead by example. â€Å"It is very much about you as an individual leader, your impact on your style with your team and then your impact on your style with your organisation, she concludes. So it builds on the whole ‘Your MSmessage yourself, your team, your organisation.† Today ethical leadership is more important than ever. The world is more transparent and connected than it has ever been. The actions and philosophies of organisations are scrutinised by the media and the general public as never before. This coincides with massively increased awareness and interest among people everywhere in corporate responsibility and the many related concepts, such as Fair Trade, sustainability, social and community responsibility (see the ethical leadership and ethical organisations page). The modern leader needs to understand and aspire to leading people and achieving greatness in all these areas. Here is (was..) an Excellent 30 minute BBC Radio 4 Discussion about Modern Leadership (first broadcast 2 Sept 2006, part of the Sound Advice series). Its mere existence is evidence of changed attitudes to leadership. Such a programme would not have warranted BBC airtime a generation ago due to lack of audience interest. Today there is huge awareness of, and interest in, more modern leadership methods. The radio discussion highlighted the need for effective modern leaders to have emotional strength and sensitivity, far beyond traditional ideas of more limited autocratic leadership styles. Im sorry (if still) this linked item is unavailable from the BBC website, especially if the recording is lost forever in the BBCs archives. If you know a suitably influential executive at the Beeb who can liberate it please contact me. Incidentally as a quick case-study, the BBC illustrates an important aspect of leadership, namely philosophy. Philosophy (you could call it fundamental purpose) is the foundation on which to build strategy, management, operational activities, and pretty well everything else that happens in an organization. Whatever the size of the organization, operational activities need to be reconcilable with a single congruent (fitting, harmonious) philosophy. Executives, managers, staff, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, etc., need solid philosophical principles (another term would be a frame of reference) on which to base their expectations, decisions and actions. In a vast complex organization like the BBC, leadership will be very challenging at the best of times due to reasons of size, diversity, political and public interest, etc. Having a conflicting philosophy dramatically increases these difficulties for everyone, not least the leader, because the frame of reference is confusing. For leadership to work well, people (employees and interested outsiders) must be able to connect their expectations, aims and activities to a basic purpose or philosophy of the organization. This foundational philosophy should provide vital reference points for employees decisions and actions an increasingly significant factor in modern empowered organizations. Seeing a clear philosophy and purpose is also essential for staff, customers and outsiders in assessing crucial organizational characteristics such as integrity, ethics, fairness, quality and performance. A clear philosophy is vital to the psychological contract whether stated or unstated (almost always unstated) on which people (employees, customers or observers) tend to judge their relationships and transactions. The BBC is an example (its not the only one) of an organization which has a confusing organizational philosophy. At times it is inherently conflicting. For example: Who are its owners? Who are its customers? What are its priorities and obligations? Are its commercial operations a means to an end, or an end in themselves? Is its main aim to provide commercial mainstream entertainment, or non-commercial education and information? Is it a public service, or is it a commercial provider? Will it one day be privatised in part or whole? If so will this threaten me or benefit me? As an employee am I sharing in something, or being exploited? As a customer (if the description is apt) am I also an owner? Or am I funding somebody elses gravy train? What are the organizations obligations to the state and to government? Given such uncertainties, not only is there a very unclear basic philosophy and purpose, but also, its very difficult to achieve consistency for leadership messages to staff and customers. Also, how can staff and customers align their efforts and expectations with such confusing aims and principles? The BBC is just an example. There are many organizations, large and small, with conflicting and confusing fundamental aims. The lesson is that philosophy or underpinning purpose is the foundation on which leadership (for strategy, management, motivation, everything) is built. If the foundation is not solid and viable, and is not totally congruent with what follows, then everything built onto it is prone to wobble, and at times can fall over completely. Get the philosophy right solid and in harmony with the activities and the foundation is strong. This of course gives rise to the question of what to do if you find yourself leading a team or organization which lacks clarity of fundamental philosophy and purpose, and here lies an inescapable difference between managing and leading: As a leader your responsibility extends beyond leading the people. True leadership also includes as far as your situation allows the responsibility to protect or refine fundamental purpose and philosophy. See also the notes and processes for incorporating fundamental philosophy within strategic business development and marketing. allegiance and leadership Different leaders have different ideas about leadership. For example, see below Jack Welchs perspective, which even though quite modern compared to many leaders, is nevertheless based on quite traditional leadership principles. First here is a deeper more philosophical view of effective modern leadership which addresses the foundations of effective leadership, rather than the styles and methods built on top, which are explained later. A British government initiative surfaced in March 2008, which suggested that young people should swear an oath of allegiance to Queen and Country, seemingly as a means of improving national loyalty, identity, and allegiance. While packaged as a suggestion to address disaffection among young people, the idea was essentially concerned with leadership or more precisely a failing leadership. The idea was rightly and unanimously dismissed by all sensible commentators as foolhardy nonsense, but it does provide a wonderful perspective by which to examine and illustrate the actual important principles of leadership: Always, when leaders say that the people are not following, its the leaders who are lost, not the people. Leaders get lost because of isolation, delusion, arrogance, plain stupidity, etc., but above all because they become obsessed with imposing their authority, instead of truly leading. Incidentally, leading is helping people achieve a shared vision, not telling people what to do. It is not possible for a leader to understand and lead people when the leaders head is high in the clouds or stuck firmly up his backside. That is to say loyalty to leadership relies on the leader having a connection with and understanding of peoples needs and wishes and possibilities. Solutions to leadership challenges do not lie in the leaders needs and wishes. Leadership solutions lie in the needs and wishes of the followers. The suggestion that loyalty and a following can be built by simply asking or forcing people to be loyal is not any basis for effective leadership. Prior to expecting anyone to follow, a leader first needs to demonstrate a vision and values worthy of a following. A given type of leadership inevitably attracts the same type of followers. Put another way, a leadership cannot behave in any way that it asks its people not to. In other words, for people to embrace and follow modern compassionate, honest, ethical, peaceful, and fair principles, they must see these qualities demonstrated by their leadership. People are a lot cleverer than most leaders think. People have a much keener sense of truth than most leaders think. People quickly lose faith in a leader who behaves as if points 10 and 11 do not exist. People generally have the answers which elude the leaders they just have better things to do than help the leader to lead like getting on with their own lives. A leadership which screws up in a big way should come clean and admit their errors. People will generally forgive mistakes but they do not tolerate being treated like idiots by leaders. And on the question of mistakes, a mistake is an opportunity to be better, and to show remorse and a lesson learned. This is how civilisation progresses. A leader should be brave enough to talk when lesser people want to fight. Anyone can resort to threats and aggression. Being aggressive is not leading. It might have been a couple of thousand years ago, but its not now. The nature of humankind and civilisation is to become more civilised. Leaders should enable not obstruct this process. traditional leadership tips jack welch style.. Jack Welch, respected business leader and writer is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership principles (notably these principles are expanded in his 2001 book Jack: Straight From The Gut): There is only one way the straight way. It sets the tone of the organisation. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer; transfer learning across your organisation. Get the right people in the right jobs it is more important than developing a strategy. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open. Business has to be fun celebrations energise and organisation. Never underestimate the other guy. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there. Know when to meddle and when to let go this is pure instinct. As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen by: knowing your objectives and having a plan how to achieve them building a team committed to achieving the objectives helping each team member to give their best efforts As a leader you must know yourself. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team around you. However always remember the philosophical platform this ethical platform is not a technique or a process its the foundation on which all the techniques and methodologies are based. Plan carefully, with your people where appropriate, how you will achieve your aims. You may have to redefine or develop your own new aims and priorities. Leadership can be daunting for many people simply because no-one else is issuing the aims leadership often means you have to create your own from a blank sheet of paper. Set and agree clear standards. Keep the right balance between doing yourself and managing others to do. Build teams. Ensure you look after people and that communications and relationships are good. Select good people and help them to develop. Develop people via training and experience, particularly by agreeing objectives and responsibilities that will interest and stretch them, and always support people while they strive to improve and take on extra tasks. Follow the rules about delegation closely this process is crucial. Ensure that your managers are applying the same principles. Good leadership principles must cascade down through the whole organisation. This means that if you are leading a large organisation you must check that the processes for managing, communicating and developing people are in place and working properly. Communication is critical. Listen, consult, involve, explain why as well as what needs to be done. Some leaders lead by example and are very hands on; others are more distanced and let their people do it. Whatever your example is paramount the way you work and conduct yourself will be the most you can possibly expect from your people. If you set low standards you are to blame for low standards in your people. Praise loudly, blame softly. (Catherine the Great). Follow this maxim. If you seek one singlemost important behaviour that will rapidly earn you respect and trust among your people, this is it: Always give your people the credit for your achievements and successes. Never take the credit yourself even if its all down to you, which would be unlikely anyway. You must however take the blame and accept responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your people make. Never never never publicly blame another person for a failing. Their failing is your responsibility true leadership offers is no hiding place for a true leader. Take time to listen to and really understand people. Walk the job. Ask and learn about what people do and think, and how they think improvements can be made. Accentuate the positive. Express things in terms of what should be done, not what should not be done. If you accentuate the negative, people are more likely to veer towards it. Like the mother who left her five-year-old for a minute unsupervised in the kitchen, saying as she left the room, dont you go putting those beans up your nose Have faith in people to do great things given space and air and time, everyone can achieve more than they hope for. Provide people with relevant interesting opportunities, with proper measures and rewards and they will more than repay your faith. Take difficult decisions bravely, and be truthful and sensitive when you implement them. Constantly seek to learn from the people around you they will teach you more about yourself than anything else. They will also tell you 90% of what you need to know to achieve your business goals. Embrace change, but not for changes sake. Begin to plan your own succession as soon as you take up your new post, and in this regard, ensure that the only promises you ever make are those that you can guarantee to deliver. Here are some processes and tips for training and developing leadership. leadership behaviours and development of leadership style and skills Leadership skills are based on leadership behaviour. Skills alone do not make leaders style and behaviour do. If you are interested in leadership training and development start with leadership behaviour. The growing awareness and demand for idealist principles in leadership are increasing the emphasis (in terms of leadership characteristics) on business ethics, corporate responsibility, emotional maturity, personal integrity, and what is popularly now known as the triple bottom line (abbreviated to TBL or 3BL, representing profit, people, planet). For many people (staff, customers, suppliers, investors, commentators, visionaries, etc) these are becoming the most significant areas of attitude/behaviour/appreciation required in modern business and organisational leaders. 3BL (triple bottom line profit, people, planet) also provides an excellent multi-dimensional framework for explaining, developing and assessing leadership potential and capability, and also links strongly with psychology aspects if for instance psychometrics (personality testing) features in leadership selection and development methods: each of us is more naturally inclined to one or the other (profit, people, planet) by virtue of our personality, which can be referenced to Jung, Myers Briggs, etc. Much debate persists as to the validity of triple bottom line accounting, since standards and measures are some way from being clearly defined and agreed, but this does not reduce the relevance of the concept, nor the growing public awareness of it, which effectively and continuously re-shapes markets and therefore corporate behaviour. Accordingly leaders need to understand and respond to such huge attitudinal trends, whether they can be reliably accounted for or not at the moment. Adaptability and vision as might be demonstrated via project development scenarios or tasks especially involving modern communications and knowledge technologies are also critical for certain leadership roles, and provide unlimited scope for leadership development processes, methods and activities. Cultural diversity is another topical and very relevant area requiring leadership involvement, if not mastery. Large organisations particularly must recognise that the market-place, in terms of staff, customers and suppliers, is truly global now, and leaders must be able to function and appreciate and adapt to all aspects of cultural diversification. A leaders who fails to relate culturally well and widely and openly inevitably condemns the entire organisation to adopt the same narrow focus and bias exhibited by the leader. Bear in mind that different leadership jobs (and chairman) require different types of leaders Churchill was fine for war but not good for peacetime re-building. Theres a big difference between short-term return on investment versus long-term change. Each warrants a different type of leadership style, and actually very few leaders are able to adapt from one to the other. (Again see the personality styles section: short-term results and profit require strong Jungian thinking orientation, or frontal left brain dominance; whereas long-term vision and change require intuition orientation, or frontal right brain dominance). If its not clear already, leadership is without doubt mostly about behaviour, especially towards others. People who strive for these things generally come to be regarded and respected as a leader by their people: Integrity the most important requirement; without it everything else is for nothing. Having an effective appreciation and approach towards corporate responsibility, (Triple Bottom Line, Fair Trade, etc), so that the need to make profit is balanced with wider social and environmental responsibilities. Being very grown-up never getting emotionally negative with people no shouting or ranting, even if you feel very upset or angry. Leading by example always be seen to be working harder and more determinedly than anyone else. Helping alongside your people when they need it. Fairness treating everyone equally and on merit. Being firm and clear in dealing with bad or unethical behaviour. Listening to and really understanding people, and show them that you understand (this doesnt mean you have to agree with everyone understanding is different to agreeing). Always taking the responsibility and blame for your peoples mistakes. Always giving your people the credit for your successes. Never self-promoting. Backing-up and supporting your people. Being decisive even if the decision is to delegate or do nothing if appropriate but be seen to be making fair and balanced decisions. Asking for peoples views, but remain neutral and objective. Being honest but sensitive in the way that you give bad news or criticism. Always doing what you say you will do keeping your promises. Working hard to become expert at what you do technically, and at understanding your peoples technical abilities and challenges. Encouraging your people to grow, to learn and to take on as much as they want to, at a pace they can handle. Always accentuating the positive (say do it like this, not dont do it like that). Smiling and encouraging others to be happy and enjoy themselves. Relaxing breaking down the barriers and the leadership awe and giving your people and yourself time to get to know and respect each other. Taking notes and keeping good records. Planning and prioritising. Managing your time well and helping others to do so too. Involving your people in your thinking and especially in managing change. Reading good books, and taking advice from good people, to help develop your own understanding of yourself, and particularly of other peoples weaknesses (some of the best books for leadership are not about business at all they are about people who triumph over adversity). Achieve the company tasks and objectives, while maintaining your integrity, the trust of your people, are a balancing the corporate aims with the needs of the world beyond. great leadership quotes and inspirational quotes Some of these quotes are available as free motivational posters. People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives. (Theodore Roosevelt) The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go. (Egyptian proverb) No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself. (William Penn) It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. (President Harry S Truman) I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow. (Woodrow Wilson) What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul. (The Holy Bible, Mark 8:36) A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline. (Harvey Mackay) Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. (John Steinbeck) I keep six honest serving-men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who. (Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902.) A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself. (Didacus Stella, circa AD60 and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of an English  £2 coin) Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. (Samuel Johnson 1709-84) The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your mistakes. (William Bolitho, from Twelve against the Gods) Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed . . . . . It matters not how strait the gait, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. (WE Henley, 1849-1903, from Invictus) Everybody can get angry thats easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way thats hard. (Aristotle) Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things. (Lauren Appley) Its not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. (Theodore Roosevelt.) Behind an able man there are always other able men. (Chinese Proverb.) I praise loudly. I blame softly. (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.) Experto Credite. (Trust one who has proved it. Virgil, 2,000 years ago.) more great leadership and inspirational quotes see also the free motivational posters for leadership quotes leadership development exercises and games The are various games and exercises on the f

Asperger’s Syndrome Essay examples -- Health, Diseases

Asperger’s syndrome is becoming more and more common as time goes by. Each year, more children are being diagnosed. This paper focuses on Asperger’s Syndrome and developing social skills in various social settings. By looking at the etiology, diagnostic procedures, how the condition effects development, daily challenges, current social/cultural views, and relevant social interventions, a better understanding on how to develop social skills for children with Asperger’s Syndrome can ensue. The world revolves around social situations. This is how people are hired for jobs, ask for things, make new friends, meet their future spouse, etc. At the moment, social skills training and social support is minimal compared to where it potentially could be (Rao, Beidel, & Murray, 2008). Teaching someone with Asperger’s Syndrome better social skills will allow social acceptance, the ability to use adaptive behavior in a certain setting, and allow for independence fr om others to help them into social situations (Banda, Hart, & Liu-Gitz, 2010). People with Asperger’s Syndrome are like everyone else. They just need help in gaining social skills to better off themselves in a world based on social interaction. Asperger’s syndrome diagnosis has been on the rise recently. This is due to a better understanding of the syndrome and how to effectively diagnose Asperger’s. Now, people who were considered â€Å"weird† or â€Å"interesting† in fact, have Asperger’s. Little research has been done on this syndrome which causes limited services and support (Stoddart, 2009). There are many theories on how Asperger’s is obtained. In Stoddart’s (2009) chapter, one belief is centered on genetics. Something triggers multiple genes to act together in a negative w... ...ldren with Asperger’s are brilliant human beings who deserve to interact with the normal of society. They deserve to have the same social jobs like a teacher, business man, or sales man. Their views should not be lessened but rather increased. Future studies should include bigger social situations and applied to more participants. Also, the idea of adults being taught social skills should be evaluated. There is a generation out there of adults who are undiagnosed but still need some sort of intervention. Studies already show that it is possible to teach a child to normally and socially interact. The possibilities are endless for a child with Asperger’s. Hopefully, in the near future, there will be more of an understanding of what is going on in the brain of a child with Asperger’s and new skills will arise that greatly improve their social life forever.

The Feminist Perspective of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Essay -- Buffy Va

The Feminist Perspective of Buffy the Vampire Slayer In her feminist critique of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Anne Millard Daughtey described Buffy as a show which "obviously promotes female strength and power" (159). Buffy herself is a "symbol of female empowerment" (149); as feminists we can all take comfort in the fact that Buffy "kicks butt and so can we all" (164). Sherryl Vint agrees that Buffy is a "positive role model for young women, one which feminism should celebrate" (para. 3). I find this understanding of Buffy, both the character and the series, to be very problematic, and with this paper I aim to undertake a revised feminist critique of the show, and expose the Buffyverse as the product of a very traditional patriarchal world view which pays lip service to a superficial feminist fashioning. This is not to deny Daughtey and Vint's reading of the Slayer completely; a defining feature of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the liminal position it occupies, at once advocating and refuting positivist feminist readings. However, it is my contention that women in the series are all portrayed in stereotypical ways which have been generated by patriarchy throughout the ages, and all of which serve to empty femininity, leaving the women as functional (fantasy) symbols only: the bluestocking (Willow, Jenny Calendar), the dumb but pretty cheerleader (Cordelia, and to a greater extent Harmony), the witch (Willow, Tara), the sexual hysteric (Dru), the madwoman (Glory). To return to Irigaray, in the Buffyverse there is "no such thing as woman", only artificial constructions of femininity, a theme neatly encapsulated in the character of Buffy's 'sister' Dawn. Dawn suddenly enters the show in season five in an initially bewildering ser... ...ague Summers. London: Arrow Books, 1971. Playden, Zoe Jane. "What you are, what's to come: Feminisms, Citizenship and the Divine". Reading the SIgler: An Unofficial Critical Companion to Buff and Angel. Ed. Roy Kaverney. London; New York: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2002. 120-147. Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: Early Modem and Twentieth Century Representations. London: Routledge, 1996. Vint, Sherryl. " "Killing us Softly': A Feminist Search for the 'Real'Buffy". Slayage 5. 9 Dec 2002. <http://www.slayage.tv/essays/slayage5/vint.html> Whedon, Joss. Interview with Tasha Robinson. The Onion AV Club 37.31. 13 Dec 2002. <http://www.theonionavclub.com> Winslade, J. Lawton. "Teen Witches, Wiccans, and "Wanna Blessed Be's": Pop Culture Magic in Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Slayage 1. 9 Dec. 2002 http://www.slayage.tv/ essays/slayage 1 /winslade.html

Essay --

In Philip Larkin’s poem â€Å"High Windows† the speaker displays mixed emotions towards the invention of modern birth control and its integration into society during the 60’s. Larkin composed poems during a period of political turmoil and instability and expresses a desire to escape the apparent chaos; he describes both the sexual and religious freedoms of the time. Nevertheless, â€Å"High Windows†, presents a small background of sexuality and culture that is about social change. Yet, during this time period using birth control was looked down upon by the previous conservative generations because the kids were rejecting the previous generations’ morals. In addition, opponents of the birth control pill were concerned that because many were using birth control, it would be used as an excuse to engage in premarital relationships. However, birth control â€Å"Pill† was an innovative invention that brought about a positive cultural change to soc iety because it allows couples to plan for wanted children, establish relationships, financial stability, and women to pursue professional lives with more freedom. In the time period that Larkin wrote â€Å"High Windows†, there were intense changes in matters referring to sex and birth control methods. Sexual practices that were previously considered inappropriate for discussion were openly discussed. New methods of contraception allowed men and women to be able to control their own reproduction. Larkin captures this sense of a new age of sexual freedom in his poem, â€Å"High Windows†. Larkin expresses the desire to escape a constantly changing world due to sexual freedom in order to achieve some type of fulfilling personal relationship. â€Å"Larkin was a life-long bachelor; he had several sexual relationships, but was n... ...Marks). Therefore, the key development of the pill is the freedom of choice one has. â€Å"It frees the woman from the burden of involuntary childbearing that has traditionally made her a poor risk to employers and assigned her a secondary role in society. Now, three out of five working women were married† (Marks). Nonetheless, birth control allows couples to plan for the conception of children and take charge of their life. Birth control has brought about a positive cultural change to society. Women were now able to consider having careers and attending college, rather than worrying about raising a family. The past decade has witnessed significant changes in the culture of society due to the introduction of the birth control movement. The â€Å"Sexual Revolution† of the United States is believed to be part of the aftermath of the widespread use of the birth control pill.

Tv Advertising and Consumer Buying Behavior

ABSTRACT Children are important in the family, they make a family complete and they influence a number of decisions made in the family. Children have occupied a big segment in the marketplace, there are more products produced and directed at them. The importance of children in purchase decision making has grown over the years. They not only make purchase decisions for personal consumption but they also influence family purchase decision-making (Kaur and Singh, 2006). However, nearly all studies are based in the western context, like US and Europe.There are few studies focused on the African context, especially in Nigeria. As a result of this, it is important to examine how they influence the decision to purchase products for family consumption. The typology of family communication patterns and social power theory will be used for this study. The study will employ qualitative research using questionnaire to elicit detailed explanation of children’s influence in family purchase decision. Children between the ages 8-13 years are the focus of this research.Key words: family decision-making, children’s role in family decision making, typology of family communication patterns, social power theory. 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Children are important in the family, they make a family complete and they influence a number of decisions made in the family. Today children are not only passive observers but they have taken a considerable place in the families and have a significant influence on parental buying decisions and they have occupied a big segment in the marketplace. Children are consumers in their own right; there are more products produced and directed at them.Because of a growing awareness of the role children play in family decision making on family purchases other than toys and cereals, as well as a realisation that the influence of children in family decision making appears to have grown significantly over the past two decades (Sellers, 1989 as cited by Eka sasi, 2005), increasing attention is being given to children and their role in family decision making (Foxman and Patriya, 1989). There is no doubt that children establish a significant marketing zone and today they have a more important place in the society than their parents ever had.They are not only consumers but have emotional involvement direct or indirect on parents buying decisions. This trend of increased influence appears to emanate from a number of factors, including the greater affluence enjoyed by many households, higher consumer socialisation of children, product type, and the increasing independence given to children due to dual income families and higher divorce rates. Several researchers have also demonstrated how children have been â€Å"socialised to act as consumers† (Kaur and Singh, 2006).Family (parents and siblings), peers, and media are main socialising agents for children wherein family type, parental style and patterns of communication play important roles. However, most of the studies are based on the western context and there are very few studies focusing on Africa, particularly Nigeria due to which this research will be undertaken. As a result of this, it is important to examine how children influence the decision to purchase products in the family in Nigeria. 1. 2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMFamily as a consuming and decision making unit is a central phenomenon in marketing and consumer behaviour. Earlier, research had only focused on the husband and wife’s role where children’s role was ignored (Commuri and Gentry, 2000 as cited by Kaur and Singh, 2006). The importance of children in purchase decision making has grown over the years. It is seen that children not only influence family purchase decision but they also insist their parents purchase the products they desire (Kaur and Singh, 2006). Children’s influence differs depending on the product category and decision-making stage.Age and gender of the chil dren also have a major impact on decision stage and the product category. The role that children play in family decision- making has directed the researchers to study the influence of children. Several researchers have also demonstrated how children have been â€Å"socialised to act as consumers† (Kaur and Singh, 2006). However, most of the studies are based on the western context and there are very few studies focusing on Africa, particularly Nigeria due to which this research will be undertaken.Since Nigerian society vastly differs from the west in terms of family composition, family type and structure, norms, values, and behaviour, it is important to understand children’s influence in the purchase decision making in families in the Nigerian context. The buying power of children in Nigeria will be different compared to the western countries, but still they play the key role in Nigerian families. Children influence family as well as individual purchase decisions. For this reason, detailed study will be done on children’s influence in family purchase decision in Nigeria. . 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. Does parent-child communication affect the way a child contributes in family decision making process? 2. What strategies do children use in influencing family product purchase? 3. At what decision making process stage do children have more influence in the family? 4. How do parents respond to children’s attempt to influence decisions on products for family consumption? 5. How frequently do children attempt to influence purchasing decisions on products for family consumption? 4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYThe primary objective of this study is to examine the roles performed by children in family purchase decisions with regard to children and family related products and to explore children’s influence in family decision making process in the Nigerian context. However, the specific objectives are: to understand the family communication stru cture and its influence on a child as a consumer; to examine the decision making process and the stage children have the most influence; and to examine parents’ perception of the role children play in family purchase decision-making. . 5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study will focus on children’s influence on decision making process in the family as it relates to the purchase of products to be used by the family, family communication structure and patterns and parents perception of children’s influence in family purchase decision making. 1. 6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Family is the basic unit where most individuals learn about product categories and how to consume it. So, understanding family buying behavior is very important.It used to be that husband and wife hold dominant influence in family decision-making process. However, now, their role is changing. Today, children’s role in family decision-making process is also significant. As children are an integral part of the marketplace, this study would help manufacturers of family products, marketers and advertisers to understand the place of a child in the family. Their influence relates to a wide variety of products needed by their family and not just to the items that directly relate to their need.This means that, to market successfully to the family, advertisers must understand children’s role in the decision making process in the family. The result of this research will aid advertisers to better position products to win the hearts of children who will eventually influence their parents buying decision. 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW This section is to review what past studies has found on the influence children have on purchase decision in the family. 2. 1 FAMILY DECISION MAKING The family is a major influence in the consumer behavior process.As the basic group, which an individual belongs, the family provides early childhood learning about products and product categories, provides th e opportunity for product exposure and repetition, and sets the consumption unit, the family members. As a major consumption unit the family is a prime target for most products and product categories (Schiffman & Kanuk, 1983). Loudon & Della (1993) as cited by Ekasasi (2005) define the family as a group of two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption and residing together as a household.A number of different types of family exist. The nuclear family consists of a husband, a wife, and their offspring. The extended family consists of the nuclear family plus other relatives, such as parents of the husband or wife. There is also the detached nuclear family structure which has characteristics as follows: free choice of mates, higher levels of divorce, increased residential mobility, entry of large numbers of women into the labour force, and lower responsibility of children to care for their parents in their old age (Mowen, 1995 in Ekasasi, 2005).During the course of everyd ay living, thousands of decisions are made by family members. The husband and wife are clearly the dominant influences in family decision-making. Most studies have focused on their role in decision-making and the dominance on their role in decision-making and the dominance of one or the other. The relative influence of the husband and the wife is likely to vary according to the type of product considered, the stage in decision making, the nature of purchase influence, and family characteristics (Assael 1992).In the process of family decision-making, there are three stages: initiation, make choice and final decision. Initiation is the process whereby a family member proposes a suggestion and ideas. Making choice is the second stage. Family members search and compare different alternatives. The final stage is the buying decision process. The child has been regarded as an initiator in family decision-making. When a particular product has been chosen as a candidate in the second stage, the product has greater chance to be sold. 2. 2 CHILDREN’S INFLUENCE IN FAMILY DECISION MAKINGFamily decision- making research was initially directed to spouses, however the role of children on decision making and negotiation strategies had become an important issue of study (Kaur and Singh, 2006). Children not only enjoy making regular consumption decisions with their parents but they also insist their parents to buy the products they desire. The family as a purchasing unit is a central phenomenon in consumer behavior. Researchers have studied how a family makes a purchase decision for many years but most of the ‘families’ studied only comprised the husband and wife (Davis, 1976 in Kaur and Singh, 2006).However, family decisions are influenced by every member of the family, which means how a family makes decisions will not be well examined unless every member’s influence is taken into account; children inclusive. Children’s influence in family purc hase decisions and the spending power of children have increased over the last 40 years (Shoham and Dalakas, 2005). After Berey and Polly (1968) as cited by Kaur & Singh (2006) detected child’s influence in family decision making, there was an increasing recognition of children’s important role with the increasing influence of children in family decision making.Usually, children influence parental purchases in the shopping environment, at home, in the car, at the movies, during television viewing, on vacation, at mealtime, even in church. The influence that children have on parental purchases is extensive and principally embraces the following areas (McNeal 1999): 1. Items for the children, including snacks, toys, consumer electronics, clothing, and hobbies equipment and supplies. 2. Items for the home, including furnishings, television sets, stereo systems, and foods and beverages for meals. 3.Non-household items for family members, including vacations, automobiles, c lothing, restaurant meals, and recreation. In addition to these three groups, there are others that are more difficult to classify. They include family gifts to the children’s grandparents and family donations to charities. Also, children often influence the parent’s choice of stores and shopping centers. According to Ramzy, T. Ogden, R. Ogden and Zakaria (2012) children’s purchasing power can be direct, money controlled by the child, or indirect, relating to parental purchases that the child initiates or influences.Children influence family buying decisions in four different ways. First, children influence their parents to buy products for their individual preferences. Second, older children have their own pocket money and buy the products directly. Third, children influence their parents’ choice for family products for shared consumption. Lastly, children influence their parents’ own preferences. Children exert a certain influence on the overall decision process (Wut and Chou 2009). Geuens, Mast and Pelsmacker (2002) discovered that children can have active or passive influence on purchase decision.Active influence means that the child wants to influence purchase decisions in a direct way by recommending, hinting and/or asking for things (McNeal, 1999). Passive dictation, on the other hand, means that parents are influenced by what they experience their children prefer or need (Wells, 1965). A mother experiencing that her toddler enjoys a specific meal will be more increased to buy or cook this particular food again (Mehrotra and Torges, 1977 as cited by Wut and Chou, 2009).Passive influence is mostly unconscious and as a consequence difficult to observe and measure. Various researchers have revealed that a number of factors play a substantial role on children’s influence on parents buying decisions across different product categories. Berey & Pollay (1968, as cited by Kaur & Singh 2006) studied mother-child dyads in purchase of break- fast cereals and found that in most of the products parents are intermediary purchasing agents for children.In such situations children’s influence on parent’s purchase decisions is governed by two factors as children’s assertiveness and parent’s child centeredness. The study showed that more assertive the child or more children cantered the mother is, more probable the mother will buy the child desired brands. The research also revealed that mother’s act as gatekeepers and bought products that weighed high in nutrition. In general children exert more influence on products for which they are primary consumers (Lee and Beauty 2002).In recent years, family structures have changed considerably. We have single parents, two parents with one source of income, dual income families and higher divorce rates. Geuens, Mast and Pelsmacker (2002) examined the impact of new family structures (single versus one parent, two versus one income, h igh versus low working hours, small versus large size) on children’s influence on family purchase decision-making. The increase of children’s influence on parents buying decisions in most of the developed countries can be attributed to various reasons.First; increase in number of working couple resulting in to cash rich and time poor society and hence increasing the influence of children on parents; second, the shift in the family setup from joint families to nuclear families, allowing the influence of children on parents buying decisions; third, lesser number of children per family, resulting in increase in the buying power of each; fourth, the repeated exposure to media resulting in socialization of children which in turn result in to children influence on parents buying decisions etc. Wimalasiry (2004).Williams and Burns (2000) explained that changing social trends such as working mothers, decreased and delayed childbearing, increased divorce rates, and rapid matura tion have given way to a formidable market force for children. They developed a scale based on social power theory to measure children’s direct influence attempts. The seven dimensions derived to represent direct influence attempt were ask nicely, bargain, show affection, just ask, beg and plead, show anger, and con. In this study, these dimensions will be utilized to measure the direct influence of children. . 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Two theories are proposed to guide this study. They are the typology of family communication patterns and social power theory. 2. 3. 1 TYPOLOGY OF FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS The typology of parent-child communication structures and patterns was developed by McLeod and Chaffee (1972) and this typology utilizes Newcomb's (1953) co-orientation model. Together, the two dimensions of family communication structure yielded a four-fold typology of family communication patterns: laissez-faire, protective, pluralistic, and consensual.McLeod and Chaffe e (1972) identified two dimensions of parent-child communications dimensions. These dimensions are the degree of social orientation and degree of concept orientation. Social Orientation: The communications in families with a high social orientation are designed to produce obedience from the child and foster family harmony. Concept Orientation: The communications in families with a high concept orientation are designed to encourage openness and foster an independent outlook. Laissez-faire families emphasize neither of the two dimensions and there is little communication between parents and children.Protective families emphasize the socio-orientation dimension, stressing obedience and social harmony, and are not concerned with conceptual matters. Conversely, Pluralistic families tend to stress the concept-orientation dimension, with an emphasis being placed on mutuality of respects and interest. Children are encouraged to explore new ideas and to express them openly without fear of re prisal. Finally, consensual families stress both the socio- and concept orientation dimensions, and children are encouraged to explore the world about them but to do so without disrupting the family's established internal social harmony.A parent with a high socio-orientation believes that children should respect him/her, should suppress opinions on areas not pertaining to them, that children should avoid disagreements with parents and be obedient (Moschis & Moore 1978). Parents with this type of communication orientation tend to control their child’s consumption-related learning (Moschis & Moore 1979). A high concept-orientation means that parents encourage children to evaluate different alternatives when making decisions. Children in this orientation are allowed to discuss disagreements with parents and to develop their own consumer skills.They are also asked by their parents about purchase decisions even if the product is not directly for the child. According to Moschis and Mitchell (1986), children from families with a high social orientation are less likely to be involved in family decisions and less likely to make consumption-related decisions for themselves. Conversely, children from families with a high concept orientation are likely to have higher product knowledge, better able to manage a family budget and have a higher regard for their parents’ opinions. 2. 3. 2 SOCIAL POWER THEORYSocial power theory examines power bases in social interactions. The concept of social power was initially introduced by Lewin (1951) and later developed theoretically by French and Raven (1959). Social power theory is an appropriate theoretical framework from which to study children’s direct influence attempts for several reasons. First, social power theory identifies the bases of power which are present in social interactions. These sources of power may include expertise, reward power, referent power, legitimate power, and coercion.These five bases ar e considered by French and Raven (1959) to be the most important resources utilized by a person, but not an all-inclusive list of potential resources. Further, social power theory suggests that a person will make an assessment of his or her resources and choose an influence attempt that is consistent with his or her sources of social power. In addition, the theory suggests that these power bases may be utilized in two ways: active (i. e. , direct) or passive (i. e. , indirect). When the utilization of power to influence is active, or the result of an intentional act, a direct influence attempt is exerted.In relation to influence and power evidence exists that children exert varying degrees of influence on the family decision-making process. This influence varies by product, decision stage, child, parental and family characteristics but are not properly researched. Social power theory is useful in explaining differences in children’s influence on purchases and distinguishes be tween influence derived from active and passive power, compatible with direct and indirect influence. Power bases pertinent to exercising influence include: expert (e. g. children possess detailed knowledge about toys, games etc. ; legitimate (e. g. children and products they consume including food, toys and clothing); referent (identifying with peers); reward (children exhibiting good behaviour) and coercive power (e. g. children threatening negative or bothersome behaviour, complaining or even pestering) (Flurry and Burns, 2005). Furthermore, social power theory further suggests the five power bases may be utilised in two ways: actively and passively. Power used to influence is an active and intentional action; passive, when the mere presence of power is influential.Both contribute to a person’s potential to direct a preferential outcome. 3. 0 METHODOLOGY This section comprises of the research design, population, sample size, sampling technique, research instrument to be em ployed, method of data collection and analysis to be employed. 3. 1 RESEARCH DESIGN This study will employ descriptive survey because the role children play in influencing family purchase decision will be described. It will also be a cross-sectional study as children’s influence will be examined from the children as well as the parents’ point of view.Since the research aims at understanding children’s influence in family purchase decision, the views of the children will be essential for this study and to get a balanced view, the views of the parents will also be important, especially mothers. This study will employ questionnaire and in-depth interview as methods of collecting primary data. 3. 2 POPULATION The study will be located in Ibadan metropolis in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. Ibadan is majorly populated by the Yoruba people, but its population has always been ethnically mixed and is becoming increasingly so.Ibadan houses one of Africa’s premier u niversities, the University of Ibadan, which lends its economy a significant intellectual, professional and artistic profile. There are 11 Local Governments in Ibadan metropolitan area consisting of 5 urban local governments in the city and 6 semi-urban local governments. This study will be limited to one urban and one semi-urban local government which are Ibadan North-West and Ido local government respectively. One government-owned secondary school; one private secondary school will be randomly selected from the list of Secondary Schools in the two local government areas for this study. . 3 SAMPLE SIZE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE A multi – stage sampling procedure will be used for this study. At first six schools will be randomly selected from a list of public and private secondary schools in Ibadan North West as well as in Ido Local Government Areas of Oyo State respectively. Then, the balloting system will be used to choose one school for the public secondary school and for the private secondary school in the two local government areas respectively. Going by the assumption that 25 pupils are meant to be in a class, a class of J. S. S 1, 2 and 3 students of a school will be the respondents for this study.This will be 75 respondents per school, making the number of respondents to be 150 altogether. The J. S. S 1, 2 and J. S. S 3 students will be used because they fall within the age range that this study would be focusing on, which is between the ages of 8 and 13 and also because they should be more matured than those in the primary school that also falls within this age range.. 3. 4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT Questionnaire and in-depth interview will be used for this study. The questionnaire will be in two sections; the first section will be addressed to the children while the second section will be filled by the parents, specifically mothers.This section is specifically to ask the mother to indicate demographic characteristics of the child; including his/her bir thday and sex of the child and to find out how they perceive the role their children play in family purchase decision. This information will be used to match the parent's responses to responses given by the child. The questionnaire will be given to respondents to take home to their parents. 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