Disneyland and history of it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disneyland and history of it - Essay Example Ultimately, rather than merely being an entertaining environment for families to spend leisure time, Disneyland was intended to be something of a historical/cultural interpretation of America, the American dream, the American past, the American future, and the American president. Through such a delineation and discussion of these different time frames and interpretations, it was Walt Disney’s distinct hope that Disneyland could be representative and indicative of the way in which individuals understood the country in which they live or indeed the country in which they visited. As a function of understanding this particular dynamic, the following analysis will be concentric upon discussing the way in which Disneyland was representative of the United States, its experience, culture, and potential future, as well as discussing whether or not this representation was merely imaginatively fanciful or in fact was effective and ultimately represented a realistic/crude interpretation o f life. Moreover, a unique discussion of what defined American greatness, at least with respect to Walt Disney himself, will also be engaged. ... However, within this â€Å"Main Street USA†, Walt Disney represented a close-knit community that, although exhibiting a level of development and modernity that reflected the era in which it represented, nonetheless had a very small town feel and emphasize the importance of community interaction above many other aspects. Yet, rather than representing Disneyland as something that was entirely concentric upon an idealized nation of Midwestern life, Walt Disney also created another identification of the United States with respect to what was termed as â€Å"Adventureland†. This particular representation was unique in that it represented the global reach and power that the United States was able to impact upon the world. A psychological or sociological analysis of this particular representation might lend the reader to assume that an element of colonize Asian or empire building was contingent upon Walt Disney’s personal interpretation of what made the United States gr eat. In short, â€Å"Adventureland† represented a Caribbean or Asian complement of the United States; indicative of territories that the United States held overseas as a result of both the Spanish-American war and the second world war. Naturally, and identification of Hawaii and the global reach of the United States, as well as the interaction between different cultures that represented the United States, was also part and parcel of this particular representation. Interestingly, â€Å"Adventureland† is one of the only interpretations the United States the Walt Disney made which emphasized cultural diversity. Whereas Walt Disney was continually criticized for representing only a handful of African-American employees at Disneyland, first opened in the early 1950s, this representation of a

Evaluating the non-survival of best technologies in the long-term Essay Example for Free

Evaluating the non-survival of best technologies in the long-term Essay Abstract The essay under consideration analyzes the factual statement that best technologies do not survive in the long term. The statement has been considered under real life incidences, scenarios, and personal experiences, by virtue of which, several conclusions have been obtained and justified through relevant logic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Technology, for the purpose of this paper, has been restricted to the IT only; however, there are other implications and applications. There are several reasons for failure in long term survival of even the best technologies. Some of them are found to be of the highest probability of occurrence, others seem rather less risky.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, analyzing these is extremely important because technology research and development, and implementation require major cash outflows that need to be controlled and planned well in order to avoid struggle for survival. It is also worth mentioning that in majority of the circumstances, latest technologies are implemented without prior research of their impact. Avoidance to this can also make things much easier. Introduction As the facts state, and are known to all, that not more than 10% infact even lesser projects are successful across the IT industry due to several reasons [1]. Similarly, technologies that are really tremendous also do not survive in the long run. Technology may have several definitions, however, the easiest to comprehend definition is: Technology can be defined as the applied part of research and development. Elaborating on the above-mentioned definition, any organization may conduct RD activities but just the part of it that is applied is converted into technology [2]. Technology is generally associated to IT and pertinent topics only; however, technology applies to enhancements and advancements of any entity. Despite this, the scope of this paper restricts the view of technology to IT hardware and software, and pertinent entities/issues only. There are several issues and causes that pertain to the long term success of a technology. Relevance Study of this non-survival is not just important, but is critical to know and analyze. The prime reasons being that it is only its study and exploration that possibly may lead to non-repetition of such issues in the future [7]. However, the past shows history otherwise i.e. repetition of these issues has been witnessed in several failure cases. Also a point where this study gains extreme criticality is the fact that research and development costs and involves huge some of money that needs to be compensated (pay-back) once the technology is commercialized. If it, however, fails to deliver and sustain, survive in the long term, all efforts of RD simply go to waste [3]. Analysis of Issues For deeper analyses, it is most important to define the exact meaning of the topic. Survival in the long run implies that as a technology grows in its PLC (Product Life Cycle), it should have added customer base. When it is being said that best technologies do not survive in the long run, this statement implies that even the best of technologies are unable to sustain their competency in the long run, thus losing out the customer base. Or in other words, the possibility and cases that lead to a decline, referring to the query that why are technologies not able to survive for a longer term of life [16], [4]. Therefore, hypothetically, if the technology losses its clients due to some issues pertinent to the technology itself, the technology may be pronounced as a failure or non-survivor during the long term [17]. For further analyses of the issues that lead to the non-survival of some great technologies, the initial step should be their identification and then exploration. Following are the major issues pertinent to this: Extra-ordinary Expectations It can also be called as the inability of technologies to deliver what is actually expected from them. This can be a dual-sided problem. On one side, it is possible that during the phase of research and development, many technologies are elaborated and exposed to media and other stakeholders as the ultimate benchmarks beyond which no further development may take place. In such a scenario, technologies are bound to perform much below the ‘speculation-built’ expectation of the target audience. The other side is the fact that the technology may be elaborated upon parity to what it actually is, however, it may truly be below par. Thus gradually, those who adapted that technology, move towards a substitute or the previously run satisfying technology, as the case may be, in the long run; this is a trend that leads to the new technology not surviving in the long run [5]. Timing of Updates Updates are another wide issue why technologies may fail. Updates can be identified as patches or additional utilities that enhance the working of a technology. As the world is highly dynamic, technology keeps advancing, thus requiring timely updating of technology. In this regard, there are two prime concerns why a technology may fail [8]: Mistimed Updates The updates may not be timed as appropriately as required. For example, a software vendor may provide an anti-virus update of their software 6 months after that virus has started its destruction. Such updates are mistimed updates that do not satisfy the customers and may cause a technology failure. Irregular Updates A similar concept is of irregular updates. For example, a software vendor may actually provide updates with the first one in first month and then on randomly after any variable interval of time. This again is a hassle for the customer to actually update the technology as per a random walk. The issue might be as critical as it may not sound, and may actually cause the customers to walk away from such technologies causing them to fail. The implementation of a modern technology, which is definite to be costly, leads to the customer expectation of after sales services including regular updates and renewal versions are the primary expectation that a customer may hold. Failure to deliver these may cause the customers to shift to alternatives, causing a decline in the usability of technology. This decline denies the chances of survival in the long term. Costly Maintenance The technology may effectively be the best and most advance; however, its maintenance cost may be on the similar height due to lesser expertise in the advance technology, costly equipments, etc. The lesser expertise may increase the dependency on a single vendor, pushing him into premium charging from the customers, and as a result, customers might want to shift to an alternative or to the previously held technology, that again leads to survival issues for new technologies in the long run [11]. Compatibility Issues In the long run, organizations need to interact with their value/supply chain and thus requiring compatibility among the systems of the two organizations i.e. the technology each has implemented respectively. Failing to endure compatibility may lead to an eventual failure of the technology; primarily because organizations are most definite not to prefer technology that is incompatible with others, unless the organization stands tall in a commanding position in the value chain. Further Advancements in Technology Also referred to as Constructive-Destruction by some authors, technology may fail due to rapid development in the similar field enhancing the scope of accomplishments through enhancements, while these enhancements may fall beyond the scope of the previous technology, causing customers to shift to the latest technology for added services obtainable from the same. Thus, technological advancements may actually lead to the existing technologies not surviving for long. This can also be rephrased as the obsolesce factor [9]. Consider the example of type-writers; these were considered a tremendous technology of their time. However, the advent of computer (keyboard and printer) actually ruined the existing technology of type writers. Another example can be the shift from Infrared to Bluetooth technology in terms of wireless mediums. Alignment of Business Strategy Vs. IT Strategy At times a tremendous technology may just not survive due to absence of in-built/default best practices that may align the IT strategy to the business strategy. Generally, the best practices are indulged, particularly in case of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) tools, whereby organizations while implementing these technologies, tend to perform BPR (Business Process Re-engineering). This in-turn has an effect on the whole of the business strategy and of course; BPR at that stage assures the appropriate alignment of the two strategies. Failure to align suitably may not be depicted at once; however gradual illustration of the same would encourage firms to shift their IT solutions and vendors, causing the decline of users and thus, creating a survival struggle. Lack of Vendor Support The best of the best technologies may not survive for even a shorter spam of time if the vendor support is lacking or missing. Many individuals and corporate clients may, for instance, find Linux a better operating system than many others even including Windows. However, lack of support leads to the survival struggle. There are firms working on providing its support but the current market share of it vs. windows says the whole story [10]. Lack of Monitoring Control on the Implementation Due to lack of monitoring and controlling the implementation of a technology, things may seem alright as implemented for a short spam of time. However, in the long run, as soon as problems start to appear, the think-tanks may blame the actual technology. Again, the reduction in usage rate assures a decline and a struggle for survival in the long run. Lack of Creativity Innovation Technological development is no short term or ‘once-done’ sort of a task. For staying in business, a technology related firm must assure constant creativity and innovation in the technology launched in the first go. Creativity, innovation, and basically something new; if these factors missing from the approach, mission, and vision of a technology provider organization, in that case it is certain that the organization itself may not survive in the long run, let alone the technology it is developing. Life Expectancy Expected useful life of technologies has decline tremendously over the past decade. With new technology developed almost all the time anywhere in the world, the product life cycle has reduced x-axis value. In such a scenario, even the best of the best technologies struggle to survive in the long run. This primarily pertains to the competition that has developed so drastically that no technological advancement actually remains advancement over a period of time. In such a scenario, firms should come up with new research and development that could actually be deployed in technology useful for an organization in developing its competency [6]. Technology Migration Strategies A technology should be adaptive in nature, and should be able to comprehend migration strategies across different technologies. Migration here may also imply the development of compatibility with other technology. This becomes more crucial when technological platform has to be changed or back ups need to be regenerated. A weak technology in this regard is most definite to create a non-survival scenario among existing technologies [12]. Conclusion Understanding the root causes of failure is the first step towards its elimination [18], [19]. Technology is useless without application. It can be viewed from the above argument that technology that has the above-mentioned loopholes, may not survive in the long run. A simplest and most routine example that can be considered is the WINDOWS vs. DOS operating systems. Most of the above mentioned problems, if not all, were presence in the DOS systems and absent from the WINDOWS platform, and the stories of survival and accomplishments are known to all [13]. To conclude, it can actually not be said with extreme confidence that best technologies do not survive in the long-run at all. In the long-run, there are further advancements that lead to the non-survival of previous technologies [14]. However, there are some technologies that are still existent in the world from the past and are expected remain so. One of the prime examples of the same is a wheel. Wheel probably is man’s finest creation, and possibly the advent of technology in human age [15]. Despite of prospering a lot today, wheel exists in this world today even in its basic form, let alone the advance version. But yes, mostly technologies do not survive in the long run because they are substituted through their or a substitute advance versions [20]. References James A. O’Brien (1999) Management Information Systems: Managing Information technology in the Internetworked Enterprise, 4th Edition Adas, Michael (1989). Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-2303-1. Monsma, Stephen V., et al. (1986). Responsible Technology: A Christian Perspective. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0175-7. Noble, David F. (1984). Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-51262-6. Roussel, Philip A.; Kamal N. Saad, and Tamara J. Erickson (1991). Third Generation R D: Managing the Link to Corporate Strategy. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 0-87584-252-6. Davis, Aquilano Chase (2003) Fundamentals of Operations Management, 4th Edition Applegate, Austin McFarlan (2003) Corporate Information Strategy Management, 6th Edition R. Ray Gehani (2003) Management of Technology Operations Rory Burke (2000) Project Management: Planning Control Techniques, 3rd Edition Camp, J. (2000), Trust and Risk in Internet Commerce, MIT Press, Cambridge MA Goodhart, C and M Krueger (2001) The impact of technology on cash usage, London School of Economics Financial Markets Group Discussion paper no 374, April. NARA/Long-Term Usability of Optical Media [Internet]. Available from: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/electronic-records/electronic-storage-media/critiss.html [Accessed 9 April 2007] How Failure Breeds Success [Internet]. Available from: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_28/b3992001.htm [Accessed 9 April 2007] Technology and Educational Revolution: Ending the Cycle of Failure [Internet]. Available from: http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/V_Cycle_of_Failure.html [Accessed 9 April 2007] Technology Failure Analysis: Understanding Why A Diabetes Management Tool Developed for A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Didn’t Work in a Randomized Control Trial [Internet]. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1480274 [Accessed 9 April 2007] Failure Causes [Internet]. Available from: http://www.it-cortex.com/Stat_Failure_Cause.htm [Accessed 9 April 2007] Failure Analysis and Root Causes Determinations for the Legal Profession webinar March 27th [Internet]. Available from: http://www.storksmt.com/page.html?id=12753 [Accessed 9 April 2007] To Avoid Failure You Must First Understand Failure [Internet]. Available from: http://www.tfdg.com/index.cfm?page=45 [Accessed 9 April 2007] When Technology Fails: They Key to Dealing with Technology Failure is to Prepare for it [Internet]. Available from: http://globeandmail.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/rprinter/20020703/cpsa-techfail [Accessed 9 April 2007] The Daily (2004), Electronic Commerce and Technology, 16 April [Internet]. Available from: http://www.statcan.ca/daily [Accessed 9 April 2007]

Threats to Prosperity and Stability of Developed Countries

Threats to Prosperity and Stability of Developed Countries Adrian Ma Over the past few decades many developed countries have taken the wrong steps to maintain peace with foreign states and have substantially increased the size of their government. Consequently, it becomes detrimental to any countries’ prosperity and stability; economic freedom is proportionate to size of government and war always affects the civil and moral progression of a society. When a government ignores the notion that â€Å"the individual† is the basic unit of social analysis, then the citizens cannot live life to their fullest potential. The problem perpetuates as more and more youth are becoming liberal because they are also becoming more liberal than the previous generation. The ongoing growing concept of liberalism is determining a lot of age groups to openly seek out help from the government and this strips away the dignity of each individual entailing rights and responsibility. According to an article, the average annual income per household in 2007 was appro ximately 53,000 and in 2013 it dropped to 48,000(Economist’s). The percentage of extra income the average person makes also made a noticeable drop from 5 to 4 percent meaning that it would take 5 extra years for them to double their income. This is an indicator that societies’ focus has transitioned from setting goals and seeking out to excel in certain areas to getting paid to support their financial situations, simply because of the expectation that the government is going to solve their problems. Individuals are the root of any prospering and stable economy, not the government. One top of government programs killing individualism, they also destroy millions of jobs. If citizens are constantly required to pay more and more taxes every year for government programs, not only will their financial situations get worse but competition will drastically decline as well. At the time government wasn’t involved in healthcare, it was cheap because private sectors fought to keep their businesses alive by competing with others and that factored in by lowering prices. All of these amazing â€Å"benefits† that the government forces insurance companies to provide us must be paid for by somebody and it’s those of us who aren’t in any allocations, work for the government, or have lobbyists to get us exemptions. Let’s look at Obamacare; there are so many faults because it tries to make every person happy. It centralizes on ensuring that people are covered rather than addressing the cost of care in the first place. It doesn’t benefit th e youth because they tend to be healthier and they don’t need as much coverage as the older age groups. It also increases the cost of everyone’s insurances because insurance companies are required to cover sick individuals. Healthcare in 2002 for a family of 4 cost approximately 9,235 dollars per year and after the government got involved it rose to a staggering $20,728 in 2012 (Milliman Medical Index). Another problem with government expansion is that it causes inflation; the increased debt ceiling from overspending and the Federal Reserve is just a cataclysmic combination for stability. Here’s the dilemma, whenever the government needs money instead of issuing their own notes backed back their own credit they issue treasury bonds, then they sell these bonds to the Federal Reserve which buys them with money they created out of thin air. The money that the Federal Reserve creates later goes to the government meaning it has to pay interest on the money the Federal Reserve lends to the treasury. This means that there will never be enough money in circulation to pay off the debt. The liquidation of debt is what makes an economy prosper and stabilize. Looking back at how the depression ended, a number of people believed the gold standard was the gold standard but they were mistaken, the countries that were able to liquidate their debt first got out of it. After World War 2, the g overnment cut 60% of the budget, 30% on tax rates, and around 9 million military personnel came home causing all the bad debt to be liquidated, hence, ending the depression. The constant printing of money may have bailed out major corporations during the depression but the problem originated from a governments belief that they can run the economy. The price stability reduces and a side function of an unstable dollar is the large swing in consumer prices. Another issue that developed countries overlook is the importance of economic freedom, it is more than just the freedom to buy and sell products and services. It allows us to be free in our interactions with other people. It also empowers people to travel, to say what they want to say, and to do what they want to do. It is about being free to make our own choices. A lot of those things are positive indicators of a healthy country and for a government to interfere may form impairment. Based on facts, the more economic freedom country has indicates that everyone is better off. The economic freedom of North America Index indicate that states with more economic freedom have higher growth rates of the economy, 4.6% GDP in the 25 least free states and 5.5% in the 25 most free states; lower unemployment rates, 5.5% in the 25 least free labor markets and 4.9% in the most free labor markets; less debt per GDP than states that are less free, 16.2% in the 25 states with least tax freedom and 15 .7% in the 25 states with the most tax freedom (2000-2009, LearnLiberty). All of these things people associate with economy health are also associated with economic freedom, and the same phenomenon also occurs with the countries of the world. The most economically free countries have GDP’s per capita that are about 10 times the size of less economically free countries. Some of the counter arguments I’ve encountered is that the GDP per capita only measures average income but it is untrue. It’s possible to have a country with a small number of elite rich people and a large number of destitute people, and if people examine inequality measures what they should see is that the countries that are more economically free also have more equitable income distributions. Economic freedom is not only associated with higher income levels on average but it is also associated with more equitable income distribution. Skeptics have argued that economic freedom achieves economic i ncome because of exploitation, people and the environment. Based on the data, they are wrong. On average women in more economically free countries have more gender equality and child rates tend to be a lot lower. Some may say that child labor rates are lower in economically free countries because they are more prosperous and can import from but they are also mistaken. The same phenomenon occurs even amongst the poorest countries; the least free poor nations have 40% child labor rates and the freest poor nations have 37% child labor rates (2000-2009). The biggest threat to the prosperity and stability of any developed country is war and the longer it is the more it will cost. An administrator in the Bush Administration told American taxpayers in a hearing before the Iraq War that it would only cost 1.7 billion dollars. According to numerous sources, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will now cost taxpayers roughly 5 trillion dollars, and that isn’t even taking into account the long-term medical care and disability compensation for service members, veterans and families; military replenishment and social and economic costs; expensive repairs to a force depleted by just perpetual fighting. More problems arise with government healthcare because the government owes it to them for fighting their wars. In the United States alone, a quarter of a million troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) putting a bigger toll on the government healthcare system. Even the war on drugs also threatens the stability and prosperity of a country but that’s another issue. Governments should learn to take care of their own people before trying to solve other people’s problems. Our ability to cooperate, to help each other out develops when there is no conflict and when individuals have a smaller reliance on government. They recognize themselves in each other and are programmed for compassion. All of those things make them stronger, faster, and smarter. It relates to why communism doesn’t work as well as it should because human beings are biologically engineered to be competitive in nature and freedom drives then to work harder for success. If a government takes away our rewards and shares it with others then a specific majority will feel less rewarded, thus, competition and innovation is automatically promoted by limiting the government’s role in an economy. In a free economy, people will constantly find ways to create and offer better values to customers than their rival firms. Competitors that do well focus on reality, inventions, innovations, and methods opposed to rivals per se. Citizens are given more of an inclination to be independent, unconventional, and rebellious towards societies’ opinions and norms. It is no wonder why most of the greatest discoveries came from the countries that are the most free. Works Cited Dominguez, J. (1995). The Caribbean in a new international context: Are freedom and peace a  threat to its prosperity? New Dynamics in Trade and Political Economy. Miami: North-South Center, University of Miami, 1-23. Picciotto, R., Weaving, R. (Eds.). (2013).Security and development: investing in peace and   prosperity. Routledge. Meltzer, A. H. (2010).A History of the Federal Reserve, Volume 2. University of Chicago Press. Berger, A. N., Hannan, T. H. (1988).The price-concentration relationship in banking(No. 23). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US). Dincecco, M. (2009). Fiscal centralization, limited government, and public revenues in  Europe, 1650–1913.The Journal of Economic History,69(01), 48-103. Paul, R. (2008).The Revolution: A Manifesto. Hachette Digital, Inc.. Davies, Antony. Learn Liberty.Learn Liberty. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.  http://www.learnliberty.org/>.

LVMH strategic analysis :: essays research papers

Challenge statement: â€Å"Despite worldwide softness in the sale of luxury goods, LVMH has cemented its position as the world’s largest and most profitable player in the category. To stay there it must keep its customers loyal and its brand strong and find new markets worldwide† (Hazlett C. 2004). That is why in its mission they state to represent the most refined qualities of Western â€Å" art de vivre† all around the world. Their objective is to be the leader in the luxury market, continuing to transmit elegance and creativity. This poses some major challenges, the main one is to keep being the leader in the luxury market through a sustainable growth. The main problem to achieve it is the high dependency on three main countries, France, Japan and USA. This becomes a threat because if there is an economic downturn in one country it affects LVMH directly that is why. ANALYSIS Financial analysis. LVMH founds itself in a stable financial situation. Being positioned as the market leader they have better financial results than the rest of the competitors. Although the sales results for 2004 were under the industry’s average the overall performance over the last 5 years was 3% higher then the industry. It is important to note that the major owner of the company’s capital is present CEO Bernard Arnault with 47.52% of the control of the company with 64% of voting rights. This may have an Important impact in the overall performance and operating decision taken in the company. Marketing system After a 4 P analysis of the company one found that it found itself in a luxury market where product quality and constant innovation are key points for the success. That is why the production process and its design can take even months. Product line is extensive however it is only conformed of high priced products. Price in this case is a guarantee of the quality present in the product. Moreover, high pricing represent an element of differentiation that the customer appreciates. However this is not a setback, LVMH has managed to have world wide presence and success. To accomplish it its selective retailing division is of high importance. Nevertheless, promotion posses the major challenge since its through this that the image of the product its transmitted that is why the company poses a major part of its budget in this section. It is Important to note that the percentage allocated is higher than those of most competitors.

Rebuilding the Virginia Department of Transportation Essay -- Leadersh

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is among the largest of state agencies and holds a national reputation as a leader in road safety and innovation dating back to the early 1920's. VDOT also has a history of being judged as the most professional state agency that is - until the 1990's, when buyouts and politics shook the department's composition and threatened its public reputation. The agency lost thousands of veteran employees who would prove to be irreplaceable assets and they began to see a decline in revenues. With the inability to deliver the quality construction and maintenance program they were once known for, it was clear that new leadership and a complete restructuring was needed. In 2002, Phillip Shucet was appointed commissioner of VDOT, bringing his private-sector business experience along for the ride. His task proved to be a difficult one and he was faced with many challenges including: management and organizational behavior, general and specific environm ental factors, and motivational problems. ("Virginia Department of Transportation: Trying to Keep Virginia Moving.") Part 1 The primary problem of VDOT is that supervisors lack the ability to complete road projects on time. Overall, VDOT suffers from a deprivation of "foresight, command, control, coordination and organization (Oke, 2011)." The classical approach of administrative principles will provide a line of unrestricted communication between VDOT field workers and executive management. The administrative principles approach will also direct leaders to deploy their resources through command principle; by giving orders to people from one source (Oke, 2011). Thereby, centralizing similar activities and tasks under one supervisor; increasing synch... ...partment of Transportation: Trying to Keep Virginia Moving." 2011. Retrieved from http://dm.darden.virginia.edu/vdot/studentWeb/content/videoList.htm 6 Steps to Insanely Successful Business Goals for 2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/alanhall/2012/12/08/6-steps-to-insanely-successful-business-goals-for-2013/ http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=22466052&site=ehost-live&scope=site © 2013. State University. All Rights Reserved. Oke, R. (Ed.). (2011). Organizational behavior and management. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Custom Learning Solutions. Custom (abridged) text ISBN-13: 9780470942710 Sternberg, B., & Weitzel, S. R. (2001). Key Point Summary. Setting Your Development Goals: Start With Your Values, 29-30. Yemen. G and Clawson. J (2005), Virginia Department of Transportation: Trying To Keep Virginia Moving

Essay --

Schroeder 1 Hunter Schroeder Ms. Caturano Honors English 9 January 2013 Independent Reading: Connections Connection: Going to Extremes For Love The Hunger Games is set in world called Panem that was once America, before the Capitol was overcome in some unexplained, apocalyptic war. As punishment for that aggression, the remains were divided into 12 districts. Every year each district has to send one boy and one girl between 12 and 18 years old, chosen by lottery, to compete in a nationally televised event called â€Å"the Hunger Games.† The purpose of this is to create a mass killing spree with only one survivor. What really twists this storyline is when two tributes from the same district fall in love and fight to protect each other until they are the last ones left in the games. The two go to extreme measures to keep one another out of danger. â€Å"You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real," he whispers. "Real," I answer. "Because that's what you and I do, protect each other† (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games). Because the hunger games is such a gruesome event, the things Katniss and Peeta did for each other aren't typical things couples would give up for eachother. These two would share supplies and weapons along with going as far as killing off an attacking enemy. Seeing how far Katniss and Peeta were willing to go to be with each other gave me a better understanding of why Romeo and Juliet fought to never let anything get in between them. Even though Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet and the two families have an ancient rivalry they did not let that stand in the way of being with each other. â€Å"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, ... ...ena. â€Å"You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real.† (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games). Even though Katniss and Peeta are so young, they truly believe that they are in love. This changes my opinion of Romeo and Juliet and leads me to believe that they really could have been in love so young. Romeo and Juliet were a mere 13 and 14 when they claimed to fall madly in love and get married, but this was around the normal marrying age for that time period. â€Å"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun† (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet). In this time period, young people were very romantically mature and knew about love and did not just marry anyone because there was no such thing as divorce. This makes me think that Romeo and Juliet may have been in love and people were just very critical because the were of rival families.

Intro to Contemporary Society

To ask any person what family means in contemporary society is to take a glimpse into the multitude of terms describing family forms, that is; â€Å"household, couple family, nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, blended families and stepfamilies† (Germov & Poole, 2007). Therefore regardless of how a family is structured an integral component that each one of these families has is the role they play in the socialisation process.That is, every person’s life from the time they are born till the time they pass will be encompassed with acquiring what is their cultural â€Å"norms, values, beliefs, attitudes and language† (Gecas, 2001, p. 2855). In doing so the individuals self and personality will be formed and moulded. For the purpose of this essay I will concentrate on the significance of family in the socialisation process and three facets for which family is central, they are: behaviour, development and gender roles.Predominately, the three aspec ts will focus on the primary socialisation that focuses on the progression of one’s development. It will examine the nuclear family diversity within family socialisation and describe how different family types socialise. Finally it will briefly discuss the change in family roles within contemporary society. Socialisation is a continual process of cultural diffusion that recognises social identities, roles and personal behaviours that an individual will learn so to become a member of society (Scott, 2006).Every individual begins the process of socialisation within the early years of personhood within the context of their family. Our parents, siblings, grandparents and extended immediate family are our primary agents, who develop our knowledge and skills through a variety of actions (Scott, 2006). Therefore the family in the socialisation process is the most influential and essential for a child’s development. A newly born baby is not a very social being; it is the paren ts’ role to train the baby and to help make it properly social (Plummer, 2010).As parents respond to their baby’s physical needs, they are starting to implement what the baby should expect from their surroundings and the way they should communicate their needs. A child’s earliest interaction with society is through the relationships it develops with its family members. These relationships during a baby’s development play a key role in their future social adjustments (Strickland, 2001). In relation, families who provide dependable and responsive care, aid the child to develop personal evelopment that can be considered typical to what society views as normal. In doing so the child will be able to develop relationships with others that are beneficial and nourishing (Plummer, 2010). An example of children who do not receive this type of care would be to refer to the studies that have been complied regarding feral children. It has been suggested by Plummer (20 10) that children who have been â€Å"left to live in isolation and then discovered, later show that they simply cannot function as social beings† (p. 20).Similarly a family who during the child’s developmental years pass on what they think and understand to be principle behaviours, attitudes, skills and values can be suggested to be exercising the social learning theory researched by Jean Piaget (1896-1980). According to social learning theory, behaviours and attitudes develop in response to reinforcement and encouragement from those around us†¦ the identity people acquire is based more on the behaviours and attitudes of people around them than the interior landscape of the individual (Anderson & Taylor, 2006, p. 4). For example, household rules govern behaviour, generosity and caring are socially respected merits that are taught within the home and culture, and interpersonal behaviour function as models for interactions with outside people (Strickland, 2001). He nce, during the primary socialisation it is not only the matter to understand what are the patterns of behaviour, the rules or the norms, â€Å"it is a matter of learning to the extent to which they become part of the way people think† (Gecas, 2001, p. 2856).In addition, support and control from families are the most powerful models of influence in the socialisation process. Children who are continually supported by their family through the progression of significant life stages are found to present encouraging â€Å"cognitive development, moral behaviour, positive self esteem, academic achievement and social competence† (Rollins & Thomas, 1979, p. 41). Conversely, where there is a lack of family support children may display negative outcomes. Rollins and Thomas (1979) suggest â€Å"low self esteem, delinquency, deviance, drug use, and various other problem behaviours† (p. 2). Also, parental control is just as important as support in the socialisation process. J ust like support, the level of control families exercise forms of punishment, discipline, supervision, strictness and monitoring can lead to positive or negative developmental and behavioural outcomes for the child. A significant behaviour that is discovered in the family context is what it means to be a boy or girl. This process takes place when the families we exist in â€Å"condition our behaviours by treating boys and girls in accordance with social expectations† (Holmes, 200, p. 3). Children â€Å"quickly learn how men and women are expected to behave, even if those close to them do not always behave according to those expectations† (Holmes, 2007, p. 43). The socialisation experience of girls across cultures is geared towards motherhood and males will be workers (Hoffman, 1977). The main point here is these similarities across cultures and over time have led many to believe that gender roles â€Å"must be biologically based and unchangeable† (Hoffman, 1977, p. 644) to reflect the expectations of society.It tends to be the case in contemporary society that an array of different family types exist. No more are children being born into married mother and father couples, they are also being reared to unwed heterosexual couples, divorced couples, unattached heterosexual men and women, and to adults who have used IVF techniques, to which they may or may not be related too. This is only a selection of a small number of family types that now occupy society and as a result the way in which these families come to socialise will differ.To identify why these differences exist would be to observe not only the family type but factors that are confounded within the family type (Grusec & Hastings, 2007). In other words, according to Grusec and Hastings (2007) the functioning of an individual is influenced by the relationship within the family. Therefore, if there were an absence of the mother or father in the home, such as single-parent habitat, it w ould bestow a different family socialisation context.Also, children and parents who live in different family structures may have the right to use distinctive economic, community and social resources, and as a result this may offer greater experiences of cultural surroundings in a variety of ways. For example, parents with â€Å"low incomes and less access to resources show poorer socialisation practices and less authoritative parenting styles, compared to more financially well off parents† (Grusec & Hastings, 2007, p. 329).Children who live in homes that require constant residential moving, for example parents who are divorced will experience problems in adjusting compared to children whose families provide stable environments (Grusec & Hastings, 2007). Consequently, for the majority of human beings who will experience society through the observations of our initial family practices, we will all grow up thinking that ‘our’ family is normal. It is not until we beg in to realise that ‘our’ family is a part of the many varieties of family types mentioned above, that the diversity of family is introduced.Even until today the nuclear family continues to create a dominant principle in much of the Western world, and Rapoport and Rapoport (1982) have described family diversity by contributing to the idealised conception that the nuclear family is disappearing. As Poole (2005, as citied in Bittman & Pixley, 1997) has pointed out examining household types at one juncture obscures transitions such as children leaving home, thus creating single-person or couple households; having children; separating and divorcing; ageing and moving to live with married children or to supported accommodation; and then dying.Throughout this period, nuclear family households are created and broken up and then recreated – sometimes several times (p. 67). Factors that are also contributing to the demise of the nuclear family are â€Å"increased longevit y, declining fertility, rising divorce rates and increase in the proportion of people who will never marry† (Poole, 2005, p. 67-68). Hence, it is no longer infrequent or rare to come across children who will appear from an assorted mixture of parents and families. Likewise it is not uncommon in contemporary society that the role of the women has changed.It is no longer the actuality that women will spend much of their lives pregnant, nursing or caring for children. This change has resulted primarily from three converging factors, â€Å"smaller family size, longer life expectancy and higher employment rates for women throughout their life cycle† (Hoffman, 1977, p. 644). The socialisation process across cultures for girls is geared toward motherhood; therefore if motherhood is no longer the major role of women in society, then the socialisation process can be expected to change (Hoffman, 1977).However, in spite of all these changes the responsibility for women to have chi ldren is still her role. Furthermore the role of the female in the family has evolved with the contemporary woman who is choosing to have an increased control over their fertility and as result they are marrying later in life, having children later, and having fewer children. In addition, the increased acceptance and expectation in society that women work is also bearing waves on the reduction of babies being conceived, so too is the proportion of women pursuing higher education qualifications.Overall, whether or not the birth rate remains low is difficult to predict, but there is clearly an increase in the number of couples who expect to have only two children (Hoffman, 1977), so where does this leave the generation continuance in the socialisation process? In conclusion every human being when they enter the world of life will be thrust into the process of socialisation for which their families bear the greatest responsibility. They will become a distinct mark in the culture they p reside too and the self will evolve through the wondrous capabilities of learning, identifying, and developing who they are as an individual.There are many aspects for which the family is fundamental during the socialisation process and we can appreciate that in respect to the assortment of different family types there will be altered approaches to how families socialise, much diversity and ongoing change. As the individual evolves during the many stages of their life, they too will become the family member who takes the role in the socialisation process and it will now be their responsibility to ensure that the culture they belong to continues on. References Gecas, V. (2001).Socialisation: Encyclopedia of Sociology (Vol. 4, 2nd ed. , pp. 2855-2864). Retrieved from http://www. gale. cengage. com Germov, J. , & Poole, M. (2007). Public sociology: An introduction to Australian society. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Grusec, J. E. , & Hastings, P. D (2007). Handbook of socialisation : Theory and Research. New York, NY: Guilford Publications. Hoffman, L. W. (1977). Changes in family roles, socialisation, and sex differences. American Psychologist Journal, (August), 644-657. Holmes, M. (2007). What is gender?.London, England: Sage Publications. Plummer, K. (2010). Sociology: The basics. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Poole, M. (2005). Family: Changing families, changing times. NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Rapoport, R. , & Rapoport, R. N. (1982). Families in Britain. London: Routledge Rollins, B. C. , & Thomas, D. L. (1979). Parental support, power, and control techniques in the socialisation of children. New York, NY: Free Press Strickland, B. (2001). Socialisation: The Gale Encylopedia of Psychology (2nd ed, pp. 607-609). Retrieved from http:www. gale. cengage. com