Effects of Children Essay

Children have a big impact on a relationship and the communication between two parents. Adding children into any relationship takes change and communication on both ends. It can be harder depending on the different relationship situations. Children change not only your personal relationship but also the relationships you have with friends and family. I asked three different parents that I know the same three questions. The questions were: 1. What change was least expected after your baby was born? 2. How did communication with your partner and others change after having a baby? . How did having a child affect your marriage or relationship? Each of the answers I received was similar. All of the parents expressed that their lives and relationships changed a lot after having children. Their relationship with friends and with their partner became a challenge. Two out of the three said they expected the challenges while one said she didn’t expect so many issues to arise with her partner. A big issue that was mentioned by all three was the fact that the time between them and their partner was cut down drastically. That became a relationship breaker for one. She chose her daughters needs over the needs of her relationship. The communication patterns described by the parents did not follow the Guidelines for Effective Communication in Families. They differed because the communication and equity was not followed. One parent chose her time and energy needed to be focused on her child and put her relationship on hold. This in the end broke up her relationship. The other two followed the guidelines to an extent but not completely. Communication is tampered no matter what way you look at it. Men and woman look at parenthood different and that may be the main reason why children have such an effect on relationships. Communication is key in any relationship. There has to be a level of understanding and respect from both ends to balance any kind of friendship or intimate relationship. Children can change a lot of things in our lives. If two people are not on the same page in a relationship or about the choices that have to made with children it can ruin the relationship all together.

Case Study Darling Chocolate

22. 11. 12 Case Study Darling Chocolate (Group 7) 1. The population is very huge in St. Petersburg and therefore there is high sales potential. The population has experienced improvements in living conditions and material well-being; however the standard of living was not that high and incomes are still very low. The annual average growth of income was 23% and average annual inflation rate was only 12%. The average spending on food is about 56% of family budget. Only 2% of monthly expenditures for food are spent on chocolate and candy.Due to several reasons the attitude of Russian consumers is more or less negative towards imported (foreign) products. They perceive that domestic products are at least as good as foreign products. So, in general they prefer domestic products. Hence, it is not very easy to create brand awareness, because Russian consumers are very skeptical and don not trust advertising blindly. Chocolate is mass consumption product. Hence, all people are potential buye rs. Russian consumers were desiring and increasingly demanding more variety in all kinds.The market can be divided into two categories, box chocolates which are seen as more luxury products and are often used for gifts; and chocolate bars which are used for personal (more spontaneous) consumption. The market experiences seasonal ups and downs; for example Christmas and New Year Holiday season and Women’s Day are very important times for selling chocolate. The intensity of consumption is around 4 kilograms per person per year. Consumers can be divided into heavy, medium and light user. There are many companies, foreign and domestic, are competing on the market.Foreign companies had been very successful due to low prices and aggressive advertising, but in recent years most consumers prefer domestic brands. The top three Russian companies in this business are Krupskaya, Azart and Red October. One of the most important characteristics entering the market in St. Petersburg is the price because it for customers it is the main decision criteria for purchasing or not. The second one is the specific target group due to the fact that different groups prefer different tastes, ingredients and quality.Additionally, the competitors are very important to take into consideration. In order to achieve brand awareness and to get acceptance from the Russian customers as a foreign brand the advertising expenditures are very high. 2. It seems to be very difficult to succeed as a foreign company in the Russian market, because customers are quite price sensitive and focused on domestic brands. Therefore, we recommend entering the market with chocolate bars first in order to create higher brand awareness due to higher sales in volume.With those products the company has lower costs for production, experiences economies of scale and can offer lower selling prices. Additionally, the heavy users which spent the most amount of money on chocolate are targeted with this strategy. Besi des, customers rely on opinions of others word-of-mouth advertising could be a benefit. Finally, an aggressive and huge advertising campaign is useful. After having brand awareness, the introduction of higher priced (luxury) chocolate could be easier. However, a good quality is necessary. . The most appropriate customer is the Heavy User, because those people are buying chocolate continuously and spontaneously. More or less, the younger and mid-aged target group should be the aim, because older people rely on their experience and are very loyal to domestic products. Advertising depends on the available budget for this project. In general we would recommend a very aggressive advertising campaign using nearly every media that is available. One reason is that there is a high level of competition.Very important in this case is advertising on Metro-trains and busses as well as at Metro and bus stations. At those points a lot of people spent much time and recognize the ads repetitive. Mor eover, our aimed target group is usually using these opportunities of transport and people are often commuters. This kind of â€Å"travelling† enlarges repetition effects and reinforces brand awareness at no additional costs. Additionally, advertising on TV and Radio has to be done as well because those are very important media in Russia to reach the target and therefore to create brand awareness.However, TV is preferred over Radio (although it is more expensive) because you can sell your message easier by pictures. Adverts in newspapers are also important because 70% of households read a daily newspaper. It is also a good medium to offer coupons and give away. But in order to reach younger people and advertise colorful (brand awareness) magazine has to be used for advertising as well. 4. The most important thing could be to convince the people that a foreign company is able to fit the needs of the customers in Russia. Therefore, it is very important to sell products with hig h quality at an affordable price.In order to get a higher market in whole Russia the company has to spread to Moscow and other important cities. Additionally, the product portfolio has to be enlarged to reach more people. At first, the introduction of higher priced products (box chocolates) is necessary in St. Petersburg. Depending on the time this introduction could be most successful when there is Christmas Holiday or Mother’s Day when people are seeking for special gifts. Probably the company can think about a production plant in Russia, employing domestic people, lowering transportation costs etc. getting a more positive image.

Violent Crime against Women Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Violent Crime against Women - Research Paper Example To begin with physical violence, women have been constantly been assaulted in the society by either their closest friends or strangers. Very few cases are reported to the relevant authority for legal actions, while many go unreported. Although the vice is mostly carried out by men, women to have been on record by intentionally exerting force against fellow women without their consent. Women who have been assaulted end up feeling pain arising from the physical injury. Among the physical abuse and violent crime suffered by women are pushing, hitting, slapping, punching and pinching. Others include kicking, stabbing, cutting, shooting, strangling and in some instances killing. Women also suffer from sexual abuse, mostly in the hands of men as well as their fellow women. Sexual crimes occur when individual forces a woman to either engages in sexual activities or sexually related activities. Some of the sexual activities carried out on women and have been outlawed by the justice system in many countries include touching them in a sexual way without their consent, prolonged sexual contact against a woman even after being requested to stop as well as forcing them to take part in sexual acts which are not safe. The crime is sometimes carried out by spouses in marriage, dating partners as well as by lawful partners. Young girls of less than eighteen years have also been victims of sexual contacts. The crime is mostly carried out by step-fathers, elder brothers, teachers, coaches as well as people in authority.

US Automobile Industry Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

US Automobile Industry Analysis - Essay Example Of the over 60,000 employees, 56,447 work in production, for an total of about 114 billion hours every year. The employees working in the automobile industry in the US cost the industry a combined 5.1 billion US dollars. For the production workers there are high levels of unreleased employees’ wages which were almost 4.5 billion dollars at the time of the 2007 census. Despite the intense focus on production, the export market remained vibrant and was able to ship over 84 billion worth of automobiles and automobile parts, against capital expenditures of less than 2 billion US dollars. The US automobile industry is a big industry, engaging in vicious competition in the highly dynamic car market. For instance, the industry spent a staggering $9,961,000 in advertising for the year 2007. From another perspective, the industry contributed even more to government coffers, spending $111,334,000 in taxes and license fees. The study of the US automobile industry reveals some clear segme ntation according to size of the industries. The eight largest companies account for 91.3% of all shipments in an industry that has over 50 car-manufacturing companies. Of the top eight companies, the four biggest accounts for over half of the shipment revenue, scooping a significant 67.6%. The largest 20 companies take a 99.2% share of the export market, meaning that 12 companies following the top 8 companies account for just 7.9%. Thirty of the automobile manufacturers in the US account for just 0.6% of the shipments to overseas markets. Under the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, the 50 biggest car-manufacturers have an index of 1,448.8 (US Census Bureau, 1). The index is used to establish how a group of firms fare with regard to size for the industry. According to the index, a value of below 1,500, as given in our case, usually indicates lack of concentration, with significant amounts of competition within the corporations (Investopedia, 1). For the five-year period ranging from 2007 to 2002, the US car-market experienced considerable growth in revenues from shipments, with a small 3,386 million US dollars. over the same time period, the number of shipments per employee fell from 1,295,000 to 1,094,000 (US Census Bureau, 1). In addition, the annual average pay per employee fell from over 78 thousand USD to about 63 US dollars. From a geographical view of the US car market, it is apparent that most manufacturing interests are located on the eastern side of the US, off the noticeably off the coastal states. Also, the number of establishments per million residents remained constant at 0.6. With regard to states, Michigan is the source of most shipments out of the US, with a 25.17% contribution to the shipment incomes. Only Illinois comes close with a 10.14% value of the shipments, while the others account for the remaining 64.69%. Michigan also boasts of 22 establishments for automobile manufacturing. However, the leading state in this regard is California with 32 automobile manufacturing establishments. Noticeably, the industry has had considerable drops in the number of shipments, value of shipments, and annual payroll amounts. Shipments dropped by 7.6%, which closely matched the fall in establishments, which stood at 7.8% (US Census Bureau, 1). The drop in annual payroll was more steep at almost 20%. Company Analysis: Honda Motor Company Background to Honda Motor Company Honda Motor Company is a multinational car manufacturing company incorporated in

Global Economic Environment and Marketing Assignment

Global Economic Environment and Marketing - Assignment Example had made a net of over $50 million by the end of 1979 and it had become a household name in the United States as the provider of personal computers (Reuters 2014). Wozniak retired in 1985 and Jobs left later that year owing to power issues within the company management. Between Jobs departure and his return to Apple in 1997, Apple went through a rough patch with changes in leadership and loss of consumer confidence thereby reduced growth prospects. Jobs major idea was to rejuvenate Apple by developing more sophisticated and stylish products which were also user friendly (Gillam, 2012). He also opened up Apple stores as the biggest flagship project towards making global the company and its products. He also ensured that software production became a forefront product. His innovative ideas saw Apple become the second most valuable company by 2010 according to Gillam (2012). Today, the company’s main strategy is the improvement of the current products which is well seen in the current unveiling of iPhone 6. It is worth mentioning that the company also owns FileMaker Inc., Braeburn Capital, Hopstop.com Inc. and Locationary Inc. among many others as

Questions from international business competing in the global Assignment

Questions from international business competing in the global marketplace 8th edition by 'Hlll - Assignment Example Each country has a role to keep its network secure irrespective of the source of the suspicious cyber activities. China thus ought to protect its network from criminal activities of that manner. Cyberspace demands a lot of confidence in our current society. Hence, China should take action against such breach of security and confidentiality. All the investigation done pertaining to the case pointed China as the source and thus Google was left with no option but to stop the censorship. This should come as a warning for nations that do not protect the confidentiality of cyberspace. In my opinion, Google should have not censored China given its slogan against evil. This is because it would obviously be tough to rule where the government is deciding otherwise. Furthermore, there is no way conflict would be avoided where the interests are different as is the case with Google and Chinese government. However, looking at the positive side for Google, entering into self-censorship would benefi t the company because China is a potentially profitable market for Google. Hence, the best thing for Google is to allow the government to take charge of the censorship and reap the benefit of profits on its side as long as the security and confidentiality of other nations is not threatened. ... Thus without the search engines, this would be a challenge to China. The economy of China would be affected adversely as well as the general public (education and research) together with its government (Publicity). For the search engines, there is not much to lose because they would simply fail to invest there and conduct their business elsewhere. Hence, they would just lose once i.e. on the investment already made but China would suffer technology wise forever. Question 2 Wal-Mart is global merchandise with many stores all over the world. Its success in Mexico could be related to the acquiring of Cifra. This was the leading chain of stores at the time and offered self-service. After its acquisition, the firm added numerous innovations that had been perfected in the US. For instance, changes in pricing as well as supplies among others. The Mexicans like to have their goods fresh and this was offered by the firm. Further, the firm did not have any major competitors and thus had the ma rket to lead. Additionally, the Mexicans accepted their customer service and hence there was no doubt that it would succeed. Lastly, Wal-Mart opened smaller stores in order to cater for the needs of the masses and it was a welcome to most of the Mexicana. However, the success story is not similar in nations like Germany and China. Wal-Mart failed in Germany because the firm made many blunders in its operations since the very first day there. The firm has not found a solution to any of these problems so far. One of the major mistakes the company committed was making an acquisition entry which was flawed strategy to employ at the launching level. The management was through hubris as well as clash of cultures and thus would not stand. Wal-Mart also failed

Black women thru history Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Black women thru history - Research Paper Example To allow her personal aspirations to fall victim to life's hardships was a solution that many slaves accepted, but for Harriet Tubman that would have been a costly sacrifice. Through perseverance, drive, and passion she rose above difficulties, and her long term goal to be free served as a light at the end of a seemingly never -ending tunnel. After releasing herself from the curse of slavery, Harriet Tubman sensed to be grateful to assist others see their illumination at the ending of their tunnel. Until the Civil War, she used all her money and resources to return to the south in secret. There were about nineteen trips like this, in which she brought more than three hundred slaves out of bondage. Then again, in the summer of 1863, during the war, she led a major raid into enemy territory resulting in the freeing of more slaves and the destruction of supplies that could aid the enemy. She also served at a number of hospitals were she nursed and healed both blacks and whites. After th e war, Harriet Tubman was an advocate for women's suffrage; and until her death in 1913 she worked for the poor, the disadvantaged, and the elderly among African Americans. Harriet Tubman was one who was dedicated to helping others know the satisfaction of obtaining their goals. No matter what her situation, if there was a knock on her door, she would answer it as she was able. During the course of her life Harriet Tubman has suffered for what she believed. She took the road least traveled by many slaves which had made all the difference in her life. She did not let anything stand in her way to freedom. When she was in her teens, she no longer allowed to work indoors because the masters though she would be better working in fields. In 1844 she got married. The amazing parts in her life began when the owner of the Bordras Plantation died. In 1849 her fears were realized when the owner of Brodas plantation died and many slaves were to be sold. When she heard her fate she decided to es cape that night the only person she informed was her sister because she knew her husband would snitch on her. She was much considerate about her family members. She went back to Maryland to rescue her sister’s family and she succeeded. Then they returned to transport her brothers to the North. Later she came for her husband, but he remarried and didn’t follow her. In 1857 she finally returned for her and settled her perents in Audurn, New York. She was nicknamed the "Moses of her people," because she helped so many blacks escape slavery. (Taylor, 66) In all, Harriet made 19 trips on the Underground Railroad and freed more then 300 slaves. With the arrival of the civil war, Harriet became a spy for the union army. She later worked in Washington D.C as government nurse. At the end of the war, Harriet returned to her parents in Aurbarn. On March 10, 1913 Harriet died of pneumonia. She was 93 years old. Harriet Tubman saved 300 slaves in 19 trips. She got married twice. Sh e lived a very long life. She made a big difference in many peoples lives .And I think she will always be a hero. Harriet herself fled to Pennsylvania with help from the Underground Railroad. She faced many problems on her way to freedom especially encounters with bounty hunters because of the $12 000

Organizational Behavior discusion assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organizational Behavior discusion - Assignment Example The Hawthorne legacy has had a strong influence in today’s workplace by setting the standards for managers to view people not as machines but as humans and attend to their individual needs; offers supportive leadership at the work place rather than pushing for results (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). McGregor’s Theory X assumes that most people dislike work and try to avoid it when they can, therefore they must be coerced and threatened in order to work. Theory Y on the other hand says people like work as it is a natural activity like rest or play and people are capable of self-control and self-direction when they understand the goals. Theory X goes ahead to assume that people prefer to be directed and tend to avoid responsibility and that they are only interested in security. Theory Y on the other hand people get committed when they are rewarded for it and that they will learn and seek responsibility as they are imaginative and creative. It is hard to work under Theory X ma nagers as most of them only stress on work and more work without understanding employee needs. I prefer the Theory Y managers because they understand people and they are concerned about creating positive relations that foster productivity in the organization (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). C. The term E-business is defined as the use of the internet to more effectively and efficiently manage every aspect of a business. Employees today have acquired skills in many areas of digital communications and these include the use of blogs, emails, social networking and other sites where users provide and refine content. In this kind of environment therefore where the employees have the control over the information that they can share and access, the role of the manager is evolving into one that aims at providing the means for collaboration that is they learn the need for team work and empowerment in independent decision making (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). 2. A. There are three layers of organizati onal and these include: (1) observable artifacts which are the physical manifestations of an organization culture such as manner of dress, acronyms etc. ; (2) espoused values which are states values and norms preferred by an organization; (3)basic underlying assumptions which are the things taken for granted but guide organizational behavior. There are four functions of organization culture: (1) organizational identity; (2) Collective commitment; (3) social system stability; (4) it acts as a sense making mechanism (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). There are four types of organizational culture according to the competing value framework each with distinct characteristics. The first is a clan culture and this has an internal focus and values flexibility: it uses employee involvement as a method of achieving flexibility. The second is an Adhocracy culture which has an external focus and values flexibility. This culture values innovation and fast responses to change. The third is a market cul ture which has a very strong external focus valuing stability and control. They are majorly driven by competition and put emphasis on customer satisfaction. The fourth and last category is the hierarchy culture that has an internal focus valuing stability and control: it lays emphasis on formal structured work in order to meet high standards (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). B There exist six socialization tactics used by organizations to socialize employees. Each of the tactics provides an organization with two

Making Solar Energy Economical PowerPoint Presentation

Making Solar Energy Economical - PowerPoint Presentation Example The demand for energy is dependent on properties of conversion means, technologies, and costs. Human energy makes use of resources that can be depleted in particular fossil fuels derived from the preferences. Market forces and cartels may guide a transition back to sources that are renewable. Energy as such has its effects and they come in terms of very heavy environmental costs. At the end of it they are incorporated into the energy cost and prices leading to overuse of energy and motivate policy inventions. Focusing on human utilization of the energy commodities and energy resources and the aftermath of that utilization is the main discussion of many experts. From an economist’s perspective the economic terminology, â€Å"energy† is inclusive of all energy resources and energy resources that have significant amounts of physical energy and as such can perform work. Partly, the study focuses on forces that lead economic agents to pursue alternatives in terms of other ec onomically efficient provision and use of energy resources and commodities. The role of alternative energy market and regulatory rules on the activities of producing energy is a point of consideration for these studies. There is a kind of energy that can be replenished in a short period of time called renewable energy, which comes from sources that frequently being recycled and usually less polluting than energy from fossil fuels. There are five main categories of renewable energy: wind and solar, biomass, geothermal, hydropower among which the solar energy, provided by heat and sunlight, has been utilized least yet. However, solar energy holds a number of benefits for societies and it has already proven to have positive effects on residential homes and industrial applications. For many years, the economic choice of energy to use has been solar energy in many industries. In this areas power is required at remote locations without government help, as the vast majority of systems used need few kilowatts of power. Also, solar energy is frequently used on transportation signaling. For example, offshore navigation buoys, lighthouses, and increasingly, road traffic warning signals are using solar power due to its power saving efficiency. Solar power’s great benefit here is that it is highly reliable and requires little maintenance so it is ideal to use in places that are hard to access. Following are some details of the major advantages of solar energy. Primarily, as mentioned above, solar power is particularly useful in remote areas where it is lack of regular electricity supply. Moreover, a lot of greenhouse gases such as nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, mercury or sulphur dioxide that come from many traditional fuels have been kept from releasing into the atmosphere, and it greatly contributes to the decrease of harmful green house gas emissions. Accordingly, solar energy is extremely environmentally friendly. In addition, solar energy systems are free of c harge substantially on conservation and will last for a relatively long period. Once installed, there are no recurring costs. They do not require you to add any fuel. More solar panels can be set up in the future with your energy requirements increase. Energy security is the guarantee of a reliable and stable supply of energy at reasonable economic prices. Relying on main energy sources such as oil and

Planning For Wealth, Retirement and the Great Beyond Case Study

Planning For Wealth, Retirement and the Great Beyond - Case Study Example as specified in the case study of the family is inclusive of the registered retirement savings plan of 650,000 dollars as well as the 150,000 dollars that are unused in the registered retirement savings plan. The market value of the home is estimated to be 900,000 dollars .the value is considered to inflate in the future (Roseman 2002). The investment advisor is expected to help in working out a realistic plan that will enable achievement of the goals pertaining to the long term investments. The realization now is that it will be hard to rely on the Old Age Security or the Canada Pension Plan or the employers Pension Plan to meet the expenses that emerge after the retirement. With that in mind, the time to build an investment portfolio that will help manage and support the life after retirement would be now. Having a trust company is a benefit especially when the company is the executor or the trustee (Currie, Chambers, and Brown 2001). When determining the personal asset, a variety of assets may be considered. For instance in the case presented, the family owns a home that is valued at 900,000dollars that is expected to inflate, they also own investments ranging from the real to non real that are worth a lot of money. The spouse also has an investment that will pay later. The expense that incurred includes the 90,000 dollars annual expenses and the mortgage that will be paid for the next eight years. The investment totals to 2.205 million dollars (Currie, Chambers, and Brown 2001). Having acquired the investment portfolio required, the projections for future income can hence be formulated. For instance, the sources of income after the retirement include the pension plan from the employer. Out of the salary paid, the contribution to the pension plan will be 6 percent... The case presented represents the family of a mature family. The priorities and needs of such a family have changed. This is evidenced by maturity of the children where two of them are in their twenties and have already been employed and the last one is in adolescent, due to Finish University in three years. The issue of guardian ship is not there. This stage is also marked by peak earnings years and accumulation of many considerable assets. This part requires assessing of the financial status, the personal and life goals and needs and also assessing the priorities of life now. This report makes a conclusion that life on earth is not guaranteed. Therefore, once one has died, there is the need for the estate to be managed and the property taken care of. This is the sole purpose of the will. The checklist needed in ascertaining a will includes preparation and signing of the power of attorney for the financial affairs and running of the real estate. According to Gray& budd one needs to ascertain whether the will and the power of attorney are up to date. One needs to take steps to ensure protection of the assets bought in the relationship. The will also entails naming the beneficiaries and the alternate beneficiaries of the registered retirement savings pan, the life insurance policies, the pension plans and RRIFs. These should always be up to date. The will also entails the backup executor and the back up power of attorney. All the dependants should be well provided for.

This play is really a piece of veiled social criticism, its theme on the failure of the American dream Essay Example for Free

This play is really a piece of veiled social criticism, its theme on the failure of the American dream Essay In the American dream, America is portrayed as the land of opportunity; the perfect place for everyone to live, all the stereotypical Americans are big, comfortable, rich, and altogether happy. They portray the image that through hard work, honesty and merit, they too can reach the top, have a large house, lots of money and the perfect all American family, a loving happy wife and two clever children. The play, however, could be Albees attempt to show that in many cases this American dream is unachievable and, what could appear at first to be the perfect family could, on closer examination, turn out to be something not confirming to the American dream whatsoever. This could also be Albee showing that the American dream is a perfect image, and just an image. At first sight, Martha and George appear to be as far away from the American dream and its ideals as is possible. They are constantly scrapping with each other and bickering and seem not to have a nice word to say to the other. At one point Martha quotes You see, George didnt have muchpushhe wasnt particularly aggressive. In fact, he was a sort of aa FLOP! A greatbigfatflop! Martha is portraying her husband in no uncertain terms to his colleagues. This encourages us think that no couple from the American dream scenario would do something like this. She is blatantly betraying her husband, and more importantly, destroying the happy family element of the American dream. As the play draws on, however, we find more and more evidence of a joyous marriage, hidden behind a thickened exterior from years of exercising their wits. We can find several examples of their love; the first being in the lounge shortly after the gun incident when Martha asks George to kiss her to demonstrate his affection. The second slightly more complicated issue, when she leaves with Nick and, despite no obvious signs of objection George really wishes she would reconsider the idea. At the beginning, Nick and Honey seem like the perfect all-American couple- young, attractive, on their way to success. Nicks attractiveness is portrayed in the opening dialogue between George and Martha, as she describes Nick and George remembers him as the good looking one. As the play progresses, a different couple emerges. Nick reveals himself to be cold-hearted and a bit ruthless; ready to do whatever it takes to get to the top. Honey seems silly and hopelessly inane until she reveals herself to be deeply frightened of reality, an eternal child who refuses to grow up to the responsibilities of life (as represented by childbirth). Nick comprehends George and Marthas secret, but whether he is changed by it is a question the play doesnt answer. As Martha is describing her son, Honey cries out that she wants a child, but Honeys future is ambiguous, too. Whether she will feel the same way after she has sobered up is never clarified. Nick appears to be the perfect candidate for the American dream. He is good looking, successful in his job, has the perfect all American wife, and a good outlook on life. As the plot progresses we start to see a wider perspective on Nicks life. He is not honest and we can see this in the middle scene when he is willing to further his career by sleeping with the principals daughter. This act is not worthy of any merit and he appears to not regret doing it either, definitely not a quality of the American dream hero. His wife also doesnt appear very committed to his job as she greatly begrudged having to make friends and acquaintances at Nicks previous post. She even went as far as to moan about this to her husbands colleagues, despite the fact that these were good and honest, merit-worthy ways to aid her husband in reaching the top. Martha is a large busy-bodying woman who is extremely insecure. She shows a need for love, which can easily lead to her getting hurt. In the very beginning she asks George for a kiss. When he refuses she appears to not mind but we can feel huge waves of upset coming from beneath the surface. We believe that she feels her marriage is insecure and that because she cant love herself she cant understand why George can love her. We see her, as loud boisterous and bossy but is she really? Her thick outer shell could simply be her way of preventing herself getting hurt, or it could be more simply, that she uses the attention she gets from the joking as a substitute for the love that she never got as a child. Her control over George is seen right from the beginning, she is extremely over possessive of their marriage and yet at times she appears as if she couldnt care less. Whereas all the other characters have a definite personality, which becomes more defined throughout the play, Marthas personality changes by the minute. At first she enjoys poking fun at everyone, then she doesnt and then she just collapses. We perceive this as either Albee constantly adapting her character to the changing events in the play or his way of making this character really come alive in a place true to our hearts; where we can all identify with her. George is the typical middle age college professor, married, stereotypical, but not the American dream man. He is lousy in his career and his wife is quick to point this out. He has not conformed to Marthas plans for him to become a high standing man in the university, taking over the department and eventually the college. Despite his apparent failure in his work he is a man who has certain principles and sticks with them. He doesnt however object to Marthas adultery, he hopes that even down to the very last minute, she will change her mind and not simply continue pushing to see how far she can go before George will object. We can all see however, that George is very sad when Martha has pushed beyond the point of no return and will not change her mind; he really loves her. At the end of the play he also turns out to push things too far, but this does not make a difference to our thoughts that he is more fulfilling of the American dream than Martha, Honey or Nick. Honey is a very fickle character; she simply does what suits herself best. In the first chapter of the play she admits to George that she doesnt really want children and, without telling her husband is having secret abortions. This is cruel and mean. It could bring their marriage crashing to the ground, and could also greatly upset Nick when he finds out. She is aware of this but goes ahead with the abortions anyway. Does this, the audience ask, make her an uncaring character? The answer is no, she is aware of the fact that Nick married her for her money and not love so she therefore is not 100% careful of her marriage. She drinks herself silly at the end of the first scene and then proceeds to continue drinking. An American dream character would have stopped before now, unless she is drinking to hide her sorrows or fears. In the play, the audience is aware that both Martha and Honey have social problems. Honey drinks a lot to cover, and hide from her problems and Martha puts on an outer appearance of being loud and boisterous, despite the fact she isnt. Albee has given both of these characters domineering fathers who do not conform to the American dream. Both men spent their years getting rich, not by hard work, but by stealing from the places they worked for, as we can see in these two extracts, the first from George on Marthas father; Martha has money too. I mean, her fathers been robbing this place blind for years, and the second from Nick, He spent Gods moneyand he saved his own, Neither of the fathers spent much time at home either, and neglected their daughters, using their stolen money as a substitute for love and affection. This deficiency in their childhood leads us, the audience to wonder if maybe these earlier problems are some cause for the troubles they both succumb to in their own marri ages. All the men in Albees play seem to have failed the American dream in terms of job ideals. None of them have a job where they have succeeded through honesty and loyalty. George is the only one who has been loyal, honest and hardworking, and he is still stuck in the mud at the bottom, in Marthas words, a flop. We do not find out how Marthas father got to the top; whether honest or not. We do hear, however that he takes money from the university and has failed Martha as a father, leaving us in no doubt as to what sort of person he is. Nick has failed at a previous job and has come to a new university hoping to turn over a new leaf, this might well be believed if he didnt go and sleep with the principals daughter shortly after arriving. He also explains, before sleeping with her to George that she is the most important woman in the university, the biggest goose in the gaggle, leading us to believe that maybe hes sleeping with her just for the power. Honeys father is implicated by his son-in-law to burn down churches to get money; not the sort of behaviour for a man of the American dream. Gamesmanship is one of the plays major themes and is expressed in the title of the first act, Fun and Games. Albee is emphasising the games everyone plays in life, particularly those that are harmful to us and to others. George and Marthas games have moved beyond the needs of a normal couple to chide each other for their faults. They now are capable of wounding each other deeply, as these games have become a substitute for real communication between them. In the play, their need to lash out extends to include Nick and Honey; and the party games, including Humiliate the Host, Get the Guests, Bringing Up Baby, etc, provide the framework for their marital battles. Georges decision to kill his and Marthas son provides the climactic game that may change their lives forever. Honey and Nick have no children, despite appearing, at first, to want a child. As we get inside this couple we discover that Nick is a biologist and would like children, whereas Honey is deeply afraid of having children. Honeys fear of childbirth goes as far as for her to have secret abortions without telling Nick. She confides this in George and he realises just how close to breaking point this marriage. No American dream marriage should ever be close to breaking point. Honeys secret appears only to make her marriage to Nick even more unstable, so we wonder why she doesnt tell him. As the play progresses, we can see George gently encouraging Honey to have her children instead of killing them until finally Honey announces suddenly and tearfully I want a child. This should be quite surprising to Nick, as he has assumed that she obviously wants a child, but it isnt so we think that maybe he has discovered her abortions and simply kept quiet. The imaginary child is important to the play for several reasons. On one level, it gives the play suspense, as the audience wonders why George is so insistent that the subject of the child not be mentioned. On a symbolic level, the child represents George and Marthas need to share something private amid the wreck of their marriage, even an illusion, since the thought of facing the reality of their lives is too painful. George doesnt want Martha to tell the guests about their child as we can see in some of the opening dialogue George: Just dont start in on the bit about the kid, thats all. Martha: What do you take me for? George: Much too much. Martha: Yeah? Well Ill start in on the kid if I want to. Martha: Just leave the kid out of this. George: Id advise against it, Martha. This starts us wondering about their child, who he is, where he is etc. Another possibility is that the child represents the sterility of American lives, in which the dream of the perfect child is merely an illusion, impossible to achieve in a world of adultery, alcoholism, lying, and evasion. Finally, the child acts as the catalyst in Georges last gesture against Martha, a gesture both sadistic and healing. His decision to kill the child results in Marthas realisation that reality must be faced, whatever the consequences. And the consequences for both George and Martha are, at best, uncertain. George claimed that his mother was killed accidentally, with a shotgun. We consider why he claims this to be accidental. He had the shotgun and it went off. His carrying of the shotgun was no accident. It firing may have been, but why did he have a loaded shotgun pointed at his mother? He then goes on to claim that he was driving, his learners license in his pocket when he swerved and killed his father too. These are both cases of violence in what is definitely not a perfect American dream, despite appearing to be. Honey is a fragile, gentle lady who suddenly starts shouting violence violence when provoked. Martha and George are constantly having battles of a verbal nature and goes as far as to declare all out war of verbal violence, destined to end unhappily for everyone. A true American dream sociology would contain no violence so why is it such a prominent feature in the play? Both Nick and Honey seem to want totally different things from their marriage. Nick wants children, Honey doesnt. Honey wants love, Nick doesnt give any. It is a long way from the perfect American marriage. Nicks has married for money only and he only thinks he loves Honey, as she has found out as the recipient. During George and Nicks discussions, Nick tells George about how he married Honey, he explains that he thought Honey was pregnant and he therefore married her. After the marriage however, she turned out not to be pregnant. This leads us to wonder if she really was pregnant and then had an abortion or a miscarriage or whether she was just lying to Nick; we are not told the outcome of this. Later however, when George plays Get the Guests it emerges what Nick told George and Honey is extremely is upset, reprimanding Nick, who claims he didnt mean to. This makes us contemplate; can a marriage where one half constantly does meaningless actions that upset the other seriously work? Marthas and Honeys need for love is a large element in the play. If they had been shown more love as children, maybe they wouldnt need it so much now. Marthas need from love is shown from the very beginning when they arrive and Martha asks for a kiss from George and when he refuses she asks repeatedley, then questions why he wont, fearing that their latest exercising of wits has annoyed him. As the play draws on, Martha sleeps with Nick, believing she will get love from it, when she doesnt, she is very upset. It is not difficult for us to empathise with Martha, slightly harder for us to empathise with Honey. Honey was never loved as a child and is not really loved by Nick either; this contributes to her frailness. We are led to believe that both married so they could get love, unsure of what it was and therefore unable to give it. Martha cannot understand how George could love her and believes their marriage is failing, despite the fact it isnt. When George tells Nick that the way to a mans heart is through his wifes belly Nick thinks George is joking. They talk for a bit calling the women a gaggle of geese and comparing them to The Puntas George continues to explain that sleeping around is the faculty sport and that everyone does. Surely not a good idea for a happy marriage on the American dream terms? As their conversation progresses, George encourages Nick to mount her like a goddamn dog, which Nick proceeds to do as the play unravels. When George realises that Nick is utterly serious about sleeping with his wife, he tries to give Nick some advice. Nick refuses to listen and simply mocks George who gives up after trying once more. George has been at the university a long time so when he fails to be listened to he is very upset, which could be why he later encourages Nick to sleep with Martha, in total seriousness. Because of the differences in their ages, George and Nick represent two different generations. George is generally passive, weakened by his lack of success and by Marthas constant humiliation of him. Nick is young, ambitious, and amoral; eager to get ahead by whatever means it takes. Their professions also contrast the two. A historian, George is also representative of a humanist, one who is interested in human values- in his case, with a particular interest in the past. A biologist, Nick represents both the future and the clinical, cold-hearted approach to life that threatens to rob mankind of its individuality. Albee ironically turns the tables on the characters when George is shown to be the one in control and the only one who has ever satisfied Martha. Nick, the stud, is impotent in his sexual encounter with Martha and becomes the houseboy, the subservient one. Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf is truly a portrait of humiliation and broken dreams. It is a piece of social criticism on the failure of the American dream. Albee has stated that the role of the writer is to be, axiomatically, against any society he happens to be living in, and we can certainly find evidence to prove this statement as we look at and study this play. The American dream is a state of perfection that can never be achieved. Martha and George who are happy but do not conform to the ideals and Nick and Honey who appear perfect, but under the surface are very strained. Martha is loud and boisterous but deeply unhappy, George is unsuccessful but loved and admired, Honey is unloved but delicate and beautiful, Nick is successful but not liked. All the men in the play appear unsuccessful when compared to the American dream. The games they play are not happy, or fun, but an excuse for verbal abuse. The characters are part of a society where they hold all night orgies, use violence and drink to extremes. The play is a piece of social criticism on the failure of the American dream.

Bilingualism in the Basque Country Spain

Bilingualism in the Basque Country Spain Agur the first time I heard this word I lived in San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain. It is Basque and it means bye. When I laid on the beach some weird language I could not understand was spoken over the public address system and after that language followed a Spanish speaking lady saying that a child had been found. I was fascinated by this language, how can it be that it is so different from all the other languages I know? When I heard about the paper subjects I immediately knew I wanted to find out more about the Basque language and the bilingual system in the Basque Country in Spain. In this paper I will discuss the multilingual history of Spain, describe the situation of the Basque language in the Basque country and I will develop more about the educational systems to stimulate Basque language proficiency. I hope to give the reader an insight in the Basque educational system, the Basque Country itself and in the multilingual history of Spain. This paper consists out of a liter ature review on the basis of earlier studies because it was hard to find evidence on my own. At first this paper will describe the history of multilingualism in Spain, has the Spanish government always allowed bilingual education? Which co-official languages exist in Spain? Then a closer look will be taken on the Basque Country: a description of the area will be given, percentages of bilingual speakers, the attitude of Basque speakers towards Basque; why and when do they speak the language? In the next paragraph the educational models that were created by the Basque government will be described. These models were created to improve the second language proficiency in Basque for Spanish-speakers. An overview will be given of the three existing educational models. Finally a paragraph will discuss the attitude of Basque speakers and non-Basque speakers; where is Basque mostly spoken? Why there? Has the number of students studying Basque increased of decreased? This paper will be ended with a conclusion which sums up all the major findings of this paper. History multilingualism Spain Spain, as we know it today, is a multilingual country. It consists out of seventeen autonomous communities. Six of these communities (Catlonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic islands, Galicia, the Basque Country and Navarre) recognize a language of their own which is, together with Spanish, the official language in their territory. All Spanish autonomous communities have received legislative power in some areas. One of those areas is education, so the Spanish autonomous communities can adapt their own rules on education. So all the six communities with their own language can offer education in this language. This sounds all very positive; the possibility to teach children in the minority language and to have the minority language recognized as being an official language. Yet the life story of multilingualism has not always been like this. Thanks to historical developments, we can speak of the multilingual country Spain, but multilingualism used to be forbidden during the dictatorship of General Franco (1939-1975). After the Civil War (1936-1939) General Franco came in power and this put an end to the second republic. During Francos regime he declared Spanish as the only official language, and Franco forced the minority languages to disappear from the public domains; they could not be used in the media, public administration nor in education. The use of the languages was limited to domestic use, the people could only speak their language in their homes and not on the street, at work or other public places. When Francos regime came to an end, Spain established a democracy and a new Constitution was passed (1978). Many new regulations were adapted and the new Statues of Autonomy were passed. These statues divided Spain in the following autonomous commun ities: Aragà ³n, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-Leon, Catalonia, Ceuta and Melilla, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia and Navarra. The country was not only divided into different areas, some areas also retrieved an official status for their own language, which was the case for Catalan, Basque and Galician. Spanish became the official language of the Spanish state, but the autonomous communities can have an own official language next to Spanish. This meant that all the minority languages in Spain were acknowledged. Nowadays Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, the Basque country and Galicia have two official languages; Spanish and the official language of their territory. All the Parliaments of the above mentioned communities together created the Laws of Linguistic Normalization in 1983. This was a reaction on the regime of Franco. The laws not only gave minority languages the co-official status next too Spanish, but also the right to know and use the other language in any context, the principle of no discrimination on linguistic grounds and control of the educational system, culture and media to the autonomies (Huguet et al. 2008). Another aim of the Laws of Linguistic Normalization is to ensure that students have a balanced command of Spanish and their second language by the time they leave school. This aim has led to Catalan, Valencian, Balearic, Navarrese, Basque and Galician educational systems to create bilingual schools where mother tongue Spanish speakers can develop their language competence in the minority language (Lasagbaster and Huguet, 2007, Huguet, et al 2008). During the last twenty years bilingual education has increased in Spain. The Laws of Linguistic Normalization give autonomies the right to develop their own educational systems following a bilingual criteria. A description of the educational system in the Basque Country can be found on p. 8 of this paper. Figure Map of Spanish bilingual communities In figure 1 (Huguet, et al 2008) the communities with their own official language besides Spanish are highlighted: the Balaeric islands (where Catalan is spoken), the Basque Country and Navarre (where Basque is spoken) , Galicia (where Galician is the minority language) and Valencia (where Valencian is spoken). The autonomous communities of Aragon (where both Catalan and Aragonese are spoken) and Asturias (where Asturias is spoken) are also added to the figure. In Aragon and Asturias the minority languages have no legal status. Tabel Percentage of inviduals who can understand and can speak the minority language (Huguet et al, 2008) Catalonia Valencia The Balearic Islands Galicia The Basque Country Navarra Individuals who can understand (passive) 97 89 92 99 44 23 Individuals who can speak (active) 79 56 72 89 29 16 This table shows an enormous difference between the communities. In Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Galicia over 90% of the population can understand the minority language and many (although less than 90%) can also speak the minority language. Yet in the Basque Country and Navarra the percentages are much lower, less than 50% of the population can understand the minority language and even a lower percentage can speak it. But in the case of the Basque Country, many things are done to improve the situation of the minority language as we will discuss in the next paragraphs. The Basque country The Basque country covers an area of approximately 20,742 square kilometres and is divided into seven provinces: three belonging to the French Pyrenà ©es Atlantiques community (Lapurdi, Nafarroa, Beherea and Zuberoa), and four to two autonomous regions in Spain (The Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre). In this paper the situation of the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) will be described. The total Basque population exists out of 3 million inhabitants, with 92% being Spanish citizens. In the BAC live around 2.1 million inhabitants, of which 24.7% are bilingual and 16.3% are passive bilingual. Basque is a minority language spoken by only 27% of the population. The Basque language is the only non-Indo-European language in Western Europe and although the language has been in touch with many Roman languages (Spanish, French, Catalan), it is completely unrelated to them. This is probably one of the most important reasons why so few people of the Basque population (almost 60%) do not understand Basque at all. The language differs so much from Spanish and other Roman languages in Spain that it has no interface with other languages in the country. Spanish is the first official and dominant language in BAC, so that makes all Basque speakers bilingual because they speak Spanish and Basque. Since Spanish is also the dominant language is makes proficiency in Basque not necessary in many areas. (Perez Vidal, ..) The monolingual Spanish speakers in the BAC do not necessarily need the Basque language to survive in the BAC. Everyone around them speaks English, in formal settings the language spoken is mostly Spanish, the media mostly publishes in Spanish, and so everything around them is in Spanish. This especially counts for the bigger cities, such as Bilbao or San Sebastià ¡n (Donostia in Basque). In smaller villages in the country side there are more people who speak Basque and speaking Basque becomes more of a necessity. Thanks to the promotion of Basque in schools there has been an increase of 95,000 Basque speakers from 1981 to 1991 (Garmendia 1994, Perez Vidal ..) and in the next decade (1991-2001) the percentage of bilinguals in the range of 16-24 years old has almost doubled, from 25% to 48% (Gobierno Vasco, 2003; Huguet 2008). Basque is in the process of reversing language shift (Fishman 1991, Cenoz 2005). Reversing language shift is putting a stop to the declining use of a language and increasing its status in the population. Joshua Fishman created eight steps in which a dead or threatened language can be brought back to life. The Basque language is in the process of being revitalised. The Basque language is used more and more by the Basque population and the attitudes towards the language are increasingly positive. Basque is used as a medium of instruction, on the Basque television channel, on the Basque radio and in Basque newspapers. Even though the use of the Basque language increases, the other official language of BAC, Spanish, is used more for these purposes. So Basque is present in the media of the BAC, yet Spanish takes a bigger role and is more used in the Basque media. But a high percentage of Bascophones do use the media in Basque; 77% of the Basque bilinguals listen to the Basque radio and 82% watches the Basque television (Cenoz 2005). Bascophones speak Basque in the private domain and they tend to use Spanish for formal settings. Bascophones use Basque to talk to their children, and mostly use Spanish to communicate with other family members. The factors that influence the usage of Basque are: the number of Bascophones in the subjects social networks, the relative ease with which the subject has to use Basque and Spanish, and the number of Bascophones in the sociolinguistic area where the subject lives. (Euskararen Jarraipena I 1995 cited in Cenoz 2005: page 43). So even though the Basque language is growing in popularity, it is remarkable to see that Bascophones prefer to use Basque in their domestic area and speak Spanish in more formal settings. Basque in education Bilingual education has been present in the Basque educational system since the 19th century. Some schools were bilingual or even trilingual (i.e. Spanish, Basque and French). Spanish schools are either public or private. Public schools are usually fully or partially funded by the Spanish government so parents do not have to pay a lot of money for their children attending school, private schools are not financed by the government, which means that parents have to pay more money if they want their children to study there. During the 1960s a number of private Basque schools (ikastolas) were founded. The ikastolak schools are created as a promotion tool for the usage of Basque in education, and even though in the 1960 it was illegal to use Basque in education, the number of students increased over the years. Today most of the ikastolak are part of the Ikastolen Elkartea, which is a covering body preoccupied with the promotion of different projects to improve the quality of education (in kindergarten, primary and secondary education). With the Law of Linguistic Normalization both Basque and Spanish became compulsory subjects at school and three models of bilingual education were created. These models are based on the assumption that bilingual education has important advantages. For example, bilingual education can have a positive effect on cognitive development and communication ability. Bialystok found that bilingual children were superior to monolingual children on measures of the cognitive control of linguistic processes. (Bialystok 1978b cited in Baker, 2006: page 157) The three different bilingual models in the BAC are: Model A, B, and D. (The C does not exists in Basque). Model A: This model is intended for mother tongue speakers of Spanish who want instructions in Spanish. All subjects are in Spanish, except for Basque, which is taught four to five hours a week. Model B: This model is intended for mother tongue speakers of Spanish who want to be bilingual in Spanish and Basque. Both languages are used as languages of instruction for 50% of the school time. Model D: The model was intended as a maintenance program for the Basque, but many Spanish students are studying according to this model as well. Basque is the language of instruction and Spanish is taught as a subject for four to five hours a week. Model D schools can be seen as both total immersion programmes for majority language (Spanish) students and first language maintenance programmes for native Basque speakers. Parents can choose the model they want for their children and both models are available at public and private schools. From 1983/1983 to 2004/2005 the amount of pre-university students enrolled in Model A has decreased from 415.456 (79.34%) to 81.603 (26.69%), yet Model B has increased from 44.458 (8.49%) to 69.941 (22.88%) but Model D has increased the most: from 63.699 (12.17%) to 154.164 (92%). The majority of all the pupils (92%) are enrolled in Models B and D. (Huguet et al 2008) In Table 2 we see the number of students in the different models in the BAC in the year 2001-2002. At every level, either kindergarten, primary school or at compulsory secondary school the highest amount of students is studying according to model D, where Basque is the language of instruction and Spanish is a subject. Model B is the runner up, where both languages are languages of instruction, and the lowest amount of students study in Model A, where Spanish is the language of instruction and Basque is taught as a subject. This shows the trend that a lot of students choose to study Basque and that the language its popul arity is growing. (p.t.o. for table) Table Number of students in Models A,B, and D in the BAC (2001-2002) Model A Model B Model D Other Kindergarten and primary school 24.831 45.807 85.676 1.255 (3- 12 year-old children) 15.8% 29.1% 54.3% 0.8% Compulsory secondary school 26.370 19.131 31.651 597 (12-16 year-old children) 34% 24.6% 40.7% 0.7% Language attitude The status of the Basque language has increased during the last fifty years. The number of students studying Basque has increased and this influences the number of bilinguals in the BAC. But there still seems to be a gap between the knowledge and the use of Basque in daily life. As mentioned before: Basque can be found in education and in the media, yet Spanish is still the prevailing language. Bascophones usually tend to use their language in the home situation and not in more formal settings. It is remarkable that more and more native Spanish speakers decide to study Basque (in either Model B or D schools), yet Basque is still a domestic language. Spanish is still the dominant language in the BAC, the use of Basque in daily life is limited to areas that are dominated by Bascophones. Maybe the language attitude towards the Basque language has an influence on the use of Basque. Lasagabaster (2005) has done a research on this subject; Attitudes towards Basque, Spanish and English. He defined attitudes with the words of Skehan (1989): attitudes are part of the so-called affective variables of language learning, together with personality, motivation, the learners expectations, social cultural experience or anxiety. Lasagabaster states that attitudes are a key factor in sociolinguistics and language learning. He used 1087 participants, all undergraduates in the age range of 18-50 and all studying at university. The participants studied at one of the three campuses in which the university of the BAC is divided: Arba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Lasagabaster found that the degree in competence in Basque influenced the students attitudes towards Basque; very competent students had a more positive attitude than those with little or good demand of the language. The same counts f or Spanish, if a students speaks very well Spanish, the attitude towards the language will be more positive than the attitude of someone whose Spanish is of a lower level. He also found that students living in a dominant Basque-speaking area (such as small towns) are more favourable towards the Basque language than those who live in dominant Spanish-speaking areas (such as big cities).This can be explained by the migration from Spanish workers to the BAC on the labor market. The younger generation in the BAC tends to use Spanish instead of Basque. This can be explained by the fact that majority languages usually seem to be cooler than the minority languages to the teenagers, therefore they prefer to speak Spanish. Conclusion Schools should try to intervene in the attitude towards Basque. They should try to create language awareness courses to change the attitudes towards the minority language. Teachers could do this by showing the students how rich the world becomes with so many different languages. A positive attitude towards Basque is increasing, but more should be done to change the status of Basque as minority language in its own territory. The government should try to change the language attitude towards Basque. The heritage of Franco (the use of domestic Basque) should be disinherited. The Bascophones should feel that they can also use their own language outside their homes and use it at work or on the street. But therefore more people should learn Basque, because otherwise only a small amount of colleagues would understand the Bascophones. By implementing more Basque on educational and media level the usage of Basque will grow. More people will be forced to speak or learn Basque and the attitude t owards the language will increase positively even more. It will not only be dominant in the smaller villages, but also in the bigger cities. As a result the language will be everywhere and the native Spanish speakers who studies Basque will learn the language with more ease. The only risk of so many non-native Basque speakers is that they will influence the language and add a Spanish influence to the grammar or lexical level. Unfortunately, attitudes are difficult to change. The attitude towards Basque has been negative under the leadership of Franco (which lasted for almost 40 years) and to changing this attitude immediately is impossible. It takes small baby steps, but those baby steps are heading the right way. In the example of Spain we can see that there is a political influence on language education and attitude. During Francos regime the use of minority languages in public was forbidden, this influenced the attitudes towards the minority languages. Nowadays Basque is still not used often in formal settings, Bascophones tend to use Basque for domestic use and Spanish in formal settings. Most of the media in the BAC are in Spanish and not in Basque. It seems that Francos regime still has an impact on the use of the Basque language in formal settings. But to close of with a positive note: bilingualism in the Basque country has come a long way. Basque used to be forbidden and nowadays the attitude towards the language is growing positively. More and more students are attending model D schools, schools where the language of instruction is Basque and Spanish is taught as a subject. Although the situation of Basque is improving, there are still few people who speak the language, but thanks to the increase of students the number of bilinguals in the BAC also increases. Hopefully this will prevent Basque becoming a dead language and remain a vivid language.

Acme Is A Large Pharmaceutical Company Information Technology Essay

Acme Is A Large Pharmaceutical Company Information Technology Essay ACME is a large pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh. In all districts, it opened branches. So that why, they need communication technology, which way they can get all information about their product and that why they need a website. In Bangladesh the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most developed hi-tech sectors which is contributing in the countrys economy. After the promulgation of Drug Control Ordinance 1982, the development of this sector was accelerated. The ACME Laboratories Ltd, the pharmaceutical major and the flagship Company of the ACME Group, is a Manufacturer and Global exporter of Human, Herbal and Veterinary Pharmaceutical products. Since its inception in 1954, Chapter 2 Initial Study 2.1. Introduction: In Bangladesh the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most developed hi-tech sectors which is contributing in the countrys economy. After the promulgation of Drug Control Ordinance 1982, the development of this sector was accelerated. The ACME Laboratories Ltd, the pharmaceutical major and the flagship Company of the ACME Group, is a Manufacturer and Global exporter of Human, Herbal and Veterinary Pharmaceutical products. Since its inception in 1954, The ACME Laboratories Ltd, has been working relentlessly with a vision to ensure health, vigour and happiness for all and is on a perpetual quest for excellence. 2.2. Company Background: ACME Group is one of the leading and diversified global conglomerates in Bangladesh, with offices in all major cities, employing over 3000+ employees and dedicated to  bringing the highest quality products and services to our customers. They have an annual turnover of US $60 million with diversified interests in Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, Information Technology Services, Aviation Services, Printing Packaging Services, Trading Services, C F Services, Apparels and more. The ACME Laboratories Ltd, the pharmaceutical major and the flagship Company of the ACME Group. The history of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. dates back to 1954 when a proprietorship firm was founded to manufacture ethical drugs. It started with the modest introduction of a few oral liquid products. The late Hamidur Rahman Sinha was the founder of the firm and was the main visionary of the organization until his sad demise in 1994. The firm was converted into a private Limited company in the year 1976. Commercial operation at the modernized plant equipped with sophisticated and advanced facilities began toward the end of 1983. The Company has adopted the ISO-9001-2008 and WHO CGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practice) standards. All employees must adhere to the documented procedures and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedure).Many challenges were overcome successfully to transform the company from a small unit to what it is today. Out of about 300 pharmaceutical companies in the country, The ACME Labs is one of the top four. 2.3. Description of current system: The ACME Laboratories Ltd. Has invested in state of the art formulation plants aligned to regulated market standards. Four plants based on the Dhaka site can produce pharmaceutical products to the highest GMP specifications. These plants have been designed by internationally recognized firms and equipped with the best machines that can currently be found on the European and US markets. The ACME Laboratories Ltd. normally based on a current local system, for what, it has a local larger marketing side all over in Bangladesh. Their total selling systems depend on marketing system. More than 1200 Medical Representatives of human sector, around 300 Medical Representatives of veterinary sector are the current worker of the marketing side of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. The MR is responsible to communicate with the customers. There are two kind of MR. One is called Buffer. Their duty is to stay in hospital and collect all prescription. And another Mr.s duty is to communicate with the doctor a nd chemist and motivate them for the products and take orders. The Area manager is always responsible for the Medical Representatives. Their duties are to observe t the proper communication between MR and The ACME Laboratories Ltd. The Customer, If any problem occurs, he will report to Regional Sales Manager who is responsible for fulfill the requirements of MR and customers. His duty is also to replace and rearrange MR for all area zone and also concern for the delivery of product on time. The Assistant sales manager is one of the head of marketing side, who is direct communicating with the management. His duty is to inspect all marketing area and be aware about their service. He takes all responsibilities to build up their marketing proposal comparing with other competitors. So their total marketing system is based on door to door. 2.4. Problem with the current system: If the current system of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. Is analyzed, then it shows some lacks of current system such as communication gap, mistiming, over cost. Like the total selling system is based on door to door. So sometimes the MR fails to meet with the customer. Though they can meet, they dont get enough time to promote their product. Even sometimes the customer feels disturb for them. So this is a big weak point for the current system. Another weak point is timing. When an order has been taken, it was taken in paper. There are lots of order has been taken in a time. So it may be happened to lose one order or forget to rearrange on time. Today in every business sector, there are lots of competitions. So to buildup the business, it needs to be careful about the price. As there is communication gap between the MR and the management, they dont get the right track for the product cost comparing with the competitors. So some products carry high value which is not affordable for our peo ple. So the current marketing system of The ACME Laboratories Ltd is not a proper system for the business. 2.5. Boundary of the project: As ACME is a group of companies, here we are only working for ACME Laboratories Ltd. And we only concern to improved the marketing system and introduce the products to customer. So, as we concern only for product, our aim is only to improve website system better than previous website. 2.6. Aims of the project: If the company needs to fulfill their requirements and update their current system , it is suggested that they should have a software which one can communicate directly between the customers and the employees of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. This software can be web based, where the employees and the customers inform their requirement and the problem to the management. Even the company can promote their all new or old products in that software and the customer will get the information about their requirements and directly can order from this software. So it will save time and money. 2.7. Summary: Though The ACME Laboratories Ltd is a leading Pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh but it has lots of competitors. So to continue with a good future, it should be upgrade its whole system .So for the marketing side, if they are able to get a software, which can be fulfill their requirements, They will get a standard feedback from this side. May be this will be a great step to lead in Pharmaceutical business. Chapter 3 Feasibility study 3.1 Introduction: In order to make wise investments in a marketplace experiencing increasing levels of risk, companies are turning to feasibility studies to determine, if they should offer new products, services or undertake a new business endeavor. The purpose of a feasibility study is to determine if a business opportunity is possible, practical and viable. So, when therell be a proposal for the improvement of The ACME Laboratories, firstly this should be need to know that are they alright or do they agree with the conditions of the proposal system? 3.2 Alternate solutions: The current system of ACME Laboratories is totally manual. It totally depends on the marketing employee. So the management is always moving their decision according to employees report. For that reason some times they facing commutation problem and misguided. To solve this problem, they need a proper solution which may be based on computer program system such as may be a software or website. 3.3 The proposed system: There may be a proposal, which we suggest and decided by the management of ACME Laboratories, to make a website, which can be solve the current problems and guide the company for making the system easier. Advantages: (of the web site): If the company accept the proposal of website, they will be benefited in sever always. Like, itll solve the communicate problem between the employees and the management. Company can save the cost, what they spend for the knocking to the customer and also they can save their time as well to take appointments and order from the customers. So, this website can bring a new system for the company, which will lead the company to the go further. Disadvantage: (of the web site): Therell be some disadvantages for this proposal. First they need setup everything for use a website. Itll take some cost. And some of employees are not familiar with the internet and website. So it will face problem to operate it. Even the company will always need the internet connection.If they face any problem for connection,may be itll stop the whole system and make it delay to process. 3.4 Feasibility consideration 3.4.1 Technical feasibility: When, therell be a proposal for a company, Firstly it needs to know ,the system of the proposal are suitable for the system. Like, for the website, first, it should be notice about the technical feasibility of the company. Because ,they have to have computers for every sectors, where there need to be communicate. And also need to be noticed about the flexibility of connection. If, there is a positive result about the technical feasibility, then the proposal can be proceed further. 3.4.2 Economical feasibility: For the proposal, it need to be ensure about the economical feasibility. Because for the web application they need some computers .So itll take some cost. Also they have to pay the internet bill and a charge for the Domain and hosting charge per year. So, if the company accepts the budget for the proposal, then itll be carry on. 3.4.3 Operational feasibility: When there will be a technical proposal, it should be notice about the operational feasibility. Because, they need to operate the system and update all new information. So they must need to know about the operational knowledge about the website. Maybe, some employee needs to be trained up. So, if they are able to do it, then the proposal can be proceed on. 3.5 Summary: This feasibility consideration is helping the developer to understand if the company has the ability to use this website. Developer can also understand the range of the company which can help him to develop the website. Chapter 4 Requirement analysis specification 4.1 Introduction: ACME is a large pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh. In all districts, it opened branches. So that why, they need communication technology, which way they can get all information about their product and that why they need a website, which can fulfill these requirements. To get information about their requirement, we took an interview so that the website, which we are going to make fulfill their needs. 4.2 Interview record: As, we are going to make a website for ACME Laboratories, at first, we need to know their requirements. For that reason, we took an appointment with the company Assistant Sales Manager Mr. Jafarullah. Interview was arranged on 23rd May, 2010 at 11:00am. On that day, we met with Mr. Jafarullah and gathered the requirements and record all details. This interview helped us a lot to get an idea about the website. 4.3 DFD of existing system: Require Products Process product 1 Sales representative Customer M1 Product info Confirm availability Product Order Process Order 3 Sales representative Customer Confirm order M2 Order info Response pay Figure: DFD diagram for current system 4.4 Requirements catalogue: Requirement ID ACME 1 Requirement name Products Info Business activity Marketing Products Source Website Owner MD. Functional requirement Input products info Benefits To introduce current product to customer Comments Entry products list Requirement ID ACME 2 Requirement name Update Info Business activity Marketing for new products Source Website Priority Company employee Owner MD. Functional requirement Add new products info Benefits Introduce the new products to customer Comments Add / Delete products list 4.5 DFD of proposed system: D1 Product info Process Products 1. Products Enter data Staff Select products for order Saves quantity information 2 Products View product Customer D1 Product info Figure: DFD diagram for proposed system 4.6 Elementary process description: ID Process name Description 1.1 Information collection Collected information from Assistant sales manager of ACME Laboratories Ltd. 1.2 Products list They provide a book, from where we got the product name and details. 1.3 Make a proposal for a website We submitted a proposal for a website and they approved it. 1.4 The required of website Required a website where they can update or delete information by themselves. 1.5 Type of website This will be a dynamic website, what we are going to make. 1.6 Overall progress We showed a demo to the assistant sales manager and he was impressed. 4.7 Entity relationship diagram: Customer Staff Sales Representative 4.8 Entity description: In the DFD diagram of the existing system, name of some entities have been mentioned. Description of these entities is given below. Entity name Description Customer Name Responsible for bye product. Staff Responsible for Data store. Sales Representative Responsible for Order product. 4.9 Data catalog: Data item Description Database Process Product Input all data of the current product Insert Date Manufacturing Date Insert Update new product If any new product is made, that would be updated. Insert Delete product If they want to remove product from database, they can delete it Delete 4.10 Summary: At the end of this stage, requirement analysis and specification helped us to gather all information and idea of our proposed website. Chapter 5 System deign 5.1. Introduction: Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is a most crucial phase in the development of a system. Normally, the design proceeds in stages 5.2. Logical design and description: ACME Laboratories Ltd ACME PHOTO HOME ABOUT ACME PRODUCTS SUPPORT CONTACTS Latest News Welcome to ACME Copyright  © 2010. DIIT 5.3. Sitemap: About ACME HOME Products Support Contacts Allopathic Herbal Add Products 5.4. Summary: ACME website Sample has been designed. There sketches will be used to design. There are some logical diagram have been added on this document. Chapter 6 Coding 6.1. Home page: Welcome to ACME if( $_GET){ if( file_exists( includes/pages/.$_GET[page]..php)) include( includes/pages/.$_GET[page]..php ); else include( includes/pages/default.php ); }else include( includes/pages/default.php ); ?> Copyright  © 2010. DIIT window.NREUM||(NREUM={});NREUM.info={"beacon":"bam.nr-data.net","licenseKey":"de6e6cfad9","applicationID":"221047987","transactionName":"bl0HMhMFDEYCWhJeWlcXMBQISwdGEFgfRBpYShEPAggHGxNRFg==","queueTime":0,"applicationTime":1,"atts":"QhoERFsfH0g=","errorBeacon":"bam.nr-data.net","agent":""} Chapter 7 Testing 7.1. Introduction: Testing a product seems very simple. It involves ensuring the product works as intended and does not fail. This is what we strive to achieve when testing program code. When some one read text books on testing there he/she will find that verification and validation is the name given to the checking and analysis processes that ensure the software conforms to its specification and meets the needs requirements of the customer. 7.2. Unit test: Method Value entered Expected result Runtime result Comments Add Product AP(Allophathic) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Successful Add Product HP (Herbal) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Successful Add Product AP (Herbal) ÃÆ'- ÃÆ'- Error 7.3. Link test: Page Link Expected result Runtime result Comments Home Index.php à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Successful ABOUT ACME index.php?page=about à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Successful PRODUCTS index.php?page=products à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ ÃÆ'- Error SUPPORT index.php?page=support à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Successful CONTACTS index.php?page=contacts à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ ÃÆ'- Error 7.4. Summary: The documentation of testing is critically important and we descried a scheme that provides both good documentation and a framework for test management. I gave some guidelines for test design, but recognized that this is a difficult problem which cannot be automated. Chapter 8 Implementation 8.1. Introduction: The implementation phase is typically terminated b a formal acceptance process, when the business manager declares that she/he is satisfied that the system meets its objectives and sign off takes place. New Computer equipment needed. Users need to be trained. Data transferred from an old web system. New data entered. 8.2. Maintenance plan: The maintenance stage begins once the implementation is complete. This is typical of many medium size organizations. In larger companies, a full-time maintenance team may carry out all this work. Maintenance includes error fixing, updates and modifications which are necessary because requirements are incorrectly understood or specified, requirements analysis is not complete in time, and the needs of the business have changed. 8.3. Summary: Implementation and maintenance is most important part of the project. The ACME must use a responsible person to take responsibility. Chapter 9 Limitations and future plan 9.1. Limitations: 9.1.1. This site is not fully dynamic (Only products page is dynamic) 9.1.2. Contacts page is not work. 9.1.3. Menu cannot add because there have a flash. 9.2. Future plan: 9.2.1. This site will be a fully dynamic. 9.2.2. Contacts page will be work when page is hosting a web. 9.2.3. Admin will be added new menu. Chapter 10 Conclusion All work successfully completed. Now the website is ready for use. During implementation careful steps had to be taken so that it can get desired environment as needed. Limitations and future plan will be helpful for developing a more efficient website next time.

motivation :: essays research papers

I once had an interesting conversation with the owner/manager of a clothing manufacturing company. He operated a large and successful business, principally supplying uniforms for the corporate market. He was surprised by some of his workers. They worked on a piece work rate (paid per item) and some of the very efficient staff did not produce as much as they were capable of. They worked hard at the start of the pay period, but then they tapered off. He expected them to work hard the whole time, as they were paid by what they produced - the harder they worked, the more they were paid. He expected that the extra money reward would motivate them. Motivation is a complex concept. Remuneration is also complex. Individuals react in different ways to pay schemes. A simple explanation for the clothing worker behaviour is that they did not work just for the money. They enjoyed the working environment and the social interaction it provided. They liked to have work, to be employed, and yes they needed a certain level of income. But once they achieved that, the pressure to work hard was reduced. Given that the actual work task was quite monotonous and repetitious, it was not surprising that they exhibited this behaviour. Drastic work design was required. People think that money is a motivator. It does have an effect, but motivation involves far more. Sales people are the classic example. Most are on performance based schemes. But what is one of the main themes sales and marketing consultants write about? You guessed it - how to motivate your sales team! Consultants would not need to write motivation articles if financial reward alone worked. Equity in compensation practices Positive effects come from good financial and non-financial rewards. It is very important to have a well managed remuneration system in place. Fair and reasonable reward is essential and very important for good morale. I believe strongly in the equity theory of motivation. Simply put, the theory states that people have to believe that their pay is equitable with others. When they compare their salary and benefits with their colleagues and co-workers, they must believe that they are being fairly compensated. If they believe their compensation is not equitable, they become very de-motivated and their work performance suffers. Financial and nonfinancial rewards I subscribe to the theory that states it is the nature of the work that is important.

The Institution of Slave Trade Essay -- Caribbean History Slavery Cult

The Institution of Slave Trade The institution of slave trade and the actual experiences of slavery that occurred in the Caribbean were to form a monumental part of that region's culture, society, and everyday interactions, both in the past and in the present. The culture that is present today in the Caribbean is the result of many different influences varying from those introduced by ruling colonial countries, to influences that the slaves stressed, and even from brand new colonies being developed. The diverse and multifaceted culture that is present today is a direct result of the institution of slavery. The reason that forced all of these cultures to become intermixed and entangled was a result of slavery, but more specifically a result of the development of the sugar plantation. With the growing demand for sugar and its various by-products, like molasses and rum, growing in Europe so came the demand for more plantations. Obviously with the growing demand for plantations, came the growing demand for a labor force to work these plantations while still producing a profit for the owners. This really left only one option for these owners and that was for the introduction of the practice of slave labor. Pirates that were supported by these European imperialistic countries began to work in the trade of slaves from India and Africa to the Caribbean, to begin working in the fields. These pirates role in helping the country that they were tied to was very simple, and that was to attack only those trade ships that were of a rivaling country from there own. This practice not only ensured the slowed or diminished growth of rivaling countries, but also aided in boosting the economy and thereby the power of their own country. ... ...d to the newly freed Africans. This extreme racism by these plantation owners made it very difficult if not impossible for the freed slaves to purchase any land with which to produce sustenance for their day to day living. Even though the institution of slavery is what brought about the rigid social and racial class separations in the Caribbean, it would take much more then just the abolishment of that institution to dissolve those distinctions. Many of those social hierarchies can still be seen today. Despite these separations, the culture and society of the Caribbean still remains one of the most diverse and colorful that can be found. Each of the small pieces of beliefs, cultures and practices that were brought over during slavery have formed together to make a beautiful and ornate mosaic that is among the most rare of social cultures. This is the Caribbean.

Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member :: gangster crips, kody scott, eight tray

It was on the day of June 15th, 1975 that the world of eleven year old boy named Kody Scott would change completely. A month prior to this day, Kody was suspended from school for flashing a gang sign during the school’s panorama picture; from here it was evident where Kody was heading in life. Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, Kody was always surrounded by gangs and constantly witnessed the warfare created by rival gangs. Upon his return home from his sixth grade graduation Kody dashed out of the window in his room and ran to meet up with Tray Ball, a gang member of the Eight Tray Gangster Crips who had agreed to sponsor Kody into the gang. That night Kody was beaten senseless by the members of the set as a part of his initiation. Then, Tray Ball came and approached Kody with a pump shotgun that contained eight shells and said: â€Å"Kody, you got eight shots, you don’t come back to the car unless they are all gone.† The gang drove north into their enemy territory and eventually found and ambushed their target, a group of Bloods (the main enemy of the Crips). It was instant, gun shots rained from all directions, Kody shot six times before chasing an enemy blood who was then shot in the back by Kody. Kody’s future in the gang was set in stone. He was accepted by all members immediately, especially Tray Ball, who encouraged him to pursue barbaric acts that made Kody’s name soar in the streets. Two years later, at the age of thirteen, Kody was attempting robbery and proceeded to stomp on the man for about twenty minutes until the man was put into a coma at the hands of Kody. The police stated to bystanders that whoever did such an act was a monster, that name stuck to Kody and eventually became more prominent than his actual birth name. Needless to say, school was never Kody’s main focus. Over the course of the next two years, Kody made it his only ambition to fight for the gang and promote the superiority of the E ight Tray Gangsters. Kody’s end goal was to ultimately achieve the status of â€Å"Ghetto Star†, a title given to a individual who is known throughout gang because of the barbaric acts they have committed in the name of their own gang set.

McDonaldization of American Society and World

If you have ever had a meal in a restaurant (fast-food/formal dining), used an ATM in a bank, spent your vacation at an amusement park or simply browsed through a mall, you have been exposed to McDonaldization. McDonaldization is â€Å"the process by which the principles of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of America society as well as the rest of the world† (Ritzer, 1996, 1). Nearly ever aspect of today†s society has been affected by McDonaldization including the restaurant business, education, work, healthcare, travel, leisure, dieting, politics and the family (Ritzer, 1996, 1). I observed three East Side Mario†s Restaurant†s establishments while the dinner menu was being served on Saturday evenings between 6pm and 8pm to evaluate the ways in which McDonaldization has affected their company. On January 29th I visited East Side Mario†s in London, Ontario, on February 19th I visited East Side Mario†s in Plano, Texas (I used to hold a job as a server at this location) and on February 26th I visited East Side Mario†s in Orange, California. With the diversity of locations I was able to observe, I compared and contrasted many angles of the East Side Mario†s concept. East Side Mario†s Restaurants Inc. is one of the millions of business† that has implemented the four principles of McDonaldization, which are: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. With the assistance of Bernard Platt, Vice President of Marie Callender†s Pie Shops, Inc. , former Vice President of East Side Mario†s Restaurant, Inc. , I will offer a condensed presentation of East Side Mario†s history to get you familiar with the business. East Side Mario†s Restaurants, Inc. , is a wholly owned division of Marie Callender†s Pie Shops, Inc. In 1987 a partnership of restauranteurs developed the ESM (for the remainder of this case study I will us the initial ESM to refer to East Side Mario†s Restaurants, Inc. ) concept in North Miami, Florida featuring the excitement and energy of a New York City street festival, a blend of outstanding American and Italian food, a place where families felt welcome and comfortable offering exceptional value. Today operating as a separate division of Marie Callender†s Pie Shops, Inc. , there are a total of 38 American restaurants – 11 corporate and 27 franchise – and there are over 80 ESM restaurants in The United States and Canada. Efficiency is the first dimension of McDonaldization and â€Å"the optimum method for getting from one point to another† (Ritzer, 1996, 9). The parking lot allows ample amount of parking space for customers, including handicapped spaces directly in front of the building for efficient accessibility. The restaurant offers delivery to those who would like to spend their dinner in the comfort and convenience of their own homes. There is a small server to customer ratio to provide the best service expected throughout a customer†s meal. A kid†s bambino menu is offered for children to enjoy less expensive meals that suit their size, along with a separate lunch menu that offers smaller portions for a lighter meal. Happy Hour items are offered at certain hours for a quick snack fix, providing just enough time to satisfy your thirst with a favorite drink. Customers can pay with cash or credit card, whichever is more convenient for them. To streamline the process of the kitchen work ESM simplified pasta dishes (their biggest items) to take only minutes to cook very large quantities. All employees have specialized jobs to divide the work load/streamline, including: host†s/hostess†, bartender†s, server†s, cook†s, dishwasher†s, salad bar attendant†s, cleaning staff, cocktailer†s and management. To simplify the product the menu is limited and specializes in American/Italian food. They offer easy, quickly made finger food appetizers and unlimited soup/salad and bread which is prepared in just seconds. ESM puts you, the customer, to work the minute you walk into the restaurant. Their may or may not be a host/hostess at the front. In the place of service staff you will definitely find a horn on a taxi stand so that a customer may call for service to the front immediately when they would like to be seated. Take-out boxes are available for the customer to take any leftovers home with them. However there is a catch, the box is merely dropped by the table and the customer is expected to put away their own leftovers. The employees and customers of ESM function efficiently together to produce a profit for the business and satisfy the customer. The second dimension of McDonaldization, calculability, is â€Å"an emphasis on the quantitative aspects of products sold (portion size, cost) and service offered (the time it takes to get the product)† (Ritzer, 1996, 9). Servers are paid $6. 85/hr in Canada and $2. 15/hr in The United States. The rest of their money comes from tips so if they expect to take home cash they will have to work to their greatest ability and place their wages in the hands of the customers. Management usually recruits minorities to work the back of the house because they will work hard for little pay. Emphasizing quantity over quality is an important aspect of calculability. With any entree unlimited homeloaf and soup or salad is offered. For the bar flies free peanuts are always out in buckets for all to enjoy. Specials and promotions occur seasonally, like 15-cent wings on Tuesdays. Bigger is seen as better and ESM has conformed to this idea, establishing this illusion with many of its menu items. Large plates are used to serve most meals and give the idea of large portions, with options of three different sides on dinner items. Customers expect quick and accurate service, which ESM has provided by reducing the processes of production to numbers. To promise quick service, the server will initially take a drink/appetizer order to ensure that you as a customer receive prompt service immediately. The bread is brought out before the meal to snack on and give just enough time for transition to the main course. Customers do not like to sit in a restaurant without something in front of them. Each item on the menu has a preparation time, which is followed by the staff so customers can expect their food to be promptly served. ESM has successfully involved an emphasis on quantification. As the third dimension of McDonaldization, predictability, gives â€Å"the assurance that their [a company†s] products and services will be the same over time and in all locales† (Ritzer, 1996, 10). ESM has establishments across Canada and The United States and no matter where you go you can expect the same service and quality in each and every store. The logo is a familiar sign that represents a promise†¦. the same meal and experience you had at any other ESM. Every store that is built is a replicate of the previous one. The layout of each restaurant is similar, limiting the dining area to all non-smoking and only the bar area has smoking. The same colors are dominant in each store: red, green and white. The immediate feeling you will get when walking inside is that of a New York street with replica†s of the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Scallero Bros. and Costello†s Markets (trademarks of ESM). Interaction between the employees and customers is scripted and predictable at each visit to the restaurant. The customer is seated, informed of specials, drink/appetizer orders are taken, bread, soup and salad are brought before the meal, entrees are served with the offering of cheese or pepper, a desert menu is presented, dishes are cleared from the table and the check is presented and paid for. ESM provides each of its employees with a handbook that outlines server etiquette. The employees are expected to have the mindset of â€Å"the customer is always right† which should convince the customer with the notion â€Å"I†ll be back†. Employee behavior is predictably the same. The staff wears the same casual uniform at each restaurant with a rountinized order of operations. You can always expect to have your server offer you fresh ground pepper or parmesan cheese. With respect to birthdays a desert of choice is presented with the East Side Mario†s famous birthday song. The menu remains the same, introducing new items on promotion once in a while, producing the same predictable products. People expect to have the garlic homeloaf with unlimited soup and salad. The routine, uniformity and systematization of operations in ESM prove that predictability has been achieved. The fourth dimension of McDonaldization is â€Å"increased control and the replacement of human with nonhuman technology† (Ritzer, 1996, 101). ESM has integrated all forms of technology to better their establishment. From the fountain pop dispenser to timed broilers and appliances, every process is controlled by some sort of automation. Under control is both the product and process of the business. The menu continually remains the same, limiting the items for customers to choose from. The Micros system is used to input orders which will be sent to the back of the house, organize each table†s order and have the food out and arranged according to the server†s timing. Server†s and bartender†s are expected to id all customers who look as though they are under the age of 30 for alcoholic beverages. In regards to controlling customers, the guest is expected to honk the horn to get the attention of employees to serve them. If there is a wait a pager is given out to customers to be buzzed at the soonest opportunity a table opens up. When the customer is through with a meal, the check is brought promptly to encourage them to leave and allow the next table to be sat. A tip percentage is required for parties of 8 or more to ensure that the time spent on larger parties will be well rewarded in wages. Nonhuman technologies that have been implemented into ESM operations control the nature of the business. The irrationality of rationality is recognized as the fifth dimension of McDonaldization. This is the downside of McDonaldization emphasizing the basic idea that â€Å"rational systems inevitably spawn irrational consequences†, â€Å"serve to deny human reason† and â€Å"are often unreasonable† (Ritzer, 1996, 13). In regards to efficiency people will go to ESM in search of a relaxing meal to find they have an hour-long wait, congested waiting space and loud noise. The efficiency of spending a family meal in a comfortable atmosphere now becomes inefficient. People are unable to sit right away, asked to wait with their families in a smoke filled bar and expected to just be patient while they anticipating the buzzing of their pager number. Employees who are expected to deal with the impatient customers get irritable which reflects on their work and the restaurant as a whole. When ESM business is slow and employees are unable to make tips there is no longer an incentive to put out quality work. The efficiency of paying minimum wage is lost when workers quit because they do not make enough for tips. The cost of a nice dinner for an average size family of 4 at ESM could cost well over $60. In the long run this could be the cost of 3 home cooked meals. The profit a restaurant business makes on pop and such is huge compared to the production price. A family could just as well spend dinner at home, talking/interacting with one another in a much more comfortable, quit, atmosphere. ESM offers the illusion of fun to attract customers and have them coming back. The setting gives the feeling of a New York City street with all of the downtown memorabilia. â€Å"A taste of little Italy† is used to let the prospective guest know that traditional Italian food will be served with popular Italian/American music filling the dining room. The National Television Network, NTN, offers an interactive trivia game to be played in the bar area. Entertainment is brought in on special occasions and the server†s call out loud to the kitchen to fill the atmosphere with a feeling of excitement. The unreality, or illusion of reality, which often goes unheard of in the restaurant business, still exists. The reality is that you aren†t going to see the service staff singing and dancing with customer as they do in the commercial, in fact you†ll be lucky if you can flag them down as they run by your table at top speed. The streets of New York City are not resembled accurately by the miniature landmarks located throughout the restaurant and it†s unlikely a true Italian (person with Italian heritage) will serve your meal. All of this is not reality. Dehumanization recognizes a system that is destructive to human beings. This dehumanization recognized in society is evident through health and environmental hazards, the dehumanization of customers and employers, a negative effect on human relationships and homogenization. The increased concern for the human diet is strongly affected by eating out and Italian food is extremely fattening. A dish known as fettuccine alfredo has been given the nickname â€Å"heart attack on a plate†. To adapt to these concerns ESM has began to offer low fat dressings and deserts. The vegetables have to be used in good time, as does much of the inventory so that contaminated/old food is not distributed. Dishes must be cleaned thoroughly so that germs do not transfer to other customers. ESM provides a fairly environmentally friendly establishment with reusable dishes. The biggest concern is over styrofoam take-out boxes. Customers follow through with the same routine every time they enter a restaurant. ESM encourages the employees to follow script but at the same time get comfortable and act interested in the customer. But that†s just it†¦ an act. Servers really are not interested in the lives of every stranger who steps foot in the building. Scripting brings employees and customers down to a primitive dehumanizing level of interaction. Turnover rates at ESM are not as high as those in the fast food industry however it is unlikely that the same person will ever serve you. There is little, impersonal contact between people. ESM offers benefits for staying with the company, employee incentives, and employee events to encourage longer lasting relationships with the company and fellow workers, thus increasing the likelihood of establishing a relationship with customers. ESM is a chain with franchises and individually owned stores. With its diversity of location it gives people the opportunity to recognize a familiar place and limiting the appeal to ever try anything new. Because ESM is the same no matter where you go you could virtually enter one restaurant and not know whether you were in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, or Phoenix, Arizona, USA. This is limiting the diversity of our world and proves that McDonaldization is homogenizing every aspect of society into one. All of these dehumanizing effects of McDonaldization apply to ESM and add to the irrationality that actually exists. â€Å"As McDonaldization comes to dominate ever more sectors of society, it will become ever less possible to ‘escape† from it† (Ritzer, 1996, 143). In other words McDonaldization imprisons people into an iron cage. Max Weber referred to it as the â€Å"iron cage of McDonaldization† implying that the systems of society will become so inhuman that the systems will eventually have control of everything. To make it in a McDonaldized society higher profits and lower costs will continue to be the goals of all businesses. The best ways to reach this goal is to conform to McDonaldization and strive for efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. ESM increases profit by taking each of these steps so that it can keep up with the competition. People have come to value the individual dimensions of McDonaldization and insist on relating to them even if they are not rewarded with economic gains. ESM has fallen into the trap and chosen locations on busy street corners surrounded by its competitors where a huge concentration of McDonaldization resides. The process of McDonaldization is so desirable that it is pursued as an end to itself (Ritzer, 1996, 145). Fordism is the ideals Henry Ford projected into society. Mass production of a single product, using a simple assembly line process, standardized routines, deskilling, and more demanding and expanding markets have arisen as the result of Fordism. ESM came out of the woodwork with the idea of bringing New York City†s Little Italy to any city. They became part of the restaurant market and had to adopt Fordism principles in order to reach high profitability with low costs. Post-Fordism arose later on and is characterized by more customized/specialized products, smaller systems for specialization, technologies that will produce a range of products, requiring more workers, which in turn leads to diversity once again. ESM has also incorporated post-Fordism characteristics. They use one computer system to run the security systems, kitchen appliances, run credit charges and place orders. They cater to each individual customer, giving them what they ask for. Finally, postmodernism, the idea that we are entering a more irrational and flexible era. The spread of different cultures throughout all of society is a product of postmodernism. ESM brought Little Italy to all kinds of cities. In fact, this American/Italian restaurant does not even exist in Italy. This society is superficial; people pass through McDonaldized systems without even being phased by them. No one walks into ESM and thinks; â€Å"wow this is a superficial McDonaldized system†. Every product and service has been presented before. ESM doesn†t have the original calamari al† diavolo sitting in a glass case to display. We now live in an n impersonal world. Even though employees approach customers with interest and a smile, they do not have a personal relationship with them. There no longer exists much emotion or expression in the postmodern society. We have to work hard at impressing people these days, having to always find something new and exciting to keep a customer hooked. Events of the past and present blur together. It is hard to distinguish between each visit to a restaurant, eventually all the visits blur together. Reproductive technologies have taken over. Computers and TV†s dominate industry and the lives of every individual. In the restaurant business if the computers were to crash†¦. there goes the payroll, power, cash registers; the entire operation is over in the blink of an eye. Just like nearly all institutions in our society ESM is trapped in an â€Å"iron cage of McDonaldization†. I believe McDonaldization has invaded every sector of society and as someone who grew up with McDonaldization at every corner of my life I would have to say it†s been productive. It has allowed society to evolve. Every aspect of life has consequences and downfalls; it†s just a matter of dealing with them. I like moving at a fast pace. Why do people have to make friends with every person they encounter? It†s nice to have companionship but not from your server in a restaurant. McDonaldization has served as a directing force, another stage in our history. We adapt to every turn the world makes and change is good. When all of the aspects of McDonaldization are intertwined society runs smoothly. East Side Mario†s was an example of a company that followed all the rules, aimed for a goal and made it. I believe that†s all that it should take in anything you do in life to make it, just follow the rules and reach for your goals. McDonaldization is a positive contribution to society.