Intellectual Capital and Competitiveness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Intellectual Capital and Competitiveness - Essay Example Not so long ago, business resources consisted of 80% tangible assets and resources. However, the picture today is quite different. By 1999, 80% of organizations’ assets were intangible (Andersen and Striukova, 2010). Today’s economy is characterized by intellectual property and assets forming a major part of business assets and resources. Therefore it is paramount to identify how intellectual capital and resources may influence management for the organization’s benefits. According to economic theorists, there are three major components of intellectual capital: human capital, structural capital and customer capital. Human capital represents employee competence, brainpower and knowledge (Berry, 2005). Customer capital on the other hand designates the organization’s relations with its suppliers, customers and distributors. Structural capital represents culture and systems, processes and practices (Bosworth and Webster, 2006). Recognizing the three components of intellectual capital is important for managers who are responsible for ensuring that the organization runs and performs as well as expected. Customer capital is one of the most important aspects of any organization. Customers are invaluable sources if organizational competitiveness in terms of market dominance, financial performance, dynamic capabilities and technological advantage. In today’s business environment, most companies have turned to e-business as a way to boost their businesses (Al-Ali, 2003). This means that a large percentage of an organization’s customers are found online. Managers need to evaluate the way they manage their entire customer capital so as to ensure that they maximize on this important part of the organization (Daum, 2010). This paper evaluates how an organization’s online and offline customer capital may impact on management, and how this influence affects the organization on a whole. Managing Customer Loyalty and Branding It is important for companies to develop strong long term relationships with their target customers so as to build a sustainable business (Choo and Bontis, 2002). ICT has changed the conventional methods used by managers to manage their intangible customer base asset. More and more people are opting to use the internet to do business. In some ways, the online customer base has some needs that are different from those of conventional customers (Bosworth and Webster, 2006). It is for this apparent reason why managers have to come up with ways to work within the new e-market environment so as to satisfy the needs of the customers. The creation of processes or platforms to build and maintain e-business customer loyalty is not a task that a manager can achieve by himself (Jolly and Philpott, 2004). He has to bring on board other customer relations experts to help him draft strategies that will appeal to most of the customers. The first thing that should be considered when creating customer loy alty management strategies is the organizations end goal (Daum, 2010). Although the aim of customer loyalty management is pegged on the idea that the customer has to be satisfied at all times, the way this is done should be determined mainly by the organizational objectives, that it, what the business aims to achieve in the short and long term. The operational front of an e-business should also be considered when managing e-business customers (Bryer, Lebson and Asbell, 2011). This means that the

Slavery and African Slave Traders Essay Example for Free

Slavery and African Slave Traders Essay 1. What was indentured servitude like in the colonies? Was it much different from being a slave?: Indentured servants either agreed to serve for a stated period usually about five years or upon arrival to the colonies they bargained with wealthy Englishmen, Dutchmen or High German, for how long they would serve for their passage money. In the colonies indentured servants where under strict control of their masters and were not given any compensation for their work. It was much like slavery but not everything was the same. Indenture was a contract and unlike slaves servants could sue their masters if they failed to fulfill their half of the bargain. Where as slaves had no civil rights at all. Also unlike slaves servants were able to be freed after they have completed their years of labor. Usually the former servant was entitled an outfit with that most servants become land owners. 2. Compare/contrast the Middle Passage to the voyage of indentured servants. In The Middle Passage they were not treated the same as were the people in The voyage of the Indentured Servants . The people in the Middle passage were beaten and deprived of food even after the crew was full from eating fish they did not give any to the slaves. The servants were allowed to bring their own food or drinks which most still went bad but they were not deprived entirely of food. As soon as the servants got to the colonies if they had paid their passage they were free to go unlike the slaves that were sold. The condition of living on both ships were much the same as far as the diseases and illness that plagued both ships. 3. Compare/contrast Olaudah Equiano’s document with Alexander Falconbridge’s. Are these documents reliable? Why or why not? Both documents are personal accounts of what each man viewed on the slave ships. The two documents spoke of disease, malnutrition, and punishment endured by the slaves. I believe both of the documents are a reliable source because they both spoke of relatively the same conditions as the other. Both of the documents spoke of African slave traders that traded and sold African slaves to the slave trade. In both passages they spoke of the much more cruel punishment the slaves would undergo from the white men as opposed to their prior black owners. 4. Whom did the slave trade serve? How many different types of people were involved? The slave trade served mainly American merchants. For the majority French, Dutch, English, and African slave traders. Slave ships would go abroad and capture as many people they could enslave.

Leadership and Management in Changing Context of Healthcare

Leadership and Management in Changing Context of Healthcare INTRODUCTION The National Health Service (NHS) Trusts face a range of challenges arising from a national approach to the modernisation of services as laid out in the NHS Plan. (DOH, 2000) The NHS Plan recognises that the NHS is capable of providing more effective and accessible care by the rationalisation of service delivery through merged organisations. Mergers illustrate the focus on organisational restructuring as the key lever for change as indicated by the ninety nine health care provider mergers in England between 1996 and 2001. (Fulop, Protsopsaltis, King, Allen, Hutchings, and Normand, 2004) However, in many cases, mergers have unexpected consequences and drawbacks including problems in integrating staff, services, systems and working practices, clashing organisational cultures and poor leadership capacity. This essay considers leadership and management in the context of a problematic merger of services from two hospitals onto one site. The essay focuses on the change management process within one department to highlight key leadership, team, and cultural issues that negatively affected the newly merged department. The microcosm of the department mirrors similar occurrences across the two merged hospitals. The essay concludes with a comment on the organisational consequences if a macro intervention is not implemented. Confidentiality has been preserved by anonymising the identity of the hospitals and departments concerned. BACKGROUND This essay explores a recent change process involving the creation of a psychiatric liaison team based in a NHS hospital Accident and Emergency Department. (A E) in January 2004. The change occurred because of the merger of two hospitals that resulted in a number of structural changes, including the amalgamation of a traditionally split emergency service into a one site A E department. The liaison team replaced the existing deliberate self-harm service which had operated in the one hospital for two decades. The new liaison team consisted of eight newly appointed G-grade mental health nurses, a team leader, and a consultant psychiatrist who had both previously worked in the deliberate self-harm service. The hours of operation initially were 08:00 to 22:00 and there were two nurses on duty on early and late shifts. During a four week induction period, the team participated in team building and training exercises and developed into a cohesive, effective group. The team created clear key performance indicators specific to the psychiatric liaison team, established an action plan to achieve the set objectives, and planned to carry out six-monthly reviews. The team developed a shared vision to provide high quality, person centred care to the A E department without breaching government’s four hour targets (DOH, 2001). The team leader’s leadership style was democratic, and she fostered collaboration and involvement within the team (Walton, 1999). The team members considered her an expert in the field, and respected her for it. In July 2004, the service manager attended a monthly team meeting. At the meeting she was informed that a major change was expected to the hours of operation. The service would be extended to a 24-hour service starting in September 2004. In order for the liaison team to cover a 24-hour roster there was initially be a reduction in the number of nurses on duty, however, more staff would be recruited if necessary after a six month service review. An exact date for the review was not given. The change had not been communicated as part of the strategy for the greater merger. The Department of Health (DOH) modernisation agenda for the NHS, (DOH, 2002) sets out to modernise services in the NHS, and introduced a three star rating scale against which each NHS Trust’s performance is compared against benchmark standards. Funding in turn is dependant on the star rating achieved. One such standard relates to delays in A E departments, and stipulates that mental health patients should have 24 hour access to services, and that patients should be assessed and treated within four hours of arrival. (DOH, 2001) The underlying rationale for the change was therefore that the psychiatric liaison service had to provide a 24-hour service in order for the hospital to comply with the benchmark. Management of the merged hospitals did not consider staff shortages or how the four hour target might affect the quality of service provision, particularly when staff are under constant pressure to discharge patients before they exceed the benchmark standard. (RCP, 2004) In th e service described above, reaching the necessary 98 % four hour target proved impossible, because the staff numbers did not match the requirements of the service. The service was therefore to be expanded without additional staff, implying not only changes in hours and shifts, but also changes in work patterns. The team members reacted negatively to how the change process was introduced. Concerns were expressed about the reduction in staff numbers and questions were raised as to how the staff would be able to cope. The sense of security and continuity were put at risk. (Walton, 1999) The service manager was not available to address the concerns due to an increased scope of responsibility because of the merger that was beyond her normal remit. Lack of two way communication between the manager and the employees meant that the manager lost a valuable opportunity to resolve the negative reactions, and laid the foundation for resistance to change (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2005). Within a month of the announcement, the team leader had resigned. A new team leader was appointed and was tasked to lead the team through the change. The team started gradually becoming fragmented, staff sickness rates soared, and morale plummeted. The situation reached a crisis point by December 2005, by which time two more staff members had resigned. The majority of staff had taken sick leave, and the psychiatric liaison service was left uncovered for several days. A number of mental health patients in A E waited for hours, sometimes all night, to be seen by a mental health professional. The A E department laid a formal complaint about the liaison team’s performance. In March 2005, following discussion with a union representative, the team took out a grievance against the team leader. The key issues of concern were the way the change process had been introduced, lack of two-way communication and the team leader’s unsuitable task-oriented, directive leadership style. The team leader was suspended and the Trust commenced a lengthy investigation into the change process. The investigation continues to date. ANALYSIS Cameron and Green (2004) suggest McKinsey’s 7S model as a diagnostic tool to identify interconnected and related aspects of organisational change. The model is problem rather than solution focussed, and hence useful for pointing out retrospectively why change did not work. The weakness of the model is that it does not explicit identify drivers from the external environment and accordingly key forces have been described by way of explanation. According to Burke and Litwin (1992), the external environment is any outside condition or situation that influences the performance of the organisation. Systems, Staff and Strategy Systems refer to standardised policies and mechanisms that facilitate work, primarily manifested in the organisations reward systems, management information systems, and in such control systems as performance appraisal, goal and budget development, and human resource allocation. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) Systems are the mechanisms through which strategy is achieved. Strategy is how the organisation intends to achieve a purpose over an extended time scale. Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington (2005) link it directly to environment (industry structure), organisational structure, and corporate culture. Leaders are the executives and managers providing overall organisational direction and serving as behavioural role models for all employees. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) The systems that the service had in place to support the staff prior to the merger had functioned efficiently. The psychiatric liaison team had monthly team meetings, weekly ward rounds and supervision, and twice daily handovers to ensure high quality service. Teams in this context mean â€Å"a group who share a common health goal and common objectives, determined by community needs, to the achievement of which each member of the team contributes, in accordance with his or her competencies and skill and in co-ordination with the functions of others.† (WHO, 1984) Under the previous team leader’s management, the team had achieved a mature and productive level of performance that fell within Tuckman’s model of team development of a performing team. (Mullins, 2002) The leader demonstrated characteristics of an effective team leader (e.g. good communication) and ensured that the team members’ views were passed on to the management. (Marquis and Huston, 2003) The team also developed team specific performance indicators to fit the Trust’s strategy, such as the goal to provide high quality care within four hours of service users presenting to the A E department. However, the new management of the merged hospitals did not take into account that the reduction in staff numbers would make it difficult for staff to find time to attend ward rounds and to supervise care. Lack of supervision had a negative impact on the quality of care provided, and staff shortages meant that the team did not reach the four-hour targets in A E department. The change process indicated a lack of sincere stakeholder consultation which would have alleviated the crisis in the department. (Iles and Sutherland, 2001) Structure and Style Structure is the arrangement of functions and people into specific areas and levels of responsibility, decision-making authority, communication, and relationships to assure effective implementation of the organisations mission and strategy. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) The NHS Leadership Qualities Framework (DOH, 2002, p34) suggests â€Å"leading change through people† with â€Å"effective and strategic influencing† is essential in a merger environment. This is supported by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) who suggest that strategic, transformational leadership is a key element within an organisation staffed by professionals and that a collaborative style is required to achieve transformational, lasting change. However, the new team leader’s leadership style was autocratic and the team members were no longer consulted about matters concerning it, which was inappropriate in team nursing approach associated with collaborative patient centric care. Marquis and Huston (2003) suggest that a democratic leadership style works best with a mature experienced team with shared responsibility and accountability. The change in leadership style meant that the team felt disempowered and uninvolved in decision making which did not allow ownership of the change process to emerge. Furthermore, the flow of information to the team slowed down and the team’s concerns about the change did not reach top management implying that communication channels in the new organisational structure were not functioning efficiently. Management style equally affects culture. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) state that culture is the â€Å"taken for granted† assumptions that are accepted by an organisation or team. These work routines are not explicit, but are essential for effective performance. Ignoring these as the new team leader did, reduces motivation and performance, and stiffens resistance to change. Skills Skills are the distinctive capabilities of key people. (Cameron and Green, 2003) The nature of the team membership implied a range of key skills interdependent on the other for effective performance. A problem area in the skills portfolio was information technology skills. The Trust managing the merged hospitals had introduced a Trust wide electronic patient record system in accordance with NHS requirements. (DOH, 2003) This was implemented simultaneously with the decision to extend the working hours. The change aimed to improve the service user experience by allowing staff a 24-hour access to service user’s care and crisis plans. (DOH, 2003) The staff shortage meant that team members did not receive appropriate training on the system and the use of the electronic patient record system became a source of frustration and confusion. Lack of computer skills contributed to staff’s frustration and negative attitudes with the change process. Superordinate goals Superordinate goals are the longer term vision of the organisation and the shared values and guiding principles that that shape the future of the organisation and motivation achievement of strategy. (Cameron and Green, 2003) The team’s superordinate goals were initially created during the four-week team building period and aligned with those of the larger organisation. The team’s vision was to provide high quality, service user centred care. The team also considered change as a natural part of organisational development. However, the team became increasingly resistant to change when it felt that the organisation did not really care about its employees, their concerns, and the ultimate reason for the organisation’s purpose, being the patient. DISCUSSION OF CHANGE PROCESS Change management is art of influencing people and organisations in a desired direction to achieve an agreed future state to the benefit of that organisation and its stakeholders. (Cameron and Green, 2003) A number of models can be used to model a change management process. A popular model is Kurt Lewin’s forcefield analysis. A forcefield analysis is a useful tool to understand the driving and resisting forces in a change situation as a basis for change management. This technique identifies forces that might work for the change process, and forces that are against the change. Lewin’s model suggests that once these conflicting forces are identified, it becomes easier to build on forces that work for the change and reduce forces that are against the change (Cameron and Green, 2003). The difficulty is the assessment of strength or duration of a force, partlicularly when the human dimension is considered. The key resisting force in the change process was a lack of staff and poor leadership. The change process under discussion was largely motivated by external factors. However, due to poor project planning, Trust management failed to consider the internal factors that had a major impact on the change. In particular, the management failed to involve the necessary stakeholders at a local level to increase ownership of the change thus failed to consider the human dimension (Walton, 1999 and DOH, 2004). The new team leader’s autocratic leadership style did not fit the requirements of the task, or the culture of the team and thus sowed the seeds of resistance to change. (Hogg and Vaughan, 2002). The poorly managed change process became costly to the Trust due to the loss of human resources, reduced staff morale and lowered the credibility of the management. The change left the psychiatric liaison team feeling betrayed, and individual team members traumatised. As the change process progressed, it became evident that a thorough analysis of current resources and various dimensions of organisational change had not been carried out (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2005). The management had not prepared a clear plan for launching and executing the change at a local level. The NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders’ Guide (DOH, 2004) stresses the importance of taking into consideration the human aspect when planning a change project. Similarly, Walton (1999) argues that change initiatives should be thought through and planned as far as possible taking into account the psychological bonds that staff form with their work groups and their organisation as a whole. It follows then that no precautions had been taken to address resistance to change. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) state that there should be a clear communication plan to state how information about the change project will be communicated inside and outside the organisation. The team members were not given an opportunity to challenge and test the change proposal, or clarify what aspects of the change they could or could not influence. (Walton, 1995) Fulop, Protsopsaltis et al, (2004) suggest that change project should be presented as an opportunity to improve the quality of performance and that clinicians should should be involved on a consultative basis. Team members were aware of the consequences of extending the hours of operation without increasing the resources, however, there were no systems in place to communicate these views to the Trust management, a key aspect of the change process. The lack of key stakeholder involvement in the change meant that the management did not have access to the psychiatric liaison team’s valuable experience on the immediate and wider implications of cutting down resources. (Henderson, 2002) The team members felt that their concerns about the lack of resources had not been taken seriously, and this inevitably led to a feeling that the Trust did not care about it’s employees or their views. Strong emotions such as anger and frustration were expressed by the team members. The lack of formal communication channels, meant that the team members took them out on each other. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) confirm that at times of change, rumours, gossip and storytelling increases in importance and that team members engage in countercommunication, thus unconsiously spreading distrust, suspicion and negativity which leads to lowered staff morale and job satisfaction. Although the rationale for change was clear to everyone, the change was executed at such short notice that the team members did not have time to develop strategies to deal with it. The NHS Improvement Leaders Guide to Managing the Human Dimension of Change (DOH, 2004) suggests that clinicians go through phases of shock, denial, anger, betrayal, conformance and understanding before they finally develop comitment to the change. The team members were left in a state of shock after the service manager’s initial announcement of the impending change in July 2004 and then moved into a state of denial. The general opinion was that the management would sooner or later realise that the change could not be executed without increasing the resources and accordingly delayed the change process until more staff would be employed. When there was no indication of this in the weeks that followed, the team members became demotivated. The team failed to move on to the next stages in their reaction s to change, and commitment to the change process did not develop. The team leader’s task-oriented leadership style did not suit the context of the change process, and partly contributed to it’s failing. Cameron and Green (2003) suggest that leadership will be most effective when the leader’s leadership style, the subordinates’ preferred leadership style and the requirements of the task fit together. A directive leadership style therefore is ineffective if the subordinates’ preferred leadership style is democratic, even though the task is well defined within tight parameters. In addition, Hogg and Vaughan (2002) argued that the most effective leaders are those who are able to combine task and socio-emotional leadership styles, and organise team members to work towards achieving goals at the same time promoting harmonious relationships. The new team leader paid no attention to the team culture and failed to communicate to management about the impending issue. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) suggest that power is a key element in a change process. Power is the ability of individuals to persuade or coerce others into following a course of action. The new team leader’s source of power was based on his hierarchal position in the Trust rather than on expertise or knowledge as shown by the previous team leader. The team members did not consider that the new team leader possessed appropriate expertise or personal characteristics. The team leader exercised coercion which was met with resistance by the team and for this reason the team members lacked respect for him. He was seen as an executor of decisions made by the management. The new team leader appeared to be more concerned about a successful completion of the change, was target driven and lacked sensitivity to employees feelings and concerns. The team leader used his positional power in a negative way, filtered information and gave the management a distorted view of how the staff were coping with the change process. The relationship between the team leader and the staff members eventually deteriorated to a point where communication broke down. Two staff members went on a long term sick leave, and two other staff members resigned. Following a meeting with a union representative in March 2005 the team members, including those who had resigned, made a decision to take grievance out against the teamleader. The key issues brought up in the meeting were the way the change had been introduced, poor project management and the team leader’s autocratic management style (Walton, 1999). CONCLUSION In conclusion, lack of stakeholder involvement, poor project planning and the teamleader’s unsuitable leadership style lead to the psychiatric liaison team becomimg fragmented, and resistant to change. No systems were put in place to ensure two-way communication with the employees. Lack of communication reduced the staff’s commitment to, and ownership of the change, and lead to a lower quality service provision and increased long waits in A E. The poorly managed change process became costly to the Trust due to loss of trained human resources, staff morale and credibility of the management. Similar incidents occurred in other areas of the hospital indicating that the change processes associated with the merger had created organisational wide problems that were indicative of failure at a top management and strategic level. Strategic leadership is a key element of the change process. A successful merger will only be achieved with consistent communication and the establishment of a vision that percolates throughout an organisation as a basis for effective change to realise the stated benefits of all stakeholders. References Brooks, I. (2002) The Role of Ritualistic Ceremonial in Removing Barriers between Subcultures in the NHS. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Volume 38, 4. Burke, W. W. and Litwin, G H. (1992) A Causal Model of Organisational Performance and Change. Journal of Management. Volume 18, 3. Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2004) Making Sense of Change Management. Kogan Page. Carr, D. K., Hard, K. J. and Trahant, W. J. (1996) Managing The Change Process: A Field Book For Change Agents, Consultants, Team Members And Re-Engineering Managers. McGraw-Hill. Crawford D., Rutter M. Thelwall, S. (2003) User Involvement In Change Management: A Review Of The Literature. National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation. Davies H. T. O., Nutley, S. M. and Mannion, R. (2000.) Organisational Culture and Quality of Health Care. Quality in Health Care. Volume 9. DOH (1998) A First Class Service: Quality in the New NHS. Department of Health. The Stationery Office DOH (2000) The NHS Plan. Department of Health. The Stationery Office DOH (2001) National Service Framework for Mental Health. Department of Health. The Stationery Office. DOH (2002) NHS Leadership Qualities Framework. www.nhsleadershipqualities.nhs.uk Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2002) Star Ratings System for Hospital Performance Has Improved Services For Patients. NHS Modernisation Agency. www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2003) National Programme for IT Announces Further Contracts to Run NHS Care Record Services. www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2004) NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders Guide. www.modern.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. ESHT. (2000) Safeguarding Hospitals in East Sussex: Consultation Document. www.esht.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. ESHT. (2002) Merger of Hastings and Rother NHS Trust and Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust. www.esht.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. Fulop, N., Protopsaltis, G. King, A. Allen, P. Hutchings, A. and Normand, C. (2002) Process and Impact of Mergers of NHS Trusts: Multicentre Case Study and Management Cost Analysis. British Medical Journal. Volume 325. Fulop, N., Protopsaltis, G. King, A. Allen, P. Hutchings, A. and Normand, C. (2004) Changing Organisations: Study of the context and Processes of Mergers of Healthcare Providers in England. Elsevier Ltd. Garside P. (1999) Evidence Based Mergers? British Medical Journal. Volume 318. Henderson, E. 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(2002) Case Study: Hastings and Rother NHS Trust. NHS Modernisation Agency. www.modern.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. RCP. (2004) Psychiatric Services To Accident And Emergency Departments. Royal College of Psychiatrists Council Report CR118. London. Stroebe, W. and Diehl, M. (1994) Why Groups Are Less Effective Than Their Members: On Productivity Losses In Idea-Generating Groups. European Review of Social Psychology, Volume 5. Studin, I. (1995) Strategic Healthcare Management. Irwin Professional Publishing. Thomas, N. (2004) The John Adair Handbook of Leadership and Management. Thorogood Publishing. UHCW. (2005). Coventry City Centre AE Department is Being Relocated to Walsgrave Hospital from Saturday 15th Jan. www.uhcw.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. Walton, M. (1995) Managing Yourself On and Off the Ward. Blackwell Science Ltd. Webster, R. (2001) An Assessment of the Substance Misuse Treatment Needs of WHO (1984) Glossary of Terms Used in the ‘Health for All. 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My Passion for Visual Arts and Web Design Essay -- Computer, Internet,

The term visual arts can have different meanings. To some it is a passion, to others it is just a job. To me it is just a new and growing hobby that I would love to turn into a passion and a job. Just recently I have been reunited with my love for art and design. When I was in 5th grade, I was put into an advanced drawing class against my will and I have grown to enjoy it and then became very good at drawing. Eventually I was exposed to the internet and web design. I found it very hard and quit. Recently my best friend started to become attatched with art and web design, which sparked the memory from when I used to enjoy art also. I decided that I should revive that passion for art that I had and use it to become a web designer. Web Design is almost like an art. It is the design of various information and services over the Internet. Luckily for businesses and customers, the information and services provided are done through the World Wide Web. As earlier mentioned, Web design is a form of art, meaning that art and organization are needed to form Web pages to fit particular business needs. Web sites have now progressed into a form of advertisements for most companies. This is where your Web design and art skills come into play. Also your knowledge of how the human eye travels across the page is very helpful meaning that you know what attracts people and makes them stop and look at your advertisement. This is why I want to pursue in visual arts to continue building upon my foundations and turn me into a professional designer. My goal is to become a web designer with a large variety of art knowledge to make my work on a professional level as well as shaping my art skills. In the graphic design field, my main goal is to learn how... ...rs that get the attention of teens can annoy older people and vise-versa. Colors might just be one of the most overlooked aspects of Graphic Design. This experience helped me make my decision because it enhanced my thirst for knowledge. Now knowing that I posses all the traits required to be a good graphic designer I want to pursue graphic design even more. After I realized that I want to take my art design computer talents into the real world to help bussinesses and my clients and in the end make money doing for what I enjoy. Im still interested in pursuing Graphic Design because its something I want to do and knowing more about it now, I want to be a graphic designer even more because companies also employ a lot of designers. There are still many things that I’m not prefect at and would love to enhance my abilities to be the best graphic designer I possibly can.

Captivity of Marine Mammals

Captivity of Marine Mammals The concern that is being presented is that of whether we should allow marine parks to stay open has been extensively debated in our community of late. It is a significant issue due to the fact that it concerns deep-seated moral and economic questions about the utilization of our native wildlife. There have been an extensive range of different arguments being pushed to the forefront about this issue. In this essay, the arguments will be considered of that for having marine parks and point to some of the problems with these views.Afterward, reasons will be put forward for the introduction of regulations which disallow these uncalled for and malicious institutions to be in existence. It has been argued that dolphin parks provide the only prospect for much of the public to see marine mammals. It is argued that most Australians live in cities and by no means get to see these animals. The claim is that marine parks give the Australians the opportunity to truly appreciate our wildlife.However, dolphins, whales and seals can be viewed in the wild at numeral places on the coast of Australia. In fact, there are a lot more places where they can be seen in the wild compared to those in which they can be seen in captivity. Furthermore, most Australians would have to endure less travel to get to these locations than they would to get to the marine parks on the Gold Coast. Also, places where wild marine mammals are located do not charge an inflated entry fee; these places are free to the public.It is debated that we need marine parks for scientific research and the knowledge which is obtained, can be useful for planning for the conservation of marine mammal species. However, park research is only useful for understanding imprisoned animals and is not constructive for education about animals in their natural habitat. The biology of dolphins and whales varies under marine park conditions. This has an effect on their diet, life spans and they are als o more prone to disease in this environment.Also, marine mammals in dolphin parks are trained and have their behavior modified, which means that their patterns of social behavior are changed. Therefore the research that is conducted at marine parks is commonly not dependable. It is the contention that marine parks attract a lot of foreign tourists, which goes on to emphasize that these tourists squander a lot of money, escalating our foreign exchange income and supplementing our national balance of payments. However, foreign tourists would still be attracted to visit Australia whether these facilities were open or not.It is shown in numerous surveys conducted of overseas tourists show that they come here for a variety of other reasons and not to visit places like SeaWorld. Tourists come here to see our native wildlife in its natural habitat and not to see it imprisoned in cages and cement pools. They have the ability to see those types of things without leaving their own country. Fu rthermore; we should be more concerned with the promotion of our beautiful natural environment to tourists and not the ugly concrete marine park venues.The widespread uses of marine mammal parks are downright cruel. The situation in which dolphins and whales are kept in these parks are very small, cramped ponds, when in the wild they are used to roving elongated distances across the seas. Furthermore, the concrete walls of the pools create an interference with the animals' sonar systems of communication. In addition, holding them captive in pools is a dreadful constraint of the freedom of fellow creatures that may have very elevated levels of intelligence and sophisticated language aptitude.Also, there are many acknowledged instances of marine mammals assisting humans who are in jeopardy at sea or helping fisherman with their work. The conclusion comes to the fact that these parks should be shut down, or at the very least, no new species should be captured for marine parks in the fu ture. Our society is no longer prepared to put up with uncalled for brutality to animals for the sake of science and entertainment. If we carry on with our past crimes against these creatures we will forever be remembered as cruel and inhuman by the generations of the future.

Reading Report The Glass Menagerie essays

Reading Report The Glass Menagerie essays If ever there were one literary work most strongly depicting the miseries of human life, Tennessee Williamss The Glass Menagerie would be it. Throughout the entire story are thoughts/feelings encountered by people in real life . . . although the play script-turned-novel presents those emotions to the audience surreptitiously. The story is of three not unusual characters Amanda, Tom, and Laura in a family. Amanda, the mother, is now without a husband trying to look after her children. The curious part is about how she treats them: she wants them to go out into the world and ensure their prosperous future lives . . . but also wants to have complete dominance over any and all aspects of their current lives. Much of the story revolves around this contradiction especially between Tom now a grown man in his middle-20s and Amanda. Amanda is relentlessly trying to get him to subject to her, but Tom desires, like his father, to go out into the world and seek his fortune (which is why Amandas husband wandered out constantly at night and then abruptly disappeared and never came back). Doubtlessly, Amanda fears Tom to do the same and therefore gets carried away in trying to prevent him from doing so. On the other hand, Amanda also has to fret over Laura, Toms elder by several years. Laura, having been influenced heavily from early childhood by a genetic birth defect, is now crippled also by having an inferiority complex, a disease of the mind that makes the person affected think very low of his/herself. The audience, however, does not get informed of this till near the end of the story. Anyways, Tom and Amanda argue for much of the story (mainly because of Toms endless exploits at night; saying he goes out to the movies but going gambling and getting involved in gang activities instead), but Amanda finally wins over Tom and forces him into her control again. Once sh ...

Eng 261 Spring 19 Professor Ramos Blog

Eng 261 Spring 19 Unit 1: 1865 1914

Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essays

Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essays Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essay Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essay Essay Topic: Literature One of the moments I find most successful dramatically is the moment when Barbara Proctor, during a Poetry lesson, starts crying when she is told to read aloud the last stanza of the poem La Belle Dame sans Merci. The poem has such a powerful impact on her that she cannot contain her fear and anxiety about the situation the world is going through. La Belle Dame sans Merci seems to affect Barbara more than anything else in the story. This may be because of several reasons but, above all, the fact is that the poem deals with a delicate issue: death. This may be the powerful connection which deeply affects her, death and the nuclear threat. One of the poems possible interpretations is that there is a knight who falls in love with a fairy but, against his hope that the woman loves him too, he is betrayed by her, causing his death. Placed in Barbaras context, this may be thought as if Barbara really hopes that there is not going to be a war, but in the end her hopes are senseless and the war actually takes place; this is what might make her feel terribly scared and unable to control her fear. Another interpretation of the story might be that the knight, lost in thoughts about the mysterious lady, forgets to live the real world and sees nothing in his life but the fairy, who finally disappears from his life, or perhaps, he disappears from the world, consumed by his desire to live a fantasy life. This can be connected to Barbaras settings since probably she cannot see anything ahead of her only the war, and what consequences it might bring. This is showed previously on the play; when Barbara says if there is a next week, which is evidence that she cannot see the world in the distant future, without a war; her whole life seems to hang by the possibility of a nuclear war. The poem appears to make Barbara understand what death really is, as she can see a concrete example, though imaginary. One last interpretation of the story might be that the knight falls in love with somebody he cannot understand at all: in language strange she said and which he is unfamiliar with: took me to her elfin grot. Barbaras situation seems to be the opposite of this: she is afraid of something that he fully understands and is familiar with the consequences it might bring. It seems like the poem makes her realise how serious is the worlds situation, and how she might not get out alive. I find this moment very effective because it is an excellent way to place Barbaras inevitable outbreak in a way that the reader can understand what she is feeling at the moment, because it compares a fantastic tale and a solid reality which have one topic in common. If Barbara had started crying when, for instance, she was alone with Bernadette, it would not have the same effect, as the reader may not value her sudden fear. The fact that Barbara manages to express her fear to the whole class is also very shocking and effective at the same time, because she is able to break the ice and talk without worrying about what others may say, as it seems that they all feel the same, even the teacher looks as if he is scared. The peak of this shocking moment is when Barbara partially recovers and puts into words her fear: Im frightened. Im frightened there is going to be a war. The reader can imagine what the atmosphere of the class is: complete silence, paralysed students. It is very effective the fact that all the students are expecting to hear the teachers opinion, as all the previous teachers do not take sides in the situation, but give them a neutral point of view. The authors choice of including this particular poem is suitable for the storys plot and for the setting of the Cuban missile crisis. It places the real conflict in an imaginary situation and, although the tale can be interpreted in several ways, it is very much related to death, something which concerns Barbara, her classmates and the teacher, who does not seem to know what to do.

Construction Legal Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Construction Legal Studies - Essay Example The government has developed the Joints Contract Tribunal (JCT) forms and representatives RIBA, which covers a wide range of topics in the construction of a building. There are forms that assist all parties involved in determining the price cost, lump sum, agreements between employer and builder, the construction of streets, additional provisions, etc. These forms are very detailed and if followed, will make the project easier, more manageable, and more acceptable to all. This will result in fewer risks of liabilities. If the employer abides by the Standard Form of Contract and follows his/her duties as listed, he/she will find that all will be more efficient. The architect, Clerk of Works, and others are specialists in their specific field and know better how to perform these duties. Therefore, the employer does not have to take on these responsibilities, will not what to do and what not to do, and will also know what his/her rights are in the case that the contractor becomes bankrupt. Finally, the employer will be less liable should a situation arise. The Joints Contract Tribunal (JCT) forms lay out the architect’s instructions and he must abide by the guidelines, which are set forth in Clause 4.1 of the form. To keep each other accountable, determinations by the employer and contractor are listed in complete details on Forms 27 and 28. The building contract should lay out all the roles, responsibilities, and rights of each and every employer and employee. ... If the employer abides by the Standard Form of Contract and follows his/her duties as listed, he/she will find that all will be more efficient. The architect, Clerk of Works, and others are specialists in their specific field and know better how to perform these duties. Therefore, the employer does not have to take on these responsibilities, will not what to do and what not to do, and will also know what his/her rights are in the case that the contractor becomes bankrupt. Finally, the employer will be less liable should a situation arise. The Joints Contract Tribunal (JCT) forms lay out the architect's instructions and he must abide by the guidelines, which are set forth in Clause 4.1 of the form. To keep each other accountable, determinations by the employer and contractor are listed in complete details on Forms 27 and 28. The building contract should lay out all the roles, responsibilities, and rights of each and every employer and employee. The Architect's instructions should follow the guidelines as listed in the JCT. The same applies for Architects 1 and 2 as should also apply for Employers 1, 2, and 3. All has been presented and laid out in JCT and if Construction Legal Studies 3 followed precisely whilst adding specific details pertaining to the specific project and staff. Another avenue to take in order to insure that the on-site construction is managed effectively to avoid problems is be familiar with the occasions that require the issuance of a certificate. Legal Studies (2002) lists the matters that require certificates to be issued: a. Practical Completion of the Works. (17.1) b. On making good defects. (17.4) c. Damage by frost due to injury which took place before the practical

Franchises as a Form of Business Start-up Essay

Franchises as a Form of Business Start-up - Essay Example The Franchisee finds it easier to pay the initial and the royalty fees which are way lower than the required capital cost. At a time when the cost has become an important aspect of the business, Franchising has become a winner for international companies that intend to penetrate as many markets as possible in their global business design strategy. McDonald's is among companies that have a franchise in an effort to expand their business within new markets. The organizations have profited from rapid expansion, use of effective business models and reduced cost entering new markets. From this note, franchising has become a popular practice due to its efficiency in business start-up. Â  In the modern business industry, organizations are experiencing pressure to start new businesses in the international market as one way of appealing to bigger geographical space. One major driver for expansionism in business is the saturation of local business markets. Before the 21st century, organization sharply focussed on the expansion of business within the local markets due to the increasing demand for products within such markets. However, the demand in the local markets has reached a plateau phase and organizations can make little profits from these markets (Francois & Wooton, 2010). When demand remains flat, organizations are at the risk of incurring losses as expenses go higher while the profit remains constant (Garg, Priem & Rasheed, 2013). Consequently, organizations are forced to move out of the local markets and consider entering into new markets. Therefore, fall in demand within local countries has forced organizations to consider appealing to a broader geographica l coverage as the only way to remain profitable. Â  Secondly, the upsurge of competition within local markets has motivated organizations to consider launching international business strategies.

000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

000 - Essay Example Moreover, this thesis looks more like a fact which cannot be argued. Yes, new power sources for cars appear, such as electric batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. But no one can argue that, this statement won’t cause a debate. The author could have restated the thesis and make it more debatable. For instance, â€Å"the appearance of these new power sources in the auto industry generates a number of questions concerning safety, effectiveness and convenience of their usage†. And then the author would continue his/her essay, describing pros and cons of these new sources. In this essay there are some good justifications that using electric engines and hydrogen fuel cells might be inconvenient and even dangerous. 2) The author’s counterarguments are the disadvantages of new power sources for cars. Throughout the author’s main point is that gas energy won’t be used in the near future, because it is expensive and pollutes the nature. He/she argues that electric engines and hydrogen fuel cells are better choices. There are some counterarguments, but they are scattered throughout the essay. The author claims, that despite the benefits of new sources, some problems may arise. With electric cars the problem is, firstly, the exorbitant price, and secondly, the need to charge it all the time. In the case of hydrogen fuel cells, the gallons might be explosive, so there is a need for a proper tool to fuel a car. The counterarguments are real – they are stated facts. 3) According to Joining Academic Conversations, there are several types of arguments: arguments from the heart, arguments based on value, on facts and reason, on character, proposals, stylish and humorous arguments. On the whole, I would say that his essay does not deserve the highest mark. It does not meet the standards of MLA format. Moreover, the thesis needs some revision, because it is simply restating a fact. And I would change the

(Can the writer help me decide) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

(Can the writer help me decide) - Essay Example ls of counterinsurgency in two articles, â€Å"The New (and Old) Classics of Counterinsurgency† and â€Å"Scholar, Pope, Soldier, Spy.† She depicts the idea of counterinsurgency that militarizes â€Å"social work† in other countries. Counterinsurgency is â€Å"armed social work† that merges military and media-rich storytelling that can undermine nationalist endeavors and control women and other local sectors through specific social and economic programs and projects and America-as-savior media narrative. Counterinsurgency is â€Å"armed social work† because it has the usual armed component that employs brutal strategies and tactics against local guerillas (Khalili â€Å"The New†16). Khalili narrates that counterinsurgency has its roots in colonization. She explains that many people naturally oppose foreign forces that intend to control their local political, social, and economic systems, and when this happens, one of the past counterinsurgent strategy is â€Å"butcher-and-bolt† (Khalili â€Å"Scholar† 427). It pertains to the swift and violent destroying of villages, crops, and livestock for the â€Å"infractions† of the locals, such as leading revolts or supporting insurgents (Khalili â€Å"Scholar† 427). Though not directly illustrated, this strategy is common in the counterinsurgency against Native Americans, whose lands were burned and whose people were nearly decimated. The â€Å"race† factor is clear because those who were not w hites were easily slaughtered, while their lands and remaining human and natural resources were taken away. Counterinsurgency, nevertheless, is more â€Å"social work† than armed warfare because the military and related personnel are trained to influence the hearts and minds of the local people, especially women and other marginalized sectors, through social programs and the media. By social work, this includes outright colonial administration. General David Petraeus acted as a colonial administrator in Mosul, Iraq, where he rebuilt some of the

Econometrics; empirical research paper; cigarette and education Essay

Econometrics; empirical research paper; cigarette and education - Essay Example Richter’s assertions confirm Godin’s argument that if at all an individual cumulate the number of hours/minutes spend while smoking and then compare with the level of output, then the relationship will not be proportional, rather lopsided. To determine the reliability and validity of the Richter’s and Godin’s assertions, data was collected and analyzed. The data variables were years of schooling, cigarettes smoked per day, years of smoking and annual income. The results from the collected data follow below; From the above multiple regression model with years of schooling as the dependent variable and years of smoking, annual income ($) and number of cigarettes smoked per day, the regression equation can be formulated as shown below; (Where Y = Number of smoking years, I = annual income and C = cigarettes smoked per day). From equation 1, a unit increase in years of smoking means that the person spend few year in school by a factor of 0.029 holding annual income and cigarettes smoked per day constant (controlling for annual income and cigarettes smoked per day constant). Further, an increase in cigarettes smoked per day by one cigarette means that the person spend few year in school by a factor of 0.016 holding annual income and years of smoking constant (controlling for annual income and years of smoking). The effect of years of schooling on the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the number of years is significant at 5% level of significance [t = -4.963, p

Tourism Trend Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Tourism Trend - Research Paper Example However, in recent years, Florida has been able to develop a novel niche in tourism business called Cruise Tourism. The paper focuses on this new upcoming tourism trend that is making rapid progress in Florida now. In recent years, Florida has become a major tourist destination for variety of reasons. Florida theme parks such as Busch Gardens at Tampa Bay, Magic Kingdom, SeaWorld and Typhoon Lagoon at Orlando, Epcot in Disney World offers a unique experience to the tourists. Most of the tourists make a dedicated visit to some of the theme parks in Florida. Sun shines in Tampa Bay, for almost 360 days in a year, lures tourists to come over there. Tampas only water park, Adventure Island spread in 30 acres also supplements tourists’ experiences that they never want to forget (Henthorn, 2014). It is widely known that the US economy suffered immensely due to financial crisis during 2008-2009; accordingly, American spending on leisure travel also declined. In view of the depressed economic scenario, the tourism industry had to extend Cruise tourism is going to be a future trend in Florida as disposable incomes of the people increases. As per Satchell (2013), Florida is the only state that has some of the busiest cruise ports that include Port Everglades, PortMiami, and Port Canaveral. These three ports in Florida generate around 36 percent of the total $19.6 billion business estimated nationwide. It is important to note that in 2012 almost 60% of the cruise tourists began their voyage from Florida registering a 2.6 percent increase over 2011. In 2011, 13.5 million passengers took advantage of cruise ship vacation. Port Miami and Port Everglades have become top cruise ship organizing port in Florida. Port Everglades can boast of having the worlds largest cruise ship – a 225,000-ton Royal Caribbean mega ship called the Oasis of

(Can the writer help me decide) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

(Can the writer help me decide) - Essay Example ls of counterinsurgency in two articles, â€Å"The New (and Old) Classics of Counterinsurgency† and â€Å"Scholar, Pope, Soldier, Spy.† She depicts the idea of counterinsurgency that militarizes â€Å"social work† in other countries. Counterinsurgency is â€Å"armed social work† that merges military and media-rich storytelling that can undermine nationalist endeavors and control women and other local sectors through specific social and economic programs and projects and America-as-savior media narrative. Counterinsurgency is â€Å"armed social work† because it has the usual armed component that employs brutal strategies and tactics against local guerillas (Khalili â€Å"The New†16). Khalili narrates that counterinsurgency has its roots in colonization. She explains that many people naturally oppose foreign forces that intend to control their local political, social, and economic systems, and when this happens, one of the past counterinsurgent strategy is â€Å"butcher-and-bolt† (Khalili â€Å"Scholar† 427). It pertains to the swift and violent destroying of villages, crops, and livestock for the â€Å"infractions† of the locals, such as leading revolts or supporting insurgents (Khalili â€Å"Scholar† 427). Though not directly illustrated, this strategy is common in the counterinsurgency against Native Americans, whose lands were burned and whose people were nearly decimated. The â€Å"race† factor is clear because those who were not w hites were easily slaughtered, while their lands and remaining human and natural resources were taken away. Counterinsurgency, nevertheless, is more â€Å"social work† than armed warfare because the military and related personnel are trained to influence the hearts and minds of the local people, especially women and other marginalized sectors, through social programs and the media. By social work, this includes outright colonial administration. General David Petraeus acted as a colonial administrator in Mosul, Iraq, where he rebuilt some of the

Tourism Trend Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Tourism Trend - Research Paper Example However, in recent years, Florida has been able to develop a novel niche in tourism business called Cruise Tourism. The paper focuses on this new upcoming tourism trend that is making rapid progress in Florida now. In recent years, Florida has become a major tourist destination for variety of reasons. Florida theme parks such as Busch Gardens at Tampa Bay, Magic Kingdom, SeaWorld and Typhoon Lagoon at Orlando, Epcot in Disney World offers a unique experience to the tourists. Most of the tourists make a dedicated visit to some of the theme parks in Florida. Sun shines in Tampa Bay, for almost 360 days in a year, lures tourists to come over there. Tampas only water park, Adventure Island spread in 30 acres also supplements tourists’ experiences that they never want to forget (Henthorn, 2014). It is widely known that the US economy suffered immensely due to financial crisis during 2008-2009; accordingly, American spending on leisure travel also declined. In view of the depressed economic scenario, the tourism industry had to extend Cruise tourism is going to be a future trend in Florida as disposable incomes of the people increases. As per Satchell (2013), Florida is the only state that has some of the busiest cruise ports that include Port Everglades, PortMiami, and Port Canaveral. These three ports in Florida generate around 36 percent of the total $19.6 billion business estimated nationwide. It is important to note that in 2012 almost 60% of the cruise tourists began their voyage from Florida registering a 2.6 percent increase over 2011. In 2011, 13.5 million passengers took advantage of cruise ship vacation. Port Miami and Port Everglades have become top cruise ship organizing port in Florida. Port Everglades can boast of having the worlds largest cruise ship – a 225,000-ton Royal Caribbean mega ship called the Oasis of

Case of Genie Essay Example for Free

Case of Genie Essay 1.Describe the case of Genie. What happened to her? Why is this case important? Genie was left in extreme isolation. She was kept in a back bedroom,tied to a toilet. She received little stimulation of any kind and was fed baby food.She was given no visual or other sensory stimulation.This case shows that infancy and childhood are critical times for brain development. 2.What have scientists learned about the way that the brain develops in children? Describe how this development happens. They have learned that there are critical periods for brain development. They discovered that parents fill a vital role in the development of their child’s brain through their interactions with the child.Parents and caregivers must provide proper stimulation to help develop connections. Scientists believed that childrens brains were predetermined to a great extent in terms of how they would develop. However, scientists now know that an infants experiences help determine how connections are formed and which pathways will develop in the brain. Thus, rather than being predetermined, an infants brain is a work in progress, influenced not only by his or her genetics, but also the surrounding world. 3.Describe how speech generating devices work. Explain the importance of augmentive communication. Speech generating devices are electronic devices that help individuals communicate verbally. Augmentive communication is important because it helps individuals produce or comprehend written or spoken language.These communication devices can be important tools to help children with speech difficulties communicate with parents, teachers, friends, and others in their lives Critical Thinking Questions 1.What do scientists mean when they say that there are critical periods for brain development? Why are these periods important? When scientist say that there are critical periods for brain development they  mean that if a child misses that period theyll be noticeably different from others in the same age group. These periods are important because they’ll need them all throughout life.

Staples: PESTEL Analysis and Five Forces Model

Staples: PESTEL Analysis and Five Forces Model Staples Inc., a US based office products company, has been chosen for this report which carries out an analysis of the company and its subordinate offering a range of office supplies, business machines, technology products, office furniture, and business services with about 91,000 employees. Founded by Tom Stemberg, Staples opened the worlds first office supply superstore in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston in 1986. In 1989, Staples made an initial public offering (IPO) of $36 million and launched its catalog delivery service, Staples Direct. In three years time, Staples went for diversifying its portfolio and acquired 42% ownership in Business Depot, a Canadian company, in 1993 and the next year the company took over Business Depot with 100% stake. Later, Staples purchased its European partner Kingfisher and Maxi-Papier in 1996. In the same year, the company became a Fortune 500 company (Datamonitor, 2010). The strong growth in revenue is attributed to the attachment of Corporate Express, whose revenues are included in the companys Financial Year. On its successful venture, Staples signed a marketing agreement with Yahoo! and became an office supply merchant on Yahoo! small business portal in 2000. In the consecutive year, the company entered into an agreement with an online legal resource for consumers and small businesses, MyCounsel.com, and with ePolicy.com Insurance Services. Staples has been very successful in expanding its worldwide operations even in the Asian markets. In this continuation, the company entered the $10 billion office products market in India through a joint venture with Pantaloon Retail in 2007, and its new office products business unit, Future Office. The very next year, Staples opened its Copy Print Shop, a new store format in New York City, designed to meet customers copy and print needs. During the same year, the company opened its first store in Houston, Texas. Very recently, Staples Advantage launched the Staples Technology Solutions in February 2010 which offers business customers from small and medium-sized businesses to Fortune 1000 corporations, access to a full range of offerings from data center solutions and printer fleet management services to network services and everyday desktop technology products (Datamonitor, 2010). Task 1: Review and determine the organizational strategic aims and objectives 1.1 strategic aims and objectives The strategic aim of a company is a broad statement of the strategic outcomes which it plans to achieve. At times the strategic aim of a company is also called company goals. The strategic aim is what the organization wants to accomplish (Chartered Management Institute, 2009). Accordingly, the aim of Staples is to be an employer and neighbor of choice, to differentiate its brand, to grow profitably and responsibly, carry out its business activities ethically, work in a sustainable manner, give job skills and education opportunities to its employees, leverage diversity, create sustainable change in its local communities. The aim of Staples is be a committed company that shows its obligation to the environment, practices diversity and be an ethical company. It wants to be a global in its operations and grow financially. It wants to be a great employer, corporate citizen and neighbor (Staples, 2007). According to Chartered Management Institute (2009), the strategic objectives of a company are the specific outcomes and are most often quantified. Objectives are the aims of the company which are broken down and are more concrete. Particularly, the strategic objectives of Staples are (a) to make it easy for customers to recycle eWaste, (b) to build greener buildings, (c) to donate $15 million to community related projects, (d) to deepen commitment to environmentally responsible products, (e) to Qualify 500 U.S. retail stores to the ENERGY STARÂÂ ® standard for retail store standard for energy efficient performance by the end of 2011, (f) to save $10 million in costs through energy conservation programs in the U.S. by the end of 2011 (Staples, 2007). Staples objectives follow the SMART criteria as they are clearly written. They are measurable as the Compensation Committee assesses the extent to which Staples achieves these objectives. They are achievable as Staples analyses the resources it has before setting them. They are realistic as the company has analyzed the skills it posses before setting them. Staples has also aligned these objectives with its long-term vision. Staples objectives are time-bound as the company sets the timescales by which it has to achieve these objectives (Staples, 2007). 1.2 Components of strategic plan The components of the strategic plan include a companys mission, vision, values, its objectives, its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), its action planning, implementation process and how it measures and evaluates the achievement of its objectives (Friel, 2009). Mission statement: The mission statement of Staples is very clear and states their motive in following few lines: Staples Soul reflects commitment to corporate responsibility what moves us to embrace diversity, sustain the environment, give back to our communities, and practice sound ethics. Linking these values with our global business strategy and operations contributes to our financial success and helps us become a great employer, corporate citizen, and neighbor (Staples, 2007). Vision statement: Staples vision statement elaborates responsible aspects of company in this way: Staples corporate soul is centered on a rock solid belief in social responsibility and the desire to make a positive impact on our associates, customers, and the world. We act responsibly and with integrity, conducting our global business as a great employer, corporate citizen and neighbor. Staples soul thrives in the fair treatment of our diverse and talented associates, in our environmental conscience, in giving back to our communities and in our sound business ethics(Staples, 2010). Value Statement: Staples aims at greater value to its customers therefore its productivity, revenues are as high as customer satisfaction and goodwill. Staples gets higher quality consumer data from its electronic procurement system, lower costs due to lower maintenance/customer service/and ordering costs, ability to lock in customers through dependency on their ordering system (switching costs), larger product offering of 80k items, and differentiation of services from its competitors. (Staples 2010a). Considering New York, Staples is celebrating its 20th anniversary with $16 billion in revenue, 11 percent compounded growth and 1,780 stores in 21 countries. According to the CEO of Staples, consumer electronics is a big part of our business and has been one of the most rapidly growing categories, therefore main forces lies upon these goods. (Staples, 2010). Staples is taking growth in its business and maintains its position in the market. In particular, office supplies and ink cartridges, signify 40 percent of the retail mix, along with notebook computers leading the sector in enhanced growth rate. Miles recognize that better attachment selling of more profitable products like cables and ink is much better corporate strategy rather then selling individual items. Complete Care Plans, Attachments which include variety of discounts according to nature of product is major present strategy of Staples to maximize profits, on other hand the corporate looks forward to target maximum markets along with wide range of brands and generating staples compatible versions of these brands (Staples, 2010). Finally, Staples measures and evaluates the achievement of its aims and objectives through the Compensation Committee. Some 90 days after the beginning of the fiscal year, the Compensation Committee establishes goals and objectives for that fiscal year. The responsibility for the achievement of these goals and objectives rests with the Compensation Committee (Staples, 2009). 1.3 Factors affecting the strategic plan The strategy of Staples is affected by the external environment. Staples external environment includes political, economic, social and technological factors that can impacts on its strategy. Staples strategic plan is affected by its internal environment. Staples internal environment includes its competitors, customers, suppliers, its Board of Directors (BoD), its corporate culture and its employees. Staples capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats also affect its strategic plan. Staples strategic plan is affected by the nature and kind of products and service it provides to its customers, its target customers, the market it serves, the degree of innovation it practices and how it faces the challenges that affect its operations (Bracken, 2006). The factors highlighted in the SWOT analysis affect Staples strategic plan. Staples Inc SWOT (S)trengths Staples Inc is a office product company which operates in three segments: delivery, retail and international segment. While the operations of delivery and retail segments are concentrated in the US and Canada, the international segment has its operations worldwide covering 23 other countries. The company has its strength in its international segment, which contributes to almost 22% of the companys revenue. Staples recorded higher comparable store sales growth (comp growth), for more than a year, than its close competitors as Office Depot and OfficeMax. Operating margin, which represents income as a percentage of sales, of Staples has witnessed an increase for the first time in Q1 of 2010 since Q3 of 2007. The acquisition of Corporate Express enhanced Stapless position in several fronts. The addition of Corporate Express expanded the companys offerings into new areas and enhanced the offerings in existing areas (Datamonitor, 2010). (W)eaknesses The capital structure of Staples consists of debt which has increased by close to 27% in FY2010 compared to FY2009. The company has long-term debt and debt service requirements with $500 million 7.75% notes due in April 2011, $325 million 7.375% notes due in October 2012 and $1.5 billion 9.75% notes due in January 2014 (Datamonitor, 2010). (O)pportunities Staples is successfully getting the average order size up in the Corporate Express delivery business, despite the economic backdrop and it is now around $180, up from $160 at the time of the acquisition. In addition to direct selling and retail stores, Staples generates revenues through the internet on its web portal. The performance of Staples Business Delivery and North American Retail stores is dependent on the performance of the small business segment in the US (Datamonitor, 2010). (T)hreats Strong relationship exists between macro trends and office sales. Office product companies are late cycle plays. For most corporations, office products fall under General Administration expenses. Other than small and large businesses, Staples also serves white-collar workers. The level of employment among white-collar workers, the end-users for Staples, has an impact on the demand for office products. The economic situation in China and Europe continue to be a cause of concern as it would have direct impact on the profitability of Staples.The unemployment rate in China has been on a sequential rise. From, 4% in Q32008, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in Q22009 and continued at that level till January 2010 (Datamonitor, 2010). In addition to SWOT analysis, the factors highlighted in the PESTEL and Porters Five Forces model are used as analytical tools to achieve a more complete understanding of the strategic aims and objectives. PESTEL Analysis for Staples Inc Political Factors: Considering the political aspect of Staples Inc, the most prominent areas are stated below. As Staples manufactures goods in china, the rising fuel costs due to political factors effects supply chain of Staples forcing to increase its product prices and therefore, effecting customers and profitability. However, on the other side, the ongoing practice of price fixing amongst the big four retailers within the UK can have some negative impact to the industry in general and Staples in particular. Staples monopolistic nature in office supplies has created deep concerns among its customers. Staples is the most popular among the students who buy laptops, printers and other student accessories, but due to political influence and cutting down student inflow in England, staples is expected to see decrease in profits. Beside that, in the UK, the Government is to decrease the rate of corporation tax from 30% to 28%, which will save big companies like Staples significant sums o f money (Staples, 2011). Economic Factors: Considering the economic factors of the staples, the following areas are identified. Recession lead higher numbers of unemployment.ÂÂ   As one of the largest and fastest growing retailers, Staples can provide more jobs therefore helping to reduce the levels of unemployment. Recession may also effect the profit margins of the company, as it decrease the purchasing power of consumers and though they will still buy the essentials they may be more cautious. They might avoid buying the luxury items, something that has a greater profit margin for Staples. Online buying competition within every segment of the retail sector has lead to retailers giving a lot of incentives to the consumers. Which ultimately affects Staples profit levels as the prices have to be brought down to meet competition. Increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 15% to 17.5% has created negative impact on profits as Staples was unable to increase prices to cover the profits (Staples, 2007). Social Factors: Staples appears to be committed to environmental factors as the below mentioned lines states positive about the company behavior. Environmental stewardship and maintainable business practices continue to be important aspect at Staples. The company is offering products and services to help customers preserve natural resources and reduce their environmental footprint. The major commitment to the environment is in the purchase and promotion of products having post-consumer recycled materials; recycling initiatives; energy conservation and renewable power procurement; and environmental education initiatives for customers and associates. Staples Inc has implemented a variety of programs to make it easy for customers to recycle. The recycling facilities by Staples regarding ink and toner cartridges in the US, UK and Canada, helps to benefit the local schools through Staples Recycle for Education, a program that donates $1 to public education charities and schools for every eligible used cartridge that is recycled at more than 1,200 Staples stores. The company is considering the new ways to recycle the products to utilize the minimum energy and maximize the safety of environment, which helps to preserve the economys need of power generating resources. Staples keeping in consideration Humanity, Donated huge sum of money to Haiti victims in collaboration of Red cress society and any one who desires to donate can easily donate in any Staples store (Staples, 2011). Technological Factors: For the convenience of consumer, Staples also introduces the self checkout machines, employed by Staples in USA, which can help solve queue up problem. Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technology is used in Staples which significantly benefits to the supply chain of Staples. This technology leads more efficient inventory handling. Staples uses advance machines to manufacture its brands and compatible ones which assure quality satisfaction (Staples, 2011). Environmental Factors: A lot of emphasis of Staples has been on the role of reducing carbon footprint and increasing energy efficiency. Staples are a multicultural organization where proper career planning of all associates is carried out without any racism or cultural issues. Staples Foundation for Learning sponsored a grant in 2004 to Earth Force, an organization which provides teachers an innovative multi-disciplinary curriculum focused on environmental education for middle school students (Staples, 2011). Legal Factors: Staples strictly follow all environmental regulations and promotes environmental education. Staples strictly follows police regulations regarding selling of knives, scissors, glues which must not be sold to children under 21 years of age (Staples, 2011). Porters Five Forces Analysis Porters (1985) Five Force Analysis deals with factors outside an industry that influence the nature of competition within it, the forces that influence the way in which firms compete, therefore industrys possible profitability is conducted in Porters Five Forces model. Every business must understand the activities of its industries and markets in order to compete effectively in the marketplace. (peerpapers.com) Staples Inc Five Forces Analysis The business of Staples Inc can be suited into the Five Forces analysis as follows: Competitive Rivalry Office-max, Office-Depot, Currys, are major Competitors in market. Online buying facility and online stores. Small shops in Universities. Switching Cost for Staples is very high. Staples manufactures and sells variety of office accessories, which many rivals dont. Threat of New Entry Small shops are opening in universities Staples manufactures and sell its own brands, with minimum cost. Staples Recycles material in its manufacturing premises with less cost. Threat of Substitution Staples Specializes in unique and multiple brands with wide range of products. Staples manufacture many compatibles of brands such as Epson, Lexmark and cannon Cartages. Brand loyalty of customers due to low price Buyer Power Staples Manufactures its own products at cheap rates. Facilities such as in-store NUS discount and special offers Less Switching power to buyer Customer Doesnt know production cost of products. Products are of strategic importance to customers Supplier Power Staples Manufactures and supplies to its stores on its own. Less supplier power available in hands of supplier. Switching cost from one to another supplier is low Source: Staples (2011, 2007, 2010) Task 2: Identify and analyze progress towards organizational strategic aims and objectives 2.1 Application of strategic analysis tools Staples can monitor progress towards achievement of its strategic aims and objectives by using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach. BSC was first proposed by Norton and Kaplan (1996) who claim that it helps the company translate its strategy into measurable actions. Therefore, McCarthy and Chapman (2009) describe BSC as a strategic planning and management system used to align business activities to the vision statement of an organization. It can measure a teams performance on four perspectives such as financial perspective, customer perspective, internal business process perspective and learning and growth perspective. 2.2 Review and assess the expectations of all stakeholders and their influence upon the organizational strategy Stakeholder analysis is used to review and assess the expectations of all stakeholders and their influence on organizational strategy. Stakeholder analysis is a methodology used to facilitate policy and reform processes by keeping in consideration the needs of those who have a stake or an interest in the reforms. With information on Stakeholders, their interests, and their capacity to oppose reform, reform advocates can choose how to best adjust them, thus making sure that policies adopted are politically realistic and sustainable (Johnson et al, 2008). Stakeholder Impact Analysis for Staples Inc Staples stakeholders are its shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, investors and the government. Each Stake holder show sincere relationship with staples. This is further elaborated as follows: Shareholders: There sincere relationship even during recession kept the company standing while many other superstores couldnt bear it. Employees: All company employees are dedicated to there work and it is due to there friendly environment which keeps them motivated to generate profits for company rather then making unions and creating problems. Customer: Customers are dedicated to staples brand due to cheep product and reliability, therefore company generates huge revenues each year. Investors: All brands rely upon staples. From Technology to office supplies variety of brands can be seen. All investors trust upon staples policies and future growth. Environmentalist: Staples promotes environmental consciousness among people, therefore it is never objected by environmentalists. Government: Staples generates huge revenue therefore provides huge tax amounts, which gives government shelter to Staples. 2.3 Analyze, interpret and produce a structured evaluation of the organizational strategic position Strategic capability analysis is used to analyze, interpret and produce a structured evaluation of Staples strategic position. Staples Resource and Competence Analysis It is the analysis of competencies, knowledge, and skills that Staples Inc can apply to achieve success in a competitive environment. This concept is derived from the core competencies approach to corporate strategy. This will encompass the need to adjust and change in order to fit the changing environment and the need to stretch to exploit organizational resources in ways that are innovative, or that other organizations will find it hard to compete. Strategic Capability Ways to Build on the Competency/Resource Competences Core Competencies Manufacturing capability. Branding and Expansion. World wide Stores and access. Transforming its Supply Chain. Cheap production Threshold Competencies Customer satisfaction and value Customer service, online and offline. Resources Unique Resources Cheep production I.T. use for inventory management. Research and development. Wide range of brands. Threshold Resources IT outsourcing Production in china at low cost Staples Inc recognizes that it has to find new ways to drive sustainable growth and profitability. The area of major attention is that Staples has been improving its supply chain management activities. Staples goal was to widen its lead over competitors in all key industry areas, by improving supply chain execution, and thereby decreasing costs while increasing productivity and reliability and ensuring that customers could always find products they wanted on store shelves. Manufacturing products and differentiated product are the key core competencies of Staples. Task 3: Determination and Evaluate of Strategic Options 3.1 Identification and development of strategic options Internal Environmental Analysis Based on the internal environmental analysis (SWOT analysis) of Staples, it appears that the company has unique competencies in office supplies business. Staples manufacturing competency, multiple retail channels and strong distribution network target different customer segments efficiently. Whereas threat of new entrants in shape of small stores at key areas and online buying trend from cheep online stores are major threat to staples. External Environmental Analysis Furthermore the external environmental analysis (PESTEL analysis) for Staples shows that increase in VAT, reducing inflow of international students and credit crunch; and Porter`s Five Force analysis showing increasing threat of new entrants in shape of small shops in universities and local areas and increase in online buying trend with cheaper price; along with stakeholder`s analysis reflecting total dependence upon employees and customers are weak aspects of Staples. Suggested Corporate Strategy for Staples Beside that the above analyses, since Staples produces goods at competitively low-cost and has operations worldwide, propose that Staples should adopt Cost Leadership strategy of Porter`s Generic Strategies. Rationalization of Cost-Leadership as the Corporate Strategy: Cost-leadership strategy emphasizes efficiency which is based on avoiding unnecessary or non-value adding activities that consume organizational resources but cannot add any value for which customers are willing to pay. Along with this philosophy, economies of scale is the guiding policy for implementing cost-leadership strategy as it requires the company to produce items at the lowest possible cost among all competitors of the similar products. By producing high volumes of standardized products, the firm will take advantage of economies of scale and experience learning curve effects. Since products are produced at a relatively low cost and made available to a very large customer base, along with access to raw materials, components, labor, and other important inputs, cost leadership approach is most suitable for Staples. Successful implementation of this approach is expected because of Staples following capabilities: Good process engineering skill system of Staples. Office Supplies products designed for ease of manufacture Sustained access to cost-effective capital Good and close supervision of labor Staples tight cost control Incentives based on quantitative targets Always ensuring that the costs are kept at the minimum possible level. 3.2 Determine and justify the strategic option The above new corporate strategy for Staples can be implemented by carrying out the functional strategies discussed below. Functional Strategy: Since there are other rivals in the market, however, their concentration is focused upon food, clothes, and other products rather then office supplies, therefore Staples has acquired major position in market. Consequently, the corporate strategy of cost- leadership must be remained focused and maintained. Staples should adopt following functional strategies for its relevant departments in order to implement this corporate strategy of cost leadership: Research and Development for minimizing costs. (RD Department) Online Selling, Marketing, maintaining goodwill and customer service (Marketing Department). Branding and expansion (Purchase Department) Functional Strategy: Research and Development for minimizing costs Staples manufactures in China where cost of production isrelatively low due to availability of cheaper raw materials and labor, while on the other hand, Staples needs to concentrate on research and development facility to minimize cost at such a level where rivalry influence can be easily coped, if required. Action Plans Performance Indicators 1) Exploring more countries for much cheaper production. (During one year period) Number of countries found, comparing production costs with current product costs. 2) Opening production facility to produce raw material for finished goods. (During Two Year Period) Number of Factories established. Functional Strategy:Online Selling, Mraketing, maintaining goodwill and customer service. Staples should advertiseits online buying facility to students and offices. In addition, maintaining good customer service is essential to keep Staples goodwill intact and even stronger. This will eliminate rivalry influence and help maintain cost leadership and monopolistic influence. Action Plans Performance Indicators 1) Awareness Campaigns in universities, offices and exhibitions that Staples provide cheep and quality products. (During 6month period) Number of Campaigns launched, customer feed back and sales figures. 2) Participation in Community and social projects. (During Two Year Period). Number of Projects undertaken. Functional Strategy:Branding and expansion Staples must open stores all over the world to maintain its influence, adding more brands will satisfy customers as they can find everything under one roof. This will ultimately make Staples a popular brand and its cost leadership influence will be enhanced. Action Plans Performance Indicators 1) Expanding brands and producing its compatible ones. (During 6month period) Numbers of brands added in Staples and its compatibles. 2) Opening Stores in major parts of world. (During 2 years Period) Number of Stores opened worldwide. 3) Opening Small shops and stores in universities and offices will remove small rivals from market. (During 1 year Period) Number of small shops and stores opened in these places. Staples Inc, for its manufacturing capability and unique products, can easily integrate in various cities of the world. With expansion and branding it can obtain huge amount of market share thus eliminating rivalry influence. With its skilled RD Department, Staples can manufacture compatible goods for various brands at cheap rates. They have got a great management team with motivated team work and great leadership style. This differentiates Staples as a unique store which not only provides eco-friendly products but possess a good reputation among its customers. It must focus upon its vision, mission and values in order to maintain such reputation. Conclusion The strategic analysis of Staples Inc., reveals that it has been enjoying a very well is a well established company which is known for providing quality products to its customers. By careful consideration of its external and internal environment and keeping in mind the interests of its stakeholders, it has been able to establish itself as a leader in the office supplies business. Staples is competent in carrying out its business activities. It is recommended that it applies the new corporate strategy highlighted in this report to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace for a long sustainable period.

Gullivers Travels :: essays research papers

The Evolution of Gulliver In Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, the main character, Gulliver, embarks on numerous journeys bringing him to strange lands and affecting his views of the world around him. His response to each voyage differ as do his ideas and reactions to the environment in which he is residing. Gulliver begins his expeditions with a very social and open behavior while possessing a general acceptance of any newly encountered beings. But by the end of the fourth voyage, Gulliver leans toward a more anti-social attitude which was derived from the hatred and disgust he has for human beings, the “Yahoos.';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As for the first voyage to Lilliput, Gulliver acts very sociable with all of the different creatures he comes in contact with. Once he arrives on the unknown island, he begins to explore the land around him. After being brought into the city, Gulliver remains subservient towards the Lilliputians by staying chained up near his hut without acting out and attempting to break free which would have most likely been a successful attempt. This subservience created enough trust of the “Man-Mountain'; by the Lilliputian king that it was declared that his liberty hath been granted when he could have easily crushed and killed these little people. Gulliver is also very eager to be able to interact with the creatures and this is evident when in a few weeks he “made a great progress in learning their language'; (68). He is also quite helpful and there are two definitive cases of Gulliver displaying this helpfulness in the country of Lilliput. The first occurs when he obeys the orders of the king to destroy his opposition’s navy and ends up stringing up the navy of Blefuscu rendering them helpless. Then he saves the fiery palace by relieving himself onto it, extinguishing the flames. As you can see throughout the first voyage, Gulliver was very sociable and friendly to those he came in contact with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An anti-social behavior is then exhibited near the end of the last voyage, after he leaves the country of the Houyhnhnms, because of his new found disgust and hatred for the rest of the world especially the “Yahoos.'; This is evident almost immediately when Gulliver first encounters natives on the new island. Unlike previous encounters with new people, he “made what haste [he] could to the shore'; to quickly retreat from an impromptu meeting (333). His sole purpose after leaving the Houyhnhnm land was “to discover some small island uninhabited, yet sufficient by [his] labour to furnish [himself] with the necessaries of life, which [he] would have thought a greater happiness than to be first Minister in the politest Court of

Character Transformations In Dh Lawrences the Blind Man And the Ho :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In DH Lawrence’s stories â€Å"The Blind Man† and â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,† the reader watches as characters move from having something missing in their lives, to being truly whole.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lawrence uses images of darkness to illustrate the emotions of his characters. In â€Å"The Blind Man,† Isabel goes to look for Maurice and when she steps into the stable where he is, â€Å"The darkness seemed to be in a strange swirl of violent life† (Lawrence, 132). The darkness that swirled around Isabel is the darkness in which Maurice lives. The â€Å"Horse Dealer’s Daughter,† is also consumed in darkness, as seen in the description of the dwindling town. The description reads like a disaster report on the five o’clock news: â€Å"across a shallow dip in the country, the small town was clustered like a smoldering ash, a tower, a spire, a heap of low, raw, extinct houses† (Lawrence, 147). To live in a town such as this, a person would become part of the â€Å"smoldering ash,† as Mabel had. When Mabel was with her brothers she â€Å"sat on like one condemned,† (Lawrence, 144) as they discussed her fate. Sh e stayed quiet, working in the house because the family could no longer afford the hired help they once had. They could, in fact, no longer afford the horses that once brought them money. As the family breaks apart, with each sibling going his separate way, Mabel finds herself trapped by her emotions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is a great tension felt by each of Lawrence’s characters. Mabel, in â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,† and Maurice, in â€Å"The Blind Man,† are excellent examples of this tension. Mabel’s tension seems to remain an internal struggle, while Maurice’s affects his wife greatly. After closer examination, it is apparent that Mabel’s internal struggles become evident as she interacts with her brothers. She works in the kitchen and rarely answers them when they speak to her. She has pushed aside any traits she may have possessed and has become like a hired hand, going about her work, not speaking. Maurice’s struggles are shown through his actions also. When Bertie and Isabel are talking after dinner, Maurice excuses himself. He seems uncomfortable in the situation and consequently retires himself to the darkness of the stable. It is not until Bertie goes out to look for him, that Maurice confronts his emotio ns.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The characters of Maurice and Mabel move toward wholeness as they confront the emotions they have previously denied.