Richard Cory

â€Å"Richard Cory† Edwin Arlington Robinson â€Å"Money can’t buy happiness† is an old saying that echoes through time; however, it seems to echo so softly that it is quite often ignored. People everywhere in search for their fulfillment see money as a fast train leading to their destination of happiness. The envy and the jealousy of the poor and the needy lie with the rich and powerful. Richard Cory is the envy of the whole town. The townspeople look at him as if he had it all. They see his money, feel his power, know his intelligence and not one time do they ever doubt his happiness. They look at him as more than a mere man, and they desire and long to be looked at in this way. They assume that living like Richard Cory will bring them infinite happiness. The poem seems to indicate that everyone keeps their distance from Mr. Cory. His money does not buy him happiness and it does not bring him friends. Richard Cory led an unbearably lonely life, which is reflected in the very last line of the poem when he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. â€Å"Richard Cory† is an excellent example of didactic poetry. The whole purpose of this poem is to teach a life lesson. That lesson being that money cannot buy happiness. The poem is an iambic pentameter and consists of four stanzas. Each line contains ten syllables. The rhyming pattern is A, B, A, B. The first three stanzas of the poem describe the subject, while the fourth stanza shocks the reader. In the first stanza of â€Å"Richard Cory† the reader becomes aware of the main thrust of the poem that suggests the differences between the wealthy and the less fortunate. The speaker of the poem belongs to the latter class and the poem clearly draws out distinctions between â€Å"us† and â€Å"him†. In the second line, â€Å"We people on the pavement looked at him:† (I. ) suggests a lower class stating how they look up to him as well as merely staring at him. In the third and fourth lines the speaker uses the term â€Å"gentleman† which continues the division of economic classes. Then by claiming this gentlemanly quality from â€Å"†¦sole to crown†, (I. 3) the speaker is emphasizing how kingly Cory is. In the second stanza the speaker of the poem is careful to make sure his listeners understand that Richard Cory was just a normal, nice guy. He does not look down on the common folk; he isn’t arrogant; he speaks to people the way the speaker would expect him to. And he was always human when he talked;†. (II. 2) Cory seems very friendly and happy just like the common working-class stiffs, only better looking and richer. The third stanza tells us that Richard Cory is rich, but the speaker also exaggerates Cory’s wealth by saying he is â€Å"†¦richer than a king. † (III. 1) At this point, the audience knows the speaker is speaking in terms of wealth not personality and a successful life. In the fourth and final stanza the first two lines restate the differences between the two economic classes. As the audience reads on to the final two lines of the poem they are hit with a shock. Richard Cory, the man who has everything, the man who is everything that these hard working folk want to be—this icon of success and happiness—kills himself. Robinson uses many poetic devices to make his readers feel at one with â€Å"Richard Cory. † A metaphor can be found in the first line of the third stanza. â€Å"And he was rich-yes, richer than a king†. (III. 1) â€Å"He was rich† is the tenor of the metaphor. â€Å"Richer than a king† is the vehicle of the metaphor. â€Å"Richard Cory† is also an excellent example of situational irony. What happens at the end of the poem is different from what the reader expects to happen. Richard Cory’s death comes as a complete shock! Robinson also uses imagery to paint the picture of this handsome, wealthy, gentleman who has it all. He uses descriptive adjectives to tell about his wealth and his intelligence. He makes his readers think that this man is on top of the world. That is until the reader gets to the final line of the poem and the situational irony kicks into gear. Robinson plays off the two elements to create a vivid and shocking poem. As Robinson’s audience comes to find, it is impossible to influence true friendship and complete happiness by the size of your wallet. A king may sit on his throne his entire life and count his gold, but that throne no matter the size or the comfort could ever replace the warmth of another human being. As that gold slowly collects dust over time its sparkle will fade and so will he. Money can buy anything in the entire world except the things that matter most in life such as love, self-fulfillment and contentment. Living out a life of luxury did not alter the reality that on the inside Richard Cory was a key example of imperfection in a seemingly perfect world.

Utopia: Not Possible

If one were to ask 100 different people a subjective question, one is likely to elicit 100 different answers. This shows that everyone is different and has a wide range of views. Knowing this, one can assume that each one of their views on utopia must be equally as varied. Therefore, achieving a common utopia is near impossible. A utopia is a perfect place where everyone is happy both in society and in oneself. Motivation; an element of life that gives someone the drive to achieve a certain goal. Motivation is the adrenaline rush to life without which humans cannot progress as a civilization.It allows for the betterment of society, thus gaining some common ground between people which although does not constitute a utopia, will make a majority of people happy. Achieving utopia in society is impossible, but by using utopia as a goal or as a motivation, society will grow into a happier and more utopian like place, even though it can not reach actual utopia. A society similar to a utopia is possible through America’s motivation, and due to this, we have fruitful land, both agriculturally and socially.Ignorance, the opposite of motivation, leads to a dystopia, a place or environment in which people are miserable, unhappy or uncomfortable in, instead of a utopian-like society. This shows us that ignorance will not make society happy, thus deviating from the track to societal transcendence; the metamorphosis of society into a state of well-being. Due to each person having unique wants and necessities, the scope of a utopian society, is broadened and stretched until it can no longer be perceived. This adds to the number of reasons why utopia is not possible.Motivation is quintessential to attain near utopianism; a society that takes into account everybodys general view of utopia. Without motivation, society would suffer a dystopian lifestyle. Dreamers and visionaries alike possess the fire needed for success. This fire is known to us as motivation. An essential driving force in the creation of America, motivation at it’s finest can be seen in many instances. David Brooks, a New York Times writer, shows us that America is one of the hardest working countries on this planet.â€Å"The average American works 350 hours a year — nearly 10 weeks — more than the average Western European. † (Brooks 2004). One-upping the rest of the countries, America harvests some of the hardest workers. This hard work pays off in the long run because according to Christopher Matthews, â€Å"[America] leads the world in labor productivity. † (Matthews 1). This hard work translates into society’s progress through time. The American Dream is the dream of being able to make a successful living out of nothing.This dream prevailed in both the recent and earlier years. For example, the dispersal of America. Attracted to the city life, Americans saturated many of the popular cities in America, like Pittsburgh, for example. Althoug h this is true, over time we see a dispersal. â€Å"†¦ population of metropolitan Pittsburgh has declined by 8 percent since 1980†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brooks 2004). This expansion resulted from the drive to explore and conquer. After quenching this thirst, Americans have seen that they are much happier in the suburbs and exurbs, shown in their productivity.These families are happy because of their success. This success is a direct result of motivated minds, minds that surpass odds which pose as threats, minds that feed off of the burning fire which incites progress, minds that envision utopia. Minds that simply do not care and are ignorant to societal problems achieve, rather, receive dystopia as opposed to utopia. Ignorance; that lack of knowledge or information. Those who are oblivious to problem solving and believe that ignoring all that is bad are considered ignorant.In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Lenina Crowne visited a Savage Reservation, which was a place for Nati ve Americans that were not â€Å"civilized. † They led normal lives, but Lenina was disgusted by it because she had no previous understanding of the world before their god like idol Henry Ford â€Å"civilized† the place. He implemented a factory line way of doing things such as conceiving babies, the term parent was alien to them. She begged for her soma which was a drug that releases stress from the consumer and makes the consumer forget about all their problems.This is ironic because the accused savages that stay on the savage reservation are not actually savage, it is in fact the â€Å"civilized† people of the World Sate (their home). They rely on drugs and ignorance to be happy. â€Å"A gramme is better than a damn. † (Huxley 89). She explicitly shows how she would much rather take drugs than face her problems. Hiding the problems instead of solving them creates a dystopia in which ignorance is key. Their soma driven society knows no problems, because stability was given in exchange for individualism.Instead of self-understanding, the humans of the World State are organized under a caste system ranging from the Alphas (highest) to the Epsilons (lowest). They rarely know solitude, but in those rare occurrences, soma quickly fills it with dreams and ignorance. Huxley satirizes utopia as a goal that is out of one’s reach by showing how ignorance and â€Å"fake† happiness is ephemeral and does not solve any real problems. George Orwell, a former student of Aldous Huxley and now famous writer, in the book 1984, mentions the Party slogan; â€Å"†¦War is peace[,] Freedom is slavery[,] Ignorance is strength. † (Huxley 26). The people of Oceania are brainwashed to believe that war is peace, freedom is slavery, and the most shocking, ignorance is strength. Ridiculing society’s problem of blind trust, Orwell shows the reader that ignorance leads to a more Orwellian society than societal strength. There is a dearth of sleep, food, creation of ideas, procreation, and yet society ignores this and continues to believe that there is in fact an abundance of sleep, food, et cetera.Due to the society being more dystopian, we can attribute ignorance to a major role in the creation of such a dark place. David Brooks quotes a philosopher named George Santayana; â€Å"†¦ Americans doesn’t solve problems; we just leave them behind. † (Brooks 2004). Mr. Santayana is saying that Americans are ignorant and cretinous in our knowledge of the world. Not having any worldly information can lead to a withdrawal from society, removing from society’s pool of ideas, knowledge, and people that push for near-utopianism.This leads to a lack of problem solving and degradation of a society at large. A society is composed of people, people each with their own taste and outlook on everything because according to science, no two are the same. Uniquity is prevalent which means that everyones needs and wants are widely dispersed. The common ground between people is limited. â€Å" Bathroom tile is their cocaine: instead of white powder, the blow their life savings on handcrafted Italian wall covering from Waterworks. † (Brooks 2004).Instead of wasting money on drugs like other people, some people prefer bettering  the finer things like, in this case, bathroom tiles or Italian wall covering. This backs up the statement, to each, their own. Due to everybody wanting different things, everybody’s utopia is different. So even if one were to set everybody in motion, society would just become even more choppy and divided. Where is the utopia now? Although self transcendence; the reconstruction of oneself into a higher being, is a huge part in creating utopia, this society has not progressed further than the selfish values it has already harvested within it’s people.To be able to implement this action into society would create a place where everyone is hap py. If near-utopia was set as a common goal in society, people would come together to achieve this, creating a happy place with a lot of common ground between people. This is true in many instances, for example; war and protest. In Greensboro, North Carolina around 1939, a sit-down strike took place. The blacks protested the segregation of color in buildings. Hundreds of other black Americans came to protest this together.The amalgamation of protesters there show that common goals lead to accumulation of support and eventual achievement. Making utopia a common goal between all will result in near success; achieving something along the lines of common utopia. Reaching utopia is not pragmatic because there is a wide range of interests between humans which expands and ambiguates the concept of utopia, making it harder to reach, and also because ignorance is prevalent throughout society, making it more difficult to solve societal problems and attain true happiness as opposed to proxies of happiness i. e. Soma from Brave New World.A characteristic that Americans possess which may assist on the journey to collective happiness is our niche for working hard. If instead we were to use the idea of having a place where everyone is at peace with their surroundings as a common goal throughout society, motivation would permeate and take control. It is only instinctual to act upon something one feels passionate about. If happiness is what is being offered, then I am certain that this will evoke many people to work side by side to achieve this goal. While working side by side with people passionate about the same goal as one is, one will be happy.Hungry for more happiness, the people would continue to work at the goal, even though it is impossible. This leads to an infinite cycle in which society is constantly bettering itself, creating some type of near-utopia, but no one realizes it. Lying amidst the motivated crowd is utopia, but the minute the crowd loses motivation, the utopia vanishes. So let the idea of utopia tailgate the crowd because after all, the crowd is working towards something greater; societal transcendence, the evolvement of society into a common happy place, not perfection. This is the true utopia.

Critical thinking Essay

I value individual balance when I am seeking to satisfy my duties. This is known, as temperance; meaning moderation or self-restraint. As you continue to read, I will be discussing a little on critical thinking, responsibility and I will also point out a couple down falls. You will discover briefly, how I feel about responsibility and my work ethics. Critical thinking is something I do every day both at work and at home. When I take on a new job or project, I use critical thinking to analyze a problem and learn how to solve it. I find myself at my best when I am aware of my duties on a project, learning new information and becoming familiar with the rules and guidelines necessary to complete a project. Critical thinking helps me to understand my reasons for acting and believing that the motive justifies the method. This self-knowledge helps me to see all aspects of the project so I can see the big picture rather than focus on a small piece of the whole. If I find myself not paying attention, I can be tempted to excuse myself from following the rules. I often find myself revisiting how a project needs to be completed in a certain way so I do not overstep any boundaries. I try not to obsess over minute details because they can at times consume me and leave me feeling as though I do not have enough self-knowledge. I do not want to get exhausted, so I make a point to practice mindfulness and take time to reflect. Temperance, fulfilling duties, and self-knowledge are the main three points that I value as an individual. Completing all the duties that I am given to the fullest extent with the guidelines that protect the project, gives me the satisfaction I need for a â€Å"job well done.† An ethical person is one who fulfills his or her duties and does the right thing.

Price and Demand Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Price and Demand - Research Paper Example the change in quantity demanded will be different for an equal change in price of substitutes as compared to compliments. With substitute goods such as brands of cereal or washing powder, an increase in the price of one good will lead to an increase in demand for the rival product. Cross price elasticity will be positive. With goods that are in complementary demand such as the demand for DVD players and DVD videos, when there is a fall in the price of DVD players we expect to see more DVD players bought, leading to an expansion in market demand for DVD videos [1]. In case of substitutes people abandon an expensive product to get its substitute at lower rate. It is so because substitute is a good which is indistinguishable in use from another. If two goods are perfect substitutes, their prices must be the same if both are to be used: the elasticity of substitution between them is infinite, and any price difference will lead to all consumers choosing the cheaper [2]. But, complimentary goods will see an increase in demand for both of the goods as people have to buy both of them to get benefited. But weak compliments will have inelastic cross elasticity of demand and close compliments will have elastic cross elasticity of demand. With an increase in demand, price of a product moves in the upward direction. ... But, complimentary goods will see an increase in demand for both of the goods as people have to buy both of them to get benefited. But weak compliments will have inelastic cross elasticity of demand and close compliments will have elastic cross elasticity of demand. All this implies that an increase in price in one market leads to an increase in demand in another market but the amount of change will be always be different for compliments and substitutes. 1. http://tutor2u.net/economics/content/topics/elasticity/cross_elasticity.htm 2. JOHN BLACK. "perfect substitute." A Dictionary of Economics. 2002. HighBeam Research. 17 Apr. 2009 Part b) Explain why an increase in supply in a market has different effects in the short run and the long run. Use a diagram and relevant examples; refer to the concept of elasticity. (50%) With an increase in demand, price of a product moves in the upward direction. Considering this increased price, producers start to produce more goods to earn more profit. When looking at things from other direction, you can say that producers have to deal with an increased marginal cost of production to increase the output and they can produce more things only if they get more money to cover their marginal cost of production. However, the increase in supply usually creates an impact on the overall market but the amount of increase is different due to different factors. Following are few of the factors affecting supply of a product. Price of relevant resources Price of substitutes State of technology Expectations of producers Number of producers available in a market Now, these are the factors other than the price of a product that can affect

Micro-structure of ceramic, polymer and composite material Assignment

Micro-structure of ceramic, polymer and composite material - Assignment Example According to Whitney (2000), ceramic structures come in a variety and each structure has its own unique properties. For instance, some are very high thermal conductors while some don’t conduct heat at all but they possess other properties. Micro structures of Ceramics also vary in nature as some are pure glass, some crystalline and others are a combination of the two. Ceramics with glassy structures have properties that differ from metallic structures, and the difference in these properties is the atomic structure of the glass (Russell, 2009). Silica is the most common products that makeup glass where when it is fused together then placed in cold temperatures; the glass is formed. The main advantage of ceramic glass is its ability to be made into different shapes when it is still a soft plastic. Ceramics in crystalline form have the metallic and non-metallic atoms which should be balanced for the crystals to be made. During the crystallization, the arrangements in ions mainly determine the manner in which cells will be arranged. Whitney (2000) outlines that crystal structures are neutral in nature and the structures are closely parked together. These ceramics combines the properties of other materials to create a complete product, and they are hard in nature and mechanically stable. According to (Russell, 2009) Nitride ceramics are mainly used to cut wood materials due to their hardness. The process of making nitride ceramics is an irreversible process because of the arrangement in the lattices that are interchangeable. One of the main disadvantages of ceramics is the presence of impurities in the metals, and this affects its formation. There are also some defects that affect the neutrality of the atoms and these defects are, as a result displacement of atoms from their positions, therefore, creating a vacuum. Other shortcomings of ceramics are the formation of solids that lack clear chemical formulae due to their

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research Paper - Essay Example Panem is the nation that Hunger Games took place which is in North America. This nation has 12 districts with Capitol being one of the districts that are wealthiest district. All the other 12 districts are poor but District 12 is located in a region where coal is available in plenty, the region was known as Appalachia. In each and every district on annual basis a boy and a girl who are in the age of 12 to 18 are taken where they compete in battle of death where one individual should only remain after the battle. The selection of the participant is done by a lottery method. In the theme of inequality between rich and poor in Panem wealth is concentrated on the hands of few individuals who live in Capitol and other certain districts. This is due to the difference between individuals who are rich and those who are poor. This difference is revealed in the novel but the most notable difference is on food. In those districts which the poor are numerous, many of the individuals do not have anything to eat and they starve while others have plenty in the Panem. Katniss lives in the district 12 and thus as a resident she notes starvation is a common to all the residents of district 12. This means that she has to take all the measures possible so that she can get something for the family using illegally ways. She even goes to an extent of going beyond the borders of the district 12 so that she can get food for her family. Most of the residents in district 12 do not know to hunt and thus they see as if katniss family has a lot while it was just something small. A fter the hunt Katniss family concludes that if one has something to eat others are luxuries. Katniss, while looking for food learns that peeta’s family has a lot since they have a bakery and thus they are considered as the rich in the district. Katniss is not able to buy the food and thus depends on the leftovers. When she is in Capitol, she finds that everybody who is there is enjoying lavish feast and other

Flash mob Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Flash mob - Essay Example Therefore, the characters involved in actions are seen making calls and later on engaging in a group dance that begins with a single person. The film shows a group of people in different age sets getting amused by the dancers and eventually joining the group (Life’s for Sharing). Since the dancing style is similar amongst all the members, the Life’s for Sharing video evokes an understanding that everybody has importance; thus, the society should seek to relate with them happily. Another entertaining flash mob video that communicates its effect as desired to the society is the BouncE Streetdance Co. video, which is shot in Stockholm. The video- â€Å"Michael Jackson Dance Tribute† draws the attention of the Stockholm community as it involves many youths from different races. The message drawn from the flash mob film is that the legendary singer was a social icon and his life in the entertainment revolved around ethical communication to suit every group of

Scholarship on Dickens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scholarship on Dickens - Essay Example In those days, London was described as the doomed city with unsanitary living conditions and was a galore of diseases. â€Å"There were four epidemics of cholera within Dickens’s own lifetime and, beside these mortal visitations, there were periodic and regular outbreaks of typhus, typhoid fever, epidemic diarrhoea, dysentery, smallpox and a variety of ailments which were classified only as â€Å"fevers†.2† To improve the health condition of the people of London and other cities that were the main breeding ground for all diseases that would spread later to the rural areas of England, Dickens knew that sanitary conditions of the cities should improve. We see him attending many meetings to talk on behalf of sanitary improvement. Passionately arguing the case of sanitary reform in London on May 10th 1851, Charles Dickens said: â€Å"I can honestly declare that the use I have since that time made of my eyes and nose have only strengthened the conviction that certain sanitary reforms must precede all other social remedies, and that neither education nor religion can do anything useful until the way has been paved for their ministrations by cleanliness and decency.3† Sanitary work in London and other cities started only in his latter life. He was an influential social reformer of his time in many fields and being so very well-known, his views were respected. His characters of imagination provided him ample platform to argue the social reforms that he craved to see in the difficult times of Victorian England. His magazines and speeches on social injustice show him as one of the main propagandists of the time. He advocated the reforms without being specific about them. His desire was to see any kind of relief to the sufferers. For example; the Hard Times was based on a labour dispute in the weaving industry which was referred as â€Å"The Preston Lockout 1853-54†. According to George Bernard Shaw, ‘he was a revolutionary without knowing it4’. In a

Business Law Core Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Law Core - Case Study Example This can be enumerated as follows:- 1. Agreement: - the first essential element of partnership is agreement. It is a relation between persons who have agreed to share profits. There can be no partnership without an agreement. Therefore the relation of partnership arises from contract and not from status. 2. Business: - The second essential element of partnership is "business" because without business there can be no partnership. Business includes every trade, occupation and profession. It is not necessary that the business should be of long standing and permanent. A single commercial transaction may constitute a business (Abenneim (1913) 109 LT 219, 220). According to Lindley (Lindley on partnership, fourteenth Edition. P.116) if the persons are not already partners, share profits and losses of a particular transaction, they may be partners for the said particular transaction. 3. Sharing of profits: - Another essential element of partnership is sharing of profits of a business. If two or more persons agree to carry on a business but their objective or motive is not to share profits, it shall not constitute a partnership. Thus sharing of profits or participation in profits of a business is one of the important essential elements of partnership. Prior to 1860 this essential element was considered so much important that if two or more persons agreed to carry out a business with the objective of sharing profits, it was considered to be decisive of constituting a partnership between them. In 1860 the decision in Cot v. Hick man (1860) 8 HLC 268) brought about a revolutionary change in this respect. Delivering the judgment Lord Cranworth of the House of Lords said that sharing of profits is good evidence that the business in which profits have been incurred is being carried on behalf of the persons who are sharing profits. In other words, sharing of profits is prima facie evidence of partnership. But the decisive test is mutual agency. The real basis of liability is that the business is being carried on behalf of the persons sharing profits. 4. Manual agency: - if two or more persons agree to carry on a business to share profits, it is still possible that the partnership may not come into in order to constitute a partnership in addition to the above noted three elements, the case of Cox v. Hickman (supra) deserves a special mention in this connection. Lord justice Lindley defined company as "an association of many persons who contribute money or money's worth to a common stock and employ it for a common purpose (Dr. N. C. Paranjape, company law, 2002). In undertaking the operations of the hotel and restaurant, both parties need to form ad incorporate the company either by special statute or by registration under the companies Act for the time being in force. Further the company many also be incorporated by Royal charter which is perhaps the oldest mode of incorporation. Therefore the means that it means that if David and Angela decide to run their business as a company then their property will be the partnership it is appropriate as their property will continue to be theirs and they will only share profits and losses of the company. There are several disadvantages and advantages of using partnership over a company in the prevailing case of David and Angela. These can

Evolution of Management Essay Example for Free

Evolution of Management Essay As long as there have been human endeavors, there have been people willing to take charge—people willing to plan, organize, staff, and control the work. One might say that nature abhors a vacuum and thus someone will always step forward to fill a leadership void. Probably the natural emergence of leadership grew out of our instinct for survival. In the hostile world of early humankind, food, shelter, and safety needs usually required cooperative efforts, and cooperative efforts required some form of leadership. Certainly leadership was vested in the heads of early families via the patriarchal system. The oldest member of the family was the most experienced and was presumed to be the wisest member of the family and thus was the natural leader. As families grew into tribes and tribes evolved into nations, more complex forms of leadership were required and did evolve. Division of labor and supervision practices is recorded on the earliest written record, the clay tablets of the Sumerians. In Sumerian society, as in many others since, the wisest and best leaders were thought to be the priests and other religious leaders. Likewise, the ancient Babylonian cities developed very strict codes, such as the code of Hammurabi. King Nebuchadnezzar used color codes to control production of the hanging gardens, and there were weekly and annual reports, norms for productivity, and rewards for piecework. The Egyptians organized their people and their slaves to build their cities and pyramids. Construction of one pyramid, around 5000 BC. , required the labor of 100,000 people working for approximately 20 years. Planning, organizing, and controlling were essential elements of that and other feats, many of them long term. The ancient Egyptian Pharaohs had long-term planners and advisors, as did their contemporaries in China. China perfected military organization based on line and staff principles and used these same principles in the early Chinese dynasties. Confucius wrote parables that offered practical suggestions for public administration. In the Old Testament, Moses led a group of Jewish slaves out of Egypt and then organized them into a nation. Exodus, Chapter 18, describes how Moses â€Å"chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, and differentiated between rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens. A system of judges also evolved, with only the hard cases coming to Moses. The city-states of Greece were commonwealths, with councils, courts, administrative officials, and boards of generals. Socrates talked about management as a skill separate from technical knowledge and experience. Plato wrote about specialization and proposed notions of a healthy republic. The Roman Empire is thought by many to have been so successful because of the Romans’ great ability to organize the military and conquer new lands. Those sent to govern the far-flung parts of the empire were effective administrators and were able to maintain relationships with leaders from other provinces and across the empire as a whole. There are numerous other ancient leaders who were skillful organizers, at least as indicated by their accomplishments, such as Hannibal, who shepherded an army across the Alps, and the first emperor of China, who built the Great Wall. Many of the practices employed today in leading, managing, and administering modern organizations have their origins in antiquity. Many concepts of authority developed in a religious context. One example is the Roman Catholic Church with its efficient formal organization and management techniques. The chain of command or path of authority, including the concept of specialization, was a most important contribution to management theory. Machiavelli also wrote about authority, stressing that it comes from the consent of the masses. However, the ideas Machiavelli expressed in The Prince are more often viewed as mainly concerned with leadership and communication. Much management theory has military origins, probably because efficiency and effectiveness are essential for success in warfare. The concepts of unity of command, line of command, staff advisors, and division of work all can be traced back at least to Alexander the Great, or even earlier, to Lao Tzu. The Industrial Revolution created a need for new thinking and the refinement of old thinking. Time and motion studies intensified the division of work, as did centralized production and research and development. Modern management theory prevails afterwards. The preceding historical review indicates that thinking about management and leadership is in large part situational and that practices evolved to deal with new situations that arose. It also indicates that yesterday’s principles and theories are surprisingly contemporary and surprisingly sophisticated. Some overlap occurs, of course, and some gaps. Today’s theorists have attempted to fill in the gaps and adapt the theories to current situations. Yet, like in other areas of thought, not much is of recent origin in the field of management theory. The Evolution of Management Changes in management practices occur as managers, theorists, researchers, and consultants seek new ways to increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The driving force behind the evolution of management theory is the search for better ways to utilize organizational resources. Advances in management theory typically occur as managers and researchers find better ways to perform the principal management tasks: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling human and other organizational resources. In this paper, we will try to examine how management theory concerning appropriate management practices has evolved in modern times, and look at the central concerns that have guided its development. First, we look into the so-called classical management theories that emerged around the turn of the twentieth century. These include scientific management, which focuses on matching people and tasks to maximize efficiency; and administrative management, which focuses on identifying the principles that will lead to the creation of the most efficient system of organization and management. Next, we consider behavioral management theories, developed both before and after the Second World War, which focus on how managers should lead and control their workforces to increase performance. Then we discuss management science theory, which developed during the Second World War and which has become increasingly important as researchers have developed rigorous analytical and quantitative techniques to help managers measure and control organizational performance. Finally, we discuss business in the 1960s and 1970s and focus on the theories that were developed to help explain how the external environment affects the way organizations and managers operate. At the end of this paper, one will understand the ways in which management theory has evolved over time. One will also understand how economic, political, and cultural forces have affected the development of these theories and the ways in which managers and their organizations behave. Figure 1. 1 summarizes the chronology of the management theories that are discussed in this paper. Scientific Management Theory The evolution of modern management began in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, after the industrial revolution had swept through Europe, Canada, and the United States. In the new economic climate, managers of all types of organizations—political, educational, and economic—were increasingly trying to find better ways to satisfy customers’ needs. Many major economic, technical, and cultural changes were taking place at this time. The introduction of steam power and the development of sophisticated machinery and equipment changed the way in which goods were produced, particularly in the weaving and clothing industries. Small workshops run by skilled workers who produced hand-manufactured products (a system called crafts production) were being replaced by large factories in which sophisticated machines controlled by hundreds or even thousands of unskilled or semiskilled workers made products. Owners and managers of the new factories found themselves unprepared for the challenges accompanying the change from small-scale crafts production to large-scale mechanized manufacturing. Many of the managers and supervisors had only a technical orientation, and were unprepared for the social problems that occur when people work together in large groups (as in a factory or shop system). Managers began to search for new techniques to manage their organizations’ resources, and soon they began to focus on ways to increase the efficiency of the worker–task mix. Job specialization and division of labor The famous economist Adam Smith was one of the first to look at the effects of different manufacturing systems. 7 He compared the relative performance of two different manufacturing methods. The first was similar to crafts-style production, in which each worker was responsible for all of the 18 tasks involved in producing a pin. The other had each worker performing only 1 or a few of the 18 tasks that go into making a completed pin. Smith found that factories in which workers specialized in only 1 or a few tasks had greater performance than factories in which each worker performed all 18 pin-making tasks. In fact, Smith found that 10 workers specializing in a particular task could, between them, make 48 000 pins a day, whereas those workers who performed all the tasks could make only a few thousand at most. Smith reasoned that this difference in performance was due to the fact that the workers who specialized became much more skilled at their specific tasks, and, as a group, were thus able to produce a product faster than the group of workers who each had to perform many tasks. Smith concluded that increasing the level of job specialization— the process by which a division of labour occurs as different workers specialize in different tasks over time—increases efficiency and leads to higher organizational performance. Based on Adam Smith’s observations, early management practitioners and theorists focused on how managers should organize and control the work process to maximize the advantages of job specialization and the division of labour. F. W. Taylor and Scientific Management Frederick W. Taylor (1856–1915) is best known for defining the techniques of scientific management, the systematic study of relationships between people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning the work process to increase efficiency. Taylor believed that if the amount of time and effort that each worker expended to produce a unit of output (a finished good or service) could be reduced by increasing specialization and the division of labour, then the production process would become more efficient. Taylor believed that the way to create the most efficient division of labour could best be determined by means of scientific management techniques, rather than intuitive or informal rule-of-thumb knowledge. This decision ultimately resulted in problems. For example, some managers using scientific management obtained increases in performance, but rather than sharing performance gains with workers through bonuses as Taylor had advocated, they simply increased the amount of work that each worker was expected to do. Many workers experiencing the reorganized work system found that as their performance increased, managers required them to do more work for the same pay. Workers also learned that increases in performance often meant fewer jobs and a greater threat of layoffs, because fewer workers were needed. In addition, the specialized, simplified jobs were often monotonous and repetitive, and many workers became dissatisfied with their jobs. Scientific management brought many workers more hardship than gain, and left them with a distrust of managers who did not seem to care about their wellbeing. These dissatisfied workers resisted attempts to use the new scientific management techniques and at times even withheld their job knowledge from managers to protect their jobs and pay. Unable to inspire workers to accept the new scientific management techniques for performing tasks, some organizations increased the mechanization of the work process. For example, one reason for Henry Ford’s introduction of moving conveyor belts in his factory was the realization that when a conveyor belt controls the pace of work (instead of workers setting their own pace), workers can be pushed to perform at higher levels—levels that they may have thought were beyond their reach. Charlie Chaplin captured this aspect of mass production in one of the opening scenes of his famous movie, Modern Times (1936). In the film, Chaplin caricatured a new factory employee fighting to work at the machine imposed pace but losing the battle to the machine. Henry Ford also used the principles of scientific management to identify the tasks that each worker should perform on the production line and thus to determine the most effective way to create a division of labour to suit the needs of a mechanized production system. From a performance perspective, the combination of the two management practices— (1) achieving the right mix of worker–task specialization and (2) linking people and tasks by the speed of the production line—makes sense. It produces the huge savings in cost and huge increases in output that occur in large, organized work settings. For example, in 1908, managers at the Franklin Motor Company redesigned the work process using scientific management principles, and the output of cars increased from 100 cars a month to 45 cars a day; workers’ wages increased by only 90 percent, however. From other perspectives, though, scientific management practices raise many concerns. The definition of the workers’ rights not by the workers themselves but by the owners or managers as a result of the introduction of the new management practices raises an ethical issue, which we examine in this â€Å"Ethics in Action. † Fordism in Practice From 1908 to 1914, through trial and error, Henry Ford’s talented team of production managers pioneered the development of the moving conveyor belt and thus changed manufacturing practices forever. Although the technical aspects of the move to mass production were a dramatic financial success for Ford and for the millions of Americans who could now afford cars, for the workers who actually produced the cars, many human and social problems resulted. With simplification of the work process, workers grew to hate the monotony of the moving conveyor belt. By 1914, Ford’s car plants were experiencing huge employee turnover—often reaching levels as high as 300 or 400 percent per year as workers left because they could not handle the work-induced stress. 15 Henry Ford recognized these problems and made an announcement: From that point on, to motivate his workforce, he would reduce the length of the workday from nine hours to eight hours, and the company would double the basic wage from US$2. 50 to US$5. 00 per day. This was a dramatic increase, similar to an announcement today of an overnight doubling of the minimum wage. Ford became an internationally famous figure, and the word â€Å"Fordism† was coined for his new approach. Ford’s apparent generosity was matched, however, by an intense effort to control the resources—both human and material—with which his empire was built. He employed hundreds of inspectors to check up on employees, both inside and outside his factories. In the factory, supervision was close and confining. Employees were not allowed to leave their places at the production line, and they were not permitted to talk to one another. Their job was to concentrate fully on the task at hand. Few employees could adapt to this system, and they developed ways of talking out of the sides of their mouths, like ventriloquists, and invented a form of speech that became known as the â€Å"Ford Lisp. † Ford’s obsession with control brought him into greater and greater conflict with managers, who were often fired when they disagreed with him. As a result, many talented people left Ford to join his growing rivals. Outside the workplace, Ford went so far as to establish what he called the â€Å"Sociological Department† to check up on how his employees lived and the ways in which they spent their time. Inspectors from this department visited the homes of employees and investigated their habits and problems. Employees who exhibited behaviours contrary to Ford’s standards (for instance, if they drank too much or were always in debt) were likely to be fired. Clearly, Ford’s effort to control his employees led him and his managers to behave in ways that today would be considered unacceptable and unethical, and in the long run would impair an organization’s ability to prosper. Despite the problems of worker turnover, absenteeism, and discontent at Ford Motor Company, managers of the other car companies watched Ford reap huge gains in efficiency from the application of the new management principles. They believed that their companies would have to imitate Ford if they were to survive. They followed Taylor and used many of his followers as consultants to teach them how to adopt the techniques of scientific management. In addition, Taylor elaborated his principles in several books, including Shop Management (1903) and The detail how to apply the principles of scientific management to reorganize the work system. Taylor’s work has had an enduring effect on the management of production systems. Managers in every organization, whether it produces goods or services, now carefully analyze the basic tasks that must be performed and try to devise the work systems that will allow their organizations to operate most efficiently. The Gilbreths Two prominent followers of Taylor were Frank Gilbreth (1868–1924) and Lillian Gilbreth (1878–1972), who refined Taylor’s analysis of work movements and made many contributions to time-and-motion study. Their aims were to (1) break up into each of its component actions and analyze every individual action necessary to perform a particular task, (2) find better ways to perform each component action, and (3) reorganize each of the component actions so that the action as a whole could be performed more efficiently—at less cost of time and effort. The Gilbreths often filmed a worker performing a particular task and then separated the task actions, frame by frame, into their component movements. Their goal was to maximize the efficiency with which each individual task was performed so that gains across tasks would add up to enormous savings of time and effort. Their attempts to develop improved management principles were captured—at times quite humorously—in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen, which depicts how the Gilbreths (with their 12 children) tried to live their own lives according to these efficiency principles and apply them to daily actions such as shaving, cooking, and even raising a family. Eventually, the Gilbreths became increasingly interested in the study of fatigue. They studied how the physical characteristics of the workplace contribute to job stress that often leads to fatigue and thus poor performance. They isolated factors— such as lighting, heating, the colour of walls, and the design of tools and machines—that result in worker fatigue. Their pioneering studies paved the way for new advances in management theory. In workshops and factories, the work of the Gilbreths, Taylor, and many others had a major effect on the practice of management. In comparison with the old crafts system, jobs in the new system were more repetitive, boring, and monotonous as a result of the application of scientific management principles, and workers became increasingly dissatisfied. Frequently, the management of work settings became a game between workers and managers: Managers tried to initiate work practices to increase performance, and workers tried to hide the true potential efficiency of the work setting in order to protect their own well-being. Administrative management theory Side by side with scientific managers studying the person–task mix to increase efficiency, other researchers were focusing on administrative management, the study of how to create an organizational structure that leads to high efficiency and effectiveness. Organizational structure is the system of task and authority relationships that control how employees use resources to achieve the organization’s goals. Two of the most influential views regarding the creation of efficient systems of organizational administration were developed in Europe. Max Weber, a German professor of sociology, developed one theory. Henri Fayol, the French manager who developed a model of management introduced earlier, developed the other. The Theory of Bureaucracy Max Weber (1864–1920) wrote at the turn of the twentieth century, when Germany was undergoing its industrial revolution. To help Germany manage its growing industrial enterprises at a time when it was striving to become a world power, Weber developed the principles of bureaucracy—a formal system of organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. A bureaucratic system of administration is based on five principles (summarized in Figure 1. 2). †¢ Principle 1: In a bureaucracy, a manager’s formal authority derives from the position he or she holds in the organization. Authority is the power to hold people accountable for their actions and to make decisions concerning the use of organizational resources. Authority gives managers the right to direct and control their subordinates’ behaviour to achieve organizational goals. In a bureaucratic system of administration, obedience is owed to a manager, not because of any personal qualities that he or she might possess— such as personality, wealth, or social status—but because the manager occupies a position that is associated with a certain level of authority and responsibility. †¢ Principle 2: In a bureaucracy, people should occupy positions because of their performance, not because of their social standing or personal contacts. This principle was not always followed in Weber’s time and is often ignored today. Some organizations and industries are still affected by social networks in which personal contacts and relations, not job-related skills, influence hiring and promotional decisions. †¢ Principle 3: The extent of each position’s formal authority and task responsibilities, and its relationship to other positions in an organization, should be clearly specified. When the tasks and authority associated with various positions in the organization are clearly specified, managers and workers know what is expected of them and what to expect from each other. Moreover, an organization can hold all its employees strictly accountable for their actions when each person is completely familiar with his or her responsibilities. †¢ Principle 4: So that authority can be exercised effectively in an organization, positions should be arranged hierarchically, so employees know whom to report to and who reports to them. Managers must create an organizational hierarchy of authority that makes it clear who reports to whom and to whom managers and workers should go if conflicts or problems arise. This principle is especially important in the armed forces, CSIS, RCMP, and other organizations that deal with sensitive issues involving possible major repercussions. It is vital that managers at high levels of the hierarchy be able to hold subordinates accountable for their actions. †¢ Principle 5: Managers must create a well-defined system of rules, standard operating procedures, and norms so that they can effectively control behaviour within an organization. Rules are formal written instructions that specify actions to be taken under different circumstances to achieve specific goals (for example, if A happens, do B). Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are specific sets of written instructions about how to perform a certain aspect of a task. A rule might state that at the end of the workday employees are to leave their machines in good order, and a set of SOPs then specifies exactly how they should do so, itemizing which machine parts must be oiled or replaced. Norms are unwritten, informal codes of conduct that prescribe how people should act in particular situations. For example, an organizational norm in a restaurant might be that waiters should help each other if time permits. Rules, SOPs, and norms provide behavioural guidelines that improve the performance of a bureaucratic system because they specify the best ways to accomplish organizational tasks. Companies such as McDonald’s and Wal-Mart have developed extensive rules and procedures to specify the types of behaviours that are required of their employees, such as, â€Å"Always greet the customer with a smile. † Weber believed that organizations that implement all five principles will establish a bureaucratic system that will improve organizational performance. The specification of positions and the use of rules and SOPs to regulate how tasks are performed make it easier for managers to organize and control the work of subordinates. Similarly, fair and equitable selection and promotion systems improve managers’ feelings of security, reduce stress, and encourage organizational members to act ethically and further promote the interests of the organization. If bureaucracies are not managed well, however, many problems can result. Sometimes, managers allow rules and SOPs—â€Å"bureaucratic red tape†Ã¢â‚¬â€to become so cumbersome that decision making becomes slow and inefficient and organizations are unable to change. When managers rely too much on rules to solve problems and not enough on their own skills and judgment, their behaviour becomes inflexible. A key challenge for managers is to use bureaucratic principles to benefit, rather than harm, an organization. Fayol’s Principles of Management Working at the same time as Weber but independently of him, Henri Fayol (1841–1925), the CEO of Comambault Mining, identified 14 principles (summarized in Table 2. ) that he believed to be essential to increasing the efficiency of the management process. Some of the principles that Fayol outlined have faded from contemporary management practices, but most have endured. The principles that Fayol and Weber set forth still provide a clear and appropriate set of guidelines that managers can use to create a work setting that makes efficient and effective use of organizational resources. These principles remain the bedrock of modern management theory; recent researchers have refined or developed them to suit modern conditions. For example, Weber’s and Fayol’s concerns for equity and for establishing appropriate links between performance and reward are central themes in contemporary theories of motivation and leadership. Behavioural Management Theory The behavioural management theorists writing in the first half of the twentieth century all espoused a theme that focused on how managers should personally behave in order to motivate employees and encourage them to perform at high levels and be committed to the achievement of organizational goals. The â€Å"Management Insight† indicates how employees can become demoralized when managers do not treat their employees properly. Management Insight How to Discourage Employees Catherine Robertson, owner of Vancouver-based Robertson Telecom Inc. , made headlines in February 2001 for her management policies. Robertson is a government contractor whose company operates Enquiry BC, which gives British Columbians toll-free telephone information and referral services about all provincial government programs. Female telephone operators at Robertson Telecom must wear skirts or dresses even though they never come in contact with the public. Not even dress pants are allowed. As Gillian Savage, a former employee, notes, â€Å"This isn’t a suggested thing, it’s an order: No pants. † Brad Roy, another former employee, claims a female Indo-Canadian employee was sent home to change when she arrived at work wearing a Punjabi suit (a long shirt over pants). The no-pants rule is not the only concern of current and former employees. Roy also said, â€Å"I saw some people being reprimanded for going to the washroom. While Robertson denied Roy’s allegation regarding washrooms, she did confirm that company policy included the no-pants rule, that employees were not allowed to bring their purses or other personal items to their desks, and that they were not allowed to drink coffee or bottled water at their desks. The company does not provide garbage cans for the employees. A g roup of current and former employees recently expressed concern with the number of rules Robertson has in place, and claimed that the rules have led to high turnover and poor morale. A current employee claims that many workers do not care whether they give out the right government phone numbers. Robertson said that she knew of no employees who were discontent, and was shocked that the policies had caused distress among employees. She defended the dress code as appropriate business attire. Robertson may have to make some adjustments in her management style. The cabinet minister responsible for Enquiry BC, Catherine MacGregor, ordered an investigation of the contractor after being contacted by The Vancouver Sun about the allegations. She noted that the skirts-only rule for women is not appropriate, and that, â€Å"All of our contractors are expected to fully comply with the Employment Standards Act, Workers Compensation rules and human rights legislation. † Additionally, Mary-Woo Sims, head of the BC Human Rights Commission, said dress codes can’t be based on gender. Thus, an employer can’t tell men they must wear pants (as Robertson does), but tell women they can’t. â€Å"On the face of it, it would appear to be gender discriminatory,† Sims said. The Work of Mary Parker Follett If F. W. Taylor is considered to be the father of management thought, Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933) serves as its mother. 28 Much of her writing about management and about the way managers should behave toward workers was a response to her concern that Taylor was ignoring the human side of the organization. She pointed out that management often overlooks the multitude of ways in which employees can contribute to the organization when managers allow them to participate and exercise initiative in their everyday work lives. Taylor, for example, relied on time-and-motion experts to analyze workers’ jobs for them. Follett, in contrast, argued that because workers know the most about their jobs, they should be involved in job analysis and managers should allow them to participate in the work development process. Follett proposed that, â€Å"Authority should go with knowledge whether it is up the line or down. † In other words, if workers have the relevant knowledge, then workers, rather than managers, should be in control of the work process itself, and managers should behave as coaches and facilitators—not as monitors and supervisors. In making this statement, Follett anticipated the current interest in self-managed teams and empowerment. She also recognized the importance of having managers in different departments communicate directly with each other to speed decision making. She advocated what she called â€Å"cross-functioning†: members of different departments working together in cross-departmental teams to accomplish projects—an approach that is increasingly utilized today. Fayol also mentioned expertise and knowledge as important sources of managers’ authority, but Follett went further. She proposed that knowledge and expertise, and not managers’ formal authority deriving from their position in the hierarchy, should decide who would lead at any particular moment. She believed, as do many management theorists today, that power is fluid and should flow to the person who can best help the organization achieve its goals. Follett took a horizontal view of power and authority, in contrast to Fayol, who saw the formal line of authority and vertical chain of command as being most essential to effective management. Follett’s behavioural approach to management was very radical for its time. The Hawthorne Studies and Human Relations Probably because of its radical nature, Follett’s work was unappreciated by managers and researchers until quite recently. Instead, researchers continued to follow in the footsteps of Taylor and the Gilbreths. One focus was on how efficiency might be increased through improving various characteristics of the work setting, such as job specialization or the kinds of tools workers used. One series of studies was conducted from 1924 to 1932 at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company. This research, now known as the Hawthorne studies, began as an attempt to investigate how characteristics of the work setting—specifically the level of lighting or illumination—affect worker fatigue and performance. The researchers conducted an experiment in which they systematically measured worker productivity at various levels of illumination. The experiment produced some unexpected results. The researchers found that regardless of whether they raised or lowered the level of illumination, productivity increased. In fact, productivity began to fall only when the level of illumination dropped to the level of moonlight, a level at which presumably workers could no longer see well enough to do their work efficiently. The researchers found these results puzzling and invited a noted Harvard psychologist, Elton Mayo, to help them. Subsequently, it was found that many other factors also influence worker behaviour, and it was not clear what was actually influencing the Hawthorne workers’ behaviour. However, this particular effect— which became known as the Hawthorne effect—seemed to suggest that workers’ attitudes toward their managers affect the level of workers’ performance. In particular, the significant finding was that a manager’s behaviour or leadership approach can affect performance. This finding led many researchers to turn their attention to managerial behaviour and leadership. If supervisors could be trained to behave in ways that would elicit cooperative behaviour from their subordinates, then productivity could be increased. From this view emerged the human relations movement, which advocates that supervisors be behaviourally trained to manage subordinates in ways that elicit their cooperation and increase their productivity. The importance of behavioural or human relations training became even clearer to its supporters after another series of experiments—the bank wiring room experiments. In a study of workers making telephone switching equipment, researchers Elton Mayo and F. J. Roethlisberger discovered that the workers, as a group, had deliberately adopted a norm of output restriction to protect their jobs. Workers who violated this informal production norm were subjected to sanctions by other group members. Those who violated group performance norms and performed above the norm were called â€Å"ratebusters†; those who performed below the norm were called â€Å"chiselers. † The experimenters concluded that both types of workers threatened the group as a whole. Ratebusters threatened group members because they revealed to managers how fast the work could be done. Chiselers were looked down on because they were not doing their share of the work. Work-group members disciplined both ratebusters and chiselers in order to create a pace of work that the workers (not the managers) thought was fair. Thus, a work group’s influence over output can be as great as the supervisors’ influence. Since the work group can influence the behavior of its members, some management theorists argue that supervisors should be trained to behave in ways that gain the goodwill and cooperation of workers so that supervisors, not workers, control the level of work-group performance. One of the main implications of the Hawthorne studies was that the behavior of managers and workers in the work setting is as important in explaining the level of performance as the technical aspects of the task. Managers must understand the workings of the informal organization, the system of behavioural rules and norms that emerge in a group, when they try to manage or change behaviour in organizations. Many studies have found that, as time passes, groups often develop elaborate procedures and norms that bond members together, allowing unified action either to cooperate with management in order to raise performance or to restrict output and thwart the attainment of organizational goals. The Hawthorne studies demonstrated the importance of understanding how the feelings, thoughts, and behaviour of work-group members and managers affect performance. It was becoming increasingly clear to researchers that understanding behaviour in organizations is a complex process that is critical to increasing performance. Indeed, the increasing interest in the area of management known as organizational behaviour, the study of the factors that have an impact on how individuals and groups respond to and act in organizations, dates from these early studies. Theory X and Theory Y Several studies after the Second World War revealed how assumptions about workers’ attitudes and behaviour affect managers’ behaviour. Perhaps the most influential approach was developed by Douglas McGregor. He proposed that two different sets of assumptions about work attitudes and behaviours dominate the way managers think and affect how they behave in organizations. McGregor named these two contrasting sets of assumptions Theory X and Theory Y (see Figure 1. 3). THEORY X According to the assumptions of Theory X, the average worker is lazy, dislikes work, and will try to do as little as possible. Moreover, workers have little ambition and wish to avoid responsibility. Thus, the manager’s task is to counteract workers’ natural tendencies to avoid work. To keep workers’ performance at a high level, the manager must supervise them closely and control their behaviour by means of â€Å"the carrot and stick†Ã¢â‚¬â€rewards and punishments. Managers who accept the assumptions of Theory X design and shape the work setting to maximize their control over workers’ behaviours and minimize workers’ control over the pace of work. These managers believe that workers must be made to do what is necessary for the success of the organization, and they focus on developing rules, SOPs, and a well-defined system of rewards and punishments to control behaviour. They see little point in giving workers autonomy to solve their own problems because they think that the workforce neither expects nor desires cooperation. Theory X managers see their role as to closely monitor workers to ensure that they contribute to the production process and do not threaten product quality. Henry Ford, who closely supervised and managed his workforce, fits McGregor’s description of a manager who holds Theory X assumptions. THEORY Y In contrast, Theory Y assumes that workers are not inherently lazy, do not naturally dislike work, and, if given the opportunity, will do what is good for the organization. According to Theory Y, the characteristics of the work setting determine whether workers consider work to be a source of satisfaction or punishment; and managers do not need to control workers’ behaviour closely in order to make them perform at a high level, because workers will exercise selfcontrol when they are committed to organizational goals. The implication of Theory Y, according to McGregor, is that â€Å"the limits of collaboration in the organizational setting are not limits of human nature but of management’s ingenuity in discovering how to realize the potential represented by its human resources. It is the manager’s task to create a work setting that encourages commitment to organizational goals and provides opportunities for workers to be imaginative and to exercise initiative and self-direction. When managers design the organizational setting to reflect the assumptions about attitudes and behaviour suggested by Theory Y, the characteristics of the o rganization are quite different from those of an organizational setting based on Theory X. Managers who believe that workers are motivated to help the organization reach its goals can decentralize authority and give more control over the job to workers, both as individuals and in groups. In this setting, individuals and groups are still accountable for their activities, but the manager’s role is not to control employees but to provide support and advice, to make sure employees have the resources they need to perform their jobs, and to evaluate them on their ability to help the organization meet its goals. Henri Fayol’s approach to administration more closely reflects the assumptions of Theory Y, rather than Theory X. Management Science Theory This theory focuses on the use of rigorous quantitative techniques to help managers make maximum use of organizational resources to produce goods and services. In essence, management science theory is a contemporary extension of scientific management, which, as developed by Taylor, also took a quantitative approach to measuring the worker–task mix in order to raise efficiency. There are many branches of management science; each of them deals with a specific set of concerns: Quantitative management utilizes mathematical techniques—such as linear and nonlinear programming, modelling, simulation, queuing theory, and chaos theory—to help managers decide, for example, how much inventory to hold at different times of the year, where to locate a new factory, and how best to invest an organization’s financial capital. Resources in the organizational environment include the raw materials and skilled people that an organization requires to produce goods and services, as well as the support of groups including customers who buy these goods and services and provide the organization with financial resources. One way of determining the relative success of an organization is to consider how effective its managers are at obtaining scarce and valuable resources. The importance of studying the environment became clear after the development of open-systems theory and contingency theory during the 1960s. The Open-Systems View One of the most influential views of how an organization is affected by its external environment was developed by Daniel Katz, Robert Kahn, and James Thompson in the 1960s. 38 These theorists viewed the organization as an open system— a system that takes in resources from its external environment and converts or transforms them into goods and services that are then sent back to that environment, where they are bought by customers (see Figure 1. 4). At the input stage, an organization acquires resources such as raw materials, money, and skilled workers to produce goods and services. Once the organization has gathered the necessary resources, conversion begins. At the conversion stage, the organization’s workforce, using appropriate tools, techniques, and machinery, transforms the inputs into outputs of finished goods and services such as cars, hamburgers, or flights to Hawaii. At the output stage, the organization releases finished goods and services to its external environment, where customers purchase and use them to satisfy their needs. The money the organization obtains from the sales of its outputs allows the organization to acquire more resources so that the cycle can begin again. The system just described is said to be â€Å"open† because the organization draws from and interacts with the external environment in order to survive; in other words, the organization is open to its environment. A closed system, in contrast, is a self-contained system that is not affected by changes that occur in its external environment. Organizations that operate as closed ystems, that ignore the external environment and that fail to acquire inputs, are likely to experience entropy, the tendency of a system to lose its ability to control itself and thus to dissolve and disintegrate. Management theorists can model the activities of most organizations by using the open-systems view. Manufacturing companies like Ford and General Electric, for example, buy inputs such as component parts, skilled and semiskilled labour, and robots and computer-controlled manufacturing equipment; then, at the conversion stage, they use their manufacturing skills to assemble inputs into outputs of cars and computers. As we discuss in later chapters, competition between organizations for resources is one of several major challenges to managing the organizational environment. Researchers using the open-systems view are also interested in how the various parts of a system work together to promote efficiency and effectiveness. Systems theorists like to argue that â€Å"the parts are more than the sum of the whole†; they mean that an organization performs at a higher level when its departments work together rather than separately. Synergy, the performance gains that result when individuals and departments coordinate their actions, is possible only in an organized system. The recent interest in using teams comprising people from different departments reflects systems theorists’ interest in designing organizational systems to create synergy and thus increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Social Networking Is A Recent Invention Media Essay

Social Networking Is A Recent Invention Media Essay Low cost: Definitely, its cheaper to use online social networking for both personal and business use because most of it is usually free. While personal use is rather simple for anyone, the business functions are underestimated by many. In a social networking site, you can scout out potential customers and target markets with just a few clicks and keystrokes, adding a boost to your usual advertisements and promotional strategies. It lets you learn about their likes and dislikes, which is tremendous. If you want to fine tune your business, then this is the way to go, whether on a budget or not Builds credibility: You definitely can gain the customers confidence if you can connect to them on both a personal and professional level. Despite having to do a bit of work, it definitely pays off as you can be tapped for an offer if someone catches wind of your products or services. As long as you dont pursue them too aggressively, you will do well here. Connections: You are friends with people who have other friends, and so on. There is potential in such a common situation. By using a social networking site, you can do what you can and get connected with these people to form a web of connections that can give you leverage if you play your cards right. As long as you give as well as you receive, then they will most likely stick with you. These connections are definitely valuable in the long run. However, what about the disadvantages though? Face to face networking: A little less personal than face to face networking. Yes there are steps you can take to remove those impersonal touches, but the reality is that you will never have the full personal touches that face to face networking have. Instead, you have to bring your own personality to the table, so when you are on social networking sites people get a good feel for who you are, and what you are about. A little more time taking: Keeping up with social networking can be a full time job (or for any of my clients my job). You have to make sure that you respond to people in a reasonable time. That is not always 100 percent possible. This is why it is so crucial to be as timely as possible when dealing with people on social networking sites. Scams and harassment: There is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context. While many sites apply certain measures to keep any of these cases of harassment, cyber-stalking, online scams, and identity theft to an absolute minimum, you still may never know. Psychological Impact: The psychological impact of social media on individuals is immense. The positive aspect of the entire experience has been the ability to connect with people. The core USP of social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter is its ability to connect with people across the world and this brings a certain sense of joy to people. You would have met lots of your old friends through Facebook and that ability to stay in touch with them irrespective of locations makes it a very positive psychological impact on individuals. However, there is another side to this coin. I know a lot of young adults who wake up to Facebook without even brushing their teeth. On a personal level, I have known people who have been online on Facebook for ages without even signing out. There comes a point, after the initial connect with old friends, where you would be idling your time on Facebook doing literally nothing for a long time. This idling time makes you lost and completely distracted from what you had in itially intended to do. From 10 mins of Facebook, it would have become 2 hours of Facebook at a stretch. So this addiction to social networking sites makes one even unaware of the real time zones, creating a negative impact on peoples mindsets. This addiction to stay connected and noticed makes one prioritize these small things over many more important activities. Revolutionary Impact: The biggest power of the social medium is the ability to mobilize support for social causes in a very short span of time. The Arab Spring is a point in case for the biggest achievement of the social medium and it also reflected some of its own shortcomings. The advent of the Arab Spring would not have been possible if not for the social media. Both Twitter and Facebook were extensively used to galvanize support to shake the dictator regime and remove it from office. The Tahirir Square uprising symbolized the potential of social media to trigger and create change in a nations prospects. However, it also has showed some of the shortcomings of the medium itself. Even though the social media was able to assist the revolution, it needed people on the ground to sustain it and implement the changes. Almost after a year, they have had their President elected and ironically it is a leader from the radical Muslim Brotherhood. Social media could not help in implementing change on the ground bec ause its not accountable and its virtual in nature. This entire episode shows the impact power of social media and also shows that social media can trigger and support movements but the success of such movements depends much upon the core issues raised on the ground. Social Impact: One of the biggest successes of the social media revolution is the amount of fairness that intrinsically the social networking sites have especially Twitter. There is such an open platform for the common citizen to interact and evolve; it shapes many peoples identities and ideologies. Being an open and unbiased medium, it is actually the worlds most efficient democracy in its truest sense. In addition, it helps to provide so much information that it enriches people with loads of information. Information is indeed wealth and this medium provides so much for it. Ironically, this extensive outpouring of information leads to one of the common issues that social media in general faces. Having an opinion on any issue is a right for any individual, there is no doubt it. However, the power of social media is such that it influences peoples opinions very fast. It also leads to opinion makers who make short sighted comments that might be just fitting for a 140 letter character. There is a certain level of irresponsibility within certain sets of people that leads to this discussion being only a one way street. One way abuse or giving opinions without responsibility makes the social media, at times, an ocean which has varied levels of depth. While it is a legitimate right for anyone to have their view, it needs to be with decorum that befits educated individuals. Amidst all these various impacts of the medium, one gets the impression that social media has blatantly obvious positives and some surreal negatives that get underplayed very often. Since everyone brags about the positives, the negative impacts at every stage of the assessment need to be also taken into account. It liberates the common man to have his voice heard in an open platform and helps to connect people across generations. In this process, it also provides him an additional freedom for individuals to air their views on issues. However, this excessive overflow of information and connections can also have a detrimental effect on the personal lives and attitude of individuals if it is not handled in a mature manner. The balance needs to be the key, with regards to the virtual life and the real life, only this balance and a matured democratic mindset can make the social media experience a worthwhile one. Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend in order to leverage student interest in relation to curriculum content. Some of this includes creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, through to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social network services are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These services make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face with their childrens teachers. The use of online social networks by school libraries is also increasingly prevalent and they are being used to communicate with potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual school libraries. The social media experience can be a double edged sword, it all depends on the balance we exert on it There are many disadvantages of doing social networking. In the end, you have to be aware that using this strategy is like any other marketing strategy with pros and cons. There are good things about social networking and bad. Just be aware of the disadvantages of social networking before you start. Just dont think youre a failure or that the social platform isnt for you just because of whats not directly observable. Consider both the public and latent impact of your social engagement and youll realize the crack-like spikes of retweets dont compare to the overall winning of hearts and minds within your community where it matters most.

The Construction Of Masculinity In Mens Magazines

The Construction Of Masculinity In Mens Magazines Men are increasingly becoming the consumers of ideologies and products once confined to the female domain, such as grooming products and fashion. In particular the increasing publication, and consumption, of magazines that target the male audience has been a strong media influence, such as GQ, Esquire, For Him Magazine (FHM), and, Loaded. In the chapter consuming masculinities: Style, Content and Mens Magazines in the book Men in the mirror, Tim Edwards (1997) discusses the implications of mens magazines for the development of male masculinity. He notes that since the 1980s there has been an increase in magazines that specifically target men, whether this be directly through the inclusion of style-conscious articles, or more general targeting of regular features that may appeal to men, or finally through interest magazines, which do not specifically target men but are mainly concerned with male interests such as technology or cars. During the texts discussion on the cause of the rise in mens magazines, and their influence on male masculinity, Edwards acknowledges the rise in the new man and the new lad in which new forms of masculinities can be argued to be developing within society. However, ultimately, there is a single dominant masculinity that is presented and targeted by mens magazines. Outline: Time Edwards Consuming Masculinities: Style, Content and Mens Magazines The increase in mens magazines in general is due to the social, economic, and political changes during the 1980s and 1990s. Financial advancement of many men, in particular young middle class white males in the professional and primary sectors of employment. A consequence of demographic changes now means that men now live alone or do not have children. Political encouragements of individualism and increasing aspirations from the Thatcher and Major periods. Influential position of womens and gay movements which challenge the notions of heterosexual masculinity. The increasing social acceptance of men to be consumers of their own masculinity, e.g. the male body can be sold, imitated and copied. The style and content of mens magazines appears varied and free-floating but is in fact fixed. Many of the magazines appeal to the affluent, professional, or managerial men in society. Students also comprise a strong readership in mens magazines; however it is important to remember that it is students that will eventually form the next generation of professionals. The majority of male magazines assume the heterosexuality of their readers. The legitimisation of consumption as a socially acceptable male activity as a symbol of success. Mens magazines promote a new form of masculinity which is pre-occupied with consumer-oriented attitudes and practises. Masculinity can be constantly reconstructed through the consumption of identity building activities such as shopping or leisure activities. The development of the New Lad is a continuing development upon the notions of the New Man, in which the new lad embraces masculinity. The new man is characterised as being caring and sharing, on the contrary, the new lad is characterised as being selfish, loutish and enjoys drinking, football and fucking. Literature Review: According to cultural perspectives, masculinity can be understood as providing members of society with a shared understanding of what it means to be a man: what one looks like, how one should behave (Edley and Wetherell, 1996: 106). This is evident in studies which have focused on the analysis of mens magazines, and have found that they frequently present a constructed image of masculinity. As Edley and Wetherell suggest manliness, in other words, is a contested territory; it is an ideological battlefield (1996: 106). Edwards (1997), Boni (2002) and Edley and Wetherell (1996) all acknowledge that there is a crisis of masculinity in which masculinity is being reconstructed and moving away from traditional ideas of men as main role as the breadwinner, and adopting a more consumer masculinity. In such, masculinity is argued to be consuming ideologies and products once confined to the female domain, such as fashion and leisure activates such as shopping. To demonstrate further, the increasing notion of the metrosexual male describes a masculinity which is concerned with looking good, and creating a good presentation of the self. Such a concept, previously would have been confined to the realm of women, and to some degree was seen as an expectation of women to look good for their husbands, this was particularly prominent in the Victorian ideology of gender. However, it is necessary to note that crisis does not necessary mean negative, however a re-negotiation of masculinity within society. In the chapter by Edwards (1997), masculinity is seen as being continually reconstructed in association with the consumer culture in mens magazines. Similarly, Boni (2002) also acknowledges the same in his more recent study of mens magazines. However, Boni, unlike Edwards, acknowledges that men are not simply passive viewers of magazines, but in reality engage in the information presented. In a discussion of the interpretation of health and body representations of masculinity, Boni notes that men may adopt one of three strategies of responding to the presented masculinity. The first response is the reliance strategy in which men rely on the representation of a healthy image for the standard on which to base their own life. Secondly, the reformation strategy allows for the modification of the ideal masculinity in order to fit in with a individuals abilities. Finally, the rejection strategy is adopted by individuals who oppose the masculinity presented. Thus this demonstrates that whil e mens magazines continually present and reconstruct masculinities, it is not a one way process, and in fact men interacts with these representations to fit with their own perceptions of masculinity. Furthermore, the continuing adaptations of masculinity has also generated a change in the male gaze. Previously men were deemed to look and women were to be looked at, however with the flourishing of mens magazines the male gaze has been restructured. Through mens magazines, men have been constructed as objects of desire to be bought and sold, or imitated and copied (Edwards, 1997: 125; Boni, 2002). To illustrate further in a study of mens magazine Mens Health, Boni (2002) noted that images within the magazine were frequently young, lean, muscular male bodies. Thus demonstrating that the male body is presented in mens magazines as something to adopt or aspire to. However, with the advent of the new lad acknowledged by Edwards (1997), a shift towards a separation in masculine ideologies is evident. Edwards describes the new lad as oddly still all too self-conscious and quick to consider the cut of his jeans or the Lacoste label on his T-shirt: in short, his is that most ghastly of all configurations, defensively working class which also means defensively masculine who is interested in drinking, football and fucking, and in that order (1997: 82). In addition Boni also notes the emergence of this concept of masculinity in the increasing range of mens magazines which publish topless women on their front pages, and the extensive range of soft-porn content within the magazines. What is further evident, is the separation of the new lad and the new man, and in which particular magazines target particular individuals. The new lad can be associated with a working class construction of masculinity, thus it can be argued that in recent years there has be en a development in a range of mens magazines to target different sections of society. It is thus evident that masculinity cannot be considered as a singular entity; rather in the referral to mens magazines we should discuss masculinities. While some mens magazines explicitly target and promote a single masculinity, it would be naive to consider this as the only form of masculinity within society. Edley and Wetherell (1996) note that the dominant ideology of masculinity has been enforced by the dominant class within society (i.e. the middle, upper class) through the cultural meanings reinforced through key institution, such as schools, churches, and the media. Thus the development of the new lad could be argued to be a successful attempt to fight against the dominant ideologies of masculinity presented by society. Crosscutting Themes: As has been demonstrated, the construction of masculinity within mens magazines heavily relies on the wider construction of masculinity within society. In particular the changes of the economic position of men during the post-fordism era construct men as moving away for the role of the breadwinner, and towards a more segregated role within society. Thus is is necessary to consider the wider implications of economic changes within society to understand the full impact on masculinity. However, it is important to note that it can be argued that these changes are perceived changes as men still predominantly occupy the higher sectors of employment and still continue to act as a breadwinner within the family, as may womens wages continue to be less than mens. Whats more, the wider constructions of masculinity within the media should be considered, especially in relation to the new construction of fatherhood which sees men as adopting a more caring and supportive role within the family. This therefore contradicts Edwards argument that more men are interested in mens magazines as more are remaining childless, as recent media publicity, and other academic studies, have shown fathers wanting to adopt a more integrated role in the family. To conclude, the construction of masculinity cannot be considered in a vacuum, and the wider impact of other forms of the media, and other constructions of masculinity within society must be acknowledged. Additionally, masculinity does not exist separately for femininity, thus to fully understand the construction on masculinity, it is necessary to understand the construction of femininity. This is particularly important because as it has been demonstrated negotiations are made between the two ideologies about what is acceptable.

Moral Theories :: essays research papers

Moral Theories A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Morality comes from God. Therefore, moral behavior is that behavior that conforms to the will of God. Immoral behavior defies the will of God. The will of God is correctly interpreted by the Church. Rating: 6. I was feeling this one, until the last sentence. There are so many denominations, and the reason is that they disagree with one another. Many religions interpret what the will of God is differently, not to mention incorrectly. I do believe that a big part of morality comes from God. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Rating:1! Ahhh, the Golden Rule-you gotta love it. I suppose the only problem is like the example in the book of the African tribe that eats their dead, if I died there, they would eat me because they would want to be eaten. Very tricky. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Be whatever you are; do whatever you want to do—just as long as you don’t hurt anybody. Rating:7. This sounds to me like humanism, although I’m not sure anymore if I know what that is. If this were something we lived our lives around, then it doesn’t sound like there would be many people helping out others, just themselves. D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The end justifies the means. An action is â€Å"right† if it ultimately produces largely beneficial effects, â€Å"wrong† if it produces harmful effects. Rating: 2. I like this one, and I say it quite often (I’m not sure if that is good or bad). Someone used the example of war, and I agree with that. E.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no universal morality. Moral values come from the laws and norms of the society. Therefore, what is morally right in one society could be morally wrong in another. Rating 4. Doesn’t the answer to this one really decide if you are an objectivist or realist? My husband and I argued this one, and he is a strong objectivist. I am caught in the middle because I don’t understand how you can truly impose your beliefs on people that have no idea what we consider to be right. What if people tried to do that to us? F.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People never act immorally deliberately. When a person acts immorally, it is because he or she has a mistaken notion of what is truly good. Immoral behavior is ignorance or stupidity, not wickedness. Rating 9. Whoa, do I disagree with this one. I do believe many people do wrong things because of ignorance, but there are many people who do things wrong and they do it knowing that it is wrong.

Michelangelo Essay -- essays research papers

During the dates 1475-1564 there were many famous painters working all around the world. One of which was Michelangelo. He painted and sculpted many famous items that are still talked about today. Michelangelo led a very buisy life, as of which you will be reading about today. Michelangelo was born in 1475 in a small village of Caprese near Arezzo At the age of 13 michelangelo’s father Ludovico Buonarroti placed michelangelo in the workshop of the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio through connections with the ruling Medici family. About two years later michelangelo studied at the sculpture school in the Medici gardens. Shortly thereafter he was invited into the household of the Magnincent, Lorenzo de’Medici. Where he had an oppertunity to converse with younger Medici, which later became pope Leo X. As he was also introduced to humanists as Marsilio Ficino and the poet Politian, who were frequent visiters. By the age of 16 Michelangelo had produced two relief sculptures ,the battle of the Centaurs and the Madonna of the stairs, which showed that he had achieved a very personal style at a very early age. His patron Lorenzo died in 1492; two years later Michelangelo fled Florence,when the Medici were temporarily expelled. For a while he was settled in Bologna, where in 1494 and 1495 he sculpted several marble statuettes for the arca (shrine) di San Domenico. Michelangelo went to Rome, where he was able to examine many newly unearthed classical statues and ruins. He soon produced his first large sculpture the over life size Bacchus in 1496-1498. One of the few works of pagan rather than Christian subject made by the master, it rivaled ancient statuary, the highest mark of admiration in Renaissance Rome. At about the samr time period Michelangelo did the marble Pietà   in 1498. It was finished in 1500. It was one of the most famous works of art, the Pietà   was probubly finished before Michelangelo was 25 years old, and is the only piece of work he ever signed. In the piece the youthfull Mary is shown seated majestically, holding the dead Christ across her lap, it was a theme that was borrowed from northern European art. Instead of revealing extreme grief, Mary is restrained, and her expression is one of resignation. In this work, Michelangelo summerizes the sculptural innovations of his 15th-century predecessors such as Donatello, while ushering in the new monumentality... ...helangelo ultimately became responsible for the altar end of the building on the exterior and for the final form of its dome. The great Renaissance poet Ludovico Ariosto wrote succinctly of this famous artist: â€Å"Michael more than mortal, divine angel.† Indeed, Michelangelo was widely awarded the epithet â€Å"divine† because of his extraordinary accomplishments. Two generations of Italian painters and sculptures were impressed by his treatment of the human figure: Raphael, Annibale Carracci, Jacopo da pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, Sebastiano del Piombo, and Titan. His dome for Saint Peter’s became the symbol of authority, as well as the model, for domes all over the Western world; the majorityof state capitol buildingsin the united states, as well as the Capitol building in Washington D.C., are dirived from it. Michelangelo died in 1564 and his body was placed in a fine monument in the church of Santa Croce. To conclude, Michelangelo led a long and very talented life. As a painter sculpture, poet and architect. He has many famous pieces of work still known and talked about today, all around the world. Many people knew him and loved him and those who didn’t know him personaly, knew of him.