Metropolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Metropolis - Essay Example These slaves are depicted against the backdrop of the miserable life they lead which include tenement like homes; they work for over ten back-breaking hours nonstop. The star of the film, Freder, who is the son of Joh Frederson, the leader of Metropolis, is glaringly oblivious to the predicament of the workers or any element of their lives. Not until when a beautiful subterranean inhabitant known as Maria visits the Eternal Gardens, where Freder spends most of his time frolicking with numerous ladies, does he learn of their abject predicament. The group of small children who arrive along Maria from the laborers city below carry themselves with an air of sadness and despondency; they are hungry and appear absolutely wretched. In reality, their needy eyes apparently haunt Freder because it is something he has never seen amid the elite of the city who no less lead better lives (Bendel 12-14). When Freder follows Maria back to the underground depths of the city and witnesses a grueling accident in the machine halls where the worker toil in abject misery, the groveling scene haunts him much more. This, as a result, compels him to confront his father, but eventually, it downs upon him that the man loves and firmly believes that is appropriately right for men to live the way they do. Freder thinks for a while about the plight of the workers and decides do something about it. However, he is faced with inevitable challenge. Freder must first and foremost gather more information and trace Maria as well. With the assistance of Josaphat—Fredersen’s presently fired officer manager—he goes down the depths of the city and assumes the job of one of the workers with a view to locating Maria. For the moment, Fredersen is suddenly worried about the reverberations of discontent amid the workers and his son’s abrupt interest in their predicament. Fredersen is o verly determined to eliminate Maria’s influence on his son as well as the workers (Mark

What constitutes an outstanding presentation instead of a mediocre one Essay Example for Free

What constitutes an outstanding presentation instead of a mediocre one Essay Presentations, are defined as the simplest collection of ideas that help persuade, inform or motivate people (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3). In the past, presentations were simply concerned with a monotonous display of bullet-point lists, to convey the speaker’s train of thoughts. Today, technology has encouraged a broad variety of presentation mediums: standalone presentations on the Web, loop presentations to show repeatedly at trade show booths, burning of CD’s of a presentation to distribute to a wide audience, adding of sound, animation, and even video to the slides (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3). The purpose of this paper is to outline what marks the difference between an outstanding, and a mediocre presentation, and to analyze the critical factors that go in the making of one. The term â€Å"outstanding† doesn’t really convey the right impression since the overall aim of effort applied in making a presentation, is to achieve some sort of desired result. For this, we shall use the term â€Å"winning† presentation for our remaining discussion. The desired result examples can be as follows (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3): 1) Outlining of timeline and deliverables of the product launch to the manufacturing team. 2) Teaching the sales force about the feature and benefit of the new product so that they can sell better. 3) To make a business case for the potential market for the new product to gain financing from investors. 4) To introduce new products to customers. So, what makes a presentation mediocre? Different communication experts have their own opinions drawn from personal experience. But, for the sake of all-inclusivity, we shall outline the most typical characteristics of mediocre presentations that not only fail to produce results, but are commonly labeled dull, dry and boring- no euphemism required for a situation where the audience is compelled to doze off because the presentation failed to capture their interest. ANR Communication Services at the University of California, have outlined Seven Deadly Sins of PowerPoint presentations (ANR, 2006): 1) Length: It is not necessary to utilize the whole time allotted, in fact the winning presentation should always aim at delivering a message as fast as possible. The common refrain is that some speakers tend to â€Å"warm-up† with a windy introduction that noone bothers to pay attention to. It is always advisable to hit bottom-line directly, and come â€Å"straight to the point†. 2) Bad visuals: Bad visuals come in several categories, but their general definition lies in a sheer ignorance of aesthetics. E. g. using elaborate graphics which have no connection to the subject matter, and were included just in order to cast an impression of technical know-how. Other examples are sandwiching too much information in very little space, and using illegible fonts against an atrocious background. Other sins are: 3) Not sticking to the main point: Too many speakers have a habit of digressing from the subject, and beating around the bush, an exercise that can be really testing on the audience’s patience, and defeat any chances of success with the presentation. 4) Too many numbers: Even technical presentations can do better without an overdose of figures and numbers. It is a common misconception for many people, that a bombardment of numeric data using charts and graphs would illustrate the monumental effort they put in, in order to create the presentation. Charts and graphs, and figures are meant to support some conclusion, but in no way should they be the only reason for the presentation to exist. 5) Technical failure: Too many presentations have been ruined due to glitches such as the Projector not working (that too after spending considerable time in making one presentation). It is always advisable to double-check before final show. 6) Not summarizing: If the presentation fails to summarize the key points discussed, the entire purpose is defeated because audience memory is short. The speaker needs to tell the audience what was the underlying conclusion for them having met. 7) Inadequate rehearsal: This goes with Point no. 1 and 6. Other useful ideas worth mentioning are David People’s recollections from interactions with IBM executives (People, 1992, p. 20): 1) Showing information, and then â€Å"apologizing† in advance – it conveys the impression that the speaker is not confident about the subject matter, and kills the very purpose of presentation. 2) Not explaining any reason why the subject has any value to the audience – such an act can convey a total disregard for audience time. In order to round up our discussion on mediocre presentations, it is important to mention common technical characteristics of such presentations (OneVision UK, 2004): 1) Slide transitions and sound effects; when unnecessary they can become a pain in the neck for they divert the focus of the audience from the central theme. 2) Standard Clip-Art which shows a clear lack of creativity on behalf of the presenter who could have done better by including more relevant graphics. 3) Presentation templates – unless there is no other alternative, these should be best avoided. 4) Reading the presentation – a speaker should have extempore communication skills, otherwise the presentation can be very boring. A winning presentation does not repeat the common fallacies mentioned for mediocre presentations as above. Also, a winning presentation has a persuasive style that impresses with its tone, content, representation and output (People, 1992, p. 45). To tell the difference between the two, Tom Sant from the American Management Association, reviews the scope and utility of a winning presentation, which should take into account the following considerations (Sant, 2004, p.12): 1) It is not a blind price quote. 2) It is not a bill of materials, project plan or scope of work. 3) It is not about the history of a product. The watchword, here is â€Å"influencing† of client (Sant, 2004, p. 17). Each time a presentation is made, the objective is in terms of thinking about the long-term influence that the presentation will have on the client, something that requires a lot of introspection on part of the presenter. Thus, presentations should be looked at as â€Å"tools and opportunities† (Sant, 2004, p. 17) rather than a summary judgment on a particular subject. Having clarified the differences between the two types of presentations, we shall look into the key ingredients of winning presentations. Structurally, a winning presentation comprises of two parts: the formal (one-way) episode followed by a question and answer session (two-way) (Gilchrist Davies, 1996, p. 3). As a bench rule, the presenter must allow at least 3 times the time allotted for one-way communication. This time is utilized for discussions, development of conceptual ideas, generating feedback, and general brainstorming. Also, a competent presenter is able to perform well in three areas of communication (Gilchrist Davies, 1996, p. 5): 1) Non-verbal i. e. body-language. 2) Verbal i. e. fluency of language and intonation. 3) Visual i. e. computer screens, slides and paper-based accompaniments. A competent presenter must have enough behavioral science knowledge so that he is able to control the crowd, in case a heated argument is generated. Contentwise, a winning presentation offers ample room for independent thinking, and allows plenty of flexibility in terms of omissions and adjustments. The objective is, that the presentation must â€Å"flow† in terms of ideas, an exercise that builds continuous credibility for the presenter (Sant, 2004, p. 29). Thomas Leech, at the American Management Association, has identified the following guidelines to delivering a winning presentation, which he calls â€Å"fundamental keys† (Leech, 2004, p. 11): 1) Prior preparation: According to several top-key executives, the biggest blunder a presenter makes when he declares that he didn’t prepare well. 2) Self-belief: It is important to convey â€Å"sincerity and honesty† through the effort made. 3) Knowing one’s purpose – the bottom-line. 4) Having a focused central theme: The audience came with a purpose. It is important to shell out the central theme at the very start of the presentation, so that people are able to develop connections. 5) Knowing your audience and tailoring the presentation according to their needs: A presentation has to be varied depending upon the possible expectations of audience. Also, age-groups have to be taken into account. Other fundamental keys are: 6) Early summarizing for time-pressed audience. 7) Reinforcement of central belief: The central theme should be backed up with substantial evidence, to make the presentation idea seem rock-solid. 8) Visual effects: It is important to ensure that visuals add, and not blur presentations. 9) Consider Murphy’s Law: This is what happens in real-life scenarios. According to Murphy’s First Law, if anything can go wrong, it will! So, it’s always advisable not to take chances with defective areas of presentation. 10) Making the delivery personal and passionate: A competent presenter is always able to connect with the audience. Instead of begging the question, he tries to convince the soundness of his ideas through passionate and compelling discussions, the most successful ingredient of winning presentations. That was presentation, but from a preparation point of view, a successful PowerPoint presentation must undergo a preliminary review, keeping following things in mind (Negrino, 2005, p. 9-107): 1) Writing the presentation: It is always advisable to start with an outline of the entire content, and using features like the Research Pane to make slides. 2) Gathering images and sound files: The graphics and animation part should be done, avoiding the loopholes mentioned in mediocre presentations. 3) Picking a design: It is important to pick a slide design, apply the layouts, and adjust text location for aesthetic appeal. Other attributes are: 4) Working with text: Editing slide text, formatting slide text (font, color, etc. ), aligning slide text (left, center, justified), changing line space (again it depends on aesthetic requirements.), using numbered (bulleted) lists, adding hyperlinks and text-boxes, 5) Illustrating the presentation: This involves adding images, clip art, using the drawing tools, adding relevant diagrams, charts, tables etc. 6) Making it move: This envisages adjustments in slide order, setting slide transitions, adding custom animation and summarize slide effects. 7) Preparation: The presentation should always be reviewed by a colleague, especially if it’s very important. It is useful to make printed notes for the speaker, and slides and handouts to the audience. Summary: On a final note, the weight of a good presentation, apart from key points mentioned in this paper, depend a lot on the individual presenter’s qualities, what are known as â€Å"gestures† (Arrendondo, 1991, p. 73). It is important to state that appropriate gestures and movements add meaning to a message, and mark the difference between a â€Å"winning† and a â€Å"mediocre† presentation. The gestures should convey a positive energy, and enthusiasm in the subject, and be manifested through the presenter’s self-belief.

Complusive Gambling Essay -- Problem Gamblers Addiction Essays Papers

Complusive Gambling Compulsive gambling is a very addictive disease that can cost you more than its worth. So why do people become compulsive gamblers? In America 2-3% of adults are afflicted by this addiction. Four out of Five compulsive gamblers are men. Over 90% of compulsive gamblers have gambled since their mid-teens. There are many reasons why people become compulsive gamblers. Throughout my paper I will go over many types of research that have been done on this disorder and show you a variety of reasons why people subject themselves to this behavior. Problem gamblers do not ingest, inject, or inhale substances as chemically addicted people do. Just what is it to which they become addicted? The answer to this question is action. Action is an aroused, euphoric state involving excitement, tension, and anticipation of the outcome of a gambling event. It is the thrill of living on the edge. Problem gamblers describe gambling as â€Å"high† similar to that experienced from many drugs. Some experience these sensations when just thinking about gambling, as well as when they are actually gambling. Action also has been described as a â€Å"rush† that may include rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, and even nausea. It is not uncommon for problem gamblers to describe being in action as â€Å"better than drugs and better than sex.† When they are in action, they lose track of time and sleep; food, water, and using the bathroom become lower priorities than staying in action. Some doctors believe that gambling is considered an impulse control disorder. Which means that the individual is incapable or resisting his impulses to gamble. Others believe that it is an obsessive-compulsive disorder or a non-pharmacological addiction. This... ... it can turn into a serious problem. National television shows have addressed these problems more frequently, this is important because many people limit their education to that of the TV. Further understanding of pathological gambling and addiction is guided by the development of better theory. Improved theory can guide research more effectively. Bibliography: Goleman, D. (1989, October 3) USA: Biology of brain may hold key for gamblers. New York Times, p11. Pavalko. (1999). Problem gambling. National Forum p28 (5p.). Available: Academic Search Elite http://ehostvgw18.epnet.com[2002, April 10]. Lorez V, Yaffee R. (1986). Pathological gambling: psychosomatic, emotional and marital difficulties as reported by the gamblers. Journal of Gambling Behavior, p40. Marks I.M. (1987). Fears, phobias and Rituals. Oxford University Press, London, p337.

Categorical imperative Essay

The Golden Rule- Do unto other as you would have them do unto you. Yes, corny as hell, but it works. If you make a decision and think of yourself as suffering the potential outcome; it will often help to make a wiser and more considerate and ethical decision. EXAMPLE: if you are using a pirated software then think being in shoes of a person who has developed that software. All of his hard work is going in vein and he is getting nothing from you. 2. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative- Yes, take a note from a philosopher. If a action is not right for everyone, then it is not right for anyone. A bit idealistic and unrealistic for most scenarios; but hey, it might keep you from EXAMPLE: While using pirated software if you think that it doesn’t make any difference to developer’s income but, you think that if everyone started using pirated software then developer will get nothing from his software and then no one will develop any software because there is no income from that, which ultimately hurts the world as a whole†¦ 3. Descartes’ Rule of Change- Principle that states that is an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it is not right to be taken at any time. Yes, another philosopher, how grand life is. Of course this should not surprise us considering that morality is one of the major areas of study of philosophy. EXAMPLE: if you are downloading songs from unauthorized sites for free and you think that let me do it once next time I will download it from authorized sites. Thus you think that doing this repeatedly is unethical then doing it once is also unethical. 4. Utilitarian Principle- This is where one takes the action that achieves the higher or greater value. This of course assumes that values can be put in rank order and understand the consequences of various courses of action. Pretty far away from the Golden Rule, Hugh? EXAMPLE: in critical situation rather categorizing action in ethical or unethical you should categories or rank them into more unethical to less unethical. For example keeping track of every email of every citizen might harm privacy of people so it is unethical but it is useful to avoid any terrorist activity so tracking email of every citizen of country is less unethical 5. Risk Aversion Principle- The principle that one take the action that creates the least harm or incurs the least cost. This assumes that all actions have some harm, and our job is to take the action with the least amount of harm. EXAMPLE: hacking is considered as unethical practice but in war-situation through hacking if you can get access to warehouse of firearm manufacturing company then it is useful to save your country by using that firearms thus in this case we are selecting an action which harm a firearm manufacturing company but saving whole country. 6. No Free Lunch Rule- This states that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If something someone else has created is useful to you, it has value and you should assume the creator wants compensation for this work. EXAMPLE: In India lots of people are using pirated windows 8 operating system thus they are not paying any compensation to Microsoft so this action is unethical.

My Best Beauty Pageant

As soon as the host, Jason â€Å"The Local Celebrity† Jacobsen, introduced me to the crowd as a wonderfully gifted dancer I thought I was in trouble and had made a mistake because my specialty performance was singing, not dancing! I could feel the rush of blood drain from my head and I became so light-headed that I had to lean against the backstage railing that was leading up to the stage behind the velvet curtains. I could feel the cold sweat beginning to condense on my forehead. I remember thinking, â€Å"Oh no!My make-up is going to smear! † My mom later told me that my eyes were as big as apples when I shot a glance at her right after he said that I would be dancing for my special talent section. I nervously walked out onstage with my hands shaking and sheepishly walked up to Jason to whisper to him in his ear, â€Å"Sorry Jason, but I like to sing more than I like to dance so I’m going to sing, O. K.? † He smelled like expensive cologne and his hair h ad way too much gel in it. I thought he was going to throw me out of the pageant!Thankfully he handled it like the good host he was and then he apologized to the crowd for his â€Å"egregious† error and then he excitedly announced to the crowd, â€Å"We are in for a huge surprise, we are going to be serenaded by song instead of dance, enjoy! † He looked back at me with a huge, fake smile and delivered the tried and true line, â€Å"Alright, the stage is yours, take it away! † It almost felt like I was in a cheesy teenaged Disney movie. As soon as the lights dimmed and the crowd settled in I knew I was going to be great.I composed myself, took a few deep breaths and waited for the song to begin. After all, I had practiced I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly hundreds of times before. Of course it was going to be great. Right? I remembered the first time I heard the song at the end of the movie Space Jam with Michael Jordan and I immediately fell in love with the song because of the hope it inspires. I remembered singing it to my parents at the dinner table the night before the pageant and them standing up and cheering for me after I had finished.Most of all, I remembered waking up in the morning and immediately posing in front of my bedroom mirror, comb/mic in hand, and belting out I Believe I Can Fly before I hopped in the shower and to sing it some more. If you want to know the truth, I don’t even remember singing in the pageant. As soon as it had begun, it was over. All those flashbacks must have occurred while I was on stage. The next thing I knew the crowd was on their feet and clapping and cheering. For me! I couldn’t believe it.Jason Jacobsen came out from backstage and gave me a wonderful hug and I smelled his god-awful cologne again and then the next instant I was back in the dressing room sitting in disbelief staring at myself in the mirror. I had no clue if I even sang the right words but all I can tell you is that was t he greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my whole entire life! It didn’t even matter to me whether I won or not, I had fulfilled my dream of performing my favorite song in front of an audience of strangers, and apparently they even liked it. Who could ask for more? I was really flying†¦

From Spreadsheets to CoSchedule How to Make the Transition Successfully - CoSchedule Blog

From Spreadsheets to How to Make the Transition Successfully Blog What are you using to manage your marketing right now? We’d bet spreadsheets. Lots of spreadsheets. Too many spreadsheets. Sure, they’re great for a lot of things. But, they’re not ideal for organizing everything you team needs to get done. So, what’s a better solution? (bet you didn’t see that coming). It’s true, though. Our marketing calendar platform is built specifically to be your team’s go-to hub for every project. And in this post, we’ll show you how to ditch your spreadsheet-based calendars, schedules, and reporting templates and move onto instead. Best of all, we’ve got a section just for you, no matter what you do: for Content Management for Social Media Scheduling for Content + Social Media Marketing Reporting for Marketing Project Management Don’t Take Our Word For It: Try Free for 14 Days If you’re like us, you don’t just want to read about what you could do. You want to actually get your hands dirty and start applying the advice in this post right away. Start your free 14-day trial now. Then, come back here to get the 411 on how to move your entire life (or at least all your marketing stuff) out of Excel and into .

Hurdle Task Practice Essay

Hurdle Task Practice Essay Hurdle Task Practice Essay 6. It is Jack’s lack of a stable, male role model that is to blame for his actions. To what extent do you agree? Contention: The fact that Jack does not have a proper male figure to look up to is greatly responsible for his actions, though is not the only reason. Key Argument 1 Rosemary’s ex-husband Roy thrives on having power over others, which is a major reason as to why Jack acts how he does. Key Argument 2 Dwight’s abusive and violent traits have an impact on Jack, and the actions that he undertakes. Key Argument 3 Jack chooses how to act regardless of his role models, meaning that he can be held accountable for his own actions. From the beginning of the memoir Jack is depicted as an immature child whose dream it was to transform into someone different. Jack’s dreams of transformation get further and further from reality predominantly due to how he decides to act and the people he chooses to spend his time with. Jack is responsible for his own actions as he is the one who actually decides how he acts. A moment in the memoire where Jack’s delinquency is depicted is when Jack states that â€Å"[he] was a thief. By [his] own estimation, a master thief.† (pg 51) This quote shows that Jack is clearly aware of the unlawful actions that he undertakes, and that he is capable of making his own decisions. Wolff utilizes the effect of sentence length in this same passage, where he transitions from a long sentence to two short and meaningful sentences. By varying the sentence

How to Get a Corrected Social Security Card

How to Get a Corrected Social Security Card By law, your Social Security card must show your current legal name. If you legally change your name because of marriage, divorce, court order or any other legal reason, you must inform Social Security as soon as possible so they can issue you a corrected Social Security card. Fast Facts Federal law requires that Social Security cards display the cardholder’s current and correct legal name.In the event of a name change resulting from marriage, divorce, court order or any other legal reason, the cardholder must notify the Social Security Administration as soon as possible and apply for a corrected Social Security card.Applications for a corrected Social Security card cannot be submitted online. Applications may only be submitted at a Social Security field office or by conventional mail.There is no charge connected with applying for a corrected Social Security card. Failure to inform Social Security of your name change could cost you money by delaying your tax refunds and preventing your wages from being added to your Social Security account record, which could reduce your future Social Security benefits. There is no charge for getting a corrected Social Security card, however, because of the documentation you  must provide, you cannot apply for one online. Apply To get a corrected Social Security card, you need to: Download and print out a Form SS-5 – Application for Social Security Card.Fill out the application and assemble the required proof of identity documents (see below).Take or mail the application and all required documents to your local Social Security office. Documents Serving as Proof of a Legal Name Change You will need proof of your current legal name. In some cases, you may also need to show proof of your current U.S. citizenship or legal permanent resident (green card) status. Documents Social Security will accept as proof of a legal name change include original or certified copies of: Marriage licenses;Divorce decrees;Certificates of naturalization showing a new name; orCourt orders for a name change. Note: All documents submitted must be either originals or copies certified by the agency issuing them. Social Security will not accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents. A â€Å"certified† copy of a document will typically have a raised, embossed, impressed, or multicolored seal placed on the document by the issuing agency. Some agencies will offer a choice of certified or non-certified copies and may charge an extra fee for certified copies. When needed for Social Security purposes, always request a certified copy. If Your Documents Are Too Old It is important that you notify Social Security of your name change as soon as possible. If you legally changed your name more than two years before applying for a corrected Social Security card, or if the documents you provide do not give enough information to fully identify you, you may also be required to provide two additional identifying documents including: At least one document showing your old name; andA second document with your new legal name. Proof of Citizenship If Social Security tells you that you need to prove your status as a U.S. citizen, they will accept only an original or certified copy of your U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport. Foreign-born citizens, including naturalized citizens and immigrants with legal permanent resident status, may be allowed to use: Certificate of NaturalizationCertificate of CitizenshipCertificate of Report of BirthConsular Report of Birth Abroad Proving Your Identity If you do need to provide Social Security with further proof of your identity, they will accept only current documents showing your current legal name, date of birth or age, and a recent photograph. Examples of such documents include: U.S. drivers license;State-issued identification card; orU.S. passport. If you do not have any of those documents, Social Security might accept other documents, such as: Employee identification card;School identification card;Health insurance card (other than a Medicare card); orU.S. military identification card. Your Number Will Not Change Your corrected Social Security card – which will be mailed to you will have the same Social Security number as your old card but will show your new name. Protect Your Social Security Number Speaking of Social Security numbers, they are the main thing identity thieves need to rob you blind. As result, Social Security has long advised that it is rarely necessary to show anybody your Social Security card. â€Å"Do not carry your card with you. Keep it in a safe place with your other important papers,† advises the Social Security Administration.

Business ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business ethics - Assignment Example The overall capital structure of the firm therefore can offer a critical insight into the overall well-being of the firm. A typical capital structure of the firm therefore will include both the equity and debt and combination of both can actually determine whether the business is risky or not. A firm which has higher level of debt in its capital structure tends to have higher risk therefore its well-being is also not considered as good. On the other hand, if the firm is mostly financed through its own equity, its risk profile will be low and its overall wellbeing will be relatively good. Thus if debt is in higher proportion in the capital structure of the firm, it may not be healthy as it can serve as a risk indicator and investors may not chose to invest in such firms. Other stakeholders therefore may also get affected due to high probability of failure for such firms. The overall capital structure of the firm will have different meanings and importance for different groups of stakeholders. Shareholders may not like to see more debt on the balance sheet of the firm because debt holders are always paid before the shareholders in case of liquidation of the firm. As such shareholders would see higher debt levels are detrimental to overall wellbeing of the firm. Lender will also view higher level of debt as well as low level of equity as a detrimental sign for the firm. A lower level of equity for a lender would indicate that the overall stakes of the owners of the firm are relatively low as compared to external sources of financing. A prudent lender will therefore not prefer to lend to such firm because of low stakes of the owners of the firm. Higher level of debt, for a lender will be an alarming sign too because higher debt levels will increase the debt servicing expenses and higher debt services will have an impact on profitability of the firm and hence will affect the cash flows of the firm too to service new and existing debt.

Company law - gambotto pinciples Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company law - gambotto pinciples - Essay Example In regards to this case, Michael Yew Seong Chin in his article Being in the Minority: The CompulsoryAcquisition of Shares writes: century of company law they were virtually defenseless... In 1995, the High Court of Australia delivered a corporate law decision that led to a maelstrom of publicity and controversy. This was the Gambotto v WCP Ltd which significantly altered common law governing amendments to a company's articles of association. Gambotto ushered in a In the original case trial Judge Mclelland J, injuncted the expropriation on the basis that majority shareholders were unjustly oppressing the minority shareholders. That decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal. Here the court noted that the expropriated shareholders received fair compensation for their shares. Using a contraction approach, Priestly J pointed to the fact that the shareholders on becoming members, agreed to become bound by duly passed resolutions, and Meagher JA pointed out that there were enormous tax advantages for the corporation and compensation was fair (Whincop 11). Unhappy with the Priestly/Meagher decision, Gambotto went back to the Court of Appeal and a final decision was reached by Mchugh J: Mchugh determined that the business objective was proper since it ena

Family Health Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Family Health Assessment - Essay Example This kind of arrangement enabled me to get answers that could be of much value while making decision on the right wellness nursing diagnoses to apply. First of all, I found out that the family knows much about health. They have a positive attitude towards health. Meaning, they value it so much. It is for this reason that the interviewees said to me that they are always ready to seek for medical care whenever necessary. This clearly shows that they can be instrumental in enhancing treatment. Health care is something that to this family needs to be taken seriously. For this functional health pattern, I suggest a wellness diagnosis: Effective Therapeutic Regimen Management and Health-Seeking Behaviors. They can help a great deal in handling the situation (Guerrero, 2008). Besides, my interaction with this family enabled me to learn much about the family’s nutrition. As explained by my interviewees, nutrition plays an integral part in their life. Since food is used for the provision of energy and protection of the body against diseases, it should not be taken for granted. However, despite such attachment on food, the interviewees said to me that they have experienced cases of imbalanced nutrition. Meaning, their have been taking insufficient amounts of food something that has not been good for their health. This, I realized, is the major challenge that has been affecting the members of this family as it has resulted into some nutritional disorders. So, I propose the adoption of wellness diagnosis involving effective breastfeeding; and risk diagnosis for Risk for Imbalanced Nutrition (Galdston, 2008). The other response I got from this family is that they have been conscious about the role of sleep in their lives. However, even if they acknowledge that sleep gives them time to rest and relax the body and brain, they still have to take a lot of action to make it be

UK Crime Rate Indicators Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

UK Crime Rate Indicators - Essay Example The current paper will look into these issues and finally draw conclusions with certain issues that should be incorporated to improve their quality and acceptance. The United Kingdom offers an open society where people of different ethnic origins and nationalities are living together and are contributing to the overall country's economic and social setup. The society itself including the government aims to provide an environment where conformity and balance among cultural and social values can be achieved. However, with economic and social challenges arising disparities and evil emerges. This is important to understand as the crimes in the country are soaring and the authorities attempt to tackle the staggering crime levels. The current paper will discuss the current crime situation in the country as presented by Home Office in its yearly statistical bulletin. The yearly bulletin derives its data and subsequent analysis from two resources that include firstly, reporting from police stations across the country and secondly from British Crime Survey. ... The current paper will look into these issues and finally draw conclusions with certain issues that should be incorporated to improve their quality and acceptance. The crime levels in the United Kingdom are considered to be at higher level as compared to other countries including United States, Australia, Middle East and few other European countries. The UK is listed among Ireland, Estonia, Denmark and Netherland which have crime victim rates at 30% higher than the European average. The survey carried out by Gallup Europe for UN crime prevention agency has marked the capital city of London as the "crime capital of Europe" with 32% of the resident admitting that they have been victim of 10 categories of offences ranging from assault to sexual harassment. Furthermore, the U.K. is estimated to have the highest burglary rate, hate crimes and risk of thefts from car compared to European counterparts (Guardian, 2007). But all this is presented differently by the government of the U.K and claims are made through its Crime Statistical Bulletin that crimes in the U.K. are reducing. Crime Statistical Bulletin is published every year which incorporates st atistics and analysis of crimes under different defined categories. Through this report the U.K.'s Home Office attempts to measure and analyse crime statistics in view of estimating crime trends and reviewing its achievement in lieu of crime reduction and its impact on the individuals and society as all. The bulletin draws its statistics from two resources which include reporting from police records and an independent British Crime Survey (Home Office, 2008). The police records consist of figures collected and reported by regional police stations. These consolidated records on monthly

W7A 590 Whole Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

W7A 590 Whole Foods - Essay Example The whole foods store employs the demographic approach to store operations and hiring of new associates to ensure the maximum performance of the store. The demographic method involves the selection of new associates that help operate in most of the whole food store markets. Whole foods also hire new associates that are then divided into team members that help ensure the companies ‘effective management system’ (Shriberg, 2005). To encourage these teams to work harder and to reward them in case of good work the company management gives bonuses to the teams (Hinkin, 2010). These unique management systems employed by the company results to a lot of positive impacts the main one being the fact that the systems contribute to the management of human capital. The effect of these systems in relation to managing human capital is seen through the lower voluntary turnover annually. Through its the company is among the best companies to work for in the world, the positive effects resulting from the two systems employed by the company rise from the way the management system relates to the associates and the employees. In this system, the company holds on to the believe that each employee working in the company has a right to feel the stake in the companys success. Through this, the company has the eight values employed by the employees that attract more customers and provide complete satisfaction to the customers. This tactic result to the organizations competitiveness and success The whole food even with the advantageous approaches faces some challenges mainly resulting from the unending competition in the food industry. Many competition companies adapt the techniques used by the whole food markets, which in turn results in more challenges. However even with the challenges the company manages to fight the competition through its practices (practices that enable the company maintains

Women's Health. Health Care Disparity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Women's Health. Health Care Disparity - Essay Example Healthcare disparities exist in both public and private sectors. Various kinds of socio-economic factors contribute to the existence of healthcare disparities like inadequate access to care to some group of people, poor quality of care to some individuals, etc. Community features and behaviors at personal level also contribute to these disparities. It is generally found that people who belong to ethnic or racial minority groups, or individuals with mental or physical impairment or disabilities, or women may face health care disparities. Very often healthcare disparities exist between rural and urban areas. (Mead, 2008) Part B) Explain why some women (in general) may face barriers to health care. Of course, over the decades significant progress have been made in women’s health. However, still health status of women on average is not as good as of men. Not only that, but healthcare disparities exists among women as well. Different sub-groups of women get different types of acces s to care and quality of care also varies across different subgroups of women. (Mead, 2008) There are a number of reason for which some women face healthcare disparities compared to men and other groups of women as well.

W7A 590 Whole Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

W7A 590 Whole Foods - Essay Example The whole foods store employs the demographic approach to store operations and hiring of new associates to ensure the maximum performance of the store. The demographic method involves the selection of new associates that help operate in most of the whole food store markets. Whole foods also hire new associates that are then divided into team members that help ensure the companies ‘effective management system’ (Shriberg, 2005). To encourage these teams to work harder and to reward them in case of good work the company management gives bonuses to the teams (Hinkin, 2010). These unique management systems employed by the company results to a lot of positive impacts the main one being the fact that the systems contribute to the management of human capital. The effect of these systems in relation to managing human capital is seen through the lower voluntary turnover annually. Through its the company is among the best companies to work for in the world, the positive effects resulting from the two systems employed by the company rise from the way the management system relates to the associates and the employees. In this system, the company holds on to the believe that each employee working in the company has a right to feel the stake in the companys success. Through this, the company has the eight values employed by the employees that attract more customers and provide complete satisfaction to the customers. This tactic result to the organizations competitiveness and success The whole food even with the advantageous approaches faces some challenges mainly resulting from the unending competition in the food industry. Many competition companies adapt the techniques used by the whole food markets, which in turn results in more challenges. However even with the challenges the company manages to fight the competition through its practices (practices that enable the company maintains

Pueblo revolt Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pueblo revolt - Assignment Example The turning point of Pueblo revolt was the imposition of their religion and culture on the indigenous tribe (Weber, 1999). The indigenous population was forbidden to practice their religion or follow their culture through barbaric acts. Christian friars forced them to convert to Christianity by literally cutting one leg of 500 Acoma tribals (sangres, nd). The Pueblo people finally revolted against the Spanish when medicine man, called San Juan Pueblo convinced them to unite and fight collectively against the mighty Spanish raiders. The indigenous people fought valiantly and managed to defeat the Spanish forces and drove them away from their territory for around twelve long years. Pueblo revolt is important chapter of American history because the peaceful Pueblo tribe was successful in driving away their enemies who had threatened their cultural identity by using barbaric means. The bloody revolution also forced others to respect indigenous religion and cultural practice which was amply evident when Spanish conquered the region for the second time. Second time around, they were more respectful towards their customs and did not try to force their religion on

Great Depression Essay Example for Free

Great Depression Essay As a result of her situation Curleys wife has become a predatory flirt, seeking out the company of farm workers to distract herself from the consequences of her choices. This behaviour stems from a type of coping mechanism which allows her to frequently delve into fantasy in order to escape her own reality. This is a common tendency of hers throughout the book, she often expresses regrets at not becoming a movie star and leading the glamorous life she feels she deserves (Coulda been in the movies, an had nice clothes). The loneliness she feels is the root of her manipulative behaviour towards men; she views them as a means of escape from her marriage to Curley and will stop at nothing to entrap their sensibilities. Her volatile emotions can, on occasion, manifest themselves into violent outbursts; this happens most notably with Crooks, who she uses as a convenient outlet for her frustrations. This is best demonstrated when she threatens Crooks with lynching after he told her to leave his room (I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny). This cruel sentiment is her way of maintaining some control over her life, and imposing her will on others by exerting the little power she has as a white woman over a crippled black man in a racist society. Interestingly this outburst does not feature in the 1992 film version Of Mice and Men; where Curleys wife is portrayed as an altogether more sympathetic and pitiable character, stating such things as (Im not your object) which appeases modern interpretations of womens roles in marriage and strengthens her as a character by endowing her with an assertiveness towards Curley that does not feature in the novel. Curleys wife is a strong indicator of what long periods of loneliness can do to embitter the mind and cause vindictive and resentful behaviour towards others, especially Crooks who is her only outlet. Crooks, the farms resident stable buck, represents the marginalisation of black men and women in the 1920s and 30s, and embodies the effects of what continual isolation can have upon a man. The reader is first introduced to Crooks when Lennie stumbles into his room in the barn where Crooks is attempting to rub ointment onto his crooked back. This is indicative of the workers hostile feelings towards him, that he must endure this pain without any offerings of help or assistance from his compatriots. Crooks life was not always so lonely; upon meeting Lennie he begins to reminisce of his childhood days when he was able to meet and play with white boys (and some of them was pretty nice), before they learnt the prejudice and hatred of their generation. Steinbeck is commenting on racism, highlighting the needless ruin of a mans life for simply being different. However, in his isolation from the world and all within it Crooks has grown contemptuous and resentful towards others; he seizes Lennies attachment to George and carefully implants the idea of abandonment into his mind and revels in its effects (Crooks face lighted with pleasure in his torture). Steinbeck does draw a parallel between them, as if Crooks sees his own childlike innocence in Lennie, and the fragility of his situation and friendship with George; that one moment he can be happy and content with the world, and the next staring down the barrel of seemingly endless and lonely existence. Crooks feeds on Lennies despair like a tonic for his own existence, as if he could transfer his feelings of loneliness to another and thereby free himself. One of the most powerful sentiments in the book is Crooks assertion I tell ya, a guy gets too lonely, an he gets sick, which tells of the beginnings of Crooks descent into madness. In an attempt to shield himself from the continual suffering of his own incarceration his mind is slowly retreating into fantasy and hallucination. Though underneath all his bitterness and self-pity Crooks is still a good man (I didnt mean to scare you. Hell come back. I was talkin about myself), he is robbed of his last vestiges of hope after Curleys wifes vicious attack, (Crooks had reduced himself to nothing). This has left him in a reduced state, forced to submit his entire individuality to stay alive. Candy is an aging and handicapped farm worker who represents the effects age and infirmity have upon the poor working class in an unequal 1930s society. Candy is perhaps the most pitiable character in the book, as his age and bodily limitations frequently inhibit his ability to defend or look after himself. This is demonstrated when his pet dog, who was his only real friend, was killed by Carlson when it was decided that its smell was to revolting to bear any longer. This was achieved, with the help of Slim, by the use of peer pressure and the offering of an inducement in the form of a replacement puppy. The fact that Carlson has orchestrated the event so carefully with prior calculation to achieve his desired goal shows his selfishness. That he does not suggest a compromise such as forbidding the dog to enter the bunkhouse shows his contempt for Candys feelings.

Essay --

ationship of the Structure 0f Biomolecules to their Functions in Living Organisms Living organisms are highly ordered and have the ability to grow, develop and reproduce, complex organisms including humans rely on cooperation between organs, tissues, cells and molecules to exist (Bailey, 2014). Complex living organisms such as mammals are made of up cells, which develop into tissues, organs and finally the organ systems. All living organisms are made up of cells, organisms can be unicellular or multicellular. The cell is the fundamental unit of structure and function of all living organisms, it is the foundation on which living organisms are erected. There are two main type of cells; the prokaryotic cell and the eukaryotic cell. The prokaryotic cell lacks a true nucleus while the eukaryotic cell has a true nucleus. The cell consists of a protoplasm bounded by a membrane which comprises of four main biomolecules which are; carbohydrates, p roteins, lipids and nucleic acids. Each of these biomolecules has its own group of smaller molecules classified under them whose structures also take part in chemical reaction. Carbohydrates are the primary sources of energy to the cell, lipids provide structural support to the cell membrane, proteins functions mainly as enzymes and the nucleic acids stores and carriers genetic information. This essay will discuss how the structure of molecules can enable them to function in different organisations of life. Monosaccharide are single molecules sugar that form the basic units of carbohydr... ...the recipe to the ribosome in the cytoplasm. In the translation stage, the mRNA is decoded to produce a definite amino acid chain or a polypeptide which will then form into an active protein. Each codon codes for a specific amino acid, the structure of codons allow different amino acids to be coded for because of their diverse sequences that they can be establish. To sum up, all biological molecules play very important roles both at the cell level and system level in organisms. However, some of these molecules are more important than the other in the sense that they can take part in almost all the metabolic reactions in living organisms at all levels of life. For example, proteins take part in most metabolic and anabolic reactions in organism, it also takes part in protein synthesis which involves nucleic acids and they are also present in the phospholipid bilayer.

Racial Profiling by Police in Canada Essay -- systematic discrimination

Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement. The key to understanding racialized profiling is to understand what systemic discrimination and profiling mean. Systemic discrimination sometimes called systemic racism is defined as, â€Å"Patterns and practices†¦ which, although they may not be intended to disadvantage any group, can have the effect of disadvantaging or permitting discrimination against†¦ racial minorities† (Comack, 2012, p30). Profiling in policing is defined as, â€Å"The inverse of law enforcement. In law enforcement, a crime is discovered and the police then look for a suspect who might possibly have committed it. Profiling means that a suspect is discovered and the police then look for a crime for the person to have possibly committed† (Tator & Henry, 2003, p3). The act of racial profiling is found in many different insti... ...sx> Comack, E. (2012). Racialized policing: Aboriginal people's encounters with the police. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing. Holbert, S., & Rose, L. (2006). It is difficult to establish whether racial profiling is occurring, In D. E. Nelson, Racial Profiling. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press. Hulbert, M. A. (2011). Pursuing justice: An introduction to justice studies. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing. Satzewich, V., & Shaffir, W. (2009). Racism versus professionalism: Claims and counter-claims about racial profiling. Project Muse, 51(2), p199-226. doi: 10.3138/cjccj.51.2.199 Tanovich, D. M. (2006). The colour of justice: Policing race in Canada. Toronto, Ontario: Irwin Law. Tator, H., & Henry, F. (2006). Racial profiling in Canada: Challenging the myth of 'a few bad apples'. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press Incorporated.

Karl Marx and Old Major

Karl Marx believed that the policies of the government should be controlled by the lowest working class rather than the upper middle class. â€Å"The first step on the path to the workers' revolution is the elevation of the proletariat to the position of ruling class (â€Å"Dictatorship of the Proletariat†). † As the animals was the labor community of the farm they should command, â€Å"getting rid of Man, and the produce of our labor would be our own (Orwell 7). † Just like Karl Marx, Old Major also believe that a community should be ruled by those who work for it, not the upper middle class.The power concentrated in the hands of the minority was getting in the way of the development of communism. â€Å"The theory of communism may be summed up in one sentence: abolish all private property (â€Å"Chapter II. Proletarians and Communists†). † Their lives was simple, â€Å"The animals were born and given just so much food as will keep the breath in ou r bodies, and those who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of their strength (Orwell 6). The majority works on behalf of a minority, this small piece grows while the overall decays, the labor of the animals it isn't in their favor, Mr. Jones takes advantages of them just like the capitalism system. In a socialist society, everyone would receive an equal amount of goods. In Critique of the Gotha Programme, Karl Marx said â€Å"From each, according to his ability, to each, according to his need (â€Å"Critique of the Gotha Programme†).Manor farm would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep- and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond their imagination (Orwell 7). † In the farm, the animals were underfeed in a land where everybody could eat properly as Marx and Old Major believes every goods should be equally divided. Karl Marx wanted the equality between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Rachel McHenr y wrote about his theories, â€Å"It was also Marx's belief that before complete equality could take place there must be a dominance of the proletariats.The dictatorship of the former lower class will last for a short while, this being necessary for order's sake. (â€Å"Encountering Communism: The Theories of Karl Marx†). † Man serves the interest of no creature except himself, no one should be submissive to another. And among the animals let there be perfect unity (Orwell 10)† In Animal farm, Karl Marx ideas are mirrored by Old Major ideas, the union of the lower classes is the power of change.

Business Management Danone

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ————————————————- CONTENTS PAGE introduction3 literature review4 swot analysis4 external factors4 organizational structures5 hofstede’s theory5 cultural elements5 motivation6 danone’s analysis7 I- strategic analysis7 1- DANONE’s industry7 2- swot analysis8 3- exploring new opportunities 11 II- organizational analysis12 1- external factors12 2- DANONE’s organizational strucure13 3- home country’s culture impact15 – DANONE’s motivational system16 conclusion and recommendations 18 bibliography19 appendices21 ————————————————- INTRODUCTION We have chosen the group DANONE because it is a world-famous leading French group, which is often recognised for its management leadership. DANONE is a food-produc ts multinational corporation based in Paris. It is the world leader in fresh dairy products, 2nd in bottled water and baby food and European leader in clinical nutrition.Business Management Study GuideBeing a leader in these 4 segments corresponding to the heavy trends of consumption and deriving more than 50% of its turnover from developing countries have helped the Group to secure a 6,9 % growth in 2010 despite the down turn of world economy. It is obvious that to be able to be successful on these highly competitive markets, a company owes to apply a good strategy. The group is also supported by an effective communication and by a strong involvement in Research and development where they spend 1% of their global turn over.But above all these, with its fast development in emerging countries often through joint ventures and its switch in 2007 of 40% of its activities from biscuits to baby and clinical food, what has been critical to insure its success through these drastic changes h as been the management of the group under the strong leadership of Franck Riboud who succeeded, as chairman and CEO of DANONE, to his father Antoine in 1996.Through this study, we shall show how DANONE possesses a real identity very present in its management and organization and that this cultural model, initiated since the early 70’s by Antoine Riboud and enhanced by Frank Riboud, has been key to the Group success. ————————————————- LITERATURE REVIEW * SWOT analysis â€Å"A strategic planning tool that includes external and internal factors and is utilized by businesses and other organizations to ensure that there is a clear objective defined for the project or venture, and that all factors related to the effort – positive and negative – are identified and addressed. (Tatum, 2010) The SWOT’s process involves four areas of consideration: * Stre ngths: characteristics of the business or team that give it an advantage over others in the industry. * Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage relative to others. * Opportunities: external chances to make greater sales or profits in the environment. * Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business. Identification of SWOTs is essential because subsequent steps in the process of planning for achievement of the selected objective may be derived from the SWOTs. External factors According to David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski (5th edition), external factors of a business organization include: * Macro-environment factors (PESTLE analysis): â€Å"identifying the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Ecological factors affecting an organization. † * Micro-environment factors (Porter’s â€Å"Five Forces†): * Competitive rivalry * Threat of new entry * Buyer power * Threat of substit ution * Supplier power * Organizational structuresBased again on David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski (5th edition), organizational structure is: â€Å"The format system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates and motivates employees so that they work together to achieve organizational goals. † The purpose of organization structure is, first, to divide up organizational activities and allocate them to sub-units and, second, to co-ordinate and control theses activities so that they achieve the aims of the organization. * Hofstede’s Theory You can read also Portfolio Management QuizzesHofstede’s research gives us insights into other cultures so that we can be more effective when interacting with people in other countries. As it was clearly defined at Alan Godsave’s lecture (2011), Hofestede’s cultural dimensions are: * Individualism: People look after selves and immediate family only. * Masculinity: dominant social values are success, money, and things. * Power distance: Less powerful members accept that power is distributed unequally. * Uncertainty avoidance: people feel threatened by ambiguous situations; create beliefs/institutions to avoid such situations. * Time and Relationship dimensions. Cultural Elements According to Bauer and Erdogan (2009):  «Ã‚  Culture can be understood in terms of seven different culture dimensions, depending on what is most emphasized within the organization. For example, innovative cultures are flexible and adaptable, and they experiment with new ideas, while stab le cultures are predictable, rule-oriented, and bureaucratic. Strong cultures can be an asset or a liability for an organization but can be challenging to change. Organizations may have subcultures and countercultures, which can be challenging to manage.  » Culture dimensions (the organization culture profile): Innovative * Aggressive * Outcome-oriented * Stable * People-oriented * Team-oriented * Detail-oriented * Motivation â€Å"The cognitive, decision-making process through which goal-directed behaviour is initiated, energized, and directed and maintained. †(David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski, 5th edition) Motivation can be regarded as a broad concept, which includes preferences for particular outcomes, strength of effort (half-hearted or enthusiastic) and persistence (in the face of barriers). These are the factors that we have to understand in order to explain our motivation and behaviour.These are the factors that a manager has to appreciate in order to motivate em ployees to behave in organizationally desirable ways. ————————————————- ANALYSIS I – STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 1 – DANONE’S INDUSTRY History, according to DANONE official website, www. danone. fr The original company bearing the corporate name was founded in 1919 by Isaac Carasso in Barcelona (Spain) as a small factory producing yoghurt initially sold in Pharmacy. The factory was named Danone, a Catalan diminutive of the name of his first son. Ten years later, the first French factory was built. Also you can read  Business Ethics ComprisesIn 1967, Danone merged with Gervais, the leading fresh cheese producer in France and became Gervais Danone. Another branch of Group Danone descended from industrial glassmaker BSN, which was founded by the family of Antoine Riboud. He transformed BSN into one of Europe's leading food groups in the 1970s through a series of acquisitions and mergers, including the 1973 merger with Gervais Danone. The acquisitions initially took the shape of vertical integration, acquiring brewer Kronenbourg and Evian mineral water that were the glassmaker's largest customers. In 1973, the company merged with Gervais Danone and began to expand internationally.In 1979, the company abandoned glassmaking. In 1987, Gervais Danone acquired European biscuit manufacturer General Biscuit, owners of the LU brand, and, in 1989, it bought out the European biscuit operations of Nabisco. In 1994, BSN changed its name to Groupe Danone, adopting the name of the groupâ€⠄¢s best-known international brand. Franck Riboud succeeded his father, Antoine, as the company's chairman and CEO in 1996. Under Riboud junior, the company continued to pursue its focus on three product groups (dairy, beverages, and cereals) and divested itself of several activities, which had become non-core.From 1999 to 2006, the group sold its glass-containers business, its European and Chinese beer activities, its Italian cheese and meat businesses, and its sauces business. Despite these divestitures, Danone continues to expand internationally in its 3 core business units, emphasising health and well-being products. In July 2007, it was announced that Danone had reached agreement with Kraft to sell its biscuits division, including the LU and Prince brands. Also in July 2007 Danone bought the Dutch baby food and clinical nutrition company Numico creating the world's second largest manufacturer of baby food.Facts 2010 Sales: 17 080 million euros Operational profit: 2 578 million euros. Employees: 101 000 Factories: 159 World Ranking in the food industry: 5th CAC 40 (Paris stock exchange) ranking in capitalization: 9th Activities, Brands (DANONE official data and information, available at www. danone. com) – Fresh dairy products: with 20 % of the world market (35 % in certain countries) and a presence in about forty countries, Danone is the leader on this market. This activity, representing 57 % of the turnover of the Group, recorded an increase of 6,5 % in 2010.The strategy of the Group within the world market of the dairy products is to lean on innovations products centred on â€Å"helping your health † and on local adaptation of its brands. Main brands: Danone, first world mark with Danone, Actimel, Activia, Danonino (Small Gervais in Fruits), Vitalinea (Taillefine, Vitasnella or Ser in some countries), Danacol, Gervita and Dany. – Packaged waters: This activity, representing 17 % of the turnover of the Group, recorded an increase of 5,3 % in 2010. Main brands: Evian (world 1st bottled water), Volvic, Aqua, Bonafont and Font Vella Baby food: This activity, representing 20 % of the turnover of the Group, recorded an increase of 8,9 % in 2010. Main brands: Bledina, Gallia, Nutricia, Nutrini, Milupa, Cow&Gate, Bebiko. – Clinical nutrition: this last pole, representing 6% of the turnover, recorded a 9% increase in 2010. Main brands: Nutricia, fortimel, Nutrison http://danone10. danone. com/vignettes/fr/html_danone10/docs/Principaux_indicateurs_2010_FR. pdf 2 – SWOT ANALYSIS * INTERNAL * STRENGTHS Promotion * A brand more than a company Legitimacy to impose its products. * Master in marketing (copied by Unilever and Nestle). Take advantage of a strong image as specialist of food with health connotation. The group strengthen its scientific credibility by clinical studies (DANONE institute). * Derive World fame, thanks to Evian, the world famous brand of water. Price * Capacity to impose its prices thanks to its notoriety and its image. * Possibility of imposing high prices with regard to the market health connotation. Distribution – Notoriety Allows a referencing in all distribution channels. – The standardization / globalization of its products allows to answer at universal needs, optimizing their global distribution. Margin of important negotiation market share and spectacular notoriety. – Model geographically well balanced with half of the turnover in emerging countries, 10% in the USA and the rest in Western Europe. – Possibility of self-financing in the case of new subsidiaries important financial capacities. Product * Strong capacities of innovation all over the world. * Adaptation to foreign consumer habits. * Benefit from an excellent mastering of its businesses specificity – know how to make. * Have at the same time a portfolio of international brands and very robust local positions. Strong trust and loyalty of the consumers to products ( due to the quality control). Organization * Benefit from a healthy financial structure and a good level of internal growth. * Unique flexible decentralised organisation * The most powerful food Group in the sector of the health. * Intensification of the strategy of growth. * Have competitive advantages (brands, distribution network) unique in 2 businesses (Water, Dairy products). * WEAKNESSES Promotion * Sued for misleading advertising. Price * Increase of the level of the prices due to high cost price of raw packaging materials.Place * The policy of standardization of products makes potentially difficult taking into account the sociocultural differences or the taste differences of the various populations. Product * The policy of standardization is a barrier to operate adjustments produced according to the evolutions of markets or the changes of trend. * The globalization is a difficulty to take into account the strategies of differentiations of the competitors, in particular at the level of a specific country. * The brands are the main asset of the company.Organization * DANONE’s model may be difficult to be accepted over corporate culture and differences of management in various countries. * Difficulties to integrate exogenous elements into its culture. * EXTERNAL * OPPORTUNITIES Offer – Opportunities of external growth through Potential foreign partners seduced by: * The respect and the conservation of the partner’s corporate culture * The understanding of his culture before a proposition of common projects * The cultural footbridges in favour of ideas and knowledge sharing. The quality of the industrial and marketing know-how facilitate the co-branding with the other brands on the other markets. Demand – Expanding market (convenience goods). – A large number of countries remain to be converted to fresh dairy products as well as bottled water (developing countries). – Even in times of crisis the most basic needs of consumers is food. Influences * Healthy food became a major subject and is widely followed and supported by the consumers and the legislation (preventive campaigns against the obesity). * THREATS Offer * Strong direct competition by hard discounters and store brands. Strong competition in the field of the water PepsiCo (Aquafina) and Nestle (Perrier). * Inflationary environment of dairy products. * Increasing Costs of the communications often involving to part from certain brands. * Anchored in a very competitive system link to the expansion of its market. Demand * Versatility of the demand linked to the diversity of the offer on the food market. Influences * Governmental campaigns concerning the health potential problem of excessive consumption of fresh dairy product. 3 – EXPLORING NEW OPPORTUNITIES * According to le Figaro website (www. efigaro. fr), since August 2011 DANONE is experimenting its own â€Å"fast food† restaurant and corners in France under the name â⠂¬Å"Danone bar† to sale yogurts. If it works the model could be duplicated first in various cities in France and then major cities in other countries where the dairy product are consumed essentially at home and not outside. (Please, see picture N °2) * Based on web and luxe website (www. webandluxe. com), Evian is also experimenting home delivery in Paris, based on the fact that some customers are reluctant to buy themselves bottle water packs because of their weight.If it works this idea could also be duplicated in major cities. Furthermore Evian claims that it will help with its carbon print as these deliveries are made with electrical cars. * Evian has also opened a new website, (www. myevian. com), were customers can buy customized bottles with their name or a specific date/event engraved with laser on the bottle. (Please, see picture N °3) * Savia, a new range of soy-based milk and yogurts, made its debut in southern Europe in 2009, and in France Taillefine, the brand that invented light dairy products, launched a new line of fruit desserts in partnership with Andros, a leading fruit processor. www. danone. fr) II – ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS 1 – EXTERNAL FACTORS * PESTEL ANALYSIS We redacted this part of the work based on external factors’literrature review. * Political factors. Up to now there are four types of political factors potentially affecting Danone: * The â€Å"Danone† Amendment that the french government passed in 2005 to protect the group and its minority shareholders from a rumoured take over by PepsiCo * The potential threat of an increase in customs taxes between Europe, Asia (most of all china), and NAFTA due to the world economic crisis. Increased Government campaign for public health against obesity will be likely to increase the group sales. * Change in the European Union agricultural subsidies will affect strongly the milk producers thus having a strong impact on the European business of Danone. * Ec onomic factors. * Rate of exchange of Euro versus Yuan and Dollar may play a role in the sales of European made products elsewhere but through joint ventures in a number of countries, this risk/opportunity is downsized for the group. * General slow down of world economy but so far the group has a growth higher than the world average. Increased demand of better food product in Asia, India and Brazil with the average standard of living increasing have a positive impact. * Increase price of raw materials, due to tightening of supply vs. demand, such as plastic, will have a strong impact on packaging cost  which represents a significant part of the product cost in bottled water: the growth of water revenues in 2010 was lower than the growth in quantities because of this factor. * Social factors. * Except for Africa the world population is ageing, this will have a potential positive impact on the demand for healthy food (activia†¦ and in the richest countries for clinical food but it twill impact adversely the infant food segment. * On the long run this may also have an impact on the workforce but for the next decade Danone work force is relatively young. * Increased awareness of the population of all ages to the positive or negative health effect of food. * Increased demand for fair trade may increase the price Danone has to pay to milk producer in non-or poorly regulated areas like Africa. * Technological factors: New biotechnologies, molecules or proteines may increase the credibility and effectiveness of cosmetic and health food thus giving an edge to Danone which has focussed its strategy on these segment since much more time than its main competitors and have the research facilities to do so. * Environmental factors: * The growing scarcity of good drinkable water may increase the sales of the water division, as it has already been the case in some countries like Spain. Greater requirements for recycling of plastic packaging and lowering carbon print ma y lead to the need of a change in Danone’s packaging and distribution.They have already thought about it through home delivery of water and reutilisation of empty bottle as mentioned before. * Legal factors: * The recent case of Danone being sued for misleading advertising on the supposed health benefit of some of its products (Actimel) may have further implications and force it to change substantially its line of communication. 2 – DANONE’S ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE † A structure is all the functions and the relations determining formally the missions and the functions which every unit of the organization has to achieve and the modes of collaboration between these units † (STRATEGOR, 1993) HIERARCHY SYSTEM Danone organization is built in a way to increase flexibility and efficiency, optimize integration of employees in the group and facilitate functional, geographical and cultural synergies. It is basically a division type organization. (Please, see picture 4) In the classification of international groups introduced by Howard Perlmutter, Danone is a geocentric firm: An equal sharing of power and responsibility between headquarters and subsidiary; senior management promoted according to ability rather than nationality; subsidiaries that share worldwide objectives with managers focusing beyond national market interests.In Danone the benefits of cultural diversity, such as knowledge of local customers and business practices, are harnessed for the good of the firm as a whole. Local divisions must identify aspects of diversity that are most important to them and their operations and take the lead in expressing and managing these differences. Discussion, interaction, cross-divisional teamwork and job rotation, support, awareness, and understanding go alongside training programs, language courses, and cultural assimilation.It is typically a  «Ã‚  think globally, act locally  Ã‚ » company. * DANONE’S LOCATION IN ACCORDANCE W ITH HOFSTEDE’S THEORY * Individualism: This dimension is certainly medium-low in Danone. People are expected to do cross-divisional teamwork and loyalty to the group rather than individuals is highly valued. In return each division and functions know that they can count on the others when facing a problem. * Masculinity: This is a dimension were the cultural aspect of France and Danone’s CEO personalities have plaid an important part in Danone’s culture.The score of France and in general Latin countries is not very high. Furthermore the fact that an important part of the business is now done in developing countries where this dimension is low have reinforced this aspect. So we would say that Danone is certainly more â€Å"feminine†. This could explain also that so far the US is not one of Danone’s main markets because of its strong masculinity cultural component. * Power distance: Like most international group with a divisional type organization, p ower distance is relatively low to medium.Inequalities among people will tend to be minimised, decentralisation of activities is important, subordinates expect to be consulted by superiors, and privileges and status symbols are less evident. However it is also * Uncertainty avoidance: Being a group dealing with the food market, the standardization of products, brands, common values world wide are a way to avoid as much as possible uncertainty. On the other hand the Group has to adapt permanently to external elements as we will see in the Pestel analysis so from our point of view, uncertainty avoidance dimension is medium to high. Time and Relationship dimensions. According to Frank Riboud and Myriam Cohen-Welgryn (2011), Danone is looking at the long term:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"A company cannot succeed in the long run if it turns its back on the society it is a part of, if it only looks to its short-term economic gain. †. Their strategic move in 2007 when they sold the world N ° 2 bisc uit division in exchange of infant and clinical food brand is certainly a proof of that. On the other hand Danone is a company strongly engaged in the immediate social wellness of its employee and countries where they have factories.All this cultural and strategic aspect of the Group was well summarized by Antoine Riboud in the 90’s: â€Å"The most successful companies are the ones who think simultaneously about the technological change, the contents of the work and the change of the internal social connections in the company. † 3 – HOME COUNTRY’S CULTURE IMPACT * DETERMINING ELEMENTS OF DANONE’S CULTURE First of all DANONE is a multinational group which wants to share and transmit it own values in all countries where it’s implanted. Based on DANONE official website (www. danone. om), DANONE has four important values that have to be passed on through their products and their commitments all over the world: * The openness: this value includes various notions such as the open-mindedness, the curiosity and valuing diversity. * The enthusiasm: It symbolizes the desire and capacity to take risks and explore new, not to mention the conviction to surpass oneself and to take some pleasure by working. * The humanism: DANONE wants to accentuate the fact that the group pays attention to the safety of people and products. Likewise it is environmentally friendly. * The proximity: The group pay attention to their customers.Indeed it’s essential for DANONE to be tuned into the expectations but also the complaints of these customers. In addition as DANONE is a French company there are other values, which come from its home country’s culture: First the idea to have a well-balanced diet by eating products of good qualities and with good taste is an important cultural subject for a large number of Frenchs. There is a growing awareness that a bad diet has direct consequences on people’s health, but also major economic consequences in terms of public health costs. Second French have a big craze for the environmentally policy.Indeed since a few years the sustainable development and the ecology are very present notions in the life of everyone. So DANONE tries to convey these same notions through their products as well as within their advertisements all over the world. All these notions are at the core of DANONE’s mission. * CULTURE IMPACT ON EACH OTHER The four core values and the French influence described here above are a frame in which the team of each division and each country where DANONE is present, have to adapt taking into consideration to their own cultural specificity as mentioned before.In fact it is perfectly in line with the openness value so the model is not rigid. When DANONE wants to open a new market in a country which culture is quite different from its own, they usually do so by incorporating joint venture with strong national partners like they did in Russia (10% of their sales in 2010) or China. The only core value, which they consider as non-negotiable, is humanism. So DANONE is typically a  «Ã‚  think globally, act locally  Ã‚ » company. 4 – DANONE’S MOTIVATIONAL SYSTEM * COMPANY’S MOTIVATIONAL ELEMENTSWe know that a growing gap between the aspiration of the employees and the practices of companies is source of additional costs and loss of performance. That is why, to DANONE, the motivation of the employees is an imperative condition of the company’s growth. The group DANONE often insists on the need of permanent growth to preserve its leader's place on the market. This growth requires consistently an outstanding performance, which supposes that the company can lean on committed employees. Consequently, DANONE insure on a regular basis that the 3 main conditions for optimum employee’s commitment are fulfilled: The company is in sync with its culture and its values – He is proud to belong to a leading group; – He is certain that his employer assumes the development of his skills. To strengthen the motivation of the employees and their commitment, the group DANONE tries to establish, on a regular basis, a correlation between the practices of management and the growth of the units. To do it, regular questionnaires are submitted to the managers and DANONE, from time to time, widen these survey to its thousands employees. More concretely the group DANONE insists more particularly on the autonomy and the sharing between employees: We rely on the autonomy of management of our subsidiaries and what we call the networking attitude. It means that, when an employee meets a problem, he has to have the reflex not to turn around towards his boss, but rather to exchange with his counterpart, wherever he turns out to be in the world, to find the solution. We forged a series of tools to share the knowledge and exchange good practises for the specialists of every domain (finances, human re sources, industry, marketers). † (Franck Mougin’s interview, 2006, available at www. lexpress. fr) ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE’S EFFICIENCY Since 2002 DANONE’s HR, supported by Frank Riboud, has developed several tools to increase efficiency of the organization, based on the fact that they are too  «Ã‚  small  Ã‚ » compared with their competitors Nestle or PepsiCo to  «Ã‚  reinvent the wheel  Ã‚ ». So they have started knowledge â€Å"marketplaces† and â€Å"sharing networks†Ã¢â‚¬â€to help employees connect with each other and share good practices horizontally rather than relying on hierarchical lines of communication. In 10 years DANONE employees shared almost 1000 good practices with colleagues.The Networking Attitude had made practical information accessible to about 70% of the more than 9,000 DANONE managers around the world. Best of all these programs, which are conducted within the timeframe of more formal meetings, incurred very little cost and were considered highly successful by 90 % of general managers, according to an internal survey. The HR top management worked also on â€Å"co-building events† where employees from different units within DANONE networked with the goal of creating new practices or products rather than sharing existing ones. http://www. duperrin. com/2008/04/21/comment-danone-fait-de-sa-culture-un-levier-de-performance/) These programs didn’t fit in so easily. They required lots of energy and preparation from HR and took time to be accepted in some part of the world where discussing serious business issue with lower rank colleagues or wearing costumes- as it was recommended during marketplace events- was contrary to local culture. Despite these first reluctances it does work and the most obvious result is that DANONE start launching new products 3 times faster than its competitors. Franck MOUGIN ; Benedikt BENENAT/avril 2005/ Danone se raconte des histoires, une version la tine du knowledge management/http://www. ecole. org) ————————————————- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Frank Riboud, CEO Danone said: â€Å"At Danone we don’t talk about strategy, we react to the context around us. For me, it’s like a Lego box that you buy for your children. They start to play, trying to find a way to build the image on the Lego box. At the end of the day, they give up, throw out the box, and put the pieces away. The next weekend you put all the Lego pieces on the floor and then the strategy starts.They try to imagine something. Not what was on the box, but what they have in their heads. That is strategy at Danone for me: It’s Lego. † (Harvard business school, 2008) Since he took over in 1996, he did three very smart things. First, he directed to company’s focus towards health and nutrition. Second, he turned a Western Eur opean company into an international organization with operations worldwide. And third, he changed how the organization was managed. He created the expression â€Å"jeu de jambe†, or footwork, which perfectly describes Danone’s approach to dealing with many issues in a flexible way.With its focus on nutrition and promoting health through four product divisions, Danone appeared to have a clear strategy for the new century. As CEO, Riboud’s larger vision extended beyond ordinary customer segments to include promoting health to people throughout the world. In 2011 he acknowledges his father’s, Antoine, vision when he said in 1972 in front of a number of CEO of the biggest French companies: â€Å"Conduisons nos entreprises autant avec le coeur qu’avec la tete et n’oublions pas que si les ressources d’energie de la Terre ont des limites, celles de l’homme sont infinies s’il se sent motive. Let’s manage our companies as much with our heart as with our brain and let’s not forget that if earth resources are limited, the man’s one are infinite if he feels motivated. We believe that Antoine and Frank Riboud leadership and vision and their unique management way have leaded the Group to its success. ————————————————- BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: – David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski (2004) Organizational Behaviour. (5th Ed. ) FT Prentice Hall. – D. Buchanan – A. Huczynski (2010) Organizational Behaviour. 7th Ed. ) FT Prentice Hall. – Bauer and Erdogan (2009) Organizational Behaviour. FT Paperback. | Internet sources (International and French sources): – Tatum, M. (2010). What is SWOT Analysis? Available at: http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-swot-analysis. htm (Accessed: 10 November 2011) – DANONE (2011). Our company. Available at: http://www. dan one. com/en/company/introduction. html (Accessed: 10 November 2011) – Groupe DANONE (2011). Historical background. Available at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Groupe_Danone (Accessed: 10 November 2011) L’Ecole de Paris du management (2005) – Danone se raconte des histoires, une version latine du Knowledge management Franck Mougin interview. Available at: http://ecole. org/seminaires/FS1/SEM190/VA010405. pdf/view (Accessed: 12 November 2011) – LEXPRESS. fr (2006). Donner du sens au travail. Available at: http://www. lexpress. fr/emploi-carriere/laquo-donner-du-sens-au-travail-raquo_479442. html (Accessed: 15 November 2011) – LEFIGARO. fr – Economie (2011). Danone s’essaie au bar a yaourt. Available at: http://www. lefigaro. r/societes/2011/07/14/04015-20110714ARTFIG00454-danone-s-essaie-a-la-restauration-rapide. php (Accessed: 13 November 2011) – Le Journal du Net (2010). DANONE. Available at: http://www. journaldunet. com/dano ne/ (Accessed: 13 November 2011) – Web & Luxe – digital luxury magazine (2010). Myevian. com: la personalisation est aussi chez Evian. Available at: http://www. webandluxe. com/08/2010/myevian-com-la-personnalisation-est-aussi-chez-evian/ (Accessed: 13 November 2011) – Bloc-Notes de Bertrand Duperrin (2008). Comment DANONE fait de sa culture un levier de performance.Available at: http://www. duperrin. com/2008/04/21/comment-danone-fait-de-sa-culture-un-levier-de-performance/ (Accessed: 14 November 2011) ————————————————- APPENDICES Picture 1: The first yogurt Danone with a porcelain package sold in chemists in 1928 (Available at: http://tourisme. bienpublic. com/90-ans-de-Danone-les-8-yaourts-qui. html) Picture 2: The first Danone bar opened in august 2011 in a shopping mall near Paris. (Available at: http://www. lefigaro. fr/societes/2011/07/14/04015- 20110714ARTFIG00454-danone-s

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lace where you can work regularly. This place should be dedicated to study, free of potential distractions from friends or family — yes folks, even your cat. Regular work in such an environment helps form good, effective study habits, and improves concentration and focus. Distractions waste precious time and cause tension. Get rid of clutter. Keep things simple — keep things tidy. Get a study timetable organized and prioritize. Prepare a list or timetable for tasks for that day, and for the week and number them according to which ones need to be done first. These get the priority and will not necessarily be the easiest. Mark and label all your work folders and content and place them in separate piles so that you can clearly see how much work you need to do and what has already been revised. Tick off the tasks as they are completed. Make sure that the area for your study is well lit and has an ambient temperature where you can focus. The quality of focus determines the quality of understanding. You cannot apply what you learn without understanding and exams test your ability to apply what you have learnt. The Motivation for Learning should be clear — top grades will mean higher earnings and a better quality life. Learn to work for them†¦ Food: What you eat affects your thinking. The Rule is Eat Little — but often. Eat healthy meals such as fish, fruits, and sandwiches that provide the vitamins and minerals that you need and do not make heavy demands on your digestive system. Know when You are ‘Switched On’. Try to be aware of your bio clock and what time of the day you work best. Optimise by revising when you work best but keep an eye on the exam date and time. You will need to get used to working at that hour. Do The Challenging Revision First — when you are fresh. Trying to focus on difficult problems when you are tired can be difficult. Look after your physical health. Take regular breaks, get plenty of fresh air and do some walking or stretching. Study in small chunks lasting 25 to 35 minutes. Your memory and concentration will work better if you study in short bursts but often†¦

Heart of Darkness (ANALYTICAL ESSAY ) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Heart of Darkness (ANALYTICAL ) - Essay Example A team of men is on the Thames waiting for the wind to take proper direction. Marlow whose profession is not clearly defined becomes the narrator in the story and hence represents the voice of the author. He then moves on to talk of Europe having some of the darkest places on earth. He talks of his expedition to Africa, which opened his eyes to the evils of colonization. Illness has been discussed explicitly in the story at different points of time. The Russian companion of Kurtz who went through subsequent illnesses narrates the above lines to Marlow during their meet. The illnesses are very symbolic of the dark environment of colonization where Kurtz was more feared for his whims than respected by the natives who therefore followed his orders like that of God. Sickness has been elaborately discussed throughout the novella; not just physical but mental sickness as well. In this context the passage â€Å"On the contrary. It appears their intercourse had been very much broken by vari ous causes. †¦. smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber† (Conrad, 153-159) could be analyzed. Sometimes they resulted from obsession as it did in case of Kurtz (obsessed with possession of ivory) who once tried to shoot his manager who has been giving him company through all times in order to acquire some ivory from him. When the Russian says, â€Å"they [natives] adored him† (Conrad, 154), the tone implies something more that the words reveal. This was later revealed further as the manager told him about his experiences with Kurtz. The man saw no reason for things, which came, in the way of his demands. When he asked for the ivory he placed his most loyal companion, the Russian, under his gun’s point, which surely surprised Marlow, who has been observing the devotion of the Russian towards Kurtz for quite some time – â€Å"The man filled his life, occupied his thoughts, swayed his emotions† (Conrad, 154). The Russian went on to tell Marlow that he had requested Mr. Kurtz to go back from this life which he himself did not quite like, but despite agreeing to him initially he stayed on and the Russian was determined to stick to him. What is notable in the concerned passage is the strong devotion of the Russian despite facing all odds with his companion. In fact when Marlow called him mad, the Russian strongly protested. This reflect once again the psychological state of the Russian who was an enthusiastic young man but wasted his years quite gladly in the woods merely out of devotion towards Mr. Kurtz. The author brings in the silence and unperturbed nature around the men, which was rather suffocating, to Marlow –â€Å"The woods were unmoved, like a mask -- heavy, like the closed door of a prison -- they looked with their air of hidden knowledge, of patient expectation, of unapproachable silence† (Conrad, 157). On one hand the woods had a lot of give but lay quite some str ess and absorbed a lot from life. Staying alone in such a land perhaps took the toll on Mr. Kurtz and his companion. As â€Å"the appetite for more ivory had got the better of the†¦less material aspirations† Kurtz gathered more natives who apparently adored him but Marlow by now knew better (Conrad, 157). Another evidence of mental sickness arising out of the wild surroundings is the heads that surrounded Kurtz’s house, perhaps to fill the gaps in his life. The Russian must have had a strong influence on his mind especially

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