Milgram Obedience Review Essay Example for Free

Milgram Obedience Review Essay Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the person dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, with defiance or submission, to the commands of others. For many people, obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct. The dilemma inherent in submission to authority is ancient, as old as the story of Abraham, and the question of whether one should obey when commands conflict with conscience has been argued by Plato, dramatized in Antigone, and treated to philosophic analysis in almost every historical epoch. Conservative philosophers argue that the very fabric of society is threatened by disobedience, while humanists stress the primacy of the individual conscience. The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous import, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation. This is from perils of obedience by Stanley milgram. I enjoyed this article.

Business Issues And The Context Of Human Resources Commerce Essay

Business Issues And The Context Of Human Resources Commerce Essay XX is a leading International Healthcare Group with the purpose to help people lead longer, healthier and happier lives. The organisation does that by providing a broad range of healthcare services, support and advice to people throughout their lives. With no shareholders and its global presence in 190 countires, the organisation is said to be a industry leader. XXX is a 60 years old organisation providing services like Health insurance and Wellbeing, Healthcare provision, Healthcare Analytics and Care Services. The organisations vision to be world leader in the health care sector has been supported by the following objectives: Listen to its customers, act quickly and professionally. Living and Breathing organisations values monitored by HR on regular basis. Make a difference in peoples lives by offering all high quality and value added healthcare Creating diverse and mix work force of highly skilled and knowledgeable employees and invest in their development within the company via organised HR function. This report has been commissioned by the CEO of XXX. FINDINGS 3.1 Forces shaping the HR agenda Our purpose is to help people live longer, healthier, happier lives and the 52,000 people we employ are at the heart of making this a reality. John Handley, HR Director, XXX International It is essential for XXX to have a strong and distinctive identity that clearly seperates the organisation from others in the field. Everyone in XXX has a part to play in this and hence thats where the HR plays a vital role. Examples of External Forces that have shaped the HR agenda are Competition, Markets, Economic trends and the changing face of the Health Industry. Increasing expectations of the customers from the oraganisation and more competitors offering similar policies and products at lower rates, made XXX to look more further into the product designs and customer service management, which resulted in hiring more talented and knowledgeable people skilled in their sector to provide the best customer service to the customers and partners. To make sure that the right number of people are available to service the customers and are able to effectively deliver the right results to the costumers, HR department works in partnership with the management. They decided to provide the right environment for the people to learn, grow and develop them through Innovative Learning Approach and by recognising people for their contribution to the organisations success. By investing into the right people, XXXs objective was to provide the best customer service through all channels to its members. HR proposed to offer its employees both an open environment and an informal culture, encouraging fresh ideas and helping employees realise their true potential. To reflect their different business needs, all the business units have a tailored HR department i.e.operational HR, organisational development, reward, HR systems, employee recognition, and HR support. These units works exclusively to provide a direct, informed and tailored service to meet its unique needs. 3.2 HRs contribution to Organisational Effectiveness Creating competitive advantage through people. Group HR Management works in partnership with the Management. All business units individual HR heads who reports to the HR Director. This is to make sure that all the departments on its own are delivering higher levels of performance to the benefit of our customers and the bottom line. Individual HR in all these units perform common bundle of processes which impacts on organisational performance. Recruitment of talent that matches XXXs values. Leadership and management practices/ competencies Performance management Succession planning Recognition Organisational climate and workplace environment Facilitating effective change management Management development and training Career development 360 feedback tools All business units have their own Administration and Training departments. The Administration department looks after Payroll, HR Systems and Database Management to make sure that all the employee details are correct, secure and as a result in them being treated fairly. All the employees are paid correctly It has its own Change Management team who deals with changes in processes and work culture. The Training department works in partnership with the business in all individual units to create appropriate, skilled and tailored training solutions to keep up with the changing business needs. 3.3 HRs roles and functions in management structures XXX HR Map Administration Training Departments are in each business units and have individual Change Management Teams IS HR Organisational Development HR Director HR UK Membership International HR Group HR Management Development Care Services Information Systems HR Training Development Group HR Functions Reward Recognition Business Technology Training IS Resource Management Group Resource Management Pensions Benefits HR Systems XXX One Life HR within XXX works as a strategic partner, hence plays a very important role in finance, operations and other business departments within the organisation. The main objective is to provide high returns on the businesss investment in its people. XXX does not follow any set models of HR but do relates with the Harvard model in some manner. It sees employees as resources. It emphasises on issues like involving people in decision making and developing an organisational culture based on trust and teamwork. It has shared goals for coordination and control and a flat structure to minimise status culture. It employs the multiple stakeholder model in which employees are seen as having interests along with other stakeholders, management, unions and government. The HR outlines four main policy areas which are Human resource flows : HR manages the flow of people within XXXs individual business units through recruitment and selection, through the organisation by placement, appraisal and promotion and lastly through out of the organisation by termination. It also makes sure at right number of people are available at all the times according to the business needs. Reward Systems : Even though each business unit has separate Reward System in place, it serves a common purpose to attract, motivate and keep employees happy within the organisation. Employee Influence : People being the heart of the organisation, their views and concerns are given equal importance as of stakeholders and customers. Work Systems : With the ever changing business needs and the medical climate, XXX makes sure that the information and technology used within the organisation provides the best outcomes. The HR function in all the business units currently concentrates on achieving the four Cs of the model. Commitment, Congruence, Competence, Cost Effectiveness. The XXXs hr structure also somehow resembles the Ulrichs hr model as all the business units do individually have their own separate departments to deal with change, strategies and administration. 3.4 Business Ethics and Accountability XXX follows a code of professional ethics which are based on the principles that determine the way employees behave and Brand personality that describes the way employees are suppose to perceive. Brand Values : Caring we genuinely care about peoples health and wellbeing. We exist for no other reason. Respectful : We respect peoples individuality, privacy and dignity and try to respond to their individual needs. Ethical : We are committed to acting responsibly and in the best interests of people and the environments. Enabling : We empower people with our knowledge and experience to help them choose the most appropriate solutions. Dedicated : We are dedicated to providing a professional, reassuring service and seek oppurtunities to go the extra mile to exceed peoples expectations. Accountable : We are accountable for the quality, efficiency and value of our services, and act in the best interests of our customers. Brand Personality : Warm Human Caring Understanding Approachable Health Care Expert Global Outlook BUPA Employee Individual Business units do have their own code of conducts in line with the group values. For example, the training and development department in all units have professional code of conduct from the Institute of Management Consultants which covers ethics as Integrity, Independence, Objectivity and Responsbility to the profession. All the core values and ethics are explained on the XXXs intranet which is available for all the employees across the organisation. It clearly mentions how employees are expected to act in relation to the various policies like Treating Customers Fairly, Health and Safety at work, Data Matters, Security Matters Policy and Data Protection Policy As a global healthcare company, XXX deals with the personal details, medical data and financial records of millions of people around the world. Protecting that information is essential is a key responsibility for all of us. XXX Chief Executive XXX as a major healthcare services provider, plays a very important role in designing and delivering medical procedures and policies. It works closely with NHS and makes sure that all the treatments offered to the members in their centres are within the medical guidelines applied by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). XXX has its media policy, Risk Management and Fraud Protection policies. XXX has its own Corporate Responsbility and Sustainability Policy under which it is made sure that healthcare expertise is used in the way that is good for business and communities. It covers many areas including employee giving support and volunteering, community health and wellness partnerships, addressing and minimising our impact on environment and affiliations with like-minded businesses and organisations (e.g Nuffield Health Centres, Physio Centres, Conservative treatment centres, etc.) XXX is an active partner with Life Education which supports youth health and drug education programs and with Can Too to raise funds for Cure Cancer. The Group HR provides support, encouragement and motivation to its employees to participate in various activities conducted to fulfil its corporate responsibility. Employees are expected to actively promote these services while having interactions with the customers at all the times. 4.1 HRs role in strategy formulation and interpretation All organisations will at some point need to focus on the activities and actions that it will undertake to meet its long term aims and objectives. XXXs vision taking care of the lives in our hands is at the heart of all strategies that are planned and practiced within the organisation. The two main objectives helping HR to form strategies within the organisation are Management capability : Through validated processes and development, this objective is met by XXX recruiting, retaining and developing managers the meet the business challenges of today and future. It involves different strategies designed around Recruitment, Core competencies, Performance Management, Succession Planning, XXX One Life, Climate Surveys, Change Management, Management Development, Career Development, 360 feedback tools and Customisable Questionnaire. Enabling systems and processes : This objective is met by developing and maintaining a performance-oriented culture. It includes Induction and Measures of Success. Business priorities are cascaded through the different levels of the organisation through a process whereby they become increasingly more detailed and focused. They trigger departmental objectives which are translated into team objectives and in turn provide the foundation for personal objectives which are based on SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) targets that are to be met on consistent basis. These objectives are discussed, set and measured as part of the performance management plan of all employees depending on their roles and business units. XXX does not fit into any particular model of relationship between the HRM and the Business Strategies but it does work on the theories based within these models. In the best fit model (Schuler and Jackson example), employees are seen as key in the implementation of the declared organisational strategy and the HR strategy is designed to fit with this. XXXs individual departments propose strategies to be implemented via management surrounding functions, systems and processes within the department which enable the functional strategy to be achieved. This is then responded by the HR by defining the strategy to meet organisational needs. In the Resource based approach, the focus is to sustain competitive advantage through development of human capital rather than aligning human resources to current strategic goals. XXX invests in regular development of its employees within the organisation to make sure that they are updated with all the knowledge required to perform their job well and so to add value to the company. 4.2 Business and HR Strategies Each business within XXX evaluates its current position, its market and competitor environement and identifies its key strategies and plans in its annual 3 Strategic Year Plan (explained in 5.3). They work together in order to achieve common objectives of the organisation. Two of these most important objectives to be achieved in XXX are Cost Control : To utilise the resources in the most productive and effective way. To recruit and retain effective and skilled staff More training and development options to the existing employees to perform various roles Flexible working patterns according to the business needs Authorising treatments that are medically appropriate and within clinical guidelines only, leaving a small room for exceptional cases Covering as many as health-care workers to work within XXX limits to make sure that the customers are happy with the policies Competion : to regularly update the products and services offered within the health and care sector. To provide best customer service on levels of the business To design and offer most flexible and tailored policies to the members. To retain customers by offering alternative treatment options and longer support services. HRs role in meeting this objectives has been analyised through SWOT/STEEPLE which looks at the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external oppurtunities and threats. Below is the combined SWOT Analysis for XXX Strenghts : No Shareholders : this enables all the profits to be utilised to provide better customer service and products to the members. People : highly skilled and mix work force which knowledge of various sectors and products. Team of qualified health care consultants and providers. Customer-focus work culture Technology : Most advanced technology in the health care sector relating to the processes and procedures for medical treatments. Guidance on health issues online and on the phone. Operations : Working with various organisations and health groups to provide the best health care to everyone. Weeknesses : No Shareholders : If profits margins not gained, not enough money to invest back into the business People : mix work force and long-serving staff who are resistant to change. People lacking knowledge of all the departments as specialising in one specific area. Operations : because of the high turn-over of the staff, no standard operating procedures. Regular changes to keep up with the changing demands of the business. Cost-control : Staff redundancies in many business units resulting in low moral within the organisation and heavy work load on the rest of the workforce. Oppurtunities : Partnership with various organisations within the healthcare sector. As a lead health care service provider, had access to higher numbers of consultants and medically trained people Works closely with NHS, hence very influential when it comes to decisions relating medical treatments and funding for certain experimental treatments International presence to make sure private healthcare is available and provided to people around the world. Threats : Competition from other insurance providers who offer private health insurances on lower rates. Outsourcing of many business units which lacks communication and information transformation in a quick and appropriate manner. Higher medical costs which makes the premiums of the policies go higher every year. Increased customer demands to cover more experimental treatments and drugs because of globalisation. 4.3 Vertical and Horizontal Integration XXX works with NHS and other health-care providers to provide better health care services. The Vertical Integration is practiced within XXX as many of the services are offered via other providers who specialises in Travel, Home Care and Conservative treatment. This does serves the purpose to achieve the organisation to provide more treatment options to its customers which results in more appropriate and affordable policies been given to its customers. The option of been treated via NHS or Privately is always available for the customers leaving room for them to choose the most appropriate and time-saving option. The horizontal integration is defined within XXX as all the HR functions are inter-related and inter-connected to each-other. This is achieved by a business units specially looking for skilled employees in customer service, information technology, nursing and administration sector which leads to internal recruitment or resourcing, further leading to development, performance management, rewards and recognition and employee relations. 5.1 HRs role in Business Planning The Global expansion of XXX in the current times have resulted in fine-tuning of the policies and functions throughout the organisation to ensure that required support is provided to drive XXX forward. This has created a demanding and fast changing environment to work in. XXX expect high standards from every one of its team members and in return offer the opportunity to enhance their career with one of the most biggest and most successful brands in private healthcare. HR being the part of the Organisation Development team within the Group functions, has a very wide role to play to achieve the organisations one common goal. It works to make sure that all business units within XXX had right level of people with right level of skills are available to effectively deliver results to its customers at all times. Introduction to flexible working hours, change in employment contracts, inter-departmental transfers to suit the business needs, more systems and procedures to work with resulted in introduction to the change management team within HR of all business units. The things that caused XXX to go through change are Challenges of growth within global market i.e increasing cost of medical treatments and more experimental treatments introduced within UK market Technological changes i.e different technologies to work with to make sure that all processes and procedures are up to date according to the changing demands of the business Customer Pressure i.e. customers looking for more options and better services at lower costs The HRs involvement in various aspects of change was identified as Restructuring the recruitment and resourcing policies Advising team managers in skills available within the organisation, career development and transfer oppurtunities. Assessing the impact of change in one department on another part of the organisation. Making sure that the communication is clear and consistent within all departments of all business units within the organisations. Helping its to cope with change , performance management and motivation. 5.2 Environmental Planning It is very important for XXX to scan through the environment and consider all the present and future forces affecting the direction and goals of the organisation. Environment Planning involves external factors like trends and markets and internal factors like infrastructure and personnel. The STEEPLE analysis for XXX shows all the forces affecting organisational change Social Technology Economic Environment Political Legal Ethical Lifestyle changes of the customers involved with the company Energy costs and usage Inflation rates Natural resrouces Regulations related to private healthcare Employment Laws Reputation Living conditions of its employees and customers related to the business Changes in IT new systems and processes Consumer confidence within the companys products and services Strong Environmental policy Safety regulations Consumer Protection Business Ethics Income distribution within the community New inventions and software developments Medical costs Recycling Trade policies/ globalisation Trade Unions Client Confidentiality 5.3 Measures of Effectiveness What gets measured, gets attention and gets done. Tom Peters XXX has its own business priorities. To keep them accountable and focused on their key objectives, all businesses in XXX go through an annual process of setting their major priorities for the coming year. These are agreed in annual meetings, together with the key financial targets and from the basis of what the business will be measured on the following year. This is a similar process as Performance Management in employees. The organisation has The 3 year Strategic Plan (3YP) which describes the direction the Group as a whole and the individual business units will take over the next 3 years. This plan is completed every year and is an important part of XXXs strategy and planning processes. Group HR delivers this plan to different business units which is then cascaded to its employees. The context of each business is then evaluated on the basis of three important management tools. The Annual Operating Plan : It sets the detailed financial targets for the year for each individual department including HR. (sets targets for sales, costs, profits, etc) The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each individual in each business units. Thess are set of key operational, customer, strategic and people performance metrics. The Business priorties : The change acceptance rate of all individuals within the organisation. All these tools are available on organisations intranet for the convenience of all its employees. Performances of the employees are measured with the Brand values and behaviours been achieved, delivered and maintained. These are maintanined within the organisaiton as Performance Review and once completed along with the Development Plans are then sent to their respective HRs administration department who works closely with the training and development team to provide immediate attention to key issues. This process of measuring the human capital and oraganisations data provides a clearer picture within the working culture of the organisation. So, in this way, management, training and development team and HR administration works together to manage people and policies to achieve set business objectives. CONCLUSIONS XXXs vision to provide the best healthcare options in the world to every individual possible is a long term goal to be achieved along with the changing face of the medical sector and economic trends. It provides value-added products and services to its customers on the possible grounds making sure that the increasing private health insurance cost does not put the customer off from using the private healthcare. It needs policies and procedures to be updated all the time to match the technology offered within the market. XXXs diverse network of organisational structure which is divided in separate business units gives an opportunity to the organisation to look into greater details and specialise in its area of expertise. HR within XXX perform within its own business units providing tailored services to its people which makes its more approachable and easier for it to stay in touch with the business requirements. International HR looking after all the aspects of border control, trade ru les and regulations, etc contributes highly to the organisation to go through globalisation. The Group HR looks after all the functions of the organisational development and Rewards recognition which is kept separate from the administration department to give it more time and resources to look into organisational strategies and planning and run smoothly. Though it looks like a complex structure, it does allow the organisation to perform and deliver its objectives on consistent basis. People being the heart of the business, the organisations investment in its resources is incredibly valued. RECOMMENDATIONS Leadership Development : Employees within the organisation to go through planned management traingin to deliver consistent business results. HR to be more influential in individuals growth through a leadership development programme. This should discussed and put in place in the next 3YP meeting. More uniformed structure of Training and Development : Stuctured and uniform induction program for all employees delivered by HR. Learning and Development team then to look into more specialised training of its employees. This should be auctioned immediately with ongoing continuous improvement plan. Adaption of Competency Framework : Even though employees are evaluated on the brand values and behaviours, a competency based mapping should be followed in the performance development plans. This will help to achieve higher levels of organisational and employee effectiveness.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay: Importance of the Nighttime Forest

A Midsummer Night's Dream: The Importance of the Nighttime Forest  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night's Dream the dark forest is the center of the world, relegating Athens, center of the civilized Greek world, to the periphery. Day gives way to night, and mortal rulers leave the stage to be replaced by fairies. The special properties of night in a forest make it the perfect setting for the four lovers to set out on a project of self-discovery. Shakespeare implies that in darkness, reliance on senses other than eyesight leads to true seeing. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the nighttime forest, by disrupting and transforming vision, forces introspection and improvisation that help the four lovers on their way to self-understanding. The darkness of the night setting seems particularly important in a play (and a culture) where the language of love relies so heavily on sight imagery. Fairy magic literalizes the connection between love and sight: appropriately, Oberon's love juice is applied to the eyes. In the language of the play, to look on or at someone is the most common metonymic expression for falling in love with a new person, or for spending time with the one you already love. Lysander steels himself and Hermia against the trial of separation with a call to "starve our sight / From lover's food till morrow deep midnight" (1.1, ll. 221-2). Vision and hunger together become the elements of Lysander's metaphor about lovers and separation; to see is to be with, and a lover's company is elevated in importance to the need for food and drink. But Hermia and Lysander are not going to see each other by the light of day. The scant light of midnight-midnight, when dawn and dusk are both equally far off-will provide a ll... ..." which connotes shallow feeling (Garber 10/13); the word "dote" is instead reserved for description of his former feelings about Hermia (4.1 ll. 163-73). His feelings for Hermia are the ones that have metaphorically been snuffed out by the dawn, "melted as the snow" before the sun (4.1 l. 163). What began in night as magic, as introspection and improvisation, has in daylight solidified into deep feeling. Although he speaks of Helena being "the object and pleasure" of his eye, the visual metaphor is accompanied by a proclamation of the faith and virtue of his heart's devotion (4.1 ll. 166-7). Introspection allows keener observation; new ways of looking enrich more ordinary types of sight. Night teaches the four lovers how to see more clearly during the day. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993.

How Safe Are Mobile Phones? :: essays research papers fc

Millions of people own a mobile phone these days, and ever since they have been around scientists question the fact of they are safe or not. Do they cause tumors, earaches, mercury poisoning? All these health risks are mentioned in every article I found. But nowhere could I find anything that was sure if mobiles did cause all of the above. This is where science fails us. The problem is that mobile phones are still too new to know the long-term effects on human. Mobile phones give of a radiation of radio frequency round 10MHz to 300Ghz. But so do other appliances. Why does mobiles especially get put in the picture of being hazardous? Soon it will be clear whether the radio frequency emissions from mobiles cause health effect. Drivers who use there mobiles whilst driving are the only â€Å"health risk† that can be proven, the drivers get distracted and lose control over the vehicle. Technology invented something for this, hands-free sets. But now the question is do those hands free sets really solve the problem? Researchers now are looking at if the hands free sets don’t cause other problems. A report from the magazine â€Å"which?† said that hands free kits raised levels if radiation to the head from mobile phones by up to three and a half times. The consumer association immediately stressed that it had done no research into this whether this radiation could cause damage to the brain. That just proves that whenever there has been research a report is released to prove that research wrong. Probably is done not to cause any chaos. Mobiles are said to cause brain tumors, they say this because there was found to be more tumors of the same kind amongst mobile phone users. Mobiles cause memory loss, radiation sickness. Mobiles can disturb your sleep pattern, according to the researchers from the university of Zurich, mobile phones increases brain activity during our sleep. A really strange result of the use of mobile phones is that mobile phones can release the poisonous mercury from fillings causing brain damage, scientist say this is due to the electrical fields given off by mobile phones can activate the mercury, giving off a gas. The fumes attach the nervous system causing conditions from depression, asthma to Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Some studies have suggested links between Radio frequency radiation and lymphoma, microwaves and memory loss, mobile phone use and a rare type of brain cancer, mobile phone radiation and DNA destruction, and mobile phone use and damaged scalp nerves

The Nirvitarka Concentration as Represented In Narayans Mr Sampath Ess

The novels of R.K. Narayan reflect that Indian sensibility which has been acquired through the ages from the wisdom of Indian philosophical thought that has been continually enriched since the ancient times but which had receded since colonization. Narayan adopts this 'theoretical base of the Indian philosophical tradition to retrieve and reconstitute a sense of Indianness. Perhaps, this is why he has proved to be "the most lasting, highly rated and widely accessible, while his writing is the most consciously rooted in local circumstances, traditions and values" as claimed by Dennis Walde(694). Meenakshi Mukherjee had earlier recognized Gandhi as having reached the state of Jeevan Mukta as depicted in Waiting for the Mahatma (Mukherjee 99-100). Even V.P. Rao observed that "Krishnan practices some sort of yoga. He goes through the... The last three stages of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi."(Rao 32)Taking this a priory. I attempt to evaluate Srinivas of Mr Sampath on the scale of Patanjal i's Nirvitarka concentration as mentioned in his Yogasutra. Before embarking on the venture of interpreting Srinivas's experience of undergoing Nirvitarka concentration during an exorcist's ritual, it is imperative to have an overview of Patanjali's Yoga philosophy, of course, in a nutshell. Throughout this paper I have referred to P.N.Mukerji's translation of Patanjali's Yoga-sutra as well as of the commentary on Yoga philosophy by Swami Hariharananda Aranya. In his Yoga-sutra Patanjali expounds the theory of controlling the mind in order to know the Self. As he says, ;ksxfpÙko`fÙkfujks/k% (Aranya 7) Yoga is the discipline of restraining the fluctuation or modification caused due to the occupation of the mind. The occupation of the mind is to create t... ...his family, at the crucial moments of their life by acquiescing to take care of his father in the absence of Ravi and his mother when she takes Ravi to the tantric's village Works Cited Aranya,Swami Hariharananda.Yoqa Philosophy of Patanjali Trans.P, N.Mukerji.Calcutta: University Press, 1963. Bowling,L.E. "What is the Stream of Conscious Technique." Critical Approaches To Fiction. Ed.Shiv K.Kumar and Keith Mckean. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2003.331-345. Mukherjee,Meenakshi. The Twice Born Fiction. New Delhi: Heinemann, 1974. Narayan,R.K. "Mr. Sampath." The World of Malqudi. Ed.S.Krishnan. New Delhi: Viking, 2000. Rao,V.P. "The Art of R.K.Narayan." The Journal of Commonwealth Literature. 5(1968) 32-35 Warder, Dennis. Post-Colonial Literatures in English: History, Language, Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.Ind.Rpt.2002.

A Brawl in Mickey’s Backyard Essay

A Brawl in Mickey’s Backyard was a very complex and controversial case! SunCal wanted to build affordable housing in the resort district however, Disney was opposed to this plan. Disney wants that resort district built up with tourism in mind. Disney would rather see hotels and restaurants to further accommodate their customers. Stakeholders play a vital role in a business! It’s important to consider the opinions and thoughts of both market and nonmarket stakeholders. When we look at this case, there are a lot of stakeholders for Disney that are involved in this. Let’s begin by looking at some of the market stakeholders. These market stakeholders include Disney’s employees, who would benefit from cheaper housing in an area close to their place of employment. Often the employees don’t make very much money and are having to commute longer distances. This affordable housing would’ve greatly helped them. Customers are also another market stakeholder for Disney. The idea is for the customers to feel â€Å"they’re in another world†. Disney is keeping them in mind and trying to make more attractions in the area that make them more appealed to the area. Of the nonmarket stakeholders the most relevant in this case was the community itself and the City Council. In order for that community to thrive in the way it does, it’s important to keep businesses thriving as well. The City Council is involved because it had to be voted on because it was in a resort district. Although I can see both sides have great points, I feel very strongly that the workers for Disney should be able to find affordable living quarters in the near vicinity. I hope that Disney realizes that they should value their employees because the tourist couldn’t be accommodated without them. I think that SunCal should be able to build the affordable housing area in a near vicinity, just not on the resort itself. I also think that Disney should go out of it’s way to help SunCal because this housing will benefit their employees. A Brawl in Mickeys Backyard Essay Q1 The issue in the case of â€Å"A Brawl in Mickey’s Backyard† is that the employees at Disney feel that they are not treated well by the famous theme park owners going so far as to say that â€Å"they want to make money [referring to Disney], but they don’t care about the employees†. The uproar and the sentiment was expressed more vigorously in the opening scene of the case, when dozens of protestors gathered in August of 2007 to stage a kit to express their open displeasure at Disney’s lack of support for their employees. The protest was instigated when a local developer called SunCal arranged to buy 26 acre site in the resort district across the street from the theme park. SunCal plans were to build 1,500 condominiums with 15% of the units set aside for below the market rate rental apartments. Since housing in Anaheim, California [the home to the Disney theme park] was expensive, many of Disney’s 20,000 employees couldn’t afford to live there. The average price of a house in the vicinity was more than $600,000 and a rental of a one bedroom apartment was $1400 a month. Keeping in mind custodians at the park earned an average of $1916 a month so that would leave them with only about $500 of their salary barely enough to sustain them for the rest of the month! Also, keep in mind that restaurant attendants earn around $1166 a month, so a rental is out of the question, which brings us to the fact that only about 18% of the resort employees are able to afford living in the area. The 16400 employees are left to commute long distances by car or bus to get to work. Furthermore, when SunCal wanted to proceed with its plans it had to get permission from the City Council, because its plans for the development were in the resort area. It wasn’t clear if SunCal was going to succeed so it roused a lot of advocates from the employees at Disney as well as affordable housing advocates as well as by other individuals and groups who supported the prospect of reducing long commutes, thus reducing air pollution. However, Disney was in the way. It greatly opposed the plan for several reasons. One of which was that the resort district across the street was just that: a resort district. In the early 1900’s , the city of Anaheim designated 2 square miles across the street from the theme park as a special resort district. The resort area, which was 5% of the city’s area only, produced more than half of its tax revenue by 2007. Therefore the area and any development new or old within it were restricted to serve only tourist needs. This meant tourism related development such as hotels and restaurants, Disney argued, and not affordable housing. Disney argued that it wasn’t against the issue of providing the employees with affordable housing, but it is against it being in the area that is allocated for tourism. Having SunCal go ahead with its plan will affect the area and its theme park subsequently because it will take land away from being allocated to tourists needs [will be explained more fully in Q3]. â€Å"It’s not an either/or† Disney argued â€Å"Anaheim has to address the issue of affordable housing but it also had to protect the resort area! † The two sides quickly formed their own advocates. SunCal advocates formed the Coalition to Defend and Protect Anaheim declaring that â€Å"these new homes would enable many families to live near their places of work and thereby reduce commuter congestion on freeways†. Disney’s advocates on the other hand formed Save our Anaheim Resort District to protect the resort area from non-tourism projects. The City Council was split on the issue, to say the least. The five person council has to decide if it will give permissions for SunCal to proceed to build its development plan in a site located strictly for tourism projects, only because this will solve the affordable housing dilemma, or stick with Disney’s claim that the site was made from the start for tourism projects and disregarding the fact now will only hurt the area and the businesses in it as well the theme park of course. Q2 The relevant market stakeholders are Disney’s stockholders, creditors, suppliers, customers, employees and distributors as well as other resort based owners located within the resort district. The nonmarket stakeholders are the community, government, media, and non-governmental organizations. Q3 The stockholders of Disney will be affected adversely by SunCal plans because it might slow down the flow of tourists to the area and thus affect the theme park’s profits and the stockholders profits, dividends subsequently. They are opposed to SunCal’s proposal solely because the area should be targeted to bring about as much tourists to the area and thus enlarge the theme park’s tourist segment and bring out more potential profit and capital appreciation for the stockholders. The same can be said about the resort based business owners, because they may depend on Disney which is the main attraction for the continuation of their businesses. Fewer developments for tourists, less tourists, lesser incentives for them to come to the area and as such will affect Disney adversely which in return will affect the businesses that depend on it for tourist attractions. Moreover, this will in turn affect the creditors, suppliers, and distributers of Disney. The amount of credit needed to run the theme park will be reduced heavily since there will be fewer tourists to attend to. Fewer supplies will be needed if tourism will lessen in the area and as such there will not be as many supplies being distributed. Therefore, the creditors, suppliers, and distributors are all against SunCal’s proposal because it might affect the success of their business if Disney’s attraction is compromised. This can even affect the employees [at Disney and at the various businesses in the resort area] because they will be impacted in various ways including reduced hours or layoffs and reduced salaries, if tourism in the vicinity decreases. The community, government, media and non- governmental organizations can be all entities that are split on the issue. The community for example, is split between providing a solution for the affordable housing issue [therefore in favor of the proposal], or preserving the area that brings prosperity to a lot of businesses [against the proposal]. The same can be said about the government, to be specific, the chamber of commerce is against SunCal’s proposal because it might lesson the profits that the city reaps [the resort area produces more than half of its tax revenue] and the other side of the government wishes to appease its community and wants Disney to take responsibility for its employees. The non-governmental organizations such as the activists we’ve seen in the first scene of the case and the unions that represent Disney’s affected employees from the long communes’ are in favor of SunCal’s plan. However there might be other unions and activists against the plans, even though they are not mentioned specifically in the case text. Q4 The relevant market stakeholders are Disney’s stockholders, creditors, suppliers, customers, employees and distributors as well as other resort based owners located within the resort district. They all have legal power, in which they can bring suit against a company for damages, based on harm caused by the firm. The stockholders in Disney have Voting Power, of which they can exercise their voting rights based on share ownership. They also have the power to inspect the company’s books and records. The creditors, suppliers and distributors, customers and employees have Economic Power. The creditors may call in loans if payments are not made. Suppliers and distributors may supply or distribute to competitors, or even refuse to meet orders if conditions in the contract are breached. Customers can imitate the suppliers and distributors in which they can switch loyalties and purchase their goods from competitors, or even go to extremes such as boycotting the goods and products if deemed unsatisfactory. The employees can from unions to bargain for their wants, they can even refuse to work or take action and perform strikes. They may even go public and influence the media to adopt their issues.

India of my dreams Essay

Today, India is characterised by communal violence, religious strife, terrorist movements, regional alienation, political chaos, constant economic hick-ups, general corruption, Mafia raj, bomb-culture, etc. The great India of Lord Buddha, Mahavir, Shankaracharya, Swam Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru is on the verge of break-up, unless of course, we put an end to these malaises that are eating into its very fabric. The ills of decadence, hibernation, disharmony and the lethargic existence of the nation must be addressed to, if we want to see a glorious and a vibrant India. I dream of such a glorious and wonderful India in the days to come. India is a multicultural, multi religious, multilingual nation and, hence, in order to maintain peace and harmony, due importance has to be given to the sentiments of each community. However, this secularing and pluralism have come to be subdued by religious fanaticism and communalism. In the name of construction of temples and mosques we do not seem to hesitate even to take the lives of our neighbours. Today, when we should be focusing on the country’s all-round development, our attention is focused in untangling the mess known as the ‘Ayodhya tussle.’ This undue importance given to religion has ruined our national peace, social equilibrium and international standing. Mumbai bomb explosion, Gujarat violence, Godhra incident, continuous Kashmir carnage, etc., speak volumes about how we have managed to turn the land of peace into a land of blood. Therefore, my dream of India is an India where religion would no longer be in national focus, where religion would be put into the backyard meant purely for personal practice. I dream of a day when people in India would live and die for their motherland than for their religion. Today, in India, the gap between the have’s and the have- not’s is ever increasing. Nearly 90% of India’s wealth is in the hands of 10% of people. The current social discrimination based on birth, caste and religion is  breaking the national fabric. In my future India there would be no more concepts such as, Reservation, OBCs, Backward classes, under-privileged, etc. These man-made boundaries of demarcations would be broken down 21st century India would an India where everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, would have equal opportunities to live and work. In my future India, everyone would have enough to eat and enough to wear. There would be no more deaths use to poverty and starvation. None would die due to paucity of medical facilities. There will be enough jobs for all, education would be work-oriented and everyone would have adequate opportunities for learning. Every village would be connected by roads and by internet. The country’s military expenditure would be minimised and maximum would be spent for social improvements. Green revolution, white revolution and IT revolution, etc. would characterise our land. In my India of 21st century, the present evils characterising the Indian political system of India such as instability, rampant corruption, political scams, misuse of public money, glorification of leaders, horse-trading, criminalisation of politics, manipulation of election process, etc., would be unheard of. My future India would have a political system, where person with dubious character or criminal background can never assume any public office, where election would no longer be based on money power or muscle power but rather totally free and fair. My India of 21st century would be a great India highly esteemed by the other nations of the world. She would be a permanent member of the UN Security Council and her voice would be heard ‘loud and clear’ in the International arena. India’s role as the torchbearer of peace would be highly appreciated. The Kashmir problem would be a thing of the past and she would have peace and friendship with all her neighbours. She would be considered a major Asian  power at par with China and a highly developed nation with a world of IT professionals who are ready to venture out into the unknown frontiers. I do not think that my dream of India is too idealistic or too unrealistic. A day is not far off when I would be fortunate enough to see this glorious India sparkling with the noble ideals of peace, high economic standards, political stability, social harmony, international recognition, etc. Let my country awake from its present slumber and rise up to great heights of glory and prosperity. It would be an India like the India which the great patriot Rabindranath Tagore visualised: â€Å"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where the world is not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls†.