American Charity Organizations America s Stand Point On...

America’s Megalomaniac Urge to Put Others First Lesley Boone once said, â€Å"We are a country that prides itself on power and wealth, yet there are millions of children who go hungry every day.† When people think of world issues, many do not consider America’s stand point on the ordeal. They are unable to fully comprehend the growing lack of jobs, poverty, hunger, poor health care, and meager education that takes place across the nation. American charity foundations are often eager to jump to the rescue of other countries, but what about the detrimental issues that occur and worsen here every day? In the past, the majority of organizations are predominantly directed at foreign countries; helping places such as Ethiopia, India, Somalia, etc. While here, poverty and debt are increasing by surmountable amounts. Charities for other regions are beneficial, but shouldn’t people here be first priority? The majority of problems have the potential to be easily fi xed. What happens when we have nothing left to give? If the United States does not soon take this into consideration, it could be hazardous and irreversible to the American society. When considering where America’s charitable hands should go, many things need to be taken into consideration such as; charities outside of the U.S., should America put more effort into problems here, the increasing debt and poverty levels, and how benefits of focusing more here. The first point of this essay will discuss problems within theShow MoreRelatedThe Unspoken Captivity : Retrospectives On Human Trafficking3262 Words   |  14 Pagesof money, employment, or better opportunities not normally afforded to the victim. Ultimately, the victims later find themselves trapped and manipulated and held against his or her will for the price of profit or involuntary servitude. Several organizations and governments across the globe, have implemented approaches to eradicate human trafficking. Unfortu nately, the attempts to abolish this crime against human rights seems impossible to stop due to the ever-growing demand. Discovery Human traffickingRead MoreEssay on 103 American Literature Final Exam5447 Words   |  22 Pagesï » ¿Final Exam I. Multiple choice: 1% x 30 = 30% 1865-1914 1. The novels and short stories of Henry James and Edith Wharton tended to focus on (A) the tragic outcomes of impoverished characters living in industrialized urban wastelands. (B) the ordeals of isolated characters living as survivalists in the sparsely populated hinterlands of the United States. (C) the inner psychological lives of privileged upper-class characters. (D) the exploits of characters with startling accomplishments and impressiveRead MoreProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pagesmanagement : case studies I Harold Kerzner. -- 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-471-75167-0 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-471-75167-7 (pbk.) 1. Project management-Case studies. I. Title. Printed in the United States of America Contents Preface xi 1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES 1 Lakes Automotive 3 Fems Healthcare, Inc. Clark Faucet Company 2 5 7 11 IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Kombs Engineering 13 Williams Machine Tool CompanyRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesbuilt-in pretests and posttests, focus on what you need to learn and to review in order to succeed. Visit www.mymanagementlab.com to learn more. DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT SKILLS EIGHTH EDITION David A. Whetten BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Kim S. Cameron UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Prentice Hall Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul SingaporeRead MoreEffects of Corruption in the Phil.14311 Words   |  58 Pagesthe maximum profit from the other side. So the income of public official, who as an economic agent regards his office as a business, does not depend on his usefulness for the common good but upon the market situation and his talent for finding the point of maximal gain on the publics demand curve. Thus the corruption is always an exploitation of the public, which can occur only because the civil servants occupy a constitutionally independent position vis-a-vis the public. There have been a numberRead MoreA Comprehensive Analysis of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and How It Relates to Competition Within the Hotel Industry27390 Words   |  110 Pagesalso be used in a hotel environment, and in destination hotels and casino resorts the information gathered from the card can be used to market and promote both gaming and non-gaming activities. Thirdly, Coda Research estimates that 74 million Americans will have video technology built into their phones, by 2015, up from 15 million in 2009, and 78 million will be able to access mobile banking via their phone. (CMO Council, 2014) These figures reaffirm the importance of communicating with tomorrows

Life Of Human Resources A Personal Account - 1344 Words

Life in Human Resources: A Personal Account Career preparation and overall position success revolves around knowledge and educational development. Gaining the skills to proficiently perform the duties of any position is of the greatest advantage for staff members and organizational leaders. At the same time, even gaining such knowledge and education is not enough to cultivate sustainable skills and competencies in a manner in which to create a strong career path and achieve personal goals (Cosby, 2014). As such, the following is an overall assessment of personal decision making and problem solving accouterments, developed professional etiquette, communication skills, time management strategies, and professional goal setting. Decision†¦show more content†¦Sometimes leaders have to make decisions that provide the most supportive solutions for the organization as a whole. Developed Personal and Professional Etiquette The establishment of personal and professional etiquette is necessary in the business setting. Professional etiquette is the unwritten code of conduct that everyone should establish when interacting with other members in their personal and professional circles (Shepherd University, 2016). Additionally, there exist a number of areas in which proper etiquette must be established, which include correspondence, telephone usage, physical appearance, conversations, and meeting attendance. Applying this personally, when attending meetings there are a couple very necessary etiquette properties. First, show up on time and end the meeting on time. Everyone has very busy schedules and sometimes back to back meetings, therefore it is very important for the meeting to take place at the time and in the timeframe allotted. When conducting a meeting, there is always an agenda with topics of discussion and time allotment, this assists in making sure th e meeting stays on track and on time. Secondly, arrive to the meeting prepared for the topics of discussion. It is important to be a contributor to the discussion, therefore arriving prepared and knowledgeable about the topic of discussion is extremely important. For this reason, the agenda is created and distributed to team members ahead of theShow MoreRelatedBank of America951 Words   |  4 Pagesof 31.61%. The factors that hurt the bank would be due to customers closing accounts without making the bank aware and making sure that they have a system in place for when they received checks written in large sums to be cleared. Another weakness would be holding on to the customers direct deposit to cover debts that they may have. Also they have experienced problems with their online banking as well as human resource errors (Bank of America) In any organization the employees are the ones thatRead MoreA Day in the Life a Manager Essay1099 Words   |  5 PagesA Day in the life of a Manager Introduction A manager’s role consists of various responsibilities such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling the business for it to continue operating in the foreseeable future (SchermerhornRead MoreSocial Media and its Impact Essay1477 Words   |  6 PagesSocial media is a controversy topic in today’s society. Some people think that social media destroys human interaction and real life human relationships. While others think that social media is a bless to humanity. Social media makes human interaction much more convenient and much faster than real life human interaction, it makes globalization a reality, it gives a chance for introverted people to express themselves, and it also benefit develop international relationships whether its business orRead MoreBusiness Fundamentals Serve As The Foundation For All Business Pathways925 Words   |  4 Pages Introduction One of the critical lessons I’ve learned in life, and it extends beyond the workplace, is the importance of knowing the fundamentals. This may seem old-fashioned or trite in the days of instant on-line information, but mastery of the fundamentals will always make getting the desired results easier. This is especially true in business; business fundamentals serve as the foundation for all business pathways. Every business requiresRead MorePersonal Responsibility toward the Natural World1247 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Personal Responsibility toward the Natural World: The natural world is our only habitat that is a biotic system which experiences much stress to an extent that it threatens to fail in irreversible and significant ways. Currently, most of the huge environmental challenges that confront people such loss of biodiversity, climate change, pollution, and resource depletion have similar emerging patterns. Therefore, numerous changes are required to restore and stabilize the natural world into its functionalRead MorePortfolio1458 Words   |  6 Pages Back at the Crossroads! 1. â€Å"The assets of the three richest people in the world match the combined annual GDP’s of the 48 poorest countries.† My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Good for them – they worked hard to get their wealth b. The only problem I have with this is that this money is in their bank account and not in mine c. No problem with this – many of these people give huge amounts to charities d. I think that it is morally wrong for anyone to haveRead MoreAmazon s Culture Problem Of Amazon1328 Words   |  6 Pagesoverhaul. Amazon has the most room for improvement in human resources and job design. In this paper, we provide an overview of the company’s workplace culture problem, exploring such areas as work life balance, benefits, and management practices. Emphasis is placed on Amazon’s turnover rate and costs related to absenteeism. In an attempt to help Amazon upgrade its OM approach, our team has researched trends related to improvement of human resources and job design. Specifically, we suggest that the companyRead MorePerson Centered Therapy1424 Words   |  6 PagesPERSON CENTERED THERAPY A Brief Critique of Person Centered Therapy Date of submission: 11.09.2008 A Brief Critique of Person Centered Therapy â€Å"Existential therapy is a process of searching for the value and meaning in life† â€Å"(Corey, p. 131) with a focus on central concerns of the person’s existence; Such as death, freedom, existential isolation and meaningless. â€Å"Existential therapy can best be described as a philosophical approach that influences a counselor’s therapeuticRead MoreThe Total Contribution Of Travel And Tourism Essay1677 Words   |  7 PagesEach Caribbean country is diverse and has its own natural resources and industries. These industries include bauxite/alumina, agricultural-processing, light manufacturing, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications, etc. Though energy and manufacturing account for large percentages of GDP in individual countries, tourism is by far the most prevalent industry (The World Factbook, n.d.). According to the CIA’s World Factbook, tourism is top industry in at least 17 of the 26 countriesRead MoreOrganizational Strategy : Wells Fargo Essay1019 Words   |  5 Pagessixteen board member positions, including the CEO along with the following positions as indicated in the organizational chart below (Org Chart Wells): There are two main aspects of Wells Fargo organizational strategy are Operational and the Human Resource level (Perez, 2014). A snapshot of each level is as follows: Operational level – are the elements, which run the day-to-day, banking operation and the manner in which a competitive advantage is created (Perez). The strategy helps the organization

A queer theory reading of Oscar Wildes A Picture of Dorian Gray

Sample details Pages: 24 Words: 7273 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Aestheticism dictates that life should be lived by an ideal of beauty and a movement embodied by the phrase of art for arts sake. There is perhaps no greater advocate of such beliefs as Oscar Wilde, and the characteristics of aestheticism run through much of his work, both plays and stories, particularly in the character of the dandy. It would be difficult to analyse any of Wildes work without considering his own personal life and consequently, almost impossible to analyse his use of aesthetics without tackling the elements of homoeroticism. Living in a society largely intolerant to homosexuality, Wilde was obviously restricted to some extent with regard to what he could writeabout explicitly and as a result secrecy becomes an important influence over Wildes work. This makes for an extremely interesting relationship between aestheticism and homoeroticism, and it is this relationship that will form the main focus of this essay. What are the forms and techniques that Wilde uses to aestheticise homosexuality, and why? And how by doing this his literary works reveal aspects of his own life and sexuality, ultimately creating the figure of Wilde the aesthete, dandy, and campy witticist who has become a public icon forhomosexual men in Britain and America. It will focus primarily on The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Happy Prince and Other Stories. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A queer theory reading of Oscar Wildes: A Picture of Dorian Gray | English Literature Dissertation" essay for you Create order The Portrait of Mr. W.H portrays Shakespeare as being a slave to beauty that is the condition of the artist! This concept of theartist as worshipper of beauty is a recurring characteristic of Wildes literature and will be dealt with later in this chapter. Firstly, itis necessary to look at the ideal of beauty that Wilde presents as worthy of worship. There is an overwhelming resemblance between Wildes portrayal ofbeauty and the concept of beauty in the Greek era. As Summers observesin his book Gay Fictions: Studies in a Male Homosexual Literary Tradition, both The Portrait of Dorian Gray and The Portrait of Mr.W.H focus heavily on portraits of androgynous young men bothstories allude to famous homosexual artists and lovers in history andthey both assume a significant connection between homosexual Eros andart. Same-sex desire is referenced heavily throughout Greek literature, for example, during the sixth century, the poet Sappho wrote numerous homoerotic verses concerning young women, with the term lesbian derived from the name of her island home of Lesbos. Platoalso referred to same-sex desires and relations, even forming his own theory on the pre-determined nature of different sexualities. In words taken from The Portrait of Mr. W.H, the ideal of beauty is a beauty that seemed to combine the charm of both sexes, and to have we dded, as the Sonnets tell us, the grace of Adonis and the loveliness ofHelen. Wilde uses this Greek ideal of beauty as a means of adding authority to his allusions to homoeroticism, to make the content of the two aforementioned works more acceptable to a Victorian audience. Itis important to note that there is a marked difference of public attitude towards homosexuality and homoeroticism between Greek and Victorian society. Donald Hall observes that during the Greek eraadult male sexuality, had much more to do with power status and social positioning than it did with any expression of identity-determining desire for the same or other sex. Wildes ideal of beauty also overlaps with the Greek concept of the muse. The Portrait of Dorian Gray presents us with Dorian, the muse topainter Basil Hallward, and The Portrait of Mr. W.H provides us withan insight into the life of one of the most famous muses of all, the young man who Shakespeare addressed many of his sonnets to Who was he whose physical beauty was such that it became the very corner-stone of Shakespeares art; the very source of Shakespeares inspiration; the very incarnation of Shakespeares dreams. The muse, defined as asource of inspiration especially for a creative artist succeeds in objectifying the subject, transforming a human presence into aesthetic fodder to fuel the creative mind, as well as something far superior tothe person beholding the muse. With regard to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Summers suggests that, the implied link between homosexual Erosand creativity is clear in Dorians effect on Basils art. Dorians beauty and the ideal that he represents ca use Basil to see the world afresh and inspire him to his greatest work as an artist. This is where the idea of worshipping beauty comes into play. TheHappy Prince, for example, is distinctly removed from everyday lifeand is admired from afar in a quite literal sense. However, Dorian isperhaps the best illustration of Wildes fascination with the worshipof beauty. The novel suggests that to other young men Dorian seemedto be of the company of those whom Dante describes as having sought tomake themselves perfect by the worship of beauty. Like Gautier, hewas one for whom the visible world existed. At the same time,Dorian is presented to us as the worshipped, with regard to hisrelationship with Basil Hallward. The experience of the muse in the manner of Basil and Shakespeare (asportrayed by Wilde) seems to present something of a double-edged sword,producing feelings of such passion that joy and despair becomeintertwined. The narrator of The Portrait of Mr. W.H suggests thatShakespeares muse was a particular young man whose personality forsome reason seems to have filled the soul of Shakespeare with terriblejoy and no less terrible despair. In a similar vein, Basil hasominous feelings on meeting Dorian for the first time, I knew that Ihad come face to face with someone whose mere personality was sofascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my wholenature, my whole soul, my very art itself. The effect of beauty canbe seen as both gift and curse in the same way that Wilde perhapsregarded homosexuality in Victorian society. The importance that Wilde places on the worship of beauty is closelyrelated to his strong beliefs in aestheticism. The distance that Wildeseeks to construct between the observer and the object of beauty can beread as a mechanism of aestheticism whereby he aims to eliminate anyattachment to moral and wider societal concerns. The following chapterwill analyse the relation of aesthetics to Wildes literary works, andhow far he is able to separate the appreciation of art from moralvalues. Mary Blanchard, in Oscar Wildes America suggests that the personaof the invert or male homosexual was an emerging concept during the1880s, and the connections between aesthetic style and a homosexualsubculture cannot be overlooked. And with other critics referring toWilde as the high priest of aestheticism, its clear that Oscar is noexception to this rule. He lived a hedonistic lifestyle, flitting as asocial butterfly from one experience of art and beauty to the next. InVictorian times the male dandy soon became a symbol of this aestheticage, with no finer literary examples than Dorian and Lord Henry of ThePortrait of Dorian Gray, and Algernon and Jack of The Importance ofBeing Earnest. Lord Henry declares that pleasure is the only thingworth having a theory about and it is this preoccupation withmaterial things and surface-level emotions that characterises thedandy, a choice of style over substance. As a result Dorian becomesfascinated with acquiring commodities such as perfumes, je wels andmusic. Wilde dedicates pages of description to this search forsensations that would be at once new and possess that element ofstrangeness that is so essential to romance. The concept of dandyism is closely linked to that of Victoriandecadence. Goldfarb, in his essay on Late Victorian Decadenceprovides us with a useful definition of decadence, highlighting itsresemblance to aestheticism the value to be gained from experienceof all sorts and from indulgence in a life of sensation. Because ofthis emphasis, decadent literature is animated by the exploration ofimmoral and evil experiences; never does it preach morality, nor doesit strongly insist upon ethical responsibilities. This separationbetween decadence and morality is also a characteristic common toaestheticism. Glick studies the concepts of dandyism at length in her essay onThe Dialectics of Dandyism, identifying an opposition betweencritical thought on dandyism and arguing that two different modelslocate dandyism at the opposite poles of modernity, simultaneouslypositioning the queer subject as a privileged emblem of the modern andas a dissident in revolt against society. Therefore, on the one handthe reader can accept the dandy as person who embraces the aestheticsof culture and celebrates beauty as a preoccupation with surfacetrends to conceive of gay identity solely or primarily in terms ofartifice, aesthetics, commodity fetishism and style. Or, beneath thesurface, we can read a protest against the commodification of modernlife and a rejection of common values and aspirations. Goldfarb note asimilar contempt for modern society in the movement of decadence, aself-conscious contempt for social conventions such as truth andmarriage, by an acceptance of Beauty as a basis for life. Bothaest heticism and decadence seek to remove beauty from the confines ofmodern society and use it to their own ends in a self-created sensualand fantastical lifestyle. Wildes use of aestheticism can be read as an attempt to showhomosexuality as a sign of refined culture, as a means to his desiredend where such a topic becomes more acceptable. In the same way thatWilde alludes to the Greek ideal of beauty to disguise what couldotherwise be seen as a direct and possibly offensive portrayal ofhomosexual desire, by adhering to the rules of aestheticism Wilde isable to divert attention from any moral attack on his writing. Themovement of aestheticism shuns any notion that art can be connectedwith morality and passionately encourages individual freedom and socialtheatricality. Ironically, whilst it can largely be seen as arebellion against Victorian sensibilities, it is simultaneously amethod of retaining a covert nature to the expression of homoeroticdesire. In the case of Basil Hallward, he finds art an outlet for suchdesires, there is nothing that Art cannot express. Through Dorian,Basil is able to discover a new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style not just when he is painting Dorian, but when he is merelypresent. It allows him a new way of looking at life, having realisedthe power of homoeroticism In presenting homosexuality through the lens of aestheticism andconsequently presenting it as a refined culture with close links to theidealised and romantic image of the Greek age, Wilde also separates thelifestyle of the homosexual man from the classes of heterosexualsociety. As Elisa Glick suggests in her essay on the dialectics ofdandyism, Wilde depicts Dorians seemingly endless appetite forexotic, luxury objects as the exterior manifestation of his innerintellectual and artistic superiority. This presents Doriansdesires and those of other aetheticism advocates as elitist andultimately superior to other classes. Through the use of aestheticism,it can be argued that Wilde attempts to give homoeroticism the power totranscend class. By describing such episodes in this romantic andfantastical manner, he places homosexuality in a highly refined classof its own, in a position out of reach from the realities of theworking class and bourgeoisie. To take this concept one step further, Wilde can also be seen toreject the realities of common society entirely, as an aesthetepreferring to lose himself in sensual experiences and ultimatelydreaming of an escape from reality to a place where such experience canbe fully realised. Glick goes on to note that Dorians acquisition ofluxuries and curios not only seems to affirm his aristocraticdistinction, but also aims to build a self-created world byaestheticizing experience itself. Gray yearns not so much for theenjoyment provided by an individual object, but for the aestheticpleasure provided by its reincarnation of part of his collection.Indeed, Dorian does become obsessed with creating his own desiredversion of reality, in which worshipping beauty and living by thesenses is the priority. Having embarked on this aesthetic journey-largely instigated by Lord Henry Dorians passion to adhere to theseideals becomes clear, It was the creation of such worlds as these thatseemed to Dorian Gra y to be the true object, or amongst the trueobjects of life. Early in the novel Wilde even goes so far as toassociate reality directly with the lower classes and as therefore,something ranked below the aspirations and lifestyle of those likeDorian; in this extract no sooner is Dorian overcome by fascinationwith Lord Henry than he is brought down to earth by the entrance of aservant: Dorian Gray never took his gaze off him, but sat like one under aspell, smiles chasing each other over his lips, and wonder growinggrave in his darkening eyes. At last, liveried in the costume of the age, Reality entered the roomin the shape of a servant to tell the Duchess that her carriage waswaiting. By personifying Reality Wilde presents it as something that can bedefeated, beaten by those who have enough desire and strength of mindto do so. In the same way Wilde often capitalises and personifiesArt to add character to the subject and emphasise his position onthat subject. Although in one respect this separation of the dandy or aesthetefrom reality may seem to alienate him from others in society, thecontent of Wildes narration does not necessarily isolate him from amoral standpoint. It is interesting to note that we are given verylittle information on the uglier types of experience that Dorianseeks. As readers, we understand the influences and transition thatthe protagonist is going through as his soul darkens, but we are noteducated in the exact nature of the experiences. This allows lessopportunity for concentrating on the moral aspects of his lifestylechoices, and more opportunity for pondering on the nature ofaestheticism; we focus more on the influences on Dorian and theconsequences, rather than on judging his actions and decisions. Whenone delves deeper to find a moral standpoint on Wildes part, it isdifficult to do so, and consequently, easier to assume that the absenceof analysis in this area suggests ambiguity on his part. Summer seeks to find an answer to this moral ambiguity in the worldof Oscar Wilde himself, and in relation to The Portrait of Dorian Grayfound that Wilde summarised the moral as all excess, as well as allrenunciation, brings its own punishment. The painter, Basil Hallward,worshipping physical beauty far too much, as most painters do, dies bythe hand of one in whose soul he has created a monstrous and absurdvanity. Dorian Gray, having led a life of mere sensation and pleasure,tries to kill conscience, and at that moment kills himself. Thiscomment of Wildes confirms the notion that becoming a slave to beautyis a condition of art, illustrated by the tone of the inevitable thataccompanies the phrase as most painters do, an observation that wecan easily transfer to the experience of other artists as well. Wildegoes on to explain that Lord Henry Wotton seeks to be merely thespectator of life. He finds that those who reject the battle are moredeeply wounded than those who take part in it. I n this respect bothBasil and Henry are ultimately doomed, thus suggesting no clear moralpath that the reader need follow for salvation. Moral ambivalenceoccurs frequently as a result of the narrators attitude; the narratoris sympathetic towards whichever character he is describing, and inparticular, often seems just as seduced by the strong and influentialcharacter of Lord Henry as Dorian is. With this in mind, Summersconcludes that notwithstanding the retributive ending of the book, theFaustian dream of an escape from human limitation and moral stricturesultimately triumphs over the condemnation of excess and therebysubverts the apparent moralism. To summarise, he argues that theFaustian dream is rendered more appealingly than the superimposedlesson of dangers of narcissism. However, if we accept Summersreading, it still remains impossible to read the novel withoutquestioning the relationship between aestheticism and morality.Whether we believe Wilde to subvert or strengthen common moral values,their presence within the narration is undeniable and invites furtherthought from the reader. To conclude this chapter on aestheticism, we can see that Wildesliterature aestheticism and homosexuality exist co dependently. Thisobviously has an effect on the publics reading of his works, and howreadily and comfortably they associate these two aspects. As Summerssuggests it is interesting to note that The Picture of Dorian Gray wasamong the first novels in the language to feature (though blurred andinexactly) a homosexual subculture Summers wrote that homosexualreaders would certainly have responded to the books undercurrent ofgay feeling, and may have found the very name Dorian suggestive ofGreek homosexuality, since it was Dorian tribesmen who allegedlyintroduced homosexuality into Greece as part of their militaryregimen. In contrast, Mary Blanchard notes a negative consequenceconcerning heterosexual readers during the Victorian era Allyingaesthetic style with the masculine self provoked attacks from someVictorian men unsure of their own gender orientation. This raisesthe iss ue of how a heterosexual readership can be seen to react to theundertone of homosexuality, and how a readers interpretation canchange when fuelled by more knowledge of Oscar Wildes personal life.Before looking at the effect of the writer on what is ultimately afictional narrator, this essay will look at the importance of secrecyin the life of the homosexual man. Todays society is obviously more accepting of Wildes sexuality andits effect on his art, Summers illustrates this point by suggestingthat Wildes demise meant that he ultimately functioned as Saint Oscar,the homosexual martyr. But of course it was not until some timeafter the late nineteenth century that Wilde was fully appreciated by awider audience. Miller and Adams in Sexualities in Victorian Britainobserve that the Victorians were notorious as the great enemies ofsexuality: indeed in Freuds representative account, sexualitysometimes seems to be whatever it was that the middle-class Victorianmind attempted to hide, evade, repress, deny. In this respect thehomosexual man had a double secrecy to adhere to that of sexuality,as well as homosexuality. In Victorian society there was very much aclear-cut idea of what was natural and unnatural, of what was normaland abnormal. Consequently, Wilde set himself up as a figure to beattacked by the press as unnatural and abnormal the Victorian presspublicized in wildly inflammatory ways Wildes eccentric dress,effeminate, and haughty demeanour, all held up as important signifiersof his unnatural sexuality and the threat he posed to normal,middle-class values. Being such an extravagant and extrovertedcharacter, Wildes sexuality was not particularly covert and eventuallyprovided Victorian society with a case by which to lay down the law asto what was acceptable in terms of sexuality. As Ed Cohen suggests inhis essay, Writing Gone Wild: Homoerotic Desire in the Closet ofRepresentation, the court proceedings against Wilde provided aperfect opportunity to define publicly the authorized and legal limitswithin which a man could naturally enjoy the pleasures of his bodywith another man. Despite the fact that it was Wildes indiscrete homosexual behaviourand demeanour that led to his downfall, aspects of secrecy featureheavily in his literary works and certain narrative techniques aid tothe covert nature in which homoeroticism is often presented. To recap,by relating same-sex friendships to aestheticism and ideals of beauty,Wilde is able to divert attention from aspects of homosexuality thatwould be otherwise be interpreted as immoral by Victorian society.Also, Wilde omits any direct reference or description of same-sexphysical relations and hardly even alludes to such activities. Thecontent of the narration and emphasis on aestheticism means that ahomoerotic reading of Dorian Gray is not immediately obvious at leastnot to a heterosexual readership. Therefore, homosexual love becomesthe love that cannot be spoken of and is fundamentally secretive. The secret language of homosexuality is particularly evident in TheImportance of Being Earnest, a play riddled with code words alluding tohomosexual behaviour. Karl Beckson argues that the title of the playis not only a pun on the name of Earnest, but is also a representationof same-sex love since the term Urning (a variant of the more commonlyused Uranian) referred to same-sex desire in fin-de-siecle London.Beckson also argues that Wildes use of the term bunburying as ameans for Algernon to escape responsibility also has Uranianimplications. With the action of bunburying being such a focal pointof The Importance of Being Earnest, this reading of the play suggest aserious preoccupation with the secret world of the homosexual. It isalso interesting to note that an unnamed critic in Time suggests thatBunburying was shorthand for a visit to a fashionable London malewhorehouse (2 February 1979, 73), an opinion reaffirmed by JoelFineman in 1980. Understandably, after the success of play t hephrase bunburying became a commonly used term as same-sex slang.John Franceschina notes other code words used in the play as musical,effeminate, and aunty, all of them Victorian expressions for same-sexactivity. Yet, again Wilde diverts attention from a moral reading bywriting in a style that is based on farce and euphemism, a style thatrejects an immediate analytical reading. In her essay Dialectics of Dandyism, Elisa Glick observes theissue of secrecy within both modern and Victorian society and suggeststhat modern gay identity is pervaded by the trope of the secret.She pays particular interest to the dichotomy of appearance and whatlies beneath, in her words the opposition between outward appearanceand inner essence. This split between appearance and essence of apersons character and desires is central to Wildes portrayal ofhomosexuality, as illustrated by the character of Dorian Gray. Dorianis a contradiction of appearance and essence, with the portrait beingan omnipresent reminder of this. And to return to The Importance ofBeing Earnest, the very act of bunburying on Algernon Moncrieffs partsuggests a web of deceit where appearances are never compatible withreality. One might think that such a heavy reliance on secrecy might lead tosome resentment by those forced to hide their sexuality from anintolerant society, but in the case of Wildes dandies, this does notseem to be the case. In fact, such characters appear to activelyembrace a world of secrecy. If we equate Dorians portrait withhomosexuality, then we can read his response to the secrecy that isforced upon him as something of a guilty pleasure pride ofindividualism that is half fascination of sin, and smiling with secretpleasure at the misshapen shadow that had to bear the burden thatshould have been his own. This seems to suggest that throughsecrecy, a homosexual man can avoid all the negative consequences thatwould be thrust upon him by an offended Victorian society. Glickobserves that it the portrait is not just related to the secret worldof Dorian, but that it also functions on a wider scale, Wilde makes itclear that the portrait does not exhibit a single secret; rather it isthe site f or a circulation of secrecy in which all these characters Basil, Dorian, and Lord Henry are implicated. The portraittherefore, becomes a symbol of the secrecy of the homosexual man, whichis simultaneously associated with issues of aestheticism. Glick goeson to suggest that Basil expresses the sense of homosexuality as bothknown and unknowable the double bind of gay identity when hedeclares, I have come to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thingthat can make modern life mysterious or marvellous to us. Thecommonest thing is delightful if only one hides it. But just how realistically can homosexuality exist by these secretcodes of conduct? Just as Wilde suffers at the hands of an intolerantsociety, so does Dorian Gray struggle to live a life of doubleidentity. By the end of the novel it becomes clear that he issuspended between two worlds, with no lasting way of marrying the two.To return to the essay of Elisa Glick, Dorian must die when he stabsthe portrait because he can only exist in the relation between thepublic and the private, a relation that Wilde literalizes in theportrait and its subject. Right from the outset of The Picture ofDorian Gray we are presented with the concept of that part of anartists inspiration that remains secret and personal to them.Therefore, the portrait of Dorian Gray does not merely conceal thesecrets of Dorian, but also the secrets of the painter of the subject -the portrait is a mysterious form because its outward appearanceconceals its inner essence. it reveals the essence of both painterand painted. T he secret desire hidden within the painting is broughtto our attention by Henrys shallow comment that the painting looksnothing like Basil; the fact that his retort misses the point entirelymerely succeeds in enhancing our understanding that there is much moreof Basils desires and passion in the painting than is immediatelyobvious from its surface attributes. Interestingly, this revelationcontradicts the concept of appreciating art purely for its appearanceand with no relation to moral values. In many cases living by thesenses reveals much about the person, and experiences cannot be soeasily detached from emotion and personal feeling. For example, whenDorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, Henry observes that out of itssecret hiding place had crept his Soul, and Desire had come to meet iton the way. Within the stereotypical lifestyles of the aesthetes,inner feeling will inevitably show its face and with it, bring at leasta fleeting ponder on moral values. Having analysed The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture ofDorian Gray with regard to elements of secrecy, both positive andnegative consequences of such an influence on homosexual lifestyle areapparent. But it is the story of The Happy Prince that puts Wildesfinal and definitive seal of opinion on the issue of secrecy. Once theswallow has sacrificed his life for the statue of the Prince, the twoTown Councillors far from understand the relationship between theswallow and prince, becoming preoccupied with the trivial matter of whoshould be the subject of the next statue. However, there is ultimatelya happy ending with the swallow and Prince receiving recognition andacceptance from God, for in my garden of Paradise this little birdshall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shallpraise me. The relationship between Prince and Swallow does havehomoerotic undertones, with the Swallow often read as the dandycharacter, in this case fascinated by the beauty of the statue. Thehomoerotic aspect of the tale culminates in a kiss between the two,but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you. If we are toaccept a homoerotic reading of The Happy Prince then accordingly wecan read the ending as Wilde voicing his opinion of homosexuality asnatural and literally giving such a lifestyle the blessing of God. InThe Portrait of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses a similar technique whereby hepresents the character who can most easily be classified as homosexual,as the very character who is the most morally sensitive. However, a homoerotic reading of The Happy Prince, indeed of anyof Wildes literary works, relies on and is substantially influenced byour knowledge of Oscar Wildes personal life. This brings us to thefinal chapter of this dissertation, a chapter that will analyse therelationship between the writer and the narrator, and the effect ofthis relationship on aesthetic and homoerotic readings of Wildesfiction. Chapter 5 -Wilde the storyteller So far we have looked mainly at The Importance of Being Earnest andThe Picture of Dorian Gray and we have touched upon the fact that it isoften difficult to read such works without considering the personallife of Oscar Wilde. A Victorian audience would have held someknowledge of Wilde, considering that he was an extremely sociablecharacter with social critiques often published in Reviews of thetime. And of course, his two years imprisonment would have beenwidely publicised and consequently common knowledge. There is no doubtthat it was around this time that heterosexual readers would havestruggled to accept the links that Wilde makes between aestheticism andhomosexuality, fearing a similar fate merely for sharing thecharacteristics of aestheticism. Reading in the twenty-first centurywe now have the privilege of even further information on Wildesprivate life. The nineteenth century novel largely focused on the third person,omnipresent narrator, and in doing so inevitably drew attention to thepersona of the narrator and subsequently to the author himself. Wildeis no exception to this rule and it is difficult not to see his owncharacter or what we believe to be his own character shinethrough. As suggested in the previous chapter, it is not just thecondition of the artist to worship beauty, but also to allow his owncharacter and desires to become a part of his art. In the case of ThePortrait of Dorian Gray, our knowledge of Wilde as a dandy and aesthetecolours our interpretation of characters such as Lord Henry andDorian. Knowing what we do about Wildes extravagant social life andturbulent relationship with the press, lines such as You dont wantpeople to talk of you as something vile and degraded spoken to Dorianby Basil, begin to take on more significant meaning. With this quotein mind, it is possible to read between the lines and observ e a feelingin Wilde that he wishes somehow, outside of his literature not to belooked upon as vile and degraded. This desire for acceptance isoffset by the more typical tongue in cheek wit of Wilde, the use ofwhich diverts attention from serious emotions. This type of humour canbe seen in Dorians retort to Basil on hearing gossip, I love scandalsabout other people, but scandals about myself dont interest me. Theyhave not got the charm of novelty. It seems that Wilde isdeliberately poking fun at himself and joining in with the popularridicule that was present in Victorian society about the life of theaesthetic gentleman. Many cartoons and caricatures were in circulationat the time that sought to make fun of the extravagances of theaesthetic lifestyle. Numerous satirical works were also released,worth particular mention is Robert Hitchens Green Carnation, asatirical novel on decadence influenced by the authors beliefs inaestheticism as unconventional and exhibitionist. The Importance ofBeing Earnest also has a farcical tone throughout, which often servesto allow the reader to question Wildes authority, whilst also allyingthe comments of certain characters with Oscar himself. For example, aline of Gwendolen appears to point directly at Wildes personal life,And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties hebecomes painfully effeminate, does he not? And I dont like that. Itmakes men so very attractive. However, many critics would argue that the very definition of fictiondictates that the reader should accept that there need not necessarilybe a connection between narrator and author. In the same way that anactor does not need to have experienced a similar history and lifestyleto the character they play, so too should we allow the writer to assumedifferent characters. This very point crops up in the story of ThePortrait of Mr W.H whereby the narrator argues that To say that only awoman can portray the passions of a woman, and that therefore no boycan play Rosalind, is to rob the art of acting of all claim toobjectivity. Indeed, this type of reading does take some of thepressure away from Wilde and means that he can be judged as an authorless readily. Having said this, in reality this is an extremely thinveil of protection. And in the writing of The Portrait of Mr. W.Heven seems to invite a reading based on his own life. For example, heuses a first person narrator and a style that can easily be mistakenfor a factual piece of writing concerning validated research. Wildeclearly walks a fine line between fact and fiction, keeping the focuson fiction just enough to allow him to present his work as fiction, andrely on the cover of other narrative techniques such as the beliefs ofaestheticism. Wilde toys with his audience and seems to delight inkeeping them guessing as to where the line between fact and fiction isdrawn. This can be linked back to the issue of secrecy withinhomosexual culture and the pleasure that can be gained from suchsecrecy. The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray and ThePortrait of Mr W.H all feature aspects of the male dandy and overlapwith what we know to be Wildes lifestyle. But when it comes to othertales in The Happy Prince and other stories, they are much furtherremoved from Wildes reality and experience, located in fairy talesettings and seem to offer the content of a fable. Written in such adifferent style to the works already discussed, where can theseremaining tales be positioned in relation to Wildes stance onaestheticism and lifestyle as a homosexual man, and does the fact thatWilde has adopted a fairy tale style mean that there is more separationbetween narrator and author? The Happy Prince and other stories do have elements of Wildes wideropinions and ideas on aestheticism, and in some instances, undertonesof homoeroticism. However, before considering the stories in relationto these issues, it is important to draw attention to Wildes intendedreadership/audience. Having married Constance Lloyd, Wilde was thefather of two and there is no doubt that consequently assuming thisrole influenced the content and style of these particular works.Although his two sons were still very young when he wrote The HappyPrince and other stories, he would ultimately have had them in mind ashis desired audience. As Owen Dudley Edwards comments: This is not tosay that the stories were first told to his two sons, though simpleversions of them may have beenBut they were written with the intentionof telling them to his sons. They are stories from an unselfconsciousfather who knows how to move the storyteller in and out of thenarrative with mild self-mockery, as opposed to some assertive malechauvinist brute thundering his own dignity and morality for theedification of his wretched offspring. The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant and other tales in thecollection all have characteristics of the fairy tale, as well as thebible story and epic tradition. Wildes target audience wouldobviously have influenced his apparent adherence to Victorian moralvalues and religious beliefs. With a folklorist for a mother and aneducation in the classics, Wildes storytelling influences can clearlybe traced back to his upbringing. Owen Dudley Edwards suggests thatWildes stories in almost all cases travel back to a Celtic folk-worlddominated by ghosts and God. The presence of God in The Selfish Giantfor example, focuses on a religious message of humanity and the afterlife, and as a result it allows for a clear-cut moral, something thatWildes other works shy away from. There is less ambiguity concerningthe conclusions we come to at the end of these tales. It can perhaps be argued that these stories are an outlet forWildes desire to be accepted by Victorian society. Influenced by hischildren an aspect of his heterosexual life they appear to be thetype of sugary tale that would be embraced by a society obsessed by thedistinction between right and wrong, normal and abnormal. Although,there are still moments of typical tongue in cheek Wilde humour, themorals of the stories fundamentally serve those of the Victorian ideal. Animosity toward Wilde during the late nineteenth century came aboutlargely as a reaction toward perceived immoral aspects of his work.However the very nature of aestheticism invites a reading entirelyunrelated to moral values. As Lord Henry Wotton suggests at the veryend The Picture of Dorian Gray As for being poisoned by a book, thereis no such thing as that. Art has no influence upon action. Itannihilates the desire to act. It is superbly sterile. The books thatthe world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.That is all. It seems that while Wilde would ideally like the rest of society toread his works as art for arts sake, the reality of it all is thatresponsibility cannot be transferred quite so easily. Art isinescapably linked with the character and inner feelings with theartist and will be read accordingly by the reader. Both Dorian andBasil realise this, and in this respect we can perhaps see evidencethat Wilde himself was dubious as to just how far he could separatehimself from his art Dorian begins to experience a similarrelationship with Art, Appreciate it? I am in love with it, Basil. Itis part of myself. I feel that. Dorian soon comes to realise thatthe painting is a part of him, and does not merely objectify him, nordoes it exist independently from himself and Basil. No sooner has itbeen created than it is a part of their lives, of their experiences andfeelings. Toibin highlights this as problem concerning all of Wildesliterary works, particularly his plays is that they are forced tocompe te with the drama of his own lost years. Numerous biographieshave been published on Wilde, even films documenting his life. Havingbecome a part of popular culture today, most people know something ofWildes history, particularly his tumultuous relationship with AlfredDouglas. It is impossible to approach Wildes fiction with fresh eyesand no prior conceptions of what we suppose will be references to hisown lifestyle. Throughout the chapters of this dissertation, it has become clearthat art cannot exist purely for arts sake; a host of other factorsand influences come into play during the observers appreciation of theart. Wildes art cannot be experienced as art for arts sake, it isart to make a point, as a vehicle for Wilde to express his own opinionsand feelings. Just as the picture of Dorian Gray proves what sin cando to a man, so the novel raises its own issues and aims to make itsown point, as ambiguous as this may be The sitter is merely theaccident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter, itis rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself.Recognising this, Wilde calls upon numerous narrative techniques todraw attention away from aspects of his own personal lifestyle. Thesetechniques include referencing the accepted ideal of beauty from theGreek era, injecting an element of farce in order to invite a questionin the authority of the narrator, and referencin g beliefs inaestheticism. Well-known in the late nineteenth century for his socialcritique and outspoken character, Wilde would often use this to hisadvantage by making extreme remarks on society that would defy beingtaking seriously, for example, I am too fond of reading books to careto write them, Mr Erskine. I should like to write a novel certainly; anovel that would be as lovely as a Persian carpet and as unreal. Butthere is no literary public in England for anything except newspapers,primers, and encyclopaedias. Of all people in the world the Englishhave the least sense of the beauty of literature. Instead of askingfor trouble, Wilde succeeds in creating a style that allows him morefreedom by taking on a role of questionable authority. Toibin suggeststhat Wilde is ready to mock and amuse, use old creaky plots and oldcreaky characters, and use them to play with a world of surfaces andsecrets. Mistaken identities, long-lost children, lost jewels,overheard conversations and many e xits and entrances are placed besidecynicism and corruption, opportunism and a large number of aphorismswhich manage to seem both glib and indisputable. Thus, he drawsattention away from his own personal life and allows himself much moreliterary freedom of expression through misunderstanding and the worldof farce. Wilde is only able to escape the restraints of aestheticism whenrelating true experience. His work, De Profundis, written fromReading jail between January and March 1897 is described her by Toibin:The tone of De Profundis was calmly eloquent; there was a hurtbeauty in the sentences, and a sense of urgency, a sense of hard thingsbeing said for the first time. Wildes old skills at paradox, hisability to use words as a way of turning the world on its head, were nolonger used to seduce an audience but to kill his own pain and griefHehad suffered too much to care if his tone seemed too emotional, writtennot as art, but as matter. The reference to seducing an audienceimplies that Wilde sought an acceptance that could not have been gainedwere he more serious and were he truthful. His skills of turning theworld on its head can therefore be read as defence mechanisms todisguise the man behind the face of the narrator. Despite the pleasure of secrecy described in Chapter 4, Wilde wasperhaps more concerned about conforming within the confines ofVictorian society than would be apparent at first glance. An importantevent with regard to Wildes moral values is that of his arrest andsubsequent trial. To quote Summers: the theme of martyrdom is athread that runs through much of his work, early and late, and probablyreflects the strong masochistic element in his personality, even as italso mirrors his sense of alienation. Moreover his disastrous decisionto prosecute the Marquess of Queensbury for alleging that he posed as asodomite was itself reactionary rather than defiant in nature,reflecting both his ambivalence toward homosexuality and his desire toappear to conform to the Victorian standards that he so oftenridiculed. This is to suggest that Wildes desire to conform mayhave had more of an influence over his actions than any early crusadefor gay rights or rebellion against Victorian morals and values.T oibin states that The personal became political because an Irishmanpushed his luck. The covert nature of homosexuality and thestrategies Wilde used within his literary works to concealhomoeroticism, may have given him a false sense of security and enoughbravado to believe that he could call upon Victorian standards toprotect him from slander. In the words of Summers: Although Wilde frequently (and sometimesself-servingly) asserted the impersonality of art, his own art isinseparably bound to his personality, or at least to the personal he soassiduously cultivated and promoted, and thus his works cannot beappreciated in isolation from his life. As a homosexual manattempting to exist successfully in Victorian society, whilst leading asomewhat secretive homosexual lifestyle, Wilde was ultimately unable tomarry the two markedly different worlds. Living in an intolerantsociety, Wildes only potential saviour was aestheticism, bringing withit the power to validate homoeroticism and invite acceptance from widerVictorian society. Yet, it was the elitist nature of aestheticism thatisolated others from joining the movement, and instead it became anexclusive club that provoked ridicule from many of the bourgeoisie andmiddle class. Just as Wildes fiction was inextricably linked with hispersonal life in Victorian society, so, over one h undred years afterhis death he remains an iconic writer, known equally for his lifestyleand his art. Blanchard, Mary Warner, Boundaries and the Victorian Body:Aesthetic Fashion in Gilded Age America, The American HistoricalReview, Vol.100, No. 1 (Feb, 1995) Blanchard, Mary Warner, Oscar Wildes America, Counterculture in the Gilded Age (Yale University Press, 1998) Brown, Richard Danson and Gupta, Suman, Aestheticism and modernism:debating twentieth century literature 1900-1960 (Oxford, Routledge,2005) Cohen, Ed. Writing Gone Wilde: Homoerotic Desire in the Closet of Representation, PMLA, Vol. 102, No. 5 (Oct, 1987) Felski, Rita, The Counterdiscourse of the Feminine in Three Textsby Wildem Huysmans and Sacher-Masoch, PMLA, Vol.106, No.5 (Oct, 1991) Franceschina, John, Homosexualities in the English Theatre: From Lyly to Wilde (Greenwood Press, 1997) Glick, Elisa The Dialectics of Dandyism, Cultural Critique, No. 48 (Spring 2001) Hall, Donald E, Queer Theories (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) Goldfarb, Russell M. Late Victorian Decadence, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Summer, 1962) Lawler, Donald L, and Knott, Charles E, The Context of Invention:Suggested Origins of Dorian Gray Modern Philology, Vol.73. No.4, Part1 (May, 1976) Miller, Andrew H and Adams, James Eli, Sexualities in Victorian Britain (Indiana University Press, 1996) Schulz, Davis, Redressing Oscar: Performance and the trials of Oscar Wilde, TDR, Vol.40, No.2 (Summer, 1996) Sinfield, Alan, Out on stage: lesbian and gay theatre in thetwentieth century (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999) Summers, Claude J, Gay Fictions, Wilde to Stonewall: Studies in a Male Homosexual Literary Tradition (Continuum, 1990) Toibin, Colm, Love in a dark time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar (Pan Macmillan 2002) Wilde, Oscar, Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Harper Collins, 2003) Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest (Penguin, 1994) Wilde, Oscar, The Importance of Being Earnest, York Notes Advanced (York Press, 2004) Wilde, Oscar, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin, 1994)

Personal Statement From Mccurdy, Spradley, Shandy ( 2005 )

Question 1) Advice from McCurdy, Spradley, Shandy (2005) for the first interview included being offsite if possible to limit distractions, educating the participant and gaining their consent. As a starting point, the researcher should explain the research and ethnography letting the interviewee know what information we are looking for and why. Inform him or her that a series of questions will be asked or a survey will be given this way they know what to expect, there will be no surprises and may help them to relax.. Researcher must also have consent to interview and permission to record it as well. McCurdy (2005) suggests while interviewing, the researcher needs to ask descriptive questions and keep a keen ear open to pick up on folk terms. Folk terms are used between members of a certain culture and are usually only know to others in that same culture. (McCurdy et al., 2005, pp.34-37) I plan to do my interviewing on site; in a library there should be limited distractions and I would also like to observe the interactions between the librarians themselves as well as with the public. After having fully explained the scope of this project and more details of this research, I hope to ask response provoking questions that allow the interviewee to open up about the duties and work life of a librarian. Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall in the Biller and Scovel video (2008, July 2) stated: The goal is to get the most honest and open information that you can from people and if

Performance Evaluation Using Accounting Information Free Essays

What is performance evaluation? o Performance evaluations are formal review processes designed to encourage the informal day-to-day practice of performance management, while providing a framework in support of merit pay adjustments, promotion and employment decisions. Evaluating staff performance and helping employees develop their skills are important duties associated with performance management. Performance management begins with supervisors and employees collaboratively setting goals and standards, clearly communicating performance expectations and evaluating the results during the performance evaluation process. We will write a custom essay sample on Performance Evaluation Using Accounting Information or any similar topic only for you Order Now o A performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objectives. o o Performance evaluation tools are quantitatively and qualitatively based. They utilize a scoring system that assesses numerical data relative to productivity, as well as characteristic data that measures the quality of the employee’s work. The indicators on performance evaluations include items such as business ethics, innovation, motivation, job knowledge, skills and expertise, communication, teamwork, work quality, professionalism, task management and project completion. Benefits of performance evaluation: †¢ Facilitation of communication: communication in organizations is considered an essential function of worker motivation. It has been proposed that feedback from performance evaluation aid in minimizing employees’ perceptions of uncertainty. Fundamentally, feedback and management-employee communication can serve as a guide in job performance. †¢ Enhancement of employee focus through promoting trust: behaviors, thoughts, and/or issues may distract employees from their work, and trust issues may be among these distracting factors. Such factors that consume psychological energy can lower job performance and cause workers to lose sight of organizational goals. Properly constructed and utilized performance evaluation has the ability to lower distracting factors and encourage trust within the organization. Goal setting and desired performance reinforcement: organizations find it efficient to match individual worker’s goals and performance with organizational goals. Performance evaluation provides room for discussion in the collaboration of these individual and organizational goals. Collaboration can also be advantageous by resulting in employee acceptance and satisfaction of appraisal results. †¢ Performance i mprovement: well constructed performance evaluation can be valuable tools for communication with employees as pertaining to how their job performance stands with organizational expectations. At the organizational level, numerous studies have reported positive relationships between human resource management (HRM) practices and performance improvement at both the individual and organizational levels. †¢ Determination of training needs: â€Å"Employee training and development are crucial components in helping an organization achieve strategic initiatives†. It has been argued that for performance to truly be effective, post-appraisal opportunities for training and development in problem areas, as determined by the appraisal, must be offered. Performance can especially be instrumental for identifying training needs of new employees. Finally, performance can help in the establishment and supervision of employees’ career goals. The Role of Accounting Information in Performance evaluation Accounting information consists of all data that a company records from operating activities and reports to the public at the end of a month or quarter. Accounting information is important for investors, analysts and regulators, management, employees, creditor and debtor. This information is also critical for a firm’s management because it provides insight into the company’s financial robustness and profitability in the short and long terms. Accounting data frequently is used in performance evaluations, because it is seen as an objective method to evaluate performance. While there are many advantages to using accounting information for this purpose, small-business owners should be careful to understand that there are drawbacks as well. Knowing the pros and cons of using accounting metrics can help business owners choose the right data to use for evaluating employee performance. Budget to Actual Many businesses expect employees to achieve budget targets as part of their overall performance. While the specifics requirements of each employee differ with the position and nature of the company, it is common for employees to be expected to sell a certain number of items, control costs versus a budgeted amount or reduce waste compared with a benchmark. A potential downfall of using budget information for performance evaluation is that employees may be so concerned with making budget targets that they may do so at the cost of other parts of the business. Sales Growth Sales employees and business management frequently are evaluated on the basis of sales growth. Sales growth usually is calculated as the percentage that sales have increased over the prior year. While this metric is commonly used to gauge performance, it does not come without drawbacks. If the general economy changes from year to year, then sales may naturally be increasing or decreasing. For example, if the economy is in decline, then employees may be modeling the correct behaviors, but sales may still be slow. In contrast, if the economy is growing, employees may be receiving the benefits of increasing sales while developing habits that will keep this sales growth from being sustainable in the future. Net Profit In many small businesses, net profit is used as a performance benchmark for the company’s manager. Condensing the operations of a business into its simplest form, net profit measures the amount of profit left after deducting expenses. While profit is important to businesses, focus on profit can have adverse effects on the company in the long term. For example, cutting advertising expenses will grow net profit in the short-term, but in the long-term, potential customers may not know about the company’s products. Expense Reduction For employees in charge of spending, it is common to evaluate performance based upon cost reduction. This can be a useful metric, as each dollar of expense saved translates into a dollar of profit. However, caution must be exercised, because this performance metric does not account for differences in quality. For example, if a purchasing manager is evaluating on reducing the expense of purchased metal for production, he could be rewarded for buying cheaper substandard material. As such, small-business owners should be cautious when using this metric in isolation. Profitability Analysis: Management analyzes profitability by reviewing the statement of profit and loss, also known as statement of income. This statement indicates a company’s revenue and expense items. Profit Margin Profit margin measures a company’s business performance over a quarter or month and equals net income divided by total revenue. Return on Equity o Return on equity provides an assessment of profit ability on owners’ capital and equals net income divided by shareholders’ equity. Working Capital Working capital is a gauge of a firm’s cash availability in the next 12 months and equals current assets minus current liabilities Budgeting o A budget helps a business know where money comes in and where it goes out. With accurate accounting, a business owner can make decisions to cut back in certain budget areas to improve the profit potential of the business. Without accounting data, the company would be forced to guess how much money should be allotted to each department or line item. A budget that is updated quarterly gives a clear picture of where the business stands financially so that smart money management decisions can be made. Investor Relations A public company has a responsibility to report the company’s financial standing to stockholders. The accounting department of the business creates a public report for investors with the intent of disclosing all financial data. Good accounting practices helps investors trust the management team as they know exactly the points of financial strength and weakness of their investment. A company that does not maintain accounting information would be in dange r of lawsuits, claims of fraud and lose access to relationships that provide capital necessary to running the business. Employee Retention Providing employees with accounting information helps them to make responsible decisions regarding their futures. A business that does not disclose or maintain accurate accounting information would gradually lose credibility with its employees. Employees with retirement accounts managed by their employers rely on the financial stability of companies to ensure their employers follow through Planning o Before most businesses even start operations, some level of planning is done to determine the level of success that can be achieved from operations. Businesses will examine current economic trends like consumer demand, market size, and number of competitors. This analysis helps companies determine which industry best suits their goods and services and then focuses on planning for the necessary plants and equipment needed to create successful business operations. Management Decisions o Once a business starts producing goods and services, executive managers must review each level of the company to ensure that each department is functioning at its peak. Some departments may need to be overhauled to re-create a competitive environment that produces high-quality goods and services. Additionally, management will use accounting information to decide if their company could improve operations by purchasing a competitor or enter a new market with their existing production facilities. Profitability o The biggest need for accounting information is to determine overall profitability. Sales, costs of manufacturing, inventory, and expenses are all recorded and presented to company management so the company’s profit levels can be determined. Financial statements like the balance sheet or statement of cash flows may also be prepared so executive management can assess the value of the company and the cash-generating functions of business operations. Investing o Once companies have a solid understanding of their profitability, they begin to make decisions on investing their cash and retained income from business operations. Executive management will decide what amount of cash should be reinvested into the business and what amount should be invested in interest-bearing securities. Companies will use these securities investments to generate cash outside business operations, giving them higher cash flows. Accountants must track these investments to ensure that the company does not take on too much investment risk. Performance Analysis o After the financial transactions of a company are properly recorded and presented in financial statements, accountants will review the information to determine the strength of business operations. Accountants use financial ratios to break down the financial statements and compare them to the industry or competitors. This analysis will help management find weak areas in the company and help allow them to find solutions for strengthening these operations. Accounting Performance Measurement Tools Budgets o Budgeting initiatives help department heads discuss steps to limit the decision-making authority of specific personnel. These include employees running inefficient operations or segment chiefs unable to whittle away at runaway budget deficits. Top leadership may not strip ineffective segment leaders of their operating prerogatives, but budgeting certainly limits how much they can spend. A budget is a list of planned expenses and revenues, a plan that organizations use to spend and save. 2. Pro Forma Statements o Pro forma or projection-based, accounting reports rely on hypothetical data to illustrate how a firm’s operations may fare under specific scenarios. These include â€Å"best,† â€Å"average† and â€Å"worst†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ with these concepts indicating the state of the economy or conditions in the company’s competitive landscape, among other factors. For example, worst-case-scenario pro forma statements show whether a business could generate enough revenues to sustain itself if economic conditions deteriorate. . Accounting Reports o Management accountants and corporate leaders use accounting reports to measure operating performance. By doing so, they help prevent the dismal financial situation that arises when a firm consistently posts negative numbers. Department heads rely on accounting statements to determine operating weaknes ses and prescribe the right medicine to fix ineffective mechanisms. The most important accounting statements are balance sheets, income statements, cash-flow reports and equity statements. Balance heets are also called statements of financial position or statements of financial condition. 4. Financial Ratios o Corporate executives and business-unit chiefs analyze financial ratios to determine processes to tear up and those to keep or expand. Inefficient processes may drive away profit opportunities and jobs, especially if a company must shed its workforce to maintain solvency. Management accounting metrics include net profit margin and return on equity. ROE equals net profit divided by shareholders’ equity. Net profit margin equals net income divided by total sales. 5. Technological Tools Organizations rely on various tools to tackle the often thorny issues of management accounting, performance monitoring and regulatory compliance. In the modern era, computer systems play a k ey role in the way firms record and analyze accounting data. Tools used to evaluate management accounting performance include financial analysis software, project management applications and enterprise resource planning programs. Other tools include industrial control software, calendar and scheduling programs, mainframe computers and computer-aided manufacturing applications. 6. Gap Analysis A gap analysis is a useful method of measuring performance when there are already fixed performance standards. For example, you may have a goal of producing a certain number of units per month. This could be a performance standard. A gap analysis starts with the established performance measure. After looking at the established performance measure, a manager assesses the current performance level. Finally, the manager will calculate the difference between the performance standard and the actual standard. This provides the gap, which is an indication of how close a company has come to its performance standards. The smaller the gap, the better the company’s performance. An advantage of this performance measure is that it provides an indication of what needs to be overcome in order to achieve the desired level of performance. LIMITATIONS OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (i)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Accounting information is in terms of money. Accounting provides information on events and transactions that are of financial nature or can be expressed in terms of monetary unit. It does not give information in quantity or size terms of in qualitative matters like usefulness or efficient. Non-monetary events or transactions are completely ignored however important these may be. (ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Accounting information is expressed in monetary terms and it is assumed that a monetary unit is stable overtime. This is not true at all with the result that the impact of price level changes is not taken into consideration. The assets remain undervalued in many cases especially land and building. The direct outcome of this practice is that balance sheet figures of assets are not helpful in measuring the true financial positions of the enterprise. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Accountancy is as yet a inexact science and depends sometimes on a number of estimates, personal judgment etc. Estimates are inherently inaccurate and personal judgments introduce bias in the accounting information. It is not possible to predict with any degree of accuracy the actual useful life of an asset which is done for calculating the depreciation charge. The same is true about provision for doubtful debts. (iv)   Accounting information cannot be used as only test of managerial performance. The focus of the financial information is on profit or income which is only ne small aspect of the annual story of business. Profits for a period of one year can readily be manipulated by suppressing such costs as advertisements, research and development, depreciation and so on. (v)  Ã‚  Accounting information is not neutral or unbiased. Accountants measure income as conventionally defined: revenues less expenses. But accountants consider only selected revenues and expenses. They fail to give recognition to the benefits received by their efforts to clean up the environment, improve community welfare and introduce safety measures for the workers. vi)  Accounting like other disciplines has to follow certain principles which in some cases are contradictory. Current assets are valued on the basis of cost or market price whichever is less following the principle of conservatism. Accordingly the current assets may be valued on cost basis in some year and at market price in another year. In this manner, the rule of consistency is openly violated. (VII) The historical perspective of financial accounting: In order to obtain a recent estimate of an entity’s financial performance, the corporate managers carefully scrutinize financial accounting information. In retrospect, this information is based on past performance. The information does provide clarity on the monetary issues but does not provide a definite insight into the strategic future; as the future holds various changes in terms of technology, economic situations as well as political scenarios etc. Such factors in relation to accounting are unpredictable. Therefore, a careful balance between historical accounting as well as the future forecasted outlook is required. (VIII). Inability to reflect the true value of strategic management: Various factors such as goodwill and natural circumstances influence the operations of an enterprise; however, these elements are difficult to measure thus, leading to their unavoidable exclusion from financial reports. For example companies depend upon their shareholders, who in turn depend on the performance of the Chief Executive Officers. Although the CEOs may have been hired by the company based upon prior performance, their future performances are not reliably measurable as they may continually vary. In the initial stages, it may be impossible to measure whether the CEO’s presence will deter or appeal to the shareholders, which in turn will influence the profitability of the enterprise. (VIX). Measuring Volatility of external factors: Financial accounting information does not take into consideration volatile and ever increasing changes in the natural and commercial environment. Although scarcely measurable in monetary terms, their unstable nature may have adverse effects if included within the financial reports and have a volatile and cosmetic impact upon the earnings of the firm. For example, tariffs on trade, duties and other environmental issues can have significant short-term volatile effects on the organization Conclusively, In order to obtain a recent estimate of an entity’s financial performance, the corporate managers carefully scrutinize financial accounting information. In retrospect, this information is based on past performance. The information does provide clarity on the monetary issues but does not provide a definite insight into the strategic future; as the future holds various changes in terms of technology, economic situations as well as political scenarios etc. Such factors in relation to accounting are unpredictable. Therefore, a careful balance between historical accounting as well as the future forecasted outlook is required. References: El-Shishimi, H. and Drury C. (2001) : Divisional Performance Measuring in UK companies, paper presented to the annual Congress of the European Accounting Association, Athens Esptein, M and Ray, M. J (1997):Eniromental Management to improve corporate profitability, Journal of cost management , November-December, pp 26-34 Kaplan R. S and Norton D. P (2001) â€Å" Transforming the balance scorecard from performance measurement to strategic management : part 2’, Accounting Horizons March, pp87 Kaplan, S. E. , and J. T. Mackey. 1992. An Examination of the association between organizational design factors and the use of accounting information for managerial performance evaluation. Journal of Management Accounting Research (4): 116-130. BABCOCK UNIVERSITY, ILISAN, OGUN STATE Performance Evaluation uses accounting information, limitation reconsidered Emerging issues Assignment BY ADEYEMI EBENEZER ADESUJI MATRIC NO NS/4270 How to cite Performance Evaluation Using Accounting Information, Papers

Toyota free essay sample

Abstract Purpose: the main purpose of this study is to find out about the recalls of Toyota vehicles which lead to the death of some innocent lives. The recall was due to unintended acceleration. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and sticky gas pedals. Methodology: Data was collected online, by the help of some selected search engines. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Findings/results: Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when failures begin to happen is also a problem facing most organization. Implications: Companies or organizations should design and manufacturing information and traceability data that can be shared with suppliers for effective root cause analysis. Paper type: case study Keywords: recall, unintended acceleration, floor mat, sticky gas pedals. Introduction Toyota has long been recognized as seventh largest company in the world and the second largest manufacturer of automobiles, with production facilities in 28 nations around the world (Toyota Assembly and part, 2011). As been the world third largest manufacturer of automobiles in unit sales and in net sales, Toyota has also created good customer relationship and provides customers with the products they need. Toyota Motor Company Ltd. was established in Koromo Town, Japan in 1937 by Mr. Kiichiro Toyoda. Koromo was a major producer of silk and before the founding of the automobile company, the Toyoda family was involved in the manufacture of automatic looms (a device use to weave cloth) used by the silk and cotton industry (Toyota Motto Corporation, 2011). During the 1930s the textile industry suffered and orders for new looms from the Toyoda familys factory were slow. Looking for new growth markets and to hand the company over to his son, Sakichi Toyoda. Sakichi Toyoda invested in his research and development of an automobile in 1930. As the work was progressing, he established the first Automobile Department, within his existing Toyoda Automatic Loom Works company in September 1933. He later changed the name â€Å"Toyoda† to â€Å"Toyota† since he wanted to bridge the gap between his family name and the Company name. That is, making a clear distinction between his family (private life) and his company (public life). Toyoda completed the first prototype of an engine named the type A successfully which leads to the establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation. Soon after, he launched its first small car known as the SA Model in 1974. Over and above manufacturing, Toyota also has a global network of design and Research and Development facilities, embracing the three major car markets of Japan, North America and Europe. Across the world, Toyota participates enthusiastically in community activities ranging from the sponsorship of educational and cultural programmes to international exchange and research. The company never encountered a problem or any bad history until there was recalls of some automobiles by the Toyota Motor Corporation which occurred at the end of 2009 and commerce of 2010. Although the Toyota Company is best known today for its cars, it is still in the textile business and still makes automatic looms, which are now computerized and electric sewing machines which are available worldwide. Toyota Case Toyota recalled some of it automobiles due to unintended acceleration leading to the death of innocent people. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and sticky gas pedals. Sticky gas pedals/stuck gas pedal Toyota case was due to potential problems with the gas pedal mechanism that can cause the accelerator to become stuck regardless of whether the vehicle contains a floor mat. Toyota said in certain rare cases, the gas pedal mechanism wears down, causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to return or, in some cases, stuck. The gas pedals was too long and there is a little space between it and the floor mat. In all, there was a poorly designed floor mat Toyota began a massive recall last year worldwide to fix the problems that were attributed to faulty accelerators, floor mats getting stuck in gas pedals and brake problems in Prius hybrids. More than 8.5 million Toyota cars and trucks have been recalled. Drivers have complained of cars careering out of control at 65mph while overtaking, and negotiating roundabouts so fast that it felt like their car was on two wheels. A mechanical fault, caused by a combination of wear and cold and wet weather, Toyota believes, means that the accelerator pedal sometimes sticks down. Around 10,000 Toyota owners have so far contacted a hotline to air concerns. Toyota was overwhelmed by massive product recalls and damage to its reputation after questions over the safety of its cars and allegations that the company did not act quickly enough once problems had been identified. The problem commenced when one duty police officer and his family back in August 2009 after their car, a Toyota Lexus, unexpectedly accelerated, crashed into another vehicle, tumbled over an embankment and burst into flames lead to the death of the man. Initial company reports identified that the car may have been fitted with the wrong floor mats, which could have slipped and entrapped the accelerator pedal. The problems began to increase for Toyota. Critics attacked the company for allegedly covering up defects and not taking safety issues seriously enough. By February earlier this year, Toyota had issued recalls for about 10 million vehicles and company president Akio Toyoda was summoned to appear  before a U.S. congressional committee to respond to questions over Toyota’s handling of the recalls and safety issues. Even if a company tries to cope with a crisis, it often happens that the company faces a secondary crisis, which could be more threatening than the original one when it fails to communicate with society and causes misunderstanding (Nakata, 2010). Methodology Data was collected from online by the help of some selected search engines (Bing, Google and Yahoo) and browsers (Google chrome, Opera and Mozilla Fox). An achieved Data containing the figures of recall vehicles were used. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Quotes, citations and other relevant document leading to the completion of this case study were also taken from some this site. Recall by Toyota was first initiated with the assistance of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). Recall Data Toyota had announced recalls of approximately 5.2 million vehicles for the pedal entrapment/floor mat problem, and an additional 2.3 million vehicles for the accelerator pedal problem. Approximately 1.7 million vehicles are subject to both. Certain related Lexus and Pontiac models were also affected. The next day, Toyota widened the recall to include 1.8 million vehicles in Europe and 75,000 in China. By then, the worldwide total number of cars recalled by Toyota stood at 9 million. Sales of multiple recalled models were suspended for several weeks as a result of the accelerator pedal recall, with the vehicles awaiting replacement parts. Toyota did recall almost 8 million vehicles worldwide to correct issues with ill-fitting floor mats that could trap the accelerator pedal, and for adjustments to throttle pedals that had a tendency to stick or were slow to return to idle. Some of the cars affected by the recall are listed below. RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia, Lexus, Pontiac Investigations Toyota Company Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate the software in Toyota engine computers to see if a programming error could command the throttles to open without input from the drivers. Such unintended acceleration was blamed for a number of accidents and deaths over several years, culminating in the recalls. NHTSA confirmed that the cause of unintended acceleration was not due to mechanical defect with the pedals and floor mat systems (Allen, 2010). According to NHTSA previous investigation, the defect has resulted in a total of 16 accidents with three deaths and seven injuries. Therefore, why didn’t Toyota use this as an alert to call for recall but rather delayed in announcing. occur on vehicles sold in the States because American driving cycles are significantly different from those in Japan. Once the company received 54 complaints on the issue, it supposedly alerted NHTSA of the problem within the five days allowed under the law. The NHTSA recently charged Toyota with a $16.4 million fine for failing to notify the government of the infamous unintended acceleration issue within the allotted time. Since then, Toyota has been more forthcoming with information about what it claims the company knew and when, but so far theres no been official word from the automaker about this latest investigation. Meanwhile, Toyota’s crisis has created an opening for other carmakers. GM, Ford, and Hyundai have all scrambled to claim some of Toyota’s slipping market share. (Haq, 2010). The question of unintended acceleration involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been repeatedly and thoroughly investigated by NHTSA, without any finding of defect other than the risk from an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat. (Toyota-Newsroom, 2009). Also, Toyota Company commissioned NASA to investigate on the problem. NASA investigated many possible avenues that might increase engine RPM (Resolutions per minutes). Congressional decisions Congress in February 2010 began a series of hearings on the issue of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia has laid out possible steps for Congress and the DOT, including taking a fresh look at the TREAD Act, requiring brake override technology on all new automobiles, requiring auto makers to provide the necessary equipment for investigators to read electronic data recorders and forcing senior executives of auto companies to personally certify that information their firms provide to NHTSA is complete and accurate.(Rockefeller, 2010). Consumer advocates have suggested broader changes including new standards for accelerators and electronics testing; mandatory installation of event data recorders and the collection of more information. Toyota’s Reaction/Response Toyota, however, took the result as cold comfort, since the damage to its reputation has been done. The mechanical issues with its pedals and floor mats, after all, remain as the root factor in what eventually became a record recall of over 12 million vehicles around the world and over 5 million here in the U.S. Toyota was eventually fined $48.8 million for its treatment of the recalls. Toyota said drivers in the recalled vehicles whose gas pedals become stuck should firmly apply their brakes, drive the car to a safe location, shut off the engine and contact the nearest Toyota dealer. Drivers who experience the problem should not pump their brakes, Toyota said. (ValdesDapena, 2010). At least in that short term, it was not easy for Toyota to erase the negative Image of its products, he said. (Nakata, 2010) Solutions from Toyota to fix the problems Toyotas engineers have developed and rigorously tested a solution that is both effective and simple. A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the accelerator pedal assembly, thereby eliminating the excess friction that has caused pedals to stick in rare instances. (Griffin, 2011) Lessons from organization Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when failures started to happen is also a problem facing most organization. Toyota did not act until the number of cases and the media outcry became loud enough to get through their in-defiance skulls. May be it is not too much of quality that has lead Toyota in to this crisis but rather they should look at their quality of leadership which may sometimes include selecting technology and keeping ears to the ground. Companies or organization should design and manufacturing information and traceability data that can be shared with suppliers for effective root cause analysis. Lesson from research. Research can go further to examine the actual number of vehicles related by models to see which of these models were affected badly or most. Also, extend the research to see if the design or structure of those models is the main cause of the unintended acceleration.

Bob Knowlton Case Study free essay sample

Attribution process in chapter 4 is referred to as the ways in which people come to understand the causes of their own or others’ behavior. Knowlton felt that Fester was brought in to take his position as project head. With all the questions and research analysis that Fester completed on his own, Knowlton felt betrayed since his friend and mentor Jerrod never took the time to explain to him what was happening. When Knowlton did approach Jerrod to question why Fester was there, Jerrod replied, â€Å"We’re taking him on [. ]†Jerrod also replied that, â€Å"I don’t know yet where he will finally land †¦I thought he might spend a little time with you by way of getting started. † I believe that Knowlton should have gone back to talked to Jerrod again. Knowlton should have got his point across about the way that he and his team was feeling about Fester questions the work that he and his team had completed over the last six months and how calling his home at 2 o’clock explaining how Link’s patterning problem could be solved among other things. Jerrod could have then explained that Fester was brought in to be the project head for another department. In 1996, my husband and I were transferred to Korea for one year by the Army and our two kids that were 15 months old and 3 ? months old stayed with my mother-in-law. Once we returned a year later, our kids had grown so much. However much importantly to me, my kids were calling my mother-in-law mommy and I had not prepared myself for that. In the beginning, I was very hurt as well as confused as to why my kids was calling their grandmother â€Å" mommy†, but I came to the realization that they were at that stage in life where they were just starting to talk and mommy and daddy were their first words. After about a week, I asked my mother-in-law if she wanted the kids to call her grandma or nana so they would get use to calling my husband and I mommy and daddy. Finding of Facts 2: Self-Esteem The letter that Knowlton wrote explained that he would be glad to come back later (he would only be 40 miles away) to assist if there was any problems with the past work. Recommendation/Justification Self-Esteem is defined as the extent to which an individual believes that he or she is a worthwhile and deserving individual. In Knowlton’s situation he felt that he deserved the promotion to project head because he had the knowledge, skills and ability to perform the job. However, when Fester came and started challenging the result that he and his team had determined, he lost his self-esteem as well as his self-confidence and felt as if he was worthless to Mr. Jerrod and most importantly to his team and that allowed him to make a hasty decision to leave the organization. I recommend that Knowlton fight for his position, his team and most importantly his self-esteem. I recommend that Knowlton think about the achievements and contributions that he has made to the team as well as the organization. Once Knowlton builds his self-esteem back up, I recommend that he talks with his supervisor Mr. Jerrod and express his true feeling regarding how Fester approach toward his team is being very disruptive. In the military, we are usually transferred to different duty stations every three to five years. This one particular time, I was transferred to Ft Bragg, NC and they were not aware that I was coming to be assigned to the unit. Since they were not aware that I was coming, they did not have a place for me to work so I was consider a â€Å"floater† going from section to section to help out where ever needed until they found a permanent slot for me. The first section that I worked in was the processing section. The section was running smoothly, and I was there for observation purposes only. However, the leader that I am, I could not stand by and allow the soldiers to continue to work long hours without giving suggestions that would allow them to work smarter. I saw the hesitation that they were giving so I called a meeting and explained my purpose of being in the section and also let the soldiers know that I was just there to assist. Once they realized that I was not there to take anyone’s job, and that I was there to help the section run more efficiently, the soldiers began to gravitate toward me for more suggests. After about a week, the soldiers saw the results of my suggestions and incorporated those suggestions into their daily routines in the office. The soldiers also requested that I be assigned to their section permanently without my knowledge and when it was brought to my attention I was very impressed and decided to stay in that section. Findings of Facts: Team Empowerment Bob always prided himself on the fact that the work of the lab was guided and evaluated by the group as a whole and he was fond of repeating that it was not a waste of time to include secretaries in such meetings. Recommendations/Justification: Team empowerment refers to the degree to which its members perceive the group as (1) being competent and able to accomplish work-related tasks (potency), (2) performing important and valuable tasks (meaningfulness), (3) having choice (autonomy) in how they carry out their task, and (4) experiencing a sense of importance and significance (impact) in the work performed and goals achieved. Bob was proud of the members of his team. No one thought that they were smarter than anyone else on the team; they respected each other and valued each other’s opinion. However, from the very first day that Fester arrived, he made it clear that he was not a team player. He thought that everyone should work individually on their portion of the project, come together to complete the project and that be it. Bob also stated that he valued everyone’s opinion including the secretaries. Every member of the team know that if they did not pull their weight on their particular part of the project they could depend on their team mates for assistance and again Fester was not a fan of that. I believe that Bob should have stepped in and expressed his feelings as to how he and his team worked together on everything. He should have expressed how he valued everyone’s opinion and that he was not going to let him or ever Jerrold tear them apart. If Fester still had concerns he should have taken that up with Jerrold however, it should have been a dead issue to Jerrold since Fester was not going to be in charge of the department that Bob was currently heading. At my last unit, I was the section chief for the Personnel Section. I had just completed my training about three weeks prior when another sergeant came to the section that out ranked me. When the other sergeant came, after one week of watching how my section and I conducted business she wanted to make changes. One day she just came in the office and started making changes without consulting me or our commander. When I arrived to the office and saw the changes that she had made, I asked to speak with her separately, and I respectfully told her that I didn’t appreciate her coming in and changing my section around. She began to say that the changes that she was making was how she had her section set up at her last unit and the section ran smooth once all the changes were complete. Since she outranked me, I had to tell her again, respectfully that this was not her section, and the commander had not approved any of her changes nor did he have any knowledge of any of her changes. We then went and talked with the commander and he had agreed with me that first he would make the final decision if she was going to be in charge of the section or if I was going to continue to run the section. Also, if he was going to put her in charge of the section any changes that she wanted to make still had to be approved by him first. So needless to say, she was not happy with me, however, about a month or so later we had a talk. She stated that she admired me for standing up for myself as well as my section. She then went on to apologize for trying to use her rank to intimidate me. After our discussion, we were able to work together in the section as equals.