I Can See Clearly Now Essay

Flannery O’Conner argued that â€Å"[Distortion] is the only way to make people see†. This famous statement is initially contradictory and incongruous, but in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 it is easy to see the truth of this paradox. The pages of Catch-22 are lined with distortion and each instance provides for a new kind of clarity. Catch-22 is simply a war story illustrated by ridiculous behavior and illogical arguments and told in a flatly satirical tone. Though the book never states outright that matters are funny, the reader is always aware of how outrageously bizarre the characters and situations are. Heller uses out of sequence narration, a confused distinction between appearance and reality, and the irrationally logical paranoia of characters to create his corrupt military world. Distortion is found first in the very organization of the novel. Many events are out of sequence and Heller discusses events as if readers were already aware of their details, though merely mentioning them for the first time. Often times Heller references events multiple times before one ever reads about it in it’s entirety. For example, the death of Snowden is slowly explained throughout the book. The death is first referred to early on in chapter four when Yossarian asks, â€Å"Where are the Snowdens†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Heller 35) at an educational meeting. This question is asked without context and the reader is unsure of what a Snowden is, let alone how it died. By creating this dialogue without context, Heller leaves readers to question the seemly incoherent question and the idea of Snowdens is planted in their brains. The death is mentioned in chapters five and seventeen and though more information is provided each time, the reader does not fully understand what took place until chapter 30 when the details and context of Snowden’s death are given. At first, this way of structural organization creates some confusion for readers but as they continue on a greater focus and understanding of an event such as Snowden’s death is found. Snowden’s death is an incredibly critical event for Yossarian because he not only loses his friend in the airplane; he loses his will to fight. With Snowden lying dead in his arms, the truth of war becomes even more frightening and real and Yossarian becomes truly paranoid. Without the focus that the scattered and repeated storyline of Snowden provides, one may not have been able to grasp its true significance. Often times Catch-22 is characterized by a very loose grip on reality. The line between what is apparent and what is real is continually indistinguishable, even to readers. One aspect that contributes greatly to this effect is the distortion of justice and the military technicalities. In the military world created by Heller, what is written on paper is what is true, even if it can be defied by reality. Throughout much of the book, Yossarian is found complaining that there is a â€Å"dead man†(24) in his tent. When the concept of the dead man is first introduced, the readers are led to believe that there is an actual dead soldier sitting in Yossarian’s tent, which the military refuses to remove. However, later clarification shows that is not the case at all, but rather, after setting his luggage down, the soldier was killed in the air before he even got the chance to sign in. The grim irony of the situation is that according to the appearance based logic of the military, it is as if the man was never there at all, and his things can therefore not be processed. Another example of such distorted reality is found in McWatt’s plane crash. Doc Daneeka had lied about flying with McWatt, due to his fear of flying, but the documents had it that Daneeka died in the plane crash (338). Everyone can visibly see that Doc Daneeka is alive, in the flesh, and yet he is reported as â€Å"killed in action†(344), and Daneeka is treated like he is dead for the remainder of the novel. The reality of the military has been so contorted that they are more willing to accept the truth they read than the truth they can see. This confusion between appearance and reality demonstrates the deteriorated state of the military government and forces readers to give a greater attention to the details of such storyline. A third kind of distortion are the irrational and paranoid statements and thoughts of the book’s protagonist, Yossarian. Though Yossarian likely entered the army a sane man, he apparently loses his grip on reality as he watches his friends die in the war surrounding him. Yossarian is often referred to as â€Å"crazy†(20) and yet there is irony in the fact that every paranoid thought he has is true. Yossarian has a sole goal through the duration of the book: staying alive. He goes up into the sky and finds airplanes shooting at him from all directions, and so he goes as far as to see himself as a potential murder victim. â€Å"They’re trying to kill me†(16), he argues to a fellow cadet. Though the other cadet insists that â€Å"they† are simply partaking in a war, Yossarian’s paranoia illustrates a sky full of strangers who want him dead. Though Yossarian’s thoughts are irrational, they also prove to be somewhat reasonable. The truth is, every time Yossarian goes on a mission his life is in grave danger, and people are trying to kill him. Though his thought process is distorted by fear, this fear is in turn what proves his sanity. Catch-22 is not a book that can be rightfully summarized. It is not the remarkability of the plot but rather the distinct form of literary distortion that makes it such a classic. This novel illustrates the corruption of wartime and a particular squadron, but in end, it illustrates much more then that. The book uses often-comic distortions of structure, reality, and mind to give readers a profound sense of universal flaws and truths.

Spartan Society – Year 12 Ancient History Assignment

Part 1 (a)He was believed to be the creator of the Spartan society and how it functioned. Most of the Spartans thought him as a God-like figure and worshipped him. There is no certain source or a piece of evidence about Lycurgus and archeological records contradicted his existence often. Even Spartans had no idea of what Lycurgus looked like but there were his portraits and statues as what people imagined how a wise lawgiver would look like. (b)The  Hyakinthia festival This was a festival named after Hyakinthos, a youth who was lover of the god Apollo and died when Apollo accidentally hit him with a discus.The flower of the red hyacinth was believed to have sprung from his blood. In his grief, Apollo ordained an annual festival. This festival was held at the ancient shrine of  Amyclae  (about five kilometres from Sparta). This site was the location of a huge statue of Apollo, the tomb of Hyakinthos and an open area for festival dances. The festival took place over three days in the (summer) month of July. Athenaeus, writing in the 2nd  century A. D. , has given an account of this festival, which basically revolves around mourning for Hyakinthos, and praise of Apollo: The festival had two stages: 1.The first stage involved rites of sorrow and mourning in honour of Hyakinthos. There was a ban on the wearing of wreaths and on joyful songs. Offerings were placed at the dead youth’s tomb. The eating of bread and cakes was forbidden; there was a special funeral meal, then a day of ritual grief. 2. The second stage involved rejoicing in honour of Apollo, the wearing of wreaths, the singing of joyful songs, sacrifice to Apollo, a festive meal, a procession to Amyclae, choral song and dance. The historian Hooker has interpreted the festival as a festival for the dead on one hand, combined with a thanksgiving for life on the other.The  Gymnopaediae festival This was ‘The Festival of the Unarmed Boys'. The festival was held in the Spartan  agora  (market place). It commemorated the battle of Thyrea fought against Argos c. 550 B. C. The festival featured: choral performances; the setting up of images of Apollo and Artemis â€Å"boxing† amongst boys and men. Although much has been written about the violent aspect of the festival, it has been interpreted as a ‘rite of passage'; on the way to manhood, an initiation that indicated membership or belonging to the community.The Gymnipaediae were celebrated in July, the hottest part of the year. The festival consisted of a series of athletic competitions and musical events among boys and men. Dancing and running in tough conditions proved the strength of the Spartan citizens to the onlookers. In its early context it was part of the whole warrior code to initiate the young soldier to a life of physical excellence. It was not confined to Sparta. This festival was a thank-offering to Apollo for military success. c)Religion in Sparta, like in many civilizations, had a comm itment to support the ideals of a militaristic society. The Spartan ideal of an elite military state influenced the approach to religion and the ways in which religion would be molded to suite state doctrine, therefore highlighting the importance of religion in upholding the values of Spartan society such as endurance, loyalty, obedience, conformity, and skill. Religion was also use to create social coherence, important in promoting conformity and in controlling the society under the ideals of the military state.At an individual level religion provided a way of ensuring fertility both human and natural as well as averting disaster and ensuring victory in war. Religion was important for the State and this could also be seen in the wartime practices of the Spartan Army. According to Powell, Spartans believed in military divination, following an army to war was a herd of sacrificial animals ready to appease the Gods. Consultative sacrifices were held before embarking on a military camp aign, before a battle and when stepping into the threshold of the enemy.As written by Herodotus, Cleomenes in 494 on an invasion campaign to Argo was sent troops home because he had seen bad omens at the river Erasinus. Spartans also consulted Oracles at Delphi for predictions, famously at the battle of Thermopylae Leonidas was told to give up or fight to the death against Persian troops. The Spartan reliance on divination is reflective of how religion was used for military organisation and was important in supporting the state with battle strategy and on issues of joining battles. The reliance on religion creates a sense of reassurance for warriors if they had een given a good battle prediction and also a justification for retreat with a bad omen, as seen through Cleomenes. The mythology was interwoven with every aspect of Greek life. Each city devoted itself to a particular god or group of gods, for whom the citizens often built temples of worship. They regularly honoured the gods in festivals, which high officials supervised. At festivals and other official gatherings, poets recited or sang great legends and stories. Many Greeks learned about the gods through the words of poets.Spartan mythology was different than any other city-state in the Ancient Greece. Their gods were the same as others but Spartan gods were geared with armors and weapons. This is an example of how militarised Sparta was. Even their lawgiver Lycurgus is believed to be a myth by historians. Many Spartans worshipped as a god and in order to create a perfect city-state, he could be constantly recreated to explain why things were as they were. Although the Greeks had no official church organization, they universally honoured certain holy places.Delphi, for example, was a holy site dedicated to Apollo. A temple built at Delphi contained an  oracle,  or prophet, whom brave travellers questioned about the future. A group of priests represented each of the holy sites. These priests, who al so might be community officials, interpreted the words of the gods but did not possess any special knowledge or power. In addition to prayers, the Greeks often offered sacrifices to the gods, usually of a domestic animal such as a goat. (d) The religious connection to the military can be first seen in the Greek Gods the Spartiates emphasised and worshipped.The principal Spartan Gods were Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Discouri and Zeus. Apollo, Artemis and Athena more explicitly demonstrate the militaristic nature of Sparta with the three Gods associated with victory, wisdom, and skill in battle. Even Gods that were not usually known for battle were given militaristic traits, like the statue of the Armed Aphrodite in Thornax. The worship of Apollo and Artemis and their high status reflects the military value of Spartan society in training the youth for future defence.Such devotion to Apollo and Artemis can be seen in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Amyclae where coins in the likeness of Apollo were found and at the Temple of Artemis Orthia where thousands of votive offerings were found. Rites of passage within Spartan society were also carried out at the Artemis Orthia and can be likened to a vigorous military test of endurance with religious overtones. Young boys endured harsh whippings whilst trying grabbing stringed cheeses off the shrine. Those who could withstand the punishment were given honour and moved onto another stage in their military training.Religion in this case was used to sort out those with better warrior potential. Another function of religion in Spartan society was to train the hoplites. Hoplites were taught religiously devotional dances and songs, but the worship taught in the barracks also had military purpose. The song and dance helped with coordinating war movement, as the musical devotions not only praised the Gods but taught ideas of rhythm that was used in coordinating Phalanx in battle and the ability to move in a manner that was in harmony wi th the other warriors.Other examples of religion being a form of endurance training and test can be seen in the Spartan festivals. In the Carneia, the participants had to live in barracks as though on campaign and were made to run and chase a figure to train, test and celebrate athletic ability. The festival was associated with military success and the state used this festival as a way of glorifying past victories, therefore promoting the successes of the military state.According to Hooker ‘The Principle aim of the Gymnipaediae [another festival] was the habituation of the Spartan manhood to arduous activity’. The festival consisted of athletic competitions, musical events and dancing as displays of strength and endurance. This gave the state the opportunity to train hoplites, and separate the strong from the weak The role of religion was to support the military organisation and was vital to a state, which valued an elite defence force and celebrated skill in battle.As shown above religion was used a form of preparation, training assurance and guide in military situations. It was believed in Sparta that â€Å"a king by virtue of his divine descent should perform all the public sacrifices on the city’s behalf† [Xenophon]. The Kings acted as a priest towards the Gods. Aristotle, â€Å"Dealings with the Gods are assigned to the kings† Ritual responsibility was associated with political power giving kings special authority in religious interpretation or jurisdiction.The kings through public sacrifices first received the divine messages of Gods and Kings could also consult the oracles as they wished. As divination was passed through the kings to the rest of society, the Kings had the power to make the people to bow to the ‘Gods’ will. Religious authority equates to political power an example of such power was when King Cleomenes refused to go into battle but got off trial by saying that the omens were bad so he could n ot fight. If a Spartan King had reasonable religious excuse he could be forgiven for losing battles and refusing battles.Such religious connection was important in gaining, loyalty and obedience in the political arena, the divine status of the Kings was sign of military elitism. Spartan society according to Xenophon depended on the king and was loyal to the King, even believing that if an untitled person occupied the royal seat military disaster and famine would ensue. Spartan society valued conformity, coherence and believed in strong social controls, which religion then reinforced.Sparta’s social organisation was formed to encourage a sense of community and kinship, which in turn intruded on private religious practice. The Spartiate was required to share sacrificial meat with his mess-companions. Religion was interpreted to support the system of shared messes. Other ideals or Social cohesion can be seen in the Spartan religious festivals. In this festival people would commu nally mourn the dead and have a thanksgiving to life, it was to religiously as a community reaffirm the need for a close society.The festival of Carneia also emphasised a communal time of celebration, which honoured heroism and past successes in battles. During this time the Spartans were not allowed to travel to wars or battles, the Carneia being the reason they were late to fight in the Marathon 490BC and the lesser numbers at Thermopylae. Spartans had special departments, which were in charge of dealing with the oracles from Delphi and keeping records of signs from God. The power to consult the Gods however was exclusively among the authoritative forces of the state just as power itself was.Even Ephors had divination powers and all political classes of Sparta had religious duties to perform. It is evident that religion in Sparta functioned as political organisation; religion was used to demonstrate prestige, power and authority which were vital to society that honoured divinity a nd, religion also assisted in creating a way for the governing forces to manipulate the wider society with claims of celestially ordained political decisions. The political connection to religion was a way of promoting the Spartan ideal of an elite warrior society.Part 2 (a) 1- Leonidas (Famous for the Battle of Thermopylae and the Persian Wars. ) 2- Menelaus (Famous for the Trojan Wars and the husband of the Helen of Sparta, later became known as the Helen of Troy. ) (b) According to Plutarch, the council originated when Lycurgus attempted to reduce royal power. More than likely, Gerousia originated as a result of a conflict between the kings and nobles during the first Messenian War. There were 28 members and the two kings in the Gerousia.Membership was restricted to Spartans over 60 years of age that were no longer liable for military service. Thus it was a body of elders who held their office for life. The Assembly elected members by acclamation and although any Spartiate was el igible in practice members probably belonged to highly respected noble families. Aristotle mentions â€Å" the best families†, Plutarch says that they have to be† the best and most deserving. † and the selection was by acclamation (shouting and clapping).The Gerousia was a Probletic body and this meant that they prepared and deliberated on bills to be presented to the Assembly for voting and if the vote was not approved by the Gerousia, it could simply ignore it by adjourning the bill would not be passed. The Gerousia, Kings and Ephors acted as a court of justice and they tried cases of murder and treason and imposed penalties ranging from death to banishment and fines even the prosecution of a king would come before the Gerousia and the 5 Ephors.All these factors ensued that men of conservative opinion had the best chance of getting into the council, staying there and replacing themselves with people of the same outlook. â€Å"It would take a brave and confident king to pursue a policy that did not command the support of the majority of the Gerousia, knowing that in the event of failure, he was likely to be prosecuted upon his return. † T. J Buckley stated in his book â€Å"Aspects of Greek History† to exemplify the power of the Gerousia. (c) The Ephorate was the fourth major institution in the Spartan constitution.Five Ephors were elected each year from the whole citizen body and by the fifth century, they were constitutionally the most powerful public officials. They were in charge of the day-today business; and were also main executive body of state, implementing the decisions of the Assembly, at which they presided. They were also in charge of private lawsuits, which they judged sitting separately. They were combined with the Gerousia in the trial of a king. They supervised the other public officials, having the power to suspend, imprison and even bring capital charges against them.One of their most important responsibilit ies was the supervision of the â€Å"agoge†, the long and tough system of state education that was essential for the high standards of the Spartan army. In the field of foreign affairs, they would receive foreign ambassadors to ascertain their business before presenting them to the Assembly. In time of war, it was their responsibility to organise the call-up of the army, deciding the precise size of the army that was needed for the coming campaign and may even have possessed the power to give orders to commanders (except for the king) in the battlefield.When king set out an expedition with the army, he was accompanied by two of the Ephors who acted as overseers. Aristotle saw the Ephors as the most powerful of the four key institutions of state but also the most corrupt. However, Ephors had disadvantages as well. For example, Ephors did not have a continuous power in the state as they were only elected for a year and could not be re-elected ever again. This caused differences of opinion over policy between successive boards of Ephors, but also between individual members of the same board.There was often disagreement, even personal animosity, between the kings and it is likely that each king would have his supporters among the Ephors. However, Ephors, for all their constitutional powers, only held office for one year and then returned to political obscurity, whereas the prestige of the king was long-standing. Some of their other functions were: * They had the right to declare war on Helots. * They could fine people in the spot for being lazy. * They were the only magistrates who could conduct a civil trial. * They had the absolute power over all the magistrates. They controlled Krypteia and state finances. (d) Spartan government contained elements of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy and this was described as a mixed constitution. Spartan government was consisted of 2 kings and this dual kingship maybe was to prevent one king becoming too powerful. The S partan Kings had ranges of powers and responsibilities. Some of them were; they were the supreme commanders of the army, were the chief priests and decided on the marriages of orphaned heiresses. Spartan kings were the supreme commanders in the battlefield.However, the policy stated that only one king was suppose to lead the army to prevent any differences of opinion about the strategies and tactics during the battle while the other remained at home. This dual kingship ensured that each could keep an eye on the other. The leading king was usually accompanied by 2 Ephors and they kept a close supervision of the king’s leadership and the Kings were blamed if the campaign had failed and severely punished. The king that leads the army had the absolute power in the battlefield and picked bodyguards were to accompany the king.Aside from the kings’ responsibilities for the military, they were also the chiefs of priests. It was believed that Spartan kings were the priests of Z eus and they were to offer solemn sacrifices to Zeus requiring a favourable omen to proceed. Those sacrifices were performed on the frontier and the fire from these sacrifices carried with them throughout the entire campaign. Kings were also expected of to be responsible for the oracles of Delphi. It was believed in Sparta that â€Å"a king by virtue of his divine descent should perform all the public sacrifices on the city’s behalf† [Xenophon].The Kings acted as a priest towards the Gods. Aristotle, â€Å"Dealings with the Gods are assigned to the kings† Ritual responsibility was associated with political power giving kings special authority in religious interpretation or jurisdiction. The kings through public sacrifices first received the divine messages of Gods and Kings could also consult the oracles as they wished. As divination was passed through the kings to the rest of society, the Kings had the power to make the people to bow to the ‘Gods’ will. Source B is an excavation of a portrait in Acropolis area of Sparta in 1925.It is believed that the statue was a portrait of Leonidas. By the look of the statue, it is a typical Spartan man with a helmet, however it does not necessarily indicate that it is Leonidas or even a king. Though in the Spartan religion, Gods were geared up with weapons and armors. This is evident of even if it was a statue of Leonidas, it illustrates what sort of people kings were to the Spartan people. Spartans assumed the kings were descended from Heracles and they are the best kinds of semi-humans, this might be the reason why the king was wearing a helmet, if it really was a statue of Leonidas.

A Brief History Of E Commerce Information Technology Essay

A Brief History Of E Commerce Information Technology Essay Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the term used for any type of business or commercial transaction that involves the transfer of products, services and information over electronic systems such as the internet and other computer networks. The trader and customer are not face to face at any point during these transactions, the business being conducted remotely, regardless of location. E-commerce covers a range of different types of businesses, from consumer based retail sites, through auction or music sites, to business exchanges trading goods and services between corporations. It is currently one of the most important aspects of the Internet to emerge. Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web. Although most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in one way or another, a large percentage of e-commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items, such as access to certain information on a website, purchasin g software or other on-line services. E-business is a superset of e-commerce   [ 1 ]   . Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions. E-commerce can be mainly divided into Business-to-Business electronic commerce (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer electronic commerce (B2C). B2B implies that both sellers (suppliers) and buyers are business corporations, while B2C implies that buyers are individual consumers. Business-to-business e-commerce is significantly different from business-to-consumer e-commerce. While B2C merchants sell on a first-come, first-served basis, most B2B commerce is done through negotiated contracts that allow the seller to anticipate and plan for how much the buyer will purchase. In some cases B2B is not so much a matter of generating revenue as it is a matter of making connections with business partners. 1.1.1 . B2B e-commerce B2B e-commerce requires the technological sharing of information among supplies, retailers, distributors, and other interested parties to create electronic relationships. B2B e-commerce does not just comprise the transaction via the Internet, but also the exchange of information before and the service after a transaction. From the purchasing company’s point of view, B2B e-commerce is a medium for facilitating procurement management by reducing the purchase price and the cycle time.   [ 2 ]    The key players usually include selling and buying companies, deliverers, and often some type of electronic intermediaries, or third-party service providers. These associations can take many forms, yet most fall into three models. These models are classified depending on who controls the marketplace: the supplier, the buyer or the intermediary: (a) In a Supplier-Oriented Marketplace: many buyers face few suppliers. (b) In a Buyer-Orientated Marketplace: few buyers fa ce many suppliers. (c) In an Intermediary-Oriented Marketplace: many buyers face many suppliers. A) Supplier-Oriented Marketplace Supplier-Oriented Marketplaces offer a group of customers a wide spectrum of products and services and also support them in their own business. The markets can involve proprietary auctions, bid systems, and exchanges. By using Supplier-Oriented Marketplaces, suppliers are offered new types of market channels in marketing and distribution. Products can be sold directly to the customer without using intermediaries. Most manufacture-driven electronic stores use this form of market place. Successful examples of this business model are e.g. Dell and Cisco.   [ 3 ]   Both Dell and Cisco sold and sell their products via the Internet. However, not only Dell and Cisco use the Supplier-Oriented Marketplace, there are thousands of other companies using this model. Cisco’s main business is providing electronic support using the Internet. The main applicati ons are software downloads, defect tracking and technical advice. Cisco’s business model also includes customer service and finding order status, as well as selling routers, switches and other network interconnect devices.

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 18

Critical Thinking - Essay Example Much of the corporate wealth in the region is in government hands. Earlier this year, the company won the auction for former GE Plastics with $11 billion, and it has significantly expanded its U.S. operations. In addition to that, it has acquired the U.K.’s Huntsman Petrochemicals Company last year. The company is currently investing about $20 billion annually in expanding capacity (Al†Salamah & Wilson, 2001). I chose SABIC because it has values that include inspiring employees by empowering them with clear and shared comprehension of the ethical boundaries that they must operate. More so, Engage diverse workforce by ensuring that they maintain respectful and welcoming work environment. In addition, it helps create a sustainable compliance with integrity framework. That is, it will support innovation in products in a highly regulated world. Thus, finally delivering growth by earning the trust of employees, customer and business collaborates and ensure that they always conduct business with a lot of integrity (Jasinska-Walc et al., 2015). One can describe the advantages of SABIC basing on the geographical environment. In addition to that, the countries’ regulatory framework of government in which SABIC operates their business, the political set up of the countries that SABIC have their manufacturing plants. Moreover, the taxation rules, regulations and policies of the countries, and finally the production and transportation costs. Cultural issues: cultures of different countries vary and can bring impact on the company accordingly. There are Promotional messages sent to the consumers who are responsible for the purchase decision, also the marketing message highly depends on cultural background of the user. Therefore, cultural awareness is essential when designing marketing strategies for the global markets. The views of the user are always in consideration (Jasinska-Walc et al., 2015). SABIC has used marketing strategies of the firms to learn more

Business Analytics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business Analytics - Assignment Example - Data driven processes often create issues (noise) which are not relevant to the goals of the project. In this respect, logic-driven analytics processes will result in more clear and concise solutions. This depends on the project and the maturity of the audience/stakeholders. In an environment where the KPIs are not already established and the data is not well known, it might be appropriate to start with a logic driven process to focus the process on the most impactful issues. This keeps the noise to a minimum and keeps a project smaller in scope while not creating distractions. A data-driven approach can be added as a second step in this case. In a more sophisticated environment where basic KPIs are established, there is an opportunity to find the hidden levers in a process by using a data-driven process to provide deeper insight. Again, these choices are not universal and depend on the maturity of the audience and company, the quality, availability and knowledge of the data and the appetite of the organization for a complex project - The choice of an analytic model to use does indeed depend on many factors, including the nature of the project and the environment. It is worth noting that both logic driven and data driven models can co-exist and complement each other. In my opinion, a data driven approach is more suited to a situation where the data is not known, since a logic driven approach requires an intimate understanding and anticipation of the data before a model can be constructed. What would an effect hybrid first analytics project look like for an organization that has not approached true analytics in the past and what elements from each methodology would you apply? Assume the organization is relatively mature (in life cycle) but novice in deep analytics and has relatively clean and accessible data as well as well educated users. The main advantage I can see using a logic driven analytics (as one of the requirement) is

Corporate Governance in Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Governance in Germany - Essay Example This brings us to Germany, who has a seemingly flawless method of Corporate Governance. Most corporate infrastructures receive work from all ends of the company. With smaller investment groups and smaller group of shareholders who are only out for profit for themselves, German companies receive feedback from employees, management, banks, partnered companies and even consumers. In this way, they can touch on all aspects of thought about the company. It is a rather long-term method of thinking which has become absent in the modern day with life being so hectic and all. But it has worked to bring the German economy back into power ever since the debts incurred from World War I and II. Companies are supposed to help the good of the people before bringing in pure profit. Although the point of any business is to turn a profit, by helping out the community first, this strengthens Corporate Philanthropy 2, or the idea that helping others and taking personal hits for the company for the good of the consumer will help company image and thus bring in more sales. In the end, although the German system of Corporate Governance may seem a bit slow, it has helped to fuel their economy and reduce their unemployment throughout the years. However, there is always a downside to everything, and although you might be asking how there could really be a downside to this way of company thinking, in the end, it all comes down to the economy. While companies are growing, the German economy as a whole has slower growth.... Although the point of any business is to turn a profit, by helping out the community first, this strengthens Corporate Philanthropy 2, or the idea that helping others and taking personal hits for the company for the good of the consumer will help company image and thus bring in more sales. In the end, although the German system of Corporate Governance may seem a bit slow, it has helped to fuel their economy and reduce their unemployment throughout the years. However, there is always a downside to everything, and although you might be asking how there could really be a downside to this way of company thinking, but in the end, it all comes down to the economy. While companies are growing, the German economy as a whole has slower growth, and entrepreneurism has been suffering. Without easy ways for people to get out if things turn bad, it has become less and less fitting to start a business in Germany. So in the end, if you cannot support yourself and the good of the community, your business will fail with the current structure of Corporate Governance in Germany. Now this brings us to the connection between the United Kingdom and German Corporate Governance. Where the United Kingdom has succeeded in helping to jump start entrepreneurism and new businesses, they suffer from corruption inherent in many companies. Germany, on the other hand, has low levels of corruption, but also low levels of economic growth spurts. So, there are many ways we can approach this. Europe has been trying, as a whole continent, to support all countries and combine the best of all worlds. So, you could take the good points of the United Kingdom's Corporate Governance, boards of directors and outside investors, and the stability of the German's Corporate

Effect of YouTube on news media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Effect of YouTube on news media - Essay Example It is true that the new media is to a great extent democratic in its approach; still, there is no denying the fact that the new media is as vulnerable to doubtful news manipulation and sensationalism as the traditional news media. As per the surveys conducted in 2007, YouTube is the most visited website in the world, shadowed by only a few new media giants like Google.com, Yahoo.com and Baidu.com (Christensen, 2007, p. 36). Websites like YouTube have definitely democratized the process of news dissemination in the sense that they allow anyone to upload the news content without being censored, monitored, controlled or manipulated. However, YouTube is as much exposed to being exploited by the unscrupulous sources to broadcast falsified and objectionable content. YouTube amply allows the sources affiliated to unrestrained sensationalism to play with the viewer discretion and emotions. One of the most infamous examples in this context is that of ‘lonelygirl15’, a teenage blogger by the name of Bree, whose video clip revelations about the troubles and tribulations of growing up in modern times attracted gargantuan internet traffic of more than 37 million viewers on YouTube (Christensen, 2007, p. 37). To begin with the phenomenon signified the power of the new media, allowing a teenager with a webcam and a computer, sans media background being able to make millions of people around the world listen to what she had to say (Christensen, 2007, p. 37). However, it was in 2006 it was revealed that ‘lonelygirl15’ was the creation of two California based filmmakers (Christensen, 2007, p. 37). The final word was that though the falsity of the ‘lonelygirl15’ was revealed, the video clippings had astonishingly succe eded in creating a huge fan following for the internet celebrity, which could have been practically translated into favorable business ventures and endeavors. Thus YouTube has conclusively democratized the news media, yet

Sociological Analysis of Asia's premier serial killer Charles Gurmukh Essay

Sociological Analysis of Asia's premier serial killer Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj - Essay Example He was admitted to a boarding school in Paris but he managed to drop out at least twice to visit Vietnam. It is interesting reading that these trips were paid with help of fraud checks. Nevertheless, Sobhraj spent three years for burglary and eight months for car theft in prison in France in the 1960's. In the 1970's Sobhraj became dabbling in drug smuggling. He made a core group for himself and acted in pack as he was very flexible with his ways of crime. It at this point of his career that the notorious "Bikini Murders" took shape with Teresa Knowlton, a Seattle woman who had traveled to Bangkok on her way to Kathmandu. Multiple murders of the similar type surfaced and it was found out that the usual methods of Sobhraj was to drug first and then go for the kill and occasionally burning the bodies after the kill. Sobhraj is implicated in at least 10 murders in Thailand in 1975 alone. The total body count for this killer is actually 32. Sobhraj, once commented that his greatest strength was his great love for the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. This is an interesting clue to the psyche of this serial killer. As in Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy he also believed that women should be treated on whip.

Creating the Best Workplaces on Earth Research Paper

Creating the Best Workplaces on Earth - Research Paper Example rted Google as a privately owned company but due to the need of expansion from more capital input, Google became a publicly owned organization on August 19, 2004. They however have a combined 14 percent shareholding in the company and have a great deal of power in determining who leads the company. Google has had its mission statement as â€Å"To organize all the information in the world in a way that it becomes accessible and relevant globally (Google Inc, par. 3).† Most of the internet related products we use every day come from Google. For example, the World’s largest search engine is Google; it gives scholars the opportunity to explore the world of information and knowledge. Through the search engine, I can find out more about Google. The next major product is the online mail processor, Gmail. Gmail gives a world’s majority the opportunity to receive detailed and even short messages from any part of the world. Google Drive enables you to save your documents online for later use; it enhances the security of your documents. Google + is a social network service where every individual with a Gmail account can connect to other people in other parts of the world. Google is the leading producer of the Android mobile operating system, the Google Chrome browsing software. The G-Talk online communication tool gives me the chance to send messages and call friends all the time provided I have a connection to the internet. Google has collab orated with other telecommunication companies in the production of sate of the art devices such as the Nexus; produced in collaboration with Motorola. You-Tube, owned by Google, is the primary source of internet videos. Here are some surprising facts to show how important Google is in the world. In a single day, the company provides answers to over one billion requests through over a million servers. The company also provides over twenty- five petabytes of data in every 24 hours. Their website, www.google.com has the highest number

WGU SZT 1 Task 4 - Disaster in Franklin County Essay Example for Free

WGU SZT 1 Task 4 Disaster in Franklin County Essay The most important aspect in managing a disaster situation is preparedness. The simulation Disaster in Franklin County highlights the role of public health personnel, with emphasis on the public health nurse because the nurse is often a first responder to such a disaster. This helps to examine the roles, actions, coping methods, and techniques used by a nurse in a disaster scenario. A. Role of Public Health Personnel The role of public health personnel is to maintain the physical and emotional safety of individuals throughout the community affected by the storm. Those in the Public Health Department are responsible for ensuring the citizens of Franklin County have all the basic necessities for survival, such as clean water, food, shelter, and necessary medications. Because of the varying needs of the community, the Public Health Department is also responsible for maintaining and disseminating up-to-date information on how to obtain help, how to acquire the basic necessities, and health hazards/concerns. The public health nurse assures these needs and concerns are met within her scope of nursing practice, using her assessment and prioritization skills. While the public health nurse is assessing the needs of those affected, other members of the Public Health Department maintain operations and assume any jobs that fall outside of the nursing scope of practice utilizing each individual’s skills: the health educator is able to draft concise and easily understood directions relating to maintaining health and directing those displaced to the nearest shelter; the department bookkeeper maintains the financial records during the disaster operations; the receptionist uses her connections with vendors and general people skills to obtain what is needed to run the department; the epidemiologist’s analytical approach and organized thinking is essential in mapping out the logistics of emergency departmental operations; and the environmental health supervisor, who has the most supervisory experience, oversees all operations by the Public Health Department, attends important briefings, and delegates tasks. B. Chain of Command Establishment of a chain of command in a situation such as a severe storm or other disaster is essential. Because there may be a disruption to commonly used manners of communication, such as television, telephones, and the internet, it is important to have a clear outline of where and to whom to report, how to find answers, and who will perform necessary tasks. In the simulation, the Public Health Department is both a link in the larger, county-wide chain of command and has its own hierarchy structure. Within the scope of the county, the Public Health Department reports to the Medical/Health Branch Director who is directly under the Operations Chief. The Operations Chief, who is in charge of managing and monitoring the actions of each department, reports to the Emergency Operations Commander. The Emergency Operations commander is the highest link in the chain, not only overseeing the operations of the various governmental departments, but also the officers in charge of Safety, Public Information, and Legal. Within the Public Health Department, like in the county structure, there is an Operations Chief, responsible for all the actions taken by the department. This is someone with experience in the field, supervisory experience, and an understanding of the structure and function of the department. Under the Operations Chief, there are officers for Logistics, Planning, Finance/Administration, Public Information and Liaison. Each of these individuals is chosen according to his or her individual strengths and abilities within the department and is accountable for the actions of the Public Health Department. C. Resources Through the county-wide set up of an Incident Command System (ICS), the public health nurse has many resources available to her to aid the community. To spread information about boiling water for safe use, the nurse has the assistance of the Public Information officers of both the Public Health Department and the county. Also, because of a pact Franklin County has made with neighboring REPLACE County, the Public Health Department is able to promptly begin inspections needed to reopen restaurants, providing needed food and a sense of normalcy to the people. While conducting door-to-door interviews, the nurse has additional members of the ICS present to assist in assessing the safety of homes and to aid in the evacuation of residents in unsafe or dangerous environments. After the providing immediate needs, the nurse is able to aid those affected by the storm emotionally and/or psychologically by referring them to hotlines and other practioners in the area for assessment and treatment. D. Actions of Community Health Nurse The community health nurse is, through door-to-door interviews with residents most affected by flooding and power outages, able to intervene in unsafe situations. The nurse prepares before the interviews, benchmarks for the determination for safety. The nurse assesses these benchmarks by enquiring if residents have adequate food and medications, know how to safely consume water, have any injured, young or elderly who need assistance, have safe shelter and know of the resources available to them. When confronted with emergency situations, the nurse uses her connections in the ICS to aid citizens. After discovering a potentially hazardous chemical spill, she cautions the resident against the cleaning the spill himself and deploys an Environmental Health Specialist to assist. The nurse also intervenes to stop a situation from becoming hazardous by instructing another resident that the operation of a generator indoors requires adequate ventilation, thereby preventing a carbon dioxide poisoning. Finally, the nurse assists a resident without an adequate supply of life-sustaining medication in obtaining a resupply and further offers him help in evacuating to a shelter if preferred. In addition, the nurse is able to make referrals to other social service departments for those who will need further assistance even after basic needs are met. E. Coping with Aftermath An important part of aiding a community after such a disaster is understanding the long term effects on everyday life. The public health nurse is instrumental in assisting those affected emotionally and financially with the appropriate resources. In the scenario, the nurse is able to aid those calling the Public Health Department by recognizing the issues caused by the storm and taking steps to get help where needed. The nurse refers a woman whose family is having difficulty dealing with unemployment and anger after the storm by suggesting counseling and scheduling a home visit to further assess needs. Another way the nurse aids the community is by recognizing potential serious hazards and dispatching the appropriate members of the Public Health Department to aid in assessment and stabilization of the environment. Finally, the nurse acts swiftly in a confirmed hazardous situation by notifying Emergency Medical Services of an injury in an area with a large community presence, thereby protecting other citizens from harm and allowing the appropriate actions to be taken to neutralize the danger. E1. Techniques While interacting with the community during the post-storm phone calls, the nurse used multiple methods to calm the fears of those involved. In the first instance, the nurse was able to support the caller by using language that reflected her own concerns back to her. This allowed the caller to have her fears validated. Also, the nurse provided the caller with reassurance that her family was not alone in dealing with the consequences of the storm and resources through which she might find help. Both of these techniques were useful throughout the calls the public health nurse received as well as maintaining a professional demeanor and using her connections to other departments in the ICS to provide prompt assistance where needed. F. Preparation of Nurses Emergency situations or disasters on any scale can benefit greatly from well prepared and qualified nurses from a variety of fields. In preparations for large scale disasters, nurses must make sure to maintain current knowledge of emergency services and procedures. This can be accomplished through continuing education with community health focus. Nurses can also participate in city, county, and state wide disaster drills, learning vital skills in a safe but accurate simulation. Nurses can also make sure to understand the policies and procedures of their practice settings regarding disaster situations. Conclusion As nursing practice expands further into the community, it becomes vital to understand the roles required in a disaster situation. By examining the actions taken, methods used and interactions with other departments, the importance of the community health nurse in maintaining the safety of the public is clear. Public health nurses have the unique position to truly advocate and aid many people in emergency situations.

Concept Of Service Quality in Call Centre Industry

Concept Of Service Quality in Call Centre Industry This chapter of dissertation consists of literature review, which is collected from several journals, articles and books. I have divided it into two parts. First part defines the concept of service quality, its importance and then will exemplify how different researchers have measured service quality by dividing it into different dimensions. This part further reviews role of call centers, how call centers are managed and what role call center employees play in delivering quality services. Second part of literature review considers theories from literature such as, Total quality management (TQM), six sigma, investor in People (IIP) and Continuous Performance Improvement, in order to measure quality management system of call centers. 1.2 Service Quality: According to Berry et al.(1988 cited in Amy and Amrik, 2003) service quality has become a significant differentiator and the most powerful competitive weapon which many leading service organizations possess. Further cronin and taylor, (1992 cited in Agens K,Y law, 2003) state that by improving service quality, service providing firm can differentiate itself from its rival firms and thus occupy strong positioning in the relevant market.. Lee et al. (2003) said, now days leading service firms consider service quality as the most sustainable basis for: Differentiation ( Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996); Leveraging customer satisfaction and value (parasuraman, 1997); Driving market share and profitability (Buzzel and Gale, 1987); and Developing strategy (gronroos, 2000). Service quality can be defined as the perceived judgment, which customer develop by comparing their expectation about services with the services they actually perceived to receive ( Gronroos, 1984 cited in Amy and Amrik , 2003). Bolton and Drew (1991a) and Parasuraman at el.(1988a) argued that although evaluation of service quality will help customers to form an attitude towards service provider, customer satisfaction is not obvious and satisfaction level is based on how well the delivered service meet customers expectation.(cited in Agnes K.Y, 2002). Service quality is dependent on two variables perceived services: service customer actually receives form organization and expected services: which comes from the customers previous experience or overall perception of the service( Gronroose, 1984cited in amy amirk, 2003) When expected service is higher than perceived service, service is said to be of low quality and when service expected is less than perceived service, overall service quality is considered to be high. Quality is s subjective concept and it is difficult for the customer to evaluate service quality than product quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Author further suggests that there are three main features of services: intangibility, Heterogeneity and Inseparability, which construct service quality an elusive and abstract concept. There are five main determinants that customer consider to evaluate service quality such as reliability, responsiveness, empathy, tangible and assurance. Customers perception and evaluation of quality can be different due to different needs and wants, it could be satisfactory for one customer while other may experience it in different way (Venetis and Ghauri, 2004) 1.2.1 Importance of service quality: In todays highly competitive business world- where customers needs and wants are highly influenced by global competition and where customer has large number of firms to satisfy their needs, organizations are forced to change their focus from profit maximization to maximize profit through customer satisfaction( nithin seth and S G deshmukh, 2004). Author further state that subject of service quality is of great importance; because it has strong impact on business performance, lower costs, profitability, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In other words service quality is the main driver of firms marketing and financial performance. An extensive research from services marketing, services management and organizational psychology has proved that an improved service quality can help organization in attracting, satisfying and retaining customers( Heskett et al., 1997; Schneider et al., 1998 cited in Alison M Dean, 2002). Firms that fail to provide quality services not only loose their customers to its competitors but it also resulted as declining of profit and finally firms withdraw from competition. In service marketing, terms service quality and customer satisfaction are used interchangeably. Rust and Oliver, (1994) said service quality is the one dimension on which customer satisfaction is based. In fact service quality is considered as antecedent to satisfaction (Agens K.y ). According to Iacobucci et al., (1995) Service quality is concerned with the firms service delivery, while satisfaction is the post consumption experience which reflects customers overall experience and perception with firms service (cited in Eugene sivadas,2000). Zeithaml at el. (1996, cited in Eugene sivadas, 2000) suggest that customers relationship with the firm is strengthened, when that customer has favourable attitude towards a firms service quality and relationship is weakened when customers attitude represent his dissatisfaction with firms services quality. He further argued that positive attitude towards firms service quality will lead customer to develop favourable behavioural intentions such as preferring company over its competitors, making repurchases and recommending firms service and product to others. According to Agens K.Y(), loyalty comes from customers repurchase behaviour. It is satisfaction with the services that construct brand loyalty and encourages customer for repeat purchases. Zeithaml,(1996, cited in Amy wong) suggests that loyalty is the main determinant that service organization are using to measure their long term success and by maintaining superior service quality, firms are retaining and expanding their loyal customer base. Johnston, (1995 cited in amy wong) further argued that firms service quality has strong impact on customer loyalty, therefore in order to measure, control, and improve service quality from customer perspective, management should identify what factors of service quality influence customer loyalty. Customers loyalty is important for firms profitability, as loyal customers are ready to pay premium price (Gronroose, 2000). Similar to satisfaction, loyalty is also comes from high service quality. Customer satisfaction is often viewed as mediator that link service quality with service loyalty (Agens.K.Y). 1.2.2 Measures and dimensions of service quality: Today, whether it is developed country or developing country their economic conditions are largely influenced by globalisation and liberalization. Due to rapid change in needs and wants, firms are forced to develop constant standards for measuring the quality of services offering. Measuring service quality on regular basis will help firm to evaluate and analyse the needs and requirements of customers. These measures will also facilitate firm to provide services quality that encounters customer expectations, by improving both aspect of service quality: WHAT (technical quality) service should be delivered and HOW (functional quality) service should be delivered. In order to measure service quality numerous researchers have suggested different models. GI, DU Kang, (2006) said, many of scholars agreed that service quality is based on multiple dimensions (Gronroos, 1982, 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1985), but there is no consensus on the exact nature and content of these dimensions (Brady and cronin, 2001). Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982) has given three dimensions of service quality. Physical quality- tangible aspect of services, Corporate quality- companys image by its current and potential customers and Interactive quality- two way interaction between customer and service provider. By ignoring physical features of product in the consumption of services, Gronoose (1982, cited in GI-DU Kang, 2006) decomposed service quality into two dimensions: Technical quality- what service is provided. Function quality- how service is provided. Technical (outcome) quality is concerned with what customer actually receives from service. Functional (process) quality is concerned with how the outcome of the process is delivered to the customer such as speed of service and behaviour of customer service staff. Gronoose model of service quality also recognises that customers perceived quality is largely influenced by the firms image customer already have in his mind. Gronroose further suggest that when customers evaluate expected services with the services experienced they bring their prior experiences and overall perception of service firm. Parasuraman et al., (1985), also considered service quality into two dimensions: outcome and process quality and state that evaluation of service quality can not be made solely on outcomes of services, it should also evaluate service delivery process( GI-DU Kang, 2006/). He further argued that these two dimensions (process and outcome quality) are Interco related therefore it is necessary to consider that when evaluation occurs. In case of process quality: evaluation of service occurs while it is being delivered; however in outcome quality, evaluation takes place after the delivery of service. Swart and brown (1989), by considering established work on the dimensions of service quality identified by gronroose(1982), lenthin(1982) and parasuramn(1985), suggested two dimensions of service quality: WHAT ( evaluation of service after its performance) and HOW( service evaluation during performance). Rust and Oliver, (1994) proposed three-component model of service quality, which evaluates customers perception of service quality by considering three dimensions: Customer-employee interaction (functional or process quality); The service environment; and The outcome (technical quality) Although there is no generalized model of measuring service quality, GAP model of (parasuraman et al., 1985) has received adequate support from the researchers of various field ( nitin seth and desh much, 2006). In 1988 this model was then proposed as SERVQUAL. Parasuraman et al. (1988) state that: The SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organization. He further suggests that SERVQUAL is valid and reliable tool that service provider can use to understand the customers expectations and perceptions about service quality and thus improve services. The SERVQUAL is multiple item scale that consists of 22 statements which measures customer expectations and perceptions along five dimensions: Tangible, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Reliability. SERVQUAL instrument is the original formulation of parasuraman et al., (1985,1988,1994) which measured service quality by undertaking extensive investigation in four service areas: Bank, credit card company, long distance telephone company and a firm offering appliance repair and maintenance services. From exploratory investigation of 1985, parasuraman et al., conclude that there are ten main determinates which customer consider when evaluating service quality: Reliability: Responsiveness Competence Access Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Understanding the customer Tangible In later study of 1988, Parasuraman et al., found that some of determinates are correlated, therefore he refined the list of dimensions and presented five high order dimensions which subsume previous ten( Amy wong). Parsuraman et al., (1988) defined these dimensions as follows: Reliability: ability to deliver or perform the promised services dependably and accurately. Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt services. Assurance: it is concerned with the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy: caring and paying individualized attentions/services to each customer. Tangible: physical features of service as appearance of equipments, facilities, personnel and communication material. SERVAQUAL is conceptual model, which is based on the view that customers perception of service quality is the result of gap between expectations and perceptions ( parasuarman et al., 1985,1988 cited in Patrick). Parasuraman et al., (1985) developed Gap model of service quality to identify where gap exist and to what extent: GAP 1: Gap between customers expectations and managements perceptions about those expectations. GAP 2: Gap between customers expected standards and specifications of service and managements perceptions of customers expected service standards.( specification gap) GAP 3: Gap between service quality standards and actual service delivered to customer. (Service performance/delivery gap) GAP 4: Gap between actual service delivered and service quality organization promised to deliver. (Communication gap) GAP 5: Gap between customers expected and perceived services.( perception gap) Parasuramne et al.,( cited in dr Arash) state that gaps in service quality can help firm to identify the areas where performance is lacking. Author further state, a negative service gap would facilitate firms to prioritise the performance improvement of those service features where expectations are high. If any of service gaps is turning positive, indicating that expectations are exceeding the perceptions, firm can review service feature, which they are oversupplying and can, redeploys resources into those features, which are performing below the expectations. Gap five (Perception gap) given in the above model is main driver behind SERVQUAL methodology. Although SERVQUAL model has been widely used in service industry, it has received criticisms from many authors on both theoretical and operational grounds. Francis buttle,(1996) has criticised SERVQUAL on the following basis: SERVQUAL focuses only on the service delivery process and neglects outcome quality; no adequate evidence that consumer consider expectations and perceptions gaps when assess service quality and finally five dimensions of SERVQUAL are not universally accepted. Besides huge criticism, Parasuraman et al., (1991,1994) argued that SERVQUAL is the most valid tool for measuring service quality than any other method because it uses expectation/perception gaps and with little modification, SERVQUAL can be use across business services. 1.2 Role Of Call Centre. Intensive global competition and increased emphasis on customer satisfaction has enhanced the role of call centres in service industry. Today call centre is the main source that links the organization with its customers. Call centre, by serving high volume of customers at low cost and within less time span, has become the integral part of firms marketing and customer service strategies (olukemi O sawyer,2009). David Holman (2002) state that rapid growth of call centres in service industry is attributable to its capability of reducing the cost of existing functions; provide new means of generating revenues and improving customer service quality. According to Taylor and Bain (1999) call centre: is a dedicated operation in which computer utilising employees receive inbound, or make outbound, telephone calls, with those calls processed and controlled either by an Automatic call distribution(ACD) or predictive calling system. Taylor and Bain (1999 cited in Alison M. Dean, 2002) has further described call centre in three essential parts: first the call centre is dedicated operation where employees are focused entirely on customer service function, second those employees are using phones and computers simultaneously and third the calls are processed and controlled by an automatic distribution system. Environment of call centre is very complex in nature, as it requires smooth blend of technology, human talent and process in order to work efficiently. Like other business, work in call centre also involves interaction with the customers, yet it is unique in its features. Houlihan (2001) contend that Call centres by using modern technologies facilitate management to determine the speed and volume of work. Hutchinson et al., (2000) further suggests that this system will also help firm to improve employees performance by monitoring their work on regular basis. In Call centre employees are acting as representative of the firms services. Olukemi O. Sawyerr,(2009) state that it is a positive interaction between customers and call centre employees that helps firm to determine customers perception of firms services. Today call centres serve both business as well consumer clients and are accountable to perform various business functions such as taking order, handling client inquiries, resolving complaints, dispatching, telemarketing, pre-sale and post-sale services (Alan miciak, 2001). Besides rapid growth, call centre are embraced with the challenges of retaining and attracting employees. Lack of trained staff, high workload and high level of stress are main attributes of call centre environment, which foster high turn over (Olukemi O. Sawyerr, 2009). Recruitment of staff of the wrong personality type is also the endemic reason of high turn over in call centre industry (Barnes 2001, p. 3) Taylor and Bain, (1998) has resembled the working environment of call centre with the assembly line production. Call centre environment rarely encouraged team working among employees as performance of employees is measured on the basis of individual interaction with the customers (olukemi O sawyer ( 2009) . Varca (2001) further argued that, in call centre employees have less control over a job, as information delivered by employees to customers is previously scripted and interaction take place between them is not face to face 1.3 Call centre management: Complex nature of call centre environment poses great challenge for managers to control the operations of call centre. In call centre managers responsibility is two fold. In one hand they are responsible to take capital-intensive decisions and introduce latest technology to cope up with the technological development; on the other hand they are responsible for handling call centre employees who work on shift pattern (George Robinson, 2006). Call centre operations are equipped with advanced technological features such as ACD, ANI (automatic number identification) and DNIS (number identification service). ACD (Automatic call distribution) controls inbound calls traffic; place these calls in queue and then transferred them to call centre agents according to priorities. Moreover ANI and DNIS technology provide comprehensive database of customers and call handling statistics (Paul R. Prabhaker,) By using above technologies, managers can track: number of calls answered per agent, average speed to answer call, number of calls abandoned and time taken to abandon, occupancy rate of agent, number of calls answered within standard time frame, calls waiting longest in queue, agents sitting idle, agents on calls and agents on breaks or completing post call wrap up work (George Robinson, 2006). This information enables manager to set targets for call centre agents and achieve desired results. In call centre management, technology plays crucial role as it not only helps to determine the speed of work but at the same time it provides the means to measure quality of work and worker performance (Callaghan and Thompson, 2001). According to Bain et al., (2002), call centre management requires both hard and soft measures; hard measures includes number of calls answered, while soft measures consist of relationship between call centre employees and customers. Audrey Gilmore (2001) has described tangible and intangible dimensions of service quality offered by call centres employees. Tangible aspects are easy to measure and consist of number of calls answered, length of calls, average calls time and standardized response, while intangible dimensions are difficult to measure and include courtesy or empathy customer experiences from call centre service. Author further states that call centre management often consider tangible dimensions of service delivery to judge the employees performance that result employee frustration and stress. Retaining and attracting call centre employee having high performance calibre is the significant challenge in call centre management. It has been proved by research studies that selection criteria developed for hiring call centre staff is at the minimal attention of management. When hiring call centre staff, it is imperative for management to consider personality traits of the employees in order to make sure that they will be high performer and can deliver quality services in stressful environment (Olukemi O. Sawyerr, 2009). Author has presented FFM (five factor model) that illustrate the relationship between five dimensions of personality (conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, and, openness to new experience) and performance of call centre employees. Performance could be service performance, turn over intension or absenteeism. It is often viewed that management of call centre is measuring what is easy to measure rather than what is important to measure (Call Centre Management, 2000, p. 5). Alan Miciak, (2001) state that firms are more interested in measuring customer satisfaction with the product and service offered by business rather than customer satisfaction with call centre performance. Author further argued that to assess call centre performance, manger often utilizes measures as: average talk time; abandon rates; calls per hour and occupancy rate that are based on telephone technology and may not be true indicators of performance measurement. Australian Council of Trade Unions (2002, p.30) claims that measurements used by call centre to evaluate performance are highly focused on productivity rather than quality. Research work of various author presented above has placed emphasis on soft than hard measures; tangible than intangible dimensions; quantitative than qualitative measures for evaluating call centre performance. These measures can only monitor and control efficiency of call centre in handling high number of calls, while measuring quality of service delivered by call centre agents is far away from these measures. 1.4 Role of call centre employees: What the business thinks it produces is not of first importance; what the customer thinks he is buying and considers value is decisive; it determines what a business is (Drucker, 1989). Customer satisfaction which usually comes at the cost of high service quality, is essential for organization success as it provides firm, profitable means to differentiate it self from others. Service quality is an important factor that, if delivered efficiently by firms front line employees, can be main driver of firms sustainability (Carlzon, 1987). In call centre, employees play very essential role in delivering high customer quality and thus facilitate management to establish large customer relationship base (Frenkel et al., 1998). Call centre employees are also recognized as front line employees, customer contact representative (CCR) or customer sales representative (CSR) as they are directly engaged in the process of service delivery and maintain high level of interaction with the customers. Service organizations are now developing high number of measures, for reducing employee turn over as well as improving employee satisfaction. Robinson and Morley (2006) state that high turn over bring significant cost impact for both firms and shareholders. This cost includes direct cost of recruiting, inducting and training new staff and indirect cost that comes in form of reduced customer service. Employee satisfaction is crucial for evaluating service quality from customer perceptions. Satisfied employees are highly motivated, perform job with efficiency, delivering high level of quality services (Prabha Ramseook-Munhurrun, 2009). Edvardsson et al., (1997) further suggest that employee satisfaction can reduce employee turn over, improve productivity and enhance commitment and creativity. Call centres are now being criticized for their inadequate staff management practices. Research on service environment has concluded that some times call centre environment itself restricts the ability of employees to deliver high quality customer services. In call centre employees are called emotional labour and are forced to achieve productivity goal while delivering quality customer services (Alison M. Dean, 2009). Audrey Gilmore (2001), state that call centre employees are under a continuous pressure of answering high number of calls as their performance is measured by how quickly they respond to customers inquiry rather than quality of the call. MacDonald, (1998a, 1998b) further argue that excessive emphasis on quantitative rather than qualitative measures for judging employees performance is the main cause of employee unproductive behaviour. 1.6 Quality Management System: Reevs and Bednar (1994) have defined the term quality as an excellence, value, conformity to specification, meeting customer expectation etc. Excellence in service industry involves providing customers a desired satisfied service by knowing the demands of the customers at first instance. Value involves gaining higher profit margins by maintaining quality as priority, which attracts customers to become the part of the system. Conformity to specification and meeting customer expectations involves developing such a system, which guarantee error-free operations and delivering the desired and satisfied operation output. A product is always valuable and acceptable if the quality standards set by customers are lined up with the product and this can be done by quality management system. Establishment of the quality management system in an organisation provides a priority control over the organisations activities with continues improvement in its performance. Quality management system are mainly implemented for enhancement of the organisations work force and its abilities in providing the product and services according to the customers expectations as well as optimising the resources in terms of value for money (VFM). According to (Dean and Bowen, 1994; Prajogo and McDermott, 2005; Sousa and Voss, 2002à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.infrastracture) quality management system provides key assurance in achieving the goals and objectives of an organization listed in its policy and strategy. Quality management system provides reliability, diligence and satisfaction in terms of process, procedures, equipment, etc and interacts with all other activities starting from customers perceptions to customers expectation for satisfying their requirement. The term quality control and quality assurance are often mixed up in line discussion of quality management system but these two terms are exceptionally different in meaning. The word quality control is more over related to product and services which identifies the satisfactory of end result, where as quality assurance is process-oriented which identifies whether the process that was carried out is applicable to meet desired objective. 1.6.1 Quality control: Quality control is a commitment to quality; usually stressed more in organization to ensure that examination of quality is applicable to specified standards and can the current system follows the planned actions. Quality control not only includes material and process but also all those elements, which begins from raw material/service introduction to finished goods. 1.6.2 Quality Assurance: According to (James R. and William M. 1996) Quality assurance is the assurance of total efforts involved in planning, organizing, directing and controlling quality in production system with the objective of providing the consumer with product of appropriate quality. Quality assurance is a systematic approach to pursuit the quality (Collins, 1994) and it approaches through quality assurances of product/services that determines whether the expected demands of the customers are satisfied according to their expectation. Usually organizations follows innovations and value added techniques to their plans and strategies in order to implement such system, which must outfit to the customers satisfaction. According to (Moreno-Lonzo and Peris, 1998) purpose of quality assurance is the conformance of the product, service and process with given requirement and standards. 1.6.3 Costs of Quality According to (Norman .G and Greg .F 1999) all those costs, which are lined up for managing quality, customer satisfaction, market share, profit enhancement can be identified as quality costs. Quality cost can be source to the identification of the opportunities and creating funding priorities for quality improvement through Pareto analysis. Further more (Dale H. Basterfield 1994) stated that Pareto analysis focuses on the quality problematic areas and once the quality issues are being resolved then it measures the effectiveness of the actions taken against quality issues. Following are the components to the cost of quality. Design Costs Appraisal Costs Internal Failure Costs External Failure Costs 1.6.3.1 Design Costs: Design costs are those costs, which are specially designed to prevent the error, which leads to poor quality. Maintaining quality system and providing customers a desired service involves dealing with high prevention cost, which includes dealing with quality planning cost, maintaining process control cost, developing human skills by training cost etc. 1.6.3.2 Appraisal Costs: All those costs which are attached in assuring the quality of products or services, are known as appraisal costs. Purchasing appraisal cost, operation appraisal cost, miscellaneous costs are the examples of the appraisal costs. 1.6.3.3 Internal Failure cost: Before to deliver the product or service to the customer, the product is passed through various operation where quality is inspected many times, so at anytime if the quality is not proved to be satisfactory then the unfinished product or service is being used as scrapped item or in some case the product is again sent through the earlier process until product claims to be in desired quality. All those costs that are involved maintaining the product quality internally are headed under the internal failure cost this may includes product or service design failure costs, purchasing failure costs, operation failure costs etc. 1.6.3.4 External Failure Costs: External Failure costs are often considered as high cost of quality management. When the product or services are ready to be delivered to the customers there are often some uncertainties attached that might includes customer found defects or product was unsatisfactory to the customer expectations, so all those cost which are incurred to correct the product or services can be headed as external failure cost. The real life example includes Toyotas Lexus safety recall 2010. 1.7 Total Quality Management: Total qual

What To Do About Immigration Essay -- United States Immigration Essays

What To Do About Immigration The concern about the impact that immigration imposes on American society is not a new one. Since the discovery of the New World immigrants from all over the world moved to American continent in search of a better life, that this vast and rich in sources, yet scarce in population land had promised them. Soon the immigrants outnumbered the native population. They came from England, Europe and Asia. In addition, millions of Africans were imported as slaves. By 1700 the United States became a country of immigrants and more were still to come. At that time America welcomed everybody who ventured to settle in the new country. At the end of the last century, however, not all immigrants were gladly received. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 shut the door for Chinese immigrants. It was followed by Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924 which restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe. Finally, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 restricted the number of immigrants from every nation. Today, as the United States experience "the fourth wave" of immigration, the debate about what to do about it heats up. According to Linda Chavez, "In 1993 [?],over 800,000 legal immigrants were admitted to the United States and an estimated 300,000 illegal aliens settled here, more or less permanently. Over the last decade, as many as ten million legal and illegal immigrants established permanent residence?" (327). However, as Kenney David remarks the numbers by themselves, may not be so disturbing, for the foreign-born people represent only 8.7 percent of entire population of the United States (311). What bothers many Americans is the fact that the majority of immigrants comes from Latin America, predominately Mexico. The main objective of so-called "nativists", to whom one can refer Nicolaus Mills, is that the growing ratio of Hispanics leads to disintegration of the American nation as a union. In his article called "Lifeboat Ethics and Immigration Fears" he explores the issue of immigration and the problems it causes. Mills sees immigration as a threat to American nation as an ethnic group. He expresses his concern that high birth rates and liberal immigration laws allowing to bring relatives result in a high percentage of Mexican population in some areas. In his article Mills agrees with Peter Brimelow saying that "... ...motherland and I want it to prosper. To my opinion, the best the American society can do regarding immigration is like Kennedy concentrate on positive aspects of immigration, as Mills be aware of the problems, and work out the solutions like Chavez does. And regarding the ethnic and cultural imbalance that some Americans fear the problem seems to be somewhat exaggerated. Many Americans enjoy Mexican cuisine, like to dance salsa, and build the houses in Spanish stile, why not to accept people themselves? Works cited Chavez, Linda. "What to Do about Immigration." The Aims of Argument. A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 327-337. Kennedy, David. "Can We Still Afford to Be a Nation of Immigrants?" The Aims of Argument.A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E.Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 304-325. Mills, Nicolaus. "Lifeboat Ethics and Immigration Fears." The Aims of Argument. A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 339-347.

Is equality for all a realistic and desirable aim within society? :: essays research papers

Equality exists in many contexts. It can exist in the political level; individuals have the same rights under the law. It can exist in a social level, between categories of people, for example gender, or race. It can even exist on an individual level, as to how each person is treated. Equality cannot be confined to simply equal opportunities for all; for an equal and fair process is still equality. An equal and fair result is also equality. At each of the different level, equality shifts from being realistic or being desirable, sometimes both, or sometimes neither. Modern societies often take for granted that social quality is desirable. Democratic values mean people from all backgrounds should be given an equal say to affect decisions in the country. All individuals should be given the equal right to education, and a chance at success in life. While this is amiable, one must consider if such a notion is in fact a realistic one. There is only so much that society can do to ensure equality. Taking a case of two boys, Tom and Jerry. Tom is from a respectable multibillion-dollar company owning family. Jerry on the other hand lives alone with his single mother along the streets. Assuming the every effort of equality, both Jerry and Tom are offered places in the same college. Upon entry to the college, Tom is instantly the popular guy with the hippest clothes and accessories, while Jerry is ostracized for his faded wear. The situation is simply not equitable. Tom comes from a ‘normal’ family and has potentially the love of both parents. Jerry has had to come to terms with only one parent. Hence in terms of psychological development, they are not equal. There are too many factors, too complicated to be realistically resolved within society’s reach. It is thus, unrealistic for society to aim to ensure equal chance at success for people. Society may also aim to provide equal opportunities for people. This could be done through education, hence the rich and the poor will both be admitted on grounds of meritocracy; if they do equally well they should have equal chances at the same job. However this is not always the case. Tom’s parents may have connections, which obviously Jerry’s mother would not have, giving him an edge in finding a job. His upbringing in a family business, may instil a keen eye for business in him, again giving him an edge over Jerry.

The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible Essay -- The Crucible Moral

The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible The play "The Crucible" was written by Arthur Miller written 1950's but was first performed in 1953. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 and is about a small community torn apart due to accusations of witchcraft. In this essay I am going to write about the affect that conscience has on peoples' minds and decisions. Miller once said "Now I wanted to move closer to a conscious hero". By this he meant after his last play he wanted to move closer to a character that was aware of what he has done i.e. sins and that he becomes a hero for it. I will analyze John Proctor, Reverend John Hale and Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor because these three all have their own moral struggle due to the witch-hunts. Arthur Miller has based his drama on a true story, which happened in Salem in 1692. The names of the characters he used were actually the people involved. He found out their names from his visit to Salem to look at the court records. He had changed their characters slightly i.e. making Abigail Williams older. Also at the time of him writing the play there were the McCarthy witch hunts for communists, which as a writer miller himself was thought to be communist. He was interrogated by the government and was under pressure to name names and confess just as John Proctor was, so Miller can relate to Proctor's situation. The first person I am going to analyze from the play is John Proctor. He is the central character and the "conscious hero" Miller was referring to. He is a farmer in Salem and is in his middle thirties with a wife and three sons. He is "even tempered" and has a very dark secret, his infidelity with Abigail Williams, "before you go... ... are faced by each of the characters I have studied. There are other characters beside the ones I have studied that face a battle with their conscience. These people are Mary Warren and Danforth. Danforth faces a struggle with his conscience as he has to make the decisions of who dies and who lives and each death is on his conscience for the rest of his life. Miller wanted a conscious hero central to his drama because he thought that it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the time There are a few people in The Crucible that appear to have no conscience at all. These people are Abigail and The Putnams. Deep down I think the play The Crucible is all about the battles people face with their conscience and the different ways in which people deal with it. It is the central story line, upon which the entire play is based around. The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible Essay -- The Crucible Moral The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible The play "The Crucible" was written by Arthur Miller written 1950's but was first performed in 1953. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 and is about a small community torn apart due to accusations of witchcraft. In this essay I am going to write about the affect that conscience has on peoples' minds and decisions. Miller once said "Now I wanted to move closer to a conscious hero". By this he meant after his last play he wanted to move closer to a character that was aware of what he has done i.e. sins and that he becomes a hero for it. I will analyze John Proctor, Reverend John Hale and Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor because these three all have their own moral struggle due to the witch-hunts. Arthur Miller has based his drama on a true story, which happened in Salem in 1692. The names of the characters he used were actually the people involved. He found out their names from his visit to Salem to look at the court records. He had changed their characters slightly i.e. making Abigail Williams older. Also at the time of him writing the play there were the McCarthy witch hunts for communists, which as a writer miller himself was thought to be communist. He was interrogated by the government and was under pressure to name names and confess just as John Proctor was, so Miller can relate to Proctor's situation. The first person I am going to analyze from the play is John Proctor. He is the central character and the "conscious hero" Miller was referring to. He is a farmer in Salem and is in his middle thirties with a wife and three sons. He is "even tempered" and has a very dark secret, his infidelity with Abigail Williams, "before you go... ... are faced by each of the characters I have studied. There are other characters beside the ones I have studied that face a battle with their conscience. These people are Mary Warren and Danforth. Danforth faces a struggle with his conscience as he has to make the decisions of who dies and who lives and each death is on his conscience for the rest of his life. Miller wanted a conscious hero central to his drama because he thought that it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the time There are a few people in The Crucible that appear to have no conscience at all. These people are Abigail and The Putnams. Deep down I think the play The Crucible is all about the battles people face with their conscience and the different ways in which people deal with it. It is the central story line, upon which the entire play is based around.

When Does Life Begin

When does life begin? Nowadays it is difficult to determine the precise instant life begins. There are two opposing sides to this issue. On the one hand, there are those who maintain that there is no life in fertilized eggs. On the other hand, some people believe that life begins at conception. This essay will examine arguments for and against the disposition of fertilized eggs. Those maintaining that there is no life in fertilized eggs contends that life begin at birth when the human soul enters the body.And that is why it is considered that a baby becomes a full-fledged human when the head emerges from the womb. Before then, the embryo is considered as â€Å"partial life†. Some people may disagree with this idea because they considered that life begins at conception. In other words, life begins when the egg and sperm join to produce what is called a zygote. It has been asserted that a zygote is biologically alive since it fulfills the four criteria needed to establish biolog ical life: metabolism, growth, response to stimuli and reproduction.Some people may say that an embryo is just a potential human embryo and therefore it has no life in that state. However, at the time of conception, the egg and sperm combine to form DNA structure. The fertilized egg is alive and carries human DNA. Thus, it is a form of human life. Throughout history there have been several â€Å"answers† to the question of when human life begins, but one can no more determine the precise instant life begins than the precise instant an infant becomes a toddler, a toddler a child, a child an adolescent, an adolescent an adult.

Thought Fox

Fox: What do you mean? Starting with an interpretation of â€Å"The Burnt Fox,† and going on to an analysis of the poem, aim to figure out what exactly might be the relation of poem to dream, dream to poem. Refer closely to both, quote, and analyze what you have quoted, in support of your argument. In the year of 1952, Ted Hughes was a second year student at Cambridge University. For the first two years of his schooling he studied English in hopes to become a poet. However during his time there he had a profound experience. For quite some time Hughes was working on a paper over the lasting contributions of Samuel Johnson but had only ever been able to wright one sentence. The night before the paper was due for his English teacher he gave up and went to sleep. That night he had a very graphic and disturbing dream about a fox. In his dream he was still sitting at his desk trying to write his paper. He looks over at the door and a fox face peers. The fox stands about five or six feet of the ground on two legs and is as large as a human. However, one of the more disturbing parts of the fox is that it is burnt and â€Å"smoldering all over as if it just escaped from a furnace† (Rees 2009; 3). The fox walks over to Hughes and puts its paw, which looks like a human hand at this point, on the blank page. He smears blood on the page and says, â€Å"You are killing us†. Hughes studied English in school so he could become a poet or creative writer. However, his studies never seemed to be geared in such a manner. The burnt fox dream here is a cry for help. Hughes seems to be splitting his own self by not being able to do what it is he loves. The strict writing style that’s expected of him is not in his true nature. The fox, his inner self, in the dream is dying because Hughes’ has to stifle or suppress his real identity. The stereotypical archetype of the fox is wit. Wit and knowledge are closely related. Here the fox is clearly burring, representing the destruction of knowledge. Through the further examination of the Thought Fox, the poem he wrote after his dream, we can see that it is very closely related to the dream through deep symbolism. After this dream Hughes changed his study major to anthropology and archeology. This important change in his life sparks this poem. In the first sentence he sets the time at midnight. This word is very powerful. Midnight is a time that’s neither night nor day. It’s a transition period, which is important to this poem as there is a transition being made in the author life. The next line reads something else is alive. I feel like this is playing on something that is distantly known to Hughes. Perhaps it could be the creativity that he knows he possesses but that he has lost somewhere. In the end of the first stanza he talks about the blank page where his fingers move. Here I feel it doesn’t represent anything but, it is more of the literal blank page that he was trying to write his English paper on. At the beginning of the second stanza the poem starts to become not only personally deep but also slightly dark. There are two pieces of symbolism here that invoke a strong emotional response. He see(s) no stars through the window. This is a metaphor for a lack of hope. Stars give off light and light can be easily seen as hope. Hughes is thoroughly crushed by the pressure of the essay he’s been struggling with. The window is the reader’s way of seeing into Hughes’ more personal self and deepest feelings. If we go through the window, at first we can only see the darkness of his loneliness, which he explains throughout the rest of the second stanza. Next we see a fox. Hughes thought it was very important to understand nature if we wanted to understand ourselves. He even wrote a whole series of poems on animals. All of which have extraordinarily spiritual meanings that relate to everyday human life. The image of a fox's nose touches twig, leaf is presented to us. This is a beautiful scene that can only take place in nature. Hughes is trying to reconnect with his spirit animal, the fox, by connecting with nature. He is trying to find his primordial self; his true nature. This true nature is his creativity. Then it’s almost as if he has connected when he expresses that the moment is viewed through the fox’s eyes: two eyes serve a moment that now, and again now, and now. The word snow is seen again for the second time in the beginning of the forth stanza. Here it can be interpreted in two ways. On one hand we can view the fox literally as it sets neat prints into snow as he walks or on the other hand the snow could be seen as the blank page he’s trying to work on. After this entence though, the poem gets even blacker again. Hughes uses a lot of words in the next three lines such as lame, shadow, hollow, lags, and stump. These words all have a negative connotation that come with them. There is an immense amount of struggle and pain that the author is dealing with. However after the fox leads the readers through the forest the pain and evil of the darkness seem to leave. Itâ €™s almost as if we, the readers, have come upon a literal clearing in the fifth stanza. It seems to be viewed through the eye of the fox again with extreme pleasure. Words like greenness and brilliance can be easily categorized as something that is seen in a positive light. There are contrasting feelings in stanza four and five. As Hughes moves form one view to the other we can see the deep spiritual transition from anger and sadness to happiness and relief. It’s almost as the fox has been the guide in the journey to an enlightening experience. From here we can determine that it is not a literal clearing we’ve come to but a clarity in the since of a new state of mind. Hughes has realized that his current studies are crushing him and he knows he has to change. However in the last four lines there is a clear warning that is given by the Burnt Fox. The poem seems as if it were to end in a joyous manner. However, the Burnt Fox sneaks, as foxes often do, into the hole of the head, back into his thoughts and create the since of doom again. There is now the same lack of light from the stars, the same lack of hope. The sharp hot stink of the fox is a strong reminder that he must change his life before he destroys himself. The poem ends with the page is printed. Printing ink on a page is a very permanent action. So permanent that it could symbolize the sealing of one’s fate. If Hughes didn’t change the current suppression of his inner self he could permanently damage himself. Hughes’ work is very symbolic and can be interpreted in many ways. When comparing the Burnt fox to the Thought fox many connections can be made. The readers can clearly see the pain Hughes was hiding. It is very important as we move through our lives that we stay true to our inner nature if we wish to be happy.