Gender Roles and the Perception of Women Essay Example for Free

Gender Roles and the Perception of Women Essay There was a time that having a daughter born to a family evoked more pity than congratulations from the community. Sons were valued more for they were viewed to bring practical help towards augmenting the family income through physical labor, as well as ensuring that the family name lives on with his progeny. (Feminism) Daughters were valued only for the potential honor they could bring the family with a good marriage. In olden days, a good marriage was not necessarily defined by the couples happiness but rather was deemed as such if both families stand to benefit from the union. Usually benefits would be measured in wealth, alliance or business. Marriages then were basically mergers. Women were not expected to accomplish anything other than the mastery of domestic duties and union with a suitable husband. After marriage, the only duties that a woman is supposed to fulfill are to look after the needs of her husband and give birth to as many children as possible with preference to the birthing of sons. The 1920s and 30s saw a wave of feminism that sought to overturn the traditional gender role assigned to women. They viewed patriarchy as oppressive to women and advanced the thinking that women are complements of males and therefore should be treated as equals. The 1920s also saw a major victory for women in the United States with the passage of a law that allowed for womens suffrage. (Feminism) The Second World War in the 1940s also provided women with the opportunity to prove their worth outside their duties as homemakers. They started signing up as army nurses, members of womens corps and workers in factories that provided supplies and ammunition to the boys overseas. Even with this however, women still experienced discrimination at the hands of employers who believed that it was the mens role to earn money for their families. Those that were hired still had to face inequality in wages as their work were deemed easier compared to the mens. (Acker 46) It has continually been an uphill climb for women in the assertion of their rights and the fight for identity and equality. Despite the many progresses made by women since the olden days, some cultures still place more premium on males. Sandra Cisneros account (Kirszner, 96-99) of being and born and living in a traditional, patriarchal society in the 1950s show that even with the many new freedoms and rights accorded to women, their roles were still defined by marriage and domestic duties. What I didnt realize was that my father thought college was good for girls good for finding a husband. After four years of college and two more in graduate school, and still no husband, my father shakes his head even now and says I wasted all that education. (Kirszner 97) The selection further goes on to relate the attempts made by Cisneros in getting her father to acknowledge her achievements and herself as more than only a daughter. She wanted to BE his daughter in every sense of the word and enjoy the same pride her father has in her brothers achievements. I often witness the hunch posture, from women after dark on the warrenlike streets of Brooklyn where I live. They seem to set their faces on neutral and, with their purse straps strung across their chests bandolier style, they forge ahead as though bracing themselves against being tackled. (Kirszner 242) In Brent Staples observations in the Black Man effect in altering a public space (Kirszner 240), he presents the image of a woman who is determined to move forward yet remains aware of the possible challenges to her progress. While in the story the context women is defined in is couched in terms of potential threat from street violence and crimes, one could almost picture the same description as applicable to the grim and set determination of the feminists who steadfastly battles for womens rights and progress. It has been many years since women achieved a major victory in suffrage and set about to establishing their identity in society. Yet in some cases, there seem to be some women who remain oblivious or at least, not benefited by the new stature and rights women have been able to claim through years of struggle with a male-dominated society. In Anna Deavere Smiths Four American Characters monologue (2005) she shares a conversation she had with an elderly philosopher friend she had, Maxine Green. In the conversation, Smith asked Green: What are two things that you dont know and still want to know? Green replies: Personally I still feel that I have to curtsy when I see the president of our University and I feel that I ought to get coffee for my male colleagues even though Ive outlived most of them. Smith follows this up with the characterization of Maryland convict Paulette Jenkins. Paulette Jenkins represents the women in abusive relationship who suffer in silence. She never spoke out because she didnt want people to know that there was something wrong with her family. She took her husbands abuse and allowed him to do the same to her children†¦children that she had in the belief that it would soften her husband. What would make a man do such a thing? At the same time, what would make a woman stand by helplessly as her husband beats up her children and herself? Conflict in relationships between men and women are believed to stem from four main reasons: mens jealousy, mens expectation of women and domestic work, mens sense of right to punish their women, and the importance to men of asserting and keeping their authority. Women on the other hand, are kept silent due to feelings of shame and responsibility (Dobash, and Dobash 4). More often than not, the women feel that they deserved whatever the husband did to them. This acquiescence may be due to their cultural orientation of women as subservient wives. Upbringing and cultural orientation can do much to influence a persons understanding and acceptance of gender roles. (Dobash, and Dobash 4) However, there is always the freedom of choice and personal introspection, which should allow individuals to reason out right and wrong and the applicability and rationale of traditions for themselves. The case of Sandra Cisneros is the perfect illustration of this. Despite being brought up in a highly patriarchal household and culture, she chose to follow her own desire and achieve in her own right. In the end, she managed to earn her fathers respect and acknowledgment that she, as a woman, can accomplish and gain honor and pride for the family. Regardless of background, doctrine or culture, everyone, man and woman, has that same choice in choosing how their manhood or womanhood will be defined in their lives. Works Cited Acker, Joan. What Happened to the Womens Movement? -An Exchange. Monthly Review Oct. 2001: 46. Questia. 28 Sept. 2007 http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5002421932. Feminism. The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2004. Questia. 28 Sept. 2007 http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=101243850. Dobash, R. Emerson, and Russell P. Dobash. Women, Violence, and Social Change. New York: Routledge, 1992. Questia. 28 Sept. 2007 http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=107605974. Kirszner, Laurie. Patterns for College Writing 10th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins. 2006. Mcneill, William H. Violence Submission in the Human Past. Daedalus 136. 1 (2007): 5+. Questia. 28 Sept. 2007 http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5019968515. Smith, Anna Deveare. Four American Characters. 2005 TED. com. 27 Sept 2007 http://www. ted. com/index. php/talks/view/id/60

Assessment Frameworks in Social Work

Assessment Frameworks in Social Work Case Study The role of social work intervention is an intensely complicated one in which legislation passed in recent years has had a significant impact. On the one hand this legislation has worked so that social services have become increasingly integrated with various other local authority departments so that they can work together in effective unison. At the same time work has been undertaken to unsure that those on the receiving end of social care do not feel stigmatised or discriminated against by the care they receive, or feel confused about why they have been targeted. Problems of discrimination, as well as important problems regarding poverty, are ones which need to be taken into due consideration. These issues are especially important when it comes to children and families, as we shall see in the specific case of Karen. In the recent history the issue of social care has found itself featured increasingly prominently on the political agenda. This is because social care is an issue in the United Kingdom which requires special care, particularly when it comes to potentially vulnerable young people. It is generally believed that the welfare of parents is closely linked to the development of children (Kirk, 2003), and therefore in areas which are suffering form poverty in the UK, and where there is a cycle of poverty, there are children who are particularly vulnerable, and who in particular need to be draw to the attention of social services. Stratham identifies the following groups of children who are likely to put set aside for special treatment by social workers, and who are seen as especially vulnerable. They are as follows: Children and young people living away from home, including those looked after by local authorities or privately fostered. Asylum-seeking children and refugees, both with families and unaccompanied. Children with troubled parents, for example those living with domestic violence or whose parents have mental health, drug or alcohol problems. Some of these will be young carers. Children engaged in antisocial or offending behaviour Children whose families are homeless, and those children who are not in school. Teenage parents. Children who are abused, including those abused through prostitution and child trafficking (Stratham, 2004). A particular problem facing those working in social care is the fact that those who are in most need often tend in turn to be those who are least likely to reach out for family help, or even help from health services. Therefore when dealing with parents who have substance abuse problems or mental health problems, it is vitally important that effective links be made between the various health and social work departments. Families need to feel respected and not stigmatised by the provision of services (Stratham, 2004). Legislation, practice guidance and policy have had a significant impact on the area of social work intervention in recent years. Social Work as a profession began in the late 1800s (Eliot, 2006); however it is in the past twenty years or so that we are concerned, as this period has seen a glut of legislation and guidance to help make the delivery of social care more effective and, in turn, more palatable to those on the receiving end. In the 1980s the press reported many cases of child neglect which built in to an increased hysteria around the issue of child protection. This resulted in an increasingly authoritarian mode of child protection, which focused strongly on dealing with the perpetrators of neglect, rather than attempting to create a framework to detect and prevent warning signs (Frost, 2000). The first piece of legislation to attempt to dramatically alter the way that children’s protection was organised came through the Children’s Act of 1989. The 1989 Children’s Act empowered local authorities, and made them responsible for social services provision (Penn Gough, 2002). The aim of the Act was to entrench the partnership between the state and families, and it applied to the needs to the child and the provision of services (Cleaver Walker, 2004). Ideally the power in the partnership between the state and the parent will be evenly balanced as a result of the Act. When the Labour Government came to power in 1997 they began to introduce a raft of reports and legislation dealing with specific issues concerning child care. The ‘Supporting Families’ Green Paper of 1998 was concerned with representing the spirit of the 1989 Act, and moving new initiatives forward. The importance of the role of the voluntary sector in early years child care was noted in this Green Paper, and schemes such as Home Start were encouraged. Home Start offered support to mothers of children aged under five. The Green Paper stressed the importance of formal and informal support networks in early years child care. The paper stressed that schemes were needed to meet the physical and emotional needs of children, the social and educational needs of children, to help confidence in parenting and to provide respite to parents under stress. Home Start works with referrals from Health professionals, often to issues such as stress which is an affliction linked strongly t o poverty. Schemes such as Home Start were not intended to act as a replacement to traditional social services (Frost, Johnson, Stein Wallis, 2000). As part of the ‘Supporting Families’ Green Paper, responsibility for Day Care Centres was shifted by the government from the Department of Health to the Department of Education (Moss, 2006). In 2000 the Children Needing Care Act was introduced to prevent such phenomena as ‘foster drift’ (Eliot, 2006). The intention of this Act was very much to prevent a situation in which vulnerable young children fall entirely out of the social care system. In 2003 the Government published a further Green Paper entitled ‘Every Child Matters’. This was to become a very important document in the government’s social care policy. It was introduced largely as part of the fallout from the Victoria Climbie case, which had caused widespread press outraged at failures which occurred in social care provision. The paper set out five main aims for potentially vulnerable children. These aims were as follows: to be healthy, to stay safe, to enjoy and achieve, to make a positive contribution, and to achieve economic well-being. These aims were to underpin future government legislation on social policy (Stratham, 2004). The Children’s Act of 2004 was a further step towards acting upon the Every Child Matters Green Paper. It set up the new role of Children Commissioner – a role independent of central government and concerned with the wellbeing of children (Moss, 2006). The Care Quality Commission for England was launched as part of the Health and Social Care Act of 2008. This Act abolished several bodies to make way for this new Commission which was to be a new care standards regulatory authority whose mandate is to integrate the areas of social care and health. By this time the government’s approach of social care was becoming increasingly linked to the areas of physical health and wellbeing of young and vulnerable children. According to Stratham the integration of children’s social care with education and health was vital, as it helped to set up a proper new support service which was more likely to spot signs of neglect in early years (Stratham, 2004). It is clear that the government has moved in recent years to integrate several authorities with social care. The Health and Social Care Act of 2007 introduced measures to integrate social care between the services. At the same time it set up the new National Service Framework, a ten year programme intended to stimulate long term improvements in children’s health. This Act was aimed at everyone who comes into contact with and delivers services to children. The current focus of the government is very much on early intervention, in the welfare of children. The Government now requires all local authorities to have a Children and Young People’s Plan. When looking at this increased integration there are several arguments both for and against these developments. Whilst on the one hand these moves definitely make sense as these disciplines certainly are linked with each other, on the other hand the result of this can sometimes be an increased in paperwork, and an increasingly confused megalith in which one hand does not know what the other is doing. An increase in paperwork has certainly been a complaint of other organisations under New Labour, most notably the Police. It is therefore also worth noting that increasingly social services and the police have been encouraged to work together in recent years, particularly in the area of children’s wellbeing. Members of social work teams are encouraged to contact a local Police Authorities Child Protection Officer. It is often difficult to coordinate services in any local authority, and when social services are required to cooperate with so many departments it seems inevitable that problems will occur. There is a further problem which is that any changes in the social care structure or methods to reduce poverty which are introduced tend to be slow to trickle down to the grass roots, and to those experiencing most poverty where this care is most needed (Penn Gough, 2002). The trend in the Government’s approach to social care has changed in recent years to a shift towards empowering individuals involved in the system as opposed to forcing themselves onto people, as many felt was the case in the eighties. This seems to be backed up by the introduction of procedures such as the Assessment Framework (New Statesman, 2007). One of the main strands of government policy has been the introduction of anti-poverty measures. This is why Gordon Brown’s introduction of the Sure Start initiative was widely seen as so important as it made an attempt to put an emphasis on children born into poverty (Kirk, 2003). One introduction designed to help those on the receiving end of social care intervention was the Common Assessment Framework. A common parental complaint before the introduction of the Assessment Framework was a lack of information from social workers, regarding why they were being targeted and what the process was etc (Cleaver Walker, 2004). The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child’s individual needs. The Assessment Framework encourages parental involvement in the assessment process, and means that social workers have to compare information. The main point of the Common Assessment Framework is to encourage social workers to talk through the role of the assessment framework with parents. Questions have been raised from certain sections of the social work community about relevance of the assessment framework, with claims being made that some families find it intrusive. However a report conducted by Cleaver and Walk er entitled Assessing Children’s Needs and Circumstances suggests an improvement in the overall provision of social care since the Assessment Framework was introduced. Core assessment means there are in detail discussions between parents and social workers (Cleaver Walker, 2004). *** The process of social work intervention is one which works on many levels. There is macro intervention by social workers which takes place in the community as a whole, however more relevant in this case is Micro intervention which is intervention on an individual level to those who are in most need of intervention. Local authorities can initiate care proceedings in the protection of children. These proceedings are initiated in the case of fear of ‘significant harm’. There is confidentiality regarding reporting of abuses which are generally encouraged by the police and social services but which can lead to abuses of the reporting system. A single incident will often trigger a referral if problems have been brewing for a while. Suspected physical abuse is a prevalent issue, and one which social workers need to act most swiftly on, often in conjunction with the police (Cleaver Walker, 2004). Also if there is suspected alcohol and drug abuse then this is a big problem where the raising of a child is concerned (Penn Gough, 2002). The importance of service user rights are paramount for many reasons. Service user rights are largely protected by processes such as the Assessment Framework, where users gain a greater understanding of the processes of the system. Those who report suspected abuses have confidentiality rights in the social work system. As has been mentioned many feel this can lead to abuses, are not helpful in explaining to those on the receiving end of social care interventions why they are being targeted. In the case of Karen it is clear that members of the social work team should tread carefully. On the one hand the identity of the neighbour who has reported the abuse must be protected. On the other hand Karen needs to be able to understand why she is being targeted, and therefore the various steps of the Assessment Framework need to be talked through with her. If there are problems regarding the children’s safety and hygiene it is vitally important that you liaise with the relevant health services, and work closely in conjunction with them. If your assessment shows neglect then the next step that you would have to taken is a potential court action for care of the children. The ASPIRE model stands for Actualising Social and Personal Identity Resources. The Aspire Model has been designed to harness the potential associated with important subgroup social identities (Haslam, 2003). Application of that model within an organisation is specific to certain goals, and in this case thi s model can be useful in properly formalising integration between social work and other services. Discrimination is a problem for all social work departments, and there are many issues relating to discrimination which social work teams have to be very much aware of. It is important that social work should be non-stigmatising and it is also crucial that it should not be discriminatory (Frost, Johnson, Stein Wallis, 2000). Issues which need to be taken into consideration include poverty – an issue which is highly prevalent in Karen’s case – and also issues of race and gender. It needs to be taken into account that most users of social care are female. This is firstly because females are often the primary carers of children (Kirk, 2003), however there are other core reasons for this fact. Of the fifty parents surveyed in one study undertaken by Penn and Gough, only three respondents were men. This is because of the fact that men tend to be less likely to want to liaise with social services, due to an overall suspicion of the process, and of receiving this sort of help in general (Penn Gough, 2002). Other studies seem to suggest racial minorities are less likely to be knowledgeable of the role that social services can play if they are experiencing problems. Some research suggests that Black and Minority Ethnic parents are less likely to be aware of the possible role that social services can play (Stratham, 2004), and are therefore less likely to seek help (Penn Gough, 2002). There are certainly problems is members of ethnic minorities are not fully integrated into the community. On top of these other discriminatory issues it is also widely considered that social care as it stands discriminates against the elderly and disabled in society (Guest, 2007). In Conclusion social work traditionally tends to focus on issues such as emotional support. However the issues which are raised by those who are users of social care tend to be more likely related to financial assistance (Penn Gough, 2002). Against this backdrop the best that social care workers can do is to ensure that they work together with the relevant authorities, particularly those in health, to try and ensure the best start possible for children, and to root out potential neglect. At the same time they need to ensure they have good relations with those whom they are trying to help, and this is why the Assessment Framework is so important. In this way if final decisions have to be taken then they will do, and it is vital that the intervention process is followed. Bibliography Cass, B., Exploring Social Care: Applying a New Construct to Young Carers and Grandparent Carers, Australian Journal of Social Issues, Volume: 42. Issue: 2, 2007 Cleaver, H., Walker, S., Assessing Children’s Needs and Circumstances, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004 Eloit, A., Reflections on Working for Childrens Social Services in the United Kingdom, Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, Volume: 9. Issue: 1, 2006, Frost, N., Johnson, L., Stein, M., and Wallis, L., Home Start and the Delivery of Family Support, Children and Society, Vol 14, 2000 Gilbert, F., Finally, Freedom: Well Learn to Love the Bill, New Statesman, Volume: 135. Issue: 4782, March 6 2006 Guest, The Wheels Are Coming off Social Care: Our Way of Looking after the Old and Disabled Is Already Failing and Will Get Worse, New Statesman, Volume: 136. Issue: 4864, October 1, 2007, Haslam, A., Social Identity at Work, Psychology Press, 2003 Kirk, R. H., Family Support: The Role of Early Years’ Centres, Children and Society, Vol 17, 2003 Moss, P., Farewell to Childcare?, National Institute Economic Review, Issue: 195, 2006 Penn, H., and Gough, D., The Price of a Loaf of Bread: Some Conceptions of Family Support, Children and Society, Vol 16, 2002 Stratham, J., Effective services to support children in special circumstances, Thomas Coran Research Unit, UCL, 2004 National Service Framework Documents, Department of Health, cited at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/NationalServiceFrameworks/Children/DH_4089111 New Statesman, Round Table: A New Deal on Social Care? Participants Debate the Harsh Realities Confronting Society in Deciding the Kind of Autonomy We Want over Our Care and How We Can Find the Money to Fund It, Volume: 136. Issue: 4864, October 1, 2007, Western Mail, Discrimination of Princes Trust Loans and Grants, February 15, 2005, Western Mail, Quality of Patient Care Has to Be at the Heart of a Progressive Health Service, April 10, 2006,

The Great Gatsby | The American Dream

The Great Gatsby | The American Dream Compare and Contrast The Great Gatsby with the American Dream. Discuss how Gatsbys extravagances compare to the American Dreams ideals. There is no strict definition of the American Dream though early in the twentieth century and in many ways still today it has become the term which describes an inherent faith in the promise of the new world. As a country, America has no far stretching history to forge and enrich its culture. Instead a nations character was flavoured with hopes and anticipation of the future, of a better life of more opportunity and purpose. People fledged to the Americas to start afresh, to experience modern luxuries and new technology. To become a part of the rat race and exploit the age of capitalism and materialism overall to become rich through ones own means. To realise the great American Dream therefore was an extension of Benjamin Franklins maxim of the perfectibility of man. Franklin was a great emblem of American ideology and a founder of much of its deepest held attitudes and beliefs. Franklin was one of the first self-confessed entrepreneurs and his many written works became great incentives for Americans to become pro-active and to try and be the best one could be. He founded his ideas on the prevailing optimism that with the right motivation and activity anyone could become a solvent, well-respected individual. Perhaps no time in Americas history quite demonstrated the peoples obsessive preoccupation with the American dream than the 1920s. In the post-war period, it became an incredibly affluent country, rapidly industrialising and developing the quality of life. It became a time when gross extravagances were commonplace. The American president Herbert Hoover said in 1925 We will root out poverty and put two cars in every garage. On the surface of it, the nation was thriving with its own successes. People were elated by the possibility of continued happiness through material wealth. However, this atmosphere of striving relentlessly towards the future in the promise of rewards had a bitter flipside. Many authors found the new attitude of American people overly conceited. This idea in particular is explored in metaphor in many of Herman Melvilles works together with Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, but demonstrably so in the novels of Evelyn Waugh, J.D. Salinger and of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald. These authors tried to show that the people of America were changing becoming superficial and self-consumed and misconstruing happiness as wealth and materialism. On the face of it, Fitzgeralds wonderful creation of Jay Gatsby appears a champion of the then climate of profligacy and carefree living. He has as many beautiful shirts to make Daisy swoon and not two motor cars as Hoover would advise, but five. From his mansion in West Egg he holds wild parties every night mixing in the highest social circles. But the grand irony is that of all the characters in the book, Gatsby is perhaps the least inspired or objectively absorbed by the lifestyle he defines. And it is also perhaps precisely this reason that Gatsby is also the most likely to win our affections. As Nick points out he has an exceptional quality that separates him from typical Americans much less than exemplifies them: If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life,an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. Gatsbys gift for hope which Nick talks about certainly seems true of Franklins vision but there is a crucial contrast with the American dreams personality of hopefulness and Gatsbys personality and it is this: while Franklin advocated the importance of the individual, the hopefulness that one might successfully improve ones own self and ones own means, Gatsbys greatest hope is to find Daisy and rekindle her love for him. We are endeared to Gatsby because he is the only character who quite clearly values human affection above wealth and recreation. He unlike any of the other characters has a firm belief in the good of humanity. In this way he is set in stark contrast with the narrator Nick who seems a born cynic, passive, sardonic and judgemental of other people though he claims otherwise. Jordans half-baked advances fail to woo him; indeed he seems genuinely disenchanted by the possibility of a loving relationship and finds friendship only in Gatsby. For Nick, Gatsby must seem the only warm, good hearted human being in New York and yet even so, the previous quote shows he is quick to qualify this questioning whether personality is a true reflection of a person or indeed an unbroken series of successful gestures a comment which suggests Nick is hung up by the idea that all human interaction is a faade or an act rather than a true reflection of real feelings. Nick has a severely disillusioned view of 1920s socialite America yet his pessimism is invariably astute proving to be sound by the end of the novel. It is by contrast Gatsbys irrepressible optimism and his rose-tinted sentimental view of the world that is revealed to be mistaken. So The Great Gatsby is a novel which sees a character try and exploit the American Dream to win the love of a woman. Fitzgerald tells us that Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor it is this misconstrued impression of wealth as a timeless vessel of hope, as the preserver rather than the destroyer of mystery, which brings about his downfall. In this sense Gatsbys end is not reflective of his means his real end is finding love, his means is to buy it with displays of grandeur and extreme wealth. But such affection by definition cannot be real love and Daisy subsequently cannot give herself over to him with the intensity of feeling he had hoped for. Fitzgeralds novel is saturated in themes of illusion, and deception. The great swathes of noveau riche self-made Americans, success stories of the great American dream, are undermined by a superficiality and emptiness. The characters have founded their wealthy, though vacuously glamorous life-styles by capitalising on an identity which is bereft of morals. Mr. Gatsby himself has become incredibly rich in a short space of time because he absolves himself of moral responsibility and trades in the trafficking of alcohol. And yet his wealth breeds distrust and intolerance, his magnificent parties attract only insincere people who exploit his generosity. Similarly Tom Buchanan cannot count on the fidelity of his wife Daisy because he makes no effort to make sure of his own. In a climate of greed, relationships are no longer based on trust or affection but self-interest. The false, self-fulfilling nature of the relationships forged in the novel is made painfully clear for Nick who notices that only three people turn up to Gatsbys funeral a genuine surprise given his perceived popularity. It is this sense of hypocrisy and discovery of relationships which are feigned through mutual advantage rather than real emotion that brings about Nicks gloomy disillusionment with 1920s society and his realisation that he will never meet anyone who shares Gatsbys sentimentality. Gatsby, the iconic hero of the American Dream, uses it simply as a means to a very different end. He avoids social interaction at his parties, skulking in the inner chambers of his house and his great displays of wealth give him no more pleasure than in their perceived potential to bring Daisy back to him. Gatsby is only dubiously Great. He is flawed because he tries to find belonging in a society bereft of the most fundamental human morals like trust and fidelity. In an idealistic society governed by a striving impetus towards the acquisition of wealth and power, moral fibre begins to break down The impact of the great American dream has only a physical, external effect on Gatsby whereas it has shaped the very consciousnesses of the other characters Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan, Myrtle and Gatsbys corrupt work colleagues all display a fickle self-serving hedonism that echoes the then climate of quick-living, profligacy much more than Gatsbys meticulously planned, romantic endeavour to win back Daisys heart and his nostalgia upon reflections of the past. Gatsby is in reality then, far removed from 1920s American lifestyle, he has simply become extremely good at mimicking its symptoms. It seems then that Gatsby is both the champion and the antithesis of the American Dream. Gatsby invites the glowing optimism of the American Dream to appease his anxiety to earn the love of Daisy. By surrendering to the ideals of a forward-looking, hopeful American life he somehow convinces himself that the unlikely is a very real possibility. However, Gatsbys grand scheme is doomed because wealth and social standing are not qualities which he cares to evince they will not earn him a membership in Americas great society. Gatsby is quite clearly inspired by Franklins autobiography. In chapter 9 Nick discovers a treasured old book of Gatsbys which shares the same assiduous attention to routine and self-discipline in the form of daily schedules. Gatsby buys into Franklins ideals of self-improvement, resolving to practice elocution, poise and how to attain it; read one improving book or magazine per week; and be better to parents.  Such an empty list of instructions towards self-help are listed here with comical irony. What indeed can such qualities give Gatsby that will make him any more accomplished in finding love? Gatsbys great delusion and one of Fitzgeralds most important messages is that the acquisition of material successes does not naturally enrich a person or society spiritually or emotionally. This is played out in Gatsbys attempts at courting Daisy he tries to woo her with his shirts rather than more heartfelt displays of real affection and yet surprisingly the scrolls and plaids in coral and apple green and lavender and faint orange win him just the response he hopes for it makes me sad because Ive never seen such beautiful shirts before. Again the moment is half comical. Throughout the novel Fitzgeralds characters are most genuinely stirred to emotion or touched by the mundane, by materials, extravagances or assortments of fancy shirts. Fitzgeralds America often appears so superficial as to be funny. For instance, characters like Tom and Myrtle are two-dimensional and self-motivated to point of seeming unrealistic, but it is such cartoon-like, narrative extremes that allows Fitzgerald to make his most crucial point which is the severe loss of what are perhaps the real, spiritual qualities of human life in all the excesses of self-seeking capitalism. In the relentless race towards modernisation, traditions, heartfelt beliefs and the spiritual side of human culture is lost in a dead expanse; a valley of ashes. All the while Fitzgerald uses symbolism to represent this decay, like T.S. Eliot in The Wastelands, old fashioned values are lost in an atmosphere of moral corruption , of the tacky and kitsch. Quite wonderfully even God himself has become redundant in Fitzgeralds America, replaced by the watchful eyes of Dr. Eckleburg a huge billboard and the pinnacle of commercialism and spiritual dissemblance. An even more prevalent symbolic theme in the novel is the intensity of heat. Fitzgeralds emphasis on the sun and dazzling brightness is exceptional. It makes up a huge contingent of the narration setting scenes and on many occasions dictating the flow of events. Heat is used much as Camus uses glaring light to imply the burden of truth in Letranger or Shakespeare uses a storm to echo the madness and moral corruption of Lears world. In The Great Gatsby it intensifies the growing discomfort of the characters landscapes. The falseness of the world they inhabit becomes a harsh and oppressive glasshouse, melting well-meaning facades. Heat and sunlight become more and more an aspect of the storyline in the novel climaxing on the day of Gatsbys denouement; the next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest day of the summer. At the characters final group meeting in the restaurant, the sweltering heat amplifies the feelings of resent and bitterness behind their interactions. Sunlight might then be seen as Fitzgeralds way of projecting natures grip on a humans actions and the impossibility of defying the spirit of the world around you. Perhaps the most crucial distinction between Gatsby and the ideal of the American dream is a temporal one. The American Dream is built upon the anticipation of a more modern, more advanced future. Gatsby does await the future with baited breath but only in the futile expectation that it will one day recreate his memory of the past. Indeed Gatsby lives entirely in the past clinging to the nostalgia of his youth. That he might relive an exquisite moment of love which he still cherishes between himself and Daisy becomes his one motivating objective. But as Nick astutely points out, human elation is invariably short-lived and cannot be recaptured and critically Gatsby misconceives what is possible in Franklins vision of the present. Franklin did not embrace the wonder of the past, or treasure the history of human emotion life was rather a progression continually in flux. It is no surprise that Gatsby is piqued by Nicks refutation of his dream Cant repeat the past? he cried incredulously. Why of course you can! Gatsby clings to the traditions of history. It is implied by his position in West Egg as opposed to East as indeed the Eastern fringe of America was then considered to be the seat of its prosperity and the Western frontier the links to its older heritage. Real evidence of Gatsbys devotion to a dissolving past is his well stocked library, filled with books, which surprise his guests at being Absolutely real have real pages and everything and not made from nice durable cardboard. Books have become empty non-durable objects to the guests at Gatsbys parties, just like themselves who are soulless, lacking content of character, or the oranges and lemons which leave Gatsbys parties via the backdoor in a pyramid of pulpless halves. But Gatsbys reminiscent, uniquely mysterious disposition is best expressed in Nicks fleeting impressions of him: Through all he said, even through his appalling sentimentality, I was reminded of something an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that I had heard somewhere a long time ago. Nicks language is characteristically vague and whimsically unsure of itself an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, what part of Gatsbys appalling sentimentality he is referring to is an intangible and incomprehensible thing. And that is the point, Gatsbys sentimentality has no solid meaning in the mundane rational of the present he is mysterious and abstract memory of something that is no more. The story of Gatsby is ultimately a tragic one because he cannot bend the careless frivolity of the society around him to the romantic solemnity of his intentions. Affection is an impotent virtue in a fickle misunderstanding world. And the past cannot be brought home to the characters of a social climate which cares only for the future: Oh, you want too much! she cried to Gatsby, I love you nowisnt that enough? I cant help whats past. I did love him oncebut I loved you too. Daisy cannot reconcile Gatsbys need to recapture what is gone. The love Daisys confesses she bears for Gatsby is different forged in the present in her awe of his wealth. Unlike Gatsby, she severs the experiences of the past as moments which are lost forever and have no tangible bearing on the future. Daisy and Toms dilution of guilt, and thoughtless fleeing at the end of the novel is the true psyche of the American dream the self-centred belief that one lives in the present and what has happened in the past is irrelevant They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. Gatsby is great because he is unlike the dirty pretty things of modern America. He is simply doomed in the world he finds himself upon because his great longing for real human feeling cannot be reconciled with the real social longing for wealth and status. The Great Gatsby does explore the effect of the American dream upon a national consciousness but with the implication that it is rather a pipe-dream or an empty sentiment. Gatsbys obsession with the green lantern glowing promisingly at the bottom of Daisys garden inspires him with hopes of acquiring her love. But the green light plainly represents the great torch of the Statue of Liberty that greets voyagers off the ships In Manhattans harbour filled with hope and inspired by the promises of America. And the Stature of Liberty in turn is an emblem of freedom and truth the once treasured principles of an American identity. Fitzgeralds novel discounts these principles with this rather touching metaphor: Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no matter tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further And one fine morning And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. The language is fragmentary because new optimism inspires another thought before the futility of the present becomes a reality. And this language, jumping interminably ahead of itself is indeed Fitzgeralds view of the American character: in the rush to produce a rich and extensive character and history for itself, America lost a lot of the clarity which comes from a slower progression. It became in many respects a nation based entirely on ideologies of hope and optimism and the promise of self-development. But while a nation was wrapped up in these exciting prospects writers such as Fitzgerald pealed back the veil and revealed the inconsistencies in an outlook of liberty tainted by the constraints of greed, capitalism and materialism. Bibliography Fitzgerald, F, Scott, The Great Gatsby, 1989, Penguin, London.

Biographical Portrayals in Strachey’s Eminent Victorians and Keynes’s B

Biographical Portrayals in Strachey’s Eminent Victorians and Keynes’s Biography of Isaac Newton The Bloomsbury notion of biography moved against what was the predominant norms of biography at the time. Iconoclastic in all their efforts, the Bloomsbury writers did an interesting thing regarding biography. In both Lytton Strachey’s portrayal of Florence Nightingale from Eminent Victorians and Maynard Keynes’s brief portrait of Isaac Newton, they strive to reinsert the iconoclastic into figures that have become so mainstream as to be banal in their eyes. There is an ironic derision of the stereotypes both figures have become alongside an enormous amount of respect for the non-stereotypical aspects of their character that made these figures as great as they were. Strachey’s Eminent Victorians could be summarized as an attempt to demonstrate the ways in which the key figures of the Victorian era were not as Victorian as one might assume. Florence Nightingale, in particular, could not be seen, through Strachey’s eyes at least, as simply the â€Å"Lady with the Lamp† seeking ...

What impression of the Miller does Chaucer create in the portrait? Essa

What impression of the Miller does Chaucer create in the portrait? Extracted from the general prologue, the portrait of the Miller begins by explaining his physical appearance. His physique is said to be ’ful big of brawn and eek of bones’ indicating he was stocky, big boned and had large muscles. He was also ‘short-sholdred’ meaning broad. This suggests he could be quite threatening to look at. The Miller had a red beard as wide as a spade, a hairy wart on the top right of his nose, wide black nostrils and a huge mouth as great as a furnace. Chaucer creates a very clear image in our minds of the Miller and the impression given through his physical description suggests he is rather ugly. In the period of the 14th Century when Chaucer wrote the Canterbury tales, it was considered that you could tell a persons character from their appearance, be it good or bad. Chaucer portrays the Miller as physically repulsive which implies he is an immoral and bad character. His image could reflect his personality. In the case of the miller this is so. It is explained that the Miller participated in a popular sport of the time, wrestling. It is further explained that he always won the ram (the prize given). Chaucer continues to give the impression that the Miller was strong and to a certain extent should be feared. It also says that he carried with him a ‘swerd and bokeler’ (sword and shield) by his side, further suggesting he was always fighting. In mirroring his bad physical appearance, there is a suggestion that the Miller could have been a thief. ‘Ther was no dore that he nolde heve of harre’ says that there was no door he would not have off its hinges. This implies that the Miller wondered the town banging down d... ...he Miller as the devil to represent that he really was an evil character is only some peoples perception. Others interpret this reference to have a comic element and to be used for the purpose of taking-the-mick. In the 14th Century the general opinion of the Miller was low and he was a disliked man. This was because it was known that he over-priced for his skills and ripped off his customers by taking too much of their grain as a charge. It is therefore some peoples belief that Chaucer is simply comparing the Miller to the devil as a joke and to amuse those who disliked the man to simply make the book popular. Whether Chaucer meant to make this reference as comical or to suggest the Miller was the devil incarnate, the same impression is given. In the portrait of the Miller Chaucer gives the impression that he is ugly, loud, rough and of an evil manner.

Mongols †How Barbaric Were the “Barbarians? Essay

The Mongols began to lift to power under the great Genghis Khan. and during the thirteenth century they created the largest imperium in history. The Mongols during the 1300s were really known. and feared by many. it was about rare to happen countries that hadn’t heard of the Mongols. These â€Å"barbarians† ruled over many countries. expanded across about all of Asia ; and killed 1000000s of people wherever they went. Mongols ruthlessly slaughtered many people. and used many tactics to guarantee their triumph. The Mongols had built such a repute that some countries would give up without seting up a battle. while others formed ground forcess of 1000s with their best arms and work forces ; but all were crushed one time the Mongols arrived. The Mongols were pitiless slayers and reduced the populations of countries greatly. caused people’s lives to be ruined ; and were non even mentioned in the history of certain countries. because of the atrocious things they caused . But despite all these things the â€Å"barbarians† caused. they besides helped many countries to develop ; and better trade and many other factors. Mongolians are pitiless slayings who didn’t head in killing others. and were known for butchering 1000000s people in history. They even severed the caputs of work forces. adult females. and kids where they conquered. and even made separate hemorrhoids for them. As described by Ata-Malik Juvaini. Mongols would kill everything in towns including animate beings so there was no 1 left ( Doc. Tocopherol ) . Peoples would enter the sum of people the Mongols killed. and some weren’t even able to do out a specific figure because of how much the Mongols killed! Even Iranian manuscripts that were found illustrated work forces being buried alive. and Mongols hiting work forces invariably with their pointers ( Doc. F ) . This illustrates how pitiless the Mongols were. and the atrocious things and ways they killed people were done. In add-on. John of Piano Carpini stated the different tactics used by Mongol. which allowed them to take over fortresses with their ghastly tactics ( Doc. D ) . One of many things the Mongols did. was take the fat of people they killed. run it. and catapult it onto houses and fortresses. â€Å"And wherever the fire falls on this fat it is about inextinguishable. † The Mongols would even flim-flam people into give uping and take the people they want. and so kill the remainder with an axe. As a consequence. the Mongols gained the repute they did. as pitiless work forces who plundered through metropoliss killing everyone along the manner. But there is ever another side to every narrative including this 1. and these savages were non every bit â€Å"barbaric† as they were described. but besides helped societies develop and make a foundation for their hereafter. The Mongols are non credited plenty for the good things that they did. every bit much as the bad things that they did. And if you were to weigh the good and bad workss they committed. the bad workss would non outweigh the good. and the graduated table wouldn’t topple over. but alternatively ; it would about equilibrate out. It is true the Mongols killed 1000s of people and destroyed countries. but as clip went on. the Mongols increased the economic systems of countries. became more tolerant. and even blended in with other societies. The Mongols would non hold been able to accomplish this if they didn’t conquer all the countries they did. and although they made many forfeits along the manner ; the Mongols managed to prevail over the largest country conquered in history. and at the same clip better and raise the population in these countries ( Doc. A ) . Furthermore. one illustration of something good the Mongols did. was aid better the economic systems of countries ; par ticularly Persia and China. Described by Charles J. Halperin. Mongols in Yuan China continued the Grand Canal which improved transit and communicating with other countries. ( Doc. J ) . This helped increase trade which allowed many people to derive new merchandises and go wealthier. lending to their economic system. In add-on. this was really of import to people in China and to other countries. because the Mongols had united China ; which had many merchandises it would so portion with the universe. Particularly the silk from China became popular. and the Iranian silk industry greatly benefitted China opening up to the remainder of the â€Å"world. † The Mongols non merely increased trade in countries. but besides stopped offenses and larceny in many states as stated by Paul Ratchnevsky ( Doc. K ) . It was said that people who lived under Mongol regulation did non even have locks or bolt on their carts or houses because of how safe the environment was. The Mongols made certain it was safe everyplace. and one time the people abided by the regulations ; they would non be punished. More so. a papers compiled by Marco Polo. described the system of couriers and how organized it was ( Doc. L ) . There were stations set up. and the Mongols built roads so couriers and travellers could travel from topographic point to put easy. Each station had Equus caballuss specially for the couriers. and there were even ferry’s to traverse over H2O. This displays how the Mongols non merely killed and conquered people. that they were besides capable of puting up organized systems and build roads. Furthermore. Mongols besides had tolerance for different faiths. and even took involvement in them. For illustration. William of Rubruck composed a papers of Mongke Khan who was a Mongol swayer. funny of other faiths ( Doc. M ) . Mongke sent his Scribe who told the people which included Christians. Buddhists and Muslims. to come together and organize a conference ; and compose down what they say so Mongke can â€Å"know the truth. † The work forces did as they were told. and Mongke did non state they were incorrect. but alternatively he stated that the Mongols believe in one God. â€Å"But merely as God gave different fingers to the manus so has he given different ways to work forces. † This illustrates how the Mongols did non knock others for following their faith. but accepted their beliefs and still stuck to their ain. allowing them live their lives. The Mongols were viewed as ruthless slayers who slaughtered 1000000s of people with no clemency. and caused many metropoliss to die. Although Mongols committed many horrific Acts of the Apostless which will ne'er be forgotten. it is besides of import to take in history the good things these â€Å"barbarians† did. The Mongols helped better the economic systems in countries. promote trade which allowed societies to farther develop and modernize. Mongols besides created many systems and roads which increased communications with other countries. and caused cultural diverseness. Many missionaries set out to change over others since it was easier to go. and they succeeded ; particularly in China. Therefore. the Mongols were barbarous liquidators and were feared by many because of the atrocious things they did. But it would non be valid to state they merely did bad things. because they impacted history in a positive manner excessively ; and these â€Å"barbarians† helped socie ties further develop. overhaul. turn in wealth. size. and make a political system for the hereafter which is still used today.

Internal/External Factors Affecting Management Planning Essay

Internal/External Factors at Nationwide Insurance Nationwide Insurance has been serving their policyholders for 75 years. As with anything change is inevitable. Nationwide takes great satisfaction in the fact that the organization has been able to change with the times. Rapid changeNationwide Insurance is one of the largest and most competitive insurance companies in the market. Nationwide is so competitive because they do not limit the company to dealing with only insurance. Nationwide Insurance is a large organization that has a variety of businesses within the organization. There is a Nationwide Bank, Nationwide Financial, Nationwide Property and Casualty and Nationwide General Insurance Company to name a few. The Nationwide organization recognizes a need for providing the best service possible to the policyholders which in motivates the company to keep up with other items being offered by competitors. This is also a  driving factor in motivating the company to keep up with other items being offered by competitors. Nationwide has to be able to surpass what the competition is offering. The insurance business is an ever changing business. Laws can change from state to state and with no hesitation Nationwide has to be able to meet the guidelines determined by the law at any given time. TechnologyTechnology is constantly changes, which in turn is changing what Nationwide strives to achieve. Nationwide is amongst the leaders from a technological perspective. When the internet became the focus for advancing into new markets Nationwide realized that it did not matter if they could offer products on the internet if they could not track what the return on investment (ROI) would be to continue increasing the website functionality. What they did was create a ground breaking program/tool they refer to as the data warehouse. This program would allow them to â€Å"†¦ measure Web success and produce an ROI; calculate operational savings; determine the success of online and offline advertising that directs traffic to nationwideinsurance.com; track the popularity of different online programs and projects† (Carpenter, 2003,  ¶ 2). This tool offered Nationwide information and statistics that no other insurance company had the technology to monitor. Other insurance companies were able to create quoting but were only able to use it in a small number of markets. They were hesitant whether it would be beneficial (Carpenter, 2003). Nationwide does not have to question the value of their online offers because they are able to produce the statistics to guide them in making the right decisions. Technology combined with innovation is how companies get the leading edge over their competitors. How important is technology? One example from the article the Info Tech 100 is the company Motorola. They were ranked 11th last year on the Tech 100 list and dropped off this year. During 2006 they had tremendous success with their razor phones and had a new phone on the market that everyone wanted. There was nothing to follow the success of the razor, Motorola’s technology feel behind, and they were not making more advanced phones available. The other phone carriers were selling more cutting edge phones for a lower price. Not keeping up with the changing  technology can have a significant impact on any organization (Ante et al. 2007). Innovation†Insurance might not automatically strike some as an information technology industry – selling and administering policies aren’t obviously technical pursuits† (Maagolis, 2007). It is difficult to imagine how insurance relates to innovation. But innovation is what keeps Nationwide ahead in the insurance industry. It is simple to find something that works and want to continue to use it. But Nationwide realizes it is not realistic, if they are not making changes they are falling behind their competitors. As an example, the computer systems being utilize have to be able to keep up with the constant change. What this means to Nationwide is that we have to be thinking ahead. Nationwide employs 6000 associates specifically in the Information Technology field (Maagolis, 2007). Nationwide is a company that has been around for over 70 years. They are constantly assessing what changes need to be made and what is the most efficient approach to making the updates. It is a massive task taking an organization that is working on outdated legacy systems and getting on the right platform. This is why Nationwide has to innovative as they are making modifications for systems they want to do it right so it will be advanced enough that they won’t have to make changes again next year. Nationwide was awarded the technology innovation award in 2006 for the data warehouse program explained earlier. This was ground breaking, it is one place that collects data from the entire enterprise and put it in one database (DSS Resources, 2006). Every organization needs to continue to develop and implement changes that give them the competitive advantage. Internal/External Factors at GTECH Corporation GTECH Corporation is a technology company whose core business is the lottery. There are many internal and external factors that impact the four functions of management; one important factor that GTECH has a very strong hold on is business ethics. Ethics GTECH Corporation (2007) goes as far as to advertise their Code of Conduct on their web site so that it is visible to customers, applicants and  employees. The website states, â€Å"The Company conducts its business in an ethical manner, with integrity, trust, respect, and fair dealing. These values should govern our conduct in every decision we make† (Corporate Governance, 2007). Zablow (2006, p. 26) states â€Å"Foremost in the creation of an ethical culture is the personal integrity of organization leadership, which is essential for creating and sustaining an effective and value-based â€Å"tone from the top.† It has often been said that a deterrent to unethical behavior is ethical leadership†. GTECH trains each newly hired employee on their Code of Conduct as part of the new hire orientation; employees also watch a video message from the President of the company so that they understand that ethics does start at the top of the organization. Zablow (2006) also reports that each level of employee should be trained on the business ethics of the facility and would be beneficial to hear this message from a CEO. GTECH also has an annual recertification, where each and every employee is required to be re-trained on the policy and even take an assessment to ensure that they understood the expectations and training. Unethical behavior can have a very negative impact on business and management functions, so ensuring that ethics is valued is a job of everyone in the organization. Diversity Embracing diversity is something that GTECH has certainly come accustomed to. They are a global company who is a wholly owned subsidiary of an Italian Corporation. They are familiar with adapting to change and embracing ideas that are different from the way that things are done. GTECH has even adopted a leadership program called Global Leadership Development where a select group of employees from all different backgrounds come together as a team and learn best practices and best ways to do things; many times a diverse approach is adopted. Ewing (2007, p. 70) states â€Å"†¦.a diversity statement on the company’s Web site is nice, but meaningless†¦ Companies need to invest time and resources to support diversity through formal training, team coaching and individual mentorship†. This is certainly the approach that GTECH is making, this program, even though designed for twenty employees per year costs the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is not a ba d investment for the value of diversity. TechnologyTechnology is important to any organization; however one that calls them a technology company, this factor even holds greater value. The gaming marketplace is one of a very competitive nature and winning a contract does not always boil down to price; it comes down to innovation and technology. GTECH has been the leader in this industry for sometime, however the technology has not changed much in the past years, and the company realized this. GTECH knows and understand in order to stay on top they products that they sell must be better than they rest, their technology has to shine, the competition is always trying to find ways to be better and they have to do that too. This year they created â€Å"Innovation week† this is when the Chief Technology Officer pushed an initiative to engage employees to gather new ideas. That will help GTECH’s revenue grow as well as provide GTECH with a competitive edge and diversity the core business. This program was launched in June and had over twelve hundred ideas from employees. This response is overwhelming but some wonderful technological ideas have come from this practice. Technology is always changing and to stand above the competition and be the leader in the industry senior leaders and managers from every angle must listen to ideas to keep GTECH’s product the best of the best. Internal/External Factors at United Parcel Services GlobalizationUnited Parcel Service has customers all around the globe. Expanding and keeping a global atmosphere is a necessity for a company this large. Globalization is key when marketing and working with customers around the globe. Constantine E. Passaris (2006, pg.3), writes, â€Å"The new global economy of the 21st Century has transformed the economic, social, educational, and political landscape in a profound and indelible manner. Never before in human history has the pace of structural change been more pervasive, rapid, and global in its context.† The economy, not only businesses are constantly expanding and utilizing outer areas to make profit. UPS does this also, by having one of the largest shipping areas in the world; it can reach all areas of the world quickly. UPS provides fast, reliable service for customers around the globe. Managers and employees are constantly finding ways to get things done faster and better than the competitor. Technology Technology makes the success of globalization happen. Without new technological innovations UPS would not expand. Companies depend on the newest and latest gadgets to help serve customers in a fast and timely manner. UPS wants happy customers and to provide fast service to the ever expanding market. With computer technology packages get delivered fast and are guaranteed. This is done through a tracking system that managers monitor daily and can find any package with a tracking number anywhere. For this tracking system to be successful many parts of the four functions of management are essential. Good planning has to be in order, along with clear instructions. Employees need to be aware of what is happening on a daily basis and need to know if changes are to occur. Managers must communicate with employees and show some flexibility when needed. Management teams must conduct meetings that include all members participating in these tasks. Managers should show initiative in further expand ing their education and skills to help service the company. Constantine E. Passaris (2006, pg. 3), also states â€Å"Life long learning and the continuous upgrading of skills as well as the structural reorganization of the work place have become essential parameters of a country’s contemporary economic profile. The knowledge based economy is fuelled by technology, human capital, and research and development which contribute to accelerating levels of productivity and economic performance†Rapid ChangeWhen companies base their profits on technology, managers and employees need to show interest in higher education to keep up with constant changes occurring. Jennifer Schramm (2006, pg. 160) wrote an article discussing the constant changing technological advances in companies today. She states, â€Å"The rapid turnover of technological knowledge could require that employee education be embedded in everyday working life. It could also lead to skills shortages as fewer and fewer individuals prove capable of managing increasingly complex technologies† employee education is a necessity to keep up with all the changes that are constantly happening in today’s companies. Ideas are rapidly changing; it is difficult to keep up. UPS is also constantly changing, exploring, inventing and finding ways to better serve its customers and employees. Internal and External Factors at US AirwaysUS Airways Airline have a large  amount of diversity, because is a national and international company, with a large group of workers who come from different background. The difference in ethnicity, gender and nationality. When different people interact with each other it reduces the importance of superficial and increases the importance of diversity for how their team functions. DiversityAt US Airways they make individuals feel at home, they all share their diverse knowledge with each other. When they share with a team the task has a bit of everyone ideas and each idea come from different culture, everyone think different, it could be because of where they come from, but as long as the multicultural ideas are effective and work for the company, there are no worries. Its diverse group of talented people is the most powerful force driving the corporation. US Airways recognized it cannot succeed by excluding any potential valuable employee. EthicsUS Airways never denied employment to anyone, because of their nationality, language or any other reason. At US Airways people from all over the world treat each other with respect, the same way as the agents treat their passengers, regardless of their nationality or sex. Lots of Managers and directors believe in different life style, and those who don’t once they start working at US Airways they become part of the team. â€Å"I make us fly†. At work sometimes they find themselves too comfortable and they might speak their native language without realizing that there are others around that feel uncomfortable due to the fact that their unable to understand the conversation. At their work place they work as a team. TechnologyTechnology is a lot easier, at US Airways it eliminates a lot of manual work done by employees in a whole. Payroll used to be done manually; employees were responsible for submitting a time sheet every two weeks now instead is done electronically on a daily basis. Their time clocks have also been updated to a more modern one. The schedules for all employees were usually generated manually know is also done by computer, technology have upgrade since 1998, US Airways update their system every year. Up until 2006 US Airways did not have a windows program in their system, or internet  access. Internal/External Factors at the City of TustinE-BusinessBusiness that is carried out electronically over the World Wide Web (www) is called E-Business. Internet companies benefited from this new rage that started over seven years ago because of the services that they provided. E-Business helps to conduct fast and easy access to purchase products and converse with people as a form of communication. This allows companies to converse globally without need of worrying about the different time zones, languages, or different currencies. The communication factor is quick and efficient, and most people are dependant on the rapid responses to inquiries. Experts in information technology and ethics have separated categories of organization to add to the Web into e-business structures; â€Å"(1) organizations that have a passive presence online and focus on online advertising, (2) organizations that use the Web to improve operations, and (3) organizations that create stand-alone transaction sites as their main or only business (Berkshire, 2004.)† Have companies become too reliant on these types of services? The internet has allowed the City of Tustin to change their form of communication and have relied on the fact that the economy is competitive, changed strategies of planning, and require the capability of performing tasks in a timely manner. TechnologyTechnology transports computer graphic tools that allow users to utilize anything from telephones, cable, internet, iPods, copiers, fax machines, and much more. Technology progression produces new goods, advanced inventions, and other ways for companies to manage and communicate amongst fellow patrons and co-workers. Technology evolves every eighteen months, so companies have to remain competitive in the market especially with new industries. For example, the arrival of new computers produced a large industry that enabled companies to create new positions. While others created advances to move ahead for a competitive edge. These advances allow companies to market themselves globally, which was not so readily available to them in the past. New technologies permit production, management, and communication skills that were available in the past. For example teleconferencing, audio web-casting, and cell phones have become more  utilized today than ever before. Companies somet imes do not realize the fast impact technology has on their day-to-day business and the long term affects. Technology is slowly but surely taking over businesses to cut back time and money. Technology is not always reliable. Companies tend to hire information technology (IT) personal to respond to internet computer related errors. This will protect the name of the organization and to help communicate with outside sources. IT technicians will be able to observe and react to computer related problems, such as spam or dropped connections. â€Å"Computers, communications devices and other information technology hardware can be deployed to perform routine accounting, record keeping and order processing functions cheaply and efficiently (Collins, 2006.)† Additionally, these indispensable data-processing tasks have allowed organizations to accumulate more information than what could be previously handled and are subject it to more detailed analysis. Rapid Change The rate of change in today’s world is constantly changing due to a consumer- driven economy; such as globalization, technology, and innovation. Organizations will soon have to adapt to the shifting economy, which will enable management to change their supervision skills. Motivational and leadership tasks have to evolve inspiration, resistance, and participation between co-workers to administer clarification of what is to be done. Understanding change determines response to external change and anticipating the change. It also involves opportunities while adapting to change. Change also involves introduction to new products and services to create new capabilities within the industry. If management needs to change effectively, they need to understand employee behavior, technology changes, and the economy. Internal/External Factors at TD Banknorth TD Banknorth is one of the largest banks in the New England area. â€Å"At June 30, 2006, TD Banknorth had over $40 billion of total consolidated assets and provided financial services to more than 1.5 million households in the Northeast. TD Banknorth’s banking subsidiary, TD Banknorth, N.A., operates banking divisions in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.† (TD Banknorth 2007) All of TD Banknorth’s accomplishment has been  found in the effective management strategy of its senior executives. The company went from being on the verge of bankruptcy to becoming the enormous success that it is today. TD Banknorth continues to train its managers to handle a variety of issues such as diversity, rapid change and ethics in hopes of continuing its upward trend and becoming a leading contender in the banking industry. DiversityMost managers who work in large corporations in the United States are facing the differences that are associated with an ethically diverse workforce. TD Banknorth is one of those companies. There has been an increase in the number of training courses designed to help managers work with people who are from foreign nations or people from different age groups. The training courses were implemented as part of TD Banknorth’s goal of being a good employer. Managers take advantage of these training courses because they understand that in order to be a good manager, they have to be able to communicate with all of their employees. Good communication enables a manager to organize their staff and maximize the resources available to the company. Diversity in the American workplace is a growing trend. â€Å"In the survey, conducted by global management consulting firm Accenture, U.S. companies were found to be top targets for mergers and acquisitions. Regardless of whether they i ntend to expand into overseas markets, U.S. companies are sure to feel the effects of globalization as their colleagues and clients become more internationally diverse.† (Frase 2007) Rapid Change Rapid change is a self-explanatory term and learning to cope with it is part of a manager’s job. At TD Banknorth, one of the rapid change issues that managers are faced with is a high turnover rate among their tellers. This is difficult for a manager because the tellers are the face of the company. They interact and provide services for most of the customers that come into the bank. Managers at TD Banknorth have learned that cross-training is an aspect of their job that enables them to lead their staff in the absence of a full staff. There might be times when a manager has to fill in for another member of the staff such as a teller. Even though filling in for a teller might not be part of a manager’s job description, it is a sign of a good leader. When a manager’s staff sees that the manager is willing to do any job, it inspires them to branch out and work together to  get the job done even if that means doing things that may not be specified in their job descr iptions. Good leadership like this will only serve to elevate the manager and the company that he or she works for. Ethics Managers at TD Banknorth take the lead in upholding the high ethical standards of the company. â€Å"Unethical behavior can cause enormous damage to an organization’s reputation and employee morale, resulting in loss of revenue and even organizational decline.† (Len & Igor, 2007) The managers are responsible for their staff in the sense that they need to lead by example. There is no room for any violation of the company’s policies and procedures. ConclusionManagers are like the rudder that steers a ship. These individuals guide a corporation in what they hope to be the right direction. Without this guide, a company has no chance of achieving success. 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