Are American students grossly unprepared for college Statistics Project

Are American students grossly unprepared for college - Statistics Project Example to answer the question what fraction of first year students enrolled in all higher learning institutions between 1999/2000 and 2003/2004 and the fraction that was reported to take remedial courses (Dina 10). Besides, the researchers are trying to find out the reasons behind their course of action. The target population is the fresh undergraduates that are first year students being enrolled in private and public institutions. This is the same population the author is trying to draw conclusion from based on various characteristics. The sample in the study is a section of the first year and fourth year students in the higher learning institutions. The sample is not a representative of the population because it did not consider the continuing students. There are differences according to the control and level of the institution, according to selectivity of the institution, student characteristics, and differences by the degree program or the study field in regard to the remedial course taking in higher institute of learning. There were notable four distinctions in the proportion of undergraduates who got enrolled in remedial courses for every academic year. The researcher found that based on the reports of students for remedial courses in the study there was proof that the rate of remedial courses being taken by students might have gone down since 1999/2000. This might not be a logical conclusion given that the variables used were not exhausted. Hence causal conclusion cannot be taken. However, this is a valid conclusion based on the research design. The results can be used by the institutions and the ministry of education to seek the best policies to adopt in the higher education course programs. The statistical analyses that were used to draw conclusion for the study include: establishment of statistical variance and standard deviation. This was conducted from the information that was collected over telephone and interviews of the population sample which is the

Ferdinand de Saussure Essay Example for Free

Ferdinand de Saussure Essay Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own. [1][2] The preferred object of stylistic studies is literature, but not exclusively high literature but also other forms of written texts such as text from the domains of advertising, pop culture, politics or religion. [3] Stylistics also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialisation, the production and reception of meaning, critical discourse analysis and literary criticism. Other features of stylistics include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and people’s dialects, descriptive language, the use of grammar, such as the active voice or passive voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers, etc. In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals. * | Early twentieth century The analysis of literary style goes back to Classical rhetoric, but modern stylistics has its roots in Russian Formalism,[4] and the related Prague School, in the early twentieth century. In 1909, Charles Ballys Traite de stylistique francaise had proposed stylistics as a distinct academic discipline to complement Saussurean linguistics. For Bally, Saussures linguistics by itself couldnt fully describe the language of personal expression. [5] Ballys programme fitted well with the aims of the Prague School. [6] Building on the ideas of the Russian Formalists, the Prague School developed the concept of foregrounding, whereby poetic language stands out from the background of non-literary language by means of deviation (from the norms of everyday language) or parallelism. [7] According to the Prague School, the background language isnt fixed, and the relationship between poetic and everyday language is always shifting. [8] Late twentieth century Roman Jakobson had been an active member of the Russian Formalists and the Prague School, before emigrating to America in the 1940s. He brought together Russian Formalism and American New Criticism in his Closing Statement at a conference on stylistics at Indiana University in 1958. [9] Published as Linguistics and Poetics in 1960, Jakobsons lecture is often credited with being the first coherent formulation of stylistics, and his argument was that the study of poetic language should be a sub-branch of linguistics. [10] The poetic function was one of six general functions of language he described in the lecture. Michael Halliday is an important figure in the development of British stylistics. [11] His 1971 study Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Goldings The Inheritors is a key essay. [12] One of Hallidays contributions has been the use of the term register to explain the connections between language and its context. [13] For Halliday register is distinct from dialect. Dialect refers to the habitual language of a particular user in a specific geographical or social context. Register describes the choices made by the user,[14] choices which depend on three variables: field (what the participants are actually engaged in doing, for instance, discussing a specific subject or topic),[15] tenor (who is taking part in the exchange) and mode (the use to which the language is being put). Fowler comments that different fields produce different language, most obviously at the level of vocabulary (Fowler. 1996, 192) The linguist David Crystal points out that Halliday’s ‘tenor’ stands as a roughly equivalent term for ‘style’, which is a more specific alternative used by linguists to avoid ambiguity. (Crystal. 1985, 292) Halliday’s third category, mode, is what he refers to as the symbolic organisation of the situation. Downes recognises two distinct aspects within the category of mode and suggests that not only does it describe the relation to the medium: written, spoken, and so on, but also describes the genre of the text. (Downes. 1998, 316) Halliday refers to genre as pre-coded language, language that has not simply been used before, but that predetermines the selection of textual meanings. The linguist William Downes makes the point that the principal characteristic of register, no matter how peculiar or diverse, is that it is obvious and immediately recognisable. (Downes. 1998, 309) Literary stylistics In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Crystal observes that, in practice, most stylistic analysis has attempted to deal with the complex and ‘valued’ language within literature, i. e.  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœliterary stylistics’. He goes on to say that in such examination the scope is sometimes narrowed to concentrate on the more striking features of literary language, for instance, its ‘deviant’ and abnormal features, rather than the broader structures that are found in whole texts or discourses. For example, the compact language of poetry is more likely to reveal the secrets of its construction to the stylistician than is the language of plays and novels. (Crystal. 1987, 71). Poetry As well as conventional styles of language there are the unconventional – the most obvious of which is poetry. In Practical Stylistics, HG Widdowson examines the traditional form of the epitaph, as found on headstones in a cemetery. For example: His memory is dear today As in the hour he passed away. (Ernest C. Draper ‘Ern’. Died 4. 1. 38) (Widdowson. 1992, 6) Widdowson makes the point that such sentiments are usually not very interesting and suggests that they may even be dismissed as ‘crude verbal carvings’ and crude verbal disturbance (Widdowson, 3). Nevertheless, Widdowson recognises that they are a very real attempt to convey feelings of human loss and preserve affectionate recollections of a beloved friend or family member. However, what may be seen as poetic in this language is not so much in the formulaic phraseology but in where it appears. The verse may be given undue reverence precisely because of the sombre situation in which it is placed. Widdowson suggests that, unlike words set in stone in a graveyard, poetry is unorthodox language that vibrates with inter-textual implications. (Widdowson. 1992, 4) Two problems with a stylistic analysis of poetry are noted by PM Wetherill in Literary Text: An Examination of Critical Methods. The first is that there may be an over-preoccupation with one particular feature that may well minimise the significance of others that are equally important. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) The second is that any attempt to see a text as simply a collection of stylistic elements will tend to ignore other ways whereby meaning is produced. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) Implicature In ‘Poetic Effects’ from Literary Pragmatics, the linguist Adrian Pilkington analyses the idea of ‘implicature’, as instigated in the previous work of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. Implicature may be divided into two categories: ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ implicature, yet between the two extremes there are a variety of other alternatives. The strongest implicature is what is emphatically implied by the speaker or writer, while weaker implicatures are the wider possibilities of meaning that the hearer or reader may conclude. Pilkington’s ‘poetic effects’, as he terms the concept, are those that achieve most relevance through a wide array of weak implicatures and not those meanings that are simply ‘read in’ by the hearer or reader. Yet the distinguishing instant at which weak implicatures and the hearer or reader’s conjecture of meaning diverge remains highly subjective. As Pilkington says: ‘there is no clear cut-off point between assumptions which the speaker certainly endorses and assumptions derived purely on the hearer’s responsibility. ’ (Pilkington. 1991, 53) In addition, the stylistic qualities of poetry can be seen as an accompaniment to Pilkington’s poetic effects in understanding a poems meaning. Stylistics is a valuable if long-winded approach to criticism, and compels attention to the poems details. Two of the three simple exercises performed here show that the poem is deficient in structure, and needs to be radically recast. The third sheds light on its content. Introduction Stylistics applies linguistics to literature in the hope of arriving at analyses which are more broadly based, rigorous and objective. {1} The pioneers were the Prague and Russian schools, but their approaches have been appropriated and extended in recent years by radical theory. Stylistics can be evaluative (i. e.  judge the literary worth on stylistic criteria), but more commonly attempts to simply analyze and describe the workings of texts which have already been selected as noteworthy on other grounds. Analyses can appear objective, detailed and technical, even requiring computer assistance, but some caution is needed. Linguistics is currently a battlefield of contending theories, with no settlement in sight. Many critics have no formal training in linguistics, or even proper reading, and are apt to build on theories (commonly those of Saussure or Jacobson) that are inappropriate and/or no longer accepted. Some of the commonest terms, e. g. deep structure, foregrounding, have little or no experimental support. {2} Linguistics has rather different objectives, moreover: to study languages in their entirety and generality, not their use in art forms. Stylistic excellence — intelligence, originality, density and variety of verbal devices — play their part in literature, but aesthetics has long recognized that other aspects are equally important: fidelity to experience, emotional shaping, significant content. Stylistics may well be popular because it regards literature as simply part of language and therefore (neglecting the aesthetic dimension) without a privileged status, which allows the literary canon to be replaced by one more politically or sociologically acceptable. {3} Why then employ stylistics at all? Because form is important in poetry, and stylistics has the largest armoury of analytical weapons. Moreover, stylistics need not be reductive and simplistic. There is no need to embrace Jacobsons theory that poetry is characterized by the projection of the paradigmatic axis onto the syntagmatic one. {4} Nor accept Bradfords theory of a double spiral: {5} literature has too richly varied a history to be fitted into such a straitjacket. Stylistics suggests why certain devices are effective, but does not offer recipes, any more than theories of musical harmony explains away the gifts of individual composers. Some stylistic analysis is to be found in most types of literary criticism, and differences between the traditional, New Criticism and Stylistics approaches are often matters of emphasis. Style is a term of approbation in everyday use (that woman has style, etc.), and may be so for traditional and New Criticism. But where the first would judge a poem by reference to typical work of the period (Jacobean, Romantic, Modernist, etc. ), or according to genre, the New Criticism would probably simply note the conventions, explain what was unclear to a modern audience, and then pass on to a detailed analysis in terms of verbal density, complexity, ambiguity, etc. To the Stylistic critic, however, style means simply how something is expressed, which can be studied in all language, aesthetic and non-aesthetic. {6} Stylistics is a  very technical subject, which hardly makes for engrossing, or indeed uncontentious, {7} reading. The treatment here is very simple: just the bare bones, with some references cited. Under various categories the poem is analyzed in a dry manner, the more salient indications noted, and some recommendations made in Conclusions. Published Examples of Stylistic Literary Criticism G. N. Leechs A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry (1969) Laura Browns Alexander Pope (1985) Roy Lewiss On Reading French Verse: A Study in Poetic Form (1982) George Wrights Shakespeares Metrical Art. (1988) Richard Bradfords A Linguistic History of English Poetry (1993) Poem The Architects But, as youd expect, they are very Impatient, the buildings, having much in them Of the heavy surf of the North Sea, flurrying The grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them With a hoarse roar against the aggregate They are composed of — the cliffs higher of course, More burdensome, underwritten as It were with past days overcast And glinting, obdurate, part of the Silicate of tough lives, distant and intricate As the whirring bureaucrats let in And settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, Awaiting the post and the department meeting —  Except that these do not know it, at least do not Seem to, being busy, generally. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost Vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier Of concrete like rib-bones packed above them, And they light-headed with the blue airiness Spinning around, and muzzy, a neuralgia Calling at random like frail relations, a phone Ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, That they become attentive, or we do — these Divisions persisting, indeed what we talk about, We, constructing these webs of buildings which, Caulked like great whales about us, are always. Aware that some trick of the light or weather Will dress them as friends, pleading and flailing — And fill with placid but unbearable melodies Us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass.  © C. John Holcombe 1997 Metre Though apparently iambic, with five stresses to the line, the metre shows many reversals and substitutions. Put at its simplest, with: / representing a strong stress \ representing a weak stress x representing no stress, and trying to fit lines into a pentameters, we have -| /| x| x| x| /| -| \| x| /| x| | But| as| youd| ex| pect| | they| are| ve| ry| x| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| \| x| x|. Im| pat| ient| the| build| ings,| hav| ing| much| in| them| x| x| \| x| /| x| x| \| /| /| x x| Of| the| heav| y| surf| of| the| North| Sea,| flurr| ying| x| /| -| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| \| The| grit,| | lift| ing| the| pebbl| es,| fling| ing| them| \| x| /| -| /| x| \| x| /| x| \| With| a| hoarse| | roar| a| gainst| the| agg| re| gate| x| \| x| /| \| x| /| /| x| x| /| They| are| com| posed| of,| the| cliffs| high| er| of| course| \| /| x| \| -| /| x| / | x| \| | More| burd| en| some,| | un| der| writ| ten| as| | x| /| x| /| -| /| -| /| x| /| | It| were| with| past| | days| | o| ver| cast| | x| /| x|. \| /| x| \| -| /| x| x| And | glit| ter| ing,| ob| du| rate,| | part| of| the| -| /| x x x| /| -| /| -| /| x x| /| x x| | Sil| icate of| tough| | lives| | dist| ant and| in| tricate| -| \| x| /| x| /| x| \| -| /| x| | As| the| whir| ring| bu| reau| crats| | let| in| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| And | set| tled with| cof| fee| in| the| con| crete| pal| lets| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| A| wait| ing the| post| and| the| de| part| ment| meet| ing| x| \| x| /| \ x | /| x| x| \| /| x| Ex| cept| that| these| do not| know| it, | at| least| do| not| -| /| x| /| x| /| x| /| x| \| x|. | Seem| to| be| ing| bus| y| gen| ER| all| y| \| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| So| per| haps| it is| on| ly| on| those| cloud| less| al| most| -| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| \| /| x| | Vac| uumed| af| ter| noons| with| ti| ER u| pon| ti| ER| x| /| x| \| /| /| -| /| x| /| x| | Of| con| Crete| like| rib| bones| | packed| a| bove| them| | x| /| \| /| x| \| x| /| /| x| \| | And | they| light| head| ed,| with| the| blue| air| i| ness| | -| /| x x| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| | | Spin| ning a| round| and| muz| zy,| a| neu| ral| gia| | -| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x x| /| |. | Cal| ling at| ran| dom like| frail| re| lat| ions a| phone| | -| /| x x x| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | Ring| ing in a| dist| ant| of| fice they| can| not| get| to| x| /| x| /| x| /| x x| /| /-| \| | That| they| be| come| at| ten| tive, or| we| do| these| | x| /| x x| /| x x| /| \| x| /| x| /| Di| vis| ions per| sist| ing, in| deed| what| we| talk| a| bout| -| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| \| | | We,| con| struct| ing these| webs| of| build| ings| which| | -| /| x| /| \| /| x| /| x x| /| x| | Caulk| Ed | like| great| whales| a| bout| us are| al| ways| x| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | |. A| ware| that some| trick| of the| light| or| weath| ER| | | \| /| x x| /| -| /| x x| /| x| | | Will| dress| them as| friends| | plead| ing and| flail| ing| | | x| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| /| x x| And| fill| with| plac| id| but | UN| bear| able | mel| odies| -| /| x| \| -| /| x x x| /| \| /| | | Us | in| deep| | hint| erlands of| in| curved| glass| | Poets learn to trust their senses, but even to the experienced writer these (tedious) exercises can pinpoint what the ear suspects is faulty, suggest where improvements lie, and show how the metre is making for variety, broad consistency, shaping of the argument and emotive appeal. Though other scansions are certainly possible in the lines above, the most striking feature will remain their irregularity. Many lines can only roughly be called pentameters; Lines 16 and 17 are strictly hexameters; and lines 27 and 28 are tetrameters. In fact, the lines do not read like blank verse. The rhythm is not iambic in many areas, but trochaic, and indeed insistently dactylic in lines 9 and 10, 21 and 22 and 28. Line 27 is predominantly anapaestic, and line 3 could (just) be scanned: x x| / x| /| x x \| /| | /| x x | Of the| heavy| surf| of the North| Sea| | flurr| ying|. Reflective or meditative verse is generally written in the iambic pentameter, and for good reason — the benefit of past examples, readers expectations, and because the iambic is the closest to everyday speech: flexible, unemphatic, expressing a wide range of social registers. Blank verse for the stage may be very irregular but this, predominantly, is a quiet poem, with the falling rhythms inducing a mood of reflection if not melancholy. What is being attempted? Suppose we set out the argument (refer to rhetorical and other analyses), tabbing and reverse tabbing as the reflections as they seem more or less private: {8} 1. But, as youd expect, 2. they are very impatient, the buildings, 3. having much in them of the heavy surf of the North Sea, 4. flurrying the grit, 5. lifting the pebbles, 6. flinging them with a hoarse roar against the aggregate they are composed of — the 7. cliffs higher of course, more 8. burdensome, 9. underwritten as it were with past days 10. overcast and glinting, 11. obdurate, 12. part of the silicate of tough lives, 13. distant and intricate as 14. the whirring bureaucrats 15. Let in and settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, awaiting the post and the department meeting — 16. except that these do not know it,  17. at least do not seem to, being busy, 18. generally. 19. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier of concrete like rib — bones packed above them, and 20. they light-headed 21. with the blue airiness spinning around, and 22. muzzy, a 23. neuralgia calling at random like 24. frail relations, a 25. phone ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, that 26. They become attentive, 27. or we do — 28. these divisions persisting, 29. indeed what we talk about, 30. we, constructing these webs of buildings which 31. Caulked like great whales about us, are 32.  always aware that some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends, 33. pleading and flailing — and 34. fill with placid but unbearable melodies 35. us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass. The structure should now be clear. Where Eliot created new forms by stringing together unremarkable pentameters, {8} this poem attempts the reverse: to recast an irregular ode-like structure as pentameters. And not over-successfully: many of the rhythms seemed unduly confined. But once returned to the form of an eighteenth century Pindaric ode, however unfashionable today, the lines regain a structure and integrity. Each starts with a marked stress and then tails away, a feature emphasized by the sound patterns. {9} Sound Patterning To these sound patterns we now turn, adapting the International Phonetic Alphabet to HTML restrictions: 1. But | as | youd | expect | u | a | U | e e | b t | z | y d | ksp kt | 2. They | are | very | impatient | the | buildings | A | a(r) | e E | i A e | e | i i | th | | v r | mp sh nt | th | b ld ngz | 3. Having | much | in | them | of | the | heavy | surf | of | the | North | Sea | a i | u | i | e | o | e | e | e(r) | o | e | aw | E | h v ng | m ch | n | th m | v | th | h v | s f | v | th | n th | s |. 4. flurrying | the | grit | u E i | e | i | fl r ng | th | gr t | 5. lifting | the | pebbles | i i | e | e | l ft ng | th | p b lz | 6. flinging | them | with | a | hoarse | roar | against | the | aggregate | they | are | composed | of | i i | e | i | e | aw | aw | e A | e | a E A | A | a(r) | o O | o | fl ng ng | th m | w th | | h s | r | g nst | th | gr g t | th | | k MP zd | v | 7. the | cliffs | higher | of | course | more | e | i | I e | o | aw | aw | th | kl fs | h | v | s | m | 8. burdensome | u(r) e e | b d ns m | 9.underwritten | as | it | were | with | past | days | u e i e | a | i | (e)r | i | a(r) | A | nd r t n | z | t | w | w | p st | d z | 10. overcast | and | glinting | O e(r) a(r) | a | i i | v k St | nd | gl NT ng | 11. obdurate | o U A | bd r t | 12. part | of | the | silicate | of | tough | lives | (a)r | o | e | i i A | o | u | I | p t | f | th | s l k t | v | t f | l vz | 13. distant | and | intricate | i a | a | i i e | d St NT | nd | NT r k t | 14. as | the | whirring | bureaucrats | a | e | e(r) i | U O a | z | th | w r ng | b r kr ts | 15. let | in | and | settled | with | coffee | in | the | concrete | pallets | e | i | a | e ie | i | o E | i | e | o E | a e | l t | n | nd | s tl d | w th | k f | n | th | k Kr t | p l Ts | awaiting | the | post | and | the | department | meeting | e A i | e | O | a | e | E e | E i | w t ng | th | p St | nd | th | d p tm NT | m t ng | 16. except | that | these | do | not | know | it | e e | a | E | U | o | O | i | ks pt | th | th z | d | n t | n | t | 17. at | least | do | not | seem | to | being | busy | a | E | U | o | E | U | E i | i E | t | l St | d | n t | s m | t | b ng | b z /td | 18. generally | e e a E | j nr l | 19. so | perhaps | it | is | only | on | those | cloudless | almost | vacuumed | afternoons | O | e(r) a | i | i | O | o | O | ou e | aw O | a U | a(r) e oo | s | p h ps | t | z | nl | n | th z | kl dl s | lm St | v k md | ft n nz | with | tier | upon | tier | of | concrete | like | rib | bones | packed | above | them | and | i | E e(r) | e o | E e(r) | o | o E | I | i | O | a | e u | e | a | w th | t | p n | t | v | k nkr t | l k | r b | b nz | p Kt | b v | th m | nd | 20. they | light | headed | A | I | e e | th | l t | h d d | 21.with | the | blue | airiness | spinning | around | and | i | e | U | (A)r i e | i i | e ou | a | w th | th | bl | r n s | sp n ng | r nd | nd | 22. muzzy | a | u E | e | m z | | 23. neuralgia | calling | at | random | like | U a E a | aw i | a | a o | I | n r lj | k l ng | t | r nd m | l k | 24. frail | relations | a | A | e A e | e | fr l | r l zh nz | | 25. phone | ringing | in | a | distant | office | they | cannot | get | to | that | O | i i | i | e | i a | o i | A | a o | e | oo | a | | f n | r ng ng | n | | d St NT | f s | th | k n t | g t | t | th | | 26.they | become | attentive | A | E u | a e i | th | b k m | t NT v | 27. or | we | do | aw | E | oo | | w | d | 28. these | divisions | persisting | E | i i e | e(r) i i | th z | d v zh nz | p s St ng | 29. indeed | what | we | talk | about | i E | o | E | aw | e ou | in d | wh t | w | t k | b t | 30. we | constructing | these | webs | of | buildings | which | E | o u i | E | e | o | i i | i | w | k nz str Kt ng | th z | w bs | v | b ld ngz | wh Ch | 31. caulked | like | great | whales | about | us | are | aw | I | A | A | e ou | u | a(r) | k kd | l k | gr t | w lz | b t | s | | 32. always | aware | that | some | trick | of | the | light | or | weather | will | dress | them | as | friends | aw A | e (A)r | a | u | i | o | e | I | aw | e e(r) | i | e | e | a | e | lw z | w | th t | s m | tr k | v | th | l t | | w th | w l | dr s | th m | z | Fr ndz | 33. pleading | and | flailing | E i | a | A i | pl d ng | nd | fl l ng | 34. will | fill | with | placid | but | unbearable | melodies | i | i | i | a i | u | u A(r) a e | e O E | f l | w th | PL s d | b t | n b r b l | m l d z | | 35. us | in | deep | hinterlands | of | incurved | glass | u | i | E | i e a | o | i e(r) | a(r) | s | n | d p | h NT l ndz | v | nk v d | GL s | Sound in poetry is an immensely complicated and contentious subject. Of the seventeen different employments listed by Masson {10} we consider seven: 1. Structural emphasis All sections are structurally emphasized to some extent, but note the use (in decreasing hardness) of * plosive consonants in sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 10-13, 19, 28-50; 31 and 35. * fricative and aspirate consonants in sections 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 19, 25, 28, 32, 35. * liquid and nasal consonants in sections 3, 4, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 31-35. Also: * predominance of front vowels — in all sections but 6, 7, 11, 16, 17, 19 and 31. * predominance of vowels in intermediate positions — only sections 16 and 17 having several high vowels and section 3 low vowels. 2. Tagging of sections Note sections 1, 7, 13 and 15. 3. Indirect support of argument by related echoes * Widely used, most obviously in sections 3-7, 12-13, and 15. 4. Illustrative mime: mouth movements apes expression * Sections 2, 6, 11-13, 19, 31 and 35. 5. Illustrative painting * Sections 3-6, 10-13, 15, 19 and 33. Most sections are closely patterned in consonants. Those which arent (and therefore need attention if consistency is to be maintained) are perhaps 8, 9, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 and 27. Originally the poem was cast in the form of irregular pentameters. But if this is set aside in favour of the 35 sections listed above, how are these sections to be linked in a self-evident and pleasing form? A little is accomplished by alliteration: * f in sections 3 to 7. * s and t in sections 12 to 15 * w in sections 29 to 32 And also by the predominance of front and intermediate level vowels, but these do not amount to much. Certainly we do not find that the overall shaping of the poem emphasizes the argument or content. Sociolinguistics Language is not a neutral medium but comes with the contexts, ideologies and social intentions of its speakers written in. Words are living entities, things which are constantly being employed and only half taken over: carrying opinions, assertions, beliefs, information, emotions and intentions of others, which we partially accept and modify. In this sense speech is dialogic, has an internal polemic, and Bakhtins insights into the multi-layered nature of language (heteroglossia) can be extended to poetry. {11} Much of Postmodernist writing tries to be very unliterary, incorporating the raw material of everyday speech and writing into its creations. This poem seems rather different, a somewhat remote tone and elevated diction applying throughout. Let us see whats achieved by grouping under the various inflections of the speaking voice. * urgently confidential But, as youd expect, cliffs higher, of course, that they become attentive or we do * obsessively repetitious flurrying the grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them Burdensome, underwritten overcast and glinting, obdurate * over-clever silicate of tough lives  distant and intricate constructing these webs of buildings distracted and/or light-headed except that these do not know it at least do not seem to with the blue airiness spinning around calling at random like frail relations * melancholic and/or reflective some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends pleading and flailing and fill with placid but unbearable melodies. The exercise hardly provides revelation. Heteroglossia is an interweaving of voices, moreover, not shifts of tone or reference. And yet there is something very odd about the opening line. Why should we expect the buildings to be very impatient? This is more than the orators trick of attracting attention, since the animate nature of buildings and their constituents is referred to throughout the poem. To be more exact, the attitude of the inhabitants — observers, bureaucrats, architects — to the buildings is developed by the poem, and is paralleled by the tone. But why the confidential and repetitious attitude at the beginning. Why should we be buttonholed in this manner? Why the But, which seems to point to an earlier conversation, and the urgency with which that earlier conversation is being refuted or covered up? Because the blame for something is being shifted to the buildings. What error has been committed we do not know, but in mitigation we are shown the effect of the buildings on other inhabitants. Or perhaps we are. In fact the whirring bureaucrats seem to grow out of the fabric of buildings, and we do not really know if the we, constructing these webs of buildings is meant literally or metaphorically. The poems title suggests literally, but perhaps these constructions are only of the mind: sections 17, 20-29, 32 and 34 refer to attitudes rather than actions, and there is an ethereal or otherworldly atmosphere to the later section of the poem. So we return to heteroglossia, which is not simply borrowed voices, but involves an internal polemic, {12} that private dialogue we conduct between our private thoughts and their acceptable public expression. The dialogue is surely here between the brute physicality of a nature made overpoweringly real and the fail brevity of human lives. That physicality is threatening and unnerving. If the we of the later section of the poem is indeed architects then that physicality is harnessed to practical ends. If the constructing is purely mental then the treatment is through attitudes, mindsets, philosophies. But in neither case does it emasculate the energy of the physical world. Architects may leave monuments behind them, but they are also imprisoned in those monuments (us in deep hinterlands) and hearing all the time the homesick voice of their constituents. Conclusions: Suggested Improvements The greatest difficulty lies in the poems structure. An pentameter form has been used to give a superficial unity, but this wrenches the rhythm, obscures the sound patterns and does nothing for the argument. If recast in sections defined by rhythm and sound pattern the form is too irregular to have artistic autonomy. A return could be made to the eighteenth century Pindaric ode in strict metre and rhyme, but would require extensive and skilful rewriting, and probably appear artificial. A prose poem might be the answer, but the rhythms would need to be more fluid and subtly syncopated. Otherwise, blank verse should be attempted, and the metre adjusted accordingly. The internal polemic is a valuable dimension of the poem, but more could be done to make the voices distinct. http://www. textetc. com/criticism/stylistics. html1. On StylisticsIs cognitive stylistics the future of stylistics? To answer this question in the essay that follows, I will briefly discuss Elena Semino and Jonathan Culpeper’s Cognitive Stylistics (2003), Paul Simpson’s Stylistics (2004), and a recent essay by Michael Burke (2005). However, because questions are like trains – one may hide another – any discussion of the future of stylistics raises intractable questions about stylistics itself. French students of stylistics, for example, will come across definitions of the discipline like the following. According to Brigitte Buffard-Moret, â€Å"si les definitions de [la stylistique] – que certains refusent de considerer comme une scien

Ford Motor Business Analysis

Ford Motor Business Analysis Introduction: Ford Motor company is one at the worlds largest manufacturers of automobiles and the worlds largest producer of trucks. Under the leadership at the Henry ford, the company implemented the assembly lime method of mass production and made the cars affordable for middle-class consumers. Ford is the second largest vehicle maker in the United States based on overall sales, trading only general motors corporation. Fords subsidiaries include the Hertz corporation, the worlds largest car rental company, and the worlds largest provider at automotive financing. Ford markets vehicles under the brands of ford, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Ford introduces methods for large scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of and individual workforce using elaborately engineering manufacturing sequence typified by moving assembly lines. Ford is currently the fourth largest automaker in the world based on number of vehicles sold annually. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo cars of Sweden, small stake in Mazda of Japan and Aston Martin of England. Fords former U.K subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata motors of India in March 2008. Vision: Become the worlds leading company in the automobile products and services. Production of the largest numbers of cars with the simplest design and for lowest possible cost. Mission: Production of affordable vehicles for general public, with their mission, â€Å"put the world on wheels† Commitment in providing outstanding product and service for a globally diverse family, with proud heritage. Objective: Mass consumption of products with mass production, by increasing productivity. Doing the right things for customers who are society, people and environment. Five years strategy analysis of Ford There has been a sales down Ford motor company has applied different market strategy to maintain the position in new market for the current product. Ford continues to plan the special edition models of Mustang. Ford could put the next generation Mustang on the world market developed in Australia in around the 2012 or 2013. The fusion, which is now rides modified Mazda 6 platform, is likely to move to Fords global EUCD platform around the 2018 or 218 modal year. Since a long, the Ford is focusing on gaining and maintaining competitive advantages in this hyper competitive climate during the difficult economic environment. It had now faced the downturn in its sales and lost in market shares in the global perspective market, comparing to Far East Manufactures such as Hyundai. The strategies it has been persuading are; I. Differentiation: Differentiation is the offering the products or services which are uniquely different from those of its competitors. The Ford is defining the new range of products with differential quality of fuel efficiency, technology and aesthetics. It is continuing to introduce eco-boost engines for environment safety, fuel saving technology, six speed transmissions across wide range of vehicles. It has adopted most top safety features (roll stability, break support radar) for more convenience in all of its brands (Flex, Escape, Lincon MKS and Mercury Mariner e.t.c). It has also evaded technology like Active park assistant, Navigator, sexy Body Style, Interior etc. Ford is still continuing to introduce the advance form of battery technology through vehicles electrification programs. II. Cost Leadership: This is a strategy where the organisation enables itself to provide the product and services at a cost less than any other competitors. Ford as the innovative company is persuading competitive pricing strategies to its products and services. Comparing to its major rival competitors like Toyota and Hyundai, Fords pricing strategies is competitive with reference to the new technologies that it incorporates. However, the decline sales data and the decreasing customer confidence have displayed the importance of restructuring the pricing strategy to gain competitive advantage against competitors. Therefore Ford is moving towards the virtual tie on pricing level with high quality gain, superior style and interior, and fuel economy technologies. III. Focus: This is the strategy where the organisation targets its product and services at a given sector of market with great accuracy and with deft of capabilities and knowledge to support its position in the sector. Ford is establishing global marketing sales and service operations to integrate and drive more consistent and compelling connection with costumer around the world. It is implementing the ‘One Ford marketing vision to enhance cost saving and higher quality communication. It is expanding the licensed merchandise around the world to enhance the Ford brand image. Ford is focusing on new global small cars, Fiesta, Fusion, mid cars and utilities to achieve the more balanced global portfolio. The Ansoff matrix: Various strategic models can be employed to analyze and make marketing decisions. The Ansoff Matrix is well known classic strategy building model developed by H. Igor Anssof. The purpose of this model is to analyse the organizations approach to its product and markets. It plays an invaluable role in ascertaining whether an appropriate marketing strategy is being pursued and revels the possible, new opportunity. i. Market penetration: Ford with the wide range of product portfolio can look further penetrating its current market with its existing products. It is persuading strategies like ‘One Ford and ‘Global Marketing vision to provide high quality communication about its product and services. Its can further develop cost efficiency with quality and innovations to penetrate market all around the world. Due to relatively low risk involve in this strategy, the Ford Company can look forward to increase the substantial market portfolio by introducing new product features, competitive pricing and technologies. ii. Product development: This strategy means absolutely new products to make them more suitable to known market. Ford is investing in new smaller fuel efficiency vehicles to achieve more balanced global product market. It is applying ‘One Ford marketing techniques to convey high level communication, and expanding licensing merchandise all around the world to capture new markets. Therefore, it is very essential to ford to enhance brand imaging to achieve competitive success. This includes integrating companys marketing team members, global agencies and suppliers. iii. Market development: This strategy emphasis on expanding markets beyond those in which current products are sold. To enhance market development, Ford needs to understand the requirement and culture of the new market. The effective cost evaluation and perfect pricing is necessary with reference to its competitors. Therefore primary focus is need to be given on the quality in the minimum cost, in comparison to the competitors, to capture newer markets like China, India, Hongkong etc. The market entry risk is higher; therefore it is necessary to understand market behaviour. iv. Diversification: This strategy means new product to the new market. Ford is introducing the new products in coming year with global vision of ‘One Ford. It is introducing ‘new small car, plug-in-hybrids, battery powered vehicles and many more with smart technologies, economical and environmental friendly. Therefore it must consider on cost efficiency, reliability and its competitors activities. Due to high risk associated with this strategy, a great deal of market research is needed to be carried out before investing in new markets. Above are the strategic options available to turnaround Ford into sustainable strategic options. The ford comparing to other competitors, it lacks clear assessment in its pricing strategies, despite of its quality and technology. In this current economic downturn, customers are lacking confidence, thus Ford need to take step to move forward with its smart technologies, style and affordability. Conclusion: The Ford motor company is growing profitable global automotive company. It is streamlining and globalizing operations, to introduce more products that customer really want and value. It has aggressively restructured its operations to match production to demand, and it has shifted to a more balanced product line up offering the highest quality, safety, and value and fuel economy. The hard work global team as positioned Ford to survive the current recession, and succeed to earn good amount of profit in the third quarter of 2009. Ford is undergoing to most rapid and far ranging transformation, so that it can lead into the future with great new products.

Who Do We Think We Are? :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1 Who Do We Think We Are?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capital Punishment is the penalty of death for a crime. The most common criminals who are executed are convicted murderers. What message is that sending? The use of capital punishment sends the message that murder is okay, as long as it is applied to the right person. The application of capital punishment in our society is hypocritical. It has no place in the judicial system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The way we handle the punishment of capital crimes is pathetic! There are other ways to punish criminals outside of taking their lives, but we, for some reason, feel the need to play the exterminator. The people who commit capital crimes are not animals to be exterminated. They are human. They deserve the same breath that everyone else takes. If a person commits a heinous crime then that person is obviously not normal. That person is obviously in need of mental help and, we should help these criminals instead of hurting them (religioustolerance.org).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Criminals have families and friends who care about them. Why should the innocent bystanders be punished because of another's actions? Killing anyone, for any reason, only brings on more pain and suffering than is necessary. We should recognize the problems in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2 our society and heal those problems instead of placing a temporary fix on a permanent problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capital punishment is excessive and unnecessary. Killing a criminal only solves one problem and causes many more. The one problem it solves is the criminal is no longer walking the streets. Encarceration would serve the same purpose. If the criminal is encarcerated then he/she no longer poses a direct threat to society, so killing him/her would be overkill (pardon the pun). It causes other problems because the criminal was executed merely out of retribution. Sort of an eye for an eye. Actions like this only keep hatred and condemnation flowing in society (progress.org).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A punishment can only be called a deterrent if it is performed consistantly and promptly. There are three reasons why capital punishment cannot be performed with any consistancy or promptness. 1) The number of convicted murderers sentenced to death are small, and of that number, an even smaller number are actually executed 2)Manditory death sentences are unconstitutional (Woodson v. North Carolina, 1976). 3)A considerable time between the imposition of the death sentence and the actual execution is unavoidable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If a person is going to premeditate a capital crime, he/she is not going to be

Investigating how Businesses work Essay

Introduction For this assignment I am investigating how Marks and Spencer plc works, and I will look at its aims and objectives, functional areas, employment law, communication methods and organisational structure of the company. Marks and Spencer is a publicly owned company in the retail sector. It is in the retail industry and is a large company. The company has been running for many years. Marks and Spencer is one of the UK’s leading retailers of clothing, foods, homeware and financial services. It serves 10 million customers a week over 300 UK stores. Aims and objectives All businesses have aims, this helps them achieve and reach their targets to make their business successful. Therefore Marks and Spencer’s aim is to attract the customers with appealing, superior quality products at attractive prices. They do this by creating exclusive products for the customers. The company aims to put the customer first in everything they do and offer the highest values of customer care in order to satisfy them. In order to achieve the aims, businesses need to decide what objectives to take to help them. According to Marks and Spencer’s objectives are to: 1. Deliver the agreed minimum customer service standards 2. Carry out and develop new systems 3. Reduce theft and loss 4. Create a visually exciting store 5. Permit people 6. Improve effectiveness through managing risk 7. Recruit the right people to provide service standards 8. Deliver customer focused training Functional Areas In large businesses people work as a team in order to help the business run smoothly and effectively, they work together in different functional areas which relate to them. Businesses have these functional areas to help them achieve their aims and objectives. I will be looking at four functional areas, which are: 1. Human Resources 2. Finance 3. Marketing and Sales 4. Administration Human Resources Human Resources are involved with the staffs that work for the company. The staffs in this area are important because they are partly responsible for keeping the business successful. The Human Resources staffs are involved in: * Recruitment * Working conditions * Health and safety * Training and development * Employee organisations and unions Recruitment Vacancies for Marks and Spencer are mainly advertised in recruitment agencies, local or national newspaper, local job centres and careers offices. Marks and Spencer has a company policy to reply to every application sent. These applications are filed for 3 months and then are destroyed so applicants will have to reapply every 12 weeks. There are three ways to apply for a position in store management. You must be either a graduate/undergraduate with a degree or HND and GCSE Maths and English grade C+. For school or college leavers, with A Levels and GCSE Maths and English C+. Marks and Spencer look for people with high standards, who will enjoy working in the retail environment and they look for people who are good with customers or at customer service and people who will work harmoniously in a team. Working Conditions Marks and Spencer has several of working conditions, these include holiday entitlement, hours of work, pay etc. All staff, including temporary and permanent, is entitled to a holiday each year. This holiday entitlement runs from April 1st to March 31st. You can take a holiday if you have a contract of 13 weeks or more. Marks and Spencer has a store policy that all staff should plan and book their holiday in advance because the store operates on a first come first serve basis. They need to book their holiday before to avoid any disappointments. Health and Safety Many health services at Marks and Spencer are provided for the staff such as the staff doctor, store dentist and smear tests for the female staff. The staff doctor attends the store regularly to help and give advice. All staff is entitled to make an appointment if they wish to see the doctor. Every 6 months the store dentist also attends the store for a routine check. He will recommend treatment to staff if needed. A private medical is available to all permanent staff. Cervical smears are available for the female staff and wives of male employees every 3 years. Training and Development Marks and Spencer provide staff with training opportunities. The NVQ programme was one of the largest training programmes they had. At Marks and Spencer, people skills are important whoever you come into contact with, such as customers, suppliers or members of the staff. Employee Organisations and Trade Unions The employees do not officially have union representation, but are entitled to join a union if they wish to. The company wishes all its contacts with unions to be conducted in a decent and co-operative manner. It is illegal for management to interfere with the right of an individual to belong to an independent union as defined in the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1976. The types of job roles in human resources are: Job Title Job Role Human resources Managing the HR department and staff, involved with Manager industrial relations and trade unions negotiations, Implementing the organisations HR policies. Training/staff Responsible for training and staff development. development Health and safety Overseeing all the health and safety matters and Officer monitoring Personnel/staffing Keeping staff records, monitoring staff welfare officer HR administrative Administrative work relating to the human resources Assistants function. Finance Businesses need to manage and control the money coming in and going out of the business. They also need to understand this information in order to plan what to do next and to see if they need to make any changes. All businesses deal with: * Preparing accounts * Paying wages and salaries * Obtaining capital and resources. The major sources of finance include back profits, shares, banking facilities, hire purchase/leasing and trade credits. Preparing accounts The finance staffs at Marks and Spencer have to deal with a range of activities related to checking and recording of all amounts of money received and paid. These are entered into an account each customer has. When money is being received it is banked as soon as possible and also is checked carefully and recorded against each item sold and against each customer’s account. Every Business including Marks and Spencer has to pay its own bills. They will owe money for raw materials used in the manufacture of a product and for the services it uses. Paying wages and salaries Wages and Salaries are done by a computerised procedure. Marks and Spencer pay their staff monthly direct into their bank account, using a system called credit transfer. The company’s bank transfers money to all the employee’s accounts. The bank keeps payroll records, which shows how much each staff earns and how much they are meant to be paid, this helps the bank to transfer the right amount of money into the staff account. Obtaining capital and resources Capital is the money the owner puts into Marks and Spencer. This will be needed when the business starts trading. The money buys all the requirements Marks and Spencer needs. When the business starts to trade and make a profit, the profit is used to buy new stock to sell and also saved incase the company wants to buy new equipment. The job roles in finance are: Job Title Job Role Finance Director Giving advice to senior managers on the overall financial Policy of the organisation. Financial Manager Managing the finance function and staff. Advising on financial resources. Management Producing continuous financial information for Accountant management Credit controller Advising on credit policies. Ensuring that money owing to the company is kept within agreed levels. Payroll Responsible for overseeing the company payroll and Administrator salary/wage section. Ledger Clerks Assist the chief accountant in the recording of all financial transactions. Marketing and Sales Businesses carry out a range of activities to identify the customer’s needs and then try to provide for them. These activities include: * Market research * Promotion * Sales promotion Market Research Marks and Spencer has a separate department, which is involved with market research. Market research deals with customer feedback and external agencies. Other types of market research that are used at Marks and Spencer are through credit card, database, direct mailing, and telephone and through the customer services department. Market research can be carried out through primary and secondary research. Promotion Marks and Spencer have to decide how to promote their products, this usually depends on the type of product or service they want to promote Marks and Spencer advertise its promotion through corporate advertising, for example with seasonal products like strawberries in the summer. The major markets are the consumer markets worldwide but Marks and Spencer find their main shoppers are middle aged, middle class and female. Sales Promotion Sales promotions are campaigns, which offer special discounts and attract customers to try a new a product. Sale promotions at Marks and Spencer include offering free samples of food, special discounts and offers. Marks and Spencer set up campaigns for a few reasons such as attracting more buyers but mainly if a new product is not selling as well as it should be then the campaign is set up. The major customers for the products are the general public. The job roles involved in Marketing and Sales are: Job Title Job Role Marketing director Responsible for the overall marketing function and its aims and objectives. Sales manager Responsible for sales staff and the achievement of sales targets, often within the UK. Advertising In charge with advertising and agency staff over Manager publicity campaign. Export manager Responsible for overseas agents and the achievement of sales targets overseas. Market Find out consumer opinions on current and proposal Researchers goods and services. Order clerks Accept and process sale orders Administration The administration function helps a business run smoothly from day to day and keeping things up to date. It covers a number of different tasks including: * Clerical work, collecting mail, keeping records, organising meetings, responding to enquiries * Cleaning, maintenance and security Clerical work Every day Marks and Spencer would receive telephone calls that need to be answered, mails that needs opening and replying, a list of tasks to do, visitors that arrive at the reception some without a appointment, Fax messages, documents to sort out and need to prepare and documents that need updating etc. Every morning Marks and Spencer receive a number of mails, these mails are then sorted correctly, date stamped then delivered to different departments and individual staff. Marks and Spencer also arrange for their mail to be collected to sent out at a certain time. Marks and Spencer receive enquiries from a variety of people, companies and also other people from inside the organisation departments. Marks and Spencer try to answer these enquiries quickly with correct information. Marks and Spencer has a large amount of documents produce by organisations such as forms, fax/telephone messages, letters and reports. These documents are then filed and some are stored in the computer. Cleaning and maintenance Marks and Spencer employ cleaners to do routine cleaning duties. Some employees do the basic cleaning and the others don’t. If a cleaner is off sick, the supplier has to replace them as part of their contract. Security Marks and Spencer security staff are not employed by the company but by a specialist security firm. The responsibility of the firm is training and supply. The security staffs are responsible for patrolling the premises. The job roles involved in Administration are: Job Title Job Role Administration Managing the administration operations of the Manager organisation. Company A senior executive responsible for all legal affairs of the secretary company, dealing with shareholders, insurance and organising meetings. IT manager Managing all the IT requirements of the company, including Equipment and advising on future needs. PA/secretarial Responsible for providing secretarial and administrative Staff support, usually to senior managers. Equal opportunities and employment legislation Recruiting and keeping the right employees is important to every business. Both employers and employees have rights and responsibilities. These are safeguarded by employment law, not only by employee organisations and unions. The 4 main Acts are: 1. The Employment Rights Act 1996 2. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 3. The Race Relations Act 1976 4. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 The Employment Rights Act 1996 This act establishes a wide range of rights that employees have when they are being employed, for example: * The right to a contract of employment must be given within two months of starting employment and must include details such as name of employee and employer, date when employment began, rate of pay and when its due, hours of work, sick pay etc. * All female employees have the right to maternity leave, this can be up to 29 weeks and also can return to work afterwards. * Employees have the right to take time off to look for a new job, attending interviews and still be paid. * Employees have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. * Employees have the right to redundancy payments if an employee is dismissed because the job is no longer available. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 This act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against someone on the grounds of gender either directly or indirectly. In employment this applies to recruitment and selection for jobs and promotion, training the way you are treated in a job, dismissal and redundancy. The Race Relations Act 1976 This act makes it unlawful to discriminate against people of colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin. In the track of employment it is unlawful to discriminate in the arrangements for employment, which are: * In the interview or advisement’s * In the terms of employment * By refusing employment because of colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin. * In promotion and training * By dismissing a person The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 This act is concerned with discrimination against people with disabilities in employment. The disability may be physical, sensory or mental but must be relatively long-term. Employers must not treat a disabled person less favourable than others. Employers must be prepared to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace to help the disabled person do the job. Disabled persons who suffer discrimination can complain to an employment tribunal. Below are some examples of how employees at Marks and Spencer are protected by these Acts: 1st example A female staff from Marks and Spencer was pregnant and she was due to a maternity leave as agreed on for 30 weeks, she carried on working for a couple of weeks before she was due to the leave. When she took that leave, it happened to be longer than she thought, she had to take an extra few weeks of and when she came back, the job was still there for her. 2nd example New black female staffs were starting work at Marks and Spencer. On her first day, she needed to be trained and taught about the health and safety matters, this had to be done by a health and safety officer from Marks and Spencer. When she met the officer, he wasn’t very welcoming and didn’t seem pleased. He showed her around but the woman thought he wasn’t explaining very clearly and she was worried because she wouldn’t know exactly what to do if there was a fire, so she reported this to the employer and it seemed that he didn’t give her the full instructions, so another officer had to be arranged to train her. 3rd example A man applied for a job at Marks and Spencer, he was unsure whether he would get the job because of his disability problem but when they called him in for an interview he was surprised. They discussed his disability problem and the arrangements for him to work, so in the end they gave him a part time job, which he was very pleased about. Communication People working in different functional areas have to communicate with each other as well as with people outside the business such as customers and suppliers. In order to keeps the business running smoothly and effectively they need to keep the other people in the business well informed, to do this they might use: Internal External Telephone Telephone E-mail E-mail Pager Advertisement Face to face Internet Advertisement Fax Interview Letter Memo Video conferencing Notice Intranet Meeting Marks and Spencer Internal methods of communication to different functional areas are the telephone, email, fax machine, verbal meetings and appointments and also video conferencing, which are used around the country to save time on travelling and costs. The management team spend a high amount of time on the sales floor visiting various sections to see supervisors and staff. Marks and Spencer external communications include letters received from the charities, they receive about 10,000 appeals for support every year. External communications also include project work, Equal opportunities and also the company support projects, which help the elderly and the young and also people with special needs and those who require help in the members of the community. Due to the rising number of communications throughout the company, the communication problems have been encountered and one of the biggest problems has been to ensure everyone is informed. Due to the speed of the business, Marks and Spencer have to ensure that all the staffs try to ensure professional communication by being prepared and organised. The developments Marks and Spencer now have in mind is to improve and make communications more better through e-mail, to improve the in store telephone and the bleep systems such as changing to mobile phones and a speed dial network system. Below is a diagram showing how the functional areas communicate with each other externally and internally. Functional Type of Reason why Area communication Human -Telephone Confidentiality Resources -face to face Urgent -Letter Fast and easy to use -Meeting Saves time to talk to individuals Finance -Letter Security -E-mail Confidentiality -Meeting Get feedback from people quick Administration -Fax can be kept for future reference -Letter evidence and can be copied. -Email convenient while on the computer Marketing and -Meeting Group discussion, more ideas to share Sales Different functional areas use different communicational methods to communicate with each other, this is because employers need to know which type of communication to use for each purpose. For example, human resources might use the telephone or letter to communicate with a different functional area because it might be confidential, this way no confidential information is being reached out of the organisation. And also if a letter is being used, this can be kept for future reference and hard evidence for any purpose. Another type of communication is a meeting; this can save a lot of time and can get feedback from the people at the meeting immediately. Meetings also save time on having to discuss things individually. These types of communication can help Marks and Spencer achieve their aims and objectives, one of the main aims of Marks and Spencer is to put the customers first and to offer the highest values in customer care to satisfy them. To achieve this aim, Marks and Spencer keep the flow of information within the company, they keep the right people informed with up to date information so that when customers ask for certain information it will be as accurate as possible. The Marketing and Sales functional area keep the staff informed about the current range and prices of products for the benefit of the customers. When an order is being received, they pass it on to be sorted in order. To meet the needs of the customers, the staff’s listens to what customers have to say whether it is a good or bad thing and take that into account. Staff at Marks and Spencer has meetings to discuss any problems whether concerning about the customers or other matters so they can solve the problem maybe for the benefit of the customers who shop at Marks and Spencer. Organisational Structure of Marks and Spencer To make the business run successfully without any chaos, they organise their employees in functional areas and section so they know what to do. This helps the business to make decisions and carry them out. Every business has its own way of structure. Hierarchy Structure Marks and Spencer organisational structure of the business is a hierarchy structure, which is tall and has a number of levels. This type of structure may be large but also has some disadvantages as well as advantages within this structure. Below are the advantages and disadvantages. Advantages * Clear job role and lines of responsibility * Each level will have different opinions so therefore more ideas * Clear pay structure * A large number of colleagues * A range of facilities * Good promotion Disadvantages * Slow communication flow. If any staffs require information, this could take time. * Slow reaction to changes and challenges because many people have to be informed whether decisions or changes were going to be made. * Staff at a lower level may feel the manager at the top has no idea what they think or do Flat Structure Here is an organisational structure of a small company. As you can see, this structure is small and does not have many levels. This type of structure is called a Flat structure. This is very much different to the Marks and Spencer structure because Marks and Spencer is a large company. From the diagram structure we can tell that the company is rather small and has fewer levels. But there are also some advantages as well as disadvantages within this structure. Below are a list of the advantages and disadvantages of a flat structure. Advantages * Communication is quicker and more accurate * Good at responding quickly to new ideas and customer needs * Operate quite easily * Less management cost * Flexible working hours Disadvantages * Business is small * No one to share ideas with * May experience problems with shortage of staff if business is expanding.

Mystic Monk Coffee Case Essay

1. Does Mystic Monk Coffee have a competitive advantage? If so, what is it and is it sustainable? Throughout what Mystic Monk Coffee has done, I believe it has the ability to build a competitive advantage. According to the case, the Mystic Monk Coffee was produced by using the high quality fair trade Arabica and fair trade/organic Arabica beans with variety of blends and flavors. They also produce T-shirts, gift cards, CDs featuring the monastery’s Gregorian chants, and coffee mugs that give different choices for the consumers. Mystic Monk Coffee might create less sustainable compare with other competitors in the industry due to the quality of the coffee. However, Mystic Monk Coffee’s target market was on 69 million members of the Catholic Church in the United State that generate enough profits for them to be sustainable. 2. Evaluate Father Mary’s strategy using the â€Å"three tests of a winning strategy† from the text. * The Fit test: The strategy fits t he company’s situation since the products were made in high quality and differentiate with others’ products. The case states that the specialty coffees had grown dramatically with retail sales increasing from $8.3 billion to $13.5 billion in the last seven years and the retail sale of organic coffee has grown for $1 billion. The company also focuses on U.S. Catholic customers and using their loyalty to advertise to the others. They also make sales through website, telephone, etc. * The competitive advantage test: the strategy might bring a sustainable competitive advantage for the company. It’s proved that Mystic Monk Coffee’s sales of coffee and coffee accessories average about $56,500 per month. The company can focus on building a strong loyalty with customers. * The performance test: be able to generate $56,500 per month is an impressive number for Mystic Monk Coffee since none of them have certain experience to manage an operation. I believe the strategy producing good financial performance. 3. If you were a volunteer consultant (because Father Mary probably couldn’ t afford your consulting fee otherwise) and based on the evaluation above and other information in the case, what recommendations would you make to Father Mary and why (i.e., support your recommendation with analysis from the case). * The monastery should specialize in the production process and highly train to improve quality of coffee. That can help to reduce time and cost of goods sold; thus generate more profit. * Father Daniel Mary can contact with other Catholic Church to spread the letter to the supporters so they can know about Mystic Monk Coffee was working hard on to acquiring a new Mount Carmel – a building for 30 monks, a retreat center for lay visitors, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns and hermitage. * Try to minimize the cost from suppliers, shippers, etc. Kelleher Video: 1. Reiterate from the video the Mission and Vision of Kelleher for Southwest Airline. Kelleher vision is short distance travel, friendly customer, low fare and point-to-point travel airline. Kelleher mission is to democratize the sky. Reinvent the idea of travel and de-regulate the airline industry with low fare and friendly customer service. 2. How would you characterize Southwest Airlines strategy? Southwest Airline characterized by low profit margins and yet managed to profit and stay in business from doing so. Through product differentiation and a strategy of low cost and no frills, Southwest has been successful in distinguishing itself from its competitors in order to sustain profitability in this aggressive industry. 3. What elements of the company’s operations support the strategy? Southwest campaign and advertise free liquor to those who flight Southwest at a regular price of $26 when rivalry airline are lowering the fare by $13. So Kelleher came out with an idea and a dvertises free liquor to his customer. The flight attendants were handing out Vodka, Rum, Royal, and Whisky. In the 1970’s they were the top distributer of whisky in the state of Texas. By this campaign they manage to drive their competition out of business and out of the state of Texas. 4. Given today’s economic, political, social, governmental environments, what issues do you see emerging in that will have positive or negative effects on the airline industry generally and on Southwest specifically? First identify the issue and then the impact. With today economic crisis, airline are laying off employee, baggage fees were charged and serving meals on the airplane. These known issue were present by the competition airline which Southwest stand their ground and act differently. They did not lay off employees but rather employed more. They advertise free baggage travel and successfully gain more travels because they do not have to pay for ridiculous baggage fees. In return southwest have gain more shareholder and confident investor. They served free peanuts and drinks when other served whole meals in return  they have proven and delivery their promise as fast turns around time to board and lower airfare. They only flight Boeing 737 so their employees know the plane inside out in return they saved millions on the aircraft maintenance fees. These strategies make positive effect to the airline industry, which make southwest special, unique and fun airline to travel with.