The Enlightenment Essays - Philosophes, Fellows Of The Royal Society

The Enlightenment Main Themes: The Enlightenment 1. The Enlightenment had its origins in the scientific and intellectual revolutions of the 17c. 2. Enlightenment thinkers felt that change and reason were both possible and desireable for the sake of human liberty. 3. Enlightenment philosophes provided a major source of ideas that could be used to undermine existing social and political structures. I. The Major Themes of the Era: A. rationalism --* logical reasoning based on facts. B. cosmology --* new world view based on Newtonian physics --* analysis of natural phenomena as systems. C. secularism --* application of scientific theories to religion and society. D. scientific method --* experimentation; observation; hypothesis. E. utilitarianism (Bentham) --* laws created for the common good and not for special interests. The greatest good for the greatest number. F. optimism & self-confidence --* anything is possible (a reversal of medieval thinking). G. tolerance --* a greater acceptance of different societies and cultures. H. freedom --* a mind as well as a society free to think, free from prejudice. I. mass education. J. legal / penal reforms --* Beccaria, Bentham. K. constitutionalism. L. cosmopolitanism. II. The Philosophes: A. Not really philosophers, but men who sought to apply reason and common sense to nearly all the major institutions and mores of the day. B. They attacked Christianity for its rejection of science, otherworldliness, and belief in man's depravity (Deism). C. Their major sources: LOCKE --* man's nature is changeable and can be improved by his environment. NEWTON --* empirical experience and the rationality of the natural world. BRITAIN --* exemplified a society in which enlightened reason served the common good. D. France became the center for Enlightenment since its decadent absolutism and political and religious censorship seemed to prove the need for reform. E. Paris salons. F. Diderot's Encyclopedie. G. physiocrats: FRANCOIS QUESNAY --* land is the only source of wealth, and agriculture increases that wealth; therefore, the mercantilists were wrong to put so much importance on the accumulation of money. ADAM SMITH --* Wealth of Nations --* he challenged mercantilist doctrine as selfish and unnatural; the interdependence among nations; Father of Modern Capitalism. H. Montesquieu --* The Spirit of the Laws -- admired the British government. -- separation of powers in the government. -- checks and balances. I. Rousseau --* The Social Contract -- Father of Romanticism. -- he differed from the other pholosophes, esp. Locke: -- law is the expression of the General Will. -- rejected science and reason; go with your feelings (inner conscience). -- Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains! J. Voltaire -- Candide -- champion of individual rights. -- I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it! -- leading advocate of Enlightened Despotism. III. Enlightened Despotism: A. Prussia: -- Frederick I (1714-1740) -- the Seargent King. -- Frederick II (1740-1786) B. Habsburg Austria: -- Maria Theresa (1740-1780) --* Pragmatic Sanctions. -- Joseph II (1765-1790) --* considered to be the only true enlightened despot. C. Russia: -- Peter the Great (1682-1725) --* Westernization (Windows to the West). -- Catherine the Great (1762-1796) --* rigorous foreign policy; partitions of Poland. IV. Results of Enlightenment Thought: A. contributing factor in the American and French Revolutions. B. Enlightenment thinking reflected in the U. S. Declaration of Independence. C. Enlightened Despots. D. European thought became centered on the belief in reason, science, individual rights, and the progress of civilization. E. New evangelical religious movements --* Pietists, Methodists. ADDITIONAL TERMS TO KNOW: philosophesphysiocratsutilitarianismcosmopolitanismsalonlaissez-faireImmanuel KantJohn WesleyMethodismPietismGeneral WillPhilosopher-King The Enlightenment The Age of Reason 18th century intellectual movement based on reason caused by the scientific revolution Questioned the physical universe Centered in Paris -the modern Athens Believed in natural laws - very secular Criticized: a) Absolutism b) Established Church Very important to American Revolution Enlightened Thought 1) Natural science should be used to understand all aspects of life a) Nothing was to be accepted on faith b) Caused conflict with the church 2) Scientific laws were capable of discovering human and natural laws 3) Humans could create better societies and people Enlightenment Philosophe (Fr. Philosopher) but not only a French movement Critics of absolutism did not face death for their beliefs like in other countries French was the lingua franca -international language of educated Critics of the Old Regime and absolutism Developed new ideas about God, human nature, good and evil, and cause and effect relationships Humans were basically good, but corrupted by society Ideas were established by Marquis de Condercet in Progress of the Human Mind Salon Bernard de Fontenelle popularized science and made it easy to understand Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds Fontenelle brought science and religion into conflict (Catholics and Protestants scientists believed their work exhalted God) John Locke English thinker, rejected Descartes Tabula

A Lifelong Experiment What Made E. E. Cummings Creative

A Lifelong Experiment What Made E. E. Cummings Creative A Letter Proposing the Topic One of the most mysterious and by far the most original writers of the century, E. E. Cummings has become a symbol of creativity in writing.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Lifelong Experiment: What Made E. E. Cummings Creative specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More With the incredible length that he would go to to express the slightest change in his characters’ emotions, E. E. Cummings can be considered a once living proof of the fact that in literature, every single letter or even comma, for that matters, plays its important role and that, once out of the traditional order, these elements can help convey the slightest changes in the characters’ fleeting emotions, as well as the author’s witty commentaries and observations in the most subtle way. Although a number of Cummings’ works have been analyzed to death, the roots of his creativity have not been researched well enough. Even with his ability notice extraordinary elements in the most mundane aspects of life, Cummings needed a specific source to get his inspiration from. Analyzing his life, the specifics of major works and the factors that enhanced Cummings’ writing process, the given essay is going to research what stood behind Cummings’ creativity, whether this was the influence of other people or the effect of the environment, which Cummings lived in. It is worth mentioning that the given issue has not been researched well; there are only a few works devoted to the sources of Cummings’ inspiration, one of them belonging to Catherine Reef, and other having been written by. Hence, the issue is relatively new and worth studying. Although the topicality of the problem might seem rather little, it is necessary to keep in mind that Cummings’ key goal was to search for new ways of artistic expression in literature, which will always remain on the literature agenda . That being said, the driving force behind Cummings’ works is well worth studying. Bibliography Researching the life of a writer is not easy; since most of what a person writes comes from his interpretation of specific events in his/her life rather from the description of these events, it is very easy to get carried out by discussing the implications of the given person’s biography details. In addition, with such people as E.E. Cummings, one of the world’s most famous abstractionist writers, it is hardly possible to tell the reality and the fantastic world that these people lived in apart. That being said, it is still necessary to add that there are a number of detailed biographies of E.E. Cummings’ life.Advertising Looking for essay on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To start with, Catherine Reef must be best known for helping shed some light on E.E. Cummings’ life path . Bay-cheng and Cole, on the other hand, seem to be more into dealing with the specifics of Cummings’ poetry and novels. The omnipresent Harold Bloom also managed to capture the key events of Cummings’ life in a bottle. It is quite impressive that, in contrast to the rest of the authors mentioned above, Bloom actually manages to tie in the specifics of Cummings’ biography and the unique writing style that Cummings developed as a result of his several encounters with specimens of the Abstractionist art. Pyramid Diagram: Creative Approaches Adopted by E. E. Cummings in Poetry and Novel Writing E. E. Cummings and His Sources of Inspiration: The World Viewed Upside Down Cummings’ works could never be fully understood; each of them seems a puzzle, which, once turned around, will necessarily take another shape and will become even more mysterious. However, Cummings never intended his poems, novels and other writing to be straightforward – instead, he cre ated a work that anyone could approach from his/her own perspective and, therefore, read his/her own vision of the world into it. It would be a drastic mistake to consider Cummings’ works empty by default – each of them has a long history and is targeted at a specific problem; the many ways in which these works can be read, however, make one think of the unbelievable creativity that only Cummings could deliver. At the first glance, it might seem not that hard to pin down what exactly makes Cummings and his works so outstanding. The originality of forms together with the daring experiments with the English language clearly makes his novels and especially poems unique. However, when one gets down to it, these are not the deliberate violations of the rules of grammar and poetry, but the exact points at which Cummings decides to make a deliberate â€Å"mistake† that make his works stand out. It is quite remarkable that Cummings works never follow the same patter in terms of their implicated â€Å"protest†; they might have a few letters mixed up, like â€Å"Picasso†: â€Å"Picasso/you give us things/which/bulge:grunting lungs pumped full of sharp thick mind† (Cummings â€Å"Picasso†), or, on the contrary, break every possible grammatical rule, like â€Å"One!†: â€Å"(one!)/the twisti-twisti barber/-pole is climbing† (Cummings â€Å"One!†). Sometimes there is no rule breaking at all – Cummings simply decides to leave the readers on their own with his stream of consciousness, as in â€Å"If†: â€Å"Things would seem fair,–/Yet they’d all despair,/For if here was there/We wouldn’t be we† (Cummings â€Å"If†). There is no pattern in the author’s misplacing a comma or replacing a capital letter with a lowercase one, which points at the fact that these alterations to the English languageAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Lifelong Experiment: What Made E. E. Cummings Creative specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When considering the specifics of Cummins’ works, especially in the poetry department, one cannot help noticing the intense desire to make the poem look completely out of chord with its every single typical attribute, such as rhyme, sentence structure, etc., straight down to breaking the basic punctuation rules. According to what Patea and Derrick say, â€Å"Cummings’ transformative grammar not only conveys the dialects of substance and generation, but dramatically performs it† (Patea and Derrick 117). Therefore, there can be no doubt that Cummings’ poetry owes part of its charm to the rebellious air that breaking all grammar rules known to an English-speaking person can get one. Another possible way to view Cummings’ creativity is to analyze the contrast between the absurdity of the exterior of Cummings’ works a nd the implications that they incorporate; once viewing the striking difference between the two, one will have to agree that the author uses his contrast on purpose to convey not only the social messages underlying the ext, but also to express his personal judgment of the situation that is being discussed in the artwork. Finally, it is important to consider the environment in which Cummings developed as an artist and as a creator. After being surrounded by the specimens of the European and American best avant-garde works and devoting a huge chunk of his life to discussing these artworks, analyzing them and trying to sink into the atmosphere of the avant-garde world, Cummings could not help but incorporate the acquired information into his works. Being fascinated with the genre, he must have felt the urge to use it as the key expressive means in his own works: â€Å"Cummings’s interest in the European avant-garde began well before his first dramatic experiments† (Bay-ch eng and Cole 157). Another peculiar issue to consider is the source of Cummings creativity. Given the originality of Cummings’ works, which often borders weirdness, it would be quite a stretch to assume that Cummings’ original ideas came from the mundane surrounding of the urban life. Therefore, there must have been a source, which Cummings used for his inspiration and for creating new forms of poetry, writing and painting. Among the possible answers, three hypotheses can be considered. The first and the most obvious suggestion can concern Cummings’ personal life and experience.Advertising Looking for essay on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It would be wrong, however, to tie the sources of E. E. Cummings’ inspiration to mere fascination with the specifics of the English grammar. Although the latter, with its strict rules to be followed, does make a powerful tool once its rules are bent a touch, there still seems to be more than meets the eye in Cummings’ creativity. Therefore, the heritage that Cummings left can be read in million ways, and each of these interpretations will be completely valid. The initial idea, which Cummings actually meant to deliver, however, needs a careful and thoughtful research, since it can be concealed beneath several decades of the author’s personal life experience and observations, or an accident that occurred in Cummings’ life. That being said, it can be considered that Cummings’ ways of expressing emotions and ideas, as well as the fleeting mood of the characters and the story are much more diverse than the researchers give them credit for. Being able to reprint the tiniest changes in the society, as well as incorporate his own memories and experience into the story canvas, Cummings deserves being mentioned among the most ingenious abstractionists of the century. Bay-cheng, Sarah and Barbara Cole. Poets at Play: An anthology of Modernist Drama. Cranbury, NJ: Susquehanna University Press, 2010. Print. Bloom, Harold. E. E. Cummings. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishings, 2003. Print. Cummings, Edward Estlin. If. n. d. Web. https://hellopoetry.com/. Cummings, Edward Estlin. One! n. d. Web. https://hellopoetry.com/. Cummings, Edward Estlin. Picasso. n. d. Web. https://hellopoetry.com/. Patea, Viorica and Paul S. Derrick. Modernism Revisited: Transgressing Boundaries and Strategies of Renewal in American Poetry. New York, NY: Rodopi. 2007. Print. Reef, Catherine. E.E. Cummings. New York, NY: Clarion Books. 2006. Print.

Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) for Antibiotics

Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) for Antibiotics Dhayalini Yoginthran Antibiotic resistance is something that has been growing in the world, some might even say that we are entering or have already entered a post antibiotic world. It is currently one of the superior concerns in the 21 st century, especially in regards to pathogenic microorganisms. Throughout the years, research had allowed for the development of first line antibiotics that were efficacious against infections plaguing the population. Due to resistance build up towards first line agents, second line agents were then used to treat infections, which usually have a broad spectrum in treatment. In some cases pathogens have also acquired resistance towards multiple drugs, one such example would be Staphylococcus aureus (Zainnudin and Dale, 1990) . Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are substances produced by animals, bacteria and plants. They are also known as host defence peptides and are a part of the non-specific immune system. Differences between eukaryotes and pro karyotes show the potential of targeted therapy with the use of AMPs . They are dynamic and are of broad spectrum and have shown plausible evidence that they may be used as a new therapeutic agent. AMPs are quite small, have various sequences and lengths. They are also known to be cationic and amphipathic (Hultmark, 2003). They have shown considerable bactericidal activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative strains of bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis , malignant cells as well as viruses that are enveloped (Reddy et al., 2004). AMPs work by the interaction with the membrane of the potential pathogen thus leads to the perturbation of said membrane. The peptide is then inserted into the bilayer of the membrane that causes the displacement of the lipids. The perturbation and the displacement actions render it easy for the peptide to be translocation into the intracellular target of the pathogen. AMPs are usually derived from coding sequences in a gene, databases of known AMPs have been curated to hold information of AMPs as well as to provide tools to predict possible AMPs that are found in genomes (Fjell et al., 2007). The Antimicrobial Peptide database (APD) is one of the major resource for antimicrobial peptide sequences that have been curated. AMPs from various phylogenetic kingdoms are available, making the prediction of models based on qualitative and quantitative activity easier. In order to bring the development of AMPs into light, certain objectives are to be met. An AMP must be active against the pathogen in which it is targeted against and must have a high therapeutic index. In order to look for a suitable AMP that can act as a broad spectrum antibiotic. A method will be explained to show the screening process to look for one such AMP. The method would be to employ template based studies. A template AMP will be used to look for peptides that have better antimicrobial activity and also is reduced in toxicity by altering amino acid sequence s. In order to elucidate positions of amino acids that are important in antimicrobial activity, a single amino acid in the peptide will be changed, and hence the changes will be studied. Template AMPs that could be used for this would be lactoferrin or magainin. The variety of peptides are designed based on the amphiphilicity and charge of the AMPs and their role in antimicrobial activity. It will be possible to synthesis peptides using a high throughput approach of arrays that is done together with a speedy luminescence assay to portray bactericidal activity. This would lead to us being able to perform a complete substitution method to study the amino acid changes in the desired peptide. Several substitution studies that have been performed have shown that the activity shown by the substituted amino acids differ with regards to the template AMP utilised (Schneider et al., 1995). A linguistic model shall be used to pinpoint patterns in natural peptides (Loose et al., 2006). It is po ssible that the novel peptide that is constructed based on this will show superiority against models that are generated based on the random shuffling of amino acid sequences. Functionally important patterns of amino acids will be found using this linguistic model. In a previous study conducted by Loose et al (2006), 4 out of 40 designed peptides showcased activity against E. coli and B. cereus at an acceptable concentration.

Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013) - Essay Example In this matter, some important points regards privacy policy of various websites are raised which should be considered by the web site owners and visitors. His concentration is highly influenced to increase the level of satisfaction of public in utilization of modern technological resources. Some imperative elements of this documentary are mentioned das under; In this documentary, it is proved that importance of private data of any user is an obvious matter which can not be denied. All websites should make their privacy policy strict and effective for gaining confidence of users in the market. For this purpose, various examples are presented in this documentary which is useful for the web site owners and visitors to manage the private data with surety of security. Accordingly, people can use the web services easily with this satisfaction; this scenario is highly linked with social media sites that are famous among the public highly. In some cases, it is observed that various companies are in the position to finish the age privacy term. With this strategy, social media sites can share their user`s information with third parties; this condition is harmful for the privacy of consumers in the market. With observance of â€Å"Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013)† documentary, people can understand that they should make certain their privacy at the time of usage of social media programs. This is possible with proper concentration of the public and this effort is also producing some favorable results in the communal way of life. According to â€Å"Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013)† people are unsatisfied about privacy policy of websites as this can be incursion any time. This matter is realizable with the consideration of different instances that are managed by arrangement of different interviews and discussions in the market. So, people should be careful in this matter and they should also observe privacy policy time by time. This technique is helpful to

Explain your personal and career goals and offer an explanation as to Statement

Explain your and career goals and offer an explanation as to why you should be admitted to AUD - Personal Statement Example Once I finish my undergraduate degree, I would do masters either in the field of Law or Political Philosophy. My career goal is to represent my country as an International Relations Officer (IRO). Getting a job in United Nations is my dream, which I want to fulfill. I want to understand political, cultural and economic issues of foreign countries, as it is essential for getting a job in a foreign country as an International Relations Officer. I want to pursue my degree from American University in Dubai because of its high repute. It is due to the highly qualified teachers of AUD, that I feel satisfied while thinking of getting admission in its undergraduate program. I believe that AUD can help me achieve my educational and career goals by providing excellent education and practical learning environment to

Information Systems and Organization Essay Example for Free

Information Systems and Organization Essay This paper, and the special issue, address relationships between information systems and changes in the organization of modern enterprise, both within and across firms. The emerging organizational paradigm involves complementary changes in multiple dimensions. The revolution in information systems merits special attention as both cause and effect of the organizational transformation. This can be illustrated by considering two key variables: the location of information and the location of decision rights in organizations. Depending on the costs of information transmission and processing, either the MIS solution of transferring information, or the organizational redesign solution of moving decision rights, can be an effective approach toward achieving the necessary collocation of information and decision rights. When information systems change radically, one cannot expect the optimal organizational structure to be unaffected. Considering the interplay among information, incentives and decision rights in a unified fashion leads to new insights and a better organizational planning. The papers in the special issue address different facets of this interaction. Despite significant progress, our understanding of the economic role of information systems in organizations remains in its infancy. We conclude that successful design of modern enterprise will require further narrowing  of the historic gap between research in information systems and research in economics. The organization of work is in the midst of transformation. In many industries, mass production by large, vertically-integrated, hierarchically-organized firms is giving way to more flexible forms of both internal organization and industrial structure. Work is increasingly accomplished through networks of smaller, more focused enterprises. The resulting structure of loosely coupled sub-organizations blurs the boundaries of both firms and industries. A canonical case in point is the computer industry. In the past, the industry was dominated by large, vertically-integrated firms such as IBM and Digital Equipment which created products and services throughout the value chain from the microprocessor level all the way up to the provision of solutions. The vertical structure is now being replaced by a series of layers, each of which is, in effect, a separate industry. Value is generated by ever-changing coalitions, where each member of a coalition specializes in its area of core competence and leverages it through the use of tactical or strategic partnerships. Internally, team structures are replacing the traditional hierarchical form, and the Silicon Valley model of internal organization is emerging as a clear winner.3 Internal incentives are increasingly based on performance, and this further blurs the differences between inter- and intra-firm contracts. In sum, modern enterprise is undergoing major restructuring. In this short paper we briefly discuss the newly emerging organizational paradigms and their relationship to the prevailing trends in information technology (IT). We argue that IT is an important driver of this transformation. Finally, we place the studies selected for this special issue of the Journal of Organizational Computing within this context. 1. Emerging Organizational Paradigms: Symptoms and Causes At the turn of the century, Frederick Taylor sought to put the nascent wisdom  for successful business organization on a scientific basis. His work guided a generation of managers towards success in meshing their organizations with the technologies, markets, labor and general environment of the era. By the 1920s, Henry Ford had applied the Taylorist approach with a vengeance and soon dominated the automobile market, driving dozens of competitors under. Ironically, these same principles are almost diametrically opposed to the prevailing wisdom of the 1990s. For example, consider the following guideline from The Science of Management [1] It is necessary in any activity to have a complete knowledge of what is to be done and to prepare instructions the laborer has only to follow instructions. He need not stop to think. The current emphasis on empowerment, learning organizations, and even thriving on chaos stands in sharp contrast to Meyers advice (cf. [2] , [3] ). Similar contrast can be found with many, if not most, of the other principles that lead to success even as late as the 1960s. Consider, for example, the growing calls for downsizing (vs. economies of scale), focus (vs. conglomerates), total quality (vs. cost leadership), project teams (vs. functional departments), supplier partnerships (vs. maximizing bargaining power), networked organization (vs. clear firm boundaries); performance-based pay (vs. fixed pay), and local autonomy (vs. rigid hierarchy). Milgrom and Roberts [4] make the point that the different characteristics of modern manufacturing, an important example of the emerging organizational paradigm, are often highly complementary. This complementarity, coupled with the natural tendency to change organizational attributes one at a time, makes the transition from one paradigm to another particularly difficult. Strong complementarity implies that in order to be successful, change must be implemented simultaneously along a number of related dimensions. Organizations that adopt only one or two key components of the new organizational paradigm may fail simply by virtue of this complementarity. For instance, Jaikumars [5] study of 95 US and Japanese companies found that the majority of US companies had failed to achieve productivity  increases despite switching to flexible manufacturing technology. The reason was that they had preserved dozens of manufacturing practices such as long production runs and high work-in-process inventory levels, which complemented the old technology but kept the new technology from fulfilling its potential. Thus, the transition from the old structure to the new one is overwhelmingly complex. The switch would be easier if we apply design guided by theory instead of piecemeal evolution. There are many possible explanations for the change in the prevailing wisdom regarding organizational design. For instance, it is common to justify calls for radical change with reference to heightened competitive pressures: although firms that applied the old principles were among the most successful competitors of their day, presumably the nature of competition has changed in some way. Others suggest that consumer tastes have changed, making customized items more appealing than they once were. While historians would argue that the taste for mass marketed items was itself something that had to be developed in the early days of mass production, increased wealth or social stratification may make this more difficult today. It can also be argued that some of the new principles were as applicable fifty years ago as they are today, but that they simply had not yet been discovered. Although the enablers of the current organizational transformation are undoubtedly numerous and far from mutually independent, we would like to single one out for special attention: the rise in IT. Brynjolfsson [6, p.6] argues that IT is an appropriate candidate for explaining these changes for three reasons: First, compared to other explanations, the advances in information technology have a particularly reasonable claim to being both novel and exogenous. Many of the fundamental technological breakthroughs that enable todays vast information infrastructure were made less than a generation ago and were driven more by progress in physics and engineering than business demand. Second, the growth in information technology investment is of a large enough magnitude to be economically significant the result has been what is commonly referred to as the information explosion Third, there is a  sound basis for expecting an association between the costs of technologies that manage information and the organization of economic activity. The firm and the market have each been frequently modeled as primarily information processing institutions (see Galbraith [7] and Hayek [8] , respectively). Miller [9] foresaw the key features of the new paradigm as a natural outcome of the information era and the associated economy of choice: The new technologies will allow managers to handle more functions and widen their span of control. Fewer levels of management hierarchy will be required, enabling companies to flatten the pyramid of todays management structure. The new information technologies allow decentralization of decision-making without loss of management awareness; thus employees at all levels can be encouraged to be more creative and intrapreneurial. The key responsibility of the CEO will be leadership; to capture the light or energies of the organization like a lens and focus them on the key strategic objectives. The new organizational paradigm is indeed intertwined with the structure of an organizations information systems. Under the old paradigm, the firm was governed by a relatively rigid functional structure. This separation into distinct and well-defined organizational units economizes on the information and communications requirements across functional units and reduces cost and complexity. There is a tradeoff, however: the old structure is less flexible, less responsive and ultimately results in lower quality. In our view, the growing use of IT and the trend towards networking and client-server computing are both a cause and an effect of the organizational transition. Lowering the costs of horizontal communications, facilitating teamwork, enabling flexible manufacturing and providing information support for time management and quality control are key enablers on the supply side. It is equally clear that the new organizational paradigm demands new information systems: nothing can be more devastating for cross-functional teamwork than a rigid information system that inhibits cross-functional information flows. We can unify these perspectives by noting that the structure of the organizations information system is a key element of  organizational transformation. Changes in IT change the nature of organizations just as changes in organizational structure drive the development of new technologies. 2. Information Systems, Economics and Organizational Structure Jensen and Meckling [10] provide a useful framework for studying the complementarities between information systems, incentive structures and decision rights in organizations. In their framework, the structure of an organization is specified by three key elements: (i) The allocation of decision rights (i.e., who is responsible for what actions/decisions); (ii) the incentive system, which defines how decision makers are to be rewarded (or penalized) for the decisions they make; and (iii) a monitoring and measurement scheme used to evaluate these actions and their outcomes. According to Jensen and Meckling, informational variables are key to the structure of organizations because the quality of decisions is determined by the quality of information available to the decision maker. The co-location of information and decision rights enables the decision maker to make optimal decisions. The implementation of this co-location depends on the nature of the pertinent information. Jensen and Meckling distinguish between specific knowledge which is localized, difficult to represent and transfer, and depends on idiosyncratic circumstances, and general knowledge which can be easily summarized, communicated and shared by decision makers. Now, there are two ways to bring information and decision rights together: (i) The MIS solution: transfer the information required for the decision to the decision maker, using the organizations (possibly non-automated) information systems; or (ii) the organizational redesign solution: redesign the organizational structure so that the decision making authority is where the pertinent information is. By definition, general knowledge which is useful for a decision calls for the MIS solution because it can be transferred at low cost. In contrast, when specific knowledge plays a key role in a decision, the best solution calls for restructuring decision  rights so as to provide the decision authority to the one who possesses or has access to the pertinent information (since the transfer of specific knowledge is too costly).4 Jensen and Meckling thus represent the structure of organizations as an efficient response to the structure of their information costs. But then, a change in information costs must induce a change in organizational structure. In particular, IT has changed the costs of processing and transferring certain types of information (e.g. quantitative data), but has done little for other types (e.g. implicit knowledge or skills). IT changes the structure of organizations by facilitating certain information flows as well as by turning knowledge that used to be specific into general knowledge. By developing a taxonomy of information types and identifying the differential impacts of new technologies on their transferability and importance, we can take a significant step towards applying the simple insight that information and authority should be co-located [11] . Intra-organizational networks and workgroup computing facilities reduce the information costs of teamwork and hence make it a more efficient solution to the organizational design problem. Client-server computing technology lowers cross-functional (as well as geographic) barriers. IT (when applied properly) streamlines the types of information that used to be the raison detre of middle management quantitative control information and turns it into general knowledge that can be readily transmitted to, and processed by, people other than those who originally gathered the data. A reduction in the number of management layers and the thinning out of middle management ranks is the predictable result. Similar considerations apply to enterprises that cross firm boundaries. As a simple example, consider the organization of trading activities [12, 13, 14] . Traditionally, trading took place on the floor of an exchange, which was the locus of numerous pieces of specific knowledge, ranging from the hand signals indicating bids and offers to buy and sell a security to traders facial expressions and the atmosphere on the floor of the exchange. Under that structure, much of the information pertinent to trading is specific and  localized to the floor. Thus, when an investor instructs her broker to sell 1,000 shares of a given stock, the broker transmits the order to the floor of the exchange and only the floor broker attempts to provide best execution. The decision rights (here, for the trading decisions) are naturally delegated to the decision maker who has the pertinent specific knowledge, and since that knowledge resides on the floor of the exchange, the floor broker is best suited to have the decision rights. Technology, and in particular screen-based systems, turns much of the specific knowledge on the floor (i.e., bids and offers) into general knowledge. This shifts decision rights up from the floor to the brokers screens. The inevitable result is the decline of the trading floor and the increased importance of brokers trading rooms. The demise of the trading floor in exchanges that turned to screen-based trading (such as London and Paris) is a natural outcome of the shift in the locus of knowledge. More generally, markets in particular, electronic markets transform specific knowledge into general knowledge [15] . Ironically, even as IT has sped up many links of the information processing chain and vastly increased the amount of information available to any one decision-maker, it has also led to the phenomenon of information overload. This can perhaps best be understood by a generalization of the Jensen and Meckling framework to include finite human information processing capacity. As more information moves from the specific category to the general category, the limiting factor becomes not what information is available but rather a matter of finding the human information processing capacity needed to attend to and process the information. Computers appear to have exacerbated the surfeit of information relative to processing capacity, perhaps because the greatest advances have occurred in the processing and storage of structured data, which is generally a complement, not a substitute, for human information processing. As computer and communications components increase their speed, the human bottleneck in the information processing chain becomes ever more apparent. Information overload, when interpreted in light of this framework, can provide an explanation for the increased autonomy and pay-for-performance  that characterize a number of descriptions of the new managerial work (cf. [6] ). Economizing on information costs means that more decision rights are delegated to line managers who possess the idiosyncratic, specific knowledge necessary to accomplish their tasks. Shifting responsibility from the overburdened top of the hierarchy to line personnel not only reduces the information processing load at the top of the hierarchy, but also cuts down unnecessary communications up and down the hierarchy. This blurs the traditional distinction between conceptualization and execution and broadens the scope of decision rights delegated to lower level managers. By the Jensen-Meckling [10] framework, any such shift in decision authority (and in the associated routing of information) must also be accompanied by a change in the structure of incentives. Disseminating information more broadly is ever easier with IT, allowing line workers to take into account information that goes well beyond the formerly-narrow definitions of their job. Meanwhile, providing the right incentives for the newly empowered work force is an equally crucial element of the current reorganization of work. Agency theory predicts that performance-based pay is necessary when decision rights are decentralized (otherwise, the agents may be induced to act in ways that are inconsistent with overall organizational goals). It therefore follows that incentive-based compensation is appropriate for better-informed workers [16].5 Thus, the confluence of better-informed workers, an empowered workforce and more incentive-based pay is consistent with our thesis that IT is a key driver of the new organizational paradigm. Furthermore, the theory of incomplete contracts suggests that the analysis can be extended to include interorganizational changes such as increased reliance on outsourcing and networks of other firms for key components [17] . Here again the shift can be explained in incentive terms: one ultimate incentive is ownership, so entrepreneurs are likely to be more innovative and aggressive than the same individuals working as division managers. Both within and across organizations, then, changes in information systems are accompanied by changes in incentives and in the organization of work. 3. The Special Issue The papers in this special issue attest to the role of information systems in the structure of modern enterprise and the blurring of the differences between inter- and intra-firm transactions. Starting from the firms level, Barrons paper studies how a firm determines its internal organization and how IT affects this determination. Barron considers a traditional firm, with well-defined boundaries that are endogenously determined by considering flexibility and scope of control. Ching, Holsapple and Whinston broaden the scope of the enterprise to the network organization a construct obtained by tying together a number of firms that cooperate through a well-defined communication mechanism. Specifically, they use a bidding protocol to manage the relationship between suppliers and producers. Beath and Ang examine another form of inter-firm cooperation, the relational contract, in the context of software-development outsourcing. They show how relational contracts embody a relationship that can be characterized as a network consisting of two organizations. Whang studies a more subtle form of networking information sharing between buyers and suppliers. Bakos and Brynjolfsson examine the impact of incentives and information costs on the nature of buyer-supplier relationships. They show that committing to a partnership with a small number of suppliers can be an optimal strategy for a buyer because it will maximize the suppliers incentives for non-contractible investments such as information sharing, innovation or quality. The papers thus present a spectrum ranging from a study of the boundaries of the traditional firm through different forms of networking to explicit buyer-supplier relationships. A common theme is the organization of work so as to reduce overall information costs not only within an organization but across them as well. The surviving enterprise is often (though not always) the one that attempts to reduce information costs while capitalizing on the comparative advantage of the participating organizations. This calls for opportunistic cooperation that benefits the members of the network for as long as they cooperate. IT reduces the costs of such cooperation by  facilitating communication and increasing the flexibility of the participating organizations. Using the Jensen-Meckling terminology, different network participants can make more effective use of their specific knowledge when the costs of transferring and processing general knowledge are reduced. Further, technology enables the development of markets that, by their very nature, transform specific knowledge into general knowledge. Thus, the bidding and communications protocols proposed by Ching, Holsapple and Whinston in their paper Modeling Network Organizations effectively transform the specific knowledge inherent in the production technology of the competing suppliers into general knowledge that encompasses not only prices but also their reputations. From this perspective, IT is key to the development of network organizations. In his paper Impacts of Information Technology on Organizational Size and Shape: Control and Flexibility Effects, Barron builds a stylized quantitative model to study the impact of IT on the structure of organizations. Examining flexibility and scope of control, he identifies sixteen different cases with different patterns of the actual causality between IT and firm structure. Barron shows that simplistic statements regarding the impact of IT are not as straightforward as one might imagine due to the interaction of size, scope and flexibility. His results suggest that the impact of IT is rather complex, and that further specification is necessary prior to making predictions on the impact of IT on organizational size or shape. Hierarchical Elements in Software Contracts by Beath and Ang focuses on the contractual structure of outsourced software development. This is an interesting example of the new organizational paradigm because of the key role of information systems in any organization. Effective software development hinges on cooperation, communication and joint management which are at the heart of the new organizational paradigm. Beath and Ang examine the mechanisms used to govern outsourcing projects as specified in their outsourcing contracts. They suggest that the relational contract, which converts an arms-length transaction into a joint project with governance and resolution procedures that resemble those used by firms internally, is an  effective way to accomplish this. Thus, while Ching, Holsapple and Whinston view bidding and explicit reputation formation as the alphabet of the network organization, Beath and Ang view actual contract clauses as the key linguistic constructs. The paper shows how the structure of the contract is driven by the attributes of the project as well as those of the parties to the transaction. In Analysis of Economic Incentives for Inter-Organizational Information Sharing, Whang addresses the question of information sharing in non-cooperative buyer-supplier settings. Whang studies this question for two different models. He first shows that due to adverse incentives, suppliers will not be willing to share information regarding their costs. The situation is different when the information to be conveyed is regarding the expected delay or lead time. Whang shows that suppliers are better off disclosing lead-time information to buyers (when the demand curve for their product is convex). This result is consistent with our general thesis, whereas the former one introduces a note of caution: adverse incentives pose limits to the scope of information sharing among network organizations. In From Vendors to Partners: Information Technology and Incomplete Contracts in Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Bakos and Brynjolfsson start with the assumption that, in many cases, complete information exchange between two firms will be infeasible, so any contract between them will be incomplete in the sense that some contingencies will remain unspecified. They then explore how the interplay of IT and organizational structure can affect the role of non-contractible investments, such as innovation, quality and the exchange of information. For example, Bakos and Brynjolfsson show that when fewer suppliers are employed, they collectively capture a larger share of the benefits of the relationship, and this will increase their incentives to make non-contractible investments. As a result, even when search costs are very low, it may be desirable for the buyer to limit the number of employed suppliers, leading to a partnership-type of relationship, rather than aggressively bargaining for all the benefits by threatening to switch among numerous alternative suppliers. Like Whang, they show that the incentive effects of the applications of IT must be explicitly considered in any model  of their effect on inter-organizational cooperation. 4. Conclusion In this paper, we have stressed the joint determination of the location of information and decision rights. The default mechanism used to achieve this co-location depends on ones point of reference. Information Systems researchers are likely to take the locus of decision authority for granted. They will typically focus their attention on devising schemes that will efficiently organize, retrieve, sort, filter, transmit and display information for designated decision makers. In contrast, the economist is likely to focus on the allocation of decision rights and the concomitant effect on incentives.6 As we discussed in Section 2, transferring information and transferring decision authority are two sides of the same question. Because economics and information systems research evolved to address different problems, this complementarity long went unnoticed. Each of the papers in the special issue addresses a different aspect of the interplay among information, incentives and the structure of economic enterprise. In every case, insights resulted when both information and incentives were explicitly considered. Each paper contributes an additional piece to an emerging mosaic that describes not only the features of the new organization, but also gives some insight into their theoretical underpinnings. The papers in this special issue also highlight the incomplete state of knowledge in the subject area and the dearth of empirical guidance to the formulation and testing of theoretical research. We started this paper with a discussion of the computer industry as the canonical example of the new paradigm as exercised in Silicon Valley, and continued by arguing that its products actually fuel the shift to this paradigm. It is only appropriate to close the loop by examining the dictum of that paradigm as it applies to the inner workings of firms in the computer industry. A major effort along these lines in being undertaken by one of the authors and his colleagues in Stanford Universitys Computer Industry Project. Understanding these changes so that they can be harnessed for productive ends remains a central challenge for the next decade of research. The rapid progress in designing computers and communications systems contrasts starkly with the uncertainty clouding organizational design. Yet, new ways of organizing will be necessary before the potential of IT can be realized. Furthermore, because the new organizational paradigms involve numerous complementarities, the trial-and-error methods which were important in the rise of the organizational forms of the past century, such as large hierarchies and mass markets, may be unsuited for making the next transition. Understanding and implementing one aspect of a new organizational structure without regard to its interaction with other aspects can leave the make the organization worse off than if no modifications at all were made. Design, rather than evolution, is called for when significant changes must be made along multiple dimensions simultaneously. Successful organizational design, in turn, requires that we understand the flow of information among humans and their agents every bit as well as we understand the flow of electrons in chips and wires. Perhaps, then, the revolution in information processing capabilities not only calls for a change in business organization, but also a re-evaluation of the historic separation between Information Systems and Economics. REFERENCES [1] Meyers, G. The Science of Management. In C. B. Thompson (Eds.), Scientific Management Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914. [2] Kanter, R. M. The New Managerial Work. Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, 1989, pp. 85-92. [3] Peters, T. Thriving on Chaos, Handbook for a Management Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1988. [4] Milgrom, P. and Roberts, J. The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization. American Economic Review, Vol. 80, No. 3, 1990. [5] Jaikumar, R. Post-Industrial Manufacturing. Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1986, pp. 69-76. [6] Brynjolfsson, E. Information Technology and the New Managerial Work. Working Paper # 3563-93. MIT, 1990. [7] Galbraith, J. Organizational Design. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1977. [8] Hayek, F. A. The Use of Knowledge in Society. American Economic Review, Vol. 35, No. 4, 1945. [9] Miller, W. F. The Economy of Choice. In Strategy, Technology and American Industry HBS Press, 1987. [10] Jensen, M. and Meckling, W. Knowledge, Control and Organizational Structure Parts I and II. In Lars, Werin and Hijkander (Eds.), Contract Economics (pp.251-274). Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1992. [11] Mendelson, H. On Centralization and Decentralization. Stanford, forthcoming, 1993. [12] Amihud, Y. and Mendelson, H. An Integrated Computerized Trading System. In Market Making and the Changing Structure of the Securities Industry (pp. 217-235). Lexington Heath, 1985. [13] Amihud, Y. and Mendelson, H. (1989). The Effects of Computer-Based Trading on Volatility and Liquidity. In H. C. Lucas Jr. and R. A. Schwartz (Eds.), The Challenge of Information Technology for the Securities Markets. (pp. 59-85). Dow Jones-Irwin. [14] Amihud, Y. and Mendelson, H. Liquidity, Volatility and Exchange Automation. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Vol. 3, Fall, 1988, pp. 369-395. [15] Malone, T. W., Yates, J. and Benjamin, R. I. Electronic Markets and Electronic Hierarchies. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 30, No. 6, 1987, pp. 484-497. [16] Baker, G. P. Incentive Contracts and Performance Measurement. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 100, No. 3, June, 1992. [17] Brynjolfsson, E. An Incomplete Contracts Theory of Information, Technology, and Organization. Management Science, forthcoming, 1993.

Plato and The Renaissance Essay -- Philosophy

Plato (428-347 B.C.E.) is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers the world has ever known. Though concerned with specific problems of his own era, Plato's ideas transcend all time. Throughout the ages his works have been translated into many languages and studied by great thinkers of every region of the world. A revival of Platonic thought occurred during the Renaissance. Though Plato's ideas have survived in their original forms, translators and commentators during Renaissance times often understood them in a very different way than intended. Plato's ideas were ahead of their time, but he was nevertheless clearly a product of Classical Greek culture. Many of his dialogues question beliefs of and praise the Greek gods. Political concerns revolved around political systems common in his day, and the distaste for democracy present in his Republic focuses specifically on the form of democracy present in Athens during that time.1 For his time, Plato's work depicts women in a very positive light, but it is still evident that the opinion of women as second class citizens in ancient Greece influenced his opinion. Plato's Republic allows for and expects woman to participate in his ideal ruling class of philosopher kings, but the language used to describe women's roles is nevertheless demeaning.2 In Plato's Socratic dialogues, a plethora of examples representative of the age are used to explain and defend claims, referencing recent wars, politicians in recent history, and Homeric poetry. Plato may have never become the world renowned philosopher that he is considered to be today if it had not been for Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.). Plato was Socrates' most famous pupil, and Socrates was such an inspiration to him that... ...): 406- 439. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1353/ren.2008.0331 Kellermann, Frederick. "Montaigne, Reader of Plato." Comparative Literature, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Autumn, 1956): 307-322. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1768763 Lee, Desmond, trans. The Republic, 2nd ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Oliver, Revilo P.. "Plato and Salutati." Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 71, (1940): 315-334. http://www.jstor.org/stable/283132 Schachter, Marc. "Louis Le Roy’s Sympose de Platon and Three Other Renaissance Adaptions of Platonic Eros." Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Summer 2006): 406-439. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1353/ren.2008.0331 Somfai, Anna. "The Eleventh-Century Shift in the Reception of Plato's "Timaeus" and Calcidius's "Commentary"." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 65, (2002): 1-21

How Does the Writer Tell the Story in Godiva? Essay

Godiva is poem written by Alfred Tennyson about a well known myth regarding a woman named Godiva. The Earl who ruled Coventry wanted the people to pay more tax which they could not afford. Godiva asked him to lower the tax, and the Earl told her he would repeal the tax if she rode through the town naked. Godiva therefore agreed to this, and the townspeople stayed inside and shut all the doors and windows so no one would see Godiva, allowing her to keep her dignity. Godiva rode through the town naked on her horse, however someone peeped through a hole to see Godiva exposed. His eyes shrivelled into his head and he never saw Godiva naked. She saved her people by sacrificing herself and took the tax away. Godiva is a narrative poem written in blank verse and unrhymed iambic pentameter. This form shows respect towards the character, and helps to enhance the poem’s message. Rather than being lyrical, the narrative form and slow pace gives Godiva dignity and admiration for the sacrifice she made to save her people. Godiva is the Earl’s wife, so in actual fact she is Lady Godiva, however Tennyson chooses not to use her status to enhance the meaning and inspiration behind what she did. It’s not about who she is; it’s about what she did. The poem is written in chronological order regarding the event. This helps the reader understand the situation better, as we understand the desperation and pain of the townspeople, and then we are taken on Godiva’s journey through the town. As a reader we feel the tension of every stride of her sacrifice, and therefore have a full understanding of the appreciation and respect the people feel towards Godiva. Tennyson has written this poem in third person narrative. There is also some direct speech present. The direct speech on line 15 is effective because it highlights the people’s desperation, and Godiva’s voice on line 20 echoes the townspeople. The poem begins with a four line stanza in first person as if it is the poet speaking. As a reader, this draws our attention to the poet’s respect for Godiva; Tennyson is inspired by her. The first stanza prepares us for Godiva’s sacrifice. Tennyson describes the situation and the people’s feelings, and then goes on to tell us the Earl’s request. The Earl is not given a name, and by doing this Tennyson makes him seem more monstrous and evil. When the Earl talks to Godiva, Tennyson portrays him as being very dismissive and patronising. He also speaks rather informally, reflecting that he does not behave like an Earl should, and this is made obvious when we discover his proposal to Godiva. The break in the stanza gives the reader a chance to reflect and take in what has happened. This pause builds anticipation and mystery as to whether Godiva will accept the challenge. Purity and innocence are key symbols throughout the poem. The mention of eagles in the third stanza represents wealth and pride. Godiva is proud to help her people. There is natural beauty in her sacrifice and the use of alliteration when describing her hair emphasises this purity. The fact that no one sees her naked shows how much people respect her and admire her for what she has done. Tennyson builds tension in the penultimate stanza by the use of long sentences with small clauses. As a reader we are taken on Godiva’s journey, and we feel the pain of every moment of her sacrifice. Tennyson chooses to put a dark twist on the myth when the boy peeped to look at Godiva. This is another effective way that reflects the respect for Godiva. The poem ends with the line â€Å"and built herself an everlasting name†. This shows the impact of her sacrifice, and the respect and admiration will remain forever.

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen Essay

Henrik Ibsen writes realistically, meaning that he writes in a way which is relatable and constant to the time period and characters. He doesn’t get overly dramatic. There are multiple themes in Hedda Gabler such as Manipulation, Wealth, Reputation, and Death. Since it is a play, it does not have a point of view. Summary Hedda Gabler is a play that takes place entirely in the living room and another room off to the side in the fashionable side of Christiana, Norway, in 1890 or earlier. The newlywed couple of Jurgen and Hedda Tesman come back from their 6 month honeymoon and wake to find that Jurgan Tesman’s aunt Julle has come for a visit. This scene establishes Hedda’s disinterest in Tesman, as she is rude to his aunt and him. A woman named Mrs. Elvested arrives and informs the crowd that Tesmans rival, Ejlert, is back in town and she is concerned that being back in town will cause him to fall back into old alcoholic habits. Later, Judge Brack arrives and brings gossip from the town. He tells Tesman that Ejlert is a candidate for the professor position that he wants stirring up worry between Tesman and Hedda. Judge Brack and Hedda have a private conversation and decide to become confidants and Hedda confesses that she is bored with Tesman and unpleased with the house he bought her. Tesman arrives back and drinks with Brack while Hedda and Ejlert make conversation. Hedda is bored and decides to pit Ejlert and Mrs. Elvested against each other, causing Ejlert to start drinking again and upset Mrs. Elvested. Tesman, Brack, and Ejlert leave for a party that Brack is throwing. Mrs. Elvested is concerned but Ejlert promises to return to escort her home. Mrs. Elvested goes in another room to sleep when Tesman comes home. He announces to Hedda that he has Ejlert’s manuscript that he dropped when he was walking home and he intends to return in. Brack arrives and informs them that Ejlert got arrested. Brack leaves and then Ejlert gets there and tells Mrs. Elvested that he destroyed the manuscript, unaware that Tesman is in possession of it. He later confesses to Hedda that he lost it and is now suicidal. Hedda gives him a pistol and tells him to die beautifully. She burns his manuscript. Act four begins with everyone dressed in black for Tesman’s Aunt Rina’s death. Mrs. Elvested arrives and tells everyone that Ejlert is in the hospital. Then, Brack arrives and tells them that he is dead, a gunshot wound to the chest. Tesman and Mrs. Elvested try to reconstruct Ejlert’s manuscript and Brack tells Hedda that his death was messy and an accident. He also tells her that scandal will probably befall her. She goes into a side room and plays the piano for a bit before shooting herself. Conflict, Climax, Resolution The conflicts in the story are that Mrs. Elvsted is distraught and has left her husband, Ejlert could start drinking again, the Judge wants Hedda in one way or another, and Tesman has to compete for his professorship. The climax is when Hedda burns Ejlert’s manuscript and then aides in his suicide. The denouement is when the judge explains everything and Mrs. Elvested and Tesman work on reconstructing the manuscript. Character Analysis Hedda Gabler is the antagonist of the story, causing most of the conflicts. She was raised in a wealthy family and when she married Tesman she had to accommodate to much less fortune than she is used to. She is manipulative and cruel to most of the characters in the play. Jurgan Tesman is Hedda’s husband. Although he is vastly intelligent, he is oblivious to her cruelty. He tries very hard to please her and went to great lengths to buy her a house a support her and provide everything she needs. He was raised by his Aunt Julle. Judge Brack is essential to the story because he is Hedda’s closest confidant. He also brings news to the story; he serves as sort of a gossip source. He visits the Tesman residence often, as he is close with both Tesman and Hedda. Ejlert Lovberg is Tesman’s long-time academic rival. He is Tesman’s only competitor for a professorship. He is back in town and has a published novel with good reviews. He also has a manuscript for another novel. He once shared a close relationship with Hedda. Mrs. Elvested hired Ejlert as a tutor for her children but grew attached and now acts as his assistant/secretary and travels with him for his writing. She is concerned about his drinking problem. Mrs. Elvested also went to school with Hedda where she was bullied by her.

Managers, Operations and Management

Managers, Operations and Management Free Online Research Papers Managers have many functions in an organization. Traditionally, the term management refers to the set of activities, and often the group of people, involved in four general functions, including planning, organizing, leading and coordinating activities. Organizations often have 3 levels of managers. First-line managers are responsible for day-to-day operation. They also supervise the people performing the activities required to make the good or service. Middle managers supervise first-line managers. They are also responsible to find the best way to use departmental resources to achieve goals. Top managers are responsible for the performance of all departments and have cross-departmental responsibility. They establish organizational goals and monitor middle managers (jpkc). There are four functions for managers to use to assist and ease in making decisions on goals and projects. Those functions are: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. All four functional areas are important and require attention for an organization to succeed. In regards to managing there is numerous projects that need focus and attention. Planning functional area of management is the first essential phase of the overall management process. What comes out of planning provides a need for the other functional areas of management: organizing, leading and controlling. Planning Planning is the process used by managers to identify and select appropriate goals and courses of action for an organization. Three good steps to planning are: Which goals should be pursued? How should the goal be attained? How should the resources be allocated? This function is used to determine how effective and productive the organization is and used in the strategy process of the organization. Planning, including identifying goals, objectives, methods, resources needed to carry out methods, responsibilities and dates for completion of tasks. Examples of planning are strategic planning, business planning, project planning, staffing planning, advertising and promotions planning, etc (jpkc). Planning can be described as â€Å"specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve those goals† (Bateman Snell, 2004, p. 15). Organizing Organizing is the management function of assembling and coordinating human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals. Managers will group people into departments according to the tasks performed. They will also decide the lines of authority and responsibility for members. An organizational structure is the outcome of organizing. This structure coordinates and motivates employees so that they work together to achieve goals. In their work (â€Å"Management: The New Competitive Landscape,† 2004), authors Bateman and Snell define the organizing function of management as â€Å"assembling and Coordinating the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals† (p. 15). Organizing resources to achieve the goals in an optimum fashion. Examples are organizing new departments, human resources, office and file systems, re-organizing businesses, and billing departments. Leading Leading is the management function that involves the manager’s efforts to stimulate high performance by employees. In leading, managers decide the direction to take; state a clear vision for employees to follow, and help employees understand the role they play in attaining goals. Leadership involves a manager using power in an assertive way, influence, vision, persuasion, and communication skills. The outcome of the leading function is a high level of motivation and commitment from employees to the organization. Leadership is a management functional area that can come into play early during planning, especially when it is evident that an idea needs to be communicated, gain support for a concept, or just simply communicate the nature of a project. Leading, including setting direction for the organization, groups and individuals and also influencing people to follow that direction. Examples are establishing strategic direction, vision, values, mission and goals, and championing methods of organizational performance management to pursue that direction (jpkc). Control Managers who control are able to evaluate how well the organization is achieving its goals and takes corrective action to improve performance. They will monitor individuals, departments, and the organization to determine if desired performance has been reached. Managers will also take action to increase performance as required. The outcome of the controlling function is the accurate measurement of performance and regulation of efficiency and effectiveness. Control provides feedback by which daily activities can be directed toward achieving goals and objectives. As a manager, you receive feedback and able to make adjustments to improve productivity, identify and take corrective action, and take control when opportunities exist for growth. The manager controls the organization’s processes and structures to effectively and efficiently reaches goals and objectives. This includes ongoing collection of feedback, and monitoring and adjustment of systems, processes and structures acco rdingly. The management functional area of controlling consists of processes, procedures and indicators by which one can measure the degree of success or failure associated with an enterprise. Examples include use of financial controls, policies and procedures, performance management processes, measures to avoid risks etc. Another common view is that management is getting things done through others. Yet another view, quite apart from the traditional view, asserts that the job of management is to support employees efforts to be fully productive members of the organizations and citizens of the community. Conclusion As we enter into the new generation of management, there are new functions of management; they help to define the new reality of the workplace and the new partnership of managers and employees working together to meet common goals. They are: energize, empower, support, and communicate. Managers make things happen. They create energy instead of taking from the department and from the organization; they channel and amplify it back to the organization. Successful managers create compelling visions for their employees to strive for, and then they get out of the way. They delegate responsibility and the authority necessary to get a job done. To achieve their goals, managers depend on the skills that their employees offer them and their organizations. Increasingly, managers are becoming coaches, colleagues, and cheerleaders for the employees they support rather than prison wardens or executioners. The best managers allow their employees to make mistakes or to disagree with the status quo with no fear of retribution. Information is power and information must be communicated throughout an organization quickly and efficiently. To most employees, the term management probably means the group of people (executives and other managers) who are primarily responsible for making decisions in the organization. In a nonprofit, the term management might refer to all or any of the activities of the board, executive director and/or program directors. Whatever the term, managers use the four functions to the best of their ability to accomplish many goals. It is up to each manager to also incorporate the new functions of management to energize and empower employees, to support them and communicate all necessary information within that organization. Work Cited Bateman, T.S., Snell, S.A. (2004). Management: The new competitive landscape. (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Jpkc. (2005). What is management? Retrieved November 23, 2005 from http://jpkc.szpt.edu.cn/english/supplement/Unit1/management%20functions.htm. Nelson, Bob. (2005). The new functions of management. Retrieved November 23, 2005 from bizjournals.com/bizwomen/consultants/return_on_people/2000/04/24/column 76.html. Research Papers on Managers, Operations and ManagementThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfLifes What IfsInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalOpen Architechture a white paperThe Hockey GameRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andResearch Process Part One

Christian muslim relation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christian muslim relation - Essay Example My prayers have really improved after I gained an understanding of the Surah that declares Tawheed, Du’a, and the practical aspect of the Muslim conduct. The entire Surah stresses the importance of making supplication for all. When I read the Surah I learn that Allah has anger towards those that reject the truth since they go astray due to their ignorance. I believe the knowledge of the tafsir will enable one to know the consequences for sins while Muslim faithful can ask to guide them to a straight path. The words You alone we worship and from you alone we seek help give me comfort during salah and the rest of the day since Allah helps me out in my difficult situations. I have learned that Allah has chosen this Surah as the second pillar of Islam since it opens some of the greatest miracles. The Surah summarizes the purpose of life as I worship Allah since he is always merciful. May Allah always keep my feet on Siraat al-Mustaqeem, Inshallah. Ayah 76 of the Surah state that, â€Å"And when Jews met the Muslims they assert, we believe†, but they met in privacy they cite, â€Å"Shall we tell the Muslims what Allah has revealed to us Jews concerning the characteristics and the description of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Muslims argue concerning the writing of the Torah before the Lord. Have the Jews got no understanding? This ayah Allah informs us concerning the children of Israel, the nation where Jews and Christians originated. Allah charged this nation with the duty of carrying his message to humanity. Allah did this and showed the nation many signs and miracles to convince them that he is a rational person while they became unreceptive to the truth and hardened their hearts. The nation failed to accept the message from Allah since the Message was the Truth and they did not submit to it. The nation had immense love of the worldly pleasures and love of themselves as they rejected the Message since they ha rdened their hearts.

Abraham Lincoln. His Life and Achievements Research Paper

Abraham Lincoln. His Life and Achievements - Research Paper Example He was a man of character, integrity and strength. In the present discourse, an attempt is being made to understand Lincoln’s life, achievements, struggles, failures and their impact on America based on existing literature. Lincoln’s childhood: Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12 1809 in Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. His childhood was something that even Lincoln was never excited about because of the poverty and other challenges he had to face (Charnwood, 13). Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. His enduring struggle was to end slavery in America and to economically transform the nation. As a young boy, Abraham Lincoln was involved in helping his father and his neighbors (p. 15). Lincoln owes his mental qualities to his mother as well as his step mother. Lincoln’s step mother was instrumental in the minimal education that he received with parental support. Lincoln has the ability to attract crowd even from his earlier years of adolescence. This is evident from Charnwood’s statement, ‘Lincoln was a person of high consideration among the lads of his age and company’ (p.20). Literature related to Lincoln’s reading habits highlights his immense love for reading and reading habits. During his teenage, he read books like Aesop’s Fables, Robinson Crusoe, The Piligrim’s Progress, A History of the United States, Weem’s Life of Washington and even Revised Statuses of Indiana (Charnwood, 21). Even before he reached the age of 20, Lincoln had a deep understanding of how his nation functioned, the principles policies and its governance (Tarbell, 34). Lincoln left his home at 22 and settled in New Salem, Illinois, which were the foundational years for his future. Based on his own efforts, Lincoln acquired some formal education for next few years; he entered the legal profession at the age of 27 (Wilson, 15-19). His achievements in the field of law studies and the profession are attributed to his own hard work and constant struggle. His struggles in the profession of law as well as politics have been immense and are epitome of an ideal le ader and a winner ever since he was elected as the President. Political affiliation: Abraham Lincoln’s first successful electoral is associated with the Sangamon County as the surveyor in 1834 and followed by the Illinois house of representatives as a representative for the Sangamon County in 1836. Lincoln was elected for the Illinois legislature during subsequent 3 years (Chin, 34). As explained by Mansch, Lincoln’s entry into politics is associated with the Nebraska Bill and did succeed in winning a seat in the Illinois legislature around 1854 (p.41). But, Lincoln resigned this post because he wanted to challenge Stephen Douglas, who was responsible for opposing anti-slavery. At this time, Lincoln struggled to gain political identity. Lincoln was deeply moved by the group fighting against slavery, known as free-soilers or anti-Nebraskans that was formed during 1854. At this time, Lincoln knew that he wanted a stable party that shared his political ideals and could be lieve in creating a prominent party of the future. Two years later, i.e. in 1856, different groups with these ideals supporting anti-slavery gathered in Bloomington, which Lincoln attended. Lincoln appropriately used this opportunity to bring together various groups that were fighting against slavery, poverty, and for democracy. Lincoln’s deep desire to abolish slavery and achieve a liberal democracy had made him say, ‘I have no objection to ‘fuse’ with anybody provided I can fuse on ground which I think is right’ (qtd. in Mansch, p.41). Lincoln’s personal experiences with the blacks were minimal, yet he was aware of the slavery