Southwest’s Competititve Advantage

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT METRICS ASSIGNMENT-1 SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. How does Southwest Airlines get its competitive advantage? 2. How does Southwest Airlines execute its strategy? 1. How does Southwest Airlines get its competitive advantage? Southwest Airlines uses a Cost Leadership Strategy, however most pricing strategists would agree that having a low price does not, in itself, constitute a competitive advantage. In fact, thinking that low prices are always a good strategy for competition is deeply misguided.However, at times, targeting low prices can lead to a strategic focus which delivers tremendous results. Modern competitive strategy will often examine firms from a resource-based view. According to this lens, competitive advantage derives from leveraging an inimitable resource to deliver value at a lower cost than the competitors. Price is a completely imitable resource. Any company can match the prices of its competitor if it so chooses. H ence, arguing that a low price is a strategic resource, or that it leads to a competitive advantage in and of itself, is illogical.Southwest Airlines has used the target pricing and utilized a marketing orientation since its infancy in 1971, even though these concepts were not fully defined back then. First, starting with the customers and the value they sought, Southwest Airlines initial target was customers traveling between cities in Texas, specifically between Dallas and Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, San Antonio and Houston. While Texas is larger than many countries, it isn’t so large that people can’t drive from city to city.Hence initially, the most comparable alternative to Southwest, and therefore its prime competition, wasn’t other airlines. Instead, it was the car. In uncovering the car as the competing alternative, Southwest was able to also identify the target price of its offering. Second, to compete with the car, Southwest Airlines had to price their service relatively similar to the cost of car travel. With this target in mind, they chose $20. While $20 is lower than the government allowable tax deduction for travel, it is also significantly higher than the price of gas alone to drive between these cities.Thus, at this $20 price, Southwest Airlines could be confident that it would capture many of the travelers that would have driven and convert them into short-hop air travelers. Third, the product was redefined to serve customers at this low price profitably. Consider what was removed from air travel and what was included instead. The table below enumerates the key points Points 1 Removed Reduced reservations flexibility: Reservations primarily made directly Southwest Airlines as they eschewed working with travel agents.No connections between airlines: Southwest Airlines would not transfer baggage between flights. Included or Added Simplicity in Pricing: Flat rate of $20 per leg of the journey. Also reduced the cost of pr ice management, as no yield management system was needed initially. Higher convenience in terms of on-time arrivals: With a simplified fight route between lesser used airports, Southwest was able to operate more reliably. Higher convenience in flight frequency: With point to point flights, Southwest could offer service between Houston and Dallas with the same plane roughly every 2. hours. 2 3 No long-haul flights: Southwest Airlines customers could only take Southwest between a city-pair, not across the country or even across state lines initially. This greatly reduced cost of compliance with CAB rulings, as Southwest’s operations were not subject to interstate commerce rulings. 4 No in-flight meals: Southwest Airlines only offered peanuts and beverages. Fun: Friendly flight attendants provided jokes, costumes, and made flying comfortable with warm and caring service. Faster boarding times leading to faster flight turnarounds.More seats: With one class of service, Southwest A irlines could put 137 seats in a 737 versus 128 in a United Airlines 737. 5 6 No seat assignments: First come, first seated. No first class: One-class service. 7 Does not fly into major airports: or uses Use of underutilized airports that are less major airports concentrates on point close to metropolitan cities: reduced to point connections costs, punctuality Use of multiple aircraft types Frequent flyer program does not use miles earned Uses fuel efficient 737s: reduces maintenance and training costs Based on number of trips flown: reduced operating costs 9 From this list, we see a number of items which an airline would usually use to define superior value removed from Southwest Airlines offer. A Southwest customer couldn’t be treated to first class, couldn’t get food, couldn’t book them as part of a larger trip, couldn’t book with them through an agent, and couldn’t even preselect their seat. All of these features were exactly what defined a com petitive airline at the time. And, all of these features added cost.Instead, Southwest Airlines selected a specific target customer — a Texan traveling between cities in Texas — and then determined what it would take to satisfy that customer. ? ? ? That customer was far more interested in travel efficiency than travel class. That customer would be glad to forgo a meal, especially in exchange for a friendly flight attendant and a Dr. Pepper. That customer was trading off driving for flying, and needed flexibility in booking rather than navigating through the decisions and planning related to yield management.This service described does not meet the wants of every customer that could have flown Southwest Airlines, but it does describe those of the target customer. And, given the choice of mediocrely satisfying everyone at a high cost or highly satisfying a select few at a low but profitable price, Southwest Airlines rightly chose the latter. As a result of tightly defini ng the value sought by customers (efficient and flexible travel), and the price ($20), Southwest was able to meet the needs and surpass the expectations of their target customer.Moreover, it was able to do this at a significantly lower cost than a standard airline. So can low prices deliver a competitive advantage? NO, not alone. But target pricing, where the price and benefits demanded by customer leads to a strategic focus that drives a redefinition of the product and service, can deliver a winning competitive advantage. One where a customer need is met at a cost below the price the target market is willing to pay. BALANCED SCORECARD FOR SWA 2. How does Southwest Airlines execute its strategy?Southwest Airlines is probably one of the most striking examples of a company that (a) Defined a very clear and simple key business purpose, (b) Chose the right business model to support the business purpose, and (c) Consistently demonstrates the core values and behaviors derived from that ke y business purpose. The brand promise of Southwest Airlines is: ‘Dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit'.Every single employee of the company is aligned with this brand promise and in spite of the current economic turmoil in the airline industrySouthwest's performance isamong the best in the industry. Staff morale is exceptionally high. In 1971, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started an airline service with one simple notion: â€Å"If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline†.Southwest currently has the lowest operating-cost structure in the US domestic airline industry and consistently offers the lowest and most of all simplest fares. Southwest holds the best cumulative customer satisfaction record for the past 18 years. In December 2008, the airline had 35,499 employees and generated total operating revenues of $11 billion (2007 = $ 9. 8 billion, 2001 = $ 5. 3 billion) from a passenger load factor of 71. 2% with a fleet of 537 Boeing 737’s.Its stock exchange symbol is ‘LUV’, representing Southwest’s home at Dallas Love Field, as well as the theme of its employee and customer relationships. The major success to their continued success seems due to their low-cost model and competitors being aware that they cannot match Southwest Airlines’ low prices. Southwest Airlines has the reputation of being able to force a competitor into bankruptcy. It is believed, however, that it was not just the choice of its business model that made Southwest Airlines such a successful company; it is the way they execute their business model through perfect strategic alignment.Southwest Airlines succeeded in defining a very simple yet clear key business purpose; the fact that they aim for being â€Å"the only short haul, low fare, high frequency, point-to-point carrier in America† leaves very little room for interpretation. What makes Southwest Airlines’ key business purpose such a powerful one however, is not just the very clear definition of their ‘raison d’ etre’, but certainly also what the company and its leaders do with it.Their simple but effective key business purpose is the main guiding principle for Southwest Airlines’ strategic goals, business strategy, organizational infrastructure, and last – but certainly not least – their company culture. The organization of Southwest Airlines is best described as an upside-down pyramid – an organization very much in line with the way they want to do business. The upper management is at the bottom and supports the front line employees, who are the experts.Front line employees play a major role in the yearly business planning and operational budget which for a great part is done bottom-up rather than top-down. This is the fruit of co-founder Herb Kelleher's unorthodox leadership style, in which management decisions are made by everyone in the organization, not just the head executives. The company does not put much emphasis on structure; instead, employees are encouraged to think freely without constraints such as titles or official mandates. The reason for Southwest Airline's success is due to their clear key business purpose and core values, and due to the way in hich they consistently execute their business model (a combination of ‘disruptive innovation’ and ‘customer intimacy’) in line with their key business purpose and core values. ? ? ? The Southwest Airlines fleet consists solely of Boeing 737s It offers only economy seats (there is no business or first class). Southwest Airlines also do not offer in-flight meals, only peanuts and other snacks. Southwest is simple and direct at the goal of their service ; â€Å"A primarily short-haul airline that flies directly from city to city, with just one type of plane – the Boeing 737 – and the lowest costs†.With a simple goal, Southwest has excised many of the ‘luxuries’ that competitors offer, such as luxury seats; this is made evident by their decision to enforce a rule for passengers who cannot fit into the seats to purchase an additional seat. This rather unpopular move – whereas other airlines would have suggested a more luxury class seat – is simple in its purpose – get passengers from point A to point B with a minimum of frills, but with a friendly smile and great personal service.While Southwest Airlines offer no frills, they do meet and exceed customer expectations when it comes to personal service. They base their model on the motto â€Å"If employees are happy, satisfied, dedicated, and energetic, they'll take real good care of the customers. When the customers are happy, the y come back. And that makes the shareholders happy†. Southwest invests in very good relations with all their employees. Employees are either of independent labor unions or have flexible contracts which allow employees to work longer hours (adapting the business model to the key business purpose)

Discrimination in US Judicial system

America judicial system has been accused of discrimination especially when it comes to mandatory sentences. There has been a serious disparity as far as sentences are concerned with some groups seemingly being favored by the law while others have been treated harshly. This state of affair is sad for this country as it seems to divide the country in classes especially on racial basis. The minority groups, the African American, Latinos and women have been seriously affected making human rights groups to agitate for the change of laws to apply equally among all the groups.These inequalities in the application of the laws seem to be retrogressive as far as our endeavor to make America an all equal country is concerned. The judicial system seems to be applying the law unfairly making some feel less American than others. This does not auger well for the national cohesion as the disadvantaged group may feel that this is an attempt to sideline them on various lines and they may opt to solve the problem in whatever means available to them including violence therefore affecting the America stability.These disparities not only affect the guilty but also the innocent who are harshly sentenced for the crimes they did not commit. (Kinzie, M 2002) This may be detrimental for the fight against crime. If we continue punishing so harshly and furthermore seem to discriminate, the crime rates will only rise as people especially those who are directly or indirectly affected by this discrimination in justice register their dissatisfaction on the unfair treatment opting to use violence. To fully address the disparities in sentencing in our judicial system, causes of this unfair treatment by our system need to be addressed carefully.Police Department which is charged with the role of apprehending the law offenders has been identified as on of the areas where the discrimination is so rampant. Many Americans have reported being searched or even arrested for the crimes the have not commi tted only because they had a different color or spoke with a different accent from that of the arresting officer. I t is the police who arrest and align the suspected law breakers to the court. I f they are biased in terms of race or other aspects the suspects may not feel that they will receive a fair treatment.The treatment may further be extended to the sentencing itself, therefore making the victims lose confidence on our judicial system. (Jeremy, K. 2004) Human rights groups have reported that there have been more arrests as far as minority groups are concerned. This has created a perception that the minorities commit crime than their white counterparts, this perception has even been extended to our judicial system with our judges being biased when a case involving a person from a minority, instead of looking critically at the facts laid down the issue of race clouds the system making him or her rule a harsh treatment.We may not entirely blame the police and the judges alone fo r the unfair treatment of the subject but our law system have failed to address the issues at hand. The laws seem to be biased from the word go and this perhaps is where the problem lies. Judges base their sentences on the law; the law prescribes a certain punishment on a particular crime committed. There are some of the laws that seem to be lenient on some offenders. Althugh this may not be directly proved there exists some disparities as far as sentences prescribed are concerned.Looking at the punishment through a social perspective one may not fail to notice that there is some form of discrimination of certain groups. A good case at hand is the issue of drugs, cocaine is one of the drugs that is abused by Americans of all walks of lives be they poor, rich, black, white and Latinos. Surprisingly the sentences prescribed differ when it comes to the type of cocaine in question. There are two types of coaine; the powdered form and the crack which is cooked in baking soda. Crack is ma inly used by the black and the Latinos populations while the powdered cocaine is mainly consumed by the rich whites.When the congress was passing this law on drug abuse there was a wrong indication that crack was more addictive than the powdered form and it resulted to more violent among its users therefore heavy punishment for its users as opposed to powder users who got lesser sentences. This law based on this argument, though good to deter the drug users have not addressed the issue at hand as it has been accused of discriminating on the lines of race and social classes. (Wolf, D 2006) American society can also be largely blame for the state of affairs that prevail in our judicial system.The laws are made by our representatives whom we elect, therefore the law makers represents our views and if we do not agree with them there are channels of addressing the issue. Our society is molded in such a way that segregation in terms of race class and other aspects is embraced therefore ou r judicial system just reflect who we are as a society. This does not mean that the status quo must prevail,we should embrace a situation where all are treated equally regardless of the race, creed or even the social class one occupies.This calls for the sensitizing of the masses on the need to look at each other as either brother or sister. This will go along way in creating equality in the society which will eventually been reflected in our laws hence implementation by our judiciary system. ( Hurst, C. 2001) Judicial department has a great role as long as equality in law is concerned, this department is mandated to interpret the law made by our legislators and if they seem to contravene the supreme constitution of our land the department has a responsibility of quashing these laws and advise the lawmakers on the shortcomings of these legislations.The laws which are discriminative in nature not only cause a great division in this nation but also cause great suffering to the victims as they are subjected to harsh treatment sometimes for the crimes they may have not committed but due to their inability to hire competent lawyers they fail to defend themselves therefore being punished. The judicial department should ensure that the judges who handle cases where discrimination may be cited are competent individual and have no history of racial prejudice.The department needs to empower the judges with skills that will ensure they handle such type of cases with seriousness they deserve as it is only through this way that our judicial system will be seen to serve all equally regardless of their race, creed or even the social status they hold in the society. Selection of juries is another area that needs to handled with a lot of caution some of them may be compromised to vote on a certain way which promotes the already existing disparity .The judiciary should make sure that men and women who are selected in the jury are people of high integrity, those who are not bias ed and show high respect for the all people regardless of diversity. Judges need to set precedent on application of the law equally, precedence that should be authoritative such that the whole system will adopt to ensure all who are brought before them are treated with fairness as required by the natural justice and our constitution as well.The judicial department needs to ensure that systems are in place for those who feel they have been discriminated to register their complaints and the necessary remedies taken. The appellate court should be fully empowered to address this issue comprehensively and in a manner that all will be satisfied and justice will have prevailed in such systems. (Murray, F 2003) With the responsibility of interpreting the laws being vested on this department by our constitution.The judicial system should uphold this responsibility and advise the congress to look at all those laws which seem to apply selectively. These laws need to be changed without deviatin g from their initial course of making them, which was to fight crime. They should be applied equally to all. We should not have some groups being treated leniently yet the magnitude of the crime is the same. The judiciary system can save this nation from the agony of going through another era of discrimination in our society.If it upholds the responsibility bestowed by the citizens of America through the constitution it can cement the gains we have so far made as far as eliminating segregations in our community is concerned. Criminals need to be treated equally and fairly, no one should receive punishment which is not equivalent to the crime committed neither should be there lesser punishment for a crime committed. It is only fair application of justice that this department will be viewed in the lenses of equalizing all the America as far as law is concerned. The department cannot accept failing as this will be doom for America as a nation. References Kinzie, M (2002) Product liability and litigation. Clifton Park, Newyork. Jeremy, K. (2004) Discrimination in our laws. American perspective. Straus and Graux.Newyork Wolf, D (2006) Law and the racial politics. Harper Collins, Newyork. Hurst, C. (2001) Crime and the law: social perspective.W.W.Norta, Newyork. Murray, F (2003) American judicial system. Sierra club books, Sanfrancisco

Article review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Article review - Essay Example The second recommendation that the article makes contends that math programs for children must shift from focusing on numeracy and begin to explore concepts and ideas, which will develop a more powerful foundation in math (Burghes, 2012). Thirdly, the article recommends that math teachers need to focus more on designing better lesson plans. By studying the Japanese structure of lesson study, in which the math teachers undergo professional development by using their ‘research lessons’ to share their practice (Burghes, 2012). The article contends that this type of professional development successfully changes approaches to teaching since it gets all teachers engaged and on board. In the lesson study, the article proposes that teachers should first come up with an overarching lesson study aim. In addition, they should agree on the objectives for each lesson among themselves, plan a research lesson that satisfies two or more of the objectives, carry out an in-depth review after teaching the lessons, and note action plans that will be disseminated to be used for the next lesson cycle. Finally, the author claims that learning mathematical concepts will only be improved with leadership. The math coordinator mus t be a leader in the initiative to improve teaching and learning of math concepts. The coordinator will take responsibility for supporting and encouraging the rest, discussion and monitoring their progress, and intervening in the presence of uncertainties and problems (Burghes, 2012). The article studies an innovative math program for children that have achieved impressive results in Hungary, which is called the Mathematics Enhancement Program (Burghes, 2012). Most of the lessons learnt from the article are relevant in the US math curriculum. It is non-confrontational and friendly, encouraging teachers to engage pupils in discussion to find solutions to problems in math. The innovative structure enables the lesson plans to support class

Managing change implementation for B&B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing change implementation for B&B - Essay Example There are competitive advantages that benchmarking provides, alongside setting a company on a path to growth and industry success. To initiate a change that would enable Kynance House to provide meaningful competition to industry giants like Imperial Plymouth Guesthouse, benchmarking will involve looking into the aspects of the business in which the latter excels. Imperial Plymouth Guesthouse is first of all situated in a strategic place just outside the city centre, and also near tourist attractions. Business location is important and determines performance in many cases, but that shouldn’t worry Kynance House much to the point of wanting to relocate to a different location. It would be one of the costliest moves. What Kynance needs to do is to observe Imperial guesthouse in terms of how it carries out business and its prioritized investments. It really wouldn’t be necessary to adopt every single practice observed at Imperial Plymouth Guesthouse. The greatest benefit that Kynance House should derive from benchmarking with Imperial Plymouth Guesthouse is to learn the art of the business. It gives a picture of how to best conduct the business. Kynance should then decide if it wants to better those practices or pursue them as they are. To initiate a change to would make Kynance House competitive alongside B & B industry giants such as Imperial Plymouth, the management should recognize the fact that money must be spent to get more money. Some of the practices at Imperial Plymouth Guesthouse are cost-effective; quite a sum of money would be spent to get some of the structures in place. Initial spending, however big, would be an obligation, not a choice. Customer’s complaints revolve around some of the things Imperial Plymouth excels in. The management must make all the necessary adjustments if it needs to maintain customers and attract

Has no topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Has no topic - Essay Example The Muslims settled on lands that had their own artworks and traditions, as a result, there was a blend between two cultures, original Muslims and Iranian cultures, which came together to form the first piece of artwork by these two communities. Artists who worked in Iranian cultures continued their arts but now worked under Muslim leadership. Islamic art has shown brilliance in its presentation because choice of colors is always great and there is a good combination of form and design thereby creating an immediate response on the viewers. This kind of presentation has made Islamic art too hard to resist and it is clearly becoming one of the finest art works in history (Hillenbrand 33). Islamic artists have succeeded in combining both animal and human figures in their works making them more appealing. Motifs can be seen on decorated surfaces of objects forming part of the artwork or patterns (Fehervari 6). Islamic art evolved through several stages, some of which are discussed below Abbasid Period (750-1258) In this period, concentration of Islamic cultural and political views changed and people engaged in more activities in Iraq. It is during this period that better styles of art emerged and greater techniques came up which later spread all over the Muslim community influencing artworks to a great extent (Arnold 14). Two cities of Samarra and Baghdad all copied this new trend in arts. In Samarra, particularly, great advancements were made in art and painting as surfaces were curved in different ways, a technique later called beveled style. Later in the 10th century, political unity of Abbasid became weak, and it lost control over several sections of Iran and Egypt. An example of art work during this period is shown below: This is a representation of Samarra and shows. The beveled style can be depicted from this piece of work shown by smoothening of its surfaces. The Almohad and Almoravid Periods (1062-1269) As a new Islamic power, Almohad and Almoravid took pa rt of Morocco in North Africa and established its capital at Marrakesh in 1062 (Metropolitan Museum of Art 30). They also took control at other parts of Africa in Algeria and Sahara. They did away with most Islamic arts and established their own in these territories. After establishing their territories, Almoravids later weakened and their part was taken by the Almohads. They schematized ornaments and utilized the use of designed geometry. Some outstanding works by Almohad are shown in the mosque built in Sevilla. An example of this period’s artwork is shown below: This is a fragment displaying an enormous image with gazelles and many other animals around it. It is an expression of the skills possessed by early Muslim artists. Ayyubid period (1171 – 1260) This period had its leadership in Salah al – Din. In his reigns he called an end to Fatimid Caliphate replacing it with Ayyubid. This artwork was majorly concentrated on metal works and used fragment design to decorate its works. They specialized in ceramics and metals in an attempt to decorate the Muslim culture and bring people to understand art work deeper. In addition, they took part in a lot of building activities, building different structures in Egypt and Syria. Their most outstanding work is in Cairo: the fortified citadels. In

There is a relationship between being a victim of cyberbullying and Essay

There is a relationship between being a victim of cyberbullying and adolescent emotional well-being - Essay Example Literature has denoted that cyber bullying potential effects upwards of 50% of all student aged individuals at some point in their lives. With such a high percentage of impact, it is reasonable to assume that tangential impacts and other causation’s can be affected as a result of this particularly negative behaviour. Litanies of studies have pointed to the fact that cyber bullying has a negative impact upon health, development, and emotional capacity. However, fewer studies have focused upon the direct linkages between cyber bullying and the overall prevalence of depression or low self-esteem.1 As such, the following analysis to engage with these variables and determine whether or not this linkage can fairly and accurately be assumed. Through an engagement with the study in question and an understanding of existing research into the field of human psychology and the impacts of bullying, it is the hope of this author that the researcher can come to a more definitive understandi ng of the impacts that these metrics have upon the student. Tangentially, an even greater hope is that a greater understanding of cyber bullying can assist the researcher in gathering key information that can ultimately be utilized to seek to diminish this type of behaviour; in light of the fact that it has an extraordinarily adverse impact upon the emotional health, outlook, development, and wellbeing of the individual. For purposes of clarity, the methodology that was employed within this particular analysis was originally gathered by Bonnie Barber in Australia. As such, the reports that she collected helped to quantify and categorize the overall levels of depression and self-esteem that were exhibited within groups of students that were both subject to cyber bullying and those that were not. The participants included within this particular data set that were

Allocation of Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Allocation of Resources - Essay Example The work breakdown structure of the company’s server upgrade will be as follows: Having looked at the WBS for the company’s project, it is important to explain the various work packets data that will emanate from the already formulated WBS. Work packets will determine the scope of the projects in terms of the costs involved as well as the time in hours that will be employed for the success of the project. The total work packets will be embodied in the six key areas of the intended system upgrade. They will include project launch, installation and troubleshooting and finally evaluation for changes before the final roll out to the other departments. First, the project launch will include the initiation of the project, education on the need for change in the organization and mobilization of the relevant personnel for project roll out. This will take an average of 10% of the project costs and an equal amount of time relative to the allocated project duration. Secondly, the verified programs and physical hardware will be installed into the system to gradually phase out the older system. Since the purchase and installation of the newer version of windows and other networking essential into the main server will take a lot of resources in terms of finances and time, the bulk of the project’s allocation (60%) will be assigned to this packet. This stage will also involve troubleshooting any problems associated with usage or compatibility of the newly installed system. Evaluation will involve the collection and analysis of data on usage, system capabilities and efficiency for the organization. The data collected will be utilized for the purposes of analysis that will culminate to the project’s adoption and full integration in the company’s operational systems. All the issues relating to customer usage, system requirement’s satisfaction and sustainability will be corrected at this stage to ensure a steady and running system. Since this is also an important

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 14

Sociology - Essay Example The two major rivers, the Nile Valley in Egypt, and the Tigris-Euphrates in Iraq were the places of the worlds early civilizations. The three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam originated from the Middle East and here is where urban life and centralized forms of political organization arose. The archaeologists are rebuilding the cultural advancement that transformed the human ancestors from nomadic hunters and gatherers into established villagers who cultivated varieties of wheat and barley and set aside domestic sheep and goats. The most important era in human history, which can be dated back to 8000 B.C., has been considered to as the Agricultural Revolution, to emphasize its importance in the progress of human cultural past. The evolution from hunting and gathering for one’s food to one depended on food production and established society life was the introduction to the next step in human intellectual growth, the start of civilization, which goes back to about 5000 B.C in the Middle East (Rassam n.pag 2007). The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Flowing southward to the Persian Gulf across southern Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, give life into the parched land transforming this area of desert is part of the Fertile Crescent. This region became the Middle Eastern civilization more than 8,000 years before. The agricultural revolution transformed nomadic hunter-gatherers into a socially multifaceted, enduring civilization. Approximately a hundred centuries later, another type of agricultural revolution is in progress in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, because of the major infrastructure advance in Turkey’s Southeast Anatolia area which will provide irrigation to 1.7 million hectares of fresh farmland. One of the most accomplishments of the project in 1994 was the two water-delivery tunnels which will vent out lake behind the Ataturk Dam to water the regions of southeastern Turkey that lie north of the Syrian border. Before the

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business law - Essay Example (c) the provision, criterion or practice puts or likely to put B at that disadvantage and (d) whereby A cannot justify his actions in pursuit of achieving a legitimate aim (legislation.gov.uk, n.d.). Thus, indirect discrimination can arise out of an employer’s policy applicable to everyone in the organization but happens to put a particular protected characteristic at a disadvantage. Sex is one of the nine protected characteristics under Equality Act. Indirect discrimination described above is a prohibited conduct in relation to the protected characteristics, subject to exceptions. The acts of discrimination as described above are applicable to persons or an individual with a protected characteristic. It also includes perceived discrimination. To cite an example of indirect discrimination in respect of a protected characteristic of sex, it is an indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex to impose a condition on a woman employee having young children to be cared for, to wor k in night shift. However, an employer can justify his policy if he could show that he has acted reasonably during the course of his business as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim which might be a lawful decision. ... Since stock prices would arrive late in the afternoon, requiring an employer not to insist employees to sit late in the afternoons of winter seasons is not justified since it is a legitimate need for the business to get stock prices for which there are no alternatives (ACAS, 2011). It was held in British Airways v Starmer (2005) that the employer erred in requiring a full time woman pilot to work 75 % part time as against her request to work on 50 % of the time to take care of her children since it amounted to act of sec discrimination having the potential to affect a significant portion of women workforce and the employer failed to provide evidence to justify application of provision or practice. (Painter & Holmes, 2012, p. 259) . Qn 2. This is a case of harassment defined in Equality Act 2010 and EU Directive 2000/78 as an unwarranted or undesirable conduct which has the potential of causing threatening, hostile, degrading, and humiliating or offensive environment or has the effect of violating dignity. This can take place in relation to any of the protected characteristics. Sexual orientation is one of them. The definition demonstrates the severity of the problem of harassment at workplace that pollutes the workplace environment. It is a prohibited conduct as per section 26 of the Equality Act as described under sub section 26 (1) (legislation.gov.uk, n.d.). Equality law allows other employees to complain even if the harassment is not directed at them (ACAS, 2011, p. 2). Thus Allan can file a complaint before the Employment Tribunal within six months of date of commission of harassment extended from three months as decided by House of Lords as a result of series of

Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future Essay Example for Free

Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future Essay Burma is an Asian country that attained its independence on 4th January 1948 and is bordered by China on the North and Thailand on the East. it was referred to as the union of Burma in 1948. On January 4th 1974 it changed its name to the union of Burma and then on 23rd September, 1888 it reverted to the union of Burma. In 1989, then it changed the name again to the union of Myanmar and this was through the efforts by the state law and order restoration council (SLORC). It is a country whose population has had a lot of significance in Burma’s politics. The Burmese government is known as Myanmar and assumed an authoritarian feature that is dominated by a military leader. There have been substantial efforts to switch to a more democratic moves but these efforts have be hampered by the military which is against this move for example in 1990, a parliamentary government was elected but the Burma’s military could not let it to convene. Burma has a population of about 50 million people and has 500,000 troops who have been helping the government to create a regime of fear by denying the citizens most of their basic rights. Some democratic leaders have come up and visualized a viable idea of freeing the people from the torture they get from the government. In 1992 with his party the National League for Democracy, managed to scoop 82 % of all country’s parliamentary seats but the military regime which used dictatorship principles declined to transfer power to the leaders that were democratically elected. For more than ten years later, Aung San Suu kyi was put on house arrest and was released only in 2002. Her release was viewed by many as the only hope to the establishment of Burmese democratic government that would be sensitive to the people’s needs unfortunately in 2003 herself and many of her supporters were killed by a rowdy mob that was sponsored by the government. This conflict between the majority and the minority became evident after Burma achieved independence in 1948. It was at this time that Aung San Suu was given the mandate to control all those areas that traditionally were not controlled by only single community. After 1948 when the Burmese constitution was signed, constitution right have not been exercised on the minorities, they also do not have pieces of land and especially those that formerly belonged to their people. Since the war period, the Burman minorities have been sidelined by the majority who are the Burmese Burma was a British colony from the 1920s and this continued up to 1948. Though the Burma’s heartland was ruled directly by the colonial powers, the surrounding regions were allowed to rule themselves and this led the loyalty to split along the ethnic lines. The dominant ethnic group is the Burmese that comprise of 68 percent of the whole population and minority accounts for the remaining 32 percent. Religion in Burma has played a key role in causing further divisions. There are many religious in Burma for example there are Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. These religious divisions have been aggravating the situations for example in 1991; more than a quarter million Muslims were evicted from their homes. This was exacerbated by the fact that there were many alliances formed. They were forced to cross the border to Bangladesh where they were accepted as refugees by the Bangladesh government but were helped by the international community with the basic needs. Today, the Burmese government is led a prime minister whose regime is greatly accused of displacing thousands of Burmese communities both internally and externally, some community such as Karen, Mon and Kareni were forced to seek refuge in Thailand. Those that are internationally displaced receive a better treatment than those that are internally displaced as the later are mistreated by the military. It is estimated that about 600,000 citizens have been internally displaced and are constantly looking for ways they could avoid slavery. They are used as slaves by this government as many of them are conscripted in the army by force or are left with no other choice except from joining the drug network that is sponsored by the state. There are various movements that have been trying to free the population of Burma from military. Some of these are; the Junta, the Karen National Union and the Moi Tai army though their efforts did not materialize because most of the current military officials are from the community with the majority that oppresses the minorities. So, it is really hard to make any advance but there is one very vibrant group that has mobilized the minorities to participate in a non-violent peaceful demonstration. Led by Buddhist monks, these people protested against the abuse of human rights and matched in groups of more than hundred thousand protestors in the streets. The Head of the State, General Shwe who is also the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is greatly criticized by the United States and the European governments which have imposed various sanctions that are enforced thorough consumer boycotts. The United States of America and the European governments using their influence led other Western nations to stop cooperating with Burma. Though these governments have been relentless in enforcing bans against Burma, some western companies are still cooperating due to some loopholes in sanction application. Most of these are the oil companies. Such as the American oil company and the French oil company. Also Cherron and the Yadana natural gas pipeline that runs from Burma all the way to Thailand is so much in use. There are still Asian businesses that operate in Burma for example the Daewoo Company that invests in extracting resources. The United States government in collaboration with the European governments also imposed sanctions on Burma’s clothing as well western nations to stop sourcing from Burma and more particularly those shops that were either partially or wholly supported by the government. After those peaceful protests, a good number of people stopped getting their products from Burma and these were led by an individual like Levi Strauss who was very vibrant in keeping up with the fight against the government products for example from 1992,many American cloth and shoes companies stopped acquiring their properties from Burma. In 2003, the united government banned Burma’s imports as in accordance with the Burmese freedom and democracy Act that was amended in the year 2003 however, some people have attacked this United States strategy of forcing this government to step down as has led many people to suffer greatly. Despite these critics, the move was supported by the Burmese democratic movement and has supposed by the Burmese democratic movement and has vowed to keep encouraging the western world to impose harder and stricter sanctions against the military government (Smith M. 1991) Burma insurgency and the politics of ethnicity London and New Jersey. Zed books. The human watches in Burma have highlighted all the crimes against humanity but there is no judiciary to address the problem any such move faces strong opposition from the military government. There is no free communication that is allowed by the Burmese military government in fact no one is allowed to access the internet and the search engines such as Google, G mail, hotmail and yahoo so the Burmese citizens are less informed. What the government has done is that it does not allow these companies to operate in its territory and as such they are blocked. If people have to access materials from the internet, they must first of all be filtered and censored by the military government. They use US filtering soft wares such as the Fortinet to censor emails, web pages and pro-democratic pages. In Burma, child soldiers are forcefully conscripted. They are also forced to punish their fellow military friends by being giving death threats incase they do not as they bare told. Children are conscripted in army by force. These children are promised to be jailed if they do not accept to join the army. Since the military regime usurped power in 1962, after overthrowing sthe democratically elected government, this regime has been one of the worst violators of human rights in the whole universe. The climax reached after the (SLORC) State Law and Order Restoration Council was changed To State Peace And Development Council sometimes back in 1997, November. This party in 1988 seized the states powers established itself and forcefully removed the little pretence that was there that they were upholding the dignity of the citizens and took part in massacring the demonstrates who were demonstrating against the creation of this undemocratic regime. They were marching in the streets of Rangoon and Burmese towns and cities when the military forces descended on them killing thousands. According to the comment that was made by the amnesty international human rights violation and torture were like a Burmese institution and they even listed various forms of abuses that were perpetrated by this corrupt regime. This report was further affirmed by the United Nations and other human rights watchdog. These abuses that they listed were for example torture, murder, litany abuses, forced displacements of citizens, holding or arresting individuals and keeping them in detention houses without trials and various litany abuses. These were the activities that were characteristic of this military regime and citizens have suffered enormously under it. Children were also abused by the military that forcefully conscript them in the army and also the villagers were forced to work for the military. Children are reportedly said to have been raped and defiled by the troops. The military operations that are from time to time conducted in various villages and these led to deterioration of living standards for example this was witnessed in Karen state and Shan state in 2001. This has forced many to be to run away to the neighboring states such as Thailand while those who are unable to move out of the country were internally displaced. The internally displaced and lived in the camps for internally displaced received very harsh treatment by the ruling military regime than those who manage to seek refuge in the neighboring states. The military regime do not in any way follow the internationally agreed freedoms for example the civil and political rights though Burma is a signatory to various international peace accords. Everything that happens in this country must be censored including the exhibitions. There is completely no freedom of expression. Even publications are not spared as they are censored by the government infact it is only sports and romance magazines are not censored. The broadcasting media houses are state owned and the government has the monopoly over them. They only air information that is favorable to them for example you it is common to see junta’s generals making speeches and from these stations and instead they go for less biased information. The SLOPCS has been very determined in curtailing the freedom of speech. Though they try to censor the information given by the public media, there are international ones that give more accurate information and these are what people rely on. These are stations such as the British broadcasting corporation (BBC), the democratic voice of Burma, radio Free Asia and the Voice of America (VOA). Apart from these international radio stations, any other person who goes against this decree risked twenty years imprisonment as per the 1996 decree. These are some of the laws that are enforced by this government without any regard to the international law standards. Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject rural poverty. The military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the Burmese Socialism, but those efforts have since stalled. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances including a steep inflation rate and an official exchange rate that overvalues the Burmese kyat by more than 100 times the market rate. Burma is a nation that is rich in various natural resources for example the country has precious such as pearls and rubies. The country is also rich in natural gases. In 1962 its economy was performing well when compared to other economies of the developing nations but the socialist party which assumed power later changed the economic status of Burma for example it replaced the capitalism mode of economy with socialism that advocated for central planning as opposed to central planning. Due to this economic change it became one of the poorest developed nations of world. In addition, most overseas development assistance was cut after the junta suppressed the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 election. A crisis in the private banking sector in early 2003 followed by economic moves against Burma by the United States, the European Union, and Japan including a US ban on imports from Burma and a Japanese freeze on new bilateral economic aid further weakened the Burmese economy. Burma is data poor, and official statistics are often dated and inaccurate. Published estimates of Burmas foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and border trade often estimated to be one to two times the official economy. Better relations with foreign countries and relaxed controls at home are needed to promote foreign investment, exports, and tourism. In February 2003, a major banking crisis hit the countrys 20 private banks, shutting them down and disrupting the economy. In July and August 2003, the United States imposed a ban on all Burmese imports and a ban on provision of financial services, hampering Burmas ability to obtain foreign exchange. As of January 2004, the largest private banks remained moribund, leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit outside of government contracts. In Burma the rate of unemployment is very high and the prices of commodities are very high and life standards are very high. According to one businessman said that the situation in Burma was moving from bad to worse and that there was looming danger of social unrest, lectures, professors and pipeline construction workers are poorly paid. Due the constant mass uprising by the democratic movement against this regime, it was rendered bankrupt in 1988 in the onset of the 21st century, it was on the lowest income generating countries in the world but it has greatly reversed this situation because it dropped its economic isolationism. It has also welcomed the foreign investors in its economy so that it would strengthen its military bases. In response to its call, UNOCAL and TOTAL oil companies came to its rescue. In Burma, there are military controlled economic sectors such as Myanmar economic holdings limited and the Myanmar economic corporation that is, UMEH and MEC respectively. These two industries which are controlled by the Burmese military are the ones that dominate the economic sector of Burma. UMEH is geared towards military strengthening while MEC is geared towards shifting the defense cost from the public sector to the private ones but both corporations have a part to play in strengthening the military base of Burma. Though European Union has been imposing economic sanctions to Burma its sanctions are not as stricter as those of the United States. It has invested a lot in Burma and it doesn’t want to lose the much that it has invested. United States has been very keen in reinforcing the bans or sanctions that have been imposed on Burma. The US government particularly has imposed a ban on its investments in this country and has also placed a ban against Burmese exports. Since the bans were proposed, US is the only nation that has implemented them. In the past, the European Union has not been imposing strict sanctions but starting from last year it has increased economic sanctions on precious metals and on imports such as gemstone and timber but they still demand for fresh elections to be held and human rights to be respected. It is only thorough these ways that the country can witness a transition from military rule to a democratic one. It had eased its sanctions basing its reasoning on its above conditions. Japan has been very friendly to Burma. It has never failed to support this military regime though on a small scale. Infact it is one of the major donor in Burma but it is reconsidering its foreign policy on Burma especially after a Japanese journalist was killed. It said that it would cut the aid that Burma gets from it. The other reason for it to withhold its financial aid was in 2003 when San Suu Kyi was kept in detention by the Junta. They believed that was the only best move that would pressurize the military regime to address the democratic principles that have never been allowed to take root in this regime. In 2002,Japan supported Burma’s government with 17 million US dollars on top of that it gave Burma the technical support it needed Japan which was all this time shying away from enforcing sanctions on Burma as the US and UK were doing, it changed its policy after this saga. The British government pressurized the European Union to increase sanctions until san Suu Kyi was realized but it was assured that these sanctions would be eased if Suu Kyi was released. That nation that seems to support Burma or appears or appears or appears to be annually to Burma face violation by the US and UK government and this has occurred to china and North Korea. This is based on misconception that these close friends would be providing economic support to this government that has little regards for its citizens. The United States for example was very bitter because Burmese government suppressed democracy and imposed its will on people and that is why it has imposed sanctions. The heroic stature of Aung San Suu Kyi has greatly helped in making Myanmar to be recognized world wide. China has been blamed for helping this region for its support. The western world cannot sway the Juntas government for this to be effective, then the regional ASEAN countries such as India, Thailand and especially china must first be willing to transform this government. China has been asking Myanmar to quell violence and control protesters but it seems this is falling on deaf ears. China has been helping Burma in international affairs management for example it has been very vibrant in keeping the issue of Burma out of the United Nation’s agenda but the United States and the British governments have been on the other side. Due to many economic sanctions that have been imposed on this regime, it finds it even hard to provide aid to its people who living in poverty. The aid that Burmese gets is below par and is the lowest in the region especially when it compared with that of the local countries for example, an individual’s aid is counted as 2. 5 dollars per head while that of Laos’s stands at 63 US dollars. China has been accused of providing Junta with military aid thus limiting the chances of democracy being realized. It has continued to conduct business relations with. Burma but it is because of some factors that are understandable and some of these are that Burma is rich in useful natural gases that china is interested in again Burma provides China with an overland route to the Indian ocean so Chinese government would not do anything to destroy its relations with Burma. Though there have been calls for better treatment of protestors, they fall on deaf ears. The amnesty international has been pressurizing the United Nations to impose embargos and sanctions on China so that peace in Burma would be realized. This is based on understanding that the Burmese military government relies on china for most of its assistance so, if china was to cut its military aid then, the Burmese government would be unable to control the nation there by creating a platform of peace transition. If the new government would come in place, it would not find it hard to sustain itself even without getting any financial aid from other countries. There are a lot of minerals that aid from other countries. There are a lot of minerals that would help the government to finance its entire government projects. The new government should create confidence among its citizens so that they would participate in the economy thereby making the economy of this nation even stronger. This government should also extend its business relations with other nations as many of them do not have those minerals and definitely they would be so much interested in them. Work cited. Altsean-Burma: Alternative Asean Network on Burma campaigns, advocacy and capacity-building for human rights. 2008. Accessed on Wednesday, March, 2008 at http://www. altsean. org/ Andrew S. Burma’s Armed Forces: Power without Glory. Norwalk: East Bridge. 2002; 45-56 Burma net News. Accessed on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at www. burmanet. org BBC News. Analysis: Burmas economic Crisis. 15th March, 2002, 13:47 GMT Accessed at http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/business/1871326. stm Brookings. Quality, independence and impact. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 at www. brookings. edu Donald M. S. Burma-China Relations: Playing with Fire. Asian Survey, Vol. 37, No. 6, 1997; 533 International Crisis Group. Working To Reduce Crisis World Wide. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 at http://www. crisisgroup. org/home/index. cfm Myanmar. com. New Light of Myanmar. April 30, 2008 Accessed on April 30, 2008. At http://www. myanmar. com Philip S. Robertson: Sanctions Are Working in Burma. 2003. Online commentary at www. irrawaddy. org/com/2003/com31. html Accessed on August 2003. Smith M. Burma insurgency and the politics of ethnicity. London and New Jersey. 1991; 78

Components of Interpersonal Communication

Components of Interpersonal Communication 1. Rationale Communication refers to the process of exchanging verbal as well as non verbal messages. It is a continuous process, whose pre-requisite is a message. The message must be conveyed via some medium to the recipient. It is also important that the message be understood by the recipient in the way the sender intended, within the time frame. Therefore communication is two way process which is incomplete without a feed back. The 12 angry men case presents an excellent case from which to consider the various concepts in interpersonal communication. 12 Angry Men is about twelve complete strangers who have been together to serve as jurors. The jury has the arduous task of determining whether an eighteen year old accused of murdering his own father is guilty or not. After the court room proceeding ends, the judge gives instruction to the twelve jurists. He reminds them of the fact that they have listened to the testimony and heard the law read and interpreted to them as it applies to the case, and that it is their duty to try and separate fact from non facts. The judge says that if they find a reasonable doubt in their minds regarding the guilt of the accused, then they must table to him a not guilty verdict. If, on the other hand, there is no reasonable doubt, they must find the accused guilty. The only condition is that their verdict must as a matter of fact be unanimous. The accused would be sentenced to death incase he is found guilty. As jurors commence their deliberations, the vote is initially 11 to 1, in favor of a guilty verdict. The single not guilty vote belongs to juror 8, Henry Fonda. Even though some are hostile and angry with Fonda, he insists that they give more time discussing what they have seen and heard during the courtroom proceedings. The characters in the 12 angry men movie that can best be used to analyze and to support the analysis of the communication concept in the situation includes Jury No. 3, 8 and 10;Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley and Henry Fonda respectively. 2. Analysis Interpersonal communication is inherently relational and exists on a continuum. It also involves both verbal non verbal messages which can lead to development of interpersonal relationship. Thus the process of listening is an important aspect in verbal communication. It entails receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating and responding to transmitted stimulus. However as in the case of 12 angry men there are listening barriers that hinder interpersonal communication of the verbal type. The major dynamics of the interpersonal encounter in the 12 angry exist due to the fact that interpersonal communication does occur. The context in this situation includes a jurys room where 12 members with different orientations have come together to deliberate the fate of an accused 18 year old of murder. The sender, for instance jury No. 8, chooses the massage to communicate to the context. When he asks the others to defend their reason for casting a guilty vote, he is essentially trying to communicate the importance of being objective in the case. We find that Jury No. three and ten voted according to personal sentiments as opposed to examination of available evidence as well as the courtroom proceeding. Communication channels in interpersonal communication that relay messages take two distinct forms; direct and indirect channel. Direct channels are not only obvious but also directly recognized by the receiver/decoder. Direct channels relay verbal and non verbal information and are completely controlled by the sender. Verbal channels relay words, both written and spoken while non verbal channels relay body gestures, facial expression, temporal silence and eye contact. These are clearly used by three jurists in the case. Channel credibility refers to the trustworthiness and expertness of a channel as perceived by the receivers. It is directly linked to communicator and the audience. Channel feedback is the opportunity a channels provides for the recipient to respond immediately and thus affect the source of the message. In 12 angry men, the feedback is facilitated by the face to face communication. It is possible to deliberate over the issues efficiently and effectively. There are various influences on channel credibility. As far as interpersonal communication is concerned, information influence occurs because others responses convey information concerning the nature of the social setting and how the majority are in effect responding to the setting. On the other hand normative influence occurs when members tailor actions and attitudes to match the norms of the groups condition. The members of the majority in the twelve Angry Men for example, did more than thinking. This can be seen in the words of Jury 3 (Lee J. Cobb) when he asserted that This group has decided the defendant is guilty and anyone who believes differently is going against the norm of this group (Forsyth, 2009, p199). Normative influence causes members to think, feel and act in ways consistent with the norms of the group. At an interpersonal level, people are compelled to act according to the norms because a variety of negative consequences might result from non conformity .Given its emotional impact normative influence usually has tremendous influence on communication outcome. Western societies for instance, purport to value non conformity as well as independence. However in most circumstances dissent is not rewarded. Most of the times it is met with interpersonal influence which are social responses that encourage or force group to conform. Fonda appeal to the emotion and intellect of the other jurors when he says Its not easy to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it firstWere talking about somebodys life here. We cant decide in five minutes. Supposing were wrong? (Dirk, n.d, ¶ 2.). Cobbs attitude towards the defendants is influences by painful memories that characterized his relationship with his son. He had a fist fight with his son prior to the case and have not set eyes on each other ever since. As a result he is angry not only at his son but also other children and young people in general. He collectively refers to them as rotten kids and automatically assumes that the defendant child is lying. Jurior No.10, Ed Begley, deep personal prejudices affected his initial decision. His hostility toward anyone who does not share his ethnic and social background leads him to believe that the defendant is lying, as he does not have the ability to tell the truth. You know how this people lie he says it is born in them (Dirk, n.d 1.). Juror eight and others eventually` convince Cobbs and Begley to cast a not guilty vote despite the fact that the verdict could be wrong. At the end of the movie the truth is still not known, what is known is only the fact that the jury voted. If the defendant is indeed innocent, then justice has been achieved. On the other hand if the defendant is in deed guilty then the jury lets a murderer go free. This is the reason why juror 8 does not answer to juror six, Edward Bins, question early in the film, supposing you talk us out of this and the kid did knife his father(Dirk, n.d 3). He does not answer because there exists no definite answer. The truth is often difficult to know and near the end of the movie, juror 8 reminds the others that he really does not know what the truth is and does not think that there exist a possibility that anyone discovering the truth. However the nine of them feel that the defendant is innocent, which is also probably wrong. He underscores the importance of reasonable doubt in American judicial system, as being the basis for letting the defendant go free. Interpersonal communication entails the use of both verbal and non verbal communication. The jurist engages in direct conversation both written and word of mouth. Verbal communication calls for active listening characterized by receiving, evaluating and understanding of the senders information. Fond is an active listener. In the explanation of the jurors voting, Juror number twelve suggest that other juror should try and convince Cobbs of the defendant guilt that he is wrong and we are right. (Dirk, n.d 4).Each of the jurors has a minute or two to think and respond to Fonds common sense questions. Fond in turn responds with well though influential arguments. Cobbs first asserts that his voting was objective and thus is devoid of personal feeling. He asserts that he only wants to discuss the facts of the case including how at 12.10pm the old man heard loud noise of a fight with the kid yelling out to his father : Im going to kill ya (Dirk, n.d). A second later the man heard a loud noise of the body as it hit the floor and as he ran to the door, he witnessed the boy running out of the house (Fonda appeal to the emotion and intellect of the other jurors when he says Its not easy to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it firstWere talking about somebodys life here. We cant decide in five minutes. Supposing were wrong? (Dirk, n.d 12.). Active listening is an important concept in verbal communication. After listening to Cobbs assertion of his facts, Fonda hopes to explain them during later deliberation about the evidence presented in court. In his endeavor to communicate his stand on the lameness of the old man assertion, Fonda requests a diagram of the apartment to investigate in examining the claim. He is able to show that the old man could not have run the long distance from his bedroom and down the stares. It was impossible for an old man who dragged one foot as a result of a stroke he had suffered, to run or walk such a distance in just 15 seconds. From this deliberation Juror 5 (Jack Kluggam) feels that he has ground to change his opinion and therefore in the ensuing vote, his is a not guilty vote. Begley is angry and exasperated: Boy, how do ya like that? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦All right who was it? Come on I want to know.(Dirk, n.d). On the other hand Cobbs excuses Kluggam of being convinced by Fonda emotional appeal and bleeding oratory and says that he get convinced as a result of Fondas ability to tear his heart down by his talk about the kid as an underprivileged who could not help but turn to murder (Dirk, n.d). Discussion: The recommendations for the jury in this situation could employ for effective communication are avoiding subjective influences such as stereotypes and prejudices. For instance Begley would need to surmount his racist thoughts and sentiments that prevent him from completely interpreting the information presented. Stereotyping should be put at bay and emotions held in check. Active listening skills are also essential for effective interpersonal communication. Communication ought to be clear and precise and jurors ought to treat each other with respect. Members of the jury ought to participate in active listening, which entails receiving, understanding and expressing understanding and asking questions where need arises. Jury would have benefited from knowing each other during the formation stage. They jury in 12 angry men spend several days together but do not make any introductions apart from few jurors who share their occupation. Martin Balsm as the foreman ought to have commenced with introducing the group before administering the votes. Being unaware of each other names made it more difficult for the jurors to associate with each other and to appreciate their input into the discussion. Finally the leader is the ultimate person to ensure that recommendations are executed. Juror number one, who is the foreman may not the best individual as a leader.

chivalry Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ancient to Modern: The Transformation of Chivalry During the medieval era, great adventures and accomplishments of unimaginable feats were told of mortal humans know as Knights. Knights were seen to be the elite, displaying their gentleman-like manners throughout every aspect, which they lived, from social events to acts of brutal combat against their adversaries. Every action of a Knight would be done with honor, courage, respect and courtesy. Knights who demonstrated these characteristics were seen as chivalrous. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines chivalry as, â€Å"The qualities of an ideal knight, courage, honor, gallantry and courtesy† Adding to this, I believe that chivalry must be displayed in every circumstance, which could be presented to this individual who claims to live and die by this sacred creed of pure honor. To this, the ideas and concepts of chivalry are viewed by most in modern society to be a deserted, ancient relic lost in the chaotic pace of modern time. However, I believe that chivalry is sti ll practiced by many people today, whether they realize it or not. Academic professors show honor and selfless service when they sacrifice all the laurels of their profession to dedicate their lives to teaching the next generation, soldiers show courage when they fight to protect others, and athletes are respectful and courteous. In the story Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, Sir Gawain is a knight of th...

Psychological Assessment 1 Midterm Multiple Choice :: essays research papers

Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. __D__ 1. Psychological tests a. pertain only to overt behavior. b. always have right or wrong answers. c. do not attempt to measure traits. d. measure characteristics of human behavior. __C__ 2. One's general potential, independent of prior learning, can best be described as a. achievement. b. aptitude. c. intelligence. d. ability. __D__ 3. Achievement, aptitude and intelligence can be encompassed by the term a. human potential. b. human traits. c. human personality. d. human ability. __B__ 4. The work of Weber and Fechner represent which foundation of psychological testing? a. individual differences b. psychophysical measurement c. survival of the fittest d. Darwinian evolution __B__ 5. A child's mental age a. cannot be determined independently of the child's chronological age. b. provides a measurement of a child's performance relative to other children of a particular age group. c. cannot be determined from a child's test score. d. can only be determined from large representative samples. __A__ 6. A major problem with the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet was that a. it assumed the answers were acceptable at face value. b. the normative sample was too small. c. it was difficult to administer. d. there were too few questions. __D__ 7. Factor analytic techniques were employed in the development of the a. MMPI. b. CPI. c. TAT. d. 16PF. __C__ 8. Which of the following scales would be used when the information is qualitative rather than quantitative? a. ordinal b. interval c. nominal d. ratio __C__ 9. In the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Section 106, a. within group norming was made legal. b. employers were prohibited from using test scores in hiring decisions. c. within group norming was made illegal. d. employers were prohibited from transforming test scores. __D__ 10. Each point on a scatter diagram represents a. the variance of a set of scores. b. the standard deviation of a set of scores. c. where an individual scored compared to the mean. d. where an individual scored on both x and y. __D__ 11. In a negative correlation, a. individuals tend to maintain the same or a similar relative performance. b. scores on one variable tell us nothing about scores on a second. c. individuals who score low on one variable tend to score low on a second. d. high scores on the x variable are associated with low scores on the y variable. __A?__ 12. Which of the following correlations represents the strongest relationship between two variables? a. .01 b. .85 c. .80 d. .50 __C__ 13. If the scores on X give us no information about the scores on Y, this indicates a. a positive correlation. b. a negative correlation. c. no correlation. d. a perfect correlation.

Of Mice and Men Second Chapter Analysis Essay

Steinbeck introduced many new characters over the course of the second chapter, most of which are not set at the ranch in Soledad, and met in the bunk house. This new living space, known as the bunk house, provides proof of a very simplistic lifestyle. The small boxes given to each worker for their possessions shows in depth the limited amount of items they have. Each character have attributes and characteristics that differed from one another. Among these new characters is the old swamper, Curley, Curley’s wife, Carlson, Slim, and Crooks. Crooks, who is â€Å"a nigger† (Steinbeck,), acquired the role to be â€Å"the stable buck† where â€Å"the boss [gives him] hell† when he gets angry. As far as social hierarchy the boss, who â€Å"gets pretty mad sometimes, but [is a] pretty nice† (22) guy, holds the most power throughout the ranch, and is closely followed by a character named Slim. This is an extremely interesting insight on how race is approached and dealt with on the ranch. Although Crook’s is a â€Å"nice fella† many take it for granted that he should be treated badly since he is black. This notion seems to be imprinted in the minds of the ranchers, even when people such as the old man are full of compliments for Crook’s. George and Lennie have a very strange relationship. The guys that â€Å"work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in they world. They got no family† (13-14) which is the main reason why Lennie and George have stuck together. Nobody wants to be apart from family in hard times like these. Times have significantly changed in George and Lennie’s life. Therefore, they â€Å"better start swimmin’, or [they will] sink like a stone† (Bob Dylan) in terms of success and hard work. Some believe in a time where hard work runs parallel with achievement. This is not the case, as Steinbeck portrays a time and place where social hierarchy controls the ranch. Curly, who is a fairly powerful figure among the men, â€Å"hates big guys† and often â€Å"picks scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ’em because he ain’t a big guy†. He also has a wife in which he is far too proud of, to the point where he shows off to the workers by wearing a glove on one of his hands. This is unusual but is a symbol of their sexual relationship shown off to make himself seem  superior and greater than. With the power that Curly holds, thoughts are given off that his wife holds the same level of power because she is Curly’s husband. This is a wrongly noted thought since she is among a farm full of male workers. Therefore, her sex acquires no power in terms of work and ideas on the ranch. By bringing Curly’s wife into the picture in such a flashy and ‘slutty’ type of fashion, he is possibly giving foreshadowing in the sense that she could be a dangerous force throughout the story and a real â€Å"piece of jail bait† (31) towards the men on the ranch. Curly’s power causes â€Å"most of the other men to avoid her eyes, but Lennie stares with fascination at this beautiful woman†. Steinbeck possibly gives off this foreshadowing hinting that something special will happen between the two. Steinbeck’s use of dialogue is very powerful and assuring. It brings a slight authenticity to the setting in which creates an easier scenario to paint pictures in the minds of his readers. Another theme that is introduced in the second chapter is the idea of social isolation. The story deeply thrives on the notion that everyone is isolated, and that everyone appears to get along well with one another by talking about their isolation. Apart from obvious reasons associated with race, Crook’s is also isolated when he becomes disabled when â€Å"a horse kicked him in the back† causing him to be slower and unable to accomplish certain tasks. Another important symbol that has been introduced is Candy’s dog, which symbolizes the fate that is waiting for the people who have ‘overstayed their welcome’ and who have outlived what they are able to accomplish. More times than not, a new pair of fresh legs beats and old pair. Although, when the old pair still has experience and skill to bring to the table he can still be used effectively. The relation between Candy and his dog are very close because when Carlson suggests that Candy should take one of Slim’s puppies it signifies that the same idea could be drawn up about Candy.

Leadership order

NO. I differ with him since one should not assume a problem while hoping that solutions will be found after sometime. The partnership had grown from having 2 to 27 people in one town and has spread into three separate towns. The partnership being a law firm has increased the number of attorneys to 18 resulting into increased number of cases being handled by the firm, increased number of employees and increased number of clients. Hiring a General Manager-operations (G.M) was intended to assist in promotion of production in the company. Instead he was sending away clients without accepting the liabilities. Further efforts showed be put into place into retain them as well as bring back those who had already left. These clients have been with the company for a long time and the firm could not afford loose because of a mistake of one individual. This is because the firm was likely to face problems key among them being, loss of jobs for its employees as a result of reduced number of clients. Additionally, the company will not be able to run its day to day business since there will be reduced income. The partners should insist on meeting the clients and ask them to return to their firm since they knew their services. The partners should first deliberate on the issue of retaining the general manager because he was not result oriented. The G.M-operations overstepped is mark and instead of improving the customer relations, expanding the customer base as well as enhancing the relations with the local communities he severed both the customer and client relations. The top management team should move very fast and replace the general manager immediately so as to save the company. Power sharing is a very important aspect of leadership since, the problems facing the junior staff, decision-making and implementation is increased. De-concentration of power also promotes efficiency and effectiveness since the leaders involved will have few responsibilities to shoulder and thus they will perform their duties to the maximum for the advantage of the group. Leadership is not about directing and guiding people to do a particular task but is an issue where a group member influences the rest of the group to accomplish an objective. A leader should direct the organization towards greater cohesiveness and coherence (Schriesheim, Chester A. 221-228, Lewin, K, LIippit, R and White R.K. 271-301). The authority that a leader possesses should be directed to accomplishment of the groups’ goal. Good leadership should be one that makes the followers and the junior staff desire to achieve higher goals rather than to simply ride over the juniors. The manner and approach in which an individual provides direction, implement plans and motivate people normally defines the leadership style his/her leadership style. A General Manager-operations of a fast growing firm should be one not limited to a specific leadership style. He should however be ready to employ all styles depending on the situation. Â  Participatory/democratic leadership style which involves one or more members of the group in making decisions has been found to be very appropriate. This style should have worked very well since the G.M-operation was new in the legal firm as he had come from insurance company where he had worked for long. Instead of spending a lot of time of learning about the organization, its members and books of account he would have instead involved the longest serving employees in decision making. This style would allow members to own the decisions reached upon since the were part of their generation. This leadership style is so pronounced in individuals who are cooperative, dedicated and team players as well as solely motivated to achieve tangible results not for their benefit but that of the larger firm. However, since a formal organization is prone to have employees of different skills, personalities and temperaments, a leader should be well conversant with all leadership styles which include: authoritarian/autocratic, participative/democratic and delegative/free reign and be ready to use any of them alternately depending on the surrounding circumstance Although I have used all the leadership styles very successfully the most pronounced style that I posses is autocratic/authoritarian which I demonstrate without a lot of struggle .With this style I prefer being a leader of newly formed group member of whom giving directions and receiving advice is never a problem. I also prefer leading new team members since I derive a lot of pleasure in showing off my capacities. It also reduces deliberation time and decision making since the members are rarely consulted and decision making is top down. However, I will never prefer leading a group composed of highly skilled and knowledgeable members since they have a potential of critiquing my style. They may require participation in decision-making as well as delegation of duties. Additionally since I desire being recognized as a boss I will rather be a leader for an inexperienced group. References Schriesheim, Chester A. The Great High Consideration – High initiating structure Leadership myth: Evidence on its generalizability. The journal of social Psychology, April 1982, 116, pp 221-228 Mind tools: Leadership styles, using the right one for your situation. Accessed online on Lewin, K, LIippit, R and White R.K. Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally Created social climates. Journals of social psychology 1999, 10, 271-301

Evaluation of Lamaze® Stack n’ Nest Birds

The toy industry is one that has evolved from creating items made simply for fun, to educational wonders that are developed to exercise the ever-growing mind of a child. These days, the â€Å"age group† suggestion listed on a toy’s packaging is not just used for safety measures. Instead, toy developers have taken the industry a bit further, and have opted to develop toys tailored specifically for designated mind levels. As adults, we are able to look at a toy and figure out that to get â€Å"the clown out of the box1†, you must crank the lever.For a child, however, the solution is not so forthcoming. Depending on the child’s age, the mind comprehends a toy in extremely basic terms. Because of this, a child must depend on his or her unsuccessful attempts in figuring out how a toy works in order to master the toy’s purpose. An important developmental stage in a child’s life occurs between infancy and toddler hood (Young, 2006). During this time , what a child is exposed to may set the stage for how he or she will manage challenges in the future.Basic understanding of inside and outside, big and small, over and under, in addition to many other physical elements, can be credited to the types of toys a parent selects for their little one to not merely play with, but learn with as well. For example, observing how a child handles not being able to fit a square shaped block into a square shaped cut out can indicate how the child will handle similar situations throughout life. Is the child patient, or frustrated? Will he continue to attempt to solve the challenge this toy provides, or will he simply move on to another toy? The answer will vary for all.To better understand how a toy influences a baby’s development, this composition will review an educational toy. The toy selected was developed by Lamaze ®. The â€Å"Stack n’ Nest 1. A traditional children’s toy is the Jack-In-The-Box, where continuously â⠂¬Å"cranking† a lever will, at some point, reveal a surprising clown, which pops out of the box in which it is enclosed. Developmental Toy Review 3 Birds © were designed considering the developmental needs of the 9-24month old child. Its function is to sharpen the child’s cognitive, motor, visual and auditory skills through various features this toy provides.With the assistance of a nurturing adult, this toy has proven its function above and beyond expectations. Lamaze ® by Learning Curve ® Lamaze ® is a subsidiary of Learning Curve, a company that strives in creating toys that encourage a child to think, be adventurous and imagine endlessly (RC2, 2005). Lamaze’s  ® specialty is focused on babies and toddlers. Their philosophy is based on the premise that a child’s development is all about timing, and introducing the right toy at the right time is key in guiding growth without pressure (RC2, 2005).Every toy released has undergone testing not only from the users themselves, but their parents as well, to determine sturdiness, interest level, and safety issues. Stack n’ Nest Birds © The Stack n’ Nest Birds2 are designated for age groups 9 to 24 months. Included are 3 separate birds, packaged stacked from top to bottom smallest bird to largest bird, with an additional 4th â€Å"egg shaped† bird safely strapped in beside his counterparts. The age designation significance can be credited to the learning needs of children this age (RC2, 2005).This toy provides many developmental lessons beneficial to the varying needs of this group. With a bit of imagination, many learning activities can be created. Each bird features plush and satin-like fabricant, vivid colouring and contrasting textures. While the colours are vivid, they are not the only thing that makes this toy pleasing to the eye. 2. Due to copyrights, a photo of the Stack n’ Nest birds is not available in this composition, but may be viewed at the following link http: www. geniusbabies. com/stack–n-nest-birds-lamaze.html Developmental Toy Review 4 The contrasting material features exciting patterns. Three of the birds are dome-shaped and are hollow inside, and are able to be nestled inside each other due to their varying sizes. The forth bird is egg shaped, made of soft rubber, is the smallest of the birds and completes the nestled set. Fun, colourful ribbon is sewn to the fabricated birds’ right and left mid-sections to create the appearance of ever-necessary â€Å"wings†. The smallest of the birds is the rubber, egg-shaped bird.Its feature is to â€Å"squeak†. To activate its feature, the bird must be squeezed, and released quickly. The creative child will learn that in addition to â€Å"squeaking†, the bird can also get stuck to legs, arms, and little foreheads simply by squeezing the bird, placing its flat bottom on a body part, then releasing quickly. With a small bit of effort, the bird will make a kissing sound with a sucking after-effect when it is pulled quickly from the body part. The fabricant birds each differ in size, from small to medium to large.The smallest of the fabricant birds is yellow and green in colour and its feature is also to squeak. The squeaker is located in the bird’s cheek and can be activated when gently squeezed, then released. In addition to its squeaking ability, its soft, flexible body includes a crinkly inner-lining that allows it to sound when being handled by little hands. The medium-sized bird is turquoise on blue, and features a rattle sewn in its lining. Additionally, it includes a crinkly lining that sounds when handled.The large bird is red on purple and features bells sewn in its lining. It also features crinkly lining that sounds when handled. This bird includes a 3rd feature: its beak is extended and textured for the teething baby’s convenience. The concept of these birds is to provide knowledge of varying sizes, inside and outside, Developmental Toy Review 5 cause and effect and sound differentiation. The user will learn to stack the birds from smallest to largest then nestle them inside each other from largest to smallest.The colourful plush and satin fabric provides texture awareness, and the solid to pattern layout allows for visual stimulation. Safety Features The creators of the Stack n’ Nest Birds © definitely considered their user when they developed this award-winning3 developmental toy (GB, 2006). These birds are made of soft fabric and do not include any sharp edges, shaping wires, and are well sewn to prevent any fraying or dismembering. They are easy to care for and provide a lifetime guarantee.These birds can be purchased in most toy stores and average in cost at 14.00 (RC2, 2005). Developmental Needs of the 9-24mos Age Group The developmental needs of this age group vary due to the span of maturity from 9 months to 24 months. On the early end of this group, th e 9 month old is in the midst of gaining interest in everything around him. However, his attention span is short, and therefore is not able to retain many of the new things he has learned (Shelov, 2004). Constant exposure to new activities is necessary in order to assist this young person in gaining interest in the brightly coloured items placed before him.His cognitive needs at this point are greatly influenced by a loving adult’s assistance. The 9 month old is very much intrigued by cause and effect. Stacking the birds, and then assisting him to knock them down with a hand or a foot can help him in understanding that he can make things happen. Playing a game of peek-a-boo will also be a game of interest for him. Placing the large bird on top of the small, rubber, egg shaped bird to hide it, then removing the large bird to reveal the small bird can introduce object permanence to him. 3.Winner of the 2006 Oppenheim Toy Protfolio, an organisation that tests the safety, soundne ss and overall worthiness of a toy. The award categories range from toys to videos and age range from infancy to later school years. Developmental Toy Review 6 Additionally, because the mouth is such a sensitive organ at this age (and for months after) the texture of the birds will be another treat the Stack n’ Nest Birds ® provide (Shelov, 2004). From plush to satin to felt to textured rubber, this toy provides a mouth-watering good time for the ever-curious baby.As the child ages, so sharpen his motor skills. The ability to master his pincer grasp4 as well as whole-handed grasp, transfer an item from one hand to the other and play using more than one hand5 are all motor skills being perfected at this age (Shelov, 2004). Because there is more than one bird, all varying in features, the child has the opportunity to sharpen the aforementioned skills. Their size and light weight adds the convenience of easy grasp, as well as the lessened possibility of dropping the toy becaus e it is too heavy. The older the child becomes, the more his needs change.While the 9 month old is short on attention span, the 18 to 24 month old is peaking in absorbing the world around him. He is aware of others, and is mastering his emotions (Shelov, 2004). By now the child understands the concept of stacking and nesting. It is quite an achievement to stack these darling birds from small to large, and large to small. Let us consider the psychosocial, or the psychological and social, needs of a child this age (EWED, 2006). On the psychological side of this achievement comes a sense of accomplishment, as adult assistance is no longer needed to complete this challenging task.In fact, an adult may be swatted away if they interfere with this toddler’s new found ability. On the social side, while a child at this point does not really â€Å"socialize† per say6, he may be enticed to take one of the 4 birds to another child in the room. He may stand back and watch as the ot her child plays with the toy, observing how someone else uses it, but back to the 4. The ability to grasp items using the thumb and index finger. 5. The ability to hold on to more than one toy utilizing both hands. 6.Parallel play, when children play side by side rather than with each other, will continue until about midway through the 2nd year of life. Developmental Toy Review 7 psychological side, when the child is ready to have his bird back, he will take it without acknowledging the other child’s feelings, and continue to play with his birds by himself. At this point, the older the child is, the less interest he has in toys such as these birds. His interest may shift to a more imaginative state, rather than for their intended purpose. The Results of the ReviewThe needs of a child in the age range of 9 to 24 months vary tremendously. However, the Stack n’ Nest Birds © by Lamaze ® have proven to cover all bases. From early development, when the child is at a midw ay point in grasping activity, to later development, when the child has mastered many activities he did not understand just months before, the Stack n’ Nest Birds © seem to adjust quite easily and are still able to hold the interest of the child. Fun sounds, interesting textures and vivid colouring are all features that make this toy a winner to babies and toddlers alike. References: Definition of Psychosocial. (2006) Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc.: Encarta World English Dictionary (EWED). ( North American Edition) January 2007. www.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861736125/psychosocial.html Developmental Milestones: Understanding Words, Behaviour, and Concepts. (July 2006) Baby Centre: Baby Centre Editorial Staff & Young, Paul. January 2007. www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babydevelopment/6575.html Our Story: The History of Learning Curve. (2005) Lamaze Infant Development System ®: Learning Curve/RC2 Company (RC2). January 2007. www.learningcurve.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4g3cdEvyHZUBACQDv8g. Shelov, Steven & Hannemann, Robert E. (1991, Rev. 2004). The Complete and Authoritative Guide: Caring For Your Young Baby and Young Child-Birth to Age 5. New York. Bantam Books. January 2007. Stack n’ Nest Birds. (2006) Genius Babies.com (GB). January 2007. www.geniusbabies.com/stack–n-nest-birds-lamaze.html

Consider the presentation of the two main characters Essay

Consider the presentation of the two main characters. What are Austin and Trevor telling us about the pressure on women in the past and present? Jane Austin wrote ‘The Three Sisters’ in the 19th century. Jane Austin lived in a mercenary world, and she reflects this in her novels. No secret is made of the need to marry for money. Jane Austin believed that for marriage to work, people must have the same interests. The Three Sisters is about a woman called Mary. She has been proposed to by Mr Watts. He is older than her but she decides to marry him for his wealth and money. She also wants to get married before any of her sisters and the Duttons. However she fears her life will be miserable if she chooses to accept Mr Watts’ proposal. William Trevor wrote ‘Teresa’s Wedding’ around the 1970’s. William Trevor was born into a protestant family and brought up in a Catholic society. When troubles started to break out in Northern Ireland, William Trevor moved to England but he frequently visited Ireland. Teresa’s Wedding is also about marriage. The story starts off at the party after the wedding. Teresa has also married for convenience because she is pregnant. Both stories deal with loveless marriages and in both stories the women have little control over their lives. They are both under pressure to marry men they do not love. In Teresa’s Wedding marriage is seen as a means of escape from a grim community, a place of loneliness and frustration. In The Three Sisters marriage is seen as the only possible fulfilment for a woman. Mary is the eldest of the sisters. She has had her first offer of marriage, but she doesn’t know how to value it. She wants to be the first to be married, she does not want to marry Mr Watts but she wants to get married before Georgiana and Sophy. She knows that if she turns down the offer, Mr Watts shall ask either one of the sisters, and following the traditional conventions of the time she is expected to marry before her younger sisters. Mary appears to be very confused one moment she says â€Å"I shall have him† and the next â€Å"I hate him more than anything else in the world† Austin writes about her own class, the upper middle class, and is very critical about their lifestyles and social behaviour, creating very amusing characters and describing them with crony. She makes a mockery of their snobbish behaviour. She describes Mary as a childish and self-centred girl, who likes to boast and often makes herself look ridiculous in front of others. Teresa is a woman who has just married to a man called Artie Cornish. Teresa had a round, pretty face and black, pretty hair, and was a month and a half pregnant. Teresa is a kind and friendly girl. She is calm, even though she is faced with the situation of admitting to Artie, her husband, on her wedding day that she had â€Å"been in the field† with his friend Screw Doyle. She shows maturity in her optimism about her future, believing that she and Artie â€Å"might make some kind of marriage together† Trevor uses third person narrative in his story, everything is described in detail, we almost feel part of the festivities. However, he does not write about the characters thoughts and feelings. Austin’s story is written in first person narrative, in letter form. This helps us to understand the characters fully. In the two stories the women receive pressure from the society they live in. Teresa also receives pressure from the local priest Father Hogan, who shows very little feelings for her when she confesses that she does not love Artie † under the circumstances that line of talk is irrelevant† Mary receives pressure also from her mother who is â€Å"determined not to let this opportunity escape of settling one my daughters so advantageously† I think it is a lot easier to get married in modern society because we have no restrictions in who we choose to marry. We also do not have our parents choose who we marry, so there is no excuse for marrying some one who you do not love.