Economics and Globalization Essay Example for Free

Economics and Globalization Essay Everyday you hear it on the news, you read it in the papers, you overhear people talking about itand in every single instance the world globalization seems to have a different meaning. So, what is globalization?, there were a lot of debate about this issue. At a top political and economic level, globalization is the process of denationalization of market, political and legal systems. The consequences of this political and economic restructuring on local economies, human welfare and environment are the subject of an open debate among international organizations, governmental institutions and the academic world. (7, www.globalization.com/intro.cfm) What is globalization? Is it the integration of economic, political, and cultural systems across the globle? Or is it Americanization and United States dominance of world affairs? Is globalization a force of economic growth, prosperity, and democratic freedom? Or is it a force for environmental devastation, exploitation of the developing world, and suppression of human rights?( www.globalization101.org) Globalization is not a phenomenon it is not just some passing trend. today it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to understand it as such. Globalization is much like fire. Fire itself is neither good or bad. Used properly, it can cook good, sterilize equipment, from iron, and heat our homes. Used carelessly , fire can destroy lives, towns and forests in an instant. As friedman says :globalization can be incredibly empowering and incredibly coercive it can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and the minnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing cultures, it is also enabling people to share their unique individuality farther and wider.*+(web) But the question here what is driving globalization?, globalization Is driven by the strategic responses of firms as they exploit market opprtunties and adapt to change in their technological and institutional environment, and attempt to steer these changes to their advantage. The O E C D groups the factors shaping globalization into four general categories, which are inter-linked: -firm behavior : Strategic , pre-emptive and imitative behavior. Exploitation of competitive advantages: use of superior technology , organization, production or marketing. Consolidation of competitive advantages: gain access to highly skilled people, advanced technological and commercial infrastructure, lower Labour costs, and raw material. Organizational changes; adoption of lean production methods and more horizontal internal and external organizational structure. -Technology Related factors declining computing, communication, co-ordination and transport costs. Increasing importance of R D , coupled with rising R D costs. Shortening product lives. Shortening of limitation time lags. Rapid growth of knowledge -intensive industries. Increasing customization of both intermediate and finished goods. Increasing importance of customer oriented services. Economic factors Availability of key production factors Productivity differentials. Fluctuations in exchange rates. Differences in the business cycle. Catching up by lagging economies. (changing paradigms , Thomas Claake and stewaat clegg, p90)). But according to Thomas Friedman in his book Lexus and the Olive tree he explains three major factoes for the spread of globalization: Which are -the democratization of tecngology. the democratization of finance. -the democratization of information. International expansion has been driven by firm strategies based on their technologies and organizational advantages shaped by a number of factors of government policies,  technological factors driving expansion include the rapid growth of knowledge intensive industries which are foreign investment intensive industries which are foreign investment intensive use intra firm trade intensively and  collaborate externally in development the need to recop growing R D costs find highly trained and skilled workers and organize production more efficiently underpinned by declining communication and transport costs. Increase importance of customer sevice. Macroeconomic factors include market development in different countries and region. Avalibility of key production factors, product differentials, fluctuation in exchange ates, differences in business cycle, catching up by lagging economies. Government policies , significant influence firm strategies by liberalizing capital investment and trade flows, promptly regional integration and promptly competitiveness. Trade policy of liberalization of trade and invested are enabling factors which have driven global expansion and increased the integration of production and markets.competiton policies(changing paradigms , Thomas Claake and stewaat clegg, p90)). Second, the techmolgy, people have been able to travel the world for the past 500 years, the difference now is that they are connected immediately.Th internet boom in 1990 made people relaise that business could operate more or less unconstrained by geography, 24 a day , 7 days a week , 365 day a year. This new faster moving changing business environment have driven companies of all sizes to organize themselves into smaller more responsive , focused unti. The faster that drives globalization is making behavior is more tribal. John Nasibih, author of global pardox argues that the more we become economically interdependent the more we hold on to what constitute our core basic identity. Implementing a homogenized western culture, such countries as indousia , Russia , france have passed laws to preserve their identity. Matters are further complicaty by the shift from trdational nation states to network. The role of diasporas in developing the economic and political fortunes of many counties is significant . See the role of the chiness  dispopora in driving the economic development of many asian states. Technology is driving a global changing in many other areas, affecting the context of strategic decisions.Laura DSndrea Tyson, dean of London Bsuiness School and a leading economic adviser to Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2000, highlighted the main forces driving globalization: The basic factor driving is technology .its trite to day but its true ./ the two major development taking place in the world are demographic and interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is about transportation and communication and that driven bytechnolgy. Demographic is actually about biotechnolgyical science. (Kourdi, BUSINESS STRATEGY) Tecnhlogy did not inevent a new business paradigm but it has transformed business opening up a multi trade of ways to add value, increase sale, reduce costs and manage more efficiently. Understanding the nature of this transformation is valuable for decision making. An information firestorm rages in most business and how it is manges is crucial to success. A consequenceas of the increase in line activity is that information can be leverages to create new sources of value . it is important to combine the power of information and technology qwith common sense approach to management. So tech. And infor, are very importat factor what also effect the economy which also cause globalization. (Kourdi, Business strategy).

Ocean Parks Business Level Strategy approaches

Ocean Parks Business Level Strategy approaches The Ocean Park has been opened in Hong Kong for more than 30 years, the Ocean Park have already been a special logo to the Hong Kong residents and a famous scenic spot for the foreign visitors. As per the mission statement from the Park is provides all guests with memorable experiences that combine entertainment and education, while inspiring lifelong learning and conservation advocacy. The Ocean Park is doing the entertainment businesses in Hong Kong with its theme park that delivers the integrated entertainment services to its guests. This paper will study the business level strategy approaches by using different analytical tools to analyze the related industry environment and the macro-environment that the Park is doing business with. Furthermore, it will also study the internal and external environment that would leads to some threats or opportunities for its further development. Chapter 1 Introduction Ocean Park Hong Kong, a theme park operates by the Ocean Park Corporation that delivers entertainment business in Hong Kong. The Park was officially opened in 1977 by the then Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Murray MacLehose. It was built at a cost of HK$150 million funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and free land provided by the Hong Kong Government. The Park is situated on the southern side of Hong Kong Island and it is the Hong Kong primer educational and entertainment theme park that covers more than 870,000 square meters of land and features a diverse selection of world-class marine attraction, thrill rides and shows divided into three major areas: Lowland, Headland and Tai Shue Wan. Over the years, the Park has consistently rejuvenated and reinvented itself to better serve its guests, establishing itself as a major tourist attraction both locally and abroad. Since its opening more than 30 years ago, over 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park. Over 5 million guests visit The Ocean Park each year. Being the one of the largest theme park in Hong Kong, Ocean Park delivers not only thrill rides but also the educational and conservation of wildlife and habitats through various campaigns. The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (OPCF) was found in 1993 and the Foundation wished to significantly improve the attitudes and practices towards conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other conservation organizations. Not even at all, The Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 to educate the community and support conservation of the giant pandas and their habitat. Both the HKSPC and OPCF were merged into a single organization on 1 July 2005 as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK). Vision and Mission The vision of Ocean Park is aspires to be a world leader in providing excellent guest experiences in a theme park environment connecting people with nature, whilst the Mission of the Park is to provides all guests with memorable experiences that combine entertainment and education, while inspiring lifelong learning and conservation advocacy. Our aim is to maintain a healthy financial status, while striving to deliver the highest standards of safety, animal care, products and guest service. Furthermore, the Park expresses its core value by several elements: Fun, Service, Safety, Education and Conservation and Respect for People. (Ocean Park, Corporation Information. URL: http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/footer/corporate-information/vision.html) The key stakeholders would be those customers that have the expectation to the Ocean Park which a theme park could provide with special features together with exciting, education and conservation. With its vision, mission and core values, the Park has differentiate itself from the other theme parks which it aims to provide elements of entertainment, education and conservation at an affordable price to meet with its customers expectation. In this report, the objectives are to analyszs the current position of the Ocean Park through various analytical tools and to find out its strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and finally makes recommendation to encounter the potential risks. Chapter 2 Analysis 2.1 Porter 5 Forces Analysis Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter. It is an analytical tool to analyses and determines the competitive intensity and therefore the attractiveness of the market. The tool is referred to these five forces as the micro environment and the more intense study to the market competition. Yet competition for profit goes beyond established industry rivals to include four other competitive forces as well: customers, suppliers, potential entrants, and substitute products. The extended rivalry that results from all five forces defines an industrys structure and shapes the nature of competitive interaction within an industry. (Porter E., 2008:25) Rivalry among Existing Competitors Although Hong Kong is a small city with limited area, however, the Ocean Park had been open since 1977 and being the largest theme park in Hong Kong. Throughout the time, the Park had no major competitor for more than 20 years until the other theme park was confirmed to construct in Hong Kong, The Disneyland Hong Kong. This has created intense competition greatly decrease the market share of Ocean Park. Threat of New Entrant The increase of new theme parks in other East Asia country has created the threats posed by the entry of new competitors. This has forced the numbers of visit down and put much more pressure to the entry numbers for both local and international visitors. Moreover, as stated on the above, the limited space of Hong Kong to set up another new theme park among Ocean Park and Disneyland will be very difficult. In such case, the force of the threat of new entrant is considered low comprising those factors. Threat of the Substitutes The Park provides the entertainment business in Hong Kong and to retain visitors mainly by fun and education. However, from the view of micro environment to the provision of the entertainment business, it would possibly has other substitutes service that providing the similar services, just likes the Ngong Ping 360 and The Peak Experience, etc. These new travel scenic spots provide similar services and experiences to retain those visitors. Bargaining Power of Buyers The power of buyers refers to the ability of the customers to be able to negotiate the prices from the seller. Consumers have little influence over the manufacturers and service providers in negotiating prices. The Ocean Parks is a theme park that combines with the thrill rides that providing the visitors an exciting experience while the other hand to provide with the connection of natural through conservation and breeding programs undertaken for its unique collection of insects, fishes, birds and marine mammals. These unique experiences could only be founded in the Ocean Park and thus the bargaining power of buyers in considered low. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The Ocean Park named the worlds 15th-ranked theme park base on the annual attendance by the Themed Entertainment Association and Economics Research Associates, the huge number of the visitors that enable the park a strong negotiation power with its suppliers, especially the food suppliers for the Bayview Restaurant, Terrace Cafà ©, Headland Rides, Panda Cafà © and the Middle Kingdom Restaurant located inside the park. Refers to the Fig. 1.2 at the appendix, the income by the catering service was increased from more than three million Hong Kong Dollars from 2008 to 2009. Although, the sales of goods had a slightly decrease, however, there were additional income from the commission of franchised retails store. This would show the attraction of doing business in Ocean Park could reflect to a significant revenue to the franchised store. For instance, the suppliers or the manufacturers of those foods and souvenir are also considered has low bargaining power to the Ocean Park. These fact ors were comprised because of the huge numbers of the visitor attendance. 2.2 PESTEL Analysis There are many factors that could affect the decision of the organization in the macro-environment. The PESTEL analysis comprises five major elements including Political, Economic, and Environmental, Social, Technological and Legal factors. These factors describe a framework of macro-environment and used to identify the changes and possible barriers in the macro-environment all around the organization. (Oxford University Press, PESTEL analysis of the macro-environment. URL: http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm ) Political The huge numbers of annual attendance enable the Ocean Park named the worlds 15th-ranked theme park among those related associations. Moreover, this annual attendance is mainly domain by the political changes in Hong Kong and China. In the recent years, the Hong Kong and China Government launches the self-tour-guided program which allows the residence in the approved province to visits Hong Kong freely, and the approved numbers of China province that put into the this program was expanded from time to time. Hence, the visitors from China were increasing over the years. Refers to the Figure 1.3 in the appendix, it shows the number of visitor arrivals by country / territory of residence (Census and Statistics Department, 2010) from 2008 to 2009. This indicated the visitors from the Mainland China were the largest numbers accounted among those countries. Economic With reference to the Figure 1.5 and 1.6, this indicated the financial statement of the Ocean Park in year 2008 to 2009. (Ocean Park, Annual Report, 2009) The overall operation expenditure is keeping risen up in the years, such as employees benefits, maintenance and other advertising and promotion cost is raised up to maintain the normal operation of the Park. Unfortunately, the admission income and other revenue are oppositely reducing. These unfavorable factors bring the threat to the Park in operation. Social In the recent years, the tourism industry in Hong Kong is major from the visitors from the Mainland China since the population growth rate is decreasing and the ageing population rate is oppositely increasing. Figure 1.4 on the appendix shows the approach of population growth rate, it is very obvious that the age group from 5 to 14 is decreasing and that would possibly leads the Park loses the attendance from this group. Moreover, the Ocean Park had launched various programs to encounter this threat to become opportunity. Technological The technological improvement enhances the Ocean Park continue to breed the rare marine mammals, panda and other insect. The living area for those rare creatures require a stable room temperature, humidity or other special requirements since they are migrated from the other environment which may different from Hong Kong. The improvement in technological development enhances the stability to let them adapt in new environment. Environmental Environmental issues have been an important topic over the world. Motor vehicles are the main cause of high concentrations of respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen oxides at street level in Hong Kong. The Government introduced a comprehensive program in 2000 to tackle this problem with targets to reduce these two emissions from motor vehicle by 80% and 30% respectively by the end of 2005. (Environmental Protection Department, 2010) Being the environmental leader, the Park launched a Clean Air by Ocean Park project including the first hybrid vehicle operates in Hong Kong. After that, nominated by the HKSAR government in 2000, Ocean Park received funding of HK$10 million by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to replace 22 aged diesel vehicles and gasoline carts with environmental-friendly vehicles, to promote clean-air environment and support global conservation. Legal The Ocean Park Corporation is a statutory body incorporated under the Ocean Park Corporation under the Ocean Park Ordinance (Chapter 388). The Corporations principal activity is to manage and control the Ocean Park as a public recreational and educational park to the public. (Ocean Park, Code of Corporate Governance Practices, 2009) Since the Ocean Park Corporation became statutory body, its internal operation and the establishment of the management team is appointed by the Government of the HKSAR. This legal factor makes the operation of the Park bonded by the Government and loses its independence. The above analysis pointed out the opportunity, threat, strength and weaknesses of the Ocean Park in the macro-environment. The technological changes, social and the environmental factors would be the most favorable factors to the Park for future development. However, there would be threats from the political and economic issues to the Park since it will depend on the governments decision and also not controllable factors. 2.3 Internal Analysis Resource-based View The resource-based view is a business management tool used to determine the strategic resources available to a company. The fundamental principle of the resource-based view is that the basis for a competitive advantage of a firm lies primarily in the application of the bundle of valuable resources at the firms disposal. (Wernerfelt B, 1984:172) On the other hand, strategic capability is also another element to determine the success of the organization. Strategic Capability is the ability to perform at the level required for success. It is underpinned by the resources and competences of the organization. (Johnson Gerry Scholes Kevin, 2008:23) Throughout the analysis in both competitive forces and the macro-environment in the related industry, the capabilities of the Ocean Park have been identified in its business strategy. Core Competence A core competency can take various forms, including technical/subject matter know-how, a reliable process and/or close relationships with customers and suppliers. (Hamel, G. Prahalad, C.K., 1990) It may also include product development or culture, such as employee dedication. On the other hand, the core competences are those activities that underpin competitive advantage and are difficult from competitors to imitate or to obtain. Several shows theatre in the Ocean Park is unique and it is difficult and impossible to obtain by its competitors, such as the shows by birds, sea lion and other marine mammals. Unique Resources Unique resources are resources that create competitive advantage and are difficult to imitate, they critically underpin competitive advantage. (Johnson Gerry Scholes Kevin, 2008:24) The unique resources of the Ocean Park enable its competitive advantages to the competitors. The most valuable physical assets of the Ocean Park are those rare marine mammals and the panda given by the Mainland China. These national treasures are value inestimable and they elaborate their attraction to the visitors. These treasures could only be found in the Ocean Park and other theme park does not have the same resources in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the Ocean Park has been opened for more than 30 years in Hong Kong; it has already built up goodwill to the local peoples. The education, conservation and natural scenic environment are the intangible resources of the Park and these resources enhance the Park to develop its brand and goodwill over the years. Chapter 3 TOWS Analysis The TOWS Matrix is an analytical tool to matching the environmental threats and opportunities with the companys weakness and its strengths. (Heinz Weihrich, 1982) Throughout the PESTEL and internal analysis of the Ocean Park, some areas have been identified as the threats and opportunities for the future development of the Park. As analyzed in the PESTEL analysis, the political and economic factors would be the threats to the Ocean Park in future development. Since the attendances are mostly likely by the visitors from the Mainland China, however, this would depends on the policy changes by both Government and it would not be possibly controlled by the Ocean Park. Furthermore, the risen up of employees benefits, the maintenance and other advertising and promotion cost would also be the threats to the Park. On one hand, the reducing admission also leads to the revenue drop in the recent years. Such huge expenditure and uncontrollable factors would be the major weakness to the operation of the Park. As stated above the unique resources and the core competences would be the strength of the Ocean Park while compare with its major competitors. Moreover, to overcome the threats that the Park is encountering, the Corporation had launches some special program likes wedding ceremonies to tackle the low birth rate and changed the target customers to another age range. The Ocean Park Halloween Bash launches to attract more local visitors to stave off from the policy changes by the self-tour-guided visitors of the Mainland China. Chapter 4 Conclusion for Strategy Recommendations After conducted several analysis of different environments to the Ocean Park, the result from those analysis comes to the end and some business strategies of the Ocean Park were identified. First of all, in coping with the five competitive forces, (Porter E. Michael, 2008) there are three potentially successful generic strategic approaches to outperforming other firms in an industry. The cost leadership, differentiation and the focus strategy. (Porter E Michael, 1980) In view of the Ocean Park performing, the differentiation strategy is employed. A differentiation strategy is appropriate to adopted where the target customer segment is not price-sensitive, the market is competitive or saturated, customers have very specific needs which are possibly under-served, and the firm has unique resources and capabilities which enable it to satisfy these needs in ways that are difficult to copy. The Ocean Park differentiates itself through the unique iconic attractions by rare animals and natural scenic environment which other theme park in Hong Kong could not be easily provided. On one hand, the brand Ocean Park had already embedded to most of the local residents and foreign visitors, the advertising and branding enhances value propositions and sustainable differentiation is concisely develop with a range of activities uniquely that impact on the customer purchase decision. Furthermore, the overall environment enhances to provide education and conservation to all the attendances. Although new competitors had already entered into the market, however, with the aims of the Ansoffs Matrix (Ansoff. I, 1957), the Ocean Park is recommended to taking action by market penetration and product development to obtain stable and sustainable development. Market penetration occurs when a company enters/penetrates a market with current products. The best way to achieve this is by gaining competitors customers which means the part of the market share. Other ways include attracting non-users of your product or convincing current clients to use more of your product or service, with advertising or other promotions. Market penetration is the least risky way for a company to grow. The Ocean Park should differentiate itself by existing services to gain the market share from its competitors, just likes the rare animals that enable continuous penetration to the existing market. On the other hand, the product development is also another strategy that the Park could employs. A firm with a market for its current products might embark on a strategy of developing other products catering to the same market. The continuous re-development project enable new thrill rides that the competitors may not delivers in short period of time and it would not be p ossible to making the same thrill rides as the Ocean Park. Frequently, when a firm creates or to usher in with new products, it can gain new customers for these products or services. Hence, new product development can be a crucial business development strategy for firms to stay competitive. In addition, strategic alliance of subcontracting may also be considered in the development of the Park. Strategic alliance is where two or more organizations share resources and activities to pursue a strategy. In the case of Ocean Park, the highest maintenance, advertising, promotion and growth of employees benefits would be a high risk to the Corporation to stay competitive in the market. In view of these critical issues, subcontracting alliances method can be considered to tackle this issue and to meet with the stakeholders expectation. To be keeping a health financial status of the Corporation, some of the operational function could be subcontracted out to lower the operation cost from direct labor generated. Last but not least, the Ocean Park has continuously makes the improvement through different strategies. Throughout this study, understood that the Park has retained its best to meet with its stakeholders expectation and cope with its mission statement, Ocean Park provides all guests with memorable experiences that combine entertainment and education, while inspiring lifelong learning and conservation advocacy. Our aim is to maintain a healthy financial status, while striving to deliver the highest standards of safety, animal care, products and guest service Appendix Fig. 1.1 Porter 5 Forces Model Source: Harvard Business Review, 2008 Fig. 1.2 Note to Financial Statement Source: Ocean Park, Annual Report 2008 2009 Fig. 1.3 Visitors Arrivals by Country / Territory of Residence Source: Census and Statistics Department URL: www.censtatd.gov.hkFileManagerENContent_807transport.pdf Fig. 1.4 Resident Population Approach Source: Census and Statistics Department URL: www.censtatd.gov.hk_showtablecust.jsp Fig. 1.5 Notes to the Financial Statement Source: Ocean Park, Annual Report 2008 2009 Fig. 1.6 Revenue Statement Source: Ocean Park, Annual Report 2008 2009

Mama Day and Daughters of the Dust :: African American Culture Literature Essays

Mama Day and Daughters of the Dust For emigrants of any country it is difficult to maintain the individual culture of their homeland while assimilating to the ways of the new country they have entered. For slaves of the 19th century, the acculturation process was a necessity. If they did not conform to the Western way of life, they would perish. However for some slaves, their geographic location sequestered them enough from the European worldview that they could continue to practice their own culture and religion. Most of these groups were found off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, the exact location of two important African-American narratives – Daughters of the Dust and Mama Day. Although the islands did not offer complete sanctuary from the harshness of post-colonial American culture, it did afford the Africans living on those islands more latitude to practice their beliefs. Especially for the younger generations, there was a beckoning from the dominant culture to take part in its opportunities and advantages, which created a drawback for Africans still trying to carve their niche in the Western society. Daughters of the Dust and Mama Day are fictional narratives that vividly recount the experiences of the black slave family during the 1800’s. Although they take different narrative forms, the former as a movie and the latter as a book, there are still several important themes concerning the emerging African-American culture – a way of life that incorporates the native African worldview with the newly acquired American lifestyle – that the two stories address. Although there are differences between the two works, they are really struc tural in nature, such as plot and point of view, and are thus not necessary to address currently. Instead, it is important to focus on the values that dominate the African culture and the attitudes that enhance and interfere with their way of life in Western society. The narratives share two main themes of which all other themes can be derived. One is the struggle between the lifestyles and values of the mainland and the islands and the second is a belief in logic and science versus intuition and African folklore. For both stories the island is an integral part of the story, almost becoming a character unto itself. The nature of an island is such that it has its own personality and dynamic, which is appropriate since it is physically dislocated from the mainstream.

Fahrenheit 451 as a Criticism of Censorship Essay -- Fahrenheit 451 Es

Fahrenheit 451 as a Criticism of Censorship      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ray Bradbury criticizes the censorship of the early 1950's by displaying these same themes in a futuristic dystopia novel called Fahrenheit 451. In the early 1950's Ray Bradbury writes this novel as an extended version of "The Fireman", a short story which first appears in Galaxy magazine. He tries to show the readers how terrible censorship and mindless conformity is by writing about this in his novel.    In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses "artificial stimulus", such as television and radio, to provide the reader with a feeling of how isolated the public is and how their minds are being controlled by this conformist government in the twenty-first century. He uses technology, like the Mechanical Hound and also drugs, to show the oppressiveness of the government in his novel. Ray Bradbury chooses to write this book after seeing many of his fellow writers and other entertainers being "blacklisted" by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950's. While he couldn't just openly oppose this behavior, for he would surely be censored, Bradbury writes about an exaggerated version of his own government in which books are burned along with the houses that harbors them. This is to demonstrate to the readers how letting the government censor their art could lead to more drastic measures. Such as editing one line in a book; then a page; then the whole book is condemned and burned along side the many other books and ideas that do not agree with the government. This then leads to the eventual condemnation of all books and forms of entertainment, which is not "politically correct" and/or agreeable to the government's ideas.    Bradbury uses artificial stimulus... ...writers, and other entertainers were blacklisted by McCarthy and some were even brought to trial under suspicion of being Communist.    In conclusion, Bradbury's criticism of the 1950's censorship and conformity opened the eyes of the public to the wrong-doings of the government at the time. Many people began to realize that they were being censored for almost everything and art, for example in the form of writing and film, was being simplified to almost nothing.    Works Cited Eller, Edward E. Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 150-53 Wood, Diane S. Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 153-55 Johnson, Wayne L Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 156-57   

Storytelling and its contribution to organizational theory

The storytelling approach towards the knowledge sharing is explored in detail. The story telling can be used to elicit tacit knowledge and can be used to flow the knowledge about previous events in the organization and any other work related knowledge in an interesting and effective manner. Since emotions are attached to the stories, they narrate the much value to the listeners and the listeners tend to keep what they have heard. In this sense, organization memory is created by the anecdotes of the stories being told.The lessons learnt from the past experiences are label to the employees working now. It is also studied the negative stories have much impact on the listeners. The story telling has the potential to capture tacit knowledge and how it is done in the context of IBM is explained. Moreover, the story telling in the organizations can be enhanced by the use of IT tools like intranet, emails and other knowledge management systems which helps employees to create platform to shar e their stories and communicate the values of the organization.This values and the knowledge base of the organization helps to form the organization memory. Table of Contents Introduction Storytelling is one of the approaches towards knowledge capture and codification, the first phase of KM cycle. This is used to elicit tacit knowledge, towards creation of new knowledge and to organize the content in systematic manner. In knowledge capture phase, the distinction between the capture of existing knowledge and the creation of new knowledge has to be made. Mostly, only existing knowledge is set into the pattern, which only forms the explicit knowledge.There is huge pool of knowledge, which needs to be captured towards generating the new knowledge and that knowledge is mostly tacit in nature, which resides within the heads of knower. Every organization also has a memory. The embodiment of the organizational memory is the experience of its employees, tangible data and knowledge stores in the organization (Walsh and Unison, 1991). The value of knowledge is increased when it is transferred otherwise the uncultured knowledge is devalued and ignored with time. In today's fast-paced economy, an organization's knowledge base is quickly becoming its only sustainable competitive advantage.This competitive advantage is owned by utilizing the organizational knowledge, the individual skills, thoughts and ideas. So Tacit knowledge management is must to capture the experience and expertise of the individual in an organization and making it available to anyone who needs it. Once the tacit knowledge becomes explicit, it needs to be organized in a structured document that will enable multipurpose use. The KM tools help to create knowledge and then leverage it across multiple channels, including phone, email, discussion forums, Internet and any new channel that come online.Story telling is one of the best KM tools to capture tacit knowledge. Organizational story can be defined as pa st management actions, employee interactions or other key events that have occurred and that have been communicated informally (Swap et al, 2001). The stories provide a rich context making it interesting for the listeners and also remains in the conscious memory longer. Stories reinforce organizational learning and communicate common values. The core capabilities of an organization are built by critical skills of employees, management systems and organizational values.This capability can be transferred in formal and explicit way. However much knowledge articulacy knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred internally through processes of colonization and initialization. Story telling is one such transfer mechanisms that can leverage the tacit knowledge of the organization. Literature Review The use of the stories and storytelling may provide a powerful practice as a part of efforts by individuals, groups or organizations to share what they know. It breaks away from the tradi tional means of communication and adds new dimension to the knowledge management tools.Deeding, in his article â€Å"Telling Tales† tries to convey hat the age-old practice of storytelling is an effective method to be used as knowledge management tools but the stories told should match the situation and conditions in the organization. Storyteller as a leader should influence the listeners and the story should have enough detail to be intelligible and credible. Different narrative patterns like Sparking Action, Communicating who you are, Transmitting value, Fostering collaboration and Taming the grapevine can be used.Snowman's article titled â€Å"The new simplicity-context, Narrative and Content† focuses on the need f knowledge management to go beyond the boundaries of using best practices into the realms of uncertainty. Since both the human behavior and system are complex, the cause and effect of the system and the interacting agents can't be separated; the contextual stimulation is needed to capture the knowledge. The decision making pattern is important. Narrative is emerging as one of the most exciting approaches to knowledge management.It involves going and finding a person to ask questions whenever faced with the new task or encounter a problem and get context-sensitive answers. In short, stories allow the communication of complex ideas in a simple, memorable form. Karakul Shaffer B Kali in his research on â€Å"Transfer knowledge Using Stories: A Malaysian University Case Study † attempts to explore the usage of knowledge-embedded stories in a Malaysian institute of higher learning and will consider the understanding of organization members concerning storytelling in the organization.It provides insights on the culture of storytelling as a method of knowledge transfer medium and explores the practicality of using stories in the organization and the employee's perception of the usage of stories to transfer knowledge. This case reveal s that story telling is regarded as an acceptable approach in knowledge transfer. Mostly gathering sessions in the university stimulated storytelling. The case also presented the factors that influence the KM storytelling.The factors are an extension of the existing knowledge transfer factors mentioned in literatures, which do influence KM storytelling. Walter Swap, Dorothy Leonard, Mimi Shields and Lisa Abram in their research â€Å"Using Mentoring and Storytelling to transfer knowledge in the Workplace† explains that the knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred informally through processes of colonization and naturalization. They have focuses on two transfer mechanisms mentoring and storytelling.Most stories told informally in organizations are negative. Therefore managers interested in how knowledge accrues in the organization cannot ignore these important transmitters. Stories that dramatist or illustrate managerial systems, values, norms are more likely to be believed and acted upon than mere statements of policies and norms. Finally, the use of information technologies can enhance the story telling. The effect of verbal storytelling can be enhanced through the use of multimedia.Consistent with the elaboration effect, seeing and hearing the storyteller can add weight and detail to the story as can visual about the environment in which the story occurred. Story-telling-a technique to capture tacit knowledge In KM, the knowledge capture and creation may be done by the individuals who work for the organization or a group within that organization, by all members of a community of practice (COP), or by a dedicated COP individual.So the creation, capture and the codification of the information is done at the personal level while performing activities at Job. Within the firm, individuals share perceptions and Jointly interpret information events and experiences (Cohen and Leviathan, 1990) and at some point, knowledge acquisition extends beyond the individuals and is coded into corporate memory (Napkin, 1995; Spencer, 1996; Monika and Takeouts, 1995). Unless knowledge is embedded into corporate memory, the firm cannot leverage the knowledge held by individual members of the organization.Knowledge acquisition from individuals or groups can be characterized as the transfer and transformation of valuable expertise from a knowledge source (human expert, documents) to a knowledge repository (organizational memory, facts and rules). Explicit knowledge is already well described but we need to abstract and summarize this content. Tacit knowledge capturing needs various techniques of which story telling is the one. Stories involve the detailed narrative of management actions and decision-making styles, employee activities and interaction and other events within the division that are communicated informally within the organization.A story can be defined as telling of a happening or a connected series of happenings whether true or fi ctitious (Deeding, 2001). This involved the group interaction and collaboration for story telling. The SEC' model developed by Knock and Takeouts also supports that story telling or narratives can be used to bring out tacit knowledge. Fig 1 :SEC Model by Monika and Takeouts Here, colonization process is involve which emphasizes the tacit knowledge exchange through Joint activities such as gathering, spending time together, informal talks and living and working in the same environment rather than through written or verbal instructions.The process of transferring one's ideas or images directly to colleagues or subordinates means to share personal knowledge and create commonplace or Baa. During extrapolation process, an individual commits to the group and thus becomes one with the group. The individuals' intentions and ideas merge and become integrated with the group's mental world. This involves the expressing of ideas or images as communicable manner such as metaphors, analogies, eve nt description or narratives. A number of conditions must be in place, however, in order to ensure that storytelling in its various enacted forms creates value in a particular organization.Sole and Wilson (2002) argue that although all stories are narratives, not all narratives are good knowledge-sharing stories. As an example, they cite movies, which tell stories designed primarily to entertain and therefore need not necessarily be authentic-?or even believable. In contrast, in organizational storytelling, stories are often used to promote knowledge sharing, inform, and/or prompt a change in behavior, as well as communicate the organizational culture and create a sense of belonging.In order to achieve these organizational objectives, knowledge-sharing stories need to be authentic, believable, and compelling. Stories need to evoke some type of response, and, above all, they need to be concise Deeding, 2001), so that the moral of the story or the organizational lesson to be learned c an be easily understood, remembered, and acted upon. In other words, organizational stories should have an impact: they should prevent similar mistakes from being repeated, or they should promote organizational learning and adoption of best practices stemming from the collective organizational memory.Deeding (2001) describes the power of a springboard story, knowledge that has been captured in the form of a brief story that has the ability to create a strong impact on its audience. He outlines a number of key elements required to use stories to encapsulate valuable knowledge, such as: The explicit story should be relatively brief and detailed Just enough that the audience can understand it. The story must be intelligible to the specific audience so that they are â€Å"hooked.The story should be inherently interesting. The story should spring the listener to a new level of understanding. The story should have a happy ending. The story should embody the change message. The change mes sage should be implicit. The listeners should be encouraged to identify with the protagonist. The story should ell with a specific individual or organization. The protagonist should be prototypical of the organization's main business. Other things being equal, true is better than invented.One should test, test, and test again Story telling and KM processes involved in context of MM. IBM has leverage on the power of story telling at the daily work place to enhance the employees' performance. IBM has a four-stage storytelling approach. 1 . Anecdotal elicitation through interviews, observation and story circles 2. Anecdotal deconstruction to analyses cultural issues, ways of working, values, rules and beliefs to lied the story's key messages 3. Intervention / communication design with a story constructed or enhanced 4.Story deployment Story telling workshops can be run to elicit the knowledge and cultural values of an organization as well as both its best and inhibitors to sharing and identifies business issues. Values, rules and beliefs of organization were identified. Storytelling provides the platform to the employees to share experiences and build social capital and networks and most importantly it achieves agreement among the participants The knowledge management framework developed by Olivia and Lieder (2001 a) is based n the view of organizations as â€Å"knowledge systems†.According to this view, organization consists of four knowledge processes Creation Storage / Retrieval Transfer Application Here in case of MM, knowledge creation process takes place by the creation of anecdotes, which are captured as tacit knowledge, and they are stored in a repository and aligned with communities, processes and subject areas. This shows the knowledge storage process.Then the knowledge transfer takes place through support discussion forums (lunch and learn), databases, intellectual capital, management systems (training), document management systems, bulletin boa rds, inline chats, portals (community kick-off days) and intranets. Ultimately, the people who make communities do the knowledge application process. The effective communities have valuable stories. Practice of dedicated Story Telling Sessions The practice of dedicated story telling sessions in some organizations have proved the increased level of knowledge exchange among employees.For example, NASA, Deducted and Malaysian university have Km initiative in form of story telling sessions. The ITEMS (Information Services and Media Services) Department has its own storytelling sessions. There are two storytelling session ITEMS Sharing Session- It involves the staffs from whole ITEMS department and it is conducted once a week to share the stories on the problems encountered and the solutions. Toolbox Session-alt only involves the units in ITEMS department. It gathers the support unit employees to share their stories on the problems raised.They have one program to stimulate KM storytellin g called Buddy program. In Buddy program, two employees from different department are paired together to work as a single department. Junior staff is paired with senior academic acting as mentor. Conclusion Stories are powerful conveyors of meaning and tacit knowledge and been in use from ancient times. It helps to share knowledge with context and emotion. It triggers the listeners to respond with other stories building new understanding.Stories can capture and hold the attention increasing the likelihood of hearing and listening. Story telling is very valuable in story telling network. Any organization has a set of its memories embedded from the time of its inception. These memories are the skills and knowledge of its employees while in an organization over the years of operation. So, the organizational memory has its role on forming the knowledge base of the organization. Employees can use the organization memory to learn and improve the effectiveness of their work.Employee's know ledge can be stored and then information and knowledge can be shared by KM. Organizational memory is one of intangible assets of one organization; it stores past experiences and knowledge, supports organization strategy and improves organization effectiveness. Accordingly, it is important to establishment and development of organizational memory for KM. Organizational culture can be stored by story, and it is one of retention facilities of organizational memory.The idea, spirit, and culture of organizations can be passed down by storytelling. Through storytelling, organization members emotionally connect to their organization and then identify their organization. Storytelling can store organizational culture, convey experience and knowledge, and improve acquisition, retention, and maintenance of process of organizational memory management. Organization value and spirit can be conveyed effectively by storytelling.

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Thirty-Eight

Bonnie didn't have her keys. She knew exactly where they were, but that didn't do her much good: they were lying on the bedside table next to Zander's neat plain single bed. She cursed and kicked at the door, tears running down her face. How was she going to get any of her stuff back? Some guy opened the front door of the building for her. â€Å"Jeez, relax,† he said, but Bonnie had already pushed past him and was running up the stairs to her room. Please let them be here, she thought, clinging to the banister, please. She had no doubt that Elena and Meredith would comfort her, would help her, no matter what she had said to them during their fight. They would help Bonnie figure out what to do. But they might be out. And she'd have no idea where to find Meredith and Elena, no idea where they spent their free time these days. How had she grown so far apart from her best friends? Bonnie wondered, wiping her hands across her cheeks, smearing away her tears and snot. Why had she treated them so badly? They were just trying to protect her. And they were right about Zander; they were so right. She snuffled miserably. When she reached the top of the stairs, Bonnie banged on their room door with her fist, hearing quick movement inside. They were home. Thank God. â€Å"Bonnie?† Meredith said, startled, when she opened the door, and then, â€Å"Oh, Bonnie,† as Bonnie threw herself, sobbing, into Meredith's arms. Meredith hugged her, tight and fierce, and, for the first time since she had jumped away from Zander and run for the fire escape, Bonnie felt safe. â€Å"What's the matter, Bonnie? What happened?† Elena was behind Meredith, peering at her anxiously, and part of Bonnie noticed that Elena's own white and startled face was marked with tears. She was interrupting something, but Bonnie couldn't focus on that now. Past Elena, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her hair stood out around her face in a wild red cloud, her eyes were glassy, and her pale face was smeared with dirt and tears. I look, Bonnie thought with a semihysterical silent laugh, like I was chased by werewolves. â€Å"Werewolves,† she wailed as Meredith pul ed her into the room. â€Å"They're al werewolves.† â€Å"What are you – † Meredith broke off. â€Å"Bonnie, do you mean Zander and his friends? They're werewolves?† Bonnie nodded furiously, burying her face against Meredith's shoulder. Meredith pushed her back and looked careful y into her eyes. â€Å"Are you sure, Bonnie?† she asked gently. She looked to Elena, and they both turned and glanced out the window at the sky. â€Å"Did you see them change? It's not the ful moon yet.† â€Å"No,† Bonnie said. She tried to catch her breath, taking harsh sobbing gulps of air. â€Å"Zander told me. And then – oh, Meredith, it was so scary – I ran, and they chased me.† She explained what happened, on the roof and on the lawns of the col ege. Meredith and Elena looked at each other quizzical y, then back at Bonnie. â€Å"Why did he tel you?† Elena asked. â€Å"He couldn't have thought you would have a good reaction to the news; it would have been easier to keep hiding it.† Bonnie shook her head helplessly. Meredith arched an ironic eyebrow at her. â€Å"Even monsters can fal in love,† she said. â€Å"I thought you knew that, Elena.† She glanced at her hunting stave, leaning against the foot of her bed. â€Å"When the ful moon comes, now I'l know what to look for.† Bonnie stared at her in horror. â€Å"You're not going to hunt them, are you?† It was a stupid question, she knew. If Zander and his friends real y were behind the murders and disappearances on campus, Meredith had to hunt them. It was her responsibility. Al of their responsibilities, real y, because if they were the only ones who knew the truth, they were the only ones who could keep everyone else safe. But Zander, something inside her howled in pain. Not Zander†¦ â€Å"None of the attacks occurred during a ful moon,† Elena said thoughtful y, and Meredith and Bonnie both blinked at her. â€Å"That's true,† Meredith agreed, frowning as she thought back. â€Å"I don't know how we didn't realize that before. Bonnie,† she said. â€Å"Think careful y before you answer this question. You've been spending a lot of time with Zander and his friends. Did anything about them make you think they might hurt someone, real y hurt them, when they're not in wolf form?† â€Å"No!† Bonnie said automatical y. Then she stopped and thought and said, more slowly, â€Å"No, I don't think so. Zander's real y kind, I don't think he could fake that. Not al the time. They play rough, but I've never seen them fight with anyone except one another. And even with one another, they're not real y fighting, just more sort of messing around.† â€Å"We know what you mean,† Meredith said dryly. â€Å"We've seen it.† Elena tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. â€Å"The disappearances weren't during the ful moon, either,† she said thoughtful y. â€Å"Although I guess they could have been taking people and holding them prisoner, planning to kil them when they were in wolf form later, but that doesn't – I mean, I don't have much werewolf experience besides Tyler, but – it doesn't sound very wolfy to me. Too sterile, sort of.† â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie sank down on her bed. â€Å"You think there's a chance Zander and his friends might not be the kil ers? Then who are the kil ers?† She felt bewildered. Meredith and Elena exchanged a grim glance. â€Å"You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that happens on this campus,† Elena said. â€Å"We'l fil you in.† Bonnie rubbed her face with her hands. â€Å"Zander told me he was a good werewolf,† she said. â€Å"That he didn't hurt people. Is that possible? Is there even such a thing as a good werewolf?† Meredith and Elena sat down next to her, one on each side, and wrapped their arms around her. â€Å"Maybe?† Elena said. â€Å"I real y hope so, Bonnie. For your sake.† Bonnie sighed and cuddled closer to them, resting her head on Meredith's shoulder. â€Å"I need to think about al this,† she said. â€Å"At least I'm not alone. I'm so glad I have you guys. I'm sorry we fought.† Elena and Meredith both hugged her more tightly. â€Å"You've always got us,† Elena promised. A wild hammering came at the door. Elena glanced at Bonnie, who tensed visibly on her bed but kept her hands over her face, and then at Meredith, who nodded firmly to her and climbed to her feet, reaching for her stave. It had occurred to both of them that, if Zander wanted to talk to Bonnie, he knew exactly where she lived. Elena flung open the door, and Matt tumbled in. He was wearing a long black hooded robe, and his eyes were frantic as he gasped for breath. â€Å"Matt?† she said in surprise, and looked to Meredith, who gave a tiny shrug and put her stave back down. â€Å"What's the matter? And what are you wearing?† He grabbed Elena by the shoulders, holding her too tightly. â€Å"Stefan's in danger,† he said, and she froze. â€Å"The Vitale Society – they're vampires. Stefan saved me, but he can't fight them al .† He quickly explained what happened in the secret chamber below the library, how Stefan came to his rescue, then sent him to get help. â€Å"We don't have much time,† he finished. â€Å"They're kil ing – they're changing al the pledges into vampires. I don't even know what Ethan's got planned for Stefan. We have to go back. And we need Damon.† Meredith picked up her stave again and, grim faced, was taking her satchel of weapons from her closet. Bonnie was on her feet, too, fists clenched, jaw firm. â€Å"I'l cal Damon,† Elena said, picking up her phone. Damon had dropped her off at the dorm after walking her back from James's house, but he was probably stil nearby. Stefan in danger. If he †¦ if anything happened to him, if something happened while they were apart, while he was stil hurt and it was her fault, Elena would never forgive herself. She wouldn't deserve to be forgiven. Guilt was like a knife in her stomach. How could she have hurt Stefan like that? She was attracted to Damon, sure, even loved him, but she'd never had any question that Stefan was her true love. And she had broken his heart. She'd do anything to save Stefan. She'd die for him if she had to. And, as she listened to the ringing on the other end of the line and waited for Damon to pick up, she realized that there was no question in her mind that Damon would do anything to save Stefan, too.

Who is the real Alcibiades?

According to Gribble (1999) Alcibiades is one of the most famous political people from Greece in the ancient history who came from a one of the powerful families in the ancient Greek.He is said to have been a very courageous man, ambitious but yet with bad morals Apart from being an active person in the political issues he was also talented in giving good speeches an art that he was taught by one of his great teachers who at that time was the Socrates.His life in politicsAlcibiades started his career in politics during the time of a war called the Peloponnesian war that involved the people of Sparta and Greece. In this war Alcibiades with his ambitions wanted to lead the army to continue fighting so that Greek would win over the Spartans because there were signs that the war was ending.Nicias who was representing and commanding the army in Greek had entered into peace deals with the people of Sparta. So one day some people from Sparta were sent to Athens the city of Greece to deliver a message of peace to the people of Greece going specifically through Nicias Gribble (1999).As discussed in Gribble (1999) while they were there Alcibiades through his sweet talk managed to convince them to oppose the idea of having peace between the two regions as it would only benefit Nicias. By doing all this he undermined the efforts of Athens and Sparta of wanting to make peace with the Spartans by giving false information to the people who had been sent from Sparta to negotiate with Nicias.Following the information that Sparta the war resumed with the people of Athens blaming Nicias who latter on lost political trust among the people of Athens and in effort to ensure that they maintained their powerful status that Greek was holding in the society they appointed Alcibiades to be the commander of their army starting a political career that led him to problems until his death at a war while he was still a commander.The other wars that he in participated in include the war agains t the Abydos, Chalydon and other wars that were outside the city of Athens in which his strategies were said to have succeeded in setting the enemies against the Athenians.Roles he playedAs summarized in   Gribble (1999) at the time he was the commander Alcibiades made so many enemies because of this habit of changing political stands and taking actions that cost the lives of people and some of his actions were considered not to be moral in the society.This was seen when at the start of his political life he led campaigns that were portraying Athenians as people who were so aggressive in using their power during the Peloponnesian war. He had used the Sparta people to achieve his own intentions in that manner made friends with them since they thought of him as being their true friend.In addition to that Gribble (1999) at the time Athens went to war with Sicily he was accused of disobeying the rules that had been set by the army and disobeying the other rulers which made the enemies in Athens wanting to kill him.He then ran to Sparta and from there he again incited the Spartan against the Athenians in the war that came afterwards. As an adviser to the Spartans he made them to withdraw the support that they were giving in aid for war that had just ended in Athens getting their support.Gribble (1999) he then went back to Athens by promising the people of Athens that he would facilitate a process that would ensure they get a new constitution. He also promised to take riches to them from Sparta and with all the sincerity they accepted him back. After he was taken back the military gave him a big position where he planned to undermine the commander by spreading information that the Athens military had persuaded him to return so as to bring change when he failed to fulfill his promises.How he looked as a traitorThrough all the actions that he led Alcibiades was always seen inciting many people who were against Athens. He used to draw the attention of those people by luring them through talks, using money, false promises among other favors.This made Greece to face a tough time in dealing with its enemies as given that there was someone like Alcibiades who had most of the information about Greece many of their war secrets were give out making them to be more cautious on the strategies that they were using. By doing all this evil deeds at the last minute he was disowned by the people when the war ended and he was left to the enemies who killed him Gribble (1999).