Essay --

Do I regret not doing this years ago? No, I do not. It is certainly true, that since a small child, growing up on my Dad’s pig farm, have I been fascinated by birth. Yes, tiny new piglets were beautiful, but other things intrigued me. The sow usually delivered her new brood with both serenity and independence. Some of my early memories are of rushing out to the farrowing house crates (yes, the poor animal in those days was in a pen designed purely for birth, not outside in the freedom of the field) to see how many piglets had arrived and hoping to catch a glimpse of the afterbirth, as we referred to it, sometimes even seeing her deliver it. Gruesome to some but to me it was amazing how this strange looking mass had kept lots of little lives alive. This fascination is still with me today, evident when my family and I went to lambing day at a local farm. But now, following the birth of my children, I brought empathy for the ewe too. Studying on the Access course has already taught me a lot about myself. Although an initially a shock to the system after over twenty years away from stu...

The Geographical Position of Great Britain

The Geographical Position of Great Britain There are two large islands and several smaller ones, which lie in the north-west coast of Europe. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The smaller one is called Ireland. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel. The country is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain is separated from Belgium and Holland by the North Sea, and from Ireland – by the Irish Sea.In the British Isles there are two states. One of them governs of the most of the island of Ireland. This state is usually called the Republic of Ireland. The other state has authority over the rest of the territory. The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is usually known by a shorter name – â€Å"The United Kingdom†. The total area of Great Britain is 244,000 square km. They say that the British love of compromise is the result of the country's physical geography.This may or may not be true, but it certainly true that the land and climate in Great Britain have a notable lack of extremes. The mountains in the country are not very high. It doesn't usually get very cold in the winter or very not in the summer. It has no active volcanoes, and an earth tremors which does no more than rattle teacups in a few houses which is reported in the national news media. The insular geographical position of Great Britain promoted the development of shipbuilding, different training contacts with other countries.The Geographical Position of Great Britain There are two large islands and several smaller ones, which lie in the north-west coast of Europe. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The smaller one is called Ireland. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel. The country is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Oc ean. Great Britain is separated from Belgium and Holland by the North Sea, and from Ireland – by the Irish Sea.In the British Isles there are two states. One of them governs of the most of the island of Ireland. This state is usually called the Republic of Ireland. The other state has authority over the rest of the territory. The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is usually known by a shorter name – â€Å"The United Kingdom†. The total area of Great Britain is 244,000 square km. They say that the British love of compromise is the result of the country's physical geography.This may or may not be true, but it certainly true that the land and climate in Great Britain have a notable lack of extremes. The mountains in the country are not very high. It doesn't usually get very cold in the winter or very not in the summer. It has no active volcanoes, and an earth tremors which does no more than rattle teac ups in a few houses which is reported in the national news media. The insular geographical position of Great Britain promoted the development of shipbuilding, different training contacts with other countries.

The World’s Wife ‘Little Red-Cap’

How true would it be to say that ‘Little Red-Cap’ is representative of the body of Carol Ann Duffy’s collection ‘The World’s Wife’? Duffy includes a range of themes, which are portrayed in an idiosyncratic way within the collection ‘The World’s Wife’. Most prominently ‘Little Red-Cap’ focuses on the issues of female dominance whilst contrasting it with female exploitation. Alongside, qualities of ambition and independence Duffy can represent her female characters as significant and therefore hinder men’s reputation in the current patriarchal society.This point is further elucidated by Michael Woods who stated ‘the poet fuses these ideas to reinforce the unremitting nullity that is forced upon many women when they are required to take a man's name in place of their own. In fact, the central theme of The World's Wife is encapsulated in this critique upon male arrogance. ’ [1]. Particularly this is something Duffy concentrates on in ‘Queen Herod’, ‘Mrs Rip Van Winkle’, ‘Thetis’ and ‘Mrs Aesop’ alongside ‘Little Red-Cap’. In order to intensify the value of women in society Duffy typically portrays her female characters as more dominant than the males.In ‘Little Red-Cap’ the adolescent’s control is clear especially in the final and penultimate stanzas as the twist on the original tale of Little Red Riding Hood ‘I took an axe to the wolf as he slept, one chop’ gives the narrator the power to dominate over the controlling, male character. Her impatience to escape the wolf’s rugged seduction is especially evident from Duffy’s use of enjambment between these two stanzas where she ‘took an axe / to a willow to see how it wept’.Further her power is apparent from the last line, ‘singing, all alone’, as Duffy explicates the satisfaction with her t riumphant victory over the dark character without the assistance from the hero, typically being a male character. Duffy identifies the problem in which men are portrayed in ‘Queen Herod’ where women commonly see men, deceptively, as a ‘Hero’, ‘Hunk’, ‘the je t’adore’ and showing that this is a problem by incorporating the negatives in contrast, such as ‘The Wolf’, ‘The Rip’, ‘The Rat’.In comparison, the humorous pun used in the final stanza of ‘Mrs Aesop’ portrays the female as over powering through the trenchant ridiculing of the male’s ‘little cock that wouldn’t crow’. Following this, the witty threat; ‘I’ll cut off your tail, all right, I said, to save my face’, which refers to the Bobbit case where his wife cut off his penis, is suggestive of threatening the same act upon him, which ‘shut him up’ and she Ã¢â‚¬Ë œlaughed last, longest’ proving how much control Mrs Aesop has over her husband.Comparatively, there is a distinct semantic field of power in ‘Queen Herod’ from the use of phrases such as ‘I swore’, ‘Do it’ and ‘I sent for the Chief of Staff’, showing the power, and confidence in that power, that Queen Herod has over the male characters. Perhaps this portrayal by Duffy is to influence women that this attitude can be acceptable and possible in our modern day society. Despite this, Duffy contrasts the power of the female gender with the exploitation of females in society.The wolf in ‘Little Red-Cap’ is alluring whilst his chin beholds a hidden sign of adulthood; ‘red wine staining’. The last line of the second stanza ‘he spotted me, sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif, and bought me a drink’ elucidates the overpowering control the wolf has over the adolescent. It is considerably regarde d as an issue as the adolescent initially sees the wolf as seductive rather than threatening, as seen in most modern day relationships. Perhaps here Duffy is attempting to inform the reader of the dangers of growing up too fast in the company of an influential man.Particularly, in ‘Mrs Rip Van Winkle’ the female ‘sank like a stone’ as if drowning, which creates a traumatic and confining image where the narrator has lost control and explicates her failure. The use of ‘still’ in the extended metaphor ‘I sank like a stone into the still, deep waters of late middle age’ suggests a sense of calmness contrasting with the panic of drowning in from experiencing the menopause. This contrasts gives off the suggestion that it is only the woman that changes meanwhile the rest of the world remains ‘still’ and composed.This is compared with ‘Thetis’ where female exploitation is extremely acknowledged. Similarly, the wif e of Thetis ‘shrank’ and ‘sank’ herself to escape the controlling power of the male character. Identifying this issue allows the reader to regard it seriously thus influencing the reader, which is most likely to be female, to share feminist views and condemn the male population. ‘Little Red-Cap’ especially consists of the themes ambition and independence whilst growing up.The story of ‘childhood’s end’ is the transition from innocence to experience with a journey of impetuous turmoil to find love, passion, sex and independence. For Little Red-Cap, poetry is the reason why she chooses ambition because of its richness, the mystery of its ambiguity and the wolf (the dark, mysterious character) can provide this for her. Perhaps, for Little Red-Cap, growing up is poetic and therefore desirable. This can easily be compared with ‘Mrs Rip Van Winkle’ who, ‘while he slept’, found adventure in her life.As she explains ‘I found some hobbies for myself’ it is evident that she is thinking only of what she wants from the use of personal pronouns for the first and last words of the statement, which further portrays him as unimportant regarding her development in reaching triumph in adventure. This is especially explicated through the sibilance of ‘seeing the sights’ as it conveys these adventures as stimulating thus influencing her female readers to reach out further than their heterosexual relationship.Clearly, Duffy’s collection consists of various profound and weighty subjects and ‘Little Red-Cap’ contains the majority of the themes present in the collection. In an interview in 2005 with Duffy the interviewer, Barry Wood, identified particular poems in this collection that ‘are unashamedly set in a contemporary idiom, re-casting the old stories in terms of modern life’ allowing Duffy to ‘subvert[ing] them’ [2]. Arguab ly, the act of modernisation here allows her readers to identify with the aforementioned issues raised.This therefore allows hope for the future for women regarding their status and value as individuals rather than as simply wives or mothers. As a homosexual, Duffy’s feminist views coincided with the notably iconic statement made by Dorothy Parker; ‘heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common’ as her collection ‘takes a very common relationship – that of man and wife – and presents a collection of poetic monologues from the perspective of the wife’ [3] in order to give the world’s wife a voice. Little Red-Cap’ has been identified as a personal account of her relationship with her ex-husband in the interview with Barry Wood as he suggestively asks ‘with a strong autobiographical investment, focusing on the idea of yourself as a young poet, asserting your independence. ’ with a reply of ‘CAD:   Yes. ’ therefore proving that the poem is reflective of Duffy’s feminist views and opinions on heterosexual relationships. The World’s Wife’ consists of providing wives of famous and infamous historic, fictional and biblical male characters a voice in society as the majority were not even considered, whilst commonly criticising the male population for its ignorance, arrogance, selfishness; the list is incessant. Because it is a personal poem Duffy’s views are most definitely included within ‘Little Red-Cap’ as are they included in the collection as a whole. Therefore the poem of subjection is representative of the collection ‘The World’s Wife’.Word count: With quotes- 1,245 Without quotes- 952 Bibliography: 1. Michael Woods critique of Queen Herod: http://www. sheerpoetry. co. uk/advanced/carol-ann-duffy/notes-on-selected-poems-advanced/queen-herod 2. Interview with Carol Ann Duffy and Barry Wood: http://www. shee rpoetry. co. uk/advanced/interviews/carol-ann-duffy-the-world-s-wife in 2005. 3. An essay written by username: doralulusparky http://www. studymode. com/essays/The-World-s-Wife-Carol-Ann-Duffy-598083. html in February 2011.

Employee Relations HND 2013 Assignment 2 Essay

It is a very common thing in the workplace for people to not be satisfied, being it either the employer or the employee; this could be in regard to the needs, values and interests in general. It takes many forms in organizations and there is always an unavoidable clash between formal authority and the groups affected. The list of reasons are limitless but some are disputes over how revenue is divided, how work must be performed, how much time one is allocated to work, etc. A lot of disagreements among individuals, departments and between unions and managements result to jurisdictional matters. Why Does Conflict Occur? There are many reasons and some can be; Expectations, Different Knowledge, Fear, Poor Communication, Attachment, Incompatible Values, Stress, Past Trauma, Scarce Resources, Different Paradigms, Misunderstanding, Perceived Oppression and many more reasons. The types of conflicts are Substantive Conflicts (Technical Conflicts) and Emotional Conflicts (Interpersonal Conflicts) that can occur being it within two or more individuals, two or more groups or between individuals and groups as well. Conflicts between Individuals; Interpersonal Conflicts take place due to several factors, most commonly they are due to personal dislikes or personality differences. Taking into consideration differences of opinion between individuals regarding task related issues, it can be labeled as technical conflict rather than interpersonal conflict. However technical and interpersonal conflicts can influence each other due to role-related stress. Conflicts between Individuals and Groups; These sorts of intra-group conflicts mainly arise due to an individual’s incapability to follow group rules and regulations. An example would be when groups have an idea of a ‘Fair day’s work’ and may pressurize an individual or punish him/her in regard to the rules of the groups productivity he/she could result with conflict towards the group and other individuals. There are various levels of conflicts that are classified like this: Intrapersonal Conflicts that involve: Pressures from incompatible goals Approach-Approach Conflict Avoidance –Avoidance Conflict Approach – Avoidance Conflict Interpersonal Conflicts: Occurs between two or more individuals who are against each other. Intergroup Conflicts: Occurs amongst members of different groups or teams. Interorganizational Conflicts: Occurs due to competition and rivalry of firms operating in the same markets. Occurs between Organizations and Unions employing their members. Occurs between government monitoring organizations and organizations regarding their scrutiny. Occurs between Organizations and Companies who supply raw materials. Functional/Constructive Conflicts: This results in positive attributes to an individual, a company or groups. The likely effects are: Important problems are revealed so they can be discussed. Causes an important discussion and evaluation of decisions. Causes re-considerable decisions. Increases the amount of information available for making decisions. Permits room for creativity Dysfunctional/Destructive Conflicts: These result in negative attributes and are a downside to individuals, a company or groups. The likely effects are: It diverts energy into negative things. Destroys the unity of groups. Encourages interpersonal conflicts. Overall it destroys the environment for employees. Culture and Conflict: There is usually a chance for conflict to be high when: People from short-term cultures are working with people from long-term cultures. People from individualistic cultures work with people from collectivist cultures. People from high-power distance cultures work with people from low-power distance cultures. Resolving Conflict: Some people believe the best way to resolve conflict is to ignore it or to vote which only suppresses the true problem without confronting and resolving it. These are some of the ways to resolve conflict effectively; Discuss or Debate, open communication, learn to compromise or reach an agreement, However the way organizations manage conflicts as of today are quite different and yet effective. They use conflict resolution, this is used: In a situation that the original reasons for a given destructive conflict are eradicated. Effective conflict resolution begins with an analysis of the stage where the conflict has reached and understanding the reason behind the conflict. Stages Of Conflict: Conflict History, Prioritize the circumstances for conflict. Conflict Precursors, Note down the circumstances for conflict. Perceived Conflict, Functional or emotional variations are identified. Felt Conflict, Stress generates incentive to act. Manifest Conflict, Resolving the Conflict. Conflict Outcome. Question 2: I will be using a conflict issue that was found at Radiant Montessori Nursery, Abu Dhabi during the year 2011. (http://www.rmn4me.com/) During the time since the nursery had been set up there were a lot of disputes over finding drivers who would be safe, efficient and loyal, The owners had various disputes regarding finding suitable drivers and from where they would find them. One owner suggested a driver who apparently was a relation of his friend. This conflict of interest led to many problems and disputes within the company and was eventually solved but even doing so it tarnished the owner’s reputation and business. The driver appeared to be a very trustworthy and loyal person and was always on his best behavior whenever the owners were around, later on they started receiving various speeding tickets on the Montessori van, it was found to be at 3-4a.m, no nursery is open at these times and it was later proven that the driver had been running his own routes along the city after office hours, when confronted he started absconding and was not being reasonable or trying to negotiate with the owners, he was in direct violation of his job permit and as well as his visa, Even then he was given chances because of the conflict of interest in him by the owner , therefore later on he was jailed by the police for misusing school property and the owner was charged a heavy fine. The manner in which the conflict was resolved was not a good manner and if the owners had sought to other measures and planned everything properly it wouldn’t have reached this stage. Question 3: Judging by the case study shown, the stage of which the case is by the time it reaches negotiation stage it is less likely to be solved, the positions are most likely fixed as to who is what and the relationship is not redeemable after all the disciplinary action and demands from each other. Petunia might think that she is the successor over the issue but judging from the company’s point of view it was a loss, not just by losing Lerato, by the costs put in for the hearings, the time allocated for the case and the witnesses brought forward, the influence of productivity and morale and the further cost of getting a new employee. If only there was someone who was able to explain to lerato regarding the situation when she refused to take the job or before that it would have been a positive conflict. The arbitrator would have provided Lerato with a confidential means and method by which Lerato and Petunia could have both discussed their interpersonal conflict and come out with a negotiation regarding the outcome. These are the stages: Petunia is a senior manager and Lerato a manager reporting indirectly to her which is a reason for Petunia to feel superior t Lerato. The initial case of conflict was when Lerato perceived that Petunia was the one responsible behind her moving to a different office. (Perceived Conflict) This caused her to rethink and analyze that it was because Petunia had accused her of insubordination. (Conflict Antecedents) Lerato starts lobbying against Petunia.(Felt Conflict) Lerato subject to disciplinary measures and dismissed.(Manifest Conflict) The believed reason behind the conflict from Lerato’s side was Power or value asymmetries. Procedures that went by: It started out by perceived pressures then moved on to an approach-approach conflict and then to an approach-avoidance conflict the avoidance did not allow for negotiation or understanding which resulted in the firing of lerato. The dysfunctionality of this conflict is seen by the way it was resolved, My view of the case study is that the way it went along was not right and this is not the way to solve a conflict, In my opinion lerato should not have perceived and acted stubborn she should have asked for guidance or confronted Petunia directly and found out if it was her who had gotten her changed from department to department. Secondly even if this was the case she should have come to an understanding with Petunia regarding the situation and tried to resolve it in a more diplomatic way, not by being stubborn and accusing blindly as Petunia is her senior. Thirdly, the department should have been involved about the case and should have taken immediate action and seen to it that both of them came to an understanding regarding what had happened and not let it escalate to such a high level. Lerato should have addressed the board and seen to it that a proper evaluation of her work and skills be made in regard to her transfer and whether or not it was truly needed. The way things were going impacted the company and the work environment of other employees as well. The way in which Petunia did it was right where she addressed the Human Resources Department and asked them to take action against lerato. All of this could have been prevented if there was proper conflict recognition and conflict resolving matters that could have been done. References: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-types-conflict-organizations-174.html http://www.uni-muenster.de/Politikwissenschaft/Doppeldiplom/docs/Organizational.pdf http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ways-managing-conflict-organizations-2655.html

Case in Marketing Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

In Marketing - Case Study Example Over the years, it has extended its business in each and every subcontinent. It has been observed that Danone has around 90,000 employees throughout the world and it has operated its business in 120 countries in three core segments. Apart from dairy products, it has biscuits and beverages amid its offerings of globally renowned products (Danone,†Our Mission†). According to research, it has been found that the organisation has used a few pertinent strategies to ensure a significant command on the global market. Throughout the last century, it has operated its marketing activities in a competitive global marketplace. Apart from core segment including food and beverages, Danone has found competition from Nestle, Pepsi and Coca-Cola among others. In order to compete with the concurrent leading players, it has upheld quality as a prime factor in its offerings. With these considerations, the study intends to critically evaluate a key issue faced by the Danone Company in its operations in the past few years. Subsequently, in keeping with the analysis made regarding the issue faced by the company certain prudent recommendations or solution will be offered to ensure that the issue does not linger on and create even severe hurdles for the company in the near future. During the phase of 1990s, Danone had emerged as one of the world’s leading and renowned food companies. It had taken 40 years of time to achieve that peak in the global market. However, before that phase Danone had failed to capture the China market during the initial entrance. It had faced several difficulties during that stage. In this regard, it is determined that Danone has been significantly reliant on the supply of baby milk from the New Zealand exporter of wholesale daily products namely Fonterra. Unfortunately, during 2013, a warning related to bacterial infection was provided by

What's economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What's economics - Essay Example Hall and Lieberman (3) state that there is a fundamental problem with human beings in this world and that lies in the fact that we have unlimited wants although our means to achieve these wants are limited. For example, in life, there are many things that we will want to achieve. However, because we have few resources available to achieve those wants, we have to make good choices that will enable us to get the best possible situation in life. Economics is therefore a subject that studies how to make the best choices. Whenever a choice is made, the alternative satisfaction forgone is known as the opportunity cost (Hall & Lieberman 3). This means that economics helps us to make the wisest choice and get the best satisfaction in personal terms as well as relative terms (in relation to the opportunity cost). There are two levels within which economics is studied: macroeconomics and micro economics. Macroeconomics is concerned with the whole economy or large segments of it (Jain & Ohri 3). It is concerned with the rate of inflation, national unemployment and other things of national concerns. There is another branch of economics that studies the behavior of individuals, households, firms and governments (Hall & Lieberman 8). This branch of economics studies the choices that these units of a nation make and the interactions of these units. This branch is called microeconomics. Microeconomics is concerned with the interaction of the forces of demand and supply by individuals, households, firms and governments. It seeks to identify the effects of rational decisions in terms of choice in these units of a nations economy. Microeconomics ends up in the formulation of theories about the most rational members of these sub units are likely to take. Personally, I hope to learn more and become a rational individual and also grow up to take rational decisions everywhere I will find myself. I expect to learn the main theories and concepts of microeconomics so that I

Oedipus the king Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oedipus the king - Essay Example It will also be argued in the essay that on many occasions in the tragedy, Oedipus and other characters make such comments which for them apply to some facts known to them but which in reality apply to a broad range of obscure yet critically important havoc-wreaking facts which they are not familiar with. Also, the status of women in Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King has been frequently debated among the critics and the growing integration of feminist criticism into critical analysis of drama and theatre reveals that women have nearly always been perpetually portrayed in an inferior way by the authors. Gender discrimination forms a patent factor in many classical masterpieces and almost every time women are shown inferior to men in some way. In ancient Greek times, women had no role because it was thought they had no brains. The Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, likewise, illuminates the inferiority of women to men and shows that inferiority of women to men dates back to 4th century B.C. The literary analysis will also contemplate the extent to which women are portrayed inferiorly in Oedipus Rex. Literary research claims that the repeated use of irony in Oedipus Rex basically highlights the intention of Sophocles to identify how limited human understanding can lead one to appalling and torturous consequences like the ones experienced by Oedipus himself. Irony definitely serves as an important tool for the author to develop a kind of plot which has a very unexpected ending (Woidke). The tale of Oedipus Rex contains many examples of irony like in the case of Oedipus Rex when he in the beginning unknowinlgy commits murder of his father and marries his mother. Later towards the end, he uses needles to gorge his eyes out as all the facts once unknown to him are at last revealed in an extremely tragic way. Irony in the story identifies how sometimes gross misunderstandings are created when people are not fully familiar with all the facts either due to fate or by personal mistake. One striking example of irony in Oedipus the King is evident from the event when Oedipus upon learning from Creon that the city of Thebes was exposed to plague because former King Laius's killer was still alive and the plague would not go away unless the killer be killed or exiled from Thebes, decides to reach Teiresias who is in fact the oracle of God Apollo. Now the irony is that while the audience is familiar with who actually murdered Laius and why the plague persisted in Thebes, Oedipus is sadly ignorant of this blood-curdling reality. This ignorance leads him to Teiresias to investigate into the matters. The dialogue of Teiresias reflects another example of irony. Though he knew the hidden secret of Oedipus’ parentage, he hesitated to voice his verdict in front of the crowd but the king made him speak up forcefully upon which, Teiresias revealed that Oedipus himself was Laius's murderer and his mother Jocasta's second husband. Having listened this, Oedipus got violent and told Teiresias that he was â€Å"blind in mind and ears/as well as in your eyes† to which he replied, â€Å"You are a poor wretch to taunt me with the very insults which everyone will soon heap upon yourself† (Sophocles and Grene). Irony is evident in this exchange of remarks