Ethical Decision making by School Principals Essay Example for Free

Ethical Decision making by School Principals Essay Principals are faced with the challenge of managing schools and there is need for them to be ethical, respectful, inspiring, creative and knowledgeable about methods of instruction and the culture of the school and curriculum. These principals are also faced with the challenge of knowing and identifying areas of support that is able to enhance the school’s mission and also manage the areas that impede the achievement of a stated mission of the school. Since the needs of students are ever changing, they should also be in a position to make both smaller and larger adjustments that could be beneficial to the school and easily manageable by the organization in the management of these decisions. (Sousa, 2003, pp. 195-198). A decision is termed as ethical when it is able to bring about positive results and does not harm other people or the third party. These decisions are able to bring forth respect, trust, fairness and caring, responsibility and demonstrate good citizenship. When a decision accomplishes the needs of people together with their purposes, it is then termed as an effective decision. Ethically sound decisions are mostly advanced by two critical aspects namely discernment and discipline. For a decision to poses the aspect of discernment, it requires judgment and knowledge. The strength of character on the other hand, makes up a good decision and this takes moral change and the will power to be able to do what needs to be done (Hoy Tarter 2004, pp. 56-60). Ethical decision making calls for good leadership from principals. Leadership may be described as the authority or ability of an individual or individuals to lead others towards the achievement of a goal. It involves directing and influencing others towards the accomplishment of the stated common objectives and involves responsibility and accountability for the group. There are various leadership styles that are used today in many organizations and institutions. The autocratic type of leaders apply unilateralist while dominating their team-members in order to achieve a particular objective. However, this method often results to resistance from the team- members, as this style generally requires constant pressure and a lot of direction to get things done. On the other hand, this style could be more effective in urgent situations requiring urgent action (Schiminke, 1998, pp. 107-110). In the Laissez-Faire leadership, little control is exercised by managers over their groups. This allows the team-members to sort out their duties and obligations but the manager is not in any way involved with them. This style of leadership however is ineffective at certain circumstances since the team is left floundering with limited motivation and direction. Laissez- faire is effective in cases whereby a manager leads a team that is highly skilled and motivated and these people have in the past produced excellent work. The Democratic leader on other hand often uses participation and the groups’ teamwork towards attaining a collaborative decision. This style focuses on communication between the leader and the team and hence a positive climate for achieving results is created. The leaders consult their teams before making a decision while still in control of the team. These leaders allow the team to make decisions on how certain duties will be carried out and by whom (Schiminke, 1998, pp. 107-110). In addition, a good democratic leader is one who approves participation by team members and delegation of duties or tasks is done wisely. This kind of a leader values the points put forward from them and also encourages any group discussion. He also empowers the team through motivation. On leadership styles include a coercive leader, authoritative. Leader, affiliative leader, pace setting and a coaching leader. A coercive leader demands obedience, which should be instantaneous and applies initiative, achievement and self-control. In times of crisis or company turn around, this style is considered to be more effective but it mostly creates a negative climate for the performance in an organization. The authoritative leader on the other hand is considered to be one of the most effective as this leader inspires employees to follow a vision, facilitate change and creates a strong organizational climate that results in positive performance. The affiliative leadership values people, their emotions and their needs and relies on friendship and trust to promote flexibility, innovation and risk taking. A pacesetting leader can create a negative climate because of the high standards he or she sets. This style works best in attaining quick results from highly motivated individuals who value achievement and take the initiative. Lastly, the coaching leader builds a positive climate by developing skills that will foster long-term success. This type of leader also delegates responsibly, and is skillful in issuing assignments that are quite challenging. Leadership entails organizing people in a bid to achieve the stated goals of the group. It is therefore essential that leaders should posses certain basic qualities that will enable them to be effective leaders in whatever situation or task they undertake (Guy, 1990 pp. 105-107). Leaders should display a good work ethic that will enable other employees to emulate. A good work ethic includes: being on time, being organized giving praise to employees, being well prepared for meetings and having good communication within the venture that will go a long way towards achieving emotional and financial success. Therefore a leader should set an example with an ethical set of values for other managers and employees. For a leader to be effective, he/she should be willing to constantly learn at the same time integrate the knowledge they have acquired through learning into their leadership style. They must also develop skills that will promote them into being good leaders. Another quality of a good leader is that they should constantly keep up with the current trends in leadership and be aware that the leadership styles are constantly changing. In other words these leaders should be open to change. A good leader should also be able to mobilize people and acquire their trust in the process. Good leaders should also have the ability to communicate effectively with their subordinates communication is an essential aspect since it involves both listening and sending messages or telling others what needs to be done. Moral leaders are in a position to produce good moral leadership. They mostly apply restraint and power in their leadership. They are willing to accept any results without imposing control on other people. This is stewardship. It enables leaders to accept their faults which are human instead of shielding themselves under their authority and status. Ethics can be described as the codes of conduct that guide on how one should behave regarding moral duties and virtues. These moral principles guide a person in determining what is wrong or right. Morality by principals can be termed as personal ethics. This is because personal ethics reflect the expectations of people of all works in the society. Ethics has got two aspects: the ability to determine right from wrong, propriety from impropriety and good from evil. The second perspective concerns the commitment to perform an action that is proper, right and good. The principles of personal ethics include: trustworthiness and honesty, concern for the well being of others preventing harm refusing to take unfair advantage, respect for the autonomy of others and basic justice. Ethics as displayed by principals in schools or any other leaders could be classified as under written and unwritten codes of ethics: codes of ethics are the efforts which are systematic in nature and are used in defining the right conduct. They also provide guidance and help in the installation of confidence in various aspects of life from the government and all organizations. The main guidance is reflected in the decision making process especially where values seem to conflict. Written codes of ethics can be made known by an organization, professional or jurisdiction. On the other hand unwritten codes that exist and that help us in our lives are more effective than the written ones. Un written codes of ethics include rules such as honesty, security, loyalty among others. These unwritten codes of ethics mostly arise from family and cultural tradition and can also be found in workplace. These written and unwritten codes of ethics mostly arise from family and cultural tradition and can also be found in workplace. These written and unwritten codes of ethics are found in the society and they help one in establishing their personal belief system. Ethical behaviors should be a part and parcel of an individual’s daily routine (Murphy McMurty, 2000. pp. 110-115). I believe that Principals need to make strategic decisions since society and environment are dynamic and this provides them with a means that is strategic in nature that could enable them consider the external environment by focusing on the strength of the school organization, reducing weaknesses in school and also identify all the available opportunities that could put the school at a better position to be able to gain a competitive advantage. School principals are able to make an ethically defensible decision when the decision is well thought considering all the formal possible angels meaning that everybody takes part in decision making. In addition, ethically sound decisions in corporate all the possible solutions regarding the positive and negative outcomes of the decision. The decisions made by school principles need to involve a consultative process, team or group process or delegated duties to the staff members. This will help principals to come up with an ethically sound decision that will have a positive impact to all the members of the society which includes the students. Today, school leaders are the people who are accountable ethically, legally and morally for any decisions that they make in schools. Dempster and Parry (1999) note that the schools pressure mainly arise from four sources that is pressure of involving non-educationalists in the decision making in schools; changes in the growth of knowledge and applying the new advanced technology in learning processes; increased social problems such as suicide, violence and unemployment. This means that school leaders are constantly faced with ethical dilemmas while making decisions in schools hence resulting in conflicting ethical principles. Therefore how ethics/morals impact on decision-making is profound as this could easily change the way society operates. Foster (1986) also notes that it is the actions by the officials of the school that will strongly determine personal codes of ethics and values (Shapiro, 2000, pp. 120-125). On the ethical decision making by principals in schools, Denig and Quinn (2001) proposed a philosophical model with two moral principles namely; care and justice. They argue that most of the decisions that are made by school leaders, are mainly based on formalism which is policy and law and this is aimed at bringing about the greatest good to all (utilitarianism). In other words, this approach clearly views decision making as a rational approach that involves the use of universal principles. The decision maker performs what is right that could result in good deeds to all rather than individualism hence equity becomes the desirable outcome. They also point out that it is only through making decisions by collaborative means that these leaders can be able to analyze the dilemmas and get prepared to encompass the principle of working together with the school system and this eventually results in making decisions that are ethical (Sousa, 2003, pp. 195-198). Greenfield (19991) on the other hand argues that school leaders experience distinct sets of demands concerning ethics. He notes that schools being moral institutions are designed to bring for the social norms and other principles. They should be able to make decisions that are morally acceptable. He further notes that although schools are charged with the responsibility of creating moral values and making moral decisions by dedicating themselves to promote the well-being of their students, it is surprising that the same students have virtually no right to express themselves to what goes on in their schools and it is for these reasons that the conduct of these school leaders need to be moral (Kowalski, 2001, pp. 5-98). Robert Starratt (1991) also talks of equality in social arrangement benefits by arguing that today’s social arrangement results to unequal benefits among people. He argues that school principles should not only behave ethically but also be responsible individuals. Lastly, Green field argues that the authority of the principal is moral and teachers should be convinced that the decisions make by the principal reflects all the values that they support (Nutt, 2002, pp. 50-54). Kidder (1995) defines an ethical dilemma as the responsibilities that people face in making choices between two rights cherished values that conflict are the principle cause of dilemmas. For instance a principal is bound to be faced with a dilemma if at all he/she cherishes both the teacher and student and the teacher decides to enact a policy that will result in low expectations. Some philosophers and thinkers have come up with a number of guidelines that could help to solve these dilemmas faced by school leaders. They argue that leaders should be able and willing to act along the set standards of ethics. They could also address and also should be caring and conscious reflection whenever they lead other people (Nutt, 2002, pp. 50-54). School leaders could also form ethics committees to help them solve ethical dilemmas as these committees could prove helpful in raising the awareness concerning ethical issues, advising educators and also in the formulation of codes of ethics. A quality decision that is made by a school principal will depend on a number of factors made, extent to which others are able to generate a quality solution, how the problem is structured and the degree of commitment. Moreover, decisions made in schools require a lot of staff decision and support. School principals also need to understand the culture of their schools while attempting to make any decisions as this will establish whether the decision made is appropriate for the school. Therefore, these head teachers need to analyze and comprehend any relevant and comprehend any relevant information presented to them together with data. They also need to gather and measure evidence, issue judgments and finally make the necessary decisions. Creativity is essential as these will help in solving any anticipating problems hence development of opportunities for the school. Finally, school principals should be in a position to demonstrate quality judgment. This will enable them to know how and when they need to make any decisions among others. Decisions made by school principals could be autocratic, consultative, Group or Delegated decisions. An autocratic decision is that which the school principal makes it himself / herself by use of the available information or gathered from other groups or people. This therefore requires these school leaders to make appropriate and quick decisions when expected to do them at a particular point in time consultation on the other hand means that a problem has to be shared amongst individuals in order to obtain collective views or ideas but the school principal has to make the final decision afterwards.

Strategic Management Report on Toyota

Strategic Management Report on Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is the largest producer of automobiles in Japan and the worlds second largest automotive manufacturer based on production and sales. In 2010, Toyota sold 7.24 million units (Toyota, 2010). Toyota diversified operations include financial services, telecommunications, prefabricated housing and leisure boats. Besides its 12 plants and a number of manufacturing subsidiaries and affiliates in Japan, Toyota has 52 manufacturing companies in 27 countries that produce Lexus and Toyota brand vehicles and components. Toyota employs approximately 320,590 people worldwide, and markets vehicles in more than 170 countries. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and had an operating income of approximately 397.05 billion Yen (Toyota, 2011). And the main competitors of Toyota are General Motors, Honda Motors and Ford Motors (Daily Finance, 2011). 3. Analysis of Toyota Strategic Capabilities: 3.1 Company Capabilities Grant (2010) says about Lean production integrates capabilities relating to the manufacture of components and subassemblies, supply chain management, production scheduling, assembly, quality control procedures, systems for managing innovation and continuous improvement and inventory control. 3.1.1 Resources Innovation has always been a Toyota resource. In the 1970s Toyota began to produce smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, which customers desired after oil prices rocketed. Recently, it has used both diesel technology and the electric car. 3.1.2 Organizational Culture However, Toyotas main resource is the Toyota Way, the 14 principles behind the Toyota Production System (Combe, 2011). These originated in the post 1945 environment, when it was imperative to make the maximum use of scarce resources. Challenges, improvement, Kaisen, go and see (genchi genbutsu); respect and teamwork are the main tenets of these principles, which can be outlines as follows. Management decisions should be long term, as opposed to short term, although they should be arrived at consensually. Problems should be highlighted by continuous process, not hidden and resolved immediately so that a quality product is produced immediately. Only existing and trustworthy technology should be used and tasks need to be standardized so that the workload is leveled out and the workers are continually improving. Management should understand all aspects of the companys operations, and pass on their dedication to the companys goals to others. All workers, suppliers and affiliated should always be challenged to improve their performance. The latter means that Toyota becomes a leaning organization with workers being empowered to make changes as they perform their daily tasks. The Toyota Way has given Toyota a comparative advantage in both quality and reliability. 3.1.3 Supply Chain According to Winfield and Hay (1997) part of the strategic capabilities of Toyota includes the strategic capabilities of the supply chain. The pattern and organization of a supply chain is perceptibly a comprehensive topic, concerning inter dependencies between research and development, marketing and production roles, creating considerable courses of goods and technical, market and financial information. 3.2 Core Competencies Toyotas global competitive advantage is to build trust and confidence with customers by delivering outstanding quality products and services that add real value to their business. According to Drejer (2002), However, in recent years there has been a number of recalls of multiple models of Toyota, which are amazingly reliable. How could this possibly happen to the car company that was the undisputed leader in quality. 4. Evaluation of Possible Future Strategies for the Company: The main strategic issue for Toyota is maintaining its position as the worlds leading car manufacturer after the recent mass vehicle recall. 4.1 Future Strategies for Culture Change Based on the book titled 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis written by George (2009), Toyota needs a credible leader with a strong, cohesive plan (George, 2010). 4.1.1 Face reality, starting with yourself Toyota blamed the problems on stuck floor mats and panicky drivers. Instead, Toyota should acknowledge that its vaunted quality system failed. CEO Toyoda should take personal responsibility by saying that he pushed too hard for growth and neglected quality. 4.1.2 Dont be Atlas; Get the world off your shoulders Toyoda needs a crisis team reporting directly to him, working 24/7 to get problems fixed permanently. He should add the worlds top quality experts to his fix it team and listen carefully to their advice. 4.1.3 Dig deep for the root cause Management should have required its best engineers to get to the root cause of this problem and every other quality problem being reported. 4.1.4 Get ready for the long haul These problems wont just fade away. In fact, they are likely to get worst before getting better. Toyota must invest heavily in corrective actions while its sales shrink and profits implode, requiring major cash resources until its reputation can be restored. 4.1.5 Never waste a good crisis For all the pain Toyota is experiencing, this crisis provides a unique opportunity to make fundamental changes required to restore Toyota quality. Employees are ready for new direction, and they are willing to make radical changes to renew the company. With Toyodas leadership, Toyota automobiles can be restored to the worlds highest quality. 4.1.6 Youre in the spotlight: Follow True North Toyoda must come out of hiding, take personal responsibility, and subject himself to intense questioning by regulators and the media. Then he should make a personal commitment to every Toyota customer to repair the damage, including buying back defective cars. 4.1.7 Go on offense; focus on winning now Coming out of this crisis, the market will never look the same. Toyota cannot wait until all its quality problems are resolved. It must play defense and offense simultaneously. To win, Toyota has to offer advanced features and superior quality, better value for consumers, greater safety, and improved fuel efficiency. 4.2 Future Strategies for Innovation Like Volkswagen, Toyota could design cars for specific markets (Welch, 2010). Penetration of the price sensitive Indian market could be achieved by producing its low cost car soon (The Economic Times, 2010). Toyota needs to pay more attention to the Chinese market, which is the largest and fastest growing. As Chinese families are smaller than their Western equivalents, this could be an opportunity for increased sales of the smaller Camry model (Xinhua, 2010). Retracting in Europe could fund expansion into these blossoming Asian markets. Specific markets could also be entered by joint ventures with local manufacturers. Volkswagen is aiming to do this in India, by acquiring a stake in Suzuki, which is a market leader there through its subsidiary Maruti (Ran Kim and Hetzner, 2009). Another possible strategy for Toyota is to restore its benchmark for quality and reliability, which has been severely impaired with the second recall of 4.2 million vehicles in 2009 (Bunkley, 2010). Crucial to this strategy, is the introduction of twenty dedicated technology facilities to highlight defects as quickly as possible (Guardian, 2010). In addition, the new regional quality subcommittees have the power to make improvements without head office approval. This would eradicate defects quickly, and, in turn reassure customers. 5. Implementation of the Strategic Change: Recently, public criticism focuses on complaints of too much computerization, problems with global sourcing, and the effects of Toyotas single-minded pursuit of becoming the worlds largest automaker. In fact, the recent criticism of Toyota in these areas demonstrated how leadership holds the keys to success and failure to organizational transformation. New Technology and Leadership Toyotas recent strategy to become the worlds number one automaker has been underpinned by using new know-how, new technology and new materials to improve, perfect and break through auto design and manufacturing. However, the strategy also required that Toyota shifted its focus form manufacturing engineering and built-in-quality toward research and development product design. When a company shifts its focus form lean production to technology innovation, there is an embedded obstacle culture change. On one hand, the essence of lean production dictates the elimination of waste. On the other hand, the uncertainties in new product development require that the manufacturer build in redundancy to manage the risks of the unknown and unsure a high level of safety. Trying to balance lean production with the need for redundancy is a difficult act that requires the leadership to be instrumental in making key decisions as well as leading and managing the change. Global Sourcing and Leadership Toyotas decisions on strategic positioning impacts its cooperation with suppliers. The suppliers original alignment of competitive advantages, core capabilities and value propositions needs to change along with that of Toyotas. such changes, unavoidably, will be reflected in vehicle quality, customer satisfaction and even customer safety. Some would view this as a by-product of the vehicle makers strategic move directed by its leadership. Others think the leadership should consider such impact as part of the change management alongside strategic planning shifts. Whatever it is, the key is the alignment, especially with corporate culture, people capabilities, acceptance of stress and pressure, and the ability to coordinate and change. World No. 1 and Leadership The new leadership certainly has felt the pressure. It is the responsibility of the leaders to sort out the alignment and coordination between strategic direction and operating model. Hopefully, the recall crisis will be treated once more as an opportunity to align its lean production culture and its operation excellence capabilities with its desire to leverage new technology, to continue sourcing from the globe while continuing to stay on the No. 1 pedestal. A transformation already is apparent. Toyota has become less defensive and has responded quickly to new complaints of defects. Leadership is no longer absent and now appears to be leading from the front. In consideration of the various issues, Toyotas growth strategy for the continued realization of Genchi Genbutsu and high quality at affordable prices will centre on a thorough customer first perspective (Toyota, 2010). Specifically, Toyota will review their product lineups to match customer needs in each region and create a production system that responds to changes in market structure while optimally allocating resources in areas where Toyota want to advance. 6. Conclusion Recommendations: Toyota seems to have abandoned one of its core competencies quality. Toyota is suffering from trying to get too big, too fast. Toyota sensed weakness from its auto rivals in the American market, and also noted opportunity in emerging markets such as China and India. So, it started enormous expansion around the world. In doing so, Toyota abandoned one of its core values, which is to never build a new product in a new factory with a new workforce. Toyota may have won the rights to brag as the worlds biggest car company, however, that appears to have come at a heavy cost to its reputation for quality and in turn customer dissatisfaction. Management needs to make sure that their projects and their goals are aligned with organizational values and core competencies. Understanding the importance of competencies and core values, and how they need to work in conjunction, is profoundly important for management success. Management should give thought and efforts towards developing both of these sets of attributes and remain focused on business goals. This is a challenging menu, and this crisis is the true test of Akio Toyodas leadership. Believe this is a great company that will resurrect its reputation and restore its leadership.

Totalitarianism In Orwells 1984 Politics Essay

Totalitarianism In Orwells 1984 Politics Essay George Orwells 1984 is about a man Winston Smith in a country called Oceania with a government called IngSoc. Winston lives in constant fear as he is arrested and tortured by members of the Party, people participating in IngSoc. Orwell shows how IngSoc is a controlling government. Also, he discusses the dangers of a government like IngSoc. IngSoc is a totalitarian government. Orwell denounces totalitarianism by creating a dystopia that has a totalitarian government. Totalitarianism is the form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individuals life to the authority of the government. When Orwell published 1984, totalitarianism denoted a society in which political power was in the hands of a dictator or leader and a nontraditional ruling elite; the mass of the population was not only politically powerless but deprived of all intellectual and cultural resources (Gleason, 148). Totalitarianism is a tempting option for countries whose citizens are suffering. The totalitarian states of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler (1933-45) and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin (1924-53) were the first examples of decentralized or popular totalitarianism, in which the state achieved overwhelming popular support for its leadership (totalitarianism n.p.). In Nazi Germany, the citizens were overcoming a huge depression resulting from the loss in World War I. In the Soviet Union, the people ov erthrew an unproductive, uncaring Tsarist government. George Orwell had many bad experiences with totalitarianism, and recounts these events in 1984. He experienced firsthand the effects of a fascist government in World War II. In 1948, when Orwells 1984 was first published, World War II had just ended. During World War II, mass murders were ordered by totalitarian leaders like Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Adolf Hitler, in Germany, had slaughtered his enemiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ killing six million Jews plus nine million Slavs, gypsies, political dissidents, homosexuals, and mentally challenged people (1984 242). Orwell, influenced by genocide caused by a single powerful man, prompted him to reflect upon the cause of so many deaths. He powerfully expresses his worries about the dangers of a totalitarian government by creating his own dystopia in 1984. A totalitarian government works to control the mind of the people. One way to induce subservience is to control pleasure. The Party controls people by limiting and suppressing pleasure. To remove the pleasure from society diminishes the morale of the people, allowing the government to enforce its will. Sex is a social activity looked down upon by the Party through organizations like the Junior Anti-Sex League. Laurence Lerner suggests, [Orwell] considers [sex] extremely important because of its concentration on pure pleasure and IngSoc is a society dedicated to the abolition of pleasure (Bloom 73). Julia uses sex as a medium to rebel against the Party. Seeing Julias rebellious act, Winston joins her and expresses his desire for rebellion as well. Scores of time she had done ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Anything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope (Orwell 125). Winstons hope is exactly what a totalitarian government desires to destroy. Also, when OBrien tortures Winston in Room 101, he reveals the motives of the Party: The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish orgasm (Orwell, 267). By removing the pleasures of sex and all pleasures of society, the Inner Party is free to exert its will upon the citizens of Oceania. Under totalitarian rule, traditional social institutions and organizations are discouraged and suppressed (totalitarianism n.p.). Totalitarianism takes away freedom by installing surveillance and limiting activity. The Party uses the Thought Police, Spies, and telescreens to monitor the citizens of Oceania at all times. Winston buys a blank diary and writes in it while he is in his flat. However, Winston fears the Thought Police will catch him for Thoughtcrime. Winston had committedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the essential crime that contained others in itself. Thoughtcrime they called it (Orwell 19). The Party can accuse anyone of committing Thoughtcrime, even without any evidence. Parsons was taken away by his own children for committing Thoughtcrime. Thoughtcrime also has the ultimate penalty: Thoughtcrime does not entail death: Thoughtcrime IS death (Orwell 28). When free thought is a crime, the government can destroy any mode of thinking which is not its own. When Winston first sees Julia, he is worried that she is a spy. Whether she was really an agent of the Thought Police, or simply an amateur spy actuated by officiousness, hardly mattered (Orwell 101). Winston lives in constant fear of being caught and tortured by the Party. The Spies are a group of children who are taught how to catch adults of committing Thoughtcrime. Parsons children, members of the Spies, turn in their own father to the Party through dedication to the Party. Julia and Winston are in what they think is the last safe place, a room without a telescreen. However, the room hides a telescreens behind a picture, allowing the Party to spy on them while engaged in private activity. A government that can fully monitor its citizens instills fear and maintains full control. The Party uses the media to confuse its citizens. On the telescreens pictures of the enemy, Emanuel Goldstein, appear with other subliminal messages. A depiction of Goldstein shows a lean Jewish face, with a great fuzzy aureole of white hair and a small goatee beard- a clever face, and yet somehow inherently despicable (Orwell 12). His despicable face incites anger in the population, even if directed at an imaginary figure. The anger is then redirected toward the true enemy, as the telescreens then show pictures of Eurasian soldiers, the country Oceania is at war against. Manipulating the media manipulates the attitudes citizens have. The Party uses Newspeak and doublethink to confuse the citizens of Oceania. NEWSPEAK is calculated to get rid of individuality by limiting the range of though through cutting the choice of words to a minimum (1984, 249). The Party restricts the words used to be only positive, preventing any negative comments towards the government. The purpose of Newspe ak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-vie and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible (Orwell, 299). To eliminate other modes of thought is to eliminate the inherent freedom of thought. Totalitarianism leaders sole concern is gaining power. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or a long life or happiness; only power, pure power (Orwell, 263). Orwell intends to manifest the intentions of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, but to a more extreme level. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it (Orwell, 263). Orwell parallels the motives of the Party with the motives of the Nazis and Communists to a greater extent. The Nazis and Communists had original intentions of freedom and prosperity for their people, but were deluded by a thirst for power. In Oceania, the g overnment has willingly accepted full power and a truly totalitarian government where Big Brother does indeed control all. In Nazi Germany and Stalins Soviet Union, whole classes of people, such as the Jews and the kulaks (wealthy peasant farmers) respectively, were singled out for persecution and extinction. (totalitarianism, n.p.). Totalitarianism blinds the citizens of Oceania. The proles, carrying a different view than the Party members, are branded as evil. The Party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection, like animals, by the application of a few simple rules (Orwell, 71). The inferiority of the proles is compared to animals, which lack intelligence to humans. Although the proles have the power to rebel, the Party forces them to believe they are inferior to humans, causing them to live separate from the population. Totalitarianism is a tempting option for countries overcome with poverty. Orwell advises to the citizens of those countries to not select that path. Countries like Germany, Italy, and Russia have instilled totalitarian government into their countries, causing many deaths, and many to lose freedoms. Totalitarian leaders are only concerned with genuine power no matter how many people are harmed.

Differing Perspectives of Life in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, By Hemin

Differing Perspectives of Life in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" was written by Hemingway in 1933.   It details an evening's interaction between two waiters, and their differing perspectives of life.   Hemingway uses an old man as a patron to demonstrate the waiter's philosophies. Hemingway is also visible in the story as the old man, someone who society says should be content, but has a significant empty feeling inside. This essay will present a line-by-line analysis, with emphasis on the philosophies of the waiters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This story focuses on two waiters at a cafe in Madrid, and their differing outlooks upon life.   Their views are shown as they talk about an old man in the cafe, and each contemplate their life.   Ã‚   The old man, who may be a reflection of Hemingway's anticipated aging, enjoys drinking in the cafe late at night.   This may be a reflection of Hemingway's own writing in cafes in Paris.  Ã‚   The old man prefers drinking late at night when the atmosphere is much more settled.  Ã‚   The waiters kept a careful eye on the old man, as he has been known to leave without paying after too many drinks.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the two waiters monitor the old man, they younger waiter mentions that the old man tried to kill himself in the previous week. The older waiter asks why, and the younger tells him that he had no reason to kill himself because he had "plenty of money."   The older waiter lets the conversation drop after he hears this, because this statement shows the younger waiter's perspective. The older waiter seems to have empathy for the older patron, where the younger waiter has ill feelings to the customer.   The older waiter seems to be more aware of a larger sense of existence where ev... ...t in a matter of time, he could be ( is? ) a customer in the cafe.   He gets as much out of working as he would out of drinking. He is afraid of the dark, afraid of the nothing, afraid of what may happen to him in time to come, and how he many be treated.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I think that it is also possible to see Hemingway in this story as the cafe's old patron.   The old man is someone that has become a success by society's standards, but not by his own.   The old man is rich, just as Hemingway was famous, but neither of the two were ever completely satisfied.   Hemingway is represented as someone always on safari, or some other glamorous pastime, perhaps trying just to keep busy, to stay away from the nada. Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest. "A Clean, Well Lighted Place." Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et.al. New York: HarperCollins 1996. Differing Perspectives of Life in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, By Hemin Differing Perspectives of Life in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" was written by Hemingway in 1933.   It details an evening's interaction between two waiters, and their differing perspectives of life.   Hemingway uses an old man as a patron to demonstrate the waiter's philosophies. Hemingway is also visible in the story as the old man, someone who society says should be content, but has a significant empty feeling inside. This essay will present a line-by-line analysis, with emphasis on the philosophies of the waiters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This story focuses on two waiters at a cafe in Madrid, and their differing outlooks upon life.   Their views are shown as they talk about an old man in the cafe, and each contemplate their life.   Ã‚   The old man, who may be a reflection of Hemingway's anticipated aging, enjoys drinking in the cafe late at night.   This may be a reflection of Hemingway's own writing in cafes in Paris.  Ã‚   The old man prefers drinking late at night when the atmosphere is much more settled.  Ã‚   The waiters kept a careful eye on the old man, as he has been known to leave without paying after too many drinks.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the two waiters monitor the old man, they younger waiter mentions that the old man tried to kill himself in the previous week. The older waiter asks why, and the younger tells him that he had no reason to kill himself because he had "plenty of money."   The older waiter lets the conversation drop after he hears this, because this statement shows the younger waiter's perspective. The older waiter seems to have empathy for the older patron, where the younger waiter has ill feelings to the customer.   The older waiter seems to be more aware of a larger sense of existence where ev... ...t in a matter of time, he could be ( is? ) a customer in the cafe.   He gets as much out of working as he would out of drinking. He is afraid of the dark, afraid of the nothing, afraid of what may happen to him in time to come, and how he many be treated.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I think that it is also possible to see Hemingway in this story as the cafe's old patron.   The old man is someone that has become a success by society's standards, but not by his own.   The old man is rich, just as Hemingway was famous, but neither of the two were ever completely satisfied.   Hemingway is represented as someone always on safari, or some other glamorous pastime, perhaps trying just to keep busy, to stay away from the nada. Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest. "A Clean, Well Lighted Place." Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et.al. New York: HarperCollins 1996.

Multilateral Responses to E-Commerce :: essays research papers

The Issues to contents list The advent of the new economy has already produced a sizable body of literature. This paper does not attempt to discuss all the issues involved in the new economy, but aims to extract the implications for the international regulatory framework and to provide guidelines for necessary changes. It will thereby focus on the establishment of standards, on policy co-ordination and on taxation. The new economy is sometimes seen as the herald for a truly borderless world. However, since the internet requires substantial prerequisites concerning technical infrastructure and human capital, some worry that the developing countries will be left behind. The paper addresses this fear of a growing "technological apartheid" between the industrialized and the developing countries and looks at policies to overcome the digital divide. The structure of the paper is as follows: The paper first clarifies the various catchwords of the new economy, examines the rapid growth of e–commerce and looks at the digital divide between countries. It then discusses the necessary modifications for the multilateral framework concerning the establishment of standards, the need as well as the scope for policy coordination, taxation and the overall treatment of e-commerce. Finally, the paper looks at strategies to tackle the digital gap between countries. 1.1 Catchwords and Concepts for the New Economyto contents list Various catchwords have been coined to capture the essence of the economy- wide consequences resulting from an increased use of processed digital information and from the application of the internet for a wide array of services (software programming, webpage maintenance, ticket and hotel reservations, on-line information and support, ordering facilities, publishing, indexing or abstracting etc.) as well as transactions (delivering music, movies, documents, literature or software in digital form).(1) The following catchwords aim at different characteristics of this phenomenon but are frequently used as synonyms: "digital economy", "information economy", "knowledge-based economy", "weightless economy", "virtual economy", "internet economy", "electronic commerce", "e-commerce", "e-conomy", or maybe more capacious "new economy". Some authors have tried to assign distinguishing concepts to this variety. For example, Kling and Lamb (2000) suggest to use the term "information economy" to include all informational goods and services like publishing, research, legal and insurance services, entertaining, and teaching in all of its forms, and the term "digital economy" to address (only) the goods and services whose development, production, sale, or provision is critically dependent upon digital technologies. Furthermore, the term "new economy" is associated for them to possible consequences of the information economy and the digital economy, namely high growth, low inflation, and low unemployment.

Effect of violent video games Essay

There are millions of people who play highly controversial games like Grand Theft Auto and other violence video games, realize that it is a game and do not do things they do in the game in real life. If people believe that video games cause behavior problems, they are underlying issues with the gamer himself, and not with the software, but according to American Psychological Association, almost ninety percent of kids between the ages eight and sixteen are addicted to video game especially the violent one. The average girls spends almost six to eight hour week’s playing video games which does not sound bad comparing to boys who spends an average of thirteen hours a week. Some parents reported that video games only describe virtual reality, and should not translate into real world problem. However, children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with which they classify themselves with. In all violent video games, players are often required to take point of view of the shooter or perpetrator, which show a change of their behavior. Study shows that repetition increases learning and video games required repetition in order to master control characters movement. If the game is violent, then the effect is a behavioral practice for a violent activity. These children who are involve in playing violent video games are more aggressive than who are not involve with these game, which at some point of their life, they will get heart or might die because of their action. Recently, parents become unaware with their kids behavior in real life. Some of them let their kids do whatever they like to do like playing violent video games for long hours or watching brutal shows on television. Report by American Psychological Association â€Å"disagree that violent video games cause behavior problems, because the choices people make cause violent behavior. Video games, even the violent once, can be good experience. † But parents need to teach their kids those video games need to be separate from reality. The choices they make in their daily life have absolutely nothing to do with video games. In fact they may be able to take out any aggressions that they have on a video game, rather than go out and beat someone up, that what their parents believe, but what they do not know is playing video game frequently for long hours has a huge negative on kids because it feed their brain with aggression, violence, and fighting which creates problems such as poor social skills from kids to their parents and the outside world. Sociology studies shows that boys by the age of twenty-one had spend more than 10000 hours or more just by playing video games American Psychological Association wrote â€Å"97% between the age 12 to 17 in the US played video game†¦ top 10 out of 20 were violent. † USA today made study twenty years ago about sixty percent of American family had sat down as family dinners, same study last year the number drop down to twenty percent. Because kids are spending their times on video game, it creates huge problems such as poor social skills, poor grade in school, and live in hostile environment. Psychologist concludes, that video game is nature requirement activities, because it based on reward system and as human we try to be satisfied and achieved all requirements. For example, in video game Mafia 2, the character is required to rob bank which is the basic objective. But if the player kills all securities without triggering the alarm, the player will receive bounce. Since all players love to achieve more, they will do the mission, after completing the mission they will play it again in order to get the bounces. If parents are worried that their children are addicted to violent video game and spending so much time playing it, they should set limits, like playing video game for an hour after completing their homework, also try to encourage their children to play outside, and do other activity. Parents must check the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to learn about the video game’s content and what age range it belongs to. Parents should strongly monitor their children about video games that they are buying, and from online games. Violent video games have been blamed for increase bullying, assaulting women, and school shooting, because violent games teach children that violence is way to solve problems and it is acceptable in this world. Studied showed that sixty percent of middle school children who played at least one video game that rated mature has hit, beat, and assault other students. Also it shows that students who committed this violence act were enjoying inflected pain and become less forgiving. For example, in Bully the character have to fight with teacher and other student in order to be popular in school. In other word, this video game encourages kids to be disrespectful to the elder and to the other student. Female in violent video games are mostly present as explore to sexual contact, like being rape, get killed, and thrown behind the bushes. What make it ironic is the player is rewarded by getting some extra feature. For example, in LA Noire the character is homicide, in one of his chapter the player must solve several of cases that women been rape, nude, murder, and thrown in dumpster or tree. In 1998 study shows that thirty percent of violent video games involve women been attacked and rape. Another example, in Grand Theft Auto, which considers one of the best seller games in 2008, player must gain money to be able to buy armor or guns so the player will target female for two reasons. First, they carry more cash, and second they weak. Schools shooting have been connected to shooting video games. Students who have been exposed to violent video games held more violent attitudes, had more hostile personalities, were less forgiveness, and believed that being sadistic with other is normal. Seung-Hui Cho the student who opened fire at Virginia Tech incident. He was addicted to shooting game called Counter Strike, the objective of that game is to kill the other team where character are allowed to buy guns, armor, and grenade. Every time the character kill member of the other team he rewarded with money. If parents and schools are affected by kids who play violent video games for long hours, it means media and society are affected too. Societies are concern with violence and media including the internet have extend worlds of video game, especially the violent one, such as the Hitman series, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and more. The character in video games may get away when he committed crime or brutal events. As adults they know the different between real life and fiction one, but kids do not know that. Kids might steal money or attack other kids believing they will get away. For example, in Grand Theft Auto player can steal car, run over pedestrian, and hit another car. With kind action the police well attempt to arrest you character. However, if the character were able to drive fast or hide inside building for couple of minutes police will ignore you and let you free.

An Artistic Story of New York City in 1932

November 17, 2012 Essay II, Word Count: 2268 An Artistic Story of New York in 1932 The purpose of this essay is to discuss the ways Stuart Davis uses the elements of art and principals of design in his painting, New York Mural, 1932. In the beginning of this essay, there is a description of Davis’ biological information and what was happening in New York during the years preceding the painting. It will discuss three elements of art to include: line, shape and color. The principals of design that will be discussed are unity, balance, and variety.It will close with my personal reflection and experience that was gained from the analysis and research of the painting. Davis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1892 to parents that were artists. His father was a newspaper art director and his mother was a sculptor. His family moved to East Orange, New Jersey when he was nine years old. He attended school in New Jersey and left high school in 1909 before graduating to attend Hen ri’s School of Art in New York City. He became acquainted and formed friendships with mentors, John Sloan and George Luks. These men were all part of â€Å"The Eight†.These men were all part of the Realist Art Movement and focused on poverty and the realities of urban life for real people. He began exhibiting his art in 1910 and had his first exhibit in New York City. In 1912, he was employed by a left leaning journal that under the direction of Sloan. While he was there, participating in the groundbreaking Armory Show. His work still was in the realist mode until 1916 when he went on his own to become more of an abstract artist. He was drafted and stayed in United States as a cartographer creating maps for the US Army Intelligence Department.Fortunately, that was short-lived and he began using a Cubist style on his work. He made a series with this Cubist style of works based on a tobacco series. He began an eggbeater series while having Edith Halpert of New Yorkâ€⠄¢s Downtown Gallery of Art. This series began his journey away from European influenced Cubism to his own development of his own abstractive modernist style without human presence in his works. He went to Paris in 1928 and upon returning in 1929, he became fascinated and intrigued with the industrialism and post war architecture in New York City.His words were quoted by Karen Wilkin, â€Å"On my arrival I New York I was appalled and depressed by its gigantism. Everything in Paris was human size, here everything was inhuman. It was difficult to think either of art or oneself as having any significance whatever in the face of this frenetic commercial engine. † (Wilkin, 127). At this time, the Great Depression he created relatively few works, but he constantly changed scale, medium and method, making easel paintings, ink drawings, murals and lithographs (Wilkin, 127). His art reflected social issues and his works were pictures that tell a larger story.New York Mural was his mos t ambitious treatment of the city in which he touched upon the issues of prohibition, government corruption and the affairs of Al Smith (Weber, 10). His journals and historical data during these few years in the New York City political scene are confirmation of the journalistic story he told through New York Mural. It was an outrage that many foreign artists were commissioned to do work in the United States. The Museum of Modern Art in New York organized an exhibit of contemporary murals. This show is why Davis created the New York Mural.It stirred much controversy because of the story it told about New York’s economic, social and political climate. Davis wrote in his personal papers, now in collection at Harvard University: Modern art is a reflection of the advanced modern technology. Modern Art in turn has changed to industrial design (Weber, 10). In 1932, Davis painted the piece that is the topic of this essay, New York Mural. He used oil which did not dry quickly and gave him the ability to change and modify colors and lines days later. Oil paint is flexible and it was easy for him to achieve a rich luminosity while having smooth effects with a high level of detail. DeWitte, Larmann, and Shields, 186). His paintings were now made up of modern industry images with free association and with a decorative pattern that created an optical vibration (Weber, 13). The most dominant principle of design used in this piece is variety because of the artist’s use of various elements of art to include: line, shape, color, form and space. Each element has many purposes to hold the views attention. As you look at the picture, these elements are effective in bringing your attention to every detail as you look around the work of art.Variety makes this picture of the skyline diverse and like no other picture of New York City. The use of lines is complimented by the variety of color used in the painting. The oil provides a shiny surface that allows the lines to b e hard and well defined. Within each line are many colors hues of color. The solid primary colors give the lines true definition. Many of the colors are complementary which seems to help contract the objects while achieving depth, especially between the buildings. Some areas of the picture have both crossed-hatching and hatching and neutral solid spaces and shapes.This helps create darkness and lightness in the details of many of the objects. Along with solid black and white areas, the hatchings create shadows and make the picture appear three-dimensional. The buildings appear in the background and random objects in the foreground because of the black surrounding the bottom images in the picture. When you are standing back from the picture you know it’s a building facade but cannot see the defined shapes of the building. The cross hatching and neutrals colors help this happen as if you were in the city looking at distant buildings.The colors are all basic colors of the spectr um with the exception of black and white in the foreground and background to create a dramatic sense of depth and value. These hues are in different shades and saturations. For example the yellow in the banana and tigers’ head is close to its highest level of saturation. The yellow building is a lower saturated yellow because it is mustard in color by having brown mixed into the paint. The black used in the background, lines and inside the buildings help show the defined shapes of the objects in the piece.The white achieves many of the same things while this absence of color is used to show brightness and the feeling of daylight where it is in the background. There is an obvious contrast by the black and white that creates the symbolism of night and day. With these neutral colors there is no need for implied lines as your eyes wonder around the picture. The directional lines are used to bring your eyes upward in the painting to the tallest building in the center which could b e considered the main focal point. It is almost in the centerline of the piece which helps to achieve symmetry and balance.This building is recognizable as the Empire State Building, the newest and tallest building in New York in 1932. Horizontal Lines bring your eyes up into the skyline while the vertical and diagonal lines create depth and dimensions. The curved lines with both thin and thickness to them help you to notice various symbols that explain the story Davis is trying to tell of that time. The foreground has many shapes utilizing volume and space that take time to identify. These contour shaped images create volume and space in the foreground.While the yellow banana is recognizable, it has a an organic shape that makes you look closely to make sure that is what he is showing the viewer. The green banana is not as recognizable because of its dark hue of green even though it is analogous to yellow. There are mostly geometric shapes in the city’s skyline. The only cur ved line and shape is in the shape of a funny face with a hat at the top of the purple building to the right where the three orange circles look two eyes and a nose. Symmetry is achieved through a well balanced picture.Both sides are equally filled with positive shapes and vary with and same amount of negative space. There are concentric geometric shapes for the windows in the buildings, this creates contrast between the different buildings heights and widths. It also gives symmetry to each individual building. The six large rectangles behind the gas pump make it recognizable as a gas station with the garage door in front. The use of colors and lines help the entire picture to appear balanced. The principle of design, proportion, is used throughout this piece of art. The tiger’s head and tail are recognizable in a cartoon like image.If you did not have the research and narrative of what was going on in this time period of the artist’s life, you would not understand why it is randomly placed to the right bottom of the closest building in the foreground of the buildings. The entire painting has the cartoon like feel to it. Especially with the exaggerated proportions of the hats, bananas and what looks like a butterfly on the right side boarder. These things are not to scale with the rest of the parts. The scale is in different proportions and it is mostly dramatic between the foreground and the skyline which appears father away.The best example in the foreground is the proportion of the bananas, tire and hat. It would be a very small tire and hat or a very large banana in realistic. Davis uses scale to exaggerate some of the messages that he is trying to tell about the many things that were taking place during this time. Many of these images are defined further through many of Davis’ later paintings that are enlarged and elaborated versions of this original painting. In a genius way, Davis achieves unity through this picture when you view it as a whole.There is a direct message that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts (DeWitte, Larmann, and Shields, 121). He splatters various colorful shapes and organic images to tell the story. Upon first glance, the draw to this picture was because the noticeably recognizable skyline of New York City. I love New York City more than any other place that I have ever lived, worked or played. After gazing around it for a few moments, I could see many random objects beautifully tied and linked together through symbols made of shapes, space, lines and many bright, shiny colors.It was puzzling because I did not know specific facts of history. It was obvious to me that each thing placed in the painting was deliberate and told a story. I was very interested to hear why these random objects surrounding the geometric shaped skyline were of significance to the artist at that moment in time. It is very busy, but also balanced achieving unity and balance. After reading about the artist and his other works, I was fascinated by his ability to not only tell a story but to practically expose the negative and positive events and achievements of that time.His ego and boldness was obvious to me when I realized the offending nature of some of the references he was making representing specific people he knew and was around in New York City. I feel as though I have read a book about New York City’s growth and struggles after the crash of the stock market in 1929 through the early 1930’s. I am also grateful, to the authors of books and articles that explain what was happening and researches what the artist meant with different aspects of their pieces of art. I am a new fan of Davis because I love his bright shiny pictures depicting the city I love and am interested in.He loved New York and enjoyed it while noticing some of the growth and change making the city less intimate and large and filled with the potential and realities for corruption. I belie ve he admired and was impressed with the new buildings and infrastructure in the city while acknowledging that it had to come at a price of greed and a degree of coldness rather than prosperity and warmth. This essay makes me more interested in the stories behind the pieces of art and the artists that created them. The thoughts, history and personal situations are fascinating and give me a different appreciation for New York Mural.I am going to stay mindful and open to enjoy a piece of artwork just for its beauty and the talent that it took to create rather than the book of truth and theoretical information behind it. Works Cited Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larrman, and M. Kathryn Shields, Gateways to Art, 2012, Tharmes & Hudson Weber, Bruce. Stuart Davis’ New York, 1985. Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach Wilkins, Karen. Stuart Davis, 1987. Cross River Press, ltd. Davis, Stuart. New York Mural. 1932. Oil on Canvas. Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach. 84 inches x 84 inc hes, signed and dated Date viewed: November 4, 2012