Saturday, August 31, 2019

A Summary of UN Handbook on Gender Training

In the topic, WHY GENDER MATTERS, METHOLOGY, the proper approaches to Peace Support Operations is captured clearly. Any personnel engaged in Peace Support Operations should be at home with them in order to achieve an effective result.There is a strong need for the personnel to understand the interconnecting strands that underlines the military, political, economic and social life of the community of the operations in order to improve relation with members.   Understanding that communities consist of different people with different needs and priorities will help the personnel to improve on the planning of responses thus facilitating overall achievement of mission target. In all,   an increased level of sustainable peace should be the target.Furthermore, the FOUR CASE STUDIES open up vistas on the need for enlightenment. The Iraq case study shows that in order to save life, there is the need to recognise women's roles and responsibilities in a crisis situation. Men alone could not have been assigned to distribute food items.Also the rights of the community of operations should be protected as seen in the Cambodian case study. Peacekeeping missions should avoid creating negative atmosphere in the host communities by laying down clear policies and practices based on respect for human rights. Similarly, for effective conditions for peace and stability to be created, no organisation should be overlooked. For instance, after 28 yrs of violence and ethnic conflict, Sudanese women came together to stop the violence through a peace conference which is a non-violent approach to inter-tribal conflict.This shows the fact that women's organisations are also key to establishing peace and should not be overlooked. The fourth case study throws more light on enhancing the people's ability to deal with crisis and rebuilding society. It goes further to state that women and men feel and participate in conflict differently.Their experiences have a role to play in post war era. F or instance in Colombia, many rural communities had a lot of examples wherein women were restricted to the houses, men did all the running around. The implication   is that in the case of eventual displacement to urban areas, the women survived more with their skills than men. The women turned their domestic skills into jobs.Note that during crises or wars, gender perspective must be applied to the Peace Support Operations. There is the need to understand what gender perspective does and does not involve in such Peace Support Operations. While women should not be focused on exclusively, there is need to look at the inequalities and differences between women and men. That will enable resources, which focus on women's peculiar needs, to be mapped out. Also the operation does not concern itself with treating women only as a vulnerable group.There is the need to note that any of the genders can be harmed. However, women need not be reduced to victims. Peacekeeping must consider the in equalities and differences between women and men thereby structuring resources to that effect. This will enable an easy check on overall impact of the intervention strategies.Again, the PSO should note that men and women differ in their thinking   and should not focus only on employment equity issues within organisations rather should recognises that equal opportunities for women within organisations is only one aspect of a concern for gender equality. A criticism to this is that there is no clear way of measuring the amount of attention given to women. It may be over done.In FILLING THE GAPS: A VIRTUAL DISCUSSION ON GENDER, PEACE AND SECURITY RESEARCH, ten key recommendations were made by   90 academics and research professional drawn from across various fields in Oct 2008, The dialogued for three weeks.Their recommendations bothered basically on identifying gaps in gender, peace and security research and efforts to fill up such lacunae through effective research methods and to ols. However, the group should clearly understand that there is often a wide gap between theories or research and practical life situations. While life is larger than logic, all efforts are always geared towards bridging that.There is a link between feminism, militarism and human right. It could be extrapolated from the laid out facts in the four treated topics. While every human being deserves his/her fundamental human rights and privileges, that of the women folk should not be viewed from any less spectrum at all. Military officials, who are often peacekeepers in conflict zones, should learn to uphold the human rights of member of their host communities with an eye not to look down on women in any bit.Cases have shown where women are receiving inhuman or less treatment from them.   Designed peace and reconstruction programmes must show that women are not just mere entities but participants in such communities.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Individualism as an American Culture Essay

Question: How do the examples involving the child who has fallen, the way food is served and eaten, and the newspaper route provide the author with significant insights into American cultural value? Do you agree with her interpretations? Poranee like many other immigrants are faced with various changes/challenges when they leave their homeland to start a new life in another country. Some of these changes are obvious, while others are not so blatant. Poranee first realized these changes with the simple question â€Å"how are you?† While somethings are consider normal and acceptable in one country, it may be consider rude or inappropriate in another. Poranee was raised in culture that emphasis service and togetherness, which is why she felt comfortable enough to help the fallen child. Without being told, she wouldn’t have known that letting the child get up himself will teach him to be independent from an early age. Just like the fallen child, eating off someone else plate or reaching across the table isn’t consider inappropriate since the Thais focuses more on forming a community than individualism. The American way of eating is consider inappropriate to the Thais because it is seen as selfish and inconsiderate to have so much food on your plate. I agree with the author on her interpretation of the examples except for the example about the newspaper route. I don’t think that the couple who own the BMW’s were materialistic because they were well off but still made their children work. I think that by making their son sell newspapers and their daughter babysit, they were teaching them the value of hard work Working teaches them that just because their parents have money, doesn’t mean they can sit around and do nothing.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A study of the characters Odysseus and Poseidon as depicted in Homers Odyssey

A study of the characters Odysseus and Poseidon as depicted in Homer's Odyssey After the events of the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men headed back home to Ithaca. En route, they unknowingly stopped at the island of the Cyclopes to gather supplies for their long journey home. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the island were not very friendly – particularly one Cyclops named Polyphemus. In an attempt to hide from the other giants, Odysseus and his men hid in Polyphemus’s cave. Polyphemus then trapped the men inside with a massive boulder blocking the only way in and out. One by one, Polyphemus ate Odysseus’s crew. Odysseus, keeping a level head, came up with a plan to escape. Odysseus had some undiluted wine on his person, and cleverly offered it to Polyphemus without telling him how strong the wine was. Polyphemus eagerly took the wine, became drunk, and promptly fell asleep. Odysseus and his remaining men heated a wooden stake in a fire, and proceeded to blind Polyphemus’s one eye. After howling in pain, the men hid under the giant’s sheep, where they could not be felt and eaten. The next morning, when Polyphemus let his sheep out to graze, Odysseus and his men snuck out underneath the sheep’s wooly bellies, and escaped to their ship. Polyphemus realized that the men had escaped after Odysseus was already at sea. Polyphemus threw a (poorly-aimed) boulder at the ship, and called out to his father Poseidon for vengeance. Poseidon, in his rage, destroyed Odysseus’s ship, as well as his entire crew, over a ten-year journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus only survived becaus e he had Athena’s favor and protection. Odysseus’s Argument: Odysseus was acting out of self-defense. As captain and king, he had a duty to protect himself and his men at all costs. He used his wits to escape a life-threatening situation. He also did not know that Polyphemus was son of Poseidon. Regardless of who Polyphemus was, Odysseus did not kill him, despite the threat against Odysseus and his crew; it would have been just as easy to kill him while drunk or asleep. Poseidon, being a god, acts out of extreme emotion, and decides that the injury of his son warrants mass-murder. Odysseus thought rationally and spared the man-eating Polyphemus; Poseidon acted irrationally, and eradicated Odysseus’s crew. Poseidon could have been more merciful and wiped out Odysseus and his crew quickly. Instead Poseidon extended Odysseus’s punishment and caused him to suffer as he watched his entire crew die over the course of ten years. Furthermore, this extended journey caused turmoil in Odysseus’s Kingdom of Ithaca. When Odysseus left for Troy, his son, Telemachus, was too young to take the throne. This left Penelope running the entire country. While Odysseus was gone, suitors came to court Penelope, raiding his palace while they were there. Since there was no proof that Odysseus survived the Trojan War, the suitors constantly pressured Penelope to remarry. She did not want to, instead stalling the suitors until Odysseus returned because she believed that he was still alive. Poseidon’s Argument: Before Poseidon did anything to Odysseus, he had to get his idea approved by Zeus, king of the gods. Furthermore, Odysseus was in Poseidon’s domain, the ocean, for most of his journey, which puts Odysseus in a precarious position already. Poseidon’s intended target was Odysseus; the rest of the crew was collateral damage, but also emotionally hurt Odysseus. Odysseus knew he was in the domain of a deity that could wreck him on every level; he had plenty of opportunities to brace himself in case things went wrong. Poseidon, as a deity, demands more respect than a typical human. In Poseidon’s mind, this special treatment extends to his son. Injuring his son Polyphemus was considered a personal insult. Unknown to Odysseus, he had divine protection from Athena – a rival deity to Poseidon. Therefore, Poseidon already did not like Odysseus; stabbing Polyphemus in the eye just added to Poseidon’s hatred. Poseidon did not harm Odysseus, but made him suffer, just like his son, by killing his men slowly. Let the punishment fit the crime. Moreover, there are times when Odysseus was not only selfish, but genuinely irreverent. While Penelope was upholding her marriage vows, Odysseus had an affair with Circe, a sorceress who had turned his men into pigs while he had his fling. He also deliberately went past the island of the Sirens, just because he wanted to hear their song for himself. Finally, he allowed his men to eat sacred cattle of the god Helios for a week. This one act condemned his entire fleet, ship and men, to destruction. Zeus struck the ship with lightning, forcing Odysseus to swim to an island and live with a Calypso, a sea nymph, for seven years. The rest of his men drowned. This shows that Odysseus did not always respect the gods, and acted selfishly whenever it suited him.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Infrastructure Vulnerability Analysis and Network Architectures Annotated Bibliography

Infrastructure Vulnerability Analysis and Network Architectures - Annotated Bibliography Example The authors of the book  give the opinion  that the safety of civil buildings depends on the care and the expertise of the person constructing the structure. Buildings and road construction require a significant safety evaluation before they become useful to the society. Engineers face a challenge because they are supposed to put extra measures to ensure the structure lasts  for long  and at the same time cut costs. The engineers apply special methods to ensure longevity of structures. Perrow proposes new ways people can use in managing disasters. Preparedness before a disaster is part of the discussion in the book and the different ways one can get prepared for a catastrophe. The book focuses on the three causes of failure: organizational, natural and deliberate. The author shows us how our best hope in preparing for a disaster lies in de-concentration in highly populous areas, critical infrastructure and significant power. The author examines agencies that help in emergency management. The book contains many questions that are accompanied by several answers to explain critical infrastructure, homeland security and preparedness in case of an emergency. It is a large book that focuses on American security systems. Solutions for dealing with security problems using modern technologies are also part of the book. Telecommunication networks and their architectures are part of the book’s discussion. The author majors in explaining details the critical infrastructures of a country and what it entails in ensuring security is paramount. The natural disasters; tsunamis, earthquakes, droughts, floods and hurricanes are always threatening the society. The current society wants to be in control of the natural disasters as opposed to the past where the population that was at risk had to deal with the consequences of any natural disaster. The author, Veen talks about the preventive ways the current population has come up with in dealing with natural disasters. People

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Perception Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Perception - Research Paper Example erception would be directed towards identifying processes through which sensory information could be interpreted to produce conscious experiences of the organizations and organizational behavior. Other factors in the situation of perception in organizational behavior include time, social settings and work settings (Muirhead, 2002, pp.13-40). A number of factors function to shape and at times distort perception. These factors could be inherent in the perceiver, in the target or object to be perceived, or in the framework of the circumstances in which the perception would be made. The study of perception involves investigations into exactly how attention could be used to ease the processing capacity and how insights could be consistently obtained from the organizational environment. Perception enables individuals to receive information and make sense of the organizational environment within the context of already existing knowledge. This research paper, therefore, aims at establishing ideals behind the perception of other individuals within the same organizational context. These ideals would be concerned about the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting already available or newly collected information for the purpose of making sound judgment. The most basic elements of perception would be the process, state of awareness and activity by which an individual would be familiar with the items he or she perceives. These elements constitute sensory awareness, which could be linked with certain kinds of cognitive activities. Three philosophical theories put forward to explain perception include realism, casual and idealism theories. The theory of realism, also known as the common sense theory, states that individuals perceive nothing apart from insights. Moreover, Casual theory involves the aspects of appearance and illusion about perception. In addition, idealism presents the epistemological view point about perception (Rookes and Willson, 2000, pp. 9-13). The

Monday, August 26, 2019

Creating Your Dream Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creating Your Dream Job - Essay Example The essay includes a description of the step by step guide of the hiring process. XYZ Company hires a Regional Human Resources Manager to be assigned to monitor and control workforce of all its branches within the ABC area. This is a great opportunity for applicants who have experienced in dealing major management activities which is challenged with cultural diversities. Regional HR Managers are often confronted with problems regarding cultural differences in the workplace – it is his major battle to face. The position summary of the regional Human Resources is given in the essay. This job is designed to help unified the process of all the branches within a specific region (ABC area) in terms of recruiting, hiring, training, promoting or terminating employees. The Regional HR Manager should be equipped with the necessary skills in dealing employees and training them to play the roles as defined in their specific duties and assignments. He will ensure the productivity of the wo rkforce by reuniting them in spite of cultural diversities such as conducting training and different seminars in creating a smooth workflow of tasks and responsibilities. Then the essay goes through the job requirements and qualifications, supervisory responsibilities, fiscal responsibilities, internal/external contacts, working conditions and environment, physical demands, job duties/responsibilities, compensations, and other factors of productivity at this position.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

FreeWill and Determinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FreeWill and Determinism - Essay Example nment and chains, social constraints such as threat of punishment and censure, as well as mental constraints for example genetic predispositions, compulsions, and neurogical disorders. These constraints make individuals not to have free will. One might tend to think that since he or she can examine his or choices, conscious of making decisions and can perform corresponding actions then there is free will (Chorney et al 28). This is not true. It is possible that one could have the opportunity of choosing freely even though in fact one can never do. Notable issue as far as free will is concerned is that we can’t prove that we have free will by just indicating out that it seems as if we do. It is clearly possible to have the experience of free will even if in reality we do not have free will itself. Compatibilists which means those who define free will without reference to determinism argues that determinism is compatible with free will. Additionally, they consider the argument between hard determinists and libertarians over free will versus determinism as untrue dilemma. Another notable aspect of the compatibilists is that not being caused is not enough condition for freedom but not even a needed condition. They argue that if an action is uncaused, it seems to be random. Their main view is that free actions are not uncaused actions, but it refers to the actions that are caused in a certain way. The compatibilist indicates that first an action is free if and only if its cause is internal instead of being external to the agent. However, it is worth to note that this is not a clear definition since an action can result to internal cause yet it is not free. For instance, even though sneezing has internal cause, it is not a free action. Secondly, they argue that an action is free o nly when it is due to agent’s beliefs and desires. Even though this seems to be acceptable, it is still faced with counterexamples since there are cases where an action is caused by

Film review Movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Film - Movie Review Example Specifically, the film focuses on the Southern railroad engineer who has only two loves in his life, the beautiful Annabelle Lee, and the train (Ebert, 1997 n.p). In the beginning, Keaton walks to his girls house wearing his best suit unaware that two small boys are following him. Ironically, behind the two boys is Annabelle herself, who follows closely as Keaton reaches the door and knocks only to look about and see Annabelle right behind him. The two boys follow them as they sit on the sofa and Keaton reflects slight unhappiness (Ebert, 1997 n.p). He wakes up, picks his hat as if he wants to leave and opens the door for the two boys to leave. He displays incredible courtesy that leaves the viewer wondering if the boys were his guests or pure intruders. Rejected by the girl, he goes to drive the locomotive, but it lifts him up and down, although e is so obsessed with the girl to notice. The director portrays the character as a dangerous individual all through the film. Although the comedy in the movie is quite a lot, the audience does not laugh at Keaton but identify with him (Ebert, 1997 n.p). The film most memorable part is the hunt of the stole train by the Union spies. Ironically, Jonny chases the train on foot, by bicycle, a sidecar, and finally another locomotive. Precisely, this scene is exciting since it is impossible for a train to chase another locomotive since they have to retain the track. The General appeared in the Sight and Sound top ten greatest films, and it might be Keatons greatest film. However, other films by the same director that are fascinating include Go West (1925), Cameraman (1928) and The Navigator (1924) among others (Ebert, 1997 n.p). Ebert, Roger. "The General Movie Review & Film Summary (1927) | Roger Ebert." Movie Reviews and Ratings by Film Critic Roger Ebert | Roger Ebert. N.P., 31  Mar.  1997. Web. 16  Mar.  2015.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 29

Case Study Example Hiring a new worker, training them, and ensuring that they perform better than the previous employee is very expensive and time-consuming (Shaer 6). 2. Even if the underperforming employee is fired and a replacement is brought in, there is no guarantee that the new employee will perform better and the manager might be forced to again fire the new employee and find a replacement (Shaer 8). Such a trend will prove detrimental to the company’s progress. Once the manager decides to give an underperforming employee the chance to redeem themselves and reach an acceptable performance, the former is forced to come up with a counseling strategy. According to Shaer, counseling involves setting goals and objectives for the employee, then advising and coaching them on how to achieve the set goals (25). During the counseling process, the manager should remember to: 2. Clearly explain to the employee the areas in which they are failing and make them understand exactly what is expected of them. It may be that although the employee is productive, they lack certain personality traits that are vital to good performance (Shaer 35). 3. Assure the employee of continuous support from the management throughout the performance improvement period. Support from the manager makes the employee feel important to the company and increases their motivation to perform better. In most cases, underperforming employees do not realize that they are underperforming until they are given a bad review or fired. These employees believe that their performance is good and consider the bad review or firing as unfair by rationalizing that: 1. Their performance is not bad but rather find fault in the methods used to measure performance. According to Shaer, such employees demand to be evaluated using different criteria other than the normal criteria used in the company (29). 2. Although their performance might be bad, the underperforming employees see no need

Friday, August 23, 2019

Amal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Amal - Assignment Example In the career-development world, Holland, Super, Gottfredson, Brown, and Krumboltz shed some light on process-goals. Process-goals are steps that lead to career development goals. In order for individuals to implement these strategies, it is crucial that they get exposed to real-life scenarios in which they can be able to compare and contrast their acquired skills set. For instance, increasing their proficiency would mean sitting down them individually or in small groups and explaining the concepts to them through real-life methodology. All of them also agree that collaborating is undoubtedly essential in order to thrive in any profession as the thoughts of ideas, knowledge, and practices are exchanged. They tend to agree that individuals must follow a network of collaboration, goal-setting, and practical theory that enables them to harness their career. The traditional career development model is to educate first and then apply these skills, which can be problematic because of nurtu re and nature development. Most careers entail long coursework, which may or may not be relevant to that particular skillset. This holds true in some of the technical careers, especially the ones around the automotive career involve more of practice work. I think it is crucial to understand that some immigrant families have a hard time assimilating. 2. Choose a particular population for one of the following aspects of diversity: age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, and discuss the issues which you will need to be aware of in order to deliver career counseling effectively. Also, how will your own background and identity be a factor for you in working with this particular population? You will need to utilize a minimum of two journal articles for this question. A huge issue that only plagues immigrant, especially women immigrants as business owners is gender inequality. I have first-hand witnessed gender inequality, which has become

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Women and Motorcycles Essay Example for Free

Women and Motorcycles Essay Introduction An American tradition can be dated back to 1903 when two young men brought their idea to life and produced the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle. At the time, the motor-driven motorcycle that these young men were inventing was to be for their own personal use. Once it was produced, it became popular with motorcycle enthusiast and having survived some difficult times Harley-Davidson is just as popular today, as it was when if first began (Bolfert). According to the company’s gross revenue in 2010, Fortune 500 list Harley-Davidson at number 430. What keeps Harley-Davidson going strong? Is it the motorcycles, the people who ride these machines, or is it because Harley-Davidson Motor Company is a great American success story (Bolfert)? The story of Harley-Davidson is an interesting story that I hope you will enjoy learning about. The motorcycles are true legends of art, but the people who choose to ride these machines are truly remarkable people. People often judge a group of riders as being a rough and rowdy crowd looking for trouble, but as you will learn through this paper, most of these groups are the friendliest and most helpful people you could find. Harley-Davidson and motorcycles are usually considered a masculine sport intended for men (Mitchel). However, there are women out there who enjoy the freedom of riding their own Harley. So, when did women become so passionate for the open road and begin riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles? What does Harley-Davidson Motor Company do to attract women to the sales of its products and services? Let the story of Harley-Davidson and women riders begin. History Although there had been steam powered tricycles and gasoline bicycles in the 17 and 1800’s, the story of Harley-Davidson begins in a small shed of a neighbor. William Harley and Arthur Davidson were neighbors and boyhood friends that worked at a Milwaukee manufacturing company as an apprentice draftsman and pattern maker with dreams of their own. They set out to build a motor-driven bicycle for their own personal use. Having built their own bike in 1902, they were not satisfied that the engine didn’t take all the work out of cycling and soon sought the help of Arthurs’ brother Walter, who was a skilled mechanic, to help produce a more powerful engine. They also needed a toolmaker to help with the development of the motorcycle and asked their brother William to join the team (Bolfert). Later, the same year the first true Harley-Davidson engine was completed and Bill Harley and the three Davidson brothers were ready to put their idea into production. Needing more space to produce their creation, the Davidson brothers’ father built a 1015-foot building in their backyard. It was here that a legend was born with the boys painting â€Å"Harley-Davidson’s Motor Company† on the door and producing three motorcycles in 1903 (Bolfert). Harley-Davidson’s reputation of being durable and dependable began with the very first produced motorcycle. This motorcycle had been bought and sold to several different men, who performed very low maintenance to the bike, and accumulated 100,000 miles with its original bearings (Bolfert). To meet the demand for stronger engines and better performance, Harley and the Davidson brothers produced the first V-twin engine in 1909. However, the first 27 manufactured V-twin motorcycles were recalled and destroyed, with the exception of one which resides in the Harley-Davidson museum today. In 1910 no V-twin models were produced because they wanted to make sure they developed an engine that would â€Å"measure up to the Harley-Davidson reputation for power, dependability and performance† (Bolfert). The V-twin model was reintroduced in 1911 and the Harley-Davidson low, deep rumble sound known today roars on (Bolfert). From the beginning, women have had the same enthusiasm as men for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Photos from the early years of 1900 show advertisements of women posing on the legendary Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In 1910 one of the first articles published of a woman riding a motorcycle is in, The Bicycling World and Motorcycle Review, who wrote about Miss Leda Leslie and her Harley-Davidson (Harley-Women). Another early article of a woman on a Harley-Davidson is about Della Crewe and her dog named â€Å"Trouble. † Having only ten days of riding experience this lady and her dog set out to see America on her V-twin that had an attached sidecar. They left Waco, Texas in the summer of 1915 and by November they had made their way to Ohio traveling through rain and snow. When they finally reached their destination of New York City, they had traveled 5,378 miles and Della stated, â€Å"I had a glorious trip. I am in perfect health, and my desire is stronger than ever to keep going. † It wasn’t long before this pair was making their way to tour the South (Bolfert). The Enthusiast dubbed Vivian Bales as â€Å"The Enthusiast Girl† for her 5000 mile trip on her Harley-Davidson. During the Depression, Dot Robinson competed in endurance races right along with the men and in 1940 would win the Jack Pine Endurance sidecar race. During this time, another avid motorcycle rider contacted Dot Robinson to help form an organization for women riders. It was in 1940 that Dot Robinson and Linda Dugeau formed the first motorcycle riding club for women called â€Å"Motor Maids. † The first African-American to travel cross-country through 48 states in the 30 and 40’s was Bessie Springfield, who often had to sleep at filling stations on her motorcycle. She later joined a motorcycle dispatch unit for the army and rode across America delivering documents for the U. S. Army. During her life she owned 27 different Harley-Davidson motorcycles and continued to ride long after the doctors advised her not to (AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame). These brave and bold women paved the way for women today, to enjoy the pleasure of riding out on the open road on their own motorcycle. Geographical Scope While the Harley-Davidson headquarters are still located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where it first originated, the company has grown and has other areas across America that helps with the production of the Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The company has testing and evaluation centers located in Meza, Arizona and Naples, Florida. In Franklin, Wisconsin is a distribution center is that is accountable for materials going from suppliers to warehouses. Harley-Davidson Dealer Systems that provides software, hardware, training and customer support to dealerships is located in Valley View, Ohio. Ann Arbor, Michigan holds the plant that protects the trademarks of Harley-Davidson. Wouwatosa, Wisconsin is home to the facility that produces â€Å"middleweight† engines for the Sportster models. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin known as â€Å"Home of the Big Twin† produces engines and transmissions for the larger model motorcycles. The Product Development Center is located in Wouwatosa, Wisconsin and is responsible for the development, testing, and styling of new products. Talladega, Alabama is home to a testing site for Harley-Davidson. Tomahawk Operations in Tomahawk, Wisconsin is responsible for fiberglass body parts, windshields, and saddlebags. Kansas City, Missouri is home to the plant that produces the Sportster, Dyna, and V-Rod models. While York, Pennsylvania produces the Touring, Softail, and factory custom motorcycles such as the Screamin Eagle (Harley-Davidson). Products and Services The number one product of Harley-Davidson is its line of motorcycles with the Screamin Eagle editions being the most popular. The Screamin Eagle models have a limited number manufactured and come with all the chrome and custom work already done. The service departments can do anything from a simple service to rebuilding an engine. Need body work done to your ride? Harley-Davidson service departments can rebuild your ride for you (Harley-Davidson). Harley-Davidson offers a large variety of products for men, women, and children. Most men and women will ride out in full leather gear which includes gloves, chaps, bandanas, helmets, and jackets. Most people think bikers wear all this to look tough, but truth be known, all the leather is protection for your skin in the event of a fall on asphalt (Harley-Davidson). Harley-Davidson offers a full line of apparel and jewelry for women, men, and children. In 2010, Harley-Davidson came out with the Pink Label collection with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Y-me National Breast Cancer Organization. Even men wore shirts with the pink ribbon and slogan reading â€Å"On This Road, No One Rides Alone (Harley-Davidson). † One service that Harley-Davidson offers to attract women riders is the â€Å"Riders Edge† course that teaches a person how to handle and ride a motorcycle safely. Upon completion of this course one can go to the DMV to take the motorcycle written test and with a passing score can receive a motorcycle endorsed license. Harley-Davidson will even take off the amount paid for the course toward a purchase of a new motorcycle. That’s three hundred dollars off a new bike before any other discounts. Subsidiaries. Harley-Davidson has two subsidiaries in Italy, MV Augusta and Cagiva. Both of these companies sell motorcycles that are used in racing and what is known here as â€Å"crotch rockets. † Buell, an American made motorcycle, is another subsidiary of Harley-Davidson that was founded in 1994, but sadly closed in 2009 (Subsidiaries of H-D). Due to being lighter and easier to handle and maneuver, Harley-Davidson uses these bikes to teach riders how to operate a motorcycle safely through the â€Å"Riders Edge† course. Harley-Davidson has a subsidiary known as H. O. G. which stands for Harley Owners Group, for people who own Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Anyone who buys a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle is automatically enrolled for a one year membership. By being a H. O. G. member you can receive discounts on insurance and Harley-Davidson products. H. O. G. even recognizes women riders by giving them a special â€Å"Ladies of Harley† patch and pin. The H. O. G. chapters are in nearly every city and form rides to get owners on their bikes (Harley-Davidson). Finance In 1995 women represented only about 2% of the motorcycle sales. With more women learning to ride, women represent about 12% of the motorcycle sales in 2010 (Clothier). For the year of 2010, the Harley-Davidson homepage reported income from continuing operations being 259. 7 million dollars, with Harley-Davidson Financial services contributing 181. 9 million dollars to that income. Dealerships world-wide sold a total of 222,110 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles at retail with the U. S. selling 143,391 of these new bikes. A total of 210,494 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were shipped from the company in 2010. The following table breaks down each quarter income and losses with the last column showing the total for the year (Harley-Davidson). HARLEY-DAVIDSON, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOMEUnaudited YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2010 (IN THOUSANDS) Q1Q2Q3Q4TOTAL Net Revenue from motorcycles and related products$1,037,335$1,135,101$1,087,115$917,076$4,176,627 Gross Profit379,547396,984379,806271,0661,427,403 Selling, administrative and engineering expense205,204208,952210,828260,153885,137 Restructuring expense48,23630,12567,47617,671163,508 Operating income from motorcycles related products126,107157,907101,502(6,758)378,758 Financial services revenue169,837173,705172,845166,322682,709 Financial services expense143,155112,860121,977122,844500,836 Operating income from financial services26,68260,84550,86843,378181,873. Operating income152,789218,752152,37036,720560,631 Investment income8671,5511,2391,7765,442 Interest expense23,45523,59123,10220,20990,357 Loss on debt extinguishment85,24785,247 (Loss) income before income taxes130,210196,712130,507(66,960)390,469 (Benefit from) provision for income taxes61,46957,42536,790(24,884)130,800 (Loss) income from continuing operations68,71139,28793,717(42,076)259, 669 Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax(35,416)(68,130)(4,888)(4,690)(113,124) Net income$ 33,325$71,157$88,829(46,766)146,545. At the end of the fiscal year, Keith Wandell (President and CEO of Harley-Davidson) states: â€Å"We feel good about our 2010 results. † â€Å"While there is still hard work ahead and we remain cautious in our outlook, I am confident we are positioning Harley-Davidson to succeed and deliver value for all our stakeholders into the future. † â€Å"For 2011, we plan to build on our position as one of the strongest brands in the world through our continued focus on customer led products and experiences. † Future Trends To help boost sales in 2011, Harley-Davidson will allow customers to design a Sportster 1200 Custom on-line, order it from their local dealer, and Harley-Davidson will build it at the factory and ship it to you (Harley-Davidson). Another trend for 2011 is Bike Builder, which is an online tool that allows customers to visualize different options on their motorcycle as they are building it (Harley-Davidson). This will allow customers to get the real look of the bike with their choice of custom work before spending the money on the bike and not being satisfied with the outcome. By listening to the customers and giving them what they want, Harley-Davidson will continue to be leader in motorcycle sales. Miscellaneous Freedom and America being a part of Harley-Davidson history Harley-Davidson has formed a Harley’s Hero tour that honors and supports Disabled American Veterans. Harley-Davidson pledged one million dollars to this foundation in 2006 and another one million dollars in 2010 to support the Nations Heroes. â€Å"Through this foundation Harley-Davidson provides free access to benefits for all veterans,† and shows them our appreciation for our freedom (Harley-Davidson). Local Harley-Davidson dealerships hold benefit rides to raise money for various cancer organizations such as Relay for Life, Bikers for Boobs, and for individuals who needs help paying medical expenses. Harley riders love to come out and support these benefits with as many as 400 to 500 bikes in one ride. It not only gets us out to raise money for cures, but gives us a chance to ride. Conclusion By attracting women into the sport of motorcycling, Harley-Davidson has now launched May as Women’s month. During May, Harley-Davidson will hold garage parties, and rides for women to help attract even more to the sport. So women like Dot Robinson and all women riders today have helped make Harley-Davidson a success. The motorcycles being dependable and reliable, the people who choose to ride these machines, and the fact, that it is a great American success story have all made Harley-Davidson legendary. Harley-Davidson has faced many difficulties over the last 108 years and is still going strong, so when we are having a bad day and going through difficult times, let’s do as the Harley-Davidson slogan states: â€Å"Screw it, let’s ride. †

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Personal Feelings And Learning From The Experiences Education Essay

Personal Feelings And Learning From The Experiences Education Essay This reflective report is written as part of the applied management project on WTOs impact on business entering new market which reviews the role of the regime in promoting cross border trade and new market access. According to Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) reflective analysis is intended to enable a person to evolve, engage and develop the experience based knowledge. It is an open ended exercise giving meaning to the past experiences and understands better their significance in the present. A reflective analysis is made upon the period of writing up the dissertation project in a team is presented in the following paragraphs. The presentation of the reflection is based on my experiences upon the start of the project itself with anecdotes of the past coming up in between. This reflection has helped me to gain a better understanding of the role of reflective analysis of the past and how it can help me in my future career as well. The report is presented in four parts with my own and ou r groups recollection of experiences being the first part. This part gives out mainly my experience on the start of the project and phase when we worked as a group some of the frictions within the group and idea generation happening etc. In the next stage the dynamics of group is analysed in depth again based on my experience and also some feedback from my group itself. An attempt is made to connect the experiences with the theory on group dynamics and this presentation has helped me to understand the importance of group work, how difficult it is for some people to engage in groups and the opposite side where there are naturally talented leaders and followers. The part on group dynamics explores the theories on group formation especially Tuckmans (1963) theory of forming, storming, norming and performing. In the next section my personal feeling and some learning I gained from the experiences with working in a team. In this part I have also put forward the evolution of the project wo rk itself where I learned quite a lot on international business and the role of world trade organisation in the propagation of business around the world. In the final section the natural outcome from a reflective analysis is given in the form of lessons learned from the project work. Here is where this reflective analysis has indeed given results with some of the lessons and future action points have come as a real eye opener. In this exercise of reflection I have tried to be positive and have an analyst frame of mind. Recollection of Experiences In this section of the report I am putting together my experience from the start of the project, the first phases when we worked as a group some of the frictions within the group, idea generations and contributions of each member towards the report. From the first day of the induction programme into the project and upon learning the process of writing the reflective report our entire group decided to take notes on their personal experiences from each day of our meetings. In the end many in the group including me had failed to keep up this simple task. But we were at last able to put our thoughts together and sketch a rough idea as to what all had happened during our three months long process of project making. One of the initial surprises was the topic itself and the formation of the group. The university should have ideally given the students some time for group formation itself as was done in the case for other subjects where when a group report had to be written students were allocated time to form up the groups. But we had some idea that a group had to be formed and I along with some others had decided to join in the same group. Ultimately when the time for giving out the topics came some other students who were straggler in one sense also added up to our small group in order to make the numbers the university had mandated. This was initially and all along the project viewed as an inconvenience as most of these stragglers did not turn up for meetings or shares their piece of the work or take part in giving their ideas for the project. But during the reflection phase we realised that these additions only added up to our learning of group formation and performing in a group. After the groups were formed and topics allocated there were a weeks session where we had some constructive discussion on the project. This was the only phase in which the all the group members were present. The searching of information and collection of data for analysis were distributed in these initial days and we all agreed to meet up at regular intervals. Towards the end days of the first weeks session our attendance were beginning to collapse and many from the group dropped out. But it was during this first weeks group work that I experienced how a group can work together and how certain people are true leaders and others are followers. During the initial stages of the report making and when various points of views were discussed there were disagreement within the smaller group who were really cohesive as to the nature and the twist the dissertation should take. Some members were of the opinion that based on the initial inputs itself they should form a stand as to the nature of the progress. As our topic was the role of world trade organisation in developing international trade they argued that based on the initial sets of data literature review etc a stand of either the world trade organisation is good or bad should be taken. They argued that as we went along with the dissertation this will be the easier course as we only had to argue the cases were this has happened and collect and collate data from one side. But some other members of the group argued that making such a decision in the earlier stages of the work itself will be detrimental to the whole process of the project which is the analysis of the subject and based on the literature review and the analysis a discussion can be made as to whether the world trade organisation has indeed been advantageous pr disadvantageous to world trade. Finally some people choose to go with the initial strategy of determining what course they will take and then collecting all their data and analysing and discussion it in such a way that not other conclusion can be reached. These were the recollections and the experiences I had during the project which is worthwhile mentioning here in this report. Following is an analysis of these experiences on the formation of the groups and how I perceived it happened and the fallouts. The study on group formation and its implications has given me a better understanding of the team working requirements I need to face in a work situation and this analysis I believe will help me to perform better. Group Dynamics The group dynamics of the above recollections is analysed here in this section as said earlier the study on group formation and its implications has given me a better understanding of the team working requirements I need to face in a work situation and this analysis, I believe will help me to perform better. In this section the analysis is based mainly on Tuckmans (1963) theory of formation of the teams and their ability to perform. Tuckman (1963) is credited to have analysed the stages of the group formation and he named these sages as forming, storming, norming and performing. As per Schneider (2003), the purpose of a team is to bring together individuals with different backgrounds, skills, and abilities to solve problems or accomplish a set of goals and objectives working together that would be impossible to achieve working alone We were to work as a team for the applied management project and one of the ideas for working in the teams was to develop the sensation of building the team spirit and learn how to work in teams in our future careers. As said earlier we were a small group of four students who worked together in many assignments we had before and we gelled together even though there were some friction, ego clashes etc among us. But in spite of all these we were determined to be in one team for the applied management project. During the day of the first seminar some more students joined our teams and we became a big entity and we in fact had two small teams working in the same one. What happened were two small teams joined together along with some other stragglers who till then were not part of any informal groups of students. As soon as we got the topic we moved on to the stage to prepare ourselves and divide the work among us. It was during the initial stages that I realised how hard it is for the ma king of a team and working in them for many people. There were more than one leader in our entire team and each one had their own methods and views about the project work. In some fashion on the first day itself we found ourselves into two groups which were actually the two small groups which had joined up. I found out that there were more interactivity within these two separate groups and communication was much easier within the smaller groups. Analysing it now, I feel that these two smaller groups can be considered as two separate identities working together. At the time there were some misunderstandings, friction and miscommunication between the members and we thought that we were not going to work very well as a team. Each small team had an informal leadership role assumed or rather given and the main communication between the smaller groups happened through these leaders. The work to be done, the topics to be read and researched etc were divided up between the smaller groups i. e. initially into two and then we separately divided up these two parts again between ourselves. At the time we had many grievances about the working of each other but now I have come to realise that we indeed worked together but the overall composition was that of two separate identities working together. During the initial stages i.e. forming stage itself we inadvertently began working in our separate ways. Hence the formation of the group was that of two personalities of the two separate small groups. We each had our own working style and personality. It was during the norming stage that we truly started working in our individual groups and we started finding the rhythm. There were friction during the work allotment idea generation etc and this might be analysed as the storming stage where some personal differences and ego clashes came to the fore. In the end when we started to have separate group meetings and then combining our thoughts in the end by our respective leaders to ea ch other we were actually a performing group. Unfortunately it should be said that these group performances did not last very long. As soon as the induction week was over out group meetings ended and then we rarely met. But our small group which had earlier itself gone through the various stages of formation was a performing group and we tended to work together. Personal Feelings and Learning from the Experiences My personal feelings during the project work were mixed. I had a feeling that we were doing a great work and this chance will not come to us again. On the other hand the work was cumbersome, boring and tiring for most of us after the initial euphoria worn off. We kept on pushing the things to the last minute and indeed the reflection of our experiences we realised that we did not have a time bound schedule for doing things and even during initial stages when we tried to make some schedules it never were followed. I thought that there was plenty of time to do the research as there was three whole months to complete the project. One of the best learnings I had from the project was the scheduling of the project. This was a lesson learnt during the last days as the deadline approached there was a scramble for completing the work. One of the other developments was that even in our small groups there were many ideas on the project which never crossed my mind. I had a feeling from the beginning that I was among the better ones in my group as I always was a guide to many of my colleagues in our previous assignments. Many of my colleagues often turned towards me for ideas on how to do the assignments and presentations. But in the final project I realised that each individual have some thing to contribute to the overall performance of the team. This happened when they were sufficiently motivated to work for the project. The motivation to work and put effort came from the challenges we faced as from the very beginning we all realised that not a single individual could find all the answers and team work is needed. Hence each person had to put in their effort and when they saw their work getting appreciated them felt motivated enough to venture into unknown territory and come up with many ideas even though some of the m were complete idiotic. Hence I can say that individual effort does count in any group work. There were also instances of cases where I felt that some people with certain mentality are truly unable to work in groups at all. These are not to be construed as weakness in any part but it is true that some people are unable to work in groups. These are people with an independent frame of mind and they will stand out in as many as the group activities as they could. They could either participate negatively in a group work or does not participate at all. I learned quite a lot on international business and the role of world trade organisation in the propagation of business around the world. It was also during this study that the implications came upon me and some of the group members then formed some negative opinion of the world trade organisation. As it turned out the recent data and the literature were giving a negative aspect on the WTO. The literature review suggested that stronger and developed countries were putting much weight on the organisation to make the rules and regulations in their way so that poor developing countries need to open their trade barriers and cheap goods can be dumped in such countries. There were several instances of such cases were the poor countries were bullied by the developed world with the end result that the gap between the rich and the poor nations has only increased even after the formation of WTO. Lessons for Future Projects One of the important lessons I learned for the future career is on time keeping and the importance of planning the activities. During the final stages of the project we did not have enough time to complete as we had taken it easy from the beginning. This made me thinking in the final stages of the project on the importance of planning and scheduling of the work and also my life. I have decided to have a planning and make action points for each part of my life starting with my career plan. Till then I was an easy going person and hoped to get some job after my studies. But I realise that getting a job is not easy and getting a job that I would like to do will be very difficult. The other most important learning from this reflective analysis on the short period of the project was the subject of reflection itself. The reflection on my previous experiences gave me valuable insights into this self learning tool which can be used in my career. Self reflection is an important part of any body life and when we pause and analyse the past actions we realise that some of them were quite negative or time consuming and things could have been better. From this analysis action points can be made for the future. Reflection is not only to correct the past mistakes but also to gain valuable insights into the factors which have turned out better. Hence I have decided to use self reflection as a tool to pause and analyse my past actions and plan for my future career in every stage of life. Conclusion The above reflective report written as part of the applied management project on WTOs impact on business entering new market which reviews the role of the regime in promoting cross border trade and new market access. The presentation of the reflection is based on my experiences from the start of the project. The report presented in four parts gives a summary of the experiences I had over the four months of the project, the part played by the group is with an analysis into group dynamics exploring the theories on group formation, my personal feeling and some learning I gained from the experiences with working in a team and also the role of world trade organisation in the propagation of business around the world. In the final section the natural outcome from a reflective analysis is given in the form of lessons learned from the project work. One of the important lessons I learned for the future career is on time keeping and the importance of planning and scheduling of the work and also my life. I have decided to have a planning and make action points for each part of my life starting with my career plan. The other most important learning is the art of self reflection which is an important part of life; to pause and analyse the past actions to and plan for my future in every stage of life. I believe that this reflective analysis has indeed given results with some of the lessons and future action points have come as a real eye opener.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Tourism Essay

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Tourism Essay The study focuses on the role of promotion in tourism, the case study of Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority in the northern tourist circuit of Tanzania. Despite of the wealth Ngorongoro Conservation Area has in terms of diverse natural resources, topographical, social-cultural attractions and other potentials, it receives relative less number of tourists. Tourists wealth of Ngorongoro Conservation Area remains insufficiently tapped because of among other reasons is due to inadequate effective and efficiency tourism promotional strategies and limited budget for promotion. The study has four objectives which were to identify and assess the use of different promotion strategies used by Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority to increase its market share, to access issues and challenges of applying different promotion strategies used by Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority and to recommend ways in which promotion strategies can be improved. The study applied triangulation approach whereby a number of methods were used in data collection including literature search, interview, observation, focused group discussion and questionnaires while descriptive statistics were used in data analysis. Data were presented in tables,, graphs and figures. The results showed that NCA is still receiving a lesser amount of tourists compared to its compared to its competitors. NCAA has not put enough efforts in advertising NCA worldwide and the kind of promotion strategies used are not adequate and not abiding to the everyday changing technology. The study recommended that Tourism promotion requires a well comprehensive marketing strategy to be developed and implemented by both the government and private agents. This should be supported by regular coordinated efforts to allow them to discuss about tourism promotion for Ngorongoro Conservation Area tourism destination. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Information According to WTO (2005), tourism is the largest and fastest growing industry in the world. In developing countries mostly in Africa tourism is said to depend most on natural resources as key attractions (Bonavides, 2001). From 1990 to 1998 tourism visits to the developing countries grew twice as fast annually as worldwide tourism ( 9.5% per year compared to 4.6% per year) and in the year 2002, it had grown to more than 30% of total tourist visits (Ashley, 2002). By the year 1998 tourism was among the five leading export sectors in two thirds of the worlds 49 least developed countries to include Tanzania (Bonavides, 2001). According to the national economic survey, in 2009, a total of 647,193 tourists visited National Parks, whereby 533,655 tourists were foreigners and 113,538 were locals. Earnings from tourists who visited the National Parks were Tshs. 67.3 billion. In addition, a total of 438,179 tourists visited Ngorongoro Conservation Authority, of which 234,767 were foreigners an d 203,412 were locals. Earnings from tourists who visited Ngorongoro were Tshs. 34.7 billion. (http//:www.tanzania.go.tz/economicsurvey.html). According to the study done by Rusumo in the year 2005 tourism contributed 17% of the national Gross Domestic Product and 25% of the countrys foreign earnings. In 2009, receipts from wildlife sub-sector increased to Tshs 23,575.7 million from Tshs. 18,387.4 million in 2008, equivalent to an increase of 22 percent. This situation was a result of an increase in activities of tourism such as photographic sceneries, wild animal hunting and licensing of trophy business (ibid). However, tourism sector was expected to attract over one million tourists by the year 2010. Tanzania is one of the largest countries in Africa. The countrys tourism potential ranges from her wildlife resources, a spectacular landscape and scenery, water bodies and beaches, a diversity of cultures and numerous archaeological sites. Tourism has become a competitive business. For tourism sector, competitive advantage is no longer natural, but increasingly man-made driven by science, technology, information and innovation. As such, it is not simply the stock of natural resources of Tanzania that will determine her competitiveness in tourism, but rather, how these resources are managed and to what extent they are complemented with man-made innovations. Although the Tanzanian government has identified tourism as a potential sector for expansion, availing of the countrys natural amenities and wildlife resources and targeting the relatively high end of the market, it has not been able to realize its full potential in tourism. As such, the contribution of tourism to employment, small business development, income and foreign exchange earnings remains inadequate. According to Economic and Social Research Foundation report of 2009, tourism sector had an average growth rate of 10% per year. From 1990 to 1999 tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings from tourism increased by an average annual rate of 15.15% and 27.41% respectively but since 2000, tourists arrival and foreign exchange earnings have been stagnating at average annual growth rates of 1.49% (arrivals) and 0.09% (earnings). According to Lickorish and Jenkins (1997) promotion is a vital marketing tool in tourism sector due to the nature of the sector where by it is a demand and market led business, consumer is regarded as a king, it is embracing a wide range of components and services with a larger range of related services and tourist attractions. Promotion is the most visible of the four principles of marketing in tourism business, it is used to manage demand, make prospective customers aware of the products, whet their appetites, stimulate demands and provide information that help customers to make decisions. It generally provides incentives to purchase, increase sales volume and resulting to more profits by increasing the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Middleton, 1994). Promotion shall be viewed as one of the critical means to acquire, maintain and boost organizations market share in tourism sector worldwide and ensure its survival. In modern society promotion has become an important part of the social economic systems. It has evolved into vital communication systems that overwhelm and influence business. As a communication system promotion has developed further as a result of information technology that dominated business. In competitive business environments and free market based economies, promotion is one of the useful favored tools to win the market and hence success in business. In this modern world of high technology effective and viable promotion can be achieved through the use of different methods and tactics of promotion and the use of information technology. With advanced technology which the world is currently experiencing, effective and viable promotion can be achieved through the use of different method and tactics of promotion and use of information technology so as to attract distant tourists. The strength of the Tanzanian tourist product is dominated by the natural assets which mirror the clients motivations for visiting the country. The main strength includes; abundance, diversity, reliability and visibility of wildlife, unspoiled environment and beautiful scenery, safe destination as well as rich African culture and friendly people. All these make Tanzania one of the unique destinations in the African Continent that has yet to be discovered by many. One of the leading tourist destinations in Tanzania is Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) as shown in see table 1.1 NCA is endowed with diverse and plenty of tourist attractions including the Volcanic Craters such as Ngorongoro, Empakaani, Olmoti and Oldonyo Lengai Creaters (Ngorongor o being a wonder of the Natural World. There are also other attractions to mention few are Nasera Roxck, Shifting Sand and Olkarien Gorge as well as wildlife, vegetation and rich indigenous culture. Despite the above mentioned attractions NCA receives a relatively low volume of tourist and revenue one can argue that NCA has not put into effect enough efforts to promote its tourist attractions. Currently the major tourism promotion strategies used are Advertisement, Public Relations (publicity) and Brochures and other printed materials Table. 1.1 Tourists visited Ngorongoro Conservation Authority and Earnings for January December 2009 Month Foreigners Locals Total Revenue (Tshs) January 19,176 18,462 37,638 3,184,363,880.10 February 23,628 17,239 40,867 3,601,413,146.50 March 14,072 14,463 28,535 3,162,927,138.70 April 10,271 12,239 22,510 1,289,337,307.95 May 8,714 12,062 20,776 1,332,029,171.80 June 16,075 15,940 32,015 2,456,883,262.00 July 31,908 21,786 53,694 4,231,731,129.51 August 32,995 22,030 55,025 4,289,879,099.00 September 19,916 17,224 37,140 3,024,501,009.97 October 21,916 17,392 39,308 3,045,013,094.00 November 14,703 14,229 28,932 2,240,074,238.15 December 21,393 20,346 41,739 2,883,440,244.21 Total 234,767 203,412 438,179 34,741,592,721.89 Source: Ngorongoro Conservation Area, (2009) Previously tourism was not given due attention in the country. It is argued that the country has not exhaustively promoted her tourist products, the situation that has led Tanzania to receive less number of tourists compared to her competitors such as Kenya, South Africa and other Asian countries (Thomassen et al, 2005). In this respect, tourism wealth of the country is not totally tapped because of the inadequate tourism promotional efforts among other reasons. While that is the case, today the business environment has changed into free market based economy coupled with very stiff competition and high technology worldwide. This situation requires organizations in the business to undertake promotion of their products and/or services in order to acquire a substantial market share. 1.2 Problem Statement Being relatively labour intensive (providing jobs to over 300,000 people) implies that tourisms growth will benefit more people and in the long-run there will be substantial reduction in poverty countrywide. Tanzania has a comparative and competitive advantage in the sector due to the unspoiled natural endowments (in the form of unspoiled fauna and flora, beautiful natural sceneries and landscapes, coral reef and marine life, and a nearly pristine coastline) for attracting travelers, not forgetting a supportive government that recognizes private sector leadership in operating the tourist industry. Yet, the sector could expand more if it will be able to attract more tourists through the proper marketing mix (price, product, promotion and place) with an emphasis in Promotion since the other three Ps are well managed/ natural advantageous. With the expected rise of contribution of Tourism to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 9% (Tshs 2,399.3 billion) in 2009 to 9.2% (Tshs 6,052.7 billion) by 2019; Ministry of Natural Recourses and Tourism (MNRT) together with different Tourist organizations (Ngorongoro Area Conservation) needs to put and implement purposively efforts to see the target is achieved to be one hundred percent and over and above. Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) as one of the giant tourism organization in the country has embarked on promotion of her tourist product in order to create, maintain and boost its market share hence increasing income both at organization level and national level. However, despite the existing strategies NAC receives less number of tourists compared to its competitors such as Maasai Mara- Kenya, Kruger National Park and other protected areas in Africa. The strategically natural placement of NAC at the northern circuit can persuade the vast tourists who visit northern tourist circuit (Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks). It is suspected that the growth of tourism at NAC remains insufficiently tapped because of inadequate effective and efficient tourism promotional strategies. The study therefore aims at assessing the extent the tourism promotion strategies can contribute to the growth of the sector, using the case of Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Arusha region. Moreover most previously conducted researches such as those done by Gwamagobe in 2004 and Mbuya in 2000 suggested on undertaking more research focusing on the impact of promotion in the tourism sector but little has been done to date. The study is therefore aimed at assessing the contribution of tourism promotion strategies towards the improvement of tourism sector in the country with reference to NCA bearing in mind that tourism in the country is dominated by natural resources especially wildlife of which NCA is one of the top destinations. Hence the focus of the study is to find out the contribution of promotion in tourism industry. 1.3 Research Objectives 1. 3.1 General Objective The general objective of the study was to assess the contribution of tourism promotional strategies in improving the tourism sector in Tanzania 1.3.2 Specific objectives To identify different promotional strategies used by NCAA to increase the number of tourists, To assess the relationship between an increase in concentration of different promotion strategies used by NCAA to increase the number of tourists To identify the challenges faced by NCAA in applying the identified promotional strategies. To recommend ways in which tourism promotional strategies can be improved 1.4 Research Questions The study questions were based on the research specific objectives: What are the different promotional strategies used by NCAA to market its tourism products, What is the relationship between an increase in concentration of different promotion strategies and increase in number of tourists in the past five years? What are the challenges faced by NCAA in applying the identified promotional strategies. 1.5 Significance of the Study The end product of the study is expected to add value to the following: The study can be used by NCAA to realize the most suitable promotional strategy that can be used to improve its market share The findings from the study can be used by other agencies as well as the ministry to identify the gaps on the existing promotional practices for the purpose of attaining best value market share and to improve their competitive performance and strategic advantage The findings may also be used by the tourism partners in changing their perception on their promotion strategy management. This will also help to enrich the body of knowledge, and may be used as a reference by students / professionals /company executives in the field of tourism. Since the study is part of the researchers academic course, it will enable the researcher to qualify for the award of Master Degree in Business Administration. 1.6 Rationale of the Study Tanzania is among the countries with many tourist attractions and tourism is the major source of foreign exchange earnings. However, this is not the case; Tanzania is not getting as many tourists as expected. This could be attributed lack of adequate promotion for touristic activities. Subsequently this study aimed at assessing the promotional strategies that may enable NCAA as well as the country to attract more tourists so that we promote the tourism sector. 1.7 Scope of the Study The study was conducted in NCAA and covered all departments and sections which are directly or indirectly dealing with promotion. The research l however consulted other tourism stake holders organizations like TANAPA (Tanzania National Park), TTB (Tanzania Tourist Board) and TATO (Tanzania Association of Tours Operators). The study was conducted for a period of 8 weeks. Secondary data covered a period of five years that is from the year 2007 to 2011. 1.8 Limitations of the Study With Government organizations/ Authorities red tapped procedures was difficult to access some of the confidential information Financial constraint; financial resources available are not enough to explore all possible sources of information, hence the study was conducted only in one organization. However , the results can be generalized in other touristic destinations in Tanzania The time for the study was not enough to carry out intensive and extensive study.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Haiti :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Caribbean Islands are one of the most traveled to place in the world. One of these islands in the Caribbean Sea is the island of Hispano, which is both the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This country has a recorded history of about 552 years. They also have special culture. The general facts, past history, and culture all effect the ways of this country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Haiti is located in the Caribbean Sea, which is just south of the Gulf of Mexico. The Caribbean Sea is home to a lot of the world’s island. The capital is Port-au-Prince, which is located in the middle of the country right next to Golfe de la Gonave. The whole county is about 10,700 square miles. It contains an estimated 6,867,995 people, this is about 642 people per square mile. This is actually quite dense considering that the United States has about 76 people per square mile.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Haiti culture is very much like the French. In fact Haiti is the only Latin American country where the culture is French. The first language is French, but another common language that is spoken there is Creole. Many of the people speak Creole because the French settlers introduced it. Creole is a mix of French and the native language that was spoken on the island. Ninety-five percent of the people of Haiti come from an African decent. The religion consists of eighty percent Roman Catholic, sixteen percent Protestant, and ninety five percent Voodoo.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Between the years of 1492 to the present day a lot of historical events have occurred. The first time the country of Haiti fell under European rule was when Christopher Columbus first set foot on it putting it under the rule of the Spanish. Then after, many revolts, in 1804 Haiti successfully became an independent country by passing a law stating its freedom. It was very much like when the United States of America declared its independence from Great Britain with the Declaration of Independence. From 1915-1934 US Marines occupied the country. This resulted in the population to go up which also made the country more dense. In 1949 the democratic rule was turned into a dictatorship. Then in 1991 there was the first elected chief brought into office. His name was Jean-Bertrand Aristide; he won 67% of the votes. Then his close friend and former Prime Minister Renà © Preval succeeded him in 1995.

A Clockwork Orange Essay: A Modernistic Work :: Clockwork Orange Essays

A Clockwork Orange as a Modernistic Work      Ã‚  Ã‚   A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962, technically falls after the period deemed as 'Modernism', yet it embodies all of the features that were characteristic of that literary era.   Burgess's novel is a futuristic look at a Totalitarian government.    A Clockwork Orange abandons normal 'language' (which Modernists believed couldn't always convey meaning anyway) and is written in 'Nadsat' (which means teenager).   It is a slang that is spoken by the teenagers at the time.   Burgess   uses approximately two-hundred and fifty 'nadsat' words (most of which have Russian roots) to convey his story.   This gives the reader a sense of intimacy with Alex and his 'droogs' (friends) due to the fact that the adults in the novel can't understand what they are govoreeting (saying).  Ã‚   There is also a disruption of the linear flow of narrative aside from this private language; Alex ('Our Humble Narrator') tells the story in a remembering type sequence, but often interjects with thoughts or questions posed directly at the reader.    Aside from the strange language that is found on the pages of this novel, one of the most obvious modernistic features is Burgess's ability to shock. There are many different scenes that are quite disturbing and violent. Alex's propensity to rape young girls (ten years old), and his absolute joy in the sight of blood and pain. ' ...while I ripped away at this and that and the other...and real good horrorshow [good] groodies [breasts] they were that then exhibited their pink glazzies [eyes], O my brothers, while I untrussed [undresses] and got ready for the plunge.   Plunging I could slooshy [hear] the cries of agony' ( Burgess 23).  Ã‚   This ties in with the fact that, as readers, we tend to follow the actions of Alex and his droogs and it is easy to get caught up in all this violent action and loose sight of the real meaning of Burgess's novel.  Ã‚   Burgess writes this novel from and to the "ID".   Alex and his droogs embody all animal or primal instincts and the tale that has been set before the reader has little respect for realism. We are presented with a world in which the teenagers rule the nights, keeping all real people in their houses.   A world where there are milk bars (moloko kordova) in which fifteen year olds can be served with milk that was laden with drugs.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Leper Lepelliers Functions As A Minor Character :: essays research papers

Upon returning to his school fifteen years after graduating, Gene Forrester, recalled his days at the Devon School in a surreal sense. In his own words, â€Å"In the deep, tacit way in which feeling becomes stronger than thought, I had always felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it, was vibrantly real while I was a student there, and then blinked out like a candle the day I left.† Helping embellish this reality were his friends, including Leper Lepellier, who appeared in only five scenes in A Separate Peace. Elwin â€Å"Leper† Lepellier’s role as a minor character was vital to the story, although not nearly as visible as Gene’s or Finny’s. His appearances stole the attention of the reader, altered each character’s own perceptions of the war, and forced the main character to act and think in ways he would not have otherwise. Chapter Ten’s journey to Leper’s Christmas location is a trip away from Devon both physically and emotionally. Leper steals the scene by inviting Gene to his home, proceeding to unsettle the reader to the extent that he cannot concentrate on the other characters. Quiet and subdued, Leper spent much of his time outdoors, sketching snails and trees, photographing beaver dams. He was what Brinker so scornfully called a naturalist. This gentle hobby extracted virtually no interest from the reader, besides a knowledge of Leper’s eccentric and lonely personality. Because he predictably behaved this way, reading the few tortured pages of his hallucinations in the army elicits strong emotion and reader interest; Finny and the Devon group of friends were insignificant compared to the horrific images Leper conjured in the reader’s mind. Gene felt the same emotions as the reader: â€Å"Don’t tell me who’s got me and who hasn’t got me. Who do you think you’re talking to? Stick to your snails, Lepellier.† Shocked at what his friend has become, Gene mentions his naturalistic manner, hoping to straighten him out. At this point, the reader is as helpless as Gene, wondering why Leper has changed, what the hallucinations mean, and most importantly, what will happen to between them in the pages to come. Leper also directs the reader back to Finny’s accident, pointing a guilty finger at Gene when he says he and everyone he knew were all â€Å"savages underneath.† When Gene finally runs out of Vermont and away from Leper’s insanity, the reader now has another view on Finny’s accident.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Example of a Small Business Performing a SWOT Analysis Essay

Learn more about performing a SWOT analysis before reading the case study. Background The three members of the leadership team at a small marketing consulting firm were interested in expanding their offerings to their clients. Currently the firm has 20 employees (including the three members of the leadership team) many of whom are consultants with the balance being administrative and marketing staff. The last time the company had done a SWOT analysis was when they were first starting up in business and were working on their business plan. The SWOT session enabled them to develop their business plan by having them think through their business goals and objectives for viability and feasibility. At the time, the three of them, plus a few members of their Advisory Council participated in the SWOT analysis. The goal of this SWOT session would be to: * Determine ways to better position the company in marketplace. * Determine new products and services to offer clients to better compete in a crowded marketplace. Preparing for the SWOT session The leadership team wanted to set aside 3 hours for the SWOT session. Given that the business was small, the leadership team felt that everyone should participate. The following decisions were made: * All 20 employees would participate in the SWOT session * A Friday morning in mid-summer would be set aside for the session (and†¦as a â€Å"thank you† for participating – employees would be given the balance of the day off to spend with family and friends) * The focus of the SWOT session would be toward determining products and services to offer to clients and that information would be provided to participants beforehand so they can begin to think about it * A professional facilitator would be brought in to lead the session since this SWOT exercise was essential to the company’s continued growth and success Additionally, the leadership team was going to provide all participants with a copy of the SWOT analysis done at the very beginning – before the business venture began. While it had a different purpose, it would be valuable for the SWOT session participants to view it and, from the leadership perspective, it would be interesting to compare then to now. The SWOT session Brainstorming was used during the SWOT session to gather data for the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The facilitator led the group – starting with strengths and working through to threats. An hour was allocated for this task. Each participant spent time writing on sticky notes their thoughts, ideas, opinions, beliefs and known truths regarding the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. When done, all of the information was posted on the walls under the appropriate heading (e.g. Strengths, etc.) Prioritizing the information The next hour and a half was spent reviewing the data with an eye toward: * Looking for themes/commonalities – combining similar sticky notes under themes (e.g., Customer Service) * Prioritizing based on: * Significant information/data provided by large numbers of participants (e.g, ineffective use of social media was mentioned 15 times!) * What could be â€Å"quick hits† for the company to start to effectively compete against the competition * Products and service ideas that can be created within a year’s time frame The table below is a small sampling of the data gathered during the brainstorming session. This particular data is selected as when they prioritized their efforts these were the areas of focus. STRENGTHS| WEAKNESSES| OPPORTUNITIES| THREATS| * Long-term employees committed to the company * Customers love the work done by the company * Customer retention is high * Well-known brand in the local area * Company has made a profit every year in business * Client base was growing| * No blog on the website * Ineffective use of social media * No global customers * The business hasn’t expanded in the last few years and seems stagnant. * No presence at trade shows or industry events/ conferences * No â€Å"new blood† bringing in fresh ideas * Client base not growing as quickly as in past| * Ask current customers to refer business * Use social media and blogging to build brand name and gain new customers * Expand business nationally * Target smaller start-ups who needed strong marketing to get their business off the ground * Provide sales support services for clients * Offer dashboards for tracking marketing| * Competition was increasing * A number of local competitors were already blogging and utilizing social media * Current customers wanted social media consulting and it was difficult to do so when the company doesn’t do social media themselves * Lots of individuals and other new small businesses â€Å"popping† up who do marketing consulting| Based on the information gathered during the brainstorming sessions and what the participants believed could be accomplished in a one to two year timeframe to have a significant impact on the business, the following was decided to meet the objectives: Objective: Better position the company for success in the marketplace | Objective: New products and services| * Develop a blog * Assign responsibilities for social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook * Ask current customers to refer business * Expand business nationally| * Develop and offer dashboards for customers to manage marketing initiatives * Provide services to start-ups who need a strong marketing initiative * Provide social media services and support| Next steps The company’s next steps were to take the projects they decided to accomplish toward achieving their goals and: * Assign responsibility for that project * Develop a project plan including a timeframe and budget needs * Prioritize the projects further * Begin work! A survey done of all participants after the SWOT session showed that they were excited about the process and the path they had developed to help meet company goals. By getting all employees involved, the leadership team showed that they valued all employees and wanted their contributions to help make the company a success. Once a month the leadership team would meet with each project lead to check on project status. It was decided that on an annual basis employees would participate in SWOT sessions to work on strategy for the upcoming year. As the company grew, employees would have the opportunity to participate on a rotating basis.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Sexual Identity in the Arab World

The ways in which regimes of law, cultural identity and state governance shape understandings of Muslim or Arab sexualities are many. In his article â€Å"Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World† Joseph Massad outlines some of these regimes. Massad argues that western orientalists and colonialists altered the way Muslims viewed their own sexuality by bringing into consciousness the idea of gay rights and thus homosexuality where it did not previously exist. Because of this, Massad argues that the western influence completely transformed how Muslims understood their own sexuality.In the beginning of his article Massad points out how Arab and Iranian men would engage in both gay and heterosexual practices while simultaneously rejecting the ‘Western identity’ of gayness. While this opposes the idea of Western homosexuality it reflects an Arab understanding of sexuality as being fluid and not tightly restrained by identifying as either ‘gay ’ or ‘straight. ’ This changed over time as Western influence became more prevalent in the Arab world through culture exchange.Massad refers to this cultural exchange by introducing the Gay International, a sort of missionary group who aims to ‘stabilize’ the sexual instability found within Arab societies. In other words, the Gay International aims to promote its views on sexuality and liberate Arabs into the Western world of homosexuality. This highlights how sexual identities can be created and can travel between societies through the work of individual groups. The Gay International succeeded in creating and dividing Arabs into two new forms of identity -both homo and hero sexuality, where previously these were unfamiliar concepts.As opposed to Western societies, Massad notes how the Arabic language only recently adopted words for homosexuality and heterosexuality. Further, the word for sexual deviance was only coined in the mid 19050 and is unders tood to refer to the Western concept of homosexuality. These examples of language show how Western concepts shape Muslim understandings of sexuality by introducing certain terms that reflect Western born concepts. By forcing Muslims to identify as homosexuals this placed them into a social group that could be targeted by police and government agencies.As noted in the article, police were able to target men â€Å"who identify as ‘gay’ on a personal level and who seek to use this identity as a group identification†¦ † The labeling of Arab men as homosexuals made them vulnerable to police attacks against this ‘socially deviant’ behavior. As a result of the introduction of Western cultural concepts of sexuality, Arab men were subsequently subject to repression by state government forces. Police targeting is not the only form of a state government’s control over sexual identity.Because homosexuality in the Arab world was transformed from a pra ctice into an identity this made it also subject to antihomosexual laws. The Western concepts of sexuality have thus created a new cultural identity that is regulated by law and enforced by state governments in the Arab world. Nadine Naber’s paper entitled â€Å"Arab American Femininities: Beyond Arab Virgin/American(ized) Whore† highlights the conflicting identities of homo and heterosexuality while also showing how individuals deal with and combat socially constructed norms in an Arab context.Nadine analyzes ideas about virginity and homosexuality by interviewing young women who grew up surrounded by these issues. One of Nadine’s interviewees, Lulu, a gay Arab woman, describes how the connotation of homosexuality as being a Western concept was so engrained in her upbringing that she felt she could not be gay and Arab at the same time as they were such opposing identities. In Lulu’s case, she was able to resist the exorcising identity of being gay in an Arab family by seeking support from queer Arab groups.She was able to form a family with other socially ostracized women who were also shunned by the Arab belief that homosexuality is a Western born and promoted idea. By choosing these women as her ‘family’ Lulu is able to resist the patriarchal and heterosexual ideals of Arab culture. Lulu insists that ‘queer Arabs exist’ which is in itself an act of resistance against homophobic Arab understandings of sexuality. Because many Arabs view homosexuality as being created by Western culture they are able to sustain their cultural views on exuality by blaming gay identifying Arabs as being Americanized. This is one way Arabs are able to resist the Western binary form of identity as either a hetero or a homo sexual. Gay Arabs are simply non existent without American influence. In terms of the gay individuals themselves, they must also choose to resist or assimilate -or a combination of the two- into Western ideas of sexuality in order to understand their own sexual identity. In Lulu’s case, she chooses to resist the ‘normal’ path of an Arab women -who is to remain a virgin until she is married off- by openly identifying as gay.In the eyes of her parents she has chosen sex over her family and thus rejected her Arab family and culture. In her family’s view there is no way to combine a gay identity with the socially constructed views on sexuality found in Arab culture. Lulu rebels from her family’s views on Arab sexuality by embracing the identity of a gay Arab woman. Not only does Lulu rebel by identifying as gay but by doing this she simultaneously rejects the ‘virgin until married’ ideal bound to the heterosexual norm of Arab identity.While Massad’s work identifies the structures behind the creation of sexual identities and how these travel beyond state lines, Nadine’s paper shows how these constructed sexual identities affect ind ividual’s understandings of their own identities in their every day lives. Nadine’s paper gives a personal face to sexual identity issues, showing how the cultural understandings of sexual identity laid out in Massad’s article effect those who are marginalized by the very dialogue that is used to define them.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Analysis of 2 Translations of Beowulf

Grendel’s Description Comparative Analysis Beowulf is a great piece of Anglo-Saxon literature that can be, and has been, translated in multiple ways. Of the many outstanding translations, two of which are by Burton Raffel and Seamus Heaney, different ways of writing are portrayed. Grendel’s description is written quite differently in both translations. Heaney’s translation is more similar to the Anglo-Saxon style of writing than Raffel’s translation.In Heaney’s translation, he uses a kenning to describe the Danes whereas Raffel uses simple wording to get the same story across. Heaney calls The Danish people â€Å"Ring-Danes† to get his translation to be closer to the Anglo-Saxon’s style of literature. This use of a kenning causes the reader to be more familiarized and to better understand how the story was originally written or, rather, originally composed. Raffel, on the other hand, plainly calls the Danes â€Å"warriors† to ma ke the passage clear and easy to read.By translating Beowulf this way, Raffel is simplifying the writing and turning it into a more modern style of writing by not using kennings, therefore, taking away from the original story’s metaphorical aspect and straying way from the Anglo-Saxon style of literature but making it more understandable to the less than advanced reader. Another way Heaney nears the Anglo-Saxon style of writing and Raffel digresses from it is the use of poetry and poetic devices in the translations. Heaney uses alliteration in nearly every line of his translation.For example, in line twenty five, â€Å"blundering back with the butchered corpses,† repeats the letter â€Å"B† three times. He translated Beowulf by making sure the same meaning is transferred into the new language, (English), and also made sure that the writing’s style was also transferred. This makes even the translation sound like a poem that can be sung just as Beowulf woul d have been many years ago. Raffel, on the contrary, does not use alliteration or other poetic devices as much.In line four, alliteration is present by repeating the â€Å"H† in â€Å"hall† and â€Å"harp’s,† however, this isn’t the case in many lines. An example would be, line one, â€Å"A powerful monster, living down. † By doing this, Raffel is turning what was initially a complex poem into a short story, setting it up in a way that is very similar to any modern novel. It is quite clear that Heaney’s choice of diction is far more complex and sophisticated than Raffel’s choice of diction, which is very simple.Heaney uses many words that may be hard to comprehend due to the fact that they are not often used in conversations or even in many other writings. An example of a word that Heaney uses in his translation that may not be understood right away is â€Å"prowler. † This word, which means stalker, is a word that may n ot be comprehended by someone with a weak vocabulary. It intensifies the story greatly, however, by allowing the reader to visualize Grendel sneaking up on his prey, showing that he has a deceitful personality.Raffel, on the other hand, simply describes Grendel’s actions. He skips from Grendel being a â€Å"powerful monster† to him growling due to the excessive noise from the hall. Grendel’s personality is not explained or stated as in Heaney’s translation. By Raffel missing this little piece of information about Grendel, the reader has an easier time comprehending what is currently occurring, though it is slightly less informative.Heaney and Raffel’s translations are both phenomenal works of literature. Heaney, however, concentrates more on how poetic and similar the translation is to the original writing to give the reader an idea as to how the original story was composed. Raffel strays slightly away from the poetic Anglo-Saxon writing style and simplifies Beowulf, making it easier to read. Both of the translations tell the same story, however, how the tale is told can impact the reader in different ways.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Romeo And Juliet Analysis Film And Play Versions

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses many ways in which he builds tension in certain scenes. In Act 3 Scene 1, Shakespeare uses a whole variety of ways to show and build tension in the play and between the characters. The film director Baz Luhrmann also made an adaptation of the play as a film. In his film there are many different visual ways in which Luhrmann builds and creates tension. My first point is, right at the start of the scene, Mercutio keeps pushing for a fight. Benvolio on the other hand, keeps telling Mercutio to retire, but Mercutio will not.In lines one and two, Benvolio says, ‘I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire: the day is hot, the Capels are abroad, and if we meet we shall not scape a brawl†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This suggests that Benvolio is aware of the Capulet presence, and is not comfortable with where they are, this builds tension. However Mercutio’s reply is quite sarcastic and confident and it taunts Benvolio, ‘Thou art like one of t hose fellows that, claps me his sword on the table, and says ‘God send no need of thee! † This basically says to Benvolio that, if he carries a weapon, but does not use it, why does he carry it in the first place?This suggests that Mercutio carries a weapon for its purpose. In Baz Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet, there are many more Montagues than we get in the play. Then Tybalt and Petruchio enter, just two against around six, you just know something’s going to happen. Mercutio starts off just agitating Tybalt, but then when Romeo arrives and Tybalt says, ‘Well peace be with you sir, here comes my man. ’ Mercutio gets really angry that Tybalt wishes to see Romeo. This hectic mood is portrayed by the camera getting jerky, as if it has turned into a handheld camera, like a documentary following a war scene.Mercutio starts shouting at Tybalt which definitely builds tension because he chases him at the same time. This leads to the fight. In Baz Luhrmann’s version Romeo is getting badly beaten up by Tybalt, and Romeo does not fight back. Mercutio sees this as an act of giving in, as shown in line 66 when he says, ‘O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! ’ Mercutio then gives chase of Tybalt, he drops his gun into the sand, suggesting he does wish to kill anybody, let alone Tybalt, all he wants to do is aid Romeo. This builds tension with the viewers because they do not know what the outcome is going to be.In the film and the play, Mercutio helps Romeo by fighting for him, however Romeo does not wish for them to fight at all and the audience knows this as Romeo keeps trying to intervene. In the film, Mercutio fights Tybalt and eventually slams Tybalt to the ground onto a mirror which shatters underneath him; this builds tension as the audience believes that Mercutio has done some serious damage to Tybalt. However after this Mercutio goes to strike Tybalt again with a plank of wood, but Romeo stops hi m by getting in the way and holding him back.Whilst doing so, Mercutio gets struck by Tybalt with a shard of glass. This builds tension as Mercutio was one of the main characters of the scene, he did a lot and now he has been killed by Tybalt, the audience know something is going to happen. In the film, a lot of tension is built by pathetic fallacy, which is where the weather reflects the mood at the time. At the start of the scene, the sun is burning and is very hot and hazy, suggesting that it is unclear what is going to happen or that a person is unclear about something such as Benvolio being unclear on why Mercutio will not leave.Also, in the fight it could suggest that the outcome is unclear. When Mercutio dies, the weather changes dramatically to a very turbulent, stormy weather. This shows the chaos that is involved in the scene. The weather also turns from day to night, light to dark, which suggests that there is lots of deceit in this scene because Romeo is confused about M ercutio dying in his arms. The darkness also reflects Romeo’s mood as he gets angry and evil. He then set out to kill Tybalt. In the darkness Romeo also kills Tybalt by shooting him multiple times in the back.I have found that Shakespeare has used many ways in which he makes the play chromatic and exciting for the audience. I have discovered that the main fight itself is spurred on by Mercutio building tension between the characters and in the scene. I have also found that in Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of the play that he used many techniques such as pathetic fallacy to create drama and tension in this scene. Overall Shakespeare has used many ways to build drama and tension, he has conveyed excellently in this scene love and hatred.