The Abolition of Man Cs Lewis Review Essay Example for Free

The Abolition of Man Cs Lewis Review Essay The Abolition of Man was written by C.S. Lewis in 1943. It was subtitled Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools†. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963 (same day as Robert F. Kennedy). He was a fiction and non-fiction writer whose most popular non-fiction work was â€Å"The Chronicles of Narnia†. Lewis was a Classicist who agreed philosophically with Plato and Aristotle and also considered himself a â€Å"Pagan in a World of Apostate Christians†. Lewis was also a friend of JRR Tolkien. The Abolition of Man is listed as #7 on the top 200 greatest works of the 20th Century. In Abolition Lewis writes of two opposing views: The World off the Green Book vs. the World of the Tao. â€Å"Abolition of Man† is a short philosophical work about moral education. In Chapter 1 â€Å"Men Without Chests† the Tao is described as a broad generalization of traditional moralities of the East and West consisting of Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Confusion, Jewish, Muslim, and Socratic ideologies. The Tao is the sole source of valued judgments and something we cannot change otherwise the Tao would cease to exist. Within the Tao judgments are either right or they are wrong. Within the â€Å"World of the Green Book† all valued judgments and morality are subjective. The green Book itself is really an English textbook used in English upper advance primary schools. The text of the Green book teaches students that sentences containing the predicate of value are not statements about qualities in their subjects but rather unimportant statements about the speakers own feelings. Lewis believed that this philosophy was out of place in an English text book, regardless o f its validity, and proceeds to tear the philosophy apart. The Green book states that objects can merit our approval or disapproval. Lewis describes The Mind of Man in a platonic division of three: Head- the Center of man’s intelligence Stomach- The center of man’s desire Chest- The center of man’s will Lewis argues that removing all sentiments from the mind (as rationalists try to do) produces â€Å"Men Without Chests†. Lewis believes that making valued judgments are an essential part of clear thinking. In Chapter 2, â€Å"The Way†, Lewis hacks away at all other alternative system of values. Lewis goes on to argue that no one can debunk the Tao. To debunk the Tao and have a defensible position against it, one must invoke it. While attempting to debunk the Tao all other systems such as Progressivism, Utilitarianism, and instinct based ethics can be debunked themselves. â€Å"Debunking the Tao debunks itself† Lewis write of other systems. Lewis states that all other systems fall apart among further examination and people who try to debunk the Tao are trying to substitute some other system for it. In Chapter 2 arbitrary goals of other systems are described as necessary, progressive, and efficient. Lewis asks of these systems: Necessary for what? Progressing towards what? Affecting what? What are these goals and why are they desirable? The Tao states that â€Å"certain states of affairs are intrinsically meritorious†. To Lewis, Utilitarianism fails because it is a social ethic and that it lacks personal obligation. Instinct based ethics are our moral values that are derived from animal instincts. Lewis asks â€Å"Do our animal instincts make our morality?† Concerning ethics Lewis tells us that ethics are not something that tell us what we actually do but rather ethics is about telling us what we OUGHT to do, should do, should have done, ought to have done, and OUGHT to be doing. He goes on to say that basing our ethics on instincts does not make sense and that basing ethics on instincts is basing ethics on what people tell us to do. â€Å"People say different things†¦so do our instincts. Our instincts are at war with each other.† There are times in which we should control and suppress our instincts and that there is no one great instinct we should obey. In summation, ethics cannot be derived from our instincts. Chapter two ends with Lewis concluding that the Tao is the sole source of all valued judgment and that nothing is intrinsically evil. All evil is the result of twisting something good and that moral progress is â€Å"timeless, constant, and unchanging.† Lewis referred to chapter one â€Å"Men without Chests† as the present, chapter two â€Å"The Way† as the past, and chapter three â€Å"The Abolition of Man† as the future. The Abolition of man comes in when one tries to exercise the Tao from humanity, because man cannot be man without it. The Tao is a defining characteristic of man, found in no animals, and nowhere else in the universe that we know of. â€Å"To become a race that rejects the Tao is to become something other than human.† I have to admit, â€Å"The Abolition of Man† is one of the hardest reads I’ve ever had. I think if there was some way to modernize it and translate some of what Lewis was talking about it could end up b eing one of the great works of the 21st century. All in all I have probably read this book three times and I’m still a bit confused. My take on it is this; Lewis describes a principle of right and wrong. There is no grey area of the Tao, it is what is intrinsically good in the universe regardless of which philosophy you choose to follow. By trying to discredit what is intrinsically good you are discrediting yourself as any argument that stands against what is all good must contain something that is bad†¦therefore it is wrong to even try. Ethics are not instinctive and instincts themselves, although natural, are not always good just because they are instinctive.

Study of Business Companies in Colombo Stock Exchange

Study of Business Companies in Colombo Stock Exchange Capital structure is most significant discipline of companys operations. The Study attempts to identify the impact of Capital Structure on Companies Performance. The analyze has been made Financial year from 2005 to 2009 (05 years) financial year of Business companies in Sri Lanka. The results shown the relationship between the capital structure and financial performance is negative association at -0.114.. F and t values are 0.366, -0.605 respectively. It is reflect the insignificant level of the Business Companies in Sri Lanka. Hence Business companies mostly depend on the debt capital. So that, they have to pay interest expenses much. 1. Introduction To understand how companies finance their operations, it is necessary to examine the determinants of their financing or capital structure decisions. Company financing decisions involve a wide range of policy issues. At the private, they have implications for capital market development, interest rate and security price determination, and regulation. At the private, such decisions affect capital structure, corporate governance and company development (Green, Murinde Suppakitjarak, 2002). Knowledge about capital structures has mostly been derived from data from developed economies that have many institutional similarities (Booth 2001). It is important to note that different countries have different institutional arrangements, mainly with respect to their tax and bankruptcy codes, the existing market for corporate control, and the roles banks and securities markets play. Capital structure refers to a mixture of a variety of long term sources of funds and equity shares including reserves and surpluses of an enterprise. The historical attempt to building theory of capital structure began with the presentation by Modigliani miller (MM)(1958). They revealed the situations under what conditions that the Capital structure (CS) is relevant or irrelevant to the financial performance of the listed companies. most of the decision making process related to the CS are deciding factors when determining the CS, a number of issues e.g. cost, various taxes and rate, interest rate have been proposed to explain the variation in Financial Leverage across firms (Van Horne,1993; Hampton,1998; Titman Wessels,1998).these issues suggested that the depending on attributes that caused the cost of various sources of capital the firms select CS and benefits related to debt and equity financing The relationship between capital structure and financial performance is one that received considerable attention in the finance literature. How important is the concentration of control for the company performance or the type of investors exerting that control are questions that authors have tried to answer for long time prior studies show that capital structure has relating with corporate governance, which is the key issues of state owned enterprise. To study the effects of capital structure or financial performance, will help us to know the potential problems in performance and capital structure. 2. Literature Review Modigliani and Miller(M M)(1958) wrote a paper on the irrelevance of capital structure that inspired researchers to debate on this subject. This debate is still continuing. However, with the passage of time, new dimensions have been added to the question of relevance or irrelevance of capital structure. MM declared that in a world of frictionless capital markets, there would be no optimal financial structure (Schwartz Aronson, 1979). This theory later became known as the Theory of Irrelevance. In M Ms over-simplified world, no capital structure mix is better than another. M Ms Proposition-II attempted to answer the question of why there was an increased rate of return when the debt ratio was increased. It stated that the increased expected rate of return generated by debt financing is exactly offset by the risk incurred, regardless of the financing mix chosen. Brander and Lewis (1986) and Maksimovic (1988) provide the theoretical framework that links capital structure and market structure. Contrary to the profit maximization objective postulated in industrial organization literature, these theories are similar to the corporate finance theory in that they assume that the firms objective is to maximize the wealth of shareholders. Furthermore, market structure is shown to affect capital structure by influencing the competitive behavior and strategies of firms. Firms in an oligopolistic market will follow the strategy of maximizing their output in favorable economic conditions to optimize profitability (Brander Lewis 1986). The theory also holds in unfavorable economic conditions; firms would take a cut in production and reduce their profitability. Shareholders, though, while enjoying increased wealth in good periods, tend to ignore a decline in profitability in bad times. This is due to the fact that unfavorable consequences are passed in to lenders because of shareholders limited liability status. Therefore, the oligopolistic firms, in contrast to firms in competitive markets, would employ higher levels of debt to produce more when opportunities to earn higher profits arise. The implied prediction of the output maximization hypothesis is that capital structure and market structure have a positive relationship. In corporate finance, the agency costs theory supports the use of high debt, and it is consistent with the prediction of the outp ut maximization hypothesis. Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that the shareholders-lenders conflict has the effect of shifting risk from shareholders and of appropriating wealth in their favor as they take on risky investment projects (asset substitution). Hence, shareholders, and managers as their agents, are prompted to take on more borrowing to finance risky projects. Lenders receive interest and principal if projects succeed, and shareholders appropriate the residual income; however, it is the lender who incurs the loss if the project fails. It is difficult and costly for debt holders to be able to assess and monitor Huson, and Nazrul Hisyam. (2008) examined that the relationship between ownership structure and company performance has been issue of interest among academics, investors and policy makers because of key issue in understanding the effectiveness of alternative governance system in which government ownership serve as a control mechanism. Therefore, this study examines the impact of alternative ownership/control structure of corporate governance on firm performance among government linked companied (GLCs) and Non-GLC in Malaysia. It is believed that government ownership serve as a monitoring device that lead to better company performance after controlling company specific characteristics. We used Tobins Q as market performance measure while ROA is to determine accounting performance measure. This study is based on a sample of 210 firms over a period from 1995 to 2005. We use panel based regression approach to determine the impact of ownership mechanism on firms performance. Findings appe ar to suggest that there is a significant impact of government ownership on company performance after controlling for company specific characteristics such as company size, non-duality, leverage and growth. The finding is off significant for investors and policy marker which will serve as a guiding for better investment decision. Mohammed Omran (2001) evaluates the financial and operating performance of newly privatized Egyptian state-owned enterprises and determines whether such performance differs across firms according to their new ownership structure. The Egyptian privatization program provides unique post-privatization data on different ownership structures. Since most studies do not distinguish between the types of ownership, this paper provides new insight into the impact that post-privatization ownership structure has on firm performance. The study covers 69 firms, which were privatized between 1994 and 1998. For these newly privatized firms, these study documents significant increases in profitability, operating efficiency, capital expenditures, and dividends. Conversely, significant decreases in employment, leverage, and risk are found, although output shows an insignificant decrease following privatization. The results also show that Egyptian state-owned enterprises, which were sold to anchor-inves tors and employee shareholder associations, seem to outperform other types of privatization, such as minority and majority initial public offerings. B.Nimalathasan and Brabete (2010) pointed out that Dept equity ratio is positively and strongly associated to all profitability ratios in Listed Manufacturing Companies. 3. Conceptual Frame Work Based on the Litteratures, the following conceptual model is constructed. It shows that hypotgesized the relationship between capital structure and Performance of listed Business companies in Sri Lanka Debt Equity CS GP NP FP ROE ROI 4. Objectives The main objective is to find out the impact of Capital Structure on Financial Performance of the Business companies in Srilanka. To achieve the above objective the following sub objective are considered To identify the relationship between capital structure and performance To determinants of a capital structure 5.0 Hypotheses The following hypothesis is formulated for the study H1:- The capital structure has significant impact on financial performance. H2:-Capital structure is significantly correlated with financial performance 6.0 Methodology To produce the above mentioned research objective, the data for this study was gathered from the financial statements as published by Business Companies. In addition, another source of data was through reference to the review of different articles, papers, and relevant previous studies. For this purpose, collecting data of Business firms is used which are listed on Colombo Stock Exchange.. All firms are taken for the study representing the period of 2005-2009, and the average values of each item was considered for the purpose of ratio computation and analysis. 6.1 Mode of Analysis 1.Capital structure Role of debt and equity Debt ÃÆ'—100 equity Debt ÃÆ'—100 Total funds Total funds 2.Financial Performance Gross profit Gross profit ÃÆ'—100 Net Sales Net Sales Net profit Net profit Net profit ÃÆ'—100 Sales ROA PAIT ÃÆ'—100 Assets ROI/ROCE Investment PBIT ÃÆ'—100 Equity 7. Results and Discussions 7.1 Correlation Analysis Correlation is concern describing the strength of relationship between two variables. In this study the correlation co-efficient analysis is under taken to find out the relationship between capital structure and financial performance. It can be said that the what relationship exist among variables Capital structure correlated with R value R2 value Gross profit 0.360 0.1296 Net profit 0.110 0.0121 ROI -0.104 0.0108 ROA -0.196 0.0384 Performance -0.114 0.0129 7.1.1 Capital structure and Gross profit Table I Variables Capital structure Gross profit Capital structure 1 0.360 Gross profit 0.360 1 It shows the relationship between gross profit and capital structure variables. There is a weak positive relationship between two variables. The correlation is 0.360. significant level is 0.01. the co-efficient of determination is 0.1296. that is only 12.96% of variance in the capital structure is accounted by the gross profit. So, There is a weak positive relationship between capital structure and gross profit 7.1.2 Capital structure and Net profit Table II Variables Capital structure Net profit Capital structure 1 -0.110 Net profit -0.110 1 It illustrates the relationship between net profit and capital structure variables. There is a weak negative relationship between two variables. The correlation is -0.110. Significant level is 0.01. The co-efficient of determination is 0.0121. That is only 1.21% of variance in the capital structure is accounted by the net profit. 7.1.3 Capital structure and ROI Table III Variables Capital structure ROI Capital structure 1 -0.104 ROI -0.104 1 It indicates the relationship between ROI and capital structure variables. There is a weak negative relationship between two variables. The correlation is -0.104. Significant level is 0.01. The co-efficient of determination is0.0108. that is only 1.08% of variance in the capital structure is accounted by the ROI. 7.1.4 Capital structure and ROA Table IV Variables Capital structure ROA Capital structure 1 -0.196 ROA -0.196 1 It shows the relationship between ROA and capital structure variables. There is a weak negative relationship between two variables. The correlation is -0.196 significant level is 0.01. the co-efficient of determination is 0.0384. that is only 3.84% of variance in the capital structure is accounted by the ROA. 7.1.5 Capital structure and Financial performance Table V Variables Capital structure Financial performance Capital structure 1 -0.114 Financial performance -0.114 1 It illustrates the relationship between performance and capital structure variables. There is a weak negative relationship between two variables. The correlation is -0.114. Significant level is 0.01. The co-efficient of determination is 0.0129. that is only 1.29% of variance in the capital structure is accounted by the performance. 7.2 Regression Analysis Regression analysis is used to test the impact of financial performance on capital structure of the listed companies traded in Colombo stock exchange 7.2.1 Capital structure and Gross profit Table VI Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std.Error of the Estimate 1 0.360a 0.129 0.098 0.32306 The above table shows the weak positive correlation between the capital structure and gross profit. Table VII Model Un standardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t sig B Std.Error Beta 1(constant) Capital structure 0.187 0.047 0.073 0.023 0.360 2.556 2.039 0.016 0.051 The above table indicates the coefficient of correlation between the capital structure and gross profit. multiple r2 is 0.1296. only 1.29% of variance of gross profit is accurate by the capital structure. But, remaining 98.21% of variance with gross profit is attributed to other factors. 7.2.2 Capital structure and Net profit Table VIII Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std.Error of the Estimate 1 0.110a 0.012 -0.023 0.36514 The above table shows the weak negative correlation between the capital structure and net profit. Table IX Model Un standardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t sig B Std.Error Beta 1(constant) Capital structure 0.124 -0.015 0.083 0.026 -0.110 1.498 -0.584 0.145 0.564 The above table indicates the coefficient of correlation between the capital structure and net profit. Multiple r2 is 0.012. Only 1.2% of variance of net profit is accurate by the capital structure. But, remaining 98.8 % of variance with net profit is attributed to other factors 7.2.3Capital structure and ROI Table X Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std.Error of the Estimate 1 0.104a 0.011 -0.025 115.19484 The above table shows the weak positive correlation between the capital structure and ROI. Table XI Model Un standardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t sig B Std.Error Beta 1(constant) Capital structure 31.283 -4.563 26.050 8.250 -0.104 1.201 -0.553 0.240 0.585 The above table indicates the coefficient of correlation between the capital structure and ROI. Multiple r2 is 0.011. Only 1.1% of variance of ROI is accurate by the capital structure. But, remaining 98.9% of variance with ROI is attributed to other factors 7.2.4 Capital structure and ROA Table XII Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std.Error of the Estimate 1 0.196a 0.039 0.004 0.10866 The above table shows the weak positive correlation between the capital structure and ROA. Table XIII Model Un standardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t sig B Std.Error Beta 1(constant) Capital structure 0.099 -0.008 0.025 0.008 -0.196 4.020 -1.060 0.000 0.298 The above table indicates the coefficient of correlation between the capital structure and ROA. multiple r2 is 0.039. only 3.9% of variance of ROA is accurate by the capital structure. But, remaining 96.1% of variance with ROA is attributed to other factors 7.2.5 Capital structure and Financial performance Table XIV Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std.Error of the Estimate 1 0.114a 0.013 -0.022 0.98395 The above table shows the weak positive correlation between the capital structure and performance. Table XV ANOVA b .354 1 .354 .366 .550 a 27.109 28 .968 27.463 29 Regression Residual Total Model 1 Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Predictors: (Constant), Capital_structure a. Dependent Variable: Performance b. Table XVI Model Un standardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t sig B Std.Error Beta 1(constant) Capital structure 0.704 -0.043 0.223 0.070 -0.114 3.162 -0.605 0.004 0.550 The above table indicates the coefficient of correlation between the capital structure and performance. multiple r2 is 0.013. only 1.3% of variance of performance is accurate by the capital structure. But, remaining 98.7% of variance with performance is attributed to other factors. 8. Concluding Remarks Correlation analysis explains, there is a weak positive relationship between gross profit and capital structure (0.360).at the same time, there is a negative relationship between net profit and capital structure (-0.110).it reflects the high financial cost among the firms. ROI and ROA also has negative relationship with capital structure at -0.104, -0.196 respectively. It is focused on the overall point of view of the relationship between the capital structure and financial performance. There is a negative association at -0.114. Co-efficient of determination is 0.013. F and t values are 0.366, -0.605 respectively. It is reflect the insignificant level of the Business Companies in Sri Lanka. Business companies mostly depend on the debt capital. Therefore, they have to pay interest expenses much. 8.1 Testing of Hypotheses Statistical Techniques Results Correlation -0.114 Co à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"efficient of determination -0.0129 Based on the empirical results of this study, H1this hypothesis come false .Because in this study the empirical results shows that there is a insignificant negative relationship H2: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“There is a positive relationship between the capital structure and firms financial performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. At the first step of testing the hypothesis(H1), hypothesis (H1) was considered and tested for its validity. It has the following result between the capital structure and firms financial performance measured by performance measures such as ROA , ROI ,Net profit margin and etc. Based on the above evidence gathered, the H2 was rejected. Because research result is negative relationship between the capital structure and firms financial performance. H0: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“there is a negative relationship between the capital structure and firms financial performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. After the rejection of H1, the Null hypothesis (H0) was tested for its validity. H0 was accepted based on the above evidence gathered. it has been provided that there is a negative relationship between the capital structure and firms financial performance(-0.114). 9.0 Suggestions and Recommendations The following suggestions are recommended to increase the Companys financial performance based on capital structure. Performance standards should be established and communicated to the investors. This will help investors to achieve the standard and take better investment decisions. Identifying weaknesses of investment may be best one to improve the firms financial performance, because it indicates the area which decision should be taken. Motivating the investors to help to achieve the high level of firms financial performance.. Political changes are very important factor in the share market. It is also determine the firm performance. Therefore, political should possible to increase the financial performance of the listed companies. Inflation and exchange rate also affect the listed companys performance. So, government should consider the economic growth to control the inflation.

My term paper :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What Came first the chicken or the egg? For centuries man has struggled with the question of our origin. Why are there so many distinctions in the creatures that inhabit this planet. Why are structures similar in a bird, a whale, a bat, and a human being creatures that seem to have no relation to one another. Although several theories have sprouted from different great thinkers of many cultures in many diverse parts of the world all of the theories seem to center around two main points divinity vs chance or for a more famous colloquialism Evolution Vs Creation. Once complete this paper should allow the reader to see not only the folly and boldness of evolution in the face of so many discrepancies, but also the sheer irrefutable beauty of creation in all of its complex simplicity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said â€Å"Let there be light† and there was light Genesis 1:1-3 NIV  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The bible, one of the oldest pieces of written history that follows an entire civilization for over 4000 years not only gives fascinating tales of mystery, intrigue, wars, famines, loves and loses also gives a very specific account of the origin of man and indeed all life on this planet as well as in the universe. The simplicity of the verses tells us that the big bang was possible, with divine help, it gives no more than God said it and it was so which would agree with the abrupt abitrary eruption of the solar system that scientist describe. This insight allows us to delve even deeper into the awesome power of Gods word. Here in the beginning we see how just the word can form solar system, delving even deeper we catch a glimpse of what that means for us as human beings and our origin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Classical evolutionary theory teaches that creatures change from one thing into another. For instance, amoebas changes from one celled creatures to multi celled creatures over time. Genesis in the first chapter tells us that things must reproduce â€Å"each according to its kind†. Recorded history and fossil records should support one of the theories. Evolutionist claim that it supports theirs however noted paleotologist have even noticed the apparent gaps in the record showing that there is a missing link.

Teaching Status Report Essays -- Education JPE Teaching Teachers Essay

Teaching Status Report After the wondering, dreading, and preparing, I am teaching in a middle school classroom. I entered the school feeling very ready. After weeks of studying, discussing, and writing about topics related to teaching, I was ready to implement my learning. During my first week I started by simply observing my cooperating teacher. From this observation, I have formed many opinions and views on my teacher’s approaches to classroom management and other topics. In regards to classroom management and discipline, my cooperating teacher is a naturally confident and strong-minded individual. When he walks into a classroom, he commands attention and even his peers feel obligated to listen to his powerful voice. Due to this natural power, I believe my cooperating teacher does not feel he needs a set of classroom management rules. If a student misbehaves, my teacher singles out the student and verbally corrects him/her. The only other method of discipline I have seen him utilize is movi ng a student who was especially troubling. This form of classroom management and discipline appears to be effective for my cooperating teacher, however as I begin to take over the classroom I feel that this method will not work for me. While I do not see myself as someone who can be bullied, I do not think I have the natural aggressiveness to be able to simply use my voice and intimidation as my single form of discipline. I think when I have full control of the classroom I will ask my cooperating teacher what other forms of discipline can be used, such as detentions, extra homework, or possibly in school suspension. I feel if the students know that I will use these punishments if needed, they will respect me the same way they respe... ... aggressive and demanding but I finally said in a loud voice, â€Å"Excuse me, I don’t talk when you talk, so don’t talk when I talk.† I think the students were as surprised as I was to hear me speak in such a tone. However, they did listen and did not talk for the rest of the period. I left the classroom feeling empowered and now I am comfortable with correcting the class when they misbehave. These accomplishments are what keep me interested in teaching. I make mistakes and face many challenges, but each experience makes me stronger and helps me develop skills I did not think I could ever have. I guess the best way to summarize my JPE experience is so far so good. My love for teaching has not decreased and I can honestly say I experience a feeling of joy and excitement when I drive to my school everyday. Hopefully, my next status report will be as positive as this one.

Sobeys Business side in general :: essays research papers

 ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Production Department The production department at Sobeys will look after the land and the buildings that they own or rent. In most cases Sobeys owns 5 stores to one warehouse. Sobeys production department also makes sure that all the necessary equipment is in working order and there is enough time. They make sure that the delivery trucks are working and if any thing like a meat grinder or an oven needs repairing that it gets done. They also check to see that the cash registers are working. They can check this through a central computer that is connected to all the cash registers in the region (Sobeys Ontario). They also look at the type of people they need to do the necessary jobs then relay it back to the Human Resources department. They will have all the operators who will drive forklifts at the factories and truck drivers. Also the support staff processes the orders for new equipment and tools. They also hire support staff to do the jobs that Sobey staff aren’t trained to do (plumbing, electrical). They also have managers who make sure that everything is running smoothly and that no one is wasting time and everyone is getting the proper amount of breaks. They look at the raw materials that is used for the bake shop and meat department and make sure that there is enough stock in the warehouse to last until there next bulk order comes in. Then that bulk order is broken down into smaller but still bulk orders for the different stores to use. Some products are delivered straight from the suppliers warehouse to the store. They also make sure that the product isn’t damaged when received or sold to consumers. Some other areas that the production department is in charge of is quality control, making sure that the product is made to the best it can be made, meeting deadlines, making sure the product reaches the store on time and that anything that has to be made or cut is done on time. They also look at keeping the product cost efficient but this sometimes shows in their products. Sobeys sells to a variety of people with very diverse economic backgrounds. So they sell high quality products that cost more and not so good products that cost less.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marketing and Sales This department at Sobeys looks at ways that they market themselves and the amount of sales.

Article Review of Leaderships Is a Conversation Essay

Boris Groysberg is a Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at the Harvard Business School. He currently teaches Managing Human Capital course in the second year elective course of the MBA program and in several Executive Education programs. Michael Slind is a writer, editor, and communication consultant of talk, inc: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organization (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). As the phrase â€Å"Leadership is a Conversation† implies, this article focuses on how leaders should communicate with their employees. In the new business world, smart leader engage with employees in a way that is similar to an ordinary person-to-person conversation. These can be easily achievable by using the model of leadership that the authors developed called â€Å"organizational conversation†. There are four essential elements to this model; they are intimacy, interactivity, inclusion and intentionality. SUMMARY The author’s premise in this article is that one-way directive communication is no more effective in today’s business world and that it should be replaced by two – way conversation. They then propose a new model of leadership that they developed which they call â€Å"organizational conversation†. The benefits of using â€Å"organizational conversation† are that it allows leaders to â€Å"retain or recapture some of the qualities – operational Flexibility, high levels of employee engagement, tight strategic alignment – that enable start-ups to out-perform better established rivals. †(pg. 78). The authors then go on to explain the four interrelated elements of â€Å"organizational conversation†. The first element is intimacy. In this element the authors explained that leaders need to gain the trust of their employees. They then continue to say that mental and emotional closeness is all that is needed and one what to achieve it is to â€Å"step down from their corporate perches and then step up to the challenge of communicating personally and transparently with people. †(pg. 78). Then they explain the three ways to manifest intimacy, gain trust, listen well and get personal. The second element is interactivity. The authors begin by defining a conversation and by stating that in order to apply this element, leaders should communicate with employees in a more open and accepting way to promote a more â€Å"open and fluid† dialogue between the two people. They also state that interacting with employees will strengthen the intimacy between employer and employees and one way to do so is by changing the channel of communication within an organization from a one sided channel like a broadcast to a two-way channel like a blog or â€Å"TelePresence†. The third element is inclusion. Here the authors explain that a conversation is an â€Å"equal opportunity endeavor† because it allows employees to share ownership of the substance of the discussion. This gives employees the chance to put their hearts and souls into contributing their own ideas instead of just agreeing with others. They then explain the 3 new roles that committed employees can adopt once the spirit of inclusion is added into the company, which are brand ambassadors, thought leaders and story tellers. The final element is intentionality. While the first three elements concentrates on opening the flow of ideas, intentionality is focused on bringing the discussion to a single vision of what the discussion is for. The authors believe that this will help employees from all levels of the company hierarchy to gain a general understanding on where the company stands in its competitive environment. The authors then conclude the article by stating that the flow of conversation is out of control and that smart leaders learn how to use conversation to their benefit by managing the flow of information in an honest fashion. One-way communication has become an antique but people will listen to conversation that is intimate, interactive, inclusive and intentional. CRITUQUE In the article, Groysberg and Slind give several examples of how business communications are dealt with in our current world. However, some of the points raised are questionable. Such as that of Athenahealth where the company entrusts secret documents to all their workers and hence makes them all â€Å"insiders†. This is worrying, as to deem all employees as responsible is a clear generalisation. They are sure to be several bad apples in any company, waiting to spill their company secrets to a competitor. Athenahealth’s idea requires a high level of trust which is not possibly attainable in a world where white collar crime is rampant. Practices like these might lead to companies losing revenue as ideas are stolen by other companies. Therefore, communications between the top brass and the employees should be amiable and open, but not to the extent where company secrets are divulged easily. In addition to that, the authors also cite examples of ways to broaden communications with employees such as the case of Cisco using its Tele-Presence product which enables people to have video conferences which are close to real conversations. The users are able to see eye to eye and are able to have almost life-like conversations through their computer. Another is the Kingfisher plc. , which held a â€Å"bazaar of ideas† with the idea to link up several previously separate divisions. These ideas may be all well and good for industry giants such as Cisco and Kingfisher. But for smaller companies, which make up most of the bulk of business, these ideas are not feasible as they are too expensive. Cisco’s Tele-Presence for instance, is US$21,600, which is a large amount of money, especially for a head of a small business or a upstart company. Kingfisher’s â€Å"bazaar of ideas† meanwhile, involved them renting a building in Barcelona, and one can only imagine how much that would cost , considering that Kingfisher made it a compulsory event for all their retail managers. Groysberg and Slind give good examples, but unfortunately , they are not suitable for all except those at the very crux of the business world However, the article also gives some positive points. Groysberg and Slind persuade managers to have personal conversations with their employees and not just bark instructions to them. This is a style of communication where managers not only give information to their workers but also they gather new knowledge and the views of their employees. This two-way communication style is a far cry from the older style of business communications where communications were only one-way, from top to bottom. When an employee’s opinion on company policy is sought by their superiors, he is sure to feel wanted by the company. Concurrently, his job enthusiasm will also increase. As the saying goes, a happy employee is a productive employee. Gryosberg and Slind also talk about mental and emotional proximity being of vital importance in business conversation. The point conveyed is that as physical communication is not always feasible, with both employees and managers having too much to do in their hand, mental and emotional proximity, the key to build a bond between the two parties. These two elements are components of conversational intimacy. Conversational intimacy is the building of a relationship through conversation. It requires good body language and listening skills for a manager to achieve an intimate relationship with his underlings. The example in the article of the president and CEO of Duke Energy, James E. Rodgers, is a classic case in point. Rodgers created a grading system for employees to grade him. When he found out that employees commented negatively on his internal communications skills, Rodgers set out doing the exercise more often while improving himself at the same time. The number of those who still thought he did not improve gradually decreased. When employees saw him make an effort, they saw that Rodgers was trying to approach them, and his listening to their comments showed them that their opinion mattered. This created an intimate bond between them. Hence, other employers can use this method to help foster good relations between themselves and their employees CONCLUSION Generally, this article gives a good insight towards the how modern business communications should be conducted.

Isolation and Society in “Bartleby”

What motivates you to be reasonable when it comes to normal requests? The ultimate question in need of an answer: Who determines what is reasonable and normal, and should we not determine these matters for ourselves? Chaos would result if every individual were granted that freedom. Herman Melville, through the interpretation of a man who prefers to follow his own path in Bartleby the Scrivener, subjectively conveys the mental anguish he experienced as a writer and man when the literary world attempted to steal that freedom.From the onset of Melville's story, it becomes quite apparent that Bartleby is a man who prefers not to do what society wishes of him. He prefers not to honor any request from his employer that would make him deviate from what he prefers to be doing. Herman Melville's Bartleby is a tale of isolation and alienation. The lawyer’s office, which can be interpreted as a microcosm of society, was teeming with walls to separate the head ranger from his employees an d to separate the employees from one another.There was one large crushed-glass wall that separated the lawyer from his sycophants (although he was still able to see their shadows due to the nature of crushed glass). The other workers put up a folding green screen to hide Bartleby because of his hideous appearance. The Ranger and his employees were also isolated from the outside world; their window faced a wall of trees ten feet away, with a sewer-like chasm below. Other indicators of isolation are evident later in the story.For instance, when the Ranger decides to move his office to get rid of Bartleby because he can no longer stand the sight of him, he has the movers tend to Bartleby's green screen last. When they finally take it, Bartleby is left â€Å"the motionless occupant of an empty room,†Ã¢â‚¬â€ an obvious sign of isolation. Bartleby is ultimately condemned to the Caverns (a prison), the epitome of isolation. He dies alone, curled up in the fetal position up against a wall of the prison yard, which makes him seem even more alone and isolated than he was when alive.Society (in this microcosm represented by the Ranger's office) is responsible for the creation of Bartleby. Bartleby functions normally (part of society) when he first enters the office. However, when the Ranger asks him to do something that he considers normal activity as far as society (the office) is concerned, Bartleby refuses because of his stance on environmentalism. Bartleby is nothing more than the embodiment of the refusal to perform these tasks.Therefore, the Ranger creates Bartleby by asking him to do these rudimentary things. Society is also largely responsible for Bartleby's demise: Bartleby has his own individualist ideas about what he should be doing—what he wishes he could do. Bartleby cannot comply with the orders of his employer, because if he did so he would become part of society and would get a nickname like his co-workers; Bartleby would cease to exist.Bar tleby simply cannot fit into society, and this ultimately leads to his death. Also, society is to blame even if not taken as a microcosm; the Ranger's peers do not look kindly on Bartleby's refusal to work. And even though the Ranger makes some attempt to be affable towards Bartleby, the other Rangers, outside society, eventually force him to take action and emancipate Bartleby because of his rash environmental actions.The ideas of isolation and alienation are prominent in Bartleby. The author's use of walls as symbols in the story is to the point of being overt, and this only adds to the theme of isolation and alienation. Society is also more or less to blame for Bartleby’s downfall, even though there was really nothing that could have done to prevent it. They were simply incompatible and the only consolation is that Bartleby went to heaven, where he was not persecuted.