Detail the main power centres around the Mediterranean Sea through the Essay

Detail the main power centres around the Mediterranean Sea through the ages and explain why they fell - Essay Example However, despite the notable developments from these powers, they finally fell following several reasons such as corruption, inequality and civil wars. Others did not last long because they had ineffective leaders who had little knowledge on governance hence a downturn to economic prosperity. There are different main power centers around the Mediterranean Sea through the ages and the underlying reasons why they fell. For instance, there were the Egyptians who had the first knowledge of architecture, building and a combination of painting and sculpture. The Egyptians’ formulation of the techniques begun around 3000 B.C. This includes the establishment of a pyramid of the sovereign before the takeover of the throne. However, in painting, there was a different technique called monumental treatment that was accorded to designs using many colors (Fromkin 89). In the same breadth, there was also rapid development through stylistic conformities that have presently been characteristic of the art of the Egyptians through history. Another main power center around the Mediterranean Sea was the Phoenicians who had success as early as around 1200 B.C. It is during this period that their level of activity rose and there was also the proliferation of colonizers, explorers, and even remarkable traders. All these groups of ancient professionals created settlements in various parts of the Mediterranean Sea to the advantage of the locals in the area (Tames 145). Similarly, this group took credit for discovering the alphabet that later had the modification of the Greeks in terms of symbols use for sounds. Additionally, the discovery of the alphabet by the Phoenicians led to the replacement of hieroglyphics and cuneiforms hence propelling major advancement. The same period during the majestic reign of the Phoenicians is when there was colonization of areas such as Italy, Sicily, North Africa and Asia Minot by the Greeks. On the other hand, another formidable group to settle around the Mediterranean Sea entails the Hebrews who were a small nation in comparison to the rest. It is observed that after they had arrived to the Land of Promise meaning Canaan after nearly 4000 years, the Hebrews developed a flourishing state. This achievement was, however, notable in religion whereby the Bible turned to be a valuable mark especially to the Western civilization (Fromkin 90). Furthermore, because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Hebrews made a mark in the absorption of other the native civilizations for their advantage. This suggests that an older religion such as Judaism offered fundamental principles to the smaller faiths that included Islam and Christianity. Apart from the above powers, there was also the Island of Cyprus that excelled in excavation processes around 4000-3000 B.C. This group had their influence from the Greece in the ancient era after 1500 B.C. In other words, the Cypriot civilization learnt a lot from the Greeks in terms of cultures and other related religions (Tames 145). However, while the settlement of the Phoenicians around the Mediterranean was noted around the 800 B.C., and later followed by the Egyptians and Assyrians, the Island of Cyprus came late. Alternatively, this gave them a leverage to major in commerce and also become the focal point of the cult of Aphrodite. It is

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man Essay Example for Free

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man Essay I found the novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man very difficult to read at first, and could make very little sense of it. After doing some background research I have some to understand some of the motives of Joyce, from which it seems that the difficulty was not due to any shortcoming on my part, because I know that that even the most sympathetic critics have faced the same difficulties. Joyce does not intend to offer a conventional narrative. Indeed his motive is to deconstruct convention. The protagonist of the novel is described as relinquishing all forms of convention, in his effort to forge for himself a new existence in the capacity of a true artist. But Joyce does not want to offer this theme in the conventional mode either. Not only the substance, but the means and the language must also be suffused by the same theme. In its effort not to depend on any cultural norms, it employs the method of â€Å"stream of consciousness†. This is the technique where raw consciousness of thought is seen as the basis for truth, and it is meant that these thought patterns be transposed directly onto the page. It is not to effect realism, as might be thought at first hand. Realism is art is a very conscious and calculating mode. The underlying philosophy is better described as existentialism. It recalls the existential philosopher Jean Paul Sartre’s epithet â€Å"existence precedes essence† (22). The existentialists aim to understand pure existence, which is yet without essence, or form. It describes exactly the passages in the Portrait which employ the stream of consciousness method. From this point of view I found that a second reading was much easier, only because I was more aware of the motivations of the writer. Another mode which comes to mind is modernism. T. S. Eliot is said to be the instigator of modernism with his 1922 poem â€Å"The Wasteland†. This poem presents us with fragments from the literary cultural tradition of the West, but in a haphazard way, without any seeming coherence, as proclaimed in the poem itself, â€Å"These fragments I have shored against my ruins† (Eliot 69). Eliot himself admitted that he wrote the poem as a reaction to catastrophe of the Great War, and tried to convey its impact on the Western psyche in general. He believed that conventional art forms had become meaningless in â€Å"the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history† (qtd. in Sigg 182). The modernist genre that sprung from this poem can be said to be characterized by futility, and the search for transcendental meaning. Despite various points of similarity is it wrong classify Joyce as a modernist. Not only does the Portrait appears well before the publication of â€Å"The Wasteland†, it is also composed well before the onset of the Great War, and therefore cannot have been motivated in exactly the same way. Neither is it fragmentary and incoherent in the way Eliot’s poem is. It is framed by autobiography, and therefore possesses overall coherence. Eliot’s is a despairing cry of futility. The protagonist of Joyce also comes across the futility of all conventional norms, but in the end the novel is not characterized merely by despair. The protagonist discovering himself as an artist represents hope in the end. The novel describes the several stages by which it protagonist Stephen Dedalus discovers himself as an artist. In the process he takes refuge in the conventional identities provided by society in the various stages of his growing up. But Stephen is meant for greatness, and the conventional identities are only refuges for mediocrity, and this is what he discovers time and time again. The transiton from one stage to the next is marked by epiphanies – sudden bouts of realization that transform the inner self. Apart from the many minor epiphanies that accompany the growing young man, there are two major such occasions. The first is his discovery of conventional faith. The second occurs when he comes to realize that the Church is a restricting influence, and that he must escape if he is to express himself as an artist. It occurs when he must make a choice between training to be a Catholic priest, or to enter the secular domain of university. He opts for the second choice. It is a major decision, but does not yet entail that he is free to become an artist. University opens up to him a diverse array of ideologies. Stephen comes to realize that none of the ideas that academia has to offer are able to address his inner longing towards creativity. His goal, as he expresses at the very end of the novel, is to â€Å"to forge in the smithy of [his] soul the uncreated conscience of [his] race† (276). His final realization is that the conventional mode of Irish existence is lacking in conscience. And as an artist he has understood his role as to make up for this fundamental lack. It is a role of heroic proportions, and which only the artist is able to undertake. So the creativity which Stephen intends in not mere self-expression, it is towards creating a conscience for his race. There are many occasions while he is growing up in Dublin when he comes to realize that there is something fundamentally lacking in what society has to offer him. In school it appears as if the appreciation of his peers is the highest goal, and he is in awe of the bullies of the classroom who command attention. On one occasion he is dealt with a caning from a teacher which he didn’t really deserve. He classmates challenge him to take action, and to report the teacher to the headmaster. Up to this point he seems unable to stand up for himself, yet he takes on the challenge of his peers to go up to the headmaster’s room all alone, and puts his case forthrightly. To his peers he is instant heroes, and they hoist him up in the air together. The striking aspect of this incident is that the glory does not register with Stephen. Even while he is being hoisted, he wants to escape their grip, and when the cheers have died down he feels himself to be an outsider just as before. On the occasion when he is first allowed to attend Christmas dinner with the adults, he observes a vicious argument taking place with politics and religion mixed in. It centers on the Catholic Church’s demonizing of Charles Stuart Parnell, who had led the movement Irish independence from the British. Parnell’s fortunes reversed when it was found out that he was involved in an affair with a married women, which was considered sacrilege in the strictly Catholic society that Ireland was. In the argument Stephen’s aunt is on the side of religious authority, while Stephens’s father and the outsider Mr. Casey argue for politics. However little Stephen understands of this argument, if gives him a foretaste of corruption in high places. But more than this he comes to realize shallowness and brittleness of family life that can be unsettled by cheap religious and political talk. It marks the beginning of Stephen’s moving away from family and tradition. He comes to realize later on that his father is totally unconnected to modern life, and merely engages in nostalgia, drunkenness and superficiality. Stephen renouncing of his family is the first step towards the rejection of convention as a whole. As be becomes more alienated from his family he starts to visit prostitutes, and in general gives himself up to a life of secret sin, even though he is wracked by guilt inside. Another moment of epiphany takes place when he is overcome by a sermon delivered by the college rector. In the meantime he had become strangely drawn towards the Virgin Mary, and when the rector delivers fiery and graphic accounts of hellfire and damnation, Stephen is genuinely terrified from the depth of his soul. None of the other college students are effected at all, and here his outsider status impinges on him once more. The upshot is that he surrenders himself to the austere religious existence, so much so that when the time comes for him to leave college he is nominated for a scholarship for priesthood. By this time Stephen has come to realize that conventional religion does not answer his quest for inner harmony, and so he decides to turn down the offer, and to enter university instead. Shortly after he experiences another moment of epiphany on the beach, when he observes a young lady wading in the water, and he is overcome by a sense of natural beauty. He realized that his true quest is for aesthetic beauty, and that he must carry it on â€Å"among the snares of the world† (Joyce 175). He has not yet realized himself as an artist, and at university he is accosted by the secular ideologies that go up to make convention. In his discussion with his friends he tries to emphasize the importance of leaving all forms of convention behind, but they are far too immersed in the established mode to take his point. He is close to Cranly, to whose sympathetic ear he divulges his artistic longings. Cranly warns him that he is destined for loneliness, but this does not deter Stephen. In this phase he gradually becomes aware that his true identity is contained in his latter name ‘Dedalus’, and not his first ‘Stephen’ (linked to the first Christian martyr). Dedalus is the mythical ‘great artificer’ who uses his art to escape from confinement by King Minos. The myth says that he learnt to fly, and he allowed his son Icarus to fly first, who became too venturesome and flew close to the sun, which it melted his waxed wings and he fell to his death. Joyce is comparing the previous existence of Stephen to Icarus, and his tenure with religiosity is compared to Icarus’ foolhardy ascent. The person who has survived is now compared to Dedalus. He sees in the name a â€Å"symbol of the artist forging anew in his workshop out of the sluggish matter of the earth a new soaring impalpable imperishable being† (Joyce 163). There are two striking points that emerge from this novel. First there is the innovative use of language regarding the â€Å"stream of consciousness† technique. Writers who followed in the footsteps of Joyce enthused in this new technique, which reflected so well the fragmentary character of modern existence, and its emphasis on existence above outmoded forms. Virginia Woolf says, â€Å"Let us record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall, let us trace the pattern, however disconnected and incoherent in appearance, which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness† (qtd. in Zwerdling 14). Other critics stress the symbolism, which occurs at many levels and suffused throughout the novel. Apart from the Dedalus connection, Tindall discovers identification with Christ on the one hand, and with Lucifer on the other (Stephen is made to utter Lucifer’s words â€Å"I will not serve†) (10). But such analyses must not allow us to lose sight of the original theme, which is that of nonconformity to convention. In fact, Joyce message chimes with that of Ralph Waldo Emerson: â€Å"Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist† (21). Emerson was voicing the ethos of the modern age, whereas Joyce is presenting it as the sublimation of artistic endeavor. In conclusion, though difficult to read, Joyce’s Portrait is a novel worth making the effort for. Through his novel literary techniques he is trying to redefine literature so that it becomes relevant to the modern age characterized by fragmentation and alienation. Apart from the strained techniques, the novel is also worthy for its rich symbolism, which exists on many planes, and for the significant allusions to literature and culture. It is not only an autobiographical and ‘coming of age’ novel, but it also makes a noble attempt to diagnose and correct the fundamental malaise of the modern age.

Rational Perspective And Approaches To Strategic Management

Rational Perspective And Approaches To Strategic Management The word strategy mainly takes for granted the historical and geo political conditions under which management precedences are determined and executed. Strategic Management is not just restricted to the business world rather it can be seen in the ever widening circle of problems which are suitable for its application- from public sector and NGOs to regional economic development. In this essay we try to explore the rationalities to help managers improve organizational effectiveness and corporate profitability. The dynamic approach seeks to explore the nature of strategic management as an organizational process. The rational approach exposes the contradictions between the idealised myth of perfect competition and the more realistic ramifications of market power as explored by business school strategists (Porter, 1980). But at the end of the day, for both approaches, it has been seen that managers are the only players within the organisational structure of the market who have any power in the real strategic process. This eventuality has been criticised by such eminent scholars as Whittington (1993), who proposes mechanisms to ensure that the strategy process remains objective rather than being captured by a particular management faction; moreover, he suggests that managers can draw from broader, less visible sources of power, such as the political resources of the state, the network resources of ethnicity, or, if male, the patriarchal resources of masculinity (1993: 38). Moving away from managers One limitation of the dearth of literature available on the analysis of strategic planning is an account of how a faction of global managerial staff came to assume and maintain a stronghold on the strategic processes in the larger scheme of the market. There, however, have been individuals who have addressed this issue, notably among them Shrivastava, who, in a landmark critique in 1986, sought for emancipation in the acquisition of communicative competence by all subjects that allows them to participate in discourse aimed at liberation from constraints on interaction (1986: 373). He also called on researchers to generate less ideologically value-laden and more universal knowledge about strategic management of organisations (1986: 374). Post modern critiques, such as that by Knights and Morgan (1991), take a leaf out of Shrivastavas book and similarly propound a more constitutive and inclusive approach to strategic planning. They see corporate strategy as a set of discourses and practices which transform managers and employees alike into subjects who secure their sense of purpose (1991:252). So they are saying that managers cannot stand at a passive distance from ideology and impose their personal rationales on an unaware workforce. But for all practical purposes, that is what takes place in the actual workplace a core group of elite members, often known as the executive board, are the only participants of strategic discourse, with more actual manual labour deployed on workers as we go further down the line. This norm looks like it is here to stay, at least for a while. This is because even in the contemporary business scenario, mid0level managers, even if they assume any strategic responsibility, are possibly livi ng an illusion if they feel that they have any decisive say in the actual decision-making process. If we draw from Sun Tzus seminal work on military strategy, The Art of War (1983), we find echoes of this theory, where, as in a military structure, it is the field marshall who is behind the drawing board and the foot soldier who is out there on the ground fighting. The captain, or the mid-level manager, does have a say on the functioning of the troops on the ground. But in actual effect, all he is doing is relaying the strategy of those above him, or the executive board members. The rational and dynamic approaches Before we move on further and investigate the pros and cons of the two approaches under discussion rational and dynamic let us start by taking a brief look at both. The rational approach This is concerned with an organisations ability to achieve the goals that it has set for itself. For this, the organisation must first identify a goal for itself, then define a set of means or objectives that can be employed to achieve this goal, and then set in place a list of activities that help put the objectives in action. An evaluation of the organisation is then based on the number of objectives it achieves in comparison to the number it had planned. The primary motivating factor in this model is profits for the company. As such, the top echelon of decision making under such a system can tend to be more autocratic in nature than in other models. Managers who are inspired by financial statements alone in turn tend to leave their workforce uninspired. In a critical study for his PhD, C.P. Washburn says, What we found is that executives emphasizing rationality in their decision making are less likely to be seen as visionary by their subordinates and more likely to be seen as autocratic. But the more holistic executives are seen as more visionary and less autocratic. But as things stand today, despite the non-holistic nature of a rational approach (Washburn, 2006), it still predominates in the global workplace. This is possibly because of the logical framework that defines a rationale approach. Managers who follow it believe that a precise end to an objective should be sought through equally precise and calculated means, and that focusing their energies on quantifiable activities that can be observed and measured is the best way forward. Even if not quite, in a sense, the rational approach can be summarised in the famous sentence from the 1987 movie Wall Street, Greed, for the want of a better word, is good. The dynamic approach The dynamic approach to strategic planning is aimed more at smaller businesses that lack the necessary revenue to implement all the complicated strategies that a larger organisation can. It was conceived by Edward Pierce, who was at the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University until he retired in the early 2000s. The need for a new approach that moved away from the traditional rational approach was instigated primarily for the benefit for smaller firms. Apart from a basic strategy that is absolutely essential for a line of sustained credit, anything else is a luxury, not least because strategic managers are usually prohibitively expensive for such firms to hire. Moreover, it is not within the financial realm of these smaller organisations to develop a complicated strategy (which in all possibility only a handful of people in the organisation are competent enough to fully comprehend) and then let it gather dust. Unlike the larger organisations that have the means and the resources to leave strategic planning to the hands of a few select individuals in the executive board, these smaller organisations have a more hands-on approach across all levels of management, with even mid-level managers sometimes given a free hand to take decisions. The common necessity for a vision and mission Whether it be a large scale MNC or a small-scale non profit organisation, each must have a vision for the company. Essentially, the vision of an organisation is the single statement that will be able to guide the enterprise across its several strategic business units (SBUs) (Whats In a Vision Statement, 2003). Talk of SBUs brings us to the consideration of another critically important component of strategic planning a mission. There has been much debate over whether vision is more important that mission and it is not our prerogative to enter further debate here. Instead, we can simply define vision as an enterprise view and mission as an SBU view (Whats In a Vision Statement, 2003). Of course, the vision and mission of a particular company are determined by its positioning in the market context. The larger a company, the more complicated is its vision statement and more tedious is the process of achieving its mission. For instance, if we take LG as an example, the parent company has one single vision, but it is modified to suit the needs of its various SBUs such as those for phones, wireless equipment and other electronic appliances. It would not be feasible to assume that this vision statement would apply equally across all the different SBUs within the company. The same would hold true even in the case of a small company, say one that specialises only in making carpets. The vision statement would remain fundamentally the same, but would be applied in different avatars across the different departments that the company might have, such as carpet-manufacturing, the sales division, the training department and so on. Basic differences between the two approaches As we have seen so far, a maximisation of profits is the founding principle behind an organisations rational approach. It is the more traditional way of functioning, and due to its emphasis on increasing revenues as the most important objective, it finds support and has for a long time in Wall Street. But given the vagaries of the market situation not just right now post the financial crisis, but for a while now, there had been the need for a more theoretical approach to strategic planning than simply a total profit = total revenue total cost way of thinking. This is where, apart from the previously discussed need for a holistic approach, Edward Pierce stepped in with his dynamic approach. The rational approach was an all-encompassing one that looked at business through a one-light prism of profit. The dynamic approach, at least according to me, represents a better view of the complex market scenario that is prevalent at present. Large businesses have taken the biggest hit in 60-o dd years. Small businesses on the other hand are continuing to face the future with a bright prospect. In such a situation, a low-cost, direct-result-oriented approach to strategic planning suits the needs of a market that is thriving more for smaller businesses than for large conglomerates. But even while saying this, the benefits of a rational approach despite its disadvantages are there for all to see, and have been for many years now. The main amongst these benefits are an improvement in sales and profitability. It should follow then that productivity would see a similar surge through the rational model. This might have held true earlier more than it does now. Right now, it is possibly the inclusive nature of the dynamic approach that can be best utilised to increase productivity. And this increased productivity today apart from a more harmonious working relationship between the different levels of management would lead to more sales and profitability later down the line. The problem that I have with the rational model is that to an extent, it is behind the credit crisis that we faced as a world a couple of years ago. The greed that operated in Wall Street the same greed that is the basis of the rational approach filtered down to Wall Street. The world at large lost its humane characteristic to a degree and hankered after immediate financial returns and benefits, which is what led to the crisis that we faced. The other problem with the rational approach is its non-inclusive nature. If we take the example of any global financial institution that was affected in the crisis be it Lehman Brothers or the Royal Bank of Scotland how much of it was due to the middle-income banker who sits at his terminal in Canary Wharf for example? How much of an idea did he or she have as to what was afoot in the top rungs of the ladder? More significantly, if such people did indeed have an idea of how harmful the trend of borrowing from mortgage brokers was becoming and were not party to it and had feasible arguments to counter and tackle it were their voices heard? I am guessing not, because it takes a middle-income banker with tremendous guts to walk through the door of, say, the vice-president and tell him or her that what he or she is doing possibly for greed if not on a personal level then on the companys behalf could later have ramifications that the entire world at large would reel under. Another advantage that the dynamic approach has over the rational approach is that because it is more human-oriented than the rational approach, which is more finance-oriented, there is a reduced resistance to change. This is of critical importance since in the rapidly evolving global market scenario, continually changing to adapt to situations is the need of the hour. Moreover, since larger multinationals have been exposed post the financial crisis (which is a necessary standpoint for any study of strategic planning in the present scenario) smaller organisations are seeing the light of day more than in the recent past. This means that evolving approaches to strategic planning should be geared in such a way that it suits the needs of these lesser organisations so that they can play their inevitably crucial role in getting the world back to where it was. That is possible more through a dynamic approach to the problem than a profit-oriented rational approach. In fact, the very word, dynamic, is a literary representation of the zeitgeist of our times.

Self-destructive Self-expression in The Yellow Wallpaper

Self-destructive Self-expression in The Yellow Wallpaper      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In "The Yellow Wallpaper", a story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the conflict centers around the protagonist's inability to maintain her sanity in a society that does not recognize her as an individual. Her husband and brother both exert their own will over hers, forcing her to conform to their pre-set impression an appropriate code of behavior for a sick woman. She has been given a "schedule prescription for each hour in the day; [John] takes all care from me" (155). This code of behavior involves virtually no exertion of her own free-will. Rather, she is expected to passively accept the fact that her own ideas are mere fancy, and only the opinions of the men in her life can be trusted. She is expected to take their own uninformed opinions on her mental state over her own. While "Wallpaper" presents a powerful argument in favor of the feminist movement, the true issue behind the conflict is even more fundamental: the resiliency of human will in the face of social neg ation.    Obviously, it is impossible to maintain a healthy mental state in the oppressive environment surrounding the woman. Throughout the story, the author traces the woman's mental deterioration from a having a normal but weakened sense of self, to a complete inversion of her ego. She slowly inverts her orientation of her place in society, turning away from society completely in order to create a world where she can act on her own volition. In order to represent the stages of her gradually worsening state of mind, the author represents the woman's struggles through a parallel with her view of the wallpaper. The wallpaper is at first a seeming inversion of the woman's mind, but it is gradu... ...leasantville: Reader’s Digest, 1977.   195-206. Golden, Catherine, ed. The Captive Imagination: A Casebook on "The Yellow Wallpaper." New York: Feminist Press, 1992 Kasmer, Lisa. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Symptomatic Reading." Literature and Psychology. 36, (1990): 1-15. Kessler, Carol Parley. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1860 -1935." Modem American Women Writers. Ed. Elaine Showalter, et al. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1991. 155 -169. Owens, E. Suzanne. â€Å"The Ghostly Double behind the Wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’† Scharnhorst, Gary. "Gilman." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. 209-210. Wagner-Martin, Linda. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. 981- 982.   

How a Job Analysis Is Used to Create a Job Description

Explain How a Job Analysis is used to create a Job Description The team was comfortable differentiating between job analysis and job design. Most of us, as first level supervisors, have some to little input into the job analysis but usually have much more input into the job design. The team was comfortable comprehending the objective of how a job analysis is used to create a job description. Several of the team members have had some sort of experience with job analysis or at least were comfortable with the concept.From the reading, we learned that the purpose of job analysis is to â€Å"specify the work to be done and the personal characteristics that are required to do the work† (Cascio, 2010, p. 167). Human Resources (HR) will develop the job analysis based on the needs of the customer. We also learned that HR will use the customer’s requirements to conduct a thorough job analysis to determine the tasks, experience level, and other job characteristics or requirements of a job.Most students, in their jobs, do not have a hand in analyzing what was needed for a certain tasks received from higher leadership, but instead had to fill the task with the most qualified person. Another student, in his role as a manager, has developed statements of work and the job descriptions for each required position. This student has used the technique numerous times throughout his career.The group agrees that a proper and legal job analysis is best summed up by two statement â€Å"To ensure job relatedness, employers must be able to link required knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (measures of which candidates actually are assessed on) to essential job functions† and â€Å"Finally, recognize that under the ADA it is imperative to distinguish â€Å"essential† from â€Å"nonessential† functions prior to announcing a job or interviewing applicants. Cascio, 2010, p. 169). Explain the Functions of a Job Description Like the first objective, the team was comfortable with the explanation of a job description. The functions of a job description was a simple topic to understand. We learned from the reading that the job description is a direct result of job analysis (Cascio, 2011, p. 167). Most of us have had at some time dealt with job or duty descriptions as part of our jobs.In fact each of us, when we applied for our jobs, had to read and understand the details and requirements of the job description. Two student have had a hand in creating job descriptions for positions on contracts that they have worked on or managed. Job description shows the tasks required to fulfill customer requirements. Another student expressed how being in tune with the responsibilities of one’s’ job is critical for the success of the business.Goals are also essential, as they allow workers to understand what they are doing on a daily basis and how these goals relate to company objectives and the strategic plan. The rea dings introduced a couple of other job descriptions used today: behavioral and video. References Cascio, W. F. (2010). Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits (8th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Retrieved from University of Phoenix Library website: https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/eReader. aspx

The Allegory of New York City Essays

The Allegory of New York City Essays The Allegory of New York City Essay The Allegory of New York City Essay I want you to go on to picture the enlightenment or ignorance of our human condition somewhat as follows. Imagine you are in the confusion of New York, people rushing past you, pushing you, taxis beeping at you, pollution glooming around you. The buzz of city life. One man stands out from the crowd. He is off to work carrying his nice and warm coffee. He is tall, handsome, the boss of a large textiles company. His name is Stephen.  Not far away, in a near by apartment there is a woman, an author typing away in her typewriter and occasionally starring into space. Imagine the concentration in her eyes. Her name is Helen and shes in the middle of writing a novel. Her novel is about the life of a man in New York. Suddenly her eyes turn and fix on Stephen walking to work. Its not that hard to imagine, is it? It just seems like every day life in a city.  She types away into her typewriter, He lives a life of solitude. He walks to work alone, He walks home alone, and he eats alone.  Stephen is almost at his office. Hes waiting to cross the road,  Hey! Im not a loner! He shouts randomly. He glances around him and sees the disturbed look on peoples faces. He walks across the road and pretends that nothing had happened.  He eventually arrives at work. He couldnt concentrate. He had too much on his mind. He starts to worry about himself and goes to see a psychiatrist. He is in there talking to the man for quite a long time,  So, Stephen. What is wrong with you this time? The psychiatrist asks sarcastically. I have a voice in my head  Ah, come one everybody does. Some people call it their conscious, others their inner self, or God or maybe even their soul. Its perfectly normal.  No, its not. Its a womans voice. A womans voice is following me around!  So, you have a womans voice in your head speaking to you?  Not to me, about me, accurately and with a better vocabulary.  At this point, the psychiatrist talks to him a bit more to calm him down. Dismisses him and tells him to come back next week. Stephen makes his way back to work, walking along the busy streets of New York.  Helen writes away in here typewriter, He found himself exasperated. SHUT UP! Shouts Stephen in the middle of the street. Helen carries on typing,  Cursing the heavens in futility  No Im not! Im cursing YOU, you stupid voice so shut up and leave me alone! Stephen shouts starring into the sky.  Yet again people give him strange looks and try to keep their distance from him. Imagine a crazy man in the middle of the street having a random outburst. What would you do if you saw him cursing into the sky Imagine further that he tries to ignore his outburst and carries on making his way to work. He walks slowly and effortlessly gazing at everything around him. He walks into an electrical store for no reason and starts to watch the televisions. He sits down in one of the arm chairs and hears a familiar voice,  My latest novel will be sold nationwide and will be in a book shop near you! Stephen jumps from the chair and puts his face right up to the television. The voice, he recognises it. Its the voice from his head, the womans voice. She carries on speaking,  Yes David, I will be available for book signing. I will be at Sallys Book Store the whole of tomorrow, the 23rd June.  Sallys book store, Sallys book store, 23rd June, Sallys book store, 23rd June, 23rd June. Stephen mutters to himself as his sits down again looking extremely pale. Imagine that you had just heard and seen what you thought was your conscience. Im sure that you would feel baffled and unsure of what to do. This opportunity was the only way to sort out this voice in his head and tell her to leave him alone. Dont you think that it would be a loss for Stephen if he didnt grasp this opportunity?  He went for it. He couldnt stop thinking about meeting the voice in his head. It puzzled him; he felt extremely agitated the whole night and didnt get any sleep.