Ethical Disaster of the Hyatt Regency Collapse

Eric Sandler Ethical Disaster of the Hyatt Regency Collapse Construction on the 40-story Hyat Regency Crown Center began in 1978, and the hotel opened on July 1, 1980, after construction delays including an incident on October 14, 1979, when 2,700 square feet of the atrium roof collapsed because one of the roof connections on the north end of the atrium failed. The collapse was the second major structural failure in Kansas City in a little more than two years. On June 4, 1979, the roof of the then-empty Kempar Arena in Kansas City had collapsed without loss of life.The architects and engineering firms at the two collapses were different. One of the defining features of the hotel was its lobby, which featured a multistory atrium crossed by suspended concrete walkways on the second, third and fourth levels, with the fourth level walkway directly above the second level walkway. On July 17, 1981, approximately 2,000 people had gathered in the atrium to participate in and watch a dance co ntest. Dozens stood on the walkways. At 7:05 PM, the walkways on the second, third and fourth floor were packed with visitors as they watched over the active lobby, which was also full of people.The fourth floor bridge was suspended directly over the second floor bridge, with the third floor walkway set off to the side several meters away from the other two. Construction difficulties led to a flawed design change that doubled the load on the connection between the fourth floor walkway support beams and the tie rods carrying the weight of both walkways. This new design could barely handle the dead load weight of the structure itself, much less the weight of the spectators standing on it.The connection failed and both walkways crashed one on top of the other and then into the lobby below, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200 others. The rescue operation lasted well into the next morning and was carried out by an army of emergency personnel, including 34 fire trucks, and param edics and doctors from five area hospitals. Dr. Joseph Waeckerle directed the rescue effort setting up a makeshift morgue in the ruined lobby and turning the hotel's taxi ring into a triage center, helping to organize the wounded by highest need for medical care.Those who could walk were instructed to leave the hotel to simplify the rescue effort, the fatally injured were told they were going to die and given morphine. Workmen from a local construction company were also hired by the city fire department, bringing with them cranes, bulldozers, jackhammers and concrete-cutting power saws. The biggest challenge to the rescue operation came when falling debris severed the hotel's water pipes, flooding the lobby and putting trapped survivors at great risk of drowning. As the pipes were connected to water tanks, as opposed to a public source, the flow could not be shut off.Eventually, Kansas City's fire chief realized that the hotel's front doors were trapping the water in the lobby. On h is orders, a bulldozer was sent in to rip out the doors, which allowed the water to pour out of the lobby and thus eliminated the danger to survivors. In all twelve lives were rescued from the rubble. The two walkways were suspended from a set of steel tie rods, with the second floor walkway hanging directly underneath the fourth floor walkway. The walkway platform was supported on 3 cross-beams suspended by steel rods retained by nuts. The cross-beams were box beams made from C-channels welded toe-to-toe.The original design by Jack D. Gillum and Associates called for three pairs of rods running from the second floor all the way to the ceiling. Investigators eventually determined that the new design supported only 60 percent of the minimum load required by Kansas City building codes. Havens Steel Company, the contractor responsible for manufacturing the rods, objected to the original plan of Jack D. Gillum and Associates, since it required the whole of the rod below the fourth floor to be threaded in order to screw on the nuts to hold the fourth floor walkway in place.These threads would probably have been damaged beyond use as the structure for the fourth floor was hoisted into position. Havens therefore proposed an alternate plan in which two separate sets of tie rods would be used. One connecting the fourth floor walkway to the ceiling, and the other connecting the second floor walkway to the fourth floor walkway. This design change would prove fatal. In the original design, the beams of the fourth floor walkway had to support only the weight of the fourth floor walkway itself, with the weight of the second floor walkway supported completely by the rods.In the revised design, however, the fourth floor beams were required to support both the fourth floor walkway and the second floor walkway hanging from it. With the load on the fourth-floor beams doubled, Havens' proposed design could bear only 30 percent of the mandated minimum load (60 percent in the origi nal design). The serious flaws of the revised design were further compounded by the fact that both designs placed the bolts directly in a welded joint between two facing C-channels, the weakest structural point in the box beams.Photographs of the wreckage show excessive deformations of the cross-section. In the failure the box beams split at the weld and the nut supporting them slipped through. Since the construction process includes the work and ideas of many different people, the process can become unclear, especially when meeting deadlines and budget requirements. Such a fast-paced environment stems from the concept that â€Å"time is money. † This concept constantly drives the construction industry to seek quicker methods to transfer ideas from paper to structures of concrete and steel.It has become common practice in the construction industry to begin the actual construction of a building prior to the design work being completed. The Hyatt Regency Hotel was built on this fast-track type of schedule. The main reason for the walkway collapse was not a failure of materials. It was a communication failure. In the case of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the structural engineer sent a sketch of the proposed walkway connections to the steel fabricator. The structural engineer had assumed that the fabricator understood that he was to design the connections himself.Since the structural drawings did not state that the walkway connections were only a preliminary sketch, the steel fabricator assumed that the sketch was a finalized drawing. The fabricator simply copied the engineer’s preliminary sketch of the walkway connection to serve as the shop drawings. The development of the design was then completed. The materials selected for the fabrication were standard strength, size, and grade of material, rather than what should have been used to compensate for the added stress of the altered design. Such neglections can have grave results.The most glaring mistake in this entire chain of events was that the structural engineer did not review the final design. This is an example of deontological ethics because the engineer failed to perform his job to his full potential. As can be seen from the evidence, the real failure that caused the collapse of the Hyatt Regency walkways was actually a failure of communication in the design phase of the project. As a result of the disaster, the two engineers from G. C. E. International lost their professional engineering licenses in the state of Missouri.These engineers were Jack D. Gillum, the engineer of record, and Daniel M. Duncan, the project engineer. The engineer is ultimately responsible for checking the safety of final designs as depicted in shop drawings. When we take the implicit social contract between engineers and society, the issue of public risk and informed consent, and codes of ethics of professional societies into account, it seems clear that the engineer must assume this responsibility when any change in design involving public safety carries a licensed engineer's seal.Yet, if it is assumed that the engineer in the Hyatt case received the fabricator's telephone call requesting a verbal approval of the design change for simplifying assembly, some possible reasons that would make him approve such change are saving money and time, following his immediate supervisor's orders, looking good professionally by simplifying the design, misunderstanding the consequences of his actions, or any combination of the reasons. These reasons do not, however, fall within acceptable standards of engineering professional conduct.Instead, they pave the way for legitimate charges of negligence, incompetence, misconduct and unprofessional conduct in the practice of engineering. When the engineer's actions are compared to professional responsibilities cited in the engineering codes of ethics, an abrogation of professional responsibilities by the engineer in charge is clearly demonstrated. The Missouri Board of Architects, Professional Engineers, and Land Surveyors convicted the engineers employed by Jack D.Gillum and Associates who had signed off on the final drawings of gross negligence, misconduct and unprofessional conduct in the practice of engineering. They all lost their engineering licenses in the states of Missouri and Texas and their membership to ASCE. While Jack D. Gillum and Associates itself was cleared of criminal negligence, it was stripped of its license to be an engineering firm. At least $140 million was awarded to victims and their families in both judgments and settlements in civil lawsuits.A large amount of this money came from Crown Center Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards which was the owner of the actual hotel franchise. Life and health insurance companies probably absorbed even larger uncompensated losses in policy payouts. A lot was learned from this disaster. As a result of the fatal miscommunication, the American Soc iety of Civil Engineers has now set the precedent that responsibility lies with the engineer's seal.That is, that whoever places their seal of approval upon a set of plans carries the responsibility for the building and the outcome. It is now also required that all load bearing calculations must be checked by a city appointed engineer and that checks be formal. As an industry, it is important for all responsible parties such as the architects, engineers, fabricators, and whoever else is involved, to understand the challenge learned as a result of this fatality. Design presents the industry with a challenge to anticipate any failed detail and to correct it within the design process.

Managing Across Culture

{draw:rect} {draw:rect} 000579613; 000573398; 000573202; 000583118;000527971 {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Managing Across Cultures- Group Report on Case Study Analysis of Alcatel-Lucent BY TEAM: Meenak*shi Mukherjee* 000579613 Carlos Andres Serna 000583118 Quasirat Hasnat 000573202 Sangeet Premkumar 000573398 Imran Shahzad 000527971 Executive Summary This paper examines a case study sprouting mergers of two firms Alcatel and Lucent technologies. This paper provides an insight into the French and American cultures taking into consideration the parent company cultural imbroglio. Alcatel, an American company, was previously owned by the technological giant, the AT&T group. However in the year 1996, the company parted ways from the group of AT &T and merged with the French company, Alcatel. Alcatel, headquartered in France, provides hardware-software services to the telecommunications sector involving service providers and enterprises. On the 1st December, 2006, Alcatel- Lucent merged to explore greater productivity by utilizing jointly owned resources, products and services. Cross-cultural barriers hindered Alcatel-Lucent’s strategic advantageover its competitors. In this paper, the Alcatel- Lucent merger will be critically analysed with help reference frameworks and cultural tools such as Hofstede’s dimensions, Trompenaar’s theories on culture and related articles from newspapers. In the recent years, companies have been adopting the strategy to expand their markets globally with different strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, licensing etc. However, companies trying to achieve synergetic benefits often fail in their process of expansion due to the cultural problems revolving between the host and home countries. Introduction Alcatel-Lucent, headquartered in Paris, France, is the Telecom giant with over 77,000 employees in its payroll a with annual revenue generated as reported in the financial report standing at a staggering 16. 98 billion Euros. The merger of parent companies Alcatel and Lucent was anticipated to be the ‘shining star’ of mergers and was aptly phrased as a merger of equals (Sutherland, 2006). This paper discusses the importance of cultural differences and indicates the problems that can be create when different cultural interaction occurs between different strata’s of organizations. Short Brief about different cultures Culture can be considered to be a vast word having no unified idea that can summarize the true essence of it. Some scholars and researchers define Culture as a part of our environmental conditioning, usually distributed among members of similar nations, regions and areas (_Sorensen_, 1984). This case study is used to communicate the study of cross culture and its related problems. In regards to job environment, the French Culture believes in providing security for the members of the society. The Culture is competitive yet assertive but however is risk averse and consumes too much time to take decisions to deal with a situation. On the contrary, the American Culture is easy going and flexible. Americans believe in quick decision making with a â€Å"win-lose† approach and as a result accept uncertainties in a positive manner. In a recent article, Holstein (2007) stated, that the two parent companies addressed the issue of crisis taking measures differently. In times of crisis, the Americans believe in reducing costs through scaling down job opportunities whereas the French have a supportive approach towards their employees with the government acting as the back bone to resolve such issues making the process of decision slow but unaffected by the crisis piling on the company with additional operational costs. The inclination of the American Culture is towards achieving short term goals such as profit making, however, the French culture denotes a negative aspect of doing business with haste. The French decision making processes are long and tend to measure each step taking important aspects into consideration. Literature review The Dutch anthropologist, Trompenaars , conducted a research over 10 years and eventually publishing his work in 1994. Expatriates in an organisation can benefit from his dimensions by having knowledge on the managing tasks in different cultures (Trompeenars et. al. , 1997). Universalism Vs Particularism: According to Trompenaars , Universalism and Particularism are terms used to denote a culture which is governed by rules and relationships. In the words of French (2007), rules are flexible in particularistic societies and relationships are given more importance than rules. Trompenaar’s classifies of USA as aUniversalistic society bound by rules. Hence, Lucent as a company believes in developing rules, codes and standards that can be applicable to everyone in every situation without any modification. In USA, negotiation takes place in written agreements, shows that a formal procedure is to be followed to do business. However in a particularistic culture, the type of relationship determines the business. Whereas the French culture is average in Universalism indicating Alcatel, the French company is neither too particularistic nor too universalistic and rationally develop inter personal relationship and trust bearing in mind the expected standards (Gesteland, 2005). Affective/ Emotional Vs Neutral: Affective and Neutral are terms used to represent emotions with in a culture. In affective cultures individuals tend to show their emotions explicitly in public like the American culture. However Neutral cultures believe in implicit behaviour towards their emotions. According to French (2007), different cultures exhibit different behaviours when it comes to emotions. American people tend to deliver their disgust spot-on using verbal communication where as the French do so with sign language such as frowning and smirks. The US and French cultures are both alignedvery close to each other in terms of how emotional or neutral they are. Both of them are moderately average, which means people working in Lucent as well as Alcatel neither express their feelings too enthusiastically nor do they try to hide their feelings (Gesteland, 2005). Specificity Vs Diffuseness: According to Hampden (1998), Specificity is a term used to represent cultures where difference between work life and personalised life are applicable. In diffused cultures, the society is non- segregated as work and personalised life are closely interlinked. According to Guirdham (1999), the French are diffused in their cultural believes hence personal and professional life is considered to be a part of the culture whereas the Americans believe in keeping the two separate. Achievement Vs Ascription: Trompenaar describes cultures which believe in achieving status through performance with a generic belief that status can be gained and lost if performances are not measured accordingly. Ascribed status is where people believe that status is gained through inherent right and not according to what they perform in everyday life(French,2007). Achievement oriented societies formed by individuals who believe in achieving goals independently. For example the reigning President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama is an individual who became the president with his qualities and perseverance. In Ascribed societies, people believe in the status and the background of individuals. This juxtaposes the idea that in France one can participate in politics only if their family has been inclined politically in the past. The American culture is achievement oriented thus at Lucent, social status or position of an employee is derived from his/her achievements. The employees in Alcatel could grow only if their business links with the superiors are concrete (Guirdham, 1999). Sequential Time vs. Synchronisation: The word, sequence, is used to describe time where events follow one another whereas in synchronised time, events are arranged at a parallel basis. Multi-tasking is the main feature of synchronisation. Lucent being a North American company follows monochromic time that is tangible and divisible. They view time as a narrow spectrum of distinct, consecutive segments. Hence they perform only one activity at a time with greater focus, keeping a strict schedule of appointments and showing a strong resistance from deviating their plans (Gesteland, 2005). Whereas Alcatel being a Mediterranean country follows Polychromic time, for them time is indivisible and flexible. Time is viewed as a norm and people perform multiple activities simultaneously which makes them distracted very easily. For them appointments are approximate and can be changed at any point of time, schedules are not as important as relationships are. Future Vs Past Orientation: Lucent focuses more on the present and the immediate future than what has happened in the past. They concentrate on achieving result within a short span of time. In Alcatel, the present and future are valued by looking at events that occurred previously. Any given situation is compared to the previous happenings. Time orientation does matter a lot when companies operate in different cultures. It creates chaos specially in taking long term decisions. High Vs Low context cultures: Lucent (USA)- as a company possesses the attributes of a low context culture where it relies on information explicitly provided, detailed communication and even higher detailed instruction at workplace. However at Alcatel (France), employees practice moderate levels of cultural context interms of communication, information and even instruction at workplace. Alcatel being a French company practices very high power distance, which means a wide gap exists between leaders, subordinates and management decisions are made at the top level only without the consent of fellow employees. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Dutch Anthropologist, Geert Hofstede defines culture as â€Å"The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another† (Hofstede, 2001). Using his survey at the IBM involving employees from world over, he formulated the cultural dimensional framework. High Vs Low Power Distance: Power distance is related to a society which is divided into classes and ranks. In USA, ranks are least important to individuals as they believe in Equality. Organisational ranks often make employees feel uncomfortable and are not practiced widely. In France such distinction between classes and ranks are acceptable. Though high organisational ranked employees believe in respecting employees of lower ranks but make sure that the distinction is clear. In such countries it is wise for a subordinate to use terms such as ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’. Whereas, at Lucent- a US based company, power distance is relatively low. The gap between superior and subordinate is minimal likewise salary and decisions are made consulting with everyone, though organizational hierarchy exists but for convenience. High Vs Low Uncertainty Avoidance: The term Uncertainty denotes societies that are risk averse and risk takers. In US, the culture believes in taking risks and with France, risk taking is not a wise decision and is often followed with monotonous long-term decision making. The French are known for high uncertainty avoidance. Hence at Alcatel people prefer not to take risks unnecessarily, they usually are loyal to their employers and have long work records. The organization is structured with explicit rules and regulations with the employee (French, 2007). Therefore, Lucent as an organization is not well structured and people are eager to take risk, thus being flexible that makes them not loyal enough and are clear indicators of short term employees. As France is extremely cautious about uncertainty decisions, thus employees at Alcatel are extremely concerned about job losses. In a recent article Sutherland (2006) stated that: â€Å"About 10 percent, or 8,800 employees, will be laid-off. Lucent could not answer which percentage of the job losses will be borne by the U. S. Company, but French laws tightly control when employers can fire workers† (Cited in, Sutherland, 2006). Individualism Vs Collectivism: In Individualistic societies, individuals tend to look after their family and themselves. Organisational goals are based on individualistic performance and not on the group effort. Team works are performed with individual rewarding system. Collectivist countries believe that the essence of good performance is based on team work. Individuals must sacrifice their personal interest for the benefit of the team. Rewards and bonuses are according to the team’s performance on activities. The French and American individualistic characteristics are common, causing a clash of cultures while working in conglomerate companies such as Alcatel-lucent. Individualism evolved when the two companies merged because the people started thinking of their own self interests instead of considering the company on the whole. This leads to chaotic asynchronous processes that are disruptive for productivity (French, 2007). Masculinity Vs Femininity: Masculinity and femininity are characterized by behaviours such as assertiveness, competitiveness, caring and loving. Masculinity is a composition of tough values whereas Femininity shows tender traits. Both the nations are masculine in nature but the roles of women in the two societies are very different. In USA, Women can reach the top layers of the organisation whereas in the France it is the other way round and men are given more precedence as the society male dominant. In an article Holstein (2007) stated that: â€Å"One is that there is confusion about who’s in charge. Russo became CEO of the combined entity and Tchuruk became chairman. In American cultural terms, that means Russo runs the company. After all, she’s the CEO. But in a European context, and particularly a French setting, the chairman is the boss. Confusion at the top is deadly† (Cited by, Holstein, 2007). Masculinity is relatively high in Alcatel compared to Lucent. At Alcatel, people believe in competition, performance and male dominance. Whereas at Lucent ,people seek equal opportunity, better quality of work, solidarity over other factors including competitive behaviour. Patricia Russo, a successful business entrepreneur from the USA is an example of a Masculine dominant society where women scale the height of opportunities. According to Verwaayen (2008), decisions making in Alcatel-Lucent remains a crucial factor as the two companies have different reporting standards. In Alcatel the Chairman is the head who takes the final decisions relating to a company and in Lucent the CEO is the person who delegates decisions. The two different distinct approaches have clearly confused the role of employees in both the companies. Verwaayen (2008) also stated that in mergers, long distances usually creates trauma as processes cannot be co-ordinated hence provides freehand edge to competitors. According Gubbins (2007), it is important for the government to have a top- bottom flat structured system so as to make the operations of the company smooth and efficient to survive the competitive environment. Cultural clashes were so evident that Patricia Russo, the chief executive decided to leave the company and stakeholders expected changes after his reign. This can be analysed from the newsfeed of Alcatel-Lucent (2009) stating that: â€Å"We hope that a new CEO will be able to bridge the cultural divide between the Americans and the French and get all sides pulling together† (Cited in, Windsor, 2008). Analysis of Opportunities, *Challenges,* Considerations Opportunities Alcatel-Lucent partners a project phrased as the â€Å"Cercle Passeport Telecoms†,in France, which is a business program for corporate mentoring of multicultural students from humble backgrounds in their pursuit for higher academic opportunities (Alcatel-Lucent,2008). As a part of the recruitment opportunities, Alcatel Lucent revamped its business training programs into sessions that integrated technical training with hands-on experience on security products and data transmission . Further emphasis on sales methodologies, reaching out to partners to engage with the end-users and to carve out solutions to address their needs. In order to convert innovative ideas into reality products or services, Alcatel-Lucent launched the Entrepreneurial Boot Camp housed in Belgium in the spring of 2006. Aimed at a constructive build of a global knowledge base where creativity blossoms, a business foundation like the Boot Camp is a grooming factory for all the budding business developers of the next generation. Alcatel-Lucent’s strategic security partnership with renowned financial sector reseller Abraxas Partners paves wave for new job opportunities showering prosperity in the near future (Alcatel-Lucent, 2008). Considerations The primary objective of a merger is the integration of skills, resources, and business networks and their harmonic implementation. Taking into account Cultural differences, mergers are drafted, and contingency plans are prepared in order to tackle such differences. When cultural differences arise at higher level of the organizational hierarchy, the execution of these pre planned contingencies become haphazard(Turner & Trompenaars, 2000). The analysis of this uber-merger case study has given us a clear insight in to the detrimental situations aroused by unsuccessful execution of mergers. The cultural differences seem irrelevant considering the fallacies involved with it are not redundant while assessing shifts in fiscal trends. The persistent pressure enforced a moral obligation, convincing the American chief executive, Patricia Russo and the French Chairman, Serge Tchuruk to step down. (Ruitenberg,2008). The ignorance of demographic and geographic interests might have had a negative impact on the merger. Previous acquisitions and mergers may have misunderstood the merger as a change in organizational goals. According to Jolly (2008) ,Alcatel-Lucent’s current vision can be quoted as â€Å"CSR is about being a value driven company, where values are not words on pieces of paper but things we do automatically . It’s about being a company that is inclusive and has respect for the individuals, respect for differences and respect for cultures â€Å". Challenges Mergers and Acquisitions have a tendency to confront various issues and involve constant reframing of policies. Differences can be resolved at the nascent stages of the Merger or Acquisition only. Alcatel-Lucent faces a challenge in restoring their longstanding relation with their previous collaborators like Bell Labs, Packet Engines and Xylan who might have experienced difficulties while the management underwent changes, so that they may continue providing and developing their services. They also face the challenge of retaining existing customers especially those who might have endured inept services while the organization resolved its differences. The merger of the parent companies has taken a toll of time and the company has experienced positive development in turnovers, cultural integration thus reoccupying the held market share and brand goodwill. Internal Organization Alcatel-Lucent’s design and consultancy service convolutes the vital processes necessary to ensure an integration of cost-effective, flexible network infrastructure. Business Consulting, Operations Consulting, Applications Consulting, Security Consulting, Network Consulting & Design, Network & Service Optimization are Business units and processes that constitute this esteemed organization (Alcatel-Lucent,2008). Conclusion and Recommendation Complications usually occur when two companies from two different countries merge to benefit synergetic effects. In terms of Alcatel- lucent, the two parent companies follow an individualistic approach which motivates employees to work towards individualistic goals and often the objective of the company is not taken into mere consideration. The essence of good successful business is to adopt a collectivistic approach giving the goal and the mission of the company at the top priority. Team work will motivate employees of Alcatel- Lucent to take decision jointly (Alcatel-Lucent, 2008). To bridge the gap between America and the France, it is important to reduce the distance by sending employees of each company onto expatriate missions. To understand a culture, it is important to stand in the threshold of the other. Managers in expatriate missions will gain better understanding of the French and the American cultures thus adjusting to the new inter-cross culture. Leadership should be vested in hands of one and not many, therefore confusion at the top should be avoided by integrating processes with clear objectives. Employees should be made to report to only one superior. It is important for the company, Alcatel- Lucent, to use new technologies such as video conferencing to reduce communication barriers between the employees of the two countries. In this time of financial crisis, it is important to cut costs to sustain in the global business market. Top heavy structures in the company with higher pay packs to the employees could create operational loss. In the reduction of financial position, the competitors would benefit by reaping advantage of the situation and overlapping it by way of acquisition. As the French are more protective about the job loss scenario, the company should take effective measures such as putting employee rolls stagnant thereby reducing its financial cost. References French, R. (2007),â€Å"Cross Cultural management in work organizations,† Kerry Press LTD, London. Hofstede, G (2001) â€Å"Cultures and organizations: software of mind† McGraw Hill, New York. Turner,C. H. & Trompenaars,F. 2000) â€Å"Building Cross cultural Competence,† John Wiley &Sons Inc, USA. Alcatel-Lucent, (2008) â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent launches new channel recruitment drive in UK and Ireland and announces security partnership with Abraxas† [Online] Available at: http://www. subtelforum. com/articles/? p=190 (Accessed on 2nd Dec. 2009). Alcatel-Lucent, (2009) â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent announces Chairman Serge Tchuruk a nd CEO Pat Russo to step down† [Online] Available at: http://www. alcatellucent. com/wps/portal/! ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4x3tXDUL8h2VAQAURh_Yw!!? LMSG_CABINET=Docs_and_Resource_Ctr&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=News_Releases_2008/News_Article_001159. xml (Accessed on 2nd December 2009). Fons,T. , Turner,H. , Charles, (1997), â€Å" Riding the waves of culture†, Gardners [Online] Available at: http://www. businessmate. org/Article. php? ArtikelId=5 (Accessed on 10th Nov. 2009). Gubbins,E. (2007), â€Å" UBS: Alcatel faces mobility decline, culture clash† telephony online: Penton media online press [Online] Available at : http://telephonyonline. com/wireless/news/alcatel_mobility_revenue_121907/ (Accessed on :23rd Nov 2009). Hall,E. T. and Hall,M. T. (1990), â€Å"Understanding Cultural Differences, Germans French and Americans† , USA, pg 129;130. Holstein,W. J. (2007), â€Å"Lucent-Alcatel: Why Cross-Cultural Mergers Are So Tough†New York Times [Online] available at: http:// www. nytimes. com/2007/11/01/business/worldbusiness (Accessed on 10th nov. 2009). Jolly,D. (2008), â€Å"Culture clash hits home at Alcatel-Lucent† New York Times [Online] available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2008/07/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-alcatel. 4. 14867263. html? pagewanted=1 ( Accessed on 1st December 2009). Ruitenberg,R. 2008),† Alcatel-Lucent's Russo, Tchuruk to Quit; Loss Widens† Bloomberg[Online] Available at: http://www. bloomberg. com/apps/news? pid=20601085=a6fn02kzojwE=europe (Accessed on, 20th November 2009). Sorensen,G. (1984) â€Å"How much Poison is Another Man's Meat? † Notes on the Logic of World Systems Analysis, page 29. Sorensen,O. J. (1984) â€Å" Marketing Systems a nd Economic Development. An Institutional-Structural Approach† page 41. Sutherland,E. (2006), â€Å"Lucent Brushes Up on French With Alcatel Merger† Internetnews [Online] Available at: http://www. internetnews. com/bus-news/article. hp/3596246 (accessed on 23rd Nov 2009). Verwaayen ,B. (2008), â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent: New CEO, Same Three Problems† The Wall street journal. Windsor. R(2008), â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent confronts its cross-cultural challenges† BBC News[Online] available at: http://leaderswedeserve. wordpress. com/2008/07/31/alcatel-lucent-confronts-its -cross-cultural-challenges (Accessed on 5th Nov. 2009). Managing across Cultures, INDU 1033 – Team Reflection – Questions to guide the Team Presentation and Written Report Draw on your experiences: how would you qualify the teamwork in terms of {text:list-item} Keeping in mind the scarcity of information available in journals and online web content a strategic plan was devised to search online material using key trigger words that would facilitate in text referencing. The presentation time being short was a challenge for me in my role( Meenakshi Mukherjee) as group leader to define specific roles to my team mates to quantify the case study of Alcatel –Lucent keeping in mind the cultural heritage both companies’ native countries share. A well defined work with ample support from team members in way of skills and research makes me happy and feel good as a budding manager graduating from this esteemed university. {text:list-item} I would like to reflect on the fact that our team being truly multicultural, representing various nations of the world knit as family segregating this task into sections of expertise . Taking the reference frame work set forth by the respected lecturer and tutors, each subtopic in the case study was carefully classified and analysed. Disputes about the content were usually friendly group discussions in a professional manner. How much could difficulties be related to national variations in approaches to group work ? Multicultural teams like ours have different rational thinking capabilities . Innovative ideas streamlined. But the pipeline for these ideas was the standards we must set . Work can be left to interpretation. A consensus of the group eradicated doubt and hesitant notions. What elements of the process would you do differently next time. NB various approaches may exist among the different members of the team The data collection was done in large qualities from various limited resources. The case of Alcatel Lucent is primarily neglected in the business world. Careful selection of the company of reference could have been more articulate and the constrains of time and word limited was a real burden . Optimum utilization of resources can be improvide in future. The following members of the team declare to have fulfilled a

Unemployment, and Challenges in Saudi Arabia

Unemployment, and challenges in Saudi Arabia Is it not strange to hear of the unemployment problem from the largest oil exporter in the world? The problem of unemployment in Saudi Arabia began to appear at the beginning of the last century. In 1975, â€Å"Saudization† was launched as a way of replacing expatriate with Saudi workers for localization jobs, but after 37 years of unemployment is still one of the important topics of concern to citizen. The causes of the problem are education system, labor system, companies and foreign workers. The first cause of the unemployment problem in Saudi Arabia is education system. In fact, the education system is failing to equip young Saudis with the right skills and young Saudis are not studying the subjects the society needs. For example, about 80% of our college students graduate in history, geography, Arabic literature and Islamic studies and the remainder is for graduating in science, engineering or from the medical schools, which is not covered by labor market needs of these disciplines required. Indeed, there is mismatch between the number of graduates from public and higher education institutions and the needs of the labor market. That is one major reason for unemployment, but it is not the only one. The second cause is labor system; it is very old and needs to be modified to cope with modern developments. It also has many gaps and it is very easy to exploit. For example, one of Saudization program tools, is to increase the proportion of Saudis workers by 5% per year, but after more than 37 in the program, some companies still have rates less than 10%. In addition, some companies recorded Saudis worker names as a placebo to increase the percentage of Saudization. In short, labor systems contributed significantly to the worsening unemployment problem in Saudi Arabia, which has become the most important causes. The third cause is foreign workers. The foreign workers are cheaper and more qualified than Saudis worker, because of that many local companies and foreign investors do not want to hire Saudis. For example, many companies prefer foreign workers because of its low cost, work longer hours, and do not to ask some of the rights labor. In addition, the percentage of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia was about 31% of the total population of 27 million in 2010, and $ 29 billion were sent outside of Saudi Arabia that same year. Therefore, Saudi Arabia is dependent on foreign workers as a labor force because they will work cheaper and do work Saudis do not want to do much like the Mexican in the U. S. In conclusion, unemployment of Saudi youth is increasing. Many companies and foreign investors do not want to hire Saudis. Local companies and government departments can cater to only so many. Foreign workers convert billions of dollars annually. The causes of the problem are education system, labor system, and foreign workers. Lastly, in Saudi Arabia we are faced with issues of foreign workers that seem never ending.

Significance of stakeholder management in construction projects Essay

Significance of stakeholder management in construction projects - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that construction projects result in a product like residential buildings, dams, parks etc. that is further utilized to house a number of other products. A construction project may impact several interests positively or negatively. Positive impacts may include high quality living and better facilities, while negative impacts may comprise deterioration and change to environment not only at construction site but on all levels. Those impacted by the project are referred to as project stakeholders. A stakeholder is a person or a group whose interests are affected by the execution or operation of a project. They may exert influence over the project through their attributes of power, legitimacy, expertise and urgency but may not otherwise be considered as stakeholders. Generally, there are five key stakeholders in every project: project manager, performing organization, team members, sponsor and end user. However, geographical differences and nat ural events directly affect the successful execution of the construction project and may involve a number of unique stakeholders like environmental and community groups being effected by the building process or its operation after completion and may not be involved in other type of projects. Similarly, regulatory agencies who control certain aspects of the construction by issuing permits and certificate are also key stakeholders. These stakeholders, if not managed well, can influence the project by delaying, changing the scope and even cancelling the project.

TOYOTA Motor Corporation. SWOT Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

TOYOTA Motor Corporation. SWOT Analysis - Essay Example Strengths refer to the advantages that a firm has over the others in the market. They are the firm’s personal strengths that will help it to bank on, and will help it to get the mover advantage in the presence of the other firms. Most firms and business organizations apply strengths in the form of marketing strategies. In the modern world of globalization, marketing strategies can be made use of in a very innovative manner with the help of electronic means as well as smart advertising and publicity. Weaknesses are the frail aspects of every business; not every businessman knows how to run an organization flawlessly. Thus, they are the demerits that each firm possesses, which gives others in the market and advantage over the firm. Every business firm also has certain opportunities. This is the third aspect of SWOT analysis. Opportunities are the chances that exist in the external environment; every entrepreneur must try and make use of these opportunities. Most of the times the y arise out of the problems that different people have in society; solutions to overcoming such problems and helping people out, introduction of new technology, change in the habits of the people, are some of the types of opportunities that exist in the external environment. ... They must be overcome by the use of turning them into opportunities so that they can be of an advantage to the business firm. If the threat is not managed properly, it attacks the weak aspects of the firm and may lead to losses or a lower turnover. A SWOT analysis for a business firm should be made once the project or preliminary report has been made. The feasibility plan of the business further helps to look into and measure the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the organization might have to face. At this stage, it is imperative to form such an analysis because it helps to give the directors and entrepreneurs of the firm an in depth look into the workings of the business and whether or not it will be able to succeed in the future. This can only be decided once the weaknesses and threats have been laid down because they need to be combated strategically, while causing minimum possible harm to the business. Weaknesses and threats need to be either reduced or mitig ated by the business. Yet another option to use these to the firm’s advantage is to convert them into opportunities. As discussed above, many problems can be converted to form opportunities – this can be done if the entrepreneur is dynamic and has excellent knowledge regarding the external business environment as well as the needs of the people and target consumers. Despite this, many management gurus have argued that simply by making use of and implementing a SWOT analysis, a firm cannot succeed. Many firms fail to deliver performance because of not being able to indulge in reporting about the different aspects of the firm with regard to the proper use of financial ratios (to depict the firm’s actual position with respect to its

Changes after King's speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Changes after King's speech - Essay Example However, there is a serious claim from several critics of the social policy in America that the situation of the blacks has not changed considerably and blacks are still affected by large scale discrimination and similar tendencies. Therefore, many critics are still in disagreement about the condition of blacks in America since the great speech by Martin Luther King occurred on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. In this paper, the main focus has been an investigation of the impact of Martin Luther King speech in determining the situation of blacks who were affected greatly by discrimination and racial injustice. Therefore, it is important to note that the works and speech of Martin Luther King was in the background of severe attacks and violence on the blacks and there were several instances of discrimination and racial injustice against this group. Decades after the influential speech by King, there is a strong view that the situation of the black s has not changed considerably and discrimination against the community still exists in America today. ... The society of the Martin Luther King period is greatly understood as a fragmented community in which the situation of the blacks was not at all comfortable. There was discrimination against the blacks in every sphere of social life and the realization about this fate of the people made King perform his great activities of Civil Rights Movement and make the significant speech of "I Have a Dream". "The militancy of the civil rights movement forced Americans to recognize that the United States was a fragmented society. The forms of oppression, exploitation, and physical abuse had produced routine conditions of fear and anger among African Americans Segregated schools, buses, lunch counters, swimming pools, rest rooms, and drinking fountains were among the many aspects of public life that restricted the freedom of movement of black Americans. Discrimination in voter registration, housing, college admissions, and employment were among the aspects of public life by which blacks were releg ated to an inferior status." (Neal, 149-50) Therefore, the situation of the blacks in connection to social and racial justice was not desirable and the Civil Rights Movement was a protest against all the elements which resulted in the discrimination and racial injustice against the blacks. The blacks were no more willing to further endure the humiliations imposed on them due to the policies of the state and this resulted in acute crisis for those committed to upholding the status quo. At this time, the nation became traumatized by the developments of confrontation in its internal contradictions. The influence of Martin Luther King, the transformational orator, in affecting the condition of the blacks is beyond questions. Martin Luther King is regarded as one of

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Research Paper Example Women have been ever frightened about this issue and think it to be the most derogatory thing that can happen to them. It is a shocking fact that most of the rapes go unnoticed and it happens within the family arena. There are lots of cases of sexual assault and rape among families and many of the children and individual are afraid to bring out this subject in to the public. Rape is a social violence and cannot be an act of passion as there is coercion happening in the act which results in damage to the physical and mental stability of the victim. â€Å"It is found in the study by National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that 22 percent of male and 48 percent of female have confronted their first rape before the age of 12† (Golden,17). Rape is a social issue which most people encounter directly or indirectly in a particular social environment. Women are always subjected to sexual assault and suffer mainly because she is judged more as an object of sexual desire. Since ages they are looked upon as a medium to satisfy sexual gluttony of men, and she has been living in darkness when it is the matter of her individual right and freedom. In this novel, the girl named precious is forcefully impregnated by her father and less could be done by the girl to protect her virginity and self respect. However, this is not a frequent case in America where female are subjected to sexual exploitation and rape from the hands of parents, close relatives and friends. The main issue as in case of the character Precious is that there is less support offered from her mother when she has been molested and raped by her father .This mostly makes the scenarios worse and the victim feel helpless and hate her individuality and the social connection she share with her family members.â€Å"It was found that instead of lagging behind female rape along the stranger - acquaintance rape dimension, male rape was viewed predominantly in terms of Ã¢â‚¬Ë œother’ factors (factors not found on the stranger - acquaintance dimension, e.g. victim/rapist sexual orientation, rapist calls victim names), which were erroneous, sexualizing and homophobic† (Anderson,25-245). Rape is a social evil and many girls and women are victimized at the hands of parents, strangers and other men in the society at a staggering rate Rape as a heinous act as reached a high proportion in our society and has ruined many innocent lives on a permanent basis. The black girl in the book â€Å"Push† have found to be helpless and imprisoned in an atmosphere where she had no support to look for and has been struggling under the cruel hand of her father and ignorant mother. It is not only women who are subjected to rape, but also infants, corpse and men become a slave of this cruel act. Mostly it is found that the traumatized victims of rape are frightened and emotionally handicapped at such a level that they carry this tragedy through out their who le life. Trauma victims essentially need more private time to sort out their feelings, and grasp what had happened to them in order to get some professional help in dealing with their emotional tragedy. If we read the book ‘push’ we can find out that Precious the character which was subjected to sexual assault from her parents was illiterate and was from low class family. However, according to studies, rape more frequently it occurs among low classes as their social

Quantitative data analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quantitative data analysis - Assignment Example we also have 44 people in the 2 (v26) (N) and on average, they have 68 V01 with standard deviation of 28.175 v01.the last column shows the two groups Std error mean. Basing on table 2, the p value of Levenes test is .185.In this case, this p value is greater than 0.05 the alpha. Therefore, we will have to use the middle row of the output (‘labeled Equal variances assumed.’).So we will have to assume that the variances are equal and we need to use the middle row of the output. The labeled column ‘‘t’’, provides a calculated t value. In this case the t value is -3.961 assuming equal variance (the sign is ignored for two tailed t test). The labeled column df provides the degree of freedom related with the test. In this case we have 106 degrees of freedom. The labeled column sig (2 –tailed) provides p value related to the t test. In this case, the p value 0.185. The sixth step is to decide if we have to reject the null hypothesis. In this case: If p ≠¤ ÃŽ ± , then reject H0.Therefore,0.185 is not equal or less than 0.05.so we fail to reject the null hypothesis. This means that we failed to observe a difference in the attitude to catalogue shopping between men and women. As shown in table 3, for each dependent variable, the output shows the sample size, minimum, maximum standard deviation, standard error and confidence interval for every independent variable level (quasi) In this case, the p value of 0.520 is greater than the 0.05; we fail to reject the null hypothesis. This means that there is limited evidence that the variances aren’t equal as well as the variance assumption homogeneity may fit. The 2 is the between groups degrees of freedom, 105 is within groups degrees of freedom,0.723 is the F ratio from the F column,0.487 is the p value and 986.098 is within groups mean square estimate of

Review of literature on Brady Plan Research Paper

Review of literature on Brady Plan - Research Paper Example According to Rosen (2008, 102-103), this period built a new government in the U.S. and saw the democratic elections in Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina, and the establishment of new administrations in Venezuela and Mexico. Within this setting, cutting down debt was one method to bolster developing economies in Latin America. Consequently, these countries take advantage of democratic transformation as a bargaining ticket to gain more favorable debt arrangements. These countries, as developing democracies, thought that pressing for inflexible strictness and full debt settlement would estrange newly entitled voters and threaten the continued existence of democratic governments (Hiatt 2009, 388). In September 1985, President Garcia remarked quite frankly that â€Å"We are faced with a dramatic choice: it is either debt or democracy† (Maswood 2008, 94). In view of this, the objective of this research paper is to analyze the status of the Brady Plan after 23 years of its implementation with a focus on Brazil and Mexico. In particular, this paper tries to answer the question, how did the Brady Plan help solve the problems faced by Mexico and Brazil as a result of the Latin American debt crisis? The success of the loan industry ended in 1982 due to the emergence of the debt crisis, raising alarm on global markets (Buckley 2009, 54). This bleak condition forced several international financial organizations to generate a remedial program, which may function to prevent a potential disaster. This mission engaged the government of the United States, but not, at the outset, as the major player. Basically, the Brady Plan included a rigorous debt assistance program where industrial banks may select from a list of debt-stock reduction and new currency selections, practiced within the context of policy contingency (Iqbal & Kanbur 1997, 25). In actual fact, not many industrial banks were eager to grant a new

Assassinations to Sustain Governments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assassinations to Sustain Governments - Essay Example So, Stalin was evidently using all the harassments against his rivals to sustain his government that otherwise would have lost the public support. 2. Sergei Kirov was one of Stalins closest supporters on the Politburo and was in 1934, the party boss of Leningrad. At the 1934 Party Congress, Kirov changed side and began criticizing Stalin and his cruel policies. Fearless ones agreed with Kirov while other less daring ones stayed silent. Stalins position in the Central Committee was under doubt as Kirov pocketed highest number of votes while Stalin got zero. So, Stalin decided to take action against Kirov, the emerging rival for leadership in the Party. On 1st December 1934, Stalin had Kirov assassinated. On the same day, Stalin passed a law that ordered anyone accused of terrorism and plots against the government was to be arrested and executed immediately after conviction (Furia 8 - 9). 3. Stalin feared if Sergei Kirov would grab power from him. So, he tried to persuade Kirov to be loyal to him. Stalin asked Kirov to leave Leningrad to join him in Moscow. Stalin wanted Kirov in a place where he could keep a close eye on him. When Kirov refused, Stalin decided to have him assassinated (Furia 8 - 9). 4. Kirov was a potential rival in the party against Stalin. He used to disagree with Stalin over the issue of democracy within the party. Stalin feared if Sergei Kirov would topple him down from power. So, he tried to persuade Kirov to be loyal to him. Stalin asked Kirov to leave Leningrad to join him in Moscow. Stalin wanted Kirov in a place where he could keep a close eye on him. When Kirov refused, Stalin decided to have him assassinated. He was shot dead on December 1st 1934 by a party member called Leonid Nikolayev (Furia 8 - 9). 5. The assassination of Kirov turned out as expected by Stalin. Whatever Stalins specific role in the assassination of his political rival Kirov, he used the murder as an alleged reason for eliminating

Problems and Issues at OzBank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Problems and Issues at OzBank - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that OzBank has also shown an under-performance in the previous two financial years. For the past two decades, for example, the UK retail banks have felt the competitive pressures, leading banks to consolidate their positions; mergers and adoption of technology completed, and rising consumer demands with the objective of improving services. These efforts, however, failed to satisfy customers. ¹ OzBank is not alone concerning these issues. these are: focusing on customer service, streamlining processes, reducing jobs and developing the employees ´ skills. These measures are backed up by management, CEO, Paul Kelly. OzBank is committing around $1200 million in several key areas, such as: staff training, systems upgrades, process simplification, and new and improved technology. This paper highlights that one of the problems that OzBank has is that out of 40,000 full time staff, it is to reduce approximately 4,000 between January 2007 and January 2009. Almost half of the reduction has already taken place. This is part of the cost-reduction strategy. Ozbank had already reduced approximately 1500 jobs in the 2006-2007 financial year and 600 employees were retrenched in July 2007. The 4000 job loses is part of the scheme to cut $600 million in costs. The first reduction strategy is the personnel versus equipment/overhead. ConMan is a management consulting company with outstanding results on staff and customers that has been hired to help with the restructure of OzBank. ConMan had advised the bank beforehand of the new strategy ´s announcement however, they neglected to talk to the staff during this time. This may have been seen by the personnel and the union as intruders arriving into the workplace and making decisions about employees, making decisions of whe re the employee will end up, and making decisions without the inclusion in the decision-making process. Ms. Alex Faulkner, OzBank director of Human Resources claimed that the staff had been abreast of the restructuring strategy.

Hewlett-Packard Case Study Essay Example for Free

Hewlett-Packard Case Study Essay Carly Fiorina was hired in Hewlett-Packard as Chairwoman, CEO and President of Hewlett-Packard in 1999 but before that, she earned recognition being one of the most powerful women in America.   Her career in H-P was a combination of ups and down leaving the company with a lot more controversy. Carly Fiorina’s performance at HP caught the attentions of the people in America and the world. Was CEO Carly Fiorina an example of internal or external succession at H-P and why? Carly Fiorina’s appointment in Hewlett-Packard is an example of external succession because she was not a former H-P employee or member of the board; her expertise and renowned popularity made the H-P Board to hire her service.   Specifically, her achievements at Lucent and ATT impressed the executives of H-P, which at that time was at a point of â€Å"downslide† (Boldman Deal, p. 111), who thought that Fiorina could bring â€Å"drastic action and new leadership to shake things up† (ibid). Describe the changes made at Hewlett-Packard under CEO Fiorina. Carly Fiorina obviously was really smart and an innovator as evident in her achievements in her former companies.   However, her true ability was tested in Hewlett-Packard that left her torn-apart caused by the consequences of the massive scale she imposed on H-P.   She succeeded in some ways and failed in some aspects. Nevertheless, Fiorina made three changes in HP in her six-year term that greatly affected the HP culture according to Craig (2008).   First, she redirected the spending of the company from â€Å"nurturing employees to financial performance† (Craig) that resulted to growth in earnings and revenues during her term.   Secondly, she changed the reward system given to employees from profit-sharing to an incentive program.   The last change she made was restructuring the whole company by merging similar units to one resulting to having only four units from the original 84 units.   Reduction of smaller independent businesses of HP resulted to job losses of many employees but improved the communication and internal transaction of the company. Likewise, the merging of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq caused Fiorina’s strategy brought more negative consequences than positive ones.   Though she got what she expected, but the fact that people were hurt by her aggressive action they all retaliated against her.   Unbelievably, only during her term that HP experienced so many job losses and employee apprehensions. These changes damaged the company as employee dissatisfaction grew further until 2005 and the stock reduced by half while its competitors such as Dell and IBM continued soaring high. What is your opinion of what ultimately happened to her at HP, as illustrated by the second article? Fiorina lost her credibility at HP which was contrary to her previous achievements she made prior to her appointment at HP.   I think she was overwhelmed by the shining glory of her achievements during that time that she promoted herself rather than the company’s future.   She failed to understand what the company really needed; instead she went on her way without fully analyzing what correct actions to take. Basically, she relied to herself totally that she never noticed the cultural forces that raged against her.   She lost her focus as many turned into opposition to her plans; in the first place, she never got to the heart of the problem of HP that she misunderstood many of the remarks and words of expectation she received at the time she was appointed at HP. How would you describe the most recent succession that occurred at H-P? External succession with Fiorina was the first attempt made by the company and I think that experience gave them a great lesson to ponder on because the succession brought chaos to the company, which was opposite to what they expected.   HP was quite stable though some downslides occurred already when Fiorina was hired in 1999.   Fiorina was appointed as chairwoman in order to enhance further its competitiveness in the market but her leadership style did not meet the expected changes that she promised to them. In the first place, HP became irrational by associating the success of Fiorina at ATT and Lucent to Hewlett-Packard.   It failed to see competent and able leaders within the company who could replace the parting person.   Getting the right person for a very sensitive position must be done with care. Monk and Wagner suggested that in line with succession, it is important that a company create a succession plan that â€Å"incorporates every level of the organization† (2008, p. 174). The succession plan will guide the company in cases like Fiorina. Conclusion In the case of Carly Fiorina in HP, it is appropriate to assume that succession must be according to the plan and besides the company must set a ruling regarding succession.   Fiorina could be the right person in HP but the lack of clear vision and orientation of the culture and expectation of the company; she developed her own approaches that only harmed the people in the company.

Political Structure Of The Roman Empire Theology Essay

Political Structure Of The Roman Empire Theology Essay The public sphere of Rome, which included religious norms, social settings, as well as some other cultural divides, has been known to greatly affect the Roman political system throughout, from its inception to its fall. Our world has seen many great empires and perhaps the most popular one by name is the Roman Empire. A great number of books have been written on this subject, many movies have been made, and the Roman Empire remains rich in our minds to this date. The Roman history involves some great moments as it recounts such great leaders as Julius Caesar (see Picture 1), the birth of Christ and his exploits, and then the setting up of the Church and the Vatican by Constantine. Just like any other state or empire, the Roman Empire was also much affected by the people that were its subjects. These people had their own religion throughout the various epochs of the Empire, and these people had their own norms and practices. The Roman citizen was instantly recognized by his toga (See Illustration 1) and the Roman army by his uniform (See Picture 2) The political structure of the Roman Empire was affected by the way that its citizens had behaved during the various times, including their religion, their social structure, gender relations and economics. This paper shall follow the course of the Roman Empire through history, from its inception to its decline and fall and relate how the various factors were able to influence the Empire in different ways. It is also important to realize that the Roman public was able to influence the political structure of the Roman Empire. The culture of the Roman Empire was influenced by many factors. The Roman Senate declared Augustus (See Picture 3) as the Emperor of Rome in 27BC. This was the beginning of the Roman Empire that was destined to last for the next five hundred years, adding more and more territories to its name. The diversity in the Roman Empire came because of the number of regions that it was able to incorporate into its boundaries. The Roman Empire included ancient Britain, Arabia, and Romania. Augustus was a good ruler and he was able to stabilize Rome both politically as well as socially. A lot of development in the areas of art, literature, and philosophy took place in the Roman Empire, as it continuously borrowed from various civilizations and cultures. Among the most important of things that came out of the Roman Empire include the religious and ethical elements of Judaism, the teachings of Christianity, the study of astronomy and astrology, and so much more information from other Eastern count ries like Persia and Egypt. This spread of information gave power to the Roman politics since they were able to use this knowledge to introduce new reforms in their political structure, as well as add some mystery to it. The Romans left such a mark of their culture on the world that people and artists, centuries later, such as Michelangelo in the 16th century A.D, This is how the Roman culture was able to spread its architecture and literature all over Europe, and we can still find their elements in various Western traditions today. One of the areas where we see the most of Roman influence is that of mathematics. Many of the theories and principles that are employed in mathematics have been the product of Greek/Roman minds such as Archimedes and Pythagoras. Their ideas have formed the basis of what we call geometry. Many innovations and inventions have been made based on these ideas and hence we see a large influence of Roman mentality in things like weapons and architecture. Much of theoretical as well as practical science has also been laid down by the Romans. They established the field of botany and many of the early Roman scientists worked to collect a horde of information about many of the plants that existed in the region. Aristotle and his Theophrastus (often referred to as the father of botany) classified and named these plants. Although no apparent connection exists between the advancement in mathematics and the political structure, we find that as more and more mathematical concepts were introduced and adopted in Rome, the politicians also were able to adopt their versatility. One of the concepts that arose out of mathematics was economics and the Romans were able to carry out trade on a better level. This gave a boost to the Roman Empire and the politicians were able to use mathematics to their advantage. Many of the ideas of economics and politics that the Western world follows toady have also been derived from Ancient Romans. The Romans system of the senate is still employed by many Western countries today. In addition, the Romans were the first ones to introduce the ideas of interest in business and loans and we all know that the whole economic arena of the world today works on the principles of interest. Many of the Greek/Roman philosophers, such as Aristotle and Socrates, also played their role in Roman influence and we see that many Western countries have their contemporaries who are always building upon the original ideas and concepts. The Roman influence on art is phenomenal. We find that many of the artists of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment era used to follow the art techniques of the Romans. Many of the sculptures and murals painted by Michelangelo (See Illustration 2) are evidence of the fact that he was motivated and inspired by Roman art. These theories, aspiration s, and ideas were passed from the Greeks to the Romans and then to other nations in Western Europe. The most comprehensive aspect of the social life and the Empire that the Romans were able to develop and spread to the rest of Europe includes the details of the Roman Law. The Romans were able to take the basic framework provided by the Greeks and transform it into an extremely sophisticated and scientific legal system. The history of Roman law spans almost a thousand years from the law of the twelve tables (449 BC) to Justinians codes (aroung 530 BC). The twelve tables still reflect a relatively primitive and pre-scientific legal system. However, from the 2nd century B.C, the Romans began to apply the methods and categories of Greek philosophy to legal problems (which the Greeks themselves had never thought of). A legal profession began to emerge and the production of scholarly treaties on Roman law started. It was in the second century AD that the Roman legal science was able to reach its peak. This happened when the economic and political conditions of the principate became favor able to the scholarly activity of Roman jurists. However, this classical age of the Roman jurists ended in the 3rd century and no one has been adequately able to explain that. The following centuries saw a general decline of Roman legal culture, which was not stopped by the efforts of emperor Justinian to revive classical Roman law in the 6th century. Justinian did manage, however, to preserve a great part of the literary legacy of the classical jurists by incorporating their writings in his codes. The Digest, which is the most important part of the codification and was published in 533, is a gigantic collection of fragments from classical text books and commentaries. While it was unknown in Western Europe in the early middle ages, it was rediscovered around 1070 in Italy. From that time onward, Roman law and especially the teachings of the classical jurists preserved in the Digest became the basis of continental European. It has been said quite rightly, that the Digest is one of the most influential books in European . Perhaps the most important aspect of the Roman culture that was able to affect the political structure the most was religion. Rome had grown up to be a formidable empire by 120 AD (See Map). The history of Rome is embedded with wonder. Much of what Rome was to become in the later stages of its life was due to the ancient yet colorful religion, one that is now known as Roman mythology. The Romans had gods and goddesses for every element, and for every occasion. These gods were in a continuous state of tension, balancing the good and evil, while keeping the humans happy as well. It is in this religion that we find the basic impetus for the Roman Empire, its political structure, and its social environment. Perhaps Ovid was best able to present this relationship between the gods and humans in his Metamorphoses. The first story of a human involves a sinner, punished for his offence against the gods. Lycaons case represents one example of the wickedness of all humanity in the Iron Age. Lyc aon (wolf man in Greek) is the reason for the flood, Jupiter explains, but not the origin of evil (Ovid does not mention the famous story of Pandoras box). Lycaons metamorphosis into a beast reveals his true nature; the description translates literally, his mouth gathered savagery from the man himself. The reaction of the other gods to Jupiters punishment of Lycaon resembles a senate of yes-men; at first it sounds as if the gods feel pity for humanity, but soon their selfish motives are revealed: without men they will lose their sacrifices. Jupiter claims that he wants to make the world safe for lesser divinities, nymphs, fauns, satyrs, but as we will soon see in the stories to follow, the biggest threat to pretty young nymphs are the amorous gods themselves After the ancient religions in Rome, came the slightly modern ideas that pertain to cynicism and stoicism. One of the most famous of the Stoics was Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (See Picture 4). His whole political system was dictated by the Stoic way of life as he was in favor of the human being devoid of all emotions, where things like envy, fear, etc were all thought to have come out of false judgments of the human minds. The focus of much of Aureliuss philosophy had to do with the ethics that were involved in the Stoic way of life. These ethics involved the four basic virtues of wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. Aurelius was also an advocate of going through continuous meditation and exercises in order to keep the mind and the body in a state of togetherness. In Meditations, Book II, part 1, Aurelius writes: Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together This is not just him making a statement; rather it is giving the reader a practical technique of reminding oneself every day, repeatedly, of the problems that the person might face, and how they can be solved. This is somewhat reminiscence of what later became to be known as the self-fulfilling prophecy. This Stoic way of life was greatly reflected in Aurelius political structuring of Rome. But perhaps the one religion that had the most impact on the Roman empire and its political structuring is Christianity. The fall of the Roman Empire brought about a rise of Christianity and the Christian Church and this affected many changes in the view of the world. Some of the rulers of Christianity, like Saint Augustine (354-430 AD), upheld that the Bible should be considered the only legitimate source of information about important questions and this led to a great devotion to the Bible as the main source of intellectual reserve for the Western civilization for many years to come. Many of the Christians fell into the dark ages right after the fall of the Roman empire as well and only a few found salvation in the religion. The evolution of the Christian church in terms of contributions by various rulers are discussed herein. Constantine I (See Picture 5) was one who helped contribute a lot to the rise of the Christian church as he was one of the most advantageous advocates of the Orthodox Church. He was a Roman emperor who legalized Christianity and founded Constantinople, and by doing so he single handedly laid the foundations of the Greco-Christian Empire of Byzantium. He adopted Christianity as the religion of his state and gave freedom to the priests and bishops to practice Christianity without bounds. Another emperor who was instrumental in the expansion and vital to the race of Christianity was Theodosios I (born 347 AD). In 380, he proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of the state. He also convened the second Ecumenical Council and finalized the Articles of Faith. As with these two aforementioned Emperors, there was many who ruled Byzantine and helped it progress in terms prospective growth as well as religious development of Christianity. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Christianity saw a divide into the East and the West sections due to the vast land distances that the religion covered. There was hardly even any contact between the Christians of the East and the Christians of the West because of the great geographical distances between them. They did, however, remain to be the same religion, and were only kept apart in their cultural and historical upbringing by imaginary lines of directions. Thus were born many different independent and self-governing churches that answered to either the Western or the Eastern Orthodox Church. All these churches were in contact with each other and were bind together by the canon law and followed the same traditions, literature, ecclesiastical calendar, and customs. The Roman Empire remained a powerful one for more than 300 years, but it also met its doom when it disintegrated into two parts, the Western and the Eastern empire. No one is quite sure exactly when the division occurred but everyone agrees that it was a gradual transformation. It all started because of power struggles between the rulers of the area. There were many times in the history of Rome when the rulers were undecided as to the determination of successors to their thrones. After 330 A.D, Rome was often engaged in civil wars between martials, all of whom wanted to be the rulers of Rome. The Roman economy aslo played a vital role in its division. Eastern Rome found better uses for its slaves and there was a change in the social and economical system of that region. The Eastern part of the empire developed a different political system, one that resembled the fuedal system of today, and this gave a boost to their economy. The Western part, however, stuck to conventional norms and soon their middle class disappeared in the wake of excessive taxing and the Western Roman Empire fell. Since Byzantine was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the region came to be known as the Byzantine Empire. The Eastern Empire survived because it had a more developed urban culture and it was not invaded as much as the Western one was. Since the Byzantine Empire had been a part of the grander Roman Empire, it retained much of the Roman laws and its heritage, although the legal code was updated. The official langiage of the region remained as Latin in the beginning and was changed to Greek later on. Many new churches, including the famous Church of Agia Sofia (Holy Wisdom), were also contructed. Some of Byzantiums contribution to Western Europe include great works of literature and art, a framework for an extremely efficient and highly centralized administration, and trading norms and regulations. Perhaps the biggest contribution comes out of the setup of the Orthodox Church that defined the cultural, political, social, and religios life of the region and its people for many a years to come. The Orthodox Church originated with Christ himself and can be said to be as old as Christianity itself. The Orthodox Church is geographically considered to be an Eastern Church because it is basically a creation Middle Eastern, Hellenic, and Slavic history and culture. Most of the growth and progress of the Orthodox Church, whether it is historical or spiritual, has been done on its own, almost entirely with segregation from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. The divide between the two parts, the East and the West, cannot be easily identified, but this divide occurred mostly in the 11th and 12th centuries. There was hardly even any contact between the Christians of the East and the Christians of the West before this and because of the far greater distances of those, these two, however same religions, were kept apart in their cultural and historical upbringing by imaginary lines of directions. There are many different independent and self-governing churches that answer to the Easter n Orthodox Church. All these churches are always in contact with each other and are bind together by the canon law The Orthodox Churchs administration was directed over managing the people around the land, people, which were known as a community. There were many such communities all over the ancient Russian and Greek regions of the land and each city of the era had a community that served the Orthodox Church. The highest rank amongst the governors of these communities was the bishop, who was assisted in his duties by priests (or presbyters) and deacons. The idea of martyrdom was common to the people of the Orthodox Church as it attracted much persecution from the other forms of governments that were in operation in those times. The administrative ideas about holding a council were always very important to the Orthodox Church and they believed that the council was the only able body to administer the laws and rules of the Church unto the people of the area. These councils were setup so that any problem that could not be solved by one person alone was put to the vote and many able heads were put together to work out the will of God on the problematic issue. The first council was converged in Jerusalem and it was convened so that the Apostles could come to a decision upon a serious issue. Many different types of council were setup, local ones and the famous Apostolic Council. It was only in the fourth century, when an Emperor of Constantine embraced Christianity that the Christian Empire was founded. Another important aspect of religion that greatly affected the Roman Empire were the Seven Ecumenical Councils. The Seven Ecumenical Councils were the most important councils of the Orthodox Church. The first one was convened in Nicea in 325 A.D. By Constantine the great and the last one again in Nicea in 787 A.D. The main topics that the Councils addressed were mostly on the nature of Jesus advent on Earth. The first Council was very sure in its decision and it described the nature of Christ as being the same as of God Himself. The Father and Son image of God Jesus was discussed in the second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381 A.D and it decreed the Trinitarian ideology that there were three states of God: Father, Son and Spirit. The Macedonians were condemned as heretics in this second Council. The third Ecumenical Council was held in Ephesus in 431 A.D. Nestorians were deemed as heretics and Jesus was proclaimed to be both complete God and complete man in one person and thus Mary became theotokos, or God Bearer because she gave birth to both God and Man. The Third Council also declared that both the parts of the Creed were final and complete. The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Councils were all on the debate of whether the Christ was God or man and all of them declared him as being both occurring in the same form. There were some ideas by the Monophysites and the Monoethlites that Jesus humanity dissolved in the presence of his divinity. So Jesus was only divine. There was vehement condemnation of this theory and all the Councils announced that Jesus is complete God and complete man. There was an intermediate council between the Sixth and Seventh one and it was called the Qinisext Council (Trullo) and was held in Constantinople 692 A.D. This council was held for the completion of the fifth and sixth one and it was held for purely administrative reasons from where the canons were ratified. The seventh Ecumenical Council was held in Nicea in 787 A.D and is also called The Sunday of Orthodoxy. The main debate of this council was what to do with all the images of God and Jesus. So, we find that just like any other political regime is affected by the way that the people orient themselves in it, so was the Roman Empire affected by the various cultural and social aspects of its citizens. And as it is with most of the states, we also find that religion had the biggest part to play in determining the political structure of the Roman Empire. This religious intervention had been instilled in the Roman culture and politics ever since the prehistoric times, where the ancient religions governed the way that the emperors would rule the empire. These religious undertones were also responsible in setting up the social structure of Rome, as it differentiated between the men of different classes. The elites in Rome enjoyed a privileged class where they were free to engage in artistic and intellectual ways of life. Some of the Romans, those who could afford to, would import slaves from distant land and would flaunt them as being more talented than the average Roman slave. This sophistication of the Roman citizens allowed for many other innovations in the social, and hence, the political system of Rome. It was required to make special laws for the foreigner and the slaves, and the elites also enjoyed some special rights. No slaves were allowed to enter the government, while it was the elites birth right to be a Senator. Thus, the more sophisticated the Romans became, so did their political structure. The reason for the public sphere being so much effective in influencing the political realm in the Roman Empire is because it was a very sophisticated empire. We tend to think of those times as being the ancient ages, yet the Romans were very ahead of their time and they were able to live a life that was essentially very different from those people who lived all over the rest of the world. The Romans had confidence, they had ability, and they had their pride, all of which made them into a culturally and socially strong nation. This strength of their nation was also reflected in their political sphere as their citizens were very closely tied up to the government (the senate was elected democratically from the common citizens). Thus the public sphere was greatly able to affect the political structure of Rome, as discussed above in this paper. Picture 1 Julius Caesar, perhaps the most famous Roman of them all Illustration 1 The Roman toga: dress sharp to be a politician Picture 2 The gladiators suit, a soldiers uniform Picture 3 Augustus, the first Roman Emperor Illustration 2 Michelangelos Ceiling of the Sistine Vault Map The Romans had conquered most of Europe by 120 A.D. Picture 4 Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic Picture 5 Constantine I, the Christian Roman Work Cited Aurelius, Marcus, Meditations Book II, Part 1, London: Modern Library, 2003 Ovid, Allen Mandelbaum, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, New York: Harvest Books, 1995 MacMullen, Ramsay, Romanization in the Time of Augustus, Yale University Press, 2000. Veynw, Paul, editor, A History of Private Life: I From Pagan Rome to Byzantium Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992 Wikipedia, Culture of Ancient Rome, Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_culture (Accessed November 28, 2005) Pictures and Maps Portrait Gallery, Online, http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/laterep-gallery-index.html (November 21, 2005) Reenactment Event at Corbridge, Online, http://www.cavazzi.com/roman-empire/diverse/reenactment-corbridge-2002.html (November 21, 2005) Rome: Map of the Empire, Online, http://intranet.dalton.org/groups/Rome/RMap.html (November 20, 2005) Wikipedia, Caesar Augustus, Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus (November 21, 2005) Wikipedia, Constantine I, Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I_%28emperor%29 (November 22, 2005) Wikipedia, Marcus Aurelius, Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius (November 22, 2005) Wikipedia, Roman Culture, Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Toga1.png (November 21, 2005) Web Gallery of Art, Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, Online, http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/m/michelan/3sistina/1chapel.jpg (November 22, 2005)

Features and Benefits of Skype

Features and Benefits of Skype Introduction of Skype (voice unified communication) Skype is the most popular communication tool service in the world. The skype service comes with application software and softphone which suit the application so normally many people think that skype just only provide software which outcome the well service which they provide. The service also provide free or paid service with different kinds of program which can be use in skype as paid service include more features. The free service only provide connect with other skype users while other premium plans include the ability to call from skype to landlines across the worlds as well as own a skype dial-in number so that landline callers can reach us on your computer. Skype has cutout quite a numbers of barriers to the communication system which it is due to poor connection user for the network traffic, while in the early stage we needed to take particular care of the minutes and seconds we spend speaking on international calls which end up is overprice spending, but now we no longer need to worry about it. If you are using pc to pc chatting, you will not paying a single cent in the skype free account more than just your monthly internet service billing. Skype is using the integration of voice and instant messaging service to talk to each other which delivering clear and high quality calls over the internet. Requirement tools for using skype is simple few things, a computer with decent processing speed and memory which must have keyboard and mouse in your system, a high-end speed internet connection like boardband, sound card that speaker or earpieces is in working condition and last thing skype software which is freely downloadable in the main website. People use skype mainly for the high quality of voice it provide and also because it provide free service for pc to pc talk. We around the world use skype for several things such as long-distance communicate with family,friends and loved ones,for business calls or long-distance conferences and also cheaper calls durin g our traveling and ETC The features and strength/weaknesses of skype Skype has a lot of interesting features which can be use like video call or conferencing, SMS, voicemail, instant messaging, call forwarding, skype to skype interface, business control panel, contacts and many others. For free plan skype only include most feature using like instant messaging and skype to skype calls through skype account but for paid plan it cover most features in free plan and plus include call phone and mobile, sending sms to other phone which can be done using either pc or softphone which usable with skype Strength weakness: Nowadays, skype work in the rightness of networks and recent technology which overcome it strength and weakness. For its good point because it let us manage to have a lot more flexibility and more better voices which overcome the problems cause by poor call quality and other interrupting issue which cause by â€Å"noise† in the telephone line and what the weakness about skype because it stops most accounts in skype users from being able to communicate with other open source networks that dealing with communication software And another main reason is that when you are using low-connection internet or keep receiving poor signal while in the skype conference, the application in the skype has some clever programming managing tool to analysis the problem try to prefix it and get your call smoothly through the calls. The program tool has the most important ability to dynamically change and fix in the codec in use to the call to suit the network conditions strength. Sometime we will also encounter packet loss during the sending of information which cause alot of times waiting for the busy line to be stable to send out the data to one and other using skype The problems skype trying to address They need to improving its identity authentication process. This is one of the part skype trying to further expansion into the business market to enhance username authentication for business customers. Skype also encounter security bug that could expose value and useful data to hacker. Most users could let an hacker making a Skype hyperlink which the users clicked on it, it will sends a file from the victims computer to another Skype user. One of the most problem they address is that hackers tend to control a users pc without the admin promission which cause alots of value data being known. An hacker could exploit the user pc by programming or uploading a special link and AD-popup a user to click on it. The hacker can also be exploited when sending some annoying information from a malformed electronic business card or Vcard. Critically evaluate Skype and future trends Scalable Skype PBX/PABX Gateways FEATURES BENEFITS: Company now can talk or chat over on skype for free and Skype-Out for low-cost call without PC cause they provide Skype-In static numbers for local calls to users and Skype-Web calls for user with free plan service . Using Companys phones to make a simple calls by prefix-handle service and smart PhoneBook . . Directly connect to PBX/PABX program using Plug Play format which only took 10 minute, also by using the program Sky-Grid System to upgrade the total capacity storage can save more money and with the better administration Control to make MIS/Call-Management job more easier They also provide Solving the issues of Bandwidth Information Security by independent xDSL and monitor the status by VNC Web-Administration or Telnet Control. Reference from : http://eshop.spin3d.com.tw/images/Scalable%20Skype%20PBX%20Gateway.pdf Open source freeswitch added into skype: This is the new release device which called â€Å"freeswitch†, is the first open source freeswitch will enable user or orgamnisation to intregrate skype into their Voip and platform services. For the first time, developers will have a free usage which include high-performance voice switching platform that can tie Skype clients into nearly every other major VoIP platform on the market today. Aside which we extending high definition voice across the networks, freeswitch will enable developers to build Skype integration into telephone applications, such as VoIP-enabled IVRs. Skype upgrade not only change the platform to freeswitch but also added in support for one of the most popular telephone engines (open phone layer) which gives freeswitch support for 323 clients and devices which also brings another venue for SIP support. Skype also working towards tighter integration with the platforms, the skype for asterisk is a prototype to allows interoperability between skype and asteri sk. Which offer better voice quality, allow users to place and receive calls without any cumbersome workaround, provide caller ID and retrieving skype credit balance information control panel that user can access Reference from : http://blogs.zdnet.com/Greenfield/?p=353

A Timeline of Major Events in the American Civil Rights Movement :: American Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement: 1890-1900 1890: The state of Mississippi adopts poll taxes and literacy tests to discourage black voters. 1895: Booker T. Washington delivers his Atlanta Exposition speech, which accepts segregation of the races. 1896: The Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson the separate but equal treatment of the races is constitutional. 1900-1910 1900-1915: Over one thousand blacks are lynched in the states of the former Confederacy. 1905: The Niagara Movement is founded by W.E.B. du Bois and other black leaders to urge more direct action to achieve black civil rights. 1910-1920 1910: National Urban League is founded to help the conditions of urban African Americans. 1920-1930 1925: Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey is convicted of mail fraud. 1928: For the first time in the 20th century an African American is elected to Congress. 1930-1940 1931: Farrad Muhammad establishes in Detroit what will become the Black Muslim Movement. 1933: The NAACP files -and loses- its firs suit against segregation and discrimination in education. 1938: The Supreme Court orders the admission of a black applicant to the University of Missouri Law School 1941: A. Philip Randoph threatens a massive march on Washington unless the Roosevelt administration takes measures to ensure black employment in defense industries; Roosevelt agrees to establish Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC). 1942: The congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is organized in Chicago. 1943: Race riots in Detroit and Harlem cause black leaders to ask their followers to be less demanding in asserting their commitment to civil rights; A. Philip Randolph breaks ranks to call for civil disobedience against Jim Crow schools and railroads. 1946: The Supreme Court, in Morgan v. The Commonwealth of Virginia, rules that state laws requiring racial segregation on buses violates the Constitution when applied to interstate passengers. 1947: Jackie Robinson breaks the color line in major league baseball. 1947: To Secure These Rights, the report by the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, is released; the commission, appointed by President Harry S. Truman, recommends government action to secure civil rights for all Americans. 1948: President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order desegregating the armed services. 1950-1960 1950: The NAACP decides to make its legal strategy a full-scale attack on educational segregation. 1954: First White Citizens Council meeting is held in Mississippi. 1954: School year begins with the integration of 150 formerly segregated school districts in eight states; many other school districts remain segregated.

The Theatre and its Identity Crisis Essay -- Female Roles in Theatre

My trust in the definitiveness of reality is swiftly disintegrating beneath me. The deeper I dive into the abyss of theory, the more I realize that nothing I have learned is safe from change; that facts may actually be temporary and that everything is a prisoner of our construction of time. In admitting this, I worry that these hypotheses are the beginning of a tiny delusion that will begin to gradually eat away at the rest of my sanity. That scares me a bit, yes, but even as I sit here writing, I love this newfound instability because it’s ironically made me feel more grounded than I’ve ever felt. Armed with these ideas, I have looked back at the world I’ve grown up with and finally begun to see society’s seams tugged apart, its splintered frame exposed, and the fear and worry of its people uncovered. But I have also exposed, buried deep within its guarded chest, the hope and innovation and change that inspires humanity’s pervasive drive towards pr ogress. It’s within this fragmented existence that I feel that I have a place within this generation’s script. However, it’s now a matter of figuring out which role is mine. The cynic inside me can’t help but look at the cast list and feel an irrepressible sense of sadness; with such a long list of characters to choose from, why do we prescribe such commonplace roles to ourselves? I believe that it all starts with gender. Judith Butler reasons in her inspirational essay â€Å"Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory† that gender is a performance. She observes that sex (the biological facts defining male and female) is not what actually makes a man and man and a woman a woman, but rather that one’s gender identity is determined through a styliz... ...easy for the less informed to drown in if one detail is highlighted with greater weight. It’s been a constant power struggle between these two genders whose desperate goal is to find some sort of order amidst chaos. It’s simply easier to have a leader, but the ways in which we’ve selected these privileged few I find disquieting. Though I do not believe that gender is one hundred percent learnt, as Butler believes, I do think that societal impositions play too strong a role in creating identities. This is especially true in the theatre, and I know that many of my female classmates will agree with this. Women are capable of acting in masculine manners just as the converse is true for men. But if this idea is to ever branch out into the real world, whatever that may mean, the theatre is a perfect place for its journey to begin- and I believe that has every right to.