Impressionism in Conrad and Joyce

Impressionism in Literature: Joseph Conrad & James Joyce. This essay attempts to give a brief comparison between two of the major representatives of the English Modernism, James Joyce and Joseph Conrad. Although these two writers come from very different backgrounds, they share the rejection of conventional realism and the search for new way to approach reality. In doing this, I will focus on the presence on Impressionistic ideas and in the new methods they will employ to depict reality. First of all, a swift definition of Impressionism in literature hooked be given.Many critics have argued that both in Jockey's and Concord's writings we could find impressionistic ideas, a new methodology of acknowledging the human experience. Impressionism have is origins in a exhibition in 1984 of a group of painters in which Monet stood out. Although the group was not especially homogeneous, they characterized by represent the way in which one person sees something at one moment in time, impressio ns of a particular and singular moment. They focused in the censorial aspect of how human beings experience the world vying great stress to subjectivity.In order to do this, they employ light and color which produce a censorial impact on the onlooker. In this liking way, literature tries to adapt the new techniques of painting to writing. They also stress subjectivity rejecting the old traditional emphasis upon order, thought and clearness. They provide us with a new perspective of the relation of individual with everyday world relaying on the censorial aspects of the experience. Apart from that, we find another particular characteristics in impressionistic writing: They rejected traditional emphasis on order and clearness, usually related with the conventions of Realism.Ambiguity prevails through the narration being the reader who has to form his own conclusion about the story The moment and the ephemeral is also very important. Description usually are told in a kind of accidental report, when the event are occurring. The details of the action are described through the eyes of the character when still happening and not when he/she has already processed the action (delayed decoding). This technique gives also a sense of ambiguity. The landscape is usually scribed with uncommon adjectives that are more concerned with human emotions than with depiction of the scenery.This and the repeatedly usage of images of fog, haze, mist or light and shadows produces a kind of dreamy and mysterious atmosphere where things seem to be blurred. Now, we come to analyze the following passage of Concord's Heart of Darkness on the basis of Impressionism. â€Å"l saw a face amongst the leaves on the level with my own, looking at me very fierce and steady; then suddenly, as though a veil had been removed from my eyes, I made out deep in angled gloom, naked breast, arms, legs, glaring eyes – the bush was swarming with human limbs in movement, glistening bronze color.The twigs shook, swayed, and rustled, the arrows flew out of them, and then the shutter came to. † Here, Concord's impressionist style permits the the reader to experience the events at the same time that Marrow does. The technique, commonly denominated as delayed decoding, tell us the details of the action before the protagonist has processed the action itself. This give us sensation of confusion, as we have to re-read the passage to really see hat is happening.Actually, this is quite similar to the painting techniques of Impressionism by which the clearest image of the picture can be only seen from certain distance of the canvas. In the following passage, also taken from Heart of Darkness, we can see the special characteristics of impressionistic descriptions. â€Å"The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway a great stir of lights going up and going down.And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars. † Here we have a description of the setting where prevails the use of light. In every line appear a reference to specific light (sun, dusk, light-house, stars, glare†¦ ). The description of the atmosphere of the setting is very detailed which produces the effect of certain mood, a kind of mysterious image.Moreover, we find many reference o water (stream, shore, mud-flat, fairway) that makes the image blurred before our eyes. In t he collection of short stories Edibleness, specially in â€Å"Arab† and â€Å"Beeline,† sense perception, like sight, sound, touch, smell, are very important. The descriptions make the reader feel the sensations described, the smells, the sounds†¦ This might be the one most outstanding feature of Joyce ‘s descriptions in Ed ibleness. In the following passage of Arab, we can find this references to receptions: â€Å"It was a dark rainy evening and there was no sound in the house.Through one of the broken ones I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little. All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring (†¦ )† So although both Joyce and Conrad share the same interest on the subjectivity, on how their characters experience reality, we can state that they differ slightly in the way of achieving this AOL.In this examples, Joyce focuses on all the senses to transport the reader into the experience of his characters whereas Conrad visual descriptions reminds the reader of one of the main characteristics of Impressionist pain tings : the interest on atmosphere and lighting effects. Bibliography. Kroger, Maria E. â€Å"Literary Impressionism† De. : New Haven, CT : College ; University Press, 01973. Slapstick, Mercedes. â€Å"Literary Analysis of Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. † Helium. ;http://www. Helium. Com/items/855651- Impressionism in Conrad and Joyce First of all, a swift definition of Impressionism In literature would be given. Many critics have argued that both In Joyce ;s and Conrad ;s writings we could find impressionistic ideas, a new methodology of acknowledging the human experience. Impressionism have is origins in a exhibition in 1984 of a group of painters in which Monet stood out. Although the group was not especially homogeneous, they characterized by represent the way In which one person sees something at one moment in time, impressions of a particular and singular moment.They focused in the censorial aspect of how human beings experience the world vying great stress to subjectivity. In order to do this, they employ light and color which produce a censorial impact on the onlooker. In this liking way, literature tries to adapt the new techniques of painting to writing. They also stress subjectivity rejecting the old traditional emphasis upon order, thought and clearness. They provide us with a new perspective of the re lation of individual with everyday world relaying on the censorial aspects of the experience.Apart from that, we find another particular characteristics In Impressionistic writing: They rejected traditional emphasis on order and clearness, usually related with the conventions of Realism. Ambiguity prevails through the narration being the reader who has to form his own conclusion about the story The moment and the ephemeral is also very Important. Description usually are told in a kind of accidental report, when the event are occurring. The details of the action are described through the eyes of the character when still happening and not when he/she has already processed the action (delayed decoding).This technique gives also a sense of ambiguity. The landscape is usually ascribed with uncommon adjectives that are more concerned with human emotions than with depiction of the scenery. This and the repeatedly usage of images of fog, haze, mist or light and shadows produces a kind of dr eamy and mysterious atmosphere where things seem to be blurred. Now, we come to analyze the following passage of Concord's Heart of Darkness on the basis of Impressionism. L saw a face amongst the leaves on the level with my own, looking at me very fierce and steady; then suddenly, as though a veil had been removed from my eyes, I made out deep in angled gloom, naked breast, arms, legs, glaring eyes – the bush was swarming with human limbs in movement, glistening bronze color. The twigs shook, swayed, and rustled, the arrows flew out of them, and then the shutter came to. † Here, Conrad s impressionist style permits the the reader to experience the events at the same time 1 OFF us the details of the action before the protagonist has processed the action itself.This give us sensation of confusion, as we have to re-read the passage to really see what is happening. Actually, this is quite similar to the painting techniques of Impressionism by which the clearest image of th e picture can be only seen from certain distance of the canvas. In the following passage, also taken from Heart of Darkness, we can see the special characteristics of impressionistic descriptions. â€Å"The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly.Lights of ships moved in the fairway a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars. † Here we have a description of the setting where prevails the use of light. In every line appear a reference to specific light (sun, dusk, light-house, stars, glare†¦ ). The description of the atmosphere of the setting is very detailed which produces the effect of certain mood, a kind of mysterious image.Moreover, we find many reference o water (stream, sh ore, mud-flat, fairway) that makes the image blurred before our eyes. In t he collection of short stories Edibleness, specially in â€Å"Arab† and â€Å"Beeline,† sense perception, like sight, sound, touch, smell, are very important. The descriptions make the reader feel the sensations described, the smells, the sounds†¦ This might be the one most outstanding feature of Joyce ‘s descriptions in Edibleness. In the following passage of Arab, we can find this references to receptions: â€Å"It was a dark rainy evening and there was no sound in the house.Through one of the broken ones I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little. All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring (†¦ ) † So although both Joyce and Conrad share the same interest on the subjectivity, on how their characters experience reality, we can state that they differ slightly in the way of achieving this AOL.

A Pen and A Paper: The Beauty of Life Essay

When can a person say that he or she finally learn what is life and what life offers? It is such a hard question and maybe not all people can answer it but when can we really give a proof that we were able to fulfill our mission in life? Life is a mystery and not all of the things happening in us have an explanation. Yes, maybe science can answer our question but can it lead us into understanding that life is a matter of taking choices and doing something worthy of our endeavors? One person’s life can be different to other and so it tells us that there are differences and one situation can be the same with hundred more all over the world. Thus, the power of a pen and a paper, magnificently performed its ultimate purpose, and it is to tell the whole world what it there in your world, no restrictions but just plain storytelling of something different or something common but made you who you are and changed the lives of many others. The perfect medium for intercultural communication that will unite several cultures from all over the world, literature is the key to understanding one’s roots and environment. Hidden Magic of Pen and Paper One of the best things in this life is the ability of the people to tell their own stories despite of it passing already. There are some things that can never be done again. However, through literature, we can go back to those days or we can simply learn about the great things in life, whether the story is sad or happy, in the end, we were able to give happiness in this life and we were able to share a piece of paper that holds down someone’s thought about everything in life. There could be several ways on how a person can share his or her thoughts, but a story that can last over a lifetime can be achieved when we decide to write down everything that we wanted to share to others. Although it is not the kind of medium that everyone can understand and everyone can learn on an instant, it is the medium that can be passed to several generations and can reach several nations. Traditional will always be more admired than what the present offers us. Perhaps we can simply say that as we use pen and paper in sharing magnificent stories about life and touching the lives of other people we do not know, we certainly understand that books, pen and paper have the ability to let other know about something associated with us. A Brave Thing It is indeed brave enough to hold an event that each and every one of the people around the world can participate into especially those who prefer to hold a paper and write down their thoughts. Not everyone can come out from their shell and simply let go of their creativity but some are good enough to take the risk. When you finally decided that in writing you can provide others help and enlightenment, then probably you can try to work on something that can help authors and others. Emirates Airline international festival of literature although is new was able to become successful and bring authors and fans together for a conversation, a debate, a dialogue which probably was a good part of the itinerarium. As the festival brings sixty-five authors and poets, they aimed to help others wherein poverty is one of the issues they have to tap. Organizing such events have deep reasons and the organizers were really intelligent to let something like this happened which will link other people from each other especially when we are talking about the boundaries of culture already. Although most of the participants came from one country to another which has different cultures and different environment, the festival served as a stepping stone towards uniting the field, the industry and the people who can understand that there should be no boundaries but the freedom to explain what they feel about. Although the festival seem to be a small gathering well, it is not and that the people have their own ways on how will understand what this festival wanted to convey. There are problems before the festival happened but because of the good intention of this event, it was not stopped and it was able to continue and perform its goal which is to bring writers together and also to bridge between cultures and differences.

English Civil War and French Revolution Essay

The English Civil War and the French Revolution are characterized by a change in power that took place within their existing governments in a relatively short period of time. In addition, the English Civil War and the French Revolution were both initiated from the citizen’s unhappiness with the king’s rule. These were caused by a multitude of political, social, and economic problems residing in the English and French monarchies. In England, the civil war was a rebellion by parliament against the king. There was a direct conflict and struggle in determining each of their roles in governing the nation. After the Tudor dynasty ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603; her cousin, King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England and thus began the Stuart lineage. Though he was influential in his homeland, he knew little about the English laws, institutions, and customs. James believed in divine right and consequently alienated the parliament who were accustomed to the Tudor’s â€Å"balanced polity†. Parliament did however manage to keep the power of the purse and expressed their unhappiness by refusing the king’s money requests. King James’ additional failure was stemmed from religious affiliations. The Puritans in the country wanted James to eliminate the Episcopal system of the church organization in which bishops or episcopos held a major role in the administration and replace it with the Presbyterian model. This model was used in Scotland, replicated after Calvin’s church in Geneva where ministers and elders played an important governing role. However, their pleas were pushed away by James’ refusal because he realized in the Anglican Church, the bishops were appointed by the crown. This gave the monarchy supreme authority over church and state. At this time there was a growing opposition of the king and now the Puritans joined in with other English gentry. Conditions continued to worsen under the reign of James’ son, Charles I. He went as far to dismiss parliament altogether from 1629 to 1640 after recanting his previous agreement to the Petition of Right. The document prohibited taxation without parliament consent, arbitrary imprisonment, quartering soldiers in private homes, and declaration of martial law in peacetime. Charles collected taxes for his excessive spending without Parliament’s consent. Alienating himself further, Charles’ marriage to Henrietta Maria aroused suspicions about the king’s faith. She was the Catholic sister of Louis XIII of France and this upset the English Puritans. Charles attempted to introduce more ritual practices with the archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. This struck Puritans as an effort to return to Catholicism. Charles’ fatal error was trying to impose the Anglican Book of Common Prayer to the Scottish Presbyterian Church, which caused many Scots to rebel. Without the financial backing needed to raise troops, Charles was forced to call the disbanded parliament. From November 1640 to September 1641, the new Long Parliament created a series of laws to limit royal authority such as abolishing arbitrary courts, repealing the taxes the king collected without their consent and the passage of the Triennial Act, which made sure Parliament met at least every three years. Some were satisfied with these reforms while radicals pushed for even more change. Charles tried to take advantage of this division by arresting some radicals including a large group led by John Pym. This final act made it clear that the king had gone too far which resulted in the English Civil War. Unlike the English Civil War, the French Revolution was closer to an uprising against the power of the monarchy and rich nobility by the peasants and middle class. Fifty years before the time the war broke out in 1789, France experienced a period of economic growth due to expansion of foreign trade and an increase in industrial production. France was broken up into three unbalanced estates. The first and second estates were made up of the clergy and nobles, which dominated society and led lavish lives and paid little taxes. The third estate was made up of peasants who were not included in the nation’s prosperity. The taxes necessary to maintain and pay for the first and second estate’s luxuries heavily burdened the peasants. They constituted 75-80% of the population but consequently only owned 35-40% of the land. Their discontent and struggle for survival played a vital role in the course of the revolution. The consumer prices rose faster than their wages, which resulted in urban groups unable to purchase necessities to live. A hardened resentment grew from both the lower and middle classes. Even the bourgeoisie were excluded from the social and political privileges dominated by nobles. At the same time, new critical ideas of the Enlightenment deemed attractive to groups aggravated by the monarchial system. The majority of French society was fed up with the old, rigid order based on estates and privileges and responded by taking drastic action against the regime. Crisis struck in 1787 and 1788 with bad harvests and the beginning of a manufacturing depression. This led to food shortages, rising prices and unemployment. One-third of the entire French population was poor. These people saw the lavish lives of the first and second estates, which led to increased criticism of their existing privileges. The parlements gained new strength and judges took on the role of â€Å"defenders of liberty† against the arbitrary power of monarchs. However, these efforts failed when they pushed their own interests and often blocked new taxes. The immediate cause of the revolution was the entire collapse of government finances. The court’s luxuries and costly wars took a toll and their expenditure grew to new heights. The government reacted by borrowing money, which created a huge interest on the debt they already owed. Charles de Calonne, controller general of finance, proposed a complete reconstruction of the fiscal and administrative system of the state. He convened an â€Å"assembly of notables† to gain support, but they refused to cooperate and once again their efforts at reform failed entirely. The French king, Louis XVI was forced to call a meeting of the French Parliamentary body, known as the Estates-General. At this point, the government was basically confessing that the consent of the nation was required to raise taxes. Louis initially thought this would be just a way to solve the immediate financial issues of the monarchy but actually ended up reforming the government completely and destroying the old regime. The revolution was officially initiated on July 14, 1789, when several starving, working people of Paris stormed into the castle of Bastille, demanding change. Despite their differences, the French Revolution and English Civil War stem from unrest of their citizens and their desire to transform and improve society. Clearly the main problem lay within the corruption and greed of people with authority. The powerful have influence over the political, social, and economic facets of society. However, in these instances, each monarchy failed to compromise by ignoring their own citizen’s frustrations and struggles. This left the civilians no other choice but to begin a revolution.

Managing Change (reflecting) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Change (reflecting) - Essay Example Relational constructionist takes into account and theorizes the processes of social construction (Hosking & Bouwen 2000). And, the relational constructionist assumes a relational ontology described as all social realities, all knowledge of other people and objects and of self are considered to be inter-dependent or co-dependent constructions existing and can be known only in relations. And Hosking & Bouwen (2000) contend that within the context of this view, knowledge does not exist separately as a thing or product that can be stored, transferred, traded and learned. This feature of relational constructionist is significant and at the same time is different from the more usual treatment of the learners and what is provided or existed to be learned about self or other things as independent or separate bounded entities. A relational constructionist perspective provides a numerous possibilities for interests in a processes of learning, social interactions and relations as well. For a beginning, theorising relational processes instead of focusing on organizations, persons, and relations, avoids the problem of how to bridge group, individual and organizational levels of learning (Hosking & Morely 1994). Furthermore, in relational constructionist, relating does not remain an individual act and is no longer diminished to one-way casual relations with the provision of feedback. For example, an organization employees two individuals, one is highly punctual and other is less punctual. The performance appraisal of both employees highlights some attractive points. For example, the punctual employee has been largely successful in fulfilling their expected targets and job assignment. On the other hand, the less punctual person has been considerably unable to meet the job targets and assignment. This example provides an opportunity for the organization to learn about the significance of punctuality and making a strict policy for punctuality would enable the organization to achieve its organizational, operational and strategic objective as well. Critique examples of managing change The cycle of

Challenges and complexities faced by the expatriate manager when Essay

Challenges and complexities faced by the expatriate manager when managing across cultures - Essay Example Here it is time to mention that globalization brought a lot of difficulties together with opportunities, as diversity at the workplace demands new approaches to be used in human resource management. Nowadays much attention is paid to challenges and complexities faced by the expatriate manager when managing across culture. The issue is worth-discussing, thus the given paper is devoted to discussion of the main problems the manager may face and the strategies, which can be used to help him. The paper will prove that correct management and the awareness about the cultural peculiarities can help managing across culture. The movie â€Å"Outsourced† will be used as a case study to analyze the issue. It is not an easy task to manage across cultures. However, proper human resource management can help (Spataro, 2005). Correct management can help the company define beneficial approaches and find its place at the market. It is necessary each member of the company should understand his/he r functions and significance. In the modern world the organizations are anxious about the diversity issue at the workplace. The main task of the managers is to create the best environment for work, which should be based on the confidence and respect. The organization should not only take care about the working environment but also value workers’ rights. ... Global companies are beneficial for workers, as they can communicate with the representatives of other cultures; it is favorable for them in terms of developing their communicative skills and broadening the outlook. â€Å"When an organization acknowledges differences among its workforce, it can manage its employees in such a way as to create harmony in work practices and higher standards of cooperation. First, it is about understanding differences in these characteristics within an organization, and second it is about acknowledging these differences. And last, it is about developing work practices to create an inclusive environment† (McLauren). Undoubtedly, many problems can arise. One of such problem is cultural shock and difficulties in communication (Rowden, 2000). In the movie â€Å"Outsourced† Todd faced a problem of diversity. Diversity is the synonym to the word â€Å"difference†. In the modern world this term acquires much wider meaning as it is commonly used to define the workers of the company, who are different and possess unique qualities (Spreitzer, 2007). Such differences demand corresponding changes the way the company is managed. These changes are essential as the diversity creates many problems, which need to be resolved by the manager in to work successfully. In the movie â€Å"Outsourced† Todd has to manage people with quite different cultural views and first of all he has to tolerate the differences that is not an easy task. Here it is essential to mention the world â€Å"tolerance†. This term is applied to multinational companies and as a rule it has a negative meaning. The trouble is that in such staffs the employees tend not to respect each other, but rather to tolerate, because of

Systems design and software integration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Systems design and software integration - Essay Example The essay portrays the various difficulties associated with improper implementation of systems, inadequacy of data, lack of standardization of work procedures and methods. It throws light on the fact organizations gets affected because the top management fails to understand the nuance of systems integration and merely treats the whole job as purchase of software. It also highlights the additional costs involved in debugging wrong procedures or approaches. The essay is primarily based on the case of the food and confectionary giant Nestle, SA. Nestle, best known for its milk and chocolate products operates from more than 500 locations across the world and has its operations in more than 16 countries. The case draws our attention because it projects the need for systems integration approach, measures to be taken in selection of ERP modules and vendors, the number of difficulties a business organization can encounter in integrating some of its key activity areas such as centralized purchasing, linking the supply chain, distribution, manufacturing and sales functions. The essay critically exposes the limitations systems integrations approach can pose business units to if they fail to use the definition given by Elliot.G regarding ERP. Elliot defined ERP as "A key feature of ERP system is the ability to link areas of businesses that are globally distributed" (2004, pg.202) and customize its applications to suit its business needs. Nestle, operating in more than 500 locations and with a business volume of around $46.6 billion is a huge enterprise, controlling and planning operations of that magnitude is a colossal task. Nestle, had its own Electronic Data processing and Systems departments to cater to its needs. They had around 80 systems units using a range of IBM mainframe computers and UNIX machines to process and ensure information is exchanged properly between all the business units. A large organization such as Nestle believes in decentralizing its purchasing, marketing and even production activities. They decentralize the above mentioned activities so as to suit the cultural needs, values, preferences of customers regionally. They focus at offering products depending on the preferences of the customers. This customization of products helps them in leveraging their market positions globally.Rationale for ERP in large multinational organizations such as Nestle: Areas of concern for Nestle in this case are the amount of expenditure it is incurring in purchase of raw material, damage of material in the ware house and supply chain problems. As they do not have a centralized electronic data processing unit it is unable to compare and analyzes prices paid in purchase of raw material from a single vendor. For any organization it can be a serious limitation in terms of information, time and money. In order to overcome this limitation Nestle decided to go for an ERP. Organizations before they decide to go for ERP packages do need to evaluate their organizational needs. Information technology for managers a book from ICMR in a chapter named as Enterprise resource planning suggests that "before initiating the process of ERP implementation, the management should identify the

Assessment to cover m5 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Assessment to cover m5 - Coursework Example The early microprocessors were usually 4-bits and were used in electronic calculators that used binary coded decimal. The microprocessor consists of three component units. The Arithmetic and logic unit is a digital circuit that performs all the arithmetic operations that include additions, multiplications, subtractions, and divisions, and logic operations which entail comparison operations using logic operators such as AND, OR. The control unit directs and controls the operation of other units by providing timing and control signals, it fetches and decodes machine instructions, and co-ordinates the input and output devices of a computer system. The registers act as cache memory for the microprocessor and provide the storage of data and instructions to be executed. The CPU is mounted on the motherboard (a printed circuit board that holds components of the system and provide connection to other peripheral devices) of the computer system, where other electronics are also mounted. ... The microprocessors are differentiated according to the instruction set executed, the number of bits processed in a single instruction, and the clock speed (instructions executed per second), given in megahertz (MHz). In both cases, the higher the value, the more powerful the CPU will be in terms of performance. 8-bit microprocessor An 8-bit microprocessor refers to a processor architecture that computes 8-bits as the data size. All the instructions executed by such a processor consist of 8-bits (binary digits). The arithmetic and logic unit, the internal buses, and the data processing registers are 8-bits. An 8-bit CPU can process 8 bits of data simultaneously, and its data bus consists of 8 lines to transfer data between the memory and other input/output devices. The Intel 8085 is an 8-bit microprocessor that consists of instruction sets such as data moving, arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), logic (AND, OR, XOR), control transfer (both conditional an d unconditional, call subroutine, return from subroutine), setting and clearing flag bits, interrupts, stack operations and input/output instructions. This processor consists of 8-bit ALU that performs arithmetic and logic operations, the control unit, seven 8-bit general purpose registers A,B,C,D,E,H, and L, which are paired to form BC, DE, and HL. Register A is referred to as the Accumulator and it stores one operand of arithmetic and logic operation, and the results of the arithmetic and logic operations. There are two special purpose registers which are 16-bit registers, namely, the stack pointer (SP, which points to the top of the stack where data can be retrieved),

Rising Costs of Higher Education Research Paper

Rising Costs of Higher Education - Research Paper Example The assistance has led to an increase in demand for higher education and the students have greatly enrolled for courses in the universities. The universities have taken an advantage of this and have increased the fees that students should pay for higher education with an argument that these students have money from these funds. Government funding to the institutions have also declined but the universities have not reduced their budgets. This means that the money will be extended to the students in terms of tuition and fees. Another issue is the lack of market discipline. Different departments in the institutions bloat their budgets so that they gain more power and get their work done. This has again led to the rise in the cost of higher education. Ineffective price competition among the institutions has also made a major contribution to the rise in the cost of higher education. Competition is also there where each institution wants the best lecturers and that means that they have to pay more. There are also government regulations that require the universities to pay some amounts of money to people like workers who construct buildings in the universities and pay some other fees in relation to research. This increases the costs of running the universities and eventually leads to increased fees on the part of the student. This paper will seek to analyze the different factors that have led to the rising costs of higher education. This research was done to identify the various factors that have led to the rising costs of higher education. In conducting the research, the following questions were put into consideration. What are the major causes of the rising costs on higher education What role do the universities play in the rising costs of higher education Does the government play any role in promoting the rise in the costs of higher education In answering these research questions, both primary and secondary sources have been chosen. One of the primary sources chosen is the book: Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs too Much by Richard K. Vedder. This book tries to discuss different aspects of the reasons as to why the costs of higher education have risen. Some of the ideas that have been discussed here are the issues of government and other third-party provider funding where fees have been increased because the students are getting some funding from the government and other third-party providers. Competition issues have also been discussed where institutions are competing with their peers in terms of development and the money needed for development is extended to student fees. Government regulations have also been identified as a factor that leads to the rise in the costs of higher education in that the government regulations require the school to pay some money in areas such as research, construction, etc. The other issue discussed is the lack of market discipline where departments and deans will bloat their budgets so that they have some power and resources required to do their job. The other source used is a print PDF: Books and Manuals Application Briefs that identifies the factors that affect the rising cost of higher education. Some of the factors identified include: declining government funding where the government does not fund the education of students in universities fully and also does not support all the students who join these institutions, fierce

Exceptionalism, Isolationism, and expansionism with reference to Essay

Exceptionalism, Isolationism, and expansionism with reference to videos and assigned readings - Essay Example An examination of a developed country’s foreign policy such as America is essential in determining the importance of an effective foreign policy. A critical analysis of the American foreign policy portrays an interconnection of exceptionalism, isolationism, and expansionism. A manifestation of this interconnection is clearly seen during the Mexican - American War. This is because the war arguably marks the first steps of America’s rise to a global power. The Mexican – American War revolved around territorial disputes between America and Mexico. This implies that the entire Mexican – American War can be considered to be based upon American expansionism. This is because America sought to expand its territories into Mexico in areas considered to have some significance. America claimed that the border was at Rio Grande while Mexico argued that the border was at Nueces River. A border at Rio Grande meant that Mexico would lose a significant portion of land to America. In 1945, President Polk sent American troops under the leadership of General Zachary Taylor to the Nueces River to take over the disputed land. Polk’s actions can be considered to have been facilitated by his position as provided by America’s foreign policy where the president is recognized as the commander in chief of the army and navy. America’s presence was met by opposition from the Mexican troops at a time that saw the death of 11 Ame rican soldiers and imprisonment of several more (The Mexican American War, 2006). However, this was followed by a series of other conflicts in Mexico in which the American troops occasionally emerged victorious and consequently the occupation of Mexico City by Americans. In addition to increased expansion interests to the South, America also had keen interest in expanding the Northern borders such as California. This period that saw increased concentration on expansion can be considered to have marked America’s first attempts of becoming a

Comparing and contrasting Silver Blaze and Finger Man Essay Example for Free

Comparing and contrasting Silver Blaze and Finger Man Essay When one thinks of detective fiction stories images of crime, murder, hero detective and villains enter a persons mind. These images have been constantly changing over years, but they are not very different from when detective stories first began in 1828. The birth of detective stories came about in 1828 with a novel called Memoires supposedly written by Vidocq a chief of Frances detective force known as Surete. In 1841 a number of short stories were composed and collected to form The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe but it was in 1892 when detective stories finally emerged and become known by the people. It was in 1892 when The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published in the Strand magazine that detective fiction had become a great success. The years of Sherlock Holmes stories are considered as the Golden Age of detective fiction, after this authors began to take different approaches towards detective fiction writing, the writing was most notoriously named Hard Boiled detective fiction. Both types of approaches varied in different ways with each other, the Golden Age era consisted of stories with closed settings and focused its characters in the middle and upper classes. In the Hard Boiled era the plot would be mentally just as challenging as a story from the Golden Age era, but would unfold and lead to violent twists and turns. In Hard-boiled stories the detective solves the mystery by creating more trouble and being tough but does not return society to order or vindicate the power of reason. It was this new Hard Boiled setting that Raymond Chandler set his stories, and created his hard boiled detective Philip Marlow. Philip Marlow was first introduced in 1921 through a magazine called The Black Mask, which contained his short stories.  Both Silver Blaze and Finger Man are fictional Detective stories, but differ in many different ways from language and dialogue to cultural changes shown between both stories. This is because the stories were written at two different times, Silver Blaze is a pre 20th century piece of text where as Finger Man was created within the 20th century. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle a British author created Silver Blaze which featured one of the most renowned detective characters, Sherlock Holmes. His fictional character became so famous and loved by the public they actually embraced his identity and grew to believe that Sherlock Holmes was a real person and lived at 221b Baker Street. Finger Man was created by an American author called Raymond Chandler and starred a private detective by the name of Philip Marlowe. This fictional character appealed to a wide audience and was in most of Raymond Chandlers stories, eventually Hollywood used these stories and the character Philip Marlowe to create motion pictures.  In Silver Blaze Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr Watson travel to Devon to uncover the kidnapping of a prize-winning horse. In this detective novel any clue will help towards the case and anybody having some relevance with the horse will be a suspect. In Silver Blaze the plot mainly revolves around a few individuals such as. Whereas in finger man the story includes many characters who each play some small yet important part within the story. In Finger Man we see a tale of false framing on the main character Philip Marlowe who is set up by gangsters. It starts happening when he takes a job for a friend, but his friend dies and Marlowe becomes the prime suspect. When I read both stories there were many differences in character between Sherlock Holmes and Philip Marlowe. Sherlock Holmes is a more thoughtful and clue based detective where as Philip Marlowe relies on tip-offs and violence to resolve a situation. Sherlock Holmes is a methodical detective and relies in his wits to solve a case whereas PM uses his instincts. Within Silver Blaze Sherlock Holmes has a partner called Watson, the story itself is narrated by Watson and told through his view. PM is a one-man army and doesnt depend on anybody for assistance unless in dire circumstances.  The change in text and dialogue is clearly shown once reading both stories. Pre 20th century text is very descriptive which is used as a feature of Holmes personality. In Finger Man the dialogue is very abrupt and direct, which also constructs an image of the stories setting and the characters persona.

The takeover of HBOS

The takeover of HBOS Introduction Mergers and acquisitions have become the most frequently used methods of growth for companies in the twenty first century. Nowadays the information about mergers and acquisitions (MA) can be seen every day in newspapers, internet, television MA can suddenly become a hot topic at anyones workplace because their company is going to merge with another. There are many sides to an MA transaction strategic, legal, financial, and technological to getting a deal done. One very important element to every deal is the human element, this should always be kept in mind. We are going to evaluate the challenges faced by the management of the new organisation in terms of Human Resource Management (HRM) with reference to the recent takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) by Lloyds TSB in September 2008. The evaluation will include the role of HRM in analyzing the Lloyds TSBs decision to make a takeover bid for HBOS, how this analysis related to Culture, Conflict and Change within the organisatio n and possible dilemmas facing Lloyds TSBs stakeholders. Background and purpose of the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB Background On 17 September 2008, very shortly after the demise of Lehman Brothers, HBOSs share price suffered wild fluctuations between 88p and 220p per share, which lost almost half its market value in the week, despite the Financial Services Authoritys assurances as to its liquidity and exposure to the wider credit crunch. However, on 18 September 2008 the terms of the recommended offer for HBOS by Lloyds TSB were announced. The two lenders also revealed plans to raise a combined  £17 billion under a government-funded recapitalisation programme aimed at strengthening the UK banking sectors capital reserves. The government backed the deal using a special national interest clause on the grounds that a collapse of HBOS would have had a disastrous impact on the UK. On 16 January 2009 the Lloyds TSB acquisition of HBOS was completed following final court approval and Lloyds TSB was renamed Lloyds Banking Group plc. Purpose of the takeover: The proposed acquisition of HBOS would combine two powerful financial institutions, and would be another significant and positive step on our journey to provide substantial benefits and value for customers and shareholders alike. Challenges faced by HRM in MA Organisational Behaviour Model Due to the resulting pressure for the MA to succeed, the management of the new organisation is forced to find new strategies as well as evaluate the additional challenges faced. To answer the question of how well the management performed during the integrating activity, it is useful to look at internal factors using the McKinsey 7-S framework. This framework was developed in the early 1980s by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman. The basic premise of the model is that there is a framework which maps a constellation of interrelated factors that influence an organisations ability to change. The McKinsey 7-S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either hard or soft elements: Hard elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: these are strategy statements; organisation charts and reporting lines; and formal processes and IT systems. Soft elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, they are less tangible and more specifically related to HRM. These soft elements are as important as the hard elements. A conservative estimate is that roughly 10% of people at work at any one time are directly affected by transformations of this sort. Moreover, another 30% are closely related to those experiencing combination-related tensions and trauma (Buono and Bowditch, 2003). These figures show how the critical challenges faced by management in every MA relate specifically to HRM. The company that effectively addresses people-related issues up front and throughout integration will have a better chance of succeeding and gaining the competitive advantage it seeks. The challenges faced by management in term of HRM in MA. The HRM issues in the MA can be classified in two phases; the pre-MA phase and the post MA phase. HRM should be involved from the beginning and throughout all stages of the MA process. Due diligence is important in the first phase while integration issues take the front seat in the later phase, including: Cultural clashes: Each organisation has a different set of beliefs and value systems. The exposure to a new culture during the MA leads to a psychological state called culture shock. Dissimilar cultures can produce feelings of hostility and significant discomfort which can lower the commitment and cooperation on the part of the employees, therefore post-merger cultural clashes are often blamed for disappointing MA outcomes. According to Anders Spilling and Jarle Hà ¸ien, managers in BearingPoints Business Strategy and Transformation pratice, there are five areas of cultural conflict: Leadership: every companys leadership style can seem unique. When post-MA senior leaders sitting at the same table motivate their staffs and resolve conflicts in diverse ways the resulting friction often creates additional risks. Examples of these risks could be a lack of commitment to new company goals or a high level of turnover among key employee groups. Governance: effective corporate governance requires much more than a system to protect stakeholder interests. It must encompass the way decisions are made in each part of the company and across organisations. One problem that usually arises is the debate over whether the new organisation should adopt one merger partners governance model or define a different model. Communication: Attitudes about confidentiality, preferences for formal versus informal channels and the frequency of communications may all come into play. By anticipating these risks well in advance, the acquiring companys leadership can develop communication tactics that best support the merger objectives. Business process: most companies have distinct ways of developing, updating and enforcing core business processes which must be understood and respected during the integration phase. If changes in core business processes are not deliberately and systemically thought through during the integration phase, organisations face the risk of internal breakdowns and failures in delivery of products and services to customers. Performance management and reward systems: new organisation should include efforts to harmonize performance standards and compensation systems where possible, while explaining important differences when necessary. Newly merged companies must help employees understand that their different recognition and reward systems are fair, even if not always uniform across the organisation. Because cultural change involves both hard and soft issues, HRM considerations will include visible manifestations such as key performance indicators, communication styles, employee interaction, as well as less tangible corporate values and assumptions about how a company does business, such as how leaders drive and assess results and new organisation governance model These findings have important implications for how organisations can anticipate post-merger cultural clashes and tailor leadership programs to address their underlying roots, ultimately enhancing merger success rates. Uncertainty job security: The MA leads to duplication of certain departments, bring about the excess manpower and downsizing is, unfortunately, an inherent result. Hence talking about MA, the first set of thoughts that occur in the minds of employees are related to security of their jobs, changes in designation, career path, working in new departments and fear of working with new teams. The MA also changes future opportunities for the employees in the organisation. Some employees also have to be relocated or assigned new jobs. This may have an impact on the performance of the employees and cause the organisation to lose some talent. The enormous challenges posed by an MA to the HRM are keeping all employees informed of all crucial decisions as well as enhancing effective two-way communication by involving line managers; ensuring an equitable and fair treatment of employees and in case of lay-offs, HRM should offer outplacement services and fair severance packages. All these efforts from HRM can help build trust, quell the rumour mill, relieve anxiety, focus people on the business and its possibilities and lessen productivity loss. Inability to manage changes: Often there are rapid changes in the business environment after MA. Internally HRM will manage a bigger work force, externally HRMs industrial relations will be extended The role of HRM is to quickly develop a HR plan to lead the process for helping the company to achieve the synergies it needs. The HRM must fully be prepared for the significant role they will play throughout the MA process. The issues faced by HR professionals when supporting the MA are extremely demanding they require the creation of a single unified organisation with a clear purpose and set of values from two groups of people with different cultures. HRM should continuously update their knowledge and skills in managing, controlling and monitoring the enlarged workforce, HRM need the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, acknowledge the problems when they arise, improving communications skills, create training programme, explain new roles to employees, implement stress reduction programmes and orientation pro grammes, help post merger team building and feedback helpline for employees. The issues faced by HR during MA deals are enormous, yet it is clear that the key to the success of an MA is the management of people. By identifying the common challenges and finding solutions which work for the new organisation. The value of HRM in the MA should be realised early enough to enhance the chances of a successful deal. Analysing Lloyds TSBs decision in making a takeover bid for HBOS. Issues related to Culture, Conflict and Change: The theory mentioned above regarding issues related to organisation development in term of culture, conflict and change applied very closely to the general challenges faced by the new Lloyds TSB organisation in the post-takeover period. Culture The basis of corporate culture is shared values. These values must be stated as both corporate objectives and individual values, explicit or implicit fundamental beliefs, concepts, and principles that underlie the culture of an organisation. Lloyds TSB and HBOS were two of the UKs leading financial services companies, they have some similarities in organisational structure. According to Charles Handy (1985), who popularized the work of Roger Harrison (1972), has linked organisational structure to organisational culture, both Lloyds TSB and HBOS have Role culture in where people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Power derives from a persons position and little scope exists for expert power. Lloyds TSB and HBOS rest on the strength of strong organisational pillars-the functions of specialists, for example, customer advisors, banking advisors, personal financial advisors On closer inspection, each of them will have its own unique culture, and like most large businesses are likely to be something of a mix of culture and even, each branch, or division has its own culture. From table 1- Soft elements by McKinsey 7-S framework in Lloyds TSB and HBOS, while Lloyds TSB creates an exciting place to work with a lively and fun atmosphere, they affirmed on their website that they have a work hard, play hard culture. HBOS seems to have a more formal working environment with very professional attitude in their approach to work, results-driven, always looking for more ways to move forward and over-achieve. About leadership style, Lloyds TSB built a feedback and coaching culture with regular appraisals twice annually based on Key Performance Indicator system with hierarchy structure. HBOS employed a non-hierarchical culture where everyone was treated equally, fairly. The communication system in Lloyds and HBOS followed these styles as well, hierarchy and non-hierarchy respectively. I dont think these differences in leadership style and communication system were sufficiently considered in the takeover decision. Governance model of Lloyds and HBOS were almost the same, the core purpose was to make it better for their staff, customers and to maximise shareholders value over time. Both groups were led by a board comprising executive and non-executive directorswith wide experience.The roles of the chairman,the group chief executiveandthe boardand its governance arrangements, including the schedule of matters specifically reserved to the board for decision, were reviewed annually. Lloyds and HBOS had very different ways of doing business. Lloyds was very conservative, largely a consumer bank. HBOS was aggressively following the high risk business model, HBOS transformed their traditional banking activities into global trading and speculative operations with little oversight and policing. Although the way of doing business is very important in choosing a strategy for the organisation, the unexpected result of HBOSs strategy and the dominance of Lloyds in the takeover meant that the new merger organisation did not take time to affirm which business model should be followed, therefore this aspect was not critical in the decision making of the takeover. The performance management and reward systems: The Lloyds performance approach includes objective setting using a balanced scorecard, Lloyds has regular performance reviews with competitive remuneration package. HBOS has results-driven rewards, always looking for more ways to move forward and increase achievements. The salary they received is only the beginning because for every role there was a tailor-made total rewards package which was based around three key areas: Performance, Flexibility and Choice. Furthermore, remuneration package for each role, contributory pension scheme, share-save and share-plan schemes, numbers of holidays. are hard to match between the two organisations. These differences of culture will involve much due diligence to identify implicit as well as explicit issues and will require time to build up a proper plan for HRM. The outcome of this plan has an integral role in the decision of the takeover. As the result of the takeover, the above differences in culture mean that the exposure to a new culture is unavoidable. The employees of both Lloyds and HBOS not only need to abandon their own culture, values and belief but also have to accept an entirely different culture. The takeover also leads to changes in organisational climate, the main source of organisation conflicts, which are summarized below Conflict Post-takeover integration demands significant involvement in all level of organizations, both Lloyds and HBOS, causing conflict at work from individual level to organisation level. Organisation cultural: there is no doubt that Lloydss culture is dominant and may lead to feelings of superiority among some of the employees. The employees of non-dominating culture, HBOS, may also get feelings of loss of identity associated with Lloyds. The dissimilarity in the cultures can produce the feelings of hostility and significant discomfort, for example HBOS may feel uncomfortable with the hierarchy of organisation structure and the communication system of Lloyds. In case of hostility in certain environment, some teams may develop us versus them attitude which may be detrimental to the organisational growth. Conflict in maintaining stability: The need for reform in organisation structures, redefinitions of assigned duties and responsibilities, adjusting the procedures and methods of work after the takeover, can result in conflict in maintaining stability. There should be a commitment to maintain employment in those parts of the UK in which either HBOS or Lloyds TSB currently have significant operations. This should be backed by a commitment to take all possible steps to avoid involuntary redundancies in order to avoid the potentially devastating impact on local communities and economies of large site closures. Conflict in investment in resources: both Lloyds and HBOS have their own large resources that may already be committed to investments in other areas or strategies before the takeover. As this takeover had a short notice period, assets such as branch offices, CRM software, equipment and people which have just been invested cannot easily be altered, thence conflicts arise. Which invested categories should be dropped? In fact, HBOS had in-house call centre operations, while Lloyds had a policy to outsource or off-shore its call centre. Each call centre model has its own advantages and disadvantages, what operation model should be maintained? In the short term, HBOS calls for Lloyds TSB to review all existing and planned outsourcing or off-shoring of operations to maximise employment opportunities in the UK for current employees. Conflict with past contracts or agreements: Both Lloyds and HBOS entered into contracts or agreements with other parties, such as government, trade unions, suppliers, customers and their own employees. These contracts and agreements can conflict with the changes cause by the takeover. For example, there should be a statement from Lloyds TSB committing that HBOS employees pay, pension provisions, employment benefits will be protected. Also, there should be a commitment that if there are new terms and conditions of employment for HBOS and Lloyds TSB staff, those should be no less favourable than the terms and conditions applying before the acquisition. Conflict in power or influence: Another practical problem is differences in the grading or organisational structures. The organisational structures used have different designations for the employees. During the integration Lloyds need to develop a mechanism to remove the differences in the grading systems, bring them to equal levels between Lloyds and HBOS, introducing standard levels of control over decisions, resources or information. Lloyds TSB should make a commitment to dignity at work for all employees and commit to the highest standards in relation to equality, diversity, equal pay and future career development opportunities post-takeover. The reaction of the employees in conflicts can vary from anger to dejection and depression. There can also be a fall in the morale, commitment and loyalty which can lead to impaired performance. Identifying the conflicts in advance will help Lloyds TSB management decide on the takeover. I think Lloyds TSB management was confident enough in their ability to control the above defined conflicts and believed that they would get more chances of success in the changes below: Change: In the decision of the takeover bid for HBOS, Lloyds TSB management board had targeted the opportunity to change for a stronger Lloyds Banking Group. As a common reaction, every change in the enlarged Lloyds TSB is resisted at both the individual and the organisational level. According to Alvin Toffler (1970), people are naturally wary of change and suspicion is out of control. Besides the changes in strategic, legal, financial and technology, the changes in HRM should be carefully designed and proceed with gradual pace. As part of the decision regarding the takeover, Lloyds TSB had considered the strategy to overcome the individual resistance and organizational resistance. Monday 19 January is Day one, the two brands still remain separate. A spokesperson for Lloyds TSB said: It is business as usual. This statement helps to maintain the secure feelings in customers, shareholders and employees. From the early stage of the takeover, Lloyds TSB had set up a guiding team to provide change leadership and handle every steps of the change process. They have created a website to update on a regular basis to shareholders, employees and customers on the proposed acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB and to give them information about the Lloyds Banking Group in this rapidly changing environment.Divisional changes will be communicated via line management and divisional intranet sites. HBOS partner unions, Accord and Unite, will continue to play an important role as before in the new business. There will be no major changes for the vast majority of HBOS employees. The existing HR policies and procedures remain in place. The 2009 pay review will be in May as usual. There will be little immediate change to Total Reward. The current pension arrangements will continue for all employees. Initially, there will be no change to the HBOS performance management approach. Employees will be introduced to the Lloyds Banking Group performance approach during 2009. Lloyds TSB was aware of the default response of resistance during the change of the takeover decision. Therefore they had suitable response to manage the sustaining of a healthy climate in order to gain a commitment to change in the whole organisation. Dilemmas facing Lloyds TSBs stakeholders Lloyds TSB and HBOS had, on a number of occasions over the years since 2000, discussed the possibility of a merger. It was only the unique circumstances of September 2008 that enabled this transaction to happen with the nature of the Governments involvement in the banking sector. In particular, the purpose of Governments interventions that is to stabilise the banking system, provide liquidity and to encourage more lending. Following the collapse of Lehmans, closely followed by the nationalisation of the worlds biggest insurance company AIG and the spreading of the world recession meant that the Government needed to take swift and decisive action by taking the extraordinary step of waiving competitions concerns to get the deal done. Lloyds TSB management board was very aware of the compelling logic of this transaction, including the substantial market positions they would secure and the significant and substantial synergies, the opportunities for growth which a stand-alone Lloyds TSB might not have been in a position to deliver to the same degree. Furthermore, the opportunity to acquire HBOS only came about in the middle of economic adversity and in conditions which are unlikely to be repeated. Besides the support from Government and the opportunity for growth, Lloyds TSB management board was very mindful of the difficult economic backdrop to this transaction with the prospect of further declines to come. However, Lloyds TSB purchased  £17.9 billion of HBOS net asset value for  £7.7 billion so, they were very much convinced that this was the right transaction for Lloyds TSB. The short-term outlook was indeed difficult and problems with the finances of HBOS will not disappear overnight. However, the earnings potential of Lloyds Banking Group will be significantly improved in the longer term. Lloyds TSB directors also understood that after the takeover, to reduce the systemic risk in the UK banking system, the recapitalization scheme has already cost Lloyds its 240-year-old independence. The UK Government, as part of the capital raising process, has now become a 43.4 per cent shareholder in the group. As part of Her Majestys Treasury (HMT) recapitalisation scheme, the Group was required to suspend the payment of cash dividends to ordinary shareholders until the HMT preference shares issued as part of the scheme are repaid. This is considered as a noticeable contribution from Lloyds TSB shareholders in their favourable voting for the takeover. One big concern to the Lloyds TSB employees and unions is the redundancy issue during the global financial recession. Although Lloyds TSB and the government dismissed reports of redundancies involving one third of the workforce and pledged to continue using HBOS headquarters in Scotland, the union leaders believe the job cuts will be about 15,000 in one year out of a 140,000 workforce. This brings concern to the employees about the serious plan which is designed to protect the members jobs and terms conditions of employment. The governments dilemma is how to stabilise the banking system and maintain an equitable business environment. The management boards dilemma is how to continue growing and manage the burden of the ailing HBOS, between short term and long term outlook. The shareholders dilemma is the potential of future substantial share value versus waiving current dividends or the workforce redundancies. In the context of the economic downturn in autumn 2008, Lloyds TSB had to consider the weighting between the benefits and adversities of the takeover, it was really the hard dilemma facing Lloyds TSBs stakeholder in making the decision of the takeover. Conclusion: 2008 was a very difficult and challenging year for the banking industry, the deteriorated market conditions have continued into 2009, both in the UK and overseas, a prolonged period of economic difficulty for many households and companies. The UK Government had to intervene in the banking system by providing capital and liquidity where the markets had failed. At times of great economic and financial uncertainty, many apparently settled ideas come under great scrutiny. When Lloyds TSB announced it was acquiring HBOS plc; and now about a year since the transaction was completed (16 January 2009), the deal is still receiving ceaseless criticism. Critics should consider what would have happened to the UK banking industry and the UK economic situation if the takeover had not taken place? If HBOS had failed, how many HBOS branches would have closed? How many employees would have lost their job? How many bank accounts of customers would have been affected? As a bank with a strong focus on customer relationships, Lloyds TSB is committed to helping its customers wherever possible to manage their way through these challenging times. Without doubt, the Lloyds Banking Group have spent great deal of time to overcome the challenges faced and fulfilled all necessary obligations to society. Here, never forget to mention about the crucial role of Human Resource Management during the pre-takeover and post-takeover. With only a short period of time for preparation, Lloyds TSB Human Resource Management have tried their utmost to create new HR practices and strategies that meet the requirements of the takeover. Employment law challenges, culture clashes, talent retention, employee engagement, recognition and conciliation conflicts, the HRM of Lloyds TSB has harmonised all activities in all phases leading to the creation of a unified organisation with a mission, vision, a clear purpose and values from two culturally different groups. Although there a re some shortcomings due to subjective and objective factors, the job that Lloyds TSB Human Resource Management is doing for employees and company is very valuable and highly valued, and it managed not to cause a big disturbance in the UK labour market. Finally, the decision by Lloyds TSB to takeover HBOS appears to have been the right transaction for the company. The support from government was definitely necessary and the favourable vote from both Lloyds TSB and HBOS shareholders showed that they believed this to be the best solution to the problems of both banks. The short-term outlook for the enlarged Group is challenging. Whenever economic conditions do begin to normalise, however, we believe Lloyds TSB will be in a very strong position to reap the benefits. Their strong franchise across the whole range of product lines will enable them to do just that. One of the most important ways in which leading businesses differentiate themselves from their peers is through the quality of their people and their strong commitment and Lloyds Banking Group believes that they have the qualities and the right people to ensure the bright future. APPENDIX 1: Background of Lloyds TSB and HBOS Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a UK-based financial services group, which employed about 70,000 people. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810, creating Britains largest retail bank, over all, Lloyds-TSB would be the fourth-largest bank on the stock exchange in terms of assets. Lloyds provides a wide range of banking and financial services to personal and corporate customers. Its main business activities are retail, commercial and corporate banking, general and life insurance, pensions and investment provision. Its services are offered through a number of brands, including Lloyds TSB, Cheltenham Gloucester and Scottish Widows. Its UK turnover in 2007 was  £18 billion. HBOS is a financial services group, which employed about 72,000 people in the U.K., was created in 2001 in the 9.7 billion-pound merger of Yorkshire-based mortgage lender Halifax Plc and Edinburgh-based the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland. It is the UKs largest mortgage lender. HBOS provides a range of banking, insurance, financial services and finance-related activities in the UK and abroad. Its UK turnover in 2007 was  £4.25 billion. The deal of takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB was concluded on 16 January 2009. The three main conditions for the acquisition were: Three Quarters of HBOS shareholders voted in agreement with the boards actions; Half Of Lloyds TSB shareholder voted to approve the takeover; UK government dispensation with respect to competition law. On 19 November 2008, Lloyds TSB shareholders voted 95.98% in favour of the takeover. They also approved plans to raise  £5.5bn by issuing new shares and special preference shares. On 12 December 2008, the takeover was approved by HBOS shareholders. A group of Scottish businessmen challenged the right of the UK government to approve the deal by overruling UK competition law, but this was rejected. The government has allowed the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB to bypass normal competition rules. The exchange of HBOS shares for Lloyds Banking Group shares took place at an exchange ratio of 0.605 of a new Lloyds Banking Group share for every one HBOS share held. As a result, the UK Government through Her Majestys Treasury owned approximately 43.4% of the enlarged ordinary share capital of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds Banking Group is now the largest financial services franchise in the UK with a range of leading market positions in important product lines, such as savings, current accounts, mortgages, insurance and long-term savings. They are also a leading player in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and wholesale banking sectors. The Group clearly has a very significant retail banking footprint and, with approximately 3,000 branches, is present in more UK locations than any other financial institution. Lloyds TSB Chief Executive Officer Eric Daniels will be Chief Executive of the enlarged company, and the banks Victor Blank will be Chairman. References Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th edn. London: Prentice Hall Buono, A.F. and Bowditch,

Alcoholics Anonymous Essay example -- essays research papers

The phrase â€Å"early A.A.† refers to the early fellowships and meetings held in Akron, Ohio. These meetings took place between 1935 and 1939 when Alcoholics Anonymous was an integral part of â€Å"A First Century Christian Fellowship† (Pitman 56). A.A. was the outcome of a meeting between Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., an Akron surgeon. Both had been hopeless alcoholics (Fingarette 14).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before this time, Bill and Dr. Bob had each been in contact with the Oxford Group, a mostly nonalcoholic fellowship that emphasized universal spiritual values in daily living(Fingarette 15). During this period, the noted episcopal clergyman, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker, headed the group. Under this spiritual influence, and with the help of an old time friend, Ebby T., Bill had gotten sober and had then maintained his recovery by working with other alcoholics, though none of there had actually recovered (Wekesser 23) . Meanwhile, Dr. Bob’s Oxford Group membership at Akron had not helped him enough to achieve sobriety. When the doctor met Bill, he found himself face to face with a fellow sufferer who had made good (Pitman 62). Bill emphasized that alcoholism was a malady of mind, emotions and body. Though a physician, Dr. Bob had not known alcoholism to be a disease. Due to Bill’s convincing ideas, he soon got sober, never to drink again. The founding spark o f A.A. had been struck (Wekesser 26).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both men immediately set to work with alcoholics at Akron’s City Hospital, where one patient quickly achieved complete sobriety (Pitman 69). In the fall of 1935, a second group of alcoholics slowly took shape in New York. A third appeared at Cleveland in 1939. It had taken over four years to produce 100 sober alcoholics in the three founding groups. That same year, the Fellowship published it’s basic textbook, Alcoholics Anonymous. The text, written by Bill, explained A.A.’s philosophy and methods, the core of which was the now well-known Twelve Steps to Recovery (Pitman 75 & 76). The book was reinforced by case histories of around thirty recovered members. From this point on, A.A’s development was rapidly growing (Wekesser 36).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One milestone in A.A’s history was in 1939. The Cleveland Plain Dealer carried a series of articles about A.A. supported by warm editorials. The Cleveland Group,... ...d without its host of well wishers who have since given their time and effort A.A. could never have grown and prospered. The Fellowship records its constant gratitude (Fingarette 72).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was on January 24, 1971, that Bill, a victim of pneumonia, died in Miami Beach, Florida, where he had delivered at the 35th Anniversary International Convention what proved to be his last words to fellow A.A.s: â€Å"God bless you and Alcoholics Anonymous forever† (Pitman 120). Since then, A.A. has become truly global. This has revealed that A.A.’s way of life can today transcend most barriers of race, creed and language (Wekesser 87). A World Service Meeting, started in 1969, has been held biennially since 1972. Its locations alternate between New York and overseas. It has met in London, England; Helsinki, Finland; San Juan del Rio, Mexico; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Munich, Germany and Cartagena, Colombia. These meetings and their locations have gone to show the global impact A.A. has achieved. The Akron A.A. team of Dr. Bob, Bill, and Anne has never been equaled in personal, spiritual recovery outreach. It was truly the heart of A.A.’s s piritual beginnings (Pitman 124).

African American Social Standings Essay -- Slavery Afircan Americans E

This research paper will discuss the African American social standing in America throughout history. It will discuss the highs and lows and the pros and cons of the progression and also the different periods that African Americans lived through since they were brought to America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The progression of African Americans in America began with a practice called slavery. Slavery is the state of a person who is the chattel of another. It began in 1441 when Portuguese men kidnapped 12 black Africans from Cabo Blanco and moved them to Portugal. This opened the door to slavery in the Americas. A British statesman stated that 'Slavery is a weed that grows on every soil.' The first African Americans slaves in America were brought to Jamestown, Virginia as servants and or slaves in August 1619. In order for slavery to work Africans had to made to seem inferior, one of the main an most common ways to show this was through religious racism ( Aretha, David pg. 21 ) The practice of slavery was then sent to the south were they were put on plantations. Plantations consisted of a large mansion like home surrounded by a large farm where slaves planted and harvested crops and performed other jobs which they weren?t paid for. While on the plantation the slaves ca lled the owner Master or Mistress, they provided the slaves with food housing and clothing.( David Brion Davis, World Book online... Slavery) While on these plantations many of the slaves faced severe consequence for disobedience. They received consequences for not working hard or fast enough, they would also be used as an example in order to control the others. Their harsh punishment would include branding, whipping, mutilation, chaining and sometimes the harshest punishment of all cold blooded murder. Slavery was one of the worst periods in American history. During this period of slavery there were few revolts but many runaways. While slavery continued to spread and get more brutal in the South, the North disagreed with the idea of free labor. Their difference fueled the abolitionist movement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Abolitionist Movement was the first movement that lead to the African Americans? political and physical freedoms from slavery. ?Antislavery activity began in colonial days. During the 1680's, Quakers in Pennsylvania condemned slavery on moral grounds. In the late 1700's, several leaders of the American revolut... ...han the Non Violent Movement. Front runners like Malcolm X and other influential faces such as Huey P. Newton and Bud Siegel who together formed the Black Panthers all believed that the white man was the problem and that in order to win equal rights that African Americans needed to start fighting fire with fire and bullets with bullets instead of the more passive ways of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. ( Aretha, Chronicles pr. 261-300)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion I believe that the law has provided African Americans with equal rights as whites but I believe that they may still appear not to be equal. In the 21st century I belive and know that there are many laws that seem to make African Americans and white equals but there is still much discrimination in the world. I also believe that the racism is not as bad but still exist, it just isn?t as blatant and in your face as it was in the past. African Americans still have trouble getting jobs, being accepted into organizations and colleges or university, But I do believe that we have made a 900 degree turn from the time where ?Colored? and ?White? signs decorated the front of every doorway, restroom and waterfountian in the southern U.S

Foreshadowing In A Tale Of Two :: essays research papers

Foreshadowing is a technique that prepares a reader for an event that is soon to come. An author that uses foreshadowing is Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens writes many famous novels. A famous novel of his is A Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel that reveals many future events through the use of foreshadowing. The French Revolution is the main event described by the use of foreshadowing. Dickens uses the phrase à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“one tall joker so besmirched . . . scrawl[s] upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy-lees à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" BLOODà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? to forecast the spilt wine as future blood shed during the French Revolution (37-38). Dickens also subtly states à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the one woman [Madame Defarge] who [stands] conspicuous, knitting, still knit[s] on with the steadfastness of Fateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and he is foreshadowing the French Revolution by comparing Madame Defarge to Fate (117). Both Madame Defarge and Fate mark people who are destined to die which leads further into the French Revolution. Lastly, Dickens presents the statement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“they their very selves [are] closing in around a structure yet unbuilt, where they [are] to sit knitting, knitting, counting dropping headsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? to show that in the future, Madame Defarge and her women knit while counting the he ads being severed by La Guillotine (187). Another instance of foreshadowing is the revenge of the poor people against the aristocrats. When Dickens writes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“there [is] a flutter in the air that fan[s] Saint Antoine and his devouring hunger far awayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? he is referring to the poor people in Saint Antoine such as the Defarges and their death craving towards the aristocrats (113). The poor that crave the aristocratsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ deaths have such a strong aura that they are a part of a living Saint Antoine, and for a moment, their death craving is delayed until a later time. Dickens also states in this novel à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the knife [strikes] home, the faces [change], from faces of pride to faces of anger and pain; also that when that dangling figure [is] hauled . . . they [change] again, and [bear] a cruel look of being avengedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which shows the poor switching from their pride to revenge against the aristocrats and the aristocracy (177). Madame Defarge makes the statement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“[ v]engeance and retribution require a long timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? to her husband during his time of impatience to seek revenge against the aristocrats, and it implies that Monsieur Defargeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s revenge happens later in the future (179).

Flight 587 Crash Investigation

This paper examines the disaster of American Airlines flight 587 on November 12, 2001 in New York City. At least 265 people died in this tragedy making its one of the major disasters in modern aviation history. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, there were great fears that this could be another outcome of a terrorist attack on the U. S soil. Official investigations, however, quickly ruled out any terrorist involvement. Findings indicated that the weak wake turbulence caused by an airplane that took off slightly before flight 587 initiated an unfortunate chain of events that resulted in the catastrophe.The final report of the NTSB held the faulty rudder control system design of Airbus A300-600, and the inadequate pilot training program of American Airlines to be chiefly responsible. In addition, the allegedly quirky response behavior of the first officer at the controls of the airplane is considered a critical factor. However, many people, common men and experts alike, are no t convinced of the validity of the NTSB investigations. Introduction On the morning of November 12, 2001, Tom Lynch, a retired firefighter, is on Rockaway Beach Boulevard taking his regular morning exercise march.He watches an airplane complete a banked turn and start towards the ocean. Then, all of a sudden, he sees a small explosion in the fuselage behind the wing. Two more seconds elapse and suddenly there is a second explosion, engulfing most of the plane in flames. It was the American Airlines Flight 587. Two months after 9/11 – this Airbus 300-600 left John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Santa Domingo, the Dominican Republic. Less than three minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed in a blazing inferno in the heart of the neighborhood of Bell Harbor, Queens. All 251 passengers along with 9 crew members perished.Most remarkably, only five people died on the ground. 44 fire trucks and 200 firefighters were rushed to the scene. Soon, the disaster of AA Fli ght 587 would be found not to be due to terrorism, but to mechanical failure. However, in the stark post 9/11 environment of the day, it was difficult for many people to believe that planes could still fall from the sky for reasons unrelated to terrorism. Feelings and fears were especially strong and these were exacerbated this fresh tragic event. As the author S. D. Manning (2003) put it, â€Å"This crash jarred a city (and a nation) still scarred and numb from the agony it has already endured†The Investigation Tonight, American holds its collective breath, Prays this nightmare is due to mechanical failure, Not premeditated design. The sheer irony would shame Kafka – It's not the disaster itself but its cause That bothers us, enslaves us to out TV's; We pray that it’s something man-made, not man. – L. D. Brodsky. (2002). As the aircraft climbed from John F. Kennedy airport, some people on the ground saw an explosion and fire on the underneath side of the aircraft, which was quickly followed by parts falling off the aircraft, including the vertical stabilizer and rudder.During the aircraft's fall, engines came away from the wings. Falling separately, one engine landed on Beach 129th Street the other engine on Beach 126th. The plane then plunged to the ground on the narrow strip of land known as Rockaway, in Belle Harbor at Queens. The plane's tail broke off and fell into Jamaica Bay, more than a mile from the primary crash site. Although a few stray remnants landed here and there, the fuselage and wings pounded into the home on the corner of Beach 131st Street and Newport Avenue. The plane's impact, subsequent explosions, and fire destroyed other homes.The rudder and the tail fin were found first along the flight path, followed by the engines and then the main wreckage. According to the NTSB, the tail fin and rudder of the plane sheared off as it accelerated. The aircraft began a climbing turn over Jamaica Bay when it encountered tu rbulence caused by the wake vortices generated by a Japan Airlines 747 that had taken off just one minute forty-five seconds earlier. Records from the flight data recorder later recovered from the crash site showed that the turbulence had cause movements of flight 587's rudder, part of which, together with the vertical tail fin, became detached from the aircraft.Control of the aircraft was lost and it fell from the sky. This was the second deadliest crash in US history, but it also, â€Å"was the first example where we had an in-flight failure of a major structural component of an aircraft that in fact was made of composite materials,† as NTSB Chairwoman Marion Blakley would assert later. From the outset, the investigation into the loss of the American Airlines aircraft was conducted on the premise that it was an accident. There seemed to be no immediate indication it was anything else, except for the numerous eyewitness accounts of fire and explosion just before the aircraft plummeted.Officials were keen to reiterate that there was nothing to suggest any foul play had been involved in the loss of the aircraft. Coming so soon after the September 11th outrages, another terrorist assault in America would have been untenable and morally damaging. The President had declared war on terrorism. Congress had been actively involved in developing new legislation to contain the threat that al-Qaeda posed to civil aviation operations. The possibility of a terrorist strike seemed a little farfetched in the state of intensely heightened vigilance that the air transportation industry was in during the aftermath of 9/11.Even if there was foul play involved, it could have been more of a sabotage than the explosion of a bomb. Though terrorism was suspected by everyone, it could not be substantiated. The main difficulty of associating the loss of AA587 with terrorism was the manner of its destruction. If the tail assembly did lie at the root of the problem, then sabotage when the aircraft was on the ground appeared a more likely scenario than a suitcase bomb or a suicidal passenger detonating a device on board the plane. Accident scenarios had to be explored first.Marion Blakley said in an interview on CNN Newsnight on the day of the crash: One of the things that we're very committed to doing is to have a full investigation from a system standpoint, mechanical standpoint, looking at the history of this flight, the crew, the human factors that may have been involved. Immediately following the loss of flight 587, a 40-strong NTSB Go Team under the Investigator-in-Charge Robert Benzon was sent to the site of the crash (NTSB News, 2001). As was the norm, their work was supported by other agencies and companies considered appropriate by the board.The NTSB used the American Airlines facility at Tulsa for a detailed examination of the aircraft engines. No evidence was found of a fire, bird strike, or other pre-impact malfunction. The auxiliary power unit ( used to power the aircraft when it is on the ground) was sent to Honeywell, its manufacturer. Nothing wrong was found with the unit. The tail fin and rudder assemblies underwent visual inspection in New York before being sent to the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.Extensive preliminary tests at Langley sought to identify whether the vertical stabilizer and rudder had had any damage or faults before the accident. None were found. Although the flight data recorder indicated significant rudder movement before the crash, there was nothing to show why this had happened (NTSB News 2002). That both engines separated from the wings as the aircraft fell from a comparatively low height posed another question: Could the engines have been sabotaged, if not by an explosive device, then by some other means so far undetected by the NTSB investigators?â€Å"Investigators suspect a catastrophic engine event as the likely cause of an airline crash Monday in New York,† went CN N. com’s headline on the very day of the accident. However, the primary focus of the investigation eventually shifted to the rudder system. The NTSB team flew to France to work with experts from Airbus Industrie, the aircraft's manufacturer, at their headquarters in Toulouse. The purpose of this visit was to study at firsthand the mechanism of the rudder system and to simulate the pattern of the aerodynamic loads that may have affected the vertical stabilizer during the failure of flight 587.If the investigators could not identify a possible mechanical or structural reason for the accident, they would have been left considering the impossible. Even though they may not have found any terrorist involvement in the loss of AA flight 587, in the absence any other demonstrable reason for the crash, terrorism would be back in focus. Flight History Flight 587 was an Airbus A300-600, Registration Number N14053. It took off from JFK International Airport at 9:14:29 A. M. on November 12 , 2001 in clear weather conditions. At 0915:44.7, the captain Edward States asked, â€Å"little wake turbulence, huh? † to which the first Officer, Sten Molin, replied, at 0915:45. 6, â€Å"yeah. † At 9:15:51, when the plane was 2,000 feet and was over Jamaica Bay, the first officer initiated a series of emergency control inputs and called for the emergency â€Å"escape† maneuver. During the wake turbulence encounter, the airplane’s pitch angle increased from 9? to 11. 5? , decreased to about 10? , and increased again to 11?. At 9:16:01. 9, F. O. Molin was heard on ATC uttering â€Å"losing control.†The airplane crashed 13 seconds later, it was airborne for less than 106 seconds. At 0915:58. 5, the CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) recorded the sound of a loud bang. At that time, the airplane was traveling at an airspeed of about 251 knots. â€Å"Hang onto it, Hang onto it,† were the last words of the Captain Edward States, as recorded on the CVR The Crew Background The captain was 42 years of age and the first officer 34. They were hired by American Airlines in July 1985, and March 1991 respectively. The captain had 1,922 hours total flyingtime in military and general aviation before his employment with American Airlines, and 8,050 hours total flying time thereafter which included 3,448 hours as pilot-in-command and 1,723 hours as a pilot-in-command for A300 specifically. His last proficiency check took place on June 21, 2001; and his last pilot-in-command line check occurred on July 31, 2001. He consumed alcohol sparingly and never during a time around his work schedule. According to a colleague, he was an extremely good pilot, very relaxed and competent.The first officer had 3,220 hours total flying time in commercial and general aviation before his employment with American Airlines, and 4,403 hours total flying time, which included 1,835 hours as second-in-command for A300 specifically. Both the captain and the first of ficer had no FAA records that indicated any incident history or enforcement action. One pilot who worked with the first officer, however, described him as being â€Å"very aggressive† on the rudder pedals after a wake turbulence encounter. Except for that, his overall skills were described as excellent, and â€Å"well above the norm. †The 5M ConceptThe 5M concept is a risk assessment tool used to graphically illustrate how the dynamic interaction of the man, the machine and the media (that is, environment) converge to produce either a successful mission or if unsuccessful, a mishap. Man-category encompasses aircrew members, their training, selection, proficiency, habit patterns, performance, and personal factors. Factors under â€Å"performance† heading include awareness, perceptions, saturation, distraction, channelized attention, stress, confidence, adaptive skills, and fatigue (physical, motivational, sleep deprivation, circadian rhythm, klutz).â€Å"Persona l factors† include job satisfaction, values, families/friends, command/control, discipline (internal and external), and communication skills. The Machine-category encompasses the various design, maintenance, logistics, and other technical data related to the aircraft. The Media is the environment in which aircrew fly and includes factors and forces that are related to climactic, operational, hygienic conditions. The fourth category is the management. Management regulates standards, procedures, and controls.The interaction between the 4M’s Man, Media, Machine, and Management determine the desired outcome, or the Mission. When outcome fails to meet anticipated goals, these 5 M’s must be thoroughly reassessed (Civil Air Patrol). The Shell Model The factors that affect the outcome of each flight can be assessed under the SHELL Model: Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware (outer ring) and Liveware (inner ring). Software is what makes the system work, and includes guidelines, regulations, operation specifications, and company policy and procedures.Hardware is the physical equipment that is necessary for a flight to operate. The category â€Å"Environment† relates to the broad external context that can affect the flight or the pilot, and includes factors such as weather, g-forces, and ambient light. Liveware represents the human factors. The outer ring includes air traffic controllers, flight service briefers, dispatchers, other crewmembers, pilots of other aircraft, flight attendants.The inner ring is the most important part of the SHELL model and includes various variables affecting the competence and performance of the pilots (Shields 2002). The NTSB Findings The NTSB officials very early on in the investigation suggested the cause of the crash might be due to wake turbulence from an aircraft that departed earlier. However, many experts doubted that the light turbulence from such an encounter would register on the scale of the type o f extreme turbulence that aircraft undergo from atmospheric disturbances such as in the vicinity of thunderstorms.Commercial jets are built to withstand forces up to 2. 5 G-forces, while the turbulence that hit the plane was one tenth of a G-force — barely strong enough to be even noticed (Dyer 2002). The Board then suggested that the composite vertical stabilizer may be faulty. However, this does not address the numerous reports of reliable witnesses, such as policemen and firemen, concerning fire and explosions coming from the aircraft before the vertical stabilizer ripped from the aircraft.Finally, after three years of investigations, National Transportation and Safety Board stood by its wake turbulence hypothesis. However, it was only a triggering event. The report, under the heading â€Å"Probable Cause† placed most of the blame on the first office for his â€Å"unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs. † It goes on to say, â€Å"Contributing to these rudder pedal inputs were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program† (NTSB 2004).The NTSB's conclusion was that the cause of the crash was the tail separating from the fuselage, which happened as a result of pilot placing loads on the tail that exceeded its ultimate limit – which in turn was an outcome of pilot’s rudder movements. He put excessive pressure on the rudder pedal in response to the wake turbulence caused by the JAL flight that preceded them. But why did the pilot move the rudder pedals as aggressively as he did? This became an issue of great controversy.The NTSB report dwells on the previously observed tendency of the first officer to place inappropriate pedal inputs, which in tandem with two other reasons, the deficient pilot training system and the defective Airbus rudder control system, resulted in a colossal disaster: The Safety Board’s investigat ion determined that three main factors influenced the first officer’s rudder use during the accident sequence: a tendency to react aggressively to wake turbulence, as evidenced by his responses to previous wake turbulence encounters; his pilot training, including the training he received at American Airlines regarding wake turbulence, upset recovery, and rudder pedal use; and the characteristics of the A300-600 rudder control system. (NTSB 2004)These findings resulted in a mammoth row between Airbus and American Airlines is –– with Airbus contending that the first officer’s inappropriate response caused because of his improper training by American Airlines, and the American Airlines contending the Airbus’ rudder pedal system unusually sensitive.The NTSB RecommendationsThe NTSB report discusses several safety issues relevant to the Flight 587 disaster, focusing on characteristics of the A300-600 rudder control system design, A300-600 rudder pedal in puts at high airspeeds, aircraft-pilot coupling, flight operations at or below an airplane’s design maneuvering speed, and upset recovery training programs. Airbus Industrie and American Airlines have acted upon industry-wide amendments to ensure safety of operation of aircraft.American Airlines continue to operate the Airbus A300, Airbus are confident of the structural and functional integrity of their plane – although many AA pilots and those of other airlines sought transfer to supposedly much more stable Boeing airplanes in the wake of the disaster. Conclusion New Yorkers may be resilient, But they have their breaking points, And they must be getting close to them. Like all of us, they want to believe That something like a shorting wire, Exploding fuel tank, or malfunctioning turbofan Is the reason at least 265 perished in Queens. – L. D. Brodsky. (2002).The biggest unresolved issue in this entire tragic episode of Flight 587 crash were the flames and the ex plosions noted by over 50% of over 400 witnesses. In its report, the NTSB attributes them to either an â€Å"initial release of fuel† or the â€Å"effects of engine compressor surges. † Both of them could have been caused due to out-of-control motion during the airplane's precipitous descent. However, one must remember that the airplane had just took over and was not at a great height, and most importantly that the witnesses observed the fire before anything else happened.In effect, the fire could not have been set off during the descent and as a result of the descent. Most of the witnesses are unequivocal about it and stand vehemently by their testimony to this day. Many quarters have felt that the NTSB prematurely declared the crash to be an accident and hastily concluded that the tail separation was the initiating event without adequate analysis of all the evidence, and especially without giving proper credence to witness testimony – and later went on to bols ter its convenient preconceived notions.Today, claims of NTSB cover-up and conspiracy theories pointing to terrorist involvement abound around this subject – making the tragedy of flight 587 a lingering mystery.References:Brodsky, L. D. (2002). Shadow War: A Poetic Chronicle of September 11 and Beyond, Volume Two. St. Louis, Missouri : Time Being Books Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol Guide to Operational Risk Management. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from www. orwg. cap. gov/Safety/CAPguidetoORM. pdf Dyer, N. (2002). The Mystery of Flight 587?What Caused the Crash of Flight 587? Science World. Feb 25 2002. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_10_58/ai_83667600Manning, S. D. (2004). American Dream, A Search for Justice. New York : A&M Publishing NTSB News (2001).American Airlines Flight 587. National Transportation and Safety Board. 12 November 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. ntsb. gov/events/2001/AA587/default. htm   NTS B News. (2002).Fourth Update on NTSB Investigation into Crash of American Airlines Flight 587. National Transportation and Safety Board. January 15, 2002. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. ntsb. gov/Pressrel/2002/020115. htm NTSB. (2004).Aircraft Accident Report. National Transportation and Safety Board. October 26, 2004. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. ntsb. gov/publictn/2004/AAR0404. pdf Shields. J. (2002).SHELL Model. Josh's Little Aviation Place on the Web. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://people. aero. und. edu/~jshields/CRM/shell_model. htm