Saturday, March 28, 2020

The benefits of introducing a career development policy an Example of the Topic All Posts by

The benefits of introducing a career development policy In order to succeed in the market, companies need to ensure they provide efficient management of human resources. Companies can perform well only in such a case when all of the employees are able to realize their potential, apply their skills and make sufficient contribution to the development of the company. Career development policies are particularly important for those organizations which want to be successful in the market. However, their application in various companies can be rather controversial. Need essay sample on "The benefits of introducing a career development policy" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed On one hand, career development policies can be very expensive for the company because it has to hire well-known professors or consultants to give additional knowledge to its employees. Only large companies might be able to afford that, while small companies might not have enough resources for such investments. Smaller companies might thus choose to invest in other more certain assets than employees knowledge, in order to achieve the best allocation of their limited resources. However, the investments in employees knowledge can pay off very fast in many cases, and companies should always consider this alternative. By investing into the knowledge and skills of their employees, companies benefit greatly because employees productivity increases rapidly as the result of trainings. Employees become more confident and they are able to introduce many more new ideas, which will eventually bring great benefit to the company. As an example of a company with a well-developed career development policy, it is could be valuable to examine World Bank. This large institution is well-known in the world for its great career development opportunities. The paper seeks to investigate career development policy in World Bank and identify its effectiveness. Building blocks of career development policy is World Bank include the following ones: Career development services are available for all of the permanent employees of the company; Career development services are offered in a wide range of spheres, including 1-week orientation program for any new employee, various kinds of computer courses, language tutoring in all of the languages of the world (in large, middle-size, small groups or private tutoring), courses in communications, economic policy, poverty and a large variety of other subjects dealing with specifics of a particular department of the Bank; Career development based on performance appraisal of employees; Career development based on a particular program according to which the employee got enrolled in the Bank. The Bank annually adopts large budgets for career development of the personnel. According to the opinion of its executive, employees are the most valuable asset of the Bank, and thus their career development is number one priority. Such policy gives advantages both to every individual employee of the Bank and to the organization in general because productivity increases. It is important to mark that every employee who works full-time (or part-time, such as a consultant) at the World Bank is able to sign up for a large number of courses which he would like to take. An employee of the lower level is certainly not able to attend courses which are designed specifically for top-level management, but he is allowed to take any courses in the general list of the Bank. There might be a line for some courses because they are constantly in demand, and an employee will have to wait for a few months to get into the particular class, but he is always welcome to sign up for the class. Orientation program is offered to any new employee in the staff, disregarding the functions which he is going to fulfill. By attending the orientation program, every employee is able to find out about the operations of the Bank, its policies and prospects of the development. Orientation program last the whole week and every employee gets acquainted with the top professionals of the Bank running its departments, and learns everything about the Banks operations. After going through the orientation program, an employee is able to start studying any language he is interested in, and he will be placed in a group with the knowledge level which answers his level. Every employee is able to take computer classes in software which he is not familiar with. Further career development of the employees depends both on their desires and desires of their managers. Employees are free to choose courses according to their own interests, but from time to time they have to take certain courses because their managers consider it necessary, as the result of performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is currently one of the most important issues in human resources management, and World Banks managers devote considerable attention to it when it comes to career development issues. Bernardin Hall, Posner, Maroney Thomas & Bretz (1994) have all devoted considerable attention to the development of theoretical models of performance appraisal. How can a manager of World Banks department make a conclusion about the necessity to promote this or that employee, increase of decrease his salary, shift him to another department? How can the manager decide which employee needs special training or which can perform on the highest level without additional training? The most efficient tool in such a case is performance appraisal. If carried out correctly and on the basis of efficient methods, performance appraisal can be very helpful for the evaluation of employees work. Companies that hope to succeed in today's competitive business environment must learn to identify their most capable employees for placement in key organizational appointments. To do this, managers should devote more attention to maximizing the effectiveness of performance appraisal systems. (Mcbey 1994: 23). On the basis of performance appraisal, World Banks managers usually make decisions about the necessity of certain training for certain employees. Computer skills are crucial for administrative positions; therefore, most of the employees occupying these positions are required take 2-3 day courses on PowerPoint, Lotus Notes, Excel, SAP and other learning programs. As soon as the employees become professional in these software packages, they are able to perform all of the tasks in their workplace much more efficiently. Employees in professional positions are often required to take courses connected with their position (for example, those who participate in projects dealing with economic policy of Nigeria, are often required to take a 1-week course in the basics of economic policy) or with the languages of the department they are working at (such as Chinese language for the Asia and Pacific Department). Managers are usually required to take courses in communications, for example, conflict solving. One of the most popular communications courses for senior level management at World Bank is Art and Science of Strategic Communication. This course is presented by well-known professors from Harvard and Wharton. Lecture notes of the course are prepared not only based on the course contents, but also the projects which the participants have been working on. Therefore, training is slightly different every time a new group of participants takes it. In such a way, the creators of the course do their best to make the learning program as efficient as possible for the participants. The career development tools at World Bank also greatly depend on the type of the assignment which the employee has. There are many ways to obtain a job at the World Bank, and your career development will be greatly influenced by the nature of your entry-point. If you get a job at the Bank as a consultant, you will have a chance to participate in many learning programs, but your career potential might still be a little limited. You will have to wait until you get a more permanent position to use all of the available learning opportunities. If you get a job as an administrative assistant, you might not be able to take advantage of professional learning programs for a long while. If your first job at the Bank is economist, or financial analyst, or communications officer, or any other professional job, you will have unlimited opportunities for career development. For mid-career professionals, the Bank offers a variety of employment contracts, either open-ended or term, based on the business needs of specific units. Searches are undertaken internationally for jobs that require global outlook and experience and for which staff are expected to be globally mobile. Managers also hire locally when their work programs warrant it. (Employment opportunities. Accessed on February 26, 2006 at URL: www.web.worldbank.org). However, it is usually very difficult to get a job like that from the start. The most rewarding entry-level position which one can get is a Young Professional. It opens the best horizons for career development for a young person. Young Professional Program is one of the most challenging programs available at World Bank. It is difficult to get selected in it, but those people who get selected have literally unlimited opportunities. As the World Banks website mentions, The Young Professionals Program (YPP) is a starting point for an exciting career in the World Bank. It is a great leadership opportunity in development, which offers a solid base to distinguish a path and start a career in the World Bank, gives the flexibility to work in different areas of the institution, providing an array of opportunities to learn about development work. The program offers the best opportunities for career development available at the Bank. Even though a Young Professional might not be familiar with operations of the Bank in the first place, all of the extensive training which he gets during two years is enough to make him into the top professional of the Bank. Young Professionals Orientation is specially designed to familiarize YPs with the operations of the World Bank. Training in Finance is an intensive program on the fundamentals of finance. Individual training opportunities are also being offered. YPs participate in training activities organized within the World Bank as well as external seminars. (Employment opportunities. Accessed on February 26, 2006 at URL: www.web.worldbank.org). Young Professionals are considered such valuable assets for the Bank that they get trained in every possible sphere of the Banks operations for them to determine what the best position for them at the Bank is. Young Professionals program has a very large budget because Young Professionals are even required to travel on various missions in order to get exposed to work in other countries during their rotation program. Grass Roots Immersion Program enables YPs with limited exposure to poverty participate in an immersion program so they can learn from the experience. Young Professionals Discussions provide YPs with a better understanding of the policies, procedures, and business culture so they can better integrate into the institution. Opportunities similar to Young Professionals Program are being offered by The Junior Professionals Program for Afro-Descendants (JPPAD). It provides young and motivated individuals with practical, on-the-job experience and training in a global development environment, while giving the Bank an opportunity to benefit from the knowledge, talent and diversity that they can bring to the institution.People enrolled in this program also get a chance to obtain training in all of the aspects of the Banks activity in order to determine the most suitable positions for them at the Bank. As a conclusion, it is important to mark that career development policy at the World Bank is very beneficial both for every particular employee and for the Bank in general. As long as the Bank allows all of the employees to participate in various kinds of learning programs, the managers can be sure that employees will stay with the Bank. Employees at the World Bank have a saying that nobody ever leaves the Bank after starting to work in it. Even if somebody leaves, he will be back very fast because he will not be able to find better opportunities elsewhere. Career development policies offered by the World Bank make every employee feel like an important part of the organization, and employees loyalty to the Bank is unlimited. The policy which the Bank has chosen is very efficient. It is the most favorable for employees enrolled as Young Professionals or mid-career professionals because they have the most opportunities for learning, but other employees of the Bank also have great oppor tunities for learning during their careers. Bibliography Bernardin, J. H., & Klatt, L. A. (1985). Managerial Appraisal systems: Has practice caught up to the state of the art? Personnel Administrator, November, 79-82, 84-86. Canada Benjamin O. A Strategic View of Recruitment. School Administrator. Volume: 58. Issue: 1. January 2001. Coens Tom, Jenkins Mary (2001), Focusing on Performance. Security Management. Volume: 45. Issue: 8. August 2001. Hall, J. L., Posner, B. Z., Hardner, J. W. (1989). Performance appraisal systems: Matching practice with theory. Group and Organization Studies, 14(1), 51-69. Hornsby Jeffrey S., Shirmeyer Roslyn, Smith Brien N. (1996). Current Trends in Performance Appraisal: An Examination of Managerial Practice. SAM Advanced Management Journal. Volume: 61. Issue: 3. Maroney, B. P., Buckley, M. R. (1992). Does research in performance appraisal influence the practice of performance appraisal? Regretfully not? Public Personnel Management, 21(2), 185-196. Mcbey Kenneth (1994). Perfecting Performance Appraisals. Security Management. Volume: 38. Issue: 11. November 1994. Thomas, S. L., & Bretz, R. D. (1994). Research and practice in performance appraisal: Evaluating employee performance in America's largest companies. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 59(2), 28-34.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Changes represented in Sky High

Changes represented in Sky High Sky HighSky High is an incredible piece of writing, and after dissecting each metaphor and sieving through the many similes, I have come to the conclusion that Sky High highlights the very essence of change - that at some stage in life, you must yield to it. As Hannah showed, changes are bound to happen, and can often alter the world you live in to such an extent that childhood and adulthood seem centuries apart.The main change Hannah discusses is the coming of age. In the first paragraph, she is an older person, reflecting on memories of her childhood. She slowly paints the picture of her memory, bit by bit, filling in tiny details to give us an appreciation for how the child's mind works, and how it sees things in a different light. She reflects on the washing line that was, as a child, her favourite object to climb.English: A typical day Aviary Place, , Leeds. Clea...To some extent, I believe that the washing line represents the girl's life, and she demonstrates how she once felt about life before she changed. This is further examined in the second, fifth and sixth paragraphs of the story.Hannah includes the use of metaphors and personification in her first paragraph. In the last line, she refers to the clothes hanging on the line as 'coloured flags in a secret code.' In the last paragraph, where she is an adult once again, she refers to the clothes as having 'semaphore secrets,' indicating that her mind is older, and her way of thinking has changed because she is now able to process her thoughts more intelligibly.In the second paragraph, the composer is still writing in the first person, although she is now writing as though she is a child once more. Reference is made to her smooth hands,

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Economic or Gender Concerns During the Interwar Period Essay

Economic or Gender Concerns During the Interwar Period - Essay Example Some societies made an objective of addressing their economy during the interwar period whereby they emphasized on leisure to help improve their economy status. They would change employment patterns and working hours so that they can facilitate the growth of leisure time. According to Joseph Starlin, â€Å"in our country, in the U.S.S.R the workers have long forgotten unemployment. Some three years ago we had about one and a half million unemployed. It is already two years now since unemployment has been completely abolished. Look at the capitalist countries; what horrors are taking place there as a result of unemployment!†According to Mustapha Kemal â€Å"Youth undoubtedly considers the republic a gift presented by your genius and decisiveness to Turkishness more valuable than life itself In its defense, no sacrifice is too great It will be jealously guarded against nothing to existence from the darkness into the light, at the call to follow the path of deliverance we are an d shall eternally be, with laws written with our blood, the guardians of freedom and the future†In eugenicssociety, in the year 1921, there was an attempt to criminalize lesbianism. For the matrimonial causes, Act of 1923 made adultery the sole ground of divorce for either of the spouse.Additionally, further grounds were added in the year 1937 comprising of a wife’s right to divorce her husband for a case of rape.In this society of Eugenics, a person named Marie Stopes came up with a birth control clinic.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

The overriding concerns that caused delays and cost escalation in the Essay

The overriding concerns that caused delays and cost escalation in the construction of the tunnel link between England and France - Essay Example The main purpose of the research is to present that the twentieth century witnessed developments on many fronts at the same time including construction. A number of hallmark projects were commissioned in the twentieth century such as New York’s Empire State Building and others that served to boost mankind’s confidence in taking on large projects. A large number of mega projects spanned progress in the twentieth century but taking on and executing these projects represented large challenges. The early parts of the twentieth century saw randomised approaches to project management in order to deal with large projects. However, as time proceeded and human experience increased in dealing with large projects, the approach to such projects became more and more structured. A large amount of advancement has occurred on the fronts of project management although there is still much ground to be covered. Initially project management was largely restricted to dealing with the techni cal aspects of projects especially the larger projects. In time it was found that project management needed to deal with other aspects of projects such as financing, scheduling, quality initiatives and others. Development on these fronts has been steady and has resulted from learning from various mega projects. The unique nature of mega projects means that the same ideas are not equally applicable to different projects even though they may hold similar grounds. One project that sparked the imaginations of mankind was the Channel Tunnel project that was initiated to build a fixed link between England and France. Historically the English Channel has represented a major obstacle to crossing over into United Kingdom. In order to deal with this challenge some kind of a system was required that could facilitate the movement of goods and people between both nations. This project was all the more critical for England because it did not have a direct link to mainland Europe. Such a link was necessary to ensure trade and commerce between England and mainland Europe. Prior to the tunnel’s opening, the only modes of transport available included ferries and airplanes. Both modes of transport were not only expensive but were at times dictated by weather over the English Channel making crossing or flying difficult. Early ideas to deal with this challenge included large iron bridges with spans of many kilometres. However, the technical challenges facing the creation of such spans and bridges were large and rather insurmountable. Constant tries on the British and French sides finally saw the emergence of a tunnel system beneath the English Channel that could finally connect both countries with ease. The movement from mere ideas to a practical working system represented one of the largest challenges undertaken by mankind. The creation of the Channel Tunnel was confronted by myriad challenges such as costing, planning, execution, finance, teamwork, quality, safety and sch eduling amongst others. When the project was finally completed, it was found that the project was delayed as well as overpriced when compared to original estimates. This paper analyses the overriding concerns that caused delays and cost escalation in the construction of the tunnel link between England and France. 3. Problems 3.1. Pre-Planning The creation of such a gargantuan tunnel system to accommodate trains and shuttle services required taking over challenges on many fronts. The primary challenge to initiate the Channel Tunnel project was garnering the right kind of political will to create this project. The political will garnered to initiate the C

Monday, January 27, 2020

What Is Home Depot Commerce Essay

What Is Home Depot Commerce Essay Home Depot is the largest home center chain operating in 2,244 stores throughout the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and  China. Home Depot is considered to be the largest retailer of home improved goods, construction  products and services in the world. It  was founded by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in Atlanta in 1979. The Home Depots proposition was to build home-improvement  warehouses, larger than any of their competitors facilities. The store inventory consists of about 40,000 different kinds of building materials, home improvement supplies, appliances and lawn and garden products for the needs of various projects. The Home Depot stores are always equipped with goods that are confined to a small area to match that areas specific market needs. www.homedepot.com is ranked on position 418 within .com and has 5,399 back links. The Site was launched at Tuesday, 04 August 1992. ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE BUSINESS MODEL Homedepot.com follows the B2C i.e. Business to consumer model. In B2C transactions, online transactions are made between businesses and individual consumers. B2C E-Commerce involves electronic retailing or e-tailing. At homedepot.com customers can browse catalogs when they want, place an order and the product of service will be delivered directly to them.  It is an online version of the store where customers can shop any hour of day and night without leaving their home and office. The revenue model followed by homedepot.com is sales of goods. Within the e-tailer the type of model used by homedepot.com is Clicks and bricks. It is a business strategy or  business model  in  e-commerce  by which homedepot attempts to integrate both online and physical presences. This model makes it far easier for a homedepot.com to establish an online presence than it is for a start-up company to employ a successful pure dot.com strategy. By using this model homedepot developed certain advantages, such as: Leveraging their  core competency. Multiplying existing  supplier networks distribution channels. A lower cost of capital. THE MARKETPLACE The Home Depot has more than 1950 places across the United States, China, Canada and Mexico.  Home depot stores have an average area of about 105,000 square feet and around 23,000 square feet of area outside of greenery. Inventory consists of different kinds of building materials, home improvement supplies, appliances and lawn and garden products for all of your project needs. The Home Depots retail stores offer skilled customers, like person who can repair and remodel particular services. Through committed service provider desks in more than 1,900 stores, skilled customers have right to use the loyalty programs, a pro bid room to handle large customer orders with volume discounts, directship programs, credit programs and other specialty sales initiatives. Home Depot operates under four different business segments: MARKET STRATEGY The strategic factors that helped in the growth and popularity of home depot are related to quality of product, its price, advertising for the products, store capacity, competitors, and customers independency and happiness. Good quality products are offered by Home Depot like garden supplies, lawn installation services home improvement products, for these products are offered too. Home Depot introduced a trial product store format that presented approx. 32,000 more square feet of selling area, due to which the selection of products and services broadened, also it provided with a more appropriate layout than the long-established stores. Collection of complementary product categories via stores that were designed based on a design centre, which facilitated Home Depot in storing more than 40k products in a year. New stores were brought closer to existing ones by Home Depot via a clustering strategy. An advantage was created by following this strategy via increasing the blockage of entry to competitors reducing rush in the current stores. This strategy also permitted the organisation to enlarge its advertising distribution expenses along a greater store area. Customer Cultivation is regarded as one of the prime strategies implemented by Home Depot. It is the consequence of the prerequisite of elevated qualified and in-store clinics, supportive, professional clinics and employees. An additional approach is centering on widespread announcement. Two years ago, Home Depot spent 895 million dollars on advertisements which accounts for 9.5 % more than its 2007 spending of 817 million dollars. Widespread advertisements provided Home Depot with a personal potential not in favor of remaining companies in the same industry. CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITION Customer value proposition  consists of the sum total of benefits which the firm   promises a  customer  will receive in return for the customers associated payment. Customer value proposition is specifically targeted to attract new potential customers instead of employees, partners or supplies.  It is a statement that is designed to convince customers that one particular product or service will add more value or better solve a problem than others in its competitive set. home depot provides a broad selection of quality products and services. Home Depot has the widest range of products, which are rated below rival market. They hire trades professionals so that the customer gets expert advice. Because of the technical support and better customer service the store has shown results which are unmatched in the business. As it is said, it is the good incident that brings the customer once more and its the word of mouth that brings other new customers, hence, customer satisfaction is one of the most important policy followed by company. Home depot selects very customer friendly oriented people. To improve the customer experience following steps is taken up by the company: Stores are getting modernize so that the perception of home depot is improved before the customer. In order to improve the customer service, a 24 hour hotline is being introduced. In order to improve customer service at Home Depot stores a new employee incentive program has been developed. REVENUE MODEL Estimated 20,068,000 visits over last 30 days. This Google Page Rank 7/10 website has a Traffic Estimate rank of 288.   homedepot.com is worth  $3,759,165. This makes homedepot.com the  93  most valuable site on Stimator.com. Home Depots first quarter  in 2010 is $725 million, up from $514 million a year earlier. Net sales  for the period  increased 4.3%  to $16.9 billion. Similar store sales increased 4.8%  company-wide for the period. COMPETITORS In the home improvement industry the main competitor of home depot  is  Lowes Companies (LOW). Home Depot leads in terms of sales revenue which is $66.2 billion and that of Lowes is $47.2 billion. Other competitors of home depot are Home Improvement Stores, Sears, Menard Inc., True Value Company.   Home Depot also faces competition from smaller independent stores. Builders First Source (BLDR), a company that manufactures structural and related building products for new construction. The advantage which Home Depot has against the smaller competitors is that in case of an economic downfall, it will be prevailing and thus taking back the old customers which were attracted to these small competitors earlier. C:UserscompaqDesktopmenard.jpg C:UserscompaqDesktoplowes.jpg COMPARITIVE ADVANTAGE Home Depot is financially better placed than Sears and Lowes. Home Depot maintains its strong price positioning and improves customer service and product quality.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Because of this reason home depot enjoys a competitive edge over Sears and lowes. The second competitive advantage for home depot is Menards products are perceived to be lower in quality than those of Home Depot even when the price for both are similar.  Ã‚  For the Quality of the products that it carries, Menards should not want to increase the price of its products. Another property that gives homedepot the competitive edge is differentiation. Home Depot has product differentiation as well as image differentiation. This provides a competitive edge over both Lowes and Sears. The Home Depot has essentially identified its two main market segments: The do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement consumer and The professional business customer. CONCLUSION We have seen that how a b2c site (homedepot.com) operates. What is the business model behind the operation of home depot? It has helped customer to do shopping for the desired product by sitting at home/office and making payment on delivery by credit/debit card. The home depot is the market leader in the segment of home improvement retailing, much ahead of its competitors. The main reason of its competitive advantage is good quality, lowest prices and customer satisfaction. APPENDIX TABLE 1 DIRECT COMPETITOR COMPARISON homedepot Low PVT1 PVT2 Industry Market Cap: 47.47B 30.17B N/A N/A 30.17B Employees: 193,370 166,000 40,3001 3,0002 166.00K Quarterly Rev Growth 4.30% 4.70% N/A N/A 2.90% Revenue 66.86B 47.78B 7.90B1 2.01B2 47.78B Gross Margin 33.75% 34.80% N/A N/A 34.80% EBITDA 6.73B 4.98B N/A N/A 4.98B Operating Margin 7.38% 6.81% N/A N/A 7.47% Net Income 2.83B 1.78B N/A 64.20M2 N/A LOW  = Lowes Companies Inc. Pvt1  =  Menard, Inc.  (privately held) Pvt2  =  True Value Company  (privately held) Industry  = Home Improvement Stores 1  =  As of 2009  Ã‚  2  =  As of 2008  Ã‚   TABLE 2: Comparison of Major Warehouse Format Home Centers Store Attributes Attribute/Company HomeDepot HechingerHQ Builders SquareHomebase Store Count 174 30 144 73 Square Feet/Unit(000) 94 86 84 113 Sales/Square Foot $348.00 $224.00 $171.80 $169.90 FIG1 DAILY TRAFFIC TREND FOR homedepot.com FIG2 UNIQUE VISITORS FOR homedepot.com

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Ejlert Lovborg and Hedda Gabler direction and casting

Briefly outline your casting ideas for the roles of Hedda and Ejlert Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg and then explain how you would direct your actors, in the scenes in which they appear together, in order to reveal their complex feelings for one another. As a director I would direct this play to have a naturalistic style. The play should be as though the audience were watching a small slice of the lives being lived in the Tesman house. Therefore I would use realistic furnishings. For the role of Hedda Gabler I would cast an actor able to show military inheritance through stature, bearing and voice. Hedda would have perfect, aristocratic posture, an air of arrogance and power, and a strong, manipulating voice. As written in the stage directions, the actor would be a â€Å"lady of 29† or thereabouts. She would be tall and slim; have â€Å"steel grey† eyes, and â€Å"medium brown† hair, â€Å"not particularly ample,† which would be put up in a loose bun. Hedda would wear dark coloured satin dresses. She would speak with a slow pace and leave pauses, so as to keep the other characters waiting on her words. Her wit would be dry. The actor who would play Ejlert Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg would be 33 years old. He would be quite slim, with short dark hair, bright green eyes, and a short beard. He would be dressed in a dark, fitting, three piece suit, â€Å"quite new,† with a matching top hat. He would be pale, with definitive cheekbones. He would have fast paced delivery of lines and a low pitch. His most prized possession would be the manuscript for his new book, which is his ‘child' with Thea Elvsted. As a rehearsal process I would ask the actors to write down their previous relationship before the actual written play starts. I would ask them to improvise scenes which are linked with there previous lives. For example when Hedda was about to shoot Ejlert when they were younger. I would also ask the actors to write their biography for their characters. During Act two where Hedda and Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg first meet in the play, Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg â€Å"seems a little embarrassed.† I would direct the actor playing Hedda to show her boredom with Brack and Tesman just before Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg enters. When Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg comes in, Hedda's change in mood would be sudden, her eyes would light up and her body language would show excitement. Hedda would be stimulated by the situation unfolding before her. When Thea arrives she will be able to play. As Hedda takes the album from the desk, I would direct the actor to not look at Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg but at Brack and Tesman. As she sits Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg would move closer and take a seat next to her, â€Å"not once† taking â€Å"his eyes off her.† Then whispering to her, â€Å"Hedda†¦Gabler.† His expression would show that he is still in love with her. As Hedda's next line, â€Å"Now! Sh!† would be said with a smile, she's happy she still has a hold ov er him and she can manipulate him. We see how Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg is still infatuated with her as he is disgusted with Hedda that she has thrown herself â€Å"away like that.† He also calls her â€Å"dearest Hedda† and â€Å"darling Hedda,† the actor would show how he wishes the best for her, and his desire to be loved by Hedda. When Mrs. Elvsted enters Hedda will be happy as she is now able to see how her actions will affect people's lives. Although she doesn't quite expect Mrs. Elvsted and Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg to be as close. â€Å"He says I've inspired him, too,† Hedda's reaction to this line would be envy, she wanted to be the inspiration, she wanted to be at the heart of something exciting, instead she is bored all day. When Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg declines the punch, he would look to Mrs. Elvsted with an expression of enthusiasm, Hedda would just look straight on at him with a false expression of admiration. Then Hedda smoothly changes tactic by adding that he must drink â€Å"because of other people.† As Mrs. Elvsted realises that Hedda is beginning to win the fight, the changes in status and moods between the characters would gain momentum. After Hedda says that Mrs. Elvsted came around in â€Å"a state of desperation,† She would calm herself and relax back into the chair, whilst smiling between Mrs. Elvsted and Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg, and nod at Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg next line. â€Å"Desperation,† Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg would sit bolt up looking between Hedda and Mrs. Elvsted with a questioning look. The sudden turn in the situation would give Hedda joy, and fuel her to go on, â€Å"Your going to a party,† she has again found how to control Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg. In the final part of Act three, Hedda and Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg say goodbye for the last time. Just as Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg is â€Å"about to leave,† Hedda reaches her hand out in his direction and says, â€Å"No! Wait!† She moves across to the desk, and begins unlocking the pistol case as she says her following line. He stands there, motionless watching her, hoping she has the answer to all that is wrong, a look of hope in him. As she turns from the desk Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg is slightly disappointed that Hedda is carrying a pistol, she hands it to him slowly as she says, â€Å"do you recognise it?† He takes a slightly angry tone as he remarks that Hedda â€Å"should have used it† before. Hedda clasps her hands around his during the line â€Å"well†¦! You use it now,† showing a small but significant sign of affection for Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg. When he leaves she would move slowly over to the stove momentarily stopping to retrieve the manuscript. The pull ing up a chair she would begin to burn the manuscript, page by page, ripping each one with an audible tear. Saying her lines slowly with a sneer. During her time with Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vborg, we see that Hedda Gabler can show affection for others, and we also see her most manipulative side. The softly spoken â€Å"vine leaves† image shows how Hedda controls others to gain the perfect circumstances for her dull life, these ideals of love give her happiness. When her ideals are not met, then her attitude changes and the characters are put into place until she is happy with what is happening around her.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Violence in TV and society

How the nature and frequency of violence in television programs and movies effects socializing and being socialized. â€Å"Sociology offers a perspective, a view of the world. The sociological perspective opens a window onto unfamiliar worlds†and offers a fresh look at familiar ones (Henslin3). † With socialization being such a huge part of our daily lives, it is important that we get the right socialization. Today much of our youth's socialization skills are being obtained from mass media sources, and in particular social networking and television.A single glance at a children's television show gives you only a slight limpse of the violence portrayed in todays children TV shows. As Americans we are exposed to violence on a daily basis. Just turning on the TV we are bombarded with news of violent acts, and violent TV shows or movies. This has changed violence into a symbol of despair, and a solution to most situations. Thus changing our perspective of symbolic interactio nism, and its relationship to becoming socialized negatively. The symbolism of violence has been altered, desensitizing us to violent acts.Dave Grossman argues that this is something that has long been used in the ilitary to train soldiers to perform their duty, however these same techniques have been used unintentionally on the general population which more drastic effects. Because this desensitization is taking place during childhood rather then in late teens and early twenties, the social constraints that are normally emplace to prevent people from acting out such as norms and sanctions have not been instilled the same way they would be in a 18 or 19 year old. The results have been a drastic increase in violence.Television is by far the medium of mass media socialization. Children watch an average of 3 to 4 hours of television a day (AACAP). It has a huge effect on young children. Children are watching people interact, but are not actually interacting. Time that should be spent o utside interacting with other children has been replaced with televisions, which dramatically reduces children's social sills. Television satisfies social needs to some extent but does not give real life social skills that can be used. Along with decreased social skills, children are becoming socialized the wrong way.The majority of children perceive things on television as real. â€Å"When young children see somebody shot, stabbed, raped, brutalized, degraded, r murdered on TV, to them it is as though it were actually happening. To have a child of three, four, or five watch a â€Å"splatter† movie, learning to relate to a character for the first 90 minutes and then in the last 30 minutes watch helplessly as that new friend is hunted and brutally murdered is the moral and psychological equivalent of introducing your child to a friend, letting her play with that friend, and then butchering that friend in front of your child's eyes.And this happens to our children hundreds upo n hundreds of times. † (Grossman) Is this the way we really want our kids to become socialized? To answer this question we must dig deeper, and discover what it really means to become socialized. As stated by our book, â€Å"Socialization makes us human† When we are born, we do not know what it means to be human. We do not nave any ideas. We do not know now to speak, or now to act . We must learn now to do all these things, and only then, do we develop a self.With socialization being such a huge part of becoming† human† it is essential to get the right kind of socialization, which includes Symbolic interactionism. (Henslin) The symbolic interactionism perspective of sociology views society as a product of everyday social nteractions of individuals. Symbolic interactionists also study how people use symbols to create meaning. In studying violence, these theorists look at how people in everyday situations define violence, which differs between cultures and set tings. (Spark notes) In the US particularly violence has become part of the norm.Most children start out watching kid friendly and educational programs, and around the ages of three or four start watching shows like Tom and Jerry and Loony toons. Although these shows are somewhat kid friendly they still portray violence as acceptable. Violence is portrayed to be comedic. Thus desensitizing kids to violence in an indirect way. As children grow older, parental controls grow loser, allowing children to watch more violent, and adult rated TV shows, and movies. The exposure to violence at such a young age alters values, and norms.Children begin to perceive violence as normal, and as a solution to everything. Children's shows like Ben10, Looney Toons, and Power rangers portray † the good guys† trying to save the word, by taking drastic and most likely violent measures. The â€Å"cool† factor of these shows is actually kids becoming more and more desensitized to violence . Although these shows have not been proven to turn a normal child into a deviant. â€Å"Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may become â€Å"immune† or numb to the horror of violence.They may gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems, or imitate the violence they observe on television; and identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers (Grossman). † Keeping in mind that Socialization is the core of our existence and ability to interact with others, we can gather that excessive violence on TV shows, has huge negative impact on children's socialization skills, and most importantly that it affects the symbolic interactionism that takes place in all stages of socialization.