Female Slavery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Female Slavery - Essay Example While Female slaves were treated as sexual objects by their master as they were viewed as an item devoid of morals, bestowed the label of being 'promiscuous' and were given 'male' responsibilities at home and in the field, the treatment of male slaves were similarly cruel and debasing as they also suffered extreme and unjust pain and abuse in the hands of their owners which stemmed from the fact the slave-owners in the American South viewed their subjects as non-humans. According to the account of Deborah Gray White, author of the book "Female Slaves: Sex Roles and Status in Antebellum South." The female slaves did not did not play the conventional stereotyped female function as it was characterized in nineteenth century America, and in spite of how harshly most historians typecast women as subordinate or submissive in their duties in relation to slave men, it will be difficult to reconcile these roles with the realities in the plantation South. White wrote that, 1"The high degree of female cooperation, the ability of slave women to rank and order themselves, the independence women derived from the absence of property considerations in the conjugal relationship, 'abroad marriages,' and the female slave's ability to provide supplementary foodstuffs are factors which should not be ignored in consideration of the slave family " (28). White maintains that depictions of "female slaves" as 'full-time field-hands' are practically indistinguishable from the male slaves. White mentions the "full female hands," compelled to "slave" like "males," and suggests that 2"It is difficult, however, to say how often they did the same work, and it would be a mistake to say that there was no differentiation of field labor on Southern farms and plantations. The most common form of differentiation was that women hoed while men plowed." In addition, White's account of the slavery in the South upset and horrifies the readers as she enlightens them about the horrors and inequalities that slave women were compelled to deal with in her daily affairs.In her book, white tackles two of the most common misconceptions of female slavery: Jezebel and Mammy. The author swiftly reveals the that the stereotype that slave women were 'promiscuous', 'dirty' women with an unappeasable lust for her white master, is very deceiving. White further asserts that, 3"The choice put before many slave women was between miscegenation and the worst experiences that slavery had to offer. Not surprisingly, many chose the former." Consequently, the actuations of the slave woman yielding to the sexual advances of her white master resulted to her labeling as unchaste and immoral or a Jezebel. The second typecast tackled is that of mammy, the caring black woman who is concerned for the welfare of the white children.White, moreover, in great depth, describes the real lives and adversities that slave women faced everyday. According to White, although the female slaves' work in the fields was essential, her real worth was set in keeping the male slaves sexually fulfilled in order to reproduce more generations of slaves in the future. Consequently, almost all female slaves had families, but they were more disassociated compared to the families of the

The Danger of a Single Story According to Adichie Essay Example for Free

The Danger of a Single Story According to Adichie Essay 1. According to Adichie, how is Africa often described? According to her, Africa is often described as a place of beautiful landscapes and animals with incomprehensible people fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and aids. It is a continent of catastrophes where people are pitiful illiterate aborigines who have no possibility of being human equals. They are unable to speak for themselves and are waiting for foreigners to save them. All in all, Africa is a lowly continent with nothing more but scenic places with starving people. 2. Did it affect Africa? How? Yes, it affected Africa so much because it only showed all the negative sides of Africa and did not illustrate the beauty of the continent. It shows that Africa is a poor continent with even poorer people who does nothing to improve their lives. It does not indicate all the magnificence of the continent and the attributes of the people in it. Africa is degraded because of these inadequate and unfitting descriptions. 3. What is a single story? What is the power of single story? A single story is a view of something, somewhere or of someone that only shows one side of the coin. It is incomplete. It may have different versions but they all have the same view. For example, what if I tell you that Boracay is a dirty place where people have no regard for nature? The beach is filled with moss and there are plastics everywhere? What if all the things you have heard about Boracay is something like this? It doesn’t sound inviting, does it? But what if I tell you that those who disregard nature are punished and that they clean up all the rubbish they find. That Boracay is a paradise? Now that is a pleasing sight isn’t it? That is an example of what a single story is. It shows only one point of view. And from that point of view builds another story and so on that will not convey the whole truth about the topic. A single story can be very powerful indeed because it blinds people from a great deal of things. It shows things, places or people as one thing only and emphasizes on the differences and not the similarities. It can not only make a story but it can also make it the only story of that particular topic.

Reflection on Engineering Work

Reflection on Engineering Work PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summary Statement These are the competency Units and Elements. These elements must be addressed in the Summary Statement (see Section C). If you are applying for assessment as a Professional Engineer, you will need to download this page, complete it and lodge it with your application. Competency Element A brief summary of how you have applied the element Paragraph number in the career episode(s) where the element is addressed PE1 KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL BASE PE1.1 Comprehensive, theory-based understanding of the underpinning natural and physical sciences and the engineering fundamentals applicable to the engineering discipline Theoretical knowledge gained from studying Renewable Energy Resources , Mechanics of Materials and Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning was used in the projects. CE 1.2, 2.1, 2.2 PE1.2 Conceptual understanding of the mathematics, numerical analysis, statistics and computer and information sciences which underpin the engineering discipline I used different mathematical equations for the designing of Parabolic Trough. Heating and Cooling load for the Air Conditioning were calculated using load calculation equations. CAMEL software was used to optimize the load and analyze and compare it with manual calculations. CE 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 3.8, 3.11, 3.12, 3.21 PE1.3 In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline Knowledge gained in Finite Element Methods and analysis software ANSYS helped to analyze the drop table. CE 2.1, 2.2, 2.10 PE1.4 Discernment of knowledge development and research directions within the engineering discipline Sequential switching of energy resources from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy resources is seeming eminent. Parabolic Trough is the future of energy sector in energy deficient countries, like Pakistan. CE 1.1, 1.2,1.21 PE1.5 Knowledge of contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline Being aware of the side effects some of fossil fuels have on the environment, helped us to use the environmental friendly Solar power to generate electricity. It reduces the carbon foot print and hence, guarantees a greener and healthier future. CE 1.2, 1.21 PE1.6 Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of contemporary engineering practice in the specific discipline Being project leader the responsibility laid on my shoulders to ensure successful timely completion of the project. For this I employed Primavera and Microsoft Project software to finish the project within given timeline. CE 1.8, 2.7, 3.5, 3.7 PE2 ENGINEERING APPLICATION ABILITY PE2.1 Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem solving Working on renewable energy project incited students and industrialists to use this energy source to power their needs. And I visited them to help them design the projects. CE 1.21 PE2.2 Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools and resources I used the VRV system instead of the Central Air Conditioning as it is more energy efficient and gives more control. I used CAMEL to analyze the manual load calculations and suggest changings in the structure of building. ANSYS was used to analyze the drop table for the drop test. CE 2.2, 2.10, 3.4, 3.21, 3.22 PE2.3 Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes In each project I followed the engineering design process i.e. Defined the problem, searched for solution and picked a solution and developed it (Solar Power Plant). At the end, I prepared the report for each project including all experiments in systematic order. CE 1.21 PE2.4 Application of systematic approaches to the conduct and management of engineering projects I used my management skills and software i.e. Primavera and Microsoft Project to keep track of the progress and finish it within given time. CE 1.7, 1.8, 2.7, 3.5, 3.7 PE3 PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES PE3.1 Ethical conduct and professional accountability Before the start of each project I made sure that my team follows the predefined guide lines to ensure professional and ethical conduct. Safety talks before every critical activity helped to achieve this goal. CE 1.8, 1.9, 1.20, 2.14 PE3.2 Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains I presented my Final Year Project (Solar Trough) in front of project supervisor, Chairman of Mechanical Engineering department and an external examiner. CE 1.21 PE3.3 Creative innovative and proactive demeanour Used economical techniques to select the Concentrated Solar Power technology, which need small absorbing surfaces and large reflective surfaces. Absorbing materials are more expensive than the reflective surfaces. CE 1.10 PE3.4 Professional use and management of information I kept record of all the meetings by writing minutes of meetings at the end of each meeting. Prepared the project reports using all the experimental and theoretical knowledge. CE 1.5,1.8,1.9,2.7,3.5,3.7 PE3.5 Orderly management of self, and professional conduct My leadership skills and professional attitude during my final year project helped me to be leader in next two projects as well. Leading project teams more than once groomed my leadership skills and helped to enhance my professional conduct. CE 1.7, 2.1, 3.5 PE3.6 Effective team membership and team leadership My leadership in the projects was effective enough to finish the projects well in time and in good team spirit. I inspired my team members to work through difficult situations and solve issues without being stressed out. CE 3.5, 2.11,

The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela Essay -- Book Reviews Mexican Revoluti

Author Mariano Azuela's novel of the Mexican revolution, The Underdogs, conveys a fictional representation of the revolution and the effects it had on the Mexican men and women who lived during that time. The revolutionary rebels were composed of different men grouped together to form small militias against the Federalists, in turn sending them on journeys to various towns, for long periods of time. Intense fighting claimed the lives of many, leaving women and children behind to fend for themselves. Towns were devastated forcing their entire populations to seek refuge elsewhere. The revolution destroyed families across Mexico, leaving mothers grieving for their abducted daughters, wives for their absent husbands, and soldiers for their murdered friends. The novel's accurate depiction also establishes some of the reasons why many joined the revolution, revealing that often, those who joined were escaping their lives to fight for an unknown cause. The Underdogs' protagonist, Demetrio Macias, joins the fight against the Federalists after his house is burned and his dog is shot, as a result of a quarrel he had with Don Monico, the boss of his town, Moyahua (48). Macias "spit on his beard because he wouldn't mind his own business...Then just because [he] did that [Don Monico] had the whole...Federal Government against [him]" (Azuela 50). Many rebels, like Macias, joined the revolution in search for a better life, free from persecution by local caciques. The rebels were unhappy with the way government officials treated the poor, by stealing their pigs, chicken and corn, burning their homes and carrying off with their women (Azuela 17). Others were running away from the law, for crimes they had committed. In The Underdogs, one of Ma... ...a significant event for the men and women of Mexico, comprising a large portion of their lives. Many joined the fight in search for a better life, others wanted revenge, and some were running from the law. Together they formed disorganized and unfocused militias where many lost their lives. During the revolution hundreds were forced to leave their homes and belongings in search for a safer place. Families were torn and separated for years at a time, and women were left to support their houses and children. Eventually, the rebels begun to act like the Federalists, by looting, drinking, and at times killing their own men over money related brawls. The men became accustomed to the violent lifestyle, and although they did not know why, they continued to fight without an end in sight. Works Cited Azuela, Mariano. The Underdogs. Trans. E. Munguia, Jr. New York: 1996.

The Ethical use of cell phones

The morals and values combine to form ethics, technology and the changes it brings in todays society, the effect of cell phones, the different use of the cell phone, and who can use their cell phones in the nursing homes. Ethics describes a system of morals that are studied, recommended, and accepted by society. These unwritten rules, made up of morals and values combine to form ethics. If something is ethical, it falls within the realm of behavior that society prefers.The unethical uses of the cell phones in the nursing homes workers are hose behaviors that society deems right when on the cell phone it is a combination of laws, manners and common sense. Camera phones can be a difficult privacy issue. ( http://www. ehow. com/about_5165198_ethical- uses-cell-phones. html) daily basis. The use of the cell phones has the biggest affect in this country. People either use it to communicate or even surf the web, to find various information that they are trying to inquire about.This is one use of technology is how people keep up with stocks, education, paying bills, knowing what is going on with their Job, and maintaining their busy schedules. Using this type of technology can help you to stay on top of your entire task and agendas and still stay in communication. Cell phones are the way many people communicate in the world. We use this device to keep in touch with our love ones when they are near or far away. With cell phones you can communicate with people Just about anywhere in the world.You have options of paying your bills, checking the weather; surf the internet. Use the built-in calculator for simple math, send or receive e-mail, play games, watch TV, send text messages, and last but not least keep track of all appointments, and set reminders when they are needed. So the corporation state that the use of the camera violate the HIPPA program, so they should ban cell phones because of the camera, and sound recorder functions? Next we ban cameras, sound recorders, telephones, and even Laptops. How about electric lights and hot tap water?Maybe we should ban pencils, pens, and paper so we can't write anything on our hands that we can take out of the building? Just like how the doctors' know when and where to use their cell phone, so do the direct care staff. It's not the technology, it's the users. I think a few of us have commented on the very valid point that the perpetrators were in violation f several laws and the ethical standards of the profession. Let's see them get the punishment they have earned. But misusing a tool won't stop by removing the tool; there always will be substitutes.Perhaps not having a phone in your hand was a luxury a few years ago, but today, it's expected. I will not answer personal calls and really I don't believe that personal calls to staff of any kind (yes, I do mean the sick family members, the kids in school, and the spouses stuck in traffic) should be validated (http://allnurses. com/nursing- news/lawmakers-c urb-cell-392956-page3. html) These cell phones come in all shapes, olors, and sizes for our personal use. The cell phones are in such demand for this nation because they are very convenient.

Perl Array unshift() Function Tutorial

Perl Array unshift() Function Tutorial Perls unshift() function is used to add value or values onto the beginning of an array (prepend), which increases the number of elements. The new values then become the first elements in the array. It returns the new total number of elements in the array. Its easy to confuse this function with push(), which adds elements to the end of an array. Picture a row of numbered boxes, going from left to right. The unshift() function would add the new value or values on to the left side of the array, and increase the elements. In the examples, the value of myNames becomes (Larry, Curly, Moe). The array can also be thought of as a stack- picture a stack of numbered boxes, starting with 0 on the top and increasing as it goes down. The unshift() function would add the value to the top of the stack, and increase the overall size of the stack. You can unshift() multiple values onto the array directly: Or by unshift()-ing an array:

Evolution Essays (2399 words) - Religion, Creationism, Science

Evolution Essays (2399 words) - Religion, Creationism, Science Evolution Looking For A Term Paper? Try This Site Too! Creationism vs. Evolution In my short life on this planet I have come to question things that many take upon blind faith. We all know that we must some day die; yet we continuously deny the forces at work inside ourselves, which want to search out the answers of what may or may not come after. It is far easier for humanity to accept that they will go to a safe haven and be rewarded for their lives with pleasures and fantasies of an unfathomable scale than to question the existence of a supposed omnipotent being. Yet, there are a few of us humans who tend to question the why's and wherefore's that society puts forth to us. We question the existence of God, or the creation of mankind rather than blindly accepting faith-filled beliefs we may received from our parents as children. Perhaps it is because we live in a nation filled with many peoples of different beliefs whose Gods are all so varied and different that it is difficult to fathom that they are all the same divine being. It is also plausible that we just have a desire to quench the thirst for knowledge that lies deep within ourselves. As for myself, I cannot believe in a being which created a universe and a multitude of worlds in a rather short period of time then deigns to lower itself into becoming a puppet-master and pulling the strings of the Earth and all of the people therein. Since this paper touches upon many scientific terms, I feel that in order for the reader to correctly grasp the content I must first define three words: Theory, Law, and Hypothesis. The definitions will allow for a greater understanding of this essay and give us an even ground upon which to begin. - Theory; noun 1. a. Systematically organized knowledge applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances, especially a system of assumptions, accepted principles, and rules of procedure devised to analyze, predict, or otherwise explain the nature or behavior of a specified set of phenomena. b. Such knowledge or such a system. 2. An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture. Law; noun 1. a. A formulation describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met: the law of gravity. b. A generalization based on consistent experience or results: the law of supply and demand; the law of averages. Hypothesis; noun 1. A tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts and can be tested by further investigation; a theory. 2. Something taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation; an assumption. - It is important that you thoroughly read the above definitions or you will be at a disadvantage if you do not. You will note that there are several different definitions to each word. I felt it was important to include the added definitive statement to theory because it shows the difference between a scientific theory and an everyday theory based upon conjecture. The additional definitions to law and hypothesis are both added for a further understanding of these words. The definition of creationism is somewhat more complex. One must start by saying that the belief in the creation of the universe given at the beginning of the Bible is literally true. Creationism is a belief based solely upon faith (which is a belief in and of itself). There are no scientific facts as a basis for this belief, solely conjectural theories and speculations. It is ingrained into our minds, as children that a belief of a force, or supernatural entity, which is all powerful and all knowing, is watching over us and taking care of our needs. Yet, to me, saying this very sort of thing is heretical in its very essence. To be so crude as to think that some being which created the universe itself and all things in it would take the time to care for each and every individual is incomprehensible. In practically all ancient cultures, the biblical included, the universe was thought of as an original chaos into which order had been introduced by a creative hand: This was the essence of creation.1

All About Mettre - Irregular French Verb

All About Mettre - Irregular French Verb Mettre, which means to put, is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.Using mettreMettre means to put:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis les livres sur la table.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I put the books on the table.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il faut mettre sa famille avant son travail.  Ã‚  Ã‚  You have to put your family before your work.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mettez les mains en lair.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put your hands in the air.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il veut mettre de largent dans votre affaire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He wants to put money into your business.Mettre has various other meanings as well.1. to put on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tu dois mettre un pull.  Ã‚  Ã‚  You need to put on a sweater.2. to spend time on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis deux semaines le faire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I spent two weeks doing it.3. to turn on, activate  Ã‚  Ã‚  Peux-tu mettre la radio  ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Could you turn on the radio?4. to suppose  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mettons quil a raison....  Ã‚  Ã‚  Supposing / Lets just say that hes ri ght....Mettre noun infinitive means to put something up/out/on to do something:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis de leau bouillir.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I put some water on to boil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il doit mettre le linge sà ©cher.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He has to put (hang) the laundry up to dry.Se mettreSe mettre also has many different meanings.1. to put oneself  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mets-toi cà ´tà © de ton frà ¨re.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put yourself next to your brother, Go sit/stand next to your brother.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je dois me mettre lombre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have to get into the shade.(figurative)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je ne sais pas oà ¹ me mettre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I dont know where to look / what to do with myself.  Ã‚  Ã‚  se mettre dans une situation dà ©licate  Ã‚  Ã‚  to put/get oneself into a delicate situation2. to become (weather)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il va se mettre au froid demain.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Its going to get/turn cold tomorrow.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il sest mis au chaud.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It got hot.3. se mettre - to start, set to, take up  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il sest enfin mis au travail.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He finally started working.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je vais me mettre la danse.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im going to take up dancing.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quand vas -tu te mettre à ©tudier  ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  When are you going to start / set about studying?Expressions with mettre  Ã‚  Ã‚  mettre lessai - to put to the test  Ã‚  Ã‚  mettre en relief - to accentuate, bring out, emphasize  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il y a mis le temps  ! - He took his sweet time about it!  Ã‚  Ã‚  se mettre au rà ©gime - to go on a diet  Ã‚  Ã‚  More expressions with mettreConjugationsPresent tense  Ã‚  Ã‚  je mets  Ã‚  Ã‚  tu  mets  Ã‚  Ã‚  il met  Ã‚  Ã‚  nous  mettons  Ã‚  Ã‚  vous  mettez  Ã‚  Ã‚  ils  mettentAll tenses

Micro economics individual project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Micro economics individual project - Essay Example This article published in New York Times on October 13, 2011 is titled as â€Å"Auto Bailout Done, Obama Looks for Payback† and has been written by Jeff Zelney.1 Though this article discusses mostly the political side of the Obama Administration and its plans to win the next election however, it critically links as to this has important economic implications too. After 2007’s recession, two industries were badly affected i.e. the financial services sector as well as the auto industry. US government offered bail out plan to some of the largest automakers in the country in order to make the industry survive the current wave of economic depression. Most notable beneficiaries of the Federal funding included General Motors as well as Chrysler. By allowing these organizations to have equity support, government actually attempted to correct the demand and supply balance within the auto industry. After receiving support from the government, auto sector responded through downsizing, cutting costs as well as improving their processes. It has been mentioned that the auto industry specially the bigger players in the market are responding to the situation and are slowly coming out of the recessionary conditions. This article therefore clearly mentions that with the help of the government intervention, industry survived one of the most difficult periods in its history. This article therefore clearly establishes the conditions in two different periods and how the government intervention can actually help organizations to correct the supply and demand mechanics within a free market economy. In order to reduce the market anomalies as well as lessen the impact of externalities, it is important that the government must intervene in the market. The timely intervention of the government in the market affairs therefore can gradually help the markets to

Palestine Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Palestine - Term Paper Example There are different negotiation believes in United States, Arab world, Asians, and Africans as depicted in the different stands they take in negotiating showing the strong impact of culture on negotiations. This study aims at investigating the impact of Palestine culture on their negotiation through an in-depth analysis of the importance of face and loss of face to Palestinians in Negotiations and the type of negotiation styles to which they employ when negotiating. Language is the means through which a person’s culture is communicated from one generation to another is the best way to gauge the influence of culture on communication. The first negotiation technique used by the Palestinians is an admiration and frequent use of ambiguity in discourse showing that culture has a high impact on Palestinian negotiation. This is well in line with Palestinian culture where an ability to manipulate communication and relation to others is admired and respected. This is due to the mistrust and inability to take the face value of offers in negotiations. Proper etiquette and mannerisms is the other behavior common among Palestinians in negotiations due to the high ranking of hospitality, etiquette, and correctness in Palestinian culture. Palestinians will try their very best in being polite despite tensions in negotiations as they are required in their culture to both a foreigner and a member of the Palestinian community showing an impact of culture o n negotiation. Palestinian culture requires them to maintain honor at all times in their communication, thereby affecting their communication in negotiations. This requires Palestinians to behave modestly and hospitably to the other negotiators. Palestinians use the Musayra as a communication code in their negotiation where they try to ensure the negotiator goes along with the communication. Palestinians aim at maintaining an engaged relationship during negotiations as their code of

The Impact of foreign Investment(with reference to china and india) on Dissertation

The Impact of foreign Investment(with reference to china and india) on Nigeria's Economy and how Nigeria as a developing country - Dissertation Example Nigeria is the most heavily populated country in African continent. It is one of the rapidly developing economies in Africa along with South Africa. Moreover, Nigeria is blessed with immense oil and other natural resources. However, technological advancements in Nigeria are not so good. As a result of that it is incapable of exploiting the natural resources properly. Being the most rapidly emerging economies in the world, India and China can help Nigeria immensely in streamlining its economic growth. Plenty of Indian and Chinese companies are currently operating in Nigeria in different sectors such as agriculture, oil, mining, refining, automobile manufacturing, banking, retailing etc. These countries are helping Nigeria to exploit its natural resources judiciously. This paper analyses the impact of foreign investment (with reference to China and India) on Nigeria’s economy and how Nigeria as a developing nation can promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Table of Contents 1. 0 Introduction Globalization is a process through which the activities done in one part of the world affects people on other parts of the world (Reich 1998: 5). According to Lieber and Weisberg, globalization helps people all over the world in the creation of a stronger and stable world (Lieber and Weisberg 2002: 274). Huge changes are taking place in this world after the introduction of globalization and liberalization. Some of the underdeveloped economies such as India, and China are currently emerging as the most rapidly developing economies in the world, mainly because of their ability to exploit the opportunities provided by globalization. These countries were successful mainly because of their readiness to open up their domestic market for foreign direct investments. The importance of free market and private enterprise in promoting economic globalization was explained by many scholars (Ghai1997: 1) The economy of the world keeps improving and keeps becoming more integrated as most countries want to play/contribute to a role in the economy of the 21st century. Globalisation keeps increasing as countries try to identify their competitive advantages and use their available resources to secure profits for themselves. Trade has now being expanded compared to the past, services and cross boarder flows of financial resources and people. Countries all over the world have realised that domestic resources alone may not help them much in streamlining the economic growth. As a result of that majority of the countries have already opened up their economies and liberalized the rules and regulations to attract more and more foreign direct investments or FDI. FDI is the investment of foreign capital in domestic goods and services. According to Dicken (2007, p.36), direct investment is a kind of investment intended to gain control over the activities of another firm. FDI is the investment across nations. â€Å"The flow of FDI and portfolio investments across countries g enerates a very large amount of investment incomes going in the opposite direction† Ietto-Giles 2002: 27). On the other hand, Adina (2011) mentioned about the training effect of FDI. In her opinion, FDI may help a country to modernize techniques and technologies, increase production and supply of goods, improve quality and competitiveness, create new jobs and grow the quality of life (Adina 2011: 148). In short, it is difficult for a country to develop properly in the modern era with the help of

Identufy the six techniques for writing a successful narrative, and Essay

Identufy the six techniques for writing a successful narrative, and describe how this can be applied to one or more of the reading in Part 3 of your textbook - Essay Example They can even be therapeutic – giving us an outlet to express ourselves and deal with emotions that might otherwise be threatening or unpleasant (Parker and Wampler, 2006). The common bond of all stories is the narrative aspect – how the story is written, or told. According to Arlov (2005), there are six aspects of an effectively written story. These are: using chronological order; having a conflict that must be resolved; showing the action, instead of just telling what happened; making a clearly defined point – the theme of the story; placing a greater emphasis on the most important details; and using examples from everyday life (Arlov, 2005). In this paper, the art of storytelling – the successful incorporation of each of these aspects - is examined in the work of Obafemi Carr. Carr’s story, â€Å"The Game of My Life,† is (on the surface) about his participation, as a 29-year-old man, in a YMCA basketball game. A deeper analysis, however, reveals that it is about his relationship with his father and, perhaps to a greater extent, about his ability to overcome his own youthful insecurities. The beginning action starts at the present moment – in the basketball, but then the story flashes back to the â€Å"beginning† - the narrator (Carr)’s childhood. From there, Carr progresses in chronological order to his teenage and college years, and then he takes the reader back to the present with him – back to the ball game. This flashback-flash forward device works because it only displaces the reader chronologically for the first three paragraphs in order to better set up the story’s tension. Carr’s story has one main conflict that needs to be resolved. From the story’s text, the reader gathers that Carr grew up feeling distanced from his father because of his lack of sports involvement. As Carr puts it, â€Å"My father hadnt taught me the game, probably because he had grown up in

Legal Immigration in the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Legal Immigration in the European Union - Essay Example The European Union has put into place immigration laws that have been approved by member states. With the constant threat of global terrorism member states are constantly on the lookout for possible terrorists that use the immigration laws to their advantage thus putting the population of the member states at risk. This paper explores the legal immigration legislation that the European Union has put into place. 1. Legal immigration as it appears in the European Legislation. The European Union has put into place legislation that attempts to regulate immigration and migration of workers. The economics and demographics of the European Union dictate managed migration. Obviously, the European Union does not want to encourage migration to areas within the Union that are currently economically depressed. It is in the best interest of member states to have immigration and migration managed to provide workers where there is a need for them. Still, with legislation in place, the Union has a problem with illegal migration, smugglers, and traffickers. The migrants seek work while the smugglers and traffickers make money off of the migrants. A. Persons from third countries are permitted entry into the European Union legally under many circumstances. ... It is well understood that the social well being of immigrants allows for social well being of the member states as well. Legal immigration can take the form of family reunification, long term resident status, student visas, and entry to researchers. The European Union also has guidelines, that member states are encouraged to follow, that include integration of immigrants into society, and 'best practices' for integration. The European Union has in place directives that combat illegal immigration, trafficking of illegals, and return of illegals to their country of origin when most practical. B. There are programs in place to assist member states in dealing with immigration issues such as ARGO (action program that assists with immigration issues), and INTI (an EU program that promotes integration of immigrants). C. The European Commission has installed legislation that governs legal immigration. Article 63(3) of the EC Treaty allows the European Union to draft and institute immigration policies that governs issues such as immigration and residency. The Amsterdam Treaty makes immigration an EU problem/responsibility. The Tampere European Council put into place agreements and legislation to consolidate immigration policies. Scoreboard is a program that follows implementation of immigration policies and reports status every six months. Finally, the treaty that created the European Union outlines the role of the European Commission. (EC of Justice and Home Affairs). 2. Discuss the recent legislations from the Amsterdam Treaty to 2007. Following the Maastricht Treaty (1993), which made immigration a common concern in the European Union, came the Amsterdam Treaty (1999) that put into

Musculoskeletal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Musculoskeletal - Essay Example Another vital electrolyte in musculoskeletal function is Potassium. Its role is concerned with the neutralization of metabolic acids that deplete bone. Potassium salts taken into the body via fruits and vegetables yield Potassium bicarbonate via metabolism. Were these not to be taken in adequate amounts, they would lead to mineral compounds that alkalize bone being recruited from the bone, thus resulting in bone resorption, a possible cause for the patients need for a hip replacement. The resorption of bone to provide alkalization fluids leads to bone weakening (Denegar et al, 2004). a) Osteocytes: These are star shaped cells of the bone that are surrounded by the bone matrix. They are mature forms of other bone cells called osteoblasts. They possess long branches from their main body that extend and connect to other adjacent osteocytes. They perform a crucial role in the maintenance of body fluids of Calcium ion levels. They carry this function out by regulating the resorption and formation of bone, thus controlling the amount of calcium in the body, since Calcium ions are essential components in the formation of bone. The bone is the human body’s major Calcium reservoir. Thus, these cells end up controlling Calcium levels. The patient could have a problem with osteoclast regeneration, thus leading to continued bone depletion (Dvořà ¡k, 2009). b) Osteoblast Cells: These are primarily bone cells that form bone. They only possess one nucleus and are formed from other cells known as osteoprogenitor cells. They function via the production of osteoid, better known as the bone matrix. After secretion, the matrix is then, together with Phosphate and Calcium, mineralized to form bone (Dvořà ¡k, 2009). When these cells mature and stop producing bone, they become flat and line the bone surface. Here, they regulate the entry and departure of Calcium and

Identufy the six techniques for writing a successful narrative, and Essay

Identufy the six techniques for writing a successful narrative, and describe how this can be applied to one or more of the reading in Part 3 of your textbook - Essay Example They can even be therapeutic – giving us an outlet to express ourselves and deal with emotions that might otherwise be threatening or unpleasant (Parker and Wampler, 2006). The common bond of all stories is the narrative aspect – how the story is written, or told. According to Arlov (2005), there are six aspects of an effectively written story. These are: using chronological order; having a conflict that must be resolved; showing the action, instead of just telling what happened; making a clearly defined point – the theme of the story; placing a greater emphasis on the most important details; and using examples from everyday life (Arlov, 2005). In this paper, the art of storytelling – the successful incorporation of each of these aspects - is examined in the work of Obafemi Carr. Carr’s story, â€Å"The Game of My Life,† is (on the surface) about his participation, as a 29-year-old man, in a YMCA basketball game. A deeper analysis, however, reveals that it is about his relationship with his father and, perhaps to a greater extent, about his ability to overcome his own youthful insecurities. The beginning action starts at the present moment – in the basketball, but then the story flashes back to the â€Å"beginning† - the narrator (Carr)’s childhood. From there, Carr progresses in chronological order to his teenage and college years, and then he takes the reader back to the present with him – back to the ball game. This flashback-flash forward device works because it only displaces the reader chronologically for the first three paragraphs in order to better set up the story’s tension. Carr’s story has one main conflict that needs to be resolved. From the story’s text, the reader gathers that Carr grew up feeling distanced from his father because of his lack of sports involvement. As Carr puts it, â€Å"My father hadnt taught me the game, probably because he had grown up in

Musculoskeletal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Musculoskeletal - Essay Example Another vital electrolyte in musculoskeletal function is Potassium. Its role is concerned with the neutralization of metabolic acids that deplete bone. Potassium salts taken into the body via fruits and vegetables yield Potassium bicarbonate via metabolism. Were these not to be taken in adequate amounts, they would lead to mineral compounds that alkalize bone being recruited from the bone, thus resulting in bone resorption, a possible cause for the patients need for a hip replacement. The resorption of bone to provide alkalization fluids leads to bone weakening (Denegar et al, 2004). a) Osteocytes: These are star shaped cells of the bone that are surrounded by the bone matrix. They are mature forms of other bone cells called osteoblasts. They possess long branches from their main body that extend and connect to other adjacent osteocytes. They perform a crucial role in the maintenance of body fluids of Calcium ion levels. They carry this function out by regulating the resorption and formation of bone, thus controlling the amount of calcium in the body, since Calcium ions are essential components in the formation of bone. The bone is the human body’s major Calcium reservoir. Thus, these cells end up controlling Calcium levels. The patient could have a problem with osteoclast regeneration, thus leading to continued bone depletion (Dvořà ¡k, 2009). b) Osteoblast Cells: These are primarily bone cells that form bone. They only possess one nucleus and are formed from other cells known as osteoprogenitor cells. They function via the production of osteoid, better known as the bone matrix. After secretion, the matrix is then, together with Phosphate and Calcium, mineralized to form bone (Dvořà ¡k, 2009). When these cells mature and stop producing bone, they become flat and line the bone surface. Here, they regulate the entry and departure of Calcium and

Organization and Management_theories Essay Example for Free

Organization and Management_theories Essay Organization is a complex and intricate framework whose nature, behavior, effects, consequences and incidents are broad and ambiguous. It is not automatically comprehensible and manageable as any person dealing with it remains uncertain of what the organization is all about. This is so simply because the behavior, conditions and status of the organization is contingent or dependent upon individual members. Hence, one must first have to determine the basic traits, behavior, disposition, aims, and positions of each member before one can truly have the rudimentary idea of an organization which could guide and lead towards its dealings for a better and more effective management policies. Managing an organization requires a basic framework, plan, strategy or principles on how the manager will deal to his or her subordinates. These framework, plan, strategy or principles should be possessed by the manager, and should be well defined with a sense of concreteness and direction, before he or she can deal with his or her subordinates. The success of the manager’s plan or the fulfillment of his or her objective is basically determined on how efficacious and sustaining is his methods of management towards the subordinates. The manager must devise and establish such a framework, plan, strategy or principles which would best fit to the basic structure and environment in which he is managing, and one that is acceptable, favorable and bearable by all subordinates. This paper concerns the need for a manager to have an instrumental and conceptual knowledge in everyday practice. This includes the assessments of various frameworks critically analyzing some management and organizational methods and theories that may be utilized and applied as a management policy. The manager may not contend only to use one method, but resort to various methods could before practical and efficacious in reaching for the intended output. The manager therefore, must possess a sound and rational discretion, this being the condition sine qua non, in order for him to make use of the various management theories and methods which he may deem fit, convenient and effective within the premises and circumstances of the establishment or enterprise which he or she is managing or dealing. Critique on the Classical Models The classical thinkers like Plato waxes some ideas though profoundly and abstractly laid down in his The Laws and The Republic. He advanced the idea that a leader must necessarily possess a general idea of everything to the extent that he or she must know the basic function of each unit in the community. Plato would suggest that managers must be acquainted to his or her subordinates, especially their strengths, talents, skills, ability and capacity so as he may designate and assign them to such a job where such subordinate or member of the community is best fitted and productive. The explicit theory of the one best way to organize is normally ascribed to the classical theorists, notably Frederick Taylor and Max Weber, but it is, as we have seen, much older, even if it then only concerned social organization. Taylor’s model sprang from factory production and Weber’s from the offices of public administration, but they had a lot in common—notably a reliance on standardization of work, control of quality, fine-grained division of labor, and a strict hierarchy. They both strongly believed that the organizational models they proposed would prevail and eventually supplant all others because they were the most efficient. Weber’s interest was not in organization per se, but in the role it played in politics and economics in general. His discussion of bureaucracy therefore centered on its legal and political ramifications, as well as its part in the general rationalization of society—a result of the growing hegemony of rational means-ends relations. Weber viewed bureaucracy as the epitome of this development, working with supreme efficiency, and believed it would supersede all other organization forms. In Weber’s eyes, this development was not necessarily in humanity’s interest—on the contrary, he saw in the efficiency of bureaucracy a frightening potential to lock us into an Iron Cage of machine-like existence. With Weber’s own definition of sociology in mind, it is difficult to understand how he could be so sure of the inevitable and total domination of a single organizational structure. In that definition, he bases sociology squarely on an understanding of individual action and interaction, based on individuals’ subjective understanding of their situation and the purpose of their own actions (Fivelsdal 1971). Supra-individual concepts such as structure, function, and system are rejected as causes. One should think that human variation would make room for more than one structural form, and at least that its grim advances could be blocked by a pervasive tendency among disgruntled individuals to choose (for subjective reasons) other solutions. Henri Fayol and later Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick emphasized formal authority and the role of direct supervision (Mintzberg 1979), but the spirit of their work was the same as Taylor’s. You might even say that they were not really presenting theories of organization at all, but recipes—indicating the best solution for every type of activity, just as Plato did in the meticulous details of The Laws. The early theorists’ belief in the existence of final, superior solutions and their inescapable triumph can be viewed as an expression of their times—of the rapid progress of science and technology; the immense success of the mass-producing factory, the general increase in rational attitudes; and a rather naive belief in the simpleness of human affairs and their resemblance to physical systems. Buckley (1967) has suggested that such theories represented a continuation of the Social Physics the central notion of which was that man was a physical object, a kind of advanced machine; that behavior and social relations were subject to natural laws of the same kind as the laws of physics; and that man and society could be analyzed and managed accordingly. In politics and history the Marxian visions of inevitable social transformations embodied much of the same spirit, even if the underlying analysis was more sophisticated. The belief in the rationality and inevitability of things was thus a reflection of the contemporary beliefs in progress and technology, and the notion of the one best solution also appeals to our natural thirst for simplification—a faith in a one best way is much more reassuring than the acknowledgment of a bewildering array of optional solutions. As such, this view lingers on today—both in the minds of managers and in the offerings of consultants. Implied in this view is a notion of technological determinism—if there is a one best way of organizing, there must also be a one best way to utilize any new tool. Such a one-to-one relationship between a tool and its optimal use means that the tool itself will, by necessity, have strong bearings on organizational design. It is quite obvious that Taylor included tools and machinery in his designs for factory organization, and that the properties of those tools and machines were important determinants for the design of jobs and the relationships between them. The connection may not seem just as plain when we look at Weber and his theories of bureaucracy—there do not seem to be so many tools in use. However, the most important organizational tool in history (at least before the computer) has probably been the art of writing, and Weber’s bureaucracy is explicitly based on written procedures and written information. In other words, if bureaucracy is the one best way to organize administrative work in a literate society, and it presupposes the use of writing, the properties of writing (as a tool) must be regarded as one of the most the most important determinants of bureaucratic organization—maybe even the most important. In Scott’s (1987) classification of theoretical schools, both scientific management and Weber’s theory of bureaucracy are closed, rational system models. They presuppose that organizational actors are fully rational in all their decisions, that they always strive to achieve the organization’s expressed goals, and that the structure and functions of an organization are independent of its environment. Simon’s Bounded Rationality In the development of organization theory, the belief in the one best way and the closed, rational model of organizations (Scott 1987) gradually came under attack after World War II. One of the early attackers was Herbert A. Simon, who developed a new theory of decision making, opposing the reigning concept of unbounded rationality in organizational and economic matters. Simon attacked both the economists’ image of economic man and the rational manager of the earlier management theorists. Although he seemed to accept the notion that there was an objective, theoretical best way in a given set of circumstances, he denied the possibility of finding this solution in practice. Simon’s great common-sense realization was that humans operate with limited information and wits in an exceedingly complex world, and that they have no choice but to simplify, to operate with a bounded rationality, to satisfice—not maximize. The basic realization of an objective best way is not a practical possibility, even if it may exist in theory. The objective, practical goal of organizational members is therefore never to find the optimal solution (even if they may think so themselves), but to find one that is good enough for their ends—which usually also means good enough for the organization to survive. It also follows that there must be many such solutions, and that different people and different organizations will more often than not choose different solutions. Scott (1987) also classifies the theory presented in Administrative Behavior as belonging to the closed, rational system model. This seems a bit unjust, since several passages in the book discuss interactions with the environment (for instance, the discussions in Chapter VI, The Equilibrium of the Organization) and fully document that Simon does not believe that an organization is an island to itself. However, the theory of decision making that is developed in the book largely treats organizational decisions as something internal to the organization, and this may perhaps merit Scott’s classification. Because the environmental connection is more pronounced in the book coauthored with March (March and Simon 1958), the theory presented there is classified by Scott as belonging to the open, rational system models. These models represent organizations as predominantly rational systems, but they recognize that organizations are continuously dependent on exchanges with their environment and must adapt to it to survive. Transaction Costs Analysis Another approach in the open, rational systems category is the transaction cost analysis developed by Williamson. However, Williamson’s interest in organizational structure centers on questions of organization size and the degree of vertical integration. He argues that the cost of exchanging goods or services between people, departments, or organizations will decide whether or not a function will be incorporated into the organization. The primeval, natural state of business activities can be seen as a situation with individual producers exchanging goods and services through the market. If markets or tasks (or both) grow so complex that the cognitive limits of the producers become overloaded or if the transaction costs increase for other reasons, there will be a pressure to increase the level of organization in order to overcome these difficulties. Applied on the current situation, this implies that existing organizations will try to internalize transactions if they believe they can execute them more efficiently than the market or if they become so complex that market-based solutions become intractable. For instance, an auto manufacturer will develop or buy its own dealer network if it believes it can sell more cars or fetch a bigger profit that way; an aluminum producer will buy into bauxite mines if it believes that this will shield it from dangerous price fluctuations. Technology has a part in transaction theory insofar as it changes transaction costs in the market, inside the organizations, or both. Since information technology has a great potential for changing the conditions for coordination—both within and between organizations, it should be of great interest to the transaction cost perspective. The Several Best Ways: The Human Relations Movement The human relations school brought the individual and the social relations between individuals into focus. People in organizations were no longer seen only—not even mainly—as rational beings working to achieve the goals of the organization. It was discovered that they were just as much driven by feelings, sentiments, and their own particular interests—which could be quite different from what classical theory presupposed. Moreover, the new studies also showed that there was an informal structure in every organization, growing from the unofficial contacts people in the organization had with each other. This informal structure could be just as important as the formal one for predicting the outcome of decision-making processes—sometimes even more important. There were a number of main themes investigated by the different approaches within the human relations school, and most of them are still actively pursued by researchers. The most basic is the insistence on the importance of individual characteristics and behaviors in understanding organizational behavior. This easily leads to an interest in the effects of different leadership styles, as well as in the effects of race, class, and cultural background. Formalization in work is strongly repudiated on the grounds that it is detrimental to both worker commitment and psychological well-being, and participative management, job enlargement, or, at least, job rotation is prescribed. In fact, human relations theorists have always been eager to promote changes in organizations to produce what they see as more humane work places, and they claim that the less formal, more participative organization will also be the most productive. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to criticize at least the most ardent proponents of these views for prescribing one best way solutions just as much as the classical theorists (Mohr 1971). With their emphasis on humans and their psychological and social properties, the human relations theorists were not especially interested in tools and technology except as a source of repressive formalization. However, even if we might say that they inherited a belief in optimal solutions from the classical theorists, their theories implied that it was human needs and qualities, and not technology, that dictated the optimal organizational forms. In other words, it was in their view possible to design and operate organizations principally on the basis of human characteristics, and thus thwart what others viewed as technological imperatives. Woodward Among the new research projects were Woodward’s pathbreaking studies of a number of manufacturing companies in the southeast of England in the 1950s (Mintzberg 1979, Clegg 1990), in which she showed how three basic production technologies strongly correlated with a corresponding number of organization structures: Bureaucratization increased as one went from unit or small batch production via large batch or mass production to continuous-process production. First, this discovery led to renewed faith in technological determinism: there now seemed to be not one best way to organize, but rather a best way for each class of production technology—in Woodward’s case, unit production, mass production, and process industry. The Multitude of Ways: Sociotechnics In England a group of researchers developed a distinct framework, which in addition to action approach, they also proposed that the distinguishing feature of organizations is that they are both social and technical systems (Scott 1987, p. 108). The core of the organization represented, so to speak, an interface between a technical system and a human (social) system. This implied that, in order to achieve maximum performance in an organization, it did not suffice to optimize only the technical or the social system, nor to search for the best match between existing technological and organizational elements. The goal should be a joint optimization of the two—creating a synergy that yielded more than could be achieved simply by adding the two together. Their preferred organizational solutions emphasized co-determination, internalized regulation, and workgroup autonomy. They also discovered that changes at the workgroup level did not survive for long without compatible changes in the overlying structures—a discovery that was also made in a series of experiments with autonomous workgroups in Norwegian industry in the 1960s, inspired by the Tavistock group and directed by the newly founded Work Research Institute in Oslo (Thorsrud and Emery 1970). During their projects they also learned that the environment impinged on intra-organizational activities to a much larger degree than they had anticipated. Sociotechnics, for me is here taking a position that is particularly relevant for information technology, even if sociotechnics was established as a theoretical framework before computers started to make themselves felt to any significant degree. When working with information technology in organizations, it is of utmost importance to be aware of the intimate interdependence between the computer-based systems, the individuals using them, the manual routines, and the organizational structure. Any serious attempt to optimize the use of information technology must acknowledge this reciprocity. It is therefore quite remarkable that sociotechnical theory has remained so much out of fashion for the last decade, just the period when the use of computers has really exploded. One reason may be the general lack of interest in information technology that has plagued the social sciences overall; another is that those who were interested within the sociotechnical tradition tended to be drawn toward research on the cognitive aspects of computer use, especially the (literal) user interfaces of computer systems, neglecting the overlying question of the broader interaction of humans and computer systems in structural terms.

Townsends Theories of Recruitment and Selection

Townsends Theories of Recruitment and Selection This essay will argue Townsends research into the paradox of recruitment and selection, training and the high level of turnover that appears in the growing industry of call. His research is based on PowerGrid, which is an Australian Government owned Power Company. There has been an enormous increase in the number of call centres, due to this a large number of interesting issues have arisen such as high level of turnover in call centres, despite companies spending vast sums of money on training and recruiting. The research of Townsend is valuable and meaningful for there has been little academic research conducted in the area of recruitment, training and turnover in call centres. This essay will be based on the critical review of Townsends use of research methods, findings, practical implications and the concepts he used. Townsend adopts a three-step research strategy. Specifically, a seven-month non-participant job observation, ten interviews of managers and leaders in the organization and an analysis of the human resource documents compose the research method. Townsend considers the importance of PowerGrid call centre mainly for two reasons: At first, during the 1990s Australian government deregulation to power supplies session, PowerGrid had grew out of joint efforts by other power suppliers; Next, the PowerGrid call centre was based on Erlang C model which uses mathematical method to calculate and predict call volumes and keep balance of contact within the call centre (Angus, 2001).ÂÂ  Townsends findings suggest that the company was able to reduce its cost of training and recruitment through internal transfers. Moreover, Townsend points out that training should focus more on emotional labour as it is important for call centre agents to show to their customers rather than solely focus on techn ical trainings and the role of the human resource department is to hire the best candidates and filter out the ones who may be incompetent. Looking at the literature, the paradox between high cost of recruitment and training and high ratio of employees turnover in the sector of call centres, could be described as a sacrificial HR strategy (Wallace, Eagleson Waldersee, 2000), this formed the basis of Townsends research. By agreeing with (korczynski, 2002) Townsend accepts the idea that organizations face dual imperatives for instance call centres want to minimise their costs but on the other hand have to provide excellent service to its customers. But companies mainly use call centres to minimize their cost rather than offer customer service, although call centre managers describes customers service as their main goal (Robinson Morley, 2006). Townsend agrees with (Mulholland, 2002) that whatever the type of call centre it may be, Customer service representatives (CSRs) have to show a high degree of emotional labor to the customers. CSRs are also required to have the ability of micro-self manage (Wray-Bliss, 2001).But on the other hand he disagrees with (Hochschild, 1983) that those CSRs who displayed artificial emotional labour suffered from negative consequences. Townsends argument is supported by findings of (Wharton, 1993) who through his research suggested that emotional labour does not cause any negative consequences. Townsend discusses the importance of the role of recruitment towards the future and wellbeing of an organisation and compares it to the role of a gate keeper (2007: 57). It should be noted that by hiring competent applicants the firms productivity and performance can be improved significantly (Russo, Rietveld, Nijkamp Gorter, 1995). It is also better to employ those people who are willing to learn. (2007: 478). Besides, Townsend agrees with (Breaugh Starke, 2000) who suggested that new recruits job satisfaction and initial performance should be more important to organisations. That is, when the applicants are being hired it is important for the employers to see, whether the applicants attitude is suitable to organisations and this should be considered more important than ones technical skills. As mentioned before, PowerGrid is a government-owned Australian electricity supplier. Townsend acknowledges that there is difference between governments owned companies and privately owned companies. As he identifies the unique characteristics, there is a debate on whether the findings of this case could be generalized to private companies. Moreover, its rational to doubt whether Townsend has paid attention to the fact that his research is conducted in Government run working environment. Townsend argues that PowerGrid being a Government owned company has to have its call centers in the country, which increases costs, while on the other hand they need to be efficient in terms of operations. But being a Government owned company it has the protection of the Government in terms of costs. Private companies on the other hand do not have this advantage and may need to outsource their call centres in order to cut down their costs, to low costs countries such as India and Philippines (Snow, 2 005). Townsend identifies that PowerGrid makes internal transfers which it called positive turnover; this is when CSRs moved within the organisation. Due to this the organisation is able to reduce its training and recruitment cost which otherwise would have been spent on hiring and training new candidates. As (Robinson Morley, 2006) confirmed high staff turnover rate in call centres can greatly affect the cost impact on business and that could be direct costs; that are training, recruiting etc. or could be indirect for instance bad customer service. But Townsend fails to give any evidence for his findings as to how we can see if the organization was able to reduce its costs by internal transfers. According to Townsend, PowerGrid used a three stage training programs for the new recruits (2007: 485). He mentions that the first stage is the basic training program away from the computer and it is done in an environment that is decorated with nappies, baby clothes and pacifiers. He mentions that the management calls it the nursery. However, he questions the logic of using this word and shows some reservations about whether using this word is appropriate for this level but then agrees to the concept of the management who call it as part of the fun in the organization. But training programs are at the entry level of the company and may give wrong perceptions of the company, the perceptions may become permanent and in future it would be difficult to change these perceptions (Marchington, 2005). Townsend points out at some of the problems faced by Powergrid with regards to training of new CSRs. Previously the training time for news CSRs was eight weeks (2007: 484). A new system was to be introduced that would half that time to nearly four weeks. Even though the management spend AU$ 30 million on the new system, it turned out to be a failure as it not only doubled the training time as new recruits would have to learn both the systems but also increased employee dissatisfaction. He points out the ineffective communication and low employee involvement during the development and implementation of this new system when he mentions about the training team leader who points out that the management did not disclose to him information about the new system due to which the new system became an add on (2007: 484) to the old system rather than a completely new system. According to Lewis, (1999) there is a direct link between communication process within the organisation and organisationa l change implementation. Townsend identifies that the training for the employees was mostly focused on technical and product knowledge rather than on emotional labour. He believes that money would be well spent if it was spent on trying to improve the emotional labour rather than spend it on other skills. But he fails to provide any ideas on how this can be improved. Townsend points out at the dissatisfaction of the CSRs with the management (2007: 485). The employees are unhappy with the schedule for their trainings because they had to perform their training modules outside their working hours. The employees felt they were already overburdened as they only got thirty minutes of release time which was spent mainly to check their emails. The CSRs would be dissatisfied because a CSRs job is more stressful and less satisfying as compared to other jobs (Holdsworth Cartwright, 2003). Dissatisfaction of managers can be identified in PowerGrid. As a call centre manager called himself between a rock and a hard place (2007: 487) as they had to do continuous recruitment as some of their employees would move through to the larger organization due to internal transfers and many would leave the organization altogether as they would be heavily scrutinized through the software analysis system or will not get enough pay or benefits. So in order to retain the employees the organization must offer its employees good pay and benefits and should adopt a transparent performance management system (Raman, Budhwar Balasubramanian, 2007). There can be weaknesses identified in Townsends research methods. He used three steps to conduct his research. Firstly, he used non participant job observations to carry out his research. Non participant job observations include two types direct or indirect observations (Rowley, 2004). It has not been mentioned if he used direct or indirect observations, as in direct observations questions can be asked and may lead to change in behavior of the people observed, on the other hand indirect observations cannot be used for gaining information on perceptions, attitudes etc. (Rowley, 2004). He made observations only once or twice a week which seem not enough. Effective observation is an art and needs to be honed and perfected overtime (Rowley, 2004). There is nothing mentioned in the article that suggests that whether the author has experience or has gone through training to conduct and observation at this level. Secondly, he then conducted eighteen interviews of key personnel in the company who included contact centre manager, call centre manager, training team leader, roster and planning officer and human resource representatives, out of which he selects only ten interviews that he believed were relevant to topic of his research. The author should provide more detailed criteria for choosing only ten interviews out of the original eighteen. Thirdly, he obtained data from the organisation related to the Human resource department and analysed it to reach the conclusion. He has not mentioned what type of data he used to come to conclusions neither he has mentioned any process or methods that he used to analyse and interpret the data. There are two methods for data analysis; Computer based analysis and manual analysis (Borch Arthur, 1995). So in this case we dont know if he has used manual or computer based analysis or a combination of both. As some researchers use one type of methodology while some use a combination of both (Borch Arthur, 1995). Due to the debatable nature of Townsends research methods it is very difficult to find his results conclusive. However, he agrees with (Mulhollands, 2002) which suggest that CSRs need to show a high degree of emotional labor to the customers. Lack of proper planning and communication can be seen between the management of PowerGrid as they wasted AU$30 million in trying to implement a new software without consulting the training team leader and it turned out to be an add on (2007: 486). He identified that the recruitment and selection department should act like a gate keeper (2007: 478) in order to only let in the right candidates. He emphasized that training should focus more on emotional labour, as it is the most important aspect while communicating with the customers, rather than focusing on technical skills. Townsend fails to identify by how much the company was able to reduce the cost of turnover when they had to keep recruiting throughout the year due to employees moving into th e larger organization or leaving the organization altogether. This research provides useful information for practitioners in the call centres. However, researchers who further study, need to research in depth into industry of call centre and should specially address the limitations found in Townsends study. Townsend wanted to consider the paradox of extensive recruitment and training conducted in call centres that are faced with high levels of turnover. He came to the conclusion that PowerGrid was able to reduce its cost of recruitment and training, by having internal transfers within the larger organisation. Furthermore, Townsend has been able to identify certain problems within PowerGrid. He has failed to highlight is there any difference between this call centre and other private call centres. He has advocated that there should be a great emphasis on training of emotional labour rather than technical training but he has been unable to provide any suggestion how it can be done. Finally, Non-participant job observations, interviews are types of qualitative research methods which can be called problematic because of problems with their validity and reliability (Kirk Miller, 1986) REFERENCES: Angus, I. (2001). An introduction to Erlang B and Erlang C. Telemanagement, (187): 6-8. Breaugh, J. and Starke, M. (2000). Research on employee recruitment: so many studies, so many remaining questions.Journal of Management, 26(3): 405-34. Borch, O.J. and Arthur, M.B. (1995). Strategic networks among small firms: implications for strategy research methodology. Journal of Management Studies, 32(4): 419-441 Catterall, M. (1996). Using Computer programs to code qualitative data. Marketing Intelligence Planning Journal, 14(4): 29- 33. Hochschild, A. (1983).The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human feeling.University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. Holdsworth, L and Cartwright, S. (2003). Empowerment, stress and satisfaction: an exploratory study of a call centre.Leadership Organisation Development Journal, 24 (3):131-140. Kirk, J. and Miller, M. (1986). Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research.London, Sage. Lewis, L.K. (1999). Disseminating information and soliciting input during planned organisational change: implementers targets, sources, and channels for communicating.Management Communication Quarterly, 13(1):43-75. korczynski, M. (2002).Human Resource Management in Service Work. Palgrave, Basingstoke Marchington, M. (2005). Human Resource Management at Work. London: Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks New Delhi. Mulholland, K. (2002). Gender emotional labour and teamworking in a call centre.Personnel review, 31(3):283-303. Raman, S.R.;Budhwar P. andBalasubramanian G. (2007).People management issues in Indian KPOs.Employee Relations, 29(6): 696-710. Robinson, G. and Morley, C. (2006). Call centre management: responsibilities and performance.International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17(3): 284-300. Rowley J. (2003) Researching people and organisations, Library Management Volume, 15(4/5): 208-214. Russo, G.; Rietveld, P.; Nijkam, P. and Gorter, C. (1995).Issues in recruitment strategies: an economic perspective.The International Journal of Career Management, 7(3): 3-13. Snow, J. (2005). UK call centres: crossroads of an Industry. Journal of Property Investment Finance, 23(6): 525-532. Townsend, K. (2005). Considering progress in Greenfield site.International employment relations review, 11(1/2):76-79 Wallace, C.;Eagleson, G. and Waldersee, R. (2000). The sacrificial HR strategy in callcentres. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 11(2): 174-184. Wharton, A.S. (1993). The affective consequences of service work.Work and Occupations, 20: 205-232 Wray-Bliss, E. (2001). Representing customer service: telephones and texts. Customer service. in Sturdy, A., Grugulis, I., Willmott, H. (Eds),Customer Service: Empowerment and Entrapment, Palgrave, London, .

Oppression in Ibsens Hedda Gabler Essay -- Hedda Gabler Essays

Oppression in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler One of the social issues dealt with in Ibsen's problem plays is the oppression of women by conventions limiting them to a domestic life. In Hedda Gabler the heroine struggles to satisfy her ambitious and independent intellect within the narrow role society allows her. Unable to be creative in the way she desires, Hedda's passions become destructive both to others and herself. Raised by a general (Ibsen 1444), Hedda has the character of a leader and is wholly unsuited to the role of "suburban housewife" (1461). Since she is unable to have the authority she craves, she exercises power by manipulating her husband George. She tells Thea, "I want the power to shape a man's destiny" (1483). Hedda's unsuitability for her domestic role is also shown by her impatience and evasiveness at any reference to her pregnancy. She confides to Judge Brack, "I've no leanings in that direction" (1471). Hedda desires intellectual creativity, not just the procreative power that binds her to a limited social function. But because her only means of exercising power is through a "credulous" husband (1490), Hedda envies Thea's rich intellectual partnership with Eilert Loevborg (1484), which produces as their creative "child" a bold treatise on the future of society (1473-74, 1494). Hedda's rivalry with Thea for power over Eilert is a conflict between Hedda's dominating intellect (s ymbolized by her pistols) and the traditionally feminine power of beauty and love (symbolized by Thea's long hair). Because Hedda lacks Thea's courage to leave her husband and risk ostracism, she tries to satisfy her intellect within society's constraints. First she seeks power through wealth and social status, marrying George on the condi... ...da bows to Thea's beautiful hair and, after playing a last dance on the piano, admits defeat: "Not free. Still not free! . . . From now on I'll be quiet" (1506-07). Hedda's tragedy is that she is denied the freedom to realize her creative potential, and so have the self-esteem that comes from personal achievement. Her attempt to retain her independence within society prevents her, through fear of scandal, from marrying the man with whom she might have had a relationship both individually satisfying and mutually supportive. In Hedda's suicide are seen the stifling of intellect and the emotional isolation caused by oppression, even within a commonplace bourgeois family where "People don't do such things!" (1507). Work Cited Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Trans. Michael Meyer. Third Edition. New York: Norton, 1981. 1443-1507.

Macbeth As A Tragedy According To Aristotles Definition :: essays research papers

While the genre of some works of literature can be debated, Macbeth written by William Shakespeare seems to fit into a perfect mold. Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy, combining seven elements that he believes make the genre of a work a tragedy, is that mold. Displaying all seven aspects, Macbeth fits the definition precisely. Key elements in the play substantiate the fact that Macbeth is a serious story, the first elements of Aristotle’s definition. From the first lines of the play, the mood is set featuring witches whom speak of witchcraft, potions and apparitions. Not only do the three witches aid in making this a serious story but also, they appealed to Elizabethans whom at the time believed in such supernatural phenomena. War for centuries has represented killing and feuding, thus, the war taking place between Scotland and Norway provided a dark component. The Thane of Cawdor’s rapidly approaching execution due to his deceiving the king also plays a role in this grim work. Murder throughout all of Macbeth is an essential aspect when dealing with the seriousness of the play. From the beginning, Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to do anything to overthrow King Duncan, whom is the king of Scotland, the role Macbeth desperately yearns for. During the excursion to become king, Macbeth successfully murders King Duncan, Macduff’s wife and children, and with the help of a group of murderers Banquo; a brave general who will inherit the Scottish throne. Through the whole play, while such dank occurrences are used to create deep mood, Shakespeare also uses strong language and words. Such as when Lady Macbeth calls upon the gods to make her man-like so she will have the fortitude to kill King Duncan herself in this quote, â€Å"Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here†¦ Make my blood thick†¦ Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark.† This type of language provokes thoughts of death, blood and darkness though the imagery such dank words create. The play also follows through with its theme of blood by in the end of the play, having both of its lead characters die. Lady Macbeth, distraught by guilt over the bloodshed, commits su icide while Macbeth is murdered and beheaded by Macduff, a Scottish noblemen.

British Rule in India to the French One in Algeria Essay

Critically Compare the British Rule in India to the French one in Algeria. Throughout the nineteenth century, the rivalling countries of Britain and France were both looking to expand into different continents and build a successful empire. There are many reasons for this thirst for expansion, including economic growth and territorial gains. According to Gildea the emergence of non-European countries such as United States and Japan as great powers fuelled the nationalistic appetite for the extension of borders and influence. The British rule in India; later coined the ‘British Raj’, began in 1858 and although coming under much strain in periods throughout, lasted until 1947 when they were finally given their independence. The French rule in Algeria spanned from 1830 to 1962 following the conclusion of the Algerian War and the signing of the Evian agreements. It is clear when examining both the rules of Great Britain in India and France in Algeria that there were signific ant differences in the ways the two countries were ran. The French used military might to control the population and quell any uprisings; one instigator of such revolts was Abd al-Kader. These heavy handed tactics seemed to be less successful when compared to how the British reacted to Indian violence. Great Britain decided to grant concessions when faced by fierce opposition limiting the amount turmoil and essentially making it easier to diplomatically push western ideas upon them. France’s colonisation of Algeria was not the first time that they had tried to expand their borders and compete on a world stage with the other world powers, infact before looking to Africa France had the second largest empire in the world, second only to Great Britain. In 1605 France had secured a territory in what is now Nova Scotia in Canada. Throughout the 17th century they had been highly successful in adding much of the North American continent, also the West Indies. However after a string of conflicts such the ‘Seven Years War (1756-1763)’ and the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) the other world powers had been successful in annexing these territories from France. The end of what has been labelled the ‘First French Empire’ was now coming to an end. In 1830 during a meeting between the French ambassador and the Algerian Dey regarding loans and trade the Dey struck the French ambassador with a fly whip. This act is said to be the final trigger cause which lead to the French occupation. However it is a wider known fact that there was a distinct lack of political support for the new monarchy and this act of war would help stir up national pride and increase confidence. Whilst appearing on the front of it a petty reason for declaring war on a country and occupying it for 132 years, there are other motives behind the bold political decision to initiate a ‘Second French Empire’. Algeria was seen to be of high strategic significance as it offered a springboard into the rest of Africa, including such nations as Tunisia, Libya and Niger. Gildea agrees with this argument noting â€Å"Algeria, which it [France] occupied in 1830, was the cornerstone of her Mediterranean and African ambitions†. Therefore, by occupying Algeria and furthermore Congo and Niger in 1880 they had secured themselves once more as a successful Empire capable of competing in the world stage. In 1869 the Suez Canal was officially opened for traffic, this narrow strip of water dissecting what is now Saudi Arabia on one side and Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, offered a significantly faster shipping route into the East. It also eradicated the need for trading ships to visit the perilous coastline of Cape Horn in South Africa where piracy was rife. This vital water passage was also utilised by the British in order to transport good to India. The East India Trading Company was founded in 1600 with the purpose of travelling to Asia in search of previously unsourced trading links. They operated under the authority of the British crown and even controlled a military force. They were responsible for directly trying to impose Western beliefs and cultures on India much too soon in the occupation and too forcefully. This lead to a largely hostile reception and in 1857 there was a large scale rebellion. The British had been religiously insensitive towards both the Hindu and Muslim populations. The British had issued new gunpowder cartridges which were believed to be greased using cow or pig fat. This practice would have been unacceptable by both the Hindu and Muslim sepoys, however it wasn’t just the Bengal Army who wished to be rid of the British; the Indian aristocracy had lost vast amounts of power and influence. Officials such as Sir Thomas Munro could see little use in â€Å"a parasitic land owning class† commenting on how preferential methods of governance would be village communities as â€Å"it fitted better with the europeanized and more efficient type of administration that had been built up during the nineteenth century† The British leant many lessons from the 1857 Rebellion, and as subsequently the British Raj was created. This is a far more sympathetic approach t o ruling over India. No longer did the British Government and the East India Trading Company underestimate the need to be culturally aware. This issue of religion and culture provides a distinction between the British methods in the India and the French methods in Algeria. In comparison the French continually used military force to repress uprisings. Abd al-Kader, as previously mentioned was an instigator of such uprisings, however after the French Army swelled in size it became possible for them to employ ‘scorched-earth’ tactics, ferociously supressing the local population, consequently al-Kader was forced to surrender in 1847 . In the late 19th Century France began emigrating large numbers of Europeans into Algeria, â€Å"By 1881 there were 300,000 Europeans (Half of them French) in an area of 2.5 million Arabs.†Another example of France trying to reduce Islamic culture comes from after the Second World War. Charles de Gaulle; the leader of the French provisional government offered to grant French citizenship to certain Algerian Muslims, however in doing so they would essential renounce their faith and religion. In India Britain used a ‘divide and rule’ policy in order to retain peace. Akhtar Sandhu suggests â€Å"the British adopted the policy to maintain harmony and peace. They valued unity and tranquillity in the British India.† These are the act of a â€Å"conqueror who decides to stay and rule†. It is clear that the British way of integrating Western culture within Indian society was more successful than the equivalent process involving the French in Algeria. This can be seen from the fact that within the upper classes of Indian society a new elite was being born. These people had respected professions, such as â€Å"lawyers, doctors, teachers, journalists and businessmen†, they had â€Å"established a Western life-style using the English language and English schools† Outside the upper class Great Britain had introduced Western technology to help improve the livelihood of the population. The introduction of railways and the improvement of irrigation methods had improved both industrial and agricultural efficiency. In Algeria the French also brought about Western civilisation to some extent, creating schools and building cities as well as constructing hospitals, however they spent 162 years with almost constant violence. Their eagerness to us military force to resolve issues lead to resentment from many Algerian nationals. In Conclusion, there were a number of similarities when looking at the resistance of the colonial occupation in both Algeria and India, however what differed is the reactions of the occupying country’s and how they learnt from their mistakes. The British at first tried to force Western ideals against the Hindu and Muslim Indians. However they quickly learnt that countering their revolts with over aggressive military action was counter-intuitive to their cause. Instead they began to offer concessions in order to appease the nationals. The policy of divide and rule ensured there would be minimal friction between the multiplicities of religious beliefs. In contrast the French confronted violent upheaval with similarly vicious tactics such as the policy of ‘scorched-earth’ instead of pacifying the African ideals. However, both the French and British Empires did to differing extents manage to integrate Western technologies such as railways and modern irrigation methods. In addition both occupations were valuable building blocks in which to expand their empires; France into Africa and Great Britain into Asia. Bibliography -Carter., M, From the East India Company to the Suez Canal, (Duke, 2004), pp. 667-668 -French Colonial Empires, http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/frenchempire.html, (Accessed 10th January 2012) -Gildea., R, Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800 – 1914, Third Edition (Oxford, 2003) pp. 337 -Gildea., R, Barricade and Borders: Europe 1800-1914, Third Edition, (Oxford, 2003), pp. 338 -Jones., J, Algerian Independence, http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his312/lectures/algeria.htm, (accessed 8th January 2012) -Pritchard., J.S, In search of Empire: the French in the Americas, 1670-1730, (Cambridge, 2004) – Sandhu., A.H Reality of ‘Divide and Rule’ in British India, Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, Vol.XXX, No.1, 2009 -Thompson, E and Garratt., E.T, History of British rule in India, Volume 2, (Cambridge,1999), pp. 426 -Tanford., L.S, Countries and their Culture: Algeria, http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Algeria.html#b, (accessed 14th January 2012)

Disney Corporate Strategy(a).Pdf Essay

Introduction The next big takeover fight – and it would be a beauty – may involve Walt Disney Productions. By the time you get this issue, Disney’s defense strategy may already be unfolding. But it will produce no quick victory for Disney even if a white knight comes along, and even if the principle attacker, Saul Steinberg, can be bought off. One by one, Hollywood’s great studios have been plucked by the smart out-of-town moneymen. Paramount by the late Charles Bluhdorn. Twentieth Century-Fox by Marvin Davis and Marc Rich. MGMUnited Artists by Kirk Kerkorian. Columbia by Coca-Cola. Now, it may be Disney’s turn. But Disney will not go quietly. – Forbes, June 4, 1984 Ron Miller, Disney Productions’ CEO reflected on the remarkable events of the past several months. Disney, the symbol of wholesome family entertainment, had become the target of a hostile takeover attempt by a well-known raider, Saul Steinberg. Steinberg now owned 12% of th e firm and was threatening to acquire more. While Miller had orchestrated several defensive maneuvers, Steinberg had now announced a public tender offer to purchase 49% of the equity at a price that was a 45% premium over where the stock had been prior to the raid. To fund this purchase, Steinberg was promising to sell the film library and certain real estate assets to outside investors. Steinberg also had a track record of accepting greenmail, having received $47 million just months prior from Quaker State Oil Company. Miller faced a clear dilemma as to how best to respond. Should he continue the defensive fight by paying greenmail or should he encourage the board to sell the company? History of Disney With a $500 loan, animator Walt Disney and his brother Roy founded Walt Disney Productions, an animation film studio, in 1923 in Anaheim California. One of Disney’s first popular cartoons was â€Å"Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.† Unfortunately, Disney lost the 1 Research Asso ciate Peter Eberle prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Todd R. Zenger of the Olin School of Business for exclusive use as an in-class discussion piece. The information in this case was obtained from published sources and in some instances raw data has been estimated. *This case is based upon â€Å"Walt Disney Productions: Greenmail† published by Harvard Business School Publishing, 1988. September 2002 Revised September 2009 contract dispute with his distributor because Disney did not own the copyright. After this incident, Disney was very astute about maintaining copyright control over his characters and content. Disney’s breakthrough came in 1928 with the animated short, â€Å"Steamboat Willie,† the first animated film featuring sound. It also introduced the first of many famous and timeless Disney cartoon characters, Mickey Mouse. Disney also was the first to use color animation with the cartoon â€Å"Flowers and Trees† in 1930. In another innovative and risky move, Disney created and released the first feature-length animated film, â€Å"Snow White,† in 1937. At the time, full-length animated films were not considered commercially viable. Nonetheless, â€Å"Snow White† was a critical and commercial success and was the first in a string of animated films over the next decades, including: â€Å"Pinocchio,† â€Å"Fantasia,† â€Å"Dumbo,† â€Å"Bam bi,† â€Å"Peter Pan,† â€Å"Cinderella,† and â€Å"Sleeping Beauty.† Disney’s films were initially successful due to the style and high quality of animation, attention to detail, timeless and family-oriented story lines, and timeless characters such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Disney not only used these characters throughout multiple films and cartoons, but also leveraged and increased their reach through merchandising, beginning in 1929 with a licensed Mickey Mouse pencil tablet. Placing these characters on T-shirts, watches, toys and other items increased both profits and recognition of the characters, and Disney, among consumers. Following his success in animated films, Disney moved into non-animated films in the 1944 with the establishment of the Educational and Industrial Film Division. The first major success of this division was â€Å"Seal Island,† a nature film that won an Oscar in 1949. Also in 1949, Disney formed a mus ic company to create, produce and maintain control over the music and songs featured in Disney productions but often performed by famous artists. Disney later moved into live-action features with â€Å"Treasure Island† in 1950. Disney continued to innovate in the live-action format by combining animation with live action in the film â€Å"Mary Poppins.† As Disney’s film library had grown, Disney brought distribution in-house with the formation of Buena Vista Distribution Co., in 1953. In films, Disney kept costs low by developing its own talent pool. For cartoon features, characters were infinitely reusable and never required a salary, while for live-action features, Disney shied away from using well-known and expensive talent. Audiences were drawn because of the reputation Disney had established for providing quality, reliable, and predictable family entertainment. In the early 1950s, Disney was quick to recognize the growing medium of television to provide new outlets for Disney characters with â€Å"The Wonderful World of Disney† first airing in 1953 and â€Å"The Mickey Mouse Club† in 1955. Disney’s television productions both the long-running shows and features were quite successful. During the same time, Walt Disney envisioned a theme park that would bring the characters and stories of Disney to life featuring entertainment for all ages. Again, his idea was considered too risky and he was unable to raise substantial outside funding for the project. He purchased 225 acres outside of Anaheim and opened Disneyland in 1955. Disney Strategy (A) 2 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Disneyland was hugely successful, grossing $10 million in 1956. Cross-promotion of the park was achieved through featuring it on the â€Å"Wonderful World of Disney.† The only drawback of Disneyland was that private hotel, restaurant and shop owners who built adjacent to the park profited hugely from park attendance, but Disney was unable to share in these revenues. Additionally, due to the small size of the park there was little room for further development both inside and outside of the park To address the drawbacks of Disneyland, Disney purchased 28,000 acres near Orlando Florida in 1964 and 1965. This would provide the site for Walt Disney World, which would include not only the theme park aspects of Disneyland, but also hotels and accommodations, shopping, camping, natural areas, and permanent residential and industrial areas. Also, with 28,000 acres (as opposed to Disneyland’s 225) there was ample room for future expansion. As with Disneyland, Walt Disney World was extremely well planned and laid out with no expense spared to achieve the quality and attention to detail for which Disney was known. Following the opening in 1972, the park was wildly popular and extremely profitable, attracting 11 million visitors and bringing in $139 million in revenues its first year. Walt Disney World would shortly become the number one travel destination in the world. Disney formed the Walt Disney Travel Company to work with travel agents, tour organizers and airlines in order to drive travel to the Walt Disney World area. Walt Disney World provided the stage for another of Disney’s visionary exploits, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT), the concept for which Disney laid out prior to his death in 1966. EPCOT’s construction began in the 1970’s and it opened in 1982. Following Walt’s d eath, Roy O. Disney assumed leadership and focused on the theme parks: completing Walt Disney World and EPCOT. The successes of the theme parks led to a joint venture with the Oriental Land Company of Japan in 1976 to develop Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983. This project required no capital investment from Disney, who received a percentage-based licensing fee, as well as provided consulting services during operations. The venture was completely owned by the Japanese partner, but was planned and operated by Disney. In 1983, the Disney Television group entered the cable TV distribution with the Disney Channel. Also in 1983, they launched Touchstone Films, an independent film label, to allow Disney to produce and market films with more mature content and reach a more adult audience where movie attendance was strong. It was hoped that an independent label would not tarnish the Disney image. The first release was â€Å"Splash,† in 1984, which was the highest grossing Disney film since 1964. Walt Disney Productions’ Businesses As Disney grew over time, new subsidiaries and divisions were created as Disney engaged in new activities. The corporate office grew to manage the various subsidiaries and divisions. By the late 70’s, Disney had four primary business lines: Entertainment & Recreation, Motion Pictures, Consumer products, and Real Estate. Disney Strategy (A) 3 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 The Motion Pictures group oversaw animation and production of films, managed rerelease of existing film properties, television production, and the cable television channel. This division’s contribution to revenues and net income to the overall company had steadily decreased over time, falling off significantly by the mid-70’s (with the groups actually losing money in 1983). Production of animated films fell off with the slack being taken up by live action films including sequel series such as Herbie, â€Å"The Love Bug.† Walt had been averse to sequels and following popular sentiment. Live-action films released during the 70’s had been perennial money losers contributing heavily to the drag in divisional earnings. It was hoped that the newly established Touchstone Films studio would appeal to a wider range of audiences and increase both revenue and profitability. In 1983, Disney’s long standing presence on prime time television ended with the cancel lation of â€Å"The Wonderful World of Disney.† The group relied on re-release of the classic animated features to bolster revenue, often tying distribution of new films to the re-releases. This also had the effect of constantly introducing younger generations to the Disney classics. While the value of Disney’s film library was significant, the group found difficulty in determining the best vehicle to realize the maximum value. It was felt the television and home video releases would cannibalize or otherwise lessen the existing, profitable, theatre re-release channel. It was estimated the value of Disney’s film library was worth $275 million (Exhibit 6). While having a successful launch, the Disney cable pay-channel would take a number of years before becoming profitable. The Entertainment & Recreation division managed the theme parks, hotels, managing the licensing arrangement with Tokyo Disneyland, and management of the land surrounding Disney World. While the theme park and resort business was the most recent new business, or â€Å"diversification† move by Disney, it had grown to dominance in the corporation. In terms of revenue and net income, it accounted for close to 79% of total revenue and 90% of total corporate profits (Exhibit 1). While operating income jumped significantly in 1983, the prior years provided very modest growth. Moreover, attendance at Disneyland had been flat for five years. Consumer Products managed the merchandising of Disney characters and intellectual properties that included character merchandising (the lead revenue generator), publishing and books, music and records, and educational media. The division had been consistently profitable, but there was concern because of increased competition from newer cartoon characters with more television exposure. Operating income had been rather flat over the prior four years. Leadership at Walt Disney Productions From the founding of the company until his death, Walt Disney created or approved every major strategic move and development. He provided the vision and decisive leadership that made Walt Disney Productions successful. He realized his belief that one Disney Strategy (A) 4 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 could create a timeless entertainment experience that would appeal to the entire family, children and adults a like. Additionally, he maintained complete control over the customer’s entertainment experience in order to ensure that the Disney philosophy and experience was complete. Walt Disney constantly innovated and took significant risks on new ideas and concepts, most of which met with significant success. His confidence and acumen in identifying and vigorously pursuing good ideas led to many firsts in entertainment. Walt Disney also placed great importance on passing the Disney culture and values on to all employees, including executives, with all new employees attending a training program where the company’s value and strategy were explained. Great value was placed on communicating openly, teamwork, creativity, and cooperation. Walt inspired a congenial, informal atmosphere throughout the organization. This culture was very deep among employees, many of whom spent their entire careers with Disney. Disney University was founded to be the keeper and purveyor of the Disney culture. Walt, who died on December 14, 1966, was succeeded by his brother, Roy O. Disney. Upon Roy’s death in 1971, Card Walker, who had been with the company since 1938, assumed the leadership position. Following the completion of EPCOT center, Card resigned and was succeeded by Ron Miller. Being Walt Disney’s son-in-law, it had been expected that Ron Miller would eventually be appointed to CEO. Prior to his appointment to CEO in 1983, he had led the Disney film studio since 1976. Ron Miller, a football star at USC, had met Walt’s daughter Diane while in college and married shortly thereafter. Following a brief stint in the Military he played for the Los Angeles Rams football team. Concerned over his being knocked unconscious in two games, Walt urged him to quit football and work for the company. In general, people were promoted from within the company ranks, usually based on seniority. Through 1984, Disney was managed by its founders, family and insiders who had grown up within the organization. Although possessing many years of experience within Disney, the post-Walt management lacked Walt’s vision and leadership. At the core of Disney were Walt’s ideas and grand accomplishments to which it seemed that no one but Walt could build upon. And, attempts to capture and pass down his leadership style were unsuccessful. Additionally, much of the focus following Walt’s death was on fulfilling his final wishes and serving as caretakers to the kingdom. Upon taking control, Ron Miller saw the need to create new legacies for Disney, particularly in the films gro up. Some positives resulted, including the creation of the Touchstone label and release of successful films like â€Å"Tron† and â€Å"Splash.† Nonetheless, these additive actions lacked the impact that many of Walt’s grand ideas had had on the company and the industry. Disney Strategy (A) 5 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 In 1983, the Disney family collectively held around 13.7% of Disney with Roy E. Disney being the largest of the family shareholders with around 3% ownership and a seat on the Board of Directors. Managers and long-time employees held 2-7% of the company. With the super majority vote rule in place, requiring in excess of 80% shareholder approval to affect a management change, and unified Disney and management shareholder group, the current management felt that it could operate without concern of shareholder and market pressures. Financial Performance and Condition From the early 1960’s until a peak in 1973, Disney’s stock price had steadily outperformed the S&P 500. In the following years the stock price had declined somewhat and then stagnated through the late 70’s and early 80’s (Exhibit 4). While the share price had peaked at $84 per share in early 1983 after the initial success of EPCOT, it fell into the $40-range following news of losses in the film division. Additionally, EPS performance had declined significantly from a peak of $4.16 per share in 1980 to $2.70 per share in 1983, the lowest EPS in the past 6 years. Throughout its history, Disney had generally operated completely free of debt, only occasionally taking on debt for completion of large projects, such as with the final construction phases of EPCOT in 1981, 1982 and 1983 (Exhibit 1). Prior to 1981, Disney was relatively debt free since 1977. Even when Disney took on debt, leverage was low (with a coverage ratio of 11.6 in 1983). Due to the tremendous amount of free cash flow thrown off from the theme parks, Disney had been able to internally fund growt h without needing to access the capital markets regularly. The debt taken on to complete EPCOT, as prior experience dictated, would be paid down rather quickly once revenue from EPCOT was realized. However, there was growing dissatisfaction and impatience among the investing community in regards to management’s lack of urgency regarding Disney’s lackadaisical stock performance. Although near-term earnings forecasts predicted improvements, there were no signs of improvement in stock value. Analysts and the media had begun to increase pressure on management by publishing the break-up value of Disney’s business lines. These values ranged from $60 to as much as $110 per share, well above the current trading value (Exhibit 3). Moreover, the end of year 1983 book value per share (total assets/shares outstanding) was around $68 per share while the year-end stock price was $52-5/8. Hostile Takeover Attempts, Defense and Greenmail On March 9, 1984 the price of Walt Disne y Productions stock was $52-1/4 and had been stable over the past 6 months. On March 9, Roy E. Disney resigned from the Board of Directors after being re-elected to the Board in February. Shortly thereafter, trading volume of Disney stock increased several times over the average daily volume, pushing the price upward (Exhibit 5). By March 23, Disney stock closed at $66-7/8. In Disney Strategy (A) 6 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 preparation of an apparent takeover attempt, Ron Miller and his management team increased Disney’s credit line from $400 million to $1.3 billion. At the end of March, Saul Steinberg’s Reliance Financial Services Corporation announced that it had purchased 6.3% of Disney’s stock and intended to buy more. By April 13, Steinberg had increased his share of Disney to 9.3%, costing around $176.9 million. Roy E. Disney had also increased his share of Disney to 4% from 2.7%. In late April, Steinberg declared his intent to increase his share to as much as 25% and executed a million share block purchase on May 1st for $65.50 per share. After assembling a takeover defense team, Disney announced a deal to acquire Arvida Corporation on May 17th. Arvida was a southeastern US real estate development company that was controlled by the Bass brothers of Texas who had purchased 70% of Arvida for $20 million five months prior. The Bass brothers would receive $200 million in Disney s tock. The deal was denounced separately by both Steinberg and Roy E. Disney as destroying shareholder value. Steinberg threatened to block the transaction by buying control of Disney and selling the assets. In spite of Roy E. Disney’s opposition and Steinberg’s threat, the acquisition was closed, issuing 3.3 million shares, or 8.8% of Disney, to the Bass Brothers. Steinberg’s 4.2 million shares now controlled only 10% of the company down from 12%. The move also diluted Roy E. Disney’s ownership stake. In a further move to dilute Steinberg’s ownership stake, Disney announced a deal on June 6th 1984 to acquire Gibson Greeting Cards for $310 million in stock from an LBO partnership. Gibson Greeting cards had licensed numerous popular cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, Garfield the Cat, etc.) for its cards but did not have any licensing agreements for Disney characters. The acquisition of Gibson, which had been purchased from RCA in 1982 for $80 million ( most of which was debt), would add $41 million to Disney’s debt and dilute Disney’s equity by an additional $310 million in stock. Two days later in an attempt to block the deal, Saul Steinberg made a tender offer of $67.50 per share cash for 37.1% of Disney Stock with a promise to boost the offer to $72.50 in cash and securities for cancellation of the Gibson acquisition. By that time, Steinberg had spent $265.6 million for his 10% ownership stake in Disney. Steinberg obtained additional financing to support this tender offer by granting Kirk Kerkorian, the controlling shareholder in MGM/UA, an option to purchase all of Disney’s motion picture and cable TV assets and to the Fisher Brothers, the right to develop Disney land surrounding the theme parks for hotels. The Present Dilemma Nothing in Ron Miller’s experience had prepared him for these circumstances. He had assembled a defensive team to fight the hostile takeover, but perhaps allowing Disney’s breakup was a better option. Should he buy off Steinberg with greenmail? If so, at what price and how could this be justified to shareholders? Disney Strategy (A) 7 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 1 WALT DISNEY COMPANY FINANCIAL INFORMATION source: Disney Annual Reports, Disney Corporate Fact Books, Mergent, Global Access Note: Some numbers are estimates and slight structural modifications have been made to produce â€Å"standardized† statements CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME (in millions of dollars) Year Ended September 30th Revenues Filmed Entertainment Theme Parks & Resorts Consumer Products Total Segment Revenue Costs & Expenses Filmed Entertainment Theme Parks & Resorts Total Segment Costs Operating Income Filmed Entertainment Theme Parks & Resorts Consumer Products Total Segment Operating Income Total Operating Income Corporate Activities General & Administrative Expenses Net Interest (Income) Expense Acquisition Related Costs Design Projects Abandoned Total Corporate Expenses (Income) 7.3 56.9 5.1 21.3 4.6 -2.3 4.3 -16.7 2.4 -8.2 35.6 14.1 30.9 -14.8 26.2 -33.1 21.3 -42.1 17.8 -28.4 -$33.4 197.0 56.9 220.4 $220.4 $19.6 132.6 47.8 200.0 $200.0 $34.6 129.4 50.6 214.7 $214.7 $48.7 127.5 55.0 231.3 $231.3 $4 0.2 120.6 44.8 205.7 $205.7 $198.9 834.0 1,086.7 $182.5 593.0 830.2 $162.2 562.4 790.0 $112.3 515.9 682.9 $111.8 387.8 535.4 $165.5 1,031.0 110.7 1,307.4 $202.1 725.6 102.5 1,030.3 $196.8 691.8 116.0 1,005.0 $161.0 643.4 109.7 914.5 $152.0 508.4 80.6 741.0 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 Income Before Income Taxes (EBIT) Unusual Charges Income Taxes Net Income Earnings (Loss) Per Share Avg. Number of Common Shares Outstanding 163.5 70.3 $93.2 $2.70 34.5 178.8 78.7 $100.1 $3.01 33.2 217.0 95.5 $121.5 $3.72 32.6 248.0 112.8 $135.2 $4.16 32.5 213.9 100.1 $113.8 $3.51 32.4 Disney Strategy (A) 8 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 WALT DISNEY COMPANY FINANCIAL INFORMATION CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (in millions of dollars) September 30th Assets Cash & Cash Equivalents Investments Accounts Receivable Merchandise Inventories Inventories Income Taxes Refundable Film & Television Costs Prepaid Expenses Theme Parks, Resorts and Other Property, at cost Attractions, Buildings and Equipment Accumulated Depreciation 2,251.3 -504.4 1,746.9 Projects in Progress land 108.1 16.7 1,871.8 Other Assets Total Assets Liabilities & Stockholders’ Equity Accounts Payable Income Taxes Payable Borrowings Unearned Royalty & Other Advances Other Deferred Income Taxes Other Long Term Liabilities, Unearned Royalties & Advances Stockholders’ Equity Common Stock (1) Common Stock Internet Group Paid-in Capital Retained Earnings Less Treasury Stock & Compensation Fund Shares Total Stockholder’s Equity Total Liabilities & Stockholders’ Equity 1,401.0 $2,381.2 1,274.8 $2,102.8 1,167.1 $1,610.0 1,075.0 $1,347.4 961.0 $1,196.4 738.6 1,400.5 686.5 1,274.8 626 .2 1,167.1 537.1 1,074.4 425.2 961.1 661.9 588.3 540.9 537.7 535.9 321.8 110.0 181.0 94.7 89.0 61.9 96.8 98.0 $187.6 50.6 346.0 109.6 $210.8 26.6 315.0 $148.5 33.1 110.0 $109.0 36.2 30.4 $74.6 45.2 18.6 93.7 $2,381.2 1,916.6 -419.9 1,496.7 160.1 16.4 1,673.2 103.0 $2,102.8 968.2 -384.5 583.7 469.2 16.4 1,069.4 21.3 $1,610.0 935.2 -352.1 583.1 163.1 16.4 762.5 19.4 $1,347.4 882.1 -310.8 571.4 60.7 16.3 648.4 19.2 $1,196.4 $18.1 0.0 102.9 77.9 77.9 70.0 126.9 19.8 66.7 41.0 108.0 18.2 59.8 0.0 120.6 15.4 120.3 11.4 85.8 8.9 54.6 41.9 $13.7 0.0 79.0 $5.9 248.4 69.3 $9.7 318.5 50.7 $8.8 346.1 37.1 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 (1) For the years 1983 and prior; Disney Stock no par value, 75,000 shares Auth., 33,729 billion shares issued & 34,509 outstanding Disney Strategy (A) 9 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 WALT DISNEY COMPANY FINANCIAL INFORMATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS (in millions of dollars) Year Ended September 30 Cash Provided by Operations Net Income Income from continuing operations before taxes and cumulative effect of accounting changes Income taxes (paid) refunded, net Charges to Income Not Requiring Cash Outlays Depreciation Amortization of Film & Television Costs Other Changes in Receivables Merchandise Inventories Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets Deferred Income Taxes Total Cash Provided by Operations Investing Activities Film & Television Costs Theme Parks, Resorts, and Other Property Other Total Cash Used by Investing Activities Financing Activities Borrowings Reduction of Borrowings Repurchases of Common Stock Dividends Other Total Cash (Used) Provided by Financing Cash Provided by Discontinued Operations Increase (Decrease) in Cash Cash Balance, Beginning of Year Cash Balance, End of Year 4.4 13.7 $18.1 -240.6 254.3 $13.6 -74.0 328.3 $254.3 -26.6 354.9 $328.3 80.6 274.3 $354.9 41.1 102.8 $151.7 39.7 48.2 $277.1 32.4 32.1 $142.4 23.3 11.6 $11.7 15.5 8.5 $10.0 137.5 -99.9 205.0 110.0 0.0 n/a 83.8 333.7 26.0 -$443.5 52.3 614.4 85.9 -$752.8 55.4 333.4 5.9 -$394.7 68.4 149.7 1.6 -$219.7 -$91.5 44.4 56.6 -25.9 -11.2 13.3 -2.6 $337.4 1.1 -6.9 15.2 4.6 $274.8 $210.8 $204.7 $182.8 -18.6 -5.1 24.1 -13.6 -12.8 23.8 90.2 65.6 15.5 41.9 64.9 9.9 38.9 52.2 9.4 43.1 33.9 6.5 40.4 5.3 2.4 $163.4 29.0 $178.8 -34.6 $216.9 -106.1 $247.9 -121.8 $ 113.8 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 Disney Strategy (A) 10 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 WALT DISNEY COMPANY FINANCIAL INFORMATION KEY FINANCIAL RATIOS ROE (NI/total shareholder’s equity) (ROE was 22% in ’65, 16% in ’55, and 7% in ’45) ROA (NI/total assets) Operating Margin (operating rev. – sga/total rev) Debt to Equity (total debt/total shareholders equity) Total Debt to Assets (Current & L/T Borrowings/Total Assets) Divisional Operating Margins (div. op. inc./div. rev.) Filmed Entertainment Theme Parks & Resorts Consumer Products Divisional Contributions to Total Revenue (div. rev./total rev) Filmed Entertainment Theme Parks & Resorts Consumer Products 12.7% 78.9% 8.5% 19.6% 70.4% 9.9% 19.6% 68.8% 11.5% 17.6% 70.4% 12.0% 20.5% 68.6% 10.9% -20.2% 19.1% 51.4% 9.7% 18.3% 46.6% 17.6% 18.7% 43.6% 30.2% 19.8% 50.1% 26.4% 23.7% 55.6% 3.9% 14.1% 24.7% 14.5% 4.8% 16.4% 24.7% 15.0% 7.5% 18.8% 9.4% 6.8% 10.0% 23.0% 2.8% 2.3% 9.5% 25.4% 1.9% 1.6% 1983 6.7% 1982 7.9% 1981 10.4% 1980 12.6% 1979 11.8% 1975 10% 1970 10% Divisional Contribution to Operating Income (Div. Op. Inc./Total Segment Op. Inc.) Filmed Entertainment Theme Parks & Resorts Consumer Products -15.2% 89.4% 25.8% 9.8% 66.3% 23.9% 16.1% 60.3% 23.6% 21.1% 55.1% 23.8% 19.5% 58.6% 21.8% Disney Strategy (A) 11 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 2 WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, JUNE 1984 Other Financial Date (in thousands) Entertainment and Recreation Walt Disney World Admission and rides Merchandise sales Food sales Lodging Disneyland Admissions and rides Participant fees, Walt Disney Travel Co. Tokyo Disneyland royalties and other Total revenues Theme Park Attendance Walt Disney World Disneyland Total Motion Pictures Theatrical Domestic Foreign Television Worldwide Home-Video & NonTheatrical Worldwide Total revenues Consumer Products and Other 1983 $278,320 172,324 178,791 98,105 102,619 45,669 1982 $153,504 121,410 121,329 81,427 98,273 44,481 1981 $139,326 121,465 114,951 70,110 92,065 44,920 1980 $130,144 116,187 106,404 61,731 87,066 41,703 1979 $121,276 101,856 95,203 54,043 75,758 35,865 83,044 $1,031,202 22,712 9,980 32,692 28,502 $725,610 12,560 10,421 22,981 29,282 $691,811 13,221 11,343 24,564 28,005 $643,380 13,783 11,522 25,305 26,843 $571,079 13,792 10,760 24,552 $38,635 43,825 27,992 55,006 $165,458 $45,429 20,006 30,666 10,269 4,327 $55,408 64,525 44,420 37,749 $202,102 $35,912 20,821 26,884 15,468 3,453 $54,624 76,279 43,672 22,231 $196,806 $30,555 24,658 27,358 21,148 12,704 $63,350 78,314 19,736 10,565 $171,965 $29,631 22,284 23,432 21,908 1,905 $49,594 57,228 27,903 9,273 $144,058 $24,787 18,985 16,129 19,967 1,768 Character merchandising Publications Records and music publishing Educational media Other Disney Strategy (A) 12 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 3 Comparable Valuations For Disney’s Businesses 1984 source: Analysts’ comments in June 4, 1984, Forbes Magazine article, â€Å"Who Will Win the Keys to Disney’s Magic Kingdom?† Shares Disney Outstanding = 34.5 million Disney annual royalty revenue from Tokyo Disney Land = $20 million Business Line Transaction/Source Taft Broadcasting Theme Parks purchase Date Valuation Multiple/Worth Comments Disney may deserve an additional premium due to the brand name Some still see this as one of the most unexploited assets in Disney Tremendous library and recent signs of turnaround may erase poor performance Theme Parks 1984 2 times Revenues Consumer Products Forbes/Analyst Comments 1984 3-3.5 times Rev. Film, Studio & Cable Forbes/Analyst Comments Hotels Land Forbes/Analyst Comments Forbes/Analyst Comments 1984 1984 1984 2-2.5 times Rev. $ 300 million $ 300 million Disney Strategy (A) 13 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 4 Disney Share Price Performance Compared to the S&P 500 January 1970 – August 1984 Disney Strategy (A) 14 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 5 Walt Disney Share Price and Trading Volume During the Hostile Takeover January 1984 – August 1984 Disney Strategy (A) 15 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 5 Continued: Disney Strategy (A) 16 Olin Business School September 2002 Revised September 2009 Exhibit 6 WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, JUNE 1984 Estimated Probable Minimum Library Values as of 1983 Value ($ millions) 500 275 950 Approximate No. of Titles 1,800 features 25 animated, 125 live action, 500 shorts 4,600 features (2,200 MGM), 1,310 shorts, 1,080 cartoons 700 features 1,400 features 3,000 features, 12,500 TV episodes 1,600 features Columbia Pictures Disney MGM/UA Entertainment Paramount Twentieth Century Fox Universal Warner Bros. Total 275 350 700 450 3,450 Disney Strategy (A) 17 Olin Business School