Marketing planning sos analysis for tesco Essay

Marketing planning sos analysis for tesco - Essay Example Marketing has grown by leaps and bounds today. It is a creative industry that has expanded down to various genres such as advertising, distribution and selling. Customer base is figured out, their needs and aspirations realized and the relevant product developed accordingly. In today’s international arena, Marketing is an important tool since it contributes greatly to the success of the business and its products. Productivity and sales are largely dependent on companies’ marketing strategies. On the other hand, engineering is also an important aspect as it allows innovation in an organization which aims to bring positive change to boost customer or producer value. Most often, innovation is conducted as a private activity within an organization in a series of narrowly managed steps. Keeping in mind the importance of marketing and innovation, companies must understand their product to be able to market them. According to Bill Campbell in an interview, only engineers know the information that they should get and deliver about the product they have produced and only effectively communicating that information to the customers would yield desired results. Now, this effective communication is done by our super-creative marketers. Therefore, it is important that marketers and engineers work hand in hand to effectively deliver what customers want. Marketers know their customers and their goal is to create customer value whereas engineers know their product and their goal is to create producer value. Therefore, when marketers and engineers work together, they yield innovative products that are customer-oriented. In an investigation, it was found that those firms are more successful at innovative product development in which the employees are well equipped with the required skills to strategize marketing as a whole. Recently, a product-development process called Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has been adopted by U.S. and Japanese firms who promotes commun ication within the core team (marketing, engineering and manufacturing) and changes communication patterns from â€Å"top-to-bottom† management to focus more on horizontal routes where core team members communicate directly with each other and come up with better results. One of the greatest examples of integrating innovation with marketing is of Apple Inc., a multinational corporation which is ranked as the world’s most innovative company and who markets its designs and products as the customer’s need. Tesco is one of UK’s most successful super markets today. Its total market share stands at 38% and it continues to ride high. It is speculated to become the biggest super market chain of UK very soon. It is currently at number 8 amongst the top 10 grocery retailers of the world. Tesco is known for its huge variety of goods ranging across the board from groceries to fresh food to clothes to compact discs. It’s success has been a result of numerous fa ctors. It is claimed that it’s leading edge in areas like price, customer service, distribution, ecommerce, loyalty cards and own label products have been key to it’s phenomenal success. Their deputy Chairman, Mr David Reid, asserts that Tesco focuses on customer needs and delves a lot of time in understanding the customer needs and wants before translating them into plans aimed at adding value for the

Hypothecated taxes are easy to administer and as effective in terms of Essay

Hypothecated taxes are easy to administer and as effective in terms of revenue as any other tax. They can be also useful tool for politicians. Critically analyse this statement - Essay Example The authorities are relieved of the worry to distribute the tax revenue among various sectors. These taxes can be very effective. For instance, there are times when the economy is booming but a particular sector of the economy is facing a consistent decline. In such cases, the revenue collected from a specific tax can be used in the development of that sector. Also, it provides the authorities with a clear mechanism for the preferences of the public. When it comes to the monitoring of the working of these taxes, it is a very helpful tool. There is a direct accountability in the sense that it can easily be seen whether the revenue is being allocated in the correct direction or not. Politically, it can be very useful. In UK, there was a suggestion by the Liberal Democrat party that a rise of one penny in the marginal rate of income taxation would be hypothecated for expenditure on education. Assuming that this suggestion was accepted and put into effect, the people who want more Government expenditure on education would have welcomed a rise in taxation. This suggestion falls into the category of weak hypothecation. The aforementioned example of television licenses pertains to strong hypothecation. It is commonly believed that people are more willing to pay a tax when they know what this tax would be used for. If they are deprived of this knowledge, they are less willing to pay. Hypothecation of tax allocates the collected revenue in a specific direction and people normally know what they are paying for and they are more willing to pay. There are occasions when Government faces a shortfall in the hypothecated taxes but there are also occasions when there are surpluses. In such cases, the surplus can be appropriated for the development of other sectors. Hypothecation is a tool that is neither right nor wrong by itself. It depends on the ability of the Government to utilize the

An Analysis Of Shaffers Equus

An Analysis Of Shaffers Equus The play is in two acts, the first consisting of twenty-one; the second of thirty-five scenes. It is not realistic in that it includes flashbacks performed onstage (like a movie). However, it is an explanatory one with Shaffers notes while read. It is a play consisting of individuals rather than types. Each character has his/her individuality along with his/her own perspective of life. We learn about the characters from what other characters tell about them; from what they tell about themselves; as well as from Shaffers explanation about them within parentheses. Although it is an open ended play it goes far from the lineer plot structure with its amazing climax. The forward and backward action of the play makes it a different one. Moreover while the play has speech when the time is present, it contains action when it is backward. It is a symbolic play and can be called a journey into the mind of Alan Strang, a seventeen year old boy. It analyzes Alans religious obsession with horses which is based on his complicated feelings due to his religious background and his increasing sexual side as a teenager. This confusion of religion, in fact, is a consequence of some signals from his religious, middle-class mother and his atheist, working-class father. Alans perception of religion and sexuality is conflicted and his way of praying becomes a fear of a horse spirit named Equus. He ends up with blinding six horses in the stable because of the fact that they have watched him with a girl. Rosefeldt states that Equus is inspired by a real-life event of which the author had very little details. Someone told Shaffer about a boy who blinded horses (Rosefeldt 89). Equus, the horse gradually becomes a source of freedom and worship for Alan. As he worships Equus passionately, Alan goes away from being normal. There are two main characters in the play, Martin Dysart and Alan Strang, the protagonist. While the play is Alans story, it soon becomes Dysarts story, too. Dysart is a psychiatrist and is asked to treat Alan Strang. Dysart admits to treat Alan as a patient, believing his lawyer friend Hesther Salomon that the boy has something special. In Act I, the audiences learn that Alan comes from a Christian mother Dora Strang and an atheist father Frank Strang who have argument in agreeing how to raise Alan. Alans mother tries to impose religion on Alan and does not avoid talking about sex as well. As he grows up and becomes a teenager, his mothers words become confusing for him. Alans obssesion with the horses is actually a typical result of his mothers words: Dora. I used to tell him a funny thing about falling off horses. Did you know that when Christian cavalry first appeared in the New World, the pagans thought horse and rider was one person? Dysart. Really? Alan. (sitting up, amazed) One person? Dora. Actually, they thought it must be a god. Alan. A god! Dora. It was only when one rider fell off, they realized the truth. Dysart. Thats fascinating. I never heard that before . . . Can you remember anything else like that you may have told him about horses. Dora. Well, not really. They are in the Bible of course. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha. Dysart. Ha, ha? (Equus 11) Dora has also let Alan watch some Western films without his fathers knowledge (Equus 12). She is the one in the play introducing the word equus stating that it is a Latin word for horse by which Alan is fascinated since he has not heard a word with two Us (Equus 12). As for Frank, he has never approved of his wife teaching Alan Bible since he is an atheist. For Frank, Alans psychology has been corrupted because of Doras teachings of Bible. Alan has been having nightmares in which he keeps saying Ek! . . . Ek! . . .Ek! (Equus 14). Dysart first tries psychotherapy to learn the reasons for Alans problems. However, those therapies consequently reveal some interesting clues about Dysarts own problems. Alan is a clever boy and he tries to work on Dysarts psychology in the way Dysart does: Dysart. Do you dream often? Alan. Yes, do you? Dysart. Yes. Do you have a special dream? Alan. No. Do you? Dysart. Yes. What was your dream about last night? Alan. Cant remember. Whats yours about? Dysart. I said the truth. Alan. Thats the truth. Whats yours about? The special one. Dysart. Carving up children. (Equus 14) Shapiro who analyzes the play technically, suggests for the relationship between Dysart and Alan: [T]he symbolic aspect is in the phrases Dysart uses to set the scene in motion. What they symbolize is Dysarts dishonesty, as Alans symbolic event also revealsAlan is playing a symbolic event with an iconic, truculent aspect, the object of which is the audiences recognition of Dysarts dishonesty In this case the audience knows from the Nurses previous indexical event that Dysart knew about Alans nightmares. Thus, they should recognize that Dysart began the interview with a lie. Consequently, the interview cannot proceed until Alan turns indexical. He will do this once Dysart becomes truthful. Hence, Alan suggests that they interview each other. (Shapiro 111) In the tenth scene of the first act, the audience is again introduced to a flashback. During this second therapy, Alan goes back to the time when he was six years old: Horseman. Whoa! . . . Whoa there! Whoa! . . Sorry! I didnt see you! . . . Did I scare you? Alan. No! Horseman. (looking down at him) Thats a terrific castle! Alan. Whats his name? Horseman. Trojan. You can stroke him, if you like. He wont mind. (Equus 19) In this scene Alans parents arrive and warn the horseman. His father takes him from the horsemans shoulders and they get angry with the horseman. Frank who is strictly against riding horses is sad to see Alan hurt, however Alan is glad to have ridden a horse. He explains his act saying I wanted to laugh! (Equus 20). It is here clear that Alan as a boy, demands to have joy; no matter how his parents think. It is the passion destroyed by his parents. What Dysart really wants to learn is the reason why Alan blinded the six horses in the stable. As a psychiatrist, Dysart wants to go into the deepest places of Alans psychology in order to give some meaning to this act of Alan. However, Alan neither explains why he blinded the horses nor tells something that can help Dysart find some reason behind it. He continues playing with the psychiatrist. In the eleventh scene we are told that Alan, when he was twelve, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ insisted on buying à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ {the picture of Christ loaded down with chains} with his pocket money, and hanging it at the foot of his bed where he could see it last thing at night (Equus 21). However, Frank, the atheist father tore and threw it away. Instead of the picture, he put a photograph of a horse which made Alan happy. In the fifteenth scene, Dysart has finally managed to have more clues about Alans situation. He has learnt from Frank about a girl in Alans life and decided to ask some questions about the stable. Alan takes the audience to the previous year when he first talked to Jill a middle-class girl in her early twenties. At this time, Alan is working in a shop and Jill has come to the shop in order to buy some blades for a clipping machine to clip horses (Equus 29). Jill is working in a stable owned by Harry Dalton. She suggests Alan ride horses however Alan is here hesitant since he knows his parents would be against it. He finally agrees to go to the stable and meet Dalton. As soon as he arrives the stable, Dalton tells him about the horses and teaches him how to ride a horse. Here we are introduced to Nugget, a horse which will soon have an important part in the play. When Alan is left alone with the horses in the stable, his passion returns. What Dysart wants to learn is whether Alan ha d a date with Jill; however Alan is again escapist in his answers and he instead tries to question Dysart about his own dates. It is in scene seventeen where the audiences come to realize the inner conflict of Dysart. Alan tries to catch Dysart from his weakest point. Dysart has never had any sexual relationship with any women in his life, including his wife. He is nervous when he is asked why he does not have any children and suddenly needs cigarettes. His soliloquy in this scene is a clear evidence about this psychiatrists psychology: What am I, then? . . . Wicked little bastard [Alan] knew exactly what questions to try. Hed actually marched himself round the hospital, making enquiries about my wife. Wicked and of course, perceptive. Ever since I made that crack about carving up children, hes been aware of me in an absolutely specific way. Of course, there is nothing novel in that. Advanced neurotics can be dazzling at that game. They aim unswervingly at your area of maximum vulnerability. . . Which I suppose is as good a way as any of describing Margaret. (Equus 32) The next scene reveals Dysarts problems with his wife Margaret. Dysart explains Hesther why they did not have any children. He blames Margaret for this. He states that Margaret sits beside [their] salmonpink, glazed brick fireplace, and knits things for orphans; for him, his wife is a domestic monster who is the Shrinks Shrink (Equus 34). While Dysart likes to read about Ancient Greece, Margaret hates such things. Their marriage is including two different persons, being very similar to Alans parents marriage. Shaffer prefers to give this marriage from one point of view that of the husband. We never meet the wife. Dysart is unhappy and uncomfortable in his marriage. He tells his friend, Hesther: Do you know what its like for two people to live in the same house as if they were in different parts of the world? Mentally, shes always in some drizzly kirk of her own inheriting: and Im in some Doric temple clouds tearing throuh pillars eagles bearing prophecies out of the sky. (Equus 34) In this scene Dysart seems to cure himself; it is his confrontation with his own confused psychology. He is obsessed with the concept of normal. According to Hesther, Dysart is trying to restore Alan to a normal life and Dysart is confused when he thinks about the meaning of normal and being a normal person. For Hesther, it is the smile in a childs eyes (Equus 35), and for Dysart, [i]t is also the dead stare in a million adults (Equus 36). Rosefeldt explains Dysarts psychology as follows: More than any other character, Dysart is aware that he is trapped in a chain of substitutions. Dysart longs to reach the passion of pagan worship. His wife reduces the sacred acrobats to absurred [50] freaks and equates the heroes of the Iliad with ruffians [50]. He cries out, Oh the primitive world. . . what instinctual truths were lost with it [50]. Alienated and alone, Dysart knows he has lost contact with these primitive truths and is hopelessly trying to regain them. For communicating with the gods, Dysart substitutes the vicarious experience of reading books on the cultural shelf [50]. Instead of reaching up to the gods, he brings home Kodachrome snaps of Mount Olympus [50]. The power of the gods rests in the Hellenic pantheonAlso, Dysart touches a reproduction statue of Dionysus [50}. The power and essence of the god is replaced by the physical presence of the god, which is replaced by the statue of the god, which is replaced by a reproduction of the statue. (Rosefeldt 92) Dysart, in order to learn more about Alan, now chooses hypnosis technique and Alans problems are revealed as follows: Dysart. Now, Alan, youre going to answer questions Im going to ask you. Do you understand? Alan. Yes. Dysart. Good. Now I want you to think back in time. You are on that beach you told me about. The tide has gone out, and youre making sandcastles. Above you, staring down at you, is that great horses head, and the cream dropping from it. Can you see that? Alan.Yes. Dysart.You ask him a question. Does the chain hurt? Alan.Yes. Dysart. Do you ask him aloud? Alan. No. Dysart. And what does the horse say back? Alan.Yes. Dysart.Then what do you say? Alan.Ill take it for you. Dysart. And he says? Alan.It never comes out. They have me in chains. Dysart.Like Jesus? Alan.Yes! Dysart.Only his name isnt Jesus, is it? Alan.No. Dysart.What is it? Alan.No one knows but him and me. Dysart.You can tell me, Alan. Name him. Alan. Equus. (Equus 37) Alan is now unconscious with the effect of hypnosis. In his imagination, the horse is chained like Jesus. Now it is clear that Alans imagination has been influenced by his mothers teachings of Bible as stated before by Frank. For Alan, Equus lives in all horses and is chained because of the sins of the world (Equus 38). When Alan goes back to the time he was twelve, looking at the picture of Equus, Dysart asks him questions about the stable. The stable is the temple of Equus where Alan washes and brushes him. Equus wants to be ridden by Alan but he does not show Alan how to ride him: He showed me nothing! Hes a mean bugger! Ride or fall! Thats Straw Law (Equus 39). Equus is no pagan idol; he is unmistakably the Judeo-Christian God, born in the straw [39] (stable of Bethlehem) and wearing the sandals [40] of Christ. As Christ suffered for mankind, Equus takes the punishment for Alans sake. The Ark of the Covenant symbolizing the contract between God and man becomes the Ark of the Manbit [41], which Alan holds in his mouth. The lump of sugar becomes Equus Last Supper [42]. Alan beckons Equus, Take my sins. Eat them for my sake [43]. Equus is Jesus, the Son of God, the Redeemer who takes away the sins of the world. Just as Christ launched his attack against the House of Mammon, Alan launches Equus against their mutual foes: The Hosts of Philco and The Hosts of Remington, the rulers of the shallow and materialistic world of substitutions. Equus is Alans redeemer, the Godslave [43]. (Rosefeldt 92) Alan rode Equus every three weeks in Daltons stable. He stole the stables keys and went there secretly to ride Equus. Dysart wants Alan to remember a scene in the stable: He throws out his arms and shows himself fully to his God, bowing himself before Nugget (Equus 41). Alan is pleased to touch Nugget but he is distressed when he remembers his eyes. He gives Nuggets sugar, the last supper before Ha ha. Here [Alan] whispers his Gods name ceremonially: Alan. Equus! . . . Equus! . . .Equus! (Equus 42), and he says: Stay, Equus. No-one said Go! . . . Thats it. Hes good. Equus the Godslave. Faithful and true(42). The Equus voice increases in volume Alan. (Shouting) WEE! . . . WAA! . . . WONDERFUL! . . . Im stiff! Stiff in the wind! My mane, stiff in the wind! My flanks! My hooves! Mane on my legs, on my flanks, like whips! Raw! Raw! Im raw! Raw! Feel me on you! On you! On you! I want to be in you! I want to BE you forever and ever! Equus, I love you! Now! Bear me away! Make us One person! He rides Equus frantically (Equus 44) The end of Act I is the climax, a strange combination of religion and sexuality. Equus is now the god that rules Alan. The word AMEN! ends Act I (Equus 44). In Act II, Frank is interestingly absent in the play. (That may be symbolic but we do not know why). Dora seems to realize her faults in rising Alan. She comes to see that it is not the child but the parent who is faulty. She sees Alan as a little victim who has done nothing at all (Equus 47). However in her speech to Dysart, she strangely puts the blame on Alan and blames Dysart for questioning her family as if they are guilty: Dora. (ignoring him; more and more urgently) Look, Doctor: you dont have to live with this. Alan is one patient to you: one out of many. Hes my son. I lie awake every night thinking about it. Neither of us sleeps all night. You come to us and say Who forbids television? Who does what behind whose back? as if we are criminals. Let me tell you something. Were not criminals. Weve done nothing wrong. We loved Alan. We gave him the best love we could. All right, we quarrel sometimes all pparents quarrel we always make it up. My husband is a good man. Hes an upright man, religion or no religion. He cares for his home, for the world, and for his boy. Alan had love and care and treats, and as much fun as any boy in the world. I know about loveless homes: I was a teacher. Our home wasnt loveless. I know about privacy, too not invading a childs privacy. All right, Frank may be at fault there he digs into him too much but nothing in excess. Hes not a bully . . . (Equus 47) This speech of Dora reveals both her and Franks faults although she typically insists that they have been good parents to Alan. Shaffer uses this technique for many characters in this play in order to be effective: The character is here revealing herself through her own words; that is to say Shaffer lets the character talk about herself in order to achieve objectivity. Dora, the religious mother lastly puts the blame on the Devil thinking that Devil came to Alan. She is portrayed as a typical irresponsible mother who is unaware of the process her son grows up: I only knew he was my little Alan, and then the Devil came (47). Both of the parents fail in dealing with their teenager son. It is a step of Alan for adolescence in which Alan is learning about life. Parents quarrelling is not something as trivial as Dora thinks. It really affects the child since he stays between two different versions of beliefs, two different truths those of the mother and of the father. Alans crisis has in fact begun when Jill Mason attempted to seduce him one night when Alans horse god, Equus was there in the stable. Alan blinds six horses with a metal spike (Equus 3) in the second act of the play and it is seen as a consequence of his guilt and shame. Although he does not want to remember anything about Jill, Dysart makes him tell about all at last. It is the most important flashback after the one about Equus. Dysart encourages Alan to remember it in order to get over it. Everything begins with Jills inviting Alan out. Although he has to go home, he accepts her offer and they go to the cinema. At the cinema, Alan tells Jill, there was no girl except for her. Soon, it is understood that the film is a pornographic one. Dysart asks him: Was that the first time youd seen a girl naked? and Alan says Yes! (Equus 58). Then suddenly, Alan realizes that his father is at the cinema, too. With the fear of being caught at such a film, he tries to hide himself. When he is caught, Frank shouts at Alan and the three leave the cinema. Outside, Alan tries to speak to his father: Alan. I I Ive never been there before. Honest . . . Never . . .(to Dysart) He didnt seem to hear. Jill tried. Jill. Its true, Mr.Strang. It wasnt Alans idea to go there. It was mine. (Equus 59) Alan. (to Dysart) The bus wouldnt come. We just stood and stood . . . Then suddenly he spoke. Frank. (stiffly) Id like you to know something. Both of you. I came here tonight to see the Manager. He asked me to call on him for business purposes. I happen to be a printer, Miss A picture house needs posters. Thats entirely why Im here. To discuss posters. While I was waiting I happened to glance in, thats allI had no idea they showed films like this. Im certainly going to refuse my services. Jill. (kindly) Yes, of course. Frank. So long as thats understood. (Equus 59) Interestingly enough, Frank explains why he himself is there instead of asking Alan why he is there. He has certainly come to the cinema for the same reason with Alan and Jill. Thus Alan and Frank are scared of each other. Frank leaves them and Alan stays with Jill. More importantly, Alan has been now introduced to the adult life with the film. He wants to make love with Jill. She takes Alan to the Stables because they cannot go to Alans or Jills house. Alan does not want to go to the Stables; he prefers a home. Alan. Why not your place? Jill. I cant. Mother doesnt like me bringing boys back. I told you . . . Anyway, the Barns better. Alan. No! Jill. All that straw. Its cosy. Alan. No! Jill. Why not? Alan. Them! Jill. Dalton will be in bed . . . Whats the matter? . . . Dont you want to? Alan. (aching to) Yes! Jill. So? Alan. (desperate) Them! . . . Them! . . . Jill. Who? Alan. (low) Horses. Jill. Horses? . . .Youre really dotty, arent you? . . . What do you mean? He starts shaking Oh youre freezing . . . Lets get under the straw. Youll be warm there. Alan. (pulling away) No! (Equus 62) Alan does not want to be seen by the horses since he thinks it would be a shameful act according to his religion. Although Jill shuts all the doors in order not to be seen by the horses, he is not comfortable. Alan cannot help but think of Equus and he sees Equus instead of Jill. Thus, his attempt to make love with Jill fails. Angrily, he shouts at Jill: Get out! (Equus 65). His psychology in this scene is horrible: Alan. (to Dysart) He was there. Through the door. The door was shut, but he was there! . . . Dysart. Laughing? Alan. (to Dysart) Mocking! . . .Mocking! . . . Standing downstage he stares up towards the tunnel. A great silence weighs on the square. (To the silence:terrified) Friend . . . Equus the Kind . . . The merciful! . . .Forgive me! . . . Silence. It wasnt me! Not really me. Me!. . . Forgive me! . . .Take me back again! Please! . . . PLEASE! (He kneels on the downstage lip of the square, still facing the door, huddling in fear) Ill never do it again. I swear . . . I swear! . . . Dysart. And He? What does He say? Alan. (to Dysart whispering) Mine! . . . Youre mine! . . . I am yours and you are mine! . . . (Equus 67) Equuss Nuggets eyes are rolling and Alan is sure that he has seen them make love. Eyes! . . . White eyes! . . . never close! Eyes like flames coming coming! . . .God seest! God seest! . . . NO! . . . (Equus 68). Alan stabs out Nugget and other five horses eyes. He yells in hysteria as he collapses on the ground (Equus 68). Dysart is about to finish his process of normalizing Alan. However he does not know whether he should be happy to have this patient cured. He calls it madness (Equus 68). In the end, Dysart appears to have cured him. {Equus is a] troubling play about a psychiatrists struggle to understand the passionately conceived but torturous personal mythology of Alan, a disturbed adolescent. If a psychologist of religion had gone after the young mans associations to G-o-d, he or she might have retrieved references to the pallid secondhand God of Alans parents, but would likely have missed Alans dramatic psychic creation of a personal diety he called Equus. Although it might be argued that this is the kind of exceptional case that falls more into the psychopathology of religion and is no basis for generalization, I am more and more struck by how distinctive and sometimes quite original are the spiritual formulations of individuals. (Mc Dargh 90) The play really includes the idea of passion versus reason. It is about a psychiatrist who thinks he can solve everything by reason and at the same time about an adolescent who is filled with passion but forced by his family to leave his passion. The battle of passion and reason in the case of Alan seems to end with the defeat of passion; however, Shaffer certainly prefers a combination of two. It is not only Alans but also becomes the inner conflict of Dysart. While the horses represent freedom and sexuality, Martin Dysart represents reason as a doctor. During the play, the two characters have difficult times. Dysart shows a change in his attitude towards passion. As for Alan, he is treated by the psychiatrist to become normal. Alan is caught up between his own creation of religion and what is expected by him. He has to feel himself acceptable (Equus 68) since reason rather than passion is what is accepted by society. Dysart lacks passion and is jealous of Alan (Equus 50); he is u ncomfortable in this process of normalizing. He gradually gets worried that he should not cure Alan because this would be the end of Alans passion, so he does not want to give an end to that passion which he lacks but desires. Dysart confesses to Hesther, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that boy has known a passion more ferocious than I have ever felt in any second of my life. And let me tell you something: I envy it (Equus 50). Dysart is thus obsessed with passion saying Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created (Equus 69). It is a disturbing play in which Shaffer makes use of sound effects to make it psychologically effective. The horses are performed by actors who wear horse masks. As for the scene props, Shaffer makes use of light in order to emphasize his themes (Innes 228). Light is used in the play as an indication of Alans psychology. There are dream sequences, and a scenic structure that cuts across the logic of time as well as cause and effect following the irrational associations of the subconscious, plus ritual chanting, stylized masks and mythic archetypes (Innes 228). Shaffer ignores the three unities of Aristotle; there are scenes belonging to different places and different times; and there is no unity of action. However, Shaffer directly connects the past action of the play to the plot of present events; and the scenery connects more with the psychological life of the character than to the surface plot. As for the setting, it changes from scene to scene it is both internal and external; even in a single scene being both internal and external. It begins when Alan is seventeen years old and goes back to the previous years. The point of view is also variable; Shaffer lets the audience see the things from each characters point of view and Shaffer uses the omniscient narrator in order to emphasize each point of view. The play is about an adolescent who has deep complicated conflicts in his relationships with his parents and his first flirt Jill. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ {The play is not only} an extremely useful source book for an understanding of madness and family processes, it is also an affirmation of the dramatherapists long-held credo: that art can tell us things that science cannot (Davis xiii). Shaffer is successful at portraying the psychology of characters and Equus is a good work of drama in which the themes of passion, reason and worship and the idea of normal and abnormal are linked by Shaffer in order to make his audience question their beliefs and society.

The Good and Bad of R.A.T. Theory. Essay -- Essays Papers

The Good and Bad of R.A.T. Theory. Why do people commit crime? It depends on who you ask and how you look at it, also what you define crime as. There are many theories out there about why people commit crime. One of these theories is Routine Activities Theory. Routine activities theory was first articulated in a series of papers by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson. Crime and victimization involve the intersection of three factors: targets, guardians, and motive. The following quote gives a description of these three motives. Cohen and Felson assume that both the motivation to commit crime and the supply of offenders are constant. Every society will always have some people who are willing to break the law for revenge, greed, or some other motive. The volume and distribution of predatory crime (violent crimes against a person and crimes in which an offender attempts to steal an object directly) are closely related to the interaction of three variables that reflect the routine activities of the typical American lifestyle: 1. The availability of suitable targets, such as homes containing easily salable goods. 2. The absence of capable guardians, such as police, homeowners, neighbors, friends, and relatives, 3. The presence of motivated offenders, such as large number of unemployed teenagers. The presence of these components increases the likelihood that predatory crime will take place. Targets are more likely to be victimized if they are poorly guarded and exposed to a large group of motivated offenders such as teenage boys. Cohen and Felson argue that crime rates increased between 1960 and 1980 because the number of adult caretakers at home during the day... ...case doctors blames victims.† South China Morning Post Ltd. 29 Nov. 2002. Ragsdale, Shirley. â€Å"Anger against someone who looks like an Arab is misdirected† The Des Moines Register Online. 21 Nov. 2001. Siegel, Larry J. Criminology: The Core. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. United Sates. 2002. Witosky, Tom. â€Å"Pierce deal: Positive Step for Victims?† The Des Moines Register Online. 11 Nov. 2002.

Obstacles in Mao’s Last Dancer Essay

In Mao’s Last Dancer we are introduced to the obstacles faced daily by a Chinese boy and his family, living in poverty. In Meltdown by Ben Elton, we are introduced to obstacles faced daily by Jimmy Corby. Obstacles we can all relate to in the modern world. This is why I think we should study Meltdown by Ben Elton as well as Mao’s Last Dancer as a core text in the Overcoming Obstacles unit. Meltdown is about City Trader Jimmy Corby. Jimmy was living the life being rich, pampered and spoilt. That is until it all comes crashing down and the Global Financial Crisis hits. He discovers that anyone can handle success, it’s how you handle failure that really matters. We can all relate to these obstacles and the themes of the story. Some themes of the story are money, loss, family and success. All of these themes are somehow incorporated in our life. We all care about money and work for it, we all experience some form of loss during our lives, we all have family who we love and care about and we all hope to be successful in the future. This makes it the perfect book for us to study as a core text. Another reason why we should study this book in the Overcoming Obstacles unit, is we join Jimmy on the journey of overcoming these obstacles. We see how he deals with loss, how he copes with family life, and how he handles failure. Elton, the author of the book, uses various techniques to convey how he overcomes all these obstacles. He uses humour to give us a funny insight on the daily problems. Humour also makes us, as the reader, enjoy the book even more. Lastly, I believe we should study this book as it opens our eyes to real life problems that we all could face in a few years. The Global Financial Crisis is real for all of us. I think that Meltdown is highly appropriate for us to study as it is based around daily struggles faced every day. The main audience of the text are teenagers and young adults making it the perfect book for us. The purpose of the book is to make us realise that there are more important things in life than money. We have to enjoy what we have and not dwell on what we don’t. This is an important message for all of us in life. In Mao’s Last Dancer we focus on the obstacles faced by a Chinese boy living in poverty who is given the chance to make life better for himself and his family. He faces struggles daily and is taught to overcome them. He deals with being alone, a long way from home and his own mental health. We don’t understand these obstacles as much as someone living in poverty would, seeing as we aren’t living in poverty. But then again, someone living in poverty wouldn’t understand the struggles we face daily. Also, by studying Meltdown by Ben Elton as well as Mao’s Last Dancer, We are given two inputs of struggles in the world. We are taught the obstacles faced by someone living in poverty who doesn’t have much money and then is given the opportunity of a lifetime which could give him everything. But then we are also taught the obstacles faced by a man who has money, a house, a healthy family and enough food, but nearly loses it all. We are given two aspects on life. Meltdown is the perfect book for us to study as the obstacles featured in the book are all known to us, we can see and learn how we could possible overcome these obstacles and by studying it along with Mao’s Last Dancer we are given two inputs on life.

Reporting Practices and Ethics Paper Essay

Financial management is very crucial in today’s health care financial procedures. It is one the most important aspects of the financial health care. There are many assessments made- based the financial records and the business transactions that occur within the health care organization. It is crucial the financial records are kept up- to -date and they follow specific guidelines. The books kept up- to- date and in order, this will show the amount of money being brought into the organization for profit and the amount of money the organization has lost in profit. One thing that may cause the honesty of the organization to be on the brinks is the organization financial management and the correctness of the financial books. This paper is about information that will address financial reporting practices and ethics. It will address four financial management functions, summaries that accept accounting principles by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It will also give an example from an article that has reflected ethical standards of conduct and financial reporting. The basic four components of financial management are planning, controlling, organizing and directing and decision making. The preparation is responsibility for financial management to recognize the purposes of the health care organization. The planning step is to â€Å"set directions and allocates resources, the organizing step brings people and material resources together in working condition, the leading step inspires people to best utilize these resources, and the controlling step checks that the right things happen, in the right way, and at the right time† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, & Kramer, 2007,). Controlling is the process of the financial management to ensure that each department of the organization are going by the procedures that was decided. The financial manager should have the reports available to study the most recent financial reports. The reports will help to select what department needs the most consideration to keep the organization going. Organizing and directing is the responsibility of the financial manager to decide in what way to make use of the funds of the organizations most efficiently. Resources such as assets will help the manager to ensure the goals of the healthcare organizations are accomplished. Directing is an everyday job provided that control and support. The final step in the element in financial management is decision making. Planning, organizing, and controlling is a correspondence with the decision making process. The choices will be by the financial manager based on evaluation, analysis and information. Generally accepted accounting principles is a set of financial recommendations used for financial accounting. The recommendations are for preparing financial statements and for setting standards for organizations accountants. According to Baker (2011), â€Å" One of the requirements of GAAP is that unrestricted fund balances be separated from restricted fund balances on the statements, so you see two appropriate line items (restricted and unrestricted) in the fund balance section† (p. 108). GAAP are the rules of accounting. Those guidelines are to arrange the reporting of financial statements that will include the cash flow statements, income statements, and the balance sheet. With the reply of these responsibilities, the Organization of Managing Bookkeepers declared principles of moral conduct for employees of managing bookkeeping and financial management. The principles take account for confidentiality, integrity, and competence. A person must maintain knowledge and the necessary skills is what includes competence. They must always maintain their professional responsibilities and duties in accordance with related rules, technical standards, and regulations. Confidentiality when one should not disclose confidential information, such as health records except when given the right authority to do so. Integrity has the responsibility not to engage in activities that would affect prejudgment, favors that will influence their actions and decision making. According to† Ethical Standards† (n. d),â€Å"Specialists of managing bookkeeping and monetarist managing partake an commitment to the community, their line of work, the institute they work for and themselves, to uphold the utmost principles of decent manner. Hewlett-Packard Company CEO, Mark Hurd turn out to be mixed up in the workplace. According to (Healthfield, 2012), â€Å"Mr. Hurd had failed to disclose a close personal relationship he had with a contractor that constituted a conflict of interest† . †Mr. Hurd also â€Å"failed to maintain accurate expense reports, and misused company assets. † This is an example that reflect ethical standards of conduct a nd financial reporting practices. Practicing accuracy end honesty will help continue the capacity to never misuse the financial systems, and abide by the laws laid out by GAAP. Organizations are providing their employees with the necessary training that will equip them as well as sustain the reporting practices operational but at the time use the similar procedures and show them new procedures. Fraud and abuse is something everyone know when being ethical. By using the GAAP guidelines, keeping the organizational ethics and policies would be free from abuse and fraud. By following the guidelines that comes from the GAAP, they can help prevent fraud and abuse from happening in the health care organization itself. These guidelines are there to help the organization benefit so they will always be ready in case there may come a time when they have to show their financial documents to a third party. Therefore in conclusion, it a major responsibility in financial reporting practices and ethics. Financial managers should implement the four elements of financial management in their reports to avoid fraud, abuse and the risk of breaking ethics. Managers should know how to plan, control, organize and directing and decision making. They should always incorporate the GAAP rules and regulations in order to avoid unethical rulings.