Hurricane Katrina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example Brinkley consciously limited the book to the first unthinkable week. Beginning on Saturday, August 27, when it first became clear that Katrina was going to strike again in the Gulf Coast after roughing up Florida, he traces the warnings, stories, fecklessness, and missed opportunities through the hurricane's five hours f wrath and the breaching f the levees. His account continues until the following Saturday, September 3, when buses finally reached the convention center and the Superdome to evacuate those stranded. By combining his own experiences during the storm and its aftermath-Brinkley returned to the city to help in rescue efforts after evacuating his family to Houston-with hundreds f interviews with citizens, first responders, and government officials, Brinkley paints a picture alternately heartbreaking, heartwarming, and enraging. The Great Deluge opens with models f excellent planning and action by the likes f the Louisiana Society for the Prevention f Cruelty to Animals (which had its 263 sheltered pets safely moved to Houston by the evening f August 27), the Entergy Corporation (which shut down its nuclear plant once Katrina became a category 3 storm), and Louisiana parish presidents (who issued mandatory evacuation orders to their residents and efficiently obtained special help for those who needed it). Although stories such as these, along with the valiant efforts f many first responders, are welcome doses f things that went right, The Great Deluge is primarily a story f how so much went wrong. Brinkley's meticulous assembly f the facts into a detailed chronology and analysis is devastating at times to virtually everyone in an official role-from New Orleans's mayor, Ray Nagin, to Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, to the secretary f the Department f Homeland Security, Michael Chertff, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "Brownie," to the man who gave him that nickname. And Brinkley pulls no punches: "Every time the Bush administration and the state f Louisiana hesitated, lawyered-up, and read the fine print f Homeland Security procedure, an American died prematurely," he writes. Brinkley's extensive footnotes deepen the sense f reading a cohesive and objective take on a complicated event. As the disaster continues to recede from the forefront f the minds f those who have that luxury and as inevitable election year finger-pointing provides ever more spin about what happened and why, The Great Deluge could hardly be a more timely, important, and effective antidote-to complacency, to poor leadership, and to the lack f accountability. To borrow a phrase: "Brinkley, you did a heckuva job." Brinkley criticized the Bush administration for its lack f reaction during the 72 hours immediately following the hurricane, when rescue is still possible. He also criticized elected officials for caring more about what their lawyers had to say about potential lawsuits than saving those in need. Instead, many victims were evacuated by private organizations or citizens like Jimmy. There was the Cajun Navy, a

European Politics Essay Example for Free

European Politics Essay European Union has a evolutional history. Many Countries struggle to attain Independence’s this the only aim of the European Nations’struggle? This paper has discussed the reasons there struggle some being to attain Independence, others needed to be autonomous and others wanting to unite with Russia. They faced many challenges, and were organized in parties. European politics is involved with the continuous political evolution. Due to the high political unity amongst European states as well as the state’s long history, European politics is more detailed compared to other continents. The European political make-up has been contributed to by its historical events, culture, economy and its geographical location. European Union is dominant in the modern European politics. This occurred since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc of communists’ states and the fall of iron curtains. After World War II the EU expand towards the East and included 27 states as members. These states are represented in the European parliament. European has been undergoing political transformation even since 1763 to 1787. After the seven years’ war (1756-63) there was a stability period of peace. In 1702-1714, there was the war of the Spanish succession, and this was after many years of the great World War. This war took fifty years. Some British and French statesmen had tried to create a long lasting peace by use of collective security, but the old contests had not stopped after the Utrecht-Rastatt’s peace and some more including Northern Europe, Germany, Near East and Italy developed in the succeeding decades. It was in the seven years’ war of 1756-63 when a climax of forty years of imbalance of struggle for power was reached. This war was bigger than the war of Spanish succession and more blood was shed, and ended up with its fighters tired of fighting and exhausted. The results were decisive in continental theatres as well as in maritime, but in varying at up. Spain was defeated by Britain in the fight for colonies and seas control defeated France on sea, and by Prussia on land. This made France to collapse financially. The aggressive spirit of King Frederick the Great of Prussia was decreased at the end of war. European states are part of the international organizations which are political and economically. Almost all European states are members of European council which is the only Pan-European organization. The activities of the European council are programs that harmonize regulations and law amongst the member state in citizenship, bioethics. Heritage protection the linguistic and cultural minority right among others. In other terms the council can be related to regional version state jointly related to government and national union. It plays role as a market, with customs union, common policy in Agriculture and Fisheries as well as acting as a single currency with thirteen of its twenty seven members adopting. This union constitutes the largest economy worldwide consisting 2007 nominal GDP of 15. 849 million USD. The union primarily started as an economic union before evolving into a political policy, and this has been contributed by the many political areas within EU competence. There has been a debate between and within some member states concerning more development in political competence of EU. There was a military alliance of European states together with United States of America and Canada, commonly known as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which was founded as a collective security as a result of World War II. This alliance targeted to provide defense incase the Soviet Union attacked the European allies of United States. The attack was to be treated as if it had attacked the United States bearing in mind it was composed of the largest military. They expected to get the best defense, but the Soviet never invaded Europe, instead the alliance was involved in September 12th 2001, responding to the previous day’s attack on the United States. GUAM organization for Democracy and Economic Development was formed to counter the Russia’s influence in that area. This group constituted four common wealth independent states (CIS) that is Georgia, Ukraine, Azerba-Ijan and Moldova, though it was encouraged and backed up by the United States. It reached a time when it appeared to have ceased its operation but there is a possibility to revive its operation through developments. The common wealth of the independent states (CIS) has few supranational powers, but it’s a symbolic organization that has power to coordinate trade, security, law making and finance. It came up with a full-fledged free trade zone between its members, who are 12 states of 15 states of former Soviet Union, excluding Baltic States, in 2005. This confederation has enhances cooperation on democratization and has prevented cross border crime. In devolutionary pressures, movements requiring independence or autonomy varied in politically and popularity support depending on campaign, and the kind of movements Georgia has two region and wanted to join with Russia, in Italy, there was a small independent movement, and the Lega Nord, the Italian political party, supports, blamed southern Italy for blocking progress and getting tax funds away and condemned them as racial nationalist group. On the other hand it supported the Northern Italy. Italy is to be divided into two countries, the North and the South. In Netherlands, Frisian National party sought autonomy for Friesland without caring about Fresian culture and without striving for total independent. Transylvania belonged to Austria-Hungary before the Treaty of Triarion. There is small minority Hungarian ethic who felt like reuniting with Hungary. These are habitants of Romania. The North Caucasus border of Russia, supports has movements in search for independence. The English Democrats in United Kingdom saw the need for England to devolve. In United Kingdom is composed for a mixture of many parties with different wills. In this state, there are movements and parties that needed independence and at the same time some parties wanted to be incorporated in the Republic of Ireland thus saw not need of the province being in the union. After the election of Victor Yuschenko as a president some areas in Ukraine wanted to join Russia. Ukraine did not only have movements that wanted complete independence, but also the urge to get higher autonomy, after uniting with Russia. Though some autonomous regions of Spain are peaceful, they violently acquired the peace. In 2006, there were international negotiations to define final status of Kosovo a Serbia’s province, which all through had territorial and political dispute between its ethnic population and the Serbian government organization. In 1532, some movements in Northern France lost independence, and they wanted to regain it. These countries in the State had different needs as pertains the movement’s nature or rather composition to the kind of campaign. These needs or rather goals varied from attaining autonomy, attaining independence or the need to reunite with Russia. The Unions’ membership enlargement poses a political issue trying to know from the diving the extent at which the block should move. The block location in terms of size and the fear of the block moving very far and including other regions created a challenge to the European Union. European nation is divided into council, parliament council of European Union and commission. The commission has the mandate to Rome up with registration and the use of law each member state is represented by a member. President comes from the commission. The union’s prime minister has different powers with the president Directorate-General (DG) and commissioner, but they have similar roles. The councils have no delegated power to the union’s supranational institutions, and have no treaties official power. The head of state has similar roles to council. Legislative branch of the union incorporate parliament and council, whose formation differs as in the parliament is elected directly while the council is formed and mainly of national ministers. Insensitive areas have lower control of national minister. The powers in the union are given according to pillars. These pillars are usually three; the first one being that of community, the second is Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) while the third is ‘Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal matters (PJCC). Just to mention, the 1st First pillar entails common Fisheries poly, Agricultural policy, Environmental law, Immigration Poly, Education and culture among others. The second pillar has security policy and foreign policy and the third pillar deals with human beings trafficking Fraud and bribery, terrorism, weapon smuggling among others. Each pillar’s principles differ on intergovernmental and supranational basis, supranationalism being higher in 1st pillar. After every five years by adult suffrage, votes are casted. Despite having no voting system, there should be a ratio in representing either singly or under a party the area at which the votes casting is done can be in whole or subdivided, and election threshold should be below five percent. The European law requires to be bound to. The union makes legislative acts and all its members are expected to bind to a direct applied law (regulation, a framework of objectives in which a national law in order to achieve its goals, and a decision based on particular issue are the key forms by which a union can present its legislative acts. (HayMenon,2007). European bases their constitution texts on their treaties. The role of the European treaties is to form institution which are given aims of the union, which are set also by the treaties and the institution should always aim at attain the set aims. Currently the European integration is under four treaties, namely; the Treaty of European nation which was put to work in November 1993 after it was signed on 7th February 1992 in Maastricht. This treaty was involved with security policy and Home Affairs. The Treaty showing European Economic Community (ECC) which was put into action on 1st January 1958 and was signed at the same time with Euratom treaty, in Rome on March the 25th of 1957, and due to the place at which it was signed, its usually also referred to as the Treaty of Rome. The treaty of Paris was put to work on 23rd day of July 1952 but expired on 23rd day of July 2002. It was signed on the 18th day of April, 1951, and was involved with putting into place the European steel and coal community. The forth treaty was involved with the development of European atomic Energy community which is commonly referred to as Euratom Treaty and was signed at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957. There were times when these treaties expired or required additional or subtraction of some of its terms and roles thus the need for changes and reforms. European political party is obliged to operate transitionally in the state, and is usually funded and recognized by the European Union. Their formation is usually bases on partly parties in the whole Europe. As per the European parliament and commission as there were ten (10) recognized parties by 2006, namely European People Party which was the first to be formed, then the European Socialist Party was formed, followed by European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, the Free Alliance European Party, the European Areas Party, Alliance for Europe of the Nations, European theft party, European Democratic party, Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe and EU Democratic, which were formed respectively. These parties mostly consider co-operating and working as a coalition as this makes them stronger and gives the party a chance to get higher financial fund rate from the parliament at the same time ensuring they have access to committee’s seat which an independent party can afford to access due to the cost. To enhance the uniting of parties, however requires that the member states votes for the Groups MEPs should not be less than one-fifth, that its MEPs can create a group of their wish, that all MEPs in a group should be registered in only one group and that, a groups MEPs should be of the same political goal. It’s only after fulfilling these requirements that two groups can join and unite to for a coalition thus enjoying the privileges. The Groups can either be organized from many European parties, national parties or be made of MEPs of a single European political party. An Account of the changes that the European Socialist Parties have undergone since the Second World War. European Socialist Part (PES) in a party in the European political party composed of equal number of labor, social democratic, and socialist parties from members’ states of European Union and also from Norway. The socialist party constitutes socialist group in parliament which is composed of more than 200 MEPs thus making the group to be second largest, in the European parliament. This socialist group was there since 1953 and the socialist party was formed back in 1992. Ever since it’s the party held the largest single group position in the parliament. After the party’s formation in 1953, socialist party Henri Spaak was elected first president, with Guy Mollet elected the first bureau and secretariat apart from being the chair. The socialists attempt to produce a common European socialist’s program in 1961 being outlaid by an enlargement application. Despite their congress trying to enhance more democratization, and parliament powers in 1962, it took them longer than they expected since this was considered in 1969, after Kate Strobel MEP winning the 1st woman chair. They continued to achieve and rule and in 1971’s elections saw their member, Walter Behrendt as the second parliament president. It took few years since then when other states joined the community and brought with them some more parties, which enlarged the community as well as the congress. These states included Ireland, United Kingdom and Denmark and after meeting they made social policy in which they were entitled to democracy, equality and give them the right to work in the European economy. Elections were carried out again in 1975, and socialist Georges Spe’nale was as the parliament’s president. After the union with Ireland, Denmark and United Kingdom, a confederation of the European communities’ socialist party was formed. Their was an election manifesto, which the confederation signed after the parliaments first direct elections in 1979, and the manifesto objective was aimed at ending discrimination, promoting peace, fighting pollution and ensuring the ability to decent work among others. They were the largest group in the parliament. Two years after the direct election, its first status was signed and they united with other states like Greece, Portugal and Spain made this party to increase. It did not take the Group long before they saw the need and the privileged of cooperation; in 1987 they cooperated with people’s party group thus increasing their number. (Grolier, Inc, 2002). In 1992, the already existing confederation was changed to party of European socialist, whose manifesto had more issues to deal with compare to the election manifesto and the added areas included gender equality, fighting organized crimes and democracy among others. The party had its second leader in the 1994’s election after the party won two hundred and fifteen (215) out of the available six hundred and twenty six (626). After a five year period of ruling, the parliament refused to sign for approval of the commission’s EU budget handling, and this lead to crisis. This was because of the allegation of corruption made to two of the socialists’ members. The socialists tried to bloc the order made by the commission that the member’s concerned had to resign, by their president trying to vote confidence vote in the commission, since the PES took the issue as a false allegation made to stop them from participating in the year’s election. Since socialist were the majority they were on the government side, they decided to stop helping or rather supporting the other party thus facilitating santer commission’s to resign. After the five years of ruling, elections was carried out, the socialists lost the votes to people’s party with the winning party attaining two hundred and thirty three the socialists had only one hundred and eighty. In the 2004 elections the socialist party lost once more by getting only two hundred seats in seven hundred and thirty two seats. The European Political history has been an evolutional process. The struggle was aimed at either attaining independence, or becoming autonomous. The European politics is composed of the parliament headed by a President from a party with the majority seats, the commission, and a council. Each of its constituent has its mandate and powers. The Socialist’ Party headed in the parliament longer till 1999.

Strategic analysis of FedEx

Strategic analysis of FedEx This report analysis the strategic capability of federal express and suggests ways in which the organisation might use its core competences to create opportunities in new arenas. This work is done to fulfil the requirements for the MSc module International management under the observation of tutor Mr.Robert. First the report explains an outline of the organization including the company performance, vision and mission, values. Then about the key competitors and examines the external and internal business environment of the company (SWOT analysis). Then it analyses FedEx corporation key resources and competences, capabilities for competitive advantage and critical success factors. Then it comes to conclusion about the core competences to create opportunities in new arenas.Finaly it identifies the problem faced by FedEx and gives recommendations for the future developments. FedEx is a multinational company which represents the widest range of supply chain, transportation and business related information services. It provides services to more than 220 countries and territories, including every address in the United States. FORTUNE magazine declared that FedEx has ranked No. 13 among Worlds Most Admired Companies 2010. The FedEx brand is based on speed and efficiency. The research method which I used in this report is qualitative method. For this I focused on management books written by authors like David Boddy, Johnson et al, John R. Schermerhorn and Tim Hannagan. I also reviewed research methods book written by Saunders et al, to understand structure of a scientific article and writing style. Overall I used secondary data to analyze the strategic capabilities of FedEx to enter new arenas. The secondary data are books, scientific journals and webpages. According to this analysis FedEx capabilities for competitive advantage are innovation, loyal customers and technology and communication. This report also identifies the companys critical successes factors which are speed and efficiency, innovation and global expansion. Finally this report concludes with FedEx core competences to create opportunities in new arenas. They are innovation, loyalty, technology and communication, speed and efficiency. Introduction: This work is done to fulfil the requirements for the MSc module International management under the observation of tutor Mr.Robert. Our tutor gave us five options and asked us to choose one. I was really interested in analysing strategic capabilities and core competences. So I have chosen the topic three that is Analysing the strategic capability of an organisation of my choice and Suggesting ways in which the organisation might use its core competences to create opportunities in new arenas. Since my husband is working in FedEx and it is a multinational company I started doing analysis on this company. I have chosen this topic because in todays hypercompetitive business world the competition is direct and aggressive. Competitive advantages are often imitative. So firms should analyze their internal resources, capabilities and external environment to expertise core competences. They are the strong points that a firm extremely does well in contrast with competitor. The core competences are the capabilities which should be rare, costly to imitate and non- substitutable. Strategic capability is the ability of a company to sustain and to achieve long term goals. Strategic capabilities are the abilities to perform at the level required to survive and prosper, and includes resources and competence (Johnson et al.2006). Research questions: This project report will analyze what are the strategic capabilities Of FedEx and how to use its core competences to create opportunities in new arenas? This question is sub divided as what is strategy? What are capabilities? What is core competence? What is the SWOT analysis for FedEx Corporation? Research objectives: This project report will fulfill the following research objectives. To identify the strategic capabilities of FedEx based on SWOT analysis and to describe how to use its core competence to create opportunities in new arenas. Company profile: FedEx is a multinational company which represents the widest range of supply chain, transportation and business related information services. FedEx was started as Federal Express Corporation in 1971, by 28-year-old Frederick W. Smith. Smith, a former Marine pilot identified tremendous difficulty in getting packages and other airfreight delivered within one to two days while operating his new firm. This problem driven him to do the required research for resolving the ineffective delivery system. Thus, the idea for Federal Express was born: a company that transformed global business practices and now defines promptness and trustworthiness. The corporation was created in 1998 as FDX Corporation and became FedEx Corporation in January 2000. FedEx motivates its more than 290,000 employees and contractors to remain unconditionally, absolutely committed on safety, on ethical standards and professional standards for the needs of their customers and communities. It provides services to more t han 220 countries and territories, including every address in the United States. FORTUNE magazine declared that FedEx has ranked No. 13 among Worlds Most Admired Companies 2010. This was based on input from executives, directors and financial analysts worldwide. FedEx Corporation delivers strategic path and combined financial tasks for the operating companies that compete jointly under the FedEx name worldwide: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx Supply Chain and FedEx Services. FedEx Corporation has visibly outlined goals and strategies for the future. Headquarters for FedEx is Memphis, Tennessee, USA (FedEx, n.d) Vision and mission: The complete history of FedEx Company is based on a particular vision: to make it possible for people and businesses to connect and collaborate with each other, no matter where they are in the world. FedEx puts its people first because they are their most important assets through which they achieve their business goals. The Corporate philosophy is briefly stated as people-service-profit. The FedEx brand is based on speed and efficiency. Customer necessities will be met in the highest quality mode suitable to each market segment served. FedEx will endeavor to develop mutually fulfilling relationships with its employees, allies and suppliers. Safety will be the first concern in all actions. (FedEx, 2010) Values: People: They value their people and promote diversity in their workplace and in their way of thinking. Service: Their absolutely, positively spirit puts their customers at the heart of everything they do. Innovation: They invent and inspire the services and technologies that improve the way they work and live. Integrity: They manage the operations, finances and services with honesty, efficiency and reliability. Responsibility: They defend safe and healthy environments for the communities in which they live and work. Loyalty: The firm earns the respect and confidence of their FedEx people, customers and investors every day, in everything they do. (FedEx ,2010). Corporate performance: FedEx was started as Federal Express Corporation in 1971. In 1975 it gained $43.5 million in sales. In 1985 FedEx had chosen an important step to expand its services to Europe by opening a European hub at the Brussels airport. Due to this act Revenue reached $2 billion in 1985. In 1994 FedEx was the first international express cargo carrier to receive system-wide ISO 9001 certification. FedEx is holding the assurance of its customers through its logistical capabilities, intensifying the carrying capacity of its fleet of over 675 fuel-efficient aircraft and 70,000 vehicles. Revenues have continued its decline that began at the end of 2008. Since 2008, total revenue has decreased by $3.2 billion amount due to less consumer demand brought forth by the recession. FedEx has increased their prices based on increase in demand, improving operating margin to 5.8%, more than the pre-recessionary level of 5.5%. Revenue for 2010 was $34.73 billion, down from 2009s $35,497 billion. Revenues decreased 2% during 2010 primarily due to profit decreases at FedEx Express and the FedEx Freight LTL Group as a result of continued competitive pricing environment. (FedEx, 2010) Key competitors: The main competitor for FedEx in US- market is UPS.UPS is the first largest package delivery company in U.S. FedEx is the second largest package delivery company in U.S.UPS gives FedEx tough competition locally and globally. Other than UPS in international market DHL also giving tough competition to FedEx. They are also facing lot of competition from local companies in china, Europe and India. In Europe TNT is also one of the key competitors for FedEx. Research methodology: The research method which I used in this report is qualitative. For this I focused on management books written by authors like David Boddy, Johnson et al, John R. Schermerhorn and Tim Hannagan. I also reviewed research methods book written by Saunders et al, to understand structure of a scientific article and writing style. I reviewed scientific journals like Emerging markets and innovation: A partnership for global progress, Interconnected firms relationships as a source of a competitive advantage, Valuing real options: Insight from competitive strategy and Strategic development, SWOT analysis at the University of Warwick and Strategic Capability: A Concept and Framework for Analysis. Overall I used secondary data to analyze the strategic capabilities of FedEx to enter new arenas. The secondary data are books, scientific journals and webpages. Literature review and application: SWOT analysis: SWOT analysis brings together the internal analysis about the strengths and weaknesses of the resources within the organization and the external opportunities and threats. This analysis will help in strategic development of the organization. According to my analysis the FedEx Corporation consists of the following strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Organizational strategic capabilities Strengths Strong brand image Strong financial position Wide range of operations Global presence Innovation Technology and communication Strong leadership Business to business Weaknesses Rising prices Labour disputes Opportunities Strategic alliance Strategic acquisitions Intensive global expansion Expansion of e-business Threats Intensive global competition Economic and political conditions Fuel price fluctuation Figure 3.4 SWOT analysis of FedEx in global business environment Strengths: Strong Brand Image: FedEx has a strong reputation by providing time-definite and reliable services from documents and small parcels up to unique freight shipments like panda shipment from US to china. According to BrandZ top 100 brands worldwide FedEx ranked 74th for 2010.The brand value for FedEx is $9.418millions during 2010, 1% less than 2009.But it is still better than 2008.This dip is due to global recession which affected US very bad and the price rise by the company (BrandZ,2010). Strong financial position: In the financial year 2006 the total assets for FedEx Corporation was $ 22,690 billion which is 11% more than previous year (FedEx Annual Report 2006).During financial years 2006 to 2010 the growth rate of total assets were 11%,5%,7%,-5% and 3% respectively. The dip during 2009 was due to global recession. Due to strong financial position it didnt loss much in global recession. Strong financial position gives confidence and backup for strong business position in the market. They improved very fast from the downturn because they enhanced to deliver even more reliability and value to the customers. This was achieved with the help of the strong financial position (FedEx annual report from 2006 to 2010). Wide range of operations: FedEx is the modern air and ground express courier service multinational company with wide range of operations like FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx Global Supply Chain and FedEx Services. FedEx Express uses a global air-and-ground network to speed delivery of time-sensitive shipments, usually in one to two business days with the delivery time guaranteed. FedEx Ground focuses in cost-effective, small-package shipping, offering reliable business-to-business delivery or suitable residential service through FedEx home delivery and FedEx Smart Post. FedEx Freight is the provider of next- and second-day regional, less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. FedEx Freight is known for excellent ability, reliability and on-time performance. FedEx Custom Critical offers the fastest, door-to-door same-day and next-day delivery of critical freight, valuable items and hazardous goods. FedEx Trade Networks offers FedEx global customers with end-to-end transportation and customs clearance solutions around the world. FedEx Services organizes sales, marketing, information technology, customer service, and worldwide supply chain services support for the global FedEx brand. FedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinkos) offers access points to printing and shipping services with reliable service when and where you need it. The above wide range operations help the company to have a strong hold in international market because this kind of wide range of operations will satisfy the needs of the customers. This will make customers to be more dependable to the company. (FedEx, 2010) Global presence: FedEx is a multinational company with its wide range operations like express, ground, freight, and faster delivery service that deliver over 6.5 million packages to more than 220 countries daily. FedEx also has 684 aircraft and trips to over 375 airports worldwide. It covers US, Europe, Indian Subcontinent and Africa. It works with the theme FedEx delivers to a changing world. Its revenue over 65% is from international operations. The international operations afford FedEx the revenue growth and market position advantage. (FedEx, 2010) Innovation: FedEx has strong history of innovation installing computers in delivery vehicles, providing latest automation for mailing services and developing tracking capabilities and software. In the year 1979 it became the first shipping company to use a computer to manage packages when it launched COSMOS (Customers, Operations and Services Master Online System), a centralized computer system to manage people, packages, vehicles and weather scenarios in real time. In 1980 the company implemented DADS (Digitally Assisted Dispatch System) to coordinate on-call pickups for customers; this system allows customers to schedule pickups for the same day. In 1994, they were the first to offer package-status tracing for better customer service via fedex.com.They were Innovative using wireless technology for shipping from past 25 years with the introduction of the Digital Assisted Dispatch System (DADS).( Wikipedia, November 13,2010).To continue this FedEx established the FedEx Innovation Labs, an inform ation technology project designed to create an atmosphere of collective thinking about critical technologies such as advanced optics for scanning, robotics, social networking and more. Technology and communication: FedEx continues to explore new technology. That commitment makes the customers loyal to them. They have outstanding communication with their customers. They use tracking devices on all shipments, and customers can find out where their shipment is and at what time they are going to receive it.This is one of their significant strategic capability. FedEx has announced Sense Aware (SM) powered by FedEx, a next generation, first-of-its-kind information service that combines a GPS sensor device and a web-based collaboration platform. Innovation is one of the important aspects for a multinational company to be competitive in the dynamic international business environment. (FedEx, 2010) Strong leadership: For over past 30 years the company is being led by Mr. Frederick W. Smith. Because of his strong leadership, dedication and commitment it is one of the top 100 companies in the world. For a successful company good leadership is important. Business to business: FedEx main business depends on B to B.They have very good contract with different industries for business. This year they applied for ISO certificate to transport medical equipments.This shows how they are really focusing on B to B. Weaknesses: Rising prices: FedEx has increased their prices based on increase in demand, improving operating margin to 5.8%, more than the pre-recessionary level of 5.5%.This is not good for markets like China, Africa and India because everybody cannot afford the high price. If they follow economies of scale in markets like Asia and Africa that will have a good impact on growth rate of the company. (FedEx, 2010) Labour disputes: FedEx announced drastic cuts in pay for most of its U.S. workforce. They announced permanent 5 percent to 10 percent base salary reductions for all U.S. employees. Because of this labour dispute FedEx workers requested for Teamster representation. The Teamsters Union Founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million working men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.This kind of labour disputes will spoil the reputation of the company and also it affects the business which in turn will affect the customer confidence (smallcapwatch,2010) Opportunities: Strategic alliance: Strategic alliance is a new trend in international business world to achieve successes factor. FedEx should look for strong alliance in different geographical locations to have a good market share internationally. FedEx Trade Networks has established alliance in Israel with leading international freight Fritz Companies Israel. This alliance will help the company to provide shippers with expanded international ocean and air freight services. (FedEx, July 6, 2010). If they can achieve this kind of strategic alliance they will achieve their goals in international market. The strategic alliance will help them to understand the domestic market of that particular location and to act according to that. Strategic acquisitions: In global business environment you cannot just go where ever you want and open a business unit. This may lead you to failure. Strategic acquisitions are some of the important factors for international business. FedEx acquired Kinkos Inc. in February 2004. This acquisition helped FedEx in all U.S. locations to offer new or expanded FedEx shipping options for better customer accessibility. If they can do such kind of strategic acquisitions globally, they will be more successful in their business in global environment. If FedEx can acquire in different geographical locations a local transportation company with good reputation background it can be their competitive advantage. (FedEx, 2010) Intensive global expansion: If FedEx can do the same wide range of business globally which they are doing in U.S. it will have very good brand value. To achieve this FedEx should undertake intensive global expansion. All the companies which are collectively working under FedEx Corporation should do global expansion collectively for good results. Expansion of e-business: Currently FedEx is using internet for most of its business. They should keep finding online shopping companies to contract delivery of their products. Now the growth of e-commerce is very fast .Federal Express can enjoy both profit and brand name from this kind of expansion. Threats: Intensive global competition: FedEx is facing a lot of competition from UPS, DHL and from some domestic companies in different geographical locations, for example TNT from Europe. The business which they are doing is easily imitable. Because of this there is a small dip in their total revenues for past two years. Economic and political conditions: The major consideration is Economic growth prospects. For past three years due to global recession the economic growth rate is very low. Due to this the growth rate for FedEx came down to -5%. (FedEx, 2010).Next comes the political factors. To achieve competitive advantage UPS is playing Brown bailout a political trick on its key competitor FedEx. If the U.S. congress reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration then FedEx will face lot of labour issues which will paralyze their business. (Brownbailout, 2009) United Parcel Service Inc., whose political action committee has given more money to federal lawmakers than any other company over two decades, is a major beneficiary of legislation before the House that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. (Bloomberg, May 21, 2009) Fuel price fluctuation: The fuel price fluctuation also disturbs the business. Currently the fuel prices are not stable. If the prices are low then no problem, but if the prices increases then it will be real problem for the company. The fuel price increase will affect the annual revenue growth. Because whenever the fuel prices increase they cannot increase their shipment prices. FedEx is operating 672 aircrafts and 70,000 motorized vehicles every day; this will consume lot of fuel. If the fuel price fluctuation is too much it will affect the business. (BBC news, 20 march, 2008) Resources and competences: Analysis of resources and capabilities are very important to identify strategic capabilities of an organization. Resources are about physical assets and production facilities. Competencies are the performance of the organization in the activities like producing, marketing, delivering and supporting its services. For achieving competence, strategy is important. A strategy deal with what is to be achieved, how it is achieved and for what it is achieved. Strategy should fit between the internal strengths and external opportunities. That means the organizations opportunities should fit between organizations internal resources, capabilities and opportunities in the external environment. Strategy helps to identify the factors that develop sustainable advantage for an organization. This will be the core competence for an organization. Core competences are the activities and processes to organize resources to gain the competitive advantage for an organization. This competitive advantage will be achieved through the strategic capabilities of an organization. (David Boddy) Figure 3.7 Identifying the organizations opportunities (Source: Management: David Boddy) For multinational companies Global strategy is very important. Global strategy is helpful to expand the market of an organization outside its domestic market. The following figure explains the opportunities and outcomes of the Global strategy. Identifying International opportunities are the important aspects of international strategy. Then you have to discover the resources and capabilities to form international strategies. These can be divided into International business level strategy, Multidomestic strategy, Global strategy and transnational strategy. For the successes of these strategies an organization should look for strong strategic alliances, Acquisitions, New wholly owned subsidiary and Exporting (These are the Modes of Entry for an organization into international market). After successfully managing all these and risks the final outcome will be better performance. (Michael A et, al) FedEx threshold capabilities: Threshold capabilities are significant elements for FedEx to be competitive in business environment. These elements can be divided into tangible and intangible resources. The tangible resources of FedEx are wide range of operations, 672 aircrafts, 70,000 motorized vehicles and 10 main air express hubs. The intangible resources are 275,000 employees, reputation and intellectual capital. FedEx has 42,000 drop boxes, over 9,000 centers, and 70,000 vehicles for express, ground, freight, and advanced delivery service that deliver over 6.5 million packages to more than 220 countries daily. They are planning for global expansion at the rate of 25% every year. This strategy will increase brand value and loyal customers worldwide. (FedEx, 2010) Intangible resources are difficult to be imitated by competitors. For FedEx as mentioned in their vision and mission employees are their most important assets through which they achieve their business goals. The Corporate philosophy is briefly stated as people-service-profit. They are the important element for FedEx brand value. FedEx capabilities for competitive advantage: The unique resources are the capabilities for competitive advantage. Every business will have capabilities to achieve business goals. But the capabilities which give the organization strong market position and which are rare and cannot be imitated by others are the core competencies. The strategic capabilities transfer the core competencies into competitive advantages of an organization. The following are the capabilities for competitive advantage of FedEx. Innovation: FedEx has the first mover advantage for past 30 years because of innovation. For an organization innovation will be associated with positive changes in efficiency, productivity, quality and competitive positioning. You absolutely, positively have to innovate-if only to survive.-Fred Smith (entrepreneur, October 9, 2008) Innovation . . . is generally understood as the successful introduction of a new thing or method . . . Innovation is the embodiment, combination, or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new products, processes, or services. (Luecke and Katz 2003) Innovation is part of the business at FedEx. It can be web services or the development of high-technology, FedEx sees innovation as a strategic business practice that is endlessly improved, developed and encouraged. Technology and communication: FedEx continues to search for new technology. This commitment keeps customers not switching to other providers. FedEx also has excellent communication with their customers. They are using latest online tracking system for all shipments, so that customers can find out where their shipment is and at what time it will reach. The FedEx brand is based on speed and efficiency. So they developed IMS tool to ensure that all transactions running on the mainframe are being processed quickly and efficiently. The new features are the result of intensive research into what their customers need and want. They are meeting the needs of customers with the latest user technologies. (IBM, 30 Jun, 2010) Loyal customers: Loyalty is created among customers based on A strong brand name, Pricing competitiveness, Product quality and service satisfaction. The building blocks of loyalty for FedEx are strong customer service, fast customs clearance, clear invoicing, reliable tracking information and quick problem handling. A loyal customer is one of the competitive advantages for FedEx who will do business with them again and happily recommend others. Corporate social responsibility: FedEx recognizes that their social responsibility is greater than the services they provide. They are dedicated to be a thoughtful representative for the environment and a caring citizen in the communities where they live and work. They are passionate about sustainably connecting people and places and improving the quality of life around the world. Philanthropy: FedEx is devoted to energetically supporting the communities they serve, through strategic investment of their people, resources and network. Their corporate resources include financial contributions, charitable shipping services and volunteer services by their team members. They have three core focus areas and meaningful ways: Emergency and Disaster Relief, Child Pedestrian Safety, and Environmental Sustainability. By doing this they will have good image in public which in turn increase the brand value. (FedEx, 2010) Environment: FedEx is dedicated to providing global network with minimized environmental impact. FedEx is mainly focusing on Fuel efficiency, using recycling material and reducing noise pollution. As part of its Fuel Sense program, FedEx uses rigorous operations and recent advancements in aircraft technology to significantly reduce emissions and fuel use for their aircrafts. They are working with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to assess their fuel use and identify potential savings. They started replacing their trucks with hybrid electric trucks and Boeing 727 aircraft with Boeing 757 which will reduce fuel consumption up to 36 percent while providing 20 percent more capacity. FedEx has started using recycling material for their packaging to minimize the environmental impact. FedEx is concerned with aircraft noise and has taken steps to reduce noise levels for more than 10 years. As part of its global environmental sustainability program, FedEx empowers its team members to mak e meaningful earth-friendly changes in the communities where they live and work. (CNBC news, Nov 15, 2010) Employees: FedEx is much concerned about the culture of service which is absolutely, positively spirit of employees. This builds customer loyalty. FedEx has been honored as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 10 of the past 11 years and was named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For Hall of Fame in 2005. (FedEx, 2010) Critical success factors analysis: FedEx critical success factors can be identified as speed and efficiency, innovation and global expansion. Speed and efficiency Innovation Global expansion Speed and efficiency: Speed and efficiency is one of the critical success factors for FedEx. For a global transportation company speed and efficiency is very important for competitive advantage. For FedEx this is consistently going on for more than 30 years. This is happening with the help of reliable and dedicated team work of FedEx employees. For todays changing life style, people want everything to happen very fast. For small businesses time-definite package deliveries are important for their business growth. FedEx is doing this with convenience and reliability. For FedEx speed and efficiency with consistency creating loyal customers. This speed and efficiency helped FedEx to grow globally within a short time. It also added value to the brand. Innovation: As I discussed in SWOT analysis innovation is creating first mover advantage for the company. FedEx established the FedEx Innovation Labs, an information technology project de

Diary Entries for Juliet :: Papers

Diary Entries for Juliet Dear Diary, My time has come, I knew it would come soon, I am soon to be married. I don't know what to do or what to think. When I was told the news my life flashed before my eyes, I saw myself in a loveless marriage, sitting at home in old clothes, slaving over a hot stove all day and looking after the children, what kind of a future is that? Getting married is an honour, because it shows you are wanted and the older you are the less likely you are to get married and your parents will have to look after you. I don't want to disappoint my parents, but I truly feel marriage, at this stage in my life, is not what I want. I am not ready to make such a commitment. The man I am meant to marry I'm to meet at this party my father is throwing. I am supposed to like him, what happens if I don't? Even if I like him, I certainly don't want to marry him. My father, I think, will give me some say in the matter, after all it is my life and he is meant to love and respect me. My nanny is more like my mother, my mother and father weren't around much when I was growing up and I feel a really strong bond between the nanny and I and she will support me whatever I choose, if I get to choose. This party is going to be the worst yet, I'm not even bothered about what I'm going to wear. Also I can't enjoy myself because I know soon I could marry, possibly to someone who is not right for me. Come to think of it I know nothing about this man, how is the marriage supposed to last anyway? HELP! I can hear my mother calling, got to go. Juliet Dear Diary, Romeo, Romeo, I am in love with Romeo, not with the man my dad picked, Paris.

How Did Hindenburg Undermine German Democracy in 1925-33? Essay

Paul von Hindenburg was the second president of the Weimar Republic, who had led Germany through economic prosperity of the Golden Age under Stresemann (1924-9), but also the series of severe crisis ranging from nationwide political revolts (1919-23) to worldwide economic depression (1929), that have influenced the Reichstag as a whole. For the first five years after taking office, Hindenburg fulfilled his duties of office with considerable dignity and decorum. Nevertheless, many claim that with the election of President Hindenburg, German democracy was doomed. There is a certain degree of truth in such statement, for Hindenburg had played a considerable role in undermining the German democracy in his later presidential years, through appointing Adolf Hitler (1933) chancellor of Germany in spite of his awareness of Hitlers dictatorial qualities, and invoking Article 48 under which the government no longer functioned democratically. Hindenburgs biggest mistake was to make Adolf Hitler chancellor of Germany in 1933, for this meant that an era of German elections and parliamentary life had come to an end, and an era of dictatorship and terror was soon to emerge. As the following evidence proves, Hindenburg was clearly aware that giving power to Hitler would be a vital step in the downfall of the Weimar Germany. In 1932, although the number of seats for the Nazis in Reichstag fell from 230 to 197 , it still remained to be the largest Party. Von Papen therefore offered to bring Hitler into his new government by giving him the Vice-Chancellorship. However, Hitler was not tempted and reiterated his desire for the Chancellorship, and would accept nothing less as his aim was complete power, not the sharing of power. When Von Papen put these demands to Hindenburg, and offered a way for Hitler as Chancellor, Hindenburg refused, and Papen, unable to command a majority in the Reichstag had to resign. In consequence, Hitler told Hindenburg he would form a presidential Cabinet, one whose powers would derive, not from the will or votes of parliament, but from the Presidency. Hindenburg could not accept these extraordinary terms and brought his negotiations with Hitler to an end, instructing his State Secretary to write to Hitler:The President of the Reich thanks you for your willingness to become head of a presidential Cabinet. He considers, however, that he would not be doing his duty to the German people if he handed over his Presidential powers to the leader of a  Party which has repeatedly emphasized its exclusiveness, and which has taken up a predominantly negative attitude. In these circumstances, the Present of the Reich cannot help fearing that a presidential Cabinet conducted by you would inevitably lead to a Party dictatorship, bringing in its train of bitter aggravation of the conflicts within the German peopleHindenburg thus turned to a former army officer, General von Schleicher and asked him to take over the Chancellorship. Some may argue that the reason for Hindenburgs dislike of Hitler was rather due to Hitlers personal backgrounds (he was Austrian). However, through Hitlers overly ambitious speeches and rebellious actions against the government shown in the prior years, (e.g. the Munich Beer Hall Pusch 1923) it is certain that Hindenburg was aware giving complete power to Hitler was not a clever idea, as it may inevitably lead to a Party dictatorship and a chaos within the nation. Nonetheless, he ended up giving power to the aggressive leader of the biggest Party of the Reich, undermining the German democracy. If it wasnt Hindenburg who in 1933 became convinced that there was no longer an alternative to Hitler and appointed him the Chancellor due to his advisers who without exception favored a government of national concentration under Hitlers leadership and the rumors that Schleicher was planning a putsch against Hindenburg, the vast human and ecological destruction of the twentieth century could have been avoided. Through Hindenburgs decision of appointing Hitler chancellor, Hitler came to power legally and headed his countrys government. In correspondence to Hindenburgs prediction, Hitler almost immediately forced the German legislature to give up its authority and made himself absolute dictator of Germany, taking the title of Fuhrer in 1934. Due to Hindenburgs decision and his failing attempt to make Hitler his puppet, the Third Reich lasted only 12 years and yet in those few years the history of Germany and the world changed under the influence of one man. Prior to Hitlers gain of power, Hindenburgs usage of Article 48 during his presidential years was also a significant factor which undermined German democracy. In 1930 Hindenburg appointed Bruning chancellor and agreed to sign presidential emergency decrees under Article 48 if the government faced opposition in the Reichstag. Therefore under Hindenburgs governing and Brunings chancellorship the government no longer functioned democratically  as Bruning relied on the presidents emergency powers to push through the legislation he desired. Article 48 gave the president special rights to issue emergency legislation, but the Reichstag could disapprove the presidents measure later. The president, in turn, could dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections. Thus, Hindenburgs policies were collapsing the German democracy as he represented an abuse of the constitutions emergency powers, which were initially meant to protect the democratic functioning of the constitution, not to disrupt it. Moreover, Hindenburgs failing energy and senility (he was 85 when he got reelected in 1932) made him an easy prey to his rightist advisors as he was heavily influenced by those who surrounded him and was open to their suggestions. Thus the extremist parties were profiting simultaneously from Hindenburgs ineffectiveness and the economic crisis which made enormous gains for the Nazis. After the Reichstag Fire in February 27 1933, Hindenburgs inability to lead the Weimar to the road of peace was proved as he was later agreeing to Hitlers demand of allowing him to use part of Article 48 which stripped people of their civil rights and allowed the police to make arrests without warrant, declaring a state of emergency. Hindenburg, though not fully trusting Hitler, nevertheless signed a Decree for the Protection of the People and the State taking away freedom of speech and assembly. His signature eventually undermined the Constitution and destroyed basic liberties. Hitler was able to take advantage of Hindenburgs senility and under Hindenburg, he and the Nazi Party could rise to full power. The unintentional methods of how Hindenburg undermined German democracy may vary. Among the few, two noteworthy reasons include Hindenburgs constant use of article 48 and his ineffective decision making skills which promoted Hitler as the chancellor of the Weimar Republic. However, it is inappropriate to hold him the most responsible character for the collapse of Weimar, for the constitutions downfall was due to numerous interwoven factors such as the instable social, economic and political aspects during the period 1929-33. Indeed, the tragic fate of German democracy cannot be attributed to any one major factor, because to single out any one factor ignores the complexity of the situation. Nonetheless the second president of the Weimar Republic, Paul Von Hindenburg, in spite of all the achievements  he had made in his early years, still remains to be regarded as an unimpressive leader who had given power to the brutal dictator—Adolf Hitler. The German democracy was thus doom ed with his decision, for Hitler neither took nor gained power through elections, but was given power by Hindenburg, a man with growing senility and disinterest in politics. http://en.allexperts.com/e/p/pa/paul_von_hindenburg.htmA History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 818A History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 818A History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 818A History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 819Germany A New History, Hagen Schulze, p. 243Exploring World History, John R. O Connor, p.556http://www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyD7.htmlhttp://www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyD7.htmlhttp://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/paul_von_hindenburg.htmhttp://www.studyzones.com/questionzone/detail.cfm?objectid=3F9B3DE7-8988-11D7-B24D00B0D049C8DF

Free Essays on The Protagonist Of The Scarlet Letter

Dimmesdale: The Bearer of the Scarlet letter Who should bear the stigma of sin? Hawthorne’s novel is a story of adultery, social judgment, and moral redemption. Hester cannot hide the consequences of her mistake, so she is exposed to public judgment and forced to wear the scarlet letter. However, it is Dimmesdale’s guilty conscience and struggle to rise above the sin that makes the essence of the narrative. The argument for Dimmesdale as a protagonist lies in the answers to the following questions. Does Dimmesdale’s character change throughout the story? Does he have an antagonist and a helper? Do his actions bring about the climax of the story? Finally, does he solve the problem? Hawthorne uses character development to show how a person can change. A well-developed character stirs emotions in the reader to make a powerful story. All three main characters, Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale undergo changes that mark the development of events. However, it is Dimmesdale who changes the most. The reason for his change is the sin he commits with Hester. At the beginning of the book, we meet a young and self-confident minister who is trusted by the townspeople, as their moral and religious leader, â€Å"So powerful seemed the minister’s appeal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (74). As the story progresses we see Dimmesdale become weaker physically, due to his moral torment â€Å", who’s health had severly suffered† (119). In Chapter 8, we see him through Hester’s eyes, as a man who â€Å"Looked now more careworn and emanciated than as we described him at the scene of Hester’s public ignominy: and wether it were his failing health, or whatever the cause might be, his large dark eyes had a world of pain in their troubled and melancholy depth† (124). For a large part of the novel Dimmesdale becomes both, very sick physically and ment... Free Essays on The Protagonist Of The Scarlet Letter Free Essays on The Protagonist Of The Scarlet Letter Dimmesdale: The Bearer of the Scarlet letter Who should bear the stigma of sin? Hawthorne’s novel is a story of adultery, social judgment, and moral redemption. Hester cannot hide the consequences of her mistake, so she is exposed to public judgment and forced to wear the scarlet letter. However, it is Dimmesdale’s guilty conscience and struggle to rise above the sin that makes the essence of the narrative. The argument for Dimmesdale as a protagonist lies in the answers to the following questions. Does Dimmesdale’s character change throughout the story? Does he have an antagonist and a helper? Do his actions bring about the climax of the story? Finally, does he solve the problem? Hawthorne uses character development to show how a person can change. A well-developed character stirs emotions in the reader to make a powerful story. All three main characters, Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale undergo changes that mark the development of events. However, it is Dimmesdale who changes the most. The reason for his change is the sin he commits with Hester. At the beginning of the book, we meet a young and self-confident minister who is trusted by the townspeople, as their moral and religious leader, â€Å"So powerful seemed the minister’s appeal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (74). As the story progresses we see Dimmesdale become weaker physically, due to his moral torment â€Å", who’s health had severly suffered† (119). In Chapter 8, we see him through Hester’s eyes, as a man who â€Å"Looked now more careworn and emanciated than as we described him at the scene of Hester’s public ignominy: and wether it were his failing health, or whatever the cause might be, his large dark eyes had a world of pain in their troubled and melancholy depth† (124). For a large part of the novel Dimmesdale becomes both, very sick physically and ment...

Analysis of John Berrymans Dream Song Essays

Analysis of John Berrymans Dream Song Essays Analysis of John Berrymans Dream Song Paper Analysis of John Berrymans Dream Song Paper In his poem, Berryman presents the reader with the image of a deeply troubled, sad and lonely man and the half life that he is living. The voice of the poem is that of an outside narrator looking in on the life of Henry, most likely the persona that Berryman created in his ‘Dream Songs’. Through the poem, Berryman explores the themes of life and the inner demons that can hinder. The first line of the poem creates a hook and sets up the subject matter of the poem; that of a man and his ‘nocturnal habits’, his constantly restless nights. From this opening, we can already see that Henry has many relationships with the opposite sex due the ‘his women’ being plural. Berryman, in fact, was noted for having a series of infidelities during his life, so perhaps this could give evidence for the view that Berryman and his persona Henry were one. The line is further strengthened by the combination of diction and structure; the use of the word ‘terror’ evokes dread in the reader as the connotations are that of an intense and overwhelmingly blinding fear, and the end-stopped line forces the reader to pause and muse on just how Henry invokes terror in his women. In this way, Berryman immediately sets the reader up for a fall. Expecting the worst after the word ‘terror’, we are then presented with ‘First it appears he snored’. Such a mundane action almost adds a hint of humour to the melancholy, although Berryman dashes this in the following lines with the images of Henry ‘changing position like a task fleet’. As a fleet is a large formation of ships, Berryman gives the impression that Henry’s tossing and turning is not merely trifling but is so forceful as to disrupt everything, as if there was a fleet of Henry’s committing the action and not just one. Berryman’s diction helps to shape the image of Henry as a ‘lost’ man. The words ‘inhuman’ and ‘death-like’ present Henry as someone who does not appear at all human; he is a ghost of man. This is only emphasised by ‘you’ll admit it was no way to live/ or even keep alive. ’- showing that the persona is barely surviving, keeping himself together with ‘drugs and alcohol’, which present a vicious circle as these would further distort his mind. Berryman himself was an alcoholic and was hospitalised for exhaustion and nerves many times in his life, further adding weight to the idea that Henry was just an outlet for Berryman’s feelings. Berryman emphasises the dramatic nature of Henry’s sleeping habits through his pairings of strong verbs ‘thrashed tossed’, ‘sweating shaking’, the alliteration and the use of the ampersand reflecting the fact that these actions go on and on, continuously terrorising his sleep. The structure of the poem is just as important as Berryman’s diction in shaping the themes. The poem has seventeen lines and is structured in two stanzas, the line lengths uneven. Berryman’s rhythms are dictated by the pauses he creates, both slowing and quickening the pace. For instance, the rhythms in the centre of the poem are fast, reflecting Berryman’s period of intense action; ‘reading new mail, writing new letters, scribbling excessive Songs. ’ ‘Songs’ here is capitalised, possibly referring to Berryman’s work of poetry about Henry, the Dream Songs. The rhythm and the themes are also aided by Berryman’s use of images of sound. The alliteration in the poem is harsh sounding, the repetition of consonants such as ‘h’ (Henry’s habits), ‘w’ (‘women’s wrongs’), the harsh ‘c’ sound (‘couldn’t keep’), ‘t’ (to the old tune) and ‘g’ (gotta give good’) further the troubled mood of the poem; for instance, the The poem is rife with sibilance, ‘sweating shaking: something’s’; the ‘s’ sounds create an almost unsettling air as if they are echoing through the night. The line ‘back then to bed, to the old tune or get set’ is filled with imagery of sound, the alliteration of the ‘t’ and ‘b’ sound force the reader’s pace to quicken before a sort of climax produced by the internal rhyme of ‘get set’; Berryman using the two words to bring the reader to a sudden pause before presenting us with his most striking image, that of the ‘stercoraceous cough’. Berryman’s diction here is perfect as the ‘c’ sounds running through the two words reflect the sound of a harsh cough, allowing the reader to hear it for themselves. Berryman’s rhyme scheme is actually a rather traditional pattern of ABCABC DEFDEF GHHGH. However, despite most of the rhymes being full, such as ‘back’ and ‘track’, ‘scribbling’ and ‘quibbling’, the use of enjambment throughout the poem makes the reader stop only when Berryman wants us to, which ensures that the rhyming is extremely subtle. Hence instead of unifying the poem, as the rhyme is not evident immediately to the reader it seems to create an unsettled atmosphere that aids the picture of a tortured soul. Berryman skilfully utilises a blend of aural imagery and carefully chosen words to paint a melancholy picture of tormented man. The varied rhythms in the poem reflect the tumultuous nature of Henry’s ‘nocturnal habits’; the slow and fast paces coincide with Henry’s intermittent sleep and subsequent frenzied periods of action. The advice of the unnamed outside ‘narrator’, ‘something’s gotta give’, ends the poem; something has to be done in Henry’s life as, if he continues on this path and wakes ‘for good at five’ each morning for normal life, it is evident that he will drive himself to the grave.

School Gossip Can Destroy Teachers and Staff Members

School Gossip Can Destroy Teachers and Staff Members A teacher conducts an activity to show her class just how silly gossip can be. She whispers something to a student and then that student whispers it to the next until it had been passed to every student in class. What started as, We are going to have a long three day weekend starting tomorrow ended up as, We will be lucky if three of you arent killed this weekend. The teacher uses this activity to teach her students why you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. She also discusses why it is essential to stop gossip instead of helping to spread it.​ The lesson above is sadly not limited to the students in the school. Gossip runs rampant in just about any workplace. Schools should be a safe haven where this is not a significant problem. The faculty and staff within a school should never start, participate in, or promote gossip. However, the truth is that all too often schools are the focal point of gossip in the community. The teacher’s lounge or the teacher’s table in the cafeteria is often the center of where this gossip occurs. It is mind-boggling as to why people need to talk about what is going on with other people. Teachers should always practice what they preach. Particularly those who have seen the negative impact gossip has had on their students. The truth is that the effect of gossip can be the same or worse as an adult. When Empathy Proves Elusive As a teacher, you have so much going on in your own classroom and life that it can be difficult to truly understand that there is just as much or more going on in every other classroom and co-workers lives. Empathy sometimes proves elusive when it should be commonplace. Gossip is frustrating because it builds walls between teachers and staff members that need to be working together. Instead, they feud because someone said something about the other to someone else. The entire idea of gossip among a school faculty and staff is disheartening. Gossip can split a schools faculty and staff in half and in the end, the people who are hurt the worst will be your student body As a school leader, it is your job to discourage gossip among the adults in your building.  Teaching is difficult enough without worrying about what others are saying.   Teachers should have each other’s back, not talk behind each other’s back. Gossip creates a large part of your discipline issues with students, and it will create even larger problems within your faculty and staff if it is not dealt with quickly. The key to minimizing the gossip issues among your faculty/staff is to educate them on the topic. Being proactive will go a long way in keeping gossip issues to a minimum. Have regular conversations with your faculty and staff members discussing the bigger picture about the damage that gossip can cause. Furthermore, implement strategic team build activities that bring them together and naturally forge solid relationships. When it comes to gossip, make sure they know what your expectations are and how you will deal with it when it becomes an issue. How to Proactively Defeat Conflict It is also not realistic to have a faculty and staff where there is never any conflict. A policy or set of guidelines must be in place when this happens that leads towards resolution between the two parties instead of division. Encourage your faculty and staff members to bring these issues to you and then act as a mediator between the two parties. Having them sit down together and talk out their issues will help. It may not be effective in every case, but it will peacefully solve the majority of conflict issues that you have with your faculty and staff. It is better to take this approach than to have them gossiping about it with other members of the faculty and staff which can lead to bigger issues down the line.

Russian Orthodox Icons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Russian Orthodox Icons - Essay Example In each case the artefact has a clear and deliberate connection with Christian doctrine. The way the icon is constructed reveals its function within a Christian context: â€Å"The image is reduced to a minimum of detail and a maximum of expressiveness. The great majority of figures are represented with their faces turned towards the congregation, for the importance lies not only in the action and interaction of the persons represented, but also in their state, which is usually a state of prayer.† Ouspensky and Losskym, 1982, p. 27) The inclusion of the person looking at the icon is a particular feature of this art form, and it explains why so many believers developed a strong and intimate connection with particular icons. In the Russian Orthodox area there is has been particularly large selection of different icons available over many centuries, and this demonstrates how complex Russian religious experience has been. The icons in Russia are not just images: they are accompanie d by an inscription: â€Å"Without the identifying inscription there can, in general, be no icon, just as there can be no icon without the representation: worship is directed equally both to the image and the name.† (Uspenskii, 1976, p. ... .† (Ouspensky and Lossky, 1982, p. 37) As time went on, and the memory chain of tradition grew longer, special guide books or podlinniks were made, which recorded all the relevant saint’s days, and holidays, with specific colors and instructions for recording particular scenes and personalities. The Orthodox Church, more than any other branch of Christianity, has kept more faithful connections with the earliest Christian calendar, and the special services and saints days that belong to it. The icons all have their special places in the Orthodox annual rituals. From the second half of the 16th century the aim of the official Orthodox and Catholic churches to strengthen popular religiosity coincided with the demarcation and broadening of the sphere of religious art. (Tarazov and Milner-Gulland, 2002, p. 201) In the 17th century there was increasing attention to the ornamental function of the icon, and to the fashioning of elaborate frames, using craft skills rather than fi ne art skills. Because the Renaissance left Russia largely untouched, there was a continuation of medieval styles in the painting. In the 18th to the early 20th centuries there was a dramatic increase in the volume of secular craft icon painting. In this period there was increasing contact with the Western and the icon makers began to adopt Western styles. The features that now appeared in icons were â€Å"chiaroscuro, foreshortening, direct perspective and various illusionistic effects in general† (Uspenskii, 1976, p. 24) All of the most popular Western master painters from previous centuries were eagerly imitated, including Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Cranach etc. (Tarazo and

Social Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Law - Essay Example Link between corporate crime and Social crime Corporate crimes engage planning, tactical residency the deviance ought to be harmful to people exterior of a corporation or rather the deviance of corporate representatives ought to extend the intentions and desires of a Corporation. The deviance should be supported or abided by top administrative and/or colleagues. The prime recipient of this deviant deed is the corporation. Social crime denotes a cluster of peoples who occupy a comparable place in the economic structure of production. In that classification profession is extremely vital since it offers monetary incentives, steadiness and benefits like healthcare. Has the law’s view of the criminal responsibility of corporations changed over the years? The conclusion of the century provides a chance to mirror on legal replies to alterations in social and monetary organization. Increasing dependence on sophisticated expertise, the developing trendy terminology of risk, and endeavo rs to position the wherewithal of criminal law in opposition to business ventures are a number of the expressions of those alterations. There has developed a debate concerning probable criminal accountability for 'Millennium Bug' tragedies captures these prime features of modern life. Civil and Criminal Law Civil decree endeavors to determine non-criminal arguments for instance divergences over the connotations of contracts, land ownership, annulment, child care, and harms for individual and property denting. Civil law ought to be used since its purpose is to give a legal solution to resolve problems. Criminal decree is that organization of the decree that tackles conduct deemed so dangerous to community entirely that it is forbidden by statute, impeached and penalized by the governing body (Gardner and Terry, 17). Criminal law is a matter of enforcement looking in the sheriff viewpoint. A sheriff is a bureaucrat of the court, plus his chief purpose and role is to serve and performs the diverse legal courses and mandates issued. Secondly, Divisional and government department policies and courses are reliable throughout the court case law in the U.S. These rules are crafted and established to cover the accurate, prompt, and judicious service and implementation of all matters regarding the enforcement of consents and course. Thirdly, the FEC has private power over the public enforcement of the centralized fight against finance law. In implementing that influence, the Commission utilizes a multiplicity of techniques to uncover probable election law breaches. How crime in the streets is viewed versus how crime in the suites is viewed by society? By means of burglary and fraud as two paradigms, the judgments indicate that public viewpoints of sanction conviction and relentlessness advocated that street criminals were exceptionally credible to be caught and be judged to more harsh sentences as opposed to white-collar criminals. There is much debate on which crime sh ould be punished severely. Both crimes are perceived to receive the exact sentence and are at par. With this in consideration, there is no varying perception in crime in the suites, and it is not supposed to be changing. Question Two Functionalist verses Conflict view of change Conflict philosophers perceive social change as happening merely via infighting amid social classes. Even as, it is factual that numerous revolutions have emerged in the emergence of class plus/or cluster conflict, it is a terrific deal different from the outlook functionalists inclination. Functionalists characteristically employ the additional tangible factors, for example, population development and industrial advances as pioneering the indict

The Main Developments of E-Marketing Based on a Comprehensive Essay

The Main Developments of E-Marketing Based on a Comprehensive Literature Review - Essay Example The main interest of a business is to know what their consumers’ need. The advantage of this type of marketing is that it customizes its offers, personifies the sites, and this provides added value. The customer can choose whatever he wants and other varieties that have been offered. This also improves the loyalty of the customer. The traditional type of marketing was only focused with the physical appearance of the product. Using the internet the cost paid by the consumer and the profit expected are both put in check. The customers can purchase whatever they like on the internet wherever they are, and get the item delivered to them instead of them going around physically and wasting time. Internet marketing offers a two way communication. These means that a business could easily fit in a customer’s needs, and provide whatever the market needs. Another advantage of internet marketing is that it reduces the many advertisements done on TV and radio, hence minimizing costs of selling the business. The speed of communication is also favored between the buyer and the seller. Time is saved unlike the way it was done traditionally. During the transportation of the products purchased, there could have been delivery obstacles, leading to insufficiency, but e-marketing has really reduced such inconveniences. It can also be noticed that transportation costs are reduced as the customer will not travel from point to point in search of a product in the market. A customer will also enjoy the reduced transaction costs and will not be suffocated by time and space. Internet marketing has helped the upcoming business in their difficult areas like unskilled labor, reduced business costs and increased productivity, inadequate capital and unavailability of good infrastructure. HOW TO DETERMINE IF E-MARKETING IS WORKING FOR YOU OR NOT When determining this, one should look at the effectiveness of a marketing strategy. It should be cheaper, faster and better than previou sly. There are some ways in which industries and organizations can measure if E-Marketing is working for them or not. As (Mokhtar & Burgess, 2002pp1368) suggests, â€Å"Increased revenue per employee, customer satisfaction, reduced inventory, increased sales per salesperson, an increase in market share and increased profits† are some of the ways in which the success of internet marketing can be determined. LIMITATIONS OF E-MARKETING ESPECIALLY TO SMALL ENTREPRISES Most of these enterprises lack E-infrastructure, they are not aware of what is happening, limited capital, low technology skills, unskilled labor, social and cultural inhibits just to mention but a few. These barriers have always pulled their business backwards. Strict policies in some countries could also affect the good performance of the businesses. Culture can be a barrier when looking at the ICT adoption. ADVANTAGES OF E-MARKETING It is vital to note that the traditional marketing activity occurs in three main channels. Distribution Transaction Communication. These advantages are divided into three main parts. They include Communication channel: information can be easily exchanged from the buyer to the seller. This can improve how the organization interacts with the customer and have a perpetual experience. By communicating directly with the customer, on is able to gather

Creating a PR Plan for Marcos Ambrose's Race Team Essay

Creating a PR Plan for Marcos Ambrose's Race Team - Essay Example He does this by setting a Motorsport to field Late Model stock cars in the UARA Starts Touring Series. There are several assumptions in regards to the PR outline. These include the size of the Marcos Ambrose’s Race Team and its operations. The PR plan’s foundation lie in an appreciation of Public Relation theory, that ranges from systems management to the global dialectics of international PR. In this regard, I will define PR as the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill between an organization and its stakeholders. This PR plan is aimed at building a strategic media and public relation plan which will continue the success of Marcos Ambrose teams in the major sponsorship within V8 supercars Championship. The recommended plan is based upon 12 month plan with three phases namely: pre-launch; integrated communications and the follow-up to maintain momentum. The following stakeholders have been identified to be important in the implementation of PR plan. Intensive, integrated communications in October and November 2014 focusing all the activities undertaken by the Marcos Ambrose’s Race Team apart from the field activities. This mainly focuses on the various primary and secondary stakeholders of the motorsport

Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business - Case Study Example Since Carl was relatively new to the system, it was the duty of supervisor to monitor Carl and guide him towards the proper direction. The supervisor should also have offered assistance to Carl in terms of the orientation of the new employees. The next half of the project will present a brief background of the case. As offering a brief background to the case will help to understand the latter half of the report. Background It was during the early April when Mr. Carl Robins, the new campus recruiter of ABC Inc., hired 15 new employees. The employees were supposed to work for Monica Carrolls, who was the Operations Supervisor. After the process of recruitment Carl scheduled an orientation program for the newly recruited employees, which was supposed to take place on 15th June. His primary intention was to ensure that after providing adequate training to the staff, they will be fit for joining by the beginning of July. On May 15th, the operational supervisor, Monica Carrolls contacted C arl to discuss about the training sessions. Apart from that the discussion also took place about the schedule of training, medical checkup, physical test, orientation, handing over the policy booklets to the employees and a list of other issues. During the conversation Carl reassured Monica Carrolls that all the required amenities will be in place within the stipulated time frame. He also quoted that during the time employee orientation will commence every employee will be present along with their application forms. Carl got back to work just after the Memorial Day weekend, in order to check whether all the employee applications were completed or not. As he was going through it, he suddenly realized that there was a shortage of adequate pieces of the orientation manual. Moreover there were also missing pages in between the manual. After witnessing these occurrences, Carl become anxious when he comprehended that not a single newly recruited employees had received the obligatory drug screening. Apart from that Carl was shocked to know the news that the room where the training was supposed to take place was pre occupied by another client (Solve my question, 2012). Hence there was also unavailability of the training room. Key Problems The given case has to deal with a number of problems. The most important of them all is related to the way, campus recruiter Carl Robbins has planned, implemented and followed up. Mr. Robbins at first neglected to coordinate with his supervisor. This depicts that the recruiter feels himself as self sufficient. Apart from that he has misguided the employees as well as operational supervisor. He did not communicate the exact time, when the new employees will be attending the obligatory drug screening. He did not arranged adequate copies of orientation manual and also failed to fill up the applications of the newly recruited employees. Even the orientation manuals have few pages missing. This demonstrates how careless he was while perfo rming his duty. It also exhibits his lack of professionalism and responsibility. The recruiter also had enough time in order to make sure that everything would be in place prior to the commencement of the training schedule on the 15th of June. However, Carl was also new to the system and therefore it becomes the duty of the supervisor to train him or guide him

Which factors affect one's chances of experiencing poverty during Essay

Which factors affect one's chances of experiencing poverty during one's lifetime - Essay Example Furthermore, statistics and studies have shown that unfortunately the children that grow up with parents who are married, working, and religious, are also more likely to face experiencing poverty as adults. Obviously this is a very important and critical matter, and this is why it is so important to make sure that every issue within this matter is discussed thoroughly and properly. There are many different perspectives that will be taken on this issue as well, and that includes New Right, Liberal, and Feminist, as each of these is incredibly important in its own right and thus needs to be included in the standpoint in regards to this subject matter. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Poverty is a very serious issue, and in order to be able to find out how it applies itself, we truly must determine as to where it actually begins, and the quite obvious answer to that would be in childhood. After all, things that take place during childhood tend to carry on throughout a person’s life, and so this explains quite well as to why issues that took place during one’s childhood would highly affect their chances of experiencing poverty later on in their life. One of the most apparent factors of all is the living environment for children, as when children are living in an unstable environment the family is that much less likely to have stable income of money, and thus the children are more susceptible to living in poverty. Using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988, we see that â€Å"eighth graders who were living apart from their biological fathers had an expected poverty rate of 16.6 percen t when they were twenty-five. In contrast, the poverty rate for eighth graders who were living with their fathers was 9.9 percent† (The Future of Children, 2007). Therefore, we can quite clearly see from this that there is an incredibly powerful

Creating a PR Plan for Marcos Ambrose's Race Team Essay

Creating a PR Plan for Marcos Ambrose's Race Team - Essay Example He does this by setting a Motorsport to field Late Model stock cars in the UARA Starts Touring Series. There are several assumptions in regards to the PR outline. These include the size of the Marcos Ambrose’s Race Team and its operations. The PR plan’s foundation lie in an appreciation of Public Relation theory, that ranges from systems management to the global dialectics of international PR. In this regard, I will define PR as the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill between an organization and its stakeholders. This PR plan is aimed at building a strategic media and public relation plan which will continue the success of Marcos Ambrose teams in the major sponsorship within V8 supercars Championship. The recommended plan is based upon 12 month plan with three phases namely: pre-launch; integrated communications and the follow-up to maintain momentum. The following stakeholders have been identified to be important in the implementation of PR plan. Intensive, integrated communications in October and November 2014 focusing all the activities undertaken by the Marcos Ambrose’s Race Team apart from the field activities. This mainly focuses on the various primary and secondary stakeholders of the motorsport

Which factors affect one's chances of experiencing poverty during Essay

Which factors affect one's chances of experiencing poverty during one's lifetime - Essay Example Furthermore, statistics and studies have shown that unfortunately the children that grow up with parents who are married, working, and religious, are also more likely to face experiencing poverty as adults. Obviously this is a very important and critical matter, and this is why it is so important to make sure that every issue within this matter is discussed thoroughly and properly. There are many different perspectives that will be taken on this issue as well, and that includes New Right, Liberal, and Feminist, as each of these is incredibly important in its own right and thus needs to be included in the standpoint in regards to this subject matter. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Poverty is a very serious issue, and in order to be able to find out how it applies itself, we truly must determine as to where it actually begins, and the quite obvious answer to that would be in childhood. After all, things that take place during childhood tend to carry on throughout a person’s life, and so this explains quite well as to why issues that took place during one’s childhood would highly affect their chances of experiencing poverty later on in their life. One of the most apparent factors of all is the living environment for children, as when children are living in an unstable environment the family is that much less likely to have stable income of money, and thus the children are more susceptible to living in poverty. Using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988, we see that â€Å"eighth graders who were living apart from their biological fathers had an expected poverty rate of 16.6 percen t when they were twenty-five. In contrast, the poverty rate for eighth graders who were living with their fathers was 9.9 percent† (The Future of Children, 2007). Therefore, we can quite clearly see from this that there is an incredibly powerful

Duddy Kravitz Materialism Essay Example for Free

Duddy Kravitz Materialism Essay Materializing is a major role in this book it affects a large part of the characters second and one person first hand. It also affects the plot due to the main characters obsession with materialism. Materializing can also cause people in relationships to grow apart due to confusion with priorities. Materializing can drive people to become some one that they would never wish to become with out even realizing it. It can also push you to do stuff that you would never think of doing. In the book The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, the main character Duddy Kravitz was brought up with the saying a man with out land is a nobody. Duddy believes that the more land and money he gains the more of a somebody he will become. Duddy goes through life trying to make more and more money and gain more and more land. With an obsession like this it can cause a person to forget about priorities and also the heath and feelings of others. With Duddy by the end of the book his push to become a somebody cause the lost of respect from a family member and the loss of valued friends. It caused Duddy to put his own friend in a wheel chair for life just so he could try and save some money. Materializing can cause your judgment to fog and able you to do almost anything to get a head in the race to becoming a somebody. Duddy went to the point of forging a crippled friends check so he could buy more land. After he finally owns and controls all of the land hi feels that he has become a somebody. Duddy let money and poisons become the only thing that mattered to him. Duddy lost sight of everything that he lost and all the people that he hurt along the race to become a somebody. The plot of the book was greatly affected be materialism. The book is based around a selfish, greedy man named Duddy Kravitz a man that would stop at anything to become rich and well known. The plot twists as Duddy personality becomes meaner and more money driven. The plot of the book starts with the main character Duddy trying to make living well at the same timework his way up to becoming rich and at least locally famous. Duddy starts off as a happy man with a girlfriend, has many friends that are rich and is starting off his own business. However later on in the book after he starts to buy land to build a dream he starts to go bankrupt. As times get tough Duddy slowly starts to loss grasp of his goals and dreams that would make him a  somebody. The money hungry man starts to become verbally violent and uncaring for others. At this point he is only worried about losing his land and money. ################# but really Duddy has lost much more than he has gain. He has lost his friends, his girlfriend and the respect of his grandpa. The plot is based on materialism with Duddy. All most every problem in this book is a result in Duddy trying to make it big in life and becoming a rich man with a lot of land. When materialism is present with in a relationships it can push people to grow a part over time. It is usually noticed be one member and rarely caught but the person who is obsessed with it. With Duddy Kravitz it was present thought out his life. However as time moved on it slowly turned in to the only thing that mattered to him in his life. When Duddy first started to date Yvette you could see the connection they had with each other, you got the impression that they where meant to be together. They would go on picnics together, go for walks in the woods, and go swimming in the lake. This is where Duddy discovers his soon to be land, with in seconds you could see that the Duddy obsession with materialism has started to make things different between then. Duddy tried to bribe Yvette not to tell anyone about their place and offered to cut her in on the profits if she would keep it a secret. When money and the land came in to the picture it caused Duddy to almost stop trusting Yvette and act like she was more like a business partner rather than girlfriend. This cause Yvette to become angry and upset that Duddy didnt trust her and brought money in to the picture. Slowly over time Duddy became verbally violent towards Yvette, always telling her to shut up and yelling at her profoundly. Slowly Duddy obsession pushed him away from Yvette. By the end of the book Duddy was so obsessed with land, money and trying to become a somebody that he lost the important things in life. Duddy lost things that cant be bought but money, or impressed with land, he lost friends and family.