Introduction to Bussines Ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction to Bussines Ethics - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates how this information can be presented to the CEO and managers in a meeting and the actions recommended rectifying the situation and giving the customer notification. Presenting the situation to the executive would involve first acknowledging that the situation exists and explaining the implications that such a case may have on the organization. For instance, if the organization left the defective product to get into the market without being checked, then they may negatively affect the clients and in extreme case even cost their lives. This is very unethical. In case this happens, the customers may sue the business in a court of law where the organization gets to pay huge fines or may even be dissolved. All these are bad consequences that the organization need to avoid in order to thrive. After explaining the implications of the problem at hand, I would proceed to give the extent of the problem. Give details on which products are perceived to have potential harm on the customers, whether they have been dispatched already or are still in the stores. In order to deal with the current situation, several actions need to be implemented immediately. The first thing to check is whether there are defective products that have already reached the end users. In such a case, the organization would seek a way of reaching these customers by contacting the main distribution points in ensuring that the end users are made aware of the situation. The second step would be to stop the sale of all potentially defective products in the company stores and the main distribution points. These products should be taken back to the warehouse for the problem to be rectified. In order to ensure that such a situation does not occur in future, there is the need to ensure that there are effective quality control and assessment tools. There should also be a strict procedure that requires all products to be tested before being distributes to the suppliers. This will reduce the risk of selling potentially harmful products to our client. This will make it possible for the company to give out clients’ value for their money and ensure continued growth in the company revenues. In order to ensure that ethicality is maintained when dealing with the customer, the guiding principle should be giving the best service and products to them. This because the company needs to threat the clients as its employer without which it cannot even exist. There is also need to create a definite system that should be used in case of the repeat of such an incident in notifying the customers of such instances and a way in which they can be compensated. Compensation of the clients is important in promoting the good faith between the company and the customer. This helps in ensuring that the organization d0esn not lose its market to the rival companies. The customers need to feel that they get real value for their money. Since it has been noted that the organization does not have a definite ethical guideline, it is important o develop a strategy of developing a tradition of ethicality through organizational change. This would be an involving process which goes beyond the creation of a code of ethics to be followed by the employees. The manger first need to study the current ethical culture I the organization to recognize the limiting factors that influence in making ethical decision. It is also important to learn which factors support ethical

Wallstreet Journal Opion Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wallstreet Journal Opion - Article Example Mr. Galston refers to the BLS report but forgets to consider that the measures stated in the report do not measure the specific contribution of capital, labor, or any other factor of production but do reflect changes in technology, capital investment, managerial skills, effort of workforce, level of output and material. Moreover, he fails to explain role of workers to share losses and stresses of ownership in relation to sharing of productivity gains. Firms already share gains from increased productivity with their shareholders and for those workers who desire for the surplus value has to purchase the company’s stock. The implementation and enforcement of a productivity-to-pay method would draw a number of implications such as diverse effects on capital investment and hiring, and avoidance of tax penalties by businesses. Furthermore, the challenge in our economy is neither shortage of capital nor weakness of demand but an environment full of regulations and laws that tend to discourage investment. Thus, the argument by Galston is not only erroneous but also impractical in any

PEST Analysis of Genting Highlands

PEST Analysis of Genting Highlands Genting Highlands, also known as Resort World Genting, was the idea of the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong. He wanted to create a holiday resort in Malaysia, 2000 feet above sea level, where one can experience cool weather and have a relaxing vacation amongst the nature. Today, Genting Highlands is a leading leisure and entertainment resort. It compromises of six hotels, a country and golf resort, two apartment blocks and a theme park, international shows, gaming experience, leisure cruising and meetings and conventions. Their vision is to be a leading integrated resort operator in the world (Genting Malaysia Berhad, 2011) Genting Malaysia: http://www.gentingmalaysia.com/ Resort Word Genting: http://www.rwgenting.com/ Marketing Problem Marketing Audit External PEST Political and Legal Environment In 1965 when Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong purchased a mountainous land in between Selangor and Pahang there was an anomaly issue of the ownership title, one part of the land being leasehold and the other being freehold. Dato Harun Idris the Menteri Besar of Selangor at that time (politician) agreed to grant a freehold. When one has a business in a country, the laws that are set have to be complied. In political and legal forces the laws that govern the corporations have an impact on decision making. Some of the most commonly used political strategies are constituency building, political action committee contribution, advocacy advertising, and coalition building. Economic Environment Here in Malaysia the economic climate has been quite sound. We have trade freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom and high levels of fiscal independence. The highest corporate tax rate and the highest income tax rate are moderate. The tax revenue is low as a percentage of GDP. Inflation is very minimal and government does not alter market prices much with direct subsidies. The simple hire procedures with no minimum salary make the labour sector flexible and help businesses to stay competitive. Social Environment Customers have increasingly visited Genting Highlands as it was the first ever integrated resort. Globalisation has marked Malaysia on the globe and also increased more tourists to come over and spend their vacation in Genting Higlands. However times are becoming more challenging as new integrated theme parks are opening in Malaysia. Technology Environment Over the course of time the rate of change in terms of technology has moved to a rapid pace. Technology contributes directly to its competence in terms of substantially increases competitive levels as others may be better placed and have more sophisticated internal technology systems. Gentings Leisure and Hospitality also emphasizes technological facilities advancement. As mentioned by Mr. Andrew innovation is always encouraged in the theme parks bringing in new rides and adventure so as to not stagnate with the old school rides but keep adapting to deliver that experience of a lifetime. The Manager also mentioned that in terms of building customer relationship technology has evolved the strategies from analogue to digital. In terms of establishing a relationship between Genting and its customers, more mobile apps such as android or smartphone friendly websites are designed to cater to the customers convenience. Supplier, Publics, Intermediaries, Customers and Competition (SPICC) Suppliers Most of the suppliers are from a local source. If only the supply is exhausted or the requirement cant be fulfilled by a local vendor, then Genting looks for a foreign alternative. Even the live food stock for the restaurants and hotels in Genting Highland, they are purchased from a domestic vendor from the surrounding small business owners. Publics Genting Highlands provides abundance job opportunities, as per se there are 15000 employees working for Genting Berhad altogether. At least one person is said to be working for Gentings from the families of the neighbouring villages around Genting Highlands. Mr Andrew also mentioned that there are some avenues for the Orang Asli community. Help is being offered in the form of domestic aid and education aid. Intermediaries There are intermediaries such as the travel agencies and holiday package providers. They promote the leisure activities to the foreign and local market. Even the state tourism promotes the fun come holiday vacation at Genting Highlands. Customers and Markets Competition As Gentings was the first evert integrated resort in Malaysia it did have much competition for years. Recently over the past 10 years many changes have occurred in terms of tourism in Malaysia which opens avenues for business to open more resorts and theme parks around the country. As a result few months ago Legoland opened up with its theme park and resort. Soon to come many more integrated resorts may be built so Genting Highlands has to renew its brand image to upkeep as a key player in this industry. Relative Market Share Genting Malaysia Berhad is in the cash cow sector. According to five year annual report summary, it shows that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (ebitda) to be profitable as it increase from 2,024.2 Million (2010) to 2,330.2 (2011). Genting group Malaysia is considered to be in a matured market as it was operating since 1971which is still generating cash and making profits for the company. In the interview with Mr.Andrew, marketing manager of Genting Malaysia Berhad, he mentioned the Hotel is always occupied and customers need to do their bookings 2 to 3 weeks before visiting. From this it can be gathered that the Genting Malaysia berhad is continuously making money and he also mentioned that there is less investment needed in the company to be made to maintain its service. The investment made is only on the maintenance of the theme park, room service, renovation and refurbishment on the hotel which is going on from 1st October 2012 until the end of January 2013. Competitors The competitors of Genting Malaysia Berhad can be defined as any company that is in the similar industry. Genting Malaysia Berhad is into the Theme park and hotel business in Malaysia but also at the same time Genting faces competition from the Sunway Group Malaysia, Lego land and Mines Resort city. Sunway lagoon and Sunway Resort Sunway lagoon is a multi- park destination and into the theme park sector and one of the famous amusement park in Asia , with five division such water park, amusement park, extreme park, wildlife park, scream park (sunwaylagoon,2012). Together with Sunway lagoon attached with its own Sunway resort and spa five star hotel. Lego Land Lego Land recently opened in September 2012, and located in Johor, Malaysia. The size of the theme park is 76 acres (310,001 m2). Other park such as Legoland water theme park and hotels will be opening soon (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). The theme park has 40 interactive rides and 7 different theme park (legoland, 2012) The Mines Resort City and Mines Wellness Hotel Mines resort city has its own theme park named Mines wonderland and a Shopping Mall.The Mines wellness hotel is a five star hotel together the hotel is build with a man made beach and swimming lagoon. Internal 5 Ms Men (labour) There are 7000 employees of Genting Theme Park. Some of the employees are Malaysians, and some others are from other countries. The employees of Genting Highland or Hotels must be trained before they actually do the work. The time for the training is depends on the job that the employees apply. For example, the employees who work in the front desk or entry level, they have to be trained for six months. Money (finances) According to Genting Malaysia Financial Statement in 2011, the company got RM 1,322.3 million profits. And the company total asset is RM 13,490.6. Machinery (equipment) Genting theme park has a ride that other competitor do not have, it is the Flying Coasters. The Flying Coasters is a unique hang-gliding roller coaster that mimics the sensation of flying (Resort World Genting). Minutes (time) Genting Highland Resort has been running for 47 years. Genting Highland has three parks, which are outdoor park, indoor ark, and Video Games Park. The time operation of those three theme parks has a little bit differentiation. Outdoor Park Indoor Park Video Games Park Monday Friday 10 am 6 pm 10 am 12 am 9 am 12 am Saturday, Malaysia School Holiday, and Public Holiday 9 am 10 pm 9 am 1 am 8 am 1am Sunday and Malaysia Public Holiday 9 am 6 pm 9 am 12 am 8 am -12 am Materials (factor of production) Factor of production is an economic term to describe the inputs that are used in the production of goods or services in the attempt to make an economic profit (Investopedia Dictionary). There are four factors of production: Land Labour Land is all the natural resources used for production. Genting Highland resources it includes the land it self, 12,000 acres and 2,800 acres of land from the Pahang and Selangor State Government. Each person has different level of skills. In Gentings company, there are designers who design the hotels look, architectures, engineers, etc. Capital Entrepreneurship / Enterprise A business capital can include, finance or investment for the business, machines, buildings, factories, etc. The people who can organise the other three factors of production, which is Land, Labour, and Capital. The people are the managers who willing to take the risk and come up the innovatie idea to bring the company in the highest level of business success. SWOT Analysis Strengths Genting Highlands is one of the big attractions especially to a foreigner who come to visit Malaysia. It is provides leisure and hospitality services, which comprise amusement, gaming hotel and entertainment. The strength of Genting Highlands is in great marketing programmed and strong brand image that can take advantage of the opportunity, which is to increase the tourist. Genting Highland also consider as a good location because it is near to everywhere and it takes like only less than one hours of driving away from Kuala Lumpur, the city centre of Malaysia. In Genting Highlands, they have a five hotels at the resort which is genting hotel, highlands hotel, resort hotel, theme park hotel and first world hotel with a total about 10,000 hotel rooms and they are full house everyday. They are also including the genting convention centre for a meeting, any convention or exhibitions at the resort and also very famous with the casino. Especially during a night hours, we would never get bored because they still open the bar lounge, sports bar and also the safari so everyone can go and have fun in no time. Weaknesses As we know, Genting Highlands is a hill resort in Malaysia, and it is nestled on a mountain. So this can be effected by a global warming because it seems less showing because it is publics conscious issues towards the environment and especially when it is rain, so they need to wait or can play the indoor theme park only. It causes the problem to those who already bought the ticket with an outdoors theme park. Another benefits to educate the publics and make them feel confident with the environment on the harm of effect of global warming towards the Genting highlands. Especially, it would be a bad effect for those are coming for the first time and got no chance to play the outdoor theme park. Opportunities Most of the foreign Genting visitors come from Asia country such as Thailand, Singapore and China. The company more focus to improve the economic conditions of the market. Genting has also made further investments in other countries in developing its name as one of the international gambling and entertainment giant in the world. Threats After we have done with the research, we know that Genting can emphasize more on the uniqueness of having the best theme park and more excitement at a cool whether and can create something more interesting to the customers while having a weather problem. In the other hand, Genting also need to focus on their very close competitors because they are also faces increasing threats from gaming market in the region such as Macau and also in Singapore. Market Assumptions Marketing Missions/Values and Objectives Marketing Strategy Ansoff Ansoff (1987) contends that to survive and succeed in an industry, the firm must match the aggressiveness of its operating and strategic behaviours to the changeability of demand and opportunities in the marketplace (Thompson Martin, 2006). The Ansoff product/market growth matrix provides a simple way of generating four basic alternative directions for strategic development (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). Box A of Ansoff Matrix is an existing product with existing markets. Box B, the top right-hand one is a new product developed by the company with existing markets. Under the box A is box C, which is the existing products in the new markets. The last one is box D. In box D, what companies do is taking the full diversification, with altogether new markets and new products (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). According to Andrew Leong, marketing manager of Genting group, Genting will have a new ride in anytime soon. The construction is on going. This means, Genting theme park developing a new product in the existing market (box B). He also mentioned that Genting is not just upgrading the theme park, sometimes they also improve the service and make it better. In the Ansoff Matrix, what Genting do is including in box A. For the hotels, Andrew leong said, By the time I do renovation in the first floor of the hotel done and it continue until the top floor, I will start to renovate in the first floor again. From the explanation, the situation of the hotel business is include in box A. And it also can consider that Genting do an active continuously upgrading the business. They provide the best of the best what they can do for the customers and try to put their position ahead from other competitors. In box A, it includes Market Penetration and Consolidation as the strategy companies used. Market Penetration is where an organisation gains market share (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, 2008). While Product Development (Box B), involves thinking about how new products can meet customer needs more closely and outperform the products of competitors (Portkabins Case Studies). Porters Generic Strategies According to porter, strategies allow organizations to gain competitive advantage from three different bases: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus (David, 2009). Genting Malaysia Berhad can be categorized using the differentiation strategy. Location One of the uniqueness about Genting Malaysia Berhad is the location. The City of Entertainment is situated on the mountains called the Titiwangsa Mountains, which is on the border between Pahang and Selangor of Malaysia (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). Besides attracting Malaysia visitors Genting Highlands have attracted many people from various parts of the world; Marketing Manager Mr. Andrew has mentioned people from countries such as Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, and the Philippines comes here to spend their holidays as its a beautiful place with great weather. Genting Highlands came up with a strategic idea by locating their entertainment destination in such area which is different from other competitors. Speaking of the weather, in Genting Highland since is located in the mountains area the weather temperature is not higher than 25 oC( Wikimedia Foundation ,2012) The weather can be described as amid cool misty mountains with spring-like weather year-round (rwgenting, 201 2). Hospitality and Service Genting Malaysia Berhad has six hotels located in the mountains. The Maxims, Genting Hotel,Resort Hotels,Theme Park hotel, First World hotel and Awana Genting Highlands (rwgenting,2012). From here we can see that Genting Malaysia Berhad has gain its competitive advantage that no Hotels in Malaysia has come up with this strategic and secondly The First World Hotel is the largest hotel in Malaysia and 4th largest in the world with 6,118 rooms/suites available (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). There are few awards that Genting Malaysia Berhad has received this year and one of them are highest profit growth company under the trading/Services, Hotels, IPC and Technology Sectors category, awarded by the edge billion ringgit club. Last year they have also won Industry Excellence Award-Hotel Sector 2010/2011 by BASIS Publications House Sdn Malaysia National news Agency (Bernama) (genting, 2011) Theme parks and Entertainment On the other side, Genting Malaysia Berhad has also gained its competitive advantage from the wide range of games and entertainment offered in Genting Highlands, the space they have provided for games only is over 200,000 square feet. Genting Malaysia Berhad is also known to be upgrading new and latest games for their theme parks that make them distinctive between their competitors. Genting Malaysia Berhad has recently invested in the new Snow World, the biggest winter wonderland in Malaysia with space area of 22.8K square feet and the one and only thrill game in Malaysia, the 4D Motion Masters (rwgenting, 2012). In other ways to attract customers Genting has also held events for awards ceremonies such as Iffa Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Lux Style Awards and MTV Asia Awards (Wikimedia foundation, 2012). Mr. Andrew also said that he is indirectly marketing the Genting Malaysia Berhad through these ceremonies by having satellite to enable people in other countries to watch the award ceremonies LIVE. Value Proposition Their vision is to be leading leisure, hospitality and entertainment corporation in the world, (Annual Report 2008). Similar to their vision statement, their value proposition is to deliver the best of service to their customers especially their valued customers. The Gentings Marketing Manager Mr.Andrew said that they take personal care to acknowledge the needs of their customers in order to build a long term relationship with them. He emphasized that they are looking at a very friendly relationship. Digitalization has altogether made that very possible as their personal invites to events are sent out via emails, texts and there is a constant immediate response activity between the company and customers. The accommodation for valued customers is prepared to their personal interest and preferences in terms of food and beverages and other services. As the resort is set out on the mountain with nature and a pleasurable weather, certain group activities are held in the midst of the rainforest or the cliff top overlooking an astounding view. Imagine having a corporate teams outdoor activities with the tranquil sounds of nature, the scents and fragrance of flora and sometimes one may spot eagles, hornbills and other birds of paradise just cruising through the mountainous terrain. These are some of the customer valued moments that one may encounter in Genting, utmost exhilarating experience to those who hail from the hustle and bustle of the city lifestyle. Directional Policy Genting Highlands operates in two segments and they are: Leisure and hospitality, which includes the gaming, hotel, theme park, tours and travel, related to the bnty Size of the Segment- The number of the customer in Genting Highlands are large. They are in too many category that you can see in the graph below : Share Market In this company, the Genting Highlands group has much brunch such as Singapore, because it is one of the major casino resorts, and also in Macau, India, New York and Australia and other more country. These are one of the strategies because it would better luck in the casino and healthy visitor arrivals to boost profits at the resort or any hotel in those countries. At the same time, they can promote and tell to the tourist that they can also travel in the same places but in other countries. Current Market Share Genting Company have investment for the racetrack in between US$70S million and US$730million based on US$380 million with the license fee and between US$325 million and US$350 million capital expenditure programmed. The US$250 million can be used to directly offset the capital expenditure, and the companys net will be between US$455 million and US$480 million. The Maybank in Malaysia analyst said that it was a mere 3% earnings per share accretion which would give a low 6% return on equity on the intended multi billion ringgit investment in resort in New York. So we can see that the current market of Genting company is not focusing only on the one in Malaysia, or one country but they are very active in other countries also. The pretax profit from power increased 3 percent million ringgit on a higher tariffs in Malaysia and China, so at least they can cover whatever they have loss. Profit Lift The higher revenue was recorded at the group non-leisure divisions, particularly the plantation. For the plantation revenue, it is 53.8% owned the Asiatic Development amounted to RM249.50 million or the higher 93% higher RM 129 million a year earlier. The plantation company also achieved a higher crude palm oil and the selling price of RM3,403 starting from January to March against RM1,927 per tonne a year. Marketing Product Price Place Promotion People Processes Physical evidence Budgets Conclusion

The Contribution of Patient Case Studies on our Understanding of Cognit

Although it shares cognitive neuroscience’s roots, cognitive neuropsychology has developed into a discrete discipline. While cognitive neuroscience studies neural organisation of the brain, cognitive neuropsychology concerns itself with the brain’s functional architecture; Coltheart (2010) describes this as a distinction between brain and mind. According to, among others, Coltheart (2002, cited Coltheart, 2010) this makes cognitive neuropsychology a branch of cognitive psychology rather than neuroscience. Patient case studies have played a critical role in developing cognitive neuropsychology into a separate discipline, although data from case studies can support and even progress cognitive neuroscientific findings about neural architecture. Cognitive neuroscientific research has identified dorsal and ventral visual pathways (e.g. Shapley, 1995, cited Pike and Edgar, 2010) in the brain, known respectively as the ‘where’ and the ‘what’ pathways. A case study of patient DF by Milner and Goodale (1995, cited Pike and Edgar, 2010) found impairment in face and object recognition and visual discrimination, suggesting damage to the ventral pathway. When asked to pick up a small disc, the width of which she could not judge, the distance between DF’s index finger and thumb correlated highly with the actual disc width, suggesting that she was able to guide action using size information unavailable to conscious report. Milner and Goodale went on to develop the ve ntral/dorsal dissociation theory by suggesting that the ventral ‘what’ pathway processes object recognition while the dorsal ‘where’ system drives action in relation to an object (Goodale and Milner, 1992; Milner and Goodale, 1995, both cited Pike and Edgar, 2010). Thus a patie... ...In Kaye, H. (Ed,), Methods Companion (2nd ed., pp. 59-102). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Patterson, K. And Plaut, D.C. (2009). ‘†Shallow Draughts Intoxicate the Brain†: Lessons from Cognitive Science for Cognitive Neuropsychology’, Topics in Cognitive Science, vol. 1 (1), pp.39-58. Pike, G. and Edgar, G. (2010). ‘Perception’. In Kaye, H. (Ed,), Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 63-104). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Rutherford, A. (2010). ‘Long-term memory: encoding to retrieval’. In Kaye, H. (Ed,), Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 63-104). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Wierenga, C.E., Maher, L.M., Moore, A., White, K.D., McGregor, K., Soltysik, D.A. and Crosson, B. (2006). ‘Neural substrates of syntactic mapping treatment: An fMRI study of two cases’, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, vol. 12(1), pp.132-146. The Contribution of Patient Case Studies on our Understanding of Cognit Although it shares cognitive neuroscience’s roots, cognitive neuropsychology has developed into a discrete discipline. While cognitive neuroscience studies neural organisation of the brain, cognitive neuropsychology concerns itself with the brain’s functional architecture; Coltheart (2010) describes this as a distinction between brain and mind. According to, among others, Coltheart (2002, cited Coltheart, 2010) this makes cognitive neuropsychology a branch of cognitive psychology rather than neuroscience. Patient case studies have played a critical role in developing cognitive neuropsychology into a separate discipline, although data from case studies can support and even progress cognitive neuroscientific findings about neural architecture. Cognitive neuroscientific research has identified dorsal and ventral visual pathways (e.g. Shapley, 1995, cited Pike and Edgar, 2010) in the brain, known respectively as the ‘where’ and the ‘what’ pathways. A case study of patient DF by Milner and Goodale (1995, cited Pike and Edgar, 2010) found impairment in face and object recognition and visual discrimination, suggesting damage to the ventral pathway. When asked to pick up a small disc, the width of which she could not judge, the distance between DF’s index finger and thumb correlated highly with the actual disc width, suggesting that she was able to guide action using size information unavailable to conscious report. Milner and Goodale went on to develop the ve ntral/dorsal dissociation theory by suggesting that the ventral ‘what’ pathway processes object recognition while the dorsal ‘where’ system drives action in relation to an object (Goodale and Milner, 1992; Milner and Goodale, 1995, both cited Pike and Edgar, 2010). Thus a patie... ...In Kaye, H. (Ed,), Methods Companion (2nd ed., pp. 59-102). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Patterson, K. And Plaut, D.C. (2009). ‘†Shallow Draughts Intoxicate the Brain†: Lessons from Cognitive Science for Cognitive Neuropsychology’, Topics in Cognitive Science, vol. 1 (1), pp.39-58. Pike, G. and Edgar, G. (2010). ‘Perception’. In Kaye, H. (Ed,), Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 63-104). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Rutherford, A. (2010). ‘Long-term memory: encoding to retrieval’. In Kaye, H. (Ed,), Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 63-104). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Wierenga, C.E., Maher, L.M., Moore, A., White, K.D., McGregor, K., Soltysik, D.A. and Crosson, B. (2006). ‘Neural substrates of syntactic mapping treatment: An fMRI study of two cases’, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, vol. 12(1), pp.132-146.

Crisis Of Identity In Michael Ondaatjes Running English Literature Essay

Crisis of individuality is a really common subject in most postcolonial literature. The term â€Å" post-colonial † , harmonizing to Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin in The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post- Colonial Literatures, â€Å" points out that the term is resonating with all the ambiguity and complexness of the many different cultural experiences it implicates from the minute of colonisation to the present twenty-four hours † . This explains the continuity of double stars which leads to a sense of supplanting in individualities. These double stars are set in order to distinct qualities in the procedure of ‘othering ‘ which finally leads to a hierarchal place which disintegrates people. Therefore for the intent of this essay, postcolonial literature can be defined as literature that trades with the jobs of specifying physical and emotional confrontations of individuality that is caused by eviction, cultural atomization and sense of disrup tion that leads to the crisis of individuality. The focal points of this essay will envelope the crisis of individuality that is dealt by Ondaatje in Running in the Family and Mr Biswas the supporter in A House for Mr. Biswas. Runing in the Family by Ondaatje is a semi autobiographical novel where he addresses the issues of battle in hold oning his individuality. Ondaatje ‘s narrative is a blend of facts and fictions as â€Å" imaginativeness is tied to the existent landscape which paints the memory of the past to make full in the missing pieces † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . Rushdie explains this in his Fanciful Fatherlands: â€Å" It may be that authors in my place, exiles or immigrants or exiles, are haunted by by some sense of loss, some impulse to repossess, to look back, †¦ But even if we look back, we must besides make so in knowledge- which gives rise to profound uncertainties- that our physical disaffection from India about necessarily means that we will non be capable of repossessing exactly the thing that was lost ; that we will in short, create fictions, non existent metropoliss or small town, but unseeable 1s, fanciful fatherlands, Indias of the mindaˆÂ ¦ † â€Å" It may be that when the Indian author who writes outside India attempts to reflect the universe, he is obliged to cover in broken mirrors, some of whose fragments are irretrievably lost † . ( Rushdie, 10 ) This implies the journey of self find in miring crisis of individuality. Imagination plays a critical function to cover with fragments that are lost everlastingly. Imagination fills in the spreads of losing pieces of history in order to give a better apprehension of the whole issue of individuality. â€Å" This is a postcolonial text as it brings insight into the kingdom of fighting towards hold oning individuality and a sense of belonging † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . Ondaatje, a long clip occupant of Canada, attempts to repossess and reconnect his yesteryear by going back to Sri Lanka in order to garner information about his household and his relations to hold a better penetration of his ain individuality. Due to his distance, the memories of his household has the visual aspect of â€Å" frozen opera † so Ondaatje returns to homeland â€Å" to take a breath life into these memories and touch ( his household ) into words † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) where Ondaatj e physically begins his journey miring his individuality. Ondaatje reconnects with the characters that feed his cognition of the yesteryear for illustration Aunt Phyllis. Ondaatje is fond of Aunt Phyllis because she was ever near to his male parent, Mervyn Ondaatje. This indirectly implies that Ondaatje is interested in understanding his male parent, in his hunt of individuality. In Runing in the Family he states, â€Å" The forenoon has been spent with my sister and my Aunt Phyllis seeking to follow the labyrinth of our relationships in our lineage † ( Ondaatje, 10 ) . Ondaatje battles in set uping the relativity of the narratives to his ain individuality. Ondaatje is unable to happen the connection of these narratives which sometimes seems like an hyperbole, in order to mire his crisis of individuality. â€Å" No narrative is of all time told merely one time. Whether a memory or amusing horrid dirt, we will return to it an hr subsequently and recite the narrative with add-ons and this clip a few opinions thrown in † ( Ondaatje, 12 ) . This implies that the narratives that are retold to him are memories that are added with imaginativeness, opinions and simply single position of an event that took topographic point. All these information does n't look to assist Ondaatje in deriving a better penetration of himself. This continues Ondaatje ‘s crisis of individuality. In Runing in the Family it becomes increasingly clear that Ondaatje ‘s attempt in following his household is in fact a desire to reconnect to his male parent, Mervyn Ondaatje. His deficiency of understanding about his male parent and his male parent ‘s absence has created emptiness in him. â€Å" He left for England with his female parent after their parents ‘ divorce and his male parent who remained in Sri Lanka has died from his absence † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . Ondaatje recollects his childhood memories about his male parent ‘s inebriation and before he was ten his parents are separated. Ondaatje feels the impulse to detangle the enigma of his parent ‘s relationship. This can be traced in Runing in the Family novel where he states: â€Å" Love personal businesss rainbowed over matrimonies and lasted for ever- so it frequently seemed that matrimony was the greater infidelityaˆÂ ¦But earlier, during their fire young person, this energy formed complex relationships, though I still can non interrupt the codification of how ‘interested in ‘ or ‘attracted ‘ they were to each other † . ( 47 ) This implies that Ondaatje inquiries the complicity of his parent ‘s relationship, where he tries to calculate out why his parents ‘ matrimony broke. â€Å" Ondaatje hears about his male parent ‘s force and inebriation, about his female parent ‘s dramatic genius, about his parent ‘s statements and about the fortunes enfolding their divorce † ( Peter, 2010 ) . Ondaatje realizes that hearing all these narratives from other people about his parents does n't truly state him what he wants to detect or how it relates with his journey in miring his ain crisis of individuality. Ondaatje is unable to veil the existent state of affairs and it remains as a enigma. Ondaatje is unable to make full up the losing pieces of his individuality but Ed Jewinski, a biographer of Ondaatje writes â€Å" for the immature poet there was now a sense of new tradition being formed, a new vigorous and critical mentality of the universe † ( 31 ) , one that was linked bu t different from the British tradition that he knew ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . A House for Mr Biswas is a novel that is written by Naipaul based on his male parent ‘s advice to take him for a topic. This piece of information can be found in the Hagiographas of Thieme in The Third World Quaterly: Searching for a Centre: The Writing of V.S. Naipaul: â€Å" Naipaul ‘s existent place of birth is the ‘Lion House ‘ , an enforcing edifice in the town ‘s chief street with a alone design. The house provided the original on which Hanuman House in A House for Mr Biswas was based and it was here that Naipaul spent his earliest old ages until his household moved, in 1983 to Port of SpainaˆÂ ¦During these old ages, in the mode kindred to the mobile wonderings of Mr Biswas and his household, the Naipauls moved several times, before finally settling, in 1947 in a house in the St James in the country of Port of Spain. This house was the original for the concluding house in A House for Mr Biswas † . ( 1354 ) Mr Biswas who is a journalist working in the Port of Spain is fired merely before his decease because of his wellness status. Mr Biswas goes through the crisis of individuality as the narrative progresses. â€Å" I ‘m traveling to acquire a occupation on my ownaˆÂ ¦I am traveling to acquire my ain house excessively † are vows by Mr Biswas in his yearning for self satisfaction and freedom that preoccupies his 40 old ages crisis of individuality. Mr Biswas feels a sense of disaffection with the household and society he was populating in. This can be traced since the birth of Mr Biswas, who was born with six fingers which is perceived as a distorted individuality. This can be traced in A House For Mr Biswas: â€Å" Born in the incorrect manner. At midnight, you saidaˆÂ ¦had assumed that it was midnight the unfortunate houraˆÂ ¦the characteristics of this unfortunate male child. He will hold good dentitions but they will be instead wideaˆÂ ¦which means the male child will be a satyr and a spend-all. Possibly a prevaricator as wellaˆÂ ¦He will hold an luckless sneezing † . ( 16- 17 ) All this implies that since the birth of Mr Biswas, he is made responsible for the superstitious belief that alienates him from the household and the society he was populating in. He was perceived as the luckless one and the 1 who could hardly win in life. The go toing accoucheuse besides predicted that Mr Biswas with his uncommon finger â€Å" will eat up his parents † . Mr Biswas grew up in poorness which leads him to malnutrition, deficiency of attending and restricted mobility to travel close pools and rivers. This symbolically implies limitations that are placed throughout Mr Biswas life that are finally broken. â€Å" Mr Biswas experiences bias and ridicules throughout his life † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.allreaders.com/topics/Info_3184.asp ) . Mr Biswas was even held responsible for the decease of his male parent because of his childhood quandary by the accoucheuse. His male parent, Raghu believing his boy Biswas has drowned, dived in the pool to salva ge his submerging boy who is so standing some distance from the pool. Mr Biswas was held responsible for the incident that happened because less safeguards that is taken by Raghu himself. This creates a feeling of an foreigner in Mr Biswas which contributes to the crisis of individuality. â€Å" Mr. Biswas is wholly against the traditions of his household. He neither identifies with India nor with the people of Port of Spain. This deficiency of individuality makes him miserably rebellious†¦ .he battles whole of his life for an individuality†¦ . † ( Dhawal Kumar, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.allreaders.com/topics/Info_3184.asp ) . The crisis of individuality can besides be traced through faith in A House for Mr Biswas. The patterns of Hinduism in the Hanuman House are mocked by Mr Biswas. Mr Biswas says ; â€Å" Well, since I been in this house I begin to acquire the feeling that to be a good Hindu you must be a good Roman Catholic foremost. † ( 125 ) â€Å" The younger God came down the steps. He had been making the forenoon puja. With his little dhoti, little waistcoat, beads and illumination caste-marks he looked like a plaything sanctum adult male. He carried a brass home base on which there was a regular hexahedron of combustion camphoraˆÂ ¦offered the aromatic camphor fire to Mr Biswas. Mr Biswas rescued more soppy biscuit from the enamel cup. He put his oral cavity under the spoon, caught the biscuit that broke off, chewed noisily and said, ‘You could take that off. You know I do n't keep with this graven image worship ‘ . † ( 130 ) Mr Biswas does n't merely fall in with the flow by practising faith in a manner that is practiced by the Tulsi household. He feels a sense of lip service in the manner the Tulsi household patterns faith. They send their boies to Catholic schools to larn anthems and they preach themselves as being good Hindus. Mr Biswas stands up to his ain political orientations and beliefs even if he was secluded and non accepted by the household and the society he was populating in. This implies the battle and disaffection is faced by Mr Biswas in his crisis of individuality. Ondaatje, in covering with his crisis of individuality inserts a representative set of derogatory quotation marks about Sri Lanka from Lear, Lawrence and Woolf. â€Å" For Lear, the Ceylonese is detestably speculative and bother- crackbrained, barbarians who grin and chatter with one another † ( Solecki, 56 ) . â€Å" For Lawrence, Ceylon is the negation of what we ourselves stand for and are an experience- but heavens non lasting 1s. † â€Å" While to Lear, the countryside is picturesque, Woolf insists that all jungles are evil † ( Ondaatje, 78 ) . Ondaatje strikes back towards all this derogatory quotes by stating â€Å" I sit in a house in Buller ‘s Road. I am the alien. I am the profligate who hates the alien † ( Ondaatje, 79 ) . â€Å" This statement captures the insider- foreigner quandary that plagues the diasporic person in his relation to his original home- he belongs and yet does non belong † ( Carol Elizabeth, 238 ) . This implies, Ondaatje feels a sense of pride and gratefulness towards his fatherland where he fells a sense of choler when aliens picture his fatherland in derogatory footings. The alien here can besides be viewed as colonisers. In his crisis in hunt of individuality he still feels a sense of protectiveness towards his fatherland. Ondaatje goes through internal battle of individuality since the beginning of the novel. He begins it with reciting his incubus that he had in Sri Lanka ; â€Å" thorn trees in the garden direct their difficult roots underground towards the house mounting through Windowss so they can imbibe sudate off his organic structure, steal the last spit off his lingua † ( Ondaatje, 2 ) . This symbolically implies his anxiety in encompassing his yesteryear. Ondaatje besides narrates about his childhood experiences in Sri Lanka about the conditions of suites that he used to populate in during that clip. Ondaatje besides talks about Aunt Dolly and the infirmity of her status and his soft embracing towards her. This implies symbolically the attack of embracing towards his fatherland by taking baby stairss to beg and research his yesteryear. â€Å" The ambivalency and confusion in seeking for his individuality and sense of belonging is translated into uncertainnesss of the traveller returning to his fatherland † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . The author does n't feign that he understands everything. There is merely â€Å" glances, bits of history and voices that fill infinite † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . Ondaatje announces that â€Å" what began it all was the bright bone of dream I could hardly keep onto † ( Ondaatje, 21 ) . â€Å" This dream turns out to be the dream of a lost childhood where beds of past overlapping the present † . â€Å" This is conjured up in several memories piled upon each other. Unfortunately these beds of memories fail to solidify † ( Solecki, 77 ) . Most of his fragments of memories fail to reply the inquiries he has about his individuality so the crisis of individuality preoccupies. In A House for Mr Biswas as discussed by Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin in the Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post- Colonial Literature in the thematic analogues the â€Å" building or destruction of houses or edifices in post-colonial locations is repeating and redolent figure for the problematic of post- colonial individuality in plants from really different societies † . This symbolically implies that the destruction of an old edifice implies rejecting the individuality of the coloniser into constructing a new edifice which means building a new individuality. Constructing a new individuality and rejecting the old is what has been done by Mr Biswas. Mr Biswas struggled to populate up his ain picks from the commanding Tulsi ‘s household. Mr Biswas eventually owns his ain house and he feels his crisis of individuality resolved. Even the house is in an imperfect status ; Mr Biswas looks through the imperfectness. The status of the house stated in A House for M r Biswas ; â€Å" decomposing fencing, the disintegrating slum house at the backaˆÂ ¦two of the wooden pillars back uping the stairway landing were rotten, whittled off towards the underside and green with moistnesss. They all discovered the stairway was unsafe. At every measure it shook, and the lightest zephyr the sloping corrugated Fe sheets rose in the center and gave catchs which were like metallic suspirations † ( Naipaul, 573 ) . The crisis of individuality in Ondaatje ‘s Running in the Family is an on-going procedure where the realisation for ego individuality continues. â€Å" It is Ondaatje ‘s diasporic background that determines the subjects in his plants. True of the diasporic esthesia with its narrative disruption, Ondaatje ‘s demand to joint place and individuality is textualized into the really cloth of his Hagiographas, which inturn makes his plants extremely textured and complex † ( Carol Elizabeth, 2000 ) . Elementss of myth, imaginativeness and opinions are parts and package of Ondaatje ‘s on-going hunt for his unsolved individuality crisis. On the other manus in A House for Mr Biswas his crisis of individuality is resolved through his perceptual experience by having the house. The house becomes a paradigm displacement in Mr Biswas life where it demolishes the old individuality of the restrained, into a new individuality of independency and self goaded way of populat ing his life. The narrative builds up his crisis of individuality and eventually resolves it with Mr Biswas decease as closing. Work Cited Ashcroff, Bill ; Griffiths, Gareth & A ; Tiffin, Helen. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post- Colonial Literature. London & As ; New York: Routledge, 1989. Rushdie, Salman. Fanciful Fatherlands: Essay and Criticism 1989- 1991. London: Granta Books, 1992. Coughlan, Peter. A Conversation with Michael Ondaatje: Meander If You Want to Get to Town Toronto, March 28, 2001. Leon, Carol Elizabeth. Movement and belonging: lines, topographic points and infinites of travel in selected Hagiographas of Naipaul, Ondaatje, Lawrence and White. Thesis ( Ph.D ) . The Australian National University, 2000. Thieme, John. Third World Quarterly: Searching for a Centre ; The Writing of V.S. Naipaul. Vol. 9, No. 4, ( pp. 1352- 1356 ) . Taylor & A ; Francis Ltd, Oct 1987. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jstor.org/stable/3991661 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.allreaders.com/topics/Info_3184.asp

French Educational System Compared to the American System Essay

France and the United States have numerous striking differences and tastes in almost all cultural aspects. The French education system has been criticized globally by scholars and experts in various career fields for its failure to provide a flexible, all-round education. However, it has also received praise and recognition by the world at large for its significant contribution to the field of mathematics, with the revolution in banking in the late 20th century pioneered by French mathematicians. The United States education system, on the other hand, is increasingly receiving favor by international students for its provision of high class, market friendly education, despite the current criticism on the high cost of education. This paper compares the French and the American education systems. There are many differences, as well as similarities, in the French and the US education systems. One of the major aspects which have raised concern is on higher education. In both countries, higher education is given high priority, and in the US, for instance, the majority of adults are college educated. In France, higher education is also highly valued, with a person’s popularity and respect increasing as she or he advances in education. A significant difference in the higher education in both France and the US, however, is on the entrance process to university. In the French education system, before one can gain access to university studies, the final exam, the Baccalaureat, or the â€Å"Bac† is mandatory. The â€Å"Bac† is a rigorous school-leaving examination with no multiple choice questions and includes a written part and an oral part, with several subjects each. The â€Å"Bac† is highly valued in the nation so much that despite numerous criticisms from scholars globally to change the system and implement other selection methods, the nation has refused to change it. (Understandfrance. org, 2008) Despite the tough examination system, the French have no other university selection method. The nationwide â€Å"no selection† policy has raised controversy from scholars worldwide who find the method not sufficient for a thorough process. College selection in the US however, is very vigorous and students undergo numerous processes before gaining entrance to college. Selection is comprised of practices such as writing a personal statement, attending an interview, being involved in extra curricular activities among of course, the class ranking and the grades earned in high school courses taken. Recommendations too, by responsible persons are also considered before one can gain entrance into any higher institution of learning. A major reason which has made many international students prefer the higher education system in the United States over that in France in the recent past is the many facilities and services offered in US institutions. Issues such as overcrowding in lecture halls, for instance, are not experienced in majority of US institutions, although quite evident in most of the universities in France. Such prestige, however, comes at a cost. College tuition fees in the US can in no way be comparable to France, where education, interestingly, at all levels is almost free and only 26 percent of university students receive scholarships. (Understandfrance. org, 2008) Tuition fees is so high in the US, such that scholarships alone cannot cater for the students; the majority of US students receive either loans, grants or both from the government, so as to cater for their tuition fees. The government, in fact cannot sufficiently cater for the tuition needs of all the students, and private sources are increasingly becoming normal. Grants and loans are even not enough, and many students opt to sign up to study over the internet, in the many obviously questionable free online courses. Another striking difference in the education systems of both France and the United States is their curriculum. The French curriculum has been criticized globally for its failure to connect to the world market. Many demonstrations have been staged by French students, for decades and although there have been reforms; the reforms have not been good enough to cater for the current market demand. The US system, on the other hand, has diverse and flexible curricula, with a wide range of topics, from nuclear science to dance. As opposed to the French curricula, where extra curricular activities such as sports, musical groups and numerous clubs are not recognized in the curricula and where one can only have private classes for the same, in the US, such activities are given high priority. They can also be found in US institutions, both public and private. The flexibility of the US education system is what has made it the most preferred by international students worldwide, since they can have access to almost all interested areas of study. Unemployment, as a result is not as prevalent in the US as it is in France, with the recent demonstrations by French students to find solutions to the problem. The French are recognized as a literacy community, where education levels determine a person’s status. The more one advances in education, the more recognized she or he gets. This is a belief not common in the US. This general belief is what makes the education valued so greatly, with most French students spending most of their time in classroom related activities, allowing no room for other activities such as music and art related fields. Highly educated people in France in especially the globally viewed â€Å"tough† subjects such as mathematics, are given great respect, with the not very successful in education, despite their circumstances or other achievements, looked down upon and not recognized. In the United States, however, education levels are not given such respect and other issues such as healthcare are given more weight even politically. It is not surprising to note that the richest Americans are college dropouts, big names such as William Gates III. This notwithstanding, the education facilities in the United states are the best compared to other institutions worldwide. Despite critics arguing that French schools tend to make students theoretical and uncreative, French academic standards are high and discipline is strict. This is however not the case in the American education system, where the use of drugs is common especially in junior high and high schools. This problem has remained a major problem in the US for many years. (Hall, 1990, 99-102 & 144) Education, over the years, has played a very important role in the development of individuals and a nation. It is important to note that both the French and American education systems should be improved, in certain features, as aforementioned, such as eradicating the drug use in US schools, making the French system more market friendly and more relevant to the current market stage, and improving the overcrowded high education institutions. This move would in the long run, make both of the systems stronger, hence ensuring effectiveness in both; an important catalyst in the road to globalization. Works Cited: Hall M. R. (1990) Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans (Intercultural Press) Understandfrance. org (2008): Education in France. Retrieved December 2nd 2008 from: http://www. understandfrance. org/France/Education. html