Exploitation of Teenagers Essay

Our Indian society is far better than the rest of the universe from the point of view of culture as well as conventions and ways of living but on the other side, if we glance into our society, it has many social and political and economical evils such as bride burning, dowry system and dowry death, corruption in educational system, problem of illiteracy in India, domestic violence, communalism, injustice, crime against children, unemployment in India, suppression of human rights, poverty. Some of the problems have been cast off from its core by the social propaganda and social awareness and education and there are still such unanswerable problems which must be removed from the society only through the individual consciousness. Literature is an echo or reflection of the society and that is why authors have a direct association with the society and its values. They have always been successful in the vivid portrayal of the colourful and well cultured society. At the same time they never hesitate to show a dirty and filthy image of the same society. One of the major themes in all genres of literature is social issues or problems. If we observe the present Indian society, the major problem that has taken place and has been most prevalent in the Indian society as well in the whole globe is the problems of teenagers. Childhood is one of the greatest and valuable periods in human life. It is that phase of life where a child is free from all the tensions, fun-loving, to play and learns new things, and is the most innocent of all the family members. This age of a child or teenager is of enjoying the naughtiness and also the time of learning and making career. If the teenagers work taking the whole family’s responsibility instead of learning what will be the future of the nation? The issues relating to the exploitation of teenagers should be high on any Government’s agenda. Children should be on the first call on agenda of human resource development not only because young children or teenagers are the most helpless but because this age is the institution of lifelong learning and human development is totally dependent on these crucial early years. The constitution of any teenager’s social, emotional, mental background is depended on the primary stage of childhood. Children or teenagers are considered as the future of any nation and as the power and muscle of the nation lies in a healthy, protected, educated and well developed child population. Child abuse is covered in secrecy and there is a great conspiracy of silence among all the administrative power around the entire subject. Existing socio- economic conditions also render some children vulnerable and more at risk to abuse, exploitation and neglect. All the major or minor problems have their root causes from which it stems out. The Concept of Exploitation The awareness of this new phenomenon first emerged several years ago in Latin America, and more particularly in Asia. But the complete understanding of the term exploitation came into existence after many decades of the people’s slumber in the form of Karl Marx, the first revolutionary against capitalism and industrialism which are the basic factors of exploitation. He was a revolutionary by nature. He strongly believes: The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and range. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates. With the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion to the devaluation of the world of men (Kreis 1). Thus Marx was against industrialism and capitalism that victimize the people through the medium of various instruments yielding exploitations. Marx argued that the change in socio-economic conditions occurred through organized revolutionary action. He argued that capitalism would end through the organized actions of an international working class, he did not believe in communism to be established; he used abide the people to accept reality-an ideal to which we will have to adjust itself. He believes that there are only two communities 1.Abuser and 2. Abused people. Then Came Lenin Vladimir, a Russian Marxist revolutionary and then Stalin came with his own revolutionary thoughts. In India, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, came into the form of semi-God figure, worshipped by the down-trodden people and untouchables of India. He enriched the lives of exploiting caste by awareness, revolution and by granted them the basic human rights. Gandhiji also completely advocated him his actions to eliminate the wrongs done towards low-caste and exploited people. Exploitation has a strong relationship with the society as in the society there are many people who are being exploited or manipulated for the benefits of others. The term exploitation of teenagers basically has two meanings. One is to make use of someone for specific purpose whose age is more than twelve and less than twenty, and the second one is to manipulate someone or something in an unjust or cruel manner. In the simplest of words, the term exploitation refers to using another person’s labour without offering adequate rewards including all kinds of abuses as physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, psychological and mental. Exploitation of Teenagers as Reflected in Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable and Coolie Dr. Mulk Raj Anand’s two Novels Untouchable and Coolie are the real representation of the condition of our society i.e. the phenomenon of exploitation of teenagers. Mulk Raj Anand was a man of realism and the characters of his Novels are more real and universal rather than subjective i.e. individual. Most of his writings are directly or indirectly investigating deeply the social process. To Anand literature is an expression of society and the large majority of questions raised by him are social questions: question of tradition and convention, norms and genres, symbols and myth. Untouchable and Coolie are not only literary pieces became well known which talk about the behavioral pattern of untouchablity and the people deprived of socially, culturally, religiously and but because of several exploitations of people including innocent children of that period. Undoubtedly Untouchable is Anand’s modern work which is the image of his society’s trodden and exploited class. This book is considered to be an autobiographical note which came out as a form of his experiences. When Anand was a child, his father was employed as a Subedar in the Indian Army. During those days Anand mixed with the children of leather-workers, washer men and sweepers and came across their real daily life and its realities. This association and attachment continued till the days of his youth. Hence this Novel is the authentic document of his life’s incidents. Untouchable is the story of the depravation of outcaste people and at the same time of the exploitation of teenagers. It basically deals with the different teenagers’ problems like Bakha, sister Sohini, his brother Rakha and some other his outcastes friends like Chota and Ramcharan we come across during their a day’s activities. Coolie is also a masterpiece depicting the reality of life. The title is very apt, suitable and reasonable as the story of the Novel revolves round a boy named Munoo, a son of a porter who comes from his village to come out his poverty and works at various places. The peak of darkness of exploitation is expertly described by the author. The Novel also shows the highest level of inhumanity when poor Munoo works at socially, economically, and politically higher classes of Indian society. The Novel shows his adventures and journey of exploitation from servant, factory worker, rickshaw driver to a child labourer. There is a large difference between social evil and social problem. A definition of a social problem may be suggestive of state of affairs which are not favorable in society and people searching for the practical cure. On the contrary social evil indicates more complex, threatening and indescribable, may an implication of more realism, a degree of skepticism and gloom whether any remedy can be found. In everyday speech, both the terms are often used rhetorically and in substitution. There are many subjective and objective elements of social problems. Social problem includes many social forms and all share two important elements: an objective social condition and a subjective social condition. The objective element of a social problem refers to the existence of a social condition. Generally we learn about social condition through our own life experience, through the media and education. The subjective element of a social problem refers to a personal belief and view that a particular social situation is harmful to the society or to a segment of society, it should and can be changed. We can take an example for illustration. We know that poverty, racism, violence, pollution, crime. They are not considered to be social problems they diminish the quality of human life. Combination of these subjective and objective elements led us to certain efforts. Every individual needs to take steps in order to make the nation a better place to live in. Mulk Raj Anand is considered to be God or Messiah in backward castes and exploited class just because of his brilliant works which describe down-trodden and poor India’s social, political, and cultural conditions. The Novels Untouchable and Coolie, which communicate the abuses of an exploited class- an untouchable boy in Untouchable and a waif, Munoo in Coolie. Untouchable and Coolie are the only Novels in which Anand has presented the realistic picture especially problems and exploitations of teenagers of the early decades of 20th century in India to reveal the social background with the unique observation of social reformer. Anand has not presented the teenage character in particularly but in a general way. The writer has not only painted his works with the idea of keeping his literary pieces mirror up to the Indian society but also made it mandatory to think about the masses, about the sufferers and abused people and provided ideal solutions. Untouchable and Coolie are legendary stories of two teenagers Bakha and Munoo, appear among the people of the modern society to tell their problems, abuses and exploitations they endured. Bakha and Munoo are the symbolic representatives of the whole teenage class of the present day who give a voice to the predicament of the mute humanity in odd circumstances. Anand has not presented the adolescent characters in particularly but in a general way. Like G.B.Shaw, Mulk Raj Anand is considered to be a great thinker and reformer of the society. He succeeded in doing so by disturbing his readers putting the puzzle-like problems before the society like Shaw and never put a solution of a particular problem. No writer before Charles had handled the English people, similarly no Indo-English writer before Annad has devoted a strong sympathy to the poor, exploited class and neglected part of the society. The underdog protagonists Bakha and Munoo in both the Novels seem to sail in the same boat as far as personal and subjective suffering and exploitation is concerned. There is a parallel central theme in Untouchable and Coolie – social exploitation, exploitation of the poor and the under-privileged class by the forces of capitalism, industrialism and colonialism. In Anand’s Coolie, Munoo is denied his fundamental rights to life and happiness and is exploited and made to suffer, till he dies of consumption. The Novelist makes it quite clear that Munoo is not the only victim of such exploitation. He represents millions of those for whom such exploitation is the lot of everyday life. Both these Novels have been written with a purpose. These Novels are powerful condemnation of modern capitalistic Indian society and feudal system with the shameless and tragic exploitation of the underdog and poor which is also ready to sacrifice the poor teenagers and children who face the difficulties without protest. Both the protagonists desire to live but the society does not allow them to live. They die of exploitation, poverty and hunger. Thus, only a single problem that has attracted the attention of most of the writers, philosophers and administrators is the only exploitation of teenagers which can be possible to eradicate of this planet only through application of more possible improvements that can be beneficial for the teenagers. One of the helpful components is education which can help in relieving this major evil in the society. In the first Novel Untouchable we can rightly observe that Bakha became a victim of the society who has high aspirations of life which have been suppressed not only the customs and traditions but also by the dirty politics and Government. Bakha is seen, saved by the man emerged out in the end of the Novel like a real God in the form of Gandhi who has started the remedial works of the society not by the mere talks and philosophies but by the real implementation of the ideas he has. However in the real life who will be a benefactor person of these downtrodden and exploited people. This is a total responsibility of the Government and administrative people who are observing and enjoying the joyful moments just like an audience of a circus that need a complete meditation on this particular subject to take reforming steps in relation to this harsh reality. In the second Novel Coolie we can notice the same anguish scenario but with a different view. Munoo, hero of the Novel reveals real social conditions but not through a single day of his life but through the full-fledge life that might be a great trick of the writer not only to develop the discourse of the character of poor Munoo, but the silence and mum that is still prevalent and ever last among the heartless and unkind society as well as the administrative people even after the death of an innocent boy Munoo. This is not a single teenage boy who lives a hell-like life, is sacrificed on the altar of social treatment and Government’s indifference towards this burning social dilemma but there are many teenagers sacrifice themselves in the same manner which can create a shocking result which is merely unimaginative for the whole globe. Poverty Poverty is considered to be the first and foremost root cause of being exploitation of the teenagers. Poverty is one of the major issues, attracting the attention of sociologists and economists. It is such a situation in which a person fails to maintain a living standard adequate for a comfortable lifestyle. Poverty plays a significant role in the formation of public policy and has a centre of attraction to the National Policy Agenda forever five decades. Though India boasts of a high economic growth; it is shameful that there is still large scale of poverty in India. Poverty in India can be defined as a situation when a certain section of people are unable to fulfill their basic needs. India has the world’s largest number of poor people living in a single country. Out of its total population of more than 1 billion, 350 to 400 million people are living below the poverty line. Nearly 75% of the poor people are in rural areas, most of them are daily wagers, landless labourers and self employed house holders. The same scenario of anguish as presented in the Novel can be seen in the present society: The outcastes’ colony was a group of mud-walled houses that clustered together in two rows†¦.there lived the scavengers, the leather-workers, the washer men, the barbers, the water- carriers, the grass-cutters and other outcastes from Hindu society. A brook ran near the lane, once with crystal- clear water, now soiled by the dirt and filth of the public latrines situated about it, the ordour of the hides and skins of dead carcasses left to dry on its banks, the dung of donkeys, sheep, horses, cows and buffaloes heaped up to be made into fuel cakes, and the biting, choking, pungent fumes that oozed from its sides (Anand 1). Social division This great affecting major problem of the society came into existence when the Hindu society has been divided. That is why it is the main root or origin of this problem. Hindu society has traditionally been categorized into four classes, called Varnas the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. The first belonging to this Varna is called Brahmanas. Their function is to learn and to make share of the learning and to preserve the eternal knowledge of the race. The Brahmins are devoted to their works of teaching and preaching. Kshatriya is the one who belongs to Kshatra varna. This is the forms the military defense group, the martial class and administration of the society. They contain administrative and wielding political power and ruled the states. The Vaishyas are divided into the category of farming and business and that is the reason why they were pre-occupied with the works of selling goods to the others. Vaisya is the creative class of the society, and their primary occupations are trading and business and they are called merchants. Shudra is the lowest in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. The Shudras have classically lived lives of service. Slaves were often classified as Shudras, as were leatherworkers, blacksmiths, maids, cooks, and so forth. They have typically not been accorded the same rights as higher castes, forced to use different temples and public facilities. Thus the Gita declares: â€Å"The work of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras is divided according to qualities born of their own inner nature† (Wikipedia 1). Some relieving solutions Common education system Every child and citizen of India is eligible to get equal type of education. As we know parallel education system created by upper class and the rich people but limited to these classes only. We can say that this system is totally based on class and caste. Kothari Commission (1964-66) has presented the common school education system both for the poor and rich people. Almost all political leaders, upper class administrators support this system. But the little children and teenagers are sent to the private schools and English medium schools that charge high fees which are not affordable for the poor, down trodden and exploited class. It is very noticeable that neither State Government nor the Central Government has succeeded to cease these schools and will not dare for the same in the future also. Although the Government has opened a number of schools for the underprivileged and exploited class, how many benefits they got still now? The Government runs schools for the poor people like Bakha and Munoo but practically failed to make the major part of the deprived people educated. The reason also may be a lack of awareness among the down trodden people or a lack of Government policy. In one of the incidents of the novel Untouchable, we can observe that Bakha, at the British Barracks, shows his extreme wish of being educated to his uncle and he also weeps for it. His father tells him that schools and education institutions are made for the sahibs only not for the downtrodden and exploited class. In this way, we can rightly observe the lack of common education system at the time of British still continues today also. The same education discrimination is prevalent in the recent age. It is very clear that the upper class and rich people who are the holders of high degrees and well educated come in contact with the poor and exploited class and impose them to be abused. Because they are all illiterate and do not have degrees for getting good jobs just like the high class people which pathetic circumstances after all direct them to a single path of leading life and that is exploitation alone. The problem of social, economical and educational inequality can be solved only when the Government takes over the management of all the non-governmental schools by making necessary laws in this connection. In the near future if it is not done, the problem of inequality in all the grounds will remain same as present time. There is an intimate kinship between education and life. Education is the one tool that can drive one from the world of several exploitations and abuses to the world of equality. * Incentives to needy families to send their children to school regularly till they reach the age of 17 or 18. * Pre-metric and post-metric scholarship scheme for children of families employed in occupations such as scavenging. All children of such families, regardless of incomes, will be covered by the scheme. * Provision of remedial courses to improve their study and prospect for further education. * The recruitment of teachers from the low-castes who are being the target of exploitations. * Increasing of residential schools, including ashram schools should be established in a large numbers so that the parents can take care of their children very well. * The curriculum of education should be designed by keeping an eye on both rich and poor classes and as a device to encourage children and teenagers to get educated. * To provide them an education loan of a small amount without a single penny interest which provides in muster to make their children educated and employed. * The state should not discriminate against any citizen on the basis of religion, caste, race, sex by keeping in mind traditions and customs at school or colleges or any institution of learning. * Primary and secondary should provide education irrespective of cast and creed. Anti-poverty programmes The most important component of eliminating of the exploitation of teenagers is the socio-economic and anti-poverty programmes meant for the families socially and economically handicapped ready to sacrifice their children only for monetary significance. Gujarat is one of the most growing states of India now-a-days. Though the state is developing in all the directions, it is facing much more problems simultaneously; one of them is poverty. The Chief Minister of this state launched state-wide Abhiyan of Garib Kalyan Mela from Amreli which is the first major step taken in the whole India to reduce poverty. It has been announced of organizing around 50 Garib Kalyan Mela across the State, providing economic assistance to the poor and marginalized people. One of its essential objectives of this programme is to provide financial help which is the source of all the harms of the exploited and deprived people. Nearly forty thousand people, including slum dwellers and citizens Below Poverty Line (BPL) of Visnagar under this programme attained a full economical assistance at the Garib Kalyan Melo’. However, the elimination or eradication of the poverty in India has not reached to a definite estimated level because of indifference of Central Government of India towards the reality of poverty. Such programmes related to poverty must be organized nationally to bend each state in these activities. Central Government of India totally failed to be conscious of the severe conditions of poverty. Present central Government need to be sensitized the administration so that such programmmes can get a start to lead actives and inspiration which have already started in a single state or two. In short, the schemes or programmes for reducing poverty as considered the first and primary source exploitation should be introduced and updated time to time by the central Government. On one side children and teenagers are considered to be the power and strength of the near future. On the other side, this social evil of exploitation is increasing day by day and taking its magnitude form. The day will come when half population of the children and teenagers will be exploited in India and these situations will create a great obstacle in the development of the nation. Therefore everyone should admit this harsh reality which cannot be cast off from its root unless and until the government is awake and show seriousness. References Anand, Mulk. Untouchable. Pune: Mehta Publication, 2003. Print. Anand, Mulk. Coolie. Noida: N.p. Penguin Books India, 1993. Print. Kreis, Steven. â€Å"Lecture on Modern European Intellectual History Karl Marx 1818-188.† The History Guide. N.p. 30 Jan. 2008. Web. 11 Nov.2010. â€Å"Varna (Hinduism).† Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. N.p. n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2010.

Foreshadows and Suspense the Lottery

Many of the seemingly innocuous details throughout â€Å"The Lottery† foreshadow the violent conclusion. In the second paragraph, children put stones in their pockets and make piles of stones in the town square, which seems like innocent play until the stones’ true purpose becomes clear at the end of the story. Tessie’s late arrival at the lottery instantly sets her apart from the crowd, and the observation Mr. Summers makes—â€Å"Thought we were going to have to get on without you†Ã¢â‚¬â€is eerily prescient about Tessie’s fate. When Mr. Summers asks whether the Watson boy will draw for him and his mother, no reason is given for why Mr.Watson wouldn’t draw as all the other husbands and fathers do, which suggests that Mr. Watson may have been last year’s victim. Jackson builds suspense in â€Å"The Lottery† by relentlessly withholding explanation and does not reveal the true nature of the lottery until the first stone hit s Tessie’s head. We learn a lot about the lottery, including the elements of the tradition that have survived or been lost. We learn how important the lottery is to the villagers, particularly Old Man Warner. We go through the entire ritual, hearing names and watching the men approach the box to select their papers.But Jackson never tells us what the lottery is about, or mentions any kind of prize or purpose. She begins to reveal that something is awry when the lottery begins and the crowd grows nervous, and she intensifies the feeling when Tessie hysterically protests Bill’s â€Å"winning† selection. And she gives a slight clue when she says that the villagers â€Å"still remembered to use stones. † But not until the moment when a rock actually hits Tessie does Jackson show her hand completely. By withholding information until the last possible second, she builds the story’s suspense and creates a shocking, powerful conclusion.

Petroleum and Shell

Shell Company Analysis Dr. Scruton Methodist University Management and Organization Abstract Shell Oil is a global company in the oil industry. This long established company has withstood the test of time in this competitive market. Management practices have established the resources necessary to overcome the obstacles of a global company. This detailed analysis of Shell Oil focuses on management in order to provide an understanding of how the company is able to succeed. The organizational analysis provides insight into Shell's goals, culture, and resources.An example of a specific roblem that Shell faced, oil spills in Nigeria, continues off of the company analysis. Nigeria is a major extraction location for shell, but sabotage and oil leaks grew to be a major concern. Shell faced court cases in search of relief in Nigeria, but the majority of the oil leaks were a result of sabotage; therefore, shell was not responsible. However, people believed that it was shell's responsibility to safeguard the oil lines and prevent sabotage in the first place.Shell funded the cleanup of previous oil spill sites along with a major advertising campaign to avoid a negative impact on its usiness. Some people still believe that Shell should be taking more responsibility for the oil spill crisis in Nigeria. Oil is a resource that has been in great demand since the production of combustion engines, as well as other industrial machines. Royal Dutch Shell, commonly referred to as Shell, has been a dominant force in the oil industry for over 100 years. Shell management has enabled success and allowed the company to overcome any obstacles.An in-depth analysis of Royal Dutch Shell's management techniques provides information on how it can conquer the challenges of change. A ecent challenge that Shell faced in Nigeria indicates that Shell has the necessary resources to prevail. Shell continues to be a driving force in the oil industry from the business aspect, but Just now prosperous is this global company. A man named Marcus Samuel founded an antique business in London. Seashells were among the products that he sold, which is how Shell acquired its name. Marcus grew fond of the oil exportation business during a trip to Japan.Before the invention of the combustion engine, oil was merely used for lighting and lubricating small components. Marcus and his brother Sam transformed the oil transportation ndustry with their company, Shell Transport. Expanding the business lead to a merger with Royal Dutch Petroleum in 1907. Royal Dutch Shell rapidly expanded production throughout the world, included places like Russia, Romania, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States. Today, Royal Dutch Shell operates in more than 70 countries. Shell is able to produce 3. 3 million barrels of oil in a single day generating $467. billion dollars revenue annually. Organizational Overview: Shell Corporation has a website that addresses all the publicly known information about the organizati onal operations in the United States and throughout the global conomy. The Shell website does not specify a specific mission statement. According to Mission Statement (2013), â€Å"The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise's purpose for existence. † While Shell. com does not specifically list anything labeled as a mission statement, it does identify a purpose to the organization.The corporate website under Our Purpose (n. d. ) states: The objectives of the Shell group are to engage efficiently, responsibly and profitably in oil, oil products, gas, chemicals and other selected businesses and to participate in he search for and development of other sources of energy to meet evolving customer needs and the world's growing demand for energy. The planning methodologies utilized by Royal Dutch Shell include: a vision, the mission, the strategy, the goals/tactics, and metrics (â€Å"Strategic Planning,† 2009). The vision leads to th e mission.The mission in turn enables the creation of the strategy. Strategy gives a guideline for the goals/tactics and metrics. The vision is to provide for the future energy needs of the people while preserving the environmental health of the planet (Shell. com). The mission, or purpose, is identified and explained in the above paragraph. Shell states that their strategy is innovative and competitive. As recently as 13 January 2013, Shell released its strategy as innovative and competitive to the news and media. Shell CEO directly states, â€Å"Shell is competitive and innovative.We are delivering a strategy that others can't easily repeat, with unique skills in technology and integration and a worldwide set of opportunities for new investment† (â€Å"Shell Delivering,† 2013). Robbins and Couter (2012) define competitive strategy as, â€Å"an organizational strategy for how an organization will compete in its usiness (es)† (p. 231) and innovative strategy, â €Å"aren't necessarily focused on Just radical, breakthrough products. They can include applying existing technology to new uses† (p. 238). Shell is not new to using both these strategies to survive the challenges with the very competitive oil market.Arie de Geus (1988) was head of planning for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group companies and employed with corporation for 30 plus years; identifies that out of survival for the Shell Transport and Trading Company in 1907 to compete with the Rockefeller's Standard Oil it had to Join with Royal Dutch Petroleum. This innovative idea of Joining the two companies allowed the company the ability to continue to compete competitively and still going strong more than 1 00 years later. The customers ot Snell are those people that purchase or use the products produced or shop the store locations around the world.Shareholders are those that have investments or hold shares in the corporation and either profit or lose from the businesses operations . The competitors to Shell are other major oil companies; this includes companies such as BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and many more throughout the globe competing for the oil market. Stakeholders are a much broader range of people or groups. All activities of the corporation that influence or affect those in or around it can be considered a stakeholder. The employees, shareholders, and competitors are all affected by the happenings and success of the company.

The relationship between Religion and Ethics in todays World Essay

The relationship between Religion and Ethics in todays World - Essay Example But we see everyday ethical notions being deliberated upon and changed to suit particular circumstances and individual and mass preferences. Religious precepts are based on the revelations of the original prophets. The precepts were later formalized into written texts of all the religions. Whereas on one hand religious precepts lay the roadmap to salvation, on the other, they also help a human to judge between right and wrong. But slowly decadence set in the free thinking ideals of every religion and the religious precepts got permanence as dogmas. The modern ethics are based upon the theories of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The ethical notions witnessed resurgence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The ideas of liberty, freedom and equality took route in European society later got spread out all over the world. What began as an intellectual movement pioneered by such free thinkers as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Hobbes acquired political dimensions in the French Revolution and the American War of Independence. Individual liberty is both the cause and effect of free thinking. Free thinking also promotes the cause of ethical judgment. The sphere of Ethics now spreads beyond individualized thinking to help mankind to frame rules for societies, cultures, and countries. What may be ethical in one country, a geo-political region, or a continent may not be so in another. In other words, ethics hold a huge scope for variance, and argument, whereas religion is guided by dogmas that are most part rigid, unalterable and beyond question. Religious dogmas, too, may have had very logical origin but with passage of time they come to be accepted as divine ordainments and have to be accepted by the people without question. The clash of religion and ethics today gets reflected in different forms. The debate over ethics and

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Research Paper (discussion and conclusion)_1 - Essay Example Almost all the studies both from past literature and from present concur in terms of findings. However, no study has ever dug deep into the challenges this corporation is facing, as hinted in the literature review section. Most studies have always just concentrated on the challenges in general without a specific focus on a particular problem. Furthermore, the past studies viewed Kuehne+Nagel a company always on the upward trend (Johnson, 2010). Unfortunately, none tried to find out the tribulations behind Kuehne+Nagel’s constant and incessant improvements. However, contrary to what most past investigations have found out, the findings of this research are different. Kuehne+Nagel has faced and is still facing a broad range of challenges as it grows, especially the cost positioning. Achieving the company goal of being the key globe player in the Aerospace logistics sector has undergone through numerous problems pertaining to market structure, which according to Easterby (2012), almost rubbished its achievements. A scrutiny of the findings reveals that none of the past literature failed to observe the struggle Kuehne+Nagel has had with cost positioning, and market structure at large. Rousseau (2015) in his findings, found out that at one point, the company had to lower its prices significantly, a fact that caused a reduction in the company benefits that year. It was necessitated by the sudden shake in the aerospace logistics’ prices during that time, and partly contributed to by the rigid business model the company had. Needless to say, a business model is the determining factor in a company’s success. On that note, it is expected that a particular model applied by a company should always be flexible and able to accommodate sudden market changes wi thout affecting the company’s operations. Fortunately, the Kuehne+Nagel Corporation is not just operating

Images of the Art and Science of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Images of the Art and Science of Nursing - Essay Example 1). Nursing as a science involves the scientific and theoretical explanation of certain phenomena. It observes, identifies, describes, and experiments on issues affecting the delivery of health. On the other hand, nursing as an art is the humanistic and creative application of the result of science. Basavanthappa (2004) identified that the art of clinical nursing is directed into four main goals: (1) understanding the patient’s condition, situation, or need, (2) enhancement of patient’s capability, (3) improvement of patient’s condition following a medical plan, and (4) prevention of remission and exacerbations which may cause anxiety, disability, or stress (p. 1). Contemporary nursing has evolved to a learned discipline and profession that combines the science and art of caring. Nursing combines scientific body of knowledge derived from primitive beliefs to high technology era and humanistic caring. Nursing focuses on the client’s response to illness, pro motes health, and assists clients to move to a higher level of wellness. Nursing also provide care and assistance during a terminal illness by providing comfort and preserving dignity during the end-phase of life (White, 2005, p. 41). The development of nursing as a science and an art is traced through its rich history, array of visual images, and influence of social factors. Image Selection To further describe the art and science of nursing, six images were selected which depicted the historical and modern concept of the art and science of nursing. Among the images chosen are of Florence Nightingale, patient settings during Crimean War, nurse-patient ratio during early times, contemporary nurse-patient interaction, operating room scenario, and health informatics in nursing. The images are described below: A. Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) pioneered the concept of modern nursing. She was also credited for uplifting the standards of nursing and developing nursi ng as a science and an art. Nightingale persistently advocated cleanliness, good nutrition, and fresh air as well as the reform in health care (White, 2005, p. 44). During this time, nurses, care for the wounded around the clock with the oil lamps along them to light their way in the darkness. Similarly, this oil lamp represents Nightingale for she was able to give light to the darkness of caring and implemented scientific and artistic caring. Through Florence Nightingale’s principles, nursing practice and environmental modifications resulted in reduced morbidity and mortality rates during the war. (White, 2005, p. 44) She also worked to gain the public’s approval in producing well-educated nurses and for the concepts that were still used today such as a systematic method of assessing clients, individualized care based on the client’s need and preferences, and confidentiality (White, 2005, p. 45). Nightingale is one of the most outstanding figures that truly ill ustrated the foundation of scientific and artistic nursing. (Image retrieved from http://i.acdn.us/image/A6732/67325/300_67325.jpg) B. The Crimean War The outbreak of war in the Crimea, a peninsula on the north shore of the Black Sea from 1854 to 1856 marked the historical evolution of nursing practice and the birth of scientific and artistic nursing. War casualties outrageously increase and the British government became the consistent subject of national criticism. In light

What are the major conventions of Revenge Tragedy Discuss how they are Essay

What are the major conventions of Revenge Tragedy Discuss how they are used, combined or altered in Cyril Tourneur's 'The revenger's tragedy' - Essay Example T.S. Eliot recognized the dominance of the Senecan mood in drama during the era of the revenge tragedy when he suggested, â€Å"No author exercised a wider or deeper influence upon the Elizabethan mind or upon the Elizabethan form of tragedy than did Seneca† (Arkins 2). Any analysis of the revenge play genre centers on two particular plays, which both typify and transcend the revenge play genre Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy and ur-Hamlet. The blueprint of the revenge tragedy is laid out and executed here to brilliant and devastating effect, an effect which indeed defined the notion of how revenge was to be played out on stage. There is of course significant disagreement to how the concept of revenge was interpreted via Elizabethan mores, whether the multitude of avengers in the various stage dramas put on during the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries represented immoral exemplars, examples of Anglo-Saxon barbarianism combined with un-Christian Senecan ethic (Broude 39), or perhaps something more noble like retribution in the mode of divine justice. Regardless, the ethical valence in the standard form of the revenge tragedy was generally unambiguous and robustly on the side of revenge and its attendant carnage. As as interesting caveat to this, Shakespeare’s Hamlet often seen as a response to the non-extant ur-Hamlet offers a level of ambiguity that does not so much negate the vengeful mood of the play but nuances it in such a way that makes Hamlet the singularly important and influential play it is today. A purer example of the revenge tragedy is perhaps Cyril Tourneur’s The Revenger’s Tragedy. Though as we will show, while it is most obviously ruled by many of the conventions of the revenge tragedy and is clearly meant to fall within it as an artful example of the genre, it does not adopt all of its conventions carte blanche. In order to make sense of this it will

Queer theory with The Beauty and Beast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Queer theory with The Beauty and Beast - Essay Example Belle, serving as the protagonist of the work, shows a continued distaste towards the masculine, and instead falls in love with the feminine aspects of the beast, hinting at feminine-feminine attraction as an acceptable mode of sexuality. Gender is developed quite early in the film, and defined primarily by two characters, Belle and Gaston. The film depicts both as the pinnacles of their respective genders: an opening song notes that â€Å"Belle’s name means beauty,† while a song about Gaston point out that â€Å"there’s no man in town that’s as manly/ perfect a pure paragon† (Beauty and the Beast) Thus, from the opening of the film the feminine is identified with Belle while the masculine is identified with Gaston. Using this association, it is possible to determine what the film identifies as being feminine or masculine characteristics. Belle, for example, is an incredibly caring person, taking care of her tottering father as well as caring for various animals around her such as her horse. She also enjoys reading and exploring the world of the mind. Physically, the feminine is defined by long flowing hair (as opposed to the tight pony tails often worn by men) and more delicate features. Gaston, on the other hand, demonstrates the film’s understanding of masculinity. The masculine consists of a series of valued behaviors, such as â€Å"drinking †¦ hunting †¦ fighting,† eating eggs and so forth (Beauty and the Beast). Furthermore, the song â€Å"Gaston† enumerates the aspects physical attributes associated with masculinity: incredible size, a thick neck, a cleft chin, strength (â€Å"biceps to spare†) and â€Å"every last bit †¦ covered in hair† (Beauty and the Beast). The problem, however, is that the masculine is incredibly repulsive to Belle. She has absolutely no attraction to Gaston, and has to turn him down as

Classroom Managment Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Classroom Managment - Annotated Bibliography Example questionnaires, was used for the study that reported application of strategies such as physical classroom arrangement, audio equipment, rules, and schedules as strategies. Application of the strategies however differed between public and private schools and yielded different effects. The study is relevant to current topic and its method that suggests reliability and validity is its strength. Potential bias from research participants’ responses is however the greatest weakness and is a threat to the associated strength with the applied research method. Briesch, A., Briesch, J., and Chafouleas, S. (2015). Investigating the usability of classroom management strategies among elementary schoolteachers. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 17(1), 5-14. The results identified the participants’ ability to use the strategies, suggest application in class set-ups, is valid, and is relevant to the current study. Validity and reliability, based on the applied quantitative approach are the study’s strengths but using participants to measure outcomes is a weakness. Coles, E., Owens, J., Serrano, V., Slavee, J. and Evans, S. (2015). From consultation to student outcomes: The role of teacher knowledge, skills, and beliefs in increasing integrity in classroom management strategies. School Mental Health 7(1), 34-48. Using case study, results show relationship between the variables and therefore identify possible mediator factor to effectiveness of classroom management strategies. Ability of a case study to develop in-depth understanding of a phenomenon is the study’s strength while inability to infer findings, due to the subjective approach is a weakness of the study. Garner, P., Moses, L., and Waajid, B. (2013). Prospective teachers’ awareness and expression of emotions: Associations with proposed strategies for behavioral management in the classroom. Psychology in the Schools 50(5), 471-488. The researchers aimed at investigating relationship between

Natural world threatening Essay Example for Free

Natural world threatening Essay On the whole, Plath finds the natural world threatening. ’ In the light of this statement, compare the ways in which Plath and Hughes write about the natural world. You must include in your response detailed reference to ‘The Moon and the Yew Tree’ and to at least one other poem. ’ The natural world often seems to reflect the writer’s mood vividly and traditionally, nature is used to convey emotions. Plath uses nature to express her interior misery by comparing aspects of nature with her own emotions to show how she is alone, isolated and emotionally cold; this is particularly visible in both ‘The Moon and the Yew Tree’ and ‘Elm’. In contrast to Hughes, who finds the natural world fascinating as seen in ‘Hawk Roosting. ’ In The Moon and the Yew Tree, Plath focuses on two features of landscape, which are used to establish the mood. The poem quickly becomes a bleak statement of nothingness and despair, whereby she projects her feelings onto the moon and onto the yew tree. Throughout the poem, her gaze remains fixed on the moon, an image which Plath finds threatening since the light it gives off is ‘cold and planetary’ an unsettling image with Plath does not find particularly comforting, since she is describing the moon as emotionally cold. The moon seems to have its own troubles with it being ‘terribly upset’ here Plath uses the moon to express her own feelings of sadness, although the moon conveys her own despair, she describes the moon as having despair a reason why she ‘live[s] here’ –inside the moon, in her world of despair. The personification of the moon has made it a female character traditionally for Plath a symbol of barren coldness; hence Plath finds the natural world threatening by the negative power of the moon. The Yew Tree also lies at the heart of the poem, it is immediately associated with overwhelmingly negativity ‘the trees of the mind are black’. Plath uses pathetic fallacy giving emotions to inanimate objects throughout the poem, creating a tense, threatening atmosphere. In contrast to Plath who finds the natural world threatening, Hughes writes about the power of nature and how immense it is. Yet Hughes uses the power of creation to highlight the evil in nature, which is highlighted by the God like powers of the hawk, where the bird’s arrogance and self-importance is emphasised sitting ‘in the top of everything’. Metaphoric images underline the hawk’s opinion of its own superiority ‘Now I hold creation in my foot’ exemplifying the God-like power of the hawk. The hawk is like a prehistoric monster ‘nothing has changed since I began’ it is something that other creatures need to fear and that underlines the sense of its own power. Hughes finds nature threatening within the poem by the evil within the hawk – it is a killing machine, everything about it is geared to ‘the allotment of death’. Ultimately, what Hughes presents is an accumulation of onomatopoeic and metaphoric images that may cause the reader to fear the bird, which finally may persuade the reader to see nothing other than an immense specimen of nature. Similar to Plath who in ‘Elm’ writes the poem from the Elms perspective, Hughes adopts the persona of a hawk, effectively showing us the world from the birds prospective. However in contrast to Plath who uses Elm to show an image of femininity, Hughes uses the masculine hawk as a very powerful image, who is threatening because of the evil things it does.

Fibonacci Sequence

Fibonacci Sequence How Does the Fibonacci Sequence Relate to Nature and Other Math Processes? Nature is all around us, and because I spend a lot of time outside I have been able to enjoy and observe all that nature has to offer. Due to the fact that I love science and discovering how everything around me functions and relates to everything else, I decided to investigate the relation that Fibonacci has with other math processes—as well as with the environment. I wanted to understand how plants know the best way to form their seeds or outer shell, and why some patterns may repeat in nature in different plants and organic materials. Thus, this exploration looks at two seemingly unrelated topics—Fibonacci and the golden ratio—both of which produce the same number, phi. While this could be mere coincidence, that possibility is negated when the fact that the number produced is irrational is introduced. It was this peculiar discovery, as well as the abundant appearances of Fibonacci in nature, that led me to choose this exploration topic. To begin, I should start by identifying what initially sparked my curiosity in this subject: a pinecone. As with many other plants, as well as fruits and vegetables, pinecones display the golden ratio. In order to better understand what I am talking about I have included a picture of a pinecone similar to the one that I first inspected. Labeled below is the noticeable spiral pattern on the pinecone. Counting the number of spirals in that direction produces the number eight, and in the other direction it produces the number thirteen while a third and tighter spiral produces twenty-one. These numbers are situational to the pinecone in the pictures, but the Fibonacci numbers as a whole are far more complex than they first appear to be. To understand the importance of these numbers it is crucial to understand the fundamentals of the Fibonacci sequence itself. The sequence usually begins with the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and follows an easily definable pattern. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 Start with the number 5, or the nth number in the sequence. We’ll call it n. 5 equals the two numbers before it added together: 2 + 3. Or, in broader terms, a number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers preceding it. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13n = n-1 + n-2 An interesting idea comes up at the mention of this formula though. = This ratio just so happens to equal a number often notated as, or phi. > 1/11Phi is greater than one, < 2/12but less than two. > 3/21.5Phi is greater than three halves, < 5/31.666but less than five thirds. > 8/51.6Phi is greater than eight fifths, < 13/81.625but less than thirteen eights. 1.6180339988†¦ You’ll notice that each fraction listed above is made up of numbers from the original seven number sequence, in other words, each pair of Fibonacci numbers creates a ratio that gets closer and closer to phi as the numbers increase. This is better shown on a graph I created, displayed below. The ratio created by these sequences as they approach phi is called the golden ratio. The golden ratio, however, is not as important to this study as the lesser known concept of the golden angle. Below is a representation of the golden ratio in relation to the golden angle, the smaller portion of the circle notated using alpha, or ÃŽ ±. ÃŽ ± = 137.507764 ° 137.5 ° The reason this conversion is necessary is because the golden angle is present in the next discussion topic: sunflowers. Or, more specifically, their seeds. Sunflowers are another great example of the appearance of Fibonacci in nature, and also led me to an interesting discovery. In order to plot the distribution of a sunflower’s seeds we need an X and a Y coordinate pair. Using the square roots from an index numbered from one to one thousand and multiplying them by the cosine of the radian of the angle alpha gives us a formula to find x, dependent on the index number used. Y can be calculated with a very similar formula, using sine instead of cosine. The equations are listed in their entirety below. When these formulas are used and input into Microsoft Excel they produce a graph similar to the following. Wow! That graph bears a striking resemblance to the original Fibonacci spirals that appeared in the pinecones, and as mentioned earlier it is not mere coincidence. While the use of the golden ratio is apparent, there is another aspect of it that I wish to address, the golden spiral. Its formulae are given by the following equations, and are readily apparent in nature as well (nautilus shells for example). In these equations is the undetermined scaling factor and is the growth factor of the spiral. In the instance of the golden spiral, is equal to the operation below. At first, these formulae appeared to be a strange smattering of numbers, and one I didn’t understand at all. However, upon noticing the appearance of a natural log in the formula for I made a connection to the letter , better known as Euler’s number, that is present in both the X and Y formulae. After thorough searches of many sources I discovered another math process that bares resemblance to the above formulae. This is Euler’s formula. It becomes increasingly apparent that its resemblance is not coincidental when the formula is transformed into the final formula shown below. While the visual similarities may be obvious when the formula is displayed as it is above, the importance of each variable can be clarified with simple explanations. is the arbitrary scaling factor, responsible for determining the scale of the spiral. dictates the rotation of the spiral, and remains constant. The in dictates the growth of the spiral, and the dictates the speed—together representing the speed of the growth of the spiral. More simply put, any given ordered pair can be found by multiplying the growth of the spiral by its rotation (as shown in the originally given formulae for finding said coordinates.) What is produced, however, after inputting over two thousand pieces of data, derived from the coordinates calculated using the formulae above, into Microsoft Excel, is shown in the graph below. After putting in the Fibonacci squares (using the original golden ratio) into the spiral its appearance and relation to Fibonacci become even clearer. Very simply put, my investigation yielded the result that the Fibonacci sequence, the golden spiral, and Euler’s number are all related to one another in nature. The results are eye opening for me, as I am beginning to realize just how much of the world is made up of math—rather than my previous belief that everything natural occurred randomly. My exploration only stemmed into plants, and while that may only have practical use in fields such as botany, all three have great value in many fields. To begin with, Fibonacci appears in bee populations, proportions of the human body, formation of cells, and possibly more practically in code and the stock market. Any of these fields could present an interesting extension to my exploration, and because they all stem from Fibonacci they all have roots in combinatorics and number theory. The implications of this are staggering! Simply the thought that all of these vastly different fields are related to one another by one sequence of numbers discovered by Leonardo of Pisa, better known as Fibonacci himself, is baffling considering that he discovered them while looking at the breeding patterns of rabbits. There are so many other areas in nature that Fibonacci appears in, and I’m so excited that I have the opportunity to discover and study them now that I know more about them. Works Cited Azad, Kalid. Intuitive Understanding Of Euler’s Formula. Better Explained. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. . Nature by Numbers. Eterea. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2015. . â€Å"Spirals.† < http://faculty.smcm.edu/sgoldstine/pinecone/spirals2.gif> Wolverson, Tim. Plot a Fibonacci Spiral in Excel. Reviews and Guides. WordPress, 08 Feb. 2014. Web. Jan.-Feb. 2015. . McDonald 1

Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on Operating Performance

Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on Operating Performance Chapter-1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction Along with boosting their own profits, businesses create gains for their shareholders and exist to serve customers. According to Ghosh and Das (2003) these aims can be achieved a) by reducing costs since this increases competitiveness and market share and so wins over more customers, b) by capturing wider markets through offering an increased range of products and services, c) by undertaking diversification operations, and d) by undertaking mergers to grow the company inorganically. Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) are suggested as measures to revive failing companies and as strategic tools. Conducive to strategic alliances and mergers in an increasingly competitive business environment are global economies, favorable policies and incentives, relaxed rules, and liberalization. New products, diversification, RD etc.have also been included as critical factors when businesses scale up operations and responsibilities along with increased roles in world economies as has been noted by Yadav and Kumar (2005). Due to brand building and PR exercises, a few MA deals may have taken place as pointed out by Malatesta (1983) and Roll (1986). One fact prevalent across numerous sectors relates to an increase in MA competence levels and competitiveness. Corporations involved in MA deals around the worldconsistAir France and KLM in the airlines sector, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler in the automobilesector, and SBC and ATT in the telecom domain. A lot of research on shareholder gains in the event of an MA exists today. When word gets out that an MA is imminent, the stock prices of both companies goes up tremendously and favorably impacts shareholder value. As the nature of the market reports why details of impending mergers are not leaked and could lead to stock crashes affecting prices many reasons are there. While MAs may lead to healthier bottom lines and improved cash flows as felt by most business managers, however, to the shareholders, some mergers and acquisitions may be loss making enterprises which are of no use. So to generalize that MAs always result in favorable circumstances for the shareholders is not always true. Due to the fact that in terms of synergy, expertise, and objectives, the companies do not match up some mergers may not be effective. If the following are not aligned correctly i.e. asset allocation, resources, and core strengths and if through a planned integrated approach, care is not taken to fuse the two companies into one then, along with an expose of operating weaknesses, share value can fall. This may lead to erosion and drying up of capital.The failures in MA deals are placed at over 60% as estimated by Schweiger (2003). 1.2 Background of the study Through the economic activities across Europe and the world it is clear that FDI activity has risen over the past decade. In addition, the merger and investment acquisition mode has risen sharply and as a percentage of all FDO risen as noted by Lipsey (2002). From 1995-2001 the Global Wave has been labeled as the most recent merger wave by Jobanovic and Rousseau (2002), through an emphasis on their importance and a move to more cross-border mergers. According to Jovanovis and Rousseau in the EU in 2000-2001, about 40% of all mergers occurred through cross-border deals and from 1991-2000 these deals accounted for about 100% of the total number of mergers in the EU. According to the EC (2001), to make acquisitions for euro-zone companies becomes easier by increased financial markets integration. Among the EU nations, a rapidly increasing number of cross-border MA were contributed to by an active market for corporate control given the boom of the 1990s. Similar to Ueng and Ojahsresearch (1998) the FDI wealth effects investigation the effects of these integrating transactions on form shareholders using methods are examined in this study. In the EU nations, the merger analysis and acquisition activity is warranted certainly as suggested by the importance of the international business community and increased activity. In the EU,of the integration process, a significant piece is owed to cross-border mergers and more than others, the benefits have filtered in to some countries. Therefore, it is important to understand who has gained or lost, and why. Instead of the individual states of the United States (US), the EU nations have greater political disparity. This would seem to imply that across the US the nations across EU are of greater importance in a level playing field in the business community. Within the US however, instead of a similar study of interstate transactions, this key factor makes this study much more interesting. 1.3 Statement of the problem In terms of markets, resources, technology, money, or skills, mergers have a high chance of taking place in terms of the size of the top managements of two similar companies and when they are evenly matched to register and contribute to the merger as observed by Samuel and colleagues (1990). Between equals, these mergers are mergers and generally, when the existing companies do not function as an entity anymore, they are complete and a new structure is created to merge the assets and resources of both the companies. The new companys shares are then redistributed among both the companies shareholders. In another scenario, giving them a majority shareholding by buying a large percentage of their shares, a company may acquire another company and become the new owners. This is termed an acquisition and the company acquired is merged into the existing business of the company. The target ceases to be an independent entity legally. Along with trading on the stock exchanges the shares of the acquiring company still exist. 1.7 Significance of the study In the industry involved the three big entities Lloyds TSB and HBOS have special significance as their merger provesthrough the rationale behind this topic.This merger sought to create the largest steel company and this leaves much scope for research. 1.8 Possible contribution to knowledge Based on the home country of the target and the acquiring firms, there are differentials in the average wealth effects of cross-border mergers and a study of this is the possible contribution of this research. From the EU averages it is clear that several EU nations differ significantly, which would imply that from cross-border mergers than those in other countries the owners i.e. shareholders of firms in particular countries stand to benefit more. Why these differences exist, the research continues to explain empirically and this is beyond showing that such country-specific differences exist. In Europe, by examining a small sample of cross-border mergers, it is evident that these findings are not unique to the EU. 1.9 Limitations of the study The research deals with a specific industry and that is the key limitation of the study. Hence, the implications of this study cannot be applied as every industry has its own conceptualization with regard to the effects of mergers and acquisitions. The country-specific nature is the other limitation, since these organizationswork within individual financial environments pertinent to these countries. 1.3. Purpose of the research and aims What is the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the operating performance of the firm? Objectives of the Research To critically analyze the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the operating performance of the firm in India. To strategically evaluate the impact on shareholders wealth post-MA. 1.4. Structure of the rest of the report Chapter 1- Introduction: Chapter one is the Introduction which will cover the brief aspects about mergers and acquisitions. Chapter 2- Literature Review: Chapter Two will dealwith Literature Review which will draw theoretical underpinnings on the subject area of the research. Chapter-3-Conceptual Framework: Chapter Three will discuss the Indian Banking Industry with the perspective of MAs. Chapter 4- Research Methodology: Chapter Four will be on Research Methodology and Process which will cover the process which is adopted by the researcher for conducting the research. Chapter 5-Data Findings and Analysis: Chapter Five will be on Data Findings and Analysis which will cover broadly the sectors which are involved in the mergers and acquisitions. Chapter 6- Conclusion: Chapter Six will be the Conclusion which will specify the way the entire research has been conducted and the end result of the same. Topic: A study of recent mergers and acquisitions in India and their impact on the operating performance and shareholder wealth: An analysis Banking Industry. Chapter-2: Literature Review 2.1. Introduction Investigators have been analyzing amalgamations and takeovers in the context of their characteristics and the impact on the development of both the entities over the past several years. In actuality, Weston et al. (2004) opine that the experts and researchers in the field have provided a large quantity of records related to the topic. There are many reasons why companies follow development policies related to amalgamations and takeovers. This permits rapid acceleration in addition to having a quick and instant approach to markets, both local and international. It is also likely to touch renowned brands, apply knowledge and skill, and widen the dimension and extent without losing time. In the sphere related to real estate, a participant (real estate firm) may want to promote a mutual organization for funding ventureson an individual basis. It may also consider entering into a joint venture with a construction enterprise in the domestic market so as to execute the venture as per assure d measurements and highlighted conditions as stated by Jensen (2006). Clients are reassured when they involve themselves with big enterprises, which have a great degree of brand reputation and remembrance. During these times, they articulate their backing, not merely as clients but also as financers as they buy stakes so as to invest money in the enterprise. It also possible for a company to advance by augmenting returns or managing expenses which in turn can be attained by reorganizing and reconfiguring finances apart from using creative methods and reengineering. Some enterprises may also purchase brands, goods, and utilities to expand the goods portfolio of the enterprise. The capability of an enterprise to undertake a development policy by reallocating its resources in creating different facets of its presence was maintained by Hogarty (2000). This could be denoted by its production unit, RD, and through creating and promoting its brands and setting up more projects in parallel or varied spheres. Firms may also purchase extant enterprises or amalgamate with others to attain their objectives. Amalgamations and takeovers assist in accelerating development as the roles pertaining to infrastructure, branding, and manufacturing are clearly set up. Superior mediums which endorse development comprise of contracts, treaties, and agreements for varied ventures for a pre-determined time. All across the world, international corporates and enterprises are entering into purchases of and amalgamations with new firms, forming joint ventures and such equivalent associations on a common basis. Nearly fifty percent of the contracts pertaining to amalgamations and takeovers in India have been initiated by global enterprises. In 2005 alone, India witnessed global contracts of around 58 percent, a number which was double compared to Japans agreements at 21 percent. Internationally, amalgamations and takeovers entail dogmatic frameworks particular to a specific nation and the labor unions of the enterprises. Post the 1990s, economic revolutions have been occurring globally and this has seen a growing attraction for amalgamations and takeovers. The financial segment witnessed a newness which saw modifications being made to possession and trade regulations, an increase in the disposable earnings and as a result, the capacity to discover newer marketplaces and newer chances. Firms are now fully utilizing the reduced interest rates and cost of capital. This has assisted several enterprises in broadening their scope of operations at the domestic and global levels through partnerships, associations, amalgamations, and takeovers. Additionally, the presence of many global media enterprises which publish information pertaining to contracts and partnerships on a large extentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ particularly in segments related to production, cars, retail and others. On the other hand, it is extremely crucial for companies to ensure specific advisory metrics before they perform their functions related to amalgamations and takeovers, especially in huge markets which have not been discovered. Amalgamations and takeovers also have the ability to shift the stakeholder worth affirmatively or adversely, which may result in a scenario, which eats away into the prosperity. When local takeovers in addition to global amalgamations get transformed into deficit-making and zero-worth developing patterns, all of these experience impediments. When stakeholders are not going to benefit from such projects, the costs of shares decline and thus, such agreements must consider all the primary essentials before opting for the linked choices. The influence of amalgamations and takeovers may be favorable or harmful to the development and this may take a long time and also be extremely costly for a total revival from an impediment. The existing segment also highlights the investigations and examinations undertaken on the topic by analysts. One needs to have sufficient data evaluation and also conduct hypothetical tests while assessing the influence of amalgamations and takeovers. Adequate links should also be deduced to comprehend the reason and impact correlations in amalgamations and takeovers in context to the criteria such as development of trade, stakeholder worth, productivity, and general performance. As the current study is linked to the influence of international amalgamations and takeovers, it is crucial to analyze the global amalgamations. Global partners who function from India while being based in the European Union framework have been examined depending on specific extant data. Additionally, domestic amalgamations and takeovers have also been analyzed. 2.2. Theoretical Background: Mergers Acquisitions (MAs) 2.2.1. Definition Amalgamations and takeovers can be superiorly comprehended as development polices to enhance the income of the enterprise and also, its capital foundation. Sometimes, for two enterprises, with similar or dissimilar trade functions, to amalgamate on specific ranks is a superior trade choice. An amalgamation of this type assists in imparting a blend of experience and finances. A commercial amalgamation of this type functions as a solitary body between edifying impacts and worth values of a commercial amalgamation and takeover (Jensen and Ruback, 2003). Though the phrases amalgamations and takeovers are frequently employed collectively, they are two extremely varied procedures. Amalgamations describe the merging of two different enterprises into a single entity. The two enterprises join each other, and shift all their resources and functions into a new one. This procedure includes the merging of all types of resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ employees, manufacturing facilities, and functions into the new entity that is shaped. The new entity shaped out of this has its individual distinctiveness, edifying representation, and groups of convictions. It is pointless to state that they are possessed by both the parties which share their resources to develop the new identity (Huang and Walkling, 2007). A takeover is considered as the purchasing-out procedure of an enterprise by another with the goal to stimulate management of its assets, investments, and functions. Takeovers occur when a firm purchases a major share of another firms stakes, assets, and liabilities (Weston et al., 2004). Firms experience a supplementary benefit when this occurs as they get the management apart from the functioning assets, in contrast to when they purchase merely the stakes, in which scenario they have to only compete with the other shareholders. Purchasing assets includes more expenses and offers an extensive capital foundation (Singal, 2006). Now let us consider acquisitions. This phrase also has been employed for many perspectives and is understood also. Takeover is a vague expression and though it may denote a context similar to acquisitions; the two are actually varied types of trade agreements (Jensen, 2006). A takeover is when a purchase is conducted without acquiesce or permission of the ente rprise being taken over. Takeovers come with an adverse action that entails the attaining of another firm with the intent to manage it. When an enterprise desires to take over another firm, it tries to purchase all its shareholders. Takeovers are the ones which do not have the approval of the firm being purchased and they are often nearly undertaken as a hostile proposal. This now clearly explains the different expressions and implications attached to amalgamations, acquisitions, takeovers, partnerships, and associations and how their context is based in the situation in which they are being applied. 2.2.2. Types of Mergers Acquisitions Mergers can occur at parallel, perpendicular, or multinational levels. Each kind of amalgamation has not only its own typical characteristics but also a distinct impact on the work processes and trade functions. Horizontal Mergers When two enterprises or enterprises that have parallel trades, which amalgamate to develop an entirely novel trade enterprise, it is known as a parallel merger. The enterprises which enter into a parallel amalgamation combine their assets as individual enterprises to shape a novel entity. These enterprises are thus capable of making a more robust enterprise which has a wider capital base and greater resources. The rationale behind this is to acquire a larger market share and become a dominant force in the market (Shleifer and Vishny, 2009). Such parallel amalgamations provide several benefits. They enable larger presence and greater range in addition to optimal performance ability to the novel entity. The two previously distinct entities now have the benefit of augmented resources capable of executing procedures in a superior method to ensure consistent supply of goods, which are of much better quality (Mitchell and Mulherin, 2006). Even in India there are a few instances of parallel amalgamations, for instance, the amalgamation between Indian carriers which occurred between Lufthansa and Swiss International apart from Air France and KLM (Bottazzi et al., 2001). The United Kingdom (UK) has witnessed several parallel amalgamations. In reality, the results of several investigations have depicted that nearly 60 percent of all amalgamation agreements which have occurred post-2001 have been parallel amalgamations (Firth, 2000). The same notion is also put forth by Berndt (2001). He also states that most of the amalgamations which happened post-deregulation and liberalization of the economy were parallel in character. Another instance of a parallel amalgamation like the one ofBirla Cement and Larsen Toubro (LT) is related to the cement sector. Additionally, the amalgamation ofKingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan in addition to the one between Jet Airways and Air Sahara depict parallel amalgamations in the airlines sector. The Tatas and the Birlas are two huge corporate entities, which have amalgamated in the telecommunications sector. Vertical Mergers A perpendicular amalgamation is one in which enterprises which are elements in a supply chain or which function as utility suppliers or subsidies in the equivalent type of trade resolve to become one entity. It is noticed that such amalgamations occur when firms resolve to augment their forte in the supply aspect (Agrawal et al., 2002). Perpendicular amalgamations manage to keep rivals away by maintaining stress and managing their supply firms. The perpendicular amalgamation is thus capable of seizing a bigger market share for their goods while the supply group fails to back the goods of other contenders. This plan assists the enterprises to closely react to their clients needs. The element pertaining to the rivals is capable of keeping the prices from rising as the supplies are not reimbursed for (leanmergers.com). Logically, the outcome of this action is an extremely robust management and more revenues as the firms attain an upper hand over their contenders. An instance of perpendicular amalgamation is the one between Ford and Vauxhall who are car producers, who have acquired or purchased automobile enterprises. When Ford purchased Hertz, it was an instance of a perpendicular amalgamation (Loughran and Vijh, 2007). Another example of a perpendicular amalgamation in the telecommunication industry is that of Reliance Communication Ltds purchase of Flag Telecom. Conglomerate Mergers Multinational amalgamations occur amongst two entirely varied enterprises. Such enterprises are participants at distinct degrees and have no equivalents in the good variety, markets, clients, supply chain, or any other criterion. Multinational amalgamations occur amongst such enterprises and a novel association is shaped in addition to new trade contracts. Multinational amalgamations show only one line of power or authorization, which manages the trade functions from a solitary aspect of knowledge, resources, client power, and market experience which guarantee enhanced trade after the multinational trade which occurred before (Asquith et al., 2003). Multinational amalgamations are executed so as to diffuse the dangers over an extensive base and thus avoid any chief impediment for the enterprise (Huang and Walkling, 2007). Financial Acquisitions Monetary attainments are related to the capital and fiscal aspect of trade plans such as Management Buyouts (MBOs) or Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs). Such purchases are not considered in the same context as amalgamations and takeovers (Travos, 2007). 2.2. Stimulus for Amalgamations A large chance to develop the value of mergers is when incentives for the same are anticipated or envisaged by investors. Investigators such as Asquith et al. (2003), Agrawal et al. (2002), and AndrÃÆ' © et al. (2004) have developed comprehensive data related to the topic pertaining to the incentives for mergers. Mergers must be discouraged by varied reasons such as a superior geographic market, varied economies, superior capabilities and price efficient conduct, widening of the trade, the synergy incorporated, and shifting assets to superior administrators so as to maximize the assets and create superior results, which is the chief objective. It has been proved that mergers and amalgamations are distinctive mediums related to financing in the context of advancement by many investigators. The chief idea or objective behind attaining a profitable investment would be important, particularly if such a concept is considered. In the event of the presence of incentives such as professions or sometimes pure respect improvement occurrences, the possibilities of investments becoming valuable, particularly when there are totally varied incentives for the varied enterprise to triumph and create the line of business. In the event of mergers, at the point when the primary incentive shapes the real advantageous investment, one has to consider the reason why the merger may seem to be priceless. A primary reason may be the lack of the expanding capability to access an unexploited market. One may anticipate a merger so as to achieve these objectives in an effortless manner (Gugler et al., 2003). For a triumphant merger, one should ascertain aspects of robust revenues and synergies. The focus in this matter should also lie on comprehending the incentives for cross-border mergers. It is noticed that dissimilar to domestic mergers for cross-border mergers, one needs to develop an incentive evaluation (Conn et al., 2001). The FDI incentives would resort to internalization, ownership, and position advantages as good instances as mentioned by Moeller et al. (2004). In the context of cross-border mergers, a merger is not likely to have unique ownership advantages. On the other hand, locational advantages may be unclear. Thus, in lieu of purchasing an enterprise in a totally varied geographical market, there are many idea-procedures which happen constantly. The majority of crucial internalization advantages in the instance of cross-border mergers are when products are sold overseas by one nation to another. In the event of the incentives, the OLI framework provides a backdrop for the objective of cross-border mergers, but other factors are also very crucial. It is considered by Chen and Findley (2002) that there is a speed if the retrieval to international markets since those from Greenfield investment cannot be equaled. By the end of the initial ten years of the 21st century, the waves in mergers were analyzed by Danzon et al. (2004). This was later referred to as the Cross Border wave. In contrast to other waves of the century, Evenett explained the trends of the merger wave to be distinct. The utility segment displays how the merger wave comprises of more mergers since specific elements had become components of the Cross Border and more so, with the liberalization effects in addition to the industrial monetary facet, this has additionally intensified privatization. There had to be a greater milieu to assist cross-border mergers. With the chief investment, the incentives had to be linked to the dogmatic surrounding to guarantee an element of the merger wave as depicted by Evenett. For other such grounds, cross-border mergers rise as depicted by Nicholson and McCullough (2002). When the researcher has to handle the theoretical information pertaining to mergers, he tries to present an expansive literature for better understanding. In the context of mergers, a maximized direct policy contention seems to be the most superior and is accountable for the impact of the mergers. A reasonable facet of the investigation discusses how both, markets and clients in the market commence many types of mergers. There has also been a theoretical investigation relating to ideas such as benefit predictions, envisaged variations in the outlays, diversified and varied quantum, in addition to who will eventually gain or lose on account of mergers. These theoretical investigations found their crux in oligopoly markets. Oligopoly markets have been the only crucial markets to utilize the rationale behind mergers opine Conn et al. (2001). So as to manage such market situations, a firm which enjoys a monopoly generally cannot enter into a merger. In a merger of firms, there would be no impact on the market outcomes. In varied production scenarios, the strengths of demand and cost in varied types of oligopoly markets function in different ways while the emphasis of the literature is on studying mergers. 2.3. Cross-Frontier There are several literatures which pertain to theories related to mergers. In reality, none of these literatures actually differentiate that in the management of international merger procedures there must be variations. To achieve cross-border mergers several simultaneous investigations have been undertaken, which complement that there are several literatures dealing with the impacts of these mergers. In terms of globalization, it relies so this is a close expansion and additionally it fulfills international economy apart from varied types of market endeavours to expand international firms of their functions. With consistent methods related to cross-border mergers there is relevant contention for the perusal of Indianization of different segments as described by Ozawa (2002). On account of the absence of attempts in merging administrative techniques, business is the driving aspect behind communication and culture which is why different cross-border mergers were unsuccessful states F inkelstein (2009). Every type of merger is impacted by these matters instead of cross-border agreements which may be dominant. A further peril is that cross-border contracts are entered into merely to gain benefits. To regard the facets of wondering literature there are subjects and anxieties in context of the methods which incorporate cross-border mergers that have been completed. For cross-border mergers, informative differences are real in the hypothetical model facet as stated by Estrin (2009). In the process of achieving merger benefits, jargon, cultural problems, and official systems are cited as types of primary obstacles. The capabilities to draw attention of skills from other enterprises have been provided to differences useful influence procedures, attainment of communal mergers in firms and the particular speed. Generally, between the links amongst the merging methods of firms informative differences are the source of distrust, to which the triumph can be impeded by the communication matters. There is no clear theoretical model on the other hand, which is related to the impediments which harm the efficiency; despite it being a hypothetical exemplar. In contrast to domestic mergers, for a successful cross-border merger, however, this proves that the closer the facets, the more the obstacles, and these are limited to specific countries since many of th ese obstacles are linked to the regulatory and informative systems prevalent there. According to the origin of enterprises in context to the obstacles,there exist behavioral national variations which need to be expected and depend on the country. By being a source of synergy, informative differences can enhance merger ability in addition to generating benefits as opined by Fama (2009). However, impediments can be built by this, for expanded manner of spreading that is more possible. Instead of any of the domestic mergers participating in cross-border mergers as to gain more useful outlooks for the firms a theoretical exemplar method has been developed by Bjorvatn (2001) for the profit of handling cross-border mergers. By allowing varied mediums of entry in addition to cross-border mergers and for assessing and impacting triumph of cross-border mergers in addition to assessing entry outlays these are the primary variables, he employed to follow Fama (2001). Greenfield investment has been shifted into avenues which are minimally attractive by entry outlays, by methods using cross-border mergers augmented to the degree of revenue. On the other hand, in that market for achieving success as expected facets domestic mergers are regarded to be linked to a rise in the entry expenses. In contrast to the domestic ones in envisaging cross-border mergers success focus on hesitancy which is the outcome in this scenario. While choosing the expected outputs in addition to the entry outlays, the cross-border mergers can also provide access benefits to the distinctive market. In this regard, for both domestic and cross-border mergers, there is present, a theoretical merger literature. In terms of price uncertainty and demand exemplar depending on the matter of the doubt as put forth by Das and Sengupta (2001) both in domestic and cross-border mergers is the correct method. 2.4. Experiential Study MAs are expansion strategies that corporates adopt to increase scale and market share rapidly. They are also used to diversify business interests or acquire technological capability, capital, expertise, or enter new markets. From the business perspective, growth is seen in terms of capital, profits, and shareholder value, operations become more efficient, and busin

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Essay -- sex experience, prostitution

A Godless World With Orgies Think about a world where you first experience sex when you’re a little kid. A world where books and flowers might not be respected but you're conditioned to be happy. Conditioned to have sex with anyone you want, whenever you feel like it. It's true that you don't have to worry about violence and when you start feeling stressed, all you have to take is soma (a drug that creates pleasure and happiness.) then feel better. In the story, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, that’s how their world worked and I do not believe that our world will ever come to a point like it. I agree that there is a sufficient amount of people that want to be happy but I feel like somethings aren’t realistic in the book that’s going to happen in our future. Also, I believe that many people want to have world peace but that requires no violence and something that I wish would happen but can’t see happen. Everyone isn’t the same and we all want different things leading to violence because everyone has their own way to deal with rage or even boredom. In the new world, since there’s no live birth and everyone belongs to each other, there is no God. There is Ford which is God in a sense but they don’t know who He is. I don’t think that God will be forgotten in the future. The idea of having specific places for people to go to have orgies isn’t something that I see happening. Our world takes prostitution seriously let alone orgies. For example, the incident that happened in Kennebunk, Maine. A woman named Alexis Wright run a prostitution business. When she was ratted-out and investigated, more than 100 names were wrote down on the list. She was sent to jail although now is released. The same thing would've most likely happened... ...we aren’t all the same person and aren’t conditioned like the charaters are the book, violence can and does happen in our world. Whether we like it or not, everyone is different in our world meaning that eveyone has theyre own way with doing the things that they do. Our world is just most not to become like the one in this book. Works Cited "Woman Who Ran Kennebunk 'Zumba Brothel' Released from Prison." The Guardian. theguardian.com, 23 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. "Violence." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Pearson, Michael. "Random Killings Spark Laments, but Reality Shows Long Slide in Crime Rate." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Castillo, Mariano, Alina Machado, Randi Kaye, Hilary Whiteman, and Josh Levs. "Oklahoma Killing May Be Gang-related." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Free Narrative Essays - Josies Triumph :: Example Personal Narratives

Josie's Triumph Even though I am the older brother and she's the younger sister, Josie was always a head taller, and a good 40 pounds heavier than me when we were growing up. I hated that. I was the big brother. I was supposed to be dominant and protective. But while she was the biggest kid in school, I was nearly the smallest. Josie's size and strength only made my lack of those two qualities more apparent. I was two years ahead of her in school, which meant that by the time she got to middle school I was already an 8th grader. Kids in middle school are not kind or accepting, and over the years they had continually made fun of my puny size and lack of athletic ability. But the teasing reached a whole new level when Josie entered middle school. Now they had a new angle for tormenting me. They would taunt, "Hey Shrimp! Your sister still beat you up?" Or, they would chant again and again on the bus, "Paul, Paul, he's so small, but his sister's ten feet tall!" I guess that rhyme was hurtful to both of us, but I only felt my own humiliation. It still baffles me that I took no notice of my sister's feelings. The times when the jokes centered around her, like when they called her "Josie the Giant," it was such a relief not to be their target that I did nothing to stop them. Nothing seemed to bother Josie anyway. I never heard her complain or so much as saw her wince. I just assumed that her interior was a steely as her exterior. That was until the day she snapped. There was a new girl, Ginny, in Josie's class who wore really thick glasses, and without them, was nearly blind. She, to my relief, had temporarily become the butt of jokes and pranks. The latest chant that the kids had come up with was, "Ginny, Ginny, short and fat, squinty-eyed and blind as a bat!" In all fairness, Ginny wasn't fat at all, but the kids chanted that because it rhymed with bat. It started as a normal lunch break, with Josie and Ginny standing together in line.

Stepmom: About Death and Dying

Movie Review: Stepmom By: For: November 16th, 2010 REL201 The film step mom beautifully portrays the effects death and dying can have on a family. Even one like the Harrison's, where the parents are split up, and and a new women has come into Luke's live. Their will always be different ways of coping with death and that is shown through all the characters, be it strong willed like Luke and Jackie, negatively and dramatically like the daughter Anna, or positively and unaware like the son Ben. All these different ways of coping make this film an ideal one to view the different ways one can cope.Throughout the film Stepmom death is shown as both a negative and positive affecting occurrence. When the main character Jackie Harrison is first told that her diagnosed cancer has became much worse, she is spiteful and hate-filled. She resents the fact that her recently divorced husband is now getting married to a younger woman, she is also angry that her marriage to Luke didn't work out, and i s also saddened at the fact that she will never live to see her children grow up. The positive aspects of death in this film is that Jackie soon realizes that she has to come to grips with her inevitable death.This allows her to live her remaining months in peace with her children and even become happy with Luke and Jena Malone getting married. In the circumstance on Jackie Harrison, death is not presented as a natural part of the life cycle. Cancer, is a modern problem with no modern cure as of yet. It endangers and ends many young lives throughout the world. Jackie was already diagnosed with cancer a year before, however, when she went for a re-evaluation it was found that the cancer had re-appeared and had intensified in her body. This shows that cancerous cells can begin to form at anytime in one's body and is not a atural part of the life cycle. In the case of Jackie there are two sides. At first when re-diagnosed she is very fearful. Not for herself, but rather for her childre n. Jackie is afraid that she will not be able to see her children again, and be able to watch them grow up and lead fulfilling lives. She is delivered more bad news at a dinner by her ex-husband. Luke tells Jackie that he is to marry Jena Malone. Jackie is angered again and can not bare to tell Luke that she is in fact dying of cancer and will not be around to raise their children. Another scene depicting anger is after Ben falls off the play structure and eeds stitches.At the hospital she tries to see her son, but Jena is already there comforting him. He asks Jena to sing her a song because â€Å"Mommy always does† (Stepmom). As Jackie looks on from outside the room Jena sings for Ben and she is angered by this and goes home and has a fit in her home. Jena uncovers Jackie's secret through a conversation they have at her home. She tells Jena that she is infect going to L. A. to see an oncologist for treatment. Jena is saddened to hear that the ex-wife is dying of cancer and a sks â€Å"are you dying? â€Å", to which Jackie replies â€Å"Not today†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Stepmom). This in turn affects Luke who is the next o find out and thus feels guilty. He feels as though it should have been him and not Jackie. They decide to tell the children about the cancer together and this scene provides the most dramatic effect of the movie. Ben takes the news very lightly and is intrigued as to what his mom is enduring, there is a doubt as to how much Ben knows about the situation. He thinks it's less serious then it actually is. The daughter Anna, is immediately angered by the news and storms off. As she heads upstairs Luke yells â€Å"You do not run out on your mother†, and she replies â€Å"No that's your job† (Stepmom).This scene is important because it shows how the family as an entirety deals with death. The message of the film Stepmom is too fully appreciate one's life to the fullest while you can, and to truly live like you we're dying. It also h as many family values attached to the death process. Jackie who has always enjoyed her children now see's the reasons to why she is truly enjoying them. After hearing that her cancer has got worse she decides to stay home and take time with to be with her family. Luke even becomes more involved with her as her condition worsens, something he never did when they we're together and she was healthy.A kind of ironic tragedy. It also portrays that Jackie will never be able to be replaced as the children's mother but Jena can do more by being there for them while they live on without Jackie. In one of the lasts scenes Jena and Jackie make amends and realize that the kids won't have to choose and that they could love them both. â€Å"I have their past, and you can have their future† (Stepmom) is what Jackie says in comfort to Jena. The white dove that Ben always asks about has dual meaning throughout the film. Ben believes every magician needs a white dove, but the dove in fact symb olizes freedom and life.The symbolism of the dove also has heavy meaning towards Jackie. It would represent her long after she is gone and would be the confidant of the young Ben. In the final scene at Christmas time, Jackie is at this point very ill. When Ben comes upstairs to Jackie's room to get his present from her she is alone in a chair. She smiles and gives Ben a magician's cape to continue living his childhood dream of becoming one someday. She then goes downstairs after Anna comes to get her, and helps Luke, Jena and Ben perform a magic trick to uncover the white dove in the cage underneath the magician's cape.It is symbolic because this white dove will represent Jackie and her continued support of her son long after she is gone. Stepmom was a great film to watch in terms of understanding how a family can cope with death and dying. It shows the contrasts of family values, ways of coping with death and also the support system a family can have throughout times of crisis. Eve n though Jackie and Luke were no longer together they found a way to make things work when the children and Jackie needed it the most. It is inspiring to see such love and compassion in a difficult situation, even when at the eginning of the film there was nothing but resentment towards each other, a common bond, brought them together and closer then ever, even if it was a negative one. Cancer continues to be a serious threat for today's modern society and we must continue the fight against to someday have a cancer free earth.Bibliography: I) Stepmom, DVD, Directed by Chris Columbus, (1998) Columbia Pictures, Hollywood. California II) http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC2569562/pdf/jnma00195-0137. pdf Heather M. Butts,JD,MPH III) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Stepmom_(film) IV) http://www. mediacircus. net/stepmom. html