Human resource management Essay Example for Free

Human resource management Essay I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry Boeing Value Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry BoeingValue Chain Analysis ? Human Resource Management I would like to use the Value Chain Analysis to study the importance of the Human Resources function in the study of a firms value chain. However, the latest trend has been the outsourcing of HR ? especially the transactional roles in HR as they are seen as non-value adding and a non-differentiato Premium362 Words2 Pages Value Chain Analysis Introduction Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Influential work by Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: (1) Primary Premium454 Words2 Pages Sector Matrix vs. Value Chain and Commodity Chain Using an extended example critically discuss the view that a ‘sector matrix’ gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ chains. Abstract This paper will investigate the relevance of three tools for analysing and prescribi Premium2701 Words11 Pages Value Chain Boeing Corporation Analysis Paper Table of Contents Paper Objective Commercial Aircraft Industry Summary Industry Profile Typical Industry Competitive Strategy Porter Competitive Model Analysis Globalization of the Industry Importance of Information Technology to the Industry Boeing

Colgate pursues low cost strategy

Colgate pursues low cost strategy CP has a large and efficient distribution network. Its distribution channels are located all over Pakistan (Moore, E.R) It caters to a broad customer base. It has developed itself in almost all the categories which are associated with customers on the daily basis. Colgate pursues low cost strategy. Its plant is automated. Only one plant is used for the manufacturing of three different detergents like bonus, express, brite The whole process is repeated for each of the detergent. By automating the plant, CP is able to save a lot of cost. CP value delivery network does not have any delays in it which helps CP to save cost. CP targets all segment, it has products for the lower class, middle class and the upper class. Its pricing is done accordingly. It has cost leadership in the detergent and the surface care category CP forecasting is very accurate which helps them to reduce cost because if estimated are accurate then it helps the company to avail cost advantages CP is allowed to deviate only 5% from its forecast both upwards and downwards CP has concentrated more on process efficiencies CP has access to large capital that is required to make significant investment. CP never compromises on the development expenditure. It is always ready to improve its production processes. Being a low cost producer it helps CP to better compete to its rivals. Being the low cost producer it has helped CP to insulate themselves from powerful suppliers who nowadays demand increasing prices due to rising inflation. Being he low cost producer, it has also helped to attract powerful buyers whom CP sells directly like MAKRO, DMART, IMITAZ, AGHAS, and NAHEED etc (Moore, E.R). Economic Factor The overall economy of the country is showing a stable growth. Therefore this industry is also showing a growth of 10%. But the inflation is growing rapidly which is not a good sign for the new entrants. Change in the interest rate also affects the industry. Hence the new entrants are also threatened by the increasing interest rates. Economic factors do influence the bargaining power of buyers as inflation is the major factor that is affecting the consumers hard. Economic factors do not affect the availability of substitutes. But since inflation is growing, so it is hard for the poor people to switch to more modern products like washing powder, tooth paste. They would rather prefer oil to clean their clothes and use miswak to brush their teeth. Economic factors do have an affect on the bargaining power of suppliers as inflation is rising fast. Suppliers demand that they would provide the necessary raw material at a higher price. Exchange rate fluctuations also affect the cost of raw material. Economic factors do affect the rivalry among the competitors as all the players in the industry want to have cost leadership. The economic factors are favoring intense competition from the last five years. People have more money at their disposal. Also Pakistan is a consumption oriented society (Hiatt, Jeff.). Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) STRATEGY 1 STRATEGY 2 Weights AS TAS AS TAS STRENGTHS Market leader in surface care with 90% market share 0.15 Good Leadership 0.06 Employee commitment 0.12 3 0.36 2 0.24 Cooling crystal patent 0.1 Accurate forecast with respect to demand 0.07 4 0.28 2 0.14 High EPS 0.08 3 0.24 2 0.16 Strong advertisement and promotional campaign 0.08 2 0.16 3 0.24 WEAKNESSES IT not used optimally 0.13 4 0.52 2 0.26 No ecommerce 0.1 3 0.3 2 0.26 No proper use of forward integration 0.05 2 0.1 3 0.15 They are not exporting their products to other countries 0.06 1 OPPORTUNITIES Exploring into new categories like shampoo, hand wash , body wash, shower gel 0.14 2 0.28 4 0.56 Rural population switching from miswak to toothpaste 0.06 Gap in tooth brush market 0.08 2 0.16 3 0.24 Implementation of ERP(SAP) 0.14 4 0.56 2 0.28 People becoming hygiene and beauty conscious 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.3 No layoffs 0.07 THREATS(T) Raw material and energy prices are increasing 0.12 3 0.36 2 0.24 Inflation in the country 0.07 3 0.21 2 0.14 Competitors re launching their products 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.3 Competitors increasing their marketing budgets 0.06 2 0.12 3 0.18 Unstable law and order conditions. 0.06 1 TOTAL 4.05 3.69 Rivalry among existing competitors Yes (+) No (-) The industry is growing rapidly. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The industry is not cyclical with intermittent overcapacity. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The fixed costs of the business are relatively low portion of total costs. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ There are significant product differences and brand identities between the competitors. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The competitors are diversified rather than specialized. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ It would not be hard to get out of this business because there are no specialized skills and facilities or long-term contract commitments etc. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My customers would incur significant costs in switching to a competitor. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My product is complex and requires a detailed understanding on the part of my customer. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My competitors are all of approximately the same size as I am. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ 7 LOW MEDIUM HIGH INTERPRETATION: Threat of competitors is high because the product is not unique as there are no product differences. Same products are available with all competitors like Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Shield, Oral B. Therefore rivalry is also increasing as demand in the economy has also increased for the last 5 to years. Majority of the competitors are MNCs which means that they have the necessary resource and skill (Hiatt, Jeff). Government Factors: Government regulations do have an affect on the rivalry among the competitors. Political factors: Political factors do not affect the rivalry among the competitors Economic factors Economic factors do affect the rivalry among the competitors as all the players in the industry want to have cost leadership. The economic factors are favoring intense competition from the last five years. People have more money at their disposal. Also Pakistan is a consumption oriented society (Hiatt, Jeff). Social trends Social trends have changed, buyer are more aware of their purchases. So the players in the industry are always trying hard to increase their market share (Hiatt, Jeff). Technological change Technology is helping the companies to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Also research and development plays an important role in this (Hiatt, Jeff). KEY SUCCESS ACTORS FOR COMPETIVE SUCCESS Low cost production efficiency. CP has plants installed that take only 30 minutes for the plant to shift from the production of one product to the other. High quality manufacturing of products with very few defects. A strong network of wholesale distributors. Gaining ample space on retailer shelves. (Examples Naheed, Aghas, Makro and other small shops.) Attractive packaging and styling. Good length of product lines. Attractive commercials and advertising. Good reputation in the industry along with favorable reputation with buyers. Market penetration Colgate can do market penetration by increasing its advertising, people always associate Colgate with tooth paste and have no awareness that it produces personal and surface care products as well. They should show their logo on all its products so that people know the producers and this will increase customer loyalty and also when people will come to know that Colgate is the producer then new customers will also buy the product (Hiatt, Jeff). They should also increase their promotion efforts by going to school and doing health awareness programs, also they should go to residential areas and make women aware of their surface care and fabric care products such as max, bonus and express etc Product development: Colgate can also do product development by introducing new features in their already existing brands. They can improve their tooth brush quality and features by introducing flexi tooth brushes for special oral care. Also they can introduce whitening features in their feature in their tooth paste; different colors of tooth paste can also be introduced to attract the kinds market. In their fabric care they can introduce in special features of protecting the color of the cloth while washing and also whitening enhancing surfs to give a good shine to while clothes (Hiatt, Jeff). develop systems to involve appropriate stakeholders in the introduction of change SIX THINGS REQUIRED TO EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTING A STRATEGY According to Porter, to implement a strategy effectively six things should be followed: Create a formal plan: Distributor Quantity Item Price Negotiation, Inventory Reporting, Stock Details, Payment Terms HR Module Inventory / Store Sales Module Sales Module Stock Details Quantity item Price negotiation, inventory reporting, ex stock details, payment terms Finance Module Credit terms, payment procedures, Stock in out effect Inflow outflow of raw materials Procurement Module Create a multifunctional team: To effectively implement ERP, Colgate must first hire an independent resource firm. Acquire licensing for SAP Implementation. Establish an independent IT unit for the monitoring of ERP. This department will coordinate with all the other departments (Robbins S, Mukerji). Communication of strategy: inside and outside: All employees in the company should be made aware of the new automated system. Each employee must be provided a minimal insight of SAP but those employees who have to work on SAP the most should ofcourse be provided with proper training course of SAP. These include: Factory Manager Manager accounts Warehouse Manager Distribution team Consumer insight department Outside the company the strategy to implement ERP should be communicated properly to all the local and foreign suppliers of Colgate Palmolive (Hagberg). Consistency over time: As Information Technology is progressing day by day, new changes in ERP are expected after certain time periods. Therefore it would become very important for Colgate to cope up with the changes in the software. For this purpose it would need to update it employees by providing training whenever any change takes place in SAP (Hagberg). Use proper measurements: Other measures, not just financial measures would be required to test whether the system is working properly. These measures include: Whether the system is accurately forecasting demand, sales, price changes Whether or not there are any deviations in the actual versus projected sales Effectiveness of the internal processes after the strategy implementation (Robbins S, Mukerji). Test the strategy: Ask employees and senior management in all departments whether they are satisfied with the new system of working. Talk to suppliers and distributors whether they want any more improvements in the new system of working (Hagberg). EIGHT PILLARS OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION Allocating resources: Colgate has to invest around 50mn for which they have to make a separate IT department in which 1 trained personnel have to be hired so that it can be implemented in an efficient way. building capable organizaion: After the implementation of SAP, a capable organization would be established. It would help the company to coordinate all activities. CP can then expand into new markets and would develop innovative products. Exercising strategic leadership: SAP implementation will require an annual strategic audit to check whether the desired objectives have been achieved or not. This means a visionary leadership is required. Leadership should be exercised strategically in such a way that it helps the company to maintain its competitive advantage. Tying rewards: Rewards in maintaining the best MIS, highest no of transactions, successful employee in training face should be given in terms of recognition, increased in salary and gift vouchers. Installing support system: It is important to maintain MIS with in different department so they can work in a best possible way Benchmarking: In Pakistan very few organizations has implemented SAP. PSO and National Foods are some of them. Since PSO has very successfully implemented SAP so Colgate benchmarks them. Strategic supportive policies: They have to make strategies in which maintaining an MIS should be mandatory. There should be digital culture. They should have a centralize data base through which all department are interlinked and any transaction can be tracked down by any department. Every department should have access to only relevant information. Shaping corporate culture: Colgate should implement paperless. Digital culture where the records must be maintained through MIS and not manually .even communication should be done electronically. KEY DRIVING FORCES Industry growth: Now most of the people have knowledge about the different products and its advantages. The intense competition in industry and high demand enables the new entrants to compete in this market (Hagberg). Product innovation: Innovation in product, as Colgate has just introduced Max fresh in which the coolant crystals are present which none of the competitors has adopted yet. There is also room in innovation in washing detergents (Hagberg). Changing societal concerns, attitudes and lifestyle: Since social issues are really effecting the use of product just like the use of Miswak which is the Islamic mode of cleaning the teeth (Hagberg). Use of E-commerce and Internet: Usage of online ordering and maintaining the stock level through e-commerce can be driving force in the industry. By using that they can provide products to customer which is value addition for them (Hagberg). This report is purely based on the finding from the Colgate expert and the secondary data analysis, and the reason for writing the whole report is to find the obstacle / hindrance a business men face and how the organization can minimize it through implementing the different strategies and analysis. The whole report research draws attention to  the fact that any problem can be eliminate if proper investigation and consideration can be observed the success is easy to get, Pakistan market is mature market and the competition is tough here because most of the customer is price conscious and act like butterflies, so targeting this kind of customer is quite difficult, but on the other hand it can be managed if the you can understand the market effectively and efficiently (Robbins S, Mukerji). Hiatt, Jeff. The definition and history of change management. http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-definition-history.htm. Filicetti, John (August 20, 2007). Project Management Dictionary Moore, E.R., (accessed 1 April, 2001), Creating Organizational Cultures: An Ethnographic Study, Eastern Academy of Management Virtual Proceedings, Moore, E.R., (accessed 1 April, 2001), Creating Organizational Cultures: An Ethnographic Study, Eastern Academy of Management Virtual Proceedings, , R. Ph.D. Heifetz, D.Ph., 2000 (accessed 4 April, 2001), Corporate Hagberg Culture/Organisational Culture: UnderJerryding and Assessment, Robbins S, Mukerji D (1994). Managing organisations. Prentice Hall of Australia, McPhersons Printing Group, Australia. Sergiovanni, T.J. (1984) Educational Leadership, Leadership and excellence in schooling, Volume 41, Number 5, United States of America, page 4-13 Kent State University 2000 (accessed 28th March, 2001), Kent State University Cultural Self-Study Internal Communication of Change By Dagmar Recklies Circling the Pyramid Building Lasting Commitment to Change  Ã‚   (pdf-file) by Edmond Mellina What Makes a Good Change Agent? by Dagmar Recklies The Role of the Change Master From Change Agent to Change Master By Ruth Tearle Managing Change Definition and Phases in Change Processes by Oliver Recklies Problems in Managing Change by Oliver Recklies AuditNet.org provides a downloadable PDF of change management best practices. Fred Nickols wrote Change Management 101: A Primer. SearchCRM.com provides resources on handling change management following a CRM upgrade. Neglecting your change control process can kill an IT disaster recovery plan.

Electronic Voting Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Electronic Voting Gunmen on the grassy knoll, AIDS, landing on the moon, chemtrails, UFO’s, CIA mind control and Waco are some of the well-known conspiracies. But what about George W. Bush’s re-election? This cynicism goes beyond political rhetoric and focuses on our ability to participate in a representative democracy. Developed by the ancient Greeks, one of the first voting systems involved dropping bronze disks into barrels. As technology progressed, the advancements in voting systems surrendered an unacceptable system that lacks accuracy despite public outcry for a paper-verified trail. A voting system has four characteristics: accuracy, anonymity, scalability, and speed. Current electronic voting machines claim to posses these qualities, but to whose standards? Perfection is not reality and human errors are inevitable. Therefore, elimination of controllable errors becomes top priority. Each state must burden this task without national standards resulting in computer technology as a quick fix to a problem. Maryland primarily uses Diebold Direct Electronic Votin...

Oedipus and his flaws :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Oedipus and his flaws   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oedipus's Inextinguishable Flaws Flaws plague every man and woman on this planet. Flaws are what we have in common with each other, and all characteristics that make us human. Sophocles's Oedipus, shows that sometimes the combination of certain flaws and other human characteristics can have a tragic outcome. The caring King Oedipus was paranoid and short tempered, and these characteristics brought him to his downfall. From the beginning of the story Oedipus is depicted as a noble caring man. He is greatly distressed about the plague in Thebes. "My soul mourns the city..." (Sophocles 305) he tells the priest and the suffering people of Thebes. If Oedipus did not care for his kingdom, he never would have bothered to seek out Laius's murderer. Oedipus also mourned the death of his wife. As well, Oedipus proves himself a loving father towards his daughters, by asking Creon to take care of them. One of the main reasons for Oedipus's exile is his short temper. Oedipus loses his temper with Tireseas, because he will not tell Oedipus the truth.    After Tireseas speaks the truth, Oedipus grows even more short tempered, and taunts Tireseas for being blind. Oedipus then accuses Creon of sending Tireseas to make Oedipus think he is the murderer. After Oedipus accuses Creon he tells him, "I do not desire your banishment-- but your death."   (Sophocles 313) The death of Laius would never have occurred if it was not for Oedipus's short temper. Oedipus forced King Laius off the road because his procession wouldn't make way for Oedipus and his group. If Oedipus had thought things through he would have never have acted so irrationally and killed King Laius. Oedipus's short temper is triggered by his paranoia.    While he meets with Tireseas, Oedipus believes that Creon, his own brother-in-law and friend, is against him. "Was it Creon that planned this or yourself,"   (Sophocles 309) Oedipus says to Tireseas. Oedipus also thinks that his own   countrymen could be against him. Once Creon comes home and tells Oedipus that he must find Laius's murderer he proclaims, "...whoever slew Laius might turn a hand against me." (Sophocles 306) Oedipus has a certain paranoia around himself as the truth is being unraveled. His wife, Jocasta tells him to

Overcoming Problems in The Alchemist Essay -- Paulo Coelho

Have you ever encountered problems while trying to fulfill a goal in your life? In the book The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, a shepherd boy named Santiago overcomes obstacles to reach his personal legend. Throughout the book Santiago encounters many friends to help him fulfill his destiny. Santiago encounters many problems throughout the story. He overcomes them with the help of his friends and his wife-to-be. These problems shape Santiago into a dignified man of many traits. The first two obstacles that Santiago faces are that his father tells him he can not do something that he wants to do and that he wants to pursue his personal legend, but he does not want to hurt those that he loves. For example, Santiago’s father said, â€Å"The people who come here have a lot of money to spend, so they can afford to travel. Amongst us the only ones who can travel are shepherds.† Everyone is told by their parents and friends that everything we want to do is impossible. Since Santiago did not have money to spend to travel his only choice was then to become a shepherd to fulfill his desire. T...

Egocentrism: The Epicenter of Fuzzy Ethics Essay

Egocentrism is a trait that not the highest of the morally esteemed in society will evade. Ideally this is what Aratani is ascertaining. Formatively, take the much ascribed moral class, the clergy. This purported moral class is always and will always front for their faith to have the highest attendance. They will promise miracles, traversing bounds of wealth through to healing; yet they ultimately do not deliver to the very word. One will refrain from terming this as cheating, given the moral and the spiritual authority from which the confession comes from (Deremer, P A.; Gruen, G E). Thinking outside this bracket, expecting more morality from the sheep when the shepherd has not towed the line seems relatively protracted; the epicenter of this discourse. Aratani simply appears to be arguing for what Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is meant to ascertain. In deed, from one level of satisfaction humanity will always yearn to move to the next. As Aratani asserts, when the player wins any base ball match, the worst the player will yearn for is to remain in that position; win and win and win! Or at best, improve on the record (Hanson, K O). Worse still, kill to remain at the very helm. This is shear presentation of utter egocentrism. The attitude of winning presents a competitive scenario for the world, which ultimately translates into innovation. However, cheating to meet this end is simply extraverted negative egocentrism. The reason for this trend appears relatively similar under varying circumstances. Whatever the orientation, the ethical miscreant simply endears to remain the very best, not to be outwitted by any other person (Deremer, P A. et al). One will argue that this is ideally competition. But then it is not moral to use the two words interchangeably or as synonyms. Presumably, the ideals of competition are more positive while those of egocentrism are negative and subverting. In effect blaming the entire yearning for more by any perpetrator of such traits would equally be senseless. Take the case of Drogba, after winning the trophy for the category of the best boot; all commercials use him for advertising their brands. Every brand pays him a fortune, his wealth increases at the rate of ticking seconds. Definitely signs that this trend of cash and fame inflows will be guarded at all possible costs (Aratani, L. ). In earnest it is not the will of the perpetrator; the world creates all the precedence for such occurrences. According to Maslow, the apex of humanity is self actualization. However, there seems to be no such ideal case as self actualization. If such cases existed, probably the cases of cheating and conspiracy to achieve this anterior end would just be reduced. I feel it is the search for supremacy, due the lack of the actualization stage, stable state, which precipitates the incessant lies and anterior activities. Ideally capitalism has a hand, s invisible yet so invincible in orientation in all these undertakings. Earnestly, if the wealth created in this due process would be shared within the community, then not the least individual will yearn to amaze as much wealth (Hanson, K O). Vividly, humanity would only look for as much as can sustain them without going beyond ethical boundaries to access more. It is utterly impossible or near to impossible perceiving any change in attitude that would see the overall yearning for more and more changed. If indeed religion was any practicable ideal, it would offer a worth course, but then it is equally bedeviled by the relentless yearning for more; believers, offerings, miracles and even wealth, earthly and heavenly alike. On the backdrop of this assertion, the best way towards ethical morality is socialism. Within the principles of socialism, and yet still given the egocentric nature of humanity, but as a curtailment, no individual will want to simply amaze much only to be used by the masses. People will only yearn for moderation in fame and wealth (Aratani, L. ). The need for actualization will be universalized and the need for craving for more will be curtailed. Ultimately, the course for reduced egocentrism is as course; whichever the approach, the solution towards this end is utterly individual reevaluation and rethinks. References Aratani, L. Ethics Boundaries Still Appear Fuzzy; Teen Cheating Poll Results Reflect Pressure, Some Believe, Washington Post 19 November 2006: C03 Deremer, P A. ; Gruen, G E. Children’s moral judgments: the relationship between intentionality, social egocentrism and development Journal of Genetic Psychology, Jun79, Vol. 134 Iss. 2, p207 Hanson, K O. , Culture Suggests Cheaters Do Prosper, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. 6 March 2005. 17 Apr. 2009.

Compare and Contrast on High School and College Essay

The transition from high school to college is an arduous one. Students have to get used to being on their own and have more responsibilities than ever before. The workload is only the first of many differences between being a senior in high school and a freshman in college. Along with an increase in workload, students are also forced to learn proper time management skills such as how to juggle a job, school, all while maintaining a social life. The transition from a high school student to a college student begins the second they open the door into what looks like another world. There is no aspect of familiarity, no point of reference for students. There are no individual desks or familiar faces to give them the feeling of security that one feels going back to high school each year. The first day of high school always included some kind of icebreaker where students were forced to state their name and an â€Å"interesting fact† about themselves in hopes of helping other students to remember their name. In college, no one cares what one’s name is or that they have 3 hamsters at home. Professors are more concerned with getting down to business and teaching the scheduled material on the very first day of class. Students are forced into a whirlwind of unfamiliarity and they either sink or swim. The decision is theirs. Generally speaking, a high school student can expect to be free of homework for the first two weeks of high school. However, students do not get so lucky in college. One can expect a paper and group project, as well as a syllabus quiz to be given within the first class period. In addition to assigned papers and syllabus quizzes, it is up to students to complete textbook readings, of 20+ pages before coming to class and to be prepared to be given a pop quiz if necessary. It is common for first year college students to feel lost and overwhelmed, inundated in papers and assignments, often questioning how they will make it through the semester. Above all, students are forced to learn how to better manage their time. There is no more daydreaming or dependin g on classmates to help with in-class and take-home assignments. What used to be so easy in high school is not so easy in college. There are no more seven-hour school days planned out by guidance counselors with help from a computer program. Schedules are no longer handed out in homeroom on the first day of classes, instead it is the student’s job to pick the classes they want to take and come up with a perfectly crafted schedule that fits into their already busy schedule. It’s up to the scholar  to decide when to eat lunch, when to study, and when they can fit a job into their schedule. In college, students are given more freedom when it comes to their schedule, but it is easy to find comfort in that cookie cutter schedule that is given in high school. The real world can be a scary place for a first year college student. In sum, the transition from high school to college is a challenging one. It is not easy to be pushed out into the real world, completely submersed in _____. Although it may be tough at times, this transition is a crucial one in the process of growing up. The lessons learned within the first year of college are ones that can be taken and applied later on in life.