Betrayal :: Personal Narrative Writing

Betrayal 1.Desire It is easy to fall in love with bodies. I Breathe skin, lose time to anticipation and pleasure, hair, lips, thighs; tangled in another person, I am lost in a jungle. Transcendence. Society teaches us to break a body down: we love legs, butts, breasts; we take images and splice them into the form of our perfect desire. Like Pygmalion we are desperate to breathe life into our conception of beauty, our imagination of a perfect creature. Reality is easily redrawn around a body whose presence in a place reorganizes the map of the world. Nothing exists but the texture of skin, its taste thick in the mind's imagination. Against our animal world, ideas and numbers seem strange, misplaced, insignificant to desire and love, to connecting with another's warmth. Trying to fulfill a fantasy, it is the dreamer who is recreated. It is time that is filled in. 2. Characters To a moment we are only characters. In this moment: David, the long-term boyfriend (now). Moa, at first betrayer, then clown, then you (then). There is the self who perceives, creates, and ultimately longs for the deep and endless fall of vertigo (lost between the now and then). And there is Love, so mysterious and evasive that I sometimes believe it is a character, alive, weaving tendrils around us (love plays with time). But the descriptions might switch names. I could be the clown, and it could be you who plunges yourself into vertigo. And maybe only one character could play all the parts. There are several combinations to fit several moods (this is my version that fits my now). 3. Eternity The moment has a way of leaking into other moments. Other moments with other lovers leak into the memory. The lovers, like muddying watercolors, swirl into each other. I wonder if I only have relationships with myself. I ask myself the same question over and over till it feels like I am banging my head against a wall, "What do I want?" I look into my heart but it is hard to see through the haze of time and desire. Sartre writes that we are indoctrinated with the values of our societies. We can never be or know ourselves till we escape these. Sartre draws one single path to freedom, this is radical choice, choosing something totally unconnected to anything, in practice this could only be a random choice.

The Attitude of Confucius towards Women

No one would not recognize that Confucius until now has a great impact not only to China and to its neighbors such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam but as well as to other countries that his teachings had traveled through. His thoughts had deeply penetrated into their culture believing that they were the right virtues to do for their daily living. But one of his teachings is now questioned and this is his attitude against women. Looking ahead†¦ The Attitude of Confucius towards Women IntroductionNo one would not recognize that Confucius until now has a great impact not only to China and to its neighbors such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam but as well as to other countries that his teachings had traveled through. His thoughts had deeply penetrated into their culture believing that they were the right virtues to do for their daily living. But one of his teachings is now questioned and this is his attitude against women. As change of time goes by, even his descendants had now realized wh at women should be in this changing society. Biography of Confucius and the role of women in his lifeConfucius was believed to have been born 551 BC, at the city of Qufu, of the state of Lu (now modern day province of Shandong). His ancestry is said to have originated from the Royal State of Song, but had fled because of turmoil. It is also believed that Confucius was an illegitimate child because his father had not been given a healthy son by his first wife. According to Peterson (2008), Confucius belongs to the gentry or those who owned a large farm. But contrary to this, it is also believed that three years after Confucius was born, his father died and he together with his mother lived in poverty (Chien, 1978).Confucius then strived hard to rise starting from being a livestock caretaker, clerk and bookkeeper. At an early age of 19, he married Qi Quan then they had a child when he was 20. At the age of 23, his mother died and he had offered a three years mourning for her. Accordin g to the Temples of Confucius, he had became a Justice Minister of Lu at 53 but the sources of Peterson contradicts to this event saying that though Confucius wanted to had a position, he never had at least one and he had only spent his life teaching others who had the same wish to gain position.These discrepancies about the biography of Confucius is said to have its root to the many legendary accounts being attributed unto him by his historian followers later in his life. His ideas about wives in relation to husbands As a teacher of men who wants to rule, one discipline he had taught unto them is their relation to their wives. To start, he had a perception that women are the lone producers of disorders and this should not be blamed as something sent by the heaven. He regards them as cannot be taught nor instructed thus making them inferior to man.He also then gave an advice that â€Å"husbands should maintain a certain distance to his wife. † A philosopher from the Han dynas ty wherein Confucian teachings had been first widely adopted, Ban Gu had explained that women should not make the initiative before man, because â€Å"yin is lowly, and it proceeds to the yang in order to be completed. † Known women by that time had also supported this idea of Confucius, Zhao had admitted that women are weak and lowly, and their primary duty is to serve their husband.She also says that men could remarry twice, but women could not. But she ended her passage by paying respect to their gender, saying that as â€Å"man is honored for strength; a woman is beautiful for her gentleness. † Another saying pertains to the acts that should be done by court ladies, stating that â€Å"A husband is heaven, and Heaven cannot be shirked. † According to another record from the Han dynasty entitled Ritual and Book of Rites, daughter-in-laws should act as a lower class to his husband’s parents.Whatever she wants to do, she should first ask permission from t hem. According then to Nu Lun Lu, this one coming from the Tang Dynasty, says that a husband-wife relationship should be of man’s strength and woman’s weakness, that a wife should just be quiet and blame herself every time his husband is angry, that a wife should not leave his husband especially when he is sick. His ideas about the role of mothers in relations to sonsSpeaking of Confucius attitude about mothers, I might suggest that his teachings would had been influenced by his personal experiences with his father assuming that it is true that Confucius is an illegitimate child because his father divorced his first wife because she could not give him at least one healthy son. According to the famous disciple of Confucius named Mencius, â€Å"there are only three uncivil acts, the greatest of them is not producing a son. † But even though a mother could not give a son, he had not excluded her with the respect her child should give back to her.He had also regarde d that mothers are the first source of education of their children. His thinking about contacts with other states, including both trade and war as being affected by his attitude to women As he emphasized that women should be at the lowest level in the human society, his thinking about contacts with other states is that it should only be run by males and not by the inferior females. He strongly suggests that women should only be kept inside the bedroom to serve his husbands after a hard day’s work.Every work outside the house such as trading then is only of male-concerns, so thus also being a soldier at times of war. Justification As time had changed, people are now realizing that Confucius idea about the inferiority of women in the society had also changed. Basing on my opinion, Confucius had stated those teachings just to stress out the need of his province for men who would rule and protect it at times of war. He then perceived that women are belongings of men and a wifeâ⠂¬â„¢s main duty is to give him a healthy son that would make sure the continuance of his bloodline.

Disadvantges of Joint Family

extended family also has some disadvantages just like any other thing. For instance, one’s privacy may be denied in some cases because of the large number of people. There are some things you will want to do alone or sometimes one may want to think or spend time alone in privacy all of which is very hard to do in the extended family especially a very large one. There is also a kind of monarchy in extended family. A decision made by the over head which is usually the grandfather cannot be challenged any other person. This is a disadvantage because one may not be allowed to exercise his rights of freewill to something.Some Children get spoilt in extended family by the grandparents. Because the grandparents so love them, they are given freewill to almost anything for some even the bad deeds are ignored. The grandparents may also prevent the parents from taking action on their children and this brings about disrespect from the child’s end. Trouble, quarrel and conflicts are almost inevitable in extended family. Most times, there are fights especially when there is no mutual understanding among members. You hear about cousins fighting cousins, an uncle hates his nephew and so on and so forth.On the other hand, quarrels are almost null in the nuclear family. Who do you want to fight? Your siblings or parents. But in the extended family, due to the large size and little far relationship between people, these conflicts tend to prevail. Looking at both sides, it can be deduced that even though extended family has some disadvantages, still yet, the advantages outweighs the disadvantages. Its practice in Africa should therefore be preserved. People should realize the value of having family there to help support them when in need and to give them wisdom in ways that were never thought to be possible.

Soft Thinking and Intellectual Capital

{draw:frame} University of Glamorgan MSc International Logistics and Transport Programme/Strategic Procurement Management STRATEGY AS PRACTICE Soft Systems Thinking and Intellectual Capital Assignment 1 *Student No: *08193738 Assignment Date: 5 April 2009 *Submission Date:* 15 May 2009 Module Lecturer: Paul Davis Word Count:* * *2,* 600 Critically evaluate the role that Soft Systems thinking can play in promoting organisations Intellectual Capital. To evaluate the benefits of Soft Systems Thinking (SST) in promoting an organisational intellectual capital it is necessary to understand the concept of Soft Systems Methodology and how this methodology can be used to foster teamwork, communities of practice and social learning, and whether these learning outcomes adds knowledge to employees, and leads to improved professional practice and efficacy. So what price do you put on learning – and as an intangible asset does it need to be measured to promote Intellectual Capital (IC) to support the â€Å"effective delivery of strategic goals by focusing management activities and processes†. Andriessen (2004). Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) advocated by Checkland and Scholes (1990) is a methodology based on applying systems thinking to non system situations. It is a holistic way of dealing not with the problem but the â€Å"situation† in where there are â€Å"social, political and human activities† Checkland and Scholes (1990). As opposed to â€Å"hard system methodologies, which can be quantified, measured and are technology orientated. Soft Systems takes a group of â€Å"actors† through a process of a shared â€Å"problem† appreciation. Learning about the problem, then formulating a root definition of interrelated systems, these examine the relationships of the relevant subsystem: which are the stakeholders, such as customers, employees, the worldview (weltanschauungen) and the management who are â€Å"all active in the system and take collective action to improve the situation† Checkland (1981) Senge (1990) also describes systems thinking as having five learning disciplines, personal mastery, me_ntal models, shared vision, team learning, and the overarching discipline of systems thinking. Therefore, soft systems thinking is a tool that helps in the solving of problems involving human activities where the outcome is learning. Soft systems thinking can enable subjective perceptions of problems and potential solutions. Checkland and Scholes (1990). There are a number of different issues and approaches that can be used to develop a framework for the application of systems thinking for promoting the intellectual capital of any organisation. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) advocated by Checkland and Scholes (1990) helps to achieve a clearer understanding of organisational issues and problem â€Å"situations†, as it approaches issues holistically. â€Å"System thinking is a discipline for seeking wholes, recognizing patterns and interrelationships, and learning how to structure those relationships in a more effective and efficient way † Senge and Lannon-Kim (1991. Therefore, managers having a range of skills and knowledge can add value to any improvement initiative. Rose and Haynes (2001) developed and used the methodology in a number of settings in the NHS and Iles and Sunderland (2001) cited the potential of SSM as an aid to implementing organisational change initiatives at King’s College Hospital London. (Iles and Sunderland, 2001:35) Soft systems thinking can help organisations to develop new perspectives, as it accounts for factors that otherwise would be ignored. A human activity system, can compliment strategic frameworks, such as the â€Å"Balance Scorecard† to co-ordinate business activities and improve internal and external communications. Kaplan and Norton (1992) However, humans view problems differently because they come from different backgrounds, and have different cultural roots, experience, and education, and as a subsystem, different personalities and philosophies to life. Therefore; if a group of managers at different management levels and different departments are all involved in a complex â€Å"problem situation†, SST maybe an excellent tool to create a conceptual understanding of a problem, but it does not represent the real world, but by using system rules and principles it allows thinking to be structured, to develop some models, and the situation can be expressed as a rich picture Checkland, (1981); Checkland and Scholes (1990) Although, Checkland (1999) contrasts with the emphasis on reductionists thinking on obvious problems with definite solutions. People interpret problem situations from particular standpoints and in terms of distinctive interests. Fortune and Peters (1995) speaks about ‘complex discursive’ networks challenging the understanding of systems, problems and solutions to problems. This system of relationships between people, activities, and the world is defined by Lave and Wenger (1991), as a Community of Practice, (CoP) ‘which develops over time’ and ‘in relation to’ other central and overlapping communities of practice’ and is a fundamental condition for the existence of knowledge. The approach focuses on the â€Å"social interactive dimensions of situated learning†. As people in the group interact with each other, establishing a relationship through mutual engagement and a sense of joint enterprise. Wenger (2000) describes three modes of belonging to a social learning system, as â€Å"engagement, imagination and alignment†. These cannot be formed, but have to evolve overtime, as new members join and others leave. So how can organisations like the NHS establish communities of practice? Brown and Duguid (2001a) suggests managers can seek to structure spontaneity, structuring fragmented practice across the organisation, they can encourage alignments of changing practices between communities thereby assisting the transfer of knowledge across the organisation. (Brown and Duguid 2001a). An equally important view has emerged under the banner of ‘the knowledge-based view of the firm' (Grant 1996), emphasises the necessity of organisations to develop and increase the knowledge and learning capabilities of employees through knowledge gaining, knowledge sharing, and knowledge transfer, to achieve competitive advantage. To take it further Lave and Wenger (1991) saw the gaining of knowledge as a social process, in which people participated in communal learning, but at different levels depending on their authority in the group. It is the shared commitment that binds the members of the CoP in a single social entity, and although members of the CoP build up tangible communal resources, such as written files, procedures, processes and policies, (hard knowledge) intangible resources are also being built up such as experiences rituals and idioms (soft knowledge). Hildreth and Kimble (2002) argued that the underlying problems of managing this knowledge was that Knowledge Management (KM) failed to recognise that knowledge itself consists of both hard and soft knowledge, much like the Chinese concepts of Yin and Yan and are mutually interdependent. â€Å"Knowledge by itself produces nothing; only when it is integrated into a task does knowledge benefit society. (Drucker 1992) Hislop (2004) examined three cases studies of CoP’s in large European organisations and concluded that only one was successful in sharing knowledge between communities. The other two failed to do so because they did not share the same identity. So it could be concluded that although CoP’s are self controlled and self directed, and maybe of value to the business organisation, the actual benefit and contribution to the organisation could also be uncertain. Maybe, because group solidarity in human communities, is often at the price of hostility/non-cooperation towards non-group members. â€Å"There appears to be a natural human inclination for dividing the world into friends and enemies that is the basis of all politics. † (Fukuyama, 1995) So knowledge maybe personified tacitly in the experiences of a community of practitioners in an organisation or explicitly in the written files, but Knowledge Management (KM) is a critical task for any organisation. Reducing tacit knowledge into numbers the organisation stands to lose money, although knowledge can be safely stored on computer systems – the actual value could be lost if an employee leaves with the tacit knowledge on how to use the explicit knowledge. Employee retention/turnover is important as downsizing and retirement can cause a loss of shared knowledge and knowledge could be transferred to competitors and be damaging to an organisations competitive advantage. (Stovel and Bontis (2002). Stovel and Bontis (2002) also advocate that â€Å"productivity will drop for a time due to the learning curve involved as new employees’ gain the knowledge of the tasks involved and understands and learns from the organisational culture. Information and data can be stored but it is not until it has been processed in the minds of an individual and is communicated to others does it become knowledge (Alavi and Leidener 2001) so to make tacit knowledge explicit, there has to be knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer within and between organisations is not a one-way activity, but a process of trial and error, feedback, and mutual adjustment of both the source and the recipient (Von Krogh, 2003: 373). There have been a number of studies which have shown that some of the benefits of knowledge sharing/transfer can help solve problems and increase performance, adaptation, collaboration and innovation. (Constant, Sproull and Kiesler, 1996; Brown and Duguid, 2000). However, there is a great deal of literature on knowledge management and innumerable definitions of knowledge and what knowledge is, Blackler (1995) describes knowledge as â€Å"multifaceted and complex, being both situated and abstract, implicit and explicit, distributed and individual, physical and mental, developing and static, verbal and encoded. † While Fowler and Pryke’s (2003) views the more human element of knowledge â€Å"as much the perception arising from information and refracted through the individual’s personal lens†. Whereas, Knowledge Management Systems refers to information systems, particularly with the use of technology, which is adopted and designed to support employees, there is an emerging awareness that there is a social element to the area of knowledge management, which focuses on a more human centred approach, as a means of managing knowledge in organisations (Hildreth et el 1999) It is now recognised that the performance of any organisation, private and public is very much dependent upon the knowledge of the employees. But, it is the social element or the concept of â€Å"social capital† and its role in knowledge management for developing and gaining competitive advantage, and more broadly intellectual capital (IC) popularised by Stewart in Fortune magazine (1994) which has relational elements and comprises of human capital, structural capital, and organisational capital (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Sveiby, 1997; Guthrie and Petty, 2000) and is viewed also as being central to the sustainability of competitive advantage. Edvinson and Malone (1997) defined human_ capital_ as the value of everything that ‘leaves the company at five p. m. † That is to say that only the shared knowledge assets or the _structural _capital only remains, when employees walk out through the door. Social capital can be defined as a set of informal values or norms shared among members of a group that permits them to cooperate with one another. â€Å"If members of the group come to expect that others will behave reliably and honestly, then they will come to trust one another. Trust acts like a lubricant that makes any group or organisation run more efficiently. † (Fukuyama, 1999, p16) With trust and the co-operation in groups and the social interactions based on informal communication, the building of networks can have economic benefits, with the creation of business opportunities through networking as trust reduces the costs of contracts and legal actions and shared values can make negotiations more successful. Social capital may also create business opportunities by facilitating and exchanging semi – confidential information and mutual ncouragement. (Glaser, Edward L. , Laibson, David, and Sacerdote, Bruce 2002), Intellectual Capital is the intangible economic value of organisational capital (structures, processes and culture) and human capital (skills, behaviour and knowledge) and it is the intangible asset of knowledge that is now being added to the classical production factors of land labour and capital. Growth and innovation are now rel ying on the intellectual capital /knowledge of an organisation, and how it uses the knowledge to compete in the market (Kim and Mauborgine (1999). The field of intellectual capital stems from the need of organisations to have to quantify assets. So efficient management of intellectual capital is directly linked to measurement and valuation (Andrieseen 2004) and has necessitated the introduction of reporting and valuations models for IC (Liebowitz and Suen 2000) and as the literature suggest the most popular measure of IC is the difference between the market value and the book value of a knowledge based firm (Brennan and Connell 2000. ) According to (Tuban and Aronson 2001) Knowledge is critically important because as an asset it appreciates rather than depreciates. Knowledge increases so intellectual capital is going to improve. So by using systems thinking to promote Intellectual Capital could be a powerful approach for understanding the nature of ‘problems situations’ and the way they are dealt with and how to go about improving results. The key benefit of the system is that it involves seeing the whole picture and creates insights to problems and can nurture the way that communities of practice can co-operate and learn through shared knowledge and experiences. System thinking is not an easy approach as it requires a substantial investment of effort, and thought, though the results can be more than worth the investment. Central to these ideas is that intellectual capital is ‘embedded in both people and systems. The stock of human capital consists of humans (the knowledge skills and abilities of people) social (the valuable relationships among people) and organisational (the processes and routines within the firm)’ (Wright et al 2001:716). But there are criticisms of Soft Thinks Thinking as the system is unable to deal with conflicting nature of social systems, and that it is a conceptual methodology and does not represent the real world, and the methodology implies that actors in a situation have the freedom to instigate change and that conflict does exist but the methodology relies on compromise. Douglas and MacGregor 1960 in his book â€Å"Human side of Enterprise â€Å"maintained that there are two fundamental approaches to managing people. Many managers tend towards theory x, and generally get poor results. Enlightened managers use theory y, which produces better performance and results, and allows people to grow and develop. Which demonstrates that you can’t legislate for human behaviour and those humans also by nature can be territorial and will protect their domain, by advocating knowledge is power. Lave and Wenger (1991) fail to explore the implications of the distribution of power when discussing CoP and Marshall and Rollinson (2004) suggests that Lave and Wenger ( 1991) discussions of meaning can be misinterpreted as ‘ excessively quiescent and consensual’ while in reality such activities are plagued by misunderstanding and disagreements. Without trust the members of the community of practice may be reluctant to share knowledge, and may become static in terms of their knowledge base be resistant to change. There are limitations to the communities of practice but, its does allow the means to explore the transfer of tacit knowledge management tools focused on the codification of knowledge. But a community of practice is one of a number of knowledge management tools, and different organisations require different tools. Other tools maybe needed to be developed to manage tacit knowledge as from the critic that soft thinking systems may not always be appropriate as a knowledge management tool. References Alavi, M. and D. Leidner 2001 Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues MIS Quarterly 25(1): 107-136 Andriessen, D. (2004). IC valuation and measurement: classifying the state of the art. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 5, 230-242. Blacker F (1995) Knowledge, Knowledge work and organisations: An overview and interpretation, Organisation Studies 16 (6) Bontis, N. 1998). Intellectual capital: an exploratory study that develops measures and models. Management Decision, 36, 63-76. Bontis, N. (2002). Managing organizational knowledge by diagnosing intellectual capital: Framing and advancing the state of the field. ?n Nick Bontis (? d. ), World Congress on Intellectual Capital readings (13-56). Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Bontis, N. , Dragonett i, N. C. , Jacobsen, K. & Roos, G. (1999). The knowledge toolbox: A review of the tools available to measure and manage intangible Resources. European Management Journal, 17, 391-402. Brennan, N. and Connell, B. (2000) â€Å"Intellectual capital: current issues and policy implications†, _Journal of Intellectual capital_, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp206-240. Brooking, A. (1996). Intellectual capital: Core asset for the third millennium enterprise. London: International Thomson Business Press. Brown J S and Duguid P (2000a) Structure and Spontaneity; knowledge and organisation – In Nonaka, I and Teece D (Eds) Managing Industrial Knowledge London Sage, 44-67. Checkland, Peter B. , 1981. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. Checkland, Peter B. , and Jim Scholes, 1990. Soft Systems Methodology in Action. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Constant, D. , Sproull L. , and Kiesler, S. (1996). The kindness of strangers: The usefulness of electronic weak ties for technical advice. Organization Science, 7(2): 119-135. Drucker P F (1992). The New Society of Organisations: 70(5):95-104 Edvinsson, L. (1997). Developing intellectual capital at Skandia. Long Range Planning, 30, 366-373. Edvinsson, L. and Malone, M. S. (1997), Intellectual Capital, Piatkus, London. Edvinsson, L. & Sullivan, P. (1996). Developing a model for managing intellectual capital. European Management Journal, 14, 356-364. Eisenhardt, K. M. and Santos, F. M. (2002) â€Å"Knowledge-based view: a new theory of strategy? in Pettigrew, A. (Ed. ), Handbook of Strategy and Management, London, Sage, pp. 138-64. Fukuyama, F (1991) The Great Disruption p16 New York Simon and Shuster Fukuyama, F (1995) Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (New York: Free Press, 1995), chapter 9. Glaser, Edward L. , Laibson, David, and Sacerdote, Bruce (2002), An Economic Approach to Social Capital, Nov. 112, pp 437-458 Grant, R. M. 1996. Towards a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17 (Winter Special Issue), 108-122. Hildreth P and Kimble C (2002) The Duality of Knowledge â€Å"Information Research 8(1) paper no 142 Hildreth P Wright P and Kimble C (1999) Knowledge management are we missing something? Information Systems – The Next Generation. Hislop D (2004) The Paradox of Communities of Practice: Knowledge Sharing between Communities. Guthrie, J. and Petty, R. (2000), â€Å"Intellectual capital: Australian annual reporting practices. † Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. no. 3, pp. 241-251. Handy, C. B. (1989). The age of unreason. London: Arrow Books Ltd. Iles V and Sutherlandk K (2001) Organisational Change: A Review of Health Care Managers, Professionals and Researchers, National Coordination Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation R and D London. Kaplan, R. S. & Norton, D. P. (1992). The Balanced Scorecard – measures that drive performance . Harvard Business Review, January-February, 71-79. Kim, W. C. & Mauborgne, R. (1999), ‘Strategy, value innovation, and the knowledge economy’, Sloan Management Review Spring, 41–53. Lave J and Wenger E (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation Cambridge University Press Liebowitz, J. & Suen, C. (2000). Developing knowledge metrics for measuring. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 1, 54-67. Rose J and Haynes M (2001) A Soft Systems Approach to the Evaluation of Complex Interventions in the Public Sector, Manchester Metropolitan University Press. Senge, P (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation, Doubleday New York 1990. Senge, P. & Lannon-Kim, C. (1991). Recapturing the spirit of learning through a systems approach. Stewart, T. A. (1997), _Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of _Organizations, Doubleday/Currency, New York, NY. Sveiby, K. E. (1997), The_ New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring_ Knowledge-based Assets, Berrett-Kohler, San Francisco, CA. Krogh von, G. 2003. Knowledge Sharing and the Communal Resource. In M. Easterby-Smith and M. Lyles, A. (Ed. ), Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management: 372-392. Malden, Oxford, Melbourne, Berlin: Blackwell Publishing. Mulgan G (2002) Policy-Making in the Global Commons Connect No 5 pp 6-18 Centre for Management and Policy Studies.

Evil in Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare’s powerful play Macbeth effectively explores the nature of evil and its effects and costs. He examines what causes people to commit evil acts such as ambition, greed and lust for power through themes, characters, language and dramatic techniques. The theme of the play is that uncontrolled ambition can make people do evil things but that evil never wins in the end. The play shows the battle between good and evil and the cost of evil. Macbeth breaks the great chain of being by killing the king. Shakespeare provides a lesson for the audience by showing the cost of evil deeds. Macbeth loses the respect of his friends and countrymen, loses interest in life and is killed, while Lady Macbeth’s guilt causes her to commit suicide. In the play there are several motifs which illustrate the theme, including guilt blood. For example, when Lady Macbeth wants to become brave enough to go through with the murder of the king, she says â€Å"Make thick my blood†. Also when Macbeth is about to kill the king he sees an imaginary dagger which has â€Å"gouts of blood† on it. The play’s characters also portray evil and its effects through their actions and words. For example, Macbeth becomes corrupted by his â€Å"vaulting ambition† which turns him from â€Å"noble Macbeth† into an â€Å"untitled tyrant†. The witches know Macbeth has been overtaken by evil they say â€Å"something wicked this way comes† when he approaches them. To get what he wants Macbeth is prepared to do anything. This involves evil deeds like violence and deception. He even kills his friend Banquo when he realizes that Banquo suspects that he killed the king. He says, â€Å"our fears in Banquo stick deep†. Banquo by contrast is not corruptible so Macbeth must kill him. The cost of evil for Macbeth is that he has no peace after his evil deeds. He loses everything he valued – the crown, friendship, respect and his wife and his own life. Along the way he becomes paranoid as we see in the banquet scene where Banquo’s ghost appears as a â€Å"horrible shadow†. This shows us  that his conscience is torturing him and is giving him no peace. He also loses interest in life which is shown in his word,† Out, out, brief candle!/Life’s but a walking shadow† Shakespeare uses a range of figurative language to illustrate that evil deeds can’t bring rewards, Shakespear uses a metaphor â€Å"Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown† which show that even after he kills to get the crown it is an empty victory as he has no children to pass it on to. The cost of evil for Macbeth is also shown through dramatic devices such as the dagger scene where Macbeth resolves to kill the king. Through a soliloquy we find out the inner thoughts of Macbeth when he tells the audience that he can see a dagger floating in the air leading him to the king’s chamber. We are not sure if it’s real which adds to the ghostly and creepy atmosphere. He says, â€Å"I have thee not and yet I see thee still† and we can see that he indeed has a â€Å"heat oppressed brain’. Lady Macbeth badly wants to become queen and is prepared to do evil to get it. Ambition also corrupts her. She is the one who persuades Macbeth when he has second thoughts about killing the king by questioning his masculinity by saying, â€Å"Be so much more the man† and â€Å"To wear a heart so white†. She would have killed the king herself but he resembled her father. This shows how ruthless she has become. Lady Macbeth badly wants to become queen and ambition corrupts her. She is the one who persuades Macbeth to kill the king. She is concerned that M is too full of the â€Å"milk of human kindness† to carry out the murder of the king so she pushes him to do the deed by shaming his sense of manhood, â€Å"Be so much more the man .† She hatches the plot to kill the kill. Her evil is shown through her desire to stop being female. She says is calling to dark spirits to , â€Å"unsex me† and â€Å"fill me† with â€Å"direst cruelty† which means she actually wants to embrace evil completely. Shakespeare uses Figurative language to show Lady Macbeth’s deceitful character, for example he uses the symbol of blood to show her evilness and  her guilt. She says â€Å"Out damned spot† while sleepwalking. This scene also reflects the use of very good dramatic technique, the soliloquy to show the audience that although she does evil when awake, Lady Macbeth is bothered by guilt underneath. In this way Shakespeare further shows that evil cannot win over good and that nothing can hide evil. For example she says, â€Å"all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.† But she knows â€Å"what’s done cannot be undone†. In the end she can’t stand the guilt and kills herself. She pays the ultimate price with her life. The witches are introduced right at the start which tells the audience the play is about evil as witchcraft was considered very real and considered evil in Shakespeare’s times. The witches choose Macbeth to bring evil to life. They know he is corruptible and confirm this by saying â€Å"Something wicked this way comes†. The literary language used by the witches that makes it clear they are evil, for example, â€Å"We hover through the fog in the filthy air† They also say, â€Å"Eye of newt and toe of frog† which tells the audience they are cooking up a supernatural potion. The evil effect is also show in the rhythmic chant, â€Å"Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.† All this creates a creepy and sinister atmosphere that suggests evil. The dramatic devices Shakespeare used to portray the witchcraft includes the setting which was a desolate place, the use of the cauldron and its evil ingredients like human body parts â€Å"Nose of Turk†. Shakespeare also uses apparitions which are conjured up as part of the prophecies of Macbeth’s future including a head in armour; the bloody child; and a child wearing a crown, holding a tree, which illustrate the witches’ prophesies. Macbeth by Shakespeare clearly shows the audience that it is not worth doing evil. He does this through exploration of themes, characters, language and  dramatic techniques and convinces the audience that evil never wins in the end. Gives the audience the clear message that evil can never win over good. In the play Macbeth he shows the audience what drives people to commit evil deeds and shows the cost of those actions. He also shows that evil can never bring any good. illustrates the attraction and cost of evil throughout the play through its plot, theme, characters, language and dramatic devices. Shakespeare shows us that evil cannot win and in the end goodness is restored.

Decision-making process in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decision-making process in business - Essay Example Sales of electric blankets were unusually high at this time. Sales of grills were also unusually high during the fourth quarter. These financial bungling unfolded the actual state of affairs in Sunbeam. Al Dunlap's four step plan impacting financial, personnel, core business and strategy of Sunbeam had elements of controversy. The changes they brought about were fundamental and drastic. They failed to foresee the long term impact of their actions. They did not cater to the rule that balance is the key to most successes. As for public relations, Al Dunlap's arrogance that his Mean Business policies were accountable for Sunbeam's turnaround caused investors and the public to question Sunbeam's integrity. Dunlap aired his views that his "Dream team" sees opportunities where others see impossibilities. Al Dunlap's management team performance was flawed from the beginning. They failed to: (1) consider that cost cutting on a mass scale is counter productive, (2) realize that cutting down such a huge amount of jobs is actually downsizing business, and (3) categorize core business as profit making exercise rather than link each product with Sunbeam and sell off those that did not fall within the five categories of core business. The lessons that could be learnt from the outcome are that one must exercise more caution and care in turning around companies.

The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party Essay

The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party - Essay Example The relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party was not always close, especially in the periods starting 1940 to 1950, when the ANC started considering the SACP as a party advancing foreign ideology (SAHO, n.d. web.) . This feeling strongly emanated after Nelson Mandela made a tour throughout Africa, meeting various leaders from different countries in the African continent, whose countries had achieved independence by then (Mandela, 2008 p49). The African leaders perceived the communist ideology, as advocated for by the SACP as anti-African, and more of a foreign ideology, which was perceived to be incongruent with the African ideology of democracy and total independence from the colonialists. Therefore, most of the African leaders were confused by the association of the ANC with the SACP, which they considered unusual, since the SACP was constituted by most foreigners, and its ideologies were not perceived as purely African (Mandela, 2008 p102). Another issue that strained relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is its perceived relations with the USSR. Most of the members of the ANC were highly skeptical about working with the SACP, due to the fact that it was not regarded as based on the African ideology, thus raising concerns among the members of the ANC regarding how the other African countries would perceive the working relationship between the ANC and the SACP.... Another issue that strained relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is its perceived relations with the USSR. Most of the members of the ANC were highly skeptical about working with the SACP, due to the fact that it was not regarded as based on the African ideology, thus raising concerns among the members of the ANC regarding how the other African countries would perceive the working relationship between the ANC and the SACP. Secondly, there was the issue of concern regarding how the western countries would relate with South Africa, through the consideration of the working relationship between the ANC and the SACP, which was perceived to be USSR oriented, thus creating suspicion that the western countries would not want to work with such a party. Such members of the ANC suspected that the western countries would withdraw their support for South Africa, due to its association with communism (Mandela, 2008 p87)2. Thus, some members of th e ANC would cause conflict, to ensure that the two parties did not work together. Therefore, there has been a long deal of strained relationship between the ANC and the SACP, which ranges from the liberation struggle period, to the post-independence and modern day relationship. Nevertheless, the relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party has not always been strained and suspicious. There are times when the two parties have had long periods of cordial working relationships, both in the liberation struggle period, and the post-independence period. The cordial and strong positive relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist