Organization Design And Technology Of Sony Corporation Essay Example for Free

Organization Design And Technology Of Sony Corporation Essay Due to the fast-paced growth of Sony Corporation in the international market, it gave way for the misalignment of its market and internal expansion leading to the deterioration of its rate of technological development or the quality of its product lines, and the decline of the efficiency of its workforce as the number of responsibilities and tasks suddenly increased triggered by the market expansion of the said company. With the aid of ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire and balance scorecard, Sony Corporation has been able to improve the quality of its product and workforce efficiency. By expanding the workforce of Sony, it can solve the deterioration of its rate of technological advancement and inefficiency on workforce on a long term basis. Between adding new position to the organization structure of Sony and hiring more workers to expand the workforce of the said company, adding new position to Sony Corporation is the one that fits to solve the above mentioned problems of Sony considering the cost of its implementation and effectiveness. Introduction With the growing competition in the international market, it is a must for Sony Corporation to secure competitive advantage in terms of internal stability and technological development. Most consumers nowadays provides more premium on the most advanced products in the market, and this is the primary reason why Sony Corporation allot significant amount of resources to research and development to maintain the pace of their technological development. Furthermore, Sony has designed its organization structure in such a way that it could easily respond to various new market challenges. But the forces of market competition and globalization blocks the technological advantages of Sony as well as destabilized the internal stability through attacking their organization design as various departments and key person of the said company shoulders broader responsibilities as the company continues to expand in the international market. Sony’s competitors, Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple, Microsoft, and Dell are just few of the many electronics companies also operating in the international market with fast-paced technological development (Isuppli. om 2006: 1). Due to this scenario, Sony’s products appears to be less technologically advanced compared to its competitors leading to a sudden down turn on their sales and profit internationally as their customers shift to their competitors (Eetimes. com 2008: 1). Furthermore, during the peak of Sony’s international operation, various departments and top level managers was bombarded with more tasks and responsibilities in order to support their market expansion which presently lead to the deterioration of their performances. Distribution of task and responsibilities is weak and most of the organization design of Sony is already obsolete considering the present condition of competition and globalization in the international market. In this regard, this paper aims to discuss how the forces of competition and globalization weaken the organization design and technological advantage of Sony as well as the potential alternatives that Sony must undertake in order to solve the said weaknesses. At the end of this paper, expect for a recommendation that would best solve the problems of Sony concerning its organization design and technology. Classification of Organization Structure Sony Corporation has been using divisional type of organizational design as illustrated by their organizational chart, see appendix (. During the early years of Sony’s operation in the market, the divisional type of organization design enables them to easily implement strategies and decisions to problems that need immediate solution. Since Sony was only on its development stage, they were able to fully utilize the optimal gains that can be derived from using divisional organization structure. The fast relay of information, decision making and implementation of strategies through the use of divisional organization design provided Sony with tremendous amount of gains in the international market as they start successfully penetrating their target market and out-performed their competitors in the market, making them one of the successful multinational companies around the globe (Goliath. ecnext. com 2007: 1). Furthermore, the divisional organization design enables Sony to specialize its â€Å"groups† since thereby improving the quality of their products in the market (Market Wire 2005: 1). Like for instance, the Sony Ericson Mobile Communications Group concentrate only to develop and produce mobile communication products in the market. The head of Ericson Mobile Communications Group is directly below the CEO of Sony, and so with their other groups (Sony. net 2008: 1). The direct relationship between the head of Sony’s groups and its CEO provides ease on decision making and distribution of information as well as strategies on brand development. But this organizational structure starts to provide instabilities to Sony Corporation as it continues to grow as electronics industry superpower in the international market. As the company grew in the international market, responsibilities of each head of various groups also increased up to the point wherein they start performing inefficiently as their time being spent on every vital aspect of their operation become lesser and lesser. In this regard, the present status of divisional organization design to Sony becomes ineffective and only provides instabilities as the executives of the company starts to perform inefficiently on their respective fields. But divisional organization design fits Sony than any other organization structure available in the business management realm. Since Sony have a diversity of products in the market, and each group specializes into the production of their own product lines, then, divisional structure already fits Sony. The only problem lies on the fact that every executive of Sony starts gaining more responsibilities in his/her assigned group. In other words, the international expansion of Sony in the recent years was not accompanied by expansion of internal responsibilities of various executives of the said company, thereby leading to a down turn on their overall performance. In order for Sony to restore the stability of its internal affairs, it does not have to change its organization design; rather, Sony management can make improvements on their divisional structure by adding new positions or by appointing executive assistants to key positions on various groups of the said company. This strategy will provide enough room for the key personnel of Sony to manage their responsibilities well and delegate those less priority tasks to their assistance or new positions in the group. In other words, this strategy will give way for the internal expansion of Sony while maintaining their original organization design that was already proven to be effective and fit to the business structure of Sony Corporation. Choosing organization structure other than divisional design would provide great risk since Sony operates on various groups with different product lines to produce into the market. Furthermore, each group has less influence on one another and almost operates independently from other group while their headquarters and CEO serves as the link between them. In this regard, it is vital for Sony Corporation to implement the said internal expansion of their groups in order for them to re-establish their competitive advantage in the international market in terms of internal stability and workforce efficiency especially during these times wherein the forces of tight market competition and globalization calls for the acquisition of more potential sources of competitive advantages to keep the pace of Sony’s growth internationally. Key Determinant and Influences on Organizational Structure One of the main strategies of Sony in expanding its share on the international market would be the diversification of its product line from electronics to B2B business solutions, which later on enables the company to tap various resources. Since each product line of Sony needs different production processes compared to others, Sony decided to use divisional organizational structure in order to easily manage the entire company without compromising the quality of their product lines. For instance, Sony Financial Holdings Group provides business solution services to the market and needs different operational processes compared to Sony Entertainment Business Group that provides television, digital cameras, and video cameras in the market. Each of these groups requires different set of operational style, set of skills and equipments, and set of strategies, thereby providing enough room to these groups to operate independently from one another would enhance their productivity and efficiency as they specialize into their production process. This is the main reason why Sony chose to use divisional organization design in order to provide enough room for each product line to be developed separately by workers specialized on producing it from other product line. In this regard, the strategy of Sony to diversify its product line gave way for the use of divisional organization structure. Furthermore, another factor that serves to be the key determinant of Sony Corporation’s organization structure would be its growth rate. Sony Corporation has roughly 4 percent sales growth rate internationally as of this month which is relatively higher compared to its rival companies like Panasonic with -2. 78 percent sales growth rate (Reuters. com 2008: 1). During the initial stage of Sony’s growth in the international market, as their product become more diverse leading to a fast-paced growth, Sony chose to use divisional organization structure to allow the company to cope up with the said growth rate since divisional organization structure provides enough room for Sony to further develop their diverse product line through specialization. At present, the root of organization stability of Sony roots on the fact that they were not able to accompanied their market growth and expansion with internal expansion causing for the divisional organization structure to work inefficiently. Once the internal growth rate of Sony already aligned itself to its market growth, then, that is the only time wherein Sony can fully utilize the potential gains of using divisional organization structure. In this regard, it is therefore vital for Sony to keep track its market growth and internal growth if whether these two still align each other since these affects the performance of their organization structure. The strategy and growth of Sony is interrelated to one another and this is the main reason why these two factors greatly affect its organization structure. The strategy of Sony to diversify its product line provided them with enough opportunity to increase their market share in the international market. The said product line expansion and increase of market share enable Sony to easily penetrate its target market and outperformed its competitors. Furthermore, as Sony continues to successfully penetrate its target market and outperformed its competitors, it starts to gain impressive growth in the market due to higher sales and profit. But the said market growth of Sony was not accompanied by internal expansion which presently leads to tremendous losses as key personnel of its groups starts performing inefficiently and ineffectiveness of their organization structure. Furthermore, as these key personnel of Sony perform inefficiently, the research and development of their products starts to drop, giving enough room for its competitors to step up in the electronics and business solutions industry and provide financial losses to the company (Forbes. com 2008: 1). Therefore, at this point in time, it is vital for Sony to address these instabilities on its workforce in order to restore their competitiveness in the international market with respect to their market strategies and technological advancement. Organizational Effectiveness One way in which Sony Corporation evaluates performance would be through the use of Information and Communications Technology Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire which aims to determine if whether their suppliers uphold the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct. Since suppliers have a direct impact on the overall performance of Sony in terms of product quality, along with other electronics companies around the globe such as HP, IBM, and Microsoft, Sony Corporation created the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct which encompasses the ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire. Through the ICT Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire, Sony can monitor the product quality of their suppliers. By securing the performance of their suppliers, Sony Corporation has been able to maintain its integrity of producing high quality products in the market. There were cases wherein Sony Corporation was sued for releasing substandard products in the market. Like what happened recently when a couple sued Sony when the battery of a Sony laptop exploded causing injuries to the complainants. Due to this, Sony had to pull out all of the batteries that were being suspected as substandard and replaced with a new one in order to prevent having more accidents. In this regard, through the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony Corporation can stop the above mentioned accident caused to substandard products that they release in the market which mostly came from their suppliers. Dell, the maker of the said substandard battery of Sony laptop, is now making collaboration with Sony in pulling out those substandard laptop batteries in the market. Another way by which Sony evaluates their performance is through the use of balance scorecard. Balance score card help every organization in the market to determine if whether their smaller scale operational activities are still aligned with their larger scale activities. As for the case of Sony Corporation, it uses balance scorecard in determining the alignment operational processes of its groups, e. g. Sony Ericson Mobile Communications, Game Business Group, Entertainment Business Group, and Sony Financial Holdings Group, to the vision and strategy of the entire organization. For instance, the balance scorecard is being used by Sony Corporation in determining if whether the processes used in producing Sony Ericsson in the market are still aligned with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the entire company. Through this, Sony Corporation can keep their various groups intact to the vision and strategies of their â€Å"parent† company – Sony Corporation. Just recently, Sony Ericsson phone was awarded as the most â€Å"Eco-Friendly† phone in the market and the said award is being attributed to the continues success of Sony Corporation to uphold its Corporate Social Responsibility on minimizing the wastes being emitted in producing the said product (Sayer 2008: 1). Considering the said success of Sony Ericsson phone in the market, there is a great possibility that it can earn positive balance scorecard by upholding the CSR of Sony Corporation, which can eventually serve as the basis for further development of Sony Ericsson phone in the market (Ericsson. co. jp 2005: 9). Therefore, balance scorecard provides enough room for Sony Corporation to determine the alignment of their product lines to their vision and strategy especially when it concerns the integrity of their brand name. At this point, the performance evaluation tools of Sony Corporation, ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Balance Scorecard, has been able to solve its problem regarding maintaining the quality of their products in the market by securing the compliance of their suppliers and aligning the production processes of their product lines into their Corporate Social Responsibilities. Therefore, ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Balance Scorecard fit to the vision and strategies of Sony Corporation based from their successful solution regarding the low quality level of Sony’s products in the market. This issue on quality level and on how the above identified evaluation tools of Sony Corporation solved it will be thoroughly discussed in the next part of the paper. Critical Analysis of Current Problems Actually, the main problem of Sony Corporation would be the misalignment of its market and internal expansion that eventually lead to various â€Å"branch-problems† like low performance rate from the workforce of the company as well as the deterioration of the quality level of their product lines in the market. The fast-paced growth of Sony in the past years, while leaving their internal condition to remain untouched, provided inefficiencies on the part of their workforce as the responsibility of one another can no longer be performed as efficient as before, and low product quality as the said inefficiencies on their workforce started to reflect on the quality level of their product lines. This is the main reason why Sony Corporation suffers from return on investment and profit on its operation as their customers shift to the side of their competitors since the latter already have relatively technologically advanced product lines in the market compared to Sony Corporation. In order to provide a long term solution to this problem of Sony Corporation, it is a must for the management of the said company to expand their workforce either by adding new positions to reinforce the key positions in the company or hire more workers to delegate the tasks optimally among their workforce. But at present, Sony Corporation is applying short term solutions to these problems through the use of evaluation tools as discussed on the previous part of this paper. First, the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire provided solution on securing the quality of their supplier’s products which later on be used on the production process of Sony. With the ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony can monitor if whether the supplies of their suppliers are substandard or complies with the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct which sets up the standards for electronic products in the market (Greenwald 2005: 2). Sony Corporation can now minimize the incidence of product malfunction or substandard components of their product lines just like what happened to the batteries of Sony’s laptop that exploded due to overheating. ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire will improve the quality of Sony’s product line even up to a small degree since it only solves their problem on the side of their supplier and not the root of the problem which still lies on the internal stability of their workforce. With the rise of ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire and Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, cases of substandard electronic products in the market will be minimized leading for Sony to improve the quality level of its products (United Nations Environment Program 2005: 1). In this regard, through the use of ICT Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Sony Corporation manages to improve the quality of their product lines even up to a small degree. On the other hand, the balance scorecard of Sony Corporation provides enough room for the said company to improve the quality of their workforce’s performance since the company can determine if whether a group or department already performs outside the boundaries of their vision and corporate strategies. There are times wherein the misalignment of Sony Corporation’s products to their vision and corporate strategies roots on the inefficient performance of workforce of a given department or group, and balance scorecard can determine if whether a given group of Sony Corporation performs inefficiently based from the evaluation of the products being produced by that given group. Through this, Sony Corporation can easily determine which group among its companies needs to undergo workforce expansion to solve the said inefficiency of their workers. In this regard, the balance scorecard provides two services to Sony Corporation, evaluation of their product’s performance in the market and its alignment to the vision and corporate strategies of the company, and on which group of the company needs workforce expansion in order to improve the quality of their product lines just like what happened to Sony Ericsson phone in the market (Esato. com 2007: 1). Solutions In order for Sony Corporation to have long term solution to their problem regarding the misalignment of their market and internal expansion as the consequence of their fast-paced growth, it is advisable for them to expand their workforce either by adding new positions into their organization structure to optimally delegate the tasks among the workers of the company; or, the management could hire more workers that will handle the additional responsibilities provided by the market expansion of the company. Furthermore, through adding new position to the organization structure to various business groups of Sony Corporation, e. g. executive assistants will give their key executives to delegate some of the less important tasks and responsibilities to their assistants so they can concentrate to more responsibilities. The divisional organization structure of Sony Corporation will still be used in the organization design of Sony under the said strategy considering that it is the only organization design that fits to the business nature of Sony Corporation as discussed on the previous part of this paper. On the other hand, with regards to hiring more workers that will be responsible on shouldering the additional tasks provided by the market expansion of Sony Corporation, this will provide Sony with enough room to improve the efficiency of their workforce as every person on their workforce can now perform their responsibilities to their optimal level since tasks are now well distributed on their workforce. At the end of the day, these strategies will improve the quality of Sony’s workforce and so with the quality of their products. The only problem with hiring of additional workers would be the fact that it is costly to hire more workers for the company considering that Sony is presently suffering from low profitability in the market compared to adding new position to the organization structure of Sony Corporation. Recommendation Both of the above mentioned strategies provides same improvement on lifting the efficiency of Sony Corporation’s workforce and boosting its product quality level, but in terms of costs on the part of the company, adding new positions to the organization structure of Sony is relatively cheaper than hiring more workers. In this regard, alongside with the performance evaluation tools of Sony Corporation, it is a must for their management to add new positions into the divisional organization structure of the company to provide long term solution on their low quality product in terms of technology and improving the efficiency of their workforce considering the extent of their market expansion in the global market. Conclusion With the misalignment of market and internal expansion of Sony Corporation due to its fast-paced growth in the international market, it provided various problems into the said company. Technological advancement of Sony’s products drops while the efficiency of its workforce decline due to the significant increase on tasks and responsibilities on the workplace caused by the fast-paced growth of Sony in the recent years. Through adding new positions on the organization structure of Sony, it can already improve the efficiency of its workforce and so with the rate of its product line’s technological advancement in the market.

The red room by H.G Wells Essay Example for Free

The red room by H.G Wells Essay The Red Room is a spine chiller written by H.G Wells. The story is set at Lorraine Castle where a specific room is preoccupied by ghastly spirits. This story The Red Room is about a man (narrator) who seeks spirits inside Lorraine Castle, with his only protection as his revolver. The spirit welcomes the man in an uncomfortable manner, moving furniture, candles going out without smoke and other procedures which the spirit posses. His excuse for the cause of this terror is that ghosts are not inquisitive in this room but is this mans nature (fear) itself that is broader. Already this has begun where effectively you contrast imagery and excitement, making the story feel haunted and more spine chilling. These contrasts of images appear suddenly such as castle that develops other imagery haunted. This opens the story up well that makes the beginning scene effective scaring the audience and increasing their interests in the story. The narrator in the story plays important parts showing he is unaware of the possible outcomes that may occur, this makes his character more significant. The way this makes the narrator to become more significant is the change of character. At the beginning of the story the man (narrator) represents himself as a calm and still person. The way that the narrator has expressed this is that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me. This characteristic soon changes where he starts to hallucinate becoming superstitious of the ghastly happenings that occur around him before he enters the red room. darkness closed upon me like the shutting of an eye, wrapped about me in a stifling embrace sealed my vision. Again the man shows another change towards his attitude in which he expresses his outer fear, talking broader, louder than he is whispering. This makes the narrator more significant in the story than any other character The man with the withered arm is an old character, living at this castle for eight-and-twenty years that has not yet glanced at a ghost before his eyes. Its your own choosing said the man with the withered arm, when the coughing has ceased for a while. This quote shows imagery that the old man is withered on one of the two arms he has, also the way he walks indicates some other imagery that does not appeal to the story but in the audiences mind instead. Other than imagery and description that he is withered and old there is a sign of repetition. The quote above Its you own choosing replicates, the withered man repeats this throughout the story, also this points to the audience a phrase that replicates in their minds. Another character the old woman, again a person who has past her age in living both by her appearance and her attitude. The description of her pale eyes indicates that death is not far away spending most of her time staring at the fire. This nights of all nights The quote above is a repetition explaining about that tonight something will happen which has never occurred before for some time. This also shows that the old woman could be either very superstitious or indeed psychic, predicting the future of tonight that something will happen. The further character in the story is another man but older and is described in more detail than the other characters in the story. These include a crutch that held him steadily, and eyes that were small, bright, and inflamed. A monstrous shadow of him crouched upon the wall and mocked his action as he poured and drank This personification shows human characteristics monstrous shadow that the audience sees as a technique in creating a spine chiller. The audiences reaction in this personification is imagery of the old man drinking with a monstrous shadow above his head enlarged onto the wall behind him. There is to my mind something inhuman in senility, something crouching and  atavistic; the human qualities seem to drop from old people insensibly day by day This quote is described as the change of mood appealing to the old people living in Lorraine castle. Human qualities seem to drop from old people, indicate that they are becoming closer to death when loosing their human qualities. This mood also relates back to old peoples appearance for example, how they illustrate their repetitions to the man (narrator) and also the audience. An additional character the young Duke was a person who tried to get his revenge upon the ghostly spirits to end his superstition. He had begun his dying, for he had opened the door and fallen headlong down the steps. This indicates he was pushed by his superstition to end his vigil. His gallant attempt to conquer the ghostly tradition of the place. Shows his ambition in finishing the fears that haunt Lorraine Castle. Although the young duke does not exist with the different characters in the story, but I think he brought the plot into reality allowing the man (narrator) to play the important character. If the duke were to succeed with his ambition, and conquer the ghostly tradition then the whole plot will become entirely different. Throughout this spine chilling story I have grasped shocking imagery that gives this story suspense. The author used this imagery to create an atmosphere against good vs. evil or man vs. nature, except this time nature wins the ending of the story. I have noticed that fear (nature) is stronger than superstition because fear controls both the inner and the outer person allowing them to then become superstitious. Other ways in which the author expresses atmosphere is the use of personification. Metaphors and similes can sometimes be expressed as personification where the surroundings are intangible and inanimate. An example of how the author used this metaphor personification is ocean of mystery, where the atmosphere of the ocean is mystery, this cannot be seen nor touched therefore it is personification. These are more techniques that the author uses in creating suspense full of  spine chilling events.

Volkswagen Operations Strategy

Volkswagen Operations Strategy Product Design In 1945, a rare and curious Volkswagen car was shipped from its bomb-damaged German factory to England. Here, a commission of leading British motor manufacturers inspected the small car. It would be quite unattractive to the average motorcar buyer, the commission reported. It is too ugly and noisy, while to build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise. The commission was mistake, however, and the Volkswagen Beetle, with its friendly styling by the Austrian designer Erwin Komenda, and innovative engineering by Ferdinand Porsche, became the best-selling car of all time. Production of the Beetle outstripped that of Henry Fords Model-T when the 15,007,034th car rolled off the line at Wolfsburg in 1972. As its name made clear, the Volkswagen was truly a Peoples Car. Ultimately, the sheer quality, along with the affordability, reliability, economy and distinct look and feel of the Beetle, ensured its success. Sold to the United States in a brilliant Think Small advertising campaign launched in 1959 and devised by the New York agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, the Beetle became the biggest selling foreign-made car in America throughout the 60s. Now days VW Beetles incorporated many new features such as: Heated power side mirrors: Even the side mirrors on a Beetle can bring the heat. If the fog start, it will help the driver to have a clear view. LED taillights: The available LED taillights have been styled with precise contours that perfectly flow with its design lines. The bright illumination can also help cars behind you know that the driver is applying the brakes. Iconic design: Taken its iconic look to the next level. The Beetle unites classic styling and modern technologies. Panoramic sunroof: See the brighter side of life while driving, opening the sunroof lets the driver enjoy the sunshine. Bi-Xenon headlights: Available Bi-Xenon headlights with sleek LED Daytime Running Lights boost a longer life and use less energy. Its a really bright side to this headlight story 17- and 18-inch alloy wheels A Beetle this distinctive needs wheels to match. The available designs are perfectly matched to this time machine. (https://www.vw.com, 2017) Operations Strategy VW have introduced a new strategy that facing ever challenging industry, strategy 2025 focused on many important aspect of any car makers challenges such as: Flatter hierarchies or horizontal organization to establish a communication channel between staff and executives. A fundamental change, which means a change on the basic level of Volkswagen. More autarchy of Volkswagens 12 core brands. Lower cost cars, to compete against the Japanese and Korean car makers. Lower costs and higher profits, lowering the cost of operation to generate more profit. Electrification, more electric car to produce, and to develop the technology needed to support the expansion of Hybrid and Full Electrical Cars. Digitalization and connectivity, by eliminating the old fashion way of paper documentation, and to improve the communication by using latest technology in this field. Volkswagen as a mobility company. (Schmitt, 2016) VW have categorized the main Initiatives for Strategy 2025 as follow: Grow Profitability. Sharpen positioning of the brands Develop wining vehicle and drivetrain portfolio Streamline modular architectures Partner with regional players to win in economy segment. Develop Strategic Capabilities. Develop self-driving system for autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence in-house Develop battery technology as new core competency. Develop best-in-class user experience across brands and customer touchpoints. Enhance Entrepreneurial Spirit. Implement model line organization. Realign Components business. Transform Core Business. Build mobility solutions business. Develop and expand attractive and profitable smart mobility offering. Secure Funding. Improve operational excellence. Optimize business portfolio.

Human Interaction with Nature in the Works of Aldo Leopold and Elizabet

Human Interaction with Nature in the Works of Aldo Leopold and Elizabeth Bishop The poet Elizabeth Bishop and the naturalist Aldo Leopold share a keen power of observation, a beautifully detailed manner of writing, a love for the beauty of nature, and an interest in how people interact with the natural world. Like Leopold, Bishop examines human interactions with nature on both the personal and the ecological level. On the individual level, a hunter’s contact with the animal he or she is hunting changes his or her attitude toward nature in both Bishop’s poem â€Å"The Fish† and Leopold’s essay â€Å"Thinking Like a Mountain.† On the larger level, both Bishop in her poem â€Å"The Mountain† and Leopold throughout the Sand County Almanac envision the role of human beings in relation to the rest of the natural world as one of exploration and interpretation through science and art. In both Bishop’s â€Å"The Fish† and Leopold’s â€Å"Thinking Like a Mountain,† the person’s contact with a wild animal comes about through hunting. In theory, hunting is a sport, â€Å"a challenge of fang against bullet† (Leopold 129), in which the animal has a fair chance of escaping. In reality, however, there is no real challenge for the hunter in either case. Leopold and his companions, â€Å"pumping lead into the pack† (130), kill the wolf not by skill but by the sheer number of bullets, while Bishop’s speaker testifies, â€Å"He didn’t fight. / He hadn’t fought at all† (5-6). Thus, both call into question whether their hunting is actually a sport. Both Leopold and Bishop’s speaker are initially unaware of the true value of the creatures they hunt. Leopold writes, â€Å"I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunter’s paradise† (130). Bish... ... of human beings in nature is to explore, perceive, understand, and give a voice to the world around them through science and art. They suggest this both through what they say in their writing and by the very act of writing, which is an act of perception and interpretation of nature. However, their interpretations of the mountain’s message beg the question of whether they are interpreting it correctly, or whether they are simply attributing their own views to landforms. Perhaps their works are best seen as an invitation to their readers to explore the natural world for themselves and create their own interpretations. Contact with wild creatures might change our attitudes too! Bibliography Bishop, Elizabeth. The Complete Poems, 1927-1979. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949.

Much Ado About Nothing Essay: Beatrice, Benedick, and Love

Beatrice, Benedick, and Love in Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing   is set in thirteenth century Italy.   The plot of the play can be categorized as comedy or tragicomedy .  Ã‚  Ã‚   Villainy and scheming combine with humor and sparkling wordplay in Shakespeare's comedy of manners. Claudio is deceived into believing that Hero, is unfaithful. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice have "a kind of merry war" between them, matching wits in repartee.   This paper will attempt to present the fact that Beatrice and Benedick are in love during the entire play despite their witty rivalries.   Their friends' schemes lead each to think that the other is in love, which allows the true affection between them which leads to the exchange of the sacred vows. â€Å"They offer comedy of both character and situation.   The â€Å"merry war† between them is established in the opening scene: Beatrice piles comic insults on Benedick both before she sees him and to his face, yet there is no mistaking her interest in him, however it may be expressed;   and   although Benedick declares himself ‘ a professed tyrant to their sex’   (1.1.161) and an opponent to marriage, he tells Claudio that Beatrice ‘an she were not possessed with fury, exceeds’ Hero ‘as much in beauty as the first May doth the last of December’   (1.1.180-2).   Beatrice, too, though she says she prays morn and night that God will send her no husband, admits that there is something to be said for Benedick, were it not for his perpetual tattling (2.1.6-26)†Ã‚   (Wells 167). Beatrice and Benedick had been more or less in love for some time, and Benedick had retreated: Bene: O God, sir, here’s a dish I love not! I cannot endure my Lady Tongue. Exit D. Pedro: Come, la... ...eason’, she loves him ‘but in friendly recompense’; he takes her only ‘for pity’, she yields to him ‘on great persuasion, and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption’.   As pipers strike up the music for a final dance we can only agree that they were ‘too wise to woo peaceably’ (5.2.65)†Ã‚   (Palmer 119). Shakespeare’s interest in action frequently is merely tertiary to his powers of characterization and of language.   In Much Ado he created a puzzling relation between Beatrice and Benedick.  Ã‚   It is upto the reader to interpret this relation as love or â€Å"merry war.†    Works Cited Bloom, Harold.   Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York : Riverhead Books, 1998. Palmer, John.   Comic Characters of Shakespeare. New York : Macmillan, 1959. Wells, Stanely.   Shakespeare -   a Life in Drama. New York : W.W Norton, 1997.

College Has Exceeded My Expectations :: Personal Narratives Flagstaff College Essays

College Has Exceeded My Expectations A new place to live, new friends, a new diverse campus, new classes, and even a newfound freedom: that was what I found waiting from me the first day I moved up to Northern Arizona University. These were the things I was in search for when I was looking through all of the different colleges that I could possibly go to. NAU had them all but most importantly, NAU had a wonderful communications program, which just made everything a little better. Having lived in the same cozy house in Tucson for all my life, I wanted a change of scenery and from the hot climate. So as I started my search for the perfect college I would look to see if I could live on campus, or anywhere out of Tucson. Coming up here to NAU I am given a chance to live in a new place, McConnell Hall, and have pride in the place that I live. It is wonderful being able to say that I live here and it is my own room. I know it is not a house or an apartment, but it is still fantastic for a first move. I would not choose to live anywhere else at this moment in my life than to live on campus. You get to meet so many different people and there’s usually something going on, most of the time it just random things though. What is great about living on campus is how random people just show up in your room. Knocking is not something that is known to people who live in my hall. It is not uncommon for people to just walk in to talk, or if they do knock, they knock once while they are walking in. It is great way to meet people, mostly friends. People come into your room to steal ideas of how they should put things in their room, to borrow things such as a screwdriver or just a can opener, or to even just hang out. What was cool was that I meet a friend of mine in the bathroom when she got her hand stuck in a vase she was washing. In the dorms you meet people in irregular ways, but it makes for great conversations later on.

Cartoon and Japanese Society Essay

Japan’s animation boom began in the summer of l977, when the movie Uchu Senkan Yamato (Space Cruiser Yamato) captivated teenagers and young adults to emerge as a major box-office hit. The success of this sci-fi â€Å"anime† prompted a fundamental shift in the cultural status of animation. Even before Space Cruiser Yamato, Japan had produced a considerable number of animated films, but they were generally regarded as children’s fare or, at best, family entertainment; the few adult-oriented animated movies were not successful commercially. Space Cruiser Yamato was the first anime to demonstrate that the medium need not restrict itself to kiddies fare. Following suit, from the late l970s, Japan put out a steady stream of animated films geared to young adults, including Ginga Tetsudo 999 (Galaxy Express 999) and Kido Senshi Gandamu (Mobile Suit Gundam). Most of these were commercial successes as well, although critics dismissed these as exploitation films pandering to teenage taste. The attitude of film critics changed abruptly, however, with the 1984 release of Kaze no Tani no Naushica (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), a film whose artistic quality was widely regarded as more than sufficient to hold the attention of adults. With this movie, writer-director Miyazaki Hayao overturned the conventional image of the anime director as a versatile hack, and was soon crowned as anime’s first genuine auteur. Of course, not all anime rose to the level of non-juvenile entertainment or art. In fact, in the late 1980s, with young adult anime showing signs of staleness, the focus began to revert to children’s films. Nevertheless, the genre never relinquished the commercial foothold it had gained during the young adult anime craze; furthermore, Miyazaki began to enjoy a large degree of freedom in his filmmaking, as did several other directors who subsequently achieved the status of anime auteur. The results of those efforts, particularly the anime produced by Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, are not simply movies with high box-office potential; they are in many instances artistically superior to the live-action films made in Japan, and they have won growing legions of fans overseas. During the 1990s, animation, spearheaded by the work of a few anime auteurs, emerged as the face of Japanese film, positioning Japan as the worlds undisputed â€Å"anime superpower. † And in 1997 — a full twenty years since anime took off — animation’s preeminence over live-action films in Japan was more apparent than ever. In a matter of months after its release, Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke), Miyazaki’s latest film to date which was then alleged to be his last directorial effort, broke every box-office record to become the biggest domestic movie hit of all time in Japan. In the languishing field of young adult anime, the avant garde sci-fi work Shin Seiki Evangerion (Neon Genesis Evangelion) scored a major box-office hit and won a huge cult following. Moreover, children’s anime are as popular as ever. In all, it appears that anime has taken center stage in the Japanese film industry, pushing live-action movies into the wings. Kenji (2002) opined that Animation became popular in Japan as it provided an alternative format of storytelling compared to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike America, where live-action shows and movies have generous budgets, the live-action industry in Japan is a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Asians. The varied use of animation allowed artists to create characters and settings that did not look Japanese at all Now a bit about how animation gets to wherever you are today. In the dusty yet not-so-long-ago time, when old cities began to get overweight and thus suburban areas started to be a new synonym for the term ‘eyesore’, the post-LSD generation of the Northern hemisphere imported anime from the Land of the Rising Sun at approximately the pace of a snail-mail package sent from Alabama to Tibet. The riotous 1970’s has just received enlightenment in this field of concern — the quicker-witted Americans in the industry started to stop calling non-human-non-nature-non-animal motion pictures ‘cartoons’ and have used the word ‘animation’. Naturally the content of slim boxes of taped animation movies embarking there was then called ‘Japanese animation, and for the convenience of those who tend to misspell anything more than three-lettered it was promptly squeezed into ‘Japanimation’, so no wonder that they still misspell it. Anyway, no derogatory wink was involved in the term ‘Japanimation’ — it’s just a matter of geoprofile for the product that has come in faster and in bulk during 1980’s. The malicious intent is not there, if you really are so paranoid about such things; it is for instance in the term ‘Japornimation’, for which the Yoshiwara might have had an influence (i. e. modern sexually explicit and repulsively bloody anime movies). Meanwhile, in 1990’s someone (probably the same person who snail-mailed from Alabama to Tibet) informed the Northerners that the Japanese themselves have always called the thing ‘animation’. From then on ‘animation’ often replaces ‘Japanimation’ in the lexicon, but it didn’t blast the old word out of circulation — usually attached to the ‘Old School’ of diehard, seasoned, loyal and zealous anime fans (‘otaku’) among the Americans, it is still valid to use ‘Japanimation’ today in any case of generally useless elaboration such as this, plus the term ‘anime’ is seen as too wide to refer to just the characteristic Japanese product — ‘anime’ could mean the entire baggage this planet must carry in the form of every kind of animation, including Beavis & Butthead.