Gran Torino Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Gran Torino - Movie Review Example The beginning of the movie shows Walt Kowalski as a loner, whose wife has recently died leaving him alone in a neighborhood which is gradually being filled heterogeneous working-class ethnic minorities. In such a scenario, the American flag hoisted in front of his house and his meticulous mowing of his lawn maintaining boundaries are suggestive of the strict boundaries Walt has in his mind. He is strictly American, who drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, drives a vintage Gran Torino and hates Land Cruiser and Hmong people. He refers to his Hmong neighbors as, "swamp rats" and "barbarians". He even doesnt mind closing the door on Thaos face when the later turns up at his door asking for jumper cables. However, his endeavor to save his lawn one night accidentally saves Thaos life and leads to a battery of interactions between the Lor family and himself. Initially reluctant to take the relationship with his neighbor any forward after that night, Walt throws away all the gifts and flowers that the Hmong neighbors leave at his doorstep as their mark of gratitude towards the man who saved their child. On one hand, this scene shows how the Hmong culture pays respect to a person who has helped them, on the other hand, it also shows how Walt is not ready to accept gratitude for a deed that he never actually intended to do. Walt only tried to keep people out of his lawn. However, he actually saves Sue from being harassed by three colored boys in a desolate area. It is Sue who introduces Walt to Hmong culture by enlightening him with the fact that, Hmong is a race of hill people. The party scene at Lors house actually shows Walts adaption to a new culture which till date he had no idea about. The audience along with Walt comes to know that Hmong think a persons soul resides on his head and should never be touched. They also consider it rude to make eye contact while talking and would most likely be found smiling while being

United 93 Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

United 93 Film - Essay Example United 93 Film The events in the movie are intended to be as truthful as possible, and it takes on the views and opinions of some of the family members of the victims. The movie begins with a scene of the hijackers praying in their hotel room. It then shows the four attackers leaving for Newark International Airport. Before they board the plane, a scene shows one of the hijackers calling his family members and saying goodbye. I was taken aback by this because I have always seen those people as terrorists and monsters, yet the seemed to be human just like me or anyone else during this movie. Once the plane is in the air, the scene is just like any normal morning domestic flight; people are laughing and joking around, sitting quietly in their seats, while others were just taking sips of coffee while admiring the view. While this flight is in the air, on the ground we can see the television coverage of the two planes crashing into the World Trade Center; the passengers on Flight 93 are oblivious to th e fact. Meanwhile, the terrorists are discussing among themselves when to start their operation. One of the hijackers assembles a fake bomb, while the other three storm the cockpit. The passengers begin to understand the events happening in New York and thus decide to retake the plane to prevent a similar event from occurring. They overpower the terrorist who claims to be holding a bomb, which later turns out to be a fake.

Generation Gaps in Culture

Generation Gaps in Culture Literature Review 2.1.Introduction This chapter deals with the main theme which is ‘the Generation Gap’ and also analyses the general notion of Generation Gap. It will discover the causes of Generation Gap as well as revealing the analysis of the causes and the effects on the society in general. 2.2The concept of Generation Gap ‘Generation Gap’ is a term generally used to define the differences in culture, thought and behaviour between younger generations and their elders. It can be also described as the changes taking place when older and younger people are unable to comprehend each other because of their different experiences, attitudes, lifestyles and activities. A generation is â€Å"a select group born during the same years that experienced momentous events during significant development cycles† (Kupperschmidt, 2000). â€Å"Generation gap† was heavily researched in the 1960s and 1970s (Smith, 2000). With the ongoing process of life, there will always be new generations. As society continues to progress and new technological innovations develop, a generation gap will continuously be predominant. The old are completely convinced that the ideas they have had throughout their lives are the ultimate and ideal. They disregard certain vital issues that are no longer valid in the case of modernity’’ (Neff, 2011). The changes that occur as society evolves will never allow for complete agreement between generations. The Generation Gap is one of the perhaps most debatable issues of the era (Aliampi, 1969). A generation is based on the range of birth years of a group of people. Generations may span several centuries from the time when people are individuals. Not all members of a generation demonstrate the same personalities. Generation differences were apparent in societal movements or changes (Brunswick, 1970). Generation gaps are unavoidable occurrences that take place in society. These changes in society arise because people become accustomed to an unstable environment. As our society progresses, people tends to change their likes and dislikes. These changes in society are important for development. 2.3History of the Generation Gap Even though there has been changes between the generations all the time, until the twentieth century the drastic transformations that the term implies were not greatly in evidence. Previously during that era, society was not considerably mobile. Normally, young people were living in extended families. They were either working on their personal farm or in a relative business. With the introduction of TV and shows, the youngsters were exposed to traditional impacts unfamiliar to their own relatives and values (Adcox, 2015). The 1920s presented the younger generation to jazz melody and disco galleries, consequently constructing a gap between them and their seniors. But the actual reason behind the widening of the generation gap lies in the 1950s (Baby Boomers) when the soldiers had just come back from wars and started having kin. The veteran was actually a little harsh in nature and disliked the young who were greatly influenced by the arrival of the rock way of life. The generation gap of the 1960s was because the older generation had severe values that the younger generation disagreed and they rebelled. Different diversions of pop culture were created, like Rock and Roll, Discos, and hippies. The following great gap was generated in 1980s that presented the MTV era (Pop, Rock, etc.) come from all parts covering the new generation completely different from their seniors. This gap begun widening enormously in the 1990s and now prolonged in leaps and bounds (The Generation Gap in India). 2.4Types of Generations 2.4.1Generation 1 (1900s – 1920s) The generation of the 1900s – 1920s had a life expectancy of 47 years. Families were outsized during that time and infant death was high. Around a fifth of women were losing their lives in childbirth. Delivery was done at home itself. They were doing teamwork, accepting the hierarchical chain of command and performing all the task without complaining (Codrington, 2008). Tradition and history guided their attitudes and beliefs. Individuals of this generation were â€Å"past oriented and history absorbed† (Zemke et al., 2000, p.39). This generation were loyal and patriotic (Smith, 2011). People of this generation were unlikely to make complaints regarding conditions in which they sense uncomfortable (Zemke et al., 2000). 2.4.2Silent Generation (1920s – 1945s) The Silent Generation valued family and patriotism. They had a parent remaining at home to look after the offspring, favoured dependability, and remained with one company over time (Allen, 2004). They were brought up in serious intervals when everybody were obliged to work. They were conventional and working hard as they hated getting into debts. They considered that by entire hard work, they could achieve success (Codrington, 2008). 2.4.3Baby Boomers (1946s – 1960s) Baby boomers have been identified as being good at relationships. They respected others rights and did not find mistakes on others (Rath, 1999 and Zemke et al., 2000). Baby Boomers â€Å"may not agree with stands and opinions of every part of the cohort group or exhibit the same behaviour in the same situations, but they do, in their hearts, understand one another† (Zemke et al., 2000, p.72). They are individuals who work to earn their living and willing to sacrifice to attain success (Kerstein, 2014). They like adventure and tend to take risks. They are the primary generation to realise lifetime unemployment no longer exist, so job security means nothing to them, but they consider job satisfaction. They are the first generation to divorce in a large extent and at a younger age than the prior generations (Soroptimist, 2010). 2.4.4Generation X (1960s – 1989s) The generation X raised up undergoing an era of crises. Generation x is often considered as the â€Å"lost or overlooked generation† (Ware et al., 2007, p.59). They were the first offspring in the olden times that mothers could take pills not to have. Throughout the turbulent era of the 1970s, majority of the generation X grew up (Smith, 2011). They work to have a life not live to work, they struggle to have balance in their lives. They are spiritual explorers who have faith in supernatural (Codrington, 2008). They are independent and are determined to be responsible and in control. They focus on their goals and solve problems (Soroptimist, 2010). 2.4.5Generation Y (1989s – 2000s) Generation Y are spoilt by computers and intense technological advances. One of the foremost features of this generation is their relaxation with technology and being good at it (Kersten, 2002 and Niemiec, 2000). They are the first generation to grow up with internet and they are dependent on technology (Soroptimist, 2010). They are born with a micro-chip in the mouth instead of a golden or silver spoon. This generation considers that because of technology, task can be done everywhere (Smith, 2011). They are self-confident and egotistical as well (Codrington, 2008). A majority of generation Y were familiar with â€Å"divorce, drugs, sex, AIDS, gangs and guns† (Zemke et. al., 2000, p.136). This generation committed to work in group for development and this has also been an indicative of their workplace conducts (Zemke et al., 2000). 2.5.The Notion of Generation Gap Generation gap has been considered as an unavoidable obstacle for the communications between the young and the old ones. These conflicts are normally arise as a result of urbanization, industrial development and family mobility (Bengtson and Achenbaum, 1993). The physical separation of the youngsters and the elders has led to a lack of consistent intergenerational connection and a rise in misperceptions and misunderstanding between the young and old generation (Newman, 1997). Becker (2000) stated that â€Å"distinct generations emerge as a result of the effects of discontinuous macro-social change on individual behaviour during the formative period of the life course. As soon as a new generation has developed, the development of its members before and after the formative period can be studied together with research on institutions related to the new generation† (p. 117). Mead (1970) stressed on the fact that, â€Å"Adults today know more about change than any previous generations. So we are set apart both from earlier generations and from the young who have rejected the past and all that their elders are making of the present† (p. 79). Gutman (1985) contended that in the modern society â€Å"the present younger generation had been socialized into believing that ‘young is beautiful, old is ugly’ in retaliation to if ‘the young knew and the old could’ (Jefferys 1997, p. 82). Chow (2001) pointed that youngsters care and give attention to their parents as well as accepting and obeying their preferences in the form of showing respect them. He also suggested that, â€Å"children nowadays are not as keen to consult their parents as in the past† in both side on marriage and job seeking. The social circumstance have evolved in such a way that they have often made the guidance of parents irrelevant and in appropriate (Chow, 2001). Children failed in fulfilling parents hopes on obedience when making their lifetime choices. Thus, this is one of the key issues in the reoccurrence of the ‘generation gap’. 2.6.The Causes of Generation Gap Generation gap has developed in society presently from numerous factors such as technological innovations, fashion, the evolution of the media, gifts, communication, attitudes, and sex. These aspects cause people to change in different ways that changes human opinion of what is right and generally acceptable, or to make a distinction between good and bad. These factors may cause discrepancies between generations, but they overall lead to positive development in society. 2.6.1Technological innovation At an early age, the younger generation starts making the use of technology and they never overwhelmed by it (Kelty, 2000). As the youth have grown up with technology and developed flexible skill, they are now considered as ‘digital natives’ (Courtois et al., 2009). The younger generation ‘know what to do’ with different updated technologies as they make the use of them more often with the pre-existing technology (Facer et al., 2001). Older generation find it difficult to learn how to use technology unlike the younger generation (Kelty, 2000). They have the feeling of sore when there are advancement in technology. Throughout the previous three eras, the degree and speed of technological advancement has brought new interest in generational differences (Clark. 2009 and Livingstone, 2003). 2.6.2.Television One of the most important creations that has influenced the younger generation is the Television. Nowadays, television is superb compared to the television that the older generation. The television that the older generation remembers is dissimilar, it contained fewer channels and were available mostly in black and white and it was much smaller (Neff, 2011). Because of these changes, a big generation gap has developed concerning entertainment and the ethics resulted from it. Televisions turned to be more predominant in children’s bedrooms (Jordan et al., 2010). Video game strategies are no more restricted to comforts that assign to televisions as it was long ago, however they are now accessible in the form of handheld devices as cellular phones (Vaterlaus, 2012). The multi-uses of television have widen the gap between the generations. The T.V remote control has become too complex for the old person who used to on/off button. The old may not necessarily be uneducated but they ar e not a tech-savvy as their children and grand-children. The same goes for the other gadgets such as video games, smart phones, iPad and iPhone. 2.6.3.Internet The Internet has had the major influence of widening the generation gap. It is the foremost persuasive technological innovation in the world nowadays with its multiple uses (Neff, 2011). The technology used to reach the internet has also advanced. The private desktop computer transformed into the laptops, and tablets. The internet can be currently reached on strategies as small as iPods and cell phones anytime and anywhere. Cell phones that permit internet access are referred to as â€Å"Smartphones† (Vaterlaus, 2012). A technology revolution has been produced by the internet in the younger generation. Internet is used by the younger generation every day and it also permit children to develop a sense of freedom. These changes in ethics have been prominent as main differences between generations (Neff, 2011). Consequently, these technological inventions lead to a rise in the width of the generation gap in the world nowadays. The internet is currently used â€Å"to play video games, view movies, watch television shows, and download music† (Jones, 2009). Juveniles who make use of the internet are no more restricted to view media, however they may communicate informally with others across the globe (Courtois, Mechant, De Marez and Verleye, 2009). Email, social-networking, chat rooms, and video chat permit communication to be immediate and even face-to-face (Jones, 2009). 2.6.4.Evolution of the Media Changes in media is another feature that causes generation gap to develop. Music, due to the increasing in technology is changing fast and new melodies are continuously released. The primary foremost apparent change among the two generations is the introduction of CD and MP3 player. Older generations grew up with records and record players. Music was not something that was freely accessible. Nowadays children have the facility of downloading songs and within minutes can listen to it in the earphones anywhere they want. This definitely ease causes the generation gap to widen. Not only have the types of melodies changed but the forms of genres also. For the older generation, the melodies of nowadays are basically noise for them, there are lack of beat and softer songs of the historical. People are obsessed on the tune of their early life, the tastes keep on varying and it is inevitable and cant be stopped. The two generations will certainly disagree on what is noble music. Because of t his, a generation gap is unavoidable. With the on-going changes in art and music, the gap will only continue to widen (Neff, 2011). 2.6.5.Fashion The way youngsters dress and appear are some of the most apparent, yet main factors in widening the generation gap. Appearances frequently reveal how one feels and their way of behaving. When the older generation was younger, they were more traditional, and it was revealed in their way of dressing. They dressed in a manner that was generally suitable at that time. The advancement of outfit displays a deliberate change from a traditional to liberal attitude. The film star heartened a movement into liberal dressing that certainly helps widening the existing generation gap. This particular change identifies a fashion choice that usually the young embrace and the old deprecate. This was the final step into varying the standards of dress. Womens evolution into freedom permitted for changes in the societal approval of this revealing show. As these values have transformed, the generation gap has only grown (Neff, 2011). 2.6.6.Attitudes The two generations adopted different attitudes. Most parents accept a straight forward expression and do not display their emotional state while interacting with their offspring. Moreover, they yell at their children more often or even give them physical punishment. These are due to the traditional practice. On the contrary, children dislike to obey their parents’ instructions as they consider that there are no reasons to support why parents’ opinions are correct. Furthermore, youngsters do not want their parents to treat them as little kids. They believe that they are grown-ups and they want to be free from parent’s control and refuse their guidelines. This helps them to achieve more self-esteem. Overall, both parents and their children do not perceive things from the same perspectives. As a result, misinterpretation is a great cause for the formation of generation gap (Kwok, 2010). 2.6.7.Communication The generation gap is considered to be one of the greatest communication failure (Aliampi, 1969). There is lack of time for communication. A majority of the parents spend less time to communicate with and listen to their children. Parents are unable to balance their time between work and family due to work overload. On the other hand, children are not sharing their day to day activities with their parents (Kwok. 2010). Social communication is moving with the fast paced nature of technological improvement (Vaterlaus, 2012). Communication channels offered by the internet are developing rapidly. Cell phone features comprise of speaking and texting which have convert into a consistent means of social communication for adolescents (Jones, 2009). Cell phone communication has become a family affair (Vaterlaus, 2012). There are less face to face conversation between parents and children, thus this causes the gap to widen. 2.6.8.Sex Sex has always been an issue on which the generations vary intensely. There are different conceptions of sex between the two generations. The way they think how to conceive are unlike. For the older generation, sex is a taboo. The young should not talk about sex and they cannot fall in love and have sex before marriage, punishment was very severe long ago. Marriage was being broken in the past because of virginity. On the contrary, for the younger generation sex is a normal activity. Sex before marriage is no more a sin for the young. This is shocking for the older generation. Teenage pregnancy was very rare before and now because of no sexual education, sex is reaching the youngsters. There is a big gap between the two generations. That gap has narrowed, but not all the time because younger generation have become more and more permissive (Smith, 2004). 2.6.9.Gifts Gifts play a key role in widening the gap between older and younger generation. The older generation were used to the custom of giving monetary gifts to the young (Nguyen, 2008). But today there is a big gap, gifts should be offered according to the demand of the young, they prefer gadgets. Younger generations of nowadays expect IPhone, IPad, mobile phones and laptops (Waterlow, 2012). When older generations are unable to accomplish the desires of the young, they have a sense of unfulfilment because the gift is not according to the social norm. The difference in utility value of a gift is enormous. The older generation’s concept of utility is quite opposed to the young. The older generation views utility of gift in terms of time associated to solidity and absolutism. The young has been brought up to consider gifts as something which are passing fads. 2.7.Summary This chapter has dealt with the idea of generation gap which is a universal phenomenon existing since time immemorial. Each period of human history has witness the causes of generation gap and tried to explain today we are perhaps most up to bring a clear explanation and have a better understanding about Generation Gap.

The Fashion Revolution of 1789-1799 Essay -- essays research papers f

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Between 1789 and 1799 France was going through great turmoil. Immense political and social upheavals were commonplace in the changing nation. New ideas were growing, ideas of freedom, government and of self-expression. Such new attitudes by the people gave rise to a new style of clothing. The clothing became more expressive and more ornate. People began to dress the way they wanted. French soon became the center stage for fashion. The French revolution, while failing in many aspects did one thing no one expected. The French revolution created a new image of fashion in France. There are several reasons that contributed to this occurrence. New beliefs of freedom, equality and self-expression each contributed to this new era of clothes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One major contributor to this new image in France was the new belief in freedom. This was a time in France were the tides were changing and the power over the country was moving from the hands of the Old regime to the Bougiose. As this occurred this working class felt a new freedom, and a respect for freedom that they had never felt before under the iron fists of the nobles. Such ideas broke the people away from their normal standards and every day drab. With a new freedom new ideas started to pop up everywhere. These new ideas led to the creation of â€Å" ‘the new costume’†¦ reproduced in England’s The Home Circle† (Ewing, 123). With the new freedom people of all sorts started to speak up and voice their desires. This caused a revolution in fashion for France with the invention of the sewing machine and other cloth production machines the ideas quickly became â€Å"vast quantities of fabrics† (Ewing, 105). As restrictions g ave way to freedom many old ideas gave way to new ones. With this newfound freedom women’s wear especially went through â€Å"a slow reform for women† (Ewing, 173). While corsets had been used earlier to give women a narrow waste and flatter chest, new half corsets were used to provide a â€Å"round, high waist† (Cassin-Scott, 74) while still providing the full chested appearance. This new freedom allowed men and women alike to change their image from a more strict and prudent society, to a more open and casual fashion. As the people gained more freedom so did the style of dress. The bustle gowns were a new style where â€Å"the curve between breasts and waists and waist... ...uality allowed self-expression to set in and mold the old styles into new ones more befitting of the people who wore them, and allowed the people to express themselves, being no longer limited by the boundaries of class. Ideas of freedom, equality, and self-expression from the French Revolution caused another revolution on its own, a revolution of image and style never before seen. The affects of the revolution even outlived the revolution itself, and were some of the few changes in France that actually remained the same, while most of the changes from it retrograded. The Revolution of fashion in the decade between 1789 and 1799 would not have occurred without the French Revolution, and it changed styles in the world forever. Bibliography:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cassin-Scott, Jack. French Costume and Fashion 1550-1920. New York. Brandford Press Ltd, 1986  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ewing, Elizabeth. Everyday Dress in France1650-1900. London. B.T. Badsford, 1984  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ribeiro, Aileen. Fashion in the French Revolution. London. B.T. Badsford, 1988  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yarwood, Doreen. European Costume. New York. Bonanza Books, 1975

History of Auguste Escoffier and Marie Careme Essay

Auguste Escoffier was born in Villeneuve-Loubet,the Provence region of France in October 28, 1846. When he turned 13, his father took him to Nice where he apprenticed at a restaurant owned by his uncle, thus beginning the illustrious career that he enjoyed for the next 62 years. His culinary career took him many places, from the early years at the fashionable Le Petit Moulin Rouge and several other restaurants in Paris, to Monte Carlo, Switzerland, and London. In 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War began, Escoffier was called to duty in the army where he served as Chef de Cuisine. It was during this period that he came to consider the need for tinned foods and was thus the first chef to undertake in-depth study of techniques for canning and preserving meats and vegetables. After returning to civilian life, Escoffier resumed his career in several Parisian restaurants where he steadily moved up the ladder of success. During his time at the Carlton, Escoffier developed a superior reputation for haute cuisine. While at the Savoy, Escoffier created one of his most famous recipes, Peach Melba, in honor of the Austrian singer Nellie Melba who was a guest at the hotel. Three of Escoffier’s most noted career achievements are revolutionizing and modernizing the menu, the art of cooking and the organization of the professional kitchen. Escoffier simplified the menu as it had been, writing the dishes down in the order in which they would be served (Service à   la Russe). He also developed the first à   la Carte menu. He simplified the art of cooking by getting rid of ostentatious food displays and elaborate garnishes and by reducing the number of courses served. He also emphasized the use of seasonal foods and lighter sauces. Escoffier also simplified professional kitchen organization, as he integrated it into a single unit from its previously individualized sections that operated autonomously and often created great wasted and duplication of labor. Throughout his career, Escoffier wrote a number of books, many of which continue to be considered important today. Some of his best-known works include Le Guide Culinaire (1903), Le Livre des Menus (1912) and Ma Cuisine (1934). As well as making changes in the culinary world, Escoffier undertook several philanthropic endeavors including the organization of programs to feed the hungry and programs to financially assist retired chefs. Escoffier received several honors in his lifetime. The French government recognized Escoffier in 1920 by making him a Chevalier of the Legion d’ Honneur, and later an Officer in 1928. The honors due Escoffier can be summed up by a quote from Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II when he told Escoffier, â€Å"I am the Emperor of Germany, but you are the emperor of chefs.† With his wife, Delphine Daffis, Escoffier retired to Monte Carlo in 1921, there he died on February 12, 1935. Marie Antoine Carà ªme, â€Å"Chef of kings and the king of Chefs.† In March 1811, Napoleon and his new wife, Marie Louise, welcomed the birth of a boy, the longed for male heir needed to carry the Bonaparte line forward. A grand feast was ordered to celebrate the christening of the young â€Å"King of Rome.† Only a year earlier, a young pastry chef named Marie-Antoine Carà ªme had dazzled the court with a still-talked about wedding cake. For the christening he would out-do himself again. Using spun sugar, confectioner’s paste, cream, and meringues all dyed in varying shades of blue, rose, and gold, Carà ªme created a magnificent replica of a Venetian gondola. He was abandoned in Paris at the age of 8 and began working as a kitchen boy in a Parisian steakhouse. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to Sylvain Bailly, a famous patissier in Paris. Carà ªme codified the four primary families of French sauces that form the basis of classic French cooking to this day–espagnole, và ©loutà ©, allemande, and bà ©chamel. Thanks to Carà ªme’s books, French chefs working at home and abroad had a basic, shared vocabulary to refer to in their cooking. Marie-Antoine Careme is famed for being the inventor of classical cuisine. Careme crafted pieces for Parisian high society, including Napoleon. A French diplomat and gourmand, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord set Careme a test, to produce a year’s worth of menu only using seasonal produce. Careme passed and Talleyrand adopted him into his kitchens. After the fall of Napoleon, Careme moved to London in 1815 and he worked as a chef de cuisine for George IV. He left London 3 years later as he found the climate depressing and felt English chefs treated him badly due to the celebrity attention he received. With the money he made as a freelance chef, Carà ªme opened his own pà ¢tisserieon the Rue de la Paix during the winter of 1803-04. Its windows regularly showcased his pià ¨ce montà ©es prompting travel guides to make it a recommended stop. He created these decorative centrepieces out of materials such as nougat, marzipan, sugar and pastry. Careme was inspired by architectural history and modelled many of his creations on temples, pyramids and ancient ruins. Some of his most famous creations include Gros Nougats, Grosses Meringues, Croquants (made with almonds and honey) and solilemmes (a bun like cake.) Contributions: The dessert Charlotte russe was invented by Marie Antoine Carà ªme who named it in honor of his Russian employer Czar Alexander I. Russe being the French word for â€Å"Russian†. Careme is also credited with inventing the French classic desert Napoleon Cake (Mille Feuille) while working as Napoleon’s chef. Napoleon like to eat Mille Feuille with strawberry favor, so it was named Napoleon cake. It has various flavours, from chocholate, strawbery, mango to berry. Careme was also interested in Architecture and applied it to dessert with is very impressive pieces montees and other creations that fascinated his contemporaries. (See pictures below) My Comment: First of all, I would like to thank both Auguste and Careme’s effort for what they have done in the food industry especially in the culinary field. Because of them we can now use or apply the things and knowledge that they had contributed to us in the late 18th century. Without them just imagine what a normal Restaurant kitchen would be without Escoffier’s Kitchen Brigade System? I guess it would be a total chaos and what about Careme’s four Mother sauces and his architectural designs in desserts? Just think what would be like in many special occasions especially in weddings? Without these ideas nothing good will happen to us. I actually admire them because at a young age they manage to be determined in many obstacles in life, they strive for their dream of becoming a real someone that led them to be famous in the food industry. What if I or we can do the same things that they’d done? Maybe someday we can be someone just like them in the future.

Distinctly Visual Essay Essay

Explore the ways the distinctly visual is viewed through experience of others Distinctly visual images are viewed through experiences of others, which are significant in developing portraits of the environment and relationships. Henry Lawson’s ‘Loaded Dog’ and ‘Drovers Wife’, produce distinctly visual images through the experience of characters relationships with each other and their ability to survive in the harsh Australian environment. Similarly, John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ looks at the environment, as a way to develop the relationship between characters and as a result creating a distinctly visual image for the audience In the prescribed text ‘Loaded Dog’, Lawson, develops visuals through the use of larrikin behavior in the Australian environment. The emptiness and often-hopeful feelings in the outback are shown through low modality ‘supposed to exist in the vicinity’, representing the hardships experienced in the Australian outback. Lawson creates vibrant visuals, enabling the reader to understand the vivid sounds in the outback. The use of onomatopoeia ‘the live fuse†¦ hissing and fluttering’, creates a distinct visual, and highlights the rich and exciting nature the Australian environment has to offer. Lawson signifies how experiences in the Australian outback, can create larrikin relationship between characters in the text. Tommy the dog, is seen as the troublemaker throughout the text and through the use of anthropomorphism ‘he took life, the world, his two legged mates, and his own instinct as a huge joke’, the reader is able to understa nd how relationships are developed through the experiences in the gold mining environment. Tommy’s ‘fun-loving nature’ is reflected upon his ‘two legged mates’, who develop humor in the text, in order to create distinctly visual images. Through repetition ‘Run Andy run!’ and vernacular ‘Don’t foller us’, the reader can develop a visual of the men running around in a panicked frenzy, allowing their experiences to create a vivid portrait. The jokey nature between the men allow the reader to develop a distinct visual of the men as ‘larrikins’, and their relationship as fun and friendly. The rhetorical question ‘how’s the fishing going Da-a-ve?’, enables Lawson to  highlight the fact the men create distinct relationships between each other, which led to a comedy of errors, allowing the reader to understand their experiences in the harsh Australian outback. Lawson has demonstrated distinctly visual images, through the detailed and realistic description of people and the environm ent, allowing the reader to depict images in the Australian outback. In the prescribed text ‘Drovers Wife’, Lawson demonstrates that experiences of the isolated and harsh environment creates a relationship with the surrounding Australian outback, create distinctly visual images for the reader. Images are created of her fighting a bush fire, presenting a further challenge for the drover’s wife to conquer in the harsh environment. Lawson demonstrates this through alliteration ‘grass grow’, creating a distinctly visual image, through the experience of the formidable Australian outback. Through colour imagery ‘ big black yellow eyed dog of all breeds’, the reader is able to understand the rough and tough, characteristics that enable the dog to survive in the outback. This colour imagery draws attention to the hard relationship between the dog and the family, and the experiences that enable the dog to protect the family. The Dog creates a distinctly visual image to the reader as Lawson highlights the tight bond between the family and the dog, and the effort they all make to protect each other. This is demonstrated through the simile ‘Tommy, who worked like a little hero’, creating a heroic characteristic that helps the family survive in the unforgiving environment. The relationship between the mother and the kids is shown through the vernacular ‘blast me if I do’, highlighting the empathy the son has for his mother and the distinctly visual bond that has developed. The cruel environment takes its toll on the drover’s wife and her experiences create distinctly visual images. Short syntax ‘she cried then’ demonstrates the relationship between her and the environment and how at times, it gets the better of her, creating a portrait of sorrow. The symbol of the ‘young lady’s journal’, stresses the Drover’s Wife and her ability to leave her womanhood in the past, in order to confront the formidable Australian outback, creating a visual that demonstrates her experiences formed from her relationships in the environment. Lawson creates a text that develops distinctly visual images, through experiences of the drover’s wife  surviving in the unkind environment. In the prescribed text ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Steinbeck creates a distinctive relationship with the characters and uses vivid images to create a backdrop to the environment. Through the clarity of the environment, the reader is able to understand that the environment, determines the moods and relationships of the characters. The simile ‘flies shot like rushing stars’ and assonance ‘the deep green of the Salinas River’, demonstrates where the ventures of the men will take place, and the descriptive language creates a distinctly visual image through the experience of the men. Steinbeck identifies the environment as a warm and peaceful setting through the visual imagery ‘the sycamore leaves whispered in a little night breeze’. These vivid images create a way to understand the natural beauty of the environment, which is significant in that the environment produces different experiences for the characters and therefore creating a distin ctly visual image. Steinbeck uses light and darkness to create symbolism. ‘The two men glanced up, for the rectangle door of sunshine was cut off. A girl was standing there’. The reader is able to visualize the light as hope and dreams, and Curley’s wife, symbolizing the cut off of these dreams. These experiences create distinctly visual images. The relationship between characters Lennie and George demonstrates that experiences of the men in the rugged environment shape the visual images. Zoomorphism ‘Lennie dabbled his paw in the water’ and characterization ‘the first man was small and quick dark of face with restless eyes’, shows the comparison between the men, and how their different characteristics enables a friendship between the men. One predominantly the leader, and the other the follower. The relationship of how the men interact with each other is demonstrated through vernacular ‘they said we was here when we wasn’t’, enables the reader to understand and visualize their experiences. In the related text ‘Loaded Dog’ and ‘Drovers Wife’, Henry Lawson highlights the importance of relationships in surviving in the harsh Australian bush. Through the relationships in the bush, the reader can understand how the characters experiences create distinctly visual images. Similarly in John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’, the environment determines the experiences  that the characters face, which further develops their relationship creating a distinctly visual image.

Voice over IP - Future of Communications essays

Voice over IP - Future of Communications essays Global communications has become a must for all sectors of business and life for our world today. With the spreading use of the Internet, people across the globe are able to communicate. This paper will address the growing use of a technology to upgrade our old PSTN system of voice communications. This technology builds off the same technology we use today with our computers and the Internet. To begin I will give an overview of the Global PSTN infrastructure from regions across the globe. Next moving into a more technical look at the technology. And finally, seeing how this new technology will affect our current Global PSTN. This technology that will change voice communications is Voice Over IP or VoIP. Todays global economy is starving for information transmissions. Timeliness of that speed is a must. With the old PSTN networks limited to just voice, and not able to send Data/Voice/Video, a need for a new way has grown. Flexibility is also available with VoIP systems compared to PSTN, so that future technology can be adopted and implemented with less troubles. Now lets look at a few countries and regions. Egypt, the second most sophisticated economy in Africa, has been taking major steps to improve their communication networks. First steps were to begin the process of privatizing their telecommunications and industries. This has been a slow process, but positive results are beginning to emerge. Egypts PSTN capacity is at about 4,800,000 with only about 3,650,000 actually connected. Egypts Internet has seen a recent growth not only in the industrial sectors, but also among the private sector. With Egypt privatizing their telecommunications, room for advancement is sure to grow with future investments. (African Connection) Western Europe like most western cultures is growing fast in the communication sectors. Growth in the use of cellular has give Europe a head start on the United States wh...

How to Learn from Your Math Mistakes

How to Learn from Your Math Mistakes The most powerful learning experiences often result from making mistakes. I usually address my students with the above phrase after handing out marked papers, tests and exams. I then provide time for my students to carefully analyze their errors. I also ask them to keep a running record/journal of the patterns of their errors. Understanding how and where you go wrong will lead to enhanced learning and improved grades- a habit often developed by strong math students. Its not unlike me to develop my next test based on a variety of student errors! How often have you looked over your marked paper and analyzed your errors? When doing so, how many times have you almost immediately realized exactly where you went wrong and wished that if only you had caught that error prior to submitting your paper to your instructor? Or, if not, how often have you looked closely to see where you went wrong and worked on the problem for the correct solution only to have one of those A Ha moments? A Ha moments or the sudden enlightening moment resulting from the newly discovered understanding of the misconceived error usually means a breakthrough in learning, which often means that youll rarely repeat that error again. Instructors of mathematics often look for those moments when they are teaching new concepts in mathematics; those moments result in success. Success from previous errors isnt usually due to the memorization of a rule or pattern or formula, rather, it stems from a deeper understanding of why instead of how the problem was resolved. When we understand the whys behind a mathematical concept rather than the hows, we often have a better and deeper understanding of the specific concept. Here are the three common errors and a few remedies to address them. Symptoms and Underlying Causes of Errors When reviewing the errors on your papers, its crucial that you understand the nature of the errors and why you made it (them). Ive listed a few things to look for: Mechanical errors (transposed number, sloppy mental math, hurried approach, forgotten step, lack of review)Application errors (misunderstanding of one or more of the required step(s)Knowledge based errors (lack of knowledge of the concept, unfamiliar with terminology)Order of Operations (often stems from rote learning as opposed to having a true understanding)Incomplete (practice, practice and practice, this leads to having the knowledge more readily available) Success Is Failure Inside Out! Think like a mathematician and learn from your previous mistakes. In order to do so, I would suggest that you keep a record or journal of the patterns of errors. Mathematics requires a lot of practice, review the concepts that caused you grief from previous tests. Keep all of your marked test papers, this will assist you to prepare for ongoing summative tests. Diagnose problems immediately! When you are struggling with a specific concept, dont wait to get assistance (thats like going to the doctor three days after breaking your arm) get immediate help when you need it, if your tutor or instructor isnt available - take the initiative and go online, post to forums or look for interactive tutorials to guide you through. Remember, problems can be your friends!

Amplitude Modulation (AM) Process Overview

Amplitude Modulation (AM) Process Overview Modulation is the process of modifying the characteristic of one signal in accordance with some characteristic of another signal. In most cases, the information signal, be it voice, video, binary data, or some other information, is normally used to modify a higher-frequency signal known as the carrier. The information signal is usually called the modulating signal, and the higher-frequency signal which is being modulated is called the carrier or modulated wave. The carrier is usually a sine wave, while the information signal can be of any shape, permitting both analog and digital signals to be transmitted. In most cases, the carrier frequency is considerably higher than the highest information frequency to be transmitted. 4.2 Amplitude Modulation (AM) Amplitude modulation is the process of changing the amplitude of a relatively high frequency carrier signal in proportion with the instantaneous value of the modulating signal (information). The carrier frequency remains constant durin g the modulation process but that its amplitude varies in accordance with the modulating signal. An increase in the modulating signal amplitude causes the amplitude of the carrier to increase. Both the positive and negative peaks of the carrier wave vary with the modulating signal. An increase or decrease in the amplitude of the modulating signal causes a corresponding increase or decrease in both the positive and negative peaks of the carrier amplitude. If you interconnect the positive and negative peaks of the carrier waveform with an imaginary line, then you re-create the exact shape of the modulating information signal. This imaginary line on the carrier waveform is known as the envelope, and it is the same as the modulating signal. Amplitude modulation that results in two sidebands and a carrier is often called double sideband amplitude modulation (DSB-AM). In its basic form, amplitude modulation produces a signal with power concentrated at the carrier frequency and in two adja cent sidebands. Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the modulating signal and is a mirror image of the other. Amplitude modulation is inefficient in terms of power usage and much of it is wasted. At least two-thirds of the power is concentrated in the carrier signal, which carries no useful information; the remaining power is split between two identical sidebands, though only one of these is needed since they contain identical information. 4.2.1 Mathematical Representation of AM Suppose we wish to modulate a simple sine wave on a carrier wave. The equation for the carrier wave of frequency fc, taking its phase to be a reference phase of zero, is The equation for the simple sine wave of frequency fm (the signal we wish to broadcast) is Amplitude modulation is performed simply by adding vm(t) to Vc. The amplitude-modulated signal is then The formula for vam(t) above may be written The broadcast signal consists of the carrier wave plus two sinusoidal waves each with a freque ncy slightly different from fc, known as sidebands. For the sinusoidal signals used here, these are at fc + fm and fc − fm. As long as the broadcast (carrier wave) frequencies are sufficiently spaced out so that these side bands do not overlap, stations will not interfere with one another.

Mergers Don't Always Lead to Culture Clashes Paper Essay

Mergers Don't Always Lead to Culture Clashes Paper - Essay Example People thought the two cultures would clash but it was successful. Q1. What ways were the cultures of BANK of America and NMBA incompatible? In the year 2005, Bank of America acquired MBA at a cost of 35 billion dollar (More, 2006). MBNA’s employers had accustomed their employees to high salaries packages. Their headquarters were an example of luxury at its best. They had private jets and yachts, and enjoyed a company golf course. They had adopted a formal mode of dressing and it was strictly suit and tie. Bank of America on the other hand, paid its employees’ salaries that were in line with the market figures. They had a casual approach towards their mode of dressing. They also preferred simplicity of premises in terms of the architecture. The differences between the cultures of the two companies were based on the social interactions. MBNA accuses its counterparts of being bureaucratic and BOA terms the MBNA directors as being arrogant. The companies approach to the co rporate image is the bottom line of the differences. Q2. Why do you think their cultures seem to mesh and rather than clash? The two companies were quite compatible. Their different approaches were put together and each adopted the other company’s culture. They both compromised on their stands. The two corporate cultures meshed due to the fact that their differences were only prevalent on the corporate image. The differences lay on issues that could be dealt with easily. The adjustment of the two companies to the new corporate culture did not need time or negative financial complications for the company. For example, the issue of salaries was handled by adopting the market figures; thus, the MBNA staff had to suffer from pay cuts. The golf course and private jets were disposed, but one private jet was retained. The issue of dressing was handled with adopting MBNA official setting for the public relation department. BOA’s casual approach was adopted for the other depart ments. Each company policies were evaluated and the best solution was used. Q3. Do you think culture is important to the success of a merger/acquisition? According to Deal and Kennedy (2008), dealing with the corporate culture when merging two companies is very important. It is essential due to the fact that it will determine the success of the new company. The corporate culture of a company contributes to the profitability of accompany to some extent. It is therefore, important to ensure that you incorporate both cultures and blend them in a way that the profit attributed to the two companies corporate culture will be retained. The accomplishment of the acquisition will depend on the way the two companies deal with the different corporate cultures. The other reason as to why it is important to ensure the success of merging is to achieve the best value of the new company. The deal value should not be eroded with the new merger. It is crucial that the new company’s corporate c ulture is not undermined or lacks consideration. The new employees should feel comfortable in the new working environment for the best results to be achieved. The new corporate culture should be accepted by the employees freely. Q4. How much of the smooth transition if any, do you think comes from both companies glossing over real differences in an effort to make the merger work? Both companies’ ability to compromise was the factor that contributed to the smooth acquisition of the two compan

Critically assess the importance of solar variability, volcanic Essay

Critically assess the importance of solar variability, volcanic eruptions and greenhouse gas concentrations as climate forcing f - Essay Example Climate change is brought about by many factors. These include circulation of the oceanic processes, solar variations, volcanic eruptions, plate tectonic activities and human factors. Studies to determine the level of climate change is done using observation and theorems. Factors that affect climate are called climate forcings (Yang et al,2000) .They are internal and external climate forcings; these forcings affect some parts of the environment faster or slower depending on the position of the given atmospheric location. The ocean is known to respond slowly to climate forcings. Forcings are either internal or external depending on the genesis of the process (Valet, 2003). Internal forcings include natural processes within the atmosphere like volcanic eruptions, tectonic plate movements, variations in solar radiations and concentration of greenhouse gas effects (Geel et al., 1999). External forcings are human activities that lead to the emission of dangerous gases into the atmosphere. There also are climate change feedbacks which are elements that act in three ways to climatic forcings (Orr, 1999). It can be sudden, where there occurs a sudden cooling effect occasioned by a high presence of volcanic ash in the atmosphere which will reflect sunlight and heat. It can be gradual, in this case, the water bodies become warm slowly; and then overflow. The third possibility is a combination of both fast and slow reactions, in such a situation a sudden cooling of ice is experienced in the Arctic Ocean followed by a sudden meltdown of the ocean ice (Grootes and Stuiver, 1997). Currently, we are in a period between two ice ages, and if there are no other influences, another ice age will occur in a time scale of thousands of years. The rate of global temperature change linked to astronomical forcing is approximated to be in the order of a few tenths of a degree Celsius per thousand years (Washington et al., 2001). Solar Variations Information on solar changes is obtained f rom cosmogenic radionuclide records. The variables used in this study illustrate how changes over periods of time have influenced the climatic conditions of given geographical regulates and the production of carbon dioxide. (Svensmark and Friis-Christensen, 1997). High powered galactic cosmic rays induce a reactivity series of nuclear reactions that produce cosmogenic radionuclide in the atmosphere. When elements carrying high energy hit oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, Be (beryllium) is formed. Further reactions of this element with nitrogen form slow neutrons. The sun regulates the intensity of the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) that reaches the earth’s surface and in this way, affects the production of radionuclides in the atmosphere. After Be is formed, it combines with aerosols and hangs in the atmosphere for one to two years (Mc Hargue and Damon, 1997). Disparities in 10Be records between Antarctica and Greenland during 1950 AD have led to differing conclusions regard ing solar activity in this period (Lean, 1991). According to Greenland records, there was low 10 Be production after 1950 AD but in the Antarctic records, the trend is opposite. These 11-year averages of sunspot data and the neutron monitor show

Organizational Verbal Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Verbal Communication - Essay Example One disadvantage of internal verbal communication is that information passed may be incomplete, thus rendering it unreliable (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). Incompleteness of information may result from failure of the communicator to include important issues in the message, or may result from lack of good communication skills. One main advantage of internal verbal communication is that it is fast, and individual members or groups working within an organization can be reached easily with messages (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). Managers can employ this method of communication to communicate to a large group within a very short time, thus ending up saving a lot of time and other resources that could have been utilized if other forms of communication, such as written communication method, could have been used. Face-to-face communication is instantaneous. It is always used in situations such as meetings or in interviews where quick response and clarification is needed immediately, thus making it t he most effective form of communication in such situations (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). Moreover, little time is also spent in passing information, and individuals can respond to each other or seek clarifications instantly. One main disadvantage of this form of communication is that it mostly relies on memory (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). When important information is required from somebody, maybe at the time he/she were not prepared to respond, they might give wrong information due to inability to remember some information. As such, the information shared in this manner end up being inaccurate and therefore unreliable. Telephone and voicemail are forms of communication that makes it possible to pass and receive quick information that does not need to be written down. Telephone is very quick in case one wants to make inquiries, or when one wants to pass urgent information.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 139

Summary - Essay Example Secondly, a symbol commences with the initial rupture immediately given. That is, symbols are usually in the form of phoneme. The phoneme, on its own, does not mean anything2. Continued utterance, of the phoneme, gives it meaning. The Eucharist, in comparison to a phoneme, is uttered by preachers and priests alike. The Catholic Mass, for example, is centred on the Eucharist. Thirdly, the existence of a symbol depends on the differences and relations with other parts in the system. Once it is isolated from the parts, the symbol can adopt any meaning. Lastly, a symbol’s value arises from its location in relation to the whole system3. The Eucharist relates to the other parts of the Mass. All events, in the Mass, culminate to the Eucharist. This grants the Eucharist its meaning as the body of Christ. Chauvet illustrates this through the example of a shard of porcelain strewn on a street. The shard helps us in recognizing that it was once a vase. Chauvet clearly distinguishes the two from their definition down to their usage. She defines sign as an element used to refer to something else4. The difference between the two is homologous to the analogy of the difference between the market-value principle and the symbolic-exchange principle. According to Chauvet, receiving a sacrament symbolizes the passage of the word to the body of its receiver5. The new covenant states that the Spirit of God will become one with the body of the people. Through the sacramental symbol, Christians are able to live out of God’s

Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Critique - Essay Example There have been various incidences where music has been used asan important therapeutic tool for people suffering from mental and other kinds of health diseases and challenges (Bayley, 2010). People’s tastes and preferences for music varies from one group to another. While some opt to listen to live bands and presentations, others prefer listening to music that is recorded, as they point out that this experience allows them to listen to it repeatedly. This paper examines the concept of recorded music and how it is influencing people’s preference for leisure. It focuses on ome of the advanatges that accompny recorded music for both artists and their respective audiences; additionally, it examines how technology is influencing the music industry. Music recording refers to the process of re-creation and inscription of different forms of sound waves like singing, spoken voice, sound effects and instrumental music. Music can be recorded in two main ways, either in analog or digital systems. Analog recording is often facilitated by a microphone, which has the ability to detect and pick sound waves, thus recording them as graphic representations of the particular sound waves. Analog music recording was commonly used many decades ago before the invention of effective and efficient systems of music recording, it can store music for a long time and be listened to and watched in different places easily (Cook, 2009). Digital recording, which is an advanced form of the analog music converts analog sound waves and signals picked up by a microphone into digital forms through the digitization process. In all forms, digitally recorded music is often regarded as being of high quality compared to music recorded by analog systems. Currently, various storage devices have been developed by different companies to enable people to carry recorded music to different places

Organizational Verbal Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Verbal Communication - Essay Example One disadvantage of internal verbal communication is that information passed may be incomplete, thus rendering it unreliable (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). Incompleteness of information may result from failure of the communicator to include important issues in the message, or may result from lack of good communication skills. One main advantage of internal verbal communication is that it is fast, and individual members or groups working within an organization can be reached easily with messages (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). Managers can employ this method of communication to communicate to a large group within a very short time, thus ending up saving a lot of time and other resources that could have been utilized if other forms of communication, such as written communication method, could have been used. Face-to-face communication is instantaneous. It is always used in situations such as meetings or in interviews where quick response and clarification is needed immediately, thus making it t he most effective form of communication in such situations (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). Moreover, little time is also spent in passing information, and individuals can respond to each other or seek clarifications instantly. One main disadvantage of this form of communication is that it mostly relies on memory (Sathya & Bhagaban, 2009). When important information is required from somebody, maybe at the time he/she were not prepared to respond, they might give wrong information due to inability to remember some information. As such, the information shared in this manner end up being inaccurate and therefore unreliable. Telephone and voicemail are forms of communication that makes it possible to pass and receive quick information that does not need to be written down. Telephone is very quick in case one wants to make inquiries, or when one wants to pass urgent information.

Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Critique - Essay Example There have been various incidences where music has been used asan important therapeutic tool for people suffering from mental and other kinds of health diseases and challenges (Bayley, 2010). People’s tastes and preferences for music varies from one group to another. While some opt to listen to live bands and presentations, others prefer listening to music that is recorded, as they point out that this experience allows them to listen to it repeatedly. This paper examines the concept of recorded music and how it is influencing people’s preference for leisure. It focuses on ome of the advanatges that accompny recorded music for both artists and their respective audiences; additionally, it examines how technology is influencing the music industry. Music recording refers to the process of re-creation and inscription of different forms of sound waves like singing, spoken voice, sound effects and instrumental music. Music can be recorded in two main ways, either in analog or digital systems. Analog recording is often facilitated by a microphone, which has the ability to detect and pick sound waves, thus recording them as graphic representations of the particular sound waves. Analog music recording was commonly used many decades ago before the invention of effective and efficient systems of music recording, it can store music for a long time and be listened to and watched in different places easily (Cook, 2009). Digital recording, which is an advanced form of the analog music converts analog sound waves and signals picked up by a microphone into digital forms through the digitization process. In all forms, digitally recorded music is often regarded as being of high quality compared to music recorded by analog systems. Currently, various storage devices have been developed by different companies to enable people to carry recorded music to different places

Plato and Aristotle Essay Example for Free

Plato and Aristotle Essay Plato the great Greek classical philosopher lived between c. 427 and c. 347 BC. Plato together with his mentor, Socrates, and Aristotle (384-322 BC) are credited with helping lay the foundations of Western philosophy. Plato was a student of Socrates and the unjust death of Socrates by execution is thought to have profoundly affected influenced him. Plato would later write in his dialogues the teachings of Socrates. Besides philosophizing, Plato was also a mathematician who helped show the distinction between pure and applied mathematics. Plato also founded what is thought to be the first institution of higher learning in Western world, the Academy, in Athens. Plato was a sophisticated writer and this is evident in the dialogues. The dialogues have continued to be used to teach philosophy, logic, rhetoric and mathematics. Indeed Plato’s philosophy has influenced so many, but not necessarily likeminded individuals and they include Plato’s student and his greatest critic, Aristotle, Plotinus, Philo, St. Augustine, Avicenna, St. Bonaventure, Hegel, to name just but a few. The Christian Church was highly inspired and informed by Platonism. The Cambridge Platonists were so named because of the indelible mark Plato had left in their scholarly lives. Some other philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche together with his followers would attack Plato teachings. The list is endless. Plato wielded so much influence and this drove Alfred North Whitehead to observe famously: â€Å"All Western philosophy consists of footnotes of Plato. At the heart of Platonism is the theory of forms, which will you find with much surprise that Plato only deals with it almost in passing in his dialogues. Nevertheless the theory has come to be a tool that can help us understand Plato’s approach to ethics and metaphysics, aesthetics and epistemology. Plato developed the theory in his middle-period dialogues like Phaedo, Symposium, and Republic and then later criticized it himself in Parmenides (Brickhouse and Smith, 2008). The theory is an explanation of Plato’s belief that there exists an immaterial Universe of ‘forms’, or perfect aspects of everyday things such as table, bird, ideas/emotions, joy, action, etc (uororegon. edu/plato. html, par. 3). This means that the objects and the ideas in our material world are mere shadows of the forms. To be able to understand the theory of forms better we first need to understand what forms as Plato viewed them. A form is a conceptual property or quality. If you can take an object and then separate that object and consider it by itself then it is form you are contemplating. If we could use the example of a basketball, separate its roundness from its color, its weight, and perhaps its texture and then think just of its roundness, this is the form of roundness. And as Plato put it the roundness exists apart from the basketball and in a different mode of existence than it. Form is not only the idea of roundness you have in the mind, form exists independently of the basketball and also independently of whether someone thinks of it. This applies to all round things, not just basketball. They participate or copy the form of roundness. Forms differ from material objects because of the properties they have. The first property of forms is that they are transcendent and unlike material things do not exist in time and space. A basketball exists at a particular place and at a particular time. The basketball’s roundness form does not exist in space and this would explain why they are unchanging. A form like roundness will never change and it does even exist in time. It remains the same at all times and at all places. You can instantiate a form in any different place or time and it will still be the same. Even if all objects that are round are destroyed the property of roundness would still exist. The other property of forms is that they are pure i. e. hey are properties separated from all other properties (Ryle, par. 7). To use the example of basketball still, we will notice that it is composed of many properties apart from the roundness and this include ballness, orangeness, elasticity, etc, and all are put together to make one basketball. Therefore there are many forms existing by themselves, apart from time and space. Roundness is just pure roundness and so is orangeness. Forms are different from material objects because they are transcendent and pure. Forms can also be understood as being archetypes. This is means that they are the perfect examples of the property they represent, they are the perfect demonstration upon which all material objects are based. Forms are also Ultimately Real entities. Every material object is a copy of a collection of forms. The other thing to note about forms is that they are Causes meaning they give explanations of why things are the way they are and they are also the source or origin of the being of things ( Banach, par 11). The last aspect of forms is that they are Systematically Interconnected. This is to say that forms encompass a system starting from the form of the Good moving from more general to more particular – from more objective to more subjective The general structure Plato’s argument goes like this: we do believe that the more objective a concept is, the more real the thing it represents. This we do by using objectivity to distinguish appearance from reality. So the more objective you get, the more real you get. Plato’s second premise is that forms are more objective than material objects. This leads to the conclusion that forms are more real than objects. Plato says that the world we perceive with our senses often deceives us, a phenomenon that would not be present if the world and the objects we perceive with our senses were real. It appears that all the objects we perceive are simply images or experiences of our mind. They are subjective points of view for real things. The world we see is not the real world but its image and it is difficult to ascertain at what level of observation we get in touch with the real objects that make up the world. So we are forced to assume that the more objective the concept of description is the more real the object it describes. Through what is called dialectic process we combine many different points of view to achieve a more objective description that accommodates all the other common points of view. For Plato therefore real objects cannot be the subjective images we perceive. The everyday material objects like chairs, tables, trees, are different in that they take into account all of the subjective images we form of a single object. But we should not take this as the real object because: we can only get in contact with these objects through subjective image. They also contain many different properties that are combined. Lastly, these objects are always changing. As such the only level that things really exist is at the level of single properties removed from particular objects. What we perceive of the world are subjective perspectives and unless there are forms, it would appear that some aspect of relativism is true. Relativism holds that every thing in existence is subject to a subjective view of truth, beauty, truth and justice. Plato disputed relativism saying most of the times we objectively discuss and argue about concepts like beauty, truth and justice and as such this dialectic process helps us understand them better. So if there forms of beauty, truth and justice then it is possible to objectively criticize subjective points of view about these things. Plato writes that forms approximate forms. As such the form of beauty is perfect beauty and the form of justice is perfect justice. Conceiving of Forms in this way was important to Plato because it enabled the philosopher who grasps the entities to be best able to judge to what extent sensible instances of the Forms are good examples of the Forms they approximate (Philosophyprofessor. com, 2008) Theory of forms can aid an individual make judgments of good and bad, better or worse by participating or copying the attributes of the all the good practices around us. If we understand the concept of something we can also tell if the concept is one that we should aspire to. Teleology is the study of goals, ends, and purposes. Telos means â€Å"end† or â€Å"purpose†. A person holding a teleological world view believes that the end of things provides meaning for all that has happened or that will occur. If one holds that history has a timeline with a beginning and end, in a teleological view of the world, then the meaning and value of all historical events is derived from their ends or purposes. Aristotle, Plato’s student, is the leading proponent of the teleological view (Hooker, par. 1). In giving his four causes (aitia) for things, Aristotle lists the end/purpose for which the thing was made as the most important. Aristotle conducted a causal investigation of a specific department of reality which result in causal knowledge. Causal knowledge is the knowledge of appropriate causes. Aristotle emphasized the concept of cause and this explains why his theory causality is sometimes referred to as the doctrine of four causes. According to Aristotle, what cause is, and how many types causes there are, is what is key to a successful investigation of the world around (plato. tanford. edu/entries/aristotle-causality, 2008) Aristotle says that we can deduce that we have knowledge of a thing if only we have grasped its cause, or its why. Aristotle provides a general account of the four causes. It is a general account because it is applicable to everything requiring an explanation and even includes artistic productions and human actions. In Aristotle theory of causality, there are four types of causes that can be used to answer a why-question. These are: 1. The material cause, or â€Å"that out of which†, the bronze of a statue . The formal cause, or â€Å"the form†, â€Å"the account of what-it-is-to-be†, the shape of a statue 3. The efficient cause, or â€Å"the primary source of the change or rest†, the artist, the art of bronze-casting the statue. 4. The final cause, or â€Å"the end, that for the sake of which a thing is done†. (plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle-causality, 2008) The four causes can all explain something. The start of the making of the bronze statue until it is finished can be explained by all the four causes. The efficient cause in the production of the statue requires to be elaborated in that Aristotle thought the art of bronze-casting should be picked over the artist who has mastered the art as the appropriate specification for the efficient cause. Aristotle chooses to do this because he is trying to provide an explanation of statue production which does not make reference to the desires or beliefs or intentions of an artist. The four causes all offer a teleological explanation for the production of a bronze statue. The type of teleological explanation provided above does not depend on such psychological concepts as desires, beliefs and intentions. This is because Aristotle wanted a model that could also be used to investigate nature. Some people have tried to point out that Aristotle tries to explain nature using an inappropriate psychological model, a model that has a purposive agent that is sensitive to the end. But this assertion can be countered by saying that Aristotle does not â€Å"psychologize† nature because his inquiry is a teleological model free from the psychological factors. Aristotle does not always disqualify the beliefs and desires. In the case of the production of the bronze statue, one may be interested in a particular bronze statue because it could be the great achievement of an artisan who has mastered the art and applied it distinctively. In this case it is in order to include the beliefs and desires of the artist. Aristotle causal theory is not only used to explain nature but can to explain many other areas that make up the human existence. It certainly can help us make good judgments concerning the good and bad. This is true if we can think up the four causes before we do or say anything. The four causes can act as guide to all we do and say, we can also use the four causes to determine the usefulness of something. If every time we think of the purpose or the goal of something we can certainly be able to tell if it is a good idea or a bad one before we do it. As such we will be in a position to make sound judgments. When we compare Plato’s theory of forms and Aristotle theory of causality what possibly is the difference or the similarity of the judgment that one can make? Plato’s theory is based on concepts that we do not see but are in existence; as such we should aspire to these qualities. In instances where we need to make just judgments we should be guided by what we know as perfect justice. It would appear that Plato’s theory of forms would be problematic in dealing with many problems of the world since we are required to transcend it. Aristotle’s four causes on the other hand seems more suited to us. It is easy to grasp and it is easy to determine the causal reality. Plato’s theory of forms is good only in as far as it is being handled by person with better understanding of how it really works. This is then means it cannot be used by everybody except those schooled in philosophy. Aristotle’s teleological explanation of the world is very applicable in the world today and in fact almost every in the society can use it. It is a just a matter of thinking what an action will achieve, the end. So the Aristotle’s teleology is more or less available to the general population than Plato’s theory of forms where they will have to conceptualize things.

Approaches to Management and Organisational Behaviour

Approaches to Management and Organisational Behaviour Approaches to Management and Organisational Behaviour 1. Objectives This report is to further develop the understanding on the management and organisational behaviors of organizations by studying on several areas including the business background, organisational structure design and the organisations approaches of two organisations which are having similar business nature. Organisations approaches include motivation, leadership, learning knowledge management, human resource management, culture diversity, information technology and communication which would be discussed one by one in the following sections. Two organisations which are being studied and discussed in this report are Google Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. 2. Business Background Google Inc. (named as Google in this report) is a technology company which was founded by two Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin in Year 1998. Googles organisational mission is To organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful aiming to develop and provide powerful search engine for letting people to find what they are looking for faster and easier. Google is acting as an Internet Information Provider with the core business on providing search services and advertising through internet. It provides various internet services (including e-mail services, online shopping services, YouTube and so on) and document processing solutions Google Doc, which is available online at free for people to view/ save/ edit/ save documents, to public. Besides, it also provides different kinds of customized intranet or software solutions on Search or Document Processing technology to enterprises. Apart from providing internet or intranet services via networked PCs, Google also working hard on developing the technology for allowing people to access information via mobile devices like operating system Android which is specifically designed to be used in mobile devices , and Chrome OS which is designed for portable PC such as netbooks.. Google grows so quickly that apart from the corporate headquarter, named Googleplex located in California U.S.A., it also has branches located in different countries (including USA, Europe, Asia, Canada, Latin America and so on) around the world and now having more than 19,000 employees worldwide. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft Corporation (name as Microsoft in this report) is a technology company which was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Year 1975. Microsofts organisational mission and values are To help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential aiming to provide and support people the most innovative ways and technologies (including software and hardware devices) for bringing out peoples talent and achieving their goals at the highest level. Microsoft is acting as a worldwide software and hardware products and solutions provider with 7 core business categories (as below listed) covers the needs for different gradation of people, also covers both peoples living and business. Windows Client: including all Microsoft Windows embedded operating system, Information Worker: including all Microsoft stand-alone desktop applications like Microsoft Officeetc, Business Solutions: including all Microsoft customized business process applications and services, Server Tools: including all Microsoft server software, software developer tools and developer network, Mobile and Embedded Devices: including all Microsoft mobile devices like Pocket PC, Mobile Explorer microbrowseretc, MSN: including all Microsoft web-based services and Home Entertainment: including all Microsoft consumer hardware software, online games, TV platformetc. Microsoft is a globalized world size organisation. Apart from its headquarter located in Redmond, USA, it is now having over 40 offices in different countries and having over 90,000 employees worldwide. 3. Organisational Structure and Design 3.1 Organisation Structure of Google Google consisted of a lot of shareholders, every shareholder had the right to vote for the decision. At the same time, Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had the sufficient power to affect the final decision in order to make sure whole organization is under control. Although Google is now a globalized world sized organisation, it kept having a flat and short organisational structure rather than bureaucratic structure in order to able things to be done quickly since it believed time was peoples most valuable treasure. Besides, Google also believed innovation and acting were much more important than deciding. Thus, it empowered their engineers to make decisions and acts by themselves as long as their decisions were innovative and could lead the organisation to go further and quicker. Whole organisation was divided by function as shown as below structure chart (The Official Board 2009). Each functional department was worked as a team responsible for specific job function with clearly defined job duties instead of multi-functions. Google focused on people. It cared about the needs of the users (clients / customers) as well as the employees. All-hands meetings and team building activities were held regularly for understanding the needs and establishing the relationship among the employees. 3.2 Organisation Structure of Microsoft Microsoft was run by a board of directors who were elected every year during shareholders meeting. Meanwhile there were total five committees which handled more specific matters. These committees included: Audit Committee which oversaw account and audit issues; Compensation Committee which handled and approved the matters regarding the compensation to CEO or employees; Finance Committee which handled financial matters like proposing mergers; Governance and Nominating Committee which was in charge of corporate matters include nomination of Boards Antitrust Compliance committee which handled the laws issues. Each committee oversaw specific matters and under these five committees there were sixteen company offices located in different countries which handled the daily operation matters. The organisational chart of the company office is shown as below. (Cogmap 2009) Each company office was divided by function, and each function was further divided into small and more specific function which handled by a team. Microsoft focused on having things done fast rather than bureaucracy, each company office was empowered to make decision and the committees oversaw each company office through the data in their centralized data base system and regular meetings. Last but not list, Microsoft concerned about the needs and the growth of its employees. It aimed to provide employees a supportive, health and happy working environment which helped the employees do their best work and have sufficient resources for developing their own career. 3.3 Compare the Similarities and Differences of Organisational Structure between Google Microsoft Decentralisation is the process of which upper management authorizing or empowering lower peers to make decision which allow more flexibility on decision making. (Dubois Fattore 2009) On the contrary, bureaucracy is an organizational structure which has the main features including specialisation, hierarchy of authority, system of rules and impersonality according to Stewarts study. It focuses on procedures and all the power is centralised at Top management. All decisions can only be made by Top management instead of the employees and what employees can do is to follow instruction. Google and Microsoft were having very similar organisation structure. They both ran the organisation in decentralized structure instead of bureaucratic structure, such that their employees or individual departments were empowered to make some decision by themselves instead of having all decisions made by the top management. At the same time, Google and Microsoft had applied Human relation approach as their core approach to organisation and management, such that they focused on the psychological and social needs of people at work. They provided perfect working environment, benefits, opportunities on developing career and talent, team building activities which not only supported their employees basic social needs but also the psychological needs. 4. Approaches to Management Organisational Behaviour 4.1 Motivation Google believed every employee was equally important to its success and all employees were innovative and creative as long as they felt comfortable in their working environment and free to share their ideas. Thus, Google provided their employees the best working environment Googleplex. Apart from office, there were also cafà ©, gym, washing machines, video games machines and table tennis tables in Googleplex which were provided to all their employees. Besides, Google also believed innovation and acting were much more important than deciding. At Google, there was a 20-precent time, such that all employees were encouraged to spend 20% of their working time on developing any project that they were interested in or they thought was valuable. Google also empowered their engineers to make decisions and acts by themselves as long as their decisions were innovative and could lead the organisation to go further and quicker. In addition, Google not only emphasized on team achievements, but also cared about the individual accomplishment. Every employee was encouraged to take part in leading the organisation towards the success. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsofts organisational mission was To help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential. Microsoft believed in the power of technologies and it deeply believed its products and services helped people to bring out their potential. Employees were encouraged to improve existing products and services or develop innovative products for helping people and community. Microsoft believed all its employees were innovative, skillful, self direct and self control. As long as its employees ideas could lead the organisation towards the success, it provided full support for actualizing the ideas. Apart from providing perfect working environment and full support of resources, tools and facilities, Microsoft also provided options to its employees for choosing their career path by their own. Employees could choose to keep on further develop their professional by staying at their current position or choose to try to work on other functional field which is completely difference from their own original professional, that allowed the employees to go toward their dream and achieve what they want. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) With referenced to McGregors theory X and theory Y, Google and Microsoft were having the similar belief as theory Y. It believed all their employees were innovative, hardworking, creative, responsible, self direct and self control. Relationship among the organisation and employees were based on participation, commitment, trust and open. According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, Google and Microsoft not only fulfilled peoples basic needs (including physiological and safety), they also fulfilled their employees with the upper levels including love, self-esteem and self-actualization. 4.2 Leadership Google focused on people. Apart from the users who used their online services, it put its employees at the first place of the organization. Employees at Google were being inspired and trusted rather than managed. Leadership that was carried among the leader (top management) and followers (employees or subordinates) was a kind of Action-centred leadership established based on consideration. Google had a very clear objectives that they did Search and goaled to develop and provide perfect search engine. It encouraged employees to see their work as challenge and let employees believe challenge was fun. Besides, Google kept its working atmosphere casual, provided perfect working environment, encouraged employees to speak or express their idea and opinions freely which allowed the needs of each employee to be realized and fulfilled by the organisation. At the same time, there were clear principles guideline and principles which guided employees actions and provided a clear direction to emp loyees to follow. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft concerned about the freedom and the individual growth of each employee. It treated the relationship among employees, managers Microsoft as a kind of partnership. At Microsoft, managers acted like coaches who brought out the organisations needs and business priorities and provided support and efforts to the employees helping them to bring their talents in full play and do their best work. At the same time, Microsoft acted like a supporter for supporting the partnership between managers and employees by providing best working environment, opportunities and resources. Employees had freedom to choose how their career path goes. They could choose to keep on further development within their existing position or make functional change by trying different job positions among different functional departments which depended on each employees own ability and choose. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Both Google and Microsoft were having the similar leadership approaches as McGregors theory Y that all employees should be inspired and respected instead of controlled since they all were innovative, responsible, self direct and self control. Google, Microsoft and McGregors theory Y believed employees enjoy their work duties and they were able and willing to seek out the ways to do their job best as long as they were guided appropriately and supported with sufficient resources. 4.3 Learning and knowledge management Google emphasized on discovering peoples actual needs, solving real-world problems and encouraging new ideas instead of just fitting the needs. Google supported its employees to keep on further study on what they were working on by providing tuition reimbursement as long as the employees had achieved certain grades or certification. Besides, Google also provided its own designed training to its employees in order to make sure all employees were skillful and knowledgeable enough to cope with their daily jobs and problems. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft believed every employee was responsible for his own career and all employees were able to learn through experience. Thus, it put efforts on providing a supportive working environment where employees could lean and grow while working. At Microsoft, education and training programs were also provided to employees for increasing their awareness, skills, knowledge and ability. Besides, there was tuition reimbursement program in order to encourage employees to keep on learning (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Learning is about change. Google and Microsoft understood that the world is changing every second and it was importance to have their employees kept on learning in order to maintain sufficient ability to cope with changes and challenges. They both used the ways of providing specific training programs and tuition reimbursing programs for letting their employees to learn the explicit knowledge. At the same time, Google focused on employees ability rather than experience and believed all its employees were innovative and creative when they felt comfortable and fun. Thus, it provided a perfect relax working environment and causal working atmosphere to its employees. While Microsoft believed in the power of tacit knowledge, it appreciated every employees own experience from different market and background and treated this as a kind of wisdom and wealth. Thus, it focused on giving a supportive working environment which allowed employees to learn while working. 4.4 Human resource management Google concerned people. It provided a perfect working environment to its employees and tried its best to recognize employees needs. Besides, Google respected and treated every employee equally as an important part. It favored ability rather than experience and focused on innovation and creativity of people rather than the technical skills, such that it provided equal chances to various types of people including fresh graduated students or non-experienced people to become a part of Google. At Google, it was committed to provide opportunities to employees to bring their talent into full play. Apart from assigned daily job duties, all employees were encouraged to develop their own ideas and work on the projects that they thought were valuable. This not only provided opportunities to employees to further develop their career along with their interest and skill, but also provided employees the chances to explore their talent. Google appreciated team success as well as employee individual accomplishment. Apart from this, Google had its own education program which aimed to improve its recruitment strategies and techniques for choosing the most suitable people to become a part of Google. (Google Inc. 2009) Microsoft focused on employees freedom, balance and autonomy. It aimed to provide a flexible workplaces and full support of programs and resources to their employees in order to allow them to fully develop their talents and do the best work. Besides, Microsoft provided options of career path for its employees to choose which allowed employees to develop their career paths by their own choice. Microsoft concerned about ability and innovation as well as technical skill and experience. It welcomed people who came from any marketing fields and background. At the same time, Microsoft also offered benefits including health benefits, broadband connection to employees home, social club, career guidance, financial planning program, car leasing problem and so on, which not only covered individual employees personal needs, but also covered the needs for their family for allowing employees to enjoy a balance lives while developing their career. At the same time, Microsoft had divided its busines s into 7 categories which streamlined their business and allowed the job duties for each employee to be more specific. Last but not least, Microsoft made use of software system which helped to record and evaluate the performance of each employee for making sure they were doing their best and rewarded appropriately. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) With referenced to Mullinss studies, a completed HRM philosophy should: recognize peoples needs and expectations; respect everyone; treat everyone equally and have a fair reward system; offer stable employment; provide good working environment; provide opportunities for self and career development; concern freedom and comply with laws. Both Googles and Microsofts HRM complied with the above 8 philosophies. They focused on peoples, treated all employees equally and provided employees the best working environment and opportunities for further development. The main difference among Google and Microsoft was that Google hired people who were innovative rather that skillful or experienced. While Microsoft hired people who were innovative as well as skillful and experienced. 4.5 Culture and diversity Even Google is a globalized world sized organisation, it insisted to maintain small company feel that every employee was encouraged to make use of all the facilities and spaces which were opened to them in office or Googleplex in order to make themselves comfortable and enjoyable to work at Google, since Google deeply believed innovative ideas were always came out when people felt comfortable. At the same time, Googles culture also emphasized on having fun and enjoying lives, it kept the working atmosphere casual, helped employees to treat work as challenges and challenges as fun and focused on team work as well as individual accomplishment. Apart from these, Google paid attention on ensuring all employees were having balance lives styles which included work, play and life. Besides, all employees were treated equally and were encouraged to share or express their ideas with different teams or Top management including Co-founder Larry or Sergey directly. In addition, Google emphasized on team achievements as well as individual accomplishment. Every employee was encouraged to take part in leading the organisation towards the success. Microsoft focused on innovation and getting things done rather than bureaucracy. It concerned about people and saw every employee as its most valuable treasures. Every employee was treated equally and provided with opportunities. Microsoft emphasized on work and life balance, it encouraged employees to enjoy their lives with their family while developing their career and professional. Microsoft had passion for technology and believed in the power of technology which could help people to develop or bring their potential fully out at anytime anywhere. As per Microsofts organizational mission To help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential, it believed all its products and services were helping people to build up and realize their potential. Microsoft believed diversity enriched its performance, products and their communities where its employees lived and worked in. It concentrated on seeking people who were skillful, honest, open, willing to face by challenges and committed to personal excellence and self-improvement. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) With referenced to the seven dimensions of organizational culture, Google and Microsoft were having similar organizational couture. They both emphasized on innovation, risk taking and people orientation. Besides, Google also focused on Team orientation while Microsoft focused on outcome orientation. 4.6 Information Technology To organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful is Googles core mission. Google believed in the possibilities and boundless of the internet itself, it worked hard on developing the technology on accessing information and browsing web through the internet not only via networked PCs but also mobile devices, which allowed people (including its employees) to exchange or share information at anytime anywhere. Google put great effort on keep on modifying their software and upgrading their hardware / server setup in order to allow all the information was accessed in the fastest and simplest way. Apart from these, all employees were carrying a mobile devices like netbook or packet PC which allowed them to develop or express their ideas whatever or whenever there were new ideas come up to their mind. (Google Inc. 2009) As a worldwide software and hardware products and solutions provider, Microsoft believed Nothing is impossible for technologies. It worked hard on developing not only single category of technology but different categories including operating system, application solutions, network or internet technologies and mobile technologies. It took technology as a serious part of future and deeply trusted technology could bring people toward the upper level. (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Google and Microsoft were Technology Company, Google focused on developing the perfect search engine as well as other software solutions for allowing people to get the information they look for in the shortest and easiest way. While Microsoft focused on developing the technology for helping people to realize and bring out their potential. They both trusted in the possibility and huge power of technology, which provided people easier and better lives. At the same time, they realized the importance of information. They made effort in developing the technology for allowing people to access information more quickly and easily via various channels not only the internet but also the mobile devices or any other kinds of device. Apart from this, they also recognized the importance of the security of the information and tried hard to develop powerful salutation for protecting peoples privacy. 4.7 Communication At Google, all employees were greatly encouraged to share their ideas with different teams or the top peers of the organisation directly. For example, there were weekly all-hands meetings which allowed employees express their opinions. Since Google believed all its employees were innovative and self control as long as they were being comfortable and feeling fun, it provided the prefect and relax working environment and empowered its employees to make their own decision for carrying out their own ideas or projects. It also recognized the importance of information accessibility, it kept on developing new or optimizing the existing technologies and products for allowing people to access or exchange information more easily and quickly. All employees were communicated via multi-channels which increased the transparency and the flow of information among teams and different levels of management through out the whole organisation. (Google Inc. 2009) At Microsoft, all employees were welcomed to express their ideas. Relationship among the managers and employees was treated as a kind of partnership and respect rather than top-down relationship. Managers acted like coaches, they brought out the needs and the objectives of the organization, provided supports and advices for helping or allowing the employees to develop their individual career and talent along with the success of the organization. Apart from this, Microsoft made use of technology which allowed employees to access or share information among teams or departments via web base system (Microsoft Corporation 2009) Communication was a kind of exchange or transfer of information or understanding. With referenced to Eric Bernes the Ego-State (or Parent-Adult-Child) model, the core communication model that Google and Microsoft applied was Adult-to-Adult transactions. They respected their employees, focused on guiding and supporting their employees to solve problems, do their best work and further develop their career along with the organisations success rather than demanding, commanding, controlling or criticizing their employees. At the same time, Google also applied Adult-to-Child transactions, it made effort in keeping the working atmosphere casual and fun, and encouraging their employees to view challenges as fun in order to bring out their potential and maintain employees passion on what they are doing. Apart from this, Google and Microsoft encouraged employees to share their ideas with different teams and let them to communicate via multi-channels via decentralized networks. 5. Conclusion As a kind of Technology Company, Google and Microsoft were having quite similar organisational structure and managerial approaches. They both sought for three win situation (users win, employees win and the organization wins) rather than focused on organisations revenue only. They put the users and employees at the first place since they believed organisations would only win while all people including both their users (customers) and employees won. In order to cope with the rapid changes of this world, they both chose to run their organisation with decentralized structure instead of bureaucratic structure in order to allow more flexibility. Both organisations, which included Technical level, Managerial level and Community level, were divided by functions which allowed each functional group handles specific function. Google and Microsoft respected their employees, they believed their employees were innovative, self direct and self control same as McGregors theory Y. It was not necessary to control the employees, but higher level of employees needs, including the level of love / belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization according to Maslows hierarchy of needs, should be fulfilled for maintaining employees motivation on their work. At both organisatoins, employees were being inspired or guided for bringing out their talent in order to further develop their career path along with organisations success. Learning is about change. Both Google and Microsoft provided their employees training, education program or other supportive programs for encouraging them to keep on learning in order to have sufficient ability to cope with changes or solve problems by themselves. One main difference among Google and Microsoft was that Google did not concern much about employees working experience but it only focused on employees innovation and ability. For Microsoft, it concerned about employees innovation and ability as well as working experience. It treated employees individual working experience or background as a kind of valuable treasure and wisdom. Regarding HRM, Google and Microsoft followed Mullinss eight HRM philosophies. They tried hard to understand and fulfill their employees needs and expectations by encouraging their employees to express their opinions and providing employees sufficient support. They respected their employees without any discrimination. They treated everyone equally, offered stable employment, provided prefect working environment, provided opportunities, concerned freedom and complied with laws. With referenced to the seven dimensions of organizational culture, Google and Microsoft were having similar organizational culture. They both emphasized on innovation, risk taking and people orientation. Besides, Google also focused on Team orientation such that it appreciated team work, while Microsoft focused on outcome orientation which concerned about getting the result. Google and Microsoft realized the important of technology and recognized that information was a kind of very valuable treasure. They put all their effort on developing technology which allowed information to be searched, accessed or exchanged in the fastest and easiest way. They both make use of their own technologies to allow their employee to access and exchange information in the fasted ways. They also encouraged their employees to communicate in various channels. In conclusion, there was no golden organisational structure or golden managerial approaches, which were suitable for all organisations. The structure or approaches which were applied by Google and Microsoft might not be suitable for other organisations even they were same kind of Technology Company. The effectiveness of the organisational structure and managerial approaches was organisation dependent, such that the structure and approaches would only be workable with the organisation as long as they matched with the culture of that organisation. Each organisation should have its own design of the organisational structure and managerial approaches based on its culture and needs. Otherwise, the structure and approaches not only could not help the organisation, but might damage the origanisational health. References Cogmap (2009) Microsoft [online] available from [31 December 2009] Dubois, H.F.W. Fattore, G. (2009), Definitions and typologies in public administration research: the case of decentralization, International Journal of Public Administration, 32(8): 704-727. Google Inc.(2009) Google Corporate Information [online] available from [29 December 2009] Microsoft Corporation (2009) Careers Home [online] available from [30 December 2009] Mullins L.J. (2007) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 8th ed.