How does the writer create suspense in the Tell Tale Heart? Essay

The Tell Tale Heart is an extraordinary horror story. It was written by Edgar Allan Poe. His horror story keeps you interested, builds a lot of tension and creates suspense. I am going to write an essay on how Edgar Allan Poe creates suspense by explaining thoroughly all the techniques he uses. These techniques are, use of repetition, punctuation, how he uses first person, sound, imagery, tension, his use of time and finally in addition, how Poe uses italics and similes. I will also use quotes from the Tell Tale Heart to explain my points fully. Firstly, Poe uses lots of repetition or repeated words. For example, â€Å"I moved it slowly- very, very slowly.† Poe does this because he wants you to imagine how slowly and carefully he thrust his head in, so the man would not wake up. Also, he keeps repeating this because he is saying that it wasn’t just slowly. It was much slower than that. This quote was shown on the third paragraph, already this soon he has used a repetition. My next example is he uses or repeats the words â€Å"madness and mad† a lot. This has the effect of you believing that the main character is actually quite mad, even though he is repeating he isn’t. This is said throughout the story, starting from the first paragraph and the reader starts to understand what the murderer is really like. My final example is â€Å"it grew louder- louder- louder!† This adds to the point of how loud it really was and by repeating it exaggerates how it was. It also gives you a clear image of this, as it is repeated throughout the paragraphs. As a last point, I would like to explain the effect of using repetition. Repetition exaggerates the point and gives you a clear image of how it was. It adds to the suspense, for example â€Å"carefully, very, very carefully.† This shows he took it over the top because he had to be very quiet. Secondly, I will explain how Poe uses a variety of punctuation, for a greater effect. He uses punctuation to speed up and slow down the pace, which is much better than reading normally. My first example is â€Å"they heard! – They suspected! – They knew!† In this quotation, Poe has gripped the audience using dashes and exclamation marks. As this speeds up the pace, so therefore you can feel the murderer is frightened, worried and terrified. Poe speeds up the pace here because there is a lot of tension at this point. If he never used this you would read it normally and wouldn’t feel the suspense in this piece of text. My next example is â€Å"I foamed- I raved- I swore!† Here dashes and exclamation marks are used again. The punctuation shows he was angry and shouting. This is especially shown by the exclamation marks. To finish with punctuation have a good effect on the reader. It speeds up and slows down the pace and is more interesting than reading normal. This is also a very good hooking technique and adds to the suspense quite well. Finally, he uses a lot of punctuation throughout the whole story giving a good result. Next, Poe uses first person because it lets the reader see the story from the murderer’s point of view. This makes the story more interesting, as you can find out all the feelings and emotions of the murderer along the way. Where as, in 3rd person you wouldn’t get to know as much. My first example is â€Å"I have told you that I am nervous: so I am.† This quotation shows how the murderer feels when he is going through killing the man. My next example is â€Å"I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.† This quotation gives a very good effect, as it shows what he heard and saw right up to slaughtering the man. Also, from first person narrative you can share what is happening in some ways. Poe makes out the murderer as to be the following things, very secretive as you don’t know the sex, name, appearance and very little of his background. Next, he is incredibly mad, as he killed a man and cut his arms and legs up. The quotation to show he is mad is â€Å"I heard many things in hell.† This example shows he isn’t exactly normal. The murderer is also very obsessive as he can’t stop talking about they evil eye. He is crazy and gets very nervous around people, especially when the officers of the police come in near the end. You can also see he is disturbed and very unusual. Furthermore, the murderer has a routine and is in some ways organised because he plans out everything on what he is going to do step by step. Poe makes the murderer different and crazy in his own way. This is because it adds to the horror and suspense of the story. In addition, the murderer being first person uses a hooking technique which is to directly address the reader. This keeps the reader involved and keeps them paying attention to what’s happening. My first example is â€Å"how then, am I mad?† In this quotation, when he talks to the reader he uses rhetorical questions (questions that shouldn’t be answered). This includes the reader in the story, as they are being talked to. My next example is â€Å"I smiled – for what had I to fear?† This does the same again using rhetorical questions to the reader. This is almost like the murderer is sharing his worries with you, which has a good effect overall. To conclude this section, using direct address and talking to the reader, gets them involved on what is happening and is a great result, as sometimes you can relate to the story. Poe does this by using the word â€Å"you† and question marks from rhetorical questions. Another unique way Poe creates suspense is describing a lot of sound in the Tell Tale Heart; this has an exceptional effect on the reader. My first example is â€Å"for the hinges creaked.† This phrase reminds you of old scary horror films and makes you wonder, who is behind the door? It is also a creepy noise that relates to old abandoned houses. My second example is â€Å"It was the low stifled sound.† This quotation shows that in some ways he is paranoid as he is hearing things. It gets the reader more into suspense, as he believes the murderer is not alone and something is going to happen within this. Also, the sound gives you an idea of how it sounded. An additional example is â€Å"the old man sprang up in the bed, crying out- whose there?† In this example there is a lot of tension, you can almost hear the old voice of the man. A last quotation is â€Å"I fairly chuckled at the idea.† This shows that you can imagine the murderer laughing in an evil way; also he is amused that the man has no idea about what is going to happen. As a final point, sound gives the idea of how something sounded – so maybe quietly. It gives an idea of the surroundings and creates atmosphere. Poe has used this at the right moments in the story when he is describing something. A further reason Poe creates suspense is the use of descriptive words (imagery). These describe a lot of things throughout the story, these things are – evil words, the description of the eye and murdering the elderly man. A lot is used at certain points to emphasise his ideas. Also, it keeps you imagining and gets you hooked. Some examples of evil words he uses are â€Å"corpse†. This gives the reader the idea of a murdered body; it gives a scarier effect as it is more horrifying than just saying a dead body. My next example is â€Å"the evil eye†. This shows the eye was not exactly normal and it wasn’t nice looking. It was something that made his blood run cold and make him shake with fear. So you can imagine what it was like, also it suggests the centre of the story. My final example for this point is â€Å"the mortal terror.† It shows the feelings of the man and he wasn’t just frightened he was absolutely terrified. Additionally, he makes the ‘eye’ sound disgusting, here are some examples â€Å"his eye resembled that of a vulture.† This shows his eye was repulsive as it looks like a vulture (not a very nice creature). It also lets you imagine what the eye looks like. Another example is â€Å"a pale blue eye†. This describes how the eye looked and that it was unusually pale, which makes the reader feel the same way, as the murderer. Poe also makes ‘death’ sound disgusting, as all the tension builds up in a horrible way. The man gets killed astonishingly, which is quite scary. He gets suffocated by the bed covers and the way it is revolting is that, it says â€Å"the heart beat on with a muffled sound.† So he suffocated and his heart carried on beating a few minutes after. He also â€Å"shrieked† just before he was murdered. Finally, a last point that was terrifying is that when he pulled back the covers â€Å"he was stone dead.† So you can imagine how horrible he looked while dead. To conclude this, Poe uses descriptive words all throughout the story. This is to emphasise how horrifying something looked and it shows that the murderer looks at everything from the dark side. Next, Poe’s use of tension right through the story increases and decreases. This is done to not get the reader bored, whilst reading. It usually starts low, and then builds up more and more until it is really high. The parts where the tension is high is when: he is about to murder the man, when he is trying to hide the body under the floorboards and when the police has come round and he is about to confess. The parts when there is a low amount of tension is when: they are at the start and the murderer is explaining why he wants to kill the man and when he is waiting long time for when it is the right time to kill. Poe has made the tension go up and down because it is more exciting and keeps you in suspense. If I was to draw a graph for this it would go up and then down all the way through, so in other words it would go zigzag. A next point is how Poe uses time in the Tale Tell Heart, in some sections time goes slowly and some times it goes fast. When Poe makes time go slowly the character is doing something important or the murderer is describing something in detail. The evidence for this is â€Å"slowly so not to wake the man up†. Here this is a part where time goes slowly as it is telling the audience he has to be very quiet – to not cause any suspicion. Another example for time going slowly is when he is killing the man. The example for this is â€Å"yet for some minutes longer I stood still.† Here everything is going slow because he is about to murder the man. Poe makes time go fast when he is describing his actions over a period of time. My example for this is â€Å"every morning when the day broke.† Here he is describing time fast and over a period of time. Poe has made time go fast and slowly, so there is more tension and pace. A final point, to how Poe creates suspense in the Tell Tale Heart, is using italics and similes. To start with italics emphasize what is said, or something repeated. So it could emphasize something horrible that has happened, for a scarier effect. My example for this is â€Å"I now grew very pale.† This is said when the police officers have come in, to show he is nervous. The italics give emphasis to how pale he looked, so the murderer was looking really colourless. Italics are used a lot in The Tale Heart for many different reasons. Next, similes are used to describe something towards something else. My first example for this is â€Å"his room was as black as pitch.† This quotation gives you a clear image of how dark it was, as it is being referred to a pitch. Another example is â€Å"a low dull quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.† This gives you another image of what the sound was like being referred to something else. As a final point, Poe uses italics and similes because they stress the point clearly. In conclusion, Poe uses a variety of techniques to create suspense in the Tale Tell Heart. These are – use of repetition, punctuation, how he uses first person, sound, imagery, tension, his use of time and italics and similes. These techniques create a good effect on the reader and are mostly successful hooking techniques. Poe keeps you reading the story by making you want to know what happens next using these skilful ways, without those ways The Tell Tale heart wouldn’t be as good. I think that the use of tension is most effective because it covers just about all the areas and it makes the story more exciting and interesting to read. The part of story I think is the best, is where all the tension increases when he is going to murder the man. This is because at that point you don’t want to put it down, as there is a lot of suspense. Overall, I would rate The Tale Tell Heart a very good horror story, with impressive techniques used throughout.

Our Emotions Diary

Identifying and measuring our emotions is difficult because it is not easy to objectively assess what we are feeling at that specific situation for emotions are subjective experiences. To accurately identify the range of our emotions and to classify it correctly takes greater control and self-awareness that I could not possibly muster. I have tried to identify the emotions based on the situations that triggered it. The James-Lange theory of emotion said that we first have physiological responses to a situation and only then will we interpret those experiences to determine the present emotion (Zajonc & McIntosh, 1992).Which is actually how most of us respond to an situation, like when I knew I felt anxious because I was feeling uneasy by getting late for class. On the other hand, I also felt confused on whether I got it mixed up; whether I experienced the situation and then the physiological arousal together with the emotion occurred at the same time, the Cannon-Bard theory supports t his explanation although they did not give much importance to the thoughts that occur during that experience (Stein, Trabasso & Liwag, 1993).Although, we get to experience a myriad of emotions and in varying degrees, some emotions are easier to identify like happiness and anger, while differentiating being upset from being sad is difficult. I could categorize it according to whether it is positive or negative and when I smiled I knew that I was happy at that time. Facial feedback theory says that the facial changes that occur in response to an event cues our brain and then define what kind of emotion we feel at that moment (Strongman, 1996).I also observed that we tend to respond to facial expressions, like when a person burst into tears we know that she is sad or afraid. With this activity, I learned that emotions, physical arousal, cognitive thoughts, and our brain interact together to produce different emotions. As to how all these element interact remains to be discovered, which I think will always be an aspect that will remain a mystery. References Stein, N., Trabasso, T. & Liwag, M. (1993). The representation and organization of emotional experience: Unfolding the emotion episode. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (pp. 279-300). New York: Guilford. Strongman, K. (1996). The Psychology of Emotion: Theories of Emotion in Perspective, 4th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Zajonc, R. & McIntosh, D. (1992). Emotions research: Some promising questions and some questionable promises. Psychological Science, 3, 70-74.

Analyze the main character’s positive and negative qualities in “To build a fire” Essay

Based on real experiences, Jack London’s stories of high adventures have been appealing to millions of readers worldwide. With naturalism mode of fiction and a common topic – vigorous nature – in his works, the great author always took great care to depict his characters and the struggles with nature to expose man’s qualities in formidable situations. â€Å"To build a fire† is a good example. By creating a context of severe weather with white frost dominating throughout the story, Jack London was successful in portraying his protagonist Tom Vincent with all positive and negative qualities. The character’s positive qualities were revealed from the beginning of the story. In the first page, readers can easily perceive that Tom Vincent was a strong man. The protagonist was described as â€Å"a strapping young fellow, big-boned and big-muscled, with faith in himself and in strength of his head and hands.† With good descriptive words, the writer created a vivid picture of a young man who was strong both physically and mentally. He was brave and always ready to cope with difficulties with a firm belief in himself. He did not hide from the severe elements; instead, â€Å"he was out in it, facing it, fighting it†. Furthermore, Tom Vincent was a smart and clear-headed person. He knew how to protect himself in the freezing weather. Realizing the biting cold, â€Å"he leaped to his feet and ran briskly up the trail†; also, he rubbed his nose and cheeks till they burned with the returning blood, which made him warmer. When he felt the cold water strike his feet and ankles, he knew â€Å"the thing to do, and the only thing to do, was to build a fire†. Though failing to set a fire many times and almost hopeless with his numb hands, Tom Vincent could keep his mind sound enough to come up with the idea of burning his hands to regain their feeling and continued to build another fire. Obviously, Tom was a man who could react to difficult situations quite flexibly and smartly. The most remarkable quality of Tom Vincent is his strong survival instinct with great patience and perseverance, which was vividly described through the character’s continuous attempts to build a fire in freezing weather. When Tom was aware of his dangerous situation, he didn’t think so much but  concentrated on building a fire – the only thing that could save his life at that moment. In the first attempt, he kneeled down to kindle his fire. Despite his unmittened stiff fingers, he told himself not to hurry things and cherished his fire with the utmost care. However, the frost forced him to suffer more. His young flame, his little light of hope, was soon buried under the snow that fell down from the pine boughs. In spite of the fear and panic growing larger and larger inside him, he kept his presence of mind. He did not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the adversity and started at once to rebuild the fire. Unfortunately, he failed at the very beginning when h e dropped the match in the snow and could not pick it up again with his numb fingers. Desperate, but he, though painfully, stood up, stepped to one side to avoid being disturbed by the falling snow from the pine boughs, â€Å"beat his hands violently against a tree-trunk†, and made another attempt. Still, the aggressive elements kept troubling the miserable man. Tom’s tiny flame was quenched one more time in his shaking hand due to the severe cold. After consecutive failures, Tom virtually collapsed with despair, but quickly, he ran up the trail to look for help. He still believed there was another solution available somewhere. Even when he had recognized that there was no help, no sign of help but the emotionless white frost and the brazen silence, his hope of being rescued promptly ignited again when his eyes chanced upon another high-water lodgment of twigs and branches. He started over to build a fire! He tried to overcome the condition of numb hands with all fingers straight out by â€Å"pressing the wrist of the other hand against them† and finally managed to ignite the match. Regrettably, the flame burned into the flesh of his hand, which made him involuntarily relax his hold and helplessly watch the match fall into the snow. The fire went out. Again, he ra n, in his most terrible panic, but the only thing he could find was an empty shelter of moose-hunters. This time, he felt so badly frightened that he sank down and sobbed, nearly accepting that everything was over. When all the doors seemed to be closed, his love of life burned strongly than ever. He â€Å"sprang again to his feet†, thinking quickly, and found out a way to save his life – burning his hands to regain their sense. He set his teeth to bear the pain caused by the fire licking his flesh. Apparently, that he writhed around with the torment, yet held on the fire, was the greatest evidence of his tough survival instinct. The heroic measure and the amazing bravery to  act over the extremity saved him from death. Through Tom Vincent’s continuous attempts to build a fire, readers can see clearly the character’s durability and iron will. Despite the severe hardship, he made great efforts; despite the great efforts, he made continuous failures; desp ite the continuous failures, he always gave himself another opportunity to survive. Beside the positive qualities, readers could see the presence of negative traits in the character’s personality, which brought him very close to death. Tom Vincent was exposed as an overconfident, subjective and arrogant young man. Ignoring the precept of the north, â€Å"Never travel alone†, Tom, by himself, started his journey in a severe weather condition with just a light pack on his back, a pair of moccasins on his feet, and an over-optimistic attitude on a new, strange and lonely route. At the beginning of the journey, he was swinging along the trail and enjoyed it with all his great excitement. He was fearless with the thought that â€Å"there was no possibility of getting lost† and considered a nose-strap â€Å"feminine contraption†. Although the nature did warn him of its killing freezing cold, Tom enjoyed the exultation with a complacent attitude. He assumed that he was stronger than the elements and considered himself as master of the elements. â€Å"He laughed aloud in sheer strength of life, and with his clenched fist defied the frost†. It was his overconfidence that made him take all miseries afterwards. Tom was a strong and smart young man; nonetheless, it was not enough for him in the fight against the cruel nature. In the dual with Mother Nature, he was just a child. He failed to estimate all dangerous accidents that did happen to him during his journey. First of all, he hadn’t known how harsh the weather was and afterwards felt the need of a nose-strap that he had scorned before. Moreover, he built a fire under a pine tree with snowy boughs that blotted out his flame. Also, he couldn’t imagine that his hands and his body would become such numb and worthless ones that prevented him from building a fire. Ultimately, he regretted ignoring the precept of the north and wished to have a comrade whose feet were not freezing to start a fire that could save him. After experiencing continuous bitter failures, Tom, a strapping man, sank down and sobbed like a child. Jack London was successful using contrast to paint his character: one arrogant at the beginning and one miserabl e at the end. Through that, the author showed us  the consequences of his character’s shortcomings. Though thinking that Tom Vincent deserved to pay for his arrogance, readers feel sorry for him. If he had been a good listener – traveling with a companion or starting the journey in a better weather condition, he wouldn’t have fallen into such a life-threatening situation that nearly took his life away. The story ended with a Tom Vincent surviving but totally different from the Tom at the beginning. He became â€Å"sensitive to frost† and â€Å"lays down the precept of the North†. He finally took a bitter lesson from Mother Nature. After analyzing the character’s positive and negative qualities, we can learn valuable lessons: a will of iron is a weapon that helps us overcome difficulties in life, even in the worst situation; however, never underestimate potential risks around us, and be a good listener. A man with all good qualities like Tom Vincent could be a very successful person in the modern world today; nevertheless, it is the arrogance that will destroy all his success. Hence, a man can succeed only when he understands the rules of nature and the rules of life to take appropriate actions in all adventures during his life.

Friedrich Froebel, Founder of Kindergarten Essay

Friedrich Froebel was a German educator of the nineteenth century who developed an Idealist philosophy of early childhood education. He established kindergarten and education for four and five-year-old children. Kindergarten is now a part of education worldwide. Friedrich Froebel was born in the small town of Oberwiessbach, Germany in 1782. His mother died when he was a baby. His father remarried, but Froebel never liked his stepmother. His feeling of rejection and isolation remained with him for life. This had a strong effect on his theory of early childhood education. He believed the kindergarten teacher should be loving, kind and motherly. Froebel also had an unsatisfactory relationship with his father which, along with his shyness, caused him to be â€Å"introspective and socially inept† (Gutek, 2005, p. 261). Therefore, he wanted his kindergarten to â€Å"foster a sense of emotional security and self-esteem in children† (Gutek, 2005, p. 261). At the age of ten, Froebel went to live with his uncle. As a young child, Froebel spent a lot of time playing in the garden around his home. This led to his love of nature and had a profound effect on his educational philosophy. When he was fifteen years old, Froebel apprenticed with a forester and surveyor and studied forestry, geometry and surveying in school. He briefly attended the University of Jena from 1800-1802. Then he studied architecture at Frankfurt University. Although he ended his studies without receiving a degree, Froebel gained a sense of artistic perspective and symmetry he later used to design his kindergarten â€Å"gifts† and â€Å"occupations. † While in Frankfurt Froebel was hired as a teacher at the Frankfurt Model School, which was a Pestalozzian school. He studied the Pestalozzi method of instruction which emphasized using objects to teach. His method rejected the use of corporal punishment and emphasized respecting the dignity of children. This method of teaching very much appealed to Froebel. Froebel wanted to incorporate Pestalozzi’s method and creation of a loving and secure environment for children in his own teaching methods. After teaching at the Model School for three years, Froebel studied with Pestalozzi for two more years Froebel also decided to study languages and science at the University of G? ttingen. He wanted to identify linguistic structures that could be used in language instruction. During this time he became very interested in geology and mineralogy, and also pursued this in his studies. Froebel believed that the process of crystallization (moving from the simple to the complex) emulated a â€Å"universal cosmic law that also governed human growth and development† (Net Industries, 2008, Biography section,  ¶ 3). He would later incorporate the geometric shapes and formations in crystals to create his kindergarten â€Å"gifts. † In 1816, Froebel started a school in Griesheim called the Universal German Educational Institute. He enrolled students who were 7 years old or older. The school eventually moved to Keilhau. The school remained opened until 1829 when it struggled and was forced to close. However, Froebel was able to test and develop some of his educational ideas in his school. In 1818 Froebel married Henrietta Hoffmeister. She shared Froebel’s love of children and assisted in his educational work until her death. Froebel established an educational institute at Wartenese in 1831. Later, he was invited to establish an orphanage at Burgdorf. Here he conducted a school for the town children and a boarding school for those who lived away. He trained teachers and established a nursery school for 3 and 4 year olds. He developed songs, rhymes, games, physical exercises and other activities for the nursery school. He experimented with the objects and other materials that eventually became his kindergarten gifts. He also stressed play and its role in education. In 1837, at the age of 55, Froebel relocated to Blankenburg and established a new type of school for early childhood education. He called it â€Å"kindergarten,† or â€Å"the children’s garden† (Smith, 1999,  ¶ 5). This word expressed Froebel’s vision for early childhood education: â€Å"Children are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the community of peers† (Smith, 1999,  ¶ 6). He used play, songs, stories, and activities to establish an educational environment in which children, by their own activity, could learn and develop. According to Froebel, this meant that children, in their development, would learn to follow the â€Å"divinely established laws of human growth through their own activity† (Net Industries, 2008, Biography section,  ¶ 5). This is where he used his kindergarten gifts and occupations. â€Å"Gifts were objects Froebel believed had special symbolic potential. Occupations were the raw materials children could use in drawing and building activities that allowed them to concretize their ideas† (Gutek, 2005, p. 265). Froebel became famous as an early childhood educator in Germany and by 1848, forty-four kindergartens were operating in Germany. Froebel began training young women as kindergarten teachers. Kindergarten achieved its greatest influence in the United States. It was brought to America by the Germans after the European Revolution of 1848. Kindergartens appeared wherever there was a large concentration of German immigrants. Henry Barnard, the first United States Commissioner of Education, introduced Froebel’s kindergarten into educational literature in the 1850’s by including it in the American Journal of Education, of which he was the editor. He also recommended to Congress that a public school system be established for the District of Columbia that would include kindergartens. In 1873, William Torrey Harris established a kindergarten at a school in St. Louis, Missouri and incorporated it into the public school system. This event led to more public schools incorporating kindergartens into their systems. Eventually, Harris became the U. S. Commissioner of Education and he continued to press for the incorporation of kindergartens into public school systems throughout the United States. Before Froebel started his kindergarten, children under the age of seven did not attend school as it was believed that these young children did not have the ability to develop the cognitive and emotional skills needed to learn in a school environment. However, Froebel believed in early childhood education: â€Å"because learning begins when consciousness erupts, education must also† (Pioneers, 2000,  ¶ 7). In his book, Education of Man, Froebel states the idealist themes of his philosophy: â€Å"(1) all existence originates in and with God; (2) humans possess an inherent spiritual essence that is the vitalizing life force that causes development; (3) all beings and ideas are interconnected parts of a grand, ordered, and systematic universe† (Net Industries, 2008, Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy section,  ¶ 1). This is what Froebel based his work on, claiming that each child had an â€Å"internal spiritual essence – a life force† (Net Industries, 2008, Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy section,  ¶ 1). This life force seeks to be manifested through self-activity. He also believed that â€Å"child development follows the doctrine of preformation, the unfolding of that which was present latently in the individual† (Net Industries, 2008, Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy section,  ¶ 1). Froebel’s kindergarten created a special educational environment in which this self-activity and development occurred. Froebel used his kindergarten gifts, occupations, social and cultural activities, and especially play to promote this self-activity. Froebel also believed that children were to learn that they were members of â€Å"a great universal, spiritual community† (Gutek, 2005, p. 266). Thus the use of games and social activities. According to Froebel, play was essential to educating the young child. He believed that through engaging with the world, understanding would develop. That is why play was so critical – it is a creative activity through which children become aware of their place in the world and the world around them. Education was to be based on each child’s interests and spontaneous activity. The kindergarten teacher’s job was to create an environment that would stimulate the child’s development. She was also to create a safe, secure environment that prevented anything from disturbing this process. It was essential to the kindergarten children’s progress that the teacher did not hinder the child’s free play and individuality. Each child would learn what he was ready to learn when he was ready to learn it. As Froebel states: â€Å"Education in instruction and training, originally and in its first principles, should necessarily be passive, following (only guarding and protecting), not prescriptive, categorical, interfering† (Sniegoski, 1994, p. 8). Froebel believed the kindergarten should have a pleasant physical environment. He recommended the use of an adjoining garden or a brightly painted room with plants, animals and pictures. This should also be a prepared environment which would provide the teacher with the proper tools which the teacher felt would be most beneficial to the learning environment. And instead of traditional books, the kindergarten should teach using geometrical play objects of different shapes, sizes and colors (â€Å"gifts†). He also believed in symbolism and that if a child played with the â€Å"gifts,† they would help the child to understand fundamental truths. Froebel’s gifts consisted of: six soft colored balls; a wooden sphere, cube, and cylinder; a large cube divided into eight smaller cubes; a large cube divided into eight oblong blocks; a large cube divided into twenty-one whole, six half, and twelve quarter cubes; a large cube divided into eighteen whole oblongs with three divided lengthwise and three divided breadthwise; quadrangular and triangular tablets used for arranging figures; sticks for outlining figures; wire rings for outlining figures; various materials for drawing, perforating, embroidering, paper cutting, weaving or braiding, paper folding, modeling, and interlacing. (Net Industries, 2008, The Kindergarten Curriculum section,  ¶ 1). Also, Froebel designed â€Å"occupations† to be used in the kindergarten. These allowed more freedom and were things that children could shape and manipulate. Examples of â€Å"occupations† are string, sand, clay, and beads. As always, there was an underlying meaning in all that was done in Froebel’s kindergarten. â€Å"Even clean up time was seen as a reminder to the child of God’s plan for moral and social order† (Nichols, n. d. , Occupations section,  ¶ 1). Froebel’s careful study of the nature of children and their part in the world continues to be of great importance, as it opened a door to a new world in childhood education. Froebel attached importance to what â€Å"originated in children, not merely what adults gave them to do or learn† (Sniegoski, 1994, p. 15). He also discovered the educational value of play and the use of new non-book, hands-on materials in teaching children. Froebel provided a â€Å"theoretical basis for early childhood education that recognized stages of intellectual growth† (Sniegoski, 1994, p. 15). The one aspect of Froebel’s theories that has disappeared for the most part is the mysterious symbolism that overcastted his educational philosophy. However, his ideals of freeing children to develop according to their own interests and needs and giving them a bright, playful, nurturing environment in which to learn remains an important and vital part of early childhood education today. References Gutek, Gerald Lee. (2005). Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the kindergarten. In Historical and philosophical foundations of education: a biographical introduction (4th ed. ) (pp. 256-273). Upper Sadle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Lucas, Bill. (2005, October 24). Studying the creation of kindergarten. In Boxes and Arrows: The Design Behind the Design, July, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2008, from http://www. boxesandarrows. com/view/studying_the_creation_of_kindergarten. Net Industries. (2008). Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852): Biography, Froebel’s kindergarten philosophy, the kindergarten curriculum, diffusion of the kindergarten. In Education Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from http://education. stateuniversity. com/pages/1999/ Froebel-Friedrich-1782-1852. html. Nichols, Rachel. (n. d. ). Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the first kindergarten. Retrieved July 11, 2008 from http://hubpages. com/hub/ Friedrich-Froebel-Founder-of-the-First-Kindergarten. Pioneers in our field: Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the first kindergarten [Electronic version]. (2000). Scholastic: Early Childhood Today, August, 2000. Retrieved July 11, 2008 from http://www2. scholastic. com/browse/article. jsp? id=3442. Smith, Mark K. (1997). Friedrich Froebel. Retrieved July 12, 2008 from http://www. infed. org/thinkers/et-froeb. htm. Sniegoski, Stephen. (1994). Froebel and early childhood education in America. Retrieved July 12, 2008 from the Educational Resources Information Center Web site: http://www. eric. ed. gov/ERICDOCS/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/ 00000196/80/14/19/02. pdf.

Introduction of Management

Chapter 1 Introduction of management Management  is a universal phenomenon. It is a very popular and widely used term. All organizations – business, political, cultural or social are involved in management because it is the management which helps and directs the various efforts towards a definite purpose. According to  Harold Koontz, â€Å"Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can co-operate towards attainment of group goals†. According to  F. W. Taylor, â€Å"Management is an art of knowing what to do, when to do and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way†. Management is a purposive activity. It is something that directs group efforts towards the attainment of certain pre – determined goals. It is the process of working with and through others to effectively achieve the goals of the organization, by efficiently using limited resources in the changing world. Of course, these goals may vary from one enterprise to another. E. g. : For one enterprise it may be launching of new products by conducting market surveys and for other it may be profit maximization by minimizing cost. Management involves creating an internal environment: – It is the management which puts into use the various factors of production. Therefore, it is the responsibility of management to create such conditions which are conducive to maximum efforts so that people are able to perform their task efficiently and effectively. It includes ensuring availability of raw materials, determination of wages and salaries, formulation of rules & regulations etc. Therefore, we can say that good management includes both being effective and efficient. Being effective means doing the appropriate task i. , fitting the square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. Being efficient means doing the task correctly, at least possible cost with minimum wastage of resources. Management can be defined in detail in following categories : 1. Management as a  Process 2. Management as an  Activity 3. Management as a  Discipline 4. Management as a  Group 5. Management as a  Science 6. Man agement as an  Art 7. Management as a  Profession Management as science science is a systematic body of knowledge pertaining to a specific field of study that contains general facts which explains a phenomenon. It establishes cause and effect relationship between two or more variables and underlines the principles governing their relationship. These principles are developed through scientific method of observation and verification through testing. Science is characterized by following main features: 1. Universally acceptance principles –  Scientific principles represents basic truth about a particular field of enquiry. These principles may be applied in all situations, at all time & at all places. E. g. – law of gravitation which can be applied in all countries irrespective of the time. Management also contains some fundamental principles which can be applied universally like the Principle of Unity of Command i. e. one man, one boss. This principle is applicable to all type of organization – business or non business. 2. Experimentation & Observation –  Scientific principles are derived through scientific investigation & researching i. e. they are based on logic. E. g. the principle that earth goes round the sun has been scientifically proved. Management principles are also based on scientific enquiry & observation and not only on the opinion of Henry Fayol. They have been developed through experiments & practical experiences of large no. of managers. E. g. it is observed that fair remuneration to personal helps in creating a satisfied work force. 3. Cause & Effect Relationship –  Principles of science lay down cause and effect relationship between various variables. E. g. when metals are heated, they are expanded. The cause is heating & result is expansion. The same is true for management, therefore it also establishes cause and effect relationship. E. g. lack of parity (balance) between authority & responsibility will lead to ineffectiveness. If you know the cause i. e. ack of balance, the effect can be ascertained easily i. e. in effectiveness. Similarly if workers are given bonuses, fair wages they will work hard but when not treated in fair and just manner, reduces productivity of organization. 4. Test of Validity & Predictability –  Validity of scientific principles can be tested at any time or any number of times i. e. they stand the test of time. Each time these tests will give same result. Moreover future events can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by using scientific principles. E. g. H2  & O2  will always give H2O. Principles of management can also be tested for validity. E. g. principle of unity of command can be tested by comparing two persons – one having single boss and one having 2 bosses. The performance of 1st person will be better than 2nd. It cannot be denied that management has a systematic body of knowledge but it is not as exact as that of other physical sciences like biology, physics, and chemistry etc. The main reason for the inexactness of science of management is that it deals with human beings and it is very difficult to predict their behavior accurately. Since it is a social process, therefore it falls in the area of social sciences. It is a flexible science & that is why its theories and principles may produce different results at different times and therefore it is a behavior science. Ernest Dale has called it as a  Soft Science. Management as art Art implies application of knowledge & skill to trying about desired results. An art may be defined as personalized application of general theoretical principles for achieving best possible results. Art has the following characters – 1. Practical Knowledge:  Every art requires practical knowledge therefore learning of theory is not sufficient. It is very important to know practical application of theoretical principles. E. g. to become a good painter, the person may not only be knowing different colour and brushes but different designs, dimensions, situations etc to use them appropriately. A manager can never be successful just by obtaining degree or diploma in management; he must have also know how to apply various principles in real situations by functioning in capacity of manager. 2. Personal Skill:  Although theoretical base may be same for every artist, but each one has his own style and approach towards his job. That is why the level of success and quality of performance differs from one person to another. E. . there are several qualified painters but M. F. Hussain is recognized for his style. Similarly management as an art is also personalized. Every manager has his own way of managing things based on his knowledge, experience and personality, that is why some managers are known as good managers (like Aditya Birla, Rahul Bajaj) whereas others as bad. 3. Creativity:  Every artist has an el ement of creativity in line. That is why he aims at producing something that has never existed before which requires combination of intelligence & imagination. Management is also creative in nature like any other art. It combines human and non-human resources in useful way so as to achieve desired results. It tries to produce sweet music by combining chords in an efficient manner. 4. Perfection through practice:  Practice makes a man perfect. Every artist becomes more and more proficient through constant practice. Similarly managers learn through an art of trial and error initially but application of management principles over the years makes them perfect in the job of managing. 5. Goal-Oriented:  Every art is result oriented as it seeks to achieve concrete results. In the same manner, management is also directed towards accomplishment of pre-determined goals. Managers use various resources like men, money, material, machinery & methods to promote growth of an organization. Thus, we can say that management is an art therefore it requires application of certain principles rather it is an art of highest order because it deals with moulding the attitude and behavior of people at work towards desired goals. Management as both Science and Art Management is both an art and a science. The above mentioned points clearly reveals that management combines features of both science as well as art. It is considered as a science because it has an organized body of knowledge which contains certain universal truth. It is called an art because managing requires certain skills which are personal possessions of managers. Science provides the knowledge & art deals with the application of knowledge and skills. A manager to be successful in his profession must acquire the knowledge of science & the art of applying it. Therefore management is a judicious blend of science as well as an art because it proves the principles and the way these principles are applied is a matter of art. Science teaches to ’know’ and art teaches to ’do’. E. g. a person cannot become a good singer unless he has knowledge about various ragas & he also applies his personal skill in the art of singing. Same way it is not sufficient for manager to first know the principles but he must also apply them in solving various managerial problems that is why, science and art are not mutually exclusive but they are complementary to each other (like tea and biscuit, bread and butter etc. ). The old saying that â€Å"Manager are Born† has been rejected in favor of â€Å"Managers are Made†. It has been aptly remarked that management is the oldest of art and youngest of science. To conclude, we can say that science is the root and art is the fruit. Levels of Management The term â€Å"Levels of Management’ refers to a line of demarcation between various managerial positions in an organization. The number of levels in management increases when the size of the business and work force increases and vice versa. The level of management determines a chain of command, the amount of authority & status enjoyed by any managerial position. The levels of management can be classified in three broad categories: – 1. Top level / Administrative level 2. Middle level / Executory 3. Low level / Supervisory / Operative / First-line managers Managers at all these levels perform different functions. The role of managers at all the three levels is discussed below: 1. Top Level of Management It consists of board of directors, chief executive or managing director. The top management is the ultimate source of authority and it manages goals and policies for an enterprise. It devotes more time on planning and coordinating functions. The role of the top management can be summarized as follows – a. Top management lays down the objectives and broad policies of the enterprise. b. It issues necessary instructions for preparation of department budgets, procedures, schedules etc. c. It prepares strategic plans & policies for the enterprise. d. It appoints the executive for middle level i. e. departmental managers. e. It controls & coordinates the activities of all the departments. f. It is also responsible for maintaining a contact with the outside world. g. It provides guidance and direction. h. The top management is also responsible towards the shareholders for the performance of the enterprise. 2. Middle Level of Management The branch managers and departmental managers constitute middle level. They are responsible to the top management for the functioning of their department. They devote more time to organizational and directional functions. In small organization, there is only one layer of middle level of management but in big enterprises, there may be senior and junior middle level management. Their role can be emphasized as – a. They execute the plans of the organization in accordance with the policies and directives of the top management. b. They make plans for the sub-units of the organization. c. They participate in employment & training of lower level management. . They interpret and explain policies from top level management to lower level. e. They are responsible for coordinating the activities within the division or department. f. It also sends important reports and other important data to top level management. g. They evaluate performance of junior managers. h. They are also responsible for inspiring lower level managers towards better performance. 3. Low er Level of Management Lower level is also known as supervisory / operative level of management. It consists of supervisors, foreman, section officers, superintendent etc. According to  R. C. Davis, â€Å"Supervisory management refers to those executives whose work has to be largely with personal oversight and direction of operative employees†. In other words, they are concerned with direction and controlling function of management. Their activities include – a. Assigning of jobs and tasks to various workers. b. They guide and instruct workers for day to day activities. c. They are responsible for the quality as well as quantity of production. d. They are also entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining good relation in the organization. e. They communicate workers problems, suggestions, and recommendatory appeals etc to the higher level and higher level goals and objectives to the workers. f. They help to solve the grievances of the workers. g. They supervise & guide the sub-ordinates. h. They are responsible for providing training to the workers. i. They arrange necessary materials, machines, tools etc for getting the things done. j. They prepare periodical reports about the performance of the workers. k. They ensure discipline in the enterprise. l. They motivate workers. m. They are the image builders of the enterprise because they are in direct contact with the workers. Functions of management Management has been described as a social process involving responsibility for economical and effective planning & regulation of operation of an enterprise in the fulfillment of given purposes. It is a dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities. These activities are different from operative functions like marketing, finance, purchase etc. Rather these activities are common to each and every manger irrespective of his level or status. Different experts have classified functions of management . According toGeorge & Jerry, â€Å"There are four fundamental functions of management i. e. lanning, organizing, actuating and controlling†. According to Henry Fayol, â€Å"To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, & to control†. Whereas Luther Gullick has given a keyword ’POSDCORB’ where P stands for Planning, O for Organizing, S for Staffing, D for Directing, Co for Co-ordination, R for reporting & B for Bu dgeting. But the most widely accepted are functions of management given by KOONTZ and O’DONNEL i. e. Planning,  Organizing,  Staffing,  Directing  and  Controlling. For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate the function of management but practically these functions are overlapping in nature i. . they are highly inseparable. Each function blends into the other & each affects the performance of others. [pic] Planning It is the basic function of management. It deals with chalking out a future course of action & deciding in advance the most appropriate course of actions for achievement of pre-determined goals. According to KOONTZ, â€Å"Planning is deciding in advance – what to do, when to do & how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to be†. A plan is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem solving & decision making. Planning is determination of courses of action to achieve desired goals. Thus, planning is a systematic thinking about ways & means for accomplishment of pre-determined goals. Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human & non-human resources. It is all pervasive, it is an intellectual activity and it also helps in avoiding confusion, uncertainties, risks, wastages etc. Organizing It is the process of bringing together physical, financial and human resources and developing productive relationship amongst them for achievement of organizational goals. According to Henry Fayol, â€Å"To organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning i. e. raw material, tools, capital and personnel’s†. To organize a business involves determining & providing human and non-human resources to the organizational structure. Organizing as a process involves: †¢ Identification of activities. †¢ Classification of grouping of activities. †¢ Assignment of duties. †¢ Delegation of authority and creation of responsibility. †¢ Coordinating authority and responsibility relationships. Staffing It is the function of manning the organization structure and keeping it manned. Staffing has assumed greater importance in the recent years due to advancement of technology, increase in size of business, complexity of human behavior etc. The main purpose o staffing is to put right man on right job i. e. square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. According to Kootz & O’Donell, â€Å"Managerial function of staffing involves manning the organization structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal & development of personnel to fill the roles designed un the structure†. Staffing involves: †¢ Manpower Planning  (estimating man power in terms of searching, choose the person and giving the right place). †¢ Recruitment, selection & placement. †¢ Training & development. †¢ Remuneration. †¢ Performance appraisal. †¢ Promotions & transfer. Directing It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods to work efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise which sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and staffing are the mere preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel aspect of management which deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Direction has following elements: †¢ Supervision †¢ Motivation †¢ Leadership †¢ Communication Supervision-  implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of watching & directing work & workers. Motivation-  means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to work. Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose. Leadership-  may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work of subordinates in desired direction. Communications-  is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one person to another. It is a bridge of understanding. Controlling It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to  Theo Haimann, â€Å"Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation†. According to Koontz & O’Donell â€Å"Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished†. Therefore controlling has following steps: †¢ Establishment of standard performance. †¢ Measurement of actual performance. Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any. †¢ Corrective action. Planning   means looking ahead and chalking out future courses of action to be followed. It is a preparatory step. It is a systematic activity which determines when, how and who is going to perform a specific job. Planning is a detailed programme regarding future courses of action. It is ri ghtly said â€Å"Well plan is half done†. Therefore planning takes into consideration available & prospective human and physical resources of the organization so as to get effective co-ordination, contribution & perfect adjustment. It is the basic management function which includes formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources. Definition of Planning:- According to Koontz & O’Donell, â€Å"Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap between where we are to, where we want to go. It makes possible things to occur which would not otherwise occur†. According to Urwick, â€Å"Planning is a mental predisposition to do things in orderly way, to think before acting and to act in the light of facts rather than guesses†. Planning is deciding best alternative among others to perform different managerial functions in order to achieve predetermined goals. Steps in Planning Function Planning function of management  involves following steps:- 1. Establishment of objectives a. Planning requires a systematic approach. b. Planning starts with the setting of goals and objectives to be achieved. c. Objectives provide a rationale for undertaking various activities as well as indicate direction of efforts. d. Moreover objectives focus the attention of managers on the end results to be achieved. e. As a matter of fact, objectives provide nucleus to the planning process. Therefore, objectives should be stated in a clear, precise and unambiguous language. Otherwise the activities undertaken are bound to be ineffective. f. As far as possible, objectives should be stated in quantitative terms. For example, Number of men working, wages given, units produced, etc. But such an objective cannot be stated in quantitative terms like performance of quality control manager, effectiveness of personnel manager. g. Such goals should be specified in qualitative terms. h. Hence objectives should be practical, acceptable, workable and chievable. 2. Establishment of Planning Premises a. Planning premises are the assumptions about the lively shape of events in future. b. They serve as a basis of planning. c. Establishment of planning premises is concerned with determining where one tends to deviate from the actual plans and causes of such deviations. d. It is to find out what obstacles are there i n the way of business during the course of operations. e. Establishment of planning premises is concerned to take such steps that avoids these obstacles to a great extent. f. Planning premises may be internal or external. Internal includes capital investment policy, management labour relations, philosophy of management, etc. Whereas external includes socio- economic, political and economical changes. g. Internal premises are controllable whereas external are non- controllable. 3. Choice of alternative course of action a. When forecast are available and premises are established, a number of alternative course of actions have to be considered. b. For this purpose, each and every alternative will be evaluated by weighing its pros and cons in the light of resources available and requirements of the organization. . The merits, demerits as well as the consequences of each alternative must be examined before the choice is being made. d. After objective and scientific evaluation, the best alternative is chosen. e. The planners should take help of various quantitative techniques to judge the stability of an alternative. 4. Formulation of derivative plans a. Derivative plans are the sub plans or secondary plans which help in the achievement of main plan. b. Secondary plans will flow from the basic plan. These are meant to support and expediate the achievement of basic plans. c. These detail plans include policies, procedures, rules, programmes, budgets, schedules, etc. For example, if profit maximization is the main aim of the enterprise, derivative plans will include sales maximization, production maximization, and cost minimization. d. Derivative plans indicate time schedule and sequence of accomplishing various tasks. 5. Securing Co-operation a. After the plans have been determined, it is necessary rather advisable to take subordinates or those who have to implement these plans into confidence. b. The purposes behind taking them into confidence are :- a. Subordinates may feel motivated since they are involved in decision making process. b. The organization may be able to get valuable suggestions and improvement in formulation as well as implementation of plans. c. Also the employees will be more interested in the execution of these plans. 6. Follow up/Appraisal of plans a. After choosing a particular course of action, it is put into action. b. After the selected plan is implemented, it is important to appraise its effectiveness. c. This is done on the basis of feedback or information received from departments or persons concerned. . This enables the management to correct deviations or modify the plan. e. This step establishes a link between planning and controlling function. f. The follow up must go side by side the implementation of plans so that in the light of observations made, future plans can be made more realistic. Organizing  is the function of management which follows planning. It is a function in which the synchronization and combination of human, physical and financial resources takes place. All the three resources are important to get results. Therefore, organizational function helps in achievement of results which in fact is important for the functioning of a concern. Definition of organizing According toChester Barnard, â€Å"Organizing is a function by which the concern is able to define the role positions, the jobs related and the co- ordination between authority and responsibility. Hence, a manager always has to organize in order to get results. A manager performs organizing function with the help of following steps:- 1. Identification of activities –  All the activities which have to be performed in a concern have to be identified first. For example, preparation of accounts, making sales, record keeping, quality control, inventory control, etc. All these activities have to be grouped and classified into units. 2. Departmentally organizing the activities –  In this step, the manager tries to combine and group similar and related activities into units or departments. This organization of dividing the whole concern into independent units and departments is called departmentation. 3. Classifying the authority –  Once the departments are made, the manager likes to classify the powers and its extent to the managers. This activity of giving a rank in order to the managerial positions is called hierarchy. The top management is into formulation of policies, the middle level management into departmental supervision and lower level management into supervision of foremen. The clarification of authority help in bringing efficiency in the running of a concern. This helps in achieving efficiency in the running of a concern. This helps in avoiding wastage of time, money, effort, in avoidance of duplication or overlapping of efforts and this helps in bringing smoothness in a concern’s working. 4. Co-ordination between authority and responsibility –  Relationships are established among various groups to enable smooth interaction toward the achievment of the organizational goal. Each individual is made aware of his authority and he/she knows whom they have to take orders from and to whom they are accountable and to whom they have to report. A clear organizational structure is drawn and all the employees are made aware of it. DIRECTING  is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function does not take place. Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance to workers is doing work. In field of management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work effectively and efficiently. Definition of directing According to Human, â€Å"Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned† Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing people towards accomplishment of organizational goals. Direction has got following characteristics: 1. Pervasive Function –  Directing is required at all levels of organization. Every manager provides guidance and inspiration to his subordinates. 2. Continuous Activity –  Direction is a continuous activity as it continuous throughout the life of organization. . Human Factor –  Directing function is related to subordinates and therefore it is related to human factor. Since human factor is complex and behaviour is unpredictable, direction function becomes important. 4. Creative Activity –  Direction function helps in converting plans into performance. Without this function, people become inactive and physical resources are meaningless. 5. Executive Function –  Direction function is carried out by all managers and executives at all levels throughout the working of an enterprise; a subordinate receives instructions from his superior only. . Delegate Function –  Direction is supposed to be a function dealing with human beings. Human behaviour is unpredictable by nature and conditioning the people’s behaviour towards the goals of the enterprise is what the executive does in this function. Therefore, it is termed as having delicacy in it to tackle human behaviour. Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs in conformities with the plans adopted, instructions issued and principles established. Controlling ensures that there is effective and efficient utilization of organizational resources so as to achieve the planned goals. Controlling measures the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance, discovers the causes of such deviations and helps in taking corrective actions Definition of controlling According to Brech, â€Å"Controlling is a systematic exercise which is called as a process of checking actual performance against the standards or plans with a view to ensure adequate progress and also recording such experience as is gained as a contribution to possible future needs. According to Donnell, â€Å"Just as a navigator continually takes reading to ensure whether he is relative to a planned action, so should a business manager continually take reading to assure himself that his enterprise is on right course. † controlling as a management function involves following steps: Process of controlling 1. Establishment of standards-  Standards are t he plans or the targets which have to be achieved in the course of business function. They can also be called as the criterions for judging the performance. Standards generally are classified into two- a. Measurable or tangible – Those standards which can be measured and expressed are called as measurable standards. They can be in form of cost, output, expenditure, time, profit, etc. b. Non-measurable or intangible- There are standards which cannot be measured monetarily. For example- performance of a manager, deviation of workers, their attitudes towards a concern. These are called as intangible standards. Controlling becomes easy through establishment of these standards because controlling is exercised on the basis of these standards. 2. Measurement of performance-  The second major step in controlling is to measure the performance. Finding out deviations becomes easy through measuring the actual performance. Performance levels are sometimes easy to measure and sometimes difficult. Measurement of tangible standards is easy as it can be expressed in units, cost, money terms, etc. Quantitative measurement becomes difficult when performance of manager has to be measured. Performance of a manager cannot be measured in quantities. It can be measured only by- a. Attitude of the workers, b. Their morale to work, c. The development in the attitudes regarding the physical environment, and d. Their communication with the superiors. It is also sometimes done through various reports like weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly reports. 3. Comparison of actual and standard performance-  Comparison of actual performance with the planned targets is very important. Deviation can be defined as the gap between actual performance and the planned targets. The manager has to find out two things here- extent of deviation and cause of deviation. Extent of deviation means that the manager has to find out whether the deviation is positive or negative or whether the actual performance is in conformity with the planned performance. The managers have to exercise control by exception. He has to find out those deviations which are critical and important for business. Minor deviations have to be ignored. Major deviations like replacement of machinery, appointment of workers, quality of raw material, rate of profits, etc. should be looked upon consciously. Therefore it is said, â€Å" If a manager controls everything, he ends up controlling nothing. † For example, if stationery charges increase by a minor 5 to 10%, it can be called as a minor deviation. On the other hand, if monthly production decreases continuously, it is called as major deviation. Once the deviation is identified, a manager has to think about various cause which has led to deviation. The causes can be- a. Erroneous planning, b. Co-ordination loosens, c. Implementation of plans is defective, and d. Supervision and communication is ineffective, etc. 4. Taking remedial actions-  Once the causes and extent of deviations are known, the manager has to detect those errors and take remedial measures for it. There are two alternatives here- a. Taking corrective measures for deviations which have occurred; and b. After taking the corrective measures, if the actual performance is not in conformity with plans, the manager can revise the targets. It is here the controlling process comes to an end. Follow up is an important step because it is only through taking corrective measures, a manager can exercise controlling. Types of managers: ? Functional manager: The functional manager is responsible for only one functional area. Like ? Production manager, ? Finance manager. ? Marketing manager ? HR manager ? General manager: The individual responsible for all functional activities, such as production, sales etc†¦ MANAGERIAL ROLES A s a manager, you probably fulfill many different roles every day. For instance, as well as leading your team, you might find yourself resolving a conflict, negotiating new contracts, representing your department at a board meeting, or approving a request for a new computer system. Put simply, you're constantly switching roles as tasks, situations, and expectations change. Management expert and professor, Henry Mintzberg, recognized this. He argued that there are ten primary roles or behaviors that can be used to categorize a manager's different functions. In this article we'll examine these roles, and we'll see how you can use your understanding of them to improve your management skills. The Roles Mintzberg published his Ten Management Roles in his book, â€Å"Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange World of Organizations,† in 1990. The ten roles are: 1. Figurehead. 2. Leader. 3. Liaison. 4. Monitor. 5. Disseminator. 6. Spokesperson. 7. Entrepreneur. 8. Disturbance Handler. 9. Resource Allocator. 10. Negotiator. [pic] The 10 roles are then divided up into three categories, as follows: Category |Role | |Interpersonal |Figurehead | | |Leader | | |Liaison | |Informational |Monitor | | |Disseminator | | |Spokesperson | |Decisional |Entrepreneur | | |Disturbance Handler | | |Resource Allocator | | |Negotiator | Interpersonal Category The roles in this category involve  providing  information and ideas. 1. Figurehead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ As a manager, you have social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities. You're expected to be a source of inspiration. People look up to you as a person with authority, and as a figurehead. 2. Leader  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ This is where you provide leadership for your team, your department or perhaps your entire organization; and it's where you manage the performance and responsibilities of everyone in the group. 3. Liaison  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Managers must communicate with internal and external contacts. You need to be able to network effectively on behalf of your organization. Informational Category The roles in this category involve  processing  information. 1. Monitor  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ In this role, you regularly seek out information related to your organization and industry, looking for relevant changes in the environment. You also monitor your team, in terms of both their productivity, and their well-being. 2. Disseminator  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ This is where you communicate potentially useful information to your colleagues and your team. 3. Spokesperson  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Managers represent and speak for their organization. In this role you're responsible for transmitting information about your organization and its goals to the people outside it. Decisional Category The roles in this category involve  using  information. 1. Entrepreneur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ As a manager, you create and control change within the organization. This means solving problems, generating new ideas, and implementing them. 2. Disturbance Handler  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ When an organization or team hits an unexpected roadblock, it's the manager who must take charge. You also need to help mediate disputes within it. 3. Resource Allocator  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ You'll also need to determine where organizational resources are best applied. This involves allocating funding, as well as assigning staff and other organizational resources. 4. Negotiator  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ You may be needed to take part in, and direct, important negotiations within your team, department, or organization. Better understanding of role 1. Figurehead Figureheads represent their teams. If you need to improve or build confidence in this area, start with your image, behavior, and  reputation. Cultivate  humility  and empathy, learn how to  set a good example at work, and think about  how to be a good role model. 2. Leader This is the role you probably spend most of your time fulfilling. To improve here, start by taking our quiz,  how good Are Your Leadership Skills? This will give you a thorough understanding of your current abilities. Next, learn how to be an  authentic leader, so your team will respect you. Also, focus on improving your  emotional intelligence  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ this is an important skill for being an effective leader. 3. Liaison To improve your liaison skills, work on your  professional networking  techniques. You may also like to take our Bite-Sized Training course on  Networking Skills. 4. Monitor To improve here, learn how to  gather information  effectively and  overcome information overload. Also, use effective  reading strategies, so that you can process material quickly and thoroughly, and learn how to  keep up-to-date with industry news. 5. Disseminator To be a good disseminator you need to know how to share information and outside views effectively, which means that good communication skills are vital. Learn how to share organizational information with  Team Briefings. Next, focus on improving your  writing skills. You might also want to take our  communication skills quiz, to find out where else you can improve. 6. Spokesperson To be effective in this role, make sure that you know how to  represent your organization at a conference. You may also want to read our articles on  delivering great presentations  and  working with the media  (if applicable to your role). 7. Entrepreneur To improve here, build on your  change management  skills, and learn  what not to do when implementing change  in your organization. You'll also need to work on yourproblem solving  and  creativity skills, so that you can come up with new ideas, and implement them successfully. 8. Disturbance Handler In this role, you need to excel at  conflict resolution  and know  how to handle team conflict. It's also helpful to be able to  manage emotion in your team. 9. Resource Allocator To improve as a resource allocator, learn how to  manage a budget,  cut costs, andprioritize, so that you can make the best use of your resources. 10. Negotiator Improve your negotiation skills by learning about  Win-Win Negotiation  and Distributive. .

U.S. History - Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U.S. History - Reflection Paper - Essay Example While pursuing the course under consideration I came across a few things that were new to me. Britain first lost the War for Freedom in the minds and hearts of the people inhabiting the American colonies, before it lost it on the battlefields of America. Britain never tried to holistically and formally participate in the political issues that were of emotional, social, economic and cultural significance to the colonies. Whatever political influence Britain exercised on the colonies was pecuniary and ‘Britain centric’ in nature that included recognition of the Proclamation Line, posting of British garrisons and imposing arbitrary taxes. Had Britain been more sensitive and astute in its response, perhaps the American Revolution would have never taken place. The other thing that was new to me was the fact that the political and social figures that are oft revered in the American history were marked by immense contradictions in their personal choices and political beliefs. For example Thomas Jefferson is considered to be one of the greatest American Presidents who was publically opposed to slavery. Yet, it was amazing to find out after some research that due to a big personal debt, Jefferson owned slaves for his entire life. 2. One most important thing about the American history that surprised me pleasantly was the text of the Declaration of Independence and its moral and ethical ramifications. I personally feel that the Declaration of Independence is a document that is not only of timeless relevance to the American democracy, but the very ability of its drafters to envisage and formally consolidate the ideals and principles that were of universal appeal and importance, in an age when the means of communication and hence the possibility o f a global spread of ideas was very constrained, is amazing, surprising and pleasant indeed. The Declaration of Independence was indeed a worthy culmination of the liberal ideas enshrined in the Western philosophy and politics. Consider the words: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.† The very ability of the drafters to come out with the idea of universal equality in those times is indeed astonishing and surprising. No doubt, at a very late stage, it was Lincoln who once more brought to fore the views and ideals of the Founding Fathers enshrined in the Declaration of Independence to start a war to end slavery, which was to change America forever. I found it really surprising that the Declaration of Independence is a document of recurring importance that is perhaps never going to lose its salubrious fr eshness and appeal in the times to come. 3. The things about the US history that surprised me unpleasantly or disappointed me were the treatment met to the Native Americans and blacks and the very fact that America harbored and exercised imperialist intentions and designs at some time in its history. These aspects of the US history were not only contrary to the American ethos and beliefs, but signified the tendency of a nation to resort to hypocrisy in the face of commercial advantages and interests. Though, the Founding Fathers promised a fair treatment to Native Americans, yet the practice of a specific race to resort to unchecked expansion in the Indian territories, encouraged by a belief in the inferiority of the Native races and culture sounded simply horrific and contradictory. The very same beliefs allowed the plantation holders to exploit the black slaves in an emotional and ethically callous pursuit for

Supply Chain Management Apple Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply Chain Management Apple - Essay Example This success could be due to the increasing amount of supply chain managers reporting to the CEO of a company rather than to the manufacturing department, a trend across businesses (Allen, 2010). It has been suggested that the supply chain for Apple involves ten steps in four different countries, which are Singapore, Taiwan, the US and China. Taiwan provides most of the manufacturing components for an iPhone (Apple’s biggest seller []), with six different elements being produced here – the digital camera modules, international circuitry, industrial connectors, silicon Bluetooth chipset, technology printed circuit boards and stainless metal casings (Lyons, 2010). This encourages us to believe that the supply chain manager believes that Taiwan is the cheapest and most efficient supplier of many of the components for the iPhone and other Apple products. It also means that there is a bottleneck for the supply chain, in that if there were to be any economic issues or disaste rs in Taiwan, then the supply chain for the iPhone would be severely disrupted and there would be problems in the supply of these products. Essentially, the supply chain manager at Apple feels that the benefits from producing many components in Taiwan (cost and efficiency) outweigh these dangers. China is the location in which all these components come together to be assembled, suggesting that the country has a very cheap labour rate compared with the US, and the shipping costs from this country are low enough for the cost of labour in this country for this to be the most efficient method. All of this information suggests that Apple uses a vertical integration system for their Supply Chain Management (Lyons, 2010). A vertical integration system is one where most of the hardware components of a product are bought from a variety of different manufacturers which are all owned and controlled by the central company – in this case Apple. This helps to avoid any hold-up from trying to integrate many different companies, and it also stops the different pieces of hardware being used by other companies, ensuring that the end product is something completely unique – again, something very important to Apple. The use of a manufacturer owned by the central company also ensures that the data chip, or processor, or other product, can be manufactured exactly according to company specifications, ensuring a greater specificity. This can be a response to the make-buy decision. The make-buy decision The make-buy decision is essentially a choice between outsourcing and manufacturing (Probert, 1997). It has been suggested that the decision is easy, and that a company should outsource any components that are not critical to the product’s success, do not require any specialised design or manufacturing elements, and are not core to the company’s future plans and central products (Burt & Burf, 2009). There are many other ways of making the decision, one of wh ich is known as the contribution-per-constraint module (CPCM) that relies on knowing and analysing the constraints of the component (Gardiner & Blackstone, 2007). In this case, the Supply Chain Management team at Apple have decided that it is best to make many of the components (or

Development Efforts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Development Efforts - Essay Example Not all firms can survive without emergency managers since all face diverse perils and hazards. However, in some businesses, emergency management departments have secluded themselves from strategizing with the rest of the response system in attaining the goals of the organization. This has raised so many concerns as to whether this act is right or wrong. This dilemma may be solved based on deduced lessons from several reviews of literature. Emergency management has different response departments referred to as agencies. The leaders of the agencies perform different functions. Because the leaders have some emergency solving related jobs, they are grouped under one department. This suggests that they have some related strategies aimed at achieving a common goal. More so, in time of need, emergency managers consult each other before coming up with some decisions and tactics of solving the problems caused by disasters. The strategies should not work against each other to bring about harmony at the scene of the disaster (Belasco & Ralph, 2008). From the research on ants by the US scholars, emergency leaders may learn the importance of collaboration of the departments. In this setting, ants are not as bright as such, but they are able to tackle any task. In addition, they are more organized than other insects. They embrace the art of teamwork. Any ant may handle any job at any given time since all have the skills to handle any job. This policy should work in any emergency system. Different departments should be able to perform the duties interchangeably. In case one response system misses, any one present should be able to make informed decisions in solving certain problems. Therefore, there should be collaborative strategies in order to attain the goals of the firm (Gerber & Sims, 2005). According to Waugh & Streib (2009), important duties prior to, during and post disaster requires coordination from multi-organizational, inter-organizational

Phase5 IP Markets for Labor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phase5 IP Markets for Labor - Essay Example For example, the cost for buying and diagnosing people with obesity and diabetes has reduced significantly because most people are trying to avoid unhealthy food due to higher cost of those foods (Gilman, 2008). The supply of cookbooks will fall/decrease significantly because an increase in tax leads to an increase in the cost of production because raw materials become expensive. This further leads to a decrease in consumption because consumers are rational and their aim is to maximise their utility as well as minimise cost. Therefore, increase in cost of unhealthy food will decrease consumption and supply (Spearman, n.d). Consumers are the ones who pay tax at the end because after the government has increased taxes, tax of certain commodities consumers pay this tax by buying the commodities. In above connection, this method may be good to finance health programs because it help to discourage consumption of unhealthy food which consequently reduces the cost that government incur on h ealth care facilities. This is because the cases of people with diabetes and obesity will reduce significantly. The other tax that government may use to increase revenues include: Income tax, corporate tax, capital gain tax, social security contribution tax, property tax, inheritance tax to mention just but a few. Income tax is levied/applied on individual earrings’ whereby; the state deducts certain amount of income that is within the tax brackets. On the contrary, corporate tax is the one that is levied on the company earnings while capital gain tax is the amount of tax levied on the earnings made after financial securities have been sold. Social security contribution is the amount levied on the amount that people contribute as savings under pension scheme. Property tax might be levied on individuals’ property such as land, real estates, motor vehicle among other non-current assets (Spearman, n.d). Part II Absolute advantage entails the ability of an organisation to produce goods and service more efficiently than its competitors using the same amount of resources as it competitor. An organisation with absolute advantage tends to have the ability to produce goods at a lower cost and later selling them at a profit. For example, if two companies have the same amount of resource but company A can produce 100kgs of wheat while company B can produce 50kgs, then company A may be said to have an absolute advantage over B. Therefore, in this case, the ability of Justcookbooks.com of becoming wildly successful in the United States presents an absolute advantage. On the other hand, comparative advantage entails the ability of a particular organisation to produce goods and services at a lower cost as compared to other firms. For example, if Japan can produce one car at 100 dollar and 1 motor bike at 40 dollars while U.S can produce the same car at 90 dollars and motor bike at 20 dollars then, it may be said that U.S has a comparative advantage of producing cars while Japan has a comparative advantage of producing motor bikes (Mike, 2013). When one focuses at becoming a multinational Corporation, one should be ready to face cultural and ethical issues, legal issues, human resource issues, etiquette and custom issues, political issues to mention just but a few. Cultural issues entail problems that arise due to increase in organisation diversity as a company goes global. Legal issues arise when a company must obey

Chinese Literature unit paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese Literature unit paper - Essay Example During this battle, Cao Cao gave up land along and South of the Yangtze River. This text is not completely accurate because it was written by Chen Shou, an officer for the Shu Han. Once again since the Shu Han was victorious, Shou had a warped view of the Battle of Red Cliff. Although biased, Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel is what John Woo used to make his movie Red Cliff. This historical account is the official record. No matter what biases Shou had, this is what the Shu Empire recorded at the time. This account makes more sense than The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so most Chinese accept this account. History cannot always be revealed without the help of historians. Shou created an account that is the most credible. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms can be considered more fiction than fact. In this book is the poem, â€Å"Cao Cao Short Story†. This poem shows Cao Cao in a bad light. The following sums up how the Shu Kingdom felt about Cao Cao. The poem is like Cao Cao is the narrator. The wine before me as I sing: how long can a man’s life last?... How can I banish melancholy?- by Du Kang’s gift of wine†¦ This shows that Cao Cao was not a good leader, but a drunken depressed individual. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms also minimizes the Eastern Wu’s generals. This fanciful account is solely a product of later fictional Shu beliefs. The numbers of the soldiers were increased on Cao Cao’s side and decreased on the Shu side. The Red Cliff Battle will remain elusive in the annals of history.

Developing a strategic plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developing a strategic plan - Essay Example Similarly I made a plan for improving students’ perception and satisfaction with transportation. I included two action items; offering buses to commuter students and ensuring the schedule accuracy to facilitate the students and providing private buses and shuttles for the students of Pittsburgh and nearby shopping centers within a radius of 10 miles. This improvement can reduce car traffic and parking issues by 30% and increase student mobility by 75% to Pittsburgh downtown. I did not use trial and error or any redundant old method just to fill in that space with a strategy. I built my strategy based on the information I collected through students’ reviews. Even though the strategic plan is complete and quite comprehensive I would like to add a few things especially regarding public safety. The three action items are very helpful. For instance, they publicize encourage enrollment in E2 campus emergency notification system. Similarly, there are other programs offered under the same category but one thing that I feel missing is the follow-up. There should be a measure or any form of tracking the performance of implementing the strategy. This is to see whether the implemented strategy is giving the output that it is supposed to deliver. Moreover, it is only encouraging students to take part in self-defense programs offered on campus. I believe it should be mandatory for students to take basic training programs for the self-defense. It is quite likely that several students would not want to join but by involving them in the process of constructing the course the program can be more inclusive and productive in the interest of all. This is the first time for me to learn how to develop a strategic plan. The entire process from the beginning to the end has been very helpful and educating for me. The key lessons I learned from this process is how to incorporate the vision and a mission in a plan. I have realized that developing a

Course project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Course project - Essay Example The same organization equips the residents with international law with priority for humanitarian goals (Bibalex, 2014). In addition, the entity effectively delivers emergency medical care. The recipients of the medical care include all Qatar residents during earthquakes, and other unexpected disasters. The other activities of the Qatar Red Crescent nonprofit organization include healthcare and disaster preparedness. The company trains red cross–type volunteers to help during unexpected emergencies (Qatar Red Crescent, 2010). The company’s external report (Table 1) shows how Qatar Red Crescent Society generated its different sources of income. In terms of Qatari Riyal, the company’s top 2009 four sources are Restricted Donations (35,096,421), unrestricted donations (13,782,297), Other Income (4,496,145), and Dividends Income (4,076,075). The total income generated for 2009 is QAR 64,188,922. The government contribution significantly increases the company’s total income for 2009 (Qatar Red Crescent, 2010). Analyzing, the company’s 2009 income source report is favorably higher than the prior 2008 income source report. The 2009 restricted donations figure is 45 percent higher than the 2008 restricted donations figure. The 2009 Unrestricted donations amount is 54 percent higher than the prior year’s restricted donations figure. The 2009 total revenue output is 32 percent higher than the 2008 total revenue output (Qatar Red Crescent, 2010). Further, the financial report complies with established accounting process standards. The external auditor, Deloitte & Touche, reports the financial reports are true and fair. The company complies with established Qatar IFRS accounting process requirements. The financial reports adhere to the provisions of the Qatar’s association articles (Qatar Red Crescent, 2010). Furthermore, Qatar companies comply with IFRS

CH 11 - ISMG 3000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CH 11 - ISMG 3000 - Essay Example But at least, it would not jeopardize the whole credibility and viability of the business on a longer term framework. Besides, by shutting down the system, and trying to rush things into putting back normal operations within 3 or 4 days, the more that IT personnel might increase tendencies to commit mistakes and gravely endanger rushing the system back into full operations within a short time frame. One strongly believes that there is no need to disclose anything in the outside world given that IT personnel has not proven any form of intrusion, in the first place. The implications for making such a pre-emptive public announcement could cause chaos and undue stress to their customers which could actually compromise their corporate image. If eventually proven that no intrusion of any kind was actually encountered, it would be difficult to negate the previous public disclosure or announcement that was made. Barton still has a job since his overall performance as head of the IT department was in fact exemplary and extraordinary. It was really not his fault that there were chaos and security issues that emerged during his helm. His other undertakings as CIO have been commended considerably by Williams and by other members of his IT team which is indicative of his competence and extraordinary qualities and skills as a manager. As such, his strengths could be used favorably to contribute to the growth of IVK in the long run. One honestly shares the same contention that one’s immediate supervisor or boss needs to know the bad news first, even if it is just initially a hunch. Just like the strategy that was applied by Barton, he perfectly justified using this strategy to immediately relay the least palatable option in situations of problems or concerns so that the boss is evidently prepared and apprised of the worst scenario and would not be surprised that it could come to facing that particular course of action. This is consistent