Classics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Classics - Essay Example When the Athenians reached Melos they sent envoys to offer a proposition to the Melians. During the dialogue this proposition becomes clear. The Melians, instead of allowing the Athenian envoys to make their proposition in front of all the people of Melos, brought them before the Magistrate and the Few, giving the reason that if the Athenians come as judges in their own right, then they should be brought before those who themselves hold a judging position of what is right. However, the Athenians state that they believe the Melians to have requested a quiet audience so that they may not influence the inhabitants of Melos, this they do not mind and go about setting out their proposition. Here, we see the subtleties of politics during this era and how important the masses were in determining what happens during the war. The Melians afraid that their people would choose submission has employed a more covertness means of debate; thus, denying the people of Melos to choose their fate. The Melians see only two ways either they submit to Athenian rule and become slaves or they go to war and hope to win. However, the Athenians declare that the Melians are not completely right in their assumptions; for, the most important thing is to preserve the island of Melos. The only way to do this is to submit to Athenian rule, becoming a tributary of the Athenian empire but being left alone to carry on as before, preserving their culture and ways of living. They indicate that this would be an advantage to both parties; for, the Melians retain the safety and preservation of their country and the Athenians need not make war against them. The Melians state that they do not comprehend why they cannot remain neutral, taking neither side but being friends to Athens. The Athenians explain that if they leave Melos to remain neutral the people of the Athenian empire will either believe Melos to be very powerful or the Athenians

Film review ( Run Lola Run ) Movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Film ( Run Lola Run ) - Movie Review Example The film has three alternative storylines with different endings. The film has adopted a unique and fast approach in telling the story and is a must watch for those interested in small budget films that are fast and with simple and direct themes. Director of the film is Tom Tykwer who has directed films such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The International and Cloud Atlas, Heaven and others. Main actors are Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri and others (Maslin, 2011). Actors Roles/ Performance: The main characters are Lola, played by Franka Potente, A German actor and singer who has acted in more than 30 films including the Bourne film series and won many awards. The boyfriends role of Manni is played by Moritz Bleibtreu who has acted in more than 20 films such as World War Z, Young Goethe in Love, The Fourth State and others. The role of Papa is played by Herbert Knaup who has acted in about nine films such as In Darkness, Jerry Cotton and others. Narration is provided by Hans Paetsch, a famous narrator for German documentaries and children films and who has acted in more than six films (IMDB, 2010). Other characters in the film include the punk with a dog, a blind woman, a homeless man, banker, security guard the cyclist and others (Film Education, 2013). Story line/ Plot/ Location: Shot in Berlin, the film starts with Lola getting a call from Manni, a petty criminal who has collected 100,000 DM and forgotten the bag with the cash on a train. Manni frantically tells Lola that he must obtain the cash in 20 minutes else his mafia boss will send a gangster to kill him. Lola then starts running to ask her Papa, a bank manager for the money and the film is made of three runs. In each run, Lola collides with people and each collision leads to a different story. In the first run, Lola sees a dog that she avoids and bumps into a woman with a baby carriage. After a series of events, Lola reaches the bank only to be told that his

The degree of operating leverage Essay Example for Free

The degree of operating leverage Essay 1. The degree of operating leverage is equal to the ____ change in ____ divided by the ____ change in ____. 2. In the linear breakeven model, the difference between selling price per unit and variable cost per unit is referred to as: 3). Break-even analysis usually assumes all of the following except: 4).The short-run cost function is: 5). In the short-run for a purely competitive market, a manufacturer will stop production when: 6). In the long-run, firms in a monopolistically competitive industry will 7). A search good is: 8). All of the following are true for both competition and monopolistic competition in the long run, except one of them. Which is it? 9). Regulatory agencies engage in all of the following activities except _______. 10). In the electric power industry, residential customers have relatively ____ demand for electricity compared with large industrial users. But contrary to price discrimination, large industrial users generally are charged ____ rates. 11). When the cross elasticity of demand between one product and all other products is low, one is generally referring to a(n) ____ situation. 13). In natural monopoly, AC continuously declines due to economies in distribution or in production, which tends to found in industries which face increasing returns to scale. If price were set equal to marginal cost, then: 14). A(n) ____ is characterized by a relatively small number of firms producing a product. 15). In the Cournot duopoly model, each of the two firms, in determining its profit-maximizing price-output level, assumes that the other firms ____ will not change. 16). The existence of a kinked demand curve under oligopoly conditions may result in 17). Conscious parallelism of action among oligopolistic firms is an example of ____. 18). A key to analyzing subgame perfect equilibrium strategy in sequential games is 19). Credible promises and hostage mechanisms can support a continuous stream of cooperative exchanges except when 20). In making promises that are not guaranteed by third parties and in imposing penalties that are not enforced by third parties, all of the following are credibility-enhancing mechanisms except 21). In a game, a dominated strategy is one where: The segmenting of customers into several small groups such as household, institutional, commercial, and industrial users, and establishing a different rate schedule for each group is known as: 22) The following are possible examples of price discrimination, EXCEPT: 23). The optimal mark-up is: m = -1/ (E+1). When the mark-up on cookware equals 50%, then demand elasticity (E) for cookware is: 24). To maximize profits, a monopolist that engages in price discrimination must allocate output in such a way as to make identical the ____ in all markets. 25). Non-redeployable durable assets that are dependent upon unique complementary and perfectly redeployable assets to achieve substantial value-added will typically be organized as 26). When retail bicycle dealers advertise and perform warranty repairs but do not deliver the personal selling message that Schwinn has designed as part of the marketing plan but cannot observe at less than prohibitive cost, the manufacturer has encountered a problem of ____. 27). When manufacturers and distributors establish credible commitments to one another, they often employ 28). Reliant assets are always all of the following except: 29). The sentiment for increased deregulation in the late 1970s and early 1980s has been felt most significantly in the price regulation of 30). The antitrust laws regulate all of the following business decisions except ____. 31). The ____ is equal to the some of the squares of the market shares of all the firms in an industry. 32). The lower the barriers to entry and exit, the more nearly a market structure fits the ____ market model. 33). The ____ depicts the risk-return relationship in the market for all securities: 34). Any current outlay that is expected to yield a flow of benefits beyond one year in the future is: 35). In order to help assure that all relevant factors will be considered, the capital-expenditure selection process should include the following steps except: 36). Which of the following would not be classified as a capital expenditure for decision-making purposes?

Anthropology Reflection on Death

Anthropology Reflection on Death Vado Tergum In Vicis â€Å"Vado Tergum In Vicis† I hear him mumble as I cradled him and watched him close his eyes, inhale a deep breath one last time before dozing off in a deep unending slumber. Those were his last words. It has been weeks since my grandfather passed away but his words still echo in my head, as if those were only said yesterday. I was going through some of the things in his office when something of interest caught my attention. There, stashed between collections of replicas of fossil fragments, valuable artifacts and dusty pile of scratch papers and moldy books he gathered from years of field work, was a small, odd looking, leather book. Written on its very first page were the exact same words he held before he died. I knew instantly that the book was of something special. However, browsing through its worn out dusty pages, I was only left with disappointment for the book did not contain anything aside from descriptions and a few drawings of our supposed human ancestors. My grandfather was an anthropologist, and a brilliant one I should boast. He spent his years doing field work in different parts of the world until it was time for him to stop because of his old age. Bothered by my grandfather’s last words, I again went through his book, this time going through and reading every chapter, entry by entry, repeating his last words over and over in my head while reading every word in the book, hoping to make sense of the phrase. Suddenly, I felt a weird sensation crawling up my spine, and then everything started spinning right before my eyes until it all went black. â€Å"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!† I heard little chirping sounds as I awoke from a strange and an unexpected deep sleep. â€Å"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!† I heard them once more. Not noticing that I woke up in a different place, I set off to find where the noise was coming from until I came upon a nest of hungry little eaglets. Marveling at the sight of the poor little creatures, it finally occurred to me where I really was, on top of a tree in a strange and unfamiliar place somewhere and not in my grandfather’s office where I remembered reading before blacking out. Thinking it was only a dream, I started stretching hoping to finally wake up in the comfort of my grandfather’s office. But to my disbelief, instead of slender human arms, big, strong wings came out and stretched in all its might. Still astonished and clueless of how I transformed into this magnificent creature in a single snap, I was left with no choice but to live in this new form and accep t the responsibility of looking after my young eaglets. While flying above the surface, I observed the surrounding area. It was not the typical lush green forest one may find in a typical forest or a mountain somewhere. The area is a dry savanna grassland with trees scattered widely apart (Forey Blaxland, 2013). Then at a distance, not very far from where I was hovering, I noticed a group of species with very distinct features. They have a relatively hairless, tall, slender long legged body complemented by an upright stature and a flatter face with human-like projecting nose (Forey Blaxland, 2013). Then it hit me, could it be that this species were the same as or the ones being described in my grandfather’s book? Is it possible that I have time traveled 1.9 to 1.5 million years in the past (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.) through his book to witness firsthand the existence of the Homo ergaster, which was the earliest known human ancestor to have possessed more human-like features (Forey Blaxland, 2013.), in East and South Africa (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.)? If this was the case, then I can still travel back to the present time and be a human again. The thought of being able to travel back to the present time and be a person again filled me with so much joy and excitement that I quickly perched on the nearest tree that enabled me a view where I could observe and watch them more closely. Remembering my grandfather’s notes and having personally observed the species, which I will now refer to as the Homo ergaster, it can be verified that their relative hairlessness and erect stature can account for the improvement of body cooling techniques (Forey Blaxland, 2013) and for their life on the ground as their climbing adaptations got lost with the development of their ability to walk, run and travel long distances (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). Notable, among the Homo ergaster was their development, discovery and utilization of tools and fire which I have found drawings in grandfather’s book. According to the description in his notes, tools which included cleavers, hand axes and picks were excavat ed together with the ergaster’s fossils (Forey Blaxland, 2013). The tools were used mainly in hunting and butchering big animals and heavy wood working (Forey Blaxland, 2013). â€Å"Is that fire I can see flickering at a distance?† I excitedly thought to myself. I better fly there and check what is happening. â€Å"Oh, I can see it now! They’re making fire!† (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.) I exclaimed happily. But for what reason are they making it? Eager to know, I continued to hover near the area. A few moments later, when the fire is burning big enough, the species then placed chunks of meat, maybe from some beast, and plant tubers found all over the savannah (O’Neil, 2013) over the burning pile of wood as if they were in a barbecue party. â€Å"How amazing!† I exclaimed, â€Å"These creatures already have knowledge making and cooking with fire!† (Forey Blaxland, 2013). Amazed, I decided to stay a little longer hoping to learn more about them. I built a new nest on a near tree so that I could still look after my young while studying this fascinating group of species. Based from my close o bservations of them, I can infer that there is a clear parallelism between the Homo ergaster and our more modern human species, like tending and caring for the sick or injured, although there were no evidences of them deliberately burying their dead, staying or living within family based social bonds, an extended period of childhood (Forey Blaxland, 2013), and communicating through a limited range of sounds and gestures (O’Neil, 2013). Also, there existed a pattern of cooperation in Homo ergaster males and females which can be attributed to a decreased sexual dimorphism between them (Forey Blaxland, 2013). Until one day, as I was searching for food to feed my young, that sudden strange feeling I felt before coming into this strange new place came to me again. My wings suddenly grew numb and I started falling, I lost consciousness. Few moments later, I woke up, sitting in my grandfather’s office, the book in my lap. Terrified by the experience, I decided to keep the book away but found myself seconds later more drawn to it, browsing and turning it’s every page. Then before I had the strength to put it away, the strange feeling crept through me again, then, I found myself in another strange place. This time, in a grassland area with a more temperate and cooler climate (O’Neil, 2013) far from the dry savannas of East and South Africa. Abounding in mixed steppes, the environment proved to be an ideal habitat for large grazing animals (O’Neil, 2013). Wondering why the book brought me to such an environment, I started wandering through the area. As I go about surv eying the new surroundings, I realized that something very strange was happening. Other animals ran away at the instant they saw me coming. Puzzled, I continued until I came across a small pond. Hot from hours of walking, I decided to wash my face and drink from the crystal clear waters of the pond. But as I bent near the water’s surface, this massive tiger’s face appeared and stared right at me from the water. Terrified, I quickly pulled myself away from the water’s surface and got on my feet to survey the area of the lurking beast. Realizing I was actually alone, I again went near the water only to realize that the tiger’s reflection which scared me earlier was actually mine. Dumbfounded at the idea that I am now a ferocious predator, it made me realize that not only did my grandfather’s notebook allowed me to travel through time but also, it enabled me to shape shift to a different creature in each time period. The sound of passing footsteps pulled me from my thoughts. At a distance, there was a group of short and stocky men, with large faces characterized by a flat nose, a low sloping forehead and massive brow ridge (Forey, 2013) dragging the carcass of a boar, slit open, indicating that it was attacked and eaten by bigger predator and was not killed by the men. Unaware of the present time period and geographic location where I am in, and seeing a resemblance between these men and the species of Homo ergaster which I have observed in the African continent, led me to assume and establish a connection between these two species. While secretly observing the group from behind the bushes as to keep my presence unknown, memories from reading grandfather’s notes in his office suddenly rushed through me. Then I remembered reading on the part when some groups of Homo ergaster started to move out of Africa and dispersed in parts of Asia and Europe 1.8 to 1.7 million years ago (O’Neil, 2013) and might have evolved into more complex beings or side branched into a different species. With this in mind, the idea finally struck me. The book brought me to Asia to meet the Homo erectus, possibly an ancestor or a distant cousin (O’Neil, 2013) of the modern human species, who lived 1.6 million – 100,000 years ago (Forey, 2013). But where exactly am I in Asia? China or Indonesia? As I have knowledge that the Homo erectus were geographically distributed in regions of these countries (Forey, 2013). Judging from the immediate surroundings and the cool climate, I can say that I was in China. Eager to learn more about them, I decided to follow them until they led me to what seems a small settlement. There, I observed that these species, like the ergaster, live in small band-societies, somewhat similar to the hunter-gatherer band societies (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.) Tools can also be found in the settlement. However, comparing them to tho se of the ergaster’s, one may notice that the tools of the erectus were more primitive as they were only simple choppers and fake tools (Forey, 2013). Also, I have seen no evidence of their use of fire which their cousins in Africa utilized (Forey, 2013). When it comes to their diet, I have observed that it mainly consist of meat supplemented by vegetables, nuts, fruits and berries (Forey, 2013). Dried twigs and branches on the ground loudly cracked as I accidentally stepped on them informing the erectus of a presence nearby. Fearing that they become aware of my presence, I remained silently still, hidden behind the bushes. Then, I sensed movement behind me. And when I turned around, it was too late for he had already lifted and thrown a big boulder in my direction. Frightened, I just closed my eyes and helplessly waited for the rock to hit me until I blacked out. A few moments later, I was very thankful to have wakened again in my grandfather’s library. Thrilled with what was happening, I continued reading the book until I again found myself in another place, in another time period, in another creature’s form. Just as I regained my consciousness, spears and arrows made of flint started striking in my direction. Groups of men started chasing after me as I transformed into a deer when I came here. I ran and ran until I lost them. Now, having knowledge that I have time traveled 400, 000 – 200, 000 years in the past, in Europe, or maybe in Central or East Asia, in search of the Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.) which I think were the ones chasing me earlier, I immediately set off to find their settlements but anxious that once they saw me, will end up killing me for food as their diet mainly consist of meat and other vegetables (Forey, 2013). After hours of roaming in the new environment, I finally reached their settlement, but only observing them on a nearby hill, hidden from their sight. Living under cold climate to temperate climates in woodland and steppe environments (Natural History Museum, n.d), the Neanderthals developed a short and stocky physique that allows them better conservation and regulation of body heat which enabled them to survive glacial periods (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). They also have a large middle face characterized by a double arche d brow ridge, angled cheekbones and large nose utilized in warming and humidifying cold air (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). The Neanderthals live in complex groups and have advanced tools made of stone and flint such as blades, arrows, spears, hand axes and other flake tools which they used in hunting my kind and other big animals (Natural History Museum, n.d). Then something caught my attention. â€Å"What are they doing?† I thought, as I saw a few of them carry one man’s body to another hill adjacent my location. Curious, I went closer but still hiding from them. â€Å"Are they doing what I think it is?† I exclaimed as I saw them place the body in what seems like a grave and cover it with dirt. â€Å"Are they burying their dead?† To confirm my observation, I went to the other site where I saw them bury the man the moment they left. To my disbelief, I saw many other what seems as graves, the hill was a graveyard. This practice of actually burying their dead by the Neanderthals (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.) really amazed me. Aside from this, they also h ave other activities and behaviors very similar to that of modern humans, which other human ancestors doesn’t have or practice, like covering their bodies with clothes made from animal skin, plants or barks coming from trees, making and controlled use of fire, making symbolic or decorative ornaments, and sometimes marking the graves with flowers and other ornaments (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). I suddenly felt a stinging sensation. An arrow has pierced through my back. One of the Neanderthals went back to the grave to offer flowers, saw me and fired a shot. Suffering from the pain, I mustered all my strength and tried to run away. Growing weak because of blood loss, I collapsed, The last thing I remember was laying on the ground, the man, an axe in his hand, then, everything went black. Expecting to be waking up in my grandfather’s office, I was in utter confusion to have found myself inside a tent when I regained consciousness. Still confused where I was and why I ended up in such a place, I heard a familiar voice from behind, â€Å"What took you so long?† it said â€Å"I’ve been expecting you†. And when I turned around, there, standing behind me was my grandfather. I couldn’t believe what my eyes just saw, â€Å"What is grandfather doing here† â€Å"Is he alive?† â€Å"Am I dead?† â€Å"Is he the devil disguising as my grandfather?† these thoughts filled my mind. â€Å"Do not fear my boy. You are not dead nor I was† the man said. â€Å"Come, I will tell you the whole story,† he revealed the secrets of the book, how he was able to travel through time through it, until we reached a settlement crowded with tents made from tanned hides of big animals like the wooly mammoth, sewn together, wra pped around logs and were pulled to the ground with big rocks or dirt (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). Then he introduced me the other people in the settlement and I found out that they were the Cro-Magnons who lived 35,000 – 10,000 years ago in Europe (Foley, 2002), my grandfather and I, now one of them. These people, unlike their contemporaneous Neanderthals, were tall and muscular in stature closely resembling modern humans although more robustly built (Foley, 2002). According to grandfather, these people, during the winter months and those living in colder areas wore clothes made from skins of animals whereas during the summer months and warmer seasons, the Cro-Magnons clothe themselves in woven barks or grass (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). They were a semi-nomadic, hunter-gatherer society who used to hunt big game like the bison, mammoth, deer (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.) with finely crafted tools like spears, javelin, arrows made from made from bones, flint and antler points (Foley, 2002), as their diet mainly consist of meat and vegetables (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). The Cro-Magnons also made use of fire, made necklaces and other ornaments from pieces of shell and animal teeth, cared for the sick and believed to bury the deceased in a single grave in cave shelters (Foley, 2002). These people also utilized manganese and iron oxide to paint pictures depicting their culture and activities on cave walls (Foley, 2002), most famous of which were the ones found in France. Having coexisted with the Neanderthals in Europe; there is a possibility of interbreeding between these two human species. However, with the extinction of the Neanderthals some 28,000 years ago, one possible reason was competition and hunting between the two (Foley, 2002). Having experienced all these, made me appreciate and understand more the complexity of human beings. How they have evolved from simple, unassuming beings to more intelligent and complex ones is one of our species greatest mysteries. But the question lingers? Have we, as the most complex and evolved human species occupying the top spot in this great chain of human evolution, reached our perfect and final form? Or are we, like the great ancestors before us, still undergo and are capable of evolving as we discover and learn new things with the passing of time? Strolling inside one of the caves, marveling at the artistic paintings on the cave walls, a leopard suddenly jumps in front of us. Then, I heard my grandfather â€Å"Vado Tergum In Vicis† and before I knew it, we were back in my father’s room, on his deathbed, him in my arms, the book in my hands. Noelle Patricia Alonte References: Dorey, F. B. Blaxland. (2013). Homo ergaster. Australian Museum. Retrieved from: http://australianmuseum.net.au/homo-ergaster Dorey, F. (2013). Homo erectus. Australian Museum. Retrieved from: http://australianmuseum.net.au/homo-erectus Dorey, F. (2013). Homo neanderthalensis. Australian Museum. Retrieved from: http://australianmuseum.net.au/homo-neanderthalensis Dorey, F. (2014). Homo sapiens. Australian Museum. Retrieved from: http://australianmuseum.net.au/homo-sapiens-modern-humans Foley, J. (2002). Fossil hominids: Cro-magnon man. Retrieved from: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/cromagnon.html Natural History Museum. (n.d.). Neanderthalensis (Homo neanderthalensis). Retrieved from: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/early-human-family/neanderthals/index.html O’Neil, D. (2013). Homo Erectus. Retrieved from: http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo/homo_2.htm Smithsonian. (n.d.). Human evolution evidence. Retrieved from: http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/cro-magnon-1

Effect of Environment in There Are No Children Here Essay -- There are

Effect of Environment in There Are No Children Here In There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz, the way of life in Chicago's Henry Horner projects has a profound effect on all the residents who live there. The children become desensitized by the constant violence that they are forced to witness every day. Children are forced to walk home from school through the urban war zone of these housing projects. It is not unusual for the children to run home from school to avoid becoming casualties of the ongoing battle between rival gangs. The violence has affected Lafeyette and Pharaoh as much as anyone in the projects. The two children are affected by the environment in completely different ways. Pharaoh, the youngest, takes his surroundings very seriously. Any time that Pharaoh can get a chance, he goes to secret places in order to be alone with his thoughts. The more violence, death, and hardship that Pharaoh is forced to witness, the more deeply he is affected. Through the two years about which Kotlowitz writes in his book, Pharaoh develops a stutter. This stutter be... Effect of Environment in There Are No Children Here Essay -- There are Effect of Environment in There Are No Children Here In There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz, the way of life in Chicago's Henry Horner projects has a profound effect on all the residents who live there. The children become desensitized by the constant violence that they are forced to witness every day. Children are forced to walk home from school through the urban war zone of these housing projects. It is not unusual for the children to run home from school to avoid becoming casualties of the ongoing battle between rival gangs. The violence has affected Lafeyette and Pharaoh as much as anyone in the projects. The two children are affected by the environment in completely different ways. Pharaoh, the youngest, takes his surroundings very seriously. Any time that Pharaoh can get a chance, he goes to secret places in order to be alone with his thoughts. The more violence, death, and hardship that Pharaoh is forced to witness, the more deeply he is affected. Through the two years about which Kotlowitz writes in his book, Pharaoh develops a stutter. This stutter be...

Epic of Beowulf :: Essays Papers

Beowulf "In a world without hope, a brave soul has nothing to lose." In the epic Beowulf, some might perceive Beowulf as having traits such as being arrogant. Although he is raised in a Pagan society, Beowulf concurs many tasks that an ordinary man could never do. He portrays man in general struggling against outward foes and inward doubts. Beowulf displays his characteristics; courage and strength, fame, perserverence, and compassion; which affords him the opportunity to be looked upon as an epic hero. With a lack of courage, not many can accomplish much. As Beowulf travels, his courage not only grows but stands strong. In his journey to Hrothgar's kingdom, Beowulf is faced with many unbearable tasks many men wouldn't dare to go up against, but with Beowulf, he takes those tasks and runs with them. His fight with Grendal not only proves his courage but his strength as well. Beowulf, being a mortal man, takes Grendal by the hands and tears his hand from his body, leaving Grendal mortally wounded. When Grendal's mother attempts avenge for her son's death, she is rudely awakened. After her kill of Ashchere, she resorts back to her lair in Hell, but not for long. Beowulf goes looking after her and swims through the deep, dark, and miserable waters to Hell. He finds Grendal's mother there and kills her without any warning to her. His bravery saves his people back in his homeland as well. After gaining the throne, a terrible dragon starts to terrorize his home. Here he proves t o his people that he is in fact a true hero. He, with the help of his dear kinsman, slays the dragon even after being wounded. His courage and strength truly proves him an epic hero. With an epic hero, one must know of his travels and battles. As is with Beowulf, he is known throughout the lands. His fame helped him tremendously in becoming this hero. His courageous fights and accomplishments led to his known defeats in battle with huge and fierce monsters. After his death, his people promised him a tumulus to be built in his memory so he could be remembered. Not only did his people hear his request, but they honored it as well. They built an enormous tumulus on top of a high cliff over the waters where the boats would see and remember him by.

Analysis of Challenges in International Management Essay

Analysis of Challenges in International Management† Abstract The following essay analysis the challenges in International Management with particular regard to the challenge of â€Å"culture† in international business as it is the must difficult to deal with and being essential for successful results in a wide range of global management tasks nowadays and in the future. Introduction Today successful international management requires more than a lot of frequent flyer miles or seasoned expatriate managers. But what are those exclusive challenges of international management in today’s world? The importance of international management is constantly increasing, as we exist in a world where globalisation is affecting the traditional borders in a broad range of areas. †¢Trade and investment, †¢Economic alliances, †¢The international stage players, and †¢The work environment are changing rapidly, being supported by the increasing sophistication and lower cost of information technology. World trade and investments are growing fast (the volume of world trade among countries has grown at an average rate over 8% since 2005 (WTO 2008)), linking the economies and creating opportunities and threats. New, strong and forced competitors are coming from developing nations in Asia and the transitioning economies of Eastern Europe. Furthermore, the constantly rising level of foreign direct investment also has a globalising effect (Thomas 2002). Moreover, the emergence of the free-trade areas drastically decreased traditional economic boundaries. So do the three largest groups, the EU, the NAFTA, and the APEC, account for nearly half of the world’s trade (Cullen 2002) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) now has 140 member-nations, aiming to reduce tariffs and liberalize trade. But globalization also affects the work environments within organizations. Changes involve cutbacks, team-based management movements and privatization. For instance, there can be factory closings, as Nokia closing their German plant in Bochum moving to Romania, because of cheaper labour. All in all, as one key consequence of globalisation, international managers nowadays have to face a more dynamic, complex, competitive and uncertain environment and need skills (as a global mindset or the ability to work with people from diverse background) not considered necessary for domestic-only managers. The environment of international management can be divided into †¢economic, †¢legal, †¢political, and †¢cultural factors (Thomas 2002). So for making decisions it is essential to understand the economic strategies of the countries in or with one wants to conduct business with, because level of economic development and quality of life differs extremely worldwide. Furthermore, there are various national sovereign laws and regulations existing in the world which have to be observed and made allowance for. And in addition, there are several varieties of political systems (e. g. , theocratic totalitarianism in Saudi Arabia), containing different levels of political risks which have to be managed. For instance, decision makers have to able to estimate the degree of risk associated with a government’s involvements in business affairs depending on characteristics of their company. All these factors present impressive challenges multinational management has to face. However, the management challenge of culture and its effects on business practices and organizations is one of the most difficult to deal with. As conducting business with people from other cultures will never be easy you have to understand how culture affects management and organizations. â€Å"Culture† is a concept borrowed from cultural anthropology and there are numerous and subtle different definitions. As each definition has limitations focussing on international management the following description of Geert Hofstede seems very helpful. He defines the culture of any society as comprising shared values, understandings, assumptions and goals learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of a society and passed on to succeeding generations (Hofstede 2008). Culture is something shared by members of a particular group, differentiates humans from other groups, is transmitted through the process of learning and adapts to external and internal environments and relationships. The international businessperson needs to be aware of three levels of cultures that may influence multinational operations. These include national culture, business culture, and organisational cultures (Cullen 2002). National culture can be described as the dominant culture within the political borders of a nation-state. But one has to be aware that multiple cultures can exist within political boundaries and they do not necessarily reflect cultural borders. For instance, Canada being home to Anglophones and Francophones. Furthermore, even relatively homogenous cultures can have diverse subcultures, including cultural differences which are affecting the international business. Nevertheless, as most business is conducted within the political borders of a state and nations can be defined as political unities, varying in governmental, legal, educational, institutional and labour systems, influencing the way people interact with their environment (Thomas 2002), national culture has the greatest effect on international business being probably the most logic starting point trying to understand the cultural environment. Business culture, reflecting the national culture, influences all aspects of work and organizational life (e. g. , motivating staff, negotiating with business partners, etc. and knowing it’s basic requirements (e. g. , what to wear to business meetings, business etiquette is more formal in Germany than in the U. S. with conservative dark business suits, etc. ) is essential for the international manager. Moreover, especially in the last few years, people realized that the â€Å"culture†-concept also holds for individual organizations. So may differences in organizational culture may be one reason why the merger of two otherwise successful companies failed. It is important to evaluate the influence of organizational rules, norms and procedures to understand the causes of behaviour in organizations. With shared behaviours, conditional relationship, being socialized into and partly involved in it, etc. organizational culture differs in construction and elements of national culture. Even so understanding these cultural factors is fundamental for international managers conducting international business, they have to be aware that â€Å"cultures† can just offer wide guidelines for behaviour, as for instance organizational cultures differ within any national context and individuals vary in each culture level. One cannot predict exactly how each person acts, feels, thinks, etc. Nonetheless, broad generalization about a culture provides a level of analysis from which to begin to understand the cultural environment and the complexities of cultural differences, because management functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in a global economy have to account for them. As international managers have to face various cultural challenges testing their management abilities they must be able to unpack the culture concept. Therefore the basic concepts of cultural dimensions can help them understand how two or more cultures might be different. An essential implication of these frameworks referring to international management and culture is that cultural interpretation and adaptation are a prerequisite to the comparative understanding of international management practice (Morden 1995). The following sections describe two popular models. Hofstede’s Culture Model This Framework, created by dutch scientist Geert Hofstede and based on a research over 11600 people in 50 countries (starting with 39 IBM subsiadiaries worldwide), tries to evaluate how basic values underlay organizational behaviour. National differences are investigated by five dimensions of basic cultural values: 1. Power distance 2. Uncertainty avoidance 3. Individualism 4. Masculinity and 5. Long-term orientation (Hofstede 2008). 1. This first value dimension refers to how cultures deal with inequality and tries to postion the inequality acceptance level by unequal power distribution society members. In countries with a high power distance acceptance (e. g. , such as Mexico), people respect and hardly ever bypass formal hierarchy positions (Elizabeth M. Christopher 2008). 2. The second value dimension concerns about the degree humans in a society are threatened by uncertain situations. The social system of a higher uncertainty avoidance society is dominated by regulations and rules, predictabilties and orders and people tend to be suspicious of change, whereas people from lower levels of uncertainty avoidance societies (for instance, countries such as Denmark). tend to be less formal, take higher business risks and plan and structure less 3. Individualism refers to the affinity to primarily take care of oneself and one’s direct family, and then to the rest of society (with the U. S. being a good example) (Elizabeth M. Christopher 2008). 4. The fourth dimension of â€Å"masculinity† concerns about the ranking of tradionally â€Å"masculine† values in a society, such as less concerning for others, materialism and assertiveness, whereas â€Å"feminity† on the other side emphasises the quality of life and relationships. 5. Long-term orientation cultures are insistent and saving (e. g. the culture of China) and short-term orientation is more self-centered, money-oriented and more social. All these factors are inter-reliant and interactive in their effects. So shows the Anglo-Dutch example Unilever the practicability of multinational enterprises where the power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism values are similar; and where the masculine achievement orientation of the British complements the people orientation of the Dutch (Morden 1995). All in all, so there is a lot of criticism (for instance, the time-dependence of the results, the non-exhaustive investigation of only one multinational US company, etc. to these findings and the model of Hofstede, it is still a very valuable and useful â€Å"gift† for understanding culture and culture-based behavior. Trompenaars’ Culture Model The model created by Fons Trompenaars its also based on the researched of value dimensions. He studied the behavoiur of 15000 managers, representing 47 national cultures (Hampden-Turner 2008). Five of the seven dimensions of his model deal with the challenges of h ow people relate to each other: 1. Universalism versus particularism 2. Neutral versus affective 3. Specific versus diffuse . Achievement versus ascription 5. Time as sequence versus synchronisation The two final dimensions deal with how a culture manages time and how it deals with nature. They include: 6. The society-orientation to the past, present, or future and 7. â€Å"Control of† versus â€Å"accommodation with† nature 1. The value of univerlism refers to the application to systems and rules objectively, without taking consideration to personal circumstances, whereas the particularism culture (e. g. in countries as Spain) is more subjective and focusses more on relationships. 2. The second, the neutral-versus-affective, value dimension refers on the emotional orientation of relationships (such as expressing your feelings and emotions more like, for example, the Portugese). 3. In Addition the specific-versus-diffus dimension investigates if people from a special culture tend to be more or less specific or diffuse in their relationships (for example, Germans try to separate work and personal issues). 4. In the achievement-versus-ascription dimension, it is asked: †What is the source of power and status in society? † (Elizabeth M. Christopher 2008) So is for instance, in an achievement refering culture, the â€Å"status† of a person mainly based on it’s individual achievement (such as job performance, etc. ). 5. â€Å"Time as sequence† orientated cultures separate events in time (â€Å"step-by-step†), whereas â€Å"time as synchronisation†-orientated indiviuals manage events in parallel. (For example, if their business partners are not sharp on time, Germans, coming from a â€Å"time-as-sequence† orientated culture, may consider it an insultation). 6. This value dimension is about past versus future orientations. 7. Moreover, this dimension refers to the extent to which individuals feel that they themselves are the primary influence on their lives. Using this framework trying to understand some culture-basics some interesting patterns may emerge. Altough, being recognised for their validity (the results of these both major studies have some significant parallels, even so they were carried out in different times using different methods and examples), these concepts of cultural value orientation proposed by Hofstede and Tropmenaar can only give a basic framework for the analysis of cultural differences. They are utensils to help understand a culture and adjusting business practices to diverse cultural environments. They are for instance, a prerequisite to the successful new-market country entry, whether by setting up licensing or new subsidiaries, joint ventures, mergers or for the establishment of efficient programmes of international HR development (Kay 1993). But international managers have to realise that the understanding of another culture is a inexhaustible learning process. They will have to practice for their international work with or in other countries by studiying all that they can about the country, including more than just the business etiquette. Understanding the national culture builds just the foundation. As you seldom can get behind the front stage of culture without speaking the national language onother basic instrument is learning the language. But the challenge of â€Å"culture† in international management takes such much more than this. International managers have to broaden their understanding of cultural differences and to learn to seek advantage in differences. Understanding the culture is just a basis for the diverse international management tasks, as appropriate cross-cultural communication (using appropiate communication styles), effective and positive motivating and leadership in international organisations and across cultures, successful negotiation with international business partners and making ethically and socially responsible decisions. Conclusion The environment of international management can be divided into economic, legal, political, and cultural factors, with â€Å"culture† being the most challenging and most difficult to deal with, influencing a broad range of management tasks. Providing oneself with the necessary knowlegde and understanding of the national culture of the country or the people one is conducting business with is essential and builds just the foundation for the successful complementation of global management tasks, such as for instance leadership in multinational organisations (where you have to have understanding of all three levels of culture; national, business and organisational culture, being different and influencing each other).