Story “The Movies That Rose From the Grave” Essay

Drumhead In his authorship. The Movies That Rose From the Grave. Max Brooks. explains how films. books. picture games. and telecasting shows about Zombis have continued to be a leader in the horror industry for the past 40 old ages. The narrative of Zombis originated as myths and tall narratives. The first Zombie film. White Zombie. was released in 1932. During this clip period. a Zombie was a living individual that was made to move as a cadaver. With the release of George A. Romero’s film. Night of the Living Dead. in 1968. the impression of a Zombie changed drastically. In this film. Zombis were portrayed as people who had risen from the dead and terrorized society. Zombis destroyed the encephalon of their life victims and lived off of human flesh. Their chief intent was to destruct human society. With the development of computing machine games such as Resident Evil and House of the Dead. more people were fall ining the Zombie fad. More zombie films were created and the followers inc reased. Even today. Zombis have continued to be a ruling force in the film. telecasting. and video game industry. This has many people inquiring why. Max Brooks discusses how current events over the past six old ages have influenced the type of amusement consumers seek. Over the past six old ages tragic events such as terrorist act. war. planetary unwellness. and weather related catastrophes have dominated our lives and the intelligence. To get away from the anxiousness created from existent life menaces. society relies on fictional characters such as Zombis. Peoples can watch films about flesh feeding animals out to destruct the Earth cognizing that it will ne'er happen in existent life. Horror movies cause the spectator to go scared and nervous. Much like worrying about whether a terrorist onslaught is traveling to go on once more at an airdrome or whether your place is traveling to be destroyed by a hurricane. horror movies cause anxiousness. However. this anxiousness is relieved every bit shortly as the film is over. Peoples use fictional events and characters to get away from existent life events and emphasiss. even for merely a short clip. There have been other fictional horror characters such as lamias and monsters. These characters have non continued to rule in a manner that living deads have. It is ill-defined how long the living dead tendency will go on.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 23

The â€Å"Pat† Box By 11:00 p.m. my mother has not returned home, and I start to worry because every night at 10:45 p.m. I'm supposed to take pills that help me sleep. It isn't like Mom to foul up my medication schedule. I knock on my parents' bedroom door. When no one answers, I push the door open. My father is sleeping with the small bedroom television on. The blue glow makes his skin look alien – he sort of looks like a big fish in a lit aquarium, only without gills, scales, and fins. I walk over to my dad and shake his shoulder lightly. â€Å"Dad?† I shake him a little harder. â€Å"Dad?† â€Å"Whaddya want?† he says without opening his eyes. He is lying on his side, and the left side of his mouth is smashed into the pillow. â€Å"Mom's not home yet. I'm worried.† He doesn't say anything. â€Å"Where is she?† Still, he does not say anything. â€Å"I'm worried about Mom. Do you think we should call the police?† I wait for a reply, but only hear my father snoring softly. After turning off the television, I leave my parents' bedroom and go downstairs to the kitchen. I tell myself if Dad isn't worried, I shouldn't be either. But I know it isn't like Mom to leave me alone without telling me where she will be, especially without talking to me about my medications. I open the kitchen cabinet and take out the eight bottles of pills that all have my name printed on the labels. So many long, depressing drug names are on the labels as well, but I only know the pills by their colors, so I open all the lids and look for what I need. Two white-and-reds for sleeping, and also a green one with a yellow stripe, but I do not know what the green one with a yellow stripe does. Maybe antianxiety? I take all three pills because I want to sleep, and also, I know that is what Mom would want me to do. Maybe Mom is testing me. Since my father talked down to her earlier today, I really want to please Mom even more than on regular days, although I am not sure why. I lie in bed wondering where Mom could be. I want to call her cell phone, but I don't know the number. Maybe she had a car accident? Maybe she had a stroke or a heart attack? But then I think a police officer or a hospital doctor would have called us by now if any of those things had happened, because she would certainly have her credit cards and license on her. Maybe she got lost while driving? But then she would have used her cell phone to call home and would have told us she was running late. Maybe she got sick of Dad and me and ran away? I think about this and realize that excluding the times when she teases me about Tiffany being â€Å"my friend,† I haven't seen my mother laugh or smile in a very long time – in fact, if I really think about it, I often see Mom crying or looking like she is about to cry. Maybe she got sick of keeping track of my pills? Maybe I forgot to flush one morning and Mom found some of my pills in the toilet and is now mad at me for hiding pi lls under my tongue? Maybe I have failed to appreciate Mom just like I failed to appreciate Nikki, and now God is taking Mom away from me too? Maybe Mom is never coming home again and – Just as I start to feel seriously anxious, as if I might need to bang the heel of my hand against my forehead, I hear a car pull into the driveway. When I look out the window, I see Mom's red sedan. I run down the stairs. I'm out the door before she even reaches the back porch. â€Å"Mom?† I say. â€Å"Is-jus-me,† she says through the shadows in the driveway. â€Å"Where were you?† â€Å"Out.† When she enters into the white circle cast from the outside light, she looks like she might fall backward, so I run down the steps and give her a hand, bracing her shoulders with my arm. Her head is sort of wobbly, but she manages to look me in the eyes; she squints and says, â€Å"Nikki-sa-fool t'ave let you getta-way.† Her mentioning Nikki makes me feel even more anxious, especially what she said about my getting away, because I have not gotten away and would be more than willing to go back to Nikki now or whenever, and it was me who was the fool, never appreciating Nikki for what she was – all of which Mother knows so well. But I can smell the alcohol on her breath; I hear her slurring her words, and I realize it's probably just the alcohol talking nonsense. Mom does not usually drink, but tonight she is obviously drunk, and this also makes me worry. I help her into the house and sit her down on the couch in the family room. Within minutes she's passed out cold. It would be a bad idea to put my drunk mother in bed with my sulking father, so I put an arm under her shoulders and another arm under her knees, lift her up, and carry her to my bedroom. Mom is small and light, so it is not hard for me to carry her up the stairs. I get her into my bed, take off her shoes, throw the comforter over her body, and then go to get a glass of water from the kitchen. Back upstairs, I find a bottle of Tylenol and tap out two white pills. I pick my mother's head up, get her into a seated position, shake her lightly until she opens her eyes, and tell her to take the pills along with the glass of water. At first she says, â€Å"Jus lemme sleep,† but I know from college days just how much this pre-bed water and headache medicine can reduce the morning hangover. Finally my mother takes the pills, drinks half a glass of water, and is back asleep in no time at all. I watch her rest for a few minutes, and I think she still looks pretty, that I really do love my mom. I wonder where she went to drink – with whom she drank and what she drank – but really I am only happy that she is home safe. I try not to think about her downing drinks at some depressing bar, with middle-aged men all around. I try not to think about Mom bad-mouthing my father to one of her girlfriends and then driving home drunk. But it's all I can think about: how my mother is being driven to drink – how I'm driving my mother to drink, and my father isn't helping much either. After grabbing my framed picture of Nikki, I climb the stairs to the attic, set Nikki up next to my pillow, and get into my sleeping bag. I leave the lights on so I can fall asleep looking at Nikki's freckled nose, which is exactly what I do. When I open my eyes, Kenny G is standing over me, his legs bridging my body, a foot on either side of my chest; the sexy synthesizer chords are softly lighting the darkness. The last time Mr. G visited my parents' attic flashes through my head – my father kicking and punching me, my father threatening to send me back to the bad place – so I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. But Kenny G is undaunted. The soprano sax enters Mr. G's lips once more and â€Å"Songbird† takes flight. I keep my eyes closed, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind, but he continues to blow his horn. The little white scar above my right eyebrow starts to burn and itch as the melody flutters toward climax. Desperately, I want to pound the heel of my hand against my forehead, but instead I keep my eyes closed, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. Just when Kenny G's smooth jazz seems unconquerable – Seven, eight, nine, ten. Suddenly silence. When I open my eyes, I see Nikki's still face, her freckled nose – I kiss the glass, feeling so relieved that Kenny G has stopped playing. I exit my sleeping bag, look all around the attic – moving a few dusty boxes and other items, searching behind hanging rows of out-of-season clothes – and Mr. G is gone. â€Å"I've defeated him,† I whisper. â€Å"He didn't make me punch my forehead, and – â€Å" I see a box marked â€Å"Pat† and begin to experience that bad feeling I sometimes get just before something unpleasant is about to happen. It feels as though I have to go to the bathroom very badly, even though I know I don't. The box is at the far end of the attic. It was hidden under a braided rug I moved when I was searching for Kenny G. I have to navigate my way back through the mess I made during my search, but soon I reach the box. I flip open the flaps at the top, and my Collingswood High School soccer jacket is on top. I take it out of the box and hold the dusty thing up. The jacket looks so small. I'd rip the yellow leather sleeves off if I tried it on now, I think, and then set the relic down on another nearby box. When I next look into the â€Å"Pat† box, I am shocked and scared into rearranging the attic so it looks exactly how it was before I began searching for Mr. G. When the attic is restored, I lie in my sleeping bag, feeling as if I am in a dream. Several times during the night I get up, move the braided rug, and look in the â€Å"Pat† box again, just to make sure I had not hallucinated before. Every time, the contents condemn Mom and make me feel betrayed.

Facets of guidance Essay

2.1 Personal and social guidance Personal and social guidance is needed by learners in order to cope with negative feelings; such as feeling inferior, rejected, lonely, hated, indecisive, inadequate or dislike for themselves. As well to transform them into positive feelings; such as having a good self-esteem, feeling loved, accepted, happy and confident. Educators and counsellors will use personal and social guidance to fulfil one of their principal responsibilities – to enable learner to develop a positive self-image. Personal guidance will also enable learners to deal with crisis such as changing schools, physical abuse, violence in the home or community or the death of a parent or sibling. A form of social guidance is the interaction of learners, with parents, educators, learners, siblings and other members of the community. These forms of interaction can provide social and emotional satisfaction but may also lead to behavioural problems, which need social guidance to address them. Educational guidance Educational guidance includes all the facets of learning e.g. memorising  work, how to learn for and write tests, i.e. everything relating to the learners schoolwork. With regards to learners finding difficulty with schoolwork, educators must identify the issue, deal with it and find solutions for it. Study methods, learner’s motivation to learn, academic assistance and reinforcement of academic work, as well as unrealistic expectations of educators and/or parents can all be addressed through educational guidance. Problems with education don’t happen in isolation, therefore educational assistance should take all other aspects e.g. the person himself or herself, the home, peers, school and community into account. Vocational guidance This facet of guidance involves viewing the learner as an individual and guiding them to make a realistic career choice. It is important for the learner to become familiar with the concept of â€Å"the workplace†, therefore career education should begin at primary school with emphasis on exploring work opportunities, instead of on specific selection of work. Learners should be introduced to various careers in pre-primary school, by means of different themes and by visits to a hospital, doctor, dentist, farm, fire station, etc. 2.2 Firstly I would use an exploratory interview to assist Nomsa as she is only in grade 2 and this interview is particularly used for learners who are very young. I, the counsellor, would be able to find out, through deliberation, who Nomsa is, as well as find out the nature and scope of her problem by means of the exploratory interview. Secondly, I would use the historicity interview in order to get a better understanding of Nomsa. This interview would give me an indication of her personal development thus far and would also allow me to see her views about her education and school experience. I would then carry out an informative interview with Nomsa and her parents and by doing so I will capture data on Nomsa’s personality structure and education, which in turn can be processed by her parents and educators in the view to support her. Lastly, I would use the advisory interview to set Nomsa’s parents on their way toward more efficient guidance of their child. By carrying out this interview, I will be able to provide  Nomsa’s parents with moral support, advice and help and will be able to give them informed suggestions on how to improve her educational situation. 2.3.1 Sensing: An understanding of sensing will equip the teacher to offer educational guidance for the young child/learner as the teacher will be aware of the fact that sensing is essentially the moment of all learning. The teacher will also know that learners become aware of things through their five senses and he/she can therefore use this knowledge when planning activities for his/her learners. Furthermore it will be evident to the teacher that learners will not become involved in learning activities unless sensing is adequately actualised and the teacher will then be able to realise that sensing plays a vital role in learning. 2.3.2 Paying attention: An understanding of the learning mode, â€Å"paying attention†, will equip the teacher to offer educational guidance for the young child/learner as the teacher will understand that it is through the senses that learners become involved in the learning process but that it is however imperative for learners to stay involved in the learning content. This involvement is determined by the learners willingness, which in turn sets in motion learning activities such as thinking, perceiving, fantasising , imagining and memorising. 2.3.3 Perception: Perception is a precondition for learning and is dependant upon the senses. The teacher will therefore know that it is through the perception process that the learner will identify the learning content. The teacher will also be aware of the fact that language development and perceiving are closely interwoven; therefore the language used is the medium of stating what is perceived. 2.3.4 Thinking: The understanding of the concept of thinking will equip the teacher to offer educational guidance for the young learner as it will be evident to the teacher that the thinking constitutes to problem solving, the teacher will also be aware of the fact that emphasis must be placed on analysing, planning, reasoning, synthesising and arranging of learning content. The  teacher will also know that there are two types of thought development – reproductive thought, which plays an important role in the recall of existing memory; and productive thought which leads to the forming of new concepts. Bibliography Papalia, DE & Olds, SW. 1978. Human development. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.

Propaganda and Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Propaganda and Foreign Policy - Essay Example According to Noam Chomsky (1999), â€Å"within the reigning social order, the general public must remain an object of manipulation, not a participant in thought, debate and decision† (Noam Chomsky, 1999, p.131). Propaganda is also defined as, "Propaganda is not the same as advertising or art. Art today is preoccupied with abstract ideas; advertising tries to get you to buy something. Propaganda, on the other hand, is interested in making you believe something. It is the stronger societal force; once you start believing in an idea or ideology you will buy anything – metaphorical or literal – it tries to sell you. Once the public was scared into believing Iraq was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, they didn’t seem to mind that they were being fed lies over and over. Untruths and misleading statements were quickly accepted as reinforcement and justification for a particular point of view, even when proven false. Propaganda is that strong" (MLC, 2 012, p.1). This paper will examine this statement in determining the views of society with reference to the roles played by the elites and the media. The relationship between the mass media and propaganda is indeed complex and by no means a linear process. The paper will consider whether the mass media reflects the ruling elite ideology and whether it is inevitable. An analysis will be made of how development in communications impacts propaganda and whether such developments make propaganda more or less important and effective. An examination will also be made of whether instant communication options such as satellite TV provide the truth concerning events in the context of representing objective reality or mediating the reality. Harold Lasswell, who was a sociologist, had written after the end of the First World War that there was a distinct relationship amongst the war and propaganda. He was of the opinion that moist Americans had just started learning at that time, although not a century later: â€Å"A new and subtler instrument must weld thousands and even millions of human beings into one amalgamated mass of hate will and hope. A new will must burn out of the canker of dissent and temper the steel of bellicose enthusiasm. The name of this new hammer and anvil of social solidarity is propaganda. Talk must take the place of drill; print must supply the dance. War dances live in literature, and at the fringes of modern earth; war propaganda breathes and fumes in the capitals and provinces of the world.† Another example is of what happened, immediately after the end of the Second World War; Germany had become an important economic and political global resource for the allied nations, particularly the US and the USSR. It is correct to say in this context that all battles are fought on two fronts; the war front and people’s minds, through propaganda. It is thus true that the nice people and the bad people can be held guilty of misguiding their cit izens through fabricated, inaccurate, subjective and exaggerated news and information, with the prime objective of receiving support and a feeling of legitimacy. Propaganda serves well in rallying citizens for a given cause but it is mostly done through exaggeration and misrepresentation relative to the given issues in order to get people’s approval and support (Hale, 1975). Propaganda cannot be said to be new in war. It has always been a part of all conflicts and is considered a means that is used by governments for demoralizing their enemies and mobilizing their nations. It is evident that while fighting a war, there is a need for the creation and maintenance of sentiments amongst soldiers and

Visual Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Visual Analysis Paper - Essay Example Images, which possess content of narration including those from the numerous scenes that form the basis of life of the virgin, have no correct mentioning as Madonna images, even though they get a title, which mirrors such scenes as the Annunciation to Mary (Crowe 101). The representations of Mary became more widespread following her proclamation as God-bearer during 431 at the Ephesus Council. For over a millennium, through the Medieval, Early Renaissance and the Byzantine periods, the Madonna has been the mainly frequently fashioned pictorial artwork. Numerous precise imageries of the Madonna, both sculptured and painted, have attracted fame, either as substances of religious admiration or for their inherent artistic qualities. The majority of the most prominent sculptors and pictures in the art history have shifted their abilities toward the establishment of the Madonna imageries. The painting of this artwork was by part of the mainly influential artists during the 13h and 14 centu ries, Duccio di Buoninsegna. The iconic picture of Madonna and Child, seen all through the western art history, holds considerable worth because of technical innovations bearing the religious matter, which would carry on evolving for centuries. The Madonna and Child artwork has received wide acknowledgements as Duccio’s working during the past century. ... Looking over the sudden simplicity of the imagery, a person could start understanding the transformations that Duccio applied in representing the figures of religion of painting all through the early period of the 14th century. Just like the other upcoming artists, Duccio looked up at great artists like Giotto who strove to go past the virtuously iconic byzantine standard and tried fashioning tangible linkages that would surpass the imagination of a viewer regarding the objects contained in the painting. For instance, the parapet positioned at the bottom-side of the image serves to function as a visual enticement of the observer looking past and into the occasion captured between the virgin and Christ the child. Similarly, the parapet further functions as an obstruction of the sacred and vernacular worlds (Crowe 163). Whereas during the 15th and 16th centuries marked a period in which the Italian painters made an expansion into their collections in order to include the historical hap penings, mythological subject matters and autonomous portraits. As such, Christians retained powerful holds on their occupations. Most of the artwork stemming from this period remains to be sacred. Whilst the diversity of the religious subject matters included disciplines from the Old Testament along with pictures of saints who have their dates of cult coming after the systematization of the Bible, the Madonna stood to be a prevalent subject within the renaissance iconography. Additional elements representative of Duccio’s interests in humanism remain to be widespread and are visible from the tenderly swathed robe adorned by the Madonna along with the lap of Christ (Crowe 172). The

THE STUDY OF EXPECTATION GAP IN THE ACCOUNTING EDUCATION OF UNITED Assignment

THE STUDY OF EXPECTATION GAP IN THE ACCOUNTING EDUCATION OF UNITED KINGDOM & EMPLOYERS REQUIREMENT (ANALYSING LEEDS UNIVERSITY) - Assignment Example The review of literature indicates a framework of educating students in the accounting departments. The studies involve study of the expectation gap, the performance and the constraints gap to help students understand the analysis of the accounting platform. The survey questionnaire aims at providing supportive information to students and universities concerning the study of expectation gap in the accounting education of the United Kingdom. The survey seeks to find information concerning student and employee requirements in the University of Leeds. University Name: Please take time to fill the questionnaire. This will take approximately 30- 45 minutes to finish the questionnaire. Correct response to the questions is important, as it will assist the school and the human resources department in securing a better curriculum in the accounting sector. Thank you for taking time to assist the school in becoming a better education provider. Purpose of the Survey The survey gives insight of t he thoughts of students concerning the present accounting curriculum. It enables the management of Leeds University to handle the challenges concerning the current curriculum. The questionnaire is important hence provide valid and correct information. SECTION A (Answer the provided questions by ticking the appropriate answer) 1. What is your gender? Male Female 2. Kindly tick your year of teaching Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior 3. How old are you? Kindly check the ONE that best describes Under 14 14 -15 16 -17 18 -19 20+ 4. On average, how can you describe your students accounting grades? Kindly chose ONE response Not very good Fair Average Very good Excellent 5. At what level did you start teaching accounting? High school College University Job/ Working Uncertain 6. What aspects would you like to see change in the education sector? Teaching mode Teaching hours Number of classes available Number of lecturers available 7. For how long have you been in Leeds? Kindly pick the ONE tha t describes you Since birth More than 10 years 5-10 years Less than 5 years Analysis of the health 8. Describe your health by choosing ONE response Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent 9. Do you have any long term disabilities like leukemia Yes No 10. In response to the long-term disability, kindly choose the relevant topic I do not have such a condition Learning disability Physical disability Emotional disability Allergies (food) Allergies (respiratory) Asthma Diabetes Other (please specify ______________________________________ 11. Do we need to reconsider the condition before putting you in long hours? I do not have such a condition Yes No 12. In general how satisfied or dissatisfied do you feel about your job? Very Satisfied Satisfied Not sure Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied 13. Express your feelings about the terms and conditions Very Satisfied Satisfied Not sure Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied 14. Check the appropriate box that shows the level of satisfaction. Please check appropr iate box. Satisfied Dissatisfied Uncertain Salary Amount of annual leave Security of employment Flexibility of working hours Your input into decision making within the organization Opportunity for professional development 15. Does the organization support your place to work? Yes No Not sure 16. Does the university provide a friendly place to work? Yes No Not sure 17. How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the general guidance and managerial direction from the university? Very Satisfied S

The Channel Tunnel Project and the Way in Which It Was Planned and Essay

The Channel Tunnel Project and the Way in Which It Was Planned and Expected To Be Carried Out - Essay Example This essay explores the Project Management Process which is made up of three stages namely; Project Initiation, Control, and Closure. Generally, the Project Initiation Stage is described as a sequence of steps which include the Kick-Off Stage, the Project Objective and Scope, Project Schedule and Budgeting, Stage Schedule and Budgeting, Project Organization, Project Control Procedures, Business Case, and Project Initiation Stage Assessment. Project Control-This stage involves arranging of various project activities into a series of steps. These steps fall into four categories, namely; a step to initiate the stage, steps that are continuously undertaken throughout the stages. There should be clearly recognized control measures for all the processes. The project control procedures should be incorporated into the project plan. Such procedures include quality, progress, change and version controls alongside issue resolution. In the project control, there should be a proper administration system, detailing the role that each person is going to undertake in order to ensure the success of the project. There needs to be a quality control procedure. The management should have in place mechanisms sable in ensuring the quality products from the project. There need to be change control procedures for the project. This should be taken into account to avoid it impacting on the schedule, costs, and quality of the final product. There should also be established issue resolution procedure to tackle any issues that may arise during the project control process. Finally, there should be a regular review of the project control procedures. This should ensure that the Project Controls are in place. Project Closure- This stage helps formally close the project in a way that institutes instruments for the continuous development and upgrading of the final project product standard process for this project by updating the models of estimation so that the project resources can be re-deploye d. Projects are normally designed to end at some point. The lessons learned on how to undertake similar projects better in the future should be captured for future use. These will help the project management team have a better idea of how long the various activities on this type of project will take to do. There will be a lot of data generated in the process of undertaking a project, and this should be stored with diverse degrees of the procedure by the team.

Leadership in Public Health Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Leadership in Public Health - Assignment Example There is, therefore, need for the Public Health System to develop own leadership theory that addresses the theoretical gaps in current leadership literature. The proposed Personal Public Health Leadership Theory is considered sufficient for public health organizations to attain the desired outcome. An evaluation plan is, however; necessary to determine the effectiveness of the theory, and the quasi-experimental method is considered the most appropriate method. Overall, deficiency in leadership is still evident in the sector of Public Health today; hence more effort is needed to address this major issue. Leadership is an important aspect of Public Health. This has gained more significance in the past years, as various studies on leadership confirm the importance of leadership aspect. The sector of Public Health lacks sufficient literature on leadership. The limited research activities in this area in the field of Public Health can be considered the major cause of this leadership literature deficiency. On the other hand, evidence shows that there is a relationship between leadership and quality of services in an organization (Farrell, 2001). For this reason, it is evident that the quality of the health care system depends on the kind of leadership practice. However, due to insufficient literature to guide leadership in the Public Sector, it means that the quality of services therein is more likely to be compromised. Therefore, this necessitates the adoption of more research on leadership in Public Health.  In this paper, there is a literature review on the aspect of leadership. Ther e are many theoretical gaps in the leadership literature that have been identified, and this is a proof of the unreliability of such literature for application in the Public Health sector. In order to, therefore, adopt an effective leadership theory for the Public Health sector, there is need to address the theoretical gaps in the current literature.

Understanding Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Understanding Statistics - Essay Example Understanding Statistics The ordinal scales provide no evident variation amongst the variables. This scale only evaluates the order of the values. The ordinal scales measure the concepts that are not numeric such as fulfillment, jovialness and discomfort among others. In any analysis, an individual can elucidate that number four is better than number three though the extent is not clear again, it is not easy to determine the variation between ok and happy. The interval scales encompass numeric scales that besides providing the order, they also provide the accurate differences between the variables in question. A standard example is the Celsius temperature such as the disparity between 30 and 40 degrees is 10 degrees. Time can also provide precise variations where the disparity between six and four minutes is two minutes. Ratio scales are essential in statistical evaluations to its flexibility for alterations seeking accuracy. The ratio scale can be multiplied, added, divided or subtracted and the central ten dency measures estimated. A discrete variable involves well determined set of predetermined set of probable values-states. The variables include the provision that is either â€Å"true† or †false†, the team that will win and the number of dime in a pouch amongst others. Nonetheless, the variables might appear to be discrete at one point and continuous at a different perspective. The continuous variable opts to take on a position between two extreme positions or values. Continuous variables encompass the indoor temperature, direction travelled or the water used. The discrete variable tends to depict a digital quantity whilst the continuous variable tends to be analog in quantity. According to the explanations provided on the above scales, the different statistical research studies can select any of the according to suitability for application. The continuous and the discrete variables have significance on the selection of the research methodologies to use since the experimental method would be appropriate with discrete data whilst the researches dealing with conventional aspects might find it appropriate to employ continuous variables in the research activity. The area under the normal distribution is proportional to the overall area. The total area covered in the normal curve is equivalent to one. The curves never attain the situation Y = 0 but move to the positive infinity and the negative infinity. The shape assumed by the normal curve is infinite and depends on the mean and the standard deviation. The z-score is a critical tool in data evaluation and is used to determine the extent to which a point x is high or below the population mean ?. It is the providence of the T-statistic with predetermined mean and the standard deviation. In case of interference with the degree of freedom to an extent of assuming population mean and the standard deviation from the availed sample, then it fails to be T-statistic. The percentile rank of a normally d istributed population can be estimated readily through the use of z- scores. In the e vent that the area under a curve is apportioned above and below the mean, the partitions obtained are the similar to the probability picking a value in the similar range. For instance, the area between the standard deviation above and below t

Human Rights and World Wide Web Essay Example for Free

Human Rights and World Wide Web Essay These findings lend support to research showing a negative correlation between corporate social responsibility and profitability. Introduction We are witness to the metamorphosis of late capitalism, the interpenetration of postindustrialism with postmodern culture. Spectators (consumers and investors) are given only narrative fragments to construct worker and ecological stories from the vantage points of entry authored by corporate public relations. Corporate authorial-power becomes hegemonic as narrative plots script actions and perception in ways unseen or taken for granted. Consumers in the first world cannot see the ecological or work conditions because these locations are kept as strategic secrets. All one ever hears are stories directly authored by corporate interests acting as gatekeeper, authoring ventriloquist stories on behalf of workers and ecology. What is the relevance of this to Tamara? The play, Tamara, written by John Krizanc (1981, 1989) entraps us as spectators in a maze of story and character choices where our own complicity in civic responsibility stares back at us. Some characters have a voice and access to any spectators; others have either a weak voice or limited access. In Tamara Manifesto (Boje, 2001), there was a call to heed the interpenetration of postindustrialism and postmodern culture, the intertextuality of production, distribution, and consumption. Manguel (1988:1-2) gives us a starting definition of traditional theatrics: Theater, the representation of events as if they happened before your eyes begins with the convention of all spectacle: a division of reality. One space allotted to the audience, the passive viewer, seated to observe; another to the play, the actors, moving to perform. In one space theater, spectators and performers must follow the linear storyline of authorial authority and view the performance from the viewpoint the playwright has determined will be seen by the spectators. In Tamara, the barrier between spectator and actor spaces has been breeched; the spaces co-mingle and spectators become actors on many stages. My theory is that there are three divided spaces with narrators telling stories that connect them operating in a kind of Tamara interconnecting three theatrical spaces: 1. First, a consumptive space of spectators, the consumers and investors from the first world; 2. Second, a distributive space is reserved for performing executives, PR managers, and consultants, who mediate stories performed to the first space on behalf of those in a third space; 3. Third, a productive and ecological space, of the Third World where mostly young women toil and where environmental laws are more lax; workers and forests can not be seen or heard by those in the first space (and maybe not the second). We will look to see how in one industry (athletic apparel) spectators are given a few more choices, in what we call the Athletic Apparel Industry Tamara, to accompany whatever character and story they choose, masters or servants from country to country (or factory to showroom), knowing that there are simultaneous performances and they can not be in every place at one time. In short, consumers and investors rely upon the sharing of stories to construct their image of what is going on. Past examinations of the connection of storytelling and corporate strategy have focused on content analysis and a recent call has been to examine events or texts from a storytelling perspective (Barry Elmes, 1997). Some recent research recognizes that strategic orientations change over time (Black Farias, 2000) and/or may be simultaneously present (Ashmos, Duchan, McDaniel, 2000) and/or may be emergent (Mintzberg, 1987, 1990,1994; Mintzberg McHugh, 1985; Mintzberg Waters, 1985). Ways to determine changes in strategic orientation have included inference from actions (Grimm Smith, 1997) and the examination of archival documents, such as letters to shareholders (Landrum, 2000). We suggest that a more inclusive or Tamara approach is needed to show the complexity of forces that cause the ground to move. We assume there is something about the movement from a divided space in modern theater to the interpenetrating one of postmodern theater that makes Tamara a fit metaphor to analyze the Athletic Apparel Industry. In the past decades, the corporate forte was to sustain the modernist barrier between spaces, as in contemporary theater the spectators sat in their respective spaces and did not question the veracity of the performed narratives. In the last decade, as consumers and investors (first space) visited the stage themselves and entered the third space, or when the workers of the Third World were transported to the first one, then a more democratic theatrics of story production, distribution, and consumption became enacted on the global stage. The power of the corporate gatekeeper was dissolved. This study presumes that storytelling is useful in revealing corporate strategic orientation and in revealing when complexity forces changes and disrupts their orientations and postures. Stories are particularly useful in showing how individuals or corporations make sense of the world. Stories are sensemaking narratives of an organization (Boje, 1991, 1995; Czarniawska, 1998; Frye, 1957; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, Zilber, 1998; Riessman, 1993; White, 1973). To explore storytelling and strategy intertextuality, we review an industry context that has been changing drastically over the past decade. The athletic shoe industry was chosen because it is a mature industry and has undergone many changes since the 1980s, such as the movement toward overseas production, increasing globalization, and involvement of activists over labor and environmental issues (Choe, 1999; Shetty, 1996). But it is the decade of the 1990s that has seen the most turbulent and complex changes, and its two most active players have been Nike and Reebok. For example, in 1998 Corporate Watch decided to turn their Greenwash Award into a Sweatwash Award and gave the prize to the Fair Labor Association, newly created by the White House Apparel Industry Partnership. They stated that, The Association will have the power to grant companies the right to sew no sweat labels in their clothing in return for what labor activists fear will amount to cosmetic improvements in sweatshop conditions. (Light, 1998:1) Corporations led by Nike, Reebok, Liz Claiborne and Phillips-Van Heusen (then L. L. Bean and Patagonia) joined with some unknown human rights groups on the taskforce to propose the creation of the Fair Labor Association (FLA). The more radical contingent, UNITE, (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees), the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility-were taskforce members who resigned their White House Apparel Partnership positions to protest the weak monitoring practices, no living wage and no right to organize provisions of the FLA. Sweatwash was a reaction to watching two decades of corporate environmentalism become a full court PR press with slick advertising to present a green corporate image to the global stage while co-opting both the human and environmental rights movements. UNITE (1998) argues the FLA was created by a subgroup of the White House task force, consisting mostly of industry representatives from companies such as Nike, Reebok and Liz Claiborne and a few human rights groups. The FLA Clean Clothes/ No Sweat tag was the next industry strategy to mollify consumer and investors who were hearing more stories of exploitation; corporations feared their public image was tarnished by increased activism. In 1998, Nike announced plans to phase out PVC plastics in its shoes and other products and painted its web sites with plans to certify all of its 600 subcontract factories in IS014000 environmental standards. (This followed the 1997 release of the Ernst Young audit showing violations of Vietnamese environmental laws. Reebok, on the other hand, uses part of its advertising budget to give out Human Rights Awards (since 1992), while pretending to consumers and investors its products are `Made in the USA rather than being mostly made in China. Both firms did not just become enlightened one day to environmentalism and human rights, they are responding to public opinion and to amateur actors who are taking the global stage, entering the board room and shareh older meeting asking for independent monitoring of corporate claims (Introductory Guide To Unplugging Corporations, 2001). This study will examine the letters to shareholders of the top two firms in this industry, Nike and Reebok, to trace their environmental and social responsibility rhetoric (Landrum, 2000). To focus exclusively on the environmental and social responsibility narratives, we review Bojes (1999) model and classify the rhetoric in the letters to shareholders following his classification system. We follow with examples of Nike and Reeboks use of each type of rhetoric in their letters, showing the frequency of use of each type of rhetoric, and making some observations regarding Nike and Reeboks environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. Rhetoric in Use Boje (1999) offers a model to classify the environmental and social responsibility rhetoric of corporations. He identifies classifications ranging from a denial of responsibility for environmental and social problems to the embracing of green goals as central to the mission of the organization. These levels of response are: Denial Response One, the first response, is Denial. In Denial, the company denies accusations and ignores problems in their environmental and labor practices. Our hypothesis is that this can work when the three theatrical spaces remain bounded and divided, so that only the corporate executive or PR staff mediates what is going on to the other two spaces. In the Nike (1990-1999) and Reebok (1990-1999) letters, we looked for evidence of denial of problems or for evidence of ignoring problems related to environmental and labor practices. Nike Denial This section will provide some examples of passages coded within the Denial genre of environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. We offer our rationale for coding the passage within this genre. In the following 1994 passage, Nike chooses to criticize the media for their coverage of Nike problems. I coded this passage as denial since Nike refuses to acknowledge the problems that have been exposed by the media. 118: The blinder mentality is bad enough when judging the business world, but 119: it is characteristic of a more serious virus that is affecting the 120: coverage (or non-coverage) of significant cultural and political 121: stories. The sad truth is, as television news in general, and CNN in 122: particular, becomes ncreasingly invested in our lives, the print media 123: are pushed to greater extremes, forced to choose survival over 124: integrity, the most entertaining story over the real story, until we 125: come to this: The New York Times reduced to Vecsey on NIKE. The following passage from the 1995 Nike letter shows Nike again criticizing the media and Wall Street for failing to recognize Nike as a sound investment. Nike neglects to make any mention of the parti cular media exposes that have uncovered Nikes poor labor practices; thus, I have coded the passage as denial. 8: This brings us back to my frustration and, I am sad to say, the 89: futility of this document. It simply does not matter what we say in 90: words or put in numbers in the annual report. This poor little binder 91: is simply overwhelmed by electronic and print sound bites, or ignored 92: by the show biz-oriented media who convey a point of view in conflict 93: with sound investment. 94: 95: As Director John Jaqua says, This has reached the point of 96: ridicularity. 97: 98: So how, in that world, can you understand the who, what, when, where 99: and why of any company, especially one as controversial as NIKE? 00: 101: The sad answer: Cant really. It would be easy if we could bring 102: everybody to the NIKE Campus, or take everybody to 103: the Final Four, or the Olympic Trials, or the World Cup, or a Nebraska 104: high school football game, or a pick-up game on 125th Str eet. Thats 105: the world NIKE lives in. But, we cant do that. 106: 107: Instead, well send our managers back to do what they do: develop and 108: grow the best global company possible, and let the hurricane of media 109: hype blow on around us. The following Nike 1996 passage blames the media for blasting their overseas practices. Even though they have finally acknowledged this particular problem exposed by the media, they choose not to discuss it within the letter to shareholders or within the body of the annual report. Still, Nike did publish a 10-page supplement defending Nikes position; however, it only further exemplifies their denial of the problem. 9: Yet no sooner had the great year ended than we were hit by a series of 10: blasts from the media about our practices overseas. 11: 12: So I sat with a dilemma: Use this space to answer our critics 13: isrepresentations, which would leave little room for anything else, or 14: try to give our owners the bigger picture of their company. 15: 16: I decided to do the latter with, like Roger Maris home run record, an 17: asterisk. We answer the overseas questions in a supplement that is 18: included in the annual report mailing. The following 1997 Nike passage continues to suggest that Nike is failing to acknowledge the problems associated with their overseas lab or practices despite the fact that they have been repeatedly detailed in the media. 3: To do that, I first have to take a second to talk about the filter 34: obstacle, that haze we have to fight through to explain what goes on 35: around this company. 36: 37: NIKE (and the entire industry) tends to be a bit misunderstood. The 38: media prefer to treat us all as the entertainment portion of the 39: business world. So, they feel free to exaggerate, to interpret, to 40: extrapolate. To say they are prone to hyperbole would be an 41: understatement. To say that is how they make their living would not. Reebok Denial No Reebok letters were coded in this category. Green Gloss/Green Wash Response Two is Green Gloss or Green Wash. During this phase, the company launches public relations campaigns to counteract negative publicity or accusations of activists. Nike Green Gloss/Green Wash In the following 1998 Nike excerpt, the company finally begins to acknowledge that labor practices are affecting their bottom line; however, I view this acknowledgment as more of an effort to discontinue denial and patronize the public rather than to make a meaningful effort to change the situation. 24: So, what knocked us down in 1998? 25: 26: Asia brown shoes labor practices resignations ayoffs 27: boring ads. Also, we have been criticized for our headquarters 28: expansion. But understand this: We need a much bigger place to house 29: all our troubles. I have also coded the 1997 Nike passage, mentioned previously (lines 33-41), as another example of green gloss/green wash. The companys defense of themselves in a 10-page supplement not only represented a denial of the problem, but also a public relations effort to justify their practices. Reebok Green Gloss/Green Wash No Reebok letters were coded in this category. Strategic Awareness Response Three is Strategic Awareness. During this phase, there is minimal compliance yet awareness exists of the need for change. Nike Strategic Awareness In the following 1998 Nike passage, the company suggests that the media is slowly becoming more knowledgeable of its questionable overseas labor practices. However, this ostensible change in media attitude is due to the fact that Nike has put forth a good-faith effort to improve their labor practices, and in turn, the media has simply begun to report these changes. 93: On our labor practices: Our friends in the media are slowly becoming 94: more knowledgeable. This is good. It means that consumers are 95: actually getting informed rather than just alarmed. This, too, will 96: take time. Meanwhile, the contrasts between us and our competitors and 97: other companies in the needle trade will show more each year. The following 1998 Nike passage suggests that it realizes that Americans are aware of their overseas practices, and accordingly, that Nike should be credited for this shift in public consciousness. 99: There is an interesting relationship going on between the Asia economic 100: crisis and the labor practices issue, which would take many chairmans [sic] 101: letters to cover. Instead, let me cut straight to the moral of the 102: story: It is simply not acceptable for America to continue to be 103: moated Reebok Strategic Awareness No Reebok letters were in this category. Strategic Acquisition Response Four is Strategic Acquisition, or a voluntary move toward environmental audits and social responsibility. Although Nike makes no mention of their environmental audits, 1997 marked their first voluntary, environmental audit and was conducted by Ernst ; Young. Nike Strategic Acquisition No Nike letters were coded in this category. Reebok Strategic Acquisition Throughout their letters, Reebok makes reference to the fact that they seek to help make a better world and to make a difference. This is evidenced by the following passages from 1990 (lines 47-48) and 1991 (lines 59-60). The company has made a voluntary movement toward being socially responsible. 47: a high level of consciousness and a sense of responsibility to help 48: make a better world. 59: to make a difference for our consumers 60: and ourselves. Flagship Implementation Response Five is Flagship Implementation, in which the firm makes proactive moves to change their core mission and to include green goals. Nike Flagship Implementation No Nike letters were in this category. Reebok Flagship Implementation In the following passages, Reebok makes mention of the various programs and initiatives they started in order to become a socially responsible company. 1992 60: Our push for success, however, has not lessened our desire to make a 61: difference in the larger world. Reebok is unique in its dedication to 62: human rights. Through our Human Rights Awards Program, which just com 63: pleted its fifth year, we strive to bring attention to young people 64: around the world who advance the cause of human rights. This year, 65: through a grant from The Reebok Foundation, a new human rights program 66: began. WITNESS, a program providing video cameras, facsimile machines 67: and computers to human rights organizations, allows human rights acti 68: vists to document abuses of justice for the world to see. 1993 61: Finally, let us note that the aspirations of Reebok extend beyond the 62: bottom line. Our commitment to the pursuit of human rights continues. 3: Once again, we recognized brave young people for their stand on human 64: rights one each from Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, and the United States. 65: Our Reebok Foundation helped inner city young people in United States 66: urban areas. Our Human Rights Production Standards, in place throughout 67: the world, helped assure that workers manufacturing Reebok pr oducts 68: benefited from quality conditions and fair labor practices. 1994 117: Another dimension of Reebok that enhances our global brand image is our 118: goal to be in the forefront of the corporate movement toward social 19: responsibility. We are the acknowledged corporate leader in promoting 120: human rights. Young people around the world, we believe look to 121: companies that stand for more than their great products. We 122: established the Reebok Human Rights Awards program in 1988, and we 123: continue to support it. This commitment led us to establish the Reebok 124: Human Rights Production Standards, through which we strive to improve 125: labor practices in overseas factories that make our products. This 126: commitment also is why we are working to make products that are 127: environmentally sound. We believe that companies should stand for 128: something. We believe our brand should stand for something. Personal 129: athletic achievement is a powerful message, but it is not enough on its 130: own. Reebok does stand for something, and as a result a new generation 131: of young people are able to see that a company can be a source not only 132: of exciting products, but of social good. 1996 55: Our Company continued its long-held commitment to human rights with the 56: Ninth Annual Human Rights Awards in 1996, honoring young activists in 57: their struggle for human rights around the world. Our efforts in this 58: area extend beyond this recognition program and include our 59: establishment in 1992 of human rights production standards that we hold 60: our factories accountable to follow. Most recently, in 1996 in 61: response to the problem of child labor widely utilized in the stitching 62: of soccer balls, we entered into an agreement with our supplier to 63: build a soccer ball manufacturing facility in Pakistan that will allow 64: us to guarantee that all Reebok soccer balls will be made without the 65: rise of child labor. 148: we will continue to focus our efforts 49: on making a difference to our customers to our employees and to our 150: shareholders. 1998 42: I believe that the values that Reebok International stands for 43: as a company are precisely those values that consumers are looking for in todays marketplace. 84: One of the crucial elements of this plan is the repositioning of Reebok Unlimited based on the 85: concept of humanity. Actually, this is not so much of a repositioning as a rediscovery of the 86: values of creativity, free-spiritedness and individualism that we have always represented as a 87: company, but have deviated from recently in our advertising and marketing. Based on a return 88: to these universal human values, we believe Reebok Unlimited is in a unique position to appeal 89: to both the authentic performance and casual lifestyle markets at the same time. Table 1 Table 2: Figure One: Frequency of the use of environmental narratives by Nike and Reebok over the tenyear period, 1990 to 1999 134: WE STAND FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING. 135: 136: Over the past year, a lot has been written about our industry and the issue of human rights. 137: We have been a leader in this area for more than a decade. Running a company involves a lot 138: more than crunching numbers and whatever else gets in your way. It involves a commitment 139: of equal respect and fair treatment for all people. Simply put, this is the Reebok way. It will 140: always be the Reebok way. As concern for human rights issues grows among consumers 141: particularly younger consumers we believe our leadership and reputation will translate into 142: greater preference for our brands and products. Although Nike makes little mention of their environmental practices, labor practices, or social responsibility, those passages included in the letters primarily engage in denial, green gloss, and strategic awareness rhetorical styles. Nikes main response mode during the 1990s was denial. Reebok, on the other hand, mentioned their social responsibility efforts in many of their letters and were primarily engaged in strategic acquisition and flagship implementation rhetoric. Reeboks main response mode was flagship implementation. The companies were at opposite ends of the spectrum in their primary response mode during the 1990s. Both companies, however, were engaged in poor labor practices in their overseas operations (Baskin, 1996; Ernst Young, 1997; Fireman, 1999; Manning, 1997a-g; Nguyen, 1997; Reebok, 1999). The difference is that Nike was denying the problems while Reebok was trying to be open about the problems and address them. Interestingly, we can conclude that being socially responsible and environmentally aware did not result in increased market share or profitability for Reebok. They continued to lose sales and market share throughout the 1990s (Figures 4 and 5). Reebok expected that their social responsibility stance would differentiate them from the competition. Rather, research and development and marketing are key success factors for this industry and Nike outperforms Reebok in both areas. Conclusion Boje (1999) puts forth a model of stages of environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. He suggests that rhetoric falls somewhere in a continuum ranging from Denial to Flagship Implementation. On one end of this continuum, companies may deny any responsibility for or ownership of their negative actions. The next stage of this continuum reflects rhetoric that glosses over issues and uses public relations campaigns in response to negative publicity. The third stage of Bojes (1999) continuum is rhetoric that acknowledges a need for change and puts forth gestures of minimal compliance. The fourth stage on this continuum is rhetoric that shows voluntary movement toward social responsibility and the last stage on the continuum is flagship implementation of environmental practices and embracing social responsibility. This article has shown that rhetoric is a useful way in which to understand and interpret a companys strategy. We have shown a more penetrating, or Tamara, view of the rhetoric of the athletic apparel industry leaders. Through analysis of letters to shareholders of Nike and Reebok over a ten-year period, we have shown Nike and Reeboks use of environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. The results show that Nike has engaged in Denial as their primary rhetorical style and Reebok has engaged in Flagship Implementation as their primary rhetorical style. The companies are at opposite extremes of this continuum. In spite of Nikes denial and Reeboks engagement of social responsibility, Nike revenues have skyrocketed and Reebok sales have plummeted (Figure 4). Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. If rhetoric indeed reveals strategy, these findings suggest that social responsibility and profits are negatively correlated for these two companies. In both Figures 2 and 3, we see the frequency of nvironmental and social responsibility rhetoric used by both companies increased. Nike engaged in rhetoric on the negative end of the continuum, suggesting denial of social responsibility; Reebok engaged in rhetoric on the positive end of the continuum, suggesting implementation of social responsibility. Also near this time, revenues and market share of both companies began to move in a dire ction negatively correlated with the level of social responsibility (Figures 4 and 5). The empirical evidence has been mixed on the relationship between corporate financial performance and social performance. Some researchers (Preston ; OBannon, 1997; Roman, Hayibor, Agle, 1999) have found a positive relationship between corporate social performance and financial performance and other researchers (Ingram and Frazier, 1983; Freedman and Jaggi, 1982) have found a negative relationship. In the case of negative correlations between financial performance and social performance, it is argued that the costs associated with social responsibility put the firm in an unfavorable financial position compared to firms that are not socially responsible (Aupperle, Carroll, Hatfield, 1985). Clearly the relationship between corporate financial performance and social performance is not fully understood. Nonetheless, rhetorical analysis is a useful postmodern tool in revealing a companys strategy and in revealing when changes or shifts in strategy occur. Figure 5 [Reference] REFERENCES Retrieved May 28, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http:// www. netadvantage. standardpoor. com/netahtml/ IndSur/apf/apf_0999. htm Czarniawska, B. (1998). A narrative approach to organization studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [Reference] Ernst ; Young (1997, January 6). Environmental and labor practice audit. Retrieved May 28, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http:/ www. corpwatch. org/trac/nike/ernst/audit. html Fireman, Paul (1999, October 17). Steps we must take on third-world labor. The Washington Post, p. B7. Freedman, M. ; Jaggi, B. (1982). Pollution disclosures, pollution performance and economic performance. Omega, 10, 167-176 Frye, N. (1957). Anatomy of criticism: Four essay . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Reference] Grimm, C. M. ; Smith, K. G. (1997). Strategy as action: Industry rivalry and coordination. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing. Ingram, R. ;Frazier, K. (1980). Environmental performance and corporate disclosure. Journal of Accounting Research, 18, 614-622. Introductory Guide to Unplugging Corporations (2001) Retrieved March 3, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http:// www. georgiastrait. org/Unplugging%20Corps. 3. pdf [Reference] Landrum, N. (2000). A Quantitative and Qualitative Examination of the Dynamics of Nike and Reebok Storytelling as Strategy. Doctoral dissertation: New Mexico State University. Lieblich, A. , Tuval-Mashiach, R. ; Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research: Read analysis. and intc=tation.

A Review Of Pixar Animation Studios Commerce Essay

A Review Of Pixar Animation Studios Commerce Essay Pixar(2010) Pixar is an American animation production company based in California, United States. The company was started in the year 1979 as the part of the computer division of Lucasfilm and was bought by The Walt Disney Company in the year 2006. The company during its 17 years of existence has delivered several movies that has redefined the world of visual technology and animation. Pixar is known for its some of the basic values that form the foundation of its unbeatable success. People at Pixar are extremely talented and there exists an open collaboration among people coming from multiple disciplines. However, a formal structure is followed at the company where it is necessary for every member to ensure enhancement of three inter-related facets of the business, namely, leadership, process and accountability. Leadership is taken very seriously at Pixar and it is ensured that leaders are able to tune their communications, and value the vision of the organization and come up with the ability to provide lots of ideas (Jeremy, 2010) Managers as well as workers of the enterprise have the freedom of expression so that their vision and ideas can be communicated freely that helps the organization to come up with innovative ideas ensuring a sustainable position in the market (Morris, Jeremy, 2010). Another important element of Pixars environment refers to its collaborative approach towards work. It is fine to have talented people hired in the company, but it is equally important to make these people work in a motivated manner towards achievement of organizational goals (Milter and Matveev, 2004). At Pixar, everyone is made to understand that his/her success lies in the success of all other members. This helps in moving in a collaborative manner to ensure that everyone working in the company succee ds. The team spirit at Pixar helps in development o fold hires and new hands in a similar fashion with a healthy respect for each other resulting in an environment of credibility and trust prevailing throughout the organization. Apart, from these two elements, accountability forms the foundation of the working environment at Pixar. Leaders and managers at Pixar follow a clear line of accountability that helps them in seeking ways to improve themselves. Every project is headed by a Director/Producer duo, to whom all members of the project are accountable. These directors and producers are in turn accountable to leaders of the company and have the opportunity to utilize the experience and knowledge of senior filmmakers who are the part of top management of the company. In short, Pixar follows a highly structured process aims at fostering a meaningful collaboration resulting in a culture that comprise of value for ability and contribution of others. Cultural Analysis Before going for a discussion on cultural analysis, we need to understand the meaning of culture in a proper manner. Various scholars and academicians have given several definitions for culture. Formally, culture has been defined as a pattern of shared beliefs that were developed by a group during the process of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Martin (2002) explained that everyone knows about the groups, organizations, and societies in which certain beliefs and values prevail at cross purposes with the beliefs of others, resulting in a condition where conflicts and ambiguity prevails in a high degree. This is often the result of insufficient stability prevailing among members, insufficient shared history of experience, or the presence of several subgroups with difference in their personal experience s (Thorngate, 2004). Many a times conflicts and ambiguity also results because of the fact that an individual is not a part of a single groups but belongs to several different groups and this has an impact on the assumptions and beliefs that one brings to a particular group and is influences by the assumptions that re appropriate to some other groups to which an individual belong. Khan (2005) argued that it is necessary that people are matched with the organization in order to ensure success of the company. There is a set of collective rules through which a company operates, which is termed as the culture of the organization. (Conolly, 2008) explained that employees of the enterprise should be well aware of their workplace that will clearly define appropriate and inappropriate behavior. In the present paper, an analysis of cross-cultural issues arising out of the merger of The Walt Disney and Pixar will be undertaken. It makes it necessary to understand the meaning of cross-cultural analysis. Under a cross-cultural analysis, an investigation is made into the ways through which people coming from different backgrounds communicate with each other. Whenever any merger takes place there is an amalgamation of the culture of the two organizations participating in the merger (Stening, 2002). Here several cross-cultural issues may arise because of the interaction of people coming from two different groups with different background, beliefs, values and functions. Cross-cultural analysis thrives to harness the utilitarian function of culture in order to use it as a mode of increasing the adaptation of people and bringing an improvement in patterns of communication (Nigel, 2001). It is one of the discipline of international management that focus on cultural encounters, aiming at discovery of methods that can be adopted to handle cultural differences that often give rise to conflicts, ambiguity and miscommunication. There are several different models that can be used to conduct a cross-cultural analysis. Various models includes those suggested by Hawkins (1992), Terpstra and Sarathy (2000), Hofstede (1994), and Wills (1991). The framework suggested by Hawkins and Terpstra are similar in nature and explains some of the common elements such as values, education and learning, social status and organization. Hawkins has tried to approach culture from the perspective of a consumer lifestyle, while Terpstra approaches culture in somewhat wider contexts. Thus, it is much more easy to use the model suggested by Terpstra and Sarathy. In addition, Hofstedes model will be used to understand the various dimensions of culture that are based upon individualism, power distance, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Wills (1991) considered learning as the key element of their model of culture. This will explain the basic idea of culture at Pixar as after the merger with The Walt Disney, the major aim of the co mpany was to establish Pixar as a learning organization. The dimensions of learning are used to consider a model of cross-cultural analysis suggesting a relationship between high/low context of a culture and the rate at which new products are adapted. In addition, it is to be noted that culture and leadership are interconnected. These are viewed as the two sides of the same coin, in that leaders first create cultures when they create groups and organizations (Edgar, 2004). Once cultures exists they determine the criteria for leadership and thus determine who will or will not be a leader. The unique function of leadership helps in managing the existing culture in case the elements of a culture becomes dysfunctional. Leadership also manages evolution of culture and change in such a way that the group is able to thrive in a changed environment also (Bal, 1999). Thus, it is right to say that it is necessary to understand the culture both for group members as well as for their leaders. The cultural analysis in relation to leadership roles will also be discussed and analyzed for Pixar. Cross Cultural Issues at Pixar The Walt Disney acquired Pixar with the view that Pixar would be able to bring some creativity to Disney, which had lost the luster in its animation. However, various major factors of the success of a merger were recognized by both the parties and they emphasized on The concept of transformational leadership and the importance of its existence for the success of the merger Creating a new strategic vision and mission for the new organization that is shared by both the parties to the merger Developing and maintaining learning teams resulting in fostering a learning environment throughout the organization. Creating and maintain a learning culture throughout the merged organization. Pixar is well known for its culture of collective creativity. Management think in a way to build capability to recover when some failures occur and not in the direction of preventing the risk. It is believed that smart people are more important as compared to good ideas (Catmull, 2008). The company aims at enhancing the power of creative people and builds a creative culture on the foundation of active feedback among peers. An open culture and communication prevails in the organization where people at all levels support each other and help each other to turn out their best (Catmull, 2008). All members of the organization respect each other and there are very rare cases of any unhealthy conflicts with groups having considerable problem-solving powers that act as an inspiration to be creative and innovative. However, with the merger of Pixar with The Walt Disney, the culture of the two organizations also merged and then arouse several cross-cultural issues that could have resulted in a failure of the merger if not managed properly (Haspeslagh, 2006). The Walt Disney is characterized with a highly regimented culture while Pixar is known for its unique, free-spirited, independent work dynamic culture (Lam; Chi and Lee, 2007). The successful combination of these two totally different cultures was the hallmark for the success of the merger. In case Disney would have made any attempt to get the people of Pixar work under pressure to generate efficiencies, even though the way of increasing its productivity or bringing about an elimination of the overlapping support positions, would have resulted in high rates of turnover with skilled employees leaving the Disney Pixar (Lam and Lee). It is to be noted that many a time sin such highly skilled industries such as animation and communication, people are allowed to let go because of skill gap. However, it is the issue of cultural gap that makes most of the skilled people switch companies frequently in animation and communicat ion industry (Keating, 2006). It is the clear understanding of magnitude of synergies that makes the mergers successful. Analysis of the cross-cultural issues at Disney Pixar As discussed in the previous section, to manage cross-cultural issues at Disney Pixar, management concentrated on four important elements of transformational leadership, shared vision, learning team and learning culture. These elements and Disney Pixars approach to these are discussed as follows: Transformational Leadership at Disney Pixar It is necessary that an organization have transformational leaders in order to develop creative thinking and problem solving to foster organizational growth. Transformational leaders are those who lead through social exchange. They help their followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group and the larger organization (Riggo and Bernard, 2008). It is the elements that can encourage organizations to develop and change more rapidly so as to be able to meet challenges of dynamic and competitive environments. Disney Pixar followed the approach of defining and developing the transformational leadership. The company decided to follow the approach in order to make employees easily adapt the new culture, which is a mix of the cultures of two organizations. It is believed that creative powers come from creative leadership (Riggo, 2008). It is so because effective leadership helps in effective development of support structures, the necessary resources and access to the experience and knowledge of the top management of the organization. At Pixar, access to the brain trust of the organization was easy for all individuals because of its independent and free-spirit culture. However, it was for Disneys culture to adopt this key feature in order to be successful in the competitive environment. Transformational leadership was chosen as a route to achieve this objective and make Disney Pixar a learning organization. Shared Strategic Vision Another key element ensuring the success of a merger is the sharing of a shared vision of goals and objectives by the merging organization. This helps in providing proper guidance and reducing the anxieties and uncertainties associated with the process of merger. It is necessary in case of a merger to develop an environment of learning throughout the organization. This is possible only if there is an availability of diverse learning teams that are led by leaders who are sharing a common strategic vision. An organization is able to create a sustainable competitive advantage through such a process (Jemison, 2006). This further makes it easy to manage the increasing complexities associated with economies of scale and then competitors find it more difficult to copy a companys operational methods (Janik, 2006). As explained by Gill (2010), managing through a shared vision proves to be much more productive as compared to the management done through coercion or control. Creation of a shared vision refers to the process where a consensus has to be achieved on the direction of the group and on the desired results. The basic aim is to make the members of a team approach their work with aim of achieving same goals for the future and being guided by same principles. A shared vision is also necessary for developing and fostering learning and change in an organization. In the case of Disney Pixar, a formal team of leaders was created in order to integrate the two companies. Among these steps, the Vice President of Pixar was appointed as the chief creative officer of Disneys and Pixars animation studios. Despite of his having the authority to green light films for both the studios, the ultimate authority to approve rested in the hands of Disneys CEO. The main aim was to maintain the Pixars culture. However, it is not enough to develop teams of leaders. It is necessary that leading teams emerge throughout the organization and leaders try to develop learning of each and every individual about the new cultural values, mission and vision of the organization and the objectives for which the various operations are being carried out in the organization (Gancel and Rodgers, 2002). Every individual is required to have a commitment towards the strategic vision of the merger. There is a need of combining the best skills as two organizations to enhance the shar ing of the strategic vision and avoid any cultural issues. Developing Team Learning At Pixar, it is believed that providing freedom to take decisions helps in development of teams. People are given full chance to be creative and use their ideas in order to learn from their success or failures. The cofounder of Pixar and his executives gives tremendous authority to their directors. All decision-making authority rests in the hands of teams and no single individual is considered as a decisions making authority. The rule is that the opinions and advice received from the brain trusts of directors will be used only as an advice and directors have full authority to refuse their suggestions if it does not fit their plans. However, Disney having a tight control culture, followed an approach where corporate executives micromanage by keeping tight control over budgets and entering in the departments to take final creative decisions. These two different approaches resulted in several cultural issues after the merger. Many of the key employees left the company because of Disneys dominating cultural values. Ed Catmull, the cofounder of Pixar had recently changed his vision to build the organization where everyone work in the direction of creating a magic even when the directors and cofounders are gone (Prokesh, 2008). This called for a strong transition in the culture of the organization where executives were expected to do something of themselves even when people carrying out the organization were not there. Same was expected out of Disney, and unfortunately Disneys staff lacked the spirit and failed to develop a strong learning approach towards their work. Creating a Learning Culture Traditionally, organizations used to follow a top to down bureaucratic, controlled and narrow approach to management. This approach used to limit the learning process in the organization. In case of a learning organization, new directions of growth and development can be identified and recognized that makes it possible to handle challenges and problems. In todays competitive global era, diversity and cross-cultural complexities have become the synonymous to the challenges that a business organization face while improving their operational efficiency. Disney Pixar failed to recognize the method through which an organization can turn into a learning organization (Keating, 2006). The process is being undertaken successfully at Pixar through developing relationships and recognizing the fact that talent is rare and thus its retention is essential. Ed Catmull believes that the assumptions of the organization must be constantly challenged and the search for flaws that can destroy the culture of the organization should not stop throughout the operations of the organization. However, the process could not be undertaken successfully at Disney Pixar and resulted in several cultural issues. The new company was unable to keep Pixars talent together as there were vast differences between the cultural values and working styles of the two companies (Haspeslagh, 2006). Management was not successful in creating a learning culture throughout the organization and the unionized culture of Disney may not successfully coexist with non-unionized culture of Pixar. Recommendations Disney Pixar has failed at many levels while making the merger successful. The company has taken strong steps to initiate learning in the organization but it is doubtful whether such learning will be institutionalized throughout the organization. Some recommendations to foster learning and avoid any cultural clashes are discussed as follows: A utilization of differences can be made through the use of matrix strategy. This will help in finding a perfect balance between the competencies of managers of both the companies. In addition communication plays an important role in managing cultural differences (Lodorfos, 2006). Leaders should allow open communication and integration between team members as well as between teams to ensure smooth flow of knowledge and information. This will help in people from both the organization understand each others values, beliefs and working style resulting in more respect for each others culture (Harding and Rouse, 2006). Treating the partner company members with respect is the key to the success of a merger. Additionally, formal as well as informal training should be provided to the employees of Disney in order to adjust themselves with the open and free culture of Pixar. The decision making authority should not rest in the hands of few authorities and managers must be delegated more and mo re decision making power as in case of Pixar. Furthermore, Disney and Pixar studios are kept separate in order to reduce the complications. However, it is advised to design a single studio where a combined set of values coming from the combination of the ideas of both the companies should be fostered to ensure success of the merger. This is so because keeping the two parts of the Disney-Pixar merger as separate organizations can create the conditions for separation in future. Such a separation will result in more differences on account of cultural values and style of leading to more clashes and conflicts among the individuals of two companies. Disney-Pixar should aim at developing a learning organization through efficient flow of information and knowledge throughout the organization in order to be successful in future. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that proper management of cultural differences is one of the key factors in success of a merger. Todays business environment is characterized with an increasing number of organizations desiring to avail the advantage of globalization. Many of the companies take the route of mergers and acquisitions to achieve the objective. Many of such mergers fail due to cultural clashes among people of different organizations. Each of the merged company is required to integrate the corporate cultures of their organizations. It is the leadership style, management styles and communication lines that are necessary to be developed and managed in order to be successful in managing cross-cultural issues. It is evident that there is always a possibility of cross-cultural issues in case of a merger that cannot be avoided at any cost. However, it is possible to manage these issues through developing the organizations into a learning organization in order to fo ster knowledge sharing throughput the organization resulting a in a successful merger.

Economic Development Of Vietnam And China Economics Essay

Economic Development Of Vietnam And China Economics Essay China has been a remarkably successful economy since its adaptation of market-oriented reforms in 1978. The countrys real GDP growth has averaged about 9% each year from 1979 to the present (Naughton, 1995). Vietnam has also gone through a terrific economic development after the countrys transition process from centrally-planned economy to a market economy and it also gone from a poor to a middle-income country in just 20 years. This essay is devoted to give an overview how the gradualist path of economic reforms of the late 1970s and early 1980s affected both Chinas and Vietnams economies and led to a high rate of development. I will analyze what factors made both countries to choose gradualism in contrast with Shock Therapy also known as Big Bang approach. While various scholars debate which approach leads to a better performance, I will demonstrate that in the case of China and Vietnam the gradualist approach turned out to be the more efficient one. Over the past five decades, East Asia has emerged as a region with several spectacular stories (i.e. Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan) of catch-up development. Both China and Vietnam have achieved remarkable economic growth since their economic reforms. Scholars (i.e. Popov, 2007) argue that the transformation of these two countries was caused by the adverse supply shock that resulted from deregulation of prices and change in relative price ratios that created the need for reallocation of resources in order to correct the industrial structure inherited from centrally planned economy. The end of Cultural Revolution in China in 1976 revived the two competing forces of institutional centralization and accelerated growth, which in contrast requires decentralization (Riskin, 1987). Two years later, in 1978, a plan of reform was adopted to deal with the imbalances in the economy. The transition strategy undertaken by China is termed a dual track reform path because there is both a planned and a market part of the economy. In this dual track path, there was not only one single reform attempted at one time, but different programs were also tried simultaneously until the new reform measure could replace the old system. In the case of big-bang reform, the old system is usually destroyed before the new system takes place. Vietnam has gone through a similar transformation over the past 20 years and shifted its economy from a centrally planned economy to a Socialist-oriented market economy. In 1986 the government introduced a policy package which is often referred as economic reform (Doi Moi). It combined government planning with free-market incentives and encouraged the establishment of private businesses and foreign investment, including foreign-owned enterprises. Both countries began their economic development from their agriculture sector, and in both cases, their attempts to build a Soviet-style economy failed, during their pre-reform period (Vu, 2009) Today both countries are major players in the global economy, where Vietnam is the worlds leading exporter of pepper, seafood, rice, coffee (Backman, 2007) and China is the second largest economy in the world after U.S. One might ask, how both of these countries with a Communist government could achieve such high level of economic growth, hence in order to understand how their transformation led to todays development, it is important to compare and contrast gradualism with shock therapy economic reform approaches. Big bang versus Gradualism A big bang or shock therapy approach implements various reforms on (monetary policy, privatization, trade and exchange rates etc.) quickly, whereas the gradualist approach spreads various reforms over an extended period of time. There are several arguments in support of big-bang approach to various types of reform. First, in the context of privatization, a big-bang approach provides a critical scale of privatized sector in the economy so that the privatized firms will be efficient (Roland and Verdier, 1992) Second, a big bang may increases the credibility of a reform (Lipton and Sachs, 1990) Third, the gradualist alternative gives time to reform opponents to organize themselves and thus invites a more formidable resistance (Krueger, 1993) In addition, in the context of price reforms, a gradual reform is undesirable, because it may induce an intertemporal speculation (van Wijnbergen, 1992). Finally, a big-bang approach brings the benefits more quickly (World Bank, 1991). On the other hand, there are various supportive arguments for a gradualist approach as well. The earliest statement in favor of this approach is from Confucius: More haste, less result. First, a gradualist approach may avoid excessive cost, especially for the government budget (Dewatripont and Roland 1992; Nielsen, 1993). Second, it avoids an excessive reduction in living standards at the start of a reform (Wang, 1992). Third, it allows trial and error and mid-course adjustment (World Bank, 1991). Fourth, it helps a government to gain incremental credibility (Fang, 1992). When the outcomes of reforms are uncertain to individuals, a gradual approach splits the resistance force and can thus increase the programs chance of surviving attacks by special interest groups (Rodrik, 1990). Gradualist approach to reform can be defined as a sequential implementation of minimum bangs (terminology from Williamson, 1991). A minimum bang is a simultaneous implementation of a minimum set of reforms that can be i mplemented independent of other reforms without failure. It is important to note though that, even across a set of minimum bangs, a gradualist approach may not always be better than a big bang. A reform program may not be able to overcome political resistance, if it is implemented by shock therapy, but it may become politically viable if it is implemented by a gradualist approach. Friedman and Johnson (1995) argued that in the presence of complementarities between government policies and enterprise attributes and convex adjustment costs for enterprises (i.e. costs increasing with the speed of reforms) radical shock-therapy reforms might not necessarily be optimal. Countries that chose to follow the big bang approach, found themselves in a supply-side recession, where the excessive speed of change in relative prices required the magnitude of restructuring that was simply non-achievable with the limited pool of investment. The speed of adjustment and reallocation of resources in every economy is limited, if only due to the limited investment potential needed to reallocate capital stock. This is one of the main rational for gradual, rather than instant, phasing out of tariff and non-tariff barriers, of subsidies and other forms of government support of particular sectors. This can be used as a powerful argument against shock therapy, especially when reforms involved result in a sizable reallocation of resources. It is also important, that the pace of liberalization had to be no faster than the ability of the economy to move resources from non-competitive to competitive industries. Differences in performance during the initial stage of transition depend strongly on the initial conditions and external trade patterns. In addition, changes in the institutional capacity of the state have dramatic impact on performance. Economic reforms in China and Vietnam after the pre-reform period It is definitely the strong institutional framework that should be held responsible for the success of gradual reforms in China and Vietnam, where strong authoritarian regimes were preserved and centrally planned economy institutions were not dismantled before new market institutions were created. The shock-therapy approach was not desired by China, because of its radical reform programs, therefore the gradualist approach was more likely to be successful, due to Chinas under-developed and under-industrialized economy with a large rural surplus of labor force. Chinas economic reforms can be divided into separate eras. The first one, which extends from Deng Xiaopings 1978 opening and reform to the early 1990s, the Communist Party emphasized rural development with relatively little interference from above, where the result was an explosion of small- and medium-sized businesses that created an enormous rise in employment and wealth. Deng created his first special economic zones in places along the coast, such as Shenzhen, where there was relatively little established industry. So the new companies that sprang up there were almost entirely private. Foreign investors piled in, but mostly under conditions that did not disadvantage local entrepreneurs. Outcome: everyone got rich together. Centrally planned economy was no longer viable in China; therefore changes were required to promote economic growth. Consequently, without a definite model in mind, China underwent a lengthy path of adjusting reform objectives from a planned economy with some market adjustment to a combination of planned and market economy to a socialist market economy. In Vietnam, economic reforms started in 1986 and they resembled very much Gorbachev-type marginal reforms in the same period. Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to economic liberalization and international integration. They have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive export-driven industries. In both Vietnam and China the economic reforms were initiated under certain circumstances that provided three critical factors for change: receptivity, crisis and opportunity (Vu, 2009). During their pre-reform period (China: 1953-1978; Vietnam 1954-1986)Â  [1]Â  they made extraordinary efforts to build their socialist economies, but they experienced failure rather than success. China was impoverished by the Cultural Revolution, while the Vietnamese economy was ruined by the collectivization of land, nationalization of privately owned industrial and trading establishments and socialist ideology-driven initi atives (Vu, 2009). Reforms became possible because of various internal and external factors in both countries. In China, the death of Chairman Mao in 1976 paved the way for Deng Xiaoping and his economic reforms, while in Vietnam, the radical reform programs launched by Gorbachev in 1985 in the Soviet Union, which was then Vietnams role model for economic development as well as its main provider of aid, to some extent were an inspiration for the Vietnamese leadership. Fforde and Vylder (1996) observed that the similar circumstances leading to reforms in China and Vietnam are behind the fact that the reforms in both countries were more economic than political. While the reforms in China and Vietnam were initiated under the pressure of economic despair and the need of finding a new way to recover the economy, the main concern of the leadership in both countries was to maintain political stability and the absolute power of the Communist Party. As a result, to justify the legitimacy of the political system, both countries chose a gradualist approach to reform with a special focus on economic growth. A big bang approach and a possible unsuccessful outcome of a reform could have destroyed the parties credibility and led to an up rise within the country, of what the regime would not have survived, so the two countries had no other choice than introduce new economic reforms only step by step. This gradualist approach addressed the easy problems first and left the hard ones for later. A radical approach (big bang) would aim to maximize efficiency gains and minimize the political costs of reform. The pacing and sequencing method of the gradualist approach gained popularity in both countries at the expense of advocating for immediate liberalization. One important feature of reforms is that people are not sure usually whether they are necessarily gainers or losers of a certain reform, therefore I believe that a gradualist approach may be politically more sustainable than the big bang approach, because it splits the resistance force and allows uninterrupted political support for the reform. On the other hand, if a reform program is strong at the start and well supported by the public, then a shock therapy approach is better both because it brings the benefits faster and because it is politically preferred to various schemes of partial or gradual reforms. There are of course other factors as well (export oriented industrial policy) that contributed to the rapid growth of these Asian transition economies and not just gradualism. Conclusion It is clear to see by now, that both countries went through huge changes in their economies in the past 20-30 years. The Communist leadership was able to maintain their power, but also open up more and create a unique socialist-market economy, where the state still owns the major industries such as telecommunications, national railroads, airlines and power. While there is only one direction for both China and Vietnam more economic reform and liberalization the Communist Party of these governments will certainly not tolerate any challenge to their power. They want economic change but not political one. While the two countries initiated their economic reforms from comparable economic and social conditions and have rather followed similar approaches to reform and economic management. Since the launch of these reforms, both countries have made impressive achievements in their growth performance; however their growth patterns have significantly diverged. China has far outperformed Vietn am in both the pace and the efficiency of growth. I dont think that there is need for comparison though, when both their historical and economic backgrounds, prior to the reforms, were different and also given the size of the two countries, China surely has an advantage due to its huge population. It is also important to keep in mind that while China has an advantage in government effectiveness, its institutional foundation remains weak, which is rather comparable with Vietnam. One of the issues that I found during my research is that in making comparative analysis between the shock therapy and gradualist approach, the country cases for big bang outnumber the countries that followed a gradual path and succeeded. China and Vietnam seem to be the only ones in comparison with a great amount of other transitional economies that followed the big bang approach. In this regard, the investigation of other similar cases following the gradual approach would be worth studying to have a better understanding and also a more accurate comparative analysis on different transitional paths adopted among different transitional economies. References: Backman, Michael. Chapter 16 Is Vietnam the New China. Asia Future Shock: Business Crisis and Opportunity in the Coming Years. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. pages 110-118 Dewatripont, M., and G. Roland (1992) The virtues of gradualism and legitimacy in the transition to a market economy. Economic Journal 102, 291-300 Fang, Xinghai (1992) Economic transition: government commitment and gradualism. Working Paper, Stanford University Khuong M. Vu. Economic Reform and Performance: A Comparative Study of China and Vietnam. 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