How Strong Is The Business Case For Diversity Management Business Essay

How Strong Is The Business Case For Diversity Management Business Essay Assignment Question: How strong is the business case for diversity management? Using research evidence and organizational examples, discuss the extent to which diversity-management is and should be applied. Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Defining Diversity 2 Defining Diversity Management 2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity Management 3 Advantages of Diversity Management Program 3 Disadvantages of Diversity Management Program 4 Case Study of Diversity Management 5 Do and Dont in Diversity Management 6 Conclusion 7 References and Bibliography 8 Introduction The worlds increasing globalization trend demands more interaction between people from a vast diverse of cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds than the past. Today, people no longer live and work in an insulated marketplace. The reality is: they are now part of a worldwide (or commonly mentioned as flatten) economy with competition coming from nearly every angle of the globe. For this reason, businesses need to be open to change and accept the concept of diversity to become more creative (Kulik, 1998). The article in this section will be arranged as follow. Firstly, the concept of diversity will be defined. Then, the article further investigates and defines the concept of diversity management. Then, the perceived and often discussed advantages and disadvantages of diversity management program will be discussed. After that, some real life business cases on companies successfully managing diversity and subsequently reaped the benefits of growth, profitability and improved performance from an effective diversity management program will be presented. After the review of academic and research journals regarding the topic, the article proceed to suggest some do and dont for practical diversity management program. The article concludes with some outlook and general direction for managers to follow in implementation of diversity management program. Defining Diversity In daily conversation, the word of diversity has the meaning of differences or variety. However, in the business world and in the business textbook, diversity often refers to the many differences present among people today in workplace as well as marketplace that were not aware of by most people in the past. However, in-depth investigation discovered that different researchers may have different perceptions or definition on the concept of diversity. For example, Mondy (2010) argues that diversity refers to any perceived difference among people, be it from the dimensions of age, race, religion, functional specialty, profession, sexual orientation, geographical origin, lifestyle, tenure with the organization, position in an organization, or any other perceived differences. McShane and Von Glinow (2010), however, divided the concept of diversity into two parts, namely the surface-level diversity and the deep-level diversity. The surface-level diversity is referred to the observable demographic or psychological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical disabilities. In contrast, the deep-level diversity is referred to those differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes. Whatever the definition employed, all these definitions share a common theme; where the terms of diversity encompasses any sort differences between two or more people from various dimensions of factors that can affect workplace relationships and achievement. Defining Diversity Management According to Mondy (2010), diversity management is often referred to the effort of ensuring that factors are in place to encourage the continuous development of a diverse workforce by melding actual and perceived differences among workers to achieve maximum productivity. Esty et. al. (1995), however, define diversity management as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status for better workplace performance. The definitions of diversity management used by researchers are vast and may vary in the details. However, generally, it is safe to assume that the term diversity management indicates the implementation of strategies or policies to knit a network of varied individuals together into a dynamic work force. Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity Management In recent years, diversity is increasingly perceived as an important issue in the context of business management. This is due to the increasing differences in the U.S. population, globalization process, increasing of international business and cross borders business dealing activities. Many researchers recognize such a trend and highlighted that diversity is an invaluable competitive asset that organizational decision makers cannot afford to ignore (Robinson, 2002). In the business community, companies have also tend to pay more focus on diversity and look for ways to reap the opportunities offered by diversity as they acknowledge that diversity has the potential of yielding greater productivity and competitive advantages (Cooke et. al., 2010). Apparently, managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which not only can improve workplace productivity, but also contribute significantly to the strategic objectives of human resource management. Advantages of Diversity Management Program Many researchers and businessmen have been arguing about the importance and roles and contributions of managing diversity nowadays. Generally, they often present the idea that diversity can be a sort of strategy which enables organization to gain competitive advantage in the market competitive landscape. For example, according to researcher, namely, Bledsoe et. al. (2010) claim that: managing cultural diversity is one of the key factors differentiating a particular company at factors such as (1) efficient work practices or procedures, (2) technological innovation or change, (3) product or services related innovation and lastly, (4) client or consumers related services. However, there are more contributions of managing diversity to the strategic objectives of a company. The following paragraph will outline these contributions or benefits of diversity in workplace to an organization in details. Improved and enhanced competencies in terms of customer services. As a matter of fact, diverse workforce will often means diverse expertise, talent, experience and capabilities in the employees. If a manager understands the intricacies and complexity of how to manage diversity effective, he will be able to put the right person into the correct position, by minimizing his weaknesses while enhancing the particular employees strength. From this perspective, a diverse workforce enables a manager to choose the correct candidate for a particular position in the organization. For example, someone with cheering personality and has the ability to build rapport fast with customers can be send to the customer services department. All these means that diversity management will make the company to enjoy higher competencies in providing higher satisfaction to a customer (McMahon, 2010). Able to compile and improve the strength of customer intelligence. As we employ diverse workforce, we can indirectly tap into the knowledge and experience of these workforce. In the era of information, we understand that marketing intelligence or customer intelligence has becoming more and more important. Diversity in workforce in this picture can help a company to compile and collect more relevant and effective data on the market place. Ability to operate effectively as well as efficiently in a global context. As a well known fact, the entire world is a colorful depiction of diversity. Thus, to go global, a diverse workforce is some sort a basis requirement. We simply need the local experts to assist us in managing business units at foreign countries or simply to expand market share in the other countries. Thus, it is not hard for us to understand that a diverse workforce will enable a company to operate more effectively and efficiently (Bledsoe et. al., 2010). Able to produce more satisfied workforce, and thus leading to more productive workforce. If a company can manage diversity in a proper way, then the individual employee will no longer need to clone or purposely changed himself to adaption of the corporate culture. This can often leads to a more satisfied workforce. A more satisfied workforce, will in turn, leads to more productive workforce (McMahon, 2010). Effective managing of diversity enables reduction in industrial disputes. Of course, proper management of diversity can also ensure less industrial dispute or court case arises from employees issues (Cooke et. al., 2010). Diverse workforce can lead to increased creativity and innovation. Diversity can produce synergy and creativity and innovative as well. A group of different people is better than a results produced by a single person. The combined efforts are always much outstanding. Not only that, it is also often mentioned by textbook that: Diverse workforce can produce more diverse perspectives, which in turn is highly beneficial in seeking or implementing solutions to problems (McMahon, 2010). Having better chance to attract higher quality employees from a larger pool of employees (Tatti et. al., 2009). As a company prepare or has already adopted the mindset of having diversity is beneficial, then the company automatically access to a diverse pool of human talents, which means that the company can choose the employees from a larger pool of workforce. As now the choices are enlarged, then we can have access to better talents around the world, or in other words, we can access to the world class talents around the globe (Pitts et. al., 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Avoidance of group-think or cloning. (McMahon, 2010)mentioned that workplace heterogeneity can assist in avoiding groupthink or cloning, which in turn this will lead to increased productivity and reduces costs. To explain further, cost reduction is possible when we can have a reduction in conflict, lower turnover and absenteeism and improved cohesion. Likewise, Tatti et. al. (2009) finds that there is ample evidence to suggest that diverse groups with the skills and support systems to integrate effectively are likely to be significantly more effective than non diverse or homogeneous groups in the same activities. Disadvantages of Diversity Management Program However, the relationship between managing diversity and a particular companys performance from various empirical researches is not always straightforward. A good example by Stephensen and Lewin (1996) indicate that poorly integrated heterogeneous groups can be as damaging to the organization as overly integrated homogeneous groups. Apparently, managing diversity is an art, while although the contribution to a company strategic management picture is bright, the execution is nothing easy. Besides, unfortunately, there are also evidences that diversity can bring disadvantages to companies as well. For example, it is found that teams with diverse employees usually take longer to perform effectively. Besides, diversity also brings numerous communication problems as well as faultiness in informal group dynamics. At some serious cases, diversity can also be a source of conflict, that can cause issues such as reluctant to share information among workforce, employee morale deterioration prob lems, and higher turnover due to degradation of job satisfaction (McShane Von Glinow, 2010). Not only that, it is also mentioned that there can be various drawbacks due to implementation of diversity management program in the short term. For example, if handled insensitively, a diversity management program may invade employee privacy. Also, implementation of the diversity management program may be expensive in the short term. Apart from that, during the implementation process, deep seated prejudices within employees may be brought into the open, causing short-term tension. Particularly for a poorly handled program, conflicts and ill-feeling may be the end results for managers to handle (Tatti et. al., 2009). Case Study of Diversity Management There are various cases or real-life stories showing that diversity management can contribute to improved productivity, sales, market share, or profitability. There are three examples shown in the following section. Case I: Petro-Canada. The first case is about Petro-Canada. Recognizing that diversity management is essential; a Petro-Canada site in Vancouvers Chinese community, started to post signs in both English and Mandarin. The company is interested increase the companys presence within the community. Apart from that, after a team of sales associates found out that they had to be able to speak their customers native language as well, recruitment changes were made accordingly. Soon, the company was able to reap the benefit of diversity with a diverse workforce. The results and outcomes are outstanding, kiosk sales increased by 15 percent, and gasoline sales rose from 2.7 million liters to 3.1 million liters at the Main and Terminal stations, in just a mere four year period, between 1991 and 1994 (Pitts et. al., 2010). Case II: The McGraw Hill Companies. The second example is about a well-known book publishing company. The McGraw-Hill Companies emphasizes diverse workforce management. The reason is to tap into different talents available and critical to enhance the company presence worldwide. One program of the company talent management strategy is called the Associate Development Program (ADP). Since the program began in 1993, it has attracted talented individuals from top MBA business schools who are diverse in race, ethnicity, experience and perspective. All these diversity management programs had enable the McGraw-Hill Companies to leverages talent in global markets, on a worldwide basis. One striking example of using diverse workforce to tackle a foreign market is as follow: recruitment of local talent has enabled The McGraw-Hill Companies to solidify its brand reputation and market share in Latin America due to their expertise, cultural know-how, teamwork, experience and knowledge of the need s of the local market (Tatti et. al., 2009). Case III: Reebok. The well-known sport company has also been benefiting from a diversity management program. In the year of 1980s, a group of women at Reebok complained the fact that they could not find a good aerobics shoe. Listening to that complaint, Reebok began marketing aerobics shoes. The outcome is outstanding within just a period of two years, the company went from a $12 million-a-year shoe company to a $3 billion powerhouse. Since the incident, the company started to be aware of the importance of diversity. According to the CEO, Paul Fireman said that in order to become diverse and compete globally, a company must find people with different stories to tell at every level of employment, and then provide chances and opportunity for them to talk and perform (Pitts et. al., 2010). Case IV: IBM. IBM has a century-long diversity heritage based on the companys belief and philosophy that diversity is the bridge between the workplace and the marketplace. Such a belief and the act of valuing diversity are central to the companys ability to win in the global marketplace. Today, diversity management permeates every corner of IBMs management and technical operations and management style. Statistically speaking a convincing fact showing that the company is embracing diversity management whole-heartedly is this: 57% of IBMs Board of Directors is women, multicultural, and/or non-U.S. born (i.e., they are the minority group). Apart from that, it is also found that 40% of IBMs top 54-member Worldwide Executive Council is women, multicultural, or non-U.S. born. On closer scrutiny, it is not surprising to found that these women and multicultural executives have significant revenue responsibility. Not only that, further investigation also discover that 30 members of IBMs World wide Executive Council are involved in guiding specific corporate-wide diversity initiatives. They are held accountable for recruitment, retention and advancement of all talent and, most important, linking IBMs diversity initiatives to the global marketplace, which is in turn the main reason that IBM has been able to stay on top of the business landscape for decades (Cooke et. al., 2010). Case V: Levi Strauss Co. At Levi Strauss Co., diversity is a core company value being embraced by the companys management and workforce. The diversity management concept permeates throughout the organization the evidence is in the corporate belief that diversity is right for business, communities, and for families. The company senior managers had also argued that diversity creates greater tolerance. To sum up the implementation and philosophy of diversity management program in the company, we can observe the following statement from the companys officers. Specifically, the company officers mentioned that the companys diversity belief system translates into a four-component diversity strategy that has been instrumental in building their business. The four-components are as follow: (1) Sourcing diverse talent, (2) Empathetic marketing: If you are who you serve, [then] you will be a better marketer. (3) Creativity and innovation, and lastly (4) Community involvement. Such a belief sy stem is critical and powerful factors which ensure Levi Strauss Co. sustainable growth and success in the global marketplace (Cooke et. al., 2010). Do and Dont in Diversity Management As we have discussed above, there are perceived advantages and disadvantages of embracing diversity in workplace. It seems that there are evidences and cases indicating that diversity are possible source of competitive advantage and superior performance for businesses, but the implementation and the management of diversity is not an easy one. Apparently, the mismanagement of diversity or inability of the leader or manager to outline and execute and effective diversity management program will cause troubles to the organization with diverse workforce. In fact, for inexperience mangers, diversity indeed looks more like a curse than a blessing. Anyway, this writing has the opinion that it the presence of diversity is well-managed, it can create synergy and improve organizational performances. It is believed that diversity is a powerful strategy as managers can leverage on the strengths of some people in the team while making the weaknesses of some others irrelevant. The strengths in a person can compensate for the weaknesses of others, while his weaknesses are covered by others strengths, and this is essential for a high performing team. Consistent with such a view, this section will outline some do and dont for practitioners to follow. It may serve as a general guideline for managers to refer to in applying the concept of diversity management to daily management tasks (Cooke et. al., 2010). The first thing the manager should perform in managing diversity is that to ensure effectiveness of the diversity management program, the managers should communicate constantly to employees, managers, customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders at all stages of the program (Bledsoe et. al., 2010). It is vital to keep people informed as their support is necessary for the successful implementation of a diversity management program. The execution should involve everyone; as such a program is not an issue for only the personnel department or a responsibility of senior managers. Besides, it is also critically important to apply a change management processes to implement the program. The leader driving the changes should be aware that a long term perspective is required in implementation of a diversity management program (i.e., changes involves attitudes and dont happen overnight, and leaders have to expect that the program will last for years rather than a few weeks or months). Last b ut not least, the leaders must also have the correct expectations that resources are required for the program. Leaders must be prepared to invest money, time and resources to achieve successful diversity management program. On the other hand, there are two general dont rules to be aware of by managers. Firstly, managers should not confuse equal opportunities with diversity management. The equal opportunity approach can be part of any diversity initiative, but a successful diversity management program should go far beyond traditional equal opportunity issues. Secondly, managers should not design the diversity goals and policies for them (i.e., referring to the minorities), but they should instead think of us (i.e., everyone involved in the organization) (Bledsoe et. al., 2010). Conclusion This writing takes a critical view on the business case of diversity management. The results from researchers have been mixed. There are both advantages and disadvantages to a diversity management program. Successful cases of diversity management to improve company and workforce performance are also widely available. Apparently, from a review of the many journals related to diversity management, it can be summarized that the program can bring forward many benefits to a firm, but the implementation of the program can be challenging and resources consuming. Perhaps what is relevant for us to consider is how to cope with the increasing trend of workforce diversity in the globalization era. Organizations should recognize the changing workforce and other social pressures that are constantly demanding businesses to cope with diversity. Achieving diversity is not merely to become politically correct; it is more about cultivation of a culture that values individuals and their wide arrays of needs characteristics, nature and contributions. The good news is that correctly promoting and executing a diversity management program can improve company performance and to enhance the corporate reputation among marketplace, even though the implementation of the program is challenging.

The Shift from Realism to Impressionism Essay -- Realism, Impressionis

Both Realism and Impressionism began in France with both art periods lending to the world unique techniques, aesthetic approaches and subjects in painting. While Impressionism stemmed from Realism, it can be argued Impressionism ultimately lead to continued individual expression in art through out the historical art periods to follow. The art period of Realism from 1845 to 1900, has roots which trail back to mid 1800s France and developed as a reaction to the often exaggerated emotionalism of the former art period of Romanticism. Realist artists instead strove to depict the seriousness of every day life. To show subjects or scenes just as they were without involvement of religion, mythology or history. McDowall (1918) pointed â€Å"At the bottom of realism, in all its variations, seems to be the sense of actual existence; an acute awareness of it, and a vision of things under that form. It is a thoroughly natural feeling, it is, in fact, the primitive attitude of man† (p. 3). In painting, film and literature artists aimed to present things as they appear. A major social condition that contributed to the emergence of Realism was the Industrial Revolution. With its mass machinery production of products, the Industrial Revolution not only created an explosion of railroads and cities but also an explosion of wealthy middle class and poor working class. The discovery of photography in 1839 by Daguerre and others also resulted in a growing trend to copy everyday life, which in turn sprouted the appeal of realism in art. Buser (2006) noted that during the Industrial Revolution the rules of life were the fundamental ideas of technology, science and practical business sense. Buser (2006) further theorized â€Å"Since progress in these... ...rowther (2005) reflects â€Å"One can draw a direct line from the Impressionist, through the Post-Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, to the Fauves, the Cubists, the Symbolists and ultimately to Abstract Expressionists†. Artists through the ages continued to experiment with new technique allowing modern art to evolve and take shape.  References Bingham, J. (2009). Impressionism. Chicago, Illinois: Heinemann Library. Buser, T. (2006). Experiencing art around us. USA: Thompson Wadsworth. Crowther, J. (2005). Impressionism: more than meets the eye. Retrieved from http://www.artist-perspectives.com/articles/impressionism.htm Janaro, R.P., & Altshuler, T.C. (2009). The art of being human: the humanities as a technique for living. Pearson Education, Inc. McDowall, A.S. (1918). Realism: a study in art and thought. London: Constable and Company LTD.

A Critique of the Movie, The Birdcage (La Cage aux Folles) Essays

A Critique of the Movie, The Birdcage (La Cage aux Folles)      Ã‚  Ã‚     A gay couple, living in a gay apartment, with a gay houseboy, above a gay nightclub, in a gay city . . . and they have to straighten it all out for one evening.   In 1996 La Cage aux Folles (a 1978 French play) was remade by MGM into The Birdcage, a daringly flamboyant comedy that is in-tune with the times and redefines the idea of family values.   It combines the talents of Robin Williams (Armand), Nathan Lane (Albert), and Hank Azaria (Agador) with writer Elaine May and director Mike Nichols.   The film is brought to life by the superb uniqueness of each character and what they bring to the screen and add to the plot.   This film sheds a new light on non-traditional but equally effective family values and role models through a series of hysterical follies. The Birdcage is a film about a gay couple who have to act straight when their son's fiance's conservative, Republican parents are planning a visit.   Amidst the hysterically dramatic disasters involved with this event two valuable lessons are taught.   They are lessons in avoiding self denial, and accepting various forms of family values.   What makes The Birdcage wonderful, aside from the lessons it teaches, is it's combination of great acting abilities, the unique role of each character, and the extravagant set and props used.   A great comedy team is only to be expected when you hear the names Williams and Lane together, and a great team is exactly what The Birdcage delivers.   Lane, a Tony Award nominee really changes gears for this film from his usual Broadway stage performances.   He plays Albert, the feminine half of the gay couple who own The Birdcage nightclub.   He appears nightly in the club's dr... ...ovie worth seeing if you want a good laugh along side a good dose of family values.   With such a stellar cast, crew, and director, only a movie of such absolute hysteria delivering such sound messages could be produced.   These qualities are what make The Birdcage a wonderful movie. Works Cited Alexander, Al.   "'Birdcage' Sounds Sour Note."   The Patriot Ledger 8 March 1996:   15+. Daly, Steve.   "The Farce Side."   Entertaiment Weekly 20 December 1996:   88-89. Anson, David.   "Gay Films are a Drag.Ó" Newsweek 18 March 1996:   71. Maslin, Janet.   "La Cage aux Folles, But in South Beach."   New York Times 8 March 1996:   C3. Carr, Jay.   "Birdcage Sings."   Boston Globe 8 March 1996:   47+. Hartigan, Patti.   "Birdcage Clips Right Wingers."   Boston Globe 22 March 1996:   47+. Nichols, Mike, dir.   The Birdcage.   Perf. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.   MGM,   1996.

Male Pattern Baldness :: essays research papers

Male Pattern Baldness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness is a typical pattern of hair loss in men, which is for the most part caused by a single dominant autosomal gene. Other factors include the male hormone androgen, age, and genetic predisposition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each month the scalp hair grows at an average rate of half an inch. Every hair has an approximate lifetime of four to seven years, which after this it falls out and is replaced by a new hair. For the most part, 15% of hair is growing, while the 85% of the hair rest. This wide spread disease effects about 2/3 of the worlds male population at some point or another. Generally, hair loss begins to start around the age of 30 at the temples. Never the less, the condition is more of a psychological problem than a medical.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The condition androgenic alopecia is the result of the androgen on the hair follicles that have genetic receptor sites, in other words male pattern baldness is resulted by the presence of endocrine hormones (like testosterone) on the hair follicle (which is where the hair is produced) that have genetic receptor sites.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Male pattern baldness usually is a symmetrical disease, so if there is a non-symmetrical area of baldness, it is not the cause of androgenic alopecia. The typical pattern begins of occur at the hairline, then over time forms an “M';. The crown also begins to become thinner, as does the existing hair. Eventually, the “m'; meets the thinned crown and forms the most common bald shape, the horseshoe. Currently, there are no treatments for male pattern baldness, so the condition is permanent.

Higher education in Canada Essay

Nowadays, most of the people in the world will have a chance to get educated. Many high school and colleges graduates would like to attend four-year University or higher education. They believed that education is a code to help them get success. But why people need to be educated, and what is the purpose of education? When we were young, we thought that we go to school is because of family expectation. After we grow up, we think that it is because of popular trend, people who get higher degree will get more success. But these are not the answer. Education is the key to explore our own life because its purpose is to train good members of society, to help people live better, and to explore our limit in order to upgrade our ability in our daily life. Education helps our society to train good members. According to John Henry Newman, the author of †The Idea of a University†, pointed out that †education neither confines its views to particular professions on the one hand, nor creates heroes or inspires genius on the other†. (53) University cannot promise to create a generation of heroes, presidents or genius, but it  can educate people knowledge, skills and experiences of social life, and let them learn to respect, to consult, to aid each other. Education also focuses on training students’ ability, †It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought, to detect what is sophistical, and to discard what is irrelevant. †. (53) Education will give people a clear conscious view of everything around them, and let them distinguish what is right and what is wrong of their own opinions and judgments. Therefore, weare able to accommodate ourselves to others, influence to others, and come to an understanding with others. University education is the great means to †raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste†. (54) Education helps people to live better. In the †Learning in the Key of Life†, Shorris, a novelist and journalist, said that †Do all rich people, or people who are in the middle, know the humanities? Not a chance. But some do. And it helps. It helps to live better and enjoy life more. Will the humanities make you rich? Absolutely. But not in terms of money. In terms of life†. (67) In other word, education can help us to become rich on both ways of money and life. Of course, between those we consider well educated and those who are poorly or inadequately schooled, people accept the higher education always have a better life. They can get more than the others who has lower income level, and make their life easier. People who received higher education have more power to dictate their life. For example, they can  plan our community, adjust our workweeks and even control the world financial markets. In the †Learning in the key of life†, Jon Spayde pointed †that kind of power has everything to do with attitude and access: an attitude of empowerment, even entitlement, and access to tools, people, and ideas that make living at any income level easier, and its crises easier to bear†. (67)Education is a light to illuminate our future, the more education we have, more bright future we will have. Education helps us to explore our limit in order to upgrade our ability in our daily life. According to David Orr, Oberlin College environment professor, he pointed out that university focus on teaching in high-tech training call †Slow Knowledge†, which is †resilience, harmony, and preservation of long-standing patterns that give our lives aesthetic, spiritual, and social meaning†. (68) For example, we cannot finish a 1,000-page novel in one second,because we need to watch the novel step by step and understand the story. We all are slow learners. Although we get academic education,we need to get experience from life in order to explore our limits. As Jon Spayde mention, †is it any wonder that many of us are beginning to feel that we didn’t get the whole story in school, that our educations didn’t prepare us for the world we’re living in today? †. (67) In addition to education, we also should learning from life and learning from experienceto enrich our life, and make our life easier. Education is a basis for our society. It also can train good members of society, to makeour life better, and enhance our ability in our daily life. Growth is a characteristic of life, so education is growing. It can help people be stronger and wiser. We should be awise old owland use our knowledge to make our life and society better. Word Cited Henry Newman, John. â€Å"The Idea of a University. † Lunsford, Andrea, and John Ruskiewicz, eds. THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS: VOICES AND IMAGES THAT CALL FOR RESPONSE. 5TH ED. BOSTON : Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2008. Print Spayde, John. â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life. †Lunsford, Andrea, and John Ruskiewicz, eds. THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS: VOICES AND IMAGES THAT CALL FOR RESPONSE. 5TH ED. BOSTON : Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2008.

Computer Invention: Pro and Con Essay

When we think about technology mostly the first thing that comes in our mind is the image of a computer. Technological advancements such as computer have been designed to help humans and make the lives easy. Computer was invented by MITS (Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems) in 1974 in USA. Since the beginning of human era we have always tried to obtain machines to make our lives easier. Before the computer was invented people did boring tasks. No one can deny the fact that computers play a very effective and important role in our lives. Many of us spend a lot of hours in front of computer working or using it just for fun. But still as any thing, computers have their advantage and disadvantage. To the advantage of using a computer I may consider that it is very convenient, you can use it for doing a lot of tasks. The disadvantage of computer are that people became lazier and that the machines replace people at their working places. Now I will be specific on each pro and con. Firstly, the pluses. Nowadays computers became an essential part of our lives. We use them almost everywhere: while preparing for our lessons or researching on any topic on the Internet or making a presentation about the work which you have done. The computer actually makes our lives easier. You don’t need a lot of paper while writing an essay for example. You may just delete an inappropriate thought and not throw away the whole sheet of paper. You don’t need to use paper to save any information on shelves . You can have as many files as you can in a computer and organize them the way you like it without having to use any space. In fact, computer is the Most important Invention because they can display and let you manipulate save information, and it is used in almost all fields . First of all computer have multi-tasking features that can minimize the work you have to do. The cheapest computer has at least the basic tasks such as mathematic that help you when you need to doing something in short time . For example, the only thing you must do is to type the information needed and it’s done. Secondly, computer can display and let you manipulate save  information. Finally, computer is used in almost all fields such as education, and any type of job. For example, you can use computers to play videogames, watch movies, listen to music and chat on the internet. So, computer is the most important Invention because you done the work in short time consumption on the activities, you can save the information and edit it anytime, and they let you do almost anything you need. Computer is tool of communication, an d tool of education that can save money and time . You can have all the information in one place and dispose of it at the moment you need.

Medium Is the Message- Self Assessment

Self Assessment #1 I truly enjoyed this essay. It made me think. The topic puzzled me to the point where I had to figure out what in the world medium meant. I read the box over and over again. I started to underline words that kept showing up over and over again. I tried to understand what MuLuhan is talking about gives me a headache. Once I thought I had it figured out I was shot down and this happened many times. I researched, I thought about it extensively in class and out side of class. I used reasonable logic to find my meaning of medium. This time by golly I think I got it. For the first paragraph I followed directions. I explained exigence. I explained why medium is important for discussion. I related it to how I came to my definition. I also, explained why it needs defining. I feel I did an extremely good job on this part because I under stood. I re-read my work over and over again. Played with what I wanted to say and did the best job I could do to put my message on the page. I feel I did a really good job on this paragraph and am satisfied. My second paragraph was denotation or the dictionary definition and connotation, other’s opinions. I followed direction. I used the Oxford English Dictionary as you requested. One thing that might hurt me here is that I got lazy and did not want to write out the whole thing every time I made a reference to it so I made an abbreviation. OoOoo†¦. Big deal. If you take points away for that, that’s dumb because I know you don’t want to read the Oxford English Dictionary over and over again. I made a reference to, two different definitions. One’s I felt were good. As I read what you gave us in class and developed my choice based on what I felt medium meant and these would be the best for my argument as they were polar opposites. I could have done more internet research or other definition research but I felt I didn’t need it because I felt I got a well developed censes for my connotation. My connotation, I felt it would be smart to do a mix of people, ranging by education, age, and gender. This is how I came to ask my brother, my mom and an old professor of mine. My third paragraph is my prize, my winning grade paragraph. I know I got my definition right this time. I feel it in my gut. I was in the â€Å"zone†, you even told me. I feel I really understand meaning. My sentence, to make it work is beautiful. So beautiful it only took me two sentences to explain myself. To be honest I never cut anything I wanted to say out and I never even went onto two pages because I felt I knew what I was talking about. I feel accomplished and I want to share my writing with other people. The pressure put on by you helped with that. You said it is hard to impress you so I worked hard to at least come close or try to. My essay is work at least a B. AT LEAST! I worked my butt off on this essay. So help me if I get lower than a B I am going to flip out. No I will go crazy. My work here is above average as I completely understood the assignment and gave through analysis. This is some one my best work. I studied the context and I read the book. Off the record, meaning you can not say this information to them. We know I was my group leader and those boys would be no where with out me. I carried them; no I rocked their socks off. Robert was still in this parallel universe land and who knows what they Asian gang bangers were thinking. So that means I had to think twice as much to come up with something reasonable than other people in other groups because I had no real input from my class mates. To be honest I feel this paper is an A-/B+. I spent too much time on this assignment to be just average. The only reason I said, at least, least being the lowest a B is because I did not want to sound cocky. Ali Smith 24 April 2009 English 105. 28 Jeff Cravello The Logical Definition of Medium Logic implies that an intellectual human being must use their brain to break down a complicated situation in order to simplify it into easier terms through proper analysis and extensive research. The more a person uses logic; the more intellectual and professional sounding a person becomes. People in the elite work force praise intellectual superiority because this means you are educated. The more logical and educated a person is, the higher their salary will be. This is some of the reasoning behind as to why people attend college. It is to practice their logistical skills to make the right decisions in life and develop a career based on logistical analysis. Based on this, the exigence related to the word medium is that medium a very complex word that needs simplifying. The only way to come to a reasonable definition of the word medium is through logistical thought. The Oxford English Dictionary definition and every context that contains the word as a tangible object, are too extensively different that the possibilities to find one universal meaning for the word leads to many different possibilities. The only way to find a reasonable definition for medium is to think logically. The Oxford English Dictionary (O. E. D. ) defines medium as, the plural form of media as being â€Å"A middle quality, degree, or condition†¦ something intermediate. † For the context of how Marshall McLuhan’s book, The Medium is the Message, uses the word medium; this definition does not work because it makes no sense. Even defining media does not helps, which by the O. E. D. is defined as, â€Å"newspapers, radio, television, etc. , collectively, as vehicles of mass communication. † Figuring, some words have multiple definitions. Another O. E. D. definition defines medium as being, â€Å"pervading or enveloping substance; the substance or element in which an organism lives, one’s environment. † This makes no sense because how can one word be defined as a tangible object, an environment, the middle between two things and the plural of media if there is nothing in these definitions that connect? Sometimes sources for information can be misleading. On an internet site, www. dictionary. com, medium is defined as fifteen different things. One of those definitions is, â€Å"something intermediate in nature or degree. † This site was no help because all its definitions were the same definition of medium being the middle. So if a dictionary is no help then maybe a person might know what this word means? A Cal Poly Pomona economics professor said that, â€Å"A medium is the average. † An eighth grade boy said it was, â€Å"The middle. † A mid-aged business woman said that, â€Å"medium is the stuff that is in between. † The definitions from each person connect but each person only gave a one sided answer. Given the context, medium is something tangible so the definition for this word is more complex than just being the middle between two things or just an environment alone. The definition for a medium is a propagated material object used to cause a connection to occur and create a surrounding environment that can perceive our signals, waves, and forces between one and another. One way to prove if a definition works, take the word defining and apply it in a sentence. Yesterday, my whole mode changed within seconds when I received word through a medium that I had won tickets to meet my favorite band. Going off this model, when I received the news I heard it through a martial object, my cell phone. A connection was made; therefore my environment, my mood; had changed as I perceived the information from another person to myself. The medium is the message. Works Cited – McLuhan. Marshall. The Medium is the Message. – The Oxford English Dictionary – Debi Smith (50 year-old mother) – J. R. Smith (13 year-old brother) – Professor Amrik Dua of the economics department – www. dictionary. reference. com- http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/medium