Colonialism Heart Of Darkness And Chinua Achebes English Literature Essay

Colonialism Heart Of Darkness And Chinua Achebes English Literature Essay Joseph Conrads novella, Heart of Darkness is considered to be a great work of art not only because it painfully portrays how brutally and unjustly the natives are treated in the African wilderness, but also because its treatment of colonialism is considered a cornerstone in the history of western fiction. Colonialism refers to the enterprise by which a nation extends its authority over other territories; it is characterized by an unequal relationship between the colonists and the natives of a country. Colonists usually think that they are doing the country good by bringing civilization and enlightenment; however the result is atrocity and death. This is clearly portrayed in Heart of Darkness. One of the characters who exercises colonialism is Kurtz whose main purpose is extracting ivory from the land in whatever way he can. He is treated as a supernatural authority by the Africans who always seem to obey and listen to him carefully. Marlow indicates the Africans obedience to Kurtz when he tells us, He was not afraid of the natives; they would not stir till Mr. Kurtz gave the word. His ascendancy was extraordinary. The camps of these people surrounded the place, and the chiefs came every day to see him. They would crawl. (p. 131) Kurtz believes that everything in the wilderness belongs to him, as Marlow hears him say, My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, myà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p. 116) Moreover, he thinks that there is nothing wrong with what hes doing; on the contrary, Kurtz believes that hes doing the right thing. His civilization mission and his philosophy regarding the natives are expressed in his report of which Marlow tells: But it was a beautiful piece of writing. The opening paragraph, however, in the light of later information, strikes me now as ominous. He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beingswe approach them with the might as of a deity, and so on, and so on. By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded, etc., etc. (p. 118) Although Marlow is not a native, he finds himself obliged to be treated like one. In other words, he finds himself reacting in the very same way as the natives themselves to Kurtzs authority. I did not betray Mr. Kurtz it was ordered I should never betray him it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. (p. 141) It is interesting that Marlow refers to Kurtz as the nightmare; it seems as if he is hypnotized by him and has no choice but to do as he is told. Moreover, the phrase, it was ordered adds to the ambiguity of what Marlow is trying to say. He could have said, I was ordered but he does not. It is worth mentioning here that Heart of Darkness is a novel that is partially biographical. Conrad was obliged to seek employment with a Belgian company in Africa due to difficult labor conditions in 1889. Although he stayed for a short while in Africa, it was an experience that shattered his health and changed his world-view, while the moral degradation he witnessed in the Congos economic exploitation disgusted him. A decade after this, he wrote Heart of Darkness, which is about his experience in Africa. What is really ironic is that in the book Joseph Conrad in Context, it is mentioned more than once that Conrad never got over his experience in Africa, as if other people in his place would not feel the same thing! So basically, Marlow seems to echo Conrads own opinions in his novel. Colonists are driven to exploit ivory at an insatiable rate without even bothering to think about the devastating effects on the natives. This is very clearly shown in the following quote: Marlow refers to the ivory merchants as a devoted band calling themselves the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. He says they were sworn to secrecy. They spoke the language of sordid buccaneers: it was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of foresight or of serious intention in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world. To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe. (p. 87) In brief, what these colonizers were doing was purposeless, which in turn means that the consequences which were brought about as a result of their actions were also useless. Furthermore, the colonists had a quasi divine authority to do as they pleased in the colonies; this is portrayed by the conversation between the uncle and the nephew, which was overheard by Marlow, Certainly, grunted the other; get him hanged! Why not? Anythinganything can be done in this country. Thats what I say; nobody here, you understand, here, can endanger your position. And why? You stand the climateyou outlast them all.' (p. 91) Here, they are talking about hanging Kurtzs assistant and probably Kurtz himself, so that they can get Kurtzs possessions, including his ivory. Colonialism is also explored in other parts of the novella, where the reader can see just how mercilessly and brutally the natives are treated by the colonizers. When Marlow is on a steamer with a Swedish captain, he describes how the natives, whom he sees on his way to the station, are being exploited and treated as mere beasts. All the natives are represented as being naked and horribly thin; they are never referred to as humans. They are forced to work under hard conditions, are given no clothes, and are left to starve: A continuous noise of the rapids above hovered over this scene of inhabited devastation. A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved about like ants. A jetty projected into the river. A blinding sunlight drowned all this at times in a sudden recrudescence of glare. (p. 63) When Marlow finally arrives at the station, he sees yet another traumatizing scene, A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinkingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea. All their meagre breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. Behind this raw matter one of the reclaimed, the product of the new forces at work, strolled despondently, carrying a rifle by its middle. He had a uniform jacket with one button off. (p. 64) When reading this passage, one cannot help but wonder, how could these poor natives possibly be criminals? They do every single thing they are told to do, without the least bit of complaining and yet, they are called criminals. The words tails, collar, breasts panted, and dilated nostrils immediately bring to the mind the image of dogs. And of course, we should not forget the colonizer, who is right behind them with a rifle, making sure that these men walk in a file, without glancing at Marlow, and only staring stonily uphill. So not only are they compared to animals, but they are also expected to work like machines! This is the main reason why Achebe does not accept Heart of Darkness, it is because he does not like the way African people are portrayed in it. Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian poet and novelist, was attracted to Conrads Heart of Darkness as a child. However, in the 1970s, he changed his mind about it and until today, he continues to dismiss the novel. In his essay on Conrads novel, Achebe attempts to explain why. He says that what Conrad is terribly worried about is the idea of kinship between him and the blacks, which is why he dehumanizes them. Contrasting with this is Edward Saids opinion that Conrad is exaggerating the imperialistic and the dehumanizing discrepancies so that we, as readers, are outraged at its injustice and therefore work out solutions for ourselves. In other words, Heart of Darkness is, according to Said, a self-referential novel. But still, Achebe has a strong point in saying that Conrad has dehumanized the Africans because Conrad seems to be obsessed with the words black and darkness since he associates them with the Africans and uses these words numerous times throughout his novel. Convincingly Achebe believes that the most revealing passages in the novel are about people. He says that the following quote contains the meaning of Heart of Darkness, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but what thrilled you was just the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If only the thought was thrilling, then what would knowing do to us?! It is this remote kinship that seems to terrorize Conrad and is implied throughout the novel several times. However, his passages about the natives or savages, as Conrad refers to them, seem a mere description of what they are and what they are going to do. His personal sentiments are never revealed. But the vocabulary he chooses and the way he describes the Africans force the reader to sympathize with them. However, there are parts in the novel where we can infer that Conrad, although not showing sympathy towards the savages, cannot bear looking at them. For example, when he sees the six men tied to each other with chains around their necks, he says, My idea was to let that chain-gang get out of sight before I climbed the hill. And in another incident, he says, The hurt nigger moaned feebly somewhere nearby, and then fetched a deep sigh that made me mend my pace away from there. Clearly, he was not strong enough to neither hear nor see these savages being treated mercilessly. When Marlow arrives at the Central Station, he witnesses more of these atrocities towards the niggers. The manager of the station is apparently an uncivilized person who is there only because he hasnt been ill, as Marlow tells us, He had no genius for organizing, for initiative, or for order even. That was evident in such things as the deplorable state of the station. He had no learning, and no intelligence. His position had come to himwhy? Perhaps because he was never ill . . . He had served three terms of three years out thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He was neither civil nor uncivil. He was quiet. He allowed his boyan overfed young negro from the coastto treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence. (p. 74) One of Conrads greatest fears that is implied in the novel is the possibility of the whites having distant kinship with the blacks, and this is mentioned by Achebe. This explains why Marlow wasnt able to forget his African helmsmans look on his face just before he died, And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this day in my memory like a claim of distant kinship affirmed in a supreme moment. Conrads careful word choice of distant kinship rather than brother, for example, is cautiously observed by Achebe. He understands that Conrad is trying, as much as possible, to create layers between himself and the natives. Also, the words remains to this day in my memory, are understood by Achebe as a negative connotation, as if this memory continues to torture him to this very day. Achebe concludes from this that Conrad is a racist. Moreover, Achebe states that Conrad has dehumanized Africans. But I do not agree with him on this point. My evidence to this can be seen in this quote, when Marlow who can be considered Conrads mouthpiece at this instance says, The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. We can infer from this quote that Conrad was actually against the idea of Africans being treated the way they were. Also, according to Edward Said, Conrad, being a creature of his time, could not grant the natives their freedom, despite his severe critique of the imperialism that enslaved them. In other words, Conrad was against this imperialism and he criticized it as well, but the era that he lived in made it impossible for him to do anything about it. In my opinion, it might be that Conrad never meant to dehumanize the Africans; it might be that the experie nce he was going through during his stay in Africa was so overwhelming to him that he could not or was not able to reveal his sympathy. Maybe he did not want to reveal anything at all in order to emphasize it being a part of its darkness. After all, it is Conrad himself who chose to write his novel in an ambiguous and subtle way which leaves the reader with puzzled thoughts about what exactly Conrad is trying to say. Almost everything in Heart of Darkness seems; everything is not is. In conclusion, as we can see, examples of colonial acts are displayed throughout Heart of Darkness. Colonists take over the wilderness and practice exploitation only to acquire ivory. But at the same, the colonists actions are purposeless, such as when they order the natives to aimlessly blast the railway when there is actually nothing to blast. This brings about the failure of their exploitation and civilizing mission. Works cited: Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1967 Achebe, Chinua. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads Heart of Darkness' Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co., 1988, pp.251-261 http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa.html Said, Edward. Two Visions in Heart of Darkness Culture and Imperialism, (1993) pp. 22-31 http://www.ecfs.org/Projects/EastWest/Readings/SaidConrad.pdf Feminism in To the Lighthouse Mrs. Ramsay vs. Lily Briscoe During Virginia Woolfs time, women were deprived of numerous rights which men had access to, including education. Women were only expected to get married, give birth to children, raise them, and take care of the household. However, towards the end of the 19th century, a series of feminist movements began, whose concern was to give equality to women in terms of education, employment, and marriage laws. These movements are known as the three waves of feminism. The First Wave occurred in the late 19th century and ended in the early 20th century, during Woolfs time; its primary gains were to acquire the right to vote and the right to practice birth control. Virginia Woolf, among other female writers, had to fight for her rights as a woman. In the novel, To the Lighthouse, Woolf presents two female characters, Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe, as complete opposites. Mrs. Ramsay is depicted as a subservient Victorian woman, whose main mission is not only to take care of her family, but also of others around her. This was very typical of Victorian women, who basically spent their time at home, making sure that everything was tidy and fine. However, Lily Briscoe on the other hand, is the total opposite of Mrs. Ramsay. The fact that she achieves her vision and completes her picture at the end of the novel is because she has asserted her rights as an independent individual and has rejected Victorian morality. Throughout the novel, it is clearly understood that Mrs. Ramsay is an uneducated woman. Her lack of education is presented in several quotes: What did it all mean? To this day she had no notion. A square root? What was that? Her sons knew. (p. 123) Woolfs deliberate use of sons instead of sons and daughters or children is to show that Mrs. Ramsays daughters, just like Mrs. Ramsay herself, are uneducated. Her husband spoke. He was repeating something, and she knew it was poetry from the rhythm and the ring of exaltation and melancholy in his voice. (p. 129) This again shows her lack of education, for she recognizes that her husband is speaking poetry because of the rhythm and tone, not because she knows the poet Charles Elton. Even while reading a book, she has no notion of what she is reading, for she feels that she is climbing backwards, upwards, shoving her way up under petals that curved over her, so that she only knew that this is white, or this is red. She did not know at first what the words meant at all. (p. 139) Also, when Charles Tansley talks to her about his dissertation, she is not able to quite catch the meaning, only the words, here and thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ dissertationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ fellowshipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ readershipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ lectureship. She could not follow the ugly academic jargon. (p. 13) Although this may seem exaggerated, it was very true of the condition of women during that time. Women being uneducated was a privilege to men for this gave them superiority and complete control over women. While looking at his wife reading, Mr. Ramsay wondered what she was reading and exaggerated her ignorance, her simplicity, for he liked to think that she was not clever, not book-learned at all. He wondered if she understood what she was reading. Probably not, he thought. She was astonishingly beautiful. (p. 141) Not only does he seem to enjoy that his wife is uneducated, but he also mocks at her for not being able to understand what she is readi ng. The only thing that he praises about her is her beauty. In his critical essay, John Hardy presents the metaphor of Mrs. Ramsay as a queen. He claims that she is constantly queen like during dinner; while sitting at the head of the table, she carefully observes, one by one, each and every person sitting round the table. Hardy furthermore says that Mrs. Ramsay is enabled to triumph over her husband, because during dinner and even afterwards when dinner is over, she is able to read his mind. These two qualities, again, elevate the female, i.e. Mrs. Ramsay, over the male, i.e. Mr. Ramsay. However, although being uneducated, Mrs. Ramsay seems to have supernatural powers, such as having premonitions and casting spells. They must come now, Mrs. Ramsay thought, looking at the door, and at that instant, Minta Doyle, Paul Rayley, and a maid carrying a great dish in her hands came in together. (p. 114) Always she got her own way in the end, Lily thoughtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She put a spell on them all, by wishing, so simply, so directly. (p. 118) These are powers that none of the male characters in the novel have; in fact they do not even seem to understand such things. Woolf, by giving Mrs. Ramsay such powers, has elevated the female figure to a higher status. Will you not tell me just for once that you love me? But she could not do it; she could not say ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ For she had triumphed again. (p. 144) Mrs. Ramsay, by not saying the thing that her husband very desperately wants her to say, has triumphed over him. According to John Hardy, in this scene, what may seem to us as Mrs. Ramsays surrendering to her husband is in fact the inverse. By admitting that he was right and that they would not be able to go to the lighthouse, she has surrendered to her husband. But because, while doing so, she has lost her self, i.e. her personality as a Victorian woman, the surrender becomes a triumph. In other words, her being able to say that she was wrong places her, Hardy says, on another and higher plane which is undoubtedly right. Hardy, furthermore, views Lilys final painting of Mrs. Ramsay as an admiration of her, in triumph over her husband. Even more important than her powers and intuitions is the fact that she not only takes care of her family, but also of others around her, as we learn that she knits a stocking for the lighthouse keepers ill boy. (p. 5) It is Mrs. Ramsay who prepares dinner for her entire family as well as the guests and tries her best, during dinner, to make sure everything goes fine. This again is another characteristic of a typical Victorian woman. After all, it was not knowledge but unity that she desired. (p. 59) Interestingly, Hardy argues it is Mrs. Ramsay who holds everything together and hence is the central figure of the novel. After all, it is only after Mrs. Ramsays death that the characters feel an unbearable silence with undertones of panic. Since Mrs. Ramsay is gone, her power has also gone. Moreover, we are left with the thought that if it wasnt for her, there never would have been a trip to the lighthouse. And Lily too, is able to complete her painting only after Mrs. Ramsays death. Berenice A. Carroll, however, in her essay, To Crush him in our own Country, has opposed this view. According to her, it is Lily who is the heroine of the novel. But the fact that she is persistently associated with being little and insignificant and also that she paints as she sees, not as the dominant artist of the time makes her anti-heroine. By creating the character of Lily Briscoe, Woolf presents the absolute opposite of Mrs. Ramsay. Although faced by many obstacles, namely Charles Tansley, who tells her women cant paint, women cant write (p. 56) and whose voice seems to haunt her for the rest of her life, Lily Briscoe overcomes them and succeeds in asserting her rights and achieving her vision. It is this exact thing that has shocked many readers in the Modernist Era a woman breaking away from Victorian beliefs and customs. Every time Lily hears Charles words women cant paint, women cant write (pp. 100, 106, 183, 184, 228) in her head, she is greatly disturbed and struggles, yet does not give up. Aside from saying that women can neither paint nor write, Charles also believes that It was the womens fault. Women mad civilization impossible with all their charm, all their silliness. (p. 99) Women, according to him, are charming and silly, nothing more. Yet, what is ironic is that while everybody is having dinner together, it is Lily who comes to Charles rescue after he goes through great pains in order to state his opinions. Lily Briscoe knew all that. Sitting opposite him could she not see, as in an X-ray photograph, the ribs and thigh bones of the young mans desire to impress himself lying dark in the mist of his flesh that thin mist which convention had laid over his burning desire to break into the conversation? But she thought, screwing up her Chinese eyes, and remembering how he sneered at women, cant paint, cant write, why should I help him to relieve himself? (pp. 105-106) Lily can very clearly see that Charles is suffering for not being able to join the conversation, yet she does not help and enjoys watching, rather she sits there smiling. Of course for the hundred and fiftieth time Lily Briscoe had to renounce the experiment what happens if one is not nice to that young man there and be nice. (p. 107) It is only after Mrs. Ramsays request that Lily finally helps Charles and he is relieved. Again, it is women who seem more powerful than men and come to the rescue. Mrs. Ramsay also functions as a match maker in the novel. In fact, this is the only thing she seems to be thinking of most of the time. She was driven on, too quickly she knew, almost as if it were an escape for her too, to say that people must marry; people must have children. (p. 70) Mrs. Ramsays belief that people must get married actually seems to come out of her spontaneously. The word driven shows that she cannot help but think this way. Of Paul and Minta, Mrs. Ramsay keeps insisting that they must marry. (p. 57) In fact, Paul is driven to propose to Minta because of Mrs. Ramsays ceaseless insistence. (p. 136) This shows that Mrs. Ramsay is only concerned with making the match, but completely indifferent of its outcomes, as what happens to Paul and Minta. This is exactly why Hardy argues that Mrs. Ramsay is a colossal egotist the fact that she matches up couples and arranges walks for them by the beach but at the same time is irresponsible of their outcomes does in truth show her as egotistical. Ah, but was not that Lily Briscoe strolling along with William Bankes? Yes, indeed it was. Did that not mean that they would marry? Yes, it must! What an admirable idea! They must marry! (p. 83) Another clear instance where we see Mrs. Ramsay being obsessed with matching up people for them to get married. However, Lily is the only woman in the novel to assert her independence as an individual. By doing this, she becomes Mrs. Ramsays foil. Lily, in fact looks at marriage, as degradation and dilution. She need not marry, thank Heaven: she need not undergo that degradation. She was saved from that dilution. (p. 119) In his essay, Hardy points out that Lily goes as far as to describe Mrs. Ramsays matchmaking mission as mania of hers for marriage. After ten years, when Lily does in fact not get married, she feels she has triumphed over Mrs. Ramsay. (p. 202) I must move the tree to the middle; that matters nothing else. (p. 100) For Lily, her art is more important to her than anything els e, including marriage. Even while having dinner, while everybody is engaged in conversation, all Lily can think about is how to improve her painting. During Woolfs time, it was very difficult for women to get educated and even if they were educated secretly, it was difficult for them to publish their writing. Therefore, they had to hide their work and Woolf shows this in her novel through the character of Lily. She kept a feeler of her surroundings lest someone should creep up, and suddenly she should find her picture looked at. (p. 20) and so to clasp some miserable remnant of her vision to her breast, which a thousand forces did their best to pluck from her. (p. 22) These two parts are where Virginia Woolf has very skillfully portrayed the difficulty women had to go through in order to do what men could without facing any hardships. Mrs. Ramsays daughters, in a sense, resemble Lily, though not completely, in that they too dream of a life, where they do not always have to take care of some man or other. (p. 7) However, this is not what Mrs. Ramsay believes. During dinner, she looks at Prue, her eldest daughter who is watching Minta, and says to herself, You will be as happy as she is one of these days. You will be much happier, she added, because you are my daughter, (p. 128) referring that she will get married. Mrs. Ramsay believes that women, only through marriage, will find true happiness. According to her, an unmarried woman has missed the best of life. (p. 58) Ironically, those who do get married in the novel end up in a tragic life. After Paul and Mintas marriage, not even a year passes and Paul leaves Minta for another woman. As for Prue Ramsay, she dies in childbirth. Even Mrs. Ramsay dies. It is as if these women are taught a lesson for following Victorian conventions. Lily, on the other hand, does not get married and is rewarded by being able to complete her painting that she had started ten years ago. Hardy points out that Woolf has deliberately chosen to end her novel with Lily and her painting, nothing else. We never get to know about the work of Augustus Carmichael, the only other artist in the novel. This again, is done intentionally by Woolf, her purpose was to reinforce Lilys, and in turn the females work over that of the male.

Report on Cross Cultural Management of Cuba Essay

4 Analysis of Silk Trade in Cuba To a great extent, the silk trade can be influenced by the culture. Before entering into the Cuban market, the company needs to understand the culture and take into account the local market situation. Cross cultural management models can be used to analyze the cultural characteristics in Cuba, for example Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, Fons Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions, and Ednlard T. Hall Cultural Dimensions. In the following, cross cultural models will be used to conduct an assessment of Cuban cultural background and analyze the impact of Cuban culture on the silk trade. Fig 1 Location of Cuba 4.1 Cuban culture under Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Professor Geert Hofstede is an expert in the field of cross cultural management. His study on the cultural dimensions can be used to help define the culture of a country in the world. According to Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, each kind of the culture places different emphasis on five different cultural dimensions, Power Distance (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), and Long term orientation (LTO) (Hofstede, 1996). 4.1.1 Power Distance According to the view of Professor Hofstede, power distance deals with the income inequity in a country (Soares et al., 2007). Cuba scores high in the scale of power distance, which means that the members of this country believes that inequities are usual and accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. The reason can be found in the long history. 4.1.2 Individualism versus Collectivism The dimension individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains in its members. In simple words, it deals with whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of I or We. It is known that Cuba is a communist country and it is a collectivist culture. Under such political environment, people work together and share everything. The Cubans believe that all the people are important and cooperation is important in the society. In simple words, collectivism is widely accepted in Cuba. 4.1.3 Masculinity versus Femininity The dimension masculinity deals with what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine). Under the Cuban culture, people are always more feminine. The dominant values in the society are caring for others and quality of life, rather than the competition, achievement, and success. In addition to this, the Cuban women have played an important role in the society, and women hold nearly 37% of the seats in parliament. The Cuban culture is more feminine. 4.1.4 Uncertainty Avoidance The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance can explain how people deal with the unknown future, some may try to control the future, and some may let it happen (Merkin, 2006). People in the Cuban society belong to the category of high uncertainty avoidance. To a large extent, it is decided by the political environment, the communist society for years can be the reason why Cuban people eliminate unwanted changes in the future. 4.1.5 Long term orientation The long term orientation dimension decides the extent to which the society shows a pragmatic future-oriented view rather than a conventional historical short-term view. In Cuba, people fall more in the conventional short-term view. The society is largely controlled by the government, and people live life day to day with the conventional short-term view, also they have not planned too much for the future. 4.2 Cuban culture under Fons Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions According to the view of Professor Fons, what distinguished people from one culture is where their preferences fall on each of the seven different dimension, including universalism versus particularism, individualism versus communitarianism, specific versus diffuse, neutral versus emotional, achievement versus ascription, sequential time versus synchronous time, and internal direction versus outer direction (Charles and Trompenaars, 1997). The dimension universalism vs. particularism deals with what is more important, rule or relationship. In Cuba, people believe that relationships can be more important, which is largely decided by the political factor. Under the communist society, the whole society is controlled by the leaders of the country, and the society is decided by rule of people, rather than rule of law (Rasha, 2006). Individualism vs. collectivism deals with the degree of interdependence a society maintains in its members. Cuba falls more in a collectivist culture. In addition, the neutral vs. emotional dimension describes the importance of feelings and relationships. Obviously, Cuba, a neutral culture, and people do not easily display their feelings and emotions. The government controls everything, and people dare not display their real feelings (Kang and Mastin (2008). Specific vs. diffuse dimension answers how the people separate the private and working lives. Cuban culture belongs to the specific-oriented culture, in simple words the Cuban people separate the private and the working lives very clearly. The achievement vs. ascription dimension refers to the question of the status. In Cuban society, people belong to the ascription-oriented culture and the respect for a manager is based on hierarchy. Sequential vs. synchronic dimension defines two different ways of managing time, and the Cuban people belong to the synchronization-oriented dimension. In the end, the Cuban people fall more in the external control dimension. 4.3 Cuban culture under Ednlard T. Hall Cultural Dimensions Ednlard T. Hall is a famous researcher on cross cultural management. Hall’s cultural factors can be used to understand people from different cultural backgrounds, include high-context culture and low-context culture, monochromic action and polychromic action, high territoriality and low territoriality. First of all, Cuba belongs to a kind of high-context culture, similar with Trompenaars’ particularism. There are a lot of local unwritten rules of the culture, and much is taken for granted in the Cuban culture. Secondly, similar with Trompenaars’ time as sequence (monochromic) and time as synchronization (polychromic), most of the Cuban people can be polychromic-based action (Hall, 1966). In simple words, people often do many things at once and put relationship first, in addition to this, things are borrowed and shared often and easily. (Hall, 1983). Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, which largely results from the political attitude of the communist society. 5 Impact of culture on leadership and organization behavior in Cuba With the development of the economic globalization, the importance of cross cultural management receives more attention. Culture can be defined as the characteristics of a particular group of people, including history, education, language, social, structure, religion, political, and economic. 5.1 Impact of culture on leadership in Cuba Leadership can be defined as a process of social influence in the accomplishment of a common task, and good leaders are not made born. As described above, cross cultural management models can be used to understand how to do the business in Cuba. Fig 2 Flag of Cuba 5.1.1 Impact of Cuban history on leadership The history of Cuba began with the arrival of Columbus in 1492, and in a long time it was controlled by the foreign countries, such as United States and Brazil. In the 20th century, Cuba made the alliance with the Soviets. Castro controlled Cuba for decades until the year 2006. In Cuba, the leaders have the concentrated power and members of an institution and organization accept the leadership very easily. Fig 3 Castro 5.1.2 Impact of Cuban education on leadership Speaking in essence, the Cuban education was strictly controlled by the government, and the school attendance is not very high. In addition to this, education has a strong political and ideological emphasis. In simple words, the Cuban education is not well-developed, and the leaders can easily influence the followers, also people get used to obey the instructions from the leaders. 5.1.3 Impact of Cuban language on leadership Spanish is the official language in Cuba, and most of the Cubans can speak it, because in a long time Cuba was controlled by Spain. In addition to this, Haitian Creole can be the second largest language. Language can play an important role in the leadership process, and it can be inferred that the leaders in Cuba are required to speak Spanish. 5.1.4 Impact of Cuban social structure on leadership Social structure can be identified as the relationship between entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship. The Cuban society believes that inequities are usual and a fact of the life. The equality can be accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. Fig 4 Cathedral of Saint Christopher in Havana 5.1.5 Impact of Cuban religion on leadership Cuba has been a Communist country since 1959. Catholicism is much modified and influenced, and the most popular religion in Cuba is Santeria. The religion can maximize the cohesion between the members, and the leadership can take advantage of the religion, or else it will be the barriers. 5.1.6 Impact of Cuban politics on leadership Culture of a country can significantly influence the trade business, including the silk trade. People’s Republic of China has built a good relationship with Republic of Cuba for many years, which can be good for the silk trade in Cuba (Benjamin and Collins, 1985). To be more specific, the political attitude can be helpful in leadership. 5.1.7 Impact of Cuban economic on leadership Influenced by the political ideology, Cuba refused the free trade with the foreigners in the world market. Cuba carries out the planned economy for a long time and limits the private economy (Padilla and McElroy, 2007). The production are largely owned and operated by the government. Leaders from foreign countries may not easy in Cuba. 5.2 Impact of culture on organization behavior in Cuba Likewise, the impact of culture on the organization behavior must be also taken into account by the management. Organization behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups and structures upon behavior within an organization. Organization behavior can be understood better, and the barriers can be eliminated. 5.2.1 Impact of Cuban history on organization behavior In a long history of the communist society, the Cubans get used to obey the rules from the leaders. In simple words, the individuals, groups and structures in Cuba share the same rules. In the process of cross cultural management, members of an institution or organization obey the group norms. 5.2.2 Impact of Cuban education on organization behavior Castro developed a fully state-operated education system, at the same time the private institutions are banned by the government. There is no advanced education system to build the organization behavior. In other words, the organization behavior of the local employees can be rebuilt in the process of cross cultural management. 5.2.3 Impact of Cuban language on organization behavior The official language in Cuba is Spanish, and the organization behaviors are based on the language. More importantly, language is the communication tool, and it can also decide the success of cross cultural management. Only on the basis of understanding the language, the organization behavior can be understood. 5.2.4 Impact of Cuban social structure on organization behavior Likewise, social structure decides many social systems, such as legal system, cultural system, economic system, and political system. Individuals and groups obey the social systems, and organization behavior can be influenced by the social systems. 5.2.5 Impact of Cuban religion on organization behavior To be more specific, the Santeria in Cuba developed from Catholicism by combining the religion of African slaves and some local Americans. Institutions or organizations from foreign countries can take advantage of the religion to bring people together. 5.2.6 Impact of Cuban politics on organization behavior The former leader Castro controlled everything for years and the Cuban people have been under control. Under such political environment, behaviors of individuals and groups are influenced by the external political factors. 5.2.7 Impact of Cuban economic on organization behavior Foreign leaders may find it difficult in leading the local Cuban employees, and some measures should be taken, for example hiring the local managers. The Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, which largely results from the political attitude of the communist society in the world (SÃ ©ror and Arteaga, 2000). 6 Conclusion and Recommendations Due to the different political ideology, Cuba closed the door and operated differently. In conclusion, the characteristics of Cuban culture are different, and cross cultural management in Cuba needs to consider the characteristics. Recommendations will be made in the following to operate the silk trade in an effective and efficient way. 6.1 Leadership styles of cross cultural management in Cuba There are many kinds of leadership styles, which include authoritarian, paternalistic, democratic, laissez-faire, and transactional. Taking the Cuban cultural characteristics into account, the kind of paternalistic leadership style can be put into practices in the Cuban business world. The leaders encourage the employees to compete the tasks, at the same time they take care of the employees as a parent will do, because the local employees are influenced by the external political factor. In order to do the silk trade, the leaders have to deal with the potential barriers in Cuba. 6.2 Communication styles of cross cultural management in Cuba In Cuba, the official language is Spanish. As for the management, the communication styles can be assertive, aggressive, passive, and passive-aggressive. The best style for the management in Cuba can be the assertive communication. To be more specific, the leaders can communicate with the local employees in an assertive way. The language barrier can be solved by hiring the translators, and the institutions and organizations can hire the local employees as the middle management level, for they can carry out the business strategies better and communicate with the local employees easily. 6.3 Negotiation skills of cross cultural management in Cuba Under the different cultural background, some negotiation skills are necessary in the process of cross cultural management. By understanding the Cuban culture, leaders in Cuba can learn how to work with the Cubans and avoid the cultural barriers. It can be recommended that the first one negotiation skill is to learn to flinch. In order to make the silk trade with the Cubans, the businessmen need to respect the local rules and the employees, thus make them feel comfortable in the trade process. The second one is to recognize that customers often ask for more than they expect to get. In the process of silk trade, the Cubans are provided good products and services. After the customers recognize the products and services, the company can build better brand awareness to increase the sales and make profits in Cuba. 6.4 Management styles and requirements of cross cultural management in Cuba The management process is not easy, but it can significantly influence the silk trade in Cuba. During the process of cross cultural management, the management can consider the Cuban cultural factors, as explained in the above cultural dimensions. Especially, when making important decisions, the cultural factors need to be taken into account, as well as the problem-solving process and team management. 6.4.1 Decision-making of cross cultural management in Cuba The process of decision-making is not easy in a different cultural background. In the Cuban culture, the first one is to take the political factor into account. The government interface with free trade can be the biggest barrier in Cuba. The decision-makers need to understand the Cubans, for example, things can be borrowed and shared often and easily. Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, so the institutions and organizations can cooperate with the local groups. In the end, results of the potential decisions need to be reasonably predicted under such circumstances. 6.4.2 Problem-solving of cross cultural management in Cuba When facing with the conflicts, the management needs to solve the problems. Unlike the conventional situation, the local cultural may be more complex, for the conflicts in Cuba may involve many parties. At this time, the foreigners need to understand how the local residents deal with the problem. For example, the members of this country believes that inequities are usual and accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. In simple words, the foreigners can seek for the support of the leaders if they are encountering the barriers in Cuba. More importantly, people in Cuba belong to the category of high uncertainty avoidance, and money can be the effective and efficient to solve the current problems. 6.4.3 Team management of cross cultural management in Cuba As a communist society, the Cuban people are regarded as the group. It is known that Cuba is a collectivist culture. Under such political environment, people work together and share the property. They believe that all the Cubans are important and cooperation is important in the society. In the process of team management, the leaders can learn to motivate the employees and increase the cohesion power among the team members. In addition to this, the dominant values in the society are caring for others and quality of life, rather than the competition, achievement, and success. If team members share the same values, they can come together to complete the common goals. The last but not the least, the leaders have a lot of concentrated power. During the process of cross cultural management, leaders need to develop an understanding of the Cuban culture.

Decade-by-Decade Timeline of the 20th Century

The Battle Of The World War II - 1315 Words

Sam Carter L9 To What Extent was the Battle of Stalingrad a More Important Turning Point in World War II than the Battle of Britain? The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from the September 1942 through to early February 1943, and took place after the Germans had reached the fringes of Leningrad and Moscow in operation Barbarossa. Hitler’s, and the German commander of the sixth army, General von Paulus’ main aim was to take and secure the oil fields of Caucasus in Russia. The oil from here would prove valuable, as it would not only replenish the German oil stores that were running low, but also cut off a key Soviet fuel supply. However, Hitler then made a major error, and commanded that the forces should be split, ordering the sixth army,†¦show more content†¦The Soviet army was increasing in numbers, and eventually, it is estimated that there were a million Russian soldiers fighting for Stalingrad. On the 19th November, General Zhukov launched a huge attack on both of the German flanks. This led to the Germans becoming trapped and surrounded by Soviets, leaving no way out. Hitler refused to a llow von Paulus to surrender, promoting him to Field Marshall, and stressing that no German Field Marshall had ever surrendered in the past. However, it had no effect, German supplies had run out and soldiers were gradually beginning to either starve or freeze to death. Field Marshall von Paulus surrendered on the 2nd February 1943. The Battle of Stalingrad was an enormously important turning point in World War II as it was a huge German disaster. The whole of the German’s sixth and supposedly best, army was lost and 91,000 were taken prisoner by the Soviets. The Germans didn’t have the manpower to combat the Russian advance, and so, retreated with not only a huge loss of soldiers, but a huge loss of equipment too. Around 75% of the German’s resources had been sent into Russia, and hardly any had returned. This was a huge blow to Germany, who had been used to winning Battles throughout the entirety of WWII, and was now constantly defending. On the other hand, it had provided a massive boost in morale for Soviet Russia, driving them on to be a stronger and better army.

Doe Season - 855 Words

Doe Season In the short story Doe season, David Kaplan creates a character named Andrea, who would rather be called Andy. Doe Season is not simply a story about a young girl’s hunting trip with her father and friends. During the few days that Andy is on the hunting trip, she takes an incredible journey trying to find out who she really is. Usually, hunting deer is an event reserved for young men and their fathers. Yet, it is through this outing that Andy experiences a rite of passage into womanhood. All through her life Andy has acknowledged herself as being able to relate to male figures and being more similar to her father than her mother. Andy is a young girl who enters the world of a boy s rite of passage to adulthood,†¦show more content†¦When Mac, Charlie’s son, mentions to Andy that Canada is nearby, Andy rejects the idea. These same woods could not possibly go to a foreign country that is not part of home. Just as Andy is emerging into a new person, the woods ar ound her are no longer the same as they were when she originally left home by the end of the journey. Both Charlie and Mac do not like, nor understand the idea that Andy is coming along on their hunting trip to the Pennsylvania countryside. Charlie continually questioning Andy’s father: Charlie Spoon was driving. â€Å"I don’t understand why she’s coming,† he said to her father. â€Å"How old is she anyway—eight?† â€Å"Nine,† her father replied. â€Å"She’s small for her age.† â€Å"So—nine. What’s the difference? She’ll just add to the noise and get tired besides† (511). This goes to show that Charlie does not believe that girls or women should go hunting. He does not think that Andy is capable of keeping up with the men, this is very stereotypical. Culture has changed and it is now acceptable for women to go hunting and do outdoor activities. There are many women and girls who go hunting with their fathers in today’s world, but there are still men that think it’s a man’s job. Andy’s father does not see a problem with Andy going hanging with the guys. He sticks up for her every time Charlie and Mac ask why she’s coming with. When Charlie repeatedly stated that he didn’t understand why she was coming, Andy’s father says, â€Å"She can walkShow MoreRelatedDoe Season: Andys Epiphany820 Words   |  4 Pagesprocess of finding out who one is can be very turbulent and confusing. Through growing up one goes through so many different changes in terms of ones personality and deciding who they are and what they want to be. The little girl in David Kaplans Doe Season goes through one of these changes, as do many other adolescents confused about who they are, and finds out that there are some aspects of a persons identity that cannot be changed no matter how hard he/she tries. brbrAndy is a nine-year-oldRead MoreAnalysis of Doe Season Essay701 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of â€Å"Doe Season† The short story, â€Å"Doe Season† written by David Michael Kaplan is about a young girl’s loss of innocence and hesitation towards womanhood. In this story, the protagonist, an eight year old girl joins in on a hunting trip with her father and some friends. During this trip, Andy learns that being one of the boys may not be what she aspires after all. A few literary elements Kaplan uses helps readers better understand the story while reading such as, the characters, settingRead More Doe Season: Andys Epiphany Essay1007 Words   |  5 Pagesof finding out who one is can be very turbulent and confusing. Through growing up one goes through so many different changes in terms of ones personality and deciding who they are and what they want to be. The little girl in David Kaplans quot;Doe Seasonquot; goes through one of these changes, as do many other adolescents confused about who they are, and finds out that there are some aspects of a persons identity that cannot be cha nged no matter how hard he/she tries. Andy is a nine-year-old girlRead MoreAnalysis Of David Kaplan s Doe Season854 Words   |  4 Pages Everyone goes through changes in life, especially ones that define who you are. In David Kaplan’s short story â€Å"Doe Season,† he portrays a young tomboyish girl that metamorphosis into a young woman over a short hunting trip. Not only does the young girl enjoy spending time with her father, but she enjoys the things that he does – shooting, camping, hunting. This is not typical of your average girl, or even a 9-year-old girl. Throughout the story there are symbols that show the audience Andy’s conflictsRead MoreLetter of Recommendation2077 Words   |  9 Pagespages.    · List your contact information if you are willing to field follow-up correspondence.    · Proofread! The letter of recommendation represents both you and the applicant.   EXAMPLE: To Whom it May Concern:   I highly recommend Jane Doe as a candidate for employment. Jane was employed by Company Name as an Administrative Assistant from 2002 - 2005. Jane was responsible for office support including word processing, scheduling appointments and creating brochures, newsletters, and otherRead MoreEssay about Deer Hunting1080 Words   |  5 Pagesindividual must get prepared for the beginning of the deer-hunting season. Contact your local parks and wildlife organization to find out the rules and regulations for that particular season, the dates for the season, and bag limits. Once you have gathered this information, go to any sporting goods or hardware store to purchase a hunting license. A combination hunting and fishing license usually costs around $55. In preparing for the season, you also need to find a hunting club or lease. When looking forRead MoreThe Transition Into Womanhood By David Michael Kaplan894 Words   |  4 Pagesrest of her life. As for Andy, she is a mixture of both. She begins the story with a younger girl’s view on life with flashes of womanhood running through her vision and then with the experience of killing a doe, she transitions into the woman she is meant to be. Throughout the story â€Å"Doe Season† written by David Michael Kaplan, the reader is able to witness Andy’s varying sense of womanhood and her complete transformation into it. Andy begins her journey into womanhood when she wakes up for the huntingRead MoreDeer Hunting987 Words   |  4 Pagesleads to the food source. Also if you cut your on trail they will use this to. Deer are funny creatures when it becomes hunting season. This takes place around the last week of October to the first week of January. At this time the does, which are female deer, still have fawns, which are baby deer, with them. The fawns are from last year’s mating season. The mating season of a deer is called the rut. This usually happens on the second full moon after the fall equinox which occurs from as early asRead MoreMy Fondest Memories Of The Hunt Essay1367 Words   |  6 Pagesthick North Face coat, and my cozy camouflage stocking hat made me feel invisible from the chilly and windy environment. As I waited in the buddy stand, I stared out into the timber of opportunity. More in more, I noticed the transitioning of seasons. The season of fall was in full force, but the cold weather of winter was quickly taking control like a boy experiencing puberty. Lone survivors of dead and colorless leaves clung to their branches, but eventually they surrendered and sailed to the groundRead More Deer Overpopulation and Some Proposed Solutions Essay1351 Words   |  6 Pages particularly in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Despite the amount they are hunted, both in and out of season, you can not drive more than a few miles out of the towns without seeing one that was hit by a car. The deer population in this area just keeps growing. It is unclear what should be done to stop the over population of this beautiful creature. Perhaps different hunting seasons or longer seasons are the answer. Possibly we should focus more on the development of birth control for the female deer

Influence of Women on American History Through the Civil War Free Essays

string(177) " to carry pitchers of water to the artillery gunners, and she even took over her husband’s job as rammer when her husband was wounded and could no longer man the gun mission\." The Influence of Women on the Founding of America and Through 1877 Kelley Swatsenbarg Wayland Baptist University – San Antonio Center Mr. Thomas Gaj May 4, 2010 The Influence of Women on the Founding of America and Through 1877 Throughout the many years of history, women have always had some kind of influence over man. Whether it be coercing him, tricking him, or demanding of him, they changed the actions of men. We will write a custom essay sample on Influence of Women on American History Through the Civil War or any similar topic only for you Order Now Sometimes it has been completely unintentional; sometimes intentional. Sometimes it has been covertly; sometimes overtly. Sometimes it has been the mothers of great men making decisions about their upbringing; sometimes it has been the choices made by female leaders or leaders wives. The United States in no different; women have been influencing, directly or indirectly, the decision and actions of the men in America starting from the choice to fund Christopher Columbus’s misguided exploration. Famous foreign rulers have influence America, from the beginning of the history of the United States. The first, of course, is the famous Isabella, Queen of Spain, who convinced King Ferdinand to finance Christopher Columbus’s exploration to find a route to Asia by traveling west. Then Elizabeth, Queen of England, decided to try to colonize the Americas to get tax revenue thus causing great numbers of Englishmen to colonize the United States. Some women did what they could within the confines of their traditionally established role of nurturer and were involved in the medical field. Two examples are Susie King Taylor and Mary Edwards Walker. Susie King Taylor traveled with her husband who was in E Company 33rd United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. She was a former slave who became their nurse, laundress, cook, teacher, and even comforted the sick soldiers even on their deathbed. Mary Edwards Walker was also a Union nurse during Civil War who finally won a commission in the army as a surgeon, and was the only woman to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor. Dorthea Dix helped organize the Union Army Corp of Nurses and was appointed superintendent of the Union nurses. There was the teacher, Clara Barton, now a famous humanitarian, who, after the outbreak of the Civil War, remained in contact with many former students in the New England Volunteer Regiment that went south. Their mothers gave her gifts for their sons as they thought that she, as a nurse, would be able to get packages to them. She realized that these were not gifts, but rather necessities like soap; from this she created the American Red Cross. She was also a Union nurse who bravely stayed to help surgeons under fire when all the male assistants fled. Some women personally aided soldiers and the underprivileged. One such woman was Margaret Corbin who traveled with her husband to take care of him during the war, doing woman’s work, but was in a battle with her husband. When he died in battle, she took over the cannon; she was wounded and later received the first retired disability pension for a woman. Some women created inspiration in various forms of literature to give hope to the men of this nation. One was Ethel Lynn Beers who wrote poetry and published a poem she’d titled â€Å"The Picket Guard. † The poem was adapted to music and sung by soldiers on both sides in the Civil War. Another woman of inspiration is Lydia Maria Child who wrote An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans_ _that was a key to persuading many Americans of the need for abolition of slavery. Some women were acclaimed worldwide, like Catherine Maria Sedgwick, who wrote numerous historical sketches and biographies. Her writing is considered to be completely American in both thought and feeling; it captured the all of the characterx and manners of New England. Another American author was Mercy Otis Warren, the wife of politician, James Warren; the couple had a close friendship with Abigail and John Adams. John encouraged her to write the history of the American Revolution. Ironically, he ostracized her and her husband because of candid accounts of atrocities against women and children during the war. By far the most famous writer to influence politics was Harriet Beecher Stowe who became a celebrity when she published Tom’s Cabin in 1851 depicting the atrocious lives of black slaves in the South. In 1852 she was introduced to President Abraham Lincoln who greeted her â€Å"So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War! † Other women created patriotic symbols which would inspire generations of Americans. Betsy Ross, operated an upholstery shop, became legendary for making the first stars-and-stripes at the request of George Washington which was adopted as the national flag by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Another example of a woman who inspired is Julia Ward Howe, a famous writer who wrote the celebrated Battle Hymn of the Republic. Many women inspired men through their patriotic activities. One great patriot that inspired Georgia was their most famous female patriot of the Revolutionary War, Nancy Hart, whose steadfast endeavors get rid of British and their sympathizers. However the most famous heroic female patriot, in spite of her flaws, is Dolly Madison, the wife of James Madison and acting first lady for Thomas Jefferson. She could have influence them in their politics, but she inspired the masses with her patriot deeds. During her husband’s tenure as president, the British attacked Washington, D. C. She had the foresight to save not only the silver but also secret documents and a portrait of George Washington which would have likely been destroyed. Another patriot was Molly Pitcher, originally named Mary Ludwig Hays. During the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, she was with her husband on the front lines. Seeing that the soldiers were thirsty, she made her way through ferocious fighting to carry pitchers of water to the artillery gunners, and she even took over her husband’s job as rammer when her husband was wounded and could no longer man the gun mission. You read "Influence of Women on American History Through the Civil War" in category "Papers" Sometimes women invented machines or assisting others in their endeavors to invent. For example, Martha Coston developed an elaborate system of flares called Night Signals that allowed ships to transmit nocturnal messages which was later purchased by the U. S. Navy. Also, Mary Walton patented a method of deflecting smoke stack emissions through water tanks later adapted the system for use on locomotives and invented a noise reduction system for elevated railroads. On the other hand Catharine (Kitty) Littlefield Greene helped Eli Whitney set up his workshop and was among the few people to see his first prototype of the cotton gin. At the time it was able to remove the seed, but the cotton fibers kept getting stuck in the mechanisms. Kitty simply suggested sweeping the fibers off and the rest, shall we say, is history. Some women have taken steps out of the boundaries of the traditional role by being the first woman to surpass a man in a particular field. Among these was Lady Deborah Moody who, because of lack of religious freedom, led a group of followers to the Dutch colony of New Netherland where she founded the settlement of Gravesend in Brooklyn. Also because of views about standard religions, Mary Baker Eddy founded Christian Science as well as the six time Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor. Still other women inspired men to think of women as more equal by making the same achievements as men. First there was Mary Katherine Goddard, the first woman publisher who was asked by the signers of the Declaration of Independence to print the first official copies of the document. There was also Margaret Fuller, the first female foreign correspondent. In medicine, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school, and Sarah Hackett Stevenson was the first female member of the American Medical Association. Sometimes women influence men by political activism like Harriett Delille who campaigned for children’s labor rights or Ester Deberdt Reed who formed a women’s organization that collected $300,000 for Washington’s army. Still others campaigned for workers’ rights like Sarah Bagley who fought for a ten-hour workday. Of course now the laws state that a workday must be no longer than eight hours a day or forty hours per week, but we would not have progressed to where we are without her protesting. Others spoke out for women’s rights like Susan B. Anthony, Isabella Stowe Beecher, Lucretia Coffin Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, just to name a few. Yet others spoke out against slavery like Abby Folsom, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Maria Stewart, and Truth Sojourner. Victoria Woodhull took activism a step further when she became a politician and was the first women to campaign for president of the United States in 1872. Sometimes their influence has simply been by virtue of the fact that they were married to famous men and they have influenced their husbands’ actions. Martha Washington, as we all know, was the wife of President George Washington. She was the first first-lady forming the model for all first ladies to come with her abilities to balance managing a plantation, arranging state dinners and function, visiting troops, and maintaining her relationship with George by supporting and advising him. Abigail Smith Adams was the wife of Samuel Adam and mother of John Quincy Adams who would later become president. She was his confidant, counselor, and advisor sharing her political views with him and even warning him about future problems including women’s rights. Their son, John Quincy Adams married Louisa Adams. Louisa, the only first lady not born in America, is reputed to have made many social calls to help him get elected. Deborah Read Franklin was the common law wife of Benjamin Franklin. She also took over his responsibilities as owner of a printing business and as postmaster while he was away on diplomatic affairs. On the other hand, Elizabeth Schuler Hamilton spent her entire life dedicated to memorializing her husband’s heritage. She even ensured a brass plaque was placed on their son’s grave in Sacramento, California dedicated to Alexander’s patriotism. Sarah Livingston Jay would pass valuable information, and gossip, to her husband, John Jay which helped him while he was secretary of foreign affairs – this position was also the head of Congress and thereby the de-facto head of state. Mary White Morris and her husband Robert Morris were close friends of John and Sally Jay, often having many a long political discussion. While Rebecca Ann Felton, the husband of William Felton, helped him write his speeches while he served as a congressman between 1875 thru 1881. Still other women were simply involved with activities which have influenced domestic politics like, Irene Sanford Emerson who was sued by a former slave, Dred Scott. Mr. Scott traveled with Mr. Emerson while he was in the army stationed in the North; he claimed he had been emancipated as a result of having lived with his master in the free state of Illinois. The court ruled in favor of Mrs. Emerson; Mr. Scott appealed to the Supreme Court where the decision was upheld, but it set the precedence that blacks had a legal right to file suit in a civil court, as previously blacks were considered property and therefore, like a chair, could not litigate. There were also many Native American women who assisted and acted as diplomats for the settlers and colonists. One was Mary Musgrove, an American Indian interpreter, diplomat, and businesswoman. She was raised by Colonists and, because she knew both languages well, she interpreted for James Oglethorpe when he founded the colony of Georgia. She also inherited land from her Native American mother, as their tradition was to pass property down the matriarchal line. The English refused to accept the legality of her property ownership and she took them to court. They negotiated and came to a compromise; some of the land was sold by the British with her receiving the proceeds. Then there was Pocahontas, Native American princess who helped the Jamestown settlers by bringing them food and warning them of her father’s attacks. She was held prisoner by the settlers in an effort to force her father into a peace agreement, but he refused; she eventually converted her to Christianity and married John Rolfe. Because of her position as wife of John Rolfe and daughter of an Indian chief, she was able to maintain peace between the two communities. Sacajawea was another Native American who influenced American politics. She was married to a French man, Toussaint Charbonneau, the guide hired by Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. Sacajawea went with her husband and interpreted with the Native American Indians. She would translate to Charbonneau in French and he would translate to Lewis and Clark into English. During her trip she gave birth to a son, and, all the while taking care of him, guided the explorers trough Indian lands, protected them from Indian attacks, kept valuable items from being lost–her husband was a klutz, and even found them food to supplement their all-meat diet. Other women covertly did the jobs of men such as Deborah Champion, a teenage girl who bought parcels, messages and pay to General George Washington when soldiers could not. Some other messengers were Behethland Moore and Sybil Ogden Ludington, dubbed the â€Å"female Paul Revere† (she rode about twice as far as he did on his famous ride). Still other women, like Harriet Tubman–a conductor on the Underground Railroad, acted secrectly. The history of the world abounds with famous female spies like Pauline Cushman, a Union spy, became a camp follower of the Confederate army. She was discover, tried in a military court, and sentenced to hang; they delayed her sentence due to her health and she was rescued by Union forces. Upon her return North, President Lincoln made her an honorary major. Elizabeth Van Lew was a famous and effective Union spy. She entered the Confederate Libby Prison on the pretense of humanitarian reasons, and, since the guards thought she was harmless and crazy, she gained information about the strength and disposition of the troops. As her work continued, she devised a way to send coded messages inside eggs. Belle Boyd used her feminine wiles to gain secrets and trap Union soldiers. Others posed as soldiers and fought in war. During the Civil War, Ann Clarke dressed as a man in the Confederate army. She was wounded, taken prisoner, and later released. Prudence Wright gathered a women’s troop and dressed in husbands’ uniforms to defend their city from the British. They captured a British spy and turned him over to the Colonial Army. Deborah Sampson Gannet dressed as man in order to fight in Revolution; her husband received land and was granted the pension of a soldier. During her career she was wounded several times and caught a fever which nearly took her life. If it were not for the fever she would have remained a soldier longer, but a doctor finally discovered her secret, but he did not publicly release the fact, instead he sent her to General George Washington who immediately discharged her. Then there was the famous story of Sarah Emma Edmonds who enlisted in the Union army as Frank Thompson, a male nurse. She effectively guarded her secret for many years even taking on disguises of men and women, blacks and whites to spy. She left the army for medical treatment in an area where she was unknown, when she did this, Frank Thompson was viewed as a deserter. Afterwards, she fought to be recognized for her achievements, and, with a special act of Congress, she was honorably discharged and given a pension. The Confederacy had plenty of female spies too. Included in this number is Antonia Ford who passed along to Confederate J. E. B. Stuart information on Union troop activity. Rose O’Neal Greenhow was such a successful spy that she was imprisoned twice, and then exiled to the Confederate states. She was to tour Britain and France as a propagandist for the Confederate cause; her memoirs were published with a wide sale throughout the British Isles. She obtained more and more sympathy for the South. There was also the case of Loreta Janeta Velazquez who enlisted in disguise and served at Manassas/Bull Run, Ball’s Bluff, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh under the name Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. She also claims to have served as a spy and worked working as a double agent for the Confederacy in the service of the U. S. Secret Service. To this day no one can determine if in fact any of these accounts are true,, although a newspaper report mentions a Lieutenant Bensford arrested when it was disclosed â€Å"he† was actually a woman giving her name as Alice Williams. Even in Colonial times America was full of willing female spies and messengers such as Dicey Langston was a teenage colonial spy who forded a river, up to her shoulders, to get details of British troop movement to the colonial army. And then there was Emily Geiger a messenger for General Greene in the Colonial army. Coming from the direction of Greene’s army, she was suspected and confined to a room. The officer sent for a woman to search her for papers. She sought to destroy the letter; once the door was shut, she ate up the letter, piece by piece. Lydia Darragh was a mortician and would watch British troops from the window of her house. She sent messages about their activities through one of her sons and then to another soldier to get information to Washington’s Army. British officer Major Andre commandeered her house, but allowed the family to stay in the house. She could then listen in on their plotting and send word of their plans. Others’ influences were merely accidental like Peggy O’Neale Eaton, married Senator John Eaton in 1828 during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Many gossiped about her colorful past and seeming infidelity with her first husband, when she married Eaton, she shunned by cabinet members’ wives due to her assumed sordid past. The behavior of the ladies towards her and the influence upon their husbands created such a disaster that the cabinet fell apart–Jackson fired them all. An unintentional influence on men’s actions was Betsy Loring who was General Howe’s mistress; although she was the wife a loyalist, she distracted General Howe by â€Å"entertaining† and distracting him from battles with General Washington. The United States of America owes an enormous debt to Mary Ball Washington. She set the example of solid morals and religious opinions, and even read to her children aloud. We need to thank her for one incidentally decision that she made regarding the future of her son. When George was fourteen years old, his half-brother Lawrence obtained a midshipman’s warrant for him in the English naval service. George was already packed and ready to go, but his mother refused to give her consent at the last minute. So, because of an inadvertent decision, George Washington became the Father of Our Country and our first President instead of an English naval officer. In conclusion, in all nations, including the United States, women have been influencing, either directly or indirectly, the decision and actions of the men. Regardless of whether we believe that changes women have made are good or bad, they have helped define this great nation of ours, and, as the French say, â€Å"Viva la difference. Collins, G. (2003). America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Roberts, C. (2004_) Founding Mothers: the Women Who Raised Our Nation. _ New York: HarperCollins Publishers Roberts, C. (2008). Ladies of Liberty: the Women Who Shaped Our Nation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Taylor, S. K. (2004). The Diary of Susie King Taylor, Civil War nurse. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark books Zall, P. M. (1991). Founding Mothers: Profiles of Ten Wives of America’s Founding Fathers. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books How to cite Influence of Women on American History Through the Civil War, Papers

Constraints of Quality Control - Free Sample- Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about theConstraints of Quality Control. Answer: Introduction Quality control is defined as the activity that is undertaken to ensure that the quality of an end product of a manufacture (from industry) or project is according to the pre-set standards. However, recently, quality control is mostly ignored by the project managers in order to save time and money in the project. In order to analyse and address this issue, this literature review has been conducted that is mainly based on the quality control of a project. The entire study has been conducted on different factors related to the quality control and issues related to a project. The study first starts with the analysis of the importance of quality control in a project and then the role of project managers or organization leaders in ensuring the quality of the project and finally the adverse effects that may be occur in a project due to lack of quality control. Furthermore in this report, the use of technology for quality control has been suggested and for that purpose, the different techno logical processes that can aid the quality control and management of a project have been analysed. In this assignment, a literature review has been conducted on the quality control factors and the constraints that prevent application of quality control in a project. Following the literature review study and analysis, suitable recommendations have been provided for the purpose of quality control of a project. Literature Review Quality control is a system that is needed more and more with the progress of time as the needs for setting a certain standard of outputs are growing. This is mainly because, these days, most of the manufactures are only after profits and hence, in order to maximize it; they are continuously using poor quality materials for the manufacture of the products. As a result, the outcome of the manufacture is of the poor quality and this is resulting in the depletion of customer satisfaction that in turn negatively affects the business of the retailers. Researchers have studied this issue for some time and have developed the concept of quality control. A literature review has been conducted based on the works different researchers as follows. According to Munier (2013), some manufacturers, especially in the countries with developing economy ignore the quality factor and aims for producing the materials at the least possible expense for gaining maximum possible profits. As a result, they are delivering poor quality products to the retailers who are in turn selling poor quality products to the customers. This in turn angers the customers and the customer base of the retailer starts to decrease. However, this does not affect the manufacturer much as they find other retailers to sell their products. According to the researcher, this is significantly affecting the retailers and the customers whereas the manufacturer is earning huge amounts from selling poor quality products at low cost. As per the works of Corona-Surez, AbouRizk and Karapetrovic (2014), not only the retail industry, quality factors are also becoming rising issues in projects as many project managers are not undertaking sufficient measures for the quality control of the project. As a result, the quality of the project is getting severely affected. It is the duty of the project manager to control the quality of the project in order to ensure complete success of the project. Without quality control, the project may be successful but after sometime, various faults and loopholes of the project become noticeable. Phillips (2013) said that quality control is a problem that is adversely affecting all the industries as this is the age of capitalism and each and every company is looking to earn maximum amount of profits irrespective of the quality of the product or service outcome. Quality control requires extra expenses and project manager himself has to conduct the quality control steps which also incur a lot of time. Project management is all about the cost and time efficiency and hence, quality control is easily one of the activities that can excluded from a project by the project manager. However, Sallis (2014) reiterates the importance of the project quality management in his works regarding quality control. According to him, instead of considering project quality management as waste of time and money, the project managers should see it as one of the most important and integral parts of the project that should never be ignored in order to satisfy the clients and maintain the customer base. Moreover, ignoring quality control saves time and money but has only short term effect whereas suitable quality control reduces the profit but the advantages are applicable for a long term. Moreover, initially, the company has to bear some costs whereas in the long term, their profits will continue to grow exponentially. Kerzner (2013) researched about the constraints of quality control that are mainly faced by the project managers during the course of a budget. According to him, the following are the main constraints faced by the project managers. Time Constraint: Often, the projects have extremely limited amount of time and the project managers consider quality control as a waste of time and an excess to the requirements. Moreover, before starting the project, the company instructs the project managers to earn as much profit as they can as an outcome of the project. Hence, the project manager generally emphasizes on maximizing the cost benefit factors of the project instead of analysing the quality aspects of the project. Cost Constraint: Again, like the previous point, cost constraint is an important behind the lack of quality control implementation in the project. Most of the projects have limited budgets and the project managers are to gain maximum amount of profits and cost benefit from the project as well as not to exceed the project budget during the project. Hence, quality control is also considered by the managers as waste of money and they emphasize on maximizing the cost benefit factors for the project. Scope: According to the researcher, scope is another main constraint that for the lack of quality control in the project. While preparation of the project scope, the project manager emphasizes on the main deliverables of the project and generally ignores the quality control of the project as it is considered as waste of time and money. Hence, after the preparation of the project scope, the quality control is ignored and not included as a part of the project. As per the works of Low and Ong (2014), there are certain steps that can be taken to improve that quality of the project and maintain the limits of time, scope and budget as well. These are discussed as follows. Consider Quality Control as Part of Project During the preparation of a project plan, the organization chairman and the project manager should consider quality control as an integral part of the project. They should know the importance of quality control in the project as well as maintaining a good customer base and act accordingly during the course of the project. While preparing the project plan document, the project manager should include quality control at different parts of the project to ensure all the project activities are conducted according to plan and a sufficient quality is maintained. Arrange Time and Money for Quality Control When the plans of most of the projects are prepared, the organization owners estimate the cost and time requirements excluding the quality control during the project. Hence, the budget and time get limited and as a result, there is no scope of inclusion of quality control within the project. However, if the quality control factor is considered early during the project planning, there will be no shortage of time and budget (Oakland 2014). However, first, the organization owner should be able to value the importance of quality control and ensure a specific quality of the project output that will also not negatively affect the customer satisfaction rating. Value the Customers over Time and Money Another important factor that stands as an obstacle to the quality control factor of the project is the companys emphasis of the cost and time benefits instead of fulfilling the requirements of the client. Although the company reiterates that their sole focus is solely on the clients needs, in reality, their sole focus is earning maximum amount of profits. Hence, simply preparing a strong mission and vision statement is not enough for the company, they should be able to understand the importance of quality in maintaining a strong customer base and implement it accordingly in the project. Utilize Technology Nowadays, quality control in a project is also aided by the advanced technologies that also save a lot of time and money. Different technical projects like electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and others are now aided by advanced simulation and software driven technologies that can help to control the quality of the project if applied properly (Botje et al. 2014). For instance, during the design of water flow tanks controlled by a PID Controller, the researchers generally prepare a theoretical model and apply the model in the real design accordingly. However, the quality of the final design becomes poor and inefficient. However, with the help of MATLAB (a simulation software), the researcher can easily prepare the final design of the project, simulate it to get the results and then prepare the same for the real design. Again, there are several simulation tools that are utilized by the mechanical engineers in order to ensure the quality of the outcomes of the project. Hence, it has been seen that quality control is not a very impossible job for the project managers neither it is a waste of time and money. The companies should be able to value the opinions and requirements of the customers and should take suitable steps to ensure the quality of the services or the products provided to the customer are always of the best quality. This will not only help increase the customer base but will also strengthen the customer base that will result in slow but exponential increasing in the annual revenue of the company (Shaari et al. 2015). Moreover, since technology is here to aid the process of quality control, the companies and organizations should fully utilize its help and implement quality control in the project. Moreover, quality control of the project should be done by the project manager and accordingly, the project monitoring should be done. Furthermore, the company should not consider quality control as waste of time and money and should spend the money for quality control no matter what in order to ensure best quality outcome of the project. Conclusion In this assignment, a literature review has been conducted on the quality control factors and the constraints that prevent application of quality control in a project. Quality control is a system that is needed more and more with the progress of time as the needs for setting a certain standard of outputs are growing. This is mainly because, these days, most of the manufactures are only after profits and hence, in order to maximize it; they are continuously using poor quality materials for the manufacture of the products. As a result, the outcome of the manufacture is of the poor quality and this is resulting in the depletion of customer satisfaction that in turn negatively affects the business of the retailers. Researchers have studied this issue for some time and have developed the concept of quality control. Instead of considering project quality management as waste of time and money, the project managers should see it as one of the most important and integral parts of the project that should never be ignored in order to satisfy the clients and maintain the customer base. Moreover, ignoring quality control saves time and money but has only short term effect whereas suitable quality control reduces the profit but the advantages are applicable for a long term. Furthermore, initially, the company has to bear some costs whereas in the long term, their profits will continue to grow exponentially. References Botje, D., Klazinga, N.S., Sunol, R., Groene, O., Pfaff, H., Mannion, R., Depaigne-Loth, A., Arah, O.A., Dersarkissian, M., Wagner, C. and DUQuE Project Consortium, 2014. Is having quality as an item on the executive board agenda associated with the implementation of quality management systems in European hospitals: a quantitative analysis.International journal for quality in health care,26(suppl_1), pp.92-99. Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques.New Jersey, USA. Corona-Surez, G.A., AbouRizk, S.M. and Karapetrovic, S., 2014. Simulation-based fuzzy logic approach to assessing the effect of project quality management on construction performance.Journal of Quality and Reliability Engineering,2014. Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Leach, L.P., 2014.Critical chain project management. Artech House. Levin, G., 2014. Project Quality Management: Why, What and How.Project Management Journal,45(5). Low, S.P. and Ong, J., 2014. Quality Management. InProject Quality Management(pp. 29-36). Springer Singapore. Low, S.P. and Ong, J., 2014. Research Design and Methodology. InProject Quality Management(pp. 69-77). Springer Singapore. Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success.International journal of project management,32(2), pp.202-217. Munier, N., 2013. Project Quality Management. InProject Management for Environmental, Construction and Manufacturing Engineers(pp. 201-208). Springer Netherlands. Oakland, J.S., 2014.Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases. Routledge. Phillips, J., 2013.PMP, Project Management Professional (Certification Study Guides). McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. Sallis, E., 2014.Total quality management in education. Routledge. Schwalbe, K., 2015.Information technology project management. Cengage Learning. Shaari, N., Abdullah, M.N., Asmoni, M., Lokman, M.A., Hamid, H.A. and Mohammed, A.H., 2015. Practice for project quality management systems (PQMS) in construction project.Jurnal Teknologi,77, p.26. Turner, R., 2016.Gower handbook of project management. Routledge.