Explore the Ways In Which Shakespeare Presents Cleopatra Essay Example for Free

Explore the Ways In Which Shakespeare Presents Cleopatra Essay An Elizabethan audience would have already had preconceived ideas about Cleopatra, as this play is based on a true story, and Cleopatra was commented on in Norths Plutarch, as a Pesilent plague, meaning that she brings death, panic and havoc to wherever she went. Also the audience would have already had preconceived ideas of Cleopatra, due to oral stories, which were passed from generation to generation. In these stories, she was addressed as a high-class prostitute, who lured men, into her bed, so that she could sleep with them to get whatever she wanted, this included Caesar, She had no morality. The stories say that she seduced Antony, and she overwhelmed him. The audience therefore would have been biased against Cleopatra and feel sympathy for Antony. Most of these stories would have been passed on by word of mouth and she would have been cursed on many times, which brain washed the next generation and so on. Shakespeare presents Cleopatra as a character of Infinite variety and tries to give a balanced point of view, so as there are not any biased opinions against her. He keeps it balanced by using some multi-facetted approaches; when Antony was dying, she said, There is nothing remarkable Beneath the visiting moon She is saying that now that Antony is dead, there is nothing worth living for. Here it is presented that she does genuinely love Antony, the problem now being that the audiences ideas are swaying between good and bad, due to her words and actions. But she also says, if you find him sad, say I am dancing, if in mirth report that I am sudden sick Here it is clearly proving that Cleopatras love seems that of a teenagers lust or crush, where she is simply playing mind games with Antony. By now the audience would find Cleopatra unpredictable, confused and unsure about her being genuine for her love to Antony or not. The audience is left to make up their own minds about Cleopatra and certain questions may arise, such as, does she really love Antony? The audience would already have their own preconceived ideas of Cleopatra, which could have been planted in the minds of an Elizabethan audience, through morality stories. The audience might have known that the Roman Empire was a very strict and political place and era, and Antony was not abiding by the Roman standards or laws, because of the attraction of Cleopatra, who they could blame for the downfall. Also during Roman rule, and for centuries later, women were frowned upon even if they spoke so what would the Elizabethan audience think of the audacity, let alone tone of Cleopatras dialogue. In the first scene of Antony and Cleopatra, two of Antonys soldiers in his army, (Philo and Demetrious) discuss Antonys enslavement to Cleopatra. They say that which is confirmed by the entrance of Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra shows insecurity, towards Antony straight from her opening line If it be love indeed, tell me how much, Antony goes on to say Let Rome in timber melt and the wide arch of the rangd empire fall! Here is my space. Here Antony is saying forget Rome I want to stay in Egypt, which shows how Cleoptara had already influenced Antony and even after this strong image and speech, she is still not impressed.

Role Of Culture In Food And Eating Habits Media Essay

Role Of Culture In Food And Eating Habits Media Essay The importance of food can be attributed to the fact that it is one of the most necessary and significant aspect of human life for its survival and well-being (Asp, 1999). Though the main function of food is to serve as an answer to hunger or physiological reasons, it also facilitates the process of security, status, emotions and influencing behavior (Hart et al., 2002). Food also serves as a symbol of social acceptance, friendliness (Cope, Frewer, Houghton, Rowe, Fisher and de Jonge, 2010). In a study by Mckenzie in 1986, he demonstrated that certain food choices define the level of group acceptance, societal prestige and allegiance. Food has various symbolic meanings attached to it, especially amongst Indian societies like cultural identity, religious functions, economic wealth and status, as well as expression of power (Hill, 2002). Eating and food habits relates to the persons history from the time of birth (MacFarlane, A., Crawford, D., Ball, K., Savige, G., and Worsley, A., 2007). With the cultural symbolism attached to foods, eating habits are usually passed on to children from a very young age, so that they can know what is good for them and what is not (hart, Bishop and Truby, 2002). Also, certain eating habits are related to traditional and familial sentiments and hence become a centric part of a persons life ( Remick, Pliner and Mclean, 2009). The food habits define a persons personality based on that persons traditional and cultural pattern (Barclay, Gilbertson, Marsh and Smart, 2010). The role of acculturation in food choices amongst international students Acculturation can be defined as process in which there is cultural and psychological change as a result of interaction between two different cultures (Sam and Berry, 2010). Present day researchers view acculturation as an on-going process which does not end by the dominant culture absorbing the traits of the minority (dela Cruz, Padilla and Agustin, 2000). According to different theoretical framework of acculturation, it is believed that over time the behavior, attitudes and habits of the immigrant population will get molded to portray the population that they have entered (Berry, Phinney, Sam and Vedder, 2006). The migrants step foot into the new culture with certain pre-formed assumption and their process of adjustment is characterized by the presence of essential elements of their culture as well as some of the new culture (Landrine and Klonoff, 2004). The process of acculturation related to food and eating habits is rather complex, usually involving a transitory phase between traditional habits and symbols to the ones related to the new culture (Unger et al., 2004). The immigrants food and eating behavior is influenced due to the differences in the types of food available and the change is usually brought about by modifying or substituting the diet (dela Cruz, Padilla and Agustin, 2000). Factors ranging from eating patterns, food selection and preparation, traditional beliefs of the immigrants, which can be influenced due to ethnicity, length of stay, socio-economic status, knowledge and skills, bring to light the varying levels of acculturation (Barry, 2001). Also, the change in the eating habits of the immigrants can be traced as early as the post First World War era, when people started moving to and from different parts of the world (Escobar and Vega, 2000). These group of immigrants took with them their traditional eating hab its, even established their own shops and restaurants, in the new culture, but the pressure of change faced by them eventually resulted in them having to alter their traditional ways of diet (Gans, 1997). Renowned anthropologist, Sidney Mintz (1994) argues about the change in traditional habits which was due to a shift from core-fringe-legume-pattern to those which have excess sugars and fats. He says that due to the presence of certain food options easily accessible than other, the immigrant groups find themselves taking those options like that of Coca-Cola. There have been some studies done on the effect of immigration on the dietary changes of these groups. These studies found that in certain groups, food habits formed the last aspect to undergo change while in a few there was a large degree of change that happened fast (Schmidt, 2005). In a study by Lundkvist et al., (2010), they talk about immigrants in European countries trying new foods during the early years of their stay, however a complete change in eating habits is not seen until late. There was a gradual change in the eating habits of these groups over years. In another separate study by Jallinoja et al., (2010) showed the degrees of variation in which these immigrant groups take up dietary changes and that in turn affecting their health. Also, it said that the varying degrees of acculturation usually differ with age, with the younger people more susceptible to change quicker than older ones. Conevey and ODwyer (2009) reported in their study about the varied popularity of specific foods amongst different ethnic groups. They found that chicken was popular amongst people of Indian ethnic origin in the United Kingdom. The difference was not much in nutritional value but in the levels of spices and flavorings, methods of cooking and accompanying dishes. Also, they pointed out a gradual decrease over time in this groups consumption of raw fruits and vegetables because of food safety issues. These studies bring to light the fact that acculturation of the immigrant groups depends on their cultural values, which can result in a gradual or rapid change. Acculturation studies on Indian students There are about 428, 225 international students in the United Kingdom and 39,090 students out of which are of Indian origin (UKCISA, 2011). India is the second most number of students coming in this country, only behind China (UKCISA, 2011). These Indian students come here to study in the colleges and universities. The immigration of the Indian students have picked up over the past 10 years, with a steady growth of 1.5% seen every year (UKCISA, 2011). In a study done by Hill (2002) on the food and eating habits of Asian students, reported that a large proportion of them gradually changed from being vegetarians to non-vegetarians over a period of five years post immigration. He also found that those students who stay for longer were more likely to undergo acculturation than those who are exposed to the new culture for a shorter duration. Fjellstrom (2004) reported that the acculturation of dietary habits in Asian students in the United Kingdom was evident from modification of food patterns, changing over to non-vegetarians from vegetarians as well their preference traditional or new cuisines Harvey et al., studied the relation between the length of stay in the United Kingdom and the food habits amongst Indian students. They found that those students who had been here for less than 2 years preferred non-traditional foods and those who have been living longer reported eating their traditional food more often. It was also seen that Asian students in the United Kingdom prefer to have traditional diet in social gatherings with other Asian students, where as the non-traditional foods formed a part of their typical daily diet (Mestdag, 2005). These above mentioned studies offer and insight towards the significant impact of acculturation towards food habits amongst Asian students. However, there have been very little research thus far on the food habits of Indian students in the United Kingdom. Role of culture in Food and Eating habits Nutrition, appetite, cultural and social context are seen as important factors affecting food and health choices (Locher, Yeols,Maurer and can Ellis, 2005).cultural representations is one of the main factors that is associated with food habits, which gets expressed in the type of food preferred by the groups(Seigworth, 2000). These cultural representations have been shown to determine the food, their handling and processing into acceptable and those that are not (Delind, 2006). McGinnis (1999) in his study talked about impact the culture-specific perceptions of food and eating habits on acculturation. Murcott (1982) had examined the British perception towards food, which suggested the way in which this affected dietary changes. She reported the difference in the symbolic nature of meals, i.e. cooked or proper meal, wherein a proper meal was characterized by consisting of meat and two kinds of vegetables, without any accompanying sides. She said that to the British women it signified the most important meal of the day, essential to be healthy and that it is be taken at home, thereby to light the meanings and ideas related to food and healthy habits. Hill (2012) reported in his study that people attached different cultural reasons to their food habits. He said that food habits can relate to a number of reasons ranging from nutrition, maintain social status, dealing with stress and tension, influencing behaviors and religious expressions. There is also separate belief that even though peoples food habits is largely individualistic, there is a degree of association to the cultural beliefs of what is acceptable and which are not (Barreiro-Hurlà ©, J., Gracia, A., and de  Magistris, T., 2010). In a separate story, Rozin (2005) mentions different determinants for food behavior and that culture and beliefs was one of them. He also said that cultural patterns was related to certain environmental conditions like geographical conditions, food availability and that social patterns were related to the support structure around in the form of friends and family. The food and eating habits of immigrations student showed an attachment towards transitional diet patterns, which served as psychological support during acculturations (Durant, 2011). Qualitative and Quantitative research have been used to understand food and eating habits, with quantitative research including linear measures to assess change and qualitative research used to understand peoples perceptions and attitudes (Bonnekessen, 2010). It was seen in qualitative study that female students tend to categorize foods into healthy and un-healthy ones, with the unhealthy option signifying the cause of increase in weight, depression, independence and the healthy options to indicate well-being, familial connections (Michels and Wolk, 2002). It has been seen that the food habits of Indian students are affected by various factors like culture, economic status, attitudes and knowledge and that are different based on the region, caste and socio-economic status (Guthman, 2008). Also in the context of Indian cultural beliefs, food is often considered as a source of pleasure and happiness and cooking as an important aspect of daily life (Brunner, Horst and Seigrist, 2010). F ood always has played an important part in the Indian culture, with eating and food habits dominating a major part of the life (Murcott, 2000). The Indian cuisine involves a complex process of preparation with consideration towards flavor, taste, color and spice contents, which epitomizes the Indian way of eating; and its way of preparation and enjoyment makes it a unique food culture (Edwards, Meiselman, Ragunathan and Lesher, 2003). One of the most important part of an Indian diet is rice, which is essential and important in their daily diet (Mckevith, 2004). A meal in the Indian culture symbolizes the occasion of family togetherness, where the whole family including the relatives and friends come together, making it an important sociable event (Christakis, 2010). The traditional daily meal usually would consist of the breakfast, lunch and dinner, wherein, the dinner forms the most important meal of the day (Meiselman, 2008). These presents a picture in which one can assume that acculturation and changing food habits for Indian students in the United Kingdom would be a difficult process, considering the cultural values and the knowledge and attitudes. Research has also shown that dietary changes can also be resultant of certain food availability, prices, peer pressure and new types of food (Benson et al., 2008). In order to study the acculturation amongst Indian students in Leeds Metropolitan University, the Food Patterning model (Mishra et al., 2006) and Trends theory (Berghofer, 2005). The Food Patterning model states that changes in diet is a two way process, one which persuades an individual to continue with the traditional form of diet and other opposing that state (Mishra et al., 2006). This model illustrates the association of foods to different cultural context, wherein the change in food habits runs parallel to an expanse between identity and taste as its end markers. According to Mishra et al. (2006), the process of meal composition by an immigrant involves a mix of traits of traditional foods along with those from the new culture, thereby indicating an effort to strike a balance between traditional identity and new taste. Also, they believed that even though the immigrants primarily donot change their traditional diet pattern, however it is not the same as before they came here. Berghofer (2005) in his study pertaining to acculturation process in immigration students, talks about two specific trends that are used by the students to understand dietary changes. One of which, termed as the secular trend involves understanding the change process as beneficial towards better western diet however, the other trend, termed as victims of progress trend, says that the change to westernized diet is not beneficial. However, as mentioned by Berghofer, the distinction between the advantages and disadvantages are more complicated and the study of acculturation rarely points out specifically to the benefits or shortcomings. These theories and models bring about certain interesting perspective about the acculturation process of the Indian students. In a study, it was seen that the immigrant students adopted new British foods like sweets, cakes while avoiding meats, beef (De Castro, 2009). In a separate study, it was reported that the male students lack of cooking skills due to the fact of not having cooked in India was one of the factors leading to change in food and eating habits (Shetty, 2010). Also, it showed that the increased Westernization of the diet amongst Indian students is seen as one of the factors for higher risk from chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease (Shetty, 2010). So, based on these studies, one can argue that if these students fall on the Berghofers (2005) Victims of progress trend, as the change in dietary habits has been seen to lead to deterioration of their health status. These provided an useful insight in the acculturation process of the Indian students in Leeds Metropolitan University, considering the involvement of a wide variety of factors.

Benefits for consumers in an oligopoly market

Benefits for consumers in an oligopoly market This essay wills analysis the both advantages and disadvantages for consumers in this oligopoly market structure. Non-price competition and rigidity price are two main advantages for consumer, however, collusion make the loss of interests of consumer. An oligopolistic market can be defined as one market structure which has a few firms connected with each other to control the price and supply of market (Anderton, 2008). Compare with the characteristic of oligopoly, the UK supermarket industry are oligopolistic market. The most important factor is that the supermarket in UK have been dominated by four firms, which are Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco (SKYNEWS, 2009), they controlled approximately 75% grocery sales in UK ( natural choices, 2008). Therefore, the price of market is also controlled by them. In addition, these four firms brought more land in order to raise the barriers to entry (Daily Mail, 2007). Furthermore, firms would like to use the marketing mix to sell their pro duct at right place, using a reasonable price and useful promotion. For instance, these four supermarkets will spend more money on advertising every year (telegraph, 2009). Finally, collusion is a common situation in oligopolistic markets, such as, price collusion in supermarkets in UK (Mail online, 2008). Non-price competition is a marketing strategy of supplier to earning more profit. As market will make a decision depend on marketing mix, which include product, place, price, and promotion, consumer will get profit from this strategy (Anderton, 2008). Product is the main factor should be considered, it is homogenous in general. Businesses should determine the people who use their product firstly (Hall, 2009). For instance, if they sell toys, they will use bright colors or cartoon characters to attract childrens attention. In addition, owing to the improving technology, product innovation will increase in order to meet peoples needs. Therefore, market research will avoid businesses make mistake. At the same time, they also can know what kind of product consumers will buys. Another benefit for consumer is the pricing strategy, price has been made depending on the quality of product (Marketing teacher, 2008). Therefore, consumer do not have to worry about the value of product over the quality, they will buy product in a fair market. According to news from mail online, Aldi and Lidl beat the big four due to the cheaper price. As a consequence, these two stores win the consumers trust, 61 per sent much higher than Tesco and Asda which just less than 50 per sent (Mail Online, 2010). From this research, it is easy to see that price is a extremely import factor to businesses and consumers. In spite of these two factors, place is also the important item. As we can see from the table on the below, with the increasing number of stores have opened, peoples life has become more convenient (Solar navigator, 2005). If consumers are used to buy a brand, they will not change their mind arbitrarily. Therefore, consumer will go to the same store at different place. It will make them assured. Furthermore, online shopping is also become a hot topic for people, they can shop at home, it not only left their time, but also saving traffic expenses. Moreover, 24 hours store also provide convenience for consumers. Format Number Area (ft ²) Area (m ²) Percentage of space Tesco Extra 100 6.6 million 613,000 27.2% Tesco 446 13.9 million 1,290,000 57.4% Tesco Metro 160 1.9 million 180,000 7.8% Tesco Express 546 1.1 million 102,000 4.5% One Stop 527 0.7 million 65,000 3.1% Total 1,779 24.2 million 2,250,000 100% Finally, promotion is the way businesses show their product to consumer. During this process, businesses will combine the features of product to choose a suitable promotional method. Businesses can use advertising slogan or show their products feature in order to draw peoples attention. Consequently, consumer can choose a brand of product which they prefer. Meanwhile, consumer will know more information about the product. Moreover, consumer also can earn profit due to the rigidity price. Based on the kinked demand cure on the below, assume A is the market price, if one firm rise their price, other firms will not follow (S-cool, 2000). Therefore, consumers would like to buy cheaper one of same product. Above the point A is the price elastic, which means businesses will loss profit if they improve their price. On the other hand, if one firm decreases the price, others will relatively drop down at the same time. However, cutting price when demand is inelastic, which also make the revenue falling. As a result, businesses will not change their price random; they will try to keep a stable price in the market. Consequently, consumers have become the most beneficiary. Nevertheless, collusion cause consumer lost much profit. It defined as a few number of rival firms make decision together for earning more profit. For instance, four supermarkets can control the supply of product; meanwhile, they will increase their price to get more abnormal profit. In addition, experienced businessman will have tacit, tacit collusion will occur that time. Formal collusion also destroys consumers benefit, because businesses always put their profit on the first place. As a consequence, consumer should face an unfair situation, because they have no ability to change the price (Anderton, 2009). In conclusion, although collusion creates significant disadvantages for consumer ¼Ã…’they can be benefited more from the marketing mix and rigidity price,. In specific, instead of price competition solely, consumers needs be satisfied by marketing mix. Business will use suitable promotion and price in different place, which depending on the type of their product. Furthermore, stable price let consumer use reasonable price to buy product they wanted. On the other hand, collusion has created disadvantages for consumers by control supply and price. However, government has already prepared to stop this phenomenon (Mail Online, 2009), which is a good news for consumers. Overall, these four supermarkets played a significant role in peoples normal life in UK; increasing number of requirement can be fulfilled. However, these four supermarkets take too much market share, it make high barrier for new firms. Government should consider reduce the barriers to entry, therefore, consumers will have more choice for buying product.

The Year 2000 is Coming! :: Millenium New Year 2000 Essays

The Year 2000 is Coming! Here we are close to the dawn of the millennium. An even 2000 years has passed since man has decided to start counting. That has to be significant, doesn't it? Conspiracy theorists, self- proclaimed prophets, and doomsayers can take this opportunity to spread rumors of world destruction or take ancient prophecies and interpret them to their liking. Life must be getting boring or over stimulating for these folks. There are so many different groups spreading awareness in preparation for the millennium. One can obtain knowledge on this subject by contacting a group who call themselves TEOTWAWKI (an acronym for the end of the world as we know it), Armageddon, or on the countless Y2K websites. There are many people involved in the frenzy surrounding Y2K. We have a Y2K coalition right here in Arkansas. The citizens of Harrison have formed a group called Y2K watch. Around one hundred people meet bimonthly to discuss strategies for getting through the millennium. They have even attracted outsiders. Jerry and Carolyn Head moved from a Dallas suburb to Harrison to escape the millennia madness. They have stocked up buying a generator, livestock, and hundreds of toilet paper rolls. They claim to just be â€Å"planners† and not part of the Y2K worriers in which "most of them are nuts". Y2K,which stands for year 2000, is the confusion of our computer systems when the clock strikes 12:00 on January 1, 2000. When computers were first developed they were the size of small rooms and stored data on thousands of punch cards made out of cardboard. To save space, engineers used two digits to indicate the year. Now that we are approaching the year 2000, they realize the ambiguity of the year being 00 will apparently throw all of the computers off. Many people have declared this a disaster. One family in Ohio has really gone to extremes. They have bought the usual for survivalists, a generator and food (a years supply). In addition to this, they have invested in a waterbed in case the water companies crash and are unable to distribute water. Y2K drills are frequently practiced in the house to ensure all the appliances will work with the generator. The mother has tried to raise awareness among the community and cannot understand why the Girl Scout leader turned down her offer to lecture on the subject.

Mobile Marketing Essay -- Technology, Mobile Applications

2.1 Handheld Mobile Devices and Mobile Applications 2.1.1 Defining Handheld Mobile Devices The medium for mobile applications is a mobile device. While the functions of mobile devices vary, the key criteria such a device must fulfil is portability. To that extent, mobile devices have been described as ‘interactive wireless media’ (Haghirian and Madlberger 2005, 2). Mobile devices offer a range of capabilities, but essentially they allow access to data and information with the opportunity of being used in a variety of environments (ISACA 2010, 2). The term ‘handheld mobile device’ indicates that the device is limited to something that can be ‘held in the hand(s)’. Even so, the term ‘handheld mobile device’ may represent a different meaning to different people and therefore can be anything from a PDA to a digital camera. For the purpose of this paper, the term handheld mobile device (henceforth abbreviated as mobile device) will be associated only with those mobile computing devices that have the capability of downloading third-party mobile applications (as defined in 2.1.3). Namely, these are smartphones, PDAs and tablet PCs. 2.1.1.1 Mobile phones There are many known terms for mobile phones including cell phone, basic phone, feature phone, traditional mobile phone, smartphone, and system phone. Nonetheless, it can be argued that mobile phones currently on the market are typically categorised as either ‘feature phones’ or a ‘smartphones’. The definitions of these two types are widely discussed and disputed by analysts, manufacturers, journalists, and end users. The lack of a standard definition can be attributed to the advancement of mobile phone technology. As the technology continues to evolve, definitions are subject to ch... ...s have existed since the development of mobile devices. â€Å"Downloadable† applications (such as DMO apps), however, have only spread and reached mainstream usage with the emergence of smartphones and PDAs (Holzer and Ondrus 2011, 22). Beyond the fundamental definition, there are a range of classifications that a mobile application may fall under. In their 2008 white paper on mobile applications, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) suggests that, from a technical viewpoint, mobile applications can be distinguished according to the runtime environment in which they function. The MMA lists three types of runtime environments, namely native platforms and operating systems, mobile web and browser runtimes, and other managed platforms and virtual machines. By and large, however, the industry makes a distinction between native applications and web-based applications.

Process Strategy and Analysis For Toyota Motors Corporation Essay

Introduction When organizations seek to improve or transform their resources into goods and services, they are, in a way, developing their process strategy in producing their customer and product specifications at lower costs and less managerial constraints. As companies are targeting global markets at present, each organization needs to decide on long-term competitive goals that are strategic in nature. In making these process decisions, managers need to focus on controlling competitive priorities like quality, flexibility, time, and cost to meet the global demand for their products. In having a look at Toyota Motor Corporation’s process strategy, it will be helpful to realize why their decisions for both service and manufacturing processes are successful. By determining the processes that comprise their operations, we will be able to assess if their value chains are managed efficiently and effectively. According to Krajewski et al. (2007), a process strategy specifies the pattern of decisions made in managing processes so that they will achieve their competitive priorities. Also, a â€Å"process strategy guides a variety of process decisions, and in turn is guided by operations strategy and the organization’s ability to obtain the resources necessary to support them†. Thus, a process strategy consists of decisions that help define the value chain. Usually these decisions seek the improvement of processes and they are done most likely when: A gap exists between competitive priorities and competitive capabilities. A new or substantially modified service or product is being offered. Quality must be improved. Competitive priorities have changed. Demand for a service or product is changing. Current performance is inadequate. The cost or availability of inputs has changed. Competitors are gaining by using a new process. New technologies are available. Someone has a better idea. As a leading auto manufacturer in the world, Toyota Motor Corporation sells its vehicles in more than 170 countries and regions worldwide. Toyota’s primary markets for its automobiles are Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Employing nearly 300,000 people, its headquarters is located in Toyota City, Japan. Their products include passenger cars, recreational and sport-utility vehicles; minivans and trucks. Toyota’s subsidiary, Daihatsu Motor Company, also produces and sells mini-vehicles and compact cars. While another brand, Hino Motors produces and sells commercial vehicles. More importantly, Toyota manufactures automotive parts, components and accessories for its own use and for sale. Toyota has 52 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries and regions (Toyota Website). Process Strategies in Toyota One of the most notable processes that Toyota Motor Corporation had made famous is the Toyota Production System (TPS). At present, TPS is also known for a variety of terms like lean systems or just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, lean production, stockless production and zero inventories. Cox and Blackstone (1998) defined lean systems as â€Å"a philosophy of production that emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all the resources (including time) used in the various activities of the enterprise †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lean systems thinking was initiated and developed as the TPS. It was Toyota’s vice president Taiichi Ohno who pushed for the TPS beginning in 1937 when he discovered that labor at American manufacturers was nine times more productive than labor at Japanese manufacturers (Monden 1983, p. v). Since there was a pressure to improve after World War II because capital was restricted and production volumes were low, Ohno researched on some methods they can adopt in Toyota to make their production system work better. However, it was not until the 1973 oil crisis that most Japanese manufacturers became interested in TPS and it was not until the end of the 1970s that a significant number of U.S. manufacturers began to investigate TPS. The Toyota Production System became widely known in the United States in 1983 when a book of that title was published. During the 1980s, the popular term in the United States for the TPS system was â€Å"just-in-time manufacturing†. At the beginning of the 1990s, the term lean systems became popular because of a series of books and articles by U.S. consultants and researchers in which they referred to TPS as â€Å"lean systems,† because they allow more and more to be done with less and less. Fact is that Ohno only borrowed important roots of lean systems from two distinct American institutions: Henry Ford’s mass production system and the supermarket. Lean Systems That Sparked More Process Strategies In the book by Womack and Jones (1996), entitled Lean Thinking, they simplified Ohno’s lean systems approach. As it is not just a set of techniques but a management philosophy, this means managers must have a different mental model or perspective of managing the manufacturing process. The five steps or principles to develop this mental model are: Precisely specify value for each specific product. Identify the value stream for each product. Make value flow without interruptions. Let the customer pull value from the producer. Pursue perfection. During the 1980s, some U.S. companies have adopted lean systems successfully. But many more failed or even refused to take action. Many managers are skeptical that TPS could not succeed in the United States or it provided no real benefits. However, the publication of a book titled The Machine That Changed the World (Womack, Jones & Roos, 1990) ended the debate about whether lean systems created real, lasting benefits. The book presented the results of a three-year study of automobile manufacturing throughout the developed world. They found that in 1990 a Japanese plant in Japan took 16.8 hours to build an auto, while a U.S plant in the United States took 25.1 hours per car. Not only did a Japanese plant produce cars faster, its cars had fewer defects per hundred vehicles, lower space requirements, and lower inventories than their competitors. Their findings also indicate that it is the management system and not the country’s culture that is responsible for the success of lean companies, since Japanese plants in the United States performed better than U.S. plants on all criteria. Aside from the TPS, Toyota pursued total quality management or â€Å"kaizen†, a change strategy that involves a continuous incremental improvement of work procedures. Using kaizen, production-line employees are made responsible for finding ways to improve work procedures to drive down costs and drive up quality. Individually, and in quality groups or circles, employees suggest ways to improve how a particular Toyota car model is made. Over time, from their thousands of suggestions, incremental innovations made to the car assembly process result in major improvements to the final product. Employees receive cash bonuses and rewards for finding ways to improve work procedures, and the result has been a continuous increase in car quality and reduced manufacturing costs. In the 2000s, under the leadership of Toyota’s new president, Jujio Cho, the company sought to increase the speed of change to further improve its efficiency and quality to gain an edge over its major competitors such as GM, Ford, and Daimler-Chrysler. It has begun a series of new kinds of change programs, each directed at improving some aspect of its operations, which Toyota hopes will bring both incremental and radical changes to the way it operates. Some incremental change programs involve strengthening its kaizen program, such as â€Å"pokayoke,† or mistake-proofing. This initiative concentrates on the stages of the assembly process that have led to most previous quality problems; employees are required to double- and triple-check a particular stage to discover defective parts or to fix improper assembly operations that lead to subsequent customer complaints. Another program is Construction of Cost Competitiveness for the 21st Century program or â€Å"CCC21,† which involves working with the company’s suppliers to find ways to reduce the costs of Toyota’s car components by 30 percent—something that will result in billions of dollars in savings. Toyota has also introduced a new manufacturing process called â€Å"GBL,† which uses a sophisticated new assembly process to hold a car body firmly in place during production. This allows welding and assembly operations to be performed more accurately, resulting in better-quality cars. GBL has also enabled Toyota to build factories that Toyota to build factories that can assemble several different kinds of models on the same production line with no loss in efficiency or quality. This is a major competitive advantage. The company’s global network of plants can now quickly change the kinds of cars they are making depending on buyers’ demands for various models at different points in time (Dawson, 21 February 2005). Other radical change efforts have focused on revamping Toyota’s development and design process to keep up with changing customer needs and demographics. In the 1990s, for example, the age of the average Toyota car buyer steadily rose. Despite Toyota’s climbing global sales (which exceeded $203 billion in 2006), the company was criticized for failing to understand how the market was changing. Some blamed the problem on centralized decision making at the company and a culture that had long been dominated by Toyota’s cautious and frugal Japanese designers. Rather than designing innovative, flexible vehicles customers were increasingly demanding, Toyota continued to focus on cutting costs and increasing the quality of its vehicles. To quickly get an improved design process into gear, President Cho bolstered two new change techniques to radically alter the design process: PDCA and â€Å"obeya†. Obeya is based on frequent brainstorming sessions among engineers, designers, production managers, and marketers designed to speed new model cars to the market. PDCA (â€Å"plan,† â€Å"do,† check,† â€Å"action†) is a program designed to empower the company’s designers outside of Japan to intervene in the car development process and champion designs that meet the needs of local customers. The results of promoting a flexible, decentralized car design process were the speedy introduction of the rugged eight-cylinder Tundra pickup truck and the angular, ScionxB compact in the United States, as well as the Yaris, Toyota’s best-selling European car. The Yaris was designed in Europe, and its success there led to its subsequent introduction in Japan where it also sold well (Hill, 2004). Conclusion Throughout its existence, we could see that Toyota has managed their process strategies effectively as they root everything out from the TPS. Through the TPS, they continued to change and improve their processes to lessen production time, lessen the wastes and make production efficient to the benefit of both the company and its employees. Also, it is important to note that, despite all these changes, their customers remain at the core of their focus as Toyota seeks to meet all their demands. As for their management, the decisions are translated into actual process designs or redesigns. This matches the complementary philosophies for process design: (1) process reengineering and (2) process improvement (Krajewski et al., 2007). In this regard, we could say that Toyota Motors Corporation has an excellent decision patterns to further improve their manufacturing processes in the future. The Process Analysis of the Toyota Motor Corporation Introduction In the book The Toyota Way, Liker (2003) claimed that Toyota has the fastest product development process in the world. In analyzing their manufacturing process, Liker found that new cars and trucks take only 12 months or less to design in Toyota, while competitors typically require two to three years. Also, Toyota has been benchmarked to be the best in its class by all of its peers and competitors throughout the world. This is because Toyota maintains high quality, high productivity, faster manufacturing speed and flexibility in processing their products (p. 5). All these successes are due to the TPS that Liket (2003) summarized into 4 Ps (Problem-Solving, People and Partners, Process and Philosophy (see Figure 1). Figure 1. 4Ps That Comprise the Toyota Production Systems (Source: Liker, 2003). Analyzing the TPS In the process part of the TPS, we can see at its core is the goal of eliminating waste. For example, in the manual assembly operation of a truck chassis assembly line (see Figure 2). The operator takes many individual steps, but generally only a small number of the steps add value to the product, as far as the customer is concerned. In this case, only the three steps identified add value. Although some of the non value-added steps are necessary (for example, the operator has to reach to get the power tool), the point here is to minimize the time spent on non-value-added operations by positioning the tools and material as close as possible to the point of assembly. Toyota has identified seven major types of non-value-adding waste in business or manufacturing processes: Overproduction. Producing items for which there are no orders, which generates such wastes as overstaffing and storage and transportation costs because of excess inventory. Waiting (time on hand). Workers merely serving to watch an automated machine or having to stand around waiting for the next processing step, tool, supply, part, etc., or just plain having no work because of stockouts, lot processing delays, equipment downtime, and capacity bottlenecks. Unnecessary transport or conveyance. Carrying work in process (WIP) long distances, creating inefficient transport, or moving materials, parts, or finished goods into or out of storage or between processes. Overprocessing or incorrect processing. Taking unneeded steps to process the parts. Inefficiently processing due to poor tool and product design, causing unnecessary motion and producing defects. Waste is generated when providing higher-quality products than is necessary. Excess inventory. Excess raw material, WIP, or finished goods causing longer lead times, obsolescence, damaged goods, transportation and storage costs, and delay. Also, extra inventory hides problems such as production imbalances, late deliveries from suppliers, defects, equipment downtime, and long setup times. Unnecessary movement. Any wasted motion employees have to perform during the course of their work, such as looking for, reaching for, or stacking parts, tools, etc. Also, walking is waste. Defects. Production of defective parts or correction. Repair or rework, scrap, replacement production, and inspection mean wasteful handling, time, and effort. Unused employee creativity. Losing time, ideas, skills, improvements, and learning opportunities by not engaging or listening to your employees (Liker 2003, p. 28-29). Figure 2. Waste in a Truck Chassis Assembly Line (Source: Liker, 2003). Figure 3. Timeline of Waste in a Value System (Source: Liker, 2003). TPS: A Goal Driven Process Like any system, the TPS is a goal-driven set of interrelated or linked activities. Managers who recognize that they are managing a system are aware of two main points: (1) the system reacts to any solution and (2) the system controls the behavior of those individuals who operate within it. The first point means that there are often unintended consequences when a solution to a problem in a system is introduced. To avoid unintended consequences, managers must fully understand the system. The second point means that managers must avoid attributing the problems in a system to the character of the individuals within the system. The manager must instead identify how the structure of the system is shaping the choices of the individuals within the system. By understanding these two points, the manager can now redesign the system to increase the system’s performance. The incorrect use of performance measures can prevent the successful introduction of lean systems. For example, a performance measurement system that encourages high equipment and high labor utilization often discourages production at the rate demanded by the customer. Indeed, these performance measures actually encourage large-batch production, thus creating the waste of overproduction and decreasing the system’s ability to respond to the customer. Firms that implement lean systems often use a performance measure called overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Soiichi Nakajima (1988) first formulated this performance measure to assess how effectively equipment is maintained and operated. Figure 4 shows six types of capacity losses in the right-hand column (breakdown losses, setup and adjustment losses, idling and minor stoppages, speed losses, quality defects, and start-up and yield losses). These capacity losses are organized into three categories: downtime losses, speed losses, and quality losses. Figure 4. Six Probable Causes For Equipment Losses (Source: Masaji & Goto, 1992). Knowing performance measurements are an important part of any manufacturing system, thus TPS support the elimination of possible waste. The operations manager must select the performance measurements that will encourage behaviors that lead to the desired business performance. In TPS, the desired business performance is shorter flow time, reduced costs, and faster response to the customer. Another advantage of the TPS is its support towards employee empowerment as a means for continuous improvement. Toyota empowers its employees by training them to use the scientific method to continuously improve processes. The scientific method involves four elements: theory, hypotheses, data, and verification. In the research of Spear and Bowen (1999) they indicated that the scientific method is integrated into the Toyota Production System so that every time a job is performed is an experiment. This creates a system where all the work processes are very specified and structured, but the system itself is very flexible and responsive. Toyota implements the scientific method as part of four unspoken rules that everyone in the organization must learn and practice: Highly Specified Work – Toyota’s first rule requires that managers, engineers, and line workers fully understand how a job is to be done and its relationship to other jobs. By ensuring that every job has a very clearly defined set of steps, it is obvious when the correct process is not being followed and it is also obvious when more training is needed or when the job definition needs to be changed. This allows quick identification and correction of any problems that occur. This first rule reduces variance in how work is done. By creating a highly specified sequence of steps to perform the job, Toyota is actually proposing a theory that this procedure is the best way to do the job. Given this theory, two implicit hypotheses in every standard job specification are first that each person doing the activity is capable of performing it correctly and second that performing the activity as specified actually creates the expected outcome. Direct Connections – Toyota’s second rule states that there must be direct, unambiguous communication between each customer and supplier. Direct, unambiguous communication means that each customer and each supplier know the exact form and quantity of goods and services to be provided. The theory implicit in this second rule is that the supplier has the capacity to meet the customer’s needs as they are communicated. This theory leads to two hypotheses: (1) the customers’ requests will be for goods and services in a specific mix and volume and (2) the supplier can respond to the customers’ requests. The production process generates data through the observation of the customer-supplier interactions. Simple Direct Pathways – Toyota’s third rule is that all pathways must be simple and direct. This means that goods and services must flow to a specific person or machine. The underlying theory in this rule is that having simple and direct pathways will quickly reveal any source of variances in the flow of goods and services. This rule suggests two hypotheses: (1) every supplier is necessary and (2) any supplier not connected to the pathway is not necessary. Each day of production provides data to analyze the hypotheses. Was there a supplier who was not connected to a pathway? Obviously any supplier or activity not connected to the flow pathway can be eliminated. This rule eliminates noise from the system and means that there are no pooled queues of completed work from suppliers waiting for the customers to use. Instead, completed work leaves one activity and goes to the next activity. If one supplier has a high variance in deliveries, their variance will not be hidden b y the deliveries of the other suppliers. Scientific Method – Toyota’s fourth rule requires that employees be trained to formulate and test hypotheses about how they can improve their job activities. Toyota constantly encourages its workers to conduct experiments trying to identify a better method of performing their job activities. Conclusion In analyzing the Toyota Production System, we can deem that the company seeks to benchmark their operations to become more efficient. This is the reason why that the TPS is highly regarded among all companies in the world because it focuses on setting quantitative goals for improvement. TPS seeks to make Toyota’s manufacturing processes to be made simple and they are utilizing a scientific model that goes one step further it transforms their processes to be more dynamic. The Toyota management is also constantly gathering ideas for reengineering or improving a process become apparent after documenting the process. They are carefully examining the areas of substandard performance, efficient interaction between departments and finally making customers’ preferences a prime priority. The ultimate goal of TPS is to apply the ideal of one-piece flow to all Toyota’s business operations, from product design to launch, order taking, and physical production by eliminating the unnecessary waste. Thus, the TPS is an all-encompassing philosophy that includes product design, process design, equipment and facilities design, supply chain coordination, job design, and productivity improvement. If there is one â€Å"key† to successful implementation of TPS, it’s adopting a holistic approach. This is probably the reason why Toyota remains to be one of the most admired companies in the world because they implemented a system that cut all the unnecessary costs and produced faster results without compromising the product expectations of their stakeholders. References Cox, J.F. & Blackstone, J.H. Jr. (Eds). (1998). APICS Dictionary, 9th ed. Alexandria, VA: APICS. Dawson, C. (2005, Feb 21). A China Price for Toyota.   Business Week, 3921, 50-51. Hill C.W.L. (2004). Toyota, in C. W. L. Hill & G. R. Jones, Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Krajewski, L.J., Ritzman, L.P. & Malhotra, M.K. (2007). Operations Management: Processes and Value Chains, 8th   ed. NJ: Prentice-Hall. Liker, J. (2003). Toyota Way. Blacklick, OH: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing. Monden, Y. (1983). Toyota Production System, Norcross, GA: Industrial Engineering and Management Press. Nakajima, S. (1988). TPM: Introduction to TPM, Total Productive Maintenance Cambridge MA: Productivity Press. Spear S. & Bowen, H. K. (1999, Sept-Oct). Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System, Harvard Business Review, pp. 96–106. Tajiri, M. & Gotoh, F. (1992). TPM Implementation: A Japanese Approach, New York: McGraw-Hill. Toyota Website. (2007). Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://www.toyota.com/about/our_business/ Womack, J.P. & Jones, D.T. (1996). Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, New York: Simon and Shuster. Womack, J.P. Jones, D.T. & Roos, D. (1990). The Machine That Changed the World, New York: Rawson Associates

Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Essay

‘Heat and dust’ is a story of two different women of two different characters and from two different times in history. A young English woman comes to India to reconstruct the life of her grandfather’s first wife Olivia. Olivia is said to have married Douglas in England round 50 years back and had come to Satipur in India. Here she met the Nawab in a dinner party in Khatm and expected him to visit her within a week. She was not wrong as the Nawab did visit her and in this way they became friends and after some ime passed they became lovers. When she became pregnant she told the Nawab and her husband about it. The Nawab’s mother arranged for an abortion and after that Olivia went to the palace to live. Nawab purchased a house for her in a village in the foothills of Himalayas where she stayed till her death in 1950s. Olivia was so much in love with him that after her death her body was cremated and her ashes spread over the Himalayas, which is against British custom. The young woman who came to India wants to know more about Olivia and lives in Satipur, visits the house in which her grandfather Douglas and Olivia used to live. She visits the Nawab’s palace with her landlord, Inder Lal. She also visits the shrine of Baba Firdau with Inder Lal’s mother and family on an annual fertility day. The next time when she goes there with Inder Lal both of them become lovers and that was near to the spot where Olivia and Nawab had become lovers in 1923. Then the narrator arrives in the same village where Olivia had stayed for rest of her life and stays in the same house. She oo has become pregnant and the story ends with the narrator deciding to carry her child to term. She has also heard about an ashram where she plans to stay but has no idea for how long she would be there. The story of two women is in two different times in history because Olivia had loved Nawab in a society where men were superior and the interaction took place between two different cultures. At that time British got transferred to India and they restricted to interact only with royal Indian families and hence the love story of Olivia with Nawab ook place. But when the narrator comes to India, it is a liberal state and all are free to travel and interact with anyone they want. So the narrator gets friendly with Inder Lal who is a civil servant and falls in love with him. However the situation and place all are same with both the women and it seems the same old story is getting repeated. In spite of few differences due to discrete situations and circumstances, it seems that the narrator is following the footsteps of Olivia. The time is different for these two women with dissimilar society rules but the reader has he impression that narrator is unknowingly following the footsteps of Olivia. The intercultural interaction is the same along with the marriage vows. Any relationship outside marriage was considered immoral at that time and in modern times as well. It seems not much has changed like the dos and don’ts for a woman were present in pre- colonial India and in post times too. The description of the two different times with similar situations helps the readers to understand both the women and their feelings properly.