Alice Doesnt Essays - Gender, Freudian Psychology, Free Essays

Alice Doesnt Essays - Gender, Freudian Psychology, Free Essays Alice Doesnt 7 Lacanian psychoanalysis/Claude Levi-Strauss- both theories deny women that status of subjects and producers of culture. Like cinema, they posit woman as at once the object and the foundation of representation, at once telos and origin of mans desire and of his drive to represent it, at once object and sign of (his) culture and creativity, man as the sole term of reference Hence the position of woman in language and in cinema is one of non-coherence; she finds herself only in a void of meaning, the empty space between the signs- the place of women spectators in the cinema between the look of the camera and the image on the screen, a place not represented, not symbolized, and thus pre-empted to subject (or self) representation. 10 The overriding question is: in what ways does narrative work to engender the subject in the movement of its discourse, as it defines positions of meaning, identification and desire? Freuds story of femininity, Heaths account of narrative cinema as Oedipal drama, and Metzs notion of identification are points of departure for a more adequate and specific understanding of the subjective processes involved in female spectatorship: that is to say, the operations by which narrative and cinema solicit womens consent and by a surplus of pleasure hope to seduce women into femininity. [Summary of Chapter 5]

American Wasteland

American Wasteland American Wasteland Food wastage is a common phenomenon in the United States. In the book American Wasteland, Jonathan Bloom explores the economic, as well as environmental, impacts of food wastage. In an extensive way, Bloom shows how much unused food is thrown away and what reasons are behind the large production of never eaten food, discovering the supply chain from field to the fridge in details. Indeed, the book is intriguing and shocking, especially to people, who never allow food wastage. The concepts in the book come as a warning to the psychological point of view, as most people take it for granted that food is always available. It acts as a wakeup call to reality from the general insensitiveness to food as a resource. Therefore, Bloom uses this riveting book to boost individual and collective responsibility in becoming more food conscious. As a big nation with high population, America tries to produce enough food in order to ensure food security of its citizens. The United States produces nearly 590 billion pounds of food annually. This amount is enough to feed the country sufficiently in that same year. However, it is shocking that approximately 160 billion pounds of food go to waste annually, because of peoples insensitivity. The figures come from the striking fact that nearly all disposed food is edible at the disposal time. The figures show the significance of individual contribution to the overall wastage. Indeed, on average, an individual discards edible food of approximately 197 pounds annually. What is worrying is the notable increase in the food disposal over the years. The Industrial Revolution and change in the lifestyle of the Americans over the past years have influenced food conservation and consciousness negatively. People migration away from the rural to urban areas is a substantial change in their lifestyle. Life in a rural area involves farming and production of ones own food. The urban movement, therefore, drew people from the agricultural life into a life of buying and eating final products. Today, many people are not conscious of the food value and the efforts that are made during the process of its production. Secondly, the hustle and bustle of life barely gives time for cooking and having meals at home. Eating out means that any food left in the house for some time spoils every day. Though the technology enables food storage, most people are quick to consider stored food bad, just according to the smell of the nose, which can often deceive. The increase in literacy and health awareness have also made many people too sensitive to food s poilage, because of the fact that it can be more pathogenic and cause diseases. The oversensitivity, therefore, means that an individual finds it more justifiable to throw food away. In contrast to increased food spoilage and food wastage, people should have become more conscious of a possibility when the supplier of food can become unreliable; hence, this will increase food preservation. The unavoidable food loss in the chain from food production to food consumption is understandable. Number of circumstances help to distinguish and define the responsibility of individuals in reducing food wastage; for example, natural food catastrophes, like harsh weather, disease outbreaks, or insect invasion. In other instances, some foodstuffs, such as banana, spoil easily after ripening, hence, become inedible. Other foods contain unusable parts, like peels, covers, bones, shells that are usually discarded because of inedibility. All the mentioned scenarios are a natural loss of food but not wastage. Effort to reduce unforeseen calamities in the production of food is welcome. This underscores the relevance of modern scientific researches and support to providing alternative plants that are more resistant and more stable to changing weathers. Introducing innovation in converting most parts of products that would have otherwise gone to waste will also increase the overall rate of p roducts utilization. Peoples lifestyle and mindset, as indicated earlier, are the contributory factors for the food wastage. Many foodstuffs, fit for consumption, go to waste in most homes, hotels, and groceries across the country today. This wastage stems from personal decisions of people, from the farmer to the final consumer, basing on their ethics (32). Notably, food will spoil if left for a long time, as spoilage is possible even in refrigerated food. Therefore, appliances, such as fridges, never should become dumping places. It is necessary to eat up all of the stored food instead of buying excessive amount of food and throwing it away latter. If eating out is unavoidable, it is reasonable to order clear and GMO free food. On the other hand, food stores or groceries should not be obsessed with ensuring fresh items in their shelves. Instead of discarding foodstuff from shelves to create space for fresh items, groceries can instead reduce the prices of edible though not very fresh items. This concept goes hand in hand with the psychological change that stayed food may be perfectly healthy and nutritious for consumption. The consequences of food wastage may not be easily noticeable, yet they play a crucial role in the environmental and economic influence. Most food types also go bad easily. For example, if a person eats half a banana and leaves it behind until evening, the banana spoils, and the person has to dispose it. The act of disposing of wasted food is particularly common, as the litter is common in most streets. This means that individuals have less time and pay less attention to perceive the effects of disposing food, such as foul smell. Rooting foodstuffs contribute considerable greenhouse gases, which pollutes the environment. Since, individuals buy foodstuffs, food wastage amounts to wasteful expenditure. Bloom explains (25) that the money spent on food, which end up in litterbin, would better be in a bank account. The trend of food insensitivity will cause imbalance in the future. As the population increases, the ratio of resources and food per person diminishes, leading to harmful level s, as Bloom warns. In conclusion, people should learn to avoid food wastage, since wastage has different negative effects. Food wastage is an expensive habit that has environmental effects. Therefore, it is essential that people learn to avoid throwing food. Foods in the fridges should be taken before they go rancid instead of going for eat out. It is also crucial to buy enough food, but not excess food left behind later. Stores that sell foodstuffs should not be too customer oriented to concentrate solely on fresh products. They should find means of reducing wastage of foodstuffs. These measures coupled with personal sensitiveness on the matter will eventually transform the nation into a non-food-wasting one.

Personal issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal issue - Essay Example issue of such a sleep problem as insomnia, for it relates to me extremely directly for a long time, and I believe I know the true reason of its occurrence, but let’s see am I right or not. Insomnia is the most frequent manifestation of a temporary malfunction of the nervous system in response to various stressors. There is no specific nature of insomnia appearance, as in different cases it can peer out in different ways. â€Å"While theres no standard definition for insomnia, suggested criteria include taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, waking up too early, or sleeping less than 6 1/2 hours a night...† (Beals). This is three types of the disease. Many factors may cause the problem including chronic disease of different kinds, overwork, overexcitement, and all this is worsened by unhealthy lifestyle, negative attitudes towards the world and people on the whole, and oneself in particular. If to cast a bit detailed glance at seeds of insomnia, the most frequent among them are psychological problems, violation of the usual regime, as well as other diseases (heart, liver, etc.), or the use of psychotropic drugs, alcohol, or a cup of strong coffee before goi ng to sleep, overeating in the evening hours, especially junk greasy food. Insomnia can be affected by intense mental work, noisy games, compulsive reading at bedtime or even smoking. It also occurs in the cases of constant expectation of poor sleep and related experiences, as well as can be a result of insufficient physical activity. The specific side of the disease is connected with the fact that â€Å"Although many patients can link the start of their insomnia to a particular cause, others have a form of insomnia with no underlying connection to another disorder† (The New York Times). In such a case there is a need of seeking medical advice if a sleep is not normalized in short terms. Depending on duration of disturbance, there are three forms or phases of insomnia, namely: a transient or episodic one

Philosopher of Islam Al-Kindi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Philosopher of Islam Al-Kindi - Essay Example He authenticated the Quranic principles and the phenomenon of God's existence through theoretical reasoning. This serves to be answering the question whether or not he was a theologian, because if he is to be called a theologian then the term philosophy cannot be associated with him. Both the terms are distinct and belong to different schools of thought. The essay also enquires into the fact that al-Kindi's philosophy was greatly influenced by Greek philosopher and that most of his works comprise the translated work from Greek philosophy. This argument also needs to be resolved, because if al-Kindi had no originality, then he cannot be called the first Muslim philosopher. Therefore, the main question encompassing the essay is whether or not al-Kindi was the first true philosopher of Islam and this paper goes about the question by first introducing the essence of al-Kindi's philosophy and other prominent philosophers accompanies with a discussion on theology so as to confirm that he was not a theologian but a philosopher. Truth and Integrity are said to be the essences of Islamic philosophy. Hitti (1970) says that Islamic history is an evidence of the enriching contribution of Muslim scholars on science, philosophy and theology of modern times. There have been numerous great Muslim philosophers who contributed their knowledge magnificently to various fields and aspects of philosophy. Some of them are al-Kindi, al-Ghazali, al-Suhrawardi, al-Arabi, al-Dawani, Ibn Hazm, al-Juwayni, al-Farabi and al-Razi. Of all these great philosophers, al-Kindi is known to be the first philosopher of Islam. He was the first philosopher in Arab and thus owing to his great contribution to the Arabic writings, he is often called the "philosopher of Arabs"1. Through his efforts only, the Muslims began to realise the philosophy to be an integral part of Islamic society. The analogy of most of his works suggests that he was exhaustively inspired from the Greek Neoplatoniasm and thus his writings reflect a great influence of Aristotelianism in his thoughts. Although, this inspiration from Greek philosophy is evident but his works also highly manifest that he had used Greek concepts in newer context that had not been presented before at that time. He in fact reconciled the Greek concepts of philosophy to the Islamic principles and thus introduced an entirely new philosophy. His writings infused a new life into Islamic philosophy by making it encompass all the sciences.2 His work was claimed to be mostly influenced by the Greek thought, which was due to the fact that he considered the acquisition of knowledge to be universal. He viewed knowledge was something that could be taken on from any society, culture or school of thought. Most of his work consists of translation of Greek books into the Arabic language. He himself was of the opinion that if one is to acquire the true knowledge, he should be willing to reach anywhere in his quest of its acquisition. Therefore, the claim that al-Kindi cannot be called first true philosopher of Islam because his thought was mainly influenced by Greek philosophers does not hold true, as what he did comprises not only translations but also his own reflection on the acquired knowledge. He presented the ancient Greek thought in his own context of understanding philosophy. Al-Kindi said, "We should not be ashamed to acknowledge

Impact of Financial and Non-financial Rewards on Employee Motivation Literature review

Impact of Financial and Non-financial Rewards on Employee Motivation and Satisfaction of Saudi Nationals in Saudi Aramco - Literature review Example A predominant means for accomplishing human-resource-based competitive advantages is the use of incentives. Performance-related pay and benefits are some common incentives in the financial sector, as well as other industries. Lewis offers a process-cycle theory, where the stages of PRP must be properly managed in order to deliver optimal performance results. These stages are: 1) establishing objectives; 2) measuring performance; 3) providing performance feedback; and 4) translating performance into rewards. His study shows that incentives can greatly affect performance, when these stages are aptly managed in relation to employees’ performance levels and issues. Ferreira, Marques and Azevedo show from their study of Portuguese banks that incentive systems shape organisational competitiveness, although other factors are also important, such as management and leadership approaches. PRP per se is not the magic bullet of performance, especially when it has design and implementation flaws. (Boachie-Mensah and Dogbe, 2011). Financial incentives and performance Financial incentives alone are not enough to drive motivation and performance because employees consider other factors too (Siders, George and Dharwadkar, 2011). In the study of 139 Slovenian bank managers, Hartmann and Slapnicar (2012) explored the effect of distributive justice properties and procedural justice properties of managerial pay on manager’s intrinsic motivation. They discovered that procedural justice is a greater predictor of intrinsic motivation when low pay transparency exists, while distributive justice is a greater predictor of motivation when high pay transparency is present. Hartmann and Slapnicar (2012) concluded that pay transparency is important in analysing and designing just managerial pay

Importance of Product Innovation at Sony

Importance of Product Innovation at Sony Searching for Sonys Salvation: The Turnaround Strategy of an Industrial Giant There is no doubt that Sony, one of the greatest companies of the twentieth century, accredited with being the creators of products such as the portable radio, Walkman, and PlayStation, to name but a few, is no longer the force of old. No longer does it rule the roost in the consumer electronics industry to the extent that it did in decades gone by. No longer does it feature among the worlds most valuable brands as it did at the peak of its powers. Founded by Masaru Ibuka and Akito Morita in post-war Tokyo, Sony, or Tokyo Tsuchin Kogyo KK (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation), the predecessor of Sony, started as a small company with capital of just 190,000 yen and less than a couple of dozen employees (Sony, n.d.). Yet, therein laid the foundations of what was to become one of, if not, the most iconic consumer electronics company in the world, worth an estimated $7.6 billion as at 2016 (Forbes, 2016) with more than 125,000 employees on its payroll (Sony, n.d.). However, it is fair to say that in recent years, Sonys performance has fallen short of expectations. According to the case study, the company has failed to tap into new opportunities, and been criticised for being complacent and over-reliant on past successes. The aim of this assignment, therefore, is to: firstly, discuss the importance of product innovation to the future success of Sony, in regard to the changing marketing environment; secondly, conduct a SWOT analysis of Sony; and thirdly, recommend a course of action for Sony based on an exploration of the strategic options available, in an attempt to turnaround the industrial giants ailing fortunes. In so doing, this assignment explores the key concepts at the heart of each discussion and applies them within the context of the case study, around which the questions are based. Discuss the importance of product innovation to the future success of Sony, in regard to the changing marketing environment. In order to fully appreciate the importance of product innovation to the future success of Sony, there are several issues which must be examined. For example, the concept of the marketing environment should first be defined and broken down, likewise the process of environmental scanning that will lead on from this, and only then can such a discussion begin to take place. The marketing environment can be defined as the actors and forces that affect a companys capability to operate effectively in providing products and services to its customers (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2016). In other words, the marketing environment includes all the factors that have an impact upon the decisions, policies, and strategies of an organisation. On the face of it, therefore, the marketing environment is a one-dimensional concept that is easy-to-understand. However, that is by no means correct. Indeed, there are multiple facets of the marketing environment; hence it is vital to break it down into its component parts. The marketing environment is composed of the macro environment and micro environment. Whereas the former consists of a number of broad forces that affect not only the company but also the other actors in the microenvironment, (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2016: 38) the latter consists of the actors in the firms immediate environment that affect its capabilities to operate effectively in its chosen markets. (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2016: 55) To put it more simply, the macro environment revolves around external factors, in contrast to the micro environment, the focus of which is on internal factors. For example, the macro environment includes political, economic, social, technological, legal, and ecological factors that affect an organisation, all of which will be expanded upon later in the discussion. The micro environment, meanwhile, includes competitors, customers, distributors, and suppliers. These shape the character of the opportunities and threats facing a company and yet are l argely uncontrollable. In order to combat the uncontrollability of the marketing environment, it is essential that organisations adopt a strategy for dealing with such a problem. This leads us to the concept of environmental scanning. According to Huczynski and Buchanan (2016), environment scanning refers to processes through which the impact of external trends and developments on the internal functioning of an organisation can be determined and forecasted. Diffenbach (1983) finds that organisations can reap the rewards from carrying out the process of environmental scanning. Chief amongst the multitudinous advantages it can deliver are enhanced general cognisance of, and responsiveness to, changes in the marketing environment; improved strategic planning and decision-making; better industry and market analysis; and more efficient energy planning. As far as the macro environment is concerned, one of the widely used approaches to environmental scanning is a PESTLE analysis. This is an environmental scanning tool identifying political, economic, social, technological, legal, and ecological factors that have an effect on an organisation. Political factors influencing organisations emerge from decisions made and actions taken by the government. For example, taxation rates may change which will affect the profitability of an organisation. Economic factors arise from the state of the countrys wealth. If there is a recession, for example, it slows down the economy as people are less likely to spend unnecessarily which, in turn, impacts upon sales and profits. Social factors refer to the ways in which society changes and the requirement for organisations to acclimatise in the same way. For example, changing demographic forces such as an ageing population may mean appetite for particular products either peters out or grows. Technologic al factors relate to the rapidly evolving technological advancements that marketers have to keep abreast with and invest in to remain competitive. Legal factors include the implementation of specific laws, which, for example, may necessitate the payment of a statutory minimum wage by organisations to their workforces. Ecological factors, meanwhile, revolves around environmental concerns and reducing toxic emissions, pollution, and spills. These factors cannot be controlled but can prepare the organisation for changes that may take place in the marketing environment (Morrison and Daniels, 2010). Now that we have explored the concepts at the heart of the question, namely innovation, and the marketing environment, tying in with environmental scanning and PESTLE analysis, it is possible to apply these within the context of Sony. Beginning with the micro environment, Sony has faced increasing numbers of competitors in recent years. Indeed, the case study alludes to the fact that aggressive competitors are stealing market share in key markets where once it dominated. For example, within the mobile phone sector, multination corporations such as Apple and, to a greater extent, Samsung are now seen as the dominant forces. Together, Samsung and Apple, the top two global smartphone brands, accounted for more than 42% of the worldwide market share in the first quarter of 2016. (TrendForce, 2016) By stark contrast, Sony did not even feature among the top five, lagging behind in the others category. Hopes had initially been high that Sonys range of phones, complete with top-of-the-range camera capabilities and Walkman-branded capabilities enabling them to be transformed into portable digital music gadgets, would see them retake the lead in the market. However, Sonys strategy to market Walkman-branded products against the likes of Apples highly innovative and successful iPhone range has yet to yield success and is unlikely to do so in light of how outdated the Walkman is in comparison to their opposite numbers latest device. Just as technology is evolving, so too is it the responsibility of marketers to keep up-to-date with such changes in an attempt to remain competitive in the marketplace.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Thus, the importance of product innovation should be underplayed from a micro marketing environment perspective. That said, it can be argued that it is of equal importance in a macro environment sense too. Conduct a SWOT analysis on Sony. What are the strategic options available to Sony? Furthermore, recommend a course of action for Sony, giving reasons for your answer. Bibliography Diffenbach, John (1983) Corporate Environmental Analysis in Large US Corporations, Long-Range Planning Vol. 16 No. 3 pp107-16 Forbes Website (2016) The Worlds Most Valuable Brands https://www.forbes.com/powerful-brands/list/#tab:rank [accessed 3rd March 2017] Huczynski, Andrzej; and Buchanan, David (2013) Organizational Behaviour 8th Edition, Pearson Jobber, David; and Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona (2016) Principles and Practice of Marketing 8th Edition, London: McGraw-Hill Education Morrison, Mike; and Daniels, Kathy (2010) Pestle Analysis Factsheet, London: Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development Sony Website (no date) TrendForce Website

Platos Communism :: Communism Essays

Elites: Elites not masses, govern all societies, but in whose interests do they serve.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elites are inevitable in all societies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to both Madison and Plato, factions will inevitably occur within society, the way to address this is viewed in two different ways by Plato and Madison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plato sees within society an inherent flaw of two cities, a city of the rich and a city of the poor. He rejects oligarchy, the rule of few over many, because he believes that â€Å"absolute power corrupts absolutely† and rejects democracy for the incompetence within the system because it lacks people properly schooled in the Plutonian tradition and sees the violence inherent in the system, for: existent in all forms of government exist the extreme violence and selfishness of party struggles for factions within society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plato would remove the causes of factions, choosing to give up further liberties to protect the good of the people. His theory is similar to the state of nature, believing that societies are formed to meet the needs of the people. Because of the inherent yearning for power within a few elites, Plato would remove these feelings of selfishness, with his own form of Communism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plato’s communism would take two main forms which meet in the abolition of the family. The first of the two forms would be to set up a new form of hierarchy: Philosopher king, who would rule by merit of vision and capacity to realize that vision in reality. Guardians, who would serve as the military/ruling class of society, merchant class which serves as a middle class, a buffer between the poor and the rulers. This sunders in two the idea of a city of rich/ city of poor. However the main thing to note is that the rulers must give up certain freedoms in order to attain their position of power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The rulers must give up the right to own property, effectively removing self-interest. Anyone can be a ruler as long as they MERIT the position. Also, the must live in common barracks style living and eat at a common table, facilitating discussion and equality amongst them. Also they all must be schooled in the Plutonian Tradition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second form of communism would be the abolition of a permanent monogamous sexual relationship. This removes loyalty to family/lover. Lovemaking would be more like livestock breeding and would occur at the behest of the ruler.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plato believed that if the unity of the state is to be preserved and marriage and property stand in the way than they must be abolished.