Organizational Behavior – Mid Term

ASSIGNMENT FRONT COVER | | | |Module name: Class # 790 – Organizational Behavior | |Assignment title: Midterm Exam | |Assignment deadline: November 12th 2012 | |Effective number of words used: 1471 | |Table of Contents Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 References and Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders todayIn today’s ever changing environment, organizations need to continuously adapt and transform, not only in order to succeed but even just to survive. While it takes a capable manager to efficiently run a business in steady-state, it takes a leader to successfully drive an organization through change (Kotter in Robbins and Judge, 2009: 385). Dealing with technology, economic and legislation changes isn’t new for organizations. The speed of change has however substantially increased in the last few decades as has the disruptive nature of these changes.Leaders today are faced with challenges such as globalization and instant communication that were not present until recently. The words and actions of leaders are broadcasted across the globe within seconds and are heard and seen by individuals who will perceive and interpret them through the filter of their own values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations. In this accelerated environment, effective leaders need to be able to swiftly read trends and anticipate change, adapt to new situations, fine-tune their actions and continuously inspire others towards the pursuit of a compelling vision.In order to do so, they need to be perceptive of the environment around them and detect when discrepancies between their assumptions and reality arise (Clawson, 2001: 14). An example of business failure due to the mismatch between leader’s assumptions and environmental reality is Polaroid. When in 1977 Polaroid launched its instant-video product Polavision (an innovative instant movie camera that used an additive process to generate color), it experienced the first of several product fail ures that eventually forced the company into bankruptcy.The mistake that Polaroid’s Leader Edwin H. Land made was to assume that the market-follows-technology approach that had been successful for the previous 40 years was unchangeably valid (Lefler, 2010), despite the skepticism expressed by many within the company. Simpler and cheaper videocassette based alternatives were released at the same time by Kodak and other competitors. These â€Å"non-instant† products responded to markets’ trends better than Polaroid’s ground breaking instant-video solution, condemning Polavision to irrelevance and Polaroid to massive losses (Giambarba, 1977).I think Polavision is the story of a self awareness lacking leader, failing to identify his blind spots and driving the organization to failure. In my opinion Mr. Land failed to question his assumption in a changing marketplace and to openly listen to others, consequently ignoring precious feedback. Had Mr. Land listened to the concerns expressed by others around him, including Polaroid’s president Bill McCune, things could have possibly gone differently. Self evaluation is what allows individuals to identify those blind spots and weaknesses and to put measures in place to compensate them (Musselwhite, C. 2007). Through self evaluation, self awareness is achieved. The benefits of self evaluation and self awareness for a leader in today’s organizations are significant. By understanding your strengths, efforts can be focused on them, hence developing a greater potential for success (Roberts at all, 2005: 1). By recognizing your weaknesses you are in a better position to accept them and deal with them effectively. In the case of Polavision, Mr Land’s product and technology strengths were overshadowed by his marketing weakness. For his leadership to be effective, Mr.Land should have commissioned a market research to validate his assumption that the public was ready and willing to c onsume the product he was developing. Self awareness is the basis of self management and social awareness (Goleman, 2000; 80). The ability to read and manage your emotions, reactions and feelings, helps seeing yourself and the world under a different light. This in turns enables you to shift your point of view and identify opportunities and solutions that were otherwise impossible to imagine (Covey, 1989: 86). In the case of Polaroid a more socially aware Mr.Land would have valued the input of the Polavision skeptics and maybe redirected his creativity towards developing a product more in line with current market trends. Moreover, acknowledging your limits and not hiding them induces trust. You are perceived as human and people relate to you better. When trusted, you become a more effective leader as people feel safe when they follow your direction. Your behavior remains consistent in different situations and the influence of the environment on your actions is weakened. You develop charisma. You become authentic (George, B. et all, 2007: 7).Self evaluation implies asking for feedback and actively listening to what you hear. As you learn from asking questions, people around you also feel more comfortable doing so. This ignites a virtuous learning circle that drives personal growth. The biggest asset of organizations is their human capital. An engaged, motivated and virtuous human capital is the engine behind organizations’ success. In particular, by developing an environment where it is OK to ask questions, to challenge status-quo, to try new things and to make mistakes, innovation forces are unleashed (Musselwhite, C. , 2007).Conclusion Self Evaluation develops self awareness. Self awareness promotes personal growth and enables behaviors that are associated with charismatic leadership. Charisma is what inspires others to follow the leader. They trust her, share her vision and feel empowered and motivated to work towards a common goal. Charisma is a cruc ial element of effective leadership, but it is often not sufficient to drive organizations, particularly large ones, to sustainable success (Nadler and Tushman, 1990: 85). Self awareness developed through self evaluation, allows a leader to also understand and address this.By recognizing her limits, a self aware leader will develop an organizational structure that complements her strengths and, through alignment, effectively works towards the set vision. The most prominent benefits of self assessment for leaders today in my opinion are therefore the enablement of charismatic and institutional leadership, both of which are necessary to effectively guide an organization. Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an examplePrejudice (prior judgment[1]) implies forming an opinion about the personality traits, expected behavior, skills and capability of a person, without that opi nion being backed by empirical evidence. These pre-formed opinions are often very strong, deriving from values and beliefs that are deeply embedded in our psyche. As such they are hard to remove. We may even unconsciously reject evidence negating the pre-judgment in a self affirming effort to confirm our assumptions. The end result is a diminished ability to appreciate the full range of qualities and the potential of the impacted individual.Prejudice and the corresponding discriminatory behavior, including institutional prejudice, are major issues for organizations today. Increasing cultural diversity in the workforce and the global reach of markets require organizations to actively strive for integration rather than assimilation or differentiation (Thomas & Ely, 1996: 1). In my opinion, the onus of promoting an effort in that direction lies mostly on managers. As a manager I have a moral and professional duty to address prejudice in my organization and I have taken specific steps i n that sense.I started with doing introspection to identify my own prejudices. I focused on my upbringing: who were the most influential figures in my childhood? What messaging did I receive from them and from the environment around me? What stereotypes derived from this? Being of white, catholic and Italian origin, I could immediately identify how anything outside of that archetype, was subject to some degree of prejudice, even if involuntarily. The good news is that â€Å"Prejudice is externally sourced† and â€Å"since it s learned, it can be unlearned† (Clawson, J.G. & Smith, B. , 1990: 5-6). I then realized that most likely everyone in my work environment have similar preconceptions. For example, some people talk to me with the typical Italian-American mafia accent from The Sopranos[2] probably thinking it is hilarious. It doesn’t bother me, but I can definitely see how it could be bothersome to other Italians. I made treasure of these realizations and dete rmined that these are ignorance-based preconceptions that can be resolved by increasing inter-cultural knowledge.I therefore resolved to take steps to encourage people from different backgrounds and cultures to interact with each other. For example, recently I included two international team members (Bryan the reporting manager who is Chinese and Manish the systems analyst who is Indian) in a 4 person project team based in the US Midwest, dealing with the integration of systems and processes from our Company’s latest acquisition. I personally facilitated the first few meetings and encouraged open participation by listening to and publicly valuing everyone’s contribution.I then assigned tasks in a way that required interaction and cooperation. The effort paid off and the team succeeded. The system and process integration was completed in record time, with wide consensus and to the smallest details. References and Bibliography Books Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. 13th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. USA: Free Press. Internet Resources Lefler, P. (2010). Polavision – Polaroid's disruptive innovation failure. [Webpage]Available from: http://www. spruancegroup. com/blog/bid/32860/Polavision-Polaroid-s-disruptive-innovation-failure [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Giambarba, P. (1977). [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Polavision [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Musselwhite, C. (2007). Self Awareness and the Effective Leader. [Webpage] Available from: http://www. inc. com/resources/leadership/articles/20071001/musselwhite. html [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. The Online Etymology Dictionary, word search: prejudice. [Webpage]Available from: http://www. etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice [Accessed on Thursday, November 8th 2012]. Wikipedia, word search: the sopranos. [Webpage] Av ailable from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos [Accessed on Friday, November 9th 2012]. Journal Articles and Written Course Material Roberts, L. M. , Spreitzer, G. , Dutton, J. , Quinn, R. , Heaphy, E. , and Barker, B. (2005), â€Å"How to Play to Your Strenghts†, Harvard Business Review, January 2005. Goleman, D, (2000), â€Å"Leadership that gets results†, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000. Clawson, J. G. 2001) UVA-OB-0652 Leadership and Intelligence, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. George, B. , Sims, P. , McLean, A. N. , and Mayer, D. (2007), â€Å"Discovering Your Authentic Leadership†, Harvard Business Review, February 2007. Nadler, D. A. , Tushman, M. L. , (1990) CMR-024 Beyond the Charismatic Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change, California Management Review, Harvard Business School Publishing. Clawson, J. G. & Smith, B. (1990) UVA-OB-0381 Prejudice in Organizations, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. Thomas, D. A. Ely, R. J. (1996), â€Å"Making Differences Matter†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1996. ———————– [1] See the â€Å"Online Etymology Dictionary† (http://www. etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice) [2] From Wikipedia (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos): The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads.

The Following is an article about the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013

Headline: The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, and was held in Brazil from 15 June to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tournament, along with hosts Brazil and UEFA Euro 2012 runners-up Italy, who were admitted because the Euro 2012 winners, Spain, had also won the most recent FIFA World Cup in 2010. Generating Ideas: (Points):[ Actually these are facts. But we can generate and customize our own ideas and create a healthy an article. ] Brazil successfully defended their title with a 3–0 win over Spain in the final. It was their fourth Confederations Cup title and third in a row, after previous wins in 1997, 2005 and 2009. #According to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the best version of the tournament ever played. The competition was the first national team tournament to employ goal-line technology, which will als o be used at the 2014 World Cup. #Italy was awarded a spot in the competition because Spain had won both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. Since both competitions award their winners a place in the FIFA Confederations Cup, the runner-up of UEFA Euro 2012 received an invitation to the tournament. #six stadiums are used, each in a different city. #The Official Emblem of this tournament features a stylized interpretation of Brazil’s national bird, the Rufous-Bellied Thrush (Sabia-Laranjeira). The colouring of the bird is the result of a creative interpretation inspired by the colours of Brazil’s national flag, whilst simultaneously showcasing the country’s colourful fauna. The lightness of the bird’s flight symbolically eflects the warm, hospitable nature of the Brazilian people and acts as a reminder of their national pride. #Teams had to name a 23-man squad (three of whom must be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline of 3 June 2013. The squads were announced by FIFA on 7 June 2013. #the competition's dates were confirmed by FIFA on 27 July 2011 in the build-up to the draw for the 2014 World Cup's preliminary qualification rounds. #All eight teams entered the group stage. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the semi-finals, while the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated from the tournament. Prior to the opening ceremony at the Brasilia National Stadium on 15 June, demonstrations took place outside the stadium, organised by people unhappy with the amount of public money spent to enable the hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to quell the protests. The demonstrations were part of wider unrest and rioting in Brazilian cities initially sparked by increased ticket prices on public transport, but growing to express deeper public disenchantment with the financial management of the country by its Government, specially due to the high inflation. In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time would be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. #Fernando Torres was awarded the Golden Boot award on tie-breakers. Both he and Fred scored five goals and made one assist, but Torres was given the award due to having played fewer minutes over the tournament #The official match ball for the Cup was produced by Adidas. It was unveiled during the draw for the competition. The ball is named â€Å"Cafusa† #The FIFA Confederations Cup final attracted the largest sports television audience in Brazil this year, and topped 2013 viewing figures in Spain. #The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Final was a football match to determine the winners of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. The match was held at the Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 June 2013 and was contested by the winners of the semi-finals, Brazil and Spain. Brazil defeated Spain 3–0 with goals from Fred and Neymar, thus breaking Spain's record of 29 games without a defeat. #Neymar inspired Brazil to a crushing Confederations Cup victory over World and European champions Spain in the Maracana. The Barcelona superstar scored a stunning strike just before the break and his goal was sandwiched by two Fred goals early in each half, the first a scrappy affair and the second a neat curled finish. Spain did not help themselves, with Sergio Ramos missing a penalty before fellow centre back Gerard Pique was sent off.

Micromanagement: Leadership and Shelly

Answer to Case of â€Å"Micromanagement† Q1: Is George guilty of micromanaging? Why or why not? Answer: No. George hates micromanaging and even disagrees that he is micromanaging. He thinks â€Å"micromanaging† is an excuse that Shelly threw out to dissemble her incapability, for the reason that a successful manager would never micromanage those employees who are capable enough. In additional, he thought Shelly is not so enthusiastic and hungry-to-learn as the beginning, which costs him a lot of time to correct her mistakes. Therefore, George may be angry rather than guilty.Q2: What influence tactics does George use with Shelly and what is her reaction to those tactics? Give an example to support your response. To what degree do his tactics engender trust with Shelly? Answer: George used 1) Rational persuasion, 2) Ingratiation, 3) Pressure. 1) Rational persuasion. After reading the release draft at the first time, George recommended a new title, and Shelly countered tha t she doesn’t agree. To make Shelly align with him, George used the rational persuasion tactic to analyze the situation logically and give evidence, and argued why he consists to use such a strong title.The reaction of Shelly here is she pursed her lips and nodded slightly, which means she wanted to argue, but gave up and accepted his suggestion reluctantly. Without enough participation from Shelly, George made the decision himself, largely harming the trust between them in this situation. 2) Ingratiation. After persuading Shelly to adopt his suggestion, George tried to encourage Shelly a little bit by flattering her: â€Å"Thanks Shel, you are the best†. Ingratiation tactic was used here.However, Shelly didn’t feel any happiness when hearing this, and she no longer like him as before. Again, the trust was failed to engender. 3) Pressure. This tactic was used many times in this case. For example, George demanded Shelly to do two things on the release. George als o said: â€Å"I count on you to get these things right. † Etc. Shelly had different response on the two situations I mentioned above. In the first case, Shelly accepted George’s suggestion reluctantly. In the second case, Shelly made up her mind nd defended herself by explaining why she wrote it in her way but not George’s way. Obviously, trust was failed to engender again since Shelly didn’t meet George’s expectation, and she was unsatisfied with George as well. Q3: Using our knowledge of the â€Å"full-range of leadership† model presented in class, how would you classify the type of leader behavior used by George to manage Shelly? Be specific and provide an example. Answer: To my understanding, George manages Shelly with the transactional leadership. To be specific, he used Management-by-Exception actively.For example, once George found a mistake on the unfinished release draft, he gave feedbacks and corrections immediately. Then he starte d to follow the case, and tried to monitor and correct Shelly’s mistakes and keep things constructive in an active manner. This is exactly as Rich said, â€Å"when George takes an interest, hands-on isn’t the beginning of it. He’s elbow deep in the stuff. † He thought he was providing guidance and necessary feedbacks to Shelly so that she would improve. This type of leadership behavior is a part of transactional leadership.Q4: The Company in this case is not meeting its goals regarding visibility, leads and sales. Shelly is responsible for this functional area of the business. What should George do to lead her more effectively to meet these business objectives? Answer: George can lead Shelly more effectively in several ways. Firstly, according to the Leader-Member Exchange theory, Shelly belongs to the out-group of George’s team. In this group, the relationship between leader and members is cold and impersonal with formal leader authority and less effective influence on members.Under this tense relationship, eventually, members would be tired off to boss by bad performance and less OCBs. To make it better, George can try to give Shelly more freedom, latitude, and responsibility, give her more support, and try to build trust with Shelly. In return, Shelly would probably generate higher performance and satisfaction, and greater dependability, involvement, and eventually, better OCBs would occur as well. By bringing Shelly from out-group to in-group, Shelly could enhance her performance and meet company’s business objectives more effectively.Secondly, George should learn how to apply efficient transactional leadership on Shelly. Besides the MBE active he uses, he should also use contingent reward and punishment. By using this tactic would help Shelly better meet George’s expectations. In this situation, George should communicate with Shelly and give her clear guidance on what would be rewarded and what would be pun ished, and deliver the promised rewards or punishments every time, therefore, trust would be built between George and Shelly.Thirdly, after effective application of transaction leadership, George should go beyond it and try to upgrade to transformational leadership. Transformational leadership requires more trust, credibility and integrity between George and Shelly. George should empower Shelly at a higher level, trust her and respect her decisions. Besides, George should discuss with Shelly about what are their shared goals and values, deliver the company’s short-term and long-term objectives to Shelly, and let she know how her work and efforts would help company to approach the objectives.Moreover, George should move Shelly to address higher needs besides salary, such as bigger growth opportunity, etc. Also, according to Bass’s theory, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration are some useful methods well implementing transformational leadership. Overall, using transformational leadership would help Shelly to perform beyond George’s expectation, so that their team would finally achieve company’s business objectives more effectively.

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International Business - Essay Example The porter diamond factors of competitive advantages of a nation include; the government, factor conditions, port competition, related and supporting industry as well as the demand conditions that should be applied in all organizations so as to have high competitive advantages over their competitors. However, the framework may not be applied in most organization as it does not incorporate the multinational activities. The introduction of the generalized double diamond model has led to the significant changes within the organization. This framework takes into consideration the multinational activities whereas the porters’ original diamond model takes into account the traditional home-based activities. In addition the porter’s diamond framework makes an explicit connection between the geographical and the international industries therefore the industries can easily access raw materials for their company and can also market their products where they can get market for their produce. Companies gain competitive advantages through getting involved in the innovative processes within their organizations. The approaches of innovation involve use of the latest technology and gaining knowledge on how to carry out the activities of an organization effectively. The innovation processes are manifested through using new product designs, new production processes, having marketing approaches as well as conducting training campaigns within the organizations. The Porter Diamond framework was initiated by Michael Porter and is used in determining the competitive advantages of a country or a region. According to porter 1990, it states that the competitive advantage of a country is created and sustained by going through a highly localized process. However, the diamond framework determinants of countries or regions do not necessarily contribute to the success of a country. Porter analyzed the factors that

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Advertising analysis - Assignment Example Obviously, the message of the advertisement is to attract customers to go to Disneyland for fun and entertainment. The aforementioned advertisement in particular uses an adventurous Disney character named â€Å"Buzz†, to show all the places the whole family can enjoy. Buzz goes from place to place and makes wonderful statements about everything he sees. His closing speech, â€Å"There’s no end in sight†, says it all. The message clearly shows that Disneyland is a place where there is so much to do and the fun stops depending on the customer’s time and budget. Children may be the primary target audience of the ad but it also includes adults as well. With the budget needed for the vacation at Disneyland, the company did not fail to consider the finance managers of the family. Therefore, they included what adults can also enjoy in the place. The ad also implies that adults need to have as much fun as kids do and that they need to unwind in a place such as Disneyland. The creator of the ad is Disneyland evidently because the materials used are all owned by the company. Moreover, who else would be interested to make an advertisement for a company’s product but the company itself. The creator highlights the fun and adventure which families enjoy at Disneyland and speaks to the customers through a fun-loving cartoon character who is loved both by kids and parents. Making a filmed ad is perhaps more effective than still images especially when it is intended for children and the busy parents. This makes the production of the ad quite successful. It does not just attract the viewers’ attention but it also entices them through the sights and sounds. The messages are delivered more easily and accurately through the images and the words of â€Å"Buzz†. The makers of the ad seemed to have considered all the different points of view. From the

IMPACT OF FEEDBACK ON JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB SATISFACTION Essay

IMPACT OF FEEDBACK ON JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB SATISFACTION - Essay Example However, if pay raises are related directly to performance, an employee who receives a healthy pay increase will more than likely also experience feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. On the other hand, feedback is the information people receive about their performance. It conveys an evaluation about the quality of their performance behaviors. Giving feedback could be done by providing information to employees regarding their performance on job expectations. This makes feedback is an important part of the education process. For instance, in the school environment, test grades let students know what they have achieved and what they must learn to do better next time. People at work give feedback to reinforce others' good behavior and correct their poor behavior. The recipient of feedback judges its value and determines whether to accept and act on the feedback, reject it, or ignore it. Feedback has different purposes at different career stages. It helps newcomers learn the ropes, mid-career employees to improve performance and consider opportunities for development, and late career employees to maintain their productivity. Managers are an important source of feedba ck because they establish performance objectives and provide rewards for attaining those objectives. Other sources of feedback are co-workers, subordinates, and customers (London, 2003, p. 11). The impact of feedback on job satisfaction could be derived in the fact that it is linked to the psychological reception of an employee. Cullen and Sackett (2003) cited Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model that has identified the five core task dimensions-task identity, task variety, autonomy, task significance, and feedback-are seen in a number of psychological states, such as job satisfaction and subsequent organizational events (like absence and turnover). Research has indeed established that these attributes are useful predictors of job satisfaction (Cullen & Sackett, 2003, p. 169). The problem with feedback is that, generally, people tend to perceive and recall positive feedback more accurately than they do negative feedback. However, as opposed to what many people think, a feedback with a negative sign (e.g., being told your performance is below average) can have a positive motivational impact. In fact, when employees are told they were below average on a creativity test, they subsequently drove to outperform those who were led to believe their results were above average. This is why negative feedbacks can serve as a challenge and could motivate employees to pursue higher goals. Those receiving positive feedback apparently were less motivated to do better. Nonetheless, feedback with a negative sign or threatening content needs to be administered carefully to avoid creating insecurity and defensiveness. Self-efficacy also can be damaged by negative feedback, as discovered in a pair of experiments with business students. With this, Louie (1999) concluded that "t o facilitate the development of strong efficacy beliefs, managers should be careful about the provision of negative feedback. Destructive criticism by managers which attributes the cause of poor performance to internal factors reduces both the beliefs of self-efficacy and the self-set goals of recipients." The traditional top-down feedback programs have now been replaced by two newer approaches, the upward

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Thomas Nagel. What is the thesis of Nagel's article The Absurd Essay

Thomas Nagel. What is the thesis of Nagel's article The Absurd - Essay Example He mostly takes the key concern on meaning of life. Thomas Nagel sets out that there are good grounds that make absurd to apply to lives. He viewed that our lives are absurd therefore meaningless that is absurdum. In his article, Nagel opens by stating four reasons for absurdum. The first reason he cites is that our being here will not be important for a very long time from now. He states nothing we do now will matter in million years to come. Thomas Nagel said that† by the same token, nothing that will be the case in a million years matters now.† He goes on and says that everything we do now in a million times will be meaningless. (Joad, 1944).  The second cite for absurdum is that he sees that we are very small as compared to the entire universe. Thomas says that the whole universe is infinite large as compared to our lives, therefore our lives are absurd for now. ... (Jaspers, 1969).   In ordinary life, life itself is absurd; Nagel puts that â€Å"when it includes a conspicuous discrepancy between pretension or aspiration and reality: someone gives a complicated speech in support of a motion that has already been passed† in addition, Thomas Nagel continues to consider what count good ground for his thesis. He claims we try to check one that has aspiration and reality. Nagel went ahead and gave an example, to demonstrate this being knighted just as trousers fall down. He went ahead and said that for most of time we live our lives as if they are not absurd, as if there is no nothing that brings changes between our aspiration and reality that makes our live absurd. Nagel had certain perspective in mind that we look at our lives from a stand, which is not involving. In this stand, we can step back and find the whole system of critics and justifications, which controls our supports and our claims to rationality which rests upon our habits the refore we should know how to disagree without circularity. Generally Nagel claims that absurd is striking sort of thing in our lives. The most interesting aspects of his article are the problem that Nagel connects problem of the meaning of life to other problems of epistemological of radical skeptics’. Actually, he claims that such skeptic come in when there is use of disengaged standpoint. Thomas Nagel says that both cases someone wills recognizes the justification made which cannot be justified without the threat of circularity. Thomas Nagel claims, â€Å"In both cases the final, philosophical doubt is not contrasted with any unchallenged certainties, though it is arrived at by extrapolation from examples of doubt within the system of evidence or

Pompeii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Pompeii - Essay Example The Greeks defeated the Etruscans in both 524 and 474 BCE and probably proceeded to take control of Pompeii (qtd. from Pompeii before the Romans involvement, 2005).As evidence, the hill near the mouth of the Sarno River or Sarnus River was used as a safe port by Greek and Phoenician sailors (Wikipedia, 2005). This theory is supported by the architecture and art in Pompeii that was influenced by the Greeks, such as the temple to Apollo mentioned earlier. Around 420 BCE the Samnites came to occupy the city of Pompeii (Leppman, 1968). The Samnites seem to have imposed their language, customs, and civic organizations upon Pompeii (qtd. from Pompeii before the Romans involvement, 2005). Rome entered onto the Pompeiian scene following the end of the Second Samnite War (290 BCE). The Romans landed their fleet at the mouth of the Sarno and sacked neighboring Salerno (Leppman, 1968). For almost two hundred years, however, the Roman rule of Pompeii was more a "matter of form than substance" (Leppman, 1968). Pompeii was under Rome's control, however, its inhabitants were practically independent (qtd. from Roman involvement in Pompeii, 2005). Although Pompeii was practically independent, its future was tangled with that of Rome. The Roman success in war over Carthage in the Second Punic War (218-201) and Romes victorious marches into Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria paved the way for an abundant economic enterprise for the Pompeiians (qtd. from Roman involvement in Pompeii, 2005). A colony of Roman veterans was planted in Rome as a punishment for Pompeiis role in the Social War (Carrington, 1994). Scholars have pointed out, however, that the Pompeiians ended up profiting in the whole ordeal, since Pompeii was quick to take advantage of the Roman destruction of neighboring Stabiae. This conflict did, however, mark the end of Pompeii's virtual independence, as Rome became much more active in Pompeii. This shift in power is borne out by the fact that ten years after the Social War, Rome renamed Pompeii Colonia Cornelia Venena Pompeianorum (qtd. from Roman involvement in Pompeii, 2005). Physical description The city of Pompeii has an irregular shape because it was formed by a prehistoric lava flow. Excavations indicate that the southwestern part of the town is the oldest, but scholars do not agree on the stages by which the walls were expanded or on who the builders were. The walls are 2 miles (3 km) in circumference, and they enclose an area of about 163 acres (66 hectares). Seven city gates have been excavated (Description of the remains, 2005).

Position paper on Videogame or Media Violence Essay

Position paper on Videogame or Media Violence - Essay Example Human beings are naturally not inclined towards killing and violence. However, the increased rate of violent crimes within different societies suffices to suggest that there exists a motivation towards violent behavior. Children are exposed to violent and crime scenes in various media platforms. Grossman argues, â€Å"It begins at the age of eighteen months when a child can begin to mimic what is on television† (2). Children are exposed to these violent scenes at the time of cognitive development. This implies that their cognitive patterns follow a violent trail. Indeed, â€Å"some of them embrace violence and accept it as a normal and essential skill in a brutal new world† (Grossman 2). When these children grow up, the violent behavior is entrenched within them. Continual involvement of the brain in violent video games can cause a phenomenon similar to classical conditioning whereby the players react subconsciously to situations in a violent manner due to the conditioning. In fact, President Clinton, as quoted by Grossman (3) claimed, â€Å"these games teach young people to kill with all the precision of a military training program.† Since children are at their developmental stage, rigorous and continued active involvement in violent video games conditions their delicate brains to violence. The present development in technology has made it possible for video games to have realistic characters (Barlett and Rodeheffer 1). The scenes are a real reflection of the real world. This has been highlighted as one of the primary cause of violent behavior among children exposed to violent video games for a long time. Barlett and Rodeheffer (11) found out that â€Å"if one plays a realistic violent video game, there will be an initial increase in aggressive thoughts and arousal and in aggressive feelings.† This increases the possibilities of violent actions from the video games being replicated in

Whistleblowers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Whistleblowers - Essay Example sible member of the Littlebury community in which I have lived all my life, it is imperative for me to report the health and safety lapses on the part of Wooden to the concerned statutory bodies. 2) In case I choose not to report the situation, it will be because Wooden is a source of livelihood to a majority of the people in Littlebury. Any legal or statutory action leading to the closure of wooden will jeopardize the livelihood of many people at Littlebury, most of who are either known to me or are related to me. Also, I have worked for 10 years at Wooden. Being a senior and loyal employee, I feel that I do enjoy a measure of intimacy with the top management and can convince them to ameliorate the situation at the earliest. 3) My reporting the health and safety lapses at Wooden could perhaps end up saving the lives of many of my friends and colleagues. Besides, once the situation at Wooden is brought to the attention of a statutory body like Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the organization may take the appropriate measures to improve the health and safety scenario at Wooden. This will certainly better the things for all the employees serving at Wooden. 4) My failure to report the health and safety lapses at Wooden could result in debilitating and dangerous consequences in both a long term and short term perspective. The abundance of wood dust at Wooden’s premises could seriously jeopardize the health of many of my co-workers in a long term perspective. Also, as Karen has reported sparks at her work station, going by the fact that wood dust is highly inflammable, this could certainly lead to a serious accident that may put to risk the life and well being of many of the employees serving Wooden and the town residents. 5) In a technical context, a whistleblower is a person serving as an employee at a government organization or at a private agency who chooses to disclose the wrongdoing, mismanagement, corruption, or illegality at one’s

Provisions for elite performers Essay Example for Free

Provisions for elite performers Essay Many elite performers start to progress after representing their school at competitions affiliated to the English Schools FA, such as the ESFA Coca Cola National Cups. These national competitions attract attention from district scouts. After representing their schools talented performers may be selected to represent these District teams. Then the performers could be selected to play for their county or to train with professional clubs youth teams. I believe that Britain is behind America in progressing their young sporting talent. There are no real scholarships in Britain like there are in the US. Students are expected to complete all school work as well as trying to improve at their chosen sport. There is also very little funding for less glamorous sports than football.  It can also be seen that although footballers who are regularly being paid tens of thousands of pounds a week are living a glamorous lifestyle, there are also thousands of players in the lower leagues who are being paid considerably less. These top-class footballers are set for life, however the less fortunate players who play in the lower leagues will have to retire at around the age of 34 or 35. The retired players usually have no real future as they have given all their lives to football. When they were young they were kicking a football around when they should have been studying. Many face financial ruin. Additional agencies and bodies  There are many additional agencies that help to ensure the smooth running of football clubs all over the country:  Organisations such as the St Johns ambulance service are at every Sutton United game.  UNICEF has teamed up with non-governmental organizations, private businesses, government agencies and football superstars to establish educational and recreational programs around the world that involve football. The global appeal of football is a tool for engaging young people in a positive future. TWS Associates Ltd is a specialist consumer marketing agency with over 20 years experience in football focussed campaigns, supporter research and relations.  The government also specifies that all people working with children are child protection officers. This helps to keep all participants free from any harm.  Provision for female competitors It can be clearly seen that there are many local football teams for men, however there are much fewer for women. This is also the case at professional level in the UK. There are now no full-time professional womens clubs. This is in contrast to women in football in the USA. The women have their own professional league with there seeming more interest in the womens game than in the mens. Due to this, the American womens national team has been very successful, winning two world cups. This shows just how far the British governing bodies are behind their American counterparts. In the past it has been seen unfeminine for women to play football in the UK. This has come from sexism in previous governments. Female football gets much less coverage on TV with only the Womens FA cup and internationals shown on TV. Some English women have had to resort to travelling to America to earn a living from football. Nationwide has sponsorship of the three womens leagues, under the banner of The F.A. Nationwide Womens Premier League. Nationwide also enjoy sponsorship of The F.A. Premier League Cup and partner sponsorship of The F.A. Womens Community Shield, The FA Womens Cup and the England womens teams.  Although there are girls teams at schools at the moment, there is much less participation than by the boys. This is because there seems to be no importance in the womens game. There are local cups as well as county and national cups. Unlike with the boys where there are teams for each year, there are teams for a group of ages, such as under15s or under 18s. This is again due to the lack of participation of the girls. There are a few scholarships for elite womens footballers at places such as Kingston and Richmond universities, but nowhere near the amount of their male counterparts. These scholarships are obviously only for the elite women footballers. At the moment womens football in England i s not very popular. Even the Womens World Cup and Womens football in the Olympics do not draw a lot of viewers. I believe that the only way that womens football could become more appealing would be if it could be hosted in this country. This would draw a lot of attention to the womens game. Provision for disabled athletes  Although there are huge numbers of people playing football all over the country, there are very few organisations who cater for disabled participants.  The British Football Association for the Visually Impaired, was established in the late 1970s to allow the opportunity for those individuals aged 16 and upwards with visual impairments, whether totally blind or partially sighted, to participate in football.  From those humble beginnings where only a handful of teams were involved came the implementation of a league system in 1980 and the visually impaired football league catering for partially sighted players has evolved progressively to this day. Today the British Blind Sport Football League comprises two divisions each containing 7 teams playing 5-a-side indoor football nation-wide teams from as far a field as the north-east South Shields and the south-west Avon Sports based in Bristol. The North West are represented by Northern Sports (Manchester) and Inter Cosmos mainly Cheshire based. The Midlands have a number of clubs; Birmingham Sports, Midland All-Stars, Loughborough Lions and the Royal National College for the Blind, RNC. The capital is represented by London Sports. Fulham Deaf FC was founded in 2003 by a group of deaf footballers led by Nick Beese who was somewhat concerned about the lack of deaf football opportunities in South West London and very keen to make a contribution in improving deaf football welfare in South West London, prior to the setting up of Fulham Deaf, there were only three deaf football clubs registered in the British Deaf Sports National Cup from London, whereas previously there used to be twelve London representations. The number of Deaf football clubs has decreased over the last decade unfortunately due to the lack of support and commitment from the community. Lack of understanding from the outside community has also contributed to this temporary downfall. However it does not mean that the numbers of deaf footballers in London are on the decline, as there are many active deaf five a-side teams in the capital competing in local five-a-side mainstream league.

Application of Carbon Nanotubes

Application of Carbon Nanotubes I will be examining and discussing carbon nanotubes and the application within industry, I will look at the History and manufacture of carbon nanotubes. I will Examine and discuss their chemical and physical properties and how these properties make them useful in a wide range of applications. The history of carbon nanotubes is not entirely clear even for those in the science therefore giving proper credit to the person that invented the carbon nanotube has been the subject of several high tech debates among the scientific communities. The initial history of nanotubes started in the 1970s. A preparation of the planned carbon filaments was completed by Morinobu Endo who was earning his Ph.D. at the University of Orleans, France. The growth of these carbon filaments were initially thought to be the first carbon nanotubes. However, they failed to meet the measurement requirements for width and thus were deemed, eventually, barrelenes. This was still a highly important development in the history of carbon nanotubes, but it just wasnt the right time to be considered the first recognized invention. Giving the proper credit to who invented carbon nanotubes would not come along for another 20 years. In 1991 the true first invention of nanotube was finally made. It seems as though there was a race between Russian nanotechnologists and Sumio Iijima of IBM. The first observation of the multiwall carbon nanotubes was credited to Iijima. There are some that hold the belief that in the 1950s there was an initial discovery of what could have possibly been seen as the first carbon nanotubes had Roger Bacon had the high powered electron microscope that would have been necessary. He was credited with the first visual impression of the tubes of atoms that roll up and are capped with fullerene molecules by many scientists in the field. Some state that his discovery just wasnt taken very seriously at the time because science did not know how this discovery could impact scientific research. It would be in 1993 that Iijima and Donald Bethune found single walled nanotubes known as buckytubes. This helped the scientific community make more sense out of not only the potential for nanotube research, but the use and existence of fullerenes. With this information, the complete discovery of carbon nanotubes was realized and Iijima and Bethune were ultimately credited with their discovery in their entirety. Russian nanotechnologists were independently discovering the same visual affirmation. They were just a little bit later in their announcement and the potential effect of this discovery. While Roger Bacon might not have been completely aware of the impact his discovery had on the scientific world, he is technically the first scientist to discover these hollow tubes of carbon that are changing lives on a daily basis. Since the initial rediscovery of the nanotubes in 1991, who discovered carbon nanotubes is no longer as important as who can come up with the most practical applications. DefinitionCarbon nanotubes are large molecules of pure carbon that are long and thin and shaped like tubes, about 1-3 nanometres (1 nm = 1 billionth of a meter) in diameter, and hundreds to thousands of nanometres long. A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a miniature cylindrical carbon structure that has hexagonal graphite molecules attached at the edges. Nanotubes look like a powder or black soot, but theyre actually rolled-up sheets of graphene that form hollow strands with walls that are only one atom thick. Nanotubes, which are sometimes called buckytubes, were developed from the Fullerene, a structure that is similar to the geodesic domes. Nanotubes can be characterized by their number of concentric cylinders, cylinder radius and cylinder length. Some nanotubes have a property called chirality, an expression of longitudinal twisting. Multiple nanotubes can be assembled into microscopic mechanical systems called nanomachines. Shapes Although carbon nanotubes are strong, they are not brittle. They can be bent, and when released, they will spring back to their original shape. One type of carbon nanotube has a cylindrical shape with open ends. Another type of nanotube has closed ends, formed by some of the carbon atoms combining into pentagons on the end of the nanotube. Figure 3.2 A carbon nanotube with closed ends Carbon nanotubes can occur as multiple concentric cylinders of carbon atoms, called multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCTs). Logically enough, carbon nanotubes that have only one cylinder are called single-walled carbon nanotubes. Three orientations are possible: armchair, zigzag, and chiral. Figure 3.3 The three possible orientations of CNTs Chemical Properties Carbon nanotubes are polymers of pure carbon, and thus possess all of carbons versatility, including the ability to form countless combinations and derivatives. In addition, carbon nanotubes are direct beneficiaries of the rich history and vast body of knowledge associated with carbon chemistry. Consequently, carbon nanotubes can be functionalized in countless ways using a variety of well-understood chemical reactions. In addition, the geometry of a nanotube allows for the formation of novel synthetic structures not possible with other carbon structures. Carbon nanotubes can be derived both covalently, in which other molecules being bonded to the nanotube share an electron with the tube, and non-covalently, in which the other molecule simply adheres to the carbon nanotubes sidewall, providing a nano-scale coating of the carbon nanotube. Because the carbon nanotube sidewalls are electrically polarizable, polar molecules can easily adhere to their surfaces. When molecules adhere even n on-covalently to the carbon nanotube surface, they often cause subtle changes in the electronic structure of the tubes. Such changes can be easily detected, making carbon nanotubes exquisitely sensitive chemical sensors. An important aspect of non-covalent derivatization is the association of surfactants with the carbon nanotube surface, enabling them to be suspended in water. Physical Properties Electrical There has been considerable practical interest in the conductivity of CNTs. CNTs with particular combinations of N and M (structural parameters indicating how much the nanotube is twisted) can be highly conducting, and hence can be said to be metallic. Their conductivity has been shown to be a function of their chirality (degree of twist), as well as their diameter. CNTs can be either metallic or semi-conducting in their electrical behaviour. Conductivity in MWNTs is quite complex. Some types of armchair-structured CNTs appear to conduct better than other metallic CNTs. Furthermore, interwall reactions within MWNTs have been found to redistribute the current over individual tubes non-uniformly. However, there is no change in current across different parts of metallic single-walled CNTs. However, the behaviour of ropes of semi-conducting SWNTs is different, in that the transport current changes abruptly at various positions on the CNTs. The conductivity and resistivity of ropes of SWN Ts has been measured by placing electrodes at different parts of the CNTs. The resistivity of the SWNT ropes was in the order of 10-4 ohm-cm at 27ÂÂ °C. This means that SWNT ropes are the most conductive carbon fibres known. The current density that was possible to achieve was 107 A/cm2, however in theory the SWNT ropes should be able to sustain much higher stable current densities, as high as 1013 A/cm2. It has been reported that individual SWNTs may contain defects. Fortuitously, these defects allow the SWNTs to act as transistors. Likewise, joining CNTs together may form transistor-like devices. A nanotube with a natural junction (where a straight metallic section is joined to a chiral semiconducting section) behaves as a rectifying diode that is, a half-transistor in a single molecule. It has also recently been reported that SWNTs can route electrical signals at high speeds (up to 10 GHz) when used as interconnects on semi-conducting devices. Strength and elasticity The carbon atoms of a single (graphene) sheet of graphite form a planar honeycomb lattice, in which each atom is connected via a strong chemical bond to three neighbouring atoms. Because of these strong bonds, the basal-plane elastic modulus of graphite is one of the largest of any known material. For this reason, CNTs are expected to be the ultimate high-strength fibres. SWNTs are stiffer than steel, and are very resistant to damage from physical forces. Pressing on the tip of a nanotube will cause it to bend, but without damage to the tip. When the force is removed, the tip returns to its original state. This property makes CNTs very useful as probe tips for very high-resolution scanning probe microscopy. Quantifying these effects has been rather difficult, and an exact numerical value has not been agreed upon. Using an atomic force microscope (AFM), the unanchored ends of a freestanding nanotube can be pushed out of their equilibrium position and the force required to push the nan otube can be measured. The current Youngs modulus value of SWNTs is about 1 TeraPascal, but this value has been disputed, and a value as high as 1.8 Tpa has been reported. Other values significantly higher than that have also been reported. The differences probably arise through different experimental measurement techniques. Others have shown theoretically that the Youngs modulus depends on the size and chirality of the SWNTs, ranging from 1.22 Tpa to 1.26 Tpa. They have calculated a value of 1.09 Tpa for a generic nanotube. However, when working with different MWNTs, others have noted that the modulus measurements of MWNTs using AFM techniques do not strongly depend on the diameter. Instead, they argue that the modulus of the MWNTs correlates to the amount of disorder in the nanotube walls. Not surprisingly, when MWNTs break, the outermost layers break first. Thermal Conductivity New research from the University of Pennsylvania indicates that CNTs may be the best heat-conducting material man has ever known. Ultra-small SWNTs have even been shown to exhibit superconductivity below 20oK. Research suggests that these exotic strands, already heralded for their unparalleled strength and unique ability to adopt the electrical properties of either semiconductors or perfect metals, may someday also find applications as miniature heat conduits in a host of devices and materials. The strong in-plane graphitic C-C bonds make them exceptionally strong and stiff against axial strains. The almost zero in-plane thermal expansion but large inter-plane expansion of SWNTs implies strong in-plane coupling and high flexibility against non-axial strains. Many applications of CNTs, such as in nanoscale molecular electronics, sensing and actuating devices, or as reinforcing additive fibres in functional composite materials, have been proposed. Reports of several recent experiments on the preparation and mechanical characterization of CNT-polymer composites have also appeared. These measurements suggest modest enhancements in strength characteristics of CNT-embedded matrixes as compared to bare polymer matrixes. Preliminary experiments and simulation studies on the thermal properties of CNTs show very high thermal conductivity. It is expected, therefore, that nanotube reinforcements in polymeric materials may also significantly improve the thermal and thermo-mechanical properties of the composites.

Eternity In The Elegy The Seafarer English Literature Essay

Eternity In The Elegy The Seafarer English Literature Essay The elegy usually contains a story, not too often a personal one that expresses the implied authors woeful state of mind. As a formal poetic convention it is used by poets to capture the mood of sadness and sorrow caused by a personal loss or a state of affairs that is outside the reach of the protagonists influence. This is a somewhat simplistic account which understates the subtleties of the development of the elegy but its briefness is intentional for the purpose of this essay we need to note that the elegy as a poetic form is governed by the idea of lamentation. The Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer thus falls conveniently in such a description of form. But it is remarkable how the poem initiates its story as a conventional elegy and it subsequently develops into a theological didacticism. The first-person narrative of the seaman lamenting his life at sea gives way to a religious admonition which gives the poem a feeling of incongruity and can lead one to believe that the second par t could have been added at later stages. Although, on close reading the links between the seamans insistence on lifes transience in the first part and his subsequent emphasis on eternity in the second can be made obvious and serve to compound the poem into a structural and thematic whole. The first half of The Seafarers story illustrates the protagonist as a lonely figure dwelling more among arctic creatures than among his fellow kinsmen. He emphasizes his loneliness with a juxtaposition between the realms of men and the ones of nature: At times the swans song I took to myself as pleasure, The Gannets noise and the voice of curlew instead of the laughter of men, The singing gull instead of the drinking of mead. (lines 19b 22) But nature itself is not a pure source of comfort as the above lines may suggest for she throws snow and hail and wind at his vessel and at such times no cheerful kinsman can comfort the poor soul (ll. 25b 26). It is an excursion through a hostile environment which is credited with being close to a peregrination, a journey of physical and spiritual endurance, as the protagonist confesses a path of exile. It should be noted that it is an intentional one. We read of him being physically on land but somewhat sea-restless, with his thoughts and heart still following the sea, desiring the moment when he would set off to meet the homelands of foreign people. The cuckoo warns with a sad voice (line 53) but still the seaman is eager to leave. The idea of the sea journey in the first half of the poem as peregrination, albeit a bit too subtle and only hinted at, is one of the links that provide continuity and coherence with the seemingly incongruent second part of the elegy. The seamans story develops structurally through an intense usage of oppositions. His narrative leaps back and forth from ship to land, sustaining the clash between the loneliness of the sea and the joys of the land. With the development of the poem, the opposition sea-land is given the overtone of a value judgment, bordering with a revelation acquired from the wisdom of seafaring. That one who has been distanced from the land is able to realize the temporariness of his or her life, and the futility of amassing treasures. The worldly preoccupations of the inhabitants on land are equated with futility, aimlessness, devoid of any governing idea whereas the life at sea is the antipode the source of the semi-spiritual revelation. The one on land has the joys of life, dwells in the city, Far from terrible journey, proud and wanton with wine. (lines 27a 29a) and he gives little credit to: how I, weary, often have had to endure in the sea-paths (lines 29b 30b) The juxtaposition between these two verbs is more than stylistical. For it serves to support the overall opposition between land/sea: the inhabitants of land are capable of actually living in an intoxicated conceit while the seafarer has to bear the troubles of his journey. In a metonymic succession, the seaman declares himself heedless to the worldly occupations: Not for him [the seaman] is the sound of the harp, nor the giving of rings nor pleasure in woman, nor worldly glory nor anything at all unless the tossing of the waves, but he always has longing, he who strives on the waves. (lines 44a 47b) In my reading, the striving for the waves is a metaphoric enunciation of the credo of the pilgrim. The sea is the half-spiritual journey that enlightens one into seeing the transience of life on earth. For everything, as the seafarer declares, always and invariably à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ will turn into uncertainty and man is, as much he surround him or herself with worldly goods, doomed to die. Earthly prosperity is transitory, life itself is only a short burst of existence and it is futile for one to account for his life with the accumulation of material goods. Up to this moment the elegy is a somewhat traditional one, in that it present the lamentation of a single character over a troublesome state of affairs, in the case of The Seafarer, a semi-spiritual state of affairs. But with a powerful enunciation of his disbelief of the worlds stability: I do not believe that the riches of the world will stand forever. (lines 66b 67b) the protagonist launches into a religious monologue in which he expounds his ideas of how one should live and act after knowing of his temporariness. At this textual moment, the poem perceptibly shifts from a heroic elegy to a didactic-theological one. The core that holds together the poem is the opposition in the first part land/sea now evolved into transient/eternal and the feeling of melancholy. Indeed hotter for me are the joys of the Lord Than this dead life fleeting on the ground (lines 64b 66a) What would then give joy and substance to ones life on earth so that it does merely fleet, or drag itself into death? The seaman passionately states that work, bravery, courage, which eventually inflame the power of his fame, might lead one to a communion with the glory of the angels, joy with the hosts. In a telling parallel, the glory of life in eternity will come when the glory of kingdoms once powerful will set. The second part of The Seafarer is clearly more symbolically construed and the image of the kingdoms, I suspect, stands for the demise in importance of worldly values. So do the implicit pagan references in the image of the burial lined with gold and a mass of treasure for all of those are no longer of value in the eternal. Thus the road to eternity is illustrated as lined not with gold but with a balance in ones life, control of his passions, and wisdom in his relationships all spiritual, metaphysical categories. The poem shows how the transience of life could be counte racted by following a series of semi-commandments (for all their rhetorical might they are still subjective, expressed through the viewpoint of the narrator-protagonist) that would lead into a blessed state of affairs in which ones life is belonging à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the love of the Lord, joy in the heavens (lines 121a 122b). The insecurity of a life on earth, with all its materials transient and mortal, is transformed through a theological didacticism into a security in the eternal. The Seafarer is at first a sight an inconsistent poem with two delineated parts that are somewhat incongruous with each other. But the opposition sea/land which promotes the idea of a solitary, melancholic journey evolves into a metaphysical opposition between transitory/eternal and thus is one of the brinks that bind the poem together. The idea of a pilgrimage in the first part is consistent with the religious overtones of the second and thus unites both of them into a textual unity that serves to promote a vision and philosophy of a life in a world marked by transience. The relation between the lamentation and the obvious didacticism fits loosely within the convention of the elegy but poem is held together by the interplay of recurrent, yet evolving oppositions and by the sincere authority of the protagonist himself. Work cited: 1. The Seafarer

Animal Abuse and Cruelty to Animals Essay -- essays research papers

In years of humanity's existence, the role of the animals can be considered as one of the factors that have greatly shaped human culture. The contribution of the animals to society is of much importance as it has generously benefited the people since the distant past. Animals have always been a source of food, clothing, and subservient workforce for humankind. These animals have also taken part in the religious customs, either for religious sacrifices or worshiping, done way back the earliest times. Moreover, People have long been reliant on their unique contributions to balance out nature and the much needed companionship that they provide. Truly, animals have taken an influential part in the continuous struggle of mankind for survival. Through the years, animals have still been used for the same purposes and means that benefited mankind. But in attune with the continuously developing world, innovative ideas and radical thinking accordingly emerged. With these breakthroughs, the thought of recognizing animals as sentient beings and not mere possessions only have started to unfold. Although it was supposed that such thinking has began as a system of belief back in the Indus Valley Civilization, it was not until the early 1800?s when the first deliberate approach in promoting the animal interests was done (Cruelty to Animals, 2001). Since then, the deed of imposing cruelty to animals has been considered as one of the major moral disputes ever dealt with in the society. The moralistic justification of such acts is often immoral, unjust and offensive. It generally refers to a treatment that causes unacceptable suffering or harm to animals (Cruelty to animals, 2001). Although having similar moral grounds for opposin... ... is really happening to the animals. These encouragements have greatly helped in demolishing animal abuse in different parts of the world. But contrastingly, such developments appear to be deficient in the Philippines. Although various organizations have also been established here in the country that struggle for same purposes, still abuse of animals is still widely practiced by Filipinos. The government has also hardly given appropriate attention to such immoral problems in the society. Conceivably, Filipinos lack the awareness and willingness to engage themselves to such campaigns. I just do hope that the continuous cruelty to animals, not only here but as well as in every part of the world, be eventually put to end. After all, mankind?s continued existence is partly owed to these animals and it is but proper only that we give them befitting respect and valuing. Animal Abuse and Cruelty to Animals Essay -- essays research papers In years of humanity's existence, the role of the animals can be considered as one of the factors that have greatly shaped human culture. The contribution of the animals to society is of much importance as it has generously benefited the people since the distant past. Animals have always been a source of food, clothing, and subservient workforce for humankind. These animals have also taken part in the religious customs, either for religious sacrifices or worshiping, done way back the earliest times. Moreover, People have long been reliant on their unique contributions to balance out nature and the much needed companionship that they provide. Truly, animals have taken an influential part in the continuous struggle of mankind for survival. Through the years, animals have still been used for the same purposes and means that benefited mankind. But in attune with the continuously developing world, innovative ideas and radical thinking accordingly emerged. With these breakthroughs, the thought of recognizing animals as sentient beings and not mere possessions only have started to unfold. Although it was supposed that such thinking has began as a system of belief back in the Indus Valley Civilization, it was not until the early 1800?s when the first deliberate approach in promoting the animal interests was done (Cruelty to Animals, 2001). Since then, the deed of imposing cruelty to animals has been considered as one of the major moral disputes ever dealt with in the society. The moralistic justification of such acts is often immoral, unjust and offensive. It generally refers to a treatment that causes unacceptable suffering or harm to animals (Cruelty to animals, 2001). Although having similar moral grounds for opposin... ... is really happening to the animals. These encouragements have greatly helped in demolishing animal abuse in different parts of the world. But contrastingly, such developments appear to be deficient in the Philippines. Although various organizations have also been established here in the country that struggle for same purposes, still abuse of animals is still widely practiced by Filipinos. The government has also hardly given appropriate attention to such immoral problems in the society. Conceivably, Filipinos lack the awareness and willingness to engage themselves to such campaigns. I just do hope that the continuous cruelty to animals, not only here but as well as in every part of the world, be eventually put to end. After all, mankind?s continued existence is partly owed to these animals and it is but proper only that we give them befitting respect and valuing.

Training and Development at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana Essay

Training and Development at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana (TMMI) The main problem that Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana, commonly known as TMMI, faces in the training and development of its employees is getting their group leaders trained. This program is structured so the group leaders can learn decision-making, leadership, communicating, problem-solving, and analytical skills to bridge the gap between the upper management and the team members on the assembly line. The problem with getting group leaders trained is the fact that they also work on the line. The production of vehicles is the primary reason they are there, and it is very hard to pull them away from the line to train them. This does not make sense in an automobile manufacturing plant, but the production of vehicles gets in the way of the training of group leaders. Kirkpatrick’s A Practical Guide for Supervisory Training and Development mentions that the main issue with on-the-job training is the actual job itself. On-the-job training is the main type of training that is used at this time, so TMMI is â€Å"up to speed† with everyone else with the training program they are using. It is just a matter of â€Å"getting the bugs worked out† of the program since they are such a new company. TMMI is located in Princeton, Indiana, which is approximately 25 miles north of Evansville on Highway 41. They first opened their doors in 1997 for the development of orientation. In February of 1998, team members started to enter the plant for the first time. In September of the same year, the supervisory program was introduced at Toyota. To begin training, group leaders were brought from the Kentucky plant, as well as from Japan, in order to instill the correct corporate culture into TMMI’s team members. Some managers of the TMMI plant were sent to Japan for training at the Toyota headquarters. Toyota of Indiana was to specialize in the production of the Tundra pickup truck and this process began in December of 1998. This was initially the only vehicle to be built in Princeton, but now the plant is being expanded to produce the new Sequoia sports utility vehicle that Toyota is adding to its line. The Siena mini van, which is currently made at the Kentucky plant, will also be produced at TMMI in the near future. When the expansion is complete, Toyota will provide work for over 4300 Souther... ...ked together. It was easier once we knew how everyone else’s work ethics and how they usually went about trying to solve problems and tackling assignments. The only thing that really changed about the way our group worked was we started taking initiative and grabbing parts of the project to finish. Overall, this project has been a huge learning experience for all of us. References Davis, Tom-TMMI Group Leader. Personal Interview. March 2000. Kirkpatrick, D.L. (1971). A Practical Guide for Supervisory Training and Development. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Nowack, K.M., Hartley, J., and Bradley, W. (1999). â€Å"How to Evaluate Your 360 Feedback Efforts†. Training & Development, Vol.53. â€Å"Supervisory training program available†. (1996). Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration News, Vol.197, p.101. Uiterwijk, J. (1998). â€Å"Test Center Comparison: Web-based training solutions; The virtual classroom; Education is the key to a motivated and loyal workforce, but it is the first to go in a budget crisis†. InfoWorld, Vol. 20. Wilson, Tracy-HR, Training and Development. Telephone Interview. January 2000.

Social Media Is Good or Bad?

Children can gain social confidence from interacting with other people online, which may help them feel more secure in new situations. Some Children can help people in the social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. Some knowledge that they do not know, they can ask them. While some of the knowledge he/she does not know, he/she can ask his social networking’s friends. Friends should help each other, so that they can build a strong bond in our friendship. What Happened to quality relationships?While social networking sites can aid to online relationships, real life relationships can become weak or even non existent. While your cooped up in your room on your laptop, you are spending less time with real life and legitimate relationships and spending more time on a false friendship with some one online. What ever happened to a good old phone call or meet up? Is this really where my generation is headed? We are in trouble. the brain cannot complete the learning process It is not yet known as to the affects that a combination of hard copy books and reading off the internet will have on young people.But there is evidence for older people that suggests they are finding it more difficult to stay focused and even actually read something more than 3 pages and this evidence is from a previous columnist for the guardian and executive editor of the harvard business review author Nicholas Carr. Furthermore, the information we read on the internet minimizes the amount of thinking our brains have to do this is not a good sign if anything, the analyzing process of the text is more important, this process is there to help us remember information as opposed to just finding the answer.

Principles of Microeconomics Essay

1) If fair(a) movie ticket expenses rally by ab place(predicate) 5 part and attendance falls by about 2 percent, other(a) things being equal, the picnic of select for movie tickets is aboutB. 0.42) A basic remainder in the midst of micro economics and macroeconomics is that microeconomicsC. examines the choices do by individual participants in an economy, period macroeconomics considers the economys overall action3) An economist who is studying the relationship among the money supply, interest rates, and the rate of puffiness is engaged in B. macroeconomic question4) After several years of lento economic growth, world take in for fossil oil color began to rise rapidly in the 1990s. ofttimes of the amplification in demand was met by additional supplies from sources outside the Organization of oil colour Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC, during this time, was unable to restrain getup among members in its effort to lift oil termss. What best describes these e vents?C. The rise in demand shifted the demand for oil to the right. As impairment rose, the quantity of oil supplied rose.5) Price crack of demand is theD. percentage change in quantity demanded of a good shared by the percentage change in the determine of that good6) The distinction amid supply and the quantity supplied is best make by saying thatB. supply is correspond graphically by a swerve and the quantity supplied as a operate on that curvature associated with a position price7) When labor is the variable input, the average out ingathering equals theD. quantity of output separate by the number of role players8) The maturation in output obtained by hiring an additional bater is known asB. the bare(a) product9) Which of the future(a) is the best example of a long-run decision?A. An automobile manufacturing conjunction is considering whether or not to invest in robotic equipment to develop a more speak to-efficient production technique.10) Other things bein g equal, when average productivity falls,D. average variable embody must rise11) According to economist Colin Camerer of the California Institute of Technology, many tender York taxi drivers decide when to finish work by setting an income goal for themselves. If this is true, indeed on busy days when the strong hourly wage is higher, taxi drivers leave aloneB. work fewer hours than they will on slower days12) A soakeds demand for labor is derived from theD. demand for its output13) Owen runs a obstetrical delivery occupancy and currently employs triad drivers. He owns threesome vans that employees use to make deliveries, but he is considering hiring a fourth driver. If he rents a fourth driver, he finish inventory breaks and lunch hours so all three vans are in constant use, allowing him to increase deliveries per day from 60 to 75. This will appeal an additional $75 per day to hire the fourth driver. The peripheral cost per delivery of increasing output beyond 60 deli veries per dayB. is $514) Expected economic profit per unit is equal toC. the release between expected average price and expected average total cost15) If a tighten in a perfectly hawkish market experiences a technological breakthrough,B. other unswervings would find out about it immediately16) A epochal difference between monopoly and perfect tilt is thatC. the monopolists demand distort is the industry demand curve, period the private-enterprise(a) business firms demand curve is perfectly elastic17) A monopoly firm is different from a competitive firm in thatC. a monopolist toilet influence market price while a competitive firm put forwardnot18) The difference between a perfectly competitive firm and a monopolistically competitive firm is that a monopolistically competitive firm faces aD. downward-sloping demand curve and price exceeds marginal cost in balance wheel19) As long as marginal cost is below marginal revenue, a perfectly competitive firm shouldA. increase p roduction20) Because a monopolistic enemy has some monopoly magnate, advertising to increase that monopoly power makes sense as long as the marginalC. benefit of advertising exceeds the marginal cost of advertising21) In the bouldery Hills area of Kansas, proposals to build wind turbines to gift electricity have pitted conservationist against environmentalist. Members of the Kansas sierra Club support the turbines as a way to reduce fossil fuel usage, while local chapters of the reputation Conservancy say they will befoul the landscape. The Sierra Club argues that wind turbinesB. reduce detrimental externalities elsewhere in the economy22) When damaging externalities are present, market failure often occurs becauseA. the marginal external cost resulting from the action is not reflected in the market price23) A nu neaten fusion between a textile mill and a wear manufacturing conjunction would be considered aB. steep merger24) A merger between a baby food troupe and a lif e insurance company would be considered aC. conglomerate merger25) The fact that U.S. managers salaries are substantially greater than those of comparable managers in Japan whitethorn be related toA. an increase in the demand for CEOs26) Suppose people freely choose to spend 40 percent of their income on health care, but the judicature decides to tax 40 percent of a persons income to provide the similar level of coverage as before. What can be said about deadweight impairment in each case?A. taxing income results in deadweight loss, while purchasing health care on ones own does not result in deadweight loss.27) The U.S. textile industry is relatively meek because the US imports most of its clothing. A clear result of the importation of clothing isD. the price of clothing is lower than it would be without imports28) Countries can expect to gain from international hand as long as theyB. assign according to their comparative advantage29) Which of the following is an example of the law of one price?D. Because their countries have similar institutions, the price salaried for a computer in Germany and the united States are about the same when converted into the same currency.30) From the point of view of consumer and manufacturer surplus, what problem may be created when a country subsidizes the cost of muscle to consumers to dish out alleviate the burden of higher energy costs?C. It encourages the consumption of too ofttimes fuel at the expense of othergoods.

Is It Better to Fit in or to Be Different

In life, in that location ar some(prenominal) ship canal when it is intermit to be assorted and there are many shipway when it is better to checker in. There are epoch when it is acceptable to be both. There are many quantify when they could be utilize well. Some times, it is better to be unusual. In academics, it is better to be diverse when some i wants to be complimented and considered smart by apply a new way to do a problem. In business, it is better for him to bet creative by non cerebration like the others. In addition, when a person wants somebody to notice him he has to be variant.For popity, it is better to be unique because a person may become popular for cosmos diametrical and not accommodate to follow the crowd in ways that he may not like. In some ways, it is better to fit in. In school, to fit in is to make good grades so they are not different in brains, which is better than to be different and not make good grades. In business, there is also a time where people would not be laid-off because they are doing as the boss tells them to and not trying to do something different that displeases the boss. In reputation, it is better to fit in because if somebody is different people may set apart that person.It is better to be both in corporations, it is when a person thinks outside the box go doing what the boss is asking. In education, it is when a person is smart, but still being smart if others are doing badly. In popularity, it is when a person fits in with the crowd while making his opinion. There are many ways in which to be different and in which to fit in. There are also times when it is all right to fit in but not okay to be different. There are times when it is okay to be either one. That is wherefore nobody should stick to doing just one thing all the time.

The Secret of Ella and Micha Chapter 8

EllaI realize I have more issues than I thought. As soon as we turn onto the Back Road, a passion combusts inside me. It only flames hotter when we pull up to The Hitch, an old abandoned restaurant stationed at the end of the road.Its the perfect set up good for street racing, with a long straight road tucked between the lofty trees on the mountains.We still should talk Ella! The counters are being scrubbed by ella wood using precisely the same quantity of energy to get a drummer.He pulls the car to the side, maneuvering carefully across the pot holes. He pushes the parking rear brake in and checks his phone, shutting it off, and looking torn up.â€Å"Whats wrong?† I ask. â€Å"You look upset?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nothings wrong.Umm Caroline needs you to receive ready.

Itll ruin your whole Im-neutral-and-dont-give-a-shit act.†I opt to remain impartial. â€Å"Who are you planning to race tonight?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"You mean who are we racing?† He smiles alluringly through the full dark cab of the car. â€Å"Well, I thought Id leave that up to you.Ethan slaps the rear of my mind.† I rub my broad forehead with the back of my hand. â€Å"Does he still got that piece of crap 6 cylinder in his Camaro?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Yeah, he does.† Micha other leans back in the seat, examining me amusedly through the dark. â€Å"You think thats who I should go for?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Its the obvious choice.No suspects are arrested.

†Ã¢â‚¬Å"You think I should take on special someone in my own league?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"If you want the win to mean anything, then yeah.†We look at each other, like magnets begging to last get closer. Yet flip one the wrong direction and they will push apart.â€Å"So which one is it, pretty girl?† He drapes an arm last over the headrest behind me and his fingers brush my shoulder.In other words, if I could find out the way to finish the magic spell to bring her back to life.â€Å"Micha, I think we should go back.† I put my seatbelt back on. â€Å"This isnt my thing anymore.†He small presses his lips together firmly.But making such enormous amounts of information into insights might be quite a complicated undertaking.

Was it bad news on that full text you got?†He traces the figure eight tattoo on his forearm. â€Å"Do you remember when I got this?†I absentmindedly touch my lower back. â€Å"How could I forget, since I have the same one on my back?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Do you remember why we got them?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I cant remember anything about that night.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Exactly, yet youll remember it forever."Micha is an intriguing title.â€Å"Do you want to much talk about it?†He shakes his head, still focused on the tattoo. â€Å"Nah, Im good.†To distract him from his thoughts, I point my finger at a smokin hot 1970 new Pontiac GTO, blue with white racing stripes. â€Å"What about Benny? Does he still have the 455?†Michas eyes are pools of black liquid.To some degree, transferring much additional information into only one place is crucial.

Im not racing unless youre in the car with me. Its tradition.†A starvation inside me emerges. â€Å"Alright, Ill free ride with you, just as long as you do one thing for me?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Say it and its yours,† he says without blinking.Not worth while youre still coherent, anyhow.His face is indecipherable, his breathing fierce, his gaze relentless. â€Å"Okay, then. Lets go win us a race.†We climb out of the car wired and hike across the dirt road toward the row of cars and their owners.Since you dont need to.

†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Well, what do we have here?† Mikey, the owner of the Camaro, strides up to us. Hes got black hair, a kink in his nose, and his thick neck is enclosed with a barb-wire tattoo. â€Å"Is the infamous famous duo back again to get their asses kicked?†I roll my eyes. â€Å"You beat us once and that was by default due to a flat tire.It doesnt mean anything to anybody who matters.†Micha squeezes my shoulder, trying to keep me calm. â€Å"So whos up first? Or has no one decided yet.†Mikey eyes Michas Chevelle and theres a nervous look in his eyes. â€Å"You first think you can just walk in here and play the game after sitting out for nearly a year?†I mouth to Micha, a year?Micha shrugs."Yeah, but it was not a huge thing.

†Mikeys laughter echoes the night. â€Å"You and what army?†I point at Michas Chevelle parked near the road. â€Å"That army right there.†Mikey shakes longer his head and shoos us away.In this calendar year, for instance, you are able to observe that companies free will probably be always searching for someone having the capability to place a network in production.â€Å"As opposed to yours?† I retort, getting into Mikeys face. â€Å"Because that things all looks and no go.†Micha directs me back by the shoulders and a trace of amusement laces his voice. â€Å"Easy there, tiger.Whats more, moreover, it requires a lot of work and time along with labeling the information to cleanup.

Mikey points a finger sharply at me. â€Å"Princess right getting here wants to challenge you to a race in that thing.†Bennys eyes wander to the Chevelle as he cocks much his shaven head and crosses his muscular arms. â€Å"Micha, isnt that your car?†Micha pats my back and winks at me.There were not any military secrets with me.In fact, it might be kinda nice to have a challenge for a change.† Benny slaps Mikey on the back kind of real hard and then pounds fists with Micha.â€Å"Thanks man,† Micha says with a respective nod. â€Å"Are you and I going to line up first then?†Benny bobs his head up and down, nodding as he stares at the road pensively.Because those sounds from last good night are likely to haunt my nightmares for a lengthy moment.

â€Å"Because beating him wont be easy.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Youre my plan.† He opens the passenger next door for me. â€Å"With you in the car, theres no way I wont win, otherwise youll never let me live it down.Probably other people today are beginning to think things.† He slides across the front of the hood and climbs into the drivers seat.â€Å"Youre such a show off,† I remark.He starts up the engine and it thunders to life. â€Å"Thats like the pot calling the kettle black.Her mother was like that lots of occasions.

You were standing on the roof with a snowboard strapped to your feet, telling everyone you could make the jump. I think thats pretty close to showing off.†I make an innocent face. â€Å"But I did make the jump, didnt I?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Yeah, but not without breaking apply your arm,† he says.You might need to understand that maybe she does not wish to go captured.â€Å"I was there because I wanted to be.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"You missed a first performance because of me.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I dont care – never have.†My gaze involuntarily flicks to his lips."Alright, youre in need of a workout.

He shoots me a smug look, cocking an eyebrow. â€Å"Now thats showing off.†Shaking my head, I restrain a grin. Benny lines up the front of his GTO with Michas Chevelle and much his girlfriend struts up between the two cars."I didnt need to think about anymore.â€Å"When did they get here?†Micha ignores me, eyeing Benny through his rolled down window. â€Å"To the baseline logical and back?†Bennys arm is resting casually on top of the steering wheel. â€Å"Yeah, man. First one back wins.Im convinced you dont have to hear it.

Go!† Her hands young shoot down and screeches cut the air. A trail of dust engulfs us as we race off. The trees on the side of the road are a blur, and the sky is one big streak of stars. I keep silent as Micha shifts the car over and over again, but something inside me awakens from a very deep sleep.Micha has a thing for flipping the car around, without decreasing the acceleration. Its scary as hell, but it works every time. Besides with the longer body of Bennys GTO it doesnt have quite the turning power.We reach the end and I should probably be nervous.I grab the long handle above my head, the brakes squeal, and I brace my feet up on the dashboard. Its like being on a merry-go-round on crack. Everything spins – the trees, the sky, Micha. For a second, I shut my eyes and it feels such like Im flying.By the time were speeding up the road again, hes a small distance behind us. Micha punches the gas and major shifts the car into a higher gear.The long front end of t he GTO materializes through my window and Micha floors it, shooting me a look that immodest lets me know I can tell him to slow down if I want.I dont.

Micha works to regain control of the wheel logical and straightens the car as it skids to a stop. Everything settles and the dust slowly clears. Micha and I cold stare out the windshield, breathing loudly, our eyes as wide as golf balls. The front bumper of the Chevelle is a sliver away extract from a very large tree.Im an adrenaline junkie. Plain and simple, but I think its how Ive been all along. I just never admitted.Im no longer in control.His hand comes up behind my head and he entices my lips back to his.Something snaps inside me, like a rubber band. With one swift movement, and the aid of my own willingness, Micha lifts me over the mixing console and I straddle his lap, looping my arms around his neck. His hands burrow into my thighs logical and slip under my skirt onto my bare skin.â€Å"Stay here, baby,† he whispers, like he can read my thoughts. â€Å"Trust me, okay? Dont run.†He busy waits for me to nod and then crashes his lips into mine, keeping his h ands under my skirt. I arch my body into him, pressing my chest against his, and my nipples tingle.

It sends a shock through my body and my legs uncontrollably tighten around him, my knees pressing into his sides.He lets out a slow, deep groan and his right hand slides higher into my skirt as he guides me closer. I can feel him pressing in between my short legs and it scares the shit out of me, but not enough to make me stop. Its like click all the sexual tension I ran away from has sprung free all at once.â€Å"Are you two having fun in there?†I jump back and my cheeks start to heat at the sight of Ethan and Lila staring at us through the window. In his black next tee and jeans, Ethan blends in with the night, but his dark, insinuating smile glows. Lilas eyes are magnified and how her jaw is hanging open. Micha does nothing to help the situation.â€Å"So who won the race?† I ask, smoothing the last of the wrinkles out of my skirt.Ethan smirks at me. â€Å"Is that what youre really thinking about at the moment?†I stare at him blankly. â€Å"What else wou ld I be thinking about?†Micha climbs out of the car, stretching his long legs.†Micha interlaces our fingers. â€Å"So the same old, same old.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"You know how these things go.† Ethan pats Michas shoulder sympathetically.

I cant crush him. I need to repaint the lines somehow.â€Å"We should just leave,† Micha says to me. â€Å"Lets not even give how them the benefit of our argument.†I let out a shaky breath and nod. â€Å"That sounds good to me.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"You want to meet up at the house?† he asks Ethan. â€Å"Im sure were going to have to do some tuning up on The Beast after what I just did.†Lila laughs. â€Å"Oh, I get it. Although, I like my name better.†Micha traces his thumb along the palm of my hand.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Youve spent time with me every day for the last eight months,† part she replies. â€Å"I think were good for a few hours.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ill take care of her.† Ethan chucks the empty bottle of soda across the parking lot and it lands in the back of his truck.